Posted by Ant on Sep 21 2011 to Electronic
I wrote about You Are Plural a few months ago and I’m already repeating them. However, it is a good thing! They have a new EP out and were kind enough to forward me a copy; much obliged, folks, much obliged. However, this isn’t just a commercial cop out, as the new EP, No More continues the wonderful blend of eclectic pop found in their debut Hand it Over, but this time with a slightly harder edge. Perhaps I could say that it’s rollicking? Anyhoo, do check it out on Bandcamp: free, full-track listens and a cheap as chips (literally) download. And I promise, next time we’ll have a new artist!
Posted by Ant on Aug 30 2011 to News
Howdy everyone
Due to some recent, family-related matters, posts by myself may be highly sporadic for a little while. I do hope to come back soon with some great new music for you all, but for the time being, I will be a little distant.
Cheers
Posted by Hugh on Aug 2 2011 to Pop
If there’s anything I like as much as discovering new music, it’s rediscovering music I forgot about. Sharing it is fun too! And what’s even more fun that is free MP3s, whee! So anyway, Space Mtn! A great band from California. I posted Hovercraft back when I wrote about them 4 years ago, and it’s just as good as it was then. I Die starts kinda boring, but turns into the most amazing thing ever at about 3 minutes in. I generally just listen to that last 80 seconds repeatedly and am grateful for it! Not sure why I didn’t like that one back then, but that doesn’t matter anymore!
From A Drawing of a Memory of a Photograph of You
Hovercraft – (MP3, 4.1 MB)
I Die – (MP3, 4.9 MB)
Posted by Hugh on Jul 22 2011 to Folk
After reading Ant’s snarky post about me being a lazy jerkhole, I took it upon myself to write at least one post for you guys. It’s not like I’m doing the hard work of making excellent music, anyway. Since I am indeed a lazy jerkhole, here is another lady that I’ve written about before, Sharon Van Etten. She has the kind of voice that sounds like it’s been submerged in whiskey, and that is a great attribute for folky music. Her debut, Because I Was In Love, was a bit sparse, musically speaking, but her second album, Epic, has some more instruments thrown in. Tambourines, even! Either way, stop reading this pointless banter and listen to these gems.
From Because I Was In Love
For You – YouTube
From Epic
One Day – YouTube
Posted by Ant on Jul 17 2011 to News
…for four weeks. I shall be winging my way around the US of A in that time and will not have any time to do updates for you all. Not to worry though, we’re not going away for good or anything. There shall be content as soon as I return (or rather, as soon as the jet lag is dealt with). Now, my comrade, Hugh, could come along right now and post his little kiester away, to completely remove the validity of this news post, but I doubt that’ll happen! (*cough* Post some stuff, Hugh! *cough cough*)
See you soon!
Posted by Ant on Jul 17 2011 to Alternative
So I’ve never heard of Danger Mouse or Daniele Luppi (and for the purposes of this post, I will assume you haven’t either), but I’d wager a bet that you’ve heard of Norah Jones and Jack White? The latter of which being half of the White Stripes and the former being, well, Norah Jones? Perhaps that means you think you know what’s coming, given that they have graced a couple of tracks with their vocal talents for the album Rome, but you’d be entirely wrong.
Rome can be best be described as a kind of concept album, made to emulate the the classic scores of spaghetti westerns (most notably, the scores of Ennio Morricone). These old scores had a vivid warmness to the quality of the recording, as well as a brooding, kind of mysterious desert aura to them as well, all of which has been replicated wonderfully in this album. Having said that, the compositions themselves feel modern at the same time, meaning there’ll be something on this release that’ll grab you: I am most fond of Norah Jones’ contributions, as they are substantially removed from her usual repertoire but are still a perfect match for her vocal talents. Even Jack White’s work is good, despite me not being a particularly big fan of his.
So yes! It is certainly an interesting album. As lame as it is to say this, it’s definitely an album that’ll take you on a journey. Oh, and anyone using Google Chrome: check this out.
