Luther Dickinson & The Wandering: May 14, 2012 Joe’s Pub – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming SongsPosted Tue, May 22nd
Sunday, June 27th at Music Hall of Williamsburg
66 N 6th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211Islands
Hailing from Montreal, Canada, Islands is a 6 piece band founded in 2005 by The Unicorns co-founder/songwriter Nick Thorburn (often performing as "Nick Diamonds") and drummer J'Aime Tambeur. Following the untimely disbandment of The Unicorns as they teetered on the brink of breaking through, Islands' debut release entitled Return to the Sea, with its quirky sounds and refreshing, catchy melodies includes collaborations with members of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade. This debut picks up where The Unicorns left off and takes the music to new heights without departing from The Unicorns' unique if sometimes peculiar appeal.
Islands plays beautiful pop melodies, intertwined with elements of afro-pop, hip hop, and indie rock, among others. One of the main gimmicks of the band is the recorder brought over from The Unicorns, which is prominently featured in the song "Jogging Gorgeous Summer." Nick Diamonds rules over the band with an iron fist. Other members include: Patrice Agbokou, Aaron Harris, Alex Chow, Sebastian Chow, and Patrick Gregoire. Return to the Sea, their rookie effort, was released on April 4th, 2006 on the brand new label, equator records, and rough tr [Read more]
Islands plays beautiful pop melodies, intertwined with elements of afro-pop, hip hop, and indie rock, among others. One of the main gimmicks of the band is the recorder brought over from The Unicorns, which is prominently featured in the song "Jogging Gorgeous Summer." Nick Diamonds rules over the band with an iron fist. Other members include: Patrice Agbokou, Aaron Harris, Alex Chow, Sebastian Chow, and Patrick Gregoire. Return to the Sea, their rookie effort, was released on April 4th, 2006 on the brand new label, equator records, and rough tr [Read more]
Hailing from Montreal, Canada, Islands is a 6 piece band founded in 2005 by The Unicorns co-founder/songwriter Nick Thorburn (often performing as "Nick Diamonds") and drummer J'Aime Tambeur. Following the untimely disbandment of The Unicorns as they teetered on the brink of breaking through, Islands' debut release entitled Return to the Sea, with its quirky sounds and refreshing, catchy melodies includes collaborations with members of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade. This debut picks up where The Unicorns left off and takes the music to new heights without departing from The Unicorns' unique if sometimes peculiar appeal.
Islands plays beautiful pop melodies, intertwined with elements of afro-pop, hip hop, and indie rock, among others. One of the main gimmicks of the band is the recorder brought over from The Unicorns, which is prominently featured in the song "Jogging Gorgeous Summer." Nick Diamonds rules over the band with an iron fist. Other members include: Patrice Agbokou, Aaron Harris, Alex Chow, Sebastian Chow, and Patrick Gregoire. Return to the Sea, their rookie effort, was released on April 4th, 2006 on the brand new label, equator records, and rough trade in the uk. Digital Distribution handled by Alpha Pup.
On May 20, 2008, Islands released its second album, Arm's Way, on Anti- Records.
On September 22, 2009 Islands released their third full length album, Vapours.
On February 14, 2012 Islands released their forth full length album, A Sleep & A Forgetting.
There is also another Ontario based band called Islands.
User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.
Islands plays beautiful pop melodies, intertwined with elements of afro-pop, hip hop, and indie rock, among others. One of the main gimmicks of the band is the recorder brought over from The Unicorns, which is prominently featured in the song "Jogging Gorgeous Summer." Nick Diamonds rules over the band with an iron fist. Other members include: Patrice Agbokou, Aaron Harris, Alex Chow, Sebastian Chow, and Patrick Gregoire. Return to the Sea, their rookie effort, was released on April 4th, 2006 on the brand new label, equator records, and rough trade in the uk. Digital Distribution handled by Alpha Pup.
On May 20, 2008, Islands released its second album, Arm's Way, on Anti- Records.
On September 22, 2009 Islands released their third full length album, Vapours.
On February 14, 2012 Islands released their forth full length album, A Sleep & A Forgetting.
There is also another Ontario based band called Islands.
User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.
