Fresh Track: Memory Tapes “Sheila”
All I can say is YES! Back in 2009, an eight song LP by the name of Seek Magic from Memory Tapes struck my ears and absolutely blew me away. To be honest, I became, and still am, absolutely obsessed with this album. Featuring a non-stop array of deeply thought out and emotional tracks like “Bicycle” and “Stop Talking”, the album is a 40-minute lesson on how to make a great album. Lamenting the fact that I wasn’t into vinyl before this year, I always browse my local record store hoping for a copy to somehow slip in. And believe it or not, a completely unused one showed up one day in the used bin. I basically shit myself on the spot, grabbed it, and ran home. I probably listened to it three times back to back to back that day. I’m not sure why this album gets forgotten about or doesn’t seem to resonate with everyone, but for me, it’s truly one of the best listens and most cherished pieces of wax I own.
During the summer of 2011, the long-awaited follow up entitled Player Piano hit the shelves, and for whatever reason, it just wasn’t the same for me. There were some great individual songs such as “Wait In The Dark”, but on the whole I just couldn’t connect in the way that I previously had. Perhaps it went a little too poppy and away from the large, momentous electronic moments that were so prevalent in Seek Magic. Perhaps it lost that the dark, mysterious edge all those first songs had. Or maybe Dayve Hawk just had a different inspiration and wanted to try something different. Whatever the case, it was more of “like it”, as opposed to, “love it”, experience for me.
But that Seek Magic feel is back all right. Memory Tapes dropped the first track off a new LP entitled “Shelia” on Monday, and Christ, is it good. Weaving in and out of vocal leads, electronic moments, guitar solos, tender moments of thought, and everything else you can imagine under the sun, it’s an eight-minute ode to the greatness inside Dayve Hawk. The album is entitled Grace/Confusion and is scheduled to be released 12-4-12 via Carpark Records. Take a listen below.
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Written by Greg Dahman
Fresh Track + Video: The Coasts “No One’s Listening”
The Coasts are back! I had my doubts as to the staying power of this long distance affair, but it appears that theirs is a love worth saving. Little Rock, AR singer and guitarist Ike Peters collaborated with college pal, drummer and Ohio native Eric Mount to create one of my favorite records of 2011. The Coasts’ self-titled debut touched upon Americana, blues and indie rock to intersect at the sweet spot of my musical tastes. Despite the distance, Mount and Peters are poised to release a follow-up. The five-track Santa Fe EP should see daylight sometime in December.
We find The Coasts picking up where they left off on the EP’s first single. “No One‘s Listening” is a rollicking, toe-tapper with a Johnny Cash backbone that, on the surface, meditates on the nihilist notion that music has no intrinsic meaning. In Peters’ view, “It’s all subjective” and as such any meaning is derived from the listener. In other words, if a song falls in the woods, is it really a song? This is a relevant debate in an era where independent artists’ success or failure is determined, in large part, by word of mouth.
Peters isn’t all doom and gloom. He still believes in a song’s potential to impact a listener. But he knows all too well that such a scenario requires the audience to take a chance. “No One’s Listening” arrives with a terrific visual complement from WreckRoom Records. Keep your eyes peeled for more on Santa Fe EP as the release date approaches. In the meantime, watch and listen below.
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Written by Rob Peoni
Fresh Track: Adam Green & Binki Shapiro “Here I Am”
Yesterday, Adam Green and Binki Shapiro dropped the debut single from their forthcoming collaborative LP. Though this is their debut effort as a duo Shapiro and Green should not be strangers to indie pop aficionados. Green rose to notoriety as one-half of the band Moldy Peaches, before embarking on a successful solo career. Shapiro first gained prominence through her video work with Beck on his 2006 album The Information, before lending her dreamy vocals to Fab Moretti’s 2008 Strokes’ spinoff Little Joy.
The layered vocals and deceptively simple pop arrangement found on “Here I Am” are beautifully crafted. I am encouraged by the fact that Shapiro has reunited with Little Joy producer Noah Georgeson on the release. Listen to the track below, and grab a free download via TopSpin. NYC fans can catch a performance at Le Poisson Rouge on November 5. In the meantime, let’s exhale a collective indie-rock swoon in honor of Binki’s return.
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Connect with Binki Shapiro via Facebook | Twitter
Written by Rob Peoni
Thought on Tracks 