Last we heard from Julian Shah-Tayler, we knew we were on the edge his release Coito Ergo Sum sometime this winter. Well another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place, Shah-Tayler will be releasing his single and video for "Say What You Want" when he plays the Moscow Club (@Boardners, 1625 North Cherokee Avenue in Hollywood) on Nov 10th. Of course, as a little after-Halloween treat to all of our Deli readers, we've got the permission to preview it here on the website.
We asked our friend Nora at I Rock I Roll Blog to highlight the best LA band she saw at CMJ this year, here's her response:
Pepper Rabbit - Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure any band that makes beautiful music and has the word Rabbit in their name is going to elicit some major musical crushing from me. That said, this LA Duo just released a gorgeous album Beauregard on Kanine. These gorgeous songs will make you swoon upon first listen and then somehow haunt you for days later - definitely one of my absolute new faves that people will be talking about a lot next year.
Hot As Sun, LA's lovely female lo-fi grungy electro duo consisting of Deborah and Jamie, has just recently released the second single, "Only a Woman", off their forthcoming EP. If you're in the mood today for something with smooth, almost trip hop lyrics, along with a booming wash of sound, you're in for a treat this Wednesday. Grab their free downloads off of Band Camp.
I met the Young the Giant dudes at a show during CMJ and was happy I did because it got me into listening to their poppy, catchy, Cali-cool jams. I accepted their invitation to see their show at Pianos on Friday. These guys were awesome to see live – the energy in the space was hopping. The instrumentals are ethnic-infused, subtle and smooth, but the most notable of the group is the singer, who belts the songs in a very gushing, romantic, and extremely sexy way. - Alex Vann
At the Cake Shop Paw Tracks/Carpark CMJ showcase on Thursday I stumbled upon the set of this one girl band called Drawlings - really interesting! Loops and vocals that are just really atmospheric and cool. Very cool. I'm pretty into this music but I'm not really into watching this. She's got an sp-404 I think and a tiny little synth and a digitech that looks like the line6 looper but with a volume pedal. Her samples are different. Pulsing. Reaffirming my notions of the possibilities of music. Reverse drum beats at a hugely slow tempo. Its stunning. Big reverse cymbal swells and looped vocals. She's manipulating them live I realize. That's awesome. This is gorgeous and freaky, an underground crystal cavern. Alien and majestic. The place is really filling up. Crowded, everyone calmoring to see this babe. She is stunning sounding - this is just so charged it's amazing! She's got this 12 tone glock it sounds like loop going on top of this loop of a church bell and some other atmospherics and always her voice. And the weird thing is it's actually groovy! I've never heard something so infectuous and scary. She might be the stephen king of indie music. Salem sucks compared to this. Sorry. But they do. Avey (Tare from Animal Collective) is enjoying this quite a bit. She goes into this lighter, more straightforward number and shows off her voice a little bit outside of the cloud, it's stunning. - Dale W. Eisinger
I caught San Diego-based surf rock punks Wavves' surprise appearance at CMJ's Pure Volume House. These guys are really getting big, so I don’t need to really delve into it. Overall, they were loud (although they were bitching that it could be louder), and sounded good (although they were bitching that they could’ve sounded better). The group is talented, and ear-splittingly noisy, in a very bearable way. Not so bearable, was their childish brattiness. But, what can I say? Boys will be boys. - Read Alex Vann's full CMJ report here.
Wednesday night at Santos Party House in NYC was a stacked lineup. I made it in time to catch a bit of LA-based Evan Voytas, and I’m glad I did. Voytas has released a slew of singles so what brings his music together is the consistency between each track. There is an evident spaciness in his pop music: some songs are infused with soft synths, delicacy and nostalgic airiness while others are bouncy, clubby and druggie.There’s definitely very cool ambience going on his music. Baltimore Lower Dens shortly proceeded Voytas – quite the folky, flowy treat. The fuzzy, dragging screeches of the guitar and the singer’s dusky, low-toned voice, created an evocative, atmospheric vibe. After their set, I hung around a little bit to catch SF based Tamaryn.
Their most recent LP, appropriately called The Waves, really sums up their kind of shoegaze rock really nicely – there’s slow movement and echoing vocals amidst upbeat, shaking guitars. Good tunes, nice sounds…Straight up chilling! - Read the rest of Alex Vann CMJ report here.
The lead singer of Lesands has an amazing presence. He’s got this effortless dance thing going that seems neither contrived or rehearsed – there’s a spontaneity that can’t be denied. This guy might be a superstar. It’s my opinion this bands needs a bigger stage. The approach the drummer takes to filling the space with a wash of dark crash just really fills up the room – I can see this happening in an arena, with the lead singer dancing all over a much, much larger stage. I really want to see what kind of moves he could perform without so much constraint. They are showmen, but demure. The spotlight is on the singer for sure. Although there is a weird dynamic between him and the drummer, who, judging by his skill, is probably one of the stronger influences in the group. This is worth checking out! It sounds like Morrisey fronting a dubstep chill wave group. And that’s pretty cool. - Alex W. Eisinger - More CMJ Coverage on our NYC site here.
I’m not really into the whole folky-southern-soft rock thing but decided, in the spirit of good music and CMJ, I would check out the Chapin Sister. Just to give a little back up story, the two lead singers, AKA the sisters themselves, are the beautiful, waify offspring of three time Grammy winner singer-songwriter, Tom Chapin (if that’s any indication of their musical chops). Their sound is soothing, subtle and ethereally sincere. Though there were points in which the songs came off just a little country for my liking, I really enjoyed their short set, which was infused with soft textures and very pretty vocals. - Alex Vann
LA based No Sleep Records will be hosting this fancy shindig tonight at the CMJ Music Marathon. Bands slated to play tonight include the aforementioned Into It.Over It. and Atlantic/Pacific -- both highly recommended by the Deli, and you can't really beat Into It.Over It.'s beard -- as well as rock and punk acts all over the place including Problems, O'Pioneers, Such Gold, Aficionado, My Heart To Joy, Former Thieves, Junior Battlesand more.
If you're lucky enough to be in NY tonight, doors open at 5pm, and it's $10 or free with your CMJ pass.
