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| February 27, 2006
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| Released: February 28th and March 7th |
This week and next week's releases via insound.com...
February 28
02/28/06 Hawthorne Heights If Only You Were Lonely Victory
02/28/06 Kid 606/Kid Commando Split 7" Divorce
02/28/06 Latterman Turn Up The Punk, We'll Be Singing Deep Elm
02/28/06 Nine Black Apes Everything Is Interscope
02/28/06 Rhett Miller The Believer Verve Forecast
02/28/06 Trespassers William Having Nettwerk
02/28/06 Various Artist Not Alone Durtro Jnana
March 07
03/07/06 Bad Religion Live At the Palladium (Live DVD) Epitaph
03/07/06 Bear Quartet TBD Galaxy Gramophone
03/07/06 Boy Sets Fire The Misery Index; Notes From the Plague Years Equal Vision
03/07/06 Buzzcocks Flat Pack Philosophy Cooking Vinyl
03/07/06 Caroline Murmurs Temporary Residence LTD
03/07/06 Casiotone for The Painfully Alone Alone--Etiquette Tomlab
03/07/06 Controller.Controller X Amounts Paper Bag
03/07/06 Coup Pick a Bigger Weapon Epitaph
03/07/06 David and the Citizens David and the Citizens EP Friendly Fire
03/07/06 dEUS Pocket Revolution V2
03/07/06 Doleful Lions Song Cyclops Volume 2 Parasol Records
03/07/06 Duke Spirit Cuts Across the Land StarTime Intl
03/07/06 Figurines Skeleton The Control Group
03/07/06 First Nation Coronation (7") Paw Tracks
03/07/06 Goldfrapp Supernature Mute
03/07/06 Half-Handed Cloud Halos and Lassos Asthmatic Kitty
03/07/06 I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness Fear Is On Our Side Secretly Canadian
03/07/06 Impossible Shapes Tum Secretly Canadian
03/07/06 Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan Ballads of The Broken Seas V2
03/07/06 Killing Moon EP Fearless
03/07/06 Lanterna Desert Ocean Jemez Mountain
03/07/06 Lawrence Arms Oh! Calcutta! Fat Wreck Chords
03/07/06 Miles Tilmann Xenon CD-EP/12" Consumers Research and Development
03/07/06 Mogwai Mr. Beast Matador
03/07/06 Mudhoney Under a Billion Suns Sub Pop
03/07/06 Neko Case Fox Confessor Brings the Flood Anti
03/07/06 No Use for a Name TBA Fat Wreck Chords
03/07/06 Old Crow Medicine TBD (EP) Nettwerk
03/07/06 Pink Mountaintops Axis of Evol Jagjaguwar
03/07/06 Raconteurs Steady As She Goes/Store Bought Bones 7" XL Recordings
03/07/06 Simon Joyner Beautiful Losers: Singles & Compilation Tracks '94-'99 Jagjaguwar
03/07/06 So They Say S/T Fearless
03/07/06 Stephen Yerkey Metaneonatureboy The Echo Label
03/07/06 Stereolab Fab Four Suture Too Pure
03/07/06 Tanakh Ardent Fevers Alien 8
03/07/06 Terrestrial Tones Dead Drunk Paw Tracks
03/07/06 Timeout Drawer Alone EP + Videos Consumers Research and Development
03/07/06 Vague Angels Let's Duke It Out at Kilkenny Katz Pretty Activity
03/07/06 Vines TBD Capitol
03/07/06 Weepies Say I Am You Nettwerk
03/07/06 Witch S/T Tee Pee |
posted by alan williamson @ 10:36 PM   |
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| February 26, 2006
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| MP3 Blogs: The Hipster's American Idol |
 The upswing of mp3/music blogs can be paralled, or more succinctly, has paralled the major success of that oh-so-evil television production, American Idol. That crass, annoying, and now-so-powerful-it's-scary program has become the greatest springboard to a platinum selling debut album the music industry has ever seen. Back in the eighties and nineties (hell, likely all the way back to Bing Crosby) major labels would spend ungodly amounts of money trying to get their budding stars all the attention possible, now they let the public's appetite for reality tv, bad music, and over singing, do all the work in their own living rooms, bedrooms, and dens. And the suits at the major labels were watching along thinking, 'Good God, tens of millions of people watch these singers. They root for them. They love them. These people have millions of fans even before they've recorded an album!'. KA-CHING! Wouldn't you like to release the debut album of someone who's already a media star? Who has been featured in national magazines? Who is talked about on morning television and radio programs across North America? Yeah... I can hear the KA-CHING! too.
 Now this massive springboard (imagine a springboard something like Cape Canaveral) is being mirrored on a much smaller scale by: the public, the internet, independent record labels, and the promotion firms they hire. That's right... MP3 blogs are the hipster's American Idol... Brooklyn band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah [pictured left] is Kelly Clarkson and Sheffield, England's Arctic Monkeys [pictured above] are Carrie Underwood (sorry, guys). Clap Your Hands rode very positive music blog buzz and a determined DIY attitude to the top of the indie charts, as well as becoming a top selling act at the internet's premiere site for buying indie music, insound.com. And the Arctic Monkeys, they made available some very sharp and catchy demo mp3s and, as most young bands do, handed CDs out at shows. After letting the mp3s sit for months, until the buzz became nearly unbearable on mp3 blogs, they finally came offline, but by then it was very likely most bloggers had all, or some, of them. Now the band have used this internet springboard to vault onto the roster of über-hip Brit indie label Domino (alongside über-hip artists, Franz Ferdinand, Stephen Malkmus, and Jim O'Rourke) and onto the top ranks of British charts with the fastest selling debut in UK history. Is this all massive hype? Have we the public, via the internet, learned how to hype bands to ourselves? Is that what the internet is? The most effective and viral form of 'word of mouth' the planet has yet known? I don't know. We'll all have to wait and see if this (the Arctic Monkeys) is just the biggest freaking hot air balloon to get off the ground and Richard Branson is at the wheel, or if this is the real thing.
But, more importantly, when a band that started to buzz with MP3s online is now responsible for the fastest selling debut in UK chart history with 360,000 units in it's first week... that kind of puts a boot up the ass of those who say filesharing and free mp3s are killing the music industry. Doesn't it?
++++++++++++++++++++++++
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH MP3s
+ Details of the War
+ Is This Home On Ice
+ Upon This Tidal Wave of Blood
+ Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)
Here are some CYHSY lyrics.
ARCTIC MONKEYS DEMOS via Domino Records
+ Fake Tales Of San Francisco
+ From The Ritz To The Rubble
+ I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor
+ Mardy Bum
+ Scummy
+ Dancing Shoes
Here are some Arctic Monkeys lyrics. |
| posted by alan williamson @ 11:09 AM |
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| February 25, 2006
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| NEW Ted Leo Demos |
There are a couple of rough demos available to download on Ted Leo's homepage, but... I've gotta say one show's a lot of promise while the other... uhh, doesn't. "Army Bound" will likely be a standout track from the new record when it arrives, while "Some Beginner's Mind" could use some cutting back on the guitar[s]... is that sacrilegious when it comes to Ted Leo?
