local natives

SXSW Primers – Bands A to Z

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Ricky in Everything, South By Southwest | 1 Comment

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Toronto – Here is an A to Z list of bands playing at SXSW. I’ve even been kind enough to link each band to their respective myspace/website so you can check them out*. Apologies if I missed any letters, English isn’t my first language.

Antlers – I might see these guys again, although it’d be weird to see their depressing music in the clear afternoon light

Broken Bells – Danger Mouse + The guy from the Shins? Yes please. Will this album only kind of change Natalie Portman’s life?

Chew Lips – English dance-pop act has Josh blowing his load with each single they release. Might check them out.

Dr. Dog – Lo-fi folk band keeps on churning out consistently good albums. New album Shame drops sometime in April

Everybody Was In The French Resistance…Now! – I had no idea Eddie Argos (of Art Brut) had a new band. It has to be great. In Argos I trust.

Fanfarlo -They cancelled their show in Toronto in December. I now get to see this London band at a warmer venue. Awesome. Luna is an amazing track.

Gay Witch Abortion – I have never heard of this band, but look at that band name.

Holy Fuck – This time, when I see them, I won’t confuse this Toronto electronic act with Polaris winning Toronto hardcore band Fucked Up

Imaad Wasif – 24 Terrorist character or Canadian born Indian singer songwriter? Check out his show and decide.

Jj – Where did these Swedes come from? From Africa to Malaga was such a good chill tune, but their new album sounds more or less the same.

Kyle Lee – Is this a Chinese Texan hip hop artist? I don’t know, but he has an Asian last name so here’s hoping.

Local Natives – They impressed many people last year, a breakout album later, these guys are ready to rule Earth.

Marina and the Diamonds – I wrote about them already, but she’ll be very good live.

Neon Indian – Hipster ratio will be off the charts for this HRO fan favorite.

Orquestra Contemporânea De Olinda – Brazillian worldly music. Gotta check out some worldly stuff for Mark

Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Shoegazey throwback band played about a billion shows last year, I didn’t catch them then. I won’t make the same mistake again. Maybe.

Quest for Fire – No idea who they are but they are the first band with the letter Q in it I see. Clever marketing yo.

Russian Futurists – Had a blast seeing them at Wavelengths despite short set. Should have equal blast at SXSW despite short set.

Spoon – Austin’s favourite band open SXSW at Stubbs with what undoubtedly will be a great performance.

Toro Y Moi – One of the first big discoveries of 2010, this dude will bring some chilled tunes to Austin.

Ume – Frank from Chromewaves really enjoys this bands live set. Who am I to argue.

VV Brown – Wonderfully talented retro pop sounding VV Brown will bring what is surely a great set to SXSW.

Walkmen – 7 or 8 years later, I still love the song The Rat

Xx – They continually seem to have bad luck, hope these guys make it to SXSW

You Say Party! We Say Die! – BC band looks to build on the success of XXXX here in Austin. Laura Palmer’s Prom..what a song

Zeus - Arts and Craft band is about to hit the stratusphere with their debut (?) album.

*(it’s also really good for search engines)

CD Review: Local Natives – Gorilla Manor [2010, Frenchkiss]

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Ricky in Albums, Everything | 1 Comment

Toronto – This is going to be a fairly lazy review, I will probably pull a Jamie Foxx and name drop a bunch of things here, hoping somehow that in the process, a review will somehow percolate subconsciously in your head and you’ll come away from the article thinking this was a good review. Local Natives are a 5 piece band from Los Angeles, California. I thought Local Natives in California were known as Mexicans. HAHA. Maybe that’s a sensitive issue, I am not sure. Anyways, they have an album coming out on February 16th, it’s called Gorilla Manor.

The band relies on 3 part harmonies, layered with a chilled out Caribbean cruise ship rock vibe and thus, has drawn comparisons to bands such as Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend and Fleet Foxes. I also think you can draw comparisons to bands like My Morning Jacket, Passion Pit and a happier Band of Horses as well. They are signed to Frenchkiss records, who are on a absolute roll these days, having had the Antlers and Passion Pit break through into the blogosphere last year. I am 100% sure Local Natives will do the same this year.

Gorilla Manor is a solid chilled out affair. As with any Vampire Weekendish sounding record, it’s something you can always put on, because of it’s mellow weekend vibe. There’s a cover of a Talking Heads song (“Warning Sign”) on there and I can already sense that songs like Airplanes, Sun Hands and Wide Eyes are going to be popular, and will probably be in some movie soundtracks.

Overall, if you like any of the bands I have mentioned, and want to listen to say, a more upbeat, more Californian version of them, then definitely check out Gorilla Manors. It would probably be in your best interest to see a show when they tour the first time, because the next time they come around, it’ll be at a way big venue and packed.