Pygmalion Fest: BLK JKS, Maps & Atlases, So Many Dynamos

Both musically and geographically, BLK JKS added an extra dimension of diversity to the Pygmalion Festival lineup. The band are originally from South Africa (although they said during the set this was a myth and they’re really from a van parked behind the venue) and they mix vocal chanting, blues-rock guitar, and tribal drumming creating a full-bodied, powerful sound. Their rhythmically-inclined tunes are meant to be heard live,and the drummer especially is a sight to behold, both methodical and wild as he pounds out the fills and beats. Added to the thundering riffs and harmonic vocals, and you can see why this impressive band is on the rise.

MP3 BLK JKS – Molalatladi

When I featured Maps & Atlases a couple years ago on this blog they were a tiny Chicago band with only an EP to their name. I haven’t kept up with them too much since then but it was obvious by size and enthusiasm of the crowd that they drew, that they’ve done well for themselves (according to their wikipedia article they’ve even appeared in a PBR ad for The Onion. Double hipster points!). The math-rock group have fine-tuned their techinical proficiency on guitar, continuing to prefer tapping the frets then the traditional strumming. The jammed-out songs offer plenty of time for guitar noodling, which gratefully, is the band’s specialty and very fun to watch.

MP3 Maps & Atlases – Artifacts of Sound

I wasn’t expecting to see So Many Dynamos but after Maps & Atlases finished, I overheard that the Edwardsville, IL-based band were playing at a BBQ joint about a block away and decided I’d check them out. I only was able to catch their last couple of songs but it was enough to interest me in checking out some of their danceable guitar rock tunes. The best track I’ve heard from them so far is the opener off their latest album The Loud Wars, “Artifacts of Sound”. The driving, frantic drums and mathy guitar are reminiscent of Minus The Bear in the best possible way and make me wish I was around to see the whole set, but since they only live a couple hours away so I’m sure they’ll be by again.

MP3 So Many Dynamos – Artifacts of Sound

Click here to see the more Pygmalion pictures.

Pygmalion Fest: Low

While Pygmalion Festival is most well known for booking newer, upcoming acts, they usually throw one or two more seasoned artists like Yo La Tengo last year and David Bazan in ’07. This year it was the legendary slowcore band, Low, that fit the bill. I don’t think I could imagine a better place to see the Duluth, MN band then at Channing-Murray. The main floor was a old, wooden church building and in the basement was a vegetarian restaurant called Red Herring (which also housed some festival shows over the weekend).

The band set up on a small ledge in front of the choir loft which allowed the audience to stand face-to-face with them, providing for a very unique, intimate concert experience. The acoustics in the room were fantastic allowing each note to reverberate around the room. Each of the band’s songs began quietly, with the focus being on minimal instrumentation and harmonies, before building into a cacophony of overwhelming sound. The song that stood out to me the most was “(That’s How You Sing) Amazing Grace”, a chilling song (about heroin supposedly) and one very fitting for the location.

MP3 (That’s How You Sing) Amazing Grace

Click here for more Pygmalion Festival pictures.

Reasons to Love You…

I’m going to avoid the incandescent love stories and get straight to the point. Today, September 25th, marks our two-year anniversary. Yes, everything is celebrated here. A lot of laughs were shared as well as those inevitable moments of frustration. While I’m still unsure who wears the pants, this relationship is completely balanced and we continue to grow — always closer, never apart. This is a collection of songs I put together that… if not scream “I love you!”… provoke a certain level of emotion that makes me think of her or a situation we found ourselves in.

Happy Anniversary, Babe! I love you.

MP3 Of Montreal – It’s Just So
MP3 Theresa Andersson – Hi-Low
MP3 Ingrid Michaelson – You and I
MP3 Wildbirds & Peacedrums – My Heart
MP3 Alex & Sam – See You Through
MP3 She & Him – You Really Got A Hold On Me
MP3 Kate Walsh – Bury My Head
MP3 Alain de Courtenay – Sing to You
MP3 Jose Gonzalez – Heartbeats (The Knife)
MP3 Adele – Crazy For You
MP3 Meiko – Reasons to Love You
MP3 Priscilla Ahn – I’ll Never Smile Again (Frank Sinatra Cover)
MP3 The Weepies – Somebody Loved
MP3 Catherine Feeny – Mr. Blue
MP3 Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson – Winter Song
MP3 Future of Forestry – If You Find Her
MP3 Dallas Green – Wastin’ Time (Ron Sexsmith Cover)

Download complete mix here: 092509.rar (66.2 MB)
Stream Mix + Music For Ants here: http://hypem.com/list/320

Pygmalion Fest: Headlights / Japandroids / Owen / Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band

What better way is there to usher in the autumn season then with a heaping dose of Pygmalion Festival, central IL’s premiere music event. This year the Chamapign-Urbana festival kicked off with the locally-based Polyvinyl Records showcase which featured a great variety of bands some new (Japandroids), some old (Owen), some local (Headlights, Common Loon) and some with really long band titles (Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band).

