Friday, March 31, 2006

Tonight and Tomorrow

Okay so it is the weekend and here are a few songs, one for tonight to get you going and one for say tomorrow morning/afternoon/whenever you wake up.

For Tonight:
Hot Chip-No Fit State
Skeletons and the Girl-Faced Boys-"Git"
For Tomorrow:
Shannon Stephens-I'll Be Glad

And I probably won't be updating for the rest of the weekend, because tomorrow night I'm seeing Damien Jurado and Rocky Votolato (that's really no excuse for the whole weekend). Have a great weekend!
Rocky Votolato-White Daisy Passing
Damien Jurado-Black Boys Loud

Lance of Silver


"I told you I was going to wear the striped shirt today."
I never ever thought in a million years Franz Ferdinand had the ability to be creepy. If you count "Michael" as creepy then you've got a weak stomach. Maybe I only like the song because my name is Michael (nice to meet you), and the song is great and dancable. That looks stupid, like "dankable."
Anyway these NEW B-sides come from the NEW single off Franz Ferdinand's NOT-SO NEW album You Could Have it So Much Better...With Franz Ferdinand. Oh the single is for "The Fallen" and I think the single comes out next week. But you get the B-sides now! Except they're only rips. Does that bother you? Oh well. Here they are little chicos.

L. Wells
Jeremy Fraser

Oh and when I was talking about creepy, I was really talking about the video for "Jeremy Fraser" (which you can view HERE, along with the uninspired vid for "The Fallen" and "L. Wells"). The Wicker Man like creepiness alone was bad, and then throw in creepy creepy children a la Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Y Control." Shivers all around! Oh also at that site you can hear the "Ruined By Justice" remix of Fallen and a new instrumental b-side called "Brown Onions." Prolific, eh? There's also an acoustic version of "The Fallen" that I'm sure you can find somewhere.

Henry Rollins Show


I don't know if you've heard about it or not, but IFC TV has a new show hosted by Henry Rollins aptly titled the Henry Rollins Show. It seems like a normal talk show I guess, I haven't seen it myself. The series premiere is tomorrow, and Dreamy favorite Sleater-Kinney are the musical guests. I don't know if he talked with them or not, but the show's website has a video of the band playing "Jumpers" off of last year's critically acclaimed The Woods.

Sleater-Kinney-Jumpers
Sleater-Kinney-Off With Your Head

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Telephone Call for Teddy Ruxpin


Holy moley, I don't know if I'm supposed to believe this, but this bulletin from Austin band The Carrots (you may remember them from my Voxtrot interview) really makes me wish I was back in Texas this weekend, more speicifically Austin.
Attention all zombies, pets and slaves:
For your benefit we have scheduled a night of preprogrammed entertainment in hopes of easing your anxieties regarding what to do with yourself this weekend. This Friday you will be attending a spectacular Carrots show in which 14 unique Care Bear costume wearing teens reenact the horrors of cannibalism in a Stephanie Chan penned play entitled "Telephone Call for Teddy Ruxpin". The Carrots will perform 10 songs throughout the course of this play. Afterwards, the White Ghost Shivers will perform. We start at 10 pm. The location is the Longbranch Inn on Austin's fabulous eastside. It is 21+ due to scenes of graphic Care Bear sex. Please bring clothes you don't mind getting splattered in partially fake blood.
If it turns out to be a hoax to get you there, at least you'll be there! Recommended by Jared and Mitch from Voxtrot House! Gotta be good.

New KRS

Okay so umm you may not love Kill Rock Stars like I do but you might want to hear what they have coming up this spring! Some good stuff here so listen up.

Imaad Wasif-Out in the Black
Mecca Normal-I'll Call You
Slim Moon and What Army-Fanfic
Shoplifting-Male Gynecology
Seconds-Sister8myson
Stereo Total-I Love You Ono
Stereo Total-Touche Moi

Invisible and Harmless


So tonight if you're sitting to watch the OC and you hear this song, do not be alarmed! It is a good song from a band whose name alone seemed to be begging the music producers to put something on the show. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone's song "Young Shield" is going to be played for "one minute and fourteen seconds" during the dramamama show. I don't watch it but I'm glad CFTPA is getting some acclaim! And "Young Shields" is a great song.

Young Shields
Off the new album Etiquette.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Call You Out


Wait wait, what's that? You want something else hot from Austin? Are you greedy? You already got Voxtrot, Sound Team, What Made Milwaukee Famous + probably 5 dozen more. Who do you think you are asking more from poor tired Austin?
Well you're in luck because Austin isn't ready to give up. Good thing too. They're going to churn out more fabulous bands this year just because they can!
The Arm have been around for a long time but are just getting noticed nationally with all the newfound interest in Austin. I got a little flyer about their new album when I ordered Belaire's 7" for Haunted Castles (I didn't have any cash with me at their show at SXSW, you should get it too!). Anyway The Arm kind of reminds me of Radio 4, especially on Gotham. A little less dance but they make up for it in energy.
Here's some new tracks off their forthcoming album Call You Out which will be out April 14th on Indierect Records.

