ripped open my heart as a butterfly goes free from the jar
out into an edible distance
we ride like there is no too far – “Sycamore”

I’ve heard a lot of “world music” in my day. Too much, I would say. The one common thread between all of them is that even though they might incorporate elements of a few cultures, they’re almost always centered in one mainstay.

Songs Of Water‘s latest release, The Sea Has Spoken, thus far has surpassed that expectation for me. I started listening to this album expecting the typical Arabic and African percussion material that’s rampant throughout “world music”. And, while those elements are unmistakeably there, they skillfully have been incorporated in a way that only serves to strengthen the album as a whole, and not become the mainstay of the project.

The bluegrass/Appalachian/newgrass influences, however, are one thing that cannot be ignored on this album. The Skaggs pedigree undoubtedly shines on tracks like “The Family Tree” (especially with the Ricky Skaggs fiddle/banjo contribution), but I’d be remiss to not mention Stephen Roach’s killer dulcimer playing on “Everything Rises” (among others). Roach also happens to be the talent providing the lead vocals on “Sycamore” and “Willow”.

Recently, there’s been a upsurgance (yes, I totally just made that word up) of indie bands with heavy Eastern European, Balkain, and Gypsy influences (DeVotchka, Beirut). While it’s a fun and interesting sound, an entire album’s worth just gets old. Admittedly, I’m not a fan of the style as a whole. However, “Bread and Circus” really surprised me in that regard. What starts out as a melancholy, almost epic-movie-soundtrack type of song slowly builds into a darkly comedic, upbeat, well,….circus tune. It’s morphed into something that would fit right into a episode of Carnivale, before retreating back to the the previous theme.

“Sycamore” is probably my most favorite track off of this disc. It’s a laid-back groove, saturated with Jason Windsor’s baritone guitar playing. It’s really reminiscent of something Nevada desert troubadouresque, like Chris Isaak. Stephen Roach lends a great lead vocal to this track; a bit whispery with a hint of delicateness. It’s a perfect recipe for a song about longing.

No matter what your flavor of folk or world music, I think you’ll probably find something on the new Songs Of Water disc that you’ll like. I know that I certainly did. Take the next step and check out Songs Of Water on MySpace or at the iTunes store if you’re looking to purchase some music. If you prefer a real CD, you can purchase those directly from the website at www.SongsOfWater.com

Meanwhile, check out “Sycamore”, one of the tracks from The Sea Has Spoken.

Songs Of Water – Sycamore:

This is one of those moments that, as a music journalist, I’ve been personally waiting on for a long time.

I’ve known the guys in CastleLights on a personal level for a while now, and have been a fan of various incarnations of bands that they’ve been in (Leeland and The Blinding, among others). So, when I found out that Aaron Eaves and Jeremiah Wood (a founding member of Leeland) were working together on this project, I knew that it would be something that would blow up in a big way for them.

And, in this line of thought, I’m not alone:

Everyone needs to follow CastleLights. They’re going to be huge! – Stephen Christian, Anberlin

Vocalist Tyler Susaras enlivens you with images of space and the fantastic, deftly drawing parallels to the realm of everyday experience. Soaring choruses collide with multifaceted harmonies in songs that are both driving and iridescent, with melodies that are memorable in their pop spirit. As guitarists, Wood and Susuras each bring a distinctive energy to their songs, playing off of one another in a way that, when coupled with the hard-hitting percussion by Grady Saxman and Aaron Eaves’s heavy basslines, pushes each song into new terrain of velocity and tone. Personally, I’ve found there to be a very European glimmer to the tracks I’ve heard. You can tell they are fans of stadium bands like Coldplay, Muse, and U2, but have kept the sound from being overly pretentious.

Recently, the guys have gotten the opportunity to co-write with some major players in the industry. Knowing (and hearing) the pedigree of songwriting and arrangement this band has, along with help from guys like Joshua Moore (Caedmon’s Call/Derek Webb), and Stephen Christian (Anberlin), it’s going to be one of those albums that gets talked about before it ever gets on the store shelves.

