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Arson Anthem is an crossover thrash band that was formed in New Orleans in 2006 by vocalist Mike IX Williams (Eyehategod), guitarist Phil Anselmo (Pantera, Down and Superjoint Ritual), drummer Hank Williams III (Assjack, Superjoint Ritual) and bassist Collin Yeo (Ponykiller). The band’s self-titled debut EP came out in 2008 and their full-length Insecurity Notoriety came out toward the end of last year on Phil Anselmo’s Housecore Records.
For anyone who remembers CBGB’s Sunday hardcore matinees and the lineup of bands that were on Combat Records in the 80’s, that is exactly what you have with Arson Anthem. Insecurity Notoriety carries only minimal traces of its members’ other bands; instead you have seventeen tracks of raw, hardcore thrash blasting by like a speeding freight train. The majority of tracks clock-in under one minute with the only exception being the album closer “Teach the Gun (To Love The Bullet)”, which runs over three minutes.
Insecurity Notoriety was obviously recorded live in a one-take studio session as there seems to have been little-to-no attempt at production. On top of the raw lo-fi sound, you can hear the band talking and laughing between songs. Williams sings with a guttural bark which is accompanied by gang backing vocals on some tracks and the lyrics touch on typical hardcore themes of injustice and alienation. Phil Anselmo plays by-the-books screeching hardcore riffs while Collin Yeo lays down a twisting bass line beneath Anselmo’s chords. Hank III more than fills the space that remains by staying in lock-step with Yeo and delivering some pounding blast beats. Throughout the disc, the band seems on the edge of chaos and collapse but they never spin totally out of control.
Some of the stronger tracks are “Isolation Militia”, “Insecurity Notoriety” and “Polite Society Blacklist”.
Arson Anthem is playing the Housecore Records Showcase at SXSW on March 16th along with Ponykiller, Haarp and Warbeast.
"Illegal Downloading is Killing Music…but so is Arson Anthem"
Links:
Arson Anthem
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Arson Anthem - "Insecurity Notoriety" CD Review (Housecore Records)
Friday, February 18, 2011
The Church: Live Photos from "Future Past Perfect" Show at BB King's, NYC 2-17-11
This past Thursday, The Church brought their "Future Past Perfect" tour to a full house at B.B. King's in Times Square. The concept of the evening was that the band would play the following albums in their entirety: Untitled #23 (2009), Priest=Aura (1992), and Starfish (1988). Over the last few years, some indie and alt-rock bands have played one of their classic albums from start to finish, this is the first time that I've heard of any band taking this concept to such a grand scale.
The concert was nothing short of impressive. As the band took the stage, Steve Kilbey came to the mic and said "We are called The [pause] Crouch and we are going to give you Untitled #23". There was a minimal amount of stage banter after this as the music and the art (projected on the screens) did all of the talking needed. This first set was stellar so it is hard to pick out a individual song or two but "Anchorage" was particularly stunning as the band added a backing vocalist (Tour Manager Tiare Helberg) and an additional guitarist to create a haunting and memorable soundscape.
After a twenty minute intermission, the band returned for Priest = Aura and gave a shout-out to Jay Dee Daugherty who was in the audience (Jay Dee played drums on Priest = Aura and toured with The Church for a few years). While I don't think I gave this album the time of day when it originally came out, the band's live performance made me realize that I have been missing something. Particularly stellar was "The Disillusionist" where Steve Kilbey became more animated than I've seen once he put his guitar down. The other track of note was "Film" where this melancholy instrumental seemed to perfectly ramp-down the second set.
As the band went off for the second intermission, I could hear Marty saying something about needing to rest his hands and that made me really pay attention to the amount of energy and precision that went into this 3+ hour show. On the audience side, not everyone was able to appropriately pace themselves. One "nice" young man staggered right into me after the second set and I watched as his date was trying to help him get his arms into his jacket sleeves as he was having no luck on his own.
For the last set, the band played Starfish from start to finish and the album has aged well. While I've heard "Under The Milky Way" way to many times, the overall album doesn't have that "big" (aka dated) 80's sound that many bands were utilizing at that time. Songs like "Destination" and "Hotel Womb" sound just as vital today as they did when originally released.
Someone sitting on the floor obviously brought a pocket camera into the show and filmed the last song of the night - "Hotel Womb". My post-show thoughts are that an official live album/DVD from this tour is really needed as this was a show not to be missed.
Links:
The Church
Hollis Brown - "When The Weather's Warm" CD EP Review // Release Show at Brooklyn Bowl on Feb. 26th
DOWNLOAD: Hollis Brown - "Doghouse Blues"
NYC quartet Hollis Brown has been playing around town for the last three-four years but I've never had an opportunity to hear what they sound like prior to receiving a copy of the band's forthcoming EP "When The Weather's Warm". A number of reviews that I've read over the last few years have compared Hollis Brown to The Black Crowes (which I don't hear at all) but I would suggest a better comparison is the bastard child of John Fogerty and the MC5 (if you can image such a combination) with a little bit of Del Shannon thrown in on the side.
"When The Weather's Warm" is a gritty, blues-drenched slab of old-school rock that doesn't require visual props like bell-bottoms and feathered boas to prove its authenticity. Hollis Brown embraces a variety of styles and tempos across this 16-minute/five tracks EP, all the while staying true to its blues-rock core. The disc's lead-off track "Doghouse Days" comes on like early MC5, back in the day when they were playing James Brown medleys. Both "Miracle" and "Down On Your Luck" sounds like tracks that easily could have been part of John Fogerty playbook. Continuing to mix things up though, "Hey Baby, Shake Mama" sounds like the sort of thing Led Zeppelin was playing on their first post-Yardbirds tour but with a more relaxed vibe.
Hollis Brown are playing a CD Release Show at Brooklyn Bowl on Feb. 26th. Tickets are $5 and there will be a special guest appearance from DMC (of Run DMC) who recently finished a new single ("The Fly") with Hollis Brown that will be released as a limited edition 7" in the Spring.
Links:
Hollis Brown
Thursday, February 17, 2011
BTBAM Vocalist Tommy Rogers (aka Thomas Giles) Announces Solo Show at Santo's Party House on April 2nd
Tommy Rogers, lead vocalist, keyboardist and founding member of the award-winning North Carolina progressive rock band Between the Buried and Me has announced special U.S. tour dates in support of his just-released solo album, Pulse. The versatile front man / multi-instrumentalist who uses the pseudonym Thomas Giles (his given middle name) on the record will perform songs from the new release backed by a hand-picked live band. Support on the mini-tour will be provided by Steven Brodsky (of Cave In) and Braveyoung.
