theundergroundjukebox

Umbrellas

2006-04-15T22:54:00.000-07:00

-guess who's back, back again. Kayjal's back.. tell a friend-

Got my com back in action and with my songs intact! woohoooo sheer genius man. sheer genius.

Anyways i was cruising the Indie Music scene wondering who to review next. Arctic Monkeys have been in the Singaporean papers , as have Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - and everyone knows the Dandy's. Then i remembered a band i'd been downloading just before my com threw a hissy fit on my. Umbrellas

On their official website you can read the origins of their seemingliy dorky name. Writing and recording Umbrellas(2005) in many different motels influenced their music and this resulted in each track sounding vastly different from the others.However, the entire record has a haunting, mleodious undertone residing in each track, following the songs throughout the album - as did the spiders in the motel follow the band giving them all the impression of broken umbrella's. Hence the source of inspiration for their name.

Tracks like Broken Ice and Emergency have an inate beauty in them, which speaks to you as you listen to these tracks.The City Lights has claimed the coveted place of most loved track on the album, but even the darker songs like The Black Dress and Vampire don't fail to impress and leave an impression on you.

Lines like " that validates those churches inside you" and " i always tell myself to be patient. you can't control the situation" and "you can't keep living as if you're dying. I'm dying" carry a beautiful poignancy to them.

The rest of their tracks include songs like, Reactionary, Set The Scene, Comfort in Suffering and The Exit. And just because i didn't mention them doesn't mean they're not equally excellent. I'm just enamoured with Emergency right now.The only song that i felt like skipping over was Ghost. But check it out,who knows.

You might like it.

This wasn't supposed to happen.Umbrellas were a free-form collaboration between paralleled souls, and wasn't intended to be a band that will eventually tour and put out records. This fact in itself tells the tale of the mystery, contrast and echoing beauty in the writing of the collective known as Umbrellas - from [url]http://www.umbrellasmusic.com/index2.html [/url]

More about the band: Frankly this has been one band that i have not been able to get information about. Except the BASICS. I'm not even sure where they originate from - but i'm guessing somewhere in New England as they tour Massachusetts alot. Its a trio - Scott, Brandon and Xavier and their music label is the militia group. [url] www.themilitiagroup.com[/url]

more than this you have to find out yourself. And if you find a site with their proper Bio's in it - tell me? peace out.

it has died

2006-04-01T19:18:00.000-08:00

i have lost my songs. 2000 of them. - cries tears of blood- so i doubt i will be able to update for the next 2-3 weeks.

pray for my system. and pray i can replace all these songs.i guess the ladytron post will have to wait. But just to tide you over

listen to Death Cab , The shins, The Postal Service, The Decemberists,

and keep praying :)

Sufjan Stevens

2006-03-19T23:28:00.000-08:00

He is Indie's newest little plaything. And he's really making waves around with his new album Illinois (2005). He is... Sufjan Stevens

Now if you have'nt heard of him, well, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Coz this young man is touted to be the next Big Thing. ( think James Blunt big). And he has become an even bigger sensation since his sixth album, Illinois (2005),picked up the coveted Best Album of the Year award at this year's Plug awards and later also won the award for Best Male Artist at Plug. And there's been no stopping him since.

Ater listening to Illinois you pretty much feel as though you've been there and back. For the song covers almost everything under the sun! People, places, the atmosphere that makes the state; Sufjan manages to capture the entire essence of Illionois and blend it together in a manner that makes his tunes a pleasure to listen to

Incidentally the arrangement has also been done by the man himself -who is proficient in the keyboard,proficient on the oboe, recorder, banjo, guitar, vibraphone, bass, drums, piano, and other instruments too numerous to mention. Talk about talent.

But the real beauty of his songs lies in the fact that you can work to them, sleep, read or just chill out to them without getting bored. (as is the case with Jack Johnson- no offence JJ. ur awesome).

More about the record :The second installment in his extremely ambitious 50 state series is one helluva deal, outstripping Michigan (2003)by miles, Illinois is a 22-track masterpiece that includes favourites like, " Concerning The UFO Sighting", " Casimir Pulaski Day"," "Jacksonville" and "John Wayne Gracy Jr".

