Listen/Watch: Jinja Safari - "So Much"

Earlier this year Australian jungle rock quintet Jinja Safari officially announced their break up following a hiatus that led to many of their members pursuing side projects in earnest. While a series of singles released last year were thought to be the last songs we'd hear from the fivesome, they just announced that later this month they'll release their final album together: a double album called Crescent Head named after chief songwriters/co-founders Marcus Azon and Pepa Knight's hometown.

"So Much", the latest single from the upcoming double album features a side of the band rarely seen: melancholic and introspective. It curtails the band's normal riotous energy in favor of taking stock of where they are. Few bands get to end the band completely on their own terms like Jinja Safari usually  disbanding due to in-fighting or external pressures but the band's choice to end things amicably has allowed them to do this victory lap of sorts.

The accompanying video cementing that by featuring footage of the band traveling and performing together over the years. It's not an entirely new angle for the band that's used similar footage intermittently in their music videos (last year's for "Find My Way" spring immediately to mind) but it gains a new sense of poignancy by showing the band never stopped having fun both with each other and their audience. It's not hard to see why the band returned to studio to whip up a brand new batch of songs in appreciation.



"So Much" works wonderfully as a send off as the band close this chapter and embark on different journeys - musically and otherwise. Thankfully for fans/listeners, it's not the very last we'll hear from the quintet before they turn their attentions elsewhere.



Part 1 of Crescent Head is out August 17th with Part 2 out August 24th.

(via)

Listen: Waterstrider - "Nowhere Now"

For all their declarations of being a world pop/afrobeat band, Oakland CA outfit Waterstrider have been surprisingly subtle with overt references on the singles they've released thus far. On "Nowhere Now", the fourth single from debut full length of the same name, Waterstrider let the floodgate open and deviate from the more conventional pop stylings in favor of an outright jam. It's a percussion-smorgasboard so much so that the fivesome enlist some outside help for added cacophony and yet, even achieving max-percussiveness Nate Salman's vocals as a laser focused as ever - shifting and contorting as the see fit just above the clamor.

It's the most immediate of the tracks we've heard thus far - sure to galvanize and incited a dance party in all lucky enough to hear the title track. It's no wonder they quintet saved "Nowhere Now" until right before the release of their album, it's a definite standout and sure to be a strong contender for any listener's favorite album track. Luckily for Waterstrider, it's no fluke. "Nowhere Now" comes after a full album of world music referencing but not reliant tracks and the full on frenetic energy feels well and truly earned. Apart from album context, "Nowhere Now" exists as an infectious dance-y number that continues to display just what's so great about the Oakland band: namely their familiarity-bred cohesiveness.



Waterstrider's debut full length album Nowhere Now is out now and available to purchase digitally directly from the band via Bandcamp.

Pepa Knight - Hypnotized Vol. 1 (2014)

When I first discovered that Jinja Safari co-frontman/songwriter Pepa Knight was embarking upon a solo career, I could barely contain my excitement. Though he and songwriting partner Marcus Azon both draw from various regional musics, Knight is often the one manning the instruments procured from their travels - harmonium, sitar, reed flute, they all have a place in Knight's at home studio. Essentially what I expected from Knight's solo venture was more of the same with a wider array of instruments and Pepa Knight's first ever single "Rahh!" seemed to offer that up in spades.

It's not until you get into the nitty-gritty of Knight's debut solo EP Hypnotized Vol. 1 that you get a real sense of Knight as a solo artist. Beginning with the epononymous "Hypnotized" Knight commits heavily toward the album as a cohesive medium. Where "Rahh!" introduced us to Knight's solo effort by throwing fans and new listeners alike right into the deep end, "Hypnotized" takes a much more languid approach with a notable exception - like "Rahh!" or any of the other singles released ahead of the EP, Knight paints his songs in vibrant technicolor. Even with it's unfurling development, we're introduced to a bright, dynamic lushness before the first words are ever sung.

Without the full weight of Jinja Safari's five person manpower, Knight is freed up a bit for a much more subtler approach. The layering is carefully arranged, providing a sense of widescreen openness - reminiscent of the wide open plains Knight calls home in his native Central Coast, Australia. Similarly to Jinja Safari, it's easy to get lost in the immersive radiance of the album, swept along in the kaleidoscopic vision and diverse textural palette and not realize that in terms of actual songwriting, Knight has a unique but subdued voice. Pepa Knight takes not only what he's learned as a band member and intrepid world traveler but also as an adult human being for lyrics that stripped free of their resplendent poppy dressings are quite affecting. Each song builds on the idea of coming into your own and it's a theme that's given as much time to gestate as it does to actually do so - with album tracks substituting for years. "Do you feel alive?" Knight posits in "Hypnotized" before offering answers in each subsequent track from the subtle ("Fortress", "The Desert Guide") to the extreme ("Rahh!", "Clams").

