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Archive for the ‘Pop’ Category

Winslow Bright: Indie Music Artist of the Week

Posted by Mike Wilson On February - 22 - 2010

Winslow BrightThe middle of five children, Winslow Bright grew up in Dallas, Texas where she began her commercial acting and print career at the age of two. By the time she was fifteen she convinced her parents to allow her to move to Los Angeles to audition for TV and film. While in L.A. she made contacts with individuals in the music industry and quickly started her singing and songwriting career. Winslow’s song collaborations have found their way to the daytime soap operas “All My Children” and “The Young and The Restless,” and she continues to build on her publishing catalog (ASCAP.)

 

Upon her return to Dallas during her sophomore year in high school, Winslow began working on her first album with local indie singer-songwriter-producer, Salim Nourallah (Old ‘97’s “Blame It On Gravity.”) Winslow’s 11-song debut album, “Lovable,” is a result of countless writing and recording sessions with Nourallah over a two-year period. “Lovable’s” song list includes 7 original tunes co-written by Winslow and Nourallah, who offers up two of his own songs, as well as the cover of Kirsty MacColl’s 1979 “They Don’t Know.” The album provides listeners a mix of mid-century retro sounds with enduring themes of unrequited love. Bright’s co-write, “Could You Be My Baby,” beckons memories of Roy Orbison with its sweeping, melodramatic vocals.

 

Winslow’s live performances in Dallas include The Granada Theater, Club Dada, The Door, and gigs at North Park Center and American Airlines’ Victory Park for the 2009 AFI Dallas International Film Festival. Now a freshman in college, Winslow continues her musical journey at NYU’s Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, where she also joins in on jam sessions at New York venues such as The Bitter End. She recently received a nomination for Best Band Venue Poster for her “Lovable” CD release at The Granada Theater from The Independent Music Awards. Fans can vote for the poster by going to www.winslowbright.com or www.myspace.com/winslowbright.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

+Spanx T. Urquhart: Indie Music Artist of the Week

Posted by Mike Wilson On November - 23 - 2009

+Spanx T. UrquhartTimid and soft spoken during early childhood, no one imagined his future interests might include songwriting and stage performance.  Attending schools in The West Indies, Japan and various parts of the states, exotic locales like Okinawa and Jamaica helped to shape +Spanx cosmopolitan worldview and love of different cultures and music.

 

The eldest of three talented siblings, his father remembers the infant +Spanx (too young yet to walk or speak) humming in tune The National Anthem while being coddled during its repeated performance at a theater.

 

As +Spanx showed great promise, his parents later encouraged him to study the cornet which led to a discovery of numerous instruments.  He became proficient on electric bass while performing with Top 40, retro-pop and classic rock groups, also developing a versatile yet powerful vocal that ranges from ballads & barbershop to hip-hop and hard rock… measured experiences which led to +Spanx fronting the Miami-based trio kNiption FiT, an enigmatic power-pop band best described as "The Monkees meet Rush…"

 

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Popularity: 34% [?]

White Picket Fence: Indie Music Band of the Week

Posted by Mike Wilson On November - 9 - 2009

White Picket FenceWhite Picket Fence is honest, unadulterated indie rock with a sense of urgency that gives their material absolute credibility… Not because of the way somebody can describe it, but because of the way that it exists intrinsically. Please listen for yourself before continuing, as everything else is secondary to the music.

 

Since the band’s inception in 2008, White Picket Fence has been doing everything in their power to be heard. Equally at home in their van, the band has played non-stop to a variety of venues across the state, giving performances that have been praised both for their unique intensity and youthful charm. Coupled with their undeniable group chemistry and genuine appreciation for each opportunity that allows them to progress as artists, this effort has amassed substantial good press for the band. On an almost weekly basis, the group has been featured in numerous regional publications, and recently procured a spot for their now-sold-out, self-titled EP on Central New York’s Top 10 list of releases for 2008.

 

After pushing that record to its final sale, White Picket Fence went back into The Square Studio to work with Steve Sopchak (The Brilliant Light, Eyes Averted, Remember Tomorrow) on their first full length record called “Clocks and Calendars.” It will be independently released on June 6th, and a self-booked, national summer tour is to follow.