Go here for the mp3s. They're on the news page under Practice Tapes. |
| posted by alan williamson @ 5:33 PM |
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| Rademacher: New Song and New EP |
The California band, Rademacher, have another EP in the works. It should see the light of day this spring and will, according to the band's leader, Mike M., be the final EP for the time being, as there are plans to record and release their first full length. Here's a preview of the EP, tentatively titled Heart Machine, a song that Mike was inspired to write after hearing a series of commercial jingles a friend was working on. The song, "You're Never Gonna Hear From Me", is, funnily enough, commercial, but 'commercial' in the sense that it would likely generate some excitement by a major label who would smell money. In fact it reminds me in parts of another band that was sucked up by a major label, Hot Hot Heat. And even another, The Walkmen, in the guitar sound. But what stands out most, as in most Rademacher songs, is Mike M.'s distinctive voice.
+ you're never gonna hear from me
Previous Rademacher Posts
June 2005
August 2005 |
| posted by alan williamson @ 5:19 PM |
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| DOWNLOAD RABBIT FUR COAT |
Surprisingly, eleven of the twelve tracks off the Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins debut, Rabbit Fur Coat, can be downloaded at their label's website!
[Thanks, JL, for the tip] |
| posted by alan williamson @ 7:32 AM |
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| New on eMusic |
Here's some new and, I think, much sought after albums showing up on eMusic. You can learn about eMusic's free trial here.
DESTROYER Destroyer's Rubies [eMusic has most of Destroyer's back catalog]
ANNA OXYGEN This is an Exercise
THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY? Boo Hoo Hoo Boo
CALIFONE Roomsound [reissue]
MATISYAHU Live At Stubbs
NEU! Neu!
COMING SOON to eMusic:
Neko Case
Mogwai
Rogers Sisters
Madlib
Cocteau Twins
Old Crow Medicine Show |
| posted by alan williamson @ 5:42 AM |
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| February 23, 2006
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| Fiery Furnaces: Bitter Tea |
the fiery furnaces: eleanor and matt friedberger
The Fiery Furnaces return, for the most part, to their epic, unconventional, and catchy methodology on the upcoming Bitter Tea. Returning after the trying and frustrating, Rehearsing My Choir. As with much of the Fiery Furnaces output since Blueberry Boat, songs rub the wrong way on first listen, but slowly, after repeated listens, train your hair to follow the new direction it's being combed. Even Grandma makes an appearance, a backwards tracked vocal, in the song, "Oh, Sweet Woods", but fear not, Bitter Tea is traditional Fiery Furnaces. Now that phrase, 'traditional Fiery Furnaces' sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?
*Limited Downloads*
From Bitter Tea [Fat Possum April 18/06]
+ i'm in no mood
+ in my little thatched hut
If you go back and listen to the band's debut, Gallowsbird's Bark, you will appreciate it even more, at least I do, it's a fantastic debut.
*Limited Downloads*
From debut full length Gallowsbird's Bark
+ we got back the plague
+ inca rag name game
FIERY FURNACES TOUR DATES
23 - Nashville, TN - Exit/IN
24 - Saint Louis, MO - Mississippi Nights
25 - Champaign, IL - High Drive
27 - Indianapolis, IN - The Music Mill
28 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
March
01 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr Smalls Fun House/Theatre
03 - Ithaca, NY - Cornell University
04 - Providence, RI - School Of Design |
| posted by alan williamson @ 4:53 AM |
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| February 22, 2006
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| Sondre Lerche: New Album and MP3 |
 Lerche's Duper Sessions is a trip into croonerville. Jazzy guitar and drums, coctail lounge piano, Lerche's effortless croon and the smoky air of a 60's bar permeate this song, "Minor Detail". Duper Sessions is a step away from his last effort, the pop-tastic Two Way Monologue, but not too broad a step away from Lerche himself, he has crooned all along, the only difference being that now the music is of the type associated with a crooner.
Duper Sessions will be released on March 21st in Canada and the US. Some European countries will see it on February 27th.
*Limited Downloads*
From Duper Sessions...
+ minor detail
From Faces Down...
+ sleep on needles
+ suffused with love
Duper Sessions Tracklist
Everyone's Rooting For You
Minor Detail
Across The Land
The Curse Of Being In Love
Dead End Mystery
Night And Day
Once In A While
The More I See You (US: Human Hands)
(You Knocked Me) Off My Feet
(I Wanna) Call It Love
Nightingales
I'm Not From Here
You Sure Look Swell
+++++++++++++++++++++++
This release will be followed by another full length, this one recorded by Tony Hoffer, who was responsible for Belle and Sebastian's great new album, The Life Pursuit.
Stream the "Minor Detail" video |
| posted by alan williamson @ 9:54 PM |
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| February 21, 2006
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| Calexico's 'Garden Ruin' |
 Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino have a surprise for you on the upcoming release, Garden Ruin, April 11 on Quarterstick Records. And they save that surprise until the very end, after 10 exemplary tracks that follow, for the most part, the influences that Calexico fans have come to expect. But closing track, "All Systems Red", sees the pair, along with Paul Niehaus (pedal steel), Jacob Valenzuela (keys, trumpet, vibes), Martin Wenk (accordion, guitar, synthesizers, trumpet, vibes), and Volker Zander (upright bass), breaking new ground as Burns slowly cuts loose and howls to match the growing howl of the music. But they do take their time, this is Calexico, although they build a fantastic tension all the while. Guitars screeching feedback, the whole ensemble swelling like a storm, swirling like a desert twister (is there such a thing?)... it's one helluva way to close the album. Perhaps a signal of what's to come in the future?
*Limited Download*
+ All Systems Red
Garden Ruin Tracklist
1. Cruel
2. Yours and Mine
3. Bisbee Blue
4. Panic Open String
5. Letter to Bowie Knife
6. Roka
7. Lucky Dime
8. Smash
9. Deep Down
10. Nom De Plume
11. All Systems Red
++++++++++++++++++++++++
A previous *Sixeyes post on Calexico [with mp3s] is here.
