This morning, my car sits packed to its dear 2001 Sentra gills. I am heading off into the southwestern climes of the United States, across six states with my seven year-old, a stack of good music and audiobooks, and a hankering for the open road. We'll hit Mesa Verde, see family in Phoenix, sun in San Diego, attend a Dodgers-Padres game (so I can teach him to properly boo LA), camp along the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and stay in various KOA cabins along the way. We plan on s'mores and stargazing, and maybe finding a swimming hole [...]
Apex Manor drops The Year of Magical Drinking You may remember Pasadena's Ross Flournoy & Adam Vine as the driving forces behind THE BROKEN WEST, well they've regrouped and have created something shining now as APEX MANOR , and released ' The Year Of Magical Drinking ' on Merge Records back at the end of January, with production work by our buddy Dan Long (Local Natives, Film School). We're also thrilled to have them headlining the May RUMBLE: LOS ANGELES party on May 5th at The Echo. [...]
Download: The Broken West - Back In Your Head (Tegan And Sara Cover)
Ross Flournoy has gone by many different monikers since he started making music. He started a band named the Brokedown whom, for legal reasons, changed their name to The Broken West . After a couple of great albums, the group disbanded which led to his current musical project, Apex Manor . Names may change, but the thing that's stayed the same is his uncanny ability to match an infectious melody with charging, guitar-heavy power-pop. If Summerteeth is one of your favorite Wilco albums, you'll love this dude's stuff. First single "Under the Gun" is [...]
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars So what do you do if you’re Ross Flournoy and your band has just finished their productions as a group? Keep writing songs and diving further into the musical world, of course. In 2009, when The Broken West ceased existing, Flournoy continued his work alongside former band mate Brian Whelan, and also his new roommate Adam Vine— thus creating Apex Manor , a new group for him to belong to. The result is a power pop bang of goodness that will have [...]
As evidenced on "The Year of Magical Drinking," the new album by Apex Manor released today on Merge, songwriter Ross Flournoy doesn't turn pop music into brain surgery. It can be hard on the heart, though, and Flournoy's first post-Broken West outing effectively tugs those strings with effortless melodies and a plain-spoken sincerity that'll settle any stomachs upset by today's steady diet of cynicism and irony. The video for "My My Mind," directed by Jonathan Singer-Vine (cousin of band member Adam Vine) and shot by Rob Witt, finds our protagonist seeking healing in the desert, which, I surmise, [...]
Fans of The Broken West's sunny power-pop should take note - Apex Manor have risen from the ashes following the breakup of The Broken West in 2009. Songwriter Ross Flournoy got his groove back while writing a song to submit to an NPR songwriting contest (seriously), and began writing new songs at a feverish clip. He recorded the songs with help of fellow Broken West bandmate Brian Whelan. That first song was "Under The Gun", which you can stream/download below. If you were a fan of The Broken West (which I was) or Merge labelmates Telekinesis, [...]
One of Quick before it Melts' early crushes was The Broken West , whose two alt.country/indie rock albums for Merge Records (the excellent debut I Can't Go On I'll Go On and its follow-up, Now or Heaven ) were on heavy rotation 'round these parts back in the day (2007 and 08, respectively). So I was disheartened to read in an email from Merge that the Broken West had, er, broken up last year, but happy to hear that guitarist/vocalist Ross Flournoy has picked himself up and decided to go on recording under the name [...]
When your band calls it quits, its difficult to know precisely what to do. Luckily for Ross Flournoy, formerly of The Broken West , he's got his head on straight, heading in direction of power-pop bliss. His new outing, under the name of Apex Manor , will be releasing their d ebut, The Year of Magical Drinking , on his his old label Merge Records . The first single offers up a steady back beat, cleanly distorted guitars, and popaholic bliss. [...]