TOMMY ROGERS' TOUR DATES:
March 30 --Charlotte, NC, Casbah @ Tremont Music Hall
March 31 --Norfolk, VA, Jewish Mother
April 01 --Philadelphia, PA, North Star Bar
April 02 --New York, NY, Santo's Party House
April 03 --Providence, RI, The Met
The show at Santos Party is 18+ and tickets are $10 in advance.
Thomas Giles' Pulse is a challenging rock record designed so that the parts build up to a larger, cinematic-like structure where everything from production to arrangements to lyrics to album art is carefully crafted towards a unified purpose. Testing the limits of what he can do naturally with his voice, Rogers' strikingly beautiful falsetto and dynamic range conjures tales of anxiety, collapse, end-times and strength against swelling, heart-lifting arrangements and pristine backdrops of ambient loops, digital burbles, analog hiss and woozy drones. Exploring combinations of the outré genres of both post-rock and glitch, the music's emotionally resonant yet textural sounds draw reference to artists such as NIN, Radiohead, Muse, The Verve, Beck and Spiritualized, balancing both rock and electronic impulses.
Links:
Thomas Giles Music
The Church - "Deep in the Shallows: The Classic Singles Collection" CD Review (Second Motion Records)
STREAM: The Church - Live on KEXP 2/8/11
There was a guy on my hall in college who ran out to buy R.E.M.’s Fables of the Reconstruction right when it came out and the only song he would play was “Driver 8” over and over (and over) again. This is the sort of person that I think singles compilations are designed for.
When Pink Floyd won their court case blocking iTunes from selling single song downloads, David Stubbs lamented in The Independent that the rise of iTunes has led to “fewer groups hav[ing] license or encouragement to express themselves across the album format, à la Radiohead. It's all about those 79p downloads. This is a shame and a loss, since the album listening experience is cumulative and greater than the sum of its single-track components…if it has taken a rock dinosaur to help stave off this idea from extinction, then so be it.”
The Church have some glorious singles but I don’t consider them a “singles” band. There is a context, mood and overall aesthetic to each of The Church’s discs and, to apply Dave Stubbs’ comment from above, the overall album listening experience is greater than the sum of the singles. (…or, to put it more crudely, this isn’t like recent output from a band like The Rolling Stones where there are two or three good songs per disc and the rest is filler).
On the positive note, this compilation contains some 7” versions and tracks from the “Too Fast For You”, “Sing Sing” and “Persia” EPs that aren’t available on any of the current reissues.
CD 1:
1. She Never Said (from the 7” “She Never Said”, 1981)
2. The Unguarded Moment (from Of Skins And Heart, 1981)
3. Too Fast For You (from “Too Fast For You” EP, 1981)
4. Tear It All Away (from “Too Fast For You” EP, 1981)
5. Almost With You (from The Blurred Crusade, 1982)
6. When You Were Mine (from the 7” “When You Were Mine”, 1982)
7. A Different Man (from “Sing-Songs” EP, 1982)
8. It's No Reason (from Seance, 1983)
9. Electric Lash (from Seance, 1983)
10. Constant In Opal (from “Persia” EP, 1984)
11. Already Yesterday (from Heyday, 1986)
12. Tantalized (from Heyday, 1986)
13. Columbus (from Heyday, 1986)
14. Disenchanted (from Heyday, 1986)
15. Antenna (from Starfish, 1988)
16. Reptile (from the 7" “Reptile”, 1988)
17. Destination (from Starfish, 1988)
18. Under The Milky Way (from Starfish, 1988)
CD 2:
1. Metropolis (from Gold Afternoon Fix, 1990)
2. You're Still Beautiful (from Gold Afternoon Fix, 1990)
3. Russian Autumn Heart (from Gold Afternoon Fix, 1990)
4. Ripple (from “Ripple” CD Single, 1992)
5. Feel (from Priest = Aura, 1992)
6. Two Places At Once (from Sometime Anywhere, 1994)
7. Welcome (from Magician Among The Spirits, 1996)
8. Comedown (from Magician Among The Spirits, 1996)
9. Louisiana (from “Louisiana” CD Single, 1998)
10. Numbers (from After Everything Now This, 2002)
11. Song In Space [Short Trip] (from “Song In Space” CD Single, 2003)
12. 0408 (from El Momento Descuidado, 2004)
13. Block (from Uninvited, Like The Clouds, 2006)
14. Unified Field [Short Circuit Mix] (from “Unified Field” CD Single, 2006)
15. Easy [Sliced Mix] (from “Easy” CD Single, 2006)
16. “Pangaea” (from Untitled #23, 2009)
17. “Operetta” (from Untitled #23, 2009)
Links:
The Church
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The Felice Brothers Sign with Fat Possum / Show at Maxwell's on March 27th
The Felice Brothers announced today that they have signed with Fat Possum Records, home of Andrew Bird, The Walkmen, and Wavves, among many others. The band will release their fifth full-length album and Fat Possum debut later this spring.
Last week, The Felice Brothers announced new headlining tour dates in the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Before heading out on the six-week international tour, the Palenville, NY-based band will perform during SXSW in Austin, TX, on March 19th at Auditorium Shores alongside Bright Eyes, Wavves, Man Man, and Middle Brother. The first leg of the US tour begins March 25th in Oneonta, NY, and wraps up April 16th at Coachella in Indio, CA, where The Felice Brothers will make their debut performance at the festival. The second half of the tour will begin April 28th in San Francisco, CA, and currently continues through May 6th in Chicago, IL. The band will also travel for the first time to Australia and New Zealand from April 20th through 24th.
The only local tour stop is at Maxwell's in Hoboken. The show on March 27th is sold out but a second show has been added for March 28th -- tickets are $20.
