The Music Minute

Patrick Watson has a fascinating approach to performing live. He takes his ques from his mentor James Brown. Patrick actually toured with Brown back in 2006 and in Europe during summer 2006, he adopted a dynamic approach to performing and working with other musicians. Patrick admits, "I learned how to be a front man and let the audience conduct you. When James performs, all the musicians on stage watch his hands. He takes cues from the audience's energy and conducts the show with finger movements. He's flexible about his arrangements and pacing and he's attentive to the crowds." Thus, Watson makes every show different, based on the venue and audience. Perhaps the pinnacle of his experience came when he thanked Brown for having him on the tour and James said, "Keep on rocking, little papa." However, don't confuse this to a comparison musically, Patrick is closer to someone like Jose Gonzalez in sound. His latest album, Wooden Arms, will be released on May 5th.

Listen to: Man Like You (mp3)

Recently I have had concerns that remarkable cover art is a thing of the past, but just as I was starting to lose hope YACHT releases a preview of the cover for their forthcoming album on DFA Records, See Mystery Lights. The album will be released in July, and the cover will be constructed from a series of triangles. The actual artwork will include special holographic foil, so YACHT created an "animated online display" to give people an idea of what the real thing will look like, and you can take a look here. The cover and concept was born from the hand of Boyd Elder, of Valentine, Texas. Boyd Elder is perhaps best-known for his legendary album art for the Eagles, notably Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, an iconic fragment of the rock history of the mythical American West. YACHT became disciples of Elder in early 2008 while isolated in the far West Texas desert, where the majority of See Mystery Lights was written and recorded. Elder has not produced an album cover like this for many years.

Listen to: Summer Song (mp3)

This past week was a big one for our old pal Chad Matheny (aka Emperor X). First, he turned 30, so Happy Birthday, but he also released his current album via digital download. The Blythe Archives Volume Two is the second in what will at least be a trilogy. Chad's music is lo-fi, frantic, but always tempered with pop and heart. Here is a preview of The Blythe Archives Volume Two.

May 19th can not come soon enough. If you pre-order the debut full-length from Passion Pit at Insound you get a free poster. Last year, this bands debut ep was one of my favorite albums, and on Manners they manage to go far beyond the sound of their ep.

When you become a Myspace "Featured Artist" things can really start to happen, but for Minnesota's Halloween, Alaska things have been happening for awhile. This past week they released their first album in nearly three years, and Champange Downtown is already climbing the indie charts. The band has also charted at college radio and is in CMJ's Top 100 with song, "In Order," will be hometown radio station, The Current's, song of the day on April 23rd. This past week the launched a tour that took them through Rock Island to record a Daytrotter session.

Listen to: The Hollywood Sign (mp3)

Santa Barbara's Oso recently released a new album called Kuno Esama. The album is a blend of amped up gypsy soul and traditional roots rock. The band stormed through Chicago a little over a week ago, but now find themselves on a Spring tour through Scotland.

Erza Bangs and The Hot Machine spent last summer touring in support of Public Enemy and now New York born Ezra is preparing to take over the world. Ezra's delivery is much akin to that of Chuck D., but he has surrounded himself with a band (Sara Belle, Ralph Phillips, and Linus Jackson) that created rauckus, synth-heavy dance tracks that seem to oddly compliment Ezra's frantic rhymes. This is their year and on April 20th the band will release their single ‘What U Can’t Kill U Must Envy’. Below is the b-side to their single.

Listen to: We On Top of This (mp3)

I was first contacted about the forthcoming debut of Miike Snow (due in June on Downtown Records) back in January, and I have been trying to hate it ever since. The problem is, despite the bands messed up name they are actually a very solid and unique band. Stockholm based Swedes Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg along with American Andrew Wyatt have combined their rich musical backgrounds to form Miike Snow. I don't know how they decided to call themselves Miike (with two i's), but their music is rich culture, dancing, and unique beats. The music is essentially pop, but their is a raw undercurrent that grabs you.

Listen to: Animal (mp3)