New Noise: Alba, Black Cab, Kate Carr, Lo Tide

From a dance 12” and Icelandic field recordings to a quiet forest and the 1976 Summer Olympics, this week’s roundup makes some unexpected stops.

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– As previously reported, Plastic World is a new boutique label from James McInnes (formerly of Future Classic) and Vic Edirisinghe (Astral People). The debut release has finally arrived in a limited 12” by Alba, the Sydney duo formerly known as Albatross. (Not to be confused with the world’s biggest Twerps fan.) ‘Knokke’/‘Law’ comes out Monday (Sept 16), with two original tracks plus remixes of ‘Knokke’ by Detroit’s Rick Wade and Jimmy Edgar. Hear a 90-second teaser of each of the four here. Alba have supported Four Tet, Mount Kimbie and Gold Panda in recent memory, and this single shows off both their ghostly minimal vibe (‘Knokke’) and fondness for bright, ticklish melodies (‘Law’).

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– The great Black Cab are back with a new single and, what’s more, they’re playing a rare Sydney show tomorrow (Sept 13) at MUM at World Bar. The single features two A-sides: the dance-y ‘Go Slow’, mixed by former Death in Vegas member Tim Holmes, and ‘Games of the XXI Olympiad’, inspired by the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Black Cab have been fixated before on exact moments in history, including Altamont, and told us previously that they were tempted to write a whole album around 1970s East German swimmer Kornelia Ender, who broke four world records at the Montreal Olympics. Their Sydney set will comprise “electronic versions of past and present tracks, with live vocals and keyboards” as well as showcasing their fourth album (and long-time-coming follow-up to 2009’s Call Signs), due out in June 2014. Mention “Black Cab” at the door and get a free download of the typically inky and expansive new single.

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– We’ve written about Sydney’s experimental and ambient label Flaming Pines a few times before, and now we’re up to some lovely field recordings from label founder Kate Carr. They were captured during her artist residency in northern Iceland last April, and make up the limited CD-R Songs From a Cold Place along with harp, glockenspiel, guitar and traditional Icelandic instrument the langspil. Writes Carr: “In Iceland, spring is when the ice starts to melt, only to be refrozen under new blankets of snow. The low-slung shrubs bud, and the small birds can be heard chirruping during breaks in the wind. Spring begins unevenly, a warm day followed by a week-long blizzard. A melt followed by metres of snow and avalanches.” The field recordings span “the bird cliffs of Grimsey Island, which straddles the Arctic Circle; the desolate rocky moors of the Skagi peninsula; the frozen inlets of Skagafjörður; and the tiny fishing town of Ólafsfjörður.” Listen to two contemplative – and at times almost lush – tracks from the record.

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– Deloraine, Tasmania resident Sam Greive makes soft-focus, down-tempo beat music as Lo Tide. His second album Out in the Wild came out in late July through Austrian label Audiokult. Almost half the songs feature guest vocalists, including Jack Preston, Michelle Lokey and more. You can hear snippets of various tracks and buy it here. For a more sustained taste, check out the warm and waterlogged single ‘Little Town’, plus a simple forest-set video for it.

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To nominate new music for this column email us at news@messandnoise.com.