Back To the Future the Ride (BTTFtr) is the solo exploration of sound by the one and only Brian Miller.  One of the people responsible for Friends Forever (if you haven’t seen the Friends Forever documentary, it’s one of the best rock n roll docs ever), as well as  the unearthly power that is Foot Village.

BTTFtr is about ambient tones, sound exploration, and constructing massive soundscapes to consume the listener into dark and  land that even in the heat and sun of the summer can make you feel cold and alone (and I mean that in the best way possible). BTTFtr is a band that is perfect for those days of deep meditation, contemplative reading, and as the case was yesterday a long dark subway ride that never ended.

Brian recently sent over this expansive track that is set to be released on his upcoming cassette , Neutrino Based Lifeforms for 5nakefork Records. It’s titled “When Jupiter and Saturn Align” that is sure to bring you to a place in time and space that you have yet to experience.  Using Windows 95 MIDI and other electronics to a construct dark oscillating, yet minimally melodic desolate landscape…beautiful noise rising from deep dark space.

I’m extremely happy to premiere this track on the Great Pumpkin:

[mp3] Back To the Future The Ride- “When Jupiter and Saturn Align”

• buy it, eventually, here.

BTTFtr have another release set to come out titled Pronoia Sunsets.  This cassette overall carries a lighter vibe than the track above, and the initial track “Zero Ghosts” shows a slightly more melodic side of Miller showcasing warm tones to creating a soothing dissension into the darkness that is a monster of a second track, “Sanity,” which boasts a run time of over ten minutes.  Pronoia Sunsets has be the sound track to my philosophical meditations since it was sent to me, and I hope it can do the same for you.

[mp3] Back To The Future The Ride- “Zero Ghosts”

• out soon on Accidie Records.
  

“Black Bones Inside the Sun Pink Bones Encircling the Sun” is also from the upcoming Pronoia Sunsets tape, and the video for the song was directed by Angie Meng:

If these teasers aren’t enough BTTFtr for you Death Bomb Arc is offering a free EP for your consumption… you can snag that here:

[album download] Back to the Future the Ride’s BTTFtr

——————————————-

BTTFtr is going on tour with Universal Studios Florida this October!  (get it? it’s awesome!)

• Fri Oct 1 – at Cairo in Seattle
• Sat Oct 2 (daytime) at The Chapel on Reed Campus in Portland w/ Ghost Animal
• Sat Oct 2 (nighttime) – at tba in Portland
• Sun Oct 3 – at Heco’s in Oakland
• Mon Oct 4 – at Pehrspace in Los Angeles w/ Kevin Blechdom
• Tue Oct 5 – at Origami Vinyl in Los Angeles
• Wed Oct 6 – at UCI in Irvine
• Thurs Oct 7 – at Pomona College in Pomona
• Fri Oct 8 – at The Smell in Los Angeles w/ The Urxed (member of High Places)
• Sat Oct 9 -  at tba in Oakland (USF only)
• Sun Oct 10 – at Hemlock in San Francisco (USF only)
• Mon Oct 11 – at tba in Portland (USF only)

—————————————–

• BTTFtr’s Tumblr
• follow Brian Miller on Twitter.
• Buy the Friends Forever Documentary here.
• Also check out Foot Village and Death Bomb Arc!
• picture of Jupiter via here.

West Palm Beach’s Totem Pole make haunting 60′s influenced pop music.  Totem Pole is the music of Kevin Williams, and he is backed up by Sam Lang with additional vocals from Tess Bass.  Totem Pole played their first show about two years ago, and just last month the band released their first EP titled Caves and Tunnels, Mountains and Stairs, and once again I have Jheri at Get Off the Coast to thanks for posting it!