Pepa Knight's debut solo EP Hypnotized Vol.1 is available on cassette, limited edition 12" vinyl as part of a deluxe bundle, or digitally through Knight's website or via the standard digital retailers. You can stream the album here:

Pitstop: Incan Abraham

                                                      (photo by Sterling Andrews)

If you visit this blog with any sort of consistency you may have picked up on what really gets me going, if not I'll review quickly: vocal harmonies, lush layers of sound, articulately played instruments, and anything vaguely world music inspired (also folk, but we're not talking about that right now).

Los Angeles' Incan Abraham were my first new music discovery at CMJ playing an absolutely riveting set upstairs at Pianos. It was a performance I wish I had been warned about so that I could've properly prepared myself for what was about to transpire. Instead before they went on, Jess from ex.fm introduced me to Spencer Mandel, the band's bassist, and merely mentioned they were friends and the band was "good". Lies and god damn slander, Jess.



The quartet showered all those lucky to be in attendance with tight-knit psychedelic pop rock filled to the brim with utterly mindblowing vocal harmonies and an unstoppable urge to move your body. Also afro-pop. And there isn't a human alive who can resist the sultry sway of African-inspired beats. Anyone who says so is a liar. How did they do this? Well, drummer Andrew Clinco has a set of congas in addition to the standard set up, and  lead vocalist/keyboardist Guliano Pizzulo has a laptop that infuses world-inspired elements into what would otherwise be a pretty basic guitar-bass-drums-keys-sometimes-other-guitar line up.



On paper, Incan Abraham might not immediately sound like a band you should be going crazy over but I assure you they most certainly are. Three years of music-making has turned the foursome into an efficient groove machine capable of raining down it's radiant, bliss-inducing harmony-laden brand of dance-inspiring pop rock. But as impressive as the band's playing is, the real star is no doubt the voice-work. Pizzulo's vocals are effortlessly pristine, attention-grabbing, and have this ability to float above the wide variety of business happening underneath. While guitarist Teddy Cafaro's are a well-deployed weapon: sweeter and less insistent but no less ear-catching or arresting. On the occasion where he takes lead vocal duties ("In Milan"), it's a treat and a quite enjoyable one at that. Together Pizzulo and Cafaro form a rather formidable duo. And because I still can't get over them, I'll mention them again: Those harmonies.



Incan Abraham currently have three EPs available for free download over at their Bandcamp so make sure you pick those up. They're all great. They also have delightfully good single out now. Listen to "Springhouse":

Now Streaming: Lord Huron - Lonesome Dreams

After two weeks of waiting and anticipation and bated breath, the release of Lord Huron's debut full length Lonesome Dreams is almost upon us. The band have had quite the release campaign, delivering eight enigmatic but wholly enjoyable trailers, dropping a couple singles, and debuting the video for their first single "Time to Run" on NPR where you were introduced to the band's old-style Western concept. And now, the album is available for streaming right on over at NPR a week before its October 9th release date. It's been quite the year for Lord Huron and here's hoping there's more to come from the intrepid Los Angelenos.

In case you missed any of the lead up, you can listen to previously released album tracks "Time to Run", "Ends of the Earth",  "Brother (Last Ride)", and album bonus track "The Stranger" (from the 2010 Mighty EP) here:









And remember, Lord Huron's Lonesome Dreams is available October 9th on I AM Sound. Make sure to order it if you haven't already. It's gonna be a good one.

Watch: Lord Huron - Lonesome Dreams Trailer #8 featuring "In the Wind"

As the release of Lord Huron's debut full length Lonesome Dreams looms ever closer (we're around the two week mark now), it's fitting that Lord Huron have ponied up another album trailer for the work. Their latest is the eighth in their set of trailers featuring snippets of tracks from the other and unlike the past two trailers, it's a song we haven't been introduced to before at all.

