Archive for the “Indie” Category
From my ears to yours… mp3: Baths – You’re My Excuse to Travel
Dec
16
2010
 
Broken Social Scene’s artful 2010 release: Forgiveness Rock RecordPosted by Lux in Album Reviews, Favorites, Featured Bands, Indie, Pop, Songs, Upcoming Tour, Video
Toronto’s indie rock collective Broken Social Scene are known for creating high art. Embracing sonic detail, seamlessly connecting vast dimensions of sound, and exploring untouched atmospheric landscapes is inherent. The frighteningly brilliant masterpiece that is Forgiveness Rock Record (May 2010) is a gorgeous example. Finally gravitating towards the pop tendencies that the group have toyed with for almost a decade, never have Broken Social Scene sounded so joyous, excited, and in love with the music they create. Whereas earlier albums consist primarily of instrumentals, Forgiveness Rock Record finds the band playing with cryptic lyrics and elliptical word patterns, making this Broken Social Scene’s most accessible album yet. The tracks invite you to sing along, not just absorb. The album as a whole is more mature and direct, with a thematic bend that lends a sense of gravity to the music. Each song is a complete artistic piece, with all the integrity, allure, and complexity that fine art inspires. Rarely do songs sound so full. That is the nature of BSS. Each song is greater than the sum of its parts. Broken Social Scene is known for bringing together a vast collective of musicians to fill out their sound. What began as an ambient post-rock collaboration between founding members Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew (the band’s 2001 debut Feel Good Lost) slowly evolved into the gorgeously fragmented super-collective sound nurtured in the mid-decade by the chaotic overdriven production style of David Newfield on 2002’s You Forgot It In People. The spiritual connection between the individuals, who at points have numbered 17, can be felt on each of the band’s 6 releases (4 full length albums, 1 B-Side album and 1 EP). The injection of inspiration from a mass of adventurous players creates huge washes of sound full of multi-colored textures that may overwhelm the casual listener. Forgiveness Rock Record sets itself apart by leaning on a slightly tighter group, while the “additional members” and “guests” number 31 strong. Longtime contributors Jason, Collett, Leslie Feist and Emily Haines make appearances along with special guests including Sea and Cake’s Sam Prekop, but the lion’s share draws from frontmen Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning with Sam Goldberg, Lisa Lobsinger, Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, and Andrew Whiteman. The greater focus begets music that unabashedly hits harder. The songs may be more succinct, but the band still sounds like it contains multitudes. Since the collective’s 3rd release in 2004, individual members of the collective have made names for themselves outside of the confines of BSS. Feist became a rock diva after releasing Let It Die in 2004, Whiteman hit the road with Apostle of Hustle, Drew and Collett released solo albums, and Amy Millan and Emily Haines elevated their side projects Stars and Metric to even greater notoriety. Forgiveness Rock Record is lush and romantic and as eclectic as the members who create it. Each track has a distinct sound, embracing their endless ability to craft clever, soaring pop songs. This is no doubt enhanced by Tortoise’s John McEntire who produced the album. “World Sick” is one of the catchiest songs the band has ever written. Harmonics and power chords swell and boom as the band both embraces global and personal yearnings. Drew’s voice leads the collective as they cry “I get world sick / Every time I take a stand / I get world sick / My love is for my land.” “Chase Scene” strings together old west guitar rumblings and horn filled climaxes with certain tension, set upon cryptic lyrics that mirror the band’s musical complexity and the gripping chorus, “I think I’m ready to fight for the scene of my life”. “Texaco Bitches” devises a joyous melody as vocal ascensions ride marching beats and atmospheric tings. “All to All” climaxes with a wave of female vocals led by Lisa Lobsinger married with a pulsating staccato base. Her angelic voice soars above electronic atmospheres like a phoenix as she has fun with words “It’s like the all to all, the all to all the ultimatum”. “Highway Slipper Jam” brings to mind one of my favorite bands, The Slip, and recalls older BSS. It’s slow and easy as high harmonies roll along and an array of subtle sounds merge together to create the end’s