Author Archives: the OCMD

Canadian Invasion

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The best thing about my ‘job’ as a blogger (I say that with air quotes), are the presents I get in my inbox from new artists and record labels promoting their goods.  It’s like a treasure hunt, sometimes the hunt leaves you empty handed but other times you hit jackpot.  That’s the way I felt this week as I listened to two new releases from Canadian artists, The High Dials and Wintersleep. Check it out for yourself.

The High Dials

Montreal-based The High Dials make lush, intelligent psychedelic pop; dreamy anthems built on bittersweet melodies, bright harmonies and moody guitar sounds.  They already have a notable fan base with the likes of Brian Jonestown Massacre, who’ve declared them the ‘best band in North America’ and Rod Argent, legendary songwriter of the Zombies. Their new album ‘Moon Country‘ released this week.

The High Dials play this Saturday, October 18, at The Hotel Utah in San Francisco.

 

Listen to: These Days Mean Nothing to Me

 
Open Up the Gates


Wintersleep

I’ve been listening to this album from Halifax- based, Wintersleep, repeatedly since I got it.  Their new album, ‘Welcome to the Night Sky’, rose to the top of the Canadian indie rock charts drawing comparisons to acts such as Radiohead, Mogwai and Low. The album, which has been called a masterpiece by many, is now available in the US and expected to take America by storm. I’m hooked.

Don’t miss Wintersleep at Slims in San Francisco November 24.

 

Listen to:   Weighty Ghost

Listen to: Drunk on Aluminum

 

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Juana Molina – Un Dia

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Artist: Juana Molina
Album: Un Dia
File Under: Folktronica, World Music
Recommended if You Like: Beth Orton, Four Tet, David Byrne
Featured Track: Un Dia

Argentinean singer/songwriter, Juana Molina, is an amazing interpreter of sound. I discovered her by chance many years ago at Bimbos, opening for a band I can’t even remember now because her performance was so compelling and mesmerizing I’ve forgotten everything else about that night.  I’ve been an ardent fan of her dreamlike, hypnotic music ever since.  

Listening to Juana Molina is an experience in and of itself.  She’s mastered the art of looped acoustic guitar, percussion, keyboards, feedback and melodic vocals to bring to life the most far-out hypnotic sound you’ve ever laid your ears on.  Seeing her live, however, the experience transcends to another level for you realize all of this sound is created solely and independently by her.  She’s a one woman show and her talent is mind boggling.

Her fifth full length album, Un Dia, is more adventurous, upbeat and rhythmic than prior releases – making it probably more of a cross over album for her.  The feature track here, ‘Un Dia’, will give you a good sample of the beats to come on her album.  And it just gets better from there, looping and building in layers and complexity. ‘Los Hongos de Marosa’ is a highlight of the album for me. 

If you’d like to dig deeper into Juana’s musical psyche, take a look at this video.

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New Brett Dennen Album for $5 on AmieStreet.com

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Brett Dennen, named by Rolling Stone as “One of the 10 Artists to Watch in 2008”, has made his new album, Hope for the Hopeless, available for pre-order through AmieStreet.com for $5.  Starting today, October 14, you have two weeks to pre-order the album for just $5. For each album purchased, AmieStreet.com will donate $5 to the Mosaic Project, an organization of close personal significance to Brett Dennen.

To pre-order Hope for the Hopeless and give $5 to a great cause go to AmieStreet.com/brettdennen.

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Trendspotting: SF Bands You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of – Part 3

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Geographer

San Francisco-based Geographer have that lush baroque pop sound that draws lots of comparisons to Andrew Bird and Arcade Fire. Their new album Innocent Ghosts released this summer and is getting good attention.  Listen to Can’t You Wait:

 

 

Girls 

This is my favorite San Francisco indie rock band at the moment.  Their debut album, Lust for Life, is one of the contenders for the 2008 SF Weekly Music Awards.  We’ll find out later this week if they take the prize.   I’m so intrigued by lead singer, Christopher Owens, in both his personal style and vocals.  He’s got all the qualities of an eccentric rock star and sounds like Elvis Costello to boot. Featured is the track Hellhole Ratrace. 

 

 

 

 

The Heavenly States 

Oakland-based The Heavenly States is also a contender in the 2008 SF Weekly Music Awards in the Indie Rock category.  Their vibe is wholly different with a pure, straight up rock sound reminiscent to The Hold Steady. Take a listen to ‘Lost in the Light‘ from their self-produced album Delayer.

 

 

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Free Music Friday: Arch M

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Arch M – 21st Union

This up and comer from South London calling himself Arch M has been enthralling me lately with his lo-fi aesthetic.  His EP cassette, Mountain Tan Commericials, is available for free download here, and his full album Moon Tan should be released on the Cavern label some time soon. 

Check out the track 21st Union.  So nice.

