Friday, October 16, 2009

Little bit of "Yeah Yeah"



So I posted earlier about the collapse of the band The Format and the rise of the hypermelodramtic band Fun., but that is only half the story. The other half of the Format, and some would argue the better half, is Sam Means. There's no news of Sam Means starting his own band, but he has done an extremely lo-fi score for the indie comedy The Sinking of Santa Isabel and one of the songs in the movie is called "Yeah Yeah". It's very simple, but at the same time incredibly fulfilling. It makes me excited to hear the rest of his score!

Stream from Hypemachine Yeah Yeah - Sam Means
Download Yeah Yeah - Sam Means

Sunday, October 4, 2009

New Tegan and Sara: "Hell"



Sainthood will be Tegan and Sara's sixth album and their latest album since 2007's The Con, and I have nothing, but high hopes. The first single off the album will be a track written by Tegan Quin titled "Hell".This is the first we've heard from the album and from Tegan and Sara, unless you count Tiesto's "I Feel It In My Bones", and it sounds good. The rest of the album will drop Oct 27th...aka soon.

Check it Out: Tegan and Sara - Hell

Monday, September 21, 2009

Sea Wolf leak White Water, White Bloom



So this is a bit late, but if you didn't know, know now that Sea Wolf's White Water, White Bloom has leaked and it's pretty good. NYU's Alex Brown Church brings us another album with that similar classic feel as Leaves in the River, but this time instead of sounding like it's coming from his underground basement, it's taken a step up and now has a more orchestral feel, which of course I love. The album comes out September 22nd, 2009
Pre-order the Vinyl Here!


Check it Out: Sea Wolf - Orion & Dog

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Los Campesinos! "The Sea Is A Good Place to Think of the Future"



I've always liked Los Campesinos!, but having seen them twice in the past two weeks (Los Angeles, San Diego) my opinion of them is steadily rising. Their albums are intense, absurdly fun, and exhausting. I mostly thought that they wouldn't be able to keep it all together on stage, and that their success was probably a result of studio tricks. But I was horribly wrong. They are even better live.

And despite the departure of their female vocalist/keyboardist Aleks, I'm glad that Los Campesinos! is pushing forward. They are set to release a new album in early 2010 and will follow it up with a UK tour. It will be their first tour without Aleks and their first with an unnamed new member. The band has graciously released a new (slow?) song from their upcoming album called "The Sea Is A Good Place to Think of the Future" along with this video:

The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future from Los Campesinos! on Vimeo.



UK TOUR:
OCTOBER
WED 21 Kasbah, Coventry 14+
THURS 22 Joiners, Southampton 14+
FRI 23 Phoenix, Exeter 14+ (01392 263518)
SAT 24 The Gate, Cardiff 14+
MON 26 Deaf Institute, Manchester14+
TUE 27 University, Newcastle 14+
WED 28 Garage, London 14+
THU 29 Zodiac, Oxford All Ages (Under 14s to be accompanied by an adult)
FRI 30 Cockpit, Leeds14+
SAT 31 King Tut’s, Glasgow 18+

Check it Out: Los Campesinos! - The Sea Is A Good Place To Think of The Future

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Girls "Lust For Life"



I had quite a time researching the band Girls new album Album. All I found was either porn or all girl rock bands, which is fine...but not helpful. Girls actually has no girl in it, despite that in their song "Lust for Life", the first few lines still go "I wish I had a boyfriend", making this the most gender confused band in history. It confuses me as well, but nevertheless it has a good old fashioned sort of beach-rock sound. Their album Album will come out Sep 22 and you can pre-order it on Amazon.

Check it Out:Girls - Lust for Life

Fun.: Aim and Ignite Album Review



Long have I been listening to Fun.’s new album Aim and Ignite, with it’s insane poppiness and theatrical tendencies, how can I say “no?” I previously talked about their opening track “Be Calm” and a few weeks later I’ve only grown fonder of the song. Perhaps it’s one of my favorite songs of the year? Only Last.fm can tell me for sure.

It’d be wrong of me to say that every song on Aim and Ignite lives up to the bar set by “Be Calm”, but the album does have a few gem that compensate for what the other tracks might be lacking. I’ll list off the best tracks, which have survived multiple upon multiple of listens: “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Use To Be)”, “Gambler”, “I Wanna Be the One”. It’s hard for me to pinpoint what I love about these songs. In some ways it’s the subtle changes that I love about “the Gambler”, the slight inflections in Nate’s voice that set one verse apart from another, but at the same time I enjoy the dramatic changes, like going from common time to a ¾ waltz, in songs like “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Use To Be)”.

