indiePulse

Song of the day: Pet Lions "To The Coast"

Pet Lions is a Chicago-based band. This was recorded at their record release party last month.

Song of the Day: YACHT "Utopia"

YACHT Utopia / Dystopia (The Earth Is On Fire) from DFA Records on Vimeo.

 

Song of the Day: The Joy Formidable "A Heavy Abacus"

The Joy Formidable will be releasing a digital EP of select remixes and live tracks on July 12. 

Tour Dates

Aug 3 Cleveland, OH @ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Aug 5 Kansas City, MO @ Kanrocksas
Aug 7  Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza Festival 
Aug 9 Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach
Aug 12 San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands Festival San Francisco

Q&A with JEFF the Brotherhood

Nashville-based duo, JEFF the Brotherhood [Jake and Jamin Orall] released their self-produced record "We Are The Champions" this week. The band is known for stripped down songs and relentless touring schedule. I recently had a chance to ask Jake a few questions. Thanks, Jake..

>> Your music has been described as "psych-rock" and "garage rock". How do you describe your style and approach to making music?
We try and make good music for having fun and partying with your friends.

>> Did you guys grow up in Nashville?

Kinda, we relly grew up in Williamson County, but moved to Nashville when I was in high school.

>> What's your favorite place in Nashville to play shows?

Fav venue is the End, but we like doing houseshows (every once in a while).

>> One of the things I love about your band is Jake's big guitar sound. Can you tell us about your favorite guitar? What is it that makes it so enjoyable to play? Do we hear this guitar throughout the record?
I only have one guitar.  I got it from Guitar Center for 200 bucks when i was like 17, its a piece of junk. And ya its on the record.  My friend is gonna make me a new one soon. 

>> I hear sitar at various points throughout this record but don't remember hearing it on "Heavy Days"? Was this your playing Jake?
No thats our friend, Ryan, from the Paperhead! 

>> The new record is self-produced.. Do you both love to work in the studio or which one of you is studio-wiz?
Neither of us are really good at doing studio stuff, we always have an engineer, but we like producing.  We produce all our records 

>> What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome in making this record?
Scheduling.  We are on tour all the time and it was hard to find time to mix and stuff.

>> Any last words?
Come check us out, it will be a fun show!!

 

Song of the Day: The Pioneers of Seduction "Kurash"

Kurash by the pioneers of seduction

The band is from Brooklyn and was recorded by Steve Albini.

ESL signs AM and Shawn Lee collaboration

From the recent announcement:

Celestial Electric finds L.A.-based indie-pop auteur AM and London-based groovemaster/experimentalist Lee pooling their talents to create a unique brand of electro-soul that achieves seamless pop perfection, while mining a startlingly broad array of stylistic influences.  It's a resulting blend of heartfelt, warmly melodic songcraft and vivid, inventive soundscapes underlying the artists' abiding love for all manner of vintage genres, encompassing pop, soul, funk, jazz, Brazilian tropicalia, Turkish psychedelia, and soundtracks and library music from the '60s, '70s and '80s.

         L.A.-based tunesmith AM has won widespread acclaim by merging pop, soul, folk, R&B and psychedelia into highly personalized songcraft.  In addition to releasing several albums on various labels (including 2010's Future Sons & Daughters), he spent practically all of last year out on the road touring with a diverse range of artists including AIR, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Josh Rouse and legendary Brazilian tropicalia icon Caetano Veloso.

         London-based composer/producer/instrumentalist Shawn Lee has established a reputation as a mischievous sonic innovator, releasing more than twenty genre-spanning albums of his original material, usually as Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra.  He has worked on recording projects with Clutchy Hopkins, Saint Etienne, Arthur Verocai, Greyboy, Coldcut, Tony Joe White, Darondo, Money Mark and Tommy Guerrero and has opened for bands such as Phoenix and Sigur Ros.

         The seeds for AM and Shawn Lee's collaboration on Celestial Electric were planted when AM heard Lee's Music and Rhythm album on L.A.'s KJazz, and was impressed enough to reach out to him online.

         AM & Lee worked on Celestial Electric from their respective hometowns, trading ideas and tracks via email.  Lee, armed with an early-'80s four-track deck and other vintage tape machines in his London studio, began by creating beats and sending them to AM, who wrote songs and lyrics over Lee's grooves, added vocals, guitars, bass and synths, and emailed the tracks back to Lee, who then added keyboards, percussion and a variety of instruments and mixed the tracks.  The two commented on each other's work via email until each was happy with the result.

        U.K. DJ and tastemaker mixologist Andy Votel, of Finders Keepers/B-Music fame, provided the album's cover design and liner notes.

For more on AM & SHAWN LEE check out:

www.eslmusic.com 

www.myspace.com/shawnleeandam 
www.amandshawnlee.com 
www.facebook.com/amandshawnlee

One of my favorite album covers

A while back I was going through my music collection and came across this favorite. Hazel was a Portland-based band, signed to Sub Pop during the early to mid-nineties.. The record's called "Are You Going To Eat That" and it featured some great vocals from Pete Krebs and Jody Bleyle. The band was awesome live. Not only did I love listening to this record during my final year as an undergrad - I spent a bunch of time looking at the album cover. It's a piece that Pete painted and I think its brilliant.The colors are nice, the logo is cool and the layout is clean. If you don't have this record in your collection, you should check it out. Anyone still have the teal "Dogfood" t-shirt?