The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Line Out: New Releases

RocketNumberNine's Productive, Sci-Fi Post-Post-Punk Will Make You Move

Kathy Fennessy — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:12:23 -0700

Smalltown Supersound
Photo by Sam Moon

RocketNumberNine
MeYouWeYou
(Smalltown Supersound)

An album that makes me want to dance, to get to work, and to read the novels of Philip K. Dick—not necessarily at the same time—can only be a good thing.

Based on the singles London-based brother duo Tom and Ben Page have released to date, "Rotunda" and the Four Tet-approved "Matthew and Toby," I expected to like their debut, and I do. I really do. And it reinforces my conviction that there's a post-post-punk scene going on in London that's about to blow up, and RocketNumberNine is part of it.

By "blow up," I don't mean to suggest that any these acts, like the Mercury Prize-nominated Polar Bear, are going to storm Billboard's dance charts—they're too off-kilter and spiky for that—but I predict that their popularity will only increase (and if Toronto's Odonis Odonis were from London, I would add them to this list).

Smalltown Supersound
Photo by Sam Moon

Many of these musicians, especially the players in Melt Yourself Down, have backgrounds in regional and international jazz, and it shows. That characteristic provides a link with post-punk progenitors such as Pigbag and Rip Rig + Panic.

It's music designed to make you move, but it isn't cold or robotic—not that there isn't a time and place for that—but loose and funky. And it's not like the Page brothers aren't also working with machines, but the percussive bits (triangles, drums, etc.) have a decidedly human feel. It also sounds like they're running a melodica through a Vocoder on "Lope," so they're experimental, too.

Smalltown Supersound
Suitably post-punkadelic cover art

Other than the garbled samples on "Symposium" and "Deadly Buzz," which recalls DJ Shadow by way of Love and Rockets—specifically their strobe-tastic "Ball of Confusion" cover—there are no vocals on MeYouWeYou, and nor are they necessary (they're also so scrambled that I couldn't identify a single word).

Words would probably get in the way of the grooves, and there are few things I enjoy less than a smooth, sinuous dance track with a stiff, ill-fitting vocal. In retrospect, RocketNumberNine would've been the ideal outfit to score Richard Linklater's Rotoscope take on Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly, because of the "scramble suit" that Keanu Reeves wears throughout the film (Thom Yorke, who provided music for the movie, once asked RN9 to open for Radiohead).

I'm always on the hunt for get-to-work music, and RocketNumberNine has issued the finest example I've heard so far this year, though my number #1 GTW album is Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics' Inspiration Information (and not so coincidentally, a few of the MYD players have worked with Mr. Astatke).

MeYouWeYou is out now on Smalltown Supersound (May 21 release date).

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Shannon & the Clams' Newish* Single "Into a Dream" Is Dreamy

Kathy Fennessy — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:13:55 -0700

The Oakland trio (vocalist-bassist Shannon Shaw, guitarist Cody Blanchard, and drummer Ian Amberson) have outdone themselves with this finger-snapping, Technicolor torch song that re-imagines Roy Orbison as a Shangri-Las singer.

Stream the whole thing at the AV Club through tomorrow. You can also watch a short documentary here. Hardly Art releases Dreams in the Rat House on May 21. Then, on June 7, Shannon & the Clams play the Tractor Tavern with Mikal Cronin.

* "Into a Dream" hit my inbox on May 1, but I didn't get the chance to listen until yesterday.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Sic Alps' Top-of-the-Pop-Tart Jam "Biz Bag" Is Rocking My World

Kathy Fennessy — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:41:24 -0700

K.C. Fennessy

"Biz Bag" appears on the Bay Area band's upcoming EP, She's on Top, which I originally typed as "Who's the Boss" (blame Tony Danza...or Alyssa "Wen® Hair" Milano...or Judith Light..or Reagan-era sitcoms in general).

Why it's called "Biz Bag," I couldn't say, but it rocks in a big, bad, beautiful way—and I'm still kicking myself for missing their Seattle show last fall. I even took a picture of the poster, because I was so excited, but then deadlines got the best of me.

Here's an excerpt from Drag City's breathless press release:

This morning, Pitchfork premiered "Biz Bag," one of the completely bonk, top-of-the-pop-tart jams from the freshly pressed-and-forthcoming (May 21st!) "She’s On Top" 12" EP by Sic Alps. "She's On Top," a concise gem-drop! Pure rock 'n' roll directives of an unusually clean (for Sic Alps!) variety pour forever from das grooves and we're not gonna lie—this ain't no waxident, it's a classicident! One solid blast threatens to obliterate both end of yer parties* with vitality and charm, a peakingly [sic] planned romp into the twilight hours that float beyond the late-nite hours. Taste this first listen, and you'll eat exactly what we mean.

