Monday, October 31, 2005

October 2005 Archive

SAY HI TO YOUR TOURMATES


This just arrived in the mailbox over the weekend and since we're both big fans we encourage you to check out both bands if they happen to come through your part of the universe. I for one hope to be at the Mercury Lounge show with Dios Malos. See you there! (Josh)

We are giddy with excitement to announce that beginning next week we'll be supporting Nada Surf on their first North American tour for The Weight Is A Gift, just released on Seattle' Barsuk records. Despite us being in close negotiations with Cirque du Soleil, as consultants for some technical aspect of our live show, we've decided it would be best if we just bring the rock. So the rock, indeed, is just what we'll be bringing (Say Hi to Your Mom)

10-04-05 @ The Black Cat -- Washington, DC; with Nada Surf
10-05-05 @ Theatre Of Living Arts -- Philadelphia, PA; with Nada Surf
10-06-05 @ The Bowery Ballroom -- NYC; with Nada Surf
10-08-05 @ Paradise Rock Club -- Boston, MA; with Nada Surf
10-09-05 @ Brass City Records -- Waterbury, CT; Free Instore (4pm)
10-10-05 @ Pearl Street -- Northampton, MA; with Nada Surf
10-11-05 @ La Sala Rossa -- Montreal, CAN; with Nada Surf
10-12-05 @ Lee's Palace -- Toronto, CAN ; with Nada Surf
10-13-05 @ The Beachland Ballroom -- Cleveland, OH; with Nada Surf
10-14-05 @ The Metro -- Chicago, IL; with Nada Surf
10-15-05 @ 400 Bar -- Minneapolis, MN; with Nada Surf
10-19-05 @ Neumos -- Seattle, WA; with Nada Surf
10-20-05 @ The Aladdin Theatre -- Portland, OR; with Nada Surf
10-21-05 @ Bimbo's 365 Club -- San Francisco, CA; with Nada Surf
10-22-05 @ The El Rey Theatre -- Los Angeles, CA; with Nada Surf
10-23-05 @ The Casbah -- San Diego, CA; with Nada Surf
10-24-05 @ Kilby Court -- Salt Lake City, UT
10-25-05 @ Benders Tavern -- Denver. CO
10-27-05 @ The Conservatory -- Oklahoma City, OK
10-28-05 @ The Cavern -- Dallas, TX
10-29-05 @ Emo's -- Austin, TX
10-31-05 @ Red Star Bar -- Baton Rouge, LA
11-01-05 @ Duke CoffeeHouse -- Durham, NC
11-02-05 @ Relative Theory Records -- Norfolk, VA
11-03-05 @ Live on WMUC -- College Park, MD; (4pm)
11-03-05 @ DC9 -- Washington, DC
11-04-05 @ The Mercury Lounge -- NYC; with Dios Malos
11-06-05 @ AS220 -- Providence, RI
11-07-05 @ Great Scott -- Allston, MA

Some more details about each show can be found here:
http://www.sayhitoyourmom.com

Posted: Mon - October 3, 2005 at 01:39 AM

STAGES AND STATES


i'm your classic big baby when it comes to being sick and so my first post-summer bug made for a fairly rotten weekend. being sick always seems like a good time to recognize the solitude that marks ones surroundings. and the next domino in that series is the ideal melancholic music. Bodies and Minds is the new album from toronto-based Greak Lake Swimmers and it suit these few days where past lovers were on the peripherals, strangely coinciding with the aforementioned mood. the songs sound like nostalgia and so i guess it's not unusual for them to take you there. much like on their previous album where i immediately latched onto one song ("Moving Pictures, Silent Films") i quickly found a song on the new album that just seems right and so i'm sharing. perhaps a trip to see the New Pornographers tonight will bring with it a sunnier disposition and i'll drop something upbeat on you for tomorrow's live track. (Jason)

Great Lake Swimmers - "Various Stages "
www.greatlakeswimmers.com

Posted: Mon - October 3, 2005 at 01:41 AM

LOOK INTO THE CAMERA


a year ago seems like forever ago. i spent a majority of last fall listening to Camera Obscura. they're currently in the studio recording a new album and recently relaunched a splendid looking website. they're recording in sweden and if i recall correctly the album is being produced by the same fella who did the Concretes record last year. i sorta cheated on the live track aspect today and am delivering you a crisp sounding Peel Session track. recording will wrap up soon and the group will be returning to glasgow to play a John Peel tribute gig on the 13th, the anniversary of the last broadcast of Radio 1's finest dj (who was a big fan of CO). (Jason)

Camera Obscura - "Before You Cry" (Peel Session)
http://www.camera-obscura.net/

Posted: Tue - October 4, 2005 at 12:22 AM

KATYDID


so the show i went to on monday was really good. the New Pornographers played the majority of their new album and two encores, with a friend of mine making the spot-on observation that Neko Case looked like she raided Stevie Nicks wardrobe. the opening act was victoria, bc trio Immaculate Machine, featuring Kathryn Calder, the newest face in the New Pornographers and apparently frontman A.C. Newman's long-lost niece. they were a great opening band in that of the three groups playing, they easily had the best interaction with the crowd. someone next to made the interesting suggestion they sounded like a canadian Modern English. they have an album named Ones and Zeroes on Mint records. (Jason)