lullaby. “Ungrateful Little Father” shows unabated love for alliteration. The pulsing beat of “Sentimental X’s” is filled with Haines’ sweet vocal meanderings and marks the first time in the group’s history that Amy Millan, Emily Haines, and Leslie Feist have collaborated on the same tune. “Sweetest Kill” is dark and seductive, with echoes of Drew’s voice giving up deflated melancholy upon gorgeous guitar lines which closely follow his vocal tones. The album closes with an ode to masturbation aptly titled “Me and My Hand.” mp3: Broken Social Scene – World Sick Forgiveness Rock Record rounds up the BSS diaspora and serves as a robust reminder of the band’s commitment to their identity as an art collective. One of the many things that strikes me about BSS is how their free-form, chaotic approach to creating music transforms into beautiful song structures which unmask a deep understanding of when to embrace and when to subvert standards of pop songwriting. Forgiveness Rock Record follows in this vein, often to spectacular and inspiring effect. It is easy to fall for Broken Social Scene. They make accessible and challenging pop-art, they are unequivocally prolific as a collective, they spring from Canada, and over the years have become one of the most iconic and forever-evolving indie super-groups around. On August 9, 2010 Broken Social Scene unveiled plans for their “All to All” remix series, which includes 5 different versions of the Forgiveness Rock Record track. Every Monday, a new remix was made available exclusively for 24 hours via a different online collaborator. And on Monday, the band released the provocative video for “Texaco Bitches” featuring a bizarrely sexual, oil fed wrestling match. The video’s eccentric take on today’s oil companies is coupled with a hilarious, unforeseen ending. mp3: Broken Social Scene – All To All (Skeet Skeet Remix) Don’t miss the opportunity to contemplate this collective in motion on their winter tour. Broken Social Scene Winter 2011 Tour Stream Forgiveness Rock Record
Nov
28
2010
Brooklyn’s Tenderhearted Freelance Whales Are Aiming For YouPosted by Lux in Album Reviews, Featured Bands, Folk, Indie, Pop, Songs, Upcoming Tour, Video
Freelance Whales released their sweet and honest debut album in September of 2009, but audiences are still getting acquainted with this tenderhearted quintet from Brooklyn. Frontman Judah Dadone (lead vocals, banjo, acoustic and electric guitar, synthesizer, bass) drew on inspiration for the band’s name from a near drowning incident in the Sea of Galilee when growing up in Jerusalem. He was seeking to grasp a rock to prove that he reached the bottom, but found it difficult to regain the surface. The Israeli fisherman who pulled him out called him in Hebrew a “freedom whale”, which then metamorphosed into the increasingly familiar name. The reference to the musical mammal and the gesture to a do-it-yourself attitude ties Dadone together with bandmates Doris Cellar (bass, harmonium, glockenspiel, synthesizer, vocals) (lead vocals, banjo, acoustic and electric guitar, synthesizer, bass), Chuck Criss (banjo, bass, synthesizer, glockenspiel, harmonium, acoustic and electric guitar, vocals), Jacob Hymn (drums, percussion, vocals), and Kevin Read (acoustic and electric guitar, glockenspiel, mandolin, synthesizer, vocals). The members of Freelance Whales found each other through friends of friends and through Craigslist in 2008 as a result of Judah Dadone’s posts aimed at musicians who might fill his imagined sounds on unusual instruments. The band further bonded at a remote, eerie, abandoned farm colony on Staten Island where a friend suggested they videotape a performance. This late 2008 evening marked the first time the 5 brought their acoustic instruments together and performances throughout the mazes of NYC subway system evolved from the experience. The collective honed their sound almost exclusively on the stages and subway platforms of New York City. At 2009′s end, the band journeyed on their first tour supporting the highly-orchestrated, swelling indie pop of London’s Fanfarlo. Several crowded performances at SXSW brought the band’s buzz to new heights after Spin named them one of 50 “Must Hear Bands at SXSW” and NPR simultaneously referred to them as “a band to watch this year” after a live appearance on All Songs Considered. 