In The Reins, the collaboration Calexico did with Iron and Wine can be found on eMusic. Please visit through the link below and learn of eMusic's free trial offer. |
| posted by alan williamson @ 7:09 PM |
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| RELEASED: February 21 |
This week's releases found at cmj.com... there's some good ones.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
AN ALBATROSS Blessphemy Of The Peace Beast Feastgiver And The B Ace Fu
ANDREW HILL Time Lines Blue Note
ANNA OXYGEN This Is An Exercise Kill Rock Stars
APB Something To Believe In Young American
ARAB STRAP Last Romance Transdreamer
ARCTIC MONKEYS Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Domino
B. FLEISCHMANN The Humbucking Coil Morr
BACKYARD BABIES Live Live Century Media
Bird York Wicked Little High Narada
BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try Bar/None
CALIFONE Roomsound Thrill Jockey
CHICAGO UNDERGROUND DUO In Praise Of Shadows Thrill Jockey
COLDCUT Sound Mirrors Ninja Tune
DEADSTRING BROTHERS Starving Winter Report Bloodshot
DESTROYER Destroyer's Rubies Merge
DOWNTOWN SINGAPORE Don't Let Down Your Guard DCide
EEF BARZELAY Bitter Honey spinART
EELS With Strings: Live At Town Hall Vagrant
ELBOW Leaders Of The Free World V2
EVER WE FALL We Are But Human Hopeless
EX-BOYFRIENDS Dear John Absolutely Kosher
FIVE DEEZ Kommunicator Rapster
FOLLY Resist Convenience Triple Crown
GAMBLE BROTHERS BAND Continuator Emergent
GIANLUCA PETRELLA Indigo4 Blue Note
GIL MANTERA'S PARTY DREAM Bloodsongs
GRAND NATIONAL Kicking The National Habit Recall-Sunday Best
GRUPO NAIDY Arriba Suena Marimba: Currulao Marimba Music Smithsonian Folkways
HEAD LIKE A KITE Random Portraits Of The Home Movie Pattern 25
HELL IS FOR HEROES Transmit Disrupt Epitaph
HOLY FIRE In The Name Of The World Militia Group
ISM Monkey Underneath STM
JANIS IAN Folk Is The New Black Cooking Vinyl
JESSE HARRIS Mineral Secret Sun
KRISIUN AssassiNation Century Media
LASHES Get It Columbia
LE VOLUME COURBE I Killed My Best Friend
LOVED ONES Keep Your Heart Fat Wreck Chords
LOW SKIES All The Love I Could Find Flameshovel
MAINSTAY Well Meaning Fiction BEC-EMD
MAN MAN Six Demon Bag Ace Fu
MEASLES MUMPS RUBELLA Fantastic Success Doubling Cube
MEGAHERZ 5 Eclipse
METAL HEARTS Socialize Suicide Squeeze
MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF SOUND Mejico Maxico Nacional
MICHAEL LEVITON My Favorite Place To Drown Ace Fu
NEXT LIFE Electric Violence Cock Rock Disco
POLYSICS Now Is The Time! Tofu
RAY DAVIES Other People's Lives V2
REMEMBERING NEVER God Save Us Ferret
ROBOCOP KRAUS They Think They Are The Robocop Kraus Epitaph
ROUGH GUIDE TO BHANGRA DANCE Various Artists World Music Network
ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF ISRAEL Various Artists World Music Network
ROUGH GUIDE TO URBAN LATINO Various Artists World Music Network
SHAGGY 2 DOPE F.T.F.O. Psychopathic
SHAWN LEE'S PING PONG ORCHESTRA Strings And Things: Ubiquity Sessions Vol. 3 Ubiquity
SLACKERS Peculiar Hellcat
SLAVE TO THE SYSTEM Slave To The System Spitfire
SOULS SHE SAID As Templar Nites Dim Mak
SPANK ROCK "Rick Rubin" [12-Inch] Big Dada
STEVE PORTER Porterhouse Fade
TAKE ACTION! VOL. 5 Various Artists Hopeless
TEDDY THOMPSON Separate Ways Verve Forecast
TEMPEST The Double-Cross Magna Carta
THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY? Boo Hoo Hoo Boo Kill Rock Stars
TORTURE KILLER Swarm! Metal Blade
TUNNG Mother's Daughter And Other Songs Ace Fu
TWO GALLANTS What The Toll Tells Saddle Creek
WAYS WE TRY Various Artists Bar/None
WILLIE NILE Streets Of New York 00:02:59
WOODEN WAND AND THE VANISHING VOICE Gipsy Freedom 5RC |
| posted by alan williamson @ 2:44 PM |
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| February 20, 2006
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| Band Of Horses |
Seattle, Washington's Band of Horses will release Everything All The Time on March 21st and SubPop have offered an MP3 off the album. The band also has an EP planned to be released after the full-length's release.
Here is "The Funeral" off the new album... and here is a demo take of the same song.
Another demo found on the band's site is "Bass Song", I love this track, from it's tip tapping rhythm to the shift at the end of each verse into double time. And guess what? It's on the album, only it's been renamed "Our Swords".
*Limited Download*
Another song from the new album + wicked gil
RIYL: Great Lake Swimmers (with more thump), My Morning Jacket, and Unbunny.
Everything All The Time tracklist
1. First Song, The
2. Wicked Gil
3. Our Swords
4. Funeral, The
5. Part One
6. Great Salt Lake, The
7. Weed Party
8. I Go To The Barn Because I Like The
9. Monsters
10. St. Augustine |
| posted by alan williamson @ 3:38 PM |
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| Television: Marquee Moon |
 I own the first two Television albums--Marquee Moon and Adventure--on vinyl no less. I guess this certifies me as a Television fan. I rarely make any allusions as to my age, but I will make an exception and say I bought these two albums when they came out, way back when. That I still rank these as two of my favourite all time albums, isn't an affirmation of my amazing taste in music (although I like to think that it is) , as much as confirmation that Television was one of the most talented and underrated bands of the late 70's.
 All along the one Television song that remains my favourite, the one I would find myself putting on mix tapes or CDs, is Marquee Moon's title track - which sprawls across the end of side one for just over 10 minutes. It opens with the central guitar figure of the song--Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd picking it out. The beating heart bass slips in a tad before the drums stumble into this strange nightscape set against a leafy tree-branched sky. At around the six minute mark the guitars weaving together become more than the sum of their parts - until they suddenly clamber over and upon each other - their notes like praying mantids in a now leafless tree. Then the tension is released with Tom Verlaine's plucked guitar notes blossoming like midnight flowers--to be reunited with the jazz tinged drumming cracking upon the leaf covered ground. And all along Verlaine's deaf man's voice rises--asking questions while knowing the answers. This is a perfect example of the bands's dual guitar lyricism, positive then negative, pushing and then pulling each other, and the song, along.
It' a song and an album well worth seeking out. Marquee Moon is, simply put, a classic that still sounds fresh today. And with recent reissues of both (with alternate takes of some songs) you shouldn't have much trouble getting your hands on a copy.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
*LIMITED Downloads*
From Marquee Moon [1977]...
+ marquee moon
+ see no evil
+ prove it
From Adventure [1978]...
