Welcome back to This Does Not Make Me a Journalist for another Lend Them Your Ears, where we highlight a new band that we think deserve your attention. This week, all the way from Buffalo, New York, it's... The Stay Lows
This quintet, who aim to find the "midpoint between pretentious and geek", have been busy bees already, forming their current incarnation in 2006 and self-releasing 2 albums and an EP, all of which can be picked up here. Largely instrumental, the band's music drags you gently but firmly into its embrace, its mix of cello, synths, guitars, bass, drums and an occasional vocal, showcasing the band as the collaborative effort it is. The sound is warm, atmospheric and complex, at times sounding a bit like a more introverted Modest Mouse, with rougher edges and sharper elbows.
The band's latest album Signature Bridge came out last year and the 9 tracks of the band's post rock/math rock blend are well worth a listen. Quality track titles such as Ugly Babies, Haunted Mouse and To Evil! (Waltz) are a nice added bonus as well. According to The Stay Low's Twitter account they are currently working on new material with the odd gig thrown in now and again around their native Buffalo, with the next date seemingly August 1st at Mohawk Place.
So, off we go with The Primitives and a stunning track off their new EP Never Kill A Secret. You may know the band for their 1988 single Crash, which reached number 5 and number 3 in the UK and American charts respectively. The new EP is a collection of covers of lesser-known female-fronted tracks, with Need All The Help I Can Get being a reworking of Suzi Jane Hokom's 1966 track. The Primitives give it a slightly more polished feel, but keep the edge and groove from the original to produce a kind of fresh-retro feel that rivals Hokom's version for sheer quality. (You can check out the original here)
Hopefully by now you don't need me to tell you how fantastic Fleet Foxes are. Their debut, eponymous album garnered praise from all over the place, and rightly so. This taster from the second album, which also happens to be the title track, is 5 minutes of utter majesty, with urgent guitars powering around a magical vocal singing words of profundity. I don't think I've gone more than a few waking hours without listening to it over the last few days, it is truly amazing.
DEMS - JARNDYCE VS JARNDYCE
OK, so I'm a bit late getting in on the dems (to give the proper, grammatically incorrect name) love-in with Tom Robinson, Rob Da Bank, NME and Vic Galloway, but better late than never. The music is a kind of lo-fi urban-tinged folktronica and Jarndyce vs Jarndyce is rather poetically described as "a story about waiting for things". The XX and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. are the most obvious recent touching points when describing the sound of dems' mellow vocals and pulsing electronica, but the waves that are being made by this London-based outfit are likely to mean they step away from such comparisons and become established in their own right.
So there you go, that's your 3 free, legal tracks for this week. Enjoy them and I'll be bringing you another Lend Them Your Ears on Monday.
Hello! In that age old blogger's tradition I haven't posted for several weeks, and for no particular reason. I've been busy - working, feeling an almost violent apathy towards the royal wedding and getting a haircut. But enough about me, here's They're Heading West.
This is why indie kids make awful police sketch artists.
I first discovered Portuguese band They're Heading West through the April edition of the Music Alliance Pact's free downloads. If you're unaware of the MAP it's a collection of 36 blogs from around the world, each from a different country. Every month each blog recommends one track by a band from their homeland and all 36 tracks get put together as a download giving you a brief snapshot of what's happening around the musical world. Find Aprill's selection here - http://thepopcop.co.uk/2011/04/music-alliance-pact-april-2011/ .
Anyway, They're Heading West's song My Case Is A Different One was recommended by the good people at Posso Ouvir Um Disco. Well, I imagine they're good people, I can't actually understand anything they write, given that it's all in Portuguese. But they can't be that bad as they like the chilled, multi-vocal sounds of THW. The quartet consists of three singer-songwriters and a drummer and with each singer-songwriter contributing individual songs the band's repertoire is nicely varied. Some songs feature delicate ukulele strains, others nod towards a more relaxed version of Blur's 13 era, whilst still others sound like Laura Marling slightly channelling the Mummers.
Although the band only formed earlier this year, and the members all appear to have slightly different musical outlooks, they already seem to be working well and it's not hard to believe that they "all enjoy playing each other's music immensely", as their Myspace states. All in all, despite the various inputs and variations THW make a wonderfully relaxing, bouncy sound that is perfect for summer listening, for tapping flip-flop encased feet in sunny parks and for listening weights from shoulders.
