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Sunday, November 7, 2010
CeeLo Band of Horses Cover
6:16 PM | 
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Who?
I'm probably way behind on this one, but it's still worth posting for those who haven't seen it yet. A devastatingly relatable video and a really catchy and haunting remix of this Band of Horses song.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Colour My Life with Grouplove
The LA-based quintet, Grouplove, has been on constant repeat on my playlists lately. With only 1 EP to date, they have created a cult following that is about to grow immensely. This week, they are playing sold-out dates in California to open for Florence + The Machine, and are continuing their US tour throughout the month.
We all know that quirkiness, group chanting, and male-female harmonies are making most ears perk up (mine included) as of late in the music industry, and Grouplove delivers in more ways than one. Their first single, "Colours", blasts off with a quirky-yet-catchy melody from lead singer Christian Zucconi's voice, but is softly resonated by partner Hannah Hopper's delicate harmonies as each measure closes with its ending note. As we learned from the successful musical formulas via writers such as Mumford and Sons, we all want to hear a simple anthem that ultimately builds into a powerful and energetic pull, leaving us ultimately satisfied at the end of each song. Grouplove does this in every chapter on their self-entitled EP, which is a great start for a band who has not had their work released for even a year.
Grouplove is definitely a group to love. Pun intended.
"Colours"
Mackintosh Braun - Where We Are
Tracklist:
1. Could It Be 4:01 2. Familiar 5:01 3. Unfortunate 3:40 4. Frozen 4:47 5. I Won't Fall 3:35 6. Nothing Else Is Real 3:40 7. Made For Us 4:45 8. Line in the Sand 3:37 9. To Protect 3:58 10.Where We Are 4:09
I first delved into the minds of Ian Mackintosh and Ben Braun when they independently released The Sound in 2008. An album full of succinct (longest song is 3m37s) synthpop gems (not to abuse the synthpop term... I'd put them more in the ambient/organic electronic pop category) that can only be fully and truly absorbed via headphones I was thrilled when Mr. Mario Morales (Filter Creative Group) informed me that Mackintosh Braun released Where We Are on 09/21/2010. Far from a household b(r)and I was happy to get my ears on a copy of the album to find out what the Oregon-based duo had been doing during their two year absence from the release scene.
After a full listen through I'm happy to report that their delivery of euphaural, digitally infused harmonics has done their first album justice. While The Sound may have defined their vision of musical creation, Where We Are cemented their commitment to that vision. Their expression, while almost predictable, pleasantly fuses to differing moods without ever truly escaping from the sentimentality it evokes. It's as though love, anger, and sadness were simultaneously squeezed through a trying-to-see-the-silver-lining synthesizer . One thing worth mentioning was that this time their two scoops of bittersweet pop had a few flavors of something a little darker (Nothing Else Is Real) and funkier (Line In The Sand) swirled in there.
Worth the while. And throwback to The Sound if you can't get enough because that album is delicious too.
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