Archive for the 'indie' Category

Nathan Moomaw

Published by
billy
at June 27, 2008 in nathan moomaw, album, indie, music and mp3. 0 Comments

It’s hard to choose only two songs to showcase Nathan Moomaw’s latest album, 26 (itunes), due to the eclectic folk nature of the album.  Each song was written and recorded during one month of his twenty sixth year on the planet and each track has its own unique flavor and style.  Put together they form a solid new folk album with some nods to diverse acts like Elliot Smith, Joseph Arthur, and The Flaming Lips.  It’s fun to listen to the entire album in one sitting and reflect on how Nathan’s life changed over twelve months.  To hear musical influences come and go and to find the sublte consistencies that exist throughout this solid album.

mp3 : Nathan Moomaw - April
mp3 : Nathan Moomaw - January

Both of these songs are great and I feel they lean away from references of other musicians and more towards the core of Nathan’s natural talent.  He creates an easy style of folk music {an almost fairytale quality folk music} that is as much at home this year as it will be twenty years from now.

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The Dodos

Published by
billy
at June 26, 2008 in dodos, album, indie, music and mp3. 0 Comments

Awhile back I posted a few tracks I’d heard from the dynamic Californian duo who calls themselves The Dodos.  Finally I’ve come around to getting their entire album and I must say that it is brilliant.  From start to end there exists a certain coherency and consistency that is not oft found in a full length album in today’s modern single song download driven industry.  Granted some songs are more amazing than others, but I challenge you to find a single track on Visiter (amazon) (itunes) that isn’t absolutely worth having in your music collection.

mp3 : The Dodos - Walking
mp3 : The Dodos - God?

The above two tracks serve as the opening and closing tracks of the album and I feel they do a good job of showcasing the breadth of talent these two boys from California have.  To be honest I haven’t been this thrilled about a guitar player percussionist duo since Meg and Jack first made that pairing seem as simple as breathing.  Clocking in at just under one full hour this album contains some of the creative songs I’ve heard this year; some tracks will leave you contemplating life while others will simply leave you smiling, and bouncing your head while your fingers reach inexplicably for the repeat button.

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Zach Williams live July 3

Published by
billy
at June 25, 2008 in live, zach williams, indie, music and mp3. 9 Comments

Dusty Brown is playing an album release show next Thursday, July 3rd, and a very talented friend of mine will be there to play a set as well.  If you are anywhere in the remote vicinity of the Mercury Lounge I strongly encourage you to go and treat yourself to one of the most talented young singer songwriters in New York.  I’ve mentioned Zach Williams many times here on The World Forgot and because of my humble exposure I’ve received a lot of email thanking me for the musical introduction.  I’ve even received a handful of notes proclaiming how great Zach was to see in concert and how affable and personable he was to chat with after his set was over.

mp3 : Zach Williams - All My Love (Live at Southpaw)
mp3 : Zach Williams - Take Care (Live at Rockwood Music Hall)

In a recent interview I mentioned that Zach Williams was one of the best kept secrets in the American music scene and I still feel that way today.  This show will give you a chance to see Zach play before he makes it big.  This show will give you all the indie credibility you need when five years from now you can sit back and say, “yeah, well I saw Zach play a little show in NY before you even knew who he was.”  And of course you can thank me for giving you this little insight into the musical gem that Zach is, but I’d rather you get out and see his show at the Mercury Lounge.  It’s next Thursday, July 3, and it should kick off at 8:00.

Do me a favor, do Zach a favor, do the local music scene a favor, or do your girlfriend a favor and take her to see Zach Williams.  And make sure you say hi to him after the show.  You’ll probably leave friends.

