French Kicks are Playing Bowery Ballroom on September 24th

French Kicks are headlining the bill at the Bowery Ballroom on September 24th. The band is touring behind their fourth album Swimming (Vagrant) which was released earlier this year to strong reviews.

Swimming is the first disc to be produced and mixed by the band and the band shows a new level of artistic maturity. The band's garage/post-punk roots haven't been abandoned but the band is exploring more melodic territories. You can check out some tracks from Swimming on a Daytrotter session that the band recorded over the summer. One of my favorites is "Over The World".

French Kicks are playing with Passion Pit and Salt & Samovar at the Bowery Ballroom show. Tickets are $15.00.

Links:
French Kicks' MySpace Profile
French Kicks' Website

Holy Moses: Interview with Vocalist Sabina Classen (Thrash Metal)

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Sabina Classen, vocalist from Holy Moses. Now in its 27th year, Holy Moses has its 12th disc, "Agony of Death", coming out (in the US) on October 7th on SPV Records. Sabina and I talked a bit about the concepts behind the new album, the band's upcoming first-ever tour of the US, her recent work with Doro Pesch and more.

Here is the link to the podcast feed and here is a direct link to the mp3.

You can check out the sound of the new disc on this video of the band rehersing for the Wacken Open Air Festival.

Holy Moses rehearsal for Wacken Open Air 2008


Links:
Holy Moses' Website
Holy Moses' MySpace Profile

Is Noel Gallagher (Oasis) Playing in the NYC Subways Tomorrow?

Oasis was originally scheduled to play Terminal 5 in support of their forthcoming CD Dig Out Your Soul. Tonight's show was canceled after a crazed fan pushed Noel Gallagher into his monitor a few nights ago in Toronto.

As part of a promo behind the album release, the Gallagher brothers were supposed to be teaching three songs from the new disc to NYC street musicians who were then scheduled to do a series of live performances around the city today.

I'm a bit confused as a post from The Blender Blog was just forwarded on to me that says that the performances will be tomorrow in the subways. There is also a rumor that Noel Gallagher will be performing at some of the locations. Here is a quote from the Blender post "Beginning tomorrow morning, an army of street musicians will be performing tracks from the band’s new album on subway platforms at major Manhattan stations including Times Square, Astor Place, and Penn Station."

I'm not sure what to think on this...all the press releases say that this was supposed to happen today but there are no pictures, reviews, YouTube videos, etc. posted online as of yet. Maybe this got postponed a day...

Links:
Oasis' Website

Juliana Hatfield Plays Bowery Ballroom Tomorrow and Housing Works Bookstore in October

Juliana Hatfield has just released her 10th CD, How To Walk Away, which reviewers are calling new best disc in years. Village Voice recently did an in-depth write-up/review on Juliana and her new CD, which they describe as "her best".

The new disc is produced by Andy Chase (from Ivy) and (according to the Voice article) "he pushed her to focus on writing stuff where each song reveals an onion layer of who Juliana is." This is a mature and personal album which is also marked by Juliana singing in a lower register than what she typically has done over her career.

Juliana kicked off a tour a few days ago and is playing Bowery Ballroom tomorrow night with Hayden. Juliana is back in town for a CMJ Show at Housing Works Bookstore on October 23rd. Tickets for tomorrow night's show are still available and are $18 at the door.

Links:
Juliana Hatfield's MySpace Profile
Juliana Hatfield's Website

Monika H. Band - Disguised As Umbrellas We Slept CD Review

Avant-rock/jazz vocalist Monika H. is releasing her second CD, Disguised As Umbrellas, We Slept, on October 28th and she is having a record release party that night at Nublu in Alphabet City.

Disguised As Umbrellas, We Slept is an eclectic disc that combines elements from dream-pop, psychedelia, avant-rock and jazz into into a unique amalgamation of sound. The sensation of listening to Monika's music has been described as "being perched on a high cliff at a perfect angle of repose, where the fall is visible but not inevitable, sitting just outisde of dissonance, barely safe from chaos."

"Your Doom" is the first video to be released from this forthcoming album. This tune is a dark-tinged trippy and psychedelic adventure that is fairly reflective of the musical vibe on this disc. Monika (Heidemann) says that "a lot of the music and lyrics start with dreams that [she has] that are interesting to interpret and then develop."

Monika H. - Your Doom


Lyrically, Monika describes her songs as "highly emotional pieces that deal with relationships and the pain that comes out of searching for yourself. But they're not completely gloomy - there's a lot of humor and playful sexuality in the mix as well." Lyrical themes include the panic caused by significant loss ("Foodstamping"), the over-use of perfume and hairspray by people on the subway ("Night Spray") and love and relationships ("Moonshine" sets the poem written by Richard Murphy to music).

Monika is an established live player and she is playing with an all-star band which includes Simon Lott (from Charlie Hunter's band), Rob Jost (who has played with Imogen Heap and Bjork), Erik Deutsch (who also plays with Charlie Hunter) and Jason Lidner (from Me'Shell Ndegeocello's band). Last year, Monika won a grant from the Meet The Composer organization to play the Vilnius Jazz Festival in Lithuania's capital city and here is a live video from one of her shows in Latvia.



Monika is having a CD release show on October 28th at Nublu. Nublu is located at 62 Avenue C (between 4th and 5th Street) in Alphabet City. Prior to this, Monika will be performing live on Columbia University Radio (WXCR/89.9 FM) Live Constructions show on October 26th. Live Constructions airs from 10PM - 11PM.

Links:
Monika H.'s MySpace Profile

The Walkmen Performing Live in San Francisco Available as Free Download

Wolfgang's Vault, which owns Bill Graham's live concert archives, just posted a live show by The Walkmen as a free download. The show was recorded on February 27, 2008 at Independent in San Francisco.

Tracks are:
01) On the Water
02) In the New Year (incomplete)
03) All the Hands and the Cook
04) Donde Esta La Playa
05) If Only It Were True
06) Wake Up
07) Another One Goes By
08) The Blue Route
09) Four Provinces
10) What's In It For Me
11) Little House of Savages
12) I Lost You
13) They're Winning
14) The Rat

Ponytail Return to NYC for a Halloween Show

Baltimore's Ponytail is off on a fall tour with Brooklyn's High Places and they are finishing up the tour with a Halloween show in Brooklyn.

Ponytail will be playing Todd P's Halloween show which will be held at Danbro Studios Warehouse @ Goldenrod Brewery (268 Meserole St @ Bushwick Pl, East Williamsburg Industrial Park, Brooklyn). Also on the bill are matt & Kim, Aids Wolf, DMBQ and The Homosexuals. The show is all-ages and starts at 8PM.

Ponytail is currently working on a video for "Beg Wevs" and below is the video for "Die Allman Bruder".

Ponytail - Die Allman Bruder

For anyone who hasn't caught Ponytail live, here is a link to a live recording of the band at the Mercury Lounge in July.

