A Couple Low Key Bands Worth Your Time...
So it's been a while since I have participated in the whole blogosphere thing, so I figured the best way to get reacquainted is to give you guys out there a taste of a few things flowing through my personal rotation right now.First up, we have Au. These guys have an interesting sound reminiscent of the carnivalesque Elephant Six stuff coming out of Athens for the last decade. The band is the work of multi-instrumentalist Luke Wyland. Begun back in 2005 while finishing up his degree from the Massachussetts College of Art and moved across the country to find its roots in the thriving community of Portland, OR. It's now a working live band with an ever changing roster of players. It's sound is vast and "deftly treads a narrow bridge between the loose-associations of the backwoods freak-folk crowd and the more formalized concoctions of art-poppers like Brian Eno." Here's a couple tracks to get you going...Au - Are AnimalsAu - rr vs. d Here's a video, for their song Boute...<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SwRxiHtG9QM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SwRxiHtG9QM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Next up, we have High Places. High Places' trunk-rattling impulses are juxtaposed with a spacious, almost tranquil atmosphere, with Rob Barber's percussion chiming and floating rather than physically hitting, and Mary Pearson's sweetly flat vocals layered to the point that her lyrics often become indistinguishable. They hail from Brooklyn, NY and are treading in some similar water as some other NY counterparts you might recognize called Animal Collective. The tracks below are off a collection of their EP entitled 03.07-09.07 but they have a full album dropping September 23 on Thrill Jockey which finds them finally in a studio delving into better recording techniques for their material.High Places - Head Spins (Extended Version)High Places - Banana Slugs/ CosmonautsAnd here's a video of some new material from a concert in London...<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zkJoH4XQ310&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zkJoH4XQ310&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Lastly, I have The Lord Dog Bird for you guys. This is moniker for the debut solo album by Wilderness guitarist Colin McCann out now on Jagjaguwar, in all its four-track humbleness. "The guitars squeal, the drums clank and the vocals crackle, and the effect is an album that evokes the moods of a cranky, disillusioned living-room recluse." McCann's vocals match the mournful croon of Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Will Oldham with the intense fervor of Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum. The result is emotive lo-fi music that sounds gritty and biting. Here's a slice...The Lord Dog Bird - The Shedding PathThe Lord Dog Bird - The Gift of Song in the Lion's DenHope you guys enjoy!
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