Abra Moore has released albums on record labels large and small, toured with the Lilith Fair, earned a Grammy nomination for her vocal performances, and placed tracks in movies, television shows, and best-selling video games. But for all her worldly success, it's the intimate connection that she's forged with her fans that stands as her greatest accomplishment. It's no wonder that her devoted fanbase treats each new release as a reason to rejoice. In her hometown of Austin, Abra Moore is a legend - and she's respected and celebrated everywhere singer-songwriter music is heard.
Daring production choices have often distinguished her recordings from those of other singer-songwriters, and that continues to be true with On The Way. An Abra Moore vocal can feel positively bewitching, and subtle use of reverb and echoing effects often amplifies the strange and beguiling quality of her recordings. On "Sugarite", a song of memory and longing, Moore sounds simultaneously heartbroken and detached, delivering each note with a near-unearthly precision. She begins her story over an acoustic guitar riff reminiscent of Suzanne Vega's early work - but by the end of the song, the drums and overdriven guitars have kicked in, and the track becomes a dizzy, swirling reverie. It's a bold, uncommon sound for a contemporary singer-songwriter, strongly suggesting Moore's roots in the uncompromising and globetrotting Poi Dog Pondering.
Acceptance is a band out of Seattle, Washington. They are made up of Jason Vena (Vocals), Christian McAlhaney (guitar and vocals), Kaylan Cloyd (guitar), Ryan Zwiefelhofer (bass), and Nick Radovanovic (drums). They were formed in 1998 by Jason, Kaylan, Chris DeCastro who played drums, and Peter. Chris and peter soon left the group and Ryan, Nick, and Christian joined on. They released "Lost for Words" in 2000, "Black Lines to Battlefields" in 2003 and "Phantoms" in 2005. They play alternative style music similar to the Foo Fighters. They haven't made any important performances, but played The Webster on Feb. 5th and are currently on tour. They were influenced by The Beatles, Metallica, Jimmy Eat World, and Counting Crows.
Aesop Rock (born Ian Matthias Bavitz on May 11, 1976) is an American hip hop artist. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground acts that emerged during the late 1990s/early 2000s. He is signed to El-P's Definitive Jux label and is a current member of the Weathermen.
Everything that Air does is artful, and everything they record invites accompaniment, commentary, and reinterpretation. Thus, it's neither incongruous nor unexpected to see traditional ballet and contemporary dance coupled with their music. For the "Mer du Japon" clip, Air has called upon the talents of countryman Angelin Preljocaj - a man internationally recognized as one of the world's most imaginative choreographers, and a winner of the Prix Benois de la Dance for innovative dance. Preljocaj's ballet is simultaneously contemporary and classical, passionately expressive, drawing on reserves of mystery, grace, and strength. In short, his spirit is kindred to Godin's and Dunckel's, and he's a natural interlocutor for Air's sonic poetry.
The "Mer du Japon" clip is, in classic terms, a pas de deux: a duet performed by two dancers who, through motion and gesture, communicate to the viewer something vital about their relationship. Thanks to computer-video assistance, Air's two ballerinas - one European and the other Japanese - aren't confined to a stage; instead, they perform before a setting that resembles a gigantic aquarium. Air bubbles and sea serpents slide around them as they dance, and hovering in the background, as if seen in a dream, Godin and Dunckel are visible in profile. But the emphasis here is on the two women, and rightfully so - both Celine Galli and Nagisa Shinai have worked with Preljocaj before, and both execute that powerful sureness of motion that is so characteristic of his choreography. Their dance is sexualized from the start; exploratory, sinuous, revealing, hypnotic. When Shinai holds Galli's face and kisses her French partner, the film seems to freeze. But even as their lips meet, their bodies are still moving - their two bodies rise up to meet the sky, and the dance continues.
Over the past five years, this Melbourne combo has been one of indiepop's most elusive quantities, but they're also one of its best-loved. Their music is joyous, spontaneous, simultaneously primal and digital, orchestral, whimsical, skewed, a gateway into an altered universe. On an Architecture In Helsinki track, there are no rules: strings and woodwinds coexist with ratty-sounding guitar and weird percussion, baroque-inspired verses bump heads with techno-minimalist choruses, words are playful and surreal, and melodies dart, dive, skitter and dovetail like honeybees in flight.
There's always been something quite tribal about Architecture In Helsinki's image and music, and the clip for "Heart It Races" makes the subtext manifest. Directed by Kris Moyes - best known for his innovative clips for the Presets and Cut Copy - the "Heart It Races" video pokes fun at contemporary ethnography while dazzling us with some magnificent day-glo puppetry. The video peers on what appears to be the burial rites of the last remaining members of a primitive tribe. The natives are, of course, the six members of Architecture In Helsinki, each outfitted with a black body suit and a plush puppet dangling around his or her neck. The marionettes mimic the movements of their human hosts: sitting cross-legged along a canal, brandishing a staff, extracting red, fluffy hearts from their dead comrades. The tribe resides along a canal (the clip was shot in Mexico City), and the outdoor scenes are spectacular. But when the lights go off, the fun really starts - the members of the band vanish, and the puppets are left alone to frolic together under the blacklights.
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