+ foxhole
+ carried away
+ ain't that nothin' |
| posted by alan williamson @ 9:07 AM |
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| Destroyer: Destroyer's Rubies: *Sixeyes Review |
 Destroyer
Destroyer's Rubies
[Merge Records - February 21]
*Sixeyes Score: 8.1 out of 10
He forgot the Fodors (or was it Frommer's?) on the seat of the inter-city bus. He could recall seeing it there as the bus entered the tunnel. He remembered drawing his fingertips across the oily food stains on the book's paper jacket... braille for the junk food lover. Telling stories of potato chips and french fries, toasted subs and burgers, a diary of fat cells and their birth. If he had picked up that guide book he would have realized that it'd be useless in the land of Rubies...
I was going to write a little story (and that's what opens this review) about trying to get into the latest album from Destroyer, but the only way to get close to the heart of Destroyer's Rubies is to have lived in the previous albums, such as Streethawk: A Seduction, Your Blues, and This Night--to know them as an artist would know the details of his last painting's subject. But don't conclude that a neophyte will be lost within these 10 songs, songs about love and blood and paint... songs that fold in upon themselves, songs that have a foot, or at least a finger or two (even if, at times, it's the middle one), in the past. These are beautiful melodies bearing obtuse lyrics, they don't grow on you, you grow from them, upon them, you are the plant and the music the dirt and soil in which you grow.
Destroyer's Rubies is braille for the seeing and the seeking... a language you know, but don't yet understand. Not a map, nor an answer, it is a boxful of postcards to and from people you haven't met and never will... at turns fascinating and then mysterious, yet always a riddle. And one of the riddles is: Why does he have to keep reminding me of Groucho Marx when he delivers lines like "A series of visions/I won't repeat them here/I won't repeat them here" in opening track"Rubies"?
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Limited Download
+ A Dangerous Woman Up To A Point
Stream Destroyer's Rubies
Go here for more Destroyer MP3s
Read *Sixeyes Interview with Destoyer's Dan Bejar |
| posted by alan williamson @ 12:39 PM |
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| February 15, 2006
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| Baxter Dury |
MP3/music blogs have spurred a few indie artists onto 'indie' fame and fortune, and these blogs are a strange hybrid, or a beautiful amalgamation, of a pirate radio station and a neverending mixtape... So, let's see if these beautiful 'freaks' have the power to renew, or revive, interest in an artist who has been around for a few years. Namely, Baxter Dury.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
I can't recall how or where I came across Dury, I have been listening to the song "Fungus Hedge" for a while now and it hasn't lost it's peculiar appeal. It has a definite neo-psychedelic feel with Dury's softly high-pitched vocal and it's echoey production. But you've got to check this guy out, he doesn't get the attention, or recognition, he deserves.
Dury is akin to Devendra Banhart as both display traces of T Rex in their work. Of the less than a handful of songs I have heard, 'Fungus Hedge' is definitely my favourite. He is, of course, the son of late great Brit Ian Dury, leader of The Blockheads.
The following is from his label bio at Rough Trade Records.
"In the summer of 2001 Baxter Dury released his debut single, the "Oscar Brown EP". The single picked up rave reviews, which included 'Single of the Week' in NME, who went on to say that it was "a work of casual assurance that no family tree can provide, a record that is as majestic as it is wonderfully simple". It also achieved 'Single of the Week' in the Guardian who proclaimed it "an inexplicable and perfectly sparse psychedelic lament of rare charm". Baxter Dury is the son of Ian Dury. He was born in the 70's, a time when men looked like Jesus in crushed Velvet flares and hot butter ruled the world. He came in to the world accompanied by Chuck Berry's "Johnny Be Good" being played by the Blockheads (his father's band)in the basement. Not a bad way to start your musical career. During his early teens, Baxter found himself getting into funk, soul and jazz. He had time on his hands, having been expelled from school. "I didn't like school, It was all about memory, which was never my strong point, I preferred to bunk-off and buy records".When Baxter was fifteen, his dad went away for a year to do a film with Roman Polanski, leaving his teenage son to be looked after by ex Led Zeppelin roadie and Blockhead minder the 'Sulphate Strangler'. This proved to be an inspired move - he became one of the biggest influences on Baxter's life. "Sulphate would drive me to school, and pick me up everyday. He was 6'8" and his arms were covered in tattoos, we looked quite odd together". Baxter, now in his mid-twenties, started to write songs, "Ben Gallagher (son of Blockhead / Clash member Mickey) and I had some ideas for songs, we started writing and I got a publishing deal with Universal Island". Then tragedy struck, Baxter's father passed away having eventually succumbed to his long fight against cancer. Baxter performed live for the first time at the wake. He played a rendition of his father's song "My Old Man", which is about Baxter's grandfather, an East End bus driver. Kate Thompson, who worked for Universal Island, had been sending Baxter's songs to Geoff Travis at Rough Trade for over a year. Eventually Geoff called Baxter in for a meeting, which resulted in Geoff sending Baxter to Austin Texas for two months to write songs. This proved to be an inspired move, Baxter got his head down and wrote "Len Parrot's Memorial Lift". Which brings us to the present. "Len Parrot's Memorial Lift" is a wonderful string layden psychedelic record."
+ Oscar Brown - his first single
+ Fungus Hedge - 'len parrot's memorial lift' |
| posted by alan williamson @ 7:24 PM |
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| February 14, 2006
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| Chin Up Chin Up: "We Should Have Never..." |
 "We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers"Opening with a hushed vocal, Chin Up Chin Up quickly break into their amplified paintbox and proceed to display their arty indie rock. The tempo of "We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers" doubles up, guitars swoop and flutter over the song like Cristo's latest land art flashed over Central Park -- all of this aided by the beautiful indie whine of a lead vocal. The colors the band employs aren't new colors (are there any new colors?), but it's how they place them that makes it art. Other obvious bands utilizing the same ' colors' or working from the same pallette: Modest Mouse, Broken Social Scene, The Wrens... need I say more? This time leave the 3-D specs and art history textbook at home... all you need are your ears. *Chin Up Chin Up can be downloaded from eMusic* |
| posted by alan williamson @ 11:23 PM |
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| February 13, 2006
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| Released: February 14th |
Here are tomorrows releases at insound.
02/14/06 Crush Kill Destroy Metric Midnight No Karma
02/14/06 Magnet Tourniquet Filter
02/14/06 Matchbook Romance Voices Epitaph
02/14/06 My Morning Jacket At Dawn & Tennessee Fire Demos [reissue} Darla
02/14/06 New Radiant Storm King The Steady Hand Darla
02/14/06 Outkast Idlewild LaFace
02/14/06 Subways Young For Eternity Sire/Rhino
02/14/06 Sword Age of Winters Kemado
02/14/06 Young and Sexy Panic When You Find It Mint
Here are previous *sixeyes posts on Magnet and Young and Sexy.
