Photo Credit: Jesus Christ

A few months back, Alie featured Nathaniel Rateliff on the site. His debut album, In Memory and Loss, is gorgeous. You should definitely check it out (preferably while looking at the above photo) if you’re into that country-folk sound. I heard Nathaniel puts on a great live show, and I’m really bummed that I’m missing his tour this go around.

Nathaniel is currently based out of Denver, and I found this interview with the Denver Post to be pretty fascinating. Basically, Nathaniel had two bands, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Wheel (who we are currently featuring) and Born in the Flood. The record label Roadrunner (home to Nickelback), offered to sign Born in the Flood and essentially wanted to turn them into the next Nickleback. Rateliff, realizing just how much Nickelback sucks, knew that he wouldn’t be happy going that route, even if it brought him great fame and fortune. Therefore, he signed his other band to the more modest Rounder records–a 39-year-old folky label that is home to the Woody Guthrie archives, Nanci Griffith, and Delta Spirit.

Our friends at Yours Truly recently filmed a live session with Nathaniel Rateliff, where he played “Boil & Fight.” It’s an intimate recording that took place on a back porch near Austin. Check it out!

In Memory and Loss (2010):

(mp3) Nathaniel Rateliff – Boil & Fight

Site | Buy | MySpace

Recently I’ve been posting a fair amount of folk music, because let’s face it, folk is awesome. But it’s time to change things up a bit (at least for this post).

I’ve really been digging Light Pollution’s song “Oh, Ivory!”. Definitely worth your time to check out. Their debut album Apparitions is releasing June 15 on Carpark Records.

Light Pollution is based out of Chicago and has that shoegaze, psychedelic, Animal Collectivey sound. Band members include James Cicero, Matthew Evert, Nick Sherman, and Jed Robertson.

Apparitions (2010):

(mp3) Light Pollution – Oh, Ivory!

myspace | carpark

continue for tour dates…

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Bombadil is a favorite over at IndieMuse–their album Tarpits and Canyonlands was on my Top 10 list last year. Simply put, they are a band worthy of everyone’s ears. It’s criminal that more people haven’t heard their music.

Instead of listening to a nobody like me though–consider this! Avett brother, Scott, recently did a video cover of Bombadil’s song “Marriage.” Last time I checked, The Avett Brovers don’t cover just anybody.

I still can’t decide what I like more: the band’s music or their photos. As you can see below, their CD travels the world asking friendly strangers to capture his adventures. Everytime it comes home to the band they share the photos with the world to see.

(mp3) Bombadil – Honeymoon

(mp3) Bombadil – Marriage

Site | Store | iTunes | Myspace

see more photos on Bombadil’s Facebook fan page.

Just wanted to share an update to let you guys know that Lost in The Trees just started their US tour. We featured the folk-orchestration band back in December and are big fans. They actually just signed to Anti- Records, who will be releasing a new and enhanced version of All Alone In An Empty House on August 10th, 2010 (originally released on the awesome Trekky Records). Check out the tour dates and video below to see what’s in store.

5/18/2010 DENVER, CO Larimer Lounge* w/ Plants and Animals
5/19/2010 SLC, UT Kilby Court * w/ Plants and Animals
5/20/2010 BOISE, ID Neurolux * w/ Plants and Animals
5/21/2010 PORTLAND, OR Mississippi Studios * w/ Plants and Animals
5/22/2010 SEATTLE, WA Crocodile Café * w/ Plants and Animals & Frog Eyes
5/25/2010 SAN FRANCISCO, CA The Independent * w/ Plants and Animals
5/26/2010 VISALIA, CA Cellar Door * w/ Plants and Animals
5/27/2010 LA, CA Troubadour * w/ Plants and Animals
5/29/2010 TUCSON, AZ Plush * w/ Plants and Animals
5/31/2010 DENTON, TX Hailey’s * w/ Plants and Animals
6/1/2010 AUSTIN, TX Emo’s * w/ Plants and Animals
6/2/2010 NEW ORLEANS, LA One Eyed Jacks * w/ Plants and Animals
6/3/2010 DURHAM, NC Carrboro Arts Center
6/5/2010 ATLANTA, GA The Earl * w/ Plants and Animals
6/6/2010 ASHEVILLE, NC Grey Eagle * w/ Plants and Animals
6/7/2010 WASHINGTON, DC The Rock and Roll Hotel * w/ Plants and Animals
6/8/2010 PHILLY, PA Johnny Brenda’s * w/ Plants and Animals
6/9/2010 NY, NY Bowery Ballroom * w/ Plants and Animals
6/12/2010 CAMBRIDGE, MA TT the Bear’s * w/ Plants and Animals
6/13/2010 Montreal, Canada Divan Orange
6/15/2010 Toronto, Canada at El Mocambo
6/19/2010 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern

All Alone In An Empty House (2010):

(mp3) Lost in the Trees – All Alone in An Empty House

site | myspace

If you’re like me, you are in love with Bon Iver (Justin Vernon), and want to ask him “Hey IVER–yeah you– when’s your next album coming out?!” Truthfully, it makes complete sense why it’s taking so long to get a sophomore album released. Similar to Sufjan Stevens, Vernon quickly became an icon for indie music, and now has a ton of pressure riding on his flannel-covered-shoulders. It must be weird going from writing a reflective album, in complete solitude, to knowing that your next album will be critiqued by 100,000+ people (not to mention the wrath of a Pitchfork) just because your pseudonym is attached.

In the meantime, if you need your Bon Iver fix, you should check out Isbells. Instead of Justin Vernon, we have Gaëtan Vandewoude, and instead of an old cabin in Wisconsin, Vandewoude wrote the songs in an old stable in Belgium. Not to say that Isbells is a Bon Iver poser, as he’s certainly got his own thing going on. I’m just really enjoying his self-titled debut, and it immediately grabbed my attention, similar to the first time I heard For Emma For Ever Ago.

Isbells is based out of Leuven, Belgium. In addition to Vandewoude, band members include Naima Joris, Bart Borremans and Gianni Marzo.

S/T (2009):

Isbells – Reunite

Isbells – Without a Doubt

iTunes | Myspace | Zealrecords

I’m embarrassed I haven’t featured Pale Young Gentlemen on IndieMuse yet. They are one of the best bands making music today, and an absolute must check out if you are an Andrew Bird or Arcade Fire fan (listen to one song and you’ll see the Bird reference).

Their 2008 release Black Forest (Tra La La) is a true gem. There are too many great tracks on the album to list them all here, but some of my favorites are “Coal/Ivory,””I Wasn’t Worried,” and “Kettle Drum (I Left A Note).”

Pale Young Gentlemen is based out of Madison, WI, and band members include Mike Reisenauer, Matt Reisenauer , Brett Randall, Beth Morgan, and Gwendolyn Miller. As a side note, I was reading The Red Alert’s interview with Pale Young Gentlemen’s frontman, Mike Reisenauer, and he was asked if geography has helped or hurt the band:

“I think it mostly helps us. Writers seem to think it’s interesting backstory. For some reason, it’s weird to them that Madison, WI exists and that people play music there.”

As a midwesterner, I really appreciated that answer. The band is currently working on their third album–I’ll keep you posted!

Black Forest (Tra La La):

(mp3) Pale Young Gentlemen – I Wasn’t Worried

(mp3) Pale Young Gentlemen – Kettle Drum (I Left A Note)

Extra:

(mp3) Pale Young Gentlemen – Paper Planes (awesome M.I.A. cover)

Site | Science of Sound (label) | MF (buy)

Huh?

(mp3) Wilco – I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

One of my friends recently introduced me to the Portland band, Congratulations. If you like Boy Least Likely To than you should check them out. They incorporate everything in their music that I dream to incorporate in my imaginary band one day: horns, xylophone, hamornies, hand claps… it doesn’t get much better than that.

