Berkeley Place » Indie Pop

OCEAN CITY DEFENDER-The Golden Hour (EP)

ekko — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:38:27 +0000

Ocean City Defender is distributing their new EP on Bandcamp at the “Name Your Price” rate (which includes, of course, zero bucks). If there was a category of music called “indie 1980s,” it would fit. The mellow waves flow like Simple Minds, New Order (but smoother), Yaz, etc.

Good stuff!

The Golden Hour by Ocean City Defender

BIRD BY BIRD-Decades EP

ekko — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:40:32 +0000

Extremely good freEp, which you can get here.

I don’t know why so many folks are covering Pat Benetar these days, but it warms my heart. She was totally my favorite when I was ten. And surprisingly, the craft of her songs holds up real well.

BONUS PAT!

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Download Thao & Mirah Love Is a Battlefield (pat benetar)

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SARAH RADLE-Same Sun Shines

ekko — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:26:15 +0000

Sara Radle was in a few underground indie bands, including The Rentals (with the bassist from Weezer) and Walking Sleep before she broke out on her own. Now, five albums into her solo career, she’s offering Same Sun Shines, a beautifully performed collection of well-crafted indie pop songs–and a cover. Waylon Jennings’ classic, “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.” I have to admit, that was the cut that sold me on this record. I don’t know it was because there’s absolutely nothing country about it (which makes it ironic) or if it’s just because it’s a great version. But the important thing is, it drew me in. The rest of the record kept me. Lyrically, there are terrific cuts like “Still Here” about a jilted woman who wants to “get the last word” with her ex, and musically there’s some really, really great bouncy pop here. I might have picked “Little One” as the single rather than “The Pins,” but they’re both great cuts.

Check her out!

“The Pins“

BEL AIR-Fall (EP)

ekko — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:31:05 +0000

I’m happy to devote my first review of 2012 to the band Bel Air. It would be easy to dismiss them as another Bandcamp band, but they’re not like all the rest. The songs are written with care and attention to detail, and the music backs the vocals with delicate accents and emphasis. Allison Langerak’s voice on “Dark Days,” the lead cut off this EP, has traces of the Americana-twinged longing you might hear in Margo Simmons’ work with The Cowboy Junkies. But then, in “The Long Fall,” Jeff Mensch takes the mike for a song that could hold its own against some of Wilco’s more traditional songs.

You can stream/buy Fall via Bandcamp, where you’ll also find EPs for the other seasons of 2011. It’s worth your time.

Plus, they’re from Brooklyn!

Stream “Dark Days” below.

STARLIGHT GIRLS-Self Titled

ekko — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:31:28 +0000

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The Starlight Girls bill themselves as psychedelic lounge, and I guess that’s as good a term as any. I could see them backing the soundtrack of an edgier Austin Powers, or maybe a fight scene in a Tarantino flick. They’re a few gals out of Brooklyn, looking to promote their debut (by giving it away). It’s smart, cool, and much better than it oughtta be for free music. I know that there’s a million bands with a retro sound desperate to get coverage these days, but this band is one of the ones that’s worth your time. Check ‘em out. I’d love to see what they’re like live…

Get the whole thing free here!

Download Starlight Girls Gossip
Starlight Girls Gossip

SCOUT-Pi

ekko — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:37:04 +0000

Invisible Brigades Records has just released an EP by NYC indie band Scout titled “∏.” Try searching that up on the internet for more info. You’ll find nothing.

The band broke in 1998 on a major label (Chrysalis), and became a flavor of the month–marked by an appearance on Conan O’Brien before Conan tried to become Jay and everything went horribly wrong for Conan. Similarly lead singer Ashen Keilyn (who has a pitch perfect pop music voice), left the band in 2003 and foundered as a solo act while the band foundered without her.

Now, they’re back.

This EP is absolutely terrific. It consists of two songs from their upcoming record All Those Relays, a cover of Guided By Voices’ “Game of Pricks” and one unreleased track, “Songs to Strangers.”

With a new record completed and an EP ready to go, what happens now?

“I am not trying to be ‘something,’” says Keilyn. “I’m allowing thing to happen at their own pace.”

