1000xpm is a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based music blog focused on funneling the best of current music (indie rock, lo-fi, electronic, folk, etc.) to one place through sound, video & commentary. My name is Pj, glad you're here.
Contact me directly (submissions, etc.) at 1000xpm [at] gmail [dot] com. All music is for sampling purposes - buy the album, go to the concert! If you represent an artist & would like me to change or remove something please contact me & I will do so immediately. Archive/RSS
I have mountains of respect for the gents from PA’s Dr. Dog, whose tour following the release of their 2010 album Shame, Shame I was able to catch one night in Louisville, KY. Their psychedelic-rock, feel-good sound has the essence of celebration at its core, but doesn’t betray itself by sacrificing depth for fun. What’s more, (and I’ve told this story before somewhere), they impressed me by how tight-knit their sound and stage presence were live. Can I use the term “professional” here without sounding like we were rockin’ out at a business meeting? To put it plainly they know how to make great music and put on a great show.
That Old Black Hole was on the site a few weeks back as a preview of their upcoming album Be The Void, set for release next week (Feb. 7th). There’s a few other preview tracks floating around, but TeamCoco has the full album stream up on their site until it’s released, so I’d recommend heading over in that direction and spending an hour or so with it. And seriously, catch these guys if they every come your way.
While I’ve spent most of this year cruising bandcamp & mining for gold (that post will be coming soon enough), I can’t neglect some of the more well-established acts that are already causing a stir with early previews from their upcoming 2012 releases. This is mostly because these tracks are all really, really good. Bands like these have achieved the listener’s trust and instead of misappropriating it, they all seem to be capitalizing on what draws their fans into their music.
This is, of course, entirely my opinion. But come on. Just listen to what’s happening in this first track:
Shearwater are following up 2010’s excellent album The Golden Archipelago with Animal Joy on February 14th, and will be their first record through Sub Pop. All signs so far are pointing toward another substantially solid album from the Austin, TX band. As You Were really hits all the high notes and sets the pace for other releases this year. For another great preview track, check out the previously posted track Breaking The Yearlings.
This one may be a bit more polarizing. The Shins have been gone for quite awhile (since 2007’s Wincing The Night Away) and have been subject to some interesting observations re:lead singer James Mercer (see fellow tumblr user Crumbler’s fascinating article Last Shin Standing for more). But when stripped down to it’s basic sound, this does have that ‘classic’ Shins sound, packed new and fresh for 2012. This song has adequately piqued my curiosity for the upcoming full-length Port Of Morrow (March 20th), though it seems like it’s going to have to be stellar to gain widespread critical review.
Porcelain Raft is Italian composer/songwriter Mario Remiddi whose side project is now burgeoning into one of the most promising releases of this year. The Hype Machine has an early stream of the album, and I have to say that Put Me To Sleep, Backwords, and the above track are an incredible 1-2-3 punch. There are moments on this album that sound (to me) like certain acts from the 90’s, The Beatles, and like all that’s good about the state of electronic music over the past 5 years. Look for Strange Weekend next week on January 24th.
The final band on this list was relatively unknown to me before hearing this song. The slow build is (like the commenter posted on the track above) slightly reminiscent of an LCD Soundsystem jam, but peaks in it’s own distinct style by the track’s end, taking its well-earned time to burst apart at the seams with sound. For a band I didn’t know a whole lot about before, this successfully whets my appetite for their upcoming sophomore album Nootropics April 30th.
I haven’t even mentioned the new First Aid Kit, Chairlift, and other personally exciting acts Free Energy, Dr. Dog, and Fang Island. From the sample of tracks above (which is far from a comprehensive list of things to be excited about) 2012 is setting out to be a great year already. Listen responsibly.
I’ve spent the past week cruising bandcamp for gold, which has been a great pairing with my studies as of late, particularly because of the number of amazing singer-songwriter acts or experimental, lo-fi bands that can be found. Yeah, it’s not all great (not by a long shot, actually) - but in the age of the hype cycle, there’s something to be said for the waning ability to truly “discover” something new. With a service like bandcamp (and this isn’t by any means *new* information) and the venerable ocean of music of all shapes and styles, the spirit of discovery exists for anyone who’s willing to dive to the bottom to hunt for pearls.
And in that spirit, one of my first finds was the album above, Corridors, hot-off-the-presses and full of reflective, lo-fi jams. It’s simple enough and has that familiar lo-fi sound, but also uniquely expressive enough to sound different than anything I’ve heard up to this point. Thousands Of Days is my early favorite, but there are a number of solid tracks on this album go well with a front-to-back listen.
Anyway, I probably don’t need to sell it anymore than that - if the track above floats your boat, pick up Corridors for a mere $2 (or more if you want!) over at bandcamp for more of the good stuff.
