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Tour De Vaap

“A compilation of music from 417”

Monthly Archives: October 2012

31/10/12 Dark Dark Dark – Tell Me [Video]

Minneapolis folk band Dark Dark Dark are back with a new album, Who Needs You, released earlier this week.  With it, comes the single “Tell Me” and it’s official video.  Dark Dark Dark remain true to the sound on their other albums, seamlessly blending folk jazz and rock among some odder influences into songs of love, heartbreak and solitude.  The single “Tell Me” laments for past love, for a flame that’s died out until all that remains are the last quivering wisps of smoke.  In the video Nona Marie Invie, the groups’ singer, wanders around a quiet outdoors and through an old abandoned house as if searching for something adorned in her space helmet and rubber gloves, as if not wanting to damage the delicate environment around her.  Or maybe she doesn’t want it to hurt her.  Check it out above and give Dark Dark Dark a listen for some of the most well constructed folk of our time.

-M. Kauf

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29/10/12 Ryan Bingham

Last week, I saw Ryan Bingham for the firs time in concert.  Before this, I admittedly hadn’t thought much about the artist, aside form the amazing soundtrack he made for Crazy Heart .  But after, I won’t ever brush off Bingham again.  He came on stage with his backup band, smiling and slightly hunched over, long bangs covering half his face and he began to rock.  It wasn’t what I was expecting but it was beautiful nonetheless.  His rag-tag band played rock with country skill and L.A. attitude, always full of energy giving every song all they had in them.  Then came an acoustic interlude where the band left and the spotlight shone right onto Bingham.  He told a few anecdotes and began to sing.  My jaw literally dropped as I watched him rapidly fingerpick and draw out a lonesome tune with his raspy voice.  Even as his amp blew a fuse, he continued sans amp with just as much heart as ever.  And, as the band came back for the final song, the crowed cheered and listened to the epic conclusion.  It may have only been for 30 minutes, but in that short concert I knew I had been missing out on something great.  About a month ago, he released his latest album, Tomorrowland.  Check him out below

-M. Kauf

Ryan Bingham – Sunshine:

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24/10/12 Local Natives – Breakers

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It was almost three years ago that Local Natives stunning debut album Gorilla Manors came out in the US.  The album was full of upbeat jams and bright harmonies.  And, happily, this sound was not lost in the past.  Last week, Local Natives released a brand new single, “Breakers.”  It’s still bursting with immersive harmonies and jungle drums, but it’s evolved.  At points, Breakers really rocks and powerful snares enter the picture.  Synthesizers woosh by in the background.  In short, the time away was well worth it.  Check out the single below, and look for their new album, Hummingbird in January.

-M. Kauf

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22/10/12 Lisa/Liza – Ancient Edge

Lisa/Liza is a little tough around the edges.  Her tracks are rough and raw, and sometimes seem to fluctuate out of tune into eerie chords that seem out of place and yet exactly right.  But it’s what makes Lisa/Liza such an interesting artist.  This Portland groups’ sound takes the rough country rock of Neil Young and mixes it with the open quirkiness of Daniel Johnston.  It’s sometimes overwhelming, but there’s something about it that just keeps you coming back.  On October 3rd, she released her album Ancient Edge (it’s free on her bandcamp).  The album touches all, at some times fuzzy-filled country-rock as in the opener “Black Out” and at other times quiet night-time folk (see “Song to Another Self” and “One Second Please”).  The album closes with the strange song “Saturn-Day,” a tune heavy on the flange effects with a slick snare guitar to match.  No, it’s not conventional and it might take a few listens to really sink in, but Ancient Edge is the strange new sound you gotta hear.

-M. Kauf

Lisa/Liza

Saturn-Day

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20/10/12 Bon Iver – Beth/Rest [Video]

Many of my friends are big fans of Bon Iver, but few seem to have any love for the closing song, “Beth/Rest” off the amazing second album which was released last summer.  Some say it’s too corny, others say it doesn’t belong on the album, it’s more of a GAYNGS song.  But if I’m being honest, I love this song and it may be my favorite on the album.  Sure, it’s a bit corny with its soft rock saxophones and Vernon’s falsetto at one of its high points, but it’s beautiful regardless.  Earlier this week, Bon Iver released a video directed in part by Vernon himself.  And, much like the lyrics to many Bon Iver songs, it doesn’t make much sense, but it’s wonderful all the same.  From what I gather, it features a couple in glowing hazmat suites consummating their love in the woods.  Sound good?  Check it out above and judge for yourself.  Maybe you’ll see this ballad in a different light.

