Tune In Saturdays: David Karsten Daniels

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David Karsten Daniels

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Seattle by way of North Carolina by way of Dallas singer-composer-doug martsch-look-alike David Karsten Daniels is out with a new record I just stumbled across this morning. Back in the day, my somewhat shitty high school band shared a guitarist with David's much more popular jazz outfit also from the same high school. It's a pleasure to see what he's made of himself. It's a winding, infectious record that seems to be getting some great press all around. As is his style, the record is full of unexpected surprises, never in a jarring way, but just not something you'd hear almost anywhere else.

From Drowned in Sound:

From its first note, David Karsten Daniels' latest full-length oozes poise and beauty. Such general terms seem hackneyed but, with Fear Of Flying, the right adjectives are immensely difficult to pluck and place. Indeed, that maxim can be applied to the man's entire career. Apparently he is a studied composer, a learned musician and everything that the spontaneous and emotional pop writer shouldn't like that much. Where's the spontaneity? Why doesn't he throw his guitar at rivals' faces? What's he doing trying to 'folk up' on this record? Interesting questions. But, as those in the know can attest, pop composers (one of the most loaded terms in music today) with the right balance of theory and horrific experience can become the most scintillating performers we have today – Daniels undoubtedly embodies this.

David Karsten Daniels - Martha Ann (mp3)

David Karsten Daniels - Falling Down (video)

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Tune In Saturdays: The Lodger

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The Lodger

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It's summer, which means we all should be on the hunt for a good ol', poppy as shit summer theme song. The Lodger would like to throw their hat into the mix, picking up where the strokes left off, minus the pretentiousness and glitz, but with all of the jumpiness and driving beats.

From noizemakesenemies:

From the moment that I put the CD into my player it’s been the sound track to my evening, it brings to mind the musical stylings of The Smiths, with infusions of REM and memories of late nineties Bluetones. It moves away from being just an album filled with songs and becomes much more, a musically emotional journey that carries you from upbeat happiness through to a slow sense of sombreness.

The Lodger - The Conversaton (mp3)
The Lodger - The Good Old Days (video)

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Tune In Saturdays: Fleet Foxes

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Fleet Foxes

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Another addition to the Sub Pop artist roster, we've got Seattle's Fleet Foxes. For fans of Band of Horses, Matt Pond PA, or Rogue Wave, this is probably for you. Guitar-driven, folksy and harmonic, the Fleet Foxes debut full length is another charming gem from one of my favorite labels and one of my favorite music towns.

From Pitchfork:

For all the album's winding paths and unexpected vistas, Fleet Foxes' harmonies remain the primary draw, and they've written and arranged these songs to showcase their shared vocals. "Heard Them Stirring" has no lyrics, but it's hard to call it an instrumental. Against a shuffling shaker-and-tambourine rhythm, "Ragged Wood" switches between Robin Pecknold's lead vocals and the band's harmonies after each verse, effectively translating classic rock via folk elements. There's as much Fleetwood Mac as the Band in the song's rousing finale. On the other hand, Fleet Foxes do restraint just as well: "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" features only a lone acoustic guitar and Pecknold's forceful vocals, which switch to a spooky falsetto on the outro.

Buy it here.

Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (mp3)
Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why (mp3)
Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (partial live video clip)

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Tune In Saturdays: the Morning Benders

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ThemorningbendersBeing the sucker for a well-crafted indie pop rock song, I quickly fell for Berkley, See AY's The Morning Benders. I wouldn't call anything ground breaking here, but it'll get your toe tapping pretty quick, and I wouldn't be too surprised to see them pull a few Mobys. I don't know if it's the sloppy Pavement-esque guitars, the keys or the jumpy beats, but it's another nice staple for top down summer driving.

