Pitchfork.tv put this music video by the Books up on their website Friday. Though this track is from their 2nd full release “The Lemon of Pink“, I had just seen this video from 2003 for the first time. I was interested in seeing how the Books would make a music video with their type of music. Would it be a bunch of video samples strung together to form some sort of coherent piece with a few shots of the band interdispersed? or something just as unconventional as the music itself. It turns out it was closer to the former. With juxtaposed shots of Suzuki method violin recital and the occasional clip aligning itself to the rhythm of the music the video has its moments where everything comes together. I think it’s a great music video.
I usually reserve my listening to Sigur Ros during the late fall and winter months. Sometimes I’ll pretend that I’m in Iceland instead of the upper reaches of Michigan or Massachusetts. I even attempted to learn some Icelandic to understand the lyrics without translation. My self-taught Icelandic course has been put on hold, but my enjoyment for Sigur Rós has not. Their 5th studio album sounds the most optimistic; it feels much more like a summer album. The care-free cover art accurately foreshadows the music enclosed. They still have their ethereal sound, but it feels lighter and more organic. This is evident from their first single “Gobbledigook” which sounds like it could be an Animal Collective track. The band hasn’t changed into another tribal influenced indie rock band; they’re just expanding their already large sound. With cheerful bursts of horns and strings and a steady bass drum, the band seems more focused. The album has a clear direction and does not wander like ( ) or Takk (though I enjoy both those albums for that reason). They do have their epic songs: “Festival” clocks in at nearly 9 and half minutes and “Ára Bátur” is almost 9. This is still very much a Sigur Rós album and I’m glad. They are one of my favorite bands that have been consistently good their entire career. I felt compelled to listen to the entire album in one sitting which is a first for me this year. My favorite tracks are: Gobbledigook, Góðan Daginn, Ára Bátur, Ví Spilum Endalaust, Illgresi, Fljótavík, and All Alright (the first Sigur Rós song in English!)
You can stream the entire album here, but I’ve provided some MP3s from this album and some of my favorites from their back catalog as well. The album is released June 24th.
I stumbled upon Grouper randomly perusing some blogs I keep in my bookmarks. I downloaded it on a whim as it was described as ambient/folk/shoegaze. Interested in seeing how folky shoegaze would sound, I listened to the first track and knew that I had found something special. “Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill” is the 3rd album from Portland based musician Liz Harris. To define her music as folky shoegaze is incomplete. Her songs exist as hazy memories, lacking in detail, yet full enough to trigger a nexus of emotions difficult to describe. The instrumentation is mostly limited to layered vocals, electric piano and down-stroked guitar with the production quality weaving in and out of lo-fi. The sonic world that the album creates has a quiet intensity slowing submerging the listener.
I’ve taken a message from the MySpace page explaining her sounds better than I ever could:
dragging a dead deer in my ears feels like the relief of an unknown flickering series of burdens, dawning in my marrow moment a living freedom. lifted.
I recommend Grouper for fans of Low, Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon, Red House Painters), and beautiful female vocals.
Here is another mini mix for you all. Included are new tracks from Sigur Ros, Wolf Parade, Lau Nau, and relatively new tracks from Mount Eerie and Fuck Buttons.
Avi Buffalo caught my interest after they had cited Wilco, Grizzly Bear, Panda Bear, Broken Social Scene, and Jim O’Rourke. I’ve given their songs a few listens (you can even download them at their Myspace). Since their style and interest of music is closely aligned with the staff of IndieMuse I hope that the readers will also enjoy the sweet sounds of Avi Buffalo. This Long Beach, California band is not currently on a record label, but I can see that changing soon.
Today’s song of the day comes from Flemish Eye records’ up and coming band Women. “Black Rice” is a simple, lo-fi, catchy little pop rock song. Just some two note guitar riffs, a hint of glockenspiel and piano, the simplicity only leaves me wanting more. I’m interested in hearing the rest of the album when it comes out July 8th.
“Recorded by label-mate Chad VanGaalen and the band members, the 10 song, self-titled album by Women is an explosion out of the gates for this young band. Sometimes light and spacious, at other times eerie and dense with an ominous weight, this debut flirts with the noisy beauty of the Velvet Underground and effortlessly toys with the intricacy and playfulness of Deerhoof as crude percussion beats out a pulsing tattoo of clatter.” – from their press page.
