20 posts tagged “ep”

This is the latest series in my EPs reviews. I like doing these because I don't think they take that long to listen to these four or five songs. You get the gist of the band, but unfortunately, it's probably not as detailed and explored as reviewing albums.

Also, I am back on reviewing music as I have stopped going out to see live bands. I am still not accepting new music as I still have to clear out what I've already been sent/requested. Apologies to any promises that I may have made.

SARAH ELIZABETH FOSTER
sarahelizabethfoster.com ♥ myspace

Sarah Elizabeth Foster's EP, Gardening From the Ground Up Part 1 from Studio Sarah Records, is the first submission I've received for a 2010 release. Generally around this time, I get a ton of Christmas music offers (which, hey, I will be doing a roundup next week!).

Foster actually has a degree in music, singing French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and, of course English. While this EP is only in English, it does showcase her classically singing abilities. My favorite song is actually the title-track, "Gardening From the Ground Up". There's something about this love song, from rain drops to the up-beat jazzy tempo, that I really like. This is in contrast to the opening song, "Wake Up", for a song that's about waking up, it sounds like "take it easy" evening song.

While people will automatically associate Foster to 60s girl singers, I think her vocal styles, would actually lends itself really well to modern indiepop music. I'm certainly interested in hearing what part two sounds like. If you live in New York, Foster will be playing tomorrow, December 4^th at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn.

FERAL CHILDREN
myspace.com/feralchildrenseattle

Feral Children is a "backwoods" band from Seattle, Washington. Their self-titled EP was a free released on Sarathan Records, while their forth-coming album, Brand New Blood, will be available digitally December 8^th, while a physical release on January 19^th, 2010.

As their name suggest, their music seems, I don't know, wild. Like "grizzly bear", "panda bear, "deerhunter" and "animal collective" wild, and this isn't surprising, considering Scott Colburn (Animal Collective's Feels producer) is their producer on the Feral Children album. Compared to previous bands I mentioned, Feral Children seems more melodic and less experimental. I'm not sure who produced their EP (I rarely get liner notes for digital submissions), but they certainly have that collective-like influence.

I did give the EP a few listens, and not entirely impressed with the singer (is it Bill Cole?). His vocals is very rough, voice cracking comes to mind on tracks like "Saint". While this may possibly be the greatest song done live, listening to it on headphones made me cringe.

Who knows, maybe their album will be much better than the self-titled EP. It is, after all, their first release, I'm sure they'll improve over time. Information on the free downloads, head over to Sarathan Records.

MOJORISING
mojorisingband.com ♥ myspace

I keep mis-reading this band as Major/ising, so I'm not sure if other people might have the same problem reading the name (it's OK people misread W♥M as "we love music" all the time...)

Mojorising recently moved from Los Angeles from Australia. So prices for their EP at $12 on the merch page might seem high, until you realize it's in AUS dollars.

My impression is that this duo makes some really funky music, but with classic rock attitudes (think Jamiroquai). The funk soul translate well on a few of their songs, "She Woke Up To Me" and "Sooth Me And Use Me". The later is very dancey, I suspect it will play well to a live audience. Incidentally if you are interested in hearing the first song, it's available as a free download.

The band is playing a few dates in California:

Dec 20 2009 THE MINT Los Angeles
Jan 10 2010 EL CID Los Angeles

SEA OF BEES
seaofbees.com ♥ myspace

Lara dismissed Julie Baenziger, aka Sea of Bees, as being too "CocoRosie/Joanna Newsom", and really - what's wrong with that ? As expected, Baenziger's vocal style is that of a small cute child. And also cute is the title of the EP, called Bee Eee Pee. This is a collection of four songs and one intermission song.

All of the songs are pretty minimalistic, usually with just acoustic and Baenziger singing. The stand-out track for me is "Willis", because it  does feature a melodic backing music (vs just acoustic alone). Also, the inclusion of the random intro is nice - it explained that this particular recording happens to be the third take.

