11 posts tagged “reviews”
LYNHURST
lynhurstmusic.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter.com ♥ myspace.com/theabdomen
I thought that was really funny, because I have actually seen The Abdomen play before, when they had their dad in the band. So, basically, when Mari joined the band, displacing their father, they changed their name to Lynhurst. Although I think their name change is good to reflect a different band and direction, I'm not quite sure why their biography doesn't list the fact that the were The Abdomen (are the embarrassed that they used to be called The Abdomen?).
Regardless, we now have someone in the car to review the album later.
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VENICE IS SINKING veniceissinking.net ♥ myspace The EP includes two cover songs, "Compass" and "Give Up", but despite being a cover lover, I'm not as hip to know that those songs were originally by a band called Okay (which I am assuming they named their song and EP as tribute to the band). One of those cover songs was made available early as a free download via Some Velvet Blog. Here's some touring information:
09/19/09
Kindercore Records & Owl Athens, GA
10/03/09 Lawrence University Appleton, WI 10/29/09 New Brookland Tavern Columbia, SC 10/30/09 Union Hall Brooklyn, New York 11/01/09 Snug Harbor Charlotte, NC Incidentally, I did read that their |
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THE CO-OP co-opsounds.com ♥ myspace I did check the sampler, which went down quite easy and smoothly. My instant favorite is this 30-ish cover song called "Night Time Is The Right Time (To Be With The One You Love)" by Lisa Piccirillo and Patrick Thomas. Thomas does great bluesy vocals, while Piccirillo pour out the soulful portion of the song. Seems Thomas is offering a a free song every month. Piccirillo is doing a few dates in the Northeastern area:
09/16/09 Caffe Lena Saratoga Springs, NY
09/17/09 Perks Coffehouse Norwood, MA 10/09/09 Pioneer Arts Center Of Easthampton, MA 10/10/09 River Arts Morrisville, VT
09/15/09 University of Rutgers - Camden, NJ
09/16/09 University of Delaware Newark, DE 09/18/09 IOTA Club & Cafe Arlington, VA 09/19/09 World Cafe Live (Upstairs) Philadelphia, PA 09/27/09 The Monkey House Winooski, VT 09/29/09 University of Maine-Augusta Augusta, ME 09/30/09 University of Maine - Bangor Bangor, ME |
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DINOSAUR FEATHERS dinosaurfeathers.com ♥ myspace Their free EP Early Morning Risers is available for download on their official website. It's a mixture of experimental warps, pots & pans, and gurgling vocal effects, which I can't say is to my liking - but there are legion of fans out there that loves this sort of sound. Where Feathers is good is when they have some melody harmony - as found on the singing and guitar parts of "Parallel July". I feel that the music sounds like Caribbean or World music, which is interesting for a US-based band... but not too surprising considering that singer Greg spent some time in Africa. Looks like the band will be taking over CMJ this year:
10/08/09
The Studio NY
10/10/09 State Capital Records Release Brooklyn 10/20/09 Cross Pollination CMJ Showcase 10/20/09-10/24/09 CMJ 2009 New York |
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JENNY GILLESPIE jenny-gillespie.com ♥ myspace.com/jennygillespie Like the cover artwork indicate, this is a mellow, easy-to-listen to record. Gillespie's voice is usually the main focus, although the occasional pianos ("Hydra") or violas ("Vanishing Point") does take the spotlight sometimes. I thought "Vanishing Point" is a great introductory song to Gillespie - you can head over to the official website for a free download of the song. If you like this, you should definitely give her debut 2004 EP, Love and Ammunition a try. It's free on archive.org. Light Years can be purchased via MP3 at amazon or iTunes. Also, she'll be playing at Uncommon Ground on Devon on October 8th. |
09/15/2009 17:01:10 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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.
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.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
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 2nd.
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VERISMO
verismetal.com ♥ myspace 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:
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| THE RADIO DEPT. theradiodept.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter
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. |
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BRAIN CHILDREN
myspace.com 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. |
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GALA
galasound.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter 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. |
07/17/2009 00:04:12 ♥ vu ()
♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
So below are a few albums that were released on November 4th that was largely ignored. I finally had the time to put them all in for a spin:
roguemotel.com ♥ myspace.com
Rogue Motel are an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. I've been noticing lately that there seems to be a ton of bands coming from the upper west coast (mostly between the Seattle and Portland), and they all seem to be pretty good.
Anyway, to start off, this is one of my overdue review, but to be fair, there was a lot of confusion about the actual release date. I try and schedule reviews to go up just prior or around the release date, so it's kind of important to me anyway to make it timely. Unfortunately, they moved the release date to election day... see note above.
