Max Tundra No More Pirates [mp3] from Chris Garneau 's recent El Radio , haunting and elegant. Garneau's voice, similarly quirky to Ryan Guldemond's ( Mother Mother ), betrays his gender and age, at times forming stylized pop bubbles ala Ingrid Michaelson - only playfully dark and weighty, sometimes dramatically broadway, often sounding like a doe-eyed child. Garneau plays LA's Spaceland this Sunday the 20th (free) and the Bootleg Theatre on the 22nd. Take tissues and a cozy wrap. Dreadfully beautiful. [...]
As Tall As Lions was such a fun session. Transcendent, really. As soon as the guys opened their roadcases and liberated their instruments, extraordinary, joyful chaos took hold. I hadn't quite expected their wonderful level of soulful exuberance - Daniel Nigro and the band (minus their drummer) were aflame with inspiration - at 10:30 in the morning! Needless to say it was rich and refreshing. Apparently Julio had been lost, out all night, partying liberally, but, by grace, he made it to the session in plenty of time (albeit naked....but don't worry, he clothed himself). The band went [...]
Led by Peter Walker on guitar and vocals, Eulogies is a full-band effort fueled also by Drew Phillips on guitar, Garrett Deloian on bass and Chris Reynolds on drums and vocals. Eulogies' tunes shoot straight-forward in structure, appealing as simple overall. Yet there's a hidden complexity accompanied by Walker's intellectually kicked-around lyrics which pervades Eulogies' songs. Walker's surreal, lush vocals occasionally tremble with gentle vibratto and lean curiously languid over the band's oft-driving beats, affording the tunes an ironically steely, removed, movie-soundtrack quality. It feels like it could be contentment, as though Walker has just eaten [...]
Velvet [mp3] Dominos [mp3] UK's The Big Pink releases their album, A Brief History of Love , in the US next week. (9/22/09, 4AD Records). Listening will make you feel like you've been injected with whatever it is the guys in the picture at left were hit with. Minus injuries. Trust me, The Big Pink's good medicine for Mondays. Go stream the full album HERE. Catch the first couple tracks for [...]
Cursive sounds like Cursive . After 14 years and 8 records, distinctive and true, Tim Kasher and his Omaha band continue to alchemically pound out intellectual, intensely stormy accounts and contemplations into sublimely vitreous song-drops, the way a tempestuous ocean unfailingly beats jagged rocks into beautifully shiny, smooth stones. Kasher's graphic lyrics penetrate, perfectly dark. Combined with his weary, all-out, one-of-a-kind wail, his vocal lines simultaneously jar and transfix. Add to that longtime buddies/bandmates - Matt Maginn laying down reliably rousing, expert and heavily throbbing bass and Ted Stevens doing his [...]
Don't Give Up [mp3] The six in Lake employ a palette of horns, crisp drums and serenely dreamy vocals to paint a luscious, slightly jazzy, musical popscape that feels like walking through the door of a warm, dry apartment and shedding your cloak from the drizzly outdoor cold on Don't Give Up from Lake's upcoming Let's Build a Roof ( K Records , 10/6/09). Click HERE for Lake's upcoming tour [...]
Beautiful, entrancing folk songs in the truest sense roll from Mia Doi Todd - still, patient and fearless - rather akin to Joan Baez. Intimate and clear, Mia Doi Todd's lovely songs command full attention. It's in the combo of her perfect enunciation; her subtle variations on guitar which at times evoke natural elements, mostly of the water variety, from raindrops to thunderheads to brooding ocean to flowing river; her distinctive voice - at once earth and sky or leather and silk; her entirely masterful songwriting. Mia Doi Todd leaves no mossy stone unturned, uncovering universal emotional topics [...]
Easy [mp3] Art Isn't Real (City of Sin) [mp3] (from War Elephant ) Deer Tick's tearing it up out on the road. Their newest album, Born On Flag Day , came out in July on Partisan Records . They've toured with and made friends with just about every up-and-coming indie great out there. Recently, Deer Tick hung out and recorded with The Ice Cream Man at the Newport Folk Fest (beware, it's mobile view only). [...]
When I'm Gone [mp3] New York's Vivan Girls let their second album loose, Everything Goes Wrong , a couple days ago (9/8/09, In The Red ). An assembly of thirteen speedy, blurry, grinding punk songs pulled lyrically with vocal syrup by a folk-ringing, early-rock-innocence-sounding, sentimental undertow, the girls sing teenage beauts about boys and ennui. Particular favorites: I Have No Fun , Before I Start To Cry. They'll be at the Echo in LA Friday, September 11th. And you should go. It's [...]