Julie is doing some winter dates:

Dec 4 2009 Fox & Goose Sacramento, California
Dec 15 2009 Sacramento, California
Jan 26 2010 Matadero Huesca, Huesca
Jan 30 2010 Tanned Tin Festival Castelo, Castellón
Feb 10 2010 TBA w/ Mountain Man, Chelsea Wolfe and Dead Western Sacramento, California

Bee Eee Pee is out now on Bot Bot Records/Digisquad Records, you can find it on iTunes and Amazon.

PS, That's all I can manage today. Check out Ryan as he's retweeting on twitter/weheartmusic. You can see some of the tweets on the right-side of this page. The account is kept active by live blogging by myself, Ceji, and Ryan. Not just a robot account!

Probably a fitting band name for a sunday-written review. 

Yawn. 

Doesn't really conjure up images of excitement, does it? I nearly wrote this band off before even listening to them (a very sally thing to do). Well... look at the cover art.... i thought "ooh, some sort of horrendous metal band". Who ever said i jump to weird conclusions?

Not a great deal of information on these guys (maybe my detective skills aren't up to scratch), but according to their MySpace page, they come from Chicago, are influenced by after-birth and biblical murals, and used to be called Metrovox, but have since changed direction musically and hence required a new name. I wouldn't say Yawn is a fitting name, but who am i to make that call?

As far as i can tell, this is their self-titled debut EP. The music? Simply, it's indie pop. I wont say cute, but there's some really quirky, but well put together songs. The music itself is thick, layers of indie guitar pop intertwine with a whole realm of unusual sounds (I'm sure there's a kookaburra in there somewhere - mmm well known as the greatest songbird in history *ahem*).  Seems a bit novelty-esque; a bit Vampire Weekendy, very similar sounding vocals, same sort of whimsical feeling, same bouncy beat, but just that little bit more quirky. Favourite track? Empress. Makes me feel as though I'm on a beach drinking cocktails out of coconuts (not that I've ever done that.... or really want to, come to think of it).

Yawn

The best part is that you can download the EP for free on their website and that would be right HERE.

Also, if you happen to be in Chicago, you might be interested to hear that they are playing a show (with Megachurch... great band name!) on the 31st October at Snack Manor (I'm imagining this place has an abundance of cheese toasties).

Short and sweet today.

Sally

sally@weheartmusic.com

All Leather - I Don't Hate Fags, God Does All Leather 10/30/09 Slims San Francisco, CA 11/01/09 Black Lodge Seattle, WA 11/02/09 Satyricon Portland, OR 11/03/09 3 Parkside San Francisco, CA 11/06/09 Black Market El Paso, TX 11/07/09 Fun Fun Fun Fest Austin, TX 11/08/09 Rock Bottom San Antonio, TX 11/09/09 Lounge on Elm St Dallas, TX 11/12/09 Modified Phoenix, AZ 11/13/09 Che Cafe San Diego, CA 11/14/09 Club 1979 Baja CA 11/15/09 Smell Los Angeles, CA Discography [Aug 2009] Hung Like A Horse EP [Aug 2009] Hung Like A Donut - Remix Album

Here is the latest collection of Singles and Extended Plays that's come across my desk. Reviewing EPs is simple, as usually it's focused on the main song, but it's also very hard to write about. You can only write so much about one song, which is why I've stopped accepting single songs (we get a lot of these), remixes, edited, videos, streams, or demos. I am also not uploading every song for streaming, just my main song of choice (mostly for hypemachine audiences).  Read more EZ EPs articles.

ALL LEATHER
allleather.org ♥ myspace.com/allleather

All Leather's origin is from the ashes of the California punk band Some Girls (not to be confused with the less-than-punk band Juliana Hatfield's Some Girls), where two of the band members (bassist Justin Pearson and guitarist Nathan Joyner) came from.

The band recently featured on rcrdlbl and Alt Press Magazine. The later gives a glimpse of what All Leather sounds like: "[dance music] had cool elements, but was always ruined by lame lyrics, poor vocals and not enough balls. Ironically enough, the balls I wanted came from my exposure to it while working at a gay bar."

What he's referring to is probably their songs "Please Jesus, Send Me Someone To F*ck" and "I Don't Hate Fags, God Does" from their EP Hung Like a Horse, released in August on Dim Mak Records. The title alone is sort of controversial, but since I cannot, for the life of me, understand what Pearson is singing about, I don't know how I should feel about the songs.

