James Pants heralds from a small, isolated hometown in Spokane, Washington, where he locks himself up in his garage and makes some of the funkiest music you’ll hear this year.
On his debut album "Welcome" he moves from Funk to Electro to Indie and marries punky, lo-fi production aesthetics with electronic riffs and swinging beats. His self-produced sound remembers me of James Murphy and his LCD Soundsystem.
In a recent interview with XLR8 he says: "I take this music seriously but humor is the way I like to get ideas across. Because who's going to take some white kid from Spokane doing '80s boogie seriously?"
I do and you should too because James Pants is a producer we'll hear a lot of in the future.
Checkout his My Space.
Download his single "Kash" here.
Update: Jamie Strong from Stones Throw Records just sent me a mail saying that this summer James Pants will be on the road opening up for Jamie Lidell:
May 25: Vancouver – Jamie Lidell Tour @ Richards
May 27:
May 28: SF – Jamie Lidell Tour @ Bimbo’s
May 29: LA – Jamie Lidell Tour @ El Rey
May 30: LA – Jamie Lidell Tour @ El Rey
May 31: Tuscon – Jamie Lidell Tour @ Rialto
June 2:
You can also catch him DJing or playing his stuff live:
May 8: LA – Dance Right @ La Cita
May 9: SF – I Can’t Feel My Face @ Amnesia
June 13th:
June 14th:
Album drops on May 27th on Stones Throw Records
Checkout the video for "Do a couple of things":
"Ja, Panik" was founded 2005 in Vienna/Austria, they released their first self titled longplayer in 2006.
The new album „The Taste and The Money“ is now available on Schoenwetter / ZickZack Records. For my money this is the best German-speaking album released recently.
Andreas Spechtl, the 23 years old singer and guitarist, quotes Bob Dylan and Falco but still claims authenticity. He brings forward the argument that it makes no difference where a line comes from as long as it's sensibly implemented in a appropriate context.
His band mates Stefan Pabst (Bass), Christian Treppo (Piano), Sebastian Janata (Drum) and Thomas Schleicher (Guitar) deliver a sound that's dainty and crisp like a tortilla.
Nonchalantly they mingle country style guitar solos, 80s Wave and classic guitar rock. They constantly change style and ambiance but still achieve a flawless sound.
The youngsters from "Ja, Panik" all together share the same flat. They recorded most of the songs in there that's what makes their sound so beautifully rough.
Download legally and for free their songs "Marathon" and "Ob ich das verdiene" from LastFM.
I would highly recommend you to buy this album.
Buy on iTunes(US), Amazon , Greiszler.
Checkout their My Space and Homepage.
See them live:
| Filmkunstfest | D - Schwerin | ||
| Stadtfest (Heldenplatz) | A - Wien | ||
| Theatron Open Air | D - München | ||
| Mahatma | D - Ulm | ||
| Intro Intim | Ilses Erika | D - Leipzig | ||
| E-Werk | D - Erlangen | ||
| Lido mit Britta und Mondo Fumatore | D - Berlin | ||
| Grüner Jäger | D - Hamburg | ||
| OK Zentrum | A - Linz | ||
| Altes Kino | A - Markt Allhau | ||
| Obstwiesenfestival | D - Dornstadt | ||
| Rock am Hof | A - St. Agatha | ||
| Palaverama Festival | A - Gmünd | ||
| Auradau-Festival | A - Klosterneuburg | ||
| Kamp | D - Bielefeld | ||
| Druckluft | D - Oberhausen |
A few weeks ago I posted about "The Black Keys" from Ohio and amusingly today I flushed out a beautiful album from a Brazilian indie-rock band named "Teclas Pretas" (Portuguese for "Black Keys") .
It's a project from 5 composers (Glauber Guimarães, Jorge Solovera, Ricardo Alves, Heitor Dantas and Tadeu Mascarenhas) to record an album in total creative freedom. It's also a celebration of friendship between the 5 members which are all playing in other local bands besides "Teclas Pretas".
Their sound remembers me of the Beatles and sometimes of Tom Waits. It's a very nice blend of indie rock and traditional Brazilian music.
The band never played live but they registered an exceptional studio album "Oolalaquizila" which you can download legally and for free here.
Checkout their My Space.
Hailing from New York’s East Village, Mad Juana blends blues, reggae, dub, flamenco and good old dirty rock n roll to create a sophisticated fusion of bohemian-gypsy rock.
The masterful musicians responsible for this downtown bohemian vibe include Guitarist Sami Yaffa, accordion player Marni Rice, tenor saxophonist Danny Ray, trumpeter Nico Camargo, percussionist Paul Garisto and dazzling vocalist Karmen Guy.
