#24: The History of Apple Pie

New Narcotic of the Day #24:

The History of Apple Pie

Time away yet again and back again yet again and again and again and again.

INDIE POP TIME!

Well, a fusion of 90s indie shoegaze plus a smidge of Britpop equals The History of Apple Pie, a group started by Stephanie Min and Jerome Watson (previously of Hatcham Social). Now they have expanded into a five piece who swell and surge to craft that distinct sound of the Yuck-style, 1990s creeping their way back into music (they don't really sound a thing like Yuck BUT I can't help but mention them when talking of this mini-90s 'revival').

This is C86 shoegaze, all ripping guitar lines and shuffling drums behind a sweetly crooning female voice that hovers atop the melody, conscious of it's place in the history of such a musical narrative. 'You're So Cool' drifts along on an endlessly chilled riff, recalling the likes of Luna or The Breeders, leaning back into a melody of sunny relaxation. 'Mallory' croons "Mallory, she's wondering how on Earth they got this far", utilising an imaginary(?) individual to tell a classical tale, treading a line between The Pixies' 'Allison' and The Shirelles' 'Foolish Little Girl'. This 60s girl group backbone is a brazen, beautiful branding on their indie pop, remaining faithful to the melodic, story-telling qualities that the likes of Motown et al utilised to great effect.

The History of Apple Pie have a host of London gigs in the near future including slots at The 100 Club and The Victoria.

The History of Apple Pie's Myspace

The History of Apple Pie's Soundcloud

You're So Cool by The History Of Apple Pie

Eggciting Easter Euphoria....

'Music is an outburst of the soul.' ~Frederick Delius

It is the Easter Weekend so happy Easter Sunday Day to one and all, I hope that zombie Jesus and his bunny rabbit sidekicks bought you all of the chocolate eggs that you can cram down your throat until the inevitable sugar crash and rush to the toilet. I have spent a good week consistently drunk, with help from a Student Radio Conference, and Sonar Radio, who lived up to my every chundering expectation...

Onwards, with Easter comes new shit. So new music yeahhh???

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Brooklyn is currently the musical mecca of awesome, hence why I dream of moving there and starting a fuzzy band full of hope, dreams and wine...

Anyway, Fang Island are another Brooklyn band living up to the hype that emanates from the district so brightly in 2010. Existing for a few years, their first self-titled album was released a couple of weeks ago and showcases an energy that can only be described as the power of (in the band's words) "everyone high-fiving everyone."

'Daisy' comes with a delirious drive that instigates dancing without reason whilst 'Treeton' stops and starts infectiously, hopping along in waves of exuberance. Fang Island make positively life-affirming, jump-for-joy alternative pop that clicks together in simple but effective perfection.

Fang Island's Myspace

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Indie supergroups are tricky to manage and even trickier to actually pull off. Gayngs are a collective of musicians, including Justin Vernon, Megafaun and Solid Gold, pulled together by producer Ryan Olson. So far, only one track has appeared online, but its a 6 and a half minute chillout mastercraft.

Using the laidback vocals of Bon Iver as a template and a slow burning mixture of instruments and beats, the gentle ebb and flow of 'The Gaudy Side of Town' seeps its way into your mind, lulling you into a state of serene satisfaction. It is one gigantic fusion of soul, indie, folk, chillwave and electronica that must surely be setting the scene for something mindblowing...

Gayngs' Myspace

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I very rarely blog about hip-hop but when good stuff comes along, I simply MUST! Here it comes in the form of a free mixtape from Das Racist, a rap trio from (guess where!) Brooklyn. The three take the art of hip-hop, scratch a massive tear across it and try to kick things off once more, forging a new sound, rare in modern hip-hop.

From the gaudy humor of 'Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell' to the summery sampling of 'You Oughta Know' through to the auto-tune behind 'Fake Patios' and the classic hip-hop style of 'Deep Ass Shit'. Simply magnificent from start to finish, throwing new light onto an undervalued genre.

The stumbling raps, the slurring words, the lazy beats and awesome samples all pave the way towards a band who know how to party but also know their music, and know how to combine the two abilities into the awesome trio that is Das Racist.

Download out their mixtape 'Shut Up, Dude' here at Stereogum...

Das Racist's Myspace

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The evolution of emphatic Easter Eggs (more crap basically)...

