October 06, 2005
Sunbomber yo
Excepter were due to release a record titled "Alternation" on 5RC sometime this winter, but according to Dan Hougland, that record's been pushed back a bit. Now "Sunbomber" will see release, still on 5RC, this January. I'm betting they put out, say, 5 albums in '06. Don't get me wrong- that's a good thing.
Posted by Kevin at 10:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 05, 2005
Countdown to psych-oblivion
Whoa doggies. It's offically only 13 more days (that's less than two weeks--by a whole day!) until the new Espers record comes out! In order to tide you over, the good folks at Locust Music have made available one (1) track from the new LP. It's here and you best get busy downloading it. If the song sounds familiar, it's because it's a cover. More specifically, it's "Afraid" which is an old Nico track from Desertshore. Now, with the exception of "I'll be Your Mirror," I pretty much hate all things Nico. Of course, there's not a lot of Nico to be found in this thoroughly Espers-ized track, so you know, yay.
Full disclosure, I am so high on Sudafed and Ricola right now. My teeth feel awesome.
Posted by matt at 09:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 03, 2005
Rock on, old man.
So I somehow ended up seeing the Pixies half of Saturday night's Across the Narrows festivities. As someone who kind of hates the Pixies, there wasn't much fun to be had looking at those elderly uggos lounge-ify a bunch of songs I didn't really like to begin with (I realize that I'm in the minority here, and I'll take all comers in the comments).
But there really wasn't any chance that the sta-puff marshmallow band could've looked even remotely impressive playing, as they did, after the older, tighter, more energetic Gang of Four. I mean, holy crap. Those guys have to be in their mid-50s, and they rocked like nervous punk teenagers (in a good way). Jon King definitely did some weirdo rave dancing at a couple of spots, but even that didn't take anything away from the ferocity they projected. It's a small miracle, but with the exception of a slightly questionable bass sound, GoF's music hasn't aged a day since 1977.
Built to Spill were also great. Although, with no new record in four years, and nothing on the horizon, it was almost depressing to see them trot out "the hits," like they were Toto playing "Rosanna" at a state fair. Obviously "Carry the Zero" is an anthem of many of our younger days, and a much better song than "Rosanna," but you get my meaning. At the absolute least, they're doing what they do best, and they do it note-perfect.
It's odd that, of all of the three headliners at Keyspan Park on Saturday, none of them were performing new material. I won't speculate as to why that should be the case, but I will say that it was a remarkably successful evening of music--except for the Pixies, who still suck.
Posted by matt at 08:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 27, 2005
Credit where it's due
Mark Richardson's review of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is good as far as it goes (I like the "emotional antenna" bit), but he seems to have left out the part where he says it's the best album ever. For shame.
By the way, people who like the Trembling Blue Stars should know that they're playing one of their last five shows at Magnetic Field on Thursday.
Posted by matt at 09:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 22, 2005
Writing about records in a whole new state
First things first, I have to say that I love the eff out of Florida. I realize that might sound crazy, but I really do like Florida. Ocean=Awesome.
Now, on a recent spate of iTunes purchases:
I know I'm a little late in jumping on the Antony & The Johnsons bandwagon, but I've jumped on it so hard. I honestly can't remember the last time a piece of music affected me so deeply so immediately as did "Hope There's Someone" from I Am a Bird Now. Within just the first few phrases, my eyes glossed up something terrible I wanted to lift weights and eat raw meat.
I honestly couldn't have imagined that the new Devendra Banhart could be as good as it is. P4K made some stupid noise about how Cripple Crow is now the defining record of the whole freak folk movement. Unfortunately, a class can't be defined by something that isn't itself an instance of that class. They taught me that in dictionary school. My point is that it just isn't a freak folk record. I won't say it's more than that, since I don't want to knock the scene I dig so well. It's just not a part of that scene. The fidelity, the instrumentation, and the conspicuously un-mannered vocals all make for an unexpectedly mature record that smashes the tropes established by the legion of Banhart imitators. Quirky, ecstatic, and gorgeous.
The Calexico and Iron & Wine record is as fantastic as you think it would be. Next time Sam Beam needs to let my man Joey Burns sing a little more. I ♥ Joey Burns.
Anyway, I'm at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization's annual meeting, and I'll be in the dang ol' exhibit hall from 7 AM tomorrow, so I'll just have to talk to you all on Monday.
Posted by matt at 09:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 20, 2005
Rock for a cause, and Rock for its own sake!
Lest anyone think that Brooklyn indie rockers can't put together a Bono-sized benefit at a moment's notice, JellyNYC, Trampoline House, and KEXP have joined forces for not one, but two benefit shows at Southpaw. Brooklyn Responds will consist of two kind of spectacular shows--the first of which is Wednesday, 9/21, and the other is on Sunday, 9/25. Just look at these line-ups (I'll omit exclamation points, since I'd be putting them next to about half of the damn bands on these lists):
9/21
Radio 4
Craig Wedren (of Shudder to Think)
The Cloud Room
Dirty on Purpose
Pela
Domino
Au Revoir Simone
9/25
They Might Be Giants
The Wrens
Matthew & Ira (of Nada Surf)
Richard Buckner
Sam Champion
Eiffel Tower
Harlem Shakes
I mean, really. Everyone understands that that's really almost overkill, right? I'ma be in FLA, USA for the first show, but you best believe I'm gonna make it out for the second right when I get done with the other awesome thing on Sunday.
What other awesome thing? Why nothing less than the annual guaranteed great fucking time that is the Atlantic Antic. In particular, the little stretch of the Antic between Hicks & Henry that is Magnetic Field's Antic Celebration, which will go a little something like this:
The Ponys (Thurston-sized Coup!)
The Hong Kong (I don't know who they are!)
The Soul Shakers (Almost literally too much fun!)
Detachment Kit (Has your heart exploded yet? Have another Mozzarepa!)
The Dansettes (Mreow!)
Mighty Fine (I don't know who they are, either!)
There is literally no beating this week, luvvies. You can't do it, so don't try.
Posted by matt at 09:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 15, 2005
The greatest band you've never seen (Updated)
I know I tend to go on (and on, and on...) about Lungs of a Giant. Since I "manage" them, that's partly my job. But the reason I took that job is because I just love them so freaking much. So it's with a metric ton of pleasure and more than a little pride that I say that they absolutely rocked CMJ last night. And for the first band of the whole kit & caboodle, and playing at 7 PM, I'd say the turnout was actually decent.
