Blips: Three Under The Radar Bands
In our never-ending quest to dig up some great bands that cost less than a corned beef sandwich at Katz’s Deli, we bring you another round of Blips. Blips highlights some great bands that are largely still in their larvae stage, but will soon morph into their beautiful butterfly. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, poke around their various websites, and see what you think of these three under the radar musical groups…
J. Tillman
Today marks a first, as we feature the solo work of a member of a band that was one of our very first Blips acts, Fleet Foxes. Known best as the the drummer for the bearded folk-rockers, J. Tillman has been steadily recording and putting out albums for the last five years, but it’s only been recently that he’s started to gain the attention he deserves. Tillman managed to put out two albums full of his hauntingly baritone vocals and sparse sleepy-folk arrangements this year with Vacilando Territory Blues
Tillman, who seemed to be playing at every SXSW showcase last March, has crafted a sound that doesn’t fall to far from the Nick Drake tree, and is currently providing me the perfect listen as we head deeper in the fall. J. Tillman hits the road for a cross-country headlining tour this November.
[youtube]OVPet3TWwHw[/youtube]
READ ON for two more unheralded Blips-worthy artists…
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
To call Edward & The Magnetic Zeros a band would be a bit of an understatement, they are more like a small gang or even more like a commune of happy hippies. Comprised of somewhere around ten members that play everything from guitar to banjo to accordion to trumpet, the band puts out a sound that could be best described as a mix between the swirling psychedelic choral-rock of the Polyphonic Spree, the sprawling grandeur of the Arcade Fire and the shear silliness of Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem – though completely unique at the same time.
The band put out their full-length debut Up From Below earlier this year, which give The Flaming Lips a battle for one of the better acid-drenched rock albums out right now. Edward Sharpe and his band of cohorts are currently out on the road on a lengthy tour that stretches into mid-December, and judging from the Letterman appearance below look to be like a heck of a band to catch live
The Black Hollies
The term psychedelic gets thrown around a bit liberally these day when it comes to pegging a band’s sound. Well in the case of The Black Hollies, it couldn’t be more of an accurate description of just what this four-piece hailing from Jersey City, NJ puts out. Drowning in swirling organ and acid-soaked vocals and guitar riffs, the band seems as if they spent a lot of time soaking up and studying the garage sounds of original Nuggets box set.
The band, who wouldn’t have seemed out of place on the San Fransisco ballroom circuit, have recently put out their third full length Softly Towards the Light
Jeffrey Greenblatt
Jeff joined the Hidden Track team full-time in 2008 and helps guide the site in his role as Managing Editor and Social Media Coordinator. Each week Jeff pens Pullin' 'Tubes, Tour Dates and Bloggy Goodness in addition to features, video posts and more. Jeff is a graduate of The George Washington University ('98), with a degree in Journalism, and has worked in the media and technology industry for the likes of MTV, VH1, A&E and Joost.
Follow Me:
as always, bang up job, JG. black hollies kinda blew me away when I saw them earlier this year. highly recommended. and magnetic zeroes also kinda blew me away… in a different way — I had no idea what to expect.
Thanks! Glad you dug the selections, thinking about going to see Edward Sharpe when they play the Bowery next month.
[...] READ ON for two more unheralded Blips-worthy artists… [...]
[...] did get to plenty of other topics including this month’s Blips featuring a look at Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, J. Tillman and The Black Hollies. [...]
[...] November, we first hipped you to the psychedelic-folk sounds of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros via our semi-regular [...]
[...] first writing about Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros in October of last year for our ongoing Blips feature, the band – well more like the small troupe of hippies – [...]
[...] on September 14 former Blips selection J. Tillman will release his seventh studio album, Singing Ax. The album, produced by [...]