Keaton Henson - Birthdays

Birthdays is the second album of multi-talented British artist Keaton Henson. At just twenty-four years old, Henson has already attracted attention as a visual artist.

As a musician, his debut album Dear… introduced Henson's astonishing talent to the world.

In Birthdays Henson confuse us all with a collection of deeply emotional tunes on personal confessions of love, despair and loneliness. The album is filled with lyrics that we tend to attribute to mature artists, those that have walked life and have experienced complex and evocative situations. Keaton Henson delivers these messages in an unexpectedly precise way, and the opening track "Teach Me" and "Lying to you" are perhaps among the best songs we will face this year.

Birthdays, is available now on Anti-. I urge you to get it soon.

I leave you with "Teach Me", as it appears in the album and a clip of "Lying to you".



Enjoy


MM

(@MMLeiner)

Teach Me

Lyinng to you

"Give In" by ON AN ON

Life is funny and irony sometimes directs the course of things. For over ten years, 5-membered indie band “Scattered Trees” produced three albums, and pursued several successful and somewhat ambitious U.S. tours. In 2012, life happened and the band broke up.

With time already scheduled in Dave Newfeld’s (Broken Social Scene) Toronto studio, three of the five members decided to step up and put their heart into a ghostly new sound filled with synthesizers, electro beats and loud guitars. The end result is ON AN ON, a trio comprised of Nate Eiesland, Alissa Ricci, and Ryne Estwing and Give In, their ten-track debut album is a textural journey into an ethereal dream, one that speaks perhaps of their common loss, but above all, it represents more than anything, a new perspective, a clean slate for Eiesland, Ricci and Estwing.

The album is out and was released in January of this year. It is worth it, no doubt about it.

I leave you with their majestic opening track Ghosts.

Enjoy,

MM

(@MMLeiner)

The Secret Will Keep You - Brass Bed

I thought on writing a post on Brass Bed and their upcoming album “The Secret Will Keep You”, though honestly the first paragraph on the band’s description from Off The Air Recordings says it all...

“Listen through the ethereal haze that Brass Bed has created on The Secret Will Keep You, and you will find a soulful band suspended in a moment of frustration and anxiety. It's the sort of frustration that comes from growing old and realizing that the light at the end of the tunnel may just be the remnants of some dying star. You were a kid once. Maybe [your] dad put you on his knee and said "Kiddo, you sure are handsome, smart, and talented. The sky is the limit if you set your mind to it!" Well the truth is, that was kind of bullshit. Chances are, you were only one of those things if any of them at all, and you'll spend your life amid the great unwashed, grasping at whatever straws you can to express a promised individuality that's slowly turning out to be lie. They also didn't tell you that your dream job, your dream girl, your dream you, were really all just that: dreams.

The Secret Will Keep You is a cold awakening from that fever dream sound...”

In other words, the album is great and it is out on April 23rd, 2013 by Crossbill Records and Off The Air Recordings. I leave you with 3 links to tracks of the upcoming album...a great opening track ”Cold Chicory”, plus “A Bullet for You” and “I’ll be there with bells on”.



Enjoy


MM

(@MMLeiner)

Cold Chicory 

A Bullet for You  

I’ll Be There With Bells On

AMOK - Atoms for Peace

Dividing his time between Radiohead and a solo career, just because he can do all that and do it well, Thom Yorke has offered us the best in music throughout the years. As a solo artist, he focuses on electronic-driven tunes where his vocals are simply one of many layers that guide you through his mind, one of a musical Midas King that turns everything into gold.

Yorke’s latest achievement has morphed into Atoms for Peace, a new project, a new band with collaborations that include Flea, Joey Waronker, Nigel Godrich and Mauro Refosco. The name of the band comes from a 1953 quote from Dwight Eisenhower and it is also included in Yorke’s previous solo album The Eraser.

The band has recently released an album entitled AMOK....We have seen great things in music this year already and we’ll see more for sure. However, very likely only a few will withstand the pass of time the way the music made by Thom Yorke will.

We should be grateful we live in Yorke’s time.

I leave you with a clip from Ingenue, track 3 of this great album.

Enjoy,

MM

(@MMLeiner)

Optica by Shout Out Louds

Hard to describe when something just sounds familiar. When music tells you way more and the lyrics and chords bring you to a known place.

This is often what happens to me with the music from the Swedish band Shout Out Louds.

Without fear of dating myself, their over-worked, artificial, sweet sweet 1980s dominated sound brings me back...back to a place where dance floors and walkman dominated the scene, where music production was non existent and originality was not part of the vocabulary. Somehow, though, I found myself addicted to their music, and their fourth album Optica is not the exception.

For someone that claims to continuously seek for new trends in music, it is hard to say that Shout Out Louds bring something new to the table. Though perhaps that is the point, and the nostalgia of times well gone makes it just OK.

The album is out today...and I would not be surprised if it also is available on cassette tape.

Leave you with 14th of July, Walking in Your Footsteps, plus a link to NPR where you can listen to the album in its entirety

Enjoy,

MM

(@MMLeiner)


NPR's First Listen - Optica - Shout Out Louds

YAST (youth and student travel)

Nice surprise...

Artists: YAST

Album title: YAST

Release date: January 30, 2013

Label: Adrian Recordings / Double Sun

"Maybe it's just a coincidence or maybe it's actually a necessity to have your roots in a steel-producing town like Sandviken to acquire a deep enough longing for somewhere else, if you happen to be dreamy, alternative guys who play music. YAST, the lo-fi romantics, are just that. The band was formed in 2007 by Carl Kolbaek-Jensen, Tobias Widman and Marcus Norberg. In 2008, they were lured down to Malmö and a couple of years ago Markus Johansson and Niklas Wennerstrand, the drummer and bass player from the postrock band Aerial, joined forces.

