It's that time again, friends, time to gather around the table and share our thoughts on certain special albums. The subject this time is Sharon Van Etten -the woman, the myth, the legend. Alright, there's nothing really mythical about her but she is a legendary woman, and her newest album, Tramp , is released and ready for listening and debate. We have all eight of our writers contributing their thoughts here. Dig in, explore our opinions, and share your own in the comments! Sharon Van Etten / Serpents [...]
Words by Brendan There are many adjecives I could use to describe Pet Clinic and their debut EP-talented, purposeful, confident, moody-but I'm choosing this one above all: energetic . This six song EP is the culmination of years of work and it seriously shows, with nary a second of filler, nor a misplaced sound. Even the mellow moments (of which there are few, mind you) have me on the edge of my seat or up on my feet. This is a band who knows exactly what they want to sound like [...]
[The New Classics is a reoccurring segment in which we examine our favorite indie releases that are bound to replace our parent's "classic rock" stash hidden in the attic or the basement. These aren't reviews, these are unedited testimonies and opinions about why we love what we love. Can we get a witness?] Words by Jim Album: The Mysterious Production of Eggs Artist: Andrew Bird Released: February 8, 2005 [...]
5 Songs is a weekly series where we point out the strange, the grand, and the unique connections between our favorite songs. Let's get weird. Words by Chris Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, there was always this weird anti-Ohio attitude that cut deeply. Although without Ohio, none of us in Beaver County, living on the border, would be drinking any beer in high school. So thanks, East Palestine, for your beat-up 7-Elevens. It's a [...]
So we typically toss a video onto a post when highlighting a new band or a show preview or something and let you draw your own conclusion about it. Sometimes we throw a change-up... strike that - let's call it a round up. Most of these videos are of bands we have previously talked about here on Draw Us Lines, so we won't be telling you much about those bands themselves, just some musings that really aren't worth a damn. If a picture is worth 1000 words, then a video must be worth a million. Hold on to your hats! [...]
Song: "Wish You Were Here" [Pink Floyd cover] Artist: Lia Ices Pink Floyd is pretty hallowed ground, as far as my rock history fandom is concerned, so I wasn't sure what to expect from Lia Ices . Her hauntingly pretty, mellow dreampop debut, Grown Unknown , made an impression on me last year, but I've lost touch with it. After this, though, I'll be revisiting it, for sure. This is far more than a re-singing of the lyrics, a re-playing of the melodies. Her voice lilts and impassions the words [...]
Words by Jim I'm on a Bandcamp kick lately. I've had some good look. Earlier in the week I brought you the awesome band The White Album from Denmark and today I've got The Oh Hello's (and it actually worked backwards. I got The White Album based on the recommendation of The Oh Hello's . Mind blowing.). I'm not sure I 100% agree with their apostrophe use, but their EP is so good that I'm not going to start any grammatical fights. I'll warn you now, they [...]
[The Lookahead is a monthly segment where we get to be all newsy and point out cool stuff going down in the next 30 days or so. We'll have cool Pittsburgh music shows and events, local album releases, and some national releases of interest. This is the good stuff we've heard about. Come back on the 1st of each month for more!] This is the second part of our first entry in The Lookahead series. We brought you some notewrothy upcoming Pittsburgh events and [...]
[The Lookahead is a monthly segment where we get to be all newsy and point out cool stuff going down in the next 30 days or so. We'll have cool Pittsburgh music shows and events, local album releases, and some national releases of interest. This is the good stuff we've heard about. Come back on the 1st of each month for more!] This is our first entry in The Lookahead series. We have some Pittsburgh concerts and album releases to feature in this post. [...]
Words by Jim My inbox gets annihilated by emails on a daily basis. I almost feel bad for it. PR people from around the globe send us the most random stuff. Seriously, I'm not saying that we are super important and we have PR agents banging our door down, because that's definitely not the case. It's just the power of Google and Twitter search, I guess. If we feature a band from the UK, you can bet that two days later we'll have emails about the newest dub step grunge trip hop artist from [...]
Words by Jim Oh man. I really hope that the name of this post hasn't confused you. Yes. You read that correctly. The name of this band is The White Album . And get this, the name of their release is called The Album and it's more the length of an EP. Wait, what? Yes. Well, now that we've gotten past that little hiccup, let's get down to business: this band is tremendous (and Danish). The Album by The White Album [...]
