My take on Mystery Girls’ Incontinopia makes three Dusted reviews in a week, pretty much eliminating the pipeline. They’re a Wisconsin-based garage band, with that little bit of soul/R&B that you often hear in the land of MC5. I saw them three-four years ago at SXSW, where they did a pretty killer version of “TV Eye,” which, if you’re following along at home, is a pretty good Stooges song, but neither my nor Rob’s favorite. Anyway, here’s a bit of that review:
Mystery Girls’ first, self-titled album was recorded in one day and mixed the next, a quick, crud-crusted blast of blues-slackened, soul-withered garage rock from the heartland. The band’s third CD, Incontinopia, has been sitting around since recording sessions in 2004 and 2005. It’s anyone’s guess what’s been taking so long, but one thing seems sure: they have not been twiddling knobs in search of the perfect sound. If anything, Incontinopia sounds muddier, more disoriented and less calculated than Mystery Girls, never mind the arty field recordings and French spoken word interruptions. If the first CD was Mystery Girls’ Blues Explosion, this third one is Royal Trux, its melodies glimpsed through a shit storm of distorted chaos.
More
They have a very limited profile on the web, no free mp3s, no videos…but here’s the MySpace
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Couple good ones, up this week at Dusted
Both Mirah’s (a)spera and Arbouretum’s Song of the Pearl have a pretty good shot at my mid-year top ten…along with, let’s see, Lotus Plaza’s Floodlight Collective, Ty Segall’s ST (if you count stuff from 2008), Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavillon, Zero Boys Vicious Circle (if you count stuff from 1981), Vetiver’s new one (sorry Clif, I really it) and, possibly, not sure yet two listens in, Akron Family.
And coincidentally, I reviewed both Mirah (“Mirah picks her soft, knowing way through songs that soothe even as they challenge. Her melodies curl gently up into question marks, as she asks you to make sense of life and love and loss.”) and Arbouretum (“With Song of the Pearl, Arbouretum’s third album, Heumann’s band slips slightly, but distinctly, into the rock side of the equation. It has a denser, more cohesive sound, more defined rhythms and richer arrangements -- and yet lacks some of the subterranean pull of its predecessor.”) this week at Dusted.
I can’t find anything new for either artist, but here’s Arbouretum’s “Mohammed’s Hex and Bounty” from the second album.
And here’s Mirah just down the road at the Iron Horse, playing “Telephone Wires”
And coincidentally, I reviewed both Mirah (“Mirah picks her soft, knowing way through songs that soothe even as they challenge. Her melodies curl gently up into question marks, as she asks you to make sense of life and love and loss.”) and Arbouretum (“With Song of the Pearl, Arbouretum’s third album, Heumann’s band slips slightly, but distinctly, into the rock side of the equation. It has a denser, more cohesive sound, more defined rhythms and richer arrangements -- and yet lacks some of the subterranean pull of its predecessor.”) this week at Dusted.
I can’t find anything new for either artist, but here’s Arbouretum’s “Mohammed’s Hex and Bounty” from the second album.
And here’s Mirah just down the road at the Iron Horse, playing “Telephone Wires”
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
This Cline feature I’ve been talking about…
It’s up today, my first interview/feature in quite some time, and I think it reads fairly well. Though it’s awfully long.
Mirror Twins: Conversations with Nels and Alex Cline[25 February 2009]
by Jennifer Kelly
As “mirror twins”, Alex and Nels Cline were identical but opposite—Alex right-handed, Nels left, their hair parted on opposite sides of their heads. If one Cline looked in the mirror as a child, he would see an exact image of his brother, any minor differences reversed by the reflection. And yet, even then, in those days when the two of them would bash out original rock songs on entry-level guitar and drums, it seemed clear that they were very different—as people and as musicians. Their respective musical careers have been just as alike but divergent, from their early untrained efforts at rock ‘n’ roll to a shared love of progressive rock, fusion, jazz, and avant garde improvisation.
Today both are well-regarded composers, pushing their respective instruments—guitar for Nels and drums for Alex—into genre-crossing experiments that touch on rock, jazz, classical, and ethnic music. But with both releasing new albums in February on the Cryptogramophone label, there is no mistaking one’s work for the other. Nels Cline’s Coward layers electric and acoustic guitars over one another, in an entirely one-man exploration of the instrument’s potential. Alex Cline’s Continuation showcases an acoustic ensemble’s interplay, his compositions interpreted by pianist/harmonium player Myra Melford, bassist Scott Walton, cellist Peggy Lee, and violinist Jeff Gautier, as well as himself.
More
Together again
Mirror Twins: Conversations with Nels and Alex Cline[25 February 2009]
by Jennifer Kelly
As “mirror twins”, Alex and Nels Cline were identical but opposite—Alex right-handed, Nels left, their hair parted on opposite sides of their heads. If one Cline looked in the mirror as a child, he would see an exact image of his brother, any minor differences reversed by the reflection. And yet, even then, in those days when the two of them would bash out original rock songs on entry-level guitar and drums, it seemed clear that they were very different—as people and as musicians. Their respective musical careers have been just as alike but divergent, from their early untrained efforts at rock ‘n’ roll to a shared love of progressive rock, fusion, jazz, and avant garde improvisation.
