I'd planned to review Joanna Newsom's new album Ys today, but I don't have the brainpower at the moment. You've probably never heard of King Biscuit Time, but I'd be willing to bet from the very first track, you'll recognize the sound. King Biscuit Time is the side project of Steve Mason, lead singer of the now defunct Beta Band. Plain and simple, if you like Beta Band, you'll like King Biscuit Time. Black Gold offers some intimate moments from Mason, and overall sounds slightly more condensed than most Beta Band efforts, with far fewer instrumental breakouts. His cold delivery has always reminded me of Mark Sandman of Morphine, one of my favorites.
I've said this before, but there is an unexplainable force that drives Masons music. He's always had a very looped approach to his vocals and beats, where each new phrase pulses like a chant. Highlights include the single "Kwangchow", The cleverly titled "All Over You" which harkens back to Beta Band classic "Dry The Rain", "The Way You Walk", and "Paperhead". The opener, "C I Am 15" doesn't seem to belong here - I expected to hear Busta Rhymes chime in at any moment, in my opinion it doesn't really set the stage properly for the album.
Black Gold gets the job done as far as fixing the hole Beta Band's departure has left in my musical repertoire, and it's a good album for a long drive or time spent with the headphones on. Mason continues to deliver what I've come to expect from him as the foundation that made Beta Band so appealing.
I haven't posted in a while. I'm feeling uninspired, and haven't really heard anything new lately to get me kicked into gear. Anybody out there have anything inspiring to share? Anytime I try to grab something from a blog, I end up with a weird recording of some guy saying "We're sorry, this website has been extremely busy." I take it EZ-Archive has now officially tanked.
Rather than write-up something just for the sake of it being new, I'm going to talk about 2005's excellent Superwolf, in my opinion the best thing Will Oldham has ever been a part of, and the only album that's been on constant rotation on my ipod. Sometimes I think I subconsciously categorize my music into seasons, and I can't think of a better soundtrack for the transition from warm to cold as the last of the autumn leaves lay stuck on the roof of my car than Superwolf.
For this effort, Oldham takes on the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy moniker, and is joined by Matt Sweeney on guitar and backing vocals. If you've never heard Will Oldham before, like I before this album came into my possession, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's amazing to me how something as rough and raw as Oldham's voice can come across so beautiful. With a voice you'd expect to hear bedside at 3 am in the half-light, there is simply no other way to present this material. That's not to say this album lacks dynamics, the excellent peaks on songs like "My Home is the Sea" and "Goat and Ram", balance this album with precision. Matt Sweeney's guitar work and backing vocals add a subtle touch that I've found lacking in some of Oldham's other work.
Oldham's writing is poetic to say the least, stringing together the story of the creature Superwolf, that touches on all the important points in life: love, sex, and death. I'm posting the lyrics to one of the most beautiful, devoted songs I've ever heard, "Beast For Thee". If you don't have Superwolf yet, it's an impressive album front to back, and strongly recommended. With every listen I grow fonder of this record.
Beast For Thee Why aren't you kind to me? You could so easily Take me in your arms and see A Donkey, a beast for thee.
If you had half a mind Leave wordly things behind Devote to being kind You to me, a beast for thee.
Love in some way you choose God's plan can easy bruise One bone and blood mass we fuse And I can be, a beast for thee.
I will toil for years and years Give you muscle tone and tears Overcome and flay all fears Leaving me, a beast for thee.
And at home on Wednesday morn Astride my horny horn You'll be in glory born And I will be, a beast for thee.
Happily, a beast for thee Quietly, a beast for thee endlessly, a beast for thee
Head over to Kwaya Na Kisser and grab the M. Ward set from KRCW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. Looks like he's off to Europe for a few months, so if you missed the chance to see it live, at least you can hear it. By the way, what is a Kwaya Na Kisser? I saw M. Ward last month, review here.
What better way to kick off a fall tour then to start in front of 200 college students, at a University you can't even pronounce, in a location you believe to be somewhere near Boston. That University was Brandeis, and the location was Waltham, MA. Broken Social Scene, the best indie band in Canada (or probably anywhere else in my opinion), pronounced it "Brandees", "Braandeece", and finally settled on "Brown Dice". They took full advantage of this opportunity to work the kinks out of their act. It almost had the vibe of a dress rehearsal.
