Imagine you are hanging around on the street and everyone you get by has a secret music artist they like to hear. In Indie Sapiens they will be able to share their favorite tunes with the world! Today is Manuel Sequeira’s turn.
From Lisbon comes one of the most enthusiastic and surprising portuguese rock band. Having its foundation on the beginning of 2012, Lotus Fever is a 4-piece group touring with their third studio record -second LP- Still Alive For The Growth. They got higher recognition by the media and critics by the release of their first LP, Searching For Meaning in 2014, entering the most important tops in Portugal. For this Indie Sapiens we’ve invited Manuel Siqueira, Lotus Fever’s guitar player.
Kiev: a warehouse band
Kiev has been my secret treasure for some time. It’s a four-piece band California-based -more exactly in their warehouse, where everything happens and their music comes to live- highly influenced by the improvising style of jazz, rock and funk.
[su_quote]Kiev is about layers: Between the four members, an intricate, tight-knit web of post punk, psychedelic funk, indie, jazz, jam, and minimalist styles are conjured through meticulous musicianship and mastery of electronics.[/su_quote]
Its debut album -and the only one so far- Falling Bough Wisdom Teeth, released in 2013, seems to have been left aside and unnoticed by the critics and public. It is a simple case of bad luck, given the album’s 12 songs have merged into to a unique sounding and beautifully produced alternative rock masterpiece, full of dynamics, diversity, and with a remarkable set of influences that range from Radioheadish vocals to jazzy keyboard lines. Also, the drummer is a beast! Kiev was recently picked up by Foals to open up a series of shows in the US for them. It appears the band’s on the right track to prestige, and hopefully the first album’s lack of success won’t demoralize the members into pursuing an equally interesting second album.
The song below is Ariah Being, one of the album’s best, and probably its heaviest and most complex. Ariah Being is a combination of stages, a progressive tune of tasteful composition and impressive performance. For that reason I chose this live version so you can see their intensity and incredible performance. Hope you all like it!
Listening to Lotus Fever’s newest album after listening to this one can easily understand Manuel’s choice. Kiev has inspired and influenced them a lot, “We’ve listen to it a lot together, Kiev’s album was playing on repeat while we were working; it’s obviously one of our biggest influence”, he confirmed.
We at WtMM got completely astonished with this powerful band and we can’t stop listening too! So we thank Manuel Siqueira for presenting us this amazing secret and for his great words.
Here’s Kiev links, so you can follow their work, find new gigs near you and hopefully a new album: