artists
shows
6/06 @ PUBLIC ASSEMBLY
6/18 @ ZUZU
6/23 @ LOREM IPSUM
Here We Go Magic’s A Different Ship is my favorite album of the year thusfar. At least most listened to. Drone Pop sounds like a brief, fitting description in my head. It’s out this week; listen for yourself thanks to their label Secretly Canadian.
A hat tip to Jen at The Bomber Jacket for sharing the music of ועדת חריגים (Google says that’s Exceptions Committee in English) with me. Promising sounds from Berlin-via-Israel, something I would recommend for any fans of Sister-era Sonic Youth or when Yo La Tengo gets all feedbacky. They have a Facebook page for you to keep tabs.
James Mercer of The Shins :: KBOO, Portland Oregon :: 01/07/2004
01 Caring is Creepy
02 Baby Boomerang (T-Rex)
03 So Says I
04 New Slang
05 Young Pilgrims
06 Gone for Good
07 One by One All Day
08 Harvest (Neil Young)
09 The Past and Pending
10 The Holiday Song (Pixies)
11 The Gloating Sun
12 Pink Bullets
13 Turn a Square
download ZIP of all 13 MP3s
Monday morning music. This is such a great songwriter’s set from The Shins’ frontman, an indication that the band was and always will be James Mercer. Most of his best songs, three choice covers, acoustic guitar, occasional harmonica, a perfect delivery of so many great lyrics.
“THIS ALBUM IS PERFECT FOR THE SEASON”
Requesting this phrase and all variations be removed from the minds of music writers. Because you’re basically praising the record label or person who decided when to release the album.
Squirrel Nut Zippers “Twilight”
It’s great to not read Squirrel Nut Zippers’ name on the Swing Revival Wikipedia page. That’s because they didn’t revive much swing in their music. There was much more of a focus on instrumentation and improvisation… likely a reason to name their album Hot. Try this one out in the wee ours of your weekend.
One of my favorite surprises of Earthquake Party’s tour was randomly catching Bare Mutants’ set on my birthday at The Burlington in Chicago. I was excited for recordings, and Hozac came thru with the Without You single last month. I’m fond of “Inside My Head”, the single’s B-side, especially the delay-fueled guitar solo at the end. Perfect vibes for a night off on the road.
Thank god Young Adults are hitting the road. While they never even got to play their music properly outside of Boston with their original lineup, they’re officially overdue to show the world what they’ve been up to since. An entirely new batch of blown out punk anthems are in firing position, including two for sale as a tour-only cassingle: Context b/w Born in ‘91. MP3s to be posted whenever that’s possible, but Bostonians can stand witness tonight over at O’Brien’s with Bedroom Eyes and Chandeliers. Click thru the amazing flyer for more info on the NYC/Philly/Baltimore/Brooklyn shows.
Deleted scene from High Fidelity. One of my favorite parts from the Nick Hornby novel.
Birthdays “Howolding Girls”
My favorite video makers in town (the guys who made this one, and this one… and this one) teamed up with my favorite Babydude in town for this hypnotic video. What really does it for me is the attention to detail during the third verse, where director Addison Post mimics every move of the sliced-n-diced music. Sharp.
Birthdays is going international on Sunday: off to Tokyo for a few weeks of shows. Bostonians can properly send the man off tonight at Great Scott or Wednesday at Gay Gardens.
