Episode045 - While I'm Alive

Episode045 - While I'm Alive
"♫Makin' a soundtrack for another planet to hear♫" on @PumpUpThaVolume! Episode045 - While I'm Alive was recorded at the home studios of MediaMonarchy.com and features brand new #SongOfTheDay sounds from Jenny O, Night Beds, Shugo Tokumaru, Bomba Estéreo, Adam Green and Binki Shapiro, Daughter, Thao and The Get Down Stay Down, Day, BRONCHO, Eels, The Staves, Junip, Aby Wolf and Starfucker... because it can't be news and politics all the time!

Episode045: MP3/Feed\Archive

Previous: Episode044 - Never Enough

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♬Liner Notes♬: Like I said last week - if you can find a more well-rounded, boundary-busting, cutting edge batch of music from all around the world - then please tell me about it! This week we've got brand new music from Jenny O, Daughter, Day and more - old tracks bubbling up by Junip and BRONCHO + return visits from Aby Wolf, Thao And The Get Down Stay Down, Adam Green and Binki Shapiro ... Now let's kick back, put our headphones on (and your winter clothes if you're on the poor east coast) and Pump Up Tha Volume!

Jenny O
"Learned My Lesson"
'Automechanic'
Holy Trinity, 2013
Note: "Jenny O. had a banner year in 2012 when songs from her EP were licensed for popular television shows, commercials and films. Now she is releasing Automechanic, her debut full length, which channels the sounds of SoCal in the mid-70's, in part thanks to producer/guitar hero Jonathan Wilson." Meanwhile, back in September, Boing Boing said "The new album is called Automechanic and though Jenny has been courted by record labels large and small, she opted to put it out on her own imprint, Holy Trinity, on February 5th. There’s a purity and a fire to Jenny O. that I find irresistible. Her almost child-like voice is an evocative counterpoint to the confidence and complexity of her music."
(More Info)

Night Beds
"Ramona"
'Country Sleep'
Dead Oceans, 2013
Note: The Hear Ya blog says "Night Beds is 23 y/o Winston Yellen who hasn’t had the most traditional path to a debut LP on one of the best labels in Dead Oceans. In the last 5 years or so, he has dropped out of school, self-released 3 rudimentary EPs, bounced around from state to state living out of his hatchback. Taking out a loan, Yellen rented an out-of-town, pre-civil war home in the woods that was previously owned by the late Johnny Cash and June Carter."
(More Info)

Shugo Tokumaru
"Katachi"
'In Focus?'
Polyvinyl, 2012
Note: Song source KCRW says that "Each song on Japanese multi-instrumentalist Shugo Tokumaru's new CD, In Focus?, employs no less than 20 instruments, all of which he performs himself. They all contribute to an imaginative album where he sets his inner child free."
(More Info)

Bomba Estéreo
"Pure Love"
'Elegancia Tropical'
Soundway, 2013
Note: Song source KEXP says their new, third album "embraces Afro-Colombian influences into their looping, frenetic cultural mix. After a series of loops build during the intro, “Pure Love” places Saumet’s commanding vocals arrive front and center, instructing the world to come together in musical harmony and dance." And I have to say, I liked this song more and more the longer it went on.
(More Info)

Adam Green and Binki Shapiro
"Just To Make Me Feel Good"
'Adam Green and Binki Shapiro'
Rounder, 2013
Note: Last heard on Episode040 with their track "Here I Am", the Lee & Nancy throwback return to PUTV with the real single off of their self-titled debut. Pitchfork says "If you didn't know otherwise, you'd swear that Moldy Peach Adam Green and Little Joy vocalist (and sometime Beck collaborator) Binki Shapiro's self-titled album of duets was a collection of covers... It's safe to say that the sweet, simple luxuries of romantic 1960s pop will forever more be mined in some capacity, making the line between flattery and forgery a very fine one."
(More Info)

Daughter
"Smother"
'Smother/Run' single
Glassnote, 2013
Note: Pretty Much Amazing says "The word you were looking for here is “sweeping” – Tonra and her band effortlessly craft a slow, swelling build from tender guitar and piano chords into a massive, heart-rendering catharsis moment that might make your eyes a little misty. We’re blown away by Tonra’s songwriting – at just 21, she’s crafted a piece of absolutely breathtaking balladry." This track was also recently featured on 'The Vampire Diaries' TV show.
(More Info)

Thao and The Get Down Stay Down
"We The Common (For Valerie Bolden)"
'We the Common'
Ribbon, 2013
Note: Last heard with the "Holy Roller" title track to Episode040, the San Fran band returns to PUTV with the title track to their own album. Paste Magazine says "'We The Common' is a good time. It’s a completely painless, mood-lifting listen. I’m no doctor (and apparently my journalism degree doesn’t mean much anyway) but given the gray February reality outside your window today, I heartily recommend a dose or two of this album for a boost. I dare you to not let it help." But I don't know who Valerie Bolden is though...
(More Info)

