Patrick Brealey and the Knives
I can’t really place who they sound like, but it’s a bit pop-rock. Something about it reminds me of The Wannadies, but not as sugary. If you need a mood lift listen to Escaper. Patrick used to be part of The Salteens, but broke out on his own a couple years back.
Okay, I know Patrick and am a bit biased, but they have sweetest soothing happy sound. And he couldn’t be any nicer. And he takes some darn nice photos too.
Check out Patrick Brealey and the Knives. And if you happen to take a trip to Vancouver, go see them live.
Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock by MC Lars (a.k.a. Lars Horris, a.k.a. Andrew Nielsen) is my favorite new song this week. The self-proclaimed “post-punk laptop rapper” is a recent English grad from Stanford who incorporates literary references into his songs. Is this the first geek rapper? (I can’t help but giggle when I see that this boy from Berkeley is living in Brooklyn. What is it with kids these days movin’ to Brooklyn?)
Those in the know, probably have heard of him already. But if you’re like me, not so into music like you were when you were 16, then you probably haven’t heard of him. His debut album, The Graduate, was released today on iTunes in the U.S. only.
It’s a mix of Beastie Boys, Beck, Weird Al, and Rage Against the Machine. You have to hear it to get what I’m trying to explain.
It looks like this guy is self-promoting his way to the top. He has is own label, Horris Records, the attention of the video channels, and is getting airplay (that’s how I heard him). Of course it probably helps if you have a good producer like Mike Sapone (Taking Back Sunday). But I’ll try not to feel “had” when we all learn that he is actually highly manufactured and backed by one of the big labels – yes, I’m a cynic.
Looking at his MySpace page, he’s doing the obligatory European tour. (The Commodore 2 in Brighton brings back memories.) I’m sure there are a few people that are betting he’ll go from “I’m big in Europe” to “I’m big.”
