The blog can now be found and its new and improved home at seewhatyouhear.com, which is a bit more web 2.0. I plan to implement some new features that will encourage interactivity and soon this address will direct you there directly.
Grizzly Bear – Cheerleader
Normally when an album has been as anticipated as much as Veckatimest has, it inevitably sinks under the weight of expectation. In the case of Grizzly Bear, everything they have done since 2006’s Yellow House has signalled a band nearing their creative peak. Continue Reading »
Posted in General Reviews, Recommended Listening | Tagged cheerleader, Chris Taylor, christopher bear, ed droste, foreground, grizzly bear, two weeks, Veckatimest, While You Wait for the Others, Yellow House | 1 Comment »
As scruffed electro-pop inspired by comedowns, Songs about Dancing and Drugs simulates that dark Sunday morning tug-of-war between jaded paranoia and the twitching physical urge to keep dancing. This is the third album from Jeremy Shaw, a Canadian living in Berlin, and an outside contender for underground release of the year.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Circlesquare, comedown music, Hey You Guys, Jeremy Shaw, Songs about Dancing and Drugs | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Video | Tagged loaf, Seeland, TOMORROW TODAY, Wander | Leave a Comment »
Cymbals Eat Guitars – Cold Spring
Why There Are Mountains, the self-released debut from this Staten Island quartet, is an album where every track is a field trip: full of carefully crafted songs that take their time to streamline a post-rock dynamic into something accessible, soothing and gratifying. A pleasant surprise with plenty to absorb.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Cold Spring, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Why There Are Mountains | Leave a Comment »
John Fairhurst – Obnox Stomp (Remix)
Updating the sound of John Fahey for the 21st century and bringing it to a new audience, Wigan’s John Fairhurst learned to play guitar from an unnamed Indian master, honing his skills in south east Asia for a number of years before bringing his blend of raga and blues back to the UK folk scene. The video for this song (posted below) is well worth checking, if not just for the surrealnes of an ‘I Am Kloot’ poster hanging in the background.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Bukka White, davey graham, folk, indian raga, john fahey, John Fairhurst, joys of spring, Obnox Stomp (Remix), ravi shankar | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Video | Tagged dan rossen, Department of Eagles, grizzly bear, in ear park, No One Does It Like You | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Video | Tagged beach house, grizzly bear, two weeks, Veckatimest, Victoria Legrand | Leave a Comment »
Starfucker – Iaadeedaa
Fun-fuelled dance-pop from Portland’s Badman label: so catchy it had IBM writing a cheque out for use of “Holly” from their self-titled debut album and so energetic that the group impressed all at SXSW last week. Next month the band will release Jupiter, an EP highlighting their ’80s-inspired live shows, which will contain a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (below).
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged cover version, Cyndi Lauper, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Iaadeedaa, Starfucker, sxsw | Leave a Comment »
Memory Cassette – Asleep at a Party
Anonymous figure/collective from New Jersey, possibly Philadelphia – all we know is that the listless space pop of Memory Cassette is well worth a place on your playlist, right alongside Ariel Pink, M83 and Ulrich Schnauss. You can download a handful of his/her/their excellent EPs for free here along with a fantastic mixtape of personal favourites.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Ariel Pink, Asleep at a Party, M83, Memory Cassette, Ulrich Schnauss, weird tapes | Leave a Comment »
Gang Gang Dance interferance…
Posted in Video | Tagged gang gang dance, panda bear, person pitch, Take Pills | Leave a Comment »
Emperor X – A Violent Translation of the Concordia Headscarp
Free music! Racing pop songs sprung from the prolific creativity of a science teacher and reigned in by the touch of some experimental digitisation. This is Chad Matheny, whose collected works (including Blythe Archives Vol II, from which the above track is taken) can be downloaded at his official site.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged A Violent Translation of the Concordia Headscarp, Blythe Archives, Emperor X | 1 Comment »
Virgin Passages – Distance
