Great music you haven't heard.
Alright, pulling up my music store whore soap box here because I've heard a lot of really great lesser known stuff lately. Two of them came through random requests through Myspace, another I was tipped off on by an LJ friend, another I heard about on a local show. I'll start off with the chance for free music first.
I received a 'friends request' on myspace from Kevin M. Kirker out of Angel Island in California. The first thing that caught my eye was his self titled stance as being the king of 'harpcore'. So this singer/songwriter plays folk rock music with the harp...? I had to take a listen. I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised. His lyrics are fairly good, though they could use some variation, along with more variation from one song to the next, but besides that it was a very interesting and pleasant listen. He has a very Elliott Smith sensibility to him, the songs are slightly melancholy but have a strange sweetness. Very simple and easy to listen to in the background, I did so while walking my dog this morning through the park and it put me in a nice, musing mood. One of the best tracks is 'People Grow on Trees', clearly a love letter to different friends he's left behind. To top that off, this guy is offering up his eight song album, 'Our Story Now Begins' for free at his website. Just click on the banner and you've got yourself some great new music, free of charge...Which may not be saying much for people who love to steal their music through various download venues anyhow, but it's a nice treat for us who actually pay for it all the time.
My second request came from something entirely different, a progressive goth/new wave project by Tim Goodacre, originally an Aussie who is now living in the UK. The band itself is called Benign. Described in their own words, "'Diaries of Love and War' is the debut album by Benign. It is a brooding affair, exploring the darker side of love in the unsettled age of terrorism and corporate decay. A journey through these times, the listener is transported through 11 tracks of passion, pain, and hope. The album was 3 years in the making and features guest performances by Peter Yttergren and Neil Bonfield." Listening to it brings up thoughts of Shadowrun and Deus Ex to me, which I suppose makes sense, we're living in a world closer to the gothic cyberpunk view of things than perhaps I'd like when I actually sit down and think about it in those terms. The songs I've listened are really solid, 'Sound' and 'Odysseus' being my favorite. Fans of Depeche Mode, darker Peter Gabriel, and Gary Numan should enjoy this album. It's available at iTunes and a few other digital download arenas, as listed on his website, though I think you can also order a physical copy through his site as well.
Kung Foo Preacher is one I heard about while listening to a local show and they seem to be getting a pretty good amount of buzz around here. I'm absolutely in love with their song 'Devil Inside Me', the fast and hard beat and vocals reminding me a bit of Combichrist and Mindless Self Indulgence, though I'm sure someone with more experience in their self described Alt Metal genre would be able to come up with a better musical link. Dead and Beautiful is also a solid song, but the rest don't pack as much of a punch as I'd like when compared to Devil Inside Me. Their music is availabe track by track on iTunes, however, so that's rather nice. They're definitely worth being checked out.
Moving on to the last band, KWOON is out of France. Their music has been described as oceanic, and I couldn't agree more with that. It flows softly, and whether the songs are instrumental or vocal, I love it. Tales & Dreams is their first available album, and includes the song 'I Lived on the Moon', which is just so utterly beautiful, I can't even describe it. The crescendo especially...It sends chills up my spine when I hear it, even now. Fans of Mogwai and Sigur Ros should definitely dig them. Check out this video for 'I Lived on the Moon' below...It's haunting, and the art fits it so perfectly. I hope to be able to import this CD soon. Otherwise, that's it in the venue of music for now, though I may continue to do this if I keep finding great stuff to write about.
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