Roommate – We Were Enchanted (2008)

 

Over the past few weeks I’ve been listening on and off to Roommate’s 2008 release, We Were Enchanted.  The album is a little on the darker side, and reminds me somewhat of John Vanderslice’s albums, such as Time Travel is Lonely and Emerald City. Both artists give off a paranoid feeling at times, but Roommate is even more eerie.

Truthfully, I’m a bigger fan of their lighter toned songs like “Day After” (half way through)  and “Night (Rhombus Cover).” Some of the songs that are more rigid are less appealing to me, similar to how I feel about some of Vanderslice’s work, but overall I would still recommend you check out the album.

Kent Lambert originally started Roommate as a solo-project in 2000, and after moving from Iowa City to New York, recorded an EP, Celebs. Soon after 9/11 he relocated to Chicago, and has been there ever since. In 2004, Lambert formed a live band with a variety of members–you can see the list on their Myspace. Members of the live band change based on availability, playing instruments such as musical saw, banjo, violin, theremin, Buchla Music Box, and bassoon, as well as hand percussion and traditional rock instruments.

For more on the band and recording check out Chicago Reader.

We Were Enchanted (2008):

Roommate – Night (Rhombus Cover) – This doesn’t represent rest of band’s music.
Roommate – Day After (wait through intro)

Songs The Animals Taught Us (2005; re-released 2006):

Roommate – Tuesday

 Site | Amazon | iTunes | Myspace

Bonus:

Emerald City (2007):

John Vanderslice – Kookaburra 

Passion Pit – Chunk Of Change

Recently, MGMT has been getting a whole lot of attention. While I think they have some good stuff, this past week I have been obsessed with a band that is simply better than MGMT. Meet Passion Pit.

There is no doubt in my mind that this relatively new electro-pop band out of Boston is going to blow up soon. They are already starting to get a lot of recognition in the Boston area, as they have opened up for Girl Talk, and were awarded the best local act of 2008 by WFNX & Boston Phoenix, which gave them the opportunity to open for Death Cab For Cutie.

Michael Angelakos (lead vocals, keys, piano, synth) was the original brains behind Passion Pit, but his friends Ian Hultquist (synth, voice) and Adam Lavinsky (drums, samples) quickly joined to form the band. Thom Plasse (bass, synth) and Ayad Al Adhamy (synth, sample, voice) were added to the mix soon after. Passion Pit literally just signed to Frenchkiss Records (The Hold Steady, the Apes, the Fatal Flying Guiloteens) who will be re-releasing their EP, Chunk Change,  September, 16th.

Ian Hultquist has been featured on “Indie Muse” before for his solo work, which I also highly recommend you check out. He has a great cover of Wilco’s “Sunken Treasure” and currently does compositions for films. He is a student at The Berklee College of Music.

Fun Fact (via the Boston Herald): Angelakos was taking a class in American fashion at Emerson College and stumbled upon the term passion pit: slang for drive-in movie theaters where kids would make out.

So now you know what passion pit means…

Chunk Of Change (September, 2008):

Passion Pit -  Sleepy Head (on EP, Pretty Penny, but will be released on Chunk of Change.)

Passion Pit – I’ve Got Your Number

Ian Hultquist:

Sunken Treasure (Wilco Cover)

Wilco – Sunken Treasure

Passion Pit’s Myspace | Ian’s Myspace | Frenchkiss records

Silje Nes

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Silje Nes is a Norwegian singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who makes very delicate and beautiful electro-acoustic music. Her songs are simple yet intricate with soft vocals and a wide selection of instruments (all of which she plays). Sometimes experimental, sometimes poppy, Silje has a way of taking small sounds and realizing their full potential into whimsical collages of sonic art. The three tracks I’ve posted aren’t enough to represent her debut album “Ames Room”. The album is full of great music and I recommend you check out the rest of it here.

Starting out by working purely instrumentally, Silje made use of whatever equipment she could get hold of – guitars and an old synth, a cello, a drum kit, a laptop, as well as loop pedals to build layers of her own playing. Little by little she also found ways of including her own voice in the mix, both as texture and song, and her music has organically evolved from there.

– Fatcat Records

Silje Nes is for fans of múm, Amiina, and Tunng.

MP3: Silje Nes – Drown
MP3: Silje Nes – Ames Room
MP3: Silje Nes – Escape

MySpace | Fatcat Records |

Video: The Books – Tokyo

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Pitchfork.tv put this music video by the Books up on their website Friday. Though this track is from their 2nd full release “The Lemon of Pink“, I had just seen this video from 2003 for the first time. I was interested in seeing how the Books would make a music video with their type of music. Would it be a bunch of video samples strung together to form some sort of coherent piece with a few shots of the band interdispersed? or something just as unconventional as the music itself. It turns out it was closer to the former. With juxtaposed shots of Suzuki method violin recital and the occasional clip aligning itself to the rhythm of the music the video has its moments where everything comes together. I think it’s a great music video.

MP3: The Books – Tokyo

This is a stupid From Thought for Food
MP3: The Books – Motherless BastardFrom Lost and Safe

MP3: The Books – It Never Changes to Stop

Website | Tomlab Records

Electric President – Sleep Well

I’ve always been a big fan of the electronic/pop duo Electric President. I still listen to their 2006 self-titled release all the time, and one member, Ben Cooper, has a really neat solo project called Radical Face. An obvious comparison for Electric President, for those who need it, is the Postal Service, though Electric President combines electronic with real instruments.

Electric President have a new album coming out June 24 (digitally, June 6) called Sleep Well. I’ve been previewing it over the last few weeks, and even though I don’t like it as much as their debut album, it contains some great songs.

The best songs on the album include “We Will Walk Through Walls,” “Robophobia,” “Ether,” and “It’s like a Hearbeat, Only It Isn’t.” “We Will Walk Through Walls” is by far my favorite—I can’t stop listening to it. “Ether” is a beautiful instrumental, one of the best I have heard in a while. The song adds a lot to the album and is one of the reasons I love Electric President so much. The guys are passionate about music, and it comes through in their songs. I feel great when listening to them. This is definitely going to be one of my summer albums.

Electric President is Ben Cooper and Alex Kane. They are based out of Jacksonville, Florida and signed to morr music. I know more about Ben because of his solo project, Radical Face, and I would highly recommend you check out his blog. Though he doesn’t update it all that often, it’s really enjoyable to read, and he often shares extra songs and instrumentals he creates. One of his posts from 5 months ago was about his piano:

But a couple weeks ago, something lame happened — my piano died. I’ve had this piano for about two years. It cost me nothing. There was an ad in the local paper saying “Free Piano If You Are Willing to Pick it Up and Move It Yourself.” It was an old flat top wurlitzer upright, and it sounded like a haunted house. The people just wanted it out of their living room. I was happy to oblige.

 

These guys are awesome. Please support them when the album drops in June.

Sleep Well (2008):

Electric President- Monsters

S/T (2006)…recorded in 2004-2005:

Electric President- Grand Machine No. 14

Electric President – Good Morning, Hypocrite

You Have The Right To Remain Awesome EP(2006):

Electric President -Wearing Influences On Our Sleeve-less T-Shirts

Radical Face – Ghost:

Radical Face- Welcome Home, Son

Radical Face – Wrapped in Piano Strings

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