July 2009 Archives

It's electronica month for The Indie Music Database, as we feature another electropop artist for Fresh from the Post. Check it out as Logan Lynn shares his view on indie music, who and what his music influences are as well as two tracks from his album From Pillar to Post  released under the Dandy Warhols label Beat the World -

We're curious to find out how other artists define the term 'indie music'. How do you define it?
That's kind-of a tricky one to answer these days as independent music gets to be more popular than much of what's being offered by many major labels. I definitely think that those lines are blurring and that my answer will probably be morphing as it changes.  Those sorts of shifts in the industry are totally AWESOME for folks like me who are having a sort-of grass-roots experience on a smaller label.  I tend to think of indie as being an all-encompassing term which can be applied to any project that doesn't have shit tons of money pumped into it to start...bands which control their vision and direction and are, ultimately, not bound to the old testament law of the music industry.

 

Feed Me to the Wolves

Burning Your Glory

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I've never been much of a fan of the 'emo' label since I always associated it with angst-ridden teens desparately seeking for things to whine about, so I'll kindly defer calling Logan Lynn 'emotronic'. Interestingly, the tagline in his official website does say 'putting the disco back into discomfort' - which is exactly what he does with his music - a nice juxtaposition of fun-happy with painful-heartbreaking  via music and lyrics. It's a nice mix actually - electropop and angst, and with Logan Lynn's take on it, you don't need to be in a brooding mood to appreciate his music. It's like a candy coated bitter pill, best taken while wearing your dancing shoes and a neon glow stick in hand. You'll have to wait till the fall to experience the whole album though, but in the meantime let these two cool tracks keep you company.

Tuesday is new music day again, and this time it comes in the form of electropop beats by way of LA based artist Case by Case. I have a soft spot when it comes to solo artists who are hands on with their craft, since this site itself is sort of my own one man show.

 

I hit up RJ (the man behind Case by Case) with a couple of questions starting with the hard hitting,  indiemusicdb question - 'what is indie music' -

So, what's your take on the definition of indie music?
Hmm, it's very difficult to describe, as it is a very broad category, but when I hear the term indie I generally think of rock, folk, and electronic based music.  If there are vocals, they tend to be less polished and often more affected - not your normal American Idol pop/rock voice.  Usually the lyrics also tend to be more abstract, quirky and/or intelligent.  I think of musicians that probably taught themselves how to play their instruments.  It seems indie music is generally more creative, always pushing boundaries and mixing different genres together.  I think there's often a healthy dose of pretentiousness and metafiction thrown in as well! 

How did Case by Case start out?
I started my first band in high school with a few friends, played a couple shows, went to college and formed another band, graduated and formed yet another band, but all those guys wanted high-pitched, loud rock vocals over screeching guitars and it was just too taxing on my vocal chords!  So, a friend from college taught me to use Reason and create electronic beats.  This opened up a lot more room for vocals that were better suited for my voice.

Everyone

Fresh from the Post usually comes on Tuesdays (and every couple of so weeks) but since I'm introducing a cool new Canadian band, what better day to feature them than on Canada Day?

This week, Ontario band Anderson Council answers the standard Fresh from the Post questions and lets us know what they're all about -
 
How did you guys start out?

Craig and Mike used to play in a band called "One Track Mind" and Jeff used to play in a band called "System Slave". Both bands had stopped playing and Mike wanted to get another band started so he got in contact with ex-OTM guitarist, Justin Plati, and asked if he knew any good bass players. He sent Mike the contact info for Dave and the two began talking. They agreed to get together to jam and see if anything would come of it. After a couple of times jamming, Mike called Craig to tell him about this bassist and that the three of them should get together to start writing and jamming some songs. After weeks of the three of them writing and jamming (along with another on guitar), the guys were paired with Craig's brother Jeff. Craig and Jeff had also been jamming and writing songs together under the name "Anderson Council". Jeff actually originally wanted Dave to form a band with him! The 4 started seriously writing songs in late spring and early summer of 2007. We played their first show at Toronto's El Mocambo on August 22nd 2007.
 
What's the story behind your name, Anderson Council?

Syd Barret's idea
 
This is kind of interesting, but did you guys know that there's a US band who also has the same name..only it has a 'The' at the beginning? I gave them a listen, they're pretty good too...though I find you guys more interesting (and I mean that in a good way), your songs have more character in them - and I'm not saying that just because I'm doing this online Q and A.

We've seen a bunch of Anderson Council, The Anderson Council, Anderson Counsel(s), etc... As far as we know, most of them are just Pink Floyd cover bands though. We're the only one from Canada that we know of.
 
How do you describe your band's sound?

We think it is hard to classify us as just one genre. We are a mix of indie rock, pop, psychedlic music, etc... A lot of our music is influenced by older classic rock artists like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and The Band. Newer artists that may be influence us could include Sam Roberts, Jack White, Radiohead, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Broken Social Scene. We never try to write songs that sound like a particular artist or fit into a genre. We just write songs that we think will sound good or that we'll like. Whatever genre that comes out as or whatever artists it may also sound like, is just coincidental.

As our site is The Indie Music Database, we're curious to find out how other artists define the term 'indie music'. How do you guys define it?

Artists who have to work for a living, or who choose to live poor and strictly focus on music. It may be anything that has that "Do-It-Yourself" feel. Often it's something that is just off the radar of the mainstream and that's definitely not a bad thing. A lot of "indie" artists are emerging these days as opposed to the major-label signed BIG groups. With CD sales down and downloading as the new way to get music, Indie seems to be the way of the future. Bands now control their recordings, their merchandise, their publishing, their promotion, etc... It may be harder work, but it gives the artist total control of what they are doing.

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To supplement our Canada Day celebrations today, Anderson Council has happily provided us with a couple of songs: a toe tapping track called Heartless Stones and a song perfect for lazy sunday afternoons - where the guys get creative with a mandolin, aptly called Amanda Lynne -

Heartless Stones


Amanda Lynne



Anderson Council may not be the most original band name out there - which comes quite in contrast with the band's own music. Their mix of influences renders their music with a nice, rich sound which, like I mentioned earlier, gives them a lot of character (and as they say, character goes a long way). A band not willing to be shoved into a specific genre, they have a unique sound that not a lot of bands have nowadays - and it makes them easily stand out. Whatever kind of music this four piece group from Ajax, Ontario is making - they own it, and maybe, just maybe, 'Anderson Council-esque' might be an adjective music reviewers might use someday.

You can check out more tunes from Anderson Council at their MySpace page - http://www.myspace.com/acouncilband