Indie Rock Cafe

Hove Festival's Video Performances by Beck, Panic at the Disco, The Raconteurs, The Kooks and The Brian Jonestown Massacre

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:55:49 -0500

Norway's Hove Festival was held a few weeks ago featuring a powerful three-day line-up of musical acts, including Panic at the Disco, Beck, Foals, The Kooks, MGMT (formerly Management), The Raconteurs, and a rare performance by indie rock legends the Brian Jonestown Massacre (photo, above).

The BJM, who were featured with The Dandy Warhols in the compelling rockumentary film, DiG!, was, by all accounts, and considering a history of brawling and drug and alcohol abuse, awesome. This is how you want to see BJM in concert.

Beck performing at Norway's Hove Festival 2008
Other favorite rock and indie artists and bands at the 2008 Hove Festival included Yeasayer, Foals, Flogging Molly, Les Savy Fav, The Cool Kids, Stars, Dinosaur Jr., Paramore, The Go Team and a dozen others. Access the full video playlist.

We've all seen enough low-quality, hand-held videos of music concerts and festivals on YouTube and other popular social media networks. But it is rare to find high-quality video and audio, not to mention full sets, from some of indie's biggest groups and artists for free.

The videos are hosted by NRKP3 in Norway. There is no information listed about how long the shows, complete with thrilling crowd shots, roaming camera cranes and top-notch production, will be available for unlimited, free viewing. See 'em while you can.

New Indie Rock Songs, July 2008: Earlimart, Wolf Parade, The Great Northwest, Tilly and the Wall

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:15:57 -0500

There's been surprisingly few notable new indie releases so far this July. Still, there's some great music that has come out in the past two weeks, including new albums from artists like Earlimart, The Great Northwest, Tilly and the Wall, Girl Talk, Travis and Wolf Parade.

The two remaining band members of Los Angeles band Earlimart, Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray, have released their newest album, Hymn and Her, this month, building off the success of last year's Mentor Tormentor.

"Acoustic guitars chime over drum loops, keyboards bubble in the background, and harmonies thicken the melodies,' according to Allmusic.com.

"Yet Hymn and Her still sounds intimate, as if the band mates have discovered how to funnel their densely populated songs into warm, mellow washes of sound."

MP3: "Song For" by Earlimart off Hymn and Her

Following a three-year hiatus recording solo projects, Montreal's Wolf Parade band members Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner with a new album titled At Mount Zoomer, and an impressive follow-up to their 2005 hailed debut Apologies to the Queen Mary.

MP3: "Call It A Ritual" by Wolf Parade from At Mount Zoomer

MP3: "Chief John" by The Great Northwest from the new CD The Widespread Reign - available July 29, 2008

MP3: "Pot Kettle Black" by Tilly and the Wall from O

MP3: "Cacophony" by Tilly and the Wall from O

Here's the YouTube video for "Pot Kettle Black":

Michigan Becomes A Popular Indie Rock Festival Destination

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:19:29 -0500

Indie rockers Widespread Panic are one of dozens of bands at Rothbury

This year marks the beginning of more major music festivals than any year in recent memory - All Points West in New Jersey, Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco and the Rothbury Music Festival in the woods of Michigan, to name a few.

The Rothbury Festival kicked-off on Thursday and is wrapping up today in the woods of western Michigan. Highlights from the festival include performances from the Dave Matthews Band, 311, Widespread Panic, John Mayer, Modest Mouse, Of Montreal, Thievery Corporation, Sam Beam, Primus, STS9, Govt Mule and many others.

311 performing The Cure's "Love Song" at Rothbury

Chicagoians and folks in and around Michigan are festival-spoiled. In addition to Rothbury Festival, there is the Pitchfork Music Festival less than two weeks away and Lollapalooza the weekend of August 1-3.

The lineup for the Pitchfork Festival is impressive, featuring artists and groups like Animal Collective, Public Enemy, Sebadoh, Mission of Burma, The Hold Steady, M. Ward, Spoon, The Ruby Suns, Fleet Foxes, Elf Power, Spiritualized, Les Savy Fav, Apples in Stereo, Cut Copy, The Dodos and dozens more.

