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STELLASTAR* |
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| Listen to "Graffiti Eyes" |
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“We need all our voices,” Michael says, of the notoriously democratic band. “We get this result that not one person could have come up with on their own because it needed all those elements and changes to come to that conclusion. That’s with the decisions, that’s with the music, that’s with the artwork, everything. It’s an amalgamation of different thoughts and ideas.”
Civilized has emerged from this lengthy series of evolutions a better, more thoughtful creation, harkening back to stellastarr*s debut with its raw, charged aesthetic and a sense of each track’s unique mood and tone, while also taking steps forward with a spirit of experimentation that keeps everything fun.
“This album was in reaction to a lot of the stuff we did in the past,” Michael says. “The first record was fun and bouncy. The second record was atmospheric and moody and had a very specific vision. On this one, it felt right to make upbeat music. We wanted to have a little more fun with it, although an undertone of darkness is there as well.”
www.myspace.com/stellastarr |
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BLACK LIPS |
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| Listen to "Starting Over" |
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Playing garage-flavored punk rock with a Southern accent, a messed-up and bluesy undertow, and the gleefully destructive impact of a 15-year-old with a bag of firecrackers, the Black Lips are an Atlanta-based combo who after their debut in 2000 soon developed a reputation as one of the Peach State's wildest bands. The Black Lips consisted of Cole Alexander on lead vocals, guitar, and harmonica, Ben Eberbaugh on lead guitar, Jared Swilley on bass, and Joe Bradley on drums when they released their first single. After a second single and a handful of out-of-control live shows that led to them being banned from several Georgia venues, they caught the attention of Greg Shaw at Bomp! Records, who signed the band to a recording deal.
www.myspace.com/theblacklips
http://www.vicerecords.com/ |
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TINY MASTERS OF TODAY |
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| Listen to "Ghost Star" |
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Tiny Masters Of Today might be named after a fictional rock band, but they’re real enough, even if they do sound too good to be true. A brother and sister, Ivan and Ada, respectively 15 and 13, from Brooklyn, NY, who have been performing and recording together for almost four years, it would be easy to praise them purely on account of their youth, but the music they make is extraordinary for any age, and by any measure. And they have done what all superlative rock acts, young and old, want to do on their latest album and that is to evince a considerable advance, musical and lyrical, from their earlier work
www.myspace.com/tinymasters |
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PHOENIX |
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| Listen to "1901" |
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The [songs] collected on Wolfgang demonstrate a kind of deliberate, considered approach, and in turn, they’ve created what is the best album in their already-amazing catalogue. Featuring the band's signature melding of synthetics and organics, of sharp, danceable rhythms and intense guitars, of effortless melody with a considerable dose of aural panache, the album's ten songs are more layered than previous efforts. "On our last album, we were trying to make a minimalist record—something austere, almost ascetic," Brancowitz explains. "This time we wanted to create something more elaborate."
myspace.com/wearephoenix
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ZEE AVI |
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| Listen to "Just You and Me" |
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Zee Avi is just 23 but she’s an old soul. A huge talent in a petite frame bringing a universal message from the unlikely birthplace of Borneo, an ancient island east of Malaysia which remains an untouched, natural paradise, an apt description of her songs.
How Avi came to record her debut album in L.A., the first joint release from Ian Montone’s Monotone Label and Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records, is a true 21st century tale of the way the Internet has transformed the music business and shrunk the globe in the process.
The day before her 22nd birthday, Zee posted what she intended to be “my last video,” a holiday song, “No Christmas for Me.” By the time she checked her e-mail Avi had almost 3,000 messages including a slew of label offers. One email came from Ian Montone, who had been shown the YouTube clip by Raconteurs’ drummer, Patrick Keeler, prompting Montone to get in touch and offer to release her music on the Monotone Label.
www.myspace.com/zeeavi/td>
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LADYTRON |
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| Listen to "Tomorrow" |
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In 2001, the first fruits of what would become the new electronic-rock movement began to fall. LADYTRON’s debut, 604, was an integral part of that first strike. A pristine, analog adventure of sound and substance, the album would go on to influence the genre itself, while the group quietly made a global impact both visually and stylistically. Hits like “Playgirl” and “Seventeen” (from their 2002 follow-up, Light & Magic) quietly rebelled against the bratty, disingenuous motifs of the time, instead invoking the sonic storytelling of groups like Air, Stereolab, and My Bloody Valentine. Ladytron’s counterbalance of emotional vulnerability and psychological ingenuity–personified by the opposing vocals of Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo—created their own world that had yet to be fully explored.
www.myspace.com/ladytron
www.nettwerk.com |
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