Where the food sounds good, and the music is pretty tasty too.
The Perth, Australia band known as Tame Impala have a grand new song, “Apocalypse Dream” and it is a something you may just play whilst stargazing or just lazing in the summer heat. Plus, you too can cop this wonderful track because it’s available as a FREE DOWNLOAD. The bands sophomore album Lonerism drops in October via Modular Recordings. Peace. Continue reading “tame impala // apocalypse dream”
Zack Levine from the band Pinegrove, (well I am assuming it was him) reached out to me mere moments ago via email and introduced himself. And for that I thank him immensely for making known to me their wonderfully rich and utterly dynamic (in an organic way) sound. Well, needless to say it passed mustard and I like it! I headed over to the band’s Bandcamp and clicked play. Over the next 32 minutes and 47 seconds I was treated to a gargantuan seismic wave of beautiful music. Pinegrove hints at a cavalcade of elements, from folk pop to those subtle austere southern rock elements. It’s all good. My favorites are the tracks Metronome, Mather Knoll, and Sunday. Honestly though, the whole enchilada is a great listen from beginning to end. This album will be played a great deal this summer and beyond. Thanks Mr. Levine. Peace. Continue reading “pinegrove // meridian”
The band Noah & The MegaFauna best described themselves as, “Equal parts meditation on Gypsy Jazz, and modern song writing and an excuse to stay up late drinking with friends.” And really that is the point of the music. Yes, don’t look too deeply for hidden meaning and esoteric riddles, it’s just sweet swooning music. Check out the bands’ song “On And On” and it’ll just make you miss your lover even if they’re deeply ensconced within your arms. Right now you can get the vinyl pressing of their romantically sensuous album Anthems For A Stateless Nation at www.bigcartel.com. Peace. Continue reading “Noah & The MegaFauna // On And On”
Yuck. You know what this band can do ’cause their reputation precedes them. The new song, “Chew” is everything you’d expect it to be. It rocks. If you’re a fan and are heading to Coachella check ’em out they’ll be there just for you. Peace. Continue reading “Yuck // Chew”
The Mars Volta are one of my favorite guitar bands hands down. It’s a simple choice really, because Cedric Bixer-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López are never boring, and the guitar work and lyrics are consistently from another planet, possibly even another dimension. How many of you are TMV fans? Wow! That’s a whole lot of hands in the air. So, like me you love the bands head-trip progressive experimentation, as the songs weave in and out of consciousness, as the music performs a sonic lobotomy on your frontal cortex and soul kisses your spine! Check out the full album stream at www.antiquiet.com. Peace. Better yet raucous mayhem! Continue reading “The Mars Volta /// The Maklin Jewel”
From Nottingham, UK there’s a trio of guys playing a brand of alt-rock clinging to the underbelly of distant rumbling thunder and far off smouldering fires. The guys are
Neil Wells (bass/keys/vocals), Pete Fletcher (guitar), Nick Davis (guitar/keys) and they are known collectively as the Escapologists. Their first single “Conscience Or Regret” from the bands January 2012 release Fireworks is presented in fine video form. And although this particular song is a bit of a departure from earlier material, with more synths and a tad more upbeat, it’s nonetheless a good start. I am looking forward to listening to more of what this subtlety atmospheric band has to offer. I’ve got more tragically hip examples of why I love this band after the jump, and please do enjoy. Peace. Continue reading “Escapologists // Conscience Or Regret *Video”
San Diego/Long Beach band Delta Spirit is Jon Jameson, Brandon Young, Matthew Vasquez, Kelly Winrich, and Will McLaren, but they are much more than a bunch of guys banging drums and wrenching the blood, sweat and tears from guitars and other instrumentation. They are more than songs shot through with intensity and a hefty dose of gilded sweetness. These guys are the kind of band you listen to when you want to go home, grab a beer and shed all the bullshit of the day and just chill out. You listen but you don’t really listen, you absorb the quaint melodies and let the music settle around your ears like wood smoke, and the vocals of Matthew Vasquez can work tenseness out of you like a master masseuse on top of their game. Listen to the entire self-titled album Delta Spirit at www.deltaspirit.net. Honorable mentions, the very first song “Empty House”, “California”, “Into The Darkness” and my favorite “Otherside” with its sexy Bossa Nova structure. Make no mistake, these aren’t the only gems, there are 11 of them. Let me know which ones you fall to pieces listening to. By the by, you can get the FREE DOWNLOAD of the track “California” on the bands’ Facebook Fan Page. Peace. Continue reading “Delta Spirit / / Self-Titled Album Delta Spirit”
The Etienne Perrin directed video “Taj Mahal” for rock/electro band La//KVLKD is not so surreptitiously a visual reference to Leonardo Da Vinci’s most famous painting. Yet, it’s not the only obvious occurrence here either. Take the music for example. La//KVLKD have taken two different sounds (rock & electro) and smashed them together gorgeously. And if you thought the song “Taj Mahal” was good, then check out the band’s song “Banderoles” it’ll hit you in all the right places and “Symptoms” is just sonically delicious. Peace. Continue reading “LA // KVLKD / / Taj Mahal *Video”
I so glad James Mercer and Co. (The Shins) are so generous with the music, the videos and whatever else they’ve thrown our way. Here, we have another glimpse of what to we can expect from the forthcoming Port Of Morrow LP. On this visual of “Bait And switch” we are treated to The Shins performing live and it’s a most beautiful thing indeed. Is it me, or does James Mercer have one the coolest singing voices, EVER! Make sure you mark you time-keeping devices for March 20th, or course it’s important, that’s the day The Shins release Port Of Morrow to the world. And if you haven’t you can most definitely Pre-Order it HERE. Peace. Continue reading “The Shins // Bait And Switch (Video)”
On some personal level it is always a great feeling to get in on the ground floor of a bands career before the major rags start blaring their supercilious horns proclaiming, “Look what we discovered!” I mean really, how hard is it to sing praises after the little guys have been trudging away spreading the word and delivering the goods? Rhetorical question: really no need to embarrass the establishment by answering. But, after listening to the now London-based band Ideals it doesn’t take much of an imagination to hear their potential. Kind of like it’s no surprise when after downing a few pints you just feel better. Well, the music of Ideals is similar; in that after a few listens one is able to relax inside the music well enough, and let it just wash your worries away, or at least temporarily hold those worries in abeyance.
With this band, admirers and pundits alike, could spend long hours making comparisons to well-established bands and cross-checking sonic references endlessly. But that’s not my style. You know me; I just let the music stand on its own two feet and bear the full force of your critical ear. However, what you won’t hear from the band Ideals is empty posturing or trite lyricism. Rest assured, Andrew Major, Ben Ward, Simon Wilson, and recent recruit Ben Smith are not soulless mannequins mouthing blather into the atmosphere. These guys tow the line, by delivering hard-nosed fare like the blazing, “Let Your Anger Leave” which opens with scathing full-frontal guitar atop palpitating drum work, before settling down around Andrew Major’s stalwart vocals. And just when you thought the guys from Ipswich, Suffolk gave you their all, they deliver a track like “Altar” and the increased helium in their airship of sound takes them to greater heights. Yes, I’m a fan, but I’ve a strange feeling I’m preaching to the choir. Peace. Continue reading “Ideals // Altar”