As I've said before, any opportunity to see Broken Social Scene live should be seized at all costs. Their appearances in Boston are few and far between. I was feeling a little bit better after a weekend of sickness, and decided to venture out into the cold October air, by myself I might add. This may seem like no biggie for some, but this was the first time I've ever attended a show by myself. Further adding to my alienation, I realized I may be slightly older than I thought. I wasn't alone in this feeling, I got the same vibe from the band. This was best demonstrated by the dead silence after Brendan Canning made a Bob James reference, the composer of the Taxi theme song. I'm pretty sure most of the audience has never even seen the show Taxi.
I found out BSS was playing last night after reading Bradley's Almanac around 5 pm, and couldn't track down anybody to go with me. It wasn't listed on their website, and I'm not sure how he found out about it. But he did, and I thank him for that. I wanted to thank him in person at the show, but I never tracked him down. It turns out I was standing right behind him for the entire show, and got many wonderful pictures of his camera taking pictures, exhibit A:
On to the show itself. The lineup was at about half-capacity, at around 7 members. Amy Millan was there, fresh off either touring with her other band Stars, or tour support for her own album, Honey From the Tombs. Her voice is amazing, soft and breezy.
The show was ridden with technical difficulty. Feedback, mics not working, the occasional possessed synth, and the mix started off completely unbalanced. Probably due to the small room and poor acoustics, and an amp or two turned up a little too loud. There might have even been a forgotten chord or two, and a few verses omitted, but who's counting?
All technical blunders aside, it was still a BSS show, and still kicked ass as always. Brendan Canning's bass and Justin Peroff's kick drum never missed a beat together, and I continue to believe this is the driving force behind their music. Throw in 4 or 5 electric guitars, synth, the occasional horn, voice harmonizer tweaker box thingy, and it becomes quite an amazing spectacle. With all the instruments they throw in, you'd think it would be one big muddy mess, like mixing too many hues of paint together. They somehow manage to find space for everything, which is their greatest asset. Look at all my name dropping, I'm finally starting to piece together names to faces in this ensemble. Can anybody tell me who's the dude with the mustache?
The highlight of the night for me, besides Kevin Drew and company's hilarious banter was probably "Ibi Dreams of Pavement", or "Major Label Debut". Or when Kevin asked everybody how much they paid to get in, and then said "Five Dollars? Ok we're done." I have to tell you, he's a very well tempered guy, after the third or fourth mic being completely off, or monster feedback, I probably would have been pissed off. Broken Social Scene remains my favorite live act, and although last night's show couldn't possibly trump last years show with Leslie Feist at Avalon, it was still pretty damn good.
I wanted to start a conversation about everyone's favorite BSS side project as there are so many: Stars, Metric, Apostle of Hustle, Feist, Jason Collett, Amy Millan etc, I'm sure I'm missing many. Mine is Apostle of Hustle. But nobody comments on here anyway, so f it.
I was supposed to do a write-up for Filter's tourzine on the Silversun Pickups/Viva Voce show at the Middle East last Sunday. I ended up getting really sick this weekend, and couldn't get my ass out of bed to get to the show.
Luckily, Ashley was there, and wrote about it here. Head on over to Noise For Toaster for the Friday show at BU. I'm bummed I didn't make this show...
I'm back, and only a little worse for wear. My journey was a soul-seeking adventure into the world of way too much work. The first thing on my plate, as I contemplated my return, was to talk about The Crane Wife. I think this is the greatest leap for The Decemberists to date. Their first non-indie release leads them, as you might have guessed, to a more polished effort. Genre-hopping from track to track, at times, even psychedelic/prog rock, this is an epic album. With two tracks clocking in at over 12 minutes, how can it not be? When I first heard the second cut, "The Island", I could swear my itunes had been possessed and had flipped itself over to some lost Yes album. I'm almost tempted to go track by track here and list the artistic influences that lie behind each of these songs. That's hardly just to de-construct what I consider to be The Decemberists' finest work. I have to do just one more, can you hear "No Quarter" in "When The War Came?
While previous works were primarily acoustic driven, The Crane Wife finds The Decemberists plugging in a bit more, and pulling a few new instruments off the wall. It's a delicate balance to up the ante on instrumentation without killing the songsmanship The Decemberists are famous for. Does Colin Meloy spend his days and nights buried in turn of the century novels? I've always admired song-writers that can hearken back to a time they didn't live through, and tie that in to their own modern day joys and troubles.
