Discovering new bands

It's fantastic, such a buzz. With festival season upon us, the curtain raiser being SXSW, it's that time of year when you find the bands that are going to soundtrack not only your summer but the post-climactic no man's land that is october-march.

I wanted to post two blogs today, mainly because the death cab article is a little depressing. I never thought the day would come that I wasn't excited to hear the latest offering from a favourite band, I mean i've got just jazzin', pinwheel and shed on my ipod!

Personally I'm not a fan of blogs that just post a link to music and don't tell you anything about it, this is the exact reason i've got some screamo in my itunes library! Bottom line the links are in blue if you want to skip the descriptions, if you're colour blind then that's too bad- you've got a baby girl disease.

I'm really proud of the bands and tracks that i've been highlighting recently and indeed today as there was a lot of footwork to find them but they are so worth it and it is my pleasure to share them-

The builders and the butchers- bottom of the lake

Funny story of how I know of this band, also how I know they're playing the crocodile cafe in washington tonight! Anyway stroke of luck because this track is fantastic, i'm checking out all their tracks on last.fm as they're streaming like 10 fantastic. Damien Jurado is a fan and may well be there tonight :p Thing is though the way I discovered this band will make me remember them in a unique way and that's what finding new artists are about.

Canoe- Portrait

I've been a huge fan of the portland scene for as long as i've been into good music, if there's one place I could move to just for the music scene it would be that place. Canoe's debut album, places, topped a few well respected underground end of year lists in '08 and considering it came out early that year is an even greater testament. One band they remind me of is Noah and the Whale, upbeat folk with male female back and forth vocals, the music is well blended with various instruments and suits the vocals well, perfect for this time of year. Their best track is journal which you can stream there but I have no mp3 of.

The octogon- Narrow road to oku

I am unwilling to say little else apart from what this person has written, it is probably my favourite review i've read this week- "It's a little disoriented, this sandy rock-song. It went wandering into the desert with a bottle of red wine, a Pavement album, and a few hours later is like: what the fuck? Whoever it was supposed to meet with didn't show up; whichever stars it was expecting to see didn't make an appearance. And now its shoes are tied in unfamiliar knots, its hair is filled with grains of unfamiliar minerals, and it's got a catchy song in its head - something it found in a dune, burnished and hopeful and even a little buddhist. Whereever the hell it came from, The Octagon's gonna carry it around for a while."

The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra- In a Dream

Male and female vocals, catchy songs that if you listen to properly are quite intense, with this in mind they're gonna get comparisons to belle and sebastien and camera obscura, only they're from california so if I were to liken them to someone i'd say they sound like say hi to your mom hooked up with laura marling and wrote songs while drunk. This track in particular is upliftingly haunting, "in a dream last night you were choking me, now i can't wake up" electro pop key boards and well harmonised vocals, brilliant.

This is ivy league- Richest kids / London Bridge

This is the side project of alex and ryland from cobra starship. They've been around since 2005, the album was a long time in making, being recorded in their apartments between startship tours. The sound is great, lyrics reminiscent of vampire weekend complete with jangly 8th and up intermittant guitars and brass. The two guys vocals blend really well and the album's consistant to say the least.

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To finish I want to say, thanks for the comments, knowing that people are enjoying reading and listening to my reccomendations make it worthwhile and also possible to keep up this relentless schedule!