Dustin O'Halloran Piano Solos Vol. 2 Label: Filter U.S. This week, L.A./Italy's Dustin O'Halloran, co-founder of the uber-beautiful Devics , released an instrumental work - aptly titled, Piano Solos Vol. 2 . As you can guess, it's filled with solos of the piano variety and is the second collection of such. Not having heard Vol. 1, we had no frame of reference, and it just didn't matter. After relocating to a quaint Italian village from his California roots, it's [...]
Captain Black Heart Captain Black Heart Label: Fifty8 Records Buy at iTunes Music Store MP3: " Needle " (MP3, 192kbps) The Baldwin Brothers Return of the Golden Rhodes Label: TVT Records BUY THIS ALBUM MP3: " Leave the Past Behind " (MP3, 192kbps) the [...]
Cold War Kids Robbers and Cowards Label: Downtown Release Date: October 10, 2006 Indie rock music is at a crossroads right this very minute. Everyone's ripping off Modest Mouse, the Decemberists are on a major label and Death Cab stopped trying to be original two albums ago. But in the meantime, here come Fullerton, California's Cold War Kids, with their bluesy take on indie rock. By mixing a little Fiona Apple, gypsy voodoo and a little White Blood Cells into [...]
Lost in Yonkers Neil Simon Guthrie Theater We highly enjoyed Friday's Guthrie Theater presentation of Neil Simon's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Lost in Yonkers . Set in a borough wrought with gangsters, henchmen and air-conditioned movie theaters around World War II, the seven character story follows the crisis and resolution of one family over the course of the summer of '42. At the heart of the story is an austere German grandmother (portrayed wonderfully by Rosaleen Linehan), [...]
Scissor Sisters Ta-Dah Label: Universal/Motown Scissor Sisters knows there are worse things than reimagining their favorite groups from Studio 54, and the New York group has come a long way from their breakout "Comfortably Numb" cover. Ta-Dah picks up where the group's self-titled debut (2004) left off. From Bee Gees to the Beatles, B-52s to Blondie, and a healthy helping of Elton John -- who cowrote a few tracks, brought the quintet on tour with him and became their musical Godfather. [...]
MSRP One Hundred Fold Origami Meteor MSRP have coined their own genre - "rave-metal." Part industrial electronica and part nu-metal, the Minneapolis group's debut, One Hundred Fold Origami Meteor , brings together all the best aspects of Mindless Self Indulgence, Static-X and Paul Oakenfold. The group plays the Burnsville Garage on Saturday, October 7. We sat down with MSRP to talk about the album, Japanese paper folding and even test their math skills a bit. Read [...]
Minneapolis' Ryan Branstner, co-founder of Plasmatic Brain Spasm , has a new side project called 2NoHo filled with driving electronica, feel good beats, ambient interludes and a wealth of what we like to call "eary goodness." The CD release show is Thursday, October 5 at Nomad World Pub complete with projections of the Armenian film The Color of Pomegranates , lots of fog, dancers, and four other bands, including 4-Serial, Quilombolas, Plasmatic Brain Spasm (naturally) and Guitarzan vs. Basszilla. We sat down with Branster to talk about [...]
DýrÄ'in DýrÄ'in Label: Skipping Stones Records Buy at iTunes Music Store MP3: " Popp & Co. " (MP3, 192kbps) Make Believe Of Course Label: Flameshovel Records Buy at iTunes Music Store MP3: " A Song About Camping " (MP3, 192kbps) Time Toy [...]
Hit & Mrs. 100 Under 60 The new (old) project from Minneapolis' Heise Brothers ( Listen & Learn , Munkeyjuice's Fatty Arbuckle's Coke Bottle ) is 100under60.com Under the name Hit & Mrs., the group has released a unique web-based album called 100 under 60, 100 songs under 60 seconds each. I'd like to think most musicians have this many musical thoughts which they simply don't have time to do justice with a proper [...]
Breaks Co-Op The Sound Inside Label: Astralwerk Release Date: October 3, 2006 We're increasingly positive that some of the most unique pop music comes from New Zealand. However, we only even discovered that this country existed (musically) when we reviewed Quarter Acre Lifestyle's new disc in June. The Sound Inside , the second album from Breaks Co-Op (the first was a '97 electronic offering) features break beat tracks like "Settle Down," solemn acoustic ballads like "A Place For You," [...]
