Sometimes it's really nice to hear a strong accent in a singer's voice. It can sometimes be enough to make an otherwise average band or song interesting enough to keep my attention.
Here are a few examples of that:
Duke Special: "Irish (Northern)"
Well his songs aren't particualrly brilliant but he doesn't fall short at being "nice to listen to". He sports what was, from the 60's to 80's, the number one must-have terrorist accent. It's sad to see it lose the top spot to the Arabs; its coffin nailed by chirpy 16 year-old girls giggling about how cute it is.
The Mountain Goats. "American (West Coast)"
They're a pretty well known band at this point and I quite like their music but if i am to be honest, only in short bursts. They're touring Australia & New Zealand at the moment so if you're dossing around that part of the world you should drop in and take a look.
Malcolm Middleton: "Scottish (Glasgow)"
If there ever existed a more depressed songwriter it's likely they committed suicide midway through their first song. Despite that, and an accent that could start a bar fight in less than four syllables, he's done some great work that often helps me remember that there is someone out there worse off than me... and he's ginger.
Soko: "French (Not Paris)"
She doesn't have too much music out yet. Last i checked she was working on an album. The music that she has released is a big slice of "crazy girl brain". Most people understand how girls can be at times frighteningly neurotic. Luckily for humanity most ladies are well aware of it and often get away with simply thinking things like; "This may be a first date, but i want your babies". Sometimes girls will inadvertently say these things. But then we come to Soko... Who writes songs about her craziness... Luckily they're very good.
Wednesday 26 November 2008
Monday 24 November 2008
Search for the Grail
A long time ago in galaxy far away....
Actually it was about 15 years ago in Glasgow, but it was indeed Tigermilk the album that is mostly responsible for me catching "the indie". Sadly Belle and Sebastian never seem to reach the same heights with their other albums. So I've been biding my time and waiting for someone annoyingly talented enough to creating a sequel.
There have been a few contenders but so far no album has quite made it. The most recent hope came from a random last.fm play. A band called Voxtrot with a song called Start of Something (full song). The songs analogue recording makes it wonderfully warm, lyrics are pretty good and the tune sounds very Sarah Records-esque.
Subsequently I got an album of theirs. I played it from start to finish which wasn't easy... after the first few songs I told myself "it must get better".. it didn't. After the halfway point i told myself "i've gotten this far, i should finish it out..".
I could go on about how predictable this is or how over produced it is but it's not worth my time.
It's a bad album.. Don't get it. The quest continues....
Actually it was about 15 years ago in Glasgow, but it was indeed Tigermilk the album that is mostly responsible for me catching "the indie". Sadly Belle and Sebastian never seem to reach the same heights with their other albums. So I've been biding my time and waiting for someone annoyingly talented enough to creating a sequel.
There have been a few contenders but so far no album has quite made it. The most recent hope came from a random last.fm play. A band called Voxtrot with a song called Start of Something (full song). The songs analogue recording makes it wonderfully warm, lyrics are pretty good and the tune sounds very Sarah Records-esque.
Subsequently I got an album of theirs. I played it from start to finish which wasn't easy... after the first few songs I told myself "it must get better".. it didn't. After the halfway point i told myself "i've gotten this far, i should finish it out..".
I could go on about how predictable this is or how over produced it is but it's not worth my time.
It's a bad album.. Don't get it. The quest continues....
Friday 21 November 2008
Bringing back the indie awesomeness!
Ok, so it's been a while since we've put up a blog. It's not out of not wanting to, but more out of lack of time and energy. Time has spent between going to gigs, working or sleeping. Life is hard sometimes...
So, today's band for the weekend is Cut Copy. I've become a fan Austrailian electropop trio of late. After going to see The Presets last Sunday, I decied to research their lable a bit more. Modular are a pretty big label, half owned my EMI I think, but still holding on to their indie beliefs. They've signed other band such as New Young Pony Club and even Wolfmother so they've a pretty diverse taste in music (something that is key to an indie label). And so, I stumbled upon Cut Copy.
