Pontiak is a trio out of Virginia. They are set to release their newest album Echo Ono with Thrill Jockey on February 21st. Their style is a blend of several different genres. No matter how you try to clasify them, psych, stoner rock, prog rock, they are simply a great rock band.

“Lions of Least”, the song provided below for your listening/downloading pleasure, has everything that makes a great rock ‘n’ roll song. Loud guitar, loud vocals, pounding drums, and a great driving bass line. This song is just a taste of  how good this entire album is, I highly recommend going out and picking it up.

Pontiak – Lions of Least from Echo Ono (2012)

Thrill Jockey

Pontiak

Hospitality are an indie pop trio out of Brooklyn, NY. They released their first full-length, self-titled album on Merge Records last week. This album is catchy as hell, and has been on constant rotation since I received it. The two songs we’ve included below are a mere example of how good this album is. “Friends of Friends” and “Betty Wang” are pure pop gold. Full of fuzz, some surf guitar, and just the right amount of punch. But what really makes these songs stand out, and really the entire album, is Vocalist Amber Papini’s unique style. She sings with a slight English accent. According to Merge, Amber is from Kansas City and learned to sing by imitating Richard Butler on The Psychedelic Furs’ Talk Talk Talk. Enjoy.

Hospitality – Friends of Friends from S/T (2012)

Hospitality – Betty Wang from S/T (2012)

PIA5e4esp1g

Merge

The weather has finally started to turn to winter out here in Utah, with plenty more cold and gray days to come. I’m glad that I just stumbled onto Bears new single, “Eleven a.m.”, from their forthcoming album Greater Lakes, to be released February 14 on Misra Records. I’ve listened to the song several times now and have found that their warm pop melodies are a perfect remedy for the winter blahs.

Bears – Eleven a.m. from Greater Lakes (2012)

www.misrarecords.com

www.bearspop.com

Nada Surf will release their sixth album, The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy, on January 24. Below is a track from their upcoming album for your listening pleasure. Be sure to catch them on tour, and go out and buy their new album on the 24th.

Nada Surf – When I Was Young from The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy (2012)

www.nadasurf.com

www.barsuk.com

I love being on the prowl for new music, scouring the web, looking for one of the thousands of musical gems that are out there hiding in cyberspace. I hang out in the WOXY Lives room at turntable.fm quite a bit, I have found this place to be a great place to hear new stuff and talk with people who have similar musical tastes. This is where I first heard The Barr Brothers. I don’t remember which song was played, I just remember having the “I have to check these guys out” moment. I am sure glad that I did.

Founded in Montreal, Quebec, The Barr Brothers are a four-piece folk band comprised of brothers Andrew, and Brad Barr on drums and guitar, with Sarah Page on the harp, and Andres Vial on keys, bass, vibes, and percussion. Their self-titled debut came out in September of 2011, it is a must have. Secret City provided us with two songs for your listening/downloading pleasure. Enjoy these tracks, then go out and buy their album.

The Barr Brothers – Beggar In The Morning from S/T (2011)

The Barr Brothers – Give The Devil Back His Heart from S/T (2011)

The Barr Brothers

Secret City Records

It’s a Wednesday night, we are 4 days away from 2012 and the end of the world, my wife and kids are playing Rock Band in the background and I am searching through all the music that I’ve acquired this year trying to find any hidden gems that didn’t get enough attention when originally purchased. One of those gems is Austin, Texas 3-piece band Love Inks. They describe their sound as “minimalist dream-pop”, using just an electric guitar, bass guitar, and a drum machine, along with the simple, yet satisfying vocals of Sherry LeBlanc.

The songs below are great examples of their minimalist ways. While Love Inks isn’t the most musically or lyrically complicated band out there, their brand of pop music grabs hold of you, and before you know it you’re nodding your head and have listened to these songs several times and you don’t know where the last hour of your life went.

Love Inks – Blackeye from E.S.P (2011)

Love Inks – Leather Glove from E.S.P (2011)

Many a night I will lie in bed with my headphones on, listening to music to help me fall asleep. The other night I was listening to a collaborative woxy.com playlist on Spotify trying to relax and hopefully fall asleep. That hope of sleep was destroyed when “Multi Caliber Rifles” from French Miami started playing through my headphones. The angular guitar riffs mixed with throbbing synths, somewhat reminiscent of Fugazi, made me take notice. Why hadn’t I heard this before?

