June 30, 2009
Not to be confused with Dan Bejar's labor of love, Blue Roses is the performing name of Yorkshire singer-songwriter Laura Groves. Back home, she's landed at the fertile NME/BBC/Guardian intersect of critical kudos, but things States side are set to launch with the XL release of her self-titled, self-produced debut next month. Blue Roses cites an alliterative gaggle of influences on her introspective, heart-worn folk -- "Bartók to Bush, Tiersen to Tears For Fears, Debussy to Du Maurier" -- to which you could safely add your favorite coffee shop chanteuse (Leslie, Joni, Joanna) and probably find a moment to back it up. Ultimately Laura's writing never approaches the most innovative and extreme aesthetics of her RIYL list, but she's clearly listened well, and in command of a pristine, flexible, endearing voice. Her best look comes on the sublime marimba-waltz of "Doubtful Comforts," which recalls Feist's spin with Grizzly Bear on "Service Bell" before it spreads into a line of classical, ascending intervals, and then a crackling reprise. Pair that MP3 with the open-road finger-picked folk of "I Am Leaving" for another side to her stylings.
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latest by goodwilldrums
February 25, 2009
When we gathered up our favorite artists' year-end lists No Age included Crocodiles' "Neon Jesus" as one of their top 10 "shredders" of '08: "[Crocodiles are] a great new band from San Diego. This song is a real good kinda early eighties electro punk pop jam. It is super catchy." All true, but something No Age didn't mention is that it also sounds -- in a great way -- like Velvet Underground-swinging Jesus & Mary Chain. And if you take a look at one of the sunglasses-with-attitude photos of ex-Prayers/The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower's Charles Rowland (guitar, synth) and Brandon Welchez (vocals, programming), there's more to it than just the sound. The below picture's pretty colorful, but songs like "I Wanna Kill" and "Summer Of Hate" are more shades of gray, despite the hooks (in the same way the brothers Reid can make rain, psycho candy, and darklands sounds so inviting). It also shouldn't be surprising that they've posted Crystal Stilts on their Skull Kontrol blog. Sound comparisons aside, the two recently followed fellow Southern California distortion lover Wavves, signing a two album deal with Fat Possum. The first one, Summer Of Hate, is out in May. We have No Age's beloved "Neon Jesus" along with "I Wanna Kill" and "Summer Of Hate." Dig into the feedback:
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latest by Bootyfish
February 12, 2009
Hospitality are a minimalist Brooklyn indie-pop trio fronted by Kansas City expatriate Amber Papini, who also handles guitar and piano. Her voice is immediate and unique, at times like a Mo Tucker but with stately Jesy Fortino/Tiny Viper intonations. Or Amelia Fletcher, fronting a super spare NY-based Heavenly or Talulah Gosh. She's backed by drummer (and flautist and harmonica player) Nathan Michel and singing bassist Brian Betancourt. They've been together for a couple of years, but in Betancourt's words "only recently started to get serious." If you're into electronic music, you may already know that Michel's released idiosyncratic, enjoyable records on Tigerbeat 6, Tomlab, and Sonig. Makes sense: There's a surprising (and refreshing), at times non-linearity to Hospitality's compositions -- it's pop music that doesn't take an easy way to a hook. Sometimes it feels like Michel is drumming to some jazz piece in his head. In many cases silence and space are as important as the sounds they make. On top of it all, Papini writes liyrics worth listening to and decoding. So far Hospitality's just self-released a six-song EP, produced by Karl Blau. Betancourt explains how it happened.
We met Karl Blau at a show we both happened to be playing at the Cake Shop. He heard our soundcheck and asked if he could record us in exchange for being his backing band sometime in the future. Naturally, we agreed! He recorded a few of our songs on 4 track (which became the EP) and he wrote a few songs specifically for us to play live with him, which only happened once...
No worries, they sound plenty great on their own. Take a listen for yourself: We have "Betty Wang," an instant and mysterious twee classic, and the fragile, flute-lined "Argonauts," the first two tracks from the EP.
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latest by damianfinbar
February 6, 2009
Before Amrit headed out to see Beirut at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg the other night, we knew to be on the watch for Merrill Garbus, aka tUnE-YaRdS, which is why he showed up early with a notebook. On record, Garbus's one-woman DIY workshop concocts an impressively assured sort of lo-fi World (as in World Music) pop world (as in her own secret territory) by mixing tenor ukulele, digital loops, toms, and (most importantly) a powerful, shape-shifting voice. (At her MySpace she writes that her catalog was recorded with a Sony digital voice recorder and tracked in Audacity.) At times, she's a self-contained Sublime Frequencies compilation, jumping between blues, African tunes, shiny reggae-esque sprawls, and lo-fi folk. Live? As previously noted:
By the end of the set she had six similarly face-painted people with her, harmonizing to her beatboxing, baritone sax echoing her discordant arias, pounding syncopated skins while on stage (and the venue's floor while off it).
