Sound Bites

Austin-Bound

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Ok, so I'm off to SXSW. Hopefully I'll update at least once a day, but we'll see. If you're in Austin and have a badge, I'm on a panel on Thursday morning. Stop by, say hi. And these are shows I'm considering. But you never know. Also: go see Blue Jungle who are playing only non-official shows. And if you're old like me, That Petrol Emotion are going to be there too.

Single of the Moment: The Vibrarians - "Red Light"

There are so many great garage 7" singles out there right now... it's borderline overwhelming. Luckily I am poor and can't afford to keep up (though I wish I'd bought into the Hozac Singles Club) but I try to know what's going on. The best thing I've heard recently, besides the Mayfair Set and France Has the Bomb, is "Red Light" from Olympia, WA's The Vibrarians. It's a great rave-up with a killer bassline. All three songs are good, actually. It's out now on K Records as part of their International Pop Underground series:

MP3: The Vibrarians - Red Light

Mazes Are No Puzzle

For those waiting for a new 1900s album, may I suggest checking out Mazes, which features Edward Anderson and Caroline Donovan of said awesome band, with friend Charles D’Autremont. Mazes is a little less lush than the 1900s, maybe a little more psych (more VU, less FM) but just as good. And for those who wished Anderson got a little more mike time in the 1900s, it's a boon. A truly lovely record. Highly recommended.

MP3: Mazes - I Have Layed In The Darkness

MP3: Mazes - Cat State Comity

Mazes' self-titled debut is out now on Parasol. (Unfortunately not on vinyl from what I can tell, on which it would sound amazing given its warm vibe.) The band have been played a few gigs in Chicago but have yet to venture elsewhere the U.S. Hopefully soon. The 1900s are amazing live.

Meanwhile, the 1900s have been going through some ups and downs, member-wise and just announced that Pierce Doerr (who does the music for the send season of This American Life the TV show) has taken over the drumkit.

1/3 Au Revoir Simone + Slow Club = Really Big Band | "The Killing Moon"

I originally had this as part of my Moshi Moshi party report but it seemed too good to bury at the bottom of a post. In between band sets, Annie Hart and Erika Forster of Au Revoir Simone did some fine iPod DJing. A cover of Echo & the Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon" caught my ear in particular so I went up to Annie and asked who it was. She smiled really big, saying it was her and Slow Club and that they'd recorded it earlier in the day using Garageband and the internal microphone on her laptop! They're dubbed themselves The Really Big Band, though I suggested The Slow Harts. (That's actually a good name for a band I think.) Annie was nice enough to send it to me and let me share it here.

MP3: Annie Hart and Slow Club - The Killing Moon

She wanted me to stress the part about recording it in an afternoon and with the laptop microphone as if to dissuade any criticism of sonic quality but I think it's quite good even if the ending, like the Killing Moon itself, comes too soon. (I don't know why the last 30 seconds of the mp3 are silent either.)

While we're on the subject of Au Revoir Simone, their new record, Still Night Still Light, is in the can and will be out in May. It was produced by Thom Monahan of Pernice Brothers fame. (And Monsterland before that if you listened to indie rock in the '90s, they were good. Check out "Peanut Butter Karma" on their MySpace memorial.) He produced the new Vetiver album as well. Au Revoir Simone play three shows at SXSW and then are off to France. Lucky girls.

Mar 19  2:00p Brooklyn Vegan/Agency Group Party Austin, Texas

Mar 19  4:45P Music for Listeners/Moshi Moshi Records Party @ The Red House Pizzeria Austin, Texas

Mar 20 11:45P Maggie Mae’s Rooftop - Friday night at one a.m. Austin, Texas

Apr 18  8:00P Alhambra Theatre - Les Femmes S’en Melent Festival Paris

Apr 19 8:00P Grand Mix - Les Femmes S’en Melent Festival Tourcoing

Apr 21 8:00P L’epicerie Moderne - Les Femmes S’en Melent Festival Paris

Also check out this crazy, double-speed version of "The Killing Moon" from 1983 that sounds more like the Echo of Crocodiles instead of Ocean Rain. Kinda cool:

Mosho Moshi Presents: Casiokids + Slow Club + Mumford & Sons | Cameo | 3.15.2009

The weekend before the South by Southwest music festival, New York get's its own mini-version of it, with bands from Australia, UK, Europe and Canada all making pit-stops here before heading down to Austin. The folks from London indie label Moshi Moshi threw a party last night that actually felt like you were already at the fest. The crowd was littered with other bands (Bjorn Yttling of PBJ, Dev "Lightspeed Champion" Hines, members of Post War Years and The Promised Us Jetpacks) and you had to walk through a restaurant to get to the "venue." It was a fun night.

