posted by Leigh on March 9, 2012
Floating Furies … Cowboys on Clouds … A Lonely Sea … These are only some of the psychedelia you will experience if you turn your ears to the imagery-rich tracks on the very first release from Slings and Arrows, aptly named, The Furies. The Furies is a time-is-a-bending sojourn into the mind(s) of “this fun music project,” child-of-sorts of Brooklyn-based musician Mike Story, of former Izzy’s fame.
The Furies puts a lasso around my neck with “I Saw the Furies Floating By.” I didn’t take it off. I just let it pull me around the just plain catchy chorus, and lift me upward, inward, onward through the magnetism of the vocal harmonies. For anyone who likes a good slow jam (yes, that word is coming back, in a possibly all too evolved glory … start the revolution), “We Sail on Cowboy Clouds” is like an adult lullaby (the kind you don’t fall asleep to, but the kind that puts you in a chill state, ready to control your fate in the lucid dreams that come next … ). The harmonies are delicate, balanced, sweet, faintly Beach-Boys-esque; the track urges me to make a new dance and call it something fancy and slowly dance it to this ditty like I’ve never quite danced before. Good news I would imagine, since Slings and Arrows’ self-reported goal is “to have fun and to make people sing and dance.” Good job, guys.
And now, it’s time for Mythology 101: The Furies were female divinities, punishing crimes at the victim’s instigation. Do you want to see one float by? Come out tomorrow, Saturday March 10th, to the Listening Party from 3 – 6 pm at Union Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It might be the only way.
Slings and Arrows – I Saw the Furies Floating By (Downloaded 162 times)
Slings and Arrows – We Sail on Cowboy Clouds (Downloaded 151 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Harmonic • Male vocal • Psychedelic • Vintage
(5 votes)
Loading ...posted by Leigh on October 11, 2011
CMJ Preview Series: Alamo Race Track
I often hear the question “What does CMJ stand for?” Why, it’s the College Music Journal, no doubt, and the festival is at it again. Almost 900 bands confirmed, playing over the span of 5 days, October 18th – 22nd, in my very own New York. See what Indieball was talking about during last year’s festival at the following links: CMJ 2010, CMJ 2010 Highlights and CMJ 2010 Highlights Part 2.
Alamo Race Track, from Amsterdam, has a fun, folky, punctuated sound, offering (my favorite) interesting, funny and introspective lyrics, told like the best bedtime story ever. Even when singing about a heart-wrenching topic, Alamo Race Track morphs the sadness into beauty and the beauty of that sadness becomes uplifting. Cathartic.
Their third album, Unicorn Loves Dear, was released last March. “Apples” has an upbeat foundation that just makes you want to do that subtle dance move that inadvertently escapes your body when you are bored out of your mind on a phone call that you would otherwise prefer not to be on. The pretty harmonies are an added bonus. “Motorman and Owls“ is the quintessential quirk meets folk, droningly lovely, comprised of mixed tempos that aid in the master story-telling. If you are in New York during the festival, be sure to check them out on either October 19th or 20th at The Delancey. See official CMJ website below for more information.
Facebook || Official site || CMJ Festival
Alamo Race Track – Apples (Downloaded 292 times)
Alamo Race Track – Motorman and Owls (Downloaded 237 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Clever Lyrics • CMJ 2011 • Folky • Harmonic • Male vocal • Quirky
(7 votes) Loading ...posted by Jessica on August 28, 2011
Best Coast at Lollapalooza 2011. Photo by Jessica Mlinaric.
Post-Lollapalooza: Best Coast (Don’t miss our previous post from earlier this year here.)
Warm summer days interrupted by thunderous downpours, wading through murky pools only to be greeted by a rainbow; this describes the teenage emotional atmosphere as well as the weather at this year’s Lollapalooza. With lyrics that capture the youthful anticipation, elation, and angst of relationships, I imagine Best Coast would have been my high school soundtrack – let’s be honest it still is. The beauty of Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno’s music is its sunny simplicity, recalling the beach blanket buoyancy of sixties surf pop tempered by lo-fi indie rock.
Storm clouds darkened the sky as the California group took the stage at Lollapalooza, assaulting the audience with a fierce downpour one song into the set. There was scarcely any cover from the pelting torrent, and some poncho swathed festival-goers scurried under trees while others dove headfirst into quickly forming mud bogs. The scene was a surreal contrast to Cosentino’s beachy melodies, but Best Coast was not dampened, playing with intensity that added a harder edge to their doo-wop. Shortly after their set, a rainbow leapt across a newly cloudless sky and the sun won in the battle for Lolla, ushered in no doubt by the memorable maneuvering of Best Coast.
Earlier this month, Best Coast released short and extended versions of the music video for the track “Our Deal,” off of 2010′s Crazy for You. Directed by Drew Barrymore for MTV’s Supervideo series, the video features a West Side Story-like teen gang rivalry, with star-crossed lovers, sharply-dressed indie kids, cameos, and breakdance fighting. Check it out below.
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Best Coast – Our Deal (Downloaded 703 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Female vocal • Harmonic • Lo-Fi • Poppy • Retro • Video • Vintage
(15 votes) Loading ...posted by Tina on August 11, 2011
Nothing makes me happier than getting a new band’s music out there before they hit the mainstream. Hotels & Highways was a project begun in the fall of 2010. Seems more and more bands these days are applying a collaborative effort into creating their music. Each band member can contribute their own individual style of writing and then go back to their home towns and continue to work together on the music until they achieve the sound they are going for. For Hotels & Highways this plan became successful and the three band members released their CD in March this past year. A comparison that came to mind was The Civil Wars. Upon looking further into the band’s history, they had the opportunity to play with The Civil Wars at this past year’s SXSW music festival. For a music festival like that, they could not have found a better combo to perform together. A comfortable blend of folk, country and a little pop in between, you would not think the band spent just over a week creating the songs for their first release. Sure, there were long months in between but the hard work payed off and Lost River was the result. For Lisa Piccirillo, Patrick Thomas and Erin “Syd” Sidney success is on the way. Shortly after the release of Lost River, the CD is a 2011 Amazon.com Editor’s pick. I couldn’t be more happier for them. Make sure you check out their music and listen to the whole CD on the band’s website. For this trio hailing from California, Vermont and my current home town of Brooklyn, New York I’m guessing the band will be spending a lot of time together on the road of touring musicians.
Hotels & Highways – Figueroa (Downloaded 356 times)
Hotels & Highways – Twenty Questions (Downloaded 293 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Alt-country • Folk • Harmonic • Poppy
(11 votes) Loading ...awesome blog, do you have twitter or facebook? i will bookmark this page thanks.
My site:
rachat pret consommation Rachat de Credit
I didn’t know where to find this info then kaboom it was here.
Abril, we are on Facebook – see link at top right of this page and please like us!
August 28th, 2011 at 10:27 pm
[...] Read the rest of my review and get MP3s at Indieball.com. [...]
September 1st, 2011 at 12:01 am
Thanks for using the time and effort to write something so interesting.