The last entry spoke of a 16-piece band called Flowers From Hell. I post a link to it on Twitter and someone tells me a band from Texas called Mount Righteous “rolls with 9 folks”. I decide to check them out, and Mount Righteous create some of the most addictive indie pop around.
They only have one EP and one album to their name (click here for a look), but with a string of shows that will take them to this year’s SXSW (and them being a Texas band, it will not be a long journey like other artists are taking), they’re hoping to be able to increase their output.
When I popped in Nedry’s Condors (Monotreme), the first thing I thought of when I was listening to the electronic beats buzzing and tweezing was Chemical Brothers. As the vocals came in, I said “oh, Björk lite”, but that’s unfair.
Vocalist Ayu Okakita has been in a number of groups over the years, but now she’s with Nedry, who are also Matt Parker and Chris Amblin. Okakita’s voice is very smooth, delicate, sensual, and eerie all at the same time, singing something that may come off like a loud whisper but is really just her reserved way of singing with power. She doesn’t over do it, so songs like “Four Layers Of Pink”, “Scattered”, and “Where The Dead Birds Go” could bring back flashbacks of the best works of Portishead or Gina Rene and Soulstice. What I love are the layers of sound Amblin and Parker create, especially as things move from dreamy to abrasive in a Shirley Manson fashion. When she sings in a manner that may sound like she’s borderlne out-of-control, the music backs that feeling up and the mood is always right where it needs to be.
The album cover consists of a pixelated eagle, which in a way may help inform the listener about the unpredictable sounds within.
(vinyl version comes with a CD of the full album) |
Summer Cats are a Melbourne, Australia group that show a deep love of pop music in their music. Their debut album has done well for them, and as they come to the United States for a stop at this year’s SXSW, they are releasing a single in the form of “Your Timetable” b/w “TV Guide” (Free MP3 download) on Slumberland Records.
If you’re familiar with their sound and want to catch them live, you’ll be able to do so with a small handful of dates surrounding their SXSW performance:
March 5 – New York, NY – Don Hills
March 6 – Philadelphia, NY – England Belongs to Twee at King Fu Necktie
March 7 – Brooklyn, NY – Bruar Falls
March 11 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean
March 12 – Milwaukee, WI – Bayview Brew Haus
March 13 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
March 15 – Boston, MA – Great Scott
March 19 – Austin, TX – End of an Ear records in-store (SXSW)
March 20 – Austin, TX – Waterloo Cycles SXSW Party
March 27 – San Francisco, CA – Slumberland 20th Anniversary Show at The Rickshaw Stop
March 28 – Los Angeles, CA – Slumberland 20th Anniversary Show at The Echo
Last month I posted news on the first solo album by Josiah Wolf, and mentioned on how he would be doing double duty when he would go on tour to support his solo album and the works of his group, Why?. Wolf has just announced a number of new concert dates, most of them being Wolf on his own with supporting artists, while a block of shows in late May/early June will be a Why?/Josiah Wolf double feature.
02/27 Covington, KY Mad Hatter
03/05 Cincinnati, OH The Monestary ** RECORD RELEASE SHOW**
05/21 Chicago, IL Schuba’s
05/22 Minneapolis, MN 7th St. Entry
05/25 Missoula, MT The Palace
05/26 Seattle, WA The Vera Project %#
05/27 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret *#
05/28 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom *#
05/30 Eugene, OR WOW Hall *#
05/31 Eureka, CA Nocturnum #$
06/01 Reno, NV Biggest Little City Club #
06/02 Oakland, CA New Parish of Oakland *#
06/03 Pomona, CA Glass House *#
06/04 La Jolla, CA Che Cafe
06/05 Tucson, AZ Solar Cultural Gallery
06/08 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
06/09 Denver, CO Hi Dive
06/11 St. Louis, MO The Firebird
06/12 Bloomington, IN The Bishop
Cloud Nothings is a one man band in the studio, the “group” identity of one Dylan Baldi. His 2009 debut album was released last year on Bridgetown on CD and cassette. Today (February 23rd), Turning On makes its vinyl debut through Speakertree Records (order here.) The vinyl version features one extra song not on the CD/cassette version, and comes with a download code so you can have the entire album as MP3’s.
Cloud Nothings is keeping busy with a brand new 7″ 45 on the Group Tightener label called “Morgan”/”Another Man”, with “Another Man” being a non-LP B-side (nice). Only 250 copies of the 7″ have been pressed. You can download “Morgan” as an MP3 from the Gorilla vs. Bear blog.
Josh Ritter’s new album So Runs the World Away is complete and ready to go, but vinyl junkies will be able to have a first crack at buying it.
The LP version will be released on Record Store Day, which is April 17th. Participating stores will sell the album on that day, a few weeks before the official U.S. release, and to make it interesting, Ritter will be doing two live shows at two of his favorite record stores during Record Store Day weekend: April 16… Long Beach, California, Fingerprints (7pm)
April 17… Boise, Idaho, The Record Exchange (7pm)
The vinyl version will also come with a CD of the album.
Those in Ireland will get to hear the album when it is released there on April 23rd. Those who don’t have a decent record store near you on Record Store Day will have to wait until May 4th to buy it. If you love Ritter’s music and there is a store within reach, make the effort and show some support.
Color is the name that Josiah Schlater records music under, which had taken me awhile to figure out since I wasn’t sure of Schlater was Color, or if the name of his debut album was a part of his name. The name of that album is called Electritribe, with cover art by his brother, Felix Schlater. It is being released on a new vinyl-only label out of the Bay Area called Make Records. The music is indie rock and pop, you will not hear any corny Nickelback overtones or latter-day Green Day although you might like it if you are a fan of “La Dolly Vita”-era Smashing Pumpkins or Foo Fighters.
The album will be available this week, and those who order the LP will also receive a download code if you wish to have the tracks in digital form. Head here to pre-order.
“In The Sun” b/w “I Can Hear Music” is the new 45 by She & Him on Merge Records. It is being sold digitally as MP3’s and FLAC lossless, but also as a nice 7″ 45 with custom sleeve. The A-side features help from Tilly and the Wall (whose album I reviewed last year in my column), while the non-LP B-side is a cover of The Ronettes song.
“In The Sun”, which is the Single of the Week this week on BBC Radio 2, is a preview of She & Him’s forthcoming album, Volume Two, to be released on March 23rd (a month from today). It will be released on vinyl with a download code, along with CD. You can pre-order your copy of the album by clicking here.
This is the debut video by a band called Sister Crayon out of Sacramento. “(in) Reverse”, directed by Robert Ascroft, is a song from the group’s forthcoming album Bellow, scheduled for release in June by Manimal Vinyl, the label that presented Tearist to the world.
The group will be doing a number of shows in California throughout March, go to their MySpace page for details.
Black Moth Super Rainbow has spawned a lot of interesting things, with primary member Tobacco doing a lot of interesting music and video projects, while The Seven Fields Of Aphelion recently coming out with her debut solo album (review from me coming very soon).
As for Tobacco, he is about to release his brand new album in May on Anticon called Maniac Meat, and it has been revealed that Beck is making an appearance on it, or make that two appearances, “Grape Aerosmith” and “Fresh Hex”. Anyone who has heard of Beck’s B-sides or more obscure tracks will know that this is a perfect match, so perhaps it means Tobacco has or will be doing some Beck remixes.
Meanwhile, Tobacco will be coming out with Fucked Up Friends 2, a DVD featuring many of his video projects. You can only purchase this at his shows during his late winter/early Spring 2010 tour, dates were posted here.
Still no word on if Tobacco and Biz Markie will collaborate. I’ll keep you posted.
