Black Kids is set to release a new, full-length album (albeit for Columbia Records) called Partie Traumatic on July 22.
With danceable, catchy songs reminiscent of a mix between The Cure and Arcade Fire, Jacksonville, Florida's indie outfit Black Kids have received a heavy dose of critical acclaim, blogger buzz, and the inevitable backlash over the past year.
The band, who made it on to the indie music map with the singles "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" and "Hurricane Jane" (see link below) is now under enormous pressure with the upcoming release of their debut album, and fans and critics will be expecting more than just a hurried release containing a set of mediocre songs.
However, it is important to note that the band's 'debut' only contains three new songs. That is not something that works in the band's favor or will necessarily sell more records than an album that contains a full set of new songs.
It's always amusing, and somehow pretentious, for the naysayers of indie rock 'sensations' - as Black Kids have become - to conveniently praise a talented new band and then turn around and bash them for becoming popular, which is sort of what I'm doing here, but not really, because overall, their music speaks for itself - and does a fine job at that.
If they were pretentious and in-your-face about their indie stardom, as some musicians are, that would be a different story. So far, all indications point to an amazingly creative and exciting band with catchy sound and name.
If you are not familiar with Black Kids, you can listen to this free MP3 from Black Kids and also following some of the music links to stream their music, get more information about the band and access their playlists on various social networking sites.
MP3: Hurricane Jane by Black Kids from the upcoming debut album, Partie Traumatic
The following is the song and video - "I Don't Want To Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" - that put the band into the spotlight (especially in the U.K., where the band has a large, loyal following):
The Fleet Foxes Mix Indie Pop, Acoustic, Folk and Harmonic Vocals For Entralling Sounds
I must admit that there are many indie artists and bands that fly under my radar for months after they've received the so-called "blogger buzz". This is no more so the case than with the Washington state band The Fleet Foxes.
Drawing strongly off influences from The Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young and The Zombies, The Fleet Foxes are one of the most exciting new indie bands of 2008.
Fleet Foxes' debut, self-titled album is nothing less than a masterpiece woven with carefully-crafted songs about longing and lost love lavishly laden with pop harmonies and melodies.
"They are, for lack of an imminently more marketable descriptor, a group trafficking in baroque harmonic pop," the band's profile on Sub Pop reads, highlighting "traditions of folk music, pop, choral music and gospel, sacred harp singing, West Coast music, traditional music from Ireland to Japan, film scores."
Heather Phares wrote in the All Music Guide: "[Fleet Foxes] mix and match British and American folk and rock from the far and not too distant past that makes the band's music so refreshing.
While this mix could be contrived or indulgent, Fleet Foxes use restraint, structuring their flourishes into three- and four-minute pop songs full of chiming melodies and harmonies that sound like they've been summoned from centuries of traditional songs and are full of vivid, universal imagery: mountains, birds, family, death. "
The band comprises Skyler Skjelset on guitar, Bryn Lumsden on bass, Nicholas Peterson on drums, and Casey Wescott on keyboards. Following some solid shows in Seattle, the band was was contacted by producer Phil Ek, who produced The Shins and Built to Spill.
Ek produced the bands spring 2008 EP release, Sun Giant, and the band's debut full-length album for Sub Pop Records.
MP3: "White Winter Hymna" by The Fleet Foxes off the self-titled album on Sub Pop Records, released in June 2008.
Sub Pop also has in its lineup of artists many great indie bands and artists like Grand Archives, Iron & Wine, Foals, The Go! Team, Bands of Horses, The Postal Service, Sleater-Kinney, CSS, Mudhoney, The Rapture, Wolf Parade, Low, Rogue Wave and dozens more.
Seattle is etched in rock history as the birthplace of alternative rock, most especially in respect to "grunge" - a musical genre that captivated a generation for half of a decade thanks in large part to the explosive success of Nirvana.
For the baby boom generation, The Beatles were band that defined a generation. For the mislabeled "Generation X" there is no other band that can compare to the enormous influence and success of The Beatles except for Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.
But in recent years, the caffeinated city of Seattle, has been the breeding ground for new, more mellow indie rock and pop that draws heavily off musical trends established during the baby boomers heydays. The Fleet Foxes definitely appeal to a wide audience because of their amazing range in styles and sounds and introspective lyrics.
