Coldplay, Snow Patrol, No Second Troy Stand Out with Colors

Our boys of No Second Troy are in the beginning stages of getting some great press for their new album Colors.

On Tap Magazine is on board. "A unique cross between indie and pop, this five-piece band’s latest CD, Colors, is a successful 13-track blend of melodic tunes and smooth, effortless sounds. Ironically titled “Grounded,” the second song was a personal favorite, with mature and instantly infectious lyrics like, “My feet don’t touch the ground, you feel like coming down.” The rest of the album follows suit combining their experienced sound into an authentic mix of five musicians at their best. You won’t be skipping songs on this album, since each and every one will be a favorite," writes Ashley Estill.

NST lead singer Jeff Wharen was interviewed for a Southern Gothic Productions podcast in which he talks about the new album and so much more. You can hear the entire podcast, which also includes some tracks from the album.



Click Here to Read More..

Spinner Free Album Preview of Fan-Tan and Naked Hearts

This is a great week at GLG. We have two bands (oddly both are from Brooklyn) releasing albums this Tuesday, May 11. We can't wait to see what will happen when everyone finally gets to hear them!! Alt-rock darlings Naked Hearts will set Mass Hysteria out to the world and synth-popsters Fan-Tan will wow you with Age of Discovery.

The fine folks over at Spinner.com have chosen both albums to stream in their entirety on their site today for their Full CD Listening Party. Last week they had up albums by Broken Social Scene, The Hold Steady, and The New Pornographers. Spinner picks the best of the best for their Listening Parties. So head on over and hear why Spinner deemed Fan-Tan and The Naked Hearts as part of the mix.

Go revel in the ebb and flow alternative rock that duo Naked Hearts play with fire. We know this album is gonna get you. The New Yorker is on board: "The stripped down duo Naked Hearts is gaining momentum on the downtown scene."

Set your hips swaying with the moody synth-pop of Brooklyn's Fan-Tan by finally hearing all the tracks from Age of Discovery. "[Fan-Tan's] newest EP, The Age of Discovery ... is so good that the Killers will be flattered to be compared to Fan-Tan! It's time for some Fan-Tan worship." -- The Devil Has The Best Tuna. We agree!

Some lucky Philadelphia Fan-Tan fans (say that five times fast) are fortunate enough to catch the band tomorrow night, Tuesday, May 11 at the M Room in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Weekly chose to highlight this show with a gracious preview. "Fan-Tan may have formed in North Carolina, but they’ve got nothing to do with that angular, distortion-crusted guitar rock you know from Polvo or Archers of Loaf. Two of their four members—Kuki and Sandee Kooks—may be Indonesian, ethnically, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be whipping out the gamelan any time soon either. Instead, this fledgling band, now living in Brooklyn, makes the kind of sweeping, soaring, synth-glorious post punk you might remember from Echo & the Bunnymen, or even the Cure. They’ll be celebrating the release of their first EP, Age of Discovery, released via iTunes on the very day of this show."
Click Here to Read More..

Neutral Milk Hotel Fans: Cheap Thrills Gives Pair of Tickets Away to Neutral Uke Hotel Show Tonight!

For all you darling Neutral Milk Hotel fans in Boston who were shut out of the Neutral Uke Hotel show tonight at the Armory, Cheap Thrills is giving away one pair of tickets to tonight's show when you name your favorite Neutral Milk Hotel lyrics. So what you are waiting for?

 The Boston Globe produced an excellent feature that highlights (among others) tonight's sold-out Neutral Uke Hotel show at The Armory in Somerville, MA, performed by Golden Bloom's Shawn Fogel and guests.

Oh, The Boston Phoenix also chose Neutral Uke Hotel as a pick of the week, even though it is all sold out!!! We can't stop saying that!

In the Boston Globe piece "Covered in Glory," writer Jonathan Perry discusses three, dare way say, "cover bands," all with Boston-area shows in one week. In a span of a week, three musicians/bands will salute Todd Rundgren, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham.

First this week, there was Road to Utopia: A Tribute to Todd Rundgren, helmed by musician Gary Backstrom. With a nine-piece band, the evening paid homage to the '70s power-pop pioneer 's extensive career from his early days with Nazz to his popular solo work and that unfortunate Utopia phase (ugh).

Perry also talked to Golden Bloom's Shawn Fogel about tonight's show and Fogel's ukulele take on indie icons Neutral Milk Hotel's album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.

