)|
05/16/08 Toad’s Place New Haven, CT
Discography
05/22/08 Slims San Francisco, CA 05/24/08 Les Schwab Amp Bend, OR 05/25/08 Sasquatch Festival Quincy, WA 05/28/08 Henry Fonda Theater LA, CA 06/06/08 Wakarusa Festival Lawrence, KS 06/07/08 Slowdown Omaha, NE 06/08/08 Bluebird St. Louis, MO 06/10/08 Bricktown Ballroom Oklahoma, Ok 06/11/08 Granada Theatre Dallas, TX 06/12/08 Warehouse Live Houston, TX 06/13/08 Emo’s Austin, TX 06/14/08 Rev Room Little Rock, AR 06/15/08 Hi-Tone Memphis, TN 06/17/08 Southgate House Newport, KY 06/18/08 Mr. Small’s Theatre Pittsburgh, PA 06/21/08 Popped! Festival Philadelphia, PA 06/25/08 Pemberton Festival Pemberton, BC 08/01/08 Lollapalooza-Grant Park Chicago,IL 08/08/08 All Points West Liberty State, NJ 09/26/08 Austin City Limits Festival TX
|
Mates of State are back with Re-Arrange Us, coming out May 20th. Let me tell you that this girl-boy duo knows great pop music.
I first heard about them on a 2003 CMJ compilation with a little song called "Ha Ha", but I didn't think much of it. By 2006, after being signed to Barsuk Records, I remember I started seeing that distinctive "indie cover" artwork with Mates of State's husband and wife team, Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner, in a very strange half embrace.
There's some great pop tunes on Re-Arrange Us, but the song that the record label approved us to use is "My Only Offer", which I already liked so I have no problem with using this particular song. I thought the trumpet, played by Gary Olson, was a very nice addition to the song.
There's a few great songs, including, "Jigsaw", which basically has Jason repeating lyrics sung by Kori (actually, after reading the credits, it lists Ben Gibbard, from Death Cab For Cutie, as backup vocals). It's really easy to sing along, so I think this would be a great live concert pleaser. Also would play great is "Now", which has the simple, but catchy "Now now now now now now. Now now now now now now, who who who?"
I also really dug "The Re-Arranger", which is basically what the album was named after. This song sounds like it's escaped from the 60s and made a stop in the 80s, before resurfacing now.
The duo are currently doing some tour dates to promote Re-Arrange Us, so catch them if you're able. According to their official website, if you pre-order the album, it should arrive in your mailbox on the 20th, but you can usually find Barsuk records at most good record stores.
PS, apparently the band is a fan of the "Little Boxes" song (there is a live rendition on their myspace). I wonder if they got involved with the song because of Death Cab for Cutie's version or because they're also doing a theme song for Weeds?
|
|
I love bacon, and I love sneakers.... so by transference, I would also love Bacon Shoe. These two MCs (Lethal D and Mr. Ruggles) and one DJ (DJ SKU), are a comedy hip-hop crew from rap hotbed of Kansas City.
I couldn't find any information on their debut album, Ass, originally released in 1997, but obviously that's a decade (!!) prior to Back from Stinktion (that's extinction for you non-hipsters).
Although there's no pending pressure that they're on tour or are in need of promotion, I was inspired enough after watching their misadventures in SXSW 2006 (their album came with a bonus DVD) to write about it.
It seems to me that they only had a few booked/confirmed shows in Austin, because the time that they weren't booked, they drove to various bars and started playing music and rapping. What's really interesting is that in one of the videos, you can see the slow buildup of passerby people actually stopping and watching them perform.
They're incredibly mobile and, watching their behind-the-scene stuff, they're quite funny.
The music portion of the album doesn't quite capture their live energy, it makes it up with various comedy bits. Like on "Toine in the Studio" doing some intentionally horrible unrhyming freestyle or on "A New Discovery Shed" where Lethal accidentally dropped "sometime you gotta bend over and take it up the a** a little bit. Erm, no you don't. I'm sorry, That's not true. I never done that before, so don't think I'm like..."
My favorite song is "Cheesedick", mostly because I think of Aqua Teen Hunger Force whenever I hear it.
Bacon Shoe's Back from Stinktion is a great album to have right next to your MC Frontalot collection. The bonus DVD added a nice value to the album, so get the physical copy from CD Baby.
