Music Monday

How long, I say how long, will you re-live the things that are gone?
The devil’s on your back but I know you can shake him off

I’ve been enjoying Foster the People’s album Torch for the past week now. I was introduced to the group with their single “Pumped Up Kicks.” The first time I heard “pumped up Kicks” I payed very little attention to the words. I just really enjoyed the beat, and the vocals. I had listened to it several times before I finally paid attention to the fact that the song was about some dude shooting up a bunch of kids. Kind of disturbing. So I was pretty unsure as to what the rest of their album would sound like. I was pleasantly surprised that in my personal opinion none of their other songs sound like “Pumped Up Kicks”, not only that, but i don’t even consider that the best song on the album. I’m not really sure which song is my favorite, but I’m sharing one of my favorites with you today. This song has some great lyrics I think we can all find different ways to relate to. Treat your ears and your soul to the smooth sounds of “Waste” by Foster the People.

Enjoy™

More About Foster The People

“The group’s debut album, Torches, takes indie pop/rock to new heights, and its upbeat ambience and danceable synth bliss make for the perfect summer soundtrack. The album’s beats will get down to your core, and its techo and eletro-punk elements result in a dance anthem album that will have you moving.”

“It’ll only take one listen to the album’s first single, “Pumped Up Kicks,” before you will be whistling along to the chorus, and the keyboard breakdown in the middle of “Miss You” completely catches one by surprise—the song seems to end and then all hell breaks loose. Songs are layered over songs on this album, and there are so many sounds that blend and change dramatically throughout before eventually returning to where they started.”

— LA Music Blog’s album review of Foster The People: Torches

Music Monday

Hey there, this is Nate Cannon - I’ve been given the honor to help you get your weekly fix of Music Monday madness. I promised Shane I wouldn’t screw this up too bad, so here it goes…

If you’re like me, you became slightly obsessed with Postal Service (the awesome collaboration between Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard and Dntel’s Jimmy Tamborello) when it came out over 8 years ago (has it really been almost a decade?!). Their album Give Up was being spun on repeat on college campuses across the nation at the time, and at least for me it brought to the mainstream a new genre that had the perfect blend of indie/electronica/pop. I needed more. My search turned up some other winners (e.g., Electric President, Radical Face, etc), but also made it clear that striking this right balance is no easy task. Recent bands have put out some entertaining tunes that have mimicked PS’s success (think Owl City and the like), but like any imitation, they usually come up short.

I think the band behind today’s Music Monday highlight, Faded Paper Figures, does a good job of using the same genre-mixing elements as PS, without resorting to blatant, shameless imitation. You can’t help but compare it to PS, but they’ve also successfully carved out their own musical space. I love the soft, understated style vocals mixed with the tight electronic beats and acoustic guitar backing. And I think you will too.

Hope you enjoy “B Film” by Faded Paper Figures!

Music Monday

The White Stripes used to be this band I always heard about and of, but couldn’t actually name any of their songs and I had no clue what they actually sounded like. So I finally got ahold of some of their stuff and fell in love with Jack White’s sound. So, I meant to post this song earlier in the day, but I kept forgetting and putting it off. I intended to say something like, “Here’s a song to get your Memorial Day going!” Instead now it’s 11:48 (central time) and Memorial Day is pretty much over and done with. So I suppose the only logical thing left to say is, this song should end your Memorial Day quite nicely!

Enjoy™

More About The White Stripes

“Even with a generous handful of tracks that easily rank alongside the White Stripes’ best work, Get Behind Me Satan remains a confounding record, one that wears its “transitional album” tag like a heavy peppermint-striped crown. One can’t help but feel that if perhaps the White Stripes had seen fit to take the necessary time to give cuts like “Forever for Her” or “The Denial Twist” a sincere revision or two, we might’ve been looking at a stone classic. As it stands, there’s more than enough here to give Stripes fans cause to celebrate, although it may not inspire much faith that the duo will ever find the patience necessary to deliver upon their promising new innovations.”

— Pitchfork’s album review of The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan</

Music Monday

I like Surfer Blood and I think it’s worth anyones time to listen to. Some of their music reminds me of Vampire Weekend not to say they are as good or better, nor am I saying it’s the same. Just that something about it reminds me of Vampire Weekend’s sound at times.

Enjoy™

More About Surfer Blood

“There’s plenty to like about Astro Coast, the debut LP from the youthful Floridians in Surfer Blood, but first and foremost it’s a great guitar album. So what exactly does that mean these days? Often, it’s a reference to either a display of astounding technical chops or innovative use of tone and texture, qualities which, to be quite honest, aren’t particularly present here. This is a great guitar album in the way Weezer’s Blue Album, Built to Spill’s Keep It Like a Secret, or, more recently, Japandroids’ Post-Nothing are: six-strings serve as a multiplier for hooks, making it every bit as easy and fun to air guitar with as it is to sing along to.”

— Pitchfork’s album review of Surfer Blood: Astro Coast

Music Monday

YOU GOTTA FIGHT!

I am feeling like right now my life is a real battle, so I need a good fight song to help me battle my way through the week. I think this one will do. Sleigh Bells definitely deliver a mixture of sweet soothing vocals mixed with hard powerful beats to create a sound you have never heard before. The simple lyrics help give the stage to the motivating, get-your-butt-out-your-seat-and-DANCE, bob-your-freaking-head-in-your-car, pretend-to-play-the-drums-on-your-steering-wheel type of a beat.

