New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Rhode Island trio The Low Anthem will embrace an exciting new decade by headlining their first North American tour in March and April and making their US television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman this Thursday, January 14th. They will also spend much of February supporting The Avett Brothers on the road (not in North America). They will come back to the states at the end of Februrary. Yay!
–The Deli Staff
Audrey Ryan (Maine native and current Boston resident) is playing a very special show this Sunday at Club Passim in Harvard Square, Cambridge with New York’s Richard Julian. Both artists are known for their creativity and song-writing superpowers. They both bend folk and indie genres into something beautifully indistinguishable and new. Julian is a member of The Little Willies with Norah Jones. Julian has also toured with Bonnie Raitt and Suzanne Vega. Ryan recently released the full-length album, "I Know, I Know" in September. Once again the show: 8pm @ Club Passim on Sunday, January 17th, 47 Palmer St. Cambridge, MA. Tickets are pre-sale $12 (buy them HERE) and at the door $15.
–The Deli Staff
The News of Spoon ramps up fast & furious as the release of Transference (January 19) approaches: firstly, you are lucky to live in Austin, because they’ll play an instore, or technically, an out-of-store, in the Waterloo parking lot on January 25th at 4 pm (weather permitting), secondly, they’ve announced tour dates (below, including kickoff at Stubb’s), and also tour companions, which will include yet another fast-rising Austin act, The Strange Boys, and lastly, you can stream Transference right now right here.
P.S. – Also happening in the non-Spoon universe: local original cosmic cowboy Ray Wylie Hubbard drops A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There is no C) today.
Spoon Dates…
Wed Mar 17 // Stubb’s // Austin, TX
Thurs Mar 18 // Republic // New Orleans, LA * tix
Fri Mar 19 // Workplay Soundstage // Birmingham, AL * tix
Sat Mar 20 // Tabernacle // Atlanta, GA * tix
Mon Mar 22 // 9:30 Club // Washington DC * tix
Tues Mar 23 // 9:30 Club // Washington DC * tix
Wed Mar 24 // The National // Richmond, VA * tix
Fri Mar 26 // Radio City Music Hall // New York, NY * tix
Sat Mar 27 // House of Blues // Boston, MA * tix
Mon Mar 29 // Sound Academy // Toronto, ON * tix
Tues Mar 30 // Royal Oak Music Theatre // Royal Oak, MI * tix
Thurs Apr 01 // Aragon Theatre // Chicago, IL & tix
Fri Apr 02 // First Avenue // Minneapolis, MN & tix
Sat Apr 03 // First Avenue // Minneapolis, MN & tix
Mon Apr 05 // Ogden Theatre // Denver, CO & tix
Tues Apr 06 // Ogden Theatre // Denver, CO & tix
Wed Apr 07 // In The Venue // Salt Lake City, UT & tix
Fri Apr 09 // Moore Theatre // Seattle, WA & tix
Sat Apr 10 // Moore Theatre // Seattle, WA & tix
Sun Apr 11 // Orpheum Theatre // Vancouver, BC & tix
Tues Apr 13 // Fox Oakland Theatre // Oakland, CA & tix
* with Deerhunter, The Strange Boys
& with Deerhunter, Micachu & the Shapes
To hear Christa Meyer talk about the new album from her duo Puerto Muerto is to hear the revolution approaching. Talking about the title track to the Fire Records release, Drumming for Pistols, due next month, “basically a call to arms, I wanted the song to evoke thoughts of revolution, without specifically referencing the subject.” The album as a whole is also a revolution of sound combining chamber pop with soulful chantey sounds and mixing in a dirge or two along the way. The other half of this eclectic duo is Tim Kelly, and he credits both the musicians growth musically and their good fortune to work with so many wonderfully talented Chicago musicians. On Drumming For Pistols, Kelly and Meyer have enlisted the help of Gary Schepers (Devil in A Woodpile), John Londay, Tiffany Kowalski (Bright Eyes), and Gary James (Box of Baby Birds). This once again proves that collaboration typically results in a diverse and rich product. This thirteen-track exploration is that rich adventure that will keep you guessing at every turn.
From The Beatles to Beck to Olivia Tremor Control, the Deli’s January band of the month, The Circadian Rhythms, let us in on what makes their intricate musical body clock tick. Check them out live at Kung Fu Necktie January 21 and February 13 at Bordz Skatepark in Southampton.
The Deli: When did you start playing together?
The Circadian Rhythyms: Sometime in the summer of 2005. I believe the very first time the four of us made music together was in our friend Tony’s parents’ basement. I probably have a CD of that recording still lying around somewhere, and it’s probably awful.
TD: What are your biggest musical influences and what bands are you currently listening to?
TCR: The Beatles are #1 always for us. Ringo’s a big influence on our drummer’s playing, and Beatles Rock Band is helping him rip Ringo off even more recently. He just found a sweet record of them playing at some club in Hamburg in 1962. Its great because their harmonies are a little off, it’s almost entirely covers, and the crowd sounds like they could give a shit. Other than that, we listen to lots of different music such as the Elephant 6 collective bands (mostly Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System), Parliament, The Kinks, Raymond Scott, Parliament, Fats Waller, Mulatu Astatke, The Beach Boys, Franz Liszt and so much more. As for local acts we are super into The Armchairs, Make A Rising, Da Comrade!, and Hermit Thrushes!