2010 saw an April re-release of Weathervanes on both Frenchkiss and Mom + Pop, the later which houses hot indie sensations Sleigh Bells, Metric, Tokyo Police Club, and Ingrid Michaelson. “Generator ^ First Floor” and “Broken Horse” were heard on NBC’s Chuck and the CW’s One Tree Hill. Soon audiences found Freelance Whales on tour with Bear in Heaven, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Shout Out Louds, and Tokyo Police Club. Weathervanes is beautifully poetic and full of pastel imagery that somehow make stories of ghosts and nightmares enchanting. “Generator ^ First Floor” begins the bundle of storied tales which wrap the listener tightly for the album’s 46 minute duration. Dadone softly sings, “We’re finding every day several ways that we could be friends, And in our native language we are chanting ancient songs, And when we quiet down the house chants on without us.” This youthful optimism reveals the core of Weathervanes. “Hannah’s” chorus tempts the artful dreamer by calling “if you’re attracted to the night sky, if you’re vaguely attracted to rooftops”. “Location” follows Dadone searching for his ghostly sweetheart with mood filled lyrics contrasted with honeyed harmonies and hopeful banjo strums within the interludes. “Starring” is reminiscent of Ben Gibbard’s Postal Service with its infusion of electronics and synths mixed with Dadone’s soft vocals creating an electro pop gem with rolling choruses and a banjo solo to briefly interrupt the electric flow. mp3: Freelance Whales – Location The poetic story within “Broken Horse” follows the animal’s wintertime journey away from confinement with haunting, intertwining, and overlapping vocals. “Danse Flat” is strangely sparse and slightly spooky as it lures the listener into the depths of a deserted house with the sweet tune of a music box turning. “We Could Be Friends”‘s powerful ascending guitar lines, keyboard meanderings, and rock beats lift the song’s luscious lyrics, “I am convinced that we should be friends, We compare our hearts to things that fly, But cannot land.” mp3: Freelance Whales – We Could Be Friends Throughout Weathervanes, Freelance Whales make the most of each moment where vocals are absent to imbue the sound with numerous effects, xylophone tinklings, and atmospheric murmurings. The songs rest among similar tones, which create a sweet whole while deeper listens allow the distinctions to settle in. Most of these differences lie within lyrics crafted from Dadone’s childhood memories and dream journals. Freelance Whales is currently on their 3rd U.S. tour following summer performances at Sasquatch! and Lollapalooza. Try not to miss them before they rise to another level and the intimacy now to be gained is gone. Remaining Fall Tour dates… Mon, Nov 27th – Hi-Dive / Denver, CO Download Weathervanes through iTunes
Nov
22
2010
Bear Hands Release Hypnotic Debut LPPosted by Lux in Album Reviews, Electro, Indie, Pop, Songs, Upcoming Tour, Video
Brooklyn-based indie-rockers Bear Hands have been working the scene since they emerged in 2006 and broke out as a New York buzz band in 2007, after the release of their debut EP. Four year straight at CMJ and three years at SXSW plus opening slots for a number of influential indie artists have provided them fresh fans along the way, but the release of their first LP, Burning Bush Supper Club (Cantora Records, 2010) is the long-awaited piece solidifying the band’s locale on the indie map. Bloggers went crazy for the album’s two singles, “Crime Pays” and “What A Drag”. The full record was released into the atmosphere on November 2nd. Like fellow labelmates MGMT, Bear Hand formed as a result of their Wesleyan University connection. All four members graduating from the Connecticut school. TJ Orscher (drums/vocals) and Val Loper (bass/percussion) used to be members of an emo hardcore band called In Pieces. In August of 2006, Rau (vocals/guitar/keyboard), arguably one of their biggest fans, asked the two to flesh out some of his musical ideas and record a demo with him. The three rapidly realized that there was potential for a band and Bear Hands was born. Ted Feldman (guitar/percussion) joined soon after to fill out the sound. The four members of Bear Hands grew up listening to punk music and together meld those young influences into their driving, melodic, and vocal rock heavy explorations. The band’s quirky, hook-filled new record is filled with distorted, reverb heavy guitar lines, pulsing beats, and Rou’s soulful falsetto. His gritty, strangely melodic vocals bring up comparisons to Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock and MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden. Abstract lyrics also form the basis of BBSS and lend to its artfulness. “Tablasaurus”’s cryptic lines meld with layers of sound atop a hypnotic tabla sample. The album ebbs and flows between atmospheric tracks like the deeply textured “Wicksey Boxing” and