To Yr Id
The Privileged Few

Fad

Okay here's one of my new favorite videos from a band I hadn't heard before this week. I think I'd heard the name, but may have gotten them mixed up with The Black, The Black Eyes, The Black Keys or something, but Black Lips are a bit different. Their garage rock is pretty raw and untainted, and this video is hilarious.


More Black Lips:
Freakout!
Juvenile
Ain't Comin' Back
Oh and my cloud image at the top is so small because I don't know why, but my Photobucket account exceeded its bandwidth. Anyone know any free image hosters with unlimited bandwidth? I uploaded the images to my EZArchive account but it shrunk down the cloud one because it was too big? Lame.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Photographs

I found this photographer Andrew Kendall's website and he has a load of awesome band photographs! Mostly British but, you know. Anyway, there's some of Dreamy favorites The Long Blondes, Franz, The Rakes, Bloc Party, The Cribs and tons more. Definitely check them out! Here's some of my favorites:
The RakesThe Long BlondesPretty Girls Make Graves


The Rakes-22 Grand Job
The Long Blondes-Autonomy Boy
Pretty Girls Make Graves-Nocturnal House

I've Been Away (Too Long)

You probably know of/ignore my love for Bobby Birdman, but he just put out a new EP that was previously only released on 10" vinyl called Giraffes & Jackals. If you already have the vinyl, you will probably be enticed by promises of "extra tracks and rad 'enhanced materials'" when you put it in your computer. Too cool kids! I can't wait till I buy mine. It's $8 kids!!!
Check out these tracks as enticement:

I've Been Away (Too Long)
Be Warned

Buy it here from States Rights Records.

Orphanage


I got another great CD from an artist on Western Vinyl last week, Voices and Organs. Their new CD Orphanage has people calling them a more intimate Sigur Ros. I like this description, because you do feel closer to the music, not like its some grandiose atmosphere you only get a glimpse of. Voices and Organs is a project by songwriter Per Lindmark from Sweden. The album is described as having been "written in the unstable climate of , recorded on Japanese machines through the English language, V & O try to bring about music balanced between warm as warmth gets and cloudy as a rainy morning on the Swedish west coast."

Melodikka
Any Day Now
Idle Words on Empty Pages #2

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Gospel Standards


I don't know what it is but I seem to find myself listening to more country on Sundays. I guess it's the slow pace of the day that calls for something not as rollicking or necessarily upbeat. So I often listen to lots of Neko Case and Johnny Cash. How awesome would that have been if they did something together? Wishful thinking.
Anyway I really love Johnny Cash's album of gospel standards appropriately titled The Gospel Collection. Also, this new CD isn't really all gospel songs but it's a collection of Cash's duets with June Carter also appropriately titled Duets that's really beautiful, filled with lots of wonderful songs between the two.
I don't know when this particular song was recorded, but in the song they sing about when they die they'll eb so happy to see each other, and it's just great that they love each other so much and everything. I can't write it right so here's the song.

Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash-Far Side Banks of Jordan

Friday, March 24, 2006

Like a Pillow


I know I usually don't talk about rap or hip-hop on my blog, but yeah. I am going to now. You've probably already heard of Cadence Weapon, maybe because he has his own mp3 blog (Razorblade Runner) or his remix of Lady Sovereign's "Blah Blah Blah." His own album Breaking Kayfabe came out last year and I finally just downloaded it. It's so great!
I don't know enough rappers to compare him to, but songs like "Black Hand" and "Diamond Cutter" have me wanting more! I guess you could call him an indie rapper, mentioning MySpace, Nike owning Converse, etc., Cadence Weapon is actually Edmonton, Canada's twenty year-old Rollie Pemberton. He played at SXSW and I wish I'd seen him, but I did see him at the Fiery Furnaces show.

Cadence Weapon-Black Hand

With or Without Feathers?


So I want to know what happened to the Stills. I remember all the hoopla a couple years ago surrounding their debut EP Rememberese and the song "Still in Love Song." It's a great song, perfect for dancefloors. But the album Logic Will Break Your Heart never got any attention. I am guilty because I never got the album or heard any other songs.
But then there were murmurings on the internerd that they'd reinvented themselves (after one album and an Ep, mind you) into a rollicking My Morning Jacket sort of band? What's going on? And then I hear Spanish horns on the new Walkmen song? Has the world gone upside down? I think it's cool to see all of these artists are exploring other genres of music and experimenting with them unlike some bands (Strokes, Interpol...)
You see how you like the difference.

