April 11, 2014

Friday night live at Transistor: Neatly Knotted, Elphemera and Liai. Sound by Jon Monteverde.

Neatly Knotted is the moniker of minimal, lo-fi pop artist Ben Chlapek. He also wastes his time as a resident space cadet in the band Nevada Greene, and is the sole artist at Never Sleeping Inc.

"Mountain of Youth" is Chlapek's fourth release, following 2011's "Sore Throat City" EP and two ambient projects done with his partner in drone, artist Dig Up Another Coffin To Burn. It approaches pop music with a kind of nerveless sense of defeat, and Chlapek's insolent, reverb-drenched croon crests narcotic waves of warbled fuzz and steadily programmed electronic drums. "Mountain of Youth" draws on a host of post-punk, shoegaze, and noise-pop influences, and has an affinity for the production values of a four-track recorder.

The songs on the album shift between understated ballads of shuddering and loathing, painted with the flavorless grey palette of everyday existence, to playful-yet-gritty modern synth jams. Nicely balancing the genial with the morose, Chlapek leaves the listener feeling somewhat hopeful while recognizing no reason to be. - Dismal Niche

Find Neatly Knotted on Bandcamp.

Elephemera is the solo project of Aidan Eubanks, started in October of 2013. He works to create a sound that is detached and wandering, with spacious guitars and synths, and thin, distant vocals all seeping through a grid of percussion and bass.

Elephemera's live set is largely vocal and guitar-based. He creates consonant ambient drones and manipulates them improvisationally over time, adding and subtracting percussive patterns, melodic sequences, and samples.

Visit Elephemera on Soundcloud.