If this isn't Friday music then I don't know what is...
Miike Snow, a Swedish band formed in 2007 has created some sort of eclectic reggae indie ska music. I really don't know how to describe it. But, I love it and so that's really all I need to know.
Miike Snow are Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson, and Pontus Winnberg. Named after an acquaintance with an "i" added for extra flair, Miike Snow recently signed with Downtown records. Their self-titled debut was released May 12, 2009. (Which also happens to be our Finnegan's birthday!)
Ben Gibbard, Jay Farrar: "These Roads Don't Move" streaming on NPR
"These Roads Don't Move," from Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar's new album, "One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur" is streaming on the All Songs Considered Fall Music Preview on NPR. Click here to listen to the song at the All Songs Considered website.
With its genre-defying qualities, Vancouver's Language-Arts' sophomore release "Where Were You in the Wild?" is expected to turn ears to a new side to indie rock; celebrating obscurities and word entanglements with poetic poise, paired with an alt-rock foundation yet fleshed out with classical instrumentation. Confused? Don't be- it all comes about very naturally, aided in part by Cudmore's vast reserve of words and ideas, delivered with a "clarion-like voice".
"Where Were You in the Wild?" is Language-Arts' full length follow up to 2007's self titled debut as well as their now out of print 2008 teaser EP "Small Run" While charting well on Canadian campus and community radio, Language-Arts have toured extensively around the west coast and across Canada, appearing on stages with artists such as Xavier Rudd, Portable Payback (Jurassic 5), Vancougar and Great Aunt Ida. The band has appeared at festivals such as TD Atlantic Jazz festival, Halifax Pop Explosion, Sled Island, and NXNE.
Members Kristen Cudmore and Gregor Phillips both originally hail form Nova Scotia; an ode to their home province is a common subtext to many of their songs. Sitting somewhere between Suzanne Vega and Buck 65, Language-Arts delve into images steeped with secrets both deep and dark that feature sophisticated arrangements and artisan song crafting. Cudmore's classical guitar blends beautifully with the double bass and the occasional string quartet. The songs themselves range from beckoning choruses with bright hooks to meandering, lyrical sagas. It's no secret that many of these songs began as dreams- insights poke out with subtle nuances, sparkling and inquisitive. "If all there was to eat was candy, which would be the most healthy? ..and would we even bother, filling the cavity?"
Release: Where Were You In The Wild? Date: Oct. 27, 2009 Label: Independent
Tracklist: 1. Cavity 2. White Socks In Birkenstocks 3. Where Were You In The Wild 4. Lighthouse 5. Coughdrop 6. Benson 7. Boxed In 8. Grandfather Of The Buffalo 9. Shapes and Sizes 10. Tuck It In 11. Stay There!
(New York, NY) The mind-bending band that gave us what is largely considered the decade's most viewed music video (even the Simpsons parodied it), the treadmill-manned "Here It Goes Again" is back. Never content to rest on their laurels, OK Go is preparing to tread anything but familiar territory with their upcoming new album, Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky releasing on January 12, 2010 on Capitol Records.
The 13-track opus is the long-awaited follow-up to their acclaimed Oh No, which spawned the 2007 Grammy-award-winning video hit "Here It Goes Again" (setting numerous viewing records as it helped transform the then-fledgling YouTube into a household name)." Of the Blue Colour of the Sky is currently primed to kick off 2010 as one of the new year's most buzzed-about releases. According to lead singer, Damian Kulash, the new album springs from a different departure point than previous OK Go releases. "It's not so much that we headed in a new direction. I think we've just expended the guitar-rock ideas from our teens and we're starting to get at more root-level influences. There's a lot of Purple Rain on this record - an album I haven't stopped listening to since I got it when I was eleven."
