New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
We know about The Bright Light Social Hour around here. If you didn’t before, you heard this March: they were scary dominant at this year’s Austin Music Awards, winning Band of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year. Now the rest of the country gets a close look as they head out on their first major U.S. tour, departing May 12th & returning home for a Mohawk show on June 11th. May they return with mustache in full glory.
YAWN announced this week that they will be touring with two of the bigger internet buzz bands, Tame Impala & Yuck, later this month. After that short tour they will be headed into the studio to put the finishing touches on their debut full-length album which is slotted for a summer release.
YAWN will be performing tonight (4/19) at Lincoln Hall with Delorean, and then on May 3rd and May 4th at Lincoln Hall with Tame Impala and Yuck
Embracing the Modern Age is the name of the game, and you’d almost never guess it from the wondrously thrown-back release from Blue Skies For Black Hearts. Channeling Costello, early Beatles, Blue Skies for Black Hearts have whipped up some of the most catchily poppy tunes this side of 1965. I feel like seeing them live is going to be getting sucked into a time warp – and ending up the right place. You can catch all of the dreamy goodness this Saturday, April 23, at the Mission Theatre, where you’ll also fall prey to the charm of the sci-fi film debut featuring these yesteryear champions.
What’s going down on This Week’s Menu? Springtime in the air and amazing shows every night. Every, every night. I don’t even know what summer is going to look like. Oh man oh man.
Tuesday April 19: Wampire @ Disjecta
Wednesday April 20: Onuinu, Gulls, Brkfst Mntn @ Holocene, $5
Thursday April 21: Twin Shadow, Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Doug Fir, $15
Friday April 22: Y La Bamba, Dark Dark Dark, Why Are We Building Such A Big Ship @ Missississippi Studios, $15
Saturday April 23: Shapers, Beans @ Holocene, $15
Sunday April 24: Radiation City @ Rontoms, Free(?)
If By Yes is the avant-pop supergroup helmed by LA based Petra Haden (that dog, Decemberists) and NYC’s Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto, Sean Lennon) also featuring Hirotaka Shimizu and Yuko Araki of Cornelius. The collaboration began way back in 2002, when the Petra and Yuka started working on some material via email, but the distance separating the two didn’t allow them to keep a quick creative pace. Fast forward almost ten years, and If By Yes finally managed to release their debut album "Salt On Sea Glass" on Sean Lennon’s Chimera label, which was greeted by good press in places like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times etc. If By Yes’ "Eliza" (Petra’s duet with David Byrne) will be in the film "This Must Be The Place," starring Sean Penn, which comes out later this year.
Louisiana born, SF bred Painted Palms is sure going to have a memorable spring of 2011. The highly respected indie label Secretly Canadian just announced that will be releasing the band’s debut EP "Canopy" on April 26 (it was released independently in November 2010). Iimmediately after the release date the spacey avant-indie duo will embark on a US tour with Of Montreal. Fans of Animal Collective might enjoy the free mp3 embedded here.
Imagine the best coffee shop you know… no wait… the coffee shop of your dreams. Jars of beans rest on wooden counters, and the space is sunny and peaceful. There is a small (but acoustically perfect) stage. Now imagine who would play there. I’ve got an idea. Tony Scherr has a multitude of recording credits to his name, so he’d obviously be no open-mic man. His mastery of his instrument is clear, as is the sound he’s going for. There is a country twang, but enough rock sensibility to please those who scare easy when they hear the "c" word. Scherr‘s voice is soft and weathered, and fits his work like a well-worn, comfortable glove. Don’t miss the cover of "Wild Horses." You won’t regret it. – Tony Scherr placed at #95 in The Deli’s Best of NYC Emerging Artists 2010. – allison levin
It amazes me how much mileage Crsystal Stilts keep getting out of their rigid formula of garagey surf rock. The band’s been around now the better half of a decade (also landing of the cover of a Deli mag in the meantime) and released more than a handful of tight, cohesive albums, each adhering to this same formula, but managing to sound unique within the band’s growing canon. One might expect things to begin getting a bit tired by this point. But instead of contracting, Crystal Stilts’ bizarre little spacebeach just keeps getting bigger.
In Love with Oblivion (Slumberland Records) is Crsystal Stilts boldest step yet into their strange and curious world. While this record marks a much more playful and exploratory use of electronics and guitars, the biggest leap forward here is Brad Hargett’s voice. He displays an unexpected range on songs like ‘Blood Barons,’ and some of his lyrics are great (at least when I can understand them).
Beyond this, In Love with Oblivion gives us some of Crystal Stilts’ catchiest songs, lovingly coupled with some of their strangest sonic adventures to date. ‘Shake the Shackles’ is catchy as hell, while ‘Invisible City’ is so dance-ready it strangely recalls Dub Narcotic Sound System. The experimentation from the squeaks and squawks in opener ‘Sycamore Tree,’ to the nearly 40 second long fadeout at the end of ‘Alien Rivers’ sounds like the band’s dance party is traveling the cosmos. This is an LP with a much fuller vision than most of their surf rock Brooklyn peers, and one that reveals itself more fully with each subsequent listen. Next time you host a dance party on an outer space beach, be sure to bring this record along to the cabana. – Mike Levine
It’s been done before, but never like this. LA based Crash Kings pay tribute to monster rock legends like AC/DC, Queen, and Led Zeppelin in their rendition of the "Evolution of Guitar II". Although it may be called the evolution of the guitar, Crash Kings take it to another level. Vocalist Tony Beliveau shreds through classic solos on his clavinet, a keyboard with guitar strings and a customized whammy bar, allowing him to bend notes like a guitar god. The trio is currently recording their newest album set to be released at the end of September.
-Margarita Castellanos
Many of you may remember Rahim, an angular, post rockish indie band signed to Les Savy Fav’s Frenchkiss Records. Some of the members previously involved with that project formed RARECHILD, which released a debut 7" in January (cover in the picture). Rare Child shares with Rahim a rock sound rich in percussive sounds, although here we find ourselves immersed in decidedly less aggressive and more mysterious and sophisticated 80s atmospheres, reminiscent of Depeche Mode (in the vocal department) and Peter Gabriel (in the arrangements). You can see Rare Child live at Pianos on April 26 and at Glasslands on May 04.
Young Man has released a video for their track "Five" which appears on their debut ep "Boy" which was recently released by Frenchkiss Records.
