About Nick

"Don’t ask me why I obsessively look to rock n’ roll bands for some kind of model for a better society. I guess it’s just that I glimpsed something beautiful in a flashbulb moment once, and perhaps mistaking it for prophecy have been seeking it’s fulfillment ever since. And perhaps that nothing else in the world ever seemed to hold even this much promise" - Lester Bangs 1977 That about sums up why I write about music. I go to school at Boston University with Akhil, one of the other indiemusers, and we share similar views on music. I just want people to hear stuff. Sometimes I wish I were more eloquent. I also write for Performer Magazine, and play in the band You Can Be A Wesley. And that's me!

Experimental Dental School – Forest Field [Free!]

Free stuff is sweet. Free music is even better. But like, free-free, artist-endorsed free. Especially when it’s killer art-rock. Portland duo Experimental Dental School is offering their album Forest Field for free at their website here. Forest Field is like giving Deerhoof a more discernible goal while dabbling in the Blonde Redhead male/female vocal dynamic. It’s like Pretty & Nice’s Get Young in that it makes you think about what you’re listening to, with super dense guitar-rock arrangements; angular leads flying over-head while a revolving door of synth and bass pours out churning subsections. It’s a record to go insane to, it’s a record to fall asleep to, and it’s probably a record to make really awkward love to.

“Square Wave Cave” progresses with an ominous guitar squeal reminiscent of Menomena’s “The Pelican.” As the fifth track on “Forest Field,” it acted as my first flashbulb moment of the night. The riff hit, the chorus sank, and something huge resonated. Two songs later, “Vicious Cycle of Life” opens with a sharp, arpegiated guitar and hushed female vocals. It’s the album’s only real come-down moment, before dropping into the reverbed drive of “Argentine Pears.” That resonance I mentioned from “Square Wave Cave”? It exploded with “Argentine Pears,” particularly due to the strange time and the chord change at 1:20. I’m a sucker for inexplicably captivating chord changes.

I’m sort of writing this on the fly, because I don’t want to think too hard. I think it might permanently hurt my brain. Get into it.

From Forest Field:

XDS – Square Wave Cave

XDS – Vicious Cycle of Life

XDS – Argentine Pears

Passion Pit – The Reeling [Video]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVstHPhaJ6M[/youtube]

Passion Pit‘s “Sleepyhead” video was one of the cooler vids from last year (and Pitchfork endorsed!). Here we have the video for the new single from upcoming album, Manners. This song has taken some heat since it’s release, mostly because it isn’t “Sleepyhead.” And it’s tough not to compare the two. “Sleepyhead” was immaculate in it’s immediate, pop infectiousness and it was the world’s introduction to the band. Frontman Michael Angelakos’s falsetto was endearing and the backing story – that the entire EP was written as a valentine’s gift for his girlfriend – was adorable. “The Reeling” shows us a slicker, more-produced sound from a band introduced as a type of bedroom pop. Where “Sleepyhead” resonated immediately, “The Reeling” is definitely a grower. But for that reason, I’ve already become more fond of this track. And this video – beautiful girls literally tearing up a New York night – is the ideal reflection of their music. IndieMuse is psyched for Manners to drop, and until then will have to hold ourselves over watching this video on repeat.

The Sweptaways and Jens Lekman – Happiness Will Be My Revenge

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrKN0rFcupE&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Jens Lekman has released a new single/video with the help of a (group? sham? new backing band?) called the Sweptaways. I found it courtesy of the ever-wonderful I Guess I’m Floating. A few minutes of Jens riding sunny, chamber harmonies, crooning lost-love and dreams of eventual, emotional retribution. Sounds about right. I hope to see more from him soon, cause goddamn do I love me some Jens Lekman.

And just ’cause:

Jens Lekman – Black Cab

The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love

I first discovered the Decemberists when Picaresque went big. Eleven, self-contained pop odysseys, each one casting the previous in shades of grandeur I had yet to experience with music. (It didn’t help that it coincided with the heyday of my fantasy-novel indulgence.) I moved back from there, absorbing Her Majesty and Castaways and Cutouts, obsessing over the Tain EP and sort of enjoying the Five Songs EP. Listening to the Decemberists became an event, almost a hobby. They were something I could move to out of boredom, disappearing for ten minutes with the high-seas treachery of “The Mariner’s Revenge” or dissolving to the Fievel Goes West solo in “Chimbley Sweep.” So when The Crane Wife hit, and the brilliant pop songwriting behind “16 Military Wives” was replaced with twelve minute prog-rock escapades a-la Animals-era Pink Floyd, I was disappointed. And with Hazards of Love, they’ve further indulged their penchant for long-winded guitar solos and sparse riffage.

