Max Hammer – Page 77 – INDIE ROCK CAFE

Indie Cover Songs, Vol I: Bodies of Water, The Submarines, The White Stripes, Blind Man’s Colour & More

Posted on 03/02/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Who doesn’t like a well-done cover song? There are countless numbers of brilliant cover songs that have been recorded through the years, most notably in alternative and indie rock. This is the beginning of yet another playlist series right here on IRC.

Kicking off this debut playlist series are two cover songs from the new benefit album RAM On L.A., a compilation of Paul McCartney cover songs based on his 1971 solo release RAM.

The album is a free download from Aquarium Drunkard, but you are encourage to donate to the vital work of the organization called No More Landmines. The artists who performed these cover songs gave their free time for this cause, so please help as you can by visiting the NML link above. (There are two cover songs in this playlist from the album; the others are various covers.)

“Dear Boy” (Paul McCartney) – Bodies of Water
Bodies of Water Official Website

“Ram On” (Paul McCartney) – The Parson Red Heads
The Parson Red Heads Official site

“Waiting For War” (The Morning Benders) – The Submarines
The Submarines on MySpace

“Outlaw Blues” (Bob Dylan) – The White Stripes
The White Stripes on MySpace

“Taste” (Animal Collective) – Blind Man’s Colours
Blind Man’s Colour on MySpace

“Sweet Jane” (Velvet Underground) – Cowboy Junkies (live)

Stay tuned for more cover songs. This is playlist series will run throughout 2009. You can grab the media feed, follow IRC on Twitter or add us to MySpace.

Note: Because Facebook threatens its users’ privacy, we are not using Facebook as a social network.

Winter Time Fix Mix, Vol. I

Posted on 02/28/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

As February fades away, the days begin to get longer little by little as the grip of winter weakens. Soon it will be April and spring will jump in winter’s place. But until then, we still got winter. With that in mind, here’s volume one of a three part series of wintry indie mixes.

“Angel In The Snow” – Elliott Smith from New Moon
Elliot Smith on MySpace

“White Winter Hymnal” – Fleet Foxes from s/t debut
Fleet Foxes on MySpace

“Winter’s Love” – Animal Collective from Sung Tongs
Animal Collective on MySpace

“A Jagged Gorgeous Winter” – The Main Drag from Yours As Fast as Mine
The Main Drag on MySpace

“Deep Frieze” – Chris Letcher from Frieze
Christ Letcher on MySpace

“Breaking The Ice” – Mojave 3 from Breaking The Ice
Mojave 3 on MySpace

Stayed tuned or check back for volumes II and III of the Winter Time Fix Mix featuring wintry songs from The Dodos, The Main Drag, The Amazing Pilots, Belle and Sebastian, Sea Wolf and others.

Follow IRC on Twitter, grab the feed or become friends on MySpace

New Song from Upcoming Release by Amadou & Mariam; Tour with Coldplay

Posted on 02/27/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Singer Mariam Doumbia and her husband guitarist/vocalist Amadou Bagayoko have been making music together since they first met three decades ago at the Institute for Young Blind People in Mail’s capital city Bamako.

Since then the couple have receive remarkable critical and popular acclaim in Europe and North America. Amadou & Mariam are well-known for their live shows and recently performed in the BBC’s Africa Express festival along with Johnny Marr, The Magic Numbers, Damon Albarn, and Hard-Fi. The duo are currently on tour and have a tour booked in July opening for Coldplay.

“Sabali” – Amadou & Mariam from upcoming re-release of 2008’s Welcome to Mali (3/24) is available as a pre-order

MySpace: Amadou & Mariam

More Great Indie Albums of 2008: Vampire Weekend’s Smash Debut

Posted on 02/27/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

We covered Vampire Weekend quite a bit since they burst onto the indie scene last year at this time. So, in the on-going series, More Best Indie Albums of 2008, here’s to Vampire Weekend’s wildly, and sometimes over-hyped, debut album.

It is rare for a new band to get so much coverage – from Rolling Stone to New York Times – from a debut album. Vampire Weekend came up with a fresh sound, some call it gimmicky (not I), that caught on. Within a few months they were the buzz band of early 2008. They’ve even been on Saturday Night Live which just propelled VW into another sphere of musical success.

