Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Now Sounds

Apologies to the 7 people who read this blog for not posting anything recently. We've been busy, real busy.

Reading over my previous post, I realize that I may come off as a bit of a curmudgeon who's fixated on music from the past. Well, just to prove that we do in fact listen to (and love) current artists and bands, here's a quick round-up (in no particular order) of stuff that's floating my boat, circa now:

Groove Armada - I'm loving Black Light, the band's recently released full-length on SF's esteemed Om Records. Stand outs are "Shameless", featuring Bryan Ferry at his croony best, and "Just For Tonight", a moody acoustic rocker with some excellent electronic flourishes.

One For The Team - Discovered this band via our friends at Afternoon Records (one of my favorite labels - their roster is consistently excellent). Great male-female vox and top-shelf songwriting. What more could you ask for? Check out their excellent new album Ghosts, which includes the stand-outs "Best Supporting Actress" and "Hard For You".

Deluka - A lot of people think this Brooklyn-via-Birmingham, England quartet is gonna blow up upon the release of its debut full-length this fall, and I must agree. Singer-guitarist Ellie Innocenti has some pipes for the ages and songs like "Cascade" and "OMFG" are winners. Think Elastica updated for the new millennium.

Admiral Radley - New indie-pop supergroup featuring Jason Lytle and Aaron Burtch from Grandaddy and Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray from Earlimart. 'Nuff said. The little geo-specific music bites at the end of "Sunburn Kids" are both brilliant and hilarious. I love a band with a sense of humor. Check their debut, I Heart California.

Autolux - This LA noise-rock band features ex-Failure bassist Greg Edwards, along with fellow '90s alt-rock vets Eugene Goreshter and Carla Azar. Though they owe a heavy debt to My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth, they manage to carve out a sound all their own, and new album Transit Transit is a real winner. Check out "Audience No. 2", "Supertoys" and the epic closer, "The Science of Imaginary Solutions".

Bad Rabbits - Do yourself a favor and seek out "Can't Back Down" from their late '09 album Stick Up Kids. The best Prince song that Prince didn't actually write. I'd really love to see these guys.

See? We do listen to stuff from this century. Hooray. ~ Tim