Zoey Van Goey

ALTERNATIVE/FOLK/ROCK
Artist: Zoey Van Goey
Album: The Cage Was Unlocked All Along
Tracks: “Cotton Covering,” “The Best Treasure Stays Buried” & “We All Hid in Basements”
Street Date: January 19, 2010
Label: Chemikal Underground

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As mentioned in the previous post, the Stage 4 Alternative podcast is featuring Chemikal Underground artists for two weeks. This week’s featured artist is Scottish trio Zoey Van Goey!

After releasing a number of singles and EPs in the past few years, Zoey Van Goey, consisting of Matt Brennan, Michael John McCarthy, and Kim Moore, self-released their debut album The Cage Was Unlocked All Along (produced by Paul Savage) last year, but re-released it on Chemikal Underground on Tuesday.

The album blends catchy pop with folk-rock – somewhat like a combination of the Decemberists and Camera Obscura with a touch of Princeton. The three artfully create an endearing album that intertwines light-hearted themes throughout. Moore’s soft voice pairs nicely with the carefree undertones and melodies of The Cage Was Unlocked All Along.

For more information about Zoey Van Goey, visit their MySpace!

Adrian Crowley

ALTERNATIVE/FOLK/ROCK
Artist: Adrian Crowley
Album: Season of the Spark
Tracks: “The Wishing Seat” & “Liberty Stream”
Street Date: January 19, 2010
Label: Chemikal Underground

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Currently Stage 4 Alternative is featuring Chemikal Underground artists for two weeks. This week we present Irish singer-songwriter Adrian Crowley.

Dublin-based musician Adrian Crowley released his fourth album Season of the Spark on Tuesday. Crowley, who released his first record A Strange Kind in 1999, has been critically known for writing contemplative and reflective lyrics in past albums. Season of the Spark is a new collection of just that.

Crowley’s smooth, deep voice hovers over clusters of simple melodies and rhythms. The less emphasized music allows listeners to focus on the dense lyrics while drawing their own conclusions. The album also interweaves electronic elements into the folk-rock sound and essentially produces a “folktronic” vibe of its own.

The artist shows his ability to continue along the same route of music production despite new and upcoming trends and styles, which in fact highlights Crowley’s originality and creativity.

To read more about Crowley's musical history, visit his MySpace.

Eaglekin

ECCLECTIC/FOLK/ROCK
Artist: Eaglekin
Album: Eaglekin
Tracks: “G-Paw 1” & “In the Plebelands”
Street Date: January 5, 2010
Label: Unsound Records


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Based in Portland, Oregon, the three-piece indie rock band Eaglekin released their debut album earlier this week. The band members, Gabe Blair, Joe Ryckebosche, and Eric Vivian, have previously been in other bands such as The Rum Diary and The Pages.

Eaglekin band members clearly write strange material for their songs, though it’s hard to focus on through the musical layers. According to the label’s website, the album consists of 2 songs about a dead cat, a song about a colony of humans living on the moon, a song about explosions, a song about the lives of trees, a song about the reincarnation of human beings, and the shadowy confines of the soul.

Although the band literally released the record three days ago, they are already in the process of writing a new album-worth of songs for their next album, which is anticipated for release in the summer or fall of this year. Eaglekin is also planning to go on a West Coast tour and perhaps in other regions as well later this year.

Clearly Eaglekin is working hard to save the Plebelands. To read up on the Plebelands and what that’s all about, visit their website.

Fink - Sort of Revolution *FOURSIE Award Winner*

BLUES/FOLK/JAZZ
Artist: Fink
Album: Sort of Revolution
Tracks: “See it All” & “Q & A”
Street Date: March 12, 2009
Label: Ninja Tune






Congratulations on your FOURSIE, Fink!
Awarded by: Chad Raddington

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English singer/songwriter Fin Greenall, a.k.a. Fink, began playing the guitar at a young age. As his musical career began, Greenall was influenced by house, acid jazz, Orbital and the Orb and released his first album Fresh Produce in 2001 on Ninja Tune.

After Greenall’s second record, Biscuits for Breakfast in 2006, he became the label’s first singer/songwriter. The artist continues to record in the electronicless fashion – as evident in Distance and Time. “This is the Thing” was used in various advertisements and television shows.

In addition to recording, Greenall has also produced major record label artists in the past, most notably Amy Winehouse.

