posted by Ariana on May 3, 2011
Everybody and his/her hipster mother will be reviewing Fleet Foxes’ Helplessness Blues, out May 3 on Sub Pop, because it’s just that good. A few days ago, when I found that my pre-order had already arrived in the mail, I decided I would add to the din.
Helplessness Blues is just indescribable–so rich, so varied, and so nuanced, yet it is also coherent and continues well from the first album. All my fears were put to rest at first listen. I was afraid that Robin (Pecknold) was going to cut all his natural imagery from the lyrics, but he didn’t; he made them more poignant than they were before. I was afraid that it would fall into a sophomore slump, but it didn’t; it blew the first out of the water. And I was afraid it would be so perfect that it was bland, but it wasn’t. It’s just indescribable; both lyrically and musically remarkable. Listen to “Montezuma” below, then go buy the album if you haven’t already. Perfectly in time for summer and lazy afternoons pondering the sun and breeze.
Watch the mini documentary featured below, made while Pecknold opened for Joanna Newsom. It’s naturally pretty artsy, but it’s also accessible, allowing a rare glimpse into the behind-the-scenes. Trained ears will discern early versions of songs that made it onto the album. “How Old Are You?” leaves you wondering if any of those lucky kids in the audience actually went to see Newsom, or if they were really just there to marvel at the opener. The Jackson C. Frank track that is used in this video, “Blues Run the Game,” is also included below for your continued listening pleasure.
Check out Fleet Foxes’ shiny new website for a multitude of film photos, cats, the tour schedule, and other such goodies.
Fleet Foxes – Montezuma (Downloaded 498 times)
Jackson C. Frank – Blues Run the Game (Downloaded 285 times)
How Old Are You? from Fleet Foxes on Vimeo.
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» Meaningless labels: Amazing Voice • Beautiful Lyrics • Folk • Male vocal
(17 votes)
Loading ...posted by Patrick on April 24, 2011
A few Indieballers caught Yellow Ostrich at SXSW in the middle of a long and killer set featuring Thao, The Head and the Heart, Submarines and Okkervil River. The band’s lead singer—Wisconsin-native-turned-Brooklynite Alex Schaaf—faced technical difficulties (a malfunctioning Apple laptop, if you can believe it) with aplomb, aw-shucksing through a ten-minute delay before giving up and playing “the longest version ever” of the band’s best track, ‘Whale,’ unassisted. (The marathon version clocked in at just over four minutes. Exhausting.) That minor blemish aside, the band provided a terrific lo-fi counterpoint to the outsized performances from the rest of the bill. The band does alchemy one better: rather than spinning lead into gold, Schaaf and his crew turn seemingly basic, even meanlingless phrases into infectious refrains, a trick ‘Whale’ performs to perfection. Yellow Ostrich will not overwhelm you, but they are certain to charm and entertain. Highly recommended.
WHALE (live at Pianos) by Yellow Ostrich from Big Ugly Yellow Couch on Vimeo.
Yellow Ostrich – Whale (Downloaded 393 times)
Yellow Ostrich – In The Past I Was An Astronaut (Downloaded 358 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Amazing Voice • Catchy • Clever • Male vocal
(14 votes) Loading ...What a joy to find such clear thinking. Thanks for ptonsig!
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Ya learn seomthnig new everyday. It’s true I guess!
posted by Ariana on April 11, 2011
Portland. What does that word connote? Portland is a place. It’s a place I’ve never been. It’s a place of mystery and eco friendliness and bands, bands, bands. Starfucker is one of these bands.
Starfucker was once described to me as “poppy, fun, and dancey”; I think that this pretty well sums up their sound. Vaguely inappropriate name aside, I think we can all appreciate Starfucker for the fun of it. Last month, they released their second LP, Reptilians, after 2008′s self-titled and a long EP in between. Starfucker is one to keep an eye on–they’ve got the sound and enthusiasm and their live show has potential. Listen to “Born” and the title track below, and watch the informal video for “Quality Time,” because it’s hilarious.
Starfucker – Born (Downloaded 1144 times)
Starfucker – Reptilians (Downloaded 499 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Danceable • Lo-Fi • Male vocal • Poppy
(14 votes) Loading ...posted by Ariana on March 22, 2011
I wasn’t at SXSW. Had a chance, but no place to stay and no money. Same old, same old. Instead I lived it through the regurgitated reviews and photos uploaded via iPhone that landed on my Facebook feed. Unfortunate!
Moving on and poking about the Internet, I came across “Saint Christopher” from Bibio’s album Mind Bokeh that will be released on the 28th of this month. Have you ever longed for a piece of music to make you smile from deep within? To make you see colors? “Saint Christopher” doesn’t do that. “Saint Christopher” is the smile, the very serene smile, and it is the seeing of the colors. It’s drugs*, it’s tinkering, it’s floating. It has an ambiguity of origin that just wraps itself around you. Best of all, when it makes you think that it’s going to end, it has a sudden glorious rebirth. Listen to it in its entirety and have this experience.
*No drugs of any kind were involved in the production of this review.
Bibio – Saint Christopher (Downloaded 693 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Ambient • Danceable • Electro • Experimental • Instrumental
(7 votes) Loading ...You got to push itthis essetnail info that is!
Ohh great post love it!
May 3rd, 2011 at 6:19 pm
[...] [ib] TweetYou Might Also Like:Audio: Young Scolla – Two Three FlowAudio: XV – “Famous” ft. Jazmine Sullivan & Sez BattersAudio: Curren$y – #JetsGoAudio: Digitalism – 2 Hearts Posted in Mp3 SHARE THIS Twitter Facebook Delicious StumbleUpon E-mail « Audio: The Hood Internet – VCR (feat. Freddie Gibbs, Telli of Ninjasonik, Elizabeth Harper of Class Actress) No Comments Yet [...]
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