Possessed by Paul James

"what Possessed by Paul James brings to the table is pure, unchecked passion. Every song gets every ounce of energy, attention, love, and dedication that Possessed possesses, leaving nothing behind. Blind, rabid, berserk, eyes rolling up in the back of the head, stampeding buffalo herd passion."  The Triggerman, Saving Country Music

Possessed by Paul James - Hurricane

The Republic of Wolves

I'm really loving these guys! They manage to mix the post-rock guitar sound, with gorgeous vocals. The Republic of Wolves have a recent EP which features an acoustic version of 'Spare Keys', that I highly recommend;

The Republic of Wolves - Spare Keys

Soundproof's Office Xmas Party this Saturday!

Soundproof is having its Christmas event this Saturday Dec 21st with the theme of being an office xmas party, with the cliches of the workplace like a Secret Santa gift exchange between the Djs and (likely drunken) karaoke at the end of the party.

Wear your ugliest festive sweaters and (optionally) if you want to get in on the fun of the Secret Santa exchange bring a boxed transfer item and set it for 0L under the tree for anyone to grab!

7 Djs will be playing their best mixes of alternative Christmas tunes to get you in the holiday spirit while we dance, get eggnoggy, and play a few rounds of a little interactive game we have called "Destroy the Xmas Tree"! It doesn't falsely advertise! The club will also have ice so you can skate if you want. Festive prizes handed out every hour!

Best of all 8-10 your host Dox will be hosting holiday karaoke, come sing your Xmas favs old and new and make an ass of yourself for all our amusement!

Schedule of the day's holiday hijinx:

12-1pm- Pope Dagostino
1-2pm- Paradox Messmer
2-3pm- Kookie Hax
3-4pm- Janus Planer
4-5pm- Frequency Picnic
5-6pm- Ophelia Balczo
6-7pm- Moby Tenenbaum
7-8pm- Paradox Messmer
8-10pm SLT- Holiday Karaoke hosted by Dox

SLURL:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Terre%20Des%20Mortes/112/108/51

add to the songs of the year thread

I loved hearing everyone's songs.

my two for the year are,

Lavenderlight by Lovers (alliteration!)

https://play.spotify.com/album/04AGkBRdeAH5coyV2rkY9U

and Calm down by the Love Language

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj45XbqsnAw

Happy Christmas soon!

Enthropy Panache

Soviet Soviet - Hidden [Fate]

I never really understood what was all the fuss with this post-punk revival thing. All I know is that when my neighbour Gerald the hipster starts talking about it, it’s already lost to me. The Italian trio Soviet Soviet is one of those bands who have nothing to do with the mainstream hype cycles or media publicity. Releasing their debut full-length after six years of existence tells me these guys know that good things come when good things feel like coming, no matter what’s hot this week or what decade it happens to be. They also know how to make catchy post-punk hooks - oh my goddess do they know! And forget about all the usual doom and gloom issues here - if this stuff doesn’t get you running towards the dance floor then you’d better check you aren’t dead!



Chelsea Wolfe - Feral Love [Pain Is Beauty]

After first being exposed to the searing guitars on her ‘Apocalypsis’ album, I knew there were great things to expect from Chelsea Wolfe. I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon and with such a quantity. I mean - how many commercially successful singer-songwriters out there would be able to fuse Indie Pop with Doom and Dark Metal, Dark Ambient, Folk, Goth, Electronica and Björk while making it all sound very fresh and completely their own? How many would dare to make a tribute album to Rudimentary Peni? Even without this kind of backing evidence it is clear that ‘Pain Is Beauty’ deserves our most sincere nods of approval and applauses with hands clad in black velvet. Hell, I don’t want to limit the admiration of this album to the average goth only. For all I care you could be a construction worker or a skate park brat - give it a listen and you’ll surely hear this music is not a laughing matter. ‘Pain Is Beauty’ is sore like a fresh bruise and I wouldn’t be surprised if playing it alone in an old house in the midst of the woods would get you in touch with the beyond. I’m still trying to get back to normal myself.

No Age — C'mon Stimmung

Sometimes it takes half a year to find it, sometimes it takes a lifetime. Here's tonight's spoil, published August this year:

Silly figure skating costume party tomorrow @ Soundproof!

Live out the "magical" world of pro figure skating with Soundproof's Theme Night Thursday: Blades of Glory tomorrow, December 12th!

Wear your most ridiculously gaudy and glittery costumes, get on your skates and hit the ice rink at Soundproof while DJs Dox and Brodie from 6-10pm play winter themed indie tunes for your interpretive skating moves (or just dancing). $500L for best/most outlandish/tacky costume!  Free skates will be provided if you don't have your own. Skating poseballs will also be set out.

