I've been meaning to feature the New Brunswick, NJ based band, SNOWBABY, on IndieMuse ever since seeing them play a house show in Washington DC (that Ben Cooper of Radical Face headlined). If you've been following IndieMuse for a while now, you know how much I love xylophone, flute, shakers, triangle, and all those completely underrated instruments. SNOWBABY is the kind of band that does an amazing job filling those needs! They are lots of fun. They even had a recorder! Their music hasn't really been mastered, as you will hear, but it definitely [...]
photo credit: chicagosnacks.org The title of Coltrane Motion's sophomore album, Hello Ambition! , is probably about as accurate a name as could have been conceived for this collection of 10 tracks from electro-pop duo Michael Bond and Matt Dennewitz. Combining droning, repetitious sounds with eclectic rock and vocals isn't easy - nor common, mind you - but the Chicago boys seem to mash them together with considerable ease. The beats on Hello Ambition! are simply infectious. It's damn near impossible to sit through the album's musical stylings without bobbing your [...]
- Over the last few years I have been working really, really hard on developing a new passion project called MusicFloss . It just launched today and I would love to take a minute to tell you how the site came to be. In high school I decided to start a music blog on a whim. When the sign up asked me what I wanted my URL to be, I went with the first name that popped into my head. www.INDIEspensablemusic.blogso me.com was [...]
Hello IndieMuse family, If you are even slightly observant, you likely noticed there is now an ad on IndieMuse, our ad free website. Right there ^. See it? You may be wondering what that's all about, and before you get all pseudo-upset, I would love to explain. You see, over the last few years we've been working really, really hard on a new passion project called MusicFloss . Because of the amount of time and complications that go into something like this, we didn't want to speak too soon, and jinx ourselves. And that's the [...]
A few years ago I was at Seattle's Capital Hill Block Party , and heard Natalie Portman's Shaved Head for the first time. They were one of the first bands to play, and I just happened to be at their stage beforehand to see who would be playing over the course of the day. When I saw their name at top of the list, I looked over to my friend and boldly declared "I have absolutely no idea who this band is, but we need to find out, so help us God." Needless to say, I [...]
So I was thinking… one great thing about folk music is that it can be applied to virtually any season, and serve its intended purpose quite well. For example, right now I can listen to music outside on a nice summer day and think "man, this is so relaxing." And I can also listen to that same music in fall, making colorful leave gazing way less boring. Then, of course, comes Chicago's shitty winter weather, at which point I'm all like "I am so ***** cold right now, I'm just going to cuddle up near the fireplace, and [...]
It's a special week for rock-pop aficionados. Jenny and Johnny, a spankin' new music group formed by Jenny Lewis and her Scottish boyfriend, Jonathan Rice, just released their first single, "Scissor Runner," as a free download. The song, a deliciously fun anthem just in time for summer, will be on the group's forthcoming debut, I'm Having Fun Now . Yet don't think every Jenny and Johnny track will match the cutesy lyrics of "Scissor Runner." As their site states , "The exuberance of love songs like 'Scissor Runner' mask some of the record's darkness, with [...]
this is an old picture. add on 8 years. I am so happy right now. In fact, I don't think I've been this happy for 8 years. As you probably suspected, this is because new material from Isaac Brock's side project, Ugly Casanova, released today. Ugly Casanova's 2002 solo release, Sharpen Your Teeth , is still one of my favorite albums, and I'm not even mad that it's taken him this long to release something new for the project, as I'm still absorbing the genius of that album. The 9 new tracks were created for [...]
photo credit: The Selby via NYmag I don't usually talk about TV shows here (mainly because I don't watch much TV), but just wanted to give everyone a heads up on this really creative show that is premiering on HBO tonight called The Neistat Brothers . As the WSJ states, the show "is an eight-episode collection of wildly inventive short autobiographical DIY films made by Casey and Van Neistat " While I obviously haven't seen the pilot episode yet, I'm very [...]
If you're a fan of Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, Ben Kweller, or Sondre Lerche, you should check out Irish singer/songwriter, Fionn Regan. He's a lively musician who places a lot of emphasis on his lyrics, continually balancing his quirky and dark sides. In 2006, Fionn released his self-produced debut album, The End of History . He compares the album to opening a "lemonade stand," saying that "no one really had any expectations, and then it took off." Since then, he's been doing quite a bit of touring, and just released his follow-up album, The Shadow of [...]