I wouldn't exactly classify All Leather as "dance music" as described in Alt Press, this is more like experimental DIY noise - especially with the first two head trauma songs, "As The Hog Pisseth" and "We're Skrewed". Both songs seems to want to drill holes in my head.

Based on the songs and reading about the band, All Leather's fan base will be best built on their live performances. Usually these kind of high-energy sound just translate better on stage. Fortunately, it looks like they're doing a ton of dates in the south-west.

THE STATES thestatesonline.com ♥ myspace.com I've said this before, and I'll say this again: bands really need to pick better names. It's impossible to search for 'states' without having to put 'music' or 'band' in the search box. I'm sure this is the number one complaint whenever someone write about them and/or doing research. Still, that didn't stop the rock trio from being heard on national television on Fox's Fearless Music Show last night. I guess I don't really watch television (do I even have Fox on my TV?), I didn't know there were even music shows! I'm kind of excited about that, knowing that traditional media is still interested in music promotion. Well, We Are The Erasers, released September 22nd, is the third release from this band. With the exception of the ballad-ish "The Fight", the rest of the five-track sounds pretty much solid rock music. I think the best song on the EP is "Erasers", with Chris Snyder singing its catchy lyrics of "we will be erased", followed by "you have been erased". The State are currently on tour, I'm sure they'll get some better exposure with their official CMJ showcase coming up! 10/03/09 Rusty Rudder Dewey Beach, DE 10/15/09 Fusion 5 Night Club Foxboro, MA 10/16/09 TT The Bears Cambridge, MA 10/17/09 Rack N’ Roll Cafe Stamford, CT 10/18/09 Vibe Lounge Rockville Centre, NY 10/21/09 CMJ Showcase New York, NY 10/23/09 Stone Church Newmarket, NH 11/05/09 Puck Doylestown, Pennsylvania		THE WOLFMEN thewolfmen.net ♥ myspace.com/thewolfmen I've never heard of The Wolfmen before this promo single, Jackie, Is It My Birthday?, to be released on October 5th on their label, Howl Records, but their two main band members singer/bassist Chris Constantinou and guitarist Marco Pirroni have been in the industries for ages. I know that the two of them worked for Adam Ant, and Pirroni's been associated with Siouxsie & the Banshees and Sinéad O'Connor. It is with the O'Connor connection is that she sings duet with Constantinou on their new single. While the press release quoted this "For thirty years Fairytale of New York has dominated the Christmas playlists and festive radio for anyone looking for hardcore Christmas whimsey. But Jackie, is it my Birthday? is a worthy contender to The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl's throne." to describe the song - I'll have to politely disagree. While I did love both the A-Side ("Jackie, Is It My Birthday?") and B-Side ("Blushing God"), "Jackie" doesn't really hit the same sad note as with "Fairytale of New York". Surely, I can think of some better O'Connor duets (just look at "Visions of You" with Jah Wobble or her album Collaborations featuring nothing but duets with O'Connor). Still, the song is championed by a variety of British DJs and musicians, among them Dandy Warholler, Courtney Taylor-Taylor, calling the band "f*cking brilliant... I guess The Wolfmen just sound like heavy weights because they are." You can hear the song for yourself on their myspace, along with "Jackie Says", which I hear is their breakthrough hit song.
MIKA mikasounds.com ♥ myspace.com/mikamyspace Mika isn't really the sort of musician that I normally listen to. It's not like because of my street cred, but generally once an artist reach a certain status, the PR companies stops answering our calls. Which is why it was weird that I was sent his latest single, We Are Golden by his record label, Universal Records. The single comes with essentially the same song - a radio edit and the full song. The radio edit cuts the song three and a half minutes from its original four minutes epic. I'll have to admit that the song is pretty catchy and inspiring with its uplifting piano. It's a youth song, it sends out the message that old geezer like me would never understand it. Having just appeared on "Later...with Jools Holland", it's a good indication that he'll be heading out on his tour - heading into 2010! 