The Bands of Summer: Dog Is Dead

13 Jul


Dog is Dead is not exactly a new band, having released their first EP in 2009, but the five member indie/pop band has started gaining some well-deserved attention recently. Their skilled amalgamation of catchy rhythms and jazz influences makes them a force to be reckon with in the voluminous indie/pop world.

Dog is Dead formed in Nottingham, England, and is currently represented by Atlantic Records, the first band on our list that has signed to a major record company. Three members of the band met at co-educational school called West Bridgford School and the other two members latched on after the band met one at a party and the other at a play rehearsal. The five members started playing together in 2008.

While they released their first EP in 2009, their recently released EP Your Childhood is garnering more attention because, frankly, it’s better. The four songs on the May released EP demonstrate tighter and more mature sounds. Here is “Glockenspiel Song,” the band’s first single.

The song teases listeners with a near-identical MGMT “Kids” opening, but this chorus of desultory children is quickly replaced by a smooth saxophone and a fun riff. The bright opening seamlessly erupts into a tasteful harmony. I love bands like Dog is Dead because talent just oozes out of every pore. Not only can each individual play an instrument, but also the members of the band can strike appropriate vocal notes with precision. The chorus is anthem-like and this is a great example of powerful pop. My favorite portion of the song is when the band strips everything down three minutes in and focuses on raw vocal energy. The entire song is manufactured well.

“Young,” another song off of Your Childhood, sounds a bit different then the version I am providing you with. I wanted to highlight the “stripped down” acoustic sound because it portrays the talent of the act. The song is vocally pleasing and acoustically beautiful.

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If Not Now, When? Incubus’ New Album Put Under the Microscope

12 Jul

The album cover is a picture of high wire artist Philippe Petit, the subject of the documentary Man on Wire, that focuses on his death defying wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974

Incubus’ new album, If Not Now, When? hit the shelves today and it does not disappoint at all.  Though the album lacks the harder rock feel evident in Make Yourself and Morning View, every song contains brilliant harmonies and an easy relaxing tone.

It’s no secret that Incubus has been moving towards more experimental sounds with less punch and aggression, and this was made clear by the album before this one, Light Grenades. If Not Now, When? is the evolved state of that transformation.

With that all said, this album has Incubus’ pure sound that is undeniably their own. As with every album produced thus far, Brandon Boyd’s voice gives a unique sound that dots the i and crosses the t in the sound produced. Every song on this album could arguably be plugged into any of the other Incubus albums and it wouldn’t feel too ridiculously out of place.

Most of the songs are about love and relationships, making for lyrics that could sweep a girl off her feet.

“Friends and Lovers” and “In Company of Wolves” fit into the parameters of experimental tunes while others fit into slower rock expected from Incubus such as “Isadore” and “The Original.”

A trend I noticed in the album is that in the “experimental” songs, Incubus seems to harmonize and create melodies with an organ/synth in the background, which is a slight abnormality.

“Isadore” and “Adolescents” are my two favorite songs off of the album. In “Adolescents,” the band really rocks and this gives Jose Pasillas a chance to show what he can do on the drums. Pasillas doesn’t have formal training on the drums, but can blow most drummers out of the water. He doesn’t get to showcase himself as much as he could in songs such as “Pardon Me” and “Stellar,” but he adds so much to the album with his skillful fills that never sound out of place.

The album is only 11 songs long, however it does leave the listener satisfied. All but two songs are longer than four minutes (leaving a few songs dragging on just a bit too long,) while “In Company of Wolves,“ (the most experimental song of the album especially after the 3:30 mark) is well over seven minutes long.

The one song that feels out of place in context of the album is “Switchblade.” While it is a good song that would fit in other Incubus albums, it seems out of place as it goes faster and Boyd is on the verge of rapping during some of the verses.

I miss Incubus’ use of turntables in the album. The turntables allowed for an interesting twist that normally isn’t found in rock songs. They never over-used the tables; listen to the pre-chorus of “Drive” and it belongs perfectly.

I would highly recommend this album. It’s relaxing and has a mix of both enjoyable rock and songs jam-packed with constantly changing harmonized melodies. The album leaves you wanting more and, because of this, the tour should run smoothly.

For those who just like downloading individual songs off of iTunes I would recommend “If Not Now, When?,” “Promises, Promises,” “Thieves,” “Isadore,” “Defiance,” and “Adolescents.”

If you have any views, comments, or questions, please comment on this article or tweet me at @MusicCourt or @AndrewLeibo and I’ll be happy to discuss or debate with you.

