Last night I saw Big Troubles video for “Bite Yr Tongue” for the first time, and all I could do was smile. These boys are adorable, and the video represents everything that is Big Troubles and New Jersey…car rides, food (PIZZA and HOT DOGs), soda, great pop music, and more. One of my favorite music videos of 2010.
If you haven’t see this yet, watch it and have a great weekend.
Big Troubles also released the video for “Modern Intimacy” today! This one is all about skydiving…I’m not into adventure sports, but the LP version of this song is super rad.
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Big Troubles WFMU set has been rocking my world (since May!)…if you don’t already have it check it out the live mp3s of the songs above, and then snag the whole thing:
On July 5th I tagged along with my friend Leah to see Unrest at the Bell House for the big Teen Beat party. I am still fairly new to their music (I know…how many years behind am I?), but have been catching up fast.
Above is a photo I shot at that show with my Diana Mini, and I’m pretty stoked about it (actually lots of band photos are going to be popping up on this site. I just got a bunch back, and I’m finally learning the ins and outs of double/extended exposure). Unrest really brought the hits back in July at the Bell House, and even though I didn’t know all the songs the crowd was friendly and all were in good spirits (and I was one of the youngest people at the show, and that is a rarity now that I’m 27)…actually one of the most chill crowds I’ve been around in a super long time.
While Unrest was in NY/NJ they played a live set on the Brian Turner Show on WFMU, and whether you are a super fan, or a novice like me I think it’s a great introduction…and it’s all available on the Free Music Archive! Leah introduced me to “West Coast Love Affair,” and there was a really wonderful version of it performed on Brian Turner’s show. I’d like to share that with you now as a soundtrack to the photo above:
This photo is from the White Lodge. If you would like to use this photo please link back to the flickr page, and credit the White Lodge. More posts featuring photos from the White Lodge can be found here.
more posts featuring music from WFMU’s Free Music Archive can be found here.
On Tuesday morning Big Troubles had an amazing live session air on WFMU‘s always wonderful Talk’s Cheap with Jason Sigal. Big Troubles currently only have two 7″s out (and one is only kind of out), and now they have made this wonderful eight song live session with WFMU available for free download from the Free Music Archive.
Big Troubles’ slightly fuzzed out shoegaze glazed pop comes through in this session just as you would experience it live. In this session Alex Craig and Ian Drennen are joined by Sam Franklin (Fluffy Lumbers) and Luka Usmani (No Demons Here), and bring us a handful of new Big Troubles tracks. I can’t express how excited I am about this live set, and all of the songs that I already love sound pretty much perfect in their live conception (“Drastic and Difficult” and “Freudian Slips” sound better than ever!), but what I’m really dying over are the new tracks. ”Modern Intimacy” starts off the set, and shows from the beginning of the song that Big Troubles not only create awesome pop songs, but can shred on the guitar. And “Bite Your Tongue” has a beautiful guitar solo toward the end. Check out these two tracks and then make your way over to the Free Music Archive and download the whole set!
Buy the Freudian Slips 7″ from Black Burn Recordings here
Buy the Drastic and Difficult 7″ from OESB, eventually, here .
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If you are looking for something to do this evening, and happen to be in the NYC area….I highly recommend this (maybe after you hit up Harpoon Night at Barcade?):
Not only will you get to see big troubles, but Knight School and My Teenage Stride are both a please to watch.
Karl Blau is one busy man… whether he is making his own records, putting endless hours into the creation of KELP!, or spending time recording/producing or performing with other bands….and recently there have been a couple new development for this man with oh so many talents.
Ambient Doom Metal band EARTH has just announced that Karl Blau will be playing bass with them on their upcoming West Coast tour where they will be performing new material! EARTH’s line up for this tour will be Dylan Carlson on Guitar, Adrienne Davies on Drums, Karl Blau on Bass, and Lori Goldston on Cello.
Go see Karl Blau perform with EARTH!
04.14.10 – Eugene, OR – The Oak Street Speakeasy
04.15.10 – Eureka, CA – Noctrum
04.16.10 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
04.16.10 – Santa Cruz, CA – Brookdale Lodge
04.17.10 – San Diego,CA – Ché Café
04.19.10 – Los Angeles, CA – The EchoPlex
04.22.10 – Portland, OR – Rotture
04.23.10 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
04.24.10 – Olympia, WA – Capital Theatre *
all dates with Wolves In the Throne Room
* Mount Eerie and Ô Paon
Even more exciting than Karl Blau playing with EARTH is the fact that he is co-producing EARTH’s next record for the Southern Lord, the follow up to The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull, with Stewart Hallerman at AVAST studios in Seattle, Washington this Spring. The album is due out early 2011. (all the bolding is because I’m super excited about this!)