Today both are well-regarded composers, pushing their respective instruments—guitar for Nels and drums for Alex—into genre-crossing experiments that touch on rock, jazz, classical, and ethnic music. But with both releasing new albums in February on the Cryptogramophone label, there is no mistaking one’s work for the other. Nels Cline’s Coward layers electric and acoustic guitars over one another, in an entirely one-man exploration of the instrument’s potential. Alex Cline’s Continuation showcases an acoustic ensemble’s interplay, his compositions interpreted by pianist/harmonium player Myra Melford, bassist Scott Walton, cellist Peggy Lee, and violinist Jeff Gautier, as well as himself.
More
Together again
Monday, February 23, 2009
Loney Dear live
I went to see Loney Dear a few weeks ago and had a really good time, better, really, than I expected given the record, which is very pop. The show is much more rocking and fun.
Anyway, the review’s been up at PopMatters for a few days. Here’s a bit:
Loney, Dear’s Dear John, out about a week at the time of the show, represents an evolution from its predecessor Loney, Noir, its sound denser, more rhythmic and driven. Live, this change becomes immediately apparent. The older songs are fragile and delicate. The ones from the new album buzz with bass and pound with drums. I begin to think that you could tell which album you were hearing just by looking at the drummer. Sticks on cymbals and snare? That’s Loney, Noir. Mallets on toms? Something from Dear John.
The new songs have a large-scale pop architecture. They are quite loud and celebratory. “This one may be a little too large for the room,” says Svanängen as he surveys an empty dance floor, a smattering of people at tables. But he and his band launch into “Everything Turns to You” with relish, Svanängen bounding up and down on his feet with its pummeling rhythm. “Summers”, also from the new album, is more serene, starting in a sampled swell of organ, with Svanängen’s voice a delicate falsetto. Yet even here, the bass is turned way up, building tension into an expansive pop daydream. And the album opener “Airport Surroundings”, is an all-out rocker—the beat that, on the record, is crisp and understated turns far heavier and more emphatic onstage.
The rest here.
Broken Spindles' stylish, exhausted minimalism
While I was gone, Blurt ran my review of Broken Spindles' Kiss/Kick, the fourth for this Faint side project.
I said...
Kiss/Kick isn't a big album, not filled wall-to-wall with new wavery a la the Faint. Instead, these fleeting, impressionistic songs are riddled with empty space, jagged patches of nothing between blurts of synthesizer and bass. Vocals are whispery, exhausted, insistently neurotic, the last thing you hear in your head at 2 a.m. before you finally drift off. "We all want to fit in," Peterson murmurs, over and over, in the song that bears the same name, a tangle of guitar, a blast of subliminally low bass framing his anxiety, minimally. Later, the barest thud of kick drum, an every-other-measure blast of keyboard tone encases "You're Happy But Not for Long" in the barest sort of gloom. It's Depeche Mode as a line drawing, stripped, sad and boxed in. In fact, even the most insistently rhythmic cuts feel constrained. "A Beat Down Break Up" shimmies on a small square dance floor, every spasm hemmed in with dark claustrophobic space.
And some other stuff
Listen to "Introvert" and "We All Want to Fit In" if that all sounds like a good time...
I said...
Kiss/Kick isn't a big album, not filled wall-to-wall with new wavery a la the Faint. Instead, these fleeting, impressionistic songs are riddled with empty space, jagged patches of nothing between blurts of synthesizer and bass. Vocals are whispery, exhausted, insistently neurotic, the last thing you hear in your head at 2 a.m. before you finally drift off. "We all want to fit in," Peterson murmurs, over and over, in the song that bears the same name, a tangle of guitar, a blast of subliminally low bass framing his anxiety, minimally. Later, the barest thud of kick drum, an every-other-measure blast of keyboard tone encases "You're Happy But Not for Long" in the barest sort of gloom. It's Depeche Mode as a line drawing, stripped, sad and boxed in. In fact, even the most insistently rhythmic cuts feel constrained. "A Beat Down Break Up" shimmies on a small square dance floor, every spasm hemmed in with dark claustrophobic space.
And some other stuff
Listen to "Introvert" and "We All Want to Fit In" if that all sounds like a good time...
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Catatonic Youth
WFMU's starting a Free Music Archive, with freely downloadable mp3s from all kinds of bands. There's a beta site up now, which you can poke around in, but also, they're having a concert at Bell House in early April to raise money for the project. The Oh Sees, Excepter, Catatonic Youth and Pink Skull are playing, and guess what, there are free mp3s from all four bands on the site.
My favorite, though is "Control My Gun" from Catatonic Youth.
Here's Catatonic Youth covering the best Stooges song in the world.
I don't know a thing about Catatonic Youth otherwise...anyone?
My favorite, though is "Control My Gun" from Catatonic Youth.
Here's Catatonic Youth covering the best Stooges song in the world.
I don't know a thing about Catatonic Youth otherwise...anyone?
Friday, February 20, 2009
Ty Segall
So, look what happens…I post a random video on my blog and all the sudden I’m reviewing the record, the self-titled Ty Segall record. This has also become my dancing around in the kitchen record at the moment and super, super, super fun.
