Much hyped and much revered by respected acts such as Elbow and the legend that is Tom Waits, Jesca Hoop has returned to our Music Boxes with new album Hunting My Dress. Two questions beckon Was it worth the wait? and Is the hype justified? I have to answer both those questions with a big fat resounding YES!!!!! This girl has delivered big time with her own unique fusion of Experimental Rock, Psych Folk, Blues and Jazz. When listening to this it initially took me on a journey to the outer Hebrides where [...]
With the release of her second album Hunting My Dress in the U.K. November 30, the brilliant, intrepid songstress Jesca Hoop becomes yet another talented American artist to find a more welcoming musical home outside of the U.S. Maybe borders don't really matter much anymore in cyberspace where everything can be accessed with a click but it does say something pretty sad about the ability for adventurous artists like Hoop to find some kind of critical, concerted and supportive spotlight for an effective launch here. Following a major press campaign overseas and a European tour with [...]
I don't know much about Jesca Hoop , save that she was once Tom Waits' babysitter, but I like what I'm hearing, especially Four Dreams , which you can hear at her MySpace page . It brings to mind a bluegrass Lene Lovich, with a dash of Syd Straw . She's apparently on her second album, which means I'm a little late to the table. One to watch.
Yael Meyer is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles. Born in Chile, she started dancing and singing at a young age, and was later accepted to the Berkley School of Music in Boston where her passion took off. In 2004 she release her debut EP, Common Ground ( ) to great fanfare. She is now following up with that debut with her latest EP, Heartbeat . Heartbeat was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Bill Lefler (Ingrid Michaelson, Tim Myers, Fall Out [...]
I don't usually post tour dates on the blog, but I figured a lot of you might be interested in what cool shows have been announced in your area for the near future. I know I usually rummage the internet for such information. Here is this the touring news for the week ending 10/23, including dates for JUSTICE, Arctic Monkeys, Wilco, Julian Casablancas, Weezer, The Antlers, Neko Case, Andrew Bird, Free Energy, The Drums and These United States . JUSTICE DJ SETS 10-29 New York, [...]
photo by djenvert The brilliant and eclectic Andrew Bird is a busy man these days. He's currently out on tour with St. Vincent , in support of his recent album, Noble Beast . The two artists will be featured on the next episode of Austin City Limits . The show will air this Sat. Oct 24 but will also available for online streaming, as we mentioned previously . Bird also just announced a few special Midwest shows in Minneapolis and his home base of Chicago. The [...]
Lissie came to our attention as a back up singer for Jesca Hoop. A talented artist in her own right, she is about to release an EP of solo work, Why You Runnin'.
Chilean born and L.A based songstress Yael Meyer is set to release a new album. Her second independent release 'Heartbeat EP' , will be available via iTunes and amazon mp3 on November 10th 2009. The EP features all new material written by Yael Meyer. Recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Bill Lefler (Ingrid Michaelson, Tim Myers, Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes) 'Heartbeat' includes guest appearances by Danny Levine on trumpet (Lenka), Fil [...]
Layered electronica. Acoustic guitar. Hushed female vocals. Yael Meyer . Oh, and bells, bells, bells. Meyer, a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, was born in Santiago de Chile and moved to the United States at 19 to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She's no longer that wide-eyed 19-year-old, currently spending her time in LA. Yet she still presents a blissfully innocent sound on her newest EP, Heartbeat , slated for a November 10 release. Per her press release, Heartbeat was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Bill Lefler [...]
Layered electronica. Acoustic guitar. Hushed female vocals. Yael Meyer . Oh, and bells, bells, bells. Meyer, a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, was born in Santiago de Chile and moved to the United States at 19 to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She's no longer that wide-eyed 19-year-old, as she currently spends her time in LA, but she still presents a blissfully innocent sound on her newest EP, Heartbeat , slated for a November 10 release. Per her press release, Heartbeat was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by [...]
Chasing Kings make beautifully interesting music and boast live shows full of passion and glorious spontaneity. Made up of long time friends Matt Schwartz (Vocals/Keys/Guitar), Drew Beck (Guitar/Vocals), Nick Sandler (Drums), and Mike Goldman (Bass/Vocals), Chasing Kings has no member over the age of 20 but exudes an obvious maturity. Galvanized by the opportunity to record with producer Tony Berg (Phantom Planet, Mellowdrone, Jesca Hoop), Chasing Kings hunkered down in a Brentwood studio and fine tuned the intricate and refined pop songs that would ultimately become The Current State Of Our [...]
