Sean McConnell is Cold CountryRecently we made a road trip mixtape for a friend who was driving across the country (from California to New York) and included a couple of songs from an artist (among many others) that we have only recently become acquainted with. Our friend texted to ask why he had never heard of this “brilliant artist” before and we reminded him that we say that all of the time when we review music submissions from amazingly talented artists and bands that almost no one has heard of before. In fact, the archives of IRC feature thousands of such artists dating back to 2007, and most still have active song links, especially those published since 2009.
The reason he had not heard of the artist before is that we had not posted about him until now. He is Chicago-based singer, songwriter, musician and a highly sought audio engineer, Sean McConnell, who has been recording and releasing music under the moniker Cold Country throughout the summer. On June 28th, McConnell released his first EP, Missing the Muse, with a backup band. The EP was released exclusively via BandCamp. More recently, McConnell completed an in-house artist residency at Hill House in East Jordan, Michigan.
Prior to recording and engineering his own original music, McConnell has worked on releases with bands like The Bears of Blue River, Dastardly and Teenage Rage. His remarkable ear for the perfect notes and for just the right volumes and tones of certain instruments is apparent in the wonderfully dreamy song, “MIssing The Muse” – the same guitar and harmonica ballad that our traveling buddy has listened to “at least a dozen times” on his journey, “especially through the Great Plains where the land is as flat as a table for hundreds of miles in every direction, and where you see more cows than people for days on end” and “where you can still drive through one traffic light towns, sit at an old 50s-built counter with creaky old stools and get a grand midwestern breakfast with a smile for under six dollars.”
Cold Country’s songs, even though his a big city fella, capture a sense of time and place, weave bluesy harmonica with dreamy guitar playing and just the right touch of percussion. We always thought that audio engineers make great musicians, and Cold Country is a good example of that. The second song, “Carried By The Wind,” is also a fitting track on a road trip mixtape although it is a bit more energetic – a song more compatible with exiting the Great Plains and heading into the heart of the Mississippi River delta. There is no traveler from the West heading to the eastern United States that doesn’t cross the Mississippi River in some form or fashion on their journey across the United States.
As travelers who have done so by car, bus, and train (not counting airplanes), you don’t really know the country until you’ve traveled, on the ground, across it and can see and appreciate every day on your journey the changing landscapes, people, climates, cultures and music. Artists like McConnell, and thousands of others, contribute to the road trip experience, which is really the American experience, the right of passage, the freedom of the open road for thousands of miles into the future, and an open invitation to truly experience the amazing musical melting pot that America is.
“Missing The Muse” – Cold Country from Missing The Muse
“Carried Away With The Wind” – Cold Country from Missing The Muse
This post and playlist includes over 65 MP3 singles from the second half of August releases, featuring dozens of popular, well-known and totally DIY, obscure artists and bands. This is the second, and final, post and playlist mix covering the cafe’s top picks for the best singles and albums of August 2013. The first volume of Best Singles & Albums for August 2013, covering July 30th to August 12th, was a huge success with listeners and included standout singles from new albums by popular and well-known indie artists like Heaven, Explosions in the Sky & David Wingo, The Polyphonic Spree, Pond, Medicine, Michael Franti & Spearhead, T. Hardy Morris, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Minks, The Delta Mirror and Jack Bellows , in addition to incredibly talented unsigned and obscure artists and bands like Barbarian, Egadz, Null Device, Lights at Night, Stuart Newman, Future Wife, Step Rockets, Mosaic, Hunter As A Horse, and others.
The first volume of the Best Singles & Albums for August, featuring 39 amazing songs, covered July 30th to August 12th, using the closest Tuesday (the day most albums are traditionally released by labels) to August 1st (which was July 30th). In these two volumes, there are so many terrific, ‘keeper’ songs – over 100 in all. It’s the most comprehensive MP3 playlist of the top singles from new albums released in the month of August available anywhere online. Enjoy.
Best Singles & Albums Released August 13th to 19th
Top Singles from Bloc Party’s and The Moondoggies’ Latest Album Releases
After you’ve listened to Volume One of the best new August releases, and crave even more great songs that you can stream or download, here’s where you’ll want to come for the rest of August releases. While the week of August 13th to August 19th was relatively thin for new releases, there’s still great music from popular indie artists like Washed Out‘s new Subpop release, Paracosm, followed by Bloc Party‘s latest album, The Nextwave Sessions, featuring the lead single, “Ratchet,” which is one of their best singles in a number of years. The popular Seattle indie band, The Moondoggies, dropped their sophomore album, Adios I’m A Ghost, on August 13th. The top song from the LP so far has been the track, “Red Eye.” The track is flanked by excellent electric guitar work, including a riveting riff throughout, and soulful vocals from Kevin Murphy. However, that can sometimes be balanced out by the fact that the albums have not had time to really seep into the listening public’s playlists the way that albums released earlier in the year naturally are more likely to.
“Ratchet” – Bloc Party from The Nextwave Sessions on Frenchkiss
“Red Eye” – The Moondoggies from Adios I’m a Ghost on Hardly Art
Ernest Greene, aka Washed Out, working on his music
The Genius of Ernest Greene Emerges Again on Washed Out’s Sophomore Album Release
The sophomore album from the talented, popular musician Ernest Greene‘s indie project, Washed Out, was one of the most anticipated releases of the summer, and it did not disappoint. Since the release of the debut album, Within and Without, in 2011, that made Washed Out an international indie recording star, Greene has been touring endlessly around the globe. In between tours, Greene found time to write and record the material that makes up Paracosm, his sophomore release. We think it’s good that he took his time, even though there was tremendous pressure on Greene to put out a follow-up album sooner because of the huge success of his debut. Often, when an artist that comes out of nowhere has a big and unexpected success with a debut album, the pressure – from the label and some fans – to turn out a new follow-up album or EP within six months to a year, is tremendous, and intense. Plus, the expectation of course is that it should be even better than the debut that also has to be as good or better than the debut, is intense.
But many times, as history has shown us, when artists and their labels rush a sophomore album out, the results are not so good. Greene, apparently, wasn’t willing to rush his follow-up album because of pressure, and that is respectful to his fans, who naturally have high expectations and we would guess would rather wait a little longer for a great album than to get a mediocre album quickly. Thankfully, Greene took his time with writing and recording Paracosm, which is a remarkable, at times stunningly genius, collection of new songs from Washed Out. Greene performed some of his new songs live during his terrific performance a couple of weeks ago at Monterey‘s debut First City Festival.
Aside from those big releases, it was a rather thin week for new albums from established and better known artists. As far as new releases from the next strata of artists we call the ‘inbetweeners’ – those that are not necessarily well known, but also not obscure and are signed to a label – there were a number of worthy releases dropped by Dog Party and Don Cavalli, and Jagwar Ma and Twin Steps, among others. And lastly, but not least, further down the page, make sure to check out the carefully selected fresh releases from DIY, under-the-radar and unsigned bands, many of who are exclusively featured on IRC.
Overlooked Releases from The Chastity Belt, Dog Party and Jagwar Ma
The band The Chastity Belt dropped their new album, No Regrets, fronted by the single, “Black Sail,” on August 13th. Punk pop blazes from the band Dog Party‘s short (44 seconds!) new anthemic single, “How Are You Doing,” from the album, Lost Control. If you like girl punk, you’ll want to get that album.
Next up is the thrilling single, “Man I Need,” from Australian duo Jagwar Ma‘s debut album, Howlin. The band grinds out a modern take on the Manchester dance-rock sound that bands like The Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets made popular in the late 80’s and early 90’s (before it was replaced by the Brit pop craze headed by Oasis and Blur). There’s also a clear influence of Jane’s Addiction throughout Howlin’. The Jagwar Ma music video is also worth checking out.
“Black Sail” – Chastity Belt from No Regerts on Help Yourself Records – attach
Auerbach Championed Songwriter Don Cavalli Delivers Another Winner
Let’s switch things up and get down and boogie 70’s-style with the funky blues rock and soul grooves of French artist Don Cavalli on the title track of his sophomore album, Temperamental. Cavalli’s profile was significantly raised when Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys referenced Cavalli’s 2008 psychedelic blues debut, Cryland, as an inspiration. A pat on the back from a Grammy-winning rocker must be such a huge confidence booster, but it also places an extra burden of expectation from new fans (especially the most committed hard-core Black Keys’ fans who surely sought out Cavalli’s music) on the artist. Ahh, the ying and yang of life. Following “Temperamental,” things shift into a higher gear on the playlist with the inclusion of the gritty tune, “The Corner Man,” a lo-fi, riff-heavy R&B meets garage punk rock track from Boston‘s own Barrence Whitfield and The Savages. Wrapping up this section, or more accurately perhaps, selection, of August’s third week of top singles from new releases by fairly well-known indie artists and bands, is the lo-fi, live single, “Son of Sam,” from the indie rock band Twin Steps. The song is off of the band’s new seven-inch, Plague Songs, available via 1-2-3-4 Go Records!
“Temperamental” – Don Cavalli from Temperamental on Everloving Records
“The Corner Man” – Barrence Whitfield and the Savages from Dig Thy Savage Soul on Bloodshot Records
“Son of Sam” – Twin Steps from Plague Songs 7″ on 1-2-3-4 Go! Records
Band to Watch Scott & Charlene’s Wedding Drop Ace Album
If you’re not familiar with the band Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, here’s a good chance to get to know the duo, and why they are a rising band in the indie ‘musicverse.”
There new lead single, “Wild Heart,” from the August 13th album release, Any Port In A Storm, is evidence of why the duo’s atmospheric post-punk rock sound, that is obviously influenced by Sonic Youth and Velvet Underground, is causing a buzz with some alternative rock lovers. The second single, “Lesbian Wife,” shifts in tempo and sound density and features Scott’s half spoken/half sung vocals. There is not an artist we have heard in a long time that sounds so much like Lou Reed.
“Wild Heart” – Scott & Charlene’s Wedding from Any Port In A Storm on Fire Records
Top DIY Releases Week of August 13th From Flashbulb Fires, CREEP, Sreamin’ Eagle and Others
Now for our favorite part of the weekly releases – select new singles and albums from DIY, under-the-radar and ready-to-break-out indie artists and bands, many of which have not, until now, received any significant exposure in the indie blogosphere. This turns out to be another great playlist of “rarely heard” singles released during the third week of August.
As regular readers and listeners see, there are dozens and dozens of talented artists and bands featured each month on IRC that don’t get covered elsewhere. Again and again, we are amazed by the wealth of remarkable musical talent across America, and around the world, that too often goes unnoticed and otherwise gets lost in the noise of the global mainstream music monster machine. The monster machine pumps hundreds of millions of dollars a year into worldwide production, advertising, marketing, promotion, social media, cable and on and on.
The top DIY release of the week includes artists that are well-known in the indie rock world.
Rising Band Flashbulb Fires Release New Single
From Denver, the indie “haze-pop” band Flashbulb Fires, has been making waves in the world of indie rock since the release of their widely acclaimed debut album, Glory, in 2009. In the ensuing years, the band toured extensively, played official showcases at SXSW and CMJ. Last year, the band released their sophomore album, Gasconader, which was also widely praised. On a roll, the band released a new single, “Unseen Things” on August 13th that we think many of you will enjoy , especially for fans of the band. No word yet on when their next album will be released, but it is in the works according to band member Michael James.
“Unseen Things” – Flashbulb Fires from single – Aug. 13th
CREEP’s New LP Features Guest Vocalists Romy Madley-Croft, Kazu and Andrew Wyatt
The DIY release, Echoes, from the band, CREEP, dropped on August 13th, includes 10 tracks, each with a guest vocalist, including artists like Romy Madley-Croft (The xx) on the track, “Days,” and Planningtorock on “Introduction,” as well as contributions from Sia, Tricky, Andrew Wyatt (Miike Snow), Kazu (Blonde Redhead), and Holly Miranda. The Brooklyn duo that obviously has some great connections, is headed by Lauren Flax and Lauren Dillard, both DJs and producers. Even though Echoes was just released, there are already numerous mixes of tracks from Echoes floating around. For example, the song, “Days,” (view the official video below) has been mixed by Deadboy, Soul Clap, Azari, and Super8 (listen below).
“Days” (featuring Romy Madley Croft) – CREEP from Echoes
While he’s not going to be the next Bon Iver or Tallest Man on the Earth, Memphis musician Winston Legtheigh, who fronts Screamin Eagle, is nonetheless one of the most talented DIY musicians we’ve heard in August thanks the album, Old & Young and the standout track “Good As Dead,” teaming up with musician Zeke Johnson. You’ve probably already spotted a dreary theme, but his music is very much alive and well.
“Good as Dead” – Screamin Eagle from Old & Young – Aug. 13th
San Francisco Artist Jason Buckingham Drops EP as Strange Culprits
San Francisco one-man band Jason Buckingham, who records under the moniker Strange Culprits, released his debut EP, Five Fingers, on August 13th. Strange Culprits’ lead single, “Concrete in the Rain,” is a gloomy, gritty song with distant-sounding guitar licks, a looped bass, singular drum beat, piano riffs and kind of scary vocals. Buckingham said of his new project: “Strange Culprits aims to flip the bird at musical genres, choosing instead to operate by the simple credo that a good song is a good song, whether it was inspired by Motown, Woodie Guthrie, or Cheap Trick.”
