It's Alright

New Shoegaze

Holy Jesus & Mary Chain Batman! It's The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (again, I may be a wee late on this find)! I have a love/hate relationship with most shoegaze, mainly because no one does it better than J&MC and a lot of it just BUGS ME. BUT, I REALLY like this Brooklyn-based crew, maybe its the chick vocals, maybe its the song title "This Love is Fucking Right!", or maybe its just because these super great, short pop songs make my ears tingle in all the right ways:

http://digital.othermusic.com/search/full.php?UID=332846

2 New Musics!

Hello all! I have 2 new musics that i would like to share. Both of these are new releases that were out this week... yesterday, actually.

The first FIRST is the new Black Lips album, 200 Million Thousand. to be honest, I downloaded it at work just now and haven't been able to REALLY give it a solid listen, but from what i can barely hear (no headphones fail) It sounds like they MIGHT be growing up a wee bit. Don't worry, they are still total dirtbags, but their sound seems to have been tidied up a bit, while still leaving dust in the corners and pee stains on the rug. take a listen: http://digital.othermusic.com/search/full.php?FULL=350011&ALBUM=1

The second is from an artist that I've been MEANING to tell you about, i swear! That is, if you haven't heard of him already (I've been listening to old country records on repeat and haven't really been paying attention to anything else). Wavves is one dude, Nathan Williams, out of California, whose tracks pull inspiration from an array of sounds, a la Replacements, Monsters, Sonic Youth and more recent influences like Liars, Xiu Xiu and Japanther. I must advise you to please download his self titled album: http://digital.othermusic.com/search/full.php?FULL=352612&ALBUM=1

both of these will be summer staples (the summer dreaming has OFFICIALLY BEGUN)

Drink Up Buttercup

Last Friday night at Iota we gleefully welcomed Middle Distance Runner back from their extended hiatus. It was a pretty cozy evening. Having New Rock Church of Fire on the bill guaranteed that friendship, old acquaintances and hugs would be in abundance. The outcome of having a fun night was inevitable, but there was one huge surprise.


The out-of-towners opening for both local bands weren't your run-of-the-mill filler act. They were GREAT. Drink Up Buttercup is a quartet from Philadelphia who's major influences, according to them, include "artificial orange flavoring, conical shaped party hats, disguise able sized alcohol containers, the gratuitous use of markers, the sound of something wood hitting something steel, plastic, porcelain, paper based, skin related, and or something else wooden, yard sales + the mere termites of life." Their sound is a whimsical mix of Animal Collective, A Band of Bees, the Beatles , and at times even remind me a bit of local DC favorites, Greenland. Blend all of these together, drink some whiskey and eat some mushrooms while walking through a carnival fun house (not recomended) and you've got Drink Up Buttercup.

These boys will not only be performing at CMJ this year, but will be in DC on November 1st at the Black Cat with Bishop Allen. I highly recommend checking these gents out.

http://www.myspace.com/drinkupbuttercupband

Somethin in the Works

DC needs a rockabilly night, no?

Ditty Bops

This video post was inspired by Jess' show tonight. Her new band, Vox Pop, is a little bit country and a quite adorable. It also reminds me of the Ditty Bops-esque duo that was to be formed by Melissa and I (tentatively called "Waiting for Buckley"). Hey Mel, there's no time like the present...

Also, does anyone know why the Red & the Black lost their entertainment license?

New Kids- Recap

It's 6pm the evening of the New Kids show in DC. You are sitting down drinking a Stella when you feel the ground start to shake. Ripples form in your beer from the vibrations, just like Jurassic Park. You glance up and see the horizon growing imminently closer. "What is that?" That, my friend, was the stampede of late-twenties women, spreading themselves around Chinatown like greedy cockroaches, most of them adorning I Heart Joey and NKOTB baby tees, screaming at the top of their lungs.

I was one of them. (minus the baby tee)

We made it up to our suite quickly, as we were running a bit late and didn't want to miss anything. Luckily, Natasha Something-or-Other opened the show. I recognized some of her songs, but could not have cared any less. After a brief intermission, the lights dimmed and everyone lost it. All audience members became a character of their 11 year-old selves. NKOTB played only a couple of new songs *thank god* and loaded up their set with material that they KNEW would make us cry tears of joy and a pretty amazing wardrobe change into matching white suits. It was the best time everrrrr. At one point, I broke out of the suite and tried to pump up the crowd. People weren't really interested.