Here's the thing: it should've been better. I say this as much as a public service as I do out of frustration. Obviously I personally want them to do well, but I wouldn't be involved with these characters if I didn't believe 100% in what they do. You'll be doing yourself a tremendous favor if you were to check them out. Rest assured that I'll be keeping you up to date on LOAG shows, but in the meantime go to the website, download/buy some stuff, and enjoy the crap out of it! I promise you'll be glad you did--unless you suck. You don't suck, do you? I didn't think so.
Update: If you don't believe me that LOAG are awesome, check out the luv from Marie, the Deli Magazine's indie pixie.
Posted by matt at 09:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 13, 2005
Go Forth Unto CMJ
Lungs of a Giant
Ace of Clubs
9.14.2005 | 7 pee em sharp
You know you want to. It's $10 for a short set, but I still say it's a steal at twice the price. Also, LOAG has the distinct honor of being the first stop for The Deli Magazine's CMJ Music Marathon Runner.
Posted by matt at 09:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 08, 2005
Mangum barely escapes interview!
A few days ago, Comes With a Smile had updated their website with news about their 20th issue. For those who don't know, CWAS puts out a magazine composed pretty much entirely of interviews with musicians, which magazine is then packaged with a CD compilation of rare or unreleased tracks from the featured musicians. Right. So anyway, the list of people who were up for #20 was looking pretty impressive (Bonnie Prince Billy, Constantines, New Pornographers, etc.), and then a name popped out that was sort of incredible: Jeff Mangum.
So not only was the press-shy Georgian going to do an interview, but he was also going to possibly allow Comes With A Smile to release a rare or (good god) new track on its compilation CD? Figuring that whatever music Mangum would pick to represent him would be a rare Neutral Milk Hotel track or maybe one of the live takes from the "Jittery Joe's" album, I emailed Matt Dornan at CWAS to get the lowdown, and here's what he kindly wrote back-
since the post about content, jeff mangum has decided against doing any press so won't appear in issue 20. we never got as far as discussing tracks, so there was no guarantee we'd have had one... sorry the news isn't better.
In the meantime, CWAS has updated their news page to say something similar. Would have been amazing to read that interview though, to see what Mangum's been up to, to see what he thinks of the near-universal (and rightly so) adoration that "In The Aeroplane Over the Sea" has garnered in the years since its release.
Posted by Kevin at 01:19 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 07, 2005
A mopetastic autumn for Drag City
I think I take back what I said about not listening to much depressing music anymore. I've had "Your Wedding" from Smog's Julius Caesar in my head for a couple of weeks now. I finally listened to it this morning, and it was a lot like scratching a mosquito bite.
With that in mind, there's good news coming out of Chicago via Drag City. Not one but two of that label's maudlin heavyweights are dropping new platters on November 15th.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy is set to release a double (!) live album called Summer in the Southeast. The label's website describes it as "a crashing, raging collection," which is actually pretty well in keeping with the one live experience I've had with the Bonnie one, when he played Master and Everyone straight through as total rock record. Anyway, angryape has the tracklist, and now so will you:
01. Master & Everyone
02. Pushkin
03. Blokbuster
04. Wolf Among Wolves
05. May It Always Be
06. Break Of Day
07. A Sucker’s Evening
08. Nomadic Revery
09. I See A Darkness
10. O Let It Be
11. Beast For Thee
12. Death To Everyone
13. Even If Love
14. I Send My Love To You
15. Take However Long You Want
16. Madeleine Mary
17. Ease Down The Road
The other bundle of glum that drops on 11/15 is from Edith Frost. All we know so far is that it's called It's a Game, and that it's the first anyone has heard from her in a long time, save for a few shows here and there, and her downloadable demos record remember?).
Also, in case anyone was wondering, Xiu Xiu were great, and the Graham Smith/Wooden Wand/Ali Roberts show was also exemplary. Maybe more on that later, and maybe not.
Posted by matt at 09:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 02, 2005
Music for the Nice People: Now what're you doing this weekend?
This is how bad I want our NYC readers to go to the Graham Smith/Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice/Alasdair Roberts show tomorrow night (remember?): I'm giving you tracks to show just how much awesomeness you'll be missing if you don't go.
"I Fell in Love" is an Ali Roberts track from the album Farewll Sorrow. It's grisly and morbid and wonderful. The song's narrator lists the body parts of his lady love that he intends to remove and turn into musical instruments ("Of your long fingernails / I will fashion ten quills / To pluck on your veins like a harp"). Of course, at no point in the song is it made clear whether or not the poor girl is supposed to have died before or after this harvesting takes place.
One of these days, I'll get around to writing my treatise on how these new folkers (Ali Roberts, Joanna Newsom) and fellow travelers (Neutral Milk Hotel) use bodies and body-imagery in their songs.
While we're here, I just have to say how much I love the album this track came from. Ali Roberts is often called the Scottish Will Oldham, which makes his old band, Appendix Out, the Scottish Palace. Both of these comparisons are apt. Although Roberts's warble is thickly accented, it still comes from a similar place as Oldham's. Thematically, the two are also kindred. In terms of style and instrumentation, the two are apparently very different (plectrums & autoharps vs. pedal steel). However, that difference melts away when you consider that each of them is just appropriating the vernacular music of his homeland, but to much the same effect.
And in answer to a question someone asked me a long, long time ago. No, I still don't get tired of listening to stuff like this.
"You & Me & Leslie" is a Graham Smith song that I think I've mentioned before around here. It's epic in its greatness. How anybody could listen to this track and not want to cancel whatever plans they may've had for tomorrow night is entirely beyond me.
I don't care if you go to Xiu Xiu tonight ('cept, go to Xiu Xiu tonight), but mos def make an effort to get out to the Mercury tomorrow night for this show, and get there in time to see Graham.
Posted by matt at 08:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 01, 2005
Childballads!
Hey peeps. Stewart Lupton, of Jonathan Fire*Eater fame, has a new band- the Childballads- with Betsy Wright, Hugh Macintosh (French Kicks), and a bass player with the sweet, sweet name of Tunde Oyewole. Before a couple of months ago, the only clues about what Lupton had been up to since the dissolution of J F*E were comprised mostly of vague rumors and internet scuttlebutt, but now, heck, the band's got themselves a mailing list and a brand spanking new website. Not to mention the fact that Fluxblog and grenideas' own Molars have both featured Childballads' debut song, 'The Onion Domes of Tallahassee' (the mp3s are still up on both sites, if you care to listen) in recent posts.
