-

Every now and again you just need something for free especially without doing much work. Our weekly MP3 Grab Bags are just that. Easy and free.

Click Here to download Grab Bag #11

-

Featuring new songs by these bands:
Color Of Clouds – Brother
Kuan – OnE.G
Marching Band – For Your Love
Money Penny – Say No (Hey Champ Remix)
N.A.M.B. – L.O.N.
Phantogram – When I’m Small
Phosphorescent – It’s Hard To Be Humble
Rapid Cities – In My Mind
Red Dress – (Glitch Mob Remix)
Rykardaparasol – Covenant
Sarah Kirkland Snider – This Is What You’re Like
Savoir Adore – We Talk Like Machines
Seabear – Lion Face Boy
Sleep Bellum Sonno – A House Of Spades
The Bewitched Hands – Hard To Cry
William Brittelle’s – Dunes Of Vermillion
Woods – I Was Gone

- Download our past MP3 Grab Bags

—————————————–

Written by T.Paine
Score: 9.5/10

In the time that its been since Daughters released “Hell Songs”, I have become accustomed to Sonic Youth’s feedback drenched droning, which makes the newest Daughters self-titled album even more enriching. Nicholas Sadler (who has since left the band and is playing in the lame indie band Fang Island) really knows how to get his guitar to tremble violently and lurch forward in the most disgustingly awesome way possible. I wouldnt call it a solo, but the musical bridge in “The First Supper” is something straight out of Steve Albini’s playbook. It pulses and pummels as if KMFDM partied with the Meat Puppets and “Family Man” era Henry Rollins took LSD and married them over a human sacrifice. For the second album in a row, vocalist Alexis Marshall croons and slowly drawls over the face pummeling noise attack, as compared to the throat shredding screams of his contemporaries and his own work for this band earlier in their career. He sounds like Tom Waits if he took hallucinogens instead of spent all of his time at the bar.

To call this grind music would be a total lie, and to call it noise rock would be to sell it short. Its some sort of hybrid that makes you feel like you got punched in the stomach. Even (comparatively) slower tracks like “The Hit” and “The Dead Singer” twist higher and higher until they collapse into broken down noise freakouts that I cant really wrap my mind around yet. “The Theatre Goer” riffs like a Black Sabbath track, but the guitar effects make it sound like its trapped in a tornado, which leads perfectly into the absolutely ridiculous opening guitar part to “Our Queens”. Pardon my lack of journalistic integrity here: holy shit. Daughters have once again created a noise rock masterpiece. This is a must hear.

-Visit Daughters
-Visit Hydrahead Records

Color Of Clouds – Brother

“Brother” is a song you might hear in that moment of stillness right before you die, or in that short period of time when you feel the ache your bones take on when you feel heart break coming on. I might be leading you astray because it’s not macabre in any sense of the word, it’s just that painfully breathtaking. Who would have thought that Brooklyn would become the make-up and lipstick of a burgeoning New York music scene? But it’s true. I have a feeling Color Of Clouds will have us all swooning and crooning their tunes in no time. This 3 piece has a debut album by the name of Satellite of Love coming out on April 6th, 2010. The album is a follow up to last year’s well-received EP The Look. “Color of Clouds is fronted by singer-songwriter and Moby touring partner Kelli Scarr with Dan Chen (Nicole Atkins & The Sea) on keyboard and Nate Greenberg on production. Amen.”

-Visit Color Of Clouds

——————————————

Woods – When I Was Gone

With the release of their new album At Echo Lake right around the bend, the musical prowess that is Woods has just released a lo-fi gritty mountain music rocker perfect for skinning dears or planting evergreen trees, and it’s called “I Was Gone”. Now you should no it’s short, and just when it gets going it ends, but that’s all the more reason to get into it. This song actually might be only a tidbit of the actual song. Maybe their publicist sent the short version of the song? It could be on purpose. In 2007 this NYC rock band released their last full length album At Rear House and now the world only has to wait a few May showers until full realization is ours.

-Visit Woods

N.A.M.B. bandleader Davide Tomat’s came up with a Playlist for us. He calls the list his “Detachment Session” and put notes to each song. The band is from beautiful Torino, Italy and recently released their debut album BMAN on February 23rd.

David Tomat “What am I listening to right now (detachment  session)”:

Sufjan Stevens – Year Of The Dragon (with Osso)
I love that song from “Enjoy your rabbit” but this new version taken from “Run Rabbit Run” is really amazing. That song played by the New York string quartet Osso is really, really cool!

Broken Social Scene – da da da
The pads..those voices, that feedback, those noises, that piano and all… the fluid stuff together with the punchy drums! A real cool contrast all throughout the song….

