The minimal and downbeat electronic undulating mixed with lo-fi guitar and a Karen-O like female vocalist on this track “Wait” from London’s quickly ascending star Airhead (aka Rob McAndrews) is magical. It only takes a few seconds to find yourself completely enraptured. It’s stunning. Breathtaking. Awe-inspiring, rocking you involuntarily like a puppet to its beats.
If you hear the James Blake connection, it’s no accident. They went to school together and have always written and performed together. “He’s one of my closest friends and an incredible musician to work alongside,” says McAndrews.
Wait/South Congress was released as a ten-inch single on 3/19, their first release on R&S Records. Their debut album will follow later this year and I’m anxiously waiting.
My love for indie pop guy/girl duets runs deep. I can’t say that Austin’s Wild Child is the most original, but they’re charming, catchy, and adorable. They have a Slow Club vibe in the sense that the melody is happy, but the tone is sad. Their video here “Pillow Talk” depicts a sweet, dream-like work a la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
This is the title track from their debut album released last October on Major Nation Records. Not sure why their just starting to surface, but I’m curious to see what else this band brings and if they can continue to charm!
Upbeat indie pop from London, Laurel Collective is groovy, noisy, and uber-cool. They signed with an offshoot of Domino Records, Double Six, in their infancy. A sensational introduction to the band with “They Hate Me,” I’m dying to see what these guys come up with on their upcoming debut via Tape Club/Believe.
Aside from working on their own music, they also do their part to foster the indie scene. Apparently they host a now-famous secret festival in a remotely-located forest (called In the Woods), which has featured the likes of Micachu and the Shapes, The Invisible, Pete and the Pirates, and Anna Calvi on the bill. They also hosted a regular night called ‘Hindenburg Mile-High Club’ for a short time in London.
Seems like I should have heard of these guys by now. Have you?
Yes, I now that I’m late on this. But I’m sharing anyway. This sextet indie-folk band from Garðabær, Iceland is extremely talented. As are most bands that are able to make it onto the international scene out of the oblivion that is the icy north. Love it!
Chances are if you haven’t had your ear to the ground real close in Texas you haven’t heard of Possessed by Paul James. But that’s okay, because there is still plenty of time to get lost in his music. Feed the Family, the latest album from PPJ, is full of emotional and lyrical complexity that’s balanced perfectly with his exuberant style of strumming.
Konrad Wert, the one man band that is Possessed by Paul James, doesn’t bother with any of the pretenses popular in a lot of today’s music. He just steps up to the mic, picks up his instrument, and goes. This can’t be more exemplified than in “Take off your Mask”, the eighth song of the album. He sings, a guttural vibrato echoed in this guitar, about a dangerous liaison with a married women, and the bitterness of being interrupted by her husband. The recording is a sloppy perfection, picking up every single excited holler and exuberant tap of his foot, reminiscent of the days when bluesmen had to play through their mistakes. These aren’t mistakes though. The little “imperfections” are exactly what makes Possessed by Paul James the answer to my prayers. In a day when music en mass is stripped down in digital perfection, it’s refreshing to see an artist so possessed by his own music he can’t help but tap, holler, or yell in the middle of a take.
If I haven’t made it clear yet, you need to listen to this album. You will be the better for it.
It’s practically impossible for me to stop dancing in my seat as I write this. Anna, a soulful alto, has written a deliciously-saccharine pop song. Think Hall & Oats “You Make My Dreams Come True,” but with a female vocalist, more handclaps, and set in something more adorable and teen like Freaky Friday or A Cinderella Story. Ok…. maybe it’s my 15-year-old self that loves this.
Her album Canary In A Coal Mine will be released on February 28th via Paper Anchor Music.
Choir of Young Believers from Denmark is sci-fi pop with 80s/Joy Division undertones. The beats are muted and the synth is prominent on “Patricia’s Thirst.” “Nye Nummer Et” takes a wholer, more cinematic tone, swelling with a violin and minor-key falsetto, bordering on Active-Child indie-opratic.
Their sophomore album Rhine Gold will be released March 20 on Ghostly International and they’ll be on a U.S. tour this Spring. See them in L.A. at The Echo on March 9th.
It seems like not that long ago I was interviewing The Fling’s frontman Dustin about heading out on a West Coast tour. The Long Beach Dangerbird band is already heading back out on the road, co-headlining with an awesome Canadian band Yukon Blonde.