* I read that as "panties." (I suspect that DC main man Rian Murphy wrote this thing.)

Not sure what's going on with the cover art either, but I like it. The lady is lovely, but I sense that something is "off" with this picture—and I'm not talking about the incongruous layout and typography—but the fact that she looks like one of the Manson gals. And I apologize if she's a friend or relative of the band, but some of those Manson followers, like Bobby Beausoleil, were pretty easy on the eyes. Can anyone identify her?* (If so, she's clearly not Squeaky Fromme, the only female Family member I recognize due to her presidential assassination attempt.)

Postscript: Out of curiosity, I contacted Drag City's publicist, who explained that Mike Donovan found the photo fascinating—I knew I'd seen it before!—so he secured the rights to use it. Says publicist Kellie Morgan, "There was a band in the '60s called the Diggers—and a member of the band, Chuck Gould, took the photo of this woman, Zoe Leader." So, I was right about the Cali counterculture thing—and wrong about the serial killer component. In hopes of finding out more about Leader, I scoured the internet, but the only citation led to a dead link. There's a Lion King voice-over artist who shares that name, and most hits reference her in some way.

* I did an image search, and she doesn't resemble any of Manson's assorted lady friends.

Drag City releases the three-song EP on May 21. Order it online here. I sampled the other tracks, "She's on Top" and "Carrie Jean," and they rock just as hard.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Is This Music? Boyd Rice / NON - "Back To Mono"

Kelly O — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:12:49 -0700

No really. Is it music? Boyd Rice is about to hit the road as special guest of
Cold Cave on their forthcoming US/Canadian tour. Dates after the jump.

Read a more thoughtful post on Boyd Rice / NON, written by Dave Segal, here.

TOUR DATES WITH COLD CAVE – JUNE 2013
14 June - Los Angeles, CA - Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock
15 June - San Francisco, CA - Public Works
19 June – Philadelphia, PA, Morgan’s Pier
20 June - Washington D.C., Rock and Roll Hotel
22 June – Columbus, OH - Skullys Music Diner
24 June – Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
25 June – Pontiac, MI - Pike Room at The Crofoot
26 June – Toronto, Canada - The Shop at Parts & Labor
28 June – Cambridge, MA – TT the Bear’s
29 June - Brooklyn, NY – 285 Kent

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Superchunk Announces New Album!

Megan Seling — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:32:02 -0700

Their 10th (!) studio album, I Hate Music, will be out August 20th. Here's the album trailer:

And a little more info, by way of press release:

I Hate Music will be released on CD, LP and digital. The limited-edition deluxe LP will be pressed on colored vinyl and include a bonus 7-inch containing two non-album tracks, along with an I Hate Music stencil. Both the standard and deluxe LPs will be issued on 150-gram vinyl and feature a die-cut sleeve. All pre-orders in the Merge store will come with an I Hate Music poster, the first 200 of which will be signed by the band.

You can pre-order the album here. And, as you probably know, Superchunk are playing Bumbershoot September 2nd. Tickets are available here.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Don't Talk to the Cops: Breakfast Contest!

Emily Nokes — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:56:04 -0700

In honor of their upcoming album Champions of Breakfast, our friends, the non-stop hiphop, snap crackle pop punks Don't Talk to the Cops are challenging anyone with an Instagram (everybody's getting those, you know) account to a BREAKFAST CONTEST! All you have to do is post a photo of your best, most creative breakfast with @donttalktothecops #ChampionsOfBreakfast.

The winner gets a copy of the new record, DtttC cereal, a T-shirt, and a button pack! Also, have you seen this poster?

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Is Daylight's New album, Jar, Great or Terrible? And Why Can't I Decide for Myself?

Megan Seling — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:18:09 -0700

Jar by Daylight

Yesterday a friend of mine tipped me off to Jar, the new album by Pennsylvania rock band Daylight. "I can't tell if this is like great ’90s rock or the shitty ’00 stuff," he said. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure it out myself.

The song "Outside of Me" has a nice, poppy Foo Fighters feel and "Life In a Jar" has huge production that recalls Hum and early Smashing Pumpkins. I dig it! But on some songs—"In On It" (the intro, at least) and "Youngest Daughter," for example—their hard rock sound creeps dangerously close to the 3 Doors Down/Our Lady Peace post-grunge nonsense. (And "Sheltered" is, like, at least 50% "In Bloom.")