Immaculate Machine - "Phone Number "
http://www.immaculatemachine.com/

Posted: Wed - October 5, 2005 at 01:09 AM

THIRTY-TWO SOFTLY FOCUSED, BRIGHTLY COLORED EYES



Ignore the fact that I (and my brother I'm sure) have had an indie rock crush on Petra Hayden since the early 90's- The Decemberists are one of the more enthralling live acts out on the road today. I just returned from what was the first of two shows here in New York City this week at Webster Hall. [A sidenote: Webster Hall is a really shitty venue in my opinion. I don't get it, it doesn't seem much bigger than the Bowery Ballroom and the sound sucks. The Decemberists could be selling out the Hammerstein Ballroom by now!]

I didn't decide to got to the show until last night (I had been protesting the high costs of shows of late) but upon hearing that Glasgowians Sons and Daughters would be opening, I ponied up my 31 dollars (after surcharges). They were wonderful to say the least. The little lady fronting the band could eat Karen O. for breakfast if she didn't scare her away first with the ferocious banshee yell she displayed tonight. The gentlemen lead, equally charming, was unfortunately faced with a crowd of quiet blank stares when asked if anyone liked the Ronettes! Shame on you kids! I demand you all to go home and download "Be My Baby"! Anyway, great set by S&D's. In case you haven't heard them yet, I'll throw a sample down below.

The Decemberists came on about 30 minutes later after treating the crowd to Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf narrated by David Bowie. They've done the same thing at previous shows I've attended and a friend of mine even managed to track down a copy for me. It's a bunch of fun. Colin, Chris, Jenny and the gang opened up with "California One Youth & Beauty Brigade" and continued with one wonderful song after another: I recall "July July", "Los Angeles I'm Yours", "16 Military Wives", "the Sporting Life", "Eli The Barrowboy", "Engine Driver", "Bus Mall", "The Legionnaire's Lament", "Myla Goldberg" and perhaps "From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea)" (there were more but yes it was rather Picaresque leaning). At one point Colin rested his crack team of musicians and brought out John Wesley Harding to sing a song about Mary and Joesph (I'm not kidding) and retained his services as a tambourine man (pun intended for you Bob Dylan fans) for the following song. They closed with a version of the Chimbley Sweep that had the whole audience collapsed on the ground at one point and encored with a participatory version of the Mariner's Revenge song that I'm sure sent everyone home in smiles.

I had a lot of fun. It would have been impossible in my mind to improve upon their performance at the Bowery Ballroom awhile back when they came out and encored with the entirety of "The Tain" but this was still a wonderful time. The night really proved to me that this band is really fucking huge now and I'll tell you that they wholly deserve it. Their music and stage banter is always humorous, whimsically theatrical and entertaining. Colin also seems to genuinely love his band's large audience of fans- several of them very attractive women who fawn and faint over him. Speaking of which, there was an odd threesome in front of me throughout the show- two guys a girl and she'd be kissing one while the other dude kept rubbing her ass while everyone around them just shook their heads. If anyone knows what was going on there, please fill me in. Also if anyone has any great live tracks of this or any show they'd like to share with us please let us know. (Josh)

Sons & Daughters- "Checked "
The Decemberists- "Human Behavior " (Bjork cover from some Japanese Album)

Posted: Wed - October 5, 2005 at 02:06 AM

ABOUT A GIRL


Live It Out is the new record from Metric that was released this week. in 2003 the band had settled into LA (after leaving their native canada and a brief jaunt in NY where they were locally written off as the less spectacular roommates (literally) of the Yeah,Yeah, Yeahs) and released their debut album, one that would land them on just about every "bands to watch in 2004" list published. the year and the electro-pop scene they were lumped into came and went. in that time the group packed it up and moved back to were they started...toronto. soon after they began working on this new album which is worth your listening. i can see how some may skeptically write off the album as passé, new wave-influenced dance pop, but i'd argue that the albums sound is much heavier than anything that might have lit up indie clubs in the past few years. Emily Haines vocals first won me over in her contributions to Stars and Broken Social Scene (though she was ultimately overshadowed by the emergence of that groups other female vocalist, Feist). one of the all too obvious downsides of the music industry hype machine is we put time limits on our expectations for a band to break and as a result, bands like Metric, who deliver in talent, are quickly lost in the shuffle. this is one for us patient folks. (Jason)

Metric - "Poster of a A Girl "
http://www.ilovemetric.com

Posted: Thu - October 6, 2005 at 12:10 AM

HAIL TO THE KING BABY



Hey there. Another night, another show. This time around I went to see The King of France who were opening up for Robbers on High Street, both bands recommended to me by my brother. In my opinion Robbers sound a little too much like the Strokes but The King of France, there's something I really liked. Unlike the musically competent band to come on before the King (I can't recall their name), these guys have a good frontman who can sing. I especially liked their song about "the Man". Their sound is swanky and melodic and also as Jay said last month "charming". It's also the sound of potential. (Josh)

Click here to see Jay's previous post and MP3 along with some of their upcoming show dates again so YOU can check them out!

