W♥M

SXSW 2012 Preview

Read More SXSW The massive music+interactive+movies festival drew over 2,000 plus bands in the area. This year is supposed to be the "biggest yet".

I'm not in Austin this year for SXSW, but, per tradition, we are semi-covering it this year. Here are some SXSW announcements that were sent to me. Since I get over 100 emails a day, please put "SXSW" in your headline subject, otherwise your message will not be read or used for a future SXSW announcement.

IODA
www.iodasxsw.com

In their 8th annual SXSW Opening Day Bash party, IODA (Independent Online Distribution Alliance) announced the confirmed lineup: thirteen bands, playing all day March 14th on two stages.

What: IODA's Opening Day Bash at SXSW
Where: Red Eyed Fly, 715 Red River Street, Austin, Texas
When: Wednesday, March 14th, 2012
Time: 12 - 6 PM

Too kool to admit to not knowing some of these bands? No problem, download the free Sampler

Artists on the bill: The Wedding Present, Thee Oh Sees, Oddisee, Y La Bamba, Pillow Fight (this is Dan The Automator's latest project), Tycho, Poliça (Minneapolis' latest buzzzzzzzzz band), Dan Mangan, Ruthie Foster, Bright Moments, Tiago Iorc, Bam Bam, and Daniel Ahearn & The Jones.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
www.conflictparty.com

Conflict of Interest event is free with Hype Hotel RSVP or a SXSW badge. Full details below:

The Syndicate Presents Conflict Of Interest
DATE: Tuesday, March 13, 2012
VENUE: Hype Hotel presented by Feed The Beat
ADDRESS: 504 Trinity
CITY: Austin, TX
TIME: 7pm - 2am
Free w/ RSVP or SXSW Badge

LIVE PERFORMANCES:
Delta Spirit
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Miniature Tigers
Little Hurricane
Incan Abraham
Oberhofer

w/ DJ Aaron Axelsen spinning all night

WUNDERBAR
www.initiative-musik.de/sxsw

Sounds delightful and tasty, check out Wunderbar – Finest Lunch With The Germans. Takes place on March 15th at the Parkside Restaurant from noon to 4pm. DJ sets from Apparat, Bonaparte, Coma, D E N A & Touchy Mob and food catered by Kochzeichen D

Other German artists appearing at SXSW:

Wednesday, March 14
Bonaparte @ The Iron Bear
Apparat Band @ Haven (1:00am - 1:40am)

Friday, March 16
Talking To Turtles @ St David's Bethell Hall (11:00pm -11:40pm)
Fenster @ The Loft (9:20pm - 9:55pm)

Saturday, March 17
Touchy Mob @ Karma Lounge

EMI
emimusic.com

I love EMI Records, as do many of you. I was sent their SXSW sampler, which showcase some of their artists at SXSW. Not on the list is Norah Jones, who is actually not performing – but will be previewing new music from her forthcoming album, Little Broken Hearts, a collaboration with Danger Mouse (to be released May 1st, 2012). The two previously worked on his album, Rome, which Dave reviewed.

The playlist, which is not commercially available, includes hot Australian band, Gold Fields, in an upcoming Going for Gold.

Below are the artists under EMI's umbrella:

• The Little Willies
• Graffiti6
• Robert Glasper
• Chiddy Bang
• Foxy Shazam
• Gold Fields
• Morning Parade

RIOT ACT MEDIA
riotactmedia.com

Riot Act Media's SXSW 2012 party is at Swan Dive this year (located at 651 Red River).

Lineup:

12:00: Follow That Bird
12:35: The Pharmacy
1:10: Nick Jaina
1:45: Brass Bed
2:20: Solander
2:55: The Spinto Band
3:30: Dana Falconberry
4:05: The Ettes
4:40: Sea Of Bees
5:15: Wooden Wand

We've previously written about Follow that Bird, Brass Bed, Sea of Bees, and Wooden Wand.

BRIEFLY:

KRIAN MUSIC GROUP krianmusicgroup.com Indie record label Krian Music Group (with BFM Digital) announced their SXSW 2012 showcase on Thursday, March 15. Bands on the lineup are: VHS or Beta, The Ettes, Capsula, Hands, The Strange Familiar, and Suckers. We've previously covered Suckers and VHS or Beta (which Sally said "were really great.").

