Major Bands, Minor Labels 02.08.12: Falling Into Pieces

Posted by Nick Krenn on 02.08.2012

This week's MBML has news on Lana Del Rey and Bon Iver. Also, I've got new downloads and music videos featuring oOoOO, Emily Wells, Alcoholic Faith Mission and Neon Indian. Plus, I’ll give you two new artists to keep your eyes on and music recommendations worth your time. All this and MORE!



Thanks for checking out Major Bands, Minor Labels, 411mania's independent music oriented column. Just a quick plug, if you enjoy what you read in this column, then please check out my music blog, Earbuddy.net, which I use as a blueprint when writing this column. If you visit the site, be sure to "LIKE" us on Facebook. I'd love to talk music with all of you guys, even the trolls.

This week's MBML has news on Lana Del Rey and Bon Iver. Also, new downloads from oOoOO and Emily Wells; music videos for Alcoholic Faith Mission and Neon Indian; and two new artists to keep your eyes on. And of course, I've got music recommendations worth your time.

Let's get started...

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Lana Del Rey Gets Help from SNL



Everyone has been mean to Lana Del Rey following her SNL performance with her rabid fanbase of bloggers turning against her in an instant. I'll say that I don't think all of the hate is deserved or justified, but her performance wasn't a star-making turn either. SNL came to LDR's defense this past Saturday night with Kristen Wiig getting LDR'd to apologize for what was deemed an awful performance.



Please note that this video will likely be yanked by NBC.

Veteran female indie rocker Liz Phair also came to LDR's defense in the Wallstreet Journal's Speakeasy blog. Phair said the following.

"Lana Del Rey is exactly what I was hoping to inspire when I took on the male rock establishment almost twenty years ago with my debut record, 'Exile in Guyville'... She's writing herself into existence. She's giving herself a part to play because, God knows, no one else will and she wants to matter in this life. As far as I can tell, it's working. I went straight to iTunes and bought her new release... because it was more than a collection of songs or a performance, it was a phenomenon...As a recording artist, I've been hated, I've been ridiculed, and conversely, hailed as the second coming. All that matters in the end is that I've been heard."


Bon Iver Performs On SNL

Bon Iver performed on SNL this past Saturday in case you didn't know. The band, led by Justin Vernon, performed "Holocene" and "Beth/Rest". Watch the performances below. What do you guys think? Better than Lana Del Rey from a couple of weeks ago?

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DZ Deathrays

DZ Deathrays are an impressive thrash-heavy punk group consisting of Shane Parsons (vocals/guitar) and Simon Ridley (drums). Hailing from Brisbane, the duo loves to raise hell as evident on the title track to their new EP No Sleep due out March 6th via 3/4. DZ Deathrays will also be appearing at this year's SXSW. Download their single "No Sleep" below.



First Person Shootr

On February 28th, Lefse Records will release the debut EP, Mobility For Gods, from Fred Warmsley's project, First Person Shootr. Warmsley has released the single, "You New Web", from the new EP. It's a mix of R&B and chillwave that writhes in seduction. Download "You New Web" below.

Download: First Person Shootr - "You New Web"

First Person Shootr
Mobility For Gods
(Lefse Records)
Street Date: February 28, 2012
cassette / digital

1. Punch Struck
2. See Inn
3. You New Web
4. U're Better Off
5. Pain For Your Win

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In the download exchange, I will give you some cool downloads to check out (all legal, of course!), and all that I ask for in exchange is that if you enjoy the music, then support the artists by picking up their album, buying some songs, or checking them out on tour.

oOoOO - "NoWayBack"

"NoWayBack", the new single from oOoOO is my kind of music. Made for one of those early morning drives in pitch black darkness, the song has the right amount of creepiness and cool to give you both a chill down your spine and in your mind. oOoOO will release the new EP Our Love Is Hurting Us on April 10th via Tri Angle Records. Download "NoWayBack" featuring Butterclock below.

Download: oOoOO - "NoWayBack" (feat. Butterclock)

oOoOO
Our Loving Is Hurting Us
(Tri Angle Records)
April 10, 2012

1. TryTry
2. Springs (featuring Butterclock)
3. Starr
4. Break Yr Heart
5. NoWayBack (featuring Butterclock)


Emily Wells - "Passenger"

Most indie blogs are still recovering from Lana Del Rey leading them astray on her "indie" promises, just to go major in the end. Well, in case your feeling heartbroken as well. Let me introduce you to Emily Wells. Mixing classical instrumentation with folk and hip-hop production, this young lady has the goods to make you forget anyone with the initials "LDR". Now signed to Partisan Records to release her album Mama, Wells is filling a void that we just need her to. Playing almost all of the instruments on the album, Wells recorded Mama's tracks often in one take without punch-ins or loops. Download the first single "Passenger" below, and fall in love with a new indie darling.

Download: Emily Wells - "Passenger"

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Indie Vids features the latest videos created by some of the independent artists that I'm watching or already love.

