Sweet Teeth Sweet Teeth is a band out of Washington D.C. (with their hearts in Texas) playing mellow, folk with an exuberant sugary edge-hence the name? Their pretty little compositions include violin, mandolin, bells, clarinet, banjo, trumpet, and guitar punctuated by (occasionally) eerie backup singers. While their recordings so aren't the greatest quality-wise, the talent of the band still shines through-especially the newer songs in their live EP Roll That Drum where the band channels a lighter, more poppy sound almost comparable to Architecture In Helsinki 's backgrounds. Seriously. It's [...]
k.d. lang I only was exposed to the genius that is k.d. lang last weekend, something that is embarassing to admit. I bought Hymns of the 49th Parallel on a lark, and was amazed at its elegant beauty. The album opens with an amazing rendition of "After The Gold Rush." k.d.'s toned voice-one of the best I've ever heard-just floats above the song, making Neil Young's lyrics all the more poignant and expressive. A must hear. mp3: "After The Gold Rush (Neil Young cover)" [...]
With energetic, sprawling guitar riffs, an energetic beat and impressionably young lyrics, Siberian is one of the most interesting indie bands coming out of Seattle. With diverse influences such as Interpol, Broken Social Scene, and Yes, they create a difficult to describe, tender rock-driven sound with a few keyboard flourishes. Siberian's music is beautifully dynamic and unique, with each song off their new self-titled release bringing something different to the table. "Soft Rains," my favorite Siberian song, opens with a fast melody driven by crisp, jangly guitars which continue throughout the whole piece. "Paper Birds," another [...]
Asobi Seksu Cassettes Won't Listen has recently remixed "Strawberries" by Asobi Seksu . Honestly can't say that it's a huge improvement over the original, but it's still interesting nevertheless. CWL bring the organic synth feel from its own pop/electronic sound and completely deconstruct the original song. The fuzzy, swirling background is replaced with procative layered beats, and the only thing remaining in place from the originial are Yuki of Asobi Seksu's vocals. A strangely compelling remix. mp3: "Strawberries (CWL Remix) - Asobi Seksu [...]
Just a few miscellaneous items... (AKA the rushed post for the sake of posting) South Park 1. The annual South Park Music Festival right here in Colorado is tomorrow. I personally can't attend, as I haven't had much time for concerts lately. If you can go though, you better. It's easily the best festival that comes around to these here-parts. Lots of great local bands with some people from all parts of the country coming through. Here's some of the cooler [...]
The self-titled debut from The Oxygen Ponies is an melancholy record that rings with intimacy and familiarity-not only because singer/songwriter Paul Megna's compositions bare resemblance to classic artists such as Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, but also because the songs are so deeply personal. There's something incredibly stirring about the combination of Paul Megna's eerily rough voice combined with his poignant lyrics. Paul Megna While The Oxygen Ponies' songs are often simplistic in nature and meaning, they express enough to make you fall into a gloomy [...]
Amy Diamond Amy Diamond is a 14-year-old pop singer from Sweden. She released her first full-length, This Is Me Now at the age of 13 and is the youngest performer to win an accolade from the Nordic Music Awards . Recently, she released Still Me Still Now , a youthful record bursting with extremely fun songs. While they're embarassingly poppy, and I really do mean poppy-as in Top 40 capable-Amy's songs are a from side of pop that we don't get too hear often enough. I'm sick [...]
Denver's own Needle Point Records is currently home to two absolutely amazing bands, Everything Absent or Distorted and Cat-A-Tac. Both are up-and-coming bands that you need to watch out for... Everything Absent or Distorted I first heard this band back in June. It was a $6 show-which almost has to mean that the bands suck. I'd gone to see one of my local favorites The Clap , with absolutely no knowledge of Everything Absent and Distorted. But needless to say, they were stunning. Each [...]
A band I've been listening to lately is Très Bien! , a four piece out of Clearwater, Florida. I'm going to be lazy and compare them to Thunderbirds Are Now! because of their high energy, keyboard/synth touches, fast and sharp guitar riffs, and most importantly... uh, exclamation mark. Though sometimes, the lyrics could be better, Très Bien!'s fun electro-pop is worth checking out, especially if you're into that dance punk sort of sound. mp3: "Between The Sheets" - Très Bien! mp3: "If At First..." - [...]
School is starting for me soon, so this post just serves as a notice that I'll be posting even less than I do already. As a feeble attempt to make this post music related and make it up to you, here are 3 good songs with "school" in their titles (which may or may not actually have anything to do with schools). Lame. mp3: "Charm School" - Bishop Allen mp3: "Old School (feat. Talib Kweli)" - Danger Doom mp3: [...]
