One man army, Dustin Payseur delivers on his promise of bringing space-age lo-fi to the core of the Indie scene. So all the pubs claim he is a one man show, but let’s give credit to the rest of the band John Pena, Sennott Burke and Tommy Lucas. BF’s March self-titled LP, released on Captured Tracks, overdubs and drowns the vocals, while delivering clean crisp first wave guitar riffs. These tracks are perfect for summer surfing, late night hanging and a dreary drippy summer days lounging by the pool.
Let’s slow it down now…a pretty little hearbreaker from Daniel and Nicole. A beautiful track, not too sad because of Nicole’s ability to bring you back up.
Nicole soothes the soul with her layered vocals, all packaged in a lo-fi summer sound. Crack open a Pabst, flip up your feet and wiggle your toes to Daniel’s clever drum beats.
Roanoke Virgina girl boy duo bring the lo-fi jams to drive your emotions. Their heartbreaking tracks are coupled with quick soulful tunes that capture your mind and make summer that much better.
HEAR IT: (7.6.10) THE MYNABIRDS – “LET THE RECORD GO”
If Carole King was part of the Indie scene, floating around Echo Park, visiting Beck for a Record Club evening, this is what she would sound like. Add a little Emily Haines sprinkled with Swift’s piano, drum arrangement and you have a beautiful track.
BOD: (7.6.10) THE MYNABIRDS – Blending the angelic voice of Laura Burhenn with Richard Swift’s characteristic 50’s pop sound, THE MYNABIRDS brings us this summers favorite new/old sound. Swift classically blends Tin Pan Alley age, Lee Perry and Jeff Buckley heart and soul with Laura’s vocal prowess. It’s a beautiful approach and it works…well.
Watch it: (7.2.10) KILL THE LIGHTS – Artic At Dawn – Brings the best of 80’s Joy Division guitars whining and wailing with the spacey overdubbed harmonies of Alex and Steph. I love the clean bass line. A really nice display of how this sound will be the big thing. Much love for this band.
BOD: (7.2.10) KILL THE LIGHTS – Montreal isn’t just home to the world’s most diverse population or the most successful NHL franchise, it’s home to a sound, a vibe, a feeling that is bigger than one might think. The Arcade Fire have conquered the world, and as they continue to age gracefully, a fresh sound erupts from their hometown. Kill The Lights, is a former three piece band, founded in 2005, who discovered that if they added a few more members…melody, harmonies and complicated overlays will enhance the overall sound.
As the release of Fog Area, and the most recent release, June 8th, 2010 of the session EP Pink Dog, the band is starting to get noticed. They’ve toured, fought, destroyed a few moose and after it all a new band has released. I hope you’ll give them a listen, it’s well worth the 3:00 minutes. Peace.
HEAR IT: (7.1.10) MATHEMAGIC – I think it’s a perfect summer track. Made for the beach tent, dawn with your loved one and one blanket as you watch the sun go down. It’s dreamy, spacey and a good good next stage of The Pet Sound…I am coining that term for all bands that use The Beach Boys “Pet Sounds” sound…
BOD: (7.1.10) MATHEMAGIC – I love Canada Day…I’ve celebrated it several times in Banff, Vancouver and Calgary. It’s a great time, and it’s a dandy excuse for us to celebrate the fact that today’s best music is coming from the Great White North. Arts & Crafts introduced most of us stars and stripers to the scene with Broken Social Scene, Stars, Zeus, etc. It was Arcade Fire from Montreal that owned 2008, and now it’s Mathemagic who will blow your mind. On April 13th they released their Paper Bag EP and it’s wonderful.
Mathemagic is a collaboration of brothers Evan and Dylan Euteneier from Guelph Ontario. Their sonic similarity most resembles that of The Beach Boys, Animal Collective, Washed Out and even a little Toro y Moi.
HEAR IT: (6.30.10) – Creaking floors and haunting melodies, sonically display that lonely empty house feeling. Both tracks introduce us to the complicated yet simple sounds of Lost in the Trees.
BOD: (6.30.10) Lost in the Trees – Chapel Hill’s collective, captained by songwriter/composer Ari Picker merges classic American folk acoustics, with rising symphonies that will haunt you. At it since 2003, they will break you but softly land you on your pillow as they caress you to sleep with their swirling orchestra. It’s pure beauty.
June 1st marked the mid-year for 2010. We compiled our favorite bands from the past 6 months and posted them on our original Twitter and Facebook profiles. Now we’ll recap them here for your enjoyment.
10. Sleepy Sun BOD: (3.25.10) SLEEPY SUN –> SXSW’s darlings in 2010, SF via Santa Cruz dream core brings me my new favorite band.
9. Morning Benders BOD: (3.13.10) –> Berkeley residents, bring big indie sound to the SF scene.
8. Toro Y Moi BOD: (5.26.10) TORO Y MOI – Chazwick Bundick created a new sound, a new style and frankly a kick-ass set of tracks. Chillwave is now here and Chaz invented it.
7. Phantogram BOD: (5.18.10) PHANTOGRAM – A splendid electro-duo bringing street beat, trip-hop a little soul and a little Portishead sprinkled in. Promise that this will be the band you can claim for 2010. They are The XX of 2010.
6. Efterklang BOD: (3.1.10) EFTERKLANG—> bring an end to the February Winter blues with Efterklang. Denmark’sMads Brauer, Casper Clausen, Thomas Husmer & Rasmus Stolberg bring us sweet music. Must have album “Magic Chairs”
5. Foreign Born BOD: (5.3.10) FOREIGN BORN – Rogue Wave and The Walkmen inspired these SF boys to make the trek to the shady side of LA. Silver Lake water has turned them into a damn fine band. Vampire Weekend should be worried, because they solve they out do them.
4. Sleigh Bells BOD: (3.23.10) SLEIGH BELLS –> Do not adjust your sound, it’s meant to blow the treble out of the water. CMJ darlings and NY/FLA finest. This is the band of all bands for 2010. Watch them rip “South of Heaven” into “Tell Em” Even more reason to love them.
3. Real Estate BOD: (2.18.10) Real Estate – Jersey/Brooklyn’s finest Mondanile, Courtney, Duguay and Bleeker bring their self titled beach sounds.
2. The Tallest Man on Earth…BOD: (4.22.10) THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH – Must hear Dylan protege. His second album is a beauty. Bob Dylan’s protege hits the hills of Scandinavia and you must hear it. This is the best singer songwriter for 2010 and beyond. You must see him live and please buy his album.
Top New band of 2010 so far….The Radio Dept.
BOD: (3.2.10) RADIO DEPT. Yesterday the Danes, today the Swedes. They’ve been at it for years even on the Coppolla currated Marie Antoinette sdtk. This band melds fantastic 80’s space age synth with a unique sound that will surely make them your NEW FAVORITE BAND! We promise. We talked about them in March and we still believe they are the soul of New.Band.Day.
NewBandDay 