Category Archives: Awesome

Newest Love: Allah-Las

After celebrated releases from Hanni El Khatib and Nick Waterhouse, LA-based indie label on the rise, Innovative Leisure is excited to announce the debut release from their next big act to watch, The Allah-Las.  Recorded at the legendary Distillery Studio and produced by fellow labelmate Nick Waterhouse, the surf/psych-rock quartet’s music rivals that of some of the best Brit pop and garage rock bands from the 60s, laced with the sounds of the California coast line.  These are the kind of songs that bounced between London and Los Angeles, the kind of thing that could have come from Mick Jagger or Arthur Lee or both at once, with crystalline guitar and slow-mo drums that recall the way the waves take big bites of the beach at night.

In early 2012, the band released a video for their song “Tell Me (What’s On Your Mind)” that succinctly embodies the band vibes and references of American past and future via Super 8 footage.   If Gidget was resurrected in 2012, the Allah-Las would be playing this song at her beach party and steal away with her for a road trip in their VW van on the PCH.  This album is an adventure from the ocean to the desert to the mountains… this is the sound of California!

ALLAH-LAS TRACKLISTING

  1. Catamaran
  2. Don’t You Forget It
  3. Busman’s Holiday
  4. Sacred Sands
  5. No Voodoo
  6. Sandy
  7. Ela Navega
  8. Tell Me (What’s On Your Mind)
  9. Catalina
  10. Vis-A-Vis
  11. Seven Point Five
  12. Long Journey

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Brand New: Atlas Genius – “Symptoms”

The third and final track from Atlas Genius’ debut EP is out today! Check out “Symptoms” from Through the Glass which will be out on Tuesday (June 12)!!!

Listen: Atlas Genius – “Symptoms”

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New Video: Smile – “Eat Dirt”

Smile’s debut album, A Flash in the Night, is available now!

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Video: Spirit Animal – “Lead!”

You gotta watch this video. Just. Got. To.

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Newest Love: Flagship

North Carolina’s Flagship is poised to break out with the release of their debut EP blackbush. The 5-song EP is out now via Bright Antenna/ILG, and can be heard at Baeble Music, who declare the band “matches the emotional and nearly spiritual alternative rock of U2 circa Achtung Baby, with the deep-throated baritone delivery of lead singer Drake Margolnick ala Ian Curtis from Joy Division and some of the seething anger and rawness of We Are Augustines.” The release comes in advance of an anticipated full-length debut expected this fall.

Helmed by the talented singer/song writer/guitarist Drake Margolnick, Flagship just wrapped a cross-country tour supporting label mates The Wombats, where they performed in front of sold out crowds in New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, Salt Lake City and more. With Drake on lead vocals, his lyrics come to life with the help of lead guitarist Matt Padgett, keyboardist Grant Harding, drummer Michael Finster, and bassist Preston Hayden.  The 5-piece band is the newest addition to Bright Antenna, home to such artists as OMD, The Wombats, Magic Wands, Middle Class Rut, Beware of Darkness and more.

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Gigamesh EP Sampler

Gigamesh is releasing the brand new All My Life EP just in time for summer via Parisian record label Kitsuné. If you haven’t heard the soundcloud sampler, check it out. It will be available on all digital music retailers May 28th and is currently available for sale exclusively through Beatport.

Also, check out the latest remixes Gigamesh has done:

Listen: Punks Jump Up ft. Dave 1 – Mister Overtime (Gigamesh Remix)

Listen: Ladyhawke – Sunday Drive (Gigamesh Remix)

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Video: MS MR – “Hurricane”

“Beating Lana Del Rey’s record for “1990s influenced Tumblr photos per minute” with the video for their debut single “Hurricane”” – Pitchfork
“…feels big, the vibe feels grand – the pop-allure is definitely present.” – Disco Naivete
MS MR has revealed their new video for single “Hurricane,” and it begs to be heard! The New York band will officially release the 7″ in July via IAMSOUND Records. I posted a little while back about them and how they’re going on tour with Marina and the Diamonds.
Get a free download of “Hurricane” from the band’s website in exchange for an email address here.

 

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New Collaboration: SMILE

The brainchildren behind two of Sweden’s most beloved musical projects have combined to form one artistic force, the result being an infectious pop revolution. Smile is the collaboration of Björn Yttling, world-renowned writer, producer and bassist of international indie-pop powerhouse Peter Bjorn and John, and Joakim Åhlund of bear-masked electro outfit Teddybears. The duo is excited to announce the May 29th release of their debut LP, A Flash in the Night, as the first artist album from the Swedish artist collective, Ingrid.  The recording is fully loaded with electro-focused pop tracks, many instrumental and constructed around addictive synth. The vocals that are offered are artfully sparse. The album features the single “Clean Gloves, Dirty Hands,” a standout instrumental track that The Fader has deemed, “excellent”, set amongst the hazy and nostalgic “Jean Michel,” complete with retro future-synth and the dream-pop gems “Crooked” and “Satellite Blues”

Ingrid made it’s official debut on Record Store Day, April 21st. with a 15-track compilation aptly titled Ingrid Volym I . The release features new original tracks from Nordic musicians and label founders Lykke Li, Joakim Ahlund of Teddybears, Miike Snow and Björn Yttling of Peter Björn and John.  In addition to solo music projects by members of Peter Björn and John, Teddybears and Miike Snow, additional artists on the compilation include Andrew Wyatt, The Chinamen, Coco Morier, Electrocute, Hortlax Cobra, Little Majorette, Max Von Sydow, Peter Moren and Starlight Serenaders. The story behind the Swedish powerhouse label is anything but ordinary. Now they have all joined forces to record music as a single sonic entity highlighting Sweden’s eclectic music scene, ranging from dark, lush cosmic pop to psychedelic minimalism to melodic kraut.