Old Stills:
Still in Love Song (12" Extended Remix)
New Stills:
In the Beginning
Their new album Without Feathers is being released on Vice Records May 9th.

They'll be going on tour rallying 'round the new album. Might try and see them in SLC maybe.
4/2 – Boston @ TT the Bear
4/3 – Philadelphia @ The Church
4/4 – New York @ Mercury Lounge
4/5 – New York @ Mercury Lounge
4/8 – Baltimore @ Sonar
4/9 – Cleveland @ Grog Shop
4/10 – Detroit @ Saint Andrews Hall
4/11 - Columbus @ The Basement
4/13 - Chicago @ Double Door
4/14 - Minneapolis @ Varsity
4/15 - Omaha @ Sokol
4/17 – Salt Lake City @ Club Sound
4/19 - San Diego @ Casbah
4/20 - Los Angeles @ Troubadour
4/21 - San Francisco @ Popscene - tickets only available day of show
4/24 - Portland @ Doug Fir
4/25 – Seattle @ Crocodile
Information coming soon:
4/26 – Vancouver @ Richards on Richards (19+)
4/28 – Calgary @ Broken City (19+)
4/29 – Edmonton @ Power Plant, University of Alberta (All Ages)
4/30 – Saskatoon @ USSU (16+)
5/1 – Regina @ Distrikt (19+)
5/2 – Winnipeg @ West End Cultural Center (All Ages)
5/9 – Kingston @ Elixir (19+)
5/13 – Montreal @ Spectrum (All Ages)
5/17 – Hamilton @ Underground (All Ages)
5/18 – London @ Call the Office (All Ages)

Here's My Song


The album Here's My Song, You Can Have It...I Don't Want it Anymore/Yours 4-Ever by Nicolai Dunger was a surprise to me. I was thinking it would be chilly tunes for any jazz lover or something. Don't know why I had that impression. But I got the album and didn't really listen to it much, and then saw him play at SXSW on the top floor of Capitol Place Hotel. He had so much raging energy! It sounded more country than I remembered on record, but then coming home and re-listening to it, it has all the elements of a good country tune, slide guitar and such. Swede Dunger is everything I was hoping Norwegian Sondre Lerche would turn into after his first album Faces Down but then he went the jazzier way and Nicolai is the country way. Sweden wins again!

Hunger

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Danish Skeleton


Okay I know that every other blog hasn't told you to check out Danish quartet Figurines so let me be the first to tell you! Their album Skeleton may have been released near-to-a-year ago in their native country but it's just starting to hit here. The album starts off deceivingly with the track "Race You" which is a slow contemplative piano tune and you're wondering how slow the CD's going to take to get through. Luckily for you, track two "The Wonder" makes you realize they had you fooled and they're one of those jangly pop bands your mother warned you about like The Shout Out Louds. Except they've been listening to some old Pixies albums and the Violent Femmes. Good for them! Mighty fine album and I urge you to look into it.

Ch-ch-check it out kids:
The Wonder

Chromeo Mixtape


If you're into Vice Records, you're probably into Chromeo. No they don't have a new album as far as I know, but their album She's in Control spawned quite a lot of remixes. And now Vice is offering all of the remixes from the songs off the album in one zip file. It includes:

It includes:
Me & My Man Whitey Remix
Needy Girl (Bloc Party Remix)
You're So Gangsta (Playgroup Remix)
Rage! (Stretch Armstrong Remix)
Me & My Man (Juan Maclean Remix)
Needy Girls (Paper Faces Remix)
Destination: Overdrive (DFA Remix)
Rage! (Riton Remix)

They're all really great remixes, so get it while it's hot!
DOWNLOAD THE CHROMEO MIXTAPE .ZIP HERE.

All At Once


Young People are a band I've had my eye on since their last album War Prayers on 5RC. When I heard they broke up awhile back, I was bummed that the album would be their last. But it turns out only one member left, so now it's just Katie Eastburn and Jeff Rosenberg (who founded the band) left. Well on Tuesday they released their new album All At Once. It's not as chaotic sounding and less weird, which is sort of a welcome change. Katie's voice is still as strong though, which is good news.

Forget
The album doesn't come out in the UK until April 24 on Too Pure, but you can download it on eMusic now.

