Dungen’s music has a way of making me feel like my brain and mental capacity are expanding. Almost feels like I’m getting smarter by just listening to their music. Whether or not the latter is true (probably not or I’d be a genius), the exploratory nature of their sound is enough to get this music blogger excited when ever he sees the words “new” and “music” along side this Swedish pysch-rock’s name.
Their new album, Skit I Allt, will be out September 15th on Mexican Summer. Unlike many European bands, Dungen likes to keep their lyrics in their native tongue and if you were wondering what the title of their new album means it is (cover your ears or rather shut your eyes mom) – “Fuck All”. While this title may conjure up thoughts of Swedish death metal perhaps, the song “Marken Låg Stilla”, is far from metallic. Download by simply providing your email address below.
Album tracklist:
1. Vara snabb
2. Min enda vän
3. Brallor
4. Soda
5. Högdalstoppen
6. Skit i allt
7. Barnen undrar 8. Blandband
9. Nästa sommar
10. Marken låg stilla
Dungen will be gracing the Boston music fans with their presence on October 13th at Harpers Ferry, which happens to be the last show of the tour. The supporting band is The Entrance Band for this show.
Right after SXSW this year, I kept a keen eye on my Twitter feeds to see what bands were loved, hated, obsessed over and caught the biggest buzz. One that sneaked into my radar and apparently sneaked under most was the Futurebirds.
I’m a big fan of Aquarium Drunkard so it would make sense then that his label, Autumn Tone Records, would be made up of bands that I like. Well, so far so good because they picked up these hip Americana cats from Athens, Georgia. You can download a free EP from their bandcamp account here. A recommended track to check out is “Red Top Girl”.
Contest to win two tickets to Sunday’s show
The girl in “Red Top Girl”, or at least I believe it to be, is actually a bottle of whiskey and if you can guess what bottle of whiskey I’m thinking of, you and a friend will win two tickets to Sunday’s show at TT the Bear’s Place here in Cambridge. Either leave your answer in the comments or send them to me via email at kippy[at]hip2besquare[dot]net. I will pick the winner at random but you must get the answer right.
Debut Album – Hampton’s Lullaby
Autumn Tone will be releasing their debut album, Harmpton’s Lullaby, on July 13th. At first listen, besides the obvious category of Americana folk rock, they also add their SoCal flare. For those fans of The Walkmen, you’ll know what we’re talking about when you listen to some tracks. But for those fans of Kings of Leon, these guys are right in your wheel house. In my opinion, Futurebirds are more appealing to the ear then KoL. But hey, that’s just one mans opinion. Download a legal free track from the album below.
May 12–DC9 w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield –Washington DC
May 13–Kung Fu Necktie w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield–Philadelphia, PA
May 14–Southpaw w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield–Brooklyn, NY
May 15–Mercury Lounge w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield–New York, NY
May 16–TT the Bear’s w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield–Boston, MA
May 18–Thunderbird Cafe w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield–Pittsburgh, PA
May 19–Beachland Ballroom w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield–Cleveland, Ohio
May 20–Schuba’s w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield and Dexateens–Chicago, IL
May 21–Zanzabar w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield and Dexateens–Louisville, KY
May 22–Exit / In w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield and Dexateens–Nashville, TN
June 10–Schroeder’s–Rome, GA
June 11–Harvest Moon–Albany, GA
June 18–The Earl–Atlanta, GA
June 26–AthFest – Pulaski Stage–Athens, GA
July 3–Gnat’s Landing–St. Simons, GA
July 15–Bottletree w/ Roadside Graves–Birmingham, AL
July 16–One Eyed Jack’s w/ Roadside Graves–New Orleans, LA
July 17–Chelsea’s–Baton Rouge, LA
July 18–Emo’s (Inside) Austin, TX
Yup, it’s officially been a month since I last posted. I’m sure you’ve all been missing me. In all seriousness, for those of us who don’t get paid to blog, we do it for our own sanity. Otherwise, if we didn’t let the noise that builds up in our brains out we may explode. So for those of you who know me personally, I apologize if I’ve gone off during a conversation about music and got way too excited then I should have.
I know that the above conversation probably happens whether I’m blogging or not but the fact that I’ve noticed it happening means it’s about time I started ranting again on the square.
I’ve got an interview with Joel Morales from Dios (malos) that will go up shortly. They recently came out with a new album aptly titled We Are Dios. There’s been a bunch of new as well as old music that I’ve been meaning to mention and hope to do so soon.
In the meantime, this Great Lake Swimmers track was dumped in my inbox yesterday and I thought it was a fitting track for getting back into the game since I was just having a conversation with a good buddy about how awesome these guys are.
The two brothers, Brad and Andrew Barr, from The Slip have put together a new outfit conveniently called The Barr Brothers. They’re currently working on a full length album due out later this year but the first song has been made available for our listening pleasure.
The song finds the two brothers playing towards their strengths, which is in my opinion a tribal, almost religious like melody and rhythm combo. This style is very reminiscent of artists like Paul Simon or U2. Although the U2 comparison is more on the religious / spiritual realm then tribal. And this particular song weighs heavier on that scale then it does on it’s African roots, which is a place that drummer Andrew spent time studying.
They are teamed up with a harpist, Sarah Page, who they became close friends with after both brothers moved to Montreal from Boston about five years ago. This song doesn’t tell us too much about how they’re incorporating Sarah into the music since as far as I can tell she’s not on this track. But perhaps the harp is being used with some sound effect that my untrained ear isn’t able to pick up.
As of right now their tour doesn’t bring them to Boston. The closest show will be Montreal. They’ll be opening for The Low Anthem, their Rhode Island compadres. But what is exciting news is that Surprise Me Mr. Davis, the Barr brothers other outfit besides The Slip, will be playing in Cambridge at Club Passim, one of my favorite new spots to catch music, on April 13th.
On April 20th, Caribou releases his new album, Swim, onto the masses on Merge Records here in the states and City Slang in the UK and Europe (released on 19th). The first track to come out is Odessa.
While I’m excited for many albums this year (Hot Chip, Arcade Fire, Radiohead, etc), Caribou is definitely at the top of my anticipation list. This track just fuels the fire. With his signature tribal / psychedelic undertones, this track is a killer. However, it’s more dancey then some of his other material. The drums aren’t as jittery. They’re more straight forward and don’t stray too far off the four beat reservation. There’s a real disco vibe, most notably pronounced by a treble heavy guitar riff that pops it’s head out from time to time. But there are twist and turns that keep the Caribou signature in tact. Overall this is a fantastic song and I look forward to hearing more of the album when it comes out.
While one of the biggest reasons I admire Dan is his versatility to mix complex rhythms with psychedelic melodies, I’m quite confident that if he decides to infuse dance music in this next album that he’ll take the genre by storm and show most of these kids who think they know how to create a good electronic dance album a thing or two.