“Concrete in the Rain” – Strange Culprits from Five Fingers
The Persian Leaps Drop Debut EP, Praise Elephants
From St. Paul, Minnesota, the pop rock band The Persian Leaps knock out incredibly catchy hooks, bright melodies and sing-a-long choruses on their new single, “Silent Treatment,” from the band’s debut EP, Praise Elephants. The young quartet, formed in 2012, create “driving, chimey music” influenced by bands like House of Love, My Bloody Valentine, Guided by Voices, and Teenage Fanclub. Those bands have informed The Persian Leaps’ “short, catchy songs coated with divine guitar noise and vocal harmonies.” Their new EP was dropped on August 15th.
“Silent Treatment” – The Persian Leaps from Praise Elephants
Top Singles from Paper City, Nytyly, Aaron Gibson Recent Releases
Also listen to new music from bands like Hunting Beach, California’s 60’s surf pop band Paper City who’ve opened for artists like The Blank Tapes, Jessica Dobson (of the Shins), The Secret 6 (of The Killingtons), Chase Frank, and Alyssandra Nighswonger. Their debut album, Summer of Love, was released on August 15th. Next, “Harmony Day,” is a strange mix of electronic rock and psychedelic pop from the Brooklyn band nytyly. Aaron Gibson is an accomplished singer/songwriter and musician from Oregon who has toured in China and around the states. The song, “Waiting,” is from Gibson’s new album, Loose Ends.
“Love and Fashion” – Paper City from Paper City
“Harmony Day” – nytyly from Brooklyn Broadcast – Aug. 16th
“Waiting” – Aaron Gibson from Loose Ends
Top Singles and Albums from Week Four, August 20th to August 26th
As if making up for previous weeks in which there were a thin number of new releases, the week of August 20th sprung a whole bunch of much anticipated, and warmly welcomed, new albums, from artists like Ty Segall, Crocodiles, Travis, Porcelain Raft, No Age, Kissaway Trail , and others.
Anytime Ty Segall has a new release, it’s like a holiday in the cafe. The northern California based, southern California-raised, musician is not only a composer, singer, songwriter, mulit-instrumentalist, producer and serial collaborator , he is also a prolific, original and versatile artist. Sleeper has apparently disappointed some Segall fans, but those who really appreciate his talents, will find the new album not to be a sleeper, but a grower. The more we listen to it, the more and more we discover all over again, again in a slightly different way than before, the sheer brilliance of his artistry and the necessity to proclaim that Segall is one of the most important indie artists of the past decade.
Top New Releases from Crocodiles, Diarrhea Planet and No Age Top Picks
We love the Crocodiles scuffed up, gritty persona and their reverb-heavy lo-fi rock, like the raunchy new single, “Cockroach,” from their new album, Crimes of Passion, demonstrates. Our next pick among the more popular and well-known bands with new albums released on August 20th is I’m Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams by the Nashville band Diarrhea Planet (among our top picks for worst band name ever) and the new single, “Separations,” that we’ve listened to half a dozen times just in the first few days after we first heard it, and the album itself is also turning out to be a ‘repeater’ – one that you can’t help but to play again and again. Despite the terrible band name, which also has an element of ‘fuck you’ to the music industry and the brand makers, Diarrhea Planet are yet another indie band from Nashville – a non-country music trend that has been picking up steam in a city which has had its identity tied to country music for nearly a century. Nowadays in Nashville, country isn’t the only game in town.
No Age‘s new track, “No Impression,” is a strange lo-fi gumbo of post-punk and no wave blending deep base thumps, psychedelic rock style guitar, untuned violin strands, fuzzy synths, and lots of effects including reverb and fade. KEXP said the band’s fifth album, An Object, is “a dramatic change of pace that finds them exploring the sounds of stern post-punk, atmospheric shoegaze and amelodic No Wave with a mostly bleak blend of angular guitar lines, noisy ambient textures, taut rhythms and monotone vocals.” The terrific single, “An Impression,” gives a wonderful and correct impression of the rest of the songs on An Object. An excellent way to close out this block of singles is appropriately concluded with the single, “The Way Out,” the terrifically hazy pop glaze from Porcelain Raft’s new album, Permanent Signal.
“Cockroach” – Crocodiles from Crimes of Passion on Frenchkiss Records
“Separations” – Diarrhea Planet from I’m Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams on Infinity Cat
“The Way Out” – Porcelain Raft from Permanent Signal on Secretly Canadian
An Excellent Trio of Singles from Kissaway Trail, Typhoon and Ski Lodge’s New LPs
Probably our favorite Danish indie rock band, Kissaway Trail, came roaring back on August 20th with the release of a new album of wonderfully guitar-driven, hooklicious, rhythmic indie rock on the song “The Springsteen Implosion,” followed by the latest single from the new album by the band Typhoon, and the new-to-us band Ski Lodge, a post-punk band from New York that crafts dark, dreamy and atmospheric elements into the songs on their debut, Big Heart.
“Boy” – Ski Lodge from Big Heart on Dovecote Records
After Hiatus, Superchunk and Travis Mark Return With Excellent New LPs
We call artists and bands that have been releasing noteworthy music for more than 20 years, ‘The Vets’ and we all love them from REM to Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins to The Strokes and Built to Spill and Modest Mouse, U2 to Dinosaur Jr. (among many, many others). These are the folks that have had a huge impact on many of the indie and alternative rock artists and bands we cover all of the time. So, it was a delight to finally see Superchunk release a new album that includes the excellent single, “Me & You & Jackie Mittoo” sounds like it could have been a Big Star hit single circa 1974 with it’s three power pop chords and glam rock-style riffs and chorues. Another veteran band of the music scene, Scottish post-Britpop, pro-alternative rock band Travis return with their first album, Where You Stand, in five years. While Fran Healy‘s vocals are not as robust as they were a decade ago, but he still carries a tune remarkably well, and the band sounds as tight and perfected as ever as the lead single, “Moving,” so aptly demonstrates.
“Me & You & Jackie Mittoo” – Superchunk from I Hate Music on Merge Records
“Moving” – Travis from Where You Stand on Red Telephone Box Records
Energized after a few chaotic years of a whirlwind success, singer/songwriter and musician Laura Veirs, did not slow down, writing and recording an album’s worth of songs for her sophomore album, Warp and Weft. The toe-tapping feature track, “Sun Song,” truly shines and flourishes in a swirl of violins, piano, drums, guitars and more, but is only made whole with Veirs’ magnificent vocal work. Following Veirs is “Getting Even,” the latest single from White Lies’ new album, dropped Aug. 20th, Big TV.
“Sun Song” – Laura Veirs from Warp and Weft on Raven Marching Band Records
“Getting Even” – White Lies from Big TV on Harvest Records
‘Inbetweener’ Artists Pure Bathing Culture, Still Life Still, Surf City Add to Top Songs of August
This next section is what we like to call the “inbetweeners,” meaning they are artists and bands who are not widely known and popular but are also not obscure, DIY or under the radar. Most ‘inbetweeners’ have hundreds or thousands of hardcore fans locally or spread about the country, and in some rare cases, around the world. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard a US-based ‘inbetweener’ band that had few fans in the U.S. but were wildly popular in the indie and alt rock scenes in places like Tokyo, Lima, Madrid or Sao Paulo. It’s amazing how things work out that way.
If you love diversity and pleasant surprises in your musical journey and discovery, and you have broad tastes, and keep an open mind to possibly digging something that at first you might not think is your cup of tea, our band profiles, new releases round-ups, playlists and other posts are for you.
Talented inbetweeners with releases from the week of August 20th include Pure Bathing Culture, Bent Shapes, Native, His Electro Blue Voice, Earl Sweatshirt, Tim Easton, and Golden Suits.
“Pendulum” – Pure Bathing Culture from Moon Tides on Partisan Records
“In Enemies” (Teen Daze Remix) – Still Life Still from Mourning Trance on Arts & Crafts
“It’s a Common Life” – Surf City from We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like This on Fire Records
Boston DIY Band to Watch Bent Shapes Drops Debut
Bent Shapes is a new-to-us band that stood out for their nerdy pop rock with some reggae guitar playing (think Vampire Weekend), forceful yet raspy vocals and a hook-friendly rhythm and beat that is hard to turn away from. The Boston trio is composed of members Andy Sadoway, Ben Potrykus, and Supriya Gunda. Since forming under their previous name Girlfriends in 2009, Bent Shapes has released a string of DIY cassettes and 7”s full of fuzzy garage, frantic jangle pop, and scrappy post-punk. The band’s myriad of influences include Josef K, The Feelies, Jonathan Richman, Billy Childish, and The Fall.
Bands Army Navy, Gross Relations, Earl Sweatshirt, Tim Easton, Golden Suits Drop Fine New Tracks
One of our favorite RE-discoveries for the fourth week of August (Aug 20-26) was the band Army Navy, who we initially were turned on to last year, but honestly, in the flood of new songs, albums and bands since then, we unintentionally forgot about Army Navy and how much we liked them until hearing their latest offering. Next, Brooklyn lo-fi surf rockers Gross Relations spazz out on the uptempo, riff rolling single, “Cut The Final Scene,” from the band’s self-title debut album, dropped on August 20th, followed by hip-hop rapper Earl Sweatshirt and the 50’s style rockabilly of Tim Easton – a stark transition from one musical form to another and about as unlikely a pairing as Big Bird and Mickey Mouse. This next single, “Swimming in ’99,” by Golden Suits seemed like a good fit – because of its similar tempo – to follow Easton’s “Troubled Times,” but also different enough to be amongst the great diversity of sounds and styles in this block of singles from August album releases.
Psychedelic Rock from His Electro Blue Voice and Native’s Spooky Sounds
If you’re a Velvet Underground/Lou Reed kind of a person, chances are you’ll dig the loose composition, psychedelic meandering of instruments and long, disorganized, yet strangely appealing, jams of the band His Electro Blue Voice on the Subpop release, Ruthless Sperm, particularly on the single included below, “Born Tired.” The menacing and dark instrumentation and vocals on Native‘s “Coin Toss” fits appropriately placed right after His Electro Blue Voice – afterall, they got the whole eerily psychedelic rock vibe going with “Born Tired.”
“Born Tired” – His Electro Blue Voice from Ruthless Sperm on Sub Pop
“Coin Toss” – Native from Orthodox on Sargent House
“Whoa” (feat. Tyler, The Creator) – Earl Sweatshirt from Doris on Tan Cressida/Columbia
“Troubled Times” – Tim Easton from Not Cool on Campfire Propaganda/Thirty Tigers
“Swimming In ’99” – Golden Suits from Golden Suits on Yep Roc http://soundcloud.com/goldensuits/swimming-in-99
Top Singles from Julianna Barwick, Widower and Alexander Von Mehren’s Latest Releases
This section of the new releases covers artists and bands that are not from the strata of popular and well-known indie musicians, like Superchunk, Crocodiles or No Age, but at the same time are not DIY, under the radar or obscure like many of the DIY exclusive musicians we feature are – this section is for the artists and bands that fall in between noteriety and obscurity.
Kicking off is the wonderful musician Julianna Barwick and her beautiful single, “One Half,” from the album Nepenthe. Another mellow song from a new release dropped on August 20th is the single, “Oh Catherine, My Catherine,” by the band Widower – what a gorgeous acoustic love song. Alexander Von Mehren turns out another praise-worthy album Natural Selections, including the title track, among others.
“One Half” – Julianna Barwick from Nepenthe on Dead Oceans
“Natural Selection” – Alexander Von Mehren from Natural Selection on The Control Group
DIY Nashville Singer/Songwriter Rob Vischer Delivers Indie Pop from ‘Music City’
There were some terrific releases in the fourth week of August from DIY bands and artists that few people know about like Nashville singer/songwriter Rob Vischer. When people think of Nashville they think of country music. But in recent years, there are other musical styles emerging from the city that made Elvis famous (or vice versa?), including some terrific indie music from a growing number of musicians. Singer/songwriter and musician Rob Vischer is one of them.
On his new single, “Love For A Lifetime,” Vischer, and his band, touch on many ‘indie’ elements, such as a cheerful beat, handclaps, grandiose, soaring choruses, bright piano, keys and guitar playing. We’re surprised we’ve never heard of him before considering how excellent his songs are. You’ll have “Love For A Lifetime” playing in your head for days; it’s an irresistibly feel-good song with an incredibly positive and hopeful sentiment. Love is a common theme on Vischer’s new album, Meant to Love. The song, “Airwaves & Envelopes” is another love song, this time about long distance love set to flourishing guitars, big drum rolls and very tight production. It’s not a stretch to compare his music to bands like Fun, Death Cab For Cutie, Jimmy Eat World and Green Day, to varying degrees; Vischer’s sound falls somewhere in the middle of DIY indie and polished radio rock. Therefore, it’s no surprise that his biggest musical influences include Death Cab for Cutie, Fun, Bruno Mars, Civil Wars, Snow Patrol, and Muse.
Vischer started writing songs when he was 16. Four years ago, he travelled across the U.S. on bicycle, working odd jobs, performing and selling his CD of demos door-to-door along the way. With additional money he earned in the ensuing three years following his cross-country journey, Vischer had enough money saved to pay for the studio time, mixing and mastering to produce a proper CD release.
“Love for a Lifetime” – Rob Vischer from Meant to Love
“Airwaves & Envelopes” – Rob Vischer from Meant to Love
Sacramento Indie Band to Watch Appalachians Release New Seven-Inch
Our top pick for the best DIY release of the fourth week of August 2013 is the new 7″ two-song release from Sacramento band, Appalachians, a terrific and promising band we featured not long ago after coming across their music in our submission box. We think they’re one of the best new DIY bands we’ve heard in 2013 and ask ourselves: “why don’t more people know about this band?”
