Jarrod Gorbel and Hurricane Bells Play Bowery Ballroom on Jan. 28th

I'll Do Better- Jarrod Gorbel by Little Operation

Ten Years Older- Jarrod Gorbel by Little Operation

Jarrod Gorbel, formerly of The Honorary Title, kicked off a national tour last week and he is playing a headlining show at Bowery Ballroom on Jan. 28th. Gorbel released his debut solo album, Devil's Made A New Friend, on August 31st, 2010, and recently completed fall tours with Fun and Steel Train and Hanson. Prior to starting the current tour, Gorbel posted an email addres where fans could request any five songs from The Honorary Title catalog that they'd like to hear Gorbel perform at their city's tour stop. The five songs that received the most votes in each city are then added to that night's setlist.

Opening the show is Hurricane Bells who released a new EP, "Down Comes The Rain", late last year. The five song EP includes two new songs, the gently ringing guitars and brushed drums of "The Waiting Song" and the cascading "The Deep End", along with three cover songs: the jangly power-pop of "Make A Deal With The City" by East River Pipe; the reverb-heavy, undulating "Into The Ocean" by Blue October (with whom Hurricane Bells toured in April); and the sweet acoustic yearnings of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow." The latter, made popular by The Shirelles, is here sung with Ashen Keilyn in a duet that has become a staple at Hurricane Bells' live shows.

Tickets are $15 and doors are at 8PM. Opening the show is Brooklyn duo Kaiser Cartel.



Links:
Jarrod Gorbel

Phantom Family Halo Play Coco66 on Jan. 28th

DOWNLOAD: Phantom Family Halo - "Blackouts and Runaways"

The Phantom Family Halo, “Alive And Well” by karatebody

Praised by the likes of Julian Cope and handpicked by Slint to open the west coast leg of the group’s 2005 reunion tour, Phantom Family Halo refused to rest. In the past two years, principal songwriter Dominic Cipolla released two critical albums, 2009’s Monoliths & These Flowers Never Die and Music For Italian TV last October, and relocated to Brooklyn. This week, Halo announced it will record a split 10-inch called Mindeater with Bonnie “Prince” Billy to be released in April on Sophomore Lounge.

Tickets for the show at Coco66 are $7 and Phantom Family Halo are playing with Spectre Folk, Hubble and Ancient Ocean.



"I’m also right blown away by the catchy and compelling all-purpose psychedelia of THE LEGEND OF BLACK SIX by power trio The Phantom Family Halo. I say ‘all purpose’ because this stuff is useful and should be available by the vat on prescription, because it’s good for the mental health. I say power trio, but this lot are greedy motherfuckers with a hefty set of auxiliary members. The sound is totally reminiscent of that 1970 period when no fucker could control the number of overdubs, and these guys pass through every stage from The Youngbloods and Kalackakra to a kind of Amon Duul PARADIESWARTS DUUL-informed take on David Voorhaus’ White Noise project via early (very early) Chrome on their way to the proto metal of ‘Electric God In Your Galaxy’. This record is vinyl only, I believe, but double check by contacting starkillerlove@yahoo.com."
- Julian Cope/Teardrop Explodes

Links:
Phantom Family Halo

Rival Sons - Self-Titled CD EP Review (Earache Records)

DOWNLOAD: Rival Sons - "Get What's Coming" (Click-through and enter email address)

From a 2009 Huffington Post interview with Rival Sons

Huffington Post: You guys classify your music as pure rock and roll. What does rock and roll mean to you?

Scott Holiday (guitar): If the question is what is a 'technical definition' of rock & roll ? I'd say its the melting of blues, soul, and country, first off. And it's gotta have a little boogie, or make you wanna dance or pump your fist ... and most importantly, it's gotta be DANGEROUS. It's obviously tough to really encompass this whole concept of rock & roll ... but this is my quick answer.

California blue-rock quartet, and recent signees to Earache Records, Rival Sons have just released a new 6-song digital EP via iTunes. This new self-titled EP serves as a stop-gap for the band’s first full-length for Earache, Pressure & Time, which drops in May.

While Earache has some traditional metal bands on the label (Cauldron, White Wizzard), Rival Sons is the closest that I’ve heard the label come to classic rock. Rival Sons play blues-rock in the style of Free and early Led Zeppelin with a bit of 70’s soul thrown on top. “We really connect on old blues, like Muddy Waters, Leadbelly and Howlin’ Wolf,” said guitarist Scott Holiday. “Then you add in Stax and Motown, that kinda soul feel. We’re also into 60s British bands like the Small Faces, The Who and early Zeppelin.” (Quote from ClassicRockMagazine.com)

The majority of the new disc features high-energy, bombastic blues-rock which is meant to be played live and loud. In addition to the bass-and-drums explosive swagger, Scott Holiday’s blues licks and solos will make an air guitarist cry with joy and Jay Buchanan’s vocal style falls right between that of Robert Plant and Paul Rodgers. Breaking up the disc and giving the listener a brief interlude where they can catch their breath, the new EP contains one ballad (sort of Rival Sons’ “Going to California”) “Sacred Tongue”. After returning back to the high-octane blues, the disc ramps down with the slower tempo soulful “Soul”.

Rival Sons - "Torture"


While I can’t visualize Rival Sons on tour with some of the thrash and deathcore bands on the Earache label, it is not far stretch to imagine them playing alongside bands like Rolling Stones and The Who.

Links:
Rival Sons

The Caulfield Sisters Release New Digital 7" // Show at The Gutter in Williamsburg on Feb. 18th

DOWNLOAD: The Caulfield Sisters - "Caterwauling"
STREAM: The Caulfield Sisters - "Some Candy Talkin'" (Live in NYC, April 2005)

American Laundromat Records announces the release of “Two Songs From Mohawk” an iTunes-exclusive digital single featuring two newly recorded tracks by Brooklyn-based all-girl trio The Caulfield Sisters.

“Caterwauling” and “I See Your Face” are the first new original tracks from The Caulfield Sisters since their critically-acclaimed debut CD-EP “Say It With Fire” was released several years back. Both tracks were recorded and produced by The Caulfield Sisters at front-woman Cindy Wheeler’s house in the Catskills (New York). Mastering was done by Sean Glonek (Tanya Donelly, Kristin Hersh, Frank Black, OK Go) at SRG Studios in New Jersey.



The Caulfield Sisters are a critically praised independent band based in Brooklyn, NY, noted at times for their sonic similarity to Throwing Muses or Galaxie 500. They have appeared at the annual CMJ Music Marathon, were featured in the New York art magazine Esopus, and were named one of “NYC’s 10 Bands to Watch” by Time Out New York magazine. The Caulfield Sisters debut CD-EP “Say It With Fire” was a stunning release that enjoyed critical acclaim, many months as a favorite on the CMJ charts, and earned them invitations to perform live on KEXP as well as opening shows for bands such as Interpol.