The Flaming Lips – The Ego’s Last Stand
Amazing…bass panned on the left with that slap delay on the right…strong punchy in line bass..really good sound…and the outro makes me fly nailed on the roof…reminds me of Pink Floyd

Steve Reich – Pulses (Music For 18 Musicians)
What can I say? I think there aren’t so many music pieces that can describe nature developments better than this. Nature pulses!

Ravel – Gaspard De La Nuit; 1. Ondine
Again..what should I say?…if someone hasn’t heard that music before, it’s time to do that… But I’m sure you all know about that! You know what I’m talking about!

The Beatles – Blue Jay Way
My favourite Beatles song ever! The mix is great! Voices on the left, drums and organ on the right…reverse effects and strings in the middle. Really psychedelic!

Grizzly Bear – I Live With You
It reminds me of old film and atmospheres…directly from old motion picture soundtracks but with punch in the middle! Really cool!

Boards of Canada – Music is Math
Since I bought this record (Geogaddi) I had to listen to this song at least one time a month… it’s something that brings me up in the universe. I had a car crash once listening to it…it was late in the morning…only me and the street…I was totally absorbed in it..and didn’t realize I was driving and that there was only a car waiting for the green light!

David Bowie – Subterraneans
Right now I’m still asking myself how could Bowie sing that melody at the end of the song…it’s like a melody coming from another song…like an outake voice.. but it sounds perfectly in it and perfectly out when it comes after more then 3 minutes of space super music…and then the voice goes away as it came!

Ennio Morricone – Un Uomo Da Rispettare
From the film “The Master Touch”. I never saw that film..I’ll do it for sure… but I made hundreds of films in my mind with that piece of music going around and listening to it again and again! Unbelievable.

Jonny Greenwood – Moon Trills
Pure music! No words! Love those tremolo strings!

La Monte Young – Day of the Antler [The Obsedioin Ocelot]
26 minutes of supreme musical meditation. Each time it starts I can’t stop it.. and it’s a big problem when you don’t have 26 minutes and it comes up on your iPod shuffle!

N.A.M.B. – L.O.N.

-Visit N.A.M.B.

We searched the web, and our emails to compile this list that will never quite be finished. Sites we give credit for helping us out are: metacritic.com, punknews.org, thesilentballet.com, pauseandplay.com, and billboard.com. If you are a band or label and would like to see your Album Release up here please contact us at – info at indierockreviews.com

March
3/1/10 – Dark Tranquility – We Are The Void
3/1/10 – The Specials – 30th Anniversary Tour
3/1/10 – Errors – Come Down With Me
3/1/10 – Loscil – Endless Falls
3/1/10 – Aaron Martin – Worried About the Fire
3/1/10 – Polar Bear – Peepers
3/1/10 – Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
3/1/10 – Sone Institute – Curious Memories
3/1/10 – These Monsters – Call Me Dragon
3/2/10 – Clogs – The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton
3/2/10 – Danny Elfman – Alice in Wonderland (Score)
3/2/10 – Sean Hayes – Run Wolves Run
3/2/10 – Seabear – We Built A Fire
3/2/10 – Rogue Wave – Permalight
3/2/10 – Man Overboard – Before We Met
3/2/10 – Mike Golden & Friends – Trees (EP)
3/2/10 – Peasant – Shady Retreat
3/2/10 – Jaguar Love – Hologram Jams
3/2/10 – Save Your Breath – Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy
3/2/10 – Portugal. The Man – American Ghetto
3/2/10 – A Weather – Everyday Balloons
3/2/10 – The Bled – Heat Fetish
3/4/10 – Stray Ghost – Nothing, But Death
3/6/10 – The Yellow Team – You’re Welcome World
3/6/10 – Tonight Alive – All Shapes And Disguises
3/8/10 – The Steel Wheels – Red Wing
3/8/10 – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil’s Tattoo
3/9/10 – Aloha – Home Acres
3/9/10 – Pavement – Quarantine The Past
3/9/10 – Hadoken – Luminary
3/9/10 – The Knife/Mt. Sims/Planningtorock – Tomorrow, in a Year
3/9/10 – Jason Collett – Rat A Tat Tat
3/9/10 – Jatun – Blanket of Ash
3/9/10 – Mountain Man – One
3/9/10 – Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – The Brutalist Bricks
3/9/10 – Crystal Antlers – Little Sister/Dead Horses
3/9/10 – John Powell – Green Zone (Score)
3/9/10 – Frightened Rabbit – The Winter Of Mixed Drinks
3/9/10 – Imperial China – Phosphenes
3/9/10 – Isles & Glaciers – The Hearts Of Lonely People
3/9/10 – Simulacra – There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood
3/9/10 – Demon Hunter – The World Is A Thorn
3/9/10 – Small Brown Bike – Composite, Vol.2 (7-inch)
3/9/10 – The Besnard Lakes – Are the Roaring Night
3/9/10 – Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions
3/9/10 – Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
3/10/10 – Jan Jelinek & Masayoshi Fujita – Bird, Lake, Objects
3/12/10 – Shaking Sensations – This Is Your Hellfire Religion! EP
3/13/10 – Rocky Votolato/Chad Price – Split
3/16/10 – The Whigs – In The Dark
3/16/10 – The Menzingers – I Was Born (single)
3/16/10 – You Me At Six – Hold Me Down
3/16/10 – Smoke On Fire – Prehistoric Knife Fight
3/16/10 – The Blue Resistance – The First Resistance
3/16/10 – Vultures United – Savages
3/16/10 – Eddy Current Supression Ring – Rush To Relax
3/16/10 – Brendan Kelly/Joe McMahon – Wasted Potential
3/16/10 – White Stripes – Under Great White Northern Lights