The single, “Dolly” is one of the best of all the lead singles for the week altogether, among new releases by both popular and well-known indie artists and unsigned, obscure bands, such as Applachians. On the second track, “Lo-Hi,” banjos are picking, mandolins are strumming, and a bass is humming, along with the gentle, reassuring vocals that add another appealing quality to an already appealing song. And it’s totally family-friendly too. Along with the songs that we featured the first time we profiled Appalachians, the two songs featured here on a two-song released titled, Bereaved, are by no means wholly representative of this band’s incredible talents, and the enjoyment their music has brought to all of us that have latched on as fans from the get-go. If you want to hear more from Applachians, stream The Rolling C’s, their brilliant July 2012 debut, on Bandcamp at http://appalachians1.bandcamp.com/album/the-rolling-cs
https://indierockcafe.com2013/01/5-diy-bands-to-watch-in-2013-vol-i-hemmingbirds-jumpiter-cloud-lantern-the-jesus-rehab-and-appalachians/ “Dolly” – Appalachians from Bereaved
“Lo-hi” – Appalachians from Bereaved
Indie Singer/Songwriters Blake Walker and Dan Jacobs Cross the Radar with New EP
Blake Walker is an indie pop/rock singer/songwriter in Los Angeles who sent us a couple of impressive songs from his debut EP, My Poor Joy. In 2003, he left Dallas in a car and drove to LA in pursuit of his dreams, a quest millions of young people have ventured on for nearly a century now. That’s what America is all about and you can get a sense of that in Walker’s heartfelt music. He listed his musical influences as Deerhunter, The Walkmen, and Velvet Underground. Walker provided one of the best answers we have heard of to the question asked on the submission form – “what is indie rock.” He replied: “Whether or not Indie refers to truly independent music, or music on a subsidiary label owned by a larger company, the term represents qualities of purity, earnestness, immediacy, exuberance, experimentation and fun. The spirit of good Indie music is always liberated, regardless of how it’s distributed. ”
Another singer/songwriter, Dan Jacobs of Washington, D.C., caught our attention with a couple of tracks that he sent in from his self-released album that he quietly dropped on August 27th. The world didn’t really notice, but we did. Since officially becoming a DIY artist in 2012, this is his first exposure on any blog or other publication. We love that we are often the first music site, or site in general, to exclusively premiere a promising new artist or band that has been overlooked for too long.
Hopefully, enough people will dig the two songs here and want to listen to more and purchase his album, which you can get by searching for his name together with the album name. We like his raspy, almost Dylanesque voice, a reference that is appropriate since he listed in his submission Bob Dylan as his greatest musical influence. If you know someone that is making an indie film that needs a great folk song, it’d be worthwhile to contact Jacobs to see if he’d provide one of his songs for an indie soundtrack.
“The Winter Classic” – Dan Jacobs from Creatures
“You Say” – Blake Walker from My Poor Joy
“My Little Singaporean Princess” – Blake Walker from My Poor Joy
Picture Atlantic is an alternative indie-rock band from San Jose, California with an explosive sound and an openhearted approach to song craft. Since their formation in 2006, the band has released two full-length albums and three EPs. They’ve also become a popular band in the competitive San Francisco Bay Area music scene and have performed at the annual Live 105’s BFD festival and headlined at San Francisco legendary venues like Bottom Of The Hill and Popscene. Their new video single, “Edgewood Road,” shot in a redwood forest, is a pretty good song. Recently, Absolute Punk named them of the Top 100 Best Unsigned Bands. Picture Atlantic’s new YouTube “Edgewood Road”.
Top Singles & Albums of August 27th-Sept. 2nd
The final week of releases for August 2013, compared to the previous week (August 20-26th) was thin. However, within that thin pile of releases from popular and well-known indie artists, were some of the summer’s most highly anticipated albums, including new releases from Franz Ferdinand, Capsula and The Dodos that all have sweet first singles to give you a taste of what the albums offer.
Plus, the last week of August also included other worthwhile releases from artists and bands like the wildly popular Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand, who offer more dance beats and less synths on their fourth album, featuring the single “Right Action,” one of the band’s best singles in years.
With the blood-pumping from Ferdinand’s “Right Action,” it was Argentinian band Capsula‘s new single, “Blind,” that really blew the roof off and blaze through while the song, “Substance,” from The Dodos wrapped up the trio of top singles nicely with it’s uptempo beats. Plus, one of the best singles of August, “Bootlegs,” an infectious, lo-fi garage pop rock track by New Zealand‘s rising indie rockers, Ghost Wave.
“Right Action” – Franz Ferdinand from Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action on Domino Recording Co.
“Blind” – Capsula from Solar Secrets on Krian Music
“Substance” – The Dodos from Carrier on Polyvinyl Records
“Bootlegs” – Ghost Wave from Ages on Flying Nun Records
Singles from New Albums by Joe Black Lewis, King Krule, Ghost Wave and Others
Fiery funk and gritty soul comprise the latest work of Austin music icon, Black Joe Lewis; genre gumbo, with chunks of hip-hop, spoonfuls of rock and pinches of jazz is one way to describe the new album from British musician Archy Marshall, better known as King Krule; and listen to and download new singles from Disappear, Dent May, The Suburbs, Flaamingos (not a mistype), and Ghost Wave. Let’s keep the beats and electric guitars going with the single, “Turn The Radio On,” from The Suburbs, a terrifically catchy, radio-ready (oddly enough) pop rock song with a great rhythm, and even a horn section. Overall, the band seems to be influenced by artists like The Eels, David Bowie and Nick Cave.
“Come To My Party” – Black Joe Lewis from Electric Slave on Vagrant Records
“Easy Easy” – King Krule from 6 Feet Beneath the Moon on True Panther Sounds
MODOC Officially Release Album Featuring Popular Single
The Nashville alternative rock band MODOC was originally formed back in 2009 by friends from Ball State University in Indiana. After they became a pretty big deal in the local music scene, the band decided to move to Nashville in 2011 to up their game. Not long after, ABC picked up the band’s single, “Devil On My Shoulders” for a promo of the television series 666 Park Avenue. Seemingly little things like that can give a band a nice bump, as it seemed to do for MODOC. They signed to Zavitson Music Group and released their self-titled sophomore album that featured a reworked version of “Devil On My Shoulder” as well as another single, “Runnin’. Last year the band drummed up excitement in ‘Music City’ with the song and video for the track, “Coward.” We are always welcoming of a great new band that knows how to rock and roll and has fun doing it.
“Devil On My Shoulder” – MODOC from Devil On My Shoulder
“Runnin” – MODOC from Devil On My Shoulder
San Francisco Artists Gamble Gamble Die and TaughtMe Drop Fantastic New LPs
The year-old San Francisco post college-rock, post-punk folk rock band Gamble Gamble Die released their debut EP, Badman, on August 30th totally DIY style. The title track is a sunny, but mellow, indie pop song with looping guitar notes, melodic bass and a mid-tempo drum beat with crashing cymbals. The lyric that stood out was “everytime you tell a lie/the baby Jesus cries.” The band goes all out experimental punk and semi-psychedelic on the Yoko Ono-like track, “Chicken.” It’s a rather strange song, and not appealing to many, but in their home base of San Francisco, a song like “Chicken” is not out of place. While cities like New York, Seattle and to some extent Austin and Los Angeles, might be contenders, no other city in the U.S. beats San Francisco when it comes to weird, trippy experimentation in all arts, including music. The city has been the epicenter of underground, experimental and avante garde music movements in the U.S. for five decades now. So Gamble Gamble Die are right where they probably need to be for what they want to do musically.
“Badman” – Gamble Gamble Die from Badman
“Chicken” – Gamble Gamble Die from Badman
The unusual, but intriguing, album cover for TaughtMe's 'Am I Old?' Interestingly enough, another unusual, but talented, musical outfit from San Francisco, TaughtMe, also dropped a new album, Am I Old?, on Aug. 31st. Like Gamble Gamble Die, the songs are not the regular fare. Instead, TaughtMe, the musical project of acclaimed songwriter and musician Blake Henderson, crafts theatrical pop compositions that puts Henderson in the category with artists like Bjork, which just happens to be one of his top musical influences – go figure. Am I Old? is Henderson’s fifth release in a decade, and in between writing, recording and mixing, he toured extensively, performing in towns and cities across the United States and Europe. His music has received wide acclaim partly because it touches on guilt and innocence and other themes that are directly or indirectly affected by Henderson’s upbringing as a strict Mormon in Utah. San Francisco is about as far as one can get (less geographically) from Utah in terms of societal norms, culture and population.
Henderson wrote about this latest album: “I accepted that I was composing soliloquies and chose to own the fact rather than temper it. I named the collection Am I Old? and… my rawest album, and my best try so far to get real deep.”
“Into The Thicket” – TaughtMe from Am I Old?
“The Truth (Really?) Every Time” – TaughtMe from Am I Old?
Dangerous Cans is the DIY musical project of Michigan native, Brooklyn transplant, Brian Time. He crafts electro-pop tracks featuring various layers of synth riffs, hypnotic sounds and programmed drum beats as the backdrop for his soft vocal delivery, even though he likes to refer to his music as “gristle and sizzle.”
Since the release of the sweet electro psych-pop singles “Feel Something” and “Pretty Trash,” which we think more people should hear, Dangerous Cans has released two other excellent singles that you can listen to on Bandcamp.
We’re hoping for a proper Dangerous Cans’ EP or LP sometime in the near future. Time’s musical influences include Tears For Fears, Com Truise, Roxy Music, Keith Jarrett, Bobby McFerrin, and Boy Meets Girl. In the blogs that have previously written about Dangerous Cans, Time’s music has often been compared to Washed Out.
As with all one man bands, especially being so new, there is a bit of leeway given when you consider that the artist wrote all of the music, recorded all of the instruments, tracked in the vocals, mixed everything together, mastered it and then released it DIY style. That in itself is impressive.
Sometimes the results are horrific and not worthy of consideration, while other times the results are fair, and from time-to-time, the end product is good enough that we feel more indie music fans, especially those who appreciate one-man bands, should hear it and make up their own mind.
If you’re interested in hearing more, check out the One-Man Bands archives and the Artist of the Week category – you’re bound to find some terrific music that you may not have heard when first published. Most of the past installments’ MP3 song links still work so that you can stream and download them as you can do with all posts on IRC.
It’s been a while since the last In Dee Mail series highlighting bands that emailed us their work via the submission form.
Unlike other more specific playlists (such as DIY Bands to Watch; 7 Bands You’ve Gotta Hear, Bands That Rock), In Dee Mail is a mix of all kinds of bands – signed and DIY; U.S. based or overseas; those with recent releases or older releases – but the majority of the bands featured in the In Dee Mail series are DIY and largely unknown to most indie music lovers.
What most people enjoy about this series is that it spotlights talented new artists and bands with great songs that most people have never heard before, but are glad once they have. This is the 23rd! edition of the In Dee Mail series that originally launched in 2010 and includes releases that we had drafted posts on years ago but never completed, and yet, two or three years, in some cases, four, years later, they have staying power enough to publish them today.
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The Unique Recordings of The Gifted Children
Let’s kick off with The Gifted Children, the first and only band on the new Tinhorn Planet independent record label, one of the most interesting, and talented, little-known bands indie bands around. The band, which is more accurately described as a collective of musicians, deliver a deliciously diverse buffet of sounds from straight pop to lo-fi, psychedelic rock to acoustic folk persuasions accented always by cuts and splices of sounds, shorter than usual tracks and unconventional means of recording and mixing their work – running the gamut of everything from old recording equipment to the newest devices not often considered recording equipment, like the iPhone. Altogether, there were 17 musicians who contributed to the collective’s 2009 11-song album, My Museum Pieces. The album is full of ecletic, wonderful songs that are sometimes epic, other times funny and even melancholy.
In addition to the dozens and dozens of songs the band has recorded and released over the years, The Gifted Children have also recorded a selection of Christmas songs every year for the past few years. You can listen to and download Christmas songs via The Gifted Children’s songs page, as well as other recordings.
“The Coalition Breathing Down My Neck” – The Gifted Children from My Museum Pieces
“Weathervane Alliance” – The Gifted Children from My Museum Pieces
“If You Get There” – The Gifted Children from My Museum Pieces
Pennsylvania Band Very Americans Drop Debut 7″
Very Americans are a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania indie/alt rock band who sent in their debut 7″ single Back From The Dead/Fast Planes To Rio a while ago, but that did not supply us much information about the band – and still haven’t despite our attempts. They signed with Ship Out Recordings only a few months after forming in 2012. We think the A-side and B-side of this 7″ release are terrific tracks that we’ve played numerous times in the cafe.
“Back From The Dead” – Very Americans from Back From The Dead 7 Inch
“Fast Planes To Rio” – Very Americans from Back From The Dead 7 Inch
Roaming Herds of Buffalo – Seattle, Washington
Roaming Herds of Buffalo is the exciting pop music project of Seattle songwriter, singer and musician Scott Roots. The idea behind this project is to set short science fiction stories to pop and rock music with the collaboration of musicians from other Seattle bands like The Torn ACLs, Skeletons with Flesh on Them, and Stencil.
With his previous bands, like SWFOT, Roots shared the stage with Aqueduct and The Lonely Forest and “a lot (and I mean a lot) of bands not many people have heard of.”
His major musical influences include Okkervil River, Beulah, Pavement, The National, and Guided By Voices.
