You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May 2010.
Like a pebble in the bottom of a pond, that shines when hit by beams of sunlight– “Here” shimmers like that. The song has a dream like quality. The music wraps around you and makes you feel caught inside a feeling, one that you can’t escape. The doubled voices compliment each other. The distorted but low in the mix guitar buzzes like a fly trapped in between a screen and a pane of glass.
“I don’t need someone to say what’s right. Your hand inside my hand I hold it tight.”
“Here” took time to record. This is a song with so much texture.
Mutual Benefit is eluding me. I don’t know anything about this band except that you can downland the EP, Drifting, at Bandcamp and buy it at Kassette Klub. This is a highly recommended action. Thanks to Delicious Scopitone for turning me on.
Mutual Benefit: Here
Weezer straight through a wall of hazy distortion. That’s what Dead Gaze is to me. And that’s a fucking goooooood thing.
Dead Gaze is Cole Furlow, hailing from Wesson/Jackson/Copland, Mississippi. I’ve been hearing his sounds for a few months now, but finally the man reached out to me and got me off my laurels and posting. He sent, “This Big World,” which is actually more fun than the other songs, and that’s saying a lot.
This track is off a split with Gray Things on Clan Destine Records. It’s out soon. Check the other awesome Dead Gaze song on that release, “Remember What Brought Us Here” at Weekly Tape Deck.
Dead Gaze seems awfully busy. Another release also just dropped- this one on Mirror Universe Tapes, and yes, it’s a tape.
Let’s get this southern man up east, yeah?
Dead Gaze: This Big World
Weed is everywhere… in band names, especially. These guys are just plain Weed.
“Eleanor” sounds like soft Smashing Pumpkins or Thurston… the song is so calming…and darkly nostalgic. This is the kind of music I want to hear while laying all melancholy alone on my bed, longingly staring at the ceiling or out the window into space.
Weed released 50 copies of a tape, which is now sold out. You can download To The North for free.
Mixed with tracks like Eleanor are drone songs with dialogue. Some bits of “Shift” remind me of something… but I can’t place it. A little help?
Also, Weed PLAYS TONIGHT at the Woods in Williamsburg.
Weed: Eleanor
Thnx to Jake at PopGun for the tip… book em Jake!
TONIGHT
Zs, Exceptor, Silk Flowers, Mick Barr, Dutty Artz DJs at Knitting Factory, 8
Phosphorescent at Union Pool, 9 (on Thursday at Mercury Lounge)
WEDNESDAY
Effi Briest at Union Pool, 9
THURSDAY
Woods, MV&EE, Joshua Light show at Abrons Art Center, 8
Beach Fossils, Midnight Masses, Mon Khmer at Brooklyn Bowl, 6:30
The Blow, Acrylics, Julianna Barwick at Glasslands, 8:30
FRIDAY
Twin Sister, Open Road Rooftop, Roof Top Films Festival, 8
Golden Triangle, Fresh and Onlys, The Babies, Coasting at Monster Island Basement, 8
Small Brown Bike, Bridge and Tunnel, Your Skull my Closet, Let Me Run at Cake Shop, 8ish
Silver Apples, Oneida, Joshua Light Show at Abrons Art Center, 8
SATURDAY
Fresh and Onlys, Liquor Store, Darlings, Girls at Dawn, X-Ray Eyeballs at Cake Shop, 8ish
Crystal Stilts, Veronica Falls, MINKS, Home Blitz at Glasslands, 8
Parts and Labor, Soft Power, Talk Normal, Guts For Garters at Knitting Factory, 8
These Are Powers, Aa, True Womanhood at Secret Project Robot, 8
SUNDAY
Aa, Wild Yaks, Steel Phantoms at Cake Shop, 8ish
Veronica Falls, German Measles, Frankie and the Outs, the Surprisers at Bruar Falls, 8ish
Silver Apples, Burning Star Core, Love Like Deloreans at Coco66, 9
MONDAY
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Second Floor Stories, The City and Horses, Sexy Neighbors at Knitting Factory, 8
Chris from Archers emailed me awhile ago with some tracks. I loved the rough and tumble nature of the music, and made note to listen to it some more. Then my mind’s cataloging system failed. Somehow, I got back to Archers. I’m so glad.
This Portland, Oregon band reminds why rock and roll is so important. It is fun, it is punchy, it makes you want to down ice cold beers. The band says their influences are Television and Pavement. Yeah, you can hear that. They also say they are a part of the “new Portland lo-fi set.” THAT sounds like a great scene. Anyone know more about that?
Archers: Radical Opinion
Emilie Friedlander has to be careful because she plays violin live and sings. Sometimes the feedback from the mic is hard to control. To deal? She writes lyrics in a made up language. That’s just how the mind of this woman works. Confusion equals clarity.
La Big Vic is… well, what is a La Big Vic besides a band? Just listen to “Heyo” below. You’ll see.
The band is putting out a cassingle (i think they coined that term) on Whip Records and is playing a release show at K and M in Williamsburg with Future Shuttle tonight at 9.