POLARSETS polarsets.com Polarsets confirmed their SXSW dates. If you're into Kitsune and Neon Gold, you'll like this Newcastle band. You can read more about them on their press release. 16/03/12 – Sea Now Party, venue tbc 16/03/12 – Neon Gold party, Karma Lounge 17/03/12 – Northern Party, Latitude 30 17/03/12 – Filter Party, Bar 96

PS, Motormouth Media has not made their official SXSW schedule yet, but I'm sure I will mention them again because we like their artists: Blondes, Charles Bradley: Soul of America (documentary film), Class Actress, Girls, Kindness, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Light Asylum, Lower Dens, Magic Wands, Matthew Dear, Mess With Texas Event, Mike Wexler, New Build, Nite Jewel, OPN, The Step Kids, Thundercat, Trust, Twilight Sad, Vex Ruffin, Wymond Miles, and Zola Jesus

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

W♥M120: CMJ 2011 Recap

W♥M120 (52 mins) Download: W♥M120

Lara makes her annual W♥M Radio appearance. In part one, she tells us about CMJ Music Festival that took place in October 2011. Read her full CMJ report here.

Things covered on the show:

Advice: Don't be so strict on planning

Thursday: saw Silver Swan

Friday: Failed show at Pete's Candy Store, some of Riot Media's bands were playing that night. We used Sea of Bees' music.

Saturday: "Lonely/Lovely Hearts Club" and "Paper Garden/Hearts Records" relationship. Lara's undying love/stalker/obsession for Team Genius.

Sunday: Day of rest, but there was that big Slate Magazine party that was tempting.

Disappointed that En Vogue didn't play CMJ

Dum Dum Girls - too cute and popular for this earth ... and CMJ (yet they played some shows).

CMJ pricing is way too ridiculous

Lara's advice: couch surf and pick free shows and loads of coffee! Don't forget to have fun!

Snowmine is one of Lara's top pick from CMJ.

Song of the show is Snowmine's "Curfews", which is available as a free download via wvmusic.bandcamp.com.

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Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

CMJ Music Marathon Wrap-Up Day 2: Part I

Read More CMJ The College Music Journal’s (CMJ) annual showcase of rising talent in both music and film is a veritable wet dream for musicians and pop culture nerds alike.

CMJ Music Marathon Wrap-Up Day 2: Part I
Saturday, October 22, 2011

Friday’s CMJ adventure was a bit of a bust. Riot Act Media presented a happy hour showcase at Pete’s Candy Store—a hip bar in Williamsburg, roughly the same size and shape as your average Williamsburg apartment. Unfortunately, due to popularity (which is not a bad thing), it was impossible to squeeze into the tiny backroom where music was happening. Instead, we bemoaned our defeat by sampling the “happy hour” portion of the evening. If you’re at all curious what was missed, check out the following musicians that were in attendance, or visit Riot Act’s website (linked above): Brooklyn crooner Patrick Bower; the moody, orchestral Gabriel & the Hounds; Julie Ann Bee’s whimsy project Sea of Bees; and the waltz-lovin’ Robin Bacior.

Saturday was far more lucrative. As chance would have it, I caught the entire Lovely Hearts Club showcase at the Living Room. The lineup included a sampling of the Paper Garden Records label (in order of appearance): Belgrave, Gun Lake, Swear and Shake, Snowmine, and perennial W♥M faves Team Genius.

I missed Belgrave's first song. I’m hoping it was good but not too good, you know? I wouldn’t want to journey through life feeling as though I missed that one time when the clouds parted and God emerged to reveal some heavenly secrets (like why the Virgin Mary appears in pancakes but not breakfast burritos. Surface area?). However, if anyone could coax Him to play an encore, it would be Montreal natives Belgrave, as they specialize in the kind of soaring chamber pop that shoots for the stars, so to speak. “Tokyo” is a perfect example of a song with big dreams—rich, melodic layers, Trevor Boucher’s agile vocal chords, lovey lyrics; it all culminates with a head-thrown-back-arms-spread-wide chorus thatdelivers a romantic punch right to your cynical, beer-filled belly. How’s that for an out of body experience?

If Belgrave succeeded in transporting their audience to a Canadian dreamworld, Ann Arbor’s Gun Lake brought us back to earth in true Midwestern fashion. The beauty of Midwest music is that it always captures a certain mood that must be unique to the region; a strange brew of nostalgia, melancholy, reserve, and a pinch of self-deprecation thrown in for good measure. Not to be confused with the Pacific Northwest mood, which often contains more melancholy, less self-deprecation. However, they have mountains to dwell on; we have large areas of grass; let’s call it ‘topography psychology.’