“All of Them” – Roaming Herds of Buffalo from Roaming Herds of Buffalo
“Repaired” – Roaming Herds of Buffalo from Roaming Herds of Buffalo
Roaming Herds of Buffalo’s Website
Chicago DIY Indie Band Berry
Berry is a Chicago based experimental indie pop band that remind us a bit (note ‘bit’) like Apples in Stereo mixed with They Might Be Giants. In 2011, the nearly decade-old band set out on a 12-state, 20 set tour by train. You don’t hear of many bands who specifically go by train to tour (if there are more of you out there, please let us know).
In fact, the only time we can remember any musicians touring by train was the across-country tour through Canada featuring the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin, and that was, well, four decades ago (there’s a documentary about the trip as well).
Fantastic songs like “Floundering” (“our punk rock song,” the band said), from the self-released EP, Flounder, and from the Recovery EP, the song, “Alma Mater,” are only a couple of out of some 100 songs the band recorded in a seven year time span. Of the approximately 30 to 40 that we have listened to, and downloaded, we can say that the band has a lot of ideas flowing for song themes, chords, rhythms and lyrics. If you like what you here, there is plenty of more Berry recordings available via their official website.
“Floundering” – Berry from Flounder
“Alma Mater” – Berry from Recovery
Texan Indie Artist Kelsey Brown
This next artist is one that, like Berry and a few other bands featured in this post, was put into a draft post a long time ago as an artist we eventually planned to feature on IRC. There are many dozens of artists and bands that we have never had the time – due to other priorities in coverage – to profile until now. Nearly two years ago, we received a few demos In Dee Mail from Texas singer/songwriter Kelsey Brown.
Now after having listened again to the songs he sent in, our antennas Immediately went back up; Brown is a talented artist that we would have hoped by now would be known more universally. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Brown sang with her grandfather’s bluegrass band at a young age and moved to Texas in 1997. She has been classically trained in voice, but began writing music and taught herself piano in 2007 and ukulele in 2009. Kelsey attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. She lists among her influences Regina Spektor, Joanna Newsom, Fiona Apple, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Beirut, Laura Veirs, Tegan and Sara, Camille, and others. *
“I’m A Creep And I’m Proud” – Kelsey Brown from Kelsey Brown
“Piccadilly Circus” – Kelsey Brown from Kelsey Brown
*Note: We have not yet heard her newer material
DIY Singer/Songwriter and Musician David Seume from Kansas City, Missouri
The following are some great tracks that we recently found in an old draft post that we never got to share at the time dating back to 2010. David Seume os a Kansas City singer, songwriter and musician who has garnered critical acclaim for his infusions of sweet melodies, gospel, soul, pop, rock, and Motown in his music. We are still big fans of his self-titled debut LP that includes his first single, “Will Ya Be My Friend.” You can hear more current songs via his official website .
Oakland band, Hot Einstein, headed by musician Matt Berkeley, is a five-piece rock band formed in 2011 when a number of musician friends got together and recruited a couple others to pour their creative aspirations into recording songs and playing live, adding plenty of experimentation, heavy bass and keys, reverb-laden vocals and programmed beats to their hallmark pop rock sound. The band’s musical influences range from vintage Bowie to King Curtis, Nina Simone and Led Zeppelin. Hot Einstein began with Berkeley’s primordial urge to form a classic rock and roll band. He states: “We felt that ‘rock’ has strayed to far from its roots in rhythm and blues, as Nick Lowe said…it lost the ‘roll’ somewhere along the line.”
After touring around the country, Hot Einstein eventually set up residence at Oakland’s Disco Volante, working on their original material and classics by Booker T. & the MGs, Talking Heads, The Pretenders, and D’Angelo. “We learned so many covers not to be a cover band, per se, but to feel like a legitimate band that knows how to play together, and has a repertoire beyond a handful of original songs.”
Produced by Berkeley and Joe Bagale, Hot Einstein’s eponymous debut album was recorded at Richmond, California’s Bird and Egg Studios. Hot Einstein is a nostalgic rock band whose members engage in experimenting with sounds and influences from the 1960s and 70s, including tambourine, vintage keyboards, and vocal harmonies. Their debut LP spans rootsy acoustic genres, electronic and groove characteristics, as well as traditional rock and roll elements.
Brides of Christ is the solo project of Los Angeles musician Kirk C. Naylor. Formed during his final year as a student of music composition at UCLA in 2010, Brides of Christ is heavily influenced by a wide variety of music and art. His songs are dark, beat-driven and bombastic, drawing from influences like goth pioneers Joy Division, with aspects of pop and dance, and drone and ambient music in the mix, alongside hard loops, experimental self-sampling and heavy-handed beats to “hold the chaotic elements together.” Drawing inspiration from imaginative artists John Cage, Yoko Ono, Abe Vigoda, and Freddy Ruppert, Brides of Christ is an act of pure creation, as Naylor describes, and ultimately “turns inward upon itself and gazes into darkness,” describing his sound more simply as ‘maximal minimalism.’ Despite this introspective attitude, Naylor maintains that at the heart of it this music is pure pop. “The viscerality of music and it’s meaning are infinitely detached,” Naylor said. Other artists that are major influences on BOC’s music include My Bloody Valentine, New Order, Xiu Xiu, Animal Collective, and Bright Eyes.
“Sihaya” – Brides of Christ from Woman Is Throne EP
“Ready to Die Now” – Brides of Christ from Woman Is Throne EP
Brides of Christmas on Facebook
…And More Great Songs from Under-Rated Bands
The following is a random sampling of other indie tracks that were part of other posts that never got published, or are songs from previous years’ draft posts that were never posted for one reason or another. We hope you’ll find a couple of tracks that are worth downloading to your own playlist or just bookmarking to come back here and listen to them again since we don’t delete song files after a couple of weeks/months as most other indie blogs do. The only time a song file (aka, mp3 link) doesn’t play is when the artist or the record label that originally posted the song removes it, which we obviously have no control over.
The Cairo Gang's "Tiny Rebels" was one of 35 top singles for the second half of July
With festivals and other events ruling the schedule during July and August, we’re still catching up with releases dropped in the six weeks. A couple of weeks ago, volume one of the Best Singles & Albums of July 2013 was posted, but the aforementioned fests – and other exciting posts were working on that we think you’ll appreciate – have delayed volume 2.
Now that the summer fest season is coming to a close with fests like last weekend’s inaugural First City Festival in Monterey, California, we’ll be getting back to regular posting of indie and DIY singles, playlists and band profiles (and there’s a lot in the pipeline), and in a couple of months, the first ‘Best of 2013’ posts will be coming out. Regardless that it is a bit late, there were terrific releases from the second half of July that could be categorized as “can’t miss,” including underground indie DIY bands and artists that are among some of the best of the year, as well as top-notch new releases. This post features a couple dozen of them.
Listeners responded enthusiastically to Volume One of the Best Singles & Albums of July 2013, streaming and downloading tens of thousands of times 27 top singles from albums dropped in the first half of July, featuring dozens of artists, including rock veterans like Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices) to fairly popular indie bands like Maps; small label artists like Little Legend, who like other terrific, new-to-us bands – Twin Peaks, Royal Forest and Sensual Harassment (all who dropped albums in early July) – are now a band to watch into the coming year. Plus, new material from solo artists like Gregory Alan Isakov and the songwriter/singer and musician known as Thundercat also stand out as artists to watch in 2014.
The debut, self-titled EP from a new band to watch, Smallpools
As stated above, Volume One featured many DIY, obscure artists and bands, who have had practically no coverage on the web, including bands like Grids, Driftwood Miracle, Futurist, Drops, Animals in Cars, Lions For Real, Ladada, Horsha On The Moon, among others, who had excellent singles from their new releases that needed to be posted. It’s a shame that so many terrific artists go largely unnoticed each month – we do our best with limited resources to highlight as many as possible, even if it simply means adding one of their songs to a playlist without providing very much additional information. Altogether, there are more than two dozen MP3 singles to stream or download in the first volume, and plenty of new artists and bands to explore. And if you want to hear even more amazing music and fill up your iTunes library, browse through popular playlist series like 5 DIY Bands to Watch; Best New Music Releases of 2013; Artist of the Week; 7 Bands You’ve Gotta Hear; Top 10 Songs playlists, among others.
And now, the second and final volume of singles from new releases dropped between July 16th and July 29th. We’re working diligently to catch up with August, which will also be divided into two volumes, and will include, as all the reviews of new releases do, songs from the popular ‘indie’ artists and bands, as well as the unsigned, obscure and under the radar bands that many times you’ll only hear on Indie Rock Cafe.
First Half of the Second Half of July’s Top Singles – Smallpools and Soft Metals
The following playlist represents singles from new releases dropped during the third week of July from indie artists that are more likely to be known among indie rock enthusiasts. However, there are also plenty of DIY artists and bands in this playlist (as with many IRC playlists) that even the most avid indie music consumers have never heard before – at least until today.
Smallpools is a new IRC indie band to watch in 2013-14 thanks to their self-titled debut EP that includes the incredibly catchy, upbeat single, “Mason Jar,” driven by thundering beats, a fast-paced rhythm with a blistering bass line, oh-ah choruses, and lightning speed synth and guitar jams. Plus, another track that has helped increase the popularity of Smallpools in recent months is “Dreaming,” and the music video (above) that was released just six weeks ago and already has over a quarter of a million views. It’s not hard to see why this band is blowing up.
Next, check out the dark electro pop track, “Tell Me,” from the album Lenses. by DIY band Soft Metals’ .The track also has a pronounced industrial techno aspect to it. But what stands out most about this song is the the main riff on “Tell Me” – it’s somewhat reminiscent (although it’s a bit of a stretch) of the ominous riff from the Kill Bill movies that was used as a warning that some serious mayhem was about to go down. The riff from Kill Bill is actually Quincy Jones‘ original riff, with a modern spin, used in the 1960’s TV series, Ironside. However, while the riff had a similarly dark intent on the old TV show, it was nothing even close to the scale of violence and bloodshed that Quentin Tarantino unleashed in the Kill Bill series. In fact, the “Ironside excerpt” remains one of the scariest sound bites in popular culture to this day, right up there with the screeching violin of the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock‘s classic horror thriller, Psycho.
“Mason Jar” – Smallpools from Smallpools EP – July 16th
First up, is a DIY indie pop band from Oz that music lovers in the United States need to hear because we think they’re pretty amazing, and so far, have remarkably received almost no coverage from the tens of thousands of indie music blogs on the web. The band is Fairchild, formerly Fairchild Republic, from the Gold Coast of Australia. Fairchild is one the most popular new indie pop bands in the cafe right now, thanks largely to the incredibly catchy retro-pop hooks and dance grooves of the masterfully produced single, “Burning Feet,” from the band’s self-titled debut EP released on July 24th.
The band scored a huge victory when the respected producer and mixing engineer, Catherine Marks, signed on to produce the band’s debut EP. Marks has produced and mixed for talented bands like Foals, Death Cab For Cutie, The Killers, Interpol, and White Lies. Based on her accomplishments, Marks clearly knows how to pick talented artists that she wants to work with in the studio. Plus, she usually works with signed bands, so the fact that Marks choose to work with Fairchild also says a lot about the band. “Burning Feet” will ultimately be a top DIY track of 2013, and their self-titled debut EP is one of the best debuts of the second half of 2013. It’s time for this band to break out in the U.S.
We’ll be writing more about this band in the coming weeks. Fairchild has previously opened for artists like Neon Indian, Parachute Youth, Kids of 88, Cub Scouts, Last Dinosaurs, The Medics, Battleships, and The Cairos.
Latest Singles from Feral Children, BEACH, A Grave With No Name, David Lynch and Lykke Li, and Others
Seattle band Feral Children self-released their latest album, Too Much, Too Late, that features a more finely-tuned expression of the band’s sound of buzzing guitars, thumping bass and punk-rock tendencies, as the fast-moving, blazing track, “Rewind The Rerun,” demonstrates. Other top tracks for July include unforgettable singles like A Grave With No Name‘s song “Aurora,” with it’s heavy-hitting beat, grinding synths and jangly guitar strums; the haunting beauty of “I’m Waiting Here,” a musical collaboration between David Lynch and Lykke Li, and “While The World Burns,” a magnificent composition from the promising and talented singer/songwriter Svavar Knútur. There are also a some good singles from the first half of July off new albums by La Luz, White Dove, WL, Gauntlet Hair and BEACH.
“Rewind The Rerun” – Feral Children from Too Much, Too Late (self-released)
“Aurora“ – A Grave With No Name from Whirlpool on Lefse Records
“Bad Apple” – Gauntlet Hair from Stills on Dead Oceans
“Love Was A River” – BEACH from In Us We Trust on Short Story Records
“Cold Mountain” – White Dove from The Hoss, The Candle on RSRCH+DVLP
Last Week of July Music, July 23rd – July 30th: The Love Language, Van Dyke Parks, Weekend
The last week of new releases for the month of July spawned a number of standout singles from artists and bands that we’ve enjoyed in the past – such as Merge recording artist, The Love Language, or the popular indie rock band Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros (who just released their self-titled debut on Vagrant; even though it’s not their debut album) – and new, promising DIY and under-the-radar bands that we had never heard of before until recently, like The Cairo Gang or Dizzy Bats.
Sharpe sheds some old skin and doubles-down on influences like gospel and blues on the new, self-titled LP, featuring the lead single, “This Life,” in which Sharpe sounds like he is channeling Ray Charles. Next, the popular San Francisco indie band, Weekend, return with a trippy psych rock track, “It’s Alright,” that is also available as a music video, which contains a series of black and white photographs of everyday (and some not so everyday; i.e., bondage items and gator skulls; the latter of which adorns the cover of the album, Jinx) items like a skate, a cross, flowers, a whistle, figurines and a switchblade.