Giant Panther once again hooking you up with a review for an album you probably have been listening to for 2 months already. What can I say, it takes me a while before I'm ready to write about something. I started hearing tracks from Grizzly Bear's new album back in the spring, and was eager to find out how these songs would gel together to form one album. Now that I've listened to Yellow House front to back at least 5 times, I can tell you that they gel together well. Although you really have to pay attention to keep this album in the foreground. It's got a lot going on, but if you don't stay sharp, your bound to miss the train. Recorded literally in a yellow house near Cape Cod, with more layers than an onion, and just the right amount of production, Yellow House is perfect for a long trip with the headphones on.
Some people are against sounds-like comparisons, I'm not one of them. The closest I can come to any other sound I've heard would probably be Brian Wilson at his craziest, with a little Pink Floyd circa Meddle. Don't believe me? Listen for yourself! (I actually typed this, then read it back to myself, and am leaving it in for comic relief. My own little online version of "Reading Rainbow".)
I'm convinced M. Ward's soul is hundreds of years old. I was floored with his performance last night at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square. I apologize for the lousy pic, but there were about 15 signs posted on the stage requesting that no photos be taken. How, in such a short lifespan, has he managed to take in so many influences, and spit them back out as one entity?
My feeling at this show: try to imagine your favorite Dylan (circa Love and Theft), Waits, Young, or Knopfler show, and cram them into one. I felt myself hanging on every word, and I don't think I was alone. This attentiveness was well earned by Ward, as he put so much thought and feeling into each note he delivered. Almost as if he was channeling this music from somewhere else and bringing it to the stage. His voice is amazing: raspy beyond belief, but soothing, not abrasive. A man of few words onstage, he speaks just like he sings. My favorite part of the night was when someone shouted something from the crowd after an interesting rendition of "Let's Dance". It went something like this:
Guy in Crowd: (Inaudible Howl) M. Ward: "What?" Guy in Crowd: "That was sick!" M. Ward, turning to his band, monotone: "That was sick."
And then the music began again.
He's an amazing guitar player, dizzying displays of finger picking and guitar acrobatics. You never knew when he would pull a harmonica out and start wailing, run over to a Wurly, or grab a fresh guitar after busting a string. Moving and swaying through a number of his best work from the new album Post-War, as well as many favorites from Transistor Radio and Transfiguration of Vincent.
The accompanying band was nothing short of spectacular, unfortunately I don't know any of their names. A girl on drums, offering up beautiful harmonies, guitar and bass player alternating between instruments (and one hell of a whistler), and a second percussionist playing drums and vibes.
The second encore featured Ward alone with an acoustic guitar, and it was here in my opinion where he amazed the most. Six strings and a raspy voice in an otherwise deathly silent auditorium. If anybody has this show, please let me know!! If you have a chance to see M. Ward, don't miss it. Here's one of my favs from his new album Post War, the show opened with a recording of the original lo-fi version by Daniel Johnston, and then the band jumped in full force. Check out my pre-show post to see how it lived up to and blew away my expectations.
This post really should have been reserved for an album review of Shut Up I Am Dreaming, Sunset Rubdown's latest, and really only polished release, but alas, I was yet a glimmer in the blogosphere's eyes when it was released. By far one of the most emotional and dynamic albums of 2006. You can play this front to back fifty times, and still find something new to hone in on with each listen.
Lead by Spencer Krug (also of Wolf Parade), Sunset Rubdown has put out a few low-fi EPs in the past, which I have to admit, weren't on the top of my playlist. And of course, they're from Canada. What are they putting in the water up there? If you're familiar with Wolf Parade, you've heard plenty of Spencer Krug already. Wolf Parade is one of my favorites from the first time I heard "I'll Believe In Anything", I was blown away.
Spencer Krug is a modern day Gary Numan (sans English Accent). Whether he's pounding on an organ or singing his ass off, any song that involves Spencer has a sound that is unmistakable. His songwriting is intelligent and full of imagery. From the crash of the first track, "Stadiums and Shrines II", lifting a proverbial skirt to the ceiling ties, revealing something hiding in each of us: "There's a kid in there, and he's big, and dumb, and he's kinda scared, and he's too old to be there, he's just looking for a ride."
