Author Archives: Dylan Summers

[Indie Folk] The Tinder Box – These Winds

Posted by Dylan Summers - November 7, 2012

Ladies and gentleninjas, please welcome to the stage The Tinder Box. They bring with them acoustic timbre and pounding rhythms. The threesome hails from Sioux Falls and they’re a young act — in fact, they only just recently released their first studio work, These Winds EP, last February — but it looks as though they are here to stay. With acoustic guitars, banjos, trumpets, and kick drums they present to you their take on bluegrass/folk — and it isn’t half bad. “These Winds,” is an excellent example of The Tinder Box’s anthem-like, bluegrass sound. Pulsing kick-drums align with your heart beat and long-winded vocals set the mood just right for epicness (if you’re in to that sort of thing.) For those of you looking for some rad new acoustic music, look no further.

’The Tinder Box
These Winds’

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The Tinder Box is a band you should definitely check out. They show promise in an age where promise is running thin and although there are no set dates made public I foresee a new release in the near future.

[Indie] Blue Boats – I Am The Only One

Posted by Dylan Summers - November 5, 2012

A few days ago Blue Boats released a new ditty. It’s a great jam. It’s balance of chill elements and emotionality make it a stimulating track for both the mind and body. Danceable yet cognitive, energetic yet relaxed, and overall considerate in terms of authenticity and originality. A listen is not too likely to disappoint if its low-key indie you’re desperately turning your dial to find. And if you feel inclined to hear more, Blue Boats recently released Summer’s Down in September with label Brapscallions.

’Blue Boats – I Am The Only One’

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Alternative/Rock

Regina Spektor – How (Video)

Posted by Dylan Summers - October 22, 2012

What more can I say about Regina Spektor that has not yet already been said. A beautiful voice with equally pleasing piano panderings are what we have come to expect from the lovely singer/songwriter. “How,” is a heartfelt, and somewhat heart-wrenching, love ballad of longing. Haven’t we all let someone go we wished we hadn’t? Spektor muses on the prospect of bouncing back while director Margo Weathers juxtaposes close-ups of Spektor with floating visual metaphors. Black and white wraps it up nicely with an appropriate lack of color one feels when they’ve lost someone despite all of their best effort.

“How” is a track from Spektor’s new release, What We Saw From the Cheap Seats. It’s available just about anywhere!

’Regina Spektor – How’

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Folk

[Indie] Lost in the Trees – Villain (I’ll Stick Around) (Video)

Posted by Dylan Summers - October 9, 2012

In 2010 we received All Alone in an Empty House from North Carolina natives, Lost in the Trees. Today, it’s A Church That Fits Our Needs, and it’s wonderful. It’s been likened to the intense abstract nature of Radiohead and the sentimentality of Bon Iver‘s For Emma, Forever Ago. The album is no doubt emotionally intense and riveting. The depth of each track is quite expansive and it simply gets a listener thinking. “Villain” is an excellent example of these notions. It’s straight forward in it’s poignancy and really gets on a provocative level of abstract tenderness. The video here captures well the air of the track. It’s interestingly beautiful and intriguing. But just don’t take my word for it, watch it and see for yourself.

Get your copy of A Church That Fits Our Needs now via ANTI-/Trekky Records!

[Indie Rock] Kopecky Family Band – Heartbeat

Posted by Dylan Summers - September 27, 2012

“Heartbeat,” the outstanding single from Kopecky Family Band‘s first official full-length album, Kids Raising Kids, was recently unleashed into the musical universe. My guess is this clap-driven single is only a small taste of the gritty yet smooth rock n’ roll to come from the Nashville sextet who, by the way, was voted as one of the top 20 bands of 2011 by Paste Magazine. While you wait for the debut record to drop on October 23rd, kick it with frontman Kelsey Kopecky and the gang here — although they are not literally familial, I’m sure they will welcome you as a long lost cousin — ’cause “Heartbeat” will make you feel right at home.

’Heartbeat – Kids Raising Kids’

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[Indie] Taken by Trees – Horizon

Posted by Dylan Summers - September 26, 2012

I suppose this song matches the way your head feels when you meander into morning after a sleepless night. Thoughts are hazy and muddled. Your whole alignment is slightly off. “Horizon,” written and recorded by Taken by Trees for their upcoming sophomore album Other Worlds, is sprinkled with psychedelic off-pitches which clamor and reverberate around your head as if they are bouncing off the walls at the bottom of a wishing well. Get it together, ninjas. Victoria Bergsman is knocking. And she’s brought new music (since leaving The Concretes in 2006, she’s released albums under the Taken By Trees moniker; her last album was 2009’s East of Eden). Enjoy! And don’t forget to check out these other recently released tracks: “Large” and “Dreams“.

Remember! Other Worlds comes out October 2nd via Secretly Canadian. It’ll be a hoot.

[Indie Folk] Simone Felice – War Movie

Posted by Dylan Summers - September 13, 2012

Make no mistake, autumn is in the air. As summer comes to a close and the sun loses some of his lasting light and warmth, there are those music fans who lean toward mood-matching music. While some cling to that wild-and-free feeling that lingers toward season’s end, colder and darker days encourage some of us to become less energetic and more low-key, introspective. For those of you who can relate to this feeling of winding down, lend a listen to a track called “War Movie” by former Felice Brothers drummer, Simone Felice. His solo project will grab you by the ears, and its story will make you pause and even think for some time, and its mellow mood matches the lyrical meanderings about the war-like elements of life. You owe it to yourself to hear Felice out.

’Simone Felice – War Movie – free download from forthcoming New York Times EP (GBLDH1200035)’

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You can hear more from Simone Felice if you check out his earlier material with The Felice Brothers, his current band endeavors with The Duke and The King, or you can follow his new solo work (of which includes “War Movie”) when he releases New York Times: a digital EP set to release October 22nd via Reveal Records.