Temples’ Fully ‘Hippiefried’ Retro Psychedelic Pop
The hot UK band, Temples, tears a page from the psychedelic era (the trend is real), stepping into a time machine of sorts, and traveling back to sometime in 1967 or ’68, with the single, “Shelter Song,” from their debut double seven-inch on Fat Possum. The “Shelter Song” music video (above) includes the psychedelic era kaleidoscope and lava lamp visual effects, flashing colors, faded, overly-contrasted and overlapping photographs, and even some of the hippie attire. “Shelter Song” has a fairly constant, big drum beat that is the backdrop for wave after wave of distorted electric guitar riffs, R&B bass hooks, joyful tambourines, trippy keyboards, and layers and layers of reverb-heavy vocals and choruses – all wrapped up in even more reverb.
Overall, it’s a wonderfully produced song, and includes lyrics like “/Take me away to the Twilight Zone/” and “/We stayed up late in a dream/.” Had this song actually come out in 1968, 45 years ago, it likely would have been a hit record. Back then, however, you would have to go to a cool and funky local record store and buy the 45 vinyl or the vinyl album (we’re glad to be old enough to have been at the tail end of the ‘age of the record store’; it was the place to hang out on weekends and nights during the high school and college years. But the record store was killed by iTunes.)
The UK band Temples
The single, “Hold Back Time,” by the Van Dyke Parks does just that. In fact, this song appropriately follows Temples’ retro psych pop because it too has a retro feel to it. “Hold Back Time” actually holds back time as far as to the 1960’s, which is evident in any aspect of the single. You could have fooled us if you said “Here’s this song from 1969, do you know who it is?” and we would have thought of every 60’s band and artist before thinking it was actually from an indie band and released in 2013. And that’s part of the magnificence of the broad net of music we generally call ‘indie.’ Whatever it really is, it certainly is whatever kind of music someone wants to make without a huge budget or a label – and the freedom to create results in so much amazing music. The whole purpose of IRC is to capture as much of this amazing music that most people are missing out on before it disappears forever. No one is going to like every song we post, but hopefully, everyone hears music that they enjoy either for the moment or for repeat plays.
“Hold Back Time” – Van Dyke Parks from Songs Cycled on Bella Union
“Calm Down” – The Love Language from Ruby Red on Merge Records
“This Life” – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros on Vagrant
Fu*k Buttons and Gogol Bordello
Up next is the latest track from Fu*k Buttons off the band’s fifth album, Slow Focus (of the alternate, ‘Slow Fuckus‘). Next, Gogol (no relation to Google) Bordello returns with the spaghetti western-style single, “Lost Innocent World,” from the album, Pura Vida Conspiracy. Truth be told: we don’t like the single all that much, but we included it anyway since we know there are some hard core Bordello fans among you. The song is a bit flat; Bordello’s singing sounds a bit amateurish.
“The Red Wing” – Fu*k Buttons from Slow Focus on ATP Recordings
Radar Bands The Cairo Gang, Coke Weed, and Musician Grant Hart
The Cairo Gang sound nothing like the imagery their band name might suggest. Their newest single, “Tiny Rebels,” is a slow, melancholy tune that sounds like it could have come right out of San Francisco in 1967. (We’ve been noticing an uptick in psychedelic influences in the music of many indie rock bands in 2013, which was evident by performances from bands like Deerhunter at last weekend’s first annual First City Festival in Monterey, California. And yet what was also impossible to miss was the number of young people, particularly, teenage and young adult women, who were dressed basically like hippies, although they refer to it as “hipster style.” You can read more about it in our First City Debuts post.)
“Tiny Rebels” – The Cairo Gang from Tiny Rebels on Empty Cellar Records
“Sunseekers” – Coke Weed from Back To Soft on Heavy Friends
Following the Cairo Gang is Coke Weed‘s latest track, “Sunseekers,” which would have been such a better song if they sped it up and gave it more of a punch. After all, the title of the song is “Sunseekers,” of course are known for being sunny, upbeat and pop oriented. Following Coke Weed is a new single, “Is The Sky The Limit?” from Grant Hart. The multilayered track includes dreary organ and dulcimer playing which makes it sound like a sad carnival of gypsies performing an interpretation of a haunting song from The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack.
Turn up the amps and get ready to punk out with a band that is from our backyard – San Francisco street punk quartet Hunx and His Punx. The front man, Hunx, aka Seth Bogart, started Punx back in 2008 after years in a gay pop band called Gravy Train. Bogart wanted to rock harder, and since then, he and his punx have been doing just that. Following Hunx and His Punx is another loud band, the garage rock band Kid Karate, whose new single, “Two Times,” has been making the rounds on the web. For a perfect contrast, we posted new Mean Lady, who doesn’t sound mean at all on her new single, “Far Away.” After the Mean Lady, the indie pop band, The Memories, deliver a soft, lazy summer afternoon love song, “I Remember You.”
”Bad Skin”– Hunx and His Punx from Street Punk on Hardly Art
“Two Times” – Kid Karate from Lights Out EP (self-released)
“Far Away” – Mean Lady from Love Now on Fat Possum
“I Remember You” – The Memories from Love Is The Law on Burger Records
Self Releases From Filigar, Dizzy Bats, Fialta, Kid Karate
There were a number of self releases that had a fair amount of publicity behind them. First up is the band Filigar, which we’ve posted about in recent years, and who now have a terrific new single, “New Local,” that starts out with a piano introduction, and is followed by an immediate launch into a full-fledged power pop track with heavily melodic hooks, harmonica infusions and an excellent interplay between the bass and drums. Dizzy Bats presents the single “Batman and the Joker” and “Photographs,” from the band Fialta, is one of the best singles for the final week of July. Plus, listen to the garage rock of Kid Karate,. Diggin’ that.
“New Local” – Filligar from Hexagon (self-released) – July 23rd
“Batman and the Joker” – Dizzy Bats from single only (self-released) – July 21st
“Photographs” – Fialta from Summer Winter (self-released) – July 23rd
Top Singles from Promising DIY and Under The Radar Bands: Colours, Alex Riggen, Wind Up Rabbit, Tikkle Me
The following section of the best singles for the second half of July include – as so many IRC posts do – songs from DIY and small label releases by artists and bands that have had little to no coverage within the indie music blogosphere. First up is “The Illusionist,” from the band Colours; a sullen song from Iowa lo-fi indie pop artist Alex Riggen; the spooky pop of “Hearts On Ice” from New York indie quartet Wind Up Rabbit; the hip-shaking song from Orlando’s indie dance/pop outfit, Stockholm; the chunky single from New Orleans power pop/garage rock band Missing Monuments; the sprawling, suspenseful, near-epic single, “Niagara,” from Stockholm girl duo, Tikkle Me; Edinburgh band The Phantoms add some spook to their rock on the new single, “Coming For You.”
Most of the bands in this final section of the singles playlist for the second half of July 2013 have not been featured in a playlist of new singles anywhere else on the web – this is it. Hopefully, you’ll find some new artists to add to your like list and some new songs that you’ll be listening to in the coming days, weeks or maybe even months. What is always special about this part of the new releases series is the exclusivity of great music it provides for the tens of thousands around the world who follow IRC regularly for music they often will not find anywhere else on the web available in MP3 format.
“The Illusionist” – Colours from Skin & Bones – July 23rd
“Milk Milk” – Alex Riggen from Milk – July 23rd
“Hearts On Ice” – Wind Up Rabbit from Wind Up Rabbit – July 23rd
Tens of thousands of festival goers were treated to an impressive list of indie and alternative rock artists and bands this past weekend at the first annual First City Festival in Monterey, California. The fest, featuring headliners like Modest Mouse, Washed Out, Passion Pit, MGMT, Beach House, Purity Ring, among others, drew large crowds each day of the two-day music festival held in the idyllic location of the Monterey Fairgrounds, where large grassy open spaces are shaded by groves of beautiful cypress trees and graced by fresh ocean air from the nearby Monterey Bay. It’s a perfect location for a mini-festival. In addition to three stages, there was also a vaudeville stage that drew crowds throughout the course of the festival. Plus, there were food and drink vendors, booths, charging stations, and even games and rides available at the adjoining carnival grounds.
Indie rock legends Modest Mouse closed the festival with a one and half hour set on Sunday night that included a bunch of their newer material mixed with some of their older, and more well-known, material, including highlighted tracks from the band’s mesmerizing 2000 album, The Moon and Antarctica. The band performed excellent live renditions of “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” and “I Came As A Rat.” They also crunched out classic indie rock songs like “Dramamine” (which we included on our First City Spotify playlists) and “Float On.”
While the band played brilliantly through old and new material, things didn’t go so well when Mouse’s vocalist and guitarist Issac Brock tried to instruct the crowd to hold their breath for four seconds. When that odd request failed, Brock made even a stranger one, asking the crowd instead to boo loudly and spit on each other. Thankfully, that failed as well. That confused people, but the band’s set was so good that it didn’t matter one bit at the end of their set. Modest Mouse was the perfect band to close out a spectacular weekend featuring some of the biggest artists of indie music, from the pioneers, like Modest Mouse, to artists that have become so popular that they’re now pretty much mainstream, like Passion Pit and MGMT.
Prior to Modest Mouse, who performed at the main Redwood stage, was a performance on the Cypress stage (located at the opposite end of the grounds) by Purity Ring. We opted to juggle sets from Deerhunter, who performed a remarkably buzzy set with excellent jams (perhaps to honor the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival at the same location, a festival that was the first major and heavily promoted rock festival in the United States) that blazed through the sky like the changing light and colors of the setting sun. Deerhunter were one of our favorite sets of the day.
In order to catch all of Deerhunter’s set, a festival goer who was not staying for the set up and performance of Purity Ring, had no choice but to miss some of Neko Case’s set. Case was essentially the opening artist for Modest Mouse, put on a predictably tight performance, selecting a range of songs from the band’s discography.
Earlier on Day Two, was a full afternoon’s worth of talented artists, including Toro Y Moi, Lucero, Devendra Banhart, Dr. Dog, Capital Cities, Antlers, The Dodos, Generationals, Avery Tare’s Slasher Ficks, Akron/Family, Seventeen Evergreen, Bleached, among others. That’s the kind of line-up we’re used to seeing at the bigger, already established and popular festivals like Coachella, ACL and Bonaroo.
With all of those terrific bands performing one after another all afternoon, it’s hard to totally comprehend that the day’s headliners, which always draw the largest crowds, had yet to perform. As the sun began to dip little by little in the other direction, the number of Passion Pit and MGMT hipsters were increasing by the boat loads. It’s easy to conclude that many came to the festival just for one or two artists. And while the success of Passion Pit and MGMT grew out of the indie underground buzz, they are now clearly more mainstream than just a popular indie buzz band.
For example, in just the first few notes MGMT played of their popular song “Time to Pretend,” the enormous crowd roared with overwhelming approval as big crowds periodically do in the first few notes of wildly popular song. Again, a consistent theme we noticed about First City, the sound is amazing as far as outdoor festivals go. While MGMT delivered a good show, it wasn’t their best as one writer, Jody Amable, reported for a Bay Area blog called Bay Bridged. She wrote that MGMT: “rolled out the same old show they’ve been doing for years, featuring a whole lot of trippy visuals in retina-melting shades of neon to go with their brand of feathers-and-face-paint electro pop,” and while psychedelic visuals are a ‘time honored tradition’ for rock that originated in the Bay Area to begin with (and MGMT is a San Francisco band), the visuals were “starting to upstage them [MGMT] a little bit.” It’s true that the visuals aspect of the set was old hat, but the main annoyance was the temporary blinding effect and disorientation caused by overly contrasted and brightened visuals that flashed on and off repeatedly.
If you were trying to take photos from a few rows or more from the stage with a phone camera, chances are you got little else but big, blinding splashes of neon colors across the picture. Maybe that’s why they did it. Maybe it’s a secret government brainwashing mechanism. No, but seriously, tone it down guys. Or maybe it goes so well with MGMT’s hipster image and fan base that it’s purposely made to be way over the top.
By the time the closing act for Day One, Passion Pit, came on, the arena was packed with tens of thousands of people crammed into the fairground’s dusty Redwood stage area (which is built more for rodeos than music concerts). Passion Pit topped off the first day of what was an amazing afternoon and evening (11 hours total) of music. The band played with the quality of performance one would expect from such an accomplished band that started out DIY, went indie and are now admired by millions of young people around the world.
First City’s inaugural would have been solid even if all of the artists scheduled for Day One were spread out over two days. Yet, there was still another blockbuster day of performances from excellent bands still to come.
As we noticed all weekend, the sound at First City was spectacular, and there are likely a number of variables for that – one of course being the size of the grounds and the stage areas – relatively small compared to bigger festivals with a line-up the caliber of First City’s. Often times, a new festival can’t get dozens of popular indie bands booked for a variety of reasons. There are few debut music festivals that have a powerful lineup like First City did. We’re already curious about what they have in the works right now for 2014. First City is also a music festival that was clearly designed for indie rock fans. However, the festival’s name is attributed to the fact that Monterey was the first capital of California.