You can download their self-titled 6 track EP for $5 (about £3) from www.theyreheadingwest.bandcamp.com and, if you happen to be in Lisbon, you can catch them at Bar A Barraca on May 31st. More information can be found at www.myspace.com/theyreheadingwest
Hello there, peeps and peepettes. Since there hasn't been a 3-4-FREE for a few weeks I thought I'd treat you to one featuring 32 songs this week! Oh yes, that's the way uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it. Anyway, let's start with...
TRIPS AND FALLS - THIS IS ALL GOING TO END BADLY
So kicking off this mammoth edition of 3-4-FREE is The Song By Toad record sampler, the highlight of which, for me at least, is Montreal's Trips and Falls. Their bluegrass-infused indie is utterly wonderful and tinged with melancholy. Male and female vocals sing sweetly over simple guitar picking and military-esque drums in This Is All Going To End Badly. The 4-piece brought out their debut album on Song By Toad just over a year ago and continue to work with the Edinburgh-based label, hence their inclusion on the record sampler. All 13 tracks (plus a couple of toad-based skits) are available for free from Song By Toad's bandcamp page and show the pure quality of the artists on this amazing little label.
CRYSTAL FIGHTERS - AT HOME (TRUFIX MIX)
And from Montreal to Navarra, Spain and electronic folk 5-piece Crystal Fighters, who have been given the remix treatment from London dubstep type Trufix. The remix sees the original slowed down then have the aggression element pushed hard. The vocal still has a sweetness to it but it exists within a harshly swirling, stamping dubstep backing. This makes it less accessible than the original version but is still utterly brilliant, albeit in a somewhat different way. The band are planning Europe-wide gigs in the summer, including a performance at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk.
And finally, we have Seattle based Craft Spells, who have popped up on Stereogum's list of '18 Dark Bands to Watch Out For' (a list which also contains aTelecine and Brighton's Esben & The Witch). As the site acknowledges, Craft Spells stand out a little from the rest of the bands on the list, as they have a far more summery, blissful feel to their music, perfectly exhibited in You Should Close The Door. However, the darkness is there - the Ian Curtis comparison is obvious, but no less relevant for it and the synths are tinged with New Romantic misery. Craft Spellsstart their North American tour on Sunday, in their hometown, but here's hoping they'll be in the UK before too long, because they are utterly ace!
And that's your lot for this week, do have a spiffy weekend!
Hello one and all, sorry about the absence over the last few weeks, I've been protecting the free world.
But I'm back, TDNMMAJ is back and right here, right now, Lend Them Your Ears is back, to showcase Let's Buy Happiness
Let's Buy Happiness are fast becoming a very badly kept secret - they supported Frankie & The Heartstrings at a Topman-sponsored gig earlier in the month, have been picked up by Lauren Laverne, Tom Robinson, Drowned in Sound, Amazing Radio and NME; and will be playing a gig in Newcastle curated by Huw Stephens in May, as well as Kendal Calling later in the summer. Oh and they've supported Idlewild, Vivian Girls, The Futureheads, Sky Larkin and The Temper Trap. And played Glastonbury last year. But still, they're ace and deserve even more attention and that's why I'm going to go on about them for a few more paragraphs. You strapped in? Good.
The Northeastern quintet of experimental indie-types have been together for a couple of years, releasing their debut EP No Hot Ashes in 2009. Since then they've also released singles Six Wolves and Fast Fast (which you can hear below) on their own label Ghost Arc Records. The band's affection for the North American alt-indie scene and bands such as Modest Mouse and Tokyo Police Club is evident in their fuzzy soundscapes, understated vocals and general soaring-ness.
Listening to Let's Buy Happiness leaves you feeling like you've had some kind of bodily experience, like the music is seeping into you with snippets of sounds you can almost grasp coming in and out and basically making it seem like something has happened to you. The band also work acoustically with the B-side to Fast Fast, entitled Devil Show, exhibiting a much more gentle, sweet, soothing side.
