What surprises me so much about Desert Noises self-titled EP is just how kinetic it is. Knowing that it was released by local label Northplatte Records, I expected on my first listen to hear a well polished—and emotionally rich—work, with roots in folk music. And I did. But the record also isn’t merely a gentle charting of pathos. Instead, its tonal diversity at once elicits sorrow, exuberance, and nostalgia. Some songs are slow, while others are very nearly danceable, but all of them represent a raw convergence of different musical genres and philosophies.

This Saturday, Desert Noises will be giving away said debut EP for free during their show at Velour. The concert will also feature Sayde Price and Parlor Hawk (formerly Moses), and will be the first chance audiences have to hear Parlor Hawk’s upcoming album, which will be playing between sets. For Desert Noises, however, the show will be a chance to get people interested before they return to the studio to work on their next album.

“We want people to know about us, but at the same time we want them to have something while they’re waiting for the new release,” said Kyle Henderson, who plays guitar and sings in the band. “We think the old EP should be in people’s hands, instead of them having to pay for it.”

And given the clarity the EP achieves, that next album should be well worth the wait.

The EP begins with “Morning Song,” a reverb- and harmony-heavy piece that, at only 44 seconds long, feels more like a prelude than an opener. It’s pretty, and I wouldn’t have minded hearing what it could have become as a full song, but as it currently stands it also provides a sharp contrast for the more explosive second track, “Mad Moon.” That song is similarly folk-based, but feels much more expansive with its full band. I especially appreciated the xylophone in the background, and though Desert Noises isn’t the first band to write a song like this, they do it as well as anyone.

“Building Glass Walls” comes next and is probably my favorite track on the record. It combines the spacey folk-rock I had expected to hear with a surprising dance beat. It’s ethereal, but upbeat, and makes the argument that Desert Noises isn’t a band that should always be listened to sitting down.

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In honor of the Winter Olympics currently going down in Vancouver, this week’s Video Dose features Canadian native sons (and daughter) Arcade Fire. Admittedly, Arcade Fire is from Montreal, which is a long way from Vancouver. Still, they’re one of the most talented and successful bands in their genre to emerge recently from the Great White North.

Deciding which Arcade Fire video would be most appropriate for this Video Dose was no easy task. For me, it came down to the respective videos for “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” and “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out),” both from the band’s debut album Funeral. (The band doesn’t have a lot of videos, but I did consider highlighting something more recent and/or fan-produced.) Ultimately, however, I decided to go with the latter choice for two reasons: it’s animated, which seemed appropriate given this year’s nomination of an animated film for Best Picture, and it’s really snowy, which fit well with the Olympics theme (and is slightly ironic in light of the shortage of snow in Vancouver right now).

It’s probably worth mentioning that despite a personal love of animation generally, I’ve frequently been disappointed by animated music videos. They often seem to miss fact that a good video is neither a short film nor a filmed concert, but rather a blending of narrative and performance. In other words, I don’t necessarily want to see a three-minute cartoon set to cool music, I want to watch a genuine music video.

In some ways, “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” suffers from that common problem but, for what it’s worth, the editing is more responsive to the music than many other animated videos. The CGI visuals also tie in surprisingly well with some of the band’s other videos. Together, these factors mitigate potential detachment between sound and imagery, and the result is a video that doesn’t feel lacking, even if the band itself never shows up onscreen. MTV also apparently liked the video, as it nominated “Neighborhood 3 (Power Out)” for video of the year in 2006.

Besides standing a head above other animated videos and jiving well with today’s headlines, “Neighborhood #3″ is just visually striking. It was team-directed by Plates Animation and represents a world that is historic, dystopian, and sleekly modern. Though somewhat less rooted in silent film aesthetics than “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels),” the warped cityscape is still highly evocative of early German expressionist filmmaking. Brilliantly, however, the computer animation also lends it a contemporary, phantasmagoric quality reminiscent of anime. It’s Murnau meets Miyazaki — and with that combination it can’t go wrong.

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The Welsh group Los Campesinos! released their first two pop-tastic albums about eight months apart, both back in 2008, and now, after a year and a half of much anticipation (at least for me), their third record Romance is Boring has finally arrived. But as its first track indicates, if you haven’t heard much from Los Campesinos! you’ll definitely be jumping in “In Medias Res” with Romance is Boring. This album is not as user-friendly or upbeat as their previous two — things are heavier for these campesinos now.

