Awesome Week for Shows in Santa Cruz: Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, Blitzen Trapper, Wavves, Menomena
Santa Cruz, California is known more for its natural beauty, great weather, beaches, progressive civics, 'weirdos', pop culture (surfing, The Mystery Spot, the boardwalk, The Lost Boys, etc.) and as a university town (UCSC) - not necessarily as a place popular indie and alternative rock bands come to play.Well this week, music fans in Santa Cruz have plenty of stellar shows to choose from. In fact, Tuesday night, The Crepe Place on Soquel Drive in Santa Cruz, will host an amazing three-bill concert featuring Menomena, SXSW favorite artist Wavves and 'indie newbies' Vampire Hands - who have a sweet new album out right now. That's an impressive bill for one, rather modest venue with a ticket price under $20.
Next up, one of my personal favorite bands of recent years (even though they have only two LPs in the last five years) - Band of Horses will be playing The Catalyst in downtown Santa Cruz this coming Wednesday night. The Drones, big in the UK, not so much in U.S., will be opening.
Over a two year period, from 2006 to 2007, Band of Horses released two stunningly brilliant albums - Everything All The Time (the breakthrough album) and Cease to Begin (a magical follow-up).
Both albums are among two of my favorite albums by the same band for this decade - without question. If you haven't heard Band of Horses' complete works, start with Cease to Begin. These guys ooze with talent and have a remarkable gift to deliver one memorable song after another; waiting 'patiently' for a new release.
Perhaps the most anticipated of all the big shows in Santa Cruz this week is the Fleet Foxes show at the historic Rio Theatre. While ticket prices were steep, up to almost $80, the show is reported on the Rio's homepage as sold out, even though some have still been able to grab tickets. Sounds like Stub Hub might be on the line of price gouging?
Afterall, Fleet Foxes are one of the biggest buzz bands of the past year and stir music lovers to flock wherever they go. Not to mention that another big player in alternative rock Blitzen Trapper are opening for Fleet Foxes. Makes the hit of the ticket price a little less brutal, but still (and you too Ticketmaster).
Interestingly enough, both bands, and Band of Horses, are making Santa Cruz their last stop before they head down to play Coachella.
"Mykonos" - Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes on Subpop
"Furr" - Blitzen Trapper
Blitzen Trapper official website
"No One's Gonna Love You" - Band of Horses
Band of Horses on MySpace
"Wet and Rusting" - Menomena
Menomena official website
"Beach Demon" - Wavves
Wavves on MySpace
"Paradise Knife Fights" - Vampire Hands
Vampire Hands on MySpace
Music Venues in Santa Cruz
The Crepe Place - Menomena, Wavves & Vampire Hands, Tuesday, April 14
The Catalyst - Band of Horses & The Drones, Wednesday, April 15
Rio Theatre - Fleet Foxes & Blitzen Trapper, Thursday, April 16
When I look at that lineup for a small city like Santa Cruz, it looks like a mini SXSW or Noise Pop Fest, or more realistically, a set of Coachella pre-shows. The following week, at a post-Coachella show of sorts, Abe Vigoda and Vivian Girls will be playing The Crepe Place, Thursday, May 23.
Labels: Fleet Foxes, Santa Cruz
More Great Indie Songs of 2008 - High Places, Notwist and Winter Gloves
The love fest for music released in 2008 continues on in part because the weblogs show that some of the most popular pages on this site continue to be related to music from 2008. And, no wonder. As it turns out 08 was a great year for indie and alternative music.So let's dive right in. You can also browse through entire playlists of 'keeper tracks' from 2008 in IRC best of 2008 series and Best Indie Albums of 2008.
High Places kicks off this installment of top indie songs of 2008 with the light electro pop of "Stardust to Sentience". The Brooklyn duo of Mary Pearson and Rob Barber serve out heavy loops, layers of sounds and lo-fi vocal arrangements not much unlike their superstar neighbors Animal Collective.
"From Stardust to Sentience" - High Places from their self-titled 2008 debut
"Good Lies" - The Notwist from The Devil, You and Me
"Factories" - Winter Gloves from About A Girl
Labels: Best Songs 2008
New Indie Rock Songs of 2009: The Veils, Superchunk, Robert Gomez, King Khan and more
It's been a busy week so far with stories about, and songs from, Melpo Mene, Klum, Fearless Vampire Kills, Pope Joan, downdime, L'Avventura, Curvise and many others. During that time the queue with more new indie and alternative songs has filled up again. If you like any of the bands, check out their web sites.Songs featured today include newbies from Texan singer-songwriter Robert Gomez, Georgia's King Khan and The Shrines, Portland's Tara Jean O'Neil and Brooklyn electronic DJ Throcke. But first up, let's start with two bands that released new music today, London's The Veils and alt-indie legends Superchunk.
"The Letter" - The Veils from Sun Gangs, out today, April 7
The Veils Website
"Misfits & Mistakes" - Superchunk from Leaves in the Gutter EP, out April 7
Superchunk Website
"On This Day" - Robert Gomez from Pine Sticks & Phosphorus, out April 14
Robert Gomez on MySpace
"Land of Freak" - King Khan and The Shrines from From What Is?!, out on April 21
King Khan and The Shrines on MySpace
"Drowning" - Tara Jane O'Neil from A Ways Away, out May 5
Tara Jane O'Neil on MySpace
"Starry" - Throcke from Sometimes Not Unpointful, out now
Throcke on MySpace
You can grab our RSS 'Feed Me Indie' so you never miss a beat, follow IRC on Twitter to get cool stuff that is sometimes not featured here or friend us on IRC's MySpace page.