"Fans of the Caulfield Sisters are happily getting back into their groove, as the Brooklyn gal trio returned to playing live recently following a four-year hiatus. Even after the lengthy break, there’s a real charm and simplicity to the Caulfield sound, recalling Ray-era Lemonheads and Throwing Muses." - TimeOut New York

The Caulfield Sisters have begun to book shows to support the new release. First up is a show on Friday, February 18th at The Gutter (200 North 14th Street) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The Caulfield Sisters are taking the stage at 10PM.

Links:
The Caulfield Sisters

EMA (Erika M. Anderson) Releases Debut Single "The Grey Ship" from Forthcoming Full-Length

DOWNLOAD: EMA - "The Grey Ship" (from Past Life of Martyred Saints)

EMA, the new project from ex-Gowns singer/guitarist Erika M. Anderson, will release her debut single "The Grey Ship" via Souterrain Transmissions on March 8th, 2011. "The Grey Ship" is the lead single off EMA's upcoming first full-length album Past Life Martyred Saints, which will be released later this spring by Souterrain Transmissions.

The seven-minute "The Grey Ship" can currently be streamed and downloaded courtesy of Souterrain, and has already received a much-deserved shout-out from Pitchfork, which deemed the cut "suitably epic." The B-side is equally ambitiously glorious: a 17-minute cover of Robert Johnson's "Kind-Hearted Woman," on which she explores and revels in her adoration for lengthy, noise-filled tracks. "I love really long songs, really long pieces, and I wanted to see if I could make an engaging piece using primarily just voice and guitar," EMA explains. "And I love the sound of guitar feedback. Tonal guitar feedback is one of my all-time favorite sounds."

While sharing elements of the spectral, simmering and subdued haunt of Gowns' 2007 debut (and only) album Red State, "The Grey Ship" takes that band's experimental and feedback-soaked electronic folk to new places. The grand track begins with a lo-fi, gauzy yet sunny mix of acoustic and electric guitars and otherworldly tones as EMA's resolute whisper of a voice floats above. Then midway through a sudden, electrifying bass drop marks the shift to high fidelity, her voice and the music's intimacy all the more palpable without the haze. Of the shift, EMA says, "I imagined it being like when Dorothy opens the door to Oz and the whole world turns from black and white to Technicolor." Given the song's subject matter - a rumination on the Viking funeral ships of her ancestors - the change in fidelity also fittingly serves as a "sonic signifier" for transferring from the earthly plane to one beyond.

The South Dakota native, San Francisco by-way-of Los Angeles transplant EMA is an entirely self-taught musician and home-recording engineer. After getting her feet wet as the guitarist for legendary folk/noise band Amps For Christ, she formed the genre bending, cult and critical favorite Gowns with Ezra Buchla in 2004. Gowns' Red State and their entrancing live show earned the band due praise in The New York Times ("an intense but surprisingly pretty album"), Pitchfork ("one of the most jaw-dropping live bands on the American DIY underground circuit"), Village Voice ("totally gorgeous and shattering"), and LA Weekly ("Anderson shreds a guitar, sings, emotes...like a woman possessed"), among others, burning fast and bright before parting ways amicably early last year.



Links:
EMA

Floating Action - "Desert Etiquette" CD Review (Park The Van)

DOWNLOAD: Floating Action - "Well Hidden" (from Desert Etiquette)
DOWNLOAD: Floating Action - "Eye of the Needle" (from Desert Etiquette)
DOWNLOAD: Floating Action - "Live at the Grey Eagle" (Free Live Album)

Floating Action is the “nom de rock” of Black Mountain, North Carolina-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Seth Kauffman. Kauffman has a second disc, Desert Etiquette, coming out next month which contains ten tracks of low-fi hazy psychedelia which crosses over into country-folk, blues and gospel. The new disc is due out on Feb. 22nd on Park the Van Records and the band will be heading off on a full-band tour of the US this spring which includes a stop-over at SXSW.

Kauffman wrote the lyrics for the Desert Etiquette in two days and then recorded the album over a concentrated period of 48 total hours. Aside from one pedal steel recording on the closing track, every song on Desert Etiquette was written, performed, produced, and recorded by Kauffman himself. Kauffman’s friend and collaborator, Band of Horses bassist Bill Reynolds, mixed the record in a similarly off-the-cuff vein—live and spontaneously over two days, using a vintage Trident console.

This new batch of songs has the space, warmth and feel of a Laurel Canyon-recorded vintage record. The production is crystal-clear and you can hear every instrument – from the brushes on the drums to the sound of the glockenspiel to the Casio burbles. This is also the first disc that I’ve heard in quite some time where the positioning of your speakers is important as the different instruments seem to be spread out across the left and right channels. Desert Etiquette’s songs were recorded without ornamentation or embellishment—often using less than eight tracks per song—and the imagery of Kauffman’s lyrics shines through. There are some lonely and wistful moments on the disc but Kauffman embraces a variety of styles which runs the gamut from "Del Shannon style" rock songs (“Rincon”) to "Troggs style" garage rock (“Modern Gunslinger”). The variety of songs and their catchy, sing-along melodies keep the music fresh after repeated listens.

Kauffman likens the result to Floating Action’s version of Dylan’s John Wesley Harding. With its pared-down instrumentation, Desert Etiquette is distinctly human-scale, a melancholic elegy to the sublime, violent beauty of the American landscape that aims to “capture the feeling you get when you’re in Big Sur.” As Kauffman says, “We're southern band whose hearts are in the west coast.”

Floating Action Tour Dates
Feb 28 -- Denver, CO, Hi-Dive
Mar 04 -- Arcata, CA, Humboldt Brews
Mar 05 -- Sacramento, CA, Marilyns
Mar 09 -- Santa Cruz, CA, The Crepe Place
Mar 11 -- Los Angeles, CA, Hotel Cafe
Mar 12 -- San Luis Obispo, CA, Downtown Brew
Mar 13 -- San Diego, CA, Bar Pink
Mar 18 -- Austin, TX, Mi Casa Cantina (Park the Van SXSW Showcase)

Links:
Floating Action

Scound - "At The Point of Death" CD EP Review (Crystal Productions)

Scound is a self-described metalcore band from the Czech Republic who released their second CD, "At The Point of Death", on Crystal Productions last year. Scound has been around since 2003 and this new six-track EP follows the band's 2006 full-length No Second Chances.

