indiescovered

Horse Feathers: Do I say "Devendra" too much?

If you like: Devendra Banhart, Damien Jurado, Jason Collett, Decibully, Castanets, The Elected, M. Ward

MP3: Horse Feathers - Finch on Saturday
MP3: Horse Feathers - Blood on Snow
MP3: Horse Feathers - Falling Through the Roof

Is it just me, or do I compare about half the bands I post to Devendra Banhart? It would seem as if I was Devendra-obsessed, which is not really the case. A quick look at my last.fm profile (although I haven't been using it much in the last month or two, and even then not nearly all the time), and Devendra, while ranked 8th in the week of November 12, is ranked 111th overall, five spots behind former poet laureate Billy Collins. And I hate poetry.

Either way, I don't know if this means that this new Americana quivering-voiced, hat-tip-to-Drake folk is being played by more bands than it was, say, five years ago, or if these bands are just starting to get the attention many of them rightly deserve. Obviously, as with any style of music that becomes increasingly popular in the span of a year or two, bands are going to pop up that are unoriginal and imitative, and bands are going to pop up that are worthy of more. Portland's Horse Feathers are the latter. They're not the most original band playing in this genre, but they're definitely worth a listen, especially Finch on Saturday.

Horse Feathers: MySpace | Label | Contact

Michael Edwards: The Diddy of Bowling Green, OH

If you like: Sufjan Stevens

Michael Edwards - Board Games and Kitchen Floors
Michael Edwards - The Family Lullaby
Michael Edwards - Mary the Icemelter

No one wants to be known as the emo Sufjan, but that's almost exactly what Michael Edwards is. Not like today's emo. But emo emo, like Sunny-Day-Real-Estate emo. In fact, on Michael Edwards' MySpace page, he lists as his influences: Sufjan Stevens, Mineral, The Gloria Record, Jeremy Enigk, and both his bands, SDRE and The Fire Theft, an odd combination until you listen to Edwards' "Family Album." While his songwriting is another beast, his vocal delivery (for the most part) could fit squarely onto a mid-90s emo album.

And it's no surprise that "The Family Album" sounds Sufjanian, and is maybe even derivative of Sufjan's work. My friend Chas, who has made a habit of writing mean songs about nice people and then deleting them out of (hopefully) guilt, told me that before Michael Edwards recorded the album, he fine-tuned his studio skills recording note-for-note covers of some of Stevens' songs.

This is not to say Michael Edwards isn't worth listening too. If he's ripping off Sufjan, he's damn good at it. His songs are catchy, and he's clearly a skilled musician, playing (as far as I know) every instrument on his album in addition to recording it himself.

And on top of all this he co-founded, with his brother Justin, a sort of miniature mega-conglomerate production co. called Pseudobook, where the two record a number of bands, including The Tapes, Modern Soviet Enemies, and The Secondary. Worth noting: Many of the bands recording under the Pseudobook banner are Christian, like Sufjan. Unlike Stevens, most of these bands willingly reveal their religion, but like Stevens, Danielson, and Page France, none among them seem to be the fire-and-brimstone, overtly-converting type. As a proud atheist, I'm not bothered by their religion, as it seems only to flavor the songs, not drive them. This is not "Christian rock" by any means, any more than the bands mentioned above are.

Pseudobook also produces short films and broadcasts a weekly podcast. Most of what these brothers do is at least worth checking out.

Pseudobook: Website | Michael Edwards' MySpace | Justin Edwards' MySpace | Podcast | The Tapes | The Modern Soviet Enemies | The Secondary

In Ink Please: Carlo Rossi Jug Band

If you like: Liz Phair, Mates of State, Rilo Kiley, Tilly and the Wall

MP3: In Ink Please - Carlo Rossi Jug Band
MP3: In Ink Please - The Kurdish Army
MP3: In Ink Please - Rick Allen

In Ink Please's Vanessa Palmer and Jerik Hendrickson write infectious lo-fi pop songs. I stumbled across their website one day, checked out their MySpace and was super excited about these guys until I read that while they were formed in Fargo, they are now separated by the Rockies, with Vanessa living in Seattle. It doesn't sound like that meant the end of In Ink Please. Their MySpace profile says this:

The members of In Ink Please get together as often as possible, and usually end up writing catchy acoustic songs about recent developments in their lives or playing Black Sabbath covers. Once they even went camping.