Expect to hear great things from this band. A single's on its way this fall, and an LP is scheduled for some time early in '06.
Posted by Kevin at 01:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 31, 2005
Nice weather we're having OH!
With all of this talk of great shows coming up, I somehow forgot to mention that Xiu Xiu will be rocking the Bowery Ballroom on Friday with Frog Eyes. Of course, when I say that the BB will be "rocked," I mostly mean that it will be made really uncomfortable, and a little embarassed despite itself. At any rate, greenideas has been a long-time supporter of Jamie Stewart and his bracingly intense confessionals about, well, things that are kind of gross. Sorry.
I said (good) things about the new Xiu Xiu record here.
Unrelated to that, I don't know about you, but I'm just having the Brit-folkiest day ever. Maybe it's the excitement over being just a month and a half away from a new Espers record or over getting to use my fancy CMJ badge to get into the Devendra Banhart Show next month. Whatever it is, I'm devouring all of my Vashti Bunyan, Bill Fay, and Bert Jansch records like nobody's business today. It's a very, um, serene kind of devouring.
Posted by matt at 09:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
His nickname in high school was merely 'Zeit'
Q. Quickly answer without thinking: Who is one of the best dance/techno/weird disco music producers working today?
Hint: this person is not a member of the DFA.
A. Morgan Geist! One half of Metro Area, curator of the classic "Unclassics" italo disco compilation, head honcho of Environ Records. Now let me tell you something that's actually news-
In November, Environ will release the Kelley Polar Quartet's debut full-length on CD, entitled "Love Songs of the Hanging Gardens", 10 tracks, all new, mostly vocal based. Co-produced, along with Kelley Polar, by Morgan Geist himself. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I dare you to listen to KPQ's 'Rhythm Touch' and not fall in love with it.
Posted by Kevin at 02:10 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
August 29, 2005
Monday morning music mroundup
Two things, real quick:
Thing #1: Kevin asked me an excellent question this weekend. He wanted to know if I had any dirt on the new Espers record (Newer readers can browse the greenideas music archives to see that the reason this is such a good question is because of my monomaniacal fixation on all things Espers). Anyway, to answer Kev's question, the answer is 'no.' I know what everyone else knows: the new record is called 'The Weed Tree,' it'll be out October 18th on Locust Music. I also know that it'll be awesome. Expect to hear lots more on this.
Thing #2: This Saturday (9/3) will be a show of monumental brilliance as Ali Roberts (of Appendix Out), Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, and Graham Smith (of Kleenex Girl Wonder) take the stage at the Mercury Lounge. It doesn't look like there are advance tix, but you're getting there early to see Graham anyway, so you'll be okay. This won't be the last you hear about this, either.
(Note: Graham told me I goofed on the date when I posted about this a couple of weeks ago. He was right, but I'ma leave it that way for posterity.)
Man. I'm listening to the one and only Marine Research full-length for the first time since the great twee pogrom of '03, and I'm enjoying it immensely.
Before I go, I'll leave you with one final thought. Today is a banking holiday in the UK, yet we here in the USA are hard at work (due to last week's overposting, this is particulary true in the roughly 3 cubic feet of US territory located in my swivel chair). The obvious question then is: How much did we really gain from independence?
Posted by matt at 09:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 25, 2005
Review: Mt. Eerie - No Flashlight
The more I think about it, the less inclined I am to write a full review of No Flashlight, Phil Elv(e)rum's follow-up to Mount Eerie, and his first full-length under the Mt. Eerie moniker. It's good, and I'll talk some about it, but more than anything, I like it because it helped me focus my thoughts on Elv(e)rum's discography as a whole. What I think I'll do, is expand on some of those thoughts, and then bring it back to how they relate to NF.
In all of Phil Elv(e)rum's recorded work to date, there is an overwhelming emphasis on introspection and brute phenomenology. Take for instance, these lines from the song "You'll Be in the Air" from The Glow, Part 2 which recreate the first-person feeling of flying:
But if you just moved your arms then you could tell / That you are in the air / You'd feel the yawning gulf grow wider / And you'd feel the dwindling fuel for your lungs / So your breaths would slow
Considering the force with which these minutiae are conveyed it's almost like Elv(e)rum has uncovered some kind of phenomenological lingua franca with which to express each and every experiential nuance.
For another example, take the simple phrase "the awful feeling of electric heat" from the same album's opener. It's so compellingly evocative that it borders on hypnotic suggestion. You don't just know what he's talking about it, you almost literally feel it.
What makes The Microphones records so extraordinary is the unity of purpose towards which each and every aspect of their construction seems directed. Not only does Elv(e)rum write lyrics that get to the core of what it's like to be an experiencing thing, every nuance of his production begs to be listened to on headphones. In so doing, the listener becomes the medium. This gives the sounds an immediacy that reinforces and is reinforced by the lyrical content.
Further, Elv(e)rum's insistence on using acoustic methods to get certain sounds (e.g. putting microphones in boxes to get the right kind of muffle) gives every note, thud, or drone the essence of having been made by a body. This creates a seamless continuum between the intent of the musician, the acoustics of production, the psychoacoustics of listener perception, and finally the listener's emotional/visceral response.
That's why the Microphones' rarities comp, Song Islands, was so psychically jarring. It wasn't just a collection of singles from various periods in the Elv(e)rum's discography. It was a cobbling toether of small parts from incommensurable wholes. Here's whay that doesn't work: for all of the reasons listed at length above, each and every Microphones album (and so far I do mean just The Microphones, and not Microphones/Mt. Eerie) is more than just a concept, it's a gestalt. To be sure, there are lyrical, musical, and sonic themes that go throughout the whole discography, but each album still exists in such a holistic aesthetic/psychological/sonic space that putting snippets from those eras right next to each other creates as much cognitive dissonance as reading a literary mash-up like, say, The Sound and the Fury and the Half-Blood Prince.