Is it good? Is it bad? Is it possible that a band can be both on the same album?

Let's have a poll! And maybe discuss this question: What does it take to successfully pull off a ’90s sound in a post-grunge world without coming off like all those bands who just sounded like assholes trying to cash in on a trend? Can it be done?

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Scout Niblett: No Wigs, No Scrubs

Kathy Fennessy — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:06:11 -0700

Drag City
No more blonde wigs for Emma Louise

Scout Niblett
It's Up to Emma
(Drag City)

I go back and forth between admiring musicians who change things up with every record and those who do the same thing every time, just fine-tuning their basic template with each release.

To my ears, Emma "Scout" Niblett falls into the latter category. I keep waiting for her to do something radically different, but she never does—not counting the "Nasty" cover below.

On It's Up to Emma, her confessional vocals remains front and center, bolstered by spare electric guitar and minimalist percussion (kick drum, tambourine), although "Can't Fool Me Now" and "What Can I Do" feel fuller than usual with mournful strings and a soaring, Sinéad O' Connor-like vocal line. As with O'Connor and Cat Power, her emotions lie just below the surface, threatening to escape in full, spilling out all over the place, incinerating everything in their vicinity. It's as if her instrumental restraint keeps them in check. This makes every record an intense, claustrophobic experience.

On "Gun," for instance, she sings, "Think I'm gonna buy me a gun, a nice little silver one." Then, in "All Night Long," she wails, "I don't need to hear her name....get away from her spell...I need a love of my own." Either she has lousy taste in lovers or she expects more from men than any of them can reasonably deliver. I have no idea, but at least she shares some responsibility for these romantic disappointments when she admits: "I fooled myself for too long."

She looks so harmless. She isn't (cover art from The Calcination of Scout Niblett).

On the downside, I find it all pretty exhausting. An associate was hoping I'd write about this record, and so I have, but my feelings about Niblett remain mixed. She has pop sensibilities she tends to suppress, and I wish she wouldn't. It may feel like a sellout move to her—and to her fans—but I'd love to see her let more air in, to eliminate some of the negative space. There's something to be said for purity and consistency, but if an album just bums me out, I may not return to it often.

On the upside, Emma includes a cover of TLC's "No Scrubs," which previously materialized as a single. At first glance, it might seem like an uncharacteristic move, except the lyrics dovetail with Niblett's worldview in which women struggle to assert themselves in a male-dominated world. Further, she performs the song without a single nod to rap or R&B. I'd have preferred a livelier approach, but it proves that her tastes are broader than her recordings indicate. More, please.

Uncharacteristically funky non-LP track from the No More Nasty Scrubs single.

Slowly, but surely, this record is growing on me. Drag City releases it on May 21.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Pretend You're In a Movie While Listening to the New Say Hi Songs

Megan Seling — Tue, 07 May 2013 10:40:01 -0700

Say Hi's Eric Elbogen composed the soundtrack for the film Free Samples (starring Jessie Eisenberg and in theaters May 31), and the soundtrack is available today via Barsuk Records.

Stereogum has a free download of the song "Love, Love, Love," and the whole thing is on iTunes. The songs are mostly instrumental (and named after ice cream flavors—cute!), so you can listen and act out your own quirky romantic comedy.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

The Phoenix Foundation Goes Deep

Kathy Fennessy — Mon, 06 May 2013 09:36:46 -0700

Memphis Industries

I listened to New Zealand sextet the Phoenix Foundation's double-LP, Fandango, this weekend, and it didn't quite win me over, though it came close (and I'll assume Kiwis don't think about talking bags when they see the word "Fandango").

In reading up on the band, which has been around since 1997, I learned some interesting things: 1) they took their name from the TV show MacGyver, and 2) they provided the score for Taika Waititi's films Boy and Eagle vs. Shark (featuring Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords).

At times, the new record reminded me of the Beta Band (whom I love); at others, Simple Minds (about whom I'm less enthusiastic). Then I got to the closing track, "Friendly Society." This 17:40-minute motorik jam plays more like the flute-infused space rock of Herbcraft than anything else on the 80-minute album. It's so good, in fact, that I wish they'd released it as an EP in and of itself.

Memphis Industries releases Fandango, Phoenix Foundation's fifth LP, on May 14.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Music News: Kanye Being Cryptic, NMH Plan World Tour, and Some Sexy New Albums

Kyle Fleck — Thu, 02 May 2013 12:17:13 -0700

He's Baaaaaaack: Kim Kardashian's baby daddy has returned to Twitter, with a tantalizing tweet: "June Eighteen," prompting speculation that we're getting a new Kanye album this year.

