Helio Sequence Sympathizers?

February 27, 2008 8:49 AM

Helio Sequence sympathizers? Help me find more!

So for years now I've been exclusively listening to music that is long gone in terms of relative currency. I'm a huge fan of the beatles, most blues guitarists and lots of classic rock. The past year however, I've been more and more impressed by Portland Oregon's electronic/folk music scene.
One band in particular is phenomenal...The Helio Sequence.
They have several albums which develop in style and accessibility over the years, but essentially they remain (to me) an endlessly unique band. Check them out at www.myspace.com/theheliosequence
Ok that being said...
Does anyone know of any bands popular or not that sound really similar?

posted by Texasjake987 to media & arts (14 comments total)

Hey man,

It sounds a bit like Modest Mouse to me. I love their stuff, especially the album "The moon and Antarctica" if you like "Keep your eyes ahead" (the first song on the helio sequence myspace page) I think you'll probably like that album. All in all it's good stuff featuring the guitar player from the Smiths. Check it out.

Go Horns!
posted by Slash_fan at 9:22 AM on February 27, 2008

thanks slash, the drummer for this band actually plays drums on the album "Good Things..." by modest mouse. He left to do this side project.
Any other suggestions?
posted by Texasjake987 at 9:27 AM on February 27, 2008

Oh, how odd. I'm actually going to go see them play tonight.

Maybe early Stereolab--Transient Random Noise Bursts with Announcements, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, Switched On; stuff like that. With their later stuff (I'm thinking Cobra and Phases Group... onward), they start incorporating horns and sound pretty different. Their earlier stuff is a little more guitar/organ oriented, with detached francophone vocals that sound a little like the Helio Sequence. They do some multi-vocal parts, but it's not quite the same as the vocal overdubs that happen on a lot of Helio songs.

I think Air comes pretty close sometimes, more so with the soundtrack for the Virgin Suicides and a couple cuts off Moon Safari.

I don't really catch the similarity myself, but Helio Sequence gets compared to My Bloody Valentine a lot.

There's a band called Midnight Movies out of LA that can sound similar--I think the track I'm thinking of is called "Strange Designs". Some Yo La Tengo tracks do too, but they're so all over the place they end up sounding like just about everybody at some point. I'd recommend Summer Sun from a couple years back and "The Room Got Heavy" off their last one. And maybe "Spec Bebop" from I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, but that's a little more like Stereolab--a 10-minute long feedback/organ workout.

It might sound kind of odd, but you also might want to look into some of Brian Eno's solo work and a couple of his collaborations, like with the German (?) group Cluster. "Ho Renomo" could almost easily be Helio track, similar to "Reh.vu.lee" off Young Effectuals. But some parts of Another Green World and the last half of Before and After Science seem to fit pretty well to me.

I'll come back if I can think of more, but that's all that's popping into my head at the moment.
posted by LionIndex at 9:46 AM on February 27, 2008

Hmmm... I'm thinking maybe Mellow, though they tend to get a bit more prog. Not similar at all, but you'd probably also dig Black Moth Super Rainbow if you're into the electronic/folky sort of thing.
posted by kaseijin at 9:56 AM on February 27, 2008

You can also go to Pandora and start a Helio Sequence radio station.
posted by LionIndex at 10:02 AM on February 27, 2008

thanks lion.
Did you mean you're going to go see Helio tonight? You are in for an incredible show, they never disappoint. Be prepared though, its LOUD
posted by Texasjake987 at 10:49 AM on February 27, 2008

Yeah, I saw them a year or two ago, and the earplugs came in handy. It's amazing how faithfully they can recreate what they do in the studio, even if all the electronic bloops and blips come in from a macbook. But, I'd pay just to watch the drummer.
posted by LionIndex at 11:00 AM on February 27, 2008

I saw them open for Built to Spill. Check those guys out.
posted by herbaliser at 11:04 AM on February 27, 2008

"Keep Your Eyes Ahead" sounds a lot like Dog Day mixed with Chameleons UK.

None of their other songs do, though.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:10 AM on February 27, 2008

Clinic (more original)
Sea & Cake (more smooth)
Dios Malo (more folky)
Moving Units (more rockish)

There's also a kind of 80s vibe in their stuff that reminds me of Echo & The Bunnymen, but I'm not making any recommendable connections right now. Clinic is really the band that jumps out at me for this, though.
posted by rhizome at 11:17 AM on February 27, 2008

Oh man, I can't believe I forgot Spiritualized. Their first two albums are pretty close, but they're a lot more sleepy/dreamy.
posted by LionIndex at 11:54 AM on February 27, 2008

Definitely an 80's vibe there. One of their songs reminded me of New Order, and another reminded me of The Alarm. Or Echo and the Bunnymen as rhizome said.

As for recent music, the only thing that comes to mind is Junkie XL's album "Today". (Not any of his others, although I like them.)
posted by mmoncur at 3:44 PM on February 27, 2008

You would dig my Pandora station.
posted by Afroblanco at 9:30 PM on February 27, 2008

Gotta recommend Pandora.com also.
posted by doppleradar at 9:27 AM on March 4, 2008