Posted: Thu - October 6, 2005 at 12:08 AM

ENGLISH TAILORED


this past summer saw the release of the Back Room by the uk's Editors, which finally collecting, among new tracks, the three singles that had the press and music blogs raving about the group earlier in the year. the birmingham quartet formed a few years back while attending school to study music technology at stafford. the group finally made it's stateside debut last month, curiously opening for Maximo Park and the Features in nashville, tn at a gig celebrating the 155th birthday of jack daniels. it may be awhile before you see them here again as the group is back home prepping for european tourdates with franz ferdinand. also, while admittedly silly, i will also nominate them as the best dressed band of 2005. it's not too often i shuffle through press photos and wonder where a band shops. (Jason)

the Editors - "Blood "

Posted: Fri - October 7, 2005 at 12:47 AM

ORANGE THE NEW BLUE?


New Comes and Goes is the new Oranger record, offering a new line-up and the groups first stab at not recording on their own. a lot of people may have forgotten about this san francisco-based band because after the excellent debut The Quiet Vibration Land, which had more of psych-pop slant, their next album was barely distributed and contained a bonus disc of thirty-something questionable experimental tracks that followed a sadly under-looked Graham Parsons-inflicted sound.

here's a group that was pre-pegged as something special when they opened for Pavement out of the gates and would be called by some the hopefuls in succeeding Beulah as the current sf kings of pop. that's some lofty critical praise for a band relegated to playing opening act on tour. regardless, the new album has me quite excited to the group live this week. it's the type of guitar pop you just know plays well live. they'll be opening for another group of critically worshipped pop stars that seemed to exist moreso in the writings and muses of critics and fellow muscians, namely the Poises (who i listened to like, uh, ten years ago). here is the first track off that new Oranger album. (Jason)

Oranger - "Crooked in the Weird of the Catacombs "
http://www.oranger.net/

Posted: Mon - October 10, 2005 at 01:45 AM

AN EXPLOSIVE LIVE SHOW


this week the Temporary Residence label is releasing an album from Explosions in the Sky that was originally distrubuted on cd-r prior to their breakout 2001 album (Those Who Tell the Thruth Shall Die...). thus the inspiration for me to break out some Explosions in the Sky for today's live track. this texas-based quartet built a following on the strength of their live show and hopefully the seemlessness of this recording will display at least the aural aspects behind that execution. (Jason)

Explosions in the Sky - "The Only Moment We Were Alone" (live)

Posted: Mon - October 10, 2005 at 11:29 PM

A SONG I WROTE


in the four months the website's been up i've been very good about not flooding each and every week with cover tunes. they are a guilty pleasure of both my brother and i and we have quite a collection. if you really want to win me over, you'll dig up covers of obscure one-hit wonders from the eighties. such is the inspiration for todays listing. i've already covered my fascination with scotland, land of half my all-time favorite bands. mid-eighties glasgow gave us Strawberry Switchblade and the hit "Since Yesterday." despite being part of a flourishing scene that gave birth to JAMC, Aztec Camera, Orange Juice, the Pastels and Primal Scream, Rose McDowall and Jill Bryson never really found an enduring niche for their mish mash of bubblegum pop and new wave. perhaps it was the strange (at least to me) day-glo goth look the band displayed live. anyway, in 1999 san francisco four-piece Wussom*Pow put their twee pop meets shoegaze spin on it and i played it repeatedly on my radio show. a few years back Boyracer also took on the same tune on their Girlracer ep. for good measure i have also included a link to the S.S. video for the single, which is apparently easy to find because the group, despite having one album, had a bit of a revival in japan during the nineties. one last bit of strange trivia for you...Rose would later go to perform with Nurse with Wound and Current 93. (Jason)

Wussom*Pow - "Since Yesterday "
Boyracer - "Since Yesterday "

Strawberry Switchblade - Since Yesterday video

P.S. the title of todays post comes from the film the squid and the whale, which features it own unique "cover" (Josh)

Posted: Tue - October 11, 2005 at 12:03 AM

LET'S PRETEND WE'RE UNBUNNY


my favorite band that next to no one has seemingly heard of aside from a few friends is Unbunny. at one point i made the drive with a few of those friends to california just to see Jarid Del Deo play live. Del Deo has a disntictive, higher pitched delivery that may account for the minor fanship his group has found in the indiepop world, but his music tends to make me think back moreso to an On the Beach-era Neil Young. the top notch songwriting can be humerous, charming and a bit saddening all at once. Unbunny has a new limited edition EP, entitled the Typist, released last week. it's part of Important Record's "Arts & Crafts" series of homemade-packaged albums. i was able to get my hands on a cd-r of unreleased and rare tracks a few years back when i worked on one of the Unbunny records. thought i'd break out one of those tracks for today as well as my favorite Unbunny song ("Wonder Woman"), which was off of the debut Unbunny record. (Jason)

