At times it feels like the music well is drying up faster than any of us would want it to. The next "big thing" is a carbon copy the the previous "big thing" and the one after that will follow suit I'm sure. Step back and think about everything you love about music. Loud, driving, unique, meaningful. Silver Snakes has all of it in spades on their debut album Pictures of a Floating World . From top to bottom not a moment is wasted in this mixture of post-punk, prog-rock that reminds of a little bit of At The [...]
Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes is a great up and coming band that call Nashville their home. Watch the video for "Bleeding Tongue", the opening and stand out track from the band's debut release, Civilized Man which is a nice mixture of Jack White meets Cold War Kids. The video goes all conspiracy theory as the band boards themselves up in a house waiting for the jack boots to kick the door down. Apparently the G-men want to lyrics to the song. The chase is on.
Making their way out of Detroit, Fawn is comprised of former Kiddo member Christian Doble, Alicia Gbur (formerly of the Von Bondies), percussionist Matt Rickle, and former Transatlantics guitarist Mike Spence. With so much experience, it's no wonder that the band has hit the ground running with a sound rife with 902s vibe. Watch the video for "No Wave" below which is a fantastic track that lulls the listener into a false sense of shoegaze security before everything changes at the 3:00 mark. You can also stream Coastline , the band's debut album at their [...]
Like most bands throughout the nation, Adam Arcuragi and The Lupine Chorale Society will be making their way south this week to play a handful of shows at SXSW. AA & LCS write earnest folk which they describe as Death Gospel or "anything that sees the inevitability of death as a reason to celebrate the special wonder that is being alive and sentient. That's the hope with the songs...It is exciting that we can reflect upon it as intelligent life and do something to make that wonder manifest." This really doesn't describe the music itself which is a [...]
Gotye (pronounced “gore-ti-yeah”) is simply Belgian born (now Australian) Wouter "Wally" De Backer who has been making music since a young age and releasing albums with his band The Basics as well as his own creations under his moniker. 2012 will see the release of his third solo album and probably the one that will get him the recognition he deserves. Making Mirrors is an interesting musical journey that spans sounds and genres from 502s doo wop in "I Feel Better", 802s synth with heavy vocal effect on "State of The Art" and a heavy Peter Gabriel influenced [...]
It's getting more and more rare to receive an email from a PR firm containing music that is actually listenable. To be honest it seems to take quite an act of God for this to occur. So on the occasion that this happens it's a time to celebrate. One of these rare occurrences happened today when I got an announcement concerning the debut release for Norwegian group Team Me. Fronted by Marius Hagen, Team Me found surprise success after one of their songs was accepted into a battle of the band contest and a band had to be [...]
It will come as no surprise to find out that Mike West, the founder of The Lost Cavalry, is the former guitarist for London darlings Fanfarlo. There are some obvious similarities between the two bands, heavy percussion use from various worldly instruments, story telling lyrics and bravado vocals. All of which makes for some great listening. With a release date of Nov. 21st Snow City Radio will be the band's second EP after their 2010 release Waves Freeze To Rolling Hills . Just as expansive and tantalizing as Waves Freeze , Snow City [...]
( email | facebook | twitter ) We recently asked composer Christina Vantzou a few questions about her forthcoming debut, Nº1 , due October 24 on Kranky . The Muse In Music : At times your visual art presents some otherwise startling ideas in a safe, even inviting way. Is there a philosophy behind this, or is your process more spontaneous? Christina Vantzou : My process is spontaneous and at the [...]
![Find of The Week Vol. 3 No. 27: [Me]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3758629_lg.jpg)
[Me] is yet another great band in a long line of great bands that are making their way out of Australia these days. I don't know what they're putting in the water down there but it must be some good stuff. Australia has truly become the place to turn to if you're looking for the next big thing. In the grand scheme of things [Me] is a relative new comer with their yet to be titled debut album coming out sometime in the Spring of 2012. This doesn't mean that there's not great material to sink your teeth [...]
West Coast quartet California Condors is what would happen if you got Midlake and added some psych/acid rock to it. Tracks are tantalizing and will draw you in with their classic rock appeal. You can listen to two of the stand out track below. Title track "Calm Carnivore" opens with in standard indie form with power chords and driving drums but then takes a sharp left turn to a more reggae beats and soothing vocals. "What Did You Do?" takes more of a folk feel in line with Fleet Foxes. The track has a steady build up [...]
