If you like calming melodies, flawless harmonizing, food fights and stripping down to your delicates, then you’re probably going to enjoy this video:

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For more information on Local Natives, visit thelocalnatives.com.

Even though Sasquatch didn’t harbor some of the big names that Coachella had to offer, the talent this year was a fair representation of what an indie fest should be. (Get your Jay-Z fix on the radio, kids.) After a long wait to get in on Saturday, the festival began. Mumford and Sons put on an honest set and played well by their audience, making sure to invite a few friends for some on-stage partying. Sharing similarities in dissimilarity, WHY? and Portugal. The Man stood out and were good additions to Saturday’s lineup that was later reserved for the hipper mainstream scene. Vampire Weekend, Broken Social Scene, My Morning Jacket and OK GO left everyone partied out for the night and ready for the next morning.

Sunday’s lineup supported a DIY vibe and featured bands that always surprise us with their effortless genius. The sounds from Tegan and Sara, tUnE-yArDs and Dirty Projectors complemented one another on this day in their knack for sounding strength in females. The Long Winters, Pavement and They Might Be Giants did their thing, but kind of did just that. Bands like The xx, Cymbals Eat Guitars and Local Natives stepped up to the plate and delivered more than expected (don’t they always, though?) throughout the day. We figured out that LCD Soundsystem and Kid Cudi have the ability to make people dance and sweat, and Massive Attack closed out the night with a strong and entertaining set with their unique beats and sounds.

All good things must come to an end, and that’s exactly what Monday morning reminded us. With a pretty chill lineup for the day, it was a great way to wrap up the end of Sasquatch. Phantogram and Neon Indian satisfied our hunger for the right amount of distorted electronic noise and got us ready for the soft, upbeat soul of Mayer Hawthorne & The County, who eased us in to the carefree set that The Temper Trap always offer up. What’s a festival without a little bit of country rock? The Drive-By Truckers offered that “little bit” to us. Although lacking a little bit of energy, She & Him surprisingly seemed to keep the ladies happy and Passion Pit got them dancing. Band of Horses pleased the crowd with their solid sound and a well-balanced set of new and old songs. MGMT was there to pull in their cult-like following while Ween rocked out until the end of the night as if they were the only band there.

For a short tour of the festival (and the beautiful Gorge Amphitheater scenery), get at the photo gallery here:

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Get more Sasquatch info at the official Sasquatch Festival website.

SXSW 2010
by Brianne Turner, Photography by Nick Chaivarlis

The strongest/longest day of SXSW was definitely Friday, beginning with a very electronic Toro Y Moi set at the French Legation Museum (and more sound problems!). From there we moved to the Galaxy Room Backyard where we caught Freelance Whales and also Local Natives, who are getting better and better at killing sets and winning fans. The crowd more than doubled just before Local Natives took the stage (smart) and grew enthusiastic about the band’s cover of “Warning Sign.” This was the band’s sixth SXSW show of the nine they played, but no trace of exhaustion was evident in the band as they played an incredible and high-energy version of “Airplanes” before bringing Fool’s Gold to the stage to help close the set/crush hearts with “Sun Hands.”

Solid Gold and Tanlines played Club de Ville for the Green Label Sound Party, where the bands played back-to-back sets. Solid Gold got the crowd ready, but Tanlines got the crowd going by combining songs seamlessly to maximize dancibility. Though it did seem to minimize set time, the duo put in their allotted time and made room for the next act.

Down the street at Emo’s (Windish), Danish band WhoMadeWho took beers from the audience while they played an entertaining set, integrating spooky harmonies, trance-based effects, and dramatic buildups while their audience danced it out and fed them more beer. (Best fans!) Delorean (yes, again!) followed WhoMadeWho, continuing the dance party for an even larger, possibly drunker crowd.