Schedule: 6-8pm SLT Paradox Messmer  and 8-10pm SLT Brodie Oleander.
SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Terre Des Mortes/90/101/39

Oblee

Cloud

A live looped original song showcasing just how this live looping madness happens.

The Party
https://soundcloud.com/oblee/the-party
A studio version of the song from Oblee's upcoming album.  It features various special guests including P-Funk All Star Kim Manning on backing vocals.

Oblee consists of a man and his looper and a room full of instruments.  Eric Kiefer has played drums for various bands over the years including Colorado's Aftergrass.  In 2008 he began using a loop machine to perform live playing multiple instruments.  Using a Piano, Guitar, Organ, Drumset, Djembes, Bells, Whistles and sometimes literally the kitchen sink, he performs original songs and some unique covers.   Find out more at http://www.obleemusic.com

Kookie Hax

With so many wonderful tunes to pick from, across genres and moods, my Best Of choices seem to shift from day to day. But in the end I've opted for a couple of songs which give me a great rush every time I hear them, despite hundreds of plays.

First up, Sonny and the Sunsets. I always love the quirky, romantic sound of Sonny Smith and particularly the call and response approach of some of his tunes like 'Lovin on an Older Gal' (2009) and this selection from Antenna to the Afterworld (2013), the sweetly sad 'Green Blood'.



My second selection is from the wonderful Australian band The Drones. Clever lyrics, spat out over amazing gee-tar fuzz....this song epitomises everything I love about this band. From their wonderful 2013 album I See Seaweed, I offer 'A Moat You Can Stand In'.

Iain Lordhunter

Arcade Fire - Reflektor

Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem are both strong contenders for my favourite band of the last decade, so when I heard James Murphy was producing the new Arcade Fire album I was very excited.  I was also very nervous that it wouldn't work, as I found the UNKLE collaborations often sounded like 2 separate very good things shoved unsuccessfully together.  But as soon as I heard this, I loved it.  It's got driving indie rock bits! It's got plinky dancey bits!  it's got bits sung in French! And then, if that wasn't enough, ...David Bowie turns up!  Nearly 8 minutes in length but never outstaying its welcome, it even features an Anton Corbijn-directed video full of intrigue, glitter balls and papier mache heads.  Song of the year.

The Uncluded - Delicate Cycle

My second choice is another coming together of 2 great artist(e)s: the rapper Aesop Rock and singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches.  Aesop delivers, over an acoustic guitar backing, a potentially psychopathic rap about sending people body parts in the mail, while Kimya sings a touching tale about growing up in a laundromat.  Perhaps these are even two halves of the same story, who knows. Then the two come together on the chorus and it manages to sound both sweet and sinister at the same time.  It possibly shouldn't work at all, but it really, really does.


Iain Lordhunter
DJ @ AAi, and pub landlord at The Bannister & Shamrock.

Moby Tenenbaum's Two Top Picks

I guess the most important criterion for picking my two tops songs would be the frequency with which I've played them at my gigs. There are a number of tunes that I've repeated a lot, but I'm going to with two that are quite similar in emotional tone: "Thames Soup," by The Phoenix Foundation, and "Starlings Over Brighton Pier," by Bell X1. To me, they're both achingly beautiful, contemplative tunes and I'm sure I'll be playing them a lot for years to come. I DJ every Sunday from 2 to 4 SL time at the venerable old alt7.

Uglyana Jones

2013 was a year of great transition for me.  I took a big risk and stepped out of a situation where I had been dependent upon others to care for me directly into a situation where someone was dependent upon me for care.  It was terrifying and difficult in ways I didn't expect.  But taking on this challenge has allowed me to finally begin to discover parts of myself I had lost or forgotten and build myself into someone I can almost recognize.

The two songs I've chosen for 2013 both reflect this journey, the almost euphoric relief of waking from a nightmare while the affect slowly dissolves.

1.  Wild Creatures from Neko Case's 2013 album 'The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You'

Neko Case - Wild Creatures

2.  Girl Called Alex from Kurt Vile's 2013 album 'Walkin on a Pretty Daze'

Kurt Vile - Girl Called Alex

I DJ at the Velvet Tuesdays 3 pm to 5 pm SLT and specialize in conceptual sets.

Tamikrest

I love the joy and celebration-of-life-despite-everything in this video :)

Tamikrest have a fresh album out called 'Chatma'.

