Indie Music Universe

Single Parents is the project of three friends: Fernando Dotta, Anderson Lima and Rafael Farah. Based out of São Paulo, Brazil, the band was formed in 2008 via a partnership between Fernando (vocals, guitar) and Anderson (bass).

After playing together for a couple of months, Fernando moved to Brighton, UK, where he began to compose songs in English on acoustic guitar, and continued his transatlantic musical exchange with Anderson.

Once rejoined in Brazil, the duo gathered demos produced over these six months they were apart to start working on final versions.

Single Parents became a trio in March 2009 when Rafael Farah (drums) joined the band. “We melded our styles and genres, focusing on Britrock and American alternative rock from the 90’s.”, says Fernando.

The band released their debut EP in December 2009, titled Could You Explain?, including four tracks written in English, whose distinct  and identifiable influences contribute to shape their musical identity. Farah comments: “We selected the demo versions that best embody the project’s aim, working on them for months before heading into the studio”.

As the EP’s title suggests, the band does not intend to restrict their sound to specific references, but to give each track a unique feel. “We came up with different structures for each song, where the theme and ambience change throughout. That is the contradiction we’re looking to express in our compositions”, highlights Anderson.

The band is currently rehearsing in studio, warming up for gigs in 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11% [?]

Music as a means to healing. Melody as a means of providing hope. There exists a specific line of music that is comprised of folks who have changed the world around them; we are working on furthering that line. BOY PILOT is a band that partners with friends, fans and non-profits to holistically make a difference that matters in the long run.

Instrumentation:

David J. Portalatin: Lead Vocals, Guitar

Jonathan Lammering: Drums, Percussion

Jacob Rivera: Guitar

Websites:

Official website

Myspace

Discography:

The Boy Pilot E.P.

Popularity: 31% [?]

deVries (pro. devreese; Dutch def. from/of the North) is the new band of singer/writer/guitarist Travis DeVries of Seattle band The Turn-ons.  The August '09 issue of Spin magazine list The Turn-ons in its 100 "greatest bands you've (probably) never heard." Peter Buck of R.E.M. described them as “…simply my favorite new Seattle band. If I said that their sound was a combination of the Velvets, T. Rex and Spiritualized with a dash of Yo La Tengo, it wouldn’t do them justice [Q Magazine]." The Turn-ons played sold out shows with widely-known indie bands such as The Strokes, BRMC, Interpol, and played their last show with The Jesus & Mary Chain in '08.

Travis moved to NYC in the summer of '08 after recording "Death to God" in Seattle.  Death to God was produced and mixed by Turn-ons’ producer and member, Erik Blood(The Moondoggies, Tea Cozies, Romance). It was then mixed by legendary producer, Kramer(Galaxy 500, Low, Sufian Stevens).  Upon receiving the tracks for mastering, Kramer enthusiastically proclaimed “Travis, you’re a fucking genius.  This music is just too good” and “this shit is amazing.”

deVries' sound hearkens back to the reining days of Britpop/Madchester bands such as The Stone Roses and Suede.  Travis' lyrics touch on a wide range of social and human conditions and emotions of which he feels strongly about.  His songs range in issues from trans-gender children(Boys are Bores), to global warming(Slowing Down), and hints of economic upheaval(Black Thursday Repeat).  His gift of weaving lush orchestration & intensely personal lyrics is a reminder of how music can save your soul.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 34% [?]

White 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% [?]

Attack the City was formed in the spring of 2008.  Sean met Sam, and wanted to start a band.  After a few lineup changes, the core of the band was created.  ATC is heavily influenced by electronic hard rock bands such as The Receiving End of Sirens, Saosin, and Underoath amongst others. Attack the City blends ambient electronic beats, catchy vocals, and driving rhythms with heavy guitar driven riffs.

In March 2009, ATC was picked up by Boston label District Kills Records, and recorded with producer Bryan Russell (Envy on the Coast, Straylight Run, The Academy Is…,). They released their debut EP titled Hostages on July 14, 2009.

Instrumentation:

Johnny Melanson:  Vocals

Sean Killary:  Guitar, sequencing

Sam Morgan: Guitar

Nick Grieco: Bass, Vocals

Rudy Olivares: Drums, Programming

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 21% [?]

Damiano Rossetti is the singer, songwriter, guitarist and spiritual leader of Opera Glasses, an Italian quartet carrying an obsession for darkwave music in general and The Cure in particular.

Enchanted with the juxtaposition of melancholic lyrics and peppy, pop arrangements, Opera Glasses tries to create a similar vibe in their music. Opera Glasses’ debut album, Wearing Masks, finds the band creating their own brand of magically upbeat musical pathos.