Labels: 2009 Indie Songs
More Great Indie Albums of 2008: 'Bring The Lions Out' by Melpo Mene
His name is proudly not a marketer's dream, but Sweden's Erik Mattiason, better known as the man behind the band Melpo Mene, is a dream of a songwriter and musician.Melpo Mene enjoyed a spike of indie blog love last year with the release of the gorgeous and delightful love song titled "I Adore You." Although many people know the song because it was featured on a popular Volvo TV commercial last year, most of them could not tell you who sang it. Nevertheless, the commercial helped fuel Mene's brush with fame. The song reminds me very much of another gorgeous song, "Such Great Heights" by Iron & Wine (one of my favorite artists).
While some indie purists might cast Mene's music aside simply because it was featured in a popular television commercial, the fact is that Melpo Mene is one of the best indie singer and songwriters of our time. The proof is in the pudding.
With rich, soothing vocal arrangements, Paul Westerburg-style melodies, pop, country and rock infusions, Melpo Mene created one of the best under-rated releases of 2008. His songs are sad, introspective, heart wrenching and purely delightful from start to finish.
While "I Adore You" is a magnificent, even addictive, song that will likely be played years from now at high school reunions, it's surprising that the album which hosted the track - Bring The Lions Out - received such little praise, making it clearly one of the most overlooked albums of 2008. In fact, it could be one of the most under rated albums of the past decade.
The album is a breath-taking accomplishment of magnificently composed and produced songs featuring piano, guitar, flutes and perfect percussions on songs like the endearing "We Were Kids" and the alt-indie psychopop of the dreamlike "Snakes and Lions".
Melpo Mene's music oozes with rich choruses, breath-taking musicianship and tinges of electronica throughout. One intoxicating track after another easily makes Bring The Lions Out one of those must-have albums I sometimes recommend strongly.
The song "Klick Klack Clock" sets out on a musical journey lush with layers of instruments and a driving melody reminiscent of chamber pop mixed with folk rock. On songs like "Under The Moon", Mene turns to a lo-fi country rock ballad with near-whisper vocals - think of Mojave 3.
In 2007, Mene released his stellar debut LP titled Holes (listen to featured songs below), a potent example of an artist that would become heard, if not by name, around the world.
Fans of Sufjan Stevens, M. Ward, Bill Ricchini, Andrew Bird and other comparable contemporaries, are most likely to enjoy Melpo Mene's music. And, if you're like me, you'll find yourself going back to it again and again.
It's frustrating when music this good doesn't receive the huge buzz it so much deserves. However, on the other hand, it's good, as alluded to above, because it's kind of like our little secret. But this is a secret we don't mind sharing with others: Melpo Mene is simply brilliant!"I Adore You" - Melpo Mene from Bring The Lions Out
"Jedi" - Melpo Mene from Bring The Lions Out
"Snakes and Lions" - Melpo Mene from Bring The Lions Out
"Don't Save Me" - Melpo Mene from Holes (2007)
"Wait Up" - Melpo Mene from Holes
Lyrics to "I Adore You"
Lost in a daydream of blue
And I feel so free
And then It's like I fall from the sky
Everything that I see is you
And you should know that I'm
Thinking about what you said
When you held my hand
Oh I adore you
Now we are older and
Things disappeared somehow
And I was thinking that maybe
We'd stand a better chance If we met today
I find myself talking to sharks
On my way to an island and still
I adore you
I adore you
I adore you
I was young I was old
And we were in we were out
I wanna see I wanna see it all
I wanna die I wanna die
Sweetheart sweetheart
I thought I saw I thought I saw a light
See it now see it now
Melpo Mene on MySpace
Buy Melpo Mene's music
Labels: Best Indie Albums 2008, Melpo Mene
Bands to Watch in 2009: Klum
A band that sent me their music a couple of months ago makes seductive music that has grown on me during this time. They are called Klum from the Los Angeles area town of Monrovia, California.Their new release We Carelessly Turned Amazingly Into Nothing is bound to be a big deal if the right people pay attention. Mixing lush layers of horns, keyboards, accordions, guitars, drums, bass and memorable vocals, Klum pumps out masterfully celebratory tunes with clear overtures to bands like Arcade Fire, Beirut and others. But no matter how many comparisons are made, Klum's musicianship, it still will not do justice to their potential impact on the 'indie scene.'
How is it possible that Klum isn't occupying major space on blogs and mainstream music sites? From the first listening to now my tenth or so listening of Carelessly, I and others at the cafe are baffled how these cats slip under the indie radar (for the most part).
Imagine: take all the most amazing sonic experiences you can think of and roll them up into one fat 'on-repeat' album. It's a musical adventure, a tour de musica, a trip of a lifetime. Tune in to these sample tracks from Klum's fresh release We Carelessly Turned Amazingly Into Nothing. This is good stuff.
As they say in their own profile: "Klum is constantly compared to many indie bands, but there has never been one distinction of who or what they sound like." Yup.
"Bashing For The Kids" - Klum
"Give Em Something To Die For" - Klum
"NonBeliever" - Klum
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