Archive | August, 2013

morning

29 Aug

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Today’s Indie: Morning / The Brothers Comatose ft. Nicki Bluhm

‘I stayed up all night, staring at the starry sky’

Happy almost Labor Day weekend friends. Tomorrow we leave city life behind us for a few days of solitude in a yurt nestled in the mountains above Santa Barbara to rest amongst the stars instead of the city lights, wake up to the birds instead of the screeching construction across the street from our apartment, and play in a nearby waterfall instead of San Francisco’s usual watering holes.

Here is a nice little send off of a song I was tipped off to by a teammate who saw The Brothers Comatose playing in Tahoe last weekend. This is the first I have heard of the San Francisco based quintet, and they are reminding me of The Civil Wars (pre-epic breakup and minus Joy), and the sweet addition of Nicki Bluhm’s silvery voice in the track compliments the brothers’ moutainbound vocals seamlessly. Yes, two of the Brothers Comatose are brothers.

Morning is a song about two opposites who have found themselves in love – one is a daylight loving country gal, the other a city slicking night owl. Luckily they are willing to meet in the middle in the morning light – ‘to make it work we need a change of scene but I’ll meet you there half way between.’ #indie

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ho hey ‘tro

26 Aug

HoHey

Today’s Untz: Ho Hey / The Lumineers (Glenn Dale’s rework)

‘so show me family / all the blood that I would bleed’

It is always fun to come across songs that magically bridge the gap between the worlds of untz and indie, especially when they stretch the limits of what seems musically possible. If you told me I would ever want to listen to Ho Hey in a club or to pump me up during a run, I would laugh. And yet here French producer Glenn Dale has spun the folk classic into something that is ready to be moved to.  It’s not a seamless transformation, but that is part of fun.

Says Glenn: “I always loved the heart-on-the-sleeve music from the Lumineers, and was a bit frustrated that I couldn’t play the Ho Hey song in the clubs. The Ho Hey song has timeless melodies and soul-stirring lyrics. I’ve reworked the song so it can be played in clubs now. Enjoy, & play it loud !! ” Done. #untz

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phosphorescent

25 Aug

Phos

Today’s Indie: Song for Zula / Phosphorescent 

‘so honey I am not some broken thing / I do not lay in the dark waiting for day here’

A Song for Zula is off indie rock artist Phosphorescent’s sixth studio album, Muchacho, and however many times Matthew Houck promises he has been left unbroken, after a few listens it is pretty clear that this Zula really fucked him up at some point. The result of which is something flawless.

Matthew has the kind of voice that sounds ‘lived in,’ much the way Edward Sharpe‘s Alex Ebert or Justin Townes Earle sound, the kind of voice that has smoked its fair share of cigarettes, downed its fair share of whiskey and loved and lost enough to have something to talk about. This sound met with the track’s strings for days accompaniment and subtle pop beat have left me useless on my couch this morning, trapped in cycle of repeat.  #indie

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1975

15 Aug

First, an announcement. After over a year of having Tom as my Untz co-pilot, we have decided to go our separate ways again, from an internet real estate perspective. I will go back to being the sole contributor to TUATI and Tom will be putting his full efforts into his own blog instead of trying to keep both up at once. Rest assured, this is an amicable separation of musical paths, and we are happily still sharing physical real estate and our lives together. We are also sure to see many guest posts from Tom along the way!

I am excited to revisit full creative ownership of this labor of love of a blog, which will be celebrating its third birthday in January. And now, the tunes.

Today’s Indie: You / The 1975

Now here is a song to listen to on repeat while driving around the city engulfed by this August’s seemingly never ending fog when you find yourself in a temporary fit of summer blues and want to indulge in them. You is a morose in a  good way dweller on the “it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to’  stirrings of the angry kind of heartbreak.  It’s an alt rock gem with angst ridden biting lyrics and a great pick up in the end. The track is off Manchester’s The 1975’s somewhat uninspired-ly named Sex EP.  #indie/tory

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sea of light

14 Aug

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Today’s Untz: Sea of Light / Night Drive

‘Night Drive is not a band. It’s a mission. 2 secret agents sent from the past to recalibrate the future of electro pop.

