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Mix Tape Monday- Hawk
presents
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan‘s 3rd collaboration
Okay, okay. This Mix Tape Monday rec this week is not exactly indie per se. I mean, Isobel Campbell from Belle and Sebastian and Mark Lanegan from Screaming Trees and QoTSA aren’t exactly unknowns– but their albums are released through an independent label. And I will be honest, I had no idea that they were even collaborating, much less on their 3RD (!) album.
And hello, I am in love. Hard. Mark’s trademark gravelly voice paired with Isobel’s almost ethereal vocals is an unlikely match made in heaven. Not to mention that this album is perfect for those ::ahem:: nights in with that special someone. Yeah. I went there.
Check it our for yourself in this official video for “You Won’t Let Me Down Again”:
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Um. I die.
From Isobel’s myspace:
Theres a similar sense of contrast, between Isobels aching, pristine chill of a vocal, and Lanegans wounded, regret-stewed burr. Their musical backpages could hardly be more different; Isobel found her initial fame playing cello and singing with deftly-melodic Glaswegian indie collective Belle & Sebastian, before branching off for the lushly-orchestrated melancholia of her Gentle Waves for two LPs, and releasing her debut solo album, the acclaimed Amorino, in 2003. Lanegan, on the other hand, sang for Screaming Trees, perhaps the greatest and most underrated of all the grunge bands, until their dissolution in 2000, since when he has juggled the solo career he began while still in the Trees, and a unique role as occasional frontman of Queens Of The Stoneage. The sweet, folksy girl and the grizzled rawk guy; a classic cocktail, perhaps, but the roles are inverted, in this case.
Its weird, begins Isobel, as much as Nancy Sinatra was an influence on this album, as an artist I identify much more with Lee Hazlewood, or with Serge Gainsbourg over Jane Birkin. Im writing most of the songs, Im producing the music, she laughs, Im in the Serge/Lee role, and Mark Lanegan is my own personal Jane or Nancy, which is a thought that amuses me greatly! I had things I wanted to say, from a male perspective, in these songs, and its good to have a male voice to sing them for me.
Read more:http://www.myspace.com/isobelcampbell#ixzz11PBVzMKH
Like what you hear?? You can get Hawk on Amazon for $5!! Of course you can also download the album from iTunes.
You can also find them all over the web:
Isobel Campbell’s Official Site
Isobel Campbell on myspace
Isobel Campbell on Twitter
Mark Lanegan’s Official Site
Mark Lanegan on myspace
They are also on tour this fall to promote Hawk– you can see all the dates here.
So, whaddya think?? You likey? Or you no likey? Let us know!
Related Articles
- Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan: Hawk (pastemagazine.com)
- Isobel Campbell Talks Mark Lanegan, Belle and Sebastian (pitchfork.com)
- Album: Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Hawk (V2) (independent.co.uk)
Mix Tape Monday: Jay Rodger
featuring
Jay Rodger
Photos from Jay Rodger’s Myspace
Okay. Confession. I first came across Jay here while looking at some recent Bobby Long videos. He has a pretty dang good cover of Crooked Sky that popped up in a search:
So naturally, I went looking for more of his works and I came across his myspace where he has a few original songs posted for a listen. I knew pretty quickly that I would like to feature him here on Mix Tape Monday. Especially when I started reading his blog entries. He made me laugh at his self-deprecating ways.
It’s sweet when I’m in the music, like really feeling the song I’m playing and the rest of the world gets lost around me. It’s a great feeling when the audience links to the song, and at the end when I open my eyes I can see people daydreaming all around the room….
Or maybe I’ve just bored them.
We’ll go with the first yeah?
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Um, yeah. He sounds like my kind of people. And others seem to agree that he is definitely someone to watch.
From Studio 49:
In amongst the theatres, tourists, students & building sites that currently reside in a small town known Stratford-upon-Avon there lies a single singer / song writer by the name ‘Jay Rodger’. Jay, taking influences from a range of musical greats brings it all together in a unique style of songs that can only be described as ‘Groovesum’. Think Bob Dylan meets Imogen Heap – sailing melodies that glide over delicate guitar playing, catchy hooks & an entrancing style of performance – Jay has it all.
All videos from dh130i’s youtube channel.
Want more?? You can find Jay on myspace, twitter and reverbnation.
And now it’s your turn to talk….what did you think of ol’ Jay here? Yay, nay? Let us know!
