Faded Paper Figures

Faded Paper Figures is an Indie band form Irvine, California whose album, Dynamo, will be released this week. You can download their album on cdbaby now. Faded paper figures is a side project of these three musicians. You may be familiar with some of their previous work. Kael Alden, one of the members of the band, composed a song for a Lexus Commercial. (you can view it here). When I first listened to the album, I wasn't expecting for it to be as good as it is. I had heard about them before, but I wasn't sure whether they'd live up to the hype. They have a similar sound as the Postal Service and Stars, and I wasn't sure whether they'd be anywhere near as good as them. However, it wasn't only as good as I thought it was going to be-it's better. Many songs throughout the album lament on war for oil, societal problems, and pollution. The subject of love is used as solace throughout the album. songs like "North by North" and "Metropolis" are the stronger tracks from the album. I'm fairly certain I've listened to "North by North" somewhere, but I haven't quite remembered where.
While perusing their site for lyrics (www.fadedpaperfigures.com) I found something interesting that they did: on specific words, they put links to several sites that relate to the lyrics. For example, on "North by north", a line goes, "Northern winters start to thaw; to islands on the sea, lands I've never seen. Things will get calmer-follow me". And on "thaw", they put a link to www.climatecrisis.net, as it relates to the line about global warming. I thought it was an ingenious way to give their fans a better understanding of the lyrics and make them aware of a cause that is important to the band (and in other lines, links to sites or videos they enjoy watching or are related to the song in some way or what have you).
their site: www.fadedpaperfigures.com
lyrics
you can listen to their music at their myspace

Russian Red

1. 

"All the cigarettes that I have never smoked, and all the letters that I have never sent" is the refrain from Russian Red's opening track, "Cigarettes", one of the highlights from her debut album I love your glasses, which was released in June of this year here in the states. The song, a tune about regret, is just a taste of the beautifully crafted songs found throughout this album. Russian Red is the stage name of relatively unknown (at least here in the U.S) Spanish acoustic-folk singer Lourdes Hernandez (pronounced "ernandeth"), a 22 year old student from Madrid, Spain, who chose to sing in English rather than her native Castilian Spanish because she said that she felt that more people could recognize and relate to her music. Little information is available about Lourdes Hernandez online. But from what I could gather, she was a promising musical talent in Madrid, and Eureka records signed her to a record deal as fast as they could.
When I first heard her lustrous voice while listening to a friend's online playlist, I couldn't help but wonder where the singer was from. I thought she could possibly be from Appalachia or somewhere in the states. But after I searched online to see where she was from, I was fairly surprised when I learned that she was from Madrid, Spain. You'd be hard pressed to find a Spanish accent in her voice, which is why I thought she was from the states. Most of the songs on the album are rather slow and mellow, soothing and gentle, even. The music seems to showcase her haunting vocals rather than try and hide or minimize them, something so many artists do these days. At first listen, her voice has similarities with Californian folk songstress Joanna Newsom and Massachusetts singer Marissa Nadler. But after listening to a couple more songs from the album, the Newson and Nadler similarities seem to fade, and one realizes that there's a uniqueness to her voice that becomes apparent after a few plays.
I suspect that Russian Red won't be relatively unknown here in the states for long, for attractive young women with her talent don't stay unknown for long, which I believe will be the case with the 22 year old.

Russian Red is currently touring Spain in support of her debut album, I love your glasses.


You can check out her myspace here: www.myspace.com/russianready
And this is my favorite song off the album, "Cigarettes":

And this is the music video for her current single, "They don't believe":

I'm the only sour cherry on your fruitstand, right?

Again, I'm posting late at night.

This seems to be a recurring thing.

Today was pretty uneventful. The highlight was hanging out with Jimmy, a friend of mine, and discussing, among other things, defenestration. My summer has been OH SO exciting so far *roll eyes*. July 21st can't come soon enough.

