Whispers From The Web....

Whispers From The Web will see me throwing a whole bunch of new-ish bands at you to listen to, adore, praise, worship or hate (depending on your taste, OF COURSE). ONWARDS!

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I am always joyous to find a band I enjoy from le Midlands (nostalgic hometown glory coming into effect I feel...), and I have discovered one in Boat To Row, a folk group who know how to pluck heartstrings and manufacture such merry melodies. 'Night The Owl Slept' particularly shows off the breadth and width of talent in the young band.

Boat To Row's Myspace



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Oh Brooklyn, go on then give me another bloody reason to move there. ARMS are a trio who churn out moody indie rock that swells and surges with splendid energy, via combined choral vocals, driving riffs and soft percussion. Think a low-key Local Natives with a bit more intensity.

ARMS' Myspace

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I am a bit behind with Suckers, who have released a debut album, 'Wild Smile', after much online acclaim from the likes of MTV and Spinner. Suckers are a foursome who fuse angular jerky indie rock with funk and harmonic chants. They are supporting Yeasayer on tour in the UK in October so will soon be reachable in live form.

Suckers' Myspace

You can also download a free track, 'Easy Chairs', here at Stereogum



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Moving to Canada now, we have another foursome in Braids. Braids make shoegazing music with less of a lo-fi edge and spend up to ten minutes on each track, noodling around with various instrumentation phases and fading. It's all rather daydreamy and highly enjoyable, gently pulsing and breaking at numerous junctions, like the ebb and flow of some wonderful musical tide.

Braids' Myspace

Yet another free track, 'Lemonade', from the wonder of Stereogum



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Sticking in Canadian territory, Memory Screen are a band who make terrifically trippy music and seem to have an addiction to images of leaves and trees, if their Myspace images are anything to go by. Though, this does sound like the kind of music you could get good and lost in the woods to. Its etheral and beautiful and well worth a listen.

Memory Screen's Myspace


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And finally, a bit of math pop. Tangled Hair are a balls-out math rock band who throw angular guitars, jerking percussion, gently yelping vocals and a dash of keys here and there. A free EP, 'First', is available for download below.


Download FOR FREE Tangled Hair - 'First'

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I shall be keeping my eye on the blogosphere (as bloody always) and updating Whispers From The Web every few days (hopefully).

BUH BYE!
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Stolen Sound...

'Music is enough for a lifetime but a lifetime is not enough for music' ~Sergei Rachmaninov

This week I have been mostly gaining a gamut of music via friends and their hard drives, taking my musical knowledge, breadth and width, and stretching it that teensy bit further. A mixture of soundtracks, modern folk and hip-hop has been tipped into the musical trough I feed from and in doing so, my musical joy busts open another button...

Enough with the terribly shitty description and onto some amazing music!

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The number of fuzzy girl groups is slowly growing and so far, so good, if the likes of Dum Dum Girls are anything to go by. The four LA ladies that make up the group have the shadowy west coast sound that feeds on slurring guitars and lo-fi production methods, culminating in deliciously replayable tracks such as 'Jail La La', a blast of noise and melody.

Coated in black and oozing miserabilia, the groups debut album 'I Will Be' is released on 29th March and I, for one, am highly anticipating the takeover by reverberating girl groups.

Dum Dum Girls' Myspace

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Air Waves is made up of a singer songwriter called Nicole and whichever friends she can get to play around her, and who wouldn't jump at the chance to work with such sweet and enveloping music. The current release sums her sound up in the title; 'Sweetness'. A slight fuzz sits alongside a solid beat and awesome songwriting skills, complemented by the soft and harmonious drone of Nicole's voice. Check out 'Keys' and 'Kingdom' whilst your ears are open.

Air Waves' Myspace

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A musician recently splattered across many many blogs, all with praising and loving words besides, is Toro Y Moi, a young songwriter and producer, and I thought I might as well jump on the bandwagon. His music is pure groove laced with summer and sunshine, topped off with a lo-fi buzz and haunting melodies that chase oneanother through every track. Definitely someone to get excited about even though it has pushed me into LONGING for summer days, sunshine and a relaxing collapse on the beach accompanied by tracks such as 'You Hid' and 'Blessa' (with a good batch of rum nearby....)

Check out his debut album 'Causers Of This' and anticipate
anything new that he comes out with...

Toro Y Moi's Myspace

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A bit of extra oomph...

• Maths rock act Foals are back with a new release this year and a song has appeared on the web titled 'Spanish Sahara'. A real slow burner that seems to show a progressing band...
• The insanely beautiful Zooey Deschanel and the talented M.Ward are back together as She & Him, ready to release their second album titled 'Volume 2' . A sumptuous track entitled 'Thieves' is out and charming the pants off everyone yet again.
• A few months late but thanks to Laura J Smith (check out her movie blog here), I have found Local Natives and the beautiful 'Gorilla Manor', a strikingly cheerful delight!
• Saw this guy from Leeds supporting Girls (who were immense), and not too shabby (though he is not Scouse as a friend mistakenly asserted over and over...). The act is hauntingly titled Spectrals ...

Albums out over the next week or so that you probably peek at;

• 'Sisterworld' by Liars [paranoid loner post punk with a heart of awesome]
• 'The Brutalist Bricks' by Ted Leo & the Pharmacists [intricate, intelligent punky rock]
• 'The Winter of Mixed Drinks' by Frightened Rabbit [Scottish trembling indie folk]
• 'Plastic Beach' by Gorillaz [cartoons & cameos = awesomely soaring modern pop]

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I am off to steal more music (in the sort of legal way of course)
Go listen and love and learn and let me know...
byeeeeeeeeeeee....eeeeeeee...
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