Sunset - "Moonlight"
[via]
Sunset - Moonlight
Sunset - Late Night Dawning
The Drums - "Down by the Water"
"Down by the Water" is the seventh track on The Drums solid self-titled debut album. Its a really simple jam but it works so well! The doo-wop bassline throughout the track and the infectious vocal melodies carry the entire thing. The lyrics are as simple and sincere as the best 60s love jams from groups like the Zombies songs or some moitown classic: "If they stop loving you, I won't stop loving you. If they stop needing you, I'll still need you my dear."
The Drums - Down by the Water
Buy The Drums here.
Gem Club - "Spine" Video
Gem Club strike again with a(nother) haunting, tragic and serene video for the Acid and Everything closer "Spine." As with every song on the fantastic six song EP, "Spine" features slow violins and piano that provide a gorgeous backdrop for Christopher Barnes' melancholy vocals. The dangling legs of the video are likewise simple, haunting and elegant. Sadly, being out of the state caused my slowness on getting this video out there but I think its better late than never. Get the track here.
LOOM - "It Is Love"
LOOM is Brooke Manning. LOOM is a Canadian from Toronto. LOOM is a musician. Her music is sounds like a Beach House and Grouper love child made out of pillows. Wait for the clouds. Then sleep well.
The Buzz Box #13
Beach House :: White Moon
A Classic Education :: Gone to Sea
Sun Airway :: Put the Days Away
El Guincho :: FM Tan Sexy
Glasser :: Home
Wet Wings :: Whisper Always
Sufjan Stevens :: I Walked
Live: Beat Connection & Baths (Comet Tavern, 8/27)
Two rising bands, BCB favorites Beat Connection and Baths, performed fantastic sets last night at the Comet Tavern. For Beat Connection it was only their second show but the songs from their Surf Noir EP translated great to a live setting. You can hear a new song they performed below as well as a rousing rendition of Baths' "Lovely Bloodflow".Beat Connection: New Song (Live at the Comet Tavern, Seattle) from Bohemian Cuddle Box on Vimeo.
Baths: Lovely Bloodflow (Live at the Comet Tavern, Seattle) from Bohemian Cuddle Box on Vimeo.
New Salem - "Asia"
For those of you as enamored with Salem's "King Night" as we were, new music from from the forthcoming album of the same name is a welcome gift. "Asia" continues the massive textures and billowing melodies that made "King Night" so enjoyable. Instead of performing their music in a cathedral to make it sound big, its as if they stuffed an entire cathedral directly into their music. If the whole album is as solid as the first two tracks, it could easily be one of my favorite albums of the year. King Night is out September 28th via IAMSOUND.
01 King Night
02 Asia
03 Frost
04 Sick
05 Release Da Boar
06 Trapdoor
07 Redlights
08 Hound
09 Traxx
10 Tair
11 Killer
Sufjan Stevens: I Walked
2010 is being hijacked by Sufjan Stevens.
[mp3] Sufjan Stevens :: I Walked
New Sufjan LP Landing in October
On October 12, Sufjan will release his long awaited full-length follow up to Come On Feel the Illinoise! Its been five years since a full release, although one could argue its only been a week considering the hour long "EP" Stevens dropped on the music world last friday. The All Delighted People EP is a fantastic album, but according to Asthmatic Kitty Age of Adz will sound completely different:
We can say it shows an extensive use of electronics (banjos and acoustic guitars give way to drum machines and analog synthesizers), and an obsession with cosmic fantasies (space, heaven, aliens, love), to create an explicit pop-song extravaganza, augmented by heavy orchestration, and maybe even a few danceable moments.Now this is somewhat troublesome considering how much I love those "banjos and acoustic guitars" but I am not (yet) one to question the ways of Sufjan. All I can say about it right now is (1) Sufjan's still got it and (2) the album cover is pretty awesome.
[mp3] Sufjan Stevens :: Heirloom (from the All Delighted People EP)
You can pick up the new EP over at Sufjan's bandcamp page for $5 - well worth the money.