The band’s album debut is full of fun, upbeat songs with an underlying swasi-indie pop sound they are so known for. Songs like “A Punk”, “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and “Oxford Comma” made the album a big hit in 2008.

There is no doubt that we loved this album and the band’s sound – even went to one of their shows in San Francisco – but over the year it became mundane. Now the pressure is really on these fellows from Brooklyn to come out with a solid follow-up to their popular break through debut.

“Ottoman” – Vampire Weekend available as a single only while awaiting word on when a new album is set for release. Interesting single and definitely a new sound.

So far as we can tell, there is only one relatively new song called “Ottoman” and is available for streaming on Vampire Weekend’s MySpace page.

Listen to Vampire Weekend’s DayTrotter Session from as early as October 2007, just a few months before their name and music exploded on the college radio and indie blogs.

The Great Unknowns, Vol. I – Eric Bachman, Bill Ricchini, Aqueduct, Slowdive and AAS

Posted on 02/26/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Eric Bachmann (seated) and band members of disbanded Crooked Fingers

We have a new musical journey to embark on. A common refrain on this blog is the fact there is a ton of amazing music out there that most people have never heard, or will never hear, if not for the miracles of the Internet. Sometimes it’s just one song by an obscure band. Other times it is an entire album full of amazing music that somehow slips under the radar.

In this new playlist series, “The Great Unknowns”, you’ll learn about musicians, bands, songs and albums that have gone largely unnoticed for whatever unfortunate reason 0r combination thereof – poor timing, bad management, band problems, lousy marketing, lack of focus and the list goes on.

During the past couple of decades, indie and alternative music have gained a wider audience. Much of this can be credited to the promotion of music by music lovers via music via the Internet. Songs featured in this series do not reflect new indie or alternative music (check the New Releases or MP3s sections of this site for those) but instead music released generally between the years 1990 to 2008.

One of the main purposes for this blog for more than two years has been to bring unknown or under appreciated music to the ears of more people, and to highlight the best of the best known indie and alternative artists and bands as well. If you know more than a couple songs on this list, then you must be a real indie die-hard. Enjoy the first installment of The Great Unknowns.

“Man ‘O War” – Eric Bachman from To The Races (2006)

“Rain Parade” – Bill Ricchini from Ordinary Time (2002)

“Suggestion Box” – Aqueduct from I Sold Gold (2005)

“Alison” – Slowdive from Souvlaki (1993)

“Punk as Fuck” – American Analog Set from Know By Heart (2001)

Check back, grab the Feed Me Indie feed or follow IRC on Twitter to get the latest on new indie rock releases, bands and songs, plus the best of classic indie and alternative rock.

The Cure’s Robert Smith Blasts Radiohead for Allowing Fans to Set a Price

Posted on 02/25/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Do you ever feel like you’re in a tug-of-war with two of your favorite rock groups because one of them disses the other? What about if the “disser” also takes a shot at you and everyone you know in the same breath?

Well, leave it up to Robert Smith, everyone’s favorite aging rocker, who had more than just his usually bad hair day today.

In an interview with Music Radar, The Cure’s frontman lashed out at Radiohead, saying he “disagreed violently” with their pay-what-you want model for their 2007 blockbuster release, In Rainbows. Smith said allowing fans to determine their own price to download the album was an “idiot plan.”

“You can’t allow other people to put a price on what you do, ” Smith said. “Otherwise you don’t consider what you do to have any value at all and that’s nonsense. If I put a value on my music and no one’s prepared to pay that, then more fool me, but the idea that the value is created by the consumer is an idiot plan, it can’t work.”

Not only is it just stupid to attack Radiohead fans – many of whom are probably Cure fans as well – but it’s also stupid to talk like a diva when you’re an aging rocker. Never mind that Smith spit on a growing movement that will only do more to allow the best, and the least greedy, musicians and groups to flourish creativity while expanding their fan base by offering a fair price for music. The old models are gone and they might leave musicians like Smith with them. It’s been happening for a decade now.

Maybe it’s hard to make any sense to someone who wears a bird’s nest on his head. I think it would be awesome if Radiohead wrote a song in response called “Idiot Plan”. It will definitely get plenty of attention, that’s for sure.