To bring all of this back to No Flashlight, I think that the strength and innovation of Elv(e)rum's pre-Mt. Eerie output only stands as an indictment of how just-OK NF is. The songs are good, by and large, and there are some exciting new rhythmic elements (my man Phil blames it on the bossa nova!). But the magic continuity just isn't there. Sure, the album's title and title track seem to fit in with the themes I've been describing, evoking as they do the idea of being in the dark and having to navigate by feel. And there's plenty of Elv(e)rum's oft-used melodic cutting & pasting which ties the album together (Which, to be sure, is a Very Good Thing. I don't think that there can be any real Microphones fan who doesn't salivate a little on hearing the familiar melody of "You'll Be in the Air"). Nonetheless, the songs still feel like discrete entities. The clean sounding production, and oddly metal guitar sounds (to name just a couple of examples) in part create a palpable disonnect between the act of the creation and the thing created.
If it had been made by someone else, No Flashlight could've been their magnum opus. As it happened, the guy who did make it had already amassed an ouvre that eclipses most of what anybody else is doing in terms of raw unfettered genius. The bar is monolithically high, and he just didn't clear it this time around.
It's possible that I've gone very far off the deep end here, but I don't think I have. It might well be that Elv(e)rum's abandonment of his Microphones handle in favor of calling himself Mt. Eerie signifies just this very break with the old body of work and with the old creative process. If so, then the thing to do is celebrate everything he's done so far, and wait for him to grow into the next phase of his creative life.
Posted by matt at 10:22 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 22, 2005
Music for the Nice People: Old Man Week Edition
It's Old Man Week here at greenideas! Expect rants about whippersnappers and plaudits for hard candies.
Seriously though, when I decided to do an Old Man theme week, I'd intended to make it strictly about curmudgeonly grousing about stuff that annoys my aging sensibilities (you know, like these kids today, with their hair and their clothes). But it occurred to me that (and stop me when this gets unbearably sanguine) part of being a legitimate grown-up is not being a mopey, disaffected kid anymore. The nice thing about that, is that it means not being a totally morose bastard all the time.
Here's where the music comes in. See, I've noticed a massive shift in my listening habits: namely, I've largely stopped listening to sad bastard music (except for when a spot of bad news sent me barrelling towards the Elliott Smith), in favor of records that are genuinely (and I really do choke when I say this) joyful--like this:
"Bridges and Balloons" by Joanna Newsom is probably the first track that I ever really latched onto for no other reason than the pure exuberant joy of it. To my mind, it's a quality that's endemic to the whole first wave of the free/freak folkers who exploded onto the scene last year. It's what's great about Newsom, and Devendra Banhart, and Vetiver (and it's also why I kind of hate the "second wave" folks like Mike Wexler, et al, for their cynical adoption of barely year-old genre tropes). There's just something simple, charming, and transcendant about this track, and I deeply love it.
(For the record, I realize that many if not most of you have this track already, but I'm trying to make a point here.)
Maybe less life altering (for me, anyway), but no less gleeful is "Caravan" from Van Morrison's Moondance. Is it challenging? Nope. Is it groundbreaking? Maybe, but who cares? All it is is the most fun you can have listening to a six-minute pop song. I honestly just don't know what else to say about this song, besides that it's utterly magical and I love it immensely. This ties into the Old Man week theme too, since it's hard to think of anything more unhip than adoring Van Morrisson.
Okay. That's done. For the rest of the week, it's all about the curmudgeon.
Posted by matt at 06:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 19, 2005
Save the date!
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what kind of friend would I be to you guys if I didn't tell you right away about two v. v. important shows as soon as I hear about them?
Mark your calendars:
9/4 @ Mercury Lounge: Ali Roberts (Appendix Out), Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, Graham Smith (!!) (The night before has Mr. Roberts at Tonic with Samara Lubelski, and the Skygreen Leopards, which is nothing to sneeze at either)
9/14 @ Ace of Clubs (on Great Jones): Lungs of a Giant + several others (CMJ)
Lordy lordy look who's forty...?
Posted by matt at 01:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 10, 2005
Feels Fools [updated]
Animal Collective's "Feels" will (most likely) leak in the near future just leaked today(!) (check the comments section if you're curious), but if you're morally against firing up the old steam-driven Slsk to get your figurative mitts on those precious files, you can head over to Boomkat to listen to 3 short track samples. 'Did You See the Words', 'Daffy Duck' and 'Loch Raven' are the ones available. And they're good.
p.s. I'm still alive and in the glorious land of Pennsylvania. Rejoice. Later in the week: more on my bid to walk-on as a tryout for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Posted by Kevin at 01:51 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 09, 2005
August: It's not just for breakfast anymore...?
Who likes indie-pop? Oh, come on, you know you do. So shave your handlebar moustache, uncross your arms, and smile at the fun you'll have dancing to the unaffected hottness of Hot August Nights (it says "Hot" right in the name!. Sparkle Motion brings you two whole nights of only the finest pop in all of God's creation. And it all takes place at Magnetic Field. Behold:
Thursday, 8/11
Voxtrot
With one foot in the library and the other on the dancefloor, Voxtrot combine classic '60s pop (think Love and Left Banke) with the heady, subversive sounds of '80s Britain and still come out ahead of their time. Supported by only their Bus Stop (Apples In Stereo, Television Personalities, Rocketship)/Cult Hero (Sound Team) "Start of Something" 45, Voxtrot has been selling out shows in New York and Texas.
The Mugs
Meet The Mugs -- a five-piece rock band based out of Brooklyn, NY. Drawing comparisons to The Smiths, R.E.M., and Neutral Milk Hotel, The Mugs create music that moves freely across stylistic lines to produce a wide range of captivating melodies and driving rhythms.
The Consultants
Essentially a trio, the band gets help from a wide array of musicians and the sound is remarkably full and occasionally sophisticated. "Hollow-Bodied Evening" (great song title!) sounds like prime Velocity Girl.
Friday, 8/12
Hotel Lights
Darren Jessee started Hotel Lights after many years of writing songs, playing drums and touring with Ben Folds Five. Jessee's vocals are as distinct and endearing as the songs themselves. His warm, warbled tenor is similar to a mellower version of The Shins or a more heavenly Will Oldham. Like The Band, Hotel Lights play with authority and confidence, creating their own brand of timeless pop.
