Vol. 3 Issue 13 September 2006
Back to school and ready to check out the latest from BRM:
See News Archives
Current Releases
- Click to see:
- Barsuk
- ATO Records
- Thrill Jockey
- The Leaf Label
Barsuk
www.barsuk.com
Viva Voce
"Get Yr Blood Sucked Out"
God bless Portland, Oregon. Even the "garage" records that come out of that place feature handclaps and tambourines and sing-a-longs, too. Viva Voce are probably Barsuk's most-stoned band, and that's a good thing. The boy/girl duo may at first scream White Stripes, but seriously, these two are mining the Royal Trux discography and The Stooges' debut way more than Led Zeppelin. The title of their Barsuk debut would even make Iggy smile - Get Yr Blood Sucked Out. Fuck yeah, this rocks. Check out "Believer.
ATO Records
www.atorecords.com
Ben Kweller
"Ben Kweller"
Cute. That word is the bane of a thousand indie boys' existences. Surely, Ben Kweller is among them. Kweller has been kicking out serious indie-pop jams for years now, and he's not even out of his early twenties yet. Thing is, no matter how serious and consistently brilliant his songwriting, Kweller is always cast as "that cute songwriter kid with his guitar." He makes the ladies swoon. Fine. However, with his new one, Ben Kweller (ATO), the boy’s all grown up. In his personal life he's had a kid. Whoa. And sonically, Kweller has switched up his main instrument from guitar to piano. It's a smart move. "Nothing's Happening" is the best slow-burning, 70's-referencing, piano pop anthem I've heard in a long time. So he's been listening to Todd Rundgren. 70's folk/classic rock jams are the backbone of pop songwriting, so it makes sense that this is Kweller's finest record to date.
Thrill Jockey
www.thrilljockey.com
Angela Desveaux
"Wandering Eyes"
Montreal hailing Angela Desveaux has a lot to live up to. One listen to her rootsy Thrill Jockey debut, Wandering Eyes, sees the indie-by-way-of-country starling channeling everyone from Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch to Emmylou Harris. Not an easy feat, but one she pulls off dazzlingly well. What makes Desveaux special is her allegiance to the history, to the folk of the music she’s playing. Eyes sees Lefty Frizzell trad country tunes going head to head with fiddle-laced Irish folk ditties. We also like that she isn’t scared to turn up the guitar and sound a bit like Chrissy Hynde! So, look out Kt Tunstall.
The Leaf Label
www.theleaflabel.com
Phelan Sheppard
"Harps Old Master"
Seeking to bridge the pastoral world of the 60’s folk revival with contemporary, electronic minimalism, London duo Phelan Sheppard may be the only knob-twiddlers I know to collaborate with the cultish Folk icon of yore, Anne Briggs. The group’s new album, Harps Old Master (Leaf), is filled with lush and lonesome twinkling lullabies for the modern age. It’s gorgeous, spellbinding stuff, which somehow pulls off the feat of being “organic,” (that being the most overused adjective to describe electronic music), while still sounding utterly and completely fresh. In other words, it’s not just beats and wood-wind samples. More like Steve Reich, with a big-ass beard, coming to you live from the mountain tops. One of my favorite albums of the year.
- Click to see:
- Merge
- Fat Cat Records
- Quannum Projects
- Park the Van Records
Merge
www.mergerecords.com
Richard Buckner
"Meadow"
Richard Buckner’s voice is a marvel. More rootsy than Mark Kozelek, and as forlorn as Nick Drake, Buckner could’ve released an acappella record for his eighth (!) album, and had you at that. It’s a good thing he didn’t, though, because Meadow (Merge) is Buckner’s first record that officially “rocks.” He’s got a packed house behind him featuring members of indie mainstays like Guided By Voices, and the Mekons. It’s good to hear this brow-beaten, not-quite-folky, but not-quite-country troubadour break a little sweat while staying as emotionally poignant as ever.
Fat Cat Records
www.fat-cat.co.uk
Nina Nastasia
"On Leaving"
Nina Nastasia does the whole quirky female songwriter thing the way it absolutely should be done. In other words, she gets away with naming an album Dogs and still have it totally kick your ass. Maybe it’s because she’s championed by producer/creative partner-in-crime/resident-tough-guy genius, Steve Albini, but I like to think it’s thanks to her wondrously modest songs and spellbindingly effervescent delivery. Far less indulgent than Cat Power, Nastasia’s tunes sound the way Sunday morning feels – calm and airy, but always with a touch of weary resignation. Her new album, On Leaving, is her first for the experimental cum freak-folk label du jour, Fat Cat, which after hearing Nastasia’s quiet and idiosyncratically soothing tales seems the perfect home for her brand of weepy, smart songs. Sure to make more than a few ’06 year-end lists.
Quannum Projects
www.quannum.com
Pigeon John
"...And The Summertime Pool Party"
Hey everybody, it’s feel good hip-hop! All you really need to know about Quannum’s latest rhyme-crazed trickster, Pigeon John, is that his website is bright frickin’ yellow! He would get his ass kicked by 50 Cent – no doubt. When Pigeon John says that he was “shot nine times,” he was most likely talking about his latest photo spread in URB’s “Next 100.” Luckily, in the world of “Hey Ya,” and “My Humps,” and “Baby Got Back,” and “Get By,” and hell even Sugar Ray (remember them?), there’s more than a little interest in hip-hop that doesn’t involve cocaine or killing people. Which is all to say that Pigeon John’s Quannum debut will move everybody’s humps in a very big way this year. It’s funky and fresh and feel-good and basically perfect party music for teenagers experimenting with sex, drugs and wrecking the house while the folks are in Barbados.
Park the Van Records
www.parkthevan.com
Capitol Years
"Dance Away the Terror"
On their Park the Van Records debut, Dance Away The Terror, new Philly-hailing hotshots the Capitol Years channel enough 70’s rock ennui to make even Lou Reed blush. It’s no wonder Spin is already losing themselves over how dope this band is. The Capitol Years’ brand of chugging, hooky-as-all-hell pop rock is sure to win over all the dance floors, now that both The Strokes and The Rapture have dropped their proverbial clunkers. While those bands are off trying to mine former glories, we’re lucky to have the Capitol Years to remind us that guitars are awesome, and that being influenced by the Nazz could never be a bad thing.