Here are Ponytail's upcoming tour dates:

Thursday September 25 2008 @ Grinnell College in Grinnell IA*
Friday September 26 2008 @ The Mill in Iowa City IA*
Saturday September 27 2008 @ Rhinoceropolis in Denver CO*
Monday September 29 2008 @ Kirby Court in Salt Lake City UT *
Tuesday September 30 2008 @ Badlander in Missoula MT*
Thursday October 2 2008 @ Nectar in Seattle WA*
Friday October 3 2008 @ Department of Safety in Anacortes WA *
Saturday October 4 2008 @ Richards on Richards in Vancouver BC*
Monday October 6 2008 @ Backspace in Portland OR *
Wednesday October 8 2008 @ Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco CA*
Thursday October 9 2008 @ TBD in Santa Cruz CA*
Friday October 10 2008 @ The Smell in Los Angeles CA*
Saturday October 11 2008 @ UC Irvine in Irvine CA
Sunday October 12 2008 @ Modified in Phoenix AZ *
Thursday October 23 2008 - @ The Ottobar in Baltimore MD - Cal Robbins Benefit
Friday October 31 2008 - Todd P NYC in Brooklyn NY w/ Matt & Kim, DMBQ, The Homosexuals
* w/High Places

Links:
Ponytail's MySpace page

Abigail Williams Release New CD and Play NYC Next Month

Phoenix death metalers Abigail Williams announced both a tour with The Faceless and the release of their debut full-length CD in October.

The band's new CD, In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns, will be released on October 28th on Candlelight Records. The new disc was produced by James Murphy and features contributions from Emperor/Zyklon drummer Trym Torson. (Note: Abigail Williams was hand-picked to open for Emperor's Los Angeles show in 2006).

The band is off on a two month tour with The Faceless and the tour stops at the Gramercy Theatre on October 27th. Here are the complete tour dates:

10/17/2008 Chain Reaction - Anaheim, CA
10/18/2008 The Sets - Phoenix, AZ
10/19/2008 Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
10/20/2008 Marquis Theatre - Denver, CO
10/21/2008 Club Oz - Wichita, KS
10/22/2008 Rockstar - St. Louis, MO
10/23/2008 Mojoes - Chicago, IL
10/24/2008 Elva's - South Bend, IN
10/25/2008 Skateland - Detroit, MI
10/26/2008 Penny Arcade - Rochester, NY
10/27/2008 Gramercy Theatre - New York, NY
10/28/2008 L'Anti, Quebec - City, QC
10/29/2008 Underworld - Montreal, QC
10/30/2008 Reverb - Toronto, ON
10/31/2008 Peabodys - Cleveland, OH
11/01/2008 Broad Street Ministries - Philadelphia, PA
11/02/2008 Jaxx Nite Club - Springfield, VA
11/03/2008 Volume 11 - Raleigh, NC
11/04/2008 Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
11/05/2008 Crowbar - Tampa, FL
11/07/2008 Java Jazz - Houston, TX
11/08/2008 White Rabbit - San Antonio, TX
11/09/2008 Ridglea Theater - Ft. Worth, TX
11/11/2008 The Rock - Tucson, AZ
11/12/2008 Key Club - Los Angeles, CA
11/13/2008 The Exit - Fresno, CA
11/14/2008 Metro - Oakland, CA
11/15/2008 Riverdale Grange - Roseburg, OR
11/16/2008 Studio Seven - Seattle, WA
11/17/2008 Satyricon - Portland, OR
11/20/2008 The Dome - Bakersfield, CA
11/21/2008 Boardwalk - Sacramento, CA
11/22/2008 Soma - San Diego, CA

Links:
Abigail Williams' MySpace Profile

Burzum - Lord of Darkness Anthology CD Review (Candlelight Records)

It is hard to know where to start with this review -- Burzum is a one-man black-metal project of Varg "Count Grishnackh" Vikernes, who was the one-time bass player for the Norwegian black-metal band Mayhem. Vikernes has been in jail since 1993 after being sentenced to 21 years imprisonment for the murder of Mayhem guitarist Oystein "Euromymous" Aarseth and a number of church arsons.

A number of Burzum CDs have been released while Vikernes has been in prison and this anthology covers tracks from Burzum's recording career from 1991 - 1999.

There are nine tracks on this disc:

1) Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown: is from Burzum's self-titled debut in 1992. This is a lo-fi recording that, musically, would be comparable to Christian Death's Only Theatre of Pain or Deathwish. The gothic music is complemented by Burzum's genre-expected "tortured death rasp" vocals

2) Stemmen Fra Taarnet (The Voice From The Tower): is from the 1993 Aske EP. Like a couple of the tracks that follow, the music starts to drift further into the area of goth-punk.

3-4) Lost Wisdom & Svarte Troner: are from Burzum's second LP Det Som Engang Var. The first song continues in the same goth/death rock vein as Stemmen Fra Taarnet while Svarate Troner is an ambient instrumental piece.

5) Det Som En Gang Var (That Which Once Was): is from the Hvis Lyset Tar Oss album. This track, which is mostly instrumental, is an aggressive 14 minute soundscape that is powered by pounding drums, a gothic keyboard sound and clean, ringing guitars.

6-7) Jesus' Tod (Jesus' Death) and Gebrechlichkeit II (Decrepitude): are both from Filosofem. Burzum's musical style continues to shift and the best comparison to Jesus' Tod would be Ministry. The song's intensity is powered by some aggressive drum work and Vikerens' vocals are as clean as I have ever heard them.

Gebrechlichkeit II shifts styles again and is an ambient piece that would be comparable to some of the work of Brian Eno. This is an all instrumental piece where machine noises are combined with low-tuned fuzzed guitars and a delicate piano sound.

8) Balferd Baldrs (The Burning of Balder): is from Dauoi Baldrs. This is a keyboard-based piece that includes both strings and horns.

9) Ansuzgardaraiwo (Warriors Of Asgard): is from Hlioskjálf. This is another keyboard-based piece but the arrangement is much more sparse and mechanical sounding than Balferd Bladrs.

For someone like myself who wasn't that familar with Burzum's music, this anthology serves as a fascinating introduction to Vikerens' music and its evolution over the years.

Links:
Burzum's Website

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam: Does Anyone Really Click on Phishing Emails?

The phising emails have gotten so bad that I can't believe that anyone would click through and enter their personal information. After all the media hype and warnings, are people still falling for these fake emails?

Yesterday, I received an email from Laurentian Bank asking me to click on their link to log in and 'validate account activity'. Hmm...a Canadian bank is telling me that there is suspicious activity in an account that I didn't know that I had. It gets better; the email was sent as an image so I have Gmail asking if it should display images from mhkceq@yahoo.com.

A couple days ago, I received an email from "PayPal" where the spammer misspelled the company name.

It looks like cutbacks in education are leading to a stupider class of criminals -- what can you do but laugh?