In the near future, you can catch CastleLights at the legendary South By Southwest music week, in a showcase hosted by Connect The Dots (www.ctheds.com) on March 18th, and then they’ll be taking the stage with a recent favorite of mine, Barcelona, in Denton, TX at Andy’s on March 20th.

To finish, I’ll leave you with two singles that, until today, have been previously unreleased. You heard it here first, folks.

Saint Era:

Paint The Stars:

The dirty south has sprouted quite the up-and-coming rock act…by accident.  In 2006, the Knoxville, Tennessee-born The Dirty Guv’nahs were thrown together in ten days to form an opening act for Sister Hazel at a benefit concert.

The six: James Trimble (lead vocals, guitar), Justin Hoskins (bass), Michael Jenkins (guitar), Chris Doody (Hammond, Keys), Mitch Stewart (percussion, bass), and Aaron Hoskins (drums) assembled themselves and hammered out a set that was the beginning of something they could have never anticipated. Since that fated week and a half, they’ve twice been voted best band in Knoxville by readers of the local alternative paper Metro Pulse, not to mention managed to get on the schedule for Asheville’s Bele Chere Music Festival and Bonnaroo in 2009.

The Dirty Guv’nahs released their first full-length album, self-titled,  in April 2009.  The work is true to the band’s southern roots: a calamity of blues, rock, and soulful country.  There is no denying a comparison to acts like the Allman Brothers or Joe Cocker, and the energy of the album is reminiscent of The Black Crowes, right down to the last held Hammond chord.  Blue Rose Stroll is a swingy sing-along tune that can’t be matched live.  We’ll Be the Light is a Doobie-esque jam with hopeful lyrics that make you want to dance with your hands high above your head.

They’ll hurry into the studio again in December, 2009 to record their second album at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock with Grammy winning engineer Justin Guip (Black Crowes).  Until the new album is released, you can enjoy the band Live at the Bijou Theater or take a listen on their website or MySpace.

Afternoon Eyes (Live)

Out of the ashes of three Texas bands comes Houston’s Holy Fiction. Previous band experience has made the members a tight, professional outfit even in their early stages of development. Despite only an EP and a single South By Southwest show to their credit (a full length LP is due by the end of the year), you’d never know it from their polished, pop-oriented sound and driving live performances.

Combining the drone and delay of 90′s shoegaze with jangly guitars, soaring strings, and falsetto-inflected vocals, Holy Fiction’s music is difficult to fit into a clean category, but impossible to call anything but rock.   With roots in Waco’s post-punk Ethan Durelle and Lake Jackson’s pop-punk Hemyah, epic bridges peak into percussive breakdowns that simultaneously recall Mono or early-career Jimmy Eat World.

Emo is something of a dirty word in modern musical lingo, but there was a time in the late 90′s that it was less invective when bands like Mineral and Sunny Day Real Estate melded West Coast punk with the crushing power of My Bloody Valentine to create brooding, beautiful music.  How that music somehow became synonymous with whiny kids in hoodies is best left to true professionals, but what is encouraging is that folks who grew up as fans of those bands are now taking those influences and distilling them into something new and exciting.

Currently, their EP is only for sale at their live shows, but a majority of its tracks, along with unreleased pieces from their forthcoming full-length, are available on their MySpace page.  They tour in and around Texas, too, so if you live near there, be sure to check them out live!

Can’t Miss Tracks: More Than Ever; Two Small Bodies

I found this band because they submitted their information on our Contact page. Lucky for us (and you), these guys are making some awesome tracks available for FREE on their website. The Fast Escape is a well-thought out album. From the lo-fi croon of The Welcoming, to the texture-laden build of A Punch To The Nose, it just all works.

It’s rare that you find a full album these days that don’t have at least 1 or 2 tracks tossed in as afterthoughts. Source Victoria’s arrangements reflect a level of compositional maturity that is tough to find these days. Tasteful, in-context solos, laid-back percussion, and using the guitar to build texture versus being the centerpoint of every song makes for an easy listen.

