Music Review - Orange Tour

Orange Tour, hailing from Minneapolis, is yet another great band willing to make it on their own, DIY style. Plenty of bands are doing this lately, but not all of them are as good as Orange Tour.

The first thing you need to know about the band is that they really like to make references to locales in the Twin Cities. While I'm not super familiar (read: I've been to the airport there twice) with the area, as a listener I get a sense of familiarity with their hometown. The lyrics take you on a kind of sight seeing trip through Minneapolis, but without all the corny jokes those trolley-bus drivers make.

The opening track on Reality Show, "Television Lover" is a little misleading. You might get the impression this a band of lazy drifting jam-rock. As you move forward through the album, however, you find gems of harder rocking songs ("Girls in Bloomington") and even an upbeat ode to the ever beautiful "Scarlett Johansen" (it's not really, but her name is in the song).

This collection of songs is upbeat, quirky, and fun to listen to. The music is pleasantly straight-forward and pop-ish without being bland, commercial alt-pop. Highly recommended for those rainy fall days.

Where to find them:

• BandCamp


• On their Website


• On Twitter


• You can follow them on Facebook

RIYL: Lighter Paul Westerberg, Phoenix, The Waves

Music Review - Dan Dectis

Moving toward a more eclectic group of songs, Parliament of Owls by Dan Dectis is a musical journey through flights of fancy and generally upbeat, melodic trek. Coming only six months after the release of Deeply Superficial, this album is anything but rush job.

With a mixture of instrumental tunes and vocal tracks, Dan Dectis seems to strive to keep a good feeling throughout each song, and he takes a wide spectrum of genres to do it with. From folk-rock ("Joy") to jazz ("Doctober") to new age ("Maskirova"), each song bridges the gap between the song before it and the one that follows, making it possible to just let the whole album spin on repeat and not feel bored with it at all.

To say that the instrumentation is well-played is an understatement, and the voice on the vocal tracks you get the feeling Dan has been around a bit and seen enough to know it isn't always sunshine and flowers, but why not enjoy what we have and not what we have not. A great feel good album.

Where to hear Dan Dectis:

• BandCamp


• MySpace


• Uvumi

RIYL: Jack Johnson, Jakob Dylan, Bela Fleck

Music Review - Billy the Fridge

Hip-hop has been a bit stagnant when it comes to independent music. Enter Billy the Fridge, a portly gent from Seattle, WA, sporting overalls and a fresh sour cream doughnut for bling. He's vile, he's honest, he does not mince word...but does mince any MC who steps up.

It's hard to admit, but I had to pause a lot while listening through BTF's Million Dollar Fantasy Freak Show. The lyrics are so tight and food related, I had to stop, laugh, rewind, listen again. BTF is making what might be the best in fun hip hop.

The beats are tight and don't sound cheesy like some independent hip hop albums. Billy the Fridge keeps it fresh, the way he prefers his baker's dozen. With a crew that enhances, not taking away from, the melody lines and Billy's themes, songs like "Cadillac Rolling Fat" (the best line of which is "You get it, we fat and we ride in cars") roll out and make this whole album fun as hell. The best part: limited and tasteful use of Auto-tune. Thanks for that Billy...and keep being a "doughnut eating beast".

Where to hear them:

• the Billy The Fridge site


• MySpace


• Twitter

RIYL: Early Bloodhound Gang, MC Frontalot, Lonely Island

Music Review - This Is Not A Game of Who The Fuck Are You

With a name nearly as long as the last track on their latest album, This Is Not A Game of Who the Fuck Are You (TINAGOWTFAY) can truly be called a fun romp through the common concepts of angry, screaming post hard-core. Are they a bit sream-o...perhaps, but seems to at least not take it to the extreme with boring, expected movements on the 101010, an album named to either commemorate its release date or express their love of binary.

The album has a slow Intro track which is probably just to lull you into vulnerability. After that brief 56 seconds, you are assaulted with a full force double kick-drum attack with full-on guitars and throat blistering vocals. Then, just when you are about half-way through "The Great Psycho of them All", a ska like break-down comes out of nowhere.