Caves and Tunnels, Mountains and Stairs is a 6 song EP that oozes psychedelic folk, conventional pop, 60′s nostalgia, and delicately layered vocal melodies.  Initially the stand out tracks for me were”Pointless/Love Gallery” and “The Rain Chasers.”  “Pointless/Love Gallery” is a delicately layered pop number that shows off Williams’ ability to craft perfect pop which is bridged by the lovely vocals of Tess Bass into an eerie  instrumental using found sounds and loops as underlying noise.  “The Rain Chasers” starts off with long tones, the subtle ring of tambourine zils, and then the cadence of Williams crystal clear vocals kicks in  as well as the occasional understated wail of the guitar.  Just as the song title suggests this track would be even more magical than it already is during a thunderstorm…the tape hiss and found sounds of rain and bird caws at the end of the track bring that even closer to home.

[mp3] Totem Pole- “Pointless/Love Gallery”

[mp3] Totem Pole- “The Rain Chasers”

With each listen of the EP all of the songs seem to mesh closer together, and flow more perfectly than the time before.  It’s  something that I’ve literally listened to at least once a day for the past month.  Check out the other hits like “Stained Glasses On” and “Voyeuristic Tradition” here:

[full album download] Totem Pole’s Caves and Tunnels, Mountains and Stairs

On that note I happy to announce that Totem Pole is working on a brand new EP for  Fight the Future Cassettes! This EP will be taking shape over the next couple months and we are looking forward to bringing it to you late this fall.  As the release takes shape there will be more information posted here, and on the Fight the Future blog.  It’s exciting times here at the Great Pumpkin and Fight the Future, and we couldn’t be happier to be sharing it with you!  More to come soon for sure!

—————————————————————–

• more on Fight the Future Cassettes here!

Nathan Williams is better known to the world as Wavves.  Whether or not you are fan of his music you have probably at least heard his name thrown around…be it  fights with other indie rockers, or a melt down on stage at a huge European music festival.  There is no denying that Wavves have released some good music in the past.  Anthems like “So Bored” still resonate in my head, and Williams’ better half Bethany Constentino, aka Best Coast, is covering it (you can see indie rock’s most famous cat in the photo above…yes that is none other than Bethany’s kitty SNACKS! Snacks also appears on the cover of King of the Beach as well as the new Best Coast album.)

Wavves’ new album King of the Beach will be released on August 3rd, 2010 by Fat Possum, and the first single  “Post-Acid” is the same sort of uber catchy beach pop that Wavves have become known for, but most of the fuzzy lo-fi vibe has been shed, Williams vocals have become more pronounced, and his vocal range has increased.  Ohhs and Ahhs have replaced the whops of the early albums, and as far as I’m concerned this new single is going satisfy old and new fans alike…lets face it if there is one thing Williams can do, and do as good if not better than anyone it’s write catchy beach laden surf punk.  Get your taste of the new album right here:

[mp3] Wavves- “Post-Acid”

As expected King of the Beach is packed full of pop tracks like “Post-Acid,” but songs like “Baseball Cards” and “Say Goodbye Baby” are really showing a new side of Williams. “Baseball Cards” goes into almost a psychedelic circus vibe, but as if the circus was set up on a beach. “Say Goodbye Baby” brings as much of a throwback to 50′s or 60′s pop as I think Wavves will ever reach, and the end of the song ventures into a fuzzed out haze of psychedelics and electronics. “Convertible Balloon” is a minimalist whimsical pop jam that almost comes off cute-sy but someone how works, and “Green Eyes” is Wavves interpretation of a rock ballad, and while slightly unconventional in terms of rock ballads it is  really well done including the chorus which really displays Williams’ voice (or the production as it may be). Overall the record comes off more polished, but in the best way possible…I think it’s exactly what needed to happen for Wavves to get me to listen to another one of their records. Whether you used to love this band, hate them, or have a new found fascination I recommend checking it out. Anyone who denies that Williams can make great pop songs isn’t doing him justice.   I’m pleasantly surprised, and it’s still growing on me.

• Pre-order King of the Beach here.

——————————————————————————–
This Thursday is the L Magazine’s Northside Festival Opening Party:

Thursday June 24th, 2010
at the Knitting Factory
Wavves 11pm
Cloud Nothings 10pm
DOM 9pm
Doors at 8pm
$17/$19 day of
buy tickets here

While some people might complain about Nathan Williams live performance the only time I ever saw him he was top notch, and with an album as good as King of the Beach it is totally worth checking out.

