The Minor Leagues

Whisked back to the New Romantics and life is good, The Minor Leagues, well of course the head in the shell name would pique an interest. How does a band from, Cincinnati manage to encapsulate London in the early ’80′s and then manage to make it all sound so much more exciting. No it isn’t due to the seven musicians, who scintillate the Extensor digitorum longus, rather the sublime interaction between those self same seven.

The song compositions are what raises a smile to the face and get the feet muscles working.

This can’t but help to raise a smile, or you are reading the wrong website.

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An interesting ride for the band this year and a hugely successful LP release in the form of Embers and Theories has seen the band gain an international recognition from a demanding readership.

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I am looking forward a superb 2012 with some great new music to come from as yet undiscovered and in some cases as yet unformed bands. Join the indie bands blog newsletter and keep up to date with the best there is in emerging music from around the world.

Thank you to all the bands, those in the chart and those who didn’t quite make it, for a great year of music.

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10 – New Found Land (Germany)

New Found Land TV4 Nyhetsmorgon – FOUL

New Found Land | Myspace Music Videos

9 – My Glorious (Austria)

8 – Marla Mase (USA)

7 – Hot Head Show (England)

6 – Cosmo Jarvis (England)

5 – Krakatoa (England)

4 – Plastiscines (France)

3 – Tall Ships (England)

2 – We Aeronauts (England)

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The New Root

While we are in down time, The New Root have a sound to lift the spirit and head back to life. A timeless vocal stirs above the musical framework. The diction is a delight, but is that really a way to review a band? Yes, in this instance absolutely, The New Root are precise in pick, pluck, beat and press and the vocal adds to that delightful sharpness, like the lemon in a Gin and Tonic.

Folk-Rock – Surely you have got that wrong Tim? Well I bow to your greater knowledge, but while you are listening to Kate Bush, I am hearing Janis Joplin, but hey that’s Psychedelic isn’t it? Listen deeper and the sounds of Woodstock reverberate out of the speakers. You see, how we are already discussing iconic and this is where The New Root sit.

The precision and delicacy of instrumentation is just a jolt away from a break-down as the emotive contextualisation teeters on the brink and so The New Root take a foothold in the world of music, with some nervous tension to engage the listener. There is layer upon layer of craft-work on the out-put which is deserving of far more exposure.

So, I’ll just choose a video with appalling enunciation to take a wider telescope to the band.

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Fujiya & Miyagi

I could, well I have sat down for an age listening to the the output from Fujiya & Miyagi, the sonorous beats and generous electronics sent my brain in to a trance as I revelled in the musical prowess.

There is a magnetic pull towards the band which becomes futile to resist, so far better to let this mystical sounding chant take-over and transport the senses on a soft and enjoyable ride.

Whilst the beats seem to contain an urgency, this is allayed by the fuzziness that shrouds the music like finest voile.

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Laura Gibson By Parker Fitzgerald

Immediately the music starts, you can tell Laura isn’t from an urban ghetto, the music resonates wide open spaces and something up-liftingly nostalgic. Not in a happy-clappy way, as the music bounces with vitality sounding as though it should be a film score.

A voice that has power and strength dominates the out-put, which is not to say the instrumentation is lacking in interest. After all – percussion, flute, clarinet, bass, piano and lap-steel combining make for an compelling sound without vocal.

With a successful start to her career, it will be no surprise should Laura Gibson be around for many years to come.

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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.

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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.

Gaoler's Daughter | St. Peter

There is no mistaking the distinctive sound of Gaoler’s Daughter and St. Peter refreshes the mind as to why they are a band who should be gaining far more exposure.

The unmistakeable voice of John Sterry, reverberates from the speakers, as the highly effective guitar bounces playfully against well tempered percussion. St. Peter finds the band in a perhaps a more commercial frame of mind, as dance beats pulsate my darkened room. I think this adds nicely to the repertoire and is a neat little release which will remind the fans and those searching for emerging bands exactly what makes Gaoler’s Daughter a band worth getting to know. For some reason that reminds me, I must find out if John is still traipsing up from Brighton…

Find out more about Gaoler’s Daughter.

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A new photographer to the site, Toby Cameron who is contactable @ toby_cameron_ @ hotmail.com

The See See by Toby Cameron

‘Half a man and a horses head’ stuck out for me during the gig as a particularly different style from the majority of the set. It contrasted well with the more heavily guitar and drum driven tracks providing a more vocally focused song. The style reminded me of The Zutons to some extent but also includes the band psychedelic influences and even some 60’s surf rock styling.

Mary Soul is a perfect example of their layered musical style with both guitars performing individually without interfering with each other. The ability to hear the vocals clearly over the numerous instruments is a mark of the bands ability to balance the need to hear songs clearly with the greater energy required for live gigs.

The set was a good mixture of songs with heavy bass and drum beats and layered vocals as well as some towering guitar solo’s. The whole sound in fact is one which has undertones of surf and festival rock of the 60’s and 70’s combining the bands psychedelic edge to create a fusion of rock with lyrics catchy enough to catch indie pop market too.

Overall the gig was good, maybe not the right crowd for the band but that was as much down to the venue who advertised only the headliners as playing as anything else. Even though it was more of a crowd standing and listening than screaming out the band’s name it seemed to fit their developed and intelligent style of music. They are a band well worth seeing live if the opportunity arises and thoroughly deserve to be playing the larger venues which they hopefully soon.

It was a shame to see the gig finish with what was frankly a poor performance by The Ruby Suns, a band who sound far better when listening to their recorded music rather than live where they seemed a little haphazard and drowned each other out.

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Slothbear

A swarm of superbly discordant sounds appear like barbs and antagonise the eardrums. I am reminded of the of The Fall. Off beat, out of tune, unconstrained by musical construct, yet somehow an essential addition to the playlist. Slothbear demonstrate superb clarity of focus, which when the listener takes the time to focus is an amalgamation which sits in perfect harmony. Lyric and music exasperated with a world that fails to comprehend.

Discordant harmonies collide with the certainty of the Large Hadron Collider and instead of finding Bose-Higson particles, we find a shining diamond. I urge you to take a moment away from pre-conceptions and take a wander through the collective imagination of Slothbear.

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