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Band of the Day (8.17.10) The Acorn

17 Aug Canada owns it again. This time with the best new music to date

BOD (8.17.10)

The Acorn are one band that never leave my daily playlist since 2007. I’ve refused to share my favorite band, because sometimes I just want to keep things a secret. Well it wasn’t until this last weekend where I read this amazing review of The Acorn that I realized, I’m doing myself more harm than good by not sharing it with you. So here they are, the best new band of 2008, June & July & August. I won’t give them September yet.

The Acorn formed in Ottawa back in 2003, but 2007 was the first album that launched them to the forefront. They’re ambitious, mysterious and troubled. They’re soft pattering sounds, couple multiple acoustic guitars, brush drums and Rolf Klausener dented childhood. His mother, as profiled in their first album Glory Hope Mountain, barely survived birth, ran away from an abusive father and emigrated to Canada from Honduras.

Their newest album No Ghost is yet another gem. They recorded the album in a tiny little cottage in Ottawa, where they isolated themselves from the daily noise. The result is beautiful. They’ve embraced their Indie folk bones and the result is a cross between Travis, good U2, Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes layered with David Byrne vocals. My favorite track is “No Ghost” hear below.

They too will be on the NBD Inukshuk Festival line-up and yes they will be added to The Best New Bands of 2010…so far list.

Hear:
“No Ghost” – Title track from the new record. See above for the sonic similarities

“Flood Pt. 1” – From their debut album and a beauty of a track.

The band as profiled on MySpace:
Rolf Klausener: chirp
Jeff Debutte: neigh
T. Jeffrey Malecki : caw
Pat Johnson: cackle
Steven Lappano: bleat

Follow The Acorn:
MySpace
Facebook

Buy

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Band of the Day (8.16.10) Emma-Lee

16 Aug Canada shines bright with Emma-Lee

BOD (8.16.10) Emma-Lee

It’s Monday morning and I was in the mood for something a little more emotional. Something a little out of character for me, but I puttered around the web and stumbled on this absolute beauty…Emma-Lee. Her album came out back in March 2009..I may be a little late to the game here, but I don’t care. She’s a Toronto native, one part Bonnie Raitt, one part Norah Jones, one part Chrissie Hynde and one part Rickie Lee Jones. She can sing with the electric guitars, full orchestras, or sound as if she’s recording in Nashville with a slide guitar. She makes the guitar sound better and she has a deep understanding of the music she loves. Even covers Skeeter Davis “The End of the World” in the YouTube video below. Her voice is sultry and big all at the same time, listen and follow please. She might even be a headliner at The NBD Inukshuk Festival.

Emma-Lee is accompanied by:
Devrim Eldelekli
Kevin Mendes
Mark McIntyre

Hear:
“Never Just A Dream”

Watch:

Follow:
Emma-Lee site
Facebook
MySpace (Buy her new album Never Just a Dream from MySpace and get an autographed copy)

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Band of the Day (8.13.10) Stornoway

13 Aug Oxford boys remind us why music is good.

BOD: (8.13.10) Stornoway

Teenage Fanclub fans rejoiced when the band announced and released their new album this year. They were probably the best kept secret of the 90s and even today. Grunge buried anything that didn’t have an amp with some level of distortion. I’m feeling like 2010 is shaping up to be similar. Bands with The Pet Sound, that melodic spacey repetition, with layers of sound taking the lead dominate today’s music market. Simple acoustic British bands are again being missed. Not anymore, Stornoway is a classic British sound, similar to Teenage Fanclub, Travis, Madness horns and Rufus Wainwritghtish vocals. Their poppy sound with clever songwriting bring us back to days of lore where music wasn’t managed by a Mac and albums were the only way to enjoy it. I miss those days, and Stornoway makes me feel good inside. Buy the new album Beachcomber’s Windowsill here, came out on 8.11.10

Stornoway come from the Cowley area of Oxford, England and they are:
Brian Briggs – Vocals/Guitar
Rob Steadman – Drums
Ollie Steadman – Bass guitar
Jonathan Ouin – Keys/Strings
with:
Adam Briggs – Trumpet
Rahul Satija – Violin

Hear:
“Zorbing” single from 2009.