Mascott
"In the early '90s, Kendall Meade stopped writing about music in her fanzine and started playing it. Her first band, Juicy, was poppy in a rudimentary, construction-paper-and-glue sort of way. When they disbanded, Kendall played keyboards on tours with Helium and the Spinanes. And now she's gone solo as Mascott, sometimes calling on collaborators, like roomie Joan Wasser (Those Bastard Souls)." - Jane
Mark McAdam
Although his sound is comparable to Jeff Tweedy and Elliot Smith, he may best be described as a Nick Drake for the modern age, with McAdam's sincere acoustic guitar plating, substantial lyrics and soft baritone vocals strongly rivaling that of Drake's. Mark just completed a video with Mike Myers of Shrek and Wayne's World fame.
I mean really. How could you not come to this? The answer is that you couldn't. You counldn't... not... come to this. Whatever. Anyway, I'll see you all at the Field on Thursday.
Posted by matt at 08:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 04, 2005
I love you Jesus Christ!
Key
1: Olivia Tremor Control
2: Jeff Mangum
Thanks to Greg LOAG for the pic.
Posted by matt at 09:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 03, 2005
And Thomas Pynchon played harmonica
If you weren't at the Olivia Tremor Control show at the Bowery Ballroom last night, then I'm sorry to tell you that you missed seeing (and I'm pretty sure I can't say this without swearing) JEFF FUCKING MANGUM get up and sing a song with the OTC (I was right. I swore).
Anyone who was there, if you're not completely catatonic from the awesomeness, get in touch with me. I want to eat your brain to have a part of that experience inside of me hear all about it.
Posted by matt at 04:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 02, 2005
Whistling while the threnody plays
This is a greenideas exclusive. Boo yeah:
Later this year, March Records will issue a Kleenex Girl Wonder box set. The planned set will include all five KGW albums, those being: Sexual Harassment, Graham Smith Is The Coolest Person Alive, Ponyoak, Smith (music only--no skits), and After Mathematics. As if that weren't enough, it'll also have all of the EPs, Japan-only tracks, and other rarities. That's called "comprehensive," dogg.
But wait, there's more! Graham Smith (who, if you didn't know, is Kleenex Girl Wonder) will be playing his first show in a long long time with a full band on August 21st at Pete's Candy Store. Be there or be lame.
I'm going to assume that this bonanza is a direct result of my publicly recanting my earlier misgivings about Graham's last solo record.
Posted by matt at 01:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 29, 2005
Kingsbury Manxin
Quick update from rebel country:
Kingsbury Manx laid some notes to tape and have finished their LP, which instead of bearing the loathsome provisional title of "Faced: the Music" (which I whined about here) will be called "The Fast Rise and Fall of the South" and will own your ass on September 20th. Also, as Stereogum pointed out, Yep Roc has an mp3 of the first track, "The Harness and Wheel", up right here. Y.R.'s publicity essay says the LP'll be a sparser affair, which is all right by me.
Posted by Kevin at 03:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 28, 2005
Oh but the AC loves you best||Maybe Phil Elverum does too
So I realize that my last post was just about the Animal Collective and everything, but this one is only like 37% about AC. Here goes: Fat Cat is saying that the band will release a single 3 weeks prior to the album (on September 26th in the UK, hopefully the next day here), called "Grass". The title track is taken from "Feels", and will be backed with two other songs, 'Must Be Treeman', and 'Fickle Cycle' (which is actually the other part of the longer song that begins with 'Grass'). Since the band recorded at least 13 or 14 songs, that means there are still a few B-sides to look forward to.
The other great and fantastic news is that Phil Elverum Mr. Mount Eerie has made "No Flashlight" and "Singers" and "Drums from No Flashlight" available for order from his label, P.W. Elverum and Sun Ltd. Not only that, but there are options, oh, are there options. You can order one disc, two, or all three in a package (all albums come to you in both CD and LP format, for one price), or you can forego the CD and try to rock the SPECIAL OFFER (for the first 80 people only) in which Phil rewards you with some kind of prize (a lock of his hair! kidding). Pretty cool.
Posted by Kevin at 03:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Our first fill-in?
Since greenideas' Canadian Music Editor Kevin is busy relocating from one early outpost of colonial America to another, I don't know if he'll have much to say until next week. With that in mind, we're lucky that Yahoo! News has a story on the Montreal music scene. Read it and pretend that it's funny in kind of a Dave Eggers meets gin-flavored cotton candy kind of way, and it's just like Kevin were still alive and with us today.
Posted by matt at 12:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hopefully this is the only major decision that gets overturned in the near future
The sad kitty represents me saying "I'm sowwy." Here's why: In the year and a half that I've been writing this here weblog I've dished out plenty of praise for awesomeness and blame for, you know, non-awesomeness. But there's one post that I wrote a while ago that I've repeatedly revisited in my thoughts, due mostly to my thinking that I was just wrong (a word of warning to those who click back to the old post, it dates back to before the greenideas manual of style abandoned the editorial 'we,' so don't get too freaked out). So let's set the record straight:
Final Battle is a phenomenal record. As a rule, I still hate the kind of distortion Smith uses all over the thing, but it's definitely consonant with the vocal production on the crucial harmonies of "The Heat" and "You & Me & Leslie." I overlooked how important that sonic consistency was to supporting and enhancing the visceral impact of the lyrics, which are some of the best of the current crop of heart-on-sleeve youngsters. To wit (Prose-ified for easy reading):
"...she's tempting me by taking her clothes off, and feeding me Zoloft, because I know I'll be blown off, but her voice is so soft"Sorry man, but that's effing genius. It's a great record, and I gave it short shrift before.
"...'cause I only said it to make you get angry at me. Oh I only want you happy... does that sound right?"
Regarding the other subject of that post, The Mendoza Line's Fortune, I'm sorry to say that I haven't really softened too much. I still think that they're good songs performed well, but that the production really kills it. Tim Bracy will disagree (see comments on the original post), but that's just because he still hasn't gotten used to how talented he is. I will say though that Ray Ketchem did a fine job on Lost in Revelry, and the rough mixes I've heard from his work on the next ML record sound great, so nobody should infer that he doesn't have knob-twiddling chops.
And hey, if I hadn't said nasty things about that record, then I wouldn't have booked those Slow Dazzle shows at Magnetic Field, so it all worked out.
Posted by matt at 10:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 25, 2005
I killed my dinner with...
Bum-mer! Pitchfork reported today that Karate is calling it quits after 12 years of surprisingly consistent awesomeness. Eerily harkening back to the break-up of their Boston rock forebears, Mission of Burma, maestro Geoff Farina has cited damage to his hearing as the cause of the band's retirement.
