Friday, March 27, 2009
Patrick Pleau's Hype...
Rosie and Me
Their music is driven by Rosie’s voice, with an increasing level of vocal participation from Alex, whose voice blends entirely with the whole set. Rosie also plays a great number of instruments, such as: guitar, piano and bass while Alex plays the synths and harmonicas. In addition to the namesakes of the band there's also Guilherme who plays the bass and Tiago who plays the drums.
Perfectly matched, their songs are catchy and heartbreaking at the same time. It's cute and cuddly twee pop and nothing says Spring more than Rosie and Me's shy, shuffley tunes. If you ever thought Ballboy's softer side was brilliant than you'll find Rosie and Me the most charming band to ever come out of Brazil.
They record everything themselves and have yet to step in to a studio to record an actual EP. But they've been kind enough to send over a few demo tracks that are charmingly brilliant twee pop.
Download: Old Folks (New Year)
Download: The Big Fight
Download: I Lost You (But I Found Country Music)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
It's All Minimal to Joachim Spieth
Joachim Spieth, has released records on Techno giants like Kompakt, Speicher and Paso Music. He started the Affin imprint a little over a year ago to release his own tracks and those of like-minded producers.
And that's where we come in. He's released his new compilation album Presence which marks the past decade or so of his musical career. To celebrate he's released a handful of tunes for you to get scientific to.
If you like things that are minimal, sleek, and precise than Joachim is your boy. His clinical techno killers are bleak, stark, and really frickin good. Mixing found sounds, throbbing basslines, and beats that take control Joachim knows a thing or two about glitch, minimalism and just making songs that fry your brain.
Download: Ich
Download: Connect
Download: Maxime Dangles - Strawberry (Joachim Spieth Remix)
Download: Bjirn Scheurmann - Musicmol (Joachim Spieth Remix)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Beware of Alligators
Taking influence from many of the greats and hints of Radiohead, The Beach Boys, and The Zombies can be heard in their songs. While they don’t stick with one narrow style of music, their sound can be described as very creative, high-energy, precise pop laced with beautiful harmonies and clever arrangements. Each element of the band is interesting; from the tight pulses that the bass and drums provide, to the guitar-synthesizer relationship during the always-stylish vocal melodies. In other words, while there are hints of Radiohead's prog leanings, The Beach Boys multipart harmonies and the Zombies 60's groove, the song ends up sounding like a long lost Phoenix track. Is that a good thing? What do you think?
Download: Where Does It Hide
Video:
Ryan Smith Just Wants to Feel
Taking Over...
The foursome perform a raucous blend of pop smattered with a bratty dose of punk rock rebellion. Huge hooks and smashing choruses flirt with one another in songs such as "Ah La La," while the band's inherent charm shines through in tracks, "Evelyn" and "The Lonely Ones." The Takeover UK are as charismatic on record as they are live and that's why you should see them when they roll through your town. See the earlier post for dates!
Download: Ah La La (video featured on TEN TRACKS YOU NEED last week)
Download: Running With The Wasters
You're Filthy.
Carmine P. Filthy is always interested in the new territories of sonics for the dance floor. P. Filthy plays relentless tech crunk, body music and heavy electro as well as the deepest italo and slickest techno. He's shared the decks with DJ Fame (Dubsided), AC Slater, The Captain (Trouble & Bass), Alexander Technique, Lauren Flax (iheartcomix), Glimmers, Eamon Harkin, James F!@#$ing Friedmen, Selway, Mark Verbos, Tommie Sunshine, Ewan Pearson to name a few.
Download: Sordid Standard via Soundcloud
Download: Barack the Boat via Soundcloud
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship!
In other words, they're good old fashioned indie rock in that Sub Pop/ Seattle meets Merge / Chapel Hill sort of style. If you like your indie a little rough around the edges but still with a sense of melody then you'll fall head over heels for Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship. The songs for download are off of their latest EP entitled My Name Is, What Is Your Name and the whole EP is a doozy in that 90's sort of indie rock angst way. It's good stuff that'll blow out your tweeters and maybe even your ears.
Download: Adult Sized Skeletal
Download: Reverse Effects In Jumping Jacks
To the Nite Club Baby...
