'Alternative' Bands // p 6 of 6

The Jayhawks

The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and country rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene during the mid-1980s. Led by vocalists, guitarists and songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson, its country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 1980s and 1990s like Uncle Tupelo, the Gear Daddies and the Honeydogs. They have released ten studio albums with and without Olson who left the band in 1995, including five on the American Recordings label. On hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the 1994–1995 lineup of the band reunited, releasing the album, Mockingbird Time, in September 2011. After the tour, Mark Olson again left the band. After another hiatus in 2013, the 1997 lineup led by Louris reunited to play shows in 2014 to support the reissue of three albums released between 1997 and 2003. The band has remained active touring and recording since, including the release of the albums Live at The Belly Up in 2015, Paging Mr. Proust, produced by Peter Buck in 2016 and Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018.

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The Mother Hips

The Mother Hips is a rock band based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Tim Bluhm (vocals/guitar), Greg Loiacono (guitar/vocals), Isaac Parsons (bass) and Mike Wofchuck (drums) met in 1990 while attending California State University-Chico, living off campus in Bradley Hall. They jammed and played some original songs at a few parties (once billed as Pippi Longstocking and the Trunk-of-Funk), but soon Isaac and Mike were lured away by the prospect of playing Led Zeppelin and Jane's Addiction covers at big parties as the rhythm section of the Keystones. Meanwhile, Tim and Greg played acoustic guitars and sang harmonies to songstress Ali Weiss in the mellow trio Ali and the Cats.

These bands played throughout 1990, but in early 1991, Tim, Greg, Isaac and Mike got back together and got serious about being a rock band. It didn't take long to step up from parties in Chico, CA to local bars and dance clubs like LaSalles and Juanita's. They began playing original songs rather than covers. The band released Back to the Grotto in February 1993. It was produced by the band with Bay Area-based musician/producer Paul Hoaglin (who would subsequently replace Parsons on bass upon his departure in 2002).

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The National

The National is an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, formed in 1999. The band consists of Matt Berninger (vocals), Aaron Dessner (guitar, piano, keyboards), Bryce Dessner (guitar), Scott Devendorf (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums).

Founded by Berninger, Aaron Dessner, and Scott and Bryan Devendorf, The National released their self-titled debut album, The National (2001), on Brassland Records, an independent record label founded by Dessner and his twin brother, Bryce Dessner. Bryce, who had assisted in recording the album, soon joined the band, participating as a full member in the recording of its follow-up, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (2003).

Leaving behind their day jobs, the National signed with Beggars Banquet Records and released their third studio album, Alligator (2005), to widespread critical acclaim. The band's fourth and fifth studio albums, Boxer (2007) and High Violet (2010), increased their exposure significantly. In 2013, the band released its sixth studio album, Trouble Will Find Me, which was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2017 the band released the album Sleep Well Beast, which won the Grammy award for Best Alternative Music Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. Their eighth studio album, I Am Easy to Find, was released on May 17, 2019.

Four of the band's albums were included on NME's 2013 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

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This Is the Kit

This Is the Kit is the alias of British musician Kate Stables, as well as the band she fronts.

Critical attention

This Is The Kit were a long-time favourite among various BBC Radio 6 Music DJs, which is where the musician and presenter Guy Garvey discovered them, playing their music frequently. Fellow 6 Music DJs Lauren Laverne, Radcliffe & Maconie, Cerys Matthews, and Mary Anne Hobbs have also been major supporters; DJ Marc Riley has hosted the band for three BBC live sessions to date. BBC Radio 1 has offered the band spot plays via DJs Huw Stephens, Jen & Ally, and Phil Taggart.

As the band prepared to release their third album Bashed Out in late 2014 and early 2015, they began to receive more attention from online and print critics. Uncut, Drowned in Sound, The Line of Best Fit and The 405 awarded the album 8/10 ratings. The Mancunion rated a live show a 9/10. Finally, the American blog Stereogum wrote that "Kate Stables has been recording music as This Is The Kit for years now, but this is probably one of the first times you’re reading about her. "Bashed Out" will be her third full-length album, and…it will also likely be her breakout."

