Reviews – Amingo

My Latest Musical Fixation – Cheyenne Marie Mize

Marc Quigley — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 17:20:57 +0000

My latest musical fixation is a young lady by the name of Cheyenne Marie Mize from Louisville, Kentucky. Cheyennes first release Before Lately is a beautiful collection of melancholy folk tunes with the occasional tinge of country and bluegrass. Her voice has an intimate breathiness sometimes reminiscent of Fiona Apple while being more reserved and classy. My favorite track on this album is probably Friend. A song that manages to be haunting and uplifting at the same time, with a guitar providing a bobbing rhythm and a banjo coruscating beneath Cheyennes sad, but hopeful sounding vocals.

Her newest release, We Don’t Need, is more musically diverse – exposing influences of blues, R&B and rock. On her site it says that Mize wants listeners to know “the songs on We Don’t Need are meant to be digested individually more than as continuous parts of a complete whole. Each has its own character and will likely be enjoyed in different mental states”. She goes on to say that each of the diverse tunes are a hint of things to come.

It Lingers, track 5 on WE Don’t Need, is the song that began my obsession with Mize. Dark chords banged out on a gritty, jangling, reverb-covered guitar in the vein of Wye Oak. Awesome tune. Don’t Call Me Beautiful brings to mind the evocative lilt of Beth Gibbons of Portishead. The opening track, Wishing Well, is thankfully not a cover of Terrence Trent D’Arby’s 1987 hit (though I guiltily admit to liking that song it does not need to be redone). It’s a fun, upbeat number that I can see being a radio success for Mize.

Cheyenne has performed with fellow Louisville native (and one of my all-time favorites) Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Finding a bit of creative chemistry they collaborated on a recording of 19th century American parlor songs hand-picked by the two of them. The 6-song collection, Among the Gold, can be downloaded for free here.

I can’t wait to hear more from this artist. While I wait I’ll be wearing out the 16 tracks available on Spotify.

Get Your Next Record Made – With A Little Help From Your Friends (Or Fans)

Marc Quigley — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:39:37 +0000

Recording a record can be a costly endeavor. Finding a studio that can create a great sounding product is easier and cheaper than ever but long studio hours and hiring additional musicians can add up. This expense can stop some artists from putting out music that fans may be waiting for. Even bands with multiple releases can sometimes have difficulty funding a new record.

Along comes Pledge Music, a Kickstarter-style fundraiser for musicians. Whether you’re trying to complete a new record, pay for a tour, film a music video or put out a compilation of B-sides, Pledge Music can help you get it done. After you sign up with their service as an artist you submit your project to them for assessment. They use their experience as recording musicians and as managers and marketers of major label artists to determine the potential of the fan base and viability of the project.

After green-lighting a project they connect with your networks (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more) and get the pledge drive rolling. Pledge Music’s app tracks the progress of the pledge drive and allows fans to add badges to their own site and pages, extending the reach of the project. Once the target amount has been reached the band receives a the majority of the money with the remainder released upon fulfillment of the final product.

Pledge Music asks that for each project the band makes something available for free to the pledgers – a digital album, EP or video. The company’s fee for the service is 15% of the total a project raises. Fans are not charged until the project hits it’s goal unless they pay via PayPal in which case their money comes out immediately and will be refunded if a project fails to hit it’s goal.

Pledge Music has been successful for many bands from unknowns to veterans like Fishbone and the Damnwells. If you have music you need to release but don’t have the means to do it, take heart – help is out there.

http://www.pledgemusic.com/

Live Music Alerts On Your Phone

Marc Quigley — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 16:23:33 +0000

If you love live music you should do yourself a favor and download the Bandsintown app. It’s a pretty slick app that scans your music library or Pandora and Last.fm and looks for live shows in your area by artists in your playlists. You can track specific artists or let the app suggest artists based on your library. There’s a cool slider at the top of concerts screen that allows you to filter out their suggestions and only show bands you’ve specifically chosen to track. Another cool feature is the “Tonight” tab that lets you see who’s playing where over the next few days – including even performances at festivals and coffee houses. Try it out – it’s FREE! Bandsintown App

11 Great Albums From 2011

Marc Quigley — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:57:27 +0000

Here are a few of our favorite albums from 2011…

The Dears – Degeneration Street

I’ve been a moderate fan of the Dears for a while but they never really grabbed me until this album. Lots of great tracks – in particular Blood really gets me going. Tiny Man is quite excellent also.

Peter, Bjorn and John – Gimme Some

I think this one is pretty obvious – a great band releases their most energetic offering to date. Stand out tracks are Dig a Little Deeper, Eyes and Down Like Me. The third track, Second Chance, is just about as killer a pop tune as you can ask for. 11 tracks of pure fun.

TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light

Another obvious pick but I was super excited about this one. I love these guys and there was a big gap between records which was partially filled by a terrific collaboration by singer Tunde Adebimpe and Massive Attack (one song called Pray for Rain) and guitarist Kyp Malone’s awesome solo project Rain Machine. Standout tracks are: Second Song, New Cannonball Blues and Will Do (my definite favorite).

Metal Mountains – Golden Trees

Languid, melancholy and beautiful. A wonderful psych-folk collaboration between Samara Lubelski, Helen Rush and Pat Gubler. Great way to ease into the day or to wind down after a long one. Standouts are Flickers Within/Without and The Golden Trees That Shade Us.

Chad Vangaalen – Diaper Island

I was dying for this one to come out. Vangaalens 2008 release, Soft Airplane, was an album that I listened to obsessively. I thought it was genius though I could only find a few folks in my circle that agreed with me (his shaky vocals and quirky compositions are a bit much for some people). It’s a desert island disc for me without a doubt – Diaper Island however, is not. It is actually a great record though and still makes my list with lots of brilliant tracks such as Peace on the Rise, Blonde Hash and Sara.

Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread

A mellower and less frenetic album for Ty, Goodbye Bread let’s his songwriting shine through. Punk-tinged and lo-fi garage rock. The title track, Where Your Mind Goes, I Can Feel It are favorites with My Head Explodes topping the list.

Fennesz + Sakamoto – Flumina

Accomplished and prolific Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto jumps from record to record creating outlandish experimental electronica to pristine, traditional piano pieces. There is a lot to love in a huge catalog of solo albums and movie soundtracks but my favorites have been collaborations with some of the best of the ambient/glitch scene including Christopher Willits, Alva Noto and Christian Fennesz. Flumina (his second pairing with Fennesz) is a dream. Airy and gorgeous.

Trouble Books and Mark McGuire

Guitarist Mark McGuire creates intricate soundscapes for the Ohio-based trio Emeralds and on his many solo recordings. On this album he teamed up with another Ohio band, Trouble Books, adding his futuristic flavor to their spacey sauce. A great album that often makes you feel like you’re floating in a near-earth orbit (or maybe that’s just me). Standouts are Local Forecast, Song for Reinier Lucassen’s Sphinx and The Golden Waste.

Iron and Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean

I’m not sure that this is my favorite album from Iron and Wine but I love how adventurous Sam Beam got with his arrangements this time out. It’s a pretty dramatic leap with some excellent results. Walking Far From Home and Rabbit Will Run are killer cuts with Your Fake Name is Good Enough for Me being one of my favorite I&W tracks ever.

Chelsea Wolfe – Apokalypsis

Melodic and haunting. Lo-fi and with sounds ripped from industrial music this album could be the soundtrack to an art house horror film. Listen to Mer, Tracks (Tall Bodies) and Moses.

Wye Oak – Civilian

Sultry vocals interrupted occasionally by jarring, jangly guitars. This rock duo from Baltimore really shine on their third full-length release Civilian. Dog Eyes is so upbeat for them and so unique a tune that it was an instant favorite. I wish I had caught them live when they were not too big to play in their own hometown. Other favs are The Alter and Holy Holy.

Band In Heaven – HoZac 7″

Marc Quigley — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 02:19:18 +0000

Band in Heaven's 4 Song EP on HoZac Records

Properly applied, a thick layer of reverb can really set a mood. Dense, lethargic and psychedelic with a pulsating groove, like the part of a movie soundtrack where the protagonist visits an opium den and journeys to another perceptual realm. That’s the vibe of exactly half of the 4-song HoZac 7″ from The Band in Heaven. “If You Only Knew” and “Sludgy Dreams” are what you want to hear at the end of a long night of partying.

The other two songs (“Sleazy Dreams” and “Summer Bummer”) would be playing during the chase scenes of that same movie – our hero running on foot through some mardi-gras of bizarre faces. Fast-paced and feral, these tunes will get your blood pumping. Still coated in reverb, this half of the EP manages to be rousing yet somehow spooky and menacing.

“Sludgy Dreams” is a downtempo interpretation of “Sleazy Dreams”, turning it into a droning gem. I asked the band why they would mess with such a great song. “Reworking Sleazy Dreams into Sludgy Dreams was just for fun, but it also shows how one song in a certain style can so easily fall into a different genre just by changing the tempo.”

The band says, “The four songs on the HoZac 7″ take a step forward in our desire to bridge the gaps between shoegaze, dreampop and drone music.” Wherever that direction takes them, whatever they’re trying to accomplish, it will undoubtedly be great. One thing this EP certainly accomplishes is leaving you wanting more.

They’re playing with the incredible Sun O))) in September. You can buy their tunes on Bandcamp and watch their creative videos on Vimeo:

http://thebandinheaven.bandcamp.com
http://vimeo.com/27420833