All in all the two sides and one EP that Let's Buy Happiness have created shows them to already be, despite their young age, masters of moving, atmospheric indie music and to hint at the potential to be even better. There will be plenty of opportunities to see them honing their craft on-stage over the coming months as they do shows all over the UK. I'm hoping to catch them at some point, to sample their wonderfulness live and I do so hope that you will do the same, and lend them your ears.
Word, quite literally, to your mother. It's Thursday which means another 3-4-FREE for your delectation. Let's get it on...
BASS DRUM OF DEATH - YOUNG PROS
Bass Drum of Death are a couple of likely lads from Mississippi who make music that sounds like The Cribs and The Fratellis getting together for a grunge-influenced jam. If that doesn't sell this track to you on the basis of pure curiosity at least then you're just plain weird. Looking to bring themselves to wider attention through SXSW 2011 there's a good chance they may just set Austin alight with their brash, distortion-laden style.
San Franciscans The Dodos are back with their 4th album No Color this month, which heavily features the wonderful vocals of Neko Case on most tracks. However, that is not so on this little preview of the album. Don't Stop is engrossing from the first moment starting, as it does, with spirited folksy finger-picking before a slightly threatening distorted guitar line looms in the background. Before we can become too pre-occupied with that Meric and Logan get started with their imploring vocals and from there the song just keeps soaring and soaring.
Pure, awesome elctro synthy goodness from the fantastic Summer Camp. This is such unadulterated excellence that it makes me a little big weak in the knees. The synthy intro, overlaid with a clip of children talking (I'm guessing it's from some film, give us a shout if you know what film!) is good, the vocal starts very well indeed but the change of pace as we hit the vocal is pure brilliance. And if you like this be sure to check out Summer Camp when they support Wild Beasts on their tour of the UK in May. Now those are going to be fantastic gigs!
So I hope you've enjoyed your free music for this week. If you're still hungry for more check out yesterday's interview with Louise from Wartime Sweethearts which includes 3 free MP3s from the band!
Hello one and all, and welcome to a special post on This Does Not Make Me A Journalist - an interview with Louise from the band Wartime Sweethearts. And not only that, some free MP3s! Wartime Sweethearts were responsible for one of my top 10 albums of 2010, Pancake Orion, which blew my mind a little with its giddy chaos and general brilliance. Louise was nice enough to answer a few questions for us which are located just about here...
TDMMAJ: Firstly, why and how did you get started with making music? LOUISE: Hmmm, I suppose I started singing when I was 5, because I was often complimented on my voice in preschool. A couple of years later I started recording onto cassette tapes in my bedroom, trying to layer my voice for a choir effect - it got really distorted but was still kind of exhilarating, and if you half depressed the pause button while playing it you got a badass chipmunk version in double time. My family (particularly dad) were really encouraging and they're all very musical. My dad, my sister and I got lessons together in various instruments. I chose keys and started writing my own songs on them when I was 10... I think they were all instrumentals in C minor on a harpsichord synth sound.
What's the significance of the name Wartime Sweethearts? When I was conjuring up some band name inspiration a sepia photo of my great Aunty Betty was gazing at me from my desk - it seemed like the kind of photo you would take to war with you and refer to now and then to draw strength from before battle. Not that I support war. But I really liked the idea of a bandname that carried a whiff of a romantic story. It was that or "Bird Atlas"....whew.
A good choice I think! Who else is in the band and how did the current formation come together? It's still a little up in the air, but my sister Kirsten is playing drums and singing harmonies, a lovely dude by the name of Bryce Kerr plays bass and my housemate Angus Cornwell sings awesome baritone harmonies and sometimes plays cello. My bf Wyatt Moss-Wellington was playing guitar and singing with us but he's taking the year off gigging so I'm looking around for a new guitarist as we speak. He'll be super hard to replace... Resisting urge to refer to his "magic hands".
Keep it clean! Your debut album Pancake Orion seems to cover a lot of ground musically, was it a conscious decision to make a record with a very varied sound? Hmmm, no! I was trying to reign my tastes into something a little more matchy matchy. Damn. Next time perhaps.