Mountain Man - "Play It Right" Video
Mountain Man are the producers of one of our favorite albums this year. "Play It Right" is new and perhaps my favorite thing they have ever written. I have watched it six times in a row. Please watch it.
Secret Cities: Pink City Vid
Secret Cities | Pink City from Western Vinyl on Vimeo.
I don't really know what the hell this video is, but its a great excuse to listen to this awesome song again from BCB favorite Secret Cities. Enjoy!
New Real Estate
Looks like the boys from Real Estate will be releasing a new 7" Out of Tune, in October. Here is the lazy/summery title track.
Out Of Tune by truepanther
I've always found Real Estate to be strangely pleasing.
Intertextuality #6/Robin Pecknold Live in Seattle
A man walks barefoot into an open field, shovel strapped to his back. Stopping to look up into the setting sun, he slowly swings the shovel and grips it firmly in his rough hands. He begins to dig.
Clouds move apocalyptically over his head as he burrows deeper into the ancient soil. Hours roll by, but he doesn't tire. Stopping occasionally to look up at the slowly disappearing sky, the man begins to hum. Softly at first, his voice rough from disuse, he attempts to hold a tune.
After days of labor the man stops abruptly. He looks up but can no longer see the sky. Bending down, his knees creak and snap, nearly disintegrating beneath him. The man reaches down into the cool earth and spreads his fingers out; he feels millions of years sink under his fingernails.
Cupping a distinctly dark patch of dirt, the man lifts it to his face, breathes deeply and swallows it whole. It burns down his throat. He looks up and the sky is above him once more. The man begins to sing loudly, the ancient melodies come forth unattended by thought or memory.
Sunlight over me, no matter what I do
When you talk you hardly even look in my eyes
In the morning
In the morning
New Grouper
One of my all time favorite musical acts, Grouper, is releasing a rare 7" tour single "Hold/Sick" in October. Listen to "Hold" below. Seriously, I fall asleep to Grouper every night. She is the love of my ear-life.
GROUPER -- Hold by ROOM40
[via GvB]
New Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes?)
Robin Pecknold, August 7th, 2010 from tim hoyt on Vimeo.
It is always worth the time to listen to a new Pecknold tune, especially live cuts. The man commands a presence on the stage that stuns crowds. Here he is in Portland performing an untitled tune that may or may not be on the new Fleet Foxes record due to fall this fall. As usual, it's good.
New Sunnybrook Tracks
Cuddle Up With: Twin Shadow
Its not like I meant to get into the 80's. It just sort of snuck up on me, like everything else these days. Lightening fast fads suddenly appearing on me ipod - its not even ironic anymore, I just like it because I like it.
Twin Shadow writes great music. Thats all that really matters in the end. He writes catchy songs. Its sort of a wonder that his debut album is called Forget, when all he seems to be doing is remembering. I mean, the guy's name is George Lewis Jr. Give me a break.
The name comes out of a lot of different things, I am in fact a twin, but it had less to do with that and more to do with motorcycles and stuff. You know, twin engines, first bike I ever wanted was a Honda Shadow, which is a pretty awful bike in my opinion these days, but it was the first bike I ever wanted. It just has a lot to do with always feeling like there's two sides or one side with another part of me offset from that side. It's about what the relationship is with that other part of myself. So kind of like a combination of motorcycle imagery, and coming into this new type of music.
[via baeble music]
Honestly, what the hell is he talking about?[mp3] Twin Shadow :: I Can't Wait
[mp3] Twin Shadow :: Castles In The Snow
Forget is produced by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear and is being released September 28th on his rookie record label, Terrible Records. Highly Recommended.
[myspace]
Yellow Ostrich Fade Cave EP
As I write this I have only listened to 3 minutes and 19 seconds of Yellow Ostrich's Fade Cave EP, but I'm quite convinced from this small sample size that I will be impressed by the next five songs. The record is (I've read) simply composed of Alex Schaaf's vocals and a drum machine. No chill-wave synths or swedish guitar licks - just singing.
