In my last post I wrote about the discogs.com RECORDS iPhone App, and I mentioned Cold Cave and Gary War…two bands who have had a stellar year releasing music in 2009.  Gary War releasing two wonderful 12″s and a hand full of 7″s, and Cold Cave apparently releasing an un-countable amount of releases.

If you are a regular reader of this blog it should be no surprise that I’m writing about Gary War once again.  I’ve had a bunch of people finding the Great Pumpkin searching for Gary War’s fabulous track “Reality Protest.”  As far as I know this track was not released on an album, but was posted for free download on Gary War’s short lived blog.  I had posted a link previously to Gary War’s download link, but that one is no longer active…and decided that I will re-post it here.  I’ve listen to this song quite a bit over the past couple weeks, and it is starting to make it onto at least one mix I have been working on.

[mp3] Gary War- “Reality Protest”

Cold Cave is one of those bands that I had been reading about for a while, and all it took was downloading a couple tracks before I got hooked.  Cold Cave is the newish project from Wesley Eisold (who has played in several hardcore bands over the years including Some Girls) who is accompanied by Caralee McElroy (formerly of Xiu Xiu), Dominick Fernow (of  Prurient), Max G. Morton (celebrated author), and Sarah Lipstate (Noveller, ex-Parts and Labor).  Cold Cave makes noisy synth pop (cold wave or dark wave maybe), but in the end it kind of just reminds me of the 80’s in a really good way.

Love Comes Close has already become one of my favorites this year, and it has already gone out of print…but don’t worry Matador is re-issuing it!  The repress is coming out on November 3rd.  In the mean time listen to this:

[mp3] Cold Cave- “Life Magazine” (from Love Comes Close)

After you listen… Pre-Order it here.

Cold Cave also has an EP coming out before before the re-issue titled Death Comes Close on October 20th (more on this to come).  This will feature the title track Love Comes Close, and three unreleased b-sides.  Cremations was also just released on LP which compiles many of Cold Caves out of print recordings.  I can’t wait to get my hands on these.

Links:

• more on Gary War here.
• buy Gary War records here.
• more on Cold Cave here.
• buy Cold Cave records here.
• photo taken at Death By Audio’s Maze Installation.

I’ve been using an iPhone for about the past six months, and while there are somethings that I totally love about it…but it is not perfect, and I find that lots of applications are not nearly as useful as you would like them to be.

Recently Analog Apartment posted about a new iPhone app that uses discogs.com.  If you aren’t familiar with Analog Apartment it is a cross between Apartment Therapy and a techy audio file blog with a strong focus on vinyl.

The RECORDS iPhone App uses discogs.com to look up an album’s information quickly and efficently.  I don’t know if you are like me, but I’ve definitely tried to look things up on allmusic.com while at the record shop, and unless you are looking for reviews I’m pretty sure this application has what you need.

+’s:

The RECORDS app gives you a welth of information: Title, Artist, Record Label, Format, Country, Release Date, Genres, Styles, Notes (if applicable), and Track Listings.

Initially I was skeptical so I started off with something that was kind of obscure.  I typed in Cold Cave.  I wanted to see what info it would bring up.  I was slightly surprised when I get a whole bunch of results…it not only brought up the LPs, but also the CDs.   I chose Love Comes Close.  The results were pretty cool.  In the notes section on Love Comes Close (the LP on Heart Work) it said:

“Limited to 1,000 on black vinyl.”

At this point I was pretty impressed.  I’m interested in seeing what it says when the re-press comes available from Matador.

Next up I thought I would try something a little harder, and I punched in Gary War.  Just like Cold Cave I got a whole bunch of results (both searches brought up 7″s and eps).  I knew the pressing details of Horribles Parade, and thought that I would check it out.  The notes section on this one were equally impressive:

“Special edition with screen printed alternate cover art, a hand numbered insert, and an mp3 download code. Limited to 150 Copies.”

Almost every album I have looked up has cover art, and all relevant information. There are some problems though.

-’s

The information is pretty detailed, but  I have tried to stump it and I think that it runs into problems with re-presses.  For example when punching in Nobunny…I get one hit for Love Visions, and it says that it is a press of 200 copies…I know that this LP is currently in it’s 3rd press, but those were not mentioned.