Watch:
“I Saw You Blink” – Happy upbeat Brits…love the feeling I get from this track

Follow the boys here:
MySpace
Band site

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Band of the Day (8.12.10) Hotel Mexico

12 Aug Kyoto's Best New Music and part of The Pet Sound

BOD: (8.12.10) Hotel Mexico

Hotel Mexico is from Kyoto, Japan. Seriously kick ass Japanese Indie rock, guitar riffs comparable to Boris, with less Satan and more layered dance sounds. Space age samples coupled with breathy English vocals and MGMT guitar tracks make Hotel Mexico my favorite NEW BAND. I downloaded the entire new album His Jewelled Letter Box , and can’t get enough of the track I posted below. I admit it, I’m hooked. To make it easy I posted the You Tube video so you can hear portions of the entire album.

HEAR:
“It’s Twinkle”

WATCH SAMPLES OF HIS JEWELLED LETTER BOX:

Follow Hotel Mexico:
Blog
MySpace
Twitter

Hotel Mexico is the Best New Music you’ll find.

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Band of the Day (8.11.10) The Dewars

11 Aug Twin Bros. Make the So. Florida Officially a Scene

BOD: (8.11.10) The Dewars

South Florida strikes again, the music maiden Moodvane herself sent me the info on The Dewars. Twin bros, who sound like melodic Lou Reeds, with Leonard Cohen’s mind and a splash of Florida sun. They give us wholesome mellow rock without repetition, clean guitars, strings and uplifting drum splashes. It’s mood rock and it’s meant to get you engaged with shimmering voices to remind you of the swaying afternoon waves.

Take Sweet Bronco, The Jameses and The Dewars and I dare say So. Florida is primed with some kick-ass unique sounds. NBD may have to go back and visit his favorite people in the world, to get some more of the sound.

The Dewars are:
Anthony and Zachary Dewar, Evan Mui, Kevin Williams, Steve Rullman

“Sunshine” – The oddest summer tune of the year

“Switzerland” – I put up their BandCamp link because I encourage all of us NewBandDay Fanatiks to purchase music from our faves…

Follow The Dewars:
MySpace
Facebook
BandCamp

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Band of the Day (8.10.10) DANNIELRADALL

10 Aug

BOD: (8.10.10) DannielRadall

If I said Lo-fi/Experimental what would you say? Brooklyn? Silverlake? How about Guadalajara, México….well here comes DannielRadall. His sounds are in the clouds, spacey and mesmerizing almost like the late 90’s sounds from Air, Chicane, etc. Take that sound, bolt on classic 80’s samples and you have the perfect summer sound. Chillwave is not his sound, he’s defined his own soundscape and we love it. When DannielRadall attacks the sound he makes it current and emotional. There’s depth of sound.

Hear:
“Alone Again”

“Lucy Lu”

Follow:
Facebook
MySpace

For a free download of the La femme EP —>Amdiscs….to buy it

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Band of the Day (8.9.10) Yuck or Yu(c)k

9 Aug Brits rule with simplicity and proper XX/XY duos.

BOD: (8.9.10) Yuck or Yu(c)k

I’ve been looking forward to this day all year. It’s 8.9.10 damnit and we only get 12 years to enjoy this perfect symmetry. Today is extra special because we go double-digits….so I thought long and hard about an appropriate BOD. Someone who represents the symmetry…so here comes Yuck. I’ve listened to approximately four tracks and I quite honestly think they nail what XX/XY duos stand for….I love you, you dumped me, I hate you, I forgive you, etc. Their voices sound perfect together, they beam with emotion, almost as if they’re lying in bed singing to each other. Surprisingly, Yuck is a big band — Daniel Blumberg (guitar), Max Bloom (guitar), Jonny Rogoff (drums), Mariko Doi (bass) and Ilana Blumberg (vocals) make the complexity of music, sound so damn simple and perfect. “Automatic” is so pure I can almost hear the dust fly off the piano wires after each plunk. But when you dig deeper you realize that this simplicity is much bigger, tracks like “Georgia” introduce you to their Dinosaur Jresque roots. I love ’em and I think you will too. The two tracks posted below are my faves.

Yuck hail from Northern London, a few members have been seen on the scene, Max and Danny were in Cajun Dance Party (CDP) back in 2007. A classic hyped, British fave back in the 2007.