It took a few listens before I got into this disc and I think the reason was that I was expecting to hear the big choruses and clean vocals of a typical metalcore disc. Scound's music uses some of the melodic double guitar sound of the metalcore genre but the overall sound seems more in line with the death metal genre. Vocalist MicL sings in a standard death-metal growl while the guitar sounds burst in staccato, chugging riffs over the double bass drum. Regardless of whether the death metal or metalcore label sticks, the challenge with "At The Point of Death" is that most of the songs don't go far enough down either path to be memorable. I'm not sure what the purpose is of the disc's final track "Outro" as it doesn't fit (at all) with the other songs but the melodic, acoustic guitar and strings-driven piece is one of the more memorable songs on the disc.

I don't mean to slag the band as they are obviously talented (the melodic guitar leads are killer) but hopefully next time out, they push the envelope a bit as the band's early live videos show that they can work up a good head of death-metal steam. Check out the video trailer for the band's latest disc along with an early live video and see what you think.





Links:
Scound

Immolate - "Ruminate" CD Review (Impedance)

Australian power-trio Immolate expanded to a four piece for the release of their second full-length Ruminate. This new disc’s sound is lumbering noise-metal that is directly akin to the sound of AmRep bands (Hammerhead, Helmet, Unsane) from the 90’s.

To get into the details of the music, vocalist/bassist Nick Irwin has a vocal style similar to Bruce Loose (Flipper) and his angry, spoken-word vocals are mostly buried beneath a wall of guitars and walloping drums. Guitarists Justin Irwin and newcomer Dave Achille wrap repetitive, noisy dirges of guitar feedback around each song but occasionally break into some wild soloing. It is a raw and primitive disc that is helped along by Billy Anderson (Sleep, Eyehategod) who mixed the disc.



The band changes up tempos and song structures across the disc and deftly avoid sinking into a sludgy quagmire. For example, the opening track "Heathen" rumbles like a classic Melvins track and it is followed "Hot Hot Heat", which is an up-tempo alt-rock/grunge track with clean(er) vocals. Almost all of the disc's tracks race by around the three minute mark and the almost nine minute psychedelic dirge "Code" wraps up the disc.

Ruminate was recorded by Russell Pilling (who worked with Immolate on their debut full-length) at Damien Gerard’s studio in Sydney.

Links:
Immolate

NYC Sucks Volume 1: Free Download of the Best of NYC's Metal Scene (courtesy of MetalSucks.Net)

DOWNLOAD: NYC Sucks Volume 1

IT’S HERE! IT’S FINALLY HERE!!! Volume 1 of NYC Sucks, the completely free comp we’ve compiled to spotlight some of the best metal bands currently dominating the New York metal scene. This volume features fourteen songs by as many bands, who run the gamut of genres, from death to tech to prog to grind to black to hardcore to doom and more. We truly feel that this is a great sampling of all that New York’s thriving metal scene has to offer, and we’re beyond proud to be sharing it with you — absolutely, 100% free of charge.

Track Listing:
1. East of the Wall, “The Ladder”
2. Made out of Babies, “Invisible Ink”
3. Tiger Flowers, “Cuts”
4. Black Anvil, “The Evil of All Roots”
5. Naam, “Frosted Tread”
6. Batillus, “The Children of the Night Make Their Music”
7. Meek is Murder, “Sundowners” (demo)
8. The Binary Code, “Encircled”
9. Castevet, “Stones”
10. Hung, “Desert of Sad”
11. Wizardry, “The Falconer”
12. Pyrrhon, “King of All Tears”
13. Mutant Supremacy, “Epitaph”
14. Incendiary, “Victory in Defeat”

Calvin Johnson and Rapper Astronautalis Play a Show in Montauk on Feb. 10 // Private Bus Running from Bruar Falls

A BUS WILL TAKE YOU OUT TO MONTAUK FROM BROOKLYN! for cheaper than it costs to ride the train!

Join Mewtant Mewsic for this all ages event in picturesque Montauk. Watch individual solo sets along with a collaborative performance between K Records founder Calvin Johnson and indie folk rapper Astronautalis against the sunset on Fort Pond Bay.

A $30 ticket (only 40 avail!) guarantees you a SPACE ON THE BUS FOR A ROUND TRIP ride to Montauk from Brooklyn and admission to the show. The bus leaves at 2PM from Bruar Falls (245 Grand Street).

For anyone making their own way to the show, it is at Montauket - 88 Firestone Road, Montauk, NY. $5 admission at the door for those not riding the bus.





Links:
"Meet Me in Montauk" Facebook Page

Le MOOD: Brooklyn Garage Rock Band Plays Free Show at MOSCOT's Saturday Sessions on Jan 22nd

Brooklyn garage rock band Le MOOD are playing a free show next Saturday afternoon, Jan. 22nd, as part of MOSCOT Music's "Saturday Sessions" series. The show starts at 3PM and MOSCOT Gallery is located at 118 Orchard Street. As an added bonus, attendees will receive 20% off purchases of MOSCOT branded glasses day of show with proof of flyer.

Le MOOD is led by singer and primary songwriter Marco Argiro (The Killing Floor, Marky Ramone's Blitzkreig), and the band has a new full-length LP, Adventures In Stereo, due out later this month on Outright Rock Records. This disc follows 2008's well-received EP "Synaethesia". The official record release party for Adventures In Stereo is being held at Santos Party House (w/ special guest Des Roar) on Friday, Feb. 18th.

"Synaethesia - flies by with touches of power pop, pop punk and straight ahead summery pop and I find myself reaching for the volume knob, unconcerned about being THAT guy driving around blaring music at ridiculous levels." -HERO HILL l Bryan Acker

Links:
Le MOOD

J. Irvin Dally - Los Angeles Experimental Folk Artist Plays Two NYC Shows Next Weekend

Over the last few months, there has been a slow but steady buzz building up around J. Irvin Dally's music and live shows. There are a ton of favorable press quotes out on the 'net and one of them was from Pitchfork's Altered Zones who claim musician J. Irvin Dally is "an artist of abnormal brilliance, as garrulous and uncouth as the title of his EP, Despistado, would have you believe". In reading various press quotes, the funny thing is that most of the writers are looking for a single point of comparison for Dally's music, which has been likened to artists ranging from Devendra Banhart to Cat Power to Jeff Buckley. To my ears, the correct answer is "all of the above" and one could probably throw out another half-dozen comparisons that would be equally appropriate.

Dally is in town next weekend for shows at Googie's Lounge and Pianos.

