CAN SOMEBODY TELL ME IF ANYTHING HAPPENED AT THE ANIMAL COLLECTIVE SHOW LAST NIGHT??
Posted by Hartley On Mar 5, 2010
Oh, Hello I'm looking for the Donnie Darko 2 set.... This is what "indie" looks like in 2010. So glad I wasn't stoned for this.WTF IS THIS? I do not know.So me and the lady were (un)lucky enough to attend the giant art-world meets mu... Read More
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Vol. 5 Issue 51 March 2010
I refuse to make a pun about march madness, but the 10 records below are insane. This month we've got a little bit of everything: synthesizers, flannelbeard folk music, and the two biggest babes in indie rock. The new Frightened Rabbit transforms the band from a bunch of Scottish sad guys to full on rock and roll heroes. A triple(!) cd by sweetheart Joanna Newsom. Then we've got drum machines and synths galore for ya with JJ and Rogue Wave. And of course we've got the sequel to one of last year's best, She & Him's Vol. 2!
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Current Releases
- Click to see:
- Fat Cat
- Brushfire
- Jagjaguwar
- Secretly Canadian
Fat Cat
www.fat-cat.co.uk
Frightened Rabbit
"The Winter Of Mixed Drinks"
Somewhere in the past few years Frightened Rabbit made the unlikely progression from a bunch of lovable and emotional songwriters with adorable Scottish accents to full-fledged anthem rockers. We aren't complaining so much as we're blown away by the tracks on their brilliant (and brilliantly titled!) third LP The Winter of Mixed Drinks (Fat Cat), a swelling and epic study in jangly guitars, uplifting melodies, drunken sorrow and glimmers of hope. First single "Swim Until You Can't See Land" is a standout on a record full of highlights, with a rousing chorus that manages to joyously convince us all to paddle ourselves out into the middle of the ocean and see what happens next. Check out “Swim Until You Can’t See Land”.
Brushfire
www.brushfirerecords.com
Rogue Wave
"Permalight"
What do you do if you’re a lead singer of a beloved indie rock band that specializes in sweepingly melodic epic tunes and all of a sudden find yourself bed-ridden and immobilized from a freak accident? If you’re Zach Rogue of Rogue Wave you make a dance record. Permalight (Brushfire) is Rogue Wave’s fourth album, and it’s certainly their most ready to soundtrack a house party or seven. Sounding something like Death Cab For Cutie as produced by MGMT, or dare I say it – Postal Service/Owl City territory with more guitars – Permalight takes Rogue Wave’s previous acoustic Elliott Smithisms and gives them a serious jolt of dance-pop amphetamines. Songs like “Good Morning” and “Stars and Stripes” are insistently bouncy, dare I say manic even. However, even if some of the album’s densely produced almost top 40 leanings alienate some of the band’s more purist fanbase, the driving opener “Solitary Gun” show Rogue Wave haven’t lost their knack for writing huge, heart-warming, inspirational rock melodies. Even better the handclap infused ballad, “Fear Itself” may be the best love song Rogue Wave has ever penned; it’s going to score a thousand impossible love stories in 2010 much like Keane and Snow Patrol did in years prior. Zach Rogue wanted to make a dance – he ended up writing what will undoubtedly be the breakthrough effort of the new year. Check out "I'll Never Leave You."
Jagjaguwar
www.jagjaguwar.com
The Besnard Lakes
"The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night"
The Besnard Lakes (Jagjaguwar) have released another achingly beautiful album. Fronted by husband and wife team Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night is a collection of shimmering atmospheric gems. I hate to recommend listening to one song over any other, since every song is a standout, but the rolling drum accents and jangling guitar on “Albatross” made it an instant favorite of mine. If you’d rather check out a tune with Jace handling vocals with his delightfully deranged Beach Boys falsetto, listen to the haunting “Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent Pt. 2.” But really, you should listen to the whole thing. It flows so nicely. If you haven’t heard it yet, I am jealous. I would love to be able to hear it for the first time again!
Secretly Canadian
www.secretlycanadian.com
JJ
"No. 3"
Nobody knows who or what JJ are. Apparently JJ are a group. But maybe it’s just a chick. Or it could be Bank Robber Lyle just pretending to be from Sweden indulging all his repressed Kate Bush-ish, femme new age dreams. Either way, JJ’s enigmatically titled Secretly Canadian debut, No. 3, is an absolute stunner. Kicking off with “My Life,” which recasts a rap track from The Game and Lil’ Wayne and transforms it into a spacey-piano and vocals ballad that sounds equal parts Florence And The Machine and Red House Painters. From that point on No. 3 indulges in a kind of smorgasbord of echo-y, beautiful “world-dance-pop.” Could this be the great lost Lady Gaga record produced by Dead Can Dance’s Lisa Gerard!? Synthesizes and congo drums abound as are gorgeous woozy female vocals, and plenty of pop hooks. In a bizarre way for a group as mysterious as JJ actually are, No. 3 might be the most accessible pop-oriented album the Bank Robber works. I could see album-standout, “Let Go,” soundtracking many a Spa-treatment, Nancy Meyer chick-flick, and Brooklyn loft party to boot. Yeah, it’s a very weird, and truly unforgettable listen. Check out "Let Go."
