Opie & The Orangettes
I stumbled across Opie & The Orangettes, the work of one Lacey Guthrie, by complete chance when I searched the (mispelled) tag low-fi on Last.fm. I was delighted to find a treasure-trove of stripped-down bedroom recordings, complete with acoustic guitars, handclaps, a snare drum, and some rather lithe and lively lyricism reminiscent of Laura Marling, amongst others. The songs are heart-warming, with exactly the kind of charm and character you’d hope for when first setting eyes upon the album cover.
I have no idea what else Lacey Guthrie does with her life, or who else has been lucky enough to hear these songs, but (call me an idealist) there is something in the uncorrupted ‘purity of spirit’ of this project which totally appeals to me. And the fact that I have only been able to find the songs for download in one place makes them feel that little bit more special.
find Opie & The Orangettes on last.fm and myspace.
Soap Collectors
Soap Collectors have thus far been little more than a blip to me. They don’t have a record out, but there are some demos floating on MySpace and Muxtape. I actually heard them through Justin Ouellette’s sample mix and it pretty much blew my mind, so I wrote them an email and got the sweetest reply, to the extent that I actually blogged about it at the time. But more importantly, they sent me an mp3, ‘Windows’, with promises of more material to come.
That was probably six months ago now, and still no sign of an EP or album, but these guys are definitely a band to watch. The tunes are blissful, dreamy, impeccably crafted, and the vocals are sugar-sweet. When the promised record finally drops, it is going to be massive.
Anyhow, write to them and see if they are as courteous to you as they were to me. It’ll probably brighten your day. And if they throw in a mp3 or two, well then, all the better.
Robin Mitchell
I am a musician and writer (kinda) from Bristol, UK.
I’m not entirely down with music journalism but I do love sharing, so rather than be critical, this blog is just trying to spread some love.
If you want to be featured, especially if you fancy an interview or more of an in-depth article, or if you want to correct a fact listed herein, please email me:
rmitchell.etc [at] gmail [dot] com
If you want to return the favour and plug some of my music, I’d be honoured. Hit up robinmitchell.muxtape.com and see if you can find something that you like.
A Lot Like Birds
I haven’t been able to get over Plan B since Michael Franzino dropped a link on my Last.fm profile. I don’t often respond to spam, but I noticed that these guys had been targeting fans of La Dispute and mewithoutYou, and as that was exactly the kind of mood I was in, I dowloaded the record (using the 192kbps link from their MySpace page) and (unusually) was listening to it on repeat within the space of a few days.
You’ll notice that the song everyone’s talking about is the six-minute epic, ‘Hallows or Horcruxes?’ (the entire album, by the way, is dotted with pop-culture references, including soundbites from Star Wars and American Beauty), which manages to condense the various dynamic musical elements spread across the rest of the record into one gargantuan, juggernaut of a song, featuring delicate male/female vocal unison, epic strings/guitars/drums, shredding, screaming, 8-bit synths and some good, old-fashioned thrash… The ensemble includes a trumpet player as well as several multi-instrumentalists, and a whole host sounds are worked seamlessly into the emo/screamo/post-hardcore aesthetic. I didn’t imagine it working, but hand on heart, it really does.
The talent of this young collective is proudly showcased within the songs, but they refrain from indulging in showboating. The record is dynamic, epic and unabashedly upbeat, and the refreshing mixture of orchestral arrangements à la Sigur Rós with the polished intensity of a mainstream post-hardcore band such as Alexisonfire makes for a truly invigorating listen.
If you are a bit of an audiophile, you will notice the compression on the tracks. As far as I know, there isn’t a high-quality version of the album available, but I will say that I think the compressed mp3 sound can be well suited to a particular brand of music, and this bizarre mixture of pop and screamo might just be it.
download Plan B from last.fm or myspace.
A Lot Like Birds are associated with Shattered Records.
