Clark Lamson

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MusicNew Music Monday: My Brightest Diamond — I Had Grown WildWhen the whisper quiet fire that is My Brightest Diamond first hits your headphones, you wouldn’t expect that its matriarch Shara Worden hails from Arkansas.Clark Lamson · May 25, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Mac Demarco — “The Way You’d Love Her”“The Way You’d Love Her” is the lead single from Another One, the mini-LP scheduled for an August 7th release. The track doesn’t do much to push outside Demarco’s wobbly-kneed stoner yodels, but I’m not sure anyone wanted him to. I know I didn’t. “The Way You’d Love Her” features the same smiley strumming and light keyboard work we have come to expect, though the vocal ventures closer to earlier works from Rock and Rock Night Club. Demarco creates a lazy river with his melodies, which the listeners glide abidingly down. The author has an unusual knack for writing melodies that feel upbeat, while creating a sneaking feeling that the content doesn’t echo the sentiment.Clark Lamson · May 18, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Mumford & Sons — Wilder MindMumford may have gained their fame riding (some say starting) the wave of popularity for pop-folk music, but Wilder Mind finds the band ditching almost all of their familiarly twangy tunes for a fairly straight laced alternative rock sound. In place of fever pitched banjos come shining, sometimes dry guitars. The resulting sound places them closer to War on Drugs, Ryan Adams, or Ben Howard than any of their pop-folk contemporaries.Clark Lamson · May 11, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Peach Kelli Pop — Peach Kelli Pop IIIThe tunes on Peach Kelli Pop’s aptly named third record Peach Kelli Pop III are crunchy, low-fi, and (maybe obviously) poppy. Think Ariel Pink meets Blink-182 with a Sailor Moon costume. Tracks like “Princess Castle 1987,” the album’s intro track, features the same fuzzy nerd-pop fans have come to expect from Peach Kelli herself, Allie Hanlon. With releases stretch back to summer of 2011 with her first EP Panchito Blues, Hanlon dances the line between The Runaways and MC Chris, blending nerdcore sentiments with headbanging riffs.Clark Lamson · May 4, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Alabama Shakes — Sound & ColorIf fans were worried about the band resting on laurels on their second time around, they need not be. Sound & Color is a noticeably more challenging collection of tunes. What made B&G so great was its immediacy. The second you put in the headphones, it was as if the songs coming through had been on your “most listened to” for years. Sound & Color finds the band leaving one foot in their Southern rock roots, and planting the other in soul and blues. While the lead singles, “Gimme All Your Love,” “Don’t Wanna Fight,” and “Future People,” highlighted the electric Brittany Howard’s ability to send hooks screaming into your long term memory, the majority of the tracks require a little more patience.Clark Lamson · Apr 27, 2015Musicnew Music Monday: Tyler, The Creator — CHERRY BOMB24 year old rapper/producer/writer, and founding member of the Odd Future hiphop collective, Tyler, The Creator is without a doubt, one of hip hop’s most controversial figures.Clark Lamson · Apr 20, 2015MusicAlbum Review: Policy— Will ButlerIn May of last year, I was lucky enough to score some tickets to see one of my favorite bands in concert.Clark Lamson · Apr 15, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Desaparecidos — City on the HillLove him or hate him (because it’s more than likely one of the two) Conor Oberst is one of his generation’s most eminent singer/songwriter, not to mention prolific.Clark Lamson · Apr 13, 2015MusicAlbum Review: Isosceles Ivory CircleIt was the later days of her first project, and Connie Hong was beginning to feel like it was time to move on.Clark Lamson · Apr 13, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Faith Healer — Cosmic TroublesI’ll admit, I judged this book by its cover; the album cover, that is. Expecting some sort of sloppy metal, I braced myself for what I might hear. I could not have been more wrong. Jalbert commands the mic from first to last. The vocal that came as coy in Loyola loses the cuddle in favor of something more listless, lilting, and sardonic. The change is apparent in the instrumentation as well, which sports a fuzzy coating of 60’s psych, and sunny 70’s pop. The effect is something close to The Zombies meets Kimya Dawson, without any of the kitch.Clark Lamson · Apr 6, 2015FeaturesThe Geometric Play of the Ivory CircleThis month, The BandWagon sat down with Connie Hong, lead singer of Denver’s very own Ivory Circle.Clark Lamson · Apr 2, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Courtney Barnett — Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just SitThis week, Australian singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett has released her highly anticipated sophomore album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (which for brevity’s sake, shall be referred to as Sometimes from here on out). The patently Australian chill that was present in her first album still rings true, while lazily wandering into new musical territory. There’s a warmth present in her tunes that beg for the album to be enjoyed on a couch, or front porch. Even the punchier tracks like “Dead Fox” or the lead single “Pedestrian at Best” have a “neighborhood BBQ” vibe to them.Clark Lamson · Mar 30, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Death Grips – On GPDeath Grips fans rejoice! We have been eagerly (and impatiently) awaiting the release of the hiphop trio’s “final” album for quite some time now. After splitting up in July, the band promised the 2nd half of their final album by the end of the year. If you’re reading this, I don’t have to tell you that MC Ride and crew squelched on their promise. After the release of the unexpected Fashion Week LP, and numerous release date changes, it appears as though Death Grips has finally settled on a release date, and they mean to keep it. Jenny Death, the 2nd half of the powers that b, will be release March 17th. This Tuesday. Like I said, rejoice.Clark Lamson · Mar 16, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Purity Ring — another eternityThis week, Purity Ring released another eternity, the 2nd studio release for the duo. The lead singles, namely “push pull” did a good job of describing the sugary sweet synth that we’d be getting in this album. The digitized Megan James vocal is the perfect candy-coated counterpoint to the whomping, swirling bass. Each song is a druggy fever dream tumbling through your computer screen. James and band mate Corin Roddick know their sound, and they do it well.Clark Lamson · Mar 9, 2015MusicAlbum Review: After—Lady Lamb The BeekeeperAt 15, when Aly Spralto began writing music of her own in the basement of a DVD rental she worked at, she grew into the habit of keeping a journal by her bed.Clark Lamson · Mar 2, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Tallest Man on Earth — “Sagres”In 2006, Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Mattson released his self-titled debut to overwhelmingly positive reviews under the moniker The Tallest Man on Earth.Clark Lamson · Mar 2, 2015MusicINTERVIEW: LADY LAMB THE BEEKEEPERThis month, The BandWagon sat down with Aly Spralto, more commonly known as Lady Lamb The Beekeeper.Clark Lamson · Feb 23, 2015MusicInterview: Oliver Ackermann of A Place to Bury StrangersThis month, the BandWagon had the distinct pleasure of having a conversation with lead singer of A Place to Bury Strangers, Oliver Ackermann.Clark Lamson · Feb 17, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Alabama Shakes — Don’t Wanna FightIn 2012, Alabama locals Brittany Howard, Zac Cockrell, Steve Johnson, and Heath Fogg released their debut album, Boys & Girls.Clark Lamson · Feb 16, 2015

MusicAlbum Review:The Decemberists — What a Beautiful World, What a Terrible WorldA few weeks ago in our New Music Monday column, I said that the debut singles from The Decemberists’ new album suggested we might be seeing another warm, kind, folksy album. While What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World may sound at first to be just that, it is far away the toothiest album to The Decemberists’ name.Clark Lamson · Feb 12, 2015