>> Magnet
>> Young And Sexy |
| posted by alan williamson @ 6:01 PM |
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| February 12, 2006
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| Dancing About Architecture |
CMJ interviews Man Man.
Favorite new bands?
Honus: Islands, Coyote. Spinto Band is a really good pop band.
Cougar: I Death.
Les Mizzle: Broadcast. They're new to me.
Pow Pow: Skeletons & The Girl Faced Boys, Reminder (AKA Josh Abrams' solo record), José González, Soft Circle, Excepter, Icy Demons.
Sergei: Black Mountain.
* * * * * * * * *
Mogwai are interviewed by Artrocker.
* * * * * * * * *
Wrens guitarist, Greg Whelan, chats with Daily Northwestern.
* * * * * * * * *
Download the remixed Portishead Dummy album for free, BUT please make a donation to Oxfam.
The Portishead Remixed team are not asking you to pay any money for downloading this album. The album is a representation of the creative talents of all those involved, from the musical producers to the project curator, and as such believe this is payment enough. However, should you wish to give financial support in honour of this project, there are two ways of doing so. |
| posted by alan williamson @ 10:24 AM |
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| FIERY FURNACES: News, Tour Dates, Free MP3s |
The Fiery Furnaces Eleanor and Matt Friedberger by Domino Postiglione
The Fiery Furnaces have just embarked on another tour and announced details of the duo's new record. Titled Bitter Tea it will be released on the premiere indie blues label, Fat Possum, on April 18th.
Matt Friedberger, Fiery Furnaces songwriter, let fly with these press worthy blurbs about the new record:
"This record, if you have it too loud, you'll hurt yourself."
"Bitter Tea is a very girly record: bouncy and full of candy-colored sounds."
"There's backwards stuff on every song. A lot of backwards singing, a lot of backwards everything in the texture of the music."
News of Mr. Friedberger putting out two SOLO recordings were also confirmed--these will be on brand new indie imprint, 859 Recordings.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Fiery Furnaces Tour Dates:
02-13 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle *
02-14 Charlotte, NC - Visulite Theatre *
02-15 Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel *
02-17 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder *
02-18 St. Petersburg, FL - The State Theatre *
02-19 Orlando, FL - The Social *
02-20 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds *
02-22 Atlanta, GA - Smith's Olde Bar *
02-23 Nashville, TN - Exit / In *#
02-24 St. Louis, MO - Mississipi Nights *#
02-25 Champaign, IL - High Dive *#
02-27 Indianapolis, IN - The Music Mill *#
02-28 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop *#
03-01 Millvale, PA - Mr. Small's Theatre
03-03 Ithaca, NY - Cornell University
03-04 Providence, RI - Rhode Island School of Design Auditorium
03-16 Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ (SXSW)
03-17 Austin, TX - Red's Scoot-Inn (SXSW)
* With Deadboy & the Elephantmen [Fat Possum]
# with Sybris
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Fiery Furnaces MP3s...
+ single again
+ crystal clear
+ straight street
+ chris michaels |
| posted by alan williamson @ 5:44 AM |
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| THE WALKMEN -- A HUNDRED MILES OFF |
 The Walkmen have announced the release date for their new album, A Hundred Miles Off. It will be see the light of day in the US on May 23rd. The band will also be playing two shows with none other than renowned Irish band, The Pogues. These will take place in those two American cities with strong Irish heritage, Boston and New York. The Boston date is set for March 15th and the New York show is in Times Square on St Patricks Day, March 17th. They will also be playing Coachella and will tour North America in the spring.
In further news... the band, who are well known for the great sound they've given their albums, have just seen the lease expire on their home studio, Marcata, and so, they are being forced to move. Now they are selling all of their studio equipment at 'outrageous, gotta-have-it prices'. Go here for a complete listing. The band is also rebuilding their website.
+ the rat
+ little house of savages
+ everyone who pretended to like me is gone
+ what's in it for me?
+ we've been had
+ wake up
+ the blizzard of 1996
++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Walkmen can be downloaded from the digital music site, eMusic. Click the link at the bottom of this post to read about a free trial offer. |
| posted by alan williamson @ 8:47 AM |
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| Controller Controller |
Controller Controller are from Toronto. They are Nirmala Basnayake (Vocals), Colwyn Llewellyn-Thomas (Guitar), Scott Kaija (Guitar), Jeff Scheven (Drums), and Ronnie Morris (Bass). They play what has been described variously as 'death-disco', 'angular rock', 'post-punk', and 'dance punk'. You can find them on Paper Bag Records and their latest, X-Amounts, now out in Canada, will see release in the states March 7th.
MP3s from X-Amounts...
+ pf
+ poison / safe
+ the raw no
+ magnetic strip
MP3s from History [2004 - paper bag]...
+ watch
+ silent seven
+ disco blackout
X-Amounts track list
01. Tigers Not Daughters
02. PF
03. Poison/Safe
04. Rooms
05. Future Turtles
06. Straight In The Head
07. City of Daggers
08. Heavy As A Heart
09. BLK GLV
10. The Raw No
11. Magnetic Strip |
| posted by alan williamson @ 6:24 AM |
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| Matador Records | Sing Along With Belle & Sebastian Contest |
Matador Records Sing Along With Belle & Sebastian
The new Belle & Sebastian album The Life Pursuit has just been released, and to celebrate, Matador Records is giving one person the chance to join the band on stage on the last date of the SPRING TOUR.
Win a chance for you and a friend to fly to Seattle, WA on Saturday, March 25, 2006, and join Belle and Sebastian on stage at the Paramount Theatre to sing "Dress Up in You" with the band.
Download the instrumental version of 'Dress Up In You' from Belle and Sebastian's new album, The Life Pursuit. Then film or record yourself singing the song... Dress up as a member of the band... Karaoke style... Whatever you want. Remember to be creative. Matador will choose the best version (at our sole discretion) and the winner and a friend will be flown to Seattle, put up for a night, and invited onstage to sing with the band.
All entries should be mailed to:
Sing Along with Belle & Sebastian Contest
c/o Matador Records
625 Broadway, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10012
Entries must be postmarked on or before Feb 20th, 2006 and should be submitted on C-DR, DVD, or VHS. Please include BOTH your phone and email address with all entries. Notification of the winner will happen by March 1st, 2006. Winners will be announced on this site shortly thereafter.
Winner and their guest must be 18 years or older, must be a resident of the United States or the District Of Columbia, and must possess a valid driver's license and a major credit card.
The official prize is:
- Two coach tickets plane tickets from your location to and from Seattle
- Transportation to and from the airport
- One hotel room (double occupancy) for one night
-Transportation to and from the venue
- $150 spending money
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MP3s from The Life Pursuit...
