Humble readers and followers of PraiseForWallflower.com, we apologize for the unexpected delay in the launching of PFW 2.0. Rest assured however, it is still on the way! We were planning on having the new and improved PraiseForWallflower.com 2.0 live by now. However, designer and co-founder Joey is experiencing finals week of his senior year in College. Additionally, co-founder Keenan fell down a flight of stairs this past week, broke his jaw in half, dislocated his shoulder and broke just about every bone on the right side of his face. So, as you can imagine, it's been pretty difficult to put the final touches on PFW 2.0 and get all the gears running. It will, however, still be happening! Keep an eye out for early January, sometime shortly after the New Year perhaps. We will continue to keep you updated. And, as always, thank you for your support!
STREAM THE NOVEMBER '09 NEWS PODCAST HERE:
OR DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE:
NOVEMBER '09 NEWS PODCAST
THE SKINNY: Three Legged Fox’s sophomore release called Not As Far (Recorded and produced by Chris DiBeneditto of G. Love & Special Sauce, Slightly Stoopid) is a blend of soulful vocals, blues licks, reggae grooves, and feel- good vibes. Three Legged Fox was formed after winning the 2006 Battle of the Bands at the University of Delaware. The band now resides outside of Philadelphia and gigs around the east coast. TLF was voted #1 Best Rock Band in the 2008 Out & About Magazine Music Awards and has received airplay on more than 170 radio stations nationwide. My first listen of this 13- track album left me humming the catchy choruses weaved together by Kyle Wareham (Lead Vocalist/Rhythm guitar).
Not as Far contains tracks packed with tasteful instrumental breakdowns and heart- felt lyrics. The album has crisp percussive horn harmonies and tasteful guitar licks dancing throughout the tracks. If you like an album you can nod your head and sing along to then Not as Faris my top choice. "Slow Down" is my favorite track because it embodies that up beat reggae groove with quality vocal soul. Kyle Wareham brings it to church on the next track called Help. Here the band shows off their musicianship with nice chord changes and a soulful back up choir that will knock your socks off.
Three Legged Fox is a group of true artists and true musicians. The instrumentals are dazzling and the vocals/lyrics give you that emotional chill that we all look for.
"Slow Down" off of Not As Far:
WEBSITE: http://threeleggedfoxlive.com
MYSPACE: http://myspace.com/threeleggedfox
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/threeleggedfox
PURCHASE: Amazon
FAVORITE TRACK: "Slow Down"
FOR FANS OF: BALLYHOO!
http://www.myspace.com/ballyhoo
THE SKINNY: Say Anything is back with a new, self-titled album that makes up for their disappointing 2007 2-disc release, but still can't quite live up to Is A Real Boy.
When I first heard that Say Anything had a new album coming out this month, I was hesitant to even give it a shot. I say this because their 2004 ...Is a Real Boy album was one that I, like many of you, used to idolize back in high school. It was the type of record that you can listen to over and over, from start to finish, without an ounce of disappointment. After waiting patiently for about three years, they followed ...Is a Real Boy up with a double-disc album entitled In Defense of the Genre. Needless to say, it was two discs of tracks that paled in comparison to ...IARB.
Its no easy task living up to the reputation a group has created for itself after putting out a ridiculously good album - and I give them a lot of credit for at least continuing to keep at it. And although they may never give us another ...IARB, they've managed to at least come close with their latest, self-titled release Say Anything.
The new record is full of all of the familiar characteristics of a Say Anything album - angry and sarcastic lyrics, powerfully driven guitar and drum parts, falsetto bridges, gang vocals and a subtle use of synthesizers (etc, etc...). Needless to say, if you happen to be (or have been at some point) a fan of Say Anything, than you're not going to be disappointed with this record.