Karl Blau also recently signed on and made a large sampling of his recordings available though the WFMU’sFREE MUSIC ARCHIVE! Karl Blau has such an extensive catalog and this is a great way to get familiar with his work. I’m excited to present to you a song from the FMA…his cover of The Microphones’ “The Blow.” Karl Blau’s version of this song is a 12 minute experimental adventure in music. While not indicative of his other works it is a true treat:
buy Karl Blau’s cover album It was Hot We Stayed In The Waterhere.
buy the Microphones’ It Was Hot We Stayed In the Waterhere.
“The Blow” by Karl Blau features Adrian Orange
Check out Karl’s other submission to the FMA here!
Last but not least is a split collaboration EP between Karl, Madeline Adams, and Your Heart Breaks that is coming out on Orange Twin Records this month. Madeline Adams is a part of the Elephant Six collective, Your Heart Breaks is an indie band from Seattle, WA, and this collaboration features six tracks recorded at the Department of Safety in Anacordes, Washington. Phil Elverum (Mt. Eerie) and Gus Franklin (Architecture in Helsinki) both contributed to the recording by playing various instruments. The recording is a unique collection of songs, and a coming together of creative minds. Each song features a different arrangement of musicians, and my favorite of the bunch is a cover of Richmond Fontaine‘s “Post To Wire” performed by Madeline and Karl:
Since I initially heard Liechtenstein I have been craving more, and back in June, as a surprise, klk brought back a copy of their new 10″ Survival Strategies in the Modern Worldthat she picked up at Aquarius (I’m still so jealous that I’ve never been to that store). I absolutely love this record, it gives me the same satisfaction that I get while listening to Tiger Trap and Talulah Gosh, but with a slightly updated sound. Liechtenstein also refuses to get lost in the fuzziness that is so popular these days, and I now have very little motivation to put on albums by Pens and Vivian Girls when I know that I will be much more satisfied by Liechtenstein (or Talulah Gosh for that matter).
Liechtenstein’s 10″ while wonderful is pretty short, a mini LP of nine songs, and in my searching of the internet I came across another amazing offering from the Free Music Archive. When Liechtenstein was in the states back in June they stopped byWFMU and recorded a set for one of my favorite radio shows,Michael Goodstein’s Choking on Cufflinks. The set is up in it’s entirety for free download from the FMA…and I’ve been particularly into these two:
Here is why Slumberland does Searching for the Now:
We here at Slumberland have always believed in the 7″ single as the greatest medium for pop music. 7″s are cheap and portable, a great way to hear new bands without spending too much cash, and similarly a great way for bands to get their music out there without going broke. Add in a cool sleeve, maybe some color vinyl and the odd sticker or badge and you have an unbeatable little package.
The last few years have seen a real resurgence of great pop, and we find ourselves with a favorite new band almost every week. Or at least a few favorite new songs. We’ve puzzled over how to make more of this terrific music available, and our solution is our new split single series Searching For The Now. Our plan is to release two limited-edition split 7″ singles every ten weeks or so, then compile every eight singles onto CDs to keep them available. Note that this is not a subscription series — while we are limiting each single to one pressing, they’ll be available from your favorite indie record retailers and mail orders, and of course directly from Slumberland. All singles will be pressed on color vinyl and packaged in special sleeves — full-color, letterpress, silkscreen or something else cool. (more info here).
I fully agree with Slumberland’s vision with this series, and I feel like it speaks to me as a record buyer. They are 100% correct in thinking that the 7″ is a great medium (both affordable, and digestible) for checking out new bands, and Slumberland is able to keep these records inexpensive ($5), and I am more likely to invest time in something that I buy for a couple of dollars than something I get off the internet for free. Slumberland also has been kind enough to give us Liechtenstein’s new studio track “This Must Be Heaven” as a free downloadable sample.
“This Must be Heaven” is pretty much a perfect pop song in my mind, and again like the 10″ it leaves me wanting more.
Liechtenstein recently lost Naemi, but they have found Ulrika to take over playing bass in the band. And back in August they spent a couple days in a Gotland studio recording some new songs…I can’t wait for these to see the light of day. Any news is good news if it’s coming from these ladies.
