Category Archives: Video

Lost in the Trees start US tour!

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Just wanted to share an update to let you guys know that Lost in The Trees just started their US tour. We featured the folk-orchestration band back in December and are big fans. They actually just signed to Anti- Records, who will be releasing a new and enhanced version of All Alone In An Empty House on August 10th, 2010 (originally released on the awesome Trekky Records). Check out the tour dates and video below to see what’s in store.

5/18/2010 DENVER, CO Larimer Lounge* w/ Plants and Animals
5/19/2010 SLC, UT Kilby Court * w/ Plants and Animals
5/20/2010 BOISE, ID Neurolux * w/ Plants and Animals
5/21/2010 PORTLAND, OR Mississippi Studios * w/ Plants and Animals
5/22/2010 SEATTLE, WA Crocodile Café * w/ Plants and Animals & Frog Eyes
5/25/2010 SAN FRANCISCO, CA The Independent * w/ Plants and Animals
5/26/2010 VISALIA, CA Cellar Door * w/ Plants and Animals
5/27/2010 LA, CA Troubadour * w/ Plants and Animals
5/29/2010 TUCSON, AZ Plush * w/ Plants and Animals
5/31/2010 DENTON, TX Hailey’s * w/ Plants and Animals
6/1/2010 AUSTIN, TX Emo’s  * w/ Plants and Animals
6/2/2010 NEW ORLEANS, LA One Eyed Jacks * w/ Plants and Animals
6/3/2010 DURHAM, NC Carrboro Arts Center
6/5/2010 ATLANTA, GA The Earl * w/ Plants and Animals
6/6/2010 ASHEVILLE, NC Grey Eagle * w/ Plants and Animals
6/7/2010 WASHINGTON, DC The Rock and Roll Hotel * w/ Plants and Animals
6/8/2010 PHILLY, PA Johnny Brenda’s * w/ Plants and Animals
6/9/2010 NY, NY Bowery Ballroom * w/ Plants and Animals
6/12/2010 CAMBRIDGE, MA TT the Bear’s * w/ Plants and Animals
6/13/2010 Montreal, Canada Divan Orange
6/15/2010 Toronto, Canada at El Mocambo
6/19/2010 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern

All Alone In An Empty House (2010):

(mp3) Lost in the Trees –  All Alone in An Empty House

site | myspace

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsHOvhNs6bs&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Interview: A Weather

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A Weather

Portland-based A Weather released a new album called Everyday Balloons earlier this March. The latest record is a hushed-voiced gem, but I’ll leave my in-depth thoughts for an upcoming album review. Until then, satiate your A Weather appetite with the following interview. Frontman Aaron Gerber was kind enough to field my highly disjointed questions about the latest record, understated moments, and stuffed animals.

IndieMuse: How do you think the overall sound of Everyday Balloons builds on the sound of your previous record Cove?

Aaron Gerber: I’d say that Everyday Balloons pushes the dynamics a bit more than Cove does. The focus is more on the electric guitars whereas with Cove the acoustic played a more dominant role. There are more cacophonous elements to Everyday Balloons (our guitar player, Aaron Krenkel, uses the word “raucous” which I think is fitting). There is also maybe more playfulness with the arrangements and overall more layering of overdubs. But paradoxically I feel like Everyday Balloons also has a more direct live sound to it. We wanted to use as much of the natural room tone as we could when recording.

IM: A Weather lyrics take the time to appreciate the understated moments of day-to-day life, like in “Third of Life” when you say “Take a breath and brush it off / Brush your teeth and sort your socks.” I’m wondering if your lyrical attention to small but beautiful everyday moments explains the album’s title, Everyday Balloons i.e. admiring the little moments that often go by unnoticed but are kind of remarkable for all their quietness.

AG: It’s important for me to ground my writing in the concrete world. I’m trying to give the listeners those little moments you mention as means of getting their bearings, little recognizable elements one can grasp among the weirder or more abstract stuff. I don’t want to create a narrative or a confessional, but I do like the sense that there is something real going on, even if you can’t be certain exactly what it is. For me the title Everyday Balloons has multiple meanings (the more I sit with it the more it continues to change), and the interpretation you describe so nicely can definitely be one of those meanings. I would never want to create one way of orienting the listener towards our music or my lyrics, or say that there is one over-arching theme to the record.

IM: What are some of your favourite everyday, understated moments?

