Elbow’s current release, Seldom Seen Kid, has officially won the UK’s coveted Mercury Prize. And deservedly so. It’s an outstanding album and one of my favorites so far this year. Lead singer Guy Garvey was quoted as saying: `I know I’m supposed to be cool, but it’s literally the best thing that’s ever happened to us.”
Congratulations. And go get the album if you haven’t done so already.
Listen to Grounds for Divorce:
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A: If you read this Indie music blog, you’re a low self-esteemed – but creative – slacker.
I read an interesting article today in the BBC News of a study completed by Heriot-Watt University in Scotland that suggest musical tastes and personality are closely related. The study surveyed more than 36,000 people around the world and found the following personality traits for these music genres. They are still collecting surveys. Give your two cents here.
BLUES |
 |
High self-esteem, creative, outgoing, gentle and at ease |
JAZZ |
|
High self-esteem, creative, outgoing and at ease |
CLASSICAL MUSIC |
|
High self-esteem, creative, introvert and at ease |
RAP |
|
High self-esteem, outgoing |
OPERA |
|
High self-esteem, creative, gentle |
COUNTRY AND WESTERN |
|
Hardworking, outgoing |
REGGAE |
|
High self-esteem, creative, not hardworking, outgoing, gentle and at ease |
DANCE |
|
Creative, outgoing, not gentle |
INDIE |
|
Low self-esteem, creative, not hard working, not gentle |
BOLLYWOOD |
|
Creative, outgoing |
ROCK/HEAVY METAL |
|
Low self-esteem, creative, not hard-working, not outgoing, gentle, at ease |
CHART POP |
|
High self-esteem, not creative, hardworking, outgoing, gentle, not at ease |
SOUL |
|
High self-esteem, creative, outgoing, gentle, at ease |
High Places is offering the beautiful track ‘From Stardust to Sentience’ off their forthcoming eponymous LP for free download. The group is scheduled to play with Ponytail at Bottom of the Hill October 8. Their EP – 03/07-09/07 – is one of my favorites of the year. Can’t wait to hear more from this group.
Listen to ‘From Stardust to Sentience’:
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My son is 3 years old and already playing the field. He has three girlfriends and speaks highly of all them – Monet, Olivia and Susannah. But Monet holds a special place in his heart. To him, she is his wife (his words, not mine). We recently chaperoned a date between the two to his favorite pizza joint, Gaspares, in the Richmond district. The entire trip to and from the restaurant, they held hands in the back seat, giggled, kicked their feet and screamed AY! AY! AY! AY! to Vampire Weekend’s A Punk.
Artist: Sam Champion
Album: Heavenly Bender
File Under: Classic Indie Rock
Recommended if You Like: Pavement, Stephen Malkmus, Built to Spill
Featured Tracks: Jealous Shakes, Be Mine Everyone, Dead Moon
Are you a Pavement fan? If not, stop reading this RIGHT NOW. I’m sorry to say we can no longer continue this relationship. If you are, you’re gonna like the latest release, Heavenly Bender, from the Brooklyn-based quartet, Sam Champion. Steeped in lo-fi, garage-rock jams, their sound may be a little too Wowee Zowee for the non-Pavement aficionado, but for me it’s the perfect combination as bands like Pavement /Stephen Malkmus represent everything I like in Indie Rock music – crunchy guitar jams sandwiched between sweet harmonies. My indie rock PB&J. That and I like the band’s sense of humor. Check out their promo video below.
Listen to ‘Dead Moon’:
Listen to ‘Jealous Shakes‘:
Listen to ‘Be Mine Everyone’:
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Kings of Leon released a new video for the track, ‘Sex on Fire’, last week. Their album, Only By the Night is due out September 23. And from what I’ve heard so far, it’s gonna be good! Kings of Leon play The Warfield on October 17.
I’m in a 70s bohemian state of mind at the moment. All I want are wide leg jeans, vintage print blouses and great big sunglasses so I can look at the world through yellow-tinged lenses and feel like this. Luckily there’s a new crop of lo-fi, AM Gold music to match my mood. Enjoy my Sunshine Daydream. To get the MP3 file, sign up for the OCMD Mixtape newsletter.
I listened to ‘The Columbia’ by Lacktherof about 25 times today. The first time I heard it, I was immediately transported to this moment in Fiji – floating in the warm ocean during sunset. We got married there on New Year’s Eve and all of our favorite people joined us – to take over an island – for a week of frolicking and celebration. It was the best week ever and, like the song, want to replay it over and over again.
Lackthereof, ‘The Columbia’ from the album The Haunted.
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I can usually tell if I’ve picked the right movie by the previews they screen. I apply a similar philosophy to the shows I see. A quick scan of the crowd and I can tell whether or not I’m in the right place. Based on the sea of plaid shirts and scarves I saw last night at the South San Gabriel/Centro-Matic line up at The Rickshaw Stop, I knew I was in good hands.
Will Johnson is the prolific singer/songwriter and front man to both South San Gabriel and Centro-Matic. And what a pleasure it was to see both the soft side and the electric side of this man in one evening. The band has recently released a double album called Dual Hawks. Centro-Matic is featured on disc one and South San Gabriel, the band’s softer side, is on disc two. The two bands are comprised of essentially the same members, aside from a few extra friends – and a pedal guitar – for South San Gabriel. And I am such a sucker for the pedal steel guitar.
Here’s a taste of the two bands for you.
South San Gabriel, ‘Trust to Lose‘:
Centro-Matic, ‘I, The Kite’:
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I’m certain that if Jean Paul Sartre were alive today, he would change his definition of existential hell from being trapped in a hotel room for an eternity with those you loathe to being trapped in an airplane with an unruly 3 year old, a crew of surly flight attendants and 200 other people you want absolutely nothing to do with.
Such was my life yesterday. After exhausting my arsenal of all the appropriate (yet ineffectual) ways to encourage ‘good’ behavior and ‘listening ears’ during a long day of solo travel with my son, I resorted to scare tactics. Like a good existentialist, I laid out his choices and consequences. He could be a good boy, listen to Mommy and ride on the airplane in the seat next to me. Or he could choose to be bad boy, not listen to Mommy and ride in the cargo hold with the pirates. Did it work? You betcha. Am I a bad Mother? Probably. But desperate times call for desperate measures and I was at my wits end.
After putting the hellion to bed, I soothed myself with a nice bottle of Macon Villages and some Heartless Bastards. (It’s a nice pairing, by the way.) And by the end of the evening I had completely rationalized all of my actions. Except for that resignation letter part of the day. I’ll save that for another post…when I get the courage to share.
Heartless Bastards play The Independent on November 8. Here’s the track for Blue Day.
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