Kulash added that record's title comes from an 1876 book promoting the erroneous theory that blue light cures all ills. As fits a record influenced by Prince and crackpot 19th century arm-chair scientists, the record is both danceable and contemplative; it's introspective, with a vein of surrealism running through it. There's a song that considers the earth before it was round, one sung by a man who's traded places with his reflection, and plenty of heartbreak and (attempts at) hope, mostly hung on a groovier backbone than we've heard from OK Go before. "We started these songs with a groove," Damian says. "They started as base feelings, not chord progressions or lyrical ideas, and then we layered." After 2005's Oh No, recorded nearly live with minimal overdubs, and their swaggering 2008 EP You're not Alone, backed by the trombone band Bonerama (a benefit for musicians displaced by hurricane Katrina), this new sound comes as something of a departure.
Funk-edged songs such as "Skyscrapers," "All Is Lost," "White Knuckles," and the Prince-inspired, odd-time-signature hip shaker "WTF?" embody the album's heady flow of adventurous undercurrents. "This album is the most layered production we've ever done," says Damian. Produced by ex-Mercury Rev member David Fridmann (Flaming Lips, MGMT), Damian acknowledges that Fridmann's singular production style and secluded studio environment in Fredonia, NY ('you have to drive fifteen minutes for a cup of coffee' he notes) added to the CDs emotive heft. "We were there to work, and for weeks on end it snowed and we just lived in the bubble with our songs." Amazingly, the band's original pool of song ideas numbered more than a hundred, with the group eventually narrowing the choices down to manageable double digits.
Kulash has also kept himself busy with an assortment of activist endeavors - he testified in support of internet neutrality before a Congressional Special Task Force. He and bandmate, Andy Ross, met with leaders on Capitol Hill in the spring of 2008 to advocate for the same. The band also met with then-candidate, Barack Obama, about the specter of access-limiting online practices, and other issues, with the group eventually appearing in ads in support of Obama. OK Go also took time from their non-stop touring regimen (31 consecutive months over five continents) to raise money in support of New Orleans' music culture in the wake of Katrina. The band's efforts with Bonerama raised more than half of the money for soul legend Al "Carnival Time" Johnson's new home in New Orleans.
Damian and the rest of the band look forward to full-fan reaction to Of the Blue Colour of the Sky come January. "I think it sounds more like us than anything else we've done," he says. "Its more like the music that's in the back of my head, just out of reach, that I've been trying to get to for so long. And it embodies contradiction in a way I feel connected to. It's both the saddest and the most hopeful music we've made, and both the danciest and most thoughtful."
OK Go is Damian Kulash, Tim Nordwind, Dan Konopka, Andy Ross
Photo Credit: Moritz Waldemeyer has designed costumes for rock band OK Go, featuring LEDs that spell the band's name.
Yeah, that's just a line from one of my most favorite movies which is "So I Married An Axe Murderer." If you haven't seen that movie please hang your head in shame and then shake it off, go rent it or buy it and watch it. You will LOVE it!
Anyway, I was listening to The Twang's song Barney Rubble and I immediately thought of that line from the movie.
If you do not know the band The Twang then you should definitely look for them. They are a great band with MUCH promise and potential. Right now they are touring all over the UK so look up some dates and go see them live.
It's this repetitive repetitive nonsense That brings her down And it's my double trouble Barney rubble chit chat That causes her frown
Band Members: Phil - Vocals Saunders - Vocals Jon - Bass Stu - Guitar Matty - Drums
What I have to share with you today is their song "Another Bus" which they have out there for download (free) you can grab the link off their MySpace page or download it from here.
The Twang have just announced details of the upcoming UK tour in support of their new album, Jewellery Quarter.
