Blog: PeerValidated

The details are a little bit fuzzy, but at some point, someplace, for some reason, Shane Leonard of Kalispell talked to The Daredevil Christopher Wright's Jason Sunde. It was somehow recorded and then put onto the world wide web via DCW's Web site. From the discussion - J:  What if we really were under a bridge right now? What would you do? S:  I'd feel pretty nervous, I think. It's just that I'm supposed to get home right away after work... Obviously riveting stuff. [...]

Hold that note out, Jeremy! Stereogum is streaming S. Carey's new EP, Hoyas , right now. For you people who don't know what that means - you can actually listen to the whole thing. It's like a listening party, but you're all alone in your bedroom. Like always. Listen to the song "Two Angels," below, then head on over to the stream for three more songs!

Chromatics - Kill for Love Chromatics - Kill For Love Chromatics started in Portland a long time ago and had a noisy lo-fi punk sound. Then it ended. Then it came back with a hipper new-wave blend of rock and pop. Now it's better than it was before. Kill For Love, the album, is a bit of a roller coaster, running through loops of excited dance-pop bliss at times, and then diving into slow, plodding tracks of depression. Kill For Love, the song, is [...]

• Chromatics - Kill for Love

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Baseball season is upon us as an early spring air blowing through the half-cracked door to our left has sparked us with the possibility of some kind of awakening tonight, but then someone decides to start singing rap songs from the corner booth. It’s only one of many contradictory events of the evening. I’m talking with duo Eric Christiansen and Thom Fountain of Wisconsin Built late at night just before the release show of their new album, Rest Less, this Thursday at the House of Rock. “Is that Fitty?” Eric Christensen asks about the tune hummed across the [...]

“Unwanted Dogs,” was originally written years ago after a good friend came out to his family and friends. The occasion most importantly marked a joyous event in his life, but the greatest affect his announcement had on me came in recognizing that he had lived a very long time in hiding and possibly in fear. A part of his life was forced to a kind of confinement that I couldn’t quite relate to, but found myself thinking a lot about. A reason and inspiration to record the song was presented when music was needed for a one-act production of the Tennessee [...]

Adelyn Rose released Mezzanine , their first full length earlier this month and their reverberations are still creating ripples in the state’s seismography, causing minor geologic disturbances, effecting most severely (for some reason) a rural area about 40 miles west of Green bay know as Clintonville . “Never Get Tired” is a centerpiece of the album, and not just because it’s catchy and located snugly within the record’s midsection.  The song also bears within its lyrics the album’s name sake.  The title “Mezzanine” - if its meaning is to be taken as a kind of middle [...]

There are many parallels between Perfume Genius ’s Mike Hadreas and the eccentric alt. pop star Rufus Wainwright .  Both are singer songwriters possessing exquisite voices, well-honed songwriting chops, and a penchant for making music that often appears deeply, painfully, personal. While Wainwright has clearly been steeping in more classical pop traditions, Hadreas has absorbed more from relatively recent movements in alternative/indie rock culture.  “All Waters” – which can be found on the recently released Put Your Back N 2 It - exemplifies this more modern tack with its minimalist arrangement and liberal use [...]

Director James Cameron recently became the 3 rd human in history to explore firsthand the nebulous depths of the Mariana Trench .  Despite the hope that he might encounter creatures strange and terrifying, what he found instead was a mostly barren landscape populated only by tiny, harmless, shrimp-like beings. It may be that we can’t actually will sea monsters and the like into existence, but Pop. 1280’s The Horror is a product of the same kind of twisted imagination that wishes that we could.  And like the alien forms that still may [...]

Mezzanine is the debut full-length release from Eau Claire's rapidly maturing Adelyn Rose, and a significant milestone for a young group that has undergone dramatic personnel and sound changes over the past two years. What started as lo-fi "acoustic & vocals" folk, has now developed into lush, mature arrangements - even incorporating some synth laden pop-rock (see "Collisions"). The group definitely brought their A-Game on their big night, treating the crowd to a flawless performance, definitely winning some new fans. Watch for the group to continue to play more local shows and possibly tour this year. Adelyn [...]

These fellas were able to produce a studio sound live, and it was amazing. They recently released Fake Mistakes: Remixes (which features a remix S. Carey, among others) is available at a pay-what-you-want price until March 13th at the Amble Down's online store .   Click photos to view.