In an unintentional attempt to change the vibe, we made a very intentional trip to see The Trews at Prague’s Canada Night. The set was plagued with sound problems but the band played a solid rock ‘n’ roll show for a bar full of enthusiastic Canadians who showed allegiance to their countrymen by knowing every lyric to every song. Though the four band members remained seated throughout all eight songs, their energy never waned. The Trews were also one of the only bands we saw who didn’t let the venue’s sound issues eclipse their performance.
Rock ‘n’ roll, fuck yeah.

We ended the night back at Emo’s (Windish), this time at the main stage for The Very Best, who are the (very) best at getting Americans to sing in a Malawian accent. After handing out Heinekens to audience members and partaking in some stage dives, The Very Best encouraged the entire audience to crawl onto the stage and dance it out to “Warm Heart of Africa,” sans Ezra Koenig.

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Continue reading » Day 4: The Morning Benders, Wye Oak, Ben Gibbard, Titus Andronicus, Here We Go Magic, Picture Plane, The Very Best, Sleigh Bells

SXSW 2010
by Brianne Turner, Photography by Nick Chaivarlis and Brianne Turner

All good things must come to an end, and like the best of things, SXSW’s finale is leaving us feeling a small void these last few days. The social networks (for the most part) have stopped crawling with ridiculous hash tags and concert updates, and you don’t have to read about how much fun your friends (or the people you envy) are having in Austin without you on a minute-by-minute basis.

We may not have had time to see your favorite band last week in the midst of all the musical chaos, but it’s an absolute certainty that we covered some bands who could definitely become some of your newest favorites. We know this because they became ours. Here is our SXSW coverage, broken down by day:

Day 1: Brazos, Body Language, Visqueen, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The Walkmen, Broken Bells, Spoon

Day 2: The Antlers, Bobby Long, Delorean

Day 3: Toro Y Moi, Freelance Whales, Local Natives, Solid Gold, Tanlines, Delorean, WhoMadeWho, Cymbals Eat Guitars, The Trews, The Very Best

Day 4: The Morning Benders, Wye Oak, Ben Gibbard, Titus Andronicus, Here We Go Magic, Pictureplane, The Very Best, Sleigh Bells

»Album Reviews For Release Date: 02.16.10
by Joshua Krage

A healthy amount of world beat colors spring forth from the speakers this week as America, Africa and the U.K. further their global cultural exchange program, bartering over indigenous sounds and music buzz in abundance for some varying and surprisingly robust combinations of genres. Luckily, most of these releases retain a sizable amount of muscle, even in the slow, quiet places; suffice it to say nothing on this week’s list will give Alice cooper any cause to worry over the state of rock and roll’s balls. On we go:

Jaime Cullum
Jason Falkner
Field Music
Freeway Jake One

Peter Gabriel, Scratch My Back – [listen] – as a highly concept-driven music superstar, this eclectic genius doesn’t need to follow anybody’s schedule but his own, so any new music he releases is cause for celebration. The cause celebre for this album is two-fold, as it is part one of a two-part release of a collective covers concept. Mr. Sledgehammer tackles twelve tracks by his favorite artists (ranging from classics like David Bowie and Randy Newman to new blood such as Bon Iver and Arcade Fire), with the idea being that they’ll “scratch his back” in return with a disc full of their versions of his songs. Accompanied simply-but-lushly by piano and small orchestra, this first installment is a subtle but heady jaunt through some great picks, my favorite so far being a warm, thoughtful run of Elbow’s “Mirrorball” and a spectacular rendering of Arcade Fire’s “My Body Is a Cage” which ebbs and flows in grandiose fashion. I can’t wait to hear part 2… 

Giant Drag – Swan Song EP
Adam Green
Juliana Hatfield

Lightspeed Champion, Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You – it still amazes me that the same man responsible for the spastic, erratic post-punk of Test Icicles is now dishing out vulnerable indie folk rock, but that’s what’s in store for you on album number two under Devonte Hynes’ Lightspeed Champion moniker. Luckily he got a lot of the acoustic jones out of his system on the debut, so the intellectual alt.pop on this album is backed by a bevy of keyboards and some tight, sharp corners, not to mention some arrangements that are downright classical. Hynes shows his fascination with classic ’50s and ’60s pop music in many of these tracks, but filtered through his modern hipster heartbreak ethic it sounds fresh and very appealing.

