We’re getting close to being just a mere month away from the full-length release of Anderson East‘s “Flowers of the Broken Hearted” (out on Sept. 18), and to commemorate that, I had to share this awesome video of Anderson performing the title track from the album for Balcony TV that he filmed recently. He’s one of only two solo acts that Cause A Scene has had play at the house more than once so far (Rebecca Roubion is the other), and for good reason. His smokey, raspy vocals are just too dang good not to get attached to them and he is really one of the ‘good guys’ in the Nashville music scene. The performance is refreshing and the host puts it perfectly (I think?) at the end, saying “So you got me. I didn’t expect to sound like that when I looked at you.” Anderson certainly has much, much more soul than you would think at first glance. Hope you enjoy the video, and be sure to be on the lookout for his new double album out next month.
ALSO, Anderson, along with another Cause A Scene house show guest, Holley Maher, Levi Weaver and Weaver At The Loom will be playing TONIGHT at The Rutledge. Details here.
Summertime is slinking past. We’ve been so busy wiping the sweat from our eyes, it’s hard to believe August is here. Maybe I’m losing it a bit, but it seems as if each summer gets a little bit hotter, a bit murkier. This awareness might be chalked up to growing older and less giddily distracted by the popsicle, fireworks glory of summer. Whatever the reason, this summer has been stifling and few things have provided that cooling relief.
Surprisingly, one of my sole comforts has been music; in particular, the music of Pure Bathing Culture. I have managed to convince myself of the value found in that old adage, “mind over matter.” The mellow, ambient notes of their self-titled debut EP play a lovely and somewhat cruel trick. My ears tell me that I am tranquilly drifting down a lazy river, drinking coconut water. They also tell me that I am being filmed for a scene in a John Hughes film and that I belong to a group of high school misfits, who have run away to spend a perfect summer together at the beach. Then the four-song EP stops and I realize I am still a twenty-two year old working three summer jobs. Plus, it’s 101 degrees outside.
The nostalgic tones of this Portland-based band’s music are unique and lovely in their escapist stylings. With a move from New York to Portland, band members Daniel Hindman and Sarah Versprille also made a bit of an escape. Transitioning from years as members of Brooklyn band Vetiver, the duo wanted to create something fresh and uplifting in its newness. This new place, and new sound approach has revitalized their music and allowed Pure Bathing Culture to craft a short but dreamy album that leaves you wishing it would go on. Consequently, you find yourself listening over and over.
The first song I heard from Daniel and Sarah was an acoustic version of “Ivory Coast,” filmed by Natural Beardy for a Beardy Session. The song instantly drew me in with its honest hopefulness. Sarah’s unadorned voice reminded me of a classic 1950’s songbird. A stripped down, relatable Zooey Deschanel. A voice and a singer we can love because she wishes and dreams as we do. She has great bangs as well.
In their single, “Ivory Coast,” Sarah warmly croons about a love that will stand the test of time, “I know that you will love me till my eyes do close, you’re what I love the most.” Daniel’s gentle harmonies affirm Sarah’s hope that there will always be someone for her. The duo’s music reminds listeners of the importance of dreams, that hope is a necessary beauty. Also, that we just might survive this hot, hot summer.
Pure Bathing Culture is currently touring the West Coast, playing shows with the likes of Bryan John Appleby and Y La Bamba. You can order their EP from Father/Daughter Records.
(A big welcome back to Molly Williams who has been busy helping out with a lot of things behind the scene for Cause A Scene. Today we bring you a band that Molly (and the rest of us, quite frankly) simply cannot get enough of, Milo Greene.)
Daydreaming outside surrounded by summer breezes. Cool night drives with the windows down. Rainy Saturday mornings curled up on the couch. All of the above are acceptable and ideal scenarios for listening to Milo Greene’s self-titled debut full-length album. I have been anxiously awaiting the release of this album since the first time I saw this video – a true representation of the band’s ability to effortlessly create a concept that’s unmatched right now.
The original three college classmates evolved into a LA-based quintet that will catch you off guard with their unmatched sound – backed by just enough throaty sound and instrumental depth to pack plenty of emotion. I can’t help but hear a touch of Local Natives’ distant yet euphoric harmonies accompanied by clattering drums and reverbed guitars along with hints of Fleet Foxes’ ability to transport you away from the everyday and into a pastoral dreamland with honest poetic lyrics sung by lush and natural voices. Add in a dose of Of Monsters and Men’s propelling, catchy lyricism and you have the making of a band that is sure to be adopted by the masses looking for a perfect summer soundtrack.
This album has been on repeat in my car, house, office, and headphones since it was released last Tuesday and there’s still no sign of boredom. Each track offers something unique, whether it’s a track like Son My Son with the perfect pitch of Marlana Sheetz’s smooth vocals or one of the various instrumental tracks that offer seamless transitions like Polaroid.
The harmonies Milo Greene create are hypnotic and seem perfectly described by the Autumn Tree lyric “now I’m off to dream” as the distant melancholic voices build, surrounded by innovative drum work and acoustic guitars. Perfectly Aligned perfectly features Milo Greene’s wind-swept sound that builds to a drum-led anthem. The development of sound from track to track can carry you through a range of emotions like few albums can. It’s neither happy nor sad – it’s a perfect in-between to match any day.