Influences include The Cure and friends…not only that….but a certain kind of sufferance, traceable in the nostalgic world of dark 80’s new wave; a sort of “quiet desperation”, emerges between the lines. Songs that span the space between marked deep tones, and more soothing solutions through songs with a recognizable pop new wave structure, more often melancholic, and held together by dreamy lyrics which go beyond the damned and romantic, to dark and melancholic. Songs are written by Damiano Rossetti the group voice and guitar, as well as the OPERA GLASSES’s founder.

Donning the same heavy-hearted musical spirit of bands like The Cure and Morrissey, The  OPERA GLASSES brings a contemporary feel to 80’s emo-rock, creating original yet familiar sounding musical compositions that pay tribute nicely to the genre. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15% [?]

SPACE IS THE FACE-THE SCIENCE NONFICTION OF KOKO DOZO

KOKO DOZO are a Global Funktronica Duo from New York City by way of Outer Space!

Polarity/1, multi-instrumentalist/arranger/composer/producer, makes songs without borders and beats for curved dancefloor using REAL SPACE-AGE COMPUTERS! In his laboratory cave he grinds up shards of lost cultural artifacts, barks and growls of ghosts in machines and luminescent sarcastic spaghetti. Then he adds a pinch or two of the house special surreal spice. P/1 has four cult classic CDs of both electro-folk songs and all-instrumental electronica on subTEKst Recordings including one by Audioplasm. He also composes for film and for performances by Battery Dance Company and Quorum Ballet of Lisbon.

Out of this smoking brew flies Inter-Galactic Empress Amy Douglas who vaporizes the earwax of her victims with four and a half octaves worth of nuclear acid lung power. A punky songwriting funk-ette who sharpened her teeth on Earth at downtown NYC legendary music haunts, including the notorious Squeezebox House Band where she played keys and did a whole lot of singing,  she has worked with numerous legends from George Clinton to the late great Illinois Jacquet. From jazz to funk to punk, there is nothing her tongue hasn’t torched.

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Popularity: 16% [?]

Beware 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% [?]

Mungus is a progressive rock four-piece that heralds from Louisville, KY. Classically trained vocalist Adam Lamb and guitarist Stephen Phillips were joined in the fall of 2006 by bassist G. Benjamin Ensor, a former classical violist.  In 2008 the band found the powerhouse drummer they had been searching for in Ricky Muzick, an award winning artist from Ohio.

Their music has been compared most frequently to the bands Tool (Michael Powell of LEO Weekly went so far as to write, “Tool’s latest album, Liminal, is certainly the type of thick, melodically heavy body of work fans have come to expect with each release…. Wait, this isn’t the new Tool record?”), A Perfect Circle, Muse, and Porcupine Tree.  Their first full-length album Liminal, released in May 2009, has received much critical acclaim and has been described as, “a dense and challenging record that rewards repeated listenings.” 

While they list Tool as one of their influences, the similarities in sound are organic in nature and unintentional.  Indeed, included along with Tool as major influences for the band are such diverse groups as Rush, King Crimson, Buckethead, Peter Gabriel, Muse, Ween, and Primus.  Lamb’s experience as a cantor in the Catholic Church; Phillips’s technical precision and, as reviewer Jake Lawson describes it, “liquid guitar work”; Ensor’s funk influenced lyrical bass lines; and Muzick’s speed, strength, and adaptability all mesh together to make Mungus its own unique animal.  As well reviewed as the album as been, the live show, complete with projected video and a steam punk aesthetic, is by far the more dynamic experience.  The band is currently writing material in order to capture this energy and sound on their second studio album.

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Popularity: 19% [?]

Tim Lacy and The Cherubs are back with the best one to date. Two years in the making, "BLISTERENE" captures the sound of a world gone a bit too far. This newer version of TMC has Mike Sciotto (Jefferson Starship, Marty Balin, Sun Red Sun W/ Ray Gillen, John McCoy) taking the drum slot. "I went back into my past to see who would be best suited to take this to the next level. I contacted Mike Sciotto, a long time friend who goes back to when we were teens. Mike has been living and breathing drums for as long as I can remember. We both have the same tastes and a high regard for production value. It makes a great match."

The new CD also features some scorching guitar work by Guitar God Nick Moroch (David Sanborn,Vanessa Williams,David Bowie). "It’s just great to have your friends come over and lay down some tracks. Nicky is one fantastic player. I’m proud to have laid down some work with him side by side! He did some amazing work on this CD."

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Popularity: 20% [?]