Tagged: ontherecord

After their sensational release of 'Keep You Around ' , finger clickers across the nation are rejoicing with last weeks release of The Harpoons' EP Walk Away/Keep You Around . The funky R&B feel to this release is only heightened further by Bec Rigby's undulating vocal ability throughout the tracks. 'Falling For You (B-side)' brings along a more electronic feel to the release. The remixed version of 'Keep You Around' is a vast contrast to the original, definitely worth putting on for a pre-Piedimonte's late night venture. The Harpoons' debut [...]

In between the power cuts in Varanasi, I was lucky enough to be able to check my inbox this morning. Vishnu and Shiva were definitely on my team today. The Ocean Part y are one of my most treasured bands at the moment, after a string of excellent single releases, the boys from Wagga Wagga have released the full squid. Their debut album, The Sun Rolled Off The Hills is a brilliant, rolling, laid back affair. There is a defiant Paul Kelly Vs. The Shins feel to this release, with strong guitar [...]

Here's the latest video the up and coming New Zealand band The Naked and Famous for their latest single "The Sun". I had a chance to actually see the band and meet them...

• OnTheRecord - The Naked & Famous "Young Blood"

( email | facebook | twitter ) We recently caught up with Francois Peglau, for a little bit of clarification about one Alain Delon. For a quick primer, stream "I'll Never Be Alain Delon," from The Imminent Failure of Francois Peglau , below. Here's what Peglau had to say about the actor: Well, Alain Delon is one of the biggest French film stars. His peak period was between 1950s and 1960s, and during that time he was considered the [...]

Most Likely To: be the most cuddly ass-kicking you'll ever receive. The word "adorable" has a new picture adorning its entry in the dictionary and it's that of Ritzy Bryan, vocalist and guitarist for the Welsh dream-pop trio The Joy Formidable . Bryan is so lethally cute, with her blonde pageboy and twinkling smile, that you halfway expect the band's roadies and guitar techs to be cartoon birds, squirrels, and bunnies. However, anyone tempted to dismiss Ritzy as just a whimsical little sprite will have their attitude adjusted in a [...]

Most Likely To: lead the faithful out of the promised land and into the wilderness. And lo, it came to pass that in the fifth year following the release of Ships that Daniel the New Jerseyite, son of Lenny, arose and spake unto his famile, "Behold, the time hath come to record a new album. For verily, Ships is now a memory from a different time, and I feel that the world doth need a new testament from Danielson ." And his [...]

Most Likely To: make you want to soak in bourbon. I've had quite a bit of difficulty writing this review because every time I put the album on, I got way too consumed in listening to the bluesy rock goodness that was coming out of my speakers to write anything. Distinctly American, U.S. Royalty infuses southern blues rock and Americana culture with a sprinkle of indie-pop sensibility on top to make some absurdly catchy tunes on their debut album Mirrors . After the deceptively mellow [...]

Most Likely To: pack a lot of ideas into a three-minute dance track. Just how did JD Samson become a leader of MEN ? Samson originally made her name as a member of Le Tigre, Kathleen Hanna's post- Bikini Kill project. With Le Tigre on seemingly permanent hiatus, Samson joined forces with Le Tigre's Joanna Fateman to form MEN as a DJ project. Samson may be the only woman in rock who sports facial hair, so when she formed Hirsute with multi-faceted performers Michael O'Neill (Ladybug Transistor) and Ginger Brooks Takahashi ( Mirah [...]

Most Likely To: pass out on the street by the discotheque at 3 A.M. with a sherry stain on his frilly white shirt. In a fantastic interview with Pitchfork , Dan Bejar a.k.a. Destroyer makes a number of fascinating revelations about the songwriting process behind Kaputt , but perhaps the most telling is that most of the vocals were recorded "while fixing myself a sandwich," or "while I was, like, lying down on the couch." Like, lying down on the couch indeed. The lyric sheet for Kaputt's [...]

Most Likely To: take you back to the days when Indie Rock was ascendant. As the early days of the 1990s recede further into the swirling mists of time, they acquire an ever more burnished sepia tone of nostalgia. Ah, those were the days, back when the U.K. was awash in the sweet sounds of shoegazing and Madchester, and the U.S. was witnessing the birth of the Indie Nation, with R.E.M. and Sonic Youth at its head. Bob Mould was getting played on commercial radio, Natalie Merchant was considered a sex symbol, and [...]