Wed 30 Sept - Crewe M Club Thu 1 Oct - Liverpool Academy 2 Fri 2 Oct - Derby Rockhouse Sat 3 Oct - Sheffield Leadmill Sun 4 Oct - Glasgow QMU Tue 6 Oct - Aberdeen Moshulu Wed 7 Oct - Dundee Fat Sams Thu 8 Oct - Leeds Cockpit Sat 10 Oct - Hull Welly Club Sun 11 Oct - Norwich Waterfront Mon 12 Oct - Bristol Bierkeller Tue 13 Oct - Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms Thu 15 Oct - London Koko Fri 16 Oct - Brighton Concorde 2 Sat 17 Oct - Nottingham Rescue Rooms Sun 18 Oct - Manchester Ritz Mon 19 Oct - Middlesbrough Empire
The highly anticipated track listing for The Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack is here! MySpace Music exclusively reveals the list of artists being featured on the hit film's soundtrack, which will consist of completely original music. While there's been much speculation about who would be contributing, it's now confirmed. Wondering who made the cut?
The Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack will be released on October 20 by Atlantic Records. Some of the artists created the songs after being shown footage from the movie to use as a guide. The songs are all exclusive to the soundtrack. The film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, and is directed by Chris Weitz. It will be released nationwide on November 20.
MySpace previously debuted the film's first trailer, which set a new record for the site with a total of 4.2 million online views within the first 24 hours and a total of 7.8 million within the first seven days. For more information about the Twilight series, visit the official MySpace profile.
In The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested. Based on the best-selling book series, the film is the highly anticipated next installment to the movie Twilight, which has grossed $380M globally at the box office, and has become a worldwide sensation and cultural phenomenon.
Now, Now Every Children are thrilled to be hitting the road this fall and winter. Dates kick off Mid October in the US and wrap up at the end of 2009 with a trip across the Atlantic to back up Paramore (whom have featured NNEC on their site as a Band of The Month) on their jaunt through the UK. The Minneapolis based band is out in support of their acclaimed full-length debut Cars, released this past July on Afternoon Records.
Now, Now Every Children are especially excited to be getting back in the van after being forced to cut their last tour of the US short due to insurmountable car troubles. Not to mention the fact that their first attempt at playing the UK was foiled by a snafu with customs as they tried to leave Calais, France for England earlier this spring. The upcoming dates will be a great way to see the fans they missed before and also make some new ones along the way.
Since the release of Cars, Now, Now Every Children have been steadily gaining praise for their unique brand of lo-fi indie pop. In a recent profile Interview Magazine described their debut as "a surprisingly rocking affair-epic pop throw downs full of shoegazery guitars, anthemic melodies, and just the slightest, teeniest hint of emo melancholia. Though they might sound twee on paper, the band is a formidable live act, particularly when it comes to Dalager's full-throttle guitar playing."
Named a Spin.com "Must-Hear Band" at this year's Bamboozle, they lived up to the recognition and impressed crowds at the festival, proving to be "elevating in the bleak afternoon haze." Meanwhile The Fader, NPR, Yahoo Music, and Chromewaves have all featured the group and their excellent single "Everyone You Know."
You're going to want to close your eyes and allow Brandon Schott's music to envelope you like a warm blanket. Just make sure you leave room for your feet to tap, because they will.
"FIRE SEASON" from Brandon's upcoming LP "DANDELION" has been nominated for a 2009 Hollywood Music Award. This is particularly awesome news considering the album officially releases worldwide on September 29, 2009. Once you hear the song you will understand why it is already a gem. This is a song I could listen to over and over again with no fear of growing tired of hearing it.
We all know anything coming from Brandon is going to be amazingly textured and produced. Dandelion is no exception. The guitar work, the multi-instrumental talent and the superb songwriting is just phenomenal throughout the entire album.
Brandon Schott and his band are more than just fabulous musicians. Even in the darkest day Brandon has helped me see a glimmer of hope and faith in the world. His music is uplifting, emotional and real.
Needless to say, Dandelion is perfectly infectious! I think the more you listen, the more you love it. In fact, even when it's not playing in my office I still find myself tapping out the melodies on my desk.