10/12/09 Toronto, ON Sound Academy 10/13/09 Montreal, QC Place de Arts 10/15/09 Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre 10/16/09 New York, NY United Palace 10/18/09 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory 10/20/09 Chicago, IL Riviera 10/23/09 Los Angeles, CA Palladium 10/24/09 Oakland, CA Fox Theatre 10/25/09 Seattle, WA The Moore 10/27/09 Vancouver, BC Orpheum Theatre 03/12/10 Antwerp Sportpaleis 03/13/10 Amsterdam Heineken Hall 03/15/10 Copenhagen KB Hallen 03/17/10 Oslo Spektrum 03/18/10 Stockholm Annexet 03/20/10 Dusseldorf Phillipshalle 03/21/10 Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle 03/23/10 Hamburg Color Line Arena 03/26/10 Leipzig Haus Auensee 03/27/10 Munich Zenith 03/29/10 Vienna Gasometer 03/30/10 Stuttgart Schleyerhalle 04/01/10 Basel St. Jakobshalle 04/02/10 Luxembourg City Rockhall 04/16/10 Lisbon Coliseum 04/18/10 Barcelona Palau Sant Jordi 04/19/10 Madrid Palacios Deportes 04/21/10 Milan Mediolanum Forum 04/23/10 Marseille Le Dome 04/24/10 Lyon Halle Tony Garnier 04/26/10 Paris Bercy 04/29/10 Nantes Zenith 04/30/10 Toulouse Zenith 05/01/10 Nice Palais Nikaia 05/03/10 Strasbourg Zenith		NANCY NEWLIS nancynewlis.com ♥ myspace.com/nancynewlis Nancy Newlis is a New York singer/songwriter. Yes, we get a lot of these sort of submissions, especially of the singer/songwriter variety. What makes Newlis stand out is that she's from Moscow, originally studying under composer Irina Vladimirovna. A bit of a prodigy, she found herself studying jazz with a full scholarship in the University of Miami. Her recording break came with the release of Universidad Navidena, featuring the University music orchestra. Bitten by the recording bug, she went on to release Moments last year, and her latest release is Dreamers 2009 EP, released last May. I think what she's trying to do on the EP is a mixture of traditional jazz and pop music. Generally, the way I look at jazz is that it's usually an instrumental form, usually with improvisation (especially played by a veteran). In order for traditional jazz to be accepted by the mainstream audience, it has to have catchy lyrics or pop sensibility. Songs like "Dreamers", "Social Standing" and "What Is It?" on Newlis' EP does a good job fusing the two genre, featuring some acoustics, pianos, and Newlis' unique Russian-esque vocals. If you want to hear her for yourself, check out her free download of "Dreamers" at last.fm.
PUZZLE myspace.com/puzzlepuzzle OH MY! I think I am in love Puzzle. They have this indiepop sound, sort of feels like they are all old school friends in a small, small town, obsessing over their favorite bands. As it turns out, according to their biography, this is a "female-fronted" band from Liverpoool who started in 2007. Their debut album, Sometimes, all of the time, released the same year, is sold out... however their latest MiniCD (the first 30 features a holographic cover, limited to 100), is called We Left, released September 28th on Lightning Heart Records. I don't know what else I can add to this, except that I really like the way Lucy sings her songs. It reminds me of a bit of Tanya Donelly. If I were to live in Liverpool, you know what I'll be doing on October 13th (stalking): 10/13/09 Bumper - with Cats and Cats and Cats & maybeshewill		TOTAL BABE myspace.com/totalbabeband A little closer to home, is Minneapolis' Total Babe. Generally whenever I see band names like this, I think "they must mean the opposite, I'll bet they're heavy metal dudes ... with beards!" Well perception kept me away until I added this EP to my work queue. Guess what? They're alright! In fact, having just looked over all their cheesy photography collection, including the hilarious OMG picture, I'll have to say they are cute/dorky normal. The six song Heatwave EP, is full of indieness. My favorite is "Shape Up", featuring some whistling action. Since they are from around here, I'll try and catch them play after their CMJ debut. 10/04/09 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, Minnesota 10/20/09 CMJ FESTIVAL New York, New York 10/21/09 CMJ FESTIVAL Public Assembly Brooklyn, NY 10/22/09 CMJ FESTIVAL Spike Hill Brooklyn, New York 10/23/09 CMJ FESTIVAL New York, New York 10/24/09 CMJ FESTIVAL New York, New York 10/30/09 PERSONAL BEST RECORDS Minneapolis, MN 11/14/09 Kitty Cat Klub, Minneapolis, MN