Mumford and Sons can really sing and hearing their four-part harmonies, which they hit you with immediately upon taking stage, knocks you back a bit. It's a bit like Fleet Foxes in that way, though there's more depth to M&S's voices. Musically, though, these Londoners are nothing like those Sub Pop folkies, with a soulful bluegrass/celtic bent and some really nice songs from frontman Marcus Johnstone. There was a lot of instrument switching and tuning of banjos and mandolins, which made for some downtime in between songs, and they joked about this: "This is New York," intoned banjo player Winston, imitating some record label type. "Don't fuck it up." Though harmonies are key, Marcus' voice in particular is very strong, and the Nick Drake comparisons he's probably sick of are fairly appropriate. He is also a hell of a drummer, which he used to do in Laura Marling's band, and did so here for Mumford and Sons final number of the night.

MP3: Mumford and Sons - Sister

Mumford and Sons play Mercury Lounge tonight at 9:30. Definitely worth checking out, especially with the club's nice sound system. Their debut album, Notes from the Treehouse, is out in April in the UK.

Slow Club were next and pretty much charmed the pants off everyone. It will take much restraint to write about them and not repeatedly type the words "charming" "cute." But they are sooo cute. And their songs are sooo charming. The boy/girl dynamic here is just about perfect with Rebecca on vocal/drums and Charles on vocals/guitar and have more than are done in he-said-she-said style. There's also a melancholy streak (not unlike Emmy the Great) that keeps things from being, you know, cute overload. I'm not sure they've quite captured their charm on record (maybe their holiday single "Christmas TV" which they performed sans amplification) but you just smile the whole time while watching them. 

MP3: Slow Club - Christmas TV

Slow Club play the Delancey tonight and its a free show with fellow Brits Post War Years and We Have Band, who I also saw this weekend and are worth checking out. And if you have proof of unemployment there's a free shot of tequila waiting for you. 

The band I was most looking forward to seeing was Norway's Casiokids who played my single favorite performance during CMJ 2008. But this was not Casiokids finest hour. A new club, Cameo was having some sound problems and frontman Ketil was clearly distracted by it. But the short set gained steam as it went and by the time they played both sides of their great new Moshi Moshi single "Verdens Storste Land" and "Fot I Hose" the crowd was dancing. Casiokids play tonight at the Bell House, which has a great soundsystem, so that shouldn't be a problem. They also play tomorrow at the Annex. Go see them if you can.

MP3: Casiokids - Verdens Storste Land (Buy from Moshi Moshi)

Cameo is located in the back of the Lovin' Cup Cafe (which used to be Anytime) and is a nice little space that maybe holds about 100 people. It was a little too dark for my tastes, and there was a discoball that was only used for about ten minutes. But it's new and they'll figure it out. It's a welcome addition to the neighborhood.

New Super Furry Animals | "Inaugural Trams"

Super Furry Animals' new album Dark Days/Light Years comes out digitally on Monday. To celebrate, the band are playing the album -- their ninth -- live in its entirety on superfurry.com at 8PM GMT. (That's 4PM EST, U.S.) Immediately after the gigcast, as they're calling it, you can download the album. To whet your whistle, SFA have given the internet a track for free. "Inaugural Trams" is borderline synthpop and pretty darn catchy:

MP3: Super Furry Animals - Inaugural Trams

If you want Dark Days/Light Years in physical form, it's out on Rough Trade in the UK on April 13 and a week later in the U.S.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives | Music Hall of Williamsburg | 3.11.2009

Epic. A nearly two-hour show of guitar windmills, endless stick twirls, karate kicks, ponderous, psychedelic lyrics and massive riffs. You could watch The Soundtrack of Our Lives and spend the whole time picking apart the references: The Who, Stones, Pink Floyd, Love, Spirit, Faces, Beatles, etc. But to do so is to miss the point of TSOOL, who distill everything that is great about rock's classic late '60s / early '70s era into one incredible band. And an even better live show. Seriously, these guys knock it out of the park every time. 