Friday January 21, 2011
Googie's Lounge (Above The Living Room)
154 Ludlow Street
9:30PM / 21+
with Christopher Paul Stelling (check out his recent Daytrotter Session)

Saturday January 22, 2011
Piano's
158 Ludlow at Stanton
$10 / 21+ / 7PM
with Christopher Paul Stelling, Anni Rossi and Mercury Landing



Links:
J. Irvin Dally

The Builders and the Butchers Release Free Download from Forthcoming LP // West Coast Tour with Murder by Death in Feb.

DOWNLOAD: The Builders and the Butchers - "Lullaby" (from forthcoming disc Dead Reckoning)

Portland folk-rock band The Builders and the Butchers are releasing their third disc, Dead Reckoning, on Feb. 22nd via Badman Recording Co. and are also heading off on tour next month with Murder By Death.

For Dead Reckoning, The Builders went into the studio with the idea of peeling back layers to where the essence of the song lies, and to try and finally fully encapsulate their raucous, impassioned live show. Joining up with Adam Selzer (The Decemberists, M. Ward, She & Him), who worked on their sophomore album Salvation is a Deep Dark Well, and engineer Dylan Magierek (Mark Kozelek, Starfucker, Thao Nguyen), the band created their third album Dead Reckoning using the recording style of the 1950s and 1960s, where the magic of a song was captured by the band playing together live and with minimal overdubbing. The Builders tracked almost all of Dead Reckoning in live takes, with Sollee handling vocals and guitar in one room and the rest of the band playing in the other. Only a few minor overdubs were allowed and they played all of the instruments on every song, save for two guest violin parts laid down by friends Amanda Lawrence and Zy Orange Lynn. With tracking and mixing taking a total of only eight days, the energy and intensity of time spent in the studio is immediately apparent on each song.

A dead reckoning is an age-old method of sea navigation that involves using past position, speed, and drift to calculate current and future location. Dead Reckoning, with its classic, timeless sound, is a measure of where the band and its music, as well as these times in which we live, have been, are now, and where it all might be going. “I thought it would be a perfect title for the album given its stripped down sound, and how most of these songs tell stories, many of which are set in the past, “ Sollee reveals. “Like our previous records, the settings of the songs follow a few main ideas: the father and the son, early 1900s America, absolute good and evil, addiction, and religion. On this album, I really thought a lot about the end of the world and the dark times we live in, how the feelings we feel and the world we experience is not that different from 1930s America, and I thought about the music that was created at that time. This is where the inspiration for these songs originated.”

THE BUILDERS AND THE BUTCHERS TOUR DATES

FEB. 01 -- LEXINGTON, KY, COSMIC CHARLIE’S
FEB. 02 -- MEMPHIS, TN, HI-TONE CAFÉ
FEB. 03 -- NEW ORLEANS, LA, THE PARISH
FEB. 04 -- DENTON, TX, RUBBER GLOVES
FEB. 05 -- AUSTIN, TX, RED 7
FEB. 07 -- ALBUQUERQUE, NM, LOW SPIRITS BAR & STAGE
FEB. 08 -- TUSCON, AZ, PLUSH
FEB. 09 -- SAN DIEGO, CA, THE CASBAH
FEB. 10 -- COSTA MESA, CA, DETROIT BAR
FEB. 11 -- LOS ANGELES, CA, ECHOPLEX
FEB. 12 -- SAN FRANCISCO, CA, BOTTOM OF THE HILL
FEB. 13 -- SACRAMENTO, CA, HARLOW’S NIGHT CLUB
FEB. 15 -- PORTLAND, OR, WONDER BALLROOM
FEB. 16 -- SEATTLE, WA, TRACTOR TAVERN
FEB. 17 -- GARDEN CITY, ID, VISUAL COLLECTIVE ARTS
FEB. 18 -- SALT LAKE CITY, UT, BAR DELUXE
FEB. 19 -- DENVER, CO, BLUEBIRD THEATER
FEB. 20 -- OMAHA, NE, THE WAITING ROOM

Links:
The Builders and the Butchers

Metric Releases 8-Track Acoustic/Electric iTunes Session

Metric kicked off the year with an 8-track acoustic/electric session that is only available on iTunes. "When we were in LA playing the Jimmy Kimmel show in December, we spent a day at East West Studios recording off the cuff and live off the floor. We captured for the first time on tape (not a camera phone) the extended versions of a few of our live concert classics as well as a couple acoustic numbers accompanied by a string quartet led by Todor Kobakov."

1. Twilight Galaxy
2. Help I'm Alive
3. Hustle Rose
4. Gold Guns Girls
5. Gimme Sympathy
6. Expecting to Fly (Buffalo Springfield cover)
7. Eclipse (All Yours)
8. Empty
9. iTunes Session Metric Interview

"Over the holidays, our talented pal Christopher Mills, who previously created a short film for our song 'Collect Call,' continued the narrative with his gorgeous video for our cover of Neil Young / Buffalo Springfield's 'Expecting to Fly,'" says Emily Haines



Metric currently has a contest going on right now where you can enter to win an iPod Touch & signed poster if you tweet "I Just Checked Out the New @Metric iTunes Session And Entered to Win an iPod Touch and a Sign Poster! You Should Too!" (ends Jan. 24th).

Links:
Metric

EULA Plays Death by Audio on Sunday, Jan. 16th

"Their music is packed with the loud, pointed guitar riffs and rapid basslines that would make Northeast pseudo punk proud; think a blown out of proportion and hyped-up Kill Rock Stars release." - FensePost

New Haven, CT post-punk band EULA are in town on Sunday for a show at Death By Audio with Moodrings and I'm Turning Into. Doors are at 8PM and the show starts at 9PM.

EULA has a new three song demo that was recorded late last year which follows 2009's strong six-song EP entitled "Language of Threat". One of the video from this disc, "Fight Riff", won the band the opening slot for the free Mission of Burma show at M.I.T. in 2009.





Links:
EULA

Wormrot Releases New Track "Manipulation" from Forthcoming Disc "Dirge" (Earache Records)

Singapore's grindcore band Wormrot have released a brand new track from their forthcoming album, Dirge. The track below, entitled "Manipulation," is a minute-long burst of ferocity, terror and outright aggression. It hits all of the marks that have endeared Wormrot to the worldwide metal underground. The video also includes a first look at the album's cover art, created by Andrei Bouzikov (Municipal Waste, Skeletonwitch, Cannabis Corpse)



"Manipulation," along with the rest of Dirge was completed less than 10 days ago. Drums were completed on January 4th, guitars, vocals, mixing and mastering were completed in various days ending on January 10th. In many ways, "Manipulation" is as raw as Wormrot gets -- a hell of a way to raise the already high expectations for Dirge.