Alcoholic Faith Mission - "Into Pieces"

Danish sextet Alcoholic Faith Mission's new video for "Into Pieces" could be one of the most graphic that I've ever watched. The band has just signed to Old Flame Records and will release their new album Ask Me This on March 27th. Watch the graphic, yet amazing video for "Into Pieces" below. I'm really liking this song. Let me know what you guys think.



According to the band, the video conceptualizes a man losing his love (and guts) only to be resurrected by a new one.

Ask Me This Tracklisting

1. Down From Here
2. Alaska
3. Into Pieces
4. Statement
5. I'm Not Evil
6. Running with Insanity
7. Ask Me This
8. Reconstruct My Love
9. We Need Fear
10. Throw Us to the Wolves


Neon Indian - "Fallout"

Animated videos are becoming quite popular among indie artists these days. Neon Indian is the latest to have one for his single, "Fallout" from his album Era Extraña. The new video was directed by Lilfuchs (who has also done videos for Flying Lotus, Holy Ghost, Death Cab For Cutie, etc.) and produced by Adult Swim. The video features a well endowed cartoon character, and you can watch it below.



Read my Neon Indian - Era Extraña Review.

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Music Recommendations

My music recommendations feature the latest stuff that I and the writers at Earbuddy have checked out recently.

Sharon Van Etten - Tramp

Chris Bell says: "Since Sharon Van Etten's official debut in 2009, her name has been met with an increasing amount of recognition, seemingly by the day. Multiple spotlight references from NPR's All Songs Considered and her appearance with The National for their contribution to the 2011 film Win Win have brought anticipation of her third record, Tramp, to near fever pitch among the indie community. There is good reason for that too because Sharon Van Etten just made the kind of record that most artists would kill to have in their catalog. Understated, and yet always providing an exactly satisfying payoff, Tramp is one of the best records I have heard in some time. This is a downright achievement in modern music." Read the Sharon Van Etten - Tramp Review.

The Twilight Sad - No One Can Ever Know

The Twilight Sad's third album No One Can Ever Know finds the band adding a more synth-based sound to their music. And before you start rolling your eyes, thinking that they're going soft, the sonic shift expands on Twilight Sad's grim personality. No moments of joy ever feel present on No One Can Ever Know. James Graham's vocals are mysterious, yet they hint at tragedy, murder, and sexual perverseness. As strange as it may sound, No One Can Ever Know is also the band's most accessible album. Read the The Twilight Sad - No One Can Ever Know Review.

The Twilight Sad - Kill It In The Morning by Fat Cat Records


A Place To Bury Strangers - Onwards To The Wall EP

It's been a couple of years since A Place To Bury Stranger's last EP, I Lived My Life to Stand In the Shadow of Your Heart. Now the noise-rock trio of Oliver Ackermann, Dion Lunadon, and Jay Space have returned, joining up with Dead Oceans for what could be the start of a new chapter in the band's career. For Onwards To The Wall, the band retains their eardrum assaulting sound and combines it with the gothic symbolism of the Bauhaus for some of the spookiest music the band has recorded. As a five-track EP, the release excludes filler for brawn. If heavy is what you've been craving, begin heading Onwards To The Wall. Read the A Place To Bury Strangers - Onwards To The Wall Review.

A Place to Bury Strangers "So Far Away" from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

Many confuse independent music as a genre. Sure, there's a certain sound to an indie album – lower production quality, lacking the crisp and vibrant approach of major label record producers. However, in reality, Lana Del Rey, or if you want to call her Lizzy Grant, is a pop star in the sense that Lady Gaga and Ke$ha are pop stars. Her sound does mimic many avant-garde, chamber pop female indie singers, and it makes her songs both sound aged yet modern. Her much loathed declaration as "a gangsta Nancy Sinatra" was likely coined by her PR, but it's really not a bad way of describing her sometimes sultry and smoky vocals accompanied by hip hop arrangements. Del Rey also moves from her deeper register to the baby-voiced vocals that Britney Spears often uses in her music to express vulnerability. That comparison to Spears alone should suggest that Del Rey does not belong in the conversation when discussing Zola Jesus, Sharon Van Etten, or countless other female indie singers. Read the Lana Del Rey - Born To Die Review.




For those that are gluttons to punishment:

Of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks

Chris Bell says: "Altogether, this isn't just a record that I never want to hear again. Paralytic Stalks is the type of record that makes me want to ask Of Montreal for my hour back. It's the type of record that makes it very difficult to get excited about the next project from Of Montreal, and that is about as bad as it can get." Read the Of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks Review.

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If you like my album reviews on 411mania, be sure to check out reviews done by me and my buddies on my blog Earbuddy and check out my blog's Facebook for more news and stories on artists featured in MBML:

Comments are always appreciated, and I would really like to hear from you guys through email ([e-mail]) or Twitter. You can follow me @earbuddy so that we can chat about all kinds of things. Thanks for reading.