The Oslo Oya Festival will be kicking off this week and Mats Silberg will be covering the event for OTO over here so be sure to stop by the blog to check out the festivities! 

Bands at this year’s festival include Beirut, Wilco, Band of Horses, Dirty Projectors, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend, as well as a host of Norwegian bands.

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That’s why I was intrigued to hear that this year, as well as playing for the fest, art-rocker David Byrne will be curating a stage at the Bonnaroo festival and has chosen to host Norwegian folk act Katzenjammer, Dirty Projectors, Ani DiFranco, St. Vincent (AKA Annie Clark), and Santigold at this year’s Tennessee festival.

Some of the other acts you can catch at this year’s Bonnaroo: Wilco, Nine Inch Nails, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, of Montreal, The Decemberists, The Mars Volta, Animal Collective, Neko Case, and Bon Iver among others

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Kingdom of Rust is an album that is arguably Doves’ most sonically adventurous, intimate, cerebral, rhythmic and most eclectic record to date.
 
Doves have been recording their follow up for the past 18 months, having ensconced themselves to a farm house–come-studio in Cheshire. In doing so they teamed up with long time Doves collaborator Dan Austin to co produce all but two tracks on Kingdom Of Rust. For the remaining two tracks Doves enlisted producer John Leckie (Stone Roses, Radiohead) to record ‘Winter Hill’ and ‘10.03’. Kingdom Of Rust was mixed by Michael Brauer, Dan Austin and the band.
 
Upon first listening, Kingdom Of Rust sounds unequivocally Doves, maybe it’s because it’s been conceived with their trademark intensity. That said, Kingdom Of Rust takes Doves into more uncharted and experimental territory than ever before.
 
Take the first track on the album ‘Jetstream’, a track Doves gave away last month via www.doves.net, fitted with a kraut motorik, it’s a kraftwerk kissed electro pearl. In contrast, eponymous title track ‘Kingdom Of Rust’, is a broad stroke of Lancastrian spaghetti Western drama. Elsewhere, ‘Compulsion’ sees Doves achieving a homage to the kind of wonky-leftfield disco that experiments that might have been played out at The Loft or the Paradise Factory in their 80’s hey day, While, ‘The Outsider’ sounds like what may have happened had time allowed Chuck Berry to Jam with Joy Division. Include the Tom Rowlands (The Chemical Brothers) arranged “10.03″, and anthems in waiting ‘Winter Hill’ and ‘Greatest Denier’ to that list and you have the most expansive and rhythmic Doves record to date.

5/14    San Diego, CA          House of Blues
5/15    Anaheim, CA            House of Blues
5/16    Los Angeles, CA       The Wiltern
5/18    San Francisco, CA   The Fillmore
5/19    Eugene, OR               McDonald Theatre
5/21    Vancouver, BC        Commodore Ballroom
5/22    Portland, OR             Wonder Ballroom
5/23    George, WA             Sasquatch! Festival
5/26    Denver, CO              Gothic Theatre
5/28    Minneapolis, MN      Varsity Theatre
5/29    Chicago, IL               Vic Theatre
5/30    Detroit, MI                 Majestic Theatre
6/01    Toronto, ON               Kool Haus
6/02    Montreal, QC           Le National
6/04    New York, NY            Terminal 5
6/05    Philadelphia, PA       The Trocadero
6/06    Washington, DC       9.30 Club
6/07    Boston, MA               House of Blues

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photo credit: Simon Welsh

Death Cab for Cutie + tour dates:

photo credit: deep_schismic

photo credit: deep_schismic

M Ward + tour dates:

photo credit: breezy421

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The Torn ACLS + Cedar-By-the-Sea

OTO Rating: 8/10

Upon pulling away the plastic sheath and unveiling what came to be the latest creation of two young lads by the name of Will Cremin and Miles Ranisavljevic, one couldn’t help but be struck by the moniker bestowed upon this band. Images of athletes on crutches and long stints on the DL were conjured up, leaving me to wonder exactly what it was I had gotten myself into.

But as I placed the disc in its cradle and pressed the button called ‘play’, I was immediately taken away by a smattering of applause which right before my very ears was being slowly manipulated into a driving, percussive rhythm. An attention-grabbing intro that left me thinking, “wow…that was cool.” So, like with any good piece of art, I had no choice but to shed my apprehension, reach out my hand, and go along for the ride.

Let’s just say, I’m glad I did.