"Ahhh... Men" off of Say Anything:
WEBSITE: http://sayanythingmusic.com
MYSPACE: http://myspace.com/sayanything
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/SayAnythingMuz
PURCHASE: iTunes
FAVORITE TRACK(s): "Ahhh...Men," "Do Better"
Over the summer a handful of members on the PFW team headed into Philly to catch a glimpse of an LP Stiles recording session. Needless to say, we brought our equipment and had the cameras rolling. We plan on releasing all of the footage sometime before the end of the month, but for now, we're providing a clip of one of their live run-throughs. Keep an eye out for the full feature which includes interviews, live performances, and more studio footage.MYSPACE: myspace.com/lpstilestrio
PURCHASE: iTunes
It has been a whirlwind couple of years for Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard of The Swell Season. After staring in the little indie movie that could Once, The Swell Season has been touring constantly and even went on to win an Oscar for its song "Falling Slowly." Their new album Strict Joy came out on Oct. 27 and I'm in love. I had the great pleasure of seeing them in Philadelphia and to be honest, their live show well exceeds the quality of any of their recordings. If you have the chance, I highly recommend seeing them in concert. The track below is "The Rain" and I have not been able to stop listening to it. Enjoy."The Rain" off of Strict Joy
THE SKINNY: Shaw is a down to earth, talented musician putting out some authentic, lo-fi, ambient electronic tracks.If you happened to catch our Honorable Mentions post for October, than you may already be familiar with Shaw. It's the one man, electronic project of Shaw Waters from San Francisco, California. I wanted to provide him with more than just an honorable mention because he's a talented dude making good music, without an inkling of an ego. After just a few exchanged emails, I could tell that Shaw is the type of musician that makes music for the sake of making music - and he does it quite well too.
If you're into any sort of ambient, electronic artists than you're more than likely to enjoy Shaw's sound. Cleverly written lyrics, catchy melodies and simple, well crafted electronic synths and beats are all embodied within Shaw's new EP Pretending We're Not Animals. The record, being released digitally and as a vinyl on New Years Day, consists of four tracks (one of which happens to be a cover of Devendra Banhart's "Hey Mama Wolf." If you shoot Shaw an email (via shawmakesmusic@gmail.com) anytime between now and the release of the record, he'll provide you with a link to download the entire thing for free, in its entirety. I highly suggest doing so.
"Pretending We're Not Animals" off of Pretending We're Not Animals:
"Lion In a Cage" off of Pretending We're Not Animals:
MYSPACE: http://myspace.com/shawmakesmusic
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/shawmakesmusic
FAVORITE TRACK: "Lion in a Cage" off of Pretending We're Not Animals
FOR FANS OF: ambient, electronic groups
Mack Flinn & The Whosis Kid, the brainchild of PFW's very own Chris Grzan and Joseph "Scotches" Zanko (and über time consuming project of yours truly) have been working on a new record for quite some time now. It's entitled The Whole 'Hero Journey' Thing was a Terrible Idea, and has just recently been completed and uploaded to the Mack Flinn & The Whosis Kid's Bandcamp account. Nothing like a little bit of self promotion! Seriously though, it's good music (and FREE music), so you've really got no excuse not to at least give it a shot.
WEBSITE: http://mackflinnwhosiskid.bandcamp.com
MYSPACE: http://myspace.com/mackflinnandthewhosiskid
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/mackflinn
THE SKINNY: A group of musicians with an array of influences ranging from Bach to Ben Folds look to make intricate and catchy pop music.The members The Kilns from Buena Park, Calif. began their journey as a group when they met in the choir of their private college and later worked together to compose the soundtrack to an independently produced musical. They developed not only a tight friendship, but a desire to form a band based on their musical inspirations. The Kilns influences vary from classical baroque to Queen to Ben Folds. Their musical sensibility and inspirations are easily heard in each of their songs.
Lead singer, pianist and guitarist Jason Harris admits that as a band the music is more important to them than the lyrics. The lyrics are created last in their songwriting process. The Kilns look to build textured, intricate melodies that display their skills as musicians and the lyrics help by complimenting what they have already created. Despite their focus on the music as opposed to the lyrics, The Kilns still focus on creating pop music that can be sung and appreciated by audiences in a live setting. When listening to the songs up on the band's MySpace you can tell that this is a band made of talented, professionally trained musicians. And despite only being in their early stages of existence, they show great promise and possibility of creating impressive pop pieces for audiences to enjoy.
The Kilns recorded a four-song EP this past spring that exemplifies who they are as a group. These songs are currently up on the groups MySpace. They are working hard to create even more songs to enter the studio record a full-length album in the near future.
MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/thekilnsband
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/The_Kilns
FOR FANS OF: Ben Folds, Ben Folds Five, Queen
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