Tamikrest - Aratan N Tinariwen

Sam Shecter

Tegan and Sara - Closer

I picked this song because I just love Tegan and Sara. They have been one of my favorite bands for a long time, also because this song talks about how love can be such a unique thing, how it can fill your mind completely, even if you are gay or straight or a pony, It's love and love is for everyone.

Chvrches - Recover

About this song and Band, there reason I selected this song and band is because they were introduced to me by a great friend of mine, so it has a special meaning. Second Reason is Because the lyrics on this song really move me as well.

Hello ^-^

My name is Sam Shecter, I started Djing not very long ago, if I am correct, just in the beginning of this precise year. It has been quite a rush, I've always loved Djing since I was a little kid. I'm almost 2 years and 7 Months old on SL and I love what I do here, I love sharing music on my sets, I think it is amazing how we can connect With music, It's not only me that shares a part of who I am but the persons that listen also teach me a lot of things, and that is what I love about all of it.

Ferdynand Straaf

It was not easy to find 2 songs. 2013 was not realy a year with highlights. My two favorite singers (Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen) released both a new album "recently" but both were at the end of 2012. So they don't count.

I ran through my collection and found some others, but more then 2. I had to make a decision. I chose for the first, a new Folk-Rock band and a collaboration of 2 musicians who  have been making music for a long time.

To start with the new band:

American Aquarium - Burn, Flicker, Die

A perfect song, great beat, a text that tells something, enough variation to prevent you getting bored, a singer with a voice which I as dutch can understand without have to think "what's he singing about". So in short; A perfect song.

My second choice is from the album "Black Pudding"

Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood - Cold Molly

I became a fan of Lanegan's music when i heard him Sing "In the Pines". I don't know who Duke Garwood is but this was in the description by the YT video:
"For those who are unfamiliar with Garwood, he has been described in the UK press as Lanegan's 'spiritual cousin across the Atlantic waters'".

This is music in the tradition of the great (post) punk singers. Great arrangements, also a perfect song. Everything fits. No highlights just good music. I'm so happy it's still made these days.

Sean Rowe - Acoustic version of Jonathan

Very rich music..sometimes you hear Dylan then Cohen or Sprinsteen, also a understandable voice, and a great guitar player.

Soko - I'll kill her

My latest discovery, a female singer but coming with something so pure and direct, a relief after all the Adele's, Gaga, Lorde's etc. etc. Okay, a last one with a haunting video (warning!):

Soko - We might be dead by Tomorrow

Lobito Brando

1) Woodkid - I Love You

This music is super wonderful, full of rhythm. I went to a woodkid gig the energy and presence on the stage are quiet amazing. Definitely one of the best for 2013.

2) Beijing - Sequin

This is like the "best new artist for 2013" for me. It is a brand new surprise and what a great one. I went passionate about this track right on the first time I heard it.

Gun Club - Sex Beat

Ok so this is obviously not a contender for best of 2013. But for … reasons, I'm posting it. Those who want, enjoy. Awesome lyrics too, in my book.

Beautiful song ...mmmm

Becka Blackrain

1. Capital Cities - Farrah Fawcett Hair ft. André 3000 and narrated by Frank Tavares (of NPR)
Oh my!  There has been an abundance of fantastic music this year!  I honestly could put a list together of my 'Top 100 of 2013' in no time.  For my 1st selection this year, I will pick one that most people missed or forgot about, but is so brilliant!  Capital Cities is a band out of LA, and I just love their originality and creative songs.  The chorus is as follows ... "You know it when you see it... You know it when it's there.... Like Michael Jackson's 'Thriller',.... Like Farrah Fawcett hair... It's good sh*t!"

2. Arcade Fire - Here Comes The Night Time
This album is a true testament that indie music is alive and well.  There is so many different sounds and rhythms and idea's and beats that you hear on their new album, that it's nearly impossible to just listen through once!  Almost every song on the album is interesting and cool, but the one that jumped out at me the most, was 'Here Comes The Night Time'.  Enjoy!, and here's to another year of happiness in the Indie world!  xo

I just wanted to say a few words about my 2 fave clubs in SL.  1stly, AAI.. my family.  I love everyone who runs that place, dj's there, or even just hangs out there.  Every single one of you make it what it is, and I wouldn't change anything about it.. The people, the vibe, the tunes, the laughs.  AAI is my home:)
2ndly, The Bannister & Shamrock.  Everytime I walk in the door, I smile.  Same thing as AAI... I just adore the people there, the DJ's, the laughs, all of it!  Thank you everyone who makes SL such a cool and enjoyable place.  See y'all next year!  xo

Indie Cantina - Best of 2013!

