and i'm waiting patiently, waiting for a sign. on july 11th Muse is releasing the follow-up to their highly successful 2004 album Absolution. Black Holes And Revelations is a maturing for them, a bit of a branching out from that Radiohead-esque driving rock feel that Absolution banked on. don't get me wrong, though - as many people will tell you, Matthew Belamy still sounds like Thom Yorke for a great portion of the album, but his occasional wailing and the accompanying instrumentals from Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard separate them from the Radiohead of old.

something that many artists have lost sight of is the overall cohesiveness of the final album. as elaborated upon in High Fidelity, there is an art to a mix tape, and there should be an art to the ebb and flow of an album as well. i'm not saying it's perfect and that everyone will enjoy it, but Black Holes tells a story. you can feel it take you on a journey over the fifty minutes and six seconds of emotion that these three guys pour through their instruments. you're drawn in slowly and gradually by the opener, Take A Bow, and quickly led through that into Starlight, a rocking piano ballad reminiscent of something from Absolution, with those easily recognizable vocals when he gets into his higher register. and then, for a change of scenery, you're thrown into a Supermassive Black Hole, a sort of dance-funk groove-rock mash-up of genres with light falsetto melodies and backs that are prone to get stuck in everyone's head this summer. Map Of The Problematique is the uptempo song to bring you into the middle part of the album, with tight background harmonies and a beat that you would be likely to feel in an underground club in europe. there's a momentary lull as you're carried off into the dark night by a Soldier's Poem, its pretty melodies echoing, rising and falling like your own breath, until the military drums of Invincible march you toward the oncoming battle, vocals climbing with intensity. and then you're right back into it, full on prog. rock feel, almost like Porcupine Tree, with the driving double bass leading you into the heavy drums and raw guitars of Exo Politics. arriving at the City Of Delusion, it's like a spanish bullfight, a piercing trumpet solo riding the surging energy and sense of urgency. but then all is quiet for a moment: Hoodoo. you're on a barren street, like a western showdown, the strings building into the triumphant piano entrance and then back down to the final onslaught: the Knights Of Cydonia have arrived. the controlled galactic surf-rock conflict turns into an all out explosion, a clash of the titans introduced by Queen-esque harmonies:

no one's gonna take me alive,
the time has come to make things right.
you and i must fight for our rights,
you and i must fight to survive.

when the battle is won, Glorious plays like an epilogue, leading you back home. victory has been secured, and you're returning safely.

visit their myspace to listen to the entire album from start to finish
preorder the album from amazon

::::here's some lovin' for you to keep
Muse - Map Of The Problematique
Muse - Soldier's Poem
Muse - Hoodoo

::::BONUS - a special song for you special people
Muse - Glorious  alexander  4:28 PM  |  view comments (2)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  the hap'. have you seen this? yes, probably.

this is a contest for Shapes and Sizes. i was just about to do a review on them, actually. i still will, but after stupid finals and such. [summer courses suck.] they recently signed to Asthmatic Kitty Records - which is a really great place for them, in my opinion - and they're recruiting bloggers and bloggers to spread the word/judge (note: i have not been contacted. they must have lost my email... cough..) and anyway, it sounds pretty cool.

also.
everyone
is all
aflutter
about
Jeff Mangum.
you kids... and your fake E6 posts.. (even though it's PF, i recommend the last link there to catch up).

go about your lovely days.. wish me luck tonight.  shan  12:28 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  breaking news. this is urgent. really.

...okay no, it isn't. but check it out anyway.

as shan alluded to, our flickr account is live and on the air. click here (or on the last sentence) and you can check out our mascot as well as pictures from the Morningwood and Rock Kills Kid show last sunday. we'll probably be putting up a few photos from past shows but we'll definitely post batches after every show we go to now on. so go take a peek and see exactly what you've been missing.(if i link you again, will you click it?)

this page has gotten a makeover! ROFLOMGLOLZ or something. we're trying to streamline it a little, so you might see some more minor changes over the coming days. if you're having problems viewing it at any point, or even if you like it, just leave a comment or drop us an email by clicking the thing on the sidebar (over there, on the right), or by clicking right here.

and finally, the new Muse album, Black Holes And Revelations, is out there for your pleasure. a real tangible copy has surfaced somewhere and is therefore spreading like wildfire, but the band has posted the full album themselves, as well. just hit up their myspace to listen to the entire thing, from start to finish, as it was intended. and you actually have to go from beginning to end, since you can't skip tracks or even fast forward. the effect of the album is better that way, though, in my opinion. i'll have a full review with some tracks for your listening and sampling pleasure, as well as a super special bonus track, when the mood strikes me (read: when i have time tomorrow).

and lastly,



Toaster says goodnight.  alexander  11:56 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  the moves because i'm so caught up in independent music, it takes a longer time for mainstream MTV material to get to me. in fact, most of it never heads my way, especially music videos and MTV-targeted hip-hop. the only thing from that area that i've liked in a long time is Kanye West.

however, Shakira doesn't count. i might get to her a little late - i might be behind the times by a few months - but i'd say it's never too late to gawk at her skills. not only is she absolutely beautiful, but her dancing - my god. she could be in an eskimo suit and she'd still look pornographic. which is way cool, if you ask me.

if you haven't seen the video for what i'm guessing is her latest single, Hips Don't Lie, i have it for you below.

Shakira - Hips Don't Lie


don't get mad because i did the pop music thing. this is incredible.

i'd say the best way to get me on your side is to tell me i can dance like she can.  shan  3:26 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  a little female action. ...not that kind. i would like to warn ahead of time that this post is estrogen-rich. yep, i'm putting together some of the lady artists/female leadsingers that i've been listening to lately.

let me start off by saying i've always had a strange relationship with female artists. it used to be taboo in this tuck of the universe to listen to any band with actual instrumentation that had a woman's voice instead of a man's. i'm not kidding; the value of the music was somehow destructed by her presence. a token female keyboardist or bassist was alright - i think Smashing Pumpkins broke that mold - and maybe as back-up vocals. otherwise, sensations like those were a thing of the past, crazy leg-warmer wearing people (The Pretenders) or blond and ambushed-looking, like Hole or Garbage. [wow. those bands suck now.]

it still isn't a popular occurence. the rise of YYYs is, in my opinion, a novelty thing (note: i actually really like Show Your Bones). Jenny Lewis is fucking adorable, and it's clear she's extremely talented and noteworthy, with either Rilo Kiley or the Watson Twins. but in the indie-indie world, there are lead chicks abound. i was opened up to a whole new world of them - maybe starting with Frou Frou, to be honest - and now, we're cool. it's no longer taboo. if i'm caught in the car with the windows down, blaring Camera Obscura, i won't feel ridiculous.

so. here are just two of the girlies i've been spinning. (yeah, i said girlies.) i'll be posting more as the week goes along, but i'll get two of the biggies out of the way now. (both from the UK... hm...)

Lily Allen
when every single blog was going crazy over Lily, i didn't bother to add another post to the mix. instead, i just hit up her album, gave it a listen, then put it away again to let the flow of unheard/undiscovered artists continue through my playlist. it wasn't until i saw the video for "Smile" (this post) that i began to take her seriously.

first of all, she's adorable, and i love her name. her bri-ish accent compliments her sound so perfectly; instead of coming off as a struggling popstress waiting to be picked up by Columbia, she's oh-too-cool for America (not really) and bold, funny, and makes some of the catchiest electro-bubblegum pop that I've heard in a long time. if you're holding off listening to Lily because she seems too pop to you, hear this: she does everything herself. have you ever heard her mixtapes? you haven't? well, time to fix that.

::::because you can't actually buy it:
Lily Allen - Mixtape #2
(if anyone wants a tracklist, let me know.)

buy the import of Alright Still also, she has a blog.
check her myspace for all things Lily.

Psapp
ah. here's another example of a band i haven't yet posted on - except in this case, you can't blame me. we're a baby blog, and Psapp [pronounced "sap," kids] i have known about for something like nine months now. [Grey's Anatomy. so guilty.] who are Psapp? read here (toytronica, hm). what do Psapp sound like? listen here. why do i love them?
ah.
because when was the last time you heard a voice as rich and full as Galia Durant's tune itself to electronic/instrumental noise-making fusion. when was the last time beat tracks and crazy Punky-Brewster-esque outfits made a team of musicians that kick so much ass. it is sonorous and mechanical, artsy and technical, honest and brutal. these guys get it all in.

::::you may have my favorite song off of Everything I've Ever Wanted:
Psapp - Tricycle

do the myspace thing. also, buy this.
they're touring with Jose Gonzalez and you'd be crazy not to see it - if it's not sold out (god damn it).

remember, you'll get more of this good stuff as the week goes on, including chick-present duos (Xiu Xiu? new songs? yes.)  shan  2:40 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Morningwood, Rock Kills Kid, The Lashes @ Axis, 6.25 when we left the club last night i turned to alex and said, "i feel like i've been molested."

here, i edit: in a good way.

it was appropriate that before we checked in to Axis last night, we skipped along Newbury for a bit and ducked into some shops (what's with the rain, guys..) - one of which was the beloved American Apparel. on the walls there they have hung vintage porn - magazines called Oui with scandalously clad or naked eighties models - and underneath, a little explanation. their reasoning is innovatively simple and to some degree coincides with their absolutely fantastic ad campaign; that is, that they feel there is a new influx of twentysomethings that are coming to embrace the sex culture, and not fear it. their added point was that people seem ready for "real models" again - that imperfections are normal and embraced as well (think curvy Scarlett rather than stick figure Nicole Richie).

the show at the Axis last night aggressively asserted this hypothesis. hol-lee shit.

just to let you know: this post is the first in which i'm inviting you to check out our flickr account. it's still kind of empty. however, eventually we'll have up pics from all of our shows (yes, ever, even the ones you Noise for Toaster fans don't know about) and it'll be a rockin' good time.

speaking of that...  shan  3:56 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Morningwood the headliner of the night was, of course, Morningwood.



i'll tell you. we were prepared for a wild show - i remembered JAX's photos at the Roxy (as she says, CAUTION NUDITY) - but seriously. we had no clue.

all we could say afterwards?