In the few reviews of the festival, there is not much emphasis placed on the sound quality. Sure, there is plenty of cred to the sound engineers – that’s a given. But the relatively small area, compared to Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park, keeps the sound contained and the number of trees and mostly wooden structures in and around the fair grounds absolutely help to provide a better, fuller sound inside that space. Now we can see part of the reason why Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Janis Joplin all became famous directly as a result of their performances at Monterey Pop Festival in June of 1967. The sound, even with the little sound quality technology that existed at the time, must have been incredible.
To that point, there is the once best-selling official soundtrack from Monterey Pop as well as the film by the same name. See our preview of First City that includes an embedded video of rare concert bonus footage that was not released on the official film (no idea who posted it, but YouTube could remove it at anytime).
While there is some tweaking to do here and there, for the debut of a new festival, the organizers, Golden Voice, did a spectacular job, and they also brought a major rock festival back to the place where they were born nearly a half century ago. Plus, it’s simply a terrific spot to have a music festival for the ambience, ease of parking, fresh ocean air, moderate temps, and definitely for the acoustics. During his Father John Misty set, Tillman even commented to the crowd that there was something wrong with anyone who didn’t think it was an ideal place for a music festival.
The Monterey Fairgrounds has been home to the world famous Monterey Jazz Festival for the past 55 years. In fact, from September 20th to September 22nd, three weeks from now, the Monterey Jazz Festival will celebrate is 56th year, further solidifying its place in music history as one of the world’s oldest and continuously running music festivals.
First City will most certainly return next year based on the feedback we’ve been hearing, and a number of artists who openly praised the festival to the audience during their sets. Although the festival did not sell out of tickets by the time the gates opened on Saturday at 11 am., the crowds we saw, particularly at the Redwood stage for the top headliners, certainly seemed to be in the tens of thousands. Monterey Pop had 55,000 in attendance. From looking at the crowds in different locations throughout the two days, we’d say it was closer to 55,000 than not. The most striking similarity we could see to Monterey Pop 46 years ago was the attire. As was the case at Outside Lands just a few weeks ago, there were thousands of teenage girls and young adult women dressed in hippie-style attire, from dresses and flowery head bands to ripped jeans and colorful blouses and even polyester. For anyone who has seen many images over the years of the attire of the real hippies from the actual original time period, seeing all the hipsters as if they walked off a 1969 photograph, was trippy, mostly because it was so right on, right down to the straight, long hair and minimal facial make up.
If you’re already thinking about festivals to attend next summer in California, follow news during the coming winter and spring about First City via their mailing list. Plus, if you’ve never been to the San Francisco Bay Area (Monterey is part of the central coast region, some 110 miles south of San Francisco), and you have the ability to do so, it’s strongly recommended to spend a few extra days to see San Francisco and other amazing places in the Bay Area and central coast, including Monterey’s famous Aquarium, the 17 Mile Drive, the redwoods, and the Golden Gate Bridge, to name a few. If luck has it, the second annual First City will occur the weekend following, or proceeding, San Francisco’s hugely popular Outside Lands Festival. That’ll make it possible for visitors to California, who also love music festivals, to attend both fests. Bundling for vacations is always a good idea, and if this year is any indication, attending First City in 2014 should be high on the list for indie rock fans.
Powerhouse indie rock artists such as Modest Mouse, Passion Pit, MGMT, Beach House, Toro Y Moi, Devendra Banhart and Neko Case will headline the inaugural of the First City Festival in Monterey, California next weekend, August 24-25th. Dozens of other popular artists and bands, including Deerhunter, Washed Out, Okkervil River, The Hold Steady, Father John Misty, Dr. Dog, and The Dodos, are scheduled to perform at the premiere two-day music festival.
With the blockbuster success of the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival last weekend in San Francisco, fest fever is running high, and for many music lovers in northern California, and beyond (especially those who were unable to attend the sold out Outside Lands), First City is a fest not to be missed.
While its location on the beautiful coast of Monterey Bay is idyllic, the main draw of First City is the amazing lineup. Altogether, there are more than 30 top-notch artists and bands scheduled to perform on three stages from noon to 11 pm Saturday and Sunday. They include, in addition to the already mentioned headliners, Georgian electro artist Ernest Greene, better known by the stage name, Washed Out; Austin’s homespun sons, Okkervil River; Brooklyn indie rockers The Hold Steady; Texas psychedelic rockers The Black Angels; famous songwriter and instrumentalist J. Tillman‘s (Fleet Foxes) newest project, featuring the moniker, Father John Misty; Portland experimental country/folk band Blitzen Trapper; plus, Civil Twilight, Delta Rae, Tennis, Quadron, Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Guards, and Guy Blakeslee. That’s just on Day One.
View the full schedules, and create a custom schedule, for Day One and Two.
On Day Two, in addition to top headliners Modest Mouse, Neko Case, Toro Y Moi and Devendra Banhart, artists and bands set for Sunday include Brooklyn psychedelic band Deerhunter; Candanian electro duo and Juno Award nominee Purity Ring; Philadelphia indie rockers Dr. Dog; New Orleans rockers Generationals; Los Angeles indie pop duo Capital Cities; Memphis country-punk rock band Lucero; Brooklyn indie rockers The Antlers; Portland experimental folk outfit Akron/Family; San Francisco indie rock duo The Dodos; as well as Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks, Bleached, Seventeen Evergreen, Electric Guest, and Light Fantastic.
“Dashboard”– Modest Mouse from We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank [Explicit]
First City is a festival tailor-made for indie rock fans. With a line-up that rivals any two-day festival in the U.S. this year, the cost of admission, in our opinion, is well worth it, especially for avid indie rock fans. How many opportunities does any music lover get to see this many fantastic bands all in one place over a two-day, 22-hour music marathon?
Last week, festival organizers, Golden Voice, announced a number of after parties that include a DJ set from Passion Pit on Saturday night at the Blue Fin in historic Cannery Row. Also on Saturday evening The Hold Steady will perform a show with Eli “Paperboy” Reed at Planet Gemini, located across the street from the Fairgrounds. Get tickets for Passion Pit or The Hold Steady; as with the festival two-day passes and single day passes, there are no added fees. Carnival rides and games will also be available, which can be purchased via the official First City website.
First City is the latest of a number of major music festival to premiere northern California in recent years. With the success of the Outside Lands and Treasure Island music festivals in San Francisco, it sure seems very likely that First City will be as well.
The picturesque seaside town of Monterey, located some 120 miles south of San Francisco, was made famous around the world as the inspiration for many of John Steinbeck’s historic novels, for the magnificent Monterey Aquarium, and for the beautiful Pebble Beach golf course.
In the arena of music, the coastal city is widely known as the location of the annual Monterey Jazz Festival, one of the longest continuously-running music festivals in the world. But it is best known in the history of rock for the Monterey Pop Festival (June 16-18, 1967), the first major outdoor rock festival in the United States. Some of the greatest rock and roll artists of all time – Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and The Who – received their first major exposure to America at Monterey Pop.
With the subsequent film and album, and press and radio air play, the now iconic artists became international rock super stars as a result of their appearances at Monterey Pop. The festival is also widely credited as a pivotal moment of the “Summer of Love” in 1967. Monterey Pop attracted 55,000 festival goers at the Monterey Fairgrounds, the same spot First City will kick-off it’s debut on August 24 and 25th.
The name for the First City Festival comes from the fact that Monterey was the first capital, or ‘first city,’ of California before it was moved to Sacramento.
Tens of thousands of music lovers descended on foggy Golden Gate Park this past weekend for three days of live music from artists and bands like Paul McCartney, Vampire Weekend, Band of Horses, Nine Inch Nails, Yeah Yeah Yeahs , Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Those giants of music were just some of the headliners at the 6th annual Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco last weekend. OSL has quickly become one of the top major music fests in the United States.
As a festival known for its emphasis on representing a diverse range of genres from folk to rock and hip-hop to pop, Outside Lands did not disappoint. On Friday evening, the legendary Paul McCartney, now 71, performed for three hours, playing a string of Beatles’ songs he penned, from “Lady Madonna” and “Get Back” to “Blackbird” and “Ob La Di Ob La Da,” with tens of thousands of festival goers singing along. When great masses of people sing together in unison, it really sounds amazing. McCartney also played many Wings‘ songs, including classic 70’s radio hits like “Band on the Run,” “Listen to What The Man Said,” “Silly Love Songs,” and “Jet.” McCartney and the band also performed a number of songs from the former Beatles solo records as well.
McCartney performed a wonderful rendition of his classic song, "Yesterday," which many respected music critics consider one of the greatest ballads ever written. Photo by Leopold Ruiz
The stage, which is impressively gigantic considering that it was constructed in days (and has to be taken down in a couple of days as well) contained two gigantic screens, which for McCartney’s set were extended to at least 40 to 50-feet high. The picture quality was stunning, and to see a full shot of McCartney from head to toe on two massive screens was a unique perspective, and raised the bar for festival video displays.
Throughout his three-hour set, photos of McCartney through the years were splashed on the background screen. And if all of that wasn’t enough, the show included a thrilling fireworks display that illuminated brilliantly through the night fog.
Earlier in the day, festival goers crowded around stages to hear a host of artists like Band of Horses, Surfer Blood, The National (all on the main Land’s End stage) with other artists like Wild Belle, Twenty One Pilots, Zedd, Yeasayer and Pretty Lights, all of whom performed on the Twin Peaks stage, which as the venue map shows, was all of the way at the other end of the grounds, some three football fields apart.
The smaller stages like Sutro and the Panhandle featured sets from an array of artists ranging from The Heavy, Rhye and D’Angelo to Houndmouth, The Men, Daughter, Wavves and Chromatics. For fans of all types of music, Outside Lands definitely delivers in that regard.
Crowds packed a fog shrouded Golden Gate Park Saturday for Day Two of Outside Lands
Day Two: Young The Giant, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Tallest Man on Earth, NIN, Phoenix
On Saturday, Day Two of the festival, crowds flooded in early, with lines, just to get into the festival grounds, backing up for blocks. Day Two started off at noon with Bhi Bhiman and Locura, followed soon after by The Soft White Sixties and Social Studies.
Indie favorites Young The Giant took the main Land’s End stage in the mid-afternoon. The Los Angeles band, who’ve been recording their sophomore album for months, emerged to perform for a huge crowd that latched on to the band after the release of their debut album. Of course they performed a number of their popular radio-friendly songs like “Cough Syrup” and “I Got.”
Nine Inch Nails rock the Land's End stage on Day Two of Outside Lands. Photo by Leopold Ruiz.
Over-lapping with Young The Giant, for the most part, was The Growlers at the Sutro stage in nearby Lindley Meadow. The long-time indie band from Orange County in southern California started off their set with “Nosebleed Sun” and performed a number of their other fan favorites like “What It Is,” “Someday,” “Wandering Eyes” and “Sea Lion Goth Blues.”
Also over-lapping with those bands was the performance from Youth Lagoon who were performing at the second main stage, Twin Peaks, which is located far away from where Young The Giant and The Growlers were performing.
Alternative rap posse Jurassic 5, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Baauer and Bombino finished out the afternoon schedule for Day Two, opening the way for evening performances from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Head and the Heart, Kurt Vile and The Violators, The Tallest Man on Earth, Grizzly Bear, The Mother Hips, and the Saturday night closers, Nine Inch Nails and Phoenix.
Choco Lands played out a familiar theme of art exhibits and expressions in the tree-covered areas of the Outside Lands festival grounds. Photo by Leopold Ruiz
Nine Inch Nails, which turns 25 next year, performed their dark hard rock on the Land’s End stage to a massive audience. The band ripped out some of NIN’s newer songs to start off their set, including tracks like “Copy of A” and “Disappointed,” which will appear on the band’s upcoming eight album release, Hesitation Marks.
Later in the two and a half hour set featuring 19 songs, NIN performed many of their most well-known songs, like “Closer,” “Came Back Haunted,” and “The Hand That Feeds.” For an encore, Trent Reznor, the only original NIN band member, belted out “Hurt” with his fellow band members before a crowd that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the festival grounds, a younger generation’s band, the popular French electro-pop outfit, Phoenix, performed to an equally large, and enthusiastic, audience, delivering tracks like “Entertainment,” “Lasso,” and “Lisztomania,” to open their one hour and fifteen-minute set. Prior to Phoenix, Brooklyn indie folk rock band Grizzly Bear performed on the Twin Peaks stage while The Head and the Heart played at the Sutro stage and while festival headliners, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, rocked the main stage at Land’s End.
The biggest downfall, in our opinion, of a festival like Outside Lands, where the two main stages (Lands End and Twin Peaks) are some three to four football fields apart, is missing sets from bands that are playing basically at the same time. The distance between the two main stages makes it nearly impossible to see a half set from one band and leave in time to catch most of the second half of the other band’s performance.
This dilemma occurred a number of times during the festival; in fact, sometimes three or four bands and artists were playing at the same time. The issue with overlapping performances occurred a number of times on Day Two including during the block of time from 6:30 to 8:30 pm when Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Mother Hips, The Head and the Heart and Grizzly Bear – three of our favorite artists at the fest.
During their 13-song set, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs stirred up a massive, excited crowd of tens of thousands of mostly younger (under 25) festival goers who were packed in from the front of the stage area all the way back to The Dome – the spot (see here on the official festival map) where deejays and mix masters performed all weekend, and which often obscured the sound from the main stage for people furthest from the stage.
Karen O and the YYY’s opened with “Sacrilege,” followed by “Gold Lion” and “Mosquito.” By mid-set, the band knocked out the ominous “Heads Will Roll,” and saved signature songs like “Maps” and “Zero” for the latter half of their performance. A gigantic image of the band’s YYY logo graced the backdrop of the enormous Land’s End stage.
