Tag Archives: sonic soulmates

Best New Bands of 2011 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD: #3 The Vaccines

22 Dec

Everybody loves them because they're better than everyone. The Vaccines!


Best New Band of 2011
#3 Hummingbird Award – The Vaccines
Don’t hold it against us because The Vaccines are so damn popular, but rather, you should relish in it, enjoy it. They are so good and we were there back in January. We were sent the single “If You Wanna” and we thought the same thing…two minute romp Strokes style. So we wrote them off in 2010. Then What Did You Expect From The Vaccines, and truly, we didn’t expect it to be this good. Really, it was shockingly Is This It good. They’re better than any rock band of the last 2 years. Truly, Surfer Blood and the likes all wish they could be The Vaccines.

Vitals:
Hometown: London, UK
Members: Justin Young, Árni Hjörvar, Freddie Cowan, Pete Robertson
Sonic Soulmates™: The Strokes, Chapel Club, Surfer Blood
Trackables™:
“Blow It Up”

“Wrecking Ball (Ra Ra Ra)” – This song plays every time I play my FIFA 2012 on my iPhone!

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Original Post: Band of the Day 1.26.11

WHAT ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?
2011 Winners
Hummingbird Award #13: Lana Del Rey
Hummingbird Award #12: WATERS
Hummingbird Award #11: Suuns
Hummingbird Award #10: La Sera
Hummingbird Award #9: Sun Airway
Hummingbird Award #8: White Denim
Hummingbird Award #7: Dirty Beaches
Hummingbird Award #6: Widowspeak
Hummingbird Award #5: Charles Bradley
Hummingbird Award #4: EMA

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Best New Bands of 2011 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD: #4 EMA

20 Dec

California dreaming with post punk love music from Oakland, CA's EMA

Best New Band of 2011
#4 Hummingbird Award – EMA
I had a very hard time choosing this spot. There are about 10 bands that deserve to be in our Top 10 Best New Artists of 2011, but truly, we can’t fit them all. The Hummingbird Award is special. It’s for those bands that make a dent in the universe. Do something extraordinary…create a stellar record, great series of singles, great live artist, whatever it is, the artist needs to make an impression, much the like the loveliest bird on Earth, the Hummingbird. EMA made her mark early in the year. She’s a little bit country, a whole lot of 80’s industrial goth and a layering of folky noise that will make you regret falling in love with her. I think she’s the type of woman that just makes you feel regret, but addiction at the same time. You know what I’m talking about. We just adore EMA here at NBD, and by the way, I’m writing this on BART as I pass by her exit here at West Oakland, so take that EMA.

Vitals:
Hometown: West Oakland … originally from South Dakota
Members: Erika M. Anderson, Nicole Anderson, Nicky Mao, Leif Shackelford
Sonic Soulmates™: Zola Genius, Sleigh Bells, Early Hole
Trackables™:
“The Grey Ship”

“Milkman” – My favorite track by her!

Click here to listen on your iPhone or iPad
EMA – “The Grey Ship”

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Original Post: Band of the Day 5.4.11

WHAT ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?
2011 Winners
Hummingbird Award #13: Lana Del Rey
Hummingbird Award #12: WATERS
Hummingbird Award #11: Suuns
Hummingbird Award #10: La Sera
Hummingbird Award #9: Sun Airway
Hummingbird Award #8: White Denim
Hummingbird Award #7: Dirty Beaches
Hummingbird Award #6: Widowspeak
Hummingbird Award #5: Charles Bradley

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Best New Bands (Artist) of 2011 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD: #5 Charles Bradley

19 Dec

The wiseman bringeth on his Daptone debut. Charles Bradley #5 Best New Artist of 2011

Best New Band of 2011
#5 Hummingbird Award – Charles Bradley

As we mentioned back in March, this might be the oldest New Band (Artist) ever featured at NBD. Charles Bradley is a modern soul man, writing and singing from truth of experience, Bradley owns his words and you can feel it. This wise man of soul brings a timeless classic to our ears with his new debut record No Time for Dreaming. Soulful, heart-wrenching vocals make you feel as if the 60′s never ended. Charles heals his broken heart on this record and you can hear every painful to healing moment. You might argue that 25 year career puts Bradley out of the New Band territory, but we argue that this is truly is break-out moment. You’re never too young to fly like a Hummingbird

Vitals:
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY (Bushwick)
Members: Charles Bradley, The Menahan Street Band (Leon Michels, Toby Pazner, Nick Movshon, Aaron Johnson, Mike Deller, Daniel Fodder, Dave Guy, Homer Steinweiss, Fernando Velez, Bosco Mann)
Sonic Soulmates™: James Brown, Bill Withers, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Tyrone Davis
Trackables™:
“Golden Rule”