I’m happy to report that Gun Lake met—then surpassed—all region-specificexpectations. Besides a knack for crafting interesting prose, every singing member has a voice like a rugged, Liberal Arts-educated angel. You know you’re in the presence of skilled musicians when they can jump from verse to flawlessly harmonized chorus without breaking a sweat (or breaking in pitch). Gun Lake provedfaithfulto this technique on their debut album Balfour; notably on the dusky ballad “Cliffhanger.” Live, the band didn’t really deviate from their pitch-perfect formula, and why would they? Highlights included “Cliffhanger,” which opened their set if I’m remembering correctly, and my favorite of the evening, “Trees,” a subtle waltz that almost reads as modern folklore. Listen to a live recording of “Trees” here.

Up next: Day 2, Part 2

lara () ♥ www.cmj.com

Lost at Sea

Led to sea: Is This The Last Time

My favorite sailor song is "Jackie" by Sinead O'Connor. It's about a ghost who mourns for her husband, lost at sea and never found. It's very heartbreaking and I really love the use of violins to sound like a threatening thunderstorm in the song.

I've been dead for twenty years
Washing the sand with my ghostly tears
Searching the shores for my Jackie-oh

Below are some bands that's come across my email about the sea.

LED TO SEA
www.ledtosea.com

Seattle-based violist, Alex Guy, goes by the stage name Led to Sea. The exciting news is that she's touring with Thao & Mirah (and you know we love Thao here).

I've dug around to find out more about Led to Sea and I think she has two albums now, the most recent is called Into The Darkening Sky. From the reviews I've read, everyone seems to agree on one thing: she's amazing live... which incidentally brings us to her live dates - starting today, April 22^nd at the Northwest Folklife Festival. I'll probably pick up her album at the Cedar show, she's coming here to Minneapolis on June 2^nd.

04.22.11 - Seattle, WA @ Columbia City 04.24.11 - Seattle, WA @ Vera Project 05.01.11 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour* 05.02.11 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Soho* 05.03.11 - Oakland, CA @ the New Parish* 05.05.11 - Vancouver, BC @ the Biltmore* 05.06.11 - Bellingham, WA @ WWU* 05.07.11 - Seattle, WA @ the Crocodile* 05.08.11 - Portland, OR @ the Wonder Ballroom* 05.09.11 - Olympia, WA @ the Northern* 05.27.11 - Seattle, WA @ the Northwest Folklife Festival 06.02.11 - Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center* 06.03.11 - Chicago, IL @ the Empty Bottle* 06.05.11 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace*		06.07.11 - Boston, MA @ T.T. the Bear's* 06.08.11 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg* 06.09.11 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church* 06.10.11 - Washington, DC @ the Black Cat* 06.11.11 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506* 06.12.11 - Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle* 06.13.11 - Atlanta, GA @ the Earl* 06.15.11 - St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway* 06.18.11 - Denver, CO @ High Dive* 06.19.11 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launch Pad* 06.20.11 - Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room* 06.21.11 - San Diego, CA @ the Casbah* 06.23.11 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American* All tour dates * with Thao & Mirah

Seapony: Blue Star

SEAPONY
myspace.com/seaponyband

I don't know much about Seapony, other than that I will probably like them since they are on Hardly Art records (the last two albums I reviewed from them are amazing).

Anyroad, it looks like Seapony is a trio: songwriter Danny Rowland, singer Jen Weidl, and bassist Ian Brewer (note: no human drummer).

Their music is described as "fuzz-drenched guitar playing simple chord progressions, topped with concise melodic hooks and breathy vocals." Sounds excellent.

Their album, Go With Me will be released May 31^st on Hardly Art. Tour information below:

04.22.11 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
05.06.11 - Portland, OR - Renn Fayre (Reed College)
05.07.11 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
05.28.11 - Santa Cruz, CA - 418 Project
05.29.11 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern
05.31.11 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
06.02.11 - Seattle, WA - The Vera Project
06.15.11 - Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands

Sea Of Bees: Wizbot

SEA OF BEES
www.seaofbees.com

Julie Baenziger is better known as Sea of Bees. I've previously reviewed her cutely named EP, Bee Eee Pee, and I thought her vocals sounded like "small cute child".

NPR seems to agree, naming her top 100 acts at SXSW 2011 with a mention about her voice:

The press is buzzing: But as always, the real star is Bee's lovely and distinctive voice.

