[See post to watch Flash video] The Human League - Love Action (I Believe In Love) Multi-Coloured Swap Shop BBC1 1981 Yesterday I came across a band called "Care Bears on Fire" and immediately thought "What the fuck is that?" Apparently they are teen band that has gotten quite a bit exposure through appearances on Nickelodeon . That's precisely what's wrong with kids these days. Take this Human League appearance on the BBC children's program "Multi-Coloured Swap Shop" back in '81. Here is Philip Oakey [...]
Here in Los Angeles it's finally hit 80+ degrees two days in a row, so I declare summer has finally started. And with the start of summer, I gotta find my summer jam. Fortunately this track from Keepaway fits the bill perfectly. This song "Yellow Wings" with it's indie meets 902s era-4AD feel is by far the stand-out of their Baby Style EP which was released earlier this year. I would describe the other tracks on the EP as if Modest Mouse traded in their guitars for synths. A bit discordant at times, but it still [...]
Like nearly every band in Canada, Frog Eyes has some connection to Wolf Parade . It seems, to me anyway, that if a Canadian band is not in the Wolf Parade sphere-of-influence ( Handsome Furs, Swan Lake, Sunset Rubdown , etc) than it must be part of the equally prolific Broken Social Scene sphere. I just hope that the apparent musical inbreeding stays platonic, because if not, look out!, you will see some weird looking progeny over there on our northern boarder in the coming years. I can't remark too much [...]
[See post to watch Flash video] Built To Spill - Untrustable RKCNDY Seattle, WA 4/6/97 Built To Spill is one of those critically acclaimed bands that everyone seems to love but they've never struck me as being either great or terrible. I've seen them live a handful of times and they certainly aren't boring, but there's something about them that's never made me think "I really need to go out and grab their records." I'm still waiting to be convinced otherwise. Regarding this video, I got it in a trade years [...]
[See post to watch Flash video] Sinker - Slash And Burn Detroit, MI 6/23/93 I don't think Sinker were fully appreciated in Detroit as evidenced by members of the crowd walking though the band mid-song to get to the door behind them. Here's a video of Sinker playing their song that was eventually released on the legendary 3/12/93 73 comp on Ebullition Records . Download: Sinker - Slash And Burn (Live Video)
One of the most consistently successful musical formulas of the last couple years has been that of the electronic duo. A relatively recent entry in the crowded field is England's La Roux . Consisting of singer Elly Jackson and producer / multi-instrumentalist Ben Langmaid , La Roux make straight-to-the-point pop songs in the vein of 80s groups Yazoo , Heaven 17 , and the Human League . They have recently been making some moves on this side of the Atlantic, mostly due to their single "Bulletproof" getting significant radio [...]
Voxtrot is one of the bands that went through one of the steepest hype-to-hate trajectory fueled through the manic vehicle that was Pitchfork and other music blogs throughout the OO's. After a few revered EP releases, Voxtrot's eventual and highly anticipated full-length was met with ire generally reserved for baby-murderers. I always expected, or, rather took for granted, them weathering such storms and being around no matter whatever spot they happen to be on the 'critic-coaster'. A long Voxtrot career was not meant to be, evidently, as the name of the recent tour [...]
[See post to watch Flash video] Sleater-Kinney - Sold Out Bryn Mawr Philadelphia, PA 4/6/96 The quality of this video isn't the greatest, but it was a such rarity that you would find Sleater-Kinney playing tracks from their self-titled release during the "Call The Doctor" tour. As such, I wanted to post it for the die-hard fans. One other thing to note, you'll see Toni Gogin on drums in this recording. She was never on any of their recordings, and from what I remember, only played with [...]
[See post to watch Flash video] Filth - The List SDSM&T Surbeck Center Rapid City, SD 6/9/90 Filth just played a huge reunion show a month ago with another Bay Area old school punk band, The Gr'ps at the legendary Gilman Street . Rapid City, where this video was shot, had a huge affinity for Filth as well and designated June 9th "Filth Day" since the band came through on June 9th in both 1990 and 1991. Download: Filth [...]
The National are everywhere these days: Rolling Stone, Village Voice, NY Times ... I remember talking to the drummer in 2007 just before the release of Boxer about whether they were concerned about over-estimating their popularity by debuting the tour with five shows at Bowery Ballroom. Clearly, they were not. All five shows sold out and these days they are commanding much larger audiences at larger venues. See TSOI post from one of those shows in 2007. Before the recent release of High Violet , The National did something, [...]
