New Indie Rock Songs, July 2008: Conor Oberst, iForward, Russia!, Hot Little Hands, Cold War Kids and Others
The long-awaited solo album from Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes is set to be released on August 5, 2008.
The release will mark the talented Oberst's first solo project, and because of the success of Bright Eyes in recent years, there are rather big expectations, which can often be unfair to the artist.
But that's just one of many ironies that can happen to musicians who create a buzz with a band and then go solo.
mp3: "danny callahan" by conor oberst from his self-titled debut album
note: some mp3s expire or are removed and become no longer available over a period of time; irc has no control over this since they are external media files. we also fully support indie artists and ask that you do too.
The BJM, who were featured with The Dandy Warhols in the compelling rockumentary film, DiG!, was, by all accounts, and considering a history of brawling and drug and alcohol abuse, awesome. This is how you want to see BJM in concert.
Beck performing at Norway's Hove Festival 2008
Other favorite rock and indie artists and bands at the 2008 Hove Festival included Yeasayer, Foals, Flogging Molly, Les Savy Fav, The Cool Kids, Stars, Dinosaur Jr., Paramore, The Go Team and a dozen others. Access the full video playlist.
We've all seen enough low-quality, hand-held videos of music concerts and festivals on YouTube and other popular social media networks. But it is rare to find high-quality video and audio, not to mention full sets, from some of indie's biggest groups and artists for free.
The videos are hosted by NRKP3 in Norway. There is no information listed about how long the shows, complete with thrilling crowd shots, roaming camera cranes and top-notch production, will be available for unlimited, free viewing. See 'em while you can.
New Indie Rock Songs, July 2008: Earlimart, Wolf Parade, The Great Northwest, Tilly and the Wall
There's been surprisingly few notable new indie releases so far this July. Still, there's some great music that has come out in the past two weeks, including new albums from artists like Earlimart, The Great Northwest, Tilly and the Wall, Girl Talk, Travis and Wolf Parade.
The two remaining band members of Los Angeles band Earlimart, Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray, have released their newest album, Hymn and Her, this month, building off the success of last year's Mentor Tormentor.
"Acoustic guitars chime over drum loops, keyboards bubble in the background, and harmonies thicken the melodies,' according to Allmusic.com.
"Yet Hymn and Her still sounds intimate, as if the band mates have discovered how to funnel their densely populated songs into warm, mellow washes of sound."
Following a three-year hiatus recording solo projects, Montreal's Wolf Parade band members Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner with a new album titled At Mount Zoomer, and an impressive follow-up to their 2005 hailed debut Apologies to the Queen Mary.
Michigan Becomes A Popular Indie Rock Festival Destination
Indie rockers Widespread Panic are one of dozens of bands at Rothbury
This year marks the beginning of more major music festivals than any year in recent memory - All Points West in New Jersey, Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco and the Rothbury Music Festival in the woods of Michigan, to name a few.
The Rothbury Festival kicked-off on Thursday and is wrapping up today in the woods of western Michigan. Highlights from the festival include performances from the Dave Matthews Band, 311, Widespread Panic, John Mayer, Modest Mouse, Of Montreal, Thievery Corporation, Sam Beam, Primus, STS9, Govt Mule and many others.
311 performing The Cure's "Love Song" at Rothbury
Chicagoians and folks in and around Michigan are festival-spoiled. In addition to Rothbury Festival, there is the Pitchfork Music Festival less than two weeks away and Lollapalooza the weekend of August 1-3.
The lineup for the Pitchfork Festival is impressive, featuring artists and groups like Animal Collective, Public Enemy, Sebadoh, Mission of Burma, The Hold Steady, M. Ward, Spoon, The Ruby Suns, Fleet Foxes, Elf Power, Spiritualized, Les Savy Fav, Apples in Stereo, Cut Copy, The Dodos and dozens more.
On Friday, the theme of the show is centered around performing highly acclaimed, entire albums performed by some of alternative and indie music's most cherished bands.
First up, Public Enemy will play It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back followed by Sebadoh performing Bubble and Scrape, and last but not at all the least, Mission of Burma will treat the festival crowds to the entire anthology from Vs.
The scheduled line-up for Saturday, July 16:
Animal Collective Jarvis Cocker The Hold Steady !!! Vampire Weekend Dizzee Rascal Fleet Foxes Caribou Elf Power - "Paralyzed" (MP3) Jay Reatard Titus Andronicus No Age Atlas Sound - "My Car" (MP3) Extra Golden The Ruby Suns Icy Demons A Hawk and a Hacksaw Occidental Brothers Dance Band International Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar
This is an awesome line-up for only $30. While I have to admit I don't know all of the performers, $30 to see Animal Collective, The Hold Steady, !!!, No Age, Atlas Sound, Elf Power, The Ruby Suns and Caribou is a hell of a bargain.
Sunday, July 20 lineup is as follows:
Spoon Dinosaur Jr. Spiritualized M. Ward Ghostface and Raekwon Les Savy Fav The Apples in Stereo Boris Dirty Projectors Times New Viking Cut Copy Bon Iver The Dodos King Khan & His Shrines El Guincho Fuck Buttons HEALTH High Places Mahjongg
Sunday is another amazing line-up, including Spoon, Dinosaur Jr., Spiritualized, M. Ward, The Apples in Stereo, Cut Copy, The Dodos and many others.
Interestingly enough, despite a sagging economy, high fuel prices and saturation of big, outdoor music festivals spanning two to five days in duration, the fact is that ticket sales for both the veteran fests like Coachella and Bonnaroo, and the 'newbies', have been overall successful so far for 2008.
Black Kids is set to release a new, full-length album (albeit for Columbia Records) called Partie Traumatic on July 22.
With danceable, catchy songs reminiscent of a mix between The Cure and Arcade Fire, Jacksonville, Florida's indie outfit Black Kids have received a heavy dose of critical acclaim, blogger buzz, and the inevitable backlash over the past year.
The band, who made it on to the indie music map with the singles "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" and "Hurricane Jane" (see link below) is now under enormous pressure with the upcoming release of their debut album, and fans and critics will be expecting more than just a hurried release containing a set of mediocre songs.
However, it is important to note that the band's 'debut' only contains three new songs. That is not something that works in the band's favor or will necessarily sell more records than an album that contains a full set of new songs.
It's always amusing, and somehow pretentious, for the naysayers of indie rock 'sensations' - as Black Kids have become - to conveniently praise a talented new band and then turn around and bash them for becoming popular, which is sort of what I'm doing here, but not really, because overall, their music speaks for itself - and does a fine job at that.
If they were pretentious and in-your-face about their indie stardom, as some musicians are, that would be a different story. So far, all indications point to an amazingly creative and exciting band with catchy sound and name.
If you are not familiar with Black Kids, you can listen to this free MP3 from Black Kids and also following some of the music links to stream their music, get more information about the band and access their playlists on various social networking sites.
MP3: Hurricane Jane by Black Kids from the upcoming debut album, Partie Traumatic
The following is the song and video - "I Don't Want To Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" - that put the band into the spotlight (especially in the U.K., where the band has a large, loyal following):
The long-awaited solo album from Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes is set to be released on August 5, 2008.
