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| Friday, October 12, 2007 09:03 PM |
| Latest musical discoveries |
 by Fëanor |
The National - I've become familiar with these guys through their album Boxer. My favorite tracks are "Fake Empire" and "Mistaken for Strangers." They do a sort of literate, slightly melancholy indie pop-rock. Favorite lyrics: "We're half awake in a fake empire." "You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends."
TV on the Radio (MySpace) - I was a little behind the times on these guys; I got into them after most other people. I have their album Return to Cookie Mountain; my favorite track is "Tonight." It's hard to describe exactly what they sound like. It's kind of slightly weird, eerie indie rock. They have a great song called "Wolf Like Me" which, at least as far as I can tell from the video, is sung from the perspective of a werewolf. Man, that song rocks.
Augie March (MySpace) - These guys win for best album title I've heard in a long time: Moo, You Blood Choir. It's got a lot of great tracks on it, too, my favorites being "One Crowded Hour" and "Just Passing Through." Favorite lyric: "I thought I'd found my golden September in the middle of that purple June... For one crowded hour you were the only one in the room." Their sound is kind of a swirling, romantic indie pop.
Robbers on High Street (MySpace) - Got a couple of recordings by these guys: an EP called The Fatalist and Friends and a full-length called Grand Animals. "The Fatalist" (off the former, obviously) is an absolutely fantastic rock song. "Married Young" on the latter disc is also excellent and rocking. These guys have bounce and verve, an interesting sort of echo on the vocals, and a rather retro feel overall.
Pterodactyl (MySpace) - "Polio" off these guys' self-titled release has some of the greatest percussion I've ever heard. "Astros" is another great track off that disc. Pterodactyl are a bit stranger and more experimental. It's noise rock, with really screamy vocals. But in a fun way. Mostly.
Portugal. The Man (MySpace) - This band has a slightly Southern-fried, foot-stomping, classic rock vibe to them, and the lead singer sounds quite a bit like Jack White. They're pretty slamming; there's only one track on their album Church Mouth that I didn't really care for. Three that I liked in particular are the title track, "Bellies Are Full," and "Sleeping Sleepers Sleep."
Rogue Wave (MySpace) - I've got a couple random tracks by these guys, plus their album Asleep at Heaven's Gate. I haven't listened carefully to all of it yet, but it all seems pretty rocking, with "Phonytown" sticking out as particularly good.
Celebration - The only band here with a female lead singer (I'm not sure what that says about me), Celebration is another group I really need to listen to more before I can give a fully developed opinion, but everything I've heard so far off their disc The Modern Tribe has been really awesome, with "Pressure" being my favorite. They describe themselves as "Alternative & Punk." I wouldn't have thought of the word "Punk" to describe them, but "Alternative" certainly. |
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