Here is “Isadore”:

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Top 25 Guitarists of All time: A Quadruple Threat!! The Unveiling of places 19,18,17 and 16!!!!!!

12 Jul

#19: Eddie Van Halen

At number 19, we find ourselves with Mr. Eddie Van Halen. This man speaks for himself, or rather his guitar playing speaks for him. Van Halen proved himself worthy of this place because of his impressive guitar playing technique and proficiency. His utilization of two-handed tapping along with both natural and artificial harmonics created a sound everyone has come to know. He also exhibits very tasteful use of vibrato and tremolo picking. If you need any other proof of why Van Halen belongs here, I only have one word for you…ERUPTION.

Number 18:

Who will fill the slot in place number 18? Mark Knopfler! That’s right. The Dire Straits’ lead guitarist is number 18.  In 1977, he co-founded Dire Straits with his brother. The band was resoundingly successful until it disbanded in 1995. Knopfler has not given up. He still makes great music and composes film scores. Fascinatingly, Knopfler is left-handed, but plays guitar right-handed. He prefers not using picks and has developed his own fingerpicking style, or rather a variation on finger picking. Like Clapton, Knopfler prefers Fender guitars, yet came to appreciate the sounds of Gibson guitars in the ’80s. Knopfler is both proficient and plays with good feeling. In many of his recordings he tends to find very good places to bend notes, without overdoing it. Thus, he is number 18.

Number 17: Freddie King

At number 17 we have Freddie King. The “Texas Cannonball” belongs on this list as he is truly guitar royalty, being one of the three kings of electric blues guitar. The other two are Albert King, and the legendary B.B. King. Freddie is here because of his awesome songs and his technique of creating guitar parts with vocal nuance. He also inspiredd other important musicians. He was one of the guitarists that was taken from us far too young at the age of 42.

Number 16: !?!?!?!?!?!?!!

For number 16 we have…wait for it…wait for it… Buddy Guy! This guy is awesome! He has a radiance on stage that few artists tend to exhibit. You can tell he is genuinely having a great time on stage playing music with his friends. He plays with wonderful feeling and has inspired many musicians with his work. He is responsible for the Chicago blues sound and his showmanship is nothing short of fantastic. Buddy Guy is known as a type of bridge between rock and roll and the blues. Clapton got the idea for a blues/rock trio during and England performance in which Buddy Guy’s trio was performing. Clapton was inspired by Buddy Guy and formed the power trio we all came to know as Cream. Because of Buddy’s inspiration and fantastic musicianship, he finds himself at number 16.

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The Bands of Summer – High Highs

12 Jul

High Highs

Today marks day two of the Bands of Summer new music special section. The order of these posts has no meaning, by the way. I am not attempting to rank the bands, but instead introduce their music to a wider audience. We travel today to ambient indie/pop after our exploration of the upper register of indie/folk with Dry The River yesterday. Everyone say hello to the Australian-born act titled High Highs.

High Highs is currently based out of Brooklyn, but their roots are firmly planted in a Sydney studio where singer/songwriter Jack Milas and electric/pop produce Oli Chang met. High Highs benefited from good fortune. While the two musicians did combine forces in Australia, it was only for a limited time, and, if not for the fact that they both worked for the same company and got offers to move to New York, the band would probably not be garnering record label attention today. The band attracted drummer Zach Lipkins and the tres amigos are currently recording, releasing and touring. But they are still a ways off from an album.

“We’ve only put out two songs, and that’s the story of it so far,” said Milas in an interview with Spinner back in March. Since then the catalog has expanded to four songs (one cover) according to the band’s Bandcamp. Two of these songs are available for free downloads. As for the band’s sound:

“Our PR agent, she wanted to insist that our genre of music is “church wave,” said Milas. “I find the whole “wave” thing really funny, in a good way. It works. It’s not music that’s religious in any way. It would just sound good in a church. Maybe we’re on to something.”

Church wave. I guess it’s a new way to describe the ambient indie/pop trend that is spreading quickly through the music world. With Milas’ falsetto and Chang’s ethereal music taste, High Highs is a solid EP/LP away from shooting up the ranks of the genre.

We start with “Horses,” a tasteful and intelligent release that floats with effervescent flare. The song, released in March, opens with an acoustic riff that merges into a spacey pre-verse segment. Milas’ voice is relaxing, imperturbable even. You get the sense that he is a real-life zen master. The song lulls listeners into a state of relaxation, but keeps them up with the poppy perambulating rhythm.