3/16/10 – From First To Last – Throne To The Wolves
3/16/10 – Dropkick Murphys – Live On Landsdowne
3/16/10 – Brand New – The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (vinyl)
3/22/10 -  Architect – Consume Adapt Create
3/22/10 – Autechre – Oversteps
3/22/10 – Fabio Orsi – Winterreise
3/22/10 – Harold Budd & Clive Wright – Little Windows
3/23/10 – She & Him – Volume Two
3/23/10 – Leatherface – The Stormy Petrel
3/23/10 – Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis
3/23/10 – Look Mexico – Bed To Battle
3/23/10 – Love Is All – Two Thousand and Ten Injuries
3/23/10 – Stephen Brodsky – Here’s To The Future
3/26/10 – Greg Haines – Until the Point of Hushed Support
3/29/10 – To Rococo Rot – Speculation
3/30/10 – Annuals – Sweet Sister (EP)
3/30/10 – Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee
3/30/10 – Greg MacPherson – Mr. Invitation
March TBA – Hammock – Chasing After Shadows … Living With the Ghosts
March TBA – Loveliescrushing – CRWTH (Chorus Redux)
March TBA – Metavari – Studies Volume One

April
4/1/10 – Ef – Mourning golden morning
4/5/10 – FNS – FNS
4/6/10 – Shark Speed – Education
4/6/10 – Doves – Best Of
4/6/10 – GBH – Perfume and Piss
4/6/10 – Red Sparowes – The Fear Is Excruciating
4/6/10 – Murder By Death – Good Morning, Magpie
4/6/10 – Kayo Dot – Coyote
4/6/10 – Elliott Smith – Basement On The Hill
4/13/10 – 108 – 18.61
4/13/10 – For.The.Win. – For.The.Win.
4/13/10 – The Flatliners – Calvalcade
4/13/10 – Japandroids – Art Czars/Racer x (7 inch)
4/13/10 – Bleeding Through – Bleeding Through
4/5/10 – Jonsi – Go
4/6/10 – Red Sparowes – The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer
4/16/10 – Dustin O’Halloran – Vorleben
4/19/10 – Manual – Drowned in Light
4/20 /10 – When the Clouds – The Longed-For Season
4/20 /10 – The Slackers – The Great Rocksteady Swindle
4/20 /10 – Sick Of It All – Based On A True Story

———————————————

Sleep Bellum Sonno - A House Of Spades

“A House Of Spades” could have made it on the soundtrack to the new Alice In Wonderland flick. Instead the people that came up with the tunes for that movie decided to put a bunch of watered down tracks on it instead of material worthy of such a tripped out subject. Needless to say “A House Of Spades” succeeds at entertaining even with duo vocals that are as opposite as day is to night but fit the odd composition well. I’m imagining people that are way into Cursive and mewithoutYou liking Sleep Bellum Sonno, let me know if I am wrong.

-Visit Sleep Bellum Sonno

———————————————

Sarah Kirkland Snider – Penelope

-Visit Sarah Kirkland Snider

1. Tell us about the band?
Hey battlefield is pretty much a rock band. Jason has a real bluesy approach. While Michael brings more of a jazz and rock attack. We don’t tailor the sound in any one way but I feel like we both give each other enough room to play our parts. We really try to focus on a guitar/vocals, drum, and bass lineup to keep it simple. We don’t believe in tons of effects, loops or what we would call noise. We try to keep it pure and simple with more subtle nuances that we hope come through in the songs.

