Indie | Musicosity

Indie

The Fray

From the sleepy sprawl of America's 'Mile-High City', Denver, Colorado, United States, comes The Fray, a foursome whose melodic pop-rock songs and soaring vocals resonate with sprawling tapestries and tales of hopefulness and heartache. Formed in 2002 by Isaac Slade (vocals, piano) and Joe King (guitar, vocals), The Fray earned a loyal grassroots following through impressive area gigs and the support of local radio which led a listener-driven campaign to get the band a record contract.

Meow Meow

There are more than one artist who go by the name "Meow Meow." 1) Shortwave radio squeals, Beatles-esque tape loops and healthy doses of analog knob-twiddling all underscore the pure-sugar pop tones of Snow Gas Bones. Meow Meow exists somewhere between Brill Building tradition and grandpa's pre-war 78 rpms played with a broken stylus. With hypnotic visual projections, all members sharing vocal duties and swapping instruments, they've brought their kaleidoscopic live shows up the west coast, down to SXSW and soon to the UK and Japan.

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Obits

Every so often over the past few years you’d hear a whisper about this new Brooklyn band featuring a couple of indie rock veterans. Supposedly they’d been practicing since 2006, but weren’t ready to play live yet. Then they finally did play and immediately a bootleg recording of that first show spread all over the web. In lieu of having anything recorded for people to hear, the band even put some of the songs on its MySpace page.

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Richard in your mind

In an age where a wah pedal and a couple of beards are enough to get a band labelled 'psychedelic', it's great to see a band doing it properly. Sydney's Richard In Your Mind are just such an outfit. Full of inventiveness and spark, Richard In Your Mind make beguiling, genuinely odd, mind-bending music, the kind as likely to veer off into a hip hop verse as it is an extended sitar workout. Now, four years after starting out, the newly expanded five piece are about to gift us with My Volcano, their keenly awaited second lp.

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Matthew Barber

Matthew Barber (born January 10, 1977) is a Canadian singer-songwriter of indie pop and pop rock with folk and alternative country influences. Barber was born and grew up in Port Credit, which is part of Mississauga, Ontario, just west of Toronto, before moving to Kingston, Ontario to attend Queen's University, where he volunteered at campus radio station CFRC-FM and performed at campus pubs. After graduating from Queen's, he went to McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario for his master's degree in philosophy, and here he began to take his performing more seriously.

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Caribou

Caribou is Canadian Dan Snaith (b. 1978), who formerly recorded under the moniker Manitoba. Known for altering his sound with each subsequent release, he incorporates electronic psychedelia, krautrock rhythms, and breakbeat drums and creates a swirling, lush, musical panorama. Snaith grew up in Dundas, Ontario, Canada, which gave its name to a song from his debut album Start Breaking My Heart. He studied at the University of Toronto as an undergrad, but was based in the UK for several years until he completed his Ph.D. in mathematics at the Imperial College, London in 2005.

Parades

Parades are a young art rock band from Sydney who wisely choose to create their own music with no outside input or interference. Featuring Dan Cunningham, Tim Jenkins, Michael Scarpin and Jonathan Boulet – Parades’ debut album Foreign Tapes is out now via Dot Dash Recordings. The album is expansive and ambitious; a haze of pop harmonies, post rock guitars and electronic meanderings. Drum Media did a great job describing the band when they said

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Manic Street Preachers

Manic Street Preachers are an alternative rock band from Blackwood, Wales, formed in 1986. Often referred to as "the Manics", they are James Dean Bradfield (vocals, guitars), Nicky Wire (bass, occasional vocals) and Sean Moore (drums, backing vocals, occasional trumpet). The band were originally a quartet: lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards mysteriously vanished on 1 February 1995. He was declared presumed deceased in November 2008.

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Sam Amidon

Sam Amidon (real name Samuel Tear) was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, on June 3, 1981. His parents are Peter Amidon and Mary Alice Amidon, both well established folk musicians. Folk music runs freely throughout the New England heartland of Vermont, and the Amidon family are a strong lifeline in that movement’s heritage. Both Sam’s parents, Peter and Mary are performers and teachers of music. Growing up in this solid environment with strong family ties most certainly set the scene for Sam’s musical trajectory. His little brother is the great Stefan Amidon, who is a drummer.

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