After a rather uneventful day, I started browsing my iTunes library and came across a song I can't get enough of. After listening to this song on Conan O'Brien a while back, I missed when he had introduced them, so I didn't catch their name. Looking up the song by putting a line of their lyrics didn't cross my mind, so I didn't think about them too much until I watched a rerun of it the other day. As soon as I heard it, I made sure to remember their name.
Anyway, the song, "Sour Cherry", by The Kills is a bit hard to describe. Clearly, they have strong Garage Rock and Post-Punk influences in the song, but it seems like they created a sound all their own. The lyrics can get a bit silly at times ("I'm a penny in a diamond mine") , but there's no denying that the song is 3 minutes of pure fun. I love that the song has a lo-fi feel to it as well.
I'd definitely suggest checking out the song and checking out more songs from the band. They seem to go all over the place, musically, on their other songs. So I suggest, check out the youtube of the song here (I really should upload songs on here instead):
"Sour Cherry"
and their myspace

Blind Pilot

I've now realized that the majority of my posts have been late at night.
I'm not sure what it is, but I seem to want to listen to music and type about it late at night.

Or maybe it's insomnia.

The world may never know.

Anyway, I was browsing the iTunes store earlier, and I came across the free single of the week. I didn't know much about Blind Pilot other than that they're an Acoustic/Indie/Folk duo, who consist of Israel Nebeker (guitar & Vocals) and Ryan Dobrowski (drums) from Portland, Oregon. So out of curiosity, and because I'm too cheap to buy it on my own, I downloaded their single, "Go on, say it". It took me a few plays to really warm up to the song, but it's pretty good. After the first couple of seconds into Israel Nebeker singing, it reminded me a bit of The Beatles. But after a bit, they go off into their own unique guitar strumming, lush strings-backed, brushed drumming path. And thereafter, they seemed to have more incommon with The Shins.
The band, who decided to paint (Dobrowski did the cover art for their album), write, and record their debut album, 3 Rounds and a Sound, in an Astoria Warehouse in 2006, are going to make a second attempt at completing a bike tour through Vancouver, B.C, down to Mexico beginning on August 16th. Their first attempt at a bike tour, which took place last year, came to a finish when their bikes were stolen in San Francisco, California. However, before then, you can catch them at the Aladdin Theater in Portland, Oregon opening for Aimee Mann on July 19th. Download their single, "Go On, Say it" on the iTunes music store before the week ends!
If you want to listen to it before deciding on whether you want to download it,
Here's their single: "Go On, say it"
Their myspace

Busy Bee

Prior to my last post, I hadn't posted for a few days. I've been preoccupied with watching (and discussing) one of the greatest men's tennis matches ever in which Rafael Nadal of Mallorca (an Island), Spain dethroned Roger Federer of Switzerland at Federer's "home" turf at Wimbledon in a thrilling five set match. I've been a Rafa fan since I saw him win the French open a few years ago, but he wasn't at the top of my list (That honor goes to Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain). However, I don't think that I've been so emotionally invested in a tennis match since my favorite wta player, Venus Williams, beat fellow American Lindsay Davenport to win Wimbledon in 2005. The men's final this year was a drama-filled five set match that went well into the night. The match involved some of the most exhilerating games and points in tennis that I've ever watched. Nadal won 6-4,6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7(8), 9-7

I was also quite happy to see that my favorite player of all time, Venus Williams, finally beat her sister Serena for the second time in a grand slam final in 7 tries (2 of those losses being here at wimbledon in 2002 and 2003) with a score of 7-5, 6-4 in the highest quality match between the two. This was the first time that Venus has won Wimbledon without dropping a set throughout the entire tournament. This win clearly cements Venus' place as one of the greatest grass court players of the open era, and she becomes, hands down, the greatest grasscourt player of this generation. With this 5th Wimbledon title, it puts her third on the list of the most wins at Wimbledon (the only two people who have more are Steffi Graf with 7 titles and Martina Navratilova, who holds the record for the most Wimbledon wins at 9 titles). Simply put, this was by far my favorite Wimbledon that I've had the privilage to watch.

Anyway, to the music, which will be a bit short today.
A friend of mine, Taylor (who didn't want me to use his nickname :( ), introduced me to this song by the powerpop band Farewell, who are from Greensboro, North Carolina. The band doesn't really bring anything drastically new or revolutionize the genre, but "Eighty Eights", With its sub culture trend name dropping (mods, indies, etc), synthesizers, raw guitar rifs (something that sets itself apart from other bands: they don't sound overly polished), and catchy chorus, will make you want to get off your feet and dance. Check it out

"Eighty Eights"

