Just in...The Dodos: No Color

    A relative newcomer, formed in 2005, The Dodos have already made some waves with this their fourth studio album, No Color (March 15, 2011). They are signed to Frenchkiss Records and made a recent appearance at the 2011 SXSW (South by Southwest) festival in Austin, TX. The Dodos, originally called the Dodo Birds until followers started calling them simply The Dodos, are based in San Francisco and include an eclectic background of influences.
    The two main members, drummer, Logan Kroeber, and guitarist and vocalist, Meric Long, are from almost completely different musical backgrounds. Long was trained in Ewe drumming, a West African artform, while Kroeber was a member of various metal bands. Combined, they have created a truly rhythmically syncopated, folksy sound that emphasizes the drumming as almost the centerpiece. Interestingly, Kroeber does not use a bass drum in his set, often has a tambourine taped to his foot. A third member sometimes joins them, Joe Haener, who plays vibraphone, an additional drum and a sort of hihat made out of two cymbals. Meric also uses different guitars at times, owning a custom made Springtime and Tafelburg drum guitar, both made by Yuri Lundman (very cool looking and interesting instruments, check 'em out!). Neko Case, from The New Pornographers, also lends her talent with rare backing vocals for No Color. Finally, simple use of strings on tracks like "Companions" adds beautiful texture and layers.
    Surprisingly, The Dodos' upbeat driving music is very relaxing to just sit back and listen to. The vocals are smooth and the ethereal use of long guitar notes in the background to provide harmonic interest is a great balance. The drums do grow a tiresome after a while, perhaps, this just might not be an album you could listen to over and over. But, the rhythmic stability of the group and changing hemiola of meters is refreshing and brings the folky style of the guitar more into the limelight--guitar is just what you expect to hear when you listen to folk, so your ears naturally gravitate towards its timbre.
    In all actuality, I samples one song, "Can't Stop", from the IndieRockCafe.com and just knew that I would be posting a blog entry about The Dodos. They struck me immediately as possessing an ingenuity that I have not heard in many other bands. So, I hope the first song I had the pleasure of hearing finds itself to your liking. Enjoy "Don't Stop" in the MixPod, or download it from The Dodos website here (also, while there, check out footage of their SXSW performance at the bottom of the page as long as it remains there...), or listen to the album in it's entirety at The Dodos' MySpace page here!

Just in...Rubik: Solar

    New albums and bands I've never heard of keep popping up suddenly! It seemed like there was going to be a pretty good dry spell this year, until the highly anticipated releases like Radiohead (already out digitally!) and The Mars Volta (waiting on the record company to release finished album) came out. instead, this has been a rather decent start to the year musically and it seems we hit our stride in March with, so far, three new release posts. The latest discovery made was today on WITR FM 89.7 "The Pulse of Music", and it is a Finnish band called Rubik. Their newest album, Solar, releases today on the Fullsteam label and is available fully streaming on Rubik's website here (*edit: link no longer available).
    Actually, the song I heard on WITR was not from Solar, but it struck me as very interesting, well crafted music; also I immediately thought of its likeness to Sufjan Stevens, how the winds and brass instrumentation was added to the pop/rock style of "Goji Berries" from their 2009 sophomore release, Dada Bandits. I've also been listening to their 2007 compilation album, Jesus vs. People, and have found it an enjoyable mix too. Honestly, I have not quite figured out their label yet, pop/rock seems appropriate, except that mostly I hear very progressive rock angular rhythms and drumming, and other times the post-rock sensibilities that Scandinavian and Icelandic bands are surely known for. It also reminds me of Dredg, Radiohead from the more acoustic songs of Amnesiac perhaps, and of course Sigur Rós.
    The album artwork is very interesting for Solar, as if there was a very visible dense cloud hovering around their heads, or the picture has no real personal value and the band decided to blur out the people's faces because they did not even know who they were or something. But, that is just a side note to what matters, the music. At first listen, I heard influences of Jónsi, with intense upbeat rhythmic songs and lyrical melodic singing, while maintaining a lightheartedness and frivolity that makes this more or less complicated music easy listening. Solar as a whole seems to stray a bit from it's purer progressive roots, erring on the lighter pop side of the genre spectrum. Each song progresses nicely nonetheless, hardly staying confined within one particular style, but merging them seamlessly. It is hard for me to categorize or describe their music much further. I realize that the more music I listen to, the more it all sounds a like, or at least evokes musical memories of another song/group. So, instead of telling you how each song sounds like this one or that group, I will have the audacity to suggest that this group listens a lot and samples, in a non-electronic technical definition way, many groups by utilizing and experimenting with sounds they like from each. Either that or they just make stylistic eclecticism very attractive, yet comparably difficult; because they do it very well indeed.
    I have very much enjoyed this album, I hope you do too! It might not be your next favorite album, but they are worth a solid listen, to each of their LPs. Check out the longest track (7:05) on Solar "Storm in a Glass of Water" in the MixPod, which has a great middle section; the whole streaming album using the link provided earlier in the post; or more from previous albums here on their MySpace page.

