July 8, 2008
After two weeks of reader-tipped BTWs from Lawrence, Kansas, we mentioned there seemed to be something going on in that city, despite William S. Burroughs up and dying a few years ago. After the proclamation went out, we received notes from people in other cities and towns and territories, letting us know that, no actually, it's such and such where things are happening. One such place: Calgary, Alberta (thanks to an email from Mark H. of Wood Pigeon). Actually Brandon lived in Cowtown for three years, did a bit of freelance, knows the place well and good, always appreciated its scene, but after some investigation, he notes there's definitely a new crop of younger bands who've risen up since he crossed back into the States.
Our favorite so far is the Neighborhood Council, two guys and two gals all under 20. The quartet's been around for about a year now. When they started, they won in the "youth category" at the Calgary Folk Music Festival, but what they're doing now would make more sense as part of the International Pop Underground. Take a listen to "Liver And Tan," the opening track from their new self-released Set Pieces EP. It's a nine-minute piece of pop that would've made sense next to the Ropers on a split Slumberland 7", but with some of that early Pacific Northewest sound, like what you might expect from the Softies, only on a more shoe-gaze tip with gentler dueling Excuse 17-style harmonies, nice ride patterns, breezy "oh"s for color. Something like that.
Continue reading Band To Watch: The Neighbourhood Council...
Posted at 10:48 AM by stereogum in ,
Tags: The Neighbourhood Council
latest by biasedbulldog
July 3, 2008
As we pass saturation point for press coverage of Montreal, Portland, Brooklyn and et cetera, it seems Lawrence, Kansas is poised for its coming turn in the music media trend piece carousel. At least from what we're hearing; this marks two straight BTWs from the burgeoning midwestern artistic oasis. We gave the treatment to Rooftop Vigilantes after they hit our inbox with some music, and that inspired another email, this time from one Jordan Geiger, offering a MySpace-linked primer to more of the city's rising talent. But it was Jordan's own project, Hospital Ships, that struck deepest. Jordan comes packing a sturdy CV -- singing and songwriting in Minus Story, playing trumpet and keyboard for Shearwater -- and the Hospital Ships material shows it.
Continue reading Band To Watch: Hospital Ships...
Posted at 1:01 PM by stereogum in ,
Tags: Hospital Ships | Minus Story | Shearwater
latest by Chris
June 27, 2008
We get a lot of emails, many of them from publicists. It's fun when you receive an email straight from a band, when they include a rickety link to an MP3 that doesn't work, but you make the trek to their MySpace anyhow, take a listen, and discover they kick ass. This doesn't happen often, but it did with Rooftop Vigilantes a ramshackle rock trio from Lawrence, Kansas. We don't know much about them. Which is refreshing. Influences: "the baltimore ravens, hamm's, and cellular telephones." Sounds Like: "the texas rangers, only with more teeth." We think they can sound like the Promise Ring but with the energy of Small Brown Bike (the excellent "Charley No Want Girlfriend") or maybe a drunken Fugazi in certain cadences ("Charley Want Mario Chalmers"), but usually we just hear loud, sloppy summertime rock with a sense of humor (see: "Track Need Be Hidden" and all this Charley business). To see what we mean, take a listen to the infectious, organ-drenched "Oscar Want 7 Inch."
Continue reading Band To Watch: Rooftop Vigilantes...
Posted at 4:44 PM by stereogum in ,
Tags: Rooftop Vigilantes
latest by jackie57
May 29, 2008
Dan Friel is the guy with red hair in anthemic psychedelic Brooklyn noiseniks Parts & Labor. He's also the mind and burnt keyboards behind this interesting eponymous solo project. Stepping outside P&L isn't new for Friel, but the first full-length release Ghost Town came out a week and change ago on Important. Before this 30-minute disc, he did a series of EPs: Night People released the cassette-only Obsoleter in 2006, Velocirecords put out the Sunburn CD in 2004, and Friel self-released Broken Man Going To Work in 2001. You should have no problem tracking down Ghost Town, a thrilling collection of fuzzy instrumentals constructed by Friel, his web of "mediocre guitar accessories," a 22-year-old keyboard, "a remote control car joystick," walkie talkies, and other noisemakers. The chirpy, infectiously joyous opening track "Ghost Town (Part. 1)" has a tone that's very similar to the burnt electronics and melody as you'll find on Parts & Labor's recent outings. After that, he burrows into a new world entirely. We have the gateway drug as well as the equally uproarious "Buzzards" to give you small taste of this album's idiosyncratic beauty and blipping, crackling, and distorted fist pumpers.