What are Wartime Sweethearts' live shows like, both for yourselves and the audience? For us they're usually a mixture of wootiness and stress. The stress comes from my decision to almost always include a fresh song that was written last minute... but that I like too much to exclude. My bandmates are generally good at putting up with my neuroticism over these things. Having a "omg-shit-a-brick-this-is-difficult-and-new" song in the set makes the rest of the stage time feel pretty breezy though. If the show comes together the audience generally has a hoot or two - we try to throw some comedic songs (e.g. Your Button or I've also done a cannibal love song version of At Last) or some woefully bad poems or something to entertain. I really appreciate it when we get approached by audience members afterwards with compliments about the music and our skillz of an artist - it's really something for the heart to dine out on.
Who and what would you say are your main influences? (Not necessarily musical acts if there are other things that influence you!) Haha I trust you're referring to the "moths" on our myspace. (On the band's myspace page Moths are listed as an influence) I guess I put there because I get influenced by visual things a lot, and I was enjoying a lot of brown, mothy autumnal colours and patterns at the time. I like the idea of trying to express very visual things with sound. I'd like to play with that connection more in the future. I grew up loving Sega megadrive game music and Disney, but I was probably more heavily influenced by Jeff Buckley and Radiohead who catered to my escapist whims during my late teens.
Which musicians/bands are you really into at the moment? Are there any new acts you think we should be looking out for? In the last couple of years I've been enjoying St Vincent and the Dirty Projectors - I think they're amazing. Here in Sydney my bf Wyatt Moss-Wellington plays a radically mean tune and Brian Campeau does some magnificent stuff too.
If you could invite 5 people, living or dead, round for dinner and to hang out with, who would they be? 1. Stephen Hawking 2. Geoffrey Rush 3. Richard Feynman 4. Jeff Buckley 5. Julie Andrews.Wouldn't it be cool to jam with the latter two? Though I'm sure Hawking could lend something saucy to the mix.
Most definitely! What was the first song you fell in love with? And the first album? Either "Wind in the Willows" by Judy Collins or perhaps something from Mary Poppins. I also loooved the Monster Mash when I was 8, but my first purchase was Ace of Base - Happy Nation after hearing "All That She Wants" on the radio.
What does the future hold for you? The immediate future holds the last year of my Graduate Diploma in Psychology then hopefully Honours - but I'm looking forward to a little gigging this year, and would really love to record another album soon when time and money permits. Pancake Orion stirred up so many other ideas that are starting to bloat my brain
One final question - When you sing "She keeps coming back like a bad boomerang" what do you mean? Surely a boomerang that comes back is a good boomerang?! Or am I missing the point...? Bah! You're clearly off the chart there Chris. If you look at the context her "badness" was evident in the earlier lyrics, and the boomerang refers to the cyclical nature of her problematic relationships with men. They're probably some of my crueller lyrics - I don't like the idea of bad people - just bad behaviour. But that was too many syllables. Just sayin'!
Well, that's me put in my place! So I'll retreat with my tail between my legs and see you back here tomorrow with another edition of 3-4-FREE! Take care!
As I predicted in last week's Lend Them Your Ears, March has got off to a pretty miserable start weather-wise. So I offer you a latin-tinged electro-pop tonic called Poppy Perezz...
Despite having a distinctly solo artist-esque name this Bristol-based band is actually a two-piece, consisting of Poppy Villiers-Stuart and Pablo Perezzarate (you may have noticed where they get their name from...). I was first introduced to this band thanks to Ruth Barnes, author of the excellent The Other Women Music blog (http://theotherwomanmusic.blogspot.com) when she sat in for Tom Robinson on his BBC 6 Music Introducing show and, ever since, I have been rather hooked on their electro powerpop and its distinctly latin underpinnings.
The band's influences are incredibly eclectic, from Bjork to MIA, The Pixies to the Ibrahim Ferrer and give the music a fresh sound throughout, always twisting and turning when you think you're about to be able to predict its next move. Actually, for that reason they also remind me of a previous LTYE act, Wartime Sweethearts (Check back tomorrow for an interview with Louise from Wartime Sweethearts by the way!), which can only be a good thing, as I freaking love Wartime Sweetheart, like a fat kid loves cake, in fact.
Hmmm... Doesn't look like Bristol to me.
