Southeast Engine are coming to Cleveland ; given the quality of their recently released record, From the Forest to the Sea , and the scorching live renditions of some of that album's standout tracks in a recent Daytrotter session , it promises to be an absolutely top shelf live show. You should go. If you want a pair of free tickets, drop us a line . We've been saving up our thoughts on the new record, released on Misra Records on February 17, for [...]
Baseball kicks off this week and I've got the fever. I was going to be super clever today and post a musically inspired preview for the American League Central; for each team in the division, I was going to have a track and a few hundred words describing my feelings about their prospects for the upcoming season. (We are huge baseball fans here at Citizen Dick.) Two things got in the way of that grand plan: 1. John Buccigross does the exact same thing for hockey, so a post of the sort I'd imagined would be [...]
Andrew Bird is amazing live. He's laying down stringed riffs, pushing pedals, whistling (!!), dropping clever witticisms on the crowd and, in general, absolutely and completely slaying. If he's within a tank of gas, it's worth the trip. He stormed into Cleveland's Playhouse Square on Thursday and played a cerebral and rocking set. He opened with two tracks where he was alone on the stage, carefully building an orchestral sound with his Wizard of Ozian array of pedals and switches (you know, fellow behind the curtain and all that). Mrs. Citizen captured a minute and a half or so [...]
I want to start things out this morning by reminding everyone about the Southeast Engine show coming up next week on Thursday night at Beachland Tavern . Don't forget that we are accepting entries through Tuesday night for two free tickets to the show courtesy of Misra Records . All you need to do in order to enter is CLICK RIGHT HERE and send us a message with the words 'Southeast Engine' included in the message. I mentioned in my post [...]
(editor's note: Portions of this introduction are borrowed from some of Chuck Klosterman's ideas about our relationship to and perception of time as we age. We're pretty sure that we've avoided overt plagiarism, but, if we haven't, we're sorry Chuck. If you're reading, drop us a line. If you're reading this and you're not Chuck Klosterman, let him know that we're thinking about him. For the record, Kevin and James love Chuck Klosterman in a powerful and all encompassing fashion. Brian thinks he's okay.) Zen Arcade came out in 1984, twenty-four years ago. [...]
As I mentioned in his morning's post, we are involved with a very special show coming up next week that we are excited to tell you about. Citizen Dick has teamed up with Beachland Tavern and Misra Records to help bring you Southeast Engine performing live on Thursday April 9th at Beachland Tavern in Cleveland, OH. Personally we all have a lot of ties to the band, which makes this a truly special show for us to be involved with. Beyond the [...]
Next week brings a lot of things to look forward to: the official start of baseball season, the first 2009 face-to-face meeting of all three Dicks, an awesome show that we will be presenting at Beachland Tavern on Thursday (stay tuned for details coming later today), and a slew of great new releases slated for Tuesday. One of those releases that we are particularly fond of here at Citizen Dick HQ is the debut LP from the Long Beach sextet Crystal Antlers. The album, called Tentacles , has been available as a digital download exclusively through iTunes for a [...]
I listened to a lot of Tupac today. The sun is shining (briefly) in Cleveland and it was a good day for "To Live and Die in LA" and "Picture Me Rollin." Action Painters do not sound like Tupac, but at least you know where my head's at. (Quick diversion: An east coast/west coast indie rock feud would at least be interesting to write about, right? Like Harlem Shakes and Blitzen Trapper have beef and write disparaging jangly pop tunes and/or battle folk songs about each other. (harmonica intro, blending into strummed chords on an acoustic) "You went to art [...]
Merge Records hasn't played all of their cards this year, and a sneaky ace in the hole is about to drop on April 7th. Seattle's Michael Lerner, aka Telekinesis, is a one-man pop/rock wrecking ball that clearly has a finely tuned and impeccably mixed album ready to hit the shelves. As Merge celebrates its 20th anniversary, they've been anything but reserved and CD has had plenty of time to put our ears to Telekinesis!, the debut effort that stomps, rocks, and pops from start to finish with alarming vivacity and endearing charm. Recorded and mixed with [...]
I'll be honest. This is a trifle embarrassing. On Lazy Saturday , I described how stoked Kevin and I were to see The Twilight Sad and Mogwai in Buffalo on May 5th. Mrs. Citizen, scoping that post today, pointed out that I didn't include a Twilight Sad track for the peoples. Ooof. My bust. The good news for you, dear reader, is that you get a little bit of Lazy Saturday flavor on a Monday. Even better, you get a quintessential slow builder; if you've had a rough day at the office or an unpleasant [...]