I think the band might have been named after living in a cheap motel while recording their album, far away from their home, in Kentucky. The result is this moody but intense album called Daylight Breaking.
The title, I think came from their best song (in my opinion) called "Hurry Up": "Early morning but the sun's not up yet, I came to look for something to ease my head". This is a pretty upbeat song with a simple, but memorable and catchy, chord.
I also really dig, "Smoke and Vines", particularly the line:
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but the lyrics has a rebellious feel to it and that the band will continue doing what they're doing.you want to change me, get in line
You can currently get the album digitally via amazon or the itunes (I've been having a lot of crashes relating to itunes, so I hate them).
futurecloudsandradar.com ♥ myspace.com
I wanted to mention these guys for my Christmas 2008 for their song "Christmas Day 1923", but obviously a lot of songs were left out this year. Well, I reckon there's always next year.
To talk about them, you'll have to go back to the late 90s when they were known as a the power pop band called Cotton Mather. They had a string of albums before rising to fame when Noel Gallagher asked the band to tour with Oasis.
Perhaps he was tired of the power pop thing, but singer Robert Harrison went on to form Future Clouds & Radar, a more art rock/orchestral/psychedelia, much in the vein of, say the Beatles' Sgt Pepper.
Listening to their second album, Peoria, released on Election Day, it feels very sixties. Check out their perfectly 60s pop song, "Old Edmund Ruffin". Doesn't it sound like something John Lennon might sing on ?
I generally enjoy all the songs with trumpets ("Eighteen Months", "Mortal 926"), but not so much the crazy synthy chaos sounds (the middle of "The Mortal"). Thankfully it's just one song that I didn't really get along with.
If you've ever liked later-The Flaming Lips or psychedelic Beatles, you really need to give Future Clouds a try. Get your own cloud 9 at the usual locations (amazon, emusic, etc).
myspace.com/bstcollective
Finally we have Music for a Saturday Evening by BSTC, also released on Election Day. We don't normally get soul albums in house, but when we do, they certain stand out among all the indie-rock stuff we get.
Like the 60s-inspired music of Future Clouds and Radar, the BSTC (short for BlackStone Theatre Collective) is drowned in 70s disco, soul and jazz. They seem to be very proud to represent their deep roots in these genre of music.
The band/collective is mostly producer Andy C. and multi-instrumentalist, Tunji, with singer Keanna Johnson. I think Johnson only sings on a few songs, but she seems to be the face of the band.
I personally thought the two stand-out tracks for me are "B.S.T.C." and "Jazz in Outerspace". Both instrumental songs offers some outstanding beats and groove. Since I wanted to represent Johnson's vocals in the song, I thought the excellent hip-pop song "Get It" should be used.
Fans of soul music, Buena Vista Social Club, or Jason Miles, should really take note of BSTC.
Can't get enough of their music? Check out that widget thing, it will play a few other songs from them.
You can get Music for a Saturday Evening from various places, usually amazon or emusic.
Links:
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EPs and Singles are usually fun to review because they're often a short list of songs (usually under five tracks). I have about 16 singles, so in an effort to mention most of them, I present to you another round of EPs, please check out the first Attack of the EPs. Check back for part three in a week.
If you are interested in submitting EPs or full length album for review,
please contact me () and I will be more than happy to send out a standard submission guide.