KaiserCartel – Rock Island EP

When I saw KaiserCartel at the Cedar Cultural Center (Minneapolis, MN) back in May, I had this thought:  “ADORABLE.”  And yet, I did not upchuck, nor did I silently weep in my lonely chamber of loneliness.  Sure, Ben and Courtney are attractive, fashionable and talented, but it’s really hard to hate on the duo since both are probably nice too (also significant:  Kate pointed out that Cartel looks like a young, dark-haired Gerard Depardieu.  Le rawr).  More importantly, their music reveals a shade of melancholy that dissuades sensible abandonment (twee) and total hipster bastardization (boney, unwashed bodies).  Le whew.

If you read my review of their Minneapolis show, you may remember that I called the band “tame for children and the elderly” and “old-timey.”  I stick by these descriptions.  Kaiser never adopts the affected air that so many female musicians forcefully voice; instead, she allows her pretty pipes to remain, well, pretty.  This attention to classic detail makes Rock Island enjoyable, even if it breaks no new ground.  Recorded live during a Daytrotter session, the five-track EP contains three new songs plus a polished version of “Shira” (the cozy show-closer/audience pleaser) and a cover of “Something about What Happens When We Talk.”  One noticeable trend is a slight move away from the folk pop sound of March Forth, and a minor shuffle towards the confusing terrain that is “alt-country.”  Perhaps the Lucinda Williams cover makes ears biased.  Truthfully, I’m not opposed to a little twang, and Kaiser’s milky vocals still channel the loveliness of folk, with diminutive alterations (like a cup of tea with a single drop of malt whiskey).

Rock Island will be available digitally Sept. 1 (with a limited number of hard copies offered at shows and via their website).  September also marks the start of a West Coast tour; the band will continue touring through October, reaching the Midwest and Southeast.  Visit http://www.kaisercartel.com/ for more info and tour dates.  Additionally worth noting, “Favorite Song” will be featured in the premiere episode of “Bored to Death,” a new HBO series that looks mocking, nerdy, and mildly insulting (life’s necessary ingredients).  Check it out.

MAMMÚT
mammutmusic.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter

Mammút, described themselves as "pitch black pop eating colorful Skittles". While I would disagree with "black" (this tells me the band is "dark" and "broody"), I feel this is a really great young energetic rock band with some gothic-esque vocals. They sort of remind me of an Icelandic version of Swedish all-girl band Sahara Hotnights. Anyway, they seem promising enough, after only three months of forming the band, the three girls, two boys band entered and won the annual "battle of the bands" Músiktilraunir. They were quickly spotted by various publications like Rolling Stone and UK's Music Week.

All of the songs their 2008 album, Karkari, are sung in Icelandic, including the English title "Gun". I suspect the "pitch black" statement might refer to dark, depressing lyrics, but based on just their aggressive music, I didn't feel like that was what they were going for.

Although they lost their original bass player, and I don't know how their debut album sounded, but it's clear that the new bassist did a wonderful job - especially on the best track on the album, "Geimþrá".

I suppose I did enjoy the more "rock" out tracks, like "Ég veit hann kemur fljótt" and (ironically first track) "Endir" (End), but even the mellower "Í leyni" builds up in intensity. But what I think ties everything together are the great angst vocals.

Karkari recently won "best Icelandic album" at the Kraumur awards, and quite deservingly so. You can hear for yourself by purchasing the album directly at mammutmusic.com. Still not convinced? Try out the free download of "Svefnsykt" from the vowel-hating RCRD LBL.