"that. was. intense."

alex recognized Ave Maria playing as the lights went down and we all waited for them to take the stage. in near-darkness, bassist Pedro, guitarist Philip, and drummer Pedro set up and waited. at the end of the track, out comes a roundish girly figure bent over on crutches, face hidden, a red cape draped over her back and arms. as their openerGood Morningwood sped up, Chantal burst out from her "guise" -
and totally. blew. us. away.

the first thing to notice is her breasts. displayed prominently and, er, bulgingly, they are almost as intimidating as her voice and her stage antics. she sings to them, licks them, shakes them vigorously and demands $5 extra from every single person in the room for if/when they should pop out. ...but this is hardly the only thing about Morningwood, or Chantal, that makes the show a scandalous and orgyesque experience. it's the overall coating of sex. sex, sex, sex, and more of it.

there is no need to explain the relationship this band has to sex. even without an explanation, a mere introduction of the band's name kind of puts it out there. so it only makes sense that their live performance should be jazzed up with it. the only thing is, it's not just Chantal that's having it. it's everyone in the room. jumping, sweating, fist-pumping, mouthing every word: drunk chicks, tough-looking guys, indie don't-dancers, black-wearing emo kids and craft-making fifteen year olds with scrunchies all alike got down and dirty to the crowd-winning Wood. you've heard it and you know it yourself: sex sells. and we were all buying.

Chantal had us doing everything, from stealing our cameras to take pictures of herself and the band on stage, to inviting people up for a dance-off, to coming out to the crowd and demanding a piggy-back from some sturdy dude, to the notorious Take Off Your Clothes performance, to jumping off the stage and making us circle around her, down on the ground, during Nth Degree. she had us jumping, shouting, and interacting with her more than any other show we/I've ever been to. she made assert: "I fucking love you." she established we were all in love. and she had the minerals (as they say in GB) to get a stranger on stage and quite literally strip him, almost without his choice. she nuzzled his neck, bit around his belly and sang into his opened boxers. he was astounded and we were too - but it was all apart of the Morningwood. it was fucking crazy.

i would so see that again.

so, we didn't have tits and Suicide Girls like JAX did, but for lil 'ol Lansdowne Boston, we had a damn crazy night.

Good Morningwood
Nu Rock
Televisor
Everybody Rules
Morales (never-before played live)
Babysitter
New York Girls
Horses
Body 21
Easy
Nth Degree
Take Off Your Clothes
Jetsetter

Family Affair ( Mary J. Blige cover)
Knock On Wood


find out where they're playing near you at their myspace.
buy their debut Capitol release by clicking on the tiny album cover.  shan  3:55 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Rock Kills Kid before Morningwood came Rock Kills Kid.
before i start, you should know that this was 75% of the reason we were at this show. we have a thing for this band - and by we, i kind of mean Alex. it is for this reason that i'm going to leave most of the performance review to him.

to say that these guys were an incredible live act does not do them justice. if you know their back story (courtesy of Andrew from Harmonium), you already know that this record Are You Nervous? is everything to this band - literally. at a pause in the set, keyboardist/guitarist Calhoun (see linked interview) told the audience that it was a really exciting, amazing thing to see their record being sold in stores and so please, if we liked what we heard, we should go buy it. as always, NfT urges you to do the same.

they were tight. i mean, they were tight. and not coincidentally, their innate sexual nature was a perfect opener for what was to come, and also the beginning to my insightful and genius (cough) generalization of the night's performances. they wear black. they're dark, mysterious, rebellious and indefinitely older. they're starving artist and and LA grunge-glam. their songs addictively hail from eighties giants like The Cure and The Smiths - accidentally filling a niche that the kids love these days. and live? my god. they emanate sexual tension while positively kicking ass at what they do. regardless of the major label, the cliche following and those god damn Killers comparisons, they're amazing.



the ridiculously nice Sean Stopnik wrote out their memorized set list for us:

Don't Wanna Stay
Midnight
Hideaway
Run Like Hell
Are You Nervous?
Paralyzed
Back To Life
Raise Your Hands

check out their myspace.
seriously, you're crazy not to buy this album.  shan  3:54 PM  |  view comments (1)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  The Lashes before any of the craziness was Columbia-signed, Seattle-native The Lashes. i hadn't really had that much exposure to these guys before; i'd seen their album in Borders, i think, and they friended us on the 'space (note: you should too). but otherwise, with a few listens, i was aware that their stuff wasn't really my style. good, sturdy "shrug" rating. their live performance was similar. they had the energy - there are enough of them (six) for leadman Ben's vocal act (note: no instrument, admittedly weird) to bounce off the rest of the crew, incite keyboardist Jacob into backup and a highlighted solo by guitarist Eric (the "cute one"). they went for the classic emo-punk-poprock look, complete with black hair, black nailpolish, striped shirts, and their signature multiple-belt look (see picture, see record cover). as this was not an 18+ show (groan) there was a large majority of non-wristbanded kids, looking similarly to the members onstage and getting down (that awkward jump, swish-hips, arms-dangle-uselessly thing) to vocals that were drowning in guitars. for the kids, they were great. they got the club hoppin' and and praised the acts to come. they talked a lot - some east coast/west coast banter that seemed useless coming from a Seattle band - but. you know. they rocked their style, and no doubt they'll continue to rise.  shan  3:53 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  The Dears - Gang of Losers well well well. what do we have here.
the very adorable people that are The Dears are putting out a new album in a bit (August 2nd), called Gang of Losers and we have the chance to check it out before it's available for purchase.



i haven't listened to it very intensely, but i'm doing the same thing as i did for Oneida and putting them up definition-style. remember kids, buy it when it's released, please. here you are, song and first-listen comments:

::::The Dears - Death Or Life We Want You

immediately i'm caught up with the use of cowbell. alex appreciates the good use of it moreso than i, and so i note it more for his sake than mine. i do like the highlight of it, though, the minimal instrumentation around it. the chorus has some interesting voice distortion to harmonize with lead singer Murray Lightburn’s vocals. also, is that a kazoo i hear? this song is essentially interesting and not that bad (remember: cowbell) but i wouldn't run to my neighbor's house and bang on their door about it. i don't even know my neighbor.

::::The Dears - There Goes My Outfit

i chose this song specifically because the band is allowing downloads of its demo at their label's site. admittedly, i didn't spring for the demo, because having the real thing seems to eclipse that. this song as a slow beginning that rises with classic "na-na-na" vocals. insistent piano plunking follows into the first verse, and the song continues to progressively build. it's a little 90's pop-rock, only with the attention to detail that only six people in a band can bring. ending choruses bring back the na-na-na, which layers over Lightburn's

::::The Dears - Whites Only Party

i'm immediately, immediately attracted to this song, from its very first two seconds. great riff coming in, great knee-slapping lead (in minor. delicious) and even a perfect lead-in with the vocals (maybe i would have preferred a longer lead-in? the notes are just so great). i like the down-play of what is usually almost too big for the sounds around it - that being Lightburn's voice. much like Roderick's voice of The Long Winters, Lightburn has such a unique tonality to his voice that its usage is hit or miss. in my humble opinion, i think Roderick has it down a little more than Lightburn. should i have said that? probably not.

::::The Dears - Ballad of Humankindness

another great start with vocals. it's a longer song, so they set out to accomplish more here, and i think they do. the lyrics stand out to me, especially in regard to the track title - "No one should have to live all of their life on their own." hey, sounds good to me. even at 2 minutes, when they burst out and Lightburn rips it, so to speak, it works. it really does. i get into it, it's ripe in the middle, doesn't fizzle at the end but triumphantly scores and stops. it's good. the best i've heard on the album, i think.

The Dears hail from Montreal, and their tour doesn't leave Canada or Europe-side for now. but you can bet it will.  shan  11:43 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  in which we reassert how bad radio really is. i don't listen to the radio. i haven't, really, since the dark ages of middle school tweendom, and i sort of plan on keeping the dial-turning to that shady music past.

so when i read this post by Conor over at San Diego Serenade, not only did it have me laughing embarrassingly loud, but it also supremely caught my interest. he kept an hour-long diary (like last week) of a radio station, and basically proved that radio is committing suicide anyway. in-between astonished ravings about choosing Zombie by The Cranberries and admitting he doesn't like German accents, he hits the big points. mainly:

I was especially goaded on by some of the comments that were left on the 949 diary, asserting that San Diego actually did have better radio than the rest of the country. Of course, this is preposterous. FM radio blows universally. Radio has, to quote Calvin, "Lowered our expectations to the point where they are already met." As in the medium is so godawful, that things like playing a non-Crazy Gnarls Barkley track, or devoting 2 Sunday evening hours to local music is seen as revolutionary and messianical. So let's hold off on the "San Diego radio is better than New York, LA, Austin, etc" claims until we've researched both of our fair cities options, OK?

our local alternative radio station, as the Boston bloggers will know, is FNX. i sort of like them for their omnipresence around beantown music scenes and their willingness to fund a gajillion local concerts - even ones in small-town city halls. but other than that, they're pretty typical. they play a lot of bad emo punk pop mumbo jumbo - stuff that the kids dress in black for, you know - and bands that, like Conor was saying, will not be remembered in 10 years.

as alex previously posted (scroll all the way down), FNX is doing some crazy shit with absolutely commercial-free radio as funded by Snapple, and that's kind of cool, because as i've noted on maybe one single occassion, this gives them more of an opportunity to play older alternative favorites like Tears for Fears (no snickering, i love them) and even a little old old old Beastie Boys (yes, back when they were actually innovative). i think that this commercial-free business is a nod to the increasing popularity of XM and even personalized radio like Last.fm. i think it's also one of the last-ditch efforts to get some listenership.

but, you know. like Conor said. it all sucks.  shan  10:28 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  mp3 aggregators getting shut down? mm, so, fuck.

this sucks.

the internet is basically just imploding.

have you gone and tried to save it yet?  shan  11:52 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Oneida - Heart of Brooklyn

Oneida - Happy New Year

---

everything Oneida does reminds me of a heartbeat. i feel like the three quirky individuals play their hearts out, literally; checking their pulses to the rhythm of their repetitive riffs and mechanical, pumping drums. they work harder than most artists - possibly harder than anyone. they sweat, rave, jump around like their lives depended on it, never ceasing to look back on what they've done or what they'll do next. it's only music. it pulsates. it's their heartbeat - and for forty five minutes, it's yours, too.

---

i'm actually giving you four tracks from their upcoming release Happy New Year, which comes out on Jajaguwar on July 11th. you can preorder it now, which i suggest you do, and you can also take a look at these songs (you know, if you really want to).

::::Oneida - The Adversary

this track is the first off of the album that made my eyes open widely and pay attention to something other than my self-absorbed little world. i find this to be a good quality in things, especially music, so that i can take some time out of my day to clear the palette, wipe the board clean, start on a clean slate, and... well. i'm half kidding.

::::Oneida - Up With People

this is the single, and it's postively everywhere. even Pitchfork, in its futile attempts to act like an mp3/music blog, posted a review of the track this morning. the truth is, it's pretty fantastic - it really drives my heartbeat theory home. it ticks on in your brain well after the 7+ minutes are up.

