Well it’s not exactly a battle for outer space, but in a sense it is…my hometown of Charleston is going to be faced with the same decision that I have to make tomorrow night.

Tomorrow Saturday March 6th there are two amazing shows happening right here in Brooklyn, and Wednesday March 10th very similar shows are happening in Charleston, SC

First up is everyone’s favorite, Underwater Peeps Proprietors, and all around rad dudes Family Portrait who will be appearing with none other Alex Bleeker and the Freaks…and a too be named Special Guest (supposedly very special).

These New Jersey via DC and back to New Jersey rockers will be playing in full force for the first time in a very long time.  If you have seen Family Portrait over the past 6 months or so you saw various forms with Ari and Brody, but now that Sawyer is back from his journey out East they are back in action in the form we all know and love.  I was looking through my music, and I found a track that I grabbed back in September…. “On The Floor” is a retro pop jam full of fuzzy psychedelica.  Backed up with Brody’s crooning vocals and the type of beach vibe you expect to get from a New Jersey basement or garage party rather than the Jersey shore.

[mp3] Family Portrait- “On The Floor”

• Buy their split 7″ with Andrew Cedermark here.

Rock this one, and then go check out Family Portrait….they are touring down to SXSW!

• Tomorrow, March 6th @ 59 Jefferson St, #402 (21+ $8)
  • Family Portrait, Alex Bleeker, and very Special Guests!
    • This show is presented by Pixelhorse, Microphone Memory Emotion, and Visitation Rites.
      • Proceeds from this show go toward playing the bands playing their awesome SXSW showcase in Austin.  Get all the info on the Austin Show here.
• Wednesday, March 10th @ Outer Space! in Charleston, SC
  • Family Portrait, and fucking Castles Underground!!!
• Check out all of Family Portraits’ tour dates here (lots in between and after these two dates).

The Sandwitches are three ladies from San Fransisco making awesome 50’s/60’s throwback rock and roll.  Their album How to Make an Ambient Sad Cake has been getting tons of play at my house, and on my headphones.  It started with their single “Fire,” and it has slowly infected my head.  And now “The Revisionist” has had me singing “God ain’t no friend of mine” all morning.  I was curious about the lyrics of this song, and I thought I would check out what a revisionist actually was: “a movement in revolutionary Marxian socialism favoring an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary spirit”  and in a sense I guess I fall under this category.  Not a bad thing at all…and a really wonderful song.

[mp3] The Sandwitches- “The Revisionist”

• From How to Make an Ambient Sadcake, buy it here.
• The Sandwitches are part of the Endless Nest Collective.

As much as I love Family Portrait, both as musicians and people, I’m going to have to hit this Sandwitches show.  These ladies are coming from a long way, and who knows when they will be back.

• Tomorrow, Saturday March 6th @ Monster Island Basement
  • Golden Triangle, The Sandwitches, Coasting, and Girls at Dawn
    • All Ages, $8
      • They are also playing tonight, but very little info is available.
• Wednesday March 10th @ The Tin Roof in Charleston, SC
  • The Sandwitches, and Teenage Owl.
• See all of the Sandwitches’ tour dates here (lots in between and after these two dates).

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If none of these things work for you…. go see Twin Sister at CoCo66 tomorrow night (March 6th).  More info about Twin Sister can be found here.

And this weekend pregame for everything at Mugs Ale House’s  Split thy Skull Festival!

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The photo of Family Portrait was taken on January 29th, 2010 at Bruar Falls, and 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.

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• More on Family Portrait here.
• More on Underwater Peoples Records here.
• More on the Sandwitches here.
• More on the Endless Nest Collective here.

