The Seedy Seeds’ eclectic nature makes great pop
The Seedy Seeds. Photo by Brian Niesz | WOXY
Today is Friday the 13th, so you’re looking for something screwed up and out of the ordinary to do. How about seeing a show that combines accordions, electronica, acoustic guitars, synths and banjo?
Yeah, sounds pretty scary, but it’s the sound Cincinnati’s The Seedy Seeds professionalize in producing.
“Folktronica” is the buzz word a Seedy Seeds promo e-mail loosely used to describe the group. Even then, that might be too tightly fastened. Oh, and they’re not just another Mates of States knock-off. This is sincere, eclectic pop music that expands the genre’s boundaries and tools required.
[MP3, tour info, click more]
Harper Simon sprouting from family tree’s shadows
Harper Simon is playing Natasha's Bistro this Friday.
Harper Simon does have a sober sound, comfortable within itself, just like his father’s music does.
Oh, you know his father. Paul. Right? Paul Simon, as in Simon and Garfunkel. But Harper Simon’s music honors its family tree while sprouting away from its shadow. He has found his place in folk-pop, and it doesn’t need the preface of his father’s work.
Starting Friday the 13th, Harper Simon is touring South. He’ll be playing in Lexington, then heading to Louisville, Nashville, Memphis and Bloomington.
Natasha’s Bistro has become one of the biggest little advocates of local and good music in Lexington, Ky. That reputation gets is solidified with the booking of Harper Simon.
[Click to see tour details]
Two Hotel St. George MP3s to get you through Monday
Hotel St. George
It’s a slow Monday thus far, so to keep things moving along here is a free MP3 from Hotel St. George. The group is not Southern music, is not touring in the South and doesn’t even have an album to really even talk about until sometime next year. Hell, this band doesn’t even sound American (think The Chap or Arctic Monkeys). So there’s no reason for SaY to write about them right now, other than to give Southern music fans a few good MP3s and a little info on a good band. Enjoy.
Hotel St. George is hard at work on its fourth record, which is tentatively titled “Fun Shine Line.” Though Hotel St. George is predominately a guitar band, the new album is heavy in keyboards and bass synthesizer, according to Planetary Group. This album is out sometime next year.
[2 MPfrees, plus band info, click more]
Desktop making partying easier with free EP
Desktop released another free EP, and that means dance. Click to download.
Desktop is so fresh off the last EP that some of us still have our dancing shoes on, but still the same, here comes the remix. How many groups release a physical EP and celebrate with a new digital one?
This EP, “My Boo,” will sit as a Desktop favorite, because it puts the group’s kinky personality into a song so loved by the American 20-somethings, Ghost Town DJs’ 1996 classic, “My Boo.” This EP flourishes with enormous synth sounds, incredible bass riffs and is a hip-hop and synth-pop hybrid from the mash-up generation. Johnny Headband’s remix of “Fired Up” will become an instant favorite among friends, and Dave Shettler’s squeeze of “Too Much” is a nice cap to a solid EP.
[MPfree, click more]
London artist breaking out with solo EP (MP3)
Samuel Stewart
After London based Blondelle released its debut, “It Started When You Were Young,” Samuel Stewart relocated to Los Angeles. According to a news release, Stewart began producing the debut album “The Giving Tree” for his brother Django’s ban, Django James and the Midnight Squires. Stewart decided to continue songwriting and performing, re-entering the studio to record his first solo effort. Producing and playing all instruments himself, material for “The Beginner” EP were recorded in a mere week, the news release from Planetary said.
“The Beginner” will be out Nov. 3. Being Stewart’s solo debut, you would expect it to be from a ballsy indie label with a passion for passion-pop. You would be wrong. This release comes from Stewart’s own personal label, Frank Lawless Records. Another EP is expected for the early part of next year, and a full length will follow suit.
There are no shows near the East Coast (and hence, the South), but that doesn’t mean you wont enjoy a free MP3.
The Diogenes Club pump out synth-pop EP
The Diogenes Club brought some funkadelics to the table.
Sample entire EP for free, download MP3
After releasing an instrumental EP, Britain’s The Diogenes Club are at it again, but plus one song-writing vocalist named Paul Giles. The result: Fruitful, funkadelics.
The new EP, “Do You Know How To Feel It?,” starts off with a hellacious pulsing bass riff, one that would make Les Claypool proud. It’s also old-school dirty enough that even the greats like John Entwistle and Geezer Butler would admire. This song is “Come Back To Us” and it’s all about the bass, and it’s almost sad to hear it fade to the overbearing synth. Don’t worry, it comes back.
And “Come Back To Us” pretty much sets the pace for this smooth EP. If you’re not a fan of synths, you may not like what you’re getting into, but they are almost always balanced with a clean, electric bar chord or the sound of more free-falling bass.
Sample this entire EP by clicking here. Also, enjoy the free MP3 below.
The Diogenes Club – The Ageless
Rob Murat explains his passion for performing
Rob Murat talks about his career
Rob Murat wears many hats. Songwriter. Singer. Producer.
But you can just think of him as an artist. It’s his goal to give you a show that you remember, no matter where it was.
“People gotta say, ‘Man I went to that Rob Murat show, and that joint changed my life,’ ” Murat said in a video walk-and-talk.
“It’s not always the case that people come and are going to get blown away,” Murat said. “But blowing people away is the goal.”
[MPfrees, click more]
BLOG: Video of Mates of State “Long Way Home”
I love Mates of State and my friend Allie Garza does, too. She and I went to the only Mates of State concert I have ever been to at The Dame (Version 2.0) and she always sends me links to good finds. I just thought I’d share this one.
Zoos of Berlin’s first album a collection of culture
Michigan's Zoos of Berlin just released "Taxis"
Zoos of Berlin took about six weeks living and recording in an old auto parts factory in Detroit, Mich. to record its first album. Just like in the building did in its past, it cranked out well-oiled, beautifully in-time machine cogs, which all came together to create “Taxi.”
“Taxi” is a throwback to throwbacks, a glimpse of glamor and peek at true pop-glossed rock. This debut album is for those who appreciate a class act, and enjoy a little David Bowie after work.
The album is meticulous in every frame, and deliberate with every step in time. Zoos of Berlin does not move over a note without considering its impact on the overall work.
[Tour info, MPfree, click more]
Video of Passion Pit playing 3 songs in basement
It seems like all of the music series are very predictable and undisguised by their name. Juan’s Basement, a video series by Pitchfork, is probably just as you thought – band’s playing in a basement.
But it’s a really cool series and this chapter is exceptional as well. Passion Pit performed “Sleepy Head,” “The Reeling,” and “Little Secrets.” The above video is “Sleepy Head” and the others are posted below. “Little Secrets” is especially fine.