::::Oneida - History's Great Navigators

possibly my favorite of the bunch, it instantly grabs you with a beat track (Mark Mothersbaugh sample?) then a high pitched, incessant keyboard ringing. the song takes on many highs and lows from there, cutting almost five minutes of a breath-catching ride. i'm telling you - your heart pumps to this stuff.

::::Oneida - Busy Little Bee

lastly i give you a little switch-up from the Brooklyn band. this track stumbles in with a twanging acoustic riff that holds you captive, much like a black and white western would. it's a little slower, a little quieter, a little less on the keyboards and electrics. yes, they're still the obsessive compulsive repetitive rockers we love, just mixing it up.

  shan  11:06 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Philly i love this. a lot.



Brooklyn Vegan points us to a really terrific ad campaign for Philidelphia: "Philly: The Edge of New York". clearly i don't live in New York, but i will someday, and i like this campaign for several reasons.

1. i'm an artist myself. i get a lot of crap for this, but i support the "starving artist" culture and truly believe that an artist is largely influenced by their surroundings. i'm one of those people that soaks up SoHo and 1980's Brooklyn artists like Basquiat... and therefore, i'm always interested in the cries of the New York artistic community - even if they're saying, um hi, we're freakin moving to Philly.
   
   
2. this is an intersection of art and music. as i am continuously faced with the question of what the hell i'm going to do with my life, i keep trying to find ways to join the two biggest things in my life - art and music - together. i mean, saying that is kind of like saying art and art, and in this way there ends up being a sort of obvious and irrevocable connection between them. but the truth is, one is more profitable than the other, unless your art is commercial or you're the second coming of Andy Warhol.
   
   
3. beat the system, yo. fucking move to Philly. do it. then maybe the rail system will improve (because gas prices clearly won't allow for a move).

iiiii don't know. i like the idea. and it does have to do with our indie scene, because a million great bands come from that area, and you care. you do.  shan  10:24 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  about the mp3s. i think i've decided not to upload any of the previous mp3s (before this post), really just because it is a pain. if you stumble upon something you'd like to download, let me know and i will put them up. otherwise, you kids can live without them.

mm.. okay. carry on.  shan  9:47 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  stuff and stuff.

not quite sure why i'm not sleeping right now. i feel a little like Brooklyn Vegan - only without the out of control reader traffic. i think the post i just linked you to was at 4:37 am yesterday. if i'm still awake in two and a half hours, i don't want to be me tomorrow.

anyway. since safari decided to disappear in the middle of a longer, cooler, more interesting post, i'll just link you elsewhere so you don't notice my five year old foot-stomping hissy fit. this is stuff from the last few days, while i've been reviewing shows and doing interviewish things.

i can't actually access the song myself (damn mac vs. pc feuds), but you have no idea how much i wish i could: stereogum has Teddy Geiger covering the Postal Service. oh, you bet.

i ran across Bradley's Almanac (great read) in a little Boston blog congregation over at rbally, and i'm psyched to say that along with Dany at Exitfare our little Boston cohort is growing. yay Beantown.

Marathonpacks points us towards The Anchor Center as one of his past students gets a video blog and friggin tools on a video feature of Aberdeen City. i highly recommend checking it out.

Conor at IGIF continues with the quality mixes and also manages to put all of my feelings towards Pitchfork into words. i'd been thinking of writing something myself, and then i read this, and thought he pretty much did it for me.

i tend to like these chart reports by torr. i think creative aggregations of infomation are kind of priceless. for instance, pretty much anything by largehearted boy.

oh, man. fuck everything. i'm going to bed.

have you read our interview with Justin? scroll down.

  shan  2:18 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Artist Interview: Justin of Birdmonster

please give bassist Justin of Birdmonster a big round of applause, confetti, and cakes with sugary icing for braving Noise For Toaster's first artist interview. he was a great sport, both when we chatted him up after the band's amazing performance at Great Scott and also with our crazy questions. he gave some great answers that show his humor and personal writing style, which all of you should check it out in its prime at the birdmonster blog.

and forgive him his fluffernutter ignorance. he means well.

Noise for Toaster: None of you have a good bio available online, but all I want is the important stuff. Where are all of you from?
Justin: Us four birdmonsters were born in scattered parts of America, but all near one ocean or another. The band has never used anywhere but San Francisco as a homebase.

NfT: How about the first tape you bought as a kid?
J: The first tape I ever bought? Man. I wish I could say it was something hip or interesting, but I think it was Aerosmith's Pump. Although, you know, I still stand behind Janie's Got a Gun, but the rest is just noodly, large-mouthed rubbish. Sorry Joe Perry.

NfT: Cheesy, I know, but what has been the biggest influence on your personal music style?
J: We all come from different places musically, which is why I think we sound the way we do, by the way. There's no stated, agreed-upon vision.

I must point to London Calling as my personal, biggest influence. 2 discs, no bad songs and it's surprisingly complicated without ever sounding that way. Everything's so seemless, no one tries to do too much. If London Calling was a woman, we'd be married with four children, none of which would sound like Sandanista, hopefully.

NfT: Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, pirate or ninja?
J: Realultimatepower be damned: I choose motherfuckin' pirates.

NfT: On we go. Now, you're known for your explosive and high energy live shows. What's your performance mentality?
J: Every show I've ever loved (not enjoyed, but straight up adored) walked that line between musicianship & energy. I don't want to see you stand there seeing if your shoes are untied.

NfT: Any before-stage rituals?
J: We always, always shake hands. It's kind of three muskateers, I know, but it's important. We did it before every song on the album too.

NfT: Seeing as you even have a religiously-updated blog yourselves, what do you think about music/mp3 blogs influencing music in the future?
J: There's a few things I think are incredibly important about music blogs:
1- no review can ever properly describe a band. I'd rather get a nice, concise paragraph, and a sample. Let the listener make their own decision, not some guy who's favorite album, for all you know, might be Huey Lewis's Sports.
2- blogfolks tend to be really supportive and true to their tastes. I think some reviewers live to pan albums or won't love something they didn't hear about first whereas most blog writers we've met were just enthusiastic, honest fans.

Nft: What was your favorite tv show growing up? How about the theme song?
J: My favorite show always and forever will be the Simpsons. And Jeopardy has the best theme song ever. It's kind of maddening and it serves a purpose, namely, to stress out anyone who dares challenge Ken Jennings.

NfT: We watched you bang the shit out of a cymbal a couple of times on stage. How many cymbals do you go through a tour?
J: [drummer] Zach's cymbals last about 5 months, maybe. The ones [guitarist] Dave & I use are usually his old ones and they never, ever make it through a tour. It's more for everyone's enjoyment than for sonic reasons, since the one we're using now sounds like a dented garbage can.

NfT: Lastly, what everyone's dying to know, pbj or fluffernutter?
You scream at me for this, but I don't know what fluffernutter is. I'm partial to PB&Banana, the messiah of spreadable nutness.

- Thank you, Justin.

  shan  5:28 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Band Of Horses @ Maxwell's, NJ - 6.17 before i launch into my review, let me point out a few things in fine print.

if you haven't already, you should read my other post on the night. i decided to split up my formal review (because we're so hoity-toity around here, clearly) and the informal story-telling session because it was a pretty self-indulgent move to tell you all of the back stories, and you should have the right to choose. that's right, kids, Noise For Toaster is getting political! ..no, not really. just kind of preachy.

there is no mention of openers The Can't See or Mt. Egypt because they're both mentioned in my storytime post. i have you linked to them, so if you'd like to know, go check them out. i recommend the official pages, both of which offer free mp3s. those are also the links in the other post.

yes. there are mp3's at the end of this post.

down to business. the response from the sold-out crowd in the craftily sound-proofed Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ, was incredible. it's always a great comparison to go from relatively unknown bands to a well-established trendoid favorite, as only Sub Pop can create. they were all absolutely stoked (yes, i said stoked), and guys and ladies alike cheered for them like the floor section of fourteen-year-old girls at a Britney Spears concert. Ben Bridwell would have only needed a chair to contort himself around and the audience's response would have been rather appropriate.

they were missing a fifth member (no website has helped me in determining who is who - who is the bassist, who does the keyboards and second guitar? who were we missing, beloved writer of St. Augustine?) but to be perfectly honest, I couldn't tell the slightest difference. Bridwell, just to gush for a moment, has such an amazing voice talent. sometimes the sensitivity of it has me thinking of Kermit, to tell you the truth. live, the man sounds exactly like he does on their studio release - and with those high pitches and resounding curvatures on songs like Wicked Gil ("it's nothing, now") and The First Song, you could imagine belting, so tightly and clearly, being hard to keep up with. nahhh. nothing's too hard for Horses.

you guys know their album, you know their sound, they're coming to see you and you'll probably go out to see them. so i won't go on and on. the hype is real, they're amazing, and the music pushes you from the front row, glances off of you and back, moving at invisible speeds, like pure whale speak in the middle of a dirty club with hardwood beer-stained floors. Bridwell seems so innocently surprised at the reception, the chance to sing the lyrics and play the music that he evidently adores. it was just so good.

one picture for the set list (because we're crazy):

The Great Salt Lake
Weed Party
The First Song
Monsters
Our Swords
No One's Going To Love You (new)
Part One
Wicked Gil
Hall & Oates Cover - You Make My Dreams
Detlef (new)
The Funeral
-Boat (new)
-Wicked Gil (alt version)

...yes, you read correctly, they played three new songs. i loved them all, but my personal favorite was the first that they played (No One). in the future, i think we're going to scam some recording equipment and be able to put up live recordings of new songs and things like that. in the meantime, i have a bunch of rare tracks from them, so i'll give you those. the first three are entirely different songs than on Everything All The Time, and the other three are live/demo.

::::yes, i'm just that nice.
(Biding Time Is A) Boat To Row - my personal favorite.
Savannah, Part 2
I Lost My Dingle On The Red Line
Billion Day Funeral - great alternative version of "The Funeral"
The Snow Fall - now known as "The First Song"
For Wicked Gil - some harmonizing in this demo version  shan  3:10 PM  |  view comments (1)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  stories and times from our trialing travels in NYC & mostly NJ. did you miss us?

after our god damn exhausting weekend around NYC/NJ, we come back with stories and under-eye circles galore. even though this is a music/mp3 blog, i'm taking this post to tell you a few stories behind the review that is to come.

the genius that is the city transit system took us to the club - Maxwell's, in Hoboken - by 10. the first band, The Can't See, was not entirely rewarded with our presence (scoff) because by the second song they just weren't doing it for us, and we were overtired, overheated and underfed. we stepped outside into the not-so-cool night air, took a little walk down the intersecting street off of Washington, and sat down on a curb to take in the view of the NYC skyline across the Hudson.


...out of thin air a skateboarder went rushing by us, a shady dart of a figure that was one second controlledly careening around the corner and the next second was down for the count, sprawled on the ground.