Future Shuttle is the project of Camilla Padgitt-Coles and Jessa Farkas. “Fields of Dreams,” below, is as literal a song as one can find. The sounds are forward thinking, it could be the soundtrack, on loop, of 2010: A Shuttle Odyssey.
Rounding out La Big Vic is Toshio Masuda and Peter Pearson.
La Big Vic: Heyo (Silver Morning)
Future Shuttle: Fields of Dreams
“I got soft skin, are you gonna let me in?”
Mountain Man has certainly come the distance. Watching these three women’s voices and music blossom and grow over the past 10 months has been one of the more pleasurable things in my life. From the first time I heard Animal Tracks, to CMJ, to their beautiful church performance, to SXSW, Mountain Man has been nothing but beauty, love and inspiration. (See Q&A)
They are now about to embark on a new chapter in the tumultuous thing called “life.” Their debut album, “Made the Harbor” is coming out on Partisan Records in the U.S. and Bella Union in the U.K. and Underwater Peoples is still putting out a 10″, though that is now what seems to be months late. The band is going on an extended tour of Europe and plays Brooklyn and Manhattan multiple times.
To keep fans and bloggers satiated, the life-affirming “Soft Skin” has just been made available for free download.
“Soft Skin” finds Mountain Man singing less about nature and more about sexuality and what it means to be a woman. “We shake and fall from the wall to the hard, hot floor…We’re so wet and we’re so tight… can’t you understand i’m trying to be a good woman? Let me go…”
Mountain Man: Soft Skin
Pic and Review by David Chiu
Beach House has come a long way in the three years since I first discovered the Baltimore indie pop duo. At the time, the band had a self-titled first album on Carpark Records and was opening for the Clientele. Now, they’ve released two more albums, including their most recent effort Teen Dream (Sub Pop), attracted major press attention and built a considerable following.
The group’s popularity was on full display last night when singer/keyboardist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally played to a packed house at Webster Hall.
Accompanied by a drummer, Beach House performed ethereal-sounding music that was characterized by slow tempos, waltz-like rhythms, and dreamy melodies that evoke early 20th century pop music. Clearly this wasn’t music to dance or rock out to—more like sway slowly to. Beach House’s music nevertheless divinely draws you in with every song, whether it’s the charming pop of “Lover of Mine,” the hypnotic “Gila” or the romantic-sounding “Astronaut.”
While the intimate elements of the group’s style were present at the show, the music sounded more bold live than on record. The addition of the drummer was one major factor, but there was also an intensity during the show that helped the band to soar. Scally, who usually plays his guitar lines in a gentle manner, unleashed some stinging riffs during a performance of the excellent “Master of None.” He was matched by Legrand’s singing– her hair flowing wildly over her face as if she was possessed by the music.
The stage was decorated with a few large glittery diamond-shaped objects that were hung on the ceiling and mounted on poles, adding to the idea that Beach House’s exquisite music is more about the senses than theatrics. It was an evening that conveyed something pure and mystical.
In contrast to Beach House’s music, opening act Washed Out’s was more rooted in electronic rock and dance grooves– you had no choice but to react physically. Based in Georgia, Washed Out is essentially one man named Ernest Greene. At the beginning of his set, he was onstage by himself programming the music and singing into the mike. Half way into his set, the other band members– a drummer, a bassist and two keyboardists– entered and played with Greene a combination of music that drew from funk and rock.
Matt Leech hails from Harrisonburg, Virginia. His music is shimmering and full of echoes. You can feel yourself floating while listening. What does one do in Harrisonburg, Virginia? Besides try and stay cool, probably make hazy music and drink beers with friends while pondering what the hell is going on outside the bubble. This is not to put anyone down, but we all know that music that comes from a place without much, for lack of a better word, “culture,” is earthy, textured and made with survival in mind.
Harrisonburg is right by the Shenandoah National Forest, however. And that must be pretty fucking nice. I’m a country mouse at heart.
Leech has a 7″ out on Funny/Not Funny and here’s a track off of it, “Empty House.”
Following in the vein of other reverb-heavy artists, Leech distinguishes himself. The melody is particularly catchy here, and many of his songs are just as enchanting. Easy listening, folks.
Matt Leech: Empty House
I first time I heard Liam the Younger was in the basement of a Greenpoint church in December, 2009. It was a beautiful night, filled with wine, smiles, caramel popcorn and heartfelt music. Since then I’ve become intoxicated with Liam’s album “After the Graveyard,” a devastating collection of songs that sound sad but feel beautifully uplifting. They were recorded with delicate tape hiss sounds, birds chirping in the background… it’s all so very real.
Liam the Younger has a new album, “Revel Hidden Worlds.” These vinyl delights are limited to 300 and come hand numbered, which means something.
While “After the Graveyard” was very quiet, still dramatic but hushed, “Revel Hidden Worlds” features some bigger songs, with drums and added instrumentation. Liam had reached out beyond the acoustic, to marvelous affect. There’s even a song on the album called “Bob Dylan.”
There’s something about these lo-fi folk songs that touches the chords deep inside. You can test out all the new songs here. A sample taste, below.
Liam the Younger: Lie
