Harlem | Taking a Look At Hippies

Harlem is set to release their second full length album entitled Hippies on April 6th. If you haven’t heard of them yet, they hail from Austin Taxes and are apart of the lo-fi revival. That seems to be the way things are going this year in terms of indie pop rock. The Fieros, another impressive lo-fi band are set to release their full length album sometime this year as well and made an impressive show in their self-titled EP early in the year. And with the return of lo-fi on the horizon we might as well get it out of the way and just say it sounds really good. But there are pros and cons to taking hold of this 50s-60s-centirc sound and running with it, as a modern day roots rock band. Take Japandroid for instance, a garage band more of the punk side of things if comparing them to Harlem, but who also love the lo-fi rattle and hum sound. They had a great album last year with Post-Nothing but not everyone loved it for the same reasons and some people didn’t like it at all. So, here are the pros and cons of Harlem’s new one Hippies when put into the lo-fi bubble and looked at with a bit of objectivity.

Why you might like this band: If you like the lo-fi styling’s reminiscent of early The Beatles or The Ramones vinyl then this is right up your ally. The charm factor, Harlem has a warm, familiar feel to it, making it very pleasant to listen to. The energy captured in Hippies is undeniable, its auditory fun on a bun.

Why you might not like this band: The variety of this album is non existent, Harlem has a style and they stick with it throughout Hippies with little deviation. If you are not fond of reboot bands in general and are more of a progressive music listener this album could be a very small blip on your musical radar.

Note: With all biases or objectiveness aside we love Hippies here at Indie Blog Shot… the social group and this album.

The Atlantic Manor | The World Beneath This World Is Brightening A Review

The Atlantic Manor is a Florida based band with a singular purpose, to be your auditory backdrop for your bad days. With there 11th album The World Beneath This World Is Brightening you get the immediate impression that almost every track on this album is an exercise in the art of ambient drone. But don’t worry this is not one of the purely instrumental albums that seem to constantly be popping up from so many indie bands. This album dips into the extended instrumental portions but eventually leads into a somber set of lyrics that can best be compared to a subdued version of Neil Young in style if Young had a lower voice.

The dark nature of this album would attract anyone, in the mood for an evening of solitary reflection. The World Beneath This World Is Brightening should probably come with a warning label though, stating that it should not be mixed with alcohol or other medications and doing so might be a danger to the listeners health. But that is the thing about this album it’s an emotional piece of work and should be given credit for its ability to keep from being tedious, given all of the extended ambient instrumental portions. Right when you think you can’t take anymore of an extended psychedelic progression, Rick Sell the band’s lead singer delivers a strong vocal performance, which brings the listener right back into the fold. The key tracks on this album are Failing By The Second, Death Crown and The World Beneath This Word.

Note: Other bands that have had impressively dark and emotionally charged albums that come to mind are The Antlers with their 2009 effort Hospice and the band Timbre Timbre’s last self titled album. The former revolves around the pains of losing someone to an illness while the latter about the internal darkness of the soul made manifest through Brothers Grimm-esc lyrictry. You can count The Atlantic Manor among these dreadnoughts of the subdued sounds.

Beck | Remaking Skip Spence’s Album Oar

Beck the king of the improvised instrument has come out with an album which covers some of Skip Spence’s best songs with the album Oar. This album is apart of Beck’s “Record Club” series in which he and a group of musicians attempt to cover the album of a particular band or artist in one day. This is the third album to be released in this series. The first was The Velvent Underground and Nico. The Second was Songs of Leonard Cohen. Beck is accompanied on this cover album by a number of talented musicians and musical acts, namely, Wilco, Jamie Lidell, and Feist. Skip Spence who was a member of both Jefferson Airplane and Mody Grape is the subject of this album of reenvisioned covers.

Clem Snide | The Meat of Life Review

Clem Snide is a seasoned band based out of New York with a style of music that can best be described as a mix of folk rock, and yes country (ignore the shivers going down your spine for a moment, at the mention of the ‘c’ word). They are more folksy than anything. In fact this album, The Meat of Life, is reminiscent of Matt Ward’s 2009 effort Hold Time. Though, The Meat of Life is on the more whimsical side of things and has a more straightforward range of musical style it still hits the right notes where it counts. The Meat of Life delivers on several fronts, it manages to charm the listener with whimsical lyrics and imagery while at the same time maintaining an evenly toned musical backdrop. The album begins with the track Walmart Parking Lot which dances between breezy guitars and tightening piano portions wetting the apatite of the listener immediately.

But this is not Clem Snide’s first time around and you can tell, as their seventh album The Meat of Life highlights the band’s ability to produce ballads with a level quality that can stand up to anyone making similar music today. You can find an example of this teary balladry on the cut Denver, slow and methodical, it tells a sad love story, universal in its meaning and relatability.

Gorillaz | Plastic Beach Album Review

As a conceptual band the Gorillaz consist of animated characters drawn together by Jamie Hewett (one of the creators of the Tank Girl comic) as for the music though that is Damon Albarn’s focus. This, as their third studio album, has the lofty task of living up to its predecessors in terms of content and level of musical collaboration. Unlike most albums Plastic Beach has no singular style that it holds to through its track list. It is for lack of a better term, a briarpatch of musical styles and artists. But what an interesting briarpatch it is.

The album begins with an orchestral intro as if it is the overture for The Magic Flute. The musical styles littering Plastic Beach must lean heavily on the Hip-Hop/Rap side of things, but that is to be expected, this is a Gorillaz album after all. Not really. The album moves through its tracks like a finger on a radio seek button passing through different styles at a whim. It’s the goal of the creative force behind the project Damon Albarn to make a more pop oriented and expansive album, something with a pace to match its talent. After the intro, Snoop Dog delivers one of his signature raps accompanied by the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble from then on Plastic Beach goes from 80s synth with tracks like Rhinestone Eyes, to ambient-drown with the track Empire Ants and Some Kind of Nature. Sweepstakes as with Snoop Dog’s track is a rap accompanied with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble but performed by Mos Def.

There are over fifteen musicians featured on this album (not to mention the entire Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music). No track on this album has the singular force of such tracks as Sound Check (Gravity) off of the debut album. But when you take all of the tracks of Plastic Beach and listen to them based on their singular merit then as the album as a whole… you are still confused… but oddly satisfied.