AA Blog Crush: Yvynl

Currently in love with the amazing concert photography over at Yvynl, a Philly based music and art Tumblr.

Have a look at a few of my recent favorites and head over to the blog to see more.

AA Loves: Land of Talk

It seems like I’ve been living under a rock and completely missed the train on Land of Talk, but they’ve dominated my playlists for the past few days and I just had to share.

This trio of Canadian indie rockers blends progressive rock, a spot of punk here and there, and a tint of folk to make some amazing tunes. Think of them as the love child of Reverie Sound Revue, Bon Iver, and Broken Social Scene.

Lead singer and guitarist Elizabeth Powell writes some great abstract lyrics like “We’ve seen how sick winds blow/but I’ve got your bovine eyes/and I love you like I love you/then I’ll die.” But to avoid sounding precious, Powell throws in enough edge on her vocals while also maintaining the clarity and tenderness of a folk songstress.

Joyful, poppy, and fun this band is perfect for the increasingly beautiful weather outside.

Have a listen to “Quarry Hymms," “Cloak and Cipher,” and "Some are Lakes" below.

The Kills – Blood Pressure Review

My review of The Kill’s latest album Blood Pressures just got published over at Donnybrook.

Here’s a snippet of my take on the album:

“Showing incredible growth, Blood Pressures exhibits the band’s increasingly complex and textured sound. No longer just malevolence and brashness, the band deftly manipulates our emotions by vacillating between slow boiling sensuousness and wicked guitar driven snarls, even managing to infuse it all with tinges of nostalgia and wistful longing…

In particular, “Baby Says” stands out as evidence of the band’s expressive new sound. Opening with a “Gimme Shelter”-esque riff, the track is more melodic and lovesick than anything I’ve heard from The Kills to date. Instead of bludgeoning you with his abundant talent, Hince chooses to quietly display it with a smooth perpetually rolling riff that ebbs and flows perfectly with the essence of the song. Meanwhile Mosshart’s vocals are breathier and more passionate than ever, as she coos wistfully over a steady driving beat. Other songs that deserve repeated listens include the smoldering sexuality of “DNA,” the hypnotic “Heart Is A Beating Drum,” and the southern twang of “Pots and Pans.””

Head over to Donnybrook to read the rest.

Movie Bar Codes

Pinnochio

The average movie has roughly 180,000 still frames. In an interesting move, a mysterious artist on Tumblr has taken every single frame from a movie and mashed them together side by side to create a unique bar code.

It’s interesting to see the predominance of certain colors in movies. In particular looking at movies that I’m familiar with you can actually pick out various scenes based on the color coordination.

Have a look at some of my favorites below and head over to the Tumblr to see more.

Prints are also available.

 

Into The Wild

Fight Club

Singing In The Rain

There Will Be Blood

 

Casablanca

 

Speed Racer

 

Dogville  

Delay Trees – About Brothers

Check out the video for Finnish indie band Delay Trees’ “About Brothers.”

Directed by Teemu Eramma, the heartwarming and fanciful video is about Teemu’s brother Tomi, who likes to draw pictures of robots all day and write stories about them. Teemu makes his brother’s creations come alive as they galavante through the gorgeous Finnish countryside.

Mellow and tinted with the soft hue of a summer sunset, the track is the perfect backdrop for lazy days spent basking in the sun’s glorious rays and daydreaming .

The band’s debut self-titled record is due out on Friendly Fire Recordings on May 10.

Your Favorite Album As a Book

What if your favorite album was actually adapted from a book?

That is basically the premise for Christophe Gowans’s series of book covers where he reimagines popular records like Aracde Fire’s The Suburbs, Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan, and the Chili Peppers’ Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik as well worn books.

Below are a few of my favorites, but be sure to head over to his flickr to see the rest.

I love how he imagines Purple Rain as a science fiction novel from the 80s and while I haven’t been the biggest fan of The Killers album, I love how he used the lyrics from Mr. Brightside as a great tagline for a murder mystery.

His collection has also been published as a set titled The Record Books: Volume 1, which you can find here.

AA Loves: He’s My Brother She’s My Sister

Praise the Lord almighty for my ears have just been blessed by the rapturous sounds of He’s My Brother She’s My Sister.

Not your ordinary indie-folk band, HMBSMS drenches their sound with prairie twang, jangling saloon revelry, and a bit of dark southern goth.

The lead singers are brother and sister duo Rob Kolar and Rachel Kolar which adds a nice hint of sibling rivalry to the dueling vocals for some true chemistry.

But in a truly unique twist, their foot-stomping rhythms are generated by the literal foot stomping of the tap dancing Lauren Brown who propels each track forward with her tireless tapping. To round out their sound, they are joined by the finger plucked cello of Satya Bhabha.

Beginning tonight, the band takes up a 5 night residency at The Satellite over in Silverlake (LA, CA). They will be joined on stage by a variety of special guests performing a dazzling mix of escape, illusion, and other unimaginable wonders in honor of their new single Escape Tonight.

Listen to a few of my favorites below and head to their bandcamp to download their debut self-titled EP.




DTLA.tv Presents He's My Brother She's My Sister - Tales That I Tell- Live from Phillip Jordan on Vimeo.