Hmm. I take walks to the grocery store. I enjoy petting cats that I meet around my neighborhood. Sarah [female vocalist in A Weather] and I love going to Sauvie’s Island (a bit of farmland on the outskirts of Portland) during the fall. Cooking is a big hobby of mine.

Interview continued after the jump…

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/1365399[/vimeo]

Cove (2008):

(mp3) A Weather – Shirley Road Shirley

MySpace | Website | Purchase

Interview continued after the jump…

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Zeus – “Say Us” (2010)

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Zeus

All I wanna do is clap/All I wanna do is sing/I don’t wanna sing another song in anger sing Zeus on “Kindergarten”, and I couldn’t be happier about all the musical things they do or don’t wanna do, because Say Us is a seriously good time. It’s got hand claps, group singing, parlour piano, bumbling bass lines and enough ooh’s and ahh’s to fill a swimming pool.

Zeus make no attempts to hide the fact that this Say Us is a pop album through and through. Sure, it has some buzzing, straight-up rock moments (“You Gotta Teller”) and sure it can simmer (“Heavy On Me”), and sure Zeus can do the buzzing, simmering thing well, but it’s when they give in to every pop-loving instinct in their bodies that the album comes so vibrantly alive.

Say Us has a grinning approach to music that just reeks of good times, often bringing a very Kinks-esque silliness to the songs that I completely adore.  And I could sit here listening to the album on repeat, pinpointing exact moments where Zeus bring to mind other musicians from yesteryear (because their sound can indeed be described with a lot of sounds-likes), but I’ll leave that to somebody else who’d rather pick apart the origins of Zeus’ hook-laden awesomeness than just enjoy the hook-laden awesomeness for all its awesomity.

And check out the equally a-word video for the album’s first single, “Marching Through Your Head”:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeUx-0gtk1k[/youtube]

Say Us (2010)

(mp3) Zeus – Fever of the Time

(mp3) Zeus – Kindergarten

MySpace | Website | Buy

Band of Horses set to release new album, Infinite Arms.

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Just the other day, I was listening to Band of Horses and this thought swept over me: “When the F*** [yes, I curse in my head] are BOH releasing their next album?!” Then, as if my inner-voice rained down on them from the heavens, they announced their upcoming album. It was magical. Their album is called Infinite Arms, and it comes out on May 18. It will not be released on Sub Pop, which means my April Fools report from a few years ago was dead on.

According to our friends over at Pitchfork, frontman Ben Bridwell said, “in many ways, this is the first Band of Horses record.” I guess we’ll see who makes better music–Ben Bridwell or Ben Bridwell & Co.

(mp3) Band of Horses – Ode to LRC

(mp3) Band of Horses – Monsters

site | myspace

Cool video from Lollapalooza:

‘continue reading’ for Tour dates:

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Pomplamoose – “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” (Aerosmith Cover)

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Pomplamoose (Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn) have tried their hands at covering everything from Beyonce to The Sound of Music, so it’s always interesting to see which wildly unrelated road they’ll travel down next. This time around, it’s Armageddon-era Aerosmith. In true Pomplamoosian fashion, the cover is fueled by the winning combo of Nataly Dawn’s mumble-jazz voice and Jack Conte’s intricate, poppy, multi-instrumentalist experimentation.

If you’re a fan of this rendition, the generous Pomplamooses have made it and all of their covers available for FREE download. Right here. How lovely of them. Don’t forget to check out their original material as well—it’s not to be missed. Ha. Ha. Ha.

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

Pomplamoose Covers (2010)

(mp3) Pomplamoose – Don’t Want to Miss a Thing

Pomplamoose VideoSongs

(mp3) Pomplamoose – Expiration Date

MySpace | Website | YouTube | iTunes

Jordie Lane – Sleeping Patterns (2009)

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Jordie Lane’s music is one of the best kept secrets out there. Lane’s 2009 debut album, Sleeping Patterns, literally makes me want to go door to door and spread the goodness. His music and songwriting is beautiful and refreshing in every sense of the word.  Sleeping Patterns is a must hear for any music fan (especially recommended for fans of Wilco, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash).

