Category Archives: general

PAPA: A Good Woman is Hard to Find EP

January 20, 2012 Kevin 4 Comments

It might be helpful if, before I go to a show, I do a little homework on the opening band. Then I’d probably know if said band was any good. I’d also probably know if it was led by someone that’s in another fairly popular band. But then, sometimes it’s nice to be surprised. And that was the case with PAPA, which opened for Handsome Furs on Wednesday night at Crescent Ballroom.

Led by Girls drummer Darren Weiss (who also sings â€“ a feat of coordination not often seen), PAPA had me at the first song of its set, “Collector,” which I frantically tracked down the next day. It’s part of a five-song EP, A Good Woman is Hard to Find, that was released in October on Hit City U.S.A./Psychedelic Judaism. Seriously, I want to amend the year-end mix CD I make for friends to include “Collector,” a pop earworm that winds up and really lets loose around the 2:40 mark, with Weiss working up from a whisper before hollering, “I just want to be quiet now!” It was a great moment live, and a wise choice as an opening song.

Stream the EP below and pick it up on limited-relase vinyl at Hit City U.S.A.

Here’s the video for “I Am the Lion King”:

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New Miniature Tigers: Female Doctor (plus album release date, tracklisting)

January 13, 2012 Kevin 1 Comment

It was about four months ago that we heard “Boomerang,” the first bit of material from the forthcoming Miniature Tigers album Mia Pharaoh.

Now there’s a release date (March 6 on Modern Art), an album cover (above), a tracklisting (below) and another new tune (“Female Doctor”) as the New York-by-way-of-Phoenix band follows up on 2010’s Fortress.

Spin premiered “Female Doctor,” along with its (possibly NSFW?) cleave-teasing video that was spliced together from clips of Eastern European reality TV. As for the song itself, “Female Doctor” makes a grab for glam-pop, with its infectious synth lines and danceable beat.

Stream the song and watch the video at Spin.

Mia Pharaoh tracklisting:
1. Sex On The Regular
2. Female Doctor
3. Cleopatra
4. Afternoons With David Hockney
5. Easy As All That
6. Flower Door
7. Boomerang
8. Ugly Needs
9. Angel Bath
10. Husbands and Wives

general

Digital Leather: Young Doctors in Love

January 11, 2012 Kevin Leave a comment

As usual every January, I’ve barely wrapped my head around the previous year while new songs and albums are emerging for what will likely make for another promising 12 months of music.

The first song to grab my attention for the new year comes from the Yuma, Ariz.-born Shawn Foree (aka Digital Leather), whose forthcoming full-length, Modern Problems, will be released Feb. 14 on FDH Records. The album is Foree’s first since the death of his good friend Jay Reatard last January and, in his own words, “is a narrative of the grieving process.”

“Lyrically, this is personal stuff. Iâ€™m letting it all hang out â€“ the beautiful as well as the hideous. I was conscientious about the lyrics, but not to the point of tedium.”

The first leak, “Young Doctors in Love,” immediately pulls you into Foree’s fuzzed-out synths and emotional state of mind. He says he created an alter-ego, writing the album from the vantage point of a character who lost a loved one, and “Young Doctors” expresses that from the opening lines: “Just for one more night, let’s relive the past / You and I both know it’s disappearing fast.” (Later, he sings, “Hey, I think we’re alone now,” a coy nod to a recognizable refrain.)

Modern Problems, the follow-up to 2009’s Warm Brother (Fat Possum), is available for pre-order at FDH.

Digital Leather | Young Doctors in Love

This post also reminds me that I’ve never written anything about Digital Leather’s 2009 cover of MGMT’s “Time to Pretend,” a brooding, lo-fi rendition that (I dare say) I prefer to the original. You can still grab it at Stereogum.

general

Light in the Attic reissues Morphine’s Cure for Pain on vinyl

January 6, 2012 Kevin 1 Comment

Not to overly fetishize the notion of vinyl, but if any album belongs on wax — with all its clicks and pops and dusty imperfections — it has to be Morphine’s sophomore breakthrough, Cure for Pain. Other than a rare, 20-year-old Brazilian pressing (copies of which fetch $200-plus on eBay), the 1993 album has previously never been pressed to vinyl in the U.S.