I caught Sunset Rubdown earlier this year at TT The Bears, the atmosphere was strange. Nobody was dancing, nobody was talking, nobody was doing anything, except sitting there in amazement at what was happening on stage. To be honest I don't think Spencer and crew would have known the difference if there was a packed house, or just an empty wooden floor, they were completely engulfed in what they were collectively creating. Of course there was the occasional asshole screaming out "Play You Are A Runner!", which I'm sure pisses them off to no end, but for the most part, I think the crowd was just feeling lucky they were fortunate enough to know someone that tipped them off about this show. All talented musicians, the drummer and guitarist swapped instruments on almost every song, and they both impressed me equally.
Nothing quite sums up the energy and dynamics of a Sunset Rubdown performance like these two songs. From the first note struck on the keyboard, you can feel something building, and find yourself waiting for the barrier holding this music back to break and spill itself onto the crowd. Shut Up I Am Dreaming is highly recommended. I've included bonus tracks for reference, if you don't own Apologies To The Queen Mary by now, you should really re-evaluate your spending habits.
Although this isn't my first run-in with Junior Boys, it is the first time I've heard their record front to back, and I must admit, their new release, So This Is Goodbye really took me by surprise. This album rides atop the apex of a wave of electronic music (The Knife, MSTRKRFT, James Figurine, etc.) I've been partaking in lately, in hopes of expanding my musical palette.
Jeremy Greenspan's smooth, laid back vocals over electronic landscapes, flavor each of the 10 tracks on So This Is Goodbye in 10 unique ways. I'm having a hard time coming up with a good description of this sound, if you haven't figured that out already, but I found the Pitchfork review to be particularly well written, so check it out. Here are a few of my favorite tracks from So This Is Goodbye, one of my favorites of 2006 so far, and a purchase worthy of your hard earned money.
Sorry for being MIA, I've had no time to do anything. Here's a theme post I've been thinking about for a while. There's nothing easier to relate to than heartbreak in any form of artwork. Everybody at some point in their lives has experienced it. If you haven't, do yourself a favor and go get your heart broken, it will help you appreciate everything. Every album below is highly recommended, if I had time I'd go on and on and on and on.. Here's a few songs to rip your heart out.
If you frequent the blogosphere, you've probably heard of Tacks, The Boy Disaster already. They've been featured numerous times on GVB, and Hello Gina, among other places. If not, good luck hearing them on the radio or even purchasing the album on ITunes, Amazon, or pretty much anywhere else.
Tacks hails from Austin, TX and are headed up by Evan Jacobs (formerly of Polyphonic Spree). They recorded their EP Oh, Beatrice at Evan's house, and I don't think they have a label. If you like Midlake, you'll like Tacks, The Boy Disaster. There isn't a lemon on the EP - Smooth vocals, rich keys, fantastical (is that a word?) breakdowns, everything you'd expect from a good Austin band these days.
After listening to their tunes on myspace about 50 times I decided it was time to buy the EP. I'd love to give you more tracks here, but then you won't buy the EP will you? It's definitely worth ordering at only 8 bucks, and think how good you'll feel afterwards. Here's my favorite tune, go check out a few of the others at their myspace and buy the album.
I wonder how many music blog posts are inspired by throwing Itunes on shuffle. I hadn't heard Ugly Casanova in a long time, and when "Parasites" came up today, I decided to write on this album in case it had slipped through the cracks for anybody out there. When it popped up, I was ready for a Modest Mouse tune, then a few seconds later when the fake horn synth line appeared seemingly from a late 90s rap song, I knew it was Ugly Casanova
Ugly Casanova was/is Isaac Brock's (Modest Mouse) side project, along with Tim Rutili (Califone, Red Red Meat), Pall Jenkins (The Black Heart Procession), John Orth (Holopaw), and Brian Deck. You can read the full story here. They only made one album back in 2002, Sharpen Your Teeth, but it was a damn fine one. While it has obvious similarities to Modest Mouse, there are some differences, the major being a lot more synth.
I'd be willing to bet that most indie music fans put Isaac Brock's songwriting up there among the top, and while he does share writing duties with the other members of Ugly Casanova, Sharpen Your Teeth is not without it's pure Isaac Brock moments of zen.
One of my favorite lines from Sharpen Your Teeth is from "Hotcha Girls".. "Smells like autumn, smells like leaves, you don't know that you'll rust and not belong so much and then get left alone. Suck it up, take a ride, take a walk, and don't you know that old folks homes smell so much like my own."
"So long to the holidays is a 6 minute drone that does a lot with a little. I'm pretty sure the ant from "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" adds some vocals at the end.
