Music

Kristian Matsson, better known by his stage name “The Tallest Man on Earth” is a folk singer of Swedish origin. TTMOE has a sound all his own, interweaving complex acoustic guitar runs with raw, passionate, and often cryptic vocals. His songs are remarkably simple, instrumentally for the level of their musical complexity. Generally, they...
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I definitely work based off recommendation. As Cathy from Sargent House Records has tweeted recently, Gypsyblood is a favorite new band she is pumping. Of course this is a good thing since SHR line up has some of the best musicians in the indie scene right now… and when SHR says a band is...
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Neumos is a venue in Seattle best described as a ‘dungeon-like fire trap’. It’s a dark, unusually warm space with a capacity for only mid-level independent acts; really popular groups have to play elsewhere. Brother Ali can play Neumos. Atmosphere can’t. The other thing about Neumos is that it’s not known for its subtlety...
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MakeupBreakup is something between interesting and dirty. On one hand, this album makes me feel like I’m listening to power-pop from the 90s. On the other hand, this makes me want to go to a show and get turned down by stuck up hipster girls. In either case, this music is definitely emotive… to...
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If there was a name for each week out of the year, this week would be called “wtfmusic week”. The Spies are no exception. The Spies fall into that category I mentioned not-so-long ago where they are playing music that sounds fun to play but I wouldn’t necessarily want to listen to it. Check...
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Seattle orchestral pop group Grand Hallway has had quite a year; they earned a live showcase on KEXP, were invited to play SXSW, and scored a prime spot on the Vera stage at the Capitol Hill Block Party, where I saw them perform for the first time. From listening to Grand Hallway’s records, I...
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I won’t spend too much time fluffing this album up. I seriously can’t stand it. This came through my mailbox earlier this month and was recommended as “energetic indie pop from The Netherlands”. I gave it a chance. I seriously did. Her voice is good. No need for post-production magic for her. That’s the...
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Lately, many bands have been toying with the idea of many EP releases rather than a full length album every one to two years. This almost completely eliminates the idea of the extended length concept album. Enter Light Chasers by Cloud Cult. A seemingly traditional concept album about a journey of some sort, the...
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Smoosh, once girls now young ladies, have been an on-going work-in-progress since their inception in 2004. Since their very older-than-their-age-of-10 release in 2004, fans seem to have been looking for the next step from innocent indie-pop to something… bigger. Maybe bigger isn’t the best word, but even if that were the case… they seem...
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There’s a tricky correlation between the level of pretension of an indie band and the number of Lady Gaga t-shirts worn by that band onstage. One Lady Gaga t-shirt is pretentious, like a half-assed attempt to be ironic. Two or three? Awesome. Where does one even find that many pieces of faded Gaga-Gear? But...
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