NY-based musician Brad Oberhofer is ready to release a sophomore album this summer called Chronovision (Glassnote Records). The song "Heart" off his debut album Time Capsules II landed on both my Early Summer 2012 New Music Playlist and Top 20 Tunes of 2012, and the band Oberhofer has since appeared on Letterman, at Lollapalooza, and toured with Sleigh Bells, Neon Indian and Matt & Kim. This prolific artist also composed countless piano pieces for family and friends while he was at it. His new collection contains twelve tracks that were whittled down from 106 demos, produced by himself and recorded in his hometown of Tacoma, Seattle, the Catskills, NYC (Strange Weather, Electric Lady) and L.A. (Sound City). He then mixed the songs in Atlanta with Ben Allen, who has worked with Animal Collective and Washed Out.
The psych-pop embedded in the single "Memory Remains" finds Oberhofer's unabashed approach to full on instrumentation, along with a no holds barred belting of the melodic chorus. It's both catchy and irresistibly giddy at first listen. Take one with the video here or on YouTube.
I love me a good dance tune. This one by L.A. band PHASES (formerly JJAMZ) fell into my inbox today when I spotted the name of Phantom Planet singer Alex Greenwald -- another fave band of mine like Doves of the last post, also cited as a band I'd love to be able to resurrect in the post "My Picks For Older Bands To Round Out the Music Collection (80s, 90s, 2000s) & Bands I Wish Were Still Here From Each Decade." The band also includes Jason Boesel of Rilo Kiley/Bright Eyes, Michael Runion, and Z Berg of The Like. They describe their sound as a marriage of dance and electronic, creating songs based on some experimental solo recordings by Greenwald in his Laurel Canyon living room using an outdated version of GarageBand.
"We wanted the songs to be fun, danceable, and engaging," says Greenwald. "That's how the tracks started, and then in the studio the things we added had to maintain that level of excitement."
With a full length album due this summer, the group has debuted a video for the catchy single "I'm in Love with My Life." The video was directed by award-winning film, TV, commercial and music video director Ethan Tobman. I have to agree with his assessment of a first listen...
"When I first heard 'I'm in Love with My Life,'" Tobman said, "it put me in such an unashamedly optimistic mood. I immediately thought of trying to do something in reverse. The idea was that PHASES would be moving forward, nonchalantly, while the world around them inverts complexity in a way that brings us joy." As any worthy dance tune should -- take a listen on YouTube or here.
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