Most Likely To: cause flashbacks. Finally-an Iron and Wine album your parents will like! Okay, Samuel Beam's music clearly doesn't fall into the confines of rabble-rouser rock; there is no perversity that one can equate with the singer/songwriter. But Kiss Each Other Clean is definitely an ode to yesteryear and would probably make the older generation who approved of 1970s folk rock swoon. The album is truly retro with a Simon and Garfunkel feel that is prevalent throughout along with a lot of [...]

Most Likely To: take you back to the '90s. Like a moody and capricious teenager, Yuck has gone through more transformations and changes than you can keep track of. With each release, Yuck has shown the world a different personality. Just when you thought you had gotten a hold of their sound, they'd pull the rug out from under your feet. With their first single, "Georgia," it was all about exuberant, fuzzy, lo-fi pop-rock with lovely harmonies. Then, on their second single "Rubber," we got an artsy, meandering, seven-minute exploration filled [...]

Most Likely To: make you reconsider the cheese of other eras. Sweden's The Radio Dept. has taken an odd but engaging journey over the past decade, progressing from an excellent but fairly typical noise-pop band to an excellent, decidedly atypical band mixing noise-pop with the decidedly unhip sounds of 1970s lite-rock and '80s post-New Wave pop. Why exactly The Radio Dept. felt the world needed something as bizarre as a combination of Robbie Dupree and Ride is anyone's guess, but thank God they did. As ghastly as that recipe sounds in theory, [...]

Most Likely To: make you stay in a shitty city a little longer. When I moved to San Diego, I found myself lost in a T.G.I. Friday's that seemed never to end. The grimy sunbeam of fortune that once drove Tom Waits to search for the heart of Saturday night had been strip-mined, refinished and thoroughly scrubbed of everything that might have once identified it as a city unique unto itself. This gentrified fleece covered everything from the restaurants to the bars to the venues that are supposedly the home of defiant [...]

Most Likely To: make you relapse. Blood Bunny / Black Rabbit is an EP for Black Heart Procession fans who enjoy the progressive and more electronic wave of the band's music. For the eight-song release (consisting of five remixes and three original, unreleased songs), the band enlisted synthesizer-happy musical associates such as Mr Tube , Eluvium , and Jamuel Saxon . As for the new material, "Blank Page" and "Orchid" are the most promising of the three tracks. [...]

Most Likely To: be 20112s first enduring record. When Cut Copy 's Dan Whitford sings, "Have you heard the latest reinvention in the streets? / Take me on a journey with the rhythm in my feet" on "Blink and You'll Miss a Revolution," he's summing up Zonoscope , the Aussie outfit's third full-length release. Zonoscope 's cover features an image of Niagara Falls engulfing the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings. That's a good approximation of the way that Cut Copy makes music. Cut Copy is like the Horseshoe [...]

Most Likely To: rock this town, rock it inside out. Elliott Smith, who committed suicide in 2003 at the age of 34, was and will probably always remain Portland's poster boy for misunderstood and sentimental songwriters. Smith lived and dealt with his addictions through the songs and music he crafted. His live performances were known for providing a spotlight on his incredibly emotional state, one which the audience could not help but become enveloped in. During concerts, Smith often received a helping hand from the audience as to what the lyrics of certain songs were [...]

Most Likely To: get a song about his cat, Bochicha, played at the local minor league hockey arena. Or at least make up this story for an interview. Worcester, MA trio Dom (guitarist Erik, drummer Bobby K. and the titular frontman) made quite a splash last spring when they released their debut, the Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP on a tiny label called Burning Mill Records . For a seven song, nineteen minute EP released by a band reluctant to reveal any more than the most [...]

Most Likely To: rise, like a hydro-electric Mothra, from the ashes of an African village burned to the ground by post-rock minotaurs. Or at least say so in their press release. Delicate Steve entered my radar last October when they played a show in a little outdoor amphitheater at Middlebury College, triple-billed with Beach Fossils and an unfortunate opening band that will remain unnamed. After that first band finished their shambling mess of a set, Steve Marion and his four bandmates, like a special envoy sent to remind us what [...]

Most Likely To: be all kinds of unexpected. For those of you who have been as smitten as I've been with singer-songwriter Diane Birch ever since she released her debut album, Bible Belt , rest assured she's hard at work on her next LP. In the meantime, there's a lot to love about her latest side project, The Velveteen Age . In this collection of covers, the soulful chanteuse joins forces with Brooklyn-based rockers The Phenomenal Handclap Band [...]