"We'd like to bring out a friend of ours, Hamish from the Clean.We loved them so much we stole one of their songs!" That was more or less Love is All singer Josaphine 's introduction to Hamish Kilgour, who joined that band for their song "Wishing Well," which does indeed bear some -- ok, a lot -- resemblence to The Clean's classic single, "Tally Ho." However many people in the crowd at Music Hall of Williamsburg knew Kilgour's classic New Zealand indie rock band, it was a nice, surprising moment for a band [...]
Do people who actually still have jobs still get Summer Fridays in 2009? No matter, it's just a hook to hang an excuse for making weekly mixes again. How did it get to be June already? As usual, there's no theme here, just a bunch of song (mostly new this time) that I like a lot. You may remember, I actually segue the songs together because I'm a control freak who wants you listening to the songs in the order I put them in. Cover art for this first Summer Friday is by my friend Kate, who did a couple [...]
Everything is New, indeed. Judging by Jack Peñate 's show at Bruar Falls, it's not just the title of his new album, it's a promise. The singer played seven of the nine songs from his new, world-influenced sophomore LP, and not one track from his mildly-received, rockabilly-inflected debut. A step in the right direction, I think, as Everything is New is more varied, sexier, and a great showcase for Peñate's slightly-smoky pipes; a summer-in-the-city album that feels like a 100-degree day where you want to peel the humidity off your body. Peñate and [...]
It felt like 2005. Art Brut had just taken the stage at Mercury, and in the crowd were bloggers Heart on a Stick and Yeti Don't Dance. Yet something was slightly different. Eddie Argos' questionable moustache now seemed to be on the face of drummer Mikey B and his stage banter familiar but skewed. Was this some sort alternate reality cause by a rip in the time/space continuium (or JJ Abrams)? No, it was the start of Art Brut Week, a five night onslaught at Mercury Lounge, and the first time the band had [...]
Singer by name, storyteller by heart, Pelle Carlberg 's songs are little vignettes into his life: hearing an I'm from Barcelona song on the radio while visiting Spain ("Pamplona"); phoning the critic who gave him a bad review ("Go to Hell Miss Rydell"); his teenage years in Stockholm ("1983 ("Pelle & Sebastian). And his between song banter and introductions are just as compelling. The guy's a real charmer and t he crowd at Union Hall hung on every word, spoken and sung, wildly applauding and demanding not one but two encores. Carlberg seemed genuinely taken [...]
While Cats on Fire and The Radio Dept. were the main attractions at Friday night's show at Don Hill's, but really the whole bill was pop-solid. Swedish trio Liechtenstein , recent signees to Slumberland, played their first ever American show. Dressed alike in white tops and black skirts, Renée, Naemi and Elin kept banter to a minimum and ran through a set of their best songs so far, including "Apathy," "Roses in the Park," and their best song, "Everything's for Sale." (Which should really be amended to their Slumberland album, but it's not.) The obvious, and most [...]
I'm not sure I can add anything to the many, many glowing reviews of The Vaselines on their most recent U.S. tour which wrapped up last night at Music Hall of Williamsburg, other than I agree: they were fantastic. I'm going to go out on a limb and say they are better now than they ever were during thier original incarnation. Eugene Kelley and Frances McKee are not only more skilled at their instruments now, but they've also surrounded themselves with some skilled musicians, including smiling 1990s' drummer Michael McGaughrin, and Belle & Sebastian's [...]
Nobody really knew what to expect of enigmatic Swedes The Radio Dept. who were playing their first ever New York show, which was also second-ever show in the United States. There's an air of mystery around the trio -- they aren't big on interviews or press photos or playing live in general or releasing records in a timely manner -- which fits well with their dreamy, often amazing music. With all the other bands on the bill (Liechtenstein, Cats on Fire, The Tartans), most people's expectations were lowered, kind of amazed that we were actually [...]
"America, your economy is shit." Cats on Fire singer Mattais Björkas was addressing the NYC Popfest crowd at Don Hill's with grave seriousness. "Our is too of course. And greenhouse gasses are at an all-time high. Of course, that didn't stop us from bringing a suitcase full of Finish bottled water on the airplane with us." Rimshot! It was at this point that I realized I had him figured all wrong. Impeccably dressed and coiffed, prone to pursed lips, I thought he was kind of a sourpuss when the Finnish band played Don Hill's [...]
The third annual NYC Popfest is happening as we speak. Four days of catchy songs, lovelorn lyrics, "bah bah bah" choruses, mostly polite dancing and vintage clothes. The fun kicked off Thursday night at New York's most indie-pop centric venue, Cake Shop, with a stellar lineup of local talent some of whom I've seen before, some not. It was more like a party than a show, everyone seemed to know one another, and it was the kind of event where the DJ played songs like The Pastels' "Comin' Through" or Orange Juice's "Felcity" and they get the kind [...]
