Voxtrot @ KTRU benefit, Houston (04/28/07)

Last night, Voxtrot played a free show for the KTRU benefit at Houston's Rice Village Urban Outfitters. This is the second engagement of Free YR Radio's efforts to raise awareness and funds for noncommercial radio stations. The next benefit is for Seattle's KEXP with The Long Winters to play on May 1st. For more information on the next ten benefits, click here.

A line started growing outside Urban Outfitters an hour and a half prior to the 7:30 door time. I was impressed with how they had an actual stage for the band to play on, I originally thought it might just be in the center of the store and a free-for-all chaotic event. Though it's still a bit strange to be around clothes racks and dance to live music.

The set included a well-rounded range of new songs off their upcoming album and material from their old EPs. The setlist as best I remember included, "Raised By Wolves", "Kid Gloves", "Ghost", "Soft & Warm", "The Start Of Something", "Brother In Conflict", "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives" and "Your Biggest Fan". Their new album is self-titled and will drop in stores on May 22nd, you can pre-order it at Insound here(Type in voxtrot to get 15% off). Urban Outfitters was filled up all the way with listeners, in fact during the set there was this guy who was crowd-surfing to Voxtrot. It was absolutely a fun show, everyone was dancing, clapping and singing along to the songs. For more photos from the show go here. For Houstonians, Voxtrot is coming back on June 30th at an all ages show at The Proletariat with fellow Austin band Tacks, The Boy Disaster.

Stream + Download + Purchase:

Kid Gloves| Voxtrot

Links:

>>> Free YR Radio's Official Site
<<< KTRU's Official Site
>>> Voxtrot's Official Site
<<< Pre-order Voxtrot's debut album
>>> Purchase Voxtrot's EPs
<<< More photos from Voxtrot's set

Our Related Links:

>>> Anticipate: Free YR Radio
<<< Singled Out: Kid Gloves by Voxtrot
>>> Anticipate: Voxtrot's Upcoming Summer Tour

~anne

3 minute entry: Ola Podrida

∞

{I've been down with a serious case of blogger's block(is that what we call it now?) so although, my mind can't find the right words to describe a band, my ears still work and this band is nothing short of perfection.}

Sometime back in December, Ola Podrida's forlorn piano keys collapsing on one another in "Pour Me Another" took my breath away. There was something arresting about David Wingo's voice, its huskiness and soft, whispery parts were unforgettable. Now there is something we can hold in our hands and spend an evening sitting beside the stereo. The Brooklyn band's debut album was released this Tuesday with a tracklisting of 11 folky-Americana songs.

The self-titled album is old-fashioned, it's made carefully with nimble, beautiful acoustic finger-picking creating a lush landscape, but don't let it fool you. Some songs will start out ever so quietly, but wind up slipping in a backdrop of guitar noise underneath trailing "ooooohs" like in "Cindy". With "Jordanna", it begs me to give in and drop Okkervil River as a reference, but the climactic parts of the song are more toned down than Will Sheff's idea of a good time.

It walks about your room with a helplessness that you can't help but stop whatever you're doing and listen as a concerned friend would, it's hard to ignore when someone is singing "Some folks just don't give a damn/whether they're coming or going/Hey man/take a stand/When you're up put yourself back in place" or "Here we go/I don't know/If there's any point to it all/but I sure love hearing your voice". "Instead" is likely to hush and silence the honking horns during morning commute and the only problem left would be making sure you don't fall asleep on the wheel. They re-recorded "Pour Me Another" with a fuller piano sound, but other than that everything else is still left unchanged.

Right now, it seems there are only two dates up and both are in Brooklyn, but if there is good in this world, there will be more dates. To sample the album, Vice is offering five full-length tracks available for streaming.

Tracklisting:




Ola Podrida (self-titled)
(Plug Research Records)

1. The New Science
2. Jordanna
3. Instead
4. Cindy
5. Photo Booth
6. Run Off The Road
7. Day At The Beach
8. Lost And Found
9. A Clouded View
10. Pour Me Another
11. Eastbound

Stream + Download + Purchase:

Jordanna| Ola Podrida

Instead| Ola Podrida

Links:

>>> Ola Podrida's Official MySpace
<<< Purchase self-titled album
>>> Stream five full-length tracks from Vice

~anne

Charlotte Gainsbourg finally arrives in the U.S

So yesterday, Charlotte Gainsbourg's album 5:55 finally got released here in the U.S. I reviewed her album last October when it came out through the French label, Because Music, I obviously had to spend lots of money because it was an Import and silly shipping and handling. So after I got it, I quickly decided that it was a good financial decision. I mean I would've had to wait for it to come out here in the U.S five months after if I didn't buy the import.