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ILLIMANJARO
myspace.com/illimanjaromusic
I wanted to mention Illimanjaro today because they are playing tonight at Flemings Pub at the Make Music Event in Queens, New York. It looks like they are also playing two other NY dates: Club Europa (July 9th and July 22th). Their debut EP is called Not Invited and they are offering the entire four track EP available for download on their myspace. There's not a lot of details about this band, apparently they formed in late 2004 and are known for their "hard-htting rap/spoken word" vocals. Which after listening to the first song "Not Invited", it sounds more like Devo-esque. In fact, the only "rap" style song is "No Means No", because "No Win Situation" had more singing, while "Still" is all instrumental. I felt that "No Means No" sounds a little Beastie Boys, but with a very fat bass on this song. Since every song is quite different, I'm assuming the band is either is very diverse or they're still struggling to find their sound, but I'm hoping it's the former and not the latter. Not Invited is available for download now, see them live if you happen to be in New York. |
I AM THE HEAT
iamtheheat.com ♥ myspace.com
Another New York indie band, I Am The Heat have been around since 2005, with already three EPs under their belt (Cars Like Oceans, Selections from the Silver Skies, and Naked), and they have a new one called The Future Doesn't Need Us. I just checked, the new EP won't be available until July 15th, but I wanted to mention them today because they are playing tonight at Make Music in New York. There will be an official record release party on August 2nd at a yet to be determined location. Listening to their album, I get the impression that this production is very garagey and DIY (do it yourself). It's also infectiously fun to listen to them having a good time on such songs as "What Would Lou Reed Do" and "Dream Machine". The EP ends with a seemingly slow song, "Tonight (And I'll Save You)", that is until near the end where it picks up into a frantic frenzy. I like the idea that they don't take themselves too seriously and I also like the idea of having Morrissey on their Top 8 (because they sound nothing like the depressing mopester). You can pick up The Future Doesn't Need Us as well as Naked on High Five Records. |
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JACKSONKNIFE
jacksonknife.com ♥ myspace.com
New York indie band's Jacksonknife's debut EP is called You Don't Know What You're Talking About. They formed in 2006, by songwriter Jeremy Kirkland, and have performed with similar indie rock acts such as The French Kicks, Ra Ra Riot & Encrypt Manuscript. When you think of indie rock, you don't normally hear brass instruments, so that was refreshing to hear it on "Truthfully". It doesn't stop there, other interesting sounds such as violas on "Healthy Diets" and "The Morning" and banjo-sounds on "Catholics" definitely makes the songs better and interesting in my opinion. I have to add that I thought the quiet-sounding folk song "Catholics" didn't quite belong on this EP, it just felt out of place. The happy/get up and move "Truthfully" is good, but I felt "Healthy Diets" would best describe the band: great melody and great lyrics. I half imagine if you like The Decemberists or Modest Mouse, this band might be right up your alley. They are playing a few dates around New York:
07/05/08 Cake Shop New York
You Don't Know What You're Talking About can be purchased on amazon (use Pepsi Points and get it for free!) and iTunes. Keep up with the band at the usual myspace and their tumblr blog. |
GARRY SEGAL
todyeforband.com ♥ myspace.com
The seven-track EP I have from Garry Segal is called Taking Notes, and at the time I got the submission, I don't believe he had a band. As it turns out, his band is called ToDyeFor, which I haven't heard yet, but based on this EP they should sound excellent. This is a great EP if you are into blues, Segal has that seasoned years of drinking voice that fit these kind of songs. You'll believe him when he says "I keep drinkin', hop back on it everytime. No river of religion to wash away my pain, just drags me down the drain." on "I Keep Drinkin'" and "she lost a place in more ways than you think/now she's in this bar, looking for drink from a guy who understand her losses" on "Two Broken People". I also found "Wrong Dogs" a little humerous, although I get the impression that dogs are a metaphor for humans. Although I normally like the storytelling aspect of blues and country music, but to my surprise, the instrumental track, "Everything's Jake", which is mostly driven by a harmonica, is seriously good. I had to play that twice in a roll. He's playing a few dates with his new band, so check them out:
07/17/08 Rodi gastonia
He's playing tonight at the Cypress Cellar in North Carolina, if you are in the area. If not, Taking Notes, can be purchased on CD Baby. |
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MY EDUCATION
myeducationmusic.com ♥ myspace.com
Bad Vibrations, the EP from My Education was released fairly recently, on June 10th. Originally formed in Austin, Texas, in 1999, as a three-piece band (Brian Purington, Eric Gibbons and Sean Seagler), they eventually added keyboardist Kirk Laktas and viola James Alexander and "guitar god" Chris Hackstie to their lineup. Their biography goes on to let us know that these guys have been around, releasing two albums: 5 Popes (Sold out in 2003, reissued in 2004) and Italian (2005). Listening to the seven tracks (eight if you count the hidden non-musical track), I have to admit they create this weird slow cooking atmosphere. None of the songs have singing on it, and their songs often goes over the five minute mark - definitely not pop radio material... but I think their music might be experienced live or on a motion picture soundtrack. I generally liked all the songs on the EP, especially if they have some sort of structure to them like "Mother May" and "Sluts and Maniacs". I also like hearing Alexander's volins on "Arch" and "Aria", both songs have a nice delightful ambiance to them. They are doing quite a few tour dates, so see them live:
