Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

Spotlight: White Hinterland

Winter Hinderland / Courtesy of Dead Oceans, photo by Tod SeelieWhite Hinterland, who is really just 22-year-old Casey Dienel, plays a nice combination of those lovable jazz and indie pop aesthetics. The sound she creates, most would say, is a bit over her age, but I’d think that the arbitrary number doesn’t play into it. No, Dienel is a simple, honest-sounding songwriter, which works greatly to her benefit. “Dreaming of the Plum Trees,” posted below for easy listening and download, is as much influenced by Peanuts composer extraordinare Vince Guaraldi as it is anything, if not more. Her album, Phylactery Factory, will be released March 4 on Dead Oceans.

White Hinterland – “Dreaming of the Plum Trees” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/dreamingoftheplumtrees.mp3]

An interview with The Raintree

The Raintree / Photo courtesy of The RaintreeThe Raintree is a folk/acoustic artist hailing from Phoenix, Arizona. Ryan Osterman, once a member of The Maine, is now a solo artist with an incredible voice and amazing talent. With a hint of influence from artists like Bright Eyes, The Raintree won’t disappoint.

The Raintree — “Pairs” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/pairs.mp3]

Who are the main influences on your music?:
Well, honestly, just life and love — the people that bring about the sheer joy and accentuate the beauty in all of my surroundings. My musical influences vary and flux quite a bit and often, but I’ve always been a fan of Third Eye Blind, Goo Goo Dolls, Maria Taylor, Bright Eyes, Stars, Jimmy Eat World, etc. I could go on for a while, so I’ll spare you, but a lot of it has to do with what a band or song reminds me of. I embed memories within each song I listen to. Just about anything could influence me.

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Spotlight: Jenny Hallam

Jenny Hallam / Courtesy of Jenny HallamJenny Hallam is an independent, relatively unknown, artist from Worcester in the UK. Her music ranges from piano driven pop to quick paced, crunchy guitar ridden rock. She is yet to be signed or have a self released album, but does has a few demos up for listen on her MySpace page. The song Avoiding the Spotlight starts with quick drums, and dance influenced keyboard sounds, but quickly gives way to guitar solos that harken to the days of Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane. All things considered, this girl has some great talent and shows real potential.

Jenny Hallam – “Avoiding the Spotlight” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/03-avoiding-the-spotlight.mp3]

Spotlight: Aster

AsterAster, a Texas-based pop group, is good. How good? That’s a hard question to answer for any group, but their song “Attempting to Multiply” is interminably pop-ridden and on the cusp of catchiness. The sounds of some sort of keyboard are omnipresent through the track, and we see that Aster has a very keen sense of crafting something enjoyable. “Some Things Seldom Heard Of,” the title track from their album being released today, is likewise good, though a little more downbeat. The breathy vocals and spacey demeanor utilized on both tracks, posted below, make for a nice experience that evokes some musical greats; it’s clear that Aster is on the right sort of path.

Aster — “Attempting to Multiply” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/aster-attemptingtomultiply.mp3]

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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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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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