[Video] Vampire Weekend's Baio: "Mira"
Vampire Weekend's Chris Baio has made a living playing bass and providing backing vocals to the indie rock band's uptempo, sunny sound since the groups inception. Today, he released a video for his own solo work. Performing under Baio, he has plans to release a solo EP titled Mira, for which the video is for. Check it out below, its a crazy collage of different facial shots, should be fun.
http://youtu.be/feaFllGZ-H0
[Video] Panda Bear Makes New Music For Fashion Line
Panda Bear of Animal Collective, who hasn't released anything on his own since 2011, was prompted to do so for his wife's Spring/Summer 2014 fashion line. She is fashion designer Fernanda Pereira and the line is called "DESPERSONALIZAÇÃO the stretch of life". Daft Punk collaborations and work on the most recent Animal Collective album aside, this is the first release anyone has seen from Noah Lennox. Check out the promotional material with his new work below.
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[RH Interview] Ezra Furman
Chicago native Ezra Furman broke out on the indie-rock scene back in 2006 by fronting Ezra Furman and The Harpoons, making waves and records that brought his unusual voice and rock and roll songs to the people. Now he is back with a brand new record. Day Of The Dog, which he recorded with his band, The Boy-Friends. Day Of The Dog brings out a new side to Furman’s sound, which seems to have matured with every album. The record has an overall eclectic and manic feeling, though each song is thoroughly developed, leaving listeners fully satisfied with every track. I got to sit down with Ezra and pick his brain about the new record, tour, and The Boy-Friends. Read along and get to know Ezra Furman.
Brynn: What are some of your goals for the new record, Day Of The Dog?
Ezra: I got very vague about goals because they never helped me in the past. Non-artistic goals make me feel stressed out and disappointed. I just really wanted to put out a good record; that is what I worried about, and then it turned out good. (laughs)
Brynn: For your debut solo album, The Year Of No Returning, you had a running theme where each song represented a month of the year. Was there any driving theme or idea that fueled this record?
Ezra: The main idea was for it to be more manic; the last one was a little bit more depressive. I wanted this to be a manic affair. It is kind of the other side of the psychic coin.
Brynn: What were you listening to when you wrote the record?
Ezra: A lot of Howling Wolf and old things on test records with a lot of saxophone solos.
Brynn: I really appreciated all the saxophone solos on your album. What made you decide to incorporate that instrument into the mix?
Ezra: I guess we are just… I say “we” as in general fans of music… are sick of the guitar solo. Now every band has a guitar player in it that takes a lot of solos, but before, it seemed like there was a sax player in every rock and roll band that took wild solos. I was just looking for new avenues of mania. I wanted insanity.
Brynn: My favorite song on the album so far is “My Zero.” Can you elaborate on the meaning of the song?
Ezra: It comes from running, running around, running away. Many musicians will tell you a homeless feeling is developed, so it’s a song about that homeless and traveling feeling.
Brynn: Did you write in on the road?
Ezra: No, I wrote it at home, but I had just moved to another new place, another new home, and it’s like I’m setting up my tent and building my fire here now.
[Video] Marrow: "Two" (Behind The Scenes)
It's not where you start, but where you finish. The age-old fallacy is one everyone can live by, but likely rings a bit more true for the members of Marrow. Six months ago band members Liam Cunningham, Macie Stewart and Lane Beckstrom made up the core of Chicago genre-fusion band Kids These Days. Having reached a good deal of success (playing on Conan & at Lollapalooza 2011), the band split up in May after two albums and a host of shows across the country. Vic Mensa left to pursue a solo rap career, Nico Segal and J.P. Floyd went on tour with Frank Ocean and Chance The Rapper, and Liam, Macie and Lane retreated to Lane's basement to work on their reformed band, Marrow. Having spent the summer writing a library's-worth of songs and recording a demo, the former KTD members, along with newbie Matt Carroll on drums, have developed a new sound that merges the careful songwriting of Cunningham and Stewart with the inspired musicianship of Beckstrom, all accented by a different tone on drums with Carroll. While working on their upcoming (and appropriately titled) EP, Two, due out the same day as their show at Schuba's on December 19, the group had cameras rolling to catch all the action. Tap into the young musician's creative process as they put the project together with the video below, and keep an eye out for an Austin Vesely-directed joint due out in late November.
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[Album Stream] Arcade Fire: "Reflektor"
Thank the Irish. After a brutally-long roll-out for their latest album, Reflektor, Arcade Fire got the shove they needed when the project leaked from Rollercoaster Records in tiny Kilkenny, Ireland and features production from LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy and Markus Dravs. Because of the leak, Arcade Fire threw up their collective hands and passed the full album over, pushing up the release date thanks to a tiny Irish record store. Listen below:
http://youtu.be/CBjqUEMlHTY
[Video] PYYRAMIDS: "Invisible Scream"
Thanks in large-part to their loyal fans, Drea Smith and Tim Norwind have been able to put out an incredible debut album, perform shows all over the world and even perform on national TV under their group moniker, PYYRAMIDS. Today is a big day for the duo as they will not only headline a concert in London, but also promote their brand new video for "Invisible Scream." The visual premiered today via Clash Magazine and perfectly accompanies the slow-down tempo of the song with a black-and-white shooting style. PYYRAMIDS is hoping their listeners will enjoy the recent material and keep supporting them as they help take care of those who helped them by pledging over at Pledge Music.
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[Album] Best Coast: "Fade Away"
California soul rockers Best Coast are back with their latest release, Fade Away, which hit Soundcloud today as a full album stream. The seemingly always happy duo of Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno keep the upbeat pace on their latest release. Earlier this Fall they put out the lead single from the project,"I Don't Know How". Check out the full album, available below here:
[RH Interview] Islands
Nick:The line up is the same as A Sleep & A Forgetting but the songs are all new! The direction is pretty different, too. A little harder, a little deeper, a little faster and a little darker.
Jake: How did Islands in it's current form come to be?