posted by Leigh on March 4, 2012
Blair at Glasslands in Brooklyn, NY, February 2012. Photo by Leigh Celent.
There is something refreshingly pleasing about musicians who are just themselves, no gimmicks necessary, allowing the music and their talents to speak for themselves. Blair, the musical project of Brooklyn-based singer / songwriter Blair Gimma, falls endlessly into this category. No overachieving sadly gobbled up images here. I caught a recent show at Glasslands in Brooklyn, and her performance mirrored what I had already heard in her music: helplessly charming modesty, understated presence and a romantic genuineness that amplified her music’s overall appeal. Blair is none of the falsehood; experience her music for what it is, as what it is is quite lovely.
Blair released her first full-length album, Die Young, in 2010. “Hello Halo” exemplifies that airiness, that ephemeral element of her vocals no matter what the subject matter (listen closely) … “Got a radio in my head, and it tells me what to say, and it makes me talk this way … “ “I don’t know what I’m saying,” but it all sounds like a motto for many a cultural generation. “Wake Up Shake Up” brings her New Orleans roots to the forefront, a bit of a modern pop take on the city’s jazzy appeal. And, one can’t help but smile as a curse or two are discerned in her satin-like, angelic vocals.
If you like what you hear, check out all of Die Young, and be prepared for what 2012 has in store: an EP, to be followed by another full-length, both as charming as Die Young, I’m sure.
Blair – Hello Halo (Downloaded 198 times)
Blair – Wake Up Shake Up (Downloaded 232 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Dark • Female vocal • Fuzzy • Poppy • Sugar
(6 votes)
Loading ...posted by Susanna on February 23, 2012
If you’re looking for a unique mixture of rocking garage band and folk-like swing, here it is: the Heartless Bastards have released their fourth album, entitled Arrow. Based in Austin, Texas, the band embodies a sound that is as “weird” as the city itself. This record is all about trying to get home, to the security and the shelter, but the album is anything but safe, testing the limits of the genre the band has been labeled with. The first track, “Marathon,” eases you into the record with dark bluesy vocals and echoing guitar that set you to swaying. “Parted Ways” picks up the tempo a bit, and starts the shift towards the garage sound found on previous albums. “Skin and Bone,” my favorite song on this record, and quickly becoming my go-to driving song, has a smoother feel and swinging melodies, declaring “I want it to be like when I was young.” The album is rounded out with the pleading ballad, “Low Low Low,” which showcases lead vocalist Erika Wennerstrom’s deep blues voice. With so much variety on one album, it seems like it would come across as a weird, jumbled mess. But for the Heartless Bastards, “weird” is a lifestyle, and it definitely works.
Heartless Bastards – Marathon (Downloaded 305 times)
Heartless Bastards – Parted Ways (Downloaded 221 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Bluesy • Dark • Downbeat • Female vocal
(20 votes) Loading ...posted by Susanna on February 10, 2012
I’ve never been more surprised at a concert than when I saw Ingrid Michaelson for the first time last year. Songs like “The Way I Am” and “You and I” are so innocent and sweet that Michaelson’s onstage person, filled with dark humor and hilarious antics, is quite shocking. Her cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” below, reveals that darker side that not many people know exists. Further investigation of Michaelson’s lyrics shows that she isn’t all sugar and sunshine, as she first appears:
“But I would rather feel the sting
Than never to have felt a thing
I’ll always know you were the one
To rip me from the ground
It’s all because of you that I’m through”
Michaelson’s voice is impossible to deny, whether she is singing a pleading ballad like “I’m Through” or an angst-filled anthem like “Palm of Your Hand.” An incredible voice is easy to listen to while skimming over the lyrics, but Michaelson’s words deserve just as much attention as the way she presents them. They are deep and thoughtful, full of pain and fear of not feeling.
“I thought I knew the answer was you
But now I know it’s always me.”
When I first listened to Michaelson’s fifth release, Human Again, I’ll admit I was underwhelmed. I got caught up in looking for instant hits like “Be OK” that reel you in with cheery harmonies and bubbly ukelele. But the album requires deeper insight. It begs for you to listen to what Michaelson is trying to say. Once I opened myself up to the lyrics, I was overcome with appreciation for her album and her songwriting in general. This is a darker album, but the emotion behind it is so real and moving that I feel like the world is finally getting a piece of the real Ingrid Michaelson.
Ingrid Michaelson – Creep (Downloaded 315 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Amazing Voice • Beautiful Lyrics • Cover • Dark • Female vocal
(22 votes) Loading ...posted by Loren on January 17, 2012
Whatever his stage name may be it is undeniably so that Archy Marshall is talented for his age. At only 17, he’s seeing gigs at festivals more often than American rated-R movies. But that is rather insignificant for a guy who hails from the old empire, a native of gloomy city blues we all know as London. His delicate, beachcomber windowsill tunes reminisce over the tired lyrical themes of love and hurt, pain and pleasure. But the difference in his delivery of cliché antics about being “beaten down” by a girl is the man himself. This isn’t a band or symphony of coupled ideas; this is simply a guy with a guitar who stands alone, his own isolated silhouette. The depth of his voice and the direction of his words suggest that despite being young, he is rather experienced at life in a hauntingly beautiful way. His voice and his echoed message sound distant, channeled from another room in another land. He is a young lad from South London, but what he is manufacturing transcends international stigmas. The Brits are known for their pop sensibility and catchy gigs, but Zoo Kid/King Krule undercuts the stereotypes with dark new wave and sometimes dubstep infused melodies. I am engulfed in his London fog ballads because they are captivating and a mellow drug addiction in themselves. Although his earlier songs fall under the moniker Zoo Kid, Marshall has since flipped the title to a more childlike King Krule (supposedly a Donkey Kong reference). Despite the implications, King Krule is a must listen.
(Side note: try and be patient with the beginning of the songs, Zoo Kid likes to ease you into it)
Zoo Kid/King Krule – Out Getting Ribs (Downloaded 359 times)
Zoo Kid/King Krule – Ocean Bed (Downloaded 364 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Beautiful Lyrics • Dark • Downbeat • Male vocal
(18 votes) Loading ...King Krule Mini Doc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adnFPtP3Peg&list=UUEQkj_v4HlSD3C4__gE-GlQ&index=2&feature=plcp
February 22nd, 2012 at 2:25 am
I LOVE Ingrid Michaelson! I saw her this sumemr in Des Moines when she was there with Jason Reeves. I downloaded a few of her albums and I’m hooked on her music. My favorite favorite songs are Keep Breathing and The Hat, although like every other song she sings are so good too