"i'm dead." a voice crawled away from the motionless figure.
we just stared, dumbfounded.
"i'm dead. you just watched someone die," came the voice again.
stupidly, i just laughed, while alex choked out something to the effect of, "you okay man?" a small group around the corner peered over at the fallen figure and made a few remarks themselves.
"ah yeah, it's cool. i drank a lot of whiskey and now i can't skateboard," he ingeniously explained. i laughed while he retrieved his board and haphazardly continued on his way. we let it go as a funny encounter and kept our station at the curb.

we arrived back in the club just in time for the second band, Mt. Egypt. we weasled our way to the front (0% difficulty) and waited while the three of them set up. i was making subconscious notes in my head like, wow - they seem like a tight-knit band, a lot of love going on, woozy frontman but it's alright. suddenly, as the music progressively fell apart, and the bassist and drummer kept laughing and shaking their heads, it was apparent that the frontman was absolutely tanked. after a particularly bad song, the "frontman" - whom we now know is Mt. Egypt, and whose name is Travis - sauntered up to the mic and slurred an apology: "hey guys, you don't even know that song, but we just played it so bad." the audience all laughed. "i drank a lot of whiskey tonight.." suddenly, alex and i turned to each other, wide-eyed. "that's the skateboarder!" we got a good, astonished laugh out of that one. Mt. Egypt continued for three more songs, but clearly the competence rate was low (90% difficulty) - to the point that Travis kept stepping up to the bassist to watch his hands, intent upon regaining the rhythm of the song. it was funny, but rather a shame as well, because the set showed a lot of potential. i'll probably grab the studio album to see what they made of that.

another point from the show was the degraded quality of listening. we spoke to a few kids after the show and thankfully they agreed with us, but the audience was positively rude. Travis, though somewhat provoked by alcohol, had good reason to once step up to the mic and say, "hey, you guys are pretty loud back there, you know." someone from the middle returned with, "whoa, this is Jersey!" Travis stepped back up and said, "hey, i do whatever the fuck i want."

sometimes i can understand if an audience talks through an act they don't know, socializing in the barroom atmosphere until the headliner takes the stage. but even after Band Of Horses came on, everyone continued to talk over every song, inserting loud conversation in the beautiful quiet spaces of songs like "Part One" and even the beginning of the much-cheered for "The Funeral". the girls around us were especially locquatious, making remarks that had everyone in the vicinty rolling their eyes. no one was especially happy, like Marathonpacks described in his review of the show. there was even a small fight between an over-imbibed short blond and a very high popped-collar boy. we had an experience much more like Good Hodgkins. another huge issue for me was the flash of a million cameras, blinding and irritating me, working hard to ruin my time. one on either side of me had $200 models that lefts spots in my eyes every time they went off - which was about twelve times a song.

i don't want to brag, and i'm not a huge baseball fan, but we don't get this in Boston.

thank you for indulging me in the stories behind the night. the formal review is separate, clearly, and you should hit that up if you haven't already.

i love you, NJ. you set me up in unfurnished apartments for free and provide incredibly convenient hours of travel in and out of the city. but please - next time - shut the hell up.  shan  11:10 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  ciao for the weekend.. hi kids.

as alex hinted towards, we're off for the weekend to NYC, where i will eat bagels and maybe even pizza (did i mention i'm vegan?) and see Band of Horses at Maxwell's (because Bowery was sold out) and do other things. we could be at Bonnaroo.. but we're not.

you should click on some of those links. especially the pizza one.

so, until sundayish,

buckle your seatbelts, tie your shoes, rock on.  shan  3:31 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  The Long Winters - Putting The Days To Bed :: Review hiiiiiii.

you all know The Long Winters, correct? no introductions needed? good. this is business. review time.



their third LP is coming out on Barsuk on July 25th (note: i have a horrible habit of spelling it "Barsuck," which is a rather embarrassing and hilarious mix up).

it's a fantastic release. my personal opinion is that it surpasses the previous two ("gasp, how can you say such a thing, we adored When I Pretend To Fall with every string of our hearts and to our viscous, blood-and-guts cores, to the very fiber of our lungs and the capacity of our ribcages..") - um, yeah. well. this one is better.

Putting The Days To Bed flows. it just... flows. it pops open the top and pours it on you - smoothly, suavely, cooly. you don't even know it but by the time Sky Is Open breaks into that eye-opening solo, you've been rocking out for (er, wince, math) almost thirteen minutes - and you haven't even blinked. you haven't cringed, not once, not even at the hyper-repetitive chorus of Teaspoon (you know to expect that from John Roderick) (and what's that i hear? Bostones-y horns? yes?). especially not at the highlighted piano in Hindsight (chills at "bailing water, i'm bailing water, because i like the shape of the boat" - oh, man). yep. it all goes down so easily.

past track five, of course, it starts to dawn on you that you're being taken over. it's been too long to do anything about it; you're chest-deep in the thick, syrupy stuff of "extensive months after the fall season" and you're wading, a little nervous at the prospect of ever getting out. "it was that damn acoustic opening of Honest," you think to yourself, "and that slide of the steel guitar, and Roderick's pleading chorus.." but it's no use. by the time Clouds comes tinkering in with thankfully gentler vocals and a latino-style plucking (enter bass drum, enter alt country), you have your arms in the stuff, you're scooping handfuls to your mouth to get the sweetness, licking the surface like a cat lapping milk. you're thinking, can i swim in this?

that's when Rich Wife grabs you, whisks you up and out of the ooze, shakes you off and rolls its eyes while you blink feverishly, trying to let go of the haze. with the insistent beat and Roderick's hyped warning ("i don't know why i bring you around.."), it's not long before you're on your feet, drunkenly dancing like an idiot (a happy one) to something you barely understand, and love all the more for it. that riff - oh that guitar - it comes in at the end and rattles off with the tambourine, just to pick up again with a spruced-up return of the title track from their Ultimatum EP (note: the song is significantly better now). the light of recognition passes over your mug and you're sobering up, comparing the original to the album version, making notes, you're thinking of heading over to the 'top, pondering, "should i make a post on this...?" but it passes too quickly. (It's A) Departure rings in with an Stone Temple Pilots-ish opening, a ruckus of guitar that disturbs your train of thought and a roll of drums that has you kicking out with the dancing again. you're almost exhausted.

finally, Seven. it comes in quietly and rises, the acoustic catching your breath. you feel that sticky syrup returning, pouring over you from the crown of your head and down over your eyes, nose, into your mouth and over your clothes again (these will need to be dry-cleaned). drums come in late, after Roderick, and his voice is still tolerable (it is possible to highlight it too much) even with the returning sound of the stripped-down Ultimatum EP (minute:30, bring on the steel). by the time the song ends, you're captivated by harmony, and the repeated declaration: "I miss you, Seven." when the song ends, you do, too.

yeah so. i hate the album.

::::and you thought you'd read all of that with no reward?
The Long Winters - Sky Is Open
The Long Winters - Rich Wife
The Long Winters - Seven

more mp3s here.

BUY IT. hell, pre-order it now.  shan  1:02 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  no friends? well then we'll tell you how to make some! here are a few easy steps that Toaster recommends for fast results.

step 1: note the location of our sidebar [hint: it's on the right side of the window of this page].
 step deux: scroll down the sidebar until you see the large letters that spell out "boston area shows."
 step III: find a band you like in the list, put the date and location on your datebook/planner/calendar/post-it/arm and find your way to the venue's homepage for ticket and time information. [Google can help you with that, i'm sure.]
 step eye-vee: get dressed, put on some shoes, check your fly, and make your way to your venue of choice.
 step five: before and after the band plays, make conversation with someone around you. chances are, if they're at the show too, you two have something in common. swap names and phone numbers and embark on your journey to funland.

and there it is! you're on your way to being the most popular kid in the greater boston area. who knew?!

so we'll keep adding shows as we find out about them, and we'll make note of it when we plan to be at one. the ones in that blue color with our initals after them are shows that we either have tickets for, will have tickets for, or will show up at. or those crossed out ones, which we've already gone to. then you can find our reviews of the shows by clicking on - where else - our respective initials! then maybe you'll learn something new or unexpected and suddenly have plans for next time they're in town! who knows?!

today's lesson brought to you by the letter p for papaya and the number fourteen.

  alexander  12:34 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  some Mints, some Octopi, some Figurines, and some nonsense. so check it out:

• we went and saw Starlight Mints last night. hot damn. i was pretty excited, i'd have to say. i too came away with a sticker, a button, and a window cling, as well as a tshirt. i love tshirts. i also came away with some photographs. my camera and i are getting to know each other pretty intimately these past few weeks:
  
  The Octopus Project
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Starlight Mints, after we weaseled our way to the front of the crowd
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
     both bands took full advantage of the wonderful world of technology. TOP is based around the concepts of guitar versus synth, drum set versus drum machine, man versus computer. the Mints had two Mac notebooks of their own out in plain view, for a lot of the horn and string stuff. it was great, and definitely exceeded expectations for such a small room. the crowd was feeling it, too.
  
  
• if you refer to the last picture of The Octopus Project's set, you will see the female, Yvonne, with her hands sort of hovering above a box with some metal rods sticking out of it [shan has a better picture of it in action, here]. as promised, i have a brief explanation: basically, it's called a theremin, and it was the first instrument in the world intended to be played without any physical contact. Wikipedia can explain in detail here, but i'll summarize for you anyway. the metal antennae generate high-frequency radio signals, and are affected by how close a body is to them. the long straight one, generally controlled by the right hand, determines the pitch, while the looped antenna, controlled by - you guessed it - the left hand, determines the volume. it's quite the contraption and requires a hell of a lot of skill to master and command, so more credit goes to Yvonne and The Octopus Project for taking advantage of a rather obscure instrument.
  
  
• i promised some live tracks from the Tapes 'n Tapes and Figurines show on the fifth, didn't i? well, we'll start you off with some examples of why Figurines are not the type of opening band that you want to show up late for.
  
  ::::because we care [and because we can]:
  Figurines - The Wonder [Live]
  Figurines - I Remember [Live]
  
  
• until further notice, i'm not doing the video thing. i do have some clips from the past two shows, but YouTube disagrees with me and refuses to sync the audio and the video.
  