Family Force 5-Get Your Back Off The Wall_(3OH!3_Remix) Dan Wilson-Free Life It's another ski season approaching and the Warren Miller film crew have got another action packed ski movie to unleash on all those boarders and skiers who's kindling has been drying out all summer long, here's just the ticket to set it ablaze and kick off this year's snowriding. Check out this mix of cool tunes to set you free riding down those slopes in your mind as you watch the [...]
Jesca Hoop - " Seed of Wonder " Jesca Hoop was "discovered" while working as a nanny for Tom Waits' kids. She gave Waits a demo that he liked, and he then passed it around until it found its way into heavily-requested rotation at KCRW . Not a bad way to make it, really. Jesca's style roughly fits in with the "Freak Folk" crowd (Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, etc), though that's largely for the quirkiness that can run through her music rather than its freaky folkiness. This song, "Seed of Wonder", is [...]
SoCal-to-London singer/songwriter Jesca Hoop follows up her brilliant, left-of-center and completely underexposed '07 debut Kismet this fall with Hunting My Dress , street date TBA. Included in the new ten-track set will be a fleshed out version of one of our favorites: "Murder of Birds", a song that she recorded for her 2008 Kismet Acoustic EP and which features Elbow's Guy Garvey. Glorious. As Tom Waits (whom she worked for as a nanny) put it: "Her music is like going swimming in a lake at night." [...]
The Hold Steady played the 9:30 Club on August 28, the night before the five-some were scheduled to appear at the Virgin Mobile Freefest at Merriweather Post Pavilion the next day. Given the choice of standing in the dark in an air-conditioned venue at night versus being exposed to the elements (sun, heat, and bugs) in the daytime, there's no contest. The floor was conspicuously empty when 7:15 rolled around and the opening act, Iran , was due on stage. Iran is the experimental/indie rock side project of TV [...]
I have been a huge Elbow fan for years but had never been able to get to one of their shows, so when I saw that they would be opening for Coldplay I thought 2 things: hooray for finally getting to see this band that I love, and boo for having to see them as an opener for Coldplay. Then they announced that they were going to do a small handful of headlining shows in the US, the closest one to me being in Atlanta, and I was ecstatic. I bought my $20 tickets, booked a [...]
Talented London rock/pop trio Stages of Dan , who PopWreckoning featured as a Hidden Talent in July, have filmed a music video for their boppy tune "Gary". Check out the crazy video that has the guys hamming it up in Soho locations of the Yo Sushi! chain. Personally, I think it's hilarious. I love sushi on conveyor belts too, so they couldn't really go wrong here. The band plans to release an EP later this year. Stages [...]
So what's up with Noah and the Whale , that London folk four-piece that got your toes tapping with the exuberant ray of sunshine "Five Years Time"? They are back this fall with their second album entitled The First Days of Spring , which comes out at the end of August in the UK, but we Americans have to wait until early October. The album begins with somber drumming paired with sparse guitar and violin work on the title track. You begin to ask yourself, [...]
Brixton, London house duo Basement Jaxx - the guys that got people flocking to the dance floor with "Where's Your Head At?" in 2001 - is back this fall with a new album, Scars . The album features collaborations with such varied artists as Yoko Ono , Santigold , Lightspeed Champion , and Kelis . "Raindrops", the first single from the album, was released on June 22 in the UK and reached #21 on the UK singles chart. [...]
Manchester , England band Elbow has been together for 18 years, existing and playing mostly under the radar. Yet it wasn't until their 2008 album the Seldom Seen Kid won the coveted Mercury Prize last year that they started to realize the kind of commercial success that should follow the critical acclaim they've received all these years from those in the business, and from their cult status among their diehard fans around the globe. Despite all the accolades, the band still appear to be the same five down-to-earth guys that first played [...]
![Basement Jaxx - Raindrops [MUSIC VIDEO]](http://cache.elbo.ws/youtube/1ti5t88WJ3E_130.jpg)
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