“Open Season” was released in November of 2010 and it was the piece that placed High Highs on the radar. The 3:48 song is a slice of indie pop mastery. The chugging rhythm moves well with Milas’ verses which evoke images of traveling down the California coast watching waves tirelessly crash into the sandy shore. You can almost feel the salty wind on your face. The song’s catch though resides at the minute mark. The well-placed keys make you want to whistle the segment that sticks to your ears like wet sand. The end provides this neat call and response ending with the acoustic riff under the first verse beautifully sung by Milas.

High Highs is a band worth looking out for. Hopefully their album will drop this year or early next year. For now, continue viewing their Myspace, Facebook and Bandcamp

The Bands of Summer – Dry The River

11 Jul

Over the next week The Music Court will profile six new bands that you, if you are not already, should be listening to. “The Bands of Summer” is the title of this special summer section. Many listeners who prefer oldies often conclude that no music released today is worth listening to. This is a false sentiment, and I know because I was once a recent music iconoclast. This list is short and there are several more talented new bands that are worth mentioning. Do a quick google search for best new bands of 2011 and you will be prompted with a dazzling display of new acts to listen to. Music is alive and well, trust me.

Let me explain that last sentence with a bit of a disclaimer. When I say music is alive and well, I am not talking about dub-step/hip-hop (throw-away genres that do not fit into this post). If you want to rage, that is the music for you, but if you are into appreciating tunes then this is the correct place. Many solid releases today fit under the broad umbrella of “indie” music. I believe you can split this genre up into several sub-genres (kind of like what I did with psychedelic music). There is folk/indie that has exploded with bands like Fleet Foxes and Mumford and Sons (who are leading the new British folk revival that parallels the early 70s). Then there is indie/pop which combines large bands with ambient sounds (like Arcade Fire and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros). There are other sub-categories, but, for now let’s leave it at that. The bands that I will profile fit neatly into the parameters of indie music.

The band today is a up-and-coming indie/folk act who take the Mumford and Sons sound and transform it into music that is slightly less predictable and even operatic at parts. Dry The River is about to blow up and see the success that Mumford and Sons gained with Sigh No More. Singles are being released and music lovers are on their heels waiting for a full-length LP. Plus, on their Facebook “artists we like” section, The Magic Numbers are mentioned and that is just awesome.

Dry the River is best known through their tours. They have been touring since they were founded by Norwegian singer-songwriter Peter Liddle. Liddle added homeless punk-rock drummer (yes, he was homeless) Jon Warren, classically-trained violinist Will Harvey, guitarist Matt Taylor and bassist Scott Miller. The east-London band self-released a five-song EP in 2010 and have released a few singles since then (including the one below). What I think is most astounding about the band is their maturity. It sometimes takes an album (or two or three) before a band can release something worthwhile. But the EP is stuffed with rich sounds and Liddle’s powerful voice and the song below, “New Ceremony” can shoot up the charts with correct marketing. There is a huge record label bidding war for Dry the River and I understand why. It does not take a genius to realize that indie/folk is in and Dry The River is demonstrating their mastery of the genre.

“New Ceremony” is a perfect song. I do not often give such credit to bands, but Dry The River deserves it for this hit. The opening acoustic riff is intriguing. It is not effervescent, but rather somewhat melancholic. Liddle’s voice is choir-like. It explores the upper register with accuracy and efficiency. His annunciation flows well with the riff. The harmony leads into a true folk drop. The violin picks up the rhythm section with the drums. As the song starts adding more elements it speeds up and you get the feeling that it is about to get loud, and, true to Indie form, it does. But it is more theatrical than Mumford and Sons who simply speed up their acoustic instrumentation. Dry the River’s chorus (well the first part) takes a page out of Arcade Fire’s book. The music collides into an organized catharsis and Liddle’s voice is PERFECT. Seriously, it fits so well into the song’s somber explosion. Then the chorus shifts into a call and response harmony that fades into a violin rendition of the riff that transforms back into the chorus. It hits and hits and hits. The song is like Dry the River’s grand entrance into the indie party. Do you hear why record labels want to sign them?

I predict that after Dry the River releases an official LP they will become the new “in” Indie band. You will begin to hear “New Ceremony,” which has under 15,000 views on Youtube, on radio stations everywhere. So get linked in with Dry the River and enjoy the ride of witnessing the rise of a talented act.

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