Unbunny - "I'm No Good "
"Wonder Woman "

www.unbunny.com

Posted: Thu - October 13, 2005 at 12:42 AM

BASEMENT TAPES


i was listening to somafm's indiepop rocks at work and this song came on and i quickly fell in love with it. it reminded me of Teenage Fanclub doing their best Byrds impersonation, which of course is a very good thing. i ran home and researched the band because i had never heard of them. all told, their wasn't much to uncover. it appears as if they're from minneapolis, have an ep (that was more computer-obsessed music than pop) and a full length entitled Transistor that came out last year and which contains this song. other than that, it appears they keep a low profile, led by Vince Caro and a mixture of line-ups that tend to play a lot of tribute shows in the twin cites area. (Jason)

Basement Apartment - "Into My World "
http://www.basementapartment.net

Posted: Fri - October 14, 2005 at 11:35 AM

POPULAR DEMAND


Nada Surf were quite primed to be your typical one-hit-wonder with the tune "Popular" considering the breaking alternative music landscape of the mid-nineties. unfortunately as trends changed the group was left for dead, like many, by their label after their second album. something that's been relatively unnoticed is that each of their albums since have been increasingly better. the group was rediscovered by barsuk records some five years after their hit tune and delivered Let Go, relocating the band to the gentler confines of the indie underground. The Weight Is A Gift is their latest album, once again on the Barsuk label and even produced by chris walla of Deathcab. the easily accessible alterna-pop that had this band snatched up by a major so early on is ironically even more so noticiable, then again that's sorta been the secret to the success of the aforementioned producer's band. in fact a number of similarities could be drawn, especially with the sheen of this type of pop likely having that either love it or hate it effect on folks.

Nada Surf - "What is Your Secret "

Posted: Mon - October 17, 2005 at 10:20 AM

"DON" JUAN MACLEAN


forsaking the live track this week for the band i saw live last night. i made the trek up to boulder yesterday, partly to see LCD Soundsystem and Juan Maclean, partly to catch up with an old radio friend who is on the tour. while old friends is certainly nostalgia, there was a bit of unplanned nostalgia as well. Juan Maclean started polishing his music chops years ago in Six Finger Satellite, which was "the" band in providence when i was growing up. following the culmination of the bands outlandish behavior and drug indulgences, Juan disappeared to NH to clean up. the DFA label brought him back into the music-making fold, with a surprisingly danceable version of the chaotic SFS. the little surprise from last night, probably even more so for Juan and feeding into that sense of nostalgia was that J. Adams from SFS showed up at the show and apparently lives out here in colorado now. i felt like a kiddish fan again as i stood by him during the LCD set and thinking i so remember you from like ten years ago.

the show as a whole suffered a bit from the sound at the Fox which has surprisingly dropped several notches. still the groups managed to get the front of the stage crowded with people willing to dance it up for a pair of hour long sets. i think a lot of people can familiar with LCD and were pleasantly surprised by the opener as The Juan Maclean is a no-brainer tour compliment to electronified punk-funk of James Murphy and friends.

The Juan Maclean - "Give Me Every Little Thing "

Posted: Tue - October 18, 2005 at 02:14 PM

THE MORNING AFTER


Last night I attended the sold-out My Morning Jacket show at Webster Hall in NYC. Along for the ride was Mr. Adam Dorn, AKA MOCEAN WORKER , the 13th person I asked if they wanted to go. No offense to Mr. Dorn but I started with a long list of single women who obviously don't consider me dating material.

I certainly wouldn't mind a date with opener Kathleen Edwards. She and her excellent backing band of crack Canadian musicians delivered a twangy high energy performance while ever so modestly preparing us for the Jacket. I look forward to their promise to all grow mustaches.

My Morning Jacket came on just after 10pm. I must be honest that I've never heard much more than a song or two from the band. I had read in several publications that the previously "rock out till our instruments fall apart" band was now experimenting with samplers and other effects to sound more dynamic and that this may have been the result of losing a basketball game to VHS or BETA. The result in my opinion reminds me of The Who's It's Hard and specifically the song Eminence Front where Pete Townshend's musical ambitions bore an army of mostly undistinguished layers of synth. This is all not so surprising as they worked on the album with producer John Leckie (Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Radiohead).

The band opened up with three or four of the tracks off new album Z before falling into a long rocking jam session that featured unintelligible lyrics and a few out of tune instruments. Strangely, I didn't mind it too much. The drummer, an acquaintance of Adam's who by-the-way was sweet talking John Mayer (strangely not surrounded by an army of 16 year old girls and their mothers), is an awesome force of hair and drumming. They've certainly earned their cult-like following.

Finally, many thanks to Brian Hughes who set us up with tickets to the show tonight when he had his wisdom teeth pulled. Send him all your drugs....care of me.

MMJ tours throughout the end of the year and will be opening up for The Black Crowes at Madison Square Garden on New Years Eve. (Josh)


Posted: Wed - October 19, 2005 at 01:22 PM

NOTES TO MUSIC BLOGGERS


1. Fiery Furnaces suck.
2. Enough about your adolescent obsession with Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, etc...
3. ...and your near-pedophilic fixation of Lindsey Lohan
4. Posting totally obscure, nearly unlistenable bands no one would listen to in their right mind does not make you cool!
5. Stop copying me!