Folks - December is here, and at Indie Cantina, that means it's time for: Best of ...2013! We are inviting you, SL's top DJs and musicians, to send in the two tracks you think were the BEST of 2013.

To take part, just send a notecard to me with youtube / vimeo / soundcloud URLS for your two tracks, as well as a couple of sentences about each song.

You can also send along a short bio (a bit about you, your music, which club you play or DJ at and so on), and I'll post the entries on the Indie Cantina blog: http://indiecantina.wordpress.com

Wonderful UK band

New Model Army

There's a new album by New Model Army: 'Between Dog and Wolf'. I'm loving it :)

New Model Army - March in September

New Model Army - Knievel

Shearwater - Fellow Travellers

Shearwater's new album is a collection of covers of songs by artists that Shearwater have played shows with, like Jesca Hoop, or Xiu Xiu who originally performed the song below. The album is aptly named 'Fellow Travellers'.


Shearwater - I Luv the Valley, Oh!

That's a razor and you will make a threat
That's a razor make million billion threats
And I won't rest 'cause I heard it all before
My behind is a beehive, there's a buzz in my backside
My behind is a beehive and I won't rest
while you break my will
Je taime the valley
Je taime the valley OH!!!
I am an orphan de la valley
And I wont rest until I forget about it
I wont rest until I dont care

Fresh Midlake

Although I dislike to see Tim Smith leave, the new front-man Eric Pulido does bring the music to higher atmospheres.

Midlake - "Antiphon" from stereogum on Vimeo.

The Moth to the Flame

Loving this band :)

The Moth to the Flame - How we woke up

noiserv

This video changed my life for a while, leading me to realise what I truly needed to be doing (for this week, at least!) ... is listen to the whole album on repeat ;) The album, 'Almost Visible Orchestra' is a real fave, and I highly recommend it.

noiserv - I Was Trying to Sleep When Everyone Woke Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2yzRRSR4C0

 

 

Daughter

Gorgeous new Daughter video :)

I'm a flying kite in the breeze just
Restlessly seeking images a child needs to help them sleep
I was thinking that I should see someone
Just to find out that I'm alright

[Chorus:]
By the morning I would've grown back
By the morning I would've grown back
I'll escape with him
Showing all my skin
Then I'll go
I'll go home
Amsterdam

[Bridge:]
I used to dream of
Adventure
When I was younger
With lungs miniature
Good night with killing
Our brain cells
Is this called living
Or something else

Of Monsters and Men

There's a new song by Of Monsters and Men to be featured in the Hunger Games sequel 'Catching Fire'. Here's a preview:

https://soundcloud.com/universalrepublic/of-monsters-men-silhouettes/s-0487V

Widowspeak - Swamps

Widowspeak performing 'Swamps' from their forthcoming EP, out on Oct. 29th.

http://www.spin.com/articles/widowspeak-swamps-acl-austin-city-limits-2013-video/

Moonface

Moonface (aka Spencer Krug, formerly of Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown) is minimal, stark, intimate on his new album, 'Julia with Blue Jeans on';

Moonface - Everyone is Noah, Everyone is the Ark

Everyone is Noah
Everyone is The Ark
Everyone has to build themselves up
When heaven's cruel

And everyone is Noah
Everyone is The Ark
Everyone has to gather the souls around them
To feel useful, and loving, and loved

And everyone is Noah
Everyone is The Ark
Everyone ends up talking to the sky
Or looking the elephant in the eye

Pearl Jam - Sirens

Loving the new Pearl Jam album, 'Lightning Bolt' :)

Pearl Jam - Sirens

Knowing that nothing lasts forever
I didn’t care, before you were here
I danced in laughter, with the everafter
But all things change, let this remain

Hear the sirens covering distance in the night
The sound, echoing closer, will they come for me, next time?

For every choice, mistake I made, is not my plan
To see you in the arms of another man
And if you choose to stay, I’ll wait, I’ll understand

Oh,  it’s a fragile thing, this life we lead, if I think too much, I can’t get over
When by the graces, by which we live our lives with death over our shoulders

Want you to know, that should I go, I always loved you, held you high above too
I studied your face, the fear goes away, the fear goes away, the fear goes away.

Wombats

Can't get this out of my head, so posting it here ;)

Wombats - Your Body is a Weapon

Your body is a weapon, love
and it makes me wanna cry
My body is a temple of doom,
Doomed not to be by your side...

Tu Fawning - Anchor

Ok, this song is old as the sea. 2012, imagine that. We old ones nod sagely while you kids pause for an instant in your racket and are awed by its sheer beauty. Mind the lyrics, do you ever?

