Where the food sounds good, and the music is pretty tasty too.
How cool of Kishi Bashi to delicately craft an inspirational ode as songgram, (Kishi Bashi’s word not mine, but it so works)“I’ll See You There” as a thank for one of his recent, and ardent, Kickstarter supporter, Cam Linh. I knew Kishi Bashi was a cool guy, now it’s beyond substantiated. Peace.
“I’ll See You There”
“Bright Whites”
With the Indie music scene being what it is (Amazing!) it is hard for a band to stand out from the crowd. Unless of course your band kicks balls and goes by the indefatigable name The Library Is On Fire. And like the urgency such a name implies, you too should with much alacrity lend your ears and give a listen to the Brooklyn-based trio (Steve Five, Pete Sustarsic and Travis Tonn). For the record, these guys just don’t make music, they make music you’ll identify with, because they’ve got the goods for all your crummy and euphoric emotions alike. And check the back story on this band and get your hands on their Magic Windows, Magic Nights (2010) album released on (Fill in the Blank) Records. The 2010 LP is 15-tracks that’ll back up all the kudos this band has justifiably earned along the way and then some. But, for now luxuriate in the chill sonics of “They Don’t Know You (Like I Know You)” from the bands Works On Paper (2011) release. Peace. Continue reading “The Library Is On Fire // They Don’t Know You (Like I Know You)”
Swedish indie-pop band Stars In Coma fronted by André Brorsson is just the kind of band I like: easily accessible and with melody enough to bob my head to while chillin’ in a universe that’s totally alright with my chillin’. Share my enthusiasm for these guys by listening to the band’s “Paint My Picture On The Thick Shell” taken from their absolutely beautiful Midnight Puzzle album. And after the jump I’ve left you with enough SIC material to get you thoroughly motivated to seek out more. Peace. Continue reading “stars in coma // paint my picture on the thick shell”
You can’t get a lot more ethereal and folkishly organic than the music being born out the hearts and heads of the Bowerbirds. At the core, and I suspect it will always be, this band is Phil Moore and Beth Tacular. And although there has been a revolving door of line-up changes, it is the constant ebb and flow of shared human emotion played out between both Phil and Beth, that act as the catalyst for their songs and music. When you watch the mini documentary, you’ll see the surface of a relationship. But, you’ll also suspect, and come away with the sense that these two people; this man and woman, are not only making their way in the world, but keeping a journal and writing upon its brittle pages with the red ink of lovesong. You hear their love, their fear and every other crazy human emotion in-between. Maybe nowadays love is corny, or at least talking about is, but one cannot simply listen to their songs as something two people just created for the sake of creating. Yes, one purpose is to share and entertain, but in the end these are songs two people crafted out of necessity, as something tangible to hold onto to buoy them across time, and predicaments known and not known. Yes, it is a public journal, but with private and secret meaning. The forthcoming album, due to drop February 21st, is titled The Clearing. Perchance The Clearing is metaphor for the space two people need to clear, to rid a marked territory of everyone else, and all other aspects of the known world, in order to make room enough for two to grow miraculously as one. Peace. Continue reading “Bowerbirds // Watch The Mini Documentary // The Clearing (Video)”
Although I am posting the latest visuals for “Bury Us Alive” know this, the mega-acid drop that is Starfucker is so much more than meets the ear. I’ve been addicted to these guys for a few years now and they never disappoint. And just case you haven’t had the good fortune to listen to them before I got both the March 2011 release Reptilians and the November 2011 Jupiter. So, get ready to become an instant fan, and make sure to check out Starfucker‘s bandcamp for more. Peace. Continue reading “Starfucker // Bury Us Alive”
Perennial favorites of the Indie power-pop scene the music making ménage à trois + 1 Imperial Teen is sounding as sweet as ever. With the release of their fifth studio album Feel The Sound the San Fransisco-based band is all set to win over a slew of additional fans in 2012. Check out the first release “Runaway” and you’ll not only “feel the sound” but it’ll feel you right back, as it weaves its soothing sonic tendrils all up in your head space. But what about the rest of the album you may ask? Don’t worry, I got audible proof positive that’ll obliterate any lagging doubts (Damn naysayers!). Go to Merge Records and stream the entire album ’till the cows come home. You’re gonna want to sing along too, so check out the lyrics here. See, I got you covered. But, Roddy Bottum, Lynn Perko Truell, Will Schwartz, and Jone Stebbins, well, they got the music, and isn’t that the reason you’re here? Peace. Continue reading “imperial teen // runaway”