But don’t take their word for it, listen yourself and check out their website for another track.
If you live in or near Canada, try to catch one of their shows:
June 11 :: Winnipeg, Royal Albert
June 12 :: Saskatoon, Little Pictures
June 13 :: Calgary, Broken City
June 14 :: Edmonton, The Velvet Underground
June 14 :: Calgary, Marquee Room
June 16 :: Kelowna, Whitehouse Productions
June 17 :: Victoria, Lucky Bar
June 20 :: Vancouver, Little Mountain Studios
June 21 :: Vancouver, Hoko’s
June 24 :: Lethbridge, Knights of Columbus Hall
June 26 :: Calgary, Broken City Website | Pitchfork’s Review | Myspace |
Since Indie Muse doesn’t really do breaking music news, I thought it would be fun to find a niche, taking a rather petty thing and making it into something much bigger. So here we go.
If you go to Bonnaroo.com, the Official website for Bonnaroo Music Festival, you will see their infamous “Countdown” to Bonnaroo. The only problem. It’s wrong. At the time of this posting, it is Monday, 2:12 AM. The Countdown says there is 1 Day, 21 Hours, 48 Minutes, 28 Seconds until Bonnaroo.
One day equals 24 hours, meaning there are, more or less, 46 Hours until Bonnaroo, according to this Countdown. That means that the gates would be opening at about 12 AM Wednesday. In actuality, the gates don’t open until 7 AM Thurday morning. What does this all mean? It means panicked hippies either saying “Durr, forget it, I’m not going. Pass the joint bro” after seeing on the site (if they can spell the url correctly) it was earlier than they thought (if they remember at all), or a mob of angry hippies showing up in their Jerry Garcia memorabilia 31 hours early. Either way, it’s bad news.
I suppose this is what happens when a stoner company hires a stoner programmer to make an application for stoner customers so they don’t forget to show up. What has the world come to? We will give you an hourly update as the story unfolds. We contacted Bonnaroo headquarters at 2:16 AM to hear their side of the story, but as of 3 AM they have yet to reply. What are you hiding Bonnaroo? This is Indiemuse.com. Akhil, back to you.
When talking with friends, I always show a lot of Wilco love, to a point where anyone would reasonably assume that Wilco is my favorite band. I’ve even convinced myself. But in truth, as much as Wilco will always hold a special place in my heart, I can’t say they are my absolute favorite. Not over Cat Stevens. I am in love with his older music (sorry Yusuf). Even though I listen to Wilco more regularly, and overall probably like more of their songs than Stevens, the songs of Cat Stevens that I do like, are earth shattering. They are simply the best songs I have ever heard before.
I go through phases of listening to his music, but when I get hooked, I get hooked hard. This time around, The Shivers triggered it, by me listening to their song “SoHo Party.” You may not expect it from lyrics at the beginning of the song, I would say:), but it turns into an amazing cover of Cat Stevens “The Wind.”
You are probably familiar with Stevens’ hit songs. I would say, spend this weekend listening through them. See if it sparks anything. And hey, maybe he just isn’t THAT artist for you, in the same way he is for me. That’s cool. Let me know who that artist is for you, and I’ll check them out.
The philosophy behind change really fascinates me. Look at the difference.
This is even better then the above link. Couldn’t embed.
The Braids – The Wind (This is by far one of the worst covers I have ever heard. Enjoy!)
Fun Fact:
When the Flaming Lips first wrote “Fight Test,” there was a element that reminded them of Cat’s Stevens’ “Father and Son.” They changed it up, and like Wayne says, if he hadn’t mentioned it, nobody would have made the connection. Regardless, he told magazines about it, Cat Steven’s publishing company found out, and now the company owns 30% of the song. Sad, but funny. I wonder if they make 30% of the iTunes Original track where Wayne talks about it?
Earlier on this year I had a New Year’s resolution that failed about 2 months in. Maybe it was too ambitious or maybe I’m too lazy, but regardless, posts on our blog have been running thin. I’m going to revise my resolution and instead of listening to an album a day I will post a miniature mix every weak instead consisting of five songs. Here are five songs that I like and I hope that you like them too:
This is definitely one of the coolest covers I’ve seen in a while. I’m not sure if this was done some digital editing, but either way, it’s amazingly awesome. For more info about what equipment was used, check out Gizmodo.
