5 posts tagged “cure”

Happy Friday, and yep, another fistful of EPs! All really different music genres.

ESTRELLA CRISTINA
estrellacristina.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter

I was listening to a "new" shuffle playlist (music added in the last three months) and this charming song, "In Between Days" came on. Remember the first time you heard Lady Sovereign's "So Human" and thought, hey, isn't that the Cure? The same thing with "In Between Days", except, instead of Robert's familiar voice, it's by Estrella Cristina.

Estrella's name, as I've read, means "star" in Spanish. She's based out of Los Angeles, and her debut EP This Is Life is currently available on iTunes, minus, in my opinion, her best pop song "Brighter Than Sunshine". You can hear and purchase the song on iLike. However, as of this writing, her official website is currently not available, but I would recommending contacting her for a CD version as that would contain all four tracks.

The rest of the EP is light radio pop song, check out the one love song "Non Stop" and the title track, "This Is Life" to get feel of her style of music.

So this is living, so this is life, she's scheduled to appear on the follow dates:

07/16/09 Genghis Cohen-Shout it out/Nette Radio Quarterly Showcase Los Angeles, California
09/17/09 (TBC) Genghis Cohen-Shout it out Showcase Los Angeles, California

CAST SPELLS
myspace ♥ facebook

The first thing about Cast Spells is that they have this fun sense of humor. For instance, for their official website, they link to the pagan on "How to Cast Spells". If that wasn't enchanting enough, how about the distinctive vocals of Maps and Atlases's Dave Davison? Yes, the very same band that I missed because of scheduling conflicts at 80/35.

I'll have to add that if you don't like that slacker-indie music, you're not going to like Cast Spells. The six-track debut EP Bright Works and Baton feels relatively lo-fi and even mountain folk... like neck beard music ..And I'll leave it at that. They are on the verge of going out on tour with So Many Dynamos:

SO MANY DYNAMOS, CAST SPELLS TOUR
July 13 – Holy Mountain – Seattle, WA
July 14 – Backspace – Portland, OR
July 15 – Hemlock Tavern – San Francisco, CA
July 16 – Luigi’s Funhouse – Sacramento, CA
July 17 – Cellar Door – Visalia, CA
July 18 – Spaceland – Los Angeles, CA
July 19 – Modified Arts – Phoenix, AZ
July 21 – Emo’s – Austin, TX
July 22 – Mangos – Houston, TX
July 23 – The Exchange – Hot Springs, AK
July 24- 529 – Atlanta, GA * also w/ Cinemechanica
July 25 – The Flatiron– Greensboro, NC
July 26 – DC9 – Washington DC
July 27 – Danger Danger – Philadelphia, PA
July 28 – Union Hall – Brooklyn, NY
July 29 – Great Scott - Allston, MA
July 30 – TBA – CT
July 31 – TBA - NYC
Aug 1 – The Majestic- Detroit
Aug 2 – Beat Kitchen – Chicago, IL

You can pick up the EP digitally or physically at castspells.hellomerch.com (which I think is officially been released).

THE FORCEFIELD KIDS
myspace ♥ last.fm

We rarely get rap music submissions (possibly because we do not have a rap/hip hop writer), but I did accepted this debut Home EP from this Newcastle-based outfit. Yes, they're British, and yes, the inevitable Streets reference comes to mind.

I don't know what the UK rap scene is like, but it seems to me to becoming more popular than ever. I suspect it is because all you need are three key components: the Mic, the DJ, and the MC. In this case, Stain(ed) Art does the rap, Noise is the backup vocals (he's listed as the "hype"), and Sleepy handles the beats.

With the lack of traditional music equipments, you can expect rap groups to setup fairly quickly and easily. And the fact that improvisation is part of act, I suspect this band is best experienced live. Check them out at the Dog & Parrot, coming up:

07/18/09 The Dog & Parrot Newcastle Upon Tyne

The song that they seem to like is "Little Miss Star", but I didn't really feel it. I don't know, a bit too sensitive to me. I like breakup song, "Since We Last Spoke". It's short, but to the point, and full of held-in anger.

Home EP was released last Tuesday, US readers will want to get the Amazon MP3s vs the more expensive imported EP ($15).

STEREO ALLIGATOR
stereoalligator.com ♥ myspace ♥ blogspot

Based out of Lisbon, Portugal, these two music producers, Nuno and Gomes, really know their 80s synth pop music! Their EP was recorded in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain, mixed in Brooklyn, New York, where I suspect the duo also spend some of their time (you can follow their travels on their blogspot).

Their biography mentioned that this self-titled EP is their first "international" release, which makes me think that perhaps they've released material previously. What probably will make this EP more appealing is that the lyrics are in English, so they might focus more on the US market.

Most of the song here are upbeat, sans the downer "Ruin". Thank god, "Lifting Up" and "Blow Away" will quickly get you back on a happier mood. I can tell you that the club dance scene will welcome these amazingly pure pop synth songs.

At the moment, it seems that the duo have two more EPs in the work, this release is the first of a trilogy. I'll be keeping a close on this this band. Stereo Alligator EP is out now, you can find it at your favorite Amazon or eMusic.

Going to see Razorlight tonight. Have no idea who they are (sorry, as you are aware, I don't listen to modern music anymore!).

Looks like they're four lads from London, formed around 2002. They've released two albums, Up All Night (2004) and Razorlight (2006). They're top charts material as they've reached the British charts and have gone multiple platinum (but barely reaching the US top 200, where we definitely have the superior music of Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears! Double Yuck.)

Doing a quick search on www.sonicx.com and www.vox.com, I quickly discovered that they sound like Keane (not a good thing).

Well, can't really complain since I'm not really paying for the concert.

Maybe someone else can cover Razorlight better, since it sounds like I'm not even a fan. I've included them doing a Cure song, "Boys Don't Cry" from an MTV Icon Tribute to the Cure. It is the only song I can bear to listen to. You can download the song from www.candystripelegs.com

UPDATE 3/5/2007: Photographs from the show. Mohair was the opening band, as you can tell by the signage.  Also, Kirby's House was crossed off and moved to the end as the final song on the encore.   Check Brody or Steve for more concert photos, I never post too many and my camera's shite anyway. 

Artist: Album: Website: Location: Members:

Ivy Guestroom www.thebandivy.com New York, USA Dominique Durand, Adam Schlesinger, Andy Chase

It's time for another cover.

The best thing about this Cure cover is that semi-broken-but-cute-French-accent. I've always been fond of covers that sounds nothing like the original (yes, I am a huge fan of William Shatner's "Common People").