Other artists that played on Day Two included Social Studies, Locura, Milo Greene, James McCartney (Paul McCartney’s son), Cherub, and newer favorites of cafe patrons, Atlas Genius.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers closed Outside Lands with a masterful and energetic performance. Photo by Leopold Ruiz
Day Three Delivered Red Hot Chili Peppers, Camper Van Beethoven, Kaskade, Vampire Weekend
Day Three of Outside Lands kicked off with artist like Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, The Easy Leaves, The Wild Feathers and Little Green Cars. The legendary 80’s underground band, Camper Van Beethoven, from Santa Cruz, California, graced the Sutro stage. CVB performed many of their cult classics, like “Take The Skinheads Bowling” and the crowd pleasing “Northern California Girls.”
Kurt Vile and The Violators jammed on the Sutro stage in Lindley Meadow on Sunday to a lively crowd. Photo by Leopold Ruiz
Philadelphia indie folk rockers, Kurt Vile and the Violators, sounded superb during their set; that is, when they overcame technical issues. Vile opened with the standout track “Jesus Fever” from the 2011 album, Smoke Ring For My Halo. However, the on-going sound issues made the song sound flatter than it does on the official recording.
The natural surroundings actually prevented the sound issues from being even more disruptive. That’s mainly because the Sutro stage is located in smaller area, where a grassy meadow (Lindley Meadow) carpets a long and narrow raven that is shaded and shielded by towering clusters of eucalyptus and pine trees.
It was necessary to leave the Kurt Vile set a bit early to get back to the Land’s End stage to catch one of IRC’s favorite indie rock bands of recent years – Foals. The Oxford, England band formed in 2005, and in 2008, released their well-received U.K. debut album. Nonetheless, it was Foals’ 2010 sophomore album, Total Life Forever, that launched the band’s popularity in the States, a wild wave that they have surfed swimmingly all the way to their headline status at Outside Lands.
Foals opened their set with “Prelude,” that was quickly followed by songs like “Miami” and “Olympic Airways.” As the band’s 10-song set progressed, the audience, many who were claiming their spots close to the stage for the later headlining bands like Vampire Weekend and festival closer, Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The U.K. power indie rock band Foals were one of the main headliners for the closing day of Outside Lands 2013. Photo by Leopold Ruiz.
Following Foals, it was off to the eastern side of the festival grounds to the Panhandle stage to catch some of King Tuff‘s set, after which it was time to return to the west side once again to the Sutro stage to catch Dawes, who have previously performed at OSL. Dawes played songs like their opening track, “From A Window Seat,” as well as “Most People,” “Fire Away,” and “Time Spent in Los Angeles.” We missed all but one song of Daryl Hall & John Oates headlining set, but it did not phase us much; we’re not really fans of their 80’s radio pop music.
Approximately 15 minutes before the end of Dawes’ set, we headed over to the adjacent Land’s End stage to catch Vampire Weekend‘s headlining performance, and thus having to sacrifice sets from veterans Willie Nelson & Family, indie rock newbies Ms Mr and the powerhouse songwriting duo Matt & Kim. Unfortunately, these are the difficult and regrettable decisions that have to be made at any festival with nearly 100 artists, five stages and 65,000 people.
Vampire Weekend opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the Land's End stage on the last day of Outside Lands. Photo by Leopold Ruiz.
Vampire Weekend, it goes without saying, was one of the main draws of Day Three, and were essentially opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers, a compliment for any band. VW has improved immensely, in all ways, from when we first saw them at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco in 2008, before they exploded into a worldwide ‘indie rock’ pop sensation. The band took the stage to a roaring welcome from the juiced up audience, which was as interesting as it was thrilling, considering that most of those in the audience were long in place to see the closing set from the RHCP.
Perhaps there are more RHCP fans who are also Vampire Weekend fans, and vice-versa? Regardless, VW opened their 17-song, 70-minute, set with the crowd pleasing favorite, “Cousins,” followed by other VW singles like “White Sky” and “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.” The New York band also performed most of their other signature tracks like “A-Punk,” “Horchata,” “Oxford Comma,” and “Walcott,” much of the time with the crowd singing along.
As the last shows of Outside Lands 2013 were drawing near, it struck us just how fast the entire event zoomed right by. But this happens at all festivals – there’s just too much to see and to much to do. It was now down to the last two headliners – the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Kaskade. We decided to split up to cover each separately. While it will be remembered for many great performances, these two top acts, scheduled to close out Outside Lands 2013, were among the most memorable.
Kaskade brought his groovy beats and synth pop waves to OSL 2013's final hours with a superb set. Photo by Leopold Ruiz
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who are easily one of the most popular rock bands of the past two decades, took the stage Sunday night to the roar of 40,000-plus festival goers who jammed the west side of Golden Gate Park for the closing set, while the remaining crowd of some 25,000 people, packed it in for the Twin Peaks performance by electro-pop beats artist Kaskade.
RHCP hit the ground running, opening with jam session that got the band and the massive crowd pumped up for the first song, “Can’t Stop,” followed by an electrifying “Dani, California” and “Otherside.” The band was just getting warmed up.
With the exception of what can only be classified as odd banter from iconic RHCP bassist Flea, the band ripped through an amazingly executed set of crowd pleasing songs that included “Under the Bridge,” “Give It Away,” and “Californication,” to name just a few of the 15 songs, including two encores.
Despite Flea’s strange ramblings, the RHCP would not have the power they do without Flea’s legendary bass riffs. And while As their name implies, RHCP were red hot, a stark contrast to the foggy, drizzly, windy and cool weather that surrounded them. Oh, and just a personal note, but the lip hair doesn’t work.
There were many festival goers that were torn by having to choose between the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Kaskade. And as with the RHCPs, Kaskade made certain that his fans would also be treated to a fantastic closing set for Outside Lands 2013, delivering a two-hour set of dance beats mixed masterfully with Kaskade’s unique electro pop grooves.
In addition to three 10-hour days of live music, OSL 2013 also offered explorations of artistic themes like Wonder World. Photo by Leopold Ruiz
Although the sun failed to break through the thick, gray fog over the three days (which is typical for San Francisco in August), that did not dampen festival goers enthusiasm. In fact, we’ve heard many say it’s preferable to the scorching heat and humidity of most other big summer time festivals.
Each day of the OSL festival, some 65,000 people flowed into the city’s Golden Gate Park, walked long distances between the five stages, browsed the many art exhibits and murals set up in the park and trekking through the forested areas that included temporary wonder lands like Choco Lands, a chocolate-centric area that included just about everything one could imagine made with chocolate.
What a way to end another historic Outside Lands festival. In fact, OSL, together with the Treasure Island Music Festival (which also began in 2008), has brought major outdoor music festivals back to San Francisco, which itself is arguably the birthplace of outdoor music festivals (which then were often free, featured a limited number of bands, were much less organized, and certainly didn’t have corporate backing) as they were an integral part of the Haight-Ashbury ‘hippie’ scene that emerged in the mid to late 1960s.
A grove of lights illuminate a forested area of Golden Gate Park during Outside Lands. Photo by Leopold Ruiz
Major outdoor music festivals in San Francisco and the surrounding region pretty much ended in 1969 with the tragic events of the Altamount Music Festival, promoted in the weeks leading up to the fest as the “Woodstock of the West.”
Sadly, that didn’t turn out to be the case. IRC will be publishing an extensive look at music festivals in the San Francisco Bay Area and northern California in the next couple of weeks and we will also be covering the upcoming inception of the new First City Music Festival (August 24-25) in Monterey, with a line-up featuring MGMT, Modest Mouse, Passion Pit, Neko Case and many others.
Stay tuned for more coverage of Outside Lands 2013, with additional playlists, photo galleries and video to be added in the coming days.
It didn’t take long to be drawn in by the music of Barcelona singer/songwriter, and art student, Francis White. The 23-year-old Spanish art student started his musical career out by playing other artists’ songs, but soon found himself writing and recording his own songs, many of which were written and rehearsed while sitting at the laundromat with his dog. He played the various instruments – guitar, bass, drums – in his bedroom again and again until he achieved the tracks he needed to mix the instruments and record the vocals.
Within a relatively short period of time (less than one year), White realized that he had enough songs that he was satisfied with to release his self-titled, debut album, one that is truly emblematic of a DIY artist from start to finish. Released in May, the results are songs like the upbeat, driving pop song, “Calipso,” which is arguably the crown jewel of his debut. The arrangements are inspired by “vintage sounds, soft vocals and lo-fi recording sound,” as White himself put it.
“Calipso” – Francis Whitefrom Francis White
We’ve listened to the album a number of times in the past couple of months, and one of the things that stands out is the range of musical styles that White embraces, from mid-tempo folk/pop ballads, such as “Like a Stranger,” and the hard rocking “On My Way” to the more edgy, punk-leaning angst of “Pleased To Meet You.” His music is as diverse as his biggest musical influences, including Richard Hawley, The Drums, Crystal Castles, The Beatles, and Salim Nourallah, among others. “Like a Stranger” – Francis White from Francis White
Most people would probably agree that a self-taught artist in his early 20’s who writes, sings, plays, records and mixes all of the instruments for his songs, and then spends God knows how many hours mixing them all together, deserves extra points. Not many people can do that, even most other musicians. Although we certainly like these lo-fi recordings, it’s exciting to think how they’d sound with a great producer, engineered and mixer who all understood the importance to maintain as much of the gritty, DIY, lo-fi mystique as possible.
In choosing White as an Artist of the Week, we took all of these factors into consideration. The bottom line is that White has clearly demonstrated talent, ambition and promise, and we’ll be watching his progress. There are not many artists at his age that can pull off a feat like that from A to Z. Maybe in a year or two from now, more fans of DIY one-man bands will know about Francis White.
New and impressive indie singles dropped in July with more from the DIY and under-the-radar artists.
For starters, please see the separate BNMR post for July 2nd to July 8th, that includes selected singles from new releases by A Grave With No Name, The Fall, Zomby, The Garifuna Collective, TRAAMS, and many others .
Normally, we try to have a post with a playlist each week representing our favorite singles of the week, whether or not we had time to indulge (often not) the entire album the single came from. But during the summer months, especially in July, when new releases are more scarce (as they have been especially this summer), it’s easier to review the month in music than to put together a weekly post.
This also allows more time to focus on posting terrific DIY and small label artists that most people have never heard of, but that we’ve been listening to in the cafe over and over – songs that are usually sent in and that we would have otherwise never known about. That’s the part of the excitement of being a blog that posts so much great music from artists that otherwise go unnoticed in the ‘indie rock blogosphere.’
In this two-part series focused on July, we’ll highlight the top ‘popular’ indie songs and more widely known artists and bands, as well as streams of songs from the DIY, obscure, little-known, under-the-radar and small label artists and bands that deserve their three or four minutes in the spotlight. If the identity of IRC is anything, it’s highlighting the obscure artists that people need to hear.
Top Singles Playlist, Week of July 9th to July 15th
The second week of July releases delivered a good number of pleasant surprises from mainly new-to-us artists and bands like Robert Pollard (read Devin William Daniels’ album review) The March Divide, Thundercat, Maps, Gregory Alan Isakov, and The Octopus Project, among many others. They all add something special in their own unique ways to the new releases dropped for the week of July 9th through July 15th, and therefore a slice of the history of indie rock music in 2013. First, the top singles from new albums out this week from more well-known and signed indie bands and artists.
Album cover for Escape From Alpha Draconis by Sensual Harassment
Sneak Peak at the Newest Edition of the 7 Bands Series
There are a number of bands with new releases dropped in the second week of July who impressed us so much that we decided to just mention them in this post and explore their music in more detail for an upcoming installment of the popular 7 Bands You’ve Gotta Hear profile and playlist series. They include Chicago indie garage pop band, Twin Peaks; the fascinating San Francisco Bay Area shoegaze band, Whirr; and the eccentric experimentalists Royal Forest from Austin, followed by Sensual Harassment thanks to addictive advanced singles, like “Capri Suntan” and “Make Me Human Again,” from the band’s sophomore album release, Escape From Alpha Draconis.
“Irene” – Twin Peaks from Sunken on Autumn Tone Records
Don’t forget to check back in a few days to read a profile of each of these bands and to listen to more of their music. If you haven’t explored the 7 Bands playlist series yet, or missed the most recent installments, we promise you that you’ll be remiss to miss out on some of the amazing bands and songs that you’ve never heard before.
Little Legend and FLASH/LIGHTS Drop New Releases
So, let’s jump into it; there were a number of worthy releases from under-the-radar bands in the first couple of weeks of July that pretty much got little to no coverage anywhere else in the blogosphere among indie bloggers. First up is the Montana garage rock band Little Legend who dropped their latest EP, No Way Out, on July 2nd via the small indie label, The Record Machine. The lead single, “Bailout,” is a gritty story of the band’s lead singer, Brandy Tudor, and the time his girlfriend bailed him out of jail in Laramie, Wyoming. Little Legend, formed in 2010, have opened for bands like JEFF The Brotherhood and Iceage..
“Bailout” – Little Legend from No Way Out – July 2nd
Next up is Denver electro-pop outfit FLASH/LIGHTS, who’ve previously opened for bands like Passion Pit, New Order and Toro Y Moi. F/L, who were forced by a cease & desist order to change from ‘Flashlights,’ to the new spelling, dropped their new EP, All My Love on July 1st, featuring the following title track single.