Enjoy™

More About Sleigh Bells

“Demos of songs from Sleigh Bells’ Treats first started making their way around the Internet last fall, and they immediately served as conversation starters. The distortion in early track “Crown on the Ground” was so intense that every other second the song seemed on the verge of shutting down. But while Derek Miller’s overdriven guitar and bass were distressed in the extreme, vocalist Alexis Krauss remained calm as chaos raged around her. Her cadence, somewhere at the intersection of singing, speaking, and chanting, conveyed an easy confidence, like she belonged in the middle of this maelstrom and knew she didn’t need to shout to be heard. The contrast between her relaxed bearing— where she seemed to rule over it all— and the dangerous splatter of the music was striking to say the least. It was as easy to be taken in as it was to understand why someone else might be repelled. I felt some of both feelings, to be honest, but I also wanted to hear more.”

— Pitchfork’s album review of Sleigh Bells: Treats

Music Monday

So theirs this Heineken commercial out right now. Maybe you’ve seen it a handful of times. Maybe you’ve seen it a lot of times like me. I’m not actually that big of a fan of the commercial itself, but I did really enjoy the song. So after the 30th time of seeing the commercial I opened up my SoundHound android app and it informed me that “The Asteroids Galaxy Tour” sang the song. Then my wonderful wife went and bought it for me on Amazon. Now I’m sharing it with all of you.

Enjoy™

More About The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

“The Asteroids Galaxy Tour’s undeniably catchy debut LP, Fruit lingers in the head with a horn-filled, psychedelic pop “who cares?” Whether channeling a spayed Gwen Stefani, a boring and cuddly Kathleen Hannna or a flaccid Billie Holiday, Mette Lindberg’s voice ranges from pleasantly poppy to gratingly shrill baby talk. Place this atop a consistent bed of repetitive mediocrity and the result is both a nice pop record — which many people will love — and a migraine waiting to happen.”

“The result is poppy by grating, without message and fun in an utterly meaningless way. If you can make it through all 10 tracks without skipping out on one of the interminable hook repetitions and without polishing off a bottle of aspirin you are a better person than I. Fruit should have been an EP, should have shaved off some of the waste and marinated longer. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour clearly have a keen ear for hooks, but no idea what to do with them.”

— Pretty Much Amazing’s album review of The Asteroids Galaxy Tour: Fruit

Music Monday

My brother Matt introduced me to Jenny and Johnny, and it has turned out to be one of the best albums I’ve listened to this year. I keep returning back to it to listen to the songs again and again. Today I’m going to kick start this week off with one of my favorites called, “Big Wave.”

Enjoy™

More About Jenny and Johnny

“Jenny Lewis, as even her detractors would confess, is a magnetic frontperson. Her alto is naturally bright and sassy, but she can contort it into soulful low tones, coquettishly thin coos, or an earthy twang. She’s an engaging narrator with crisp, conversational elocution— she bites into consonants with relish and is comfortable indulging in ooey-gooey vibrato if the mood is right. Though she’s taken a more dominant role in her music-making, edging Blake Sennett out of the Rilo Kiley spotlight and delivering two solo records, she works best when bolstered by a collaborator.”

“Luckily, then, Lewis has returned to collaboration on I’m Having Fun Now, an album made with her boyfriend and folk troubadour Jonathan Rice, and she seems determined to do exactly what its title suggests. She sounds loose and carefree singing in googly-eyed harmony with Rice on nearly every track, as the two play almost every instrument themselves. The up-tempo numbers are sunny and exuberant despite their often-dark subject matter. (“Big Wave”, for example, deals explicitly with the current economic crisis, but it bounces along effervescently.) Part of the credit can go to Bright Eyes’ Mike Mogis for his vivid, glossy production, but most of it belongs to Lewis and Rice, who simply sound happy to be singing together. On the album’s best songs (the breezy “Scissor Runner”, mellow gold sing-along “Just Like Zeus”), they keep the instrumental arrangements simple and the rhythms gentle-but-energized to make room for their huge, candy-coated harmonies.”

— Pitchfork album review of Jenny and Johnny: I’m Having Fun Now

Music Monday

My brother Matt introduced me to this little folk group three weeks ago called “The Head And The Heart”. They played a live show at Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop during SXSW. So I first heard a recording of their live show online. It wasn’t too much longer that we got the entire album.

Enjoy™

More About The Head And The Heart

“The Head and the Heart are a 6 piece ensemble composed of transplants all living here in Seattle. Their album contains 9 fully realized arrangements with amazingly rich production. I was literally stunned by the quality of the recordings. Describing the sound must begin with the dancing Beetles-inspired piano that leads the way into most every song followed by textured harmonies of voice and violin weaving through the open spaces like Boston ivy, all backed by solid but subtle rhythm and a guitar that might drip with twang as in “Couer D’Alane” or jangle along as in “Sounds like Hallelujah”. The whole package is bundled tight and under the shadow of the recent folk-revival movement it could be classified as such but I’d be more inclined to place it in a broader space of “Timeless Americana”. (even WITH the Beatles’ influence).”

— Seattle Subsonic album review of The Head and the Heart