Karate's self-titled debut might've been the first indie-rock record I ever bought (it was either that or Hayden's Everything I Long For). That record, more than any other of its proto-emo contemporaries, has managed to stand up to, well, 12 years of repeated listening. Still, far from letting their debut define their sound or their career, that record's mopey post-Fugazi melodicism served as a launching pad for an improbably long career of jazz experimentation, beat-inspired lyricism, and unabashed Steely Dan worship.
Farina has also recorded three solo albums. One was good, one was great, and one was unlistenable, but, as a wise man once said, two out of three ain't bad. At any rate, there was nothing very ear-splitting on any of those releases, so hopefully he'll continue with his solo recordings (unless he wants to do another "Blobscape" in which case I hope he takes up macrame instead).
Anyway, thanks much to Geoff Farina, Jeff Goddard, and Gavin McCarthy. Thanks also to Eammon Vitt, the band's original bassist who left the band to go to med school, but not before teaching Farina the physics he used to build the sweet amp with which he recorded the awesome Reverse Eclipse.
Posted by matt at 10:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 21, 2005
Black Dice - Revealed!
Black Dice's new album, entitled "Broken Ear Record", will be released on September 6th on DFA Records. In this sweet little publicity poem on the Kork Agency website, the band talks about how they wanted to sort of recapture the feelings they had from the early (hardcore) days, and how the new record also has beats "front and center" (!!). Apparently remixes of one track, 'Smiling Off', have been completed by the DFA and Vladislav Delay (Luomo). Seems like this fall is going to be just littered with exciting records.
Posted by Kevin at 11:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 20, 2005
Music for the Nice People: Reading is Fundamental Edition
It may have been a while since we've convened the mp3 club around here, but let's just move on, shall we?
Prefuse 73 rules really, really hard, and The Books rule even harder. The obvious question that presents itself concerns just how hard they'd rule if those groups combined their powers. The obvious answer is: very hard. "Pagina Dos" from the Prefuse 73 Reads the Books EP is a remix of The Books' "The Lemon of Pink (1)" from The Lemon of Pink, with a handful of samples from other Books efforts. The start-stop rhythms that result sound something like a mashup of "TLoP(1)" and any Timbaland joint. Throw in Scott Herren's puckish sense of humor (by which I'm pretty sure I don't mean that he's all putting his finger in Pedro's peanut butter, but I could be wrong), and you've got two and a half minutes of ecstatic pop concrete.
2005 is going to go down in history as the year that Phil Elv(e)rum began his enlightened despotic rule over all of musicdom. Since he plans to release 27 full-lengths a month through December (or something like that), Microphones/Mt. Eerie fanboys (koff) and fangirls will have plenty to hoard. "I Hold Nothing" is part of the imminent bounty, coming from the No Flashlight LP which dropped at this month's What the Heck Fest in Anacortes, and will hit stores on 8/16. I'll hold off on going into too much detail about this track or the record now, since I'll prolly end up writing a pretty huge treatise on NF and where it fits into the the whole Elv(e)rum continuum around the time it comes out in stores. The short answer, however, is that it's the samba record.
Posted by matt at 09:35 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 18, 2005
Sad News (Updated)
Word just came in that three leading lights of Chicago's music scene were killed on Thursday in an auto accident. Doug Meis (Exo & the Dials), John Glick (Returnables), and Michael Dahlquist (Silkworm) who all worked at Shure Inc. together, were driving back from lunch, when the car they were in was hit by another driver who was talking on her cell phone.
Kevin and I extend our condolences to the families, friends, and fans of those young men.
More info on Silkworm's message board.
Update: Tragically, the story gets a lot worse. Tinymixtapes reports that the incident was intentional. Also, this woman is the driver who killed them, and who now faces three counts of first-degree murder.
Posted by matt at 02:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 17, 2005
Who is your Geodaddi?
For those who missed the Warp newsletter, Boards of Canada are about to release a new album this October. With Lightning Bolt's "Scribblemania 2", Animal Collective's "Feels" (the Fader has the cover art for this beast right here), and Silver Jews' "Tanglewood Numbers" all arriving on October 18th, if BoC's album is released that day, it might just become the best new release day ever. It'll be like X-mas level overstimulation, I won't even know which one to listen to first, I'll just be paralyzed with excitement.
Posted by Kevin at 01:05 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 15, 2005
Abouter
Last Excepter update was about Throne, which I never wrote a review of, I'm sorry to say. But it's a good, possibly great album. Depending on where you listen to it. In a car is good, inside a tree is better, perhaps. John Fell Ryan said it was a heavy couch record and it is that, through and through. Sort of a dinosaurs-playing-free-jazz vibe to it. So anyway, those crazy dudes and one chick are up to their antics again, releasing a new album (soon) on Fusetron , called "Self Destruction". Other Music helpfully refers to it as '...a house record. If Xenakis had made one', but you might be better served if you just listen to the Real Audio clips that they have up here (scroll down). It's Excepter's pop record!
Posted by Kevin at 01:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 14, 2005
Would you like your post-rock with mole sauce?
Q: What're you doing after work today?
A: Going to see Calexico for free at Castle Clinton, silly.
That's right, luvvies, the only thing better than seeing Calexico is seeing them for free outside. Weather permitting, get yourself down to Castle Clinton in Battery Park at 5 PM to pick up your tickets (two per person) for the show at 7.
The only possible excuse for not going (besides inclement weather) would be if you were staying in to see what might be Curt Schilling's first bullpen outing for the Sox--against the Spankees, no less!
While I have you here, I'll mention that Brooks had a good one in letter and spirit today. Also, the FT has an awesome piece about why supply-siders can't take the credit for yesterday's good news on the fiscal deficit.
Posted by matt at 09:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 13, 2005
Two things that are hella sweet
Lately, by about noon on most Tuesdays, I find myself saying "I can't believe it's only Tuesday." Still, the second day of the work week is still the awesomest since it's also record release day. And what a record release day yesterday was. The Decemberists' fantastic concept EP, The Tain was reissued by Kill Rock Stars (the original was put out by Spanish micro-indie, Acuarela Discos). Also, MF Doom put out installments 9 & 10 of his Special Herbs series (I have a reliable source that says that Doom smokes drugs). But while there were a few great platters that dropped yesterday, two of them beat the living hell out of the rest, and I don't think abybody should be the least bit surprised by which ones they are.
