I’ve listened to “Pulling Our Weight” countless times. The Swedish band is from Lund, Sweden (no that’s not the only reason I like them, shut up) and have been around since 1995. I saw them perform live a few years back at Hiro Ballroom at the Filter Magazine Marie Antoinette album release party along with Bow Wow Wow. They are dream-like and beautiful and everything romantic you would want in ambient music. I loved the tracks Sofia Coppola chose to complement her film and “Pulling Our Weight” was no exception.
The Radio Dept.’s next album, ‘Clinging To A Scheme’, will officially be released March, through Labrador Records’ online store. You can glimpse some preview tracks on their MySpace in anticipation for the full release.
Now, when most people hear the word “Minneapolis,” they immediately think, “where the fuck is that?”
But smart people and geography enthusiasts know that Minneapolis is located in the Midwest of the United States, and is the home to many great musical acts including, but not limited to, Prince and some other people.
Add Lookbook to your list of favorite Minnesota artists. Immediately. I’ll wait while you update it.
Lookbook is gorgeous, luscious synth-pop created by Grant Cutler and Maggie Morrison. Their live performances are magnetic, with Maggie’s stunning vocals outshining the fact that she has somehow managed to harness the energy and sexiness of Karen O. in a package that could have been a 4th grade teacher in another life.
She and Grant have amazing chemistry, in part because while she plays the demure, reluctant rock star, he plays the greasy 70s too-cool beatmaster that maybe smells like cigarettes and BO and would roll his eyes when he found out I have Mandy Moore on my iPod, but who, okay yeah, I’d make out with because maaaaannnn does he look cool on stage, and maybe if I got him drunk enough he’d think I was funny?
This is going in a weird direction, so I’ll cut to the chase: this is beautiful indie music with heart and imagination and no pretention, just like the Midwest itself.
I’m easily captivated by drummers when I go to live shows. It started with the 14 times I saw The New Deal’s Darren Shearer, then came Matt Tong of Bloc Party, then Thomas Hedlund of Phoenix.
Let’s add Adam Roddick to the list. Adam drums AND sings (calm down ladies). It’s amazing seeing really good bands that are clearly having as much fun as you. The Royal Chains is Adam on vocals and drums and Dan Lawley on guitar. We caught them last night at Union Hall with Paul and the Patients and The Waylons (girl drummer = awesome) at Jonny Leather’s showcase. The Royal Chains’ 5 track EP is called Bear Island and is available at shows. My favorite song is “Lucy Takes the Dare.” They also did a cover of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule The World” last night (it rocked my face off).
Adam Roddick is about to go on tour with the Acrylics, starting with this Friday’s show at Brooklyn Bowl with Tanlines. Hopefully The Royal Chains will reconvene this spring, and when they do I’m asking them to play one of our shows…instant happiness below. Pun intended.
There are some really great bands being featured in commercials these days. From popular tracks like Passion Pit’s “Sleepyhead” in the Palm commercial and Phoenix’s “1901″ in the Cadillac commercial, to some more obscure songs that immediately grab your attention, so much so that you race to your computer, hoping you remember the right lyrics to Google before they slip away.
Two songs that have grabbed my attention recently are The Temper Trap’s “Sweet Disposition,” which I first heard in the trailer for one of my favorite movies 500 Days of Summer and more recently in a Rhapsody commercial, as well as The Cinematic Orchestra’s “To Build A Home,” used in a Chivas Regal commercial and a number of TV shows.
Nevermind what people say about bands selling out when they’ve “made it” into mainstream media. I’m happy that bands I’ve been listening to for years, like Phoenix, are being recognized for truly incredible music. I consider myself to be fairly in the know, but I didn’t know The Temper Trap or The Cinematic Orchestra before a few months ago, so I’m glad that I’ve been able to find them, even if it’s through a TV spot.