What else is there

I remember listening and enjoying a song titled "Remind me" on a geico commercial a while back, but I was too lazy to look up who the band or artist was. A friend of mine over at one of my favorite forums posted some videos of a Norwegian duo that I've never heard of before, or, at least, I thought I hadn't heard of them before. He posted two songs with incredibly awesome videos. So after reading up on them a few hours later and learning that they were the ones whose song was on that geico commercial, I started doing more research on them. I was excited to learn that Norwegian Electronica duo Röyksopp are going to release a new album sometime this year, as well (I'll post more details when they become available). In the meantime, I'll leave you with my favorite video and song from their album The Understanding, titled, "What else is there", featuring vocals by Karin Dreijer Andersson from the band The Knife, here

Rat is dead

Last year, CSS' (Cansei de Ser Sexy, which is Portuguese for "I got Tired of being sexy") single "Music is my hot hot sex" was a major hit thanks to it being on an iTunes commercial. "Let's make love and listen to Death from Above" (a song that brings back many memories *grin*) was my introduction to the band in 06, but I had completely forgotten about them until I saw the iTunes commercial that introduced them to a nationwide audience here in the states. I, along with many of my friends, became quite obsessed with "Music is my hot hot sex", and I still listen to it from time to time (I never really grew tired of it). I recently listened to their newest single, "Rat is dead (Rage)", while shopping at a friend's music store in Los Angeles. I can't say that I really love it. The music requires the vocals to be stronger than they are. It isn't as catchy as the single that brought them fame in the states, but it's still danceable as hell. With an apparent Pixies influence, it's still pretty good. And even with all of that, I'll still be anxiously anticipating the July 22nd release of their latest album, Donkey, here in the states. The album's name, NME says , refers to themselves and the fact that their old management scheduled a punishing tour for them.

Here's the music video. It's pretty ridiculous.
"Rat is dead"

MGMT

If you haven't heard of MGMT, it will only be a matter of time until you do. They've been featured in countless publications and blogs as artists to watch. They're a Brooklyn-based band with a Pychadelic pop, Indie Rock, and Synth-pop sound. It's a mix of sounds that you wouldn't quite think would work well together, but MGMT (pronounced "Management". If you say the letters out themselves, you lose all your hipster credibility, bud.) makes it work. The band sounds a bit like the Flaming lips and Arcade Fire, so they're bound to be popular with hipsters. The song sort of reminds me of Bright Eyes' "Take it Easy (love nothing)" in a way. The band's latest release, Oracular Spectacular, has received positive reviews. They're currently on tour in Europe, but you can catch them In Boston, Ma on July 23rd in the Paradise Rock Club. So if you're in the area, I definitely suggest to catch them live if you can.
Here's an interesting tidbit: Gucci's latest menswear line was inspired by the band. Who said music doesn't inspire fashion anymore?

This is probably my favorite song off their album: "Kids"
Their myspace
Their official site

White Light Riot

I have quite a backlog of artists and songs that I've been wanting to tell people about. But because I was too lazy, busy, or ADD-ish (I don't really have ADD, but others would disagree with me, I'm sure. The verdict, however, is still out on whether I'll have the attention span to update this blog.) to start a blog, I didn't really have an avenue to really tell a wider group of people about bands and artists that I've been listening to or would like them to check out, and I'm sure my friends have gotten sick of me whoring out my favorite bands and artists. Since I finally got off my proverbial butt and started a blog, I can tell you about this next band that I first heard about in May of this year. White Light Riot is an Indie Rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They formed in 2005 and released their LP Atomism in 2007. They were Indie rock before many of the faceless Emo and Pop Punk bands started to incorporate different sounds and adding synthesizers to their music. Their vast musical influences and unique sound are what separate them from their Indie Rock peers. And simply put, they kick ass.
Their myspace
This is my favorite video from them; It's from their album Atomism. The song is called "Out of Sight".

Johnny Schou

I've been listening to the pop-punk band Tickle Me Pink for a while now, and I was shocked to learn yesterday that their bassist, Johnny Schou (second from left), had passed away early that morning. The band was supposed to do an in-store promotional appearance in Denver for the release of their album, Madeline, which hit stores that same day. They've also been touring on the Van's Warped Tour in June and were scheduled to perform on the tour this month as well. Their label, Wind up records, is set to release more information about the band's plans soon. It's sad that their bassist died, especially during a time that was supposed to be happy for the band (releasing their debut full length album).
This is a song, titled, "Typical" from their debut LP, Madeline.

