Gifted Children [CD, 2008]

First off, the opening track “MC Kenney” is one of those annoying vocal-only introductions.  At 35 seconds, it’s a throwaway; likely an inside joke.  But once you get past that, Levy On The Eyeway is a surprising ride.  The true opener is “Dead Kiss”, a song that begins with a pointed key riff but quickly dives into a loud, blaring punk-ish track… and it’s pretty freakin’ good.

Hearts In Palm UK are preparing to release their For Life album on Hypenote in mid-October.  That album includes the song “People And Logistics” and boy does it sound like it could be on the next Au Revoir Simone album. It’s got all the elements, which means it is time for a list!  Here are the top five things that lead Hearts In Palm UK to remind me of Au Revoir Simone…

 

[CD, 2007]

I did not know anything about Marc with a C before listening to his album What the Hell is Wrong with Marc with a C?.  I did however get the feeling that the album was not going to take itself too seriously.  I was right.  But that is not necessarily a bad thing.  We can't all be Joy Division.

The Pharmacy is one of Seattle’s underground hype bands for 2008 and their song “Little Toys On A Shelf” hails as one of the more prominent tracks off their recent Choose Yr Own Adventure LP.  Like the rest of the album, “Little Toys On A Shelf” consists of catchy, driving rock (not quite post punk, but there are a few minor elements of the punk subgenre).

Flemish Eye [CD, 2008]

Listening to Women’s Women reminds me of—other than the female form—Person Pitch by Panda Bear and Cryptograms by Deerhunter.  These albums, like Women, can be difficult for the standard pop fan.  But I’m not your standard pop fan (how can someone who enjoys the noise-hype that is HEALTH be your standard pop fan?) as my tastes stray beyond the pop borders quite frequently.

Twin Tigers is another one of those super catchy pop-rock bands, this time hailing not from Seattle or New York or LA, but from Athens, the kingdom of indie-pop. Their debut EP, Curious Faces/Violent Future, hit just over a month ago.  If you missed it then, now’s your chance to rectify that mishap.

Series II Records [CD, 2008]

Contrary to the majority of bands out there, indluding those fitting the indie-pop mold, keys are the primary instrument in Back In Judy’s Shack.  Thus, there should be no surprise that I immediately relate them to Au Revoir Simone.  However, Back In Judy’s Shack do stand on there own, well outside that early reference point.

 

Classical music aficionados, pop music fans, anyone who digs music from Portland: take note of Portland Cello Project.  This unique album features several Pacific Northwest (namely Portland) based artists like Weinland, Laura Gibson and Loch Lomond.

Hardwood Records [CD, 2008]

I’m continually surprised by In Field & Town.  It’s been a good five years plus since I really sat down and listened to Hayden, but revisiting his early record Everything I Long For, it’s easy to hear what drew me to the artist in the first place.  Hayden’s demeanor on that record is one I wholly associated with at that time—mopey, sad, borderline depressed.  But, in listening to his latest works contained within In Field & Town, it’s apparent we both have changed.

Loxsly’s latest EP is titled Flashlights and mixes atmospheric guitars with airy pop vocals.  The group’s sound is unique: despite more drone-ridden guitars, the percussion is quite poppy.  The vocals are pleasant and melodically crafted.  The production elements blended in add to the group’s forward-thinking pop sound.

Exigent Records [CDEP, 2008]

Microtia clearly loves the Mars Volta, but the Mars Volta they are not. Of course, that's not the worst knock in the world. Trying to play TMV's game and not fully succeeding is kind of like being a guitarist that isn't as good as Hendrix or a sax player that isn't as good as Coltrane. There's still plenty of room to be awfully good without reaching the pinnacle of your craft. The question isn't whether Microtia is as good as TMV so much as how they fill that area just below the very top of the prog genre.

 

How long, exactly, have I lived in Seattle?  Let’s see, this will take a bit of calculating.  I moved here in August 2006, so that’s 23 months.  Add to that the time between undergraduate and grad school and the new total is 30 months.  Plus two summers at approximately 3 months each: 36 months… and I’ve NEVER been to the Fremont Troll before!  What the hell have I been up to all this time?

 

Team Swan [CD, 2008]

Glistening Pleasure follows the path of other recent hyped artists like MGMT, Cut Copy and White Williams thanks to Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head (NPSH) adding in substantial dance-ridden glam, output through flambuoyant vocals and new-wavey keyboards.  Guitar riffs hone in on the minimal—they lack full strums that plague many artists—thus, they encompass the definition of “riff” and are truly plentiful in soundscape.

The Novel Ideas are a Boston based collective that stay true to their name and write songs about books. The band just released their debut LP, Say Hello, which features all the strings, horns, accordion, and mandolin you could possibly hope to eat at one sitting.

 

Church is a band that I saw like 6 months ago.  At the time I was thinking that they could very likely become one of my favorite bands.  Then I didn't get to see them again until about a week ago.  I was able to attend their CD release/tour kick off show at a small art gallery/all-ages venue called Rererato.  It was stunning.  Those initial thoughts were dead on and I think it is safe to say that Church is officially one of my favorite new bands due to their gorgeous and intense live performance.  At that show they gave everyone in attendance (about 15 people...maybe) a copy of the mini-EP, Gold which they had finished the day before.  I wanted to review that CD, but unfortunately it was on a 3" Mini Disc and therefore I could not rip onto my laptop and therefore I could not put it on my iPod and therefore could not listen to enough to review it.  A few days later I went into Tender Loving Empire (an awesome music/local clothing/comic/whatever store) and picked up their debut CD, With all our love for Francisco the Man, which was released in January of this year.  It is amazing.

 

 

Recently I received a digital EP simply titled SXSW EP by Feral Children, including several tracks from their upcoming full-length out sometime in the hopefully near future on Sarathan Records.  And, since sticking the four tunes on my new iPod Touch (or, iTouch, if you will), I’ve been absolutely hooked.

 

Vagrant [2x CD, 2008]

I believe the first true independent album I picked up was the 1997 release of Perfect From Now On by Built To Spill.  Not a bad beginning, I must say.  But it wasn’t until my discovery of The Anniversary that my desire to seek out new underground artists became an intense obsession.  Thus, The Anniversary is truly one of my earliest forays into independent music.