Pearl Jam - The End

Sometimes you find songs that you overlook, or hear, then don't think of til you hear them again, and have to pause for thought:

Pearl Jam - The End

What were all those dreams we shared
Those many years ago?
What were all those plans we made now
Left beside the road?
Behind us in the road

More than friends, I always pledged
Cause friends they come and go
People change, as does everything
I wanted to grow old
I just want to grow old

Slide up next to me
I'm just a human being

You see?
Believe

White Buffalo

This track is from The White Buffalo's new album, "Shadows, Greys and Evil Ways":

The White Buffalo - Don't You Want It

And the track below is from their previous album "Once Upon a Time in the West":

The White Buffalo - Wish It Were True

Boy, come on out from the cold.
You're lost outside there, don't you know?
It's not what you say, it's what you do.
Just keep wishing your wishes are true.
Well your dreams, they're reality.
There's no pain, there's no misery.
Just polish the blood and the brews.
For there's just no way you can lose.
Well I wish it was true.

Country, I was a soldier to you.
I did what you asked me to.
It was wrong, and you knew.

Country, now I'm just a stranger to you.
A number, a name; it's true.
Throw me away when you're through.

Home of the brave and the free; the red, white, and blue.
I wish it was true.

The Orwells

The Orwells - Who Needs You

You better toss your bullets
You better hide your guns
You better help the children
Let 'em have some fun

Grouplove

There's a new Grouplove album, and the first single is lush, fun and full of life :)

Grouplove - Ways to Go

Diamond Rings I do.

This may be the happiest song I've heard in recent memory. Diamond Rings, the efforts of a singer songwriter who defies convention and is just themselves. The song is cute in an innocent way like somebody stripped off the years of varnish on our hardened hearts to allow us to feel like a kid again. It's also so damned musically photogenic with the synth work, danceable drum loops, and tasteful club sound. Click the video and you will see what I mean.

Ramona Falls and The Boxer Rebellion

I always feel fortunate when I find a new song that is absorbed effortlessly and becomes a part of my psyche, looped in my head all day like an affirmation of my need to experience new tones and ideas.

Last week I discovered Ramona Falls and The Boxer Rebellion.

This track by The Boxer Rebellion "Diamonds" sucks me in with it's ambient guitar, opaque lyrics, and reverb. It reminds me a little of VAST with a touch of "The boys of Summer" from Don Henley. It makes me think of young love and that feeling when your need for another person was all consuming, like a fire that burned in your body until you could be next to them.

The video is as incomprehensible as the song but they are speaking in the language of feelings over words.



Ramona Falls song "Sqworm" similarly has a feeling associated with it. You have to listen to the harmony of the song to really appreciate it. On the surface it could be any indie song, but it's roots run deep and the harmony and melody, the chord structure is refreshing and shows a subtle mastery of chord structure. The vocalist reminds me a little of "Thee More Shallows", and in a very weird way the chord progression reminds me of a Castlevania game I used to play on the Super Nintendo. What can I say, I get weird vibes about music that make me relate it to anything but music.

Pixies - Indie Cindy

Pixies - Indie Cindy

Wasted days and wasted nights
Made me a f*cking beggar
No soul my milk is curdled
I’m the burger-meister of purgatory

Look out for that hot plate
Guess that’s all you got. great
You put the c*ck in cocktail, man
Well I put the tail in — wait!
Watch. me. walk.
Blowtorch a hole in that armor
And I don’t need the tip

I am in love with your daughter
And though she has no need
I’m the one who’s got some trotters
You’ve many mouths to feed

Indie Cindy
Be in love with me
I beg you for to carry me

The Vaccines - Melody Calling

The Vaccines emailed me to let me know about their new EP, 'Melody Calling ' , so here I am, blogging about it! I love it, the EP is fab. Get a hold of it ;)

The Vaccines - Melody Calling

The Vaccines - Everybody's gonna let you down

Grant Hart

What can I say, it's old news day. Nearly a month ago, Grant Hart of former Hüsker Dü released his album The Argument. So if you've seen it promoted elsewhere, wtf ... good for Grant. The music is strangely familiar and yet oddly attractive. I didn't look for videos really, just listen.

Volcano Choir

Volcano Choir - Byegone

You know that we are northern now
I heard you promise me
At the north end of monogamy
Cut there from filament lead

Somewhere I heard you scream:
For others’ hearts
And in the limiest of lights
Hold the keys to a Cuban flight that you won’t ever ride
It’s time to up and die

Set sail!