The band received a boost in attention in August 2015 when BBC iPlayer debuted an episode of the documentary series Music Box devoted to This Is The Kit's music and influences. The show was hosted by Garvey, who argued that their second album, Wriggle Out the Restless, deserved a Mercury Prize nomination.

The band also appeared in the BBC One television series Wanderlust, playing in a night club that Toni Colette's character Joy attended.

Recording history

In 2006, record label Sunday Best Recordings included the band's song "Two Wooden Spoons" in its Folk Off compilation album alongside artists including Animal Collective, Tunng and Vashti Bunyan. Their song was noted as a standout with Drowned in Sound stating: "its personal touch is largely what makes This Is The Kit the British highlight, not to mention that of the compilation as a whole". Following that, Sunday Best went on to release "Two Wooden Spoons" as a 7" single with the B side "Come a Cropper" in 2006.

This Is The Kit's first album, Krülle Bol (2008), was produced in Bristol by John Parish, a musician best known as PJ Harvey's longtime producer. It was originally released on the French label Microbe but has since been reissued on the band's own imprint.

The band's second album, Wriggle Out the Restless, was originally released by Dreamboat Records in 2010 and later reissued by the band's own Disco-ordination Records. In 2013 distribution began migrating to Brassland Records. The recording sessions drew on the talents of the Stables' extended musical community including Rozi Plain, Jim Barr, Francois & the Atlas Mountains and The Liftmen. The album was produced by longtime collaborator and partner Jesse D. Vernon.

In 2014, the band began work on their third studio LP Bashed Out with Aaron Dessner of The National. The band's usual members contributed to the recording as did studio musicians recruited by Aaron Dessner, including his brother Bryce Dessner, Benjamin Lanz, Thomas Bartlett, and Matt Barrick, amongst others. Brassland released the album in April 2015. It received attention as the band's "breakthrough" recording, and as one of the best British recordings of 2015.

July 2017 brought the release of the band's fourth LP Moonshine Freeze. The record was well received and chosen as the Rough Trade Album of the Month for July.

In October 2020, the band released their fifth LP Off Off On, again with Rough Trade.

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Timber Timbre

Timber Timbre is a Canadian music group, featuring Taylor Kirk, Simon Trottier, Mathieu Charbonneau and Mark Wheaton. The moniker refers to an early series of recordings made in a timber-framed cabin set in the wooded outskirts of Bobcaygeon, Ontario.

Timber Timbre released two albums independently before releasing their self-titled album on Out of This Spark in January 2009. They were subsequently signed to Arts & Crafts, who re-released the album on June 30 in Canada and July 28 internationally. The album was named as a longlist nominee for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize on June 15, 2009, and was deemed album of the year by Eye Weekly.

The band's song "Magic Arrow" was featured in the television show Breaking Bad, in the episode "Caballo Sin Nombre", as well as in the TV series The Good Wife, in the episode "Bitcoin for Dummies". "Black Water" features on the soundtrack for the 2012 comedy, For a Good Time, Call..., as well Bottom of the World (2017). Their song "Demon Host" was featured in the end credits to the 2013 film The Last Exorcism Part II, and in the movie The Gambler (2014).

The band's fourth album, Creep On Creepin' On, was released in April 2011. It was named as one of ten shortlisted nominees for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize, losing to Arcade Fire's The Suburbs. In 2012, the band supported British folk singer Laura Marling on her UK tour and Canadian singer Feist on her tour of America.

The band's fifth record, Hot Dreams, was released April 1, 2014. It was a shortlisted nominee for the 2014 Polaris Music Prize, but lost to Tanya Tagaq's Animism. The song "Run From Me" is featured in the Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country, and in the sixth season of Netflix TV series Orange is the New Black.

Timber Timbre's sixth album, Sincerely, Future Pollution, was released on April 7, 2017, on City Slang Records. The album's first single, "Sewer Blues", was released in January 2017. The second single, "Velvet Gloves & Spit", was released on February 15, 2017.

