Awesome Car Funmaker

The bio on the home page of Madison-based Awesome Car Funmaker describes the band as "a spastic, energetic, crazy, party glam rock band..." The band's name was conceived by members who were not "allowed to leave the restaurant before a name was decided upon."

Juice - second title of the 17-track 2006 release Of Lovers And Monsters - certifies the energy output of this pop-rock dynamo. A catchy guitar-based jam.

Bass player, Justin Taylor, kept a journal of their July Midwest Bleeds Best Tour along with Cealed Kasket. A University of Wisconsin blog reviewed the first stop of the tour that took place at the lakeside Memorial Union Terrace.

ACF will be touring WI, IL and MN through the end of 2007.

profile @ myspace
mp3 @ awesomecarfunmaker (juice - awesome car funmaker)
mp3 @ awesomecarfunmaker (time bomb - awesome car funmaker)
mp3 @ awesomecarfunmaker (brand new zombie - awesome car funmaker)
video @ youtube (brand new zombie - awesome car funmaker)
video @ youtube (outlaw - awesome car funmaker)
video @ youtube (dirty - awesome car funmaker)
review @ maximumink
review @ thedailypage
review @ madison
home page @ awesomecarfunmaker

Owen

Mike Kinsella a.k.a. Owen released an album about one year ago titled At Home with Owen that steps away from the eclectic list of indie bands he worked with: Cap'n Jazz, Joan of Arc, American Football and Owls.

Bad News pulls the listener into the singer's painfully honest acoustic introspection.

whatever it is you think you are, you aren't
a good friend, unique, well-read
good-looking, or smart
well now you know

That last line is sonically absorbed by a fleshed out break that follows. Such vocal subtlety during a hook might seem unconventional. But Kinsella's voice fades to bring out the beauty of a trickling piano rhythm that follows - one scene transitions into another.

Kinsella laid out more tracks in the studio for At Home in order to "get closer" to how he imagines particular tracks should sound. "I hear the songs in my head a certain way," Kinsella told Scene Point Blank. And it is the first Owen album that was not produced solo. Some tracks were laid out at Semaphore Studios and Engine Studios.

profile @ myspace
mp3 @ polyvinyl (bad news - owen)
mp3 @ thankscaptainobvious (never meant - owen)
mp3 @ musicforants (the sad waltzes of pietro crespi - owen)
mp3 @ sxsw (she's a thief - owen)
mp3 @ freeindie (the ghost of what should have been - owen)
mp3 @ freeindie (in the morning before work - owen)
mp3 @ freeindie (places to go - owen)
mp3 @ thankscaptainobvious (never meant - american football)
video @ youtube (one of these days - owen)
video @ youtube (the sad waltzes of pietro crespi - owen)
stream @ purevolume
discography @ amazon
interview @ scenepointblank
label @ polyvinyl
wiki @ wikipedia

The Brunettes

Structure & Cosmetics - latest album by the platonic indie-pop team The Brunettes - is a bubblegum variety pack of styles. This established kiwi band was invited by The Shins to leave home turf for rich American soil, where they signed up with indie-monolith Sub Pop Records. Compared to previous projects, their fully fleshed out S&C reflects a bigger budget with a bigger record company.

The lead track Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth has been compared to the 'choral symphonic rock'-candy of Polyphonic Spree for it's 'aaahs' and instrumental variety.

A creative balance is achieved between male and female brunette, as Jonathan Bree stated, "I'm the main songwriter, and she is very much a part of the creative process." In addition, Mansfield contributes the sonically superior vocals of the two - a girl-group feature of their distinguishing sound. As heard on Her Hairagami Set.

profile @ myspace
mp3 @ pbsfm.org.au (brunettes against bubblegum youth - the brunettes)
mp3 @ pbsfm.org.au (her hairagami set - the brunettes)
mp3 @ subpop (small town crew - the brunettes)
video @ youtube (her hairagami set - the brunettes)
video @ youtube (boyracer - the brunettes)
video @ youtube (holding hands feeding ducks - the brunettes)
video @ youtube (polyester meets acetate - the brunettes)
feed @ hypem
review @ pitchforkmedia
review @ spin
review @ tinymixtapes
review @ stylusmagazine
review @ popmatters
review @ adequacy
interview @ theset.co.nz
label @ subpop
wiki @ en.wikipedia.org

Chris and Thomas

Chris and Thomas, Los Angeles-based crooning duo, released their debut full-album Land of Sea during the summer. Along with standard instruments, their southwestern soundscape was sculpted with such tools as mandolin, cello, steel guitar and banjo. In this sonic space, vocals coalesce in harmonies that complement the focal point of their folk sound. True to their band name, neither singer abandons any of their harmonies to sing solo.

Through traditional folk-styled lyrics, the title track - Land of Sea - serenades with imagery of desert coyotes and night skies dense with stars. Smooth melodies to sooth the caffeine-inclined at mom-and-pop java shops.

