Portland

The Ascetic Junkies EP Release Party TONIGHT at Backspace!

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The Ascetic Junkies

Oregon loves it’s folk, roots, americana–whatever you wanna call it–and now a new generation is embracing some sort of blended indie-folk that combines strings and foot stomping with banjos and pow-wows; somethingsooo poppy you’ll jiggle and smile inside and out.

This brand is not better typified than Boston-to-PDX transplants The Ascetic Junkies. Mixing vocals from Kali Giaritta and Matt Harmon make for a melodic hootenanny tingling with folk-country and bouncing indie.

Obviously literary nuts, The Junkies took their name from a group of misfits in a Kerouac novel and after moving to Portland in 2008, they broke onto the scene with their self-produced and released debut One Shoe Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

A little older, a little wiser, and a little more mixed-up musically, The Junkies release a glorious new four-track EP, Don’t Wait For the Rescue Squad, tonight at Backspace and everyone who attends gets a free copy of the album.

The band says this: "In an attempt to avoid wasting plastic that we assume you won’t use for anything other than ripping the album onto your computer, we’re just going to bring a laptop with us that you can feel free to plug your iPod/flash drive/CD-R/etc. into at any point during the show to steal the EP. Or if you want to sign your email address on a piece of paper, we’ll email it to you when we get home that night."

So come kick it up and swing around to some pop/bluegrass/folk/indie rock with The Ascetic Junkies. Show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $6.

-Chris Young

Philadelphia

Hezekiah Jones and Paper Masques at JB’s Jan. 7

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There are two fantastic bands performing at Johnny Brenda’s tonight. Hezekiah Jones is an ever-changing collection of musicians centered around mastermind Raphael Cutrufello. Slow, haunting folk music is the specialty of Hezekiah Jones accompanied by the soothing voice of Cutrufello, adding a dramatic atmosphere that makes live performances a bit more interesting. Check out the song “Postpone,” a great example of the vocal and guitar interplay that can be found in the works of Hezekiah Jones. Paper Masques are more of a spacey, experimental folk group. Utilizing lots of unique instrumentation, the music of Paper Masques features flutes and glockenspiels, amongst other things, over acoustic guitars and dreamy drumming patterns. The song “Vodka and Bottletops” best exemplifies the craftsmanship displayed by this band led by Zelda Pinwheel founder Stephen Quaranta who will be unveiling a new lineup tonight. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $10, 21+ myspace.com/hezekiah11, myspace.com/papermasques (Photo by Lisa Schaeffer) – James Sanderson

 

L.A.

Who are Cyan Ides? No, seriously.

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Cyan Ides | "Hesperian Gardens"
Dir. by Joshua McClain

Ambient-electronic duo Cyan Ides don’t have much to say about themselves. Their bio starts and simply ends with, "Cyan Ides are Frances Allen and Kevin Polzer." With that, we leave you with this excellent video mash-up of vintage B-film clips to the tune of their single "Hesperian Gardens" from their latest EP Sedi Nayc, available now. Before more news comes out from the ambiguous outfit, we’ll have to wait around until they show themselves.

L.A.

Residency Alert: Year Long Disaster raid Spaceland every Monday in January

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Behind the veil of pretense and the parade of plug-ins, software and pedals used in modern music, most musicians often forget that rock in its most basic trio form can be just as thrilling and, well, good. Enter rock group Year Long Disaster: there’s not exactly anything new to their brand of high octave-lead rock reminiscent of, say, your favorite Guitar Hero tracks, but they do it really, really, really fucking well. It’s not every day our breath is taken away by the exaggerated hugeness of a group, so only imagination can muster up what Year Long Disaster are like live. With a 2009 that included an opening slot with the Foo Fighters and a commissioned video by the guys at Aqua Teen Hunger Force, heads are turning for a reason, and, as of right now, so are ours.

L.A.

Major Tour Alert: Magical Properties Tour showcases finest of LA electronic acts

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This is huge. For the first time Daedelus, Nosaj Thing and Jogger will be hitting the road for a tour showcasing some of the finest in LA’s electronic scene. We’ve been witness to this trio of artists at FMLY events, downtown throwdowns and local festivals along the way, but this feels more like a celebration and tribute to this very moment in time as opposed to a contractually obligated commitment. And considering the multi-sensory overload typical of any of these three artists sets, we’ll be sure to check out the second stop at the Echoplex on Feb. 5.

For your downloading/tour preview pleasure (courtesy of the fine people at Terrorbird Media):

Nosaj Thing — "Islands (The XX Remix)
Jogger — "Napping Captain" (Dark Party Remix)

L.A.

Alt-pop Marianne Keith sugar coated goodness might just see its light soon

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Marianne Keith | "Kiss Me In The Rain"

As sugar coated as Marianne Keith‘s music is, the alt-pop singer/songwriter’s crossover status is worth mentioning: in one piece, Keith teeters on Sheryl Crow and Michelle Branch territory, while the next she’s biting and attacking as hard as Liz Phair and, one of her major influences, blues extraordinaire Susan Tedeschi. Most Top 40 kids are often one-trick ponies, but Keith’s capable of testing the waters until the right crowd comes around. That time might be soon with Keith’s latest LP Cathartic (Unison Music), available now.

San Francisco

Birds & Batteries, Winter’s Fall, Waste Band and Forest Floor at the Starry Plough

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Birds & Batteries

San Francisco’s Birds & Batteries will be making their way over to the East Bay this Friday to play at Berkeley’s Starry Plough. They will be joined by East Bayer’s Winter’s Fall, Waste Band, and Forest Floor which should make the evening a fun mixture of synth pop, indie rock, and a touch of folk.