Mason Jennings is back, this time as the first artist signed to Isaac Brock's label, Glacial Pace. This is what I would expect from Mason's first major label release. Definitely more of a produced work than previous albums, featuring much more instrumentation than past albums. I found a documentary while cruising On-Demand a while back called Use Your Van, where Mason talked about writing most songs on his piano, so it's a pleasant surprise to hear much more piano on Bone Clouds. To be honest, you could pretty much stick a mic up to Mason playing an old radiator like an accordion and I'd still love it. I've been listening to Mason Jennings for a long time, seen him live at least three times, and he never disappoints.
There is something very familiar about Mason Jennings, comparisons have been made to Jack Johnson, due to his laid back style and warm vocals. While there are some similarities, there is something much more lurking behind the lazy summer sound. Introspective lyrics that everybody can relate to at some point in their lives, and a deceivingly simple delivery reminiscent of Mr. Zimmerman, it's a privilege to look at life through the eyes of someone as perceptive as Mason Jennings.
Mason's 2004 LP Use Your Voice is one of my all time favorites. While Use Your Voice was more of an exploration inward, Bone Clouds looks outward, towards starting a family, and life-long relationships. The closest track to old Mason on Bone Clouds is "Jackson Square", romping through an acoustic singalong.
Mason Jennings is coming to Avalon in Boston on Sat, Sept 16, definitely a show to check out, get tix here, just make sure you exit by ten so club night isn't delayed. If you don't take my word on Bone Clouds, here's what Isaac had to say: "I just heard some of the new songs Mason is recording in Minnesota for Glacial Pace and am thinking that even if this was the only thing that Glacial Pace released, how I am just so goddamned proud to play a part in the release of this record. I hope that every time a record comes out on Glacial Pace I feel this good about it. " - from top-40 charts.com
I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted, I think I'm still hungover from last week's Midlake/Sound Team show. I took lots of great pics and filed away observations for an insightful post, but somehow haven't gotten around to it. Look for that soon, in the meantime, check out Bradley's Almanac for Midlake's amazing set, and Hello Gina had a good write-up on the show too.
On to Rogue Wave, one of my favorites, hailing out of California. Some might consider them a little too poppy to be widely accepted by the indie scene (after all, they did make an O.C. soundtrack) but not me. Their latest album Descended Like Vultures was probably my favorite of 2005 (yes, over Illinois), and probably most-played album front to back. Zach Rogue heads up the band, a working stiff that eventually left the corporate world to pursue music full time. His vocals at times pay tribute to Paul Simon or Elliott Smith: soft, but dynamic, double tracked for the most part similar to the Shins.
Rogue Wave is coming to the Middle East Downstairs with Jason Collett from Broken Social Scene on Sept 12. Why on a Tuesday night? Probably to make my Weds morning miserable, but what can you do.
There isn't a bad song on Descended Like Vultures, which makes it tough to highlight a few songs, of course I chose the slow ones as always. From the marching opener "Bird On A Wire", to the amazing "Are You On My Side", Zach Rogue covers a lot of ground. The album isn't without it's moments of unadulterated pop, most apparent on "10:1" and "Publish My Love", but pop's not always such a bad thing.
So long story short, buy Descended Like Vultures, then download their single "Eyes" from Itunes off the Just Friends Soundtrack, check them out on their Myspace page to stream more tunes, and head to the Middle East on 9/12. By the way, their 2004 debut Out Of The Shadow is no slouch either. Here's a few songs to get you going.
The Acorn hail out of Ottawa, and that's pretty much all I can tell you. I came across their music at GVB one day, and tucked them away in my itunes among 180 GBs worth of music. Sometimes you just aren't paying enough attention when listening to a song for the first time. "Sent (Awake the Kraken)" came up on shuffle today, and I says to myself I says, "Who are these guys?" I'm still wondering that, but enjoying their music nonetheless. If you like Midlake, you'll probably like The Acorn. Good luck finding a place to buy the mp3s, but you can order the albums here.
Their 2005 EP Blankets is excellent, a little more acoustic than their LP The Pink Ghosts, which has a few instrumentals as well.Download two more tunes on their myspace page, and grab a free live set at The Acorn's old website.
