popwreckoning

In this golden age of supergroups (think Broken Bells and Them Crooked Vultures), Mt. Desolation is a supergroup with a difference. The band plays alternative country – not exactly mainstream in the U.S. – and features Keane‘s principal songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley and touring musician Jesse Quin. Also along to assist are Ronnie Vannucci Jr. of the Killers, Country Winston of Mumford and Sons, and members of Noah and the Whale, the Long Winters, and the Staves. Got all that? Good.

Mt. Desolation is set to release its self-titled debut album on October 19 on Cherry Tree Records and is going on tour later this month, playing some dates handily enough with Mumford and Sons. If you like what you hear in the video below for their song, “Departure,” catch them at a venue near you.

Tour Dates
Oct 18 – Palladium / Los Angeles*
Oct 20 – Warfield / San Francisco*
Oct 22 – Crystal Ballroom / Portland*
Oct 23 – Vogue Theatre / Vancouver*
Oct 24 – Moore Theatre / Seattle*
Oct 27 – Mercury Lounge / New York City
Oct 28 – Drake / Toronto
Oct 29 – Pike Room / Detroit
Oct 30 – Schubas / Chicago
*with Mumford and Sons

Photo: Alex Lake

Mt. Desolation: website | myspace

I was recently introduced to the fantastic Head Like A Kite, who are able to create a modern-industrial- pop sound to their music, that is overwhelming to both the body and ears. Head Like A Kite is comprised of just two men, Dave Einmo (on guitar, synthesizer, sampler, and vocals), and Trent Moorman (drums, keys, sampler, and vocals). This two-man band calls upon musical friends every now and again to join them in the studio to assist them with the creation or the remixing of their music.

The band’s first major album was Random Portraits of the Home Movie which was released February of 2006. The album was influenced and inspired by the 1970s’ Super-8 home movies, which they applied an experimental-electronic sound that could be compared to that of The Faint. In response to this album, Head Like A Kite was joined by fellow musicians from The Long Winters, Radio 4, Crooked Fingers, Smoosh, Animals at Night among others and, once again, ventured into the studio to produce yet another album. This second record, titled There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere, was released in June of this year. With such hypnotizing songs as “No Ordinary Caveman,” “Six Bags of Confetti,” and “Daydream Vacation,” this album was a musical success.

But they were not finished yet. On August 19th, they released a six-track EP of remixed tracks from this recently released album. The sound for the remixed tracks took the music to a whole new level. These songs where remixed by several known DJs such as Nobody who took a swing at “No Ordinary Caveman,” and knocked it right out of the park. Boom Bip put a whole new spin on the song “Daydream Vacation” with the help of Asya from Smoosh, and Antimc worked the sound of Head Like A Kite’s “Six Bags of Confetti.” All the while, Daedelus Plucks That Broken Arrow got together with Head Like A Kite to transform “We Were So Entangled” into something new and shiny.

Every single one of these DJ’s injected their own special steroid into their song, creating a whole new feel to the song.

Tracklisting:
01. No Ordinary Caveman (download)
02. No Ordinary Caveman (Nobody’s Totally Spaced Remix)
03. Daydream Vacation (Boom Bip’s Homecoming Remix)
04. Six Bags of Confetti (Antimc’s Skinny Gold Chain Remix)
05. We Were So Entangled (Daedelus Plucks That Broken Arrow Remix)
06. No Ordinary Caveman (Her Space Holiday cover)

Tour Dates:
Aug 30 – Rickshaw Stop / San Francisco
Aug 31 – Old Ironsides / Sacramento
Oct 03 – John in the Morning at Night (KEXP) / Seattle

Head Like A Kite: website | myspace | download, watch “No Ordinary Caveman”
Mush Records: website | myspace

Written by: Kyle Thurin