March « 2012 « Knox Road

[Abby’s Road] Unjust Conclusions

I love Saturdays. Saturday mornings especially. No husbandly iPhone alarm blaring, slow to rise, leisurely grazing on fatty brunch food and celebrity guest DJ hour on my favorite local radio station. I find it fascinating to hear what makes an artist tick and how often the music selected seems to be in total contradiction to what they themselves produce. Last Saturday I was disgusted and excited to find that everyone’s favorite Frenchies, Justice, were spinning the wax fantastic. Intrigued, I settled in.

First, a little background. When I first heard the D.A.N.C.E single several years ago I was hooked. The genius video drove the point home that these dudes were on top their game. Shortly thereafter I watched “A Cross the Universe” and all the love I had turned into disappointing crippling intestinal pain and nausea. What a-holes.

Nevertheless, I reserve the right to have a love/hate (imaginary) relationship with both Augé and de Rosnay, my emotions dependent upon their future records and public behavior. With the release of Audio, Video, Disco late last year I, once again, wear a crown of hearts and bluebirds for the bastards. At first listen I was elated as I proclaimed it “ELO-ish”. But would the DJing escapade ruin them in my eyes yet again?

No fucking chance. They were brilliant.

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Lee

[MP3] Digits: “So Cold”

He’s baaaack. Digits (aka Alt Altman) returns with his soothing electronic jazz pop (does that sufficiently describe the sound?) on his latest single, “So Cold.”

Digits – “So Cold” [MP3]

Digits on the web | […]

Lee

Coed Pageant

What kind of music do you think would go with the above photo?

Exactly.

The Winter Blitz, Coed Pageant’s debut EP, is Volume 1 in a four-part series, The Seasons EPs, to be released throughout 2012.

Coed Pageant on Bandcamp | […]

Jamie

[Hype Hype Hooray] How 9/11 Changed Rock ‘n’ Roll, Part 2

Jamie normally snarks on the music industry and the indie blog scene, but for the next three installments he will explore how the attacks on September 11 changed the course of rock music (note: he’s not talking about pop music, just rock). I know it’s about 9/11, but don’t get all weird about […]

Lee

Rem’s Floating Chandelier releases new album, Think Of The Willows

It wasn’t so long ago I first wrote about Rem’s Floating Chandelier, a Virginia trio that began within the past year. They had some superb songs to start things off on the right foot, and now they’ve returned with the could-you-be-more-ambient? full length Think Of The Willows. (Though, it looks like this time […]

Adam

Hanging out with Pearl and the Beard

Gracing the cover of Pearl and the Beard’s excellent second album, Killing The Darlings, is a sweater made for three people. While this seems like merely a cute, simple way of pointing out that the band has three members, it is actually a completely definitive representation of the trio. Pearl And The Beard is truly a three-headed monster, with no lead singer and no head songwriter, but instead three unique personalities and people who started as strangers, then collaborated to make incredible music, and to become, as singer and drummer Jocelyn Mackenzie put it, “family.”

I had the pleasure of interviewing Pearl and the Beard on Friday, just before their incredible show at the Rock and Roll Hotel in D.C. Due to the band’s charming personalities, it felt less like an interview and more like hanging out with friends. Jocelyn, Emily Hope Price, and Jeremy Styles were all gracious, kind, and willing to talk about anything. In our conversation, we discussed the band’s origin story, their songwriting process, and their reflections on the level of success they’ve achieved.

Pearl and the Beard – “Sweetness” [MP3]

Coming Together

Jocelyn met Jeremy at an open mic night in NYC. ” I heard people playing songs,” she said, “and I thought to myself ‘oh no, it’s open mic night, this is gonna be terrible, get me out of here!’ But then I heard Jeremy playing and he was fantastic.” The two talked and traded numbers, and soon started playing and singing together. At another open mic night they heard Emily sing and play the cello, and were “blown away.” Says Jeremy, “I literally said to Jocelyn, ‘I have to steal her.’”

“Stealing her” was a great decision, too – the ferocious sound of Emily’s cello has proven to be one of Pearl and the Beard’s defining elements.

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