The band are supporting their fifth album, the 24-track Communion, and most of the show is from that, which is fine as it rivals Behind the Music as their best album. I wish we'd gotten the pastoral "Pictures of Youth" but it's hard to complain with the nice selection from all five TSOOL albums. We got "Thrill Me," "RA 88," "Flipside," the building "Second Life Replay" and their incredible, genius cover of Nick Drake's "Fly" from the new record, plus "Big Time," "Nevermore," "Firmament Vacation" and more... so many songs I can't remember them all.

The encore was nearly as long as the main set, and began with "Sister Surround," the closest TSOOL have come to a hit in America and, no matter how many times I've seen them do it, never ever ever gets old. Much like the rock moves that are their bread and butter. In other hands it'd be cheesy, but it's like they invented them, though guitarist Mattias Bärjed's red satin Who jacket (probably an original) reminds you of the past.

MP3: The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Fly

MP3: The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Firmament Vacation

TSOOL play Bowery Ballroom tonight. Tickets are still available. Seriously, go see them. And they've got some other dates around the US too:

Mar 12 Bowery Ballroom New York
Mar 13 Double door Chicago
Mar 15 The Independent San Fransisco
Mar 16 Trubadour Los Angeles

Communion got a good review in Pitchfork today, even if it reads at least a point higher than its 6.2 rating.

Crystal Stilts: New Single, Touring, Etc.

Following last year's fantastic debut Alight of Night (which nearly topped my Best of 2008 list) Crystal Stilts are back with a brand-new single. They've been playing "Love is a Wave" since last summer at least and is almost always in their set, so it should be familiar to anyone who's seen them play since then. But it does represent the bands first truly new material in a long time, certainly since they became a real band, as the album was supposedly recorded three years ago. Like a lot of their new songs, "Love is a Wave" really zooms along with Frankie's motorik drumming keeping the gas to the floor, and guitarist JB Townsend's Clean-esque lead line bouncing around. 

MP3: Crystal Stilts - Love is a Wave

"Love is a Wave," backed with "Sugar Baby" (not sure if I know it or not) is out at the end of the month on the red-hot Slumberland Records. Crystal Stilts headline a pretty stellar bill on Saturday at Music Hall of Williamsburg that includes Canada's Women and Blank Dogs who I have yet to see. Tickets are still available. It's a busy night, what with A Classic Education, Knight School, My Teenage Stride, We Have Band and Post War Years playing that night at various places, but there's a lot of value for the money. Crystal Stilts and Women are touring together pre-South by Southwest and here are the dates:

Mar-14 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
Mar-15 Washington, DC DC9
Mar-16 Lexington, KY Al's Bar
Mar-17 Jackson, MS 121 Milsaps
Mar-18 Houston, TX Rudyard's
Mar-19 - 21 Austin, TX SXSW 

Field Music Presents: The Week That Was | Mercury Lounge | 3.09.2009

As should be done when touring any concept album, The Week That Was is played in its entirety, in order, with barely a quip in between songs. Though when it's done, Brewis says, sheepishly, "Well, that was 'The Week That Was.'" While the record, a 32 minute ode to Paul Auster, the media and '80s production, is lush with strings and other accoutrements, here it's a stripped-down four piece: TWTW mastermind Peter Brewis, his brother and Field Music colaborator David on drums, plus a guitarist/keyboardist and bassist who switches to marimba for the dreamy "It's All Gone Quiet."

Still, without the strings, the lovely "The Airport Line" shows it's prog roots and suddenly less Kate Bush and more Rush.* (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) There's also a little Steely Dan floating around in the ether ("Charly Freak"), which keeps popping into my mind as these guys are seriously good musicians. And when you've got those chops the tendency to go nerdy is always there. But The Week That Was is rooted in great songs, so the odd time signature and occasional noodling is welcome.

