Audio Drums » Dream Pop

Shannon Curtis – Let’s Stay In

davidaarong — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:01:51 +0000

Here’s a slice of dreamy electronic pop for your early afternoon, by Shannon Curtis. What caught my ear, outside of Shannon’s dreamy voice, is the production on this track. In particular, the drums. Sounding like a programmed beat, but this beat has soul, and the kick drum has this warm edge to it that perfectly suits the track.

Shannon Curtis – Let’s Stay In

Let’s Stay In by shannoncurtis

Press Release

SHANNON CURTIS ISN’T GOING ANYWHERE WITH NEW SINGLE

Artist Shannon Curtis has logged over 150,000 tour miles in her VW Jetta in 4 years, but with her new single — to be released October 25th — she suggests “Let’s Stay In”

If there is any artist who deserves a rest, it would be dream-pop songstress Shannon Curtis. That may be what she had in mind when she penned her upcoming single, “Let’s Stay In.” And although listeners may gladly heed the suggestion and curl up with a loved one as the air cools and the days shorten this fall, if Curtis’s tour schedule is any indication, she’ll be taking a rain check on that well-deserved rest. Curtis wrote the song behind the wheel of her Volkswagen Jetta while on tour last year, contributing to the over 150,000 miles she’s driven while touring over the last 4 years. She’s currently three months into a campaign to play in 5 west coast cities once a month for six months in a row.

“We’ve been to Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Los Angeles three times already since July, and we’re headed back again this month. It’s great: I know exactly where I’ll get my coffee in Seattle, breakfast in Portland, late-night burritos in San Francisco. It’s been fun to get to know these cities, but it’s even more fun getting to know the people coming out to the shows. They’re awesome. The audiences have been growing each month and they’re really enthusiastic about the new music. It’s an exciting time.”

The song itself doesn’t appear to be house-bound either. Curtis has collaborated with DJs from L.A. to San Francisco to Brooklyn to compile an impressive collection of remixes of “Let’s Stay In” for the limited-edition “mega-single” CDs she’ll be making available to fans this fall. “The remixes are so dope. Can I say that? I’m like the opposite of gangsta. Haha! But really, it makes me giggle to think that a song about staying in for a quiet evening could start blowing up nightclub dance floors.”

Shannon Curtis is a songwriter and performer from Los Angeles. “Let’s Stay In” is the second single from her forthcoming album, recorded by producer/mixer husband Jamie Hill (Jens Lekman, The Presets, Nada Surf), and will be released worldwide by Saint Cloud Records on October 25th, 2011. The first single, “Brightest Light in the Room,” was written for two US Army servicewomen on the occasion of their wedding engagement and received kudos from bloggers and prominent play on internet and independent radio. Curtis has previously released 3 EPs and one acoustic LP, and has sold over 10,000 of those records to date. Curtis’ song “Before the Sun” was featured on MTV’s The Hills, and Buzz Bands LA has recently dubbed her a “purveyor of down-tempo dream-pop.”

Twiggy Frostbite – Lanterns & Stars / The Deer Tracks – Christmas Fire

davidaarong — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:28:44 +0000

From the fine folk at Despotz Records, comes early Christmas gifts in the form of two new mp3′s:

The Deer Tracks – Christmas Fire

Twiggy Frostbite – Lanterns & Stars

Enjoy with a cup of something warm… and possibly a loved one, or the very least a lustful one

Previous post on Deer Tracks

Previous post on Twiggy Frostbite

Fight Bite – Swissex Lover

davidaarong — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:00:44 +0000

A shoegaze track with chorale-esque feel too it. Fight Bite is based in DENTON, Texas and comprised of Leanne Macomber and Jeff Louis III. Their sounds is somewhat in the vein of This Mortal Coil meets Julee Crusie. The entire album is quite special and should be picked up.

Fight Bite – Swissex Lover

Album link:

Au4 – Hit and Miss

davidaarong — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:00:50 +0000

Au4 are from Vancouver and made up three brothers (Ben, Aaron, and Nathan Wylie) and friend Jason Nickel.

They mix elements such as shoegaze, electronica, dreampop, and ambient. Their entire album is quite solid and at times remind me of early Duran Duran, well… at the least the mellow tunes from early Duran Duran.

Here’s a short bio from cdbaby:

Ben Wylie (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Aaron Wylie (keyboards, vocals), Nathan Wylie (drums, percussion) and Jason Nickel (bass, vocals, keyboards) grew up on music, each starting Royal Conservatory training at a young age. In high school, the boys formed the requisite alternative rock bands, while continuing their musical study and touring in jazz, choir and theatrical productions. Jason and Nathan attended Capilano College’s Jazz Studies program, while Ben and Aaron began experimenting with the electronic loops and beats which would later morph into Au4.

