“In The Mountain In The Cloud” doesn’t sound much like a band treading new sonic ground, or even experimenting with the recontextualizing of others before them, but more on that later. Also, they ditched the small label, Equal Vision Records, for Atlantic Records in April of last year. I wonder if producer John Hill’s (who […]
Matt Carney
Posted inArts & Culture
Without Thunder
But that doesn’t mean you have to lock yourself into your homemade bomb shelter until David Stern starts waving his little, white flag. Climb the stairs and click on the TV, at the very least. We promise there’s stuff to do this fall besides mourning the Thunder. —Gotta get that fix? There’s a certain, extremely […]
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Neon Indian — Era Extraña
Case in point: “Era Extraña.” After 2009’s laughable, infectious debut album, “Psychic Chasms,” Palomo’s dropped into minor keys, thickened the wall of sound and reinforced his drum machines for greater impact. All signs in this description point to some bizarre, electronic-Goth-dance hybrid, but I’ve left out one important sonic quality that turns that on its […]
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Stoney LaRue — Velvet
The song opens Edmond resident Stoney LaRue’s second studio full-length, “Velvet,” six years after “The Red Dirt Album.” At times, LaRue and his band (which features CMA favorite Randy Scruggs on guitar) kid themselves with the limited singer’s range, but they really nail the dark, smooth feeling suggested by the title, with soft-rock guitar fills […]
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Math test
The clouds menaced Tulsa’s Brady Street Block Party in August, eventually spawning fat droplets of rain spread around by Oklahoma’s signature winds. Suddenly, Mutemath drummer Darren King feared the worst. “We were about two minutes away from playing, 111 degrees, sunny. And then all of a sudden, God’s wrath comes through,” King said. “It was […]
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Copy that
Listen to any of Cut Copy’s three full-length records — particularly this year’s striking, shimmering “Zonoscope” — and you’ll be overcome by a sense of exotic locale. It’s not just because the synth-heavy, super-literate band hails from down under, or even because it finds inspiration in films set in fantastical locations, like the Amazon of […]
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Soundcheck: Beetyman — Underdog
That said, another quality GRP FLY-sporting rapper’s emerged from the fertile Oklahoma City ground that produced Jabee, Josh Sallee and aDDLib. Beetyman hails from the east side, as he informs us on his aptly named debut LP “Underdog,” a record full of optimistic brass samples that surround a genuine, young talent. Per the album title, […]
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Groovin’
Despite their lone, eponymous album release, the churning, heavy rockers known as Caravact boast a surprising wealth of original material. Toss a couple classic covers in with drawnout metallic jams and whatever else the band’s been working on lately, and you’ve got enough music to keep a crowd filled for an afternoon, as bassist/vocalist Nathan […]
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Giants’ success
You’d think sharing a band with a guy for nearly 30 years would cement the foundation of your relationship. Of course, when your band happens to be Brooklyn’s often-silly and offbeat, usually sweet and affecting They Might Be Giants, you can’t take each other’s words too seriously. According to the band’s Twitter feed, this show […]
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Soundcheck: Modern Rock Diaries – Great Western Civilization
In keeping with indie fashion, MRD employs a lot of full-band singing (both to harmonize and for choruses) to bolster their vocals, as well as a female violin player, Angela Allen, and some catchy synth melodies, à la Cut Copy. But I think that Cowan’s rigid voice and lyrics (think not-so-dirty Caleb Followill of Kings […]