But Light in the Attic — the Seattle-based label that specializes in reissues — has stepped up to fill the void, releasing a remastered, 180-gram version on its Modern Classics Recordings imprint. The reissue includes new liner notes and interviews with surviving band members.

It was, tragically, in July 1999 that frontman Mark Sandman collapsed on stage in Italy and died of a heart attack at the age of 46. (I had a ticket to see Morphine and Soul Coughing on Aug. 1 of the same year in Austin.) Between this reissue and the documentary, Cure for Pain: The Mark Sandman Story (read a Q&A with the filmmakers here), the off-beat Boston trio could reach a new/wider audience, and deservedly so.

Without the use of and need for an electric guitar, Morphine branded its form of “low rock” around Sandman’s homemade two-string slide bass, accompanied by Dana Colley on sax (long before Destroyer, Bon Iver and the like found it cool) and Billy Conway on drums. Almost twenty years later, Cure for Pain sounds as moody and original as it did when I was 16 years old — but now, in my mid-30s, Sandman’s lyrics feel a little more real.

I can’t wait to get my hands on this reissue and my eyes on the documentary. Check out the trailer for it below:

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The Twilight Sad: Never Tear Us Apart (INXS cover)

December 26, 2011 Kevin Leave a comment

I’ve long pestered my brother about his band doing an INXS cover â€“ preferably something off Welcome to Wherever You Are (such a good album) and preferably the song “Not Enough Time.”

Maybe that’ll happen in the future, but in the meantime The Twilight Sad is offering a dark, lo-fi version of the INXS song “Never Tear Us Apart,” from the equally excellent 1987 album Kick. It’s available as a free Christmas gift â€“ inspired by its appearance on the soundtrack to Donnie Darko, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary â€“ though the typically bleak and simmering emotions from these angry Scots will undoubtedly dampen your holiday spirits.

Head to the band’s site to send an e-card to that special mope in your life.

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Mayer Hawthorne: Dreaming (video)

December 15, 2011 Kevin 3 Comments

Looking back, is there anything more terrifying than The Rock-afire Explosion, the animatronic house band from Showbiz Pizza Place back in the day?

I had heard about the documentary that was made about the band and a man’s nostalgic quest to purchase his very own Rock-afire Explosion. And now Mayer Hawthorne’s new video for the song “Dreaming” has reminded me to add the movie to our Netflix queue.

Nostalgia was a key theme to Hawthorne’s video for the song “A Long Time,” also off his new album How Do You Do. For “Dreaming,” Hawthorne takes two girls on a pizza date before joining Rock-afire on stage.

It never dawned on me as a child, but why the hell is there a cheerleader in the band?

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Jimmy Eat World headlines Wooden Blue records reunion/benefit: Dec. 23 at Crescent Ballroom

December 1, 2011 Kevin 1 Comment

I’ve been fortunate to hang around the Phoenix/Tempe music scene long enough to meet creative and ambitious people from every angle â€“ musicians to promoters to writers and more. And inevitably in Phoenix, being the small big town that it is, paths cross. It usually makes for an enlightening game of six degrees of separation: This band has a guy who played in that band with so and so from another band … and on it goes. I’ve often thought of what a local music family tree would look like â€“ probably a sprawling but familiar web of so many talented names.

And still there are stories and memories untold. I’ve known Jeremy Yocum and Joel Leibow â€“ founders of Wooden Blue Records â€“ for some time now, but it dawned on me that I’m woefully lacking in my history of their label, which they ran from the early to mid ’90s. I don’t recall the specific time â€“ I likely didn’t meet them until my years at Arizona State, a few years after Wooden Blue’s time â€“ but I know I met them through my brother, who was in a band with a guy who lived with a guy who … yeah, you get the idea.

For one night, Wooden Blue is getting the band(s) back together. Jimmy Eat World (who put out its self-titled debut, a 7-inch and a split 7-inch on Wooden Blue), Haskel, Aquanaut Drinks Coffee (whose Ryan Kennedy now plays with Reubens Accomplice), Halema’uma’u and possibly more will play a show on Dec. 23 at Crescent Ballroom in a benefit for Phoenix Children’s Hospital. It’s $15, and you can buy tickets here, assuming it hasn’t sold out by the time you’ve read this.