Links:
www.baconshoe.com
myspace.com/baconshoe
last.fm/music/Bacon+Shoe
|
05/24/08 Emo’s Austin, TX
Discography
05/31/08 Antone’s Texas, TX 06/08/08 Emo’s Austin, Texas 06/12/08 Beauty Bar Austin, Texas 06/21/08 First Day of Summer Festival @ Guero’s Oak Garden Austin, TX 06/23/08 Viper Room Los Angeles, CA 06/27/08 Blackwater Cafe Stockton, CA 06/29/08 Make Out Room SF, CA 06/30/08 Spaceland Silverlake, CA 07/01/08 Beatles Revolution Lounge Las Vegas, NV 07/24/08 Double-Wide Dallas, Texas 07/25/08 D-FEST: JULY 25-26 Tulsa, Oklahoma 07/28/08 Emo’s Austin, Texas
|
"Legal troubles and a court order" (scandal!) prevented Austin, Texas's The Boxing Lesson from going out on tour in early May - which is great for me because I was supposed to have mentioned their tour information in April, but obviously that never happened.
So, yes, they are doing a few dates in June, mostly in their home state and eventually to the West coast.
Anyway, originally, this was a full five-piece band from Los Angeles. Singer and guitarist, Paul Waclawsky, took the name and moved to Austin, where the current incarnation of the band exists as a trio, with Jaylinn Davidson (synth) and Jake Mitchell (drums and samples).
I haven't actually heard their first few releases, but from what I've read, they used to be shoegazing. Some of that influence is on the latest release, Wild Streaks & Windy Days, but it definitely feels more experimental, not just layers of guitars and sweet vocals.
The most poppiest rockiest song on the album is easily "Brighter", which is my favorite song. You can hear it on their myspace.
However, I felt like you should hear one of their ethereal/shoegazey song with the Pink Floyd-inspired title of "Dark Side of the Moog". The guitar hooks on this song is pretty awesome, like it's talking to you and it's telling you to sway!
By the way, in case you were wondering, a Moog is a certain make of synthesizer.
Their latest
video is for "Dance with Meow", which I thought was pretty funny with
the animal masks (especially the Hello Kitty worn by Jaylinn).
Speaking of which, I wish she would do more backup singing, like on the song "Timing", it was a nice treat to hear her sing, "can you feel it?/go nowhere/will it go away?" (I think).
Wild Streaks & Windy Days is out now, go see them on tour if you happen to be located in those area.
Links:
myspace.com/theboxinglesson
youtube.com/theboxinglesson08
myspace.com/loyaltyfirm
Tonight, starting at 6:00 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time (that's 1:00 A.M. UTC/GMT), we'll be taking Vox offline for a bit in order to move the service to a brand new home in some bright, shiny new server racks. We don't expect to be offline for more than an hour or two, but we apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.
Thank you for your patience as we continue to invest in Vox's infrastructure!
Update: we've postponed tonight's maintenance, and will let you know when we reschedule. Thanks for your patience!
|
|
Okay, so these were all going to be different articles was actually meant to go live on May 6th to today, but you know how it is when things don't go exactly according to plan.
I'm actually feeling a little under the weather (coughing/horrible throat issues and too much mucus build up). I just feel incredibly miserable right now.
Item #1: Christopher's Rollo Armstrong article is featured on vox.com/music - but the real conspiracy is that doesn't feature any The Crimea.
|
|
Item #2: One of the PR company that sends us music to review did some promo for us and among the 20 tracks, these are my favorite: Phil Anastasia and David Yazbek, only because they really deviate from the standard "you're listening to We Heart Music" script that they were probably given. Phil Anastasia especially cracked me up and I had to play that back a few times when I first heard it.
I do have a note I wanted to mention about Yazbek, I was shopping at Cheapo Records in Uptown. Yes, I still buy CDs, although I have to admit, often used. Anyway, I was in the very end of the Jazz area when I happened to see that distinctive Evil Monkey Man cover! I had to smile to myself as if there was some kind of inside joke with the punchline of "I saw you on W♥M, dude".
Item #3: By the way, speaking of Jazz, one of my favorite shows that I listen to is NPR's Jazz Profiles, which I get as a podcast.
This is such a great program. It's often very detailed, and in fact, the last episode I listened to on Charles Mingus was so long and rich with interviews and history that it was split up in two parts.