"Avocado Chip is a place; a state of mind; a dark vision of villains and political axe-wielders, Stepford wives, husbands, sons and daughters; con men and women; evil deeds and all manner of shenanigans, fully realised with consummate poetic vision and gloriously melodic panache." This is how Ben Sommers explains Avocado Chip , his latest endeavor into a dark world he calls Starving Jane. Acting as the narrator Sommers tells the stories of Oculus Una and Old Tall Sam amidst cabaret accordions and droning electronics. The orchestrations are sweeping and give deeper emotion to themes [...]
It's been a while since I've written about some honest to goodness folk music. So to get ourselves warmed up let's take a listen to Blessed Feathers. This Wisconsin based group's sound will fill your speakers but somehow they accomplish this will minimal members. Sharing the vocal duties between Donivan Berube and Jacquelyn Beaupré is refreshing like dipping your feet in a cold creek. The band's debut album titled From the Mouths of The Middle Class is out September 20th and should be received with grandeur. You can watch the video for "By Song Through [...]
You Won't isn't the greatest band name ever. Try Googling "You Won't" and see what you get. The answer if everything except a band and since today is an egregiously busy day at work I don't time to dig into the deep dark wells of the internet to bring you all the dirty little secrets about this Massachusetts duo. What I can tell you is that they have a debut album out now called Skeptic Goodbye . Listen the two tracks below and you'll immediately hear some influences from Simon and Garfunkel, The Tallest Man On Earth and Deer [...]
Duke Raoul is a quartet with two EP's to their name. The band is definitely notching out a special place for themselves in the UK music scene. With the hints of calypso and surf rock you'd expect SoCal to be the place that they call home but Brighton, England is where they hang their hats. This in unlike anything that we've really heard come out of that region of the world. There aren't heavy ties to Franz Ferdinand, The Kooks or Editors, Duke Raoul are paving their own ground. You can download their newest EP, Young Starling [...]
Sweden seems to have been pretty quick as of late. A country that was regularly churning out new indie acts that were destined for stardom seemed to have run a little dry. Today we'll help end that dry spell by introducing Dear Joe. According to their press release Dear Joe is a five piece although I have no idea who's missing from the picture above. Starting out as the solo project of Joel Hedin, who after numerous attempts to make it as an artist was on the verge of giving up when he met street musician Per Blomqvist. [...]
Blind Willies started out as a duo fronted by Alexei Wajchman. After two releases and many festival appearances nationwide Wajchman decided that in order to progress the sound of the band there needed to be more members. Now as a five piece, Blind Willies has just released their third album titled Needle, Feather and a Rope which was recorded at John Vanderslice's all-analog studio in the Mission District of San Francisco. The entire album was recorded over a 4 day, 10 hours per day time frame all to 23 analog tape giving it a raw appealing sound. [...]
With traces of electronic pop layered atop indie rock hooks, Portland, Oregon band Priory is one that you'll be hearing about in the next few years. The band has two albums to their name thus far. Their first EP was recorded with Sky Norwood who has also produced albums for indie darlings Blind Pilot and Horse Feathers . Since then they have been snagged up by Expunged Records and released their first full length self-titled album last week. This quartet has a Local Natives edge to them with their additional percussion and [...]
I've said before that the more members of a band there are the better chances that band has of being great. This assessment stands true for Emanuel and the Fear. Going strong at 11 musicians, this Brooklyn "rock orchestra" was listed in L Magazine as one 8 NYC bands that you need to hear. I can't agree more with that statement. Emanuel Ayvas (the guy on the far right with the frizzy hair) is the mind behind the madness. Ayvas doesn't restrict himself though to the sound that listeners would expect from an arrangement like this. [...]
You can usually tell when the founder of a band was raised my musicians. The layers tend to be denser than most and the song progressions are unexpected and imaginative. You get all this and more with Brooklyn band Snowmine. Frontman Grayson Sanders is the son of an opera singer and oil painter. In his youth he was drawn heavily to study and pick apart the works of great classical composer such as Stravinsky, Ravel, Bartok, Ligeti and Autechre. This lead to him symphonic pieces which included a positively received orchestral cover of Bjork's "Cover Me", which [...]
Fishboy is a four piece group from Texas' "other Austin", Denton. The group initially was a solo project of Eric Michener's who received his nickname from a middle school field trip to the Dallas World Aquarium where he accepted the dare to swallow a fish. Hence "Fishboy". Later Mechener moved to Denton with his collection of rough recordings and continued to work on his sound until it became what you hear today. Classic Creep is a truly unique album in its concept. The concept album saw an explosion in 2009 with albums being released by [...]
The Muse In Music
Boards of Canada – Reach For The Dead
Ace by @thebigsleepnyc #nowplaying
Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe Protein Punched by City Light, Magic Man and Smallpools
HAERTS: “All The Days”