Local Natives, Gorilla Manor- [listen] – even with all the gig-generated U.K. buzz and hipster-blog accolades these lads have stirred up, you don’t find too many top-shelf indie rock bands with African world-beat flavors in their sound, so the Vampire Weekend comparisons are unavoidable. Luckily, this Los Angeles quintet pack much bigger guns: acoustic afro-pop is mightily augmented with big, dynamic drums and meaty guitar crunch, the shared vocals and deft harmonies are passionate and room-filling, the tone raw and dangerous. V-neck sweaters and docksiders are coolly tossed aside for dirty sneakers and work shirts, and these guys mean business with their instruments, choosing stripped-down, multi-layered, percussion-driven arrangements for many of the tracks here. Acoustic maneuverability has served them well in their guerrilla gigging techniques, landing them closer to David Byrne or Paul Simon comparisons than to any contemporaries on the market (check their clever rendering of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” if you need proof), but it’s their overall versatility that impresses most throughout this excellent debut album, of which these shores have been deprived for far too long.

Scott Lucas

Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More – I’ve been a fan of these guys for far too long for their stuff to have been unavailable domestically until now. This is the long-awaited U.S. release of their debut full-length, a satisfying collection of bluegrass-tinged organic folk-rock and gospel styles, made all the more surprising by the fact that they’re from London, nowhere near the Appalachian home of their sound. Hearing Marcus Mumford’s soft, English tenor lead the multi-layer harmonies over beds of banjo and lightly overhanging organ tones makes me feel like I’m strolling down a Kentucky hillside on a sunny afternoon. Good stuff.

Robert Pollard
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Dan Reeder
Solas
Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin
Souljazz Orchestra

Story of the Year, The Constant – wisely maturing some years back from their adolescent screamo sound into something much more metal, this modern alt.rock band still has plenty of angst and heavy riffage to fill your catharsis-seeking speakers.

Tindersticks
Wu Tang Clan

So to recap, world beat is back (again), stripped-down versions are in, Ivy league is so last season, and it’s OK to have an exotic sound, even if that sound originates thousands of miles and oceans apart from where your band was born. Get your globe out and enjoy. Until next week…

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To view past reviews, visit our archives.

Gorilla Manor was released today via Frenchkiss Records. In celebration of its release, we leave you with this video where the band play Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” from the courtyard of the original Gorilla Manor:

04.20.10 Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture
04.22.10 Dallas, TX @ The Cavern
04.23.10 Austin, TX @ Emo’s Inside
04.24.10 Houston, TX @ Mango’s
04.26.10 Little Rock, AR @ Sticky Fingerz Chicken Shack
04.27.10 Haittesburg, MS @ Thirsty Hippo
04.29.10 St. Augustine, FL @ Cafe 11
04.30.10 Nashville, TN @ The Basement
05.01.10 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
05.04.10 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
05.05.10 Washington, DC @ DC 9
05.06.10 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
05.07.10 Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
05.08.10 Allston, MA @ Great Scott
05.11.10 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
05.12.10 Columbus, OH @ The Basement
05.14.10 Chicago, IL @ Schubas
05.15.10 Rock Island, IL @ Rock Island Brewing Company
05.17.10 Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar
05.18.10 Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
05.19.10 Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s
05.21.10 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
05.22.10 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
05.25.10 Spokane, WI @ Empyrean
05.26.10 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
05.27.10 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
05.28.10 Vancouver, BC @ Media Club
05.30.10 Seattle, WA @ Sasquatch
06.03.10 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill

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For more information on Local Natives, visit myspace.com/localnatives

The song is a clear representation of what the five guys who make up the L.A.-based band are capable of vocally and musically. (It is also a pretty jaw-dropping experience to see and hear them play it live.)