06/26/08 Live radio on Kut 90.5 Austin, TX 06/26/08 Bad Vibrations Record Release Party @ Emo’s Lounge Austin, Texas 06/28/08 End of an Ear Austin, Texas 07/04/08 Albuquerque, NM @ Atomic Cantina 07/05/08 Tucson, AZ @ Plush 07/06/08 Phoenix, AZ @ Modified Arts 07/07/08 San Diego, CA @ the Beauty Bar 07/08/08 Los Angeles, CA Sunrise Film Score 07/09/08 San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock 07/10/08 Arcata, CA @ Jambalaya 07/11/08 Portland, OR @ Towne Lounge 07/12/08 Olympia, WA @ The Voyeur 07/13/08 Seattle @ Funhouse 07/14/08 Missoula, MT @ The Palace 07/16/08 Denver, CO @ Old Curtis 07/17/08 Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge 07/18/08 OKC @ the Conservatory 07/19/08 Denton, TX @ Hailey’s Bad Vibrations is out now, you can pick it up from Strange Attractors with other oddities as Harris Newman and Nick Castro. |
ROSIE SWAN
myspace.com ♥ vox.com
She previously released an EP under her full name Rosemary Rebecca Swan called Mid Life (and the Definitive Break Up) and she has a full album called White Girl. I don't believe these two audio tracks ("Treasure" and "Good Again") that were submitted to me are from her album, but it was the only album artwork that was provided. Since both songs are acoustic, I'm forced to think that she sounds like a folk singer/songwriter type. She definitely have a hidden anger buried inside her, at least I get that impression, based on the two songs. Personally, I think the two tracks a little rough and could use some mixing, but you'll have to keep in mind that they were both recorded live. Of the two tracks, I think "Treasure" sounds better because you can clearly hear the acoustic guitar and her energetic vocals. By the way, her impressive biography, which lists her her media work as having appeared on television, films, and radio (notably Top of the Pops and Liberty Radio) and her numerous awards (winner of The National Music Day, Gibraltar International Song Festival Award, Marquee Club, Essex Radio National Rock Song, and London Songwriters Showcase), you would think that with the right marketing and record label that she would be a star, if not now, then soon. See her live on July 5th at the Pride London Open Air Festival, along with such acts as Sandi Thom, Shen, Geek Girl (what a name!), Lilth's Army, and Becca Williams. Swan is schedule to appear on the Women stage at 4:20 pm. Check out more music on her myspace and add her to your neighborhood on vox. |
Links:
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These six reviews are all from Ariel Publicity. We've been working with them for over a year and I generally like the variety of music we get from them - mostly pop and jazz and blues. So just look at some of the selection of different bands represented here:
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Dreaming Isabelle This review is a little behind, but it was quite easy to do because Awake is just a short four-track EP, from Virginia's Dreaming Isabelle. Their biography doesn't list much, which suggests they might be a very new band, but listening to Awake I felt that they played really well together. Take a listen to "Not Missing You" as it starts with a great guitar hook, timed perfectly as the drums kick in, then followed by the singer on queue. The three songs that follows the opening track seems to all start off pretty slow. "That I Am" starts off acoustically, while "Above All" is overall mellow and "Mine" has a great guitar noodle portion. I must admit "Mine" did sound a bit creepy/stalkerish with the lyrics "She will be mine" repeated over and over. [ read more ] |
Josephine
Joséphine grew up in Paris, France, left at the age of 17 to Montreal (the mostly French, half English Canadian city), where she started singing with The People’s Gospel Choir of Montréal (they won some award for their album). She eventually made her way to New York, where she is currently released Unfinished Life in 2007. For the most part, I think the whole album is very pop/acoustic songwriter type of music, mostly centered around her very sweet young voice. I really like her poppy song, "Stronger". Take a listen as she belts out "I need to get together when I'm falling apart/I need to love when it's broken my heart", followed by some great guitar playing by Craig Wilson. Wilson co-wrote all the songs with Joséphine with the exception of "Bit by Bit" (by Joséphine only) and "Right Here" (by Wilson only). [ read more ] |
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Della Valle I got a trackless album from Della Valle, which made it kind of annoying to add in my iTunes. Although I would have to admit that I did end up listening to all the songs to determine all 10 titles... so Mister Jay Della Valle, you've suckered me into listening to your album! All kiddings aside, I actually liked what I heard, so it wasn't such a nightmare. Out of his four releases, the tracks are basically from Stay Gold and The Best Years EP, which Della Valle is calling it his "Greatest Hits", then humorously retracted:
[ read more ] |
Satoru - Balancing In the Twilight The funny story about Satoru's first CD, Ash Returns to Ash, was that it was just a CD-R with a hand-written note saying that he had trouble with the printing company and so he doesn't have the finished product. It didn't matter because I thought the album was really enjoyable that I wrote about it. I am glad to see that he came through on his second Balancing in the Twilight, in March 2008. I believe he already had the album "in the can" as they say last year. Both Ash Returns to Ash and Balancing in the Twilight are in standard digipaks, they are very reasonably priced at $9 on Amazon and $10 on CD Baby. But what I am really impressed with is that all of his music is licensed through Creative Commons, which grant you permission to copy, distribute and transmit the work, as long as you give credit and attribution for noncommercial usage. I think all artists should follow in this footstep. [ read more ] |
