March 2009 Archives

It might be wintry cold out there in Nebraska right now, but there's one duo that's making things hot in the local music scene. Don't be misled by the group's name, Shiver Shiver might conjure thoughts of ice and frost, but the frigid exterior is quite the opposite of what they sound like, and their album Soulless Sex Appeal is neither soulless or unappealing.
 
I got a chance to shoot some questions over to Shiver Shiver's Jordan and Chase, who were happy to grant me a quick Q & A.

What's the story behind your name Shiver Shiver?

We were waiting tables and were so poor we could only afford one nice shirt.  And Megadeath was taken.  We think it's obvious.

How did you guys start out?

Shiver Shiver was started  after we had been playing nothing but jazz music with each other for a couple of years.  We ended up wanting to be free from the jazz form mainly because our love for music is very inclusive.  We wanted to create a forum where we felt free to approach music without the constraints of any one genre, letting the music itself guide us.

Tell us something about the two songs you'd like to share to our readers -

Julianna
Julianna is a narrative about a guy being torn between his traditional womanizing ways and his desire to become a better man.  Although he entertains his more typical foolish ideas, in the end he is able to make the healthy decision.

 

Stop Lying
Stop Lying is a story about a character who shows up in one for or another throughout Soulless Sex Appeal.  However, it's told from the perspective of his lover-at least, the one he shares an address with.  This is a woman at the end of her rope.  Still full of love, she recognizes the need for a change and gains the courage to do what's best for herself.



After listening to two of Shiver Shiver's songs, one can't help but be a fan. Their songs are excellently performed that you wouldn't even think that it's just two people with with a drum kit and keyboards. If there's one thing that you can get out of musicians with a jazz background - it's that they'll know how to make the most out of the instruments they're playing.  And if there's one thing that would make me fall in love with a certain song, it would be a wicked drum arrangement infused with a bit of electronica  (and maybe an ounce of 80's Joe Jackson in his 'Steppin' Out' era, which I'm faintly reminded of when listening to Julianna). For sure, Shiver Shiver nails it with a sure win.

A wise decision to shift from jazz to pop (the non-cheesy hipster pop in particular), Shiver Shiver brings to the wider audience, excellent musicianship in the form of catchy tunes. Their style adds a sprinkling of pretentious jazz to the mix, resulting in rich pop tunes that are oh-so-easy to love.

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Lest I forget, I also asked the boys on their take on Indie music, and this is what they had to say - 

While we realize the term "indie" tends to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, we would most prefer it to be defined as:  Music created by musicians who decidedly have the desire to play by their own rules.

Out of doing what's been most natural to us, we've found our music to fit into several settings or genres.  In our estimation, this freedom is a trait we consider to be independent.

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If you want to get a copy of Shiver Shiver's album, Soulless Sex Appeal is available at CD Baby. You can also download it at eMusic.com. Be sure to check out the nice hidden track at the end :)   

List Addict's Fridays is back!

After a marked absence of the Friday list, I'm back with a new set of songs to entertain and sweeten your day. This week, it's all duets -  because it's one of the hallmarks of modern indie music. Also, if you listen to too much indie music, you can't get away from all those sickly sweet duets.

I was going to go for some electro-pop, just because I wanted another reason to write about Figurine - but opted for some twee instead. As twee, loves the boy/girl vocal exchange - I'm have five twee-pop song duets here. And no, this list does not include The Moldy Peaches'  Anyone Else But You.

Here's my random list of twee indie music duets off the top of my head.

1.  Heavenly - C is The Heavenly Option |

This one is for the twee history books. Included in 1990's band Heavenly's Le Jardin de Heavenly album, this is a staple for any indie music lover's favorite duets list. It's a cute little number by Heavenly's Amelia Fletcher and K Records founder Calvin Johnson. An equally excellent version of the song was done by Los Campesinos!, where they flipped the girl and boy exchange to a boy and girl one.

2. Los Campesinos! -  International Tweexcore Underground |

Of course, I couldn't set up this list without including a Los Campesinos! song. And what song would be best to include than their tongue in cheek song about the indie culture. Punk vs Twee in a sort of Romeo and Juliet scenario - International Tweexcore Underground is one of my favorite love songs, and if you know me, I call every song a love song.

3. The Research - Bet If We Kissed |

This song was not included in my top songs for wooing the girl you love for a good reason. The reason is not the lazy vocal stylings of Russel Searle, but the unique lyrics detailing an end of the world scenario if 'we kissed' which includes swings freezing in motion, storms blowing across the ocean and the finale of the world plunging into darkness. It's a cute song nonetheless.
 