"In the Wind" is very similar in sound to "Ends of the Earth" or even "Brother (Last Ride)" with elements of "The Stranger" thrown in for good measure (although this is based solely a minute teaser so the whole thing could be quite different). The trailer, while still capturing the old-time Western feel of where Lonesome Dreams is supposed to take place, trades in the washed out technicolor for classic black and white. It's a simple enough scene: Ben Schneider aka Huron sitting in front of a roaring fire - guitar in hand, it's the sudden cut to end credits that's cause for alarm. Even though there's two songs we've yet to preview, trailer eight might very well be the last in the series of trailers. Which is both exciting and not so much but with two weeks to go until the release of Lonesome Dreams, I'm sure we'll all manage.

Here's hoping for more methodical and well-thought out works detailing the adventures Huron and his gang.


Lord Huron's debut full length Lonesome Dreams is out October 9th on I AM Sound.

Watch: Lord Huron - Lonesome Dreams Trailer #6 featuring "Brother"

If you were somehow wondering how a week could go by without any new Lord Huron news than you're in luck. Today, they dropped another, in their ongoing series of album trailers for full length debut Lonesome Dreams. This time the sixth which features a song you may have heard before if you've been paying any sort of attention to the band lately. But if you were unfortunate enough to miss that bit of news, you're in luck once again.

Trailer number six features "Brother", a sort of homage to Ben Schneider's world pop-inclusion in Lord Huron's early days and even with a little bit of Eastern influence, the old timey Western sound the band have apparently been going for this album is surprisingly intact. It's a potent blend of east meets west. Yup, all that gathered from a minute long trailer. Or you can listen to the track in full here.




Lord Huron's Lonesome Dreams is out October 9th.

Watch: Lord Huron - Lonesome Dreams Trailer #5 featuring " The Man Who Lives Forever"

Well clearly Lord Huron are on a roll this week. After releasing "Ends of the Earth" as KCRW Tune of the Day Wednesday and "Brother (Last Ride)" yesterday as Rolling Stone's Daily Download, I half-expected Lord Huron to craw into a hole for close to a month until around the date their upcoming debut full length came out. Not so.

However instead of another spanking new track for our consumption, we're being gifted with another one of their trailers for Lonesome Dreams. This one, the fifth in the series, features track "The Man Who Lives Forever" keeps up the old school film varnish. Unlike the other trailers in the series which looked like they'd be easily be videos detailing the adventures of Huron and his gang, trailer five features some found footage much like the video for "Mighty" although this case instead of animals, it's Hindi dancers.

Way to keep us all guessing Lord Huron. Watch the fifth trailer for Lonesome Dreams:

Listen: Lord Huron - "Brother (Last Ride)"

Yesterday, Lord Huron premiered the lead track off their upcoming debut full length Lonesome Dreams and in case that wasn't enough to utterly consume whatever free time you had to listen to it, turns out they're not done monopolizing your time just yet. Today, the band debuted "Brother (Last Ride)" over at Rolling Stone, the 9th track on Lonesome Dreams.

Even though "Brother" is the penultimate track on the record, the mystery behind the ongoing drama of Lonesome Dreams is still preserved. One the latest track, Lord Huron dip a little into the world-inspired sound of the Mighty (and Into the Sun) EP as "Brother" recalls "The Stranger" in its winding, ornamented sprawl. It's not too much of a departure from the kind of Western-invoking folk we've been treated to so far but it's nice to know that all the world influence hasn't been drained out of their music.

Listen to Lord Huron's "Brother (Last Ride)":

Lord Huron · Brother

Waterstrider - Wind-Fed Fire EP (2012)

Remember Waterstrider? The Berkeley, California sextet certainly managed to charm me when I was introduced to them last year and it's a shame to admit I almost forgot about them. They've been hard at work recording their debut full length but they popped up out of seemingly nowhere to release a short 3 song EP to prepare everyone for the eventual album release.

If there was ever any doubt in my mind about how I felt about Waterstrider, their Wind-Fed Fire EP certainly erased all of it in a wave of passionate flames of want. "Water & Stone", from which lyrics the EP gets its name, starts right where the Constellation EP left off, with more of Waterstrider's homespun afropop if not being far more blatant about it. There really is no second guessing what you're hearing on Wind-Fed Fire - it's balmy, pep-in-your-step indie-pop with a very very noticeable world influence. Bookended by two world-influenced jams, "Feathertips" is far more subtle built upon a swaggering groove with skipping, frolicsome melodic lines.

