Izabo

Then from Anova Music, arrived Izabo and life felt warm again. The east and west collide in the Dead Sea and we can all lay back and wallow in the salt, as the band take a moment to amuse the ears. I am not sure which space I am sitting in as I listen to the band who keep spilling out of the speakers.

Psychedelic-Disco meets the shorthand of Izabo, though there is more to say. Influences from Eastern Europe wander in to the space and the audience is entranced by a combination of ’70s pop, ”60s psychedelia and ’10s (as in 1910) Istanbul.

This is a fascinating sound which stretches the ears to catch the nuances of the combination. There is a basic grounding to the band which engages, but on it’s own it isn’t enough and then up steps the combination and the whole band winds to another plane.

Don’t look too deeply, this is an amalgamation of influence and Izabo have encapsulated the whole, to reflect back with some shiny Summer sunshine sounds.

website

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Sistra

It takes a moment or two to understand Sistra, but the time is worth the effort.  An unbelievable vocal needs a second, then third glance, as octaves far higher than are reasonable are hit with comfort. The band have explored a number of spaces as you would anticipate from an experimental sound,  but have hit a rhythm that makes sense. The band seek to explore the edges of sensible production, prior to falling off the cliff.

Not sure why attempting to explain away absolute discordance makes sense,  any more than I would attempt to make sense of Space Invaders (and if you don’t get the analogy, one of us is in the wrong era).

The soundscape is one in which high notes collide briefly against a bass, a little like the batons on the afore mentioned game. The pure effervescence of Sistra as they identify a new playground in which to explore, makes for a feeling that… yes, the world is still alive and discovering.

Will Sistra ever make the larger scale of things, I doubt it. Does that matter? No. Thank you  Arseniy, Roman M, Roman L and  Mikhail for being there.

website

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Salim Ghazi Saeedi

Well it is good to head off from the mainstream countries and I find myself having an opportunity to write about my first artist from Iran. Whilst Salim plays predominately alone, he does on occasion team up and has appeared as, the Negar Bouban and Salim Ghazi Saeedi Project and in the band Arashk.

It is all well and good wandering to locations where you may not necessarily expect to find a depth of indie music, but unless it adds value, then no matter how obscure the location, it adds not a jot. Salim Ghazi Saeedi, I am delighted to say has considerable value.

The music takes the listener on an interesting path, as the Guitars, Bass and synth are pivoted to different spaces. Tempo and rhythm are a montage of conceptual rock and far older Persian constructs, infused with 21st century relevance.

The lack of vocal causes not a drop of disturbance as the audience is led off on a hidden path, unconfined by subsumed expectation. The level of dedication required by this solo artist to create the sounds and atmosphere is astounding.

Due to the complete unexpected constructions, there is a hugely refreshing originality to Salim Ghazi Saeedi, which is compounded by the powerful imagery generated by the tracks.

Rock riffs on electric guitar will suddenly meet sounds of violin and Ghopuz, with accompanied percussion on traditional drums, creating a depth of narrative to the highly expressive pieces.

website

I really enjoyed listening to Salim Ghazi Saeedi, who now sits on my ever expanding play-list and I am delighted to have broken the Iranian duck.

If you know of any bands I should be getting to hear, please just drop me a note using the indie bands blog contact form.

Eatliz

With constructive use of the six band members, Eatliz, are able to stage spectacular shows, whilst not loosing the sense of their music. A cornucopia of influences are fed through the group and emerge as superbly constructed pieces of work.

They are a band who demonstrate the ability to generate almost orchestra sounding creations, following with far simpler indie sounds, yet all the time building the music forward with a momentum and energy which keeps the listener engaged.

They keep the intonation simple enough to not loose sight of the direction, while adding complexity and layer to the overall effect, which provides, even purely aurally, a sense of the theatrical.

It is of little surprise the band are regular featured artists on festivals around the world.

band website

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Electra ??????

Electra spent a period of time away from Israel before returning and signing up with the Israeli Alternative Label, Anova Records.

