Blouse – “Ghost Dream”

Like all waves, it keeps on coming. AU’s third album, Both Lights, is a recurring dream. Eleven songs made by the Portland, Oregon-based duo Luke Wyland and Dana Valatka, it’s a story of Time. Three years to be exact: since their critically-acclaimed 2008 album Verbs and its 2009 EP evolution Versions, there’s been a long exhale. A little defiance of the double-speed countdown of the indie hype clock. And a hell of a lot of living. Turn it on. More than a mere accompaniment, it’s a gleaming mirror. It’s an exaltation, an exhalation, a monument of extreme composition, the child of collaboration and isolation, a preamble to a wild live show, a statue intact in the violent wind of art and commerce, and, simply, a record about love. It’s for itself, and, in being that, it’s an album that can be understood like a person. “It’s the topography of me,” says Wyland. So you follow the coordinates.

The first video off the new album is an optically engaging and tripped-out kaleidoscope of a visual for “OJ.” The video is much like the song it illustrates – frenetic, ethereal and colorful.

AU – “OJ”

Born in Austin, MN (you know, where SPAM is made) and raised in the small town of Buena Vista, CO Trace first started playing guitar when he was about 11 or 12 years old.  Trace and his brother Greg both chipped in $5 to buy a $10 acoustic guitar from a guy named Herbie; even though they didn’t know where to start they picked up a guitar magazine and learned how to play a song by Metallica. Not a fan of heavy metal, that was what Trace originally learned to play, on acoustic guitar of course, shortly after, he learned how to play some chords and songs like Johnny B. Goode and various Def Leppard hits.

Because he could never afford lessons everything Trace learned was on his own, learning other people’s songs, making up his own stuff, etc. Trace became very interested in why music sounds good and why different notes and chords seem to work together. This got him very interested in music theory, and he started to figure out the patterns that exist in most music, and started to put names to his discoveries like “Trace’s 7 chord theory”, etc. (later in college he took a basic music theory class and found that all of his discoveries already existed and had big important sounding names). The more music theory he learned, the more he started writing his own songs, trying to incorporate his new discoveries into his music.

Keep reading…

Trace met Jonah Werner (now a rising acoustic folk songwriter star) in high school and started playing with him at the (only) local coffee shop in Buena Vista – mostly Jackopierce and other various folky songs. He then hooked up with Tim Thornton and started playing old Dylan and Cat Stevens tunes. The trio all attended CU in Boulder, CO and still continue to play together from time to time. Meanwhile, his style of playing started gaining influence from a variety of musicians such as David Wilcox, Ani Difranco, and Phil Keaggy. Trace stopped using a pick when he realized he could play more complex music using all five of his fingers.

Trace was named “Most Promising New Talent” of 2008 by Acoustic Guitar Magazine, as well as winning third place in the magazine’s “Best Fingerstyle Guitarist” category the same year. Last summer, he performed at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre in front of a crowd of over 7,000 people, as part of The World’s Largest Music Lesson. Over the past couple of years, Trace has shared the stage with Brandi Carlile, Olivia Newton-John, Neko Case, Judy Collins, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Phil Keaggy, David Wilcox, David Knopfler (Dire Straits), Bill Nershi (String Cheese), Laurence Juber (Paul McCartney & Wings), Chris Hillman (the Byrds), Stanley Jordan, and MOFRO, among others.

Dave Kirby from the Boulder Weekly says “Possessing a staggering acoustic technique, on both right and left sides, Bundy has made his reputation as a next generation solo guitarist of serious repute.”

Audiocast Magazine from Austin, TX agrees: “Bundy’s live show is without a doubt an event that needs to be witnessed rather than told about. With such a jaw-dropping performance, Bundy’s live concert is a slap in the face that would leave a palm print on the memory of everyone in the audience.”

This week, Mello Music Group will release the collaboration from the D.I.T.C. Crew veteran rhymer, OC, and Detroit-based producer, Apollo Brown entitled Trophies. The album commands your attention from the jump and is 16 tracks of all-killer-no-filler that will slap you back to when you wore Timbs, army fatigues, and snapbacks (maybe you still do?). OC is in top form, and hasn’t missed a step since his seminal debut Word…Life and Apollo Brown crafts densely layered ‘straight-fire’ beats that will leave your ear drums beat like a one two from Tyson.

Trophies is 16 tracks of mass appeal set in motion by two different eras of hip hop’s elite. Detroit producer Apollo Brown lays the foundation, and the legendary OC constructs the vocals. Arguably, their best album respectively, Trophies is straight to the point hip hop; no frills, no preservatives, not even a single feature. Just OC at his finest and Apollo once again commanding no disappointments.

