Mar 31, 2014

Billy Bragg: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert



OK Go helped us move the Tiny Desk from our old building to NPR's new headquarters, and The National performed the first full new-building Tiny Desk Concert we posted to the site, but Billy Bragg gave us the first full Tiny Desk Concert we actually recorded in our new office.
Bragg, one of the world's finest contemporary folksingers, appropriately sang "Handyman Blues" as his first tune — and was quickly met with lot of hammering on our rooftop by some real handymen as they put the finishing touches on NPR's new home... In "I Ain't Got No Home," Bragg follows in the folk tradition by altering the song to address the issue of universal health care. It's a rare talent to make it work, but Bragg, as always, finds a way to blend politics and music with grace, charm and a rough edge. --BOB BOILEN

Set List
"Handyman Blues"
"I Ain't Got No Home"
"Sexuality"
"No One Knows Nothing Anymore"

Mar 27, 2014

Poncho Records - 2014


No Bodies - s/t - 2014

No Bodies play shoegaze garage rock. Sounds to me like the Jam or the Byrds on a serious smoked up garage in Halifax, Canada.



Gnarwhalz - Goggy Gentlemen - 2014

Listening to Gnarwhalz brings me back to my days of checking out bands in tiny little showbars in Montreal, where you would find many lo-fi bands pounding away at it in an attempt to entertain the masses. The harmonies are energetic, the musicality sweet - it will have you thinking, "I've heard this before"... but really you haven't!

Dharma - Sea Nothing - 2014



The clear pound of drums lay the perfect background for the clean guitar solos and gut renching vocals that permeate throughout this album. It's punk tendencies are tamed by an equal amount of structured lo-fi, if that is even possible. Lo-fi indie punk for your listening pleasure. Nice release. 
Thanks for submitting guys... Well done!


Mar 26, 2014

Stag - Difference - 2014



The creative brainchild of Matt McGuire and Will Walden, StaG combines pop hooks with danceable electronic beats and subtle atmospherics that culminate in their live shows as a non-stop set of catchy, rhythmic indie-pop and finely tuned musical interludes, all building to an epic emotional climax. 

Matt and Will met in a tee-ball league when they were both 5 years old and have been best friends ever since. They went to high school and college together and both moved back to their native Los Angeles, California to pursue StaG full-time. StaG recorded its second full-length record, Difference, in the beginning of 2013, and with the addition of Matt Hampar on guitar and Casey Baird on drums, has taken the record out of the studio and onto the L.A. scene. 

Difference takes life’s emotional complexities and turns them into a beautifully uplifting piece of art that you can also dance to. At its heart is the deep bond of friendship between Matt and Will – a couple of kids who couldn’t be more excited about turning the sounds in their heads into the songs of the future.


Luvbugs & Cramapel singles




Magic Hands - Tone - 2014




Duo of dream pop, electronica essence on this ep... Nice little gem here people - pick it up for free over at BC!

Mar 22, 2014

Canadiana Band Reviews - March 2014








I posted a few releases from some Canadian bands that are making some outstanding noise as of late... Go check out the reviews and have a listen to the albums at my sister site

Mar 19, 2014

Dark Mean - Samuel The Phoenix - 2014


Unassuming yet intricate acoustic sections with banjo riffs that will make you smile, driving drum patterns that don’t hide behind unnecessary flash, and well-crafted arrangements that are nearly impossible to fault—these are some of the treats you'll find in a Dark Mean record.

Apneu - Ununbreak My Heart EP - 2012


Horrible Houses - Master​=​Dik - 2014



Long Voyage - Vertical - 2014



Cabana - Cabana EP - 2014



Mar 18, 2014

Anthill for Kids


Looks like an anthill of fun... if you are looking for a fun time in the cold winter months, check out one of the climbing anthills.... The kids will love you for it!

Mar 16, 2014

Cold Country - Missing the Muse - 2013



Good melodies and good feelings make such good harmony. Great for road trips or just laying in bed pretending you are on one. 

Mar 14, 2014

The Winter Suns - Fires Of The North - 2014



When the The Winter Suns aren't playing on words and renaming themselves The Winter Puns, they like to play music together. They are an indie folk 5 piece hailing from the east of Melbourne that will at times have you saying 'ooh that's nice' and at other times have you enthralled in story. Featuring female and male lead vocals & Drawing comparisons from Of Monsters and Men, Mumford & Sons and Angus & Julia Stone, The Winter Suns will ensure you have a folk-ing good time!

Eef Barzelay - Eldorado Six - 2014



4 by Eef and one by Townes Van Zandt (No Place To Fall). Song for Belle has her father Noel adding some sweet sounds. 
"despite the long shadows of your endless despair"

Mar 13, 2014

From the Archives: Quinimine - Sucker E.p. - 2000



This Montreal mile-end band made the most incredible country inspired slow core music in the early 2000's. Gary Jansz is the frontman inking most of the tracks, but the harmonies, banjo plucking, guitar doodles all add up to create a sound that has yet to be reproduced.

Mar 12, 2014

Plastic Flowers – Evergreen - 2014



Plastic Flowers are a dream pop project from Thessaloniki, founded in 2011 by George Samaras. The same year Angelos Pachalidis joined him and since then they are working together as a duo. They always record new material on their own and also do the production by using lo-fi equipment. Their main sound characteristic is the heavy use of guitars and synthesizers along with drum machines and experimental percussion.

Tracklist:
01 Vicious Victims (Soundcloud)
02 Gone Wrong
03 Summertime Pop (Soundcloud)
04 Fog Song
05 Open Space Part I
06 Your Smile
07 Love is Above all feat. Ed Askew (Soundcloud)
08 Silence
09 Open Space Part II
10 Ghosts feat. Keep Shelly in Athens
11 Anthems

Baby Guru - Marginalia - 2014


One year and a half after the European release of “Pieces” the best psych band in Greece return with their luggage full of enthusiastic reviews, unforgettable experiences from their live performances in Europe but most of all full of brand new music. Their third album “Marginalia” is set for release across Europe in March 24 and is the band's most ambitious work to date.“Marginalia” doesn’t thrive in the margins, but justifies its title with a never-ending expansion of the mind and body through its musical substance. Prins Obi, King Elephant and Sir Kosmiche are, as always, the exclusive creators of the album (composition, production, arrangement, recording) and with the help of the band’s unofficial fourth member (Christina) they attempt to fuse high quality pop with synthesizer music and riveting grooves. The album was mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, New York. 11 tracks create a cohesive whole, brimming with lyricism, electrifying, atmospheric sounds and irresistible hooks. Among them a little surprise: the first Baby Guru track sung in their native language.



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Dean Wareham - 2014




**** Four stars - Mojo Magazine, *** 1/2 stars - Rolling Stone

Dean Wareham has been singing and playing guitar in roughly the same winsome way for more than 25 years, first with Galaxie 500, then Luna, then in a duo—the fittingly named Dean & Britta—with his wife, Britta Phillips. Dean Wareham marks his first full-length solo album, and it should come as no surprise that it’s really no surprise at all: Fans of anything he’s done in the past will slide into these nine songs like slippers, cozy and familiar.


Mar 7, 2014

Winter Olympics I Chamonix, France - 1924













Much has changed since the first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The “International Winter Sports Week” featured about 250 athletes participating in 16 events across six sports, including the usual suspects like figure skating, bobsled, and ice hockey, as well as a military patrol competition. (The military event was won, strangely, by the Swiss.) Competitors’ attire was less slick and aerodynamic than we see today, with the look perhaps best described as Great Gatsby on Ice.