If you’ve been keeping up, you may even recognize the shout out to the Gorilla Manor album art toward the end of the video.

Though released last year in the UK, Gorilla Manor will be available in the States on February 16th via Frenchkiss Records.

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For more information on Local Natives, visit myspace.com/localnatives.

“Sun Hands” is a track that really stands out and has a unique way of building up from beginning to end. It starts out calm but breaks out in a way where mosh-pitting through the drywall in your room seems acceptable. Then everything goes calm again, and you’re left to clean up the mess. Here’s the artwork for the single (and yes, I’m pretty sure that’s a ball of hair on the fork):

If you’re having a hard time waiting for the February 16th release date of Gorilla Manor, you can grab the single “Sun Hands” on its release set for January 5th. In the meantime, stream!

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For more information on Local Natives, visit thelocalnatives.com. For more insightful, personal, and offbeat information on the band, visit outtasight.blogspot.com.

Self-funded and produced by Raymond Richards in West L.A., the band’s official debut offers twelve tracks as well as an idea of what band members Andy Hamm and Matt Frazier are capable of artistically, as they are responsible for the Gorilla Manor album art. Here is what Andy came up with for the cover:

Gorilla Manor
Release Date: February 16th, via Frenchkiss

01. Wide Eyes
02. Airplanes
03. Sun Hands
04. World News
05. Shape Shifter
06. Camera Talk
07. Cards And Quarters
08. Warning Sign
09. Who Knows Who Cares
10. Cubism Dream
11. Stranger Things
12. Sticky Thread

Local Natives have only two shows left in the U.S. (tonight and tomorrow in Oregon) before they fly to Europe until March.

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For more information on Local Natives, visit myspace.com/localnatives.

In keeping with last week’s theme of seeing bands who expertly apply the use of incendiary harmonies in almost every track, we made our way over to Berbati’s Pan to watch the Local Natives set. Originally set to play the Wonder Ballroom, the show’s location was, well, relocated in the eleventh hour without much advertisement from either venue, possibly (probably) playing a sizable role in the sparseness of the show’s audience.

Though Local Natives played just an eight-song set, their performance was powerful and their energy was infectious. With no regard to the underwhelming size of the crowd, the five band members from Silver Lake, California awarded those did make it out with a phenomenal show. Kelcey Ayer played keys, shared percussion duties with drummer Matt Frazier and sang lead simultaneously throughout the majority of the set, which was not only incredible to watch but an unbelievable show of dexterity on his part.

With most of their songs available only on MySpace here in the States, it was rare to see a fan who knew many of the words to the tracks until the band played their three-harmony cover of “Warning Sign” by Talking Heads, an inclusion than tends to go over well in a place like Portland.

Gorilla Manor was released at the beginning of the month in the UK, but Local Natives are still in the midst of working through the red tape of releasing their debut album in the U.S. Until then, keep seeing them live:

11.15.09 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church*
11.16.09 Washington DC @ Black Cat*
11.17.09 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom*
11.18.09 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg*
11.20.09 Keene, NH @ The Starving Artist
11.21.09 Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street Downstairs*
11.22.09 Burlington, VT @ Club Metronome*
11.23.09 Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus*
11.24.09 Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo*
11.25.09 Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot/The Pike Room
11.27.09 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall*
11.28.09 Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon*
11.29.09 Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater*
12.01.09 Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater*
12.02.09 Provo, UT @ Velour
12.03.09 Boise, ID @ The Neurolux
12.04.09 Pullman, WA @ The Bell Tower*
12.05.09 Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s*
12.07.09 Anacortes, WA @ Department of Safety
12.08.09 Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret*
12.09.09 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge*
12.10.09 Eugene, OR @ W.O.W. Hall*

*w/ Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Fool’s Gold

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For more information on Local Natives, visit myspace.com/localnatives.