Category Archives: New Music

Ten bands that jam to check out this year

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20140120-225704.jpg pho to by Russ Simon

First off, highly suggest Wings Over the Rockies museum at Lowry Air Base in Denver. Cool stuff, sweet retired military men telling you stories, and some really fun lighting to shoot.

I compiled a list of “jam bands to watch out for in 2014” for the Westword, and it was my best performing article yet. I figured many people were tired of listening to the same old stuff. Do not be deterred by the words jam bands, these are just straight up funky, rocking bands that get a little loose. Their music feel alive:

http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2014/01/ten_jam_bands_to_watch_in_2014.php

Want to see a video of a song about crop circles that should be viral?

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Thanks to a wonderful poster at the witty and always-friendly Phish messageboard Phantasy Tour, this video was brought to our attention when the original poster ran into this guy at a recent Railroad Earth show. The musician, Gregg Brown had a cardboard sign that said “youtube: Crop Circle Song”, and when you do exactly that you get this precious treat from the internet. At first it comes off as something you would see on public access; I didn’t know if it was a joke or someone being completely sincere, this repetitive droning sound under lyrics about the meaning of crop circles (aren’t they hoaxes?). I kept listening because the music is trancey and pleasing, and his voice is actually nice and melodious, pleasantly asking “Are they harbingers of world change? These secrets in the fieeeeeeelds”. Eventually I realized I was on my fifth listen in a row and took a break. You tell me. Is this greatness? Is this horrible? Kinda leaning on the former. Whatever it, this man deserves to be seen, and if anyone has more information of him, I would love to hear it. I don’t know what to call this other than “something else”. Get this man to sxsw, this is exactly what people want there:

He definitely read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Crop-Circles-Harbingers-World-Change/dp/0946551898

And buy the single for a dollar here. I have already listened to this five time today, it’s worth the dollar:

Jenny Lewis continues to do no wrong with new track on Girls soundtrack

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jennylewis

Combining excellent songcraft with a great voice that hits your soul, Jenny Lewis can do no wrong in my eyes. Her long reign of awesome songs continues with “Completely Not Me”, a song that ran with the credits for HBO show Girls’ premiere. Recorded with Vampire Weekend‘s Rostam Batmanglij, the stomping beat, banjo, and effervescent backing vocals give the song a country church feeling complete with angels watching over.

Ten Songs I’m Listening To Right Now

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1. Swearin’ “Hundreds & Thousands” http://swearin.bandcamp.com/track/hundreds-thousands
Allison Crutchfield, twin sis of Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee fame shows that she can do the 90’s jangle pop thing with flat vocal intonations even better than her sister.

2. Sides of Chaz “Sweet Tea” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8dfaOakGJk
Better known as Toro y Moi, Chaz Bundick shows off his weird, psych art folk pop side here and it sounds both derivative and modern at the same time.

3. Naturally Born Strangers “Tie Breaker” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MIgDW8C7tg
Toronto MC Rich Kidd produces and rhymes in this new rap trio that mix old school beats with real life narratives. This one about a shorter chick wanting to be a basketball player is unique and positive.

4. St. Vincent “Birth in Reverse” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c5BhXdVBqw
Artpop queen St. Vincent produces a catchy, poppy tune with a vocal style that makes you listen to every word.

5. The War on Drugs “Red Eyes” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsoqmFL1vlU
Mellow stoner synth pop meant to be played when hitting the open road.

6. Gap Dream “Shine Your Light” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOcBmvEwjq8
Music that sounds like the Never Ending Story soundtrack on ecstasy. Epic pop.

7. Natural Child “Ain’t Gonna Stop” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_2EMbmIU70
Nashville’s Natural Child does the southern psych thing better than anyone, and the vocals bring to mind Lynyrd Skynyrd in the best way.

8. Yellow Ostrich “Shades” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3Lo53Hr0fc
Alex Schaaf has a whole band now and his sound is bigger and more psychedelic.

9. Temples “Mesmerise” https://soundcloud.com/templesofficial/temples-mesmerise
Psych rock with hooks and heavily layered vocals that sound like a flower child choir.

10. Orchestra of Spheres “2,000,000 Years” https://soundcloud.com/firerecords/orchestra-of-spheres-2000000
Sickeningly fun futuristic Blondie-tinged dance funk from New Zealand.

Band of the Day – The Spyrals

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SPYRALS

Hypnotic garage bands from San Francisco absolutely do it for me. The Spyrals have risen above the rest with a more classic approach, tight drumming and dizzy guitar riffs. This trio is jangly, fuzzy, trippy, and lead singer Jeff Lewis has a great commanding presence and a perfect rock star voice, he can cry without whining the way Neil Young sings. Their album they released this summer, “Out of Sight”, is a great collection of tight, Bay Area sounding rock and roll. I know it’s a cheap cop out to say a band sounds like another, but these guys really do the early Rolling Stones sound well. Opener “Need Your Fire” sounds like it should be in a Quentin Tarantino movie, while “Such A Pain” makes you shimmy with the heavy use of tambourine and delicate repeated guitar riffs. The title track is exactly what you would think a San Francisco garage rock band would sound like, man they nail this sound.

Most of the songs clock in under three minutes, making this album very economical and great for running errands, you never have to sit in the parking lot for eleven more minutes til the song ends like you do with the Grateful Dead. While they have psychedelic tendencies live, at the end of the day this is a tight, concise garage rock band that needs to be played on everyone’s radio. The bassist Dylan Edrich has done time with Thee Oh Sees and Mikal Cronin, so fans of those should check these guys out. Future looks jangly and bright for these guys.