From the Source Victoria MySpace:

Source Victoria, known for its impactful live performances, are favorites among musicians in and around the city, including the likes of Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World, who assisted the band to early accolades and attention with a remix of the song “opportunistic.” Now, working with Grammy-award-winning engineer, Chris Testa, (Dixie Chicks, Jimmy Eat World, Switchfoot) who is mixing source victoria’s new record, the band is poised to move to the next level. Singable pop stuctures and melodies married with thoughtful and evocative lyrics (think coldplay, elbow and wilco mixed with low, elliott smith, and talk talk), source victoria makes what has been described by many as “epic pop.”

If you like what you’ve read so far, check out Source Victoria’s website, and click on the “take the fast escape” link to download The Fast Escape for FREE. You’ll thank me later!

We make music.  We make art.  We do what we do.  If we make an impact- love it or hate it- we’ve done our job.

That’s what Lang Freeman wants you to know about Austin-based alternative rockers Sounds Under Radio. Think you may have heard of them?  That’s because they aren’t new.

In 2007, Sounds Under Radio found themselves as the only unsigned band on the Spiderman 3 soundtrack with Portrait of a Summer Thief: a mainstream-sounding anthem that caught the attention of Sony/Epic, if only for a short time.  Ever a hard-working group of guys,  they signed a deal under a philosophy of indie-do-it-yourself freedom, only to find themselves shelved by label politics.  They quickly bought back the rights to their album, Cinematica, which was released in October, 2008.

Using Cinematica as a womb where bandmates Lang Freeman (vocals, guitar), Bradley Oliver (bass, keyboard), Doug Wilson (guitar), and Sonny Sanchez (drums) could develop their sound and identity as a band, they bred an album rich with poetic, abstract lyrics and smart melodies.

Nobodysomeone opens the album with Freeman’s soaring vocals contrasting against the simplistic rage of the lyrics: I know about the things you said/but hold on to this and bring back the love/I should have known way down.  It closes with a quiet solemnity which builds into a passionate explosion of music that envelopes the listener and causes his heart to share the rhythm of the song in Perfect Machine.  Sounds Under Radio’s live performances only seem to eclipse the brilliance of the debut effort.

Often drawing from fringe artists such as Bjork and Spinnerette, as well as mainstream, well-known musicians such as Radiohead or Coldplay, it isn’t all too surprising to find Sounds Under Radio labeled as “emo,” and that’s not something from which they hide.  Heavy doses of emotion drive their creative process and when their not yet titled sophomore album releases in February 2010, Freeman says that we can expect a darker, angrier, and heavier Sounds Under Radio, where beautiful melodies will collide violently with bigger, more grandiose strokes of that emotion.

Sounds Under Radio will be returning to the stage after some much-needed time off on September 25 in San Antonio.  Later in 2009, be on the look out for early releases from their new album.  Until then, you can find their music in any of the usual places: iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, etc.

Music Video for Sell Out from Cinematica

Just wanted to share this article with everyone. Andy Whitman hits the nail on the head in his commentary on the recent RIAA suit.

I think the majority of indie artists in this day and age are smart about taking advantadge of the resources available (social networking, home recording, etc.). There are plenty of them making a decent living at it to prove that point. Much like Andy said, I do hope this is the death knell of the RIAA. I can no longer see any real use for what they do other (unless they choose to become a litigation firm).

From PetLions.com:

Pet Lions are an indie pop rock band from Chicago formed by guitarist/vocalist Karl Østby and bassist Shuhei Yamamoto. The two began writing and recording together in October of 2007. Pet Lions‘ lineup was completed with the addition of Tom Owens on guitar/keys and Matt Dahl on drums. The band has been playing live since July of 2008.

Pet Lions debut EP Soft Right (recorded with Brian Zieske at Gallery of Carpet) is available online now at iTunes, Amazon, and http://www.digstation.com/Pet_Lions

Free MP3: Pet Lions – Roman History (right-click to download) courtesy of IndieRockCafe.com.