New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Well the government may shut down this week but it looks like the Bay Area’s shows won’t. Here are a few selections from the calender.
Tonight out in Oakland Bay Area Bourgeois will be presenting a free show at Era Art Bar with Safe, Summer Glaciers, and stevedood, 8pm.
Friday, out at Bottom of the Hill, Battlehooch will be playing with Danielson and Half-handed Cloud, 10pm.
Back in Oakland on Saturday the Uptown will be hosting Somehow at Sea, James and Evander, and Parentz, 9pm.
-Ada Lann
Sounding like a hybrid of early NIN and The The, NYC’s Hussle Club is one of those bands with a sound that doesn’t go unnoticed – you could actually say the same for their singer’s look. The band just released this video of the single "Quaranteenegers".
The band Work Drugs is a good example of how powerful the internet can be. In less than a year or probably more like six months, the crew of Thomas Crystal and Benjamin Louisiana with seductive additional vocals from Joan Wellfleet have gone from tinkering around at home and recording tracks to kill time and their left over beer to heading out on their first tour with Two Door Cinema Club (which they will begin tonight at Varsity Theater in Minneapolis) and performing at their first festival with acts like The Raveonettes, Cursive, and Daniel Johnston (which is quite impressive, especially if you’ve ever tried to do booking for your own fledgling band). Well, we had a chance to find out a little more about the relatively new act from Work Drugs’ Thomas Crystal after their debut live performance this past Friday at Johnny Brenda’s for Yvynyl’s showcase with Summer Fiction, Snowmine, and Guitars. You can read about what went down HERE.
Arlington’s IOTA Club is about to get taken over by a swarm of DC’s rock’n’roll purists in Death by Sexy this Saturday. DxS (pictured above) have been on the DL for a bit, but thanks to a recent twitter update, it’s been brought to our attention that some good "rock squats" are in order! Hot tracks like "Neverending Love" and "BTO" inevitably do get you moving, and moved the Washington Post enough to say "one of the city’s sure-to-please acts."
Also on the bill are Nunchucks who recently had a CD release show at the Rock’n’Roll Hotel for their latest EP Eat Your Moneys, 6 songs full of classic raw guitars, bass, drums, and chant along lyrics. One of our fav standout tracks is "U.S.S. Cassin-Young", a high-energy tune ready to be on the next Jackass soundtrack as it’s Kinks meets Turbonegro essence can get your adrenaline pumping and ready to handle a shopping cart to the moon. Check it out below.
Completing the DC rock line-up: Cobra Collective, and Triggers (from Pittsburgh). $10, starts at 9 PM.
Radical Dads are a Brooklyn based trio of non-fathers (there is also a girl in the band) who play abrasive, guitar based, sans bass post punk that makes us think of how Janes Addiction might have sounded if Perry Farrel had formed the band in DC rather than LA. At least, that’s what the embedded song "Recklessness" from their debut 7 inch makes us think of. The guys are obviously fans of the sound of the 90s, as B side "I Am the Father of Myself", besides explaining what kind of fathers these dudes are, references Sonic Youth’s droney noise-rock aural attacks. The band has just announced the release of their debut full length, out in mid June on Inhabitable Mansions. See them live at The Rock Shop on April 9.
The Golden Filter, one of the 3 bands taking 99th place in our latest Best of NYC Emerging Artist Poll, puts a hazy layer – you may say, for lack of better wording, some kind of "golden filter" – over their music. The synth lines channel a bit of disco, although we’re not talking "The Hustle" territory. It’s a throwback, not an homage. Penelope Trappe, the vocalist, is stuck in permanent femme-fatale mode; she half-whispers half-sighs her words over the sleek backing tracks. "Solid Gold," their lead single (it even references their band name!) is probably THE example of what The Golden Filter is all about. Retro synth lines, Trappes’ voice, and the melding of the two into a golden-tinted outlook on the world. – allison levin
I first saw Mia Doi Todd during L.A. Folk Fest‘s "desert weekend" back in February. The first night took place at Pappy and Harriet’s, where Tommy Santee Claus and He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister performed, among others. The second show was a daytime gig, so after perusing through the vintage stores on 29 Palms Highway, we made our way in. One performance really stood out to me, and that was Mia Doi Todd’s. She has a gentle, natural presence, gracefully strumming the acoustic and singing with a deep and soothing tone. Her voice is almost like a chant, and the hollow sound of her hands tapping the soundboard of her guitar put the audience into a trance, hanging on her every move. Her music has an honest, rustic but pretty aura. Mia’s 9th studio album, Cosmic Ocean Ship, comes out next month.
Mia Doi Todd will be playing TONIGHT at Little Temple in Silverlake.
–Jenna Putnam
Michael Runion’s soothing folk pop is easy on the ears. A weaver of the acoustic guitar and story-telling lyrics, it’s no surprise that Runion also has worked with other talented L.A. artists.
You’re an involved guy: playing with The Elevated, JJAMZ, and your new project The Chances. How has working with so many other artists influenced your recent solo material, or do you try to seperate the two?
Runion: I think working with other is a huge influence, simply because when I write with others I’m less precious about the work, less uptight. So that’s allowed me to step away from my solo stuff, realize I can do whatever I want, that I don’t have to feel tethered to any style or sound. But I definitely write in a different voice for each project. I can tell when I start working on a song if it’s a solo work, for JJAMZ, or potentially for someone else.