BAND MEMBERS:
Brandon Schott - Caffeine, Songs, Guitar, Piano, Wurlitzer Steve Barton: Electric Guitar, Ebow Jesse Stern: Bass James Tan: Violin Billy Hawn: Drums
"In addition to the September 29th digital release, a special edition CD version of Dandelion will be sold exclusively through www.brandonschott.com. This limited edition experience will include a souvenir booklet with lyrics, photographs and other special content that chronicle the creation of the record along, with an additional bonus EP featuring acoustic versions of songs found on DANDELION, recorded live during Brandon's 10th week of chemotherapy in January 2008."
If you go to the movies or watch TV, you've heard the music of Roy Shakked, who answers to the nickname of HOLMES. Heavily influenced by the standards (and that means The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Prince, ELO, Queen, and, OK, Harry Nilsson), it's not surprising that Hollywood has picked up on Roy's tunes, placing them in programs and features such as CSI Miami, Sex and The City, The OC, Nip/Tuck, and The Devil Wears Prada.
The latest self-titled HOLMES album contains one of Shakked's signature lush arrangements - this time for his cover of the David Bowie classic, "Let's Dance". Additionally, Shakked has completed the latest video from the album, for the sober breakup song, "Not With You".
The video documents a couple moving in together, breaking up and moving out - all in under three minutes. Half way through the clip, all of the couple's actions up to that point reverse, leaving Shakked all alone in his house at the clip's close. Shakked extends apologies to the plant that was killed over three days of still camera time-lapse capture.
APSE To Release Double A-Side Single Featuring "3.1/The Whip" Out This Week
Taken From Their Forthcoming Sophomore LP Entitled Climb Up
Out November 10th On ATP Records / US Tour To Come
The bulk of this writing process then took place between the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009. Forging the album through long days and nights in the quiet beauty of the winter months on outer Cape Cod. The record that's come out of it, entitled Climb Up is undoubtedly a reflection of the very process that made it - tying into the creative methods as well as the story of the lives of the band's members as they crafted the album.
Climb Up is dense, innovative, cinematic. Apse draw from a colourful palette of different genres, techniques, instruments and approaches - and with that have made what is likely to be one of the most curious, and probably largely unexpected albums of the year.
On November 10, Atlantic Records will release Hello Hurricane, the seventh full-length album from the multi-Platinum, San Diego-based rock band SWITCHFOOT. Hello Hurricane is the group's first album on Atlantic Records and its first studio album since 2006's Oh! Gravity, which debuted at No. 18 on The Billboard 200. SWITCHFOOT has been hard at work on Hello Hurricane, tracking more than 80 songs at the band's self-built home studio and selecting the very best of them for the record. The band recorded the album with noted producer/bassist Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Rilo Kiley, Eminem, and Pink). The edgy, driving lead single "Mess of Me" goes for adds at Modern and Active Rock radio this week.
The back-to-basics approach employed has yielded a career-defining album that lead singer Jon Foreman views as "a new beginning." Elizondo's unique background facilitated a departure for the band, allowing it to build on SWITCHFOOT's foundation, punctuated by hard-hitting instrumentation and soaring choruses, and elevating the music to a new level.
"Hello Hurricane acknowledges the storms that tear through our lives," states Foreman. "This album is an attempt to respond to those storms with an element of hope, trying to understand what it means to be hopeful in a world that keeps on spinning."
The band recently kicked off the co-headlining Crazy Making Summer Tour with Universal Motown Records group Blue October and featuring special guests Ours and Longwave. Following that outing, SWITCHFOOT will open for Dave Matthews Band, on two Southern California dates (September 12th & 13th).
The track listing for Hello Hurricane is as follows:
1. Needle and Haystack Life 2. Mess of Me 3. Your Love is a Song 4. The Sound (John M Perkins' Blues) 5. Enough To Let Me Go 6. Free 7. Hello Hurricane 8. Always 9. Bullet Soul 10. Yet 11. Sing It Out 12. Red Eyes
SWITCHFOOT Playing With DAVE MATTHEWS BAND: Sep 12 Cricket Wireless Amphitheater Chula Vista, California Sep 13 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Irvine, California
Out of Philadelphia, PA and into my ears, thanks to a recommendation from my brother, came the music of The Bye Byes. Man, I cannot even begin to tell you how exciting it is to hear music which sounds amazing and beautifully different then everything else out there right now.
