Canada is very big right now. Despite the fact that their Winter Olympics lacked snow, and their women’s curling team choked in the gold medal game, they got a ton of positive international exposure. My guess is that British Columbia will have a bunch of new folks coming to visit in the next few months, and hopefully they’ll take the opportunity to check out the local music. One of the bands they should really see is Vancouver-based quintet Said the Whale.
Read the rest of this entry »
You are currently browsing the archive for the Spotlight category.
Funk. I can’t think of another musical genre where the name so accurately and succinctly describes what it is. You can try to use other words to describe it, but none of them really fit. When it’s done right the only word that truly encapsulates the music is “funky”. If you don’t know what that means, just listen to The Bamboos and you’ll get it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Music, like fashion and politics, goes in cycles. What was once popular, having faded out of fashion, will likely make its way back to the forefront at some point. But when it comes back it has usually mutated, changed itself in the long journey from obscurity. The new musicians add bits and pieces of other things that have come along since it was first popular, and the end result is something that looks an awful lot like what you remembered, but has changed just enough to be interesting again. Progress is made. The new style that has been created will fade, only to come back later as something new. The cycle begins again.
What does this have to do with Mighty Tiger? They have managed to add a contribution to this cycle, this evolutionary process. They take sunny 60s pop, with it’s simple structures and cheery sound, and add some 80s synths and other eclectic modern elements. The results is something new, but comfortable, like a brand new pair of jeans that’s almost exactly like your favorite old pair of jeans. Or just something fun to listen to.
Read the rest of this entry »
Frank Fairfield may well be the best evidence we have that time travel is not only possible, but has already sent folks to us from the past. He looks, sounds, acts, and dresses like a Depression-era blues man, yet he’s a young man living in LA. His music sounds like it should come from a scratchy 78, not an iPod, yet if it wasn’t for YouTube and the internet nobody would have heard of him. While many musicians immerse themselves in a genre, then add a modern twist to it, Fairfield seems intent on keeping a genre alive, exactly as it was. And he’s doing a damn good job of it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Part soul, part funk, part punk, The Heavy is all good. The Bath, England, band mashes all of those influences into a thick paste of awesome. They feature searing horns, crunching riffs, and powerful vocals.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes a band catches you by surprise with their music. You hear a song on the radio, on the internet, or in a tv show, and you’re hooked. Other times a friend, author, or website will refer you to a band. These are both relatively normal ways to hear about a band and come to appreciate their music, but they’re not the only ways. In rare cases it’s something else that turns you onto a great band. Sometimes you’re trolling random eastern European message boards looking for bands when a name catches your eye. Since the page is in a language you can’t understand you don’t know anything about them except their name. But what a name it is. So you look them up, track down some videos on YouTube, listen to some music, and you’re hooked. This is precisely how I found The Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir.
Read the rest of this entry »
They formed in New York, named themselves after a Canadian province, recorded in Austin, and are led by a couple of Brits. Maybe that’s why their sound is hard to pin down. Alberta Cross released their first album last year, and it’s a great mix of influences and styles.
Read the rest of this entry »
I love bands that are throwbacks to other eras of music. Whether they’re modern takes on bluegrass or blues, it’s always interesting to see what happens when musicians who have grown up with a lot of influences apply themselves to something older and fuse those influences with it. It doesn’t always work, but it’s usually interesting. The folks who make up The Del Moroccos come from musical backgrounds that range from rockabilly to surf to ska to jazz, and they bring elements of all of them to their particular brand of 50’s R&B and soul.
Read the rest of this entry »
If you were try to create a perfect woman, a la Weird Science, the end result might just be Abbe May. Why? She’s Australian, so she’s got a cool accent. She’s a badass guitarist. She’s got a voice that sound like it came straight from a stack of blues 78s from the 30s. She’s got all the attitude you could ever want. She even plays the ukulele! In age of manufactured pop stars it’s a crime that Abbe’s not a bigger star. But that’s ok, listen up and she’ll be our little secret.
Read the rest of this entry »
If you’ve been following Sunday Music Spotlight you may have caught on to the fact that I like bands that are unusual in some way. They may be from far-off places, have odd collections of members, or play music that’s outdated, off-kilter, or some kind of mix of genres. In the case of Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club they’ve got a little bit of all of those things going on, so they’re a natural fit for the spotlight. The music they play is a little Tom Waits, a little Squirrel Nut Zippers, a little Otis Redding, and a little circus band. The bands members go by names like Dr. Nebulous, Spicy Mudbug, and Buzz Wilde. And they’re Irish, but don’t worry, they’re nothing like U2.
Read the rest of this entry »
