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5:15PM : Easy Star All-Stars
Considered a true leader in modern reggae, the Easy Star label was conceived in New York City in the mid 1990's by founders Michael G., Eric Smith, Lem Oppenheimer and Remy Gerstein. Their appreciation of the classic sounds of Jamaica, along with their knowledge of the broader techniques used in American music has made for a distinct approach to their albums and a much needed fresh face to the music as a whole. The East Star All-Stars are a collaboration of many different artists from the label who have come together to cover classic records, like Dark Side of the Moon, Ok Computer, and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club transforming them into deep dub and reggae grooves. Their record, Dub Side of the Moon (2003), the complete reggae re-vision of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon is one of the most successful reggae albums of the 21st century. It has spent over 5 years on Billboard’s Top Reggae Chart and Reggae Catalog Chart.
Label: http://www.easystar.com/
Artist: http://www.easystar.com/artists/show/3 , www.myspace.com/easystarallstars |
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4:30PM : Deer Tick
Deer Tick began in December of 2004 in the bedroom of Providence native, John McCauley. After years of being on the road, fully developing his distinct howl of a voice, and honing his guitar skills, McCauley had earned himself a following of devoted fans and supporters. War Elephant, Deer Tick's first album, has a dark, disconsolate vibe, a product of McCauley's distressed vocals and the sparse backing tracks, puts it in a hard-to-pigeonhole category all its own, although it loosely fits into the eccentric Americana style pioneered by Devendra Banhart and Vetiver.
“War Elephant displays an astonishing level of complexity and lyrical depth in spite of its melodically simple facade. Maybe McCauley's an older soul than he lets on.”
– Treble
Label: http://www.partisanrecords.com/
Artist: http://www.deertickmusic.com/ |
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4:00PM : J. Tillman
J. Tillman's Vacilando Territory Blues is his most collaborative and dynamic effort to date. The breadth of Tillman's abilities as a songwriter emerge on VTB in an array of musical personalities bound by his lyrical existential dread and economical arrangements. In 2008, Tillman joined friends & musical collaborators, Fleet Foxes to create their highly acclaimed self-titled debut album, highlighting Tillman’s drumming and vocals. Most of VTB features contributions from fellow Foxes members Casey Wescott and Christian Wargo.
“Singer/songwriter J.Tillman’s music paints languid, sadly beautiful portraits of love and life on the margins with the moody depth of Nick Drake and the country-influenced textures of Ryan Adams.”
-Mark Deming, All Music Guide
Label: http://westernvinyl.com/
Artist: http://www.jtillmanmusic.com/ ; http://www.myspace.com/jtillman |
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3:30PM : We Were Promised Jetpacks
Following closely in the footsteps of The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit, We Were Promised Jetpacks are yet another hugely talented young Scottish band added to the FatCat Records roster. Though recent months have seen the band tour the UK with their aforementioned friends, the four preceding years have consisted of local gigs in and around Glasgow and Edinburgh, allowing WWPJ to find their sound and hone their live performance. Now veterans, the band you will encounter are a cacophonous tour de force: louder, wilder, avidly literate; fiercely melodic, yet eagerly restrained. With an album scheduled for May 2009, and singles around this, the forthcoming year of releases and touring is set to be a busy one for We Were Promised Jetpacks.
"The phrase 'guitar band' covers a multitude of sinners in the pop battleground. We Were Promised Jetpacks, apart from having the best name in showbiz, meet all other requirements necessary to lift them above their peers. Their live sets rip along at breakneck pace but somehow deliver a mini-anthem in every tune, merging Postcard and C86 jangle with full-on alt.rock."
- The List
Label: http://fat-cat.co.uk/fatcat/
Band: www.myspace.com/wewerepromisedjetpacks |
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3:00PM : Blind Pilot
Israel Nebeker (vocals, guitar) and Ryan Dobrowski (drums) are Blind Pilot. Friends since college, Israel and Ryan have traveled many a mile to get to where they are today literally. Last year, Israel and Ryan embarked on a West Coast bike tour. This wasn¹t a tour where they road bikes, and had a van hauling the equipment. They hauled everything on their bikes. No gas. One hundred percent leg-powered. Playing little towns that don¹t often get shows by "touring bands" they were able to share their brand of music with people who weren¹t particularly familiar with indie pop, or indie anything. But they found that heartfelt lyrics and beautiful music appeal to just about everyone.
“Sounds a lot like what James Mercer of The Shins would sound like if he recorded a solo, acoustic album. It’s quite wonderful”
-Paste Magazine
Label: http://www.expungedrecords.com/
Artist: http://blindpilotmusic.wordpress.com/ |
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2:30PM : maus haus
San Francisco indie-experimentalists maus haus deliver an engagingly weird and groovy blend of experimental electronica and grungy indie rock. Their 2008 release, Lark Marvelsdelivers 12 songs in a variety of modes, often recalling 60s psych pop, krautrock, avant jazz, brian eno's pop albums, and cuddly electronic sounds.. They've been opening for the likes of Black Moth Super Rainbow and Four Tet, and it's not hard to understand why. Very fresh.
"Maus Haus combine a paranoid insomniac vibe with playful pop lines and cleverly cinematic lyrics that make them out to be the bastard child of Kraftwerk hanging with Captain Beefheart that would obviously have a video starring Simon Le Bon and the boys. That is an admittedly nutso sentence, but it's hard to pinpoint exactly what Maus Haus is - other than totally rad."