Night Drive is the type of music you would hear on a car stereo if Giorgio Moroder and Ray Bradbury were driving late at night through a buzzing metropolis. Inspired by bygone era of glamour and excess, kalioscopic neon lights, Studio 54 and Tony Wilson’s Hacienda, the band pulls influence from acts such as Brian Eno, New Order, OMD, The Drums and LCD Soundsystem to name a few. Night Drive rides a nu-wave of fast-tempoed, synth-based electronic sounds driven by rich guitar melodies and arresting vocal hooks.’

Here’s their brand new single with a free download!

Bonus Track: Sea of Light (Treasure Fingers Remix) / Night Drive

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st. ides heaven

13 Aug

Trey Ratcliff - Burning Man (331 of 1086)-X2

 

Today’s Untz: St. Ides Heaven (Goldroom cover) / Elliott Smith

“Very happy to finally announce that Goldroom’s next release, the Embrace EP, will be out on Sept 9th! To celebrate, I’ve recorded a cover of one of my favorite artists, Elliott Smith. Its a free download if you just follow the link. To coincide with the EP release, we’ll be going on a two month LIVE tour of North America with the full band! Check our tour dates tab for more information about that.

I tried my best to do a beautiful song justice with this cover. Elliott Smith was one of our greatest songwriters, and thats something thats lacking at times in dance music. If nothing else, I just wanted to bring him into my world a little bit and look at the song from a different angle. I really hope you like it, and if you do, please share it with someone else. Cheers.” – Josh aka Goldroom

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outside lands roundup

9 Aug

OSL

In standard Outside Lands fashion the festival is going to kick off to a blistering high of 57 degrees in Golden Gate Park today. Layers, layers, layers. Here is  a roundup of some of the  weekend’s best to warm up with before we head into fog.

Landfill / Daughter 

‘will this is torturous electricity  / between both of us and this is / dangerous, ’cause I want you so much / but I hate your guts’

Open / Rhye

‘I’m a fool for that shake in your thighs / I’m a fool for that sound in your sighs’

Slow Show / The National 

‘you know I dreamed about you / for 29 years before I saw you / you know I dreamed about you / I missed you for, for 29 years’

1904 / Tallest Man on Earth

‘and now something with the dirt is just different / since they shook the earth in 1904’

Late Night / Foals

‘they said I swam the sea that ran around / they said I once was lost but now I’m truly found’

#indie / tory

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call me in the afternoon

7 Aug

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Today’s Indie: Call Me in the Afternoon / Half Moon Run

‘I really wanna make you feel home’

Every so often a song comes along that you just can’t shake. I woke up this morning to the chorus of Call Me in the Afternoon streaming on repeat in my brain, so decided it is about time I share it. The track is from promising Montreal based newcomers, Half Moon Run, who recently released their first full length album, Dark Eyes, stateside last month via Glassnotes Records.

The Canadian quartet have it all in this track – from Devon Portielje’s urgent vocals to the song’s pulling pace, to that unstoppable chorus, and it instantly reminded me of Flashgun’s great Passions of a Different Kind. Half Moon Run has been getting a lot of attention over the pond with Radio One and an opening gig for Of Monsters and Men, and I hope to catch them live here soon before they blow up. #indie/tory

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shake

5 Aug

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Today’s Indie: Shake / The Head and the Heart

‘you won’t forget the one who’s making you shake’

Drop everything – the first single for The Head and the Heart‘s sophomore album, Let’s Be Still, landed on the band’s homepage today. Initial impression: even with its snappy beat, Shake took a while to pull me in… the start feels very safe, very signature Head and the Heart, with a tap along sound and cheerful, carefree vocals. After their beloved debut, I guess if its not broken, why fix it? Once Charity’s songbird of a voice cut in and the harmonies started rolling through, layered on top of the building piano, I was hooked.

This is a great first taste to the highly anticipated release, due out October 15th. After seeing  my favorite Seattle sextet live almost ten times  I am starving for some new songs from the band that inspired me to start this blog in the first place. Hopefully we will get to hear this one at Outside Lands this Saturday afternoon!  #indie/tory

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this is how we walk on the moon

4 Aug

Today’s Indie: This is How we Walk on the Moon (cover) / Geographer

‘one tiny, tiny move / it’s all I need / and I jump over / every step is moving me up’

What a treat. The Bay Area’s own Geographer has crafted a  cover of Arthur Russell’s This is How we Walk on the Moon, and the result is a smooth and steady track with enough subtle curves to stay engaging,  great piano work and a nice highlight of Michael Deni’s vocals. Beam me up. #indie/tory

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