 

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Chad VanGaalen – Soft Airplane

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Artist: Chad VanGaalen
Album: Soft Airplane
File Under: Indie Rock
Recommended if You Like: Neil Young, Beck
Featured Track: Willow Tree

I once heard Chad VanGaalen described as the schizophrenic son of Neil Young. And that completely made sense to me.  The comparisons to Neil Young are obvious artistically and personally. Both are famously recluse and seem to favor the self-sufficiency of being a one-man band with a penchant for delicate, wavering vocals and a homemade aesthetic.  

It’s here that the similarities end, however.  As Chad is a much darker character. His lyrics are renown for being morbid and macabre. He seems fascinated by his own death, as the lyrics on ‘Willow Tree’ attest:  “You can take my body / put it in a boat / light it on fire / send it out to sea.” Or the notion of his neighbor eating his dog in his own basement on ‘Cries of the Dead’.

I know, it sounds ridiculously depressing, but you really don’t need to have a morbid fascination to appreciate this album.  There’s a stark beauty in the basement-recorded ‘Soft Airplane’ (as well as a nice cover of The Shins ‘City of Electric Light’). And while it’s true that the basement can be a dark and scary place at times, it can also be filled with wonder and surprise.

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Trendspotting: SF Bands You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of – Part 2

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Deerhoof

Not to be confused with Deerhunter, which I used to do early on, Deerhoof definitely falls into that category of local ‘experimental’ bands. Like most bands in this genre, I usually have one of two reactions – 1) the band is being weird for the sake of being weird or 2) I’m intrigued by the tension created by the music’s unexpected shifts and dissonance. Deerhoof falls into the latter category for me.Listen to ‘Offend Maggie’:

Dreamdate

I don’t know much about Oakland-based girl band, Dreamdate, other than their tunes are short, catchy and make me feel good.  And at the end of the day, isn’t that all that matters?  Listen for yourself and see.

Listen to ‘Why Don’t You Make Me’:

 

 

Film School

San Francisco-based Film School is just the kind of psych/garage rock, newgaze sound I like.  Listening to them is like a game of ‘Name that Tune’ or early 90s musical influence – The Jesus and Mary Chain… My Bloody Valentine… New Order.  Whatever the case, it all sounds good to me.  Even better live.

Listen to ‘Two Kinds’:

 

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Brett Dennen – Hope for the Hopeless

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Brett Dennen’s third album, ‘Hope for the Hopeless‘, is due out October 21 and will be followed by a 11 city mini tour, San Francisco included.  The mini-tour is a return to the smaller venues Brett began playing just five years ago. Dennen and his full band are preparing a larger headlining tour for early 2009. 

Take a listen to the track, ‘Make You Crazy’ featuring Femi Kuti and be sure to catch him at one of these stops.


November 3             Portland, OR             Doug Fir

November 5             Seattle, WA            Triple Door
November 6             San Francisco, CA            The Independent
November 7            Los Angeles, CA            Hotel Café

November 8            Los Angeles, CA            Hotel Café

November 10            Denver, CO            Walnut Room

November 11            Austin, TX            The Continental Club

November 13            Chicago, IL            Schubas

November 14            Annapolis, MD            Ramshead Onstage

November 15            Philadelphia, PA            Tin Angel

November 16            Boston, MA            Passim
November 18            New York, NY            Canal Room

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Brightblack Morning Light (BBML) – Motion to Rejoin

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Artist: Brightblack Morning Light
Album: Motion to Rejoin
File Under: Freak Folk
Recommended if You Like: Devendra Banhardt, Joanna Newsom, Spiritualized
Featured Track: Oppressions Each

Brightblack Morning Light is headphone heaven mood music to me.  It’s trippy, hypnotic and spellbinding. ‘Motion to Rejoin’ is the third album they recorded from a secluded adobe in New Mexico.  And the tempo of the album seems to be indicative of the speed at which BBML’s world moves – slooooooow.

Check out this excerpt from BBML’s artist statement for insight into this eccentric duo:

Previous to this recording, while BBML toured Europe, singer Naybob Shineywater sang each show with an arrowhead in his mouth. Why? To let his own sung words & breathe touch this stone before european ears could hear them. 

“I was not singing for war, but to engage the spirit of the maker of the arrowhead itself, to offer up Peace, that his warrior effort find a new respect, and to help my own warrior spirit sing in Peace,” reveals Naybob.

After returning from the european tour, a chance to move in to an adobe on a secluded enchanted mesa came to Naybob. With only 4 solar panels, it matched his desire to live in a meager way while making the 2nd BBML LP. “Motion To Rejoin” is anti nuclear and coal, but also aligned with the phases of the sun. “With only 4 solar panels you are entirley dependent upon how much the sun is shining,” informs Naybob.

Oh yeah.  Pass the peace pipe, Naybob, and sign me up for your Cafe du Nord shows October 14 and 15.

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