The band is often compared to Gogol Bordello, Patti Smith Group and The Velvet Underground.
Their new album drops in May 2008 on Azra Records.
Visit them on My Space.
See them live:
| Karmen & Sami host/DJ MJ’s Voodoo Room | San Diego, California | ||
| Bar Pink Elephant | San Diego, California |
"Think Twice" is a electro-punk band from Paris formed by Jean-Christophe Couderc (Boards and electronic effects), Benoit Raymond (Bass) and Macdara Smith (Vocals/Trumpet).
The sound is a mix of dance music and rock, along with "The Clash" influenced punk elements.
After a four year gap Think Twice are back on tracks with their second album "Coco Killed Me" to be released today on Dialect Recordings.
The album narrates a tormented future love story of the aspiring retro rock star Neverbeen and the wannabe waitress Coco.
Visit their My Space.
Buy their new album on Play.com.
See them live:
| l’ENDROIT [ DJ SET ] | HYERES LES PALMIERS | ||
| LE DIVAN DU MONDE [ DJ SET ] | PARIS | ||
| LE DIVAN DU MONDE [ DJ SET ] | PARIS | ||
| LE NOUVEAU CASINO [ LIVE ] | PARIS |
Taking their name from a track made famous by Martin Denny in the 50s, Quiet Village combine finest electronica with car-chase funk and vintage soul to create a sort of loose, warm disco vibe.
The duo consists of Matt Edwards (a.k.a. Radio Slave) and Joel Martin both hailing from the UK.
After three sought-after singles and a handful of remixes Quiet Village step out of the shadows to present their much anticipated debut album, "Silent Movie".
The album is like a cool breeze, it's so relaxing...each track would probably make a fantastic film score. There's a nifty variety of sounds and you can often hear elements from Italian movie soundtracks à la Ennio Morricone throughout the record.
"Silent Movie" is out April 21 on !K7 Records. It can already be ordered in advance on Amazon.
Checkout their new webiste or visit them on My Space.
Listen to "Utopia" here and to "Circus of Horror" here both from their new album.
Free Blood , a duo comprised of Madeline Davy and John Pugh, describe their sound as "The soundtrack for parties gone awry".
The first three years saw Free Blood strictly as a live phenomenon playing smaller venues and house parties around the Brooklyn And Manhattan boroughs.
In 2005 the band began collaborating with notorious production duo known as the Brothers (Josh Ryan and Eric Emm) and since then released 2 EP's "Part 1" and "Part 2"
The latter has been released a week ago and features to new songs "Grumpy" and "Royal Family".
Their sound could be described as electro/soul/disco oddness of the very finest kind, it sounds like Gnarls Barkley is meeting Jamie Lidell in Hot Chips studio.
Visit them on My Space.
Downoad "Grumpy" here and "The Royal Family" here.
Buy the EP's (vinyl or digital) here.
You can currently catch Free Blood on tour across North America opening for Hot Chip:
| Vic Theatre | Chicago, Illinois | ||
| First Avenue | Minneapolis, Minnesota | ||
| Commodore Ballroom | Vancouver | ||
| Showbox | Seattle, Washington | ||
| Crystal Ballroom | Portland, Oregon | ||
| Filmore Auditorium | San Francisco, California | ||
| Ukranian Cultural Center | Los Angeles, California | ||
| Mayan Theatre | Los Angeles, California |
Watch the video to "Ready" (Live on 'From The Basement'):
In 1996 four 15-year-old best friends from Minneapolis started playing together their first shows as The Plastic Constellation. 3 years later they stormed the Midwest club scene borrowing their parents mini-vans to play in venues they weren't old enough to drink in.
After a break for college they released their debut album "Mazatlan" in 2004.
They then made the jump to the national stage with 2006’s "Crusades", a complex and epic album for New York’s respected Frenchkiss Records. The band spent most of 2006 on the road.
Now the next phase begins with the release of "We Appreciate You" on April 15, 2008, again on Frenchkiss Records. It’s 11 tracks of hot modern rock featuring some awesome guitar riffs and really great vocals.
Check out their Website and My Space.
See them live:
| Electric Fetus In-Store Release (All Ages) 7:00 PM (FREE!) | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |||
| First Avenue Mainroom Release Party! With Doomtree, Millionth Word and Shoe Shiners (18+, 6PM Doors) | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Whoever accused the New York music scene of dying out should rethink.