Shifting from melancholic dissonance to a dreamy, wordless chorus, this six-piece from Staffordshire are as capable of creating short and sweet burst of pop brilliance as they are drifting into unrestrained psyche sequences. Currently touring America, they have a new tour EP, The Is Not The End Of The World Again, which includes a cover of The Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Distance, The Is Not The End Of The World Again, Virgin Passages | Leave a Comment »
The Phenomenal Handclap Band – Testimony
NewYork’s The Phenomenal Handclap Band (principally Daniel Collás and Sean Marquand) freewheel through half a dozen genres and style on each track while still managing a sultry funk. For their self-titled debut, released in June through Friendly Fire recordings, they’ve drafted in members from bands as diverse as TV on the Radio, The Dap Kings, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Honeycut, making this an act to keep an eye on. HT to The OMCD, who caught their act at SXSW last week.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Daniel Collás, Sean Marquand, Testimony, The Phenomenal Handclap Band | 1 Comment »
Yppah – Gumball Machine Weekend
Yppah (‘happy’ backwards) is Joe Corrales Jr, a rock musician turned ambient artist who combines elements of shoegaze, psyche and breakbeats into hypnotic scores that have earned him a spot on the Ninja Tune roster. The above track is from his second album, They Know What Ghost Know, which will be released on 11 May.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Gumball Machine Weekend, Ninja Tune, They Know What Ghost Know, Yppah | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Video | Tagged The Lovely Sparrows, Year of the Dog | Leave a Comment »
A considerable number of people want to see Donal MacIntyre dead.
Whether it’s being shot at in Burma or finding his car painted with
the insignia of neo-Nazis, repeated death threats have seen the
investigative reporter move house over 40 times. Yet after 15 years,
he still hungers for new challenges. Yesterday it was the ghettos of
Washington DC; tomorrow it will be kidnapping in Mexico City. But
tonight it’s the Ultimate Ice Disco in Guildford. Continue Reading »
Posted in Interviews | Tagged dancing on ice, donal macintye, ice skating, interviewed on ice, ITV | Leave a Comment »
Local Natives – World News
These guys feel like an exciting find – and I fully expect them to catch plenty of attention during their eight shows this week at SXSW. All the right ingredients are there: soaring singalongs, thumping drums and simply great tunes. If their recent Daytrotter session wasn’t enough evidence that they’ve got a great live presence, check out their take on Simon & Garfunkel’s Cecilia in the video below.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged airplanes, Daytrotter Session, Local Natives, Simon and Garfunkel, sxsw tips, World News | Leave a Comment »
Mirrors – Look At Me
Pop-noir from Brighton, of all places, cruises along at a tempo just short of dancefloor pace but idea for the melodramatic posturing of ’80s-fixated style martyrs. John Hughes would be proud. Continue Reading »
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Depeche Mode, John Hughes, Look At Me, Mirrors, New Order | Leave a Comment »
Years – Kids Toy Love Affair
This is the opening track from the first solo record by Ohad Benchetrit, Do Say Make Think’s multi-instrumenalist, who will be releasing Years on 5 May through Arts and Crafts. The Major Lift, another song that can be streamed on his MySpace, is well worth a listen but I settled on this one for its grandiosity – particularly those foreboding horns at the end that remind me of Zappa’s Peaches En Regalia. You can see why he hopes it will allow others to “make a connection and use this music to soundtrack the changing seasons to her/his own Years.” Continue Reading »
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Arts and Crafts, Do Say Make Think, Kids Toy Love Affair, Ohad Benchetrit, The Major Lift, years | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Video | Tagged Ataronchronon, boards of canada, In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country, Into the Rainbow Vein | Leave a Comment »
Attack in Black – Leaving Your Death in a Flowerbed
I can’t tell if I’m drawn to this song because it reminds me of an Olivia Tremor Control track or whether this four-piece from Welland, Ontario have cracked a similar understated genius with their fourth album, Years (by One Thousand Fingertips), which came out this week on Dine Alone Records. I think it’s safe to say the band have been a little overlooked until now but maybe their stint at SXSW next week will provide up their profile somewhat.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Attack in Black, Dine Alone Records, Leaving Your Death in a Flowerbed, Years (by One Thousand Fingertips) | Leave a Comment »
Three babyfaced siblings from North London who’ve formed a throwback novelty act with their mum and dad, jivin’ to the sounds of the ’50s in ther Sunday best.