As part of NYC's Northside festival Thao Nguyen as of Thao with the Get Up and Get Down played a combined set with Mirah with both combining bands and performing songs from each others catalog. Great idea, great show. Since Thao's songs feature double tracked vocals and backing vocals, it was great to have a few additional strong female vocalists to reinforce the lead live. TSOI regulars might remember that Thao with the Get Up and Get Down scored a big hit with me with their album Know Better [...]
The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group 7th St. Entry Minneapolis, MN 5/9/07 A little over three years ago, Jim Ruiz decided to a one off reunion show at the 7th Street Entry . I had missed his last performance which was in NYC at the Chickfactor showcase in 2002, so I was determined to make this one. He debuted a bunch of new songs which he said would be out hopefully by the end of 2007. Three years later, no new info on a record which is a shame since the [...]
[See post to watch Flash video] The Make-Up - You + Me vs The World Mississippi Nights St. Louis, MO 10/8/95 After this week's earlier Nation Of Ulysses post we got a few requests for more Ian Svenonius . Post- Cupid Car Club , The Make-Up never thrilled me quite like his early bands, but you can't deny that it inspired a league of interesting copy-cats. Here's a video from one of The Make-Up 's early tours supporting their 73s released on their own Black Gemini Records [...]
Wedding Present swept through town doing what many bands are doing these days - performing a classic album in its entirely. I suppose some might argue that Seamonsters is their best album, but one thing is certain, no true fan of The Wedding Present is out there without Bizzaro prominently placed in their collection. At this show, Gedge and co. blew through some new songs plus a few standards before blazing through the jangle-fest that is Bizarro . I hope he put some ice on his pic hand [...]
We are excited to announce that the "Bands Featured on TSOI" module on the sidebar is now completely populated with all the posts from the archive. You can now easily browse TSOI by band as well as by month/year!
Along with the brand new site, The Sound Of Indie is pleased to announce a brand new addition to our unpaid staff, Brooklyn operative Mark . A relative newbie to show recording, Mark attends several shows a month in NYC and has been known to make occasional forays to New Jersey venues. While specializing in electronic and synth-based bands, Mark's musical tastes cover a wide swath of genres. You may have already noticed Mark's a-ha show review and tracks last Friday, which is the first of many posts to come. Please put your hands together [...]
After nearly 5 years, The Sound Of Indie is finally getting a face lift. Taking advantage of some of the new WordPress 3.0 features, we've completely redesigned the site to make it easier to use, easier to comment, and a bit more interesting. Here are a couple of the new features: We now are using the Sociable plug-in, so if you like a post you can easily share it on Face-Tweet-Book-Whatever-Space . You can also now easily see and subscribe to [...]
Nation of Ulysses Black Hills Workshop Gym Rapid City, SD 9/2/92 This show was the second (and last) time NOU played in Rapid City, SD and the turnout was huge. From what I remember, it was the last show of the summer, right before school started up again for the year. This recording is a little loud on the vocals (they were playing in a gym), but otherwise it's great late-era NOU soundboard recording. Setlist: 1. N-Sub Ulysses 2. Mockingbird, Yeah 3. Hex-Proof 4. Uptight/Hickey Underworld 5. A.P.E. [...]
Nation of Ulysses Black Hills Workshop Gym Rapid City, SD 9/2/92 This show was the second (and last) time NOU played in Rapid City, SD and the turnout was huge. From what I remember, it was the last show of the summer, right before school started up again for the year. This recording is a little loud on the vocals (they were playing in a gym), but otherwise it's great late-era NOU soundboard recording. Setlist: 1. N-Sub Ulysses 2. Mockingbird, Yeah 3. Hex-Proof 4. Uptight/Hickey Underworld 5. A.P.E. [...]
Norway's a-ha have spent the past 25+ years releasing hit albums and selling out arenas all over the world, with the exception of the U.S., where the band has been relegated to dreaded "one-hit wonder" status based solely on the strength of 80s anthem "Take On Me." Fans of the band know that a-ha actually has a catalog of consistently good albums, leading up to 2009's "Foot of the Mountain." a-ha declared 2010 to be the final year of their existence, and are calling it quits after one final tour. Included on their itinerary was a very, VERY brief [...]
The Sound Of Indie
Avicii – Two Million
Yellow Magic Orchestra edit from Chrome Canyon
Beck – I Just Started Hating Some People Today
H&M Lookbook Mujer y Hombre Otoño 2012.