Xiu Xiu: La Foret - On a first listen, La Foret seems a lot like 2003's A Promise. Like that record, there are a lot of quiet verses that break without warning into anthemic industrial/noise choruses. The way the new record references older work while pushing ahead into new forms of sonic terrorism, you really get the sense that Jamie Stewart is really honing in on something. What are most shocking on this record, however, are the moments that are convetionally beautiful. Previous outings were rife with hyper-intimate frailty, and this one is no different. What is different, though, is the newfound embrace of the use of traditional sounds in traditional ways. This move away from the fringe makes the whole affair more convincing by removing any trace of the "scary for its own sake" aesthetic of their previous records.
Prefuse 73: Reads The Books EP - I wanted so badly for this EP to be called The Lemon of Crunk, but I just don't have that kind of luck. Still, there's a lot to love on this collection of Prefuse collaborations with/remixes of folktronica juggernauts, The Books. Scott Herren did a perfect job of capturing--even enhancing--the joy that explodes from the source material. The EP fully delivers on the promise of "Pagina Dos," Herren's reworking of "The Lemon of Pink (1)" that appeared on his last Prefuse full-length. His facility with The Books' material clearly shows that the two projects' aleatoric kinship is a more than adequate bridge between their external hip-hop and Appalachian folk trappings. Seriously.
Posted by matt at 09:56 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 11, 2005
Some people like Mt. Eerie
Tiny Mix Tapes has got the scoop on Mt. Eerie's new album, "No Flashlight", which is being released this weekend at the What-the-Heck Fest (in Anacortes, WA), and commercially on August 16th, on Phil Elverum's P.W. Elverum and Sun Ltd. label. All right so anyway, the nice thing is that TMT went and tracked down some preview mp3s, which were put up by the company that's releasing "No Flashlight" in Japan. 7ep has the songs, right here, 'I Hold Nothing' (organ-droning, segues into a 'Lanterns' light-percussion jam) and the marching band drum workout 'the Universe is Shown', which are both unsurprisingly very, very good.
Also, the Microphones/Mt. Eerie now have an amazingly well-designed and comprehensive fansite, over at the Mt. Eerie Preservation Society. Lyrics, discography, tabs, live show tape-trading, etc. Looks cool.
Posted by Kevin at 10:45 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 08, 2005
You know who sucks? Pitchfork. The answer is Pitchfork. It is Pitchfork who sucks.
I sure do like to bitch about Pitchfork and the NYT. Mostly it's beacause both of those media outlets (who have nothing in common over and above their frequent suckage) piss me off a lot of the time. I've already groused about the Times this week, so it's the 'Fork's turn.
Look, the Slow Dazzle record (reviewed here on P-fork) is really good. Is it going to set the world on fire? Probably not. Is it a well-written, well-performed, well-produced, and terribly enjoyable record? Absolutely!
What does Pitchfork's Marc Hogan think is wrong with the record? Well, he decries producer Peter Langland-Hassan's "Pro-Tools psychedelia." If I had any idea what that meant, I guess I'd respond to it. Also, I think he meant to say that Slow Dazzle are like the Thomas Harris of country-pop. This is tied to an oblique assertion that Tim Bracy and Shannon McCardle (who, more or less, are Slow Dazzle) are talentless. I happen to know for a fact that that's not true, nor does it seem true on the record. And if Hogam doesn't want to substantiate the assertion, I guess I don't need to substatiate the rebuttal.
They don't all suck, though. I do like Amanda Petrusich's review of the new Sufjan Stevens record. Somebody must have torn the page out of her Pitchfork Style Manual that tells you not to enthusiatically like things--also the one that says "Always be a dick."
Posted by matt at 10:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 07, 2005
The unbearable lightness of being in bed listening to the new Sufjan Stevens record
Oh my god. Iloveit!Iloveit!Iloveit!Iloveit!Iloveit! I'm about, oh, a minute and a half into the first track, and I'm just plain giddy.
If Jeebus is responsible for giving him that voice, then it might well be high time to climb aboard the Jeebus train. I assume Don Cornelius can help me with that.
'John Wayne Gacy Jr.' is heartrendingly beautiful. It makes me want to throw up. I'm pretty sure that's the right response to a beautiful song about a serial killer. Either that, or it's just this little stomach bug I'm getting over.
Posted by matt at 09:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 30, 2005
What cavefish on the prowl say
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness just announced recently that they have signed with Secretly Canadian, and are working on finishing up material for a full-length and possibly another EP, both to be released in late 2005/early 2006. However, it remains to be seen whether this new material is going to be like the spare and elegant dark-pop of the EP the band released in 2003 (pictured at left), or like the watery new wave of the 12" the band put out on Artikal records. Singer/guitarist Christian Goyer says, in this interview with the Austin Chronicle, that people can expect "richer textures, different percussion, and more keyboard and electronic sounds". Looking forward to it.
Posted by Kevin at 12:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 29, 2005
Neko is Once Again Just a Kind of Waifer
Who missed an awesome show this weekend? If you didn't see Lungs of a Giant on Saturday, the answer is you. Just look at them up there. I think it's a pretty safe bet that the New Pornographers had exactly nothing on my LOAGers.
Ed Note: I do have a couple good pictures of the full band from the show, but I went with the above because:
1) If Erin were in the picture, all you dudes would get in trouble at work for trying to make out with your computers, and
2) Just look at how hard Greg is rocking in the back there. C'mon, people.
Posted by matt at 12:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Finally, some Liars news
As P-frok mentioned today, Liars are prepping their new album, "Drum's Not Dead" for an October release. This is the one that, according to Aaron Hemphill, was recorded and re-recorded like seventeen times or so. Still no word from the band themselves about the album- in the news section, they just have a nice, heartwarming story about how someone set up a My Space page as 'the Liars' and is pretending to be the band. Hopefully there'll be some U.S. tour dates in August, as the band seems to have pretty much permanently moved to Europe.
Posted by Kevin at 11:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
My Other iPod is an eReader
Maybe you like to have recorded music, but you can't afford the money cost variety. Maybe your magazine budget is bigger than your music budget (because you suck). Maybe you're just all about value (now we're talking). Well dude, you're psyched that there are some great magazines that come with free records on newsstands right now.
Like Kevin mentioned, there's some hot shit on the CD portion of Comes with a Smile #18 (and, you know, #5-17, too). It's possible that I've mentioned liking Six Organs of Admittance before.