2. Have you ever been fed up with playing music or with band members, why?
Being in a band is like any relationship. There are always issues about commitment and ego that are constantly popping up. Like being married but to 2 people instead of one!

3. What was your first concert experience? Do you remember how you felt once the concert was over?
Jane’s Addiction, I think it was at the Ritz, I was 14 and I was mesmerized, I needed to be up there!

4. Did you grow up wanting to play music, or when did the whole making albums thing come about and how?
I studied music from the time I was 7 with my grandfather who was a jazz trumpet player. Then I picked up the drums and guitar when I was around 11. It is something I have always done. Recording was a natural progression because it gives you the ability to control exactly how your sound is portrayed.

JR: I’ve been writing songs for as long as I can remember, and when I was very young I taught myself how to play the guitar and the piano. I don’t know how to read sheet music; I just play what sounds good to me, which gives me a lot of freedom to experiment. Being in the recording studio is always an education, I find it to be a hard process breaking down the songs like that into pieces, but its an important part of the journey, getting the music down and available for people to listen too.

5. What qualifies you guys to be in a band?
MS: I’m not sure that one can be qualified to be in a band. I think if you enjoy it or you NEED to do it then you do. That’s the only prerequisite as far as I’m concerned.

JR: Playing music isn’t really a choice for me; it’s just something that I have to do.

6. Do you have a favorite song you have ever written? Why?
They go in and out of favor all the time. Sometimes we love certain songs and later we will hate them and not play them for a while. It’s really about what kind of mood we are in I think.

7. What is your greatness weakness as a band?
This will sound cheesy but it might be that we take things very seriously. That has become a problem for Jason and I sometimes because we expect anyone we work with to have the same level of commitment. I think it can be hard for people when they come in to play with us though, feeling included can be an issue.

8. What qualities should a successful label or manager have?
They should be clever, beautiful and never take no for an answer (in a nice way) you can ask Maya our manager about that… she’s perfect for the job!

9. What’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to you in your life?
MS: I’ve had a few close calls. Probably surfing related for me.
JR: Being shot at one crazy night in Queens.

10. What’s the first thing you do when the band arrives in a new town while on tour?
Have a look around, put up flyers, find out where people are and promote the show if there’s time. Maybe see who else is playing or if there’s anything cool to check out. If we don’t have time, it’s straight to sound check and a beer.

11. Have you ever had an audience member give you the willies because they kept looking at you all weird?
There is this one person who shall remain nameless that shows up sometimes who gives us the creeps and acts like they are Jason’s best friends. Usually they take off after the beginning, which is also weird, they don’t always stay for the show…. a bit stalker vibe really…

12. Have you ever cried while listening to music? If so what were you listening too?
MS: Too many to count…. JR: Tom Waits gets me every time!

13. If you could re-record, or re-write any song of yours what would that song be?
All of them, recording are an ongoing process. I don’t think I ever listen to something we have done and think PERFECT! There are constantly changes happening in your head. It’s actually hard to settle in the end.

14. What’s the worst place you have ever played a show at, and why?
I think there are some terrible sound guys out there, wouldn’t blame it on the place. We’ve been pretty lucky.

15. In a perfect world how many albums would you have to sell to be happy?
As many as it took so that we could all be comfortable and felt like people really liked the music we made… couldn’t give a number. If we did this for accolades we would’ve quit years ago.

16. What do you guys have planned for the future?
Just really to keep playing and writing songs… more touring and playing more shows. That’s what we love to do.

17. What music do you listen to when you are having a bad day?
There’s actually a song that we do (Jason wrote it) that I listen to sometimes lately called “hell bent on you”, it’s actually very soothing to me. There are a couple though.

JR: Anything by The Pogues.

18. If you had your life to live over again, what one thing would you change?
I don’t believe in thinking that way… what would you change? If I lived thinking I wish I had or hadn’t I’d miss out on what was happening now. No regrets… what’s that line from the Butthole Surfers song? Its better to regret something you have done than something you haven’t done. And by the way….

Get To Know Hey Battlefield:
http://www.myspace.com/heybattlefield

1. Tell us about the band?
Well, there’s a lot to tell. We’ve been doing this together for a while now. Going on 5 years I think. Let’s just say we are four relatively average, slightly eccentric, wildly excited guys that get together at least once a week to play rock songs. We also get in a Ford Van (by Ol Elegante) and drive to rock clubs all around the U.S. We record new songs when it’s time to do that. Then we call Travis at the record label. He helps us a lot.

2. Have you ever been fed up with playing music or with band members, why?
There was this guy in my band one time. He was a dick.