Posted in Video | Tagged Going Up The Country, Kitty Daisy & Lewis | Leave a Comment »
Obits – Pine On
When A bootleg of Obits’ first live show made its way on to the Internet, Sub Pop were so impressed on first listen that they pursued the band for a record deal. You can still hear a couple of those recordings on MySpace – which sound utterly indebted to The Stooges – but the studio material sounds sharper, distinctive and yet still retains that hammering ferocity. The band hits SXSW next week, just days before their debut I Blame You is released. In the meantime, this mp3 can be downloaded for free here.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged obits, pine on, Rick Froberg, Sohrab Habibion, sub pop | Leave a Comment »
Sleepy Sun – New Age
The staple adjectives applied to bands like Comets on Fire (thunderous, swirling, etc.) will be mindlessly trotted out when Sleepy Sun’s debut album comes out in May, but though there are plenty ‘raw, high-energy jams’ (cringe), Sleepy Sun are also refreshingly diverse – as a quick listen to their MySpace will reveal. Embrace will be released in May in a limited run of 1,000 coloured 10″ vinyl, shortly before they play ATP as part of the Fan’s Strike Back line-up. They’ll also be squeezing in five dates at SXSW next week… Continue Reading »
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged ATP, embrace, fan's strike back, New Age, Sleepy Sun | Leave a Comment »
The Soundscapes – We’re All Made of Star Stuff
These two brothers sound convincingly bigger than any other guitar-drums duo I think of, but what makes them stand out if their melding together of canonical US and British indie influences from the late ’80s and early ’90s. Normally it’s either one or the other when it comes to indie emulation, so perhaps their upbringing in Brazil is responsible… Their debut album Freestyle Family is out now. Continue Reading »
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged brazillian brothers, brooklyn music, Freestyle Family, indie, The Soundscapes, We're All Made of Star Stuff | Leave a Comment »
Beirut vs Ghostface Killah – Save Me Concubine
An inspired pairing: one of the Wu-Tang’s finest lyricists worked into my favourite track from the recent Beirut/Real People double EP. It’s one of the latest in a long line of mash-ups from prolific mixers The Hood Internet, though this may be their best one yet. I think the true measure of success for a mash-up is making it so good that the hip-hop artist in question is forced to check out the back catalogue of his counterpart – and in this case I very much like the idea of Ghostface kicking back to Beirut. Continue Reading »
Posted in Song of the Day | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Video | Tagged Chunk Of Change, music videos, Passion Pit, Sleepyhead | Leave a Comment »
The Soundcarriers – Falling for You
Just in case the song below wasn’t enough soothing psychedelia for one day, this track provides the perfect way to bring the day to a close, a blissful goodnight from Nottingham, of all places. Their album Harmonium will be released on 25 May through Melodic.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Chris Dedrick, Falling for You, free design, nottingham, retro psyche, The Soundcarriers | Leave a Comment »
Speck Mountain – I Feel Eternal
Marie-Claire Balabanian and Karl Briedrick met by chance in Norway, hitting it off and relocating back to the US to form an “ambient soul” band that blends the hypnotic psychedelia of Spacemen 3 and the crystal clear vocals of Mazzy Star. I dare say it works. Their second album, Some Sweet Relief, will be released later this year through Carrot Top records. Continue Reading »
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged hope sandoval, I Feel Eternal, Karl Briedrick, Marie-Claire Balabanian, Some Sweet Relief, spacemen 3, Speck Mountain | Leave a Comment »
Special birthday dedication to Iris! Joyeux anniversaire!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Jay Jay Pistolet, M.I.A., Paper Planes | Leave a Comment »
Cass McCombs – Twins
This is a very John Lennon-esque tune about gut-wrenching deception and the recriminations that fly when two people realise they really shouldn’t be together (“You lied to me and I to you, I guess we deserve each other, though I’m damned if we do”). Poignant, soulful and gently despairing…all for a b-side track recorded in London!