Here’s what I said:
“Ty Segall is a one-man band. Not in the one-person, multi-tracked recording artist sense, but the old fashioned way. A drummer first, he sits behind an abbreviated kit, one foot on the kick drum pedal, the other pumping on a high hat with a tambourine attached. He can’t get too close to the pedals, however, because he’s got a guitar between his body and the drums, and he’s playing that, too. In fact, when he’s not using his strumming hand to slash out the rockabilly chords, he’ll sometimes reach over and slap the tambourine with his hand. He doesn’t seem to have a pair of drum sticks. Oh, and there’s a microphone dangling in front of him – probably not in the best of condition – to put the reverb’d echo onto his yelps, croons, howls and hiccups. “ More
There are some mp3s up at the record label here, including Ty’s “It” and a song by his other band, The Traditional Fools.
Here’s what I said:
“Ty Segall is a one-man band. Not in the one-person, multi-tracked recording artist sense, but the old fashioned way. A drummer first, he sits behind an abbreviated kit, one foot on the kick drum pedal, the other pumping on a high hat with a tambourine attached. He can’t get too close to the pedals, however, because he’s got a guitar between his body and the drums, and he’s playing that, too. In fact, when he’s not using his strumming hand to slash out the rockabilly chords, he’ll sometimes reach over and slap the tambourine with his hand. He doesn’t seem to have a pair of drum sticks. Oh, and there’s a microphone dangling in front of him – probably not in the best of condition – to put the reverb’d echo onto his yelps, croons, howls and hiccups. “ More
There are some mp3s up at the record label here, including Ty’s “It” and a song by his other band, The Traditional Fools.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Like ice tinkling in summer drinks
Really lovely, soft and insinuating new album coming from Laura Barrett. She’s a songwriter, singer, arranger and, here’s the different thing, kalimbist. She’ll remind you a little of Laura Veirs in tone and temperament, but with that beautiful percussive element of thumb piano, very nice. Her album, called Victory Garden, is out on Paper Bag Records next week. “Bluebird,” the giveaway track, features both Western piano, kalimba, strings, woodwinds and Barrett’s extraordinary jazz-touching voice…all without any sort of excess.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
New Hairdo
So, I got my hair cut today and, as usual, am having a little trouble adjusting.
While I'm getting used to it, here is Matthew and the Arrogant Sea singing the rather wistful (but not wisp-ful) "Brand New Hairdo". Enjoy
We're going to New York City tomorrow for a few days, so I may or may not be around, digitally speaking...
While I'm getting used to it, here is Matthew and the Arrogant Sea singing the rather wistful (but not wisp-ful) "Brand New Hairdo". Enjoy
We're going to New York City tomorrow for a few days, so I may or may not be around, digitally speaking...
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Pollard again…give this man a medal
Robert Pollard’s new band, The Boston Spaceships, is at it again, with its second full-length in just under a year. There were two Pollard solo albums during the same span of time, so he is definitely not fading out easy. But quantity seems to have very little impact on quality, except maybe a positive one, because The Planets Are Blasted is maybe even slightly better than Brown Submarine, which is to say very, very good.
My Blurt review enthused, “Beery romantic that he is, though, Pollard saves his loveliest tunes for the ladies. ‘Dorothy's a Planet’ is flat out gorgeous, its folk melody unspooling languidly over bristling thickets of distorted guitar, while ‘Catherine in Mid October,’ is pure gentle bliss, as inevitable and tuneful as Big Dipper's ‘She's Fetching,’ though twice as odd.” More.
Here’s Bob performing “Dorothy’s a Planet”
And “You Satisfy Me”
My Blurt review enthused, “Beery romantic that he is, though, Pollard saves his loveliest tunes for the ladies. ‘Dorothy's a Planet’ is flat out gorgeous, its folk melody unspooling languidly over bristling thickets of distorted guitar, while ‘Catherine in Mid October,’ is pure gentle bliss, as inevitable and tuneful as Big Dipper's ‘She's Fetching,’ though twice as odd.” More.
Here’s Bob performing “Dorothy’s a Planet”
And “You Satisfy Me”
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Ettes
NYC punk-pop trio the Ettes have a new EP coming, called Danger Is! on April 7th. It’ll be on Take Root Records, and a good bit of it was apparently recorded with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. This animated video is of “Marathon”, the single from their second album Look at Life Again. Fun stuff.
Friday, February 13, 2009
I’ve been stepping out on you all
I put up a couple of posts on the PopMatters media center blog this week, one highlighting some mp3s from the Dex Romweber Duo’s new album Berlin in Ruins
The other has a really great video of a Tinariwen offshoot called Terakraft…
I may do this once a week or so, since it seems like a good way to write about things that I don’t really have time to write about…but, of course, I still love you guys the best.
Now I’m going to finally write that Fennesz profile…
The other has a really great video of a Tinariwen offshoot called Terakraft…
I may do this once a week or so, since it seems like a good way to write about things that I don’t really have time to write about…but, of course, I still love you guys the best.
Now I’m going to finally write that Fennesz profile…
U.S. Maple’s Todd Rittman in D. Rider
U.S. Maple is an acquired taste, but well worth acquiring if you like medium difficult, abstract dissonance, played in rock instruments but really more like really loud free jazz. Todd Rittman has since gone on to Singer and now D. Rider, which I reviewed in today’s Dusted. Here’s a bit:
It’s a bleak, blasted world, this latest project from U.S .Maple’s Todd Rittman. Barb-studded basslines traverse chaotic saxophone and guitar. Exhausted, whispered voices trace post-apocalyptic images of war, environmental collapse and failed human connection. Like U.S. Maple, D. Rider builds abstract geometries of harsh, colliding sounds. Yet unlike that band – and more like Rittman’s 2007 project, Singer – vocals have been tuned and tamed, words clear enough to unspool lurid wasteland imagery. Notes coalesce into soul-falsetto trills and flourishes.