East Village Radio Music Festival Moved to Sunday

Due to tropical storm Hanna, the East Village Radio Music Festival has been moved to Sunday. The festival will run 1PM - 9PM at the South Street Seaport.

I'm looking forward to seeing Boris (for free) but I also want to check out Olof Arnalds, who is a new artist out of Iceland. Here is a video of Olof performing her song "Klara" for Iceland Airways podcast.



Here are the set times for both of the festival stages:

BANDS SCHEDULED FOR @ SEAPORT LOCATION
Lil' Dusty 1:30
Bunnybrains 2:30
Hex Message 3:30
Crystal Stilts 5:30
Woods 6:15
BIG A little a 7:00

BAND SCHEDULE FOR SOUTH STREET SEAPORT STAGE
4-ize 12:45
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble 1:15
Dr. Lonnie Smith 1:45
Olof Arnalds 2:30
Vivian Girls 3:00
High Places 3:45
Awesome Color 4:30
John Oliver 5:00
Devin the Dude 5:30
Flying Lotus 6:15
Mark Ronson 7:00
BORIS 7:45

Links:
Olof Arnalds' MySpace page

Kory Clarke/Warrior Soul Announce The Release of Chinese Democracy

Never one for subtlety, Kory Clarke has named Warrior Soul's forthcoming CD Chinese Democracy.

Chinese Democracy is the first studio album of new material since 1995's Space Age Playboys. Kory said "I'm really proud of this album. It's been great to make another Warrior Soul record and this line up is the best I've ever had."'

The current lineup of Warrior Soul has been together for about two years and has been touring in Europe to strong reviews. The band played their first NYC show in 12 years earlier this year at Ace of Clubs and the song "Let's Get Wasted" was captured on video.


The band is playing The Canal Room on October 26th as part of a Smoke The Vote/High Times event.

Chinese Democracy will be available for sale on Warrior Soul's US tour, which kicks off this month, and the disc will be available in retail stores early next year.

Links:
Warrior Soul's MySpace Profile

Garage Rockers Sister Anne are Playing Fontana's on September 26th

In July, I caught Les Breastfeeders' show at Europa and Brooklyn's Sister Anne opened. I assume that the band's name came from the MC5 song and the MC5's music is a good point of reference for Sister Anne. The five piece band (two bass players) play high-energy R&B infused garage rock.



Sister Anne is playing Fontana's on September 26th and their live show is well worth checking out. During the band's set at Europa, you couldn't help but move to the music and lead singer Kitana was in and out of the crowd getting everyone dancing.

There are a couple live tracks from a show earlier this year at Ace of Clubs streaming on the band's MySpace page.

Austrian Death Machine - Total Brutal CD Review (Metal Blade)

There are some bands in the metal genre that take themselves way too seriously. (As I write this, I'm thinking of a metal band that I saw a few months back who ripped up a Bible in a moment of such pompous seriousness, I almost fell over laughing.) As such, Tim Labesis' new side project, Austrian Death Metal, brings some welcome fun back into the scene.

This disc is not intended to be deep and meaningful, dark and dangerous, a sensitive tribute to Satan or anything of the sort. Tim Lambesis describes the disc as "a tribute to the great Arnold movies. It is a band fronted by Ahhnold with music I wrote and recorded in my free time. But, most importantly, I had so much fun!"

This disc intersperses short spoken word vignettes from an Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator with thrash metal tunes set to lyrics from das Ahnold's movies. Tim says that "Austrian Death Machine is exactly what you should hear from a heavy band:

- a continuously fast paced tempo you can always circle pit to
- the obvious build up to a breakdown you'll know how to mosh to
- classic sing alongs to pile up and sing along with
- a guitar solo in every song

And yes... I would never leave out the obvious key component. Cliché vocals that sound really angry! None of this scary screaming with makeup or goofy lows that we can all make under our breath."

Tim and company just released their first video:

Austrian Death Machine "Get To The Choppa"


"Get In the Choppa" should give you a good idea as to what the rest of the disc sounds like. On one of the spoken words pieces, 'Arnold' says "...of course [the songs] all sound the same because they all sound brutal".

Even though this disc plays on every cliche (there is a 'hidden track' on the disc entitled "Not So Hidden Track"), it is still great stuff. Who says that metal has to be about dark lyrics and bible ripping?

I would have guessed that Austrian Death Machine was just a one-time studio project but Tim & the band are playing two shows this month:

Sep 19 2008 8:00PM, The Nitty Gritty, Rancho Cucamonga, California
Sep 20 2008 5:00PM, 98KUPD End of Summer Scorcher - Peoria Sports Complex Phoenix, Arizona

Links:
Austrian Death Machine's MySpace Page
Metal Blade

Municipal Waste Shops at Generation Records Prior to Irving Plaza Show

Metal Injection just posted a video interview with Municipal Waste prior to the band's show with At The Gates in July. Metal Injection's Grim Kim talks with the band as they shop for records in Generation Records in the Village.



Municipal Waste is doing a mini-tour next month with The Casualties but the tour isn't coming any closer than Philadelphia.

Here are the current tour date:
Oct 8 2008 7:00PM, The Ottobar, Baltimore, Maryland
Oct 9 2008 7:00PM, J C Dobbs, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 10 2008 7:00PM, Club Paradise, Buffalo, New York
Oct 12 2008 8:00PM, Riot Fest,Chicago, Illinois
Nov 1 2008 6:00PM, The Fest!, Gainsville, Florida

For anyone who missed the Irving Plaza shows, here is what looks to be a cell phone video of the "Wall of Death" from the July 10th show.



Links:
Municipal Waste's MySpace Profile

Hades Announce Forthcoming Live DVD from 1988 Show

New Jersey's Hades always seemed right on the edge of hitting it big and then they would break up (this happened twice). The band was part of the original NY/NJ thrash metal scene in the 80's and played with bands like Nuclear Assault, Danzig, Manowar, Overkill and many others.

The band isn't getting back together but they are releasing a live video from a show recorded on December 30, 1988 in Boston where the band opened for Manowar and Nuclear Assault. The DVD includes 'Behind The Metal' filmed during the recording of The Downside album. It also includes interviews with Dan Lorenzo, Alan Tecchio, Jimmy Schulman, Ed Fuhrman and Scott LePage plus old video clips, live footage and TV show appearances, as well as a video for "Frozen Planet" from Dan Lorenzo's first solo album.

There are some interviews on Hades' MySpace page (link below) where the band members are asked about this upcoming DVD.

Here is what Alan had to say:

Question: Any memories of Hades show in Boston, out on DVD soon?

Alan: I recall being very bummed out about some guys in the front row who were giving me the finger all night. The were cursing at us screaming, "You suck!" and "Get off the stage!" The upside was that I had my 'I Hate You' shirt on and at one point in the video you can see me tugging on my shirt and pointing at them. That made me feel somewhat better.

The new disc is out in November on Cruz Del Sur Music.

