Finding an voice like Joanna Newsom is a difficult task. But if there is one artist that Joanna can be compared to, it's Tiny Hazard. But it really is not all about the voice. Alena Spanger's vocals are absolutely stunning, but it's the fact that the band is willing to strip down its layers until the spotlight is on her and her only. At times, only stretched out piano chords and ambient echoes help Spanger move along. The effect is an intense sense of honesty and vulnerability. However, things change a little before the two minute mark. Suddenly, as she [...]
On their debut EP All My Charm and Grace, West Philly's Liz and the Lost Boys had a quirky, folksy thing going on; since its release, the band's sound evolved exponentially. A studied classical pianist and harp player, frontwoman Liz Ciavlino pushed her songwriting in more expansive directions, incorporating sultry jazz, pop and rock sounds into the mix with players Will Wright (bass), Dane Galloway (guitar), and Eric Huefner (drums). We got a taste of that broader sound and scope when Liz and the Lost Boys recorded a Key Studio Session last month , and [...]
"I don't care about pleasing your expectations. I was crying my fucking eyes out when I wrote this and punching myself in the face. This is why I'm doing this record. It's for myself and my life." So wrote an impassioned Alex Hungtai, in response to a disgruntled YouTube commenter who took issue with his gorgeously flowing instrumental "Love is The Devil" when the track surfaced last winter. If there's one cliche above all others that seems to define our current mode of indie culture, it's the idea that what came before is always better than [...]
Not too long ago we posted about the NSFW, somewhat seedy video for Marika Hackman's anti-folk single 'Bath Is Black', which featured gangsters, a whole lotta' lapdancing, and unsurprisingly some tar-coloured bath water (you can watch it here if you're not at work). The track was taken from the Brightonian's acclaimed mini-album 'That Iron Taste', which has since lead to comparisons to the likes of Joanna Newsom and Nico (not bad for a debut). As the 21 year old folk prodigy prepares for a string of UK festival dates this summer, she has dropped [...]
Hace unos años me encontré con Ana Montiel , una artista española cuyo trabajo me encantó por varias razones: su gráfica es rica en patrones, sus trazos son orgánicos y está sellada por cálidas geometrías. Su biografía se resume con el siguiente gráfico, que ella misma hizo, así la presentamos, con una pequeña muestra de su creatividad, antes de compartirles la entrevista: Emma: La primera vez que vi tu trabajo fue con la serie Visual Mantras [...]
The 2013 Pitchfork Music Festival , happening Friday, July 19-Sunday, July 21 at Chicago's Union Park, has officially sold out of three-day passes. In its commitment to presenting one of the most exciting, inviting and affordable weekends of music around, in its eighth year, the festival offered the opportunity to purchase more three-day passes than ever before. Those have now all been spoken for, however single-day passes are still available for $50 each. As the summer's most adventurous music festival, featuring an extremely diverse group of established legends, including Belle & Sebastian, R. Kelly, The Breeders, Wire, Swans, Björk, [...]
Maybe not since the heyday of MTV's Unplugged has an artist released two albums of the same material that are so diametrically opposed as Emily Wells . Last year the singer-songwriter released Mama , a ten-track collection that fused hip-hop beats with lush string arrangements and folkie guitar all set to Wells' unique vocal style that is part sexy croon and part Joanna Newsom-esque weird-twee. On June 11, the songstress will release Mama Acoustic Recordings via Partisan Records, a stark bare-bones re-recording of her debut that features just Wells playing the tunes [...]
Fans of ambitious female-fronted folk in the vein of Marissa Nadler, Fiona Apple, and Joanna Newsom will find solace in the work of Norwegian songwriter Theresa Aune. The Oslo native's new track, "Chameleon", is off her debut album Billowing Shadows, Flickering Light , out August 6th on Red Eye Transit. The album packs a very classical repertoire, with haunting pianos, weeping strings, and chiming acoustics complementing the affirmative and constantly transitioning vocals of Aune, who compares to Joanna Newsom's inventive capriciousness in her delivery. Incorporate Aune's atmospheric folk smarts, and listeners are treated to a very compelling sound. [...]
Hip-hop, classical and folk may seem like a trio of disparate genres, but virtuosic violinist Emily Wells has fashioned herself a makeshift style from them nonetheless. The Texan songsmith is blessed with elfin pipes and deft digits; she's been around for a while now, and has released a fair amount of material, but her latest full-length, Mama , will be the first record she releases in the UK. Her collaboration with Count Bass D ('Symphony 3: The Story') is perhaps her biggest achievement this side of the pond, but her renown is sure to skyrocket in the [...]
Earlier this week Flavorwire nominated one album a year for the last five decades, compiling an epic list of 50 records that might constitute the ultimate record collection if you really only did buy one album a year. The post stirred some healthy (and, for the large part, pleasingly good-natured) discussion from readers, and also a couple of requests to put the whole thing together as a Spotify playlist. We're only too happy to oblige, so after the jump you'll find a track from every one of the records we chose (except, annoyingly, Kate Bush's Hounds of [...]