The Felice Brothers Tour Dates:
MARCH 19 -- AUSTIN, TX, AUDITORIUM SHORES (SXSW)
MARCH 25 -- ONEONTA, NY, ONEONTA THEATER*
MARCH 26 -- HUDSON, NY, HELSINKI ON THE HUDSON*
MARCH 27 -- HOBOKEN, NJ, MAXWELL'S* (SOLD OUT)
MARCH 28-- HOBOKEN, NJ, MAXWELL'S*
MARCH 30 -- PHILADELPHIA, PA, FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH*
MARCH 31 -- WASHINGTON, DC, ROCK AND ROLL HOTEL*
APRIL 01 -- HUNTINGTON, WV, V CLUB*
APRIL 02 -- LEXINGTON, KY, BUSTER'S BILLIARDS & BACKROOM*
APRIL 03 -- KNOXVILLE, TN, RHYTHM 'N BLOOMS (Dogwood Arts Festival)
APRIL 05 -- CHARLOTTE, NC, VISUALITE THEATER*
APRIL 06 -- ATHENS, GA, 40 WATT CLUB*
APRIL 07 -- NASHVILLE, TN, EXIT/IN*
APRIL 08 -- BIRMINGHAM, AL, THE BOTTLETREE*
APRIL 09 -- MEMPHIS, TN, HI-TONE CAFÉ*
APRIL 10 -- DALLAS, TX, THE LOFT*
APRIL 12 -- LUBBOCK, TX, BLUE LIGHT*
APRIL 13 -- SANTA FE, NM, CORAZON*
APRIL 16 -- INDIO, CA, COACHELLA
APRIL 20 -- SYDNEY, AUS, ANNANDALE HOTEL
APRIL 21 -- MELBOURNE, AUS, THE PRINCE
APRIL 22 -- MELBOURNE, AUS, BOOGIE FEST
APRIL 23 -- MEENYAN, AUS, TOWN HALL
APRIL 24 -- AUCKLAND, NZ, GRASSROOTS FESTIVAL
APRIL 28 -- SAN FRANCISCO, CA, GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL**
APRIL 29 -- PORTLAND, OR, MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS**
APRIL 30 -- SEATTLE, WA, TRACTOR TAVERN**
MAY 02 -- SALT LAKE CITY, UT, URBAN LOUNGE**
MAY 03 -- DENVER, CO, HI DIVE#
MAY 04 -- OMAHA, NE, THE WAITING ROOM#
MAY 06 -- CHICAGO, IL, LINCOLN HALL#
* Diamond Doves supporting
** You Are Plural supporting
# Shovels And Rope supporting
Links:
The Felice Brothers
The Church - "Heyday" CD Review (Second Motion Records)
DOWNLOAD: The Church - "Tantalized" (free download on Amazon.com)
Aside for the bad 80's mullets on the cover photo, Heyday is a major leap forward from Seance. This is the first disc that sounds like The Church were working as a cohesive unit and eight of the disc's original ten tracks were co-written by all four members of the band. As an interesting footnote, Steve Kilbey co-wrote one track, "Youth Worshiper", with then girlfriend Karin Jansson who later co-wrote "Under the Milky Way" on Starfish.
Peter Walsh (who helped Simple Minds and China Crisis break into the US market) produced the disc and gave the band a bright and energetic sound. Walsh layers strings, keyboards and horns into the mix but these accompaniments are tastefully integrated into the songs so none of the tracks have the dated feel of Seance. The disc is also helped along by what sounds to be "real" drumming (as opposed to the drum trigger sound of Seance) and Richard Ploog adds some innovative rhythms to songs like "Myrrh" and the Middle-Eastern flavored "Trance Ending".
There are some serious memorable melodies and hooks on this disc which are powered by the ringing guitar sounds of Willson-Piper and Koppes and a good starting point into this disc are the songs "Tantalized" and "Already Yesterday". The majority of the songs keep to this upbeat pace with the only exception being the moody instrumental "Happy Hunting Ground".
There are three bonus tracks this time around: "As You Will" (the b-side of "Already Yesterday" which is sung by Peter Koppes), "The View" (the b-side of "Tantalized" which is sung by Marty Willson-Piper) and "Trance Ending" (the b-side of "Columbus" which is noted in the liner notes as being one of Steve's favorite songs from the Heyday-era sessions).
While Starfish received the mass-media acclaim, Heyday is really the album that broke The Church into the US market.
Links:
The Church
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Church - "Seance" CD Review (Second Motion Records)
The Church's third disc, Seance, was released in May 1983 and, while there are some stand-out tracks, the overall sound of the disc is a step in the wrong direction.
This time out, Steve Kilbey wrote all of the tracks, aside for the glorious space-rock jam "Travel By Thought". The band self-produced the record and utilized engineer Nick Launay for the final mixes. While the band continues to move yet further toward the textured, neo-psychedelic sound of their later discs, the mixing left the disc sounding flat and the dated "80's" pre-programmed drum effects make less of the songs stand out than on the band's two previous discs.
While there are elements of some of the jangly power-pop sounds from the prior discs on Seance, prominent keyboard and strings push the disc closer to the "new romantic" camp of OMD and Lloyd Cole & the Commotions. The stronger cuts on the disc are the one's where the band's music is able to shimmer outside of the murky mixing. These include "Electric Lash" and "Travel By Thought" (both of which feature stream-of-conscious lyrics from Kilbey) and "Dropping Names" and the slow burning "Disappear?".
The two bonus tracks - "Someone Special" and "Autumn Soon" - were originally the b-sides of "It's No Reason" and "Electric Lash". "Someone Special" is pleasant but somewhat bland but "Autumn Soon" features some soaring guitar leads and what sounds to be a "real" drummer.
Links:
The Church
Cheers Elephant: Philly Psychedelic Rock Group Plays Spike Hill on March 4th
DOWNLOAD: Cheers Elephant - "Waster Time" (from The Key Studio Sessions 1/5/2011)
Philadelphia psychedelic rock group Cheers Elephant released their second LP, Man is Nature, to a sold out crowd at World Cafe Live Downstairs (400+) last month and the band is playing a show at Spike Hill on March 4th. The band is playing alongside Steel Phantoms, Gold Streets and I Love Monsters and Cheers Elephant takes the stage at 8PM.
Deli Magazine described Cheers Elephant's new disc as "reminiscent of all the best British Invasion folk rock, like some Byrds-meets-Yardbirds combo refined by time...Opener “Shark Attack” is inviting and should be considered a front runner for the first single, a piece of spontaneous power-pop that wouldn’t sound out of place on the current Polyvinyl Records roster. “My Bicycle Ride” has the vocal harmonies kicked into full gear and sports a soaring hook."
Links:
Cheers Elephant
Dad Rocks! - "Nothing Keeps Up" CD EP Review (Paper Garden Records)
DOWNLOAD: Dad Rocks! - "Nothing Keeps Up"
DOWNLOAD: Dad Rocks! - "Kids"
Dad Rocks! is the solo vehicle for Snævar Njáll Albertsson, singer/guitarist/trumpet-player in the Danish band Mimas. Albertsson's debut disc "Nothing Keeps Up" is a charmingly shambolic six-track EP that shares a kindred musical spirit with bands like The Annuals and an absurdist lyrical outlook along the lines of Frank Zappa and Captain Befheart.
The songs are all moderate tempos but deceivingly complex as multi-tracked vocals are layered on top of an acoustic guitar and various instruments and sounds come in and out of the mix, which include piano, horns and brass, xylophone, hand-claps along with gospel choir-like backing vocals. Albertsson's vocal style is winsome and uplifting and between his delivery and lyrics like "Six billion people on earth are changing the eco-system and clothes, and nothing keeps up. A bird that flies turns into a bird that dies, and all the flies want a slice of it, why? They try to keep up. My feet grace the grass of the past in the park, where the kids get cut, bitten and stung.", one can't help but smile when listening.