If you aren't familiar with Hades, check out "King In Exile" from the band's 1988 release, If At First You Don't Success.



Links:
Hades' MySpace Page

Sunn O))) Will Be Selling 3 LP Grimmrobe Picture Disc @ 10th Anniversary Shows

Stephen O'Malley posted that Sunn O))) will be selling a limited edition (500 copies) of a three LP picture disc of the Grimmrobe Demos on their upcoming 10th Anniversary Tour.

SOMA provided no description as to what is on the third disc. I've tried zooming in on the picture but it looks like the writing is reversed so it is hard to make anything out. Obviously, this will go quick and likely end up on eBay the same night of the show.

Sunn O))) are only playing four shows in the US for this mini-tour. Here are the tour dates:

10/10/2008 Safari Sam’s - Los Angeles, CA w/John Weise, more TBA
www.safari-sams.com

10/12/2008 Berbati’s Pan - Portland, OR - Fall Into Darkness Fest

10/15/2008 Knitting Factory - New York, NY w/Tony Conrad and Thou
http://ny.knittingfactory.com

10/16/2008 First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA w/Thou and Earth
http://www.r5productions.com

Links:
Southern Lord

The Spinto Band - Moonwink CD Review

There seemed to be a huge buzz in the blogs when The Spinto Band released Nice and Nicely Done but I just couldn't get into either "Oh Mandy" or "Brown Boxes" and I found the whole chamber-pop thing somewhat unsettling.

The band's sound has really matured over the past three years and Moonwink is a great set of infectious hyperactive/ADD pop tunes. I would expect this release to break big for the band and they have already moved from a Union Hall residency (capacity: 100) to playing Music Hall of Williamsburg (capacity: 550).

The first single from this release "Summer Grof" is available on iTunes and the band has also posted a video to YouTube. The frantic Self-Righteous Brothers/White Rabbits pace of this song will give you a good feel for what the rest of disc sounds like.



The band describes "Summer Grof" as "a vague tribute to the great comedienne Janeane Garofalo" and this single was released with a non-LP b-side, "Snowball".

Three of the new disc's eleven tracks are streaming on the band's MySpace page. One of the stand-out tracks is "Later On" which kicks off the disc. There is also a live video for this song on The Spinto Band's website where the band plays an "acoustic" version of the song using kitchen utensils and fruit.

Moonwink was recorded with Producer / Engineer Dave Trumfio (Wilco, Built To Spill, Billy Bragg, Mates of State) and Mixing Engineer Tchad Blake (Tom Waits, Los Lobos, Cibo Matto, Paul Simon). Moonwink will be released October 7th on Park The Van Records.

The Spinto Band plays Music Hall of Williamsburg on October 18th with Frightened Rabbit and The Sw!ms -- Tickets are $15.00.

Army-Navy (Los Angeles Power Pop) Plays Mercury Lounge Tonight and Union Pool on Thursday

Army-Navy makes what is probably their NYC debut tonight with a show at the Mercury Lounge.

The band is based out of Los Angeles and is fronted by Justin Kennedy (who co-led Pinwheel in the 90's with Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard). The band combines rich vocal harmonies with jangle/power-pop sounds which bring to mind bands like The Posies and Teenage Fanclub.

The band's debut CD will be released on October 14th (on The Fever Zone record label) but there are a number of advance tracks streaming on the band's MySpace page. Check out the band's cover of Maxine Nightingale's "Get Right Back".

Tonight's show at Mercury Lounge is $8.00 and Army-Navy goes on at 8PM. Thursday's show at Union Pool is also $8.00.

Blackmore's Night - Secret Voyage CD Review

Blackmore's Night has now been together for an uninterrupted 11 years, which is longer than Ritchie's original tenure in either Deep Purple or Rainbow. Secret Voyage is the group's 7th studio album and it was released on the SPV record label last month.

Secret Voyages follows in the spirit of the band's 2006 release The Village Lanterne as the tracks are a combination of the medieval renaissance music that Blackmore's Night started out with in 1997 crossed with Joe Lynn Turner-era Rainbow. As on old Rainbow fan, it is nice to hear Ritchie bring a heavier sound back into his music.

For anyone who has been keeping up with Blackmore's Night, there are no real surprises on this disc. On the rock side, "Locked Within The Crystal Ball" is a strong first single. This disc also includes covers of Rainbow's "Rainbow Eyes" (originally sung by Ronnie James Dio) and Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love". On the renaissance side, Ritchie and Candice rework traditional folk melodies from France (“Gilded Cage”), Russia (“Toast To Tomorrow”), Germany (“Prince Waldeck’s Galliard”) and England (“Peasant’s Promise”).

While this disc doesn't stray far from the established Blackmore's Night sound, Ritchie's guitar work continues to be stupendous and the heavier sound that has been drifting into the last few BN releases may start converting a few Rainbow fans.

Links:
Blackmore's Night Website

Magic Bullets - Live at Piano's, NYC 8-7-08 + Exclusive Interview

San Francisco's Magic Bullets made their East Coast debut earlier this month with a two-night stand at Piano's. After catching the band's live show, I can see why they have been selling out clubs on the West Coast. The band plays incredibly catchy post-punk style tunes that could almost be mistaken for one of the early 90's Britpop bands.

The band released their debut CD, A Child But In Life Yet A Doctor In Love, early last year and are going into the studio later this year to record their followup. The band has released the first single "Upstairs Room" from their forthcoming disc (entitled Young Man's Fancy) which is currently available from iTunes.

The band was kind enough to let me film some of their set at their second show at Piano's. Here is a live version of "Upstairs Room" along with a post-show interview with Phil (vocals) and Nathan (bass).



Magic Bullets are back home in San Francisco and their next show is September 3rd at The Rumble @ Harlot.

Links:
Magic Bullets' MySpace Profile

Kings of Leon Release First Video, "Sex On Fire", From Their Forthcoming CD

Kings of Leon's new disc Only By The Night drops on September 23rd. The band just released the first video, "Sex on Fire" from this release.

Kings of Leon - Sex On Fire


The band released the first single, "Crawl", from this upcoming release a few weeks ago and this tune has been in the band's live set for a number of months.

"Sex on Fire" was debuted live at the All Points West festival a few weeks ago and someone captured the performance on video.



Kings of Leon are playing Webster Hall on September 23rd with The Whigs and tickets are $36.00.

Links:
Kings of Leon's Website

Ten Shekel Shirt Release New CD "Jubilee": Exclusive Interview with the Band

On August 19th, Ten Shekel Shirt released their third CD Jubilee (Rounder Records). Vocalist/songwriter Lamont Hiebert had taken some time off from music prior to this release to form Love146, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to help end child slavery and exploitation.

Jubilee is very accessible musically (Snow Patrol is a good point of comparison) but the lyrical themes are pretty heavy. Lamont breaks down each song on one of his MySpace blog posts and here are a few excerpts.