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Tommy Guerrero

Tommy Guerrero may be better known in the world of skateboarding than music. Born in San Francisco, Guerrero joined the skate company Powell Peralta in 1984 and became one of the original members of the legendary "Bones Brigade" team. TG has been playing music since the late 70's with his brother Tony  -both raised on a steady diet of DIY punk music/ethos and skateboarding-which informed and shaped the person he is today. Since then, Guerrero has become an accomplished bassist and guitarist with influences as diverse as John Coltrane, Bad brains, Joy division Gabor Szabo and on and on... 

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Warhaus

Maarten Devoldere (born in 1988) is a Belgian singer-songwriter and music producer. He began his career as a 22-year-old in the band Balthazar. In 2016, he started his solo project Warhaus.

The music he played with Balthazar band he described as simply pop music. They had recorded three albums and one single and after the break they took, they intended to come back and record the fourth album to be released in early 2018.

Maarten Devoldere took up on the solo project - Warhaus. His style there is described as a continuation of Leonard Cohen style but more dense with influences of Tom Waits' style and Serge Gainsbourg ballad songs. Some of the Warhaus-period songs and albums had been recorded with Devoldere's girlfriend Sylvie Kreusch, a Belgian musician who released her solo debut in 2018.

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Wax Machine

Surfing on a sun-drenched wave of psychedelia comes Brighton’s very own Merry Pranksters, Wax Machine. Primarily recorded and mixed in a closet room directly above a mortuary, their self-produced album Hermit’s Grove is a heady trip through progressive psychedelia, kitsch Italian library music and Brazilian tropicalia. Led off by the single Guardians of Eden, the album is set for release on 1st July via Batov Records (Şatellites, Sababa 5).

Wax Machine is the project of Brazilian-born, Italian/English-raised Lau Ro, who takes a deep dive into their Brazilian heritage on this LP, taking inspiration from 60s tropicalia music and movement and the likes of Os Mutantes, Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa.

“Brazil is where I was born and grew up until I was 8 years old, and it's where my family is from. We then immigrated to Europe and I was never able to visit Brazil after that as it's a very expensive flight. Instead I've opted for the next best thing which is connecting with the spirit and culture of Brazil via the medium of music.”

The album features a version of Canto De Iemanja from Vinicius De Moraes and Baden Powell's seminal 1966 Brazilian album Os Afro sambas. Canto De Iemanja is about the goddess of the sea Iemanja, a chant Lau has often found themselves singing to the sea in their hometown of Brighton.

“The ocean is a muse of mine. I go to the sea whenever I can, her presence enlivens, refreshes and brings me deeper awareness. This version is a homage both to my motherland and the great big blue that separates us.”

The first single and album opener Guardians of Eden is carried in on a cloud of flutes and birdsong. The first half celebrates the light and beauty of this world, while the second half is a reflection on the shadow of our existence here. The three minute, psychedelic explosion of Springtime is a "meditation on the cycles of nature, the dance of duality, the swinging of the cosmic pendulum.”

Two EPs in 2018 preceded their debut album Earthsong of Silence in 2020, with Clash Magazine declaring that Wax Machine “occupy a space somewhere in the gaps where English psych-folk, sun drenched West Coast sounds, Brazilian Tropicália and spiritual jazz overlap.” That year they also had a track featured on the Mr. Bongo Record Club 4 compilation.

Although there is constantly evolving line up both in studio and on stage, long time collaborators Toma Sapir (drums, percussions, samples/synths), Isobel Jones (Flute/Vocals) and Ella Russell (vocals in Canto De lemanja) all appear on both albums.

A tour de force live, the group have shared the stage with the likes of the Babe Rainbow, Kikagaku Moyo and Vanishing Twin. The band are currently in the midst of a UK and European tour, ending with a homecoming show in Brighton on 27th May.

On the album Isobel Jones plays Flute/Vocals, Toma Sapir - drums, percussions and samples/synths, Freddie Willatt – sax, Ella Russell vocals in “Canto De lemanja”, Kate Mager - bass in “...Iemanja”, Adam Campbell - electric piano, Marja Burchard(from Embryo/Karl Hector) - vibraphones on “Gaian Dream”.

^{Source bandcamp.com}