• Simply delicious indie pop from Leisure, a trio from Massachusets, in the form of two free songs!
• Neo-Soul star Erykah Badu has been charged after stripping for a recent music video and wandering around a busy area butt nekkid in Dallas...oh well, the song, 'Window Seat', is full of awesome so check the song and video out...
• I am currently planning an amazing trip to New York City with my best buddy and every NY referencing song makes me want to go RIGHT NOW...especially when they are as good as this new offering from Rufus Wainwright, titled 'Who Are You, New York?'
• An amazing gig at The Joiners in Southampton on May 19th; Japandroids and Yuck = droning purity and lo-fi loveliness...
• I want to do this for a living...Vivian Girls and Male Bonding cover Lou Reed...

Albums out over the next week or so that you should buy include;

• 'Our Inventions' by Lali Puna [inventive, innovative electronic pop]
• 'Yeah, So' by Slow Club [rockabilly jangle indie pop]

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So, go enjoy some chocolate whilst thinking about the crucifixion and subsequent zombie-like revival of Jesus. And listening to this lot of course. Your soul will thank you (and by extension, me) for it all later.

Have a Happy Rest of Easter!
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How To Join A First Rate Yucky Cult....

'I like any reaction I can get with my music.' -Jim Morrison

My body is aching and dying thanks to something called 'exercise' that I decided to partake in yesterday, and my muscles are realising the effects of such actions this beautifully terrible day. Hopefully music, musicians and more music will alleviate my pain somewhat, as well as, maybe, a bit of alcohol and junk food. Allons-y!

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I am going to try and avoid making puns with an excellent band recently discovered via other blogs, First Rate People. An old school soul ethos (with a gorgeous sample of The Stylistics) mixed with alt rock, that feeds a musical hunger I never knew I had. 'Orion' and 'Girls Night' are endlessly listenable popping and bopping modern pop songs that stretch across genres effortlessly, similar to Dirty Projectors. Check out this first rate band (damnit...) RIGHT NOW!

First Rate People's Myspace

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Want an awesome free EP by an awesome new band?

Yes I hear you scream at your monitor?

Well, here you go: head here and listen away... http://cults.bandcamp.com/

Cults are a band without a myspace and with an un-google-able name but gosh darnit, they make some good indie pop. Drenched in the 60s and urging me to go to New York sooner rather than later, their sing-along style on the likes of 'Go Outside' pulls the corner of your mouth into something of a smile whether you want it or not. 'Most Wanted' resembles a lo-fi outtake from a Phil Spector production. Simply lovely...

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A few years ago, in my younger days (ahh), I fell for a band called Cajun Dance Party, a riotous indie party band whose yelping, youth and vigour matched my own....
Now, after splitting up, members of the band are back with a more mature, shoegazey project known as Yuck, emitting a beautiful mixture of fuzz and murmuring. 'Georgia' is slightly 1990s, slightly euphoric and completely compelling. A myspace player full of awesome tracks makes for a day spent repeatedly clicking, so set to it!

Yuck's Myspace

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Continuing the cacophony...

• Joanna Newsom is simply wonderful and any who says otherwise has probably never heard of her. Her new album has been out for a couple of weeks and here she is enunciating amazingly on Jimmy Kimmel in the US. I want to kiss that mouth...
• Yo Gabba Gabba is THE most amazing kids show in existence. Previous guests have included Mark Mothersbaugh and The Shins. Now we have Weezer as giant bugs, Of Montreal helping make upset tummies better and, best of freaking all, Mos Def as a superhero....fuck Postman Pat....
• A lovely bit of psychedelia indie from Neon Indian via his first release since their awesome album 'Psychic Chasms'. Tis called 'Sleep Paralysist' and is not too shabby.
• RIP to Mark Linkous, and whilst I knew little about him and his work before recent events, I have now chastised myself for not listening to Sparklehorse in the past and if you havent', push you to listen to 'Happy Man' as a starting point...
• Sigur Ros' frontman is know working as Jonsi and this epic blast of his ability is worth a few hundred listens atop a mountaintop at least; 'Tornado'.
  

Albums out over the next week or so that you should buy include;

• 'Volume Two' by She & Him [gorgeous indie pop from one gorgeous indie popstar and one pretty cool indie folk minister]
• 'The Big To Do' by Drive-By Truckers [Melodic southern rock stylings]
• 'Under Great White Northern Lights' by The White Stripes [live recorded DVD & CD of the iconic modern rock duo]

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Happy Weekend Everybody!!
(oh and say hello to all of your lovely mothers for me!)
Ta Ta!
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