Palebear Archives

Category : Electronica

Absinthe Glow
Contradictions

I cherrypicked this band off of 3hive… originally was drawn to the E. Smith comparisons. I gotta say from the track available on their site “Contradictions” the only similarities to him seem to be the straight 8 bar strumming with the guitar and perhaps the melody. It’s still a pretty good song… it seems to combine a bit of electronics a la Postal Service with more Beach Boys-ish sounds.

There’s actually another band that’s been doing a similar thing that you might be interested in if you like Absinthe Glow… Lost On Purpose. The vocals and song setup especially remind me of them. The songs have a background feel to them that’s a bit dreamy and slow, but the songs are more uptempo than most bands like that.

Tracks:

Contradictions

Label:

Wynona

Artist Website:

www.absintheglow.com

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Box_
Hello (Special Glowing) World!

If Elf Power had decided to form an Electronica band instead of an Elephant 6 one, I have a feeling they might have started life like Box_. The music is packed full with a veritable zoo of strange electronic beeps, skronks, whirls, buzzes but happily the underlying song structure and vocals ARE there. Think Postal Service and The Album Leaf fronted by Jason Lytle or Robert Pollard.

By the way, if you can’t seem to find Box_ online, perhaps it’s because you aren’t including that underscore… try Box Underscore.

This duo of Josh and Derek have created a rare thing here: semi-electronica that I actually have a shot of listening to and digging. A lot of it has to do with the fact that it’s not just dumbed down TR808 beats after beats for 25 minutes. Granted the electronics can at times get extremely dense and overbearing and the vocals take an extended hiatus. But there’s actual acoustic guitar amidst the mayhem. There’s melody and singing. These are nice songs, not extended electronic wankings.

Continue reading “Box_ - Hello (Special Glowing) World!” …

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Cassettes Won't Listen
Cut Your Hair

So I was driving back from the post office listening to KCRW (and I usually don’t because good ‘ol Nick sort of sucks extra hard in his choice of music in my opinion). But anyhow, all of the sudden I heard the familiar strains of “… hit me where it muzzles, hesitate you die…” but it was an electronica arcadepop sort of band playing it instead of Pavement. I decided to listen till the end, if only to see whether they’d sing “career” or “korea” (I couldn’t tell with them either).

Not a bad cover, and it turns out the cover of “Cut Your Hair” is by a band called Cassettes Won’t Listen. Side note: have you noticed how many bands nowadays have the word “tapes” or “cassettes” in their names? Interesting, maybe we’ll see a resurgence of cassette tape decks (If you’re of the iPod era, you probably don’t know what I’m talking about. Incidentally, we should be having a feature on indie cassette tapes coming up one of these days).

Anyhow the synthesizers buzz twiggily and the drum machines plop quite well on this rendition of “Cut Your Hair”. Out on Dope Lotus Records now, Cassettes Won’t Listen is from New York although the four members are all originally from the San Fran area.

Here’s the track, off the Dope Lotus website:

Cut Your Hair (Pavement cover)

Selected Albums on Itunes:

Nobody’s Moving EP

by Bryan | Comments Off

CSS
Cansei De Ser Sexy

Ok Brazil you didn’t win the World Cup but at least you gave us CSS. No, you HTML nerd, not Cascading Style Sheets! I mean the Brazillian boppity discoduck electro-splut Cansei de Ser Sexy, the latest band out on Subpop. Wow, they are as out there as any artsy band from Brazil can be.

Five gals, one guy. They actually sing in English instead of Portugese, reportedly because the native language “sounds too serious or beautiful”. Interesting. You might also be interested that “Cansei de Ser Sexy” was a quote from Beyonce which means “tired of being sexy”. Fun.

So what do they sound like? Here, I’ll take a stab: imagine The Go Team mixed with Ladytron with some funky 70s disco sounds thrown in for good measure. A couple of their songs sound similar to a favorite old band of mine Star Ghost Dog, but heavier on the synths and weirdness. Almost like a Brazillian version of Sissybar plus Blonde Redhead. Vocals could be Chan Marshall or Annie Hardy on speed.

