Watch: Sea of Bees - "Broke"

Considering her last video has Julie Bee in all sorts of wacky face-paint and costumes, the video for "Broke" could come as a breath of fresh air- literally. Unlike "Skinnybone", "Broke" takes place in the wide open spaces. There's no real plot or concept, just Jules rocking out to her track near a lake with some random shots of her doing cool, random stuff like drawing on a glass panel in the middle of a meadow and sending off a message in a bottle. And yet it doesn't really need to - the track which is more or less about catharsis does just that along with the video - as Julie hoops, hollers, screams, shouts, and thrashes about alongside the crests and peaks of the track there's a pretty nice tension and release. Watch Sea of Bees' video for "Broke":



Sea of Bees' Orangefarben is out May 1st.

Watch: Kishi Bashi - "Bright Whites"

It's about time. Violin/loop pedal maestro Kishi Bashi first posted a teaser trailer for "Bright Whites" way back at the beginning of February citing it would be out soon. Now with the release of his excellent debut album 151a out tomorrow, now seems as good as time as ever to release it.

The teaser showed a fancifully dressed man consuming a ticket and now with the video you get to step into the magical, fun world of Kishi Bashi's creation. "Bright Whites" features a bunch of circus folk attempt to pay their way in to see a set of exotic captured birds (one played by Ishibashi himself) with a series of whimsical barters for tickets. The bird simply want to escape and be free while the circus folk and their patrons have other plans - putting them on display and attacking them when they don't perform like they're supposed to. Until the birds plot their escape and with the help of a violin manage to snag the key to their cells.

It's a high-energy action-packed video full of wonder and whimsy. Not at all unexpected for Kishi Bashi (or the fine fellows of Of Montreal who appear in the video). Watch the video for "Bright Whites":




Kishi Bashi's 151a is out April 10th on Joyful Noise Recordings.

(via Spin)

Maps & Atlases - "Fever"

We've already gotten a hint of it on Chicago technical pop foursome Maps & Atlases track "Winter" but their latest track "Fever", pretty much guarantees that the folk-inspired sound with occasional dips into chamber pop will be a thing of the past on their upcoming sophomore album Beware and Be Grateful. Which turns out isn't all that bad.

"Fever" with it's skittering guitar riffs continues Maps & Atlases transformation into a highly accessible rock group almost completely without rival. While no longer relying heavily on complicated rhythms, the technique and precision and just, all around talent that the group mastered in their "math rock" days really shine through here. And yet, it's the best of both worlds - Maps & Atlases keep their distinctive sound (aided no doubt by Dave Davison's ever distinct vocals) while offering something that sounds different from their previous ventures (there's a kind of Phil Collins-esque big beat in Chris Hainey's drumming).  So while the sprawl of Perch Patchwork might be a thing of the past, Maps & Atlases newfound busy-ness might very well be for the better.

Hear Maps & Atlases' "Fever":


Maps & Atlases' Beware and Be Grateful is out April 17th on Barsuk Records.

Matty Fasano - Living In Armchairs EP (2012)

Late last month, we were treated to a peek of Matty Fasano's solo EP Living in Armchairs with "Christopher" and this week (yesterday to be exactly) saw the release of the full 4 song EP. Not that there was any doubt but the rest of the EP proves that "Christopher" wasn't some amazing fluke.

Beginning with the eponymous "Living in Armchairs",  the EP starts off very much like a warm up exercise with a very simple piano lines and Matty enters with his golden falsetto maintaining the intrigue and the cherry on top is right after a heavenly moment of harmonization, a drum slides in and propels the track into a more conventional direction. The fact that the track waits for 2 minutes before entertain even the slightest notion of poppy game-change is what makes the moment so sweet and fleeting. Almost as quickly as the drums enter, the tracks.

And just when you think you know what to expect from the rest of the EP, "I Can Change" begins - sounding very much like a spiritual, simplistic and beautiful, swimming in a sea of harmonies, "I Can Change" is perhaps the most unexpected surprise of the whole record. A track bound to completely dominate your every waking moment for the next couple days after listening to it.

