R. Stevie Moore and Chris Oliver

Time Share is a song born out of the collaboration of legend R. Stevie Moore and long-time fan of his, and talented musician, Chris Oliver of The Solar System (recently profiled for DSK blog). It's really an exceptional song, quite unexpectedly funky and fun. Have a few listens HERE at the Sound Cloud page and enjoy!

The Solar System

Now to take the tempo down a bit, less frisky, more moody & trippy, I would like to introduce you to The Solar System. Basically the one-man project of Chris Oliver, originally from Detroit, Michigan, now in Warren, Chris was literally born into a musical family. His direction straight into music was pretty much laid out for him, you could certainly say. Learning drums at a very early age and playing drums in various bands kept him busy for years, then later he took up guitar, which he plays left-handed on his lap. Quite amazing already, it gets better: after delving into numerous styles of music, Chris began making his own signature sound of down-tempo, ambient tunes, which he has put into albums and EPs for us all to listen to, experience, and enjoy, all available on his Solar System Band Camp page.
The Solar System's music is all played by, recorded, and produced by Chris himself. The soundscapes are from dreams, light and airy, quiet and comtemplative. Many songs on the album Drawing A Blank are without lyrics, but a few do have words, like the gorgeous Surveillance Cam, which actually has a bit of folk to it. 1a3b4c5d has lyrics quietly sung over a trip-hop beat, always a favorite around DSK. Slightly darker Broken Silence is another highlight, with low keys topping a trippy undertow. Late Night Music, track 9, actually has some psychedelic influence with its Brian Jonestown Massacre-style guitars, then track 10, A Question, slips back into contemplative mode, quite and moody.
Listening to such varied artists as R. Stevie Moore, Tame Impala, Dumbo Gets Mad, Mr. Syd Barrett, Miss P.J. Harvey, and Neil Young, Chris keeps his influences always at hand, even though his music is quite original and nothing like any of the above-named artists. Striving for something atmospheric, he has succeeded with Drawing A Blank. Play it while you are relaxing late at night, needing only some ambient music to help along your escape from the day.

It's been quite a while since we've done a profile here at DSK, so I want to thank Chris Oliver for letting me into his Solar System, and letting me share it with you all, and for telling me what was happening in his music-loving life. Music lovers like we are, we have to stick together & spread the word. Check out The Solar System on Band Camp, Drawing A Blank is the album reviewed here, the rest of Chris's EPs are all there, too. Amazing cover art, by the way. Check it all out.

Dumbo Gets Mad

Easy-going, meandering, free-floating through space, rising and falling with the waves, Dumbo Gets Mad's album, Elephants At The Door, is an utterly psychedelic, hugely enjoyable trip through 40 minutes of space-time. The singles that have been circulating as teasers to the album, Plumy Tale and Eclectic Prawn, have made for a fantastic introduction to an album that most certainly does NOT disappoint, in fact, Elephants At The Door more than lives up to the promise of being high-in-the-clouds psychedelic, super-catchy, and insanely infectious. The album features male/female vocals in the style of psychedelic pop favored by contemporaries Minks and ZaZa. It's a lovely way to top music that is lush with layers of snappy drums, swinging guitars, loads of keyboards throughout. Self-esteem might just put you in the middle of Studio 54's dance floor. Raymond Play and You Make Me Feel are songs that would make Grizzly Bear jealous. The songs of Dumbo Get's Mad's debut album Elephant At The Door are so full surprises and fun, it's a repeater, for sure. With no more comparisons, I'll say this album is a huge winner in its own right, a fantastic debut from some talented Italians, and I thank them for this album!

Check the album out for yourself HERE.

A big THANK YOU from me to Bad Panda Records!

