Vol. 5 Issue 35 November 2008
So the election is about to happen! Somebody is about to win. Hopefully, we are happy about the results. Hopefully, his name rhymes with Shoshana. And if this is not the case – we are prolly doomed to be intertwined into an endlessly manipulative and misguided war, and the market is probably crashing even further into the center of the universe because of this. But hey. Bank Robber can’t really save you here. All we got is music for ads, and films, and tv shows, and perhaps even a video game here or there. All we got is our coffee cup logo, a singing saw christmas record, and more new jams from High Places, Army Navy, Arthur Russell and more!
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Current Releases
- Click to see:
- Thrill Jockey
- Audika
- Numero Group
- House Of Hassle
Thrill Jockey
www.thrilljockey.com
High Places
"High Places"
The Caribbean may be the “hottest” new sonic influence in the indie world. Surely, few take the airy steel drum flavors and stop-start Polynesian polyrhythms as ingeniously far as Brooklyn’s much-lauded High Places. Sounding like the middle ground between MIA’s third-world bangaz, and Animal Collective’s hazy psychedlia, High Places self-titled Thrill Jockey debut is an incredible mind-expanding, party-making debut. In fact, if “Golden” wasn’t so understatedly layered with sonics, it’d be a pop anthem. Meanwhile “The Storm” manages at being a confessional story-telling vibe, at the same time as having one of the freshest cut-up, reverse-loop’d instrumentals around. In other words, I see why they’re called the High Places afterall. Check out “Vision’s The First…”.
Audika
www.audikarecords.com/
Arthur Russell
"Love Is Overtaking Me"
Once again, Audika Records has knocked it out the park with a sprawling collection of top-quality never-before-released sounds from the infinite goldmine that is the Arthur Russell vaults. On the twangy and super-accessible, Love Is Overtaking Me, Russell does his best take on Every Brothers-twinged guitar pop. The tracks that make up Love span his career from stuff Arthur recorded in the early 70's right up until some of the very last recordings he made at home in 1991. It’s a rare treat to hear Arthur's ghostly tenor in the company of such pristine, traditional "band" accompaniment. "Big Moon" sounds like Arthur fronting-an 80's incarnation of The Byrds - It's like the sing-a-long uptempo pop sister to Nick Drake's brooding standard, "Pink Moon". "Maybe She" - a melancholy Townes Van Zandt-style paen. If you've been hearing Arthur Russell's name around but have never heard his music - Love, 3 years in the making, culled from over 8+ hours of music is the place to get in. Heed the calling.... Check out "Maybe She".
Numero Group
www.numerogroup.com/
Bobby McNutt
"The Young Disciples"
The Numero Group is perhaps best known for their awe-inspiringly consistent Eccentric Soul series of which The Young Disciples compilation is a new addition to. The Young Disciples highlights the best in St. Louis’ junior set had to offer. Turns out the under-25 set got soul too. Check out "Country Loving Country Style"
House Of Hassle
www.houseofhassle.com
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
"House Of Hassle: Vol. 1"
Nope, we couldn’t just stick to licensing. Given the current banking disasters, we though we would take it a bit easier on the “bank robbing,” and start a new publishing company. Yes folks, it’s the yin to Bank Robber’s yang, welcome: House of Hassle Publishing. HOH is the brainchild of BRM’s Lyle Hysen, and Big Hassle PR’s owner, Ken Weinstein. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so here’s our first HOH compilation – as you’ll be able to see from the stellar tracklist HOH is off to a killer start: Ben Kweller’s “The Rules,” Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s “Satan Said Dance,” John Vanderslice, The Rosebuds, The Broken West…Hell, there’s even the original version of “Don’t You Evah” (the latest single off the new Spoon record) by The Natual History. BRM/HOH bringing you the "best" in all our Licensing and now Publishing needs (cough cough)! Check out "Satan Said Dance."
- Click to see:
- Merge
- Army Navy
- Ernest Jenning
- Bank Robber Music
Merge
www.mergerecords.com
Julian Koster
"The Singing Saw At Christmastime"
Only the Bank Robber would hit you guys with a Holiday record of Christmas songs all entirely played on the singing saw. Yes, you read that right – The Singing Saw At Christmastime from the dude who played saw for Neutral Milk Hotel. If you like his “Jingle Bells,” we’ve got a whole album of Non-Jew hits for you.
Army Navy
Army Navy
Army Navy
"Army Navy"
No surprise that jangle-popsters, Army Navy, hail from California. The bands infectious selftitled debut could only be the product of dudes who’ve spent many a Saturday afternoon pumping classics from The Byrds, Teenage Fanclub, The Zombies, and hell The Posies too. At BRM, we are suckers for sparkly guitar pop so naturally Army Navy had us at their first Shins reference. It figures that Army Navy frontman, Justin Kennedy, used to be in a band with Death Cab’s, Ben Gibbard - “Saints,” and “Slight of Hand”, are pure catchy, earnest guitar rock. Makes us long for those OC days.... Check out "Dark As Days".
Ernest Jenning
www.ernestjenning.com
Pegasus XL
"The Antiphon"
Who knows what the kids down in Athens, GA are listening to these days (we thought it was still REM). Apparently punk rock, Hip-hop, and freaky electronic music is the current rage and we're getting it all in the form of one band with Pegasuses-XL. Starring a bunch of dudes from a bunch of bands with words like wolf and bomb in them (wolfbomb?) comes this quartet of coffee fueled freaks who's sound falls somewhere between early Trans Am and the Beastie Boys. On their two current albums, the Ernest Jenning released The Antiphon and the follow-up EP collection Electro Agitators, these dudes may be having a little too much fun for their own good, but we're the last folks around to criticize a band whose tour merch includes their own blend of coffee. Check out "Marathon Mansion"
Bank Robber Music
bankrobbermusic.com
Bank Robber Music
"Volume 16"
You know ‘em, you love ‘em – hopefully you’ve racked our color-coded Bank Robber compilations all in a row on your CD-shelving, so you can “taste” the glorious BRM rainbow. For BRM 16 we went with a brown-ish hue, great for fall. Also, great for fall are the new jams from The Rosebuds, The Broken West, Okkervil River, Travis, Tilly & The Wall, Lambchop, Richard Swift, The Sea and Cake, one awesome older jam from Rilo Kiley (just to feed our Jenny Lewis obsession…she still won’t return our calls), and more that are included within. Despite the summer being over, there is some awesome uptempo pop on this thing: if Tilly’s “Pot Kettle Black,” “Perfect Games” by The Broken West, or Tough Alliance’s “First Class Riot” don’t have you dancing we don’t know what will. There’s even a track for all you Bob Dylan fetishists, The War On Drug’s super-Dylan-y, “Arms Like Boulders.”