Tell Me Why – Radiohead

Reckoner v2.0 (Diplo Train Wreck Remix) – Radiohead
Jigsaw Falling Into Place – Radiohead

Radiohead website
Radiohead MySpace

Listen to High-Quality 2008 Concert of Radiohead

If you are a RadioHead, listen to this transformational two-hour Radiohead concert broadcast recorded by NPR on August 28, 2008 at Santa Barbara Bowl. I was lucky enough to see Radiohead play in San Francisco during the Outside Lands Festival (in photo above, thanks to insdecelebs) two weeks after this featured show.

The SF show was the most amazing concert I’ve ever been to – well worth the chance I took to have my car towed to see Radiohead play in the fog drenched Golden Gate Park with tens of thousands of people.

NPR music critic Bob Boilen, in this concert review, (you also hear him on the broadcast) got it right. He compared the event as one of his favorite concerts since seeing Pink Floyd perform Dark Side of the Moon (who wouldn’t have loved to have seen that one) decades earlier:

“What they [Radiohead] do better than any band is create a sonic adventure — a soundscape which, at its best, stretches time and allows the mind to wander and rejuvenate. I think of it as resetting the synapses. Creativity breeds creativity. When the music was over, I felt unboxed and changed and pretty darn happy. Drugs are overrated; music is underrated.”

New Indie Songs from The Thermals, Dan Auerbach, Faunts

Posted on 02/24/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Today’s batch of new songs from current and up-coming releases includes a fresh pop tune from Portland’s The Thermals, Stockholm’s indie pop duo The Sweet Serenades, Edmonton’s five-piece shoegaze Faunts, Finnish pop couple Burning Hearts and a hard-edge blaze from Akron’s Dan Auerbach.

“Now We Can See” – The Thermals from Now We Can See
The Thermals on MySpace

“Mona Lee” – The Sweet Serenades from Balcony Cigarettes
The Sweet Serenades on MySpace

“Explain” – Faunts from Feel Love Thinking Of
Faunts on MySpace

“I Lost My Colour Vision” – Burning Hearts from Aboa Sleeping
Burning Hearts on MySpace

“I Want Some More” – Dan Auerbach from Keep It Hid
Dan Auerbach on MySpace

New Indie Songs of 2009: Wolves in the Attic, Jason Zumpano, Go West Young Man and more

Posted on 02/23/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

New music is here, there and everywhere, so please bare with me while I try to catch up.

Here are some other great indie songs that have come out in the past six weeks, including fresh tracks from San Francisco’s Leopold and His Friction, Jason Zumpano, Iowa rock from Wolves in the Attic, LA’s Go West Young Man and Henry’s Funeral Shoe.

“Loss of God” – Wolves in the Attic from Electronic Hearts – Jan. 5
Bonus: “Electronic Hearts“

“Come Back (Now That I’m Here)” – Leopold and His Fiction from Ain’t No Surprise – Jan. 14

“Beggars of Blue Sky” – Jason Zumpano from Roses $9.99 a Dozen – Jan 17

“Chinatown” – Go West Young Man from self-titled release – Feb. 17

“Henry’s Funeral Shoe” – Henry’s Funeral Shoe from Everything’s for Sale – Feb. 17

New Alternative Rock Release: Weird Owl

Posted on 02/22/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

For garage rock lovers who dig 1970s classic guitar rock with plenty of slow jams – meaning longer songs – the brand new release from Weird Owl is worth checking out.

On the whole, there are some solid rock songs on this album, but Weird Owl would do even better to instill more variation in their songs. Hopefully the next release will see Weird Owl step it up and break out more. They have the elements to make more captivating rock like The White Stripes and The Strokes.

As one EMusic observer put it, there is “much needed personality to the sleepy locomotion of the songs.” That quote hits it on the head. But still, this is a decent debut rock album for music lovers inclined to a chilled out experience heavy on electric ooze.

“Do What Th’ Owl Wilt” – Weird Owl from self-titled debut
“Skeletelepathic” – Weird Owl from self-titled debut

Stream more songs at Weird Owl’s MySpace page. *

* Just a minor note to the band: The page background color makes it really hard to read stuff.

New Indie Rock Songs from Throw Me The Statue and The Papercuts

Posted on 02/21/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Throw Me The Statue – photo from MusicRemedy.com

Seattle’s Throw Me the Statue are back with a new EP on Secretly Canadian Records, the same label that is home to the wildly popular Anthony and The Johnsons (I don’t care for his music; so kill me).