I’ve already talked with Jeremy about a possible Q&A in advance of the show. In the meantime, you can dig through the Wooden Blue MySpace page for music, flyers and photos. And just to make sure the connections continue, I’ve been in touch with the man responsible for designing that great flyer you see above, Kevin Lane, about a new logo/design for this site.

Also, Aquanaut Drinks Coffee has a whole host of active mp3s, including this one dedicated to Yocum:

Aquanaut Drinks Coffee | Jeremy

Jimmy Eat World: “Splat Out of Luck” (from self-titled debut):

general

The National: High Beams (demo)

November 18, 2011 Kevin Leave a comment

Brassland, the label founded by Alec Hanley Bemis and twin National guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month by giving away a song a day in November.

Now, I’m only about 19 days late on this, but there’s still time to get free goodies â€“ and you can easily find some of the tracks Brassland already has given away.

The National, now playing to some 18,000 people these days, got its start from the New York-based label, and any fan (new or old) should take the time to explore the band’s early work on Brassland (not to mention other artists on the label like Baby Dayliner, Doveman and more). On Nov. 3, the label’s giveaway was a song called “High Beams,” which apparently is one of the earliest known demos by The National and has been out of circulation for five years (its last likely appearance coming on a 2005 Music For Robots compilation).

I believe the download link has vanished, but it’s still available to stream via SoundCloud below. As a demo recorded in 2000, this is obviously not the polished product we know now. But it’s great that the National and Brassland have offered it up, letting us trace the band back to its humble beginnings. Still, even in an early demo (and with the benefit of 10 years of material to compare it to), it’s pretty clear to see where the National was headed.

Pitchfork posted Brassland’s giveaway schedule, which includes another National track on Monday (“Mr. November” perhaps?).

Another of my favorites of the batch has been the Baby Dayliner track “When I Look Into Your Eyes,” a new song that is exclusive to the giveaway. New Baby Dayliner is always good in my book. Or as one commenter once said: “Baby Dayliner is pure tits.” I think that works well as a promotional quote for the next album.

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Telekinesis: Country Lane (video)

November 8, 2011 Kevin Leave a comment

It’s hard to believe, but the time for year-end list making is upon us (unless, like me, you sort of, um, just didn’t make one last year). In some ways, these lists feel a lot like the NCAA Tournament – we’re swayed by what’s fresh in our minds. Who has been most impressive most recently? Albums in the first quarter tend to be forgotten as we fawn over the next Greatest Album of This Week.

I hope that line of thinking doesn’t keep Telekinesis’ 12 Desperate Straight Lines from garnering much-deserved attention.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence then that a new video for the song “Country Lane” arrived on Monday, serving as a conveniently timed reminder of Michael Benjamin Lerner’s power-pop prowess. Using clips from the road and scrapbook-inspired animation, the video looks more like a tour documentary showing just how glamorous life as an indie rock star can be.

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New Source Victoria: Nobody Knows But Me

November 3, 2011 Kevin 1 Comment

We heard the first bit of the new Source Victoria album in July with a three-song EP for the single “Once I’m Dead” (available at Bandcamp). Now with CDs for Slow Luck in hand, burning a hole in the cardboard box they were shipped in, the band is offering a listen of another new track, “Nobody Knows But Me,” at its website (and below).

It can also be said that the album release show will be on Nov. 25 â€“ that’s Black Friday â€“ at the shiny new Crescent Ballroom in downtown Phoenix with openers Jeff Bufano and Chris Corak (of Reubens Accomplice) and Colorstore. The album artwork was done by Sam Means (formerly of the Format), who is also among the handful of musical contributors that includes Jon Rauhouse (pedal-steel ace and member of Neko Case’s band), Lisa Loeb (yep), Jamal Ruhe (vocals and mastering) and more.

So far as I know, Slow Luck will be available for purchase at most of the major digital retailers (iTunes, Amazon, etc.) and streaming at the usual spots (Spotify, Rhapsody, etc.).

Alas, those are sort of the nuts and bolts of the album. And even though I’ve had it in hand digitally for some time (and now in physical form) and seen the songs live countless times, I’m still digesting it all. Writing anything about your brother’s band is sort of a daunting proposition â€“ not to mention one that will sound totally biased. Nevertheless, I’m hoping to have more as the album release show approaches (maybe even an awkward Q&A with my own brother??).

For now, though, check out “Nobody Knows But Me”: