TWIN LAKES FUNDRAISER FOR THE ROCKAWAYS

While it's been over a month since Superstorm Sandy reared her ugly head, some communities are still struggling to get back on their feet. In Queens there are still many people in the Rockaways without shelter or electricity. 

So a few weeks ago we developed a plan to raise money to help this community rebuild. We commissioned Twin Lakes' own Dwight Smith to record a cover of the Ramone's "Rockaway Beach". Dwight's unique take on this Ramones classic is truly inspired -- a gorgeous arrangement that's hypnotic, a little sad, but full of hope. Listen and download it here. All proceeds from your downloads will go to the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance. But that's not the only way you can contribute to this fundraiser and score this little gem...

We also commissioned master silkscreener Andy Perkowski from Black Unicorn Studios to design some Twin Lakes t-shirts. Featuring the Twin Lakes logo in negative on black 100% cotton, they come in both men and women's styles, and all purchases come with an immediate free download of Dwight Smith's "Rockaway Beach". As you can see from the photo, Andy did an amazing job on these, and between now and the New Year, all t-shirt sales will go toward this fundraising campaign. We think they'd make for a pretty rad gift for the holidays, or grab one for yourself here.

NEW ALBUM, TOUR FROM DWIGHT SMITH

Earlier this year we shared Austin's Dwight Smith and his musical vision with the world with the release of his debut offering--a critically-acclaimed virtual 7-inch titled Plumed Serpent. Now we are proud to announce the October 23rd release of his highly-anticipated debut album Lateral Drifts, available on CD and DL. Somewhere in his travels across two continents, he seems to have developed hands with a touch like Nick Drake's, a voice as powerful as Marc Bolan's and a lyrical ability all to himself. 

On his latest effort, ringing voices, plaintive horns, and sparkling keys drift over a sunset river of shimmering, spiraling, tumbling fingerpicked melodies, carrying us to a place of shared fragile exhilaration. Your viewers can stream the album now and submit pre-orders for the CD here. 

Dwight is currently touring the Northeast in support of Lateral Drifts. See the full list of tour dates below.

 

NEW VIDEO FROM SOURCE OF YELLOW

Here's the first video off Source of Yellow's new EP The Said, produced by SOY's bassist Peter Kerlin.

TWIN LAKES SHOWCASE AT THIS YEAR'S STPP MUSIC FEST

OCTOBER 6TH, 2012 at the Velvet Lounge, 915 U St. NW, 4PM-Midnight: 
All-Day All-Night Rock and Noise Open House Party, 18+ $10, 21+ $8

An afternoon, evening, and night of psych rock, heavy rock, folk, noisy composition, and compositional noise featuring Twin Lakes artists and some of our other favorite bands, like Nashville's Ttotals and from Drag City Records, P.G. Six! Plus a very special performance by a large-scale all-star rock orchestra from D.C. and abroad performing compositions from Erik Satie's Furniture Music collection, led by acclaimed guitarist/composer and Georgetown music prof Ben Harbert.

 

SOURCE OF YELLOW JOINS TWIN LAKES TO RELEASE NEW EP

We are thrilled to announce the newest addition to the Twin Lakes catalog -- Source of Yellow's The Said, a three-song EP of unique beauty, offering a heady and guileless take on playing against the psych-wardens, the noise-canon, the must-listen-to and hard-listed. 

This Brooklyn trio doesn't just trade on the value of knowing the old explorations, but instead take the most outré edges and sonics from our masters and contemporaries as their starting point -- then they sing to them and coax them into an intimate and amplified complexity. 

On The Said SOY yanks energy from space to sling it hard back to the earth:

I. The Said: Two notes urgent and sparkling.  An incantation. Bass and drums suddenly pushing harder than expected with an exhortation to come along on ferocious drops through knotted loops, speed changes, and rattling hard turns.  You are locked on a variegated three-loop ride from the ether ending hard and fun in the dirt. 

II. 1 & 9: A smile and then a swooning sleep. A heartbeat, a jangle like cicadas and the breeze in summer, a tangle of descending arpeggios as birdsong. A further fall into a dreamless theta state. Days or years are passing.

III. Maybe!: Then a heady wakeful hum. A dancing lurch with a reedy ostinato and a yearning voice. A final harmonic convergence that seems to leave tracer notes arcing back to us and gently fading while we finish listening. 

How much fun to execute these compositions and improvisations! How much care and deftly hidden preparation to start the listener at 40000+ feet for a controlled free fall, romp, and recovery! At the beginning and end of it all are three people making brilliant noises sometimes knowingly, it seems, and sometimes maybe acting the vessel, but probably trembling and smiling all the while. 

For this release, the band commissioned NYC-based visual artist Pali Kashi for the cover art. The arresting Upstate, evokes SOY’s sonics -- their ability to pull in the harmolodic for a hug with the gothic in a muddy dance stomp, where the psychedelic spectrum encompasses true tonal weirdness as well as compelling housebroken sounds. This work of haunting beauty will be available September 18th in a limited run of 50 archival quality prints, each of which will come with a free download code. Buy it here.

-- MK.