| Goldspot | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Los Angeles, United States |
| Genres | Indie rock Alternative rock Indie Pop Retro Filmi |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Mercury Records Union Records |
| Website | Goldspot.net [1] |
Goldspot is a Los Angeles-based band first introduced by tastemaker DJ Nic Harcourt on his morning show, KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic". The Sunday Times UK hailed Goldspot as "the best band to come out of America in years". Founded by singer/songwriter Siddhartha Khosla, the group has since received critical acclaim for its debut album "Tally of the Yes Men" (Tally) and sophomore release "And The Elephant is Dancing". HITS Magazine named Goldspot "Ones to Watch in 2010".
Contents |
After a live performance on Harcourt's show, the band soon began selling out shows across Los Angeles in venues like The Troubadour and Hotel Cafe. Harcourt championed the band, hailing them as his "favorite band of 2005", and began playing tracks from Tally of the Yes Men in heavy rotation ("Rewind", "Time Bomb", and "Friday").[1]
The band was founded by, and built around, singer/songwriter Siddhartha Khosla. The band signed a record deal in 2005 with a start-up, independent label Union Records, with distribution through ADA. Thanks to KCRW's heavy airplay they were able to sell 10,000 copies of their debut Tally of the Yes Men. Tally was co-produced by Jeff Peters and Goldspot. Respected NPR radio stations KEXP and WTMD, along with other indie radio stations across the country, began to play the record in constant rotation.
Eventually, the band signed a deal with major record label Mercury Records (Universal Music Group) in the United Kingdom. An alternate version of "Tally" was released in the UK in June 2007, featuring A. R. Rahman's Bollywood Orchestra, and received plaudits from UK press like Q magazine, the Sunday Times, and The Guardian.[2] The Sunday Times hailed Goldspot as "the best band to come out of America in years".
"Tally" reached #10 in the alternative charts. The debut single "It's Getting Old" was the second most downloaded iTunes Single of the Week ever, behind Justin Timberlake.[3] The follow-up single "Friday" was BBC Radio 2's "Record of the Week" and reached #21 in the UK airplay charts. The band also released a Hindi version of the same track which reached #4 in the BBC Asian Network Charts. "Friday's" video appeared in regular rotation on MTV, VH1, "The Hits", "The Box", Q, and Sky television networks. Khosla also performed the single in Hindi
"Tally" made several "Top Albums of 2007" lists. Goldspot was named the #4 best new act of 2007, and "Tally" was named in the Sunday Times' "Top Albums of 2007".[4]
Goldspot also played the Glastonbury (headlined by The Arcade Fire and Bjork), O2 Wireless, and V Festivals throughout the summer of 2007. The band has opened for Travis, Death Cab for Cutie, Franz Ferdinand, and even Bon Jovi.
A new album "And the Elephant is Dancing", produced by Beach Boys engineer Jeff Peters and Siddhartha, was released digitally on 2 November 2009. A physical release date has yet to be set.[5] Music supervisor and influential DJ Nic Harcourt (KCRW) recently hailed Goldspot as "one of my favorite bands of the moment", and called the band's new album "a classic and timeless gem...it's as if George Harrison never left India". The band appeared on NPR's "Tell Me More with Michel Martin" in April 2010 as well as influential radio shows KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" with Jason Bentley and WTMD (Baltimore) in 2010, where they performed songs off the new album.[6]
Goldspot's songs have been featured in three online advertisements for Apple's iPad (2010), "Rewind" appeared on the Emmy-nominated US hit television show "How I Met Your Mother" (2009), and songs from "Elephants" and new original songs also appear in feature film "Today's Special" (2010) (starring Aasif Mandvi of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"). Goldspot's "What's Under The House" appeared on NBC sitcom "Perfect Couples" (2011), and in the trailer for "How Do You Know (2010)", starring Jack Nicholson, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, and Owen Wilson. "Clap Clap" also appeared briefly in the trailer for "The Dilemma (2011)," starring Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin James, Winona Ryder and Queen Latifah. The song also appeared in the trailer for "Something Borrowed (2011)" with Kate Hudson and John Krasinski. Several songs from "Elephants" also appeared on the MTV hit "16 and Pregnant (2010)." "Paper Boats" appeared in an eBay ad (2009). The band appears on the soundtrack for motion picture The President Is Coming, a 2009 Indian satirical Bollywood film "The President is Coming" featured songs "Paper Boats" and "Under the House" (both English and Hindi versions). Their cover of Spencer Davis's motown classic "Keep on Running" was featured in the film and soundtrack for Simon Pegg hit "Run Fatboy Run" (2008).
Their cover of the Modest Mouse song "Float On" was used in the Fox TV series The O.C. during episode 5 of season 4, "The Sleeping Beauty", and also appears as the first track on the OC Soundtrack Vol. 6. The song was also used in a Chevy commercial in 2008. "Time Bomb" also appeared on the OC in season 3. "Rewind" appeared in the NBC show "Inconceivable".