The rest of Aim and Ignite is hit or miss to me. I wouldn’t say that there are any bad tracks; it’s just that not all songs can stand on their own. “Benson Hedges” and “All the Pretty Girls” are fun and upbeat songs, but they fall into the pattern of the typical pop song. Chorus, verse, chorus verse, chorus…without any element really standing out. Fun.’s strength comes from their theatricality and when the band fails to acknowledge that, they become boring and repetitive.

As an album I think Aim and Ignite is only good. However it’s the perfection of just a handful of it’s songs that make me want to call this record “great”. “Be Calm”, “At Least I’m Not As Sad”, etc. take an otherwise common place album and make it stand out. I can’t say this is one of this year’s best albums, but at the same time I can’t write it off as just another album.

I give Aim and Ignite 7.5/10 Bleeding Heads

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Tegan and Sara new LP and tour

The Canadian sisters have announced that they will release their sixth studio album Sainthood October 27th and Los Angeles is lucky enough to be getting a show at the Orpheum Theater October 25th.


Front Cover
Back Cover

Sainthood Tracklist:

01 Arrow
02 Don't Rush
03 Hell
04 On Directing
05 Red Belt
06 The Cure
07 Northshore
08 Night Watch
09 Alligator
10 Paperback Heart
11 The Ocean
12 Sentimental Tune
13 Someday

Tegan and Sara also did vocals on one of Tiesto's new songs, "Feel It In My Bones", for his upcoming album Kaleidoscope. You can check it out here thanks to hypemachine

Monday, August 24, 2009

Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest Album Review



By now everyone has heard Veckatimest and has already made up their mind on it, nevertheless I thought it would be wrong not to write a review on the album that critics are saying is the only album this year to rival Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post-Pavillion. True Veckatimest is a great album, and true it has proven that Grizzly Bear is no one-trick pony, and that they can improve upon their debut Yellow House. That having been said I do not believe that this is the best or even second best album of the year.

Being a huge fan of Department of Eagles, I was excited to listen to Veckatimest, however the album as a whole did not initially grab me. “Southern Point” was the one song I felt I could really sink my teeth into, with it’s up beat tempo and exploding drums. It’s quite possibly one of my favorite songs this year and exactly the kind of song I hope to hear from Grizzly Bear. The rest of the album seems to be hit or miss for me. Despite the fact that “Two Weeks” is one of their more popular songs, Ed Droste’s wallowing glee club vocals bores me and the instrumentation itself doesn’t seem to be anything to get excited over. Other songs like “Cheerleader” seem to hit the same note for me.

I’ve begun to realize that my main problem with Grizzly Bear is in fact Ed Droste’s voice. I think combined with Daniel Rossen’s voice he works well, but as a lead singer Ed Droste cannot keep my attention. Daniel Rossen is what saves this album for me. Even songs that begin with Ed Droste can become magnificent when concluded with the voice and musical intensity that is Daniel Rossen. “All We Ask”, “Fine for Now”, “While You Wait for the Others” and “I Live With You”, are therefore all great tracks. But there is more to Grizzly Bear than just lush vocals.

Similar to Department of Eagles, Grizzly Bear’s fulcrum is the magical environment created within their songs. The album is subtle, but when given the proper attention Grizzly Bear’s musicianship and Chris Taylor’s skill as a producer grab you. How they are able to so quickly take us into their world and keep us there for a solid 50 minutes blows me. Yet in the end when the album comes to a close, I am left wanting more. Maybe that’s a good thing or maybe that’s a bad thing. But I can’t help be feel like there is still something missing from Veckatimest.

I give Veckatimest 7.5/10 Bleeding Heads


Check it Out: Grizzly Bear- Southern Point

Get Veckatimest from Insound.com

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Best of 2007 Revisted

Here is my list for 2007. Albums followed by songs:

1.Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective


2.Random Spirit Lover by Sunset Rubdown


3.Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? by Of Montreal


4.Spirit If... by Kevin Drew (of Broken Social Scene)


5.Icky Thump by The White Stripes


6.Neon Bible by Arcade Fire


7.Scream & Light Up the Sky by The Honorary Title


8.The Con by Tegan and Sara


9.The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn by CocoRosie


10.The Meaning of 8 by Cloud Cult

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11.In Rainbows by Radiohead


12.Leaves in the River by Sea Wolf


13.The Magic Position by Patrick Wolf


14.The Flying Club Cup by Beirut


15.The Stage Names by Okkervil River


Other Honorary Mentions
*Loney, Noir by Loney, Dear
*Places Like This by Architecture in Helsinki
*Cassadaga by Bright Eyes
*Our Ill Wills by The Shout Out Louds
*The Reminder by Feist
*Wincing the Night Away by The Shins
*Cease to Begin by Band of Horses


