Category
Have You Met?
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09.07.10Have You Met…Safari?The Cleveland music scene has been surprising me in a wonderful way this summer with an explosion of impressive Indie rock outfits littering the Lake Eerie shores. One garage rock group whose moniker I have seen playing at venues across town is Safari. This trio fronted by John Carroll dropout Nico Walker are prepping to release their third LP, Maybe Tomorrow which will drop October 2nd on Cleveland's Exit Stencil Recordings. Safari - Connie Gets What She Wants [audio: http://dust-sleeve.com/audio/2010/9/safari.mp3] Claimed to be a "twist on the original sound", the eight track Maybe Tomorrow was recorded this past June. Available for streaming or ...
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08.24.10Have You Met…Hooray!?I've been really digging the music coming out of Wonder Beard Tapes lately, and this months release by Hooray! is no exception. The ten track cassette Bedroom Adventures is available digitally on Hooray!'s BandCamp, where he's also posted a number of other EP's. MP3:Hooray! - Bedroom Adventures [audio: http://dust-sleeve.com/audio/2010/8/hooray.mp3] There's not too much information out there on Hooray!, aside from it being a solo project from Ben Wagner who has a pretty great music blog, Ice Cream Dreams. What I do know is what I can hear on the tracks he's created so far, which are playful and experimental with a variety of ...
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08.17.10Have You Met…Dorena?Dorena are a Swedish five-piece on one of my favorite independent labels, Deep Elm. After skimming through a few tracks from their new sophomore album, About Everything and More I was blown away - this is some gorgeous music for a group of 21 year olds out of Gothenburg to be making. With predominantly ambient tracks floating between six and eight minutes, there's an anthematic and minimal structure to their arrangements. With enough variety between songs to hold your interest, I expect these guys will be around for a bit. MP3:Dorena - The Morning Bus [audio: http://dust-sleeve.com/audio/2010/8/the_morning_bus.mp3] I was interested to read some background ...
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07.13.10Have You Met…Carolina Chocolate Drops?North Carolina's string band, Carolina Chocolate Drops, dropped their label debut early this year on Nonesuch Records. Genuine Negro Jig features original tracks along with covers played in a traditional southern string style. The trio swaps banjo, jug, guitar, fiddle, harmonica, and anything else that can add to their roots Americana sound. MP3: Carolina Chocolate Drops - Hit Em Up Style [audio: http://dust-sleeve.com/audio/2010/7/hit_em_up_style.mp3] Easily the most interesting track on the record is a cover of Blu Cantrell's "Hit 'Em Up Style" - where contemporary R & B mixes with the Drops string style, creating a pretty strong statement on the history of ...
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05.04.10Have You Met… Big Tree?You guys, I am in love. Have you heard of this four piece out of Brooklyn who call themselves Big Tree? They self-released a debut in 2008 and have been chugging along ever since, dropping a Daytrotter session in late '09 and touring left and right with the likes of Akron/Family and Megafaun. June 1 they'll be giving us an EP called Home(here) - a poppy, harmony driven collection of three lonely songs just begging to fill up our ears and last.fm charts. There's a wonderful jazz influence behind their tunes, lead by Kaila McIntyre-Bader's adorably memorable vocals. They're gearing up to ...
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04.20.10Have You Met…Elk City?It's hard not to be smitten with Renée LoBue, the vocal chops behind New York's Elk City. Her voice is versatile and inviting, her lyrics open and unassuming. With help from a trio of backing musicians - Sean Eden on guitar, Ray Ketchem on drums, and Carl Baggaley manning the keys - Elk City's sound dips a toe in a number of genres, from rock to jazz and folk to soul. Close your eyes, imagine yourself in a 1960's living room getting ready for "cocktails and ice cream", and you've just about got it. Gearing up to drop their sophomore, House of ...
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04.13.10Have You Met…The Constellations?The Atlanta music scene is a diverse one. On one hand we have their dominating Hip Hop and R & B presence, and on the other we have the hipster approved rock and indie scene. So what happens when you put those two hands together? I'd imagine you get something like the Constellations. With a blend of hip hop, rock, funk, and psychedelic there seems to be something for just about everyone on Southern Gothic, their debut record out June 22nd on Virgin Records. This loyal Atlanta pack, lead by vocalist and songwriter Elijah Jones, is known for bringing some serious ...
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03.16.10Have You Met…Rooftops?Nothing like a little math rock to start your day off, is there? That's why it's my pleasure to introduce you to Bellingham, Washinton's own Rooftops. I really dig the way this foursome layers its instrumentation of horns, strings, guitars and percussion while staying shy of much vocal interaction. Ambient and instrumental groups can tend to be either really interesting, or really boring - so I was glad to find Rooftops falling into the first category. They dropped a soft release of their debut, A Forest of Polarity, in November with limited distribution. But perk your ears, new Rooftops fans, a re-release ...
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02.23.10Have You Met…Communipaw?In my mind all bands that come out of the New Brunswick, New Jersey scene are going to be some flavor of punk or ska. Maybe I watched the Bouncing Souls documentary a few too many times, but somewhere along the way this stereotype was born. That's why I was both surprised and impressed when I heard the self-titled release from Hub City natives, Communipaw - a band that floats effortlessly into the indie and alt-rock genres. With singer/songwriter Brian Bond behind the wheel, Communipaw's debut is easy to love. Full of pop sensibilities and upbeat, sunshiny tunes it's no wonder ...
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02.16.10Have You Met: Yukon Blonde?Man, we almost missed the boat on this one. If it wasn't for my girlfriend listening to WUOG yesterday and hearing a track so catchy and folksy and free that it forced her to call in and ask who was playing through her stereo, well then I wouldn't be introducing you to Yukon Blonde today. But, lucky for us she was listening to WUOG when "Wind Blows" came on the radio, and she loved it so much that she made sure I loved it, and I loved it so much that I'm making sure you love it. This single off the debut, ...
