May 31, 2009
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
I only heard of Grizzly Bear because someone recommended Department of Eagles to me a while back – Daniel Rossen being the common factor – but the former have now just about trumped the latter.
The hazy vocals and slow, repeated guitar riffs on this track, from their 2006 album, ‘Yellow House’, are a bit trippy and psychedelic – perfect for a ‘don’t want to get out of bed’ Sunday morning. It’s up on the MySpace at the moment.
This week saw the release of ‘Veckatimest’ – so new there are no last.fm stats for it yet!
Over from NYC to play KoKo in August.
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Posted by nishajl
May 30, 2009
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
Not sure I entirely agree with their MySpace profile headline…in fact, I know I don’t (“get ****ed. get drunk. shoot up. have fun.”) – but the band were a recommendation from our mate Thom Lyons and, of the tracks up there, this one is my favourite:
Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s – A Children’s Crusade on Acid
It’s from their 2008 releases “Animal!” and “Not Animal”, the dual release being the result of artistic differences with their label, and has a quiet sadness to it that I almost missed until I listened to the lyrics. There’s a lot of audio from their other albums available on their last.fm page but, oddly, not this one.
Also….there’s no Margot!
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May 28, 2009
Kamikaze Dreamer
Locating even the brief snippet of this track you can get to from the link below took some severe Google action – but I did come across a few other bits and bobs along the way…
The Business of Flies – Faster Than The Speed of Light (excerpt from AmieST)
There’s another clip and a sample preview of their, as far as I know, one and only full album – ‘Kamikaze Dreamer’ – on amazon.com. I bought a copy a couple of years ago after hearing this track on their MySpace and was disappointed to hear that, for I’m sure entirely unrelated reasons, they split up shortly afterwards…
A bit grungey, a bit funky …especially ‘Acid Rain’, although it’s the album version, not the one on their MySpace right now, that I particularly like.
The album looks to still be available on CD Baby and two of the band members, Cindy Pitts and Cliff Usher, are now performing as the duo Birdlips.
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May 27, 2009
I’m not used to this going-to-gigs-to-see-a-specific-band-and-really-liking-the-support-act malarkey but I’m most definitely not complaining. It’s happened a few times recently – Alessi’s Ark ahead of Magic Magic, the Joy Formidable before Silversun Pickups – and yesterday it happened again.
Sam Amidon was a last-minute addition to the Monto line-up last night, where I had gone to see Anathallo (mind-blowingly intense performance, especially the Sigur Rós-like encore). I missed the first part of his set and entered the gig part of the venue to find him addressing the floors, walls and light-fixtures, thanking them for listening.
Sam Amidon
It sounds strange, but there was reason behind his apparent insanity – the poor guy was the opener for the night and was initially playing for an empty room until people realised the show had started and began to trickle in.
Putting this eccentricity aside for the moment, his performance was unexpectedly excellent.
Sam Amidon – Saro (youtube)
The video for this track is perfectly reflective of his authentic folk sound, and the images of the old American prairie evoked by his music – he played this particular song sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the stage with an acoustic guitar.
More tracks up on his MySpace…I think it’s the floors, walls and light-fixtures who should be thanking him for gracing their “ears” with his music…
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May 26, 2009
It’s the simple yet poignant lyrics and the incredibly easy guitar chords that even I can play that are appealing about this song for me. It’s been around for a while and I first heard it on the soundtrack for the movie that featured Ashton Kutcher singing Bon Jovi – ‘A Lot Like Love’.
Anna Nalick
Anna Nalick – Breathe (2AM)
The gist is:
I wish I had a crystal ball, but I don’t
#…Cause you can’t jump the track, we’re like cars on a cable…#
I wish I could turn back time, but I can’t
#…And life’s like an hourglass, glued to the table…#
#…No one can find the rewind button, girl…#
So I’m just going to ignore it for a while and hope it goes away before I have to deal with it
#…So cradle your head in your hands…#
She, obviously, expresses it a lot more poetically than I can.
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May 25, 2009
Fanfarlo
I was a little surprised when I found out this band are London-based – their sound reminds me a little of indie-folk singer-songwriter, Beirut.
Band members Justin, Leon, Cathy and Amos wielding an armory of instruments (bass, trumpet, keyboards, violin, mandolin, and drums) provide a smooth folk complement to Simon Balthazar’s warm, relaxed vocals and lend a rural, community feel to much of their music.
Performing at the ICA 2 June, Fanfarlo are also playing a number of festivals this Summer. Further details and audio samples on their Last.fm and MySpace pages.
‘I’m A Pilot’ is available for free download from last.fm at the moment.
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