The real star of the EP however is the closer: A live version of "Edge of Light". It's a taste for the unlucky souls who don't live in California to enjoy what proves to be an exceptionally energetic live performance. Not only is it an absolutely fun track but its complex interweaving parts are an absolute marvel. Intensely intricate rhythms and riffs that come at you at a pretty daring speed played with total fearlessness and obvious talent. If Waterstrider had just released this track alone, it would've been enough to tide me over til the full length's release but we're lucky enough to get two more stellar tracks.

Waterstrider's Wind-Fed Fire EP is the perfect place-holder for what's sure to be a pretty incredible debut. It proves that the sextet are definitely heading in the right direction, creatively and I can't wait to see where they go next. Until then, I intend to wear out my copy of the EP with total and absolute gusto.

Watch: Lord Huron - Lonesome Dreams Trailer #4 featuring "I Will Be Back One Day"

Gather around brothers and sisters, it seems it's that time again. Lord Huron have offered up yet another trailer for their upcoming full length debut Lonesome Dreams. I don't know about you but since learning about the painstaking amount of thought the band have put into the Lonesome Dreams mythos (each song apparently a book in a collection of books known as the aptly named Lonesome Dreams series by fictitious author George Ranger Johnson), it about doubled my anticipation for more of the story to be told.

Sadly that time is not now, not exactly. The latest installment of the Lonesome Dreams trailers features another new song by the name of "I Will Be Back One Day" but is done very much in the style of the other trailers meaning it's mostly song and title credits but there is a tiny bit of something to hold onto here. If you watch closely you see what might be a snippet from the next or an upcoming shot of the video that features a hazy Ben Schneider (or Huron as his character has been dubbed in the series) singing along.

It's enough to drive you absolutely ravenous with anticipation but considering Lord Huron have already given us more than we need to settle us until the album release, we'll just have to wait to see what else they have up their sleeve.



Until then, just remember: Lord Huron's Lonesome Dreams is out October 9th.

Watch: Lord Huron - "Time To Run"

To say that I am excited for Lord Huron's debut full length Lonesome Dreams would be the most epic of understatements. There are no words in the English language for how pumped I am for this thing to roll out. And apparently the band is too as they're doing what seems like everything in their power to give fans something to look forward to on pretty much a weekly basis. Whether that's album trailers featuring new songs or the occasional single, Lord Huron have certainly been good to those patiently waiting for the album's release.

Well today, over at NPR, Lord Huron premiered their music video for first album single "Time to Run". If you follow them on any of their various social networks, you've no doubt seen a picture or two from the video shoot that probably raises eyebrows along with your blood pressure.

The video for "Time to Run" is as intricate as Lord Huron's musicmaking, set as an old-style Western. You're dropped right into the middle of the action as you find Ben Schneider aka Huron running from a group of angry folk. He's knocked out and captured where it's revealed a girl is at the root of all his current problems and right when he's about to be hanged for an undisclosed crime, his pals come to bail him out. Perfect. And the best part of the video is perhaps the "To Be Continued..." hinting at more of the saga that might play out in other videos from Lonesome Dreams.

Watch Lord Huron's epic Western adventures in the video for "Time to Run":


Lord Huron's Lonesome Dreams is out October 9th.

(via NPR)

Watch: Jinja Safari - "Toothless Grin" + Like A Version Live Set

Last night (or earlier today if you happen to be an Australian), Australian folky world pop band Jinja Safari played Triple J's Like A Version an in addition to playing their latest single "Toothless Grin", they did the unexpected - they busted out a cover of R. Kelly's "Ignition". Let that sink in for a little bit. Jinja Safari with their collection of world folk instruments like a harmonium that co-frontman Pepa Knight picked up in Indian, bamboo flute, and sitar took on R.Kelly's "Ignition". It's pretty darn great. Check out the evidence down below.

Not too soon after, Jinja Safari also premiered the video for their aforementioned latest single. Instead of taking place among the beaches and the forests like their videos are apt to do, "Toothless Grin" takes things skyward as a wacky tale of doomed scientists, an astronaut sent to save them, a cloud guy, and a party on the moon unfolds. Watch the video for "Toothless Grin":



Watch Jinja Safari perform "Toothless Grin" and R. Kelly's "Ignition" for Triple J's Like A Version:

Lord Huron to release debut full length + tour dates

After what seems like ages of waiting but is actually more like a year and some change, California tropical pop invoking  Lord Huron are following their release of 2010's Into the Sun and Mighty EPs with their debut full length album entitled Lonesome Dreams. Other than it's October 9th release date (mark your calendars!) not too much else is known about it just yet. However their album trailer does feature new track "Time to Run" and should make you very excited about the album's release. Also, the band are going on a Fall tour in support of it so if you're anything like me and have yet to see the band live, quickly realize the error of your ways and plan to keep a night or two free just for them. You won't regret it.