There's something ancient in M. Ward's songwriting. Everything about his recordings is intimate. Acoustic driven tracks recorded so you can hear the fingernails scratch across the strings, electric fills drenched in reverb with perfect Knopfler tone, pedal steel, brushed drums, and warm, inches from the mic vocals that have a slight hint of Tom Waits. Like all my favorite artists, there's no single genre label for M. Ward: folk, country, blues, all contribute to his sound.
Portland Oregon based Matt Ward is an old soul, and it shows in everything he touches, whether on his own albums, or co-producing efforts such as Jenny Lewis' Rabbit Fur Coat. I can't think of a better soundtrack to a long drive with the windows down on a summer night than Ward's Transistor Radio.
This will be my first M. Ward show, and first time at the Somerville Theatre (even though I lived in Davis Sq. for a year) but I'm anxiously awaiting this show. Be sure to visit the Ducat King website to pick up pre-sale tickets for this show. One of the most anticipated releases of the summer, Post-War comes out on August 22. Here's a track from that album along with a few other of my favorites.
Ok, I know this is supposed to be a music blog, but I just found the best clip of all time. If you grew up in the Boston area in the 80s, you know exactly what I'm talking about, the PSA for school lunches, Chow Daddy!
I'm a bit late posting on this album, because I was too busy not having a blog when it was released. Denmark's Figurines have been compared to Built to Spill and Modest Mouse, so I'm not going to do that. Although the vocals do sound very similar. "Skeletons" does at time have it's Built to Spill moments, but it's the organic non-rockers like "Ghost Town" and "Back In The Day" that impress me the most on this album. This is a tough album to sample based on a few tracks. Figurines really are an indie sponge, soaking up influences from a great number of different bands, and he really does happen to sound just like Isaac Brock. OK, I'm not comparing them to Modest Mouse anymore.
The album opens unconventionally with "Race You" (video below is the actual take from the album), a beautiful piano ballad full of longing and anger: "Don't call if you need a friend", that certainly doesn't set the tone of the album, but I'm glad it's not tucked in the middle of the album, where songs like this tend to get lost. Putting it first almost says "Hey sizzlechest, listen to this song and pay attention."
The second track, "The Wonder" is probably how the album was slated to start, but somebody snuck "Race You" in at the last minute. It's a pretty standard pop- rock tune, not the most impressive track on the album
As "Skeleton" progresses, you start to realize this isn't just a "Sounds like Modest Mouse and can write a catchy song" band. Other early highlights are "Silver Ponds"and "Rivalry". The ninth track"Ghost Town", is Figurines take on "Love the one your with", and has hints of an Uncle Tupelo banjo sing along.
If my favorite song on this album isn't "Race You", it's probably "Back In The Day", a hollow Western accompanied by an acoustic guitar and cymbal. Sometimes less is more, and this song highlights lead singer Christian Hjelm's talent writing melodys.
Definitely one of 2006's early best, and cool cover art to boot. Grab two more tracks from Figurines website here.
Since I just added a nifty tourfilter button in my sidebar that will post all my favorite upcoming shows in the Boston area, (thanks Chris!), I'm going to feature a few bands that are coming to Beantown this summer.
Midlake & Sound Team: TT The Bear's Place, Cambridge, MA, July 26
TT's is a great place to see a show: it's small, you can get as close as you want to the stage (bring ear plugs), and if you need a breather, you can escape to the opposite side of the bar for a drink.
I'd been planning on hitting this show up because I've been listening to Midlake non-stop, and hadn't paid much attention to the other appearing act, Sound Team (Cold War Kids also appearing). That was before I got a hold of their album "Movie Monster". Another band out of Austin, which this year seems to be the new Montreal for my music source. Movie Monster got hammered by Pitchfork recently, and I'm not sure why, other than to piss of bloggers everywhere.
I've never seen either of these bands live, but am expecting good things out of Sound Team. Their new album "Movie Monster" is very new wave (shouldn't it be new-new wave?) at times high energy wailing, and at others shows a darker side. Thanks to the wild side of Movie Monster, it never quite lets itself fall into the "Bands that sound like Interpol" bin, which is it's best asset (nothing against Interpol, just don't need another sounds like Interpol). Check out the recital part of Sound Team's website, fun.
OK, I spent too much time writing about Sound Team, and forgot Midlake. I've already posted on them, you'll have to settle for that. Still my favorite album so far this year.