Upcoming Fleet Foxes shows from their 2008 concert tour:
Thursday, June 26 - Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco CA Friday, June 27 - Casbah, San Diego CA Saturday, June 28 - Echo, Los Angeles CA Sunday, June 29 - Spaceland, Los Angeles CA Monday, June 30 - Solar Culture, Tucson AZ Wednesday, July 2 - Mohawk, Austin TX Thursday, July 3 - Loft, Dallas TX Saturday, July 5 - Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta GA Sunday, July 6 - Local 506, Chapel Hill NC Monday, July 7 - Black Cat, Washington DC Tuesday, July 8 - First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia PA Wednesday, July 9 - Bowery Ballroom, The, New York City NY Monday, July 14 - Middle East, Cambridge MA upstairs Tuesday, July 15 - Le Divan Orange, Montreal Canada Friday, July 18 - Terrace, Madison WI Saturday, July 19 - Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago IL Sunday, July 20 - 7th St Entry, Minneapolis MN Tuesday, July 22 - Hi-Dive, Denver CO Wednesday, July 23 - Kilby Court, Salt Lake City UT Friday, July 25 - Doug Fir Lounge, Portland OR
Firewater's The Golden Hour Features Music Genres Mixed with International Influences
Firewater's April 2008 release, The Golden Hour, has been widely hailed as its best album to date, rich with instruments (some played by native musicians), stories and sounds reflecting an adventurous trek across the Middle East and Asia.
The careful weaving of sitars and trumpets with bongos and a heavy bass line provides for a collection of mostly original, festive and danceable songs. Sprickled across the album are many additional instruments that date hundreds of years, like the tumba, chimta, and dholki.
The Golden Hour is very much founding member Tom A.'s musical travelogue featuring influences from journeys across Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan and India. Tod A. chronicled his travels in the blog Postcards From the Edge of the World. Having recently divorced and disgusted by the re-election of President Bush in 2004, decided to leave the U.S.
The album contains some stand out tracks, including "Hey Clown", "Borneo", "Feels Like The End of the World" and "Some Kind of Kindness".
Firewater: Founded, 1995
Firewater is a continuously morphing, work-in-progress indie collaborative outfit from New York that has actually been around since 1995, when grunge was all the rage.
Firewater's 1995 debut album, Get Off The Cross (We Need The Wood For The Fire), was not well received by critics and the band failed to gain a notable following.
Three years later, the band returned with the same formula and line-up, including Soul Coughing drummer Yuval Gabay and Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison, to release its sophomore effort - The Ponzi Scheme. The album contained a few worthy songs, but for the most part was largely dismissed.
It wasn't until 2001's pop-heavy Psychopharmacology, featuring saxophonist Ori Kaplan and sitar player Oren Bloedow, that the band made a breakthrough, receiving wide praise, including a 3.5 star rating from the All Music Guide.
"Psychopharmacology contains the requisite disgruntlement of a Firewater album, and all of angst-ridden underpinnings of testosterone-laced pop."
The band took another hiatus, but pumped out two respectable albums in less than a year - 2003's "stripped-down, razor-wire-wrapped effort" The Man on the Burning Tightrope, followed by Songs We Should Have Written in 2004.
With the release of The Golden Hour, and an impressive performance South by Southwest, plus plenty of the all important 'blogger love', 2008 may be Firewater's biggest ever.
It doesn't hurt that over the past couple of years indie rock music featuring sounds from other cultures and instruments has gained popularity, evidenced by popular indie artists like Beirut, The Decemberists and Vampire Weekend, to name a few.
The downside of Firewater's collective music catalogue is that much of it sounds too much like the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and at times conjures up images of a drunken Uncle Bob attempting to dance in the backyard after an outdoor barbecue, when most of the guests have already left.
With a catchy name and unique sound that combines indie rock-pop and Afro influences, New York's collegiate 'indie' sensation Vampire Weekend have managed to become one of the the hottest bands during the past two years, selling out shows, performing on Saturday Night Live and garnering a massive amount of buzz in the mainstream press and on countless music blogs.
But there are disadvantages of being so popular; there are music fans who absolutely love the band, and there are others who declare VW are vastly over-rated.
Yet the soaring popularity of the band appears to be unabated. That can be a good and a bad thing, as we’ve seen so many times before. Nonetheless, I’d bet my Cadillac that many record labels are in a bidding war for these guys right now.
The band has toured relentlessly since early 2007, and there is no sign that they intend to take a break. In fact, VW are booked solid through the end of September when they will play at the famous Austin City Limits festival.
