It's shaping up to be a pretty strong year for indie pop. Sure, there's always a fair amount of good indie pop, often just because there's such a mass of it released, but proportionally this year seems especially impressive. White Rabbits , set to release their debut album Fort Nightly , can be counted among those more impressive contributers. Utilizing an interesting amalgam of sounds - from melodic New York garage rock to swaying, piano-driven, calypso-like indie rock - they've crafted a somewhat bleak album, highlighted by a few moments of lighthearted pop. "The Plot", [...]
Chromelodeon just recently released what will be their final album, in conjunction with their farewell show on April 27th. Blending heavy post-rock sounds with chiptune -style synthesizers, their career works are split fairly evenly between video game covers and original compositions. In fact, they're the only band I know of that combines more traditional rock elements with chiptunes - it seems it's always one or the other - and the results make you wonder why no one else has caught onto this idea. The final recordings are all originals, heavily inspired by video game music, and easily [...]
The Passion of the Weiss and Straight Bangin' have called for bloggers to compile lists of their 25 favorite hip-hop albums and there's been a nice response so far. The lists that are submitted will be integrated using a simple weighted scoring system to create a kind of overall internet-consensus master list. It's a fun project and a nice, challenging exercise... particularly for someone who hasn't really compiled a list before (like me). I definitely enjoy reading them, but I've always felt that lists can be a bit arbitrary (especially those as openly subjective as "25 favorites"). [...]
It's hard for me to understand why Mock Orange hasn't garnered more attention from either music publications or from the broader population of music listeners. I suppose in most instances you need the former before you can achieve the latter, but in any case, Mock Orange has truly ascended to "criminally underrated" status. They've been making music for over ten years now and even though popular success has largely eluded them, they've kept on. Mock Orange has come a long way from their modest beginnings as a well-above-average emo band, significantly progressing as both musicians and songwriters, ultimately [...]
Nero's Day at Disneyland offers one of those listening experiences that leaves you feeling like you have no idea what just hit you. An experience that will most likely leave you a little bit afraid, a little bit giddy, and utterly amazed. The solo project of Brock Bousfield (aka Brock Schism), Nero's Day started as an absurd amalgam of styles - falling somewhere between Venetian Snares, Mr. Bungle, Danny Elfman, and some kind of video-game influenced art punk. His past two releases, Grievances and Dead Malls and Colonists , have found Brock delving [...]
John Davis (ex-Q and Not U) and Laura Burhenn are Georgie James , and their debut full-length, tenatively titled Hello , is one of the upcoming albums I'm a bit more excited about this year. So far there is no release date set, as they are still label-shopping. The first single off Hello is "Need Your Needs", one of the standout tracks from last years Demos at Dance Palace , and was released back in January. This song is indie pop done professionally - complete with hand claps, sharp & [...]
One thing that will become apparent to readers of this blog is that I have a soft spot for Japanese bands. In fact, in the case of some bands I may reach near obsessive levels of ardency. Though there are many deserving Japanese artists that do receive attention from some Western media (Boredoms, OOIOO, Cornelius, Shugo Tokumaru, etc.), many others are also inevitably ignored. I hope to discuss all kinds of Japanese music here, while paying particular attention to bands that don't get the attention they should. The first band I'm featuring is Sparta Locals [...]
Chickens Don't Clap!
Avicii – Two Million
Beck – I Just Started Hating Some People Today
H&M Lookbook Mujer y Hombre Otoño 2012.
