IndieSpeaker » instrumental

Andy McKee

sid — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:13:00 +0000

This 30 year old U.S. guitar player is currently one of the best fingerstyle guitarists in the world, so if you have somehow managed to miss his albums you need to order some from Amazon (I recommend the 2005 Art of Motion) and get into his music. That’s if you like good music of course.

Andy McKee is not only a spectacular guitar player, he is also a great composer. His music is warm and has a great positive and relaxing attitude. It is a music of a calm summer evening, very good for walking in a forest or wandering across some green fields. Truly a music of the nature. When you listen to his songs you usually think that there are two or more guys playing, but no he is playing alone and you can check up youtube for his awesome videos.

With five albums, numerous awards, a loyal fanbase and respect from most of the modern guitar players Andy is one of the most interesting musicians today. Not bad for a guy who started as a metal fan and ended as an acoustic prodigy with music that literally touches your soul.

Ghosts And Vodka

sid — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:27:00 +0000

Ghosts and Vodka is a solo project out of members from bands Cap’n Jazz and Joan Of Arc, it’s a step from their main music to more experimental stuff. This side project band has an album and a 7” inch which were rereleased this year together as compilation album Addicts and Drunks, I stumbled upon in accidentally.

The whole style is reminiscent of the Japanese post-rock bands like Te’ and Mirror with a mix of US styled math-rock in the vein of Tera Melos and Don Cabalero. And still somehow this band catches the old styled melodies similar to theme songs of mid 90^th movies and soap operas like Melrose Place or Friends. A relaxing but very smart vibe even with a bit pop punk edge. The tendency to make pop music more complicated and to make complicated music more ear friendly is definitely growing. Hundreds of genius jazz parts that were mostly for fans are now breaking their way into independent music and in near future I think they will break into more mainstream, they deserve it.

The Advantage

sid — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 08:21:27 +0000

The Advantage was formed in 1998 under the name Generic. The band consists of Robby Moncrieff (guitar), Ben Milner (guitar), Carson McWhirter (bass) and Spencer Seim (drums) of experimental rock band Hella. These dudes are playing something like progressive rock with complex instrument parts based on… melodies from old NES video games.

Both of their albums present old NES soundtracks from games like Mario, Contra, Castlevania and so on. Played with live instruments they sound spectacular and still remind of the original 8-bit sounds. With these two works “The Advantage” (2004) and “Elf Titled” (2006) they presented a new standard for the video games music subculture. Of course there are mre bands that play these old tunes like The Minibosses or The OneUps.

But The Advantage most definitely has the advantage!