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DOWNLOAD: Martin & James - Crashing + More
What do Jesus And The Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Franz Ferdinand, Belle and Sebastian and Camera Obscura have in common? Though they span the musical spectrum, they all hail from Glasglow. As do Sons and Daughters and Frightened Rabbit. Ok enough with the freakin’ musical geography lesson you say. Let us introduce a new member of this Glaswegian musical posse, Martin & James, aptly named after Martin Kelly and James O’Neill (Scottish much?) These two create weighty acoustic hymns and introspective odes of love and tears. Lyrics delivered over raw acoustic like Simon and Garfunkel. Their song “Crashing” cathartically relies on a heavy bass drum, while “Not Alone” is simple, unadorned acoustic love song with haunting flickers of reverb.
SOUNDS LIKE: Simon & Garfunkel, Damien Rice
Martin & James - Crashing
Martin & James - Not Alone
Martin & James - Broken Sword
Martin & James - Wrong Directions
DOWNLOAD: Peter von Poehl - Going to Where the Tea Trees Are
We typically have something of a love/hate relationship with saxophones—i.e. we love the Specials and hate Sade. So when the sax solo hits about three-quarters through “Going to Where the Tea Trees Are” by Swedish singer songwriter Peter von Poehl, we had an initial split-second of “Oh God why”, until we totally got into it, because the song is an amazing pop ballad that takes its brass very, very seriously. The SEEN RCRD LBL blog has an MP3 of “Going to Where…” as well as some video and other useful links from Peter.
Sounds like: Jeff Buckley, Elliot Smith, Jose Gonzalez
Download: Peter von Poehl - Going to Where the Tea Trees Are
VIDEO: Marco Solo - Your Ghost
DOWNLOAD: Fleetfoxes- White Winter Hymnal
There’s an aspect of elegance to each of this Seattle-based quintet's songs. With cooing harmonies and echos, their music is reminiscent of 1960's serene folk of Simon and Garfunkel or the Mammas and Papas, with unpredictable spurts of blue-grass as well as ''Baroque" tendencies. That said, "White Winter Hymnal" is serene yet dramatic. It's part Southern revival hymn, part echoing cathedral choir and part Ivy League boys choir. We find it as bizarrely appropriate for a blossoming spring day as snow-covered winter night.
Brett Dennen On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno...Tonight!
Brett and band will be performing 'Aint No Reason' on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno this evening. Be sure to tune in!
DOWNLOAD: Shady Bard - Long Term Solution to the Seagull Problem
Shady Bard, a Birmingham five-piece, is like Belle and Sebastian attending a funeral procession: delicate, wistful, and somber. Drowned in Sound posted their new song “Long Term Solutions To The Seagull Problem” off their untitled upcoming album, and it’s all organs, soft vocals, and melodies reminiscent of the best moments of Sparklehorse and, dare we say it, late-‘90s hopefuls Hobotalk (anyone remember them?). It’s a sight for sore ears, and we have it all for download, so make sure to check it out. Your inevitable Monday afternoon headache will thank you.
Download: Shady Bard - Long Term Solution to the Seagull Problem
Shady Bard at the DiS RCRD LBL blog
SHOW: Beach House and Luke Temple team up at the Bowery Ballroom tomorrow
Good news for fans of chilled-out folk rock: highly esteemed breakout band Beach House and NYC troubadour Luke Temple are playing a show together tomorrow at the Bowery Ballroom, which is poised to be the indie event of the season. Beach House just released their acclaimed second album Devotion and Luke Temple’s record Snowbeast was named one of last years’ top 15 albums by the musical trendsetters at Daytrotter.com. To get you even more excited for tomorrow, we’re posting some Beach House and Luke tracks we released a few weeks ago. Enjoy, and we’ll see you at the show…
EXCLUSIVE STREAM: Colin Meloy- Engine Driver
In the same way actors suffer from type-casting, (i.e. imagine Jerry Seinfield winning a tear-jerker dramatic role) musicians can as well. Especially well loved ones. Case in point: though his name may not ring a bell, his vocals will sound, um, familiar. Ahhhh, it's the soothing, lulling timbre of The Decemberists' lead singer, Colin Meloy. His slight-nasal vibrato has made a fleets of melodramatic females (and males) cry and crumble for years.
Colin is releasing a solo album of live recordings from his 2006 tour, under Kill Rockstars. The compilation mixes Meloy originals with Decemberists' classics, like the track below from Picaresque. If you thought he'd forgo his Irish-tinted accent (he was born in Montana), you're out of luck. But the album's parred down accoustic sets emphasize the complexity of the lyrics and pathos and potency of his voice.
FEATURED: Bon Iver gets a massage with the Fader
Our homies over at the Fader just did an interview with acoustic troubadour Bon Iver (who was, coincidentally, much talked-about in Austin last week) and instead of conducting the interview in a boring old meeting room or something they took him… to a massage parlor in Chinatown! It goes as a testament to Bon Iver’s (a.k.a. Justin Vernon) commitment to the awareness of folk music that he was able to answer any questions at all: we would have just taken a nap.
Brett Dennen - "Ain't No Reason" on Carson Daly Tonight, download on RCRD LBL, live at SXSW!
Don't miss Brett Dennen performing "Ain't No Reason" live tonight on NBC's Last Call With Carson Daly.
And, you can grab "Ain't No Reason" from RCRD LBL here!
If you're in Austin for SXSW - don't miss Brett performing live!
3/13 - 7pm @ Stubbs
3/13 - 10:15pm @ Pangea
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