“It’s one of my favorite records ever,’’ says Fogel, whose guitar-pop outfit Golden Bloom sounds nothing like NMH. “And the album doesn’t just have fans. The people who love that album are obsessed with it.’’ So our Golden boy told the Globe. He went on; “I think its easy for people to look at it and say, Oh, it’s a gimmicky, shtick-y thing — and it’s not,’’ Fogel says. “One of the things that makes the Aeroplane album incredible is the layered production and all the really fuzzy distortion and tape loops, and the nonpolished nature of it. But under all of that, these are unbelievable songs. That’s the goal of the project: to strip these songs down and get people in a room to share their love for this album. If everything goes well, it’ll feel like a campfire singalong.’’

If you haven't gotten your fix, Perry presses you to see the awesomely titled Buckingham cover band The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society, Saturday, May 15 at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge.

Golden Bloom will be back to Boston on May 20th to headline The Middle East Upstairs and word has it a Neutral Milk Hotel cover ala ukulele may make it into the mix.

Amazing. Eat your heart out AC/DC and Led Zeppelin cover bands. This is how it should be done.



Click Here to Read More..

UK Digs Deep into Leopold and His Fiction

UK music blog Mojophenia - Mind Over Music gave some sweet love to the Leopold and His Fiction EP, while offering a listen to "Golden Friends" and "Ain't No Surprise" directly on the site. We all know how much the British love American bands who burn with heartfelt roots-rock and Detroit-twang & blues rock 'n' roll. We are very happy about this and so are so many State-side Americana, roots and southern-style rock bands.

"Self imposing and laid bare, Leopold and His Fiction seem musically aware of their songwriting direction, there`s no option to under achieve. When allowed, a fabulous audio `piece de resistance` will become apparent. ....If at the very least a gateway to some fantastic songs, inventive structures and swift establishment, surely set up to be a multi-hype machine favourite." You can read the full review on Mojophenia.

Click Here to Read More..

Golden Bloom Headlines Middle East on May 20th

Golden Bloom is set to headline the Middle East (Upstairs) on Thursday, May 20^th with his brand of playful and jangly pop. Golden Bloom’s soaring world of musical wonder will be joined by the bands Sodafrog (Tom Janovitz) and The Backup Factor.  

The show follows up a sold out performance at the Armory on May 7th; Fogel’s live side project honoring Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by way of ukulele.

Thu May 20, 2010:

Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub - Upstairs  

472 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA - [map]
Doors at 9:00 PM
Golden Bloom on at Midnight
18+
$10 cover
Also on the bill:
The Backup Factor, Sodafrog and Corin Ashley

Don't miss out, buy your tickets now!

Click Here to Read More..

The White Ravens Invade Canada

Tonight in Toronto, Ann Arbor sibling duo The White Ravens will perform as part of the 2009-2010 "Best Live" Showcase Series put on by the Toronto Independent Music Awards. Pretty awesome that The White Ravens beat out heaps of Canadian bands to be included in this series of shows.

Amy and Will Bennett take the stage at 9:30 at The Central - 603 Markham Street Toronto. Other bands include Marty Lowman, Vintage Railway and Candice Chantrell.

Want to know more about TIMA and how the Michigan band won their way in?

"The Toronto Independent Music Awards are an indie awards ceremony, showcase series and seminar founded in 2004. The concept evolved out of a desire to truly support independent musicians and to provide songwriting and music exposure to individuals in the community. The TIMAs serve as a platform to award up-and-coming independent artists from the province of Ontario and to expose them to international opportunities. We also accept entries nationally and internationally via our “Best Out-of-Province”, “Best USA” and “Best International” categories. Our ultimate aim is to create an infrastructure to give independent artists a hand in ways that are actually useful by providing industry connected prizes and community support!"

If you don't live in Toronto (like I did for a while), but you do live in Michigan (which I do now), be sure to mark your calendars for upcoming shows by The White Ravens. You'll most likely get to hear a sneak peek of the wonderful pop songs taken from their upcoming release Gargoyles and Weather Vanes on July 6. You won't be disappointed. And you'll be able to say you saw them when....