I couldn't get tickets to their gig last week, they managed to sell out just as I went to get tickets... So I contented myself to listening to their albums from start to finish. I prefer their first album, Bright Like Neon Love, is by far their best. All good indie bands make sure their first album is better than any consecutive efforts. So people like us can profess out love their earlier work, whilst liking their new albums which the popular masses like. That's not to say In Ghost Colours isn't awesome as well... Check both out... right now!
Today's photo is from, Ryan Ruppe, who is apparently occasionally awesome...
So, today's band for the weekend is Cut Copy. I've become a fan Austrailian electropop trio of late. After going to see The Presets last Sunday, I decied to research their lable a bit more. Modular are a pretty big label, half owned my EMI I think, but still holding on to their indie beliefs. They've signed other band such as New Young Pony Club and even Wolfmother so they've a pretty diverse taste in music (something that is key to an indie label). And so, I stumbled upon Cut Copy.
I couldn't get tickets to their gig last week, they managed to sell out just as I went to get tickets... So I contented myself to listening to their albums from start to finish. I prefer their first album, Bright Like Neon Love, is by far their best. All good indie bands make sure their first album is better than any consecutive efforts. So people like us can profess out love their earlier work, whilst liking their new albums which the popular masses like. That's not to say In Ghost Colours isn't awesome as well... Check both out... right now!
Today's photo is from, Ryan Ruppe, who is apparently occasionally awesome...
Monday 10 November 2008
Greatest Indie Album Titles
Indie albums often don't have a marketing team, and so something uttered in a drunken trance to your manager in a philosophical tone may some time later be the very thing that inspires you months later to say "What idiot decided on calling the album that?".
Of course there are other indie albums that, while the creation process is identical, by some fluke the album name appears to be very well liked. Here are some examples:
Sparklehorse: Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
Mark Linkous came up with this name for his debut album back in '95. He's pretty lucky the album is so good, cos if you had to order it over a counter or something you might have given up in favour of the Foo Fighters or something. So perhaps it was his plan to keep the album indie by making it impossible to ask for.
Belle and Sebastian: Fold your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant
A band of great album names, matched only by their great albums. The unique albums names started with "If You're Feeling Sinister", that was subsequently topped by "The Boy with the Arab Strap" which itself was beaten by the album above. While "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" deserves an honourable mention, "Fold your hands child, you walk like a peasant" was taken from the wall of a toilet cubicle and so wins outright on trivia. Ironically, Tigermilk, the tamest of B&S album names is probably their best album.
Of Montreal: Satanic Panic in the Attic
Another band of great album names, the source of which is unknown to me. But I like to think it's a case of say what you see (while stoned) sort of inspiration. That would probably explain this album as well as "The Gay Parade", "The Bedside Drama A Petite Tragedy" and perhaps "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer".
Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
This album is quite something, I've talked about this album to a lot of different people on several different continents and iIve discovered that this album name, when quoted has the power to force a uniform response from any listener. Irrelevant of colour, creed or taste in music, quote "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside out" and "WHAT?" religiously follows.
Of course there are other indie albums that, while the creation process is identical, by some fluke the album name appears to be very well liked. Here are some examples:
Sparklehorse: Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
Mark Linkous came up with this name for his debut album back in '95. He's pretty lucky the album is so good, cos if you had to order it over a counter or something you might have given up in favour of the Foo Fighters or something. So perhaps it was his plan to keep the album indie by making it impossible to ask for.
Belle and Sebastian: Fold your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant
A band of great album names, matched only by their great albums. The unique albums names started with "If You're Feeling Sinister", that was subsequently topped by "The Boy with the Arab Strap" which itself was beaten by the album above. While "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" deserves an honourable mention, "Fold your hands child, you walk like a peasant" was taken from the wall of a toilet cubicle and so wins outright on trivia. Ironically, Tigermilk, the tamest of B&S album names is probably their best album.
