Doveman: The Conformist

Doveman. The name sounds peaceful, it conjures an image of a large, a very large, soft feathered bird softly cooing from the upper ledge of a city building. Perhaps not the best image, or maybe the image you have is closer to a crime fighter a la Batman... Doveman, the Mahatma Gandhi of superheroes. Well, will you look at that, from cooing like a dove to kicking ass Gandhi-style... methinks you should lend an ear to Doveman a.k.a. Thomas Bartlett.

The latest Doveman record is called The Conformist, but it definitely does not conform to the music he has recorded and released to date. This new recording is bolstered vocally by guests such as The National's Matt Berninger, and by Bartlett penning much more accessible melodies, as if he's reaching out instead of turning inward as his earlier music would often seem to do. His recording and touring with The National seems to have rubbed off in the best possible way and I hear this most prominently in the song "The Angel's Share". Even without Berninger adding his voice to the song, the chorus would evoke many of the better, quieter moments of The National.

The Conformist is highly recommended. [BUY]

Patrick Watson: 'Wooden Arms' Hipstereo Review

I don't think it's happened before... not to me, at least. Wooden Arms, Patrick Watson's 3rd full length is so intoxicating, so magical, that it has pushed every thing I've heard since, down a notch, or two. And it's not just Watson's voice, one that lives somewhere between the rooted grainy echo of M Ward and the soaring mercurial grace of Jeff Buckley, it's the music which carries, and is carried by, that voice.

Some music is simpler for me to understand than others, although that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it. I understand Elvis Perkins, and his great new record, and I can intuit how he came to create the music on that record, but Patrick Watson... I can't figure this out. How does he do it? And I've even wondered... why? There's something powerful here, and it may simply be the mystery, the how and the why. Mystery is very seductive, isn't it? I've been seduced by this album, from the quiet romanticism/oddness of the Tom Waits-like title track "Wooden Arms", to the carnival-esque and woozy somnambulism of "Traveling Salesman". From "Beijing" and it's fantastic musical evocation of a city humming, buzzing, and racing with the life of millions of citizens to the deceptively simple "Where The Wild Things Are".

Opening the record is the stunningly lovely "Fireweed", a song which shows to great effect just how important the talents of the other band members are. Throughout Wooden Arms, guitarist Simon Angell shows imagination and restraint, while bassist Mishka Stein displays a fluidity which never gets in the way of percussionist Robbie Kuster's strength, presence and innovation. While this quartet does push boundaries to keep engaged in the creative process, they can, and do, slip in the occasional "pop" song, such as "Man Like You" and "Big Bird In A Small Cage", the latter song in my perfect world would be on every radio in every car and home.

If 2006's release, Close To Paradise, won the band the 2007 Polaris Music Prize (Canada's Mercury Prize), then I can only imagine what awards will be earned by this new record. Highly recommended.

Marco Mahler: 'Design In Quick Rotation' Review

MARCO MAHLER
Design in Quick Rotation
(Self-released)

Marco Mahler’s vocals may lean more towards a conspiratorial whisper than a shouted ‘hey-look-at-me’, but it’s his music that rises above that charismatic whisper to snag your ear. Acoustic guitar lines cut through all else, crisscrossing, blooming, like kaleidoscopic patterns in tracks like the instrumental “Hike The Lake”. And yet it’s that very voice, that calming, quiet voice delivering Mahler’s abstract lyrics, that’s the perfect foil to the penetrating acoustic guitar. Although all this isn’t in sacrifice to melody, he does wield a number of strong melodies that will lodge like an arrow in your heart. “Orange Chinese Car” softly thumps like a basketball about to be taken hard to the hoop, while “Study Airports” is an anti-lullaby, a song to wake up to rather than deliver the lulling. Design in Quick Rotation is a surprisingly well-crafted debut from a man who, not surprisingly, is also a sculptor.

This album and his latest effort can both be streamed here.

Visit his myspace page for links to buy.

