We had plenty of coverage last week about Purling Hiss so you should be quite familiar with their psychedelic blues rock tunes by now. Well, they are performing at The Rotunda tonight with Sic Alps and Magik Markers. This one is for all you under 21 peeps, and it’s FREE so stop wasting your time on the streets and start wasting your time listening to some good music! Special thanks to The Rotunda who has been really providing some stellar events for the all-ages indie music community lately. Bravo Gina Renzi and everyone involved! The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St., 8pm, FREE, All Ages – H.M. Kauffman
Civilian is the third album from Baltimore’s indie-folk duo Wye Oak, a collection of heart-wrenching tunes that singer/guitarist Jenn Wasner says are about "aloneness (the positive kind), loneliness (the horrible kind), moving on, and letting go (of people, places, and things.)" Every track paints those feelings vividly with Wasner’s dreamy vocals and multi-instrumentalist Andy Stack’s layers of echoing swirly melodies, fusing noise and fuzz at all the right times.
The album cover, a still of a cannonball diver submerged in dark water, sets the mood beautifully for these songs that are ready to boom from a summer-time lake side stereo. Like "Holy Holy" and it’s wailing guitar intro that returns triumphantly throughout, blending melodic rhythms and fuzz that recall the classic 90’s alternative edge.
"The Altar" is a rollercoaster of sound, building you up with a soft beginning before letting you loose in the chamber of loops, 60’s boardwalk/beachy keys, echoing dual vocals, and one hell of a super groovy guitar strum.
The title track "Civilian" is another killer track showcasing everything that Wye Oak is known for. Completely powerful in every way from the lyrics down to the scuzzed-out feedback, it’s another soft starter with a boom that kicks in with an uprise of everything they’ve got from a church organ that gives it a hint of southern gospel flair to a screeching guitar solo that’s ready to pull a Hendrix. This was the track that won me over fast.
Civilian was released 3/8. Check out the killer title track below, and also catch Wye Oak live at the Black Cat this Friday 3/11. –Dawn Wye Oak – Civilian by cityslang
Taking their live show projections of a awesomely twisted and spooky Siver Age cartoon, beatmaker Jesse Nolan and friends of Caught a Ghost have crafted their video for "Time Go". Influenced by Motown and contempory electronica, this track will get your fingers snapping and body grooving.
If you play straight rock and roll today in Brooklyn, you’ve got to play it like a friggin’ animal, or nobody will care. This is exactly what Cheeseburger excels at, and the band has been doing this passionately for quite some time now (they played one of the first Deli parties back in 2005 – one organized by Todd P actually – at the now semi-inactive Asterisk Art Project). We hear that the NYC sonic Burger is about to travel to SXSW and release their sophomore album on May 3 via Williams Street Records. Their records are fun, but it’s their live shows you don’t want to miss.
We keep covering one by one the artists that made our Year EndBestofNYC 2010list – a chart compiled by a jury comprisedof NYC bloggers, music writers, promoters, record store personnel, DJs, and our writers and readers. It’s a (final) countdown!
Brooklyn based duo Blondes take us back to the days when techno was some kind of new psychedelic experience (remember The Orb?) with what they call "ecstatic trance". Their tracks move and develop slowly, sounds fade in and out peacefully, while the regular, paced kick keeps the beat alive, synchronized with our pulse. As underlined by titles like "Virgin Pacific", "Paradise City" and Sundance", there’s a calming quality in this duo’s music, which we are now tempted to describe as "ambient with a beat". Experience them at Terminal 5 on March 19.
Man Man just announced that they will be releasing their new album Life Fantastic on May 10 via Anti-. We’ve been following and waiting for its release for a long time now since we first interviewed Honus Honus and learned that he was down in Omaha working on it last summer. The album is produced by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes/Monsters of Folk), and Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) contributed the string arrangements. The first track from the album called “Knuckle Down” was unveiled via Pitchfork. You can take a listen and stream it below as well as check out the album’s cover art with Man Man’s strange homemade friend above. Also read more details about the upcoming album here. Enjoy! (Photo by Andrew Park) – The Deli Staff
Loyal Divide have released a new album called Bodice Ripper, and they are playing a show at Beat Kitchen on March 12th to celebrate the album and to give them a proper send off to SXSW. The band will be performing four shows at SXSW.
Bodice Ripper is the bands debut full-length and includes the tracks from their EP Vision Vision, their single "Flights" and several new and outstanding tracks. The album shows the complete picture of the polished electro-pop band Loyal Divide has become.
First of all, about Ringo Deathstarr: when we said today, yesterday, what we meant was tomorrow – in other words, today. Clear? Colour Trip drops today (3/8), and joining it will be Dinner in the Dark, the debut full length fuzzed up retro garage slab of madness from Shapes Have Fangs. They’ll be celebrating the release Thursday at the Mohawk.
Our guess? You’ll be hearing a fair amount about SHF this year and this SX, especially after they kick of SX a bit early with the Daily Juice & Juicebox SXSW Boat Party Monday 3/14…the boat will depart from Walsh Landing promptly at 5:30, rock for 4 solid hours (with other acts Woodgrain and Fresh Millions), and return; repeat that for Tuesday with some Brooklyn bands (Ego Puppets, Pretty Good Dance Moves) plus Gangsta Sex.
When you try to image the musicial union of a Malaysian-born filmmaker, corporate executive and a Harvard-trained theologian and writer, it is hard to visualize what sounds they might make. After listening to the debut album Hush from Tom Silva and Nicole Sotelo (Clara May) I can tell you it sounds like Tom Jones if he had a conscious and sang in a small coffeehouse. This is an album with cares deeply about society and through the compassion explores themes of identity, racism, and ethnic conflicts. The main vocalist on the album in Tom Silva and his deep vocals add a dramatic weight the topics he choses to sing about. The duo, since neither play an instrument, enlisted the of producer and guitarist Phillip Amerson and several other musicians. The album is not all protest and fight, but is a mixture of anthems, ballads, pop, and yes, protest. The album is epic and heartfelt, and Clara May will be donating 10% of its profits to charity.
Jimmy Chamberlin’s new project Skysaw has announced their debut album. Great Civilizations will be released May 2011 on Dangerbird Records. The band includes DC-based singer Mike Reina, guitarist Anthony Pirog, Boris Skalsky and Paul Wood. The first single from the album is called "No One Can Tell" and illustrates the polished anthem-based arena rock we can expect from this band.