On their debut album Hold on Now, Youngster, you’ll find a track called “You! Me! Dancing!,” which is just as ecstatic as you’d expect a track with three exclamation points to be. In contrast, on Romance is Boring, lead singer and lyricist Gareth tells us just how much it hurts to share your lover with God, to watch a friend waste away from an eating disorder, and to wake up next to your partner even more bored with your love life than you were the day before. Not to mention lamenting over some intense sexual frustration, screaming about self-mutilation, and dedicating an entire verse to the colors of some girl’s bruise. This album is not LC! for beginners, but it is probably their most solid work to date.

I tend to judge an album on the number of lines I wish I had written, and with Romance is Boring I lost count after the fourth track or so. This band’s lyrics are about as intimate as lyrics can get. Gareth recently said in a post on the LC! website: “I put so much personal and biographical stuff into songs that it as good as breaks me.” Nowhere is that more apparent than on this album. He bares it all, whether he’s telling you what went through his head while locking lips with every girl he’s ever kissed or desperately begging, “Please just let me be the one to keep track of the freckles and the moles on your back.” His vulnerability is what makes these lyrics so effective and this collection of songs so ridiculously relatable. Just try listening to one without thinking, “Hey, me too.”

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I must first say it’s wonderful that we do, on occasion, find some diversity in the indie folk-laden market we call the Provo music scene.  This particular occasion is brought to you by Fictionist.

If you have not yet heard of Fictionist and have lived or been going to school in Provo for more than six months, you’ve probably been covering your eyes and your ears, because they’re everywhere. Walk to campus, I guarantee you’ll see at least three of their posters. Maybe on your way back you’ll catch some of the sidewalk chalk at the intersections advertising for their upcoming shows. And if you’ve been reading The Daily Universe at all in the past while, you’ll have read their name in various articles and perhaps taken a gander at their photo on the front page.  They’ve developed a knack for getting the word out, and it’s obvious that it works — their local shows often have an attendance in the hundreds.

For those that have not been under a rock lately, you’ll have already taken note of the psychedelic posters plastered on telephone poles and street lights all around and why they’re up. Fictionist’s new full-length album, Lasting Echo, was recently officially released. But if you want to know what you’re getting into, look no further. Welcome to Fictionist’s Lasting Echo, the official Rhombus review.

Minimalist. Simple. Superficial. Such words could never apply to a description of this album, evident even within the first 30 seconds of sound. “Always,” the album’s first track, is nothing short of an out-of-body vacation through space and beyond, with its intricately layered guitar work and complex rhythms. There is one part where the song arrives at a familiar four-beat pattern, but that quickly goes away and you are left swimming in the enormity that is the world — or lack of world — that Fictionist creates for you. It is out there you will stay for the entirety of the album.

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Though I don’t exactly remember the first time I saw Neon Trees, I’ll never forget how I felt. It was a few years ago when Provo seemed to have more rock bands, but I still hadn’t seen anything quite like the them (with the important exception of Midwives Crisis, who were also amazing). Though I’m typically too shy to be much more than a wallflower at concerts, Neon Trees made me want to dance. A lot. In fact, the impulse wasn’t so much a desire as it was a need. It was spectacle on the rocks, and I was completely intoxicated.

Since then the band has evolved, undergone at least one lineup change, and signed to Mercury Records. Though I love the music of Joshua James and Isaac Russell, I make no apologies for my belief that Neon Trees are currently Provo’s best nationally recognizable rising stars. Compared to other, newer acts in the area, they are also proof local music can be successful by being garish, over-the-top and deliciously dark.

But of course, this is “Video Dose” and not a discussion on how Utah County needs less wimpy, acoustic-boy “folk” music. (Sorry, everyone else at Rhombus.)

Indeed, as part of Neon Trees’ ascent in the world, they recently released a video for their first single, “Animal.” As music videos go, it’s firmly in the “band-playing-out-in-the-desert” genre; they’re surrounded by scrubby brush, they’ve got their tour van, they goof around a bit. It’s the kind of video that, if not earth-shatteringly original, is designed to capture the ethos of an up-and-coming rock band that aims to entertain.

The video was directed by Zach Rogers and was shot on a shoe-string budget over two days. The band got up early to capture the sunrise and, according to lead singer Tyler Glenn, it wasn’t as easy as it looks.

“It was so cold, so cold,” Glenn told me. “It looks sunny and warm in the video, but all of those desert scenes were ridiculously cold.” He also said one of the other big challenges was getting approval to shoot on land owned by the Navajo Nation, which apparently turned out to be relatively expensive.

The video’s concept evolved out of collaborations between Glenn and Rogers. The band wanted to create something that could go viral and, as Glenn recounts, “Zach’s idea was to make it almost a documentary, where he’d film a lot and the vibe would be following the band around their first video shoot.”

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