Google we love you for things like this Pac Man logo/game. Please remain that Google . If a blog publishes a post that contains a downloadable mp3 that allegedly infringes United States copyright laws, the record label will use the DMCA to contact Google. With no questions asked, Google will then reset your post to Draft status (allowing the blogger to remove the 'offending' content and republish it) and send you a Blogger DMCA Takedown Notification email...Google keeps track of all Blogger DMCA Takedown Notifications they send out and when it reaches their magic number, they [...]
Google we love you for things like this Pac Man logo/game. Please remain that Google . To give you a bit of background, if a blog publishes a post that contains a downloadable mp3 that allegedly infringes United States copyright laws, the record label will use the DMCA to contact Google. With no questions asked, Google will then reset your post to Draft status (allowing the blogger to remove the 'offending' content and republish it) and send you a Blogger DMCA Takedown Notification email...Google keeps track of all Blogger DMCA Takedown Notifications they send out and [...]
The LA band, Little Joy, has some really great songs that bring to mind one of my very favorite bands, The Velvet Underground. In particular, Binki Shapiro sings the lead vocals on the second to last track, "Don't Watch Me Dancing," and has a striking resemblance to Nico. It's a beautiful song. And it only helps matters that they both have super weird names. Rodrigo Amarante sings main vocals on most of the tracks, and reminds me quite a bit of another musician I like as well, Willy Mason. Some songs that I enjoy in particular on the [...]
Photo Credit: Jesus Christ A few months back, Alie featured Nathaniel Rateliff on the site. His debut album, In Memory and Loss, is gorgeous. You should definitely check it out (preferably while looking at the above photo) if you're into that country-folk sound. I heard Nathaniel puts on a great live show, and I'm really bummed that I'm missing his tour this go around. Nathaniel is currently based out of Denver, and I found this interview with the Denver Post to be pretty fascinating. Basically, Nathaniel had [...]
Recently I've been posting a fair amount of folk music, because let's face it, folk is awesome. But it's time to change things up a bit (at least for this post). I've really been digging Light Pollution's song "Oh, Ivory!". Definitely worth your time to check out. Their debut album Apparitions is releasing June 15 on Carpark Records. Light Pollution is based out of Chicago and has that shoegaze, psychedelic, Animal Collectivey sound. Band members include James Cicero, Matthew Evert, Nick Sherman, and Jed Robertson. Apparitions (2010) : (mp3) Light [...]
Bombadil is a favorite over at IndieMuse-their album Tarpits and Canyonlands was on my Top 10 list last year. Simply put, they are a band worthy of everyone's ears. It's criminal that more people haven't heard their music. Instead of listening to a nobody like me though-consider this! Avett brother, Scott, recently did a video cover of Bombadil's song "Marriage." Last time I checked, The Avett Brovers don't cover just anybody . I still can't decide what I like more: the band's music or their photos. As you can see below, [...]
Just wanted to share an update to let you guys know that Lost in The Trees just started their US tour. We featured the folk-orchestration band back in December and are big fans. They actually just signed to Anti- Records, who will be releasing a new and enhanced version of All Alone In An Empty House on August 10th, 2010 (originally released on the awesome Trekky Records ) . Check out the tour dates and video below to see what's in store. 5/18/2010 DENVER, CO Larimer Lounge* [...]
If you're like me, you are in love with Bon Iver (Justin Vernon), and want to ask him "Hey IVER-yeah you- when's your next album coming out?!" Truthfully, it makes complete sense why it's taking so long to get a sophomore album released. Similar to Sufjan Stevens, Vernon quickly became an icon for indie music, and now has a ton of pressure riding on his flannel-covered-shoulders. It must be weird going from writing a reflective album, in complete solitude, to knowing that your next album will be critiqued by 100,000+ people (not to mention the wrath of a Pitchfork) just [...]
I'm embarrassed I haven't featured Pale Young Gentlemen on IndieMuse yet. They are one of the best bands making music today, and an absolute much check out if you are an Andrew Bird or Arcade Fire fan (listen to one song and you'll see the Bird reference). Their 2008 release Black Forest (Tra La La) is a true gem. There are too many great tracks on the album to list them all here, but some of my favorites are "Coal/Ivory,""I Wasn't Worried," and "Kettle Drum (I Left A Note)." Pale Young Gentlemen is based [...]
Huh? Click here to view the embedded video. (mp3) Wilco - I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Indie Muse
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
Mr Fogg - Eleven
