Dec 19, 2008

Featured Album Fridays / Howling Bells – Radio Wars (2009)

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This week on Featured Album Fridays, I’m taking a look at Howling Bells’ new album, Radio Wars. I’ve received an advanced copy of the album as I understand it’s due to come out next year. I wholeheartedly enjoyed this album, and hope you guys give it a listen!

Howling Bells - Radio Wars

Here is the description of Howling Bells straight from Wikipedia:

Howling Bells are an Indie rock band formed in Sydney, Australia late 2004. Shortly after forming the band left for England. The band released their debut self-titled album in 2006 on Bella Union ^[1] and produced by Ken Nelson. It received much critical acclaim including a 9/10 in NME and 7.8/10 from Pitchfork. They spent much of the next 2 years touring Europe, Australia and parts of the US. Howling Bells played at the 2007 NME Awards show. They also performed at numerous festivals over the 2006 English summer including Reading/Leeds. They have supported US band The Killers and Placebo around Europe, as well as Snow Patrol on their Australian tour. Their song Low Happening is featured on the soundtrack to EA Sports Rugby 08. They recently completed their 2nd album, Radio Wars, with Dan Grech-Marguerat, who has engineered records alongside producer Nigel Godrich, including Radiohead, Air and Paul McCartney.

As per usual, I’ve allowed the streaming of this album, it’s got a lot of great sounding music! Hope you guys enjoy, please leave any comments you may have!

Dec 5, 2008

Featured Album Fridays / Annuals – Such Fun (2008)

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I’m doing this a little earlier compared to last week – I actually got it in during a Friday! Great album this week, it is Annuals’ Such Fun album released in 2008.

Here is the description of Annuals, straight from their Wikipedia:

Annuals is a six-piece indie-pop outfit from Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band was started by Adam Baker in 2003 as a side project of the still active sister band Sunfold, formerly known as Sedona and headed up by lead guitarist Kenny Florence.

Ace Fu Records signed Annuals in the fall of 2005 and then released their debut LP Be He Me on October 17, 2006. The members of Annuals are also all deeply involved in their own music-business venture,Terpsikhore Records, which is owned by benefactor J.K. Horne. Terpsikhore released Annuals’ first demo, titled “Lay Down Dry”, in the summer of 2005, as well as the Git’ Got EP in the summer of 2006.

Annuals appeared as the #25 entry in Pitchfork Media’s “Infinite Mixtape” series with their song “Brother”, and have also made appearances on Spin.com, AOLMusicIndie.com, Stereogum, I Guess I’m Floating, the Underrated, Brooklyn Vegan, and EarFarm (among others) – earning them a newfound reputation for being a “blog band.” They are frequently compared to the Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, and Broken Social Scene and are known for their intense live shows.

They made their national television debut on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and recently came back in October of 2008 for a second show, playing the title track from Such Fun, “Confessor.”

The January 24, 2007 episode of Veronica Mars (“Show Me the Monkey”) used a large portion of the song “Fair”.

Annuals’ sophomore album, Such Fun, was released on October 7, 2008.

Here’s the streaming album, take a listen and leave a comment if you enjoy it!

Nov 29, 2008

Featured Album Fridays / Headlights – Some Racing, Some Stopping (2008)

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Alright, so I kinda missed Friday by 30 minutes, but it’s okay, I had a busy day. This week, Headlights’ 2008 album, Some Racing, Some Stopping.

Here is their description from Wikipedia:

Headlights is an American indie rock band from Champaign, Illinois. The band was formed following the dissolution of Absinthe Blind, when members Erin Fein, Seth Fein and Brett Sanderson formed a band named Orphans. It was only when Tristan Wraight started writing songs with Fein that Headlights was formed.

Headlights released The Enemies EP in 2004, and followed that up in 2006 with a split single with Canadian indie rock band The Most Serene Republic. Later in 2006, the band released their debut album, Kill Them with Kindness, which has received generally positive reviews. Nick Sanborn (of Decibully) and John Owen (of fellow Champaign group Shipwreck) joined the group during the summer of 2007. In 2008, their third album, Some Racing, Some Stopping, was released.

Enjoy the streaming album below guys:

Nov 21, 2008

Featured Album Fridays / Bowerbirds – Hymns For a Dark Horse (2007)

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Another week, another album! This week, I’m sharing Bowerbird’s album – Hymns For a Dark Horse.

Here’s a description straight from Wikipedia:

Bowerbirds are a nu-folk band from Raleigh, North Carolina. The band members are Beth Tacular, Phil Moore and Mark Paulson. Their debut album, Hymns For a Dark Horse (Burly Time Records, 2007), received favourable reviews. Bowerbirds have toured in support of The Mountain Goats, with John Darnielle referring to the band as his “new favorite band in forever”.

Hymns For a Dark Horse was released in 2007, and if you are interested in purchasing it, you can find it here. And here’s the stream:

As per last week, comment if you enjoy the album.

Nov 14, 2008

Featured Album Fridays / DeVotchKa – How It Ends (2004)

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Welcome to the newest segment on JonLim.ca – Featured Album Fridays! I’ve decided to take every Friday and utilize it for something useful – sharing music that you may not have heard before.

This week – DeVotchKa’s How It Ends album. I selected it because I heard How It Ends from the Last Day commercial for Gears of War 2 and decided to check out their other music. Here’s a description of DeVotchKa straight from Wikipedia:

DeVotchKa is a four piece multi-instrumental and vocal ensemble that fuses Romani, Greek, Slavic, Bolero, Mariachi (and many more styles) music with American punk and folk roots. They take their name from Anthony Burgess’ Nadsat word for “young girl,” which is itself derived from the Russian word (девочка) of the same meaning. Based in Denver, Colorado, the quartet is made up of Nick Urata, who sings and plays theremin, guitar, bouzouki, piano, and trumpet; Tom Hagerman, who plays violin, accordion, and piano; Jeanie Schroder, who sings and plays sousaphone and double bass; and Shawn King, who plays percussion and trumpet.

The How It Ends album was released in 2004, and for those interested, you can purchase it here. Or you can just stream it below!

Enjoy! Be sure to comment if you like the album!