Tag: indie

The Roches | I Love My Mom

“While just about every critic and fan has a favorite Roches album that was inexplicably ignored, most will probably agree that Speak (1989) was the one that really should have gone gold,” (AllMusic). “All of the ingredients for a huge album are here: emotional yet accessible songs, radio-friendly folk-pop arrangements, and the sisters’ usual mind-blowing vocal pyrotechnics … this album doesn’t have a dud track from end to end. Sure, fans of their early work will find ‘I Love My Mom’ a bit too conventional and poppy … The jazzy backups are well handled and subtle throughout the album, and it’s a classic. Alas, like all Roches albums, it was critically acclaimed but ignored by the public.”

At 0:40, the approach to the second verse gets a touch of The Roches’ trademark oddity factor with a time hiccup — the first of several extra 2/4 measures throughout. After a start in A major, the tune shifts up a whole step to B major at 2:39 in the middle of an instrumental bridge (2:19 – 2:43). Many thanks to regular contributor Rob P. for this great catch!

Jacob Collier | I Heard You Singing

Jacob Collier’s original song “I Heard You Singing” is included on Djesse Vol. 2, the second installment on a planned four-volume set. On the album the track features vocalist Becca Stevens and mandolinist/singer Chris Thile; this intimate version is performed by Collier from his studio/bedroom. It begins in F, wanders into Db around 2:18, and continues into various other tonalities from there.

Sleeping At Last | Rainbow Connection

Sleeping At Last formed in 1999, originally including Ryan O’Neal (vocals, guitar), his brother Chad (drums) and Dan Perdue (bass). The Illinois-based group released four albums before Chad and Dan left and Ryan continued on his own.

O’Neal has released three compilations of covers, and “Rainbow Connection” appears on Volume 2, released in 2016. The song, written originally in 1979 by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher for The Muppets Movie, has been named one of the greatest movie songs of all time by the American Film Institute.

The track begins in D and modulates up to Eb at 2:01.

Goodnight Goodbye | Dad Dancing

Goodnight Goodbye is a progressive indie band comprised of three brothers: Sam, Joe and Nate Woollard. The group has over 22K monthly listeners on Spotify, and count The Beatles, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac, and Prince among their influences. “Dad Dancing” is the lead track on their 2020 EP Rose Garden, and modulates from D up to E at 2:53.

Louden Swain | Present Time

Louden Swain is an LA-based indie rock band that formed in 1997. The group has released 9 albums, and when their anticipated 2020 release was delayed by the pandemic, they decided to release one new single each month until they could get back on the road and support the creation of a full album.

“Present Time” is the lead track on the 2017 album No Time Like The Present. It begins in Eb and modulates up to F at 2:22.

Jean Claude and the Eclairs | Crazy For You

Jean Claude and the Eclairs is a Kansas City-based indie/ pop alternative band that has been active since 2018. The group, which includes Garrison Krotz, Quinn Maetzold, Ryan Pollock and Cooper Scott, will release its first EP next month. “Crazy For You” was released in 2018, and modulates from Ab up a half step to A at 2:30.

Lake Street Dive | Wedding Band

“We want it tp sound like the Beatles and Motown had a party.” That was how drummer Mike Calabrese described the music of Lake Street Dive, a Brooklyn-based band, in an interview with The Guardian. “We’re taking the elements of the 60s and 70s music we love,” he went on, “and applying it to what we’re able to do with the four of us.”

The group formed in 2004 when the original four members — Rachael Price, Mike “McDuck” Olson, Bridget Kearney, and Calabrese — met while studying at the New England Conservatory (keyboardist Akie Bermiss joined in 2017.) They have released seven studio albums and one live record, and are currently on tour. “Wedding Band” was released as a single in 2014, and modulates from G up a half step to Ab at 1:06.

Sub-Radio | Better Than That

“Better Than That” was included on the 2019 EP Dog Years, released by the Washington D.C.-based pop band Sub-Radio. Comprised of six members, the group gained wider recognition during the pandemic after they began live-streaming on Reddit, and they are currently touring.

The song begins in Eb and shifts up to F at 2:22 for the final chorus.

Architecture in Helsinki | Contact High

Architecture in Helsinki was an indie pop band based in Australia, active from 2000 to 2018. “Contact High” is featured on their 2011 album, Moment Bends, which was nominated for Australian album of the year. Reviewing the album for the online music publication Pitchfork, critic Eric Grande wrote of the tune, “[lead singer Cameron] Bird’s breathy falsetto verses sound normal enough, but they turn into that odd, otherly voice of the Auto-Tuned on the chorus, singing, ‘I’ve got nothing to hide,’ with what might be the slightest smirk, sometimes tripled by an octave-lowered bass voice, sounding in the main like nothing so much as Owl City. And yet, it’s a terrific pop song, and the chorus, for all its strange sheen, is an undeniable pleasure.”

The track begins in Gb major, and modulates up a third to A at 2:56.