Of course with the digestible format that discogs.com has created in this app it will fall short in some areas…for example if you are trying to figure out exactly what pressing of a Beatles album…the 20 or so listings for Abbey Road might be confusing, and in the end you might not be able to figure out exactly what you have in your hands when at the record shop.

Lastly…the search is sometimes case sensitive.  A little annoying, but something I can deal with.  This hasn’t happened every time, but when writing this review I had a problem searching Cold Cave until I used capital C’s on both words.

Overall:

Discogs.com is a community built database so the information will be getting better each day, and I really feel that it was a pretty good for the small prices of $1.99.  I highly recommend trying it out.  It might not have everything you need, but it has most of it…and it is a whole lot faster than trying to use the internet on your phone.  If you want the database to be better head on over to Discogs and join, and contribute to the information.

Links:

• Companion post with mp3s by Cold Cave and Gary War.
• Discogs
• RECORDS iPhone App
• more on Gary War here.
• more on No Bunny here.
• more on Cold Cave here.

“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.

Check it out:

[mp3] Gary War- “Healthy Living”

[mp3] Gary War- “Please Don’t Die”

[free album download/stream] Gary War- New Raytheonport (via FMA!)

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Links:

• more on Gary War here.
• more on Jacqueline Castel here.
• Buy Horribles Parade from Sacred Bones here or at insound here. .
• Buy New Raytheonport on LP here.

Horribles Parade is the new full length from Gary War. This is the second album and the followup to last years’ New Raethesport LP on SHDWPLY Records. The album expands on the more stripped down sound of his Sacred Bones “Zontag” single, plying layers of warm fuzz and feedback on top of psychedelic pop song structures. The CD contains “Anhedonic Man,” previosly released as a one-sided single on Hell Yes! records, as well as the whole Galactic Citizens 12″ EP, soon to be relased on Captured Tracks.

Special edition comes with screen printed outer sleeve, alternate cover art, insert and download card. An edition of 150. (via Sacred Bones)

Sacred Bones is back again with another beautiful looking release, and it is no secret that I have been digging on Gary War since I discovered New Raytheonport. If I had heard New Raytheonport in 2008 it would have made my top 10.

Gary War’s psych pop is impressive both on recording and live, and I’m really happy to see another full length coming out, and much sooner than I expected…next week.

Since there are only 150 copies of the Limited Edition LP I’m going to make this quick:

Buy Gary War’s Horribles Parade from Sacred Bones here.

You shouldn’t need it, and if you do the limited edition will probably already be gone…for more convincing check this out:

[mp3] Gary War- “Anhedonic Man” (off of the Hell Yes! One Sided 7″.  Buy it here.  mp3 via Gary War)

Gary War also posted a new mp3 to his blog that is currently unreleased:

[mp3] Gary War- “Reality Protest” (via Gary War)

Photo from the Silent Barn on 4/3/09. More can be found here.

More on Gary War here.

Thank to MBV for the heads up.

This past weekend while flipping through records at Academy I came across Sore Eros‘ Second Chants LP.  I read that it was the project of Robert Robinson who has played in the past with Ariel Pink, and these days that alone has been a pretty good indicator that it’s going to be a good record, but I knew very little about the release itself.  Upon looking at the back of the LP jacket I found out that Gary War, Kurt Vile, as well as many others contributed to the record.  At $12 for the LP I couldn’t pass it up.

This is another limited edition LP from SHDWPLY Records.  Only 500 copies made on 180 gram vinyl.

I first listened to this record on a breezy Saturday.  It is like the best hazy daydream on a spring or summer afternoon you could possibly have…full of fuzzy stoner psychedelic pop infused with just a hint of folk. Sore Eros slow down time, and fully engage your mind.  I have been taken aback by this record, and can’t believe I haven’t read more about it. A truly impressive first release.

According to SHDWPLY today (May 15th) is the release date (but it has been floating around on record store shelves for at least a week).

SHDWPLY is overall a really impressive label so far…Gary War’s first LP has quickly become a favorite of mine, and Sore Eros seems to be following in that tradition.

