My Music Monday: GvsB5 Lineup

I have been having a rough time coming down from that amazing Peter Hook & The Light show from last Friday in Dallas so today is an exciting day because the first lineup for GvsB5 was just announced! Gorilla vs. Bear is one of my favorite music blogs out there that I discovered a few years ago thanks to Blog Radio on Sirius XMU and if you're into new music, you definitely need to pay them a visit. For the last five years, the GVB gang has hosted a night of music at the Granada Theater in Dallas. Past lineups have included The Chromatics, Glass Candy, Grimes, and Panda Bear. I have been anxiously awaiting this year's lineup because I was hoping it would include a certain band from Baltimore and Chris certainly delivered. Not only will Lower Dens be performing, but the lineup will also include Jamie XX from the band The XX, Yumi Zouma, Tei Shi, and Prince Innocence. More bands will be added in the following months. And because GVB has grown over the past few years, this year's fun will not only include The Granada Theater in Dallas on Friday, July 31st, but will also head over to The Mohawk in Austin on Saturday, August 1st. Tickets will go on sale this Friday! And I will see you in Austin GvsB5!

Today's My Music Monday features the bands from today's GvsB5 lineup announcement starting with my current loves, Lower Dens. This band came into my life a few years ago thanks to a suggestion from a friend who knows me and my music tastes pretty well. I dug their sound initially, but it wasn't until their latest release Escape from Evil that I have absolutely fallen in love with this band. I've said it before that bands and songs seem to find me at the right moment, and this album deals a bit with relationships and Jana Hunter's lyrics basically say everything I've wished I'd been able to say to someone about how I felt about them. The first single released, "To Die in L.A.", immediately captured my heart with it's throwback synth sound and melodic guitars. The video was filmed in L.A. and also carries that '80s vibe and even features a cameo from fashion designer Marc Jacobs. Since I have listened to the album about 500 times by now, it is definitely in my top albums for the year. I will do a feature post on Lower Dens later but for now here is the first single from that album.

Another band that came into my life I believe at the recommendation of that same friend was The XX. Since their last album release, one of the members, Jamie XX, has been working on a new solo album entitled In Colour which will be released in the near future via Young Turks records. In anticipation of the album, Jamie has released a few tracks, one of which,"Loud Places", features fellow XX bandmate Romy Madley Croft on vocals. Upon the lineup announcement today, a new video for the track "Gosh" just debuted and features the same house, electronic sound as his other tracks. 

Tei Shi is an artist I'm only recently discovering thanks to GVB. She recently took over the music blog's website for a day which allowed fans to get a deeper sense of her style. Her EP Verde is available in a digital format with physical releases slated for May. I am quickly falling in love with her sound. 

Yumi Zouma is another recent discovery. I haven't been able to catch Chris' show on Thursdays too much lately, but did get a chance to listen some last week and heard this track. Are you able to see a trend here with sounds today? 

Prince Innocence is an artist I hadn't heard of until today. They seem to have been around for a few years and have sort of a chill electronic sound. I chose an older track from them today called "To My Right" because it flowed well with the other tracks from today. 

My Music Monday: Johnny Jewel

I had originally planned for a different band to be featured today to go along with a theme for next week, but then something awesome happened last week. Anyone that knows me knows that I kind of have a slight love for Ryan Gosling. Aside from those boyish good looks, I appreciate his ways of approaching films and he also has pretty great taste in music as there is this lovely photo of him and my rebel brother iAN out there from a BRMC show in L.A. from years ago. Plus he just seems like a really cool guy to hang out with. Ryan has recently made his directorial debut with the film "Lost River", released last Friday in limited theaters, including Austin, as well as On Demand. Knowing my love for Ryan and how I had been anticipating the release of this movie, a friend informed me that Gosling would be in Austin at the Alamo Draft House conducting a Q&A session in addition to the film being shown. Tickets quickly sold out for that showing, but then a later showing was announced that would feature a live introduction to the movie by Ryan himself so of course I immediately purchased my ticket and I am so excited to say that Thursday evening, weather permitting since that seems to be my curse with ATX lately, I will be making a burn & turn trip to see my beloved Ryan Gosling and the film "Lost River", which features a soundtrack composed by another favorite of mine, Johnny Jewel.

I first discovered Johnny Jewel from Gosling's movie "Drive" which was released back in 2011. The native Houstonian is the mastermind behind synth-pop bands that I have come to adore, The Chromatics, Desire, Glass Candy, and Symmetry. He was originally Gosling's first choice to compose the score for that film, but director Nicolas Winding Refn decided to go a different route and instead featured songs by Jewel's bands. It's no secret that Jewel's music helped create the atmosphere for the movie so when Gosling was setting out on his first endeavor as a film director, he contacted his old friend and asked him to score the soundtrack. "Lost River" is a film that is described as a "dark fairy tale about love, family and the fight for survival in the face of danger." The film opens with the song "Tell Me", featuring actress Saoirse Ronan who plays "Rat" in the film. The song serves as sort of a lullaby that Rat sings to herself every night as a way to deal with everything dark going on around her. The story behind recording the song is that Saoirse was in L.A. doing voice overs for the film and Ryan contacted Johnny to get the track laid down. Ronan had never recorded a pop song before and was very nervous to sing so Jewel and Gosling barricaded themselves with Ronan in a kitchen at the sound stage where they were recording and with nothing but an 8-track and a single microphone, the trio turned off all the lights, sat on the floor and the moment was captured. It is a lovely song reminiscent of something that would have been on "Twin Peaks" and I have been listening to it non-stop since it was first released two weeks ago. The soundtrack will be released on Jewel's Italians Do it Better label and will include a limited edition vinyl as part of its release. In spite of the critical bashing this film has received so far, I've also seen many positive reviews and I am looking forward to seeing it on Thursday. And Ryan as well of course. I hope you enjoy this track as much as I have. Happy listening!

 

 

When I was looking for the link for the "Tell Me" video, I stumbled upon a cover The Chromatics did of Joy Division/New Order classic track "Ceremony" which I am posting below as it goes along with the theme for next week. It's different, but nothing drastic from the original. Just a different take and it is growing on me. The description says it features Glass Candy vocalist  Ida No, but I think it's only Chromatics front woman Ruth Radelet that is on the track.  



 

Whole Lotta Shows

Fall has arrived and it looks like I'm going to be one busy lady! In addition to the shows I was already planning on seeing this fall, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in New Orleans, Holy Ghost!, Chromatics/Glass Candy and Brian Setzer Orchestra, I am now going to be catching quite a few shows at one of my favorite Houston venues, Warehouse Live.  Earlier this month, Warehouse Live ran a contest on their Facebook page and the prize was a guest list spot to all of their shows this fall as well as a signed Blondie poster.  Well, lo and behold, I actually won and will be enjoying the rockin' sounds of Blondie and X tonight.  I definitely plan to catch as many of these other shows as possible.  What an amazing opportunity to check out some great up and coming bands! So be on the lookout over the next few months for some reviews and photos.  Below is a list of the shows.  Which ones would you check out?