Avi Buffalo – What’s In It For?

For a teenager who signed with Sub Pop before finishing school, Avi isn’t afraid of lampooning those investing in his career. He impersonates a crusty old fart whenever quoting label reps [“rah, rah, this is the single, this is the single”], and a schmoozy cheeseball when recalling the A&R’s approach [“Ayyyyyyy, I hear you’re doin’ some stuff”].

But the 19-year-old Californian is entitled to sound frustrated with his development. At the age of 13, he was mentored by bluesman Joel Weinberg who would throw him up on stage every week. “At first I sucked and had no idea what was going on. He gave me a lot of tough love, showing me how to express myself in a tasteful way. Anyone can get a guitar tutor but he taught me more about the depth in using music emotionally.”

Avi began practising the guitar 14 hours a day, playing in three bands at a time, including one with older R&B musicians that would rehearse late into the night, causing his grades to suffer. After recording with Aaron Embry [Elliot Smith, Janes Addiction], the producer tipped off Sub Pop. “It threw me for a loop. My parents didn’t even believe me. I had no idea it could be this soon. It scared me because I wasn’t sure I was ready to be heard. I didn’t feel like my craft was sharpened. I still don’t. A lot of these songs are pretty old. So it’s a bummer that we’re going to have to work this record for a year straight.”
The indie pop prodigy seems to have outrun his own rate of progress. Infectious lead single ‘What’s In It For?’ was pivotal in getting Avi Buffalo’s self-titled debut released but all the kid hears is a clunkier, younger-sounding version of himself.

“It’s not what I want to be about. But if we were to leave it off the record, I don’t think Sub Pop would even put it out. They heard it and were like, [gruffly] ‘okay, we’re gonna do this’. It’s hard. I’m definitely lost, musically, and I need to find a path. I’m bringing a 4-track on the road. People have told me that it’s hard to find creative opportunities on tour, but I think I can totally make it work.”

Avi Buffalo – What’s In It For?

Avi Buffalo is an indie-pop four-piece based around the infectious ideas of teenage songwriter Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg. The group is from Long Beach, California, and their debut album will be out on Sub Pop sometime in the spring. Worth keeping an eye out for.

MySpace

Official

Photo by christian.greller, licensed under Creative Commons

Beach House – Norway (Live)

A third album from Beach House is on the way and after a couple of listens, I can already tell that there are some future classics on there: namely ‘Zebra’, ‘Norway’ and ‘Walk in the Park’ (songs you’ll have heard if you’ve seen Beach House in the last six months). In fact all the strongest tracks come in the first half, which will make for a great Side A, before the momentum slows and tapers off somewhat into the band’s template of old. In that sense Teen Dream is more of a renewal than a departure, but this one might be their best yet.

The album will be released on 25 January on Bella Union (Sub Pop in the US).

Previous posts – Interview: Beach House

MySpace

Obits – Pine On

When A bootleg of Obits’ first live show made its way on to the Internet, Sub Pop were so impressed on first listen that they pursued the band for a record deal. You can still hear a couple of those recordings on MySpace – which sound utterly indebted to The Stooges – but the studio material sounds sharper, distinctive and yet still retains that hammering ferocity. The band hits SXSW next week, just days before their debut I Blame You is released. In the meantime, this mp3 can be downloaded for free here.

MySpace

Pre-order

Photo by polgaroid, licensed under Creative Commons

The Helio Sequence – Shed Your Love

I’m liking everything I’ve heard from Keep Your Eyes Ahead, a 2008 release by Portland duo and sub-pop artists The Helio Sequence. This isn’t in keeping with the feel of the others songs I’ve been listening to and it’s not even in keeping with what I would normally post on a Saturday, so if you’d like to hear them take on a bubblingly upbeat sound, head over to their MySpace where the title track has notched up an impressive 157,000 listens. As for this one, it’s just too beautiful and tender not to share right now.

MySpace

Official site

Photo by fernandadesu

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The Ruby Suns – ‘Tane Mahuta’

This is a gorgeously sunny song from a record chock-full of them – perfect for that Friday feeling.

I had been hearing nothing but good things about Sea Lion for some time yet some niggling and seemingly unexplainable waver of cynicism made held me back. I’ve been giving it a few spins this week and can finally add to the streams of gushing praise. In fact, there’s not a bad song on there.

Sea Lion is out now on Sub Pop.

MySpace

Photo by sealette.

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 No Age – ‘Eraser’

No Age have been riding their momentum in some style recently, building up some well-deserved attention in the process.  To capitalise, the 7″ single ‘Eraser’ comes out on the 8th of April, providing a taster of their first fully-fledged album Nouns, to be released later in May on Sub-pop. The single comes with b-side cover versions of The Nerves, Nate Denver, and Urinals.

MySpace

Previous post: No Age – ‘Weirdo Rippers’

[audio http://www.filefreak.com/pfiles/50153/White%20Winter%20Hymnal.mp3]

Fleet Foxes – ‘White Winter Hymnal*‘

I’ve been waxing lyrical about these guys since the day they signed to Bella Union. Now I can exclusively reveal that Fleet Foxes have recorded their very own Take Away Show at Noise Pop just yesterday, and given that Pitchfork have just stamped n 8.7 on their new EP Sun Giant (released today), I think their forthcoming appearances at SXSW could see these guys being the most talked about band over the coming months – the kind of hype that can often make people wary before they’ve even heard a note.

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Fleet Foxes – ‘English House’

As for the music itself, it’s rich in the kind of uplifting harmonies Grizzly Bear are known for, though with a very pronounced gospel influence. Saying that, the dynamics repeatedly shift, hitting peaks and highlights when you thought there could be none left, their shimmering baroque arrangements (which will inevitably draw comparisons to the likes of CSNY) feeling like a much needed release of endorphins.

*White Winter Hymnal is actually on the band’s full length LP, Ragged Wood, due in June – but I feel it’s worth including just to give you a better picture of what these guys are capable of.

I’m excited to say that I think I may have found my favourite new band. It’s a feeling that, when it does manage to come along, rewards all the daily music hunting a thousand-fold.* Judging from the fact that Fleet Foxes have garnered over a quarter of a million listens on MySpace without even releasing any material, perhaps I’m not alone in this feeling…and given that I found it tough to pick just one track out as a ‘song of the day’ seems to only underline Fleet Foxes as a significant discovery. Expect to hear plenty more gushing praise very soon. No further information is needed; just head over to said MySpace site and let the music do the rest.

* Either that, or the strong pain-killers I’m on are letting me get far too carried away.

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 Kelley Stoltz – Mother Nature

I’ve been giving this album repeated spins for the last couple of days, its loose ’60s pop sound allowing me to dream, albeit temporarily, of the onset of spring.

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Kelley Stoltz – Reflecting

Losing the piano sound that dominated his last release, Below the Branches (which I never really got into), Circular Sounds features a jangling guitar swing heavily reminiscent of The Kinks – and when it works, that’s no bad thing.

[audio http://www.iol.ie/~pippen33/04 - gardenia.mp3]

Kelley Stoltz – Gardenia

Released on February 5th on Sub Pop, if the critical praise of Stoltz’s previous releases continues to roll in, this could be one to watch out for in 2008.