by aitorzabalegui

Miniature Tigers Get Intimate at The Guest Apartment

In a mix between VH1’s Storytellers and La Blogotheque, The Guest Apartment keeps things on a simpler side, much like its name. Miniature Tigers are one of the latest group to get the feature’s treatment, playing a miniature set comprised of a single guitar, plenty of harmonies, and the majority of the band taking up percussive roles. Tambourines tap, shakers shake, and the band talks about the creative process for songs they perform from their latest album, Fortress (Modern Art). You wouldn’t know it from these live renditions, but expect Fortress to exhibit some darker vibes. The band mentions gearing up to record by watching “The Shining” in a converted woodland 19th century church. Sound familiar? That’s because bands from Beach House to the B-52’s have shared the same recording space, not that you should expect the same output from this band.

Check out the living room jam over at baeble’s website and find Fortress out now on Modern Art.

12.03.10

by aitorzabalegui

Broken Records Debut “A Darkness Rises Up” with Video

We all know religion (the oldest of all establishments) is the least punk thing you can think of, but for some reason it’s been cool for a while now to perform in a church. Broken Records are doing it. Their newest video for the 6-piece Edinburgh, Scotland group’s newest single, “A Darkness Rises Up” not only has them strumming along amidst a backwash of stained-glass light, but their mom let them wear their Converse inside too. Redefining punk aside — really — “Darkness” simply chugs and pops and does all those anthemic things while having a string section provide the extra bravado you can’t get from guitar and bass. In the video, the lead singer seems tortured enough, and if you’re not convinced, there’s plenty of dilapidated scenery to further commiserate the misery. You can watch the whole thing below and should you like, remember to pick up Let Me Come Home out on 1/11/11 on 4AD.

12.01.10

by aitorzabalegui

Kisses Remix One of Their Songs Called “Kisses”

LA duo Kisses are only a week past the release of their debut LP, The Heart of The Nightlife, but they found some time to remix the first song off the album, “Kisses.” Titled the “Electric Sunset Remix,” the LA band consisting of Zinzi Edmundson and Jesse Kivel have managed to evoke the feeling of Miami Beach while sounding like a younger and more attractive version of Hot Chip. In fact, Zinzi could give any girl in indie a run for the crown. As far as the music goes, “Kisses” flashes bright colors at you, rounded and full, that bounce around and calmly pulsate in an effortless synchronicity. Even with the high hat synth beat driving along, the track is a slow burn that at once can make you tired and dreamy.

Give it a listen below:

11.29.10

by aitorzabalegui

Cage The Elephant Dish Out First Single from New LP

Thank You, Happy Birthday, the sophomore album from Kentucky’s finest rock band is coming out next year, but being that it’s November, that’s pretty soon. The record will drop January 11th, and if you were looking for a streamable preview, Cage The Elephant have just doled out the album’s first single, “2024.” The track winds up initially, like a cosmic needle dropping as the gears engage and the turntable picks up speed. Just as the song begins to morph into some sort of ill-advised, lost Audioslave track, the band thankfully brings out a pop riff and tones things down just the right amount. All that’s left is three minutes of raucous jamming where it’s slightly difficult to differentiate chorus from verse.. wait, no. They bring the Audioslave riff back for a little bit at the tail end of the bridge to switch things up. Try not to let that throw you, because overall, “2024” is indication that Thank You, Happy Birthday is going to hit heavily and provide some questionable curveballs that may or may not serve to make things interesting in a music scene where rock is cashing in it’s last social security checks.

Listen in below:

11.24.10

by aitorzabalegui

Aesop Rock “Butchers” Grimace Federation

Not meant to confuse, “Butchers” is the humble credit Aesop Rock has taken in his remixing of Grimace Federation’s first single, “Bosico.” The video was shot with the contribution of Cage, Jeremy Fish, and Fish’s van, and was produced by 900bats contributors Alexander Tarrant and Justin Metros. Cruising around San Francisco — with the most recognizable shot in the video being a passing Polk St sign — Aesop lashes out on haters of a specific breed: elitists. “I’m gonna guess you thought this all before me, but better and with a more elite view; that’s what you do,” he raps out in his oddly articulate, laid-back flow. Then again, that juxtaposition is what allows him to stand safely on the ivory tower he builds throughout the song. Well, perhaps less of a tower and more of a Formica countertop to give a better perspective. How else could you possibly remix a song, call it butchering, cry fowl to hubris in that song, and all the while look like your enjoying a trip to an overcast beach with a crew including a guy with a bigger beard than Zach Galafinakis?

Check out the video below:

11.18.10

by aitorzabalegui

Acrylics Release First Single off “Lives and Treasure”

Acrylics can’t possibly be making any kind of statement with “Nightwatch,” the first single off their upcoming debut LP, Lives and Treasure. But with the multitudes of flash-in-the-pan indie that has come out the past few years, making a significant splash isn’t about being bold or innovative, you just need to write a good track.

“Nightwatch” is a good track. It’s easy to imagine this as a Fleetwood Mac tune given that singer, Molly Shea, is a female and the track screams 70’s soft rock; however, the similarities end there. Unfortunately, female singers have always been limited to ill-conceived and ambiguous comparisons due to a smaller influential pool to draw from. Not every female folk singer sounds like Janis Joplin, just like not every male indie rocker sounds like Lou Reed — even if they try to.

Regardless, “Nightwatch” is a late-night drive, a haunting slow jam that never picks up because it never has to. The line, “I believe in infinity” falls as flat as the chorus it makes up, but the rest of the song coasts along toward its shimmering fade out.