Kara Keith to release solo EP
Kara Keith, from Calgary, Alberta and previously of Falconhawk, will release her self-titled solo debut EP on Saved By Radio on Feb. 12. The EP can be purchased in the Saved By Radio online store. “Kick This City,” from the release and posted below, is an engaging, driving track that makes its name with synthesizers and keys, but is also home to smooth vocals from Kara Keith. With talent of this nature, it’s hard to believe that this singer and songwriter won’t go anywhere.
Kara Keith — “Kick This City” | download
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Tags: indie pop, indie rock, synth pop
By Matthew Montgomery 
Feb 07, 2008 
Artist Spotlight, Downloads, News 
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An interview with Chairs in the Arno
Chairs in the Arno, a synth-driven indie pop band in the vein of Barcelona, answer a few questions from MusicGeek.org regarding their music, their future, and the reception of their release, File Folder. Chairs in the Arno have previously been the subject of a MusicGeek.org spotlight.
Chairs in the Arno — “Size Thirty” | download
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You seem to occupy the same general music area as, say, Barcelona and Sprites. How much affinity do you hold to them, and how influential were they in your musical development as a group?
Jeff Excell and Becca Hsu: We are all really big fans of Barcelona. No other band was making such simple but genius synth-pop music. Their singer, Jason Korzen, who later went onto form the Sprites, basically made it seem “ok” to write lyrics about simple and enjoyable things. I would say they had quite an impact on the making of all our music. A couple years ago, Jason made a comment about how we were his “new favorite band” on MySpace. I think we all freaked out about it and almost peed our pants with excitement. Barcelona and the Sprites are WAY underated.
Tags: indie pop, indie rock, synth pop
By Matthew Montgomery Jan 22, 2008 Downloads, Interviews Comments (0)
Music Geek #3: Shoegaze, Famicom-style — The Depreciation Guild offers synthesizers with lush guitar work
In the time since the writing and subsequent posting of my previous column, in which I probed for quality shoegaze, I have been offered a small variety of options by which I might discover more of this music I’ve found myself so enamored with.
First, I must offer my appreciation to those who answered my call; the suggestions have been greatly appreciated, and I’m putting effort into exploring these artists more.
In my own search, I’ve found some interesting things. The first is a group I discovered not terribly long after admitting to the internet that I was — and still am — on the clueless side of things as far as proper shoegaze is concerned. The group, The Depreciation Guild, is composed of two musicians and a certain device entertainment-happy children in the mid-1980s and, indeed, most anyone who’s spent time in the confines of American popular culture: the Famicom, or, as it’s more popularly known in the United States, the Nintendo Entertainment System.
The Depreciation Guild – “Butterfly Kisses”
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Tags: nintendo, shoegaze, synth pop, synth rock
By Matthew Montgomery Jan 21, 2008 "Music Geek" by Matthew Montgomery, Artist Spotlight, Downloads, Reviews Comments (0)
Spotlight: Chairs in the Arno
Chairs in the Arno, a synthesizer-packed indie pop band in the vein of notable acts Barcelona and Sprites, released their debut File Folder in October 2007. The synth-styled release, which found its home on Mushpot Records, is interminably exciting in those peculiar ways only indie pop can be — and particularly only in ways such nerd-rock-inflected styles can be (see The Rentals, Barcelona, and Sprites for excellent examples).
Chairs in the Arno — “Winter Song” | download
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Chairs in the Arno — “Size Thirty” | download
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Tags: indie pop, nerd rock, synth pop
By Matthew Montgomery Jan 18, 2008 Artist Spotlight, Downloads Comments (0)