The reason Picaresque was so absorbing was that the instrumentation propelled the story-telling. There was a give and a take between plot and musical action. As a whole the story is lost, and despite its concept album status and the high-arching, grand drama of the plot, it somehow lacks cohesion. It melds in controlled spurts, like on “The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid,” where Colin Meloy and some lovely lady trade dialogue over sharp, early seventies hard-rock riffs. But at the end of the album, I’m lost.

After several listens, I’ve gathered only the following:

1)That Love is Hazardous. But vaguely so.
2) Thistles Whiste in Bistly Mistle Histle Kistle
3) Judging from the bass tone, the Decemberists totally dig Hounds of Love-era Kate Bush
4) Chris Funk is still a guitar legend, despite any of the mean things I said above. That dude kills it.

From The Hazards of Love:

The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle the Thistles Undone)

The Decemberists – Won’t Want For Love (Margarelt in the Taiga)

From Picaresque:

The Decemberists – 16 Military Wives

From Her Majesty:

The Decemberists – The Chimbley Sweep

Jack White’s New Band

Jack White is terrifying. As always.

Jack White is terrifying. As always.

Jack White continues to solidify his role as one of the most proflic figures in modern rock. He’s always creating, and never dissapoints. That being said, none of his divergences have ever quite lived up to the raw power of his White Stripes material, his new song under the name Dead Weather being no exception. For this band, White has teamed up with lead Kill Allisson Mosshart, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Dean Fertia and Raconteur‘s bassist Jack Lawence. White plays drums and sings. Muddy, droning guitars back androgynous vocals (is it White or Mosshart? Whitehart? Mosswhite?) and a savage hi-hat attack, courtesy of White. For the time being, this’ll satisfy my Jack White intake. I’m still eagerly awaiting whatever he does as the Stripes next though.

Stream “Hang You From the Heavens” here.

Hootenanny!

I have several places of note I would like to direct you. Once a month, at a house in Allston, a bunch of folk singers get together to sing songs for each other. Along with my friend Addision, I covered this event for the Boston Phoenix. Addison also edited some footage for the Boston music blog EnoughCowbell.com, some of our friends. Here are several links to some amazing performances by some genuine Boston folk singers. And check back with EnoughCowbell over the next few days for some more footage. (Above photo credit: Ryan McCune)

The Boston Phoenix – Montage video and accompanying article. Brief into to the absurd talent gathered in the room that night. As we gather more footage, we’ll unveil these glimpses in full.

Akhil & Andy (of Banana Phonetic) – Two A.M. performance by IndieMuse’s own Akhil Bhatt.

(Above photo credit: Vincent Joseph)

Continue reading

Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains

Cymbals Eat Guitars is a Staten Island four-piece that plays some pretty sweet indie-rock. End generic intro. Their album “Why There Are Mountains” plays like a slideshow – each track has it’s own flow, it’s own personality, it’s own definite chronological place, yet it retains the cohesion of a purpose-built album. The songs flow through valleys, high into peaks, and descend on the other side, guided by squealing guitars into a loopy haze (perhaps a literal interpreation of the album title?).

I’m dropping two tracks today, representative of two different sounds.

Spacey-keyboards start “Share” before giving way to the slow, industrial trudge on guitars channeling the axe-saw grind of My Bloody Valentine’s “To Here Knows When.” The requisite haze shimmers over the vocals and bass plods along, roughly mirroring the melody with several notes. The song plateaus as horns enter the mix, bellowing triumph over crushing guitars, and a screeching, Malkmusian guitar solo. Victory.

Cymbals Eat Guitars – Share

And here we have the opener. A see-sawing harmony teetters over screaming synths and guitars before the songs mellows, and the vocals enter atop softer, prettier instrumentation. It’s a six-minute joy ride. I’m pretty tired, and this album is now lulling me to sleep. So instead of half-assing the rest, I’m just going to tell you to listen. So do it.

Cymbals Eat Guitars – And the Hazy Sea

Also, if you dig this, you might be into All These Kings, a Boston based band and good friends of mine. Check em out.

