Posts Tagged ‘Neon Indian’
Cam’s 10 Bands You Must See At CMW
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010Canadian Music Week or Canadian Music Fest, as the festival part is now being called, has always been a platform to bring awareness to what Canada’s music scene has to offer. I have to admit though, I’ve really been enjoying how over the past few years, the annual conference/festival has been luring more and more international acts into its roster. I know, I know, this is supposed to be a week of celebrating CANADIAN music, but if you’re a regular gig-goer, especially in the city of Toronto (of which there will be many), this worldwide inclusion brings some much-needed variety and let’s face it, bigger names at bigger venues.
So I present to you my list of bands - both Canadian and otherwise - you’ve gotta check out if you’re hitting the bars this week. Ta-da!
PARALLELS
From: Toronto, ON
Recommended if you like: Glass Candy, Donna Summer & Giorgio Moroder, Little Boots
Why you need to see them: Well, singer Holly Dodson is a sight to see herself, but some people still like dancing these days and Parallels make dreamy, bubbling disco that you can indeed lose yourself to.
Fun fact: Drummer Cameron Findlay used to be the live drummer for Crystal Castles (good choice!).
Tester song: “Find the Fire”
MySpace: myspace.com/parallelsfm
Wednesday March 10, 2010 @ 11:00PM, The Roosevelt Room, 2 Drummond Place
DIAMOND RINGS
From: Toronto, ON
Recommended if you like: Patrick Wolf, Handsome Furs, Owen Pallett
Why you need to see them: Well, John O is quite the performer and looker, just check out his video for “Wait and See”.
Fun fact: When he isn’t caked in makeup John O’Regan is the lead vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist for post-punk band The D’Urbervilles.
Tester song: “Wait and See”
MySpace: myspace.com/diamondringsmusic
Friday March 12, 2010 @ 12:00AM, Silver Dollar, 486 Spadina Ave.
NEON INDIAN
From: Austin, Texas
Recommended if you like: Todd Rundgren, Animal Collective, Cut Copy
Why you need to see them: Alan Palomo recently showed off his stuff on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and proved his bedroom, pop synthphonies are actually now ready for an audience.
Fun fact: Neon Indian formed as a sort-of apology by Palomo when he was a no-show for a scheduled acid trip with a friend.
Tester song: “Should Have Taken Acid With You”
MySpace: myspace.com/neonindian
Thursday March 11, 2010 @ 10:30PM, Lee’s Palace, 529 Bloor St. West
BRASSTRONAUT
From: Vancouver, BC
Recommended if you like: Grizzly Bear, The Sea & Cake, Radiohead
Why you need to see them: As their name suggests, there is plenty of brass horn action, plus they make the notion of jazz cool… no really!
Fun fact: Frontman Edo Van Breeman owns his label, Unfamiliar Records.
Tester song: “Slow Knots”
MySpace: myspace.com/brasstronaut
Friday March 12, 2010 @ 11:00PM, Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. West
MEMORYHOUSE
From: Guelph, ON
Recommended if you like: Washed Out, Small Black, Memory Tapes
Why you need to see them: Because Evan Abeele and Denise Nouvion have just put together a live band and you’ll have bragging rights to say you saw them first when they blow up.
Fun fact: The duo are giving away their debut EP free! You can grab it here.
Tester song: “To the Lighthouse”
MySpace: myspace.com/wearememoryhouse
Sunday March 14, 2010, Wrongbar, 1279 Queen Street West
HARVEY MILK
From: Athens, Georgia
Recommended if you like: Melvins, Torche, Floor
Why you need to see them: They’re long-time veterans on the metal scene and they might just perform an entire set of Hank Williams covers.
Fun fact: It’s pretty obvious, but they took their name from the real Harvey Milk, the gay politician Sean Penn portrayed (and won an Oscar for) in the film Milk.
Tester song: “War”
MySpace: myspace.com/harveymilk
Thursday March 11, 2010 @ 10:20PM, Annex Wreckroom, 794 Bathurst Street
LITTLE DRAGON
From: Gothenburg, Sweden
Recommended if you like: Sia, Portishead, The Knife
Why you need to see them: Frontwoman Yukimi Nagano, whose constant movements are a bona fide showstealer.
Fun fact: The band appear on two tracks from the new Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach: “Empire Ants” and “To Binge.”
