Our friend, Steve Burns.

If you owned a television in the 90's, you know who Steve Burns is.

It's likely that you aren't familiar with his music, but certainly you know him from his show "Blue's Clues."

Yes. Steve Burns from "Blue's Clues" is an indie artist.

He has a different sound than I am used to hearing, but I do indeed like his sound. My only true complaint is the audio quality of his music. There are times when you can tell that the recordings aren't quite up to professional quality.

Quality set aside, the music is pretty creative. The instrumentation is good as well. It does have a Flaming Lips feel to it, especially when any electronics come in, but that is largely due to the fact several Flaming Lips members contributed on the album.

Burns actually toured for a while, but it appears that he hasn't done anything lately. He was set to release an EP in 2009, and then he seemed to just disappear right before it was officially released. (If you search hard enough, you can still find and download leaks of it online. It's called Deep Sea Recovery Efforts)

I recommend giving a listen to Burns' music, even if it is just for nostalgic reasons.

I like the song "Stick Around" a lot, and of course that means I am going to post a video. I hope you enjoy it. (Also, this video is actually lower quality than the album version... It's the best I can do, I apologize.)

Someone's gonna steal your carbon.

Modest Mouse, though signed to a major record label, is often seen as an indie band. This is mostly due to their sound as a band, which sometimes includes banjos, cellos, and is consistently awesome.

If you haven't heard of Modest Mouse, I highly recommend that you check them out. It would be especially worth your time if you are into the newer Red Hot Chili Peppers albums, as well as indie music.

Lately I have had "Parting of the Sensory" stuck in my head. The song is off of the album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. (Track 5)

I really enjoy the song because of how intensely it is driven. Like many of Modest Mouse songs, the song builds extremely well into its climax. The drummer, Jeremiah Green, does an excellent job of providing a driving pulse throughout the song.

I don't want to give away the song structure if you haven't heard it. Besides, I don't have the vocabulary to covey the same emotions anyway.

Listen up:

Ever heard of The Welcome Wagon?

If you like Sufjan Stevens, especially his albums dedicated to Michigan and Illinois, you will most likely enjoy The Welcome Wagon. The debut album (And at the time of writing--the only album.) certainly has a very Sufjan feel, especially since he produced the album. He did not, however, write the music.

The primary songwriters actually consist of two members: Sufjan's pastor, Vito Aiuto, and his wife Monique.

The first listen through might have you thinking you're listening to an undiscovered Sufjan record, but The Welcome Wagon definitely stray away from other Sufjan Stevens music. The actual songs are written by the Aiuto's, and only decorated and enhanced by Stevens. This immediately separates the song structures and lyric content. The Welcome Wagon lyrics are very Christian, but the album has been notably enjoyed by fans of folk and indie music alike.

Listen to the opening track, "Up on a Mountain" and see how you feel about it.

Breakfast at Sulimay's

A while back, a friend of mine posted a YouTube video on my Facebook that had older people reviewing music.


When I first watched it, I found it pretty enjoyable. Especially since each character has an extremely unique personality.


There are three older folks in the videos, and in each YouTube video, they will generally review and indie artist, and something pop or rap oriented. Sometimes they will also throw in a third song.


These videos are actually pretty funny and enjoyable to watch. My favorite reviewer is Joe; he seems to have the most advanced musical taste. Check this episode out, with Sufjan Stevens:

Dr. Stringz.

My three year old sister was watching some show on a children's network called Noggin. Meanwhile, I was lying down on my couch. I was beside a friend who, in mid conversation, excitedly asked if Andrew Bird was on the television.

I looked up, and couldn't tell. I scrambled to find my glasses, but I was unable locate them. Instead, I ran up to the tv, and thought for sure it was him.

Then I heard him whistle, and I saw his violin.

This is what I saw/heard: (I apologize for the low quality. It was the best I could do.)

Theindieartist.com is up.

I am very pleased to publicly announce that theindieartist.com is now live. While everything isn't quite up and running yet, (particularly the forum) hopefully I will have everything going soon.


I have noticed many glitches, bugs, etc. since I uploaded the site for the first time. If you happen to have noticed anything like this, or typos, or anything like that, I would love if you left me a comment here to tell me. I will correct it asap if you do. :)


Oh, and listen to "Winter is Coming" by Radical Face. It is pretty cool.

Anathallo.

I found Anathallo on last.fm. Initially I was drawn in to their music because of their instrumentation, but I almost overlooked the band. I first heard "The River." I wrote the song name down, but I didn't come back to it until much later.


Anathallo is in an interesting band, not just because of their consistent instrumental role switching, nor their bizarrely metered songs. It is also because of how far the band has actually come.


Listening to the band's older work, you'll hear what could be considered borderline progressive metal... Or some sort of heavy ska punk.


Now however, the band has completely transmutated into some particular hybrid of indie-rock.


With Anathallo you'll hear plenty of brass, guitar, drums, piano and vocals. Many members of the band may sing, shout, or scream at various parts in any song, and it adds a nice character to each piece, especially since it is done so tastefully.


Italo stands out to me for some reason. I really like the melodies, and the feel of the meter throughout the song. Enjoy!