What is Speed Dating?  Well on the Great Pumpkin that is where a bunch of singles get together, and hang out, but this time it’s mp3s, 7″s, and EPs rather than people.  Speed Dating is where I highlight some tracks that I have been listening to lately.  Whether I like them, hate them, am intrigued by them… no matter what I think they are note worthy for one reason or another. Each post will feature one to five songs by different bands, and aim to get my thoughts out on music that I have been trying to write about, but might not have formed a strong enough opinion to write a full post on. Hence I think that Speed Dating is an appropriate heading for these posts….brief thoughts on singles from my record player and the web.

CO. is from Charleston South Carolina, and first caught my attention earlier this year when I heard “Waiting for Saints to Arrive” on Somebody Come and Play.  That song again showed up on the Charleston 2009 Compilation Zine (which if you are wondering what is going on artistically in Charleston, SC right now email Kim (at) maltedmilk.org for availability of the zine…lots of good stuff on there…and some more of it will be showing up here on the Great Pumpkin).  “Waiting for Saints to Arrive” is a fuzzy stoner jam that brings me back to college in a very good way.  As bored college kids in the south this song feels very true to life, but then again I feel that it is an anthem for bored youth everywhere.  It really captures something important about life, and the first time I heard it remember rewinding the Somebody Come podcast to listen to it five times in a row.  Starting off with just an electric guitar and vocals for almost the first thirty seconds I almost didn’t expect the rest of the band to kick in, but when it does it goes from a minimalist to full blown 90’s influenced indie guitar rock.  It’s a song I find myself returning to now, even months after I initially heard it.

[mp3] CO.- “Waiting for Saints to Arrive”

CO. seems to be moving away from the fuzzy guitar pop in favor of more complex, almost classic rock driven, jams.  They have posted five tracks from their upcoming full length, The Shepherd’s Ocean, on their myspace (and a lot more) for your listening pleasure.

Sole is one of those artists that I can credit with turning me on to hip hop, but I unfortunately haven’t been following him that closely in recent years.  Bottles of Humans, Sole’s debut, is possibly my favorite hip hop album ever, but in recent years he picked up a backing band…the Skyrider Band.  As expected this new track has what I remember best about Sole…his lyrics.  This particular track was remixed by Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow, and adds a touch that I didn’t expect to hear in a hip hop track, even with a live band…Tobacco successfully gives Sole a synthy psychedelic touch…not overwhelming, but enough to make the track unique and still let Sole shine.  Either way it was enough to make me seek out the EP, and check out the new full length.

[mp3] Sole & The Skyrider Band- “Battlefields (remixed by Tobacco)”

[full album download] Sole- Battlefields EP

buy releases by Sole here.

track via No Conclusion.

Big Troubles? The initial information about this group only pointed to good things…from Ridgewood, NJ…associated with Underwater Peoples…and now I read that they have a 7″ and an LP coming out on Olde English Spelling Bee, another 7″ on Blackburn, a split with Fluffy Lumbers scheduled for Transparent, and will also be on the Underwater Peeps Winter compilation.  Musically Big Troubles has a bit of the fuzzy beachy surfiness you would expect hailing from this New Jersey crew, but unlike the rest portrays an almost authentic 80’s vibe on the track “Freudian Slips.”  This track got me hooked, and so far Underwater Peeps and OESB can do no wrong…can’t wait to hear the LP…only good things can come from these guys.  Keep an eye on the record labels listed above for ordering info (and from the looks of it…I’ll be writing about some of these releases in the future).

[mp3] Big Troubles- “Freudian Slips”

Video: Big Troubles- “Freudian Slips” by Ray Concepcioñ

This is it for Speed Dating Vol. One, but I hope to have another edition up next week.  I’m really looking forward to this new segment on the Great Pumpkin, and I feel like I will be able to cover some bands that I have been meaning to talk about for a long time.  Cheers, Tom.

Dear Readers,

As of today I am on Vacation!  If you have been reading you probably already know that I will be on my way to XX Merge shortly (read my going to xx merge series).  I plan on getting a couple posts up at the beginning of next week  (stay tuned… one will be a very special XX post, and all will be Merge related), but other than that you only get what I feel like doing while I’m on vacation…maybe some picture posts or something.