Wormrot will be coming back to the US for a full Coast-to-Coast tour starting in March. The West Coast dates have been announced (see Wormrot's MySpace page) and the tour kicks off at The Ruby Room in San Diego on March 3rd. Other announced dates include the Scion Rock Festival, which takes place in Pomona, CA on March 5th at the Fox Theater and The Glass House. Dates for the other parts of the country will follow shortly and will include a stop at SXSW.

Links:
Wormrot

Hypnos - "Halfway to Hell" CD EP Review (Crystal Productions)

DOWNLOAD: Hypnos - "Burning Again" (from "Halfway to Hell")
(track hosted on band's website)

After spending a couple years apart Czech death metal band band Hypnos released a new six-song EP, "Halfway to Hell", last July on the Crystal Productions label. The liner notes on the disc say "Big Sleep is Over * Monster Is Awaken And Gently Crawling Back!" Gentle isn't a word that I would use to describe this disc as it is a solid slab of melodic, blackened death metal. "Halfway to Hell" features the core duo of Bruno (guitar/bass/vocals) and Pegaz (drums/backing vocals) and this is the band's first new disc since 2005's Rabble Manifesto.

In celebration of this release, Hypnos played a comeback show at the Czech metal festival Brutal Assault alongside bands like Cannibal Corpse, Hypocrisy and Napalm Death.



The disc's six tracks go by in just under thirty minute and Hypnos taps on all of the strengths of the black metal genre without succumbing to any of the excesses. Hypnos' music is heavy but has an underlying sense of melody that doesn't detract from the heaviness. Clear production brings out the tension and texture of the music and there are elements of symphonic black metal running throughout the disc. Adding to this, there is also enough musical variation across the songs to keep them individually distinctive and memorable. (There is none of the mindless growl-n-chug sound that some bands utilize where you can't tell one song from another after the disc has played through). One example is "Symphony V - La Resurrezione Ferale", which is a symphonic instrumental that serves as a lead-in to the chugging riffs of "Burning Again". Another is "Where The Rooks Fly to Cry", which starts out as an epic instrumental that builds up to a crescendo where Bruno adds to the tension with growled vocals.

Hypnos announced on their MySpace page that more shows are planned and that the recording of their fourth full-length CD should take place around autumn of 2011.

Links:
Hypnos

Nails (Southern Lord) Plays A Short Run of East Coast Dates Prior to Appearance at Maryland Deathfest

Nails sits right on the line between hardcore and grind and the band released their debut thirteen-minute full-length album Unsilent Death at the beginning of 2010 on their own Streetcleaner Records, and were shortly thereafter picked up by Southern Lord. The Southern Lord press release for the disc compared Nails to a "cross between the good Amrep bands of the nineties (Helmet, Hammerhead, Today is The Day, Unsane) and Cro-Mags Age of Quarrel riffage played at breakneck speeds."

Nails has just confirmed a short run of East Coast appearances this Spring, as they will attack Boston, Brooklyn and Philly in a straight three-day rampage with support from Burning Love, All Pigs Must Die and New Lows. Nails are also one of the many acts on the roster for this May's annual installment of the Maryland Deathfest, scheduled to play on the first night of the festival alongside Pulling Teeth, Neurosis, Corrosion Of Conformity, Marduk, Kylesa, labelmates Masakari and Goatsnake plus tons more.

Nails East Coast Tour Dates:
3/31/11 -- Great Scott, Boston, MA w/ Burning Love, All Pigs Must Die, New Lows
4/01/11 -- Union Pool, Brooklyn, NY w/ Burning Love, All Pigs Must Die, New Lows
4/02/11 -- The Barbary, Philadelphia, PA w/ Burning Love, All Pigs Must Die, New Lows
5/27/11 -- Maryland Deathfest - Baltimore, MD

Links:
Nails

Tennis Releases First Video in Advance of Debut CD "Cape Dory" // Shows in Brooklyn and NYC in March

Denver lo-fi duo Tennis are releasing their debut CD Cape Dory next Tuesday on Fat Possum. SPIN has already called the disc “(almost) too good to be true”, giving it an 8 out of 10 review in their current issue. The release includes all songs from this summer’s 7” EP, "South Carolina", which is lauded by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and more.

The pair, consisting of guitarist Patrick Riley and vocalist Alaina Moore, met while studying philosophy in college. Motivated by stories shared by sailors including Joshua Slocum, and Lin and Larry Pardey, the two sold their collective possessions, bought an old sailboat and embarked on 7-month journey along the Eastern seaboard. Upon their return, and in search of an outlet to catalog their experience, the couple began writing music together.

The resulting lo-fi sound is inspired by the minimalist lifestyle they experienced on their adventure. Riley explains, “Simplicity and self-sufficiency were our highest priorities. When we were on the boat—no cell phones, no internet, no electricity most of time, having to do everything yourself—made its way into our album by not having a producer, recording it ourselves, mixing it ourselves, very little production, etc.”

Riley continues “Anytime we could make a song simpler, we did. There is very little tracking or overdubbing on the album. We didn’t want to use production tricks to make things sound ‘better.’ No vocal doubling, no harmonizers, no auto-tune.”

The band just made available a video for the song "Pigeon" (directed by Jeremy D'Souza and Scott Laidlaw) and are touring the East Coast in late February/early March.



Tennis' Tour Dates
January 27 -- Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
January 28 -- The Neurolux, Boise, ID
January 29 -- Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR
January 31 -- Media Club, Vancouver, BC
February 01 -- The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
February 03 -- Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA
February 04 -- Echo, Los Angeles, CA
February 05 -- The Tin Can Ale House, San Diego, CA
February 07 -- Hotel Congress, Tucson, AZ
February 08 -- Rhythm Room, Phoenix, AZ
February 10 -- Hi Dive, Denver, CO
February 17 -- Jackpot, Lawrence, KS
February 18 -- Slowdown, Omaha, NE
February 19 -- 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis, MN
February 21 -- High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI
February 22 -- Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
February 25 -- Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, ON
February 26 -- Il Motore, Montreal, QC
February 27 -- Iron Horse, Northampton, MA
February 28 -- Great Scott, Boston, MA
March 02 -- Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
March 03 -- The Bell House, Brooklyn, NY
March 04 -- Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA
March 05 -- Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
March 07 -- Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC
March 08 -- Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC
March 10 -- The Basement, Nashville, TN
March 11 -- The Earl, Atlanta, GA
March 12 -- The Social, Orlando, FL
March 13 -- The Orpheum, Tampa, FL
March 15 -- The Parish @ HOB, New Orleans, LA

Here is a live video from the band's performance last year at Glasslands.



