A bunch of 2¢: Rolling Indie Thread 2010

Keep it in here, boys.

― The Reverend, Monday, December 31, 2007 9:16 PM (2 years ago)

I'd really love it if this band sold 1M records this year, but it probably won't happen. They've been a minor obsession of mine for a couple years now, though, and they've finally got a full LP coming in a few months. Here's the first single:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCHuNpkGvSo

The Naked and Famous, "All of This"

I really like this song. I bought the single and the other song on there is not nearly as good (or all that similar). If I go delving into their back catalogue will I be :) or :(?

The two eps are more like this, and not like the other song.

dig the wild nothing 7" on captured tracks, nice disco inferno-esque gazey pop

on the highly derivative shoegaze tip, i have also been enjoying the sky drops and depreciation guild albums quite a bit.. not an original idea between them but i dig the sound regardless

"dig the wild nothing 7" on captured tracks, nice disco inferno-esque gazey pop"

Sounded interesting, but 6 Britisher pounds for a 7"? I guess the days of me buying a handful of 7"s I'd barely heard of every week because they were 99p each are long gone. oldmanshoutsatcloud.jpg

(yeah, I guess starving indies probably did lose money on that, and presumably nobody buys anything these days without already having downloaded it so you have no obligation to make things cheap for the mildly interested)

whoops, sorry.. i had no idea they were charging that much, i got it from emusic..

Aha, I will check it out on emusic if I have downloads left. Thanks.

There was some griping on the indiepop list about the cost of Captured Tracks records last week.

Despite the fact that the website appears to be down I would suggest http://sncl.collective-zine.co.uk/ for slightly cheaper Captured Tracks 7"s - even on there it's like £10 for 12" EPs tho so yeah they're not especially VFM as labels go to say the least

didn't they say, once upon a time, that their records were going to "stay in print"? because hey, guess what, that bitters record is suddenly out of print. and now I'M bitters. bitter.

i should have posted this here instead of on that dumb 'sounds like animal collective' thread.

fiveng, 'summer nights', cool song.

the lucky soul record is great. i'd never given them a thought before now.

the new one? i like the first album, though the best tracks were all mined for singles

I've been sitting on it for a couple weeks. Guess it's time to hit play.

xpost--yeah, the new one, it's actually a bit, you know, 'soulful'. the first one seemed like they meant themselves to be posh but they seemed just dull.

the northern portrait album is the best smiths album released in the last 10 years

not totally in love with the production but the songs are v good

"the munchausen in me" and "crazy" are great

love his falsetto at the end of "that's when my headaches begin"

First time listening to these guys, and I'm feeling 'em. I agree with electricsound that the production detract a bit—the singer should be in front more, he's good—but the songs are indeed pretty swell.

glad you guys are digging it. it's definitely also worth seeking out their two earlier eps - the three non-lp tracks on the first one are particularly strong..

Listening to the Naked & Famous single youtube - - - very pretty and toe-tapping sound they've got, the lyrics are kind of distractingly lame though. Just kind of a blizzard of attempts to suggest a messed-up situation but it kind of doesn't add up to much. "Passive me, aggressive you"? Ugh. But a great toe-tapper with nice solos.

(Having not followed indie stuff very closely in several years I feel really short on vocabulary and comparisons to discuss stuff. Like, does everybody have this MGMT-type vocal harmony sound these days, or is that atypical? Etc.)

There's a lot of MGMT-type bands making the rounds these days, but MGMT has always reminded me of a Flaming Lips/Weezer hybrid anyway. Nothing new under the sun.

I buy that depiction of MGMT - - - I'm just referring specifically to the way the warbly vocals are overlaid for added weirdy-wistfulness. If that makes any sense.

MGMT write real good songs but that record is so overproduced. All the fx they dump on there just gets in the way.

the two songs that have been previewed from the upcoming sambassadeur album 'days' and 'i'll try' are each lovely. more of their digital pocket symphonies.

the new seabear album has leaked and it is beautiful. they are like my new gorky's zygotic mynci. they don't sound similar at all but they give me that same folksy, rustic feeling.

i quite like that leading single

veronica falls 45 on cap trax has me thinking that this sort of band is finally moving on from the shop assistants to the cannanes instead

new burning hearts 45 is nothing mindblowing but still good

i wish burning hearts girl would make a new le futur pompiste record instead.

New Radio Dept album details (finally): http://theradiodept.com/

the Gigi album 'maintenant' is really great. gives the soon coming School album something to shoot for. Especially love the Rose Melberg track. also reminds of Saturday Looks Good to Me.

Sambassadeur album is also excellent. Loads of things I like already this year. Most of it is unoriginal and derivative but I don't mind.

title tracks, who i discovered via the '09 thread and who put out one of my favourite singles of last year, finally have an album out. top shelf power pop..

fans of the manhattan love suicides will surely enjoy the medusa snare and blanche hudson weekend records, because they sound exactly like MLS. in a good way though.

new Ruby Suns sounds a lot like the Discovery lp.

