Friday, December 21, 2012

New Music!!

As we head into death by calender dates, I guess you should have new music to help you through this tough time.  Plus, with Christmas next week, maybe something new is needed.  Wednesday found me raking up 20 plus bags of leaves from my yard.  While doing this, I was able to listen to a lot of music before my i-pod lost battery power.  Thursday, I went and saw the Hobbit and upon returning home, returned to a regular scheduled program of going to Bandcamp.  Here is what I found.

The Henderson's - Indian Summer

Indian Summer cover art
Formed out of Fort Worth, Texas, The Henderson's provided me with a wonderful throw back feel.  Mostly to the days of Pet Sounds, by the Beach Boys.  While entirely not like them, I found myself fantasizing about a life in a different time.  These cats are very melodic and the rhythm of it all is right on time.  There are many people who can't get the mix of everything they are trying to do to fit perfectly.  The Henderson's do.  I felt like I was listening to the soundtrack to The Big Chill.  It makes you want to be in October again at the lake house with your closest friends and being reminded of why you are friends.  Reminded of why life has led you to the place you are currently in.  Everyone deserves to be 35 and have an Indian Summer and thankfully The Henderson's help us to get there.  If you look them up on BandCamp, you can actually download the album free.  All they ask for is your ear, your heart, and your time.  I could not find a song link from the album on soundcloud or youtube but if you go here for musical peace, you will find all that you need from this band.

Daniel and the Lion - Pretty Young Thing Cover (P.Y.T.C)

P.Y.T.C. (Pretty Young Thing Cover) cover artVery rarely do I find myself liking covers of songs.  Sometimes I enjoy a remix or a mash up, but covers are hard for me to enjoy.  When I do like it, I like it because the artist has found a way to make it their own.  Sometimes I am pulled to music by the artist name, a video, or even by the artwork.  This cover made me laugh enough that I had to give it a hear.  What I heard was something I wasn't expecting.  First, the piano struck me with the sound of an old black and white film's musical score.  Secondly, the vocals sounded more of the Usher variety.  Slow, smooth, deliberate.  Each syllable delivered with emotion.  No rush, no hurry.  While not overly awed with the electronic addition, I guess the artist felt that it had to be added.  If he could redo it, then I think it would be best if it was omitted.  Throw in the slowdown with the Kenny G sax element and wow, what a cover.  Once again, no location outside of BandCamp for the music, so enjoy it here.  Plus, another bonus - free download.

Portage and Main

Next up are two tracks from a group from Vancouver, BC.  The first track is called "Wake Up."  The track is smooth and flowing of what you want to hear when winter is starting to finish.  The band is partnered with "The Harpoonist and The Axe Murder."  Not too sure who is more of the influence on this track, but they all pull it off greatly.  Kind of like a little Allman Brothers, if they were modern.  That is a wonderful compliment in my book.



The next track is another single titled, "Never Had The Time."  It is decent in my view.  I've been listening to a lot of folk and chill music lately.  This track is good, but it's just missing something for me.  I've never been a big fan of country music and maybe that is what I find in this song that softly pushes me away.  You can check it out  here on their BandCamp page.

Ricky Eat Acid - You Get Sick, You Regret Things

You get sick; you regret things (remastered) cover artI've been on a slight ambient music kick lately.  I think that with the weather here finally turning to winter, it makes you sit inside and want to ponder things.  You want to sit by the fire with a good book.  You want to sit at your desk with a cup of hot cocoa and write something to someone somewhere.  You think of the end of the year and the seasons and just think about nothing and everything at the same time.  Ricky Eat Acid (great band name) is the music that plays softly in the background when I do this.  The album is smooth.  It is soft.  There is sense of effortless trying in it.  Everything picked for where and when it needs to be played correctly.  The music makes you ponder the end of things and your regrets a little bit.  For me, it helps provide just a bit of peace before I make the decisions that are going to change a lot of my life here soon.  Ambient music might not be your thing.  You might think of meditation and yoga and the such as "whatever," but I find that it is necessary to be calmed at certain times.  Once again, no true link for a single track but you can check it out on BandCamp here.
 
The Hood Internet - "Goooo In Paris (Jay-Z & Kanye West X TNGHT)
 
 



All I can say is these boys be crazy.  Straight cray.  Once again the guys over at The Hood Internet have found a way to take two tracks and make them into one completely new one.  I enjoy a lot of their mash-up work.  Sometimes it doesn't come out right to me, but then they hit one right on the head, dead center.  You find traces of the original, but then it disappears just like your sanity as soon as you get into.  The best part of The Hood Internet is that they take something you know and add it with something you've never ever thought to be introduced to. Then you start asking yourself, "Who is that other band and what does their stuff sound like?"  I don't know much about TNGHT, but I'm willing to go into the rabbit hole and come out of the other side.  Ball so hard.

Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man

Bat for Lashes’s avatarLastly is the newest contribution from Bat for Lashes.  This album actually came out a couple months ago and I finally was able to get a hand on it.  I love this band.  Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes, has a truly beautiful voice.  The band has done great work improving and fine tuning since their previous release (Two Suns).  In a country putting out amazing bands, it is nice to see a British group trying to continue to do what they do best.  To not compete with The XX, but to compliment them by being true and wonderful only improves the music scene not water it down.  The highlight of the album is "Laura."  Just like "Daniel" from Two Suns was the highlight, so to is this track.  It is a fall/winter track.  It is heart pulling and felt.  It is a song for being the last one to the train tracks as the last train pulls away.  It is the moment when the boat pulls away and you never got to tell the person aboard what you felt.  It tells you that everything will be okay.  "You are the train that crashed my heart/You the glitter in the dark/Oh Laura/You are more than a superstar."  Yes BTF, you are more than a superstar.  You are a quieter, gentler Tori Amos.  You are a melodic change to a world of noise and chaos.





Hope the holidays find you well and warm.  Until next week.  Happy treasure hunting.

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