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| Wednesday, November 26, 2008 02:03 PM |
| Latest musical discoveries |
 by Fëanor |
It's been a looooong time since I wrote one of these (over a year! See here), so I thought it was overdue. To compile the list this time, I simply picked my favorites from a list of bands who had at least two five star songs on my iPod and had been added to my iPod within the last year.
The Duke Spirit - I gave these guys a write-up on Phillyist a while back. You can jump over there to see how I feel about them in more detail, but the short version is, they're an awesomely rocking, catchy, indie pop rock band from England with a female lead singer.
Future of the Left - Another band that got a write-up from me on Phillyist. It's an alt-rock supergroup with weird lyrics and a punk sound.
Hi Fidel - A St. Louis rap label sent me a bunch of their records at the end of last year. They were all a lot better than I expected, and one of the best was The Company of Wolves by Hi Fidel. One of my favorite tracks on it is a ridiculous and hilarious track called "Manther," which tells the origin story of the titular superhero (or supervillain?), who is described as "all man... all panther." Hi Fidel has great writing, great rhymes, and great beats.
Killswitch Engage - I mentioned in a recent post that a friend of mine at work let me borrow an external hard drive full of music. Well, two albums by this band were on there, and after a quick listen to a track or two, I copied both of them in their entirety onto my iPod. Since then I actually haven't listened to that much more of the band's music, but I already know I love it. It's screamy metal with brutal guitar riffs and dramatic lyrics. What's not to love?
The Long Blondes - Another band I found thanks to Phillyist, and thus another band that I wrote about on that site. In my review of their most recent album, "Couples", I said:
Amongst the pop phrases, dance rhythms, and synthesizers, we hear New Wave and '60s pop influences.... All the tracks have strong beats that get you moving; the lyrics are fun and sexy (and sometimes even science fictiony); and Kate Jackson's vocals are hot.... Our favorite tracks... include... "Century," as well as the dramatic, foreboding "Round the Hairpin."
Mogwai - I know, these guys aren't exactly a new band, but I only just listened to them for the first time earlier this year. My Phillyist article on them is right here. They've got post-rock, instrumental music with roaring guitars. I'm a fan.
Shearwater - After I heard a few tracks off Shearwater's album Rook, I was ready to dismiss the band's work as wussy-boy music. But I kept listening, and although I continue to find some of their tracks pretty weak, others are so excellent that it's easy to ignore the few bad apples. It's emotional indie pop rock, backed up sometimes by driving guitars, and sometimes by a quiet piano. The lyrics are literate, and leave me with a vague and pleasant sense of the fantasy genre. Keep in mind I could be making that up, however; I've associated rooks with fantasy novels ever since I was introduced to the words "rook" and "rookery" when reading David Eddings' Belgariad as a kid, and that could be misleading me.
The Sword - This is one of my favorite bands on this list. The fantasy connection in their music is definite and clear; their song titles and lyrics make direct references to A Song of Ice and Fire. So that puts them on my good side right away. Add to that the fact that their music is brutal, complex, fantastic metal, and I'm in love. Phillyist article here.
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band - I know. Terrible name. But their album 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons has multiple, impressive, multi-layered, prog rock-style, post-rock epics, so I give them a pass. Phillyist article here.
3 Inches of Blood - Of the bands on this list, this is the one with the most five star-rated songs on my iPod. And that's because they put out insane, fast-paced, screamy metal with a fantasy theme. In other words, music that Fëanor has no choice but to love. |
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