As you might already have noticed, I'm a huge fan of Underwater Peoples Records. I first heard Real Estate last winter, which was my first winter here in Sweden and their debut album will always remind me of the orange tinted snow from the streetlights and the part-time job I had opening up a tent that housed Father Christmas. For most people, Underwater Peoples symbolizes summer and the beach, but for me it's always going to be cosy music for autumn/winter and with winter fast approaching and the upcoming release of Family Portrait's debut, it looks like they may be 2010s cosiness.
If Guided by Voices’ “Motor Away” was the ’70s GTO of lo-fi driving metaphors, then Alex Bleeker & Evan Brody’s equally scrappy cover is a tandem bicycle. Or maybe a razor scooter? Recorded for an upcoming GBV cover album called Guided by Guided by Voices (cute), the duo translates all of Bob Pollard’s brolic energy into a breezy, laidback stroll—a chiller’s anthem bound by nothing but the Hawaiian shirts on their backs. Trying to imagine Pollard with a tan right now is pretty funny. Even funnier is how a song originally recorded in 1995 could be so relevant now—guess that band had influence, huh?
As you may have already noticed, I'm quite a fan of Alex Bleeker and pretty much anything on Underwater Peoples. Anyway, I just came across this awesome 10min video of an acoustic Alex Bleeker over on the excellent Chocolate Bobka. Alex is due to play at the Way Out West festival over here in Sweden with Real Estate next month and if I a) had the money and b) had a video camera I would be there in a flash and film something similar, but alas I don't have either, so videos like this are gold to me! Also, may I add that the colours in the video are particularly nice/vivid!
"A few weeks back, in the midst of the World Cup, we rangled a few friends over to view the semi-finals while broadcasting Sunday Brunch on Newtown Radio live from Bobka HQ. It was hot. Very hot. Especialy since our Comfort Zone had just perished. It didn't matter much though, as Budweiser's popped and friends played songs while footballers scored 'sick' goals. The word 'sick' was thrown around a lot. It was a grand afternoon, captured by Ray Concepcion. Take a peek at Alex Bleeker's performance, with more to come very soon."
You can listen to two of the new songs below. I've also posted a couple of videos of songs off his previous effort ('Seed') and one off the Ducktails/Julian Lynch split 7" ('Garden 2').
One of my songs of the year so far! AMAZING! A perfect song. The song is off Alex Bleeker's 'These Days' 7" and the Freaks join him here in this performance.
Mountain Man are due to release their debut album, 'Made the Harbor', on June 11th on Bella Union and have just posted up a free track on Sound Cloud for your listening pleasure (listen below!). If you've never heard of them before, be sure to give 'Animal Tracks' a listen too, which was also covered by Alex Bleeker & The Freaks on their self-titled debut album last year. 'Animal Tracks' was off last years self-titled EP on Underwater Peoples and can be streamed in it's entirety here.
"Fika, a social institution in Sweden, is both verb and noun in Swedish and has a broad definition. Essentially, it refers to a break from one's activities in order to drink coffee or other drinks with friends, family or acquaintances. This tradition of a coffee break with a snack is central to Swedish culture, and Swedes are one of the world's top coffee consumers."
The mix includes tracks from David Crosby, Neil Young, The Beach Boys, The Zombies, Real Estate, Devendra Banhart, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Fred Neil, Traffic, John Phillips, Kurt Vile, Old 97's, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Grateful Dead, The Felice Brothers, The Strange Boys and many more.
Invite some friends over, stick this on and fika Swedish style. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
I know I already posted about this album a couple of months back, but I hadn't heard the album then. I've been listening to the album the last few days and I just had to tell you all how GOOD it is! A few reviews I've read refer to this album as classic rock for our generation and it's pretty much bang on! This is a talented bunch of guys! I don't think I've heard an album involving any of these New Jerseyers that I haven't liked. Be it Real Estate, Julian Lynch, Ducktails or Alex Bleeker's recent solo 7", 'These Days'. All the albums have a similar sort of vibe, but sound quite different at the same time. Alex Bleeker and the Freaks have a really loose, jam style quality to them, complete with wailing guitar licks and Neil Youngesque melodies that are perfect this time of the year. The album plays works best as just that, an album. The whole thing blends into 26 minutes of carefree good times that always has me hitting play again as soon as it stops. The longer instrumental passages combine perfectly with the more 'song' based material, such as their cover of Mountain Man's 'Animal Tracks' and the transition from 'Summer' into 'Epilogue' is incredible. Although this was released last year, this is definitely going to be one of my most listened to albums of the year and I look forward to more releases from Bleeker & co.
Next on my list of bands to listen to are all the other artists on Under Water Peoples Records, which is home to Real Estate, Bleeker and company!
Real Estate's album was one of my favourites of last year and I've recently got into Ducktails' album, 'Landscapes'. All of these guys went to high school together in new Jersey and have played together for years. Now we have Alex Bleeker and the Freaks. Alex plays bass in Real Estate and is joined by Martin Courtney on bass and Matt Mondanile (Ducktails) on drums both also of Real Estate and Julian Lynch. Julian Lynch also released his full-length debut last year ('Orange You Glad'), though I haven't heard it yet.
I haven't heard this album yet, but have listened to several tracks on You Tube/Vimeo and really like what I'm hearing. All these guys seem to have a similar sound, but each has their own take on it. Maybe it's just a perfect way for them all to express themselves. Although these are still early days, they kinda remind of Crosby, Still, Nash & Young in the way all the members had solo projects alongside various group offerings. So here are a couple of nice tracks I found on Vimeo...the first being a cover of Mountain Man's 'Animal Tracks' (also included below) which is kinda like a more Crazy Horse style take on the song. The second song, 'Summer>Epilogue' sounds a little Neil Youngesque, mixed with some almost country-style singing and a little Grateful Dead style haziness.
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