the Soil & the Sun

I got early enough to catch the opening set from a sweet little band out of Grand Rapids call the Soil & the Sun. I didn't know much about these guys and gals, but by the end of their set I was lined up at their merch booth to pick up copies of their EPs. So, when I found out they were headlining last night at Subterranean, I jumped at the chance to go.

There's so much music out there right now. This means that there are more options than ever for listeners, but it also means there's a lot more crap that we have to sift through in order to find the good stuff. Amidst the sea of up and coming bands, here's what the Soil & the Sun are doing right:
1. Keeping it genuine - It's so easy for a band to pre-record a stockpile of samples and incorporate a push-button system into their live set. Sure, the stage might seem a little crowded when all seven members of the Soil & the Sun take to it, but the live sounds coming from this band--be it in the form of guitar, keyboard, oboe, bells, accordion or multiple drum kits--are truly refreshing.

2. Being harmonious - Not only do the Soil & the Sun have an impressive array of instrumentals, their vocals aren't half bad either. With a seven-member, coed crew, they're able to emit some beautiful choruses.

3. Finding a Balance - The songs I heard last night were ethereal and airy without becoming droning and monotonous. Their swells are slow and steady, yet still aggressive and energetic. There's a lot going on in the Soil and the Sun's songs, but they're anything but noisy.

4. Skipping the dramatics - Despite the Mary Poppin's purse-like collection of instruments that the Soil and the Sun incorporate into their music, it doesn't come off as "gimmicky." The performance was great, but it was very much about the music. When you put that much craftsmanship into your songs, there's not a lot of need for cheap onstage antics.

5. Loving their fans - It's always a little irritating when the quietest parts of a bands' song are downed out by the couple standing next to you and their discussion of what they're going to be doing after the show. The crowd's volume level was almost irreverent by the end of the set last night, but the Soil and the Sun prevailed over the white noise. The band members were friendly, grateful and could be seen chatting it up with fans throughout the night.

Overall, a great evening from a band that definitely deserves some attention. There's no exact formula to creating a successful band, but it's safe to say that the Soil & the Sun are definitely on to something. - Gaper's Block

It’s been so long since the White Stripes’ Detroit-branded garage rock took America by storm that people might have forgotten that it’s still a breeding ground for good music. With musical hotspots like Ann Arbor—which features Kurt Cobain’s favorite music venue, The Blind Pig— Lansing and Detroit, there’s no reason you can’t see great local every week. Here are a few of our favorite local acts from Michigan. - Paste Magazine

It says a lot about SXSW's size and scope that this "sampler" of the annual music festival spans six and a half hours, but here we are: 100 songs by 100 artists worth discovering at this year's big event.

Handpicked from among thousands of artists, this genre-traversing playlist picks highlights, discoveries and future thrills from this year's festival — and, for the next 30 days, it's available for free download in its entirety, as one 813 MB zip file, right here. Of course, for those without that much hard-drive space, you can download each song individually, as well as stream The Austin 100 on this page and through NPR Music's various mobile devices. - NPR Music

It says a lot about SXSW's size and scope that this "sampler" of the annual music festival spans six and a half hours, but here we are: 100 songs by 100 artists worth discovering at this year's big event.

Handpicked from among thousands of artists, this genre-traversing playlist picks highlights, discoveries and future thrills from this year's festival — and, for the next 30 days, it's available for free download in its entirety, as one 813 MB zip file, right here. Of course, for those without that much hard-drive space, you can download each song individually, as well as stream The Austin 100 on this page and through NPR Music's various mobile devices. - NPR Music

""The Grand Rapids, Michigan group, fronted by Alex McGrath, paints memorable walks through places known for solitude, places known for uncontaminated water, wild flowers and grasses and flattened beds that are still warm from the deer that slept on them the night before. They make you blush with the ways that they're able to tie all of the most natural of beauties together into these significant and lush songs. We realize that today was nothing. We should get out more." -Sean Moeller Daytrotter - Daytrotter