Sandro Perri: 'Tiny Mirrors' Review

Sandro Perri
Tiny Mirrors
(Constellation)

Tiny Mirrors, Sandro Perri’s first full length effort under his own name (he did release a five track acoustic reworking of his electronic work done under the moniker, Polmo Polpo), is imbued with a nonchalant elegance, a sound so free flowing and unforced that you can’t help but marvel at it. Toronto based Perri has been moving in music circles under several band names for a handful of years, but it’s this effort, bearing his name and voice, that should stamp his art on the minds of music fans. Trained as a jazz musician, Perri brings that genres’ improvisational beauty to songs that defy all labels excepting that of personal. Originals such as “Double Suicide”, with its lovely title refrain (a hook nearly lost in the song’s laid back charm) and his cover of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’”, which slows down to let the sadness of the song linger long after the music ends, stand out on a record that recalls Jeff Buckley mashed with Nick Drake. The term ‘under the radar’ was coined for just such an artist as Perri, and I pray that this handful of words lifts him high enough to begin flashing on radar screens.

Sandro Perri - Double Suicide

Harlem Shakes: Burning Birthdays EP: Review

Harlem Shakes
Burning Birthdays EP
[Independent - Feb. 6th]
*Sixeyes Score: 9.0 out of 10

The first time I heard the Harlem Shakes I was struck by how distinctive their sound was, and while Lexy Benaim's voice is the main focal point, the band churn up a great weave of a backdrop for that voice. In the past they've generated an excited burbling in some corners of the internet, but they should set things a-buzzing with the self-release of their first EP, Burning Birthdays on February 6th.

The new EP delivers five tracks, four new and the fifth a re-recorded version of "Sickos". That redone song is reason enough to buy the EP, a fantastic piece of pop music, "Sickos" used to stand head and shoulders above the rest of the band's output, but now it has a few friends to keep it company. Namely "Carpetbaggers" and "Old Flames". Also, track number 2 bears mentioning as well, "Red Right Hands" with it's sweet hook and whirling organ. This band can shiver and shake like The Walkmen, but without the near overpowering intensity of Walkmen vocalist Hamilton Leithauser; Benaim is softly seductive with a sugary upper register that often feels fragile. The sound is hard to pin down with regards to references, but then this is an indication to how original they sound on record. The music pours out of the speakers, Benaim's unique vocals wonderfully matched with Todd Goldstein's inventive guitar work, while both are bolstered by a tight rhythm section. These are five strong tracks, but the record closes with a taste of things to come, perhaps. That final track, "Old Flames", is trademark Harlem Shakes, the band harmonizing while Benaim and Goldstein put their stamp on the song, but this one stretches out over the final minute into a mini-epic with the harmonies riding a galloping guitar into a bright promising future for the Harlem Shakes.

Burning Birthdays EP Tracklist
1. Carpetbaggers
2. Red Right Hands
3. Felt Wings
4. Sickos
5. Old Flames

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++The Harlem Shakes ++
Official Site * Myspace * Buy - The Harlem Shakes * More MP3s

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Hipstereo Review: Devastations: 'Coal'

Devastations
Coal
[October 24th, 2006 - Brassland US/Beggars EU]
*HIP/STER/EO Score: 8.9 out of 10

Devastations album, Coal, opens with "Sex and Mayhem", and ends with a broken heart. Sound familiar? Just how many relationships started and ended that way? I guess pretty much all of them that came to an untimely end. But never fear that broken heart; just cue up Coal again and you're swept into the 'sex and mayhem' once more. And all this sex comes and goes in the dark, slinky sound of the Australian trio, Devastations.
On the aforementioned album opener, "Sex and Mayhem", the confidential and confident baritone of vocalist/bassist, Conrad Standish, the snaky, supple guitar of Tom Carlyon [also piano and vocals] and the understated, selfless drumming of Hugo Cran, don't 'remind' me of Bryan Ferry, so much as make me think of him. I can imagine Ferry singing this song; it's a dark, lovely number that I feel would be well suited to a cover by Ferry. If there's one song you should hear from, Coal, it's that one.
Standish's voice comes at you from the corner of the room, the dark smoky corner where broken hearts and dust lay side by side… a voice of smoke and wine. And this is the voice that leads you from beginning to end, I hesitate to label it a croon, but it is mighty close. Whether it's up on it's high sweet edge in "Terrified", or the 'things-look-all-right-but-they-don't-feel-all-right' David Lynch vibe of "Take You Home" and "Man of Fortune", Standish reassures us with his delivery and seduces us with his words.
An outstanding sophomore effort from this Euro based trio with Australian roots, one that comes swooping out of smoky shadows on pale wings stained black with tobacco and worry. Antipodean's self examination meets European decadence giving us torch songs from minds ignited by twenty first century angst. Does that sound good? Well, it should, because it is.

