Artist to Look Out For: Brown Bird
BROWN BIRD
by DJ CHIVE
About a year ago, I had never heard of the band Brown Bird. This fall a friend told me that the band is “a couple and plays the kind of folk one would want to make out too.” When she told me I should check them out while I was in New York for CMJ 2011 I was skeptical.
I never made it to their show, but I did download their EP The Sounds of Ghosts and album Salt for Salt the day I got back… And, oh boy, how I wished I had sooner.
Their music is intimate, raw, primitive and electrically charged with the dark acoustic sounds of internal energy. They capture the sounds of turbulent emotion you wish you could act on but know that when you do serious consequences will follow: consequences that you secretly want to hit you full force.
My friend was right. Brown Bird does play the kind of music you would want to kiss someone’s face to, but not the type of music you used with candles to set the mood with your high school sweetheart. The duo plays music you would want blasting as you power through the woods, the cold air biting at your nose and stomping through mud, to kiss that girl who says your no good.
I made sure that I would not miss seeing them live a second time, and, a few weeks ago, I had to opportunity to do so. The night before they played at Hampshire College, Brown Bird had a show in East Hampton, MA. They preformed on a Persian rug in the corner of a tiny, old style, bookstore called the White Square. The bookstore was crowded with people of all types, clearly only gathered together to witness Brown Bird live. I could barely get in the door. The audience was peering over bookshelves, draped over display cases, stomping and clapping. At one point, the band broke a string and had to send a member of the audience to get a new one. In the excitement of the room, I too, did not wanting it to end and it didn’t.
Just found this band called The Naked and Famous and I’m loving their album Passive Me, Aggressive You. The best way I can describe this band’s vibe is if Passion Pit and M83 had a baby…it’s great. The song “Young Blood” just feels like such a summer anthem and is perfect for blastin’ the car radio with the windows down, singing at the top of your lungs.
-much radio love from DJ SoCo
Austra-Feel it Break
There seems to be an influx of late of female vocalists venturing into electronica laced alternative music, and Austra is a great illustration of this trend. Her album, Feel it Break, has an easygoing vibe that highlight her otherworldly quality.
Like a combination of Florence and the Machine and Oh Land, Austra managed to deftly tread the line between generic alternative and innovative uses of electronic stylings. Rather than overcompensate with heavy synthesizers and backbeats, she has chosen to integrate softer and more melodic synth beats that enhance her songwriting.
More importantly, the album has great flow. Increasingly it is becoming difficult to craft a fluid album with more musicians focusing on singles rather than on a holistic sound. Austra again succeeds in having a continuous sound that makes her record accessible to any listener.
That does not mean however, that there are not stand out tracks. For instance, The Choke is a standout with its dramatic flair, while The Future is light and breezy.
Other favorites are Spellwork, Beat and Pulse, The Beast, and The Noise.