The EP/story begins with the track, “Reputation”, and it seems the hopelessly gambling addicted subject of this tune has finally reached the end of his troubled rope. His bookie has arrived to collect, and despite repeated attempts at stalling, the game is finally up. The call-and-response vocals drive this track, along with the stop-start drumming and a frenetic bass-line. The cheery glockenspiel notes ringing throughout masterfully taunt our subject, leading him to think things might, just might, be okay. Unfortunately, the antagonist here has a reputation to uphold.

Track two hits and……is that a Theremin I hear?? No, upon further research I discover its a saw being skillfully manipulated by Ranisavljevic to produce an atmosphere nothing less than, well, spooky. And when Cremin leans into the mic to implore, “if the nervousness doesn’t get you, I just don’t know what will”, many emotions arise, chief amongst them, paranoia.

The EP’s centerpiece, “Brother Twelve”, makes a statement right out of the gate with a pounding bass drum and a vocal narrative describing the history of a religious cult formed in the 1920’s in Washington state. It’s the detailed storytelling here that draws the listener in and the ‘loud-quiet-loud’ musical accompaniment that digs its claws in and keeps you put. “Obsessively, Compulsively” closes out the set, continuing right along with excellent song structure and just the right amount of something unexpected. Just when you’ve been lulled into a state of repose by an engaging Hammond line, a wall of jagged distortion reminds you that although the record has ended, the story has not.

The idea of a concept album is traditionally something only attempted on the sprawling canvas of a full-length LP. But in the case of ‘Cedar-By-the-Sea’, these boys have taken the phrase ‘less is more’ to heart. In doing so, they’ve created a piece of music that much like an addictive short story, is hard to put down.

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Captain Credible at by:Larm + Photo by Hilda Klaveness

We’ve set up a by:Larm blog where Alix Dunn has been keeping us posted on the Oslo festival over the past few days.  You can check out festival coverage featuring photos and show reviews on Shuffle Service, Captain Credible, Major Parkinson, Frida Hyvønen, Choir of Young Believers, and more! 

The festival was born in 1998 and features bands from a variety of genres, but all from Nordic countries.

Be sure to read more about by:Larm and check out the by:Larm artist lineup, too!

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A fluid, stream of conscious melody with subtle snap and fresh lyrics opens up Jaymay’s album Autumn Falling. The track, “Gray or Blue,” is at once tight and airy, accessible and shy, and a suitable introduction to the debut released in March on Blue Note Records. With the release Jaymay (aka Jamie Seerman) moves past New York’s open-mic scene and using the momentum built with the climatic coupling of Autumn Fallin’s release and her noteworthy performances at SXSW in Austin (both took place during the same week), she launches herself onto the painfully crowded pop/folk/indie circuit.

She should have little trouble carving out a niche for her music.

Take tracks six and seven.

The track “You’d Rather Run,” reincarnates a rambling Dylan epic: tingling xylophones, erratic but soft harmonica and piano trinkets, a ribbon of violin appearances, a persistently forceful percussion background, an epic length just shy of ten minutes, a dense landscape of traditional instruments slackly choreographed. The song thickens into a world of its own, sonicly isolated but inviting.

And then hits track seven. And it hits hard. With a bit of mouth trumpet and a catchy show-tune pace, “Hard To Say” unfolds in a quick two minutes reversing the pace set by “You’d Rather Run.”  This pair of songs embodies the range and power of Jaymay’s voice and melodic sensibilities. And though range may sometimes imply lack of focus or scattered concepts not fully realized, Jaymay manages to keep the
album on track with intention and artistic organization.

The album hits with a tonic combination of organic and folky, clever and fresh, creative and referential, sweet and forceful. For any ardent follower of the singer-songwriter genre, or those long since tired of it, this album should be a refreshing experience.