It reminds me quite a bit of Julianna Barwick's music, as well as the more obvious influences - Noah Lennox, Beach Boys, etc. The drums could be described as tribal, and comparisons to Animal Collective aren't too much of a stretch. The music however lacks the weirdness of AC; it is simple, no frills - almost cheesy in a Lion King kind of way, but it works...at least through two tracks.
The final song, "I'll Run", has an immediacy and dark energy that ends the album solidly. Worth checking out for sure. Oh and did I mention the EP was free? So you probably will check it out no matter what I say.
Here are the first (rips - in a good way - the melody from Atlas Sound's "Walkabout") and last songs on the album:
[mp3] Yellow Ostrich :: Bread
[mp3] Yellow Ostrich :: I'll Run
If you like what you hear you can download the entire EP for free over at bandcamp.
[Via I Guess I'm Floating, who have been writing up some fantastic new bands lately]
Joanna Newsom and Robin Pecknold Duet
Joanna Newsom and Fleet Foxes cover Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow's duet "Picture," which seems like a wierd choice, but it works.
Beat Connection - Interview
You may have noticed, we are quite fond of hometown heroes Jordan Koplowitz and Reed Juenger of Beat Connection. According to their Facebook, they were formed at the exact moment "Justin Bieber hit puberty," which I guess I didn't realize had happened yet. If you haven't picked up Surf Noir, their free EP, I suggest you do so now. As is our new policy here at BCB, when we like something but can't find much about it, we pry (a.k.a. interview). I recently traded emails with both members of Beat Connection who are as warm and sincere as their music. We talk about
BCB: How long have you guys been making music together?
Reed: We both started out messing around in garageband, making loopy tunes and general shit during sophomore year of high school, so thats our roots I guess. We met in the summer of 2008 at the University of Washington, where we started making beats together in dorm rooms and other places not very condusive to music. If you are really proactive you can find some pre-BC music on myspace [Ed. note: proactivity]. Before that I had been doing a pretty hood job of being a mediocre DJ and we kind of combined forces doing that for a while to make some money and throw some parties.
Jordan: I actually started playing guitar freshman year of high school (exclusively Metallica). By senior year I was into more reasonable music and created a band with some friends. When me and Reed started making music in the dorms I had my guitar and he had his crazy broken electronic machines...we combined a made some crazy music.
BCB: Reed, I know that you do a lot with sound and music for school, DJing at the radio station and creating epic audio/visual projects. How has that influenced your own music creation? Is there an academic side to Beat Connection?
Reed: Well, thats kind of a tough question because all of those things are very intertwined even though they probably shouldn't be. I'll try and tackle them one at a time: DJing definitely affects the music, from both the radio and the club setting it has definitely influenced the way that we make music. A lot of it has to do with being really conscious of how songs fit next to each other. Thats why the EP has tracks that flow into each other and thats why there are songs that kind of tie together disparate styles into a holistic package. The radio station work I do has exposed me to so much awesome and crazy music and has affected my tastes a lot, broadened my horizons etc etc.
As for DXARTS and that stuff, the program is really focused on "high art" by this I mean very challenging and sometimes well, hard to understand and appreciate. I'm talking like art thats based on shit thats based on shit that most people can't appreciate or understand (myself included). It's super academic in nature, and something like Beat Connection would be immediately dismissed, but that's not to say that Beat Connection isn't academic.... But Beat Connection is not explicitly academic, its more like explicitly party music, thats what its meant for, I think people will probably (I'm retrograde ironic and contentious by saying this) read into the implications of a Beyonce sample on an EP like this, but hopefully not too far.
BCB: How did you decide on your name?
Reed: Well, we kind of got our name from LCD Soundsystem, a band we really love. Beat Connection is the B-side from their (in my opinion) classic debut single. Who the fuck starts an amazing career in their 30's with a song about fading away? LCD does.
Jordan: Anyway, before that we wanted to be called Yours Truly (hence the reference on track 6, Theme from Yours Truly) and we even released a mix tape under that name, but little did we know that there was a way legitimate website called yourstru.ly which pretty well blew up right when we decided on that name.
BCB: Oh yeah I have that mixtape. Its really good stuff. I still listen to that Biggie/Washed Out track pretty regularly. And yourstru.ly is one of my favorite blogs and they definitely like you guys too. You guys also run a blog so are you constantly critiquing other people's post about you?
