Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
The Street Weekly: Miami has a way of isolating you from the rest of the world. Its out-of-the-way location and eclectic cultural mix has made it hard for bands to draw people to their music. But getting the stuff heard outside the Magic City is not impossible, and Sparkydog can show you how.
This month, their surreal ditty ''Asian Superpower (Taipei Dream)'' peaked at number 18 on Internet radio station Wazee ( www.wazee.org), edging between national acts Snow Patrol and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. The same song was featured on a compilation in the October issue of the College Music Journal (CMJ) and distributed to college kids during their annual CMJ Music Marathon. The result? A whole lot of people NOT from Miami are listening to Sparkydog's new album I Am the Machines Vol. 1.
And it's a good listen. Hypnotic and not a little strange, this lo-fi tome is as pregnant with doom as its title. Rooted in '60s psychedelia and present day indie noise-rock, it emits a sound that paints a colorful landscape of robotic dreams. Download at iTunes and test drive the musical vehicle yourself. Of course, you may meet Sparkydog on the web at SparkyDog.com
full review at http://www.miami.com/mld/streetmiami/10214713.htm
- The Street Weekly: Miami
"they've become one of my favorite bands of the year....their combination of styles range from Galaxie 500 to Eric's Trip to The Velvet Underground to Husker Du...songs like "Transistor" [the original version is like liquid ear candy], "Starchild" ['I want to be a Starchild/I want to leave this world behind'], "Someday" [I was dead, buried in the ground/All my kids, they were gathered round/It was OK, it was OK/I met my bride today...I'll be with her someday]....this band is in my top 5...songs like "Misbeliever" conjures up the sounds of John Lennon like nothing I've ever heard before." - etch magazine
tba - tba
Discography
soul shine (transistor, baby!) - full length album - 2001
i am the machines vol. 1 - full length album - 2004
untitled album in progress, may 2005
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
the sparkydog experience is a trip through a variety of moods, textures, beats, oscillating from a mellow folky vibe to electrotrash garage rock to tight ramones-esque (is that a word?) power pop. the band has been compared to neil young's more experimental side, the velvet underground, john lennon, dinosaur junior, a freaked out bob dylan, and what the bastard children of the byrds may have done, given too much time and too many cool electro toys. sparkydog live is both freeform and structured, evoking the feel of a very early pink floyd. The band's first cd, soul shine (transistor, baby!) received airplay on over 100 college radio stations, from the far reaches of maine, to waco, texas, to ohio state. sparkydog has been primarily a virtual studio band, but is now moving to the live format to take its rightful place with garage rock icons such as guided by voices, the flaming lips, and other rebellious misfits. The band's new cd, i am the machines vol. 1, is part 1 of a concept double-album (yes it sounds pretty damn pretentious) about a garage rock band slowly becoming transformed into robots, while at the same time a hidden community of robots is becoming spiritually awakened. The cd also pushes the edge of what is a song and what is not. The band is busy at work on i am the machines vol. 2, as well as a power pop and acoustic album. the sparkydog philosophy gives the music industry a big middle finger and is hard core diy. however, maybe one day the band will meet up with a major label that is not complete scum. until that time, sparkydog is focused on the college radio crowd, and those people who care about music and still believe.
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