Upon first listening to Caravan Palace’s “Brotherswing”, I was taken back instantly to the Cantina Scene in George Lucas’ Star Wars. The Caravan being made up of a violin, double bass (always a gem to see in action), francophones, guitar, a clarinet and trombone and held together by programmed beats and chirping electro-scat vocals…the unit is truly a classic ensemble infused with unpredictable club-mix intensity. It’s intrepid burlesque on a hot and sweaty sugar high. Doing the hop, nod and wave, snapping my fingers with the un-busy hand, I would definitely kill Greedo to this music.

Having toured for a year prior to the release of their debut album in France, and due out here in the US soon, The Caravan Palace (Facebook) were a sensation at the 2007 Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival in Samois. Django’s being a name I hadn’t heard since picking up The Buckingham/Nicks self-titled album second-hand for 95 cents maybe a decade ago and hearing Lindsey Buckingham’s aptly named “Django,” a tribute to the Parisian gypsy-guitarist. I have now been introduced and re-introduced to this musician through his brilliantly inspired musical foundlings.

Adopted by the Café de la danse, sent to studio and made to gig by the manager Loic Barrouk, The Caravan Palace was able to perfect such offerings as “Bambous” a roiling stew of sound made for lovers of The Charleston. The spastic growly vocal soothes the blisters forming on your frenzied toes.  “Starscat” is a slower violin-laden jive, boy-vocal and all. “Dragons” is too bubbly for words, and a personal favorite, obviously. The dual violins dueling in “La Villette” as caressed by the central guitar, charming to the ear as the battle slowly takes on tempo.

This ecstatic group’s US debut just happened earlier this month for globalFEST in NYC. Catch them…if you can!

The post Caravan Place Takes On The Tempo appeared first on Gay Online Magazine | Out Impact.

Bamboo Shoots covering Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling”

Bamboo Shoots (featuring Avir Mitra, Karl Sukhia, Ankur Patel and Shiv Puri) is far from being a part of any medical school, which is what fellow band mate Avir Mitra was going to do before he and his band found out that they won MTVu’s  Best Music on Campus contest.  But listening to Bamboo Shoots is close to musical surgery, they use a little bit of everything in with their styling’s. On their MySpace page, they describe their sound as, “Daft Punk meets Alice in Chains. Graceland in Space. The Police produced by Timbaland. LeVar Burton.”

The band which was signed to Epic Records in 2007, had had a major run for their money. They have went through many hardships including sleeping on floors, cramped spaces, lugging gear and scrimping and saving what little money they had just to get by. However, those endeavors paid off because they have toured with Soulja Boy and Plain White T’s, just to name a few.

Their eccentricity is not limited to their music but their look, as well as the art that is used to support their up-and-coming status. They have a feel of pure 80’s with graffiti and colors that can only be used by certain personalities. These guys, although, described as “a band of four brown-skinned boys whose collective faces look equally at home on a terrorist watch list as any promotional poster” can definitely be something to look out for. Their background is of Indian decent which makes their style that much more unique.

Their debut album, Armour, is now available, and a tour is following. Check out their MySpace, Twitter or Facebook for upcoming shows that will surely rock your socks.

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About Lindsey Taylor:  Lindsey is in her last semester at the IU School of Journalism. She is  a managing editor for the school’s media ISM.  She works with a local GLBT newspaper as a monthly columnist, Pink In The Sheets.  She also writes for Indyconcerts.com covering music and entertainment.

The post Bamboo Shoots – Graffiti and Colors appeared first on Gay Online Magazine | Out Impact.

The post Zeep’s “Ghost Town” Protuguese/Brazilian Flavor Is A Winner appeared first on Gay Online Magazine | Out Impact.

Matt Jones

Official MySpace:  http://www.myspace.com/mattspainting

Matt Jones is a singer/songwriter with a poetic strength in his lingering and powerfully vulnerable music.  “Jugular Bones and Blisters” starts off with a haunting violin and spreads into Matt’s gorgeous acoustic sound.  His music is hauntingly organic, and engaging, even in a moment of silence, I feel his lingering voice and deep music is influencing the pause into the next song.  His songwriting is visual and poetic, gothic Americana that is able to capture moments the way they are and the way they feel.

“Threadlines” is a frantic poetic percussion, reminding me a lot of Shannon Wright’s music and is one of my favorite tracks of Matt Jone’s MySpace. “Hand Out The Drugs” is a interesting and inventive commentary (with hand clapping accompaniment) on burying yourself and operating with hurt with a wounded deck.  Two live recordings of “A Right To Arms” and “Holy Light” remind me of Ferron and Ani DiFranco.  Matt creates beautiful music that reminds you how to feel life even when you don’t want to.

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