Little Flowers


I really don't have any reason to post this except that I heard this song yesterday and saw this picture yesterday and loved both of them. So you reap the rewards!!! I've never heard anything by Denison Witmer but I know he's one of those Sufjan kids (I heard a rumor Sufjan's giving up the 50 states project. So does that mean more Seven Swans kinda stuff cuz I'm cool with that)

Denison Witmer-Little Flowers
from the Asthmatic Kitty Mews Too compilation. ($10)

The picture is by Carson Ellis which you can buy from Motel Gallery. ($400)

Unbearable


Got a CD in the mail from folk duo Chas Mtn, their debut LP called Hugs. The album is filled with folk tunes that would sound great around any campfire. Their press release says they have "influences rooted in gangster rap, dub, films featuring Keith David, Ned Egg and Gary War wanted to start from scratch." I don't think I can really hear any of those influences in the album though. The songs are filled "with lyrical material ranging from the depression and hopelessness of pan-capitalism to the contempt derived from the manipulation of women." Wow. Pretty deep, but I think anyone can enjoy the album for it's hushed tones at least. Recommended if you like Devendra Banhart, Iron and Wine, blah blah blah...

Cinematic, Unbearable (.m4a)
Mothure

Be their friend.
Buy the album from Western Vinyl.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Interview With Voxtrot

Last Friday during SXSW I had the pleasure of sitting down with keyboardist/guitarist Jared Van Fleet and guitarist Mitch Calvert of Voxtrot to interview them about their success, touring, recording, their new EP, and a bunch of other stuff. I didn't want to really cut anything out, so it's a really really long interview. And be kind, it was my very first interview. The guys were very kind and provided me with a lot to work with, providing tons of insight on the beginnings of the band and stuff.

So you guys have been on tour for how long?
Mitch: About a month
Jared: Well, the first time we went on a tour was in January of 2005 in three or four jaunts every three months and we just got back from a month-long jaunt on the west coast

How long have you actually been a band?
Jared: Like...two and a half years? When it actually started Mitch and I were in a band together months before we met each other because it started with us, it was sort of a recording project. And Ramesh would come back, he's from Austin originally but he went to school in Scotland and met Mitch in Boston. So you know over the summers and Christmas vacation everyone would come back to Austin and record here. We had sort of a staggered working relationship.
Mitch: I remember actually meeting you and thinking 'Oh I've heard all this guy's parts' (laughs)
More after the cut...

Was that just with Whiskey and Apples or what?
Jared: Well yeah that's a label run by our friend Red Hunter and you know the connection is well, Austin's a pretty small city and the music community is pretty strong right now so everybody in Voxtrot is friends with those guys [Whiskey and Apples] So they're musically different than what Voxtrot's doing but we're all into all different kinds of sounds.

I know your bassist Jason is in Belaire, saw them last night and they were great.
Jared: Yeah they've got a great live show.
Do either of you have other side projects?
Jared: I have a solo project called Sparrow House that's just me and a guitar. I play with Red a lot.
Mitch: I cook and clean for Ramesh.
Jared: (laughs) That's his side project.

Are there any other Austin bands you're especially close with?
Jared: There are bands that I think we feel a musical affinity with and bands that we might not be totally musically related to but that we're good friends with, like The Black, we're all really good friends with them. I've even played with some and Matt, our drummer has. Obviously Belaire, Sound Team...Peel? They're a new band but definitely have a lot of musical affinity with. They're one of the first pop bands in Austin since us...very similar.
Mitch: The Carrots; Jennifer Moore who sings back-up on some of the tracks, like the b-side on "The Start of Something" 7" ["Dirty Version"] sort of left the group and now is the backbone of a band called The Carrots, they're brilliant.
Jared: Yeah they're awesome. They're like a an old like...
Mitch: They're a 60s girl group sort of thing and it's just like, the most entertaining live show.
Jared: They've got the white gloves and everything.

Is it all girls?
Mitch: It's all girls except for the rhythm section. We played with them on a Valentine's day and it was so perfect, because we set up the stage with fake roses and garlands, streamers...
Jared: And they were singing stuff like "Then He Kissed Me." I felt like I'd been transported back to this awesome high school prom in 1963.
Mitch: How I wish my prom was. My prom was hip-hop DJ's...
Jared: (laughs) There were flasks and forty-year olds...that's how my prom was.
Mitch: Awkward...

Are there any road games or anything you like to do while you're driving? Anything?
Mitch: We basically just...you know. We don't have a CD player, we have a tape deck and FM/AM radio so we just have a lot of conversations as a band. As a band we could probably just generate conversation for hours upon hours on end, and I think that's just amazing. It's always fun.
Jared: It helps that none of us listen to each other.
Mitch: What?