When everything was said and done, we had made our way to the 6th street side of theVerizon Center where there was a huge crowd waiting to catch a glimpse of their tour bus. This one chick tried to tell me that Donnie kissed her on the lips (big fat liar) and after that, well, I just can't remember much.


I was planning on actually critiquing the show in some sort of organized manner, but we thought it would be a good idea to do a couple rounds of shots after drinking some pints before the show, leaving me in a state of utter bliss and completely incapable of paying attention to much of anything. All I know is that we all had a blast and I am so glad I got to share it with Caitlyn Walters, who I have known for 20 years and who listened to her first New Kids tape with me! xoxoxo

Please Don't Go Girl....

....But I HAVE to go! That's right, I have free suite tickets for tonight's New Kids on the Block concert. Let's hope their joints don't swell up while they are attempting their poorly choreographed dance moves. Let's also hope that they don't play many new songs. "Why? " you might ask "I hear they have some fresh material". Well, friends, peep THIS monstrosity:

On that note, I depart. Tomorrow I will give you a full briefing of what happened at the show.

P.S. yes, i am aware that I chose NKOTB over the VP debates, but you KNOW it'll be all over the internets tomorrow. NO WORRIES, I have thought this through.

Sonic Circuits

We are already a few days in and I have been too dang busy to warn you about the presence of DC SONIC CIRCUITS.

The Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music was initiated by the American Composers Forum (ACF) to provide DC’s music and art communities with the opportunity to sample experimental and avant-garde electronic music, with an emphasis on improvisation and artistic use of new technologies.

Now heading into its eighth year, the Washington DC chapter of the ACF has expanded the scope of the festival to include electroacoustic compositions, experimental jazz, noise rock, electronic drone and experimental folk, as well as live video and film programs.

Sonic Circuits seeks to foster the spirit of collaboration through the diversity of participating artists, and its varied programming appeals to arts enthusiasts of all types.

The festival is scheduled to take place September 28 - October 5, 2008 at the Velvet Lounge, National Museum of Women in the Arts, George Washington University in Washington DC, & Pyramid Atlantic in downtown Silver Spring.

From the Velvet Lounge schedule ( http://www.velvetloungedc.com/ ):

Wednesday 10.01.08
Paul Flaherty/Randall Colbourne Duo, Elliott Levin/Dan Scofield/Aaron Martin/Britton Powell/Scott Verrastro Quintet, Ride the Big Bull w/ Marty McCavitt, KBD
$8/doors at 9pm/18+

Thursday 10.02.08
Pacific 231, Suzanne Thorpe (ex-Mercury Rev) & Philip White, El Mapi & Matterlink, Northern Machine, Worms in Dirt
$8/doors at 9pm/18+

Friday 10.03.08
Sonic Circuits DC 2008
Dead Science (Constellation Records), Food For Animals, okok, Mind Over Matter Music Over Mind
$8/doors at 9pm/18+

Saturday 10.04.08
Doors at 3pm
Matmos (Matador), Andrea Parkins, Mattin, Haptic, Jason Kahn & Jon Mueller, Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words, David Watson, Trio Chroch (Denmark, electro-acoustic avant-jazz), Josef van Wissem (Holland, solo lute), Phog Masheen, Second Land, Caustic Castle, RDK, Myo, Polyphasic, Soft Pieces
$10/doors at 2:30pm/18+

http://www.myspace.com/soniccircuits

Photos from last years Sonic Circuits, at Warehouse

Noveller of Brooklyn

Twilight Memories of the Three Suns

Raveonettes New Remix EP Release

Following the success of this year's album Lust Lust Lust, The Raveonettes announce plans to release a series of digital only EPs on Vice Music. The group is dropping a series of four short form releases over the course of the next three months, leading off with a free remix EP today. Though known primarily for their signature blend of lush melodies and over-the-top guitar noise, the EPs show off new creative angles of the group. Following today's remix EP will be Sometimes They Drop By on September 23. Two more EPs will follow on October 21 and November 25, the first further twisting the familiar Raveonettes' sound, and the last being an EP of Christmas songs. Today's free Remixed EP centers around three standout tracks from Lust Lust Lust, presented in new versions. Hypnotic Japanese electro producer 80KIDZ, Alec Empire-conspirator Nic Endo, and Danish DJ Trentmøeller reconstruct these now familiar songs into new shapes.

