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)
With a recommendation from a great publicist and a ringing endorsement from a great blogger friend, I don’t think I can skip posting about this upcoming show. Not to mention, this video with The Bridge Sessions is convincing enough for instant fandom.
The quartet, featuring Andrew and Brad Barr along with harpist Sarah Page and multi-instrumentalist Andres Vial, has an easy-going summer evening vibe. Alt-country/indie-folk by genre they’d slot well alongside Dawes or The Avett Brothers. Their debut album will be out on September 27th on Secret City Records, but rather than waiting for the album, I’d highly recommend going to see them live on September 21st at The El Rey.
My first impression of Summer Camp left something to be desired. It was on The Rumble Tour in LA and amidst a whole host of technical problems the hipsters’ still managed to gawk and awh at this buzz-drenched Brit band.
Upon reconsidering my opinion and then falling in love with the track “I Want You,” I am now completely excited for their debut full-length Welcome To Condale. It’ll be out on November 8th via Summer Camp’s Apricot Records (an imprint of Moshi Moshi). The track below “Better Off Without You” will be officially out on September 13th, but you can listen now below.
Whether it compares with the numerous other “Better Off Without You”s? (Jarrod Gorbell, The Clarks, Emmylou Harris, Zornik,…) Leave it in the comments.
Somehow Blink-182 released a new single and I missed it. Well, until right now anyway. Did you know I am a Blink-182 fan? I am a huge Blink-182 fan. I was 14-year-old-girl-giddy when Pandora played “Up All Night” for me.
My first impression is that this sounds like the logical next-step from their last venture as a band, which is exactly what I wanted to hear. Their self-titled album, which dropped all the way back in 2003, showed a band that was maturing as its members aged (you can’t always play three power chords and sing about how parents suck), and I was anxious to see where they were going when they fell apart.
The things that happened in the aftermath were stagnant at best. (more…)
August 15 @ Origami Vinyl In-Store
August 16 @ Hotel Café
The quintet The Wilderness of Manitoba just released the album When You Left The Fire and now they’re out on the road touring. Dueling guy/girl vocal harmonies between lead vocalist Will Whitwham and back-up singer Melissa Dalton are a great match for their indie folk instrumentation. Although they are from Toronto, Ontario and not Manitoba at all, their sound is that of wilderness, drawing similarities to Vancouver/Pacific Northwest bands like The Head and the Heart and Said the Whale.
Check them out in Los Angeles next week! They’ll be free at Origami Vinyl on Monday and cheap at Hotel Cafe on Tuesday.
Their video for “Orono Park” was video of the day on Spinner…
While Orange County tends to be known for the pop punk, screamo, emo, and other mosh-inducing genres that thrive at renowned venues like Chain Reaction in Anaheim, the second annual Pacific Festival: OC is doing it’s best to battle the stereotypes. For the second year, the festival will be conjuring an “upscale” music event, featuring artists of all genres as well as a wide range of food and drinks, art installations, and local business vendors. While last year the festival found a home in the small courtyard and venues of the Triangle Square complex in Costa Mesa, this year the rising event will set up camp in Oak Canyon Ranch in Irvine. It’s nestled in the Santa Ana Mountains where there are over one hundred acres that border the old reservoir and are surrounded by hills, oak trees, a little pond, and a big lake. Sounds like a perfect spot for over 50 artists and 14 hours of music on 5 stages.
Headlining acts include the illustrious hip-hop mainstay and Long Beach resident Snoop Dog, Atlanta blues-tinged garage rock quartet Black Lips, internationally renowned Australian “indietronic” trio Cut Copy, and Newport-Beach-raised electro/house musician, producer, and label-founder Steve Aoki. Even just judging by those four, it’s easy to see the organizers have done a good job of balancing the genres on the bill. You will find a fair amount of DJs, house, and dance musicians, including France’s dance musician Alan Braxe, British electronic group Zoot Woman, and French house producer Fred Falke, but they’ve also pulled in some great indie acts like The Growlers, Phantogram, Superhumanoids, and Hanni El Khatib. …And then there’s Afroman, who will get his own category entirely.
Whether house or rock or somewhere in between, the festival has done a great job of showcasing the local talent. As you’re preparing to head to Pacific Festival this weekend, take a minute to preview a few of the great Southern California acts that will be in attendance.