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Michael Paige The press material I received for Michael Paige's self-titled debut album, out now on Astrum Records, explicitly stated that under no circumstances should I be allowed to stream one particular song, "Aqui Esperando". So naturally, that is the first song I queued up to listen to. I was pleasantly surprised that "Aqui Esperando" is a Spanish version of "Right Here Waiting", originally by Richard Marx. This kind of legal thing upsets me, because this is actually a very good song, and I'm assuming writing royalties would eventually end up in Marx's pockets - so why bother trying to stop people from hearing this very faithful rendition? I believe there's only one other cover on this album, is "Eres Tú" a second place winner from Eurovision 1973 by a band called Mocedades. [ read more ] |
Edgar Gabriel's StringFusion - Not Radio Material Their album name, Not Radio Material, couldn't be more approriate. Edward Gabriel's StringFusion music is a very interesting (and rare) blend of classical instrumentals, primarily violin string arrangements, blended with mellow light jazz piano and saxophone riffs. A sultry vocal is offered on track three, "Would You Be My Valentine" along with a very smooth keyboard solo. The percussion driven samba of track 4, "Mobile", suggests more Latin swing influences, very contemporary and cool. The saxophone on track 5, "I Knew That" really soars to some impressive heights. Down and dirty blues guitar can be heard on the urban slynish of track 6, "Blue 7", probably my favorite composition on this CD. [ read more ] |
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Links:
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I'm going to use a five stars, or rather hearts, rating. I've created 10 images in my Rating Folder, if anyone else wants to use it for review. Since images tend to align itself defaults to "center", you can actually set the image to align to the bottom. Here's how, example:
<img src="http://a6.vox.com/6a00f48cdd2598000200f48cf11d4e0002-500pi" style="vertical-align: bottom;">
The code above will generate a 2.5 rating:
Okay! So this week's review theme is Girls! Girls! Girls! Here we go:
The Last Town Chorus - Loud and Clear I am kind of excited to see that Megan Hickey, aka The Last Town Chorus, has a new single out called Loud and Clear (released last February). I believe it's just a one-track single that you can download on iTunes for 99 cents. The Last Town Chorus, since the last time I reviewed her Wire Waltz on W♥M, I noted that all her songs are kind of mini-biography, or at it least seems so. This song is a dialogue between listener and song, with her obvious trademark lap steel guitar sliding in and out. [ read more ] |
Madita - Too Edita Malovcic, aka Madita, is an Austrian singer and actress. To be honest, I haven't seen any of her films, they're mostly European features, but they do look interesting. And who knew that she would also have a great voice to go on her second album. I'll have to also admit that the first time I saw her album artwork, I thought of that M.I.A. woman, but although the DIY/weird mix of sounds is more to do with improv jazz as heard on "Fragile", I think in some ways, Madita is more classic and traditional. [ read more ] |
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Anna Ternheim - Halfway To Fivepoints As it, I came across Sweden's Anna Ternheim in association with El Perro Del Mar[W♥M], who apparently they are going on tour together in May (with Lykke Li). And just in time, for America to catch up on Ternheim, Universal Music released a self-titled EP and Halfway To Fivepoints , which collects some of Ternheim's best known songs together. I wish they'd use a different cover artwork for Halfway To Fivepoints as it is exactly the same as her second album, Separation Road. [ read more ] |
Sarah Vonderhaar Sarah Vonderhaar just released Are You Listening Now on April 22nd. According to her notes printed on the CD, she lived with her manager, Bill Covert, for six weeks to record of this debut album. The result? An impressive debut pop record. She first found fame through CW's America's Top Model (Cycle 8), which translate to her massive fan base of mostly young women. As I previously mentioned this being a pop record, most of these songs are radio friendly (which means they are 3-minute songs)... [ read more ] |
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Nicole Atkins - Maybe Tonight I've seen Nicole Atkins in concert before, so I'm glad to see that she's doing some promotional dates in the UK, just in time for her album Neptune City to be released in the UK on June 2nd, 2008. Since I already have the album, being in the US, I can tell you that it'll do well in the UK charts. Prior to the album, her UK single will be Maybe Tonight to be released on May 26th. The one-track promo I receive doesn't have any album artwork, so I'm putting one of favorite photo of the 'magical' Atkins. It's one of those songs that would play very well on the radio and you'll find yourself humming and singing to the catchy chorus of "I know we'll never meet again/Maybe tonight/Just tell me where and when", but failing to know any of the other lyrics. [ read more ] |
Lara Ewen and the Unstrung Orchestra I'll have to admit, I think Lara Ewen is very good looking, based on her photographs on her debut album, Ghosts and Gasoline (2007). I even love her mysterious angel wings on her left arm, which she wears proudly like a badge of honor. By the way, the band's name is actually Lara Ewen and the Unstrung Orchestra. The orchestra part is kind of amusing because I don't really recall any traditional orchestra part at all (although it would be interesting to hear her music set to wind instruments...) Most of the songs are kind of folky and country, centered around Ewen's gorgeous full vocals. Such as the bluesy "Clear", probably taken from her debut EP. Her vocals suggest a sassy young woman in New York City, full of an American dream. [ read more ] |
04/26/2008 18:24:10
vu
my♥posts
weheartmusic.com
This week's review are all based on one or two MP3s that I've either downloaded or were submitted to me for possible inclusion on W♥M. Needless to say, they are reviews based on a few songs, so these are very short articles. I think next week's reviews will all be based on "sexy" cover art.... oooh can't wait!