Garbus self-released her debut Bird-Brains -- hence the feathers -- going the pay-what-you-want option. (It'll be reissued in later this year on vinyl by Marriage Records.) As an introduction, take a listen to her "Sunlight":
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latest by josephscott
February 3, 2009
After listening to any of the four tracks on Brooklyn quartet Suckers debut self-titled EP you won't be at all surprised to learn that Yeasayer's Anand Wilder produced it, along with Chris Moore (TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Think "2080" minus the kids. The group, which includes BTW Quinn Walker, constructs songs around uplifting group chants and harmonies and an at times dub-like, always joyful synth-and-percussion based instrumentation (with some bass providing the low-end, tons of shakers). Walker's joined by drummer/keyboardist Brian Aiken and fellow multi-instrumental chanters Austin Fisher and Pan. Speaking of "Pan": Scene-wise, you wouldn't be off placing them square in the colorful, fertile circle of MGMT, Chairlift, and Amazing Baby. Just look at how they're dressed. Now look past that and listen:
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Tags: Quinn Walker | Suckers | Yeasayer
latest by Nylund
January 29, 2009
The Rayographs are a UK trio. At first listen they're reminiscent of Grace Slick working with the Breeders, but they tap into a dark psychedelia that's quite different than the sounds created by the sisters Deal. A closer approximation would be a piano-free White Magic. It's lame to affix a bunch of female comparisons to an all-female band, but the comparisons fit (as does a mention of Patti Smith, sorry). To move beyond that, though, and deeper into the Rayographs themselves, the band's made up of guitarist/vocalist Astrud Steehouder, bassist/vocalist Jessamine Tierney, and drummer/sometime vocalist Amy Hurst. The three create a dark, intense, rollicking sound, but the real hook is Steehouder's voice. It's where the Grace Slick comparison comes into play. Check out her repetitions of "everyone needs a heroine" in "Green Light" or the power she puts into "Hidden Doors."
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latest by n!k
January 27, 2009
The Norwegian band I Was A King is the brainchild of Frode Strømstads. The new self-titled album, which follows 2007's Losing Something Good for Something Better, features Serena-Maneesh's Emil Nikolaisen on bass, drums and a co-production credit, alongside guest spots from Sufjan Stevens, Danielson and Ladybug Transistor, among others. But even without "star" contributions, the 15 tracks add up to pleasingly dense, tuneful, and ambitious batch of psychedelic power pop. The layers of sound will likely appeal to fans of Olivia Tremor Control as much as older tastes a la Strawberry Alarm Clock. (There's a song about "Golden Years" and some of this is vintage.) Teenage Fanclubbers might also want to pay attention; and, after listening to the burnt guitar soloing, you'll understand why Strømstads has Dinosaur Jr. in his Top 8. Today (1/27) I Was A King released a 7"/digital single for "Norman Bleik" and the piano-fronted "It's All You" (which includes one of Sufjan's guest turns). You can take a listen to "Norman Bleik" here.
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Tags: I Was A King | Serena-Maneesh | Sufjan Stevens
latest by Moose
January 23, 2009
The words after the backslash at their MySpace are "Let's Rock The Beach," but Real Estate are more about the lovably down-and-out Jersey Shore than a pristine Caribbean. The quartet mention Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood NY, Jersey City, and Brooklyn as their location (that's two out of four, which counts), the Boss and "New Jersey" itself as influences. On top of that, their MySpace Top 8 includes Titus Andronicus and the Ridgewood, NJ Real Estater Matt Mondanile also records as Ducktails, and therein has a song called "Beach Point Pleasant." So, see, we're making shit up with that Jersey Shore claim. Beyond geography, songs like "Suburban Beverage" mix languid psychedelia, muted vocals, a boomy undertow of drums, and jammy repetitions that somehow conjure fellow Garden State crew the Feelies (then again, that could just be because of how they look). It makes sense they mention the Clean as an influence, less so the Beach Boys, unless it's about the sand. Maybe it's best to call it a sunsetting, less ethereal Galaxie 500, but before it gets too dark. Or ignore our descriptions and see for yourself: We have a demo of "Fake Blues" -- which will show up in a different, in the band's eyes "better" version as the A-side of a TBA second 7" and debut full length -- along with "Black Lake" and "Suburban Beverage," the A-side of their soon to be released first 7".
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Tags: Ducktails | Real Estate
latest by Lou Reed