Daylight
A guy recently told me that he liked my old songs better. He said the old ones made him feel good while the new songs made him think about others. I took it as a compliment.

Although I cut my teeth in the music industry on "worship music" I believe it is dangerous and unhealthy to be self-absorbed with vertical religion. I often warn faith-based audiences that if we hold our hands in the air for too long we become spiritually constipated. Conversely, if we strive to be about God's business without His influence of love, forgiveness, justice, mercy, compassion, etc… we soon become burned out and bitter.

Jubilee
The origin of the word Jubilee has nothing to do with a wedding anniversary or a schmaltzy Las Vegas show. It has everything to do with the emancipation of slaves and the celebration of freedom and justice. When I wrote the title track, Jubilee, I combined that ancient meaning of the word with this true story of a teenage girl rescued from slavery and her first moments in a safehome.

At the tender age of 12, she was sold to a brothel by her stepfather. After 4 years of unspeakable violence, cruelty and shame she was rescued and brought to a safehome our charity (Love146) supports. The first moment she entered the home she noticed a small picture of Jesus on the wall. When she saw it she fell down and wept in utter relief and astonishment. She then explained that while she was in captivity she would often dream of being in a safe place and that in those dreams she would picture that face.

I had the chance to catch up with Lamont and guitarist Johnny Rodgers on the day that the album was released. We talked a bit about the new disc, the inspiration behind it and what's going on with Ten Shekel Shirt.



Ten Shekel Shirt is currently out on a lengthy tour and they have a date at First Baptist Church in Queens tomorrow night. Here are the band's tour dates for August/September.

Aug 30 2008 8:00PM, First Baptist Church, Queens, New York, New York
Sep 12 2008 8:00PM, Palm Beach Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, Florida
Sep 14 2008 7:00PM, Harriet Himmel Theater, West Palm Beach, Florida
Sep 17 2008 8:00PM, Southern CT State University, New Haven, Connecticut
Sep 19 2008 7:00PM, FBC, Portland, Maine
Sep 27 2008 7:00PM, Matsqui Centennial Auditorium, Abbotsford, British Columbia

Links:
Ten Shekel Shirt's MySpace Profile

The Jesse Lynn Band is Playing The Bitter End Tomorrow Night

Teddy Williams from Automatic Children turned me on to Jesse Lynn and it was a great recommendation.

There isn't much of a bio on Jesse's MySpace page but there are a couple live tracks streaming on the page. Jesse plays piano/keyboard and if you check out the track "But Here I Am", you will hear that Jesse has somewhat of a Norah Jones vibe. Other tracks like "Citywise" are more in the Tori Amos/Fiona Apple vein.

It should be a good show and tickets are only $10.00.

Woodhands - Live Footage and Interview from Silent Barn, Queens 8-16-08

Woodhands was in town last weekend for one of Todd P's shows at the Silent Barn. The band's debut disc, "Heart Attack", was released in Canada earlier this year (on Paper Bag Records) and the disc was released in the States yesterday.

Here is part of a live clip of "Can't See Straight" along with a post-show interview with the band.



The band puts on a wild live show and they say on their MySpace page that their goal is "emotional, sweaty dance floors". The band is back in the States for a show in Chicago at The Empty Bottle on September 5th but no East Coast dates have been announced.

For anyone not familiar with Woodhands, check out I Wasn't Made for Fighting. There are also a number of other tracks from Heart Attack streaming on the band's MySpace profile.

During the interview, Dan mentioned that the band was just in NYC to film a video for the "I Wasn't Made For Fighting" and the band just posted a link to a fan-made video for the song.



Links:
Paper Bag Records

Sonic Youth Play Final Show at McCarren Pool on Saturday, August 30th

There are still tickets left for the final show at McCarren Pool this Saturday with Sonic Youth.

Sonic Youth is playing with Wolf Eyes, Times New Viking and Vivian Girls. Doors open at 4PM and tickets are $35.00.

Green Point Wines is one of the sponsors of the event, and the profits from every glass of wine sold go to The Open Space Alliance, a nonprofit responsible for the preservation and renovation of Brooklyn parkland and open spaces.

Links:
Sonic Youth's Website
The Open Space Alliance's Website

John Joseph: Playing Cro-Mags Set at Dr. Tom/Walter Ryan Benefit Show + Second Video from Book Reading at The Delancey

On September 27th, the NYHC is coming together for a benefit show at Studio B for Dr. Tom and Walter Ryan (Subzero/Merauder). John Joseph is playing a Cro-Mags set and other bands on the bill include Sick of It All, Jasta and Murphy's Law.

The NYHC community has always come together to help out someone in need and, from what I've heard, Dr. Tom and "Monsta" Ryan really need our support. Come on out to the show, sign up for Moli (click on the poster), make a donation. Every bit helps...



While on the subject on John (Joseph)...I finally located a misplaced video where I filmed some of John's book reading at The Delancey back in June.



If anybody missed it, I also did an interview with John before his book reading (see previous post).

Links:
John Joseph's MySpace Profile

The Residents Announce New CD and NYC Tour Dates

The Residents are back with their first NYC tour since the 2002 Demons Dance Alone tour, which played three nights at The Warsaw in Brooklyn.

The new CD is entitled Bunny Boy and it hits the streets on September 2nd. You can pre-order through The Residents' record label, Ralph America (link below). Bunny Boy "centers around an eccentric character, the bunny boy, whose search for his missing brother compels him to post videos on the internet as a "cry for help." As the story evolves, it opens up to interaction between the bunny boy and his audience, causing the narrative to twist and turn in odd and unpredictable ways. Spanning a gap between insanity and self realization, the loony, but affable bunny boy soon finds himself pursuing a goal no less vital than saving the world from Armageddon."

If you haven't seen The Resident's videos about the adventures of Timmy, you probably need to move quickly as I understand that they will be coming down to make room for the new Bunny Boy videos.

The Residents' Bunny Boy tour plays The Blender Theater @ Gramercy on October 9th and 10th. Tickets are $40.00.

Links:
RalphAmerica (The Resident's Record Label)

Holy Trinity River (HTR) - "Let It Die" EP Review

This release caught me out of left-field as I haven't heard a good cow-punk band in years.

HTR are Dallas-to-Brooklyn transplants and their sounds fits in there with the 'first-wave' cowpunk bands like Green on Red and The Divine Horsemen. The band arrived in Brooklyn in 2005 and recorded their first EP, Cause/Solution, with Ellis Traver at Brooklyn's Loiter Studios. The band just released a new four-song EP, Let It Die, which was produced and engineered by Richard Lloyd.

Let It Die is a great slice of whiskey-soaked cowpunk and Richard Lloyd's production is near-perfect. The band doesn't loose any of the overall grittiness of their sound but Lloyd's production brings out some great guitar licks which is complemented by steady-on bass work and I really love the snare drums. All four tracks from the new EP are streaming on the band's MySpace page (link below) and the standout track is "The Shaker".