A Quarter Century In, Bud Collins Trio Still Stepping It Up
The Connecticut-based Bud Collins Trio, in operation since 1989, has a built a reputation during the past nearly quarter century as a formidable band of northeast DIY scene, even though they made it onto MTV a number of times with their funky, melodic pop. In the past, BCT has opened and toured with artists such as Blues Traveler, Bob Mould, Monks of Doom, Spin Doctors, and Maceo Parker, all of which helped to elevate the band’s profile even more, and yet all that time they remained staunchly, and proudly, DIY.
At the start of this month, the trio released their new album, State Vector Collapse, featuring the singles, “Jeff Lynne” and “Soapy Waters.”
“Jeff Lynne” – Bud Collins Trio from State Vector Collapse – July 1st
Futurist, Stephen Wheel, Drops, Drift Wood Miracle, Matt Script & Others
The following is a series of standout singles from a flood of new releases from DIY and small label artists and bands that most people, even indie enthusiasts, have never heard before. This terrific playlist covers the first half of under-the-radar releases for the month of July. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself letting this playlist loop in its entirety. Please share this special post and playlist on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, G+ buttons above.
The spirit of the DIY, rarely heard, obscure, under-the-radar musician, whether it’s a dude recording fantastic demos in this bedroom or a band that has been playing the low-pay, often thankless bar and small venue scene (yet who shows great talent and potential) has always been, and will always be, the heart of this blog.
The singles continue with the next playlist of amazing songs for July featuring Cardiff, England musician and Chasing Magpies‘ recording artist Stephen Wheel‘s latest effort, followed by Portland DIY electro pop chillwave duo Drops; experimental rock Nashville DIY band Lions For Real; blues rock of Durham, North Carolina’s own Drift Wood Miracle; soda pop music from Virginia Beach band Ladada; DIY jam rock from Seattle DIY band Animals in Cars; from Brooklyn, indie art rock band Futurist with a single-only release “Double Knots”; plus singles from bands like Sans Gras, Of Gentlemen & Cowards, Latka, Horsha On The Moon,, and Sweetmeat .
Band to Watch: Grids
Firstly, though, let’s kick-off this DIY and small indie label singles list for the first two weeks of July with a 2013 Band to Watch, Grids, a Toronto indie band that caught our attention with two singles they sent in for review, and which we’ve listened to over and over again before then hearing the rest of the album. It’s also one of the best DIY debut albums of 2013. There will be more about Grids in an upcoming second installment for the Best DIY & Small Label Debut Albums of 2013. The following playlist serves kind of like a sampler of songs from talented bands that most people, even hardcore indie followers, have never heard of. Each of the singles comes from a new LP or EP dropped in the first half of July. We’ll definitely be watching which of these songs get the most listens and downloads for the Top 10 Song page playlists for July. We’ll also be using those stats to determine which of the bands below should be featured in separate posts on IRC in the coming months. It’s crazy that August starts in a few days.
“Station” – Stephen Wheel from Station – July 5th
“Juggernaught” – Drift Wood Miracle from The 21st – July 10th
“Song For You” – Of Gentlemen & Cowards from Little Cracks, Little Light – July 9th
“Bees” – Sweetmeat from Rancho Victoria – July 13th
Two bi-coastal brothers who normally collaborated from opposite ends of the continent came together at the mid-point city of Austin last March for the famed South by Southwest music festival, and delivered on the faith that SXSW organizers had in them enough to give them an official showcase, an honor for any musician or band. Since their SXSW appearances, which included four non-official showcase gigs, the duo have been on a roll.
Formed in 2010, Wildlife Control is comprised of Neil Shah, based in Brooklyn, and his brother, Sumul Shah, headquartered 3,000 miles away in San Francisco. While they spend a good amount of time as far apart as any two people can be geographically in the United States, they were about as close as any two people can be via the wonders of the Internet. The convenience of modern day “locale no importante” technology – like inexpensive recording software and high-speed Internet – has made it possible for the Shah brothers to collaborate musically almost as easily as if they were in the same room (and, as some brothers might say, “easier”; Ray Davies and Dave Davies of The Kinks may have benefited at one time in their long and legendary love-hate relationship had they had access to Skype and file-sharing sites).
Bi-coastal, Internet-connected collaboration and all, the Shah brothers regularly come together in the physical world, as they did for their SXSW premiere. On March 8th, about a week before their trip to Austin, Wildlife Control released their self-titled debut album. And while the official release of their debut LP coupled with playing SXSW was a milestone in the brothers’ musical career, Wildlife Control had been building up a buzz in the blogosphere for some time thanks to their infectious, dreamy electro psych pop.
As demonstrated on new stand-out songs like “Ages Places” and “Different,” the talented brothers weave together ambient layers and melodic hooks featuring reverb-drenched guitar jams, soaring synth compositions, muffled bass playing, driving, rhythmic drum beats, and wavering choruses, effectively creating what we like to call the ‘colorful light show in the mind’s eye,’ similar to the effect that electro psych pop pioneers like Animal Collective achieve in their kaleidoscope soundscapes.
During the past couple of years, the brothers have recorded and toured with collaborators on both coasts. Last August, Wildlife Control made it on to CMJ’s Radio 200 chart. The brothers followed their debut release with headlining shows at the Mercury Lounge in New York City, Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, and also performed durng NYC’s 2012 CMJ Music Marathon. Their innovative music videos have garnered praise from Wired magazine and been compared to groups like OK Go and Arcade Fire. Combining their big indie rock sound with time lapse and stop motion photography, the music video for the band’s debut single, “Analog or Digital” has been viewed over 350,000 times on YouTube alone.
“Ages Places” – Wildlife Control from Wildlife Control – March 8th
“Different” – Wildlife Control from Wildlife Control
We never get tired or bored with hearing impressive music from bands and artists that we’ve never heard of before – and hopefully the same is true for many of you. That’s pretty much one of the big things that sets Indie Rock Cafe apart from most other indie and alternative rock blogs.
This is the seventh installment of 5 DIY Bands to Watch in 2013 (and beyond). So far, the collection of 35 unsigned bands featured in this series has introduced tens of thousands of music lovers to great bands they never knew about previously. The process for selecting bands for this series – as opposed to bands and artists featured in other series listed above is enormously time-consuming. Hundreds of submissions are reviewed over time, and little by little, we listen to them over and over, in the end, selecting about 30% to 40% of all submissions. After that, each band and artist selected is put into a draft post for a specific playlist series. (Read more about how bands are picked for this series at the end of this post.)
A fitting band to kick of this latest installment of 5 DIY Bands to Watch is the exciting Raleigh, North Carolina indie synth pop rock quartet Dash. The seeds for Dash where planted a few years ago when singer, songwriter and musician David Garcia recorded a number of demos in his bedroom. Like so many one-man band bedroom artists of recent years, Garcia initially had no intention of releasing them until he was approached by friends, and future band mates, who encouraged him the songs needed to be recorded and performed live. It’s a good thing they did because Dash is on the cusp of breaking out big-time.
Dash has started a buzz in North Carolina, and there are some signs that more music lovers across the U.S. are catching on. The band’s lush, colorful synth flourishes and driving melodies may remind some of bands like Passion Pit, Phoenix and Phantogram, but Dash clearly stand out on their own merits. The single, “Into the Sounds,” is a catchy anthem that sticks in your head and keeps you wanting to hear more from this up and coming band. “Home” has a sense of urgency that is intensely captivating and dreamy. Into The Sounds is the band’s debut EP.
“Into the Sounds” – Dash from Into the Sounds
“Home” – Dash from Into the Sounds EP
Cozy Danger – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Three friends were were prowling the “shadowy streets of Milwaukee one balmy summer night” in 2012, when it occurred to the “wonderfully chestbearded gentlemen” that they needed to share their blazing rock ‘n’ roll songs with the world, “instead of trolling the dump for lot lizards,” whatever that means. The unsigned Milwaukee trio proclaims that their music “will piss your cranky grand Dad right off. They’re just jealous cause hip grandma’s love our rock and roll bliss, known to interrupt pacemakers and cause extreme hot flashes.” Cozy Danger has opened for bands like Boy Blue, Sexy Ester, Bring Your Ray Gun and count among their biggest musical influences The Strokes, Jimi Hendrix, Rage Against the Machine, and Incubus.
“Simple” – Cozy Danger from The Lake Pirates
“Cozy Danger” – Cozy Danger from The Lake Pirates
Visit Cozy Danger’s official website and Facebook page
Timberhawk – Pensacola, Florida
It’s time to switch gears. Timberhawk is a four piece indie-Americana rock group from Pensacola, Florida, featuring brothers Aubrey (vocalist; bass) and Matt Nichols (drums), as well as Jordan Richards (rhythm guitar/vocals), Nathan Dillaha (lead guitar). The band members met in high school in 2001 and “immediately felt musically drawn to each other.” Since that time, the four 20-somethings have jammed together, written and recorded songs and released a debut EP, Reynosa, in 2010.
For nearly a decade, the band claims to have been the “most frequently gigging bar band” in Pensacola, but after years of playing other band’s songs, they became bored and decided to focus on writing and recording their own new material, some of which was released on Reynosa and their debut album, Tears, Sweat and The Sea, released last November. Vocalist Audrey Nichols voice sounds somewhat like Michael Stipes (REM). With edgy, taunting guitar riffs, a heavy, droning bass and danceable beats featured on southern rock singles like “Down By The River” and “Metairie,” Timberhawk are set to grow in popularity – they just need more exposure, which is part of why they’re a band an IRC DIY band to watch. The band’s style of music is a reflective of their biggest influences, including The Marshall Tucker Band, The Gills, The Band, Wilco, Radiohead, Iron and Wine, and My Morning Jacket.
“Down The River” – Timberhawk from Tears, Sweat and The Sea
“Metairie” – Timberhawk from Tears, Sweat and The Sea
Timberhawk official website
Carry The Tradition – Boulder, Colorado
Here’s an artist that we liked immediately, especially because of the track, “Mirrors” – it’s simple, lo-fi, predominantly acoustic, no frills. The band is Carry The Tradition from the town of Queensbury located in the foothills of New York’s Adirondack Mountains. All 20 years old, they started out as a trio when they were only 14 years old, featuring Jon Cantiello on drums, Chris Cronin on guitar, and Jesse Bolduc on bass.
But things changed last summer when Cantiello returned to his native country of Colombia, at which time the remaining members relocated to Boulder, Colorado, sleeping on the floor of a shared bedroom while they recorded the songs for the album Garbage. The songs are written by Cronin and Bolduc. We often are attracted to these type of artists because they’re genuine and sincere; they’re not putting on any aires or trying to fit into a mold in an effort to seek approval. We like that they’re just who they are and not trying to win anyone over by being something they’re not. They actually started rocking together at the tender age of 14 years. Their major musical influences include The Beatles, Bon Iver, Bob Dylan, Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, and Cream. That’s quite a diverse and excellent selection of artists to have as influences, all of which happen to be geniuses in their own way. In their submission to IRC, Bolduc wrote that indie rock is “rock that has free expression and no boundaries. No influence from the fat cats for industry majors. [Indie rock] generally has a distinct, honest sound.”
Bloggers and fans have described Chicago alternative rock band Flash Riot sound as a mix between the dark atmosphere of Neon Trees, the edgy grooves of Muse and the angst of the Foo Fighters. In May, the newly formed band, released their self-titled debut EP, which they collaborated on with the talented producer Marc McClusky, who is known for this work with Weezer, Bad Religion, and Social Distortion. The EP is definitely one of the best alt. rock debuts this year from a new band. “The intention of this band,” said drummer Jon Lewchenko, “is to bring back hard hitting rock music. Not just something that we can make sound good in the studio, but can make an imprint at every show we play.”
“Change Me” – Flash Riot from Flash Riot EP – May 31st
“Destination” – Flash Riot from Flash Riot EP
Flash Riot official website
Featuring DIY Bands on IRC
Many of the artists we profile on IRC have had little to no independent coverage online. Often, bands are so new that they haven’t had time to be noticed. Other bands, despite being immensely talented, do not actively promote their work. The lack of publicity and promotion, as difficult as that is to do with thousands of other bands to compete for space with, is a key reason why so many terrific artists are not more widely known. That’s why IRC is one of the few indie blogs where DIY and indie music lovers with great tastes in music, and an unshakeable love for under appreciated artists, can come to each week, or a few times a week, to hear and download amazing music that is not found anywhere else organized into regular playlist series, and where the songs are available to stream and download for months, even years, after the original date of the post. We still have posts and profiles of bands from years ago where the music is still available, whether we host it or encourage the bands themselves to host their songs for as long as possible.
This post and playlist includes over 65 MP3 singles from the second half of August releases, featuring dozens of popular, well-known and totally DIY, obscure artists and bands. This is the second, and final, post and playlist mix covering the cafe’s top picks for the best singles and albums of August 2013. The first volume of 
It didn’t take long to be drawn in by the music of Barcelona singer/songwriter, and art student, Francis White. The 23-year-old Spanish art student started his musical career out by playing other artists’ songs, but soon found himself writing and recording his own songs, many of which were written and rehearsed while sitting at the laundromat with his dog. He played the various instruments – guitar, bass, drums – in his bedroom again and again until he achieved the tracks he needed to mix the instruments and record the vocals.
Two bi-coastal brothers who normally collaborated from opposite ends of the continent came together at the mid-point city of Austin last March for the famed South by Southwest music festival, and delivered on the faith that SXSW organizers had in them enough to give them an official showcase, an honor for any musician or band. Since their SXSW appearances, which included four non-official showcase gigs, the duo have been on a roll.