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Popularity: 33% [?]

Githead: LandingGithead are Colin Newman (of Wire), Malka Spigel and Max Franken (of Minimal Compact), and Robin Rimbaud (Scanner). But who they are is far less important than what they are: a band, rather than just a collaboration of individuals.

 

Landing the fourth release (third full-length) by Githead is now streaming in its' entirety at the link below:

 

http://www.githead.com/mp3/~Landing/radioplayer3.html

 

The band started in 2004, initially to play as a one-off at the Swim record label's 10th anniversary event at the ICA. It soon became obvious that there was a natural and rare chemistry that could enable real organic development over time.

 

Progression was swift. A solid base was fashioned with the band's 2004 debut, the ‘self titling' EP Headgit. Written, recorded and mixed in fervent, whirlwind fashion, all in Swim's London studio, the band used Headgit as a platform on which to build. Its signature hypnotic motorik combined with a fresh, almost raw approach resulted in a set of exciting tracks, some of which remain stage favorites.

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Popularity: 25% [?]

Van Rissenhem: Indie Music Artist of the Week

Posted by Mike Wilson On November - 2 - 2009

Van Risseghem"If you feel you’ve been going through the motions, take your hands & just let go." 21 year old Tulsa native, Jonathan Van Risseghem sings on his full length release The Motions. The motion of his career has greatly accelerated recently, as he experiences a fast growing following.

 

Within 6 months of releasing The Motions, Van Risseghem has been regularily played on a variety of Westwood One and Clear Channel radio stations across the nation. Title track, "The Motions" has been added to frequent rotation in Delta Airlines national/worldwide in-flight radio and boarding entertainment as well as broadcast on 17,000+ (AMC and Cinemark and more) theatres as pre-movie entertainment. Van Risseghem's songs are also featured on the KNYZ104.5 compilation CD, the Hollywood Music In Media Awards Compilation CD, and voted for KHTT106.9 Listener's Choice.

 

Perhaps it's something about the excessively commercial nature of pop music these days that make people want to reach back in time. Or, maybe it is just the music itself – spirited, direct, colorful. Whatever it is, Van Risseghem taps that energy of yesterday’s music with it’s tones & rhythms, producing a rich-textured sound topped off with an engaging vocal delivery. He joins these solid arrangements with ear catching melodies in any chart topper of today’s music.

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Popularity: 28% [?]

surfer bloodSwim (To Reach the End),” off their forthcoming debut, Astro Coast, is pure left coast– from the echoing Brian Wilson harmonies to the Weezer-esque power pop chorus.” - Pitchfork

 

“You’ll be hearing more from this band for sure.” - Spin

 

“Surfer Blood make accomplished, hook-filled indie rock with clever arrangements and great harmonies, as performed by four guys who can actually, you know, play.”BrooklynVegan

 

On January 19, 2010 Surfer Blood will release Astro Coast, their debut album, on Kanine Records. Surfer Blood will be playing a string of shows in NY during CMJ, and is scheduled to tour with Art Brut and Japandroids in November.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

Beware Fashionable Women: Indie Music Band of the Week

Posted by Mike Wilson On September - 21 - 2009

Beware Fashionable WomenBeware Fashionable Women (BFW to their friends), collectively are respectable musicians who possess the ability to be the worst celebrities.  They are four guys who look exactly like any other four guys you would find in a local ma and pa music shop or record store. 

 

No, you won’t find their picture gracing the cover of their album.  Their sweaters hold as much appeal as their faces do.  What you will find however is a collection of songs that cover all the bases of the great potential of indie rock (whatever that means anymore). 

 

BFW appreciate the irony of They Might Be Giants, the dire lyrical nature of The Eels, and the melodic sweetness of Elvis Costello.  Why must a band only encompass one version of that vague idea that is pop music?  BFW understands that labels, managers, bookers, and indeed the listening public would much prefer a band that stuck to one thing and repeated themselves into oblivion.  This is why BFW is destined for failure.  The inclusion of jazz voicings, Beach Boy harmonies, and Latin rhythms is only a sliver of the variety the band explores to break up the monotony that often defines their genre. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 19% [?]