Mediterranean Melodies

I've always had a soft spot for Pop and Rock music from Spain.
A lot of music, in general, from Europe is devoid of the overproduction that happens over here in the states. Thus, their music doesn't sound as "polished" or overproduced as most Pop and Rock music in the states does.
A lot of bands and artists sound much more raw and pure, something that isn't the case here.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite artists and bands:
Edurne


Edurne is a pop artist from Villalba, Madrid. She was in the 4th edition of Operacion Triunfo, an American Idol-like singing competition and reality show. She didn't win, but was one of the top 4 or so finalists. I've always had a soft spot for her, even though her latest album, a covers album of songs from Musicals, is utter trash. Her first album, self-titled, is much more rock-based and far better than her later efforts. I am a sucker for this dance song from her second album, Ilusion, though. It's called "Ven por mi", which is Castilian Spanish for "Come for me".

Conchita

Conchita is an acoustic pop artist who was born in Finland but grew up in Madrid who sings about relationships, love, and writes music straight from the heart. She's probably my favorite artist from Spain. You believe that she truly has gone through some of the situations and things she sings about in her music, and her music isn't your average "We broke up, I'm heartbroken"-type of songs
This is her latest single, "Puede ser" (which translates to "It could be" in English) from her debut album, Nada mas (Which translates to "Nothing more"). It's a top 5 single in many European countries, and has been a top 4 single in Spain.
My favorite song from her, though, is this one that reached no.1 in many European countries, including her home, Spain, called "Nada que perder" (which translates to "Nothing to lose")
It's a song about running into an ex who you are not quite over, not knowing what exactly to say, but eventually deciding between staying quiet or running after said ex and having "nothing to lose"

Amaral

Amaral is a rock band with folk and pop influences, who are from Zaragoza. Many of their songs are inspired by poetic lyrics and different musical influences.
They've been around since the late 90's and have had 4 albums, including their latest album, titled "Gato Negro, Dragon Rojo" (Black cat, Red Dragon), which is currently no.1 in Spain.
This is their latest single, and current no.1 song on the Spanish charts, "Kamikaze". It's one of their best songs, and it's one of my favorites.
I'm not usually a big fan of tattoos, but the lead singer, Eva Amaral, (Her surname is where the band gets its name from) has a kickass tat on her back. See if you can spot it in this video.

Pereza

Pereza is a rock band from Madrid. They formed in 2001. They've released five albums, and have had great success with each album. This video, "Todo" (it translates to "Everything"), which features two snails that appear to be getting it on, is my favorite song from them and is from their third album, Animales, which is Castlian Spanish for "Animals".
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tMevDh0ySDs (it won't let me embed the video)

Murfila

Murfila is a pop-rock singer from Barcelona. She's recorded two albums, her debut was titled Vamos Hacer Pupita, and her sophomore effort, released last year, is titled Miss Lios.
I've always wondered why her record label has never released any of her albums or singles overseas to North America. I think she has what it takes to make it big in Spanish-speaking countries. Although, I think the fact that she looks and sounds a bit like Gwen Stefani in a lot of her videos and songs might be a reason why her music wasn't released here. No one likes a copycat.
Granted, even though she may sound and look like Gwen, she has yet to record anything like the crap that is Gwen's solo albums.
This is my favorite song from her. It's from her second album; the song is called "Caliente". And trust me, the video is quite caliente. She seems to really have an aversion to clothes. I don't think I've ever seen her wear jeans. Ever. Can't say I mind, either.

The Spill Canvas

I must confess. I don't listen to the radio (at least not local stations),
so I'm not always privy to the newest hits.
It's something I decided to give up a few years ago, so I've always depended on online radio stations such as www.pandora.com or www.lastfm.com(just to name a few), random music sites and blogs, and friends for my music.
A few months ago, I was starved for some new music, as is always the case.
A friend of mine suggested that I check out a band by the name of The Spill Canvas. They're from Sioux Falls, South Dakota,
a place which I assume was an inspiration for them to start a band to get the hell out of there.
She said that she had seen them perform in 2006 at a music festival here and that they were pretty good. Always being open to new music, I checked them out.
They're not a bad band, and they're pop-rock sound blends effortlessly with the singer's voice, which is a nice departure from bands like Cobra Starship and singer Secondhand Serenade, whose voices aren't particularly low. They also host bowling parties for their fans, something I think is totally cool and always a plus in my book.
They also came to the music festival this year, but I was out of town and missed it.
Anyway, here is their single "All over you"
Check it out