Some of the songs sound like they’re completely thrown together at the last minute… there’s definitely a lo-fi type of high school cheerleading squad element. The word on the street implies that they got together without knowing how to play their instruments, but I don’t know how much the usual “amateur beginnings” to believe in press spinning like this. In any case, they’ve got a great fresh sound that you should check out.

Band Members:

Lovefoxxx (Luisa Matsushita) - vocals
Adriano Cintra - drums, guitar, vocals, production
Carolina Parra - guitar, drums
Ana Rezende - guitar, harmonica
Luiza Sá - guitar, drums, keys
Iracema Trevisan - bass

Available Tracks:

This Month, Day 10

Band Website:

www.canseidesersexy.com/

by Palebear | Comments Off

Headphones
Pink and Brown

If you think this band sounds a little like Pedro the Lion playing keyboards exclusively… well, then you’d be at least 66.6% correct. The Headphones are David Bazan from Pedro the Lion, his bandmate Tim Walsh but with Frank Lenz from dreamrockers Starflyer 59 thrown into the mix. A bit of of a supergroup perhaps… and they play some true coolness without using any guitars. Just synths in the music. There’s no mistaking Bazan’s delivery here though. And the music is similar in its melodic twists and turns to Pedro the Lion.

The track I heard was Pink and Brown. Mellow and drawn out, but with a preponderence of keyboards throughout (the drums are real though… I think), the Headphones sound very much like Pedro the Lion backed by American Analog Set. The keyboards are bit drony like Amanset and the song I heard has a similar mid-speed setting to it. The sound has that same minimal yet beautiful quality to it and Bazan’s vocals definitely shine, though they are less understated than Andrew Kenny’s.

But unlike typical offshoot bands (try Postal Service = electronic DCFC), such collusion is more welcome and the sound seems to gel quite well.

They currrently have one album out on Suicide Squeeze and I believe they toured with Minus the Bear to support it last fall. Hm… I wonder if The Headphones should also try a “Recording Engineer Tour” and then go hit up The Microphones to play with them. Hehe…

Members:

David Bazan
Frank Lenz
Tim Walsh

Albums available on Itunes:

S/T CD

Headphones Webite:

www.headphonesmusic.com

by Palebear | Comments Off

Helio Sequence
Keep Your Eyes Ahead

These guys know how to snack. Look at the photo below: doughnuts, cookies and milk perfectly and strategically placed. Does that ordered and harmonious tablesetting signify anything about their newest album Keep Your Eyes Ahead. Surely, and deliciously.

That’s not to say that The Helio Sequence’s music is wooden and fixed in any way. But I think that their songs have benefitted a bit from structure and order. The former album I heard, Love and Distance, had moments of brilliant pop and rock embedded in occasionally meandering electronic forays. The songs on this album just seem more concentrated and focused. If you think that I ripped that idea off from the official bio, you’re wrong - but it’s nice that we’re all on the same page there. Apparently, that is exactly the conclusion that Brandon Summers, who is one half of the duo that also includes Benjamin Weikel, came to after nearly losing his singing voice permanently. He opted to do some soul-searching, and I think the music benefits from it.

They sometimes kinda like fellow Subpop labelmates Rogue Wave, but Helio Sequence’s sound is a bit more ethereal and dreamy. Not cavernous reverb, but quite a bit. The synthesizer stuff is still there, but it’s very controlled. Instead of a distraction, it’s tasty flavoring - like the sprinkles on that doughnut. My favorite track on the album comes in past the halfway mark and is the title track. Bouncy, driving and melodic, “Keep Your Eyes Ahead” is sure to win over new fans with its power pop and slightly disco driven beat.

As a complete changeup, “Shed Your Love” is a lovely acoustic ballad, and is sure to get some face-time on teen angst OC type shows. Reminds me a bit of James for some reason. The plaintive country folk-singer song “Broken Afternoon” and the hoe-down of “No Regrets” is even more of a departure - dare I say it sounds like they’re taking a try at sounding like Dylan? Or maybe M. Ward? I know they’re no stranger to shades of country (the previous album had that”Harmonica Song”), but this is quite different - and I really like the new avenues they’re exploring..

by Palebear | No Comments

M Coast
Say It In Slang

I woke up this morning and just realized how ASTRONOMICALLY behind I’ve fallen on getting new music posted on Palebear. We’re definitely not at a loss for new music… it’s coming out of my ears. Need to play catchup, so the reviews are going to come fast and short.