Ross Flournoy was bowed but not broken when his indie-pop band the Broken West disintegrated more than a year ago. "I had no idea what I was going to do," he said of his year of stewing, soul-searching and, eventually, songwriting. "Being on Merge , it's not like you break up your band and then you automatically get a new deal." He had sequestered himself and worked on a few new songs, "but I'd been in a bit of a funk," he says — until he read Carrie Brownstein's "Monitor Mix" column on NPR, in [...]
:: If initial reports are correct, Arcade Fire 's The Suburbs will top the Billboard charts . :: Coachella has announced dates for 2011 already. :: A 9-year-old metalhead blogger calls it pretty straight when it comes to Reign in Blood by Slayer . :: I know you want to get your hands on that new Grinderman vinyl . Just like when I was 5, and I wanted to get my hands on every Over the Top [...]
He is eight days from home and Carl Shapiro, namesake of DC-based Shapiro, can’t wait to get into his own bed. The 6-foot-2, lion-maned bassist has been sleeping in a 15-passenger van for the past month, on the road with his bandmates to spread their sound of piano-infused pop-rock with audiences in small clubs and venues all over the United States. Here is a look at the band's journey toward success and recognition.
The gulf has been plagued by some tragedies in the recent past. First Katrina and now the biggest oil spill in history. Yikes. Now that I think about it, I haven’t heard of very many bands coming out of the area either. I don’t blame them; it must be tough to make music when you have other things on your mind. Then again, there are bands like Youth Sounds that use it as a strength.
Get some sun and sip something appropriate as this Summer weekend we hail tribute to Dr. Dog and many other artists we've been meaning to keep your ears tuned to. Air Traffic released their single ... Related posts: School Of Seven Bells Set Release Date For New Album Thinking Vinyl? Think Sub Pop and Jagjaguwar Mix For The Weekend VI
Masata Matsuoka Buried - Young Coyotes All Around and Away we go - Twin Sister Looking at me - Yamama'nym Hale Sunrise - The Broken West Walking on a dream (Beaumont Remix) [...]
Raymond Richards has been something of a two-headed beast the past few years, his burgeoning duties as an up-and-coming producer at his humble garage studio forcing his singer-songwriter side to the back burner. But now Richards (whose Red Rockets Glare Studio has birthed albums by Local Natives , the Broken West and Ferraby Lionheart , among others) has kick-started his own band, the Idaho Falls . And the man who wears two hats has fashioned a beautiful triptych of an album. "The Spark," the Idaho Falls' third full-length and first in [...]
Click here to view the embedded video. Jason Segel, on the occasion of The Late Late Show ’ s 1000th episode, performs a slightly revised version of his muppet opus “Dracula’s Lament.” I checked out the show for Kristen Bell, but stayed for the puppet action. This special espisode was hosted by Wavy the Alligator. I don't know about you, but I feel like Ferguson has catapulted himself onto another level as late night host, separating himself from the pack. Also, this brings up the ginormous [...]
Music doesn't feel so much like a business to Evan Slamka these days, and the Los Angeles singer-songwriter likes it just fine. With his new quintet Square on Square , Slamka has emerged from three-plus years of personal reflection and creative regeneration that followed the dissolution of Majorie Fair , which released one excellent album ("Self Help Serenade") for Capitol Records before sinking into the major-label abyss. The music on SOS's forthcoming five-song EP, "Spectrum of Love," brims with the same keen melodicism and British Invasion shading as Slamka's previous work, except now everything — from [...]
The following bands are no longer bands: Harlem Shakes , the New York indie outfit which released Technicolor Health in March and spawned a group called Arms ; Pela , the Brooklyn indie outfit which released an album and two EPs over its six year existence; and The Broken West , the Los Angeles power pop outfit which released Now or Heaven and will now see its frontman Ross Fluourny go solo. Tissues for all!
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MP3: Daft Punk – “Horizons” (RAM Japanese Bonus Track)
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Ta-ku – “Love Lost” (Daughter Edit)
Bob Marley – LEGEND:REMIXED
