I think sometimes you have to challenge yourself as a listener to explore other genres or sounds and give them enough time to grow, not be put off by first listens or bad reviews. Not that has happened to Nurses as far as I can gather but it is certainly an album that requires more than one listen, in fact takes quite a few if only to ‘hear’ it properly as there’s so much going on. What strikes you first is the swirling vocal harmonies which are prominent throughout the album but after more listens you start concentrating more on the electronics or the piano which I read somewhere give the impression that the band are evolving as you listen and this is true, it’s ever changing but not too much so you lose interest, in fact the more listens you give it the more brilliance you find in it, I think they’ve created a masterpiece. It’s impossible to put this kind of music under any genre as it covers many, folk, Psychedelia, alt-country and pop, in fact it’s the pop side of it that I find works brilliantly, take a listen and see what you think. Signed to the brilliant dead oceans label they are often compared to the likes of animal collective, yeasayer and Sunset Rubdown but I hear a little bit of The Low Anthem in there too. They’re currently on a huge U.S tour, go see them. Available as a download, cd and vinyl either from Dead Oceans or your local independant record store. The mp3 available here you can also grab along with another one on the dead oceans website. Enjoy.
Archive for the 'Pop' Category

A great discovery that warmed me up during these cold winter months is The Brook Lee Catastrophe. The Weight of Waiting is the second collective effort from this Californian band : a collection of 11 powerful songs : simple and so efficient in both musical and lyrical expression …
Continue reading ‘The Brook Lee Catastrophe – The Weight of Waiting’

Yesterday, I was listening to a recent Dan Mangan’s performance (Danapalooza! in Ottawa) on CBC Radio 2 Concert on Demand enjoying this talented songwriter when Dan played a cover of ‘See the Sunshine Through the Haze’ which captivate my full attention. A goggle search later, I was on the Urban Aesthetics website.
Their eponymous first EP has been released this last October and hold a fresh and joyful collection of 5 songs. This first release is full of catchy tunes that could remind me the power of the Kinks or the infectuous pop of a more recent James. If it’s pretty harsh to qualify their sound (from upbeat rock and folksy arrangements to chamber pop) as it’s seems obvious that this young 5 pieces band is still in the process of looking for their own sound ; no matter the path they’ll choose, sure they can rely on the talent of their frontman and songwriter Greg Janssen. This is exactly the kind of album that will make me dance and sing all the spring long while waiting for their second release.
Band : The Urban Aesthetics
Label : none
Where to buy : HMV, emusic.com
More Appetizers : @myspace
Who else to enjoy : Ravens & Chimes , MByronic Heroes
I’ve got few information about this french band and I’m not sure I want to spend more time seeking for. “Jil is Lucky“ just released their first full length and this video… Enjoy !

Don’t ya just hate it when you stumble across a band and find out that they broke up like years ago? Yeah, I know! First off you feel out of touch because you didn’t hear of them prior, then you feel bad as you are now living in someone else’s past. Listening to what once was you could say.
One such band is Oakland, California’s “The Red Thread” who disbanded in 2007. The band was formerly made up of Jason Lakis (guitars, vocals), Mike Schmiedt (bass), and Dan Martin (drums). They had 3 albums through out their 5 years of togetherness and the albums ranged from melancholy strumming to and Indie-pop Alt Country. That pretty much spans miles of musical highway, but from what I have heard they were not afraid to simply get out there and play music, to entertain. Well, too bad for all of us, as I am sure it would have been interesting to see where they would be now – I was seeing a bit of an Alt Pop Grandaddy (the band not your family member) scene starting in their latter days.
Well if you are lookin’ them up to say hi, you might look at Lakis’ new band called Mist and Mast (myspace) or visit Dan in This Isn’t It (myspace).
So listen and wonder along of what might have been.
The Red Thread
“Spread Thin” (mp3)
from “After The Last”
(Badman Recording Co)
~
The Red Thread
“Tension Pins” (mp3)
from “Tension Pins”
(Badman Recording Co)
~
The Red Thread
“Wax Museum” (mp3)
“A Distance” (mp3)
from “Ship in the Attic, Birds in the Subway”
(Badman Recording Co)
~Smansmith

One of my favourite sites on the web is the brilliant Daytrotter. With a huge library of live sessions that they have recorded over the years you can easily spend whole days or even weeks in there just browsing through and downloading what you like. One such band I’ve come across lately in there and I admit I’d never heard of before, is a band by the name of Cotton Jones. However, After searching the web further I discovered Cotton Jones is Michael Nau and Whitney Mcgraw from the indie pop band Page France who I also discovered split up in 2008 so he could fully concentrate on Cotton Jones. Although paranoid cocoon is Cotton Jones’ debut full length on Suicide squeeze records, they have released a couple of EP’’s when they were called The Cotton Jones Basketride before shortening it for this release. I wonder if Michael Naus favourite animal is a chameleon?
So we have ten tracks of gentle, dreamy, slightly psychedelic pop with some country licks thrown in. Whitneys slightly subdued backing vocals fitting in perfectly alongside Michaels more baritone vocal. I could list a whole load of influenecs you can hear in this record but if you like The doors with a little less trippyniess, Yo la tengo without the fuzziness then you will no doubt like this but as I say there are a whole load of influences in this record. This is no bad thing though as it’s such a beautiful, gentle album that you would be happy waking up to or accompanying your glass of wine after a hard days work. Enjoy.

Why is it we always want what we don’t have? My latest adventure was hitting the road with The Guggengheim Grotto and Tadhg Cooke, both who I’ve talked about endlessly here on YCD. As you may all know I’m a huge fan of TGG, they are by far one of my favorite Irish bands and I was so excited to have had the opportunity to not only see parts of Ireland but also be a part of their little Irish tour. I met some wonderful artist along the way and am delighted to share some of their music with you.
This will be a long post so bare with me and keep on scrolling. Below you will find a video I shot of TGG, live at De Barra’s Folk Club in Clonakilty, Ireland. The song is Fee Da Da Dee. You can stream the original version off previous link. They’ve made some changes to fit the live performance.
The Guggenheim are finishing up their Irish tour and coming to the States at the start of 2009. So for everyone who has eagerly been waiting their return this is your chance to see them live. Keep checking back to their tour page for more updates. The album will be released in the States in 2009. If you live in Ireland you can purchase their album directly from their website. Shop here, for US customers you can buy the digital album here.

The wonderful Tadhg Cooke is currently working on a new album *crossing fingers* it get’s released in 2009. Follow him on his spiffy new official website for updates. Tadhg was the supporting the TGG on tour and I’m so happy I had the chance to see him perform live. I can’t wait for him to make his way out to the States.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Gavin Moore, a local singer song writer from Clonakilty, Ireland. We had an amazing late night session and we had the pleasure of listening to him sing a few songs. For more information on Gavin you can check out his official website or his MySpace page.
On the night before last that I flew out we were back in Dublin for the famous Ruby Sessions. If you’re ever visiting Dublin this definitely is a must do. Duke Special was performing last, don’t let the hair and make-up fool you, this guy is something special. Visit his MySpace page or official website for more information.
I’ll leave you with these few for tonight. Enjoy!