Just in...The Strokes: Angles

    Officially not out in the U.S. until March 22nd, The Strokes new album, Angles is already upon us anyway! Angles streaming in it's entirety is available on their MySpace page, and I think it truly delivers. A lot of talk about the NYC band's past couple albums not being up to par, compared to their award winning 2001 debut Is This It, has left The Strokes with much to live up to. In my light listening of prior albums, Room on Fire (2003) and First Impressions of Earth (2006), most of the songs seem dopey, for lack of a better description. They need energy, not necessarily to be faster or more upbeat, but are missing intensity. The Strokes also have a certain formula to their compositions, which ages quickly. A few exceptions to these criticisms I can think of would be "Reptilia", "Vision of Division" (which reminds me a bit of Muse) and "Red Light". Their debut, Is This It, does strike me as more original, but that's because it is since it is their debut; regardless, it evoked impressions of a garage rock band in sound quality, which isn't necessarily a good thing.
    My first impression of Angles was a great one, upon hearing the first single from the album, "Under Cover of Darkness" on WBER 90.5 "The Only Station that Matters"--and then as a free download from their website. The bass and guitar lines had fantastic triplet rhythmic hooks and the middle section was a wonderful contrast of lyrical melody to the upbeat first style. I did wonder how the other songs could get any better, if they had shown their Ace too soon, but I have not been disappointed. Anyway, the next song I heard was the B-side to "Under Cover of Darkness", "You're So Right", which I was not as impressed with, but again it at least shows a different side to The Strokes.
    What I heard that strikes me as new and exciting is almost an older Beatles, Steely Dan or 80's pop sound throw back. Consequently, the creation and harmonies of their songs has greatly improved with this album, using great sequencing and pedal points, as in "Two Kinds of Happiness" (80's), "Metabolism" (sequencing and pedal points) and "Life is Simple in the Moonlight" (with a nice Steely Dan-esque guitar solo). They also explore a darker or at least minor key sound that contrasts really well with the more upbeat songs on the album, such as "You're So Right", Take For a Fool" (minus the major key choruses) and "Metabolism". Julian Casablanca's vocals have a much stronger edge than in the past, which does a lot to add to the intensity of the songs.
    The digital download is available March 22, and pre-ordered CDs will be shipped that date as well, to the best of my knowledge. Hopefully we can expect more higher quality output like Angles from The Strokes in the near future. Rumors of a Room on Fire II EP of sorts has been circulating and The Strokes are apparently already working on new and left over material from Angles already. For now, enjoy the diabolical sounding "Metabolism" in the MixPod or listen to the entire album on the front page of The Strokes' MySpace here. P.S. I think the Escher inspired album cover is pretty cool too.

Just in...Devotchka: 100 Lovers

    Maybe you've heard of Devotchka and you've never known it? They did the film score for Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and some of their songs have been featured on TV shows or commercials, such as Everwood and Weeds. Based out of Denver, Devotchka formed in 1997 mainly performing in the underground scene, because they started out playing alongside burlesque shows. Their name comes from the Russian word де́вочка (devotchka) for "girl" and fittingly they compose very folk oriented music, more specifically eastern European.
    Devotchka is considered an indie Gypsy punk band, which means their music is a cross between traditional Gypsy, or Romanian, and punk. The genre first came to be in the 90's, and incorporates traditional Gypsy along with rock instrumentation. Furthermore, the lyrics often change intermittently from English to foreign during the same song. So, the four man group is comprised of the following: Nick Urata on vocals, theremin (a Russian 1928 invented electronic instrument you can learn more about here), guitar, bouzouki (a Greek lute of sorts, see here), piano, and trumpet; Tom Hagerman on violin, accordion, and piano; Jeanie Schroder also vocals, sousaphone (basically a marching band tuba that wraps around the player so they can carry it) and double bass; and Shawn King on percussion and trumpet. If you listen to the album, however, you will hear much more, whistling, strings, tambourine, etc... Devotchka also combines Greek, Slavic, bolero (a Spanish dance form that spread to Mexico and Cuba) and mariachi (think Mexican party band) into their Romanian Gypsy punk.
    So how does Devotchka's March 1, 2011 release, 100 Loves, really sound? Honestly, not knowing their previous albums, the punk label is lost on me. The band strikes me much more as purely indie folk. And I think each song takes a more localized approach to the styles used than one large melting pot of cultural sounds. One song reveals influences of mariachi, such as track 9, "Bad Heels"; while another is very Greek, like track 10, "Ruthless". The underlying texture that seems to hold 100 Loves together as a more complete thought, subsequently, is the blend of strings and piano or acoustic guitar, or perhaps bouzouki in this case. There are also very intense momentum driving rhythms behind the lush roaming lyricism of the strings. The second to last track, "Contraband", almost reminds me of the polka I hear sometimes on weekends on a public access or jazz station; but, almost more of what would have been a 1940's popular singer backed by a full orchestra or something. The last track is purely instrumental, maybe even implementing steel guitar, I sadly cannot tell the difference between a variety of ethnic guitars.
    Well, have yourselves a listen, keeping your ears open for a bit of Beruit, A Hawk and a Hacksaw and Vampire Weekend even in there (beginning of track 4, "The Common Good"). Also, "One Hundred Other Lovers" is in the MixPod for your listening enjoyment!