Order Yuck‘s EP Weakend

HEAR Yuck Now:
“Daughter”

“Automatic”

Follow Yuck:
Yuck
MySpace

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The Week in Review (8.7.10)

8 Aug

10 Tracks/5 Bands/The Week in Review is Here.
I love new music, A week of three LA bands, more Canadians, revivalists, sad stories and an artist that will be massively huge. I’m trying to put all of the tracks into one set so you can listen to them together. Maybe your new favorite band is here? Let me know. Enjoy the music.

If you’d like to receive MP3′s from our “Week in Review” via email, please sign-up to receive our email updates. Send me your email address or use the submission box on the right hand side of this page. Thanks for following us and we hope you’ve found your new favorite band.

Monday (8.2.10) Lord Huron By far the most eccentric band of the week, month and maybe even year. He’s an LA dude with very little information available. He will be huge and he is one of my favorites. I assure you that you’ll love him.
Tuesday (8.3.10) JOGGER Jogger are Amir Yaghmai and Jonathan Larroquette, from Los Angeles, CA with a sound that is so diverse that at one moment your spacing out to a Ratatat beat, then pulling back your headphones from death metal mayhem then you cruise in for a smooth landing with Erland Oyesque vocals.
Wednesday (8.4.10) Land of Talk Metric meets Butch Vig in a back alley in Montreal and they create a record so pure and so clean that you’ll fall in love instantly. Land of Talk is a seasoned Canadian band and they deserve US love.
Thursday (8.5.10) Fitz & The TantrumsLA based Fitz & The Tantrums are good ‘ol revival rock with an authentic analog sound and vocals that come from the heart.
Friday (8.6.10) Perfume Genius Perfume Genius, Mike Hadreas, is no exception to this rule. He is a Seattle native with a soft, fragile voice backed simply by a piano and lo-fi echoes. His songs stammer in minor chords and reflect on suicide, depression and loss. The amazing thing is that through the gray, you see his ability to spray one ray of sunshine.

LISTEN to the NBDList NOW!

Follow the bands:
Lord Huron
Jogger
Land of Talk
Fitz & The Tantrums
Perfume Genius

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Band of the Day (8.6.10) Perfume Genius

6 Aug

BOD: (8.6.10) PERFUME GENIUS

Trembling voices always seem to catch my attention. It’s those solo guys that hole themselves up under some form of depression and write music that is so heartfelt that you can’t help but hope that this is their form of catharsis. The recent success of Bon Iver and Damon McMahon (Amen Dunes) prove that sharing your pain with a simple piano or an acoustic guitar can bring well earned blog and fan appeal. Perfume Genius, Mike Hadreas, is no exception to this rule. He is a Seattle native with a soft, fragile voice backed simply by a piano and lo-fi echoes. His songs stammer in minor chords and reflect on suicide, depression and loss. The amazing thing is that through the gray, you see his ability to spray one ray of sunshine. I don’t expect you to put this on your Summer Fun playlist, but if you want quality mood music, grab your headphones, a bottle of wine and a comfy chair, Hadreas is sure to take you on a roller coaster of emotions.

A few tracks are included below:
“Mr. Peterson” – Track about the loss of a favorite teacher to suicide.

“Learning” – A bad break-up

Watch:
“Lookout, Lookout”

Follow:

Facebook
MySpace

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Band of the Day (8.5.10) Fitz & The Tantrums

5 Aug LA scensters give new meaning to 60's revivalism

BOD (8.5.10) Fitz and the Tantrums

The hipster scene is an ever evolving landscape. It’s hard to track what the speakeasy crowd is doing or following. Fedora’s were so 2008, Chuck Taylor’s were so 2009 and 60’s revival rock is so right now. I can’t escape the MP3’s in my inbox that sound like something I would have heard in 1967. Today’s BOD is no exception. I was trying to find something ironic to say about this band, but simply put, LA based Fitz & The Tantrums are good ‘ol revival rock with an authentic analog sound and vocals that come from the heart. The piano, soul/gospel backing vocals and the male throttled love songs make Fitz a classic must have for 2010. Oh how I wish I lived during this time period. I love how vocals express sadness, not drum machines or a Mac. Fitz is as expressive as they come. Noelle is the epitome of a soulful vocalist. Wicks has a way of adding authenticity and King, Phillips and Ruzumma are the glue that make the analog/vinyl crowd proud.

