Elephant Parade has released “Grand Opening” as the first single off their second album Home, which surprisingly enough was recorded using nothing but a cheap computer microphone and freeware recording software. I’m impressed. And those of you attending SXSW this week, be sure and check them out at Stephen F’s bar on March 19th at midnight. From there they will launch the start of what they’re calling a “tiny bedroom music tour”, where they will be playing house shows across the states.
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North Carolina indie-folksters Schooner have just released their latest EP Duck Kee Sessions exclusively on CyTunes.org, a music downloading site where 100% of the proceeds go to cancer research. The quartet also enlisted the help of some local artists to create the album artwork for the EP, and you can check out all 14 unique covers by clicking here (four of which are displayed above). Here’s track one off the album, “Feel Better”, and you can swing by here to grab your copy of the EP and contribute to cancer research at the same time. Sweet.
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With their sophomore release, Over The Sun And Under The Radar, Jungol is honing in on their renewed vision of more concise songs with prominent vocals. They’re creating new sounds through the use of samplers, synths, glockenspiel, field recordings and string arrangements. Due out April 23rd, here’s the first single, “Two People.”
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Artist: Jungol Song: Two Poeple.mp3 Album: Over The Sun And Under The Radar
If this music video doesn’t slap a huge grin on your face, then you have no soul…..There, I said it. The Sour Notes have been making some noise in Austin for some time now and are finally getting some much deserved recognition. They’ll be playing a ridiculous amount of shows @ SXSW (6 shows!) while currently working on their 5th album, Write What You Know, expected to release later this year. Here’s “Do-ers & Say-ers” from their latest, It’s Not Gonna Be Pretty.
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Artist: The Sour Notes Song: Do-ers & Say-ers.mp3 Album: It’s Not Gonna Be Pretty
I’ve really been enjoying Swimteam’s latest effort Harlem over this past week. So much so that I’ve decided to ask these guys some questions about the album & to share a couple more songs with you guys. These two songs paired with “Hound” & “Sun” (songs posted last week), show just how diverse Harlem is; no two songs sound the same, yet they all flow together fantastically. But they don’t give the album justice by any means; listen for yourself: stream & buy the album here.
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Newdust: How long have you guys been making music together?
Swimteam:
Mike and I started our first band in the spring of 2008, so it hasn’t been too long really.
ND: What did you listen to growing up?
S:
The first band I really loved was the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But my main influences were bands like Brand New and Jimmy Eat World. Then about three years ago I discovered Radiohead and my musical taste experienced an explosion. Mike’s favorite band growing up was The White Stripes, which is a much cooler answer.
ND: What’s your favorite album as of right…….now?
S:
One of my favorites right now is ‘Vaudeville Villain’ from Viktor Vaughn. I just recently got into hip-hop and the two of us have been listening to a lot of MF Doom projects like Madvillain, Viktor Vaughn etc. I think this influenced Harlem a lot, in that we started using samples and loops extensively.
ND: How was the recording process for Harlem? Was it recorded at home? Studio? Were there any others involved?
S:
We recorded it in Mike’s bedroom throughout December. It was by far the easiest recording process we’ve done so far. The songs were written very quickly and we were constantly coming up with new ideas.
ND: What were some influences/feelings/emotions that had an effect on songwriting?
S:
Other than the music we were listening to, I can’t think of any other influences on the songwriting. Perhaps the cold weather? Also, many of the ideas were written long before we started recording Harlem, so it’s kind of surprising that the album is still sonically consistent.
ND: Is there any theme to the album?
S:
Going into the recording process, we didn’t have any theme that we wanted to present in the album. However, after the fact we’ve noticed it’s very melancholy overall, right in that position between happy and sad. This is probably due to the mixture between the Hip-Hop and Electronic influence in the synths and beats, and the influence of our songwriting which has never been too upbeat.
ND: How is this album different from previous ones?
S:
This was the first album where we really wanted to make something completely different from anything we’d heard before. We tried to blend all of our musical influences into a new sound, that most importantly, we would really enjoy. Interestingly enough, I believe this has been our most accessible album to date, based on the response from our friends and the large range of influences you can hear in Harlem. We are very proud of Harlem, and we really want as many people listening as we can.
I’ve been on a Spoon kick since their latest release Transference came out last month. So naturally I decided to watch “Stranger Than Fiction” to bask in the glory of its soundtrack, consisting mainly of Spoon songs. One song in particular always tickles my Spoon bone, and that’s “The Book I Write” that plays during end credits……….. Long live Spoon!
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This is probably one of the coolest gadgets I’ve ever seen a band release before. The band is Uniform Motion, and what they’ve done here is pretty unique. This gadget allows you to create a customizable greeting card, featuring the band performing any song off their latest release Life, and a personalized message that appears on their backdrop. But what makes it even sweeter is the ability to toggle on and off the drums, vocals, and guitar at any moment during the playback. Also, this song is most excellent.
Above is the card publicity firm Crash Avenue sent us, click here to make one of your own.
Mushpot Records just sent me a tasty little tune from Chicago’s Yawn, off their self-released Yawn EP. Great song, great EP. If you like Panda Bear, Animal Collective, & the like, you’ll really dig these guys!
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Here’s up & coming Elephantom, a young & talented band from Boston performing “I Am Your Head,” at theZullo Galleryin Medfield, Massachusetts. They’ve got a new CD out titled Swim. Toward The Sun., which can be downloaded for free here.
The up & coming Tealights have been on the road over the past year touring with indie acts such as Octopus Project, Asobi Seksu, Throw Me the Statue, Evangelicals, Starf*cker, and School of Seven Bells. I gave their latest EP, Take Us By Sea, a listen the other night and was extremely drawn in by their intriguing mix of classical & dub/trip-/dream-pop/(the list goes on). They’ve been graciously received nationwide; I can’t wait to hear what’s next. Here’s track 1 off Take Us By Sea, titled “Exit.”
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Artist: Tealights Song: Exit.mp3 Album: Take Us By Sea EP
Magic Magic has emerged from the infamous Salem, Massachusetts, internationally known as “The Witch City”. But even more magical and mysterious is how virtually no one is talking about them. Their LP isn’t up for digital purchase anywhere. The blogs on Hype Machine are talking more about the French Horn Rebellion remix of “Sleepy Lion” than the actual song itself. I couldn’t find this album anywhere! Basically if you want to hear this album all the way through, you have to get your hands on the physical CD, sold exclusively at Rough Trade Shops. But for an album with such a low hype level, Magic Magic delivers an ambitious, bold, and beautifully crafted self-titled first album. Plus they have two drummers, how cool is that?
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