Start your weekend off right with music from artists featured this week on BestNewBands.com

“The Dead Dog” – Portugal. The Man
Claire Gallagher reviewed P.tM’s recent show at the House of Blues in Anaheim.

Claire wrote, “I could hardly take notes during this performance because it was so hypnotizing.  Every track was somehow melded together but so distinctly its own living thing. P.tM’s live performances are known for their originality, and this one held up that standard for sure.  Seeing a P.tM concert will never just be a regurgitation of the album—they blend songs, speed up songs, slow down songs, add in the epic-est of epic jam sessions, and almost always succeed in blowing everyone’s mind.  Their songs are so dominating and overpowering and room-filling, but, at the same time, Gourley’s voice is light and eerie and ethereal.  It’s like being afraid to approach the Wizard of Oz—green and all powerful and mystical—but then you’re lured in by an adorable cuddly kitten and you realize it’s not so scary (Ha-hah, METAPHORS!).

“The visuals of this show were amazing as well.  The lighting was unbelievable, and I always want to thank whoever does the lighting because it can really contribute to and even make or break a show.  For this set, there was haze when haze was due, there were green and red bursts of lasers that you want to reach out and try to touch, there were flat green beams of light that broke over heads of people and guitars, and there were reds and purples and blues and greens and whites and flashes to stimulate your eyes and take you out of reality.  The lighting of the show was also interesting in that the band remained mostly obscured throughout the entirety of the show.  There was never really any direct light on them, and they appeared in silhouettes or in and out of shadows.  The drummer was merely a reflection of cymbals. I, personally, thought this to be intentional and calculated for a mysterious effect; I could see others being annoyed by this though.  I imagine it was done for more of an emphasis on the music than on the band itself. I dig.”

Read the rest of Claire’s review here.

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“DC Guide” – Omar Offendum

Monica Christoffels caught the Arab-American rapper at a event held by the Arab Student Union at the University of Oregon.

Monica wrote, “Of his lyrical flow, I will say this: the man is insanely good at what he does. On more than one occasion, my jaw dropped at how fast he was rapping; I’m pretty sure I’ve only ever heard Ludacris and Jay-Z spit rhymes that fast and that clearly pronounced. (Seriously — if my phone hadn’t lost all my audio recordings, I would have evidence of this, but maybe YouTube can offer up some proof for this claim.)

“From Damascus to D.C., and from Egypt to Eugene, Offendum gave me a true sense of what it meant to be an Arab-American in the 21st century. His songs brought the current affairs of the Middle East, seemingly so distant and unconcerning from life in America, close to home — not just for the Arab students in the audience, but for me as well. In the interview, Offendum told me that ‘at the end of the day, hip hop is about keeping it real,’ which is exactly what he does. No pretenses, no labels — just honesty, through verses that unite and inspire people of all walks of life.”

Read the rest of Monica’s review here.

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“Control” – Masters in France

U.K. correspondent Mike Hughes reviewed the North Wales band’s recent show in Telfords, Chester.

Mike wrote, “Masters In France are nothing to do with that country at all, instead they’re from small town North Wales, and are as comfortable singing in Welsh as English. I didn’t know this when I came across their forthcoming single A.I. (Artificial Inches); listening blind I just knew that I was pretty well smitten. Singer Ed Ellis Jones has a certain something, others might compare them to Kasabian, whilst on the single he has at least one small moment of sounding like he’s nicked his vocal inflections from Sting. The slap in the bass and percussion sounds as box fresh as when Blondie put the rap into Rapture, and the whole thing is out front and crunchy. I’m notoriously intolerant of bloke-fronted indie bands, but these guys had me from the off.

“Hidden underneath the band’s easy, rowdy bonhomie, they were a sorted and professional outfit. Apparently much of their writing is based on the banality of small town life, but there was nothing Smiths-maudlin. On the contrary it was rousing stuff, dance inflected and steel bright. The highlight for me was A.I. , probably because that I’d heard it before, but they didn’t put a foot wrong throughout the set. They closed with what they announced as ‘a jam’ and I thought ‘uh-oh’ and prepared myself for self indulgence. I was wrong, it was as well written as anything else, great interleaving of the vocals and the rest of this five piece. They were genuinely going to stop after that one, but the crowd were going too well by then. The band gave in and announced they could do one more but it would ‘probably be a bit crap.’ It wasn’t at all, it was a cover of ‘Miss You’ by the Stones. I was impressed that they’d mined that particular vein, and just as impressed with how they treated it. Close enough to be respectful without being slavish, it simply emphasised that really could play. A fitting finish to an impressive set.”

Read the rest of Mike’s review here.

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“Vrgn Evl” – El Obo

Liz Livengood introduced us to the alter-ego of Jesse Coppenbarger from Colour Revolt.