Listen to the album at their bandcamp: The Spyrals “Out of Sight”

Crocodiles – “Crimes of Passion” – ALBUM REVIEW

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Crocodiles are great at mixing the beauty of simple pop melodies with the chaos of distortion and fuzz without the music even missing a beat, and their latest release “Crimes of Passion” is even more than I hoped for. “I Like it in the Dark” immediately makes the album takeoff, a funky piano line dropping down into the verse while a tambourine frantically keeps the beat until a ripping guitar solo takes over. Everything is well thought out here and flows perfectly, the whole album is a perfect package. Crocodiles are a well edited garage band, all fat is trimmed and they can really just fall right into a chaotic freakout and pull it right back into the melody like it’s nothing.

Their San Diego roots are very evident, especially in songs like “Teardrop Guitar”, filled with melodic California sounding jangly guitar riffs and dreamy, layered vocals. “Cockroach” brings even more organ to the front, really giving the song that great swirling sound I love in psych music. This album is short and sweet, when I got to the end I was actually surprised it was already over, and already yearning their next album. This band has been steadily gaining steam over the years with consistently great recordings, and I think this album might just put them over the top. Thank you, Crocodiles!

Listen to “Teardrop Guitar” here: “Teardrop Guitar” soundcloud

Neko Case new release now streaming at NPR

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Neko Case has a gorgeously haunting voice that matches her looks, and her new unreleased album “The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight” shows that voice off so well. It’s streaming today over at NPR, prepare yourself for beauty: Neko Case First Listen

Superhuman Happiness – Band to Watch

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Their last release “Hands” by Superhuman Happiness starts with what else – hands. “Our Favorite Part” begins with syncopated layers of handclaps, and by the time the vocals come in, the party has started. These guys made a name for themselves playing energetic Brooklyn dance parties, and the vibe is still the same, just on a more grand scale now. They grew a reputation touring with Rubblebucket and Marco Benevento, signed with The Royal Potato Family, and now we have a full length release that’s built up steam for a few months and are about ready to pop.

I have really been anticipating this album since I was told each song segues into each other on the album. The Phish fan in me is always yearning for that seamless transition between songs (pronounced “seegs” by the guys in the poster line in Tahoe), and you do indeed get nonstop music. This album should be in every party host’s catalog, it does the DJ work for you. The handclaps continue through the whole album, and I think they are particularly fitting in the breakdown of “I Can Hear You Calling”. As the theme is repeated and slowly deconstructed, that clapping provides a perfect backbone for any chances the musicians want to take.

“Sentimental Pieces” is a slinky cool groove with vocals that sound a little Eels-like, and “Second Heart” brings the horns and harder dance beats. Once again, syncopated handclaps lead in for “Elevator Elation”, a building, driving song with horns going up in half steps, pushing you further into the ascension. By the time the peak is reached, I’m dancing in my living room, impossible to sit still. As a fan of extended instrumentals, I hope this gets some radio play, it’s definitely the highlight of the album for me. The album ends with “Second Heart Reprise”, a lovely coda that gives the whole album a nice cohesion.

Keep your eyes on these guys, with members from Antibalas, TV on the Radio and tUnE-yArDs making smart pop that at moments sounds like it was written by David Byrne, it’s pretty hard to go wrong.

Listen to “Sentimental Pieces” radio edit here: Superhuman Happiness Soundcloud

Watch a video for “Elevator Elation” here: youtube video

Said the Whale – Band to Watch

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Once again, a Canadian band has captured my heart with their interesting song structures, perfect melodies, and yearning but positive lyrics. Canadians really excel at this kind of stuff. Vancouver’s Said the Whale have an eclectic style, mixing elements of the 60’s, 80’s and 90’s into a really polished, heavy pop sound. Their new album “hawaiii” (three i’s) drops on September 17th, not wasting any time and taking full advantage of their momentum, and they are touring the U.S. now, with a date at Larimer Lounge on August 19th in Denver. They’ve been popular in Canada for a few years, and just made the crossover with the success of their new single “I Love You”.

I had a chance to listen to the new album, and it’s great stuff, each song is a little pop nugget, really developed pop nuggets. “Narrows” is great straightforward pop rock with the perfect amount of 90’s distortion and jangle, collecting together into a crescendo of beautiful sound at the end. The new single “I Love You” starts out straightforward pop punk, the chorus goes off into a Blur sounding Britpop wall of vocals, and then one of my favorite musical things ever, the continuous tapping of one piano key. I don’t know what it is about that “dink dink dink dink dink” but it sounds like rock to me. They remind me a lot of the band fun. in “Safe to Say”, a big, grand sounding song with lots of pomp and excess. The rest of the album is rounded out with 60’s surf beats, junkie lyrics and Canadian rap a.k.a. all the good stuff. This band is making the big push, go see them in your town: tour dates

Watch the video for “I Love You”, and no it’s not an episode of Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, I mean it is, but the band is guest starring: “I Love You”

Sawmill Joe – Artist to Watch

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Ok, let’s get this out of the way. Sawmill Joe is so attractive he could be on soap operas. I don’t always like musicians to be hot, I feel like I go easier on them, and I hate that. First heard about him because of The Lumineers covering one of his songs, so I never went looking for his stuff. He came up recently when I was going down a Youtube rabbit hole, clicked play, dude in a fishing boat and wind blowing at the mic. I was about to shut it off when he started to sing. Floored. This guy sounds like he survived the Dust Bowl and was roommates with Arlo Guthrie. Watch that fishing boat video here: Sawmill Joe – The Way That I Am”

He’s playing this Saturday at Lost Lake in Denver, bring a date.

Check out the rest of his music free here: Sawmill Joe bandcamp

Watch him be the star of a Coen Brothers film soundtrack.