Posted: Wed - October 19, 2005 at 01:29 PM

I WANT YOU TO DOWNLOAD ME


listening to california's the Arrogants is like following the path of several recent eras of u.k. pop music. at the foundation is an ethereal pop sound that harkens back to the early eighties and the dream-pop of the Cocteau Twins. pushing a few years ahead, one of the more obvious influences is that of the Sarah records twee pop. you can wrap up the sound with a touch of the guitar pop that happened when bands like Lush transmuted the shoegaze scene into something a bit more catchy, but still with airy layers. it's quite a comparison, but i'm fairly certain if you give it a listen you'll in fact find traces of all of it. the group has a new album out entitled You've Always Known When Best To Say Goodbye, containing a rather grandiose 23 tracks and available through www.tweekitten.com. i'd also recommending looking for the groups phenomenal debut ep, Your Simple Beauty, on Shelflife records, which was one of many records that shaped my pop-loving, post-college, post-break-up year that was 2000. (Jason)

additional mp3 are available on the bands website.

the Arrogants - "I Want You "
http://www.arrogants.com

Posted: Thu - October 20, 2005 at 01:41 AM

REMEMBER


how does the music world just cease to remember a band like Satisfact amidst a climate that has embraced, for three years or so going now, anything that sounds remotely eighties? especially with the popularity of Modest Mouse, you'd expect to hear more about drummer Jeremiah Green's other old band or something. frontman Matt Steinke was also in the criminally under-looked Mocket, so perhaps he was destined for obscurity. the Unwanted Sounds of Satisfact was released in 1996 on the then up and coming Up Records. it recommendable top to bottom. it contains the synth-heavy sound of agitated androids making post-punk music. you could have this band open for Interpol and the crowd would go apeshit i bet. two albums followed after the debut, though neither touched what i think is one of the more underrated albums of 1996. whether you're going dancing this weekend or blowing off some steam from the work week, this should help you get started.

Satisfact - "Dysfunction "

Posted: Fri - October 21, 2005 at 01:52 AM

Saturday, October 01, 2005

September 2005 Archive

FEAR OF COMPARISON


today we have a group of teenagers from manchester who have a band named Fear of Music and who put out an ep on the upstart uk label Blowout back in april. (and if you go to record stores looking for it, they will undoubtedly tell you that you want the mediocre Ben Folds side-project Fear of Pop and of course you don't). it's a bit unpolished, but enjoyably abrasive. many of the reviewers discovering their 6-ong ep here in the states are comparing it to an early Pixes or Sonic Youth. the more i listen to the ep, the more i think these guys need to and will become huge. they remind me of when Ash were mere teenagers themselves, putting out something with a punk-like aesthetic that you could also see one day ending up blaring over the speakers of a large, packed venue.

Fear of Music - "Strange Kind of Terror"

Posted: Thu - September 1, 2005 at 12:25 AM

RECORD HAUL


I'm naming today national- no make that INTERNATIONAL record shopping appreciation day. I just returned from my trip with a short stack myself including the newest albums by Michael Penn, Son and Daughters and I AM KLOOT as well as a wonderful 2000 reissue of Harry Nilsson's Nilsson Sings Newman and Kristen Hersh's Hips and Makers which I wore out on cassette. I admit I don't buy my albums in a store as much as I used to because of Amazon.com but it's hard to say no when ever you see the used bins at Amoeba Records in LA, Berkley and especially San Francisco. Also, the Virgin MegaStore has a great import section and does an admirable job of making the albums of emerging artist affordable. Record shopping in London was a particular joy of mine. there are tons of wonderful used record stores there-I even found a used copy of the original release of Belle and Sebastian's Tigermilk! Then there are the Rough Trade shops which were expensive but a great place to get the pulse of what was good. Anyway, I'll share a helping of what I picked up below.

Record appreciation is also reader appreciation day so please let us know what you just picked up or where you like to find your hidden gems in the comments section below. This website is about sharing what you're digging so spread the love.

I AM KLOOT: "Avenue of Hope "
Kristen Hersh: "Beestung "
OK Go: "The Love Cats " (Cure cover)
Harry Nilsson: "Caroline "

Posted: Fri - September 2, 2005 at 01:34 AM

LIKE A POPCORN MOVIE


i've never been much of a summer person. i love the fall weather and sights. the two things i have enjoyed about summers are movie blockbusters and summer jams. movie season was noticeably weak, thought i did enjoy the new Batman as well as Wedding Crashers. as far as my summer jam...well according to my itunes, the most played song in the last month on my computer doesn't even have competition. then again people from my work could even tell you what it is because they're sick of hearing it. so yeah...alot of people were into that Ted Leo covering Kelly Clarkson tune from several months ago. for me...it's been about this idol-songstress meets American Analog Set mash-up. i hope you all had nice summers or at least a quiet one like me. let us know what your summer jam was.

