Blog: The Panic Manual

As i watch Ben Kweller absolutely charm the crowd at the Stage on Sixth, I totally came upon the realization that Ben Kweller is basically America's version of Joel Plaskett . Both have music based in folk/alt country roots, seem to be genuinely honest and down right nice in person and both have fans that absolutely adore them. Most importantly, both acts put on great live shows that put a smile on your face. Playing the last slot at Paste's day party, Kweller took the stage to a packed stage in a [...]

It might be a bit unfair to lump them together, but both French electronic acts Anoraak and College were playing showcases on Wednesday and I was there for both. These bands caught my eye in the mid 00s when a host of French acts exploded into the blogosphere. They were probably all friends and called themselves the Valerie Collective . While this explosion never really caught on stateside, their music remained constantly good. The genre recently received a nice surge due to the popularity of the Drive soundtrack and maybe that (along with [...]

It might be a bit unfair to lump them together, but both French electronic acts Anoraak and College were playing showcases on Wednesday and I was there for both. These bands caught my eye in the mid 00s when a host of French acts exploded into the blogosphere. They were probably all friends and called themselves the Valerie Collective . While this explosion never really caught on stateside, their music remained constantly good. The genre recently received a nice surge due to the popularity of the Drive soundtrack and maybe that (along with [...]

I LOVE the Percussion Gun by the White Rabbits . That song alone was more than enough reason for me to mobilize on a Wednesday night to see the Brooklyn rock band promote their new album, Milk Famous . Mobilization was definitely the right choice. The band exceeded all expectations. Physically: The 6-member multicultural band is a stunning example of American-grown bone and teeth structure (i.e. great cheekbones, stunning smiles, super-fit, awesome graphic tees). Musically: The vocals were reminiscent of the Beatles, the instrument playing was warlike in its intensity. It was [...]

Oh, the noise that they make. Django Django 's self titled debut album has been one of my favorite albums this year when I heard that the quartet was coming to SXSW, I made it an absolute priority to see them. They did not disappoint. Employing seemingly every percussive instrument ever made, Django Django's showcase at the Mohawk on Wednesday was an impressive exercise in rhythm and originality. It's hard to frame how Django Django sound specifically, but it's very good. The vocals get lost amongst all drums, the swirly guitars [...]

A three piece band with members hailing from several parts of the United States, Sun Araw was what you can claim to be my first showcase at SXSW , as they played the Pitchfork opening party at the Mohawk on Tuesday night. The driving force behind the band is Cameron Stallones, who is also a member of the band Magic Lantern. Despite my relative newness to the band, they have been steadily releasing music since the mid 2000s, including last year's release the Ancient Romans . Sun Araw's psychedelic layered trippy space rock jam [...]

• alteredzones - Sun Araw: "Crete"

Austin - Bitches . It's quite the band name; it provokes a certain sort of reaction, certainly different from what it would be had the band names themselves Flowers, or Puppies. Singer/bassist Blake Ivinson was well aware of this, noting after one audeince member shouted "I love Bitches!" that he was compiling a tape of similar exclamations during shows to play for his mother, who he imagined would be thinking, "What are you doing with your life?" The band played a fun sort of noise-punk that sounded pretty good, but it was Ivinson's stage banter that truly made [...]

Austin - In a lot of ways, rock and roll is really a lifestyle choice - if you want to rock, you really have to dedicate yourself to it. John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees and David Gedge of The Wedding Present both strike me as guys who've dedicated much of their adult lives to rocking - Gedge has been fronting The Wedding Present since 1985 and Thee Oh Sees have been going since 1997, though Dwyer's been in a ton of other bands before that, including The Hospitals, who famously got into a pretty [...]

Exceptional playwright, Carole Frechette, puts a new spin on an ancient tale in this multi-leveled drama. Upon entering the uniquely warm and intimate Tarragon theatre and finding my seat, I found myself staring slack-jawed at the most simplistic set I had ever seen. I immediately contemplated running swiftly (with the speed of light!!) as far from the theatre as I could get and never looking back. Honestly, all I was thinking was "90 minutes. No intermission. Staring at this blank stage". Imagine my surprise when Astrid Janson's minimalistic set proved most effective in delivering the canvas for the twisted story's suspense and [...]

The theme of the night on March 8th at the 9:30 Club was: barebones and a mile a minute. No stage ornaments. No banter. No nonsense. In honor of the theme and the two bands I saw, I will do my best to make this blog post the same (who needs sentences when you have bullet points?): First up: The Darcys. Promoting: Their nitty-gritty remake of Steely Dan's 1977 Aja 4 dudes from Toronto Beautiful colorful skinny pants REALLY beautiful green and red Fender guitars Great sound [...]