  
• living in the Boston area and driving to and from work every day in a car that was manufactured in 1993, i don't have the luxury of a CD player and i've never made the commitment to getting myself a tape adapter and so, well, i listen to the radio. my car radio has had itself parked on WFNX for probably over a year now, and there has been no time better than right now. see, FNX is doing this big promotion with Snapple where they get to play music straight through without commercials for forty days [ending july fourth] in return for shameless namedropping and promotional events. it's really quite a big deal, and i don't care so much for the Snapple bit, but it's nice to pretty much always hear music when i'm in the car. and plus, they're giving away lots of swag like tickets and merch - and Snapple - and putting on free shows throughout the course of it. just go to their homepage and you'll see the events and shows coming up, in and around Boston, of course. Dashboard Confessional played with As Fast As to start it off, and Hawthorne Heights is up next. you can't expect to see me at anything of that sort, but i know they'll be packed and it's a great deal for anyone who's into it.

...whew. i think that's it for now. be safe, kids, and stay tuned for Shan & Alex's Trip To The Big Apple.  alexander  9:47 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  mp3 trouble mmm, just to let you know, if you're looking to download an mp3 from a previous post (before the latest on the Middle East show last night), they aren't working right now. i'll let you know when we have them back up.

yep. hosting issues. you know.  shan  3:18 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Starlight Mints & The Octopus Project @ Middle East Upstairs, 6.14 we're out of our minds. really.
and i'd have to say it's pretty damn fun.

so last night we actually managed to see The Octopus Project and Starlight Mints at the Middle East Upstairs. just to make a few blanketing statements before i get into the nitty gritty, it was a great show. surprisingly so. i know we tend to have rave reviews of the shows we go to, but that's just because we see great bands... i mean, we're just that cool.

first that we saw (we missed the opening band, Duresse, which i feel rather guilty about) was The Octopus Project. i'm not usually an instrumental kind of person - certain family members of mine might roll their eyes - but i tend to find music entirely without vocals a slight bore. i appreciate it, certainly, and i have a few selections for studying purposes. but. The OP doesn't fall into this category. first of all, it's instrumental - yes - but hardly just that. it's electronic. it's genuinely computer-driven and merely complemented by guitars and, occasionally, real drums. with this in mind, i still wasn't prepared for the kind of show they put on; it was like a battle of weirdness, a violently swinging scale balancing conventionality and originality. i'm telling you now that at the end of the night, the battle only died down - neither won. i was really glad to have seen them do their thing live, if only for the chance to see Yvonne do her thing with that... er.. instrument... which I'm sure Alex will research and report upon. in the meantime, a picture is to the left.

if the audience was any indication of where this band falls in the world of category, i would say they were almost purely nerdcore electronica. it was intense. watching the kids in the first two or three rows was nearly as entertaining as watching the band, if not more. they took to heart that hackneyed Chicken-Soup-esque quote "dance like no one is watching;" their moves were very original, very animated, and very.. unusual. they were elated to be in the presence of the music they clearly adore, and they closed their eyes in apparent ecstasy, as if their pulses were synchronized to the erratic beat. oh, it was great. i shimmied my hips a little, in tribute to their uncaring adoration.

go to their myspace to stream, and here to purchase.
::::and you get these:
The Octopus Project - The Adjustor
The Octopus Project - Music Is Happiness


after the twenty minutes it took just to take down The OP's set, we were psyched to see Starlight Mints take the stage. their show fulfilled all the expectations i had from hearing their three Barsuk releases, as well as from the videos for Popsickle (puppets! i command you to watch it on YouTube) and Inside of Me (go to their music eCard and click video). no - they're not as weird as you thought. they're oddballs that mesh well together and play weird pop music. they're really into their own show, but they don't set up giant green beasts like their touring companions. they just play, and move on. and we were completely down with it.


they had a really great mix of stuff from all three albums. the set choice was probably influenced by the fact that it was their second-to-last stop on the tour; they mixed it up quite a bit, from what i could see, even throwing in Submarine #3 from Dream That Stuff Was Made Of. they were a lot of fun - sometimes throwing in random comments (Andy, drummer, with the sticky New Orleans subject, ouch) but mostly just letting their strange mutation of pop music do the talking. Allan has a great voice - it's boyish, snazzy, and (of course) characteristically unusual. he's a great one to watch, and doesn't even remotely commit the frontman crime of eclipsing everyone else's stage presence. if anything, he's almost as shy as bassist Javier, while sole female member Marian and drummer Andy make silly jokes and prompt keyboardist Ryan to occasionally chime in. they are an unusual group, and i think they're a little surprised everyone likes them so much. fame isn't necessarily what they're going for - just a good time on stage, meeting nice people and selling their merch embarrassingly well (i am now the new proud owner of a sticker, button, and a window clingy for my car. oh yes). yeah.. we had a great time. you should be way jealous.

you should also stream three tracks from their album here, and then go buy it here.
::::i know, i know, too generous:
Starlight Mints - Goldstar
Starlight Mints - Torts

we're set list snipers.
Rhino Stomp
The Bee
Pumpkin
Black Cat
Rinky Dinky
Goldstar
Eyes Of The Night
Zillion Eyes
What's Inside Of Me?
Rosemarie
Pages
Seventeen Devils
The Bandit
Submarine #3

their tour is ending, so i can't really tell you to go see them, but the next time they're in your area, just go. we did.  shan  11:16 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  MusicGremlin. new technology for flopping. well, well.

Largehearted Boy pointed me in the direction of this new mp3 player called MusicGremlin. i read the article, which you can read here, and suddenly got excited - an alternative to the iPod that actually sounds pretty damn good.

Today, a small New York City company called MusicGremlin Inc. is rolling out a fresh approach to denting the iPod hegemony: the wireless music player. Its new $299 Gremlin portable player has built-in Wi-Fi wireless networking, so it can download songs from an accompanying subscription service directly, without requiring the use of a personal computer.

Not only that, but Gremlin users can wirelessly exchange entire songs right from their players, legally, as long as both the sender and receiver are subscribers to the MusicGremlin Direct service, which costs $14.99 a month. This process, called "beaming," allows you to share songs with your Gremlin-toting pals, no matter where they are, without ever using a computer or a CD burner. You can even peer into other users' Gremlins to see what they're playing and what they've downloaded, and pluck any song you like from their devices, if they give you permission.

now. i'm not an iPod hater. i had a non-click wheel one long before the hype, and shamelessly threw it in everyone's face after they started getting their minis and click wheels (oh yeah, i'm one of those). now i have a video one, and it plays me videos, and has the neat little picture of the album when a track is playing. it's my friend on the T and plane rides. i like friends. i like iPods. i like Apple, for that matter.

but i don't like iTunes. i don't like monopolies - strong holds on any particular market scare me. and if there is one thing Mac seriously did correctly, it was gaining king-of-the-hill status in the digital music world - and thusly the digital music player. i don't know, is that right? can't we give other things a chance? must we all be lemmings? "Suzy has an iPod nano. everyone likes Suzy. i want an iPod nano, too." i suppose that example works for everything from an iPod to a Tamagotchi to a particular brand of hair elastic (man, grade school was so sick). but it also works for 52-year-olds sitting down and watching television, seeing an iPod commercial and going from "kids these days," to "hey, i used to like U2," to "it costs what??" to "son/daughter, i bought myself this gadget, can you show me how it works?" to "honey, i'm sorry, i racked up $145 worth of songs on iTunes this morning." soon they're cooking dinner with their iPod on, swinging their hips and humming loudly to nostalgic 60's oldies and 80's Top 40 and James Blunt.

...but this player won't get anywhere. first of all, it doesn't work with a Mac, and guess what i own? and guess what the grand majority of kids going to college in the next five to ten years are going to get? and guess what is still better looking, better marketed, and better situated to the point of all hopeless competition? yep. you bet. Macs. iPods. oh well.

how do you like my token iPod and Musicgremlin pictures? you can thank Amazon. also, if you'd like to take the new gadget into consideration, you can buy it here, or through Amazon, here.  shan  9:35 AM  |  view comments (2)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  i know, i know.. i'm a super sleuth.

just because i'm allergic to brazil nuts doesn't mean i can't read this particularly awesome Said the Gramophone post about Tom Ze (Brazilian) and Loki (Scotland native. admittedly i'm not savvy on the butterscotch reference. oh - just go read).

i think i'm probably the last to know, but Pedro the Lion is going solo. that's right. the one-man music maker is heading out to make music on his own. the solo artist PtL is going solo. anyone catching the irony yet? go check out his official site, which reveals that the "debut" EP "Fewer Moving Parts" dropped today. i'll get my hands on it and do a longer review.

San Diego Serenade continues to make me laugh like hell (and embarrass me in public) with posts on Sound Team and seals. yeah, that's right, he actually manages to relate the mammal back to music - and Springsteen to boot.

i think this is pretty sweet. Fader Mag is now available for free as a podcast on iTunes. this is a first for iTunes (soon they'll be offering cookbooks and kung-fun how to's, i'm telling you). i HIGHLY suggest you hit this up, because fader is one of the last best publications on alternative music. get your podcast subscription here - totally free. i mean it. if you click this, you'll go to itunes. yes way.


also... what's up with this blogger bull...

  shan  11:51 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Great Scott 06.12.06 - Birdmonster. Period. shan has already posted her review here and everyone seems to agree: Birdmonster rocked. even they were pleased with it. being the taller of our little co-op, i have pictures for you loyal folks and a few thoughts of my own.

our conundrum was as follows: a period of time ago, we had purchased tickets to see The Boy Least Likely To. last week, at the Tapes 'n Tapes show, we were handed a flyer and thus reminded that Birdmonster was playing on the twelfth [for those of you playing along at home, that was last night]. all that we knew when we left the north shore on monday night [still last night] was that we were driving towards boston and getting off of storrow drive...somewhere. our attempts to rationalize the decision failed, kind of like a fat kid choosing between types of cake. it was rough. so basically, we committed to Birdmonster once we drove by the exit where we would have been able to see TBLLT [tybalt? what?] and: welcome to Great Scott. band-from-around-the-corner Age Rings has some decent potential. there were seven of them, as noted, but the actual drummer was missing and they were welcoming a new acoustic guitarist and they just didn't click. we'll see what happens when they put out their first album. The Talk? they come from Charlottlesville, North Carolina, and they're kind of a mix of pop-punk basslines, rough guitars, and loud drums. we needed air and quiet for a few minutes, so in hopes of lessening the permanent damage to our ear drums, we stepped outside for a break during their set.

in talking to Justin after the show, after we made sure his hand was okay from beating the cymbal to death in the encore [he made sure to note that they bought that cymbal the night before, purely for the purpose of beating it to death], the concept of rocking came up. he grew up around shows where the bands were there to rock and the performers would do just that: perform. flinging their bodies around, whipping their instruments through the air, feeling their music, engaging their audience. the energy that radiates from a performance like that is more than enough to make up for a few missed notes. it grabs your attention and gets inside you. it's more than just a show at that point; you feel like a part of it. and that is exactly what Birdmonster did last night. they drew us all in with the smooth, seductive sounds of Ice Age and then proceeded to blow us away. they played off each other, they played to us, they played like they believed what they were playing.

