Ed Harcourt

ED HARCOURT
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Ed Harcourt is nothing short of amazing when he’s playing
live, possibly due to his many years of opening up for REM, Wilco, Beth
Orton, Supergrass, etc. An amazing multi-instrumentalist, he mostly
relies on his piano and strong vocals.

Recently, he composed the score for the “Donnie Darko” sequel S Darko, which I gave it a good review… despite the critics panning the movie. Russian Roulette EP is the latest release, around or after sxsw.

Like many of his previous songs, these songs on the EP tells
little stories. I think sometime his personal life shows through in
these songs, for instance the musical roller coaster “Caterpillar”
reflects the singer’s emotions of highs & lows when his newborn
daughter Roxy was placed in an incubator.

It’s the first song I’ve written about her. She was a
little ill and we waited for her in the hospital for the chrysalis so
we could take her home.

— Ed Harcourt

These are great piano songs, they sometime sound a bit
like old fashion television theme songs (accessible to anyone that
hears it).
There is one mountain folky-ish song called “Creep Out Of The
Woodwork”, which may be because of the country-sounding intro.

My favorite is “Sour Milk, Motheaten Silk”, whose music was
inspired by “Cypress Hill and Japanese children’s shows”. The violins
towards the end by his wife, Gita, added a nice touch to the song.

You can get Russian Roulette EP from Dovecote Records, where you can also purchase his last album, The Beautiful Lie. Although it may sound gimmicky, you can get the EP via USB in the shape of a bullet. It’s cool!

Harcourt will next appear in London at Standon Calling on August 2^nd.

VERISMO
verismetal.com
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Verismo – Failure

Verismo is a New York-based thrash metal trio, consisting of
Stephan (vocals/guitars), Vinny (bass) and Tamas (drums). What I
thought was funny is that they puke at the “throes of indie bands,
experimental rock outfits, and techno-infused acts continue to battle
it out for recognition in the highly-competitive New York City music
scene” – all too true regarding New York’s indie scene.

Well metal’s still huge all over the world, but it’s a
question of taste… and personally it’s not my cup of tea. But if you
like a bit of a harder (but not ear-punishing as some metal bands I’ve
heard) guitar-noodling of Verismo, you can download their latest EP Greed for (ironically) free, if you sign up on their mailing list:

FREE – “GREED” EP
Friday, July 10, 2009

We want you to have it, listen to it, import it to your iPod, share it
among your friends…etc. Remember a full length coming out at the end
of this year!

Get the EP absolutely free by signing up to our mailing list, 2 options:

– Join our mailing list thru our myspace profile.
– Come to www.verismetal.com and click on Mailing List.

THE RADIO DEPT.
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The Radio Dept. – David

The Radio Dept. – Deliverance

From Sweden and our favorite Swedish label, Labrador comes The Radio Dept.’s David EP, released sometime in late June.

We’ve previously mentioned Radio Dept. before and Randy describes This Past Week
as: “it’s shoegazey, melancholy, a bit subdued, but also lush and
really well-layered between the vocals, guitar, keyboard, samples, and
drum machine.”

I think anytime I read layer and drum machines, I just think
of lo-fi, but they aren’t. They’re definitely dreamy in some chases.

The single (4 tracks) are a quick listen. The songs are
easy-on-the-ears, a little too relaxing with the mostly-instrumental
“The Idle Urban Contemporaries”. Obviously the main and title track
“David” is the best among the songs.

However, I didn’t particularly care for the Rice Twins remix of
“David”, which is too jumpy and that use of vocal autotune drives me
nuts, in my opinion. It could’ve been an interesting song if you
haven’t heard the original mix. But then again, I’ve mentioned before
that I wasn’t keen on remixes either.

David EP is available now from Labrador.

BRAIN CHILDREN
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Brain Children – Guts

The children are Mikey Young and Max Kohane, based out of
Victoria, Australia, who spent their years as punks and releasing DIY
punk records (under such acts as Eddy Current Suppression Ring and
Agents of Abhorrence). A lightning bolt must’ve hit the both of them as
they are drinking their “Fosters” and they became a fishnet-wearing
disco superhero duo called Brain Children, complete with the red
Brainsmobile.

They’ve just released a self-titled CD/12″ and based on the
six tracks, it’s pretty much what you would expect out of a disco
dance/synth band… ultimately sounding like they’re from the 80s.
There’s definitely some bassy funk elements, especially on the “Guts”,
which I think there are actual girls-vocals on it. Either way, if you
like what you heard, check out more at their myspace.

It’s easy for Australians to order the Brain Children EP directly from their record label Stained Circles (THEY SELL TAPES! TAPES!!! It’s like 1986 again). Outside of ozland, you can only order 7″ only, and you must use paypal.

GALA
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Gala – Freed From Desire The Un-Remix

Italian pop singer, Gala Rizzatto, or simply known as Gala, gained a
bit of fame over the UK (appearing on Top of the Pops), as well as
playing with Janet Jackson and U2, quite a feat. Not really sure what
happened, but she moved to New York, leaving her UK record label
behind.

Her latest release is an EP called Tough Love. This
release is really polished, a very professional produced little
six-track. For the most part, I love pop music, and since Gala’s
background is from Italy, she certainly knows her eurodisco music.

If you don’t like eurodisco, then turn away now, but if you dig Sophie Ellis-Bextor or Kyle Minogue, then you’ll love Gala.

Pretty soon, you’ll find youself dancing uncontrollably to
“Freed From Desire The Un-Remix” and “DKOL (Different Kind Of Love)”.
Watch out for that distinctive yip-yelp she does on “Tough Love”.

I see that she’ll be heading over to Moscow for a live show at the Forbes Club on September 18^th. You can follow her on Twitter, which she will occasional take some pictures on her walkabouts.

07/17/2009 00:04:12 ♥ vu ()
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