It also doesn’t hurt that he is playing with some Great Pumpkin favorites: Cloud Nothings and DOM!

[mp3] Cloud Nothings- “Can’t Stay Awake”

• From Turning On.  buy it on CD here, or LP here.
  

[mp3] DOM- “Living In America”

• From Sun Bronzed Greek Gods.  Buy it here.
  

—————————————————

• more on Wavves can be found here.
• Check out all my write ups(including more mp3s, videos, and reviews) of Cloud Nothings here, and of DOM here.
• More on Northside Fest 2010 here.
  • Northside Fest is a music, art, and film Festival happening in Williamsburg and Greenpoint Brooklyn from June 24-27th.  For a complete schedule clickhere, to buy an all access pass click here.

Brooklyn Based has teamed up for with Microphone Memory Emotion to throw a showcase at Matchless for Northside Fest this year.

Two of the bands playing hail from Ridgewood, NJ but seem to be just as at home in Brooklyn.

Fluffy Lumbers have been capturing hearts with their fuzzy pop.  I mean how can anyone deny “Cruisers” as one of the best pop songs for driving in a car with the windows down (or if you must with the windows up, and the A/C cranked…that was me in Jersey this weekend).  In addition to this pop classic Fluffy Lumbers did it again with “Adoration” washing their delectable pop in a haze of 80′s inspired electronics.  I didn’t think that a band could make another song as catchy as “Cruisers,” but Fluffy Lumbers sure did strike gold with “Adoration.”  Two songs from this young band who only has a single 7″ out, and that has since sold out.

[mp3] Fluffy Lumbers- “Cruisers”

[mp3] Fluffy Lumbers- “Adoration”

• “Adoration” appeared on the Underwater Peoples Winter Review, with a ton of other great bands.
  • Buy it here.

Headlining the showcase will be the big fishes behind the fabulous Underwater Peoples Records ….Family Portrait!  Family Portrait mix a retro pop with a little bit of country twang, doused in the beaches of New Jersey with their use of syths and electronics.  “Killer Statements” is another track where Mimoun, Ari, Sawyer rock out, and create the perfect background for Brody’s vocals.  Family Portrait are great guys that make wonderful music.  I wonder when we are finally going to get a proper release from the men of Family Portrait?

[mp3] Family Portrait- “Killer Statements”

• “Killer Statements”appeared on the Underwater Peoples Winter Review, with a ton of other great bands.
  • Buy it here.

—————————————-

Brooklyn Based presents a Northside Fest showcase curated by Microphone Memory Emotion:

Friday June25th, 2010
at Bar Matchless
Family Portrait 11:15pm
Coasting 10:30pm
Fluffy Lumbers 9:45pm
Bermuda Bonnie 9pm
Doors at 8:30, $6

Matchless is located at
557 Manhattan Avenue
at McCarren Park
Greenpoint, Brooklyn

This should be a great showcase…I can’t express how much I like Fluffy Lumbers and Family Portrait…it will also be a great opportunity to catch Coasting, one of the most talked about duos in Brooklyn…who recently opened for Jeff Mangum, the Clean, and Portastatic.

——————————–

• more on Family Portrait here.
• More on Northside Fest 2010 here.
  • Northside Fest is a music, art, and film Festival happening in Williamsburg and Greenpoint Brooklyn from June 24-27th.  For a complete schedule clickhere, to buy an all access pass click here.
• show poster by Friendship Bracelet

I don’t know if I will ever have another listening experience like the first time I heard Blueberry Boat by the Fiery Furnaces.

klk and I were headed on a road trip to see some band play in Chapel Hill, and all of the record stores(all two that would carry it) had sold out of the album in Charleston, SC.  We made an hour an a half (maybe more) detour to stop in Columbia, SC and grab a copy of that album.

We popped Blueberry Boat into my 96′ Jetta’s CD player, and I’m pretty sure that was the only album we listened to all the way to Chapel Hill (about a five hour drive).  At this point I can’t remember what show we went to…all I can remember is Blueberry Boat.

