Episode028: MP3/Feed\Archive
Previous: Episode027 - Fool's Gold
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♬Liner Notes♬: Another week of amazing new music from some bands I've seen live and some bands I'm about to miss seeing live... Trying to get back on track with doing voiceovers for the show, even if they aren't being made live (for now!). This week has return visits from Beth Orton, Tilly and the Wall, Taken By Trees and Thee Oh Sees plus so much more including Prince... that's right, fucking Prince! So let's Pump Up Tha Volume!
White Arrows
"Get Gone"
'Dry Land Is Not A Myth'
Votiv, 2012
Note: The AV Club says that "while the Los Angeles group’s debut may benefit from good timing, Dry Land Is Not A Myth subtly guides the trend rather than following it. Striking a well-balanced blend of electronic, rock, and global instrumentation, and relying on easily digestible dance-friendly rhythms, the album never feels like forced experimentation."
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The Crystal Ark
"Morir Sonando"
'The Crystal Ark'
DFA, 2012
Note: Fact Magazine notes that "The ex-LCD Soundsystem member [Gavin Russom] re-teams with Viva Ruiz for a self-titled Crystal Ark album. The Crystal Ark began when Russom asked Ruiz to write and sing Spanish lyrics over a pair of hypnotic Afro-Latin instrumentals."
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Wax Tailor
"Time to Go (feat. Aloe Blacc)"
'Dusty Rainbow From the Dark'
Le Plan, 2012
Note: MXDWN says "Dusty Rainbow from the Dark is the fourth album released by French DJ/producer Jean-Christophe Le Saoût under the moniker Wax Tailor, and is his most ambitious to date. A concept album, it will bring you back to sitting on the floor of your childhood room, reading a story book along with the record player. The only thing missing is the unmistakable chime indicating it’s time to turn the page."
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Night Moves
"Country Queen"
'Colored Emotions'
Domino, 2012
Note: Prefix Mag says that "When it comes to alt-country, it's hard to top that perfect mix of slide guitar and golden vocals. Night Moves offer up plenty of both on this new single from their upcoming debut record Colored Emotions. With a stomping build, a depth of space, and a killer finish that pits it above and beyond your standard Americana fare, "Country Queen" is a promising taste from a bright young band--think Antlers heights saddled with Wilco twang." Damn, they're coming to town with two-time PUTV band Lord Huron, but that's yet another show I can't go to...
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Beth Orton
"Call Me the Breeze"
'Sugaring Season'
ANTI-, 2012
Note: For the second week in a row, Beth Orton appears on PUTV with another track from her new Portland, Oregon-recorded album, 'Sugaring Season'. And, no, this track is not J.J. Cale's... NPR says "Beth Orton made her name by setting her lovely folk-music musings to modern beats in a genre inevitably dubbed "folktronica." But Orton's sixth album, Sugaring Season — out Oct. 2, it's produced with characteristic delicacy by Tucker Martine — eschews electric instrumentation, instead recasting its star as a modern practitioner of classic English folk a la Pentangle. If anything on Sugaring Season finds its way onto a dance remix, it'll involve a particularly imaginative sample."
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The Limiñanas
"Salvation"
'Crystal Anis'
Hozac, 2012
Note: Song source KEXP says that "Although the garage-pop duo The Limiñanas hail from France, their influences are clearly American, with hints of ’60s pop and psychedelia trademarks resonating deeply in their vintage sound... Built around a haunting keyboard riff and tambourine-inflected drums, “Salvation” is like a dark version of the Ronettes: eerie, hook-heavy and utterly convicting."
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Freelance Whales
"Spitting Image"
'Diluvia'
Mom + Pop/Frenchkiss, 2012
Note: Consequence of Sound says about the band's new lineup: "In the album’s favor, the five-piece have made a strong leap in the complexity and ambition of their arrangements. While there is little original about their sound, prior similarities to The Postal Service and Sufjan Stevens are slightly muted on this effort. The songs sprawl, taking time to build satisfying crescendos, from the delicate dance of wordless vocal harmonization on opener “Aeolus”, to the successful marriage of their beloved banjo and glockenspiel to a synthesizer lead and lush string orchestration on the album’s highlight, “Spitting Image”." I saw Freelance Whales open up for the Shout Out Louds at the Doug Fir in 2009.
