:: on the radar: volume 1 :: blind pilot + loch lomond + old belivers

ok so here’s the first installment of music ramblings which i’ll call “on the radar”. the bands mentioned here have come to my attention in one way or another (live, commercial recordings, indie recordings, recommendations, whatevs…) and i figure they’re worth writing about on some level. i most likely won’t spend too much time writing about bands i don’t like since that seems to be a reasonably large waste of time.

regarding the opinions stated in these ramblings, some will agree with me, some will not.

matt will most likely call me a hippie.

decide for yourself which path to follow…

the old believers:
in other words: (from relix) “Alaskan natives, Nelson Kempf (vocals, guitar, balalaika, beat sequencing, keys, lap steel, harmonica, mandolin, banjo) and Keeley Boyle (vocals, guitar) left their small fishing town of Kenai after graduating high school in 2006 and embarked on a journey most easily summed up by listening to Simon and Garfunkel’s “America.”Inspired by home and leaving it, their album, Eight Golden Greats, is ideal for road trips and rainy days, with a free-spirited funky folk sound and lyrics that will make you cry. “The sad nostalgia in our songs has a lot to do with us both being away from home for the first time,” Kempf relates. This lyricist, who isn’t even of legal drinking age could join the ranks of Dylan someday with verses like, “I’d curl your smoke/Around my little fingers/And laugh at jokes/That I don’t get.””

my take: the first of what i’m calling the night’s “family band” theme. these guys could stand to lose a few members (maybe 4?) i think they had about a dozen people on stage and the sync wasn’t there. you could feel it when they were on, so the potential is present, but they’ve got a long road ahead to make it to the level of either of the other bands on the bill.

check out: meh… wait a few years.

loch lomond:
in other words: “Loch Lomond’s latest release Paper the Walls is due from Portland’s Hush Records fall 2007. Loch Lomond started as a solo recording project of Ritchie Young in 2003. With help of engineer/ producer Rob Oberdorfer, Ritchie crafted the first Loch Lomond album, When We Were Mountains (In Music We Trust Records). Over the next few years, Loch Lomond performed the West Coast via their home in Portland, Oregon in various incarnations. Live performances would range from Ritchie by himself to an eight-person band. During this time, many different recording sessions took place in various studios and homes. These recordings were eventually compiled on an EP called Lament for Children (Hush Records) the summer of 2006. In the later half of 2006, Loch Lomond solidified into a full band, and the group is now busy rehearsing, writing and recording the second full-length Loch Lomond album; expected fall 2007 *Hush Records). The group will be on the road between recording times, some shows utilizing the full line-up, and others as a condensed, but equally powerful version of the band.”

my take: the first few songs out of loch lomond made me wonder why the hell i hadn’t heard much of them before. their “chamber music” and vocal stylings have a way of wrapping you in a little bit of wonderland if you allow it to do so. definitely something i wouldn’t mind hearing pop in the audio-technicas once in a while, but not something i would listen to an entire album of. i can see putting this on a play list for my two year old also (as an alternative to nursery rhymes and chipmunks songs).

check out: elephants and little girls

blind pilot:
in other words: Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski are Blind Pilot. Friends since college, Israel and Ryan have traveled many a mile to get where they are today–literally. Last year Israel and Ryan embarked on a West Coast bike tour. This wasn’t a tour where they road bikes, and had a van hauling the equipment. They hauled everything on their bikes. No gas. 100% leg powered. Playing little towns that don’t often get shows by “touring bands” – they were able to share their brand of music with people who weren’t particularly familiar with indie-pop, or indi anything. But they found that heart-felt lyrics an beautiful music appeal to just about everyone.

my take: pretty much the best complete album (3 rounds and a sound) i’ve heard in a long time, especially when it comes to first releases. great tunes with just enough orchestration to make it stand out from the crowd. toss in some great, head-tilting rhythms and clever lyrics and i’m buying in to these guys. as a friend noted, israel sang pretty much the entire show on his toes. that gives you kind of an idea as to the energy that comes out in a live performance.

check out: go on say it, one red thread, 3 rounds and a sound, oviedo, poor boy, never show a heart of gold

just buy the album and get it over with…