New Speck Mountain Film Collaboration, Unreleased Track, & Tour Dates

Ready for some more Speck Mountain? Following up on their most recent release Badwater (Carrot Top Records), Speck Mountain return with a new film collaboration for the album's title track and a new non-LP track Lies. A full slew of tour dates are also coming up including New York, Chicago, Seattle, and LA!

Renowned French culture and fashion magazine Purple premiered the film collaboration of Speck Mountain x Jem Goulding x Gael Foucher. They share a heartbreaking story about collaborator Gael Foucher and the process of how this film came together. Watch the video below. Read the full story here.

"A symbolic song sent to [Jem] Goulding by Speck Mountain...making the project one of fated synchronicity and the unknown." - Purple

Culture heavy-hitter PaperMag premiered a new, non-LP Speck Mountain track called Lies. The track will be available on iTunes later this week. Listen below!

"We're happy to unveil non-LP b-side Lies, which pulls off the old Velvet Underground trick (perhaps derived from Indian raga) of building tension between a battering-ram bassline and a one-note high-end drone." - PaperMag





Upcoming tour dates:

April 20 @ Reckless Records RECORD STORE DAY, Wicker Park, 2pm, FREE | Chicago, IL
April 26 @ Cameo Gallery w/ Lazyeyes and WIM | Brooklyn, NY
May 12 @ Zoo Bar | Lincoln, NE
May 13 @ The Wonder Bar | Casper, WY
May 14 @ Ole Beck VFW Post 209 | Missoula, MT
May 15 @ Sunset Tavern | Seattle, WA
May 16 @ Electric Owl | Vancouver, BC
May 17 @ Le Voyeur | Olympia, WA
May 18 @ The Den | Tacoma, WA
May 19 @ Valentines | Portland, OR
May 22 @ Hemlock Tavern | San Francisco, CA
May 23 @ Bootleg Bar | Los Angeles, CA
May 25 @ Permanent Records In-Store, FREE | Los Angeles, CA
May 26 @ The Lost Leaf | Phoenix, AZ
May 28 @ GNU Experience Gallery | Fort Collins, CO
May 29 @ Merchant Mile High | Denver, CO
May 30 @ Barley Street Tavern | Omaha, NE
June 3 @ Millennium Park w/ Sharon Van Etten | Chicago, IL

KEXP Music that Matters #350 :: Speck Mountain "Badwater"

If you're an avid listener of KEXP Music That Matters podcast, you may have noticed that Speck Mountain Badwater is featured up top as track #2! It's a solid playlist this week including Kinski, Bleached, Marnie Stern, and more. These tunes certainly do matter, and we hope you love them as much as we do!

Keep a lookout for a Badwater video collaboration with Jem Goulding & Gael Foucher that will premiere later this week.

Order the LP or CD of Badwater here.

Upcoming tour dates:
April 20 | Chicago, IL | Record Store Day @ Reckless Records Wicker Park | 2pm, FREE
April 26 | Brooklyn, NY | Cameo Gallery w/ Lazy Eyes and Modern Rivals
May 15 | Seattle, WA | Sunset Tavern
May 17 | Olympia, WA | Le Voyeur
May 22 | San Francisco, CA | Hemlock Tavern
May 23 | Los Angeles, CA | Bootleg Bar
May 25 | Los Angeles, CA | Permanent Records In-Store FREE
May 29 | Denver, CO | Merchants Mile High
June 3 | Chicago, IL | Millennium Park w/ Sharon Van Etten!

Release Week Hype for Speck Mountain "Badwater"

Speck Mountain's album Badwater is released tomorrow, January 22, on Carrot Top Records!! People are pretty psyched on it this week. Stream the full record at Impose.

You can come buy it at saki, or order it from Carrot Top.

Here's what folks are saying so far this week!

PopMatters - Badwater album review

“The mix of Americana dust and dream-pop gauze has never sounded this strong.”

“Balabanian’s voice ripples out in massive space over swaying guitars. on Flares or drifts over melting guitar tones on Young Eyes, and yet – while both haunt – they also feel rooted on terra firma. As does the rest of this record.”

“There’s a surprising breadth to Badwater, and a surprising energy for an album happy to wander, to drift, to sneak up on you.”

Impose Magazine - Badwater exclusive premiere! Stream the full album.
"Captivating the hearts and emotions of the music listening populous as of late has been the heavy slow drift of their single, Slow So Long.”

“The album’s bad weather gazing curtain call serves as both Badwater’s centerpiece and raison d’être that encapsulates the entire album in one song alone.”

Magnet - B-Side Run Honey Run premiere

Piccadilly Records (UK) - record of the week

“Speck Mountain’s debut LP made a huge impact at Piccadilly, now here comes their third installment of melancholy loveliness.”

The Girls Are (UK) - Badwater review

“Floats from your speakers in a dizzy haze and presents twilight mysticism and a chilled out atmosphere with every glittering note that penetrates the soundscape.”

“[Speck Mountain] has moulded a wonderful album that’s sophisticated gourmet music that’s been marinated in history’s technology that adds dense textures that sink into each other and creates a glorious nostalgia that course through the entire album.”

“I absolutely adore listening to music that’s been created through analogue techniques, I feel a sense of warmth and passion is injected into the music, which you tend to lose through digital methods”

White Board Project (UK) - Albums Round Up

“Balabanian’s voice grounds us in the bluesy-smoky Chicagoan landscape of the rest of the album, rather than the social topography os 80s Manchester.”

“Badwater is a pleasant and cohesive body of work.”

Dots and Dashes (UK)  - Badwater review

"Badwater is…a breathtaking release that's as coherent as a whole as it is compelling in its every component"

"The acute time at which melancholia meets majesty, and is the enchanting sound of a band ever ascending toward the peak of their combined powers."

Seen Heard Known - Badwater review

“Speck Mountain makes one hell of an album.”

“Really brings it on this album with tight guitar riffs and a confident sound that cuts through the sweet haze.”

“Badwater is so good.”

Speck Mountain announced "Badwater" release

Photo by Julia Stotz 2012

MTV Hive premieres "gloom-pop track" Slow So Long, the first track available off upcoming Speck Mountain album Badwater (Carrot Top Records | January 22, 2013). The new track "contains gauzy atmospherics, moody guitars, and tender vocals." Take a listen! 

Badwater has also caught the ears of folks in the UK. Middle Boop Mag. They call the upcoming album, "a progression of their psychedelic sound, bonding together via scraps of foggy, lucid dreams created by 'musical soulmates' finding one another."