I also rather enjoy Poppy Perezz's lyrics, which mix the sweet, the poetic and the weird with assured awesomeness. My Heart is a personal favourite (you can hear it below) with Poppy's description of the chimney in her heart and skylight in her mind making her sound more like a game of Operation than anything else. There are other more melancholic examples that spring to mind as well such as "Oh I wish I knew why you never joined me when I danced with you" and "I pressed them to my lips like warm autumn leaves but I couldn't breathe". To be honest, the lyrics aren't the first thing that hit you when listening to the band's music, as the interesting, catchy and varied instrumentation takes centre stage initially. However, they show that Poppy Perezz are most definitely worth multiple listens.
Currently gigging mainly in Bristol, although they have played in London, Paris, Bordeaux, Berlin and Mexico City, the band combines alternately cutesy and jazzy vocals with a wide range of instrumentation, from synths to trumpets and plenty of production effects to help the music squelch, bounce and bop it's way into your little heart. And once it's there, it's so catchy it may never leave. And that's no bad thing. Let it nestle joyfully and warm the very cockles of that heart. This metaphor has gone a little awry I feel, but you get the point.
Hello one and all, ready for some more free music? I thought so...
THE KABEEDIES - SANTIAGO
Let's start with wonderful, Norwich and Woodbridge-based indie-popsters The Kabeedies. As the name suggests, this track has a somewhat Hispanic vibe to it while still keeping everything that has always made the Kabeedies awesome - urgent boy-girl vocals, frantic drumming and pure, unadulterated danceability. And it's got trumpets on it and all! Whilst you're over at their Bandcamp page you should also check out the 3-track EP they've put up called 'Bonus Tracks' which is also available as a free download - result!
And next up is Architecture in Helsinki, who in the vein of I'm From Barcelona and Tokyo Police Club, aren't from anywhere near the location in their name but are, in fact, Aussies. From Melbourne to be precise. In Contact High you have an awesome bit of falsetto-laden electro lusciousness, which somehow manages to simultaneously bounce and swagger out of your speakers. All in all, this is a very promising indicator of their forthcoming album Moving Bends, which is out on April 11th in Europe.
THE COLD WAR KIDS - MINE IS YOURS (BLENDED BABIES REMIX)
Finally, we have the charmingly named Blended Babies Remix of the brilliant Cold War Kids track, Mine is Yours. Much in the style of what Metermaids did with Sufjan Stevens' tracks on their EP Nightlife in Chicago, this reworking turns the mellow indie rock track into a sloping hip hop track. Sir Michael Rocks of The Cool Kids is on MC duties and does an excellent job, with a nostalgic, reminiscing flow that just seems to tie in very well with the low key Nathan Fillett vocal of the chorus.
Well, that's your lot for this week, hope you like them!
Hello everyone, as the miserable weather of February looks to give way to the equally miserable, but slightly warmer, weather of March I come to you bearing the gift of melancholic indie pop, in the form of We Show Up On RadaR
A threesome from Nottingham, We Show Up On RadaR produce a rather wonderful, low key type of indie that you could probably find nestled somewhere in the corner of a low budget, British-made Ellen Page film. Songs featuring singing spiders, the use of biological warfare as a metaphor for love and animal sports days (complete with commentary) mark out the bittersweet territory the band patrol with their glockenspiels, keyboards and acoustic guitars. Having supported Bright Eyes earlier this month, WSUOR are working on their album at the moment, with the rather ace I'll Be A Ghost having been made available as a free download on their Bandcamp page. You can get it just below, because I'm nice like that.
Sounding at times like The Boy Least Likely To, after they've listened to a lot of Super Furry Animals and then got somewhat upset about the fact, WSUOR certainly strum at some pretty effective heartstrings. So far they've released Mountain Top and Spider on a Thread as a limited run double A-side single and a 6 track EP entitled A Loaf Of Bread, A Container Of Milk & A Stick Of Butter and do a really quite wonderful line in charming artwork and animated videos as seen in this delightful visual accompaniment for It Should Be You and Me...
So, all in all, WSUOR are making the kind of music to cuddle up to, sweet but tinged with sadness, laden with school music class percussion and charm by the bucketful. And that is why, dear Sir/Madam/other, you should lend them your ears.
