We’re up to episode 4 in our ‘Do It Yourself‘ vodcast series and we’re going doco with a portrait of Market Hotel during its infamous “shut down” in February 2010. During a private shoot with QC last year, members of the bands Real Estate and These Are Powers, along with Market Hotel pioneers, broke down the venue and its importance in the Brooklyn music community.

Market Hotel served as a birthright for aspiring indie musicians in NYC and will forever remain a landmark for those who have passed through its walls and frolicked in the sweaty hipster-dancing and cheap beer. Though the venue remains currently shut down, plans have long been in the works to make it a co-opted art space with help from government and private grants. To get more information or to get involved email Markethotelproject@gmail.com. We leave you now to enjoy the piece, and as an added bonus you can check out a live mp3 from These Are Powers’ private Market Hotel session, featured in episode 2 of our series.

Artist: These Are Powers Song: Powers Engage (Market Hotel Session)

photo by Joe Perez

Connecting with a song, artist, or city can be uniquely rewarding. Connecting with all three at once is special. The Perth Festival makes that possible through the Beck’s Music Box, alluringly assembled on the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia.

With a wealth of incredible artists set to grace the stage over the coming weeks, the bandshell by the The Bell Tower is set at icon status for the likes of Caribou, Jack Dejohnette, Joanna Newsom, Wildbirds and Peacedrums, Os Mutantes, and Best Coast. An incredible curation effort by the longest tenured international arts festival in Australia.

Quiet Color made its Music Box debut for The Books show on Feb 16. The duo (turned trio) created one of the top albums of 2010 in The Way Out, so just heading to this show felt like a secret trip out of town. The set opened with the first track of the album Group Autogenics 1, a song littered with perfectly articulated, life balancing sentiments (“Whoever you think you presently are.. .Thank you.”). The carefully placed video and sound samples form a road map to consciousness that have navigated me through mornings, and on this day set me on proper course for this show.

Artist: The Books Song: Group Autogenics 1

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The Books’ albums have always featured that awakening quality, but with the band’s addition of new third member Gene Back, their shows now offer even more. Back’s guitar and violin prowess free up Nick Zammuto to play bass on a host of tracks, while Paul de Jong steadies on the electric cello. As a band that incorporates multiple layers of sound, the extra musician definitively adds to the amplified output.

Artist: The Books Song: Cold Freezing Night

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The track “Tokyo” is now a part of the set list (in the past they’d just play a video of it), and the live version of “Cold Freezing Night” plays like a percussive standoff of string instruments, with three different weapons blasting beats simultaneously.  On the gentler side, “Free Translator” was predictably beautiful and centered my soul through its duration.

I’m trying to explain that something I already loved has gotten better.

On a closing note, I met a new friend at the show who plays in the Perth band Rabbit Island. She told me “the whole stage seemed to be emanating loveliness and humble pleasure. There was a heavy sprinkle of ‘yesness!’ to the show.”  She would later run through a set of sprinklers on the way to her car. I liked that.

Part 3 of Quiet Color’s ‘Do It Yourself‘ video series takes us to Bushwick, Brooklyn and the living room/art gallery/Brooklyn D.I.Y. venue Fort Useless. It was a cold and gray day in NYC when we met with husband and wife Andreas Werliin and Mariam Wallentin, more aptly known as the Swedish indie duo Wildbirds and Peacedrums. What would follow was an intimate and resplendant performance that transformed Fort Useless into a warm winter sanctum. Quiet Color is blessed to have captured this private live session and we’re thrilled to now share it with all of you. Enjoy the majesty and look out for more D.I.Y. episodes on QC very very soon.

Australia in the summer is pretty nonstop, blurry, and a sh*tload of fun. That description would fit Southbound Festival in Busselton, Western Australia and it works for power duo Sleigh Bells. We caught up with Derek from the band, amidst the 3-day fest down under which also featured hometown favorite Tame Impala (Perth), Joan Jett, Public Enemy, and The National.  On the fest’s final afternoon, crowds were still singing along to Sleigh Bells lyrics as Derek and Alexis set it off, an occurrence that has been constant since the band’s formation, regardless of location…

Quiet Color: SB has toured globally over the past 12 months, at any point do you miss the obscurity? Does popularity f*ck with your creative process?