********************************************************

Songs
1."Peacebone" by Animal Collective
2."Elephant Gun" by Beirut
3."The Mending of the Gown" by Sunset Rubdown
4."I Am John" by Loney, Dear
5."The Past is a Grotesque Animal" by Of Montreal
6."Far More" by the Honorary Title
7."Take Your Medicine" by Cloud Cult
8."Werewolf" by CocoRosie
9."General Specific" by Band of Horses
10."Catch Hell Blues" by The White Stripes

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Fun. "Be Calm"



What would it sound like if your high school drama team got together after school and formed their own indie-pop band? Well my guess is it would sound like Fun.. Fun as in the new indie-pop band called "Fun.". Fun. is the love child of Nate Russ ( formerly of the Format)and Antonoff (Steel Train)and fun is exactly what they sound like. Whereas last year the Little One's Morning Tide set the bar for indie-pop fun, this year Fun. has taken it away from that tropical beach to the stage, where the band makes use of all sorts of theatrics: key changes, time signature changes, violins, trumpets etc.,etc.,etc. The band's downfall might be the fact that they are too poppy, perhaps Nate Russ's voice is too clean and too perfect, but that also just makes it all the more enjoyable when you start to sense a little bit of anger in his voice. Their album Aim and Ignite's opening track "Be Calm" is the perfect song to set the tone for the rest of the album. It swoons from dark ballad, to upbeat pop song, to an almost parade like tune. It is everything but calm, but it is pure fun.

Aim and Ignite comes out August 25th, 2009.Pre-order the vinyl here!

Fun. - Be Calm

Monday, August 17, 2009

Osso Quartet /Sufjan Stevens "Enjoy Your Rabbit"



It's really annoying that there is no news of Sufjan Stevens putting out any records anytime soon. Even more annoying is that Sufjan Stevens is going on tour and not coming to the west coast. Nevertheless we do have Osso's album Run Rabbit Run, an instrumental version of Sufjan Steven's albums Enjoy Your Rabbit, to look forward to. The once-title track "Enjoy Your Rabbit" was recently released by Stereogum and is actually quite cool. I was never much of a fan of Sufjan Steven's super early stuff like Enjoy Your Rabbit, but with the new skin Osso has adorned the song, it's only become more obvious how amazing Sufjan Stevens was even back in the early days. Osso's album Run Rabbit Run will be released October 6th, 2009.

Check it Out: Osso - Enjoy Your Rabbit

Friday, August 14, 2009

Best Albums/Songs of 2006 Revisted

Now that summer is coming to a close and while I still have some downtime I thought that I would go back and make a list of my favorite albums/songs from the year 2006: 1. because I didn't have this blog-thing back then, so I never actually made a 2006 list and 2. I'm an obsessive person and I don't give all albums the proper amount of listening time so my lists for a year don't always represent the best albums of the year, simply because I haven't gotten around to listening to them all. So this is an updated version of a list that I would have made in 2006, if I had made a list in 2006. Hope that's not too confusing. Anyway...

Best Albums of 2006
1.The Life Pursuit by Belle and Sebastian


2.Robbers and Cowards by Cold War Kids



3.Shut Up I Am Dreaming by Sunset Rubdown



4.Through the Window Pane by the Guillemots


5.Black Holes and Revelations by Muse



6.Bring it Back by Mates of State



7.The Dust of Retreat by Margot and the Nuclear So and So's


8.9 by Damien Rice


9.Gulag Orkestar by Beirut


10.Crane Wife by The Decemberists


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11.Duper Sessions by Sondre Lerche


12.Return to the Sea by The Islands


13.The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance


14.Rabbit Fur Coat by Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins


15.Gang of Losers by The Dears


16.Avalanche by Sufjan Stevens


******************************************************
Best Songs
1. “Sao Paolo” by Guillemots
2.“Skeleton Key” by Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
3.“The Men Are Called Horsemen There” by Sunset Rubdown
4.“Accidental Babies by Damien Rice
5.“Dress Up in You” by Belle and Sebastian
6.“Rough Gem” by Islands
7.“Ballad of Human Kindness” by the Dears
8. “Postcard from Italy” by Beirut
9. “Hang Me Up to Dry” by Cold War Kids
10."Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance