Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Cave Singers - Welcome Joy
With hints of Bowerbirds, Phosphorescent and Akron/Family, they craft echoey and haunting songs that burrow into your brain stem and remain there for weeks.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Mount Kimbie - Maybes EP
Throughout the four tracks in the Maybes EP you hear an assortment of glitch, hip-hop, and dubstep, all done in a droney style which makes for a refreshing, relaxing sound. It sounds like Burial met up with Autechre and then Loscil somehow got thrown into this blender. Check out this EP before Mount Kimbie releases a ton of amazing music and you are too intimidated by their huge discography and millions weird of genre tags they have on last.fm to try them out later.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Kyst - Cotton Touch
Cotton Touch starts off with the amply titled "Climb Over", a slow build up of a guitar, drums and eventual violin that crescendos at the perfect time. It's a fantastic opener, nothing too long or pretentious, yet a wonderful nod to classic post-rock artists. "Complain/Cheer" has an almost live feel to it, very reminiscent of some of the quieter Akron/Family songs as it perfectly mixes the erratic with the subdued. This wonderful mixture continues for the remainder of the album as it's textured with bits of the Microphones and Grizzly Bear(I'm talking Horn of Plenty, not that Yellow House or Veckatimest bullshit) showing through every so often. The album finishes with the fantastic instrumental outro "Summer Love" that will leave you with your eyes closed, head bopping and a smile on your face.
I have fallen in love with this record and I can't wait to see what they will come up with next. If you enjoy meticulously crafted songs full of texture and warmth, you are going to adore this record.
Monday, February 8, 2010
AU - Versions
Monday, February 1, 2010
Worker Bee - Tangler
Not your amusement park's version of the old west, Worker Bee presents an unrefined diorama of a one-horse town through well-strung (and strummed) songs without sounding overly country or buying a banjo. Pieced together by tape and tune, Tangler has exposed corners of cardboard and frayed bits of construction paper visible, for a raw and ragged album that can get under your skin and into your bones if you let it. From my barstool, it looks something like this, with burned edges and scatted smoke stains.
Dusty melodies billow across the ground while wind whistles through cracks in the walls of an abandoned general store, clicks of drum sticks keep time as the town rots towards its demise. There's a tinge of pain in the pleading first words of "Come Back" over the state of a town left dirty and dollarless, and there's tension beneath the floorboards. Even the dirt's unsettled by the guitar-playing, gun-slinging owner of the town's one horse who rides in kicking up a trail of doom among "Nesting" plodding drums, hectic cymbals, and rapid rim shots, and faint bells dinging in the distance. Singing over slightly twanging strings with a pair of inherited smoker's lungs, the man sits at the bar filling the small, stank saloon with smells of whiskey, gun powder, and dried blood. He's the kind of man who'd take a lady for a walk and return alone. The kind of man who'd kick a dead horse to watch it bleed. Just one glance starts the bar fight between him, the "Cold Rats" and scoundrels, and someone's gotta die before it ends. Embodying the message of "Rough Magic", "a man's mind is always raining", the thick-skinned man stands over broken bottles donned in black coordinated with his core, as drums hit like buckets on a steel roof and tambourines than cling and clank like spurs. You can sit down in his bar, but you better leave your hand on your gun. This album has drums that can drive the devil out of town, and "All Roads" lead to the night, where the men get "burned by the moon" but never die. Tangler leaves you thinking, despite the flighty, feminine name, Worker Bee might not be a band to mess with.
At times resonating more of a 'new west' sound than old, Tangler is a bit rough around the edges, but nothing some smooth whiskey can't fix. So I'm gonna put my faded black boots on, kick a pony in the gut just to get blood on the tips, spur it in the neck to watch the red river wash away the boot prints, then get myself to a local watering hole.
Listen
Own
Last
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Thursday, January 21, 2010
David Bazan - Curse Your Branches
Drawing you into the cage that is his voice - rough on the edges, a little dark, but hollow enough to hide inside, Bazan makes you feel safe, and for a moment a little warm. Simple drum beats, rhythmic guitar strums, and reassuring piano cause you to release that sigh you've been holding in, relax your shoulders, and let a couple guards down. You start to feel pretty damn good when the claps drop. "Please, Baby, Please" might even find you singing along. But don't get too comfortable, this isn't the album to listen to when you want to feel good about yourself, especially if you're a shitty person, and everyone's a shitty person, sometimes - drunks, smokers, priests, liars, even Bazans, though it's hard to believe. So it's okay, he understands, he knows "it's hard to be/hard to be/a decent human being," although, for him it's pretty easy to be a more than decent musician.
