Sunday, January 30, 2011

Lord Huron's Mighty EP: Sunrise Music



Lord Huron have been on my radar for a while, but after experiencing their mind blowing performance last night at Odd Fellows Hall and giving my shiny new 12" of the Mighty EP several listens, I realized that I absolutely need to bring these guys to your attention.

In studio, Lord Huron is just LA singer-songwriter Benji Schneider, but when he hits the road, he takes a full, very talented band with him. They gel so perfectly, it's hard to believe that they haven't all been together since day 1.

The music has drawn a lot of Fleet Foxes comparisons, but the driving calypso beat makes it so much more than that. For me, there's much more of a connection with Animal Collective in the way that they create enthralling soundscapes with driving beats. Comparisons aside, I just love to wallow in the glory of it all. If there was ever a perfect soundtrack for watching the sun rise over the ocean, this is it. This is sunrise music.

All four tracks on the EP are brilliant, with the third, "The Stranger", definitely being my favorite. Hit up their beautifully designed website to listen to the rest of the EP, and click through to Bandcamp to download. I would encouraged pre-ordering the vinyl, which comes out Tuesday; it sounds absolutely gorgeous.

Honestly though, no matter how much I encourage you to buy the music, I encourage you all the more to go see them live! The show they put on is beyond fantastic, technically, everything sounds amazing, and you can just see and feel the energy and love being poured into every moment of it. They've got a couple of dates on the West Coast coming up in the next week or so, so if you live in any of those cities, go see them.

Mighty - Lord Huron

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Monday, January 24, 2011

The true Monsters of Folk have arrived, and they are Middle Brother



Not to knock the Monsters of Folk in any way, but they just never quite did it for me, and I've never really been into any of their individual bands much either. These fellows here, these are the true monsters of folk. Middle Brother is composed of John McCauley of Deer Tick, Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit, and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes. That's just about the best Americana super-crew you can put together, short of throwing Scott and Seth Avett into the mix.

Judging by the first taste we've gotten of the album, "Me Me Me", Middle Brother does owe a good deal to MoF sound-wise. It's a toe-tapping alt-country tune, full of three part harmony, and rollicking piano and guitar lines. Have a listen.

Me Me Me - Middle Brother

The album drops March 1st on Partisan Records, so good luck decided which to listen to first, this or Alexander. Check out their Myspace for tour dates, because there's no way these guys aren't gonna absolutely kill it live. They've got 13 dates up so far, but hopefully they add some more, because currently they aren't coming anywhere near me.

As a bonus, here's a clip of them playing the song live:

Middle Brother // Me Me Me [live] from Brandon Tauszik on Vimeo.


And as a bonus bonus, here's them playing the album opener, "Daydreaming".



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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Alex Ebert's Alexander



I would consider myself to be a very casual Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros fan (i.e. I like "Home"), so news of a solo album from front-man Alex Ebert didn't particularly excite me at first. That was before I listened to the lead single, "Truth". Say what you want about his early career, this man has got soul, and knows how to pour it into a song. The song kicks off with a minimalist background composed of acoustic guitar and brushed drums and a nice little whistled melody. Ebert then kicks in with a captivating vocal line, well delivered in his grizzled, folkie voice, and to top it all off, a very well executed clarinet solo.

Truth - Alex Ebert

The album, entitled Alexander, is due out March 1st, and promises more of the whistling and clarinet, as well as some violin. Just in case you weren't convinced of Ebert's talent, he plays all the instruments on the album, as well as handling the vocals. After hearing "Truth", I have very high hopes for the rest of the album.

Thanks to Indie Shuffle for the tip.

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Great Show Coming Up in Downtown Davis!



Saturday January 29, Sophia's Thai Kitchen is putting on a great show at the Odd Fellows Hall in downtown Davis (click for map). The show is $10 in advance, or $12 at the door. The show starts at 8pm and features three awesome bands.

Geographer are an electro/indie group from San Francisco. Their songs range between synth-pop and synth-folk, but there are always great hooks.
Kites - Geographer

Lord Huron hail from LA, and make upbeat, cinematic music inspired by African/Caribbean rhythms.
Mighty - Lord Huron

A B & The Sea are also from SF, and craft upbeat, catchy, beachy pop tunes.
Bone Dry - A B & The Sea

It's sure to be a very good show, so don't miss it! Advance tickets can be purchased here. And if you still need more convincing, you can check out different descriptions and songs from the bands on the Sophia's website. Also check the website for information about the bands playing this coming Saturday, the 22nd. That looks to be a good show as well, but one that I will not be able to attend.


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Saturday, January 1, 2011

A Couplet (Young Galaxy and Gorillaz)

Hey everyone. I've got a functioning keyboard, holidays are over, and I am back in business.

To get back into the swing of things, I've got another one of what I like to call a couplet, a nice back to back combo, a mini-mixtape if you will. Today's is composed of "Cover Your Tracks", off of Young Galaxy's upcoming 3rd album Shapeshifting, and "Amarillo", off of the new album from the Gorillaz, The Fall. Both have a nice brooding, atmospheric feel, and they have some sort of intangible similarity that makes them flow together perfectly. See what you think.

Cover Your Tracks - Young Galaxy
Amarillo - Gorillaz

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