Ice Palace :: Wonder Subtly Crushing

Currently on Tour with Cloud Cult as well as Margot and the Nuclear So-and-Sos

Sounds Like: Pure, down home indie rock.

RIYL: Wolf Parade, The Decemberists, Built to Spill

A Few Words (courtesy of Jessi Hector from Sneak Attack Media): Ice Palace's haunting sophomore album, Wonder Subtly Crushing Us will be available April 21st through Earthology Records. Ice Palace is the first band to join Cloud Cult on eco-friendly Earthology Records roster. The Minneapolis, MN five-piece released Bright Leaf Left in 2007.

The melancholic Wonder Subtly Crushing Us is the culmination of roughly 20 years of writing, steming from the band's overly creative lead singer and songwriter, Adam Sorensen. After assembling some of the best talent in Minneapolis, in some of the most unexpected recording spaces (from Minneapolis’ Sound Gallery studio to a bedroom closet), the album was handed to Craig Minowa of Cloud Cult for final mixing and production at his Earthology Records studio. With the band already drawing comparisons to such heavyhitters as The Decemberists and American Analogue Set, Wonder Subtly Crushing Us combines the nuanced lyricism of Sorensen, the innovative musicianship of the eclectic ensemble of players and the creative conception of Minowa -- resulting in an album worthy of attention.

Download a free copy of the MP3 "Thoughts/Facts".

Comments

Okkervil River, Wellington, New Zealand :: Live Music Review

There are energetic drummers, and then there is Travis Nelson. Truly, he is 'Animal.' Okkervil River albums have so much personality, the songs themselves become characters: players, people in the guise of animals or gods (and who can tell the difference sometimes?). And like watching a melodrama, we are witness to emotions that heave and plummet with frightening force. The songs can be drunken youth: the rotund boots on their feet knocking wildly on every surface. Or they can be villainous and smart, full of smiles and wishing-you-well up to the second they thrust the dagger into your belly. Pitched, lust-crazed, calculated: that is one half of an Okkervil album. The other emotion is equally intense in its thick, slow agony: the eternity it takes to remove the knife, knowing you have it all to do over. And so it goes: soaring, drunk, angry, knife, stab, agony, pull-it-out-and-let's-do-it-again. At the San Fransisco Bathhouse in Wellington, New Zealand, on a crisp early a

White Rabbits :: It's Frightening

Band :: White Rabbits Album :: It's Frightening Song :: They Done Wrong / We Done Wrong Sounds Like: The Midwest strikes back. RIYL: Spoon, The Walkmen, Tapes 'n Tapes A Few Words: White Rabbits (the band) is living in NYC, it's true. However, they are, by all accounts, from the Midwest. This is only a point worth mentioning because I am also from the Midwest, so we have a lot in common that way. Which is to say we have an inherent understanding of vast distances, wind, and non-existent public transport (unless you count Chicago). White Rabbits could also be that band you know you've heard of, but can't remember. For all their PR efforts it's amazing how easily they continue to slip under the proverbial radar (not sure if "radar" is an acronym when used in a cliche, but I'm guessing not). For example, they've been on NPR's "World Cafe" and on Letterman. Furthermore, they played Glastonbury in 2007 PLUS their new album, It'

Daft Punk :: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Somehow winter still has her claws in the Pacific Northwest. It's almost May, and we're forecast snow this coming weekend. Snow! (I'll spare you my usual tirade about what physically impossible acts may be performed on this particular part of the country, my own little corner of hell.) In any event, we were teased by 80 degrees over the past weekend, only to be thrust back into the 50s and below (with rain!) immediately after. Needless to say, it has not been happy times. I am on day three of a nonstop Neko Case marathon, and, while it is indeed comforting, Neko tends to be a little, dare we say, dark ? Sometimes you just need to take pause and make your own sunshine, or perhaps be steered to some on YouTube , as is certainly the case here. (Even though I firmly believe that YouTube is leading to the complete downfall of Western Civilization, and exposing the ugly underbelly of the American experience, I can sometimes forgive it. Times like this.) Back story? Dunno. Two fre

Duck & Cover :: Indie rock music writing from Arcade Fire to the Zygotic Minci

Search This Blog