...and a lasting finish.

I was coaxed out the other night by my friend Kelly to go and see The Cyrus Grape Orchestra @ The Know. I've gotten to know a couple of the guys from the band on a personal level and was excited to hear what TCGO was all about.

I did a little research before I went and found that on their website they were offering a free e-copy of the new album Modern Man to anyone with an email address. I got it and gave it a listen. Wading through liltingly solid melodies and wavy falsetto-style vocals reminiscent of Jeff Buckley, I came to what I consider the best song on the album; Naked Birth. It has just the right amount of build and repetitious hook to hold you throughout.

The show was solid with pretty good sound mixing and all around a great set. There was definitely a sense that they were having a great time up there and it carried over to the audience. Especially when frontman Nate Bech (TGCO is his brainchild) joined Nicolas Von Pless, bass in this current TCGO incarnation, on a single tom to pound out a drilling rhythm near the end of title track Modern Man. With a large response from the crowd that was the climax of the show. Zaven Papakhian is a phenom behind the drum set and Von Pless & guitar/keyboard solid man, Daniel Hornbeck, well round out the jazzy, prog. mod. fusion of Cyrus Grape.

I hear a little Sky Cries Mary, and a Jeff Buckley influence even though they weren't listed on their MySpace under influences. Whatever. I heard it. I'm telling you.

Go get the new album Modern Man <----here or check 'em out on MySpace first by clicking the album artwork below.

How thick the veil for dust refusal.

When I gave Dustveil my first listen I was kind of confused. I didn't know exactly what to make of them or their sound. There are some 60's pop moments with fits of post-jazz arrangements. Sometimes they moved right into a dark indie/emo sound while still keeping the melodies and whatnots respectable to the rest of the jam.
Dustveil is out of The Russian Fed. and seem to be doing something right. Most of the other music I have heard from that region lately is sub-par or copycat of other mainstream American stuff. I was refreshed and surprised by this find. I hear a little bit of Slint, LCD Soundsystem et al.

The album worth a listenin' to is Sentimental Lies.

Click the pic to the right to go to their MySpace page and the pic @ top left to go to "their" site. You may want to take advantage of Google Translator if you want to try and traverse that site 'cause it's in Russian.

Not the pig silly!

As promised I am including the first recommendation from my recent international findings. Momo "Wandel" Soumah died in 2003 but he left a legacy of music that knows no classification. In the nostril of the African continent is the country of Guinea, a developing West African nation. Best know for its drilling drums and dancey chants, traditional Guinean music has changed significantly after jazz was brought over during WWII. Whatever, enough of the history lesson.

Soumah released Afro Swing in 1999 near the end of his life but it is not lacking life. His grunt-growl of a voice is definitely the forefront of this album but the drum melodies and sudden bursts of alto sax is peppery spice on the mid range of these songs.

I could go on for hours about this album but I won't. Get it. Turn it up really loud. Be surprised. Dance.

Coming Soon!

Well, I have been lacking time and gumption (sic) to keep up on this blog for the last..however long...but I have been getting loads of international music lately due to research I'm doin' for a Geography class this term. I will share soon. I promise.

Dear Readers?

Hey, if anyone is reading this and enjoy it or find any amount of it informative please comment or follow or something. I might have more motivation to keep up on it. I'm still finding the musics and I can still tell you about them. I just haven't really felt the get-up-and-go again like I did when I started. Help me help you, dear reader..?

What the Eff is Slipshod Neo-Marquee Anyway?

I went to the Delta Cafe with my friend Devo a while ago (4 or 5 years back) and there was this interesting band playing called Trashcan Joe. I couldn't stop listening to them. They had this new roots vibe that meshed with a garage parts sound that begged to be appreciated. I did. One guy had a banjo that seemed to be made out of a trashcan lid and there was also a singing saw that added to the already dreamy set. Recently, my buddy Luke came to town and we went to The Moon and Sixpence to see them, which is their regular gig every Wednesday night, and they had really come into their own. The sound was perfected. Every nuance of their live set was fun and inclusive. Their rendition of Pure Imagination (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) had every one's ear bent to the mobile troubadour that skipped happily along in suspendered plaid pants playing the crowd as he sang beautifully.

If I had to give them a genre I would make up a new one that would include Trashcan Joe and most of Quackhammer's stuff (Coming to this Blog soon) called Slipshod Neo-Marquee.

They have a new album called Real Life. <----Click here to buy it.

Chutzpah. That's what deez boys have got.

I came across a punk band randomly one day called Dustin's Bar Mitzvah and I absolutely loved them. They were really hard to place in time. I couldn't tell if they were from the '70s, '00s or what. They sounded like the Ramones or The Killers from song to song. They have now since gone on to do other projects. Three of the guys from Dustin's Bar Mitzvah started The Von Erich Family named after the famous pro-wrestling family. I only found three songs as this incarnation. I think it was short lived because when I tried to go to their MySpace page I found they were called The Beetles now. The Google search for them was hell because a lot of people spell The Beatles wrong. Numbskulls. I listened to The Von Erich Family stuff and it sounded like they went pop punky for a minute and then The Beetles comes back to their real punk sound and I was very happy about that. It's great to find punk bands that are actually from England and not some popular band that tries to sound like they are from England in their vocals. (I won't name names here, Billie Joe! Ahem!)

I suggest getting the release of singles mainly released in Japan if you can get your hands on it. It is called Dial "M" For Mitzvah. It was my jam when I was closing The Filcks kitchen in Boise. Great stuff.

<--This is a drawing of the band as the von Erich family of wrestlers. Funny guys.

The Beetles on MySpace.

Who is this man they call Portugal?

I went to a concert with my buddy Austin a few years ago @ the Holocene with Grizzly Bear headlining. The opening band was a band that Austin knew and had been doing some design work for, Portugal. The Man. I was impressed with Portugal. The Man's sound. The studio work was great and I could only listen to Austin's advance copies of the mp3s for now but I was hooked. Soon they released Waiter: "You Vultures!" to the public. I got a copy of it and listened to it non-stop. Austin designed the album artwork and the b-sides LP and did a fantastico job!

The description of their music on Wikipedia is great and it sounds like it was written by one of it's members, so I am just going to cite it here:

Musically, Portugal. The Man's style is varied. Their style is rooted in indie,

but their songs also contain elements of soul, blues, and folk music. At times,

the band chooses to utilize drum machines and/or synth loops to anchor their

songs, while at other times, the band chooses to use the more conventional

guitar, bass, and acoustic drum configuration characteristic of rock music. The

band also utilizes keyboards in much of its music. In addition to their instrumentals,

[Lead singer John] Gourley's distinctly higher-pitched vocals add to Portugal. The

Man's unique sound. Lyrically, Gourley provides the band with abstract and/or

enigmatic lyrics that rely heavily on imagery. Gourley's verses are usually

delivered in the first-person singular or plural. (Wikipedia.com)

Waiter: was released on Fearless Records as was their second full-length album Church Mouth which the band themselves "leaked" on the internet before it's actual release. Last September Portugal. The Man released their third full-length on their own independent label, Approaching AIRballoons. My sources tell me that they are currently working on their fourth album and the beloved designer of their first album will be back and awesomer.

Click the covers to visit their site. Love them. They will love you back.

Say Yea!

Yeasayer are four guys based in Brooklyn that describe themselves as "middle eastern-psych-snap-gospel". Their 2007 album and only record that I can find is entitled All Hour Cymbals. I feel like their description does the sound justice. It does have a lot of middle eastern qualities yet blends with their vision of indie music. Very smooth recording value for being their first album. The song 2080 has a great chanting bridge that says: Yeah Yeah we can all grab at the chance and be handsome farmers/Yeah you can have twenty one sons and be blood when they marry my daughters/And the pain that we left at the station will stay in a jar behind us/We can pickle the pain into blue ribbon winners at county contests.

Fantastic. Great album. Give it a listen. Click the album cover to go to their website. Go to their label site here. We Are Free Records.

They cut off the last half of this picture for their album cover. Probably to make it marketable but I found this on their website. I think it's artistic splendor should not have to be censored so I am posting the whole thing here.

M M M M Thanks to Alliteration

Tally Hall can surprise you around every corner of every melody. They emulate a number of sounds that are current and past. The music stylings range from punk to ska to calypso to indie to beatboxing emcee to bluegrass. I can hear Polyphonic Spree, Ben Folds Five, and Sublime among others while listening to these guys. It is very varied and at times too much but overall they are a lot of fun and since their diversity crosses so many genres it appeals to so many different audiences. I have the album Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum and I like it. Listen to it.

Click the album cover to go to their MySpace page or the pic above to go to their band website. They are on the Quack! Media label.