Derek of SB: We never really had a moment of obscurity. We were pretty awful our first few shows, but we had a little crowd by the third one, and I think by our 20th show we were playing before Bone Thugz at the Fader Fort. We were by no means ready or deserving, but it happened quickly…a little more obscurity might have been good for us!

……….…Popularity has little do with the creative process. It’s an internal thing, like a battle I have with myself. I’m rarely impressed with anything I do, and I’m always trying to prove to myself that I have even an ounce of talent somewhere in my body.

Artist: Sleigh Bells Song: At The Beach

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QC: Sleigh Bells has traveled lightyears since you guys played the QC show at Market Hotel in Oct. 2009. What’s been the biggest life change for you personally since the band blew up?

Derek: The biggest changes have happened outside of the band, in my personal life. The real challenges have put the music thing in perspective. Sometimes it’s hard to find meaning in circling the globe, playing the same songs over and over. But most nights I enjoy it. And it’s better than my old job. I’m thankful.

Episode 2 of our Do It Yourself series is here as we continue our survey of the underground music scene in Bushwick, Brooklyn. We were fortunate to get the inside scoop on the Market Hotel shut down last year (a future episode fyi), but during the process we got Market alumns These Are Powers to rock out a private live session in the Hotel entrance. Check out the cut of “Powers Engage.” More episodes coming very very soon :)

Check out Quiet Color’s staff picks for the ten best albums of the year. We’ve provided you with some thoughts (after the jump) on each record that made the QC cut, plus a “best of” mixtape for you to jam to. Enjoy!

LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening – May 18 2010

► I challenge any human with a pulse to stand still when the beat drops during the album opener “Dance Yrself Clean.” The album keeps like a titled dance floor throughout. The tantalizingly long intros and intricate electrified sounds translate surprisingly well at live shows, just don’t throw shit at James Murphy when he’s on stage.

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Twin Sister – Color Your Life – March 30 2010

► Twin Sister’s EP, Color Your Life, feels like that comfortable, intriguing dream you wake up from and immediately wish you could return to. I spent much of the first half of this year with this album on repeat. It’s easy to find yourself drifting away and smiling to yourself while listening. The tracks are somehow subtley uplifting, while keeping a dark, mellow aura at the same time. “Other Side of Your Face” is probably my favorite track, with its beautiful build-ups and leisurely fade outs.

Awesome QC clip from 2010: Twin Sister give it up for free

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Beach House – Teen Dream – Jan 26 2010

► This album is so effortlessly evocative it’s hard to stop listening to it. Wistfully nostalgic yet grounded, Beach House nods to the past but never feels trapped in it. There are standouts on the album that grab you immediately, like “Norway” and “Zebra,” and others that are just a slow burn and grow organically, like “Real Love” and “Ten Mile Stereo.”

Awesome QC clip from 2010: The PS22 kids chorus rock Beach House!

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Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me – Feb 23 2010

► Probably the most beautiful album of the year note-for-note, with endless layers of composition on every track of the 3 discs that make up Have One On Me.  Newsom’s voice does its usual mystic dance alongside whimsical instrumentation (her magic harp) plus intermittent horns that evoke memories of listening to Sufjan Stevens’ Illinoise. This record, like Joanna, is beautifully original and filled with angelic sounds that make you happier to be alive.

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The National – High Violet – May 11 2010

► I am not always excited to hear these songs. It is not an easy listen. There are days when everything is aligned perfectly and I feel at peace. And then there are the ones suited perfectly for High Violet.

