Guilt-free music: Bowerbirds, Foreign Born, Antlers, Jay Reatard

Published May 27 2009, 11:12 AM by Ryan Stewart

Bowerbirds, "Northern Lights" (mp3)
Bowerbirds hail from Raleigh, North Carolina, and their country-folk style seems like the kind of thing you'd expect to hear in the Appalachian wilderness. The lead singer's voice reminds me a little bit of a different musical Bird. They played T. T.'s last month; if, like me, you slept on it, catch them when they come back around in the summer.

Foreign Born, "Early Warnings" (mp3)
More rootsy pop, this time with an emphasis on acrobatic guitar arrangements. I don't have much to add, except to point out that they're also playing T. T.'s this summer.

Antlers, "Two" (mp3)
The Antlers are an ambitious band who will probably be well-known - at least within indie circles - soon enough. "Two" reminds me a bit of the Arcade Fire hanging out with Justin Vernon, to give you an idea.

Jay Reatard, "It Ain't Gonna Save Me" (mp3)
Reatard, who's about to release his first proper album on Matador (the singles collection that came out last year doesn't count), is often lumped in as part of the polarizing lo-fi movement in punk, but to these ears, this song just sounds like gleeful indie power-pop. Side note: this is the only album mentioned in this post that hasn't leaked as of this writing.

Filed Under: mp3, The Antlers, Jay Reatard, Bowerbirds, Foreign Born

Antlers

There are three bands with the name Antlers. 1)Antlers are comprised of a group of Richmond/DC musicians from bands such as Mass Movement of the...

Jay Reatard

Having founded seminal Memphis punk outfit Reatards at the tender age of sixteen, Jay Reatard (born in 1980) is a seasoned veteran of the garage-punk...

Bowerbirds

Bowerbirds are Beth Tacular, Phil Moore and Mark Paulson from North Carolina. They make leafy folk-pop with guitars, accordions and violins. They self-released their debut...

Foreign Born

Foreign Born began in San Francisco shortly after Matt Popieluch and Lewis Pesacov became roommates. They'd first met a few years earlier in a university...

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Filed Under: mp3, The Antlers, Jay Reatard, Bowerbirds, Foreign Born

Boston Phoenix
MP3: Casey Dienel goes Gaga on White Hinterland's new Kairos
Published 1/7/2010 by Carly Carioli
New England Conservatory-trained indie chanteuse CASEY DIENEL -- operating once again under her WHITE HINTERLAND moniker -- has unveiled the first glimpse of her next...

Boston Phoenix
Microsoft plans for Xphone
Published 12/30/2009 by Maddy Myers
The above image - the "Xune" - is a years-old fantasy of A.J. Kandy's. It's an Xbox 360-inspired version of Microsoft's mp3 player, the Zune,...

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Guilt-free music: Bowerbirds, Foreign Born, Antlers, Jay Reatard

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