Soft Reeds are Playing Pianos on Dec. 16th and a 'Toys for Tots' Show at Spike Hill on Dec. 17th

Soft Reeds started as solo project of Ben Grimes(formerly of Golden Republic) that has been transformed into a full band since 2009. Record Machine released the band's debut, Soft Reeds Are Bastards earlier this summer and Pitch.com called the disc a "daring, arresting rock record".

Soft Reeds are in town for two shows later this week. The first show is Thursday, Dec. 16th. at Pianos. Soft Reeds are going on at 9PM and they are playing with The Stationary Set (8PM), Grandchildren (10PM) and Computer Magic (11PM). Tickets are $8.

The second show is a "Toys for Tots" benefit at Spike Hill on Friday, Dec. 17th. Admission is free if you bring at least one new toy, unopened/with tags, at a value of $5 or more, or make a $10 suggested donation to Toys for Tots. Soft Reeds are playing at 9PM and other acts include Milagres and Holiday All-Star Band.



Links:
Soft Reeds

The Record Machine Release Free 10 Song "The More The Merrier Christmas" Compilation

The Record Machine is a pretty cool independent record label based in Kansas City, Missouri. The label has been around since 2003 and has worked with a wide range of artists that include State Bird, the Winston Jazz Routine, Max Justus, Sam Billen, Caleb Winn, Interstates, The Parade Schedule, Interstates, Capybara, Of Asaph, The Billen Brothers, Cheyenne, Every Gentle Air, Colonel Rhodes, and James Dean Trio.

Sam Billen, who just released his first solo album in five years, has curated a 10 track Christmas CD of Record Machine artists which the label has made available as a free download.

Links:
The Record Machine

State Bird: More Live Footage from The Annex, NYC

My parents were always concerned with the music that I was listening to when I was growing up (which were bands like Thin Lizzy, Minor Threat, Led Zeppelin and The Misfits). I always thought they were over-reactionary but I find myself turning down or off the death metal when my three year old (Jake) comes into the room.

Jake wanted to see what I was doing on the computer the other night so I showed him the live footage of State Bird that I posted to YouTube back in March. Jake hasn't heard Mostly Ghostly in a few months but he was asking where the "time to come home" song was.

Given this, I uploaded the "time to come home" song to YouTube



State Bird is playing a few dates in the Mid-West over the next few weeks but it doesn't look like they have any East Coast dates scheduled.

Links:
State Bird's MySpace Profile

State Bird - Mostly Ghostly CD Review (Record Machine)

State Bird’s new CD, Mostly Ghostly, has a certain innocent charm and the music held my attention from the first track onward. It is hard to pin State Bird down with a label – there are elements of freak-folk, Americana/alt-country and sonic dissonance of The Annuals in their music but the music spans across all of these genres. As the band uses a mix of non-traditional instruments and each of the songs seems to have some sort of musical surprise, a hypothetical point of comparison may be Devendra Banhart meets Danny Elfman.

Mostly Ghostly is the second release from Coby Hartzler, Jared Riblet and a cast of friends. Here is a link to the first track from the CD, “I Saw the Light”, which is a good representation of what the rest of the disc sounds like. The band also has an online video tour journal so here is a song from one of their shows from late last year.



In other reviews, I’ve tried to highlight stand-out tracks. In the case of Mostly Ghostly, the whole album works well as a cohesive unit and there really isn’t a dud track on the disc. If you want to check out a couple more tracks though, the band just recorded a four song live set for My Old Kentucky Blog/Sirius radio which are posted as a free download.

The other point worth mentioning is the CD packaging is one of the more interesting that I have seen in a while. The picture of the CD cover doesn’t do the experience justice as there is unusual artwork in the cardboard cover + a fold-out poster on the inside. After the “death” of the LP, I missed the experience of the gatefold cover art and the posters/booklets that used to come with some LPs so it is nice to see a band focus on both the music and the overall experience.

Mostly Ghostly comes out on the Record Machine label on February 26th and the band is currently doing a tour of the Mid-West.

Links:
State Bird's Website
State Bird's MySpace Page