Watch the album trailer for Lord Huron's Lonesome Dreams:


Tour Dates:
8/24 The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA - Los Angeles, California
9/21 Mojo's - Columbia, Missouri
9/25 Magic Stick Lounge - Detroit, Michigan
9/27 Midpoint Music Festival - Cincinnati, Ohio
9/28 Pygmalion Music Festival - Champaign, Illinois
9/29 The High Watt - Nashville, Tennessee
9/30 The Bottletree - Birmingham, Alabama
10/2 Dan's Silverleaf - Denton, Texas
10/3 Stubb's BBQ - Austin, Texas
10/5 Drunken Unicorn - Atlanta, Georgia
10/6 Local 506 - Chapel Hill, North Carolina
10/7 Black Cat Backstage - Washington, DC
10/8 KungFu Necktie - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10/9 Mercury Lounge - New York, New York
10/11 Great Scott - Allston, Massachusetts
10/12 Glasslands Gallery - Brooklyn, New York
10/13 Mohawk Place - Buffalo, New York
10/15 Schubas - Chicago, Illinois
10/16 7th St. Entry - Minneapolis, Minnesota
10/18 Larimer Lounge - Denver, Colorado
10/19 Kilby Court - Salt Lake City, Utah
10/20 Neurolux - Boise, Idaho
10/21 Barboza - Seattle, Washington
10/22 Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, Oregon
10/24 The Independent - San Francisco, California
11/1 Casbah - San Diego, California

Now Streaming: Delicate Steve - Positive Force

It's a strange wonder that I haven't listened to New Jersey rock quintet Delicate Steve before today, the band has played shows with some of my absolute favorite artists/bands like Maps & Atlases, Buke & Gase, & tUnE-yArDs to name but a few that I'm undoubtedly missing. If you've paid any attention to the amount of praise I've given Collections of Colonies of Bees or Phil Cook & His Feat then you probably know instrumental albums are a definite favorite of mine - a favorite where few brilliant, shining works lie. Well Delicate Steve is about to change all that.

Featuring bright, exuberant melodies and fanciful instrumental songcraft, Delicate Steve's Positive Force is poised to become the soundtrack to my summer and might very well be yours if you let it. Each track is a veritable pop gem which puts a decidedly interesting and unique spin on world-influenced music. There's no playing make believe like you sometimes get but the influence funnels into their music alongside a sort of middle-end rock aesthetic and the result is an album you'll pretty much have to pry out of my hands. It's everything I didn't know I was looking for and then some.

You can stream Delicate Steve's Positive Force on NPR now until it's July 10th release date.

Jinja Safari - "Toothless Grin"

One of the pitfalls to falling in love with a foreign band is pretty obvious: Their music isn't all the readily available to you. Or at least maybe that's just a problem I have with the foreign bands I fall in love with. Another pitfall is well, you're subject to them doing things at the time it's most convenient for them i.e. when Jinja Safari premiered their new single "Toothless Grin" on Triple J about two weeks or so, it was a completely normal time there but here? Here it was 4:30am. And despite my attempts to stay up that late to hear it, I wimped out and fell asleep and then could find no mention of the premiere even happening. Other than some very happy Australian's giving the new single rave reviews but that was it. No record of it, no radio rip, no proposed release date, nothing.

It made everything seem rather like it had never actually happened or that for the first time no one was paying attention to Australia. And then Jinja Safari posted where you could listen to the track and all was well. I was over my conspiracy theories and just let another one of their bright, unraveling jungle jams envelop me. In "Toothless Grin", Jinja Safari prove rather effectively beyond any shadow of a doubt that they're no one trick ponies - the new tune is far from rehashing their same old concepts while avoiding a drastic change of direction that's simply not necessary. Another enjoyable tune from Jinja Safari with some mighty fantastic bamboo flute action.

Pitstop: Jinja Safari

I apologize in advance for what I'm about to do to you. I mean, someone certainly should warn you that the music of Australia's Jinja Safari is absolutely going to overtake your life. It's a basic courtesy I wish someone had extended to me. And you may be looking at me dubiously and may seek out their music to prove to yourself and maybe me that you won't be reigned in. That was my downfall when Sam at MiddleClassWhiteNoise mentioned how much he loved them and I, unamused and curious, attempted to listen to them just to say I did.