I have finally found my solution to the rut of same-old-same daily soundtracks and have found an intriguing album that will take me from summer to fall to winter to spring on light-hearted harmonies and rich sounds that can be paired with any day, mood, or season. Milo Greene is on to something and I’m anxious to see where their talent takes them. Tonight’s appearance on The Late Show with Dave Letterman certainly shouldn’t hurt their chances of breaking out in a major way.
(I was first introduced to this artist by Paige Newton of Austin-based Paige Newton Photography when I asked her what Texas bands were must-listens for her. Shakey Graves rolled off her tongue before I even finished asking the question, and since then I’ve been hooked on the music that Alejandro Rose-Garcia creates so effortlessly. When I asked my friend Brittany Price, who also currently resides in Texas, to write on an artist she was currently addicted to, her response was almost as immediate as Paige’s several months ago. I think you’ll take to Shakey Graves just as quickly.)
We recognize a place in the way a person speaks. Whether it’s their inflection, local vocabulary or simply the way words seem to roll off the tongue, we know. In a group of people, it hardly takes minutes before we point to the Georgian and the Boston native. West coast-ers can pick out someone from the east coast without laying eyes on them. It works both ways.
Say what you will, there’s a certain beauty in being so closely tied to your home. It’s a unique weight that shows up with each word. Music is no different. With a few strums, taps or snaps, a musician takes his audience home.
Although I grew up in Georgia, Texas has become my home in the past few years. My ears have learned the difference between a Georgia drawl and a Texas twang. I’ve also come to know and love the gritty, raw pluck of Texas musicians.
In my mind, no modern musician embodies true, deep Texas soul as well as Alejandro Rose-Garcia, aka Shakey Graves. This Austin native sings stories in his uniquely Texan way. They’re a little rough-around-the-edges but it’s difficult to imagine his gravelly voice painting any other sort. Plucking at his guitar, the musician belongs to a one-man-band, keeping beat with a rigged up kick-drum and tambourine combo. Although he sings about places from California to Georgia, the rattle in Shakey Graves‘ serious, but never-too-serious, voice always points us back to his roots.
In fact, everything about the musician speaks to his southern roots. Usually dressed in 1940’s style suspenders, slacks and fedora, this Texas boy makes sure to pair the ensemble with his old, broken-in cowboy boots. His stage name, Shakey Graves, was created while joking with friends around a campfire and it stuck.
If you dig Jack White’s grit, The Tallest Man on Earth’s stories and the homemade sound of The Lumineers, you’ll fall for Shakey Graves. Every song will have you tapping your toes and turning the volume up just a bit louder. You may also experience an inexplicable desire to get into some trouble, just a little. In this situation, we will assume no legal responsibility for what happens next.
Currently, Shakey Graves is touring within his home state of Texas. We’re hoping that one day soon he’ll get the urge to head up towards Nashville. We can handle his brand of soul, we think.
Years ago when I lived in Birmingham, I remember spending hours and days painting my bedroom, with original 1950s beadboard walls and all, whilst simultaneously diving headfirst into the dream pop of Beach House. I’m not sure if it was my first foray into the genre, but the unintentional mixture of the duo’s hypnotizing beats and vocals and the slightly intoxicating paint fumes made for a chimerical combination that is probably the closest I’ll ever come to having an out-of-body experience. Fast forward a handful of years to present day, and the duo’s latest release was all but slated to be my early pick for Album of the Year. That was, until Seattle-based Lemolo came along with their debut album “The Kaleidoscope” and completely relegated Beach House to the #2 spot with an album that is all at once a profound, haunting, sublime, glistening, enchanting listen. It’s an album perfectly suited to soundtrack the summers of bronzed youth from coast to coast. Picture yourself taking an inflated tube down a lazy river, slowly winding to and fro without too many doglegged stretches of water and you have an album perfectly suited to be your guide along the way.
Lemolo, comprised of 25-year-old Meagan Grandall and 22-year-old Kendra Cox, have created quite the buzz in the Pacific Northwest, opening for indie darlings The Head and the Heart on several of their West Coast dates and at Bumbershoot and Dave Matthews Band’s Caravan Festivals. At the tail end of June, they sold out Seattle’s Columbia City Theatre for not one but two album release shows, selling out the first in a mere 11 hours. The only band to sellout the venue quicker for a debut album? Oh, just Fleet Foxes(!!). You may have heard of them. Just this past week when they officially released “The Kaleidoscope” on their website and in select stores in and around Seattle, they placed #1 on the top sellers list for Seattle’s Sonic Boom Records, outpacing Fiona Apple, Tallest Man on Earth, Jack White and The Walkmen, among others. I could go on and on about this band and how promising I believe their career is going to be, but the truth is, all you need to do is listen to them and their music will do much, much more to convince you of that than my words ever will. But be warned, once you start listening, you won’t want to wake up from this kaleidoscopic dream.