Showcased in the live setting Nite Club becomes a collaboration with Osbourne (Ghostly International) drummer Steve Bryant. Their combined background of live jungle, indie rock and hip hop makes for a upbeat and dreamy atmosphere.
Manipulating all kinds of instruments Spitzer’s experiences come together with Nite Club. While having the New York night life as his backdrop he creates a beautiful project that shines in the night sky.
Judging by the tracks below, the band's album My Tronic should be a brilliant little slice of synth indie pop heaven. The songs are shy and laid back and sound a bit like Figurine or the more sensitive moments of Postal Service. It's really cool stuff that kind of shuffles its feet along as it takes over your brain.
Download: No Matter Which Way
Download: Good Life (Kanye West Cover)
Video:
Friday, March 20, 2009
The Lovetones Reach New Dimensions
A psychedelic pop experience, Dimensions has the sound and feel of a record recorded sometime between the years of 1965-1968. I suppose you could think of The Lovetones almost as if Ride met the Dandy Warhols and then ran into the Ray, Paul, and John on Carnaby Street. It's a jangly affair that rises up out of the mists of history to sound like reflection of the sum of its influences. In fact, at certain times during, Dimensions, you would swear that the Beatles or Kinks sat in on the sessions. One listen to a couple of songs like, "Journeyman," and "Two of a Kind," and you’ll be convinced that this is a long lost record from a bygone era
Dimensions is quite a good record that harks back to pop's glorious past while attempting to carry the legendary influences that shape it in to the future. The Lovetones clearly have been around long enough to understand their way around a classic pop song and they do a pretty good job of recreating them time after time. Whether it is lush, orchestral ballads, spacey psychedelic pop, or Merseybeat-ish jangle, J. Tow and The Lovetones have the chemistry, adoration for classicism, and talent that allows them to write great songs that consistently hit their mark.
Download: Journeyman
Pomegranates Are Good For You
Hailing from that hotbed of rock and roll that is Cincinnati, Ohio, Pomegranates are preparing to issue their second album in as many years. Everybody Come Outside is a concept album of sorts, weaving an interesting tale of a man who leaves home, only to be abducted by a time traveler. No, it's not an episode of Dr. Who or Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy but it is one heck of an indie pop record.
Everybody Come Outside is an impressive shimmery, jaunty, jangly, spacey and artful pop record. Pomegranates are clearly a band ahead of their career trajectory as you hear that this band has matured by leaps and bounds from their debut Everything Is Alive. The songs here are stronger, better written, and so much catchier that I think I need a flu shot. While I'm not to sure about the concept portion of the record, as a group of eleven songs, Everybody Come Outside is a brilliant sophomore effort that sounds something like the Talking Heads duking it out with the B-52's (old) and some strange collective of New York bands that all wear skinny jeans.
Sounding a bit lo-fi at times Pomegranates sound as though they are telling you the tale of this time traveler to you directly while you sit in your Lazyboy. It's an intimate record that still manages to create enough energy to rip the space time continuum when needed. Check out the ethereal epic, "I Feel Like I'm a Million years Old," for an example of how they do this. Starting out as a pop song the tune then transports itself into another galaxy utilizing wave upon wave of guitar based bliss that will leave you thinking Brian Eno returned from the Moon with this record in his hand.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
It's Just So Poptastic.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
What's An UltraChorus?
It's a damn good debut and how could it not be, Sukpatch were are brilliant band so the foundation for something fantastic had already been laid when these two got together. As for the single, Words Kept Talking, it's a brilliant slab of synth pop run through a banjo, the 80's, a bit of the Postal Service and then sugar coated with a choruses so catchy it will make you sick. In other words...you need this in your life.
Everyone's Going Green...
Guelph, Ontario's shouty dance funk pop band, Green Go are gearing up for release of their debut full length, Borders, this April. The year that was 2008 saw them play many a sweaty house party and release a stunning 3 song sampler, the Ghosts of the Future EP, which was quick to top campus radio charts across the Canada and has apparently sold out. Although defining their sound isn't the easiest task, but what the hell I'll give it a shot. This is a band that takes acoustic instruments and beats up synthesizers and drum machines until they get something that sounds like a spastic Beck on all sorts of drugs. They're pretty crazy but in all the best ways. If they don't get your feet moving then you truly have problems.