Links:
Tennis

Emmett and the Black Mountain Scorpion Bluegrass Experience Gang Release Country/Bluegrass Version of Lil Jon's "Get Low"

After the City's disastrous handling of the first snow storm of 2011, one has to keep a sense of humor with a projected bigger snowfall having started tonight. The Daily News reported that the earlier snowfall resulted in an 81% decrease in auto thefts over last year so perhaps that was Bloomberg's plan all along - if the cars can't be moved, they can be ticketed but not stolen.

Keeping it light, I was going through my inbox earlier tonight and this country/bluegrass cover of Lil Jon's "Get Low" is the perfect way to keep one's sense of humor on this snowy evening.

Poor But Sexy - DC Post-Punk Veterans Release Debut CD // Show at Union Pool with Franz Nicolay on Feb. 25th

DOWNLOAD: Poor But Sexy - "Hotter Than A Poptart"
DOWNLOAD: Poor But Sexy - "Cherry Delicious"

Washington DC's Poor But Sexy (PBS) is the latest project from five veterans of the DC post-punk scene. Singer David Brown and bassist Brandon Kalber met playing in the punk-funk band Travis Morrison Hellfighters. Guitarist and producer Jason Caddell brought the noise for 10 years as the guitarist in the Dismemberment Plan, a DC group that earned an international cult following for incorporating samples and dance grooves into punk rock long before it was de rigueur for indie bands. Keyboardist David Durst composes for the punk-chamber music collective Anti-Social Music when he's not working out his Stevie Wonder licks in PBS. Like a lot of DC bands, PBS also includes an investigative journalist, drummer Bruce Falconer.

In a 2008 interview with Washington Post Express, David Brown tries to explain the band's sound by saying "I was obsessed with R. Kelly. I tried to make some R. Kelly songs, basically. I literally tried to make what I thought sounded like R&B radio hits. But it didn't really turn out that way. People say it sounds like Steely Dan. There's a lot of '70s radio rock in there."

The band released and toured behind an EP in 2009 (which included a show at Brooklyn Bowl) and the standout track from this disc is "The Only Good Thing", where David Brown channels a R. Kelly vibe. (He is quoted in another interview as saying "The original concept was ‘The only good thing about saying goodbye is looking at your ass when you walk away’").



Poor But Sexy now have their debut full-length Let's Move In Together coming out on Feb. 15th and the band is playing some shows over the next few weeks in support of this new release. The local show with Dismemberment Plan on Jan. 29th (at Webster Hall) is sold out but you can catch the band at Union Pool with Franz Nicolay and David Dondero on Feb. 25th.

Links:
Poor But Sexy

Drugs of Faith Release First Video "Grayed Out" From Forthcoming Full-Length "Corroded"

Virginia-based trio Drug of Faith have completed their debut full-length album Corroded which will drop next month on Selfmadegod Records.

Drugs of Faith's riotous attack that fans have become attached to on their previous releases -- including their recent inclusion on Relapse Records' This Comp Kills Fascists Vol. 2 compilation, and their 3" split CD with Antigama and the infamous self-titled MCD released by Selfmadegod -- is more potent than ever on Corroded, which bears 14 new tracks in under 27 minutes. Lyrically they continue to focus on socio-political themes in their anguished but empowered fashion, while musically they continue to hone their distinctive dissonant grind n' roll attack.

A live-in-the-studio video of the disc's lead-off track "Grayed Out" has been posted to Decibel Magazine which was filmed by Handshake Inc., who did the Fuck the Facts, Maryland Deathfest and Today is the Day movies.

Corroded Track Listing:
1. Grayed Out
2. Foreign Climates
3. Race to the End
4. Hidden Costs
5. Giveaway
6. Anemic
7. Vignette
8. No We Can't
9. Untitled
10. Checkers
11. Sight Unseen
12. Farewell Kiss
13. Hinges
14. The Age of Reason

Set for release via the band's label home, Poland's Selfmadegod Records, Corroded will be available to the public in February 2011, with a final release date to be announced shortly. Recorded at Developing Nations in Baltimore with Kevin Bernsten at the helm, and mastered by Scott Hull of Pig Destroyer/Agoraphobic Nosebleed, the album also features guest contributions from Pig Destroyer’s JR Hayes on a cover of His Hero Is Gone's "Hinges" anthem.

Links:
Drugs of Faith

LIVEEVIL - "Unique Constellation" CD Review (Crystal Productions)

LIVEEVIL is a Czech electro-metal band and the band's second disc, Unique Constellation, came out toward the end of 2009. This disc is a refreshing change of pace from some of the pummel-and-growl death metal discs that I've received recently as Unique Constellation has a number of memorable songs, with melodic hooks that stick with you after listening.

The band's sound relies heavily on prominent, swirling keyboards and clean, chugging guitar riffs. The band's music falls somewhere between Type O Negative and The Genitorturers but there is also a bit of 80's British synth-pop thrown in the mix. On the goth-rock songs, vocalist Petr's "Peter Steele"-style vocals are high in the mix and become one of the focal points of the song. On other songs, Petr uses a more 'mainstream' vocal style which could be compared to what Jim Kerr (Simple Minds) might sound like after too much cigarettes and whiskey. There are also a couple songs ("Resistance") where the focus is on darkwave dance grooves and the vocals are pushed down in the mix. The disc contains nine originals and covers of Duffy's "Mercy" and Mew's "Snow Brigade". I'm not familiar with the original versions of either of these songs so I can't offer much commentary. The Duffy cover is a bit too pop for my taste but Mew cover seems to fit right in with LIVEEVIL's originals.

Where too many bands are going for shear brutality, LIVEEVIL are a refreshing change of pace and Unique Constellation merits repeat listening.

The leadoff track from the disc, "Monster World" (video below), is indicative of the band's strengths.



Links:
LIVEEVIL

NY Export: Opus Jazz DVD Review (Factory 25)

NY Export: Opus Jazz originally premiered in June of 1958 at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy and Robbins' Ballets: USA company performed on the Ed Sullivan Show a year later. This "ballet in sneakers" was an abstraction of Robbins' West Side Story (which debuted the previous year) and the dances depicted youth gangs moving within and against the rhythms of the City. The score blended ballet, jazz and ballroom dancing with Latin, African and American rhythms to create a powerfully expressive, sexy and contemporary style.

NY Export: Opus Jazz made its NYC Ballet debut in 2005 at Lincoln Center after which soloists Ellen Bar and Sean Suozzi conceived of this new film adoption. Bar said “[w]e thought the ballet seemed a bit dated in its 1950’s trappings, but the themes that came out in the dancing — the energy and raw emotion of urban youth — were just as relevant today as they were then.” The five movements of the ballet were shot in different locations around NYC - High Line, McCarren Pool, Coney Island, Red Hook and Carroll Gardens - with each location adding a different mood and texture to the energy of that particular movement.