Anyhoo, I'm not going to tell you how good the album is and how lovely Charlotte Gainsbourg's voice sounds, because you can read all that here, the review I wrote five months ago. I'm just here to let you guys know that you can finally purchase the album without those added Import fees, it's available through Vice Records.

Read my review if you haven't, then check out the songs below, if you like what you hear, buy it!

Oh there's a video too for the song "The Songs That We Sing", it's a simple video, but it has the beautiful Charlotte Gainsbourg in it, so you can't really beat that.











5 55 | Charlotte Gainsbourg

The Songs That We Sing | Charlotte Gainsbourg



Links:
>>>Official Website
<<< Because Music
>>> Vice Records
<<< Buy the C.D
>>>Watch the Video



-Charlie

How do you view the world?

It's getting close to almost a year since Anne and I started this music and photography blog. Our intent was to fuse the music we love along with another shared interest, photography. Along with our music posts, Camera Crowd also has its own photoblog. For over the past eight months or so, we were lucky enough to see amazing photos from photographers all over the world including Paris, New South Wales and more!

We invite three photographers every three months to be guest photobloggers on Team Camera Crowd, and it's now the time to thank and wish our Camera Crowd's second group of guest photographers good luck in their future endeavors. We loved the beautiful works you've showcased, thank you Jane from New York, New York, Glen from Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Veronique from New South Wales, Australia.

So here we go, there are no qualifications or long-term photography experience needed, we're looking for unique photographers who share our love for photography and can show how they view the world.


How to apply:

1. You have to create your own flickr account, if you don't have one already, don't worry flickr is free and it's easy to create one.

2. After that upload all the photos onto flickr as your portfolio to show us.

3. Lastly, there is a Q&A to fill out and email that word document to us with the subject line as, "Camera crowd application".

Links:

>>> Camera Crowd's Photoblog
<<< Create a Flickr
>>> Download the Q&A
<<< Email your application to us!

Deadline: May 19th

While you're creating a flickr and filling out the Q&A go ahead and listen to this mini mix:

I Love L.A. (Live) | Rilo Kiley

You Remind of Home (Live) | Ben Gibbard

Alone in Kyoto | Air



Love, Team Camera Crowd
(Anne & Charlie)

3 minute entry: Fanfarlo

Fanfarlo.

Hmm, doesn't ring a bell right? Yeah they're still pretty small. But try googling them and you might come across search notes such as "David Bowie." Yeah if you go on, you'll find out that the famous David Bowie, likes Fanfarlo.

"I've heard four or five of Fanfarlo's songs now, and, like a few of my other favourites, they have that particular knack of being able to create uplifting music that's blessed with a delicious melancholia at the same time. [...] I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot more of Fanfarlo. "

- David Bowie

I damn well agree with Mr. Bowie on how uplifting Fanfarlo's music is. They only have several singles out as of now, but it's enough to keep you on your toes. Fanfarlo mentioned in an interview on Playlouder that they wanna create an upbeat sound that you would get if you combine Sufjan Stevens and The Arcade Fire. So you have 6 band members from London, add a violin and a trumpet with that, the upbeat sound of Sufjan Stevens and Arcade Fire, and finally a recommendation from David Bowie. What do you think you'll get? Gah!! Just go and listen to the song below!! Then head on to their myspace and listen to more songs!! Please!!

The single, You Are One of The Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us is now available, along with the song In the Trunk. You can purchase that over here.


You Are One of The Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us | Fanfarlo

Here's a cute stop motion video of the song above. Enjoy!





Links:
>>> Official Site
<<< Myspace


-Charlie

Anticipate: Free YR Radio and yes that is how it's spelled

*latest update on (04/15/07)*

Yaris and Urban Outfitters have teamed up again to present another neat idea under Free YR Radio and all for the good cause of spreading awareness and helping out noncommercial/college radio stations. This time it'll not only be in one city, but 12! With an ear-popping band lineup...if I may, drumroll please...Klaxons, The Ponys, Voxtrot, The Long Winters, Annuals, The Rapture, Rogue Wave, Tapes 'N Tapes, Dinosaur Jr. and a few TBAs. If you went to South By Southwest last month, you may remember Free YR Radio's spectacular launch party featuring The Rapture, The Pipettes and a set by DJ Dave P and now it's only five days away from this brilliant idea to unravel.