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Girl Talk

Published by
billy
at June 24, 2008 in mashup, girl talk, indie, music and mp3. 4 Comments

If you haven’t heard the new album from Greg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, then you probably need to expand your daily blog reading diet to include more than just this lonely corner of the interwebs.  For those of you who are still in the dark Girl Talk stands alone atop the pile of mashup/glitch pop/sampled pop style of music making.  Simply put Mr. Gillis takes samples from between 100 and 150 unique songs and mixes them all together to make an entirely new album.  His latest effort, Feed the Animals, has just been released as a pay what you want style of album {akin to Radiohead’s In Rainbows or the recent offerings by Paste Magazine} and although I don’t believe it’s his greatest album to date it is easily worth the download.  If you’d like the entire album you can snag it here.

mp3 : Girl Talk - Still Here
mp3 : Girl Talk - In Step

The only reason I don’t think this is his finest work yet is due to the rather formulaic approach he seems to have taken in the creation of Feed the Animals.  Throughout the entire album it’s almost all rap vocals played over eighties pop music with an extra bass {guitar or drum} sample thrown in for effect.  This works good as his bread and butter, but I’d like to see him play more with pop lyrics over pop samples {or over rap samples} just to give the album more variety.  The second thing I felt deserves mention is that each song seems to work in thirty to fourty second sections.  At the end of these sections it’s as if the entire song changes; background, vocals, style, etc., all seem to shift at the same moment.  In the past other Girl Talk albums have flowed more fluidly from section to section.

All that being said I still enjoy the album a lot.  There are moments of brilliance in each and every track.  And cheap as free can’t be beat.

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Bon Iver

Published by
billy
at June 20, 2008 in bon iver, album, indie, music and mp3. 4 Comments

For Emma Forever Ago (amazon) (itunes), the first full length effort from Bon Iver, grabs hold of your mind with a subtle intimacy that is both comforting and quietly desperate. From the opening seconds of the first track Flume there exists a haunting quality to this album that remains mysteriously intangible after repeated listens. This album deserves as much praise for what is apparent as for what is consciously left out. While some acts bring a cornucopia of production and layers to their music Bon Iver instead relies on a minimalist nature which lets the beauty of the art shine through.

mp3 : Bon Iver - Flume
mp3 : Bon Iver - Skinny Love

This album will not be for everyone. It will be too slow and too teasing for some, but for the rest of us it will be the closest we ever come to hearing songs from a post physical world. Songs that reach out from someplace barely imagined yet entirely recognizable. Songs from our past that speak kindly of our future. Songs that you can listen to time and time again.

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Greg Laswell

Published by
billy
at June 13, 2008 in greg laswell, indie, music and mp3. 4 Comments

Is it possible that all great voices in the ever burgeoning class of singer songwriters are required to cover Cyndi Lauper’s classic song Girls Just Wanna Have Fun? Awhile back Ben Gibbard weighed in with his opinion on how the song should sound. Then along came Mike Grubbs {aka Wakey!Wakey!} with his brilliant take. And because I’ve posted both of those tracks in the past I was nudged ever so gently toward another singer with a crystal clear voice who has taken his own tack toward this classic bopper tune.

I must add that I feel Greg Laswell has taken the most subdued and melancholic approach of the three I’ve mentioned and in some weird way this tragic spin on what was once an awkward and hyper anthem for the empowerment of the girls feels just right. The other track here hails from Mr. Laswell’s most recent EP, How The Day Sounds (amazon) (itunes), and it’s the lead off track on what is quite possibly the perfect album for a Friday afternoon. It’s uptempo enough to keep you awake and yet subdued enough to keep you mellow enough to have energy left into the wee hours of the morning.

mp3 : Greg Laswell - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper Cover)
mp3 : Greg Lasewll - How the Day Sounds

Enjoy your weekend world. And while you’re listening to these songs by Greg Laswell find me a job.

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Joseph Arthur

Published by
billy
at June 11, 2008 in joseph arthur, indie, music and mp3. 0 Comments

Joseph Arthur’s ride through four EP’s during the first seven months of this year is three quarters of the way done. His latest effort, Vagabond Skies (amazon) (itunes), is another solid mix from a man who’s known as much for his crazy abstract paintings as he is for his gifted musical style. And while these little EP’s {the fourth comes out July 8} are great, they serve only to whet our appetites for the full album whose release date has now been pushed back to September 16th.

mp3 : Joseph Arthur - Pretty Good Company

For those of you who are familiar with Joseph’s previous work this will fit nicely into what you’re expecting to hear. For those of you who are just coming to know the prolific genius that is Mr. Arthur this track is an excellent example of the brooding style of music he’s known for. Enjoy.

