Known as half of the heartbreak folk duo The Swell Season, Marketa Irglova is no stranger to the music industry. In fact, together with Glen Hansard, they won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Falling Slowly” from the movie “Once” which they both starred in as well. As a solo artist, Marketa Irglova can hold her ground as she is known for her sentimental songs.
The term DIY is a word that has been thrown a lot to describe a myriad of things – home improvement projects, clothing, and even in music. However, some bands confuse DIY with “we-made-this-album-ourselves-which-is-why-it-sounds-like-crap”. But not Radiator Hospital. Their second album, Torch Song is a polished 15-track output from this awesome Philadelphia band.
Seabright’s layered, dreamy blend of pop and electronica is steered by artist Justin Morales. Bringing into his music the lazy, hazy and sunny landscape of his hometown California, Seabright is the perfect tune to zone out and let go.
Dubbed by BBC as “The Manila band most likely to cross over to the lucrative Anglophone market of North America”, Up Dharma Down (UDD as they are called by their legions of fans) is among the heavyweights of the music industry back in its hometown Philippines. If you are just wondering how big UDD is, just imagine this – they have opened for big time foreign bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Incubus, Bloc Party, The xx, Tegan and Sara, among many others. This is proof of their ability to draw crowds everywhere they play and the trust given to them by many concert producers to open for bands with much more accomplished resumes.
TW Walsh is not exactly a newbie. Aside from being the only other original member of the band < Pedro the Lion (the other being frontman David Bazan), he has also made a name for himself as a producer. He is known for being prolific, proven by mastering over 40 EPs and LPs in a single year. He is a producer to music stalwarts such as Sufjan Stevens, The Mynabirds, and Crystal Skulls. His album Songs of Pain and Leisure is his way of leaving the shadows and taking charge of his own musical career.
For fans of Moby Dick and music, rejoice! The Lighthouse and the Whaler is a band from Cleveland, Ohio that took its name from the Herman Melville classic. This collaboration between two musicians – Aaron Smith and Michael LoPresti – who just wanted to create music outside their basement, has now come up with a vibrant EP that will surely make a mark to its listeners.
balacade is Andrew Reynolds, a one-man act from Canada that has been producing records back in high school. He cites Sparklehorse, Neil Young and Elliott Smith as his influences and you can tell easily from the music he has produced that he leans towards indie folk genre. Julie EP contains songs that are all written, recorded and played from 2011 – 2014 on 4-track tape machines. This is why the songs have this real, bedroom songs feel to it that makes balacade songs more sincere as they already are.
The Kaiser Chiefs has suffered a great change in their band line up when their drummer, Nick Hodgson, decided to call it quits via an unexpected exit. Shots were fired, explanations were given and now that the air has cleared, The Kaiser Chiefs can go back to the thing they do best – make good old rock ‘n roll music.