the slow-building “Julien” and rock-heavy screamers like “Blood and Treasure”. “What A Drag”, the album’s standout pop track, contains solid images that tease and pull you until the song’s infectious chorus about her “goddamn long nails” forcefully hits. mp3: Bear Hands – What a Drag The band’s sound has evolved since the release of the Golden EP in 2007. The band’s early instrumentation was founded upon two guitars, bass and drums. Since then, the songs have become more danceable and rhythmically oriented with additions of keyboards, samplers and programmed drums. This was partly due to the influence of Chuck Brody (Lykke Li, Santigold) who produced both albums. Over the past three years, Bear Hands has opened for a long list of indie sensations including MGMT, Vampire Weekend, The XX, Les Savy Fav and has toured across North American and Europe with Passion Pit, Obits, We Were Promised Jet Packs, Hockey, Manic Street Preachers, and Mayer Hawthorne and The County. Dylan Rau was classmates at Wesleyan with MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, who selected Bear Hands on numerous occasions to be one of their opening acts. Bear Hand’s shows are known to be deeply powerfully and sonically textured. Stop by the Larimer Lounge to catch them live on Wednesday, November 24th. The band will be finishing up their fall tour at locales across the midwest and northeast through mid December. 11/24 – Larimer Lounge, Denver, CO
“What A Drag” You’ve got them long nails, I’m dreaming of your god damn long nails. Listening is really just a valueless deed. You’ve got them long nails, I’m dreaming of your god damn long nails. Download Burning Bush Supper Club through iTunes
In love with these tracks… mp3: The Drums – When I Come Home Zip File – Latest Loves Mix for u Tags: Bear Hands, Broken Social Scene, Skybox, Sufjan Stevens, The Drums, Wild Nothing
Nov
09
2010
Ego vs Id’s Stunning Debut Album, Taste (Streaming on Lux)Posted by Lux in Album Reviews, Colorado, Favorites, Featured Bands, Indie, Songs
Ego vs Id will release their stunning debut this month, a tour de force that will no doubt put them on the map. It is hard not to fall for the band’s passion and fury filled version of guitar driven rock. With bold songs about love and pain, Ego vs Id strikes the heart with a sustaining blow. The band is equally as talented as other acclaimed rock bands gaining notoriety this year including These United States, Ha Ha Tonka, and Free Energy. The door is swinging wide open. The band formed in the foothills town of Boulder, Colorado in 2007. Robbie Stiefel (guitar, bass, vocals) and Jesse Parmet (bass, guitar, vocals) began playing together as kids while growing up in the same suburb on the outskirts of Washington DC. The two were always waiting to find just the right crew to form a band. Jesse moved to Boulder after finishing his degree at the Berklee School of Music in Boston to reunite the duo and the golden dream was finally realized. Robbie met Nate Cook (guitar, vocals) one night at 7-Eleven during Cook’s stint on the graveyard shift. The next day the two played for a few hours trading songs. The band’s first show was at Trilogy in Boulder just two weeks later. Nick Cobbet (drums), the final missing piece of this evolving puzzle, joined the band this summer. Brian Dillon is credited with drumming on the album. The process of writing and recording Taste was quite cathartic for the band. The four combined their energy and emotion in an attempt to create a piece of work that gets better with each listen, inspires one to take it in in its entirety, that takes the listener on a journey. They succeeded with full marks. The band began recording the album at the Sky Trail Productions studio on a large format SSL analogue board in January 2009 and it finally now reaches our ears. Of the album’s engineer and co-producer, Chris Wright, Stiefel notes, “He likes things thick but also enjoys open space. The recording console in conjunction with Chris’s recording techniques account for almost 95% of why the record sounds the way it does.” The moving tracks that fill Taste simply sound good. Sunny “All American Love” is filled with shiny guitar riffs and sugary pop choruses. Witty lines like “we’ll inhale work and exhale rent” pervade and promptly draw attention to the band’s adeptness with words. “Lenny Bruce” is a stand out track offering stark images, gorgeous guitar intricacies, and reveals the band’s electric synergy as they roll and explode into the song’s closing notes. The depth of Stiefel’s vocals plead you to listen and it’s hard to resist that smooth tenderness and dexterity.
