Brooklynites Elephant Parade get down.

Brooklyn loves its girl-boy power indie pop duos. If Matt & Kim are in the high-energy end of the spectrum, Elephant Parade is most definitely on the lo-fi end. Gracing us with soft guitar and strikingly fragile vocals, to say that Estelle, from Gainsville, FL. and Ido, from Israel, are minimalist musicians is an understatement

Not unlike artists like Jana Hunter, Elephant Parade’s arrangements and vocalization sometimes emote more than the actual lyrics or instrumental ability (and they’re obviously a talented twosome). Adding their guitar and piano, the songs left me with an incredibly earnest sense of loneliness and sadness. (I’ve recovered since.)

My favorite track is a short and pretty straightforward song. A man waxes his car while his family watched television indoors. The song ends with “Ooh, baby/When I’m with you I’m all right/Hey baby/When I’m with you, it’s all right/Yeah, baby/Let’s take the Cavalier out.” Without taking too much of a leap, the song, titled “Xanax” is a little slice of the modern, pharmaceutically inclined life.

Featured Song: “Goodbye” by Elephant Parade


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Featured Song: “Xanax” by Elephant Parade


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Multiculturalism at it’s best.

I have decided to make up for the last jibe at Pitchfork by complimenting them on their support of Black Kids and their “Wizard of Ahhs” EP. I haven’t heard this much deserved buzz about a band as I’ve heard for Black Kids in a long while. Even with only four recorded tracks, I will even go as far as to say that the EP is contemporary indie pop perfection.

“In Rainbows” may be “pay-what-you-want,” but Black Kids made their EP available unquestionably free on their MySpace page (although it’s also downloadable on iTunes, if you’re so inclined). “Wizard of Ahhs” is a brief introduction to the Jacksonville band, which is a God-honest unsigned band that is pretty much infiltrating the general indie music consciousness.

On an purely editorial note, I tested “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” on the dance floor over the weekend; it definitely works.

Featured Song: “I’ve Underestimated My Charm (Again)” by Black Kids


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Featured Song: “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” by Black Kids


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Featured Song: “Hurricane Jane (Beige Reemix)” by Black Kids


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The Octopus Project have their tentacles in a twist.

I remember first hearing about The Octopus Project before I actually heard them.

For a while, there was a real debate about the band’s origins: Houston or Austin? Austin or Houston? In the end, Austin, like always, wins. On a technicality, though. (They operated in Houston under the name Invisible Robot Fish; The Octopus Project, a decidedly much cooler name, came to fruition as a side project when they moved to Austin for scholarly pursuits.)

Regardless, the band is rapidly becoming a stable within the experimental indie scene. Under the watchful eye of Peek-A-Boo Records, The Octopus Project releases their third full album this month. Recorded and co-produced by the same parties behind Blonde Redhead and The Gossip, “Hello, Avalanche” is the perfect combination between traditional rock and roll, orchestral and electronic. Add some theremin to the mix and you have a thoroughly enjoyable album.

How enjoyable, though? Pretty damn enjoyable. In fact, I think this is probably their most accessible album to date. They retain their ingenuity with their trademark nontradional instrumentation, but have a softer vibe. This isn’t to say there isn’t a bite to “Hello, Avalanche.” Still, I supposed The Octopus Project is one of those bands that are great on recordings, but mind-blowing on stage. In fact, if you happen to be in Houston on Thursday, the band is playing with local favorites Bring Back the Guns at Number’s nightclub.

Featured Song: “I Saw The Bright Shinies” by The Octopus Project


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Featured Song: “An Evening With Rthrtha” by The Octopus Project


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Shows:
Oct. 4 - Houston @ Number’s
Oct. 5 - Baton Rouge @ TBA
Oct. 6 - New Orleans @ TBA
Oct. 7 - Tallahasssee @ TBA
Oct. 8 - Orlando @ Back Booth
Oct. 9 - West Palm Beach @ City Limits
Oct. 10 - Jacksonville @ Jack Rabbit’s
Oct. 11 - Atlanta @ Drunken Unicorn
Oct. 12 - Knoxville @ Pilot Light
Oct. 13 - Charlotte @ Milestone
Oct. 14 - Durham @ Duke University
Oct. 15 - Baltimore @ Ottobar
Oct. 16 - Washington DC @ Rock N Roll Hotel
Oct. 13 - Philadelphia @ John Brenda’s
Oct. 14 - New York City @ High Line Ballroom (with Enon)
Oct. 15 - Boston @ Great Scott (with Enon)
Oct. 16 - Montreal @ La Sala Rossa (with Enon)

Dan Deacon sounds like a rainbow that threw up. In a good way.

Sue us if we’re a couple of months behind Pitchfork. We realize that’s like three years in nouveau hipster blog trolling years. Regardless of our delay, there are two things that we here at the Culture Warrior are fascinated with: the obscene and the bizarre. Better than either is the obscenely bizarre, which is why we like Dan Deacon so much.

Listening to Dan Deacon is, for the lack of a better word, a trip. With his Masters degree in electro-acoustic composition in hand, this classically trained composer is pretty much the embodiment of musical experimentalism. Opinions on Deacon run the gamut; I’ve had people tell me they love his applesauce brand of noise, and I’ve had others tell me they’re going to have nightmares. Personally, I’m of the former group. There are no, nor should there be, any pretenses to Deacon’s music. It’s unapologetic, it’s crazy, it’s fun.

