[ download ] [tweetmeme] After many repeated listens, it all boils down to this: the problem with Devon Williams ' "Your Sympathy" is that when ends after three and a half minutes, you're just going to want to listen to it again. However, further spins only amplify the issue, making you more inclined to want to hear it once more. It's a powerful feedback loop-this song is a mesmerizing enchantress. "Your Sympathy" was first released as the A-side of a single back in late June [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] Euro-style dramatics have always been a hard sell to American pop music audiences, at least since rock music took over the charts from the crooners for good back in the 1960s. Us Yanks will gobble up melodrama if it's a working class anthem from Mellencamp or Springsteen, or if it's a goofy horror movie theatrics like Alice Cooper or Kiss. But give us a dude with an Edith Piaf jones lamenting over strings and piano and we're likely to run screaming for the hills. We [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] The first few seconds of "Party Talk" place Stockton, California duo Craft Spells en ce moment . The wavy, retro melody could easily begin the latest single by Tennis or Summer Camp . After no more than a breath of 1960s pop, however, Justin Vallesteros and Frankie Soto move swiftly into a gentle, post-modern lullaby. Vallesteros and Soto create an explicit groove, as intimate as it is incessant. Hypnotic backing vocals pair with a looping melodic structure that creates the [...]
It's been almost two years since I last thought to check in on Brown Recluse , but the band has decided to pop back into my mind, and based on their latest single, "Impression of a City Morning," they'll probably be staying there for some time. The band is releasing their debut for Slumberland titled Evening Tapestry on March 15th. It's got this smooth jangling feel to it, one that's sort of reminiscent of all things Scottish in my mind. That steady drum [...]
It's been almost two years since I last thought to check in on Brown Recluse , but the band has decided to pop back into my mind, and based on their latest single, "Impression of a City Morning," they'll probably be staying there for some time. The band is releasing their debut for Slumberland titled Evening Tapestry on March 15th. It's got this smooth jangling feel to it, one that's sort of reminiscent of all things Scottish in my mind. That steady drum [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] Regular One Track Mind readers are already well acquainted with Johan Angergård and his work under the Club 8 banner. On March 22nd, Angergård will break a five year silence with his most enduring musical project, the ironically named Acid House Kings , when they release Music Sounds Better With You , their first new set of tunes since 20052s Sing Along With Acid House Kings . If lead single "Are We Lovers or Are We [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] The Philistines Jr. is more than just a Connecticut-based pop trio. On "If I Did Nothing But Train For Two Years, I Bet I Could Be in the Olympics" they dare to ask a question that many of us have (in our weakest moments) at least considered. But forget about your pal who is constantly rambling about his Masters Swimming accomplishments – these three had the guts to put their deluded musings into song. Never mind the feats of strength, Philistines Jr. would be a shoo-in [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] When Australia's The Lucksmiths decided to throw in the towel last year, they left behind what will hopefully prove to be an enduring legacy of clever and charming indie-pop tunes. Having plied their trade for over a decade, the prolific trio (and eventual quartet) garnered a fervent cult following thanks to their lyrical smarts and disarmingly simple instrumentation. Vocalist Tali White doubled as the band's percussionist, playing a stripped down kit consisting of a snare, hi-hat, and tom drum, while the rest was filled in [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] As 2010 begins to wind down, music writers begin to turn their collective attention to year end lists and best of features, trying to make sense of twelve months' worth of new music and take stock of the cream of the crop. One record which deserves to be on everyone's "Best Albums" rankings-but which will likely get overlooked more often than not-is The 1900s Return of the Century , the latest (and greatest) collection of the Chicago band's winsome, 1970s inspired indie-pop released by Parasol Records . [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] Though hardly intended to be a seasonal touch, Mariage Blanc 's "Whatever You Say I Am" actually kicks off with a few seconds of sleigh bells before launching into a full-fledged melodic onslaught. But like the true spirit of the holidays, Mariage Blanc favor largesse. Picture the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania five-piece in the studio wanting to give their fans "more of everything!" No less than four distinct melodies (guitar, vibraphone, vocals, horns) intertwine during the first verse before the vocals stretch out at the chorus to fill the wide [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] At first glance, Mackintosh Braun sounds like the name of a British spy from a cinematic farce starring Will Farrell. Actually it's the