The crushing sounds at the beginning of “Quay Cur” opening the album, and then finally Eleanor’s sing song vocals break in to calm the noise…and how the album continues from beginning to end as if it were one song constantly changing tempo, rhythm, and style.  The sometimes nonsensical lyrics with pop culture references, countless verses, and story telling style just baffled me at first, and then you slowly start to embrace it and sing along.  Blueberry Boat is an album that ventures into territories that I didn’t know were were sonically possible, and still amazes me with each listen.

The first time I saw the Fiery Furnaces was on the Blueberry Boat tour in Chapel Hill (when you live in SC there are lots of road trips to see bands you love), and that show was a very similar experience to hearing the record for the first time.  At this show the Fiery Furnaces only played two songs…their set and an encore. Two medleys with only a brief pause between them.  It truly was amazing to see how tight the band was.  It seemed that Mathew Friedberger and the drummer would lock eyes, nod, and then switch songs…then Eleanor would follow suit with the lyrics.  Songs were chopped up, rearranged, and even revisited throughout their set.  A truly amazing feat that I have never seen performed again (by the Fiery Furnaces or any other band for that matter).

“Straight Street” is the second song on this extremely well composed, mind boggling album…it is only a small taste of an album that has several songs that make it toward the ten minute mark.  Another one of those albums that is best to be heard from beginning to end:

[mp3] Fiery Furnaces- “Straight Street”

• Buy Blueberry Boat here.

It’s hard to believe that this album came out way back in 2004.

A blogger friend of mine who is a bit younger than I am once said that he picked Radiohead over the Fiery Furnaces to get into…I never really thought of them in the same category, but I can say…Radiohead never made a Blueberry Boat.

———————————————————–

While I’ve never seen another Fiery Furnaces set like the one on that Blueberry Boat tour, they are always innovative and interesting live… and they have two NYC show coming up, and one of them is part of Northside Festival:

the Fiery Furnaces live
at Brooklyn Bowl
Friday June 25th, 2010
tickets are $10, buy them here.

Please note the Fiery Furnaces are scheduled to play at 10pm. Doors at 6pm, John Mulaney plays at 9pm.

Additional tour dates leading up to this show:

• 6/19 BERWYN, IL / Fitzgerald’s
• 6/21 TORONTO, ON / The Drake Hotel
• 6/22 MONTREAL, QC / Cabaret Du Mile-End
• 6/23 BURLINGTON, VT / Higher Ground
• 6/24 HOBOKEN, NJ / Maxwell’s w/ John Mulaney
• 6/26 NEW YORK, NY / Mercury Lounge w/ John Mulaney

——————————————

Fiery Furnaces have been releasing great albums one after another.  The single from their 2009 I’m Going Away is titled  “The End Is Near,” and it is a surprisingly straight forward piano piece, and shows off one of the main talents of the band…Eleanor’s vocals.  While this might seem simplistic for the band… Eleanor and Mathew each recorded their own solo versions of the record and have that for sale as a download from Thrill Jockey…those Fiery Furnaces are always changing it up.

[mp3] Fiery Furnaces- “The End is Near”

• Buy the End is Near EP here.
• Buy the I’m Going Away here.
• Buy Eleanor & Mathew’s reinterpretation of I’m Going Away here.
  

———————————————

• More on the Fiery Furnaces can be found here.
• More on Northside Fest 2010 here.
  • Northside Fest is a music, art, and film Festival happening in Williamsburg and Greenpoint Brooklyn from June 24-27th.  For a complete schedule click here, to buy an all access pass click here.
• Brooklyn Bowl now has it’s own beer…read about it here.
• More Time-Slip posts can be found here.

M. Pyres is a musical out lit that has a revolving cast of band members, and each recording seems to have a different band backing but always fronted by Mathew Sage.  M. Pyres & the Skygaze Family Band released Apart the Echo last year.

I honestly hadn’t heard of M. Pyres until they came recommended to my by Ryan from Mirror Universe tapes, and I immediately ordered Apart the Echo (Patient Sounds releases are so reasonably priced that you can afford to do that). Shortly after I placed the order I got an email from Mathew (of M. Pyres and Patient Sounds) with three downloads…one of the album I ordered, and two other M. Pyres releases.  Talk about customer service.  I listened to the other two recordings, but waited until I physically held Apart the Echo in my hands to play it.  I got this album in January, and have been trying to write about it since.