Tracklisting for today's three song free remix EP:
1.Dead Sound (80KIDZ remix)
2.Aly, Walk With Me (Nic Endo remix)
3.Lust (Trentmøeller Remix)


Download here:
http://www.vicerecords.com/theraveonettesremixed/

You Lose

Everyone loses. Everyone EXCEPT those proud few at the Velvet Lounge Ear Pwr show.

They were the cutest things I have ever seen. One with a huge red afro, cut-off shorts and a blowhorn, the other a tiny platinum blonde with sunglasses and awesome dance moves. They were set up on the floor which allowed hugs to be given out to audience members more easily. Their song are mostly about pretty normal stuff, like waterparks and airplanes, with the words "cowabunga" and "ice cold" thrown in for good measure. Their sound was INCREDIBLY infectious, mixing serious synth beats with loud talking, and even had the stiffest DC crowd moving (well, more than usual. but seriously, whats up with that, dc!? shake whatcho momma gave ya, for once!). Basically, all of you totally messed up. You should have been there. NEXT TIME.

eat.sleep.work.pack.eat.sleep.work.pack.

This is a really lame "video" but holler at one of my favorites from the Lovin Spoonfull. I AM TIRED.

New Finds - Vinyl

Got these for 99 cents each at the Bailey's Xroads Goodwill, all in perfect condition . Don't worry, I left out all the nerdy country records.

Mark Your Calendars Now!

August 28th at Velvet Lounge: Ear Pwr and Adventure. GO TO THIS. TRUST ME.

Listen for yourself:

http://www.myspace.com/earpwr

http://www.myspace.com/adventuresound

Bodies of Water, Black Cat show on Sunday

I had almost forgotten. It was 6:30pm when I looked at my calendar. Bodies of Water at Black Cat backstage! After waking myself up and hauling butt down to 14th street, I got there in time to see the opening act, Port O'Brien. Perhaps it was the fact that it was Sunday, or I that my brain was still foggy from all that sleeping, but they didn't really do it for me. The lead singer was charming, but I wasn't really sure what sound they were going for. It was always teetering on the edge of sounding like boring generic california indie. If it wasn't for the banjo, there would have been no hope (which, by the way, you could never really hear).

Speaking of snooze-town USA... what was up with Bodies of Water? They opened up with "It Moves" and went right into two really upbeat songs from their old album, then back into their new stuff for the rest of the night, which to be honest, is really really boring. I hate to say it, but its true! One of the things that I loved about them was their energy and their crazy yelling. All I got was lazy keyboards and soft droaning voices. I did appreciate the new girl guitarist/violinist/singer, even if she just kind of stood there the whole time. Listen Bodies of Water, I am sure you were tired and it was Sunday, but that is exactly why you should have amped it up a bit. Maybe THEN you wouldn't have been left with 5 people at your show. I also left, which I felt a little guilty about, but I was falling asleep. (Don't worry, I still love them)

It's Friday Y'all

The first video is from a recent discovery, Kendra and Caitlin, listen up: The Tallest Man on Earth - It Will Follow the Rain. The second video is in celebration of all the ass-shaking I will be doing on the dancefloor tonight, as it is the last jaunt with miss Emily before Williamsburg swallows her whole. And not in a sexy way.

Bodies of Water

A band that has recently been playing in my house ON REPEAT for the last few months is the questionably glorious and extravagant Bodies of Water out of Los Angeles. Just last week they released their second album, A Certain Feeling on Secretly Canadian (label mates including Jens Lekman, Foreign Born and The War on Drugs). Their full and over-the-top sound falls somewhere between the Polyphonic Spree and the grade school chorus of your choice. Each song has its own life, beginning middle and end stages you can tell they put everything into. If you have heard them before and felt a little taken aback, listen to a few key songs, turn off the AC, roll the windows down in your car, and pretend you are driving through Antelope Canyon in your beat up pick up with only your dog, a jug of water, and your own emotional turmoil to keep you company. Life is good.

Recommended tracks:

Off of Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink
1. Our Friends Appear Like the Dawn
2. I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess
3. Here Comes My Hand

Off of A Certain Feeling
1. Water Here
2. Gold Tan Peach and Grey
3. If I Were a Bell



They are losing their drummer who is AMAZING, I am curious to see how that will change things for their next album.


HAPPY LISTENING

Swoon

Joe Cocker playing a cover of John Sebastian's Darlin' Be Home Soon in 1969:

Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley, Austin 1984

Quick Dolly Fact

Did you know that Dolly Parton did a cover of "House of the Rising Sun"? Did you also know that Dolly Parton wrote a song about her immigrant friends being deported? God I love her.