GRAPHIC BY LIZA FARRELL With little word from Joanna Newsom since she dropped her epic triple LP, Have One On Me , in 2010 (with the exception of a new song and a handful of live performances), what better way to hope for a new album than by talking about my favorite songs of hers? Choosing just 20 of Joanna's songs was difficult, as her discography is jam-packed with monumental tracks. This list, however, reflects the best of the best. Obviously, Joanna has definitely progressed and grown as an artist since [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: Regina Spektor, Joanna Newsom, She & Him Song: Kelsea Little - Blue Feather [download here ] What's so good? [...]
Angel Olsen 's Half Way Home is being released on CD, which is just as well as it deserves to be out there and as accessible as possible. Astonishing critics upon its release last year, her second release on Bathetic Records was a bolt from the blue. From the album's opening track, "Acrobat," Olsen simultaneously announces and differentiates herself in an industry where heads all around were scratched as people sought to place her. New Kate Bush ? No, not nearly as whimsical. [...]
This past weekend marked the sixth annual Downtown Music Festival — a miniature SXSW-style event featuring plenty of new, rising artists, scattered across multiple NYC venues, all within a one-mile radius. A seasoned festival goer knows there are two approaches to these types of festivals: choose a venue and watch all the artists playing there, or exert the most mental and physical energy possible by attempting to catch multiple sets at overlapping venues. Of course, we chose the latter, knowing exactly what we were getting ourselves into. Sort of. Racing to six or seven shows a night in [...]
In a recent interview in the Guardian, Van Dyke Parks states candidly and reflectively how he realized back in the 602s that, "Fame could be an inconvenience and time has borne me out." And the legendary songwriter/composer/lyricist/p roducer's decidedly underappreciated career has certainly stayed true to his convictions, as Parks has quietly but convincingly helped shape the direction of modern music, albeit mostly from the safe and subtle distance of the sidelines while gratefully ceding the spotlight to more famous artists. Whether through his ill-fated attempts at [...]
Back for a second year with an expanded line up, there's little doubt that the Meteor Camden Crawl Dublin built on the promise of 2012 and delivered a fine weekend of music across fifteen venues. As with the original London event, many of the highlights were to be found in the smaller venues and it was also encouraging to see the Irish acts more than stack up against the international visitors. Such was the range and scope of the Crawl, that everyone's festival experience will probably be unique but here's what caught the eye of the State team... [...]
Hailing from Cork, Ireland, electro-pop duo Young Wonder are back with their Show Your Teeth EP. Show Your Teeth features five tracks and a brief intro, and is anchored by last year's amazing 'To You', smack in the middle. Show Your Teeth opens quietly with airy echoing vocals that bleed over into the first proper track, 'Time'. 'Time' (feat. Sacred Animals) sets the stage for the EP, with insistent beats punctuated with sounds of ticking clocks and dreamy synths. 'To You' follows next with its excellent poppy blend of Eastern influences and electronica. 'Electrified' [...]
“He seemed like a mysterious, black-clad and unknowable figure to me – a beautiful boy - almost unreal,” recalls Vashti Bunyan when asked about her memories of Nick Drake . The meeting she speaks of, which took place several decades ago, was brought about by Bunyan and Drake’s mutual producer, Joe Boyd, who had hoped the two artists might come together in the spirit of collaboration. The session proved to be fruitless, Bunyan soon retreated from her career in music, and Drake, [...]
Dansk-íslenska hljómsveitin My Bubba (áður My Bubba & Mi) er nú stödd í Los Angeles að taka upp nýja breiðskífu með hinum virta pródúsent Noah Georgeson sem unnið hefur m.a. unnið með Joanna Newsom , Devendra Banheart og The Strokes . Platan verður gefin út hjá danska plötufyrirtækinu Fake Diamond Records í haust. Skífan verður vafin exótískum áhrifum og er einskonar ferðalag gegnum ímynduð höf og heimsálfur sem stúlkurnar hafa látið sig dreyma um í skandínavíska skammdeginu. [...]
Ryan Francesconi & Mirabai Peart 28 DE ABRIL, DOMINGO 19H Café au Lait, Porto Entrada livre Dito assim, o nome de Ryan Francesconi pode não fazer soar muitas campainhas. Mas se dissermos que foi o responsável pela maior parte dos arranjos do triplo disco de Joanna Newsom, Have One On Me, e membro da Ys Street Band, que ajudou a levar [...]
Lower Frequencies
The Key
Beats Per Minute
When The Gramophone Rings
noiselab
Altsounds.com
Hidden Track
Obscure Sound
The 405
Flavorwire
the WILD honey pie
indie shuffle
Listen Before You Buy
Consequence Of Sound
The Line Of Best Fit
State Magazine
Rjominn
Groove Radio PT
SOUNDCLOUD WRAP: The Swiss
Escucha el ruidoso regreso de M.I.A.
Video: Pitbull And Christina Aguilera Perform “Feel This Moment” On ‘The Voice’ Finale
Video: The Postal Service – “A Tattered Line of String”
Cher’s “Woman’s World” is Now on iTunes, Finally
