widowspeak
ok.
Here is some music that should be on your radar if you liked Azure Ray. Ok. Azure Ray with an upbeat side. Maybe they are closer to Trespassers William. Some people compare them to Mazzy Star (I don’t).
anyway.
I heard a song of theirs called Limbs (I believe it will be track 5 on their upcoming release) on the local college radio station this morning.
As a friend of mine has said a number of times about the music I play .. “well, that is Bruce music.”
It is.
And I can understand why they might scare some listeners away. Because of the lead singer’s voice and singing style it can have a dark more languid feel to their music. But stick around. The lead singer’s Molly Hamilton) vocals will suck you in. And while the musical style has a lazy relaxed feel to it there are some great riffs which provide a beautiful underpinning to their songs (in a completely unrelated genre it reminds me of how the lead guitarist was always underappreciated in his contribution to the likeability – and listenability – of the B52’s music).
Every song has a nice simple guitar weaving its way throughout the lyrics. And the way the vocals and lead guitar mix creates some great relaxing listening music. Here are some examples:
Gun Shy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxaviqSWrlE&feature=related
Half Awake:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UieyQT0zC0&feature=related
Harsh realm:
some information I pulled about Widowspeak (because I had never heard of them before): Widowspeak members Molly Hamilton and Michael Stasiak are both originally from Tacoma, Washington. They relocated to New York following fellow members of the local compilation label they belonged to. After three years of being in New York, Stasiak approached Hamilton about starting a new band together. Picking up guitarist Robert Earl Thomas, a new band was formed, and despite the band’s new surroundings in New York, their sound retained the sparse, slow burning aesthetic of Tacoma rather than adopting the bombast and grandiose of the New York music scene.
There is nothing electronic about this group it is simple vocals, guitars, and drums. And yet it is haunting (so don’t be looking for upbeat happy-go-lucky Colbie Callait bubbly music). But yet it’s not all darkness … they have moments “upbeat moody” (boy. I wonder if I have created a genre). Maybe we can call it “anthemic moody” instead.
Regardless. Good stuff. And really good considering this is their first cd. I imagine they will only get bigger and more complex in their arrangements moving forward but for now the sheer starkness is their appeal.
Oh.
They also do a nice remake of chris isaak’s “wicked game”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_l8bp5M6kA&feature=related
Well.
Even if you don’t like this music at least you can say you are on the cutting edge of new bands.
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