Listen to this album and forget everything I said, go ahead, bop your head.
David Bazan - Curse Your Branches
Listen
Enough of David Bazan as musician, here's David Bazan as art, by Kyle. Striking resemblance, don't you think? (Of Bazan, not Kyle).
Ola Podrida
With hushed vocals and quiet guitars Wingo creates two of the more memorable folk driven americana albums I've heard in recent years. The layers of instruments and sounds create an atmosphere that transports you to a time of wide open plains and horizons free of city lights. This is a time where your life isn't ruled by minutes and seconds. These albums let you take a deep breath and realize you don't need to be constantly stimulated by your surroundings to be happy. Forget your ipods, cell phones, net books, bluetooth and just take a fucking day to relax and enjoy life.
These are albums that you cannot listen to when you need to be productive. You'll instantly feel the urge to quit your job and run outside to climb trees and take naps in open fields. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Indigo Tree - Lullabies of Love and Death
From first listen I knew there was something different about this band. The music itself is very laid back avant-pop that is comparable to a tamer Panda Bear. With simple guitar chords driving the songs, they also mix in trumpets, hand claps and occasional drums in such a way that it sounds almost dreamlike. To be honest, this record is a dream in album form. One of those perfect dreams that you really don't wish to awaken from.
After listened to it at least a half a dozen times, I started doing some research on the band itself. What I found was very surprising. Even though their lyrics are in english and they sing it very well, the band is from Poland. I guess it can be blamed on lack of trying, but I've never listened to a band from Poland before. If asked a few weeks ago what modern Polish music would sound like, I would use adjectives such as dark, brooding and creepy. I now realize how ignorant such a thought is, but I guess I'd rather be ignorant than stupid.
Listen to this album and let it destroy the little box that you've already placed 2009 in.
Try
Buy
Website
Last.fm
Myspace
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sleeping States - In the Garden of the North
Sleeping States, aka Markland Starkie has been doing what he does for six years. His most recent album, In the Gardens of the North now includes other members who probably helped him name the album. I only mention that because it could not be named more accurately. When I listen to Gardens all I can think about is Markland prancing in a mountain of daisies until an abrupt storm sends him home. This is my first album I've heard of that's been called "Queercore" but I'm pretty sure that's how it's supposed to sound.
It's a mellow album that often confronts you with a discomforting instrumental bit to keep you engaged. Soft-spoken lyrics feel like an open reading of his diary with additional commentary turned on. His words are complimented by mellow baselines, simple drums, and a is glued together by a couple of flowing guitars. In the Gardens of the North is sure to please the attentive headphones listener as well as the guy leaving it on in the background while he pets his fat fucking cat.
Buy their stuff
Give the album a try
Add them to friends on Myspace
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Kingfisherg - The Heartspray
Hailing from Belgium, François Boulanger records under the name Kingfisherg. His music could best be described as laid back IDM, very reminiscent of artists such as Wixel, d_rradio, DoF and aMute. Songs get pieced together with soft keys, spoken word, synthesizers, beats and strings and slowly evolve into a more complex being, reaching its peak and disintegrating down the other side. Songs range from the more upbeat "Apple Act", full of hand claps, infectious beats and a simple guitar; to the cold and desolate piano driven "February's Dawn".
Even though the entire album is over in just about 26 minutes, it's the type of release you will want to leave on repeat for hours at a time. No matter what mood I am in I can sit back and enjoy this record. Unbelievably overlooked, this is an absolute must listen if you are a fan of ambient or IDM in general.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Ramona Falls - Intuit
Starting off with the subdued yet upbeat "Melectric", you quickly realize this is more accessible than anything released by Menomena. This is followed by the eerie and frantic "I Say Fever", with it's addicting hook and volatile yet catchy chorus it has quickly become the flagship of the album. With the short but sweet piano composition "Boy Ant", to the simple yet gorgeous folk song "The Darkest Day", the remainder of the album seems to unwind and relax a bit. Finishing off with the Mark Kozeleksque "Diamond Shovel", this album seems to travel an incredible distance in such a short time.
Even though at times it may seem a bit erratic, this is a fantastic release and barely missed out on my favourites of '09 list. Intuit has a bit of everything so no matter what type of music you enjoy you need to give this a shot.
Dragon Turtle - Almanac
"Casualty" starts this journey with quiet drums, a soft guitar and hushed voice that seems to be struggling to be heard, but is afraid to awaken whatever is slumbering in the distance. What starts so serene, eventually weaves into an amalgamation of sharp keys, chunky guitars and a distant piano. The album continues to gently swim back and forth with natural ambience of "Belt of Venus" to the nearly eleven minute long post-rock tinged opus that is "Hourglass".