But, TMTS’s new single “Ship” from the Purple Face EP is definitely worth a listen. It gets better with each listen, in my opinion. The entire album is worth a listen, but this is the stand-out track.

“Ship” – Throw Me The Statue from Purple Face
“Lolita” – Throw Me The Statue from Moonbeams, one of 2008’s best surprise albums of the year.

“Future Primitive” – Papercuts from new release You Can Have What You Want

This is an excellent pop rock song, one of the best songs of 2009 so far, and perhaps one of the best albums of the new year as well from San Francisco’s very own, Papercuts. Enjoy.

A new split single from pop master Cloudberry Records features London collective The Understudies and Chicago’s Very Truly Yours delivers ambitious, rapid jangle pop.

“Flic Knives” – The Understudies
“Pop Song 91” – Very Truly Yours

More indie releases from 2009, including Beirut, Weird Owl, Appleseed Cast, Diplo, Loney Dear and more!

Looking Back AtThe Classic Solo Album Person Pitch by Panda Bear

Posted on 02/19/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Album cover of Panda Bear’s 2008 Person Pitch

One 2007 release that cannot be emphasized enough is the last release from Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox. As one of the many characters that make up the wildly popular psychedelic pop rock outfit, Lennox, better known by his moniker Panda Bear, released his third solo album last year. The more I listen to it – even now – the more it becomes apparent just what an awesome release it was.

Combining the high chorus, echo pop sounds of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys with his own brand of songs lush with sampling and electro-pop influences, a significant departure from Lennox’s previous acoustic-centric release Young Prayer.

His record label, Paw-Tracks Records, wrote of Lennox’s debut release: “Person Pitch is suffused with the kind of feel good modern toe-tapping pop that seems harder and harder to find these days.” Indeed.

“Comfy in Nautica” – Panda Bear from Person Pitch

For those of you who missed it, here’s an amazing remix from Panda Bear of a great Notwist song. Enjoy.

“Boneless” (The Notwist) – Panda Bear Remix

MySpace: Panda Bear

M. Ward’s New Release ‘Hold Time’

Posted on 02/18/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

By the time the best indie albums of 2009 lists start coming out later this year, today, February 17th, will surely be a day to remember.

That is because today marks the official release of a number of high anticipated, and for the most part, rewarding albums by some of indie music’s most popular artists, including M. Ward, Beirut, Morrissey, Robyn Hitchcock, Sing Fan Bous and Architecture in Helsinki, among many others. The most anticipated in my world was M. Ward’s newest release.

Wow! Brilliant! Addictive! Those are my initial reactions after listening to M. Ward’s new release (today, Feb. 17) Hold Time. If there is one album every music lover should hear in 2009, it is this one.

I’ll hedge a bet and say right here, right now that Hold Time will be, as the months pass, considered one of the best, if not the best, album of the year. Tonight he also appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman.

M. Ward is a genius. His songs are masterfully composed and executed. He has splendid vocal capabilities and is clearly one of the best singer songwriters of the past decade. With Hold Time, Ward definitely locks in that honor.

One of the things I love about this album is that every song is brilliant and memorable, spanning an entire field of genres and styles that is a cornerstone of Ward’s musical appeal.

Whether they are upbeat country rock songs or dreamy folk pop ballads, Ward’s songs jump out and attach themselves to your ears, guiding you to turn up the volume, sit back and soak them up.
Rarely does an album come along in which every song on it is precious in it’s own way. Hold Time does just that. It is simply a masterpiece.

From beautiful duets on songs like “Oh Lonesome Me” with Lucinda Williams to “Rave On” with Zooey Deschanel, and catchy pop songs like “Stars of Leo” to country rock songs like “One Hundred Million Years” to the magical and dreamy love song and title track of the album.

“Never Had Nobody Like You” – M. Ward from Hold Time (song Ward played on Lettermen tonight)

“Oh Lonesome Me” – M. Ward from Hold Time on Merge Records

Other songs that are infectious and get better with each listen include “Shangri-La”, “Epistemology”, “Jailbird” and “For Beginners”, each of which could be a hit song on their own.

It’s hard to imagine that enough mind-blowing albums will be released in the next 9 plus months that will keep Hold Time out of the majority of Top 5 and Top Ten albums of 2009 lists that come out later this year. I would not be surprised at all if Hold Time is widely considered the best album of 2009 months from now.