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Mixel Pixel When I was writing the article to Yip-Yip, I ran into Mixel Pixel by accident. I have to admit, I really enjoyed their songs on myspace. I noticed they have "Sinking Feeling" available for download from their forth-coming album Let's Be Friends in June. The song is a duet between Kaia Wong and Rob Corradetti, with some quirky 8-bit sound and beats to make this song really catch and sweet. Since I haven't heard any of the other songs, I would be really interested in checking out the rest of the new album. Look for Let's Be Friends on June 3rd from Mental Monkey. [ read more ] |
Micah Micah is a modern day folk singer/songwriter from Rochester, New York. Going to school and working on his music craft on the side, he was able to produce a four-track EP last August at GFI Studios in Rochester. Again, I don't need to stress just how important to be searchable and brand recognition, especially because "micah" is a name that a lot of people share. I don't want him to change his name, it's just an observation. Of the three tracks sent to me, I liked "Goodbye", with its acoustic notes to start the song, followed by a sweet and soulful folk vocals. I'm not quite sure if the protagonist in this song is... [ read more ] |
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Of Fate and Chance It looks like New Jersey's Of Fate and Chance are going to do a massive "Extreme" tour this year. Looking at their myspace page they've already released five EPs and a full length, so these guys are constantly writing new material and (probably) evolving their music along the way. Of the two mp3s, I received ("Bravery" and "Post Explosion"), I thought the first one is pretty good at displaying their energy and sound - but I also get the impression that they are very young. This is not meant as a putdown, but I could not picture someone in their late 30s... [ read more ] |
Tafra Niklas Tafra is a Swedish guy living in London, and I suppose people just know him as Tafra. You know, kind of like Steven Patrick. Series Two Records sent over some of Tafra's music, I reckon it's from his album Why Even Bother?, which you can buy by paypaling $13 to Seriestworecords(at)gmail.com. I could not for the life of me open up their biography which was saved in docx (why doesn't Word 2007 documents work with Word 2003? For god's sake, text is text is text, right?) So I really couldn't tell you much about Tafra, other than that he played on the third Suburban Kids WIth Biblical Names album, which you may remember Randy writing an article on them. [ read more ] |
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Kennedy Kennedy are a southern rock band based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Since Nashville is the home of all-things-Country / Western, you would expect to hear that influence in their music - but no! They're pretty much sound very alternative southern-sounding rock.... at least based on the two songs that were submitted to me. According to their biography, the band have been around since 2004, honing their song playing skills. I believe their album or EP will be called Slanky.SEXY.Rock, which pretty much described the songs I've heard. Both "Cocaine" and "Lovechild" are available to download on their myspace. Check out the bassline in "Cocaine". It's really good, you can hear it very clearly in the song's... [ read more ] |
Pic Vicious I just reviewed The Living Legends and I guess I'm already in the mood for underground hip-hop. Already an established rapper frontsman for Illadapted, Pic, aka Pic Vicious have decided to concentrate more on his solo material. It would seem that he also has a sidekick woman in his group, which I believe her name is Letta Love. His latest album will be called Welcome to the Clown Show, which as of this writing, it doesn't look like they've put together the cover artwork. "Systematik II" features Love completing lyrics to Vicious to some computer noises and beeps. If they both perform with clown makeup, it should be a very interesting and fun show. Unfortunately, I didn't notice any live tour dates on their myspace. [ read more ] |
04/09/2008 08:05:46 vu my♥posts www.weheartmusic.com
This week's review theme are debut albums! Be sure to click "read more" to check out more of the band, including additional videos, pictures, and tour information.