My personal favourites however, are not on this album - being For The Widows In Paradise, For The Fatherless In Yipsilanti -which some might find familiar. (Yeah you've heard it before, on The OC Season 3 episode where Johnny dies?) and To Be Alone.
Dont be stunned when you get a hold of tracks like The Black Hawk War and realise that it has no lyrics ; coz that's actually Sufjan's forte. Musical arrangement. His first few albums were filled with deeply melodic tunes that became his signature and were inspired by the 12 chinese zodiacs, the legend of the 7 swans, The Nine Planets, The 12 Apostles, and The Four Humors. These concept albums were what made his step-father, Lowell, decide to creat the homegrown label : Asthmatic Kitty Records which now releases all of Sufjan's work, along with other off the wall artistes. ( see : [url] www.asthmatickitty.com[/url] )

All in all, i think he's a great find. Good, solid music, genuine originality, great experimentation in his sound - with a nice overall effect. Quality with mass appeal ;)

listening type: melodic and easy
lyrics : Highly original.
Overall: 8.5/10

Nada Surf

2006-03-10T07:19:00.000-08:00

For the first review I thought i'd begin with a band currently playing in my MP3 list.

[ *waves to kyl even though its highly unprofessional* hi! yes. do drop by!!! and bring friends! ]

Nada Surf

Nada Surf has been around for ten years, with 6 albums under their indie belts - but is only now steadily gaining a fan following outside of Europe. For the past ten years, after the release of the stellar EP; Popular, (check it out!!) Matthew Caws, Daniel Lorca and Ira Elliot - while enjoying a slavish fan following across the pond, were absolutely unheard of anywhere else. But now, thanks to their recent album, the weight is a gift, word has finally spread and reached Asia and the US

Here's giving you Nada Surf.

Their official site, NadaSurf.com ( go figure) boasts the rave review for their album, Let Go (2002) :"...an excellent rainy-afternoon album, full of gentle and melancholic beauty — Nada Surf show enough panache to leave most of their Nineties-rock peers eating hot dust." — Rolling Stone

excellent rainy afternoon album?
- perhaps another way of saying :stylish yet slightly boring?-

Anyway if the song inside of love from Let go was anything to go by, i'd say Nada Surf had finally made themselves 'saleable'. But it seems salebility came with a price.

Originality

Because, let's face it, the lyrics of Bacardi, from their 1998 album the proximity effect were so much better.
With vocals strongly reminiscent of Coldplay's Chris Martin and simple, slightly boring beat's :inside of love did not make as much of an impression as did the tracks from their lastest offering, the weight is a gift.

Here, the band's experimentation seems to have played of on tracks like concrete bed, in the mirror and imaginary friends. The foot-tapping sounds of Do it again make you automatically start nodding along as he chants, "c'mon c'mon let's do it again". No lyrical genius there, but the other songs on the album, like the blankest year make up for that.

Armies walk, All is a game and you're legs grow were alright.Not bad but they were not good enough to make me sit up and listen either. They do grow on you though. All in all, I'd say the song with the highest re-play factor would be Always love. But be forewarned. It get's stuck in your head! And don't replay it too many times - it failed the "repeat mode" test!

Conclusion: Their earlier stuff was much more original. More's the pity! However you'll enjoy them if you like easy listening indie like the perishers and be sure to check out their cover of OMD's if you leave - which was my favourite track of all.

listening type : easy
lyrics : moderately good
overall : 7/10

****************************
More about the band

Genre : Indie - in the most definitionally correct sense of the word. After their brushes with Big label's and the adjacent politicking they decided to have Seattle based Barsuk Records release let go and have stuck with them ever since.

Old Gold's : Karmic (1995)
High Low ( 1996)
The Proximity Effect (1998)
North 6 Street ( 1999)
Let Go ( 2002)
The Weight Is A Gift ( 2005)

The humble beginnings

2006-03-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

first thing's first.

Everything here is my opinion. a very slippery word but there you are.
So flames and all will be swallowed in one big gulp and basically blasted out the rear entrance - and mind you not to stand there when it all comes pouring down.Or do. stand there i mean. It might be good fun to watch.

Right so that's done. Let's get down to business.
Theundergroundjukebox is a place for all people interested in bands

1.who make good music.

2. whose lyrics dont go, " move bitch get out of the way"

and basically

3. bands you think deserve more recognition for their excellent work.

i'll be on the prowl for new bands each week and will review them as i go along.If you have bands you think are the shit, tell me and i'll check them out as well. And alongside the new bands i'll be reviewing old great's who've already burst into the world above and i'll tell YOU how they've been doing since then.If they've been "keepin it real".

"its all about the music man" - yeah