The sound is reminiscent of the late 60s/early 70s, not the disco frou -frou sound, but the "dance-easy-pop-snap-your-fingers-and-do the "s" bob with your head-while-you-listen" sound. Trust me, once you hear it you'll understand. The tracks are complete, the arrangements are well executed and the lyrics are memorable and catchy.
The band members are Peter Shauger, Erik Schmidt, Steven Binnig and for some time Joel Rose but he has moved onto another band. Peter, Erik and Steven have talents that come together into one brilliant pot of delicious musical soup. Warm, comfortable and happy with a slew of spices.
After a smashing show at Johnny Brenda's in late August of this year, The Bye Byes decided to hold off on scheduling more live shows so they could focus on finishing their studio work of their first EP.
As far as the (now) trio goes, Erik and Steven keep time with percussion and respective bass thumping. They never miss a beat, or sometimes seem maybe a beat behind but it is fitting and purposeful. While Joel was on keyboard he handled the melodic keys with ease. Peter rules guitar and vocals throughout, one might also say The Bye Byes are his metaphorical baby.
As it turns out, Peter, Steven and Erik have been friends for several years. Peter wanted to be in a band and while perusing craigslist he came across Steven's listing. Steven and Erik have been playing in bands together since high school. Peter initially teamed up with them, but then "life got in the way" and their first efforts never really took off. Not much longer down the road everyone got together again and Steven introduced Joel into the mix. So it was during their second time around as a group that The Bye Byes came into being.
While listening to the demos on their MySpace page, I decided I wanted to know more about the band and then do a write up. I felt inspired.
After a couple quick chats on MySpace, Peter agreed to let me ask him a few questions about himself and The Bye Byes.
C: Tell me what you think about Mac&Cheese. The food. Yes. I just like to hear what people say when I ask that question.
P: "I love homemade baked macaroni and cheese! I had it for lunch yesterday, and for dinner the night before. But it has to be baked, using real cheddar cheese, and no breadcrumbs. My wife makes the best macaroni and cheese, which is probably just the original 1950's Betty Crocker recipe for it, but still. It's simple, and it's delicious."
C: Your sound is so refreshing! It's got this amazing 70s vibe to it and its just light, happy, great music. Were you shooting for something different or reminiscent of another era? What got you to the sound you are producing now?
P: "I don't think I set out to have any particular sound. First I just try to write a song that I like. Then I try to figure out an arrangement that lifts the song up even more. I do enjoy the sounds of the 70s... but that's not necessarily intentional. I enjoy the early 80s as well... It's like how your body can sometimes smell like the food you just ate. You don't intend to smell like that...but your body can't help it!"
C: If you were proud of one show or one song in particular what would it be?
P: "If I had to pick just one that I'm most proud of? Maybe Leftover Lois. I figured out how to record hand-claps on that one. My first pass of recording it (just an acoustic demo) was too fast -- it had energy but there was an emotional element missing. Then I tried again, slowed it way down. That version had plenty of sad, but it had no spark, it wasn't fun. So I tried one last time, and this is how it turned out. But even then, I didn't think it was going to come out as well as it did. I'm always surprised when it all comes together. Like, wow, how'd that happen?"
C: My son, Braeden (age 5) thinks The Bye Byes music is "dance" worthy. He really likes listening to you when I pull your music up on my laptop at home.
P: Your son has excellent taste.
C: (Laughing) I agree, yes he does.
One thing is for sure, Peter is one down to earth guy and after getting to know him a little bit better I found myself liking the band's music even more. Especially their song "I Know It's Hard," I love every second of it.
"I know it's hard to believe me/And the things that I say/I am a constant contradiction/Change my mind every day"
You'll hear the hand claps, jangles, pristine percussion and perfectly paired guitar riffs as you listen. And the harmonizing vocals of Peter and Steven work very well together; they are mellow and smooth.
