Five Songs, two with clips attached.

Merchandise

Enemy video

While there are dark images of people being tortured and other horrific images, the video in the main, shot in black and white, is terrific.  The band performs the song in a theater, while everything else is happening all around them. The music is the best of early Roxy Music, or maybe the Psych Furs of Talk, Talk, Talk. Either way, it’s more than worth checking out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YTCDsRQ4jw&feature=youtu.be

Fences Arrows, Featuring Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Official lyric video

Arrows is a great pop band, and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are the best rappers out there. The clip is fun to watch, with images of the lyrics as arty as possible. It’s another one to check out, especially if you’re a fan like I am.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9yv9TcQoww&feature=youtu.be

Lace Curtains

Wilshire and Fairfax

This song from Michael "Coomers" Coomer , is quite different than what he did with Austin, TX band Harlem. Harlem was garage rock; this is straightforward pop. It’s very good, dreamy music, perfect for winding down from a late night.

https://soundcloud.com/rosecoomers/wilshire-and-fairfax

Smallpools

Dreaming single

This is straightforward, very bouncy synth pop.  If you like Passion Pit, you’ll like this song even more.  No angst, just pop you can dance to.

https://soundcloud.com/smallpools/smallpools-dreaming

Sophie and the Bom Boms

Prey single

This would sound good on the dance floor, but it’s also good for just plain listening.  The best pop is more than just dance music.  You enjoy listening to it.  It’s bouncy mainstream pop, better than most of this type, and while it’s rare that I connect with this type of music, when I do, it’s a thrill.  You’ll thrill, too, if you check this out.

https://soundcloud.com/sophieandthebbs/pray

Andrea Weiss

CO in Philly

Camera Obscura

World Café Live 7-19-14

Laura Cantrell, who I recall seeing at a folk song society in Hightstown, NJ called Outta Sights and Sounds, was the opening act. Her blend of Americana, folk, and indie folk was pitch perfect.  With a friend for extra musical punch, their guitars, acoustic, and, on few numbers, lap steel, produced for a sound that was punchier and purer than indie folk and the neo folk of Mumford, his Sons, and extended family. And the Kitty Wells songs were just the right touch of old-time country. 

                                                             

Camera Obscura plays very quiet, nuanced, finely detailed indie rock, with flashes of the Brill Building for spice.  I love them dearly, but had never seen them live, and wondered how their sound would translate to the stage. I wondered no more after the first song.  By beefing up their hushed sound with an extra guitarist, percussion, and a keyboard player, their masterpieces, old and new, came across with the same tension and grit, that they use so well on disk. Tracyanne Campbell’s barbed lyrics came across clearly, and she never had to raise her voice to quiet the crowd, which like all club crowds, likes to chatter.  Campbell came across as friendly and sweet, much the way I’d imagined from Camera’s albums.

                                                                  

The band is on a tour of the Eastern US.  Their current album came out last year.  Tracyanne and another member, Gavin Dunbar, each took time for maternity and paternity leave, and now they’re back at work.  I strongly recommend catching them if you can.  They are a treat to see, hear, and thrill to.  

https://www.facebook.com/CameraObscuraMusic

Andrea Weiss

Incan Abraham

Incan Abraham

World Café Live

Philadelphia 6-17-14

WC Live, almost too clean and comfortable for a rock supper club, is an extension of WXPN, Philly’s non-com AAA radio station.

Incan Abraham, an indie rock band from L.A., played at the upstairs bar of WC Live. IA didn’t disappoint.  Their sound is reminiscent of the Shins, and while the audience was small, they played as though the place was sold out.  Their blend of indie and so/cal rock was perfect for a late spring evening.

Afterward, I talked a bit with the band members.  These nice guys put on a show that was the highlight of the week for me.

https://www.facebook.com/incanabraham

Andrea Weiss

Rollercoaster

Bleachers

Rollercoaster single

This band has a hint of 80s retro in.  I could see this song being a big hit on MTV.  I’m glad there are more guitars than synths here.  This is pretty good pop/rock and I'd like to hear more.   It's just right for summertime music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmUw1MmIYvU

Andrea Weiss

Slaptop

Slaptop

Sunrise single

This is eletronica/techno with a hint of disco, which makes it extra danceable and extra fun to hear. It reminds me of Daft Punk’s get Lucky, and moves as well as that song did.  So get moving to it! https://soundcloud.com/slaptop/sunrise

Andrea Weiss

Amatorski

Amatorski

From Clay to Figures

Crammed Disks

Here's a new band from Belgium with dreamy electronica, and good, thoughtful lyrics that are also just as dreamy as the music.  This is my favorite type of ambient electronica, especially because they use pianos and acoustic guitars on some of the tracks.  So if you’re a fan of this sort of music, try this band.  You’ll be rewarded with a great debut. https://www.facebook.com/amatorski

Andrea Weiss

Fucked Up

Glass Boys

Matador

With Chemistry of Common Life, hardcore as progressive rock. With David Comes To Life, hardcore on a grand, rock opera scale. And now, with Glass Boys, this is hardcore as adult rock at its best.  With content galore, this is one of the best and smartest hardcore bands around.

The theme here is to look at life as an adult, and how your perspective changes as you get older. It’s a theme that hasn’t really been sung about before, as rock is still of the “hope I die before I get old,” stance.  But Fucked Up always has to do things their way, with wonderful results. I love this album for its wisdom, its maturity, and for how easy it is to transform a youthful style, into something adult, and still rock as hard as you can.

The guitars slash and burn.  Damian Abraham sings like he’s figured things out, even though he knows he hasn’t.  The four drum kits beef up the beat.  If you order the vinyl version of the album, you get a download of an alternate version with one drum kit played at half speed.  It’s very interesting to hear the drums played like this, although I have to say I prefer the four-to-one drum kit.  Sandy Miranda’s bass playing is excellent.

If hardcore isn’t your style, think again. This is head and shoulders above most in that genre. If you feel too old for it, think again. I’m 51, and felt extra youthful as I listened. You’re never too young to hear this album because someday you’ll need the wisdom and fire of this band.  And if you just want some good punk rock, look no further than Glass Boys. http://fuckedup.cc/home/ And check out the video about the mtivations behind the album. 

Andrea Weiss