Mix Tape Monday: Andrew Soloman
presents…
What is it about a man, his guitar, and a field... ::le sigh::
Andrew Soloman
From his bio:
Andrew Sloman “epitomizes the talent, craft and sublime skill of the great British singer songwriter – understated but remarkably versatile both in terms of vocal lines and the melodies of the music” (Rick Lippit, Live Music FM). He has supported Sting, The Automatic and The Zutons on European tours and his music is regularly featured on shows like Tom Robinson on Radio 6. Andrew plays all of the instruments on his first EP, “Tides,” except for the string arrangements written together with the Mizenus Quartet; a group of extraordinary women from the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Welsh, and Glasgow Symphony Orchestras. The record, which was recorded and produced at his home in London, was released in October 2009 and continues to receive rave reviews. “Tides” is available now on iTunes. His highly anticipated sophmore album, “Deadwood,” will be released summer 2010. Coming to The National Underground in New York, Alberta Street Pub in Portland, 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville, LeStat’s Coffee House in San Diego and more.
AND if you can make Andrew’s first show our in sunny California, SAMaM Global is gonna make the pot just a wee bit sweeter for you! The first 20 fans to buy a $5.00 advance ticket get a free autographed “Tides” CD!
Sweet, right? Just email ahartman@samamglobal.com to purchase. Here is the cool flyer and deets for the show:
Mix Tape Monday: Frightened Rabbit
Featuring Frightened Rabbit
Source: http://wearefrightenedrabbit.com/
When I was living in Austin, my little group of friends and I used to get togther a couple of times a year for some rad mix tape parties. The rules were simple, bring your choice of adult beverage and at least 10 copies of whatever mix tape cd you created to share with everyone at the party. And then we listened. And drank. And discussed. By the end of the night there are always at least a dozen new itunes purchases or plans made to hit up Waterloo the next day to buy more from the artists we liked.
Sadly, I am back in the Big D and couldn’t make the last party earlier this year– but those awesome friends of mine went ahead and set me copies of their mixes anyways and that is how I discovered these guys– Frightened Rabbit.
From FatCat Records:
Though the past year has seen Frightened Rabbit finally step into public view, with more extensive touring and three full-length albums now publicly available, the past few years have largely been about the band quietly, committedly honing their sound, and cultivating their art. Now a five-piece comprising Scott, Billy, Andy, Gordon and Grant, the origins of the band are rooted in 2003, when Scott began playing solo shows under the name Frightened Rabbit, mostly in support of fellow art-schoolers Shitdisco. Recordings were made on a tascam 4-track recorder, with Scott playing all the instruments (some more proficiently than others). Though looser, sparser, and certainly more lo-fi in terms of production values, their early demos still attest to a burgeoning talent with a defined personality, and a now familiar penchant for being able to nail a near perfect pop song.
In 2004 Scott’s brother Grant moved to Glasgow, contributing drums to certain recorded tracks, and playing live. Frightened Rabbit became louder and better. They burnt 50 copies of their subsequent demo, and sent some out to labels, resulting in three tracks being hosted on the FatCat MP3/demo website, and marking the beginning of a wonderful relationship. In 2006, Billy joined the band playing primarily second guitar, making Frightened Rabbit in the band’s own words, a wee bit better and louder still. That February they went into The Diving Bell Lounge studio with Glasgow based producer Marcus Mackay to record some songs over the course of a week. The intention was to record a better quality demo, but the resultant recordings ended up as the bands debut LP ‘Sing The Greys’, of which 1000 copies were pressed and released that May on home grown label Hits The Fan.
An incredibly accomplished live outfit (seemingly without any effort whatsoever), further live dates followed into 2007, including a brief but successful US jaunt, culminating in a sold-out show at The Mercury Lounge in NYC, before the album was even available in the US. After an intense spate of writing, rehearsing, recording, and remixing, and of course playing more live shows, ‘Sings The Greys’ was remastered by Alan Douches, and re-released in significantly revamped form by FatCat in Autumn 2007, along with debut single ‘Be Less Rude’. Rounding off the year with the incredible ‘It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop’ single, 2008 has been another busy one for Frightened Rabbit.
The band’s second album, ‘Midnight Organ Fight’, was released in April 2008, and is a progression in terms of songwriting, sonic depth, and as a fully realised entity. Recorded by Peter Katis (Mercury Rev, Interpol), ‘Midnight Organ Fight’ was conceived and realised in a much shorter time span than its predecessor, with the intention of creating a more coherent, ‘pop’ sounding album.
