New York’s Phantogram — that’s Saratoga Springs, NY, not NYC — has signed to Barsuk Records and will release Eyelid Movies in February of 2010. Phantogram’s music is filled with synth lines fit for shoegaze, electronic beats that hint of a hip hop influence, and lovable pop vocals. Read More »Phantogram Signs To Barsuk Records
Liza and Tom are back again! Yes, British Columbia’s finest boy/girl folk/pop The Wind Whistles have blessed us with yet another collection of seriously fun tracks that are nothing short of delightful. But, Animals Are People Too shall ring a bell with a pitch very different from their debut album, Window Sills. It is safe to say they have stepped their game up. Or at least taken it in a different, possibly four legged, direction. Read More »The Wind Whistles: Animals Are People Too [Album Review]
Robert Church & The Holy Community‘s music has always been filled with the fuzzy DIY sounds familiar to the Swedish artists favoring lo-fi, and their latest in “Skinny Rabbit” is no different. The song and video are both simple. With an emphasis on synth and bass, and a mopey but catchy vocal melody, “Skinny Rabbit” is one of Robert Church’s most promising songs to date. The video is all DIY, minimal and simplistic with cutouts of the band members and a few varying backgrounds. Read More »Robert Church & The Holy Community: Skinny Rabbit [Video]
The transformation undergone by Bear In Heaven between their outstanding Home-Tapes debut, Red Bloom Of The Boom, and their sophomore release Beast Rest Forth Mouth, is, quite literally, breathtaking. Red Bloom debuted Bear In Heaven’s experimental rock with a sound that was, for the most part, entirely their own. Sure, there were traces of influence that in my opinion sided pretty heavily toward artists like Animal Collective, but it was also fairly unparalleled in its style of experimentation.
Read More »Bear In Heaven: Beast Rest Forth Mouth [Album Review] 
There is no telling what emotions The Rest might conjure up when you hear their brilliant sophomore release Everyone All At Once. This is an indie-rock rock-symphony for our time. The band has worked long and hard to create an atmosphere derived solely from their heart’s ambition. As well as pulling influence from nature and booze. But, aren’t most great works inspired in such ways? Read More »The Rest: Everyone All At Once [Album Review]
It can be a difficult task, attempting to step outside of your father’s shadow. Many would lament the comparison, but others embrace it. While there’s no telling whether Harper Simon minds being compared to his father, the vocal likeness is undeniable. You can hear it in songs like “Wishes And Stars” and “Ha Ha”. Harper Simon, then, runs a similar path as Jakob Dylan and Sean Lennon. Like those artists, Harper maintains a fairly contemporary style that hints at the greatness of their fathers. And like those artists Simon is gifted with immense abilities, as heard on the outstanding pop song “Shooting Star” which includes a country-tinged steel guitar. Read More »Harper Simon [Feature]
It is no secret that I have what some would clinically deem an unhealthy fascination with that we call the moustache. I’ve sported one for several years now; it’s red. Well the latest video from Camera Obscura finds the band’s mastermind, Traceyanne Campbell, doing the same. Yeah, it’s fake (of course), but that doesn’t matter. Like all Camera Obscura videos, this one features a unique little storyline both fun and creative.
Read More »Camera Obscura: The Sweetest Thing [Video] 
What a simple concept, this video. “Hellhole Ratrace” by San Francisco’s Girls is an easy pick for one of the better songs of 2009, and this video, albeit simple in nature, looks to follow suit. The video merely features slow-motion party footage, going in and out of focus. And it’s brilliant! It reminds me of my slightly younger days, say the mid twenties; those nights with friends at the local pub getting drunk on the most excellent of microbrews and staggering off into the night after last call, of chill house parties that yielded similar results, of flat-out good times. “Hellhole Ratrace” wouldn’t be the same were it not for nostalgia; it’s somehow better, that longing for the past. Read More »Girls: Hellhole Ratrace [Video]
Call it indie rock, or call it power pop; however you label it, Open Choir Fire‘s new LP, Dirt Bathed And Quilted is flat out good. There’s an unquestionable 90s influence focused primarily on the Northwest region, which is no surprise as the band hails from Seattle. “Killing The Messenger” is a hard-hitting rocker, while its successors in “Big Regret” and “You Should Take The Bus” take it down a notch but are no less intricate, powerful or yes, even sophisticated. Read More »Open Choir Fire: Dirt Bathed And Quilted [Album Review]
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart is definitely one of this year’s biggest hype bands, and it’s obvious why: their fuzzy pop is undeniably catchy and not overly drowned in the forced underproduction that can often plague the sub-genre. After a wildly successful self-titled debut LP, they return with Higher Than The Stars, an EP whose title track matches the best tunes in the TPOBPAH library thus far. Read More »The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: Higher Than The Stars [Album Review]
