Thursday, April 8, 2010

Golden Silvers - True Romance

Psychedelic rock is such a huge umbrella term now. It covers anything from Of Montreal to MGMT. And I guess I'm okay with that, but there was a time where 'psychedelic rock' wasn't thrown around loosely. I'm about to contradict about myself, but I will say that modern 'psychedelic' music is probably more congruent with actual psychedelic experiences. Regardless, the word psychedelic as it pertains to music was set in precedent in the 1960s by American bands like The Velvet Underground and 13th Floor Elevators and British bands like Pink Floyd, Traffic, Soft Machine, and Cream.

Golden Silvers are true psychedelic rock from where I see it. These young Londoners released this debut last year to little to no hype. The trio has been kicking around singles since 2007 and released "True Romance" on XL Recordings. Synthesizers and dramatic vocals, and anything under the sun used to characterize 'psychedelia' are on this record. I have a sneaking suspicion they'll make waves with a future release as they improve upon their already tight sound.







Fred Thomas - Night Times


In my short music playing career, I have had few special moments. Actually, I can only think of one. And that was playing a house show with City Center and knowing that Fred Thomas was watching me play music. Fred Thomas is of Saturday Looks Good to Me and City Center fame and is an all-around great songwriter. From the indie pop of his older works to the more ambient and experimental sounding project City Center, Fred is a truly special musician. This is a collection of songs he put out last year in between working on City Center material. Subtle compositions with acoustic and electric guitar tones along with catchy vocals and interesting sounds. A lot of solid stuff here. And it's free. So I don't feel bad. Thanks, Fred. Sorry about the leeeetle cover art, it's all I could find.




Lisa Mitchell - Wonder




(sorry for rapidshare)