Alongside Trips and Falls, who ended up on Song, by Toad Records because of it, this is one of the briefest, most awkward promotional emails I have ever received.  It pretty much said, in all caps, ‘I have an EP.  Listen to it.  Here.’

Oddly enough, that kind of uncomfortable introduction often bodes far, far better than a slick, well-formatted PR email and so, once again, it proved in this case.

I know when something is flavour of the month it is tempting to hear it everywhere, but I hear a lot of similarities to Perfume Genius in here.  It has that same lost, ghostly feel to it, which simultaneously evokes feelings of dread and warmth.  This is more to the spooky side however, frequently lacking the comfort of Mike Hadreas’ stuff.  I even hear shades of Edinburgh lad Wounded Knee from time to time, although that is far more fleeting.

The instrumentation is quite dense for something where the atmosphere is still quite open and spacious, but not all the time.  In fact, the sudden rushes of more complex, messy emotions give this EP a really satisfying dynamic.  Izenberg obviously has more intimidating, emotionally challenging places he can take you, but his sparse use of this trick gives it all the more impact when he does finally decide to open up.

I know a rough, enigmatic four song EP isn’t much to go on, but there’s something in this which I find really exciting, and I really hope there is more to come from Allister Izenberg in future.

Allister Izenberg – Lonesome

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MySpace | Download EP for free here

My brother heads off today, so I figured we’d take one last chance to do a podcast while we can.  This is mostly new stuff and inbox though, so I am not sure how he’ll react.

Actually, he was in the room last week while I went through my inbox, played stuff, replied to emails, deleted things, and so on and so forth.  I think his response was that he simply wouldn’t be able to handle the avalanche of shit I have to get through, and that it would simply turn him off music completely.

I don’t mind that, I have to confess, because although some people do send me wildly inappropriate things, after two hours of listening to one ‘psychedelic rock band who are blazing a trail across the LA scene right now’ after another I then open an email from Allister Izenberg, which was possibly the most terse, abrupt and non-sugar-coated promo email I have ever read, even including Trips and Falls.  It was such a bad email actually that even before listening I had a sneaky suspicion I was going to really like the music, and boy oh boy was I right.  It makes all the ‘rock, hip-hop, funk fusion’s next big thing’ emails easily worthwhile.

Toadcast #131 – The Brocast

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01. Hot Lava – Pink Lemonade (02.52)
02. Burnt Island – Hiding Out (07.42)
03. King Post Kitsch – Monomaniac (11.26)
04. Glass Animals – Leaflings (19.17)
05. Allister Izenberg – Little Swan (24.24)
06. Television Keeps us Apart – Voices (33.22)
07. Ola Belle Reed – High on a Mountain (41.01)
08. Clarence Ashley – Cuckoo Bird (51.54)
09. Willard Grant Conspiracy & Telefunk – The Cuckoo (54.23)
10. Soft Cat – Blackbird (62.41)