Better than that, though, is the last issue of The Wire (prolly still available at your local B&N). Every copy comes with the 13th installment of the publication's Wire Tapper series, which features tracks from Pajo, Matt Elliot, Currituck Co., Juana Molina, Tu M', and scads more.
Best of all (and you must know this already), the new issue of The Believer has a fucking fantastic (in theory more than execution) collection of awesome artists covering awesome songs, including Colin Meloy doing his strummy take on Joanna Newsom's "Bridges and Balloons." Other than that, the disc is chock a block with other greenideas-approved acts such as Espers, Mt. Eerie, The Mountain Goats, Vetiver, Josephine Foster, Devi B-hart, Wolf Parade, and fucking Ida, ferchrissakes. Believer offered Kev & I a co-sponsor slot on the comp, but we told 'em to shove it on account of they're small time. The whole affair is kind of 'meh,' but worth the price of the mag to get the couple of standouts.
Posted by matt at 09:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 28, 2005
Music for the Nice People: Countrypolitan Then and Now Edition
Oh my effing gee, I love the new Laura Cantrell record so much. I've managed to make myself take small breaks from it, but I usually spend that time listening to things that sound like it, so they'll remind me of Laura Cantrell. I think it's safe to say that I've got a pretty severe crush on that record. Why don't you listen to "14th Street" and see if you don't get similarly obsessed? You'd think the Spector-y sleigh bells would be a bit much, but you'd be wrong.
Speaking of girls with gorgeous voices who sing songs that I love dearly, Nina Nastasia's The Blackened Air is an underappreciated gem of a record that mixes down-home sweetness with creepy foreboding (courtesy of the musical saw, obvs). "That's All There Is" is less about the foreboding, and more about the swoon-inducing harmonies and the heartbreak.
While we're at it, let's also listen to "Horsey" by Hem. Hem was the first band I'd ever heard described as "Countrypolitan," so I guess they're sort of my paradigm. Anyway, this song showed up on the This is Next Year comp a few years ago, and after a couple of years without a full-length, I sort of assumed that they'd only ever be a gorgeous song on a comp. Then I went to see Joe Pernice at Housing Works, and it turned out that he was opening for Hem, who had just put out their debut long-player, Rabbit Songs. I was happy.
Posted by matt at 09:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 27, 2005
...In which our hero sews a special pocket onto his sleeve for the sole purpose of housing his stupid, sappy heart (Updated)
Faithful readers will know I tend to wuss out hardcore on occasion. They will also have surmised that, more often than not, the reasons for my doing so are Ida-related. With that in mind, there are two new releases that are sending my wussometer off the charts.
First, there is the double live album, The Bottom of the Hill. This is a recording made by a fan in the audience at Ida's 4/26/2000 show at The Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. I don't have this one yet, so I can't vouch for the sound quality, but I'm inclined to trust that the band didn't put out a crappy recording full of crowd noise and bar transactions. I could be wrong, but I'll let you know tomorrow.
Here's the tracklist:
Disc 1:
01 R U Tired of Me Darling*
02 Capo
03 Maybelle
04 Shrug
05 Down on Your Back
06 Turn Me On
07 Honeyslide
08 Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
09 Encantada
10 This Water
11 Shoe In (A Secret Stars cover? The plot thickens...)
Disc 2:
01 Shotgun
02 Dreamdate
03 Requator
04 Don't Get Sad
05 Poor Dumb Bird
06 Steely Daniel
07 Downtown
08 O Caroline
09 But Beautiful
10 Child of the Moon
The other new Ida-related release is Dan Littleton's Nobody's Fault but Mine. This is Littleton's only bona fide song-based solo outing, heretofore only available as an ultra-rare Japanese import. Anyone who has been frustrated with Littleton's domestic output, which has so far consisted entirely of "experimental" drone wanks, should rejoice for this beautiful collection of well-crafted, intensely fragile ballads. Also included is Down by the Riverside, an album of "experimental" drone wanks.
Both of these albums are available only through Insound.com, in store at Other Music, or in person while Ida is on tour.
*Please oh please forgive the band's unfortunate use of single-letter abbreviations of English words. It makes me cringe, too, but if I can get over it, so can you.
Update: The recording quality is actually really good. There's a little crowd noise, but for the most part people just hang out and listen quietly. It is, you know, Ida. Also it's awesome. Other also, it is indeed a Secret Stars cover.
Posted by matt at 02:02 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
June 24, 2005
(Get Your) Rock Pants On
Ohmanohman. Tomorrow night, at Magnetic Field, there will be a show that will test the very limits of your capacity to rock. Lungs of a Giant will deliver the kind of jams you thought they only had in movies... or something. Seriously, you need to come out and see LOAG as they play their first show with the new line-up of DENTISTDENTISTA (formerly Nimbus). We're talking rock & roll chemistry of Dexter's Lab proportions.
I hear there's another show people are going to tomorrow night. I think that's unfortunate since that band epitomizes being "full of sound and fury, yet signifying nothing." You'd be much better off coming to the LOAG/DD show.
Speaking of hyperbole (not that any of the above was hyperbole), did you see yesterday's NYT Article about The Shins Will Change Your Life?
Did I mention that tomorrow's show is actually presented by greenideas? Seriously, look at the MF calendar. How do you like them apples?
By the way, Ma & Pa greenideas will be in attendance tomorrow night, so watch your language.
Posted by matt at 09:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 17, 2005
A Question for Our Canadian Readers
I know that, due largely to Kevin's odd fascination with Canadian bands (just 'cause it's warranted doesn't mean it's not odd), we have a small contingent of northern neighbors who read this site. This question is for you guys:
In the song "This is the Dream of Win and Regine," from the new Final Fantasy record, Owen Pallett sings the line "Montreal might eat its young." Now, Ugly Americans such as myself, tend not to think of Canadian cities as the sorts of places that are likely to chew up and subsequently spit out any of their citzens. Clearly any large metropolitan area will have its share of mean streets and its unfortunates, but Montreal "eat[ing] its young" seems (to someone who has not once set foot in Canada) kind of like talking about Branson, MO's red-light district, or perhaps Andy Williams's mean streak.
If this is a misconception, and Montreal really is a kill-or-be-killed kind of place, I'd be happy to corrected. I'm planning on traveling soon, and I'd like to be as well-informed as possible about the dangers of my potential destinations.
Posted by matt at 10:19 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack