Monday, April 23, 2012

More sounds!

More sounds in the library!

Inter alia:
Beady Eye, Graham Coxon, Gruff Rhys, Ladytron, Lisa Hannigan, Mike Snow, New Order, The Bird & The Bee.

Albums:
Ellie Goulding - Bright Lights, Hello Saferide - More Modern Short Stories from Hello Saferide, Lamb - Lamb, Lamb - Fear Of Fours, Lamb - What Sound.




Stay Tuned!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Donora defines 'Happy to be alive' music


Donora is an Indie pop-rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The trio consists of a drummer Jake Hanner, his younger sister- vocalist/guitarist Casey Hanner, and a bassist Jake Churton. Their self-titled debut album was released in December 2008. 
History of the band's name is a history of a road sign spotted by Bethany Hanner, drummer's wife. That was the sign pointing direction to the little town- Donora.
Before formation of the band, none of the members visited the town until sometime later, when they performed there as a part of the town celebration.
So these are some dry facts about them and now let me show you why I am writing about the trio... click play to enter the good mood zone...


...are you with me?


Melodic? Cheerful? Does this revive your mood? Does your soul start to dance? Did they manage to lift your spirit? Are you singing with them even though you do not know the lyrics...? My personal answers are Yes! and this way I am  defining Donora as pure light rock-pop indie. 'Happy to be alive'- music I would dare to say.

In 2011 trio released their second album Boyfriends, Girlfriends. So what has changed after almost three years?...


Even more fun seems to be the right statement as the album is of revitalizing energy bursting between the notes and beautifully crafted lyrics. Melodic guitars, synths, and keys, hearth driving drums and bass lines all a smooth match up with the lyrics about love and relationships. And on top of that you just feel good listening to what Donora has to sing...

Take the opportunity they give us and explore the sound of the Boyfriends, Girlfriends. It is worthwhile  and rewards you with great mood if you just let it to do so...



More about Donora:

Their website: donoramusic.com
MySpace: myspace.com/donora
YouTube chanel: Donora Music


Monday, April 16, 2012

Lamb

Lamb is an electronic music duo from Manchester, England, which music is influenced by trip hop and drum and bass. If that genres does not convince you, I ask for a little bit of faith and patience - please press play for their most recognizable song listed below - Górecki ( Live At Glastonbury 2003 ).


...hopefully it draw enough of your attention to go further.

The duo consists of a producer Andy Barlow as well as a singer-songwriter Lou Rhodes, although in the past the band were subsequently expanded to include the bassist Jon Thorne, an Icelandic guitarist Oddur Mar Runnarson and a Danish drummer Nikolaj Bjerre. Moreover, London-based string trio Chi 2 Strings and trumpet player Kevin Davy were frequent guest musicians.
Their self-titled debut album was relased in September 1996, and followed by Fear of Fours (1999), What Sound (2001), Between Darkness and Wonder (2003); all of this over the next eight years. Culminating point of the duo"s cooperation  was a release of the greatest hits album, Best Kept Secrets, in June 2004  and their final live appearance at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in September 2004. Then Barlow and Rhodes went for their solo careers.

Fortunately Lamb story was or should I say still is - not over...

In 2009 band announced re-forming to perform in various Festivals; in the end of the year the band announced the concert dates for 2010. During one of those shows, on 3 January 2010 at The Tivoli in Brisbane Australia (the 32nd gig out of an initially planned 7), Barlow stated that it would be their last gig ever, but who knows.
In December 2010, the band sent e-mail to fans, announcing the recording of their fifth album, to be titled 5. A special edition of the album (limited to 2800 hand-numbered copies) was shipped to fans in May 2011, followed by the commercial release of the standard edition on 9 June in the UK and slightly later release dates for other European countries.

Curious what it sounds like?... Just click play it.





So after an eight-year hiatus the duo still sounds brilliant. Despite the lack of the next Górecki I find them a remarkable return...
Source: Wiki



More about Lamb

Their website: lambofficial.com
MySpace: myspace.com/lambofficial

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

When the noise is a beauty...