THE GASLAMP KILLER thegaslampkiller.com ♥ myspace The Gaslamp Killer - Birthday Music The Motherfuckin' Gaslamp Killer is too non-print friendly and DJ Willow sounds too Buffy, so the mysterious DJ goes by simply as  Gaslamp Killer. His latest EP, My Troubled Mind was released on August 4th on Brain Feeder Record/Alpha Pup Records. As the title suggest, the songs on this EP gives us a glimpse of Gaslamp Killer's head: a strange music mixture of surf, funk, psych. The strong track is "Turk Mex", a Middle-eastern-gypsy type of music with a strange turntable blend of lounge music. The one track that actually doesn't seem to belong on the EP is, "Birthday Music". Possibly because there are lyrics on this song. I especially liked the part where he mixed in this 70s soul song "Give a Damn" near the end of the song.		ALVIN BAND alvinband.com ♥ myspace Alvin Band - Lord of the Fly Rick Alvin Shaier, from Miniature Tigers is essentially the one-man Alvin Band. What's interesting is that he will make his album, Mantis Preying, to be "officially" available on peer to peer networks on September 22nd (however, according to amazon, it looks like there will be a physical CD release - two-disc edition in fact). I'll be completely honest with you: I didn't like this album that much. I like the clever word play title, I like the idea of a one-man doing a cappella (there are no music instruments on the album) - but I just didn't enjoy the songs. It's kind of too non-traditional/experimental for my taste - the same reason why I dislike all the hot pitchforky bands like Animal Collective, etc. But hey, one man's garbage is another man's Earl Grey. I did give the album several listens (as evident on lastfm), just to give the album a second chance. The one track that I thought was good was "Lord of the Fly", which fooled me into think there were instruments.
SUNNA GUNNLAUGS sunnagunnlaugs.com ♥ myspace Sunna Gunnlaugs - Mindful Sunna Gunnlaugs is an Icelandic Jazz pianist. Don't let the eight tracks on the Mindful album fool you: this is a full sixty minutes album. As in most case with jazz, some songs tend to go on and on and often without lyrics the songs seems to blend into one another. I did find the album to be soothing, relaxing. It's really perfect for watching the sun set, sitting with a book and petting your cat. I did enjoy "The People of My Heart", because each of the music players gets a semi-solo spotlight. From the lead piano by Gunnlaugs, to the Drew Gress bass, the Tony Malaby's sax, and the subtle Scott McLemore drums. I feel all the instruments are having a polite conversation around a dinner table. I was also drawn to its title track, "Mindful", a track that feels like a journey (the ending is quite different from the start of the song). You can download this track, as well as others, on her iLike page. Having just finished some US summer dates, Gunnlaugs will be doing local dates in Iceland: 08/22/09 Idno - Literature and Jazz Reykjavik 08/23/09 Reykjavik Jazz Festival Reykjavik 08/30/09 Nordic House - Piano Only Reykjavik  You can get the Mindful album on Amazon.		NAREE nareemusic.com ♥ myspace Naree - Glamour Kills! I wonder why half-Thai, half-British Naree (and grew up in the Middle East!) doesn't mention anything about her first two albums, I'm No Fool (2004) and Proud (2005) on her website? Is she not, er, "proud" of them? Well her third album, tentatively titled Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde will be release somewhen this year? As you can see, I'm not really given much to work with here. I do have a six-track promo EP of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde for review. Each song is basically Disney pop music, the difference is that it seems to all been written by Naree. While you may think the title track, "Dr Jekyll" should be the clear winning song, I felt "Glamour Kills!" was far superior (despite the use of autotune). The song is so good, I can easily see why Naree was asked to open up for Pink in 2007. The band has a show coming up in New York: 08/30/09 The Annex New York, New York While there's no information on how to purchase or when Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is release - you can currently get their latest EP In This Life or the Next on the official website, or iTunes, or amazon.

ED HARCOURT
edharcourt.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter

Ed Harcourt is nothing short of amazing when he's playing live, possibly due to his many years of opening up for REM, Wilco, Beth Orton, Supergrass, etc. An amazing multi-instrumentalist, he mostly relies on his piano and strong vocals.

Recently, he composed the score for the "Donnie Darko" sequel S Darko, which I gave it a good review... despite the critics panning the movie. Russian Roulette EP is the latest release, around or after sxsw.

Like many of his previous songs, these songs on the EP tells little stories. I think sometime his personal life shows through in these songs, for instance the musical roller coaster "Caterpillar" reflects the singer's emotions of highs & lows when his newborn daughter Roxy was placed in an incubator.