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged b-sides, Cass McCombs, prefection, Twins | Leave a Comment »
The New Yorker’s full-length debut on Asthmatic Kitty, ready to overcome the burden of being dubbed the next Antony & the Johnsons/Jeff Buckley. Continue Reading »
Posted in Video | Tagged Antony and the Johnsons, Asthmatic Kitty, dm stith, heavy ghost, pity dance, Sufjan Stevens | Leave a Comment »
Bruce Peninsula – Shutters
Whether you’re feeling sorrowful or perfectly refreshed, this is ideal Sunday listening. A huge-sounding ensemble of singers, yellers, whisperers, whiners, garglers, gentles and goons from Canada deliver a burst of modern day gospel. A Mountain Is A Mouth is out now on Bruce Trail. Continue Reading »
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged A Mountain Is A Mouth, Bruce Peninsula, Bruce Trail, Shutters | Leave a Comment »
Phoenix – 1901
To glance down the Last.fm entry for this song is too see a stream of users posting the samw two words over and over: “perfect pop”. It’s a synth-buzzing electro number that online tastemakers are guaranteeing to be a hit for this band from Versailles, whose fourth album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is out on 25 May, shortly followed up by an appearance at London’s KOKO. In the meantime, you can download the track for free from their official site.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged 1901, french electro, phoenix, versailles, we are phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Video | Tagged General Elektriks, Good City For Dreamers, Raid The Radio | Leave a Comment »
Cocteau Twins – Cherry Coloured Funk
This is one of the most beautifully cohesive mixes I’ve heard…and I listen to a lot. Download it, stick it on a CD or a USB stick, take it to a nice café and insist they put it on, then sit back and wait for something special to happen. It’s entitled “Top 10 Great Songs to Fall Asleep to, or to be a Sad Son of a Bitch to, or Both” and has been carefully compiled by Mckenzie Smith, drummer for Midlake, as part of When You Awake‘s excellent mix tape series.
Posted in Mix Tapes | Tagged Mckenzie Smith, midlake, mix CD, mixtape, romance, when you awake | Leave a Comment »
Foreign Born – Vacationing People
The lack of financial backing, mismanagement, no PR, bad timing…sometimes I wonder what keeps a great band from breaking through. French Kicks and Jonquil are good examples (both favourites of mine), as is Foreign Born’s 2007 album On the Wing Now, which appeared on myseriously few radars. But the good news is they have another one on the way, entitled Person to Person (out on 23 June through Secretly Canadian), of which this track provides the first listen. Continue Reading »
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Foreign Born, grizzly bear, On The Wing Now, person to person, Vacationing People | Leave a Comment »
Girls – Lust for Life
An undeniably catchy song about being fucked in the head, perfect for a Friday afternoon when the week has taken its toll and relief is just around the corner. Since last posting about Girls, the Californian duo seem to have become the toast of every indie act asked about their favourite new band…and they haven’t even released their debut yet! But in the meantime, you can download the two tracks featured on this site from here and catch the video for Morning Light below.
Posted in Song of the Day, Uncategorized | Tagged california, Girls, hell hole rat race, hellhole rat race, indie, LP, lust for life, morning light, My Bloody Valentine | 2 Comments »
A swing of the hips towards Lollygagger – his inspired kebab-rating system brought this catchy tune to my attention
Posted in Video | Tagged australia, melbourne, Sweet Disposition, The Temper Trap | Leave a Comment »
Papercuts – Future Primitive
It’s been two years since we heard from Papercuts’ Jason Robert Quever, when Can’t Go Back emerged from under the wings of Andy Cabic and Devendra Banhart’s label Gnomosong. Since then, Quever has working with Beach House, Cass McCombs and Vetiver. But this track, from the forthcoming You Can Have What You Want, sounds like a refreshing step forward for Papercuts, the r’n’b bass line and mumbled melody suggesting that something from his time with the aforementioned bands has rubbed off.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Andy Cabic and, beach house, Can't Go Back, Cass McCombs, devendra banhart, Future Primitive, gnomosong, Papercuts, Vetiver, You Can Have What You Want | Leave a Comment »
Deerhunter’s hour-long set* from last week’s Noise Pop festival, featuring four new songs, all recorded in high quality.