It is like fog... but the fog that you can hear. It will surround you, it will absorb you and isolate you. It will preoccupy your senses with claustrophobic gloom, desolation and non-confrontational state. Are you ready for it?...


...hats off the heads to 2:54 for this climatic experience.

2:54 are sisters Colette and Hannah Thurlow, joined in later on by Joel Porter on bass and Alex Robins on drums. Their debuted with 7" On A Wire/Cold Front in March 2011, then released the Scarlet EP in November 2011 and Single You're Early in April 2012. Their debut self-titled album is due for release in May 2012.
It is pointless to try to cage 2:54 in particular style. Their sound is a complicated mixture of styles sneaking between different definitions. Grounge, punk, shoegaze... None of them, all of them... and it sounds great!


Thus, the question is: what can we expect from the full album? They set the standards high... so I keep my expectations high and fingers crossed.

More about 2:54
Their website: www.twofiftyfour.net
MySpace: www.myspace.com/thetwofiftyfour

Monday, April 2, 2012

Daughter goes acoustic with the Medicine

Acoustic versions of the songs are challenging, especially when they are not done in the studio with a thousand magic buttons. From the listener point of view, this is the best bonus I can get from the artist. And how amazing this is when bonus came to something that was already remarkably good....



... simply stunning.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Me and rap?

Me and rap? Well, somewhere there in the basement lies the cassette tape of Mc Hammer, the past willingly buried. Except that? Streets, Just Jack, Nelly Furtado... I am not really sure if I classify them correctly but there is not much more to be put in this bag of mine. Moreover, this is not the land I know and visit often, simply not my thing...
Yet I was seduced from the very first sound...


...or should I say - first recited word...

Dessa - Margret Wander is most notably known as a member of the Minneapolis based Doomtree Collective. Fortunately for the listeners though, she decides to record her solo albums, among which you can find Castor and The Twin. Thus- even if me and rap are not the best buddies, Dessa has the means to bent the reality by 180 degrees for me. Her album is a mysterious landscape of the spoken word art, poetry and interesting musical arrangements. This leaves me no option but sooner or later (and sooner is preferrable..) introducing her workshop to he Quarterwave's air.


I surrender! 


For more about Dessa:

Doomtree website: www.doomtree.net/dessa
MySpace: www.myspace.com/dessadarling

The xx - xx

What do you think when you see xx? Do you have natural tendency to add one x? I do not... not after my mind was marked with the sound of the xx.




Continuing in a bit more formal way - The xx are the English indie band formed in 2005. Crystalised comes from their 2009 debut album xx. It was very well received from international critics ( metacritic shows 87/100 from 25 sources ) as it ranked one on the list of The Best 2009 Albums by Guardian, second for NME and ninth for the Rolling Stone. On the top of that, band won the Mercury Music Prize for it in 2010.
This formal presentation was added just in case, if the clip did not catch your interest to hear the whole xx. As for me, one song was just enough. It struck me by its ascetic, half-whispered and emotional sound.
Recorded and mixed mostly  at night in the small garage of the XL Recordings studio, xx embeds you with its whispery nature, almost as it was the condition of the recordings. Was it? I tend to believe that it was no coincidence but the deliberate choice. And what really impresses me is that band so youth was able to create recordings where every sound and silence matter,where melody and voice whisper through the night in such emotional way.
And when stated before about rather not adding an extra x to xx ...-up to my mind.. As ironically for some critics the issue became their main impression about the band's performance:
The xx are four 20-year-olds from South London who make predominantly slow, furtive pop music, mostly about sex. - pitchfork.com

Have a look on live and acoustic versions of the Crystalised...



...Impressive..?

For more about The XX:

Their website: www.thexx.info
MySpace: www.myspace.com/thexx

More sounds!

More sounds in the library!

Inter alia:
Bat for Lashes, Gossip, Joanna Newsom, Rachael Yamagata, Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Albums:
A Fine Frenzy - One Cell In The Sea, Feist - Metals, Metric - Fantasies, Silversun Pickups - Carnavas, The XX - xx.


Stay Tuned!