Local Natives

I made a mistake. I told the door bitch that 25 euros was too much to see a band I’d never heard of. My first mistake was not knowing who the Local Natives were and obviously my second mistake was not taking a risk and opening my wallet. These LA dudes have been frequently likened to Fleet Foxes, and whilst I get this comparison, I can’t shake the feeling that they sound like a less kooky Dappled Cities with their fast drum beat and falsetto “ooh’s”. So if ever you have a chance to see these guys please don’t make the same mistake as me! In the meantime their debut record Gorilla Manor just dropped in the U.S., including a pretty sweet Talking Heads cover.

Local Natives-World News (mp3)

Dappled Cities

I used to live next door to this guy. He was at uni and I was in high school. Some mornings we would catch the bus together and he would tell me all about life after the dreaded uniform years and how he was in a band. And every time I would ask what the name of his band was and he would reply: "Dappled. Cities. Fly." He was very patient, even though it would have been the tenth time he told me that year. Some time later I was in my first of many festival portaloo's, staring at the poster on the back of the door, when I realised that one of the names at the bottom of the bill was the very one I heard on the bus. They made it! I got so excited that I consumed more alcohol than my 18 year old body could take and passed out under a tree during Wolfmother. True story. But years later, I'm much more responsible and the Dappled Cities boys clearly took my market research very seriously and dropped the last syllable. I wont ever forget them now.

Their new single The Price has been the song I've woken up to almost every day this week (Triple J is loving it...and rightfully so). What a unique sound, especially the vocals that move from the well pronounced to the eerie falsetto to the powerful staccato to the "oohs" of the backup singers. Super excited for the release of their third studio album Zounds, which according to their site is set to launch in 58 days, 17 hours and 51 minutes!

Dappled Cities-The Price (zshare)

www.blogotheque.net

The French just do it so much better than everyone else. La Blogtheque is a blog. The Take-Away Show is a segment on this blog in which bands are filmed performing in places you wouldn't usually expect, often using limited or makeshift instruments. Probably most famously, they got Arcade Fire to perform Neon Bible in an elevator. This may be easy for some bands, but with a 10 person lineup it becomes a little more difficult. There have been over 100 Take-Away Shows with guests such as Jose Gonzalez, Architecture in Helsinki, The Wombats, Dappled Cities, Vampire Weekend, Jason Mraz and Cold War Kids.

For me, these little videos provide me with three things. (a) A chance to see the music I love performed in a totally unique atmosphere, with beautiful cinematography, (b) Introduction to music that I haven't heard, (c) An avenue through which to make a judgement on an artist as being talented or not. The first two are self explanatory. The last may not be. Simply check out Sebastian Tellier's Take-Away Show and see for yourself. Solid artists like Dappled Cities and Bon Iver thrive in these intimate settings as expected. Some, such as The Kooks manage to overwhelmingly exceed expectations and show that they are not a one-hit-wonder pop band. Whilst others, like Mr. Tellier himself, fall massively short without their usual array of instruments and production layering to hide behind. Call it drugs if you will, but he stunk.

On the other hand, the talent of Bon Iver is clearly on show as they perform For Emma, Forever Ago in the lobby of an apartment block. I'll be honest. I have always thought of Bon Iver as just one guy-Justin Vernon. But as the show highlights, it really has become more of a band. Watch and enjoy. And then explore the rest of what the Take-Away Show has to offer.