Neutral Milk Hotel Plot World Domination: According to their tour manager, the recently reactivated Neutral Milk Hotel will soon embark on a tour that "will span the globe."

New Justice Album Available for Streaming: See for yourself if it lives up to the hype.

Deftones Pay Tribute to Chris Kelly: By mashing up "Engine No. 9" with "Jump." The crowd went appropriately nuts.

Say Hello to Chance the Rapper: Chicago's latest hiphop prodigy claims his new mixtape Acid Rain, which dropped yesterday, is "the best tape to come out in 2013." The year's still young but after hearing it, it's hard to argue with him.

And Finally, Hometown Heroes Shabazz Palaces Remix Animal Collective: This is pretty druggy.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Under The Annieway

Dean Fawkes — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:10:29 -0700

A few days ago, choice Norwegian DJ/songwriter Annie ("Chewing Gum", "I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me", "The Breakfast Song") returned all sure-footed with the melancholically sophisticated, dancefloor synth-pop glimmer that is "Tube Stops & Lonely Hearts".

As a song, it works double-duty, which is rare: it carries on both the European transportation themes of Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express", Primal Scream's "Autobahn '66", and — just a couple of months ago — Little Boots' "Motorway", but also the lustrous memories of early '90s British dance culture heroically illustrated in The Streets' "Weak Become Heroes". And all the while still coming off adept and modern.

Mix-tape dare!

Go.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Bobby Whitlock: Rock & Roll Survivor

Kathy Fennessy — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:01:34 -0700

Future Days-Light in the Attic
Bobby at Ringo Starr's house

Bobby Whitlock
Where There's a Will, There's a Way: The ABC-Dunhill Years
(Future Days-Light in the Attic)

Unless you're a Southern rock expert or a liner-note obsessive, you probably haven't heard of Memphis singer, guitarist, and keyboard player Bobby Whitlock.

On the basis of this 21-track Light in the Attic collection, which appears on their new Future Days subsidiary, he was the quintessential 1970s artist: ramblin' man, jack of all trades, classic-rock Zelig. Where There's a Will, There's a Way: The ABC-Dunhill Years combines the two solo albums he released in 1972, Bobby Whitlock and Raw Velvet.

Whitlock got his start by playing with Delaney & Bonnie, Derek & the Dominoes (Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs), and George Harrison (All Things Must Pass), and they would return the favor by contributing to these records, along with bassist Klaus Voorman, sax player Bobby Keys, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, and producers Andy Johns and Jimmy Miller (Exile on Main Street).

Written by Bobby; with Eric Clapton and George Harrison on guitar and Klaus Voorman on bass.

As a singer, Whitlock has a soulful style, a little like Joe Cocker, but with less grit and more gospel. For "A Day Without Jesus," Delaney and Bonnie put on their best "church" voices, though I couldn't say whether he's pondering or promoting Christianity (in the liner notes, he describes his preacher father as an abusive man). I'm not sure it matters, though it's better than most of its Christ-oriented competition, like the Doobie Brothers' Up with People-like "Jesus Is Just Alright."

And it could just be my imagination, because I was hoping to find a link, but I swear I can hear subtle echoes of Memphis's Big Star, who would also establish an association with Stax Records, in swinging tracks like "If You Ever." Fun fact: in getting to know the Stax stable of artists, Bobby provided the hand claps on Sam & Dave's "Thank You." (Also, SIFF just announced that they'll be screening the new Big Star documentary, Nothing Can Hurt Me, at this year's festival.)

Whitlock isn't a bad vocalist, but he has less of a signature style than peers like Cocker or Rod Stewart, which may be partly why his solo recordings didn't reach a wider audience, though he seems just as comfortable with the gentle numbers as the aggressive ones. From the first track to the last, he isn't doing anything that's never been done before, but he did it with an ease, a grace, and a lack of bombast that some of his more famous colleagues had a harder time pulling off.

Written by Delaney Bramlett and Mac Davis; with Eric Clapton on bass and slide guitar.

Light in the Attic releases Where There's a Will, There's a Way this June. For more information about Bobby Whitlock, check out this short LitA documentary. As for today: Bobby is still singing and playing, but has since traded Memphis for Austin.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Boards of Canada to Release First LP in 8 Years, Tomorrow's Harvest, June 11

Dave Segal — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:11:17 -0700

Warp Records has announced that it will release hermetic, highly influential Scottish electronic duo Boards of Canada's fourth album, Tomorrow’s Harvest, on June 11. And there was much rejoicing on the IDM list. Tomorrow's Harvest is BOC's first release since 2006's Trans Canada Highway EP. It will not feature a guest appearance by Daft Punk.

