Minipost: Hello Saferide

In another podcast-delivered bit of musical awesome, I recently remembered a song I had heard by the band Hello Saferide. The song was called "Anna", and is fantastic - a little downbeat, in a twee way. Granted, the people on the podcast spent most of the show calling them "Hello Saf-er-di" because they assumed it was Swedish, but the song stuck with me.


I listened to a couple other songs on the Hype Machine, one of which ("San Francisco") I really liked. It was a little more upbeat than the rest of their songs, but I expect that I didn't get a great sample. They were all good, though! Check them out.


Note: The same band also released two albums entirely in Swedish under the name Säkert! with a lot of success. So if you want good music check them out too, but if you want to understand the lyrics make sure you check first.

The Mixtape

The Mixtape is a podcast on MyNorthwest.com, hosted by one Sean DeTore of TBTL infamy. I'm going into the KIRO Seattle studios tomorrow with a friend of mine to record an episode, and we're each bringing in some music songs in the theme of "Roadtrip". Now, I'm not usually one for themed music, but I figure I did pretty well. I'll post the playlists later (from both of us), but I just wanted to put the word out.

Best band (indie rock)

Before we begin this particular love-fest, let me lay out what I mean by indie rock. I mean the kind of band that is mostly based around the guitar-bass-drums archetype, a "traditional" rock band. Basically, it's totally subjective.

So, after all that, I'm talking here about the Lonely Forest. So far the most popular group I've written about - not saying much, but they are the only one with a Wikipedia page - I first heard of them through total coincidence. While standing outside an underwhelming show at the Vera Project in Seattle, getting ready to ditch out on the show with a few friends, a very excited guy came out of the door and introduced himself as John Van Deusen, and urged us to stay until the last band, because it was his. He then left to get cookies. The show started with a room full of bored, stock still hipsters but ended with nearly everyone on the floor dancing. I went out and bought their concept album Nuclear Winter the next day.

Recently, the Lonely Forest released We Sing the Body Electric, their newest LP. Based on a couple concerts and a lot of listening on podcasts and the internet, it is a pretty fantastic follow-up. Whereas Nuclear Winter chronicled a single story of a family escaping a world war, WSBE is a more traditional album with a few stand-outs: the title track and Turn Off The Song And Go Outside among them.

I love this band not because of their musical style, but because of the sincerity of Van Deusen's vocals. The music is great, don't get me wrong, but the melodic, minimalist refrain of Two Pink Pills ("I hear a voice, so faint and weak, two pink pills to fall asleep") - so unlike the rest of their catalog - and the heavy lyrics of Turn Off The Song ("I've seen the tweakers struggle, syringes line the floor") tell the story of the songwriter's struggle with and overcome addiction in between albums.

http://www.myspace.com/thelonelyforest

Best band around right now

I first heard Hey Marseilles on the late Seattle radio show Too Beautiful to Live (now relegated to the realm of podcasting, or "imaginary radio"), and was immediately drawn in by the fact that they could not fit most of their band into the studio. After grabbing the track Rio off the KEXP Song of the Day Podcast and seeing a couple of their live shows, I picked up their debut CD To Travels & Trunks. It is fantastic - every song is a wonderful mix of the nine members (or so - there are quite a lot) and their various instruments playing both instrumental and lyrically incredible music.

They just released their album as an LP. I think I might buy it again. This is coming from a person who is actively concerned about whether he will have enough money at the end of the year to pay his taxes. Hey Marseilles are very good.

http://www.heymarseilles.com/