"It's more humid in here than I was expecting," admitted a sweaty Brian Kelly three songs into So Cow 's set at tiny Bruar Falls. Four days of rain and warmer than expected temperatures did have things moist for the Irish trio's first show of their American tour. Kelly and his rhythm section (head-down drummer, lumberjack bassist) burned through 12 or so super-catchy songs in about 30 minutes, a speedy jangle not unlike early Wedding Present or Orange Juice (or Wedding Present covering Orange Juice). A small room, yes, but it was full and the [...]
I'm learning to embrace my inner hippie. Or at least accept it. Vetiver ' s new album, Tight Knit , is thick with the kind of sunny folk jams the West Coast is skilled at, minus the extended noodling that I still find mostly intollerable. Live, they can really play and sing, and it's hard not to be impressed, though starting thier set with five or six extremely gentle numbers is no way to keep me interested at 10:30 on a Sunday night. "W e're gonna pick it [...]
The San Francisco area has no shortage of amazing garage/psych/pop bands. The Fresh & Onlys are one of the latest, having only been together for about a year but have quickly become ones to watch with an onslaught of releases on a variety of labels like Chuffed (Kelley Stoltz's new label), John Dwyer's Castle Face, and Seattle's Dirty Knobby, as well as upcoming platters on HoZac and Woodsist. (They stay busy.) Founders Tim Cohen and [...]
If you can keep up with Mike Sniper's output you are a better person than me. Under the Blank Dogs guise, he's released something like 43 albums, EPs, singles, cassettes in the last year or so. Even more if you add in The Mayfair Set (his colaboration with Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls) and the other releases on his label, Captured Tracks . All of it is on the moody side, and they get compared to the Cure and Joy Division a lot. But to me, Blank Dogs are more akin to [...]
I became aware of Michel Gondry around 1994 when I became obsessed with the video for "Lucas with the Lid Off." It's single-take, in-camera effects blew my mind and I then found out Gondry was the director of Bjork's "Human Behavior." Then I became obsessed with Gondry's work in general. I actually saw Human Nature in the theater! (Not that good.) It wasn't until getting his volume of the Director's Label DVD series back in 2003 that I knew he played drums in Oui Oui , a band he started with [...]
Despite news to the contrary, there are still record stores in America. Chains, less and less but, at least in New York, the good ones are still going. April 18 was the third annual Record Store Day , a "celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally." Or, an excuse to get people to go out and remember just how cool and fun it is to browse and buy physical records and CDs in an actual record store. To entice people to [...]
One of the things I like about Au Revoir Simone , beyond the obvious reasons you like any band or artist, is that they don't try to be anything they're not. There's no attempt to compete with the Ladyhawkes, Little Boots, or even Lykke Li's of the world. Not that they don't like that sort of more overt dance music -- I'm pretty sure they do in general -- or that they would be bad at it if they tried (see the remix of Friendly Fire's "Paris" which is better than the original). It's just [...]
Sisters at Dead Herring, photo from Nicki Ishmael's Flickr This past Saturday I went to apartment/venue Dead Herring to catch Boston's Pants Yell! who are one of the best indie-jangle bands out there. And they were great. But the surprise of the night was Brooklyn duo Sisters who kind of blew me away, both through some great songs and the volume and wallop with which they played them. I've seen drummer Matt Conboy around the neighborhood [...]
It was a total High Fidelity moment. I was hanging out at Academy Records Annex, getting my fingers dirty flipping through used records something came over the speakers that instantly made me prick up my ears. Low-fi pop, a bit shambly, but in the best way and every song was super-catchy and there was a clever wit going on too. They had by by the third song and I went up and asked what was playing. "So Cow. He's this Irish guy, played an in-store here last year. Some of the record was made Korea, so...a real international affair." Indeed. [...]
It's tax day in America so here's an early return for anybody who wants it: a vinyl rip of the entirely essential 1981 compilation I.R.S. GREATEST HITS VOLS. 2 & 3 which has never been released on CD. I've been meaning to do this for some time, and April 15 seemed like a good excuse to finally hook up the turntable to the computer. This double-LP, which I first bought while on a family vacation in Myrtle Beach in 1985, was a formative record for me. Already familiar with I.R.S. Records through R.E.M., The Go-Gos, and General Public, [...]
Sound Bites
Azealia Banks - '1991' [Listen]
THE MASTERSONS — BIRDS FLY SOUTH
