Minutos Musicales: This Is Ivy League

Estimados,
hoy estamos, sin duda alguna, delante de uno de los mejores discos de este año 2008.

This Is Ivy League es un grupo con una lenta pero reposada carrera musical. Tienen un EP ("London Bridges") y acaban de publicar su primer disco selftitled. Su biografía según relata su myspace es la siguiente:

"Alex and Ryland met in 1997 in High School. Both were avid guitar players and both played in local bands with varying degrees of accolade. Alex got Ryland a job waiting tables at "Mr. Deli's Jewish Delicatessan," in Boca Raton, Florida. A few years later, Alex went off to pursue a degree in the culinary arts while Ryland procured his BFA in Acting. The two lost touch for seven years. Ivy League formed in August of 2005 when Ryland discovered that his old friend Alex was not only still playing music but living just ten minutes away from him in Brooklyn, NY. The duo quickly began writing songs together."

Y esto es lo que dice mi amigo Gustavo, del blog Take The Pills.

"Here is another wonderful indie pop release from this year. This Is Ivy League is based in Brooklyn and is formed by Alex and Ryland, the duo play amazing psychedelic pop songs with lovely well crafted jangly guitars wich reminds a lot of Blueboy. The album has some folk influences too, especially from Simon & Garfunkel. You have to hear this, so don't miss it!"

También os dejo la crítica de este disco de la web 'la karniceria':
"Pocos discos hoy en día ofrecen un repertorio con la calidad del disco que nos ocupa. Se trata del debut de Alex Suárez y Ryland Blackinton, dos amigos, que bajo el nombre de This Is Ivy League no tienen reparos en reunir lo mejor de unos y lo más efectivo de otros para convertirlo en una excelente colección de canciones con identidad propia. De este modo, su disco homónimo suena sencillamente a pop del clásico, con melodías bonitas y estribillos pluscuamperfectos que harán las delicias de todos aquellos que oyentes que aún disfruten escuchando power-pop o sonidos acústicos similares a aquellos de los que tanto provecho sacaron pioneros como Simon & Garfunkel.

Digamos que uno tiene medio partido ganado cuando es capaz de incluir temazos como “Love is impossible” o “London Bridges” en su primer disco. Temas como “The Richest kids”, “Celebration” o “Don’t waste your love on me” nos hacen darnos cuenta de toda la influencia que actualmente Belle & Sebastian ejercen en numerosos grupos ingleses. Los momentos más tranquilos o más acústicos comandados por “An introduction”, como “A summer chill”, “Modern world”, “Til the day”…, se acercan descaradamente a la calidez de la música de bandas como Kings of Convenience. Por último, conviene no perderse ese delicioso homenaje que hacen a la bossa en “Viola”."

Grupo: This Is Ivy League
Título: This Is Ivy League
Año: 2008
Web oficial: http://www.thisisivyleague.net/ y http://www.myspace.com/ivyleagueonline
Canciones destacadas: A Summer Chill, Celebration, Don´t Waste Your Love On Me, London Bridges, Love Is Impossible y The Richest Kids

Minutos Musicales: Scout Niblett

Estimados,
Emma Louise Niblett también es conocida por el pseudonimo de "Scout Niblett".

Composiciones realmente inmesas, alejadas del ruido adicional e interpretadas con una magistral combinación de guitarra, batería y voz que muchas veces ella misma toca. Cuando se la escucha, múltiples nombres vienen a la mente: PJ Harvey, Shannon Wright, Lisa Germano, Joan As Police Woman, Cat Power.... y verdaderamente no desmerece a ninguna de ellas debido a su particular estilo y potencia emocial en las composiciones.

4 discos contando con el que hoy os presento (el primero publicado en 2001) avalan su carrera y es una pena que muchos no la hayamos descubierto antes. Si no la conocéis, seguro que os dejará gratamente impactados.... ahí es nada.

"She is known for her intimate live shows and her blond wig while performing.[1] She is currently living in the United States, where she has worked with the influential recording engineer Steve Albini.

Niblett grew up in Nottingham, England and chose her stage name in honour of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, the protagonist in Harper Lee's 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird. She studied music and performance art at college, and also expresses an interest in astrology—explaining the title of her 2005 LP Kidnapped by Neptune, she says, "Neptune is this planet that everyone has in their chart. But for me, where Neptune is right now and has been for the past two years has been affecting my chart in a huge way. Neptune is kind of the musicians’ planet, it rules music." She currently resides in Portland, OR.

Niblett has released three LPs, through the Secretly Canadian record company in North America and through Too Pure in the United Kingdom. Her first release was a split 7" single with Songs: Ohia in 2001. Shortly after this she released her first LP Sweet Heart Fever, recorded at Chem Nineteen Recordings in Hamilton, Scotland by producer Andy Miller with drummer Kristian Goddard. Her follow-up release was a one-sided 10" EP, I Conjure Series, recorded live, where Niblett plays all the instruments herself. For the next two albums—2003's I Am and 2005's Kidnapped by Neptune—Niblett enlisted the help of Steve Albini, as well as guitarist and bassist Chris Saligoe. She also features on Songs: Ohia's album Magnolia Electric Co. (2003).