In July 2008, a live rendition of ‘Midnight Organ Fight’ was recorded in Glasgow, and mixed by Mice Parade’s Adam Pierce, entitled ‘Quietly Now ! – Midnight Organ Fight Live And Acoustic At The Captain’s Rest’. The stripped-down instrumentation brings singer Scott Hutchison’s vocal delivery – now wrenching, now soaring – to the fore, showcasing the emotive lyrics and memorable melodies that have earned the band their passionate following.
Live album ‘Quietly Now ! – Midnight Organ Fight Live And Acoustic At The Captain’s Rest’ was released in March 2009, the band’s first release with additional member Andy Monaghan on guitar and keyboards.
The band are currently working on a new full-length album, ‘The Winter of Mixed Drinks’. With a release date set for March 2010, excitement is already building up around it. Having recently returned from a US tour with labelmates Brakes, We Were Promised Jetpacks and The Twilight Sad, the remainder of the year is set aside for more studio work and UK/Ireland tours with Gomez and Modest Mouse, as well as recruiting fifth member Gordon Skene as another multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist.
The first song I heard from these guys was Fast Blood and I was hooked from the get go. I almost had to check the mix cd track listing as I could have sworn I was listening to some old Smiths song or even an Interpol song that I had somehow missed. Which makes sense now that I see that the album Fast Blood is on, Midnight Organ Fight, was recorded by the awesome Peter Katis.
Check it:
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And these other musical goodies:
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Like what you hear?? You can check out more of Frightened Rabbit on their myspace, twitter, facebook and Official Site. You can also purchase their albums via iTunes or go and see them live.
What do you think of these guys? Isn’t it like going back in time and putting on your old Smiths albums while laying in bed dreaming of being a grown up one day? Or did I just reveal my true age? Whoops. Moving on here…..do you have any new artist that you would like to share with us? Let us know and they could be featured on Mix Tape Monday!
Mix Tape Monday: Matt Pond PA
featuring Matt Pond PA!
- Source: Matt Pond PA’s MySpace
This week, we chose Matt Pond PA as our featured band. And we didn’t just pick them for this picture that makes me think we should all be a little worried, or that are the most brilliant band I know! I mean, seriously, who has an axe?!? These guys!
Many of you are going to be seeing these dudes up close and personal very soon, since Bobby Long will be supporting them on their tour starting in May.
From their Facebook page:
From a cabin in the woods outside of Bearsville, NY–where there’s nothing much to do but watch the grass grow up with the coyotes, deer, turkeys, and yes, bears–Matt Pond let go of all those studio entanglements and hacked off a piece of his own fate. Trusting in the flicker at the end of the tunnel, he gives us The Dark Leaves, due April 13th 2010.
In this era of technological advancements, it’s remarkable that something can be repaired the old-fashioned way — dismantling the gears to put it all back together again. After almost giving up on the world outside the woods, Matt Pond, with the invaluable aid of Chris Hansen (engineer, co-producer), returns with The Dark Leaves. It’s a record about surrendering and not, about being done with darkness and having something to sing about it.
Also available from these cabin sessions are the digital, nine-song EP Auri Sacra Fames (currently available exclusively online) and coming soon is “The Threeep,” a set of three 7″, three-song singles with as many songs each (three A-Sides, three Instrumentals, three B-Sides), which conveniently clip together into a cube. Contributing to these sessions are Eve Miller on cello, Christian Frederickson on viola and Dan Crowell on drums. The first installment of the limited-edition vinyl series is available for purchase HERE and on iTunes, with the final two being released in early 2010.
“Starting,” the first single from the “The Threeep,” features the following tracks:
Side A: “Starting” (from The Dark Leaves)
Side B: “Stopping” (non-album track)
Side B: “The Colour Out Of Space” (non-album track)
Personally, this song stuck out the most for me. Why? First, the kick ass video looks like it came from an era of time when all videos were kick ass… the 80s! Being transported back to my childhood FTW! And secondly, come on! This could be LiLi and I’s theme song! For reals.
Of course, these guys got all the social media stuff going on! Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and their very own website! And most importantly, get on over to the tour page and get your tickets! A great opener and a great headliner?! How did we get so lucky?!?
Amber
Li Li