+ another sunny day
+ funny little frog
B&S Tour Dates
02.25.06 The Docks, Toronto,
02.26.06 Metropolis, Montreal, QC
02.27.06 Avalon Ballroom, Boston, MA
02.28.06 Avalon Ballroom, Boston, MA
03.02.06 Nokia Theatre - Times Square, New York, NY
03.03.06 Nokia Theatre - Times Square, New York, NY
03.04.06 Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
03.05.06 9:30 Club, Washington DC,
03.06.06 9:30 Club, Washington DC,
03.08.06 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
*The Life Pursuit, along with the rest of B&S's catalogue, can be downloaded at eMusic. Try the link below, please.* |
| posted by alan williamson @ 6:00 PM |
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| February 08, 2006
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| CALEXICO |
 Calexico are multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Joey Burns(right)and drummer John Convertino (both members of seminal alt-country band Giant Sand). Frontman Burns has described the duo's Tex-Mex flavoured sound this way: "Mixed up, eclectic and influenced by the common thread of minor blues that has woven its way over the years through Eastern Europe, across the Atlantic to the Americas and interpreted in the confines of a crumbling contemporary Southwestern adobe reality."
It's all dusty Spanish guitars chiming and shiny brass horns blowing a solar wind through your spaghetti western heart. Sometimes they take a step back from the Ennio Morricone influenced pieces and find themselves straddling a rusty wire fence between Tex-Mex and alt country.
+ alone again or
+ spokes
+ black heart
+ convict pool
+ the sunken waltz
+ frontera
+ minas de cobre - acoustic
+ ballad of cable hogue - french version
+ stray
live tracks
Ojitos Traidores May 4, 2002 Bluebird Theatre, Denver, CO
Cascabel May 5, 2002 KGNU, Boulder, CO
The Black Light June 10, 2002 - 'SPOKE' (Joey and John)
Solar Culture,Tucson, AZ
Stray June 2, 2001 - The Casbah, San Diego, CA
Gift X-Change July 6, 2001 - Rudolstadt Festival, Germany
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| posted by alan williamson @ 11:13 PM |
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| Ghetto Pony |
The song, "All The Good Kids", by Guelph/Montreal band, Ghetto Pony, deserves to be heard on all college radio stations, to be heard by all college radio programming directors... oh... wait, maybe it has. BUT if it hasn't, it should be, as it would surely give lovers of melodic, lo-fi, electronic, keyboard driven indie rock, something to get excited about. Boasting a tight-throated yearning vocal, Ghetto Pony's "All The Good Kids" sounds very, uhh... veeerrrry... good, kids.
+ all the good kids
*Bonus*
+ julie
+ the prince song
+ make believe
---------------
You can find more downloads here. |
| posted by alan williamson @ 6:19 PM |
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| February 07, 2006
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| Send Your Valentine a Destroyer E-Card |
| That's right lovers and destroyers... right there in the side bar. You can send a sweet Valentine to that special Destroyer (just what do you call a Destroyer fan?). |
| posted by alan williamson @ 6:16 PM |
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| February 06, 2006
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| Destroyer's Dan Bejar: Interview |
 
Dan Bejar is taken by most to be Destroyer, although Bejar insists that Destroyer is a band project and always has been. Within the shifting ensemble that has made up the band on the seven albums released, including 2006's Destroyer's Rubies, Bejar is certainly the central figure. His mind and hand draw out the words, the poetic images, the melodies which entrance. Songs such as "European Oils", "Painter In Your Pocket", and the epic "Rubies", breathe fragrant melodies, melodies that bear the stamp of art and the shapes of poetry. Listening to Destroyer is like listening to the charismatic leader of a strategic European country... one delivering a speech in his own tongue. You don't understand it, but you know it's important. And that's okay, you're just visiting... a vacation into a land of poetry, melody, and wine.
*Sixeyes comunicated with Destroyer's Dan Bejar via email.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
*Sixeyes: You described, quite succinctly, your last album, Your Blues, as being European Blues... what would you call or what genre would you create for the music of Destroyer's Rubies?
Dan Bejar: Don't know if the person who wrote the Your Blues one-sheet was naming a genre to contain Your Blues, when they said something about European Blues... The enre that this record skirts around would be the "rock" genre...
*SE: You have written the bio for fellow Merge Records artists, Tenement Halls, the band fronted by former Rock*A*Teens, Chris Lopez, and in it you finish up by asking the reader to, "... just listen to the whole record repeatedly, and it will make sense. Not that it needs to." From that, I am wondering if you want your own records to make sense to the listener? A repeated refrain in articles, or interview preambles is, "He makes records that no one understands".. do you want people who listen to understand? What would you like the listener to or get out of a Dan Bejar record or song, out of the new record, Destroyer's Rubies?
DB: An emotional response is always good... After that they can, and will do, whatever they want with it. They can do whatever they want with it before that, as well... I don't understand - which are these totally legible records beside which Destroyer records stand as complete garble... Who wants to understand a record, anyway? Me, I just like listening to them...
*SE: Are the lyrics important to you? The meaning of the words, I mean... or is it the sound of them, their pronunciation, which is of more interest?
DB: If by "meaning" you mean intention, then yes... If by "sound" you mean effect, then most definitely... I also find both those things interchangable...
*SE: Have you developed a method, or process, for writing? I mean as far as environment or time of day is concerned? Are there any little tricks that you use to kick start yourself when the muse goes missing?
DB: Don't know how to kick myself, would like to learn... Being stuck on an airplane helps... Wine is good... Night time is usually the right time... Lots of writing and then the eventual showdown with the guitar, and then to the band/mangler for some real form...
*SE: When you started to write songs, was it a matter of fitting the words to the music, or the other way around?
DB: When I started, it involved a lot of idle strumming of the guitar and fitting words to music, yes... Then it morphed into idle word-stringing and idle guitar-strumming happening concurrently... That was good, handy, prolific... Then a steady process of the words and music drifting apart again, the guitar gathering dust, everything becoming less idle...
*SE: Along the same lines... Is your idiosyncratic vocal delivery a style you wished to develop, or is it the end result of your word heavy, image thick, and intricate lyrics?
DB: I guess you can shrink from the fact that your voice isn't particularly welcoming (first Destroyer record) or give recent college grads a reason to use the word "acrid-voiced"(destroyer music after first Destroyer record)... Lay into your weakness, which in this case is the sound my voice makes when I belt things out... Not good at sustaining notes so having vocal melodies duck and weave like the words is handy, which means having lots of words on which to hang a melody is also handy... The barking, spoken-word tip hinted at on This Night, abandoned on Your Blues, and fully embraced on D's Rubies, seems like a natural progression of of all that...
