Digging The Archives – Sounds of [YEAR] is a new series in which we’ll dig back into our published and unpublished posts to highlight songs and artists that broke through from 2007 to 2015.
Original file date: June 2, 2009
Durham, North Carolina indie folk pop band Bombadil first hit our radar last year with their stunning full-length debut A Buzz, A Buzz – making it one of our favorite indie albums of 2008.
Bombadil’s latest release, Tarpits and Canyonlands, is an impressive follow-up, full of lo-fi piano, violin, clanking sticks, acoustic guitars, choruses and shatters, as on the lead single, “Honeymoon.”
The organically recorded and released, “Kuala Lumpur,” is a hand-clapping, acoustic guitar, chorus-driven celebratory song about Malaysia and its famous capital, with very much a Polynesian feel.
Formed March 2005 when guitarist Bryan Rahija and bassist Daniel Michalak were studying abroad in Bolivia. Drummer James Phillips joined Bombadil in 2007. The band described their latest album as “a joyful document that celebrates all the flaws and sorrows of the human condition while capturing the whimsy, spirit, and charm that has enabled the band to win over fan after fan on a relentless four-year tour.”
Bombadil has open for bands like The Avett Brothers and Langhorne Slim and performed at Bonnaroo in addition to being featured in Paste Magazine, The Washington Post and New York Magazine.
More About Bombadil
Biggest musical influences: Velvet Underground, Manu Chao, The Kinks, Elliott Smith and Ben Folds.
Favorite albums: Led Zeppelin – III; James Brown – Live at the Apollo; Architecture in Helsinki – In Case We Die
Favorite songs ever: “Bring it On Home to Me” – Sam Cooke
Official website: www.bombadilmusic.com
Chicago indie band Shadows On A River originally played together as college students at Milkin University in Decatur as The Infinity Room, and once opened for Pedro The Lion.
Following graduation, the band split up but recently regrouped to record their new debut self-titled album featuring strange and earnest art rock.
Lead singer/songwriter and guitarist David Henson lists “self doubt” as his main musical influence and compares the band’s sound to Elliott Smith, Radiohead and Mt Eerie.
Henson’s favorite song is “Unravel” by Bjork and his favorite albums are The Glow Part 2 by the Microphones and Kid A by Radiohead.
Via Bandcamp: “Hurricanes” – Shadows On A River from s/t debut (2009)