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Active Child
Active Child is the project of Pat Grossi, resident of Los Angeles, native of New Jersey. Inspired by his days as a choir boy and epic nights as a member of the band Weight Room, Grossi combines his soaring vocals and crunching analogue synths with the honey drip drop of echoing harps.
For Pat Grossi of Active Child, the last two years have been nothing short of enriching. Musically, Pat has worked within and appropriated a number of styles into his sound, from his early days singing with that heavenly voice as a choir boy to his more recent forays into laptop-assisted indie-pop made in his bedroom, best exemplified on 2010's acclaimed Curtis Lane EP. His sound is so wide-ranging that he has found himself touring with many notable acts of differing genres, including dubstep producer James Blake, dreamy synth-pop of School of Seven Bells, and the indie-rock bands White Lies and White Rabbits.
Nothing quite prepares you for the leap that Pat has taken with his debut album, You Are All I See, out on August 23rd via Vagrant records. Recently, he has expanded his sonic ambitions and turned the studio into an instrument for a record that sounds cosmically huge and yet intimate all the [Read more]
For Pat Grossi of Active Child, the last two years have been nothing short of enriching. Musically, Pat has worked within and appropriated a number of styles into his sound, from his early days singing with that heavenly voice as a choir boy to his more recent forays into laptop-assisted indie-pop made in his bedroom, best exemplified on 2010's acclaimed Curtis Lane EP. His sound is so wide-ranging that he has found himself touring with many notable acts of differing genres, including dubstep producer James Blake, dreamy synth-pop of School of Seven Bells, and the indie-rock bands White Lies and White Rabbits.
Nothing quite prepares you for the leap that Pat has taken with his debut album, You Are All I See, out on August 23rd via Vagrant records. Recently, he has expanded his sonic ambitions and turned the studio into an instrument for a record that sounds cosmically huge and yet intimate all the [Read more]
Active Child is the project of Pat Grossi, resident of Los Angeles, native of New Jersey. Inspired by his days as a choir boy and epic nights as a member of the band Weight Room, Grossi combines his soaring vocals and crunching analogue synths with the honey drip drop of echoing harps.
For Pat Grossi of Active Child, the last two years have been nothing short of enriching. Musically, Pat has worked within and appropriated a number of styles into his sound, from his early days singing with that heavenly voice as a choir boy to his more recent forays into laptop-assisted indie-pop made in his bedroom, best exemplified on 2010's acclaimed Curtis Lane EP. His sound is so wide-ranging that he has found himself touring with many notable acts of differing genres, including dubstep producer James Blake, dreamy synth-pop of School of Seven Bells, and the indie-rock bands White Lies and White Rabbits.
Nothing quite prepares you for the leap that Pat has taken with his debut album, You Are All I See, out on August 23rd via Vagrant records. Recently, he has expanded his sonic ambitions and turned the studio into an instrument for a record that sounds cosmically huge and yet intimate all the same.
Of the album title, Pat himself says, "You Are All I See is an attempt to build a bridge between the listener and I, in that, I wrote these songs for you as much as I did for me. And right now when you are listening to my voice, by yourself, it really is just you and I." In attempting to craft songs that meant something not only to himself but that could be meaningful to others as well, he found himself working with some universally human and fragile themes. "The songs focus primarily on the joy and heartbreak of relationships, love lost and rediscovered, battles with monogamy, battles with identity," Pat says. "It came out much darker than I had intended, but sometimes you only have so much control."
The grand, cinematic scope of Pat's artistic vision is apparent on You Are All I See, which owes as much to his wide array of influences as it does to Pat's own knack for employing these influences in fresh, forward-thinking ways. With triumphant synths and shimmering, contrapuntal harp lines, songs like the title track and "Hanging On" are reminiscent of Radiohead's "Motion Picture Soundtrack," but improve upon that template with layered vocals not far removed from Bon Iver or even James Blake, who Active Child recently opened for on tour. "High Priestess" and "See Thru Eyes" are stunning forays into electronic music territory, littered with samples, drum machines, and keyboards that propel the songs forward while simultaneously seeming weightless and suspended. It is in this tension that You Are All I See lives, breathes, and thrives so magnificently. The album is indebted to the sounds of the 1980s, from New Order's drums-and-synths to danceable hip-hop beats, and it's all topped off with soaring r&b melodies. The album's first single, "Playing House," features guest vocals from Tom Krell, the crooner of lo-fi r&b project How To Dress Well. Pitchfork Media recently premiered the track, noting "Active Child's sound now seems positively ahead of its time."