Hung On You from New Shouts on Vimeo . We are super psyched to premiere this new music video from Pittsburgh's best retro soul-rockers, New Shouts ! Their fantastic debut EP, Sing New Shouts , was one of our local faves of last year , and we've caught some stripped-down versions of their tunes on tape for their Echo Chamber session , as well. This rockin' tune, "Hung On You", is track 3 on that EP and gets your dancin' shoes movin' right off the bat with that New [...]
Bind Pilot & The Barr Brothers / Mr. Smalls / 2.10.2012 / Doors 7:00 / $13.50 Words by Jim It's always fun to catch a band around town and see them return a few years later, a few years older, and a few fans stronger. Case in point: Blind Pilot . I caught them back in 2009 when they played with (the seriously awesome) Laura Veirs at Club Cafe. Fast forward three years later, the band has a new album and they're playing at [...]
Words by Brendan I sat down with Josh Verbanets, guitarist/singer/songwriter from Meeting of Important People , at Kiva Han the other day to shoot the shit and chat about the band's plans for a new album and their corresponding Kickstarter campaign . I am a huge MOIP fan, like a lot of folks I know around town, so I was already waaayyy into this idea and eager to share it with everyone who's remotely willing to read and/or listen. The conversation we had completely solidified all of my thoughts and [...]
Song: Catalpa Artist: Young Brokaw I'm a sucker for songs with spelling lessons."C-A-T-A-L-P-A" shouted over eighth note guitar strums is music to my ears. Young Brokaw transport me back to mid '90s awesomeness with this careening indie pop rock gem about a certain genus of flowering plants (or an album by Jolie Holland or a shipwreck or a city. Goddamn Wikipedia disambiguation). What the song is about doesn't really matter. All that's important is that the band has me rocking along to this album opening gem. I'll shout [...]
Words by Will I lie to myself. I like to convince that I am worldly and cultured. Sadly, I know the opposite to be true. But worldly music leanings are a strong first step in my culturing process. Maybe, one day I will be able to escape my own preconceived bullshit. Maybe, just maybe, hopefully, you (the esteemed and probably much more cultured audience) can take this journey with me. As such, I present Brussels heavy pop quartet BRNS . This is a formal informal introduction. By reading this, you will become more cultured. As [...]
5 Songs is a weekly series where we point out the strange, the grand, and the unique connections between our favorite songs. Let's get weird. Words by Chris I commit to "pop" because it's more fun to say than "soda". Look, soda is flavorless ephemera that has to be mixed with gin to work as a beverage at all [...]
So we typically toss a video onto a post when highlighting a new band or a show preview or something and let you draw your own conclusion about it. Sometimes we throw a change-up... strike that - let's call it a round up. Most of these videos are of bands we have previously talked about here on Draw Us Lines, so we won't be telling you much about those bands themselves, just some musings that really aren't worth a damn. If a picture is worth 1000 words, then a video must be worth a million. Hold on to your hats! [...]
Song: "Shake Can Well" Artist: Boom Chick I never, ever thought that the directions/warnings on an aerosol can could be converted into foot-stompin' rock 'n roll mayhem, but that is precisely what Boom Chick have accomplished with this tune. I honestly listened to this song three or four times before even scrolling down the page to learn that fact, which is a testament to this song's guitar-lick-and-drum-pumping catchiness on its own. Pay closer attention and you might be able to figure out which brand name product you'll find these words on. [...]
Words by Rick Moslen I recently overheard some old lady on the bus spew some nonsense about how 2012 marks the end of the world. Maybe she's a Glenn Beck fanatic or the wife of some cult leader, but she was more-than-likely confusing "end of the world" with 2012's other important event: "the 30th anniversary of K Records"—obviously. Avoiding aging traits like receding hairlines, bedwetting, and excessive ear hair, the graceful label still holds its charm thanks to an array of hip songwriters ( Karl Blau, Mirah, Atlas Sound, Jeremy Jay ), [...]
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Watch: Trailer for Dave Grohl’s documentary, Sound City
Conchord On Composing Music For Muppets
Webcast: The Kills’ 10th anniversary concert
Free James Blake live album given away
