We've always been strong supporters of J. Tillman here on Captain Obvious. He was one of our first interviews on the blog and has consistently released compelling material. A few years ago, Tillman became the drummer for it-band Fleet Foxes, which surely helped garner more attention for his solo work. Recently Tillman announced his departure from Fleet Foxes to pursue other projects and a lovely duet with Phosphorescent entitled "I Would Love You" surfaced under the name Father John Misty. Set for a May 1st release on Sub Pop, Fear Fun will be Tillman's first album [...]
It's never too late for sunshine. Then again, I suppose if you live in California or Florida you always have that commodity (full disclosure: it was 26 degrees here last night in Virginia). When first listening to The Royal Sea's debut EP you get that surf rock impression. But wait, these dudes are from Seattle. Intentionally or not, you can detect a hint of melancholy in their music…you can't be a Seattle band and not have a touch of sadness, right? The band combines a laid back garage rock approach with beautiful, echoing vocals to great success. There's [...]
I was introduced to Caveman when I saw they were playing some shows with CO favorite The War On Drugs. Their self-released album CoCo Beware (80s wrestling reference. nice.) is already available digitally and will get the proper CD and vinyl treatment Nov. 15th. Hazed out harmonies, intricate drums, swelling psychedelia, and pop sensibilities combine swimmingly on CoCo Beware. Lead singer/guitarist Matthew Iwanusa and company operate in a strange grey-zone where moments of melancholia blend with celebratory catharsis. The seamless transition from moody instrumental track "Vampirer" into album-highlight "Old Friend," which operates on deftly layered vocals [...]
At the core of Brooklyn-based Family Band, now apparently a 4-piece (I'm deducing this from press photos), is the natural chemistry of husband-wife duo Kim Krans and Jonny Ollsin. Krans provides the haunting vocals while Ollsin lends dark guitar textures. My introduction to the band was their stunning cover of Jack Nitzche's "Marie." Their rendition is barebones elegance built around Krans's hypnotic lull and accentuated by lush slide guitar and swirling feedback. The track is available for free download on the band's bandcamp page, along with a few select tracks off of band's album Miller Path . [...]
Recently I was returning from Miami on a stormy evening plane ride. As usual, I opted for a window seat. For a brief moment, the lights and structures below resembled some sort of breathing circuit board powering some unknown giant machine. "Daydream," a track from The Year Of Hibernation, the debut album from Youth Lagoon, pulsed through my headphones as a fitting soundtrack to the scene below. Youth Lagoon is the work of 22-year old Boise native Trevor Powers, who recently signed to Fat Possum Records and is due to release his debut LP The Year Of Hibernation on [...]
Moonbell is a San Fancisco trio that draws from influences as diverse as Spacemen 3, early Ride/Verse, Broadcast, and Harmonia. The band recently finished recording its first EP entitled Figurine . For those of you looking for a nice psychedelic/shoegaze fix, there are some finely crafted tunes on this EP. Head over to the Moonbell's bandcamp page. Dig in. - Capt. Obvious Listen: Figurine.mp3
Freshly inked to Sub Pop, Toronto's Memoryhouse, purveyors of surreal slow-burning loveliness, are set to re-release their digital-only 2010 EP The Years on September 13th. The EP is actually better described as a re-imagining than a re-release, as it will boast new recordings of "Sleep Patterns," "Lately," and "To The Lighthouse," along with two additional new songs: "Quiet America" and "Modern, Normal." "Modern, Normal" is awaiting below for your listening pleasure and I've tacked on the band's hazy rendition of Jackson Browne's "These Days." Enjoy! - Capt. Obvious Listen: Modern Normal.mp3 [...]
I mentioned South Carolina's Mat Cothran, who goes by the moniker Coma Cinema awhile back here on CO. If you haven't delved into his 2011 release Blue Suicide, I definitely recommend heading over to his official website and downloading it along with his other albums. Cothran's friends Foxes In Fiction are offering free remix of standout track "Her Sinking Sun" for free download on their bandcamp page . Their version is a moodier rendition an already stunning track. Hell, it might even be better than the original. Download it. Now. - Capt. Obvious [...]
Hospital Ships is the creative outlet for musician Jordan Geiger, a Lawrence, Kansas native with an impressive resume. He's done time in bands such as The Appleseed Cast, Shearwater, and Minus Story. Geiger's tenor and affinity for well-adorned fuzz-pop richness recalls a certain other band from the Midwest, The Flaming Lips. The difference is that Geiger's output doesn't rival the ecstatic bombast of the Lips. His more minimalistic tracks are some of the most affecting on his new album Lonely Ships . The pared-down acoustic finger-picking and subtle nuance of "Phantom Limb" provide a fitting backdrop for Geiger's disarming [...]
Texas-based Josh T. Pearson, once the frontman for short-lived yet well-received psychedelic Denton band Lift To Experience and also a contributor on guitar and backup vocals to the Bat For Lashes album Fur & Gold ("Seal Jubilee" and "Trophy"), has released Last Of The Country Gentlemen, his first album of new material in ten years. Recorded in Berlin over the span of a couple days, the sprawling yet intimate country record, which boasts four songs that clock in at over ten minutes, finds Pearson in a deeply introspective place. The religious imagery of his prior output is [...]