This is what actually serves to make a mark of what TINAGOWTFAY are about: unexpected gems hidden in the serious hard core music they play. On songs like "Take to Your Guns" and "One Last Dance", the band strives to break out of the post hard-core expectancies and open up new musical ground. It's easy to see the appeal of these guys and the album in and of itself is diverse and genre breaking, which makes it a great listen for someone looking to get out of the mold of predictable music.

Where to hear them:

• Their website offers a download of the album


• MediaFire


• MySpace though they are looking for help as their page is all jacked up

RIYL: Alexisonfire, The Bella Donna, Say Anything

Music Review - Filbert

The band Filbert, a five-piece indie rock group hailing from the burgeoning Stockton, California music scene, brings to mind one word while listening to their album If Time Travel Were Possible: nostalgia. This might seem an odd word to choose, but if you were listening to independent music circa 1995, these songs will bring you back.

With lyrics delivered in a lackadaisical, rolling drone and instrumentation ranging from single guitar to full band, the songs of Filbert bring images of days hanging out with your best friends, smoking a few and kicking back. The wave of nostalgia reaches its penultimate point on the song 'Olly Olly', when lead vocalist Daniel Gutierrez brings us back to summer games of hide and seek, but from the playful eyes of the barely-adult-not-ready-to-grow-up perspective. And yes...that is a time in your life.

Each song seems to be written well and the album collectively is great. A brilliant combination of haunting melodies and politely off-kilter singing. A perfect Autumn rainy day listen. (I know that sounds trite, but I really agree with those words)

Where to hear them:

• Media Fire


• On MySpace

RIYL: Built to Spill, The Flaming Lips, They Might Be Giants

Music Review - The New Green

Another reddit find, The New Green are a 3-piece indie/folk outfit from Ann Arbor, Michigan. With their sophomore effort, Elaborate Maps, released September 24th, they sing songs of catharsis, growing up, finding one's self, without becoming cliche or trite.

Listening through the tracks on this freshman effort, it's easy to see this group did one of two things: a) knew each other for years finally coming together in band form or b) came together after finding common musical ground in order to harness their individual musical talents. Either way, they are without question capable musicians.

That said, there are a few issues. Songs like 'Almost' are a bit too laid back. While the sound is generally chill, it seems that song in particular lacks passion. It just seems to drone. In addition, the first track, 'Bigger than Me' is entirely too long at over 5 minutes for a pop song.

On the other hand, 'Grow Up' shows some initiative toward branching out. Perhaps this album is, in itself, a portrait of the evolution of The New Green's song writing ability and focus. As the album closes with the title track, everything has been brought out and it's easier to relax into the atmosphere of the music.

All in all, the album is satisfying as some light relaxing tunes. It could be emotionally deeper, but if it was, it would take away from the more relaxing nature of the songs.

Where you can hear them:

• on The New Green website. I would recommend downloading the album and donating. Not just because they've earned it, but there is static at the end of every song in the live feed.


• On Twitter


• Or the MySpace

RIYL: Stars, later Billy Bragg, Bare Naked Ladies

Music Review - Ten Cent Howl

Ten Cent Howl bills themselves as "The combination of savory music, seasoned musicians and raw rust-belt rocking alt-country, provides for some great, shit-kickin’ flavor." and that's perfectly fine. Four fine musicians from of all places, Buffalo, NY, bringing together the jam session stylings of more laid-back sounds and the rocking country sound of the upbeat, dancing crowd.

With superb song writing by lead-singer and acoustic guitar man, Bill Smith (yes that's his real name), TCH is bringing fun back into music scene of their hometown. While still putting together a formal release, they are currently hosting tracks on their website.

Admittedly, the recordings are well done, but even the live recordings fail to capture the energy of the band on stage. Known to play marathon shows of up to 4 hours, these guys can keep picking and grinning and staying fresh and fun while never delving into that cheese-ball country zone of popp-ish country that seems to dominant the alt-country charts these days.

Jerry Hall's bass playing on these recordings is perfect for bridging the under-stated drumming (which is shows simple can be complex when you have the talent of someone like Steve Puglisi) and the capable guitar work of both Harmony Griffin and the rock-steady Bill Smith. While I'm not an uber-fan of alt-country tunes, Ten Cent Howl puts on a great show that includes poking fun of themselves and the genre and still making everyone have a great time.

Where to find them:

• On their website


• ReverbNation


• Videos available on YouTube

RIYL: Wilco, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr.