Bank Robber Music - Film, TV, & Commercial Music Licensing

Jim Noir

"Tower of Live"

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that when Jim Noir's

Barsuk debut, Tower of Love, drops he's gonna get a lot of people calling him the British Beck. I know everybody loves to hate any sort of label, but I guess as labels go Noir could do a lot worse. Love sounds like the Jon Brion produced kaleidoscopic 60's pop gem that Beck never wrote. All Wurlitzer keyboards, debonair vocals and vintage guitar tones. Here's a record that people who unironically call ELO geniuses can swear by. I know I do. Another brilliant new find from Barsuk!!!! Check out "I Me You I'm Yours"

What Made Milwaukee Famous

"Trying To Never Catch Up"

What Made Milwaukee Famous apparently wasn't beer or baseball at all. It was the arpeggio button on old Casiotone keyboards. Has a band ever loved that retro, transfixing multi-note feature as much as Barsuk's newest signees, What Made Milwaukee Famous? Upon listening to the band's Barsuk's debut Trying To Never Catch Up, my girlfriend quizzically asked me if I was "playing Tetris." Alas, I wasn't. What Made Milwaukee Famous aren't all keyboards, though. In fact, the band's heart-on-your-sleeve vocals make the group sound far more Coldplay pre-Gwyneth Paltrow than (label)Mates of State. Tracks like "Almost Always Never," "Selling Yourself Short" and "The Jeopardy of Commitment" are full of self-loathing for the Google-age and plenty of memorable pop songwriting.

Adem

"Love and Other Planets"

Adem is Domino's premier "folkie." His debut, Homesongs, was a sublime sleeper hit for the Devendra-worshippers out there. However, I thought the record was far more accessible in a quiet Brit-pop kind of way than Devendra. Adem's follow-up, Love And Other Planets leans even more in the sweet, mopey, pseudo hippy/pseudo shoegaze direction. "Something's Gonna Come" is as beautiful a quiet epic can be. And it is an epic. Stadium-sized bedroom pop for the solar systems and Bohos alike.

Junior Boys

"In the Morning"

When the Junior Boys' last album, Last Exit, hit it sent shockwaves through the hipster electro-pop new wave dance music set. Five stars in Mojo. Lots of Bloggers losing their "cool" and all that. Nobody puts the soul in computers like these guys, and, clichés aside, the duo's new album, So This Is Goodbye (Domino), is an all-too-perfect testament to this fact. They even cover the Sinatra classic "When No One Cares" to solidify their case. Get your black turtlenecks dry cleaned - the boyz are back in town.

Van She

"Van She EP"

For those of us feeling overwhelmed by MTV twenty-fifth anniversary nostalgia, and craving something current, Van She is the band or you. Signed to Modular after ONE GIG (!) Van She unashamedly takes bits and bobs from 80's post punk, skuzzy sounds of 90's grunge, French house tips, film-scored ditties and 70's Krautrock. Still, it is "Oh Kelly" that will be the soundtrack to "Pretty in Pink 2," and there's nothing Jim Kerr can do about it. Agree (put in music)?

So yeah, besides previous releases from Wolfmother and the Presets, Australia's Modular Records are on fire with new jams from Soulwax, Klaxons, New Young Pony Club and the Soft Lightes (formerly The Incredible Moses Leroy). Keep those ears open.

M. Ward

"Post War"

Over the past couple years, M. Ward has been putting out a slew of the finest alt. country/folk/pseudo-freak folk records around. Ward has become a musician's musician - everyone from Bright Eyes to Jim James of My Morning Jacket, to Devendra look up to him as some sort of American music guru. It's well deserved. Last year's Transistor Radio was one of the best records released in any genre, and Ward also produced a little critically acclaimed country record by Jenny Lewis you may have heard of. It was a big year for him. 2006 proves to be even bigger. Ward's new record, Post War (Merge), is his best by a long shot. Working with an outside producer for the first time (Mike Mogis - of Bright Eyes fame), Ward has come up with his most streamlined and accessible record yet. Sure, Jenny Lewis, Jim James and others stop by for guest spots, but the real stars here are Ward's hushed growl of a voice and his soulful songs like "Magic Trick" and the breathtaking "Post War." Plus, there's even his famous Daniel Johnston cover "To Go Home" for the kids.

Lambchop

"Damaged"

Now that Wilco are off doing their high-art/Television/Jim O'rourke-will-add-12-minutes-of-noise-to-this-track thing, there are few bands making intelligent "alternative" country music. One of those bands, Lambchop, has miraculously found a way to breathe new and profound life into a genre that's almost as dead as Nu-Metal. Considering the group's new album, Damaged (Merge), is Lambchop's ninth (not counting the breathtaking back-up work they did on Vic Chestnut's classic 90's record, The Salesman and Bernadette) - Kurt Wagner and co. deserve a medal. Few bands have reinvented American roots music from soul and r and b to folk as well, and on Damaged, the group takes on their darkest territory yet - the South. Damaged is all pillowy, reverberating guitars and haunted, rickety accompaniment - mellow and heartwrenching and yet inspiring too. An after-hours album that's actually not a dower. There's little doubt that Lambchop are one of America's finest bands, Damaged just makes that fact ever more clear. "Crackers" won't try to break your heart...it will.

Tortoise

"A Lazarus Taxon"

Tortoise are one of the most influential "indie" groups around. Even a cursory glance at their discography reveals that the band recorded at least two masterpieces (Millions Now Living Will Die, TNT). Simply put, nobody does post-rock better. Now, 12 years into their storied career, Thrill Jockey is releasing a highly anticipated three CD/DVD box set of rarities and previously unreleased odd and sods called, A Lazarus Taxon. Luckily you are down with BRM and we hook our friends up - so we have a very special compilation for you with jams and outtakes and remixes from The Box. We know box sets can be daunting - this way you can ease yourself into the life-changing sound that is Tortoise. You're welcome.

David Pajo

"1968"

David Pajo used to be in not one but two (!) seminal indie post-rock outfits (Slint and Tortoise), but recently he seems to have traded the turbulent time signatures of his former bands' records for hushed vocals and acoustic guitar strums. Last year's PAJO veered vaguely into Elliott Smith territory more than a few times, but with his brand new follow-up, 1968 (Drag City), he's positively gone Simon and Garfunkel on us. Don't be fooled by the artsy haute-80's cover art - this isn't another Pixies record, nor has Ian Curtis come back from the dead. However, what the album art lacks in empathy and warmth, Pajo's songs more than make up for in wistful beauty. "We Get Along Mostly" is all soaring seven-chords and George Harrison-referencing melodies. Meanwhile, "Foolish King"'s mix of chiming minor key arpeggios, tense percussion and sad-boy vocals is sure to be Zach Braff's favorite new song. It's surely one of ours. Listen here: