Misra is an Emeryville, CA based independent record label with branch offices in New York, DC, Seattle, Birmingham and elsewhere.
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Centro-Matic and South San Gabriel - Dual Hawks
Keeping track of the distinctions between Centro-matic and South San Gabriel could be a full-time effort, if one were so inclined. South San Gabriel includes the four core members of Centro-matic, plus additional members, but well get to that shortly. You might be inclined to say that Centro-matic material tends to be more rockin, with SSG its mellow, literary counterpart, and Will Johnsons solo material aswellusually (how shall I put this?) skinny-dipping in the abyssbut it would be a gross oversimplification. Each of these projects shares all of the aforementioned respective qualities and more. What is distinctive about the release of Dual Hawks is that we get the chance to hear side-by-side the various ways in which Centro-matic and South San Gabriel complement and play off of each othersort of the full-length equivalent of a split single.
Some bands focus on quality; others on quantity. With Dual Hawks, the respective bands prove once again that they are one of the rare breeds who can do both. Catchy hooks, wiry guitars, harmonies and handclaps, splendid string and horn arrangements, and songs so well written and produced they will make indie-rockers of lesser mettle go home and cry.
2xCD - $15.00 
Also available on beautiful 180 gram double vinyl; gatefold design with digital download card included.
2xLP - $15.00 
Southeast Engine - A Wheel Within A Wheel
The title of Wheel Within A Wheel (the band's third full length their second album, Coming To Terms With Gravity, has just been quietly reissued by Misra as well) refers to the first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel where its author describes in cryptic and revelatory detail a vision of God as four living creatures each with four heads and four wings and each seemingly connected to a wheel within a wheel. The passage has made its influence felt from the traditional folk song Ezekiel Saw the Wheel and to the writings of C.G. Jung who interpreted the vision in relation to his theory of the wheel as an archetype or a symbol of God. The title may also refer to the Book of Isaiah, which is designed in the pattern of the wheel and is thought to be a microcosm or a symbol of all creation. It shares a unique distinction with the book of Revelation in that these two books alone contain the seven verses where God revealed his eternal nature as the first and the last.
But this album isn't a Biblical study or religious proselytizing. It's the struggle of one man to walk through life and come to terms with the things he sees and encounters and somehow resolve his faith in something greater and his own role in all of it. He doesn't treat it like a science problem, debating the quid pro quo of the seeming lack of divinity amidst the divine creation. He feels, he believes and yet he challenges God, he demands responses and makes assessments. He loves, he fears, he believes, he's angered, he sings and he searches for meaning. In the final line of "Let It Be So," he realizes his role is to do exactly what he's been doing, "to learn how to love you, that's the happiness I pursue."
CD - $12.00
Mobius Band - Heaven
Peter Sax, Noam Schatz, and Ben Sterling are Mobius Band.
Heaven revolves around repeating motifs decoding the secret language of ex-lovers, the betrayals of quote-unquote friends. Its melodies are more dynamic, its themes more direct. Where their previous album still grappled with post-collelgiate anxiety, here there are larger questions of control, bewilderment, and loss. We are left with the overwhelming impression that day-to-day life with friends and lovers is as precarious and as dangerous as anything we might fret about in the wider world.
Musically, the album pulses, crackles, and hums. Though Mobius Band has always alternated between a desire to make pop songs and an interest in experimental textures, Heaven's sound is marked by Noam's new obsession, 'circuit bent' keyboards.
CD - $12.00
Sleeping States - There The Open Spaces
Sleeping states is the result of one young man, Markland Starkie, working in a format he has sincere reservations about working in: "When I started Sleeping States I gave myself a set of rules because I had a a real problem with singer/songwriters. I find the whole thing cheesy beyond belief," Markland told Dazed and Confused. The rules he laid out for himself were simple: no strummed acoustic guitars and only basic instrumentation. The results, heard here on There The Open Spaces, are hypnotic, riveting. Markland's voice floats atop modestly virtuosic noisy guitar work, seeking out the harmonies many vocalists avoid. Songs come to life before dissolving into quiet noise sections which somehow still retain a melodic center.
CD - $12.00
Hallelujah The Hills - Collective Psychosis Begone
Hallelujah the Hills is one of the most admirably devoted, unconventional bands to have come out of Boston in recent years. Boston has likewise been waiting for them as demonstrated by packed shows and regular accolades from the Boston Phoenix and the Boston Weekly Dig. The band's line-up of bass, drums, cello, Moog, trumpet, melodica, sampler and plenty of guitars grants them the space to expand and contract as their melodies and arrangements see fit. Think of them as the sonic equivalent to Willy Wonka's ferry ride, seemingly random yet utterly precise, first drifting along a chocolate river with a gentle lulling sound then hurtling you into the unknown with a thundering danger until you arrive somewhere entirely new, a fantastic destination full of wonder. Hallelujah the Hills has promised to make 33 albums before breaking up. 32 more or not, Collective Psychosis Begone is one hell of a start.
Palomar - All Things, Forests
If you think you know what Palomar is all about, you're wrong: The Brooklyn band's new album All things, forests will shatter your expectations and stop you dead in your tracks. It certainly did so for us, and we're overjoyed to have them as part of the MISRA family. The charm and playfulness of the band's previous releases is still present, but the the songwriting has rocketed from bright to stellar on this, their fourth album. Frontwoman Rachel Warren sings with a confidence heretofore unseen and the results are incredible, the songs shifting in that subtle yet defining change from clever to sublime. The careful arrangements and depth of thought that have gone into the making of this record constitute a monumental leap forward for the band. All things, forests expresses the tangled feelings of loss, doubt, joy, wistfulness and the struggle to keep going. This band is clearly at the height of their powers in terms of musicianship, songwriting, and lyricism, and they've crafted a rock album of enduring quality. Prepare yourself for a record that will invite itself up for tea and biscuits, and have your clothes off by the second cup.
CD - $12.00
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