Go here for further endarkenment.

Tracklist
01. Gemini
02. Reach For The Dead
03. White Cyclosa
04. Jacquard Causeway
05. Telepath
06. Cold Earth
07. Transmisiones Ferox
08. Sick Times
09. Collapse
10. Palace Posy
11. Split Your Infinities
12. Uritual
13. Nothing Is Real
14. Sundown
15. New Seeds
16. Come To Dust
17. Semena Mertvykh

Boards of Canada's greatest track (still) after the jump.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

It Came from Toronto: Odonis Odonis

Kathy Fennessy — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:14:18 -0700

Buzz Records

Odonis Odonis
Better
(Buzz Records)

This Toronto trio doesn't sound a lot like METZ, but after listening to their new EP, Better, I can see how they'd make swell tour mates for that Sub Pop outfit (and not just because of the whole "Toronto trio" thing).

Odonis Odonis has more of a goth-punk thing going on—they prefer the somewhat misleading term "industrial surfgaze"—but they complement METZ's less noirish, but equally aggressive noise-rock attack (and singer-guitarist Dean Tzenos can wail just as impressively as METZ's Alex Edkins).

From the EP's first single, "Better," I expected something more dance-oriented, but that song is an anomaly—a pretty fucking fantastic anomaly, as they combine sinuous grooves with construction-site effects. The other five tracks plunge into bigger, louder, more harrowing territory, which brings me back to the heyday of Touch & Go and Wax Trax when those Chicago labels were releasing records by Big Black and Pailhead. Odonis Odonis would've fit right in with those rosters.*

What they're doing isn't totally retro, though, since they also recall more recent goth-tinged acts like Soft Moon and Girls Names. Unfortunately, these six songs go by in a flash—only one cut, "Black Bones," tops the 2:30-minute mark—and it's a very enjoyable flash, but I'm definitely looking forward to a long player from these delightfully gloomy guys. To quote one of the comments at their SoundCloud page, "This is some scary shit! Love it! Can't wait to hear more."

* The more I listen, the more I hear Shriekback. A cover of "Nemesis" wouldn't be unwelcome.

Better is out now on Buzz Records. METZ plays Neumos on May 4, but Odonis Odonis has wrapped up the US portion of their tour and won't be part of the bill. Incidentally, after listening to the entirety of their first record, Hollandaze (also available at their Soundcloud), the "industrial surfgaze" tag makes more sense.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Album Review: The Thermals' Desperate Ground

Megan Seling — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:12:42 -0700

THE THERMALS
Desperate Ground
(Saddle Creek)
***1/2 (out of 5)

I really do appreciate a good concept record—Lifter Puller's Fiestas and Fiascos would be on my Top 10 Records of All Time list, if I ever bothered to make such a list—but it's getting increasingly difficult to be impressed by such a thing. Maybe it's Green Day's fault for such laughable attempts, or maybe it's our society's obsession with the song over the album, but it feels pointless to even try crafting a concept record in 2013. Regardless, the Thermals give it a go with their latest, Desperate Ground.

Desperate Ground definitely has a concept, loosely wrapped up in destruction-obsessed songs like "Born to Kill" and "The Sword by My Side," but it almost goes unnoticed on the first couple listens. The Thermals have a very specific sound, and I love them for it, but that same crunchy, pogo-pop noise is carried from song to song without too much fluctuation.

Thee Oh Sees Get Dark With "Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster"

Kelly O — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:45:38 -0700

Says John Dwyer, in a press release, about new album Floating Coffin, and song "Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster":

"These songs occur in the mindset of a world that's perpetually war-ridden. Overall, it's pretty dark, and much heavier than our other albums." You can hear that sense of foreboding in "Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster. "That one's a song about war. It's like people take less notice of those horrors anymore. Dark goings-on are so ever present that they can just wash over you every day."

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

A Trip to the Past with Dead Ghosts

Kathy Fennessy — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:10:43 -0700

Burger Records

Dead Ghosts
Can't Get No
(Burger Records)

By that title, I'll assume Dead Ghosts can't get no...satisfaction. So it's hardly a shocker that the Vancouver quartet evokes the Rolling Stones—the early mono 'Stones that is. Can't Get No is grungier than anything Mick and the guys ever did, but it's in a similar vein: lo-fi, no bells and whistles. Instead of piano, they've got an organ (and they're gonna use it).