• THE DARCYS - Edmonton To Purgatory

Chicago - Chicago's Metro Theater was literally shaking Saturday night with the sounds of tubas, saxophones, drums, accordions, cowbells, bongos, trumpets and hundreds of stomping feet as three gypsy punk inspired bands stormed the stage one after the other. The Balkan extravaganza started off with no-nonsense Black Bear Combo, a local Chicago five piece brass/reed band that started jammin' on their instruments before all of their members had even taken their places. The band rolled out one punk rock/jazz/Eastern European inspired piece after another as the crowd started feeling the rhythms of the music – there was a particularly wonderfully [...]

We've never been above bias journalism, furthering personal agendas or shameless plugging here at the Panic Manual, so it's only fitting that we would like to let you know about the following. The CBC Bookie Award nominees were announced this morning, and among the nominees for short story collections was the book And Also Sharks by Jessica Westhead , a dear friend of our blog. The CBC Bookie awards are unique in the literary industry because the winners are voted by the people, not some snobby librarian type working the [...]

I'll always have a soft spot for bands named after famous Morrissey penned songs. Suede after all, was named after the track Suedehead . San Antonio's Girl in a Coma is obviously a play off of the Smith's track Girlfriend in a Coma . We first wrote about them two years ago, when they did a decent cover of Joy Division's Transmission . A band filled with girls who name themselves after a Smiths tune and sing Joy Division covers. Maybe I should date them. Anyways, the band released their third album [...]

Photo by Mark Seow I traipsed down to the Young People's Theatre on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, enjoying my rapidly mounting anticipation of seeing Daniel S. Craig's rendition of the Neverending Story . Upon arrival I was greeted and received with warmth, then kindly ushered to my seat. I settled in and relaxed, enjoying the atmosphere of a slowly filling theatre saturated with the hum and laughter of eager playgoers.....UNTIL my calm was unexpectedly shattered by 6 rows of children (grade "fivers" to be exact, according to my small companion, Matty, flanking me on my right) jubilantly [...]

I don't throw around the term "sounds like Beta Band" around very often, but when I do, it's for a good reason. Django Django is an East London quartet whose colorful arrangement, semi-tropical vibe and overall psychedelic stained artsy-folk feel has many comparing them to the much loved UK band from the mid nineties. The connections don't even stop there, as leader David Maclean is actually the brother of Beta Band keyboardist John Maclean (who was also in Die Hard). Other band comparisons aside, Django Django has put out a wonderful debut self titled album that has been [...]

Toronto - Before attending The Twilight Sad's recent show at Lee's Palace, I was a bit curious as to how the material from their latest, the synth-heavy No One Can Ever Know , would translate live. As it turns out, it translated quite well and in fact, ended up blending in pretty well with their older material. A series of harsh, beeping synth sounds signalled the band's entrance, and also made me wonder whether there was an ancient computer nearby into which I should be entering the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42. Any such fantasies quickly dissipated [...]

• selftitledmag - The Twilight Sad, "Sick"

Escort is an all out disco band from the little known city of Brooklyn. They have been around for about five years, steadily releasing singles and building momentum. They finally released an album this year and it's just fantastic. Make no mistake, this is a disco album. It's designed to make you move. Synths, horns, strings and dance beats all somehow meld together with surgical precision on this ten track album and the result is a highly fun and contagious record. Chameleon Chameleon is one of the tracks of the album. It'll make you want to put on neon [...]

Some songs just sound timeless. This track from Swedish singer Amanda Mair is one of them. Dusty Springfield comparisons aside, this track, with it's friendly drums, catchy chorus and that certain Swedish melodic sense has definitely made my day. Everything Labrador does seems to be super good. I don't know what's in the water over there. Amanda Mair has two singles out and her debut record is out June 5th. If this track is any indication of future work, then there's going to be a star in the making.

The following review came from special guest writer Olga, who likes independent coffee shops and plaid shirted hipsters with beards. Apply within. They came from down south and thankfully brought the rock 'n' roll heat to our chilly city this past weekend at The Mod Club. Toronto hosted Mona on the cusp of the band's release of their first full length, self-titled album via Zion Noiz Recording/Island Records. Mona also had two prestigious live TV gigs – one with Leno; the other with Coco! – lined up after their Toronto show. Need I also mention [...]

Ambitious name, ambitious band. San Diego band The Beautiful View aims to bring back early 20002s spikey guitar indie rock with their new record life is beautiful . With a relentless chorus and and a guitar riff that sounds like it belongs in 2001 Lower East side New York, this group might just have the chops to make some noise at SXSW this year. The outro for this track also can be seamlessly transition into Yeah Yeah Yeah's Maps . Anyways, check them out. Mar 16 - [...]