K. Clarkson vs. American Analog Set - "Since U Been Hard to Find "

Posted: Mon - September 5, 2005 at 03:24 AM

THE ACID HOUSE RULES


one of my all-time favorite pop songs is "Heaven's Just A Kiss Away" from the Acid House Kings and they are the topic of todays post. the secret of Swedish pop music has become far from a secret with indiepop fans that have uncovered the Cardigans, the Concretes, Starlet and AHK "side-projects" Club 8. the Legends, and Red Sleeping Beauty. perhaps it's all those project that provide that the band has only put out three full-lengths since their formation in 1992. the third of those is set for release next week and while i admit that my tastes aren't quite as twee as when i was in college radio, i still love this band and listen to them fairly often. thus my excitement that there's a new album. the first 1000 copies of their new album "Sing Along With..." includes a karaoke dvd. apparently the group is planning some sort of karaoke contest, which would be interesting to hear the result of. i've included a link to their website in case you want to see where that goes. here are two tracks from the new album to compensate for that fact that you will never get to hear my karaoke versions. as for the aforementioned "all-time favorite pop song," the album with that tune was repressed not too too long ago and i'll leave it to you to hunt that down and ensure you that if you love pop music, it's still a must-have album in my book.

Acid House Kings - "Tonight Is Forever "
"This Heart Is A Stone "
http://www.acidhousekings.com/

Posted: Tue - September 6, 2005 at 10:21 PM

HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN


Hey everyone. Hope you had a relaxing Labor Day. As many of you know I was supposed to be heading down to New Orleans at the end of the month and well that simply isn't going to happen now. My eyes have remained glued to CNN for many days now and I can't always seem to summon the words to explain what I am seeing or thinking. Luckily we have some people in this world who are a bit more eloquent than I. Today we have a exclusive track dedicated to the people of the city of New Orleans (as well as those affected everywhere by Hurricane Katrina) sent to us from our friend Mocean Worker, a talented and funny guy with a big heart and a unique view of current events. He explains the inspiration for his track below:

"I was so moved by the pure emotion and anger of Mayor Ray Nagin's words that I was moved to write a track about what's going on down in NEW ORLEANS. Aretha Franklin spelling out r.e.s.p.e.c.t and Mahalia Jackson singing about "her god being real" were a no brainer. The people of New Orleans were just treated with no respect. I hope heads roll in the Bush administration over this , they are slippery folks. We cant let them slink out of this one. be well Mowo."

Check it out:

Mocean Worker: "NO, La, Ain't Right Tonight (Respect) "

P.S. To make donations to the Red Cross click here .

Posted: Tue - September 6, 2005 at 01:17 AM

JOSE CAN YOU HEAR


on the rare occasion deception can be a good thing. take for example José González: while his parents are Argentinean and you may see his name and think that puzzle piece fits, he was in fact born and raised in sweden. now sweden probably has you thinking he makes polished pop music. why just yesterday we had some of that. José González's music is actually a bit more folky in nature with a touch of classical guitar. now you may be thinking "i've never heard of this fellow," he must be fairly unknown. in fact González is a top ten artist in some places in europe, recieving comparisons to Nick Drake in the british press while this album has taken two years to reach the u.s. (despite a wealth of positive reviews). some of you may recall this song featured in the OC last year. you can find a few more mp3s from González's album Veneer on the parasol website as the album is being released here on hidden agenda records.

Jose Gonzales - "Crosses "
http://www.parasol.com

Posted: Wed - September 7, 2005 at 11:20 PM

I HEARD YOU GOT ACTION


I just made this mix for a friend of mine in California but I hope that you might also enjoy it. It's dedicated to everyone out there who can't get a date while their friend keeps telling them all about their string of bad ones! -Josh

01. I Can See For Miles by The Who
02. Born in the '70s by Ed Harcourt
03. Over My Shoulder by I Am Kloot
04. There Is an End by The Greenhornes & Holly Golightly
05. Baby C'mon by Stephen Malkmus
06. Walter Reed by Michael Penn
07. If I Handle You With Care by Trembling Blue Stars
08. Dilaudid by The Mountain Goats
09. Burn That Broken Bed by Iron & Wine and Calexico
10. My Home is the Sea by matt sweeney and bonnie prince billy
11. Iron Woman by Devin Davis
12. Today Has Been Ok by Emiliana Torrini
13. Angle Mort by Les Breastfeeders
14. You Love Me by Kimya Dawson
15. How Can I Tell You (Cat Stevens cover) by Gary Jules
16. To Know That You Need Me by biirdie
17. Dignity and Shame by Crooked Fingers
18. Without You by Archer Prewitt
19. Caroline by Harry Nilsson
20. A Jealous Heart Is A Heavy Heart by Damien Jurado

Posted: Fri - September 9, 2005 at 02:16 AM

BY PROVIDENCE


this one's really from the archives, a 1994 compilation entitled A Bitter Pill To Swallow that features bands performing in providence, ri at that time. a few people may have better luck recalling it's follow-up compilation, Repopulation Program on load records. still there's number of good tracks on here from bands long forgotten even by those who were around to see them. Small Factory and Six Finger Satellite may be the only recognizable names, although i still fondly recall some of the bands including Scarce, Von Ryans Express, Ameobic Ensemble, Ashley Von Hurter and the Haters, and the (Amazing) Royal Crowns.

i chose tracks from Scarce, who had a brief moment in the major label spotlight, though disbanded following a tragic near-fatal brain hemorrhage of it's lead singer Chick Graning and then Pollenate, featuring Jesse Blatz who later formed the pop band The Fly Seville.