I walked in as Common Loon was finishing their set, so the first band I got to see was Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, a Seattle five-piece who are probably the first band whose name references both a volcanic Northwestern mountain and a land war in Asia. The band’s live show is just as explosive as their name suggests, the drummer is only 14 years old but provides the driving force for the band while angular guitars and multi-part harmonies fill the room. The band’s distinctive sound lends comparisons to both Modest Mouse and Wolf Parade, which I’d say is a good place to be.

MP3 Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band – Cheer For Fate

Last time I saw Owen at Pygmalion Festival it was an acoustic show in a coffee shop, and the show was very intimate and conversational. This show, taking place on Canopy Club’s main stage, placed the emphasis more firmly on the music with a full backing band, including midwestern indie rock legend Bob Nanna, and lots of new material to play through (Owen’s new CD release show was in Chicago the same weekend). The expanded instrumental palette fit his introspective songs very well and I especially loved the flourishes of strings and organ in the mix.

MP3 Owen – Good Friends, Bad Habits

Next up was easily my most anticipated set of the night, Japandroids. After their incredible Pitchfork Fest set I was hungry for more and they delivered just as raucous of a set this time around. It took a couple songs for the crowd to transition from the acoustic set that occurred beforehand but by the time “The Boys Are Leaving Town” started they erupted. Moshing, thrusting hands in the air, and people jumping on stage and catapulting themselves into the crowd before security could catch them ensued. If the crowd was energetic though it did not compare to the copious amounts of heart and soul the two Japandroids, Brian (guitar/vocals) and David (drums/vocals) injected into the set.

They started by asking the sound guys to turn everything up because, as David said, “I can still hear myself and if I’m not going deaf yet, it’s not loud enough”, before relentlessly rocking out, making use of the entire stage. From the inspiring loud/soft dynamics of teenage sing-a-long anthem “Young Hearts Spark Fire” to rumbling fury of “Rockers East Vancouver” (which became “Rockers East Champaign” for the night), the band continue to compete for the position of best live band of 2009. I think their own words best capture the feeling that night. Upon asking them backstage how they think the show went, David said, “Honestly, I think we slayed“.

MP3 Japandroids – Young Hearts Spark Fire

I’ve seen Headlights more than any other band playing at the festival (it’s getting close to double digits) and while the temptation would be to skip over them, they always bring something new and exciting to their live shows. Being Champaign-Urbana’s most well-known band, each time they play seems like a homecoming party and this night even moreso with balloons filling the stage and an invite for the fans to dance on the stage for the last few songs (even referencing the stage-collapse that occurred when Dan Deacon did the same thing at last year’s Pygmalion).The band debuted a number of great songs from their new album Wildlife, along with favorites like “Put Us Back Together”, “Cherry Tulips”, and “Lions”. I don’t think I could have asked for a better ending to the night with gathering around the hometown heroes and singing along to some of the most exuberant indie pop to reach our ears.

MP3 Headlights – Get Going

Follow the jump for more pictures from the night. Click here to see the full set.

Volcano Choir

I wouldn’t call this a collaboration as much as I would call it a friendship and I mean that in the best way possible. Volcano Choir is the product of Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and the awesomeness that is the Collections of Colonies of Bees. A mouthful, I know… but the name is practically an understatement when you’re bathing in this band’s bold orchestration. Their love for music itself and gift to truly experiment compliments Justin’s ability to emote all too perfectly… and what I mean by that is, however little he actually sings on this album, you still get a sense of… well, him.

Now let’s talk about the debut. Unmap is… exactly that. An extremely remote album: void of space and time and perhaps even its place of birth. I simply couldn’t can this LP for its lack of actual “sing-a-longs.” Its meditatively woodsy quality is one to to be reckoned with. As I mentioned earlier, Justin Vernon, as we know it, will single-handedly remove you from yourself and place you into a realm of solitude… filled with damp overtones and crackling twigs. That alone should be enough of an incentive to pull you through some of the lengthier instrumentals scattered throughout the LP — that are more pillowing and thoughtful than tastelessly repetitious, I can assure you. A lot of time was spent on this album and not all at once (four years in the making to be exact, all in the company of pros). Their sound is distilled and aromatic in a sense, a bottle of wine if you will… or maybe even Moonshine? From Husk and Shells to Youlogy, Volcano Choir puts your ears in a state of wander, going from a porch of lively strings to sitting in the front row at church. Take it all in stride… and don’t wait for Emma.

