4 posts tagged “loquat”
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Loquat was the first of three bands for this Greycoats' CD release party. What's interesting about the Greycoats' set is that they had movies projected as they play. Although it's interesting, I found myself distracted by the moving picture. Each movie is timed exactly to the music, most of it went pretty well, except for the 50s "Day the Earth Stood Still" which ended early because they had cello sound problems. It looks like, according to their official and myspace, that they are going to be tour mates with Loquat... And of course, Loquat played an hour earlier. They started playing shortly after 7:30pm, which is kind of early, so I reckon a lot of latecomers missed them... However, it did look like there were a lot of Loquat fans (and families) in the audience. The main act was Chris Koza (chriskoza.com/myspace), who I was told that I've seen him before, opening up for Jeff Hanson. He had a keyboardist, violinist and the standard guitarist/bass/drums, and I seriously don't remember that many band members at the Hanson show. Koza was easy-going, relaxed even, and the best part was they had carved this Halloween pumpkins the night before and had put them on stage. He named one of them "Luis" or "T___" I couldn't make out the second name over people's laughter at the ridiculous name. So check out Loquat and Greycoats on tour. PS, apology for the white text for RSS readers! |
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10/16/08 Live TV on KARE 11, Minneapolis, MN
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10/16/08 The Cedar, Minneapolis, MN 10/17/08 The Hideout, Chicago, IL 10/18/08 Illini Union Courtyard Cafe, Champaign, IL 10/20/08 Gypsy Hut, Cincinnati, OH 10/21/08 Annabell's, Akron, OH 10/22/08 Red and the Black, Washington DC 10/23/08 The Fire, Philly, PA 10/24/08 Ace of Clubs (CMJ), NY 11/04/08 Bottom of the Hill, SF, CA |
Singer Kylee confessed that she was quite hungover when they recorded the song:
| Kylee Swenson wrote: Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 1:41 PM |
If you only knew how hungover I was when I sang that Smiths cover. Oh man, it hurt so bad. Thanks for the kind words, We Heart Music. See you guys October 16 when we play in Minneapolis, finally....
I don't know what the big deal is, but they really, really, want to play in Minneapolis! The weather here is getting a little chilly, I recommend a heavy sweater when going out at night.
The cool thing is that they will be appearing on KARE 11, our local station here. I'll have to find the listing hopefully try and tape it.
Anyroad, the album is still somewhat dreampop, with electronica. Swenson's vocals is still sugar sweet here. It's all good though, if you've ever liked female-fronted bands, Loquat should be right up your alley.
Some of the strong tracks includes the first song, "Harder Hit". I'm glad to see that the band also love this song as it is also their promotional music video. The video is based, no, more like inspired, by the French film "Le Ballon Rouge" (The Red Balloon).
Other songs I thought was very strong: "Sit Sideways", which has a funky feel to it at the beginning, but the electronic and piano keys brings it back to a nice rhythmic beat. I mildly smiled at the line "I'm rubber and you are the glue" on "Clearly Now".
Also, check out "These Kinds Of Friends" too. Listen to the first few bars of the song - does it remind you of Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang"? Maybe it's just me.
Secrets of the Sea is out now on Talking House Records, where you can purchase the album directly for an even-steven $10. Look for them on the rest of the tour through the midwest and eventually at the monster that is CMJ (they take the stage at 11pm).
Enjoy their video:
Birds, what is up with that? It seems lately that we're getting album artwork that features birds on the cover artwork (especially owls). Can someone explain this to me? Seriously.
Below are a ton of bird-album artwork.
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AVIARY GHOST
aviaryghost.com ♥ myspace.com
Fom Illinois is Aviary Ghost, a band that seems to be headed by Charlie Crimando and Stephen Kemsley. Reading their biography, it would seem that they spent a lot of time recording music in a one-room apartment in Michigan. One of my favorite song on their album, Memory Is A Hallway (featuring cut-out birds over a scenic location), is the most fast-moving song is "Windowlight", which seems to be about the light through the window - sung in an old-fashion cabaret-style song, which I will say works very well for the song. I thought "Somewhere Else" was also pretty good. The song is described as "catchy Swedish pop", which I'll have to agree with. The lyrics are pretty detailed too, I especially liked the chorus: "we're laughing, 'cause laughing is much better than a scream". You can get their album, Memory Is A Hallway (recently released July 15th), on iTunes or CD Baby.
