About 6 months ago, I packed up the last 12 years of my life and left Southern California behind. But as much as I love calling Chico my home again, I truly miss the smorgasbord of live music that takes place on a daily basis down south. But this Friday (2/28) one of my favorite bands, Trails and Ways, are making the trek up from Oakland for a show at Chico State. They’ll be joined by San Luis Obispo’s Fialta, an indie pop quartet with a super fun and infectious sound.
I haven’t been this excited for a show in quite some time. Show details and ticket information can be found on the show’s facebook page. The campus radio station, KCSC, is also giving away pairs of tickets all week.
The City and Horses released their third studio album (Strange Range) last June, and like previous releases, it was packed to the brim with fun, quirky indie pop. No track better represents the band’s signature sound (and the awkwardness of growing up) quite like “17”. Fun fact about this track…it all started in a pocket. “Marc wrote the first single, “17”, with GarageBand on his iPhone and used much of the what he recorded in the final version. He also plugged his iPhone directly into the console and used it as an instrument on a number of tracks.” (via)
Oakland’s Trails and Ways are one of my favorite discoveries from the past couple of years. You could simply describe their music as indie pop, but I prefer the band’s own description – “bossa nova dream pop.” I saw them live last year in LA and they really put on one heck of a show. In fact, that show is where I first heard this track and i’ve loved it ever since. And as a little bonus, enjoy their incredible cover of my favorite Frank Ocean track, “Lost”.
X PRIEST X is the project of vocalist Madeline Priest and producers Dave Kazyk and Chandler Strang. ”Samurai” is their debut track and it’s fantastic — dreamy, synth-pop at it’s best.
These are simply in alphabetical order. It’s hard enough to rank my top 10, i don’t want to do it more than once a year. Enjoy all of these on Spotify, which i’ll continue to update throughout the rest of 2013. And with some highly anticipated releases still on the horizon, including new albums from Porcelain Raft, Smith Westerns, and Elton John, i’m sure this list will evolve.
But enough babbling, enjoy my favorite albums of 2013 (so far) and please check back in December to see which (if any) make the cut for my top 10 of the year.
