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Marni Wandner from Sneak Attack Media deserves a lot of praise for her perseverance. Not only does she send out regular emails, of which I am a recipient, but she also mails me the occasional physical copy of an album regardless of whether or not I reviewed the previous album {or dozen}. And now I’ve just realized I really have no idea as to the gender associated with the name Marni… so here’s to you, androgynous Marni, thanks for the hard work.
On this occasion I had the privilege of opening a package containing the latest effort by Langhorne Slim. He’s a singer/songwriter bloke who, on this album Langhorne Slim & The War Birds (iTunes), could easily be cataloged alongside early Dylan, or present day contemporaries such as Josh Ritter, Paolo Nutini, and Zach Williams. It’s a mournful disc filled with love songs; some happy and some more downtrodden. Taken altogether this is a very cohesive effort that moves with an assured pace from the brief and quick opener, Spinning Compass, to the melancholy closing track, Hummingbird.
mp3 : Langhorne Slim – Spinning Compass {removed by request}
mp3 : Langhorne Slim – Hummingbird {removed by request}
mp3 : Langhorne Slim – Rebel Side of Heaven {added by request}
This has easily been one of my favorite albums thus far in 2008. I know it’s rather ridiculous to say that seeing as how there’s no way to know, come end of the year, what albums will have staying power month after month. But I’d be willing to bet that come the end of the year I’ll still be listening to this disc as much as Cloud Cult or MGMT. {I’d also like to point out that Langhorne played a show just last night with Josh Ritter. I think pairing him with Zach Williams would be equally beneficial}.
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Kosovo is a trio of young lads out of Austin, Texas and they create a ethereal, minimalistic, electronic sound that has more layers than your favorite Jello salad. Their debut, Pascal EP, has yet to receive a proper release date although their myspace page is still claiming it will be released sometime in 2007 with a follow up LP to come in 2008. {I’m not sure if you’ve caught that their myspace is apparently living in the past, but it is}. Although I’m not entirely sure when their EP will see the light of day, whether or not they’ll tour in support of it, or if they’ll get paid enough to make a few more discs, one thing I can say for certain is that they make solid electronica music. A sort of Frou Frou meets The Knife sort of easy listening, distortion and effect filled musical appetizer.
mp3 : Kosovo – A Terraformed Existence
mp3 : Kosovo – Milk of Magnesia
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Pinback has been a band that I’ve enjoyed for a number of years now. They create an extremely mellow vibe with their indie pop rock and yet they present it all with a rather rapid fire hyper style of music. Think Death Cab for Cutie meets Jimmy Eat World meets the better half of Nada Surf. The three songs I’m posting today come from various albums in the Pinback library and can be found on Pinback (iTunes), Some Voices (iTunes), and their latest effort Autumn of the Seraphs (iTunes).
mp3 : Pinback – Lyon
mp3 : Pinback – Manchuria
mp3 : Pinback – From Nothing to Nowhere
Enjoy your Monday. Enjoy the music.
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I have been slacking lately. I’ve been relying too much on word of mouth and a massive stack of albums {that mostly are yet to be heard by me} sitting in my room to do all this blogging work for me. In the fray, and slack, I’ve failed to breeze through my favorite label’s web sites perusing their new fare. And at the top of my favorite foreign labels list sits the unassuming label Labrador. And from this brilliant little Swedish label has come some of the best indie pop ever put out.
The Sound of Arrows is a little duo that creates music which is a bit electro pop, a bit indie darling, and bit of a throwback to the better days. They list Harry Nilsson and the Jackson 5 alongside Jens Lekman and Sambassadeur in their list of influences and I think that gives a fairly accurate picture as to what The Sound of Arrows sounds like. The following track is from their debut EP, Danger!, which will be available May 7th and will be followed by an autumn release of their first proper LP.
mp3 : The Sound of Arrows – Danger!
For some reason I can’t help but think of Mommas and The Poppas when I hear this track. In a good way. And at the same time I could easily see them opening for MGMT.
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This is what is sounds like when a fairly straightforward indie band {whom I’ve talked about here} takes a run at remixing the remixed track of the year. That of course being Radiohead’s track, Nude. Now I’m not sure if you remix crazy meth addicts out there fully appreciate these remixes you’ve been bobbing your heads to over the last month or so. For the uneducated and uninformed, the vast majority of these remixes are an almost complete departure from the original track put down by Thom Yorke and company. And I do mean complete departure as in “what!?!? Pluto really isn’t a planet…” type of departure.
Not looking to disappoint, Sir Salvatore takes the once somber tune and smacks it solidly into indie left field. It’s quirky, it’s filled with a bouncing drum rhythm, and they’ve run Thom’s vocals through a weird, hyper-vibrato type of a effect which gives this remix its own special sound. Enjoy. And special thanks for the gents of Sir Salvatore for sending this track to me.
mp3 : Radiohead – Nude (Sir Salvatore Remix)
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I’ve been a fan of Half-handed Cloud for a long time now. I guess I’ve been a fan ever since he signed up with Asthmatic Kitty {aka Sufjan Steven’s brainchild/label}. Now this little love affair of mine hasn’t ever matured into a full blown fling, but that might be because most of John Ringhofer’s music seems to be carved up into idiosyncratic, almost childish, mashed up melodies. They flit from idea to idea as quickly as a group of five year olds change the rules of tag on the playground and that’s inherently what’s to love about his music. There is something precocious and innocent about these ultimately playful melodies and arrangements. I just don’t know how long I could listen to only Half-handed Cloud before I found myself a bit wanting for more adult conversation.