4. Lacrosse - You Can't Say No Forever |

A twee-pop duet list wouldn't be complete without at least one indie-pop Swedish band. This week's list will be represented by Lacrosse's oozing with sweet song You Can't Say No Forever. It's all about pining for that one person who you can't seem to have. As the old saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try and try again. The more you try, the odds will statistically will be in your favor - because of course, they can't say no forever, can they? 

5. Slow Club - When I Go |

When I Go a.k.a the Ritz crackers song, is a little ditty by the indie folk twosome Slow Club. It's a lovely song about two friends who have an 'If we're not married when we're x number of years old, we'll marry each other' pact. Honestly, whoever asks you to have that pact is secretly in love with you, so, you can either take the hint and hook up, or burst their bubble with an outright 'no'. Then again, I'm not a love guru so don't take my word for it. The whole scenario sure does make a great song though.

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I'm going to try to insert a bit of a site update here. Just wanted to let you guys know that The Indie Music Database is now on Facebook. You can check out our nifty little page here. Sign up as a fan, spread the love and let us know - we sure need all the lovin' that we can get ;-)

 

The fun factor, it's what reels me in, that's what I look for in discovering music that I like. So when I saw The Good China's profile pop into my submissions queue with their goofy little group shot and paper doll album cover - I knew I had to feature this group on the site.

A lot of people compare The Good China to early Architecture In Helsinki. Like Architecture in Helsinki, they've got your more than average number of members (eight in total), they play a wide range of musical instruments (aside from your usual guitar and drums - you've got the violin, glockenspiel, mandolin, banjo, etc.), and last but not the least, they also hail from Australia - not Helsinki nor China, but the wonderful land of Australia. Music-wise, they also offer a bit of twee in their toe-tapping, hand-clapping first single called 'All Nothing'.

'All Nothing', is a song about running away from home as a 3 year old, only to make it as far as your grandma's house. For me, this invokes early childhood memories of  wrapping up used batteries in a small blanket, putting it on a stick like a hobo, and running away - only getting as far as our apartment complex's gate. Many of you may be able to relate  (sans the used batteries) as 'All Nothing' offers that bit of nostalgia, a time when innocence was sweet, and problems were so minute that it's all nothing compared to the humongous obstacles you'll encounter as an adult.

All Nothing


Apart from the short childhood flashback, this song kind of reminds me of Barenaked Ladies with a little hint of the Goo-Goo Dolls.(Ok, I just realized that sounded quite funny if you weren't thinking of the bands) I just might be having a bad case of 90's alternative rock music craving, but somehow, I'm getting a bit of that 90's vibe when listening to The Good China. In '39 Black' one the band's newer singles, the vocals sound oh-so-Lemonheads - 

39 Black


According to the band, '39 Black'  is about a local newspaper article - about a crazy lady who'd been seeing black panthers in her neighbourhood - the verbatim quote that the article had was "it was as black as black, it had a big black bushy tail". Now, this kind of makes you think really, if  the world was littered with crazy old ladies ranting about their hallucinations - would we have more inspired music to listen to? As long as it's from The Good China, I think I could bear another crazy old lady or two. 

Since I had my junior music critic around while listening to tracks from The Good China - I set him with up with headphones and sampled 'All Nothing'. The song was happily given the two thumbs up - which says a lot, since my little guy shows quite a distinct music taste. He also warranted it to be worthy of sharing to the family pet, and before I could stop him, he  proceeded to outfit our pet canary with my oversized headphones. Fortunately, I was able to put the song on speakers before any feathers were ruffled. 

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As with all other bands I feature, I asked The Good China the age old question - how do you define indie music? Nick gave one of my favorite answers to date:

For me "indie" music is defined by its musicality - it's more complex, with jangly guitars and experimental chord voicings, delay pedals, creative drums/time signatures, and lyrics about getting drunk, eating loads of crisps and throwing up by a football pitch. It can also be said that "indie" is defined by whether or not it's part of mainstream culture - the DIY attitude, the fashion (skinny neckties, stripes, tight jeans), the dirty bars where indie bands often appear. From this perspective, the key distinction comes not from instrumentation or structure but from how strictly the indie band follows the cultural constructions of rockist "authenticity", which raises the paradigm of "selling out" - which can shake a band of any indie cred they may have, but in return for much greater exposure. It's only a matter of time before The Good China have tracks appear on the next season of The O.C. :) (or maybe Gossip Girl since the CW doesn't air The O.C. anymore. Their songs might be good for a nice Chuck and Blair moment. Wait, should I be ashamed that I know this piece of information?)

One of my favourite quotes on the subject from James Mercer seems to sum it up quite nicely; "I hope that our audience is more sophisticated than I was when I was a teenager, where I would probably drop a band if my sister knew about them. If my sister knew about the band then they weren't cool anymore."

