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Rahim

(We featured this artist last year; here's a reprint of that entry.)

Three-piece Rahim, from New York city, are signed to Frenchkiss Records and play in the style of DC-born post-punk. Once those facts are out in the open, it's easy to guess at what Rahim might or should sound like. Les Savy Fav are an obvious reference point for Rahim (other easy or lazy comparisons: Q and Not U, Black Eyes, Fugazi), but instead of Tim Harrington's verbal barrage and penchant for spectacle, Rahim demonstrate a keen sense of restrain and a wickedly smart way with words and multi-part, buttery smooth vocals, not to mention the occasional orchestral flourish and spare but still gorgeous instrumentation.

Their debut album Ideal Lives veers from where the Jungles EP tread, with airy, literate post-punk with a heart of pop. They're a rare find in an era of way too many disco-dance-post-punk clones. How else can I explain the lush beauty of the backup "yeah, yeah"s and sustained organ in "Forever Love"? Sure, there's angular guitar lines and jittery drums, but also an appreciation of history and cliches. You won't find an abundance of copy-cat hi-hat nor a thousand guitar solos put in for the sake of creating complexity; Rahim's brainy songs are smooth, well-oiled machines: fully-formed, perfectly buffed into perfection, the moving parts all moving in harmony. And never fear, they do know how to rock out when appropriate. It's a shame Rahim are perhaps New York's most slept-on band -- this genre rarely, if never, sounds quite as good.

Rahim - Forever Love
Rahim - Only Pure

Rahim's official site. Buy Ideal Lives from Amazon or iTunes.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 02.24.07 at 7:15 PM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)

Annuals

I find the ambition of a young band like Annuals striking in a way stands out from other ramshackle collectives that are popping up all over the place. Sure, they're got all their ducks in a row if you are going down the "what's hot in large member bands right now" checklist but, unlike a lot of other bands, they have certain intangibles you can't buy off the shelf, namely, chemistry and drama. They're kind of like the brash, American little brother of Broken Social Scene (no one in the band is over the age of twenty-two), but an ADD younger sibling that's more interested in creating fragmented, shattered orchestral pieces with infectious enthusiasm and gutso. Annuals also desire to prove themselves experts at carefully-constructed-to-seem-spontaneous, layered glittering pop masterpieces.

Live, the band rely on the boyish charisma of Adam Baker and the sexy allure of keyboardist Anna Pence, who has been slowly filtering into every indie rock boy's wet-dreams since last fall. Their music is a glowing pop pastiche with gooey hooks, whacked out keyboards and strings, with chants and guitars and space age effects running in all directions to form a kaleidescope of bright colors and sounds. The careful orchestration found their studio work is only barely bypassed by a shimmering wall of sound and company shout-alongs, sure to instill a need to rock-out in any show-watcher.

The result feels both tightly wound and loose at the same time: you get the feeling that the band could fall apart at any moment, or implode, but then the song clicks, there's an upward gust of wind, and Annuals catapults into the heavens. If they land in the clouds, it's only because they were shooting for the stars, right?

Annuals - Brother
Annuals - Carry Around

Annuals' official site. Buy Be He Me from Amazon or iTunes.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 02.24.07 at 12:05 PM | Comments (0), TrackBack (0)

Loney, Dear

The oddly-named Loney, Dear is really the project of multi-instrumentalist Emil Svanangen who's recorded a handful of albums under the pseudonym. These albums, constructed in damp basements and tiny studio apartments, are full of light, pop ballads and jangly rambles with electronic textures, as Svanangen softly croons above.

Svanangen, though at times backed by a full band, lays down delicate layers of harmonies one at a time before topping them with a glistening electro-pop sheen, bringing fullness and light to his pretty melodies. Each gorgeous song is over too soon, a three-minute pop trifle that leaves only a memory on the lips and glimmers of sun.

The warm, cheery waltz of "I Will Call You Lover Again" is sure to bring a smile to the lips of the pop-obsessed as a parade of horns and sweet sounds pass by, whereas the melancholy "I Am John" casts a hypnotic spell as it builds to a quietly heartbreaking but strangely euphoric conclusion. Loney, Dear arrives with romance and joy in a lush indie-pop package that's sweet, heart-warming, and sincere, but also just a touch of bittersweet.

Loney, Dear's official site. Buy Loney, Noir on Amazon or iTunes.

Loney, Dear - I Will Call You Lover Again
Loney, Dear - I Am John

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 02.23.07 at 7:34 PM | Comments (1), TrackBack (0)

Chris Garneau

SXSW usually means visions of rowdy punk crowds and hard-rocking guitarists, or soulful dueling divas, but it would behoove all of us to take a moment for something subtle, something intricate, some music requiring further inspection, someone like Chris Garneau, a recent signee to Absolutely Kosher.

With a pretty-boy face and razor-sharp tongue, Garneau represents a rarity for solo piano players. You won't find him playing outdated piano bars or department store lobbies, nor will you find corny renditions of jazz standards nor cheese-ball-ridden odes to lost loves. No, he lies somewhere between Duncan Shiek and Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart.

Instead, he's got a bit of Elliott Smith's emotional fragility crossed with Sufjan Steven's fluttery wisp, and a dark, slithery undercurrent that only occasionally reveals itself before swimming out of reach. Every restrained word sung sounds like its been wrested from an inner cage, suddenly angry chords rise up and slap you in the face, and even majestic string arrangements sound dark and tormented, but mesmerizing.

Even a song like "Not Nice," which starts out deceptively ordinary, overturns expectations. We cringe to hear Garneau sing, "You're not nice, you're not nice...I've rather leave you alone," but can't turn the song off, especially as the violin and cello continue their sorrowful conversation. Chris Garneau makes bittersweet, breath-taking piano pop that is in a class of its own.

Chris Garneau - Not Nice
Chris Garneau - First Place

Chris Garneau's official site. Buy Music for Tourists at Amazon or iTunes.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 02.23.07 at 7:05 AM | Comments (1), TrackBack (0)

OK, So We Lied

There's only a few weeks until South By but we promise to get you up to speed on all of your new favorite bands, and fast. (But, hey, we redesigned. Slightly. Little Miss Rock'n'Roll is responsible for our spiffy new banner. It's nice, no?)

Expect a good mix of old and new content from us, in the next few days as we finally relaunch.

Posted by Queen of the Front Row on 02.21.07 at 2:23 AM | Comments (1), TrackBack (0)