-Christen Thomas, RCRD LBL
Label: http://www.prettybluepresents.com/
Artist: http://www.myspace.com/maushausmusic |
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2:00PM : The Phenomenal Handclap Band
The Phenomenal Handclap Band’s sound is an anthemic, dancefloor-oriented blend of progressive rock, disco, electro, and '60s soul with sprinklings of hip hop-styled orchestral breakbeats and moody, synth-heavy hooks. Embassy Sound Productions’s Daniel Collás and Sean Marquand, two New York underground club DJs who became restless with the concept of playing other people's music, began to focus on producing: The PHCB is their result. They are a supergroup comprised of a "who's who" of the indie rock and underground soul scenes. Members of such diverse bands as TV on the Radio, L'Trimm, Calla, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Mooney Suzuki, and Sí Se all contribute their individual talents.
“New York’s answer to Broken Social Scene”
–Music Snobbery Blog
Label: http://friendlyfirerecordings.com
Artist: http://phenomenalhandclapband.blogspot.com/ ; www.myspace.com/embassyproductions |
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1:30PM : Deastro
When Randolph Chabot first began recording his own albums at age 12, he discovered a means of living out his fantasies. Using whatever instrument he could find, Chabot began constructing hyper-emotional dream worlds—teenage symphonies peopled by superheroes, aliens, lost souls, and star-crossed lovers. He’s been zipping through the clouds ever since, streaking the skies as his superhuman alter-ego, Deastro. The 22-year-old pop prodigy records in the basement of his parents’ house. He’s self-released more than three albums’ worth of songs, drawn all his own album covers, and played countless ecstatic, synth-driven live shows in Detroit’s network of DIY venues.
“As synth-soaked electronic pop attacks the entire world, Detroit musicans have the distinct advantage of being surrounded by the click, whir and constant hum of factories and automobiles”
–Paste Magazine
Label: http://ghostly.com/
Artist: http://www.myspace.com/deastro ; http://deastroband.blogspot.com/ |
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1:00PM : Marching Band
Marching Band is Erik Sunbring and Jacob Lind, a Swedish-based indie-pop pair that combine eccentric musical elements with mainstay rock sounds, creating a unique sonic fusion that finds instrumentation of xylophone, marimba, banjo and vibraphone meshing with guitar, bass, drums and lush vocal harmonies. The band's song "Trust Your Stomach" will be featured on the soundtrack for Nick And Nora's Infinite Playlist (Sony Pictures) and in the upcoming film alongside acts such as Vampire Weekend, Band Of Horses, Modest Mouse, The National, Mark Mothersbaugh and more. They continue to land in playlists around the globe as their critically lauded album Large Spark features an eclectic mix of instrumentation that delivers sweet atmospheric folk and indie-pop.
“I think what we have here is one of the dark horses of 2008, and I wouldn't be surprised if Marching Band become one of the festival-circuit buzz bands next year. Girls room poster-worthy pop, indeed.”
–Other Music
Label: http://www.urbandlazar.com/
Artist: http://www.marchingband.se/index.php ; http://www.myspace.com/marchingband |
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12:30PM : Theresa Andersson
Melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre; these are the traditional building blocks of pop music. Although you will find them in abundance on “Hummingbird, Go!”, Theresa Andersson’s most recent album, it hardly sounds like conventional pop. That's because the New Orleans by way of Sweden singer-songwriter chose to approach her craft from different perspectives before she even began composing. "I stopped thinking in terms of traditional songwriting," Andersson explains. "I worked on shapes, forms, and textures, scents and colors. Elements which are more earthy and organic inspired me." Recorded in her kitchen, DIY indie-pop songstress Theresa Andersson plucked, picked and even tapped everything from violins to soda pop bottles to create her uniquely beautiful album alongside songwriter/producer Tobias Froberg (Peter Moren's The Last Tycoon).
“Brokenness, resolve, loneliness and redemption pour from the belly deep grain in her vice. Recommended.”
– All Music Guide
Label: http://www.basinstreetrecords.com/
Artist: http://www.myspace.com/theresaanderssonmusic |
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12:00PM : Y La Bamba
Y La Bamba formed in early 2008 as Luz Elena Mendoza began playing shows, and wanted a name other than her own to play under. She began writing and making home recordings of her songs, one by one. During this process she hosted an open mic regularly at a sake bar in northeast Portland. This is where Y La Bamba started. She met Ben Meyercord, who Elena describes as, “one of the many beautiful people I met who opened me up and saved my soul.” Meyercord and Mendoza began playing together and brought in Luz Elena’s long time friend and collaborator, Mike Kitson on drums, with the addition of David Kyle on lead guitar and Eric Shrapel on accordion. Y La Bamba was complete.
“This is an astonishingly confident breakthrough with a precise scope in its angelical vocals and the revelatory lyricism which is evocative and religiously codified. With huge possibilities to succeed in the world music circuit, it’s also a charmingly catchy album that should be able to overpass its folk and break into the pastoral side of the melodramatic popular song.”
- Club Fonograma
Label: http://gypsypoprecords.com/home.html
Artist: http://www.myspace.com/ylabamba |
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