Press play, sit back and enjoy! And be sure to keep your ears and eyes open for when their EP is released. It will, for sure, be a MUST buy! Maybe Bring Me Up will even set up a contest!
After an incredible breakthrough year in 2008, White Denim celebrate the first year anniversary of Workout Holiday (Albums of the Year from Observer Music Monthly, Uncut, The Sun and Clash) by releasing the eagerly anticipated follow up Fits. 2009 promises to be as incendiary. The band returns for live dates in May, shows that are bound to be rammed after their now legendary UK shows that killed it at Bloomsbury Bowling, Borderline, Cargo and culminated in the you-really-should-have-been-there Dingwalls show in November 2008 - one of The Independent's Gigs of the Year - "the kind of group that becomes one's favorite band. If they carry on at this rate, they should be one of next year's big crossover successes".
Fits; the title is both a knowingly bad pun and a reference to the odd tantrum endured in its creation- manages just that. Anyone familiar with the ferocious drive of the Texan trio's renowned live shows, where songs merge into each other and the playing guides the direction of the performance, will recognize their approach. Recorded and produced by the band in their infamous studio/trailer, Fits is more coherent than debut Workout Holiday, yet sacrifices none of its imagination. Though there's barely a pause between tracks the set ebbs and flows, ranging from the soft-hearted to the ferocious.
Kansas City, MO favorites The Get Up Kids are celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the release of their momentous album "Something To Write Home About" in style. Today MySpace Music premieres the Live DVD of their Liberty Hall performance in Lawrence, KS in March 2008. The DVD will stream in its entirety on the band's MySpace page for a limited time.
September 8 sees the reissue of the album on Vagrant Records, which will feature the live DVD. The reissue also features seven downloadable bonus tracks of demos from the "Something To Write Home About" sessions, exclusive to this physical version.
The Get Up Kids formed in 1995, releasing their debut full-length "Four Minute Mile" in 1997. Vocalist and guitarist Matt Pryor, brothers Ryan and Rob Pope on drums and bass respectively, guitarist Jim Suptic and keyboard player James Dewees recorded "Something To Write Home About" in 1999. Subsequent Get Up Kids studio albums included the Scott Litt-produced "On A Wire" (2002) and "Guilt Show" (2004). The group officially disbanded following a July 2, 2005 hometown swansong at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City.
"Almost and Always" is David Mead's fifth full-length release. His most intimate work to date, the album examines life after marriage and the promise of things to come. Mead collaborated with producer Brad Jones (Sheryl Crow, Steve Earle, Jill Sobule, Butterfly Boucher, Over The Rhine, Josh Rouse, White Light Motorcade) and new songwriting partner Bill DeMain (Swan Dive) to create a quiet, soulful collection that sets 21st century pop songs in classic arrangements that recall Harry Nilsson, Paul Anka and Harry Belafonte.
As always, Mead's honeyed voice is front and center, gently accented with classical guitar, woodwinds and string quartet.
When asked about the three year lapse since the release of his last album, the critically acclaimed Tangerine, Mead is characteristically frank. "I had to take some time away from touring. I had basically been in a rental car by myself for eight months of every year since 2000 and I was just fried. And perpetually broke. It wasn’t fun anymore." After spending 2007 living in Brooklyn, Mead separated from his wife and returned to his native Nashville in early 2008, initially landing in a room in his father's basement for a few months. "The change was a little paralyzing. I had left pretty much every- thing but my books and a few lamps in Brooklyn, and there I was, back in Nashville, well into my 30's, doing manual labor and wondering what was supposed to happen next."
Name:Christy Mannering Appreciating and dancing around to all types of music. Movie mania! Reading fiend! See my complete profile E-mail MeI welcome all promotions and bands wanting reviews written. Please note that all music on this blog is for sampling purposes only. Respect the artists and buy their music. If you wish to have something removed from here please tell me and I will do so immediately. Bring me music and BRING ME UP!