One thing I love about the album is its diversity. Lane has a gift for connecting genres in a way that expands what I imagine is most listeners’ comfort zones. His album is influenced by folk, bluegrass, country, and other genres.  While his folk songs “I Could Die For You,” “The Day I Leave This Town,” and “War Rages On” are gems and most like the music I typically listen to, tracks such as “Fell Into Me” “Walking that Way,” and “John W. Thistle” are throwbacks to the 60s (“There Once Was Life to Come” is fantastic and brings Johnny Cash to mind). Lane’s music is extremely cultured and is a great homage to all the musicians who have helped us get where we are today in music.

It blows my mind that Jordie is only 25 years old, and wrote most of Sleeping Patterns when he was 21.  He is based out of Melbourne, Australia, and makes up one half of the duo Fireside Bellows, alongside Canadian songwriter, Tracy McNeil. He’s shared the stage with Neko Case and Cat Power, and it’s only a matter of time before his music spreads far and wide.

Sleeping Patterns (2009):

(mp3) Jordie Lane – I Could Die Looking At You

(mp3) Jordie Lane – Walking That Way

Myspace | Buy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BMfXxC90ag&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Field – Be Brave (2010)

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You know those people who are somehow good at everything they do? Yeah, those ASSHOLES. Well, Spencer Berger is one of them. He’s the screenwriter and lead actor in the award winning film Skills Like This, and now he’s taking a stab at music under the pseudonym Field. He’s an extremely talented musician, and even worse, a really nice guy.

Field’s debut, Be Brave, is still in the process of being mastered, and will be released this year. The unmastered version is a sign of good things to come. Field’s music is among the most creative being produced today–a truly engaging sound that can’t be categorized in a genre other than saying it lies somewhere between Bowie and Flight of the Conchords.

I’ll definitely keep you posed on the release date. In the meantime, check out the below tracks and music video, which will undoubtedly brighten your day.

Be Brave (2010):

(mp3) Field – Sunday

(mp3) Field – I’m the Enforcer

myspace | skills like this

“I’m the Enforcer” music video. One of the best videos I’ve seen in a while.

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

Bombadil – “So Many Ways To Die” Music Video

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I’m still tossing and turning at night over my “best of 2009” list, but one album that I am quite certain will be on there is Bombadil’s Tarpits and Canyonlands. It’s also going to make it onto my “Most underappreciated albums of 2009” list, “Most underappreciated albums of the decade” list and “Most underappreciated albums of the century (so far)” list. And David over at Largehearted Boy will have to recognize them all!!! (seriously, how does he do that?! He’s like a magical blogging wizard.)

Anyway, the main point of this post is to bring to your attention a hilarious music video Bombadil made for their song “So Many Ways To Die.” The video is comprised entirely of stock footage from the 30s, and was put together by Bombadil frontman Bryan Rahija. After watching the video a few times through I asked Rahija how he thinks he’s going to die, given all the possibilities. He said he figures he will clobbered by a bus scooting down G St in Washington DC. Similarly, I know for a fact that my untimely death at 93 is going to involve (but not be limited to): Montana, a treadmill, mountain goats, and 7-Eleven coke slushies.

There are so many ways to die. How is it going down for you?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U4ybU1KVcQ[/youtube]

Tarpits and Canyonlands (2009):

(MP3) Bombadil – Honeymoon

(MP3) Bombadil – So Many Ways To Die

Site | Store | iTunes | Myspace

Cedarwell

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cedarwell

If you like Bon Iver, Wisconsin, and beards, you need to check out Cedarwell. Erik Neave, the main man behind Cedarwell, creates music that excites me much in the same way Justin Vernon’s music did when I first set ears on For Emma Forever Ago.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised if his name quickly spread.

It almost seems too easy to compare Neave to Vernon,  but his music has a similar tone, he’s from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and  looks like he could be Vernon’s brother. Hopefully, he doesn’t mind the comparison, as it’s one he definitely will not be able to escape. Anyway, I think it’s a pretty big compliment myself, and he’s been making music for a while, as well, and is in no way a copy cat.

Cedarwell currently has two albums out and an EP (they’ve also made music under the name Amalgam), and they have plans on releasing another album in February. I’ll be keeping you posted. The band is currently touring in Europe, so go check em out if you can! From the videos I’ve watched they seem to put on very personal shows.

Live on LaudroManitee.com:

(mp3) Cedarwell – Burn Up The Sky (Which One)

Fall ’08 Tour EP

(mp3) Cedarwell – Black Lung (highly recommend)

Smoky Mountain Bear (2008):

(mp3) Cedarwell – Home

more mp3s on Cedarwell’s website. Buy albums here.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/5310011[/vimeo]