On Friday, the theme of the show is centered around performing highly acclaimed, entire albums performed by some of alternative and indie music's most cherished bands.

First up, Public Enemy will play It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back followed by Sebadoh performing Bubble and Scrape, and last but not at all the least, Mission of Burma will treat the festival crowds to the entire anthology from Vs.

The scheduled line-up for Saturday, July 16:

Animal Collective
Jarvis Cocker
The Hold Steady
!!!
Vampire Weekend
Dizzee Rascal
Fleet Foxes
Caribou
Elf Power - "Paralyzed" (MP3)
Jay Reatard
Titus Andronicus
No Age
Atlas Sound - "My Car" (MP3)
Extra Golden
The Ruby Suns
Icy Demons
A Hawk and a Hacksaw
Occidental Brothers Dance Band International
Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar

This is an awesome line-up for only $30. While I have to admit I don't know all of the performers, $30 to see Animal Collective, The Hold Steady, !!!, No Age, Atlas Sound, Elf Power, The Ruby Suns and Caribou is a hell of a bargain.

Sunday, July 20 lineup is as follows:

Spoon
Dinosaur Jr.
Spiritualized
M. Ward
Ghostface and Raekwon
Les Savy Fav
The Apples in Stereo
Boris
Dirty Projectors
Times New Viking
Cut Copy
Bon Iver
The Dodos
King Khan & His Shrines
El Guincho
Fuck Buttons
HEALTH
High Places
Mahjongg

Sunday is another amazing line-up, including Spoon, Dinosaur Jr., Spiritualized, M. Ward, The Apples in Stereo, Cut Copy, The Dodos and many others.

Interestingly enough, despite a sagging economy, high fuel prices and saturation of big, outdoor music festivals spanning two to five days in duration, the fact is that ticket sales for both the veteran fests like Coachella and Bonnaroo, and the 'newbies', have been overall successful so far for 2008.

Artist of the Month: Black Kids

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:54:45 -0500

Black Kids is set to release a new, full-length album (albeit for Columbia Records) called Partie Traumatic on July 22.

With danceable, catchy songs reminiscent of a mix between The Cure and Arcade Fire, Jacksonville, Florida's indie outfit Black Kids have received a heavy dose of critical acclaim, blogger buzz, and the inevitable backlash over the past year.

The band, who made it on to the indie music map with the singles "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" and "Hurricane Jane" (see link below) is now under enormous pressure with the upcoming release of their debut album, and fans and critics will be expecting more than just a hurried release containing a set of mediocre songs.

However, it is important to note that the band's 'debut' only contains three new songs. That is not something that works in the band's favor or will necessarily sell more records than an album that contains a full set of new songs.

It's always amusing, and somehow pretentious, for the naysayers of indie rock 'sensations' - as Black Kids have become - to conveniently praise a talented new band and then turn around and bash them for becoming popular, which is sort of what I'm doing here, but not really, because overall, their music speaks for itself - and does a fine job at that.

If they were pretentious and in-your-face about their indie stardom, as some musicians are, that would be a different story. So far, all indications point to an amazingly creative and exciting band with catchy sound and name.

If you are not familiar with Black Kids, you can listen to this free MP3 from Black Kids and also following some of the music links to stream their music, get more information about the band and access their playlists on various social networking sites.

MP3: Hurricane Jane by Black Kids from the upcoming debut album, Partie Traumatic

The following is the song and video - "I Don't Want To Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" - that put the band into the spotlight (especially in the U.K., where the band has a large, loyal following):

Black Kids Links

Black Kids MySpace page

Black Kids official website

Black Kids profile on AllMusic.com

Black Kids on Imeem, Last.fm and MTV

You can pre-order Partie Traumatic now.