All These Kings – Pay No Mind

MySpace

The Drones – Havilah

The Drones are a grizzled, straight-up hard-rock band from Australia. I’ve been stuck in a twisted post-rock/hard rock cycle after downloading the top 25 releases from Touch & Go last week (Slint has haunted me since high school, the Jesus Lizard is further eroding my sanity). I haven’t slept much, and my dreams have been sinister. The Drones have not helped my predicament.
This isn’t typical IndieMuse material, but this album has hit me hard. Singer Garret Liddiard sings, screams and growls his way through the songs, following loosely constructed guitar narratives that are as gnarled as they are melodic. The more grizzly segments are punctuated by fluid, post-rock instrumental breakdowns and intense, cross-panning guitar solos; a shining light lent to the chaos. Their crescendos reach drastic heights, only to immediately plummet into paced, segmented arpeggios, an approach that mirrors Liddiard’s overwhelmingly bleak lyrics. But where the album is universally downcast  – failed marriages, broken friendships, and a general disdain for the human race – it’s a contextual down.  It’s an accessible heartbreak, because while his stories sound far more wretched than anything encountered in my own life, I’m totally with him when he wails at the end of “Nail it Down”: “Cause I’d try anything if I could only get along with you.”

On “Luck in Odd Numbers,” random double drum hits, spaced throughout the song, propel warbling guitars into the cosmos, backed by a spindly, walking bass lead that sounds like a corrupted John-Paul Jones. Each drum hit lends Liddiard more confidence, an increased gait as he spits his story. And deep into the song comes the requisite hard rock solo – squealing leads and layers of fuzz, a massive guitar and drum attack; the complete, visceral discharge of the previous seven minutes. Check the lyric sheet here.

From Havliah:

The Drones – Nail it Down

The Drones – Luck in Odd Numbers

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwi9hnCYDXA[/youtube]

The Drones | MySpace |

From the Vaults: XTC – Skylarking (1986)

I only discovered XTC after I finally got sick of hearing Pretty & Nice consistently compared to them and not knowing who they were. So Pretty & Nice, I owe you for introducing me to Skylarking. This album has captured my mind for the last few weeks. I’ve left places early to go home and listen to it. If I have to walk somewhere, anywhere, if even for a minute, I’ll listen to Skylarking. Even 30 seconds of the first song. The hooks are irresistible. I’m slightly more insane for having heard this album. So cheers to my eroding sanity, and all hail Skylarking.

Skylarking has no grounding. The hooks float. They dive when they should pop, and explode when they’re bound to disappear. It’s entirely unpredictable pop music, a bit unsettling but ultimately enveloping. And that’s it, that’s the draw, the part that speaks to some evolutionary swirl beneath each passing listen. Of course the music stays the same, but the mind twists the interpretations and the associations. It’s nearly symbiotic in it’s infectiousness. The bass lines skirt the vocal melody in “Summer’s Cauldron” while jangly keyboards and piano build a dream-like foundation. There’s also a flute line that might have inspired the creation of the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time. The bass/guitar interaction in “Meeting Place” is all Built to Spill, and the vocals punch from the ether, floating to and from existence before dissolving into lush, sweeping harmonies. Oh, and this lyric: “Machines that make you kiss in time.” There’s something oddly compelling about kissing in time. Romantic, even.

Also, this was released three days before I was born. Coincidence?

From Skylarking:

XTC – Summer’s Cauldron

XTC – The Meeting Place

XTC – Ballet for a Rainy Day

And this video is just strange.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozu8KGFH-CU[/youtube]

MySpace | Amazon

From The Vaults: Split Enz (1975)

Six years after the Beatles broke up, at the apex of Neil Young’s influence stateside, New Zealand’s Split Enz released an album encompassing Young’s folk ideals tinged with the Beatles charming quirks. At times, Beginning of the Enz sounds like B-sides – or simply an alternate version – of Magical Mystery Tour, at others like a sequel to Harvest. It’s freak-folk, it’s art-rock inflected bluegrass, it’s something entirely different, a mélange of influences spanning the world, and a reflection of New Zealand’s isolation from the rest of the world. Their harmonies are guttural and often off key; but they’re real, they feel right, like Malkmus’s harmonies in early Silver Jews recordings. The refrain in “For You” transforms after each verse, separated by bursts of bass-driven melody and backed by a sweeping, string-driven descent into something wonderful. “Home Sweet Home” is backed by harpsichord and rushing cymbals, and freaked-out with voice-over samples from what sounds like an old-tyme British TV show. The album is constantly evolving, a trip as epic as New Zealand itself. Distorted guitars wash over twangy mandolin, spacy keyboards compliment airy vocals, while popping, rolling bass backs everything. Get into it.

From Beginning of the Enz:

Split Enz – For You

Split Enz – Home Sweet Home

Split Enz – Split Ends

And below is the video for their 1980 hit, “I got You.” This song increased their notoriety worldwide, making them one of the few New Zealand bands to make it internationally. Hysterically 80s, also a major departure from their ’75 sound.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv6oOxn1axw[/youtube]

MySpace | Amazon