The critical community seems to lock in on specific characteristics of some artists with a high degree of uniformity. For some musicians, there's a certain level of consistency across reviews of their work; people seem unable to write about them without mentioning the trait that seems to define the work. Nobody writes about Pete Doherty without mentioning that he's a bit of a fuck-up. Nobody writes about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs without mentioning their incendiary live act. Nobody writes about TV on the Radio without insinuating that they're significantly smarter than the rest of us. For Robert Pollard, the easy [...]
(Editor's Note: You know the deal. It's Lazy Saturday. Our definition of this content is evolving. The current iteration, carried over from last week, is an old picture that doesn't make direct linear sense and three or four live tracks that stick to some sort of loosely defined theme. The picture above is of the first recorded "indie" band, The Black Tuba. They went to art school together and were united by a shared love of goofy facial hair and atonal sousaphone solos, just like many of the darlings of today's scene. There are no extant recordings any of The [...]
Well, I think I can officially tear up my 2009 NCAA Tournament bracket. After last night's games I have officially lost four of my Elite Eight teams, half of my Final Four, and my eventual national champion Memphis Tigers. Another year, another $20 down the drain that would have otherwise been spent on a few day's worth of coffee and cigarettes. Luckily for all of us, what I lack in college basketball knowledge I more than make up for with my impeccable taste in music. It has been a blistering week of new music so far here at Citizen Dick [...]
My first experience with a Marshall stack amp involved the hefty task of lugging it up my buddy's lofted barn steps with my right arm tightly wrapped around a case of Keystone. Inadvertently, we lost our footing and the amp toppled off the stairs about midway up, nearly crushing my buddy and breaking off part of the bannister. I wound up with a killer bruise on my left side and my pal hobbled away with a bum ankle as a result. Only two things made it through unscathed, my buddy's tank-sized amplifier and my case of rat piss. I can't [...]
If you live somewhere other than the United States or Canada, you've probably already listened to the Headless Heroes. However, for our North American readers, May 19 is a day to circle, as that's when you can grab a copy of Silence of Love , a top-drawer collection of covers featuring the piercingly lovely voice of Citizen Dick favorite Alela Diane . The band is a collection of musicians assembled by Eddie Bezalel expressly to record a collection of covers of his choosing. Interestingly, the album doesn't sound a lot like Diane's solo work. [...]
Heading to Ronny's tonight for the Eulogies show, I must admit I was a bit apprehensive having never been there before and basing my expectations on the less than favorable Yelp! reviews I had read. Needless to say, I was not all that surprised when I walked in. The main area of Ronny's Bar is a strange mix of dive bar and grandma's basement, complete with a strange odor, low ceilings, excessive wood paneling, and a variety of video poker machines lining the wall. Personally, I love a good dive bar so I took to the place right away and [...]
(Editor's note: As the title suggests, we're going to be dedicating the entire day today here at Citizen Dick to Eulogies. First up in Part 1 is a review of their upcoming album, Here Anonymous, which will be released on April 7th on Dangerbird Records. Part 2, to be posted later today, will be a recap of their live show from last night at Ronny's Bar in Chicago, so you have that to look forward to later to help get you through the afternoon.) If you've been [...]
Click here to view the embedded video. While performing for years as The Knife , the Swedish duo of Karin Dreijer Anderson and Olof Dreijer spanned multiple sounds while experimenting with angular and semi-accessible electronic-based auras. Numerous awards overseas and a widespread notoriety for mysterious aloofness left audiences with very little to chew on for the past few years. Both Olof and Karin, essentially, focused on separate projects since the release and overwhelming success of Silent Shout , and this break, in our minds, has left Karin as the moneymaker of the duo. In [...]
As I've previously stated in other album reviews, I'm always a sucker for a straightforward rock-n-roll album. There are so many styles in the indie world that at times it's refreshing to get an album that's easy to grasp on first listen. Sub Pop has done an excellent job in this regard in 2009. Handsome Furs, Vetiver, and now Obits have all created albums that aren't difficult to understand, but are entirely pleasing in tone and construction. Like a fistful of steel, I Blame You begins fully throttled and ends just as angrily. You're not going to be [...]
Beep Beep's new album, Enchanted Islands , is an often confusing amalgam of a vast array of styles and ideas. It can be a disorienting forty two minutes. The record features acid rock freakouts, funk beats, strange instrumental left-turns (I pretty sure that that they use David Carradine's flute from Kill Bill on one track), some jarringly tuneful moments and the world's most unsettling falsetto. Given the complexity of the album and, presumably, the band itself, Saddle Creek's biographical sketch of Beep Beep is worth quoting at length to kick this review off. The bands principal members Eric Ray [...]
Citizen Dick
Avicii – Two Million
Scissor Sisters’ “Baby Come Home” Video: Watch The Band Get Animated
Yellow Magic Orchestra edit from Chrome Canyon
Beck – I Just Started Hating Some People Today