I could listen to this all day/night long and never get sick of it. Oliver Tank released this 15-minute track over on his soundcloud page about a day ago, as “A track I did for a new show on FBi radio called Ears Have Ears: Unexplored Territories In Sound.”
Well, color me impressed. And a bit wistful. It invokes the qualities of James Blake but hovers distinctly in its own galaxy, weightless & calm, playing different variations on the same melody and threaded throughout with the phrase All I do is dream // Dream of you. Blissful.
I posted an amazing track from Oliver Tank a few weeks ago that has been my consistent “go-to” track over the last few weeks. Really looking to this guy for a great 2012. Check it out here, and pick up the amazing Dreams EP over at bandcamp.
I think one of my New Year’s resolutions is to give more time to submissions - I’ve traditionally found it hard to balance between my own search for great music and the tracks that pile up in my inbox, but when I hear tracks like this one from Dream Brother it makes me want to set aside more time for ‘em all. Haunted Hearts was a treasure just sitting there, waiting to be heard, and has since accompanied a few of my walks to school. It really captures the feeling of a sunny winter’s day, walking out in the snow - simple but energizing, it reminds me slightly of Free Energy (a band I can’t wait to hear more from) and has been a great start to my year.
Pick it up at the Dream Brotherwebsite (direct link here). Welcome to 2012!
I may be one of the last to have their say, and this list may be important to no one but me, but dadgummit here are my favorite, most meaningful albums of 2011. There’s so much coming out every year now that this can hardly be considered a wholistic picture of the last year for anyone but myself - not even among the “indiesphere” where most of these releases reside are these an accurate picture of what’s getting the most praise as the masses look back in hindsight over their most treasured songs & albums.
But… if you’re willing to look at a picture of how 2011 - the year I started a job, began dating/married my wife, & enrolled in law school - looked through my eyes and the music that accompanied me throughout, here are my top 11 treasured gems of 2011. Each one latched onto a different piece of me, and I’ll say, choosing those top 3-4 spots was rough. But in the end, my yearlong, steady suspicion for #1 remained true.
[edit: soundcloud embeds were giving me some issues, so each track is linked to it’s soundcloud page for further listening.]
#11: Ghost Heart, The Tunnel
Living in Grand Rapids, Michigan has been a wonderful thing. The Tunnel is the debut LP from my favorite Grand Rapids band (Stepdad comes a close second) who caught my attention at their album release show earlier this year. I did a write-up on the whole evening (back when I had the time for proper recaps like that), picked up the album, and have revisited ‘em several times over these past months. They represent, for me, the excitement of self-actualization in a familiar place - a return to home with all the experiences of visiting the world under my belt. Nothing I’ve heard this year comes close to the reflective opening tones on the track Little Vampires (below), and the rest of the album strikes me as something both distinctly home and distinctly fresh.
Got the heads up to this lovely track in an email today straight from The Black Atlantic themselves. Rohirrim is “a little lo-fi, spur-of-the-moment, home recording Geert did late last night. The lyrics are taken from a poem in chapter 6 of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Two Towers”, so for any fans of LOTR, this one’s a keeper.
The Black Atlantic, as mentioned in weeks previous, have a fresh EP entitled Darkling, I Listen, which can be picked up via their website. And, as I will always mention whenever I get the chance, their completely *free*, completely *awesome* 2009 LP Reverence For Fallen Trees. Pick it up here.
Here’s a solid 3-track download to fill the year-end music doldrums for ya - Brick + Mortar’s Heatstroke was released this past October over on bandcamp, and thanks to a well-aimed PR email I am just hearing it for the first time today.
The title track Heatstroke punches in explosively with vocals that serve to give the whole track its large sound - a feature that’s present on the other two tracks Move To The Ocean, and For Yellow Walls. I’ve probably listened to it 5 times already this morning, trying to figure out what keeps bringing me back.
Grab the 3-track EP from bandcamp at “name-your-own-price” - if you like what you’re hearing, consider sending these guys a couple bucks, and hopefully we can expect some more from these guys soon.
And we continue with the reader recommendations (Part I over here) for their personal favorite albums/songs from this year!
Thisisntliving reminded me of the great, great mixtape 77777 by Joywave: There’s too much good on this *free* mixtape to pass up. Along with that, Joywave and Tympanogram have joined forces for the Ridge 7”, which is one of my favorite tracks of the year (the title track, Ridge). Anyway, check this one out.
Was extremely honored this week to have a guest post over on a blog I’m much indebted to for turning me on to some great music over the years - Slowcoustic.
And with that opportunity, I chose to talk about one of the artists who has consistently inspired me with his music for the last 4-5 years - Joe Pug, whose recent release of Live At Lincoln Hall gave me the perfect opportunity to give back to both the blog and the artist who have so influenced me significantly.
Read my full write-up over at Slowcoustic, and just to reiterate how great the live album is, you can stream it here as well as over at my guest post. Pick it up for a fiver (WELL WORTH THE PRICE) here.