More
He also wrote us a Listed, which is pretty interesting, too.
Nothing on D. Rider, but check out this video of US Maple. Embedding has disabled by request, but if you click on it, it’s linked to a bunch of other US Maple videos from a documentary by Tony Ciarrocchi.
It’s a bleak, blasted world, this latest project from U.S .Maple’s Todd Rittman. Barb-studded basslines traverse chaotic saxophone and guitar. Exhausted, whispered voices trace post-apocalyptic images of war, environmental collapse and failed human connection. Like U.S. Maple, D. Rider builds abstract geometries of harsh, colliding sounds. Yet unlike that band – and more like Rittman’s 2007 project, Singer – vocals have been tuned and tamed, words clear enough to unspool lurid wasteland imagery. Notes coalesce into soul-falsetto trills and flourishes.
More
He also wrote us a Listed, which is pretty interesting, too.
Nothing on D. Rider, but check out this video of US Maple. Embedding has disabled by request, but if you click on it, it’s linked to a bunch of other US Maple videos from a documentary by Tony Ciarrocchi.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Such a stupid video…such a fun song
It’s “Poison Ivy” from Blank Dogs…who -- sorry, I know they’re lots hipper -- kind of remind me of Depeche Mode. Still you’ve got to give the guy props for just keeping going…
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
SXSW
So I went through the list of bands and pulled the ones that seem interesting for one reason or another...I probably won't see half of these bands, because of scheduling conflicts and so on, and I'll most likely see a bunch of others because they happen to be at the right place in the right time, but it's a start.
If you want to go through the list and tell me what I'm missing, feel free.
Here are my picks:
Abe Vigoda (Los Angeles CA)
Akron/Family (Williamsport PA)
All the Saints (Atlanta GA)
Asylum Street Spankers (Austin TX)
Balaclavas (Houston TX)
Bar-Kays (Memphis TN)
Bassholes (Cleveland OH)
Black Lips (Atlanta GA)
blankdogs (Brooklyn NY)
Harlan T Bobo (Memphis TN)
Bo-Keys (Memphis TN)
Bosque Brown (Ft. Worth TX)
The Botticellis (San Francisco CA)
Boxcar Satan (San Antonio TX)
David Thomas Broughton (London UK-ENGLAND)
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (Chicago IL)
The Coathangers (Atlanta GA)
Sally Crewe & The Sudden Moves (Austin TX)
The Cute Lepers (Seattle WA)
The Cynics (Pittsburgh PA)
Dead Confederate (Athens GA)
Deer Tick (Providence RI)
Department of Eagles (Brooklyn NY)
Dexter Romweber Duo (Chappel Hill NC)
Diplomats of Solid Sound (Iowa City IA)
Julie Doiron (Sackville NB)
Earthless (San Diego CA)
Eat Skull (Portland OR)
Echo and The Bunnymen (Liverpool UK-ENGLAND)
Ecstatic Sunshine (Baltimore MD)
Efterklang (Copenhagen DENMARK)
The Emeralds (Yokohama JAPAN)
Endless Boogie (New York NY)
The Ettes (New York NY)
Explosions in the Sky (Austin TX)
Gary War (Brooklyn NY)
Howe Gelb (Tucson AZ)
Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs (United Kingdom GA)
Gram Rabbit (Yucca Valley CA)
Larkin Grimm (New York NY)
Harlem Shakes (New York NY)
HEALTH (Los Angeles CA)
Micah P. Hinson (Abilene TX)
Hopewell (Brooklyn NY)
Horse Feathers (Portland OR)
Jana Hunter (Baltimore MD)
I Love Math (Dallas TX)
Indian Jewelry (Houston TX)
The Intelligence (Portland OR)
King Khan & the Shrines (Berlin GERMANY)
Wayne Kramer (Detroit MI)
Magic Christian (San Francisco CA)
Magic Lantern (Long Beach CA)
Mahjongg (Chicago IL)
Max Tundra (London UK-ENGLAND)
Mayyors (Sacramento CA)
Mi Ami (San Francisco CA)
Mirah (Portland OR)
Monotonix (Tel Aviv ISRAEL)
Naked On the Vague (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Obits (Brooklyn NY)
Jack Oblivian and the Tennessee Tearjerkers (Memphis TN)
Tara Jane O'Neil (Portland OR)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (New York NY)
Palomar (Brooklyn NY)
The Paper Chase (Dallas TX)
Parenthetical Girls (Portland OR)
Ponytail (Baltimore MD)
Pretty & Nice (Boston MA)
Priestess (Montreal QC)
Primal Scream (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
Psychedelic Horseshit (Columbus OH)
Pterodactyl (Brooklyn NY)
Red Red Meat (Chicago IL)
Reigning Sound (Asheville NC)
Sandwitch (Columbus OH)
Sholi (San Francisco CA)
Sleep (Portland OR)
The Sonics (Seattle WA)
Starling Electric (Ann Arbor MI)
Stars Like Fleas (Brooklyn NY)
The Strange Boys (Austin TX)
Telepathe (Brooklyn NY)
Thomas Function (Huntsville AL)
Turbo Fruits (Nashville TN)
Vetiver (San Francisco CA)
Waco Brothers (Chicago IL)
Wild Beasts+ (Leeds UK-ENGLAND)
Wovenhand (Denver CO)
If you want to go through the list and tell me what I'm missing, feel free.
