Stripmall Architecture

When their longtime band, Halou, came to an end in 2008 (during a US tour with indie legend Bob Mould), Ryan and Rebecca Coseboom regrouped quickly and launched their new project, Stripmall Architecture.

The music achieves an almost opiate effect, combining intricate electronics and Rebecca's fragile, fallen-angel vocals with layers of gauzy guitars - both warm and fuzzy and often quite loud and confrontational. There's also a sort of dizziness to the recordings due mainly to the hypnotic basslines and the coalescence of the textures the band cleverly layers, creating a complex sound that can't be fully taken in without repeat listens.

While it can be difficult to find a single genre into which Stripmall Architecture fits snugly, the bulk of their varied, eclectic and impressively pedigreed material seems to fall somewhere within the vast universes of noisy indie rock and early-90s shoegaze (if you're thinking of something between the anthemic atmospherics of Sigur Ros and the spangled-pop of the Cocteau Tiwns, you're in the right neighborhood).