Apart the Echo is a vast album venturing into many different genres: ambient, folk, psychedelics of various forms, pop, and punk.  From the minimalist melodic melodies that present from the beginning of the album on “Rain Song” to the running a fine line between psychedelica and folk while remaining in the realm of pop music on “Sea As Myth.”  M. Pyres and his band show early in this album that they are able to run a full spectrum of genres, and as the album progresses it only gets better and more diverse.

Apart the Echo is interspersed with ambient or what appear to be tracks of found sounds throughout the record, and this gives a sense of anticipation and build up to the next structured song build along the way.  “Citrus Pome” shows the bands ability to write a great pop song while remaining true to Sage’s hollow yet soothing vocals, and “For Aporia” is what I mean when I say the band ventures into psychedelic punk territory.  “For Aporia” keeps a stays in the realm of pop music while incorporating an onslaught of guitars interspersed throughout the track giving it an aggressive and infectious feel, but just when it’s about to get really intense the band slows down and lets Sage’s vocals shine.  towards the end of the album we get “Rocky Surf” which brings vibes of living deep in a cave or maybe underwater, and making that place seem fun and interesting rather than cold and depressing.

M. Pyres & The Skygaze Family Band made an amazing record that embodies the mountains of Colorado.  It’s refreshing to hear a band that can blend genres and keep integrity of their  sound, and M. Pyres does this seamlessly through out Apart the Echo.

Take a listen to “Sea As Myth” and “For Aporia” and then try to snag one of the last remaining copies of the tape from M. Pyres on their East Coast tour which starts today:

[mp3] M. Pyres & the Skygaze Family Band- “Sea As Myth”

[mp3] M. Pyres & the Skygaze Family band- “For Aporia”

• you can probably buy a copy of the record here as well.

—————————————————————-

M. Pyres has sent over two new tracks from M. Pyres and the Season Creeps.  These two tracks with the Season Creeps give us a view into M. Pyres’ mellow side that is ready to relax for the summer and jam…perfect for the muggy heat that we is bound to be hitting us this weekend.  These tracks have me so excited for the next M. Pyres release, and for their show at the CoOp 87 this weekend!

[mp3] M. Pyres & The Season Creeps- “Concord”

[mp3] M. Pyres & The Season Creeps- “Gravity Deluxe”

—————————————————————————————-

Check M. Pyres & The Season Creeps out on tour with Woodsman:

• Tonight!  June17th in Washington DC (House Show) w/ Family Portrait
• June 19th in Brooklyn, NY @ CoOp 87
• June 20th in Pittsfield, MA @ Copperworks
• June 21st in Wilkes-Barre, PA @ Cafe Metropolis
• June 22nd in Cleveland, OH @ Believeland
• June 23rd in Chicago, IL @ TBA w/ Campfires
• June 24th in Chicago, IL @ Box Social w/ Campfires
• June 25th in Madison, WI @ Project Lodge

———————————-

You can also snag the new Patient Sounds Sampler with another new mp3 from M. Pyres on it…as well as some great tracks by Litoral Drift, Lush Cola (member of Weed Diamond), and more here:

[album download] Patient Sounds Sampler Vol. 1 2010

Track List:

• 1. Ambassador Engine – Nowhere Near the Beach
• 2. Cradling – Mug’s Game
• 3. M. Pyres & the Season Creeps – Miles & Days Ahead
• 4. Bingo Pajamas – Loose City Birds
• 5. Littoral Drift – Busy Days
• 6. Martha! Mother – Grandpa Organ Deuce
• 7. The Good Old Fashioned Sinners – Lost My Way
• 8. Kites Sail High – Bedroom
• 9. Pasture – n.

————————————

• more This Week In Mail Order can be found here.

This is the first proper post in my Time Slip series.  It’s summertime….that means it’s time for punk rock.