Electra blend a wide-spread of musical influence in to a powerful sound track. Ska, meets Rockabilly and 60’s soul. Their music provides a depth of sound, which is marked by its clarity. Notes and vocal are crisply delivered inside a wrapper of power. The incessant beat box and accentuated drums are a pleasure to listen to, as they take the listener on a tour of upbeat sounds.

Band myspace page

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The Israeli music scene is vibrant and hugely relevant to a global audience. Electra are a superb first foray in to the country for the Indie Bands Blog.

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Atsuhiro Ito

Launching his career in the mid ’80s as a visual artist, Atsuhiro Ito added sound to his work in 1998.

The flourescent light bulb, is integrated to guitar pick-ups sent through guitar amp stacks. The instrument, he calls an Optron, works as voltage is applied and altered to the bulbs and this change in electromagnetism is how the sound is generated.

A superb exponent of experimental music, Atsuhiro Ito has recently completed a UK tour and is currently back in Tokyo.

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The three are from different parts of Afghanistan, a Tajik, a Pashtun and a Uzbek and each speak a different language, Dari, Pashto and Uzbek, they decided English would be a good language in which to sing. Although out of the country for some considerable time during the late ’90s, they all returned to Afghanistan and decided to create Afghanistan’s first Indie Band.

Kabul Dreams

The music is influenced by Britpop but has a whole slice of Afghan rhythmic patterns. They are a group of experienced musicians, having played in bands while abroad and the music creates a sense of calm and comfort, as indie rock is merged with folk rhythm.

As important than the output is the message the band are trying to send out. As Sulyman Qardash acknowledges, playing Indie Rock in Afghanistan is a risk, adding ‘…We love our country and we want to change our young generation, we want to make something new…’

Siddique Ahmed adds ‘…The reason we formed this band was to give a message to the Afghan youth, a message that they can live together.

myspace

Kabul Dreams are a band I am really pleased to be able to write about. With no infrastructure, limited resources and even a war to contend with, there they are, doing what they truly believe in.

I wish the guys well.

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Triple Smash - myspace

Having played extensively as a backing band to Chung Chi, Triple Smash are striking out on their own. They manage to avoid the pitfall many instrumental bands find themselves falling in to, of creating instrumentation which end up leading nowhere, they keep a tight reign on their material. Their influences of bands are not reflected heavily in their music, which has strong melody, creatively balancing the three musicians skills. After a year of development, it will be interesting to see how the band evolves.

Douban site

More details on the EP in October via Indie bands blog

Joyside image courtesy of wooozy.cn

Bian Yuan (Vocals); Liu Hao (Bass) Xiao Hong (Guitar) and Guan Zheng (Drummer) created what has become a symbol against the rush to riches by many in China as the political and corporate changes have swept across the Country. Joyside however appear to be splitting up.

Initial announcements were made in early August that the band had split; on September 12th 5 members of the band appeared on stage at Beijing’s Mao Live House on what was announced as their final performance in China. After the performance, the band expressed their regret at splitting, but say this is the final decision.

Joyside are coming to Europe for a final farewell tour in October. If this is the end of the road for Joyside, this will be the last chance to see what has become an iconic Chinese band, who will be sorely missed.

It will come as no surprise to readers of the indie bands blog, that this is exactly the type of band which fits my headspace perfectly.

Myspace

Live @D22 available on itunes

I am hopeful that Joyside will be around for some time to come.

Rajasthan Roots - Ladakh Confluence

The fusion of instruments as diverse as saxophone and electric guitars with the Nagara and khartal generating a completely new sound and rhythm, which reflects the traditional and modern influences not only of the collective and Rajasthan, but the Indian culture as a whole.

Rather than providing a list of collective members of Rajasthan Roots and the various instruments they play, the following video gives some idea of the blend and variety of Rajasthan Roots.

myspace page

Indie Bands blog will be featuring some of the other bands and musicians who appeared at the Ladakh Confluence. Pick up the RSS stream to keep yourself automatically updated.