Here's Vampire Weekend's tour dates for the next four months. It seems as if they are playing nearly every music festival this summer, not just in the U.S., but worldwide:
If you'd like to see the band live, it is strongly recommended to get tickets once they go on sale, since tickets have regularly gone for double and triple the price on eBay and other third-party ticket auction sites.
One of the most interesting things about a band from New York City is that they have a number of songs about Massachusetts in their limited music repertoire ("Boston", "Ladies of Cambridge" and "Cape Cod Kawasa Kawasa")
The band describes their sound as “Upper West Side Soweto” - a reference to their early gigs playing at frat and literary parties for NYC social elites where people began to take notice of their unique blend of joyous indie rock infused with melodic Afro-beat rhythms.
Vampire Weekend's band members are Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, Rostam Batmanglij, and Chris Tomson. The group derived their name from a college film project shortly after forming in 2006.
Their first release, the EP Mansford Roof, caught the attention of music critics, including The New York Times. Word spread quickly about Vampire Weekend's unique sound and lyrics (the track "Oxford Comma" refers to a comma use in a list of three items), buoyed by the band's self-released EPs, which they recorded in locations spanning their Columbia dorm rooms to a family barn.
The buzz around Vampire Weekend reached a feverish peak in 2007; that summer, the band embarked on a seemingly endless tour in 2007, made several appearances at that year's CMJ Music Marathon, and eventually signed with XL Records that fall.
Since then, Vampire Weekend has continued to grow in popularity, evidenced by the fact that most of their shows for this spring and summer have already been sold out.
Some worthwhile VW links, including audio and video performances:
Indie Artist of the Week: Canada's The Weakerthans
The Weakerthans, a Canadian indie band from Winnipeg, put themselves on the music map back in the late 1990's, and have been impressing critics and fans with subsequent, yet limited, releases ever since.
The band's latest album, Reunion Tour, released last fall, has received wide praise by the music press, bloggers and fans, making many top album lists for 2007.
Comprising an exciting mix of punk revival and melodic indie rock, Paste magazine hailed Reunion Tour as a collection of "songs of brutal beauty, little rock n roll vignettes that perfectly capture the malaise of the peculiar, disorienting times in which we live."
Here is the hit single music video "Civil Twilight" from The Weakerthans' Reunion Tour CD:
Propagandhi member John K. Samson left his former band and joined Red Fisher drummer Jason Tait and bassist John Sutton to create The Weakerthans in 1997. Later guitarist Steve Carroll and bassist Greg Smith joined the lineup.
The band, especially founder, John Samson, doesn't just record and play music; they are actively involved in promoting the fight against poverty and advocating for environmental conservation. Samson's 'day job' includes his publishing company, Arbeiter Ring Publishing.
Reunion Tour was, in a sense, aptly named since the band's last release before that, Reconstruction Site, was issued back in 2003 on Epitaph Records.
MP3: The Weakerthans - "Aside" from Last and Leaving
You can listen to and download more music, plus watch various music videos, from The Weakerthans on their official web site. Also, check out The Weakerthan's MySpace page and Facebook profile to social network with the band, get tour information, connect with fans and stream songs.
The Weakerthans were the first band in the CBC Radio 3's R3-30 chart history to hit the No. 1 spot with two different songs in the same year - a cover of Rheostatics "Bad Time to Be Poor" during the week of June 21, 2007, followed up in November 2007 by another No. 1 song, "Civil Twilight", their hit single from Reunion Tour.
The band released their debut album, Fallow, to wide praise from music critics and fans in 1998, on the indie label cooperative, G7& Welcoming Records. In 2000, The Weakerthans issued their sophomore record Left and Leaving, followed a year later by the EP Watermark.
Left and Leaving was eventually named one of the ten best Canadian albums of all time in a Chart magazine readers' poll last year. Epitaph re-released Fallow and Left and Leaving in Canada on November 6, 2007.
Chan Marshall Powers Down Vocals on Doc's Orders; Tour Dates Canceled
Catpower Photograph by Anton Corbijn
According to the official website of Matador Records, Cat Power, aka Chan Marshall, has announced the cancellation of part of her 2008 spring tour.
The famous "Nora Jones of indie", Marshall, has canceled her next five shows, reportedly. The announcement, sure to let down hundreds, if not thousands, of ticket holders, comes after the cancellation of Cat Power's concert Thursday night in Tempe, Arizona. Marshall will not be performing tonight in Dallas as scheduled.
Matador Records has said that Cat Power's next five shows will also be canceled, per doctor's orders that a strain on her vocal chords must be meet with rest and no singing.