Downloads
From Rome
Black – (YouTube)
Roman Blue – (YouTube)
Posted by Ant on Jul 5 2011 to Pop
It is time to bust open this place with a dose of rock infused pop stylings! I’m finding it a bit hard to get into a lot of pop these days, particularly what’s coming out of the indie scene. To me, it feels like they’re trying too hard to have this ‘yeah, totally don’t care and you’re gonna hear about it’ attitude, and it comes across as a little pretentious and over the top. Much like my writing. As such, it’s really nice when you hear something and it just makes you bop your head, which is evidently the universal indicator of good music.
The Demos fit firmly in that head-bopping category. It’s just really fun to listen to, or effortlessly listenable to get a bit more technical. Their music kind of reminds me of Beulah’s more upbeat tunes (like Weight of My Tears) with a pinch of the Dandy Warhols for good measure.
Guess what: I actually have an MP3 for you! Gadzooks, it is one of those days, folks. Like a lot of my posts lately, they are also featured on Bandcamp, which means free streaming music or a dirt-cheap downloadable option.
Downloads
From Lovely
Veronica – (Bandcamp – hit Download track and choose a format)
Nervous – (Bandcamp)
Daydream – (Bandcamp)
Posted by Ant on Jun 26 2011 to Folk
Now, eagle-eyed readers might realise that I’ve posted about She & Him before (that sentence is a bit optimistic because I’m not sure we have readers), but they’ve got a new album out now (well, it’s been out for a while now) and Zooey Deschanel is so dang cute that I think I should write about them again. Also, you can’t do anything about it – we’re all about repeated content right now.
Ok, enough frivolities. What I love about She & Him is that lovely old time feel to their tunes. With the follow up album, Volume Two, the trend is continued, but things are a fair bit boppier this time around and boy howdy there’s nothing wrong with that. It feels modern and catchy but incredibly charming at the same time. It’s a little slice of times gone by, but wonderfully fresh at the same time. Can I say it’s adorable perhaps?
From Volume Two
In the Sun – YouTube
Don’t Look Back – YouTube
Posted by Hugh on Jun 13 2011 to Country
Hey, I can’t let Ant do all the writing or he will divorce me and in that particular scenario, he would likely get the kids. Wait, I don’t want the kids… damnit.
We’ve both mentioned the wondrous Neko Case on here before, but considering that was about 5 years ago, it is time to bring her up again. I’m not even giving you different songs than the ones we posted, because the ones we posted are so flippin’ awesome that you don’t need other ones. She has released another album in the meantime, but it wasn’t one of my favorites. Why are you still reading this? Listen to this glorious angel sing, you turkeys!
Hold On, Hold On – (YouTube)
If You Knew – (YouTube)
Posted by Ant on Jun 9 2011 to Downtempo
I can’t believe I’ve forgotten to post about these guys. Granted, their one and only album came out before this site even started, but that doesn’t mean their music is outdated. Oh ho ho, far from it.
Anyhoo, I figure it’s time to bam things up a notch by presenting you with The Avalanches, an Australian hip-hop/electronic group. Their sole debut album, Since I Left You is a literal cacophony of old records, classic radio shows, and movie quotes, all jammed up with a dash of deck scratching to tie it all together.
Ok, I’m dipping into pretentiousness, but it’s seriously pretty amazing! Most of the album feels structured and completely melodic with only an occasional dip into more electronic territory, but even that’s ok because it sounds weirdly retro at the same time. The real standouts are Since I Left You, Etoh, and most importantly, Frontier Psychiatrist which has a bizarre, but totally appropriate music video.
Downloadable media is a little hard to come by (this album came out in 2001), but I have some awesome music videos for you! As well as that, I have some bonus videos that show where all the samples come from, which you should definitely check out after you listen to the tunes. Goodness me this is a long post.
Downloads
From Since I Left You
Frontier Psychiatrist – (YouTube)
Since I Left You – (YouTube)
Frontier Psychiatrist – The Samples – (YouTube)
Since I Left You – The Samples – (YouTube)
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