Dad Rocks! is in the midst of recording his debut-album to be released this Spring and he is planning a North American tour for later in the year.
Links:
Dad Rocks!
Monday, February 14, 2011
My Cousin, The Emperor Play The Rock Shop on Feb. 16th // New Disc, "The Subway EPs", Out March 29th
DOWNLOAD: My Cousin The Emperor - "Nothing Left for Us to Find"
Alt-country Brooklynites My Cousin, The Emperor release their single disc, double EP entitled, THE SUBWAY EPs on March 29, 2011. Next week, they begin a string of shows with Caitlin Cary and Matt Douglas as The Small Ponds. The two groups will head down to Austin, TX for SXSW and back, hitting Raleigh, Charlotte, Asheville, Knoxville, Little Rock and Houston before turning around to come back through Atlanta, with more dates to be added. Before they head out, both acts will be playing a kickoff show at The Rock Shop in Brooklyn on Wednesday, Feb 16th. Tickets are $10 and the show is 21+.
My Cousin, The Emperor’s SUBWAY EPs are separated into two volumes; Volume I being the acoustic PROSPECT PARK WEST and Volume II, the electric BROADWAY-LAFAYETTE, named after lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Jason Reischel’s two main stops between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Think of it as the mirrored counterpart to Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home.
The Small Ponds was born when veteran alt-songstress Caitlin Cary (Whiskeytown, Tres Chicas) asked pop-raconteur Matt Douglas (The Proclivities) to partner with her for Raleigh, NC’s longstanding post-Valentine’s day tradition The Love Hangover, for which they learned to sing each other’s favorite songs relevant to love and/or its lacking. Upon discovering a kindred sensibility on this subject and many others, and finding they sang well and laughed easily together, they decided they’d better make it a band.
As 2011 dawns, we find Matt and Caitlin preparing songs for their third Love Hangover, celebrating the release of their five-song EP (Last Chance Records), and building up a head of steam to power a full-band Small Ponds tour en route to an official showcase and a lot of hooplah in Austin at this year’s South by Southwest music festival.
Dubbing it "really sweet Americana," No Depression calls My Cousin, The Emperor’s upcoming release, "notably clean and well-imagined. This might be a good springtime roadtrip album. Good crisp air and sunshine music.”
The title track from their debut album A Long Way From Home won the Independent Music Award‘Best Alternative Country Song of the Year’ and the quartet grabbed the crown for Brooklyn in WNYC’s “Battle Of The Boroughs.” for
On the horizon in 2011, My Cousin, The Emperor is contributing music to the film Jeremy Fink & The Meaning Of Life, based on the book by Wendy Mass, due out this summer and starring Mira Sorvino and Joey Pantoliano. They’ve also recorded a rockabilly cover of "More Than Words" for Guilt By Association 3, set for release in April via Engine Room Recordings.
MY COUSIN, THE EMPEROR & THE SMALL PONDS TOUR DATES:
Wed, Feb 16 – Brooklyn, NY – The Rock Shop
Thurs, Feb 24 – New York, NY – LES Film Festival **
Tues, March 1 – Allentown, PA - VIP Elite Lounge @ Crocodile Rock **
Thurs, March 3 – New York, NY – The Living Room **
Tues, March 8 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fire **
Wed, March 9 – Raleigh, NC – The Pour House
Thurs, March 10 – Charlotte, NC – Evening Muse
Fri, March 11 – Asheville, NC – The Emerald Lounge
Sat, March 12 – Knoxville, TN – Patrick Sullivans
Sun, March 13 – Little Rock, AR – Whitewater Tavern
Mon, March 14 – Denton, TX – Dan’s Silver Leaf
Tues, March 15 – Houston, TX – Big Star Bar
Wed, March 16 – Austin, TX – The Ale House ##
Fri, March 18 – Austin, TX – Red Eyed Fly**
Fri, March 18 – Austin, TX – Maria’s Tacos ##
Sat, March 19 – Carrollton, GA – TBA
Sun, March 20 – Atlanta, GA – TBA
** - MCTE only
## - The Small Ponds only
Links:
My Cousin, The Emperor
Buffalo Tom Release Free Acoustic EP // Show at Bowery Ballroom on April 28th
DOWNLOAD: Buffalo Tom - "Bones" EP
(note: click-through and enter email address to download)
DOWNLOAD: Buffalo Tom - "Arise, Watch" (from Skins)
After taking a hiatus for the majority of the last decade, Buffalo Tom will be releasing their eighth disc, Skins, on March 8th.
The band surprised fans this week with Bones, a free acoustic EP released exclusively via their website. The short-player features four songs, including two Buffalo Tom favorites and a rendition of "Arise, Watch," the lead track from the band's forthcoming disc, Skins. The digital-only release also includes a rousing cover of New Order's "Age Of Consent."
Bones EP Tracklist:
01 Arise, Watch
02 C.C. & Callas
03 Treehouse
04 Age Of Consent (New Order Cover)
In addition to offering a free download, the band's website also features in-studio video performances from the Bones recording sessions at Q Division in Boston, and a live rendition of "Age Of Consent" from a recent performance at The Paradise. All video was shot by Michael Gill, and offers a unique and intimate glimpse at a seminal act in their element.
In other news, the band has recently announced a run of European and US tour dates. March finds the band touring across Europe before an April return to the States. The tour stops at Bowery Ballroom on April 28th and tickets are $20. Doors are at 8PM and the show starts at 9PM.
Buffalo Tom Tour Dates:
03-05 Groningen, NL - Vera
03-06 Brussels, BE - AB
03-07 Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg
03-08 Cologne, DE - Luxor
03-10 London, UK - Dingwalls
03-11 Manchester, UK - Sound Control
03-12 Glasgow, UK - Oran Mor
04-08 Boston, MA - Paradise
04-28 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
04-29 Philadelphia, PA - M Room
04-30 Washington, DC - The Black Cat
Links:
Buffalo Tom
The Church - "The Blurred Crusade" CD Review (Second Motion Records)
The Church's second disc, The Blurred Crusade, was released in March 1982 and the songwriting seems more focused than on Of Skins and Heart. This is the first disc where other band members outside of Steve Kilbey contributed to the songwriting and that may have played a role as the band's music moves further toward the neo-psychedelic sound of their later discs.
