Blog: Direct Current

The Last Bison - Inheritance

Feb 22, 7:01pm Direct Current
The Last Bison; Journey to Inheritance (Part 11)
If you tried to imagine what mountain music might sound like played by a folk orchestra of fiddles, banjos, mandolins and cellos you might come up with something akin to the music of Virginia's The Last Bison . With hirsute frontman and songwriter Ben Hardesty forging the way, the Chesapeake septet is less sturm and drang and more strum and twang as they take the front porch folk into new realms of sophisticated and intricate string arrangements. "At once epic and intimate", raves The L.A. Weekly , [...]
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Artist:republicrecords
Title:The Last Bison 'Switzerland'
File Name:SoundCloud
Artist:The Last Bison
Title:Dark Am I
File Name:The Last Bison - Dark Am I.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

RADAR: Laura Welsh

Feb 21, 6:16pm Direct Current
London is littered with the remains of "next big thing" alt-pop divas, hyped-up singers (with the occasional songwriter tag attached) dramatically offered up in a big marketing roll out and then usually disappearing like a shower of sparks fading in the night. Adele may be the gold (and multi-platinum) standard but we sure end up getting handed an awful lot of brass rings. But Laura Welsh just might be the exception. Last December, Laura and Dev Hynes (aka Lightspeed Champion) retreated to a studio and new track "Unravel" is the result, a sultry [...]
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Artist:Laura Welsh
Title:Call To Arms
File Name:Laura Welsh - Call To Arms.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:Laura Welsh
Title:Hollow Drum
File Name:Laura Welsh - Hollow Drum.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2012
Artist:Laura Welsh
Title:Unravel
File Name:Laura Welsh - Unravel.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps

Listen: Andy Burrows - "If I Had a Heart"

Feb 21, 4:43pm Direct Current
As we noted last fall with our original take on the album Company , " Andy Burrows ' hookfilled and nostalgic British pop harkens back to an earlier era, when bands like ELO, Macca and his Wings and 10CC hit their apex with nimble, sinfully rich melodies, eargrabbing production flair and harmonies so divine they could have been delivered from the pearly gates..." New remixed single "If I Had a Heart" is all that and then some. [...]
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Artist:Andy Burrows
Title:If I Had A Heart
File Name:Andy Burrows - If I Had A Heart.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2012

Hem - Departure and Farewell

Feb 21, 1:22pm Direct Current
Hem / Tourniquet / Official Video
Hem - Departure and Farewell (April 2, Waveland) - First full studio album of new songs since 2006 arrives after a difficult period for the Brooklyn folk/pop and Americana band that songwriter/pianist Dan Messe says "seemed beyond repair". Instead, they opted to regroup and rekindle the creative spark that has made Hem a critical favorite since their groundbreaking 2002 album Rabbit Songs ..."Hem has always been about endings in one way or another (we were named after the ending of a dress, after all)," observes Messe, "but never more so than [...]
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Artist:Hem
Title:Tourniquet
File Name:Hem -- Tourniquet.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Genre:Folk
Artist:Hem
Title:Walking Past The Graveyard, Not Breathing
File Name:Hem - Walking Past the Graveyard Not Breathing.mp3
Genre:Singer/Songwriter
Year:2013

DC February 19 New Release Recap

Feb 21, 1:18am Direct Current
A paucity of big names this week and one of the most noted -- Emeli Sandé -- isn't even being released in the U.S. (yet). Still, a relatively worthy batch of releases from the Aussie -bred ( sm )art pop of Tarmac Adam (yes, they're named for the tarmac surface on runways -- did you know it was patented?), the aforementioned Brit superstar [...]
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REDUX: Jake Bugg

Feb 20, 6:33pm Direct Current
Jake Bugg - S/T (April 9 U.S., Mercury) - Eighteen-year-old retro/roots popster watched his eponymous debut entered the British charts at #1 last fall, besting both Mumford and Sons and Bat For Lashes on the strength of his nostalgic 60's British Invasion-styled hit single "Two Fingers" (videos below)...Bugg now gets his shot at America with the U.S. release of Jake Bugg in April...As we noted in our original RADAR last August: "Wherever that special point is where strummy coffeehouse folk meets the charged electric jolt of early rock n' roll with a knowing nod to [...]
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Artist:Jake Bugg
Title:Lightning Bolt
File Name:Jake Bugg - Lightning Bolt.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:Jake Bugg
Title:Two Fingers
File Name:Jake Bugg - Two Fingers.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Genre:Alternative
Year:2012

Two Hour Traffic - Foolish Blood

Feb 20, 3:55pm Direct Current
Two Hour Traffic - Foolish Blood (February 19) - Canadian band revels in a resurgence of classic power pop with their new Blood , combining the energy of 70's punk and new wave with a bracing shot of retro Brit Invasion melody, harmony and shiny guitar riffs...An altered lineup and a new producer Darryl Neudorf (Neko Case, the Sadies, the New Pornographers) finds the band focusing to an even greater degree on a sound unfettered by trendy indie rock hipness. Lead track "Last Star" is a good example of what the [...]
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Artist:Two Hour Traffic
Title:Audrey
File Name:Two Hour Traffic - Audrey.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2013
Artist:Two Hour Traffic
Title:Last Star
File Name:Two Hour Traffic - Last Star.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

