Azure Ray
Azure Ray is made up of Orenda Taylor and Maria Fink, who used to be members of
Bright Eyes. They started working with Eric Bachmann of
Crooked Fingers in 2001 and released their self-titled debut cd that year. Their music definitely has an indie sound with soft female vocals that can get rockin' at times. Check out
their official site for some info. about the band and some
song downloads as well. Their newest album came out in late 2003 and is called "Hold On Love". Buy the
self-titled debut, "
Burn And Shiver" or "
Hold On Love".
Team Sleep
Team Sleep is a side group comprised of Chino Moreno of
Deftones and his childhood friend Todd Wilkinson. DJ Crook is also in the band and their self-titled debut has contributions from
Mary Timony from Helium,
Mike Patton from Faith No More, and
Melissa Auf Der Maur whom I previously posted about. The music is moodier, more obscure and definitely softer than Deftones. Check out
their official website. You can
launch the player and listen to some tracks.
Buy the cd.
The Dead 60s
The Dead 60s are an alternative rock band from Liverpool, England. They have a punk sound, but punk doesn't mean what it used to. These guys are just rough and ready. They're not necessarily creating anything new or rebelling against anything in particular. The music is good though. Check out
their official site. Buy their
self-titled debut.
Long-View
Long-View is an alternative rock band from Manchester, England. Their debut cd "Mercury" has some great songs on it. They sound a bit like one of my favorite bands, Catherine Wheel. Check out
their official Sony website for some music, news and tourdates. Go to
their British site for some videos and pictures. Buy "
Mercury".
The Blue Van
The Blue Van is a rockin' band from Denmark. They're on tour with Hot Hot Heat right now and they just released their album last month called "The Art Of Rolling". They're pretty standard indie rock, but they've got really catchy songs and fun lyrics. Check out
their Danish website for some song samples, photos and the cool video for "
Revelation Of Love". Check out
their American website for more cool stuff. Buy "
The Art Of Rolling".
I Am Kloot
I Am Kloot is a trio from Manchester, England, that makes pop songs. Their new record "Gods And Monsters" came out in April. The second self-titled album was produced by Ian Broudie from The Lightning Seeds.
Remember them? The sound is nothing like the light, dreamy pop of the Seeds, but darker, more real. I particularly like the husky voice of the lead singer John Bramwell. Check out
their official site for some sounds, news and videos. Buy "
Natural History", "
I Am Kloot" or "
Gods And Monsters".
M83
M83 is another electronica band from France. The band used to be the duo of Nicolas Fromageau and Anthony Gonzalez, but Nicolas left before recording the third album "Before The Dawn Heals Us". Their music is mostly instrumental, but there are some interesting vocals used on the newest record. Check out
the official website for some tracks and videos. Buy "
Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts" or "
Before The Dawn Heals Us" (their self-titled debut isn't available).
Nizlopi
Nizlopi was at SXSW this year. They're from Birmingham, England and combine soulful vocals in the vein of David Gray and Van Morrison with some heavy bass and electronic sounds. The band is actually the duo of Luke Concannon and John Parker. Luke sings and writes lyrics and John plays a mean bass. Check out
their official site. You can hear some songs and learn a bit more about the band.
Buy the cd.
The Stills
The Stills are a great band. I fell in love with "Still In Love Song" the first time I heard it, and all of the songs on their debut album, "Logic Will Break Your Heart" are wonderful. They're from Montreal and have been friends since they were twelve. Their sound is indie rock, but there's something about Tim Fletcher's vocals that make their sound very unique. Check out their
new video for "Love and Death". You can stream the whole album
here.
Buy the cd.
Anna Nalick
Anna Nalick is not only interesting to me because she's a talented singer/songwriter, but also because she worked with Eric Rosse on her debut cd. Eric's a producer who worked with
Tori Amos and
Two Loons for Tea. Her debut called "Wreck of the Day" is right up my alley. It came out on April 19th. Check out
her official site for some sound samples and news. She was also highly influenced by
Blind Melon and worked with Christopher Thorn and Brad Smith from the band.
Buy the cd.