Even as the band embraces more of an atmospheric melancholia across different track on this disc, they haven't fully given up the ringing Byrds-ish guitars or the psychedelic-tinged post/power-punk sounds of their previous disc. The disc starts out strong with two power-punk tracks - "Almost With You" and "When You Were Mine" - before heading into the atmospheric "Field of Mars", where Willson-Piper takes lead vocals and sings with a world-weary Bowie-ish voice. "An Interlude" and "You Took" were co-written by the four members of the band and both songs provide clear indication of the sound that The Church were chasing as a collective unit.
Similar to Of Skins and Heart, there are two b-sides added to The Blurred Crusade as bonus tracks. “Life Speeds Up”, the b-side to “Almost With You”, is a strong 7+ minute power-punk single that is equally as good as "Almost With You". “The Golden Dawn”, the b-side to “When You Were Mine”, is a pleasant but unremarkable instrumental.
The Church are playing two local shows next week on their "Future Past Perfect" electric tour. This unprecedented touring event continues their 30th Anniversary celebrations by performing three classic albums in their entirety in one night: Untitled #23 (2009), Priest=Aura (1992), and Starfish (1988).
"Future Past Perfect" Tour Dates
Feb 16 - New York, NY. - Highline Ballroom
Feb 17 - New York, NY. - B.B. King's
Tickets for the show at Highline Ballroom are $39.50 in advance and $45 (DOS). Doors are at 6PM and the show starts at 8PM. Ticket prices and door/show times are the same for the show at B.B. King's the following night.
Links:
The Church
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Mohombi Readies Debut Album "Movemeant" for RedOne's 2101 Records
Some days, I feel like I know very little pop music. While I know who Lady Gaga is, my thirteen year old had to explain to me who RedOne is (co-writer of "Poker Face", among other things) and that he has formed his own record label, 2101 Records (which is distributed through Universal). RedOne's first signing was Mohombi (another name that meant nothing to me) so I looked at some of his YouTube videos and the views for these videos are ranging between 2M - 26M (for "Bumpy Road").
Mohombi has a fascinating backstory and an album coming out soon -- the details are below.
Raised the youngest of 15 siblings by his Swedish mother and Congolese-King father in Africa, Mohombi escaped war-torn Congo with his family to Stockholm where he and his older brother, Djo, formed the duo Avalon, became a huge dance club sensation and eventually sold over half a million albums in Europe and Africa. They also won the prestigious African Grammy in 2002.
Today, Mohombi is making his way into the US market as a solo artist with his upcoming debut album Movemeant, produced by Grammy-winning super-producer RedOne (Akon, Usher, Lady Gaga). The album is expected to be out in Spring or early Summer 2011 and features Nelly, Akon, T.I. and Nicole Scherzinger (from Pussycat Dolls). Mohombi’s first single from the album, “Bumpy Ride” has charted in 11 countries overseas - including impressive Top Five positions in The Netherlands, France, Slovakia and Poland.
Mohombi's most recent video, for the track "Dirty Situation", features Akon (who has worked with artists ranging from Michael Jackson to Lady Gaga).
Links:
Mohombi
Alexander Ebert (Edward Sharpe) Releases First Single "Truth" from Forthcoming Solo Album (Vagrant)
Truth by AlexanderEbert
A Million Years by AlexanderEbert 
Alexander Ebert, lead singer of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, will be releasing his debut solo album Alexander on March 1st via Community Music/Vagrant Records.
The album will include ten brand new songs that Alexander wrote and composed entirely himself. Up until last year, when he started crafting the songs for his album Alexander alone in his bedroom, all of his musical endeavors had been collaborative — including his ten-person band, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. “I’d make demos and sometimes we’d use elements in the demos, but it was never upon me to do the entire thing,” Alex says. “I wanted to be able to build an album basically with my hands, like building a house by myself. And, by the way, building a house is something I’d love to do as well – to just be out in the middle of it by myself and understand what it is to do that.”
During breaks from touring with the Zeroes over the past year, Alex would hole up in his Los Angeles bedroom, working with a bare minimum of recording gear beyond a microphone and simple M-Audio direct box. He had his guitar, a Lowery organ he picked up at a St. Vincent’s thrift store in Los Angeles for seventy bucks, a clarinet he used for the bridge on “Truth” and a violin he’d found somewhere in Tucson on tour. He had his own voice, his breath, his knees to slap, his fingers to snap and his toes to tap.
He explains that some of his inspirations for the “mouth sounds” heard throughout the album come from all-time favorites of his like the 1970 chart-topping ditty “In The Summertime,” by British band Mungo Jerry. “You can find me whistling or singing that song all the time,” says Ebert, who also cites children’s clapping games like Patty Cake and the Disney tune “Zip A Dee Do Da” as loose inspirations.
There isn’t a single sound on the ten-song album that Alexander didn’t perform himself. “I knew I wanted violin on the bridge of ‘Glimpses,’ but I had never played violin,” he says, by way of example. “I was just about to make the call to have a friend come play it, but I first asked myself why I wouldn’t try it myself. I suppose, a fear of sucking. So, as an experiment, I took a walk and filled myself with as much love and fearlessness as I could, just to see what my take on it would be then. Of course, in that state, the adventurer took over and said ‘Fuck, yes, let’s do it.’ After all, I had a violin just sitting in my living room. To me, it’s a very humble album with sky’s-the-limit sort of qualities, and so I didn’t really shy away from doing whatever I felt like doing.”
And though there is tremendous depth, beauty and poignancy to be found in songs such as “Truth,” “In The Twilight” and “A Million Years,” an impish track called “Awake My Body” seems to epitomize the album as a whole. “I was feeling exhausted and wanted to encourage myself and my body,” He says of the tune. “Not in the sense of body image, but more like an appreciation of the cells themselves. It’s about trying to be the physical representation of my spirit, whatever the hell that is, whatever the heaven that is. It’s about what it means to wake up and be really alive and embrace the three dimensional world.”
Alexander will play select shows in Los Angeles and at South By Southwest before returning to the studio to complete work on the upcoming second LP from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes.
Alexander track listing:
1. Let's Win
2. Awake My Body
3. Truth
4. In The Twilight
5. Bad Bad Love
6. Old Friend
7. A Million Years
8. Remember Our Heart
9. Glimpses
10. Let's Make A Deal To Not Make A Deal
Links:
Alexander Ebert
The Caulfield Sisters: Interview with Cindy Wheeler // Show at The Gutter in Williamsburg on Feb. 18th
DOWNLOAD: The Caulfield Sisters - Interview with Cindy Wheeler, Feb. '11
Last week, I had the pleasure of talking with Cindy Wheeler (vocals/guitar) from the indie-rock band The Caulfield Sisters. Cindy talked about her original band Pee Shy, the 'reactivated' Caulfield Sisters, the band's new single "Two Songs from Mohawk" and more.