Mazzy Star - California

The news has it that Mazzy Star's fourth full length album, Seasons of Your Day,  will be released on September 23 or 24 (depending on the sources). Here's the newest single cut.

Sibylle Baier - I Lost Something In The Hills

Sibylle Baier's only album, Colour Green, is a compilation of songs recorded at home with an old reel-to-reel machine between 1970 and 1973. First made available in 2006 by Orange Twin label, the album was passed by the hands of Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis, who had received a copy from her son.

http://www.sibyllebaier.com/

http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2013/07/14/amanda-palmer-gets-naked-in-response-to-daily-mail-nipple-story/

http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2013/07/14/amanda-palmer-gets-naked-in-response-to-daily-mail-nipple-story/

This made me smile..

Herr Mannelig

Triple play ;)

Dan Mangan

Not sure how I missed this mini-EP - yet here are two songs by Dan Mangan:

Dan Mangan - We Want To Be Pleasantly Surprised, Not Expectedly Let Down

Dan Mangan - Stairway (Yukon Blonde cover)

Sparrow and the Workshop - Odessa

This is haunting me at the moment :)

Sparrow and the Workshop - Odessa

Iron and Wine - Lovers' Revolution

Iron and Wine - Lovers' Revolution

I came to you, and you to me.
And then we lost our old lovers’ revolution but it started again.
Now we’re one.

One of the parade wake widows walking home into the setting sun.
One of the soldiers lost in the dreams that never lose the gun.
One of the wise men wandering the podium without a tongue.
One of the trophies tarnished by the mess we made of being young.
One of the prayers one of the promises swallowed without chewing gum.
One of the deaf ears dumber all the time for all the years of drums.
One of the wide-eyed soap boxes buried under Washington.
One of the beat cops combing every sidewalk crack for love.
One of the crowded stars uncounted when the map was done.
One of the withered in the garden left to wonder when the rain will come.

Kaloo - War (Bang, Bang)

Thanks to Zhu for posting this video - I'm loving this smooth hiphop mix :)


Kaloo  - War (Bang, Bang)

Phosphorescent – Song For Zula

Phosphorescent – Song For Zula

Some say love is a burning thing
That it makes a fiery ring
Oh but I know love as a fading thing
Just as fickle as a feather in a stream
See, honey, I saw love,
You see it came to me
It puts its face up to my face so I could see
Yeah then I saw love disfigure me
Into something I am not recognizing

See the cage, it called. I said, come on in
I will not open myself up this way again
Nor lay my face to the soil, nor my teeth to the sand
I will not lay like this for days now upon end
You will not see me fall, nor see me struggle to stand
To be acknowledged by some touch from his gnarled hands
You see the cage it called. I said, come on in
I will not open myself this way again.

You see the moon is bright in that treetop night
I see the shadows that we cast in the cold clean light
I might fear I go and my heart is white
And we race right out on the desert plains all night
So honey I am now, some broken thing
I do not lay in the dark waiting for day here
Now my heart is gold, my feet are right
And I'm racing out on the desert plains all night

So some say love is a burning thing
That it makes a fiery ring
All that I know love as a caging thing
Just a killer come to call from some awful dream
And all you folks, you come to see
You just to stand there in the glass looking at me
But my heart is wild, and my bones are steel
And I could kill you with my bare hands if I was free

Milky Chance

Sometimes it happens that one misses something important, and only weeks later it's all over your favourite radio station. This is certainly the case here. Milky Chance has been touring for ages (i. e. since April) and today is the first time I've heard him. I won't bore you with fancy comparisons, placing him between two reasonably well-known, high reputation musicians of the past and present as music reviewers are wont to do. Instead, close your eyes and listen.

Dirty Dogz vs Wolffman - Wonderful Day

This is a song was made by a friend of a friend in Holland, so I'm promoting it. Hope you enjoy the chill mix of hip-hop & reggae as much as I do ;)

Dirty Dogz vs Wolffman - Wonderful Day

Editors - The Weight of Your Love

The Editors have a new album out called "The Weight of Your Love", and it's kinda awesome:

Editors - Phone Book

Editors - A Ton of Love

Still Corners brings strange pleasures

Subpop delivers again and proves they still have an eye for new talent. This album will go down in my book as one of the best releases of 2013. Definitely in the top 10.

It's difficult to describe the sound. There is something reminiscent of U2 or maybe a little VAST in the chord arrangements. The album reminds me of a time and a place not so long ago, when music could be the sound track to your life.

The opening track "The Trip" is lush and with the softest hint of synth work, the obvious fruit of a singer songwriter polished into a beautiful production, even though there is no official video I encourage you to check it out.