Watch: Junip - "Line of Fire"

Feb 20, 1:41pm Direct Current
Line Of Fire (Official Video)
Swedish trio Junip -- Elias Araya (drums), José González (guitar, vocals), and Tobias Winterkorn (organ, moog) -- called on filmmaker Mikel Cee Karlsson to direct this surreal and striking video for the lead single of the band's forthcoming self-titled album (April 23).
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Tarmac Adam - The History Effect

Feb 20, 1:37pm Direct Current
Tarmac Adam - The History Effect (2/19) - A mere decade after releasing their debut Handheld Torch , the Aussie duo of songwriter Matt O'Donnell and multi-instrumentalist Steve Paix return with a dozen spry and accomplished (sm)art-pop songs...It's no wonder that Nick Seymour of Crowded House reprises his sideman role in Tarmac Adam -- both outfits favor the sweet melodic punch of a nicely turned out three-and-a-half minute song...One of the album's finest tracks, the wistful "You As Me", is lush and lovely throwback to an era when shimmering guitar lines, ticking percussion and [...]
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Artist:Tarmac Adam
Title:Bygones
Link Text:Download
File Name:Tarmac Adam - Bygones.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2013
Artist:Tarmac Adam
Title:You As Me
File Name:Tarmac Adam - You As Me.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2013

Emeli Sandé - Live at the Royal Albert Hall

Feb 19, 7:08pm Direct Current
Emeli Sande -- Live At The Royal Albert Hall (Trailer)
Emeli Sandé - Live at the Royal Albert Hall (CD/DVD) (February 18 UK, US: TBA) - Heavily favored to win a Best Album Brit Award tomorrow night for Our Version of Events, this breakout Scottish star remains relatively unknown on this side of the pond despite some high-profile U.S. TV and showcase events... Our Version of Events became an event unto itself, skyrocketing to #1 in the U.K. and ending up as the best selling album of 2012 while the album's title track was lodged in the Top 10 for forty [...]
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RADAR: Marika Hackman

Feb 19, 11:54am Direct Current
Marika Hackman - Cannibal
Forgive us for sensing what we thought was a uniquely chilly Scandinavian vibe from Brighton-based British songstress Marika Hackman . Maybe it was the name. Or perhaps the distant, detached style that marks the songs from her forthcoming debut EP That Iron Taste . Whatever it is, Hackman's particularly bleak, world-weary approach has caught the ear of a number of Brit critics and radio types and drawn comparisons to Nico and Syd Barrett of all people. Like the works from those enigmatic legends, Hackman's songs have a dark underside of mystery while exposing an [...]
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Artist:Marika Hackman
Title:Cannibal
File Name:Marika Hackman - Cannibal.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2013
Artist:Marika Hackman
Title:Retina Television
File Name:Marika Hackman - Retina Television.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2013

Birds and Arrows - Coyotes

Feb 18, 5:33pm Direct Current
Birds and Arrows - Coyotes (March 19) - North Carolina chamber folk outfit was founded in 2007 by the husband and wife team of Andrea and Pete Connolly, expanding from a duo to a trio in 2009 with the addition of cellist Josh Starmer in 2009...New album, produced and mixed by the dB's Chris Stamey, follows up 2011's well-received longplayer We're Gonna Run ..."An amazing record, overflowing with invention, dedication and exuberance," says Stamey of Coyotes ...Robert Sledge of Ben Folds Five, Dirk Shumaker of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and James Wallace of [...]
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Artist:Birds and Arrows
Title:Firefly
File Name:Birds and Arrows - Firefly.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2013
Artist:Birds and Arrows
Title:Safety
File Name:Birds and Arrows - Safety.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

Anders & Kendall - Wild Chorus

Feb 18, 4:40pm Direct Current
Anders & Kendall - Wild Choru s (February 19, Nine Mile) - Anders Parker and Kendall Meade have been friends and musical cohorts for well over a decade but the raggedly appealing Wild Chorus is their first shot at a real collaboration..."From the second we started planning and then from the moment we started writing, I knew it was going to work," says Kendall...Scott Minor, who had played with Meade in Sparklehorse, produced the project (the album takes it's title from Minor's Knoxville, Tennessee, studio)...There's a distinctive nostalgic aura throughout the album's eleven folk/rock [...]
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Artist:Anders & Kendall
Title:Across The Years
File Name:Anders Kendall - Across the Years.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:Anders & Kendall
Title:Dreamers On the Ground
File Name:Anders Kendall - Dreamers On The Ground.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

Listen: Phoenix - "Entertainment"