The Caulfield Sisters just released “Two Songs From Mohawk”, an iTunes-exclusive digital single. These two tracks, “Caterwauling” and “I See Your Face”, are the first new songs 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 playing 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
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Cowboy Junkies: Photos and Video from City Winery, NYC 2-8-11
DOWNLOAD: Cowboy Junkies - Live at Koerner Hall, Toronto 11-19-10
Note: There was a guy sitting next to me at City Winery who said he was taping the show for Archive.Org but it doesn't appear he has posted it yet. As such, this is the latest date posted and the set list for this show isn't too radically different from the City Winery show.
Cowboy Junkies spent most of last week in NYC, playing two sold-out shows at City Winery, making an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and lastly playing the Neil Young Tribute Show at Carnegie Hall. The band just released the second volume of their four-part Nomad series entitled Demons Vol. 2, where the band presents a beautiful overview of Vic Chesnutt's catalog with eleven well-chosen cover tunes.
Sadly, it has been too long since I've bought a Cowboy Junkies CD or seen them play live so I couldn't even begin to put together a set list. There is a set list from the first night posted to the Cowboy Junkies forum which I would assume is close to what they played the following night (though "Powderfinger" was not played the second night).
Lay it Down
Misguided Angel
Wrong Piano
See You Around
Dreaming my Dreams with You
Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning
My Fall
Sit Sadly by Your Side
Common Disaster
Third Crusade
Black Eyed Man (mjm)
Supernatural (mjm)
Renmin Park (mjm)
Cicadas
Good Friday
Driving Wheel
Enc:
Powderfinger
Don't Let It Bring You Down
I was seated in the balcony for the show (my favorite location at City Winery) and noticed a guy on the left-side of the stage holding a camera over his head. It looked too small to be a video camera but this YouTube video is from the same angle where he was standing so he must have been filming.
Cowboy Junkies played "Wrong Piano" (from Demons) on Light Night with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday.
PJ Harvey: Live Webcast from Paris Broadcast Monday, Feb. 14 at 3PM (EST)
PJ Harvey - The Words That Maketh Murder by VagrantRecords 
To mark the release of Let England Shake, PJ Harvey will debut her new album live in a one-off, special show from Paris on Monday February 14th. The show will be streamed live on Monday at 3pm EST / 12pm PST (8pm GMT) by the French music site Deezer and the cultural chanel ARTE. The webcast will also be available on the official PJ Harvey site.
PJ Harvey’s eighth album, Let England Shake, comes out on Tuesday, Feb. 15 and this new album was recorded in a 19th Century church in Dorset, on a cliff-top overlooking the sea. It was created with a cast of musicians including such long-standing allies as Flood, John Parish, and Mick Harvey.
What is remarkable about Let England Shake is bound up with its music, its abiding atmosphere – and in particular, its words. If Harvey’s past work might seem to draw on direct emotional experience, this new album is rather different. Its songs centre on both her home country, and events further afield in which it has embroiled itself. The lyrics return, time and again, to the matter of war, the fate of the people who must do the fighting, and events separated by whole ages, from Afghanistan to Gallipoli. The album they make up is not a work of protest, nor of strait-laced social or political comment. It brims with the mystery and magnetism in which she excels. But her lyric-writing in particular has arrived at a new, breathtaking place, in which the human aspects of history are pushed to the foreground. Put simply, not many people make records like this.
Links:
PJ Harvey
Friday, February 11, 2011
Reckless Sons: Live Video and Photos from Show @ John Varvatos' 'Thursday Night Live' Showcase 2/3/11
To help usher in Fashion Week, Reckless Sons played John Varvatos' "Thursday Night Live" showcase last week. It has been about two years since I last saw the Reckless Sons play and the band has gotten a couple of new members and their live show has gotten tighter. A few years back, I compared the band to the Dream Syndicate but the band's new material has them moving in a British blues-rocks direction, taking influences from early Rolling Stones and The Faces. The band's brand of high-energy rock-n-roll was amplified by a packed house and free beer and Moonshine whiskey.
This show also served as a de facto release party for the Reckless Sons' new 7-track EP (available as a free download from www.recklesssons.com) and the band touched on all seven songs during their eight song set.
In the spirit of keeping the whiskey flowing, Reckless Sons are playing a St. Patrick's Day show at Bowery Electric.
Links:
Reckless Sons
The Church - "Of Skins and Heart" CD Review (Second Motion Records)
To mark the 30th anniversary of the band, The Church started ambitious campaign last fall to reissue their back catalog (via Second Motion Records). All of the reissues come with bonus tracks and new liner notes from Marty Willson-Piper. As most of The Church's discs were previously out of print in the US, these reissues should strike a positive chord with both new and long-time fans and the digital remastering does a wonderful job of bringing out all the dimensions of the band's music.
Starting with the band's first disc, Of Skins and Heart was originally recorded in 1980 and released in 1981 in Australia. A resequenced disc, with some track swapped out for tracks from 1981's "Too Fast for You" double-single, was released in the US the following year. This new remaster contains the nine tracks from the original Australian release along with the bonus tracks "In a Heartbeat" (b-side of "She Never Said") and "Busdriver" (b-side of "The Unguarded Moment").
The early works from The Church are often lumped into to the post-punk genre but Of Skins and Heart has more in common with the bands from Los Angeles' "paisley underground". There is little of the atmospheric neo-psychedelia of the band's later releases as the music on this disc is much closer to the then budding new-wave scene. Steve Kilbey's vocals are clear and engaged and there are some rich vocal harmonies across the disc. All of this is complemented by the ringing Byrdsish sound of Marty Willson-Piper's Rickenbacker.
The Church touch on a variety of sounds from the original new-wave movement on different tracks which range from the aggressive, angular rocker "Fighter Pilot...Korean War" to the cool, Ric Ocasek-like detachment of "Heartbeat". The almost eight-minute hazy "Is This Where You Live" foreshadows the evolution of The Church's later-day neo-psychedelic sound. The first single from the disc was the quirky Gary Newman-ish "She Never Said" but the real gem on this disc is the band's second single "Unguarded Moment".
The Church are playing two local shows next week on their "Future Past Perfect" electric tour. This unprecedented touring event continues their 30th Anniversary celebrations by performing three classic albums in their entirety in one night: Untitled #23 (2009), Priest=Aura (1992), and Starfish (1988).
"Future Past Perfect" Tour Dates
Feb 16 - New York, NY. - Highline Ballroom
Feb 17 - New York, NY. - B.B. King's
Tickets for the show at Highline Ballroom are $39.50 in advance and $45 (DOS). Doors are at 6PM and the show starts at 8PM. Ticket prices and door/show times are the same for the show at B.B. King's the following night.