BC: Thanks man! That mash up is gonna be the closer for volume II of the mix tape series, which we are pretty excited for. Yeah I think that Yours Truly was pretty flattered by the name drop in our song title, and we were flattered and honored to be on their blog.
As for our blog: That shit is defunct. Man we are no good at blogging, I wish we were, I love music, I love talking about music and sharing it with people, but I mean we didnt even post about our release on our own blog. We basically suck. We don't really critique peoples posts haha, though I kind of felt like dissing on our name was a little silly considering most band names suck. Vampire Weekend? The Beatles? Sunn o)))? Oneohtrix Point Never? The xx? Band names are fucking tough to come up with man. At least we weren't BEAT CONNEXION!
BCB: What made you decide to release your EP for free?
Jordan: We just really wanted everyone to listen to it. Not many people pay for music these days, unless it is a band they already love or it's on some special format (cassette or vinyl). We figured if people found an EP that was free, there wouldn't really be much of a reason to not download it.
Reed: There are so many opportunities for new bands to go ahead and write some songs, produce and record their own music and then market themselves however they choose, it has to be a labor of love, and for us it was, so in the end putting something out for free was the only logical step.
BCB: Are you guys playing any shows yet?
Reed: August, BC extravaganza in Seattle, we are gonna play our debut show and then there will be an after party where we go back to our roots and DJ disco and house music. We are pretty stoked.
Jordan: We have been spending a lot of time in my sweltering hot attic sweating through our songs so that we can go live, it's a pretty tough change of pace from producing all of your tracks and then working backwards to figure out how to play em live.
BCB: What is your plan for you music? Is this a career move?
Jordan: Hopefully...I've never really thought about music as a way to support myself. Not that it can yet, but now that we've had this release and have been asked to play shows around the country I've been thinking about how much I would love if it did. Although in the end, I really just want to be involved in the music industry in anyway possible. Talent finding, booking, managing...really anything.
Reed: For me, I just really love music, essentially I love sound, and when sound is arranged aesthetically into catchy music, I tend to really, really love it. I will be working on music, even if only for my own private enjoyment, for as long as I can, I mean maybe I will one day fall out of love with music, but right now I'm in it for life. As for making a career out of this...I mean, I don't really like going to work and school everyday, so if I can swing it, I would love to do this for a living, it's gonna be tough haha.
Jordan: Hopefully...I've never really thought about music as a way to support myself. Not that it can yet, but now that we've had this release and have been asked to play shows around the country I've been thinking about how much I would love if it did. Although in the end, I really just want to be involved in the music industry in anyway possible. Talent finding, booking, managing...really anything.
Reed: For me, I just really love music, essentially I love sound, and when sound is arranged aesthetically into catchy music, I tend to really, really love it. I will be working on music, even if only for my own private enjoyment, for as long as I can, I mean maybe I will one day fall out of love with music, but right now I'm in it for life. As for making a career out of this...I mean, I don't really like going to work and school everyday, so if I can swing it, I would love to do this for a living, it's gonna be tough haha.
BCB: You guys have been getting a lot of great press recently. How has that affected you?
Jordan/Reed: "We hear about alot of bands saying they try and avoid reading their reviews and what people are saying about their music cause they would be crushed by one negative comment and would be unreasonably bolstered by the positive ones. Well, we pretty much obsessively check out blogs that send us traffic, just to get a feel for what they are like, and what people are saying. We had people hate on our name (understandable) and we got lumped in with chill wave (also understandable, lets be real...surf noir? really?), So that has essentially led us to reevaluate our image and what direction we want to take with new tunes, etc. As for our ego? Until we both get to dump a bottle of champagne on a bikini clad woman or credit card another girl's azz crack (respek Nelly) we're pretty sure we're still nobodies, so we'll just ride this chillwave for a bit bro. Chutch.
