Tag: Steely Dan Peg

Over the course of 2017, I wrote quite a bit about the  San Francisco-born, Los Angeles-based sibling duo Cones, and as you may recall, the duo, which is comprised of Jonathan Rosen, an acclaimed, pop music influenced, hand-drawn animator, who has created music videos for the likes Toro y Moi, Eleanor Friedberger and Delicate Steve,  and played Johnny Thunders on the HBO series Vinyl; and Micheal Rosen, a classically trained pianist, commercial and film composer and experimental sound artist, can trace the origins of the band to when they began playing together as members of New York-based indie rock band Icewater, an act that eventually became the session and touring band for Eleanor Friedberger’s New View. As the story goes, while touring with Friedberger, the Rosens began to conceptualize what their new project would sound like, ultimately deciding that their project would fuse Jonathan’s pop sensibilities with Michael’s lush, atmospheric soundscapes and keyboard-based instrumentation.

After the New View tour ended, the Rosen Brothers along with a collection of friends, associates and collaborators wrote and recorded the material that would comprise their debut EP Whatever You’re Into, which featured the 70s AM radio-like “Echoes On,” and the breezy “Back In The Brain,” an ode to solitude. “Later,” was arguably one of their most dance floor friendly tracks but ironically, was about when someone has begun to find some semblance of peace after a breakup — but with some of the bitterness still hanging around. While “First Time,” found the band nodding towards breezy Pavo Pavo-like bubblegum pop.

Recently, the JOVM mainstays signed to Dangerbird Records and to celebrate that occasion and a Bootleg Theater residency, the sibling duo released their latest single, the shimmering, arpeggiated synth-led “Run the Risk,” a track that decidedly sounds as though it were inspired by Steely Dan and Billy Joel. In particular, “Movin’ Out,” which interestingly enough I mentioned in an earlier post, as well as “Peg” and “Ricky Don’t Lose That Number” come to mind. And while centered around slick production and thoughtful craft, the song continues a run of breezy and sincere material.

Check out their Bootleg Theater Residency dates below.

 

Live Dates

8/06: Bootleg Theater w/ Pavo Pavo, Wolcott’s Instant Pain Annihilator
8/13: Bootleg Theater w/ Lily McQueen, Palm Springsteen
8/16: Taix in the Champagne Room – Echo Park Rising
8/20: Bootleg Theater w/ Malcolm Oliver Perkins, Lisa Sonoda

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If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year, you’d likely be familiar with Sunderland, UK-based indie electro pop act Field Music. Comprised of creative masterminds and primary members, sibling duo Peter and David Brewis and featuring contributions from Kev Dosdale, Andrew Lowther, Ian Black, Liz Corney, Andrew Moore, Damo Waters and a rotating cast of other musicians and friends, the British pop act have developed an internationally recognized profile for a sound that’s comprised of the siblings interwoven harmonies, off kilter chord progressions and a quirkily yet approachable sensibility wrapped with infectiously catchy hooks.

Earlier this year, the duo released Commontime, the first new bit of material from Field Music in several years, and the material was written and recorded over spontaneous bursts over a six month period in their Wearside, UK-based studio. And interestingly enough, the material which embraces a collaborative spirit thematically focused on the passing of time  — acquaintances coming and going, friendships drifting and diffusing over time, random snippets of the every day and real-life conversations between friends and acquaintances being endlessly replayed.

Since the release of Commontime, the duo have hosted a Spotify radio show Commontime Extra Time in which the duo celebrate the influences behind the album’s material. And during the latest episode of their show, the Brewis brothers shared a previously unreleased single “How We Gonna Get There Now,” that was recorded during the sessions for 2012’s Plumb because the duo felt it sounded a bit too much like Todd Rundgren — although to my ears, the song sounds as though the duo were nodding at Steely Dan‘s “Reeling In The Years,” and “Peg“as the song begins with gentle percussion, twinkling keys, strummed guitars and an arena rock-friendly hook an alternating loud and quiet sections — but at its core a deeply British irony. A bluesy guitar solo holds a carefully crafted yet off kilter bit of pop confection.