“The World is Going Up in Flames”

Click here to listen on your iPhone or iPad
Charles Bradley – “Golden Rule”
Charles Bradley – “The World Is Going Up In Flames”
Widowspeak – “Burnout”

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Original Post: Band of the Day 3.22.11

WHAT ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?
2011 Winners
Hummingbird Award #13: Lana Del Rey
Hummingbird Award #12: WATERS
Hummingbird Award #11: Suuns
Hummingbird Award #10: La Sera
Hummingbird Award #9: Sun Airway
Hummingbird Award #8: White Denim
Hummingbird Award #7: Dirty Beaches
Hummingbird Award #6: Widowspeak

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Best New Bands of 2011 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD: #6 Widowspeak

15 Dec

I haven't been this in love since last week. WIdowspeak soothes my soul. So deserving of the Hummingbird

Best New Band of 2011
#6 Hummingbird Award – Widowspeak
Ahhh the Spectorian sounds of 2011 all started back in January or maybe it was the hangover from 2010. Tennis, Cloud Nothings, etc. all slammed us with the airy 60’s pop female led bands. Our favorite and our fan favorite was Widowspeak. No band got more attention on NBD this year than Widowspeak. Why? A. They’re good. B. They had a new record hit mid-year and C. Molly crushes the vocals. This three time zone trio is a treat and we hope you find them Top 10 worthy on your list.

Vitals:
Hometown: Chicago, IL or Tacoma, WA or Brooklyn, NY
Members: Molly Hamilton, Michael Stasiak, Robert Thomas
Sonic Soulmates™: Cloud Nothings, Eternal Summers, Mazzy Star
Trackables™:

“Harsh Realm”

“Puritan”

“Burnout”

Click here to listen on your iPhone or iPad
Widowspeak – “Harsh Realm”
Widowspeak – “Puritan”
Widowspeak – “Burnout”

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Original Post: Band of the Day 1.6.11

WHAT ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?
2011 Winners
Hummingbird Award #13: Lana Del Rey
Hummingbird Award #12: WATERS
Hummingbird Award #11: Suuns
Hummingbird Award #10: La Sera
Hummingbird Award #9: Sun Airway
Hummingbird Award #8: White Denim
Hummingbird Award #7: Dirty Beaches

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Best New Bands of 2011 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD: #7 Dirty Beaches

14 Dec

Emanating from the underground is a new sound that chills the bone - Dirty Beaches

Best New Band of 2011
#7 Hummingbird Award – Dirty Beaches
You might hear Alex and think it’s a novelty, but I assure you that it’s not. The “dirtiness” is a great description, he sounds like the aura of Elvis emanating from an opium den. It’s dirty, etherial and mind altering. Just listen to the tracks below and you’ll find that they’re unique enough to give him the nod for one of the greatest new artists of 2011. Enjoy.

Vitals:
Hometown: East Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Members: Alex Zhang Hungtai; solo performer, sound-smith, and trans-Pacific nomad. Born in Taiwan, Hungtai has made Toronto, Honolulu, Montreal, and Vancouver his homes.
Sonic Soulmates™: Lou Reed, Roy Orbison, Misfits, if Depeche Mode came from the 60′s and early 60′s beat bands…
Trackables™:
“Lord Knows Best”

“True Blue”

“Sweet 17”

Click here to listen on your iPhone or iPad
Dirty Beaches “Lord Knows Best”
Dirty Beaches – “True Blue”
Dirty Beaches – “Sweet 17”

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Original Post: Band of the Day 1.12.11

WHAT ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?
2011 Winners
Hummingbird Award #13: Lana Del Rey
Hummingbird Award #12: WATERS
Hummingbird Award #11: Suuns
Hummingbird Award #10: La Sera
Hummingbird Award #9: Sun Airway
Hummingbird Award #8: White Denim

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Best New Bands of 2011 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD: #8 White Denim

13 Dec

"Street Joy" is such a good track, that you'll have to hear their whole collection - White Denim

Best New Band of 2011
#8 Hummingbird Award – White Denim

Yeah we don’t really give a hoot that they’ve been playing music since 2006. A couple of records under the belt and D finally gives them a break-thru moment! The new record D is rock your socks off good. “Street Joy” is 2011’s “Bittersweet Symphony” or something like that. It’s so good, you’ll want to Spotify the bands first record. I just used “Spotify” as a verb. Crap…I was so irritated when I actually had to accept “text” as a verb, now that kid at the 7-11 is gonna say “Dude just Spotify me the song.” White Denim is like our faves here at NBD, Tame Impala. If that gives you any indication of their sound then why the hell are you reading this post, get listening.