Here are my picks:
Abe Vigoda (Los Angeles CA)
Akron/Family (Williamsport PA)
All the Saints (Atlanta GA)
Asylum Street Spankers (Austin TX)
Balaclavas (Houston TX)
Bar-Kays (Memphis TN)
Bassholes (Cleveland OH)
Black Lips (Atlanta GA)
blankdogs (Brooklyn NY)
Harlan T Bobo (Memphis TN)
Bo-Keys (Memphis TN)
Bosque Brown (Ft. Worth TX)
The Botticellis (San Francisco CA)
Boxcar Satan (San Antonio TX)
David Thomas Broughton (London UK-ENGLAND)
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (Chicago IL)
The Coathangers (Atlanta GA)
Sally Crewe & The Sudden Moves (Austin TX)
The Cute Lepers (Seattle WA)
The Cynics (Pittsburgh PA)
Dead Confederate (Athens GA)
Deer Tick (Providence RI)
Department of Eagles (Brooklyn NY)
Dexter Romweber Duo (Chappel Hill NC)
Diplomats of Solid Sound (Iowa City IA)
Julie Doiron (Sackville NB)
Earthless (San Diego CA)
Eat Skull (Portland OR)
Echo and The Bunnymen (Liverpool UK-ENGLAND)
Ecstatic Sunshine (Baltimore MD)
Efterklang (Copenhagen DENMARK)
The Emeralds (Yokohama JAPAN)
Endless Boogie (New York NY)
The Ettes (New York NY)
Explosions in the Sky (Austin TX)
Gary War (Brooklyn NY)
Howe Gelb (Tucson AZ)
Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs (United Kingdom GA)
Gram Rabbit (Yucca Valley CA)
Larkin Grimm (New York NY)
Harlem Shakes (New York NY)
HEALTH (Los Angeles CA)
Micah P. Hinson (Abilene TX)
Hopewell (Brooklyn NY)
Horse Feathers (Portland OR)
Jana Hunter (Baltimore MD)
I Love Math (Dallas TX)
Indian Jewelry (Houston TX)
The Intelligence (Portland OR)
King Khan & the Shrines (Berlin GERMANY)
Wayne Kramer (Detroit MI)
Magic Christian (San Francisco CA)
Magic Lantern (Long Beach CA)
Mahjongg (Chicago IL)
Max Tundra (London UK-ENGLAND)
Mayyors (Sacramento CA)
Mi Ami (San Francisco CA)
Mirah (Portland OR)
Monotonix (Tel Aviv ISRAEL)
Naked On the Vague (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Obits (Brooklyn NY)
Jack Oblivian and the Tennessee Tearjerkers (Memphis TN)
Tara Jane O'Neil (Portland OR)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (New York NY)
Palomar (Brooklyn NY)
The Paper Chase (Dallas TX)
Parenthetical Girls (Portland OR)
Ponytail (Baltimore MD)
Pretty & Nice (Boston MA)
Priestess (Montreal QC)
Primal Scream (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
Psychedelic Horseshit (Columbus OH)
Pterodactyl (Brooklyn NY)
Red Red Meat (Chicago IL)
Reigning Sound (Asheville NC)
Sandwitch (Columbus OH)
Sholi (San Francisco CA)
Sleep (Portland OR)
The Sonics (Seattle WA)
Starling Electric (Ann Arbor MI)
Stars Like Fleas (Brooklyn NY)
The Strange Boys (Austin TX)
Telepathe (Brooklyn NY)
Thomas Function (Huntsville AL)
Turbo Fruits (Nashville TN)
Vetiver (San Francisco CA)
Waco Brothers (Chicago IL)
Wild Beasts+ (Leeds UK-ENGLAND)
Wovenhand (Denver CO)
Funeral bands and obituaries…what fun!
Hey, it's almost time for Mardi Gras...which is, as you can imagine, not a very important holiday up here in Northern New England. That doesn't stop Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, though...they're on their way to New Orleans right now for the big party, with a quick stop in Philly. I wrote them up in this week's PW.
Revolutionary Snake Ensemble
Mon., Feb. 16, 8pm. $12. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. 215.222.1400. www.worldcafelive.com
Don’t be fooled by the masks, pharaoh headdresses and street-party antics, the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, from Boston, are a seriously skilled band of improvisers. Ken Field, who co-founded the group in 1990, has a long discography of experimental jazz solo releases. Still, he loves old New Orleans-style funeral marches, and his band is authentic enough to win repeat invitations from the Crescent City’s Krewe of Muses Mardi Gras parade. Last year’s Forked Tongue figured on nearly a dozen jazz-centric best-of lists, surely the only all-instrumental disc of 2008 to cover both Billy Idol and Ornette Coleman. (Jennifer Kelly)
Doesn’t this look like a blast?
Also, you might remember my going batshit last year over the Obits, who were, at that time, performing their second-ever show. (As Obits, I mean…members have been in bands for years, most notably Hot Snakes and Drive Like Jehu.) Well, look at these guys now, all grown up and on a big indie label. Check out Obits’ “Pine On” from the upcoming I Blame You, due out from Sub Pop on March 24.