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The Boy Bathing

Published by
billy
at June 10, 2008 in boy bathing, folk, indie, music and mp3. 5 Comments

If you wanted to build The Boy Bathing from scratch you would start with a healthy dose of lyrical brilliance akin to the stream of consciousness style favored by Bright Eyes. Then you’d take equal parts Sufjan Stevens, Josh Ritter, and Page France to add flavor, depth, and character. Finally you’d throw in some female vocals from Broadway Hush and maybe a bit of Band of Horses and you’d end up with what might be the best indie folk album of the year. Oh, and let’s not forget to add a dash of Elliot Smith to the mix {and throw in a tribute song to boot}.

Comparing this four piece upstart with all of those established acts might come across as a bit pretentious but I assure you that each and every comparison is deserved. The lyrics on The Boy Breathing’s debut album, A Fire To Make Preparations {available July 15}, are amazing. In all honesty I’ve not been this impressed with lyrical storytelling since Sufjan’s Avalanche cascaded into my brain. Take a listen to these two tracks and you’ll see what I mean.

mp3 : The Boy Bathing - Thanksgiving (For Elliot Smith)
mp3 : The Boy Bathing - A Fire

The first track is a great duet that is sung beautifully and yet tragically at the same time. The second song, A Fire, is the proper close to the upcoming album and clocks in at just under a full six minutes. It is brilliant. It is epic. The lyrics tell a story that is universal while still being particular and filled with the minutiae that make a story interesting to hear. You’ll definitely want to pick this album up for your collection the day it goes on sale. From start to finish you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

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Rod Thomas

Published by
billy
at June 6, 2008 in rod thomas, indie, music and mp3. 3 Comments

Rod Thomas has quite the unfortunate name. When googled the good folks at Google assume you’re mistaken in spelling his name and instead try to lead you to Rob Thomas {which is not quite the same thing}. On hype and elbows I’m quite certain that most people will simply skim over his name due to, again, this unfortunate association.

It really is unfortunate because Rod creates a smooth sytle of indie pop that is oft sought after in today’s market. And he recently played a show with one of my favorites, Broadcast 2000, and that alone is enough endorsement for me. Anyway, these tho tracks came from a single he released in the UK and he was kind enough to email them to me. Enjoy them at your leisure.

mp3 : Rod Thomas - You Get Goodbyes (radio edit)
mp3 : Rod Thomas - Debris

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BOTM vol 08

Published by
billy
at May 31, 2008 in kylie minogue, coldplay, death cab for cutie, sigur ros, say hi, mstrkrft, flaming lips, eugene francis jr, emilie simon, debbie gibson, magnetic fields, weezer, cover, regina spektor, indie, music, cloud cult, acoustic, best of the month, botm, live and mp3. 3 Comments

I’m actually committing to doing this month’s Best of the Month volume actually at the end of the month {volume 07 came out about five days after April was a bygone, so this is a change of pace}. Once again I present to you the best tracks that I heard during this month. This is my no means a completely exhaustive list of all the great music floating around on the interwebs, but it’s my personal slice of thirteen delicious tracks. Enjoy them on at a time or grab the entire volume in one convenient download. For all previous volumes of this series click here.