Vitals:
Hometown: Austin, TX
Members: Josh Block (drums), Steve Terebecki (bass), and James Petralli (guitars, vocals)
Sonic Soulmates™: Tame Impala, Boyish U2, Shabazzzzzz
Trackables™:
“Street Joy” – So so so so so so GOOD!

“Drug (BJorn Remix)”

Click here to listen on your iPhone or iPad
White Denim “Street Joy”
White Denim – “Drug (Bjorn Remix)”

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Original Post: Band of the Day 8.23.11

WHAT ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?
2011 Winners
Hummingbird Award #13: Lana Del Rey
Hummingbird Award #12: WATERS
Hummingbird Award #11: Suuns
Hummingbird Award #10: La Sera
Hummingbird Award #9: Sun Airway

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Best New Bands of 2011 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD: #9 Sun Airway

12 Dec

Hummingbird Award #9 Best New Band Sun Airway

Best New Band of 2011
#9 Hummingbird Award – Sun Airway
I don’t how it works really. The bands just stick in our heads. Sun Airway is only on our list because of our band crush on Lord Huron. He’s the Little Mermaid hipster. We keep getting caugt in the seaweed and we just can’t get out. Sun Airway drives home the underwater dreaminess for 2011. They are amazing. We’re not just saying that…they really deserve the nod.

Vitals:
Hometown: Philadelphia-based project
Members: ex-A-Sides Patrick Marsceill and Jon Bathmus
Sonic Soulmates™: Lord Huron, Animal Collective, The Pomegranates, Here We Go Magic (Featured on NBD 3.25.10)
Trackables™:
“Swallowed By The Night”

“Oh Naoko”

“Waiting On You”

Click here to listen on your iPhone or iPad
Sun Airway “Swallowed By The Night”
Sun Airway – “Oh Naoko”
Sun Airway – “Waiting On You”

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Original Post: Band of the Day 6.20.11

WHAT ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?
2011 Winners
Hummingbird Award #13: Lana Del Rey
Hummingbird Award #12: WATERS
Hummingbird Award #11: Suuns
Hummingbird Award #10: La Sera

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Best New Bands of 2011 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD: #10 La Sera

9 Dec

Capturing that moment when an artist is about to crack the mainstream...hear La Sera now. Photo by http://www.lesphotosduphil.fr

Best New Band of 2011
#10 Hummingbird Award – La Sera
Ahhh, we love when an artist decides to step out and take a chance on their own. La Sera or Katy Goodman took a pause from Vivian Girls, grabbed a few friends flew to Seattle, recorded an album, two videos and has created one of the purest Spectorian albums of 2011. She is a beautiful specimen.

Vitals:
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Members: Katy Goodman (bass, vox), Jenn Prince (guitar, vox) and Jonathan Weinberg (drums, vox, keys)
Sonic Soulmates™: Tennis, My Bloody Valentine, Phil Spector 50′s ladies
Trackables™
“Devils Hearts Grow Gold”

“Under the Trees”

“Dove Into Love”

Click here to listen on your iPhone or iPad
La Sera “Dove Into Love”
La Sera – “Under The Trees”
La Sera – “Hearts Grow Gold”

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Original Post: Band of the Day 2.2.11

WHAT ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?
2011 Winners
Hummingbird Award #13: Lana Del Rey
Hummingbird Award #12: WATERS
Hummingbird Award #11: Suuns

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Best New Bands of 2011 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD: #11 Suuns

8 Dec

Hummingbird Award #11 - Suuns --- One of the best new bands of 2011

Best New Band of 2011
#11 Hummingbird Award – Suuns
Thank God, Arizona Turk is persistent. We buried his email about Suuns back in 2010 and it was this past February that we finally got our act together and posted. Wow. Really, just one big wow. They’re minimalist, they’re Canadian and they take a lot of inspiration from the likes of Clinic and Thievery Corp. We miss the Turk, where are you but we love Suuns.

Vitals:
Hometown – Montreal, Canada
Members – Ben Shemie, Liam O’Neill, Max Henry, Joseph Yarmush
Sonic Soulmates – MGMT, Clinic, The Besnard Lakes, The Kills, Thievery Corporation with some Beck vocals
Trackables™
“Arena”

“Armed For Peace”

Click here to listen on your iPhone or iPad
Best New Bands – Suuns “Arena”
Suuns – Armed For Peace

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Original Post: Band of the Day 2.2.11

WHAT ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?

