As your local former Ser Biz intern, it is my duty to inform you that disbanded as of I-don't-remember-when SBR band Man In Gray are back with a one-show reunion at Union Hall on 20 Feb. :
There's some other Business going on (upcoming shows and records) that I haven't quite caught up on, so you'll have to wait for that. In the meantime, feel free to download SBR's annual free compilation of last year's releases and hits, The Year In Business : 2009.
Tracklisting :
1) SAADI - "Bad City (Serious Business Remix)" 2) The Two Man Gentlemen Band - "Me, I Get High on Reefer" (live) 3) The Paparazzi - "The Rococo Tape" 4) The Octagon - "Suicide Kings" 5) Higgins - "What Don't You Want?" 6) Jack and the Pulpits - "Francypants" 7) Rocketship Park - "Spinning Globes" 8) Benji Cossa - "Annie Delia" 9) The Unsacred Hearts - "Fake Kisses" 10) The Two Man Gentlemen Band - "Drip Dryin'(Reprise!)"
Way back in July (holy goodness, it's been that long...?), I was sent this video for My First Earthquake's first single of their debut record, Downstairs, called "Cool in the Cool Way." Given that it was released in mid-June, you may or may not have seen already.
It's subtitled "Invasion of the Hipster Bodysnatchers," and while I'm not usually keen on the whole "Those damn hipster kids! What's wrong with them?!" fist-shaking commentary, largely because a lot of those who make such commentary are eye-rolling hipsters themselves, this video seems to avoid falling in that pitfall because 1) it's self-deprecating, not eye-rolling, 2) it hints at the idea that "maybe we're hipsters, too," what with Rebecca's eyes flashing green at the end, and 3) it's damn catchy. I am not averse to damn catchy pop music.
Oh, plus their video for "Sweet Frowns" takes a stab at that favourite hipster girl obsession, Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette :
Wow, that's two videos. Maybe I should have called this a "Nothing's On Telly" instead of a "Stuck in my Head." Back on topic :
So, back when Michael Jackson died at the end of June (link for journalistic integrity and in case you've been living under a rock for the past five months), I feel like a whole load of people did covers and "tributes" and remixes and all sorts of things in his honour, justifiably so. Let's Sexy Fighting mashed up My First Earthquake's "In The Forest With Frenemies" with MJ's "Billie Jean" to get "Billie Jean's Frenemies." I think I had this song on repeat for the entirety of July and August. It's an odd combination ("Frenemies" is about, um, animals fighting and forest fires), but with "Billie Jean" taking a back seat lyrically and lending its slinky beats, it actually works pretty well without feeling ridiculously forced or particularly inappropriate.
Let's Sexy Fighting - "Billie Jean's Frenemies" (My First Earthquake vs. Michael Jackson) [link]
If you're not dancing by now, um. I don't know what to tell you.
My First Earthquake - "Cool in the Cool Way" [link]
All right, so, this is a little late. About two weeks late. Okay, maybe a week and a half late. Still. Sometimes it takes me a while to get my shit together, ya' know? Also, I'm lazy.chrome://foxytunes-public/content/signatures/signature-button.png
After hitting the press lounge, getting shoes, and eating pricey-but-tasty burgers (note to schedule-writing staff : burgers =/= barbeque. For future reference.) at Studio B (which is supposedly shutting down for the millionth time – I'm amazed by the propensity of city folk to be like, "OMG NOISE COMPLAINT." YOU MOVED IN NEAR A ROCK CLUB. BUY SOME EAR PLUGS AND DEAL. Obviously things should be reasonable, but really.), Jonathan, my brother who willingly accompanied me to take pictures, and I headed down to Union Pool to catch Uncensored Interview's night of alt-folk.
All photos are by Jonathan Costa. Sorry they're so tiny.
First up was Ivana XL, whom I'd heard of a week or two prior to the show, the main impetus for having gone. She was nervous, charming, apologetic. She talked about how it was her first time playing at Union Pool and how nerve-wracked she was, and then later talked about her planned outfit for the night that had to be nixed on account of the rain and gloom : "I had an awesome outfit planned...it was like, booty shorts." Apparently booty shorts inspire confidence.