MP3 Husk and Shells
MP3 Sleeplymouth

Julie Peel

I get a lot of e-mails now that I write for a music blog. Like, a lot. I don’t always get through them in a timely manner, but I try and sift through it all at least once a week. It’s generally a bunch of stuff I don’t care about, but sometimes I come up with something that makes me glad I took the time to sort through the junk. Something like Julie Peel.

Peel’s debut album Near the Sun is filled with wonderful, mostly-acoustic pop songs. I shouldn’t be surprised that someone from France makes good pop music, but I also twice tried to heat up a Ding Dong in the microwave while it was still in the foil. The whole record is good, but the more subdued songs are where Peel really shines. “Living in a Movie” is a bright and bouncy little ditty, but is made better by the hint of melancholy just around the edges. Actually, that sums up Peel’s music pretty well. The whole record works as an excellent soundtrack to the changing seasons, happy and upbeat so you can enjoy the weather, but also bittersweet because there is always that lingering feeling that it won’t last.

The closing track “Alone” is another of Near the Sun‘s highlights. Peel’s guitar strums a lullaby while she sings about, well, being alone. The rosy music betrays the doleful lyrics, especially when you throw in what sounds like one of those homemade kazoos where you put wax paper over a comb. She makes it work, though. Peel’s music is the sound of enjoying the good, but recognizing the bad isn’t far behind. After all, the sweet isn’t as sweet without the sour.

MP3 Julie Peel – Living in a Movie
MP3 Julie Peel – Alone

Pomegranates

Pygmalion Festival is almost upon us and I’m busy catching up on all the bands in the line-up I haven’t heard.  Pomegranates is easily of the best ones I’ve found. First, you can’t go wrong with a fruit in your name (see Apples In Stereo, Moldy Peaches, Bananarama, etc). They also have some great, bouncy hooks going on in their music mixed with some shimmering psych-pop that puts them on the similar musical plane as the Elephant 6 bands. The Cincinatti-residing band put out an album earlier this year and have slowly but surely been making their presence known on various music blogs and on tour with kindred spirits of the indie pop scene like Headlights and Islands.

When you have a track as exuberantly titled as “Everybody, Come Outside!”, it pretty much demands listening and the band succeed in creating a song as refreshing as it’s title. The song seems to be custom-made for summer mixes from the boisterous tempo to the brit-pop like instrumentation of crunchy guitars and flourishing keys. “Beachcomber” plays up the pysch-pop aspect of the band with washed out vocals over chiming guitar and shifting tempos, venturing towards an dreamy outro as the reverb-drenched guitars converge.

MP3 Everybody, Come Outside!
MP3 Beachcomber

***

An Associated Content article named this blog one of the five best music blogs of 2009. I’m right in between Pitchfork and Stereogum.  Crazy, right?

The XX

I know I’m a little late in the game, but I’m not going to make up some excuse about… having heard of this band a long time ago and not being able to write about them until now. The truth is, I just discovered them… and if I were adequately blessed with a skill to write about music as much as I listen to it, you’d have an x-rated novel on your desk two weeks ago… which brings me to the subject of, The XX. Surprised? I hope not. Their debut album is the perfect soundtrack for the advent of youth and a bottle of flashbacks. They’ve managed to fall a little short of a specific genre, but not in any sense of deficiency. What you’ve got here is that vague, airy notion that inevitably dubs an album as better listened to at home, or at a specific time, or… while reading this blog, etc.

Their clumsy pronunciation of words cuddled with sleepy synths delineate discomfited love stories through-and-through. Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim compliment each other like underrated pillow-talk and wilted flowers, cribbing the more cognitive stages of parting and its soundless moments. They’ve effortlessly captured the beauty of desolation in high-quality. Really, there’s no over-crowding here. They’re woefully simplistic without any salaciousness to be unique. Romy’s delivery has a sexual-intellect that takes you further than casual moan while Oliver entertains the thought and bears the aftermath. The level of intimacy produced by this band only makes me want to shelter them from the viciousness of the blogosphere… but as there is a natural progression of life and all-things-uploaded, XX has already exceeded its bandwidth.

MP3 The XX – Basic Space
MP3 The XX – Crystalised

Track Review: I Can See The Pines Are Dancing

It seems like singer-songwriters like A.A. Bondy have the hardest time getting attention in today’s music blog climate dominated by remixes, leaks, and buzz bands.  After coming off a huge Beatles kick that those mono remasters through me into, I’m finally listening to some new music and I’ve found that the understated beauty of A.A. Bondy’s “I Can See The Pines Are Dancing” is the song I was most drawn to.  The bittersweet melody and vivid lyrical imagery of the track are stunning.