mp3 : Half-handed Cloud – Pre-Teen Apocalyptic Film Acting (Medley)
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I have no idea how I came into possession of these tracks. I don’t know where they came from in any way shape or form. What I do know is that they hail from Sunny Day Sets Fire’s latest effort, a remix amalgamation titled Stranger Remix EP (iTunes), and they provide the perfect antidote for whatever your life has thrown at you this Monday. Whether it’s a simple case of “why can’t it be Friday already” or “wow, I’m fat today” this EP is sure to make you happy enough to get through another week.
mp3 : Sunny Day Sets Fire – Brainless (Baron Von Luxxury Remix)
mp3 : Sunny Day Sets Fire – Wilderness (CSS Remix)
mp3 : Sunny Day Sets Fire – Stranger
The remainder of the EP, which is a pretty convincing full length eight tracks, is more in the same vein of Sunny Day Sets Fire pop tracks remixed up into their more danceable counterparts. It reminds me a lot of the classic Kings of Convenience remixes.
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Phantom Planet has come a long way since being known largely as the band Jason Schwartzman left so he could focusing on acting and/or the band with that one song for that one show about The O.C. Regardless of first impressions or first exposures, these four gentlemen have come a long way since those days.
Their original release was rather ho-hum southern California version of indie pop. Filled with acoustic guitars and wistful melodies Is Missing (iTunes) was a decent effort, but it wasn’t until their breakthrough sophomore effort, The Guest (iTunes) {which featured the smash hit California}, that they achieved the privilege of having a nationwide fanbase. Unfortunately for many of those fans Phantom Planet’s third album, their first to simply be called Phantom Planet (iTunes), was quite the drastic departure from their trademark breezy surfer style. Although it was critically heralded, and I might add I love it to this day, it went a long way toward alienating many of their fans and served to reinforce the image that they were just those guys with that one song on that one show about The O.C.
Phantom Planet released their fourth album, Raise The Dead (iTunes), this past Tuesday and I believe it is their most accomplished album to date. Proving once and for all that there really is a middle ground between the two extremes of their sound {as demonstrated on their previous two efforts} Raise The Dead is at times a rocker, and at times a slow acoustic romp around beach fires, sure to be enjoyed whether you’re chilling in the Midwest or enjoying an endless summer. From the opening title track to the excellent closing track Raise The Dead reads like a talent rap sheet for what these four West Coast buddies are ultimately capable. In brief, this is what indie Cali-pop is all about.
mp3 : Phantom Planet – Raise The Dead
mp3 : Phantom Planet – Do The Panic
For those of you interested in hearing more I’ll be putting another track of their’s up in this month’s BOTM post in a couple of weeks. It’ll be worth hearing more, trust me, the entire album is solid.
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According to their myspace page, which also doubles as their actual website {really though, how hard is it to program a simple site}, The Federalists think of themselves as an indie, country, rock amalgamation. I’m fine with those credentials as long as I can interpret the “country” tag as really meaning southern rock, and I also get to add to the mix pure Cali-pop. And when I say Cali-pop I’m of course referencing the sounds of bands like Phantom Planet on their album The Guest and Rooney on their album debut album Rooney. It’s a breezy, jangly, ultimately satisfying trip through apocalyptic futures and odes to girls alike.
The following tracks hail from The Federalists first proper full length (amazon) (iTunes) and I included them both because they’re very different from each other. To be honest, the first time through the album Friendly Fire was my favorite song. It reminds me of Death Cab circa Transatlanicism and all the wonderful slightly depressing emotions the future may or may not hold. On the other hand it took a fair number of trips through the disc to really appreciate City Girl. It starts awkwardly, at best, and I couldn’t get into it until I came to appreciate the evolution the song undertakes throughout the four minutes. It’s as if the music serves as a aural depiction of country versus city and the final resolution to separate with the line “and as you find your way back home I found sanity / knowing I could live without you next to me.”
mp3 : The Federalists – Friendly Fire
mp3 : The Federalists – City Girl
This is yet another album that has been sitting on my desktop, collecting e-dust, waiting to be given an adequate listen. Luckily for both of us I finally got around to attempting to clear out a massive folder I have marked “blog tracks.” There’s a daunting number of albums still waiting for the right mood to strike me, but fear not, I will press on.
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I apologize for this post. I’ve been sitting on this information for far too long and I probably should have told all of you about this London four piece ages ago. Temposhark play a style of music that is most obviously influenced by Imogen Heap and Frou Frou, but some tracks also seem to contain traces of Fall Out Boy and !!!.
All three of these tracks come from their latest effort which they call The Invisible Line (iTunes). They hail as the first, second, and fifth track on the album and I’m posting them because I feel they do a great job of showcasing the breadth of Temposhark’s talent. And I must add that these boys from London possess a lot of it. The entire album is filled with clever hooks, entirely danceable beats, and enough tempo sharking to satisfy the club or your front sitting nook.
mp3 : Temposhark – Don’t Mess With Me
mp3 : Temposhark – Joy
mp3 : Temposhark – Not That Big (feat Imogen Heap)
I think it’s fair to say there are allusions to Fall Out Boy, !!!, and obviously Imogen Heap in these tracks. But feel free to argue in the comments if you so wish. I enjoy a good discussion. Also, and I feel I must add this, I think certain tracks on this album are absolutely begging to be remixed into oblivion. Any takers?
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