Here's to hoping they stay together.

In Ink Please: Website | MySpace | More Videos | Contact

Menomena: The Best Album of 2007?

If you like: Really good music

MP3: Menomena - Muscle'n Flo [source]
MP3: Menomena - Wet and Rusting [source]

I break my own rules before I've even had enough time to establish them. It's not my fault though. Matt over at You Ain't No Picasso (the best damn music blog out there) posted a song from Menomena's upcoming third album, "Friend and Foe" (Barsuk). I was going to leave the signed bands that everyone's already listening to to the blogs that are already blogging about them, but I couldn't leave this one alone. Then I realized Gorilla vs. Bear (another terrific music blog) had posted a song too.

If Muscle'n Flow and Wet and Rusting are any indication of how good Friend and Foe are going to be, I'm predicting today that it'll be at the top of everybody's 2007 best albums list. I can't wait for this freaking album.

Friend and Foe is scheduled for release on January 23, 2007. Barsuk will notify you when it's available for pre-order if you go here.

And, speaking (indirectly) of Barsuk, what ever happened to Kind of Like Spitting?

MP3: Kind of Like Spitting - Passionate 

Drive All Day/Edward Lasher/Mountain Kids: Less Pretensious Than They Sound

Drive All Day
If you like: The Decemberists, Elephant 6 bands, Cat Power, American Analog Set

MP3: Drive All Day - You Were Born
MP3: Drive All Day - Far Away From Far From Here
MP3: Drive All Day - Caffeine

I'd like to believe that Drive All Day's Lasher brothers (Alex and Edward) are freaky pop geniuses able to crank out a gem a day with little to no effort. I'd also like to believe that they're actually the same person, but something tells me that's probably not right. Either way, the day Drive All Day makes an album available to the world, I'll snatch it up.

Okay, so maybe this is why I like them. After pointing out that hip bands never list influences on their MySpace profiles, and that they must all be completely original, Drive All Day's profile goes on to say this:

Influences? We are such geniuses that we can take visuals and feelings and make them into sounds! Our influences include lonely streets, Descartes, sunsets. tea, being pretentious, moonlight mixing the dusk into a blackorange glow; A dark glow of light, the feeling of falling, Eggers, fear, death, life, bullshit.

It also seems the Lashers both write and record their own stuff. Sort of lo-fi stripped down Drive All Day.

Edward Lasher
If you like: Page France, Jens Lekman, Elliott Smith, Of Montreal's 4-track stuff

MP3: Edward Lasher- Maybe I Won't
MP3: Edward Lasher - Embers
MP3: Edward Lasher - Sister

Mountain Kids
If you like: Daniel Johnston, Bright Eyes, Elf Power, Bonnie "Prince" Billy

MP3: Mountain Kids - I Don't Know About You, But I Don't Care About Me
MP3: Mountain Kids - Sharks Swim Faster Than Man
MP3: Mountain Kids - I Collect Lots of Rain

Drive All Day: MySpace | Edward Lasher | Mountain Kids

Indiescovered: Shut Me The Fuck Up

Now that I'm pretty sure I've used both these phrases somewhere in the first 5 posts of this blog, I'm pretty sure it's time for a new one. Leave comments if you've got ideas.

Said the Whale:Words Over Music

If you like: Grandaddy, Final Fantasy, Destroyer, Neutral Milk Hotel

MP3: Said the Whale - Better For You
MP3: Said the Whale - The Real of It
MP3: Said the Whale - The Place I Love The Most

These two Vancouver kids have been overlooked somehow. I was fairly certain Canada (as a country) had gotten pretty good at recognizing their talent and exporting it before us American's could get our greasy paws on it. Not so with Said the Whale.

Said the Whale (formerly Words Over Music) doesn't fit into your typical view of a Canadian indie band. In fact, they don't fit your view of anything that you're listening to right now.  (Or maybe they do. How would I know what you listen to?) And I really don't think they have any idea how good they are. I talked briefly Tyler (one half of the band) via email last week and he asked if I'd wait to post until he could get me newer mp3s. I think the old ones are pretty great, so I'm going to post them unless they tell me otherwise. I'll definitely post the new songs when I get them.

