[B]leeding Rainbow (formerly Reading Rainbow) are one of those bands you can’t really write about without namedropping a bunch of other bands, so I’m just going to go ahead & get it all out of the way. Sonic Youth, Nirvana, My Bloody Valentine, Yo La Tengo, etc, & then the ’60s bands that influenced the psychedelia of the early/mid ’90s. Alright, now we’re on the same page. Their bio says it’s like the Mamas & the Papas backed by early Smashing Pumpkins, &, while I don’t love to just regurgitate that type of stuff, it’s a really good descriptor. But…
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[T]im Noyes of Aunt Martha is about to step into the spotlight, no longer under the guise of the aforementioned band, but as a songwriter and leader of a fresh new sound for him. Less of the bedroom recordings and acoustic twang of earlier recordings, but now in immersed in a totally different sound, one that is more densely packed with mood and layers. It complements his songwriting surprisingly well, and it shows on his first single, Saturday, a song written before an Aunt Martha show at a dive bar in New York. The sonic shift is evident from the…
3 Comments[B]ritish born musician Bobby Long sure doesn’t sound like he comes from jolly ol England, though writing a thesis on American Folk music might just make him more knowledgeable than most of us when it comes to American music. Regardless, he’s releasing a new record, his sophomore album, Wishbone, next month and a new single today. The new single “Devil Moon,” bears the mark of American rock music with a bit of gravel and whiskey slathered on it. It’s jumping out to me as very alt-country, california soul-ish ala The Mother Hips.
1 CommentFrontier Ruckus – Dealerships [G]etting closer to January 29th is getting us closer to the release of Frontier Ruckus’ next album, Eternity Dimming, the next album in the mythology of Matthew Milia and his rolling narrative and heavy lyrical songs. The single “Dealerships,” which refers to all sorts of physical and internal stations within the night landscape of Michigan winter. They deal out that chalky feeling of sterile frigidness, memory, and human pathos,” Milia explained. “The used car dealerships around the Silverdome, the Salvation Armies, the Catholic schools, the carports smoking with warming-up cars — they’re all the places that dole…
2 CommentsBrendan Benson – Metarie (Wellfed Version) [I]f you’re not familiar with the names Brendan Benson & Jason Falkner, you’ve undoubtedly heard their playing, arranging, engineering, or producing on critically acclaimed records by everyone from Paul McCartney to Adele, Beck, the White Stripes, Gnarls Barkley, or even Loretta Lynn. Benson co-fronted the Raconteurs with Jack White, & Jason Falkner briefly shared a band with Jon Brion. When the pair got together in 1995 to begin work on the Wellfed sessions, Benson was being lauded by critics & college radio djs as the savior of power pop, & Falkner had just released…
Leave a CommentCory Chisel & the Wandering Sons – Never Meant to Love You [O]ld Believers marks Cory Chisel’s second collaboration with producer/performer Brendan Benson, & was recorded on the analog equipment at Nashville’s Welcome To 1979 studio. Unsurprisingly, it sounds like a 70’s record; between Benson, David Vandervelde, & Dawes, Nashville is beginning to gain a reputation as the place to recapture the west coast songwriter vibes of the ’70s. And while Chisel’s new record mostly fits pretty snugly into that scene, Never Meant To Love You more overtly recalls fellow Minnesota son Bob Dylan, who made his own sojourn to…
1 CommentJunip – Line of Fire [I] almost can never get enough of Jose Gonzalez and his band Junip’s sound. It’s an effortless soundscape that seems to be rolling down a mountain in a slow babbling river, its slow ambling and comforting sound, and his melodious voice rolls in to an almost trance / lullaby state. The swedish group will be dropping their next album this spring on Mute, and if this is any barometer of the record, I’d say we’ll be talking about them quite a bit more come release time.
6 CommentsYou Never Need Nobody [G]eorgia native Zach Williams began songwriting in 2005 during a time of family crisis and learned to play guitar to help put his emotional outpouring to song. Unknown to Williams at the time he was creating the music that would eventually become the groundwork for his solo effort Zach Williams & The Bellow. With friends and family by his side Williams was Brooklyn bound, with a newly profound outlook on life and eager for a fresh start. In 2010 Brian Elmquist and Kanene Pipkin joined the songwriter as he was trying out new material, and the…
4 Comments[B]ig Harp is set to release their new record, Chain Letters, January 22nd, and they have come through for all of us releasing a full stream of the upcoming record. The much heavier sounding album may feel like a departure from the sound they captured on White Hat, but I think the band is evolving before our eyes (and ears) and settling into a sound that is a bit more aggressive is not such a bad thing. I’ve been listening to the album quite a bit lately, and I’m really starting to love it. It’s definitely different, but still worthy…
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