Pollenate - "Can't Remember "
Scarce - "Something "

Posted: Mon - September 12, 2005 at 01:10 AM

SENIORS DAY


the new album from Junior Senior has been making the blog scene for several weeks now with the message that the album is good, every much as fun as the previous and apparently there are no definative u.s. release plans yet. i'll further the sentiment and admit i'm a little surprised because i had heard the the duo in commercials and even on video games in the past few years. anyway, here's another song from the new album. perhaps with us blogs out there keeping your best interests in heart, you'll have the whole album in time.

Junior Senior - "Dance Chance Romance "
http://juniorsenior.com/

Posted: Thu - September 15, 2005 at 12:43 PM

LIVE ALOUD


live track tuesdays are fairly random as i have an extensive folder of live stuff and just look for something that makes me go "oh hey, i like that song." in fact you can always feel free to make requests in the comments section. one can never completely guarantee the sound quality as a lot it was recorded by fans. i used to record shows on a pre-ipod era mp3 player myself. i have three different live versions of todays track, probably because it's my favorite Pinback song, and this is the cleanest albeit quietest. the group has a lot of live material available, especially because they'll usually have self-arranged, live eps for sale every tour. they played here back in june, but i was feeling too lazy to drive up to boulder.

Pinback - "Fortress " (live)
http://www.pinback.com/

Posted: Thu - September 15, 2005 at 12:41 PM

ELOHIM IS A HEBREW WORD RELATED TO DEITY, BUT WHOSE EXACT SIGNIFICANCE IS OFTEN DISPUTED*


i've turned on a few of my friends this year onto Real Niggery Vol. 1, a Nick Catchdubs "mixtape" of music by poet/screenwriter/MC Saul Williams, which was available for download in its entirety on a few websites. i had briefly recalled when William's debut was hyped as a sure-fire hit back in 2001 after collaborating with acts such as The Fugees, Erykah Badu, KRS-1 and De La Soul and even saw him on MTV before he sort of just faded...from my eyes at least. well as i was digging through the vaults of my older albums recently, i found this tune on an EP of the same title from 1999 and was like "eh." i have so many albums, sometimes i don't even know what i have. enjoy and have a nice weekend.

Saul Williams - "Elohim (1972)"
http://www.saulwilliams.com/

*

Posted: Fri - September 16, 2005 at 01:02 AM

BETTER LIVING THROUGH MP3


on the screen-saver of my work computer in bright green letters against a mismatched sky-blue background scrawls the words "better can't make your life better." considering the amount of country music and bad eighties tunes that pollute some areas of the office, i would never expect anyone to get the reference. it just seems like an appropriate mantra given my job and finally making decent money affords me a better lifestyle only theory. thus lies the inspiration for todays live tuesday track.

the Lilys - "Better Can't Make Your Life Better "

Posted: Mon - September 19, 2005 at 09:37 PM

FOR ALL THE SCREAMING CHILDREN


Briefly in the midst of all the news coming out of New Orleans, I came across a news clipping that said that Alex Chilton had gone missing in the city during the hurricane and could be presumed dead. It later turned out he had been rescued by a helicopter and that furthermore his old band, Big Star, have a new album coming out for the first time in over, well, a lot of years! Often referred to as the quintessential American power pop band, Big Star flamed out in the late 70's after some inter-band arguing and general frustration with the music industry, but not without inspiring a ton of musicians in their wake, like the Replacements (who famously never travelled far with out a little Big Star).

While looking for news about this new album I ended up at The Posies website. Members of that band have filled out the lineup of this version of Big Star (along with Alex and original Star drummer Jody Stephens) starting with a reunion in 1993 and all appearances subsequently. Chris Bell, one of the members died in a car accident in 1978. They (Ken and Jon of the Posies) have got some fun tracks on their site including a wonderful Hollies cover. Does anyone remember Dream All Day from the Posies? I bet Jay does.

Big Star's In Space hits store shelfs on the 27th of this month. I look forward to hearing it. In the meantime, enjoy these here tracks:

Big Star: Don't Lie To Me
Posies: King Midas In Reverse (acoustic at University Coffee, on 7 January 1988)

http://www.bigstarband.com
http://www.theposies.net

Posted: Mon - September 19, 2005 at 12:04 AM

MATH IS HARD


a track from the more recent vaults while we work past a few computer problems on this end. after going to see the Baxter this week (and renewing my crush on Michelle Williams) it seemed like fine enough timing to break out a tune named "Movie Ending Romance." it is the title track to the second EP released this year by the wonderfully named Math and Physics Club (no relation to the group Math and Science, at least not that i know of). unquestionably one this past summers most enjoyable releases, the Seattle-based group has been given favorable comparisons to the Lucksmiths, Belle and Sebastian and a number of Sarah Records bands. next time i write to you, it will be from a pc. sorry cult of mac, but i tried. for now i guess my powerbook has been relegated to viewings of the Lost dvd on my lunch breaks at work.