Feb 18, 4:03pm Direct Current
When your music is as ridiculously catchy as this, it's easy to get into the exclamation point mode as Phoenix proves on this lead track from Bankrupt! , their forthcoming April 23 album via Glassnote. No need to mess with the formula here, just deliver a super hooky falsetto chorus on the back of some wall-of-sound riffs. Bliss. [...]
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Artist:Phoenix
Title:Entertainment
File Name:Phoenix - Entertainment.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

Samantha Crain - Kid Face

Feb 18, 10:29am Direct Current
Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers - Lions
Samantha Crain - Kid Face (February 19, Ramseur) - Third album of Americana-tinged folk/rock from the 25-year-old Oklahoma-raised songwriter follows up her acclaimed 2010 album You (Understood), a conceptual project with each song representing one particular personal interaction... Kid Face again mines Crain's uncluttered and assured songwriting and storytelling craft matched perfectly with a spare, no-frills production, courtesy noted Bay Area performer and studio maven John Vanderslice...Few of Crain's contemporaries can match her innate talent of marrying astute and sympathetic observational character-studies with simple yet compelling melodies...Watch the video for "Never Going [...]
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File Name:Samantha Crain - Never Going Back.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps
Artist:Samantha Crain
Title:Somewhere All The Time
File Name:Samantha Crain - Somewhere All The Time.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2013

Listen: Eric Clapton - "Gotta Get Over"

Feb 15, 3:21pm Direct Current
If there was any question whether Eric Clapton was going to celebrate his 50th anniversary as a professional musician by going quietly into the sunset, "Gotta Get Over", from his forthcoming independently released album Old Sock (March 12), should dispel that notion once and for all. A killer track. More on Old Sock via the DC Music News Feed here . [...]
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Artist:Eric Clapton
Title:Gotta Get Over
File Name:Eric Clapton - Gotta Get Over.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Genre:Adult Rock
Year:2013

Nataly Dawn - How I Knew Her

Feb 14, 4:17am Direct Current
If you're familiar with Nataly Dawn it's probably through her work with Pomplamoose, the youtube wunderkind duo who turned a series of witty cover songs into over 80 million online views and, of course, subsequent major blog buzz. But Dawn, a supremely talented singer and songwriter, clearly has more on her mind as she steps out on her own with How I Knew Her , a sharp and smartly dressed collection of songs arriving this week via Nonesuch. There's a distinctive whiff of wit and whimsy throughout How i Knew Her , [...]
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Artist:Nataly Dawn
Title:Araceli
File Name:Nataly Dawn - Araceli.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:Nataly Dawn
Title:Leslie
File Name:Nataly Dawn - Leslie.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

Listen: The Civil Wars & T Bone Burnett - "Long Time Gone"

Feb 14, 2:53am Direct Current
The new darlings of folk and Americana. The genius producer behind albums like the O Brother Where Are Thou soundtrack and the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss Grammy-winner Raising Sand . Together The Civil Wars -- Joy Williams and John Paul White -- and T Bone Burnett would be considered a match made in musical heaven. The new soundtrack to the upcoming documentary A Place at the Table makes that fantasy line up a reality with fourteen new collaborative songs including the lead single "Long [...]
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Artist:The Civil Wars
Title:Long Time Gone & T Bone Burnett
File Name:The Civil Wars T Bone Burnett - Long Time Gone.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

Keaton Henson - Birthdays

Feb 13, 3:32pm Direct Current
Treading down the lonely, desolate introspective folk path blazed (quietly) by the likes of William Fitzsimmons and the more subdued side of Damien Rice, 24-year-old London songwriter Keaton Henson delivers his scathing, bruised tales of lament in a whispered tone. A graphic illustrator by trade who has suffered from severe panic attacks, Henson has nonetheless found his own quavering voice with a series of haunting songs that arrived last year with his acclaimed debut album Dear... (The Guardian : Henson's "private agony is proving addictive"). Second full-length Birthdays (February [...]
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Artist:Keaton Henson
Title:Sweetheart What Have You Done To Us
File Name:Keaton Henson - Sweetheart What Have You Done To Us.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2012
Artist:Poco
Title:Regret
File Name:Poco - Regret.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

Watch: White Prism - "Lover's Dream"

Feb 12, 1:28pm Direct Current
"Lovers Dream" (OFFICIAL VIDEO) Johanna And The Dusty Floor
White Prism is the brand spanking new moniker for Johanna Cranitch, an Aussie-born, Brooklyn-based songwriter and musician who most recently went by Johanna and the Dusty Floor. What hasn't changed in Cranitch's exceptional electronica tunecraft, richly melodic and ethereal tracks that recall -- particularly with the Johanna's lovely vocals -- the progressive (sm)art/pop leanings of Kate Bush and Bat For Lash's Natasha Khan. More DC on Ms. Cranitch at DC here and here . Thanks to Bill for the White Prism update [...]
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