You don't have to hear the lyrics to Jason Diaz's songs to understand the burning, soulful infusion of meaning shot through. Sometimes elusive, the words that do land on your plate of consciousness strike as an intriguing invitation enveloped in mystique. When you catch an entire phrase, the whole meaning in words, if you haven't already stepped beside yourself in awe of Diaz's uncanny vocal prowess (no kidding - think along the lines of Aretha and Michael Jackson), you'll be blown away. Take the refrain of Oh Sweet Saviour , for instance: "Love is a fire that [...]
Digital Haircut [mp3] Punk-pop-metal, laden with hues of Metallica and even Jane's Addiction, this song is a hard, alternately cacophonic and harmonic, adrenalin spiking, heart-stopping, jagged jumping, spraying, thumping aural assault. We like it. We're stoked to have the Toronto bunch, DD/MM/YYYY , in the studio to slay and play in early October when they visit LA. Tomas Del Balso, Jordan Holmes, Matt King, Mike Claxton and Moshe Rozenberg are all about open exploration in making music, citing inspiration from Frank Zappa to video [...]
Like A Diamond [mp3] The Same [mp3] Super clear, Glass Ghost's Like A Diamond is striking, chilling, profound, empty, beautiful. I'm equally blown away and solidly hooked. Eliot Krimsky's natural-fit falsetto juxtaposed with Mike Johnson's deep, tribal rhythm/percussion emphasizes the haunting feeling of beautiful spaciousness. Glass Ghost is Brooklyn's Eliot Krimsky singing and playing keys and Mike Johnson bringing organic root rhythms. The Same floats playfully on a tropical [...]
The Moondoggies should come doctor recommended. I've been listening to their live session over the past few hours with a profound physiological result: truly, my blood pressure has dropped, my breathing has deepened and I feel dilated in general. The Moondoggies require me to slow down. Their music grows on me, warming from the inside like a strong shot of Jameson whiskey. Each song, taken in and savored, becomes an experience tied to my own emotional heart-strings which then evokes a feeling of familiar reminiscence on further listens. Laid-back, Americana-country-blues-rocker s, The Moondoggies - a bunch of [...]
Get Going [mp3] Cherry Tulips [mp3] Get Going is the first track from Headlights' upcoming 3rd album, Wildlife ( Polyvinyl Records , October 6th, 2009). Cherry Tulips comes from Some Racing, Some Stopping (Polyvinyl Records, 2008). Folk-pop with an itch, Headlights could be grouped near The Pains of Being Pure at Heart with a bent [...]
Dishing out wicked, San Francisco style, old-schoolish rock'n'roll touched by psychedelic haze and even shades of folk, the lion-maned Daniel James on guitar and lead vocals, Micayla Grace on bass and John Sortland on drums and Farfisa are Leopold and His Fiction , a dedicated threesome determined to endear themselves to the masses, even if that's just one devoted listener at a time. These good folks made their way in for a Luxury Wafers Session on the fly after a bummer first attempt missed when most of their gear was stolen . Luckily the crew was [...]
You Don't Know My Friends [mp3] We're excited to have killer songwriter/singer, Tom Brosseau, in for a live Luxury Wafers Session in a couple of weeks. Satisfyingly wry, Brosseau keeps listeners on edge, rousing mild discomfort with strong and captivating lyrics, musical flow tinged with distortion and just enough dissonance - slightly twisted, stimulating and pleasing all at once. Listen and appreciate. Check out his stirring video of You Don't Know My Friends, from Brosseau's latest release, Posthumous Success , below: [...]
They Say [mp3] Earthy and Wilco-esque, Roman Candle rocks poetically inspired, Southern-soaked Americana as a family affair. Lead singer/guitar player, Skip Matheny and keys player, Timshel Matheny, are married (with 2 adorable boys). Skip and drummer, Logan Matheny, are brothers. Discovering Roman Candle is like uncovering treasure while digging in the ground. Immediately pleasing and intriguing, their richness and meaning grows proportionally with more attention given. Listen to the entire record, Oh Tall Tree [...]
Nicole, Scott and Dan with some local basketball stars Knockout [mp3] Shine On [mp3] Busting out modestly in authentic expression, Nicole Schneit - who sounds like a teenage boy with her Harvest-influenced, hoarse vocals - does it, good. Kinda sad, her songs dig in and don't let go. Knockout is exactly that. Especially warm, the song refrains lyrically "I'm alive, I'm on fire, for the first time in my life, " with [...]
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