All the tracks in one zip file : here {zshare = left click} {link broken}

mp3 : Cloud Cult - Love You All
I’ve been listening to their latest album almost nonstop since I got it a few months back and I’m starting to think that this is my favorite track from the disc. Granted it has arguably the most simple lyrics on the album but the complexity of emotions portrayed through the arrangement is quite amazing.
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mp3 : Coldplay - Can’t Get You Out of My Head (Live Kylie Minogue Cover)
Although they might not be the biggest band of all time I would argue that they just might be the biggest band of this year. They’ve masterfully promoted their new album and somehow they’ve kept the lid on the leaky pipes which plague so many other big bands. This is a great cover.
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mp3 : Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Although Violet Hill was the first single dumped on the world, and the music video for that song is quite well done, I think it’s Viva la Vida which shows a nice maturity for these four boys fronted by Chris Martin. My only question is how they produce the strings in a live setting. Quite a brilliant start for their upcoming album which I am greatly anticipating.
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mp3 : Death Cab for Cutie - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Live Cyndi Lauper Cover)
With all the hype surrounding bigger, or at least more blogged about, acts I feel as if the launch date of the latest DCFC album passed by without much ado. In all actuality I guess I didn’t even post a review {although I love it}. Regardless I love Ben Gibbard’s special take on this classic song.
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mp3 : Emilie Simon - To The Dancers In The Rain (Live)
Sometime during this month I started listening to the more melancholy female singers on the market right now and I found myself falling in love with each of them in turn. Sometimes being sad is what you need to feel and sometimes listening to sad music is the right choice.
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mp3 : Eugene Francis Jr - Poor Me
Kind of like a mashup of Frou Frou with The Shins, Eugene Francis Jr seems like the golden reason to make a sequel to Garden State {if only for the soundtrack}. I love this song.
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mp3 : MSTRKRFT - VUVUVU
I haven’t really listened to this genre of music since the days of undergrad all nighters spent studying architecture. Energy drinks of tomorrow will still fall short of the punch packed into any MSTRKRFT song. Ever.
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mp3 : Regina Spektor - The Call
Although I’m not a big fan of The Chronicles of Narnia movies {they’re a bit childish and the CGI is almost as bad as that found in the new Indiana Jones} it’s quite a treat to hear Regina Spektor on the soundtrack. And I really like the lyrics in this song. Kudos to you Ms. Spektor.
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mp3 : Say Hi - We Lost The Albatross
After dropping the To Your Mom from his title and, arguably, dropping some of the silliness from his musical creations as well, Eric Elbogen’s music has grown up quite a bit. I love this song off his latest album and I hope it’s a sign of even greater ideas yet to come.
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mp3 : Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook
I’m officially a sucker for all things Sigur Ros {much to the chagrin of many of my friends}. I don’t know how I first heard of this band from Iceland {a land I’ve long wanted to visit}, but I’ve loved them from that first listen. This song hails from their upcoming album {hot on the heels of their last effort Hvarf/Heim} and they’re giving it away free from their website.
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mp3 : The Flaming Lips - Knives Out (Radiohead Cover)
The Flaming Lips caught my attention when they sang about robot killer Yoshimi {for an entire album} and it’s great to hear them cover another of my favorite bands. This performance hails from a 2002 set they played at the esteemed KCRW studios.
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mp3 : The Magnetic Fields - Too Drunk To Dream
I really hate the latest album by The Magnetic Fields. It was such a departure from the melodramatic beat and cello filled pop of their previous two efforts. Somehow songs from that album keep sneaking into my favorite lists though. It’s as if taken one at a time the songs are alright, but when put together for forty five minutes they’re simply too much to handle.
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mp3 : Weezer - Pink Triangle (Live Acoustic)
I love me some Weezer and I really love what I’ve heard so far from their upcoming album. Pink Triangle hails from what may be my favorite Weezer disc of all time, Pinkerton, and this is a solid live version of the song {even if the crowd gets picked up by the mics a bit much. Cut them some slack, obviously they’re drunk. Right?}
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Policy

Published by
billy
at May 29, 2008 in policy, indie, music and mp3. 2 Comments

Policy’s eponymous debut EP reminds me a lot of the long defunct band Dovetail Joint. For those of you who aren’t in the know Dovetail Joint owned the market on brooding quasi radio friendly rock during about three weeks of the late nineties. Think Muse meets Coldplay.

Regardless of awkward and random associations made by my fractured mind this EP is a solid rock debut for a band who seems to have struggled to stay, and play, together. Below I’ve included my favorite track off the EP. I hope you enjoy it.

mp3 : Policy - North

Although I do enjoy the entire five song effort I’m curious as to what a proper full length would sound like. Sometimes a band doesn’t really find their stride until they’ve been forced to record a solid forty minute effort.

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Alan Wilkis

Published by
billy
at May 28, 2008 in alan wilkis, indie, music and mp3. 1 Comment

At times the self produced solo debut from Alan Wilkis, Babies Dream Big (amazon) (itunes), gets caught up a bit too much in paying homage to the eighties pop and R&B classics. At times he sounds too much like Motown meets synthpop and it’s not the most flattering of mashings. At other times on this debut album Alan finds a way to take the soul of those musical histories and weave them into something that is both contemporary and progressive. It is on these tracks, where he breaks from the trappings of simply emulating the past, that he finds his true voice and reveals a depth of talent and a glimpse at greater things yet to come from this talented Brooklynite.

mp3 : Alan Wilkis - I Wanna Know
mp3 : Alan Wilkis - Astronaut (Would You Be One)

Both of these tracks are good, but I must say that Astronaut is my favorite track on the album by far.