I’ve been trying to figure out M Coast (AKA Marshmallow Coast) for awhile now ever since I got their album in the mail. The first song, “Sailing Around The World” = Stereolab or Broadcast. The second song, “Out of the Water” = Folk Implosion. The third song, “One Fine Day” = Masters of the Hemisphere plus, uh Free Design? Does that give you a general picture? I hope so, because that’s all you’re going to get to go on from me.

Seriously though, this is another super excellent indie pop album that just slipped through the cracks. Oh, and by the way this is an E6 collective band so that explains the “sounds like Masters” comment.

Listen:
On Myspace

Visit:
Marshmallow Coast website
Marshmallow Coast website

by Palebear | 3 Comments

Mon Frere
Blood, Sweat and Swords

Never let an album cover pre-influence your opinion of a band. These words should be enscribed on a stone tablet and hung over every prospective music reviewers desk. I’m often guilty of this sin, and the Mon Frere album was no exception. I mean just look at the cover. Swords with skulls through them… hmm, can you say either supergoth or blast-plaster metal?

Indeed. The band is nothing like that and they’ve even provided a handy genre categorization for me which is Powerhouse Electro Dance Rock. Oh, another rule for the stone tablet mentioned above: Never let the first song of an album influence your overall perception of the band. I listened to the first track (”Y.M.M.W.D.S.B”) and was all, like, Mates of State! But after that first song, they start to live more up to their genre.

I will give Nouela some props in that she has some crazy amazing pipes. She belts that stuff out. However, the music tends more toward synthyish new wave and electro-rock like No Doubt. (Occasionally, I hear something that reminds me of Rainer Maria, but it’s mostly a fleeting hint.) Her voice fits the music style superbly and the songs are fairly catchy, but just isn’t my cup of tea. Right now, anyway.

There is a bit of a campy or even loungey aspect to some of their tracks. The guitar is often nicely choppy and chunky, like on “Let It Bleed”, “Big Shot” or “Drain”. For “Bulliton” can you say Barracuda? Hehe. They even slow it down a bit on songs like “Leaving Town” which sort of reminds me of a Devics song?

Bratty and brash, I think most of these tracks would fit pretty well next to your synth-pop stuff. Just don’t let your mom see the cover.

Band Members:

Kyle Swisher - Guitar
Nouela Johnston - Vocals, Keys
Dustin McGhie - Drums

Albums on Itunes:

Blood Sweat and Swords
Real Vampires EP

Available Tracks:

Drain

by Tyranosaur | Comments Off

Quiet Countries
No One Makes A Sound

We see a lot of these one man electronica bands around but rarely is there anything there to actually take notice of. I mean, it’s a ONE MAN band and it sounds like it. Leb Borgerson who makes up the Quiet Countries is one exception to that rule. Inventive and generally catchy without being overly beat-bombastic, his strange creations leave you feeling like you’ve been trapped in some mystical computer program. The instrumentation is very nice, in particular the use of glockenspiel and organ accents.

One of the main things I like about Quiet Countries is the fact that it de-emphasizes the beat in favor of texture and atmosphere. This is nice for electronic bands because it makes the music sound less like “drum machine plus a few keyboards” and more like an actual song. When the beat does take over in his songs, it doesn’t overpower the feel of the songs but complements them. I actually suspect (though I could very well be wrong ) that this has everything to do with the fact that Borgerson is a drummer himself (ex-Laserhawk).

While many elements of the songs are lush, smooth and mellow, there is always an underground current of unease. Sort of like someone has spiked the morning coffee pot with something more potent.

Band Members:

Leb Borgenson - all instruments and vocals

Band Website:

Quiet Countries

by Palebear | Comments Off

The Album Leaf
Always For You

So Cadillac keeps throwing them at us. Earlier they’d served up both M. Ward and Luna as backing music for their commercials. This time around they pick the instrumental part of a great song by The Album Leaf. The song in question is “Always For You” and it’s the 2nd song off of their latest album “Into The Blue Again”.