Previous posts: I’ll Be Your Mirror: An Interview with Bradford Cox
Posted in Video | Tagged 2009, bootleg, bradford cox, deerhunter, live concert, Live show, microcastle, noise pop, Video, weird era cont. | 1 Comment »
Wildbirds & Peacedrums – Doubt Hope
I’m quite blown away by these guys, a singer and drummer from Sweden, and wish I’d known more about them just a week ago -just so I could have seen this live! Maybe there’s something about their name that doesn’t sound all that appealing, but once you listen to them it seems perfectly apt. I’ve nabbed what are apparently two of the last tickets for their show in The Luminaire in April and I’m now after their most recent album, Heartcore. Below you can watch them perform Doubt Hope live – incredible.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Andreas Werliin, Doubt Hope, Gothenburg, heartcore, leaf label, Mariam Wallentin, sweden, Wildbirds & Peacedrums | Leave a Comment »
I was supposed to be there…it was only down the road from me…but I became a casualty of other people’s tardiness.
Posted in Video | Tagged Bad Kids, Bandstand Busking, cole alexander, The Black Lips | Leave a Comment »
Bear Hands – What a Drag
Giddy pop-rock in a similar vein to Born Ruffians and Young Coyotes; this Brooklyn quartet (why is every second band from Brooklyn these days?) have been touring the UK with Passion Pit to promote their Golden EP. Already the toast of mainstream music mags, could well feature in adverts for Orange Mobile or Halifax by the year’s out (just kidding).
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Bear Hands, Born Ruffians, golden ep, hockey, Passion Pit, val, What a Drag | Leave a Comment »
Casiokids – Fot i Hose
Bearded Norwegians master the art of put-putting synth sounds to deliver a three-minute instrumental of irresistible, foot-tapping funk. Cacth the song’s excellent video after the jump…God, I can’t beieve I indugled in techy online slang.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged casiokids, Fot i Hose, funky instrumental, norweigan music, Video | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Video | Tagged little hells, Marissa Nadler, No Surprises, Radiohead, river of dirt | Leave a Comment »
Beach House – Play the Game (Queen cover)
When filtered through Beach House’s characteristic aesthetic, this song sounds like it was written for them. According to GvsB, it was left off the recent Dark Was the Knight compilation, which surprises me. Not just because it’s a quality trac, but because my main quibble with the release was that it seemed like they didn’t leave off anything. For the time being, you can download this as a bonus track on iTunes and watch the video for the original below.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Alex Scally, beach house, cover version, Dark Was the Night, freddie mercury, play the game, queen, Victoria Legrand | 1 Comment »
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Posted in Video | Leave a Comment »
David Porteous – Electric Feel (MGMT)
Another unusual cover: here, Canadian songwriter David Porteous makesthe MGMT hit into something slow and serious, using just a grungey blues guitar sound a la The Black Keys. Although the lyrics don’t really stand up without MGMT’s falsetto, this works surprisingly well.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged cover versions, David Porteous, Electric Feel, MGMT, Oracular Spectacular, The Black Keys | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Video | Tagged I Walk the Line, Johnny Cash, Later...with Jools Holland, live, Video | Leave a Comment »
Chris Thile – Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground (The White Stripes)
Chris Thile (formerly of Nickel Creek) gives this White Stripes classic the bluegrass treatment, rendering it almost uncrecognisable by replacing guitar and drums with mandolin and violin, racing away with hootenanny-like excess. Check out Thile’s current project, Punch Brothers, at MySpace.
Posted in Song of the Day | Tagged Chris Thile, covers, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, Nickel Creek, Punch Brothers, The White Stripes, white stripes cover versions | Leave a Comment »
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