At the 2006 Independent Music Awards, their song Take These Thoughts beat out four other finalists to take the Americana Song of the Year category.

At performances, Chris and Thomas are known to share a single condenser microphone like a couple of folkies performing on a corner pub's open stage.

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profile @ myspace
mp3 @ defendmusic (land of sea - chris and thomas)
mp3 @ defendmusic (horse in the sky - chris and thomas)
mp3 @ aolcdn (take these thoughts - chris and thomas)
performance @ kcrw
video @ youtube (interview)
discography @ amazon
label @ defendmusic
home page @ chrisandthomas
feed @ hypem
review @ blogcritics

Beirut

The francophilian Beirut, a.k.a. boy wonder Zach Condon, developed a European-folk sound roughly resembling the debut of Wisconsin-based Pale Young Gentlemen.

Like an actor immersed in a role, Condon fosters ideas from obsessions with particular artists and styles. For his latest full-album The Flying Club Cup, he delved into Jacques Brel recordings, along with other collections of chansons. Another muse was the photograph used for the cover of Flying Club - a European beach scene from the early 1900s.

I was listening to a lot of Jacques Brel and French chanson music - pop songs shrouded in big, glorious, over-the-top arrangements and all this drama... - Zach Condon

Condon's baroque-pop fixations led to the release of two full-albums and three EPs during 2006 and 2007 - recordings flavored with Balkan and French influences.

It's a new obsession every year, a new obsession overcomes me and that's all I can do. - Zach Condon

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profile @ myspace

mp3 @ carlsandburgvisits (nantes - beirut)
mp3 @ t-sides (elephant - beirut)
mp3 @ t-sides (the penalty - beirut)
feed @ hypem

video @ youtube (elephant gun - beirut)
video @ youtube (nantes - beirut)
video @ youtube (forks and knives la fête - beirut)
video @ youtube (the penalty - beirut)
video @ youtube (les bourgeois - jacques brel)

stream @ imeem.com (elephant gun - beirut)

review @ pitchforkmedia

interview @ mtv

home page @ beirutband

label @ badabingrecords

What do klezmer music fans think of Beirut's Flying Club album?

Bart Davenport

Honeycut frontman Bart Davenport's Euphoria, off his second solo disc, sounds like a Van Morrison cover. Compare it to the R&B classic Domino - released at the end of 1970 - with its bouncy piano, and horn section. Which is a tribute to Fats Domino, who also featured horns. This links music history back to the 50s.

You can find Davenport's retro-pop track on his 2004 release: Game Preserve on which he seems to gravitate toward 70s singer-songwriters.

profile @ myspace
mp3 @ antennafarmrecords
video @ youtube (physical world - bart davenpoort)
video @ youtube (here comes my baby - bart davenport)
video @ youtube (want some - bart davenport)
video @ youtube (shadows - honeycut)
review @ pittsburghcitypaper
interview @ sfist
label @ antennafarmrecords

Amandine

This Uppsala-based band's latest full-album, Solace in Sore Hands, contains a stirring narrative with civil war imagery that might give listeners the impression that a sleepless Confederate soldier had actually penned the lyrics by the light of a candle. This coming from Swedish songwriter Olof Gidlöf of the alt-country group Amandine, but the uninformed might have assumed that a southern U.S.-based folk band produced the sonically authentic track Soldiers Hands.

and all the soldiers' hands were red
from all the tears and blood that's shed

Then the storyteller switches viewpoints from outsider to insider, offering both angles for the imagination to project.

and in the morning when the reveille
pulls us from more sleep

Through winsome vocal tracks, Gidlöf imbues the ongoing American Civil War story with deep iceberg blues.

Their most pop-friendly track is Secrets.

mp3 @ amandinemusic (secrets - amandine)
profile @ myspace
feed @ hypem
review @ pitchfork
review @ tinymixtapes
review @ popmatters
home page @ amandinemusic
label @ fat-cat.co.uk

The Lovely Sparrows

In the first verse of Chemicals Change  the singer considers father's recurring cliche:

if love's the truth, your heart's the consequence

After the familial quote, no more worn out statements follow, and none of the lines repeat - only the title's phrase. With an anti-hero's attitude, a self-absorbed singer-songwriter reflects on a relationship that has dissolved, and how the chemistry - the formula that initially drew it together - had changed. Shawn Jones' inviting intuitive introspection is absent in much folk material.

five days ago, chemicals changed
rearranged themselves in sad stubborn ways

Modern-flamenco stained fingers and maraca staccato oppose the desolate theme and Jones' somber vocal track(the liquor that keeps these separating fluids solute).

From two questions, the title of Sparrows'  2006 release can be extracted, followed by a few more lines that enhance its meaning.

can I pull up floors? can I pour on new paint?
can I lay down tonight and just forget your face?

profile @ myspace
mp3 @ abandonedloverecords (chemicals change - the lovely sparrows)
mp3 @ thelovelysparrows (i have a need you see - the lovely sparrows)
feed @ hypem
video @ youtube (backstage)
home page @ thelovelysparrows
label @ abandonedloverecords

Update:

In the lead number, Chemicals Change, singer-songwriter Shawn Jones ponders over a breezy flamenco guitar pattern...

