So we’ll cut right to it: Radiation City, a 5-piece out of Portland, sound A LOT like Radiohead and Jeff Buckley. Now the covers of NME, Q, etc are littered with band after band that have attempted to harness that formula with varying results (anyone remember jj72?). Radiation City does acquit themselves of the Buckleyhead sound quite well. Perhaps advantaging them over those aformentioned bands, RC do sprinkle varying other sounds and influence. We can hear some bossa nova, lounge-y pop (Broadcast, Goldfrapp, etc.), maybe some Stereolab in there (who knows). “Find It of Use” is the lead track of Radiation City’s upcoming Cool Nightmare EP.
Our girl, and one of our favorite voices anywhere, Megan Washington teams up with fellow Aussies The Bamboos to do a sunny Sunday afternoon ’70’s soul-inspired send up of James Blake’s “Wilhelm Scream”. Check it out.
A lot of great things have already been said about Tribes’ Baby, which was released digitally and in the UK on January 16th. Here’s another English band that’s easily mistaken as American. Globalization has erased many of the boundaries in our arts, to the point where a band doesn’t immediately disclose themselves as English (Joy Division), Irish (U2), or American (REM) as they did 30 years ago. Tribes’ most autochthonous moment, “Corner of an English Field”, is no “Village Green Preservation Society” in terms of a prototypical homage to the English pastoral. Bands claim a greater allegiance to genres these days, as is the case with WU LYF (Heavy Pop), Holwer (Garage Rock) or Tribes (Power Pop). But Tribes is so fully rooted in the power pop tradition; this is the true flag to which they pledge allegiance. They know to always go big in the chorus, and they know how to keep a listener on their feet with shifting dynamics. While Holwer practices more of a ‘kitchen sink’ approach on America Give Up (with solid success), Tribes opts for a very specific language and employs an economy of sounds (gimmicks, if you must) within that language. As a result, Baby sounds like the direct result of several decades of combined musical experiences. On “Himalaya” and “Night Driving”, ditties which other bands may chicken out and play too soft, Tribes retains their raw energy and ‘fuck off’ ethos throughout. The Londoners have truly hit it out of the park with Baby. If they hadn’t already released “We Were Children” and “Sappho”, even more pundits would be comparing Baby to The Blue Album. Better poised than The Vaccines to make a US splash, they’ve set the bar awfully for the first half of 2012.
Our buddy Anthony Valadez tipped us to this nice lights-pulled-back version of Kanye’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” by NYC artist Francis and the Lights during his (must listen) Monday night KCRW show this week. The track’s more collected, pensive performance is an interesting counterpoint to Ye’s told-ya-so braggadocio on the original.
Francis and the Lights – Can’t Tell Me Nothing (Kanye West)
Howler’s America Give Up album might be the first 2012 candidate to make my year-end list. The album isn’t yet out in the States, but this Minneapolis band is blowing up in the UK and currently touring all over Europe with their dirty rock sound. They’ve got the energy and enough hooks, where there are 7 different tracks I’d like to play on my new music show. Europeans are saying that 19 year old Jordan Gatesmith is a star. We in the US will be finally able to see them at SXSW in March, and at other venues around the country.
Check out Bruce’s “Go Deep” show on Fridays 1-3 pm Pacific, 4-6 pm Eastern, 9-11pm GMT. Also listen to past shows at Bruce’s blog and follow Bruce on Twitter.
The Mighty M get a top of the line rework from London producer Two Inch Punch. Reading T.I.P.’s bio, our dude professes a love for the vocal tone and feeling of GOAT male singers like Sam Cooke and Donny Hathaway. We definitely dig that. We, too, can hear their influence in the deep and heartfelt sounds that T.I.P. lays into the remix. Don’t miss this one.
b3sci’s got a brand new heater in your area. It’s the world premiere of Static Revenger’s official remix for Dev’s (<3 you Dev) new single “Naked”. Putting on a sound reserved for only the biggest of big rooms, Static Revenger transforms the Dev track into a hi-fi 5-alarm raver. Get it, girl.
Wyclef still putting down A-plus beats. Here he teams up again with Pharrell protege Miami native Cris Cab. The track’s a mix between pop, reggae, and UK electronic music and features a neat little 16 bars from big Mavado.
UK electronic act Disclosure have a new release (Make Mine) at the ready and to prep the streets for its release the duo have let loose this Balearic-y version of MM track “Flow”. It’s light, it’s sun-drenched but it’s also dynamic and kinetic. It’s a sharp little mix. Give it some spins below.
It’s always such a pleasure to see a We Have Band show!
The band was playing at “the 114”, a new and hype parisian venue for the launching party of an equally new and hype magazine named Plugged. We thus got to have a preview listening of several tracks from their upcoming album Ternion, and they just sound great! The band still has much energy to spare. Despite singer Dede’s usual (but harmless) simpers, and Thomas’s (her husband and bass player) flimsy voice, the set is brilliant. In my opinion, the trio’s strongest member is undoubtedly Darren: being so close to him while he plays is really impressive because he literally feels in fusion with his sampler – a mad-doctor of indie-rock ! But what’s truly admirable about this band is that even though their songs are fairly dark (even more so on Ternion), they still make you dance the hell out of you! Special honors for “Watertight”, available for streaming below.
If anyone was to cover Canadian R&B sensation The Weeknd, why not a band named after a province in the same country? Saskatchewan covers this track well, keeping the same dreamy vibes we are used to with The Weeknd tracks. What started as a suggestion from a friend has turned into a cover that will surely garner these guys some attention.
“When I See You Again” is rough around all of the right edges. Like it’s big and loud but also packs some pretty cool vocal elements. When was the last time you heard such an awesome round in a rock and roll song? “When I See You Again” is previewed from Shimmering Stars forthcoming Ghosts Past EP. Get into it below:
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