Inspired in part by the electronica explosion, and landmark albums by Underworld, Massive Attack, Bjork, and Nine Inch Nails, Ben and Aaron (who was also DJing in Vancouver clubs) started writing with new tools, layering and shaping sounds late into the night. In 2003, Jason Nickel heard their demos and brought them to producer/engineer Richard Dolmat. The group Au4 was officially formed along with Nathan Wylie, their brother.

On Audio was produced by Au4 and Richard Dolmat at Digital Sound Magic studios in Vancouver and is released on their own label, Torn Open Records. The nine tracks draw from trip-hop, ambient and dreampop styles, featuring the breathy, haunting vocals of Ben Wylie, who also scripted the fantastical stories of love and life.

A melancholic tone weaves throughout On Audio, but the mood is of contemplative optimism: The acoustic-guitar laced love song “Hit and Miss” undulates like a watery embrace. The bass-driven “A Mile From Here” is an up-tempo track ready for clubs. Even the epic “An Ocean’s Measure of Sorrow” rocks, a fresh take on the piano ballad. “Everything’s Always Moving” sums up the album’s hypnotic qualities and themes of hope.

“‘Everything Always Moving’ came in a state of amazement as one reflects upon one’s own existence, and how we are always affecting, always being affected, always changing each other’s lives,” says Ben. “There are moments when this truth becomes more apparent and it always seems to be on the heels of either great hurt or extreme joy, moments where life feels like some heavenly poem or surreal nightmare. Regardless, as we continue to pour into one another, there is a fruit that grows. Such is the beauty of life.”

The result of a lifetime of love and study of music, five years of songwriting and two years of studio refinement, On Audio represents the beginning of Au4′s journey. The group plans to perform live in 2006 and is working on second album of remixes from On Audio. They are also working on an innovative website, a collaboration between Ben Wylie’s visual FX background, Aaron Wylie’s DigiCoyote Software company and Juno Award-winning designer Vincent Marcone. The multi-media and live aspects of Au4 complement and reinforce the band’s musical message.

“We just want to connect with people,” says Aaron. “At the end of the day, there’s much more satisfaction of being when you realize that, yes, there is bad and good in life, but that is our common ground. We should all try to look beyond ourselves and share the time we have. That’s what, for us, music is about.”

[audio:http://www.audiodrums.com/audio/01_Hit_and_Miss.mp3]

[download]

[myspace]

Listen to the full album at www.au4-audio.com. Hit the “listen” link.

Parrondo – Bolas Bug

davidaarong — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 08:00:13 +0000

Parrondo, aka Jose Parrondo primarily known as a Belgian book author of children’s books, released an album in 2004 from which this track is found.
Parrondo travels in the same vein as Cocorosie, with its whimsical sounds and toy instruments.

[audio:http://highrize.wordpress.com/files/2007/10/parrondo-01-bolas-bug.mp3]

[download]

The Morning Benders – Damn it Anna

davidaarong — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:28:27 +0000

Nice Indie Pop from the northern California pop quintet. Found these two songs for download from The Morning Benders website here.

Damn it Anna: [audio:http://highrize.wordpress.com/files/2007/10/the-morning-benders-damnit-anna.mp3]

[download]

Grain of Salt: [audio:http://highrize.wordpress.com/files/2007/10/the-morning-benders-grain-of-salt.mp3]

[download]

Starflyer 59 – I Win

davidaarong — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:25:17 +0000

Based out ouf Aliso Viejo and having made more than 10 albums and several EP’s to thier name, Starflyer 59 is relatively unknown. However, this isn’t because of a lack of quality music. Their latest album My Island, released last year is a prime example of the a solid album from start to finish. You can read a review of it here at Allmusic.com

[audio:http://highrize.wordpress.com/files/2007/09/starflyer-59-i-win.mp3]

[download]

Buy Album: My Island

Ulrich Schnauss – Stars & Medusa

davidaarong — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:45:00 +0000

Ulrich Schnauss - Stars

[audio:http://highrize.wordpress.com/files/2007/09/ulrich-schnauss-stars.mp3]

This track is a massive wall of sound similar to shoegazing acts like Lush, Slowdive, and Cocteau Twins. Give this track a minute or two to be drawn in and drowned in a beautiful mix of electronic bliss and dreamy vocals.

Ulrich Schnauss - Medusa

[audio:http://highrize.wordpress.com/files/2007/09/08-medusa.mp3]
Meduse has swelling vocals that ebb and flow to a soothing wall of sound and a climactic wash, that has a little harder hitting action to it compaired to “Stars”

Both tracks can be found on the Goodbye album by Ulrich Schnauss