The Blank Tapes - BTR Live Studio [ep220]
Shades of classic rock and 50’s/60’s pop permeate The Blank Tapes’ stoner/pych-rock vibes. Hailing from San Francisco, Matt Adams is a prolific songwriter — not to mention a talented visual artist — with a timeless approach to music. Now in perhaps its leanest and strongest form yet, The Blank Tapes are a trio these days, featuring Adams along with girlfriend/resident-Moe Tucker-style-drummer Pearl Charles, and D.A. Humphrey on bass, and they’re ready to spread their songs across the land, taking us all on Vacation.
Featured Song: “Don’t Ever Get Old”
The Blank Tapes’ new album, Vacation, is available today from Antenna Farm Records.
Complete broadcast and radio playlist: http://b-t-r.co/12Lh8rt
Official Website for The Blank Tapes: http://theblanktapes.com/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/blanktapes
Twitter: @theblanktapes
Villagers - BTR Live Studio [ep219]
Conor J. O’Brien — whose Dublin-based band, Villagers, has been nominated for a Mercury Prize, won an Ivor Novello Award, and shared stages with some of the biggest names in music — delivers an intimate, solo performance of his songs here on BTR Live Studio. In a departure from his previous effort, O’Brien embraces collaboration, instrumental music, and a whole lot of symbolism and poetic storytelling to achieve something that he feels is secular yet spiritual, and which sings the things that he can not say.
Featured Song:“Nothing Arrived”
Villagers’ {Awayland} is available now
Complete radio playlist and broadcast:http://b-t-r.co/10o5hxP
Official websitefor Villagers: http://wearevillagers.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/Villagers
Twitter: @wearevillagers
Prince Rama - BTR Live Studio [ep218]
While Prince Rama is a band in the sense that it contains people making music, recording albums, and going on tour, there’s a whole world of other activity going on with this Brooklyn-based group. Taraka and Nimai Larson have been experimenting with their music in different forms over the years in vastly different environs: living in ashrams, working for utopian architects, writing manifestos, and delivering lectures from pools of fake blood. They’ve used a clever blend of mysticism, technology, aerobics, and props, to build a constantly evolving world filled with inspiration and music.
Featured Song: “XO”
Prince Rama’s Top Ten Hits of the End of the World is now available
Complete radio playlist and broadcast: http://b-t-r.co/11RaYsn
Official website for Prince Rama: http://princerama.net/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/princeramaofayodhya
Twitter: @princerama2012
Matt Bauer - BTR Live Studio [ep216]
Songwriter Matt Bauer was born in Kentucky — though he recently lived in Brooklyn and currently calls Austin home — and the music of the region makes itself apparent in his work. Drawing on traditional mountain music, bluegrass, and folk, his songs tell carefully crafted tales with heavy tones and fantastically crafted orchestration.
Featured song: “Andaman Sea”
Matt Bauer’s No Shape Can Hold Me Now is available now on Crossbill Records.
Complete radio playlist and broadcast: http://b-t-r.co/10urCRD
Official website for Matt Bauer: http://mattbauermusic.com/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/pages/Matt-Bauer/97593575243
Twitter: @mattbauermusic
Xenia Rubinos - BTR Live Studio [ep215]
The music of Xenia Rubinos is uniquely dependent on beats in a big way; drummer Marco Buccelli contributes much more than just your standard percussion, crafting entire soundscapes from a mish-mash of drums and effects, tirelessly modified and honed into one of the most impressive music-making machines we’ve had the pleasure of seeing in action. Xenia, herself, is a force to be reckoned with, culling enormous vocal power into dramatic tunes that she propels through her keyboard. Somehow, these two have tapped into a deep well of energy and passion that pleasantly comes across in every move they make.
Featured Song: “Help”
Xenia Rubinos’ Magic Trix is available now from Ba Da Bing Records.