-M. Kauf

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17/10/12 Daughter – Candles

“I’ll never be your lover, I only bring the heat/Company under covers, Filling space in your sheets”

In many ways, Daughter seems to contradict itself.  With the youthful band name and their two EPs His Young Heart and Wild Youth, the band sounds like they should play tween pop  with happy jangling chords and upbeat choruses.  But despite their juvenile appearance, the band is anything but.  Their songs are mature and powerful, describing love and heartbreak in a pure poetic form, whispered cryptically by lead singer Elena Tonra.  Instrumentation is sparse, sometimes like The XX, at other times sounding like finger-picking folk meant for some dark woods by a bonfire.  Reverb echoes throughout many of the songs, serving to amplify the distress and the passion of the lyrics, turning Torna’s whispers into a howling wind.  Both EPs are beautiful and I often find myself listening to one EP or even one song from an EP over and over, always learning, always hearing some new word or guitar lick.  But of all their songs, my favorite has to be Candles, which tells the story of a girl, now mature enough to be seduced by men and how she handles it.  Sometimes with total openness and submission and at other times with fear or guilt; always with shyness.  Check it out below and check out His Young Heart here.  Hopefully we’ll get a full album in the coming winter months.

-M. Kauf

Daughter – Candles

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16/10/12 The Rebel Light – Goodbye Serenade

The Rebel Light is a DIY Los Angeles Group full of gutsy spirit and passion.  Their self-titled debut, due out October 30th is full of modern pop sensibilities mixed with such eclectic 70s sounds as T. Rex to Todd Rundgren to 80s new wave acts.  They pay homage to the past while bringing in their own upbeat sound.  Above is their self-made music video for their single, “Goodbye Serenade.”  In many ways, the song commemorates the past and where it has led up today; taking the past not as something that has been, but as something that had led us to where we are now.  Piano waltzes along with a xylophone as horns sway in this powerful song.  Check it out above, and go here to download.

-M. Kauf

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12/10/12 Heyward Howkins – Praline County

This summer, we spent a lot of time raving about up-and-coming folk singer Heyward Howkins.  His debut album is some of the most unique folk to come out of Philly or America for that matter.  The lyrics are personal and bittersweet coming from Howkins’ smooth quaint voice and his guitar playing fits the melody like a soft quilt on a cold night.  And today, we’ve got a special treat: a sneak peak at his upcoming single, “Praline County.”  It’s a sweet upbeat song that seems to take the last bits of summer sunshine and squeeze them into the autumn leaves with gentle synthesizers and bird-call backing vocals.  But, as usual, the lyrics aren’t all flowers and sunshine.  It’s a song of playful warning and I can’t get enough of it.  Check it out below and if you haven’t yet, give Hale & Harty a listen.

-M. Kauf

Heyward Howkins – Praline County

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10/10/12 To Kill A King – Howling [Video]

Hey folks, sorry for the delay. I know it’s been a while since anything has been posted.  It’s been a hectic week, but we’re back with a vengeance.  Today we look back to a band that we featured recently called To Kill King.  On monday they released the music video for the debut song on their amazing Word of Mouth EP.  “Howling” is an impressive stop-motion film made non-stop over a weekend in an apartment.  It features the singer and his bandmates as lights shine around them, people party and the camera twists and turns.  On top of that, the song itself is a powerful folk-epic, shifting from a quiet night time ballad to a full on rocker.  Check it out above and if you haven’t yet, download their EP.

-M. Kauf

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04/10/12 Wooden Wand – Southern Colorado Song

Wooden Wand has been a staple of my iTunes for a while now.  At least, the song “Distance is Free” was.  But now it seems like I need to reevaluate my perspective on this folky band.  James Jackson Toth (AKA Wooden Wand) can make some very dark soulful folk-rock.  In the same vain as Strand of Oaks, Wooden Wand takes a few instruments, like an electric guitar, some bass drums to keep a beat and a voice and turns them into megaphones, amplifying a grim yet beautiful message.  I don’t know how he does it, but it sounds amazing, especially at night.  Check out his latest single “Southern Colorado Song” below and look for the latest album this winter.

-M. Kauf

Wooden Wand – Southern Colorado Song

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