The Luke Mulholland Band
Further
2008
The Luke Mulholland Band opens their 2008 release Further with a nice drive, but about 13 seconds in, I realized something: I’ve heard all this before. Not these exact lines or chord progressions — I think — but as competent as this group might be, fronted by a young guitarist currently attending the Berklee College of Music, there’s not a lot here that’s honestly original to catch the ears of interested listeners. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: The Luke Mulholland Band – Further
Released This Week: Inquiet – Inq Beyong
Inquiet
Inq Beyong
Brother Sister Records, August 15, 2008
Inquiet – “Fresh Flesh” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/2008-inquiet-fresh-flesh.mp3]
Inquiet is an experimental pop group from Australia: That’s not a phrase you hear too often in many musical circles, especially those in the northern hemisphere. That’s got little to nothing to do with the musical quality here, to be honest. (more…)
Released This Week: The Telepathic Butterflies – Breakfast in Suburbia
The Telepathic Butterflies
Breakfast in Suburbia
Rainbow Quartz, 2008
The Telepathic Butterflies – “Telescope” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/telescope.mp3]
One thing is made clear from the opening track of Breakfast in Suburbia: The Telepathic Butterflies (what a name!) are rooted in a 1960s pop aesthetic, their apparent influences a combination of the usual suspects: The Beach Boys and The Beatles, most notably, with a nice dose of surf rock playing out in the guitar tones. There’s enough of a psychedelic inflection in the music produced by the duo that citing Barrett-era Pink Floyd wouldn’t be completely off the mark, either.
Review: Aviary Ghost – Memory is a Hallway
Aviary Ghost
Memory is a Hallway
Self-released, 2008
Aviary Ghost – “Somewhere Else” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/2008/08/aviaryghost-somewhereelse.mp3]
There are times that self-releasing an album can be the best option for a band, especially given the many instances of hot-air blowing by music industry personnel — and it’s not just major labels that have been known to play the game in miscreant ways. Sometimes, though, artists just don’t want to deal with the hassle of marketing their release, preferring to just put the music out for public consumption.
Review: Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst
Merge Records, 2008
When I first heard Conor Oberst, I was an impressionable 14 year-old in grade nine. Following the recommendation of Bright Eyes by a friend whose musical interests I trusted (“Download ‘The City Has Sex With Itself,’ by Bright Eyes” he told me,) I engaged in musical exploration, learning of a great many styles, genres, and tepid over-classification, all of it new to me.
It wasn’t more than a year after my discovery that I ran into Conor Oberst’s first album he recorded and released: 1993’s cassette-only Water, an uncertain, less-confident release by the man that became, for all intents and purposes, Bright Eyes. He was a young 13 at the time of the release, and it was the first on Lumberjack, which later became the now-influential Saddle Creek Records.
Spotlight: Team Genius
Ah, gentle-but-active pop music — Team Genius, who released the Hooray EP on Feb. 26, are the perpetrators of some fairly simple music, but that doesn’t mean they don’t create something addicting, too. Of course, this much is likely obvious: Much music, historically, has been simplistic, and some of it has been successful. Big surprise. Still, Team Genius provides an interesting perspective on the matter, with their irreverent indie pop taking on a variety of historical styles without much concern for public opinion. That’s where the band’s strength is, I’d argue, but given I have heard relatively little of their music, I can’t honestly make a quality assertion in one direction or another. At any rate, they’re worth writing about if just for the chance to include their over-the-top, quirky photograph. It’s a bit creepy, really.
Team Genius – “Sing Song” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/teamgenius-singsong.mp3]
Team Genius – “I’m Just An Idiot” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/teamgenius-imjustanidiot.mp3]
Released This Week: The OaKs – Songs for Waiting
The OaKs
Songs for Waiting
Self-released
March 4, 2008
The OaKs, previously the subject of a MusicGeek.org spotlight, self-released Songs for Waiting Tuesday. Opening track, “The Two Calls (of Dietrich Bonhoeffer)” — posted below for download and streaming — isn’t rough, and it’s certainly not too soft. The historical narrative, written by one of two founding members, Ryan Costello, is, at the very least, interesting. The arrangements involved in this new release are well planned, providing a listening experience that’s bound to impress.
The OaKs – “The Two Calls (of Dietrich Bonhoeffer)” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/theoaks-thetwocallsofdietrichbonheoffer.mp3]
The OaKs – “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/theoaks-theheartisalonelyhunter.mp3]
Spotlight: MGMT
Several tracks I’ve been into recently are by the New York-based duo MGMT. “Weekend Wars” starts off as a nice acoustic piece, with melodies and drums not out of place in ’60s music. At :51 the tracks starts to move into different territory, and soon the first chorus starts to hint of the epic heights the song will eventually reach. For me, this occurs at 2:28, as Muse-esque synth arpeggios gently glide over beautiful melodies. The track shifts into a steady march at around 3:21 as the group sings the song’s last message. Overall, the tracks reminds me of The Beatles vs. Muse.
“Time To Pretend” is a little different idea. It starts out with synthpop sweetness and sounds just like a Mates of State song, but with perhaps a wider variety of color and sub-melodies, each of which is a treasure hidden within the layerings of the song. The lyrics are taking a shot at the typical rock star stereotype. This mellow, danceable tune should have you nodding your head with joy.