Near as I can tell, Maurizio Chiumento (bass) and brothers Nicol (guitar, vocals), Drew (guitar), and Mike Wilkinson (drums) have made no concessions to the modern world. In fact, if I didn't know otherwise, I wouldn't be surprised to find that they actually recorded their second album in 1967 (they used a Tascam 388 8-track). As ever, that kind of fidelity to a bygone era is both admirable and limiting. Admirable because they do it so well and limiting because it's been done before. And some of the garage-rock enthusiasts who would enjoy the LP the most will never hear it, because they have no interest in "new music."

From their 2010 self-titled debut.

So, originality isn't their strong suit, but Dead Ghosts have that Nuggets thing down to a science. In the 1980s, this record would've appeared on Bomp! (the Miracle Workers) or Crypt (Lyres, Back from the Grave); in the 1990s, Sympathy for the Record Industry (Reigning Sound, the White Stripes); and in the 2000s, In the Red (the Dirtbombs*). To pull this kind of thing off, you've got to have an unlimited supply of energy and attitude, and these gents have it in spades.

That said, the more I listen to Can't Get No, the more I can think of a few newer groups with whom they share musical DNA, like Black Lips; especially on the title track, in which they add dashes of country and surf to the mix (and this is totally off-topic, but I'm curious about the next Terrence Malick film, which features Rooney Mara and the boys from Atlanta). And in exploring their Bandcamp, I found covers of tracks by Penetrators ("Teenage Lifestyle") and the Gories ("Thunderbird ESQ"). Also: the more I listen, the more I love this thing.

Standout tracks include the instrumental "Tea Swamp Rumble," which features a Link Wray-like guitar line, and "I Want You Back," which borrows moves from the Lime Spiders and the Guess Who (specifically "American Woman"). As for the latter song, if Dead Ghosts were at all concerned about originality, they might've picked a title that wasn't already used by the Jackson 5 and the Hoodoo Gurus, but I get the impression that they prioritize their instincts over all other concerns.

Long story short: Burger Records does it again.

Burger releases Can't Get No on April 30. That day, they'll also be issuing the Burnt Ones' You'll Never Walk Alone. The reissue of King Tuff's Was Dead, which was originally scheduled for the same date, has been delayed until May 28.

* Amazingly, the Dirtbombs are still recording for In the Red. New bubblegum record this year!

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Iggy Pop's Record Label "Problems"

Kelly O — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:46:41 -0700

"Can't you see I'm in pain?" Man, Iggy's still so Iggy. Integrity, intact.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

New Japanther Tune: "Stolen Flowers"

Emily Nokes — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:43:40 -0700

Take a listen to Brooklyn art duo Japanther's latest catchy fuzz bomb, "Stolen Flowers" from their upcoming album Eat Like Lisa Act Like Bart—out next May 21.

You can download the song to your own technology here.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

New Britney Spears Song... for The Smurfs™ 2

Emily Nokes — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:10:45 -0700

BRITNEY SPEARS TO RELEASE NEW SONG “OOH LA LA” FOR COLUMBIA PICTURES/SONY PICTURES ANIMATION’S FAMILY COMEDY THE SMURFS™ 2

Pop icon Britney Spears will release a song for Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation’s highly anticipated family comedy The Smurfs™ 2... “Ooh La La,” which will play at the end credits of the film, was written by Lukasz Gottwald (Dr. Luke), Joshua Coleman (Ammo), Henry Walter (Cirkut), Bonnie McKee, Jacob Kasher Hindlin (J Kash), Lola Blanc and Fransisca Hall and produced by Dr. Luke, Ammo and Cirkut for Prescription Songs.

Britney Spears added, “I have always loved the Smurfs as a kid and now my boys are the biggest Smurfs fans EVER. I wanted to surprise them with a song in the movie. I know they'll think it's Smurftastic!”

:( :( :(

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Florriedation: The Most Monstrously Conceived & Dangerous Communist Plot We've Ever Had To Face

Dean Fawkes — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:11:47 -0700

Solo DIY cult-star Florrie—one-time multi-instrumentalist for Alesha Dixon, Pet Shop Boys, Xenomania, and Kylie Minogue—has been steadily working on her charms over the years.

Reliable as always, she ushered out "Live A Little" just a couple of weeks ago and it has undeniably become one of her grin-encouragingly best.

Why, yes! It starts out a bit Franz-Ferdinand-Does-"Single-Ladies". But then! Ditches it quick, up-ticking like a professional not once, but twice, shaming mainstream 2013 pop by avoiding a hundred cliches at once. Stomp, stomp, stomp!

'Let's be honest', James Freeman writes, 'this is what the Girls Aloud comeback should have been.'