If you were to catch a shooting star and tap into its little black-box, and were able to decode all the energy inside. Well, the energy may sound something like the new “Universal” track by none other than San Francisco, California-based musician/producer Tree, bka Oliver Nickell. I am feeling the positive vibes, which are now flowing freely from my speakers, and into my cerebellum cortex. My brain is now so electrically happy it’s chanting Ohm into the labyrinth of gray coils which comprise my think organ. And before I fail to mention: Ariel Thiermann, your star-bright voice can be the call to Tree’s musical response any ole’ time. Peace. Continue reading “Tree // Universal (Ft. Ariel Thiermann)”
I am going to approach this review of Swedish dream-Pop auteurs Simian Ghost as if you’re just hearing about them for the very first time (and that may very well be the case). Whether or not you know who Sebastian Arnström is or isn’t is irrelevant, to a point. I suppose if you only want to impress friends and acquaintances with vocabulary enough to name drop and feign hipness, then I suppose you are now sufficiently well-armed to do such a thing. But, such information is far removed, and serves little (if any) purpose in how the music will ultimately enter through the conduit of your ears and sough softly through your brain cells like a pastel colored watercourse winding its way into the deeper waters of tranquility. I bid you only this, cast ulterior motives aside and just enjoy a thing for the sake of enjoyment. The songs created by Sebastian Arnström come armed only with an ego-less beauty and a mischievous need, not for vanity, but to bruise the soft tissue of your heart with the imprint of sweet and plaintive adoration. The forthcoming album, titled Youth, will be released on March 5th via Heist Or Hit Records. Peace. Continue reading “Simian Ghost // Wolf Girl (Video)”
Hot off the press! Check out the “Simple Song” 7″ B-Side “September” by The Shins. It is a beautifully somber affair, and it only further whets our collective appetite for the March 20th Port Of Morrow LP release.
You can get The Shins Simple Song 7″ release next week (Valentine’s Day) at your participating Record Store Day dealer. Peace. Continue reading “The Shins // September (Simple Song B-Side) Video”
Music is a funny thing. And more often than not music chooses you and not the other way around. What I mean is, although we are constantly inundated with tons of music. An almost endless deluge of sound, some voices rise above. Revealing, only certain songs, or bodies of work, really reach and speak to us in tomes of soul-speak. And, if you approach music with any degree of discernment you’re not easily seduced by trends, or by what someone else claims is the next big thing.
With singer-songwriter Natalie Prass the music reaches you by cutting through to the heart of what makes a song special. Delivery and emotion. When Ms. Prass open her mouth listeners are rewarded immediately by the two most important elements of song writing; song structure, and delivery, and in this case a beyond beautiful singing voice.
Funny thing, I came to know how Natalie Prass by way of a serendipitous occurrence. No lie. Recently, I was provided with an advance copy of songs to review by a band I (Cherub) really respect and like a lot. And one of those songs on their forthcoming album features Ms. Natalie Prass. And although I imagine there were a lot of people who could have potentially sung the lyrics on their song, these guys had the good sense, and taste, to pick the best person for the job. Because, what Natalie brought to this particular song was a large bit of tenderness and an ethereal voice. Which turned my heart into a pool of melted reddish jelly. I played the song over and over, at least 3-4 times before I snapped out of it and performed a Google search on her name and hit the jackpot; I found her Bandcamp and Facebook pages, then her website natalieprass.com.
First, I came upon the song “Earth Angel,” and just as soon as it pricked my ear like the soft muzzle of newborn foal, I was seduced. This sweet revisitation of an old classic is nicely done(understatement). But then I listened to the song “Bird Of Prey,” from Natalie’s Sense of Transcendence EP (2011) and I’ve been playing it pretty much non-stop. The song really comes alive when she plays an acoustic set on the video below after the jump.
What a perfect song for our Sunday Best pick and an ideal song to unfurl the morning. My advice, Get your ears on any and everything associated with Natalie Prass. She can do no wrong, musically speaking that is. Song birds are a dime a dozen, but birds of paradise are a rare breed. Peace. Continue reading “Natalie Prass // Bird Of Prey (Video) Our Sunday Best”