Math and Physics Club - "Movie Ending Romance "

Posted: Tue - September 20, 2005 at 10:12 PM

A FAIR AND BALANCED BREAKFAST


the release last month of The Glasgow School by Orange Juice is a bit strange to some because of how long it's taken for someone to reissue some of the bands material considering that their albums have been quite inconsistently in-print throughout the years no matter how many bands in that time cited their influence and greatness. in fact the thought didn't even cross anyones mind when vocalist Edwyn Collins had a minor hit off the Empire Records soundtrack in the mid-nineties. the group's first offering is probably their most beloved, setting the foundation of endearing pop tunes, with a slant towards songs about relationships...songs that would evolve to take on some funk and disco cues before becoming a bit gloomy (and in some critics words, flat) by their third and final album. the group seemingly refused to take on the hookiness of popular bands from the time while trying to align themselves to a post-punk scene some thought the groups songwriting was topically too mainstream for. the ever-changing line-up from album to album, certainly didn't help matters before the group disbanded. curiously, Collins heartfelt song-writing, once deemed too fey and perhaps even campy, was the constant that ensured they would be remembered years later. here's a cut off their debut album.

Orange Juice - "Tender Object "

Posted: Wed - September 21, 2005 at 11:35 PM

IT'S GOOD TO BE THE KING


several people have been recommending King of France to me and i finally heard the group last sunday...durning the credits of a movie. i liked it enough to chase down some tracks and enough to wrap up the week with it. the King of France is primary Steve Salad playing tunes with a wit, charm and stype more befitting of being from somewhere overseas rather his new york by way of minneapolis locality. the King of France is on tour with Robbers on High Street. dates are as follows:

9/29/05 – TT the Bears, Boston
10/2/05 – Iota, Arlington, VA
10/4/05 – Mercury Lounge, NYC
10/5/05 – Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY
10/6/05 – North Star Bar, Philadelphia, PA
10/7/05 – Cro’s Nest, New London, CT
10/8/05 – Webster Underground, Hartford, CT
10/11/05 – Ascot Room @ The Quest, Minneapolis, MN
10/12/05 – The Annex, Madison, Wis.
10/13/05 – Mad Planet, Milwaukee
10/14/05 – Schubas, Chicago
10/15/05 – Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland

The King of France - "Mexico "

Posted: Fri - September 23, 2005 at 10:56 AM

THAT'S OUR EXCUSE AND WE'RE STICKING TO IT


i'm scrambling to write something from my work desk as i battle a hangover that should last a few more days as i catch the National tonight and Architecture in Helsinki on tuesday night after a weekend of cocktails that probably still can't compete with my brother's three-day open bar wedding weekend that goes to show that your friends getting married isn't all bad.

Dirty Three once gave one of the the most memorable live performances i've ever seen. playing on the mercury lounge in denver, Warren Ellis decided to climb up into the buildings rafters to play violin for the majority of the set. the aussie three-piece, with a dedicated fanbase seemingly on board for Jim Whites incomparable handling of the drum kit. they have a new album called Cinder and i had this track on all weekend. it seems criminal to recommend a band and then toss you a track featuring another musician, but so it goes.

Dirty Three feat. Chan Marshall - "Great Waves "

Posted: Mon - September 26, 2005 at 11:53 AM

WOAH CANADA


the new, self-titled album from Broken Social Scene is set for release and despite boasting a line-up of most everyone ever involved with BSS and several guests from other bands, i'm afraid to say i find myself agreeing with many people who have heard it and not been as taken with the album as the previous two. the time may have come and gone here. for all the popularity of You Forgot It In People, it's been a few years and the Arcade Fire has since become the new Candian darlings of the indie scene. i'll leave you to develop your own opinions. the group will be on tour in the u.s. beginning late october and despite my initial cynicism with the new material, i'll probably be at the colorado show. be your own judge:


Broken Social Scene - "Major Label Debut "
http://www.arts-crafts.ca

Posted: Wed - September 28, 2005 at 02:10 PM

COMING SOON


We'll have a new track up from Board of Canada later today. First, we must overcome some technical problems. (Josh)

Posted: Fri - September 30, 2005 at 02:22 PM

AMAZING TECHNO DREAMCOAT


there are two reason i really like Boards of Canada and while one reasons is sorta silly, the second reason is even moreso. i am more often than not an unabashed fan of pop music, but Boards of Canada have always made music that at times reminds me of the soundtracks to the numerous sci-fi and space flicks of the sixties and seventies that i like to indulge in. the second reason is because once upon a time when there was still a wax trax in boulder, on the divider card for Boards of Canada it simply said "jason from radio 1190 likes this band" and i loved the idea that i could be used to help sell a record as being good. thankfully, when they closed the boulder store, andy was able to swipe the divider for me. anyway, the group has a new album out in three weeks entitled The Campfire Headphase. it's ever much as enjoyable as the two previous full-lengths. here's your sneak peak.

Boards of Canada - "Chromakey Dreamcoat "

Posted: Fri - September 30, 2005 at 02:29 PM