Since I was in interview mode, I asked Nick further, on where they got their unique name:

'With regards to the name "The Good China", the meaning often gets confused. It has no political connotations whatsoever, but rather refers to good crockery like what your nan has locked away in her glass cabinet in the living room. And your nan will always bring out the good china for her best guests. Further to that, in Australia, rhyming slang for "mate" is "china plate". Which makes 'good china' a slang term for 'good mate'. So we figured it was suitable, plus on top of that we can prefix everything with the word "China", for example; China-party, China-house, China-merch, and my favourite, Chine-o-mite!'

Well, I always knew it was all about good crockery. You can never be a great band without appreciating good china. And with this, I hope that the group will continue to dish out excellent new songs. Get it? Dish out?. Ok, I think I'll stop now ;-)

More Chine-o-mite tracks can be found at the band's MySpace page as well as an awesome make your own Good China paperdoll kit available for download. 

The boys from Cat House have a lot of things going on for them right now  - this band from Chelmsford, England are in the forefront of re-invigorating the local music scene with their new single coming out, along with the launch of a new indie music label - Barhouse Records.

Unless you're a regular at Chelmsford's Barhouse, you wouldn't know much about this band since they've remained incognito from the rest of the world. The only clues we have of their existence is their MySpace page that only tells us so much, and the mysterious men in cat masks adorning their profile. The obsession with cats, I'm not that sure about, but as a marketing ploy, they're effectively targeted at least 25% of the world's population - which in my guesstimates, is the average statistic of cat owners worldwide. And if you go by the statistics of people I know personally, that would be around 60%. So yes, I do stand by with I said earlier - this band really has a lot of things going on for them - not just because they have the advantage of statistically peaking the interest of cat loving individuals worldwide, but their music speak tons of their potential.

'Tribe' is Cat House's first single off their Barhouse Records debut release. For dance music lovers out there, the track boasts of funky beats reminiscent of 70's and 80's disco coupled with modern day dance punk guitar stylings. This particular single sounds a bit like MGMT only more dance punk-y and less psychedelic - just the right amount of head bopping music to make you enjoy it while losing yourself on the dance floor. If their single is just an introduction of the good things that are to come from this foursome - I'd definitely put my money on them being the next big thing coming out from Chelmsford's local music scene. So will Cat House be next Blur or Prodigy? We'll just have to wait and see what they're cooking up in the cattery..but right now, they've got the trippy videos down pat -


Cat House - Tribe


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I also got the band to answer my ever-so-standard question of what indie music is, and this is what their frontman, Christian Wright had to say:

'When people use the word 'indie' to describe music it makes me think of all the horrible Britpop bands. Indie also conjures up the image of skinny white boys with attitude playing pants guitar music. Then again were skinny white boys so I guess Cat House are indie.

It's a shame I think this as obviously the term stems from independent labels and right now indie labels are thriving in a music industry where major labels are up the proverbial creak without a paddle. Big bands are fleeing in their droves to Independent labels that can offer creative freedom and fairer financial terms for the artist. Indie labels are great! '

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If you're ever in the neighborhood, drop by as Cat House launches their single 'Tribe' on March 21st, 8 pm @ Barhouse, 16 Victoria Road Chelmsford Essex CM1 1NZ. 

One of the reasons that inspired me to build this site (aside from my own obsession about music) is my son Paolo, who, up until he was five, couldn't stand to have a radio on inside a room. As with all other autistic kids, his sensitivity to sights, sounds and everything else that's sensory, is higher than your average kid. He would scream and cry like it was physically hurting his ears - terrified of just a simple little radio dishing out the tune of the day. I could never figure out what it was with the radio the room (or any other radio playing inside any room) but the TV didn't bother him and neither did the car radio. In fact, the only consistent thing about Paolo is  he's calm when he's inside the car (well, except if we're driving in Burnaby near Still Creek, and a murder of crows swooped down). The outside sights seemed to distract him and would oftentimes lull him to sleep.

I felt really bad when I realized how he got so agitated with music in the house - this meant that I couldn't turn the speakers way up - since I couldn't turn the stereo on at all, and I couldn't play the drums when he was around. But what I was really most terrified at was that he wouldn't be able to learn how to appreciate music the way that I did. My own son, how could he not be like me?

But on one fateful day, it happened. He started singing The Postal Service's 'Be Still My Heart'.

He sang it once, when I was taking him to daycare - it was on the car's CD player. It didn't matter that I had it on for three weeks straight (which might've brainwashed him to finally sing about it). But he sang, it meant that he liked it. My son was actually getting his own appreciation of music and I was delighted. Now, after two years, my son, who wouldn't even stand to be in the same room with a radio playing, is now a six-year old who doesn't seem to mind the noise and loves to occasionally play with my drum kit. Over the years he's tagged a few songs as his favorites. Here are the most notable ones:

1. The Postal Service - Be Still My Heart |

The first song non-nursery rhyme song that he ever sang to. I guess it helps that the song actually has rhyming lyrics. The first time that he ever sang to it was actually the last time he sang to the song - but it doesn't matter, it paved the way for other favorites that are more than awesome.

