Labor Day Roundup.

The June Gloom-Wonderland. Calgary's Cameron Purvis has been consistently putting out one power pop/rock release after another, be it under his own name or as Wax Poets, featured here early last year. Purvis's latest project is The June Gloom and their debut Wonderland is one of 2010's best. For the unfamiliar, the most straight-up comparison is a slightly mellower Oasis or Jet, and here "Believe" is the equal or the better of those band's midtempo tracks, "Everything is Grey" stands up to "Don't Look Back in Anger" or "Look What You've Done", and "Lover" rocks with swagger. But what sets this apart as an advance on Purvis's previous releases are tracks like "Cabrini-Green", a song about the infamous Chicago housing projects, the wonderfully nostalgic "Swimming Song", and the catchy could-be-a-hit "If I Had a Bike". With this kind of track record, whatever Purvis wants to call his next project is fine with me - as long as he lets us know the name so we can find it.

CD Baby | MySpace | iTunes | eMusic

T. Kao-Old Music for Young Hearts. Following up on last week's EPs gone LP post which featured a pair of discs that contained earlier released EPs, we have T. Kao following suit, incorporating much of his 2008 Hundred Flowers EP into his debut full-length. The Ohio-by-way-of-Shanghai singer-songwriter is in the AM/Gus Black mold, and supplementing great tracks from the EP like "Sweet Surrender" and "Every Little Thing" are new tracks are the lovely ballad "Cherry Blossom Girl", the atmospheric "Sunday Morning Sleeping" and the melodic pop/rocker "Top of the World". You might have overlooked the EP a couple of years ago, but don't overlook this full-length, a fine example of a singer/songwriter a cut above.

CD Baby | MySpace | iTunes

Latest from T.Kao

A couple of years ago I reviewed the fine debut EP Hundred Flowers from T.Kao, and now he's back with a new release in the works. Also, he's recorded an interesting cover of the Blondie classic "Heart of Glass" which you can download at ReverbNation.

Here's a video for one of the songs from the upcoming album, "Crowded Streets in an Empty Town":



We'll let you know when the full-length becomes available.

EP-alooza!

Seems I haven't reviewed many EPs lately, so here goes:

T.Kao-Hundred Flowers. Although a native of Ohio, T.Kao spent five years in Shanghai as a musician, and both the title of the disc and the track "1989", a tribute to the Tiananmen Square victims, are informed by this time in China. But rather than a political protest album, this is a top-notch singer/songwriter offering. "Sweet Surrender" in particular is an oustanding midtempo track that reminds me of The Endrick Brothers, while "Every Little Thing" calls to mind the more rocking side of AM and Gus Black and the aforementioned "1989" works as a rocker as well as a tribute. Good stuff.

CD Baby | MySpace


Transmission Fields-Words, Numbers and Phonetic Sounds. This Charlotte, NC band has an engaging sound that comes in somewhere between indie pop and power pop, and the opening track "While I Sleep" is a perfect example of the best of both styles - just try getting that "I belieeeeve it all" chorus out of your head. Other standouts include the kinetic "Hero", which suggests a more conventional Guided by Voices with a longer attention span; the languid "Days of Waiting", and the near-Americana of "Run". A promising debut and with 8 tracks, a bargain at $5.

CD Baby | MySpace

Andy Spitson-All Eyes on You. This is the second EP for this Illinois artist, and although I've not heard the first, this one makes me want to go back and check it out. Only four tracks here, but a definite case of quality over quantity as Spitson shows he's a classic power popper. He reminds me quite a bit of Ari Shine, with his Elvis C influence, especially in the rip-roaring "First, It's The Crush". Meanwhile "Hand Jives & High Fives" is rockabilly roots pop a la early Marshall Crenshaw.

CD Baby | Sonicbids