Well, it looks like she's going on tour with Stornoway, a band that will likely bring a dolly on stage.

Her new album is called Songs for the Ravens and since it doesn't look like she'll be come through Minneapolis, I might look into trying to get her album for review (when I have more time).

Below are the tour dates:

04.21.11 - Manhattan, NY @ The Living Room 04.22.11 - Brooklyn, NY @ Spike Hill 04.23.11 - Brooklyn, NY @ Sycamore 04.25.11 - Manhattan, NY @ Rockwood Music Hall 04.26.11 - Manhattan, NY @ Joe's Pub 04.27.11 - Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands 04.28.11 - Manhattan, NY @ Piano's 04.29.11 - Manhattan, NY @ Cake Shop 04.30.11 - Manhattan, NY @ Mercury Lounge 05.01.11 - Manhattan, NY @ The Living Room		05.24.11 - Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo* 05.26.11 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg* 05.28.11 - Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall* 05.31.11 - Seattle, WA @ Triple Door* 06.01.11 - Vancouver, BC @ Media Club* 06.02.11 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir* 06.04.11 - San Francisco, CA @ the Independent* 06.05.11 - Los Angeles, CA @ the Troubadour* * with Stornaway

BAREFOOT DANCE OF THE SEA
myspace.com/barefootdanceofthesea

Barefoot Dance of the Sea seems to be an all-girls band (a trio of Rebecca Wood, Beth Gibson & Sophie Cochrane). Apparently two of them are from the Hot Puppies (which I'll admit, I've never heard of either).

Their upcoming release is called 'Til Voices Wake Us, a six-track limited edition EP (only 150 copies of the CD will be released), coming out May 16^th. The details I have is that it will come with a silver and translucent foiled packaging. Sounds delightful.

Described as "two-and three-part harmonies and enchanting minimalist instrumentation", I would imagine it to be a lot of folk-harmonizing-action. I do like that melody-thing, so I might check them out later down the road when I have more time.

THE SEA KINGS
facebook.com/pages/The-Sea-Kings

Another folky/harmonizing band (although interestingly enough, "medieval pop" was used to describe the band). Below is a proper description of the band:

The sound that The Sea Kings make is rooted in folk music, with branches twisting through crunchy jazz rhythms and contemporary pop melodies, all under an acoustic canopy. Their lyrics convey images of towering cliffs and sandy beaches, reflecting a shared longing for home derived from a life of self-imposed exile.

The Sea Kings is from England, but the email I got also mentioned that they are specifically not from Scotland. Perhaps there's another band called Sea Kings ? This one consists of James Wills (Guitar), Joe Holtaway (Mandolin) and Jake Alexander (Percussion/Cello), all singers apparently.

I was also given a Spotify link, which is like a Unicorn in the States: it doesn't exist here. I know Ryan and I talked about it for hours two years ago, but Spotify still can't sort it out here.

Their EP is called An Introduction To The Sea Kings and available on most digital retailers.

THE NAKED AND FAMOUS
thenakedandfamous.com

The information I have is actually for The Naked and Famous, but I'm tossing them here because they are really excited about their new song, "Young Blood" getting a remixed treatment by White Sea (aka Morgan Kibby of M83). You can listen to the song on soundcloud.com

Details of their continuing tour dates are listed below.

FRI 4/22 KANSAS CITY, MO Beaumont
SAT 4/23 ST. LOUIS, MO Firebird
TUE 4/26 CHICAGO, IL Metro
WED 4/27 COLUMBUS, OH Outland
FRI 4/29 CLEVELAND, OH Beachland
SAT 4/30 TORONTO, ON Phoenix
SUN 5/1 MONTREAL, PQ National
MON 5/2 BOSTON, MA Paradise
WED 5/4 NEW YORK, NY Webster Hall
THU 5/5 PHILADELPHIA, PA Theatre of Living Arts
FRI 5/6 WASHINGTON, DC 930 Club
SAT 5/7 BALTIMORE, MD Ottobar
SUN 5/8P PROVIDENCE, RI The Met

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com

♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com

♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

EZ EPs VII: Sarah Elizabeth Foster, Feral Children, Mojorising, Sea of Bees

This is the latest series in my EPs reviews. I like doing these because I don't think they take that long to listen to these four or five songs. You get the gist of the band, but unfortunately, it's probably not as detailed and explored as reviewing albums.

Also, I am back on reviewing music as I have stopped going out to see live bands. I am still not accepting new music as I still have to clear out what I've already been sent/requested. Apologies to any promises that I may have made.