Day
"Mama Shelter"
'Land of 1000 Chances'
PL70, 2013
Note: OkayPlayer says "This ain’t for everyone, but if you’re into good music, then you’ll like this. Day aka DJ Day just dropped this new jawn “Mama Shelter,” set to appear on his sophomore album, Land of 1000 Chances. The song references the famous hotel in Paris, France as well as the travels worldwide that helped shape this LP. Don’t waste your time trying to categorize the sound, just enjoy this shit... Land of 1000 Chances will be out February 12th via Thes One’s PL70 imprint."
(More Info)

BRONCHO
"Try Me Out Sometime"
'Can't Get Past The Lips'
self-released, 2011
Note: Song source KEXP says "“It’s not nostalgia, it’s natural,” says BRONCHO bassist Jonathan Ford, referring to the Oklahoma City band’s undeniably 70′s sound. The side-project of Starlight Mints keyboardist Ryan Lindsay, BRONCHO adheres to an style and work ethic highly reminiscent of punk forefathers, a comparison the band embraces with reverence and respect with the addendum that it’s anything but a tribute and all about the attitude. In control and in total style, their 10-song debut album clocks in at barely over 20 minutes in triumphant celebration of the foundations of the really loud and especially fast."
(More Info)

Eels
"New Alphabet/On The Ropes"
'Wonderful, Glorious'
E Works/Vagrant, 2013
Note: The second single from the 10th studio album from the long-running group. "The new Eels album, Wonderful Glorious, dropped this week on Vagrant Records, offering fans various packaging options, including a double 10-inch orange vinyl configuration. A world tour kicks off on February 14th in Santa Ana, California... The definition of Eels, as a band, has remained a fluid concept centered on the whims of singer-songwriter Mark Oliver Everett (a.k.a. "E") as they've unfolded over the past 17 years." But that's not all! We've also got another track off of 'Wonderful, Glorious' from another #SongOfTheDay source!
(More Info)

The Staves
"The Motherlode"
'Dead & Born & Gone'
Warner Bros. UK, 2012
Note: "2012 debut album from folk-rock trio The Staves. The album is produced with Glyn and Ethan Johns, who have worked with a plethora of huge artists from past and present between them, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, as well as the likes of The Vaccines, Kings of Leon and Kaiser Chiefs. The Staves are three sisters from Watford who share vocal duties in addition to some contributions on guitar and ukelele."
(More Info)

Junip
"Line Of Fire"
'Junip'
Mute, 2013
Note: Pitchfork says that this Swedish band recently "announced the follow-up to 2010's Fields. Now, here's the first taste of their upcoming self-titled album, out April 23 via Mute."
(More Info)

Aby Wolf
"Brave Boy" single
self-released, 2013
Note: Last heard waay back on Episode003 under the names A. Wolf And Her Claws, Minneapolis singer/songwriter/collaborator returns with a new single.
(More Info)

Starfucker
"While I'm Alive"
'Miracle Mile'
Polyvinyl, 2013
Note: Ah, yes, we get to wrap up with one of Portland's best new-ish bands: Starfucker (or STRFKR if you're not nasty!) Exclaim says that "Following Starfucker's hefty 2011 tour schedule in support of their Reptilians LP, the Portland-based synth-pop partiers tucked themselves away in early 2012 to record a follow-up. That set has now been titled Miracle Mile, and it will arrive through Polyvinyl Records on February 19... The 15-song cycle supposedly features songs initially plotted out on a European tour and long van rides, with highlights said to include the disco-y "Atlantis" and the swagger-filled opener "While I'm Alive"..."
(More Info)

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@PumpUpThaVolume Music News:
#SoundcloudSingles: "Only Tomorrow" http://soundcloud.com/pumpupthavolume/only-tomorrow … on #SoundCloud
Grammys 2013: who should win the categories you actually care about
#Sasquatch 2013 Lineup Announced http://prettymuchamazing.com/news/sasquatch-2013-lineup-announced … and it looks pretty damn sweet... Arctic Monkeys, Cake, Postal Service, Sigur Rós, etc
My Bloody Valentine's mbv is the first perfect album of 2013
Sub Pop announces Record Store Day compilation, sort of announces the label's 25th birthday party
@surferblood Are Vunerable and Euphoric on 'Pythons' http://mtvhv.com/VH1Erd We check in with JP Pitts about the band's major label debut
Download the rousing XRT classic, “Let The Day Begin” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
School of Seven Bells' Benjamin Curtis diagnosed with cancer
The Rise, Demise, And Legacy Of @TheMarsVolta

(Thanks again to @KEXP, @KCRW, @TheCurrent and you!)