The film contains no narrative so it is the dances intertwined with the cinematography and between-movement vignettes that draw the viewer into the characters' lives. The most moving is "Passage for Two" which was filmed at the pre-renovation Highline where Rachel Rutherford and Craig Hall break away from their group of friends to play out their love story on the abandoned railroad tracks at sunset.

I've too often found DVD "extras" to be fairly pointless but the two fifteen minute documentaries that are the "extras" on this disc add volumes to the overall story. Even prior to watching the main feature, the viewer may wish to start with Jerome Robbins' Ballets: USA featurette, which is a well-preserved B&W film that documents Robbins' original production of Opus Jazz and the company's performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. The second featurette, A Ballet in Sneakers: Jerome Robbins and Opus Jazz, is a straight-forward "behind the scenes" documentary containing interviews with Ellen Bar and Sean Suozzi who discuss their inspiration for the film, Sondra Lee (who was part of the original Opus cast), and other friends and devotees of Robbins.

The film premiered at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Emerging Visions Audience Award and was broadcast as part of PBS' Great Performances series.

Links:
Opus Jazz

Jarboe - "Primal Baroque Experiment" CD Review

Jarboe has been pushing musical boundaries for over twenty years and, in recent years, has successfully collaborated with artists ranging from Justin Broadrick to Attila Csihar to Phil Anselmo. Jarboe has taken to releasing 'works-in-progress' CDRs through her The Living Jarboe website and Primal Baroque Experiment was released late last year.

In a 2009 interview with webzine Lords of Metal, Jarboe was asked: "There is a lot of unreleased material on your website and you occasionally release cd-r's with other material. It seems you have an amazingly high workrate."

Jarboe: I create ideas and it's like a continuing process of me working alone with different source materials and then those things become available. People are really interested in hearing that because often that material continues to evolve...Those recordings are experimental studies that may or may not make it live or onto a more formal kind of album

I have always shared the initial musical ideas for my albums and given people to chance to hear how it evolves and morphs. I think it makes me connected with the fanbase... I don't like to call them fans... the people that like what I do. They like that because they have a very intimate relationship with what I'm doing and I think that's very important.

Jarboe describes Primal Baroque Experiment as "[o]rganic studies in dark texture and primitive drum" and the music is something that you feel and experience rather than just listen to. The musical instrumentation is fairly minimalist across this disc and it seems to include just Jarboe's keyboard, a drum machine and a white noise machine. The sound of the instruments are combined in different proportions and rhythmic structure across the different tracks and are complemented by Jarboe's vocals, which span the range from ominous spoken word to shy schoolgirl.

The disc is bookended by two dark pieces - "Roses", which is a spoken word piece that play out above the musical tension of a pulsing undercurrent and jagged keyboard lines and "Racing Instrumental Mix", which takes the last line ("racing to our death") from the darkwave track "Racing Distortion Mix" and loops this around funeral keys, jagged percussion and white noise. Some of the more intriguing tracks are "Jungle Baroque", which features what sounds like breathing over poly-rhythmic drumming and "Baroque Instrumental", which is an orchestral instrumental that brings in both strings and wood instruments.

All-in-all, Primal Baroque Experiment is a worthwhile expedition into part of Jarboe's psyche and perhaps freeing your own as part of the process.

Links:
The Living Jarboe

Eyezon - Soweto Born Emcee Plays First Full Band Show at Union Hall on Feb. 16th

"Eyezon delivers his lyrics with a religious conviction, but is blessed with a great sense of timing. He has the ability to alter his rhyme schemes constantly, but without losing sight of the cadence of the mystery man’s beats." - RapReviews.com

Eyezon, the Northern California via South Africa emcee, delivers inspiration and entertainment with a dynamic flow and message to match. His last record, People Like Us, was released on Interdependent Media, which is the same indie label that introduced US to K'naan. Currently the band has an on-going sound stage on the Africa Channel along with the music video for their single, "Lord Hold Me", which services as a trailer for their mini-documentary based on homelessness in San Francisco (which was shot by Ethan Lader -- T-Pain/2 Pistols "She Got It", Mullage "Trick'N", J*Davey "Mister Mister").

The video explores the problem of homelessness in the United States by juxtaposing images of Eyezon along with startling facts about our nation's poor. Both the video and mini-documentary challenge our complacency and shed light on an issue that is often over looked.



At the Union Hall show, Eyezon is playing with Brooklyn-based lo-fi electro-pop band Jonka and DJ Captain Kristo. Tickets are $7 and doors are at 7:30PM.

Links:
Eyezon

James Vincent McMorrow's Debut Full-Length "Early In The Evening" is Due out Jan. 25th (Vagrant)

James Vincent McMorrow - If I Had A Boat by VagrantRecords

Following up on his self-titled EP that was released last October, James Vincent McMorrowʼs full-length debut, Early In The Morning, will be released in the US on Jan. 25, 2011. Early In The Morning was released in Ireland in March 2010 and landed the #1 spot on iTunes in the country. James embarked on his first proper Irish tour last year with a sold out show in Dublin and offers from various labels to release the album in other countries began to filter in. When James heard Vagrant was interested, he knew that was the perfect fit. “Iʼve been a fan of the label since school, and getting to put out a record alongside bands like The Hold Steady, Edward Sharpe, and School Of Seven Bells is amazing.” James Vincent McMorrow's self-titled EP served as a teaser for the forthcoming domestic full-length release and it contains two songs off of Early In The Morning along with two previously unearthed demos.
 
From start to finish, Early In The Morning is a ten-song recollection of one manʼs journey through a time of change and transition. Having four years worth of songs written and endless time to document them allowed for James to dissect each song and perfect it. Early In The Morning begins with a five-part harmony echoing over the sounds of an organ and folk guitar in the eerie opener, "If I Had A Boat". “I always knew when I wrote this song that it would open the album,” acknowledges James. “The last two years that preceded this record being made involved some of the greatest change Iʼd ever experienced, physical, emotional and spiritual. When I write lyrics they come together in a pretty uncoordinated way, lines get written, slowly link up until a story reveals itself. It was only when I was finished that I looked back and saw the words for what they were, realized what they meant.” Serving as a perfect prelude to the nine tracks that follow, "If I Had A Boat" lyrically captures the underlying tone of the entire album. Written about transformation and change, the first song is equal parts thoughtfully crafted words and inventive instrumental arrangements, serving as a foundation for the songs to come.