Superhumanoids @superhumanoids (1:45-2:45 p.m. @ PACIFIC STAGE)
Self-described as “music to help kiss the doldrums away,” the Los Angeles quartet Superhumanoids “makes dreamy pop that shouts summery ’60s harmonies, garage rock’s raw tonality, slick new-wave electronics, and the adventurous dissonance of ’90s indie rock.” Cameron, Sarah, Max, and Evan have together released two EPs (Urgency, July 13, 2010 and Paradise Paradise, April 12, 2011) and a two-track 7-inch, released on June 21, 2011.
Hanni El Khatib @hannielkhatib (4:35-5:35 @ PACIFIC STAGE)
Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter/producer Hanni El Khatib is totally off the beaten path and not what you would expect from the name. He’s the son of Palestinian and Filipino immigrants and his music is inspired by his obsession with classic Americana and pop culture of the 1950s and 60s mixed with his past as an avid skateboarder. To borrow (and alter) how the bio describes the band, “his sound is like the rock soundtrack to a glass-shattering knife-wielding dirty bar brawl between…” Clint Eastwood and Black Lips. Khatib’s debut full-length Will The Guns Come Out will be released on September 27th on Innovative Leisure.
The Growlers @theGROWLERS (2:10-3:10 p.m. @ MAIN STAGE)
The Growlers from Costa Mesa are exactly what you might expect from an Orange County band 50 years ago. They’re a lot of 60s surf rock, a good helping of classic rock n’ roll, and a pinch of “pre-punk.” They claim to explore everything from “ice-flossing hip-hop to psychedelic rock.” The second I have to see.
American Royalty @AMRCNRYLTY (3:10-4:10 @ PACIFIC STAGE)
American Royalty is not a 30 second listen. They should not be easily slotted into genre A or B, which may make them a bit less palatable to some, but they kick major ass. The Los Angeles 3-pieces fuses psychedelic rock, electronic house, indie rock sensibilities, and harmonies of front men Billy Scher and Marc Gilfry. For what would normally be a complete disaster, American Royalty’s innovation is a stroke of genius. “Guitars, samplers, 2 singers, drums, synths, whiskey, beer…A never ending showdown of genres.” Can’t wait to see these guys live.
Poolside @poolside_music (4:35-5:35 @ LAKESIDE)
Created in their pool house/recording studio, the Los Angeles friends Filip “Turbotito” Nikolic (of Ima Robot) and Jeffrey Paradise make sweet hazy dream pop electro. It sounds like an afternoon pool party or, as they so aptly describe, “day time disco.” The perfect noise to listen to lakeside at Pacific Festival.
Brady Miller (Wyo Stars) (12:55-1:45 p.m. @ Main Stage)
Miller calls himself a weird dude. He’s played in a million bands, including Wyo Stars, and has been a touring member of Money Mark. He made some music in the dark abyss of his home studio, which he’s debuting at Pacific Festival. He’ll be releasing some of the music he’s recorded as his first solo record in the near future, but only a select few (and by that I mean the thousands at the fest) will have the chance to say they saw his first show. Some looping, filtered vocals, feedback, and pedals, add some talent and ingenuity, and I’d say we’re looking forward to a pretty solid show.
AROD @gottadancedirty (11 AM – 12:45 PM @ LAKESIDE)
To represent a bit of the DJ scene that will be prevalent at Pacific Fest, I’ve picked out one of my favorite DJ’s from the Southland on the lineup. From Santa Barbara and an editor and DJ for the blog Gotta Dancy Dirty, AROD avoids the classic house- and trance-like clichés with the repetitive beats and runs more along the lines of what he considers to be a fusion of “French house, dance punk and electroclash sounds of the early 2000s.” He’s innovative and creates completely dance-inducing beats, using vocal samples to support the melody. Makes perfect sense that he’s opened for Temper Trap, Sleigh Bells, Delorean, and Glass Candy. “His defining electronic dance music moment came in the 7th grade when he stole his big sister’s New Order t-shirt, wore it proudly to class & made all the goth girls swoon.”
Los Angeles’ shoegaze-y electronic rock band Letting Up Despite Great Faults have a new EP Paper Crush coming out on August 2nd on Old Flame Records.the band is the brainchild of founder member Mike Lee. Starting with piano, bass and guitar, Lee started exploring sampling and sequencing after rooming with two DJs in college. Lee along with band mates Kent Zambrana, Chris Gregory, Matt Salas, and Caitlin Dwyer, as a live band integrate electronic and acoustic drums on stage. You can catch them live at The Echo in LA on Monday on Active Child’s residency. If you’re awesome, I’ll see you there!
