The Everyday Visuals Astound with New Album

The Everyday Visuals are more than just a band that hails from Boston, but they can also be viewed as a ‘listening experience’. Recently recieving a copy of their newest self titled record, ‘The Everyday Visuals’,I was immediatly drawn to what they were selling. This album blew away any expectations I had going into it.

The record starts off with ‘Intro (Morning Star)’  which is a nice soft start to what is about to come. It hits you with a ‘bang’ but not in the way you would expect it to. It feels a bit like Fleet Foxes at first, but The Everyday Visuals certainly make this sound their own. Taking it up a notch is ‘Limb From Limb’ that will have listeners out of their seat dancing. ‘ Florence Foster Jensen’ contains the most beautiful harmonies that I’ve heard in quite a long time. They are literally flawless.  The members voices are meant to go together. Its obvious.

 ‘I Can’t Stop You’ is a nice ballad that seems like it would be the perfect Sunday morning song. ‘Heal Me’ which has quickly become my favorite song on the record really brings out the  beauty in singer’s Christoper Pappa’s voice, which adds to the overall depth of the record. ‘I’ll Take it All in Stride’ puts emphasis on everything The Everyday Visuals are about. Amazing vocals and harmonies, infectious guitar sounds and smooth keyboard playing which I wish there was more of in this world.

‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’ is a song that will catch your attention immediately. I think the title really explains it all. Mixing indie with folk,this song is perfect. ‘Restless Heart’ reminds me of an old Ryan Adams song which is an extremely good thing to remind someone of.  The overall vibe of the song and  with Pappa’s voice coming in and out is beautiful and well crafted. The same goes for ‘Daydream Ghosts’ which is another song that can only be described as perfect. ‘Driving’ is a lovely soft song that brings out more silky vocals and acoustic guitar picking. ‘Peers’  will have your foot tapping for sure, ‘Its too much to bare’ sings Pappas as his voice fades into the distance. The album ends with ‘It’s All I Can Do’,  a sweet little acoustic song that makes for a brilliant ending to a more than astonishing record. In all honesty, if I put together my ‘Top 10 of 2009’ right now, The Everyday Visuals would be the number 1 spot.  This record is filled with brilliant melodies and catchy tunes that only get better with every listen.

Listen to The Everyday Visuals at their MYSPACE

Watch The Everyday Visuals Video for ‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’

Drew Danburry ‘Memorial Day’

Just when you didn’t think we could find a song about Memorial Day we proved you wrong. Indie artist Drew Danburry who has just recently toured with those lovely lads in Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, hasn’t always had it easy when he comes to music (remember his disaster of a tour in 2008?), but it doesn’t stop him from making brilliant songs. We’re sure he is of the very few musicians to have a song about Memorial Day (at least that we know of). Maybe he wrote it just for that reason.

Download Drew Danburry’s ‘Memorial Day’  from “This Could Mean Trouble, You Don’t Speak for the Club” HERE

Modest Mouse ‘Guilty Cocker Spaniels’

Modest Mouse, oh has it been that long since we’ve heard from you last? It seems like it. The band has just released the first single off thier upcoming record ‘No One’s First And You’re Next ‘ titled ‘Satellite Skin’, but the band has now released the B-side of the vinyl single ‘Guilty Cocker Spaniels’.  The single will be out on vinyl, limited edition of 4,000 copies, on May 26th. Try and get your hands on it. ‘Guilty Cocker Spaniels’ is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs by the band…maybe its because I have a cocker spaniel.

Steam the track via Stereogum HERE

Happy Mother’s Day!

A shoutout to all the Mothers out there. Hope you are having a very Happy Mother’s Day and your family is taking care of you.

Of course the day couldn’t be complete without a song. Check out a find from my personal music collection; Black Bear’s ‘Whistler’s Mother’s Day’. If your mom likes whistling, this song is for you….there are words too though in case you were wondering.

Download Black Bear’s ‘Whistle’s Mother’s Day’ HERE

Sufjan Stevens Sings About Sofia Coppola

Over the weekend Sufjan Stevens shared with the world that he is very nostalgic. Stevens came across a few old demo tapes of his from college and decided to share one of them with the world. The title? ‘Sofia’s Song’,  which is literally a song about Sofia Coppola. This borders on flattering and weird, but you can already tell that he was brewing something special. Equipped with banjo he came up with the song claiming that Sofia was his ‘imaginary confident’ when writing songs in his early days. I guess everyone needs to be inspired by something. The tale of his name and early music career was posted along with the song on his label, Asthamatic Kitty, along about the journey of his songwriting process. This is a great listen and read for any Sufjan fan, obsessive or otherwise.

Download ‘Sofia’s Song’

Bound Stems, ‘Happens to Us All Otherwise’

In the past 24 hours, I have become completely obsessed with the Chicago five piece called The Bound Stems. A band that I have discovered on an itunes Podcast of all things. Its really easy to become increasingly interested in this band, which I hate to say, broke up last year after their second release ‘The Family Afloat.’ Sad to say the least, but the band played Lollapalooza, Daytrotter, and South by Southwest amongst other things. Disbanded or not, this is a band worth listening to. It reminds me a bit of Conor Oberst if he started writing really happy songs all the time.

Download the Bound Stems ‘Happens to Us All Otherwise’

Check out Bound Stems on their MYSPACE