Fink’s fourth album, Sort of Revolution, was released in May 2009 and featured collaborations with R&B artist John Legend.

Atlas Sound - Logos *FOURSIE Award Winner*

ALTERNATIVE
Artist: Atlas Sound
Album: Logos
Tracks: “Walkabout” & “Shelia”
Street Date: October 19, 2009
Label: Kranky




Congratulations on your FOURSIE, Atlas Sound!
Awarded by: Layne Fox (Senior Director, Marketing/A&R)

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Bradford Cox’s solo project, Atlas Sound, is yet another means of transmitting his brilliance through music. The artist, who is also a member of Deerhunter, has released a total of ten EPs as Atlas Sound before releasing Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel in 2008 and Logos this year.

The long-time Animal Collective fan had the opportunity to work with the band’s Noah Lennox to record “Walkabout,” a song about questioning our futures and forgetting the past with Lennox repeating “What did you want to see / What did you want to be / When you grew up?” The memory evoking lyrics are matched nicely with a repetitive bed of melodies and rhythm – highlighting the simplicities of youth as well as the mundane repetition of adult life.

The talented artist creates lyrics in a flowing stream-of-consciousness method in the sense that all words are put together on the spot rather than pre-written. In “Shelia,” that seems hard to believe – mainly because these lyrics are well thought out, put together in a structurally concise manner while maintaining an endearing resonance.

“Shelia, you’ll be my wife / You’ll share my life / We will grow old / We will grow old / And when we die we’ll bury ourselves / And when we die we’ll bury ourselves / Because no one wants to die alone”

Read up on Deerhunter/Atlas Sound/ Lotus Plaza ongoings at Bradford’s blog.

The Phantom Band *FOURSIE Award Winner*

ALT ROCK/ ELECTRONIC/ KRAUT
Artist: The Phantom Band
Album: Checkmate Savage
Tracks: “Burial Sounds” & “The Howling”
Street Date: January 20, 2009
Label: Chemikal Underground



Congratulations on your FOURSIE, Phantom Band!
Awarded by: Bryn Boughton (CMO)

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UK-based experimental alt-rock artist, The Phantom Band, mixes psychedelic rock and folk to create an interesting audio amalgam. The artist intertwines pop and rock elements, which possibly appeals to admirers of both genres.

According to cokemachineglow.com, “The Howling” is one of the records “more straightforward of the nine pieces,” and “is old-school Snow Patrol on Viagra.” INTERESTING to say the least.

“Burial Sounds” however, will hook you with climactic rhythms in the beginning and will eventually build up to a folkish rock ending that you probably won’t be able to stop listening to.

If the funky melodies and bass lines don’t hook you, frontman Richard Anthony’s deep Scottish accented vocals will. Checkmate Savage is worth listening to! It’s hard to come by any artist that can properly blend musical genres these days and The Phantom Band does a pretty good job!

Visit their MySpace for more information.

Ape School

Alternative/ Psychedelic/ Rock
Artist: Ape School
Album: Remixes
Tracks: “That’s Ok (Fog Remix),” & “Wail to God (Pollination Remix)”
Street Date: December 8, 2009
Label: Counter Records

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Ape School’s latest album is a collection of impressive remixes of tracks from his self-titled debut album released earlier this year.

If you’ve read the review of Ape School written earlier this year by Matthew Perpetua of Pitchfork Music, then you would perhaps agree that the criticism (and rating) is a bit on the harsh side. But remember to take it with a grain of salt seeing as Pitchfork writers have a knack for over-exaggerating – i.e. awarding Animal Collective’s new single off Fall Be Kind EP, “What Would I Want? Sky,” with a perfect ten and claiming that the track “sounds as natural as something that grew out of the earth.” Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy most of what Animal Collective releases but contrary to what Pitchfork believes, natural things that grow from earth have 23085749834 times less reverb than “What Would I Want? Sky.” (Was that an exaggeration?)

With that said, Ape School’s new album entitled Remixes, is worth a few (if not many) listens. Having the advantages of working with the earliest Moog analog synthesizers, Michael Johnson (aka Ape School) creates an airy, mellow atmosphere layered with light beats and free-flowing vocals. The Philadelphia University music professor (yes, professor) performs with students and also incorporates them into his albums as well. Combining a various soundscapes with slinky melodies, Johnson demonstrates his extensive technical and musical abilities and will probably catch the ear of any non-Pitchforker.