Edible Onion always has the most unique, crafty cover art. And while I always look forward to receiving little packages by them, I thought I’d take a different approach this time with their long-time artist Br’er. Mind you, this is a band i relate to Jamie Stewart’s Xiu Xiu or Ryland Bouchard’s The Robot Ate Me when it comes to producing a little shock value. Read More »Br’er: Sea of Doubt (Video)
I love videos like this, videos that start out seemingly normal then take a turn for the bizarre. Rock band Mock Suns do a great job taking something as simple as getting ready for and having a dinner party and turn it into something a bit unusual, and a hair disturbing. Read More »Mock Suns: The Dark (Video)
The first release I received of Br’er in the mail from Edible Onion was shocking. On vinyl, the album was tucked into a nice, hand-made cover featuring the nether-region of a nude male body with large garden clippers hiding the member. To be honest, I’m kind of glad Of Shemales & Kissaboos is similar in nature. Read More »Br’er: Of Shemales & Kissaboos (Album Review)
Keith Birthday’s voice possesses a quivering vibrato that plays well with Norwegian Arms‘ lo-fi experimental folk-pop. That being said, this band features a similar uncivilized nature as that of Animal Collective and tUnE-YarDs. There’s something wild and earthly about them, organic and unrefined. And that’s what makes a band like Norwegian Arms good — they’re a bit unexpected. Read More »Feature Band: Norwegian Arms
For a concept album about a post-apocalyptic world, Home Church Road sure does have the erratic presence you’d expect. Folklore, not surprisingly, seems quite comfortable in the realm of folk songs. But they do throw in plenty of wild, borderline punk ones to match. All of it lo-fi. Read More »Folklore: Home Church Road [Album Review]
Edible Onion always provides the most unique cover art, be it on CD or vinyl. One of their latest is from a band called Snow Caps, the release: Moonbreak. Snow Caps creates light, playful bedroom folk-pop. The band is Andrew Keller of Hermit Thrushes, and Moonbreak is the result of more than two years of recording by Keller, spanning several rooms in a Philadelphia home. The album flickers between full folk-pop songs and instrumental ones. It is intricate, beautiful, a little odd at times, but always unique — just what you’d expect from album art like this. Read More »Snow Caps: Moonbreak [Cover Art]
Bardo Pond is somewhat of a mystery. “Don’t Know About You” features epic soundscapes ringing with loud guitars and borderline grunge female vocals, a sound that is stunning at the very least. Then there are songs like “Sleeping” which dive into more minimal, loopy instrumentation, focusing on echoing soundscapes and flute melodies. Read More »Bardo Pond: Bardo Pond [Album Review]
Fuzzy, dreamy guitars and harmonic female vocals may lead you to think of some pretty notable bands of late, specifically Best Coast, Vivian Girls, and Dum Dum Girls. Others too. Add another one to the list, with Reading Rainbow‘s chill, fuzzed-out pop song “Wasting Time”. Take a gander at “Always On My Mind” and you still get the chill and dreamy nature of the previous song, but things are a bit slower and feature a monotonous, surreal drone that flirts with both instrumentation and vocals. Read More »Reading Rainbow [Feature]
A little dose of pretty soundscape pop can be a wonderful thing to have in your life. Finding that perfect background music for the gentlest of moments in your life can be absolutely exhilarating. Clean Equations might just be the perfect indie pop group you can find right now for such an experience. Their debut album People/Variables has a lot to say as far as lyrical content, but not likely enough to deter your attention away from the mass of organs, splendid guitar work, and wonderfully out-of-sync sound bites just waiting for you to trip to. Read More »Clean Equations: People/Variables [Album Review]
The Asteroid #4 are masters at psychedelic pop. It was rampant on the band’s fifth album, These Flowers Of Ours…,… Read More »The Asteroid #4: Ignition Slated For Eight [mp3]