In February 2012, they released their first single “Believes”. It was the first in a single trilogy, consisting of "Believes", "Strangelife" and "Stupid", leading up to their upcoming debut album. A trio of perfect dreamy pop songs which in their nonchalant but humble way are placing themselves on music blogs all over the world. Rarely has a Swedish band had a better start to their career. In addition to this viral attention, they have played tons during the year including together with related artists such as TOY, The Drums, Tame Impala and DIIV. Plus a UK tour and several festivals.

"Describing YAST can be hard, but also really easy. On the one hand, it's just plain and simple pop with a verse, chorus and solo. Songs about love, loneliness and confusion. With stolen melodies in a language a three year old could understand. On the other hand, it's our love, our loneliness and our confusion. It took just over a year and a half to record the album. But it feels like the first seed for what would finally become a record was sown back in 2008 when we moved to Malmö. We have the people we got to know there to thank for everything, and the city itself to thank for all the inspiration. But basically, this is a love album, about good and less good relationships, based on true events. And if it reaches out and touches people in any way, then we're happy.”"

 (double sun recordings website)

Foxygen- We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic

The California band Foxygen led by Sam France and Jonathan Rado has released their album "We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic" via Jagjaguwar.This represents their second album, a follow up of their first full-length studio album, "Take the Kids Off Broadway", released (and totally missed by us) in July 2012.

In a little more than four weeks, the band has put now a fresh and daring album with deep influences from old classics including The Clash, Bob Dylan and The Beatles with a nice, soft layered sound, encompassing a fun and fresh approach to classic rock with a twist of psychedelia.

I leave you with a clip from "San Francisco", an annoyingly Wes Anderson-ized clip of their first single. Plus a link to their recent presentation at NPR’s World Cafe Live.

New music, new year, new City, 2013, here we go.

Enjoy

MM

(@MMLeiner)


NPR'S World Cafe Live

The Ghost of Piramida (official screening)

Screening oficial en el mítico 319

16-02-2013 20:00

Attend

Best Albums of 2012 - From the MUSICAL SOULMATE crew.

For over 4 years, MUSICAL SOULMATE has comprised of a group of friends that among many things collectively share and enjoy music. Some live this on a daily basis, fueling their friendship in a unique way, developing a sense of community hard to find somewhere else.

Music plays constantly filling the room and certainly playing a unique role in all this. In a strange way the level of an album increases when is heard in the apartment on Amsterdam 319. Others, like myself (not so lucky) are only exposed to this a few days per year, cherishing every moment of it.

Below, the recommendations of "the crew", which this year strangely differ from each other giving us a glimpse of the individuality of each crew member, all critical for this blog.

Enjoy,

MM

(@MMLeiner)


VANE

1.Grizzly Bear / Shields
2.The Antlers / Undersea
3.Porcelain Raft / Strange Weekend
4.Alabama Shakes / Boys and girls
5.The Walkmen / Heaven
6.Bear in Heaven / I love you it's cool
7. Fanfarlo / Rooms filled with light
8. Lost in the trees / A church that fits our needs
9. Lee Fields and the Expressions / Faithfull man
10. Sharon van Etten / Tramp

ALE

1. Grizzly Bear - Shields
2. Porcelain Raft - Strange Weekend
3. The Antlers - Undersea
4. Bear in Heaven - I Love You, It's COol
5. Chromatics - Kill for Love
6. Wild Nothing - Nocturne
7. Daniel Rossen - Silent Hour/ Golden Mile
8. Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
9. Glen Hansard - Rhythm and Repose
10. The Tallest Man on Earth - There's No Leaving Now
11. M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion

JONSI

1.Grizzly Bear / Shields
2.Porcelain Raft / Strange Weekend
3. Tame Impala / Lonerism
4. Bear in Heaven / I love you, it's cool
5. Sharon van Etten / Tramp
6. Liars / Wixiw
7. Pond / Beard, Wives, Denim
8. Perfume Genius / Put Your Back N 2 It
9. The Walkmen / Heaven
10. Mac De Marco, 2
11. Alt-J - “An Awesome Wave
12. Merchandise / Children of Desire,
13. R Hawley/ Standing at the Sky's Edge
14. Efterklang / Piramida,

BARBS

1. Fanfarlo - “Rooms Filled with Light”
2. Lost in the Trees  - “A Church That Fits Our Needs”
3. Grizzly Bear - “Shields”
4. The Maccabees - “Given To The Wild”
5. Efterklang - “Piramida”
6. Alabama Shakes - ”Boys and Girls”
7. Alt-J - “An Awesome Wave”
8. The Walkmen - “Heaven”
9. Here we go magic- "A Different Ship”
10. Bear in Heaven - “I love you, it's cool”
11. Porcelain Raft - “Strange Weekend”

CHINOCONSUEGRA

1. Alt-J - “An Awesome Wave”
2. Grizzly Bear - “Shields”
3. Alabama Shakes - ”Boys and Girls”
4. Fanfarlo - “Rooms Filled with Light”
5. The Shins - "Port of Morrow"
6. The Walkmen - “Heaven
7. Sharon Van Etten - "Tramp"
8. Bear in Heaven - “I love you, it's cool”
9. Efterklang - "Piramida"
10. Django Django - "Django Django"

HAPPY 2013 from MUSICAL SOULMATE

Wishing you the best for 2013...a clip from my favorite song of my favorite album in 2012.

Enjoy,

MM

(@MMLeiner)