As for Weekend Recs…I’m not doing it this week (or next week for that matter)…I don’t want an outdated post to be at the top of the page until the beginning of August (more realistically the end of July).

So I only have one for you…if you aren’t going to see Paul McCartney tonight, you should be going to see SUPERCHUNK! They are playing for free at South Street Sea Port, and if you are still standing after that maybe hit up Kurt Vile at Bruar Falls (I have a funny feeling that members of Superchunk might be doing the same thing…well that is my guess because Kurt Vile has been a constant recommendation the Portastatic blog).

For our trip, klk and I will first head to Charleston, SC then Chapel Hill/Carborro, NC and then we will be drunk at the Orange County Social Club in no time!

I’m looking forward to hitting up two of my favorite record shops on my trip too: Fifty Two Point Five (in Charleston), and CD Alley (in Chapel Hill)!

I’m so excited…I’ve had Superchunk in my head for days!  XX here we Come!

I love you all very much, and you will get a full report once I get back home.

Cheers,

Tom

What could make a record store an even more desirable location for me to visit?

I didn’t know either until my old haunt 52.5 Records in Charleston, SC announced that they would begin to sell a small selection of American craft and imported ales and lagers.

I you haven’t been to 52.5 Records it is more than a record store:

We aren’t really a museum, though some days it feels like we are. Library? Not really that either, but we do sell books. We also sell music (CDs and vinyl) and movies (DVD) and beer (a small, but quality selection of craft brews available as singles or in mixed 6-packs). We have a Reverend on staff, so we’ll be a wedding chapel if you want us to be. We also host regular art shows. So what are we? Come and see, decide for yourself.

Clay Scales, owner of 52.5, was recently written up by the Charleston The Post and Courier about his decision to start carrying beer. Here is what he had to say:  “Record stores need to offer something extra to draw customers into the store. Plus, you can’t download a beer.” (for the full article click here)

Beers are available for off premise consumption.  In my mind that equals one less stop before I am home listening to my new LP and having a tasty beer.

On top of 52.5’s already well know website CorporateRockSucks.com (you might have seen the stickers) they have launched the Beers, Books, and Beats blog updating people on the recent arrivals and happenings at the store.

You might notice North Coast’s Brother Theolonius being showcased in the picture above…  It just might go very well with a Theolonius Monk LP.

With beers from Oscar Blues, Victory, Bear Republic, Allagash, Stone, Smuttynose, Avery, Rogue, Ommegang, and so many more how can you go wrong.

Whether you are in the Charleston area or planning to visit…lovers of  beer, books, and music alike should stop into 52.5 and check out the selection.  No matter what you are into their selection should satisfy in more than one way.

I would also like to wish 52.5 Records a belated Happy Birthday! After surviving 12 years, three locations, and the rise of iTunes and the mp3….The store turned 12 years old this past February.  I guess 12 is the drinking age for record stores in South Carolina.  I remember when I was in middle school going to the first or second Anniversary party  at a sketchy little warehouse on Huger St.  My mom was afraid to drop me off there, but she did anyways…and I’m a better person for it.

I can’t wait to shop this store when I visit in July, and I’m sure more than a couple beers and records will be coming home with me.

If I can make a beer and music pairing….I recommend a nice Saturday morning…with a good dose of Brian Eno’s Ambient works (one, two, or four…your choice…music for films or the pearl would also work) and a nice glass of Founder’s Breakfast Stout (not sure if they are carrying this yet, but Eno and Breakfast Stout sound like a combination to die for…if by chance they don’t have that one, Oskar Blues Ten Fidy would get the job done).

Full disclosure: I worked at this store for several years when I was in college, but to this day I have found very few stores that revival their selection or atmosphere…and I have been to quite a few.  On that note…Clay, I miss you!

One other thing…This is post 100 of the Great Pumpkin!  I’m looking forward to many more to come.  Thanks for reading!