Revolutionary Snake Ensemble
Mon., Feb. 16, 8pm. $12. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. 215.222.1400. www.worldcafelive.com
Don’t be fooled by the masks, pharaoh headdresses and street-party antics, the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, from Boston, are a seriously skilled band of improvisers. Ken Field, who co-founded the group in 1990, has a long discography of experimental jazz solo releases. Still, he loves old New Orleans-style funeral marches, and his band is authentic enough to win repeat invitations from the Crescent City’s Krewe of Muses Mardi Gras parade. Last year’s Forked Tongue figured on nearly a dozen jazz-centric best-of lists, surely the only all-instrumental disc of 2008 to cover both Billy Idol and Ornette Coleman. (Jennifer Kelly)
Doesn’t this look like a blast?
Also, you might remember my going batshit last year over the Obits, who were, at that time, performing their second-ever show. (As Obits, I mean…members have been in bands for years, most notably Hot Snakes and Drive Like Jehu.) Well, look at these guys now, all grown up and on a big indie label. Check out Obits’ “Pine On” from the upcoming I Blame You, due out from Sub Pop on March 24.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Mi Ami not Miami
I am very, very intrigued with the new album by Mi Ami, a SF-based percussion-heavy outfit that reprocesses soul and noise and afro-funk in what seems like a very cool way. (I've only heard a coupla tracks.) Their album Watersports is coming out on Touch & Go next week. Meanwhile, here's "New Guitar".
But oh my god, are they hard to google, since the search engine reads "mi ami" as "miami" and wants to give you the theme from Miami Vice. Which I have heard several times -- and maybe enough for ever -- already.
But oh my god, are they hard to google, since the search engine reads "mi ami" as "miami" and wants to give you the theme from Miami Vice. Which I have heard several times -- and maybe enough for ever -- already.
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Anti-Valentine's Day Mix
Lucy mentioned that she was making a Valentine's CD for someone that she maybe doesn't like so much anymore...which got me to thinking about all the twisted, sarcastic not-really-love songs there are, and how great they would sound on a mix.
So I made this one
The Anti-Valentine Mix
1. AC Newman “Changeling (Get Guilty)”
2. Anton Barbeau with the Bevis Frond, “I Remember Everything”
3. Love Story in Blood Red, “Please Why? (Short Stack)”
4. The Anderson Council, “Meghan Allison”
5. The Archie Bronson Outfit, “Dart for My Sweetheart”
6. Art Brut, “People in Love”
7. Good Shoes, “We Are Not the Same”
8. Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers, “Don’t Mess with Cupid”
9. The Reigning Sound, “We Repel Each Other”
10. CaUSE co-MOTION, “This Just Won’t Last”
11. Hell on Heels, “Dogs Records and Wine”
12. Aidan Moffat and the Best-Ofs, “Living with You Now”
13. Beulah, “If We Can Land a Man on the Moon,”
14. American Music Club, “The Dance”
15. Giant Sand, “The Desperate Kingdom of Love”
16. Barton Carroll, “Brooklyn Girl, You’re Going to be My Bride”
17. The Chapin Sisters, “Let Me Go”
18. I Love Math, “Some Bridges are for Burning”
19. The Insomniacs, “Leave”
20. Linda Perhacs, “Hey, Who Really Cares?”
21. The National, “Mistaken for Strangers”
22. The Old 97s, “Can’t Get a Line”
The link
So I made this one
The Anti-Valentine Mix
1. AC Newman “Changeling (Get Guilty)”
2. Anton Barbeau with the Bevis Frond, “I Remember Everything”
3. Love Story in Blood Red, “Please Why? (Short Stack)”
4. The Anderson Council, “Meghan Allison”
5. The Archie Bronson Outfit, “Dart for My Sweetheart”
6. Art Brut, “People in Love”
7. Good Shoes, “We Are Not the Same”
8. Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers, “Don’t Mess with Cupid”
9. The Reigning Sound, “We Repel Each Other”
10. CaUSE co-MOTION, “This Just Won’t Last”
11. Hell on Heels, “Dogs Records and Wine”
12. Aidan Moffat and the Best-Ofs, “Living with You Now”
13. Beulah, “If We Can Land a Man on the Moon,”
14. American Music Club, “The Dance”
15. Giant Sand, “The Desperate Kingdom of Love”
16. Barton Carroll, “Brooklyn Girl, You’re Going to be My Bride”
17. The Chapin Sisters, “Let Me Go”
18. I Love Math, “Some Bridges are for Burning”
19. The Insomniacs, “Leave”
20. Linda Perhacs, “Hey, Who Really Cares?”
21. The National, “Mistaken for Strangers”
22. The Old 97s, “Can’t Get a Line”
The link
The Gris Gris…live but not for long
The Gris Gris is Greg Ashley’s psych-garage-blues band, and they’ve made a couple of studio albums that sound, basically, like live recordings. (Fuzzy, loud, distorted.) So it probably makes sense that they would wind things up with a live album, recorded at the Creamery, which is where Ashley lives and works. It’s the kind of album you can get lost in, and not in a good way…it takes a couple of listens, maybe as many as five, to start making sense of it. But there’s something there definitely and it’s probably pretty amazing if you’re there. Unfortunately, you probably weren’t, and the Gris Gris is all over now…one good reason to check out Live at the Creamery on Birdman Records.
My full review is up now at Blurt.
This is “Apple Pie and Genocide”
I'm working on a kind of anti-Valentine's Day mix for Lucy and whoever else is interested...stay tuned.