In an effort to make you happy the band are releasing the Green Go Remix Project Vol. 1. Explosive remixes of everyones favorite Canadian indie rock tracks from Born Ruffians, the Rural Alberta Advantage, Women, Gentlemen Reg, and The D'Urbervilles are re-wrapped in the synth heavy, freak out inducing, sweaty ways Green Go have become so well known for. Are the remixes good? Oh hell yeah!!! The Women re-work is a brilliant 60's tweaked folk rock taken through an 808 that's worth the download alone.
Download: Green Go Remix Project Volume One (via Drop Io)
Friday, March 13, 2009
Stimulus Package Tour
As for the bands GLISS, is a Los Angeles trio (Victoria, Martin and David) who will release their sophomore effort Devotion Implosion on April 7th via Cordless Recordings. Devotion Implosion is a decadent slice of sexy, moody, atmospheric garage-pop ecstasy.
The Takeover UK are in fact NOT British but hail from the exotic land of Pittsburgh, PA. They will release their Rykodisc debut Running with the Wasters on March 24th. The foursome perform a raucous blend of pop smattered with a bratty dose of punk rock rebellion. Huge hooks and smashing choruses flirt with one another in songs such as "Ah La La," while the band's inherent charm shines through in tracks, "Evelyn" and "The Lonely Ones." The Takeover UK are as charismatic on record as they are live and that's why you should see them when they roll through your town.
Here are the dates:
3/25/09 San Diego CA Beauty Bar
3/27/09 Los Angeles CA Spaceland
3/29/09 San Jose CA Johnny V's
3/30/09 Sacramento CA Luigi's Fungarden
3/31/09 San Francisco CA Hotel Utah
4/02/09 Portland OR East End
4/04/09 Eugene OR Sam Bond's Garage
4/05/09 Seattle WA El Corazon
4/06/09 Spokane WA BLVD
4/07/09 Boise ID Bouquet
4/08/09 Denver CO Soiled Dove
4/09/09 Davenport IA Redstone Room
4/11/09 Chicago IL Beat Kitchen (early show)
4/13/09 Lawrence KS The Jackpot
4/17/09 Pittsburgh PA Brillo Box
4/20/09 Atlanta GA Drunken Unicorn
4/24/09 Miami FL Sweat @ Vagabond
5/4/09 NYC NY Mercury Lounge
5/6/09 Brooklyn NY Union Hall
Watch: Takeover UK (downloads at bottom of post)
Takeover UK
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Sounding something like The Primitives, The Pale Saints, JAMC, a bit of shoegazing, and a whole bunch of Sarah Records singles all blended into a sheet of cascading beautiful jangly noise, POBPAH have tapped into that classic noise pop sound and come up with a set of songs that are absolutely brilliant. If you ever loved anything from the late 80's British pop cannon you will LOVE these guys!!
Download: Everything With You
Download: Young Adult Friction
Grauwelt's Industrial Mayhem
Obsolete: this is the title that designer and electronic artist Robert Krums has chosen for his latest project under the alias Grauwelt. He chose this title because after completing the album, he realized that the genre it belonged to no longer existed. Krums, who also records hip-hop under the name Earmint, came of age at a time when his native Chicago was churning out exciting industrial and electronic music at an alarming rate. As a teenager, Krums saturated himself with the music of Wax Trax recording artists like KMFDM and Ministry, as well as earlier electronic groups like Cabaret Voltaire and Depeche Mode. While he later found himself gravitating toward the emerging culture of hip-hop, these early influences have never left him. “This is the album I would have made back then if I could have,” he asserts.
The result is a brilliant blast from the past that sounds like the best record Front 242 or Ministry never released. It's dark and brooding beats take the songs through fog, smoke, and enough fishnet and Doc Marten's to last a lifetime. It's so good that if Wax Trax were still around this would easily fit on the label and would be huge.
Download: Warfare
Download: Brutality
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Zion I Takes Over
In the Great Email Clean Out of 2009 I've unearthed a few tracks from last year that you might dig. First there’s the “Gotsta Chill (Temperature Remix)” featuring Zumbi, which radically re-envisions the Zion I gem “Temperature.” Second, there’s the Santogold “Starstruck”-sampling remix of another Zion I standout “One” which features Zumbi and Grouch. Both tracks are below for download.