Reflecting on the album's finished product, Pat says "I think more than anything, I see this debut release as a bridge towards something bigger and truer. Something I can look back on and think, 'damn, you really did it'." When you finally hear You Are All I See you'll think the very same thing.
User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.
For Pat Grossi of Active Child, the last two years have been nothing short of enriching. Musically, Pat has worked within and appropriated a number of styles into his sound, from his early days singing with that heavenly voice as a choir boy to his more recent forays into laptop-assisted indie-pop made in his bedroom, best exemplified on 2010's acclaimed Curtis Lane EP. His sound is so wide-ranging that he has found himself touring with many notable acts of differing genres, including dubstep producer James Blake, dreamy synth-pop of School of Seven Bells, and the indie-rock bands White Lies and White Rabbits.
Nothing quite prepares you for the leap that Pat has taken with his debut album, You Are All I See, out on August 23rd via Vagrant records. Recently, he has expanded his sonic ambitions and turned the studio into an instrument for a record that sounds cosmically huge and yet intimate all the same.
Of the album title, Pat himself says, "You Are All I See is an attempt to build a bridge between the listener and I, in that, I wrote these songs for you as much as I did for me. And right now when you are listening to my voice, by yourself, it really is just you and I." In attempting to craft songs that meant something not only to himself but that could be meaningful to others as well, he found himself working with some universally human and fragile themes. "The songs focus primarily on the joy and heartbreak of relationships, love lost and rediscovered, battles with monogamy, battles with identity," Pat says. "It came out much darker than I had intended, but sometimes you only have so much control."
The grand, cinematic scope of Pat's artistic vision is apparent on You Are All I See, which owes as much to his wide array of influences as it does to Pat's own knack for employing these influences in fresh, forward-thinking ways. With triumphant synths and shimmering, contrapuntal harp lines, songs like the title track and "Hanging On" are reminiscent of Radiohead's "Motion Picture Soundtrack," but improve upon that template with layered vocals not far removed from Bon Iver or even James Blake, who Active Child recently opened for on tour. "High Priestess" and "See Thru Eyes" are stunning forays into electronic music territory, littered with samples, drum machines, and keyboards that propel the songs forward while simultaneously seeming weightless and suspended. It is in this tension that You Are All I See lives, breathes, and thrives so magnificently. The album is indebted to the sounds of the 1980s, from New Order's drums-and-synths to danceable hip-hop beats, and it's all topped off with soaring r&b melodies. The album's first single, "Playing House," features guest vocals from Tom Krell, the crooner of lo-fi r&b project How To Dress Well. Pitchfork Media recently premiered the track, noting "Active Child's sound now seems positively ahead of its time."
Reflecting on the album's finished product, Pat says "I think more than anything, I see this debut release as a bridge towards something bigger and truer. Something I can look back on and think, 'damn, you really did it'." When you finally hear You Are All I See you'll think the very same thing.
User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.
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Steel Phantoms
"Dual vocals bring spirited pop, stripped down new wave, and galloping rock into the two-thousand-and-tens."
Steel Phantoms are Aaron Harris (drum,vocals), Yos Munro (keyboard/vocals), Adam Fisher (bass), and Jesse Newkirk (guitar). Harris and Munro are high school friends who first played together in their hometown of Pittsburgh before both relocating to Montreal to study music at McGill University, hunkering down in the eye of the storm that was the media's endless fascination with everything Montreal in the mid-2000s. Harris in particular experienced the Canuck craze firsthand, taking over drumming duties in Islands in the wake of founding member Jaime Thompson's sudden departure from the band in 2006. Several tours and a few years later, Harris and Munro relocated yet again with the promise of a new musical project. Now, named after a roller coaster in Pittsburgh, utilizing many of the same pop idiosyncracies that defined the Montreal music scene, and headquartered amidst the endless hustle of Brooklyn, Steel Phantoms is very much a product of the past ten years of the duo's friendship and collaboration.