The Island of Dr. Lee preforming at the Mousetrap in February Jaime Hansen has been active in the Eau Claire musical community for several years.  Often his contributions have occurred behind the scenes - he's engineered and mixed for a number of prominent artists in the area, including work on the much beloved Amateur Love's only official release It's All Aquatic .   More recently we've seen him step out from behind the curtain and into the world of performance, playing bass for the trip-metal group The Ronald Raygun.  His new project is [...]

The Small Cities' new album With Fire is due to drop on March 3 and if you can make the release show (@ the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in St. Paul on the same date) you'll be treated to appearances by Zoo Animal and No Bird Sing as well.  In the following interview, drummer/vocalist David Osborn talks about the making of the album, working with the ever affable Brian Moen (who produced), and the preternatural allure of fire. And if you can't wait until March 3, the entire album is streaming on their site right now. [...]

Saturday night’s production was refreshingly thoughtful and unpretentious as far as rock shows go. I wouldn’t go so far as to call the afternoon quiet because there were plenty of head-bob inducing moments (Daredevil Christopher Wright’s “A Conversation About Cancer” is always a raucous endeavor), but there was a distinct lack of the kind of pelvis-pummeling psyche-enveloping bombast you might expect from such an event. Instead, the music seemed to strike an accord with the space in which it found itself, rather than trying to take it over. Kalispell, project of local musician Shane Leonard, were the first [...]

The WUEC folks have done it again; we are on the verge of another day-long indie rock concert featuring local and regional bands, which is most importantly, an all-ages show . Sure, we did have to abandon the ghost that is The Stone's Throw to keep it that way, but while I would do plenty to see the likes of Daredevil Christopher Wright and Zoo Animal beckon the phoenix from the ashes, I would do plenty more to ensure the seeds of Eau Claire's future music culture were properly sewn. That's right, The Daredevil Christopher Wright are [...]

When he’s not busy pounding drums for multiple-Grammy-winning Bon Iver, Sean Carey also writes and records his own tunes. Beautiful, lush tunes, under the moniker S. Carey. Since releasing his debut LP, All We Grow, on August 24, 2010, Sean has been quite the busy man. Despite embarking on multiple tours, both in support of All We Grow with the Tallest Man on Earth, and that other little band Sean is involved with – Bon Iver – he still somehow managed to find the time to write a few new tracks. S. [...]

Hope. The finality and open-endedness of the word set the tone for Meridene's farewell show at the House of Rock last Saturday, a cold night in the beginning of February. Not long ago, Meridene had parted ways (seemingly for good), members of Laarks vanished into the anonymity of larger cities, and The Heart Pills looked as if they might live on the laurels of their first handful of tunes for years to come. Saturday night turned all of this on its head as The Heart Pills took the stage, opening with new songs and powerful, confident renditions of [...]

T Carl Ives has been gracing our local stages here in Eau Claire for the better part of the last decade.  Last Saturday, he took the stage for the last time as the lead singer of Meridene (it was incredible!) but Trevor has new projects upcoming and is by no means disappearing from our local music scene.  Phew!  So keep an eye out for Trevor's new project(s) as we head further into 2012, and in the meantime, check out Mr. Ives' list of his favorite albums of 2011. Fucked Up [...]

The last time The Shins put out an album the following was still true:  Heath Ledger was alive, the Emergency Stabilization Act was an absurdity resting in the comfortably distant future, and Aaron Rodgers had not played a single game as the Packer's starting QB.  The year was 2007, the album was the successful but underrated  Wincing the Night Away .  We haven't heard much from the band in the five years since (with the exception of Broken Bells - James Mercer's collaboration with Danger Mouse) so the upcoming Port of Morrow  is something of an occasion for us [...]

February 4th, 2012 - The Heart Pills, Do It Yourself Daisy, Chaos Revolution Theory and The Blue Room filled the bill for a benefit concert in support of WHYS Radio 96.3 FM. "WHYS Radio is an independent, progressive, community radio station operating out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. WHYS is a volunteer-operated, non-commercial radio station financed by listener, donor, and non-profit grant support." Tune in and visit their website for a solid mix of local programming.