Video: Mac Demarco “Dreamin”
Mac Demarco released one of the best records of 2012 in his aptly titled, sophomore LP 2. His style is a cocktail best served chilled and preferrably with cigarette. Demarco relishes in those temporarily detached moments, where mid-drag on a cigarette your eyes drift to an unspecified spot on the pavement and the mind floats toward whatever random synapse has fired most recently. That glint in the eye of the aloof is the case in point on 2. On no track is this more evident than “Dreamin.” In the video found below, it appears Demarco’s most recent synapse brought to life a lipstick-sporting Mozart covered in deconstructed cake ingredients. Enjoy.
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Written by Rob Peoni
Video: Hanna Benn “The Lonesome Valley”
Since humans first grew capable of grunts and knee slaps, we have handed down songs from generation to generation. Along the road, the songs bend and take on entirely different incarnations, offering only glimmers of their original selves. We break them down and reconstruct them to better reflect and process our present environment. No matter how far a song may stray from its first breath, somewhere deep within lies its essence or soul – for lack of a better term – that is carried by each musician who paid it forward.
Below, watch a video of Indianapolis native and vocalist Hanna Benn performing her take on the gospel classic “The Lonesome Valley” at Seattle’s Land Management. A version of the track by fabled gospel quartet The Fairfield Four gained a wider audience in recent years after its inclusion on the soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou? Though radically different, both versions prove stirring.
Benn is a music composition grad from Cornish College of the Arts and a member of the experimental, orchestral pop outfit Pollens. The Seattle band released its debut album, Brighten and Break at the end of September. The LP weaves complex vocal arrangements around deceptively simple melodies. It’s cerebral in a way that’s reminiscent of Conveyor’s debut from early last year, but much less quirky. Listen to the band’s single “Helping Hand.”
Benn returns to Indy this Thursday for a solo gig at White Rabbit Cabaret. I’m particularly excited as the bill also features local songstress Kristen Newborn and her project Ko. Both singers work in a similar space, looping vocals to create polyrhythms that serve as instrument as much as lyric. They’re also both North Central grads and talented as hell. I’m anxious to see whether any friendly rivalry fosters some inspired performances. Organ Grinder and Caleb McCoach will round out the line-up. For more information visit Do317. Check out Benn’s take on “The Lonesome Valley” below and grab a free download of some live recordings via Bandcamp.
Written by Rob Peoni
The Pastels announce new LP: ‘Slow Summits’
The Pastels announced, yesterday, that the band will release its first album in 16 years. Their last work came in the form of a 2009 collaboration with Japanese duo Tenniscoats. The new album will be released on Domino Records and is entitled Slow Summits. The Pastels offered up snippets of the new material in the short video found below. Domino had this to say about the record:
“We are extremely excited to be able to announce a new Pastels record for 2013. Slow Summits is the record we waited so long for, wondered about, pencilled in then pencilled out, and now finally, triumphantly can pencil back in… but not with a pencil, with a flourish, with a fountain pen. Because it’s that kind of record. Recorded in Glasgow and mixed in Chicago, Slow Summits is already bringing some much needed optimism to 2013, why not let it do the same for you? Here’s a trailer they cut for it with their friend, Blair Young from The Forest Of Black. Check it out.”
The Pastels first formed in Glasgow, Scotland around 1982. The band spent its first few years churning out a string of singles for a handful of independent UK record labels, before releasing its debut LP Up for a bit with The Pastels in 1987. Both The Pastels’ unique sound and the formation of founder Stephen Pastel’s 53rd and 3rd record label provided a launching pad for acts like The Vaselines, The Shop Assistants and Belle & Sebastian. Slow Summits will be the band’s first studio release since 1997’s Illuminations.
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Written by Rob Peoni
Thought on Tracks 