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Larry Graham and GCS
"Shoulda Coulda Woulda" (w/ Prince)
'Raise Up'
Razor & Tie, 2012
Note: "Larry Graham, Jr. is an American bass guitar player, both with the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. He is credited with the invention of the slapping technique, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass, although he himself refers to the technique as "Thumpin' and Pluckin'.""
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Tilly and the Wall
"All Kinds of Guns"
'Heavy Mood'
Team Love, 2012
Note: Wikipedia notes "Tilly and the Wall is an indie pop group from Omaha, Nebraska. Their name originated from a children's book called Tillie and the Wall, written by Leo Lionni. They are particularly noted for having a tap dancer, Jamie Pressnall, instead of a drummer." Tilly and the Wall gave Episode026 its title track "Heavy Mood".
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Taken By Trees
"Dreams"
'Other Worlds'
Secretly Canadian, 2012
Note: Again, Wikipedia says "Taken by Trees is the solo project of Victoria Bergsman, former lead singer for the Concretes... In October 2012, Bergsman's 3rd studio album, Other Worlds, inspired by a trip to Hawaii, was released." Taken By Trees was on PUTV Episode026.
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Pacific Air
"Float"
'Long Live Ko Ko' EP
Republic, 2012
Note: MTV's Hive is streaming the whole EP and they say that "The upbeat whistling and click-clack percussion that opens “Float” are deceptive. Even though the track, which kicks off SoCal indie-pop duo Pacific Air’s debut EP, LONG LIVE KOKO, has an uplifting air about it, band member and the song’s vocalist says it was born of another emotion. “‘Float’ focuses on the struggles of success and whether you need it,” says Ryan Lawhon, who’s made money writing jingles and commercials. “It’s about the toll the ups and downs that the music industry can create it took on my psyche. I wrote that when I was in a lull and it felt right.”"
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Letting Up Despite Great Faults
"Postcard"
'Untogether'
New Words, 2012
Note: Again, good 'ol Wikipedia says "Letting Up Despite Great Faults is an Indiepop/Electro/Shoegaze music act founded by Los Angeles native Mike Lee, who currently resides with the rest of the band in Austin, TX. Pitchfork has dubbed them "shoegaze-y indie pop.""
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Bora York
"Close Your Eyes"
'Dreaming Free'
self-released, 2012
Note: The Current says about this Minneapolis' duo"Bora York is ridiculously promising for being so early in their career. You know when you hear something and you have that “Ah-ha!” moment? It seems that a lot of people are having the same reaction to the band’s debut single, “Close Your Eyes.” The husband-wife duo of Chris and Rebekah Bartels are prepping the release of debut album, Dreaming Free. And it certainly is a dreamy affair, invoking M83 in many respects with the two voices interlocking into soaring harmonies."
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Thee Oh Sees
"So Nice"
'Putrifiers II'
In The Red, 2012
Note: Making their second appearance on PUTV, the AV Club says that "For more than a decade, John Dwyer and Thee Oh Sees catered to a specific niche: the fertile crescent where rowdy garage punk, classic ’60s pop, and hard-drugs psychedelia intersect... “So Nice”...slightly tweak[s] the acid-to-hooks ratio for a more inviting and a more spaced-out sound".
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Noddy
"Carpet Maker"
'Yes on 74'
self-released, 2012
Note: Their own Bandcamp page says that "Noddy began as an 8-bit project from Seattle's tortured pop prince Jared Mills. Ready-made for the dance party in a basement near you, with songs that only need to be heard once to get lodged in the heart/brain."
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@PumpUpThaVolume Music News:
I just bought: 'True' by @Violens on #vinyl via @amazon
33 rpm LP innovator Howard H. Scott, RIP
Wow, can't believe it took me this long to get turned on to the @klaxons!
Hey, I saw @whitearrows open for @thosedarlins at the @bunkbar here in portland last year! Thanks 4 the fav and welcome to @PumpUpThaVolume!
Russian punk group @pussy_riot is getting more flak from Russian President, Vladimir Putin
Jay-Z says Kurt Cobain 'stopped' hip hop
Sacha Baron Cohen's Freddie Mercury biopic has been pushed back to 2014, Brian May confirms
Watch @LanaDelRey's 10-minute "Ride" video with SPIN writer @chrismartwits' excellent recounting of its LA premiere
Watch @TheRaveonettes' new videos for the acoustic versions of “She Owns the Street” and “The Enemy”
(Thanks again to @TheUdog, @KEXP, @KCRW, @TheCurrent and you!)