Towards the latter half of the record a darker tone emerges, or as James puts it, “the closest Iʼll ever get to proper mythical fantasy writing!” These songs are where we find him at his most literate and ornate, creating ominous figures, and a wholly tangible sense of tension and foreboding. Drawing on his childhood love of Roald Dahl, as well as his fascination with American novelists such as John Steinbeck and F Scott Fitzgerald, James draws life from their writings because “they all examine the darker less spoken about aspects of life, solitude, disillusionment. Iʼm not one for defining a lyric, or what it definitively means, but songs like ʻfollow you down to the red oak treeʼ, ʻfrom the woodsʼ, and ʻdown the burning ropesʼ are certainly me exorcising the underside of my personality. The characters I create in those songs, the ones existing in the shadows, they are all elements of me for sure.”



And then the album draws to a close just as it started, with a bucolic five-part harmony. The title track of the record, which James describes as a “simple ode to the love that I have”, is backed by a banjo and a piano. This is a folk round that fades out as quietly as it arrives with the squeak of the piano stool serving as a final reminder of the homespun nature of what has just occurred.

Links:
James Vincent McMorrow

Darlingside Play Free Show at Rockwood Music Hall on Jan. 5th

Roots-rock quintet Darlingside are playing a free show this Wednesday at Rockwood Music Hall (8PM set time). The band describes their music as "string rock" and they prominently incorporate often intertwined violin, mandolin, cello and saz (I had to look this one up) into their music.

The band is touring behind their new six-song EP, "EP 1", and band's music skirts and incorporates a number of genres seamlessly. The disc starts with two up-tempo roots-rock style numbers and the leadoff track, "Good Man", sounds like something that a more talented version of Nickleback could have written. The third track, "Malea", is the closest that the band comes to indie-rock and features some creative percussion along with Jeff Buckley-like falsetto vocals. The band slows things down for the EP's final three tracks. Five-part vocal harmonies and prominently featured strings make these tracks sound like something that could have some out of the early 70's Laurel Canyon country-rock scene. Across this disc, the band is able to blend their influences into something that sounds both organic and fresh.

Here is a live recording of "The Catbird Seat" (which is from the new EP).



Links:
Darlingside

The Rural Alberta Advantage Play Early Show at Mercury Lounge on Jan. 12th // New Disc, "Departing", is Out in March

This show WILL sell out...

The Rural Alberta Advantage is playing a one-off show at Mercury Lounge next Wednesday, Jan. 12th, prior to their new disc, Departing, coming out in March (on Saddle Creek). On this new disc, the band further refines the exuberant guitar work; everything-on-the-table singing; songwriting full of conviction and detail; and majestic, keyboard-sprinkled arrangements that have won them so much critical acclaim. Departing strings together themes of small towns, Canadian fall and winter, break ups, and redemption and serves as a companion piece to their debut album Hometowns. Highlights include the affecting "North Star," the stark regret of "Tornado," and the storming, percussive surge of "Stamp," all of which vividly set the scene.



The Rural Alberta Advantage are sharing the bill with Paul Collins' (Beirut) new project Soft Landing. This is an early show with Soft Landing going on at 6:30PM and The Rural Alberta Advantage playing at 7:30PM. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 DOS.

Links:
The Rural Alberta Advantage

Tim Kasher - "The Game of Monogamy" CD Review (Saddle Creek)

I moved from Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan over the Summer…this is relevant only because my former Post Office (which has consistently been rated one-star) took over three months to forward on Tim Kasher’s solo disc to my new address. Perhaps there is a reason that the current Yelp review of this Post Office starts with the quote “Nobody in their right minds should ever visit here unless it's an absolute necessity or out of desperation.”

Getting back on track, I’m glad that Tim Kasher’s solo debut, The Game of Monogamy, finally arrived and this disc ended up on my 2010 “best of” list. The Game of Monogamy is similar to Kasher’s work with Cursive and includes appearances from Patrick Newbery (from Cursive), Matt Maginn (also of Cursive) and Minus the Bear’s Erin Tate. The album is essentially a concept album as it follows the protagonist through the romantic arc of courtship, complacency, disillusionment, contempt and ultimately stifling compromise. Kasher's lyrical narratives are at their most colorful on this disc and he creates a character sketch of the disc's focal couple which is progressively built up through the rise and fall of their relationship. This is definitely not a story for the weak or the hopeless romantic.

The disc starts with a cinematic build-up of orchestral strings which then leads into Kashner’s midlife declaration of “I am a grown man. How did this happen? People are gonna start expecting more from me.” From here, the disc heads into the high-energy “I’m Afraid I’m Gonna Die Here” (which includes horns and handclaps) and the bouncy music somewhat masks Kasher's concern that he has “written” the last chapter in his life and is now “collecting cobwebs on the porch”. The arc progresses with the narrator’s current relationship deteriorating (“Cold Love”) and his wishing to recapture his youth and “have sex with all [his] old girlfriend” (“There Must Be Something I Lost”). The inevitable cheating happens (“Bad, Bad Dreams”) along with the expected regret (“The Prodigal Husband”) and the disc ends on a down-note highlighting the stifling pain of domestic relationships (“Monogamy”).



While The Game of Monogamy isn’t the self-immolation of works like Lou Reed’s Berlin, this disc isn’t far behind. Kasher’s narrative and storytelling abilities have taken a leap forward with this release and the detailed story line invites a stage adaptation of the album similar to what Reed did with Berlin.

Links:
Tim Kasher

Cesspool Posts New EP "Heartbreak" as a Free Download // Show at Bruar Falls on Jan. 11th

A few weeks back, I was talking with a promoter friend about how I had recently received a handful of press kits from bands that I wasn't familiar with that had absolutely no "hooks". Unfortunately, I don't think a 'selling point' for a band is moving to Brooklyn with the goal of sounding like Tom Petty, Vampire Weekend or [fill in the blank].

Kudos to Brooklyn band Cesspool as a press quote comparing the band to "the Violent Femmes with learning difficulties" was intriguing enough to make me want to give their six-song EP a listen and it was definitely worth the time. I'm not sure I hear the Violent Femmes in the band's EP but I do hear elements of John Cale (check out Cale's deconstruction of "Heartbreak Hotel" on the album June 1, 1974 as a point of comparison), Brian Eno, early Devo, Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa. Based on the 'The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo' style theatrical photos on the band's Facebook page (link below), this looks like a band that should be a lot of fun to see live.

Cesspool has upcoming shows at Bruar Falls on Jan. 11th and Goodbye Blue Monday on Jan. 20th.

Links:
Cesspool