From what I can find about these guys, they formed in 2006 in San Francisco and now reside in Brooklyn, NY. They released their self-titled debut in 2009 and followed that up with an EP Motor Skills last year. According to their website they are recording a new album now. The songs included below offer a heavy dose of synth and jangly, finger-tapping guitar grooves for your listening pleasure. Enjoy.

French Miami – Motor Skills from Motor Skills (2010)

French Miami – Suge Knight from Motor Skills (2010)

French Miami – Science Fiction from S/T (2009)

For years music critics have loved to handicap grown-folk-music-performed-by-young-folk. It’s as though the younger a musician is, the more forgiving we should be of their songwriting (remember Ben Lee?). With that, I won’t even mention Jesse Futerman’s age because his deep, soulful music speaks for itself. The Toronto-based producer has been building a following through his SoundCloud mixes and finally pulled together an EP you can download for free here. I can’t tell if it’s the seasoned groove or the painfully short playing time of these tracks that leaves me yearning for more. Either way, I hope to hear from Jesse again soon.

Driva’man from Super Basement (2011)

jessefuterman.bandcamp.com
soundcloud.com/jessefuterman
www.juslikemusicrecords.com/

Here’s a glimpse into the highly structured publishing process that powers 3hive: if one of us wants to call dibs on an artist we create a draft post in WordPress. As you might imagine I’m notorious among the more active authors for squatting on bands way too long. I swear I posted about Library Voices back in August but Sean sternly pointed out that the only thing I did in August is prevent anyone else from doing so.

Library Voices are a seven-piece outfit from Regina, Saskatchewan. The warm, spunky pop on their second album, Summer of Lust, belies the fact it was recorded in the deep cold of Canadian winter. There’s a lot to love here – bouncy rhythms, swirling synths, saxophone accents, swelling harmonies – but the lyrics, rich with literary and cultural references, pay dividends with repeat listens. Where else can you find yourself drumming on the steering wheel and singing along to a skewering of Canadian PM Stephen Harper’s cuts to arts funding? Or an homage to Miles Davis and Juliette Gréco’s tragic romance? Or a Gen Y take on the short stories of Raymond Carver? (I’m guessing that last one is why Sean was bummed I was sitting on this post for so long.)

As good as those tracks are, I’ll let you discover them on your own. Turns out Library Voices write their best lyrics when they’re not trying to be topical. I leave you with one of the best pop songs I’ve heard all year…

Generation Handclap from Summer of Lust (2011)

www.summeroflust.tumblr.com
libraryvoices.com
facebook.com/libraryvoices
www.myspace.com/thelibraryvoices
www.dinealonerecords.com

Attempting to review music while your wife and son are jamming to The Beatles Rockband is like making a suicide at a fountain dispenser–taking a hit from each flavor of soda you get a little taste of this, a little taste of that, but it’s all really just a blur. Not the ideal situation to be sure. I’m gonna go get my headphones….ah, that’s much better.

Kono Michi is a concert violinist with a beautiful voice and a knack for writing interesting songs. And excuse the blasphemy I’m about to embark on, but I find her voice warmer and more pleasant than that of Annie Clark’s (St. Vincent). If that’s even possible!

Violins open her track “My Monster,” then her vocals glide in, the strings drop out and a slow drumbeat thunders in. And like that you’re hooked. A deep male voice rolls in with the violin again, la-la-la-la-la-ing along, and the song kind of turns into a duet between Kono Michi and the monster on the cover. He sounds like a gentle fellow, and like she sings in the song, as long as they’re singing along, they’re getting along. Maybe a good relationship healer. Feeling sour towards your partner? Sing a song or two together!

If you’re not yet moved to give Kono Michi a try, then check out the video for “You are the First.” It’s a DIY stop-motion effort in which Kono Michi, a Brooklynite, traveled 6,000 miles across the country photographing herself jumping in the air so it looks as if she’s floating around. If that doesn’t mesmerize you for a few minutes, then you’re a sad, jaded soul and I feel for you…

My Monster [MP3]
You are the First [MP3]

www.konomichimusic.com
www.sharkbatter.com