But on the strength of All Those Relays, that pace is going to be quick.

Please Excuse Me

HOLMES-Covers

ekko — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:23:43 +0000

2011 is definitely the year of the cover. And Holmes‘ project is “another one of those.” But it’s also one of the more unusual of the lot. Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day” becomes a sunny single. “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” becomes a 1970s AM single. My favorite Jacksons tune is still funky, but now sounds white and nerdy. “Don’t Be Cruel” sounds like electronica Beatles. My second favorite Genesis song is a straightforward pop. (My favorite one is “Man on the Corner,” in case you were wondering.) Musically, it’s tight and fun, with gues appearances by Joel Shearer (Damien Rice, Alanis Morissette), Chris Bruce (M’chelle Ndegeocello, Sheryl Crow) Lawrence Katz (Bosstones), and Michael Jerome Moore (Blind Boys of Alabama, Better Than Ezra).

Wild, wild stuff. And make sure you don’t leave before the end, or you’ll miss the a capella ELO cover.

It Was a Good Day (Ice Cube cover)

A few other versions…

It Was A Good Day-The Ride

Quagmire Swim Team’s version

And here’s my second favorite Genesis song, but not the Holmes version. You’ll have to buy the album to get that.

That’s All-Claire and the Reasons

And here’s the vid, which I highly recommend.

‘ALLO DARLIN-Darren (EP)

ekko — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:54:39 +0000

‘Allo Darlin’ cheated. Twice. First, their “EP” is really just a single (an A-side and a B-side), and my site doesn’t review singles. That’s a rule. But I’m considering this single an EP, just so I can review it.

Second, they named a song “Wu Tang Clan.” How the hell am I not going to listen to that? Answer: I am going to listen to it. No doubt.

Darren, the “A” side, is a bouncy, terrific indie pop song that would be all over the radio now if there were any justice left in the music industry. Or any industry left in it. Lead singer and ukelelist Elizabeth Morris is fantastic, and the three men behind her are all exceptional musicians and harmony singers. Truly, I can’t express in words how much I enjoy this song.

And as for Wu Tang Clan, it’s more of a ballad—a song of a broken hearted gal who listens to Wu Tang when she gets low. She “pictures ODB in his prison cell and tells herself it’s okay to be alone.” This song makes my heart stop, my arms get goose bumps, and almost moves me to tears. Seriously. Almost. I listen to Wu Tang, too. I’m no pussy.

Apparently, the band already has a debut album that came out last year. I missed it. But I damn sure won’t miss the next one.

Buy it here.
Download Allo Darlin’ Wu Tang Clan
Allo Darlin’ Wu Tang Clan

BLACKWATER JUKEBOX-Banjos and Breakbeats (EP)

ekko — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:11:47 +0000

Satan’s favorite country rock band’s EP begins with a take on Gallows Pole, the song made famous by Led Zeppelin. But unlike Plant and Page, who sanitized the song into one about how the doomed man was such a stud that all the girls wanted to rescue him despite his crimes, Blackwater Jukebox make a grimy, rough bounce and the end is never in doubt: This guy’s gonna die. On the very next cut, That Voodoo Shit, the album takes a left turn at breakbeat and does a dusty rap. Kind of. It’s something that sounds like Junior Senior on brown acid.

Then there’s the pirate song, below, “Heave Away.” I love this song.

And it keeps going like that. Is this really an EP, or is just a showcase for Geordie McElroy, a self-proclaimed “DJ and folk archivist turned banjo-and-drum-machine-slinging troubadour?”

Don’t know, don’t care. It’s fun and it’s awesome and it’s free.

Get it free here at Bandcamp.

Heave Away (aka The Scrimshaw Blues)
Download Blackwater Jukebox Heave Away (aka The Scrimshaw Blues)

HURRICANE BELLS-

ekko — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 09:09:29 +0000

Hurricane Bells is the new band by Steve Schiltz, singer and guitarist of Longwave.

I liked Longwave.

It’s smooth pop, a little more mellow and mature than Longwave.

And the kids love it: You probably remember their Twilight song….But don’t hold that against them. They’re pretty damn good.