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MORE TEETH
more-teeth.com ♥ myspace.com
I think someone in the W♥M group have this album, One Bird a Day, for review, so I won't go into too much details about it. Surfice to say that it's a compilation of three or four bands in the electro-genre. Based on what I've heard, I really dig Sparkydog (sounds like new wave) and More Teeth (which sounds like very experimental noise art). I've decided to go with More Teeth because of their snazzy drums and electroclashesque vocals of Mindy Abovitz. JESSICA LEA MAYFIELDjessicaleamayfield.com ♥ myspace.com
We're not really promoting Jessica Lea Mayfield (I don't think her PR company knows my address, which I will confess is fine as I have too much music to handle), but I couldn't resist the owl-art on her soon-to-be release album With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt out on September 16th on Polymer Sounds on her press release. What's there to say based on this one song, "Kiss Me Again"? She has a very nice voice, and sounds like Thao Nguyen. |
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PUTOIS
citizensofcontraryknowledge.com ♥ myspace.com
Yet another Chicago, Illinois band - man, they really love their animals! I believe "putois" is actually a ferret or something. Anyway, on their second album, Problem Is Not a Problem Anymore, we see a crane with some ducks (while their debut album, The Thinking Fireplace features a cartoon bird dressed as a gentleman). It would seem that these introspective songs are written and sung by its creator, one Bob Mason since 1995. Most of this album is acoustic, mostly folky and the song "No More Dancing" would best represent what currently Putois sounds like. There are a few highlights on the record. For instance, I liked what he was trying to do with "Cta". This had a weird bass and quirky noises and beeps. Even his singing style is different here (although I think this might be a guest-vocalist? It just sounds very different). The other song that isn't so acoustic is "The Lonely Traveler" with its arrangement of piano and harmonica. If you like bands like Minnesota's Low, Putois might be right up your alley. Problem Is Not a Problem Anymore is out now, you can get it from CD Baby. |
PLUSHGUN
plushgun.com ♥ myspace.com
I love Tommy Boy Records. One of my first CD was a Tommy Boy and I just remember how big they were in the early 90s, especially with the b-boys and girls. Well, I guess the record label is still around and I have one of their latest release by one-man-band, Plushgun. Daniel Ingala's vocals sounds like he has a British accent, reminiscent of early 80s new wave pop bands. His latest self-titled EP has a cute drawing of a bird with an old SNES controller in a cassette-tape-style mess in the sky. All the songs were available for download on August 19th (iTunes). The four songs on the EP is a very easy listen. I love all the songs actually, with the exception of the semi-sappy "14 Candles". Although it was nice to hear a woman singing backup on this song, but I didn't think this song belong on the EP. Maybe I just don't like love songs. His other songs are more upbeat and sounds more like obsessive/stalker feel to them. There are some great lyrics on "Just Impolite" ("I walk the line, like Johnny Cash" and "I'm not upset, just impolite"). A physical copy of Plushgun will be available on September 9th via Amazon and other retailers for $9.99, but if you can't wait the download is sold now for 60% cheaper ($3.98) |
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BRICE WOODALL AND THE POSITRONS
bricewoodall.com ♥ myspace.com
Check out Brice Woodall and the Positrons with their album, Sine Wave Sea. The artwork on the cover is a flying bird block with a hole in its stomach. I know it's a bird because if you visit the artist's website (trevorbittinger.com), his all-flash website features these same block birds flying around. Brice Woodall is currently based out of Chicago, Illinois, according to his myspace. Woodall's vocals has a woman quality to them, but not in a falsetto way (and not as a put down). His voice is very interesting, it definitely pulls you in. I think my favorite songs off this album is easily "This, There, Where", a pop song with some interesting mix. I also dug the experiment on "Winter/Break/Down/Away". Well, it looks like they are currently on tour, be sure to check them out.