Tester song: “Fortune”
MySpace: myspace.com/yourlittledragon
Thursday March 11, 2010 @ 11:30PM, Lee’s Palace, 529 Bloor St. West
MALE BONDING
From: London, England
Recommended if you like: Vivian Girls, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Sonic Youth
Why you need to see them: They’re the coolest band in England right now and sing “funny songs about werewolves, pirates and getting high in the cinema.”
Fun fact: The band’s slogan is “we put the harm into harmony.”
Tester song: “Carrying”
MySpace: myspace.com/malebonding
Wednesday March 10, 2010 @ 11:00PM, Wrongbar, 1279 Queen Street West
WOODS
From: Brooklyn, New York
Recommended if you like: Kurt Vile, Mount Eerie, Ariel Pink
Why you need to see them: Their ability to deliver harmonies as well as experiment on stage with knobs and tape-loops is both aurally and visually arresting.
Fun facts: Woods also perform/record under the name of Woods Family Creeps, another variation of the band. They also release their music on Woodsist, the indie label owned by member Jeremy Earl.
Tester song: “Sunlit”
MySpace: myspace.com/woodsfamilyband
Sunday March 14, 2010, Horseshoe Tavern, 370 Queen St. West
METZ
From: Toronto, ON
Recommended if you like: Pissed Jeans, The Jesus Lizard, Drive Like Jehu
Why you need to see them: They make the kind of scraping racket that will make you froth at the mouth and lose your shit entirely… plus make you go deaf, so where earplugs.
Fun fact: Umm… they’re name sounds like the Mets (as in New York) but spell their name with a “z”. Sorry, that’s not actually very fun.
Tester song: “Dry Up”
MySpace: myspace.com/metztheband
Friday March 12, 2010 @ 12:00AM, The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. West
Tags: Brasstronaut, Diamond Rings, Harvey Milk, Little Dragon, Male Bonding, Memoryhouse, Metz, Neon Indian, Parallels, Woods
Posted in News, The New Music | 1 Comment »
Album review: Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Neon Indian Psychic Chasms [Lefse]
Alan Palomo is a 21-year-old retro fetishist from Austin, Texas who has some serious nostalgia for a decade he saw only two years of. Palomo is a bit of a moonlighter, previously making up one-third of the Nintendo-loving, glo-fi trio Ghosthustler and currently holding membership in synth adventurists VEGA. And then there is Neon Indian, his mixed-media project with visual artist Alicia Scardetta.
Born out of a missed acid trip with Scardetta, Palomo began Neon Indian when he wrote “Should Have Taken Acid With You” as an apology. Unforeseen at the time, Neon Indian has blossomed into a serious undertaking with the release of his debut album, Psychic Chasms.
While lo-fi has mostly been adorning guitars in its recent reawakening, Palomo uses it as a gossamer lustre for his washed out, synthetic lullabies. Using this cloudy, psychedelic coating, he whips up a cosmic blend of French Touch, videogame soundtracks, muzak, new wave and Balearic pop, with obscure samples and field recordings interspersed throughout. This distinction demonstrates his prowess as a sonic explorer in the same respect as how Ariel Pink fiddles with rock song structures.
“Should Have Taken Acid With You,” for instance, is blissed out and wistful, showing remorse through its incessant synthesizer arpeggios and Palomo’s pensive words. Whereas “Deadbeat Summer” sounds like a waterlogged Cut Copy with hazily reflective vocals emerging from a throng of slippery Italo keyboards and sluggish house beats.
With all of its sense of longing, however, Psychic Chasms is as much a blast from the past as it is concerned with it. “Terminally Chill” channels Daft Punk’s grandest visions and basks in the glow of bouncy, cockeyed synths and scorching guitar flares. The title track, on the other hand, is some textbook dream pop that’s been bent, deformed and augmented with brassy, undulating synths, explosive samples and arena-ready rock drums.
With its introspective themes and idiosyncratic musicality, Psychic Chasms is like a sublime dream come true, only filtered to sound as if it was coming from an old cassette tape, baked from a lifetime lodged into your dashboard.
Rating: A
- Cam Lindsay
Tags: Alan Palomo, Ghosthustler, Lefse, Neon Indian, Psychic Chasms, VEGA
Posted in Reviews, The New Music | No Comments »
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