Sean Lennon Friendly Fire Label: Capitol Release Date: October 3, 2006 Hailing from most prestigious, intimidating musical lineage ever, Sean Lennon has risen to the occasion for his second full-length solo album, Friendly Fire . While his debut, Into the Sun , was underrated by critics and fans alike, Lennon's new disc is 10 tracks of gentle, stirring musical thoughts that are worth thinking. The CD/DVD combo features a short film for each song. Trailer below:
Bones Disconnected Release Date: October 3, 2006 Basic garage rock ala Stripes, Stones and all those other "The" bands? Yes. Tired old Detroit sound? No. Recorded with renowned engineer Fred Weaver ( Apocalypse Studios ), the self-released Disconnected is a good first step for a Baton Rouge group suited for seedy nightclubs who suddenly found themselves at Bonnaroo this summer playing to thousands. MP3: "Ground" (short) "Bulge" (short)
The Decemberists The Crane Wife Label: Capitol Release Date: October 3, 2006 Known for catchy hooks, clever thesaurus-laden lyrics and Colin Meloy's distinct vocal delivery, the Decemberists have had an incredible run on the indie rock charts with three full-length's and a 5-track EP full of gems. And on the Portland-based quintet's major label debut, The Crain Wife they have anything but dumbed it down for the masses. Most notably, there's some Tain -flavored epics that [...]
The Kooks Inside In/Inside Out Label: Astralwerks Release Date: October 3, 2006 Americanized Britpop reminiscent of Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, etc. etc., The Kooks (known as "The Raisin Boys" in their home town of Brighton, UK), earned quick Web buzz in April by releasing their live cover (mp3) of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." Their new album is perfectly fine. Nothing's really standing out to write about, though. If you like edgy mini-anthems, perhaps you will want to listen [...]
Minneapolis' Jonathan Earl Band celebrated their CD release last week, and we just didn't get our review written fast enough. Check out Andrea's great album review at Pulse Magazine . However, we did have the opportunity to chat with Jonathan himself about the new album, STOOK! and more. They've also got a local show tonight before heading out on a mini-tour. Read on... What's your story? Played guitar all my life. In bands since age 12. [...]
Huge Rat Attacks Cougars Release Date: September 30, 2006 If you were wondering who took the brain cell melting fuzz dump in the corner, well that was Huge Rat Attacks , and we're not joking around when we say they are some messed up individuals (making great music, by the way). The Minneapolis group has been hitting the local circit for a few years but are just now releasing their debut. Cougars is a 7-track psychedelic fiesta that accurately captures the brain-blistering [...]
Driftless Pony Club Cholera Chicago's Driftless Pony Club are releasing their second full-length album in Minneapolis this week, and it's a CD release show not to be missed. With barking Fred Schneider-influenced vocals (B-52s) set to grooving bass and buzzy brash guitars, the 12 hyper-rock tracks on Cholera are exceptionally mature and refined for the indie rock noise genre. They sound a lot like Modest Mouse, but the songwriting arrangements are unique -- tracks like "Carry a Torch" and "Let's Do [...]
Emily Haines & Soft Skeleton Knives Don't Have Your Back Label: Last Gang Records Release date: September 26, 2006 It's been rainy in cold in Minnesota the past few weeks. Luckily, there's nothing that goes better with dreariness than melancholy piano ballads. Emily Haines, of Broken Social Scene and Metric , released her solo album this week, Knives Don't Have Your Back . A meandering journey into love, loss, failed relationships and strife set to piano, organ and strings, Knives [...]
Sebastien Schuller Happiness Label: Minty Fresh Records Release Date: September 26, 2006 French percussionist Sebastien Schuller is releasing his U.S. debut today on Minty Fresh, and it's really super good. We've had a copy for a few weeks now and have really enjoyed the beautiful minimalism and measured approach Schuller takes on this record. Each note has a place and a purpose with a European-gypsy-meets-Thom Yorke- Eraser vibe. For instance, we love the honk-a-long organ on "Ride Along [...]
England's Kasabian are soaking in the good reviews for their new album, Empire ( our review ), which dropped stateside in August. Check out the video for "Empire" here (WIN). What You Could Win: To celebrate the new disc and tour, we're giving away a copy of the new album, Empire , a copy of the "Empire" CD single and a deck of Kasabian-branded playing cards. To win, simply e-mail us your name [...]
Perfect Porridge
Bison - Quill
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Mr Fogg - Eleven