From what we can gather, the following upcoming shows, including a performance at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis on May 3, 2008, will not go on.
Saturday, April 19 - Dallas, TX at the Palladium Ballroom (canceled) Sunday, April 20 - Austin, TX at Stubb's - Outside (canceled) Tuesday, April 22 - Houston, TX at the Warehouse (canceled) Saturday, May 3 - Memphis, TN Beale Street Music Festival (canceled)
The following dates have not been confirmed as being canceled yet:
Monday, May 26 - Lisbon, Portugal at Lisbon Coliseum Wednesday, May 28 - Porto, Portugal at Porto Coliseum
Steve Malkmus Manages To Be A Jick By His Own Definition
Former Pavement frontman and one of the original trailblazers that delivered 'indie' music to the masses during the 1990s, Stephen Malkmus, appeared on FOX News' (WTF4?!?!) program "RedEye" last Friday (at 3 am - when every one's watching) and, well, disappointed some fans, including yours truly, with his apparent snooty and less-than-dignified persona.
Maybe I'm over-reacting, but the interview (watchthe video segment) speaks for itself. It's a good educated guess that many Pavement/Malkmus fans may get a different opinion of the 'indie rock sensation' after seeing this clip. Maybe it's just me (although other bloggers were left with a luke warm feeling as well). Is Malkmus a FOX News type of 'thinker'? If so, what a let down.
Not only did Malkmus actually agree to do an interview on FOX News, but he also made what some consider a semi-racist remark, not surprising for a guest on FOX News, but this guy is a representative of indie rock. In another interview, Malkmus compares his music more to the 'underground' than the 'indie fashion.' What?!
Steve, you're not underground at all; you're a multi-millionaire preppy rock star - hardly an 'underground' musician. Even if Malkmus means 'underground' in an artistic sense - that is "holding unorthodox views in an environment where conventional ideas dominate" - he's the one that went on FOX News and acted like a pompous ass.
In response to the question from the always annoying (maybe that's why he's on when no one's watching) Greg Gutfeld about the origin of the word 'jick' (Malkmus' band name is the Jicks), Malkmus said: "I don't know what ghetto that comes from" and went on to elaborate that he believes it means someone who is "between a dick and a jerk." Irony?
Fame often kills the 'indie' in a musician, and yeah Malkmus has made some of the greatest grunge and indie rock ever, but watching this interview left me with a stomach ache. This is the guy who was the force behind Pavement and he's doing a stupid, 'I'm-all-that' interview on FOX News with Greg Gutfeld, who asked one stupid question after another.
It is just head-scratching and disappointing that one of indie rock's most celebrated frontmen would go on FOX News channel and make such an ass of himself with the help of Gutfeld. I wish I'd never seen the damn interview, so if you're a die-hard Pavement fan, you might want to save yourself the trouble and skip it - not 'underground' or true to grunge/indie ideals at all.
The bitch-fest about Malkmus on FOX didn't start here; check out what others had to say:
Just in case you are curious about the debut album Real Emotional Trash, here's a free, legal track off the new album:
MP3: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Baltimore from the new album Real Emotional Trash
* Maybe Malkmus should go to a 'ghetto' somewhere and ask around what 'jick' means and come back to us and explain to us what he meant by the "I-don't-know-what-ghetto-that-comes-from" remark. And perhaps, he could clarify that whether he really thinks he's in the same league as Bach and if he endorses FOX News distorted agenda of blatant support and advocacy of the right-wing agenda. (Ugh)
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Vampire Weekend's Free 40 Minute Studio Session on KCRW
(photo, courtesy of CrackersUnited)
Even before their 'big time' appearance on Saturday Night Live earlier this month, Vampire Weekend was one of the biggest new bands of 2008, if not the biggest new band of the year, at least as far as the 'buzz factor' goes.
Weeks leading up to the February release of their debut self-titled album on Beggar's Banquet, VW had captured the attention of bloggers, music critics and 'indie' fans, mostly due to their performances last year in concert, at music festivals and their Feb. 1st U.S. network debut on the David Letterman Show. Vampire Weekend - Boston
(Watch and listen to Vampire Weekend play a 40-minute session clicking the video further down the page)
Many fans were disappointed by VW's performance on SNL (the string section wasn't synced with the band). Even the full-length clips of Vampire Weekend performing on SNL have been removed from YouTube; however, they have reappeared on Stereogum.
But, really, you can forget about the SNL show. Without question, it is the band's 40-minute studio session on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic this past Valentine's Day that shows Vampire Weekend at their best. Not only that, but everyone watch it. This is one of the best things about the Internet.
