This dude Alan Watts from Brooklyn makes weird sounds but I like it.

Selda – Yaylalar

Selda – Dam Ustune Cul Serer

So, interviews are a pain in the ass to transcribe. Because I don’t do them very often, the feature section doesn’t get updated much, so now I’ll be posting about obscure bands and artists from time to time with this new feature called Obscurity Points, as in you get points for knowing obscure stuff. That’s the idea behind the title. Anyways…

This week I was listening to Young Magic‘s awesome mixtape that Portals posted in the Silk Screens post they did with him. One track stood out big time and I found out it was a song called “Yaylalar” by a Turkish artist from the 70′s called Selda.

According to AllMusic.com, Selda was just a Turkish chick that liked to play guitar and sing until some singles she recorded sold close to a million copies. Then she made some albums that got a lot of attention, was imprisoned by the Turkish government in the 80′s for singing some political stuff they weren’t too pleased about, was released, and made some more albums.

Listening to her, it’s easy to see why she captivated Turkish listeners and hardcore record collectors alike: she’s pretty damn good. Her guitar work is great – fuzzy spirited stuff that sounds a lot like what 60′s psychedelic guitarists were doing in their time, but what’s really interesting is the use of synthesizers that sometimes sound kind of like Arabic/Indian flutes or something. And whoever’s playing bass is also doing a pretty solid job holding stuff, down, at least on her ’76 eponymous debut, which is, so far, the only album of hers I’ve heard. As a vocalist also she’s pretty solid.

She’s released some music in the last decade, but apparently it wasn’t that great. Not unusual. Anyways, there you go, your obscurity points just went up big time. You’re welcome.

Vancouver based ‘sludge-pop’ artist Weed just released the new Gun Control EP and it totally rocks yo. (via Weird Canada)

“liiiisten toooo my allllbuuuuum…it’s nooot like iiit willll braiiinwaasshhh yoou ooorr somethiiiinnnng…”

Japanese electro-chillers LLLL have a cool little EP out on their bandcamp. It’s legit.

Tennessee bedroom dreampop artist Nomadic Firs unleashes his full-length upon an unsuspecting world. Some very solid stuff here. Especially the dream-reggae of “Cover Bombs”. That one’s especially good.

Hamilton folk-gazers The Rest finally finished their long in-progress full-length Seesaw and it appears it was mastered by Bob Weston. Nice. Here’s a track.

Montreal-via-Toronto transplant Airick Woodhead releases another cool track under his Doldrums moniker and off his upcoming Egypt 12″. And he made the Forkcast again! Awesome broski!

Our psychedelic friends in Toronto’s The Tight Ship have a new EP on the way and it’s pretttttyyyy badass.

The Tight Ship – Let’s Get High

The Tight Ship – Home Again

So FACT Magazine is streaming Laurel Halo‘s new album Quarantine on their soundcloud (that link above, yep, full album). I’ve listened to it like twice now and I’ve got some thoughts. I will order them into the form of an interview with myself.

Firstly, is it good?

-Yeah, it’s pretty good.

Buttttt??

-But it’s not like a full-length version of the King Felix EP. Which was what I was hoping for

What is it like?

-Like a cross between that EP and her more ambient/experimental shit.

But you like it?

-Yeah, it’s got vocals and melodies and stuff and it explores sound with songs in a very strange, unusual way. I don’t think I can quite compare it to anything else. Like sometimes people explore sound in the context of a pop song – here she’s like exploring pop ideas in the context of an ambient soundscape. Weird. But interesting.

Worth listening to?

-Yeah, but definitely not everyone is going to like it. Noooo way.

Final words on it?

-I’m gonna need to spend some time with it.