Niblett cites among her influences a number of grunge period bands, including Mudhoney, Sonic Youth and Nirvana, and in particular the guitar of Kurt Cobain. In fact, she has covered the Nirvana song "Verse Chorus Verse" in concert. Her drumming technique, however, is inspired, she says, by a man who played at an open-mic night in Nottingham and would accompany himself on the drums while playing Beatles covers. This drumming technique has been a particularly distinctive feature of Niblett's records with Steve Albini, whose method is to place the drums centrally in the mix. A good example of Niblett's minimalist approach to songwriting is "Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death", included on I Am and as the B-side to "I'll Be a Prince". It consists solely of a drumbeat with a cheerfully delivered repeating lyric, "We're all gonna die!", eventually concluding, "We don't know when, We don't know how." Niblett names the song as a favourite. Also of note is her downbeat cover of Althea & Donna's 1978 reggae hit "Uptown Top Ranking", which Niblett released as a single after it became popular at live performances."

Grupo: Scout Niblett
Disco: This Fool Can Die Now
Año: 2007
Web oficial: http://www.scoutniblett.com/
Canciones destacadas: Dinosaur Egg, Kiss, Baby Emma y Your Last Chariot

Minutos Musicales: Fink

Estimados,
aquí tenemos a un artista de Bristol (Finian Greenhall) que narra sus propias vivencias en canciones lentas de trazado continuo y que le dan a las composiones un tinte mágico y existencialista que transcurre mientras dura cada tema.

Muchos grupos con similares características llegan a mi memoria como Jose Gonzalez o Coldcult (estos un pelín más enérgicos). La claridad en sus letras permite traslucir sentimientos, esperanzas y abstracciones propias del estado de ánimo del artista en cada momento. Aún así, es un auténtico placer descubrir artistas con personalidad que hacen la música que quieren independientemente de lo que opine el mundo.

“We’ve played some great shows in the last year,” enthuses Fink from his home in Brighton. He’s not kidding, having performed live with his band at the Birmingham and Manchester Academies, Brighton Dome, Colston Hall in Bristol and a string of other venues in support of Zero 7 in the Spring of last year, before hitting the festival circuit with shows at The Big Chill, Bestival, Green Man, and Fruitstock to name but a few. Fink’s debut album for Ninja Tune, “Biscuits for Breakfast,” marked a seismic shift for the label - shelving samples and turntablism in favour of an acoustic guitar and great songs. The record, distinguished by its squeaking fret boards and disarmingly autobiographical lyrics, caught the attention of audiences worldwide. Over a hundred Fink shows across Europe, including dates at the Electron and JazzOnze festivals, were followed by an intense tour of North America, where Fink, together with bassist Guy Whittaker and drummer Tim Thornton, jetted between seven cities in nine days after having received the Single of the Week slot from iTunes US. Since then, Fink has made special appearances with Nitin Sawhney at the 2006 Electric Proms, the 2007 Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, and throughout a 6-night sold-out run at London’s Jazz Café last December.

While the lyrics on Fink’s follow-up album, “Distance and Time,” retain his trademark tension and honest lines of observation, the record feels more sophisticated and somewhat larger than the last, book-ended by the strung out, softly spoken anger of “Trouble is What You’re In” and the grunting power chords of “Little Blue Mailbox.” Fink feels that was a direct result of this experience on the road. “We did ‘Biscuits for Breakfast’ completely backwards,” he explains. “It was recorded before we’d ever done a gig, while bands normally have to gig for a while before they get a record deal, then get into the studio. This time around we’ve been on the road for a year and the whole experience has given us some insight into what it takes to headline these places.” If you live in the UK, chances are you’ve heard lead single “This is the Thing” as it recently graced a primetime TV ad campaign for MasterCard. “It was weird to hear myself on telly,” Fink admits. “To think that three or four million people have hard your voice during Coronation Street is certainly a bit strange!”

“But for me, it’s really all about performing live. I DJ’d for years, so was totally used to going to a strange town, getting up on the stage, and spinning great records,” Fink explains, “but playing your own material has ten times the intensity, as people are judging not just the songs, but the performance and the vibe of the venue. The Zero 7 tour was really intense as they’d booked us after our fourth ever gig and we were performing in Shepherds Bush Empire on our fifteenth – somewhere all three of us had wanted to play at some point of our lives. That whole period was like being in a movie; a blur of Travel Lodges and sound checks. It fuel injected our ambition in much the same way that touring the US did for us, playing CMJ in a Brooklyn venue, our own sold-out headliner at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan, and SXSW where we followed The Rapture.”

“I’d already recorded a few new track ideas between putting out the last album and touring,” he continues. “Late last year we had a bit of space to think and began to work on some sketches, before Andy Barlow came on board to produce the record. He has a great pair of ears, and working with him really allowed us to concentrate on being musicians. Guy was able to just be amazing on bass, rather than also having to engineer. Tim was able to play rather than recreate a drum loop I’d written in my loft, while I could put everything I could into being the singer and the guitar player rather than fiddling around as a producer trying to make the bass sound deeper or the snare crisper.”

“With the last album, I was very conscious about making my emotions public, and it crossed my mind that I may have had a problem taking that forward. At first, I hoped my writing would become more abstract, in that I would be able to imagine scenarios and write about them, but I think that writing from real experience has to come from the heart, and that’s what people relate to. It’s not that I’m unlucky in love or anything,” he adds, laughing, “I just think that you go through so much when a relationship breaks down that there may be a song for each tiny nuance of emotion that you feel.” There’s a pause, as Fink takes a long drag on his cigarette, “Maybe I just think too hard.”

Grupo: Fink
Disco: Distance And Time
Año: 2007
Web oficial: http://www.myspace.com/finkmusic y http://www.finkworld.co.uk/fink/
Canciones destacadas: Blueberry pancakes, This Is The Thing y If Only