Thao Nguyen (lead singer of Thao with Get Down Stay Down) and singer/ songwriter Mirah have come together to form the band Mirah & Thao. Last year the two linked up for a tour together, and soon after the album Thao & Mirah was recorded over a two-week period in Tiny Telephone Studios. The album was released Tuesday through the respected Indie label Kill Rock Records and was co-produced by tUnE-yArDs mastermind Merrill Garbus (who also wrote the opening track "Eleven"). Garbus' influence throughout the album is obvious to the trained ear- His love for experimentation and dissonance is prevalent within the album's entirety. The styles of each song are different. While one track will focus on soft synths, the next focuses on bluesy guitars and the next on rapturous horns. It sounds like a disaster before one listens, but what a fan encounters when experiencing this album is nothing less than beautiful.
Some of the songs are clearly one or the others style. Take "Folks" for example, which sounds like it could have come strait off of Thao's last album Know Better Learn Faster. Likewise, he track "Little Cup" could just as easily have come off Mirah's latest release. Yet the best on this album are the tracks where the two combine talents, and let their styles melt together to a point that it's hard to determine who did what. The two are even better together than they are as solo artists, reinforcing each others sound with their own idiosyncrasies and flourishing with a sound that is on a new level for both of them.
Last year YoursTrulyMedia got a chance to hang with the two at Thao's humble abode. They played two tracks for him there, and here are the videos.
WATCH:
Mirah & Thao – "We're So Sorry" YT Session
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG8WX5ZEw4Q[/youtube]
Video
Mirah & Thao – "How Dare You" YT Session
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3vFx5iUKrY[/youtube]
Video
Downloading the album too much effort? Perhaps you need these pretty ladies to help you get a move on. Thao & Mirah is an excellent album, and anyone who's anybody should hit up their local record store and buy it, or download it here. Just looking for a glass full of warm milk? Here are a few cows in the pasture that are a bit more supple than the rest.
SHOTS 'O MILK:
THE FULL GALLON:
DOWNLOAD: Mirah & Thao – Thao & Mirah
Mirah & Thao's humbly titled Thao & Mirah is a statement to the talent of the two artists. Alone, each has crafted a unique and distinct sound- Thao's music is more boisterous, playing guitar with precise strokes and singing with raw and untouched energy. Mirah's songs are more on the intimate side, centering around her beautiful air-like voice. When the two are combined, they complement each other flawlessly. The Album will without a doubt be remembered as one of the better Indie albums released this year. Definitely buy it.
TOUR:
The two are going to spend the next month or so touring, playing shows with friends in what the tour's press release describes as a "superband collaboration"Here is the schedule of the tour- go and see them if they are going to be playing near you.
See them on tour:
May 2011
1 – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour – w/ Led to Sea
2 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Soho – w/ Led to Sea
3 – Oakland, CA @ The New Parish – w/ Led to Sea
5 – Vancouver, BC, Canada @ The Biltmore – w/ Led to Sea
6 – Bellingham, WA @ WWU – w/ The New Pornographers
7 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile – w/ Led to Sea
8 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom – w/ Led to Sea
9 – Olympia, WA @ Northern – w/ Led to Sea
June 2011
2 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center – w/ Led to Sea
3 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle – w/ Led to Sea
5 – Toronto, ON, Canada @ Lee's Palace – w/ Led to Sea
7 – Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bears – w/ Led to Sea
8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg – w/ Led to Sea
9 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church – w/ Led to Sea
10 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat – w/ Led to Sea
11 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
12 – Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle
13 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
15 – St Louis, MO @ Off Broadway – w/ Led to Sea
18 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
19 – Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
20 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room – w/ Led to Sea
21 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah – w/ Led to Sea
23 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall – w/ Led to Sea
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Fan of Indie Music? Keep an eye out for my upcoming weekly mixes of the best new stuff in Indie Rock, as well as Album reviews – Coming Soon!