MP3: The Week That Was - It's All Gone Quiet (buy it)

Stretching things out to proper set length is Field Music's first album chesnut "It's Not the Only Way to Feel Happy" and a cover of John Cale's "Fear is a Man's Best Friend."

SETLIST: Learn to Learn | The Good Life | The Story Waits for No One | It's All Gone Quiet | The Airport Line | Yesterday's Paper | Come Home | Scratch the Surface | ENCORE: It's Not the Only Way to Feel Happy | Fear is a Man's Best Friend

The Week That Was have a few dates left on this tour. Catch them if they stop near you:

Mar 11 Canadian Music Week at The Green Room Montreal, Quebec
Mar 12 Canadian Music Week at The Gladstone Hotel Toronto, Ontario
Mar 14 Canadian Music Week at The Mod Club Toronto, Ontario
Mar 15 The Grog Shop Cleveland, Ohio
Mar 18 Friends Bar @ SXSW Austin, Texas

*for about 20 minutes I was going with "less 90125 and more ELP" but I realized I really don't know enough about Yes to pull it off. But the idea was that the more overt Trevor Horn-isms got stripped away. Not that I know that much about Rush either, but I was forced to listen to 2112 enough by friends that I know it when I hear it.

Real Estate + (The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope | Glasslands Gallery | 3.02.2009

Sometime in the last two months, Glasslands got a face lift. What was for years a ramshackle space that smelled of stale Colt 45 and tempura paint has become a legit venue. Wood paneling and trim now covers the loft area. The grimy old couches underneath have been replaced by what looks like church pews. The stage has been raised by a foot or so and gone is their nautical sculpture behind it, with projection screens taking their place. There's now a sandwich nook where you can buy tasty Italian creations on Napoli Bakery bread. The bar now takes credit cards. I would actually come just to hang out.

But they place has some kinks to work out in the electrical department. About 20 seconds into Real Estate's first song, the stage lights went dark and the PA went silent. After a couple times of this happening, the sound guy goes up to the stage, unscrews some of the lights and the show finally goes on, louder and darker. Luckily, Real Estate are a low light kind of band, what I like to call "lazy Sunday music." Languidly paced, with gentle strumming and lead guitar that intertwines with bass played high on the neck so it's almost like a second guitar. Loads of reverb. Dreamy melodies. Perfect for a warm kitchen, reading the paper and eating English muffins. Or a freezing cold Tuesday evening in Williamsburg.

There's a New Zealand thing going on here (The Jean Paul Sartre Experience comes to mind) and, of course, Galaxie 500. (A comparison that's hard not to make when the DJ plays "4th of July" the second the band says goodnight, which I thought was a little too on-the-nose.) Real Estate are very good. The band only have a 7" out at this point (on Underwater Peoples Records) but expect a flurry of releases in the next few months: a 12" on Mexican Summer, and a 7" and LP on Woodsist. You're going to be hearing a lot about them in the coming months. 

MP3: Real Estate - Old Folks (buy it on vinyl)

You can see them a lot too. If you live in NYC, they're playing the apartment/venue Dead Herring on Friday, and then there are lots more dates (SXSW and beyond) which you can find out about if you make it to the bottom of this post, as are a couple very dark YouTube videos from the show.

Where the power outages brought Real Estate to a standstill, Philadelphia's (The Sound of) Kaleidoscope barreled through at least three such snafus without every acknowledging anything was wrong. I'd never heard them before (though they've been together since the '90s apparently and used to feature The Ropers' rhythm section) but immediately took to their heavy, acid rock, psychedelic, shoegazy sound. Their drummer is an absolute beast. Great stuff, and definitely worth checking out next time they're in town. They've got a new album, All This Heaven, which isn't really available anywhere yet besides their shows. Here's a song from their debut:

MP3: (The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope - New Language

*DJ in question was Will Roan of Amazing Baby, who in general played amazing stuff all night: Kinks, Altered Images, Harry Nilsson, Thunderclap Newman...so good on ya, Will

Videos and tour dates after da jump...