Download: One (Santogold Starstruck Remix)
Download Bonus: Tapes n' Tapes - The Dirty Dirty (AmpLive Recession Remix)
Monday, March 9, 2009
Put Your Drugs Under the Rugs
Keen on the Everly Bros, The Velvet Underground, The Byrds, and Paul & Linda’s righteous RAM, Thomas Allen and Sarah Cronin create the sort of stuff music writers like to call “timeless.”
Drug Rug have that folky call and response thing down to a tee and they manage to warp that sensibility into heartachingly beautiful pop that almost sounds as if Dylan himself produced the tunes.
These songs might be a bit older, but they're quite good! I'm not sure why I never posted them. So enjoy a blast from 2008.
Download: Day I Die
Download: Winter Time
Friday, March 6, 2009
His Name Says It All...Darren Keen
Sure, he's kind of a singer songwriter, but his stuff is funny and takes the piss while at the same time still trying to be kind of serious. It's good stuff that sounds about as lazy as a Sunday.
Here's Darren to explain about his new album, Slumberparty Record. "I’ve wanted to make a “nice” album for a long time, but, my other bands are all strkingly un-”nice” sounding. The point was at first to please the ear, but that only led to the realization that my voice will never “please” any “ears”. The point for me was to write pop gems that didn’t drag on. One verse, one chorus, maybe two if that’s what it took to get the point across, that’s the point. Postmodern huh? My name is Darren and I made “Slumberparty Record” in my bedroom all by myself. I’m terrible at the drums so I used a $5 toy keyboard rhythm section. This was really fun to make, and I hope you enjoy listening to it. You’ll never get to heaven if you’re scared of getting high."
Download: Good People Like You
Download: Hot Air Balloon
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Laughing Through the Jungle
Guitars, bass, drums, sticks, saxophones, keys, flutes, glockenspiels, clarinets, djembes, dulcimers, melodies, bells, harmonies, rhythms, claps and chants (just to name a few) form the sounds of JUNGLE. The Laughing is currently putting the finishing touches on FEVER, its upcoming debut full length record due out this May.
To say this band isn't diverse when it comes to writing songs would be an understatement. It's as if they literally throw all that instrumentation listed above at a wall see what sticks and then cram them into each individual tunes. The results are songs that have more going on around them then most bands have in their entire discography. It makes for very interesting listening as things emerge out of nowhere to assault your senses. JUNGLE is hazy stuff that's aurally exciting and hypnotically strange...in other words, pretty good.
Download: Canopy
Download: Paradise
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Crushed into Bits
DJ Fame was the first US producer on the fidget originators Dubsided as well as a member of the Pottymouth Music label out of Chicago. Fame also held down a long running residency at NY's Sullivan Room bringing in top guests including Switch, Jesse Rose & Mathew Jonson.
Gaby Dershin holds down a residency at Le Souk as a part of Sunday Sessions, a cornerstone of the NY House scene. He has also released tracks on CR2 and Azuli.
Together they combine into the mighty Bit Crushers and come up with tunes that a bit of everything. Their tunes are a bit fidgety, a bit 8bit, a bit minimal, and a bit garagey(kind of a stretch I guess). While a combination like that could be incredibly annoying and lead straight to a migraine of epic proportions, Bit Crushers manage to stay away from that by drilling a small hole into your skull and pumping these tunes directly into them so that you won't soon forget them. It's good stuff then.
Download: Wanna Ride (Original Mix)
Download: Wanna Ride (DJ Fame Mix)
Download: What She Said (Original Mix)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The Greater California Area
Greater California are a theatrical bunch that utilize that whole list of instrumentation above to create lush, dramatic pop that's hypnotically cool. The plodding piano on "Disappearing," marches throughout the song making it so easy to latch on to, you'd have to be missing ears not to. The tune sort of reminds me of something like an American version of the Bad Seeds meets the Tindersticks in a Vaudevillian theater somewhere. It's cool, spooky stuff.
Download: Disappearing