(Disclaimer: IRC has no affiliation with any of the links provided above; links are provided as additional resource for our readers)

Black Kids' 2008 Tour Dates:

Jun 28 2008

2:30P

Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury, England

Jun 29 2008

8:00P

Wakestock Festival

Oxford, England

Jul 1 2008

8:00P

Nouveau Casino

Paris, France

Jul 2 2008

8:00P

The Rescue Rooms [SOLD OUT]

Nottingham, England

Jul 3 2008

8:00P

The Cockpit [SOLD OUT]

Leeds, England

Jul 4 2008

8:00P

O2 Wireless Festival

London, England

Jul 5 2008

8:00P

Barfly

Liverpool, England

Jul 7 2008

8:00P

iTunes Live Festival at KOKO w/Foals

London, England

Jul 10 2008

8:00P

Concorde 2 [SOLD OUT]

Brighton, England

Jul 11 2008

8:00P

Lounge On The Farm Festival

Canterbury, England

Jul 12 2008

8:00P

Oxegen Festival

Naas, Ireland

Jul 13 2008

8:00P

T in the Park Festival

Kinross-shire, Scotland

Jul 18 2008

2:00P

Latitude Festival

Southwold, England

Jul 19 2008

6:00P

Camp Bestival

Dorset, England

Jul 25 2008

8:00P

Santo’s Party House

New York, New York

Jul 29 2008

8:00P

El Rey Theatre

Los Angeles, California

Aug 1 2008

8:00P

Lollapalooza Festival

Chicago, Illinois

Aug 14 2008

8:00P

Frequency Festival

Salzburg, Austria

Aug 15 2008

8:00P

Highfield Festival

Erfurt-Hohenfelden, Germany

Aug 16 2008

2:00P

Pukkelpop Festival

Hasselt, Belgium

Aug 17 2008

2:00P

Lowlands Festival

Biddinghuizen, Netherlands

Aug 20 2008

8:00P

Carling Academy [SOLD OUT]

Newcastle, England

Aug 21 2008

8:00P

Thekla

Bristol, England

Aug 23 2008

12:00P

Reading Festival

Reading, England

Aug 24 2008

12:00P

Leeds Festival

Leeds, England

Aug 25 2008

12:00P

Last Days Of Summer Festival

Buckingham, England

Aug 29 2008

2:00P

Rock en Seine Festival

Paris, France

Aug 31 2008

2:00P

Jersey Live Festival

Jersey, England

Sep 5 2008

2:00P

Bestival

Isle of Wight, England

Sep 19 2008

8:00P

Freebird Live

Jacksonville, Florida

Sep 20 2008

8:00P

The Social

Orlando, Florida

Sep 21 2008

8:00P

Crowbar

Tampa, Florida

Sep 23 2008

8:00P

The Earl

Atlanta, Georgia

Sep 24 2008

8:00P

40 Watt Club

Athens, Georgia

Sep 25 2008

8:00P

Cat’s Cradle

Carrboro, North Carolina

Sep 26 2008

8:00P

Ottobar

Baltimore, Maryland

Sep 26 2008

8:00P

Black Cat

Washington, DC

Sep 29 2008

8:00P

First Unitarian Church

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Oct 2 2008

8:00P

Paradise

Boston, Massachusetts

Oct 4 2008

8:00P

Cabaret Musee Juste Pour Rire

Montreal, Quebec

Oct 5 2008

8:00P

The Mod Club

Toronto, Ontario

Oct 6 2008

8:00P

Metro

Chicago, Illinois

Oct 7 2008

8:00P

7th Street Entry

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Oct 10 2008

8:00P

Neumo’s

Seattle, Washington

Oct 11 2008

8:00P

Richards on Richards

Vancouver, British Columbia

Oct 12 2008

8:00P

Hawthorne Theater

Portland, Oregon

Oct 13 2008

8:00P

The Fillmore Auditorium

San Francisco, California

Late to the Gate: Indie Rock Songs of 2008

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:25:30 -0500

Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones once sang "time waits for no one." Man, is that true. There have been so many indie rock releases so far in 2008 that's it's nearly impossible to keep up with it all.

Therefore, the following, free, legal MP3s feature some of this year's most popular new releases, including Nine Inch Nails, The Ruby Suns, The Helio Sequence, Band of Horses, The Gutter Twins and many others.