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Jose Gonzalez

Published by
billy
at May 27, 2008 in folk, jose gonzalez, indie, music and mp3. 4 Comments

Jose Gonzalez’s latest album, last September’s In Our Nature (amazon) (itunes), is phenomenal from start to finish. It seems as if each week of 2008 brings me another excellent album whose launch date I missed during the last calendar year. Regardless of punctuality issues, this album is quite amazing. Jose is Argetinian by birth, now lives in Sweden, and yet he styles a type of modern brooding folk music isn’t necessarily anything but the pure channeled brilliance of Jose Gonzalez.

The album builds upon itsef throughout the thirty five minute run time as tracks become more complex and refined from the opener, How Low, to the magnificent and fitting closing track, Cycling Trivialities. Although any track from the entire disc would easily have proved the genius of Jose, I thought it was best to include the last track in all its eight minute glory.

mp3 : Jose Gonzalez - Cycling Triviality

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Nancy

Published by
billy
at May 21, 2008 in nancy, indie, music and mp3. 0 Comments

Despite their misleading moniker Nancy is in fact a five piece band hailing from Brazil and supported/distributed by RCRD LBL. {For those of you who aren’t in the know RCRD LBL is an online record label that distributes and promotes music on a strict download for free basis. quite amazing}. I received this track via email and if you can go to their page on RCRD LBL, their myspace, or their own site to hear more of this delicious quintet.

mp3 : Nancy - Keep Cooler

For some reason I’ve been very fond of female vocals lately. I’m sure there’s a multitude of subliminal reasons behind this, but who cares, it’s good music in the end.

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This Is Ivy League

Published by
billy
at May 16, 2008 in cover, this is ivy league, arcade fire, indie, music and mp3. 2 Comments

What terrible dank rock have I been hiding under the past month or so. I’m only two songs into the debut album by this duo and I think I’m in love. To be honest I began writing this post {and began the love infatuation} approximately three minutes before beginning my first listen to the album. This love affair began at the first guitar string plucked in this spot on rendition of Arcade Fire’s song Crown of Love.

mp3 : This Is Ivy League - Crown of Love (Arcade Fire Cover)

I’ll have more on this band later, hopefully after an honest three listens to their album, but for now this song will tide you over. It is quite simply the best Arcade Fire cover I have heard to date. A sort of modern day Simon and Garfunkel by way of Kings of Convenience. Simple brilliance.

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The Cotton Jones Basket Ride

Published by
billy
at May 14, 2008 in michael nau, cotton jones basket ride, indie, music and mp3. 1 Comment

Michael Nau seems to move through projects about as quickly as I can move through a case of Coke. He was simply Michael Nau, sometimes Page France, and the guitar backing for Broadway Hush {arguably my favorite of his little jaunts through music land}. Most recently he’s been recording under the mouthful of a name, The Cotton Jones Basket Ride. This new outfit has a proper full length scheduled for later this year and they’re rolling out a series of EP’s on Quite Scientific until then. The first EP is entitled The Archery and you can preorders are up over at Quite Scientific’s site.

mp3 : The Cotton Jones Basket Ride - Midnight Monday and a Telescope

As far as I can tell not much has changed other than the moniker Michael Nau is currently using. If you’re familiar with eariler Page France work then this will fit right into your preconceived notions of what it should sound like. One thing I love to hear is that {at least on this track} he appears to be abandoning the more nasal singing tendencies he had begun to adopt towards the end of the Page France days.

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Chris Walla

Published by
billy
at May 13, 2008 in chris walla, indie, music and mp3. 3 Comments

Some of you may be aware that Chris Walla’s side project is releasing their much anticipated album today. For those of you who have already been fanatics of that project, being Death Cab, or those looking for something a little different Chris Walla also has a new album, Field Manual (iTunes), that dropped earlier this year. It’s a collection of songs that could easily fit into set list for Death Cab and it’s nice to see how much his musical styling influences both of his projects {and possibly how much working with Ben Gibbard for so long has influenced him}. It’s easy melodies, lyrics, and guitar tracks that are undeniably Chris Walla.

mp3 : Chris Walla - Everyone Needs a Home

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