- Austin Sound

Contacted Shawn Jones, to ask him about the "flamenco" reference, having detected something Spanish-sounding myself. He suggested, "what most reviewers are getting at is a loose latin feel that begins in the second verse [of Chemicals Change ]."

Jones added how he tends to avoid the "straightforward approach" when writing new compositions, and arranging instrumental harmonies, in particular. He likes "the idea of basic folk songs that are enhanced by an interesting arrangement." An example of such can be found in War Has Seen the Best of Me.

Shapes and Sizes

Shapes and Sizes has been compared to bands like The Fiery Furnaces, for their shape-shifting style(not to claim that Furnaces  and Shapes  have a similar sound). Since Shapes  is difficult to genre-tag, the listener might find it easier to discover comparable styles tucked away in particular tracks. This freak-folk fringe chameleon continues to snatch new sounds out of mid-air with its projectile tongue. But this is not a one songwriter band.

...there's three people writing songs for the band. I think that it makes the band's sound a little harder to pin down than some. I guess the challenges for the band might be different. When some bands are trying hard to make the songs sound varied from each other, we're often trying to make the songs sound more cohesive.

- Nathan Gage, 5/25/07

The first track of their first, self-titled LP, Island's Gone Bad, is a two-act example of the group's genre-jumping potential. In the middle of the track, a new drum rhythm starts, which could be taken as the beginning of a new song. Lyrically, in a sense, the whole song seems to be an analogy, with modern society lapsing into Lord of the Flies-style cannibalism. Also, there is a character in the novel - nicknamed Piggy, which happens to be the title of a track on their new LP.

mp3 @ sxsw (island's gone bad - shapes and sizes)

Shape's  sophomore Split Lips, Winning Hips, a Shiner continues to establish their reputation for convention cracking compositions.

The two tracks - Alone/Alive  and Teller/Seller - each have a forward slash in their title. Coincidentally, one of Nathan Gage's favorite bands is the avant-garde Akron/Family.

profile @ myspace
mp3 @ recidivism (head movin' - shapes and sizes)
mp3 @ asthmatickitty (alone/alive - shapes and sizes)
mp3 @ teamclermont (teller/seller - shapes and sizes)
mp3 @ greenclothesmusic (piggy - shapes and sizes)
feed @ hypem
video @ youtube (piggy - shapes and sizes)
video @ youtube (teller/seller - shapes and sizes)
review @ pitchforkmedia
interview @ stagehymns
home page @ shapesandsizes
label @ asthmatickitty

Papercuts

Including a compilation of home-recorded demo tracks, Can't Go Back is the third release by northern California-toned Papercuts - sonically suspended in late-60s amber by singer-songwriter Jason Quever.

Quever teases mid-60s Dylan with a one-two beat in Take the 227th Exit. A more market-friendly track, John Brown  continues through the psych-folk scented coastal fog - a consistently articulated dream scape. Where peripheral glimpses of the silhouettes of Spector and Dylan can be detected.

His recordings remain lyrically developed and compositionally complete - unlike so many primitive indie-folk recordings. Which themselves stagnate, more than they enhance the genre. Quever demonstrates how far beyond open-mic folk he really is.

mp3 @ gnomonsong (john brown - papercuts)
profile @ myspace
review @ pitchfork
label @ gnomonsong
feed @ hypem

New Buffalo [Somewhere, Anywhere]

On Feist's latest discography is the title 1234, written by Sally Seltmann, a.k.a. New Buffalo.

The folk nuances of Seltmann's soft-hearted down-under accent combine with keyboards, and manifestations of digital samples and electronic elements.

The hypnotic sonic effect of panned vocal harmonies highlight Cheer Me Up Thank You, on her 2007 second full-length project Somewhere, Anywhere. The panning harmony returns just before the chorus, then sweet soprano notes carry the imagery of a heart drifting through the paradise of romance:

wild flowers growing in the park
summertime, and it melts into dark
dancing together at night until two
you're cheering me up and I'm thanking you

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• Profile: Pitchfork [New Buffalo]
• Review: Pitchfork [Somewhere, Anywhere]
• Profile: MySpace [New Buffalo]
• Encyclopedia: Wikipedia [New Buffalo]
• Video: YouTube [I've Got You And You've Got Me]
• Video: YouTube [Recovery]
• Video: YouTube [It's True]
• Review: Tiny Mix Tapes [New Buffalo]
• Review: AllMusic [Somewhere, Anywhere]
• Review: A.V. Club [Somewhere, Anywhere]
• Review: CokeMachineGlow [Somewhere, Anywhere]
• Profile: AOTY [New Buffalo]