It's the first song I've written about her. She was a little ill and we waited for her in the hospital for the chrysalis so we could take her home.

-- Ed Harcourt

These are great piano songs, they sometime sound a bit like old fashion television theme songs (accessible to anyone that hears it). There is one mountain folky-ish song called "Creep Out Of The Woodwork", which may be because of the country-sounding intro.

My favorite is "Sour Milk, Motheaten Silk", whose music was inspired by "Cypress Hill and Japanese children's shows". The violins towards the end by his wife, Gita, added a nice touch to the song.

You can get Russian Roulette EP from Dovecote Records, where you can also purchase his last album, The Beautiful Lie. Although it may sound gimmicky, you can get the EP via USB in the shape of a bullet. It's cool!

Harcourt will next appear in London at Standon Calling on August 2^nd.

VERISMO verismetal.com ♥ myspace Verismo - Failure 1 comment Verismo is a New York-based thrash metal trio, consisting of Stephan (vocals/guitars), Vinny (bass) and Tamas (drums). What I thought was funny is that they puke at the "throes of indie bands, experimental rock outfits, and techno-infused acts continue to battle it out for recognition in the highly-competitive New York City music scene" - all too true regarding New York's indie scene. Well metal's still huge all over the world, but it's a question of taste... and personally it's not my cup of tea. But if you like a bit of a harder (but not ear-punishing as some metal bands I've heard) guitar-noodling of Verismo, you can download their latest EP Greed for (ironically) free, if you sign up on their mailing list: FREE - "GREED" EP Friday, July 10, 2009 We want you to have it, listen to it, import it to your iPod, share it among your friends...etc. Remember a full length coming out at the end of this year! Get the EP absolutely free by signing up to our mailing list, 2 options: - Join our mailing list thru our myspace profile. - Come to www.verismetal.com and click on Mailing List.		THE RADIO DEPT. theradiodept.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter The Radio Dept. - David The Radio Dept. - Deliverance 5 comments From Sweden and our favorite Swedish label, Labrador comes The Radio Dept.'s David EP, released sometime in late June. We've previously mentioned Radio Dept. before and Randy describes This Past Week as: "it's shoegazey, melancholy, a bit subdued, but also lush and really well-layered between the vocals, guitar, keyboard, samples, and drum machine." I think anytime I read layer and drum machines, I just think of lo-fi, but they aren't. They're definitely dreamy in some chases. The single (4 tracks) are a quick listen. The songs are easy-on-the-ears, a little too relaxing with the mostly-instrumental "The Idle Urban Contemporaries". Obviously the main and title track "David" is the best among the songs. However, I didn't particularly care for the Rice Twins remix of "David", which is too jumpy and that use of vocal autotune drives me nuts, in my opinion. It could've been an interesting song if you haven't heard the original mix. But then again, I've mentioned before that I wasn't keen on remixes either. David EP is available now from Labrador.
BRAIN CHILDREN myspace.com Brain Children - Guts The children are Mikey Young and Max Kohane, based out of Victoria, Australia, who spent their years as punks and releasing DIY punk records (under such acts as Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Agents of Abhorrence). A lightning bolt must've hit the both of them as they are drinking their "Fosters" and they became a fishnet-wearing disco superhero duo called Brain Children, complete with the red Brainsmobile. They've just released a self-titled CD/12" and based on the six tracks, it's pretty much what you would expect out of a disco dance/synth band... ultimately sounding like they're from the 80s. There's definitely some bassy funk elements, especially on the "Guts", which I think there are actual girls-vocals on it. Either way, if you like what you heard, check out more at their myspace. It's easy for Australians to order the Brain Children EP directly from their record label Stained Circles (THEY SELL TAPES! TAPES!!! It's like 1986 again). Outside of ozland, you can only order 7" only, and you must use paypal.		GALA galasound.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter Gala - Freed From Desire The Un-Remix Italian pop singer, Gala Rizzatto, or simply known as Gala, gained a bit of fame over the UK (appearing on Top of the Pops), as well as playing with Janet Jackson and U2, quite a feat. Not really sure what happened, but she moved to New York, leaving her UK record label behind. Her latest release is an EP called Tough Love. This release is really polished, a very professional produced little six-track. For the most part, I love pop music, and since Gala's background is from Italy, she certainly knows her eurodisco music. If you don't like eurodisco, then turn away now, but if you dig Sophie Ellis-Bextor or Kyle Minogue, then you'll love Gala. Pretty soon, you'll find youself dancing uncontrollably to "Freed From Desire The Un-Remix" and "DKOL (Different Kind Of Love)". Watch out for that distinctive yip-yelp she does on "Tough Love". I see that she'll be heading over to Moscow for a live show at the Forbes Club on September 18th. You can follow her on Twitter, which she will occasional take some pictures on her walkabouts.