Taste‘s exquisite production, musical texture, and lyrical finesse continue to draw one in track after track. “Tennessee Honey” is filled with mysterious musings of a bad boy and the guitar riffs speak the same. “Landmine” and “Diamond” blast forward in true stadium rock form with wailing guitars awash with sex appeal. Cook and Stiefel howl like many rock gods before them have done. On “Jenny” EVI draw on the bounce of 50′s rock and at moments I feel as though I’m within a Rilo Kiley tune. The slow crooner “Game I’m In” is soft, sultry, and endlessly gorgeous. The chorus stays with you long after the track ends. “Cause maybe we can’t win, maybe we can’t win, oh that’s a hard way to live. ” EVI’s debut will be released on their newly founded label, Abattoir Records, on November 16th. Says Stiefel, “We have a lot of things that we would like to do differently from others in the industry, things that most other folks in the industry seem to be getting wrong. I think the fans will notice this and appreciate it. We start by asking ourselves what we think the listener will want, what the music fan will want, and we build things from there. We’re going to be breaking some rules here and I think that it’s going to set a new standard for what a band along with their label can do.” Taste will be available digitally via iTunes and Amazon and at several independent records stores including Albums on the Hill (Boulder) and Twist and Shout (Denver). Ego vs Id’s CD Release event will be held at The Speakeasy in Boulder on Friday, November 19th. Tickets are available online through the band’s site. Ego vs Id are kings of choruses, walls of sound, and polished production. They make rock new and relevant. Get ready to watch their career progress. Ego vs Id are fully teeming with potential. Taste (2010) streaming in its entirety…
Nov
06
2010
Weezer Announce Free Energy and Best Coast to Support “Memories” TourPosted by Lux in Indie, Pop, Songs, Upcoming Tour, Video
If you are a Weezer fan, the fact that the band will make 2-day stops in 5 major U.S. cities to lay down both of their first two albums is alone an thrilling notion. The So-Cal rock outfit will perform its self-titled debut, also referred to as “The Blue Album,” on the first night of each tour stop, and its sophomore release, the cult favorite Pinkerton, on the second night. The band will also play other material from its catalog after performing each album in its entirety. Add in tour support by both Best Coast and Free Energy and the elation expands. Best Coast is affable live but Free Energy’s shows are an explosive rock punch. The Philly band has made a name for themselves in 2010 playing SXSW and touring nationwide with artists including Titus Andronicus, Delta Spirit, and Ra Ra Riot. The band is tight, wide-eyed, and brimming with enthusiasm. They diligently offer power-pop and sunny, guitar driven anthems that are pure, non-stop fun. Free Energy’s debut album, Stuck On Nothing (March 2010), was produced by none other than LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy. And on top of it all, Rolling Stone named them in March one of the best new bands of 2010. On October 22, frontman Rivers Cuomo announced on the Weezer forum that Best Coast would open the L.A. shows, and that Free Energy would support Weezer in Boston and New York. “I love these bands!” wrote Cuomo. Best Coast leader Bethany Cosentino and Cuomo also recently collaborated on a track that is yet to be released. Weezer Tour Dates: 11-26 Los Angeles, CA – Gibson Amphitheatre * * with Best Coast mp3: Free Energy – Bang Pop Free Energy Website | MySpace Best Coast Website | MySpace
Oct
20
2010
Phoenix: “Rome” (Neighbours and Devendra Banhart Remix)Posted by Lux in Favorites, Featured Bands, Folk, Indie, Pop, Songs