Are there any bands you're especially into lately that you might listen to on the tape deck?
Jared: Heron? They're this really obscure sort of folk-prog band. Not that their obscurity makes them awesome, they're just an awesome band.
Mitch: They're a gem. A diamond in the rough.
Jared: People need to hear about them. In the early 70s they did two albums and we've only really been listening to them. We're actually going to cover-no we're not. We were going to cover one of their songs tonight but we haven't practiced. I really like Dr. Dog a whole lot. We're playing with them tonight, I saw them a few months ago and got their album Easy Beat, it's really good. Crystal Skulls, um...those are two recent bands we're all into.
Mitch: I'm a big fan of Hot Chip's live set. That's actually where Ramesh is right now..Comet Gain? Like early catalogue stuff. I like their stuff now but I think I really fell in love with their early stuff.

So you just put out, or, are going to put out your second EP?
Mitch: We're selling it on the road now, the release date is April 4th.
Jared: Yeah we finished it, it's all done. The pre-orders on the website are going out March 24th and it'll be in stores April 4th.

How do you think this compares to the other one? Is a continuation?
Mitch: This one's definitely the model of rock bands that start out playing for a long time and then releasing stuff. It's definitely a sophomore record. These are songs, the first record is a collection of songs that we knew and loved for about two years, this is, as a sophomore record that showcases how Ramesh has grown as a songwriter in a shorter period of time.
Jared: I fell like it makes sense with the other EP, but it's a progression. It's a lot tighter.
Mitch: We're a lot tighter as a band now.
Jared: yeah I think it reflects that we've been playing live a lot, you know. Touring really changes the way you play as a band, you're playing every night.
Mitch: Yeah we play together a lot more and on the record...it's a lot more of a group effort I feel like on this record.
Jared: And the songwriting's changed a little bit like, we realized the other day when we were listening to it, you can't really dance to this EP as much as the first one. We still think it's really catchy.
Mitch: This is the record you fall in love with (laughs).

What about a full-length? Do you have any plans of recording one?
Jared: We're gonna try and record something this summer. We've got a bunch of songs we haven't recorded yet, and we have a lot of songs that we've recorded but never released, just because recordings been where we've been growing.
Mitch: The bulk of the album should be new material. Personally I'm really excited about the back catalogue tracks that we're gonna see if we can put on the record.

So you're not just gonna mash the two EP's and make an album?
Jared: probably not. I mean a lot of people do that but...
Mitch: As far as I'm concerned, they should just be reissued eventually if there's a demand for it because the thing is the EP's have an issue of about 5000 copies each and the full-length we're hoping to find a label so the issue of that is going to eclipse that of these two EP's.

Are you hoping that at SXSW someone might see you and you'll get a deal with a label?
Mitch Were discussing what labels..
Jared Oh I love this song!
Mitch: You know it's the hardest you could do so (Jared's singing along with the radio) you don't wanna say too much about it because it's difficult...
(they talk some about the song on the radio...)
Jared: You know a lot of people have talked to us and suggested putting these EP's together and different labels want to do that and put it out but I think artistically they're different from each other. All of us really liked bands that put out EP's, we kind of like the EP format.
Mitch I think it would be stronger for us to fully back a full-length release of new material as opposed to focusing on like, "Let's reissue the two EP's as an album, tour behind it, then work on the new material."
Jared: I don't think we're ready to do a greatest hits yet. (laughs)
Mitch: We're still ready to keep pushing on and if there's demand for the other albums, maybe we'll mash them together someday.

Have you ever thought of re-recording any songs that you've done?
Mitch: Ramesh has brought it up in passing, maybe re-recording one of the tracks from the EP's, probably one from the first EP. It'd be pretty redundant to, you know "Let's redo it. I know it's two months ago but..."

Yeah 'cause I noticed "The Start of Something" is pretty quiet on the EP?
Jared: That's the one, all the other nine songs...like the four other songs on the first EP and the five on the second EP were recorded with Eric W. That one was recorded with Craig Downing at Esophagus. That song is about as old as the band, about three years old. It's one of the first things we did and it is quieter, and our equipment was different we were still figuring things out. It is different.
Mitch: The back catalogue has such a wide spectrum of production styles.
Jared: Yeah you'd be surprised. There's some stuff that doesn't sound like Voxtrot.
Mitch: The Longest Part of the Winter...some country songs.
Jared: It used to be when we started out it was more of a recording project and each song was stylistically different. Then when we started playing live more we started to develop this sound, which is what you start to hear on the EP's. Before then, if it needed a certain instrument we'd play that certain instrument, so the songs all sounded pretty different. So "The Start of Something" comes from that era.

How do you judge your success?
Mitch: What success? (laughs)

Well online you have a lot of fans and everything.
Mitch: The Internet's a strange place.
Jared: I'm still surprised by it.
Mitch: I've still yet to accept anything...