Even sans assurance-sparking booty shorts, her raspy vocals, oddly-pronounced vowels à la Regina Spektor, and driven acoustic ditties were enchanting. Yeah, she messed up once or twice, but I like when that happens. Some of the songs started to sound alike after a while, but her lyrics are constantly stellar – in "The King," she declares, "So fuck having babies and staying at home / I'm going to the movies and drinking martinis," sentiments I can get behind. At the end of the night, Jonathan declared her his favourite, and I agreed – shame that she couldn't have performed later in the night.
Between sets, I mentioned to my brother how I was glad to be at a show where I didn't have to wear ear plugs. And then along came Sharon van Etten, with her electric guitar big enough to overwhelm her petite frame and stronger voice. Reluctantly, the ear plugs went it. (That's what you get for being half-deaf in one ear already.) I guess I wasn't inspired to note too much about her performance. I liked her; Jonathan found a lot of her songs to sound the same. Inspired journalism, ta da!
After her first or second song, Lisa Li-lund explained to the audience, "I just finished a record where there's a lot of noise, so now I'm trying to turn them into songs," a task I didn't envy her having to do all by herself onstage.
But what an odd child. Switching between her acoustic and a keyboard, she would be angelic at times, get the audience shouting at other, and then say awkward things like, "You're all like 'blood blood blood!'" at others. Which, um. I don't remember any of us being like, "Blood blood blood!" It was an...interesting insight into her mind. The bizarrerie didn't change the strength of her work, with lines like, "I'm tired of guys who cry before I've even held them once."
The handwritten bill at the door said that François Virot was to be up fourth (I think...), but instead was Emilyn Brodsky. We contemplated leaving before her set (I had to be at work, in Jersey, at 9 am), but I'm glad we stayed, even despite the crazy. She was emotive, manic, and, frankly, weird, declaring early on, "Everyone who's interesting is a little batshit crazy." (She calls herself Emilyn "cupcake punk" Brodsky on her MySpace, if that says anything.) She's the first artist I've ever seen tell off – REALLY tell off, like, "Okay, well, you all just keep talking with your friends while I sing this song...I love playing in loud bars..." – her audience for talking mid-set, which others (read : my brother) found obnoxious and off-putting, but I respected her sentiments. (She had a point – if you want to chat with your friends, go in the other bar. There's two of them.) She talked about getting her period the night before and signing contracts in menstrual blood. Oh, and she burped into the microphone mid-song at one point. So make that emotive, manic, odd, brazen and unashamed, all of which make for an interesting performance, in the very least. But beyond that, I genuinely liked a good portion of her songs, played out on a ukulele (apparently she "couldn't bring herself to learn how to play the guitar"), especially "Ebony (Bread Helps)," a song about a woman whose life is falling apart ("Bread helps with anxiety /...Bread helps when men leave"). Like Mama says, "You can always bake a cake."
Ivana XL - "Happy Birthday" Sharon van Etten - "For You"
We unfortunately did not stay for Olof Arnalds' set - we decided to head out "early," only to have to sit on the train back home for a million hours. Stupid Amtrak signaling problems. *shakes fist*
Good news, then, as you can now download "Brand New Day" (which may be new or old, but I think it may be the latter) for free. Apparently it's their most popular song, so. Have at it.
Last July, I posted about Stuck In The Sound's cover of the Kinks' hit "Lola," which they had released while working on sophomore effort Shoegazing Kids. Since then, I either deleted the file or zshare did it for me because it hadn't been downloaded in a while. As of late, however, I've gotten several requests for the file because it's pretty much impossible to find elsewhere on the Internet and it isn't up on their MySpace anymore. (Believe me, I've tried to find it, because I thought I'd lost the file for a while there.)
So I figured I'd do you guys a solid and re-up it for a little while, making my life a little easier and giving y'all the chance to hear it for a second time.
Stuck In The Sound - "Lola" (Kinks cover) [zshare] [ysi]
You can read my original post (in French, of course) here.
Cassettes Won't Listen's upcoming, all-instrumental record, entitled Into the Hillside (see cover art above...obvs...), is due out on 16th June. Here's a "preview" (read : teaser!) :
In the meantime:
Cassettes Won't Listen - "Freeze and Explode" (acoustic) [link]
Clicking on the above link will give you the opportunity to grab SIX totally FREE Homosexuals mp3s ("Fanfare," "Slow Guns," "3AM (Pink Pony)" from the Love Guns? EP, "Pentecost 2016," "Fay Gash," and "In Search of the Perfect Baby" from the upcoming Important if True EP), courtesy of Serious Business.