The music of Jinja Safari is surprisingly easy to explain: Jungle pop. Plain and simple. Inspired in part by co-frontman Marcus Azon's African roots but it's what they infuse into it that's what's so addicting about it. Each and every Jinja Safari song radiates with an undeniable and overwhelming excited energy. In "Mermaids", there's a sort of dreamy unraveling before the exhilarating rush of percussion sweeps you in. It's a track that is almost offensive in its catchiness saved by it's deliberate pacing and switches from over-the-top party-rock to quiet mostly narrative-spewing plodding at a moments notice.



But it's a method shared by the vast majority of the band's music that I've had the pleasure to hear, the frenetic euphoric climaxes are just that and are earned rather just placed in front of you unceasingly and that's what makes Jinja Safari a noteworthy band, they balance blatantly fun music with exceptional musicianship. In songs like "Forest Eyes" and "Peter Pan", the songs are brilliant even at their most basic level - containing little ear-catching music moments that compose the unquestionably great whole.

Jinja Safari's aesthetic seems that to be that of pure unadulterated revelry using bright, bursting sounds and turning to any means to do so, mostly in the form of a notable folk influence. But it's the folk music that we rarely think of anymore: the kind reserved for celebrations and rites of passage in places where music isn't treated as a commodity but as a simple and unavoidable way of life. And that's what comes out most in the music of Jinja Safari, a completely unavoidable sense of enjoyment, of joy, and an almost debilitating desire to want to dance. If you listen to Jinja Safari, you do so at your own risk but it's a risk that's certain worth the reward.



Unfortunately if you're not in Australia or New Zealand, their debut double EP Locked By Land is pretty unavailable to you, unless you import it. But hopefully a recent short US tour the band just completed means there's something far more accessible to come. Here's to hoping. Until then you can get your fix via the songs and videos at their website here and Soundcloud.

Esta Vivo - "Smile Back"

It's a bit surprising that I've yet to talk about Chicago musician Esta Vivo yet. I met him less than a year ago in the We Listen For You room during Turntable.fm's heyday and was utterly charmed by Together We Step. Since then I've gotten to know the man on a more personal level and more or less forgot that I never did talk about his tunes. Until today. Earlier this month, Esta Vivo dropped "Smile Back" from his upcoming full length  Befitting Flesh.

"Smile Back" is a bright, effervescent, springy jam that belies its bedroom pop composition. It's the kind of sunny tune that's fitting either for a boost of much needed sunlight on a rainy day (like it happens to be here today) or for jubilant agreement with the oncoming warm, summery weather. Either way, "Smile Back" is a catchy gem that makes the wait for Beffitting Flesh seem all the much more torturous.

Have a listen to Esta Vivo's "Smile Back":

Pitstop: Waterstrider

Like the majority of my great finds in 2011, my introduction to Berkeley California sextet Waterstrider happened during a late night Turntable.fm session. The sparse intro of "Midnight Moon" similar to Bibio's "Lovers' Carvings" made me immediately pay attention. Waterstrider's music is composed of an intricately layered foundation and swooping melodies with just the right amount of variation in the form of congas, flutes, and other unexpected instrumentation choices. Waterstrider spice up their standard indie rock with occasional forays into balmy tropical pop stylings and complex, attention-grabbing rhythms that are just the right kind of flashy.

Get a taste of Waterstrider with this live acoustic video of newer track "Tile Mountains":


Also you can listen to more Waterstrider with their recently released 4 song Constellation EP

Two new Lord Huron tracks

I have missed Lord Huron every time he's come to New York. When Lord Huron was at CMJ playing the Paste Magazine day party at The Living Room, I was just next door at Pianos getting my face rocked off by ARMS. Do I regret my decision? No. But it is pretty unfortunate. So when I saw these live-ish videos that Lord Huron did for Rollo & Grady, I could just imagine that I was watching Lord Huron live and all is right with the world.

I've essentially been doing aural shots of Lord Huron's Mighty EP and Into the Sun EP so it's nice to hear something a little different. New track "Man Who Lives Forever" throws off the obvious world influence while still maintaining Ben Schneider's entrancing layers of sound and there are occasional hints of globe-trotting tropical pop sytlings with bongos, amped ukulele, and balmy open riffs.

Lord Huron - Man Who Lives Forever from Rollo & Grady Sessions on Vimeo.

Lord Huron - She Lit A Fire from Rollo & Grady Sessions on Vimeo.