Die-hard fans all around the world who have been unable to see Vampire Weekend in concert should really enjoy this session. It may be the closest many come to see the band in concert, and in some cases, even better.
During the 40-minute studio performance, Vampire Weekend's band members play almost every song from their debut album. The video and audio quality, and camera work, are superb (unlike most videos on YouTube) - no screaming, background noise or shakiness. See the set list below and some lyrics.
The first set of VW's KCRW February 14, 2008 studio session features, in order played, Mansun Roof, Oxford Comma, A-Punk, Cape Cod Kawassa Kawassa and Boston
Following the first set, there is a brief and wonderfully conducted interview with the band.
During the second set the guys play Bryn, Campus, I Stand Corrected, The Kids Don't Stand and M79.
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Mark Kozelek and Sun Kil Moon's New Album, Book and Tour
Pained and hauntingly beautiful, Mark Kozelek's music as a solo artist and with Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon has gained him great respect in the music community, especially among indie folk rock fans.
Kozelek's record label, Caldo Verde Records, announced this week the pre-order sales for both Sun Kil Moon's new album April and the re-issue of Kozelek's 2002 book Nights of Passed Over, a compendium of his lyrics and other writings through the years.
The limited edition (only 2,500 copies) re-issue of the hard-cover book will come along with a 12 song CD titled Nights LP, featuring live and rare versions of Kozelek's music from 1996 through 2007. The limited edition will be available for pre-order on March 17 on Caldo Verde Records website only.
The release of April will mark the first original recording from Mark Kozelek since Tiny Cities (an album of Modest Mouse covers) in 2005 and Sun Kil Moon's 2003 debut classic Ghosts of the Great Highway, which was recently re-issued.
During the past decade, Kozelek's sombre acoustic sound, tender vocals and guilt-ridden and troubled lyrics propelled the otherwise shy and Kozelek in to the emerging indie rock 'blogosphere' where fans gobbled up his music and bloggers hailed the arrival of yet another brilliant songwriter. He has been compared to artists like Nick Drake and Elliot Smith.
The songs for April were recorded between March and August 2007 in San Francisco and Seattle. Contributors include other well-known artists like vocalists Bonnie Prince Billy, Eric Pollard and Ben Gibbard (Death Cab and Postal Service), plus drummer Anthony Koutsos (Red House Painters), bassist Geoff Stanfield (Black Lab), violist Michi Aceret and percussionist David Revelli.
April contains 11 songs that play for 74 minutes. On March 16, 2008, the album will be available as a digital download on the record label's site for $7.99 with album art included.
The following video is an interview with Mark Kozelek in which he performs "Bubble".
“Kozelek’s work has proven over the years that it reveals itself slowly,” O’Connor writes about April. “What grabs you at first is the simple, gorgeous hook, which turns out to be a gateway drug to the deeper mysteries that power his music.”
Jonathan Cohen, Billboard
"From 10-minute, three-guitar jams to heartbreaking acoustic ballads, April shines with the most evocative music of Kozelek 's career."
Angels and Airways Help Keep 'OC-Style' Pop Rock Alive
They are not necessarily 'indie' (whatever that is), because they are signed with Universal, but Angels and Airwaves are starting to get plenty of blog buzz.
Clearly, they are talented and make some catchy songs, but A&A may be a bit too polished by the record exces for their own good.
For example, this A&A video clip and the song could be straight outta OC.
Still, I have to admit I sometimes like the "OC style" - the corporate polished pop rock from heavily promoted artists and groups 'owned' by one of the Big Four. While "OC style" branded pop rock is cool sometimes, my heart and soul are always with the indie bands, signed and unsigned, that keep amazing me each time I spin a new virtually unknown track or play catch-up and groove on songs that hit the Net six or more months ago.
It's hard to keep up with all the great music out there nowadays, but I'm doing my best. :-
Black Kids is set to release a new, full-length album (albeit for Columbia Records) called Partie Traumatic on July 22.
I must admit that there are many indie artists and bands that fly under my radar for months after they've received the so-called "blogger buzz". This is no more so the case than with the Washington state band The Fleet Foxes.
While this mix could be contrived or indulgent, Fleet Foxes use restraint, structuring their flourishes into three- and four-minute pop songs full of chiming melodies and harmonies that sound like they've been summoned from centuries of traditional songs and are full of vivid, universal imagery: mountains, birds, family, death. "