The Fling’s album When The Madhouses Appear came out this past March and since then, they’ve been busy touring and being awesome.
Yukon Blonde
Yukon Blonde hasn’t wasted any time either. They band spent the last year and a half on tour in North America and Europe. I caught them a few months back at The Echo, before the release of their Fire//Water EP, out on Nevado Records on October 11th.
TOUR DATES:
Tue, Oct 18 San Diego, CA Soda Bar
Wed, Oct 19 Los Angeles, CA The Echo
Thu, Oct 20 San Francisco, CA Bottom Of The Hill
Sat, Oct 22 Eureka, CA Red Fox Tavern
Sun, Oct 23 Portland, OR Doug Fir
Mon, Oct 24 Seattle, WA The Tractor
Wed, Oct 26 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
Fri, Nov 4 Boston, MA Middle East
Sat, Nov 5 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
Sun, Nov 6 Brooklyn, NY Rock Shop
Tue, Nov 8 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell’s
Wed, Nov 9 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie
Thu, Nov 10 Washington, DC Red Palace
Fri, Nov 11 Richmond, VA The Camel
Sat, Nov 12 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
Mon, Nov 14 Charlotte, NC Snug Harbor
Tue, Nov 15 Atlanta, GA The Earl
Thu, Nov 17 St. Louis, MO Off Broadway
Wed, Nov 16 Nashville, TN 3rd & Lindsley
Fri, Nov 18 Louisville, KY Zanza Bar
Sat, Nov 19 Columbus, OH Rumba Café
Mon, Nov 21 Pittsburgh, PA Club Café
Tue, Nov 22 Cleveland, OH Beachland
Wed, Nov 23 East Lansing, MI Mac’s Bar
Fri, Nov 25 Chicago, IL Panchos
Mon, Nov 28 Minneapolis, MN 7th Ave Entry
Thu, Dec 1 Ames, IA The Maintenance Shop
Fri, Dec 2 Omaha, NE Slowdown Jr
Sat, Dec 3 Kansas City, MO Riot Room
Sun,Dec 4 Oklahoma City, OK The Conservatory
Tue, Dec 6 Little Rock, AR Juanita’s Cantina
Wed, Dec 7 Dallas, TX Double Wide
Thu, Dec 8 Houston, TX Fitz Downstairs
Fri, Dec 9 Austin, TX Emo’s Inside
Sun, Dec 11 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
Tue, Dec 13 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
Wed, Dec 14 Boise, ID Neurolox
Fri, Dec 16 Spokane, WA A Club
Sat, Dec 17 Seattle, WA Crocodile
Sun, Dec 18 Portland, OR Doug Fir
Wed, Dec 21 San Francisco, CA Brick & Mortar
Thu, Dec 22 San Diego, CA Soda Bar
I love this track “Pound of Flesh” from Radical Face’s new album The Family Tree: The Roots (out October 4 on Bear Machine). It’s a complete indie folk soundscape with soaring vocals and simple but compelling melodies, creating cross between the vocals and mood of Manchester Orchestra and the sonics of Seryn. The video was shot in the Florida wilderness with a budget of just $165 by directors Ben Cooper (aka Radical Face) and longtime friend Mark Hubbard. To be honest, I love the concept of the video and how well it goes with the song, but the long breaks without music are a little distracting. For music, start at 1:02–the character starts by washing blood off of his hands and you can proceed from there.
The Family Tree: The Roots is a concept album of a depiction of the life of a 19th century family. Cooper recorded it alone in a tool shed in his hometown of Jacksonville, FL and limited the songwriting and instruments to those which would have been available in the 1800′s–piano, acoustic guitar, a floor tom, and voices. Although traditionally shying from live performances, Radical Face will be touring the U.S. with a live full choir in each city.
RADICAL FACE U.S. Shows, fall 2011: Fri 10/6 San Francisco, CA Brick and Mortar Music Hall (w/Albatross Choir) Tue 10/11 Los Angeles, CA Bootleg Theater (w/Easterly Singers) Sat 10/22 Arlington, VA Rock Spring Church (w/Yorktown Vocal Ensemble) Tue 10/25 New York, NY Webster Hall Studio (w/Cloud Family Singers)