Raven Sings the Blues have a couple tracks that you can check out (listen to them streaming here) or download them here:

[mp3] Sore Eros- “Smile on Your Face”

[mp3] Sore Eros- “Whisper Me”

Both tracks off of Second Chants

UPDATE! Buy it directly from Sore Eros here.

Buy It from Insound here.  I don’t totally trust them with limited edition records (see these comments), and I bet SHDWPLY will have it for sale here soon.

Here is the video for “Over and Over” (also on Second Chants)

Oh and if I don’t convince you check out what WIRE Magazine had to say:

“Robinson’s vocals have [a] high, lunar quality…but the way they’re recorded often makes them seem as if they’re being broadcast from the apartment next door, dislocated by time and space and smeared with heroic levels of FX. The song structures reference classic psych forms – most specifically the freakbeat sound of early Pink Floyd and the roaming bass/drums style of The Red Krayola’s first LP – while at the same time avoiding anything that might make them sound like period-piece revivalists. As the album progresses, the form becomes looser and more abstract, with outer structures falling away to reveal sidereal aspects more commonly experienced in altered states or subliminal settings: the sound of a car stereo tracking down the street; late-night pop radio in the trance before sleep. Sore Eros redeem 80s pop modes by conflating them with ‘canonical’ teenage forms, re-configuring psychedelic pop via refracted autobiography. The result is one of the most original psych/pop records of the year.” – WIRE Magazine, May 2009

In other words you should really check this out.

Gary War played at the Silent Barn this past Friday (April 3rd).

Gary War played this show with a very different line up…it was actually really stripped down.  The first time I saw them they played as a six piece, and now it is just three (actually the only member that remained the same was Gary War himself). I really enjoyed both shows, but I think I like Gary War much better as a three piece.

A couple more pictures of Gary War can be found here and mp3s, my thoughts, and more can be found here.

I should have my Kurt Vile pictures up by the end to the day too!

Kurt Vile (above) and  Gary War (below) will be playing with Birds of Maya, and US Girls at the Silent Barn in Ridgewood, Queens this Friday April 5th.

This show is sandwiched between Ariel Pink/ Vivian Girls at MHOW tomorrow night and  The Oh Sees’ FMA Launch Party (I think Catatonic Youth broke up, but now Sightings are playing!) at the Bell House on Saturday.

As far as I’m concerned I don’t think a line up right now can get much better than this.  A night of fucked up psych pop sounds amazing.  I just hope I’m still standing after Ariel Pink.

Maybe Kurt Vile will have some copies of God Is Saying This To You at the show….otherwise good luck finding a copy it’s sold out.  I bet almost definitely he will have The Hunchback EP .  I’m also on the look out for the Gary War’s live at WFMU tape on Captured Tracks.

Here is a preview of the show:

[mp3] Kurt Vile and the Violators – “The Hunchback” (off of The Hunchback EP.  Buy it Here. mp3 via my friends at Chocolate Bobka)

[mp3] Gary War- “Anhedonic Man” (off of the Hell Yes! One Sided 7″.  Buy it here.  mp3 via Gary War)

And the full info (via toddpnyc.com):

Friday April 3rd @ SILENT BARN

:: KURT VILE
:::: Gary War
:::::: US Girls
:::::::: Birds of Maya

| SILENT BARN |
915 Wyckoff Ave @ Weirfield | Ridgewood, Qns
M-Myrtle/Wyckoff, L-Halsey| 8pm | all ages | $tba
| MYSPACE |– http://myspace.com/thesilentbarn

Both Gary War and Kurt Vile have other various live dates coming up too:

Kurt Vile:

Gary War:

*Gary War photo by The Swiper via flickr taken at the WFMU/Aquarious Records showcase at SxSW.

Gary War just released a very limed edition 7″ on Hell Yes! Records.  This record is limited to 400 hand numbered copies, and is a one sided 7″ featuring the song “Anhedonic Man.”

The record is available at Academy Records in Brooklyn ($7) or if you happen to catch Gary War live he should have some on the merch table (he did this past weekend).

The record is also available for mailorder from Hell Yes! via paypal.

Hell Yes! has some interesting releases scheduled for the future too:

BLANK DOGS one sided 7″
DUM DUM GIRLS / SAINT ROSE 2x one sided split 7″
CAPRICORNSS one sided 7″
VERMILLION SANDS one sided 7″