Of Montreal: Satanic Panic in the Attic
Another band of great album names, the source of which is unknown to me. But I like to think it's a case of say what you see (while stoned) sort of inspiration. That would probably explain this album as well as "The Gay Parade", "The Bedside Drama A Petite Tragedy" and perhaps "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer".
Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
This album is quite something, I've talked about this album to a lot of different people on several different continents and iIve discovered that this album name, when quoted has the power to force a uniform response from any listener. Irrelevant of colour, creed or taste in music, quote "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside out" and "WHAT?" religiously follows.
Friday 7 November 2008
What say you indie folk?
Each and every day, I get awesome suggestions for indie bands, films and the likes off a variety of people. From the people I work with (the fact I work in a record shop helps), the people in college, random awesome tshirts, or just indie folk standing on the street corner shouting the name of their favorite band (the latter is quite effective). But for all these ways, coming across a band randomly is by far my favourite.
While searching for a picutre of an indie person shouting I came across a picture for The Shout Out Louds, and instantly regretted not having heard of them before. These indie "four boys and a girl" are pretty awesome, and the fact their Swedish only helps matters.
Don't let the fact that singer/guitarist Adam Olenius looks somewhat like Erwin Sparks from The Hoosiers bother you, they sound nothing alike (which is what matters).
The photo is curtosty of some Spanish indie webzine. So, thanks whoever you are indie photographer person.
While searching for a picutre of an indie person shouting I came across a picture for The Shout Out Louds, and instantly regretted not having heard of them before. These indie "four boys and a girl" are pretty awesome, and the fact their Swedish only helps matters.
Don't let the fact that singer/guitarist Adam Olenius looks somewhat like Erwin Sparks from The Hoosiers bother you, they sound nothing alike (which is what matters).
The photo is curtosty of some Spanish indie webzine. So, thanks whoever you are indie photographer person.
Wednesday 5 November 2008
TV on the Radio on the Internet
TVOTR... Some new up and coming stars of indie. These guys are fairly big in Americaland, and have been making serious waves amongst the indie people this side of the ocean too. If you haven't heard these guys and you were to ask someone to describe them, they'd probably give you a blank stare. Not because they're so indie that no one has heard of them, but rather because it's impossibe. Each song is completly on its own.
You can blanket them and just call them post-punk art rock, but they're much more subtle than that. Their songs go from upbeat poppy rock, so downbeat blues or gospel. It's got something for everyone really. Except people who like popular music, but no one will mind about that. And I think we can all agree they're very Alternative Electro Bus Funk.
They'll be playing Tripod in Dublin on the 16th... If you can get hold of tickets, I highly recommend going.
The really awesome photo was by Mark Trammel. Web, music, and photo geek. Amateur man of leisure.
You can blanket them and just call them post-punk art rock, but they're much more subtle than that. Their songs go from upbeat poppy rock, so downbeat blues or gospel. It's got something for everyone really. Except people who like popular music, but no one will mind about that. And I think we can all agree they're very Alternative Electro Bus Funk.
They'll be playing Tripod in Dublin on the 16th... If you can get hold of tickets, I highly recommend going.
The really awesome photo was by Mark Trammel. Web, music, and photo geek. Amateur man of leisure.
Monday 3 November 2008
The Future of the Left
Noise rock... Now there's an interesting genre, loosely described as "when avant-garde acid jazz got angry". Now, I've never been to a noise rock gig, but it sounds like a lot of fun. t was a genre created in the 80's, sort of like me but these guys are so indie, they won't even play in key or use normal song wrtiningness.
And speaking of noise rock, The Future of the Left will be playing Whelan's on the 14th and the pretentious indie boys will be going. Tickets are only €15.. You know it's indie when tickets cost that little (it also leaves plenty of money for beer).
And thanks to Mr. Tim Morris awesome indie photographer for the super awesome picture.
And speaking of noise rock, The Future of the Left will be playing Whelan's on the 14th and the pretentious indie boys will be going. Tickets are only €15.. You know it's indie when tickets cost that little (it also leaves plenty of money for beer).
And thanks to Mr. Tim Morris awesome indie photographer for the super awesome picture.
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