The song opens with a rustic acoustic guitar and achingly pretty piano that sets the sepia-toned mood and it’s all elevated by Bondy’s highly engaging and tender vocals. The exquisite wordplay that’s displayed in the lyrics is really what makes this track a thing of beauty though.  From the poetic verse about the dancing pines from where the song gets it’s title to the climatic line, “This is the howling at the moon / These are the arms you fell into / I am a fire and I must burn today.” It’s simply a wonderful piece of music and one that gets my full recommendation.

MP3 A.A. Bondy – I Can See The Pines Are Dancing

A.A. Bondy’s new album, When The Devil’s Loose is out on Fat Possum Records. An Aquariam Drunkard posted an interview with A.A. Bondy yesterday.

Beatles-esque Mix

It’s hard not to get caught up in Beatlemania this week. The complete set of Beatles Remastered albums are being released (stereo and mono) as well as the much-awaited game, Beatles: Rock Band.  There’s even rumors of the band finally being added to iTunes at tomorrow’s Apple music event. I think it goes without saying that The Beatles had a huge impact on my music development growing up. I was 14 years old when The Beatles 1 was released and I think that was the only album I listened to for an entire year. Eventually, I acquired all the Beatles albums and grew to love their entire body of work. To this day I can put on any of their albums and have a wave a nostalgia rush over me as I revisit some of the greatest songs every put on record.

Obviously, the Beatles’ influence on music has been extraordinary and their influence can be felt everywhere from the biggest pop artists to the most obscure of indie bands. Some tracks stand out to me though as having an instantly recognizable Beatles-esque sound. I’ve collected some of my favorite of these songs (with necessary context) for this mix. I know there’s hundreds more songs that could easily go on this and I encourage you to also list some of your favorite Beatles-sounding songs in the comments. If I get enough good suggestions I may even make a part two. Enjoy!

MP3 Belle & Sebastian – Step Into My Office, Baby

The Lads from Liverpool are an obvious influence on Belle & Sebastian and this is one of their most overtly Beatles-sounding songs. You can especially hear it in the harmonies on “my place at 9”.

MP3 The Shins – Saint Simon

This track is reminscent of a Paul McCartney composition from the strings (think “Yesterday”), to the harmonies, to the guitar part during bridge.

MP3 Oasis – Don’t Look Back In Anger

Oasis have long been accused of Beatles-copying, a fact which they haven’t tried to hide. Noel was quoted as saying that this song is like “something the Beatles might’ve done”. The opening piano chords are almost identical to “Imagine” and even some of the lyrics (“start a revolution from my bed”) reference John Lennon.

MP3 Wilco – My Darling

This track is, in my opinion, Wilco’s homage to the Fab Four. The drums are right out of “Hey Jude”, the mellotron has “Strawberry Fields Forever” written all over them, and the “ba ba ba’s” seem like their nod to the Beatles’ early work.

MP3 The Polyphonic Spree – Hold Me Now

In the press release for this song the band claimed that “‘Hold Me Now’ is like a condensed ‘A Day In the Life’ had the Beatles managed to fit in a profound romantic declaration for a jittery age.” I’m not sure about all that but the trumpets do sound straight out of the Magical Mystery Tour era.

MP3 of Montreal – Your Magic Is Working

The Beatles are one of Montreal’s most constant influences and you can especially tell on tracks like these that they were moved by the Beatles’ early work. The bouncy melodic pop is similar to many of the bands work circa ’64-’65 and the harmonies have a subtle “Here, There and Everywhere” feel to them.

MP3 Elliott Smith – Say Yes

Elliott Smith is another artist that was heavily influenced by the Liverpool quartet and the closing track on Either/Or is one of his most Beatles sounding songs. Notice how Smith holds out the line “and you see how it is” which is almost exactly like John Lennon does on “I am the Walrus”.

MP3 Franz Ferdinand – Eleanor Put Your Boots On

Franz Ferdinand seemed to be conciously aiming for a Beatles sound on this song, with a title that nods at “Eleanor Rigby” and a pretty piano melody similar to some of McCartney’s ballads.

MP3 The New Pornographers – The Bleeding Heart Show

The New Pornographers have always excelled at their multiple part vocals which is Beatles-esque in itself, but the end of this song in particular with it’s “hey-la’s” seems to be directly influenced by the coda of “Hello, Goodbye” (listen to them sequentially, you’ll see what I mean).

MP3 Midlake – Balloon Maker

Midlake’s first album draws from the warbly, psychedelic side of the later-era Beatles, and this song with it’s trumpets and marching drums, in particular, sounds like it could have been a Sgt. Pepper’s b-side.

MP3 Spoon – Black Like Me

This is one of Spoon’s prettiest and best songs. The symphonic chamber pop of the track feel can be linked to much of the Fab Four’s work and the drums, piano, and spiraling string crescendo of the climax are very reminiscent of “A Day In The Life”.

***

Don’t forget to add your favorite Beatles-esque song in the comments. Happy Labor Day!