Here are HTR's upcoming shows:
Aug 20 2008 8:00PM, Maxwells, Hoboken, New Jersey
Sep 12 2008 8:00PM, The Castle in Hell Brooklyn, New York

Links:
HTR's MySpace Profile

After the Jump Presents Free Longwave Show on Friday

Longwave is playing the official after-party for the Regina Spektor/Albert Hammond, Jr McCarren Pool concert. This is a free show and Alberta Cross is opening. The show is at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and doors open at 9:30PM.

Longwave also announced a release date of November 11th for their follow-up to 2005's There's A Fire. The upcoming disc is entitled Secrets Are Sinister and it will be released on Original Signal Recordings. For anyone who wants an advance listen, there are a number of tracks from Secrets Are Sinister streaming on Longwave's MySpace profile.

"[T]he new album was recorded predominantly by the band in their Brooklyn studio and with the help of producer Peter Katis (The National, Tokyo Police Club, Interpol) at his Connecticut studio. Secrets Are Sinister expands on the band’s trademark sound: atmospheric, arena-sized guitars still build to an epic swell while the band’s penchant for dreamy landscapes now gives way to an equally dynamic but louder, noisier, and more driving sensibility. Hailed in the past by magazines ranging from Rolling Stone to Nylon to Alternative Press, Longwave returns with their most varied and accomplished work to date, from the shimmering “Sirens In The Deep Sea” to the thundering, Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, MGMT, Sleater-Kinney)-produced “Life Is Wrong” to the hopeful title track."

Joel Auge - "On The Blue" CD Release Interview, NYC 8-8-08

Last Friday, Integrity Music artist Joel Auge was in town to promote his debut CD On the Blue. The disc dropped in July and the first single, "So Deep In Love", was selected as an iTunes Discovery Download. iTunes said "Auges' mixture of worship music and emotional alt-rock rings makes a solid case for being one of the highlights of 2008. The album mixes up folk and pop with piano pop and Auges' own transcendent vocals."

Joel and I had a chance to talk about the new CD, his beliefs and the inspiration behind the CD and what his plans are for the rest of the year.



In addition to making some great music, Joel's a warm and funny guy to talk to. Check out this video of Joel attempting to purchase his CD from a bookstore on its release day.



For anyone that hasn't heard "So Deep In Love", the tune is streaming on Joel's MySpace Profile and there is a bizarre fan-made video on YouTube that sets the audio track to a picture of the American flag. I guess the videographer didn't realize that Joel is Canadian...

Fans of British piano-pop (Coldplay, Keane) would do well to give Joel's music a listen.

Calico Horse - Mirror CD Review

I'm still playing catch-up with some CDs that slipped through the cracks as I was trying to get my life in order a few months back. (Apologies to Banter Records and the band...)
San Diego's Calico Horse evolved out of singer Emily Neveu's previous band The Clock Work Army after recording sessions with this band collapsed. According to the San Diego Reader, Emily told the Reader in an email that “members of the band are leaving me...[a]s the founding member of the band and the main decision maker, I have decided to change the [band’s] name, to complete the new record myself and release it. A new name has not been chosen quite yet. This all has happened so quickly that I haven't had time to come up with anything, sadly.”

Fast forward a year and both the band's name and sound has changed. Calico Horse released their debut CD Mirror in late June on Banter Records. Gone is Clock Work Army's post-punk agit-pop and it has ben replaced with an ornate goth-pop sound (Awake In The Clouds is pretty representative of the tracks on this disc)

Overall, Mirror has a dark feel to it but it isn't quite goth. A number of songs have upbeat rhythms and Emily's clear vocals leave the listener with somewhat of a "whistling in the graveyard" experience. A number of the song titles, lyrics and effects add to the overall "graveyard" experience. There are songs like "Happy Placebo Syringe Day" which starts with a children's class reciting the "Hail Mary" and ends with Emily singing about people laying side-by-side in wooden boxes. "Father Feed Me" is a somewhat 'upbeat' piece that starts with the lyric "My father is dead and gone, He sold his soul for bread. I'm marked to walk the earth...". The piano instrumental "Interlude 5" is pure spook-house music. At this point...I'm sure that you get the idea that this isn't a jolly band.

That being said, this is still great late night listening and the disturbing aura of this disc is really no different than listening to the Velvet Underground (I'm specifically thinking of "The Gift") or similar. The band is currently playing around California and have talked about a national tour later this year.

Links:
Calico Horse's MySpace Profile
Calico Horse's Website
The Clock Work Army's MySpace Profile

Do Unfinished Albums Really Leak? My Views on the Buckcherry and Guns N' Roses Leaks...

Just to put some context around this post, I'm still playing catch-up with some releases and just got around to listening to the new "leak" that surfaced in June of nine tracks from Guns N' Roses' forthcoming Chinese Democracy CD.

With the new Buckcherry "leak" having been traced back to the band's manager, this seems to prove a point that I made about a year ago re: the Spring '07 "leaked" Chinese Democracy tracks. (see previous post)

I STILL don't believe that these types of leaks are anything more than attempts by someone in or associated with the band to generate publicity. I think the Buckcherry "leak" is a closed case so we won't go down that path. Can you really tell me that, when major labels are starting to send music bloggers watermarked CDs (to tell where any potential leaks are coming from), finished studio tracks continue to 'drift' out of the Guns N' Roses camp and no one has any idea who the source is. I just don't buy it...

If this happened once or twice, I would consider the possibility that the leaks are coming from disgruntled ex-employees or members. Now that June's "leak" marks the 6th or so leak since last year...what is the reality of the situation?? Are there mysterious men from Spain uploading tracks from a seemingly endless master reel (see Idolator for details) or is this a planned attempt at viral publicity??

(From GunsNRoses.US) Here is a blow-by-blow history of the Chinese Democracy leaks:
"In September 2003, radio DJ Eddie Trunk played a new Guns N' Roses song titled "I.R.S." on his syndicated radio show Friday Night Rocks with Eddie Trunk. The band's management issued a cease-and-desist order against Trunk, leading him to strip replays of his broadcast of both the song and references to it. In February 2006, full studio demos of the songs "Better", "Catcher in the Rye", "I.R.S.", and "There Was a Time" leaked online. Brian May confirmed on his blog that he recorded guitar for the "Catcher in the Rye" demo in 1999. On February 20 2007, a new version of the song "Better" was leaked onto the Internet. The song was confirmed real by Dizzy Reed. However, he also said it is not the final studio version. The next day, March 29, 2007 a full studio version of the song "Madagascar" leaked onto a GN'R fan website and is still in circulation. On May 4, 2007, three more tracks leaked from "Chinese Democracy"; the albums title track "Chinese Democracy", "The Blues" and an updated version of "I.R.S." All three tracks had previously been played live and the track "Chinese Democracy" had been partially leaked in March. An updated version of "There Was a Time" was along the 4 songs sent and was leaked on May 6, 2007. On June 2008, a set of nine songs were released online, including never-heard-before demo version of Prositute, Rhiad and the Beduins and If the World."

If the above wasn't funny enough, here is the latest leak (from July):

Sunn O))) Announces 10th Anniversary Show at the Knitting Factory (NYC)

SUNN O))) has announced four live performances in the United States, to recognize the 10th anniversary of the band and to coincide with the recording of the first album...The GrimmRobe Demos.

SUNN O)) will be playing material from GrimmRobes exclusively and the show will feature SUNN O)))'s core members Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson ONLY. The band's press release says "No guests, no vocals, no keyboards."

Here is the list of shows:
10/10/2008 Safari Sam's - Los Angeles, CA w/John Weise, more TBA
10/12/2008 Berbati's Pan - Portland, OR - Fall Into Darkness Fest
10/15/2008 Knitting Factory - New York, NY w/Tony Conrad, Thou
10/16/2008 First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA w/Thou, more TBA

Tickets for the Knitting Factory show are $15 in advance.

Links:
Stephen O'Malley's Website
SouthernLord's MySpace Profile

Earth - The Bee Made Honey In The Lion's Skull (Southern Lord) CD Review

Here is a clear sign we are in a recession -- there is a limited edition Earth Live CD (from the band's 2006 tour with Sunn O))) that has been available for sale on SouthernLord.com for more than a month. A year ago, the disc would have sold out within days and been on eBay with a 200-300% markup. This hits close to home as I would like to own a copy of the disc but just don't have the extra cash to buy it now.

I know that Earth's current disc has been out since February but a few major-league crises resulted in a few discs slipping to the bottom of the review pile. Everything is moving forward again but...it is insanely hard to get caught up once you fall behind.

Earth has essentially been touring on this disc since 2007 so the material is very familiar to me. I know this is somewhat of a contradictory statement but Earth played 5 of the 7 tracks from this disc at their show at the Bowery Ballroom last summer (see previous post for set list and pictures).

I'm one of the people who bought Earth's first disc because of Kurt Cobain's involvement so I have been watching Earth's evolution with great pleasure. The feedback and dissonance of the early releases is all but gone by this time and this release is very accessible. By this, I don't mean that this disc will likely get commercial airplay but The Bee... fits well alongside releases from bands like Pelican and Isis.

With this release, Earth has completely shaken the 'doom' label and it may be pushing it to call this 'drone'. The seven tracks (almost an hour) on this disc seem to form one complete story. The all-instrumental CD has typical languid Earth tempos and, while the music is somber, it is almost cheery. Each song has the space in which to breath and each note is heard in its crystalline beauty. The disc almost has an ambient quality but both the individual songs and the disc as a whole are a lot more structured than most ambient bands. The only potential "weakness" of this disc is that, as a cohesive body of instrumental work, this isn't the sort of release that you are going to drop on to listen to one or two tracks.

In looking at Earth's MySpace page (link below), things seem fairly quiet for the band. If you are in the Pacific Northwest, Earth have some Seattle and Portland shows scheduled for September.

Links:
Earth's MySpace Profile
Southern Lord Records

Geoff Koch - Exclusive Interview and Live Footage from Crash Mansion, NYC 7-26-08

St.Louis-based singer/songwriter Geoff Koch was in town at the end of July, playing shows at The Living Room and Crash Mansion. Geoff is touring behind his forthcoming disc If It Feel Good, Don't Do It and I caught up with him at Crash Mansion for a brief pre-show interview. Geoff was kind enough to also let me film part of his live set.

On Geoff's new disc, he is playing with an all-star line-up which includes former members of Uncle Tupelo and Tin Machine/Nine Inch Nails. The new disc is available through Geoff's MySpace page and will be available via iTunes and CD Baby in the near future. For anyone not familiar with Geoff, his music should appeal to fans of Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Ryan Adams and Big Star.

Here is the first part of the interview/live performance...



...and here is the second part (which includes a Big Star cover).



Geoff seems to be permanently out on tour so I'm sure he will be back in NYC soon. Here are his upcoming tour dates:
Aug 21 2008 9:00PM, The Neutral Ground, New Orleans, Louisiana
Aug 22 2008 9:00PM, TBA,Baton Rouge/Hammond, Louisiana
Aug 23 2008 9:00PM, Artmosphere, Lafayette, Louisiana
Aug 25 2008 7:00PM, Momo’s, Austin, Texas
Aug 26 2008 9:00PM, Ruta Maya, Austin, Texas
Aug 27 2008 8:00PM, White Rock, Dallas, Texas
Aug 28 2008 8:00PM, Red Cup, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Aug 30 2008 11:00PM, House Show, Springfield, MO

Links:
Geoff Koch's Website

The Golden Hands Before God... - Here CD Review

Every now and then, the name of a band perfectly describes their style of music. The full name of this band is The Golden Hands Before God Conducts Incredible Magic Band & The Spirits and the band plays blissed out psychedelic music.

The band draws upon a diverse range of sounds which include the psychedelic drone of bands like Spacemen 3 which is then combined with the pop sensibilities of bands like Jesus and Mary Chain, Mazzy Star and Darker Day-era Connels. The disc's leadoff track "One Fine Morning" sets the tone for this EP and here is a video of the band performing the song live in their hometown of Windsor, Ontario.

The Golden Hands Before God...One Fine Morning


The cut that is getting the most buzz from this release is "Communist Blues", which perfectly captures the 60's/70's classic rock sound. On this track, the band breaks from the layered psychedelic sounds of some of the previous tracks and lays down some ripping Dylan-ish "Subterranean Homesick Blues" style guitar work.

The new EP Here was released in Canada last week on Pop Echo Records and there will be both a US release and tour later this Fall.

Links:
The Golden Hands Before God's MySpace Profile

Motel Motel: Exclusive Interview & Live Footage from Piano's, NYC 8-7-08

Motel Motel played Thursday night at Piano's and put on a fabulous live show. After listening to the tracks on the band's MySpace page, I had earlier described their sound as alt-rock meets alt-county but, now having caught the band live, I don't think this description does the band justice. Eric (vocals/guitars) described the band's sound as "schwag rock" and that is probably a better descriptor. Live, the band showcases a wide range of influences but the music never careens out of control.

At the show on Thursday, the room was full and the band got the crowd dancing (which is always an accomplishment in New York).

I had the chance to catch up with the band before their set for a brief interview...



...and the band was kind enough to let me film some of their set.



Motel Motel's debut disc, "New Denver", is available via CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon and through the usual CD subscription/download services (Rhapsody, Napster, etc.)

Links:
Motel Motel's MySpace Profile
Motel Motel's Website

The Shanghai Restoration Project Plays the Canal Room on August 13th

At the end of July, I had the chance to catch up with Dave Liang, who is creator of The Shanghai Restoration Project (TSRP). TSRP was inspired by the 1930's Shanghai jazz bands that combined traditional Chinese instruments with Western jazz and then combined this fusion with divas singing in Chinese. According to Dave, this style of music disappeared around World War II.

