Audio Overflow is written entirely by Cale. Cale will gladly listen to your music and review it for you, but not without prior solicitation. To get in contact with Cale, send him an email: audiooverflow (at) gmail (dot) com.
Please understand that Audio Overflow is a "part time" blog, and Cale may never get a chance to mention your music. That's a risk you're gonna have to take. Hint: your chances are better if your music is good. Read around the blog and discover what Cale likes. If you think your music is similar...send it in!
For those of you who may be a bit new to the blog, I used to run this feature called Myspace Music Mondays in which I would profile talented artists who I totally found on myspace. On January 21, 2008 I profiled a young woman from Norway who I felt had what it took to be the next, oh I don't know, Bjork. Her name is Hanne Kolstö and she sings with several different groups.
As it just so happens, Hanne and the guys from Love:Fi will be performing at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, TX on March 18. Now I know that for many of you attending the festival, hearing some little known group from Norway is no big deal, but trust me, you're in for a treat!
There's no word yet on specific times or location, but do yourself a favor and try to discover something new. Who knows? You may even get to say "Yeah, I heard them before they got famous" to all your friends a few years from now. Just a thought....
So occasionally I like to go back and revisit some of the artists that I've profiled on myspace music monday, just to check in and see how things are going. Maybe you're interested too. Maybe you're not. Maybe you feel like the person who recently told me, "You know, I read everything on Audio Overflow...but I just don't care about that myspace thing." But all that's irrelevant, because I'm posting it anyways. So onward!
Hanne Kolstö Unfortunately, finding new music for Hanne is difficult because most of her work is done with other bands and groups. I did manage to uncover the fact that she filmed a video with the band, Post, for their song, "Slow Song." It's a good song, so it's good to see that they've managed to film a video for it. What's more, from the images on Hanne's page, the video looks to be rather awesome! I can't help but think of that scene from "The Descent" where the main character [spoiler]bursts through the ground and makes a run for it [/spoiler]when seeing the second picture here. Lookie! Sadly, I can't find said video anywhere on the interwebz. Hopefully, a diligent reader will pick up the slack on that one.
The Sailor Sequence The Sailor Sequence has had some pretty cool stuff happen recently; namely being featured on One Tree Hill. According to their blog, the episode aired last week and featured a poster of them in a record store. Nothing too exciting, but the band designed it themselves, specifically for that show. Cool beans.
They also managed to add a new song called, "ATC Remix" which I would assume is a remix of "Around the Corner," an already-stellar song.
The band will be playing a few dates in Kansas soon. So if you're in the area, be sure to check them out.
The Cyanide Valentine There's not a whole lot of new stuff to report on here. The band will be playing a handful of shows in New England (Maine, Massachusetts, and New York) in May, and judging from their studio recordings alone, I'd say they'd be an awesome live band! Also, the band was kind enough to give Audio Overflow a shout out on their myspace blog, and official blog. Looking at my analytics report, that resulted in about 4 new visitors! Sweet action!
Bicycles and Gravel The band has added two new songs to their page since I profiled them back in January. The first one is called "Trees and Fruit" and is pretty...cute. This song totally reminds me of The Boy Least Likely to or I'm From Barcelona (two great bands). There's a drum loop that seems a bit out of place, despite the fact that it sounds cool. Overall though, it's a very charming song that I recommend to fans of either of the two above-mentioned bands.
The other new song is a live recording of "Best Dressed." There's a voice at the beginning of the recording that sounds exactly like me, which freaks me out. Thankfully the rest of the song doesn't, because its mostly awful. That's all. You can hear for yourself at either of their two upcoming shows.
The Eastern Sea Things are going well for my old friend, Matt Hines. He's got a couple new bandmates and is working on an EP to release to the world. Keeping that in mind, he's decided to upload all new songs to his myspace page. All of them are clearly labeled "Preproduction," but that doesn't stop them from being good. In the interest of time (and taking into consideration that you probably stopped reading this post after seeing Hanne Kolstö's pokey nipples), I won't write about each one of them. I will, however, point out that these songs show Matt taking his music to an entirely different level. "The Sea" showcases this point particularly well. You can't miss it! Now I just have to find a way to score some copies for review or contests. We'll see how that goes.
Teacups They say that people remember what you write first and last more than what you put in the middle. That's why I started this post and ended it with Teacups. It's no secret that this band totally rocks my world, and while they haven't added any new songs since I profiled their site back in November (!), they have added a few things to get me excited. Like this:
Ok, you probably can't read that. I'll help.
dear friendlies, ('specially felix)
we are currently working on our debut E.P. We want it to be delicious so it's taking a tad longer than expected (honest, we checked the middle with a knitting needle and found it's still not quite cooked all the way through).
Anyway, once it's done just say the word and we'll have liz deliver it right to your door along with a kiss on the cheek (thats her job in the band).
Love, Teacups xo
That's good news right? Well if that wasn't enough, they also left us with a short clip of them opening for Jose Gonzalez. It's short, but it's nice.
Other than that, hell, I guess we're finished for the day. Thanks for reading, and please send any myspace bands that you'd like to see profiled in to me. I always love hearing new music...except the bad stuff. Keep that to yourself!
