SoundBites: Pacific Heights, Lanu, Dinosaur Jr

Devin Abrams.

Get set for new heights ... new Pacific Heights, that is.

The Stillness is the new album from Devin Abrams' solo project, the first Pacific Heights album in eight years.

Wellington's Abrams, who was a founding member of Shapeshifter, describes the album as "a moment of pause and peace above troubled waters".

The Stillness exudes an atmosphere of late-night cool. Beats melt into lush electronica. Urban gives way to a country setting as weather sounds move in.

According to publicity material, the album pays homage to Abrams' music past while also giving him the freedom to present his own vision of progressive electronic music.

Guests on the album include Deanne Krieg, Jen Turner and Shaan Singh.

Lanu's 5-star album The Double Sunrise now has an accompanying film.

The musician, aka Lance Ferguson, has put together a 10-minute featurette retracing the inspirations for his album - 1950s Exotica music, the sounds of the South Seas, the golden age of aviation and the influence of his grandfather Bill Wolfgramm.

The film, also called The Double Sunrise, includes footage of Ferguson with music legend Bill Sevesi, who died aged 92 in April.

It was filmed in both Australia and New Zealand, and includes a visit to Motat and historical footage of a Short Solent IV flying boat in flight.

See the film below.

Revisit a classic
To mark the upcoming release of new Dinosaur Jr album Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not, why not revisit their first major label album Green Mind?

Released in 1991, it was the band's first album since Lou Barlow left, and featured frontman J Mascis on vocals, guitar, bass and drums, with regular drummer Murph only appearing on a few tracks.

With what's described as a "slacker drawl" Mascis and Dinosaur Jr helped lay the foundations for 90s grunge, though like Smashing Pumpkins their standout guitar solos proved a point of difference.

Check out tracks The Wagon, How'd You Pin That One On Me and Puke And Cry.