09/12/08 Double Door- Kittypalooza Chicago, IL 09/24/08 Rapture Charlottesville, Virginia 09/25/08 Lucky Buddha Richmond, Virginia 09/26/08 Trash Bar Brooklyn, New York 09/27/08 Murky (upstairs) Arlington/DC area, VA 11/08/08 Art*Bar Riverwest Milwaukee, Wisconsin 11/19/08 Madison, Wisconsin 11/20/08 Chicago, Illinois 11/21/08 Detroit, Michigan 11/22/08 Indianapolis, Indiana You can pick up Sine Wave Sea from InSound. |
CITIZENS OF CONTRARY KNOWLEDGE
citizensofcontraryknowledge.com ♥ myspace.com
Featuring a drawing of a chicken on the cover of Citizens of Contrary Knowledge's You're What You Wish You Are. Upon closer inspection, is that a cock? They do sound a bit southern cock rock... Reading their biography, it would seem most of the band members are residing in Harlem, New York. Their singer/frontsman, Chris Barczynski, sounds like he doesn't take his biography too seriously (he writes that he was in the Witness Protection Program, etc). This is also a problem when he lists that he's appeared on stage with Green Day, Sugar Ray and Hootie - should you believe him? I'm leaning to 'no'. I was drawn to the faster/rock song and my favorite is "Complicated" and "Lonely Hearts Society", which is driven by a muscular guitar playing (with some neat tricks). Despite as I have said about their music being rock, they do lean to the sensitive/slow side with "House of Cards", "Unless You Do", "Real Love", and "Wrong Side of the World". I think listening to them that they might fare better as a live act, perhaps jamming their songs at a longer length at a dive bar. You're What You Wish You Are is out now, available on CD Baby. They just finished playing Arlene's Grocery, which is apparently a bar? |
Here is the bonus segment, some bird-bands we've previously covered: Tinkture, Birdflu, Story of the Year, The Alarmists, The Notwist, Loquat, El Perro Del Mar, Ben Sollee, Peter Bradley Adams (Owl), Death Valley Sleepers, Death Cab For Cutie, Patrick Wolf, Deadbird, Jeff Hanson (Owl), They Might be Giants (Owl), Eels, Biography Of Ferns, Computer Vs. Banjo (Owl), Ash, Susan Krebs
Bands we haven't covered, but I'm sure we'll get around to them. These features birds on the cover: The Great Northwest (Experimental Folk), Nebraska (Folk), Foals (British Rock), The Black Keys (Southern Rock), KYTE (Ambient Pop), and the talented Graeme K (Experimental/Old-time/Dance). Honorable worth mention is Abigail Washburn with her tiny birds on the cover.
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Here's a quicky, just because there are some news & notes. Since, you may have noticed, I like doing these theme posts, this theme are one-song submissions.
They are very easy to write about (hey, it's just three minutes of your life!) but because they're based on one song, there's really not much I can write about.
First up, if you have a need to get all the latest music news, check out our announcement page. It's updated nearly every few hours, so news junkies will love this.
Some interesting news to note: watch DIG for free, Skybombers Announces new US Tour Dates, download Jeff Hanson music, and if you're in New York - you guys are so lucky. You could be attending Spiegelworld Festival!
That's just a few items from the nearly 100 post I've made since its birth a few days ago!
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LOQUAT
loquatmusic.com ♥ myspace.com
I actually really love San Francisco's Loquat, so imagine my surprise to find that I have an advance copy of their brand new album, Secrets of the Sea - which is not out until the third quarter of this year. I'm probably not even supposed to talk about it until October, but what I can tell you is that it's very, very good. Just keep your eyes here, or site.w♥m for the latest news. Since I can't unveil any music from the new album, I will tell you that I first discovered her a few years ago when Loquat covered The Smiths' classic "There is a Light That Never Goes Out". Since I was already a huge Morrissey/Smiths fan, it's easy to fall in love with her version... which is a safe and very faithful cover. You can download the song from their flash official website.
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THERESA ANDERSSON
theresaandersson.com ♥ myspace.com
Since I am in love with all-things Swedish, here's a handsome girl called Theresa Andersson. Looking over her press release about her tour dates and the dazzling 700k youtube views. The weird thing is that the press release doesn't indicate any link to the actual video, but if you were curious, it is her playing in her kitchen (in New Orleans?). I was given one of her song, "Birds Fly Away", from her upcoming album Hummingbird, Go! (is that a nod to Thunderbirds Are Go!?) on September 2nd, and I thought it was very 60s pop girl-sounding, but with weird percussion instruments. I was happy to see that Mr Tobias Fröberg is producing her album.
Trust me, this is a girl worth keeping an eye on. |
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THE DARES
thedares.com ♥ myspace.com
Speaking of keeping an eye... Here's The Dares, an up-and-coming power pop trio from California, by the way of Vermont. Maybe I'm just old, but usually this kind of high-energy, on the verge of punk, type of music really isn't my cup of tea. However, I would have to admit this "Love Me When I Leave" is pretty catchy. It's very short, I had to re-play it a few more time to hear how well produced it is. They're currently signed to Zomba Recordings, which is a division of Sony/BMG, so expect a push from them on popular radio this Summer. Even if they don't do much this year, youth is on their side, I'm sure you'll hear from them next year. |
THE SPACE BETWEEN THINGS
myspace.com/thespacebetweenthings
After three version of his "Towels" song, Chris Hobson, aka The Space Between Things finally settled for his perfect version of "Towels". The irony would be if I f-ed up and uploaded the wrong version :/ I'm not given a whole lot to work with here, just one song and no biography. Instead, he directs me to an interview he did at Daydream Generation, which showcase the awesomely snowy Toronto (which means, shock, he's Canadian). Daydream must really like him, as he's also on their Daydream Generation 5 free compilation (over 300mb of music!) So happy downloading and let me know what you think of his song? |
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