My full review is up now at Blurt.
This is “Apple Pie and Genocide”
I'm working on a kind of anti-Valentine's Day mix for Lucy and whoever else is interested...stay tuned.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Weekend purchases…
Because what I really need in my life are more records, I bought a couple of things at the used CD store yesterday…and am enjoying them very much. Namely…
Souvlaki, Slowdive
Maybe the prettiest and softest of all the shoegazers…good Sunday morning music. Here’s “Allison”
S-T, Stone Roses
It really like a shame that all I had of this group was their much-inferior second album. This is “Made of Stone”
Repulsion Box, Sons & Daughters
Though I quite enjoyed This Gift, lots of people told me that, you know, they liked the earlier stuff better. So I thought I’d check out this CD out…it includes “Dance Me In”
What did you do this weekend?
Souvlaki, Slowdive
Maybe the prettiest and softest of all the shoegazers…good Sunday morning music. Here’s “Allison”
S-T, Stone Roses
It really like a shame that all I had of this group was their much-inferior second album. This is “Made of Stone”
Repulsion Box, Sons & Daughters
Though I quite enjoyed This Gift, lots of people told me that, you know, they liked the earlier stuff better. So I thought I’d check out this CD out…it includes “Dance Me In”
What did you do this weekend?
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Ty Segall...damn
Just checking out the WFMU heavily played list (and waiting for a big file to download) and I ran across this kicking video of Ty Segall playing "Pretty Baby." He's got a new record out on a label that John Dwyer (of the Coachwhips and the Oh Sees) runs called Castle Face...which I might have to check out now.
What do you think?
What do you think?
Friday, February 6, 2009
Which is the real 1980s band…and which isn’t?
I’ve got two reviews up at Blurt right now, both of bands that reek of the 1980s. One of them, the Zero Boys, comes by its influences the old-fashioned way…their fantastic only full-length, Vicious Circle was originally released in 1981 and has been reissued this week by Secretly Canadian. The other, the Pains at Being Pure at Heart, is a latter-day echo of fuzzy, noisy, Creation records-style pop, but quite good anyway.
The Zero Boys is just excellent, classic punk, leaning a little more to West Coast than East…but you could draw all kinds of links to the Ramones and Dead Boys, as well as TSOL, the Angry Samoans and the diLs if you really got going. My review is unusually hard to excerpt, but not bad, so if you’re curious, why not read the whole thing?
Here’s Zero Boy’s “Civilization’s Dying”
The Pains review is a little easier to chop into pieces. I said, “A reverb-heavy haze layers over insinuating, narcotic hooks that pull you in and wrap you in gauze. Sweetness disintegrates from the inside out, riven by a squealing squall, punctured by a pounding bass line, and yet these songs are, above all buoyed by melody. Think Jesus & Mary Chain, not the pop-song-hitting-a-buzz saw of ‘Upside Down’ but the damaged mellifluence of ‘Just Like Honey.’ The rest is here.
And Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s “Everything With You”
Oh, and since I mentioned “Just Like Honey,” let’s just all take a deep breath and remember what a great song it was.
My son has been smitten by Sugar's "If I Can't Change Your Mind"...which I have as part of a Creation Record sampler. But if any of you all want to share that first Sugar album or some Husker Du, it would be much appreciated.
The Zero Boys is just excellent, classic punk, leaning a little more to West Coast than East…but you could draw all kinds of links to the Ramones and Dead Boys, as well as TSOL, the Angry Samoans and the diLs if you really got going. My review is unusually hard to excerpt, but not bad, so if you’re curious, why not read the whole thing?
Here’s Zero Boy’s “Civilization’s Dying”
The Pains review is a little easier to chop into pieces. I said, “A reverb-heavy haze layers over insinuating, narcotic hooks that pull you in and wrap you in gauze. Sweetness disintegrates from the inside out, riven by a squealing squall, punctured by a pounding bass line, and yet these songs are, above all buoyed by melody. Think Jesus & Mary Chain, not the pop-song-hitting-a-buzz saw of ‘Upside Down’ but the damaged mellifluence of ‘Just Like Honey.’ The rest is here.
And Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s “Everything With You”
Oh, and since I mentioned “Just Like Honey,” let’s just all take a deep breath and remember what a great song it was.
My son has been smitten by Sugar's "If I Can't Change Your Mind"...which I have as part of a Creation Record sampler. But if any of you all want to share that first Sugar album or some Husker Du, it would be much appreciated.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Nels Cline
My friend Max sent me this video of Nels Cline playing "Impossible Germany" with Wilco...hey, he's pretty good. I should write something about him.
Another one for rock ‘n roll heaven…
Lux Interior of the Cramps died yesterday of heart problems, ending a long and crazed career that bridged punk and rockabilly, surf and horror movie theater. There’s a pretty good tribute up at Pitchfork.
“Bikini Girls with Machine Guns”
“Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?”
The squirrels have been at my pathetic internet connection again, and I can hardly even get email. (I had to try about ten times to post this. Why is www.blogger.com so bandwidth intensive?) My comments are also getting swallowed most of the time, so if you’re wondering why I didn’t hop onto Michael’s The Wedding post to say how brilliant it was, I did…it just didn’t take.
Anyway, onward…I wrote a 4000-word plus feature on the Cline brothers this week, which took up most of my reviewing time, so lots of catching up to do.
