Now, Now [revisited]

After being introduced to their music while they were on tour with the Naked and Famous last April, I spent a month straight listening to Now, Now's music on repeat.
Their sound is a sort of dark indie rock with some electronic keys layered on top to add some lightness. The perfect mix of dark and light which reflects itself in their incomparably honest and personable lyrics. I've blogged about them before but I thought I'd revisit the band as I consider them to be one of my all-time favorites.

 Here's a shot I took of lead singer Cacie Dalager during their set at Bunbury Muisc Festival in 2012.

 I listed their album Threads as my number 1 choice for the Top Albums of 2012 for the IMPACT 89fm [student radio station at Michigan State University] and I highly recommend purchasing it if you haven't already.

For now, however, I just wanted to share the bands newest video for the opening track of their album, The Pull. The video perfectly visualizes the eary memory-recalling sound of the song and sets the tone for the entire album. I thought it was beautifully well done.

Micachu and the Shapes

Experimental act out of the UK headed by classically trained multi-instrumentalist Mica Levi or "Micachu". Together, Micachu and the Shapes create a particularly unconventional (grimey pop) sound which is the result of some homemade instruments and a wealth of creativity behind them.

c h e c k. i t.





The bands most recent album NEVER was released this past July. The band released a video for each song on the album, which you can find at the bands site (the coolest band site i've ever seen) here.

Local Natives

because I just remembered how excited I am about this.

Local Native's new album Hummingbird comes out on January 29, 2013 as if to say "happy new year! > here's an earful of infinite beauty". Yup, that's how excited I am.

The band's latest single came out in October and I've been jamming to it since. They just released the official music video yesterday – in case you missed it, here's "Breakers" assuring fans that they're purely capable of following up their seemingly irreplicable first full length album with something just as inventive.

Deep Time

The framework of human existence has not heard a  sound quite like this experimental pop duo from Austin.

Photo © Kaden Shallat.

Deep Time is the creative production and ever changing personality of singer, guitarist, and organist Jennifer Moore and drummer Adam Jones. Their most recent self-titled album came out this past July on Hardly Art out of Seattle. Every song on the album offers a similarly mesmerizing beat that is almost annoyingly catchy but undeniably delightful.

// this. video. //
     

Ultraísta

sorry for the delay..
today i have a good one for you though, i promise!

Ultraísta is an indie electro pop project of producer Nigel Godrich, singer Laura Bettinson, and multi-instrumentalist Joey Waronker. The trio focuses their collaborative efforts on creating a sound that mirrors the creative potential of the conscious mind, putting emphasis on equivocal lyrics and sounds.

When choosing their name, they were looking for something that reflected their sound. Their name, Ultraísta is a reference to the early-20th century Spanish literary movement, ultraísmo which emphasized much of the same ideals they hoped would be reflected in their music.

The story of their name should be enough to capture your attention, now take a listen.

The bands first full length LP, Ultraísta, is set to be released on October 2nd. Until then, you can stream the album in it's entirety on NPR's First Listen:

The Soil and the Sun

The Soil and the Sun is a very talented band from the beautiful Great Lakes State. Their style is a blend of strings, keys, drums and elegant vocals — a gorgeous natural sound that is rich in complexity without sounding too complex (you know?). If you enjoy indie rock with lavish instrumentation this band is one that you ought to take a listen to.

The band's 3rd studio album "What Wonder is this Universe!" just came out on August 20th.
Listen to it in it's entirety and then buy it (because I guarantee you'll want to) here!

Recently the band performed an outstanding audiotree session. Check it out:

Peter and Kerry

This London duo formed when Tape Club Records labelmates Kerry Leatham and Peter Lyons decided to collaborate on a six-track EP in 2011.

"Clothes, Friends, Photos EP" received quite a bit of buzz on blogs, radio stations and zines. This attention led the two to continue collaborating in an effort that would eventually produce the indie pop duo's first full length "La Trimouille" released on July 16th.

Mahogany Session:

First track off La Trimouille:

  

  

just when i thought they couldn't get better i found this cover of Amerie's "One Thing". taking me back...