Phantogram

April 18th at High Noon Saloon

   Not only am I excited that Phantogram is coming to Madison.  I'm also excited that they are opening for The Antlers who I saw last year and I'm excited to see again.  I'll write up something about them in a later post.  I also believe that  Phantogram is another band that Ryan Lucas turned me on to.  I at least remember him telling me I should check them out if they swing on through Wisconsin.   

   

Phantogram is a duo consisting of Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter.  Considered an electronic music band, Sarah brings the breathy female vocals while Josh lays down some amazing beats.  Sarah's vocals remind me of Alison Goldfrapp's, who is the lead singer of Goldfrapp.  Her voice fits in perfectly with the music, crooning at the listner as in their song When I'm Small.  Everywhere I searched Phantogram on the web, people said that their live performances were amazing.  If anything, seeing this band and The Antlers together has to be one of the first ultimate shows this year.  I can guarantee that they will blow up either this year or next, so see them now at such a great venue while you can.

These are all live videos

Mouthful of Diamonds  

Let Me Go    

Tally Hall

March 11 at the Frequency

   Five guys hailing from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Tally Hall has been together since 2002.  I would describe their music at cute pop rock, similar if a college all male acapella group added guitars and drums.  The vocals are great, the music can go between generic pop rock to rap covers.   Their first and last released album was Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum, which the name alone sounds awesome. So this band is slightly out of my musical tastes just because there is a good deal of familiarity in the music and vocals (if you haven't noticed, I tend to enjoy music or vocals that push slightly into the experimental) but hey, it's 5 cute guys who can harmonize.  I'm down with that.  Here's some of their music and videos.

Good Day

Ruler of Everything 

Woodhands

March 28 at The Frequency

    There's something about Canadians that makes me feel like they are lovable misfits who break grounds in social evolution. What better thing to reflect a society or culture but the music.  Alanis Morsette, Tegan and Sara, Kids in the Hall (they had some songs) all are beautiful, beautiful Canadians.  Well, here is another Canadian group that will make you want to pack up and move.
       Woodhands is composed of Dan Werb and Paul Banwatt.  And their music is composed of dancey electrowave with passionate and sometimes punk -ish vocals.  Which is kind of how I like my crazy dance music.  They performed a few years ago at Project Lodge and I can say I'm really happy they are coming back to Madison.  Their debut album, Heart Attack, puts out the beats with some amazing tracks.  I Wasn't Made For Fighting being one of them.  So listen to these attractive boys and hope you come out to the show at the Frequency.

Heart Attack (2008)

I Wasn't Made For Fighting
Can't See Straight

Cold Cave

 

February 26 at Project Lodge

  

     Originally from my home area, Philly, PA, Cold Cave now resides in Manhattan, possibly to get some of that Brooklyn vibe that seems to be all the rage these days. Cold Cave is composed of Wesley Eisod, Caralee McElroy (from Xiu Xiu) and Dominick Fernow. Just in case you want to say hi to them before and after the show. Speaking of such, I hope there is room to get in. This band I'm thinking will bring a pretty decent crowd.

Cold Cave reminds me of a more danceable less punky version of Crystal Castles. There is distortion used on the voices giving them an echo and 80's goth kind of sound to them. Doing some research, I guess the term for this type of music is "Darkwave".
Behind the vocals are some fun dancey beats that will even more remind someone of 80's Joy Division. Actually that last bit was how a friend of mine described them. Their debut album was released on Matador Records (say hello to Brad Oberhofer for me!) and is titled “Love Comes Close.”

Love Comes Close
Life Magazine

Brad Oberhofer

 

Oberhofer - Demo

Starting off as an intern at Matador and also a student at NYU, Brad Oberhofer decided to share the demo of his music to some higher ups at Matador.  After listening to it, they knew right away that they had an amazing talent working in their office.

Brad Oberhofer was a one man band when he started creating music, saying that he would grab musicians from other bands to fill in whenever he performed live, whether that was within the bursting Brooklyn Indie rock scene or back at his native grounds of Tacoma, WA.  But creating and playing music alone doesn't take away from the complexity and fullness of Oberhofer's sound.  He takes some of the best traits from already well known bands and makes them his own.  There definitely a feeling of MGMT with his dance beats as well as connection to Wavves with his use of distortion on his voice.  Oberhofer is able to take all of these sound bits and yet his sound still sounds unique.  Check him out for yourself and hope that he does a tour of the country sometime soon and plays in Madison.

  Demo

Away From You  

I Could Go 

Dead Girls Dancing