*SE: "It's Gonna Take An Airplane" from Your Blues, a favourite of mine, has a very slack, laid-back 60's 'Euro Pop' feel. The song's opening conjures for me arty French movies starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. Do you ever write songs trying to capture a 'feel' that you've felt from other music or film?
DB: "Flutes" and "strings" can really make someone think "60s french movie", especially fake ones... This Night had Thin Red Line on the brain... Your Blues, Visconti... etc...
*SE: Were all the songs for Destroyer's Rubies written at the same time?
DB: The "Sick Priest (learns to last forever)" has been around a long time... Everything else is more or less recent...
*SE: What about inspiration? Do you find it easily, or is it something you chase like a missed bus? Did any specific work of art inspire you as you were writing the new album?
DB: I get inspired by specific works of art all the time... All the awesome poets of the world... That weird Russian Hamlet movie (ED: Grigory Kozintsev's 1964 version)... Camaron (ED: I believe he is referring to flamenco singer El Camarón de la Isla)... I don't chase busses, more like driving through yellow lights... I usually need other people to inspire me musically, that's gotta get said...
*SE: After you've written a song, can you ever relax and feel proud of what you've done, or are you constantly worrying away at bits and pieces of it...Are you ever completely happy with what you've done, or is a nagging doubt what drives you to continue writing?
DB: I don't fret about writing or how we play a song... I sometimes fret over capturing a performance, and the sonic quality of that capture... But that's studio stuff that everyone bangs their head against... Trying to hone in on an idea that you never quite nail is what drives me to record more records...
*SE: Did you sweat over the details of Destroyer's Rubies release, such as the cover art, the track sequencing, the title of the album?
DB: Holy shit, no!!
*SE: Can you remember what albums got you excited about music when you were a kid? What music opened that door to show you a new musical world?
DB: If by kid you mean 12 or 13-year old, which is when I started getting really into music, I'd have to say popular UK new wave (Echo, New Order, The Smiths, The Cure), and then the Jesus and Mary Chain and their noisy followers, cause they had moppish hair like me, looked cool and Psychocandy was noisy and bad-ass but tuneful, stylish and detached, not like the Minutemen or Husker Du or some shit like that... This all leads to the Velvet Underground, of course, and then it's all over...
*SE: And finally, what does the coming year hold for you? Touring, recording, writing?
DB: Touring in March... Hopefully a little more in May... Writing in some form or another would be nice...
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Destroyer's Rubies will be released February 21st on Merge Records.
Check out this post for free and legal Destroyer mp3s. |
| posted by alan williamson @ 8:32 PM |
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| Released: February 7th |
This weeks releases at insound.com.
02/07/06 AM Syndicate Empire Sick Room
02/07/06 Arab Strap The Last Romance Transdreamer
02/07/06 Belle & Sebastian The Life Pursuit Matador
02/07/06 Belong October Language Carpark
02/07/06 Beth Orton Comfort of Strangers Astralwerks
02/07/06 Bigwig Reclamation Fearless
02/07/06 Bracket Requiem Takeover
02/07/06 Caribou Start Breaking My Heart/Up In Flames Domino
02/07/06 Centro-Matic Triggers and Trash Heaps Misra
02/07/06 Clogs Lantern Brassland
02/07/06 Damien Jurado/ Dolorean Traded for Fire b/w Ghost of David 7" Secretly Canadian
02/07/06 Denali Pinnacle DVD Lovitt
02/07/06 Dutch Dub Savvy Jazz Sound Virus
02/07/06 Elbow Leaders of The Free World (Special Ed) V2
02/07/06 Electric Six Senor Smoke Metropolis
02/07/06 Fm Bats Bats are out to Harm EP Sound Virus
02/07/06 Gastr Del Sol Harp Factory on Lake Street Table of the Elements
02/07/06 Gate The Dew Line Table of the Elements
02/07/06 Hem No Word From Tom Nettwerk
02/07/06 Hidden Cameras The Arms of His "ill" cd-ep Absolutly Kosher
02/07/06 Horns of Happiness Would I Find Your Psychic Guideline Secretly Canadian
02/07/06 In Flames Come Clarity Ferret
02/07/06 Jason Collett Idols of Exile Arts & Crafts
02/07/06 Kelly Stoltz Below The Branches Sub Pop
02/07/06 Ladies They Mean Us Temporary Residence LTD
02/07/06 Lesbians On Ecstacy Lying In States Sickroom
02/07/06 Minus 5 The Gun Album Yep Rock
02/07/06 Mylo Destroy Rock & Roll RCA
02/07/06 Oceansize Everyone Into Position Beggars Banquet
02/07/06 Oxbow Love That's Last Hydra Head
02/07/06 Prefuse 73 Security Screenings Warp
02/07/06 Primus We Digress DVD Prawn Song
02/07/06 Prodigy Their Law, The Singles 1990-2005 Beggars Banquet
02/07/06 Psychic Ills Dins The Social Registry
02/07/06 Ray Davies Other People's Lives V2
02/07/06 Sibylle Baier Colour Green Orange Twin
02/07/06 Slowride C/S Deep Elm
02/07/06 Small Arms Dealer A Single Unifying Theory Deep Elm
02/07/06 Swearing At Motorists Last Night Becomes This Morning Secretly Canadian
02/07/06 Tegan and Sarah If It's Not Fun, Don't Do It DVD Sanctuary
02/07/06 Telepathe Farewell Forest The Social Registry
02/07/06 Ulrich Schnauss Passing By 12" Domino
02/07/06 Various Artist Asthmatic Kitty Compilation: Mews Too Asthmathic Kitty
02/07/06 Various Artist Run the Road Volume 2 Vice
02/07/06 Various Artists Big Apple Rappin Soul Jazz
02/07/06 Various Artists To: Elliot From: Portland (A Tribute to Elliot Smith) Expunged |
| posted by alan williamson @ 2:05 PM |
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| Ester Drang: Rocinate: Album Review |
 Ester Drang
Rocinate
[Jade Tree - January 24 2006]
*Sixeyes Score: 7.7 out of 10
Layers of sound, soft as wool, some soft as fleece, organic and man-made, wrap about you. The lights are low, candles lit, the feeling of waking in a warm, dark car humming along the highway with good friends, tired friends, swells in you. This is opening track, "Come Back Alive" on Ester Drang's third album, and the latest for Jade Tree, Rocinate. This vibe floats out of the entire album, with the occasional twisting of the screws (or thrashing of guitar) to raise the tension. The band put a lot more time into this recording, compared with the nine days allotted to Infinite Keys, the 'what must have seemed more than a little decadent' three weeks afforded Rocinate was surely an eternity. Ironically, the feeling I got from album opener, "Come Back Alive", is a bit spooky since track titles like "Grave Mistake", "Come Back Alive", "Valencia's Dying Dream", and "Everyone is A Victim", may be hinting at the fatal accident the band members were involved in while touring in support of 2003's Infinite Keys. Whether or not these songs did grow from that experience, this album does possess a sombre beauty helped in no small part by the production work of Tiny Telephone head engineer, Scott Solter (Tiny Telephone being the award winning San Francisco analog studio owned by John Vanderslice). Solter who has made major contributions to a number of outstanding albums, most notably those of the aforementioned John Vanderslice, has production, mixing, and recording credits on the album and has imbued the songs with a clear warmth, one which draws the listener in while, at the same moment, pushing the songs outward as naturally as breath from lungs.
