Holy Sons make bummers into beauty with their lush, tentative songcraft. Singer Emil Amos sounds like he's more likely to fall asleep at the piano bench then stand up and break into a showtune, but listeners won't mind; his seductive soundscapes will have them already dreaming.
There may be a chill in the air, but summer's not over yet! Two big music festivals remain this year: San Francisco's Treasure Island Music Festival (this weekend) and Austin City Limits (next weekend). There's an overlap of indie rockers at both events, such as The Raconteurs, CSS, and Jenny Lewis. But with an extra day and more stages to work with, ACL offers a wider array of acts such as Foo Fighters, Beck, Iron and Wine, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.
If you can't make the shows--or just want to get pumped for them--cue … Read more
Although some of his more pop-centric dance hits were questionable, when you consider compositions like "1.618" here, BT is most definitely a sound innovator. His lofty and cinematic electronica will echo throughout the halls of techno fame decades from now when he's remembered as an artist who beautifully pushed the envelope.
The term "genre-bending" has itself become generic--but it was coined for groups like School of Seven Bells. The sort-of-conceptual trio (there's a thing about imaginary members) deploy Beach House-esque dream-pop without being dream-poppers, and drop dance beats nowhere near the discotheque.
Since Mark Farina's glory days in the late '90s there has been no house music success story like Kaskade's. A Utah native and a Mormon, Ryan Raddon began converting his Salt Lake peers into dance-music lovers before moving to California and working A&R for Om Records, who eventually signed him. Several chart-topping albums later Raddon is the king of romantic vocal house.
Eschewing the danceable beats favored by many of its post-punk brethren, while opting instead for more ominous and insistent rhythms, is what makes the Standard visceral and engaging. Add some wily, percussive guitars and Tim Putman's tense, shaky vocals, and the result is dark and complex--intimate, yet ready to burst.
Known till now for her Art in Manila membership, Adrianne Verhoeven here drops 14 letters and any hope of losing herself in the crowd. "Smoke Rings" trades hypnotic indie-pop tracks for downright entrancing--and deeply intimate--trip-hoppy diary entries.
It's only symmetrical that Santi White would remix "L.E.S. Artistes" with Diplo. He's been a key M.I.A. collaborator, and she's the first to seriously replicate M.I.A.'s panache. Their mashing up sets off a shower of sparks, as classic house beats joust with soulful singing and indie-kid spirit.
If you didn't make it to the Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco last weekend (or you did and want to relive it), check out our free playlist and photo gallery below featuring some of the top acts. While everyone had their own unique experience, the climatic triple threat of Bon Iver, Broken Social Scene and Wilco on Sunday was my personal highlight. A common theme throughout the day was crowd participation (there were several occasions when the audience was invited to clap, sing, and scream along). From the reviews that I've read, and from general word-of-mouth buzz, the festival appeared to be a great success. Hopefully the artists and promoters feel the same way and will book a second annual Outside Lands next year!
Free playlist featuring Manu Chao, Radiohead, The Cool Kids, Nicole Atkins, Beck, The Walkmen and more:
Outside Lands photo gallery below courtesy of Ryan Salm - Ryansalmphotography.com
More photos...… Read more
We know you keep hearing about Swedish indie-pop gems you just can't miss--but seriously, this is the Swedish indie-pop gem you really can't. Lykke Li's debut EP (produced by another unmissable Swede, PBJ's Bjorn), is fragile and searching and entirely sublime.
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