“…Everybody want they Trophy. What, is that supposed to tell me that you did something? I don’t need no God damned Trophy, or award, or recognition. I do this shit ’cause I love to do this shit. All these kids nowadays…all these, all these young people…they gotta have some type of shiny material possession or some shit that shows that they did something. They gotta have a Trophy. They gotta have an award. They gotta have a nice looking girl, and a, a nice car and some rims, and a gold chain. We don’t need to know that you done some shit, just do it! God damned Trophies…” – (Trophies, Intro)

Today’s society is fascinated with “Trophies”. Not just a shiny cup or figurine atop a wooden platform, but the superficial earnings as a result of one’s recognition. Prestigious awards, fancy cars, nice jewelry, and beautiful women, are all coveted “Trophies” of the present day. They seem to be the preferred end result of our hard work. Everyone NEEDS to be recognized for whatever their achievement may be, in order to feel that he/she made a mark in this world. And in order for our recognition to be proper, we NEED an award, or a material object to help reassure us that we did something. But why?

Listen to the album. Enjoy the music. Consider the real Trophies.

The parades of  Mardi Gras season are immersive experiences, even for spectators. The eyes are dazzled by a riot of colors, masks and costumes and streamers in bright green and gold. Marching bands fill the air with thundering drums, joyous brass, and playful woodwinds. Undulating revelers dance through the streets. For a few moments, the senses reel…

Get caught up and carried away below!

The title track, “Street Parade,” opens the record with resounding vocals rising over a regimental drum-line, testifying to the catharsis and impermanence of the carnival. The focus then draws back cinematically into the rush of the parade as the piano fades on “Injuns,” and Theresa’s voice bounds over a heart-quickening percussion of hand claps, drumsticks and thrumming base. Theresa’s voice plays from a tongue-in-cheek 60s standard to a subtle snarl on the nocturnal brass breakdown of “Fiya’s Gone.” “What Comes Next” opens with a bright horn melody and mighty drum cadence leading into a powerful chorus on which Theresa is joined by Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn and John. As a whole, Street Parade is a lush, joyful and sometimes melancholy ode to the city she has called “home” for nearly 20 years.

“Making this record and becoming a mother at the same time was very much a life change. Now that it’s completed, I can say that I’ve left my old life behind, but for a long time I didn’t know how it was going to turn out, because I’d never tried to do things this way,” she concludes. Yet in the end, art imitates life. “You just have to know that you’re coming from one place and going to another.” -Theresa Andersson

Chronicles of train terrorism, space expeditions, criminal infamy, and monsters under the bed are just a few of the themes you’ll hear on Loquat’s third full-length album, We Could Be Arsonists. Recorded at Fantasy Studios (David Bowie, U2, The Pretenders) in Berkeley, CA., We Could Be Arsonists is Loquat’s strongest effort yet.

While Loquat tells intricate stories, musically the band blends the familiar with the uncharted- mixing modern twists of new wave, psychedelic rock, indie electronic, and jangle-y pop. We Could Be Arsonists was co-produced by the Rondo Brothers (Foster the People, Deltron 3030, Handsome Boy Modeling School); mixed by a diverse crew that includes Dave Pensado (Mary J Blige, Beyoncé), Count (DJ Shadow), Glenn Rosenstein (Madonna, Talking Heads), and Ben Ellman (Galactic); and mastered by Dave Cooley (M83, Silversun Pickups).

Meanwhile, Loquat continues to blaze its own trail. With a new lineup (guitarist/singer Chip Cosby, keyboardist Christopher Cooper, and drummer Jon Langmead) and a batch of brand-new songs, the band is set to light the match with We Could Be Arsonists.

Sons Of Malice, the title track itself, is an angry, resounding chorus and massive riff-led rant against the bankers whose self-absorbed greed and callousness dragged us down into recession, but have so far escaped with impunity, let alone huge unjustifiable bonuses.

Get Savage with – “Sons of Malice”

The band’s shredding dual guitar lead trade-offs, performed with the utmost class, never lose sight of memorable song-craft first and foremost. Anchored by a tight, driving rhythm section and the raw and throaty instantly memorable vocal delivery of Christine Davis, the Christian Mistress sound is immediately familiar and yet sounds like no other heavy metal band currently working. With the release of their sophomore album, Possession, Christian Mistress is coming into their own and garnering a big time buzz. Recently the first video off Possession was featured on Pitchfork.com as well as a rave review of the entire album; and Time Out NY says that the group has “a deliciously retro sound, with two guitars dancing in lockstep over a leather-jacketed chug and swagger reminiscent of early-’80s Black Sabbath.”

Christian Mistress – “Crucifix and Pentagram”