Really? That's disappointing. Loved the last Ruby Suns, but wasn't a fan of Discovery.

i think it does. he's definitely working with the same set of world music effects. doesn't remind of the previous record at all. it's better than the discovery lp. i really like it.

I'll still give it a chance. I didn't hate the Discovery record, but I didn't really return to it much either.

so dope

http://scramblerseequill.bandcamp.com/

frightened rabbit's new one brings it. some gigantic moments. definitely a step up imo

On a side note, the sooner every band in the world abandons Myspace and moves to Bandcamp, the better. xp

wow, that Scrambler Seequill band is terrible

Just gave a listen to the Standard Fare album. Someone brought them up in the 2009 thread for their "Dancing" single, which is an absolutely phenomenal song. Glad they decided to include it on the album as well, but the whole thing is really, really nice.

Also, I've been completely under the spell of this song by The Jezabels for about a week now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INaPSKmImbQ

wow, that Scrambler Seequill band is terrible

realized i'm not really into the singer or the songs so much, but the dude who plays most of the instruments is amazing and i got overexcited to find him doing interesting non-jazz stuff

Saw Standard Fare last weekend, they were OK, worth investigating further at least.

Are any of these records P4k's been dropping BNM on worth a shit?

Fang Island - Fang Island
Gonjasufi - A Sufi and a Killer
The Morning Benders - Big Echo
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor

Really, better question: is there any indie worth listening to right now? I've been out of the loop

By out of the loop I mean I barely care anymore

what do you think of the jameses (another captured tracks band)? i'm considering downloading their new single, caribou, but . . . eh . . . not sure.

not a patch on 'rat people', which is in my top 10 for the year. only listened to the newie once so far though

i was actually thinking of just downloading the caribou and rat people singles.

just for the hell of it, my cap-tracks top 10 for 2010 (as of right now):

1. beach fossils - daydream 45
2. wild nothing - cloudbusting 45
3. the jameses - rat people / haunted rider 45
4. soft metals ep
5. wild nothing - gemini lp
6. minks - ophelia 45
7. fresh & onlys - august in my mind ep
8. cosmetics - sleepwalking 45
9. aias - s/t lp
10. girls names ep

ophelia is what turned me on to minks, but i think i like their other single -- funeral song -- even better. and i think i like soft moon's singles better than anything on that list, tho i love almost all those songs (i still don't get the fresh & onlys).

interesting labels fixations for me this year: captured tracks; sacred bones; whatever label the dirty beaches have put out singles on (the zoo music and sibling-sex labels are the ones i know).

oh tbh if i did a top 20 the quality difference b/w 1 and 20 would still be small

fresh & only song on that EP to hear is 'you're known to wander' imo

i dig the veronica-falls singles on captured tracks, too (especially found love in a graveyard).

listened to the minks lp last night, i really like it. it's maybe not as 'impressive' sounding as the soft moon but i think the songs themselves are more up my alley..

memoryhouse 45 on suicide squeeze totally wonderful. it sounds like what the beach house album might have aspired to were it to live up to its hype

new klima record is beautiful. guy fixsen is missed only slightly.

really surprised how much i like this heavy hawaii disc. i normally don't like beach-boy signifiers these days, but this band brings a dark undercurrent to the music, which is a nice touch.

the most immediate, catchy single is teen angel (youtube link).

anyone familiar with this disc or the band? is HH a melodic noise band?

super excited for the dirty beaches' full-length disc, badlands, which is out in march on zoo music:

Currently in Portland now at a roadside motel called The Palms, on N interstate. It has a giant flashing neon palm tree as their sign. Like something out of a movie, $50/night with Wi-fi. I'm in a smoking room and it doesn't smell like ass. Highly recommend it to those on the road passing through Portland.

In terms of the up and coming full length "Badlands" LP, I have already submitted all 8 tracks to Zoo music last month, the cover art is almost finished, and we will need to get it mastered and the whole 9 yards but we are shooting for march 2011 as the current release date. I'm very excited and can't wait until it comes out because I worked my fuckin ass off for this LP. I have enough b-sides from this album to make another album. (Some, which you will hear in the upcoming split 12" with Ela Orleans)

A brief background on the LP:
The concept behind Badlands, is about a man who is possessed by the road. My mother used to say to me, "you walk at night often enough, sooner or later you'll run into a ghost." I think its very true, as the devil comes in all forms. Just here to fuck your shit up.

Side A will be all bangers, with songs about leaving, and being chased on the road, and driving a burning car into oblivion. Side B will be ballads, and dirges laced with murder and lament. Expect similar fidelity as golden desert sun and night city recordings. I am looking into upgrading my recording gear as soon as them paychecks come in, so to deliver a better quality product to the listeners. But as of now, its budget home recordings.

