
Each week we take a listen to some of the top songs from elbows, review them and then give our selection of alternative tracks that we believe should be getting more recognition Zookeeper "I Live in the Mess You Are" This song has a slight country twinge to it, a little jangly and do I hear some slide guitar? I love the pained vocals of this song, his voice seems like he is on the edge of shouting every verse but holds back a little bit. [...]

Zookeeper es el nombre que ha elegido Chris Simpson, el ex miembro de Mineral y The Gloria Record, para su nuevo proyecto en solitario. Su primer lanzamiento es un Ep que contiene estas dos canciones. * Zookeeper-I Live In The Mess You Are * Zookeeper-Tax Collector

>> Longtime readers may recall this post from November expressing surprise at encountering YouTube footage of excellent second-wave emo juggernaut Mineral . The band's 1996 release The Power Of Failing received much play in our old silver Volvo in our final year of undergraduate study. We were equally surprised to get an email reporting that former Mineral (and Gloria Record ) fronter Chris Simpson has returned to the world of music after a bit of a hiatus with a new and surprisingly rootsier project called Zookeeper . We've got links to [...]
Happy Independence Day! I almost took the day off but I decided to share an EP with you instead. It doesn't feature as much commentary as normal, but it does have just as much great music. Enjoy. Ladyslipper, Zookeeper, The Special Pillow, Poison Control Center, The Moths Please visit the site for more commentary and downloadable songs.
Zookeeper's new song, I Live In The Mess You Are, has a very interesting folk/indie sound. The beginning features an old out of tune piano, some country guitars, and I think I even heard some slide! The chorus on this song is so simple, but it makes the heavens part! Chris Simpson is the man behind Zookeeper, which seems to be a trend these days (look at Iron and Wine ). Simpson has been in his fair share of bands, mostly in the late 90's. But he has now moved on to better things. His first self titled EP [...]

Chris Simpson used to front a couple bands in the late 90s (Mineral and The Gloria Record) that I'd never heard of. They don't exist anymore, which is probably dissapointing for the other band members, but that seems fine for Chris. He's been working on his own material for teh last few years, and it's all beginning to see the light of day--and by golly, what a light it makes. Under the name Zookeeper, Simpson is set to release a self-titled EP featuring some of the jangliest, loose-limbed pop music of the year so far. In [...]
If you're familiar with indie bands Mineral and The Gloria Record, then you might want to pay attention. Chris Simpson isn't doing that anymore. Yes, gone are the days of emolitious poop, with a new ground of intelligent rock to...
Earvolution will roll into Nashville on July 14th for what looks like will be the beginning of a "Nashville Nights" series. The first show will be at the French Quarter Cafe and will feature six acts: The Go Show (who are also playing Summerfest this week in Milwaukee), The Incredible Heat Machine , Brett Rosenberg , Mountain Man , Micah Tawlks and Jessica Maros . More details on these artists next week. Kaki King is one of the feature performers at this year's URB ALT Festival. The show, July 7th [...]
Tracks we talked about this past week: Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf Sea Wolf - The Garden That You Planted Tim Bluhm - California Way Frank Smith - Throwing Rocks White Rabbits - The Plot White Rabbits - Kid on My Shoulders Ryan Adams - Two Ryan Adams - Everybody Knows [...]
photo credit steven cohen @ music photography i thank the big baby jesus above that the day of infamy, the iphone release date, has passed. now, we must wade through extended, see bullshit, coverage of said device at just about every tech website imaginable - most notably two of my favorites, engadget and gizmodo. [...]
Influential songwriter and former Mineral/The Gloria Record member, Chris Simpson, has released samples of his latest project, Zookeeper. The songs are from the upcoming self-titled EP slated for release in October via the Bellecitypop label. You can download the tracks "I Live in the Mess You Are" and "Tax Collector" below while you can stream [...]

This is doing my heart good. Listening to Whiskey Go Go's debut album "Proud Tales To Them Of Us" is putting a smile on my face. It is good time music with heart and soul and passion. They are probably sick of the comparison but the similarities to Kings Of Leon are striking. But I think that is a good thing. Some of these songs growl and rumble, some delight and many flat out rock. "It's life," Matt says. "I sing about what I know and feel. People wear so many masks today. But I don't want anything [...]

I can't take credit for saying that, although the phrase "naked rock and roll" is quite awesome if I do say so myself. The folks promoting Chris Simpson's band " Zookeeper " are the people who came up with that clever quip. The recently released Zookeeper EP and an upcoming LP Becoming All Things which will be releasing this fall via Belle City Pop, boasts a supporting cast of musicians comprised of the old (former Mineral and Gloria Record members) and the new (indie-folk artist Alex [...]

Chris Simpson gerði það nokkuð gott í upphafi síðasta áratugs síðustu aldar með sveitum eins og Mineral og The Gloria Record . Lítið hefur heyrst frá kappanum síðan þessar sveitir lögðu upp laupana en er nú mættur aftur undir nafninu Zookeeper og með samnefnda dúndur EP plötu undir hendinni. Chris hefur greinilega nýtt tímann vel og eru lagasmíðar hans til vitnis um að síðustu ár hafa farið í að fínpússa hið nakta og hráa ruslpopp sem hann býður uppá í dag. Ég er allavega heillaður og vill heyra meira. [MP3] Zookeeper - [...]

Zookeeper Genre: Indie / Melodramatic Popular Song From: Austin, Texas, United States Chris Simpson has always been something of a virtuoso when it comes to songwriting. So it should come as no surprise that the former frontman for influential late 90s' bands Mineral and The Gloria Record [...]
While not far flung from his previous work, Zookeeper still shows a natural maturation for Simpson (ex-Gloria Record), who expands his sound while retaining elements that made his previous bands so memorable.