In celebration of the Beijing Olympics, The Shanghai Restoration Project are playing two shows. The first show was earlier this week at the Viper Room in Los Angeles and the NYC show will be at the Canal Room on August 13th. At the shows, Dave will be playing piano along with the tracks, there will be a number of guest vocalists and the music will be synchronized to old and new footage of Shanghai.



Tickets for the show at the Canal Room at $12 in advance.

Links:
The Shanghai Restoration Project's Website
The Shanghai Restoration Project's MySpace Profile

The All-American Rejects are Playing Randall's Island as part of Nike+ Human Race 10K

The All-American Rejects really aren't my speed (and I am somewhat dubious as to whether I could survive a 10K) but Nike's "The Human Race 10K" is a pretty neat concept.

The race covers 25 cities around the globe so runners will be able to compete on a worldwide basis. All of the races will be run on August 31st with the first race kicking off in Taipei and the last race ending in Los Angeles. The NYC portion of the race starts at 6PM on 8/31 and the race is on Randall's Island. After each race, there is an exclusive concert in each city. In NYC, the band is The All-American Rejects (whose new disc in due out November 11th).

Race fees are $35 and here is a link to the Nike Human Race website where you can find complete information about the NYC portion of race.

What Laura Says - Thinks and Feels CD Review

What Laura Says stirred up a major buzz on the indie rock scene after the band played a few shows at SxSW this year, which included the all-star tribute to Lou Reed.

On August 19th, the band will be releasing their debut CD , Thinks and Feels, which is an incredibly eclectic but charming disc. This disc seems to incorporate influences as diverse as "Smile"-era Beach Boys, pre-Revolver Beatles, Grateful Dead/CCR style country rock and the mellow-side of 70's rock. With this range of influences, it is little wonder that the band is signed to The Annuals' Terpsikhore Records.

The first song on the disc, "Couldn't Lose Myself", sets the tone for the rest of the disc. The track starts with a man's voice counting off the time ("One and Two and Three and Four") and quickly segues into some rich multi-part vocal harmonies. Midway through the song, there is an Oingo-Boingo style breakdown and the band switches over (mid-piece) into a piano-driven rocker. From here, the band goes into "Fashionably Moral", which is a Canned Heat/Grateful Dead style country rock tune. There are tempo, tune and style changes throughout this disc.

To try and break the remainder of the disc into styles/genres:
- "Illustrated Manual" is a piano-rocker but the band's vocals harmonies push this past any of the Ben Folds/Billy Joel comparisons
- "Wish I Could Fly" is predominately an a cappella tune that is carried on the band's multi-part harmonies
- "Dot Dot Dot" is pure 70's lite-rock in the spirit of Harry Nilsson or Randy Newman
- "Paradice" is one of my favorite tracks on this disc. This track uses movie theatre effects as an intro and outro and the core of the song is simply a great rock and roll tune
- "Waves" is a Jeff Buckley/60's crooner-style tune
- "Get Better Soon" goes back down the 70's country path and the song is complete with shakers and what sounds like a saw blade
- "July 23" is almost comparable to David Gilmour's Pink Floyd songs
- "1000 Faces" has a Doobie Brothers' style California swing
- "Done What's Right" is an Annuals' style spiritual. This tune segues into a hidden track which is an atmospheric instrumental

This is great stuff and I would love to see how the band performs material this diverse live on stage. The band is currently touring around Arizona (check their MySpace page for details and dates) but hopefully some East Coast dates will follow the CD release.

If anyone is wondering about the band's name, Get Out (appears to be an AZ equivalent of the Village Voice ) asked the band about the name in an interview last year. Here is what they had to say:
Get Out: So who is the “laura” of the group’s name?

The band doesn’t really have an answer — there is no specific “laura,” so the band isn’t able to explain what “she” says, thinks or feels. “We just like to think there’s a little a little laura in everybody,” says [keyboard/guitar/vocals Danny] Godbold.

The Germs Movie "What We Do Is Secret" Opens Tomorrow at Sunshine Cinema + Show at Blender Theater

The long awaited Germs' bio pic opens tomorrow at the Sunshine Cinema (143 Houston) in the Village. After 15 years in the making, it is great to see the film completed and getting great reviews (link).

Both the band and director Rodger Grossman are in town and will be in attendance at some of the screenings.

On Friday:
- Pat, Lorna, Don, and Shane along with Rodger Grossman and actor Noah Segan (plays Don in the film) and actress Bijou Phillips (plays Lorna) will be on hand for a Q&A after the 5:30PM show. They will also be giving the intro before the 8:05PM show.

On Saturday:
- The Q&A is after the 8:05PM show and the intro is before the 10:30PM show. Note though that Pat is not listing as being at either of the screenings on Saturday.

The band is playing tomorrow night at Blender Theater @ Gramercy with the L.E.S. Stitches and Murphy's Law. I just received an email that if you buy two tickets at the Sunshine Cinema box office, you will get a free tickets to The Germs' show tomorrow. (Note: this was listed as a limited offer)

Tickets for the concert are $20 and tickets for the movie are $13.

Links:
What is Do is Secret Movie Website
The Germs' Website

Beau Jennings CD Release Party for "Holy Tusla Thunder" is August 16th at Union Hall

Beau Jennings is having a CD release party next Saturday (August 16th) for his fabulous debut solo CD Holy Tulsa Thunder. The show is at Union Hall and Beau is playing with Bowery Boy Blue. Tickets are $8.00 in advance and doors are at 8PM.

Here is Beau's new video for the title track "Holy Tulsa Thunder". I love the Coney Island footage...


Beau and Zeb (from Bowery Boy Blue) just did an Artist-to-Artist interview which is posted here.

Links:
Beau Jennings' MySpace page
Bowery Boy Blue's MySpace page

The Police: BestBuy.Com is Broadcasting Part of Tomorrow Night's Concert at MSG

It is getting pretty interesting in watching how Target, Walmart and BestBuy have moved from being retailers to a direct part of the music industry.

BestBuy is broadcasting on its website the encore from The Police's final show at MSG tomorrow night. (Having now watched farewell tours from Elton John, Kiss and The Who, I'm not personally convinced that The Police are going to walk away from this.) Cynicism aside, if you go to BestBuy's "The Police" page tomorrow at 10:45PM, they will be streaming three "of the last four songs" from the show.

BestBuy also announced that they have the exclusive distribution for a new Police live disc ("Certifiable") from the reunion tour. The show is from a 2007 performance in Buenos Aires. I'm guessing that this is the 12/1/07 show - there are a number of audience videos from this show up on YouTube if anyone is curious. What's interesting is that in addition to the expected DVD[or Blue Ray]/CD set, BestBuy is also offering the show as a three LP set. If the LP is limited, my guess is that it will disappear quickly and end up on on eBay with a 200%+ markup.