Ten Minute Turns is another Brooklyn based act showcasing some great talent.
Alan Foreman (guitar) & Roger Mason (bass) are also the main vocalists and write most of the sing-a-long songs.
Their sound is very versatile including more exotic instruments like accordions, horns and even didgeridoo. The driving rhythms are an invite to dance and are complemented by some trash percussions and quirky noise samples.
TMT combines memorable melodies, tight harmonies and sharp lyrics to bring you infectiously powerful rock music.
Download their catchy-as-heck song "Sad Animals" for free.
Take a look at their music video for "Long Night Drone" which was recently accepted into the LA and NY International Independent Film & Video festivals.
Check out their My Space.
See them live:
| LIT LOUNGE | New York | ||
| ANNEX | New York |
Buy their album "Sad Animals":
CD BabyBuy the EP "Sleepy Cranes":
CD Baby
Santi White loves percussions, she studied Cuban, Haitian and West African Hand drumming.
Then she went to New York to work as A&R for Epic but ended up writing and producing Res's debut "How I do". She also sang in the punk band "Stiffed" but left in 2007 because she was offered a solo contract.
Her latest project is "Santogold" in which she collaborates with hotshot beatmeisters like Spank Rock, FreQ Nasty, Diplo, Switch and fellow "Stiffed" member John Hill to provide us with tremendous electro beats and heavy bass lines mixed with punk guitars and new wave synths.
Her style is comparable to M.I.A. (with whom she recently toured) but more varied and sophisticated.
The handful of tracks that have already surfaced definitely showcase her versatility and talent as a vocalist, as well as a nice range of production styles and influences.
Her debut album "I believe in Santogold" drops on April 22 on Lizard King Records.
Check out her MySpace.
This is her very arty video for L.E.S Artistes:
The War on Drugs is a folk rock band from the "City of Brotherly Love", Philadelphia (Greek: from philos "love" and adelphos "brother").
They are a indie band in the truest sense: they play mostly small, local venues, hold rent-paying day jobs and embrace the ideal of DIY.
Recently the band has signed with "Secretly Canadian Records" and is currently in the process of recording their debut album to be released later this year.
Meanwhile they're offering an EP "Barrel of Batteries" as free download for a limited time which you can access by clicking here.
It's a really great EP containing 5 demos showcasing the band's Dylan-esque folk songs as well as a few short ambient pieces.
Check out their homepage and My Space page.
See them live:
| North Star Bar | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Sean “Diddy” Combs has announced yesterday the signing of acclaimed new artist Janelle Monáe to Bad Boy Records.
She makes her solo recording debut with the groundbreaking “METROPOLIS” project, an epic musical journey into the future which introduces Janelle’s android alter ego, Cindi Mayweather, an alien from outer space who is on the run from evil cyborgs who want to capture her because she broke the law by falling in love with a human...
“Metropolis" is a innovative, cheeky, sci-fi themed debut that crosses musical genres: from R&B to Funk to Rock 'n' Roll.
The lyrics are fresh, the vocals are crisp and smooth and Janelle is just bewitching.
She chose to release her album in four different EPs or "suites", the first being the 5-track EP, The Chase. Her debut full-length album (containing all four EPs) will follow in September.
Check out her incredibly polished website and My Space page.
See her live:
| The Blender Theatre at Gramercy | New York, New York | ||
| Atlanta Ballet (Fox Theatre) | Atlanta, Georgia | ||
| Don Cheadle’s "Darfur Now²" Documentary | Atlanta, Georgia | ||
| Private Event (San Francisco, CA) | San Francisco, California | ||
| Private Event (Los Angeles, CA) | Los Angeles, California |
Excerpt from press release:
"On the concept of the suite release:
The concept of the suite release was inspired by the observation that the iPod generation no longer buy or listen to entire albums, they listen to playlists. They grab their favorite three to four songs from a particular album, add those to a playlist, and then discard the rest of the album like yesterday's news. In order to re-excite the public, the label is forced to do guest spots and remixes, additional videos and deluxe CD releases....all in a vain attempt to intrigue the record buyer again. With this in mind, the Wondaland Arts Society has decided to release Janelle Monáe's content in a quarterly "suite" fashion. Like successful serial programs such as Lost or Heroes, this release schedule allows dynamic artists such as Janelle Monáe to always stay fresh: she will always have a new chapter or musical world to visit, a new song raiding blogs and earbuds. As one can imagine, this suite model continually excites the consumer and music lover, while creating countless opportunities for Ms. Monáe to experiment artistically and grow creatively with her audience." (from www.janellemonae.com)
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