Once again, I don’t remember too much about the actual commerical except that it was for the Cadillac Escalade. I always seem to get distracted when recognizing background music in commercials that’s from an indie band. I recognized it right away because I have both this album and their earlier one “In A Safe Place”. This one should be pretty good - since there are no words in the section (I wonder if it was a loop or a snippet?) of song being used, you’d probably have a harder time trying to google the lyrics…

Actually, if you liked the part of the song that was used in the commercial you’ll probably dig the rest of their stuff. They tend toward mostly instrumental mellow songs that are “electronic” in the sense that they use a lot of different sounds, but there is an amazing organic feel to the tracks.

They might come across very similar to Postal Service. Who, by the way, have gotten one of their songs used again recently in a UPS commercial. The EXACT SAME ONE in fact that was used for Kaiser Permanente (I don’t even remember the name), which calls for a rant: a word to UPS - stop trying to jump on the cool-indie-music-in-commercials bandwagon and find your own damn songs. That’s what you’re overpaying your music directors (or whatever it is they’re called nowadays) for. They could have picked any other Postal Service track or any other similar indie band, but NO… they were just too damn lazy. OK, rant off - have a nice day!

Always For You, by The Album Leaf
on Itunes

by Palebear | No Comments

The Album Leaf
Into The Blue Again

The Album Leaf continue their winning semi-instrumental ways with their latest offering “Into The Blue Again”. Well, we should really say that Jimmy LaValle continues the winning ways, since he’s the only member. And a busy one at that… he’s had his hand in the following other pies: Tristeza, Black Heart Procession and Iceland’s Sigur Ros. Good company he’s keeping there.

I like to describe Album Leaf as instrumental electronic music that doesn’t suck. It neatly avoids heavy beat-driven drivel while remaining musically coherent enough to stay out of the deep space Flying Saucer Attack end. A lot of people are going to say, “hmm… Chicago post-rock instrumental?” I don’t really hear that though.

LaValle subtle use of strings, piano and other live instrument textures seems to contribute well to the overall feel. The end result is a creamy soundscape that remains chipper enough not to drown you to sleep. Along with his trademark electric piano hallmarks sprinkled throughout the tracks, we’re now treated to honest-to-god vocals. And though still a rarity in the songs, having a few words now and then fits in pretty nicely with the overall soundscape.

Selected Albums on Itunes:

Into The Blue Again
In A Safe Place
One Day I’ll Be On Time

by Tyranosaur | No Comments

The One AM Radio
This Too Will Pass

I am not quite sure what is going on, but lately I’ve been getting a ton of great music in the mail. I’m only surprised because 2006 was a year of so many bad or mediocre albums that found their way to our door. It’s sorta weird - the minute I decided to hell with being an “official” review blog, everything started to work out.

Well, I also DO have a soft spot for most of the stuff off Dangerbird too (hooray for SS Pickups). But for some reason I’d never heard of The One AM Radio before. This is the musical project of Hrishikesh Hirway who combines beautiful hushed vocals with extremely smooth and muted beats in his songs. It’s the kind of semi-electronica I can dig - a la Tristeza and Postal Service.

Hirway’s voice exudes unbelievable calm and it meshes with the songs amazingly well. I’d say that on more than a few levels he does remind me a bit of Jose Gonzalez or Kings of Convenience. I think he also might give N. Lannon a run for his money. But more than a few tracks like “Cast Away” and “You Can Still Run” have a Mark Kozelek feel to them - folk-drone shoegaze, or something in between.

Other songs like “Coming Back” and “A Brittle Filament” are almost orchestral or movie-like in feel. Trumpets, violins, upright bass are sprinkled throughout the album liberally among the beats. Interestingly enough, Pontiac did use one of his older tracks (”What You Gave Away”) in a commercial.

His latest album is called This Too Will Pass and I have to say that I didn’t need any convincing - I was into it right away, but then again this kind of music is right up my alley. Very evocative stuff…

Listen:

In The Time We’ve Got
Untied
Flicker

Watch:

Video for the song “Witness”

Visit:

The One AM Radio website
The One AM Radio on Myspace

by Palebear | No Comments