TD: What’s the first concert you ever attended and first album you ever bought?
Chris: Pop Disaster Tour ’02 or something, the one with Blink 182 and Green Day. Sorry for that.
Jim: The first album I ever bought was Beck’s Odelay. I still love that album.
TD: What’s your take on the Philly music scene?
TCR: There are a lot of really great bands in Philly right now. I heard myself tell someone that Grandchildren was the best band in the city like two days before I saw they won your Open Contest. Weird.
TD: What are your plans for 2010?
TCR: We will be releasing an EP on EarSnake (Gemini Wolf, Paper Masques, and more) and hopefully recording a full-length album and playing a bunch of shows. January 21 we are at Kung Fu Necktie and February 13 at Bordz Skatepark in Southampton for the Orange Apples Record Release. Dangerous Ponies are supposed to be there too so it should be super fun! We are trying to plan a tour for July and other than that, just chillin.
TD: What was your most memorable live show?
TCR: This past Halloween was crazy! We played Jim’s friends’ basement in South Philly, dressed as various animals. I was just a regular lion but I was mistaken for Barf from Spaceballs and a gay lion. I don’t see how super short shorts with fur trim automatically make you a gay lion instead of a regular one. Anyway, the place was packed and we played two sets full of every song we know how to play. Super awesome.
TD: What’s your favorite order at the Deli?
TCR: Pierogies and chocolate cake.
– Jaime Pannone
Brahms (who are fortuately NOT an orchestral alt-rock band inspired by the classic German composer) might be new to the scene, but they seem to have their act together, with a series of great shows planned opening for great bands (including Telepathe, Boy Crisis, Body Language, Javelin and Lemonade!) in very cool venues (Glasslands twice, Santos and Mercury within about two months…) At a closer look we do see that Cale Parks is one of the band members – actually… at an even closer look this is exactly the same live band that plays with Cale Parks! Probably Eric Lyle Lodwick project? Anyway, it looks like these guys are getting quite a lot of buzz. Electro-pop music lovers might want to head to Glasslands on January 22 to check them out.
Hailing from varied locales, including Seoul and Reykjavik, Sunny Kim (vocals), Trevor Dunn (bass, vocals), Ches Smith (drums), Hilmar Jensson (guitar), and Erik Deutsch (keyboards) have relocated to Brooklyn to form Mad Love. The quintet bestows mad love to unconventional piano melodies, crunching guitars, and floating vocals on the dozen tracks of their recently released “White With Foam.” Striking and strong, “Absence and Noise” melts into catching bass lines which underscore the evocative interplay between Kim and Dunn’s airy voices. Howling vocals take over the metal riffs and quick tempo of “Dirty,” while “Art of Denial" settles into a grungy groove overlain by ghostly keyboards. “White With Foam” is not as light and frothy as the title would suggest, instead the cut is heavy with dark distortion and uncanny unpredictability. – Meijin Bruttomesso
Serengeti delivered one of the classic songs about Chicago in the form of "Dennehy" back in 2006.
Under the moniker Cheeto FOol, Jonathan Aseron writes pop songs about girls, dreams, loneliness, and longing. Using an 8-track, guitar, and synthesizer, Jonathan records at home in South Austin. Most of his songs are guitar-based; a combination of acoustic sounds with layered synth and electronic percussion. The musical arrangements are made up of simple melodic riffs that feed off of laid back but emotionally charged vocals. With a distinct pop sensibility and an ear towards song craft, Cheeto FOol’s music feels immediate and warm. His influences include Grandaddy, Magnetic Fields, and the Flaming Lips to name a few.
(this post taken from our DIY Open Blog, check out other Open Blog posts in the Deli Kitchen)
CHIRP (Chicago Independent Radio Project) has been supporting independent music since 2007 through benefit shows, web articles, and tent sale, but finally they will launching their own radio station on January 17th. The station will broadcast live 21 hours a day, seven days a week from the CHIRP studios in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Each three-hour on-air shift will be curated by a volunteer host, and will feature an array of independent and under-appreciated music from a variety of genres and eras, as well as conversations and information about happenings in the city’s diverse arts and cultural scenes. Chrip and it’s volunteers have been working on building this studio since last Spring, and their hard work will result in one of the best stations in town with a doubt. The 100% volunteer group also has been working to convince Congress and the FCC to remove existing barriers to the granting of low power FM radio licenses in urban areas in hopes that eventually it will be able to secure a broadcast license as well. The bill supported by CHIRP, the Local Community Radio Act, passed the House of Representatives in December 2009, and is awaiting a vote in the full Senate. Listeners can tune in to CHIRPradio.org beginning at noon on Sunday January 17 to hear the new station launch live.
The CHIRP launch party takes places on January 16th at Empty Bottle with The Yolks, Hollows, and Rabble Rabble.
The Volunteers are a Williamsburg based rock’n’roll party band that’s been around for quite some time and has entertained many NYC party people. They recently changed their name to Bones Howell + the Volunteers (which may become just Bones Howell in the future) and released a new EP with a party at Don Pedros on January 8. Their music is recommended for those who like tho rock in a light hearted kind of way. Enjoy this fun video from some time ago.