The Orfanage
I first heard The Orfanage when Benjamin emailed me a demo of ‘You are everything’. The song is, I think, a good indicator of what to expect from their debut, Songs For David William: warm, wistful, and slightly unhinged. Vocals blend seamlessly with minimalist swells of acoustic guitars, and the occasional splash of noise. The duo are exceptional songwriters, balancing just a touch of angst with a far more dreamy and detatched lyrical tone, in some way reminiscent of Team Sleep.
They manage to accomplish rather a dark and even heavy sound within such restrained arrangements, and the songs are testament to the fact that less truly is more, although I should also credit the fact that the wonderful juxtaposition provided by two voices gives the record a real edge. The modestly lo-fi recording, combined with the stripped-down approach to both songwriting and performance, means that listening through your headphones is almost as good as having the actual musicians in the room with you. The Orfanage have acheived something tangible, something that reaches the listener, in a way that many larger bands, who spend millions in the process, never manage to acheive.
Benjamin kindly emailed me high-quality mp3s of the entire album. I’m sure if you ask him nicely, he will do the same for you. I am eagerly anticipating further releases from his other projects (of which there are several, each as hard to pin down as the next); I recommend checking out his website to see if you can glean some more information (and maybe a couple of demos).
Spesus Christ
I discovered Spesus Christ through the relaunch of Muxtape, as they were (and to date, still are) one of 12 artists to be ‘featured’ on the main page. Pretty soon after that, I signed up to get demos of ‘Here It Is’ and ‘Truce’, and I remember being so excited by the kind of music that Muxtape seemed to be offering (you could draw comparisons between these guys and Vulture Realty, Francis and the Lights and even Little Boots, all of whom were also featured artists).
The tunes are a massive explosion of glitchy drums, ice-cold synth twinkles, glockenspiels and guitars, over which the vocals, allegedly provided by Cameron Spies (the main man behind Spesus Christ, as well as guitarist/singer in Raised By Robots), resonate eerily. The music retains a sort of mock-melancholy, whereby the dramatic, minor-chord progressions are offset by cheeky yet poignant lyrics, and the brilliantly-crafted layers of glittering melodies. The percussion has bounce, you sure can dance to these tunes, and they pack the kind of punch deliverable only by pop at its most intelligent, both musically and lyrically.
While Francis and the Lights have gone capitalist (after having their entire back-catalogue as a freebie for so long), Little Boots has gone major-label, and Vulture Realty have as good as gone (unfair, I know, but I haven’t heard any new tunes from them in a while), Spesus Christ are keeping the faith, broadcasting to their followers on Tumblr, encouraging fans to establish email contact and seek out the music:
we are releasing our second tape tonight. a split tape with our bestest fwiends, Adventures! With Might. The music on our side will be EP 2 and some bonus treats that (ahem, listen carefully) will not be on the interenet at all until someone rips the tracks off their tape and puts them on the internet pretty soon or until we just put them up there ourselves. either way, if you want this ep now, come to the tape release tonight. otherwise email us at the email and beg and plead and we’ll proabably be nice and send you a link in a matter of days. MAYBE. spesuschrist@gmail.com
To me, these guys have struck a perfect balance between maintaing a ‘pure’, homemade/DIY ethic, and reaching a wider internet fanbase, all while remaining blissfully free from the shackles of major-labeldom. Thanks be to Spesus!
stream and download EP 1 + remixes (for free) at bandcamp, listen at muxtape, follow on tumblr and twitter.
Truly Indie
This site is dedicated to truly independent music, and by that I mean, music produced by artists lacking the financial and technical backing of a large-scale corporation, whose work will therefore most likely slip by unnoticed unless someone (me!) steps up and points you in the right direction.
All ‘Truly Indie’ artists are people whose work I’ve genuinely enjoyed. Their music is either available for free, or at a very low price. In some cases you might have to send a diplomatic email asking for mp3s, because the music is so independent that it’s not even in circulation. But I have been able to acquire this stuff, legitimately, by hook or by crook, and so should you.
Just because an artist is listed here, doesn’t prevent them from signing to a major label, or being signed to a subsidary. I’m not trying to take a stand, I’m just trying to share with you some music that I really like.
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