Rather in love with this track. Ironic in that at the core it feels quite heavy-hearted. As another writer aptly put it, “If you’ve ever stared broken-hearted from a train window as frowning forests fly by then you already know what it sounds like.” (Pinglewood) Phoenix’s buoyant, soaring track turns into something rather bittersweet. The resounding melancholy mood is soft and subtle. The elegant remix lingers in the bridge, poignantly resting on few lyrics to bring out the essence of the song. And that is what Banhart has accomplished. He struck the emotional spirit of the song making this rendering arguably better that the first. mp3: Phoenix – Rome (Neighbours and Devendra Banhart Remix) Always and forevermore I’ve never loved you
Oct
07
2010
El Guincho’s Underwater Pop / “Bombay” VideoPosted by Lux in Album Reviews, Dance, Electro, Indie, Songs, Video
As El Guicho explains at the beginning of his new video, we are about to journey to “explore the cosmos in a ship of our imagination… [and] the ship will take us to worlds of dreams.” This video must be the visualization of Díaz-Reixa’s dream world. He launches a golden cassette tape off a cliff and takes us on a psychotropic trip filled with innumerable bare breasts, sexual innuendos, a woman lighting a cigarette from a match poised in a bird’s beak, the murder of a stuffed panda, a beauty painted entirely in gold and many things purely unexplainable. The video is stimulating and complex, the song familiar albeit futuristic. The piece serves as the trailer for a film that shares the name “Bombay” and evokes filmmaker Nicolás Mendez’s interpretation of El Guincho’s 2nd release, Pop Negro. It begins with El Guincho playing astronomer and astrophysicist Carl Sagan, parodying Sagan’s idiosyncratic documentary style, and ends with the expected, more beautiful bare breasts.
EL GUINCHO | Bombay from MGdM | Marc Gómez del Moral on Vimeo. Spanish musician Pablo Díaz-Reixa is El Guincho. He spent his early days on the Canary Isles, alienated from the 80s pop culture. Primarily a boy of the beach and the ocean, he eventually discovered his passion for film and music, which he then nurtured in Paris and Barcelona. The resulting sound infuses styles as disparate as Animal Collective and Os Mutantes and relies heavily on interlocking samples, auto-harmonizing pop choruses, and heavily syncopated beats. Díaz-Reixa describes his music, imbued with island sounds, the bouyancy of tropicalia, and pop precision, as “space-age exotica”. His breakthrough record, Alegranza (2008), launched the Spanish artist high into the indie music blogosphere and sent him to perform several highly anticipated shows at Austin’s SXSW. “Bombay” is off Díaz-Reixa’s recent release, Pop Negro (2010). His second album, like the first, is a mix of afro-beat percussion, world music samples, uptempo beats, and exotic production. Díaz-Reixa began producing the album shortly after the release of Alegranza and it became 18-months in the making. Three months into the recording process, at Berlin’s infamous Planet Roc studio, Díaz-Reixa returned to the Canary Islands to serve as a wind surfing instructor in order to raise the money to justly finish the project. Take a listen… mp3: El Guincho – Bombay – Pop Negro (2010) Díaz-Reixa has extended his reach into a variety of other projects, including adding music to Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, performing with his rock band, Coconot, and working in Spanish film and television. El Guincho appears in the U.S. this week with two L.A. dates (Oct 7 – The Standard Hotel and Oct 8 – Spaceland) and one in San Francisco (Oct 9 – Elbo Room)! Tags: Alegranza, El Guincho, Pop Negro
This summer I was whisked away on the festival circuit leaving little time to share what’s been exciting my ears. That likely hurt me more than it hurt you. But I’m back to reflect on what is coming out now and to make sure that you are hearing it as well. As I get the gears revolving, here are a few tunes which caught me this summer… mp3: ceo – Come With Me mp3: Elite Gymnastics – If U Love Me mp3: Jenny and Johnny – Big Wave mp3: Evan Voytas – Sad, Like Hearts Can Be mp3: The Tallest Man On Earth – Like the Wheel Tags: Ceo, Elite Gymnastics, Evan Voytas, Jenny and Johnny, The Tallest Man On Earth |
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