The White Ravens Tour Dates

Saturday, May 8, Crazy Wisdom Bookstore - 114 South Main Street Ann Arbor, MI
Sunday, May 30, Neutral Zone - 310 East Washington Ann Arbor, MI
Saturday Jun 26,

Ann Arbor Summer Festival - Top of the Park
Top of the Park: Grassrootz Stage at Ingalls Mall - 915 E. Washington St. Ann Arbor, MI
Grassrootz Stage (Show at 5 PM, Free)

Click Here to Read More..

Liz Phair Fronting The White Stripes = Naked Hearts?

Chris Chafin of the New York Press hit up the big Naked Hearts and Cults show at the Mercury Lounge this past weekend and had some hard-hitting, heart-felt notes about the Naked Hearts' performance. Chafin may have initially went in to see the Cults, but he came out a fan of both bands with plenty to say about our Brooklyn duo.

"The music is appropriately dark and thundering, with chords that reverberate in your soul. The music the band wrings out of those two instruments, and the members' two voices, often in counterpoint or harmony, is intoxicating. It plunges you into a sonic whirl of confusing emotions," wrote Chafin. "When Naked Hearts tells you to “turn the f*cking stereo up,” it’s not to have a fun party. It’s because shit is too depressing with the stereo quiet. Good points of comparison would be The Breeders, or Liz Phair fronting The White Stripes (especially on “Boyfriend”)." He had even more to say... Click Here to Read More..

Hear TLC and The Cure at Rockwood Music Hall Tonight

TLC and The Cure are just two things fans may hear tonight when they see Avi Wisnia's Brazilian bossa nova at the Rockwood Music Hall. Amongst the original songs off his upcoming album, Something New, Wisnia is known to sneak in TLC's "No Scrubs" and The Cure's "Love Song". You can get your own sneak peak of the TLC cover here, but the show is free tonight so there's nothing to lose.

Rockwood Music Hall
184 Allen Street New York, NY
FREE
All ages
7:00pm Chris Merritt
8:00pm The Smooth Maria
9:00pm The Dixons
10:00pm Michael Daves
11:00pm Avi Wisnia
12:00am Dred Scott Trio Click Here to Read More..

Magnetic Fields Get Uked for Neutral Uke Hotel

Tickets are all sold out for Shawn Fogel/Golden Bloom's evening of Neutral Uke Hotel this Friday, May 7 in Somerville, MA. We all know Fogel's gone uke crazy and we're not the only ones taking the instrument more seriously.

The Motion Sick's Michael Epstein and Fogel have collaborated many times and a little birdie (named Michael) told us he's going to make a special appearance at the Neutral Uke Hotel. The thing is, he needs to learn how to play the tiny guitar first. So he thought he'd give another seminal indie band a ukulele spin. Epstein decided that he'd learn to play by converting songs by The Magnetic Fields onto the ukulele. Epstein has captured many of his sessions on live video and shared us the links to see a handful of the videos.

Here's our favorite (today): The Magnetic Fields' "All the Umbrellas in London"
Click Here to Read More..

Live Sneak Peaks of Golden Bloom, My Morning Jacket, Superdrag mp3s

When we first heard that Golden Bloom's Shawn Fogel performed his new song "Mr. Belvedere" at his gig opening for Guster on April 14, for a second, we thought it could be a cover of the '80s TV show theme song of the same name.

In all actuality it's a superb new pop song written by Fogel and  Large Hearted Boy  posted the live version of it from the recent Golden Bloom show with Guster, giving a sneak peek of the song that will appear on Golden Bloom's next album. Fogel/Golden Bloom is currently in the studio recording the follow-up to Fan the Flames. On the same spot, LHB also has new tracks from Superdrag, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, My Morning Jacket and Guster.

Along with the gaining momentum of his Neutral Uke Hotel project, Fogel is also a band member of The Zambonis (a band that sings only songs about hockey), The LeeVees (a band that sings only songs about Hanukkah) and The Macaroons (a spin-off of The LeeVees, that's sort of for kids). Fogel has also been known to occasionally play with Philistines Jr. (Producer Peter Katis' band; Katis produced portions of Golden Blooms' last album as well as The National, Mates of State, etc.). So with all these wildly different styles, you can see why "Mr. Belvedere" could have been about the TV show. His song is better anyway. Fogel is a busy man, but never too caught up throw something incredible at you when you least expect it.

The full live Golden Bloom performance with Guster at the Hanover Theater can be found here.





live photo by Kenneth Parry
Click Here to Read More..