It’s a bit overdue due to the site moving, but here’s last month’s collection of musical discoveries.
While Montreal has a burgeoning indie rock scene, I can’t claim that this is something that I’m especially “hip” to. That is why I was only introduced to the Hot Springs by T’Cha Dunlevy’s (a name so hip you can barely even Google it) best of 2007 list. I think Mark Lepage said it best when he described lead singer Giselle Webber as as “flame shaped like a girl” and touted the music as “a devastating fusion of Bjork and Robert Plant.” This is definitely a band to watch.
A modern old-time bluegrass band, Old Crow Medicine Show brings a fresh perspective on a genre that has seen more popular days. I picked up their two latest albums, O.C.M.S. and Big Iron World, and have been consistently impressed by the quality and depth of their music. Incidentally, if the chorus of the song embedded above sounds strangely familiar to you, then you are an impressively dedicated Bob Dylan fan. The tune was lifted off an unreleased song from the Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid sessions.
I was introduced to Throw Me The Statue by the excellent art blog “What to Wear During an Orange Alert?” Their debut album Moonbeams was released at some point in time, I’ll know exactly when that was once someone writes them a Wikipedia page. In any case, they’re pretty groovy and they’re touring with Jens Lekman, so they MUST be cool.
I have a not-so-secret infatuation with Jenny Lewis, but even without my rose-tinted glasses Rilo Kiley are an awesome band. That’s no exaggeration either, I enjoyed Under the Blacklight and More Adventurous so much that I’m intent on checking out their older works in the near future. I highly recommend the tracks “Silver Lining”, “The Moneymaker” and the embedded “Portions For Foxes”, as well as “Rise Up With Fists!!” off Jenny Lewis’ solo album.
Finally, while I think embedding another video would be overkill, I’ll mention that I got to see Kid Koala last month when he came to Concordia for the opening of The Hive. He was absolutely incredible to see live, here’s a taste if you’ve never seen or heard of him.