Considering that I may have listened to this EP 20 times already, I almost don’t know where to start with Thug Life Nicole. Hosannas have outdone themselves in four songs.The tracks of their latest EP wisp through your ears like fog in the clouds, perching softly on the harmonies of your heart with the reminiscence of a forgotten Brian Wilson B-side. "Cccloud" floats waywardly around the unbearably genuine lyrics "I wouldn’t hurt you if I could, but we both know of course I would/but I’d be happy just to see you" steadfast and streamlike until it opens up to barreling drums that drive your heartbeat into the floor that’s melted beneath your feet. "Walroos" achieves a haunting, somehow universal tip-of-the-hat to everyone’s Beatlebound days of yesteryear, veiled behind anecdotes of reversed guitar tracks travelling in stereo from amp to amp, held aloft by the whisper of violins. A bridled cacophony seeps from "Islandz" before facing the wall of subtle synth and heavily breathing drums of "Obsolete People" – the shortest track of the four that captures the mood of the EP itself: a short and heavy orchestra of carefully layered moments that burst through the air like the heavens have spilled down with thunder and lazing sunlight all at once.
Perhaps one of the finest points of this incredible release is that it’s free. You can experience Hosannas tonight at Holocene at The Rumble with Hello Electric and Vanaprasta tonight for free. If you can’t make it tonight you can also catch them at Rontoms for free on Sunday. -Mike Harper
With an optimistic title, Wesley Eisold, a Philly native turned New Yorker, crafts synthy moodscapes with Cold Cave’s sophomore full-length release Cherish the Light Years. Satiating ravenous fans with Love Comes Close’s follow-up, today’s release via Matador opens optimistic with sputtering backbeats followed close by electrified chords and Eisold’s post-punk styled vocals. “The Great Pan is Dead” feels iconic, triumphant, and knowing, creating cohesion of deference between Eisold’s delivery and the opening track’s memorable emotional core. Within seconds of its start Cherish the Light Years grabs hold of its listener and keeps them close until its end. Such magnetism begins with “The Great Pan is Dead” and is intensified by the dancey thrill of “Pacing Around the Church”. Reminiscent of Bloc Party’s initial potential or New Wavers like Depeche Mode, Eisold’s deliberate lyricism harbors a relatable criticism on religious tradition, its flaws, shortcomings, and (at times) miss placed hopes. With the assurance that “it was easy when we were young and free,” Eisold offers a provocatively post-mod alternative: “the truth is no where near.” Existential and catchy, “Pacing Around the Church” is cerebral with hissing clicks and memorable hooks. Here, Cold Cave capitalizes on a depth prophesized by earlier tracks like “Love Comes Close” and the pulsating dread of “Youth and Lust”. An easily consumable anthem, “Confetti” opens with mesmerizing synth and drum machine beats that feel warm and tropical. Eisold’s diction rises lush and near seductive in an upbeat but brooding trance like tempo, bringing to mind a mellowed out mix of gender bender Boy George’s antics in the Culture Club’s “Miss Me Blind” mixed with the haunting swell of Soft Cell’s “Youth”. A nearly perfect track for summer, “Confetti”, with its “Blue Monday” fashioned breakdown and 80s friendly diligence is bound to become the successor to “Life Magazine” in popularity. “Underworld USA” is heated and gothy, opening with unrelenting beats, whispers, and lightly washed out riffs. Making the most of religious iconography, Eisold’s use of words like “missionary,” “confess,” and “blasphemous,” serve as thematic authenticity to a track dealing more with redemption through romance rather than redemption through Westernized forms of religious faith. Delectably dark wave, “Underworld USA” conjures the same evocative depth of Bauhaus’ performance of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” in ‘83’s vamp thriller The Hunger. “Alchemy and You” shines with infectious riffs and swirling chords while “Burning Sage” sinks deep under the skin with percussive minimalism and morose diction. Falling somewhere between singles by New Order (“Elegia” and “Ceremony”) and the iconic gloom of Joy Division, Cold Cave’s Cherish the Light Years is a successful resurrection of dark wave at its best. – Dianca Potts
Villains of the Moon by Cold Cave
Illvibe Collective have a CD release party tonight at Silk City. The local five-man DJ and production team has been churning out dope material since 2000, and is comprised of Mr. Sonny James (a.k.a. Statik), Panek, Phillee Blunt, Lil Dave and Skipmode. Their latest effort All Together Now features contributions from some of Philly’s finest like Bahamadia, Reef The Lost Cauze, Rich Medina, Dave Ghetto, and many more. It’s Illvibe Collective’s debut production album, and there will be plenty of their collaborators performing this evening to help them celebrate. Below is footage of an interview with their muse and mentor Rich Medina where “he discusses his relationship with them and the significance of producers who get their start at DJs.” It was filmed and directed by Panek and edited by Mr. Sonny James for Illvibe Media. Silk City, 435 Spring Garden St., 9pm, $10 (includes a copy of the CD), 21+ – Alexis V.
Besides XPN’s "Free at Noon", it’s been a while since recent Billboard chart topper Amos Lee has had a hometown show. That’s why it’s no surprise that this evening’s performance at Merriam Theater with The Secret Sisters is SOLD OUT, and I heard that the tickets got pretty pricey depending on where you’re seated. Well, I look forward to seeing Amos, Mut, Freddy, Jaron, and the rest of the crew on stage rather than on my TV or computer screen which seems to be the only way that I can lately. They’ll also be representing Philly in Europe soon when they open up for more sold out shows with Adele. (BTW: If you are attending the show tonight (or not), please send Amos some good vibes because I heard that he might be feeling a bit under the weather. Hopefully a little rest in his own bed helped him out.) Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 8pm, SOLD OUT, All Ages – H.M. Kauffman
