DOWNLOAD: The Still Out - Where We Go
My friend Mikey from GIRLS (nyc) sent me the Still Out record a little while back, I put it in my car stereo and it didn't leave for over a week. There has been a rumbling for a couple of years now coming from (mostly) Brooklyn of bands that get the magic equation of the Jesus & Mary Chain. Combining fuzz, distortion, sexy weary vocals and (the tricky part) catchy hooks, pop shoegazer gold is snaking it's way across the East River. The Still Out is Josh Stoddard and Arjun Agerwala and since the recording of their first record, they've added Matt Sumrow and Nicole Gehweiler (both formerly of the Comas who opened for the J&MC) and Mikey Jones (who plays in GIRLS (nyc) with Matt) to their live show. Crystallized will be re-released this spring on Hi-Speed Soul, grab "Where We Go" for a taste and keep an eye out for these 'gazers.
Sounds Like: My Best Fiend, GIRLS (nyc), the Comas, the Jesus & Mary Chain
EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: Panda Riot - White Elephants + She Dares All Things
Panda Riot is Rebecca, Brian, Justin and the coolest drum machine since the Kills decided setting up a drum kit was for suckers. Unlike the Kills, Panda Riot are pure pretty - mixing all the blissed out elements of Portishead and My Bloody Valentine with the subversively undeniable pop of the Pixies and the Beach Boys, She Dares All Things is a collection of sunshine shoegazer brilliance. "White Elephants" kicks off the singles compilation and it was hard not to include "Marker," the immediately following track, because they go together like J. Spaceman and sunglasses, but the title track "She Dares All Things," is the perfect modern reminder that the 90s had Catherine Wheel and Mazzy Star, not just Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog.
Sounds Like: Speck Mountain, Computer Perfection, Vadoinmessico, Johnny Boy, the Morning After Girls
Download: Panda Riot - White Elephants
TV: Even with strike, is TV still the new radio?
Despite the fact that the writer’s strike has forced many of our favorite shows into repeats for the new year, there is a crop of new shows with scripts completed just before the strike began. With the growing trend of TV shows using more and more music, here is an update on some of the new shows that will feature interesting soundtracks.
"Quarterlife" is a show that is actually comprised of thirty-six 8 minute episodes that will originally air as webisodes on the social networking site of the same name and on Myspace. The show will then air on NBC as an hour long drama in six episodes. Quarterlife follows the lives of young artists (including a band) who are using a the social networking site to help promote themselves and advance their careers. Music supervisor Jen Ross has brought some new and fresh sounds to the show including one of our favorite LA shoegaze bands Helen Stellar. All of the bands who's music appears in the show can be tracked down through their own Quarterlife pages where you'll be able to find music, videos and interviews.
Six Feet Under producer Alan Poul is taking us back to the 70s with "Swingtown" (trailer above). It's kind of like Dazed And Confused but about adults. The show is about a couple who move to a new neighborhood and discover that their friendly neighbors are swingers. Fortunately for us they are into it. Since the show takes place in the 70s music is key and the pilot we saw was chock full of the hits everybody knows and loves from rock to R&B. We also hear that in addition to all of the licensed music the show it will feature original music provided by Liz Phair. Keep posted to SEEN for an interview with music supervisor Gary Calamar in the very near future.
Alan Ball, another Six Feet Under producer, is back on HBO with a new series called "True Blood". Vampires who ingest synthetic blood and frequent a Louisiana roadhouse will be the center of the series. Alan Ball and music supervisor Gary Calamar promise a soundtrack heavy show with blues influences as well as more contemporary regional sounds from Louisiana. Look out for songs from Jim White, Joseph Arthur, and C.C. Adcock to be some of the featured sounds.
Keep it locked on SEEN for updates on these and other new shows featuring good music as SEEN on TV.
Ads: Quantifying Sellout Status
In a recent Washington Post article, the ongoing debate of artists selling out by offering their music to advertisers was reinvigorated. Case in point: is seminal shoegazer band Lush selling out one of their illest songs ever, or is it just, straight up, a badass jeans commercial? CLICK ON TITLE OF POST TO READ MORE
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