The Homosexuals played SXSW and then embarked on a follow-up tour that garnereda whole lotof incredible press. Seriously. That's just three links of like, a million. I can't even list it all here. Which is why all the pictures, press, videos, and more have been culled together by Ser Biz for your viewing pleasure over here.
Missed the Homos on tour? If you live in Boston, they'll be playing at the 'Dise on 7th May.
Oh, Bishop Allen. Why must you make things so complicated?
I came across Bishop Allen back in mid-2007 when a friend told me to "go download every free mp3 on their website." Said friend has impeccable taste in music, so I did as I was told, and the rest is a long, complicated, emotional history of the past two years and the people and places in-between. Chances are if there's a poignant moment in that period, I've commemorated it with a Bishop Allen track. They have become – nay, have always been – a band that makes me cry, as the above friend once noted a few months ago, taking the proverbial words right out of my mouth.
Many complained that their second LP, The Broken String, released in the summer of 2007, was merely a "best of" their EP collection and ergo, nothing new, nothing gained. I disagree; while, on the whole, I prefer the EP versions of their songs to the album versions (something known as Demoitis), each version carries its own particular significance. It's hard to truly forgo one in favour of the other.
Enter anticipation of their third effort, the strangely but perhaps aptly-titled Grr.
I can’t really say anything bad about Grr.
That being said, I can't really say anything spectacular about it, either. An odd sentiment when one considers that it is an album of flawless pop songs.
The problem largely lies in the fact that the Bishop Allen formula has become predictable. The melodies are predictable, the harmonies predictable, the lyrics predictable. What was interesting, quirky or innovative on their freshman and sophomore efforts seems more contrived the third time around.
Not that this is damning at all. Remember, these are flawless songs, after all. Opening track, "Dimmer," is quintessential Bishop Allen, something that could sit comfortably among the tracks from The Broken String. The sparse orchestration of closer "Tiger, Tiger," with the haunting strings and percussion and not much else, ends the record on sobering, more mature note. In-between we’re treated to gems like "Dirt On Your New Shoes," swelling to its lyrical climax fifteen seconds from the end, or the lovely, pleading "Don't Hide Away" and "True or False." When I get past my dislike for the whisper-singing in "South China Moon," I’m greeted with a sweeping refrain and a richly orchestrated bridge.
But, while I like "The Lion & The Teacup," I’m forced to think why I should prefer it over "Like Castanets," "Oklahoma" over "The Chinatown Bus," "Cue The Elephants" over "The Same Fire."
These are perfect, joyous, sing-along friendly pop gems. But it all lacks the same, unpolished, raw feel from Charm School (and earlier punk project, Pissed Officers). It lacks the same emotional punch that made Broken String and the twelve EPs that preceded it so memorable. It's a little too polished, a little too refined and, well. A little too Bishop Allen. (Is it possible to be a little too yourself?) And while I'll take Bishop Allen's brand of predictability over a majority of bands' any day, it truly does equate to "nothing new, nothing gained" this time around.
Bishop Allen - "The Ancient Commonsense of Things" [link] Bishop Allen - "Dimmer" [link]
I'm a bit late on the uptake here (sorry, I was in New Haven sans internet when this happened), but y'allknowhow muchI loveLooker, so when they get the attention they deserve, it's sorta' exciting. The title track to their 2008 release Born In The Desert was NPR's song of the day on the 18th, to glowing review:
Just because Looker's "Born In The Desert" doesn't have roaring power chords, a simple 4/4 backbeat or explicit aggression doesn't mean that there weren't plenty of songs like it that were categorized as punk during the late '70s. The do-it-yourself aesthetic of the time resulted in many different musical approaches, even if the quick codification of the canonical sound forced everything else underground to either die or eke out an existence long enough for "post-punk" music to arrive and make sense of it.
You may have needed a $700 billion bailout, Wall Street, but Serious Business Records is having the Best Year Ever!
Okay, yeah, that's a lame joke. Sorry.
But up for free download from now until forever is Ser Biz's annual year-end compilation record, The Year In Business: 2008, packed with 2008's biggest tracks from the NY-based label.