Deacon is currently on tour with party masters Girl Talk and relative newcomer White Williams and is well-worth your allowance, folks. Houston, be warned: tonight is your night.

Upcoming Shows:
Sept. 24 - Houston, TX @ Walters on Washington [Editor’s Note: No Girl Talk, though]
Sept. 25 - Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
Sept. 27 - San Diego, CA @ Epicentre
Sept. 28 - Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex (SOLD OUT)
Sept. 29 - San Francisco, CA @ Meet & Greet at Virgin Mega Store (4-6)
Sept. 29 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore (SOLD OUT)
Sept. 30 - Oakland, CA @ Lobot Gallery
Oct. 1 - Brekeley, CA @ Lower Sproul Plaza
Oct. 4 - Oberlin, OH @ Dionysus Disco
Oct. 5 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Oct. 6 - Iowa City, IA @ The Picador
Oct. 11 - St. Louis, MO @ The Billiken Club
Oct. 12 - Grinnell, IA @ Grinnell University Gardner Lounge
Oct. 17 - New York, NY @ CMJ: Bowery Ballroom
Oct. 19 - Bennington, VT @ Bennington University
Oct. 20 - Alfred, NY @ Alfred University

Featured Song: “Splish Splash” by Dan Deacon


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Featured Song: “Ohio (Demostration Version)” by Dan Deacon


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Jens and decapitation.

Damn Swedes have done it again. With the exception of Ace of Base, the Scandinavian country has a relatively unshakable reputation for hosting some brilliant pop acts with timeless music. Enter: Jens Lekman.

The 26 year old is and old dog at this game. His previous albums (”When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog” and “Oh You’re So Silent Jens”) were two of the most entertaining albums of their respective years. They were both drenched in a minimalistic Brill Building sound a la Burt Bacharach with his Stephen Merritt-esque vocals (a very popular trait among Scandinavian male singers, it seems. Refer to Suburban Kids with Biblical Names as well.)

Whereas some other European indie pop male singer/songwriters (how are those for qualifiers?) seem to barely tip-toe the borders of their own ingenuity (I’m looking at you, Sondre Lerche), Lekman is more than happy to do what he does best…only better. There’s a sense of richness and depth in his third album, “Night Falls Over Kortedala,” that he’s hinted at before, but is dominant here. The album is nothing if not a natural progression from his previous work polished to perfection. Lekman manages to bridge that Brill Building pop with old-school rhythm and blues, a connection that would usually pass over most of our heads but makes complete sense.

Do yourself a favor and catch him if he stops by your city.

Featured Song: “Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig” by Jens Lekman


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Featured Song: “The Opposite Of Hallelujah” by Jens Lekman


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Nice hat.
After spending a semester making music in eastern Alaska, who wouldn’t seek out troubadour Zach Condon (of Beirut fame) and A Hack And A Hacksaw’s Heather Trost? With the appropriately-named Alaska in Winter, Brandon Bethancourt did just that, the end result being his first LP, “Dance Party In The Balkans.”

First of all: one of the best album titles of the year. Already, you half-expect stomping on old, dirty floorboards in some obscure Eastern European town with a troupe of traveling gypsies. Or is that just me? Either way, the imagery works. The album itself marries East(ern European) to West(ern European), combining the Balkan-influenced instrumentals with synths and vocoders. Lots and lots of vocoder. In fact, it can get a bit much; it’s like that damned Imogen Heap song infused itself with 80 percent of “Dance Party.” Unlike Imogen Heap, Bethancourt’s vocals are actually more delicate and more appropriate, especially when they’re in put in conjunction with very subtle piano and relatively unaltered (and currently unidentified) female vocals in “Horsey Horse.”

I think that most people would agree that the last track off of “Dance Party” is the best. Featuring a singing Zach Condon, it might sound a bit discrediting of Bethancourt’s abilities to call “Close Your Eyes We Are Blind” the album’s best, but the combined use of Condon’s slightly-strained vocals with Bethancourt’s vocoder along with the instrumentation plays off well and makes it the richest of the tracks. Enjoy.

Featured Song: “Dance Party in the Balkans” by Alaska in Winter

Download: “Dance Party in the Balkans” by Alaska in Winter

Featured Song: “Close Your Eyes We Are Blind” by Alaska in Winter

Download: “Close Your Eyes We Are Blind” by Alaska in Winter

Mystery desert men

I had no idea that there was an actual classification for musicians like Devendra Banhart or Jana Hunter. I always assumed it was a particular type of indescribable folk. Turns out, though, that there is a home for the classically troubadour sound: naturalismo.

I’ll have to thank Headdress for their help finding this new information out. Before I do, though, you should actually listen to the Texas two-piece. Beautifully lo-fi, Headdress’ “Turquoise” is more of an experience than a flat out album. Ariel Pink meets Desperado, the album plays up echoes and evokes a desertscape, giving of a distinct vibe of stationary solitude. “Turquoise” is a tad literal on the “natural,” featuring crickets and wolves along with soft and minimal instrumentals, but nothing that I’ve heard this year comes close to the vivid, almost photographic imagery that results from listening to Headdress.

Featured Song: “Blanket of Golden Fields” by Headdress

Download: “Blanket of Golden Fields” by Headdress

Featured Song: “Among the Swinging Stars” by Headdress

Download: “Among the Swinging Stars” by Headdress

Also, if you want to know more about naturalismo, you should check out the Naturalismo Blog. It’s good reading.