[Free Download]

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

The New (and Last) Akimbo Record, Live to Crush, Is Out Today

Megan Seling — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:00:10 -0700

Akimbo, the Seattle band responsible for the permanent high-pitched ringing in your ear, played their last show last year, but they're not done damaging your eardrums just yet. They have one last album to rock you with—Live to Crush, is out today, via Alternative Tentacles.

You can get it as an instant download via Amazon.com or, of course, you can pick up one of the limited edition vinyl copies while you're out and about on Saturday for Record Store Day.

Here's a preview, via Bandcamp:

Live To Crush by Akimbo

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Angel Olsen's New Record and Tour

Kathy Fennessy — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:26:02 -0700

Bathetic Records
Photo by Sabrina Rush

Angel Olsen
Half Way Home
(Bathetic Records)

In 2012, Chicago's Angel Olsen released her second full-length, Half Way Home, on Bathetic Records (JagJaguwar, home of Bon Iver and Dinosaur Jr, has since added her to their roster). It's an impressive effort from a skilled singer and songwriter.

There's an old-timey feel to the record that shares sacred space with the early works of Marianne Faithfull and Emmylou Harris, i.e. she invests her skeletal folk with beauty and sorrow, but you've never heard a vocalist quite like Olsen, who floats freely between higher and lower registers—singing, talking, keening. One minute, she sounds like a free-spirited soprano; the next, a tormented alto. She's a showoff with the skills to back it up, but those who prefer reserve should probably look elsewhere.

Olsen's arrangements are so stripped-down, in fact, that I found myself reflecting on the Young Marble Giants, especially during "The Sky Opened Up," even if her singing represents the opposite of Alison Stratton's restraint.* And that applies to her image-laden writing, as well, though she gets ahead of herself on "Miranda" by trying to do too much in one song (the lyrics begin with a recitation of the Miranda rights), the only disappointment on this otherwise accomplished album.

* Since the 1980s, the incomparable Colossal Youth has held a very special place in my heart.

Angel Olsen - Acrobat (Official Music Video) from Toshadeva Palani on Vimeo.

Angel Olsen plays Barboza with Villages on April 19 (7pm, $10 adv, 21+); on April 20, she plays Sonic Boom as part of Record Store Day (3pm, free, all ages).

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

C/O Editions: A Label That Pays You To Listen To Music

Sean Jewell — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:51:11 -0700

Sean Jewell
C/O Ed. Secret Decoder Ring

Care Of Editions is a German record label with a refreshing take on some stale ideas. They’re purveryors of experimental music, a genre renowned for its DIY ethic, but this is the first label I’ve ever heard of that goes so far as to pay you to download their music. Here’s how that crazy idea works: downloads are limited in edition, and are paid for by the sales of the record they're attached to, meaning that people can only download and get paid if others are also purchasing. The only way to “unlock” paid downloads is for consumers to purchase vinyl copies. What’s better, the more vinyl that is purchased the more a download pays. It begins with a $1 reward and goes up to $45 dollars for the last lucky downloader, provided of course that the last, the 45th vinyl copy, has also sold. C/O will do this six times between 2012 and 2013, effectively devouring itself and breaking even in the process.

As much a work of performance art as it is a distributor of art, founder Gerhard Schultz has even gone so far as literally eliminating the label's website in proportion with record sales and downloads to emphasize the zeroing out of it all. Downloads are paid in real time, too, the label writes you a check as soon as you download, and the label will keep writing checks until all the vinyl is sold. In this way the record label will always zero its own debt out by meeting exact demand with exact supply.

Gerhardt is in Berlin, but was kind enough to allow me to take part in his label experiment from all the way over here in Seattle. He provided me with a download of two of the records—Ezra Buchla’s At The Door, and Scott Cazan’s Swallow— and mailed me a vinyl copy of of the artist known as #/TAU’s First Dew. Though I didn’t get paid to download, or pay for the vinyl, I wanted to go all the way through the process to see how it worked. I’m assuming I would have made at least a couple dollars, then helped to free up one more download by paying for a record. What I found immediately, aside from added confirmation for my love of experimental music, was that participation in the process was like having a philosopher for a record label.

C/O Editions first two releases are not European experimental artists but electroacoustic releases from couple of Los Angelinos. Ezra Buchla is a viola player who loops his own strings and synth sounds into a hurdy-gurdy like drone, and chants over them unintelligibly to spooky effect. Buchla has reportedly taken for inspiration a Jack Spicer poem, and a 16th century lycanthropy trial and conviction (damn werewolves, everywhere). His limited vinyl and download are officially out on the lables websiteApril 12th, but can be preordered (download or vinyl) now.