No, that's not the name of an artist. You see, I logged onto myspace today, fully prepared to find the next big thing in music. Lo and behold, I am treated to a big helping of suck. Unable to find a single artist of note after about an hour of browsing, I decided to call it quits and instead revisit some past artists that I've featured. We'll see who has updated their page with new songs, and I'll rank them according to my own personal tastes. Sounds fun right?
Who's Updated?
Well, The Beams were the last band I featured before breaking for the holidays and they have since added two new songs to their page. Neither of them deviate from their "Hey, we're kind of like The Killers" approach to music-making. "Chemical Wisdom" is an unrelenting and upbeat dance rock/new wave track with group vocals and a really nice groove. The vocals are a little "meh" in my opinion and the song does go on for far too long, but if you're in the mood for a pure rock out session, it should be a good fit. Their second new song, "Watch" is just a mess. The guitars are way too prominent in the mix and far too skittery to feel infectious. The lyrics can be a bit humorous, but the song itself is completely uncatchy and borderline unlistenable. Skip it.
Of course, the group I most wanted an update from was Teacups. Alas, they have failed me. They did, however, get to open for Jose Gonazalez in New Zealand, which I'm sure was a great honor for them. I just hope that turns into some added exposure for them, because they need to be heard. Check out this sweet picture.
Swede-supreme, Sebastian Orre added two new songs to his page. The first, "Koschka" is a simple, but charming song. Staying true to his past music, his lyrics are very simple yet somehow poignant. He sings, "You saw me walking. Not much for talking, no." Clearly Sebastian. Clearly. The second song is called "Walking" and features some really excellent production. His accent adds a certain amount of innocence to the already childhood memory-inducing song. Again, the lyrics are simple but still effective. It may be the best song of his that I've yet to hear, which is a great thing. Both of these new songs show more depth from his songs that I previously reviewed, especially when it comes to adding layers on top of one another.
Ranking Them
So who do I like best out of all the artists I've featured on myspace band monday. Well if you read last week's feature the answer would be pretty clear. But to see where all the other artists stack up, just cast your gaze downward.
I know that you're a lazy bum and all, but you should really consider checking out all of the above mentioned artists. They are all pretty diverse and unless you only consider Linkin Park, 50 Cent, and Nickelback to be valid musicians, you should find something to your liking.
And hey, make my job easier by recommending a myspace artist for me to feature for next week. Otherwise, I'm not entirely sure what I'll come up with.
It's always a hassle trying to find a good artist to post for myspace music monday. Generally speaking, I don't browse artists in the United States for two reasons: 1, they suck, and 2, they sound like every other crappy American band. So on today's stroll through the not-so-wonderful world of myspace, I came across a fairly unique and talented artist from Norway. Her name is Hanne Kolstö.
Hanne Kolstö
Now the strange thing about this week's artist is that she's not really a solo artist as much as she is a singer that does a lot of work with different bands and groups. She does, however, have her own myspace page, and this is how I came across her. So what I'll do here is direct you to her best songs, across several pages, and hopefully you'll find something to enjoy. I know I have!
Songs The first song you should definitely check out is a song called, "A Long Way," on her own myspage page. The song begins very softly. Hanne's voice is strong, very commanding, but at the same time smooth and chilling. She sings, "He walks a mile to see her smile, to wake up with her by his side," over what sounds like an accordian or harmonium. By the time the first chorus is over, more instrumentation has seeped it's way into the song. Looming synths, and electronic flutters blend perfectly with a deep, thudding bass and techno strings. Horns swell gently in the background before leading a soothing interlude. It is an absolutely stunning song! I'm so disappointed that I can't download it, because it really is beautiful in several ways.
Song two is from her work with an electronic group called POST. It's called "LINK." Here she alternates between singing in a slightly jazzy tone and a straightforward, uninteresting voice. Her voice works well with the production of the song, though there are one or two moments where she seems to overpower everything else going on. I guess that's just to be expected though with a voice like hers. The song's coda is pretty forgettable. It's as if the group couldn't find a decent way to end the song, so they just started making a bunch of noise for a few minutes. Pretty poor.
"Broken" is another POST song, but this time the electronics are much more minimal. Hanne's voice is absolutely charming here, singing, "One day I'll be broken. Hope you can fix me." There are very slight synth bells working behind everything else, and it makes a delicate, but gorgeous sound. The bridge rolls around with a distorted synth lead, and for a while I was worried that they'd once again venture into noise-pop territory. Fortunately, they restrain themselves and the song never runs away with energy or poppiness. The fact that this is actually a live track is nothing short of amazing! It sounds perfect!
The final song you should listen to is called "Let You," and it's really very cool sounding. It's from a demo she recorded with another group named Love:Fi. Hanne's voice hovers somewhere in between Shara Worden and Bjork over very airy and raw instrumentation. The electronic instrumentation, once again is very subtle, yet cool, and utterly flawless. By the end of the song she's finally broken out of her shell, singing triumphantly over a raw electric guitar and pounding drums. Surprisingly, her voice is just as good here as it is anywhere else and it really displays her range as a vocalist. Hear for yourself.
Conclusion I am 100%, absolutely blown away by Hanne's talent as a vocalist. Though the groups she associates with are sometimes a little less than complimentary, they are far from terrible and still above mediocre. Of all the artists I've yet to cover on myspace music monday, Hanne Kolstö is the best I've yet to hear! I really do hope that I hear her voice somewhere down the road and recognize it immediately. Surely, I wouldn't be surprised if something like that happened. She's that cool, that unique!
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