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January 26th, 2012Artists, Guest Mixtapes, Interviews, Special Guests, UncategorizedBy Amanda DK
Photo Credit: Dylan Bell
It’s no big secret that artists need to have solid live show to be successful. Similarly, it’s always a disappointment when a great album does not translate to a dynamic live show.Los Angeles quintet Vanaprasta does not have that issue. For the past few years the band has built a strong reputation almost entirely by their larger than life stage presence. They are a fixture on the music scene here, turning heads at the Sunset Strip Music Festival in 2010 and impressing audiences at their Satellite residency this past November. Nor are they strangers to the national arena; Vanaprasta made waves at this year’s CMJ Festival and have played at least a couple shows at every SXSW since 2009, really taking the festival by storm in 2011 with a total of eight shows during their time in Austin.
Tags: Eastern Conference Champions, guitar, Healthy Geometry, Incan Abraham, interview, live, Los Angeles, mixtape, performance, Portugal The Man, rock, The Antlers, The Arctic Monkeys, The National, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Vanaprasta, Wise Blood, WU LYF
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January 17th, 2012Just Plain Good, Neat Tracks
By Amanda DK
Photo Credit: Austin Conroy and Eric Weiner
Jordan Irvin Dally is going to have a big year. It’s about time. In April of 2010 the 22-year-old Los Angeleno garnered reverential buzz for his self-released Despistado EP, a collection of experimental folk songs, soaked with the kind of soulful wanderlust that must have been left over from his upbringing in Illinois, Colorado and Spain. This year again the blogosphere took notice when he released Sun Room / Teething as a vinyl 7” and digitally on his bandcamp page, a lighter turn for the artist, with a brighter, island sway to his music rather than the sparseness of Despistado.
Tags: Despistado, folk, guitar, J. Irvin Dally, Los Angeles, singer/songwriter, Sun Room, Teething
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December 27th, 2011Artists, Guest Mixtapes, Interviews, Special Guests
By Amanda DK
Photo Credit: Andre Guerette
Music and setting have always been very closely linked. For example, it’s common knowledge that Bon Iver wrote For Emma, Forever Ago in a cabin in Wisconsin. That isolated, icy sound translated into the music and now, who can listen to those songs and not be transported to a snowy forest?
Certain concerts are made that much more memorable or magical by the location too – TV On The Radio at the Hollywood Bowl, Milo Greene in a living room.
The combination of location and timing plays a role in the affect music has on us as well. I will never forget seeing Local Natives for free at Spaceland (now the Satellite) during their residency. I had barely heard of them and was totally blown away. Considering the venues they went on to play the following year (including Walt Disney Concert Hall) it’s an incredible memory to have seen them on the tiny, sparkling Silverlake stage.
I was in the right place at the right time.
It was a serendipitous combination of location and timing that led me to The Barr Brothers as well – not only my personal discovery of the band, but it’s very formation. And the music itself even evokes a specific sense of place.
Get to the good stuff after the jump »
Tags: acoustic, Americana, Canada, debut, folk, guitar, harp, interview, mixtape, Montreal, Quebec, The Barr Brothers -
November 10th, 2011Just Plain Good, Neat TracksBy Amanda DK
Tags: Australia, Brooklyn, guitar, High Highs, pop, Small Plates Records, SXSW, vinylWhen I first caught the High Highs at SXSW 2011, I wasn’t sure what to make of them. Their music is the accompaniment of a chilly winter evening. It doesn’t reach out for connection, in fact, the haunting, distant vocals and melancholy lyrics seem to push the listener away. This sacred stillness, however, is what makes the High Highs so utterly compelling.
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April 27th, 2011Just Plain Good, Neat Tracks
Enter Thao Nguyen (“Thao”): Known for her raw, brassy riffing and sensuality.
Enter Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn (“Mirah”): A sound chameleon, each album subtly different from the next, but with the same throughline of airy, breathy vocals.
Their powers combine on Thao & Mirah, the bluntly named first collaborative album from the two earthy songstresses, released on yesterday on Kill Rock Stars.
The result? I’ll venture to say the whole is greater than the parts (and I loved Thao’s Know Better, Learn Faster). I adore this album in the same way I do Alexander Ebert’s “Alexander” – on the surface it’s simple, but unique flourishes both with the vocals and in the instrumentation on every track make the whole experience really special. Thao’s trademark offbeat belting intertwines perfectly with Mirah’s sweetness. Each track is a little different, some with twangy garage guitars, other with a foundation of fuzzy beats. All of them feel intimate, as though listening in on someone humming along to themselves; recorded so close you can hear fingers brushing across the guitar strings.And then there is the opening track, “Eleven,” which is on another plane entirely – in an awesome way. “Eleven” is the most lush, produced track on the album, which may have something to do with the contributions from Merrill Garbus, better known as the bad-ass (and buzzy) tUnE-YarDs. Whatever the reason, the song is an expression of joy in the form of tribal beats trimmed with dreamy electronic bells and whistles. Play this at your next neighborhood summer block party.
Purchase Thao & Mirah at the Kill Rock Stars store. A digital download of the album is only $5.00!
Tags: Eleven, female, guitar, indie, Kill Rock Stars, Merrell Garbus, Mirah, pop, Thao, Tune-Yards -
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