[Photo by Nate Dorr]
Continue reading Band To Watch: Dan Friel...
Posted at 12:11 PM by stereogum in ,
Tags: Dan Friel
latest by erik
May 20, 2008
Today your regular bloggers have been replaced by Ben, Chris, Nick, and Jason of Death Cab For Cutie. The band's new album Narrow Stairs is out now. DCFC are not professional bloggers, so please send them tips.
By Chris Walla
There's not a lot to say when you get knocked out. When I was four, the neighbor kid got mad at me in his dad's workshop, and clobbered me with the nearest hammer. I was pretty much speechless.
So here's these songs by Telekinesis!. It's one fellow, a guy called Michael Lerner, and his is pretty much my favorite record right now, even though it's not a record yet. He plays and writes and records everything. I think I'll be recording with him in September, on the 8 track, all '70s style. That's the idea anyway.
Telekinesis! - "February 5th 2008" (MP3)
Here's another.
Continue reading Band To Watch: Telekinesis!...
Posted at 2:36 PM in , ,
Tags: Death Cab For Cutie | Telekinesis!
latest by zabe
May 8, 2008
Extra Life's Secular Works arrived unknown in our mailbox and quickly found its way into regular rotation. The New York group is fronted by guitarist/vocalist Charlie Looker, who spent six years in ZS, has played with Mick Barr, was a one-time member of Dirty Projectors (he performs on Rise Above), and has worked with Anthony Braxton, Glenn Branca, William Parker, Tyondai Braxton, Daniel Carter, etc. In Extra Life, he taps into a mesmerizing form of avant-rock raga, repeating words, and shifting into a windswept, entrancing post-punk throat singing. The sounds are fleshed out with drums, bass, saxophone, keyboard, violin. The first song to catch our attention is opener "Blackmail Blues," which hit us like a darker, heavier take on Dirty Projectors (backed by Torch Of The Mystics Sun City Girls).
Continue reading Band To Watch: Extra Life...
Posted at 12:52 PM in ,
Tags: Extra Life
latest by ryan
April 10, 2008
For anyone who's enjoyed Dominique Leone's writing at Pitchfork over the years, it's pretty fascinating to listen to the San Francisco-based Texan's self-titled debut full-length, which follows his self-titled Feedelity EP. You can hear his beloved Brian Wilson and Harry Nilsson in the harmonies (for Nilsson, think of "Without You" and check out the first section of "Blist," parts of "Claire," or gorgeous album closer "Conversational"), his prog, elecrtro, disco, ABBA fixations elsewhere. (We tried forcing in a Scott Walker mention because his review of the The Drift was so supreme, but no dice.)
The 11-track collection starts with "Kaine," which opens like an Animal Collective magic-wand explosion, before settling into a spacier overlap of plucked strings, audience claps, backward tones, and some death metal guitar growling, and then relocating to some sort of foreign soap opera dialog samples, etc. That's just part of it. No song follows an easy path, but earlier this week we posted the most straightforward piece, "Duyen," and its telephones, shakers, and walkie talkies. To get a broader sense of the album's ornate constructions, take a listen to the up-tempo, Beach Boys-and-the-kitchen-sink standout "Nous Tombons Dans Elle."
Continue reading Band To Watch: Dominique Leone...
Posted at 3:08 PM in ,
Tags: Dominique Leone
latest by John B
April 4, 2008
Assured-beyond-their-years San Diego quartet the Muslims will definitely get a lot of attention for their name, but we're much more interested in the band's catchy, sorta sloppy and stark post-punk-infused rock 'n' roll. They mix a kind of Strokes-y, and therefore VU, detachment and something that bumps in the night like Hell and his Voidoids (or, better yet, Hell and the Heartbreakers doing "Love Comes In Spurts"). You can also hear a bit of the Stooges -- not just because the band cites 'em, along with the Replacements, as an inspiration -- and early Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers (see "Future Rock," "On My Time," etc). Whatever the mix of forerunners, the Muslims find a way to make it their own -- it's kinda uncanny. We've been listening to their new 7-song 12" (and the 10-song CD) on repeat (thanks Robots for the heads up), so we wanted to share a couple favorites with you...
Continue reading Band To Watch: The Muslims...
Posted at 10:58 AM in , ,
Tags: The Muslims
latest by mememememe