Free and Legal MP3s:

Nine Inch Nails - Lights in the Sky
Download for free the Nine Inch Nails EP The Slip

The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

The Ruby Suns - Tane Mahuta

Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You

The Gutter Twins - Idle Hands

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Baltimore

Mark Pickerel and his Praying Hands - Cody’s Dream

The Waco Brothers - Do What I Say

Jim White - Crash into the Sun

Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation

Witch- 1000 MPH

The Fleet Foxes Mix Indie Pop, Acoustic, Folk and Harmonic Vocals For Entralling Sounds

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:38:04 -0500

I must admit that there are many indie artists and bands that fly under my radar for months after they've received the so-called "blogger buzz". This is no more so the case than with the Washington state band The Fleet Foxes.

Drawing strongly off influences from The Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young and The Zombies, The Fleet Foxes are one of the most exciting new indie bands of 2008.

Fleet Foxes' debut, self-titled album is nothing less than a masterpiece woven with carefully-crafted songs about longing and lost love lavishly laden with pop harmonies and melodies.

"They are, for lack of an imminently more marketable descriptor, a group trafficking in baroque harmonic pop," the band's profile on Sub Pop reads, highlighting "traditions of folk music, pop, choral music and gospel, sacred harp singing, West Coast music, traditional music from Ireland to Japan, film scores."

Heather Phares wrote in the All Music Guide: "[Fleet Foxes] mix and match British and American folk and rock from the far and not too distant past that makes the band's music so refreshing.

While this mix could be contrived or indulgent, Fleet Foxes use restraint, structuring their flourishes into three- and four-minute pop songs full of chiming melodies and harmonies that sound like they've been summoned from centuries of traditional songs and are full of vivid, universal imagery: mountains, birds, family, death. "

The band comprises Skyler Skjelset on guitar, Bryn Lumsden on bass, Nicholas Peterson on drums, and Casey Wescott on keyboards. Following some solid shows in Seattle, the band was was contacted by producer Phil Ek, who produced The Shins and Built to Spill.

Ek produced the bands spring 2008 EP release, Sun Giant, and the band's debut full-length album for Sub Pop Records.

MP3: "White Winter Hymna" by The Fleet Foxes off the self-titled album on Sub Pop Records, released in June 2008.

Sub Pop also has in its lineup of artists many great indie bands and artists like Grand Archives, Iron & Wine, Foals, The Go! Team, Bands of Horses, The Postal Service, Sleater-Kinney, CSS, Mudhoney, The Rapture, Wolf Parade, Low, Rogue Wave and dozens more.

Seattle is etched in rock history as the birthplace of alternative rock, most especially in respect to "grunge" - a musical genre that captivated a generation for half of a decade thanks in large part to the explosive success of Nirvana.

For the baby boom generation, The Beatles were band that defined a generation. For the mislabeled "Generation X" there is no other band that can compare to the enormous influence and success of The Beatles except for Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.

But in recent years, the caffeinated city of Seattle, has been the breeding ground for new, more mellow indie rock and pop that draws heavily off musical trends established during the baby boomers heydays. The Fleet Foxes definitely appeal to a wide audience because of their amazing range in styles and sounds and introspective lyrics.

Upcoming Fleet Foxes shows from their 2008 concert tour:

Thursday, June 26 - Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco CA
Friday, June 27 - Casbah, San Diego CA
Saturday, June 28 - Echo, Los Angeles CA
Sunday, June 29 - Spaceland, Los Angeles CA
Monday, June 30 - Solar Culture, Tucson AZ
Wednesday, July 2 - Mohawk, Austin TX
Thursday, July 3 - Loft, Dallas TX
Saturday, July 5 - Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta GA
Sunday, July 6 - Local 506, Chapel Hill NC
Monday, July 7 - Black Cat, Washington DC
Tuesday, July 8 - First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia PA
Wednesday, July 9 - Bowery Ballroom, The, New York City NY
Monday, July 14 - Middle East, Cambridge MA upstairs
Tuesday, July 15 - Le Divan Orange, Montreal Canada
Friday, July 18 - Terrace, Madison WI
Saturday, July 19 - Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago IL
Sunday, July 20 - 7th St Entry, Minneapolis MN
Tuesday, July 22 - Hi-Dive, Denver CO
Wednesday, July 23 - Kilby Court, Salt Lake City UT
Friday, July 25 - Doug Fir Lounge, Portland OR

View the MySpace page for The Fleet Foxes and listen to their studio session on National Public Radio.