“Bikini Girls with Machine Guns”
“Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?”
The squirrels have been at my pathetic internet connection again, and I can hardly even get email. (I had to try about ten times to post this. Why is www.blogger.com so bandwidth intensive?) My comments are also getting swallowed most of the time, so if you’re wondering why I didn’t hop onto Michael’s The Wedding post to say how brilliant it was, I did…it just didn’t take.
Anyway, onward…I wrote a 4000-word plus feature on the Cline brothers this week, which took up most of my reviewing time, so lots of catching up to do.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
New mix
Hey, I've got some more tunes for you all to check out.
Tracks
1. Zero Boys, "Livin' in the 1980s"
2. Wax Museums "Safety in Numbers"
3. Eddy Current Supression Ring "Which Way to Go"
4. The Coathangers, "Stomp Stomp Stompin'"
5. Aidan Moffat and the Best-Ofs, "Big Blonde"
6. Mystery track (big commercial band, kind of nervous about tagging it...hope you, too, will enjoy it)
7. D. Rider, "Touchy"
8. Heavy Hands, "She Got It"
9. The Gris Gris, "Big Engine Nazi Kid Daydream"
10. Nels Cline, "Prayer Wheel"
11. Alex Cline "Clearing our Streams"
12. High Places, "Banana Slug/Cosmonaut"
13. Mirah, "Shells"
14. M. Ward (w/Lucinda Williams) "Oh Lonesome Me"
15. Loney Dear' "Everything Turns to You"
16. Wild Light, "Lawless River"
I might do some explication later...hard cases will like the first half best.
Tracks
1. Zero Boys, "Livin' in the 1980s"
2. Wax Museums "Safety in Numbers"
3. Eddy Current Supression Ring "Which Way to Go"
4. The Coathangers, "Stomp Stomp Stompin'"
5. Aidan Moffat and the Best-Ofs, "Big Blonde"
6. Mystery track (big commercial band, kind of nervous about tagging it...hope you, too, will enjoy it)
7. D. Rider, "Touchy"
8. Heavy Hands, "She Got It"
9. The Gris Gris, "Big Engine Nazi Kid Daydream"
10. Nels Cline, "Prayer Wheel"
11. Alex Cline "Clearing our Streams"
12. High Places, "Banana Slug/Cosmonaut"
13. Mirah, "Shells"
14. M. Ward (w/Lucinda Williams) "Oh Lonesome Me"
15. Loney Dear' "Everything Turns to You"
16. Wild Light, "Lawless River"
I might do some explication later...hard cases will like the first half best.
Hitting the highs
Got a little show preview of the Thrill Jockey band called High Places up today at Philadelphia Weekly…where I went all frustrated poet and said the band “filters calypso’s warmth through a Vaseline-smeared lens, its double-dutch skipping beats dissolving into dream-sequence masses of looped voices.”
Catch up on the whole preview and the other shows that you could see, if you lived in Philly, here.
And yes, I got fired from PW last fall and am tentatively, modestly back, so there.
You can see High Places for yourself if you live in certain cities on the Eastern Seaboard (and Canada), namely:
Feb 5 Philadelphia, PA Danger Danger Gallery w/Soft Circle
Feb 6 Northampton, MA Pearl Street Nightclub w/Soft Circle
Feb 8 Boston, MA Institute of Contemporary Art w/Soft Circle
Feb 9 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern w/Soft Circle
Feb 10 Hamilton, ON Pepper Jack Cafe w/Soft Circle
Feb 11 Buffalo, NY Soundlab w/Soft Circle
Feb 12 Princeton, NJ The Terrace Club w/Soft Circle
Feb 13 New York, NY The New Museum w/Grouper
Who knows, I might turn up at that Northampton show.
Here’s High Places doing their thing in Brooklyn.
That mix I promised a couple of days ago…I’m working on it, sorry.
Catch up on the whole preview and the other shows that you could see, if you lived in Philly, here.
And yes, I got fired from PW last fall and am tentatively, modestly back, so there.
You can see High Places for yourself if you live in certain cities on the Eastern Seaboard (and Canada), namely:
Feb 5 Philadelphia, PA Danger Danger Gallery w/Soft Circle
Feb 6 Northampton, MA Pearl Street Nightclub w/Soft Circle
Feb 8 Boston, MA Institute of Contemporary Art w/Soft Circle
Feb 9 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern w/Soft Circle
Feb 10 Hamilton, ON Pepper Jack Cafe w/Soft Circle
Feb 11 Buffalo, NY Soundlab w/Soft Circle
Feb 12 Princeton, NJ The Terrace Club w/Soft Circle
Feb 13 New York, NY The New Museum w/Grouper
Who knows, I might turn up at that Northampton show.
Here’s High Places doing their thing in Brooklyn.
That mix I promised a couple of days ago…I’m working on it, sorry.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Horses now, mixes later...
I'm working on a new mix for you...hope you like it, should be up by this evening.
Meantime, perhaps you'll enjoy this mp3 by a Belgian duo called Soy Un Caballo (I'm a Horse)...it's just been covered by Tunng, and I don't have the cover, but here's the original. It's called "Robin".
Meantime, perhaps you'll enjoy this mp3 by a Belgian duo called Soy Un Caballo (I'm a Horse)...it's just been covered by Tunng, and I don't have the cover, but here's the original. It's called "Robin".
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