reviews!

February 28th, 2009

Strangeglue

Everything is Chemical

SF – Guardian

Delusions of Adequacy

Exclaim

Direct Music

Pitchfork

Pasta Prima

The Tyee

Indie Rock Reviews

Inland Empire Weekly

Agit Reader

The Blue Depths Now Available to Order

February 7th, 2009

The Blue Depths, our new record is up for order here on our website, visit the store page. The album is out on February 17th!

Also, if you are in the Bay Area, come out and see us at the Cafe Du Nord on February 27th for this year’s Noise Pop festival. You can order tickets here.

10 Records to listen to in preparation for the Blue Depths – an explanation

February 1st, 2009


1. Joni Mitchell – The Beginning of Survival
I haven’t yet mined and studied the 80s output of Joni Mitchell, but this stylized compilation of that era seems good enough. Really, one of my all time favorite records, and a majorly underappreciated point in her career by just about everybody. Joni’s songs are always going to be good, but she was a sonic adventurer working with people like Thomas Dolby, Peter Gabriel, Wayne Shorter, some of Prince’s ladies and Don Henley (yeah, we’ll get to “Building a Perfect Beast” another day), a true shapeshifter. There were probably some bad ideas there, but they seem to be edited out of this collection. All killer, great drum sounds too – check out our “Boy in the Yard” side by side with “Slouching Toward Bethlehem.”

2. Eric Serra – The Big Blue
We blatantly took the name for this new record from the Luc Besson movie. Serra’s soundtrack is made out of computerized dolphins, really dated 80s production and a lot of gentle mysticism. Thanks to Justin Vollmar for pointing this direction we needed to take out a couple of years ago.

3. The Blue Nile – Hats
Really straightforward, late night mood pieces. We are clearly really into the word “blue” right now.

4. Scott Walker – Scott 3
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Scott, it is that if you’re going to go over the top, you need to make sure to go all the way and on 3 he really “goes for it.” He is an overwhelming presence to us, so overwhelming that “The Drift” double LP set has sat unlistened on my shelf since it came out – I’m too intimidated by it, though I’ve read the lyric sheet over and over…

5. Robert Martin – The Long Goodbye

I’ve always imagined that there was some sort of hidden and torrid artistic mastery that lurked behind Jimmy Buffet. There’s something about pink crustaceans and white sport jackets that seems like a charming countrypolitan lifestyle choice and good music. It wasn’t, the cover of Robert Martin’s lone record from the early 80s made me think my dreams had been fulfilled – the results were somewhat different, but good enough.

6. Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue
This record has gotten its just dues this past year due to the wonderful Sundazed reissue (that also includes the oft-bootlegged and now pristine Bambu demos) which has wiped away some of the lost gem grime. We once tried to cover a Dennis Wilson song for a compilation and ended up failing miserable when it came to recording the vocal, that smoldering ember of a voice is a mountain too rough to climb.He’s everyone’s favorite beach boy.

7. Jimmy Webb – El Mirage
He is a master of song. Great songwriting always leads for us, no matter what production trickery, no matter what voice, no matter what instrument.

8. Robert Plant – The Principle of Moments
I’ve got a really bad guitar rock problem, I’m not sure to when it dates back, but I really have no time or patience for Led Zeppelin, I don’t even dig Neil Young jams anymore. When did this problem start? Will it end? Will you hate me if I say I like this album better than any LZ record?

9. Noah Georgeson – Find Shelter
I would have thought this excellent album would of made more noise when it came out a few years ago. The elegant arrangements and Georgeson’s ballsy voice, reminiscent of Lee Hazelwood or an unsteady J. Cash, lead to a thing of unparalleled beauty. When a famed producer steps up and makes his own record it always a treat of failed ambitions and pretensions run wild (see: Van Dyke Parks, Jack Nitzsche, Thomas Jefferson Kaye).

10. Vangelis – Antarctica
Isaac and I were lucky enough to check the latest version of Blade Runner at the Music Box in Chicago before we had to split, and obviously the Blade Runner soundtrack holds many of the secrets within our found sound, but it is the more elegant and emotionally precise Antarctica soundtrack that really perked our ears to the possibility and majesty within Mr. Papathanassiou’s noise.

That just happened…

February 1st, 2009

good post with great pictures up on the kexp blog after our performance on air this friday, thanks to the wonderful folks at the beautiful studio here in berkeley and everybody at kexp, they were too kind and warm for words…

check out the post here

the new journalism

January 16th, 2009

kind words from the world – as we continue to let the ocean be our metronome…

check out – My Old Kentucky Blog

and Stereogum, which has an exclusive song from our record called “Swan Song for the Humpback Angler” up for download.

Also announced, we will be playing at Cafe Du Nord with Port O’Brien and the lovely Ezra Furman on February 27th as part of San Francisco’s Noise Pop Festival.

“Harmless Lover’s Discourse” from the Blue Depths available for download

January 12th, 2009

Now available for download is the “single” off our new record The Blue Depths, “Harmless Lover’s Discourse,” you can find this in the music section of this page, on myspace and read a nice little blurb about it at rcrd lbl, if you can’t wait that long, you can listen to it right now!

Odawas to appear on KEXP live

January 8th, 2009

Odawas will perform on the KEXP remote broadcast from Berkeley on Friday, January 30th at 11 AM. Other artists performing that day include the Fruit Bats and Chuck Prophet. You can find information about attending the event here.

Odawas is online…

December 4th, 2008

Well, we have our new website here – which we hope to bring you new music, old music, information, etc., etc.

Thanks to Anthony Ferraro and The Young Folks Collective for designing the new site…

remember – The Blue Depths – new record out on Jagjaguwar 2/17/09!!