Catching up with Faded Paper Figures

As we've said before, there is so much good music out there in the world that it's a challenge to keep up - or catch up. We just recently connected with Faded Paper Figures, an "electro-organic" band that formed in California in 2007.

The band's fourth album, Relics, came out in 2014. Clashmusic.com called it "forward-thinking electro pop, with the glistening production shrouding a chassis which borrows from indie rock songcraft." Paste said "the band’s delightful pop is out-of-this-world yet grounded in self-examination." They followed that in 2015 with an EP called Remnants.
In a sense, FPF is a side project for each of its members - Kael and Heather Alden and R. John Williams. Heather is a medical doctor, Kael writes music for a Hollywood production company and John is an English professor at Yale. With the Aldens based in Los Angeles and Williams in New Haven, theirs is a bi-coastal collaboration.

We've added a few tracks from Relics to our rotation as we continue to explore their other collections. One of them, "Not The End Of The World (Even As We Know It)" is just asking to be paired with its REM antecedent - and we'll certainly do that segue one of these days. But our favorite track, at least at the moment, is "Spare Me." We hope you enjoy hearing them in our mix!

Catching up with Faded Paper Figures

As we've said before, there is so much good music out there in the world that it's a challenge to keep up - or catch up. We just recently connected with Faded Paper Figures, an "electro-organic" band that formed in California in 2007.

The band's fourth album, Relics, came out in 2014. Clashmusic.com called it "forward-thinking electro pop, with the glistening production shrouding a chassis which borrows from indie rock songcraft." Paste said "the band’s delightful pop is out-of-this-world yet grounded in self-examination." They followed that in 2015 with an EP called Remnants.
In a sense, FPF is a side project for each of its members - Kael and Heather Alden and R. John Williams. Heather is a medical doctor, Kael writes music for a Hollywood production company and John is an English professor at Yale. With the Aldens based in Los Angeles and Williams in New Haven, theirs is a bi-coastal collaboration.

We've added a few tracks from Relics to our rotation as we continue to explore their other collections. One of them, "Not The End Of The World (Even As We Know It)" is just asking to be paired with its REM antecedent - and we'll certainly do that segue one of these days. But our favorite track, at least at the moment, is "Spare Me." We hope you enjoy hearing them in our mix!

The latest additions to our Marvelous Mix

The Suffers have been playing their brand of "Gulf Soul" music since 2011, but the release of their first full-length album has brought them a lot of new buzz. So we're not among the first, but we won't be the last to add them to our playlist. "Make Some Room" and "Good Day" are our picks from the self-titled collection.

A new release from Corinne Bailey Rae is a bit of a rare thing. After her self-titled debut in 2006, she released "The Sea" in 2010. Now at last she has a new album, The Heart Speaks in Whispers, set for release in May. We've added the lovely "Stop Where You Are" to our New Releases bin.

"Nobody Wins" is the latest track added to our playlist from Painkillers, the solo debut of Gaslight Anthem frontman Brian Fallon.

He's from our home state of New Jersey, by the way - and so is...

Jessi Teich, a singer-songwriter now based in Philadelphia. Her new single, "The Curtain Call," is a gentle ballad that turns out to have a powerful kick. She recently performed it for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series.

The latest additions to our Marvelous Mix

The Suffers have been playing their brand of "Gulf Soul" music since 2011, but the release of their first full-length album has brought them a lot of new buzz. So we're not among the first, but we won't be the last to add them to our playlist. "Make Some Room" and "Good Day" are our picks from the self-titled collection.

A new release from Corinne Bailey Rae is a bit of a rare thing. After her self-titled debut in 2006, she released "The Sea" in 2010. Now at last she has a new album, The Heart Speaks in Whispers, set for release in May. We've added the lovely "Stop Where You Are" to our New Releases bin.

"Nobody Wins" is the latest track added to our playlist from Painkillers, the solo debut of Gaslight Anthem frontman Brian Fallon.

He's from our home state of New Jersey, by the way - and so is...

Jessi Teich, a singer-songwriter now based in Philadelphia. Her new single, "The Curtain Call," is a gentle ballad that turns out to have a powerful kick. She recently performed it for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series.

Artists we play: Scott Krokoff

Our latest discovery is a singer-songwriter from Queens, N.Y., who fits somewhere in the folk-rock/Americana part of the music spectrum.

Scott Krokoff self-released his third recording last fall, and we came across it just days ago. It's called "Realizations & Declarations, Vol. 2." Yes, there was a Vol. 1, and they're conceived as EPs leading to an eventual LP.

But it doesn't sound like a work in progress. It's a polished package, with Scott's vocals and guitar backed by Steve Holley (formerly of Wings) on drums, Paul Errico (who's worked with Steve Forbert) on keyboards and Bob Stander on bass and electric guitar. Stander, a studio veteran, is the producer.

Scott writes personal but very accessible lyrics and packages them with a sound that reminds us of The Wallflowers and The Jayhawks, among others. Our favorites from the new disc - which you'll be hearing in the mix on Birch Street Radio - are "The Right Place," "Because of You," "Walter Mitty" and the clever "I Got Nothing."

Footnote: Although their sounds are very different, Scott shares something with another of the indie artists we play: Gary Douglas. Both are New Yorkers who have made their living as attorneys but refused to give up on their passion for music!