Sally Decker official site | Multa Nox on Bandcamp | Multa Nox on Soundcloud | Multa Nox on Facebook | Multa Nox on Instagram

Multa Nox is the recording and performance project of Sally Decker, New York City-based musician and writer. Her work explores the emotional potential of sounds as healing or portals of connection, and works to impart a type of focus towards one’s own internal world. Her first full-length release, ‘Living Pearl’ is now available on cassette and digital formats via NNA Tapes.

Wren Kitz on Facebook | Wren Kitz on Bandcamp | Wren Kitz on Soundcloud

NNA Tapes is very pleased to present the latest full-length recording from Burlington, Vermont artist Wren Kitz. Following up his debut album “For Evelyn” back in 2015, “Dancing On Soda Lake” continues confidently in the unique and personal style of music that Wren has carved out for himself over the years. By blending traditional guitar-and-voice songwriting with field recording and tape collage experimentation, Kitz has developed a ghostly and contemplative form of musical expression all his own that breaks down walls between genre categorizations. Together with a newly-assembled band consisting of percussion and strings, “Dancing On Soda Lake” is Kitz’s most full-realized and captivating effort to date.

With a recurring aqueous motif both lyrically and sonically, “Dancing On Soda Lake” captures this essence elegantly throughout the gentle impermanence of it’s luminous song cycle, flowing freely back and forth between beauty and mystery, not unlike our own plasmic origins. Wren’s sensitive vocal delivery drifts carefully between loose, rhythmic tempos and plucks of the guitar, punctuated by swells of percussion and heart-wrenching harmonies from the bass, cello, and violin. The oblique lyrics hint at a narrative, though never fully disclose their true intentions, utilizing abstractions in language to shroud meaning, the way that dusk envelops a landscape. Themes of confusion, isolation, and existentialism indicate that there is a distinct darkness buried in these songs – though it is not articulated through sonic aggression, but rather through mood by way of wistful melancholia and bittersweet recollection.

The most intriguing aspect of Kitz’s compositions is his ardent dedication to magnetic tape, unlocking its tangible and nostalgic qualities not only through recording, but through instrumental utilization as well. A dedicated field recorder, Wren’s travels with his tape recorder yield a trove of extracted sonic memories that he is able to access in his songs through manipulation and collage. Wren captures literal moments from his life and recontextualizes them as musical elements, building textures and atmospheres from a faded reality, from subtle rustlings to roaring oceanic vastness. This blending of fidelities creates a very dynamic listen by constructing a hypnagogic tension between traditional songwriting and avant-garde experimentation. Through Wren’s distinctive musical vision and his tasteful mastery of his materials, “Dancing On Soda Lake” manifests as an intimate yet mystifying album, like viewing a sparkling body of water through a distorted lens.

Gold Dime on Facebook | Gold Dime on Twitter | Gold Dime on Instagram | Gold Dime on Soundcloud | Gold Dime on Bandcamp

Gold Dime is the brainchild of Andrya Ambro. Ambro is best known as one half of the noise rock duo Talk Normal, who released two critically acclaimed albums, Sugarland and Sunshine, and shared the stage with the likes of Sonic Youth, Wire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Zola Jesus. The dissolution of Talk Normal marked a shift in Ambro’s writing process. Going forward as Gold Dime, her compositions now veer towards an exploratory sound that is distinctly her own. Her drumming is rhythmically-centered, a reflection of driving West African beats crossed with a blunt industrial throbbing, which serve to both underscore and retreat from Classically-influenced orchestrations. Bass lines dance. Guitar riffs in rare tunings purposefully stray from typical rock n’ roll conventions. Their urgent squalls gracefully enter and exit, allowing for a permeable tension throughout the songs. Ambro’s lead vocals are forceful but can seamlessly alter to a deadpan counterweight.  And for all of the Gold Dime’s musical density and elaborate noise, the magic that ensues when Ambro’s thunderous vocal style is often foiled by Adam Markiewicz’s (The Dreebs, PC Worship) falsetto voice is palpable. Her lyrics are frequently confrontational. But they also speak to the challenges of tirelessly choosing the more complicated path as well as confronting the struggles to continue creating when forces seem against us.

Gold Dime will release their hard-won debut album, Nerves on Fire Talk Records in June 2017.

Guerilla Toss official site | Guerilla Toss on Facebook

Ecstatic, vital, and brilliantly unhinged, Guerilla Toss promotes positive energy and twisted spirituality through the less-traveled path of brutal, intelligent, live rock and roll dance music. Like a hurricane of healing bliss, a Guerilla Toss concert is more of a ritual than a performance. It is the unique pairing of musical voices and backgrounds that makes Guerilla Toss such a special party band. But they are more than that – GT gets real when you pay close attention. Their music is inspired by both tragedy and beauty, drug addiction/mental illness and the re-birth of the soul through spiritual practice and psychedelic drug healing – helping the listener overcome these mind-fuck hardships.

GT had a productive 2015, releasing their acclaimed DFA debut Flood Dosed, which cemented support from folks ranging from punk icon Henry Rollins to Busy P of Justice’s Ed Banger Records. The band also relocated from Boston to NYC. “We felt like it was time to move closer to our favorite active bands and artists and they all just so happen to live in NYC!” This didn’t slow the pace of their live performances – between road trips to universities and DIY Festivals, they have a de-facto residency at Brooklyn’s premiere underground venue Palisades and scored opening slots for The Juan Maclean and Mission of Burma.

Eraser Stargazer was written and recorded in 6 weeks of winter isolation in upstate New York. Fans of the group will hear all of the beloved hallmarks of the Guerilla Toss sound – solid bass grooves, squealing guitars, and kitchen sink percussion. Each instrument now occupies its own part of the audio spectrum, with vocalist/poet Kassie Carlson’s spirited incantations brought into focus. Album centerpiece Grass Shack is a perfect example of this leaner, yet tougher Toss. It traverses nearly seven minutes of game-show-winner keyboard stabs, mutant funk basslines, and time signature changes – all grounded by Peter Negroponte’s virtuosic drumming. Carlson describes the themes of the song as “A deep analytical depiction of a small unit of time, with heightened senses, Ripping yourself out of bed even though it might be harsh and overwhelming. Seeing patterns in the little things that make life beautiful.” Heavy subject matter permeates the rest of the record – but that doesn’t mean it’s a downer. Lead single Diamond Girls casts Carlson as a no-wave cheerleader over instrumentation reminiscent of DFA alumni Black Dice and The Rapture, culminating in the group’s catchiest chorus yet. Album closer Doll Face On The Calico Highway is the perfect summation – angular guitars, bells, and low-end vibrations interject and decompose as quickly as they appear, until a hissing cymbal is all that remains.