Liz wrote, “Taking a step away from Colour Revolt’s driving drum beats and thrashing guitars, Coppenbarger delivers Oxford Basement Collection, an album of his personal material that doesn’t fit with his usual aesthetic. While the record definitely sounds experimental, it’s still worth a listen for tracks like ‘Young Ones’ and ‘Vrgn Evl.’ Coppenbarger brings out his softer side amidst a bare bones background, highlighting his supple voice with calculated restraint. It’s as if Coppenbarger has mastered his primary instrument, his voice, and wants to try out all the tones and registers available on one record. Coppenbarger plays around with distortion on the dreamy ‘On The Eighth Day’ and gives us his unadorned voice on the acoustic ‘BTK.’”

Read the rest of Liz’s post here.

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“Back From The Cosmos” – New Year Sun Bear

Lauren Novik got to chat with Remy Cox of NYSB – here’s some of their conversation:

Lauren Novik: So- let’s dive right in- how’d this start as a class project and turn into your life?!  And people say homework is a waste of time…

Remy Cox: Ahah, yeah homework blows- but not when drum machines are involved. Last December I was taking a Modern Greek Poetry class at San Francisco State University. Instead of a final, we had the option to do a creative response. Score! I grabbed my keyboard and recorded a song about a book we read called “God’s Snake.” As it played for the class, I wrote the lyrics on the chalkboard (like Connor Oberst did in the music video for “Easy/Lucky/Free.”) It was a break through for me. I was like, “Woah. I can get people to move to electro-pop songs with Shakespeare references? This is so sweet!” So from there, I kept writing and on January 13th released the album “At The Café With Karyotakis,” named after the modern Greek poet.

LN: Main musical influences?

RC: I love the 8-bit brutality of Crystal Castles. The unapologetic dance-pop of Passion Pit was also really liberating for me. Over the years I slowly realized that pop music can be fun and catchy and deep at the same time. Lyrically, Connor Oberst is the man. A hand full of his songs make me cry- and not just because I’m sad I didn’t write them. I also love the theatrics of Muse (and also Matthew Bellamy’s falsetto.)

LN: What do you dig specifically about the San Fran music scene?

RC: I love how much electronica SF has. There’s a lot of dubstep, but I can only handle so many brain aneurisms in one night. I’m starting a new genre of music called “Duck-Step.” Instead of a wobble base line, it’s a modulated duck quack on the low end. The synths are all 8-bit samples from Duck-Hunt. It’s going to fucking kill you.

Read the rest of Lauren’s interview here.

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“Your Move” – Kris Orlowski

Laurel Kathleen scored not only an interview, but an in-house performance from Seattle-based singer Kris Orlowski. Here’s a video of the event:

 

Check out the rest of Laurel’s post here.

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“Frozen Heart” – Smoke Fairies

Laurel Kathleen also interviewed Katherine Blamire of the UK’s Smoke Fairies. Here’s some of their conversation:

Laurel Kathleen: Your Facebook bio mentions your mutual desire to follow your dreams in America. Have your experiences thus far in the states lived up to your imaginings?

Katherine Blamire:  We’ve had some great experiences there since, going to SXSW, touring with Laura Marling, recording in Nashville, so I think it’s safe to say that our experiences have surpassed our imaginings. We can’t wait to get back out there this summer as our album is being released.

LK: Tell me a little about Through Low Light and Trees. What did you learn about yourselves or your persona as a band while making the album?

KB: Well, it was good because for the first time we felt as though we had the space and time to explore our vision for the songs. I think we just learned to trust ourselves and our ideas more. Hopefully the next album will display more confidence too.

LK: Is there a specific band, festival, or producer you’d like to cross paths with in the near future?

K. We’re thinking really carefully about the next album and who is going to produce. We don’t have any set ideas for people we’d like to work with at this stage, just someone who is 100% into what we are doing.

Read the rest of Laurel’s interview here.

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“Fake IDs” – Deleted Scenes

Kelly Knapp reviewed the band’s recent show at The Rock Shop in Brooklyn.

Kelly wrote, “Guitarist/singer/songwriter Dan Scheuerman clearly feels the lyrics he’s written for the songs, and every other member of the band comes across as being fully invested in what they’re doing. This band is a great example of the live translation of music being much more raw and vibrant. Rounded out with Matt Dowling on bass/vocals/synth, Brian Hospital on drums, and Dominic Campanaro on guitar and synth, these guys all exude passion for the music they’re making. This goes twice for Dan – at times he shook so hard while playing that he looked like he was close to falling over. He screamed the lyrics with such intensity it was hard to look away.”

Read the rest of Kelly’s review here.