Tracklist:
1. Rocketship Park - "Because (Two Candles)" from Off and Away 2. The Two Man Gentlemen Band - "Dippin' Sauce" from Heavy Petting 3. Benji Cossa - Volcano from the Benji Cossa and the Tightens LP 4. Looker - "Gates of the Old City" from Born in the Desert 5. Higgins - "Charly" from Zs 6. Secret Dakota Ring - "The Fade to Black" from Cantarell 7. Jack and the Pulpits - "Dance Area" from Jack and the Pulpits EP 8. The Homosexuals - "Slow Guns" from Love Guns? 10" EP 9. The Unsacred Hearts - "Where Are You" from forthcoming second Hearts album, The Honor Bar 10. The Two Man Gentlemen Band - "The Rabbit Foot Stomp" from the forthcoming fourth full-length Gents record, Drip Dryin' with the Two Man Gentlemen Band(out on 14th January) 11. Benji Cossa - "April" from Benji Cossa's Vault Vol. 2: Jewels and Gems 12. Higgins - "Make a Mistake" from Trust in Higgins Vol. 1 13. Jack and the Pulpits - "Show Off" from forthcoming 2nd JatP EP, a prequel to their first 14. Boshra al Saadi - "Daddy You Been On My Mind" unreleased Bob Dylan cover recorded in the men's room at Serious Business, 1st December 2008 15. Rocketship Park - "Seasons" from Off and Away
The whole compilation is FREE and up for download as a .Zip here. If you feel like donating a few dollars to Ser Biz, they'll send you a CD copy, too.
.....
I'ma probably do some sort of 2008-in-pictures-I-took-concerts post sometime soon, too. I know you're all just dying to read that...evs.
So the world is going to end soon. Apparently. Or so I'm told. I didn't know anything about this whole particle collider business until a few days ago because I really stopped paying attention to really sciencey things when I finished AP Bio junior year of high school. (I really wanted to be a meterologist when I was little. Or an astronomer. True story! Look where I am now - teaching English. Ha.)
Anyway, a couple of months ago, somebody turned me on to Arrah and the Fern's first (and only) record, Evan Is A Vegan, and it's been getting heavy rotation 'round these parts. "Science Books" is just brilliant.
Les gars de Stuck In The Sound sont en train d'enregistrer leur deuxième album, et je m'impatiente! Je les adooooooooore. Je ne connais ni le nom de l'album ni la date de sortie ni s'il serait disponible aux Etats-Unis, mais ça me mets égal, je suis ravie.
Pour le moment, ils nous donnent ce nouveau titre, une reprise de "Lola," la chanson qui était un énorme succès pour les Kinks.
Stuck In The Sound - "Lola" (The Kinks cover) [ysi] [zshare]
Enorme cette chanson!
De nouvelles dates en France: 13 septembre - Summer Festival - Carmaux 28 novembre - Le Kabardock - La Réunion 29 janvier - La Maroquinerie (avec I Am Un Chien) - Paris
All shows are 21+ unless otherwise noted. Check venue sites for individual show tickets.
Tack this onto an already show-packed weekend (The Fratellis on the 13th, though I'll probably miss that, plus Vampire Weekend and then Nightmare of You on the 14th).
Tullycraft - "Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend Is Too Stupid To Know About" [link]
It's June (already!), Memorial Day has come and gone, and you all know what that means: it's unofficially summer. Time for pools, beaches, festivals, and, of course, watermelon.
That brings us to this, possibly the most adorable music video I've ever seen:
I've just finished my last semester of college and moved back home, so you know what that means - I have a degree and I'm unemployed! Which, obviously, means time for updating and posting about all the stuff I meant to post about three months ago. Aren't you all excited?! Of course you are. Don't give me that.
I got a heads-up a few days before the show to check out openers The Republic Tigers, who have been getting loads of good press as of late, thanks to their showings at SXSW and their debut LP, Keep Color, released 6th May on Chop Shop. (Not to mention a recent showing on Letterman.) I usually show up for opening bands anyway, so I made it a point to see them.
The Republic Tigers find themselves sitting somewhere between the organic and synthetic, creating a something that is cinematic in scope and yet homespun and earthbound. It's not necessarily a sound towards which I, Queen of Hooks-and-Harmonies, would gravitate, but they've layered all this on top an audible pop foundation. ("We’re not ashamed to say we love pop music; it’s not something to be embarrassed of.")
The band has already garnered a myriad of comparisons to The Shins ("Weatherbeaten," "Made Concrete," "Fight Song") and Mew, and I some hear Interpol ("Golden Sand", "The Nerve"), but there's a lot more to it than just their sum of "they-sound-like-so-and-so." Keep Color is the sort of record you can let wash over you, but also hone in on and find its details and introspective wisdom. ("We've been searching all our lives for something we've always had but have no eyes to see..." ; "Don't believe the scientists that tell you what to think...") The record starts with the melodic "Buildings & Mountains" and unfolds into the space around you, revealing haunting vocals, carefully constructed syncopation, and beautiful production, all while keeping you on your toes with unexpected chord changes and songs that open with "It's time for the party to make some sound" and then demand "How much responsibility do you bear for the uses others might make of your ideas?", songs that command "Evacuate now!"
Back to April: The Tigers played a low-key show at the Iron Horse. It was a late show, there was a small crowd, and the sound wasn't exactly spot-on for their set. But they kept up their charm, on-stage and off. (They're all terribly nice guys.) More importantly, they have manged to translate their cinematic sound with a five-piece band. Says Adam McGill, "If there are 12 keyboard tracks in a song, you can’t really play that many parts in a live setting...So we’ll pull the essential tracks and play our live instrumentation along with them."
A few weeks after I saw them, Keep Color and the video for "Buildings & Mountains" were both released:
It's a gorgeous visual work, and the ending image of the band, adrift in a desert, is wholly appropriate. We are, after all, doing battle with modern life: adrift in these cities that arise, this age of industry, the very same modernity that makes the band's partially synthetic sound possible. We should remember to stop and breathe the air while we can.
The Republic Tigers - "Buildings & Mountains" [link] The Republic Tigers - "Fight Song"
Oh, and to top it all off, the lucky ducks are touring with Nada Surf this summer. Catch them if/when you can.
Upcoming shows: 25 May - The Spazzatorium Galleria - Greenville, NC 27 May - The Soap Box - Wilmington, NC 28 May - Village Tavern - Mt. Pleasant, SC 29 May - Local 506 - Chapel Hill, NC 30 May - Center Stage Theatre - Athens, GA* 31 May - Jack Rabbits - Jacksonville, FL* 1 June - The Social - Orlando, FL* 2 June - Studio A - Miami, FL* 3 June - State Theatre - St. Petersburg, FL* 5 June - Mercy Lounge - Nashville, TN * 6 June - TBA - Memphis, TN * 7 June - St. Louis, MO - Bluebird * 8 June - Ribfest Chicago - Chicago, IL* 9 June - The Music Mill- Indianapolis, IN * 10 June - The Basement - Columbus, OH * 11 June - Beachland Ballroom & Tavern - Cleveland, OH * * w/ Nada Surf 29th May w/ The Helio Sequence
It's a late one. The Hearts' set is at MIDNIGHT right in the middle of the Delancey's 2-for-1 drink special hour (12-1). Show details below.
The Unsacred Hearts Live at the The Delancey Friday, May 16 Hearts @ midnight with Superfortress, Blip Blip Bleep, The Picture, The Diggs.
168 Delancey St (btwn Clinton and Attorney)
Also, free songs:
The Unsacred Hearts - "Stuck Inside a Mobile Home With the Mansion Blues Again" [link] The Unsacred Hearts - "Point of Pride" [link] The Unsacred Hearts - "I Am Joe" [link]
Be sure to catch this show, because they probably won't play another one for a good while.
I've been wasting my vacation Flipping through these hundred stations And my body's fine But my head's seen better days
About t1p!g
A former mp3 blog started in 2007 on a whim, wherein I pretend to know things about music. I write about what I like and what catches my attention. Expect powerpop, indie rock, guilty pleasures, and stuff by people I actually know. No
year-end lists, plenty of corny analogies and ridiculous vocabulary. Welcome!
Disclaimerish Stuff
If you think I should be listening to a particular band or artist, feel free to contact me and share, but not if you're a spambot. that1popgem [at] gmail [dot] com
Everything here is by me, unless it's by someone else.
Blog title and lyrics from "That One Pop Gem" by We Are Scientists. Credit where credit is due. I'm not affiliated in any way with WAS, though I've seen them a lot of times and lost count.
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