Even if you don't love Jazz, I think you'll enjoy listening to host Nancy Wilson as she takes you on a journey of some of American's famous (and not-so-famous) Jazz musicians.
|
05/08/08 New York, @ Bowery Ballroom
05/09/08 Boston, MA @ Middle East 05/10/08 Montreal, QUE @ Lambi 05/11/08 Toronto, ON @ Mod Club 05/12/08 Chicago, IL @ Shuba’s 05/14/08 Vancouver, BC @ Red Room 05/15/08 Seattle, WA @ Triple Door 05/16/08 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir 05/18/08 San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 05/19/08 Los Ang, CA @ El Rey Theatre 05/31/08 Siesta Hässleholm 06/01/08 Blue Flowers London 06/02/08 Night & Day Manchester 06/03/08 Hi-Fi Club Leeds 06/04/08 Cargo London 06/06/08 Albert Brighton 06/07/08 Stealth Nottingham 06/08/08 King Tuts Glasgow 06/10/08 Jericho Tavern Oxford 06/11/08 ICA w/ El Perro del Mar London 06/12/08 Sugar Club Dublin 06/14/08 Hultsfred Festival Hultsfred 07/03/08 Quart Festival Norway 07/04/08 Arvika Festivalen Arvika 07/05/08 Roskilde Festival Roskilde 07/06/08 Eurockeennes Festival Belfort 07/31/08 Storsjöyran Ostersund 08/07/08 Öya Festival Oslo 08/08/08 Haldern Festival Lower Rhine 08/09/08 Way Out West Göteborg 09/05/08 Bestival Isle Of Wight |
Item #4: Lykke Li releases Little Bit EP on said Tuesday, and Buster called her album, Youth Novels:
Pretty much flawless. With a perfect balance of catchy sweet pop tunes, and depressing slow jams, it's going to be one of the best albums of 2008... if not the best.
Those are some pretty bold words.
Now, I actually listened to just one of her b-side, "Dance Dance Dance", and I'll have to say that it's actually pretty good. She has a very sweet voice, a little bit creepy, and I'm even going to refrain myself from saying "me lykke".
She's currently on tour with fellow Swedes, Anna Ternheim (read more) and headliner, El Perro Del Mar, who we've previously mentioned, many, many, times, throughout the US.
Item #5: Okay, I'm not even sure why this fascinate me, but apparently hot girl Scarlett Johansson has an album coming out called Anywhere I Lay My Head on May 20th. What probably saves her is that they're all Tom Waits cover songs!
There's not really too much I can add to this, except that I remember the first time I saw Johansson on Dan Clowes's "Ghost World", I thought she was going to go places. By the time "Lost in Translation" came out, she was already a star.
I don't know, maybe I see her differently now, but now I just group Johansson with other popstars and I can't really take her seriously.
That's all I can muster up, I'm heading back to bed now. Goodnight and thank you.
Links:
www.lykkeli.com
|
05/07/08 ABBEY PUB (AA) Chicago, IL
05/07/08 ABBEY PUB Chicago, IL 05/08/08 MAGIC STICK Detroit,MI 05/09/08 THE PHOENIX Toronto, ON 05/10/08 Cabaret Musee Montreal, QB 05/12/08 PARADISE Boston, MA 05/13/08 STUDIO B Brooklyn, NY 05/14/08 Bowery Ballroom NY 05/15/08 BLACK CAT Washington DC 05/16/08 PURE Philadelphia, PA 05/17/08 SONAR - Baltimore, MD 05/19/08 ECHOPLEX Los Angeles, CA 06/05/08 Forum Melbourne, Victoria 06/06/08 Forum Melbourne, Victoria 06/07/08 WrestPoint Entertainment Centre Hobart, Tasmania 06/08/08 The Batman Fawkner Inn Launceston, Tasmania 06/12/08 HQ Complex Adelaide 06/13/08 The Capitol Perth 06/14/08 The Capitol Perth 06/18/08 The Great Northern Byron Bay, New South Wales 06/19/08 Coolangatta Hotel Gold Coast, Queensland 06/20/08 The Tivoli Brisbane, Queensland 06/21/08 The Enmore Theatre Sydney, New South Wales 06/26/08 GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL - dance village Glastonbury 07/04/08 ARVIKA FESTIVAL Stockholm 07/05/08 WIRELESS FESTIVAL London 08/09/08 OYA FESTIVAL OSLO |
Cut/Copy are doing great on their tour throughout the US (selling out at most popular venues, adding additional dates due to demand), before making a triumph return to their hometown of Melbourne, Australia, to two, count 'em, two sold-out show at the Forum.
