Walter Schreifels, member and/or founder of Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand, Rival Schools and, most recently, Walking Concert, showed up recently for an acoustic set on AOL’s the Interface. Schreifels’ work, at least early in his career, existed in a bit of a hardcore vacuum, so the thought of hearing any of those tracks stripped to just an acoustic guitar seemed curiously contrary to the soul of bands like Gorilla Biscuits or Quicksand, one of my favorites.

Nevertheless, songs have to start somewhere – regardless of their final form – and I suppose an acoustic guitar is as good a place as any. Instead of splicing up the entire set, I took out just the two Quicksand songs Schreifels performed: Dine Alone (off Slip) and Thorn in My Side (off Manic Compression).

Dine Alone, as much of a hit as Quicksand ever had, might best be left plugged in, but Schreifels does some cool work with Thorn in My Side, including tapping out the opening drum line vocally.

Get the entire set with interview via AOL.

Walter Schreifels | Dine Alone (acoustic)
Walter Schreifels | Thorn in My Side (acoustic)

Also, Schreifels announced via MySpace that he’s released an album by Moondog, his pre-Quicksand band that never saw a proper album release. More information at Anthology Recordings, a digital-only label.

UPDATE: Quicksand fans can find video of the band performing Thorn in My Side on the old Jon Stewart Show here at YouTube. (Thanks, B.)

Thank God Stereogum has time to track down all things music on the interweb else I might have overlooked Jeremy Enigk’s in-studio performance on AOL’s the Interface.

Enigk, whose first solo album in 10 years, World Waits, I’m slowly absorbing one song at a time, played five tracks here, including Sunny Day Real Estate’s How it Feels to Something On. It’s still a little bit hard to separate Enigk solo from Enigk as Sunny Day frontman, difficult to accept that. That feels like a natural reaction, although I’m not down on World Waits at all. For whatever reason, I seem to be digesting it slower than other albums of late. Probably because I want to be measured in my reaction to it.

Kudos to AOL for a great interview, too. Enigk said his live show consists of a five-piece band with five or six songs from Return of the Frong Queen, five or six from World Waits, a song from the United States of Leland (score for the movie) and “maybe even a little bit of Sunny Day Real Estate.” He also spoke of the Fire Theft (his post-SDRE project) just being a studio band, and releasing a future record on his Lewis Hollow label.

(On that note, Enigk is opening for Cursive, including Oct. 31 at Marquee Theatre in Tempe and Nov. 1 at Rialto Theatre in Tucson. See Stateside Presents for ticket info.)

As for the title World Waits, Enigk said, “there’s so much hatred and there’s sickness and there’s war … and what’s the world doing? Everybody knows this stuff is bad, but we keep on doing it, and what are you waiting for? We’re aware of how to make a difference but it’s just not moving in that direction.”

I’ve spliced the Interface performance into individual mp3s. For the full download (with interview), go here.

Jeremy Enigk, AOL’s the Interface:

1. River to Sea
2. Lewis Hollow
3. Explain
4. World Waits
5. How it Feels to be Something On

Previously:
Jeremy Enigk: “World Waits”

Having recently been more than slightly obsessed with Elvis Perkins’ beautiful track While You Were Sleeping (mp3s at his site), I didn’t quite know what to make of his touring with the Cold War Kids and Dr. Dog (the latter of which I admittedly know nothing about).

From what I’ve heard, Perkins exudes a hushed, introspective tone; Cold War Kids have a more outgoing, blues style. I suppose stranger tour pairings have been hatched, with successful results at that. Then this KEXP session from Tuesday went ahead and squashed whatever aspirations I had of being any sort of concert promoter; seriously, what the hell do I know?

Each band played two of its own songs, but, by the sound of it, I think were assisted by just about every musician in the room. (If that sounds like I’m asking KEXP nicely to add video to its in-studio performances, you’re probably right.) This version of Cold War Kids’ Saint John, aided by an upright bass, is soulful and full of life; that bassline just grounds the whole affair, no matter how many musicians are whistling or clanging away on cymbals.