Oceansize: Frames

    I do not usually lean towards harder rock bands, unless they are a unique blend of progressive, contain interesting melodic structure and are not just trying to impress with double bass peddles and such. Oceansize, however, has actually met with my approval (I sound like a snob!) because they have a British sensibility about them when it comes to making music. I mean, honestly, British rock bands in general tend to be more melodic and less straightforward than American bands, especially with progressive hard rock. OK, The Mars Volta and perhaps The Flaming Lips (on a heavy rock day) are excellent exceptions, but take Muse, for example, as further backing. I also listened a bit to Amplifier, Oceansize's so-called "brother-in-arm's" band--also from Manchester--because they have shared members at times, and they are definitely more melodic and experimental too. Silly, admittedly unfounded and biased, generalizations aside, I think the reason I could potentially find time amidst my iTunes full of music to listen to Oceansize is because they evolve well; their combination of progressive and post-rock, being an important ingredient I think, is well constructed.
    And yes, they do evolve, with a majority of their songs coming in at over 7-8 minutes, it takes real effort to sit in one place an entire album. What I like, is that while some songs evolve slowly, like post-rock, others hit you hard with a good dose of progressive and almost hardcore sensibility, to alter the mood a bit. Just within Frames (2007) alone, I have been transported by moments akin to Sigur Rós, Dredg, Muse, Pinback and Rage Against the Machine (especially with the way the singer sounds when he screams). I did have a hard time picking one album out of their four LPs and half-dozen EPs, but when it came down to it, I started listening to Frames first and did not want to spend too much time previewing all of them through. I also picked this LP because you will be able to go to their MySpace here and listen to the entire album. But, what I did catch on to, is that the first Effloresce (2003) is much more post-rock, space rock; their sophomore Everyone Into Position (2005) is more plain hard rock fading to progressive post-rock as the album continues; while their latest release, Self-Preserved While the Bodies Float Up (2010) is much more hardcore. Frames seems to be the balance between these styles. They have also been labeled new prog, which is a relatively undefined style, more as defined by the bands that are included in new prog, see here.
    Just before Frames was released, I believe, they changed a previous titling of the album, The Frame, because someone accidentally called it "frames" and they liked it better. Mike Vennart, vocals, talked about the new title, saying it "evokes strength and structure, and kind of a sense of time as well--every second is like a frame of your life that’s ticking away and then it’s gone. You can try and remember to try and look at it. But you’ll probably only remember it as a snapshot, you won’t remember the whole movement of the thing.” Frames was released on the Superball label. It received many positive reviews, and is described by the band as such: "After the changes that happened after Everyone Into Position--new bass player and new manager--that [Frames] album seemed like a great achievement, kind of a new beginning." I think what they are referring to with Everyone Into Position, is that the album was not conjoined well stylistically and they tried too hard to cater to the what they thought people would want to hear. Or, they are just a typical band that does not like their previous efforts and is always their own worst critic, but in this case I think I agree.
    Maybe this will be a stretch for those of you that prefer lighter pop or folk, but perhaps you might find the song I first heard by Oceansize on WITR, 98.7 "The Pulse of Music", a bit refreshingly hard, with really good softer interludes inserted throughout; or you might even find something on my blog that actually is more analogous to your taste. Who knows, but check out the MixPod.