Nightlands is the one-man project of Philadephia's David Hartley, who also plays bass for CO favorites The War On Drugs. I highly recommend checking out his 2010 album Forget The Mantra . Hartley is offering up a pair of free covers over on his bandcamp page. He tackles Scott Walker's "Big Louise" along with Lindsey Buckingham's "Trouble." Enjoy. - Capt. Obvious Listen: Trouble.mp3 Big Louise.mp3
Usually this is where I'd bore you with an obligatory biography of Passwords, but since there's either no bio to be found on the trusty interwebs or my search methods aren't sophisticated enough to locate it, you'll have to settle for a simple mention and a half-assed attempt at genre categorization. I was able to surmise that Passwords is a Montreal-based band that just released a self-titled debut. Judging by the general lack of information and a cryptic album teaser , they also seem keen on maintaining some semblance of mystery. Musically, they combine elements of folk, psychedelia, progressive, [...]
I Am Oak is the creative vehicle for Utrecht-based (that's the Netherlands in case you were wondering) musician Thijs Kuijken. He released an album entitled On Claws last year and is back with a moody follow-up entitled Oasem. While On Claws was a notably creative endeavor, it still stayed true to the folk format. Oasem, on the other hand, explores new sonic territory while adhering to the same brand of melancholia exhibited on its predecessor. Primitive drums provide the fitting backbone for Kuijken's contemplative lyrics and haunting vocals while ambient flourishes and measured [...]
You Should Know Very excited about Slave Ambient , the upcoming release from The War On Drugs, the brainchild of Kurt Vile cohort/Philadelphia musician Adam Grunduciel. This band has dominated both my iPod and record player this past year. An excerpt from the press release: " Slave Ambient features a team of Philadelphia's finest musicians, including multi-instrumentalists Dave Hartley and Robbie Bennett, and drummer Mike Zanghi. Recorded throughout the last four years at Granduciel's home studio in Philly, Jeff Ziegler's Uniform Recording and Echo Mountain in [...]
You Should Know It's fitting that the man behind the influential Modest Mouse has such a golden ear. Isaac Brock, who recently brought you Mimicking Birds and discovered Wolf Parade as an A&R man for Sub Pop now brings you Morning Teleportation, a psych-rock quintet hailing from Portland, OR. The band's debut album, Expanding Anyway , was recently released via Glacial Pace Records, Brock's imprint. The band frantically combines a variety of instruments from banjo to trumpet to synths to create a genre-bending sound informed not only [...]
With a softly soulful voice and penchant for heartbroken lyrics, James Vincent McMorrow makes the Bon Iver/Justin Vernon comparisons all too easy. Even the way in which the two artists recorded their debuts is similar, in isolated houses with almost no outside assistance. But McMorrow's first effort, Early in the Morning , carves out a distinct niche for the Irish songwriter, one a little more pop friendly than Vernon's but just as emotionally powerful and beautifully eerie. McMorrow's disarming vocals will certainly draw the most attention, but his songwriting and musicianship are remarkable as well, making Early in [...]
I first heard Way Yes a couple months ago when I stumbled upon their excellent debut EP , Herringbone . Now, five months after that intriguing introduction, they've unveiled perhaps an even better EP entitled Walkability that has made me realize it's high time I get the word out about these guys. Way Yes is comprised of Ohioans Glenn Davis and Travis Hall, a talented duo who combine nimble afropop guitars, subtle electronica, and smooth vocals into a sound that could be described as a blend of indie favorites Animal Collective and Vampire Weekend. But that's [...]
You Should Know Lately I've been spinning a gem of an album I somehow missed out on in 2010. Entitled Break Mirrors , it's the impressive debut album from 23-year-old Blake Mills, a Los Angeles songwriter with an already impressive resume. He's toured with the likes of Band Of Horses, Jenny Lewis, and Cass McCombs and has recorded as a session musician with Julian Casablancas, Andrew Bird, and believe it or not... Kid Rock. He was also a founding member of Simon Dawes (now simply known as [...]
You Should Know Uber-prolific folk troubadour Joe Purdy is offering his newest album, This American , his 12th full-length, for free download for the rest of December. You can download the album in its entirety here . -- Capt. Obvious MP3: Joe Purdy - Highways Tags: Joe Purdy
You Should Know I've been a fiend for reverb-heavy, shoegaze-inflected, psychedelic stuff lately, and San Francisco's Tamaryn definitely fits the bill swimmingly. Paired with guitarist/producer Rex John Shelverton, Tamaryn creates music informed by the likes of My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, and Slowdive. The band's first full length and Mexican Summer debut The Waves , a follow-up to 2009's EP Led Astray And Washed Ashore , sounds like the work of a full band rather than a duo. Its sonic tapestry is weaved together with airy [...]
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