Merge
www.mergerecords.com
She & Him
"Vol. 2"
Coming on like one giant “quirk” bomb, we get Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward’s She and Him project back for Volume 2 (Merge). The last time around Zooey D. proved herself the rarest of actresses – namely, one that could actually sing and write songs, good songs, really really good, almost timeless songs. If her Joseph Gordon Levitt-teamed film hit 500 Days of Summer hadn’t swirled her into the polka-dot-dressed indie mainstream, Zooey almost would’ve certainly been able to fall back on her music. Luckily, as Volume 2 continues to aptly demonstrate, Miss Killer Eyes has found the perfect collaborator/musical foil in M. Ward. Nobody knows American music like this guy, and he’s there to perfectly indulge all of Zooey’s very NPR-friendly indulgences. Whether they be amazing pseudo-obscure NRBQ covers (“Ridin’ In My Car"), bittersweet Phil Spector-ish girl group balladry (“Theives”), so twangy-Country torch songs (“Lingering Still”), or joyous Carole King/Laura Nyro-influenced women’s lib pop (“Over It Over Again"), there’s hardly a moment on this record that isn’t injected with Zooey’s cute-as-a-button wry vocal delivery and sharp ear for genres and Ward’s skillful timeless technicolor production. You loved Volume 1. Volume 2 is even better. Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward: The Peanut Butter and Jelly of Indie. Check out "Home."
Radar Bros
"The Illustrated Garden"
If you don’t know the Radar Bros. yet, you should. Los Angeles’ Jim Putnam has been making lush, perfectly produced, dreamy guitar pop records for almost fifteen years (think Pink Floyd moves to SoCal). The Radar Bros. could seem like a bit of a mystery with records full of songs that mix Putnam’s love of the natural and desire to delve into complex family and relationship dynamics. But, with the new rhythm section of Ben Hussey and Stevie Treichel anchoring Putnam’s songs, The Illustrated Garden (Merge) has a little more muscle than the five previous Radar Bros. records. The dreamy guitar undercurrent is still there, and the perfect piano hooks, but this one’s maybe a little darker, a little more direct. The opener, “Dear Headlights” hints at the fog rolling over the L.A. Freeway, but listen to “Horses Warriors” for the sense of foreboding, evil and mysticism that has always surrounded the city of angels. Check out "Horses Warriors."
Drag City
www.dragcity.com
Joanna Newsom
"Have One On Me"
My Dearest Joanna Newsom,
I have a little confession. I have been in love with you since the first time I heard your voice. I have listened to your album Ys upwards of 100 times since it’s release, and couldn’t be happier that you released your new triple album
Have One On Me (Drag City). Triple album? That’s unheard of! Every one of your 18 new songs is a tiny little journey that makes me feel like you and I are sharing a secret over a fire hidden away in a cave behind a waterfall. I hate when animals talk in movies, but I relish every conversation the critters of the earth have in our songs...I mean your songs. Sorry, I don’t mean to come off as creepy, but you play the harp and have maybe the most original voice in music today, so pardon me if I’m smitten. I can’t choose a favorite song yet, I will need years to decide that, but upon these first listens one thing that stands out is not only do you have the familiar baroque type arrangements to some of these songs, but you also rock out on a few! There is way more percussion on these songs than ever before. I even detect some distortion on the last half of “Baby Birch.” That songs starts out so sweetly and then there is that surprising cacophony of drums and claps and energy before it turns into an almost classical chinese folk song! You make me want to take you dancing, and then go to my place to play Dungeons & Dragons! Check out "Jackrabbits".
Barsuk
www.barsuk.com
Blunt Mechanic
"World Record"
Ben Barnett is no stranger to praise. Having spent 10 years releasing almost as many albums with his band Kind Of Like Spitting, Ben drew comparisons to Elliot Smith and Robert Pollard. After the band split, he moved onto a post as Music Director of Seattle’s Paul Green School of Rock. During breaks between classes, Ben began recording his new album World Record (Barsuk) one track at a time, all by himself. He has since decided to call his new band Blunt Mechanic, and take them on the road. World record is more of what we have come to expect from the prolific songwriter. Aluminum and Light with it’s dissonant guitar lines huge chunky rhythms almost sound like Times New Viking is covering a Built to Spill song. One track after that, Is or Isn’t All the Same, is a deceivingly simple tune that finishes with Mr. Barnett’s signature multi tracked guitar swirls to gorgeous perfection. Check out "Thrown Out At Third."