+ a man of fortune [mp3]

The Veils: Nux Vomica: Review

The Veils
Nux Vomica
[Rough Trade - Sept 11 2006]
*Sixeyes Score: 9 out of 10



Review by Jenn Rogers

I don't ever start writing reviews during the first listen to an album, particularly not when the first listening of an album is on a public bus with less than fantastic headphones. The fact I feel compelled to do this says a lot about exactly how good the album is.

Okay, so I didn't actually get that far when it came to starting the review and the rest of the words are the result of near compulsive listening over the space of a week. The Veils are a New Zealand started, UK based band, but instead of going into those sort of tangible details, check out Alan's post, listing the details of the new album and accept his praising before I go onto my own.

The music is raw, I'd even go to the instinct of heartfelt, but that would negate the darker underside that lingers beneath many of the songs. Everything presented by songwriter/lead singer Finn Andrews is intriguing, the world suddenly seems the place of a million myths and stories to be drawn on for lyrical inspiration. In some ways, the CD appears set in a world we can all relate to, there is something epic in the repetition and almost traditional images that add together to create haunting music. In other ways, the album acts to create its own world, where the beauty of what could almost be a rough unattractive voice creates differences and unity between the ache of the blues-based songs and the softer, sweeter songs.

One of my major criticisms of a lot of the new bands I find myself listening to is the movement away from the album. When people download a few songs or listen to playlists made on iPods, it seems more and more bands are creating singles and individual songs, killing a sense of cohesion. In comparison, The Veils second album holds together, even through the style changes, and it's this simple fact that gives the songs an almost internal structure that is inherently listenable.

+ advice for young mothers to be
+ under the folding branches

>>GO to the HYPE MACHINE for more Veils.

JUST ADDED! An interview with Finn Andrews can be read here at sixeyes.

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According to googlism.com 'Jenn is awesome dot com',' a very cool kid' and also 'the #1 nyc antifolk musician 2002'. Apparently, Jenn Rogers has been making a lot of international flights from her home town of Sydney, Australia and has been far busier than she ever realised.

Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not: Review

ARCTIC MONKEYS
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
[Domino - Jan 23 2006]
*Sixeyes Score: 8.5 out of 10


The young Uk band via Sheffield, England, tagged to be 'the next big thing,' finally make their first official impression upon the marketplace with Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. After setting a buzz boulder hurtling downhill towards the 'swamp of hype' with a collection of ragged edged post-punk demos made available on the internet--the quartet have toured those demos into shape and re-recorded the best of the lot for their debut on Domino Records. With the older songs having been cleaned up and beefed up with a 'radio friendly' sonic punch, the album offers the now familiar "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", "Fake Tales of San Francisco", and "A Certain Romance" alongside new standouts "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured", "Still Take You Home", and "The View From The Afternoon".

The future looks bright as with time the musical influences of The Strokes and lyrical influences of hip hop soften, weaken, and drop away with the band's growth in experience and skill. Led by nineteen year old, Alex Turner, the band's singer and lyricist shows a heavy dose of cynicism in his lyrics, particularly in "Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But...". A song labelling some of the people the band has come into contact with since the Arctic Monkeys boulder started rolling, as vampires, or more succinctly, as leeches. Get used to it, Alex, the bigger the money, the bigger the leech. But it's to be expected, the songs are focused, danceable, and controversial--plus the band has captured the imagination of the young. A still raw and very good band with an impressive debut... it's a mass media wet dream.

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Tracklist
1. The View From The Afternoon
2. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
3. Fake Tales Of San Francisco
4. Dancing Shoes
5. You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Looking Straight At Me
6. Still Take You Home
7. Riot Van
8. Red Light Indecates Doors Are Secured
9. Mardy Bum
10. Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But...
11. When The Sun Goes Down
12. From Ritz To The Rubble
13. A Certain Romance