I've finally recovered from my 4th of July vacation. Ten burgers, a few firework close-calls, and a good number of missed spots with the sun screen later, I'm ready to tell you about Aloha. They've been around for a a few years, each album in my opinion getting better and better. Their excellent latest release, "Some Echoes", doesn't have quite as many vibraphone breakdowns as some of their older stuff, but adds some nice organ layers. It's also the closest thing to love songs I've heard from them, where the past releases, "Sugar" and "Here Comes Everyone" were a little more on the serious side. Definitely pick this album up. Aloha is playing TT The Bears in Cambridge, MA on August 24. Get tix here.
It's casual Friday at work today, but I think I dressed a little too casual, as my shirt was on inside-out. Still better than my fly down, but not by much. I thought that girl at Dunkin' Donuts was just admiring my ruggish good looks. Here's some Friday music to start your long weekend.
In all of my years of posting (3/365ths), have I ever implored you to buy an album? Well I'm imploring now. So far, this is my favorite album of 2006, and I'm guessing on Jan 1st of 2007 it still will be. Original songwriting, Crosby-esque harmony, rich instrumentation. I'm trying to avoid slapping a decade label on every song I post, but this definitely brings back a 1970s feel (think Seals and Crofts but less facial hair.) "Bring me a day full of honest work, and a roof that never leaks, I'll be satisfied." Buy this album.
I missed Beirut at the Lily Pad last weekend, but Ryspace.com has a set from June 17 at Soundfix. Beirut's website says they are playing again in Boston on August 26th, but no word on where yet. Brooklyn Vegan has a great interview with Zach. This album has it all: 20 year old Zach Condon's vibrato, uke, trumpet, accordian, an old casio keyboard playing its heart out.
Ok, so I've posted on two albums you can't have until July 25th. I've only heard a few songs from "Putting the Days to Bed", but I'm looking forward to this album. I had to put something upbeat in here. More tunes to download here.
Have a good fourth, and if you're partaking in any pyrotechnics, make sure you're in a nice, open space, with plenty of room to get the hell out of the way if something goes wrong (the 18th hole for example).
I've spent two days trying to think of what to post first, and I've got nothing. Here's what I've been listening to this morning, there's a little bit of 80s in all of us..
Hot Chip immediately reminds me of the Beta Band, which should be considered high praise. And no, not just because they are English and use electronic instruments. A good number of these songs have that same familiar drone progression that brings me back to my favorite Beta Band tunes. Why did they break up? I even hear a little Duran Duran in here somewhere. That's not to say this album doesn't have it's own sound. There is lot going on, and "The Warning" offers a good variety of tracks, some that belong in a club, and some on your headphones when you can really pay attention. Bobblehead, this definitely belongs on your invisible IPod!
If you saw my playcount on this tune, you would puke on your keyboard. Solid, upbeat album, front to back. Is there a Magical Mystery breakdown in the middle? How do I explain this track? I don't, you have to listen to it, over and over.
I have to admit, I'm a sucker for anything Jose Gonzalez. But that's another post for another day. The appearance of Jose on several tracks on "The Garden" is what initially attracted me to this album. After a further listen, it's a good album to put on during dinner, but tends to lose my attention. A little Euro-popish, but enjoyable. P.S. that's not your music player skipping 2 and a half minutes in, it's just being "artsy".
Ok, a Jose Gonzalez post inevitably leads me to mention one of my favorite songs recently, "Heartbeats". I initially heard Jose's version, which lead me to the original, by Swedish electronic indie band, The Knife, which lead me to their excellent album "Deep Cuts". I love the simplicity in the lyrics of "Heartbeats", and Karin Dreijer Andersson is as ballsy a vocalist as Cyndi Lauper (I told you there's a little bit of 80s in all of us.)
Bonus: Hot Chip's "And I Was A Boy From School Video
Every Thursday at 21 Nickels in Watertown, MA. DJ Patterbeatz, playing old school hip hop, indie, underground, and new wave
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I'd planned to review Joanna Newsom's new album Ys today, but I don't have the brainpower at the moment. You've probably never heard of King Biscuit Time, but I'd be willing to bet from the very first track, you'll recognize the sound. King Biscuit Time is the side project of Steve Mason, lead singer of the now defunct Beta Band. Plain and simple, if you like Beta Band, you'll like King Biscuit Time. Black Gold offers some intimate moments from Mason, and overall sounds slightly more condensed than most Beta Band efforts, with far fewer instrumental breakouts. His cold delivery has always reminded me of Mark Sandman of Morphine, one of my favorites.
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