That it's valid?
Jared: Yeah...no we think it's valid.
Mitch Oh yeah! no I definitely-
Jared I believe people are real. It's just luck I guess. I'm glad a lot of people like it. I feel like...
Mitch It's a new sensation for me, so that's why it's hard for me to accept all of the attention.
Jared I'm really excited that we can be a part of this 'cause I feel like, even if I wasn't in a band, or our band wasn't sort of talked about on the Internet, that's something I'm really into. The empowerment of blogs, and new ways of finding out about music. I mean it's really rapidly changing how people find out about music and everything.
Mitch: It's a new model. it's these things at conferences, and I don't mean to trump the tradeshow, but the speakers always have this foresight into what's really going to change the industry this year, but from what I've been seeing is that I really think that these things aren't actively made, they're sort of...that's how things come together.
Jared: I mean who would've guessed the advent of the podcast, but something like that changed immediately with Technorati and stuff like that. Those things are done on a small-scale all the time, and you never know how they're...I mean I kind of geek out and really get into like, I listen to new music all the time. So it's still sort of weird and surprising to me if I see our band name on a blog. Not what you expect.

When you first started out did you try and get on the radio around Austin?
Mitch: No, it was actually just most exciting to give it out to our friends and to get people to come out to the shows, 'cause we really embrace the local Austin scene so it was really exciting to put posters up, and to make the posters, and put them up at all our favorite places and see who comes.
Jared: Yeah there was no talk of any of that. We wanted to record better songs, write better songs, play better...show off to our friends. It was pretty well worth it.
Mitch We would play house parties and it would be well worth it to me.
Jared: That was the point, you know. And the CD started to spread by word of mouth and stuff and then it became a possibility that we could tour, and then it became a possibility to release the stuff officially. Things kind of happened.
Mitch: I wouldn't have wanted it to happen any other way actually. Whatever did happen...

Buy their first EP Raised By Wolves and pre-order their second, Mothers, Daughters, Sisters & Wives at their website

Their tourdates for the rest of spring:
MARCH
Fri 31 - San Antonio, TX - Sanctuary AA

APRIL
Sat 1 - Houston, TX - Walter's On Washington AA
Mon 3 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn AA
Tue 4 - Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge 18+
Wed 5 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 18+
Thu 6 - Norfolk, VA - Relative Theory AA
Fri 7 - Harrisonburg, VA - MACRock ^
Sun 9 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge 21+ ^ SOLD OUT
Mon 10 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge 21+ ^ SOLD OUT
Tue 11 - Wellesley, MA - Lulu Wang Center AA ^
Wed 12 - Montreal, QC - La Sala Rosa AA ^
Thu 13 - Toronto, ONT - Sneaky Dees 19+ ^
Fri 14 - Detroit, MI - Lager House 21+ ^
Sat 15 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle 21+ ^
Thu 20 - Norman, OK - Opolis AA ^
Fri 21 - Denton, TX - Hailey's AA ^
Sat 22 - Austin, TX - Emo's AA ^