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Walter Meego Justin Sconza and Colin Yarck together are Walter Meego, a band based out of Chicago, Illinois. With already FOUR EPs (Walter Meego, Hollywood, Romantic, and Usually), their debut album, Voyager is set for release on May 27, 2008. I got an advance copy a few months ago, so please note that the final mix may in fact be different than the ones I have. Please also note that I did not receive an approved album artwork, so the mock-up artwork I've included here is not the final album artwork. I'm glad to see that Meego are not just about dance beats, but sings on many of their songs. The lyrics aren't "dum dum" either, they actually fit and sounds really great in accordance to the music. [ read more ] |
Josh Fix Free at Last is debut album by Josh Fix, a musician from San Francisco, California. I wanted to mention his current location, because apparently Fix was born in South Africa (!). According to his biography, he was first noticed by the SF Chronicle (front cover story) in 2005, when he was asked to open up for the legendary The Who. Although Fix's sound isn't so much rock, I'm almost certain his piano-driven songs would be well-received by The Who's audience. The track that really stood out will probably be "Rock And Roll Slut" with its very personal lyrics: [ read more ] |
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The Details I'm actually familiar with The Details before through some downloads of a 2007's Parliament of Trees sampler on Virb. The label's that's putting this out is based out of Winnipeg, Canada, and they have already released The Paperbacks's An Illusion Against Death and The Details' Draw a Distance. Draw a Border. Draw a Distance comes with a nice 16 lyric booklet inside a digipak packaging and I really generally like the minimalistic design and artwork by Lisa Friesen. There's a few good tracks off the new album, ranging from all out alternative rock to sensitive rock. [ read more ] |
Running Still Running Still are from Brooklyn, New York, and they have a self-titled debut album that was released sometime earlier this year. Their myspace lists that they're influenced by Pink Floyd, Coldplay, Radiohead, etc., and listening to their album, I can hear some of their influences in their song. Their songs seems to be about life and personal experiences, such as in "Fly" with the line "life is just like playing cards/sometime you lose". In "Ordinary", singer Asi Meskin, shows his doubt, stating what sounds like "I don't belong with, I'm ordinary." [ read more ] |
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Pleasureboaters From what I've read about Pleasureboaters, is that it seems that they've been together since 2005 and have steadily built up their fans through the Seattle, Washington, area. They finally have released a debut album called ¡Gross! on February 12, 2008. Not really sure how I would describe their music, it sounds to me that they're almost noise artists doing thrash metal... which needs to experience live to fully appreciate what they're trying to do. I may have to include a live video of them for example. [ read more ] |
Josiah Wordsworth I wanted to mention Josiah Wordsworth's debut album, Wordsworth!, was released March 18th. I found out that his name is actually Jordan Slominski and he's based in St Paul, Minnesota. I'll have to point out that I don't actually have his album or debut EP called Blue State, which was released in 2007, but based on the few songs I listened to, it sounds like a lot of jazz piano with a rock n roll sensibility. The two songs I've heard on Wordsworth! are instrumentals, so I am assuming the rest of the album have no lyrics. It's still enjoyable. [ read more ] |
03/23/2008 14:35:16 vu my♥posts www.weheartmusic.com
These reviews are grouped together by the fact that they are playing some concerts - so to see their tour dates, please click on "read more". Most of these guys are playing at SXSW, which is happening right about now.