Links:
The Church
Thursday, February 10, 2011
James Vincent McMorrow Will Be Playing a Small Run of US Shows Around His SXSW Appearance
DOWNLOAD: James Vincent McMorrow - "This Old Dark Machine"
James Vincent McMorrowʼs full-length debut, Early In The Morning, landed the #1 spot on iTunes when the disc was released in Ireland last year and Vagrant released the disc in the US last month. From start to finish, Early In The Morning is a ten-song recollection of one manʼs journey through a time of change and transition.
James will be playing a string of US shows surrounding his SXSW performance in March, including five new dates just announced supporting The Rural Alberta Advantage.
James Vincent McMorrow Tour Dates:
Mar 22 – Ames, IA at The Maintenance Shop at ISU
Mar 23 – Milwaukee, WI at Mad Planet
Mar 24 – Madison, WI at High Noon Saloon
Mar 25 – Minneapolis, MN at First Avenue
Mar 26 – Chicago, IL at Lincoln Hall
All dates supporting The Rural Alberta Advantage
Links:
James Vincent McMorrow
The HOTcakes Are Playing an Acoustic Valentine's Day Show at Shang Lounge (@ Thompson LES)
Blondie is probably a good reference point as to what The HOTcakes sound like as one can clearly hear the new-wave influences in their music -- though one could just as easily make the comparison to Kim Wilde. Vocalist Erin Marsz sings with a raw passion (as opposed to Debbie's cool detachment) and the band has some huge dance-oriented pop hooks. The band released their latest EP "Gonna Go Out" late last year which is a followup to their 2008 self-titled EP.
The band is playing a very special Valentine's Day acoustic show, this Monday, February 14th, 9pm at Shang at the Thompson LES (2nd floor). After reading (and laughing a bit over) the recent Village Voice Valentine's-themed story entitled "Dear Single Women of NYC: It's Not Them, It's You", this show should be a great way to spend Valentine's Day and it will be a lot of fun to hear stripped-down versions of The HOTcakes' high-energy songs.
Links:
The HOTcakes
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Detroit Garage Rockers The Sights Play Shows at Maxwells (Feb. 15th) and The Bell House (Feb. 18th) Next Week
DOWNLOAD: The Sights - "How Do You Sleep?"
DOWNLOAD: The Sights - "Guilty"
(photo: Doug Coombe)
Now that the White Stripes have called it a day, The Sights are now the uncontested champions of Detroit blues-rock. The band is touring behind their fourth LP, Most of What Follows Is True (Alive Records), which was recorded at Jim Diamond’s (White Stripes, Electric Six, Dirtbombs) Ghetto Recorders in Detroit and released late last year.
“Most of What Follows is rooted in the tough, straightforward, R&B-based rock that's the Sights' bread and butter, though the pedal steel on "I Left My Muse" suggests they've also been listening to some classic country sides, and "Maria" is spot-on pure pop. The album is long on great tunes and rock & roll swagger, but Baranek and his latest edition of The Sights (Dave Lawson on bass, Gordon Smith on keys, and Skip Denomme on drums) never sound arrogant or gimmicky -- what comes through most strongly on Most of What Follows is the sound of four guys playing rock & roll because they love it, and even when the music takes a dark detour on "Take & Take" or slips into the blues on "Back to You," there's an honest joy and enthusiasm that infuses the music at every turn. Baranek sings with an unaffected passion and force that's truly impressive while he and his bandmates play with lots of heart and soul and no false moves; this is strong, rootsy, meat-and-potatoes rock & roll played with gravity, skill, and the enthusiasm of true fans.” – ALL MUSIC GUIDE
For the show at Maxwell's on Feb. 15th, The Sights are playing with The Godfathers and Frosting. Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 DOS.
For the show at The Bell House on Feb. 18th, The Sights are playing with Reigning Sound and Guitar Lightnin'. Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 DOS.
Links:
The Sights
Switzerland's We Loyal Wind Up Five Nights in NYC with Shows at Fontanas on Feb. 10 and Cameo Gallery on Feb. 15
Vice by We Loyal
Schliemspur by We Loyal 
Switzerland's We Loyal made their US debut earlier this week with a show at Trash Bar and the band is currently in the middle of a series of five local shows.
The final two shows are Thursday, Feb. 10th at Fontans and Tuesday, Feb. 15th at Cameo Gallery. At Thursday's show, We Loyal are playing with Beneficial Tomatoes and Secret Country and cover is $7.
For the show next Tuesday at Cameo Gallery, We Loyal are playing with Chica Vas, Nihiti and Hard Nips.
We Loyal was founded mid 2008 and the band is made up of Ben Kuster (Bass, Synths, Vocals), Sandro Simon (Vocals, Guitar, Synths) and Fabian Trümpy (Drums, Synths, Vocals). Last year, the band released their debut EP “Obstacles” which was produced by David Berger (Balloons a.o / Liverpool) and Manuel Bürkli (Mañana / Basel). All the songs are influenced by various settings and places of origin, playfully combining analog synthesizers with striving beats and dark vocals. Bands such as TV on the Radio, Joy Division and Foals leave their traces in this play of light and shadow.The EP reaches open ears and hearts – it gets critically acclaimed by blogs and radios all over Switzerland and Germany and in the following months We Loyal will play over 30 Clubshows and Openairs with bands such as Foals, Wolf Parade, Rain Machine, Wild Beasts, These New Puritans a.o. and release remixes for several swiss artists, which again are reviewed with enthusiasm.
Links:
“As we got in touch with the DIY scene in Liverpool we started to realise, that interesting music starts in your head, through your commitment, experimenting in a critical way and your decision to go your way”, says Sandro Simon. And with these words We Loyal take their fate into their own hands, from recording and mixing to artwork and merchandise.
We Loyal
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
PJ Harvey Releases "Let England Shake" on Feb. 15 // Show at Terminal 5 on April 20th
Written On The Forehead by pjharvey 
PJ Harvey's eighth disc Let England Shake comes out next Tuesday (Feb. 15th) on Vagrant Records and she is playing a limited run of headlining shows in April.
PJ Harvey’s new album was recorded in a 19th Century church in Dorset, on a cliff-top overlooking the sea. It was created with a cast of musicians including such long-standing allies as Flood, John Parish, and Mick Harvey.
What is remarkable about Let England Shake is bound up with its music, its abiding atmosphere – and in particular, its words. If Harvey’s past work might seem to draw on direct emotional experience, this new album is rather different. Its songs centre on both her home country, and events further afield in which it has embroiled itself. The lyrics return, time and again, to the matter of war, the fate of the people who must do the fighting, and events separated by whole ages, from Afghanistan to Gallipoli. The album they make up is not a work of protest, nor of strait-laced social or political comment. It brims with the mystery and magnetism in which she excels. But her lyric-writing in particular has arrived at a new, breathtaking place, in which the human aspects of history are pushed to the foreground. Put simply, not many people make records like this.
“I was looking outwards a lot more,” she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr, when she appeared on his programme back in May. “I think a lot of my work has often been about the interior, the emotional, what happens inside oneself. And this time I’ve been just looking out, so it’s not only to do with taking a look at England but taking a look at the world and what happening in current world affairs. But always trying to come from the human point of view, because I don’t feel qualified to sing from a political standpoint… I sing as a human being affected by the politics, and that for me is a more successful way … because I so often feel that with a lot of protest music, I’m being preached to, and I don’t want that”.
The show at Terminal 5 is sold out but I'd watch for last minute (DOS) to go on-sale.
Links:
PJ Harvey
Lucky Ghost (aka Seth Berkowitz) Releases "Sex Griddle" as a Free Download
DOWNLOAD: Lucky Ghost - "Love With a Ghost"
DOWNLOAD: Lucky Ghost - Sex Griddle (full-length disc)
Cold war anxiety, video game theme songs and the ever-elusive mysteries of human connection all come to bear on the ten infectiously quirky and occasionally melancholic tracks of Sex Griddle, the latest LP from Lucky Ghost.
Cultivating the distinctive voice that emerged on the 2008 LP Network Stars, Lucky Ghost (the bedroom brain-child of multi-instrumentalist, Seth Berkowitz) delivers an incredible amalgamation of 70s prog-rock, the sparkling sadness of 80s pop, chugging guitar rock and the lyrical aplomb of British singer-songwriters.
From the shimmering and crunchy synths of "Made in America" to the male-female vocal-interplay on the whimsical "Love with a Ghost" - the latter was recently featured in a commercial for Helzberg Diamonds - Sex Griddle acts as the spoonful of sugar to help the dystopian malaise go down. Even when Berkowitz sings of impending nuclear winter on "The Republic," it's as if there's a Saturday morning cartoon playing in the background - cradling his fears in innocence and a bowl of Frosted Flakes.
Links:
Lucky Ghost
Monday, February 07, 2011
King Crimson - Live Stream from Robert's NYC Soundscape Show // Free Download from The Vicar
I really dropped the ball by not seeing Robert Fripp perform at World Financial Center this past December as I think this clip (hosted by WNYC) from his live show is brilliant. If you go over to WNYC's site, there are some audio interviews with Robert on being sampled by Kanye for "Power" and on finding the original master for In The Court of the Crimson King.
DOWNLOAD: The Vicar - "Show Reel"
This is Stormy's fast ride through the world of The Vicar, Song Book No.1. Encompassing the many moods of this wonderful album in less than ten minutes!
Links:
Robert Fripp
King Crimson
Gang of Four Play David Letterman Show and Webster Hall Tomorrow Night (Feb. 8th)
2/11: Updated to include Letterman video
Gang of Four played their first US show since 2005's reunion tour on Feb. 4th at Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia. The band is making an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman tomorrow night to play "Never Pay for the Farm" prior to their headlining show at Webster Hall. There are still tickets available for the Webster Hall show which are $37 (DOS). Hollerado is opening the show and doors are at 7PM.
Below is the setlist from Saturday night's show in Philadelphia:
- Never Pay for the Farm
- Not Great Men
- Ether
- I Parade Myself
- Paralyzed
- A Fruitfly in the Beehive
- Anthrax
- What We All Want
- I Party All the Time
- Why Theory?
- You Don't Have to be Mad
- We Live as We Dream, Alone
- To Hell With Poverty
- Do As I Say
Encore:
- Return the Gift
- I Love a Man in a Uniform
- Damaged Goods
Encore 2:
- Natural's Not in It
Links:
Gang of Four
Those Dancing Days Release Video for "I'll Be Yours" from Forthcoming Disc // Early Show at Mercury Lounge on March 22nd
Those Dancing Days - "I'll Be Yours"
(Photo: Gavin Watson)
Sweden's Those Dancing Days have released the first video, "I'll Be Yours" (directed by Andreas Öhman), off their upcoming sophomore album Daydreams and Nightmares, which will be released in the US 3/1 on Wichita Recordings. The video was filmed both in Sweden and during the band's UK tour in Dec.
The band is playing a set of US shows next month when they are over for SXSW which include a stop at Mercury Lounge on March 22nd. The Mercury Lounge show is an early show (6:30PM doors) and Bloc Party's Gordon Moakes' latest project Young Legionnaire opens the show. Tickets are $10.
From the very first notes of Those Dancing Days’ impressive sophomore album Daydreams and Nightmares, it’s clear that the charming indie pop band from suburban Stockholm, Sweden has evolved. What’s emerged from the past two years of touring – traveling to all corners of the world (including Russia, South America, Japan, China and the United States) – is a captivating and confident young band. In expanding their sound, the five women of Those Dancing Days have at once maintained the evocative vivacity of their 2008 debut In Our Space Hero Suits, while also adding a nuanced hand at songcraft, giving the songs broadened dynamics and a piquant edge.
“We didn’t go into the studio and say: ‘Let’s change our sound.’ It happened naturally, almost unconsciously. I think it is because we have gone through so much together the last few years. We have grown up, simple as that,” says drummer Cissi Efraimsson.
Daydreams and Nightmares was recorded in Stockholm over the spring, summer and early fall of 2010 with Patrik Berger, the fast rising young producer known for his recent work with Robyn. Many of the songs are about, above all, the power of imagination: future hopes and wishes, and – of course – all kinds of dreams. “If you didn’t have dreams, if you couldn’t imagine, how would you be able to write songs?” asks guitarist Rebecca Rolfart. Filled with soaring choruses led by singer Linnea Jönsson’s sweetly sultry vocals, the tracks range from the blissful pure pop of “I’ll Be Yours” to the defiant, hard charging anthem “Fuckarias,” and from the New Wave-tinged, starry-eyed “Dream About Me” to the wistful, reluctant build of “When We Fade Away.” The album is book-ended by the angular guitars and thundering drums of the pummeling opener “Reaching Forward” and the winsome closer “One Day Forever,” a duet with The Maccabees’ Orlando Weeks. The lushly vibrant “Can’t Find Entrance” was produced by Max Martin (Kelis, The Veronicas, Katy Perry), who approached the band about working together after hearing their debut.
Links:
Those Dancing Days