MAY
Fri 26 - Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern AA

^ = w/Irving

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

SXSW Day 2

I don't really remember how Thursday started. I woke up late, that's for sure. I think I rode the bus to downtown which was an adventure. I missed Go! Team's instore set at Waterloo Records. What did I do? Oh! I saw Imaad Wasif first at the Kill Rock Stars/5 Rue Christine day party over at Flamingo Cantina. He was good, just him and his acoustic guitar and some box that made fuzzy sounds. They had lots of free stuff (stickers, buttons) and free food! So great. Thanks Kill Rock Stars! Always awesome.
Then I went over to Emo's to check out The Hidden Cameras. I only have their album Mississauga Goddam and like it quite a bit. It's crazy pop for the ears. Truly delicious. Live they were great and funny and even played blindfolded. I guess they do that often. One of the highlights was seeing a friend, John, playing tambourine onstage with them. I worked with John last year when I volunteered at SXSW and always see him whenever I go to Austin at shows. He told me I should see the Cameras so was glad to see him having fun with them.
Headed back on over to the Flamingo Cantina to see some Wooden Wand before Laura Veirs came on. Wooden Wand was really boring, and I'm ashamed I ever had interest in them. His solo CD is okay I guess though, just the whole band throws me off. Laura looked disappointed when her set started. There was barely anyone there, and a lot of people that were there weren't listening. She was amazing, mostly because her voice always gets me. I was hoping to hear her doing some vocal looping stuff that I've heard she does but alas none. But still, really great set.
Went back to Emo's and saw some of The Most Serene Republic. I'd only heard a few songs by them and wasn't really impressed but thought their live show might sway me. They were on Emo's inside stage, which is amazing since the band has like seven people. Add all their gear and it didn't look like they had much room to move, but the singer tried to be active and funny but...I don't think he really succeeded.
Can't remember if I went to any other day shows, but I don't think I did. The first show I saw that night was They Shoot Horses Don't They at KRS's showcase at Emo's Annex. I was excited to see the band because I love the album and have heard good things about them live. Well...I was sort've let down. It's mean to say, but the band looked like a special ed class putting on a concert. They were smashing metal plates and other random things on stage and...It was a mess. I'll stick with the CD I think.Then we went to go see Austin's Belaire across the street at the new Emos IV. Definitely the most posh Emo's venue and underpopulated all week. Very nice. Anyway, Belaire was great and fun and full of cuteness. Singer Kari seemed very disappointed at the lack of dancing, so an elderly gentleman photographer took it upon himself to dance vehemently for the rest of their set. I want to definitely see them again, maybe when the crowd is actually interested. I bought their self-released self-titled EP from them and yeah. Great stuff!We went over to Stubb's then to get good spots for the Fiery Furnaces. The band playing before them were the Noisettes. Hadn't ever heard anything at all by them, so I went blindly. They were okay, seemed kind of sleazy and pretty loud but still an alright show. The lead singer was Karen Oish and yeah. I don't know what to think of them.
Stubb's was very adamant this year about having no flash pictures taken of the band, which results in not so great pictures of the Noisettes or the Fiery Furnaces. Luckily there was the FFs show the next night. But anyway, the Friedberger's played a tight set, without keyboards. First time I think I'd seen them like that. But they played a wide selection of all their albums, though songs from Rehearsing My Choir mysteriously were lacking.Back to the KRS showcase for my first time seeing Xiu Xiu. They were having some technical difficulties to begin with, but went on anyway. They were missing their harmonium, but they played a couple new songs like "Boy Soprano" and "Hello From Euclaire" which were both great. Can't wait for the new album The Air Force. Didn't stay for their whole set though...because across the street was We Are Wolves. It wasn't as well-attended as I was thinking it would be. Man those French-Canadians are loud! I couldn't understand a word they said while singing or talking between songs. My head was pounding after a few songs so we left. Not before snagging some pictures of their awesome stage costumes with the floating skulls.
Didn't do anything for about an hour because we were beat. I think we just sat on the curb of 6th Street and watched people walk by. Around 12:30 we went back into the KRS Showcase to get ready for the Gossip. Saw some of Two Ton Boa, who were not impressive in the least. Didn't like 'em at all, sorry.The Gossip on the other hand were fantastic! So much energy! So many hot jamms! I loved 'em. Beth Ditto has the best stage banter I've ever heard from any frontwoman. She just kept going and going until it was time to start belting out another sweaty guitar blues jam. Loved them to bits. That was it for Thursday!

Knocking the Aeroplanes Down


Okay so here is a beautifully frantic remix of Architecture in Helsinki's #1 club hit "Do the Whirlwind" as reinvisioned by Jona Bechtolt, aka YACHT. I ripped the remix from part of a radio show Jona did for Clear Cut Press. You can listen to the "Hour of Power" here if you have Real Player. If you don't, you can download the whole thing as an mp3 here (WARNING! it's 63 MB)

Architecture in Helsinki-Do the Whirlwind (YACHT Remix)

SXSW Day 1

Okay I know you're gonna be sick of hearing about SXSW after this week if you aren't already. If you didn't go it must be torture, hearing all the great stuff that went on. Well...here's another turn of the screw.