In the mean time…here is their video for “Security By Design”
“Highspeed Drift” is the first track off of Gary War‘s Horribles Parade.
This video was made by Jacqueline Castel(of WNYU‘s wonderful (Make) the Product radio show). I was completely unaware that she did music videos until this popped up on No Conclusion. I’m pretty into the video, and I think it complements the song (and Horribles Parade in general) wonderfully. It really gives me the underwater vibe that I get when listening to the album. Gary War hasn’t steered me wrong yet. I still need to pick up Galactic Citizen….maybe this weekend.
On another note if you haven’t heard Gary War’s first album New Raytheonport…you should really check it out…and you can do that for free! New Raytheonport was one of my favorite albums of 2008 that I didn’t actually hear in 2008, and shows a little bit of a lighter side of Gary War and psychedelica. This free download is possible because of Gary War and the Free Music Archive at WFMU!
Now that it is available for free there is no reason for you not to have this album…and it’s perfect for this last weekend of summer.
Catbird has been posting about these ladies quite a lot since the beginning of the year, and when I saw the new single I had to pick up a copy. Explode Into Colors are not exactly what I would expect from a band out of the pacific northwest, and it is great hearing new sounds coming from that part of the country…instead of a classic indie rock sound we get a beat heavy dub influenced single perfect for these last warm days of summer. From the looks of this single we have great things to expect, and if their live shows are anything like Tender Forever’s I really hope that they tour soon. It should be a blast.
The three 7″s that are being released are going to be limited releases, and as I said this is the first. They will later be compiled into a collection and be released as a CD/EP on KRS. If you happen to be a DJ, or radio person I recommend picking up the 45s…totes worth it.
Buy “Coffins”/”Sharpen the Knife” from M’Lady Records here.
Pre-Order “Eyes Hands Mouth”/ “Wooden Ghost” from KRS here.
is a great song, but other than that song so far I have been uninspired by Sic Alps both on recording and at live shows….up until now. The other week Bill mentioned that the new single on Slumberland sounded a bit “Spoon-ish.” While I have been a fan of Spoon for a while (more so when I was in college, but still) saying something is Spoon-ish isn’t necessarily a good thing for a band…so when I was at Academy this weekend I picked up the new Sic Alps single “L Mansion” if for no other reason to hear what Sic Alps sound like tinged with Spoon.
I don’t know if you have recently bought (or seen), a Slumberland single recently, but if you haven’t I highly recommend doing so. This is my second 7″ from the label in the past two or three weeks, and I have to say they do singles right. The record comes in a full color jacket, black dust jacket, colored vinyl, and are limited edition. For a slightly larger record label they really put a unique personal touch on their singles.
“L Mansion” is a short track, and unlike their records in the past it has a much cleaner indie rock sound. Maybe this is a change in production value, or something but like the b side “Superlungs (My Supergirl)” both tracks show growth and departure from previous releases. Slumberland has made “L Mansion” available for download…so you be the judge:
In the case of this single, I think the production and the slightly more up beat sound brings Sic Alps into a new light. Up until this single Sic Alps seemed to get lost in the massive amount of lo-fi garage rock/shit-gaze that has been going on, but I think now I’m going to be following their releases a little more closely…it actually makes me really want to hear more, and even see them live again. It’s not just the cleaner sound, but even better song writing. I think I am correct in saying that “L Mansion” is the first Sic Alps recording with Ty Segall on drum, and so far Segall seems to do no wrong (he has released several singles and three LPs under his own name in recent memory). I am excited to hear more from this new line up.
Although it appears to be older material Drag City just released a massive 2xLP collection of what appears to be older songs…you can pick that up here (this collection contains “Message from the Law”).
the white lodge is a photography collaboration between klk and myself. We specialize in analog photography using both 35mm and medium format film. Please check out our flickr.
i occasionally post mp3s and videos on this blog for the sole purpose of promoting artists that I believe deserve attention. all songs are for sampling purposes only, if you like it there will be a link to buy music from the artist (or tour dates...go see them!). if by chance I post an mp3 or video with audio that you own, and you would like me to take it down please let me know. you can reach me at:
(tom at gprecs.com)
in this instance i am very sorry.
it's a slippery slope. RT: @mattlemay: This whole "hit the 'like' button to access this content" thing on Facebook is incredibly obnoxious.about 14 hours agofrom Echofon
