Archive for the ‘Downloads’ Category

Music Geek #3: Shoegaze, Famicom-style — The Depreciation Guild offers synthesizers with lush guitar work

Matthew Montgomery wears funny glasses in a Cedar City, Utah park.In the time since the writing and subsequent posting of my previous column, in which I probed for quality shoegaze, I have been offered a small variety of options by which I might discover more of this music I’ve found myself so enamored with.

First, I must offer my appreciation to those who answered my call; the suggestions have been greatly appreciated, and I’m putting effort into exploring these artists more.

In my own search, I’ve found some interesting things. The first is a group I discovered not terribly long after admitting to the internet that I was — and still am — on the clueless side of things as far as proper shoegaze is concerned. The group, The Depreciation Guild, is composed of two musicians and a certain device entertainment-happy children in the mid-1980s and, indeed, most anyone who’s spent time in the confines of American popular culture: the Famicom, or, as it’s more popularly known in the United States, the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The Depreciation Guild – “Butterfly Kisses”
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/butterflykisses.mp3]

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An interview with The Gorgeous Hussies

The Gorgeous Hussies / Courtesy of The Gorgeous Hussies, photo by Danny CarverThe Gorgeous Hussies, the previous subject of a MusicGeek.org spotlight, talk to MusicGeek.org regarding their music, their upcoming release, the recording process, and Salt Lake City.

The Gorgeous Hussies – “What Fool Would Feel”
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/track4_what-fool-would-feel.mp3]

Most anybody can listen to music and appreciate it, but it takes a certain kind of person to desire to create it. What influences you to create music?

Ryan Smith: There are a couple of things that drive me to create music: First is desire to play in general. The energy and natural high you get from performing is addicting. In that sense it is more intense and especailly gratifying when you create the music yourself. Anyone can play covers, but playing music you have created, and that people enjoy, is the main reason for creation. The second reason is just to drive ourselves to be better musicians. I like the fact that in this band I can play a few different styles. We are a rock group and since so much has been done with that genre it is hard to come up with new and creative music. It is a great challenge we are taking head on!

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Spotlight: Evangelicals

Evangelicals / Photo by Matthew IsaacEvangelicals are set to release their second full-length, The Evening Descends, on Tuesday. The psychedelia-laced Norman, Okla.-based group fills the attached track, “Skeleton Man,” with noise; guitars crash in and out, synthesizers come and go, and heavily-reverberated vocals permeate the whole of the track. If “Skeleton Man” is to be any kind of indicator, Evangelicals are on solid ground with this release.

Evangelicals — “Skeleton Man” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/skeletonman.mp3]

Spotlight: The Grizzly Owls

The Grizzly Owls The Grizzly Owls perform a bizarre sort of alt-country: it’s certainly an interesting musical perspective, but it’s one that’s often hard to really latch on to. Regardless, this married couple forges ahead, and they end up creating some interesting music. Mind you, it’s not some groundbreaking release they’ve put together with By Night On My Bed, but this is definitely a worthwhile listen. The Grizzly Owls self-released this album on November 13, 2007.

The Grizzly Owls — “Rifles and Hemlines” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/thegrizzlyowls-riflesandhemlines.mp3]

The Grizzly Owls — “What’s a Girl To Do?” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/thegrizzlyowls-whatsagirltodo.mp3]

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Spotlight: Say Hi

Say Hi To Your MomSay Hi (previously Say Hi To Your Mom,) a newly Seattle-based (they previously called home Brooklyn, N.Y.,) indie outfit, plays a catchy-but-not-too-upbeat style inflected with a bit of synthesizer and flare (two things that, for some reason, tend to be associated with each other, for better or worse.) Their upcoming album, The Wishes and The Glitch, is due to be released on Feb. 5 on Euphobia Records. The Wishes and The Glitch, the fifth from the indie pop-rock band, features contributions from both David Bazan, best known for Pedro the Lion and Headphones, but also notable for his solo work, and John Roderick, head of Barsuk-released fellow Seattle indie-popsters, The Long Winters.

Say Hi — “Northwestern Girls” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/sayhi_northwesterngirls.mp3]

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Spotlight: Chairs in the Arno

Chairs in the ArnoChairs in the Arno, a synthesizer-packed indie pop band in the vein of notable acts Barcelona and Sprites, released their debut File Folder in October 2007. The synth-styled release, which found its home on Mushpot Records, is interminably exciting in those peculiar ways only indie pop can be — and particularly only in ways such nerd-rock-inflected styles can be (see The Rentals, Barcelona, and Sprites for excellent examples).

Chairs in the Arno — “Winter Song” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/chairsinthearno-wintersong.mp3]

Chairs in the Arno — “Size Thirty” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/chairsinthearno-sizethirty.mp3]

Spotlight: The Gorgeous Hussies

The Gorgeous HussiesThe Gorgeous Hussies, a Salt Lake City, Utah-based rock band with influences ranging from power pop to fusion, are preparing to release a new album. “Dangerously Similar,” from their release, Oh! Hello is an excellent introduction to the band’s unique style.

The Gorgeous Hussies – “Dangerously Similar”

[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/track1_dangerously-similar.mp3]

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Spotlight: Kaki King

Kaki KingKaki King, upon my first listen, is nothing too experimental. I can appreciate this, else nearly all music would be dull and pointless. No, King, who has worked with Tegan & Sara and Foo Fighters, is nice and relaxing and certainly worth a listen. When her album, Dreaming of Revenge, launches in March, it’s bound to be something interesting.

Kaki King, Dreaming of Revenge, “2 O’Clock”

[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/2oclock.mp3]

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