Complete Broadcast and Playlist: http://b-t-r.co/ZWxuvs
Official website for Xenia Rubinos: http://xeniarubinos.com/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/xeniarubinos
Twitter: @xeniarubinos
Veronica Falls - BTR Live Studio [ep213]
The London-based quartet of Roxanne Clifford, drummer Patrick Doyle, guitarist James Hoare, and bassist Marion Herbain make up Veronica Falls, an often misunderstood pop band. The gothic elements of their pretty, pristine pop songs have often overshadowed the band’s pure musical prowess. These days, they seem to be dead set on reclaiming their reputation — shedding their morbid roots, maturing and proving themselves to be a fully-formed indie guitar pop act. They’re not just talking about death and sadness, but rather the more existential matters of a fading twenty-something existence, something we’re sure their audience can relate to.
Featured Song: “Waiting For Something To Happen”
Complete broadcast and radio playlist: http://b-t-r.co/10NAI5w
Veronica Falls’ Waiting For Something To Happen is out now from Slumberland Records
Official website for Veronica Falls: http://veronicafalls.com/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/veronicafalls
Twitter: @veronicafalls
Yellowbirds - BTR Live Studio [ep212]
Songwriter Sam Cohen — previously of the band Apollo Sunshine — has been developing his psych-pop style for years now, gaining a strong following along the way. The band features Josh Kaufman, Brian Kantor, and Annie Nero, all friends and regulars of the Serious Business world whom play in such bands as Rocketship Park, Higgins, the Bandana Splits, and Balthrop, Alabama, among others. With this illustrious company, Cohen’s sunny, timeless pop songs attain an outsize, cinematic quality that easily conjures vivid imagery.
Featured Song: “Julian”
Complete broadcast and radio playlist: http://b-t-r.co/YGJZiZ
Yellowbirds’ Songs From The Vanished Frontier will be released May 28.
Official website for Yellowbirds: http://yellowbirdsmusic.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/YellowbirdsMusic
Twitter: @yellowbirdsbk
Isaac Delusion - BTR Live Studio [ep211]
Isaac Delusion are three Paris-based multidisciplinary artists, on a mission to explore the movement of light through their musical world. An evolving experiment, they continually seek to explore new musical landscapes through simple, sweet pop songs, catchy beats, and touches of hip hop loops, electronics, and dreamy folk. Their work has allowed them to tour internationally, playing festivals around the world.
Featured Song: “Transistors”
Isaac Delusion’s Early Morning EP is available now from Cracki Records
Isaac Delusion on Cracki Records: http://www.crackirecords.com/artistes/isaac-delusion/?lang=en
Facebook: http://facebook.com/IsaacDelusion
Twitter: @IsaacDelusion
Big Harp (Backyard Session / Austin, TX) - BTR Live Studio [ep207A]
Big Harp is the duo of Chris Senseney and Stefanie Drootin-Senseney (who have performed with The Good Life, Bright Eyes, and She & Him.) The band formed in December 2010, after a three-year whirlwind where the two met, had a baby, moved halfway across the country, got married, moved halfway across the country again, and had another baby. Once out of the baby haze, the two holed up together for a week and crafted a record full of intimate, low-key folk-rock. In the time since that initial spark, they’ve toured and made another record (Parallels), pushing those mellow roots towards an even more lively, inspired act both on stage and in the studio. Here, they sit with Maia for a special session of in the backyard of the house where the BTR crew was stationed in Austin, TX, during the recent SXSW music festival.
Featured song: “Outside In The Snow”
Chain Letters is out now on Saddle Creek.
Official website: http://bigharp.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BigHarpMusic
Twitter: @bigharp
JuiceBox - BTR Live Studio [ep206]
JuiceBox began in 2009 as the brainchild of NYC saxophonist Nick Myers and more recently solidified their soul/jazz party style with the addition of singer Lisa Ramey. The talented group of young musicians cut their teeth with parties and regular club nights to hone their explosive funk style, which has since taken them to a wide range of venues both at home and far away (they just returned from a tour of Italy). The group stopped by the studio to share their music and to talk about their beginnings, including how they made sweaty hipsters dance.
Featured song: “Occupy My Heart”
The Juicebox EP (Limited European Release) is available now
Complete radio broadcast and playlist: http://b-t-r.co/YCu2FT
Official website for JuiceBox: http://juiceboxfunk.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/juiceboxfunk
Twitter: @JuiceBoxFunk