and we could feel it.

they like what they're doing, and we like them for it. it was the first show of their inaugural east coust tour, and we were lucky enough to have been there. don't expect them to burn out anytime soon, either, because they're having fun doing this. make sure you find them on one of their stops, too, the dates for which you can find at their official site, their myspace, or you can just stalk them at their blog, which they'll be updating from the back seat of the van. if you need some convincing, check out these here photographs.

all was calm, at first.

but then, you know...

then they brought the rock.

it really was a whole lot of fun. the girl with the shaker and the girl with the tambourine would agree, i'm sure.

p.s. i have some goodies to post once i get myself together:

• choice tracks from the recordings of last week's Tapes 'n Tapes, Figurines, and Cold War Kids show
  
• a short video from Birdmonster last night
  
• a few new tracks from Muse, if you're nice
  
• a legitimate entry containing something other than pictures from a show
  

just stay tuned, Toaster promises we won't let you down.  alexander  9:44 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Birdmonster @ Great Scott, 6.12 holy shit.

these were, in effect, the only words i became capable of saying last night once Birdmonster took the first stage of their east coast/national tour.

and now. and: holy shit.

when the dear headliners finally took the stage, i literally laughed out loud at the complete explosion of sound and energy. their opener, Ice Age, was perfect - slow, resounding, misleading... until the two minute mark. then BAM. it's the fucking ICE AGE. they went to the album opener - Skeleton Suit - and everything was clear. they're amazing. they are an atomic bomb: at one moment, all start up and collide their parts together simultaneously, their sound and energy exponentially climbing in a chain reaction until their eyes are closed in rapture at the sound and the feel of what they've created. they blow up the stage, surging high above the intimate audience setting and creating a mushroom cloud of in-your-face rock. Frontman Peter will turn to bassist Justin and have a glint in his eye, hunching over his guitar and kicking one foot out, hopping from his mic and shedding sweat and spit and absolutely shredding it. he rocks his cowboy boots with a spin and a shimmy up to the edge of the stage, one foot on a floor-placed amp, all up in our faces with the smirk and the sexed-up look in his eyes. meanwhile, David has been flipping out, throwing himself and his guitar around, almost jumping into Zach's mesmorized (crazed?) drum playing. Justin is in his own world, bent over the bass with elation and drive. drive for more sound, bigger, rising, growing, booming right out of the joint and into the street. anyone walking by Harvard and Comm at midnight (besides most likely being a sketchy figure) was being indirectly radiated with the nuclear energy coming from little 'ol Great Scott. oh, man. rock on. rock on.

of course, to begin with, we had to wait through two bands chubby and flushed with passion but skinny on talent. did i say that? yes i did. i can't help it. the first, Age Rings, was only a local band, not on the tour, selling albums in ziploc bags - yet they were the preferred of the two. funny guys. they wanted to break out and get down - they had the potential energy. round ball at the top of an incline, they were. but they just didn't have it. was the stage too small for seven people? no - Margot & TNSAS's are eight, and they got the ball rolling. ...and The Talk - well. i apologize. they were at SxSW, they've been on that WB show, and i'm sure their album is great... and, well. we went to Store 24. (i know, i know, we're awful.) they're from one of the Carolinas and they're on tour with BM, and you might like them more than we did, if you see them. but in the end, it's all worth the wait, trust me.

we didn't have to be slick to grab this set list. in fact, we ended up with two.

ice age
skeleton suit
cause you can
balcony
the bar in the back of the basement
ball of yarn
alabama
resurrection song
janine
all the holes in the walls

[[[it must be noted that prior to the show, i was in quite a bit of agony at having to choose between The Boy Least Likely To at TT's, and Birdmonster at Great Scott. it turned out, of course, that it may have been possible to go to both, and we just planned poorly. and yes, even with the incredible show i witnessed, even with the jumping jamming crazy good time - i still feel a little remorse at missing the alternative. sigh.]]]

definitely buy the album, if you haven't already. we spoke to Justin for a while after the show and he was all excited to learn i had the album already. because if you love music, you love the people that make it, and you want them to eat and pay van rental fees. so you buy their things. yep. novel concept.

p.s. i need me a better camera, or a better flash, or a better system, something else. the pics i have here do not even come close to showing the crazy energy they had, because all of those are blurry (think light-trails) with movement. we have a flickr thing coming up though, so don't fret.  shan  9:52 AM  |  view comments (3)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Steady As She Goes video so, it's spreading like wildfire, and i thought i'd share it over at the Noise For Toaster corner of things with a little extra sumpin' sumpin'. (yep. sumpin'.)

mm, basically, the Raconteurs put out a video, and you can watch it on YouTube. except, you can watch it here, instead. and that's the little extra. ..yep, i know, don't kill myself overdoing things... i really try not to...

The Raconteurs - Steady As She Goes



for a little run-down (and some sunset rubdown... ah, i love it when things half-intentionally rhyme) go to Muzzle of Bees. basically, they're awesome, and i love the concept for this video. i don't care if they're headed for mainstreamdom. (new word, there.)  shan  7:14 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Office - iTunes Single of the Week confession. i hate itunes.

that said. you can imagine my eye-popping surprise when i saw that their Single of the Week was from none other than Office. looks like the still-unsigned Chicago band nuzzled their way into the digital music machine. next ipod commercial? XM Satellite radio time? WB primetime soundtracks? what do they have in the works?

probably just a digital release of the otherwise-unavailable album, i know. but it's still fun to project. if you don't already have the single, which is Wound Up, i highly recommend you go over and get it. you only have a week. in the meantime, if you have it already, you can go to their myspace where they now have If You Don't Know By Now up for download. but first, here are our own celebratory tracks:

::::believe it:
Office - Busy With Other Things
Office - Q & A

you should also backtrack here to our review of the record and here for the Bonus mp3, Big Bang Jump!.  shan  1:34 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Let's Go Sailing well. i'm officially out of a job. this means: no more picking up checks (i'm a guilty-conscience freeloader), extra time for sunbathing, and.. lazy day music. for better or for worse, i have quite a few sources for this genre.


Let's Go Sailing

i forget exactly where i ran across this band for the first time. i'm pretty sure i can remember hearing about them through the Lips' tour diary (click news, there's a tab at the bottom that says Diary), which used to be significantly cooler than it is now. Kliph is sort of slacking on what was so great about it, which of course were the opening band mentions. they might be too cool now. but just like i found The Shins and Alfie and Steve Burns through the Diary about four years ago, i'm almost positive i remember a Let's Go Sailing mention, and consequently my extended curiosity.

to check up on them recently is to find a discouraging amount of progress in their forthcoming LP. they've been working for quite a long time (since 2002) on what will be only their first album (they have an EP, Icicles, which i still recommend). this isn't to discourage their music, however; if anything, everything i hear now has only piqued my interest and has me practically subscribing to their myspace blog (which i'm normally just oh-too-cool for. groan). i would like you to hear it as well, before i continue:

::::extra special mp3: Let's Go Sailing - All I Want From You Is Love

is this the right time to tell you that this isn't my favorite track from LGS? it has all of the elements i fall for in a song: simple piano opening, a sound building with the slide in from the cello - hey, a cello, for that matter - the slight dip before the perc ["and all i want from you is __(one, two)__ love"(enter drums)], and great vocals: airy, unassuming, floating along.. soundwaves.. waves.. ocean... anyone for sailing?

but i would like you actually to go straight to their myspace and listen to Better Off, and you will be sold. i promise. it's clear in both of these tracks that their influences include the best of Twee - good 'ol twee, like Belle & Sebastian - but also the Acid House Kings (i can't get over the comparison, there, actually) and consequently Kings Of Convenience. essentially, you should be thinking (well, listening, too) about the really awesome playfulness of B & S, only with a grade-school crush blushing of the cheeks and a last-kid-picked melancholy. okay, so, i really, really like it.

if you're opposed to their myspace (um, alright) - have no fear. head on over to their official site, where they hook you up with the same three tracks. none of them, as far as i can see, are downloadable. but they're going with "hopefully it will be out in September," so if you want to check back then, go ahead. for now, buy what you can (including that sweet button over there) at their store.  shan  9:50 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Zach Braff and... well, yeah. HI.

i really have a thing against music/mp3 blogs that post about general entertainment stuff. like hollywood. who likes hollywood, man.

and yet, this post is about TWO WHOLE THINGS that concern general entertainment. except i have an excuse, because both of them relate back to music.

first off. i need to make the ultra-girly confession (yeah, hi, i'm a girl) that i have a mad crush on Zach Braff. it's actually really bad. i think he's dating mandy moore, and i've been thinking about tracking her down and...

yeah, well.

but here is the cool thing! he launched his website this week.
why is this a cool thing, you ask.
well! go and look!
he has a lot planned for the site - including a music recommendation bit - and the kids love him for his music choices. Garden State soundtrack? who doesn't own that?
everything else about the site he explains himself, and you can watch that here (um, glasses, hi. girlish giggle.):


you should also go and see the trailer for The Last Kiss. what's that i hear? old snow patrol? better than new snow patrol? what? (they use "chocolate.")

on to the next thing -

so, basically, this is ridiculous. i'm warning you ahead of time that i'm a little disgusted, intrigued, and humbled all at the same time. how come?

because i'm blogging about Paris Hilton. that's why.

have you seen this?


it's pretty bad quality, but that's okay with me. i don't think i want to see any more of that than i need to.

um, yeah, shudder. but some people like it. i personally think she's knocking off a gwen stefani impression with a whole bunch of voice synthesizing, but you know, people have their taste. if you want the mp3, go over to Harmonium. Jill is one of those people that liked it, and that's okay. i know where she's coming from.

real music posts to come, don't worry.  shan  7:22 PM  |  view comments (2)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  the napster-like magic moment. so Muzzle of Bees (i love you, if only for your blog name, that is my favoritest Wilco song ever. favoritest) has been doing this very important thing, and you should all sort of know about it, if you don't already.

there's this series, Get To Know Your Blogger, which i enjoy quite a bit, and it's for reasons perfectly exemplified in the most recent edition. this interview with San Diego Serenade is one of the best i've read so far - i guess it's what i would expect coming from Conor, who's one of the better blog writers out there. i want to quote something here, though:

How important do you think music blogs are in general? Do you think they will continue to be as popular as they are today?

I think that they are important and that they will get more important. When one person can gain an audience for his opinions about music, that is never a bad thing. Consolidation of outlets to hear about new artists is the direction that other forms of media have gone in, and blogs are the exact opposite. The community of music bloggers seems like a welcoming and encouraging one, thankfully not as elitist as one would fear.