What got me about Said the Whale is that, from what I've heard, they write two types of songs. The second, and it's important that it's the second, is the slightly-better-than-mediocre powerpop song (see: Plans for the Future). The first, however, is a sort of pop version of what Dan Bejar is doing in his free time. Or Owen Pallett even. And they're doing it in under two minutes. In their finest moments, Tyler Bancroft and Ben Worcester are the more accessible Final Fantasy/Destroyer for the safe indie-pop set.

Words Over Music: Site | MySpace | More on YouTube | Contact

The Word Play:The Word Play is Less Impressive Than the Instrument Play

If you like: Karate, Modest Mouse, Pavement, Hockey Night, Joan of Arc

MP3: The Word Play - Long Winded
MP3: The Word Play - Instructor/Bring the Boys

Canton, Michigan's The Word Play have somehow missed my radar. I live not too far from Canton, and go to a lot of shows when the Michigan bands head down to my part of Ohio, but have never seen The Word Play play. I can make an educated guess though and say I'd probably enjoy their live show. A lot of the bands they seem to associate with are great live bands worth checking out. Maybe I'll post mp3s from them later. Until then, check out Detroit's Javelins, the somewhat-recently hugely-blown-up Thunderbirds Are Now, Livonia, MI's El Boxeo, and Ann Arbor's amazing seven-piece musical collective, Canada.

There's very little in common musically between these bands, but for some reason they fit together. I don't know what it is, but here's to hoping that some of Southern Michagan's talent bleeds across the border and livens up Northwest Ohio. So close, but so far away.

The Word Play: Website | MySpace | PureVolume | Purchase from  Smart Punk | Contact

Uncle Jellyfish:The Most Bizarre Band I Can Still Totally Tolerate, At Least In Small Doses

If you like: Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Animal Collective, Komeda, Fiery Furnaces, Weird French Shit

MP3: Uncle Jellyfish - Wake Up Bird
MP3: Uncle Jellyfish - Out of Season
MP3: Uncle Jellyfish - Wild Linens

My first band outside of North America wins a couple of awards from me, the first being the Most Bizarre Band I Can Still Totally Tolerate, At Least In Small Doses Award. The second is the Worst Band Name That Maybe Would Be Okay In A Different Language Award, and the third is the Most Adorable Band Pretending To Be A Super Group. Not that they couldn't be. Given some time (and maybe a name change) Uncle Jellyfish could put together a pretty impressive album. It'll be interesting to see if anything comes of them.

Uncle Jellyfish is by no means for everyone, but is definitely worth a listen if you're tired of the standard fare. I'll try to find out more about these crazy kids, but so far, there's not a whole lot out there.

Uncle Jellyfish: MySpace

The Happies/Unhappies:A Blast From My Internet Past

If you like: The Delgados, Beulah, Brian Wilson, The Unicorns, Aberfeldy, BC Camplight

MP3: The Happies - Wahaka
MP3: The Happies - Jayleen
MP3: The Happies - Hey Little Buttercup

I first heard the Happies on the old mp3.com, back when it was an online showcase for independent, unsigned bands (a sort-of PureVolume before PureVolume was PureVolume, sort of (and actually I think it might have become garageband.com)), and in fact, both the tracks I put up are from their first album "Meet the Happies," which I've had and enjoyed for maybe five years now. I always meant to email them and let them know I was a huge fan, and that they sang me to sleep lots of nights, but never got around to it. I guess I will now, if only to tell them I'm giving their music away for free. I guess it doesn't matter. They are too.

The only thing that gets me is that their new stuff seems to have lost something. I'm not usually one to complain when a lo-fi band makes a studio album, or at least upgrades their equipment, but The Happies may be the exception. And I guess to prove a point, I'll post their new stuff. I'm trying pretty hard to get into it, but it's just not happening. I'm sure if I heard their newest album first, I'd be a huge fan, but I miss the old Happies. Give me a week with the new album. I'm sure I'll disagree with the today me by then.

MP3: The Happies - Sun Don't Shine

Anyway, for my buck, nobody writes sad under-3-minute pop songs that somehow make you happy quite like the Happies.

Also of note: The Happies somehow less interesting (but still definitely worth the listen) alter-ego, The Unhappies.

The Happies: Site | MySpace | Download "Meet the Happies" | The Unhappies | iTunes | Contact