WYEP Music Blog

New local stuff for March!!! Podcast it or tune in to The Local News (Mon-Thurs @ 9 PM)
Enjoy,
Cindy 

Colonizing The Cosmos- “Dear Citizens” (The First Frontier)
This band has potential to be one of the best local debuts this year. They have a great snappy sound that emulates The Mountain Goats, The Flaming Lips and Sufjan Stevens. It’s a little weird, but still very catchy- not one clunker on the disc. The trio is made up of multi-instrumentalists who’s day jobs list as an attorney, a filmmaker and a photographer.

summer-winter- “It Makes You Cry” (Alone Is Yes)
This is for fans of the shoegaze genre (Mazzy Star, My Bloody Valentine). The CD is full of slow, sombre songs with delicate instrumentation. This song might be the most exciting track on the album. It’s very pretty, though. Good for crying times.

JD Eicher and The Goodnights- “The Shape of Things” (The Shape Of Things)
Fronted by 20 year old JD Eicher, the band has a Celtic/Indie rock sound in the tradition of The Waterboys and Carbon Leaf. They have been together for 4 years and stretch across Youngstown, OH and Pittsburgh. This is their first album. 

The Wreckids- “Millions In Money” (Singing You To Sleep, But Giving You Nightmares)
Formally know as Scotts Roger, this adorable husband and wife duo have finally released a collaborative EP together as The Wreckids. Scott and Sarah sing sweet funny songs together that will make you wonder if Scott has listened to tons of Loudon Wainwright III (he hasn’t by the way- he’s more of a Dar Williams Man).

Okay! I know the month is almost over, but I had to shovel out this blog (#SnOMGPgh!) and it took longer than I anticipated. Soooooo here’s the featured local artists of the month airing on The Local News (Mon-Thurs @ 9 PM or on the podcast) for my birthday month…. xoxo Cindy

Paul Luc- “Aftermath” (A Revival. A Roadsong. A Rearview Mirror.)
This is Paul’s second release. He’s working with the same band- who make up a large part of The Paul Luc sound. This is not a singer-songwriter-folk album. This is a roots-rock anthem-filled rock-rocky album. This song serves as a great opening to the record.

Bill Toms & Hard Rain- “Sweat Stained Shirts” (Live At Moondog’s)
Solid live album from one of Pittburgh’s finest Blue-Collared Soul/Blues musicians. This tracks shows Bill’s pride in his Pittsburgh roots through the town’s steel mill history. Someone get this song to Bruce Springsteen ASAP.

Nicole Reynolds- “Crazy as You” (A Fine Set of Fools)
Nicole’s delicate, yet effective, dynamic is ever-present on this sonically diverse album. This song is a fun upbeat sweet indie rock number which features smart witty lyrics. Sounds great!

Beware Fashionable Women- “Rock Bottom” (Beware Fashionable Women)
BFW’s sound captures that ironic alt-rock we all love from the 90’s. They remind me of bands like Weezer, Blink 182 and They Might Be Giants in certain ways. They also have some sweet Beach Boys-esque harmonies on this song.

Today marks the 49th birthday of Wayne Coyne (lead singer of The Flaming Lips). I mentioned it on the Morning Mix today and got this great listener email from Paul in Pittsburgh:

“You were mentioning that it was Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips’ birthday and he was born in Pittsburgh.  His parents were from the Troy Hill section of the North Side (the little plateau above the Heinz plant).  My older sister was a very good friend of his aunt and used to see them play at their restaurant/bar on Mt Royal Blvd in Shaler, around 20 years ago, when they were still up and coming.  When they played the East Coast they would swing through and play there.  My sister also said Wayne is a very kind and generous fellow.”

Nice!!! Take some time to listen to a fellow Pittsburgher today on his birthday :)

— Cindy

Happy New Year!
New local music for January!! You can find these on The Local News Podcast or Mon-Thurs at 9 pm on 91.3 fm. Let me know what you think- cindy@wyep.org. A lot of familiar names this month with great sounding albums.
Thanks :)
Cindy

Chalk Dinosaur- “Rosedale” (Chalk Dinosaur)
New band made of mostly students (CMU, Robert Morris and CCAC). Fun indie-pop sound- similar to locals Good Night, States. They cite Death Cab, Weezer, The Beach Boys and My Morning Jacket as influences (among others). This is their debut.

Bill Deasy- “No One Try and Talk Me Down” (Being Normal)
Bill’s kind of rocking out on this release. He’s brought in some electric guitars and has found his “rock star voice”. Another great collection from one of Pittsburgh’s finest singers.

The Boogie Hustlers- “Find A Way” (The Boogie Hustlers)
Third release from the local funk/soul band. This time they found a new singer, dropped the horns and made an album that sounds more like The Boogie Hustlers than their two previous albums.
*** An addendum ***  It is the same lead singer as the other two records. From Ryan Meals of The Boogie Hustlers:

“Wanted to let you know that all 3 of our albums have the same lead singers, no new one for this album.  What happened is right after “True Colors” (2nd album) was released, Vince left the band, only to return a year or so later.  On this album, we did add a 3rd voice to the vocals, Scott Jamison, whose voice adds depth to the vocal harmonies in addition to his aux. percussion playing.” 

Good Brother Earl- “When I Come Around” (Fiction)
Also a third release from the local roots-rock quartet. This song sounds very tight- this band has hit their stride with a strong new release. PS: it is NOT a Green Day cover.