However, I think it’s important to keep things in perspective in terms of the influence of blogs. I have a few main fears for the future of music blogs:

1. Readership often depends on access to music. It’s no secret that a large part of the attraction for anyone reading a music blog is the free music provided. It’s easy to go to a blog, skirt over or ignore anything written, and download all the posted content. Many artists support blogs and give their mp3s out freely to them, but I feel like the up-front nature of blogs, with their easily identifiable owners, is still in its pre-napster phase. There’s no way to tell how or if this is going to change, but when it does it will be bad. Part of what makes something like the Summer Songs series on Muzzle of Bees great is that you can listen to the song while you read someones description of it. If that were taken away from a blog, you would have substantially less interest I imagine.

2. The torrential pace at which things move. New content attracts readers, obviously. But I don’t like the frenetic pace at which artists come and go through the blogs. To me, having constant recommendations for artists, songs, albums, concerts, can sometimes amount to a Boy Who Cried Wolf scenario, as in, if everything is heartily recommended by a blog, how do we know when they are REALLY heartily recommending something, like seriously this time? Like what is that Beirut guy up to these days? Was that his moment in the sun? Are people still talking about him? I think part of what makes music fun is anticipation and permanence, and blogs, and the internet as a whole, have chipped away at both of these two things.

whoaaaaa. Conor, my friend, holy crap. you said the words i was having a lot of trouble articulating.

his point is absolutely perfect. i read an article in the Phoenix a while back with this exact same point (you can read that here, and i highly recommend it). they went on about sites like YouTube and even mentioned said the gramophone, largehearted boy, and an aquarium drunkard. they ask the question: when are we going to get hit for free mp3s? when will we start to pay?

it's stuff to chew on. and it's important, because if you're reading this, chances are you're involved with a blog. and i think they're right. this is the magic moment - breathe it in, guys. because the heavy hammer could come down on the fun at any minute.

anyway. if you want to read everything done for the get to know your blogger series, well there you go. i just linked you to it.  shan  7:11 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  two more tracks from Keane
wooooooo.

you've all gone crazy for Keane. thanks for the love, guys.

in the spirit of your lust for Under the Iron Sea, here are two more mp3s to, ahem, tide you over.

i'm sorry, the puns are just so easy.

::::we love you, too:
Keane - A Bad Dream
Keane - Atlantic  shan  10:37 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Sound Team releases the Monster everyone
is psyched
because
Sound Team
are freaking awesome
and their album Movie Monster just came out (666)

and you should go purchase it immediately by clicking the pic. you'd be out of your mind if you didn't. they're on Capitol, for pete's sake. (poor pete.)

::::a song to entice you: Sound Team - Born To Please


also, and unrelated, the out-of-their-teens kids from IGIF worked their asses off on a crazy 20th birthday post that is pretty amazing. go indulge them.  shan  10:58 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  bloggers heart Cold War Kids and boston shows ...apparently.

i find it funny that we were seemingly surrounded by fellow talented bloggers at the Middle East show Monday. not so surrounded, i guess, but i was stepping on the heels of connor, and exitfare was a bit further down. only: we didn't know. hiiii, guys.  shan  11:42 AM  |  view comments (1)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  now that you've come here - please go away.

that's right.
i know you love us, but you have to give these blogs their time too, okay?

go:

Pop Boy rants and i love every minute of it, as usual. this time he admits to liking the new muse single - which is an opinion i share. i've never, ever liked muse (true story, i swear) but for some reason, Supermassive Black Hole does it for me. Pop Boy says the same thing, just in quite a few more words. it's okay, though. i still dig it.

it was 666, yes, but marathonpacks paid no attention and wrote a characteristically genius post on the freaking awesome Herbert album - or, at least, the opener Something Isn't Right. i posted on Herbert a little while ago (click to catch up) and i'm delighted at more good words on the man. go read - marathonpacks is a must.

Andrew at Harmonium covers two albums at once - Camera Obscura's Let's Get Out of This Country (nice rating, totally in agreement - and "patriotic execs at Wal-Mart"... oh, go read, it's just good) and Guster's Ganging Up On The Sun. we here at NfT are loyal to the lovely boston bands, and hey. four stars is decent.

Ear Farm is all excited because he was down at The Delancey with his DJ gig, Beg Yr Pardon, and all of you who live in NY should have gone. i would go on the 20th if i could - but you should.

so in the spirit of everyone that has ever recorded a CD covering Gnarls Barkley, The Twilight Singers have followed along and covered Crazy. i have a sort of personal collection of these covers now. but here, Stereogum has the mp3. i wonder if MOKB will do a Crazy covers list? it would be ever-growing, at this point.

You Ain't No Picasso very nicely sums up the summer concert festivals. nice to see them all in one place. you should at least be heading to one of them - i know we are, Lollapalooza baby. trekking half way across the country for it. literally. (i heart chicago)

thighs wide shut tipped me off to this video, and you can go there to see it if you'd like, but i can't see why since it's right here:
Lily Allen - Smile

yep, she's adorable. thighs wide shut is also streaming the paris hilton video. if i had whatever that takes, i would have it here too, but you can either just see it on youtube and laugh your ass off or go say bonjour to thighs and laugh your ass off. actually, that's pretty much what i do when i head there anyway.

  shan  2:11 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  the Middle East downstairs, 06.05.06 - it's almost like you were there. first off, see shan's full show review right here. mine's a recap. with pictures.

so we were indeed there, at least by the end of the Cold War Kids set. they were rocking pretty hard when we walked in, but that ceased pretty quickly. i hear they're great, and they did give that vibe, but i wish we had more to go on.

	CWK rocking. can you find connor?
the drummer from CWK, breaking down his set. i'd like to note that he played standing up over the drums, beating them with a maraca-type thing at one point.

next up was Figurines. really, really tight musically. they almost seemed flattered by the crowd reaction half the time. the frontman kind of did the awkward laugh and threw his hands up in the air with the applause. unfortunately, i could only really hear him when he was speaking between songs. the vocals were drowned out by the rocking guitars, and what i could hear may not have even been words, but i'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Figurines: tight jeans and a western theme. kind of like their music.
	Claus Salling Johansen on guitar and Christian Hjelm on guitar and lead vocals.
Kristian Volden on drums and Andreas Toft on bass.
the aftermath.

and then came Tapes 'n Tapes. their looks are a little deceiving. they almost don't look like four guys capable of that much raw musical prowess or indie rock noteworthiness. but boy, they sure proved why so many people crammed their way forward to the stage the second they walked out. it's like they were recording the album in your face; spot-on vocals, tight guitars adapted to rock even harder live, and enough energy to surge through the crowd and get some feet tapping and heads bobbing. [but i thought indie don't dance?] despite the fact that the keyboardist/auxiliary percussion guy seemed a little useless at times, running around with his tambourine and jingle bells, his energy only added to the performance that showed us why they were the headliners of monday night's lineup.

the band, made up of band members tapes, tapes, and 'n, as their myspace and official website will both tell you.
	"look at us rock," they say.
"even on euphonium."

  alexander  12:05 AM  |  view comments (1)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Is it any wonder?

so. Keane's new album.

oh, man. it's good.

i almost don't want to say it. why? because it's mainstream. because it's pop. because even though they sold 5 million copies of Hopes and Fears, they're cool enough to still be playing club shows, like the Axis on Lansdowne in a few weeks (no, we're not going, that sucker is beyond sold out). because: they're on Interscope. you know who's on Interscope? Will Smith.

i'm half kidding. Interscope has some good bands, like YYY's and Wolfmother and The Grates and Beck and... um... Jimmy Eat World... yep... oh, just go here if you want to argue with me about anyone else on the list.

back to my review - get ready for water imagery.

the glittery sail-away world of piano pop that they created with their debut LP comes back on Under The Iron Sea, only this time, you aren't so sure you want to take the ride. it's much darker - in no way is it an optimistic album - and you can feel it not only in the lyrics but in the melancholy tidal wave sound they're so famous for creating. the trio is amazing, as far as i'm concerned; with only a drummer, a keyboardist and a chillingly amazing vocalist, they manage to create an ocean of sound much bigger than themselves. on this sophomore release, the sound really is almost as heavy as the title suggests, and it's no small feat to stay afloat. i do recommend it, but with the caution that anyone with something to cry about better be ready with towels.

that isn't to say they don't bring back some of their original sun-on-the-water sparkle. on their single, Is It Any Wonder?, the lyrics may be suggesting something darker ("Is it any wonder I'm tired, is it any wonder that I feel uptight"), but that almost gets lost in the careening twisting turning sound that seems to flow circularly through your ears and curl into your brain. other songs, like Crystal Ball, or the beginning to Put It Behind You - those are still melancholy (can Tom Chaplin sing anything that isn't?), but their up-tempo breaks up other tear-jerkers like Try Again or eerie spine-tinglers like Broken Toy. the most classically Hopes and Fears-esque songs are Nothing In My Way and Leaving So Soon. regardless, all songs are amazing, and the breakdown of the album is possibly even better than the first. it's still just as much of a ride - you just need a healthy composition to hold on during this one.

buy it at Amazon now and it will ship to you when it comes out on June 20th.

::::in the meantime, here are some tracks to "whet" your appetite: (yes it's a god damn pun)
Keane - Is It Any Wonder?
Keane - Nothing In My Way
Keane - Try Again

Arjan wrote a piece on this record back on April 19th - I'd love to know where he got the album around then - but i suggest you go read it for the little interviewish touch. lucky bastard. i love Arjan and his stuff - he's always a great source.  shan  11:02 PM  |  view comments (1)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  CWK, Figurines and Tapes 'n Tapes @ the Middle East downstairs, 06.05 great expectations. i was full to the brim with them, last night, skipping into Cambridge - just thinking of the names of the line-up alone.

Cold War Kids: a recent blogosphere favorite, a contender for Pitchfork attention and thusly the attention of everyone else.

Figurines: a Denmark-native band, a previous top seller on Insound (right now at #52), and five guys with a lot of fun and style.

