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
I love indie music – pop, dance, rock, folk. My boyfriend loves untz- unicorn disco, space base, neptune jamz, luvstep… While I originally started TUATI on my own, we have decided to combine our passions and share what we each love on the blog. I will continue to post the indie, but Tom will take over the untz. Ying and yang, head and heart, rest and play, everything is covered. Musical bliss.
Today’s Indie: Verona / Geographer
‘you call me all the right words but the right words sound so wrong / you say that I’m changing, I guess I will before too long’
Throw back Monday because I haven’t had time to dig through the week’s new stuff, and because Verona has been running in my head on loop all weekend. While this SF trio has been around for a few years now, they are the best band to happen to me this year, and fittingly introduced to me by new blog partner. This track is off the band’s earlier album, Animal Shapes, and what draws me in like so many of their songs is lead Michael Deni’s vocals. At the start there is patience in his sound, like he is purposefully keeping himself distant, but then in the chorus he sweeps into something more vulnerable and intimate before pulling away again. So fitting given the lyrics… great stuff. #indie / tory
Today’s Untz: Inspector Norse / Todd Terje
Following a string of celebrated releases, Todd Terje of Oslo, Norway, has been leaning on everything from kitschy euro sounds to deep funk and latin jazz. He’s relatively new to the scene, but has already made his mark within dance music circuits. I can’t quite recall where I’ve heard this first track before, but I assume it’s on one of the many mixes I listen to. Go check out his soundcloud. #untz / tom
February 29th! Leap Day. I always take ‘holidays’ (I use the term loosely here) as a chance to reflect back and take stock on where I was on that day the year prior, but Leap Day requires a deeper delve back into the past. Four years ago I was a senior in college, battling the bitter cold of Chicagoland winter and studying for midterms, my future unknown. Now I find myself four years into ‘adulthood’ (I use the term loosely here) and firmly nestled into sunny California. Four years from now I will be who knows where, and THIRTY. Today is a friendly reminder that time is moving, whether we notice it or not. Gotta eat up each minute of it, and fill it with music.
Today’s Indie: The Dream Has Faded / Geographer
‘don’t you think it kinda looks like / like we’re driving straight into nothing / like we’re trying to catch it in our headlights / but the night just keeps on running’
San Francisco’s own Geographer released their new album, Myth, yesterday and my burning anticipation was met with sweet musical relief. The album further proves these guys are the real deal, with smooth yet disrupting synth-rock, arcing 80’s-inspired-but-better vocals, stirring lyrics and a sound that is decidedly their own. I love the way Geographer’s music makes me feel, and the degree to which I feel it, and I think that is one of the best things you can say about music.
This wistful and rolling song, The Dream Has Faded, is my favorite so far, but you can stream the whole album via Paste Magazine and choose one for yourself. #indie
Today’s Untz: Body Work / Morgan Page ft. Tegan and Sara
‘I get shy in these lights I feel your body doing overtime’
It is a beautiful thing when both my worlds get so perfectly satisfied by the same song. Indie veterans and sisters Tegan and Sara team up with DJ Morgan Page and the result is something almost as dance worthy as their classic track with Tiesto, Feel it in my Bones. Sexy, sexy dance pop.
The collaboration happened a while back but officially debuted this week with a new music video. Enjoy. #untz
I listened to today’s tracks driving through the back roads of Napa this weekend, and while I had heard them both before, there is something about sunshine, rolling hills, cracked windows, and a little vino in the veins to open a song right up to you. Cheers.
Today’s Indie: Paris / Geographer
‘you say you feel nothing hoping nothing’s all I’ll leave behind’
Geographer, I love you, and I am loving the layers of sound in Paris. There is a subtle urgency in singer Michael Denri’s voice which feels fitting in a song about love and loss and leaving, perhaps before you are quite ready to go. The SF trio release their new album, Myth, February 28th, and are playing a regrettably sold out show at the Independent on March 3rd. #indie
Today’s Untz: The Drop / Cherry Chapstick
Katy Perry move over – I have found a much better use for Cherry Chapstick. With ringing beats, 80’s inspired vocals and a drop that doesn’t have to knock you over to still floor you, this is the perfect Monday morning sound. The track is off Ontarian trio Cherry Chapstick’s 2009 Silencer EP. #untz
I got home from a magical week in Panama last night, where I left some of my heart out on the sand. It is a warm and beautiful (see photo) country, and I can only hope to make my way back there someday. Unfortunately, I’ve found myself starting my first day back at the grind wide eyed this morning at 5 am. On the bright side, plenty of time for a post!
Note: if you travel around Central America with your dad who is a young looking 60, and you are a 26 year old lady, everyone will suspect you are dating and/or his misstress, and give you concerned scowls. Thus my awkward incorporation of “PADRE!!” early into most conversations with locals and fellow tourists.
Today’s Emo: Original Sin / Geographer
‘eyes moving like flashlights under sheets / up until the morning hours we / are set free’
This song came on my boyfriend’s ipod during our ride into the city after a happy reunion at SFO, and as soon as I heard that arcing, eery ‘this is an original sin’ roll through the chorus, I had a drop everything who is this band moment. The answer: Geographer, a group I have been hearing a lot about but haven’t taken the time to explore. No more! I have had this song, and many others by the SF trio on repeat during this sleepy but awake morning on my couch, waiting for the sun to come up.
I foolishly missed Geographer at Treasure Island last fall, but hope to catch my neighbors as soon as possible. The band calls their sound ‘soulful music from outer space.’ Yep. #emo
Today’s Untz: Hungry Hearts / DWNTWN
The perfect welcome back track to Californ-i-a, this track is drenched with West Coast revelry and dreamy sun soaked beats from the first few pings of sound to its rolling, echoed end. The LA electro pop duo DWTWN also offers up a hipster saturated music video of pigeon chasing, retro glasses, distant gazes, smudges of tribal face paint, side braids, and skinny jeans on both our male and female protagonists. I want to back on the beach. #untz
theuntzandtheindie 