I was pretty impressed with their manufactured/pre-recorded 80s-techno new wave style beats, and they worked the very packed room of young hipsters and college frat boys to a frenzy with their demands of "dance, jump!"
I couldn't help but wondered what they would do without their beat box, as it seems they depend on it a lot. In fact, at some point, the bassist left the stage and the music just kept going without him.
Opening up for them was Black Kids and Mobius Band.
Both bands did a pretty short setlist, lasting about 30-40 minutes
each, which is understandable as having three bands can be too much if
they all did full sets.
The trio Mobius Band are from Brooklyn, New York, with a jerky and energetic Ben (?) pushing buttons and moving back and forth.
When he's not doing the buttons thing, he actually also plays guitars.
Check out the cute cardboard setlist from Black Kids, it lists 9 songs, but it felt like 6, really quick!
Singer Reggie Youngblood, sure sweat a lot. The whole band looked really cute with the two girls, Dawn & Ali, doing synchronizing singing. The crowd do love them, and I suspect many of them were there to see them - because many of them were wearing the $20 tour shirts that reads "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You".
 From Mobius Band to Infinity ♥ photo by vu |
 Black Kids Back Alright! ♥ photo by vu |
 Cut/Copy vs Micro/Phone ♥ photo by vu |
Links:
www.cutcopy.net
www.blackkidsmusic.com
www.mobiusband.com
Last week, we announced the winners of the HP "What Do You Have to Say? Theme Design Contest and promised you we'd make the winning themes available on Vox in the coming weeks. After a little more thought, we decided you shouldn't have to wait a second longer to use these creative and inspiring designs on your blogs, so we made them available for you today. Who says good things only come to those who wait?
|
05/17/08 mobo Benefit Cincinnati, OH 05/24/08 ’Taste of Cincinnati’, Ohio 05/30/08 Fountain Sq Cincinnati, OH 06/07/08 Punk Rock Prom Indianapolis,IN 06/21/08 Mad hatter Covington, KY 06/26/08 Dame Lexington, Kentucky 06/27/08 Gypsy Hut Cincinnati, Ohio 07/18/08 Mad Hatter Covington, KY 07/25/08 3rd Street Dive Louisville, KY 07/26/08 Oregon Express Dayton,OH |
Kentucky’s Lions Rampant play the kind of rock ‘n roll that smells like sweat and whiskey—snarl-y, sneer-y, screech-y, dirt-under-the-fingernails music that sounds cheap and unfiltered, as though some dirty men woke up one day and decided they wanted to be rockers. This is entirely positive. Consider the current trends of indie rock and how innocuous the music seems when each band member resembles something straight off the sidewalks of Williamsburg. So it’s almost…pleasant listening to a band that is sort of unpleasant to listen to.
The band describes their musical mission as “[returning] smart, fun, blues-infused rock ‘n roll to the masses,” which is maybe true. However, the “blues” of which they speak doesn’t really call to mind the soulful stylings of Muddy Waters; it’s too brash and obvious—like the fictional Blueshammer with a punk attitude. The Black Keys are a good reference point, as is Mudhoney, minus a bit of the unintelligible grunge muttering (the former being one of the Lions’ influences); these bands share a similar disregard for polish and hygiene, and a passion for gritty guitar rifts and hoarse vocals.
Play Rock N Roll! is more basement rock than garage rock (basements are the new garages!), with a spazzy energy that would make a mamma holler “some of us are trying to sleep!” But who needs sleep when there are faces to melt and eardrums to shatter. It’s exactly the kind of record that inspires ridiculous acts of stupidity, like diving off the roof or drinking 20 beers in 20 minutes. Again, this is positive. There’s no room for obscurity here: the six-song, 17-minute record is strongest when singer Stuart MacKenzie channels the bratty wail of anti-hipsters. “Let Us In! (Come On)” is wonderfully self-centered, with its murky beat and MacKenzie’s not-quite-sexy “uh uh uhs,” while “70 30” re-imagines fellow blues enthusiast Mick Jagger’s “you get what you need” attitude as bathroom stall philosophy.
For more information, visit www.thelionsrampant.com or www.myspace.com/thelionsrampant. Tour dates can be found on the band’s official website, as well as information about downloading Play Rock N Roll!
-Lara
This may just be an excuse to post as much of my record collection as possible in one post, but at least there's a common theme between them. You may not know him but you're bound to have heard one of the many countless bands he's been involved with; our Rollo has his finger in many musical pies, so to speak. Oh and, you deffinately know his sister. What's with everyone having famous sisters nowadays?