I have a couple of friends whose musical tastes and opinions I really respect. The one who showed me Foster The People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” expects it will explode on the blogosphere becoming a hit and there’s good reason to believe him, it’s just starting to happen now. BlackBookMag.com compares their sound to MGMT and Peter, Bjorn, and John, predicting the song to become one of the big hits of this summer. Indie radio stations can be, at times, predictable and if you keep track on Hype Machine and Elbo.ws alone, you’ll have a pretty good collection of these kind of blogosphere hits. The song has been selected as a favorite by over 2,500 different people and the song’s only been around for a week. Check out Foster The People’s official website and you might find all of the songs just as refreshing and enjoyable as “Pumped Up Kicks.” If there was a fantasy music league, I think these guys would be a good bet.
MP3: Foster The People – “Pumped Up Kicks”
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The Radio Dept. is an indie-pop rock band from Sweden. Their upcoming album, Clinging To A Scheme, is scheduled for release in April of this year and will be their 3rd full length release to date. The single off of the album is called “David” but it’s another track, “Heaven’s On Fire,” that has become one of the most blogged about songs of 2010.
MP3: The Radio Dept. – “Heaven’s On Fire”
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Clearly, I haven’t been paying enough attention to Yo La Tengo. At least, not until their latest record, Popular Songs. A friend needed only to play me the first track, “Here To Fall” and I instantly realized the folly of my ways. The combination of heavy rock and strings is irresistibly cool. The song is a throwback to Zeppelin and other 70s heavy rock yet it maintains a relevance to today’s music. It isn’t just enjoyable, it’s impressive, especially if you listen to bands like The Dead Weather, Heartless Bastards, or Band of Skulls.
MP3: Yo La Tengo – “Here To Fall”
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Sub Pop records has joined SoundCloud. They’re premiering their newest release by Dear Companion allowing you to stream the full album, song by song. Here are some of the songs from the Sub Pop catalog that have been uploaded to SoundCloud already. If you haven’t checked out the new Beach House album, I strongly recommend looking into it…
Fyfe Dangerfieldis the front man of Guillemots. His debut solo album is called Fly Yellow Moonand it was released on January 18th in the UK. I’ve only heard two of the tracks off the album. “She Needs Me” perfectly embodies all of the soft, pop qualities that were already bothering me with “When You Walk In The Room” which is otherwise fun and avoidably catchy. I’m suspicious that the album’s overall sound is closer to “She Needs Me” which I didn’t really enjoy. There’s something about “When You Walk In The Room” that I do like a lot but I can’t really put my finger on it. Since those are the only two songs I’ve heard from the album, I guess I’ll have to wait until it’s released in the US to really check it all out.
MP3: Fyfe Dangerfield – “When You Walk In The Room”
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It was with little fanfare this past fall that singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart released his seventh album, What Will We Be. Not surprisingly, the public shrugged at the latest release from a guy better known for his early 70’s Morrison beard and a tabloid tryst with Natalie Portman than his music.
By many accounts, Banhart has been more shtick than star – a five tool player who can’t seem to crack a starting lineup. But something funny happened on the way to disappointment…a beardless Banhart dropped the album we’ve been waiting for.
Calling Devendra Banhart interesting is like calling Paul McCartney merely well-to-do. Banhart’s bio reads like a Dos Equis commercial: Born in Houston, raised in Caracas, and educated at the San Francisco Art Institute while living in the Castro neighborhood of Harvey Milk fame. He opened for indie rock bands in Paris, wrote songs in Morocco and sold demos outside of shows in LA, before being “discovered” prior to his 21st birthday. His first name comes from Indra, the Hindu God of Rain and Thunder; his middle name, Obi, pays homage to a certain saber wielding Jedi. (No wonder Portman was impressed).
Yet while all these fun facts make for a terrific VH1 Pop-Up video, Barnhart had never written a song worthy of one (not necessarily a criticism by the way). While I always found his music to be intriguing, I never found it to be particularly fun. His previous album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, showed flashes of brilliance (check out “Lover,” or the hilarious “Shabop Shalom”) amidst stretches of mediocrity.
That trend changes on What Will We Be, which plays as an album, rather than just a compilation of singles (minus a few snoozers at the end). His latest effort is a road trip of versatility, channeling Paul Simon (”Goin’ Back”), Jack Johnson (”Baby”), The Doors (”Rats”), Beach Boys (”Maria Lionza”) and Peter Tosh (”Foolin’”), and featuring a schizophrenic folk/singers & standards mash up (”Chin Chin & Muck Muck”) that personifies Banhart’s originality.
WWWB is worth diving into for the right reasons this time. Finally, Banhart has focused his eccentricity into songs that can be appreciated by more than festival heads, new age hippies and tabloid hounds hunting the next indie rock stud.
In short, it is the album that has finally made Devendra Banhart as entertaining to listen to as he is to read about. And it is one of my favorites of 2009.
MP3: Devendra Banhart – “Rats”
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MP3: Devendra Banhart – “Angelika”
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Danger Mouse and James Mercer of The Shins teamed up to create Broken Bells. Danger Mouse was a big fan of The Shins and the duo first met on the Dark Night of the Soul collaboration album. Their self-titled debut will officially be made available in March of 2010 but the album has been leaked online and it’s very impressive to say the least. The single and first track officially released is called “The High Road” which will also be the first track off the forthcoming album. Right off the bat, you can tell you’re listening to quality, experimental indie-pop music. Warm, electronic sounds are set to a melodic and beautiful layering of guitars and strings over 60’s pop style drums. The songs have cool and smooth, steady builds that result in an album that leaves you feeling like you’re on a real musical journey. Similar to the beginning of “The High Road,” the end of “Your Head Is On Fire” sounds like it could have been a Zero 7 track. The end of “Sailing to Nowhere” sounds like a film score and made me wonder when Danger Mouse might start scoring movies since he’s clearly capable. The album as a whole is truly artistic and a great piece of work. Nearly every song is capable of being someone else’s favorite track. Check out the songs below and the official website at BrokenBells.com.
Broken Bells – “The High Road” (removed by request)
The Flaming Lips just released a cover album of Dark Side of the Moon. Theirs is a very cool take on the classic 1973 Pink Floyd album. In addition to the Lips’ hard rock and heavy, psychedelic guitar style that you might expect after Embryonic, the songs feature vocals from Henry Rollins and Peaches. Stardeath and White Dwarfs also join the team to contribute to the cover album as they add their own distinctive sound giving the album even more of a rock edge. Hopefully, this new version will synch up with The Wizard of Oz just like the original…
MP3: The Flaming Lips & Stardeath and White Dwarfs featuring Henry Rollins – “On The Run”
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MP3: The Flaming Lips featuring Henry Rollins & Peaches – “Great Gig In The Sky”
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Animal Kingdom’s debut album, Signs and Wonders, was released in late September of this year. The British band recorded the critically praised album in Seattle and has been featured on radio shows and blogs all over the world. In addition to being selected as the iTunes best new alternative artist, one song, “Bright Lights,” is featured on the promos for HBO’s Big Love. Attached is my favorite song from the album, “Walls of Jericho.”
MP3: Animal Kingdom – “Walls of Jericho”
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Spoon’s upcoming album, Transference, is scheduled to be released in January 2010. The single is called “Written In Reverse” and it was released on iTunes today. It’s slowly growing on me but I can’t say that it’s anything special. Based on what I’ve seen online about the song, it seems like their fans are more excited about the release of a new Spoon track than they are about the track itself, but it’s definitely worth checking out…
MP3: Spoon – “Written In Reverse”
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