Birds & Batteries, Winter’s Fall, Waste Band and Forest Floor
@ The Starry Plough, Berkeley
Friday, January 8th

Starry Plough is located at 3101 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley
Cover is $8

Chicago

The Flexible Entertainer

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 On January 26th Pit Er Pat and Thrill Jockey will team up once again to break down some musical walls. As Butchy and Fay of Pit Er Pat put it, “It has been just 10,992 hours since the last album”, but it is what remarkable is what they have accomplished in that time. Their new lp is called The Flexible Entertainer, and as I listen through the layers of sound I can see just how fitting that title is. These two are flexible in how they develop songs and sounds and in the structure and instrumentation they utilize. In their words they “freak you hard with banging mpc”, but the album has more depth than that statement may allude to. A mixture of instrumental jam sessions and vocal tracks, it the diversity of sounds that make it such an enjoyable listen. The duo is calling it a “brave new sound” and in a way it is. There is really no classification, it’s danceable, it has guitar, it has drum machines, it has mpc, but really what is it?

Aside from this wonderfully dense and complex collection of tunes Pit Er Pat have hard at work collaborating with the like of Soft Circle, Hecuba, These Are Powers, Rainbow Arabia, and others. These are two talented and creative musicians and other bands are seeing this and wanting to work with them in some capacity. There is no word yet, but hopefully their will be a tour this Spring to support this impressive album.

New England

Boston’s Miss Tess Moves to Brooklyn

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Where have all the musical flowers gone? Probably Brooklyn. At least that’s where local folk/jazz/indy great Miss Tess has taken her “modern vintage” style as of New Year’s Day. She left with a bang.

 “We had a fantastic New Year’s Eve, perhaps the best ever,” exclaimed Tess in a dispatch to her mailing list. “We played at Symphony Hall in Boston, got to watch the Boston Pops play with Amanda Palmer [formerly of the Dresden Dolls], saw lots of balloons drop from the ceiling as we all sang "We Are The Champions" at the stroke of midnight, and then I moved to Brooklyn on New Years Day. Hello New York!” (video above)

Miss Tess, whom Palmer had requested as one of her opening acts for New Years, has been a fixture of the Cambridge/Somerville scene for four years. Mingling jazz standards with original tunes, Tess assembled a changing line-up of first-rate jazz musicians, often culled from the New England Conservatory of Music, to serve as her “Bon Ton Parade.”

 “I will miss some of my favorite local performers and places like Toad,
Lizard Lounge and Atwoods, where I could go and run into a bunch of friends,” said Tess in an email interview. “I will not miss Boston weather.”

While she might not find much warmer climes in Brooklyn, it feels like the right move for the time and she is excited about the change.

“There’s a lot going on in Brooklyn as far as creative arts go—many places to play, and creative opportunities beyond solely performing. Also, my band moved there a couple months ago.”

Tess is in fact setting up camp with Sweet and Low-Down band mate (and formidable jazz vocalist in her own right) Rachel Price, as well as Mike Calabrese, the current Bon Ton drummer. While weekly stands at the beloved pub venues of the Boston folk scene are behind her now, Miss Tess, is wasting no time before starting another tour and will be back in town as early as January 21.  She will play Club Passim in Cambridge for one of local folk great, Alastair Moock’s, “Pastures of Plenty” round robins and then the following night, will play a set of vintage dance tunes at Boston Swing Central. Her latest CD, released at the Lizard Lounge in December, is Darling, Oh Darling.

— Jason Rabin

Philadelphia

Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies Record Release at KFN Jan. 7

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If you’re looking for a good blend of acoustic fueled music and indie songwriting, then look know further. Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies. a Philly newcomer and Pittsburgh native, went from playing sparsely attended shows during 2004 to constructing pop music ballads with a chamber ensemble of multi-instrumentalists and gaining rave reviews in 2007/2008. And now with his band of Arch Enemies, he aims to take it a step further with tonight’s record release show. They’ll be joined by The Bee Team with their quirky storytelling and acoustic pop appeal as well as TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb, whose Hinterlands EP was one of my favorites last year and whose star shines brighter with each show. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, Free, 21+ myspace.com/stevegoldberg (Photo by Sarah Cass) – Bill McThrill
NYC

Weekly Special #185b: Midnight Masses, live at Music Hall on 01.29

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Destiny and Autry from Midnight Masses met while living in Atlanta, where they started a band called Shock Cinema. Destiny and Autry knew Miyuki from when he toured with his old band The’ Rogers Sisters. They knew Danny and Jason from Trail Of Dead, and reconnected’ with them when Destiny and Autry moved to New York. Destiny met Eric through his’ roommate who was in Dragons of Zynth. They all met through bands or in bars. – Read Gina Alioto’s interview with the band here.

NYC

Weekly Special #185a: Indie Rock and Contemporary Art in NYC

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New York City’s most revered art collective centered around a man by the name of Andy Warhol. Set in a drug-infused laboratory — his 1960s dream studio The Factory — and culminating in the Exploding Plastic Inevitable multimedia events, Warhol and his ilk transformed the subcultural landscape in ways still difficult to comprehend. But if Warhol was the general of this amphetamine army, his front line soldiers were The Velvet Underground and Nico. – Read Joe Coscarelli’s article about Indie Rock and Contemporary art in NYC here. – In the picture, Titus Andronicus at the Whitney Museum (from brooklynvegan, photo by Leia Jospe)