Refusing to follow any ruleset, Almanac's rich atmosphere of natural and man-made sounds end up creating rich textures that almost become tangible. Because of this, it will most likely draw the most comparison to the The Glow Pt. 2 by the Microphones even though Almanac seems a much more focused and precise effort.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Favourite Albums of 2009
#10
Buy: They don't have an online distributor yet,
so send five dollars to:
07042
Last.fm
Myspace
#9
I was really expecting to hate this album, mostly from the comparison to The Twilight Sad and a buddy of mine making fun of their opening track. Surprising enough, I fell nearly instantly in love with it. Each song has so much atmosphere without being suffocating or overtly pretentious. They take the best parts of great post-rock and shoegaze bands and make something all their own. This album is massive.
#3
#2
#1
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Evening Hymns - Spirit Guides
Jonas Bonnetta is one of the many sorely underrated artists coming out of Canada the past few years. Along side Ohbijou, Forest City Lovers, Timber Timbre, Wooden Sky and The Acorn, they all seem to be on the cusp of something huge.
Spirit Guides is a fantastic folk album with a perfect mixture of field recordings and acoustic instrumental that rivals some of the best this genre has offered from the past few years. Simply gorgeous from start to finish I've had this in my car's cd player for a week straight and it just keeps getting better. Definitely one of my favourite releases of the year, I just haven't figured out high on my list it goes yet.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
The Calm Blue Sea
The Calm Blue Sea hails from Austin, Texas and seems to have gone almost unnoticed in the ocean of fantastic music coming out of the Austin area. A comparison to their Austin post-rock brethren Explosions In The Sky is unavoidable, but they really are so much more than just another band that gets thrown into the same genre without a second thought.
Their self-titled debut is a gapless forty-six minutes of serenity and chaos. Each track moves seamlessly into the next and creates an overall dynamic that makes it nearly impossible to listen to just a single track. An absolute behemoth of a debut record and I'm not sure how I missed out on this one.
On their latest album Siegfried: An Original Score, they attempt to create a score for the 1924 film, Die Nibelungen: Siegfried. I really didn't know what to expect from this project. It seemed rather pretentious and I wasn't very excited about the prospect of listening to it. After listening to to the opening track my fears were put to rest. This album seems so much more focused and precise in every way. They've used a multitude of new sounds and instruments and created just an outstanding record. Lush with pianos and strings that they incorporate perfectly with their original sound, this album is massive and on the verge of being overwhelming. I hope to any god that will hear me that these guys get to score an actual film because I expect it to be nothing short of incredible.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Brian Harnetty & Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Silent City
The past few years Will Oldham has released quite a few allbums, none of which were very memorable to me. Long gone were his vulnerable crackling voice and sorrowful lyrics in exchange for a much more polished and upbeat sound. I guess I miss the old Will and was hoping he'd release something that would remind me of his earlier works. Thankfully, with the help of Brian Harnetty, that Will we have grown to miss is back.
Harnetty crafts a wonderful soundscape of natural ambient sounds, field recordings and historic records to craft a haunting and wonderful world in which Oldham's fragile vocals mix perfectly with. I am slowly working my way through Brian's other recordings and loving every second of it.
Album
Site
Last.fm
Purchase
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Haruko - Wild Geese
Haruko is German singer/songwriter Susanne Stanglow. With ten simple yet gorgeous tracks she created one of the finest folk albums of 2009. I would compare her to the likes of Lotte Kestern, Alela Diane and Sharon Van Etten. This is a fantastic little album and has secured a spot as one of my favourites so far this year.
Album
Myspace
Last.fm
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Ganglians - Monster Head Room
This is a fun album. That is such a simple statement but it is the best way to describe this album. Imagine taking Skygreen Leopards and mixing in some Beach Boys, it would sound something like this. A psychedelic pop album that just makes you feel good from start to finish. I recommend this for fans of Wavves, Crystal Stilts and Skygreen Leopards. Warning: this album is guaranteed to make your bad mood infinitely better. Listen at your own risk.
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Myspace
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Saturday, July 25, 2009
Ohbijou - Beacons
Ohbijou is another fantastic Canadian band that created a wonderful orchestral/pop/folk album that is very reminiscent of The Acorn's Glory Hope Mountain. Sad and yet uplifting this album doesn't fail to make me smile. This is a must listen for fans of The Acorn, Plants and Animals and Bowerbirds.
Album
Myspace
Site
Thursday, July 9, 2009
The Cloud Hymn - A Seed Buried in the Ground
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Myspace
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