Monday, September 28, 2009

Owl City



I live again!

Don't know if I should make an explanation of the disappearance but that dastardly real life business was in the way. In short, I was living by itinerary after itinerary in the summer. Crossed the Pacific Ocean. Crossed the American continent. Crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Coughed out trails of carbon monoxides behind my deep, gray carbon footprints. And now, I am back in the good old lowland/flatland desert of Arizona again.

Hello!

While I have a couple of good music to review down my belt, I feel like I must kick start the season with a detour from what I originally planned. You ought to bear this with with me--none of this (this return) would have happened if I had not partied so hard this weekend.

Apparently the entire Mormon community is now a fan of Owl City. I kid you not. I worked so hard this weekend to become a party girl and here I am. Figuring out what is the deal with Owl City. If it weren't for one of the parties I would not have been prompted to return (ha) with this review.



In one of the electro indie communities that I belong to, I heard Owl City and the hype of here and there but never bothered to give 'em a chance. Fortunately for Owl City, one such chance was given tonight. It turns out, Owl City is the same guy from Swimming With Dolphins. If you remember Ambient Blue--yes that happy electropop clubby type of deal--Owl City is of the same vein, that is Adam Young.

Owl City fortunately got lucky and managed to get hyped up and exploded at the right time this year. With the release of Ocean Eyes in July 2009, album sales skyrocketed at a respectable rank. Furthermore, the scrobble rate for Owl City on Last.FM is accelerating for competency with larger names like Coldplay, MGMT, Decemberists, and so on and so forth.

Here's a breakdown of what I think about Owl City after going through every material released by Owl City tonight.

First Off, Ocean Eyes. My first Owl City album. Ocean Eyes run for nearly one hour long. It opens with the first track called Cave In--the chorus of this song concludes this album, this noble project of Adam Young, and its entirety for me: get me out of this cavern before I cave in. Don't believe me? Try this:








Cave In (Ocean Eyes)

And this:







Panda Bear (Of June)

And this:







Hello Seattle (remix, Of June)

And this:







Super Honeymoon (Maybe I'm Dreaming)

And this:







Hot Air Balloon (Myspazz Monthly Release?)

And this:







Strawberry Avalanche (single)

And this:







Christmas song (single)

If you went through these seven tracks, you get a taste of the entirety of Owl City and what Adam Young will offer you throughout the years--the past, the present, the future.

After tonight, I admit to like and dislike Owl City all at the same time. But after tonight, I do not think I can handle anymore of Owl City for the next 90 days at least. Seriously? I decided that Owl City is just a big hype, lures you in with its candy-flavored melody and beats, but recycles the same deal of music because hey, recycling is green and sexy these days.

Yes, this is just one of those big hypes with no sense of variety, no evolution of style. There is no way--in this world and in this age--that I can place Owl City in my memorable list of 2009.

Not convinced? Buy the albums. Really. Worth checking out, not worth keeping. That's Owl City.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Unreliable Narrator : MP3 : Phoenix

Got an email back from Sean of Unreliable Narrator with a couple of MP3s and a couple of Arizona dates...

here are the MP3:

Tails and Fins (MP3)


Out With the Scissors (MP3)


Arizona Dates:
Prescott on the 9th of August at the Catalyst Infoshop
Tucson on the 10th of August at the Hangart with Really Big Birds
Phoenix on the 11th of August at The Trunk Space with Really Big Birds + Hell Kite + Hello, My Name is Jack

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Unreliable Narrator : North American Tour : Phoenix

Unreliable Narrator in Phoenix
Many claim that phoenix is dead to indie music... i am one of those. However, if you are watching close enough there is plenty to see and in much more intimate settings they you might normally get.

Take for example, Unreliable Narrator out of, Vancouver, British Columbia. They aren't spoken of on Stereogum or Pitchfork, but they will be in Phoenix August 11th... and at The Trunk Space (Barely 1000 square feet). This is a brilliant opportunity to see one of the up and coming Folk acts touring this summer.

The mix of female and male vocals on this work is great. Marry that with beautiful melodies and instrumentation and you have a great group with a solid future.

I have emailed them for some MP3 and if i get them i will post... buy for now check out their myspace.


related links:
... and music will set you free: Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels [March 31 2009]

The Avett Brothers : Daytrotter

More and More from the Avett Brothers


The Avett Brothers did a little set for Daytrotter around SXSW... and finally we get a taste of it.

It is a nice taste too... one song from there upcoming, I and Love and You LP... one previously unreleased. And a couple oldies but goodies.

All the new stuff i hear from this upcoming album sounds great. I am little worried about the mix on some of the stuff they have released off the record... seemed a little more capital records they i thought they would be... but only time will tell on that.

Laundry Room (mp3)


A Lover Like You (mp3)


More of You (mp3)


Paranoid in b Major (mp3)


related links:
... and music will set you free: Listen: i'm back
... and music will set you free: The Avett Brothers Cover the Boss

Dr. Dog to Anti-Records

DR. Dog on the Move

After about 10 years with Park Records, Dr. Dog is making a move over to Anti-Records. This is happy move for us (the fans), the band... but not for Park Records, but lets be honest... were they really giving Dr. Dog the attention the reserved or were they more concerned with Dan Deacon and other Nintendo Pop pioneers? I'm pretty sure Dr. Dog stuck with Park Records 2 or 3 albums longer then they should have... Lets hope Anti-Records gives them the attention they deserve.

Here are some cool Dr. Dog songs:

The Beach (mp3)


The Old Days (mp3)


The Ark (mp3)


Heart It Races (mp3) - Architecture in Helsinki cover


All these lovelies above come form MOKB, whom i love and admire.