The songs are a wonderful blend of spiky pop music that shifts [Read more]
Steel Phantoms are Aaron Harris (drum,vocals), Yos Munro (keyboard/vocals), Adam Fisher (bass), and Jesse Newkirk (guitar). Harris and Munro are high school friends who first played together in their hometown of Pittsburgh before both relocating to Montreal to study music at McGill University, hunkering down in the eye of the storm that was the media's endless fascination with everything Montreal in the mid-2000s. Harris in particular experienced the Canuck craze firsthand, taking over drumming duties in Islands in the wake of founding member Jaime Thompson's sudden departure from the band in 2006. Several tours and a few years later, Harris and Munro relocated yet again with the promise of a new musical project. Now, named after a roller coaster in Pittsburgh, utilizing many of the same pop idiosyncracies that defined the Montreal music scene, and headquartered amidst the endless hustle of Brooklyn, Steel Phantoms is very much a product of the past ten years of the duo's friendship and collaboration.
The songs are a wonderful blend of spiky pop music that shifts [Read more]
"Dual vocals bring spirited pop, stripped down new wave, and galloping rock into the two-thousand-and-tens."
Steel Phantoms are Aaron Harris (drum,vocals), Yos Munro (keyboard/vocals), Adam Fisher (bass), and Jesse Newkirk (guitar). Harris and Munro are high school friends who first played together in their hometown of Pittsburgh before both relocating to Montreal to study music at McGill University, hunkering down in the eye of the storm that was the media's endless fascination with everything Montreal in the mid-2000s. Harris in particular experienced the Canuck craze firsthand, taking over drumming duties in Islands in the wake of founding member Jaime Thompson's sudden departure from the band in 2006. Several tours and a few years later, Harris and Munro relocated yet again with the promise of a new musical project. Now, named after a roller coaster in Pittsburgh, utilizing many of the same pop idiosyncracies that defined the Montreal music scene, and headquartered amidst the endless hustle of Brooklyn, Steel Phantoms is very much a product of the past ten years of the duo's friendship and collaboration.
The songs are a wonderful blend of spiky pop music that shifts and careens from start to finish in a very focused and mature way, unlocking melodies and progressions you probably didn't expect but are damn glad got your attention. It's a mix of the sweet and sour, the brash and the playful, a sinewy rope of rhythmic muscle allowing lighter pop flourishes to ebb and flow throughout; think Wolf Parade meets Leonard Bernstein and the picture starts to make sense. In turn, the two trade vocals from song to song in a way that accentuates these varying components of their music, Munro's baritone croon recalling Jonathan Richman's earnest swagger and Harris's kerosene-edged melodies flagging the sinister vibes running beneath.
-Ear Farm
Music available for purchase at http://steel-phantoms.bandcamp.com.
http://www.myspace.com/weresteelphantoms
User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.
Steel Phantoms are Aaron Harris (drum,vocals), Yos Munro (keyboard/vocals), Adam Fisher (bass), and Jesse Newkirk (guitar). Harris and Munro are high school friends who first played together in their hometown of Pittsburgh before both relocating to Montreal to study music at McGill University, hunkering down in the eye of the storm that was the media's endless fascination with everything Montreal in the mid-2000s. Harris in particular experienced the Canuck craze firsthand, taking over drumming duties in Islands in the wake of founding member Jaime Thompson's sudden departure from the band in 2006. Several tours and a few years later, Harris and Munro relocated yet again with the promise of a new musical project. Now, named after a roller coaster in Pittsburgh, utilizing many of the same pop idiosyncracies that defined the Montreal music scene, and headquartered amidst the endless hustle of Brooklyn, Steel Phantoms is very much a product of the past ten years of the duo's friendship and collaboration.
The songs are a wonderful blend of spiky pop music that shifts and careens from start to finish in a very focused and mature way, unlocking melodies and progressions you probably didn't expect but are damn glad got your attention. It's a mix of the sweet and sour, the brash and the playful, a sinewy rope of rhythmic muscle allowing lighter pop flourishes to ebb and flow throughout; think Wolf Parade meets Leonard Bernstein and the picture starts to make sense. In turn, the two trade vocals from song to song in a way that accentuates these varying components of their music, Munro's baritone croon recalling Jonathan Richman's earnest swagger and Harris's kerosene-edged melodies flagging the sinister vibes running beneath.
-Ear Farm
Music available for purchase at http://steel-phantoms.bandcamp.com.
http://www.myspace.com/weresteelphantoms
User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.
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