I’ve posted two tracks for you to enjoy.
“Money Grabber”

“Breakin The Chains of Love”

Follow Fitz & The Tantrums:
MySpace
Facebook
Twitter
Fitz & The Tantrums Website

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Band of the Day (8.4.10) Land of Talk

4 Aug

Land of Talk is Canadian….pause….pause….from Montreal….pause…pause…they sound like Metric and Sonic Youth…pause…pause…why are you still reading, listen to their tracks below. They’ve been at it since 2006 and yes another kick a$$ Canadian band. Don’t BS yourself into thinking that you have them pegged as a female led rock band. No they have fantastic pop production and a sound that borders on the early days of Garbage. No it’s not the overproduced Butch Vig, it’s the well crafted Butch Vig of Smashing Pumpkins Gish. simply put a female led rock band that has diversity, depth and a soothing lead vocalist in Lizzie Powell. Joseph Yarmush and Andrew Barr beat on the drums and pluck away to bring you another Canadian band worthy of massive US love. They’re on Saddle Creek, so the big US label deal is in place, a new album Cloak and Cipher, hits US stores on 8.24 and it’s now our job to spread their love all across the web. If you love Emily Haines, then please listen to “May You Never” and I think you’ll find Land of Talk your new fave.

Take a listen to two tracks to give you a sense of their attention to detail.
“Swift Coin”

“May You Never”

Spread the Land of Talk love:
Facebook
MySpace
Twitter
LandofTalk.com

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Band of the Day: (8.3.10) JOGGER

3 Aug LA's Electro Bend

BOD: (8.3.10) JOGGER

Finding new music isn’t easy. There are so many bands, so many cities and so many passionate fans who want us to hear their stuff. It’s not often that I open up three new MP3s and hear something so divergent from one another that I actually had to double-check the artist name on each track. I listened to them all again, three times in a row, when I finally heard the binding element. The glue is a common drum beat coupled with clever guitar riffs that slow, pace and then rip your heart out. Jogger are Amir Yaghmai and Jonathan Larroquette, from Los Angeles, CA with a sound that is so diverse that at one moment your spacing out to a Ratatat beat, then pulling back your headphones from death metal mayhem then you cruise in for a smooth landing with Erland Oyesque vocals. It’s very good and unique enough to help them rise to the top of the Silver Lakers.

I’m impressed when a band can fool you into thinking that LCD Soundsystem is coming up, than slip you the coolest Sepultura sound ever. It’s fun, clever and good. Just listen to “Nephicide”. Give the track 2:00 minutes and you will be impressed. Follow that up with “Gorilla Meat” to bring you back down to Earth.

HEAR:
“Nephicide”

“Gorilla Meat”

Buy Jogger stuff

Follow Jogger:
Facebook
MySpace
Twitter

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Band of the Day: (8.2.10) Lord Huron

2 Aug

BOD: (8.2.10) Lord Huron

The sun is out today in Berkeley. I rifled through some new music and found the perfect track… Lord Huron’s “The Problem With Your Daughter”. I seriously can’t get enough of the song. It’s a great blend of layered self harmonies, a simple guitar track, clapping hands and a frickin’ harp. I listened more intently this time, realizing that this one man show has a lot to say. His subtle changes take you on a journey, with a toe-tappin’ beat, moments of airy sound brought home with some clever songwriting. It’s bubbly underwater sounds, could be the soundtrack for the next Wes Anderson film? It’s perfect submarine music.

Lord Huron is a Los Angeles dude, but that’s all I know, I am intrigued because I’ve only heard three tracks and I’m so so so so dying for a full-length album.

Lord Huron is clearly in a space of his own, his sound is unique and alluring. I’ve listened to his 3 song EP about 10 times and I still can’t get enough. It was recorded on Huron Lake shore, in Presque Isle, Michigan.

Buy it here.

Here is one track to get you as hooked as me.
HEAR:
Lord Huron – “The Problem With Your Daughter”

UPDATE: One more track for your listening pleasure “Into The Sun”

Follow Lord Huron:
His site
MySpace
Facebook

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