Music Review of the Ludlow Lions’ “No Stories” LP

Posted by Mike Wilson On September - 20 - 2009

Ludlow Lions: No StoriesBy Kristin Anderson

 

Greetings you indie gluttons. Get ready to hear my latest obsession. Brooklynites, the Ludlow Lions have stolen the spotlight with the new LP "No Stories," and are quickly marking their territory as Kings of the Indie Forest.

 

No Stories is a brilliant delivery of sweet and lyrical confessions. Wrapped in a rock-pop sleeve, the album is a storybook in itself. Honestly, it took me a minute to get a hold of the sound, but as the songs played — I was won over. Already having started earning rave reviews from the press, Owl Magazine gave No Stories an excellent rating of 4 1/2. And most recently, they were mentioned on Brooklyn Vegan in connection to Nakatomi Plaza, which Ludlow Lions current bass player Oscar Albis Rodgriguez used to play in before they disbanded.  

 

Indie blood pumps these fellas into sound-making fruition. From the first song, some unspoken familiarity and movement clutches you and gets you right in the mood. Original lyrics, poetic and far from overdone, the dosage is right and the delivery executed with a genuinely unified and familiar sound. Topping my list for favorite tracks, I couldn’t get past "Treasure of the Guerra Madre." Call me a lover of the slow reminiscent Doors, trippin’ in the desert sound, but this song travels through a rise and fall with a guitar clinging to hope, like a sweet prayer of some sort. This song alone solidifies this band as a indie staple. 

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Sam Pollard: Indie Music Artist of the Week

Posted by Mike Wilson On August - 11 - 2009

Sam PollardMELBOURNE based musician Sam Pollard started playing the piano at the age of five and never looked back.  As well as writing all of his own music, Sam plays piano and keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars, cornet, trumpet and trombone, and sings in various styles.

 

Raised in the UK but relocated to Australia, Sam's musical influences include the best of British rock as well as classical and jazz styles.  Classically trained, with live experience ranging from rock to big band jazz and improv, Sam's excitement for music shines through in his performances.  “Sam Pollard blew us away when he did a couple of live acoustic tracks in the studio” said Mark Missen, President of Southern FM Radio in Melbourne.  “It was a sensational off the cuff effort and shows just how talented this performer is”. Sam’s songs have received extensive radio play in Australia and internationally.

 

Sam has recently completed a professional studio recording of his album "World of Difference" with his band and producer Jimi Maroudas at "Sing Sing" studios in Melbourne. The album received a GrIndie award from RadioIndy who said “Pollard’s vocals are rhythmical and have a fashionable flair of alternative pop/rock.  His lyrics are narrative and bouncy and he delivers a message within each song as a chronicle of events.”

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Popularity: 34% [?]

ISA: Indie Music Artist of the Week

Posted by Mike Wilson On July - 13 - 2009

IsaIsabel Valencia was born in 1984, in Medellin, Colombia, in the valley between lush green mountains and the river Medellin. Pablo Escobar came to prominence when she was a young girl, and war soon broke out between the Colombian Government and the drug lords. Bombings and violence rocked Medellin in the late eighties and the economy suffered. Isa's father moved to the United States to look for work. Isa's sisters soon followed. Isa, the youngest, was left behind in Colombia with her mother. She became lonely and depressed. Her grades dropped. Her spirit faded. Then she found an old nylon string guitar beneath her bed one day. It changed her world.

 

Isa still has no idea where the guitar came from. After she learned her first chords and began to write songs, it became clear she had found a way to channel her sense of loneliness, isolation and abandonment into music. Rock music.

 

Isa's gift for songwriting was almost immediately apparent. By the time she was fourteen, she was writing the songs that the seniors at her high school performed at the closing ceremony of their graduations. The Nuns at her Catholic school, the same Nuns who only a year earlier had scolded her for losing focus in her studies – were now relying on Isabel to compose religious tunes for their Church services. Isabel formed her first band when she was only 15 years old, and she never looked back.

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Popularity: 19% [?]

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