Sarah Elizabeth Foster - Gardening from the Ground Up

Sarah Elizabeth Foster

SARAH ELIZABETH FOSTER
sarahelizabethfoster.com ♥ myspace

Sarah Elizabeth Foster's EP, Gardening From the Ground Up Part 1 from Studio Sarah Records, is the first submission I've received for a 2010 release. Generally around this time, I get a ton of Christmas music offers (which, hey, I will be doing a roundup next week!).

Foster actually has a degree in music, singing French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and, of course English. While this EP is only in English, it does showcase her classically singing abilities. My favorite song is actually the title-track, "Gardening From the Ground Up". There's something about this love song, from rain drops to the up-beat jazzy tempo, that I really like. This is in contrast to the opening song, "Wake Up", for a song that's about waking up, it sounds like "take it easy" evening song.

While people will automatically associate Foster to 60s girl singers, I think her vocal styles, would actually lends itself really well to modern indiepop music. I'm certainly interested in hearing what part two sounds like. If you live in New York, Foster will be playing tomorrow, December 4^th at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn.

FERAL CHILDREN
myspace.com/feralchildrenseattle

Feral Children is a "backwoods" band from Seattle, Washington. Their self-titled EP was a free released on Sarathan Records, while their forth-coming album, Brand New Blood, will be available digitally December 8^th, while a physical release on January 19^th, 2010.

As their name suggest, their music seems, I don't know, wild. Like "grizzly bear", "panda bear, "deerhunter" and "animal collective" wild, and this isn't surprising, considering Scott Colburn (Animal Collective's Feels producer) is their producer on the Feral Children album. Compared to previous bands I mentioned, Feral Children seems more melodic and less experimental. I'm not sure who produced their EP (I rarely get liner notes for digital submissions), but they certainly have that collective-like influence.

I did give the EP a few listens, and not entirely impressed with the singer (is it Bill Cole?). His vocals is very rough, voice cracking comes to mind on tracks like "Saint". While this may possibly be the greatest song done live, listening to it on headphones made me cringe.

Who knows, maybe their album will be much better than the self-titled EP. It is, after all, their first release, I'm sure they'll improve over time. Information on the free downloads, head over to Sarathan Records.

MOJORISING
mojorisingband.com ♥ myspace

I keep mis-reading this band as Major/ising, so I'm not sure if other people might have the same problem reading the name (it's OK people misread W♥M as "we love music" all the time...)

Mojorising recently moved from Los Angeles from Australia. So prices for their EP at $12 on the merch page might seem high, until you realize it's in AUS dollars.

My impression is that this duo makes some really funky music, but with classic rock attitudes (think Jamiroquai). The funk soul translate well on a few of their songs, "She Woke Up To Me" and "Sooth Me And Use Me". The later is very dancey, I suspect it will play well to a live audience. Incidentally if you are interested in hearing the first song, it's available as a free download.

The band is playing a few dates in California:

Dec 20 2009 THE MINT Los Angeles
Jan 10 2010 EL CID Los Angeles

SEA OF BEES
seaofbees.com ♥ myspace

Lara dismissed Julie Baenziger, aka Sea of Bees, as being too "CocoRosie/Joanna Newsom", and really - what's wrong with that ? As expected, Baenziger's vocal style is that of a small cute child. And also cute is the title of the EP, called Bee Eee Pee. This is a collection of four songs and one intermission song.

All of the songs are pretty minimalistic, usually with just acoustic and Baenziger singing. The stand-out track for me is "Willis", because it  does feature a melodic backing music (vs just acoustic alone). Also, the inclusion of the random intro is nice - it explained that this particular recording happens to be the third take.

Julie is doing some winter dates:

Dec 4 2009 Fox & Goose Sacramento, California
Dec 15 2009 Sacramento, California
Jan 26 2010 Matadero Huesca, Huesca
Jan 30 2010 Tanned Tin Festival Castelo, Castellón
Feb 10 2010 TBA w/ Mountain Man, Chelsea Wolfe and Dead Western Sacramento, California

Bee Eee Pee is out now on Bot Bot Records/Digisquad Records, you can find it on iTunes and Amazon.

PS, That's all I can manage today. Check out Ryan as he's retweeting on twitter/weheartmusic. You can see some of the tweets on the right-side of this page. The account is kept active by live blogging by myself, Ceji, and Ryan. Not just a robot account!

 12/03/2009 22:55:52 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com