So Wednesday there really wasn't a whole lot that I was geeked out about. I mostly stayed the day at Emo's (I'm under 21 so you'll notice my choices are severely limited) at the TagWorld party. It was a lot of local Austin bands and I didn't take any pictures. I'm not a great photo taker, that'd be my sister. She's got the experience. Anyway, saw a few great bands like What Made Milwaukee Famous, Ponys, Sound Team, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, Shearwater, Zykos, some band called Skeletons (I thought maybe it was Skeletons and the Girl Faced Boys but I was wrong. Or were they on Thursday? I don't know I'm all mixed up.If you didn't know, Matador sent out a list saying they were giving away tickets to their showcase and you had to have an Austin address. I used my friend's address but got an e-mail saying I missed the cut. However! my sister did make the cut. So we went to Stubb's to check out what was going on, but we didn't want to stay the night. If I'd been thinking I would've asked on here if anyone wanted in. Oh well. So we went in...looked at merch, took a few Belle and Sebastian and New Pornographers posters and left. Yeah lame.
Went down to The Parish to catch Envelopes but at the door they said it was 21+ that night. WTF? Didn't say anything on the door or in the pamphlet. The Parish really let me down this weekend.My Brightest Diamond
So we headed on over to Emo's Annex to see My Brightest Diamond perform. Poorly attended but what can you expect from a band that doesn't have much buzz. Shara was great, her voice really hits those spots you wouldn't think it'd be able to. She was playing on all borrowed gear and waas awesome.
Voxtrot
Then! headed over to regular Emo's to catch the end of Kiss Me Deadly (meh jumpsuit?) and all of Voxtrot's set. They were superb! Made me wsh I'd gone to their SLC show even more. I suck. But the guys looked like they were having a blast on stage so that's awesome.
Umm then I went to stand in line for Belle and Sebastian and watched their whole set (I missed the New Pornographers by a few minutes which sucked). I'd heard bad stuff about them live before but they had such stage charisma! Stuart was very charming and funny and a very likeable guy. My favorite dialogue between him and Stevie:
Stuart: So I see a lot of blokes here in the audience. A lot of beards...not too many ladies up here.
Stevie: Maybe some of the girls have beards in Austin.
I also liked that Stuart mentioned Sara (the keyboard girl) was a lover of dogs, burritos, and a boy named Something. Can't remember. Anyway they were very fun. No pictures, too far away.The Rakes
Then I can't remember at all what I did until 1 AM when I saw the Rakes play a very crowded Flamingo Cantina. BEST SHOW OF SXSW 06!! The boys were really amazing with a lot of power. Singer Alan Donohoe had the craziest dance moves that spawned a lot of copycats in the crowd. Amazing show, very powerful performance. Would recommend!

If you want one of those Matador Showcase flyers, they're laminates and I can send you one if you like. I have about four I could send out! So fi you e-mail/comment I'll send you one to the first four who contact me somehow.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Coastal Sin


I got an e-mail a few weeks ago from a band called Lions and Tigers if 'd like their new EP. I said yes and received it, Witch, in the mail and love it very very much! It only has three tracks and I think they might be demos, but each song sounds a little different. They don't stick with one sound, they diversify, which is very promising to hear from a young band like them.
Formed at Martha's Vineyard, Lions and Tigers are four friends who finished recording their first album Zaire in five days and are finishing it up. If the record is anything like the tracks I've heard, it's going to be a great one. The sound on "Coastal Sin" is post punk at its best, but then other tracks like "My Only Edge" sees the band slowing down a bit but never losing the sound. It sort of reminds me of The Rapture or Liars' first album except a little more put together.

Lions and Tigers-Coastal Sin
Listen to a few other tracks on their website.
Be their friend.

SXSW Favorites

Okay so yesterday was exhausting, my plane from Denver to SLC got delayed because of snow (!!!! I hate snow!!) and yeah. Just completely long and all I wanted to do was pass out. Then I wake up today and realize I have quite a bit of schoolwork to be doing until Wednesday. So I was going to type up the interview I did but I think it won't be coming till the end of the week. So here's a little recap of some of my favorite bits of SXSW. You'll see these all over the blogs and probably be annoyed and ask "where is the music?" I want to know too.
  • Seeing Hot Chip at the Parish after waiting nearly 40 minutes to get in. Totally worth it.
  • The Rakes. They were my #1 band of SXSW. Completely blew me away live, their energy and the singer's Ian Curtis-esque dance moves made me dance both times I saw them (The Flamingo Cantina on Wednesday and Urban Outfitters on Saturday)
  • The Gossip were also an amazing show on Thursday night at Emos Annex.
  • Finally seeing Belle and Sebastian (be it from far away), my blog's namesake. And they even closed with the song! Too perfect. I missed the New Pornographers though.
  • Meeting Shara Worden, or My Brightest Diamond a few times and being able to talk with her. She and my sister have been friends going on 10 years! Craziness. Also she said her album Bring Me the Workhorse is going to be put out by Asthmatic Kitty in August! Too awesome.
  • My first interview!!
  • Finaly seeing Voxtrot and it being totally worth it.
  • Seeing the Fiery Furnaces play on a porch at Red's Scoot Inn even if the sound equipment wasn't the best and the band was irritated, the energy was still there.
Okay sooo here are some pics. May takes some time to load sorry.

Laura Veirs
Laura Veirs
My Brightest Diamond
Laura Veirs My Brightest Diamond
The Hidden Cameras
The Hidden Cameras
They Shoot Horses Don't They
They Shoot Horses Don't They
Xiu Xiu
Xiu Xiu
We Are Wolves
We Are Wolves
The Gossip
The Gossip
Jose Gonzalez
Jose Gonzalez
The Cribs
The Cribs
We Are Scientists
We Are Scientists
Eleanor Friedberger
Eleanor Friedberge of Fiery Furnaces
The Duke Spirit
The Duke Spirit
The Rakes
The Rakes
Hot Chip
Hot Chip