On Living In Armchairs, Matty Fasano provides a set of tunes that are noticeably diverse and yet fit wonderously together. Each track feeling like an extension of the one before it. As I mentioned before in my review of "Christopher", Matty Fasano manages to elude any distinctly pop sound resulting in a truly emotional wallop (particularly in the aforementioned "I Can Change" and "Christopher"). Even when the drums enter on "Living in Armchairs", they don't decimate the slow build that came before it, making the moment feel truly earned. In just four short sounds, Fasano shows an astounding amount of versatility and talent. The only negative of the EP is that it's tragically short which is less of an actual flaw and more of compliment. I can only amount of time-consuming aural devastation that would occur if Fasano released a full length and yet, I couldn't want for anything more.

Listen to Matty Fasano's Living In Armchairs EP here. You can also buy the EP on Bandcamp.



If you're in the Manhattan area, make sure to come out to Matty Fasano's double release show with Friend Roulette for a guaranteed good time. Tickets available here.

Pitstop: Spanish Prisoners

Every once in awhile your urge to see a particular band is so strong that you make a quasi-reckless trek to see them at a show where you have no idea who anyone else is on the program. That's what happened to me Sunday. When I heard Baltimore duo Lands & Peoples would be returning to Brooklyn for a one-off show it was less about who was playing with them and more about guaranteeing that I would be there front-row and center. That's how I was introduced to Brooklyn quartet Spanish Prisoners. I had heard them pretty much in name only from a variety of bloggers from Listen Before You Buy to I Guess I'm Floating so I already knew to expect something worthwhile.

What really won me over more than anything was the group's live energy - Spanish Prisoners are a band that you can tell enjoy themselves when they're performing. Which doesn't necessarily come out in most live bands who get onstage, do their set, and leave. But as I watched keyboardist Amberly Hungerford rock out dancing while she played along, it was pretty clear I would love this band long after the end of their set. The group also has a singing drummer which I am always on board with. And yet while it was their live show that endeared them to me, their music is nothing to balk it. Spanish Prisoners specialize in a sort of fully flushed out sound that a orchestral pop junkie like myself highly appreciates - although instead of a majestic string section or blaring brass, Spanish Prisoners fill their space with plenty of harmonies (four-part sometimes which is mighty impressive) and by giving each member something to do. Their full sound also jams pretty hard with some funky rhythms and such in tracks like "Cadillac From Yesterday" and "Downtown Chicagoland".


Get a taste of Spanish Prisoners with their debut album Gold Fools on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Also, here's my favorite track by them "Know No Violence" which has light touches of Le Loup's Family:

Spanish Prisoners - Know No Violence (official music video) from Spanish Prisoners on Vimeo.

 

Watch: OH MY! - "Sunshine In Your Eyes"

You may had never heard of OH MY! before but chances are that's about to change. Today the Swedish indie-pop quintet released the video for "Sunshine In Your Eyes" and it's pretty incredible. Directed by Heart-Sick Groans Henric Wallmark (who is completely responsible for me stumbling upon OH MY!) and Jerker Häggström, the video features two young girls who take over a pizza parlor offering special ingredients that have a pretty nifty effect on the consumer - uncontrollable dance. The girls' hijacked pizza place becomes increasingly popular as they feed patrons more and more of the special pizza and becomes a veritable dance party. Satisfied with the impressive amount of profits they've managed to make off the witless pizza proprietor, the two then slip out undetected to conduct a bit of shady business involving a back alley bicycle seller.

Watch OH MY!'s video for "Sunshine In Your Eyes":

Conveyor - "Mane"

Brooklyn rock quartet Conveyor are rapidly proving themselves as one of my favorite new bands this year - releasing the endlessly delightful "Mukraker" mere months ago and already following it with their brand new single "Mane" today, it's no doubt their eventual debut album is going to be a must listen.

"Mane" is a much-appreciated taste of warmer weather - built upon a balmy beach pop riff which plods on with a sort of easy-breezy casualty that's the very definition of infectious. On "Mane", Conveyor prove that they have an even more impressive set of tunes in them - a revelation that should be shocking considering how great their releases have been so far.

There's no word on the release date on their album yet but if Conveyor keep rolling out tunes like "Mane", I'd be content to wait for as long as they want. Enjoy "Mane":



You can download their brand new single for a pay-what-you-want rate on their Bandcamp as well as pre-order the not free but incredibly worth it 7" which comes with B-side "Maine". It's good stuff. Pre-order is available here.