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Hilary McRae I've previously mentioned Hear Music, the Starbucks label, before. The label seems to be signing the more singer/songwriter type music, and obviously it's prestigious to be associated with Sir Paul McCartney and, er, corporate coffee. It must be an honor for Hilary McRae's debut album Through These Walls to be released the Hear Music label, in association with Stone Road Records. According to her biography she's wanted to be a performing singer since the age of fifteen. She auditioned (and awarded) for a scholarship for the Berklee College of Music and ended up studying music in Boston. [ read more ] |
The Diggs Today (March 11th) sees the release of Ctrl-Alt-Del, the sophomore album from The Diggs. With that title being so closely associated with computers and technology, you'd think that this was Kevin Rose's band... but no, The Diggs are a rock band from Brooklyn, New York. Timothy Lannen (singer/guitars) and Robert Haussmann (bass) met as roommates near Long Island. They were both in a prior band together and decided to start The Diggs when that band broke up. [ read more ] |
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Strix Vega Strix Vega is a rock band from California. Their name is a strange one, "Strix" is an old Roman legendary blood-sucking owl creature, while "Vega" is the name of a bright star. Their debut album is called Drunken Sky (2006) and reading their latest news, they're also putting together an EP and a sophomore album, to be released around the same time. They're playing a few dates, including some festivals, such as the Red Gorilla Music Festival... which should draw in a pretty large crowd. And as the title of their album suggests: you're meant to enjoy this album some cold beer and laying on the grass, staring at the sky. [ read more ] |
The OaKs - Songs for Waiting I've previously mentioned about The OaKs before, about singer, Ryan Costello's humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan. On his first album, it seems that all the songs were inspired from the time he's spent in Afghanistan (and even contain some of the native's random dialogue). He's still trying to save the world with his second album, Songs for Waiting, which was released last Tuesday, March 4th. There's an airplane engine on the first track, "The Two Calls (Of Dietrich Bonhoeffer)". The airplane does have a linger of 9/11, at least to me, because Costello left for Afghanistan as a result from that incident. [ read more ] |
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Motion City Soundtrack I've been really happy that Motion City Soundtrack are a famous band from Minneapolis, Minnesota (where I live!). I would have to describe as a power pop band, and in some ways sounds sort of like a very pop Green Day. Their latest album, Even If It Kills Me is their most successful to date, charting #16 on the US Billboard charts. They are currently on tour to support their album throughout North America. Judging from some of the sold-out tour dates, it's going to be a pretty lucrative tour. [ read more ] |
Kate Schutt What makes Kate Schutt's No Love Lost album very interactive is that she's on the Artist Share network. You get a serial number with the purchase of the CD, which you'll need to enter into the artist share website. It then offers additional contents (demos, interviews, audio blog, etc) from the artist themselves - bridging that gap between artists and fans. What a great idea this is! I am absolutely thrilled to hear Schutt's rendition of "The Glamorous Life"... [ read more ] |
03/14/2008 11:32:34
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The theme for these reviews are Electro and Dance. I'm probably not going to do a theme for the next review block as I have a mish-mash of CDs in house. Maybe someone can send me a suggestion.
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Austin Leeds
Austin Leeds is a DJ/producer from Miami, Florida, specializing in dance/house music with an amazing singles and remixes output, according to discogs.com. It looks like he's also booked on quite a few live dates, DJing various parties - and also playing with labelmate Starkillers. Speaking of label, Made Records have decided to compiled some of Leed's best songs into their "Dirty Sounds" collection called, what else?, Dirty Sound II/Love Machine. The CD's released today (March 4th). [ read more ] |
Konie The Club is Open is the latest release from Konie, an electronic/dance Swedish band (?), that seems to be under the direction of this Konie fellow. The album starts off with a hilarious "The Club Is Open", which you hear an old man, seriously telling us that the Club is open... only to correct himself at the end:
It really sets up the album to not take this album too seriously, that it's okay to have a little fun with it. [ read more ] |
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Bayard Russell Bayard Russell is a one-man singer/songerwriter. He also dabs a little in synth and keyboard, which appears in many of his songs on his debut album, Selftitled (2008). I found out that he's actually been in many bands (Karess, Clean Slate, Funkelstiltskin, The Very Nerve, and Matt Jones Band), but currently the singer and bassist for Negative Ken. Judging from their myspace, their sound is more plugged-in & rock than the decisively lo-fi Russell. The press material said that the album is not released until March, but looking around online, it looks like it's available now. [ read more ] |
Yip-Yip Yip-Yip is Brian Esser and Jason Temple, based out of Orlando, Florida. Two Kings of the Same Kingdom is their sixth album, released 2/4/2008. From the press material, it lists that this is the first time that the duo experimented with an organic saxaphone and horns and video (the album comes with a DVD). Before you get too excited about the DVD, I will have to admit it was hard for me to watch them all. They're too similar to each other and all the visuals are too ... they're extremely bright and distorted. Since it's harder to describe it, experience the video for yourself with "Jazz Rat" which is one of the songs I've enjoyed. [ read more ] |
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Icesixxx Icesixxx is an electronica artist, based out of Belgium. I will have to confess, I did not expect much from the album he sent me called MeKaNiKaLZ, but when I listened to it (all of last week) I have to say: this guy is really good. You can check out (and download) some of his song off myspace. He even offers MeKaNiKaLZ (his debut album) via a torrent. I asked him to tell a little about him and how he got into music: [ read more ] |
Kristofski Kabuki Kristofski Kabuki is an Electropop musician from Cardiff, Wales. I have his demo CD, which I'm calling it This Demo Belongs to WeHeartMusic as that last bit was written in by hand. Possibly by Kristofski, himself, or at least his secretary. There are only four tracks, and the last song is listed as "Keeponmovin'" as a cover of 5ive. Since I've not brushed up on my boy-band, I had to look up the song... which you can hear "Keep on Movin'" on their myspace. [ read more ] |
03/04/2008 18:04:52
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