From the Owl Mag:

"Berkley's The Morning Benders certainly know their way around a well-constructed pop song. In their latest release, Talking through Tin Cans, the Benders fuse '60s feel-good summer pop with uplifting melodies about heartbreak. Currently touring with Britain's the Kooks, the band has reached a comfortable setting for their catchy tunes. Singer Chris Chu (who also plays guitar, organs and piano along with Joe Ferrell) perhaps expectedly conjures images of Brian Wilson's treble leanings; however the filter through which he sings creates a unique grainy quality that meshes well with the nostalgic vibe the band rocks."

Home.MySpace.

The Morning Benders - Boarded Doors (video)

The Morning Benders - Waiting for a War(video)

Tune In Saturdays: Chin Chin

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Chin_chinBrooklyn's Chin Chin makes music to be naughty by. Or music to be naughty with. Or naughty music to do naughty things by. Either way, it's packed with funk grooves, latin rhythms, hip hop undertones and pop hooks. Cool shit that would make any Gnarles Barkley fan proud.

From Obscure Sound:

The primary aspect that makes Chin Chin so enjoyable is its tendency to stray outside the norm, playing with a variety of styles in ways that conventional thinking would not be able to comprehend. Despite utilizing a tight rhythm section and a plethora of brass that appears typical of most funk music, Chin Chin’s inclusion of elements such as dance and world music makes it a very unique experience.

Chin Chin: Appetite (video)

Plus, you can stream the album in its entirety at chinchin.tv.

Tune In Saturdays: Norfolk & Western

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NorfolkThis week, Portland's own, star-studded Norfolk & Western caught my ear with a beautifully lush record from 2006 called The Unsung Colony. Featuring members from M. Ward and the Decemberists, N&W again and again manage to be both big and understated, both strange and simple, effortlessly. It may be a little hard to classify, but it's full of a folksy, country-ish backbone. Great stuff.

From PopMatters:

The Unsung Colony is damn fine, near perfect, each elegant orchestrated folk-pop song given greater resonance by its placement in the album’s waxing and waning—even the not-as-good ones, and they’re all at least pretty good.  Some, like the epic “Arrangements Made” are exceptional, an inspired blend of the Flaming Lips, Harry Nilsson, and the White Album.  Featuring such accomplished scenesters as Rachel Blumberg (the Decemberists) and Peter Broderick (Horse Feathers) playing all manner of string, key, and horn, The Unsung Colony should establish mastermind Adam Selzer as a pretty major player on the autumnal/prog-quaint circuit, or whatever the kids call it these days.

Norfolk & Western - The Longest Stare (mp3)
Norfolk & Western - The Gilded Age (video)

Tune In Saturdays (sort of): The Ruby Suns

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Ruby_sunsThis week, we'll feature New Zealand by-way-of-Los Angeles orchestral pop rock band, The Ruby Suns.I'd describe them as a little bit Animal Collective, a little bit Polyphonic Spree, mixed with a lot of crazy sounds and happy harmonies. Fun stuff. Look out for them in an Apple commercial near you. That's my prediction of the day.

From Pitchfork:

Sea Lion, therefore, has a fair amount of clutter-- expect comparisons to musically busy peers like Panda Bear or the Russian Futurists, and to the jumbled orchestral experimentation of Olivia Tremor Control-- but the album's building blocks ooze with a homespun grace. Opener "Blue Penguin" rubs the sleep out of its eyes before grinding a dirty acoustic guitar into overdriven tape. The tender horns on "Remember" are reminiscent of the gentle indie rock of Beulah before introducing a coda of warm, looped sighing. "Adventure Tour"'s high-pitched, descending choruses recall Avey Tare. "Tane Mahuta", sung in indigenous Maori, provides the sole link to McPhun's adopted home, but the song's furious strumming and dewy harmonies are straight from power- and African- (think Tabu Ley) pop.

The Ruby Suns - There are Birds (mp3)
The Ruby Suns - Tane Muhata (video)

Tune In Saturdays: Why?