Jordan/Reed: "We hear about alot of bands saying they try and avoid reading their reviews and what people are saying about their music cause they would be crushed by one negative comment and would be unreasonably bolstered by the positive ones. Well, we pretty much obsessively check out blogs that send us traffic, just to get a feel for what they are like, and what people are saying. We had people hate on our name (understandable) and we got lumped in with chill wave (also understandable, lets be real...surf noir? really?), So that has essentially led us to reevaluate our image and what direction we want to take with new tunes, etc. As for our ego? Until we both get to dump a bottle of champagne on a bikini clad woman or credit card another girl's azz crack (respek Nelly) we're pretty sure we're still nobodies, so we'll just ride this chillwave for a bit bro. Chutch.
Chutch indeed. You can see Beat Connection in their first live show on August 27th. They will be opening for BCB favorite Baths at the Comet Tavern. We will be there.
Intertextuality #5
photo by Colette Anderson
A Short Tragedy of the Current Past
You were a Tomboy but I couldn't Say No to Love. I was Crazy for You. True Devotion. We Made the Harbor and did Acid and Everything. We had a Summer HeartBeat Connection. Here, High Violet was a Real Life Color and there were Nitetime Rainbows.
And then. One day you had a Disconnect from Desire. You looked at our Skin Collision Past and said “Romance is Boring,” you said I was Clinging to a Scheme. And then you left with the Pigeons yelling, “Blackbird Blackbird.”
2. Before Today, in the suburbs, there once was an Active Child who was called The Son of Chico Dusty. He lived on the Grey Oceans where there was no water. Only a Plastic Beach and many ArchAndroid Guards On Patrol. It was a cold White Hinterland. All the Sleigh Bells had become Broken Bells and he had no Bliss Release. He began to Fight Softly. In the empty Baths, the active child built Fossil Cities (he called them Secret Cities) using the Beach Fossils collected At Echo Lake.
He put his ear to the Innerspeaker and prayed to Saint Bartlett, the Tallest Man on Earth and practitioner of White Magic. The child asked him to show The Way Out. The saint came to him and said “There is Love in You. I Will Be a False Priest if I do not help your Prison Break. But you must know, it will be Rough Travels for a Rare Thing.”
But child said he wanted to see Hidden Lands, to Swim in Bodies of Water. To Go, to Search.
The saint gave a Wild Smile and said “you have Gone Blind.”
3. There are Heavy Ghost Appendices here now. King Night rules all but there are no Covers. After you left, my blood became Odd Blood. I was delusional,
This was our One Life Stand
If Love is All, where are you?
We are the Causers of This Wise Blood
Wild Beasts 10"
Domino is releasing a new 10" from Mercury Music Prize nominated Wild Beasts for the single "We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues" from their absolutely marvelous 2009 full length, Two Dancers. The EP features a few remixes and a rare Japanese b-side called "Through The Iron Gate" which you can hear below.
[mp3] Wild Beasts :: Through the Iron Gate
Download the EP for free this week from Domino and don't forget to pick up Two Dancers - I can't recommend the album enough.
[via Stereogum]
The Buzz Box #12
The Buzz Box is your weekly sniff-test for tracks that have been garnering attention on the blogosphere. This week we hear a new track from prolific indie favorite Deerhunter as well as the first single from Ra Ra Riot's new album, The Orchard. Also featured are two rising acts that we've been loving over here at BCB, Beat Connection and Wise Blood (see Brandon's interview with Wise Blood below). Co-starring in this week's box are J. Tillman (from Fleet Foxes), SLEEP ∞ OVER and Delorean. Enjoy.
Deerhunter :: Revival
Ra Ra Riot :: Boy
Beat Connection :: In The Water
Wise Blood :: STRT SRNS
J. Tillman :: Three Sisters
SLEEP ∞ OVER :: La Rose
Delorean :: Real Love
Clogs: Last Song Video
Clogs released the fantastic The Creatures In The Garden Of Lady Walton a few months ago and now have a video + new download-only EP, Last Song, that features two new b-sides.
The hypnotic and ghostly video above was created by Benjamin and Stefan Remirez-Perez.
[mp3] Clogs :: On the Edge
Last Song EP is out 8/3
[via P4K and Stereogum]
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