Archive for the ‘oakland’ Category
CD Review: Mia and Jonah’s Rooms for Adelaide
April 28th, 2008 | 
Author: By Julia Cooper
Americana tag team Mia and Jonah may be the musical equivalent of mac and cheese: Just as hearty helpings of the comfort food offer a simple but soothing cure for empty stomachs, the spare, commiserative melodies composing the Oakland duo’s second full-length, Rooms for Adelaide, transpire as the recipe to fill empty souls.
Posted in indie folk, oakland | Tags: Adelaide, cd, Julia Cooper, melodies, musical equivalent, oakland
CD Review: Maldroid’s Oakland Lad’s Club
By Julia Cooper
Maldroid’s history would make any new band jealous: the quick courting by music industry honchos; the backing of local radio; the appearance on Good Morning America — all surfaced without a single recording or live show to speak of. Winning a YouTube music video contest in 2006 propelled the Oakland seven-piece into the national spotlight, leaving behind a trail of listeners eager to see just what these guys are made of.
With the April 15 unveiling of their debut full-length just around the corner, the Oakland Lad’s Club EP, released in September, offers a brief two-song, two-remix appetizer of pop anthems fit for rock airwaves. On “You Wanna Touch It,” Maldroid transforms into sexed-up robots, fusing a soaring Bon Jovi chorus (“Turn off the lights and take off your clothes/ I’ll show you mine if you show me yours”) with spaceship synth sounds and a thick ‘80s hair metal thump of guitars and drums. “Heck No! (I’ll Never Listen to Techno)” continues the band’s let’s-party spirit with a page taken from Devo’s deviant new-wave songbook in, oddly, a Radio Disney-friendly burst of bouncy keyboard blips.
CD Review: Boy in the Bubble's Songs from the City on the Sun
By Matt Jordan
Frank Zappa once derided the American consumer by quipping that Americans experience music as an accoutrement to their lifestyles. That may be true, but –- to sidestep the obvious question of how the denizens of other nations experience their music -– thinking of music in terms of its utility and function can be a useful exercise. Some records are perfect to study to. Others provide the perfect soundtrack for a long drive, or a vigorous and sweat drenched work out, or the faux-cosmopolitanism of a dinner party with your now-balding college drinking buddies as guests, etc.
Posted in indie rock, oakland | Tags: Brit-pop, cd, experience music, guitar, music, musicality, oakland, party, pop, pop record, singer, Songs, soundtrack, voice
Maldroid Signs to an Indie
Oakland band Maldroid announced yesterday it has signed to progressive San Francisco “music company” Fuzz. While the group did receive major label attention in the aftermath of its YouTube music video victory in November, it opted to sign with a like-minded indie in order to retain complete control over its image and products.
Maldroid has designs on some unusual steps in the future, such as releasing a full-length album as a series of singles and ultimately packaging the record as a DVD, with each song having its own video. Fuzz, for its part, goes by the slogan “Music Uprising” and hopes to “revolutionize the music industry,” so chances are good that many of Maldroid’s new ideas will be seen to fruition. Of course, some of the band’s plans, such as more elaborate music video production, will require increased financial backing that Fuzz may or may not be able to provide — certainly not to the extent that a major could.