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WhyOakland, California's Why? is a fantastically difficult to classify gem. I've heard them described as hip-pop, but that fails to round up what they are exactly. While there is definitely a delicious mixture of hip hop and pop music, it's somehow a little too good, a little too folksy to fall into even made up categories. Plus, it allows you to be more defiant when you answer the simple question, "What is that you're listening to?". (English teachers, please explain how to punctuate the end of that sentence...jeez)

From Drowned in Sound:

Three’s a doozie: Elliott Smith, Mark Everett (aforementionedish, but allow it), Conor Oberst (not me but many)… these artists are canonised as masterful image-misers, capable of fully rendering an experience through words alone, drawing vivid pictures in the mind’s eye. They’re all up there on pedestals personal, around the world; time’s right for another to join them methinks, and with Alopecia Yoni Wolf has delivered a record perfectly comparable with any so-called best of the collected reference artists listed a few words ago. A collection of songs that sometimes buckle under the weight of their own graphic natures, Why?’s third album is as absorbing an experience as any initiated admirer could have hoped for. Complete newcomers are going to have their heads spun.

Why? - The Vowels Pt 2 (mp3)
Why? - Gemini (video)

Tune in Saturdays: Bon Iver

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BoniverWell, it's more Sunday now, but you know...stuff and all that.

Anyway, this week we have Bon Iver, the moniker of Justin Vernon, Wisconsin-based singer songwriter. It's a brilliantly quiet and introspective record that I haven't been able to stop listening to since I bought it last week. It even made it's way into my Obama video. It's perfect for those times when you need to be alone with your thoughts, or produce the next big campaign, or just need to catch your breath during your drive to lunch. This may sound odd, but it sounds like it was recorded...

From pitchfork:

The biographical details behind the creation of an album shouldn't matter when it comes to a listener's enjoyment, but For Emma, Forever Ago, Justin Vernon's debut as Bon Iver, exudes such a strong sense of loneliness and remoteness that you might infer some tragedy behind it. So, to skirt the rumor mill, here are the particulars, as much or as little as they might apply: In 2005, Vernon's former band DeYarmond Edison moved from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to North Carolina. As the band developed and matured in its new home, the members' artistic interests diverged and eventually the group disbanded. While his bandmates formed Megafaun, Vernon-- who had worked with the Rosebuds and Ticonderoga-- returned to Wisconsin, where he sequestered himself in a remote cabin for four snowy months. During that time, he wrote and recorded most of the songs that would eventually become For Emma, Forever Ago.

Check it out. It's an inspired, moving piece of work.

Home.MySpace.

Bon Iver - Skinny Love (mp3)
Bon Iver - Lump Sum (live video)

Tune In Saturdays: Glen Reynolds

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GlenreynoldsIt's been awhile since we've had a good shot of Dallas music around here, so I thought we could go to the guitarist of one of my favorite local bands, Glen Reynolds of Chomsky. Or formerly of Chomsky, I guess, considering they no longer exist. Either way, Glen takes a far less poppy route with his debut solo album.  In Between Days is a much slower, much quieter trip, but still manages to find plenty of interesting, unexpected moments.

From the Dallas Observer:

Old alliances aside, Reynolds' focus is now firmly on his solo material. The consistent quality of the songs on In Between Days bears out Reynolds' decision to pursue his own vision. Songs such as "I've Seen the Blueprints," "Hitchhike to Nowhere" and "We're So Far Away" are intricate and introspective mood pieces, much more akin to arty songwriters such as Joseph Arthur and Paul Brill than the pop/punk of Chomsky.

"I am inspired by fantasy, escapism and love," says Reynolds. "I love nature imagery and choruses that are as big as a walk-in closet in Frisco."

Those choruses are carefully and beautifully buried among the mellow grooves and delicate phrasing and are brought to life through the organic interplay of Reynolds' new group of players.

Glen Reynolds - Wonderland (mp3)
Glen Reynolds - We're So Far Away (video)