NPR's Best Albums of 2008 Poll Features The Dodos, The Black Keys, Fleet Foxes, Mates of State, The Mars Volta and More

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:15:06 -0500

National Public Radio's All Songs Considered has jumped the gun again and started a best albums of 2008 poll. Seriously folks, it's only June, and yet you are rolling out a feature that is usually reserved for December or even the early months of the year after the year in consideration.

Why? Because it is only common sense to wait until the end of the year before asking your readers what their favorite albums of the year are. My reply to NPR's end-of-the-year poll: Seriously? At the least, from an elementary editorial POV, could you rename the poll to "The Best Albums of 2008, Part One"?

However, to its credit, NPR's music division consistently singles out some of the most talented indie and mainstream bands and artists around, including The Black Keys, Colin Meloy, Conor Oberst, The Dodos, Coldplay, Mates of State, My Morning Jacket, The Raveonettes, REM, Tokyo Police Club and Weezer, among many others.

The poll closes on July 2. There is a lively discussion going regarding the poll and the best albums of 2008 (so far).

MP3: "My Only Offer" by Mates of State from the new album Re-Arrange Us (Barsuk Records)

Firewater's The Golden Hour Features Music Genres Mixed with International Influences

indierockcafe.com@gmail.com — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:09:58 -0500

Firewater's April 2008 release, The Golden Hour, has been widely hailed as its best album to date, rich with instruments (some played by native musicians), stories and sounds reflecting an adventurous trek across the Middle East and Asia.

The careful weaving of sitars and trumpets with bongos and a heavy bass line provides for a collection of mostly original, festive and danceable songs. Sprickled across the album are many additional instruments that date hundreds of years, like the tumba, chimta, and dholki.

MP3: "Some Kind of Kindness" by Firewater from The Golden Hour
MP3: "6:45 (So This Is How It Feels)" by Firewater from The Golden Hour

MySpace: Firewater

The Golden Hour is very much founding member Tom A.'s musical travelogue featuring influences from journeys across Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan and India. Tod A. chronicled his travels in the blog Postcards From the Edge of the World. Having recently divorced and disgusted by the re-election of President Bush in 2004, decided to leave the U.S.

The album contains some stand out tracks, including "Hey Clown", "Borneo", "Feels Like The End of the World" and "Some Kind of Kindness".

Firewater: Founded, 1995

Firewater is a continuously morphing, work-in-progress indie collaborative outfit from New York that has actually been around since 1995, when grunge was all the rage.

Firewater's 1995 debut album, Get Off The Cross (We Need The Wood For The Fire), was not well received by critics and the band failed to gain a notable following.

Three years later, the band returned with the same formula and line-up, including Soul Coughing drummer Yuval Gabay and Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison, to release its sophomore effort - The Ponzi Scheme. The album contained a few worthy songs, but for the most part was largely dismissed.

It wasn't until 2001's pop-heavy Psychopharmacology, featuring saxophonist Ori Kaplan and sitar player Oren Bloedow, that the band made a breakthrough, receiving wide praise, including a 3.5 star rating from the All Music Guide.

"Psychopharmacology contains the requisite disgruntlement of a Firewater album, and all of angst-ridden underpinnings of testosterone-laced pop."

The band took another hiatus, but pumped out two respectable albums in less than a year - 2003's "stripped-down, razor-wire-wrapped effort" The Man on the Burning Tightrope, followed by Songs We Should Have Written in 2004.

With the release of The Golden Hour, and an impressive performance South by Southwest, plus plenty of the all important 'blogger love', 2008 may be Firewater's biggest ever.

It doesn't hurt that over the past couple of years indie rock music featuring sounds from other cultures and instruments has gained popularity, evidenced by popular indie artists like Beirut, The Decemberists and Vampire Weekend, to name a few.

The downside of Firewater's collective music catalogue is that much of it sounds too much like the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and at times conjures up images of a drunken Uncle Bob attempting to dance in the backyard after an outdoor barbecue, when most of the guests have already left.