{Click above on the poster to save yourself from squinting.}

Your local Urban Outfitters stores will serve as the venue for these FREE in-store events and Yaris will roll out 12 band customized cars to give to radio stations who will choose how they will give it away (ie: auctioning it off). The only exception is the first one off the calendar, in which the Klaxons will be part of WLUW's fifth annual Record's Fair. As the tour gets going, you'll be able to create and embed music videos using footage from the events. Looking ahead, Free YR Radio will mix up a CD that will released and sold exclusively through the Urban Outfitters stores for this upcoming fall season and all the proceeds will be divided evenly among their partner radio stations.

Last but not least, here's this wonderful Beatles cover from Rogue Wave, which we were introduced by the lovely I Guess I'm Floating back in February.

***The Houston show location has changed to the Urban Outfitters in the Rice Village shopping center [ 2501 University Blvd. Houston, TX, 77005 ] instead of the Urban Outfitters in the Galleria.

Download + Link-ed:

All You Need Is Love (The Beatles Cover) | Rogue Wave

Tour dates:

04 -15 Chicago, IL - Klaxons (WLUW @ Record's Fair)
04-24 Lawrence, KS - The Ponys (KJHK)
04-28 Houston, TX - Voxtrot (KTRU)
05-01 Seattle, WA - The Long Winters (KEXP)
05-09 Durham, NC - Annuals (WKNC)
05-21 Philadelphia, PA - The Rapture (Y-Rock on XPN)
05-25 Santa Cruz, CA - Rogue Wave (KZSC)
06-05 Minneapolis, MN - Tapes 'N Tapes (The Current)
06-11 Cambridge, MA - Dinosaur Jr. (WERS)
TBA Boulder, CO - TBA (KGNU)
TBA Westlake, OH- TBA (WBWC)

Links:

>>> Free YR Radio's Official Site
<<< Full-Size Tour Poster
>>> About Free YR Radio
<<< Free YR Radio's MySpace

~anne

Anticipate: Peter and the Wolf's Spring tour

Peter and the Wolf has now thinned out band members to a more tour-friendly number of three at least for now. The trio is already on the road for their Spring tour with a special tour CD called Fireflies chock full of ten new songs. How sweet life is, right? The CD is also available over the Internet for purchase in case Peter and the Wolf doesn't visit your town on this one. cough. Houston. cough. There is already one of the songs, "A Race Around The Earth" up on MySpace for streaming.

In case anyone did miss this wonderfully casual radio session by Detroit's Cloak & Dagger with Peter and the Wolf this past November, look below for the download link. My possibly favorite song by him is up for streaming and downloading below too. It's off his self-titled handmade CD that was self released, recorded with Dana Falconberry!

For all the tour dates click on the poster or visit his MySpace for the latest on tour info:

Fireflies tracklist:

1. Timeflies
2. Fireflies
3. A Race Around The Earth
4. Images
5. Balloon Voyage
6. Island Rose
7. Henry D.
8. Palace In The Sun
9. Spanish Absinthe
10. The Wind

Stream + Download + Purchase:

Red Sun| Peter and the Wolf {from self-titled}

11.09.06 Cloak & Dagger Radio Session | Peter and the Wolf

Links:

>>> Peter and the Wolf's MySpace
<<< Purchase special tour CD Fireflies
>>> Purchase other PatW CDs

Our related Links:

>>> SXSW: Day One | 03/14
<<< Two fave Austin bands on the move
<<< A few weeks ago...
<<< Flickr-ed

~ anne

Upcoming release: Night of The Furies | The Rosebuds

Duo acts are intriguing, there's only two individuals singing and playing instruments, yet they manage to make catchy sounds that put 5 piece bands to shame. Take for instance a couple of duo acts we've featured here in the Camera Crowd; the instrumentally good duo of We Will Build, and one of my favourites, Habitat from Guelph, Ontario. Another duo I'm adding on to the list is the duo act of Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp, also known as The Rosebuds.

Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, The Rosebuds have released two full lengths and a couple of EP's and singles since then. I discovered them recently after getting a taste of "Get Up Get Out", a track from their newest album, Night of the Furies which is due out this coming Tuesday. The song just stayed in my head for days and I couldn't get enough of it. Finding out that The Rosebuds are a duo, (for tours, they have Giorgio Angelini and Matt McCaughan with them) I got even more excited about this newly discovered band, so I decided to dig deeper.