Congratulations is made up of members from the former band, Eskimo and Sons. I’m still a little hazy on the details, but it sounds like the band decided to refocus their music and, therefore, changed band names. They were starting to attract a pretty loyal fan base as Eskimo and Sons, so it’s cool that they stayed true to their music and went with their hearts. Congratulations doesn’t have much music to their name yet, but their song “Juice and Syrup” and work in Eskimo and Sons has definitely made me excited for their debut. I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks to Hallie for the rec. You should buy one of her hats on Etsy, they are awesome!

(mp3) Congratulations – Juice and Syrup

(mp3) Eskimo and Sons – The Blizzard

Myspace | Brave Records

Portland-based A Weather released a new album called Everyday Balloons earlier this March. The latest record is a hushed-voiced gem, but I’ll leave my in-depth thoughts for an upcoming album review. Until then, satiate your A Weather appetite with the following interview. Frontman Aaron Gerber was kind enough to field my highly disjointed questions about the latest record, understated moments, and stuffed animals.

IndieMuse: How do you think the overall sound of Everyday Balloons builds on the sound of your previous record Cove?

Aaron Gerber: I’d say that Everyday Balloons pushes the dynamics a bit more than Cove does. The focus is more on the electric guitars whereas with Cove the acoustic played a more dominant role. There are more cacophonous elements to Everyday Balloons (our guitar player, Aaron Krenkel, uses the word “raucous” which I think is fitting). There is also maybe more playfulness with the arrangements and overall more layering of overdubs. But paradoxically I feel like Everyday Balloons also has a more direct live sound to it. We wanted to use as much of the natural room tone as we could when recording.

IM: A Weather lyrics take the time to appreciate the understated moments of day-to-day life, like in “Third of Life” when you say “Take a breath and brush it off / Brush your teeth and sort your socks.” I’m wondering if your lyrical attention to small but beautiful everyday moments explains the album’s title, Everyday Balloons i.e. admiring the little moments that often go by unnoticed but are kind of remarkable for all their quietness.

AG: It’s important for me to ground my writing in the concrete world. I’m trying to give the listeners those little moments you mention as means of getting their bearings, little recognizable elements one can grasp among the weirder or more abstract stuff. I don’t want to create a narrative or a confessional, but I do like the sense that there is something real going on, even if you can’t be certain exactly what it is. For me the title Everyday Balloons has multiple meanings (the more I sit with it the more it continues to change), and the interpretation you describe so nicely can definitely be one of those meanings. I would never want to create one way of orienting the listener towards our music or my lyrics, or say that there is one over-arching theme to the record.

IM: What are some of your favourite everyday, understated moments?

Hmm. I take walks to the grocery store. I enjoy petting cats that I meet around my neighborhood. Sarah [female vocalist in A Weather] and I love going to Sauvie’s Island (a bit of farmland on the outskirts of Portland) during the fall. Cooking is a big hobby of mine.

Interview continued after the jump…

Cove (2008):

(mp3) A Weather – Shirley Road Shirley

MySpace | Website | Purchase

Interview continued after the jump…

photo credit: Hayley Young

If you’re a fan of Red House Painters, Modest Mouse, or Neutral Milk Hotel, check out Levi Fuller’s album Colossal. The Seattle-based musician has a unique approach to making music, especially when it comes to lyrics. Many of his songs are from the perspective of various animals (his last album, This Murder Is a Peaceful Gathering, is themed around crows). On Colossal, his song “Mouse on Fire” is from a mouse’s point of view when he runs into an inviting house. I kinda have a little thing for not liking rodents, so I am going to keep this song close at hand to help me get through it. Mice are people too, after all.

Two tracks in particular that have been on heavy rotation for me are “The Mall of America” and the instrumental “Wheels within Wheels.” Listen to those two songs and you’ll likely see why I referenced those other great musicians as influences.

Levi is extremely active in the Seattle community. In addition to this solo project, he has another solo project, Passenger Pigeon, and plays bass in the band Luna Moth (all while maintaining a full-time job). He is also the founder and editor of the Ball of Wax Audio Quarterly, which are compilations that feature local musicians. It’s DIY musicians like Levi who bring culture to music.

Colossal:

(mp3) Levi Fuller – The Mall of America

(mp3) Levi Fuller – Wheels Within Wheels

site | myspace | mf (buy)