For part I, see here.
Beach House
If there’s any band that makes me feel like I’m cruising on the West Coast, Beach House is it. The Baltimore-based band specializes in “Dream Pop”, a subgenre of alternative rock that has a distinct ethereal and light feel; just listen to any of their songs and you’ll know what I mean. The band features French-born Victoria Legrand on vocals and Baltimorean Alex Scally on guitar. The band has released 6 studio albums since their breakthrough in 2006, has their their music featured in television shows such as New Girl, and has performed at SXSW and toured with Vampire Weekend, essentially placing them at the pinnacle of indie-pop. Top hits include “Somewhere Tonight”, “Take Care”, “Lazuli”, and “Heart of Chambers”.
Milky Chance
If you listened to the radio in the past few months, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard the work of the German duo made up of Clemens Rehbein on vocals and instruments and Philipp Dausch with production and DJing. Their unique sound takes influence from electronic music and reggae, making their sound a refreshing break for many, which is probably a reason why their single “Stolen Dance” reached #1 on several European charts and got a break on many radio stations right here in Calgary as well. The music duo is still relatively young, with one studio album, Sadnecessary, being released in October of 2013. The band has since gained world-wide fame and even performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2014. Personal favourites from Milky Chance include “Stolen Dance” (obviously), “Down by the River”, and “Sadnecessary”.
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Karen O
Know for being the lead vocalist in the American rock band, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which was nominated for 3 Grammys, Karen Lee Orzolek (stage name: Karen O) uses her mixed-race background and romances as inspiration for her musical solo career. She released her own album in 2014 titled Crush Songs. The album contains 15 songs that range from barely a minute long to three minutes, and all focus around crushing. Written during a time of personal strife for Karen O, she has stated that most of the songs on there were written during her twenties, when she crushed a lot but didn’t love, leading to the emotional uncertainty that pervades the simple-yet-meaningful lyrics. Top tracks from Karen O’s first and only album so far include “Ooo”, “Rapt”, and “Indian Summer”. Another bonus? All the doodles from the album were drawn by the singer herself.
That’s all from me in this alternative music series. Got any other song or artist suggestions? Comment below or tweet me at @hui_wen_zheng