They then head into shoegazer territory with "Endless Summer", a gauze and muslin hazy recollection of lazy summer days and the promise of new affection.

Did you know I listen to hip hop?

Some of you who know me from the club know that I have ecclectic tastes but I bet you never imagined that I have been listening to such genres as hip hop, and melodic death metal, for years and years. I don't usually have cause to write about them on an indie board but I'm making an exception for an exceptional song.....by Macklemore. I know what you're thinking. "What could the thrift shop guy possibly have that would get Mik's attention enough to post on the Cantina?"

Same Love.

This is a song about acceptance and love for your fellow man that would be unlikely from any number of musical genres, but to come out of the world of Hip Hop....a notoriously anti-gay, pro bitches and sluts, genre, is unheard of. I literally cannot think of a single song in the genre that has touched this subject.

I'm a big supporter of LGBT causes and maybe it's my mindset or almost 40 years of time on this little blue dot, but it's 2013 and there are stranger things in the world than homosexuality and it boggles my mind how some people just can't move on and put old prejudices aside. So this song is very close to my heart and I thought the video especially was very well done. It reminds me that love is real in any form, and that true love is a beautiful thing. Love for your fellow man, love for soul mate, we all breath the same air.

So I encourage you to give it a chance, watch the video, and tell me what you think. If there is such a thing as Indie Hip Hop, I would have to say this is pretty close to what it should be.

 

Daughter - Live in LA

For those of us who haven't been able to see Daughter live - here's a short trailer :)

Coco Rosie - Tales of a Grass Widow

Two videos from the new Coco Rosie album, Tales of a Grass Widow:


Coco Rosie - Gravediggress

Coco Rosie - After The Afterlife

Andra

Andra is an independent Namibian musician now residing in Pretoria, South Africa. She is well-known for her guitar-playing skills and a voice that mirrors the harshness of the desert where she comes from.

"I'm just telling stories - attaching the only sounds I know how to make." - Andra
(from her youtube channel)

Andra - "The rain don't talk to me no more"

Princess Chelsea

Fangirl warning!
Princess Chelsea a.k.a. Chelsea Nikkel from Auckland, New Zealand may be old news to many indie pop connoisseurs, but to me she is brand new and sparkling. Although her name has popped up to me many times in YT, it took me this long to actually make that critical click and listen. Cute and naive just the right way ― I'm loving her music to bits!
This video is from her debut album 'Lil' Golden Book':

And what's even more awesome, a new single 'We're So Lost' just got released two weeks ago:
http://princesschelsea.lilchiefrecords.com/album/were-so-lost

Hunters

Went to a live show to see JEFF The Brotherhood, who delivered an excellent show tonight here in Boston. But I'd especially like to draw your attention to the warmup band, one of the best ever in my experience: Hunters. They're from Brooklyn and frontwoman Isabel Almeida will remind you of Karen O.

Torres - Mother Earth, Father God

Torres - Mother Earth, Father God

I was born on bloody battleground
To the metal men between two realms
The hungry eyes linger as she twirls
Got hands lifted to heaven
And her toes dipped in hell

Oh, Mother Earth, oh, Father God
The demons wager on my fall
The greatest trick I ever saw
Was them fooling us to think they were never here at all

These New Puritans - Field of Reeds

A new TNPs album is due for release on 10th June 2013, 'Field of Reeds'. (From their website http://www.thesenewpuritans.com). What amazes me is the sheer volume of precision and creative effort that goes into a TNP record, and some of that is visible from the teaser clip below:

Album teaser video

Fever Ray - If I had a Heart

We got to talking about this theme song to the Vikings series at AAI, so I figured I'd post it :)

Fever Ray - If I had a Heart

Noah and The Whale - There Will Come A Time

Blessed insomnia has lead me to the discovery that I missed the fact that Noah and The Whale dropped a new album last week. I just downloaded Heart of Nowhere and am already in love with the track There Will Come A Time. Enjoy!

Cloud Cult - 1x1x1

I'm really loving this group - and this video, not least cos it shows Cloud Cult really rocking out :)

(Thanks to DJ Dox for recommending them!) :)

Mop Mop

Zhu turned me onto Jazz/experimental band Mop Mop recently. These tunes are so catchy they're addictive :)

Mop Mop - Let I Go (Feat. Anthony Joseph)

Mop Mop - The Lowered Flag

The National - Sea of Love

The new album by The National, 'Trouble Will Find Me' is what it says on the box - a National album. If you liked the others, you should like this one too. I'm loving it :)

See for yourself:

The National - Sea of Love

Will you say you love me Jo?
How am I supposed to know?
When you go under the waves
What am I supposed to say?