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.

Foma is an indiepop group from San Francisco by the way of Albuquerque, and last Tuesday saw their latest release, Inverness EP. I don't really know much about them, but based on the "recommendations" on CD Baby, they seem to think they sound like Modesto's Grandaddy. Based on their latest EP, they seem to me like sounding like Ben & Jason or even a mellowier Lucksmiths (and that's not a bad comparison considering how we all love the Luckies here).

I have concluded that the band is mostly lead by singer/songwriter Edward Burch, and they also seem to be half an instrumental jam band. Three of the songs on the EP are instrumentals "Interlude", "JM Sebastian" and "Gray's Elegy" (Sebastian is 90% instrumentals, there are some lyrics on it). The instrumentals aren't bad either, they are distinctive and seems to emphasis more on the percussions and drums, at least that's what I tend to hear when there is an absent of singing.

The vocals are from Burch are sweet, tender and calming. There's also hints of sadness to his singing style, but this is probably due to the use of Charith Premawardhana's violins and Hun Kim's cellos. I've always thought bow instruments are sad, especially if played slowly.

I had a hard time determining which song to use, I like these songs equally: "Control Panel", "Ess-Ther's Victory" (the closer of the EP) and "Seraphim Succubi". I've decided to go with Succubi, only because of that creepy intro. The tone is a serious one about a seemingly sweet-looking girl.

Inverness EP is available now, you can pick it up at Amoeba Records, if you're lucky enough to live in California. Otherwise, buy from them on tour and, of course, there's CD Baby.

I leave you now with "Kurt's Theme" from their Phobos album:

Arcane and Abel, 4 Song EP, December, 2008
by
All of us/None of us
Genre: Alternative/Folk/Metal/Blues

All of Us/None of Us Guitarist and singer Eric Ray, a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and R Tyck, bassist, a recording engineer and college instructor, began collaborating while Ray was living in San Francisco and Tyck in Los Angeles. Originally intending their work to be a studio project, the two wrote and recorded by sending tapes back and forth and making occasional trips between the two cities. Much of their debut album, Lucky Robot, was recorded in this manner.  Upon Ray’s return to his native Los Angeles, the two decided to start performing their material live and began looking for like-minded musicians. In 2005 they added cellist Catherine Cavella and drummer Courtney Olsen and began to perform in and around Los Angeles and the Bay Area to enthusiastic audiences. In 2006 Cavella moved away to Philadelphia. Later that same year Olsen left the group.  All of Us/None of Us continues to write, record and perform with a variety of different musicians.

All of Us/None of Us has been compared to Beck, Radiohead, P.J. Harvey and Jane's Addiction to name a few.  While I did find Arcane and Abel to be a bit Beckish, I also found enough originality in it to call it their own.

"A folk song is what's wrong and how to fix it or it could be
who's hungry and where their mouth is or
who's out of work and where the job is or
who's broke and where the money is or
who's carrying a gun and where the peace is.” (Woody Guthrie)

To this end, Arcane and Abel conveys the hopelessness, social injustice and “I am fed up with society” values of  Guthrien folk music with a unique blues/metal twist, while keeping  it relevant to today's world.

My overall rating:  90 out of 100.
Would I buy this EP:  Yes
My favorite track:  #3 Excess
My least favorite and ironically the longest, track:  #4 Knew That  

At $3.96 on i Tunes, this 4 song EP is a true bargain and should find it's way into everyone's collection.

References: All of Us/None of Us MySpace Page

                      Band website

 10/01/2008 09:25:32  ♥ written by vu ()