Death By Television was the second album by Newcastle, Wyoming’s The Lillingtons.  The Lillingtons had released one album prior, titled Shit Out of Luck, to Death By Television but shed the normal lyrical content of pop punk bands (girls, booze, heartbreak, drugs, high school) to focus on something a little more nerdy.  Death By Television took it’s inspiration and payed homage to b-movies, science fiction, and those ads you would see in the back of Mad Magazine or comic books for x-ray specs and jet packs.  The Lillingtons fall into the camp that had heavy influence from the Ramones and Screeching Weasel but really put their own spin on it.

The Lillingtons had no record label, and used their own funds to record Death By Television with famed pop punk engineer Mass Giorgini at Sonic Iguana (Lafayette, IN) in the summer of 1998.  The product of their endeavor was what I consider from beginning to end one of the best pop punk albums, ever made.  The Lillingtons got an offer from Ben Weasel & John Jughead’s Panic Button Records (a subsidiary of Lookout!) to put out the album, and they accepted.  Shortly after they accepted Weasel’s offer Fat Wreck Chords made another offer, but the deal with Panic Button had already been inked.

Either way their tour for Death By Television brought them to Charleston, SC where they performed with Cletus (Charleston’s very own pop punk hero’s) and the Teen Idols. At that show I bought this album on LP, and it’s one of those records I break out every summer and wish that I had all of my punk rock LPs here in NYC with me.

The press of this album on Panic Button has since gone out of print, but was repressed in the mid 2000′s by Red Scare.

Lyrically the album really does read like a science fiction flick, and that might be my strong attraction to this album, but it really is a brilliant piece of 1990′s punk rock history. There is just something about hearing chorus’ like “My life has waste of time I’ve got a black hole in mind” or chants of “we won’t know where we won’t know when invasion of the saucermen” that makes punk rock feel fresh again, and this came out eleven years ago.   Here are a couple tracks from the wonderful 1999 release…the killer opening track “War Of the Worlds” as well as  “X-Ray Specs” and “Codename: Peabrain”:

[mp3] The Lillingtons- “War Of the Worlds”

[mp3] The Lillingtons- “X-Ray Specs”

[mp3] The Lillingtons- “Codename: Peabrain”

• Buy The Lillingtons’ Death By Television here.

——————————————————

I feel that a lot of bands today are drawing influence from these classic pop punk/power pop bands from the Ramones all the way to what Lookout! and related labels were doing in the 80′s and 90′s without even realizing it.  These sounds are so ingrained in our heads we forget who gave birth to them.  This weekend I listened to more pop punk than thought possible tearing through boxes of old cds, and coming up with some pretty great albums. It’s refreshing for me to be rediscovering some of these things that I loved years ago, and realizing that in the end it’s still great rock n’ roll.

Honestly…this won’t be the last pop punk post of the summer.

I hope you can discover or rediscover it too.

———————————————-

• More Time-Slip posts can be found here.

Dream Cop sent over a new track that comes just on the heels of some great write ups about “Marooned” and “Beach City/Carol, I Know” (including one my me).  He continues to show that he is not restricted to a genre creating three wonderful tracks that convey the same tone while moving in totally different directions.

“Daily Mirage” is venturing into some new territory for Dream Cop, and for me as a listener.  Tommy Davidson is bringing Dream Cop into an realm of ambient R&B with heavy down beats driving this song.  Davidson seems to a have knack for using white noise and light static as an accompaniment for his tracks, and in the beginning of this tune it conveys the vibe of a lost AM radio transmission of a downbeat dance tune from a far off place.  The grooving guitar melody kicks in after about a minute just in time for the second verse, and the electronics production are nothing less than stellar.  Towards the end of the track Davidson seems to jam out a bit more, and then with a sporadic key board the track dissipates just as quickly as it began.

[mp3] Dream Cop- “Daily Mirage”

I wasn’t expecting a spacey ambient dance track, but I enjoy it more and more with every listen. These three very differnt tracks from Dream Cop all leave me very intrigued, and excited for his upcoming releases…Keep an eye out for his upcoming release on Output Noise Records.

—————————————-

• more on Dream Cop here (including mp3s of “Marooned” and “Beach City/Carol, I Know”).