2011 Hummingbird Award Winners:
Hummingbird Award #13: Lana Del Rey
Hummingbird Award #12: WATERS

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Best New Bands of 2011 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD: #12 WATERS

6 Dec

12 reasons to love 2011 and WATERS. Stop listening to drivel and listen to WATERS

Best New Band of 2011
#12 Hummingbird Award – WATERS

Van Pierszalowski formerly of Port O’Brien, which is no more (so sad), traversed the coasts from Alaska to Oslo back to SF and he’s created more aqually awesome music. Flowing tempos and Lord Huron vocals make us love him so much more. The tri-coastal hero is superhero amongst us all…Yo La Tengo in nature. The love is gushing and

Vitals:
Hometown: Oslo, Norway; San Francisco, CA; Brooklyn, NY
Members: Van Pierszalowski
Sonic Soulmates™: Yo La Tengo, Phosphorescent
Trackables™:
“O Holy Break of Day”

“For The One”

Click here to listen on your iPhone or iPad
Best New Bands – WATERS “O Holy Break of Day”
WATERS – For the One

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Original Post: Band of the Day 10.26.11

WHAT ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?
Hummingbird Award Winners 2011
Hummingbird Award #13: Lana Del Rey

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Best New Bands of 2011 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD: #13 Lana Del Rey

5 Dec

Don't punish us for joining the mainstream, but Lana Del Rey is soooo good. It's hard not to be a lover!

Best New Band of 2011
#13 Hummingbird Award – Lana Del Rey
The Spectorian sounds of 2011 all started back in January or maybe it was the hangover from 2010. Lana Del Rey is talented, but her attention is at it’s peak all without a record. She is due for her LA meltdown at this point..although, her album is due in January and it will sell lots o’lots of records. You be the judge, but we loved her in January and we still love her today.

Vitals:
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY/ Hollywood
Members: Lana Del Rey
Sonic Soulmates™: Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton (in tone), The Shirelles, Fiona Apple, Tennis, The Ronettes
Trackables™:

“Blue Jeans”

Watchables™:
“Video Games”

Click here to listen on your iPhone or iPad
Lana Del Rey – “Blue Jeans”

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Original Post: Band of the Day 8.29.11

WHAT ARE THE HUMMINGBIRDS?
2011 Winners
Hummingbird Award #13: Lana Del Rey

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Band of the Day (11.15.11) Bowerbirds

15 Nov

Great new band flying low but soon to be known

When it comes to XX/XY duos, the year has been dry as the Thanksgiving turkey from your negligent alcoholic mother. I’m sad about it. We were crazed in 2010, something like 30 of them. The Bowerbirds are a 2006ish Raliegh, NC creation. Many members, many iterations and three quality records. Love the new one that released back in March. Just now, Dead Oceans is servicing the new single to college radio and Sirius/XMU. Hear it below. They’re folky, but The Clearing, the new record, tackles the upbeat ebb and flow of a duo. I like ’em a lot and I think you’ll see them in early December on our Hummingbird lists.

Vitals:
Hometown: Raliegh, NC
Members: Phil Moore + Beth Tacular + Yan Westerlund + Mark Paulson + Leah Gibson
Sonic Soulmates™: Arcade Fire, The Dodos, Megafaun, Devendra Banhart
Trackables™:
“Tuck The Darkness In”

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Band of the Day (11.11.11) Gardens & Villa

11 Nov

Gardens & Villa open your eyes your about to break!


BOD 11.11.11 Gardens & Villa

It’s been awhile and I apologize. Today we’ve found a band that may just be the Hummingbird winner of 2011. Can’t believe these guys have flown under the radar for this long. I’m assuming they will pop up on some irrelevant TV show soon, but in the meantime steal their fame and be the first to follow.

Gardens & Villa are a combination of GOOD Vampire Weekend a splash of MGMT and a great reason to pull out The Shins ancient relics and give them a spin. The boys hail from our favorite turkey time villa of Santa Barbara, CA. Their synth pop indie rock is right in line with the shiat today. This band won’t be under the radar, they’ll be in every commercial right around February. The band formed in 2008, joined Secretly Canadian and befriended our good friend Richard Swift. He influenced this self-titled beauty and you really really really need to get yourself a copy. Buy it on vinyl here

Vitals:
Hometown: Santa f’n Barbara, CA….the album was recorded in Oregon
Members: Chris Lynch, keyboardist Adam Rasmussen, bassist Shane McKillop, and drummer Levi Hayden
Sonic Soulmates™: The Shins, MGMT, Vampire Weekend (the good not lame version), The Police, Richard Swift
Trackables™:
“Black Hills”

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