The August newsletter from Architecture in Helsinki has just been sent out! ( Click here to read for yourself ) It has two main things of interest: 1. Remix album of In Case We Die coming out in September/October for Australia and the US. "Thus far we have mixes from Mocky, Hot Chip, Dat Politics, Squeak e Clean, Qua, 33HZ, Franc Tetaz, Isan, DJ Medhi and Safety Scissors, with a few more to be confirmed." Comments: Honestly, I really, really [...]
I know that this is very old news , but the new Chin Up Chin Up record, entitled This Harness Can't Ride Anything , comes out October 10th on Suicide Squeeze , with the vinyl version coming out on Chin Up Chin Up's old label, Flame Shovel . I agree with the comparisons to Minus The Bear , though Chin Up Chin Up's music is mellower and more relaxing. Also, the vocals are more hushed and blend in well (sometimes too well) with their textured rock based on swirling guitar riffs [...]
There are now a total of 3 songs surfacing after the recording of Rabbit Fur Coat , the debut release of Jenny Lewis ' (Rilo Kiley) solo-project. The first is "Jack Killed Mom," a upbeat and jazzy gospel song that Jenny Lewis With The Watson Twins began playing on their tour this spring. Hopefully they'll write more songs like it. The second song, which is Untitled , is a melancholy, slow song that examines a past relationship. It's pretty similar to "It Wasn't Me," off of Rabbit Fur Coat , though a little more [...]
Saddle Creek Records is planning to release four new albums this fall, which also means new tour dates ! Happy Hollow - Cursive ( buy it ) mp3: "Dorthy At Forty" - Cursive mp3: "Bad Sects" - Cursive Stream the full album! / official site / tour dates To The Races [...]
This has been secret for a long time, but today, I'm coming out of the closet! Okay, here it is: I sort of like The Bee Gees. Just a little. I have to admire their cool, fun sound...but their videos are just ridiculous. This Thursday's vid is of "How Deep Is Your Love," by the Bee Gees. I keep giggling at the close up head shots and slightly-off synching. (Sex appeal? Nah.) Man, gotta love the 70s. The [...]
Codaphonic and PAS/CAL are two somewhat-similar bands I've really been digging lately. They're both fun, poppy bands that would fit perfectly on a summer soundtrack. Codaphonic Codaphonic is a three-piece band out of Nashville "here to bring you the latest in unpretentious, non-indie pop/rock." Citing bands such as The Beach Boys and The Zombies on their list of influences, their tunes are generally upbeat and bouncy while having that mellow, relaxing undertone. The fun horns in the bouncy "Ritalin" are all too addictive, and "Can We Talk?" is [...]
Just posting to say that I'm finally back from my much needed trip. It wasn't as much of a vacation as much as just a much needed break of routine. I loved everything I saw about Seattle. The climate, the sights, the millions of green trees everywhere, the clean air, the one way streets, and the way most people are nice to dumb tourists like me. It reminded me a lot of San Francisco. I'm very jealous of Seattle's residents and am devising intricate plans to live there in the near future. Anyway, I'm pretty tuckered out. Posting [...]
I'm off to Seattle for about two weeks, and I don't think I'll have much chance to post much between then and now. And I was just getting the hang of it too.. but to make it up to you, here's a bunch of random MP3s and some news from Thunderbirds Are Now! (Get the title of the post, or is it still too weird?) I'm trying to do this quickly so I can go do some late minute packing, but here goes. Seattle Mix Tape! A random mix of mp3s from [...]
You know how it is: when one song gets praised by some of the bigger music blogs and then suddenly every music blog in the universe picks it up and it spreads like wildfire...until the next great song comes along. Here's some tracks that have gotten a lot of attention in 2006-some are fresh, others are from the beginning of the year, so you might not remember them. But either way, the blogosphere is so gonna beat you up for being a nerd if you haven't heard all of these tracks. If you feel like I've missed something that [...]
August is coming up, which means that the summer is quickly drawing to a close... 2006 has been a pretty interesting year, as far as music goes. There's been a lot of great albums released this year and many great new artists. Most music bloggers have already put up their half-year reviews already, but better late than never right? Continue reading:
Catching Signals
Circo Voador anuncia shows de The Kooks, Foster The People, Friendly Fires, Gogol Bordello e mais
The Kills on Letterman (Video)
James Blake – Live Album
Download: James Blake Live Album (Unofficial)