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In another boldly creative interaction with piles of able and active listeners, Radiohead is offering up an entirely new “album” (and concept) on iTunes. Again preempting the sonic pirate, Radiohead is offering up the fruits of its labor for download, but this time with an open invitation and organized competition to remix the track “Nude” featured on In Rainbows. Those interested can buy up the stems, use other beats, pieces, and parts, slice, dice, speed up, slow down, tweak or reinvent the entire track. The new creator names and uploads the Frakentune onto Radiohead’s website and then visitors can vote for their favorites. The voting ends May 1st and what lay ahead for the winner is unpublished, but according to the website the group “will listen to the best remixes,” which seems to be enough incentive. The cross-marketing and artistic collaboration is sheer genius. Radiohead’s website directs users straight to iTunes to purchase the “Nude” package that includes stems for the bass, drum, guitar, string fx, and voice, along with the original cut of the track from In Rainbows — Apple is even offering a GarageBand file of the song for those who buy the Nude (Make Your Own Remix) album by April 8th. Each stem costs just as much as the completed track, so the six-piece remix set totals out to around six dollars. As usual Radiohead’s financial interests, artistic prowess, and genuine communication with listeners coincide with forceful marketing genius that has a way of revolutionizing the music industry. The album has been available for download for less than a week and already 730 participants have posted remixes and thousands of visitors have cast votes.

To listen to entries, vote, or read more visit: www.radiohead.com.

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Juno Soundtrack + Rhino Records

Masterful lyrics dripping with indie quirk and organic acoustic with some sound experimentation successfully complements the standout “indie” film of the year, “Juno.” Jason Reitman, recognizing the role of music in any well-executed indie film took the reigns of the soundtrack’s production and successfully developed a precise sound to support and almost mirror the narrative elements of the film. Prompted to bring in The Moldy Peaches by Ellen Page, the actress portraying Juno, Reitman builds around the sound of Juno’s would-be-favorite-band and its co-founder Kimya Dawson who supplies the thematic backbone of the album.

A poetic alter-ego of Raffi and master of posited precociousness, Dawson threads a continuous and effective sound throughout using sometimes innocuous and sometimes shocking lyrics that feed into, reflect, and accentuate, the forced maturation and explorations of the film’s leading lady. Page and co-star Michael Cera lay down a cover of “Any One Else But You” as the last on the album and though it sounds horrible, it captures the beauty in truth idyllic of indie. Faux or fab is a matter of taste, but Dawson, Belle and Sebastian, The Kinks, Antsy Pants, and Velvet Underground supply ample meat so the Page/Cera track is a cherry on top and not thinned out or self-important.

The soundtrack is stand alone and someone looking for a mix tape of minimally distorted acoustic, clever lyrics, and adequate homage to important roots would find it worth the money as either a counterpart to the film, a guided journey, or both.

Track listing:

——————————————————————————–
01 All I Want Is You Barry Louis Polisar
02 My Rollercoaster (Juno Film Version) Kimya Dawson
03 A Well Respected Man The Kinks
04 Dearest Buddy Holly
05 Up The Spout Mateo Messina
06 Tire Swing Kimya Dawson
07 Piazza, New York Catcher Belle & Sebastian
08 Loose Lips Kimya Dawson
09 Superstar Sonic Youth
10 Sleep (Instrumental) Kimya Dawson
11 Expectations (Remastered Version) Belle & Sebastian
12 All The Young Dudes Mott The Hoople
13 So Nice So Smart Kimya Dawson
14 Sea Of Love (Remastered Version) Cat Power
15 Tree Hugger Kimya Dawson & Antsy Pants
16 I’m Stickng With You The Velvet Underground
17 Anyone Else But You Moldy Peaches
18 Vampire Antsy Pants
19 Anyone Else But You Michael Cera & Ellen Page

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LCD Soundsystem + Sounds of Silver

OTO Rating: 8/10

Domesticated Disco-Punk

Lean and mean from start to finish, Sounds of Silver is LCD Soundsystem’s most cohesive, polished and accessible album to date. Avoiding the cluttered and bombastic beats of previous albums, front man James Murphy streamlines mixes and slows introductions of sound shifts effectively thickening crescendos and enhancing climaxes. Per usual the lyrics aren’t standalone and act as sparse, repetitive punctuations in brashly hypnotic patterns, but the album showcases more engaging and thoughtful verses by shifting some emphasis onto words.

Sounds of Silver is the clean actualization of the leading man’s own standards and aesthetics – it is Murphy perfected. There is nothing revolutionary to be found in its tracks, and with few risks come few rewards. Devoted fans looking for innovation will most likely be disappointed, but new listeners will find a pristine collection of tracks acting as gateway to the group’s earlier work. The pressure is on for the group’s next release as this album has exhausted the option of rehashing the well-worn grooves that have worked so well in the past. If the group’s sparkling work before Sounds is any indication, Murphy and Soundsystem are capable of dancing out on a limb and weaving new quirks, flairs, and sounds into far out and spasmodic epics. We wouldn’t want them to get too systematic.

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