In the meantime, I'll be making my way north, up to vancouver after this weekend. It has been a long journey since I left montreal last month. Highlight being driving from NY to san diego in 45 hrs with 3/5 of the crocodiles. we drove non stop other than gas/peepee/shit and food. 4 drivers on shifts. Everyone was amazing, no one bitched or complained. We just drove that motherfuckin van all the way across the USA. I was the only night owl of the group so I had the 3am to 9am shift. Driving across the desert at night until the sun came up is a memory I will always cherish and remember forever.

to good health, and safe driving.

love
alex

cover art:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-CPxVpR7DwQ/TOMcl2dS9SI/AAAAAAAAAI0/QWt8AaxI5iw/s1600/badlands+250.jpg

i've briefly mentioned it here before but does anyone else fuck w/ the beko digital label? free music every monday and the quality level is pretty high if you like yr indie electronic and/or fun

1. beach fossils - daydream 45
2. wild nothing - cloudbusting 45
3. the jameses - rat people / haunted rider 45
4. soft metals ep
5. wild nothing - gemini lp
6. minks - ophelia 45
7. fresh & onlys - august in my mind ep
8. cosmetics - sleepwalking 45
9. aias - s/t lp
10. girls names ep

This is interesting to me because I've only really recently discoverd Captured Tracks thanks to Blank Dogs (whom I love!) and I'd expect this year's album on that list. I need to check out this other stuff though, ASAP.

blank dogs are getting better but i haven't quite fallen in love with them yet.. having said that i haven't delved into the new LP heavily..

I suppose I could look at it as, if the Blank Dogs LP isn't even the 10th best thing this label has released in 2010, then I need to get to listening!

see also the sacred bones and zoo-music labels. artists on both have similar aesthetics to those on the captured tracks label, sort of.

hozac and not not fun are also in the ballpark, though more garagey overall

Yeah I've heard stuff on Not Not Fun, but new to those others mentioned.

semi-representative sacred bones act -- nerve city

semi-representative zoo music act -- the dirty beaches

the zola jesus stuff on SB is great, like the electric bunnies 45 too. find it a bit patchy overall tho

the Weekend album on slumberland is growing on me, after initial impressions of it being crap

getting huge laughing clowns/ed kuepper vibes off the girls names' EP on tough love from earlier this year. heaps better than their CT one.

the my autumn empire record is very nice, very july skies/epic45/pastoral england which is about right since it is one out of epic45

Okay, digging into some Captured Tracks stuff right now, really liking both of these Jameses 7"s.

This is great! Kind of sounds like old Magnetic Fields, but (way) more lo-fi.

http://honeydrum.bandcamp.com/

i think i've gone on-and-on about this band in this thread, perhaps too much. but at the risk of pushing the envelope again, i'll mention that the dirty-beaches posted a great live session on the daytrotter site yesterday.

Okay, really been going crazy for Captured Tracks stuff lately, picked up a bunch of the 7"s off iTunes as well as ordered physical copies of the Aias record and the new Wild Nothing EP. Such a great label right now, think the Soft Moon full-length will be up next for me.

yeah, it's been a great year for that label, and the sacred bones label, which shares a similar aesthetic, sound and vibe.

Late to the party with this Fresh & Onlys record, but it is fantastic. Really loving it.

i know right

starting to regret bigging up beko DSL upthread, they've been really laying the witch house crap on thick lately

haven't been able to get into the fresh & onlys much. their name bugs me, but i don't think that's the reason.

kinda diggin' this ep (only now available digitally, i think) from föllakzoid. they're from chile, and the ep is on the sacred bones label. proggy-ish.

anyone know anything about the band, or the to-be-released-in-2011 ep?

i just saw the 2-songs for $6 thing and immediately ignored that one i think. will see if i can find it elsewhere for more reasonable $$

yeah. twenty minutes of total music.

this is really sweet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wkegccROqs

dirty beaches full-length badlands, appeared early on emusic

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-CPxVpR7DwQ/TOMcl2dS9SI/AAAAAAAAAI0/QWt8AaxI5iw/s1600/badlands+250.jpg

really great.

noticed that and thought of you

thanks. frustrating that i saw it while my internet connection was broken (by florida power & light's meddling). just got chance to download it earlier today.

i'm probably the only person who cared about this disc, but i guess that's what the "rolling 2 cents" thread is all about.

did i never mention thrushes on this thread? their '10 album is a wonderful thing, like the first velocity girl album / red dye # 5 thing but better

has anyone heard of -- or have an opinion about -- this self-titled debut by conspiracy of owls? i'm not even sure it's indie (at least in sound/vibe, it's much closer to 70s am rock).

about 50% of the time, i like the soundscans. about 50% of the time, i'm not sure.

Tennis album has appeared.

and? . . .

it's arriving on emusic on january 18. not sure if i'm gonna download it.

Some of you might like this (it ended up being my #18 album of the year). Youcoco - Big Now!. Two women, kind of a more '90s-style K or Kill Rock Stars-type of rock instead of reverbed-out Dum Dum Girls or Best Coast stuff. Also, from Slovakia! I don't think I've ever liked a band from Slovakia before, though I don't know if I've ever heard a band from Slovakia before. Anyway...

http://www.deadred.sk/sk/releases/big-now

(You can actually download it in super low quality by right-clicking and saving each link)

i like the tennis record. it is aislers set-y/secret goldfish-y in that i think it's smart and restrained. also there is a new christmas aislers set song on the aislers set myspace page.

time for a new rolling thread. next year's going to be good, i think.