But my favorite track of the session is How’s Forever Been Baby by Perkins, who sometimes plays with his band, Elvis Perkins in Dearland. His voice walks this fine line of being peaceful, haunting and comforting. A self-released CD, Ash Wednesday, is available at Insound.

Be sure to visit KEXP’s blog.

Dr. Dog, Elvis Perkins, Cold War Kids, live on KEXP (9/12/06):

1. California (Dr. Dog)
2. Die, Die, Die (Dr. Dog)
3. How’s Forever Been Baby (Elvis Perkins)
4. Doom’s Day (Elvis Perkins)
5. Expensive Tastes (Cold War Kids)
6. Saint John (Cold War Kids)

Meanwhile, file under EERIE: When I last posted Cold War Kids performing on KEXP in June, I also wrote a couple lines about Elvis Perkins’ While You Were Sleeping, a totally unrelated and, now it appears, bizarre coincidence.

The Long Winters’ new album, Putting the Days to Bed, slowly has been growing on me. I became pretty wrapped up with the Ultimatum EP (especially The Commander Thinks Aloud thanks to Chris’ persistence), which was my introduction to John Roderick. The good thing about that is once I wear out Putting the Days to Bed, I’ll have older albums to catch up with, and they’ll seem new – to me.

As for this KEXP set, Roderick seems to be about the nicest guy in rock. The group’s appearance lasts 50-plus minutes, a performance heavy on the new stuff – including playing the first three songs off Putting the Days to Bed to start. It makes me sad that I’ll miss their show Sept. 12 at the Rhythm Room in Phoenix. Boo work!

On a final note, the more I ponder the title of the album, Putting the Days to Bed, the more depressing I find it, like some sad concession to a rote life or an admission to just getting through it for the sake of … nothing. From the song Hindsight: “Did you say what you wanted said, and now you’re just putting the days to bed.”

The Long Winters, live on KEXP, 8/14/06:
1. Pushover
2. Fire Island, AK
3. Teaspoon
4. Honest
5. Ultimatum
6. Clouds
7. Seven
8. Car Parts

Related:
Indie Interviews chatted via e-mail with Roderick about lyrics on Putting the Days to Bed. Great job by Garrison.

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If you haven’t seen already, WOXY will cease to exist. And that just blows.”This is the moment all of us hoped would never come. After plugging away at this for the past two years, it’s become pretty clear that operating woxy.com as a stand-alone Internet “radio station” is not going to cut it. Our operating costs are higher than you might think, and the revenue we were able to generate from advertising isn’t close to supporting what we’re doing.”

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Radio Indie Pop is streaming TV on the Radio’s Return to Cookie Mountain.

It’s been well-documented around here (see below) that we’re fans of Rob Dickinson in all his forms: as lead singer of Catherine Wheel or in his recently reincarnated solo life. So an acoustic session for WOXY Lounge Acts was bound to excite us. (By “us” and “we” I mean me. “Us” sounds more fun, like I have a staff working for me. Come on, play along.)

Since his solo debut Fresh Wine for the Horses came out late last year, Dickinson has been on the road, playing mostly acoustic shows. (A live session from New York City is available here on iTunes.) It’s difficult to hear his soaring voice and not get nostalgic for Catherine Wheel, though I’m learning (slowly) to separate the two. In his interview with WOXY, he wouldn’t go so far as to say the group has broken up, but it’s been “parked.” A nice way of saying Catherine Wheel has gone kaput for good. Sigh.

Ah, no sense in crying over spilled milk. But I do reserve the right to say that I think the cover for Fresh Wine is … corny. (I mean, seahorses? Wow.) I can forgive him this.

Get full download (with interview) here.

Rob Dickinson, WOXY.com Lounge Acts, 8/16/06:

1. Oceans
2. My Name is Love
3. Bathe Away
4. Future Boy*
5. Heal*

* – Catherine Wheel songs

Related:
Rob Dickinson on KCRW
Rob Dickinson, live in Scottsdale Part I
Rob Dickinson, live in Scottsdale Part II
Rob Dickinson on WXPN’s World Cafe
Rob Dickinson on Rehearsals.com (via Chromewaves)

Big thanks to Largehearted Boy, who reminded us all about Silversun Pickups’ performance on WOXY last week. I really need a better system to organize these things, but that’s another story.

As if the local concert calendar isn’t already blowin’ up, Silversun Pickups are playing Modified on Oct. 1 with Viva Voce. ‘Bout damn time.

Anyway, there’s been some discussion among us nerds bloggers about Silversun Pickups on the heels of the release of Carnavas. The obvious comparison (which I’ve made myself) is Smashing Pumpkins. Eric made a Nirvana circa Bleach parallel after seeing Silversun at the Midwest Music Summit. In his words: “They were fucking loud.” (Now I really can’t wait to see them.)

Thing is, these comparisons are nothing more than a convenience for us – a way to identify a new band with a familiar sound and name. We do it all the time. Yes, Silversun Pickups recall Smashing Pumpkins, but is that enough to disregard them? That’s simply a starting point. If the descriptions are enough to pull you in, then it’s up to the listener to dig deeper than the surface comparisons. Personally, I find something a little more compact and efficient to Silversun’s sound than, say, Smashing Pumpkins. Not to mention, I never could stand Billy Corgan’s voice in large doses. (And besides, this whole Billy Corgan-looking-like-a-character-in-THX 1138-phase creeps me out.)

Anyway, get the full, uncut mp3 (with interview) from WOXY. Thank you, WOXY.

Silversun Pickups, WOXY.com Lounge Acts, 8/9/06:
1. Well Thought Out Twinkles
2. Rusted Wheel
3. Future Foe Scenarios/Kissing Families
(they connected these songs with a synth-driven bridge and I didn’t want to ruin the effect)
4. Lazy Eye

Related:
Silversun Pickups Well Thought Out Twinkles video
Silversun Pickups Well Thought Out Twinkles (mp3)
Silversun Pickups on KEXP (9/26/05)

Oh Lily, what a splash you’ve made. This little lady has packed a wallop around the mp3blog arena. Her pixie looks, fun tunes and overall cheeky Englishness has the her home Isle gaga too. Her single is top of the pops and her album is slated to follow suit.

Recently, Miss Allen stopped by Annie Mac’s show on the BBC 1. She contributed a mini mix, apparently mixed on some decks and cdjs since Lily has done some djing work. She presents a summery five minutes where she drops some standard island music and works in her own track, LDN

Lily Allen | Mini Mix for Annie Mac

Saturday night is all sorts of busy in the Phoenix area. For starters, you got the Cloud Room opening for Muse at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. Over in Tempe at Marquee Theatre, Rob Dickinson (formerly of Catherine Wheel) is opening for the Church.

(Chromewaves has more on Rob Dickinson today, including this link to Rehearsals.com for an interview and a couple of live songs on video.)

But in an unbelievable alignment of the planets and stars, I got a Saturday night off and sourceVictoria happens to be playing. So Annie and I are headed to the Last Exit in Tempe for that.

After that, we’re headed to the Rogue Bar in Scottsdale for a guest DJ set by the Cloud Room at the ultra-hip club night Shake!, where the kids with the sweetest, most indie bangs come out to dance.

In honor, here’s a little radio rip of the Cloud Room from Minnesota Public Radio’s the Current back in March.

The Cloud Room, live on the Current, 3/26/06:

1. We Sleep in the Ocean
2. Eleanor (unreleased)
3. Hey Now Now

Related:
Pictures/recap of the Cloud Room in Phoenix (4/4/06)