Hey all my readers… I know it’s been awhile!
Suffice this post to say “i’m still here, just taking a break.”
See you in 2011!!
When a band sounds a lot like at least four other bands when you listen to it, that is usually a terrible sign. “What is this copy cat band?,” you might think. But with Jonquil, the bands their music conjures are so disparate that it’s almost funny to listen. Like, how did they do that? Does each band member bring an idea to each song writing session? For me, I hear The Slip’s “Honey Melon,” which I will admit, was a favorite song of mine in the year 2000. (I was smoking at Hampshire College, after all.) I also hear some Vampire Weekend a little bit. And even, dare I say, Tanlines? Eric Emm’s vocals are not too far off… And then there’s the inevitable British melodies that wander through their new EP, One Hundred Songs.
What do you hear? Below take a taste with “Get Up,” which is the “approved” postable song, but definitely not my favorite. Still really, really nice though.
Jonquil: Get Up
Check out a song off a WIRE comp from ’07, “Sudden Sun.”
These past two weeks my attention has been placed elsewhere, my mind totally devoted to a new job. My brain hasn’t been able to break away from that, not even to soak up and share the sounds of musical therapy. But it’s Saturday and i just heard Seapony.
Seapony hails from Seattle, no doubt a place that sits in the collective memory banks of all those who don’t live there. When I think of Seattle I think of three things: grunge, Starbucks and rain. I’d bet that’s what many, many people think of. But when you live in that place, when you experience it every day, you confuse the collective minds of those outside. So Seapony, they make music that doesn’t sound like rain, grunge or corporate coffee.
There’s some hazy reverb a la Real Estate in these songs, which is likely what attracts me. There’s also some girl group jangly jams a la Vivian Girls (but prettier). But what these few Seapony songs have is the catch of the day melody thing that is missing from a lot of music. I don’t want to say easy listening, but this is easy to listen to. And sometimes that’s just what you need.
Seapony: Dreaming
Hear much more at Bandcamp.
(via)
Long overdue on these cmj snaps from the RQ x MME show at Shea Stadium. Revel in the October vibessss.
Pigeons/Fluffy Lumbers/Ecstatic Sunshine/Street Chant/Family Portrait/Andrew Cedermark
See BIG here.
Vodpod videos no longer available.CMJ Day 3 for me was spent jumping around all over this city. 5 clubs and 6 bands. Here are 5 out of 6 in pics. First: Violens at Pianos. Second: Times New Viking at Brooklyn Bowl. Third: Dream Diary at the Woods. Fourth La Big Vic at Glasslands. Fifth: Marnie Stern at Live at the Pyramids.
Vodpod videos no longer available.If there was ever a week to drain your bank account on drinks and live music, this is it. Thanks to the CMJ Music Festival hundreds of bands are in town and really, really eager to make some fans. MME’s recommendations of best shows to see are below. I’m including official and unofficial shows on the list, because there really is no difference.
KEY
Off means official and you can use your badge. If there’s no Off, you’ll either have to pay a nominal door charge, or it’s a free show.
TONIGHT
Micro-Pixel-Rites presents Dent May, Steve Gunn, Spectre Folk, Woodsman and tooth ache. at Glasslands, doors at 830 (Off)
Friendship Bracelet and Rose Quartz presents Gary War, Big Troubles, Total Slacker, Greatest Hits, Tonstartssbandht and Woodsman at Bruar Falls. 7
Group Tighener/ Acephale present How to Dress Well, Small Black, Dead Gaze, Porcelain Raft, Nude Beach, Secret Colors
Mog Presents Yo La Tengo, DOM, Screaming Females at Brooklyn Bowl, 7 (Off)
Ground Control Touring presents Jenny and Johnny, Wild Nothing, Times New Viking, Happy Birthday, La Sera at Irving Plaza, 8 (Off)
WEDNESDAY
Chocolate Bobka presents a Not CMJ Show
Terrorbird presents Marnie Stern, Baths, Revolver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Kyle Andrews, Botany, Dark Dark Dark, Prince Rama, Kordan at Cake Shop, noon.
Free Williamsburg/ Stadiums and Shrines presents Pujol, Blackbird Blackbird, Foxes in Fiction, Awesome Tapes from Africa and more at Glasslands, 6
I Guess I’m Floating / Lefse Records present Houses, Candy Claws, Young Prisms, Tape Deck Mountain, Wise Blood, Sunglasses, Keepaway, A Classic Education, Dominant Legs at The Delancey, 6 (Off)
Stereo-Gun presents All Night Long w/ Wild Nothing, Tamaryn, Diamond Rings and more at Santos Party House, 7
NNA Tapes presents Driphouse, Thought Broadcast, Tooth Ache., Lawrence Welks and Our Bear to Cross, Toby Aronson at Silent Barn, 8
THURSDAY
IMPOSITION curated by Pop Jew w/ Allo Darlin, Dream Diary, Sleepies and more at The Woods, 1:30ish
I Guess I’m Floating presents Floating Fest w/ Baths, Pepper Rabbit, Oberhofer, Teen Daze, Young Man, Beach Fossils, Violens, Foxes In Fiction, Class Actress, Blackbird Blackbird, MillionYoung, Viernes, Young The Giant, Coolrunnings at Pianos, noon
Carpark / Paw Tracks presents Dent May, Prince Rama, Cloud Nothings, EAR PWR, Light Pollution, DJ Carpark, Deakin, Avey Tare (DJ set), Excepter at Cake Shop, 8 (Off)
Chapter Music/Underwater Peoples presents La Big Vic, Andrew Cedermark, Air Waves, Guy Blackman, Fabulous Diamonds, The Crayon Fields at Glasslands, 8 (Off)
Kanine Records / Gorilla vs Bear/ Forest Family Records / Father Daughter Records present Cults, Tennis, Marnie Stern, Eternal Summers, Young Prisms, Family Trees, Dent May at Live at the Pyramids, 8
Hardly Art present Xray Eyeballs, Woven Bones, Golden Triangle, Fergus & Geronimo, Circle Pit, La Sera at Shea Stadium, 8
FRIDAY
IMPOSITION curated with the FMLY w/ Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk, Birthdays, Truman Peyote, Blissed Out and more at The Woods, noonish
Rose Quartz x MME presents Andrew Cedermark, Family Portrait, Street Chant, Ecstatic Sunshine, Fluffy Lumbers, Pigeons and Nude Beach at Shea Stadium, 8
Altered Zones presents Greatest Hits, Woven Bones, Teen Inc., Prince Rama, Excepter, John Maus, How To Dress Well (DJ set) at Death by Audio, 8
Kanine / WaoWao / The Music Slut / Insound presents Grooms, We Are Country Mice, Eternal Summers, Young Prisms, Braids, Pepper Rabbit, Viernes, Dream Diary, Dinowalrus at Cake Shop, 6 (Off)
SATURDAY
Capeshok/Inflated presents Frankie Rose & The Outs, Woven Bones, Eternal Summers, Big Troubles, Flight, Rooftop Vigilantes, Oberhofer, Pregnant, Sweet Bulbs, Mathemagic, Dead Gaze, Shrag, Brian at Bruar Falls, 2
IMPOSITION curated with Art Fag and Zoo Records w/ Coasting, Cloud Nothings, No Joy, Woven Bones and more at Don Pedro’s, 8
Pop Gun presents Baths, Dominant Legs, Teen Daze, Porcelain Raft, Mon Khmer, Jaill at Glasslands, 8 $5 off with RSVP
Matt Papich at the Market Hotel, circa 2008.
Ecstatic Sunshine has been on the experimental music radar for years, beeping and blipping and moving in and out of focus and frequency all the while. Last winter I sat down with Matt Papich and he said he was interested in “sound’s ability to sculpt space” and “affect the environment” where music is being played. Well, this Friday night at the Rose Quartz x MME Unofficial CMJ Showcase we can all find out exactly what happens when Papich sculpts space and alters environments with sound.
Papich tours Europe quite frequently and sent over a recording of the song “Faceplant,” recorded live in Katowice, Poland earlier this year. Check it out in ANTICIPATION.
Ecstatic Sunshine: Faceplant (Live in Katowice, Poland)
Getting emails from Matt at Funny/ Not Funny Records always brightens my day. The label puts out the best of the halfway-Southern indie genre, and today they posted a free Fall Mix for stream/download on their site. “13 new tracks from the F/NF past, present, and future family!”
Featured on the mix: Drunk Tigers, The Young Sinclairs, Matt himself (Matt Leech), Ben Schlabach, Andrew Cedermark and many more.
Cedermark happens to be playing the Rose Quartz x Microphone Memory Emotion Showcase a week from today, that’s next Friday, Oct. 22 at Shea Stadium. It’s going to be a righteous jam of a night, get pumped with this gorgeously aching track, “Why We Exist.” Reason: To listen to music…
Andrew Cedermark: Why We Exist
Micro-Pixel–Rites is back for round 2. Elise, Emilie and I have put together a bill we think will titillate and scintillate… With these acts, how could the show not at the very least excite?
Dent May– Because you know what music you like, but you don’t know much about Mississippi (except how to spell it).
Steve Gunn– An intoxicating guitar song is as necessary as water.
Spectre Folk– Pete Nolan. Pete Meehan. Steve Shelley. A pretty and twisted racket…
Woodsman– Get foggy!
tooth ache.- Intricate soundscapes from a Vermont solo star.
TASTES to whet your appetite…
Dent May: Eastover Wives
tooth ache.: Skin
Woodsman: Balance
Previously posted: “Burning Bridge” by Spectre Folk. Here’s the video by Pax Paloscia:
Vodpod videos no longer available.Also previously posted: “Mr. Franklin” by Steve Gunn.
Here’s a demo version of the great Family Portrait song, “Glide Part 1,” a song set to appear on the band’s upcoming LP on Underwater Peoples. Evan J. Brody’s wailing vocals are present, of course, and so is a pretty tambourine line. Press play and live out the rest of your Thursday harmoniously.
The band’s been playing this song live for a little bit– if you haven’t heard it you’ve got a few chances next week! Family Portrait plays the Rose Quartz x Microphone Memory Emotion Unofficial CMJ Showcase on Friday, Oct. 22 at Shea Stadium. Flyer below.
Family Portrait: Glide Part 1 (demo)
Microphone Memory Emotion 