Independent Music Blog cool Indie music coverage

The folks at Shoddy Records contacted me about a review of The Swede. I checked out some of their music online, and must have liked them because I agreed to review them if they sent me a copy of their CD.

Si when I popped the Swede CD into iTunes to start the review, I immediately remembered why I asked for a copy of their music. I can safely say that it is good. Describing their music, however, is a bit more difficult. It falls somewhere between rock and singer/songwriter, and matches perfectly with the rainy Saturday afternoon that lingers outside my window.

The Swede sounds most like a Coldplay and Kunek mixture, but it has a more subdued sound that Coldplay does not possess.

Shoddy Records describes their offereing best with “it retains a solid feel throughout, opting not to overstuff itself with filler, or instrumental red herrings.” I can stand by that statement, because very rarely do their songs get too heavy. They’ve got a great thing going.
As for songs on the record, my favorites include The First Song on this Record and No Loud Crash. You can listen to The First Song on this Record, The Director, and A Harmless Tune online at the Shoddy Records website.

The Swede have only begun, and I think they have the characteristics needed to make some waves in the Indie music scene if they keep up the good work and a get a few breaks here and there.

I’m not really sure how I missed out the announcement of the 2007 lineup that will be at the spectacular Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. Well better late then never, so here’s the list and dates of performers attending the festival in lovely Union Park.
Friday, July 13

• Don’t Look Back
• Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation)

Saturday, July 14

• Cat Power
• Clipse
• Iron & Wine
• Girl talk
• Grizzly Bear
• Professor Murder

Sunday, July 15

• Of Montreal
• Jamie Lidell
• Ken Vandermark’s Powerhouse Sound

Very solid artist lineup at Pitchfork in 07. Saturday looks like a pretty bad ass day, and then there’s a solid wrap up Saturday with Of Montreal and Jamie Lidell. So if you’re in the Chitown area that weekend, look into getting some day tickets. The discounted three day tickets are already sold out, but a little spendier day tickets will still be available.

Subpop has put Dntel’s new Dumbluck single online. Listen to it now!!

Dumbluck is the first song on Dntel’s new album, also titled Dumbluck. I previously covered Jimmy Tamborello’s Dumbluck.

As for the single that is available online, I think it’s pretty good. Honestly, I hated the first 40 seconds or so, and I had to force myself to listen to it. I wasn’t impressed with the sound, and I even restarted it right away because I thought I was having streaming problems, because no way could someone want that intro.

But as I finished listening to Dumbluck, it definitely grew on me, and I started to enjoy it. I’m looking forward to the rest of the CD. So kudos to Jimmy. Jimbo. The Jimster…keep it up.

Ben Gibbard, the man that makes Death Cab For Cutie and Postal Service, just announced a solo tour in May. Joining him will be David Bazan (Pedro the Lion) and Jonathan Rice (not formerly with anyone else really, besides himself).

Gibbard hasn’t worked much with Death Cab for Cutie lately, and bandmate Chris Walla has already decided to try his luck as a solo artist. His side project Postal Service with Tamborella hasn’t done much either, so Gibbard’s taking his oppurtunity to go solo a bit.

I think this is his first solo tour, but it’s not his first time playing alone. He was previously solo on Home Volume Five with Andrew Kenny. He made some pretty good music then too.

So if you’re a Death Cab and postal service fan, don’t be shy about attending a solo gig of his if he’s in your backyard. The tour schedule is below.

May 2007
3 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
4 - Chicago, IL - Metro
5 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
7 - Somerville, MA - Somerville Theatre
8 - New York, NY - The Town Hall
9 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
11 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
12 - Atlanta, GA - Center Stage
13 - Nashville, TN - City Hall
14 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
15 - Austin, TX - Emo’s
17 - Los Angeles, CA - Royce Hall
18 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
19 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
20 - Seattle, WA - Showbox

The following is a paid review:

I’ve been commissioned to review MetalUnderground.com, a music site that is self explanatory from its name. Even though I’m not a big fan of hard rock / death / black / metal music, I thought I’d take the opportunity because I like exploring music websites of all genres.

Right away when I visited Metal Underground, I was pretty impressed. It seems to have a as much of a “homey” feeling that death metal fan sites can have. The layout is nice and easy to navigate, and the content of its pages is of high quality. There isn’t too much fluff or adspace to distract visitors. Definitely good.

But more needs to be said on the content of Metal Underground. The site has…

• News - It has a highly relevant music news feed. It supports RSS / xml feeds, so you can subscribe to it.
• Band Pages - Little bios and news for whatever metal band you may like.
• Reviews - Very in depth reviews of music. If you’re too lazy to read their well developed paragraphs, there are also two sentences on “highs” “lows,” and then a “bottom line” to summarize.
• Interviews - Over 200 of them. You can have your own band interviewed by them as well, so it could be a good promotional tool.
• Galleries - Bunches of band pictures from live concerts.

Another good aspect of the site is its mission, per say. It always strives to help music fans find new artists that they may like. That’s alot like me, because helping people find new music is the sole purpose behind music bloggers.

So, if you’d like to find a new metal band, or think you may want to give the genre a play on your iPod, snoop around Metal Underground. Peace….or death. (sorry, not funny)