+ come back alive
+ valencia's dying dream
Rocinate Track List...
1. Come Back Alive
2. Valencia’s Dying Dream
3. Grave Mistake
4. Hooker with a Heart of Gold
5. Great Expectations
6. Everyone is a Victim
7. Smoke and Air
8. Caledonia
9. White Lies
10. Proustian Moments
Ester Drang on myspace
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ester Drang are on eMusic. Free trial offer here. |
| posted by alan williamson @ 4:45 AM |
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| February 05, 2006
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| *SIXEYES | Destroyer 8-Track |
Destroyer will be in stores on February 21st, a brand new album bulging it's pockets. That anticipated album, Destroyer's Rubies, is laced with lyrical melodies and dual edged lyrics, all presented in the talk-sing of 2002's This Night. An obvious result of Destroyer's Rubies dense word play.
painter in your pocket - Destroyer's Rubies [release date Feb 21/06]
european oils - Destroyer's Rubies
the music lovers - Your Blues
it's gonna take an airplane - Your Blues
students carve hearts out of coal - This Night
sublimation hour - Streethawk: A Seduction
very modern dance - Streethawk: A Seduction
an actor's revenge - Notorious Lightning and Other Works
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Destroyer albums, This Night, Your Blues, Notorious Lightning and Other Works, and Streethawk: A Seduction, can be downloaded from eMusic. Destroyer's Rubies will soon be added to the site as well. Follow this link to learn about their free trial offer of 50 downloads. Or use one of the eMusic ads on this site. |
| posted by alan williamson @ 11:00 AM |
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| February 04, 2006
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| Bluebottle Kiss: Coming to SXSW + Free MP3s |
 I haven't talked, at all, about the upcoming SXSW in Austin,TX. Hundreds of good, to great, to amazing, bands and solo artists will be clogging the streets of Austin this March. This year marks an upswing in the number of Australian acts invited to perform. 30 have accepted and among them are Sydney band, Bluebottle Kiss. This is an instance of art and commerce, of creativity and bottom line, clashing. Bluebottle Kiss was signed by Sony back at the same time they inked Silverchair to a contract, Silverchair exploded and Bluebottle Kiss fizzled. A fact owing to the simple reason that the suits couldn't decipher Bluebottle Kiss and, possibly, leader Jamie Hutchings couldn't understand the suits. No surprise that, Hutchings is a passionate, artistic spirit whose life focuses upon his music... not upon playing the major label game. Formed in 1993, the band now has a handful of stellar albums under their belt, not to mention hundreds of live performances across the globe.
A great opportunity to discover the band will come this June when they, and label Nonzero, release a double disc titled, Doubt Seeds. And, of course, for the lucky who will be in Austin, you can see them perform at SXSW.
Bluebottle Kiss are:
Jamie Hutchings-vocals, guitar
Ben Grounds -guitar, vocal
Jared Harrison - drums, vocals
Ross Dickie - bass, vocals
Bluebottle Kiss MP3s...
+ Running Into Doors from the A Little Bit of Light single
+ Something Tiny from Come Across 2003
+ Everything Begins And Ends At Exactly The Right Time from Come Across 2003
+ Last Playboy In Town from Come Across 2003
+ So Slow from Come Across 2003
+ Slow Train To A Comfy Jail from Come Across 2003
+ Father's Hands from Revenge is Slow 2002
+ Ounce Of Your Cruelty from Revenge is Slow 2002
+ Gangsterland from Revenge is Slow 2002
+ Invent The Summer from Revenge is Slow 2002
+ Love As Fiction from Revenge is Slow 2002
acoustic songs...
+ Return to the City of Folded Arms
+ Farewell the Sleeping Trucks
B-Side...
Lights in the Sky B-Side to Rust and the Time 1996
You can purchase Bluebottle Kiss from Australian label, Nonzero, or US label, In Music We Trust. |
| posted by alan williamson @ 2:25 PM |
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| Empress: "Vodka and the Verlaines" |
A slowly picked guitar and pecked out piano notes lay atop what a warm summer wind sounds like as you float with your ears submerged, your hair fanned like silky seaweed behind your head, in your neighbors pool. Your neighbor is in Arizona or Saskatchewan (you forget which) for an estate auction. Still you float, half in and half out of the leaf strewn pool, half in and half out of sleep -- and you have all you need: a warm pool, the keys to your neighbor's house, and the Empress song, "Vodka and the Verlaines", playing in your head. You don't know the song or the band, but somehow they are playing away somewhere behind your sun-stroked eyes, between your water logged ears. You hear a country tinged melody without the pedal steel, or Cat Power without the naked vocal emotion. You hear Empress, as a floating Smirnoff bottle flashes in the sun... just before it cracks against your skull.
+ vodka and the verlaines
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More MP3s...
+ all we've seen
+ ever so old
+ the summer december starts |
| posted by alan williamson @ 4:39 AM |
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| February 01, 2006
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| eMusic: 50 Free Downloads |
Below is a small, very small, idea of the great indie selections at eMusic. Go here to look into and sign up for the free eMusic trial offering 50 free mp3 downloads.
tarkio - omnibus
the go! team - get it together EP
film school - film school
tortoise and bonnie 'prince' billy - the brave and the bold
the go-betweens - that striped sunlight sound
bloc party - silent alarm
the rakes - retreat EP
dogs die in hot cars - please describe yourself
the french kicks
beulah
mercury rev
quickspace
animal collective
gorky's zygotic mynci
pavement |
| posted by alan williamson @ 7:52 PM |
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| Bishop Allen: New EP and Free MP3 |
Brooklyn, New York, indie pop outfit, Bishop Allen, have finally got some new music for those who know how good this band is, for those who have heard their debut full length, Charm School. And this should be a pleasant surprise, as well, for those who don't know the band. You don't have to take my word for it, use your ears... this mp3,"Corazon", is from the first in a series of monthly EPs, the first entitled January. And yet to come is the full-length album they are working on, Clementines. You can buy the EP by going here, at first the link to the 'buy' page supplied by the band was wrong, but this one is good.
+ corazon
More Bishop Allen MP3s...
+ Things Are What You Make Of Them
+ Busted Heart
+ Eve Of Destruction
+ Little Black Ache |
| posted by alan williamson @ 6:46 PM |
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If you acquaint 