name of a duo from Portland, Oregon, whose names just happen to be Ian Mackintosh and Ben Braun. "Could It Be" begins with an 1980s-era keyboard melody and reverb-drenched joint vocals, which set the tone until an explosive chorus joins major keyboard swells with soaring harmonies. "Could It Be" is an unapologetic dose of optimism that's just trying to make the listener feel good. [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] Simon Tong has strummed a guitar in some pretty heavy-duty combos over the last twenty years – The Verve, Gorillaz, The Good, the Bad & the Queen, and Blur. Those are some of the more important British bands of the era calling on Tong for his services. Needless to say, when he starts a new band, attention must be paid. Erland and the Carnival is Tong's new venture in partnership with an Orkney folkie by the name of Erland Cooper. Together, they've made [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] Swedish crooner Jens Lekman is never one to shy away from emoting, or playful hyperbole. So it is on his latest offering, "The End of the World is Bigger than Love." He sings that "A broken heart is not the end of the world," but a broken heart is bigger than a strange and poetic litany that includes an iceberg, the plume of a geyser, a spider floating in your cider, the stock market, and loose change in your pocket. Perspective is everything, and Lekman plays with it in this [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] Western musical styles have always held the drone at arm's length. The musical traditions of other cultures-from India to the Middle East to Siberia to Australia-have historically embraced the inherent hypnotic tug of sustained tones, undertones, and overtones slipping and sliding against each other. However, aside from the Scots and their bagpipes, Europeans haven't been too terribly keen on the drone. It's generally been relegated to the avant-garde in Western culture, with The Beatles, The Velvet Underground and the shoegaze bands championing it in pop music (but those people [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] Once upon a time, twee was twee and rock was rock, and never the twain would meet. Enter Marc Cantone, with his battalion of talented musicians, who operate under the moniker The City and Horses . This offering from 20092s I Don't Want to Dream brings to mind everything from the underappreciated genius of Kicking Giant to the bedroom stylings of John Darnielle . Wherever the song may wander, Cantone makes sure to adorn it with embellishments befitting the brilliance of popsters like Big Star or [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] Trying to describe the Blonde Redhead's sound to those who haven't had the pleasure of listening to their musical trajectory over the past fifteen years is a tricky endeavor. In the anatomy of independent rock music, Blonde Redhead is the connective tissue between Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine, creating enchanting and occasionally flummoxing soundscapes which equally embrace the noisy and the melodious. Over the course of seven studio LPs, the New York City trio has gradually tempered their more rambunctious early sound in favor of more melodic pastures. [...]
[ download ] "We can change our minds / decide to tell them everything," sings Film School front man Greg Bertens on "Heart Full of Pentagons," the band's first single from Fission , their fourth full-length release. Film School has certainly reserved the right to change their minds. Instead of self-releasing Fission as they'd planned, the band made a last minute decision to sign to Hi-Speed Soul Records , who will release the record on August 31, 2010. "Heart Full of Pentagons" also marks a bit of [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] On July 6th, Kartel will release the debut LP from Oxford, England's Richard Walters , with critics and listeners alike bound to take notice. The Animal was written over a three year span, encompassing all of the emotional peaks and valleys one traverses over such an extended span. Walters' fragile vocals are exceptionally well paired with the airy, delicate instrumentation throughout; in conjunction, they conjure up the raw, nostalgic verve of The Clientele's early releases and the nimble mellifluousness of The Middle East 's [...]
[ download ] World Atlas probably wants to get all of the jokes out of the way very quickly. Yes, they're all going to be arrested for grand theft. Yes, Stuart Murdoch called from 1996 and wants his band's sound back. Yes, World Atlas' music is so eerily reminiscent of old Belle & Sebastian records that they were served with a cease and desist. Still, there are worse things to be accused of than sounding like a facsimile of one of the most important acts of the [...]
[ download ] [tweetmeme] Tomorrow, May 25th, Beach Fossils will deliver their eponymous debut LP on the Captured Tracks label. The album features eleven tracks of jangly indie rock whose edges blur and cloud like overly saturated watercolor strokes. Beach Fossils is led by Brooklynite Dustin Payseur, who recorded a 73 under the band name earlier this year before fleshing out a full band. His influences aren't difficult to spot; whether directly or indirectly, Payseur's work bears a heavy influence of acts such as The Field Mice, Allen Clapp, [...]
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