So let’s just enjoy the music! Give these a listen, you may already know them or might recognize them…
It’s the first of the month, and Le Miel du Mois: Fevrier is up on Et Musique Pour Tous! Click on the tape to listen in full and download the mix for *free*
Some of forthebeat’s favorite new artists are on there including Sunglasses, Coma Cinema, Peasant and Walter Sobcek. Tracklist below:
XXXChange – Roll It Light It Smoke It
The Tough Alliance – Neo Violence (Shazam Remix)
Database vs. French Horn Rebellion – Beaches and Friends (The Twelves Remix)
Sunglasses – Whiplash
The Radio Dept. – Heaven’s On Fire
Ladyhawke – My Delirium (Walter Sobcek Remix)
The xx – VCR (Matthew Dear Remix) Pinback – Fortress Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps (Elite Force Re-Fix) Thieves Like Us – Drugs In My Body Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Turn Into The Dig – Penitentiary Peasant – Thinking Coma Cinema – Flower Pills
Mat Cothran is Coma Cinema. A 21 year old bright young thing from South Carolina and definitely one to look out for.
I have a short attention span, and you would think Mat Cothran’s album would complement this well, as his 14 song compilation Baby Prayers (songs he has been working on – on and off – since 2005) are mostly under 2 minutes each. But they leave me wanting more, particularly “Flower Pills” – the introduction to his website, which once inside, allows you to download the entire CD for free; this was one of the tracks I wished to be longer. “Daffodils” is another favorite and must-listen, although a bit longer clocking in at a whole 2 minutes 50 seconds (!) I love dreamy dance tracks, and I think Mat Cothran achieves this well in both sound and lyrics with “Flower Pills” and “Daffodils,” but the complete album really provides a collective and unique listening experience. You can listen to “Flower Pills” and read its lyrics below. Be sure to visit Coma Cinema online and spread the word to your friends and their friends. Tour dates? Right now Mat is performing locally, but we’re hoping we can convince him to come to New York City for forthebeat’s spring show…
Flower Pills Lyrics (because they should be shared):
feeling fever chills/ taking flower pills/ dream within a dream/ talking to myself/ awake for days/ got to catch the wave/ walking to your house/ pavement turns to dirt/ burned your mountain down/ get my feelings hurt/ awake for days/ got to catch the wave
OK, so I stole the title of this post from a comment left on Brooklyn Vegan announcing the tour for We Were Promised Jetpacks and Bad Veins (with Royal Bangs for select dates). It made me laugh.
Scottish indie rock band We Were Promised Jetpacks started gaining recognition when touring with label mates Frightened Rabbit in late 2008 and then debuting their album These Four Walls in June 2009. Sounding a lot like Frightened Rabbit – one of my favorite bands – with that amazing accent and emotionally explosive lyrics and music, WWPJ immediately strikes a chord, especially with the songs “It’s Thunder And It’s Lightening” and “Quiet Little Voices.”
Bad Veins, who played the first-ever forthebeat showcase in April 2009, are good friends of ours, and we’re excited to see them hit the road with WWJP and Royal Bangs, to complete an impressive line-up. The Cincinnati-based, indie pop duo, comprised of Benjamin Davis (vocals, guitar, keys), Sebastien Schultz (drums) and a 1973 reel-to-reel named Irene, debuted their first full-length and self-titled album to critical acclaim in July 2009, garnering spaces on last year’s “Best of…” lists, including ABC News Amplified’s “Top 10 Albums of 2009” and USA Today’s Pop Candy “Top 20 Songs of 2009.” Stand out songs are “Go Home,” “The Lie” and “Found.”
Here are the tour dates – you should probably come to a show…
2/11 | The Bowery Ballroom | New York, NY *
2/12 | First Unitarian Church | Philadelphia, PA
2/13 | Rock and Roll Hotel | Washington, DC *
2/14 | The Middle East | Cambridge, MA
2/15 | The Knitting Factory | Brooklyn NY
2/17 | Casbah @ The Tremont Music Hall | Charlotte, NC
2/18 | The Masquerade | Atlanta, GA
2/19 | The End | Nashville, TN
2/20 | Maxine’s Pub | Hot Springs, AR
2/21 | Hailey’s | Denton, TX
Editors’ Note: We have a new guest contributor. And her name is Nora Borealis. She is a lady, but don’t confuse her for a delicate flower. She is tall, she is tough and she will dazzle you with her wit.
Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real disease (check WebMD) that affects dozens of people, maybe hundreds. To cope, some people take Vitamin D, some people use sun lamps, and some people drink themselves stupid.
Some people just write in their journals and get emotional when watching the Jersey Shore finale and guess what? THAT’S OKAY, TOO.
But there’s a new way to get through these dark days of winter, to stay on the sunny side of life even when the outside world is gray and sad and miserable and you’ve gained so much weight since Thanksgiving that you can’t wear anything but leggings or tights.
Beach House’s new album Teen Dream is 10 tracks of sunshine, freshly-cut grass, wildflowers, puppy love, hand-holding, slow-dancing, first kisses, runs through open fields, suntans, fireworks, sepia-toned photographs, meaningful looks at deep bodies of water and general happiness.
After 24 hours of repeated listening, you’ll be thinner, happier and more beautiful than ever before.
Their sound is ethereal and vintage, executed with such emotion and passion you’d think this must be the creation of an epic love affair. (Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand claim they aren’t dating but listen to this record and judge for yourself, clearly they’re trying to pull an Rpattz/Kstew over our eyes, you are NOT JUST FRIENDS!)
Buy their record and get free streaming (AND STICKERS!!) here.
We weren’t sure where Matthew Dear was hiding, but suddenly, he burst back on the scene last week with a remix of The xx’s “VCR.”
To be honest, I was late to the party, and only discovered Matthew Dear a few months back, when I downloaded Ghostly International’s free iPhone app Ghostly Discovery (if you don’t already have this app, it’s pretty awesome, and you can create playlists of the Ghostly catalogue depending on your mood and style preferences – organic to digital and slower to faster). I found myself always applying settings that would get me to Matthew Dear songs.
The Texas-native made his way to Michigan, where he was inspired by the sounds of “Detroit Techno” and debuted his first single, 1999s “Hands Up For Detroit.” With influences including the Talking Heads and David Bowie, as well as tour support and remixes for Hot Chip, The Postal Service and Kieran Hebden (Four Tet), Matthew Dear has been extremely prolific since 1999, producing singles, EPs, albums and remixes as Matthew Dear as well as Audion, Jabberjaw and False – the monikers he’s been hiding behind for the past year or so.
His remix of The xx’s “VCR” was a strategic move to burst back on the scene – you can do no wrong when aligning with this baby-faced threesome. We happen to love everything from their original material to remixes of their work and their remixes of their piers – the remix of Florence and The Machine’s “You’ve Got The Love” being one of my favorite songs of 2009.
So without further ado, here is Matthew Dear’s new remix of The xx’s “VCR”…
You might ask, “KC, where did you find this song?” I don’t know. But these breezy beats with a southern twist are pretty addictive, and I’ve listened to this song over and over since first discovering it yesterday.
Sunglasses is the brainchild of 8000 bam bam (Samuel Cooper) & Baby Seal (Brady Keehn), who met at the Savannah College of Art and Design, working on Cooper’s senior thesis film. In fact, I think these kids are still in school.
According to his MySpace page, 8000 bam bam has a bunch of other projects in the works: Hula Hoop, Grandma Q, Food Coloring and Baby Jazz, in addition to Sunglasses, and he plans on directing the music videos for each, which brings me to this – a psychedelic, belly-dancing journey through the universe, complete with awful spandex, awkward hipster chicks dancing, and primitive green screen production, making for a completely awesome music video that you’ll want to share with your friends, and you, yourself, will keep watching because the pairing of the song and the visuals is just so good.
You might ask, “KC, is this a joke?” I’m not entirely sure. I can’t find much written on Sunglasses, other than two blog posts by Dipped in Dollars and Transparent Blog. But listening to 8000 bam bam’s many projects, this all seems legit, and very promising. I think as all these musical ventures and ideas are streamlined, we’ll be hearing a lot more about Sunglasses and 8000, as well seeing more colorful bursts of video goodness to keep our ears, eyes and minds stimulated.