A FLASH IN THE NIGHT TRACKLISTING

  1. Jeans Team
  2. Satellite Blues
  3. Clean Gloves, Dirty Hands
  4. Jean Michel
  5. Eating Dirt
  6. Med Hopp Om Battring
  7. Second Hand Smoke
  8. From Time To Time
  9. School. Work. Dead
  10. Have Some Fun Tonight
  11. Crooked
  12. Rescue Dog
  13. A Flash In The Night

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Newest Love (+ download): The Dig

New York City’s rock band The Dig will release their new album Midnight Flowers on May 29th via Buffalo Jump Records. In celebration, they’re hosting three record release shows in DC, NYC, and Chicago. In July they will move to Los Angeles by popular demand and return for a residency at Silverlake Lounge after playing their successful shows with Ben Kweller last month. The band is proud to lend their single to Turn the Tide: Songs for “Last Call at the Oasis” a companion chartity album to the new film Last Call at the Oasis in support of the global water crisis alongside 20 unreleased exclusive tracks from artists including Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket and more.

Listen/Download: The Dig – “I Already Forgot Everything You Said”

The Dig’s sound has been developing ever since the band’s two singers Emile Mosseri and David Baldwin started making music together when they were eleven years old.  After meeting California native Erick Eiser, the three songwriters have been writing tunes and playing in different bands since they were 16 years old. Anchored by sharp guitars, a woozy synth backdrop and airtight vocal harmonies, the new album Midnight Flowers is produced by Bryce Goggin (Pavement, The Apples In Stereo, Swans, Antony & The Johnsons) and it recalls styles ranging from T. Rex to Brian Eno to The Everly Brothers. Leading up to the release of Midnight Flowers, The Dig have pressed a limited number of cassette tapes containing the album’s first two singles, “Red Rose In The Cold Winter Ground” and “I Already Forgot Everything You Said.” 

“Even though it takes us about 15 minutes to make each individual cassette, which is done using an old boom box in the back of our van between shows, we like the idea of having the songs that we recorded using analog tape machines available on cassette.  For any of our fans that have moved on from 1995, each cassette comes with a digital download.”

Following their acclaimed 2010 debut, Electric Toys, The Dig amassed a passionate national following with magnetic live performances touring with the likes of Portugal. The Man, The Antlers, and The Walkmen. The band began writing new songs on the road and back home in New York between tours. The new songs reflect a rich sense of lyricism in “Red Rose in the Cold Winter Ground” and “Glass Horse” while thrumming with a charged pop sensibility in “All Tied Up” and “Break the Silence.”  When we were writing “I Already Forgot Everything You Said,” guitarist and vocalist David Baldwin recalls, “We had just gotten off the road with The Antlers and we were listening to a lot of Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind.  I think those influences found their way into that song particularly. But really the songs on this album are personal.”

The Dig are:

  • David Baldwin (Guitar/Vocals)
  • Emile Mosseri (Bass/Vocals)
  • Erick Eiser (Keyboards/Guitar)
  • Mark Demiglio (Drums)

The Dig – Midnight Flowers track listing:

  1. Red Rose in the Cold Winter Ground
  2. Black Water
  3. I Already Forgot Everything You Said
  4. All Tied Up
  5. Hole In My Heart
  6. Animal Screams
  7. Break The Silence
  8. Police Car
  9. Clouds and The White Noise
  10. Glass Horse

The Dig live:

  • 5/19: Washington, DC @ The Dunes (TICKETS)
  • 5/25: Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands (TICKETS)
  • 5/31: Chicago, IL @ Schubas (TICKETS)
  • 6/16: Philadelphia, PA @ North Star Bar
  • 7/11: Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge
  • 7/18: Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge
  • 7/25: Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge

 

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The Music Box in New Orleans

Watch a video of a past performance at The Music Box

The Music Box is an interactive installation comprised of musical architecture. It was created by non-profit organization New Orleans Airlift in collaboration with 25 artists including the international street art star Swoon. The Music Box features a collection of purpose-built shacks and miniature houses, each containing an instrument or having instruments built into its structure. The wooden shacks that make up this “shanty-town” are constructed from salvaged materials reclaimed from a late-18th-century Creole cottage that collapsed on the site several years ago.

Housing a slew of unconventional and inventive instruments, The Music Box offers its visitors a blank canvas to create music in an entirely new way. Between now and the end of June The Music Box will host a series of recordings sessions and pop-up performances in the space by amazing and diverse musicians including Thurston Moore, longtime Swoon collaborators Dark Dark Dark, the beloved Cajun musician Jo-El Sonnier, the sample-based band Javelin, the Brooklyn pop punk duo Japanther, and noise heroes Black Dice.

A final performance by the Shantytown Orchestra will feature an unexpected and eclectic line-up including local musicians like  Donald Miller (of the legendary 1980’s noise band Borbetomagus),  to Rosalie “Lady Tambourine” Washinton,  a familiar New Orleans character who plays with gospel acts as well as the Neville Brothers. They will be joined by out-of town performers including the transgendered harpist Baby Dee, (a collaborator of Will Oldman and Antony and the Johnsons), Magas, the electronic wizard of Chicago, and the Brooklyn-duo Javelin. These June 8th and 9th concerts mark the very last chance to experience a full orchestral performance at The Music Box before the installation is taken down at the end of June 2012.

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