2. Architecture in Helsinki - Tiny Paintings |

This is the first of two songs that he absolutely loves from Architecture In Helsinki. He likes most of their songs and would ask for them by track number (I could never get him to remember song titles). 'Number three', he would request. It became kind of routine in the morning when I'd take him to daycare. Then, he'd call it 'Tiny Paints' because I'd kind of screw it up by playing the same track, with a different track position in a mix CD. He found the song funny, the tuba and the piston like sounds in the beginning, and would associate it with ducks. 'Duckie!' he'd say and would go about giggling like someone just ticked him. It was weird, getting tickled by a song - in an odd and cute way, that's how he enjoyed Tiny Paintings.

3. Architecture in Helsinki - Wishbone |

This was the next track in the 'In Case We Die' album, right after 'Tiny Paintings' and it didn't take long before Paolo made it his favorite. It's one of the few songs that he actually can name decently. He loved the name so much, he named my car 'Wishbone'. He found it amusing that the song slowed down at a point, like the song was going to sleep. Then it would pick up again - where he'd say 'Wake up!' on cue to the drums picking up the beat.

4. Au Revior Simone - The Disco Song |

This became a favorite at the time that I myself grew tired of listening to Architecture In Helsinki every single morning (he would request it right away, as soon as he gets in the car). I introduced a new mix CD for him and he latched on to this particular song (despite the use of children's toys in a Psapp song I included in the CD, he didn't like it as much). Now, when I ask him to request anything but Wishbone and Tiny Paints, he now says Disco Song. This is when I realized that he has a soft spot for electronic keyboard music, coupled with female vocals, which is evidenced by the next song in the list.

5. The Magnetic Fields - 100,000 Fireflies |

He absolutely loves this song. This is one song he can stand to listen to again and again and again. But as all other songs he knows, he has a botched up memory of what the title is - 100 butterflies..100 futterflies..flutterfly song.. but whichever way he requests it, I know for sure this is the song he wants.

We've stopped the morning music immersion program - since due to scheduling conflicts, I can't take him to daycare early in the morning anymore. But on the occasion, he would get a sample of my music in the car and ask 'What's that?'  then  I would get a chance to educate in the wonderful musical stylings of not-so-mainstream music.

I've been telling myself to get more Canadian acts featured on the blog considering that: a) there's a ton of great Canadian acts out there that are just waiting to get noticed and; b) I should love my own - I'm Canadian, what good is a music blog if I don't even feature great bands from the country that I live in?

Imagine my delight when I got something fresh from the post from a band from Hamilton, Ontario.

With all the types on music available and the different genres, I've been struggling on how to categorize the music I listen to lately. Listening to The Rest didn't make it easy for me to either, though, if there's ever a category for music that elicits an immediate physical response - like an increased pace in heartbeat, goosebumps...the sort of music that you can actually feel aside from hearing it - they fit just right in.

To make you understand what I mean fully, would involve me sampling one of their singles from their about to be released album Everyone All at Once. This, I would happily oblige, since I never shy away from sharing the little joys that I find in music.

Modern Time Travel (necessities)


Modern Time Travel, begins quietly, with Adam Bentley's falsetto vocals setting up the calm and sombre mood. When the drum beats begin, that's when it picks up and you start feeling it - did I just get some goosebumps there? Well, I definitely did, and by the second verse, I could actually say that yes, I'm already gone...and done in by the song. Listening to Modern Time Travel actually made my heart ache - but in a good way. If I would ever see this song performed live, I could definitely say, this song would probably blow my senses away. Why oh why didn't I hear of this band a long time ago?

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In continuing my eternal quest of defining what 'indie music' is, hit up Adam with my question of what his definition of what 'indie music' is, and why he considers his band indie. And this was his response:

"Indie music these days can almost incorporate any style, and doesn't seem to necessarily need to be apart from a major label. That almost makes it impossible to figure out, but I see it more of a perspective or feeling. I think most of these artists share a true joy for creating music, and an honest approach to these creations. The results can vary because there's no limitations on your style or creed anymore.

I would consider us an indie group, at least in the description above, but I sometimes hesitate to use the word these days because I feel people are using it only as a trend. But deep down indie music is something that won't go away. People will continue to make indie music for their own reasons and not what has been forced upon them. "

If indie music is defined by spontaneous bursts of creative energy contained in beautiful song form (with emphasis on the word beautiful) - The Rest would definitely be a great example of it.

On April 21st Auteur Recordings will be releasing Everyone All At Once, with presales starting on March 10th at www.auteurrecordings.com