Best Indie 2009 – INDIE ROCK CAFE

Bands to Watch in 2009: The Lonely Forest

Posted on 03/12/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

The Seattle garage rock-pop band The Lonely Forest is set to release their third album, We Sing The Body Electric!, on April 21 via Burning Building Recordings. In the interest of full disclosure, I was unaware of the band until their latest album came in dee mail.

As I listened to We Sing The Body Electric!, it became apparent that I was hearing one of the best albums so far this year. Song after song reveals rich, raw, sophisticated, emotional, party-ready and wonderfully crafted music; there are no gimmicks or cookie cutter rock here. What worries me about bands that are this good is what can happen to them if they become too popular.

Music producer Jack Endino, who worked with Nirvana, Mudhoney and Soundgarden said of The Lonely Forest: “These guys came out of no where…and blew my mind!”

For reals. We Sing The Body Electric! may likely be on some best rock album lists for 2009 by year’s end. Band members include Eric Sturgeon (bass and vocals), John Van Deusen (piano, lead vocals), Braydn Krueger (drums) and Tony Ruland (guitar).

Some of the bands The Lonely Forest have played with include The Velvet Teen, The Thermals, Appleseed Cast, Mates of State, Viva Voce, Saturday Looks Good To Me, Cloud Cult, YACHT, Maritime and many others.

MySpace has become one fairly reliable measure of a band’s popularity. The Lonely Forest opened their page in July 2004 and have since racked up 265,824 profile views and amassed 5,958 friends in the extended (and sometimes over-extended) MySpace network.

“We Sing In Time” – The Lonely Forest from We Sing The Body Electric!
“Lessons in Communications II” – The Lonely Forest from Nuclear Winter (2007)
The Lonely Forest on MySpace

Both songs are currently available via Burning Buildings Recordings

The gorgeous Pacific Northwest has played a major role in popularizing alternative and indie rock music for nearly two decades now, and The Lonely Forest are clearly one of the big shots in modern Seattle rock.

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.

Andrew Bird Raises The Sword with Noble Beasts

Posted on 01/26/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Andrew Bird has done it again. Bird’s 2007 album Armchair Apocrypha was widely hailed as one of the best albums of that year. It’s almost a sure bet that his newest release, Noble Beast, will go down as one of the finest albums of 2009. I’ve had the album on a near loop for days, and it’s a grower – the more I listen to it, the more I am sure it will probably remain on my essential albums list years from now.

Bird, who is currently on tour, really expands as an artist on Noble Beast and yet manages to perfect the framework that made him famous and keep his compositional idiosyncrasies that so many fans treasure still interesting, such as his signature whistling.

Few artists can get away with as much whistling as Bird spreads throughout this work because it is always appealing and woven in with the music just perfectly. For example, on the track “Take Courage” Bird whistles like a musician, not just some guy walking down the street.

“Souverian” is a love song that would go well with a road trip through quiet places. It’s also a split single in that it transforms in to another style of music half-way through. Split singles are becoming a trend in recent years, and Bird is a natural when it comes to creating such a song. Other album highlights include “Oh No”, “Anonanimal” (see new video above) “Fitz and the Dizzyspells” and “Tenuousness”.

There is a limited edition double CD version called Useless Creatures, a collection of new instrumental works. Orders for the limited edition are being taken at http://fatpossum.com.

Please note: I have not heard the bonus CD except for one ten-minute track titled “The Barn Tapes”. Let’s just say that song is not a keeper – an unusual occurrence with Bird’s music catalog.

It must also be noted that some critics will argue Noble Beast is not as ground-breaking as Armchair Apocrypha, or as accessible, but the overall collection of songs on Noble Beast is a solid follow-up to AA and will easily survive any nit-picking.

“Tenuousness” by Andrew Bird from Noble Beast

Stream songs from Noble Beast at Andrew Bird’s MySpace page.

Get Noble Beast at Emusic.com or iTunes
Official Release for Europe: Feb. 15 (how romantic)

Bird is performing Monday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn and the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City Wednesday night.

With the exception of a two-week break in early March, Bird will be touring until the end of April. Chances are he will sell out just about everywhere he plays, especially as word about his newest release spreads.