It’s certainly no coincidence that many of the melancholic and dreamy strands of the American indie set make their homes far away from the sun belt. What better way to fill in the long winters and gray springs than by stretching out your vocals and music until it cuts through the stillness with…pretty stillness? Portland, Maine’s Seekonk conjure delicate longing with mandolin and vibes on “Love,†and elsewhere Sarah Ramey’s vocals wrap around you like a blanket (especially on “Air,†which as yet is only available on MySpace). Yes, summer is on its way, and though Seekonk finds its muse in the snowy north, the life it evokes sounds good in all seasons.
The Black Heart Procession
It might be strange to think of The Black Heart Procession as offering up a summer song, but “Not Just Words” feels like that kind of anthem, one that will bring a little light to the breezy summer nights. But if you’re not going for that and you just want to listen to them in your bedroom with nobody else around, just be sure to put on your headphones—BHP songs are still meant to feel bigger than their surroundings, and they still do.
Radiogram
In trying to decide what to post this morning, I asked Tim O. a few questions. 1) Australian or Canadian? 2) Boy singer or boy & girl singers? 3) “Radiogram” or “Horse Stories”? Radiogram took two of three (boy & girl singers and name, obviously) but I think I’ll post both.
Radiogram’s sound reminds me a bit of Blanche, the first band I ever posted here at 3hive.com. Country noir with a lot of texture, from Vancouver this time instead of Detroit — doesn’t it seem like half the bands we’ve posted this year are Canadian? Check out “Summer Song Summer” for an example of Radiogram’s pleasant if not uplifting calm (“My idea of a perfect day / would be to lie in bed and just pass away.”)
Soltero
Life has been good lately, (especially if you don’t pay attention to anything related to domestic or international politics). Just last night, Tim O. was talking about how he went to buy some cd’s at the record store — Alligator by The National and the new Rainer Maria album — and not only are they his new favorite spins, but the store gave him a mystery discount too. I feel the same way, in finding The National and Soltero within just the last few weeks. With Soltero, it’s like I’ve been listening to Tim Howard’s catchy, pretty, ultra-intelligent, Billy Bragg-Lou Barlow-inspired pop gems for my whole entire life. Start at the bottom, maybe with “Communist Love Song,” or in the middle with anything at all off of the Defrocked and Kicking the Habit album, or with the full-band, newest tracks at the top, it doesn’t matter. It’s all that good. And hey, Ya-Wen: Thank you, thank you, thank you for the suggestion!
Absinthe Glow
Thanks to Greg for suggesting Absinthe Glow, a band often compared to late 3hive fan favorite Elliott Smith. Chill out music, early morning music, music for the long drive, for the late late night alone, for looking out the window. This is anti-punk rock provided by Scott from the punk band The Fairlanes, and a new album’s worth should be forthcoming shortly.
Candy Bars
TAKE 5 and enjoy this BOUNTY from the Candy Bars. These 3 MUSKETEERS are pretty M-AZING considering the sounds they TWIX from their instruments. A TART-N-TINY SYMPHONY. OH HENRY! you’ll say to yourself. This is the best thing I’ve heard from Florida lately BAR NONE. And don’t SNICKER but they look good too: Daniel and Ryan are BIG HUNKS, and Melissa is a DOVE. LOOK! U-NO you and your friends will be GOOD & PLENTY pleased to have this album. When May ROLO’s around and you SKOR on PAYDAY be sure to buy this GOLDEN COLLECTION of dark TREASURES. Then tell S’MORES of your friends. They’ll be indebted to you to the tune of 100 GRAND.
American Analog Set
Seriously now, how did we here at 3hive miss out on American Analog Set for so long? My commute home was extra long due to rain, so whilst trolling through my MP3 player in the car, I settled upon AmAnSet. I couldn’t find one of my favorites, “Hard to Find,” but since I knew I had it somewhere, I hit the computer once I got home. So after checking my collection, I didn’t see “Hard to Find” there, so I hit their website. All this time I’m wondering to myself if AmAnSet has made it to the pages of 3hive. Somehow, some way, we missed it. For those of you who love AmAnSet like I do, enjoy. And for those of you who do not know AmAnset, enjoy.
Hotel Lights
Darren Jesse, ex-Ben Folds Five drummer, is the brainchild behind Hotel Lights. This is no solo project however. I imagine after being one of the nameless two-thirds in Ben Folds Five Jessee soured on the solo-type thing. That’s pure speculation on my part. He’s put together an impressive band featuring Mark Price (Archers of Loaf drummer) and Alan Weatherhead (a once-member of Sparklehorse) as producer and guitarist. Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne had his hand in a few tracks as well. The pedigree should get your attention, but the product will hold it. This is the kind of music I’ll never burn out on: richly-textured, finely-crafted pop songs that play effortlessly and smooth.
Gregor Samsa
It’s been a wild and wonderful past week, beginning with our baby daughter arriving much earlier than expected. All is well, except she’s tiny and needs to get bigger. My wife and I finally took a moment to play back the week via iPhoto slideshow. We selected Gregor Samsa’s “Young and Old” (from their forthcoming debut full-length 55:12) as the soundtrack. So understand that I’m heavily under the influence (cf. Jon’s Stars post) when I say Gregor Samsa is my new favorite band. But they’re pretty darn good under any circumstances. Imagine if Sigur Ros were from Richmond, Virginia…
Doveman
Doing a little bit of cleaning up around here and I was gladdened to come across The Acrobat and immediately horrified upon realizing that I’ve had Doveman queued up on our back-end of Moveable Type for SIX months. Doveman is slowly orchestrated pop, not unlike Belle and Sebastian dropping it down a notch for ladies choice at the skating rink. (Wow. I have no idea why that rollerskating image popped in my head). If you liked Neil Halstead’s (Slowdive, Mojave 3) solo record, and you should, you should find Doveman aurally satisfying. A little blogosphere trivia, vocalist Thomas Bartlett keys the Audiofile column over at Salon.com — another fine, clean and quick MP3 fix.