The Vandelles news

The Vandelles are gearing up for a wave of action this year, ready to bring their fuzzed-out signature garage surf rock this month to New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and later, to SXSW, all in anticipation to their next release, their Summer Fling EP. Excited? I am: I have been in love with this band ever since they made New York City their home base a few years back. I've been fortunate to see The Vandelles play around town many times, and have written about them in past years for this blog. Now it's time to get excited again and check out their first single Get Around and go see them play if you are in one of these places:
Sat Feb 5 - New York @ Piano’s
Fri Feb 25 - Philladelphia @ The Tritone w/ Invisible Days and Lux Perpetua
Sat Feb 26 - Baltimore @ The Granfalloon w/ Bad Liquor Pond and Invisible Days
and the SXSW event is March 16.
Make sure you revisit The Vandelles' previous releases, the self-titled EP, and the Del Black Aloha LP, available through iTunes and by following the links on their own blog: The Vandelles.
It's never to cold to catch the wave of surf with The Vandelles, so go get it!!

Disappears live at Cake Shop, NYC, 20 January, 2011

First off let me apologize for my lousy photos, as I was having trouble making my camera work on this night, but I still like to post a few of my own photos when I review a band's live performance for this blog! So apologies, now on with the review:

A good friend and huge fan of great music turned me on to Disappears music early last year, when their first album Lux came out. Lux quickly became one of my most-played albums, one that I always go back to, no matter what else I have been into at the moment. Lux has a quality that transcends your average guitar rock album. Disappears songs are most definitely of the post-punk style, an angular, tense, less-is-more style of music where the lyrics are more 'sharply-said' than sung. Brian Case and his extremely talented band mates have crafted songs that use strong, complex bass-lines and drums to carry hollow-body guitar reverb and sharp, quickly-delivered lead guitar and vocals, up to some serious heights of post-punk greatness. Disappears songs are full of swagger and attitude, and much of their music is down-right sexy. Disappears second studio-recorded release (they released Live Over the Rainbo shortly after Lux last year), called Guider, is a 6-song EP clocking in at 31 minutes, with half of those minutes being the final song Revisiting. Guider carries on what Lux began: Disappears exploration of guitars used as instruments to measure both space and time, with the bass and drums used to build the track that will run you into the WALL. It's quite a ride indeed.

The chance to see Disappears play live at tiny basement venue Cake Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side, was not something I wanted to miss. To say they exceeded my expectations is an understatement. The qualities I hear and feel when listening to their recordings were amped to the maximum: the swagger, the attitude, the tension, as these guys are so at the top of their game, it's gotta be heard in person to be believed. I felt like they were all four (Brian, Jonathon, Damon, and new drummer Steve) playing off the same brain, like they were all coming from exactly the same pinpoint in space and flowing out in all different directions, yet the sound is still tight as can be. It's really hard to explain, except to say that it sounds like they have always been playing these songs (most of the songs off Guider, 3 songs off Lux, and 2 songs that are as-of-yet-unreleased), forever. And it's not like they are using new tricks, it's that they each have their separate parts that they meld together so seamlessly and effortlessly, so each song is its own perfect post-punk creation. Disappears live is not to be missed, so check their 2011 tour dates for a place near you, both in the US and Europe. Disappears: they love what they do, and it shows.

Girlfriends

From Boston, Mass, comes Girlfriends, playing some of the absolute BEST garage rock I've heard all year. I can't seem to find much information about these guys (and girl?), except that they are a relatively new (past few years), unsigned band from Boston, MA, still playing only locally. I checked out their single called Gov't Seizure (backed with Creep Stuff) and it basically blew my mind, so I had to share. A raunchy romp & stomp of a single, sung with a fantastically drunken slur, this is a must-hear for garage rock fans. While at their Band Camp site, check out Girlfriends' EP, self-titled, and their other single, Good To Be True. While not as in-your-face-excellent as Gov't Seizure/Creep Stuff, those other releases are still great and show enough promise that just put this band on my permanent radar. They've got a lot of their songs up on their MySpace, too. I hope to hear a lot more from Girlfriends in 2011!

Audiodeluxe EP Release

Nice to hear from new favorite around here, Audiodeluxe, that their perfect-for-winter-time, warm, trippy, psychedelic tunes are now available on an EP. Self-titled, with five fantastic songs, their debut EP is right HERE on their Band Camp page. Go get it before the snow starts falling, it's PERFECT music for right now.........