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Trampled by Turtles

   Trampled by Turtles are a classic folk band, with all the bells and whistles. They possess a phenomenal banjo player and violinist accompanied by frequent use of the mandolin and the vocals of all the members to produce a beautiful and heart warming sound. Though Trampled by Turtles has the capacity to create beautiful and soothing music songs such as "Wait So Long" encourage the listener to begin to stomp their foot to the beat as they would to any classic folk song. Here are some of my personal favorites by the band, I hope you enjoy. Also I thoroughly encourage you all to visit their website and buy their music as it would be a great investment to see them prosper.

Alpha Consumer

Hey guys, we're back from exams ready to kick off on the blog again.  So to start off, I want you guys to focus on a more obscure band I found called Alpha Consumer.  They use a very classic distorted grungy/garage band tone surrounding their music.  They follow this template in their first two albums, "Alpha Consumer" and "Gary Victorsen's."  Alpha Consumer's sound evolves which is most evident, of course, in their newest album "Kick Drugs Out of America."
In "Alpha Consumer" (2006) and "Gary Victorsen's,"(2007) the band maintains a heavy grungy sound that just flows.  You could compare it to a progressing drone which you could play to distract your thoughts a bit.  They offer great resolves in many songs, some reminding me of Porcupine Tree. Interestingly, Alpha Consumer wrote a folky song on each album, perhaps to feed listeners an interesting switch in the album's mood.  Alpha Consumer opens both albums with their most powerful songs while keeping an up beat feel throughout the albums to the point where you have a good time just listening to them.
The latest album released, "Kick Drugs Out of America" (late 2010) presents their most successful works, and focuses their sound and style so that any sloppy structure is rectified in the album.  It differs from their grungy songs and actually strays from pure garage songs to explore more calm and even poppy sounds mixed with a progressive instrumental song.  I'll put down their most impressive grungy song on the album, Life Size Voodoo Doll. From there "Kick Drugs" mellows out with my favorite pieces on the album, Storms Coming and Yeah, Trouble, the latter which doesn't even use distortion.
I would love to see how Alpha Consumer advances their sound in their future because they are on the right track.  If you're into grunge/garage give these guys a shot, give them love, buy an album, and check the out for upcoming shows when they get booked.  Here are some songs:

I Know, I Know (Brand New Widow)  I Know, I Know (Brand New Widow) - Alpha Consumer


KC Bound/ So That's That KC Bound/So That's That - Gary Victorsen's
          This one has an interesting Porcupine Tree sound

Life Size Voodoo Doll Life Sized Voodoo Doll - Kick Drugs Out of America


Storms Coming (Sleep Tight) Storms Coming - Kick Drugs Out of America

Exams

Hey guys, just so you know, our posts are going to slow down a bit for these next two weeks due to exams. But to all of you who are regulars thank you so much for staying with us! (:  Now here is some awesome music for all of you to listen to. Also, check out some of our older posts:

Bon Iver

The Gorillaz

Josh Ritter

Guest Series: The Kooks Concert

Sleeper Agent- Get it Daddy
  Blitzen Trapper - Black River Killer
  The Flaming Lips   "The W.A.N.D.", 
Dispatch "Railway" by foundations
Fever Dream - Iron and Wine

Ray Lamontagne

Ray Lamontagne is a warm, folky singer and songwriter.  Lamontagne's discography extends back to 1999 when he recorded 10 songs and sent them out to music venues but his big break came from his second album, 2004's Trouble, which made over 500,000 sales around the world.  Trouble features simple drum beats and acoustic chord progressions with the driving power behind his voice.

Two songs, "Trouble" and "Hold You in My Arms" captured my attention.  In both songs, Lamontagne's soft folk progression attracts you into almost a trance but strikes out at your attention with his terrific builds into the chorus.  The more powerful strumming and drum beat build into the chorus combined with his vocal change reflect on his mastery of dynamics.  Particularly interesting to me is how his voice manipulates the transition smoothly from the calm you hear throughout the bulk of the song into a hearty and more raspy sound which becomes the dominant and by far most memorable factor of the song.  The musical dynamic changes into the chorus are important for creating the emphasis which makes Lamontagne's music so attractive and successful.

"Trouble" and "Hold You in My Arms" are posted below.

Since 2004, Lamontagne has released three more popular albums.  Check out Ray Lamontagne if you don't know him because you won't regret it.  I see how the power that Lamontagne creates through even such simple music makes him one of the most talented folk writers today.

John Prine

     John Prine is a lesser known of the country/folk scene, well if you listen to folk or country I'm sure you have heard of him, but he isn't a household name such as, say, Johnny Cash.  He is known for being an influence more than a recognized singer songwriter.  You can hear his influence everywhere though; Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash being the biggest, but pretty much every good folk writer has taken a leaf from Prine's book one time or another.
     If you do know John Prine it's probably because you were at camp and heard this incredible song called Paradise.  Then got home, looked it up, and then asked yourself "who the hell is John Prine?"  After that you look up more of his music and fall in love with his now, raspy, voice (it's raspy due to throat cancer that Prine developed in the late 90's.)  The trait that is most striking in his music lies in his lyrics; they were made to be listened to next to a campfire, so comforting that you can't help to feel safe.  Also the stories he sings are woven from the most random happenings, for example his famous song "Angel From Montgomery" is about a house wife who is unhappy with her life because her husband ignores her, so one day hes off at work and she is sitting on the sofa, sees dust particles in the light fall on a coffee table and they remind her of planes so she sings a song about it.


My Old Kentucky Home - John Prine by JohnBoyTwo

Angel from Montgomery - John Prine w/ Margo Timmins by bluelinez

John Prine - Hello In There by Redeye Distribution

Guest Series: The Kooks Concert

First band was 21st century one man band (Thom Kirkpatrick)



He was super awesome; he used a korg synth and looped piano licks to create the song. He also used pedals and such to turn each loop on and off. It was very impressive and that coupled with the face the he was very good singer made for an incredible performance. His set up was a bass drum, the korg synth on top of that, a cymbal next to it, an acoustic guitar on his lap, and a loop machine and pedals on the ground. He was REALLY good. "The Fear" is my favorite song.

Second band was the postelles


They were really good too, but I got a vibe that they were trying really hard. In fact, they were so good that I felt that they would have done a lot better if the weren't trying to replicate the Kooks so much. The fact that they were acting like that took away from their performance. Things like him lifting his shirt off and acting uncomfortable made for a great opening act and great band, but in the back of my head it still felt a little awkward. "White Night" was my favorite song.

Then The Kooks



They opnened with their new song "Is it me" which was really good. A few songs in, they played "She Moves in Her Own Way" which was great and got the crowd even more excited about the concert. The crowd got really involved and REALLY came alive when they played "Shine On" and "Ooh La". Those two songs made everyone go completely crazy.  They switched mid set to play an entirely acoustic song, where everyone had acoustics even the drummer had just a single drum. They had great energy and it was just as good live (if not better) as on CD.


- J. Andersen


A huge shout out to one of our fans, Jack Andersen, for taking the time to describe and provide pictures of the concert for us! Visit our Facebook page to see the photo album accompanying this post. 


Also, we plan to make this a regular series so please write into us or let us know if you are interested in this opportunity!