
Around mid-March, the concert calendar really picks up, with bands either going to or coming from South by Southwest in Austin. So if I can't go to SXSW, I'm happy to at least absorb the residual effects. The Helio Sequence , whose new record on Sub Pop, Keep Your Eyes Ahead , comes out Jan. 29, is coming through with another Sub Pop band, Grand Archives . Place: Rhythm Room. Time: 8 p.m. Tickets: Right here . I haven't had the good fortune to get my hands on Keep [...]
The Gutter Twins - "Idle Hands" (Dulli + Lanegan = Amazing) Black Mountain - "Tyrants" (Pink Rebel Sabbath Club) Grand Archives - "Torn Blue Foam Couch" (ex-Band of Horses!!!!!) Monade - "Regard" (featuring Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab) The Helio Sequence - "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" (great song but not even the best on their new CD) Say Hi - "Northwestern Girls" , "Toil and Trouble" (MySpace top 8 includes [...]

Ack... can't stop listening to: "Chromes On It" (p'fork mp3) by Telepathe (pronounced "telepathy") Because of this fact, I clicking around and found something else to post by Telepathe. While they are presently on Drowned In Sound Recordings , Telepathe put a little something out on The Social Registry the other year. This is what I found: "The March" (mp3) Their new album... Dance Mother (produced by David Sitek ) is coming out sometime this year. RCRDLBL page is [...]

So I am listening to the Magnetic Fields a lot right now. Especially the song "California Girls" off of the new album Distortion. It has the oppositite message of the famous Beach Boys song. Also the depressed voice of Merrit is not singing lead here and I think it works perfect. Also songs from Grand Archives and Say Hi, two Washington bands after the jump. O yeah lets go Giants, Eli for mayor. Magnetic Fields - California Girls Say Hi - Northwestern Girls [...]

Después de escuchar durante el año pasado algunas de sus nuevas canciones en versión demo , el próximo mes de febrero se publicará por fin el primer álbum de Grand Archives (antes Archives), el nombre de la formación creada por Matt Brooke tras dejar Band Of Horses. Brooke está acompañado en esta nueva aventura por el batería Curtis Hall (The Jeunes), el bajista Jeff Montano (The New Mexicans), el guitarrista y teclista Ron Lewis (Ghost Stories) y el también guitarrista Thomas Wright, el último en incorporarse. Band of Horses superaron con un excelente segundo trabajo (favorito de [...]

Well, it's the second of our Best-of lists. This one is for the top EPs of the year. Now before you get all in our mush about your favorite EPs not being here, we didn't claim to be the defacto experts. It's simply the ten EPs we liked the most this year. To add that personal touch, we got people to answer some simple questions about their year. Not everyone got back to us yet, so we will probably update this as more answers trickle in. 10.) Rich Aucoin - Personal Publication [...]

Non pensiate che sia veramente passato dagli studi di lazysundays per partecipare alla trasmissione e consigliarci un bel po' di dischi. Macchè: per le cuffie. Era da metà giugno che ci pensava. Le aveva dimenticate dopo la registrazione dello special sul Miami e ora finalmente si presenta l'occasione giusta per recuperarle: la defezione di Matteo. D'altronde la P2.0 funziona così, io faccio qualcosa per te e tu ricambi il favore; io ti restituisco le cuffie e tu mi tieni compagnia ricordandomi di tutti i bei dischi italiani che mi son dimenticato di trasmettere. E così sia, dunque. Aspettando il [...]
Non pensiate che sia veramente passato dagli studi di lazysundays per partecipare alla trasmissione e consigliarci un bel po' dischi. Macchè: per le cuffie. Era da metà giugno che ci pensava. Le aveva dimenticate dopo la registrazione dello special sul Miami e ora finalmente si presenta l'occasione giusta per recuperarle: la defezione di Matteo. D'altronde la P2.0 funziona così, io faccio qualcosa per te e tu ricambi il favore; io ti restituisco le cuffie e tu mi tieni compagnia ricordandomi di tutti i bei dischi italiani che mi son dimenticato di trasmettere. E così sia, dunque. Aspettando il suo esordio [...]

It remains one of the most frustrating things about music-writing that no matter how much you love some bands there's only so much you can do, and sometimes they never make it big. For me the preeminent example is Carissa's Wierd, potentially my favorite band since The Beatles broke up. Seriously. I wasn't around for the very beginning, back in those heady days when pretty much every issue of The Stranger had a review insisting that you simply had to hear this band. The breathlessness with which the usually [...]

So I can't believe it's taken me this long to post about Grand Archives. I have this problem with getting nervous about writing about music that I love with a sizable piece of my heart. I want to do it some creative justice, but I eventually just have to bite the bullet and sound like the crazed music geek that I am. Grand Archives is the new band put together by Mat Brooke (formerly of Carissa's Weird and then Band of Horses). While I was sad to hear that Brooke left Band of Horses, the creation of Grand [...]

Ok. Back from Toronto, and had the chance to digest a few albums on the flights. Coincidentally, three of the records I gave a concerted listen to had an A in the band name. As a result, you get – The Good, The Bad(ass), and the Agly. The Good – Art in Manilla :: Set the Woods on Fire I'm a sucker for a powerful female voice and some 90's rocking guitars with a bit of atmospheric swirl, so it makes sense I was on board with Orenda Fink's [...]

SubPop is trying to strike gold again with The Grand Archives , including a former member of Carissa's Weird. Mat Brooke, who played with Ben Bridwell in Carissa's Weird and Band Of Horses , set out on his own last year to form The Grand Archives. While admittedly not familiar with Carissa's Weird, I would say that this effort is more in line with their sound than that of Band of Horses. there are only four demos on their MySpace page , but after a few listens I am chomping at the [...]
Sometimes I feel bad for writing about certain songs. Perhaps on reflection they aren't up to much, maybe they should have fallen into the recycle bin like so many others. I know for certain I am never going to feel that way about Grand Archives 'Torn Blue Foam Couch' though. This song has been sending shivers down my spine all weekend. It forms part of a self-released CDR, which Sub Pop have
Something nice to listen to: Ladybug Transistor - three days from now - from toolshed Immaculate machine - dear confessor - from toolshed Grand Archives - torn blue foam coach (from spin.com) The Rosebuds - get up get out - from toolshed Ida Maria - going to hell - from nrk urört Illinois - Screendoor (from labelsite) YACHT- see a penny (pick it up) (from bandsite) Free Loan Investments -