Tapes 'n Tapes: the obvious Pitchfork-adored pick, and consequently the most established of the three and the headlining act.

oh you bet i was psyched.

the first on the floor was CWK. because i'm a flake, we basically weren't able to see most of them - i forgot the tickets, we got there late, blah blah. i wish i could write a fuller review of their set and of their performance, but from what i saw, i was as impressed as others have been in seeing them - Ryan at Good Hodgkins ( he has great photos from the show, too) admitted that, for him, they were better than TnT. check his comments for the spilled beans. CWK are animals on the stage - they jump around with their guitars, practically growling - and they're quite a spectacle. in terms of energy, they won out of the three.
::::for your sampling pleasure, in case the Kids haven't made it around to your mp3 library yet:
Cold War Kids - We Used To Vacation


we had to wait a little while for Figurines - CWK's set was only about half an hour long - but when they came on stage, we were psyched. they're very tight, musically; instruments are perfect, performances are just as good as in the studio, if not more accessible. i had a great time watching them. i really wish, though, that the vocals would have been turned up significantly. i couldn't hear those guys at all, especially the frontman. he's particulary dynamic on the stage - fascinating to watch - and therefore I'm giving you my only good picture of him. alex is taller (this is my new favorite reasoning, as you can tell) and therefore is able to take better pictures. he'll post those tomorrow, i should think.
::::rock on - two very strong tracks that they played, now up for you to imagine live:
Figurines - I Remember
Figurines - Fiery Affair


the great part about seeing Tapes 'n Tapes is that they completely surpassed my expectations of them. Pitchfork had made such a big deal of them that there had been a backlash effect on me: i thought, they can't actually be that good. so i started to think it was all hyped-up craziness and that they weren't actually capable of living up to it. thankfully i was way off. these guys were just awesome. i think it's important for us not to do exactly what Pitchfork does in the very process of trying to defy them or throw off their influence. i think, first of all, that that's impossible, and second of all the act in itself is hypocritical. we should like what we like based solely upon our own impressions and carefully recognized responses.

TnT were, in effect, the most confident performers there. they were aware that the majority of their audience was their fan base - they were the headliners, they had the most heads bobbing and mouths moving to every word of their songs. they fed off of this response from the crowd and just continued to get better as they went along in their set. i was pleasantly surprised and very into their performance. i was down. in particular i liked the vocal activity of and the consequent relationship between frontman and bass player. they had a great chemistry beyond any other that would be visible within the band - the keyboard/alternative perc guy seemed useless sometimes but at others he was a great addition to the overall energy - and the drummer is always the drummer, freaking out on his set. they were all very unassuming, and that was also rather pleasant. all in all, i gave these guys the rock on rating - they aren't hug 'em squeeze 'em kiss 'em, but they weren't headbang it, either. they were Tapes 'n Tapes, and they had a good time while we had a good time. and that's what it always comes down to.
::::deliberately i choose the songs i liked the best live:
Tapes 'n Tapes - In Houston
Tapes 'n Tapes - Cowbell

another convenience to alex's being tall was his being able to slip over and stealthily grab a set list. no need to decode, this is what it says:

Just Drums
"Beach"
The Iliad
Insistor
Manitoba
In Houston
10 Gallon Ascots
Crazy Eights
Omaha
Cowbell
Jakov's Suite

you bet. those crazy kids.

check out their tour schedule here.  shan  4:06 PM  |  view comments (2)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Powder Burns the verdict on the new The Twilight Singers has already been very artfully and articulately declared over at cokemachineglow, and i don't pretend to want to replicate it. you should go and read about it there, actually - Craig did a fantastic job letting his imagination delve into the deep and dark corners of this album, of the psyche behind it, and of the reaches of unhappy influences on the making of the album. i will not go there and i will not repeat the same band bio you could read on any other website or review.

instead i chewed on the new album and let it roll around under my tongue for minute, and watched what came out. i like it immensely - its dark parts tend to loop themselves into the little seams of your brain and stay there - hibernate like Tolkein's dragons and lull you into an LA heat-induced stupor. they seem very much a product of their hailings - LA, New Orleans, and Miami - and seem to combine the raw and desperate talent of the two former cities (there is a very strong New Orleans feel to this album) with the sexy heat of the latter. the sex appeal, of course, rubs off on you like the dark figure that always sits in the back of the class, smelling like a fresh cigarette and smacking black leather. i respect it in the way you respect that dark figure; i can only understand it as far as i can feel it, relate to it, touch it tangibly. this leaves a mysterious cloud above the whole thing, choking it in smoke and stinging everyone's eyes. Powder Burns seems to do just that - like the dark room at a house party, like the back ally of the outcast club, you'll find the best of the worst.

i suggest you get it. it's Greg Dulli - yeah, you know him, he's the former lead of Afghan Whigs, and he's basically honed his image on being a Johnny Cash-esque badass. it's his fourth with the Singers. it came out on One Little Indian May 16th - but i'm not late with this one, because these guys will need a lot more press before they've been fairly noticed. they're incredible, if only for the emotional response they manage to elicit with their work.

as always, i send you to Amp Camp to buy away.

::::the loveliness of mp3 madness: The Twilight Singers - There's Been An Accident  shan  12:50 PM  |  view comments (1)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  mp3 greatness hmmmmmm? what now? what's that i hear?
Noise For Toaster has...
mp3s?!
that's right kids. you heard it here. literally. NfT is now stacked with mp3 power.
that means better blogging, prettier posts, and hardcore hearing. you're all set for life. you know the protocol: if you like the track, buy it off of itunes or dive in for the album. don't be lame guys: support what you love.

so. to celebrate, i'm going to kick off with a little list of my favorites right now, and a track for each. you may know 'em, but i'm giving you some alternative tracks from the norm, so grab 'em. grab 'em good.

click on the pictures to buy.

Birdmonster: No Midnight. i've always thought they sound a little like Kings of Leon, only - i guess - i like these guys more. easier on the vocals, for me. more intricate arrangements, as well - more attention to detail. they just announced a lot of tour dates (learn about them at Harmonium) and i'm already going to a show the night they're here, so you might see me at the Knitting Factory instead.
and here it is:Birdmonster - What's With Your Brain::::

Headlights: Kill Them With Kindness. yeeeppppp... a Polyvinyl band. i personally think these guys are adorable and destined for O.C. greatness. don't you? can't you see those little Mischa wannabes tripping all over Erin Fein and the cuteboys, Tristan and Brett? their names already sound like California beachbabes, don't they? well, don't worry. they're cooler than that. they're from Illinois. and their upcoming first LP, out in August, is catchy, poppy, wonderful stuff. i'll probably do a full review when the LP officially drops.
::::do it up: Headlights - Owl Eyes

Math and Physics Club: Movie Ending Romance. i love a good twee band. these guys really hit the mark with it, too; they aren't ground-breaking, but they're just good music, and a good time. this EP came out a year ago this July and still, it's a great listen, and still very summer-appropriate. if you don't know them (chances are, you don't) - check them out. read a billion longer reviews here if you're into that sort of thing.
because i love you:MAPC - Movie Ending Romance::::

Bonus: Office - Big Bang Jump!
If you need to be caught up with these guys, read my previous post here. i have Q & A playing in my car right now, and out of the whole cd, this is the best driving song. it's actually just a great song in general - 80's poppy, a little flair like the New Pornographers with Neko Case's harmonizing. i like it quite a bit.

there you are. go wild. have a dance party.
[or, as Indie Don't Dance always reminds... well, yeah. we don't dance. (i love her, over at IDD. go say hi.)]  shan  7:54 AM  |  view comments (2)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  acoustic Rock Kills Kid Rock Kills Kid has a few acoustic versions of tracks off of Are You Nervous?, and Harmonium has them all in a pretty little package. they're pretty damn good - stripped down, well performed, well produced. comment on Jed's post, will you, and thank him for the presents?

thanks guys. Noise For Toaster loves you.  shan  1:30 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Smoosh - Free To Stay oh, Smoosh. i love these guys.

the sister duo from Seattle is back on Barsuk for their second full-length LP, called Free To Stay, next week (June 6th). that's why i'm finally writing a review.

first let me complain a little for these girls. yes, i do mean for them. where are the marketing people for these two? they have about zero press photos, a horrible official site (sorry girls, it's sort of a mess), and do they even have a release party scheduled? it better be that salt lake city show i see on Barsuk!

moving on.

their new album shows even more promise than the first. She Like Electric, their first album, saw them both as skinny Limited-Too-clad tweens, green to the scene albeit shockingly mature to the material. the hype is true; their appeal is their age. they're hardly unaware of their unparalleled early understanding of the indiesphere and of just plain good music.

this second release is still a maturing (oh how i wish we could have had an answer to Electric's Rad, but that would be a move away from maturity, wouldn't it? some funny stuff, there, wooo). their music has always been extremely stripped down - it's just keyboard and drums - but now, not only have their voices changed, but they've eased into it a little bit. it does get monotonous at times, i'll admit, but rarely can you sit down and run through an entire White Stripes album, either. (no i did not just make that comparison! i think i'm just tired of hearing about Kate Bush.) Electric always did seem to have some nervous energy to it. the vocals are airy, hesitant; on Free To Stay, the girls are a little more serious about it. it's just something that comes with age, experience, press, hype, an indie-machine label release and a tour around the US and Europe with Eels. yep. just something that all girls have to go through before highschool.

i do recommend it. beyond any Barsuck, WB show, and even this blogosphere hype factory - these girls have promise, passion, and they're effing adorable. give them a listen and support their dreams. Eels are good too, so if you see they're coming to you, go out and rock as hard as you possibly can to two petite blonds on keyboard and drums.

their Pattern 25 Records page (She Like Electric free mp3: Massive Cure)

a year-old interview from Believer Magazine about recording She Like Electric. another great one from Believer (i love those guys, i really do).

pre-order here now

  shan  2:54 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Thom Yorke's The Eraser leaked. so. everyone knows.

....oh no.

everything leaks, guys. even the chili peppers leaked. it's just how it goes.

yet - it's actually the first headline on the yahoo homepage, and they have this quick and uninformative blurb all written up about it. if anything, that's just alerting everyone that they can go and grab it now. good job, kids. good plan.

instead of reviewing it himself, Picasso wrote it up for everyone else's comment. i liked that idea. but i'm going to go ahead and do the self-absorbed thing and tell you what i think, instead.

he did warn us: "Inevitably it is more beats and electronics." and it certainly is - that's about all it is. you can check my previous post for links to all of what it's about and his cryptic messages and such. me? i personally like it.

i'm not presently obsessed with Radiohead - i was, at one time, like most people. but i still love them. and i still love Yorke's voice. and if there is anything this record does, it highlights Yorke's melancholy vocals - but also tests them in new ways. forgive me if i'm remiss, but does "Skip Divided" have some elements of soul to it? humming to back his talking - and don't mind me while i just insert the name Beck and leave it there. and on "Black Swan," he's hardly interested in soaring above the instrumentals - he kind of blends in - and the product is pretty wonderful.

i think it's a great departure, very fun, if not expected. but still fulfilling. worth waiting for? nine tracks to munch on while we wait for Radiohead? sure.

yep, that's it. could i write more? certainly. i could rip this thing apart until i say things like "i love the turn And It Rained All Night takes at about 2:20 into the song," but i won't. you'll acquire it now and buy it in a month (you best buy it, people, if you download and love it) and you'll know what i'm talking about.

turn it up.  shan  9:43 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post