3. What was your first concert experience? Do you remember how you felt once the concert was over?
Billy Idol. At the end of it I cried Monk.

4. Did you grow up wanting to play music, or when did the whole making albums thing come about and how?
When I was ten, I put two boom boxes face to face, covered them with pillows and made a copy of my sister’s Billy Squier tape. That’s the first thing I ever tried to record. It was exciting.

5. What qualifies you guys to be in a band?
I was the Captain of The Pinafore in 5th grade. Keelan was a great pitcher at Clanton high school. Lester had a mohawk and a reverse mohawk at the same time. Jake’s mom is originally from California.

6. Do you have a favorite song you have ever written? Why?
Country Roads by John Denver. John and I wrote that one after a long day of cross-country skiing. And there was a basset hound sleeping on the porch. I was talking to Yoko Ono the other day and she said sadly “I really miss John.” I know how she feels.

7. What is your greatness weakness as a band?
Folk music. We are NOT an alt-country band godplamit!

8. What qualities should a successful label or manager have?
A hard working, well intentioned, big tittied, people person who knows how to make things happen and believes in those he represents.

9. What’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to you in your life?
Keelan had a near death experience one time due to anesthesia complications while having hand surgery. He said that he saw the light. Seriously.

Vulture Whale – The Pipe

10. What’s the first thing you do when the band arrives in a new town while on tour?
Go to Ho Jo.

8:30 Leave HoJo to go to the club.

8:45-11:30 Standing around shooting the shit waiting for our turn to play.

11. Have you ever had an audience member give you the willies because they kept looking at you all weird?
David Baker. Before I knew him. And Trey from 13 Ghost. After I knew him.

12. Have you ever cried while listening to music? If so what were you listening too?
I have cried during many movies. I feel that the emotion that the music adds to the scene is one of the main jerkers of tears of all the elements in a movie.

13. If you could re-record, or re-write any song of yours what would that song be?
I put out a solo album in 2003 called “Chandelier”. It was a “learning experience”.

14. What’s the worst place you have ever played a show at, and why?
There have been many shows that we’ve had to chalk up to paying our dues. But, what makes any bad show worse is a.) You’ve traveled a long way to get there and b.) If the people at the club are flatly unfriendly. There are certain places that we’ve really grown to love because the people at the club are so great to us: The Hummingbird in Macon Georgia, The White Water Tavern in Little Rock, Arkansas, and The Bottle Tree here in Birmingham, AL all come to mind.

15. In a perfect world how many albums would you have to sell to be happy?
Happiness is complicated.

16. What do you guys have planned for the future?
SXSW parties in March, including the Birmingham party on Friday the 19th. We’re touring to Chicago at the end of March. New York in April. Then taking some time to record our 3rd full length.

17. What music do you listen to when you are having a bad day?

18. If you had your life to live over again, what one thing would you change?
I would not have kicked that kid in the balls when I was in fourth grade. Wherever you are, I’m sorry.

Get To Know Vulture Whale:
http://www.vulturewhale.com/

How is one to sift through all the seemingly endless amount of bands out there? Here’s the answer – you don’t have to because we do it for you. Each week we post the best new songs to download with only the click of a mouse and voila…. they show up on your desktop. You’re welcome.

Click Here To Download Grab Bag 10 (zip file)

Featuring new songs by these bands:
Cap’n Jazz – Messy Life
Child Abuse – Bebe
DumDum Girls – I Will Be
Flugente – It’s Not Just The Summer That Is Ending
La Roux – Quicksand
Money Brother – Born Under A Bad Sign
Pepper Rabbit – Red Wine
Quitzrow – The Cut
Woven Bones – Alright
Zechs Marquise – Chase Scene
Zechs Marquise – Sirenum Scopuli

The bird and the bee have teamed up with IRR to offer their fans a chance to win their upcoming cover album Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates, which is basically a love letter to famed “rock and soul” duo Hall & Oates.

Singer Inara George and multi-instrumental/producer Greg Kurstin, will release Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates, on March 23 courtesy of EMI’s Blue Note Records. The record will feature eight classic covers along with the original song “Heard It On The Radio.” the bird and the bee will also showcase the record with a performance at The El Rey in Los Angeles on March 5th.

To enter simply just fill out the form below. We will pick one of our followers at random in two weeks as our winner. Simple as that.

Track List:
Heard It On The Radio
I Can’t Go For That
Rich Girl
Sara Smile
Kiss On My List
Maneater
She’s Gone
Private Eyes
One on One

-Visit The Bird And The Bee:
http://www.thebirdandthebee.com/