I haven't had the chance to listen to The Rosebuds' old stuff so I didn't know what to expect from Night of the Furies. So I spent some quality time with it on Rhapsody because it was available for stream, (sorry folks its not there anymore) and wondered if there are any more tracks in the album just as fun and energetic as Get up Get Out. And after a couple of listens, I couldn't find any other tracks just like Get up Get Out. What I got was eight other tracks that reminded me of one of my favourite bands Jesus and Mary Chain, hints of The Cure and an injection of today's indie pop sounds. Several tracks including "Get Up Get Out" quickly stood out. Such as "I Better Run" where we get to hear Kelly Crisp's soft and seductive voice. Another track that can easily make it to the dance floor is "Hold on To This Coat", not as energetic as "Get Up Get Out" though. And "Silja Line", a song that starts out slow and raw with Ivan Howard's voice then gets really powerful and almost Arcade Fire-like towards the end.

Night of the Furies comes out this Tuesday, so stop by your local record store or on Insound.com and get this lovely self produced pop album. The Rosebuds have a U.S summer tour starting mid May, so make sure to check their myspace page for the dates.

Tracklisting:

1. My Punishment for Fighting
2.Cemetery Lawns
3. I Better Run
4. Get Up Get Out
5. Silence By the Lakeside
6. Hold On To This Coat
7. Silja Line
8. When The Lights Went Dim
9. Night Of The Furies


Get Up Get Out | The Rosebuds

I Better Run | The Rosebuds


Links:
>>> Official Site
<<< Myspace ( for more songs and tour dates)
>>>Buy the CD


-Charlie

Anticipate: The Postmarks North American Tour

The Postmarks will embark on a North American tour starting next week. Accompanying them along the tour are teen sensation Smoosh, Torquil Campbell's Memphis, and The Frequency. Camera Crowd hasn't introduced The Postmarks to you guys so I think now's a good time to do that. The trio of Tim Yehezkely, Chris Moll and John Wilkins make up The Postmarks. Hailing from the coast of Florida, this trio creates soft pop very reminiscent of Camera Obscura and sprinkles of Rilo Kiley's debut album, Takeoffs and Landings.

The band recently released their self titled debut album which includes the ever popular and catchy song "Goodbye". They also have a "remixes" EP out which features 6 different version of "Goodbye" and 3 versions of the song "You Drift Away".

Here is an e-card that lets you stream the entire album. So get into that, then hopefully catch them on tour this spring.


North American Tour Dates:

Apr 12 2007 @ The Drunken Unicorn w/ The Preakness, Atlanta
Apr 14 2007 @ World Cafe Live w/ SMOOSH, Philadelphia
Apr 15 2007 @ Black Cat Backstage w/ SMOOSH, Washington DC
Apr 16 2007 @ The Knitting Factory w/ SMOOSH, New York
Apr 17 2007 @ Middle East Restaurant w/ SMOOSH and HARRY AND THE POTTERS, Cambridge, MA
Apr 18 2007 @ Pearl Street w/ SMOOSH, Northampton, MA
Apr 19 2007 @ Union Hall, Brooklyn
Apr 20 2007 @ Petit Capus, Montreal
Apr 21 2007 @ Amp’d Mobile Studio, Toronto
Apr 22 2007 @ Magic Stick, Detroit
Apr 24 2007 @ Bluebird Nightclub, Bloomington, IN
Apr 25 2007 @ Schubas Tavern, Chicago
Apr 26 2007 @ TBA, Minneapolis
Apr 29 2007 @ Chop Suey w/ MEMPHIS, Seattle
Apr 30 2007 @ Doug Fir Lounge w/ MEMPHIS, Portland, OR
May 2 2007 @ Cafe Du Nord w/ MEMPHIS, San Francisco
May 3 2007 @ Troubadour w/ MEMPHIS, West Hollywood
May 5 2007 @ Belly Up Aspen, Aspen, CO
May 6 2007 @ Larimer Lounge, Denver
May 9 2007 @ The Door w/ THE HERO FACTOR, Dallas
May 10 2007 @ Stubb’s Bar-B-Q w/ THE HERO FACTOR, Austin


Goodbye | The Postmarks


Links:
>>The Postmarks Myspace
>>The official site
>>E-Card

Other notable links:
>>Smoosh
>>Memphis
>> Memphis : Camera Crowd Upcoming Release
>>The Frequency



-Charlie