I see people on the floor
They're slidin' to the sea
Can't stay here anymore
We're turning into thieves

If I stay here trouble will find me
If I stay here I'll never leave
If I stay here trouble will find me
I believe

Vampire Weekend - Unbelievers

The new Vampire Weekend album is really good :) I was looking for a video or 'Hudson' on youtube - but don't see one yet sooo here's 'Unbelievers' instead ;)

Vampire Weekend - Unbelievers

Grimes - Venus In Fleurs

Because, to me, anything and everything by Grimes is always a real treat, I'm popping my blogging cherry with this beauty. Here's what Claire herself wrote about the video on her Tumblr:

Hey — this is a video my friend Video Marsh made for this really old Grimes song from my first record.  We were supposed to release it ages ago and somehow it didn’t happen probably because it didn’t comply with the press cycle at the time and since I’ve stopped caring about complying with press cycles im sharing this now.

This is the only post-genesis official grimes video that i didn’t work on myself that will ever be released :).   it’s a different vibe entirely as you can see.  i think it’s very very beautiful and haunting and peaceful and scary

all footage is from the reifel bird sanctuary in British columbia

enjoy :)

Grimes - Venus In Fleurs from Video Marsh on Vimeo.

Too much new music to write seperate articles, here are my latest discoveries.

Every so often I find a tap into the primal flow of music and discover so many bands it's like a rennaisance. Now is one of those times and these are the best acts I've discovered this year. They may not be new bands but they are new to me.

1. Geographer

A 3 piece outfit, this band blew me away with their track "Kites" on Animal Shapes. Geographer is what you would get if M83 and Beirut had mad monkey sex, and produced an offspring that has more talent than either. This album has been around since 2010 and received almost no press, to add insult to injury they have several other full length albums which have also been overlooked by the music press. I will spare you colorful euphemisms for what my ears are telling me and leave you with this.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/gxUVNoiVdts]

2. Imagine Dragons

Dubstep basslines in an indie song? Le gasp. Yet I defy you to deny rocking out to their song Radioactive. It's crafted for radio play yet is under the radar, the band has a few youtube videos up to show you who they are, and who they are is weird people. Case in point, view the video to Radioactive below. When I heard this song I imagined a video of a couple teenagers about to have their first kiss in somebodies basement when the windows suddenly get blown out, they run outside to see mushroom clouds on the horizon and suddenly an urban war breaks out all around them and hand in hand they run to the countryside to escape it. Instead we get this oddity. At first I was like "They take themselves a little too seriously, and stop interrupting the song!" and then I was like "Wait" and finally "What?" They definitely don't take themselves too seriously. (Bonus points for white Lou Diamond Phillips)

[youtube=http://youtu.be/ktvTqknDobU]

3. Blood Orange - Champagne Coast

Finding this band, a pseudonym of mr Dev Hynes, is a bit like discovering Prince just before he exploded onto the charts and became a household name. I don't just say this because of his remarkably similar voice, but because of the laid back, one man band, approach and style of the music. You will have to listen to the song to under stand what I'm getting at. I see great things for mr Hynes.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/nO6y1-erVEw]

4. Villagers - Earthly Pleasures

Americana, Indie, beautiful, whimsical, this band reminds me a little of Tom Waits at least in their cantankerous and eccentric natures. I really enjoy the lyrics to this song, which is unusual because I usually listen to lyrics last, after several viewings. I think this song is genius and shows a unique voice in an increasingly crowded music scene. Enjoy.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/3QpXlcGNVz0]

5. Sir Sly - Ghost

I have begun to notice a trend in a lot of new bands towards using bits and pieces of the hardcore, electropop, and dubstep scenes and turning them into something different. Sir Sly manages to incorporate dubstep type bass warbles into a sound that is laid back with vocals as dry as paper. His voice reminds me at times of Wayne Coyne , tempered by the much smaller world of a young mind. I love how stripped back their sound is, there is a lot of air and they have a strong grasp of pacing and those little flourishes that separate an artful track from a demo.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/q1TbI44oRtE]

6. Mr. Little Jeans - The Suburbs

Yes, the same titled Arcade Fire album has been out long enough to inspire cover songs now. This is a deconstructed and more electronic interpretation of the song that evokes memories of Portishead, and early Bjork. I love the atmosphere it adds to the songs message and the images it puts in my head. This is almost a new song

[youtube=http://youtu.be/eFKYHVfD2Zw]