Awesome QC clip from 2010: National @ Bonnaroo craziness

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Gorillaz – Plastic Beach – March 9 2010

► As much as I attempted to be a cool “old school” Gorillaz fan and try to find flaws in Plastic Beach, I was continually thwarted thanks to ingenious composition and a seamless mix of sounds spanning the music globe. This album is special because it serves as a beautiful microcosm of world music and musicianship, as it stands right now in 2010/11. We should send it out to aliens.

Awesome QC clip from 2010: First Impressions: Plastic Beach

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Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest – September 28 2010

► This album is beyond intricate. The prolific Brandon Cox and his never-ending wellspring of talent has created the most reserved album to date. That’s not a negative, as Cox has honed in on certain themes and sounds that give his creativity room to flourish. He’s still making music in 2010, and probably won’t stop in 2011. That’s a good thing for you, me, and music in general.

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Sleigh Bells – Treats – June 1 2010

► Sometimes popularity is truly indicative of a good product. Sleigh Bells offer a positive and interesting direction for music. Energizing beat production mixed with vicious guitar riffs and sultry female vocals is a winning formula, apparently to everyone. Treats offered a nice escalator to Sleigh Bells’ previously circulating demos and allowed the band to blow up globally. We recently caught up with Sleigh Bells’ Derek Miller during the band’s current Australia tour. You’ll get a glimpse of his take on the band’s success in our Southbound coverage coming out next week.

.Awesome QC clip from 2010: Sleigh Bells “tell ‘em”

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The Walkmen – Lisbon – September 14 2010

► The Walkmen’s 6th studio release is deceptively accessible, but the lyrics and chord structures convey a complex creative process. Lisbon plays like a memorial to some forgotten historical tragedy  and ranks with the band’s best work to date. The record has an innate and non-overbearing momentum that makes it especially heartfelt.

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Phantogram – Eyelid Movies – February 9 2010

► Possibly not in the majority of top 10′s, this album featured one of the top tracks of the year with “Mouthful Of Diamonds” and consequently makes the list. Josh Carter has some filthy beat + riff combinations on “Eyelid Movies,” and Sarah Barthel’s vocals are legit.  “Running From the Cops” and “When I’m Small” were also on heavy rotation for me this year. On a the same parallel as Sleigh Bells, Phantogram are a studly duo that can hopefully build from their successful debut.

QC snippet from 2010: Phantogram at BK’s Union Hall

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We at QC spent a fair chunk of our 2010 creating and producing an 8-episode video series reflecting on Brooklyn’s precious D.I.Y. scene and some of the influential artists that pass through. After almost a whole year of planning and promising, the series is complete and ready for air. We’ll be releasing these videos week by week over the next 2 months to give you a closer look at what we got into over the past 10 months. In episode 1, we visit Bushwick’s legendary House Of Yes for what was truly an epic evening back in February 2010. Quiet Color’s sloppy circus raged with live performances by Javelin, Ava Luna, Dinowalrus, and The Shivers (not to mention aerial acrobats and fire breathers). Enjoy this snapshot of the special venue, wild party, and unique combination of Javelin and aerial acrobats who executed a seamless collaboration during the track  “Moscow.”

The 16-hour flight from L.A. to Sydney can be extremely entertaining (especially if you fly on Virgin), but after watching your third movie in a row, you start thinking “this trip better be worth it.” With shows booked at the Falls Festival, Southbound, and Sunset Sounds, yank bands Sleigh Bells and The Soft Pack appear to be capitalising on their trek down under. Why do we care? Well, aside from being huge fans, we’ll be catching up with the bands firsthand when Southbound hits Busselton (near Perth) on January 1st. QC will get up close and personal to see if Sleigh Bells can rock an AU show with the intensity they bring to Brooklyn blowouts. Our guess is yes, but check back in week one of 2011 for a complete wrap of the set and some f’d up stories from Southbound, QC style.

Create a MySpace Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Above, London producer Pogo cuts up audio samples from Snow White. That’s just a taste, visit Pogo’s youtube channel for his spin on Alice, Sword In The Stone, and a host of other mod Disney hits. Or rock his Myspace here.