Scott Cazan is familiar with stringed instruments, but rather than play them in any conventional way, he attaches microphones to them, then drums on them, sometimes he’ll even hold microphone between his own teeth, then tap at tablets and laptops and soundboards as he captures the essence of the wood and flesh of his chosen materials. His record is three tracks of high pitched frequencies: feedback that sounds like steel cable about to snap under tension, wine glasses ringing, flutes holding notes at hypnotically long intervals, only interrupted by the static, beeping, and voice samples with the voyeuristic charm of a pocket call.

The vinyl I received intrigued me. It arrived at my door 4 days after leaving Berlin. Heavy, and sleeved in a cover that had a picture of American white tailed-bucks on the front and the C/O record insignia (A diagram of it’s structure, philosophy, and business model in a single talisman like emblem) on back. # / TAU is the pseudonym of German artist Boris Hegenbart who released First / Dew on CD in 1996, and has re-envisioned here in vinyl. Decidedly the musique concrète-ist of the bunch, he's composing with loops, endless chanting mantras, varying only in pitch and method of creation, but constant, dysrhythmic, and acousmatic. Under the chants I heard beeps, tambourines, and maracas, ther person with me on this experimental journey heard singing. When I moved around the room, the songs changed slightly because I received them differently. I felt like I was participating in the music.

Sean Jewell
Fist / Dew - Boris Hegenbart

It occurs to me that both the record label, and the musicians are shrugging the status quo. The label forgoes the accepted relationship between artist, label, and customer; and the musicians shrug off the idea of what music is expected to be. When accessed in this way, one gets the feeling of participating in –not just admiring— some work of post-modern art that it responds to imperialism (and perhaps even environmental concerns) by ignoring (neither rejecting or accepting) a capitalist model. By cutting clean at a preordained point C/O Editions are making less into more, never engaging in excess, and giving credit to the seemingly infinite —and heretofore worthless—download. In essence, C/O Editions begins as nothing, and achieves its full potential when it arrives back at the start. There will be no take over, no mass acceptance, there are no illusions of manifest destiny, no grand plan to get rich, just music, and it’s distribution framework which only ever goes in debt to –and selflessly places attention on—the process, and the artists themselves.

C/O Editions is selling records and putting itself out of business at the same time right now! Get over there!

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

The Burnt Ones Are on Your Side

Kathy Fennessy — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:56:41 -0700

Burger Records

The Burnt Ones
You'll Never Walk Alone
(Burger Records)

Another fine psychedelic record arrives on April 30 with the Burnt Ones' You'll Never Walk Alone, which follows Herbcraft's The Astral Body Electric onto the year's best-psych list (along with White Fence's Cyclops Reap).

Not that the two resemble each other, because they don't. The Burnt Ones walk a less jazz-damaged, more garage-oriented path, and the players often sing in unison, which adds to the fullness of their sound. If Matt Lajoie's Vermont outfit comes across as relaxed and blissed out, this Bay Area band seems comparatively agitated and excitable.

If I had to compare them to another group, it would be hard to choose one, since they're all over the map within their psych-rock framework. The guitars are set to stun and the production is gloriously muddy, but there's plenty of variety outside of those constants. Some of the acts that come to mind include the Pretty Things, the Troggs, and T. Rex. On the acoustic number, "Move On," however, they recall more recent psych-rockers like Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized.

On the downside, songwriting isn't their strong suit, but the titles reveal a sense of humor: "Glitter Death," "Hologram Dropouts," and "Freak in the Fog," which deserves to be as much of a San Fran classic as that Tony Bennett standard.

If there are no clunkers on their third full-length, there are no classics (or would-be classics) either. Instead, their strength lies in the singing and playing, which incorporates sinuous bass, baroque organ, and thundering drums. Mostly: they deserve credit for putting their own unique stamp on such a well worn genre.

Burger releases You'll Never Walk Alone on April 30 via cassette and gatefold LP.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Listen to This Lovely New Song from Seattle's Own Cumulus

Megan Seling — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:10:30 -0700

No, seriously, listen to it. It's so pretty.

Yesterday the band premiered the song on Spin.com (what, we're not good enough for you? I kid! I kid!) and announced that their new full-length album, I Never Meant It to Be Like This, will be out May 21st.

I swear once I started listening "Do You Remember" just a moment ago the pitter-patter of raindrops paused and the sky got a little bitter brighter. Maybe if we ALL listen, the rain will stop for good.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Colleen Green Makes Pure Pop for Now People

Kathy Fennessy — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:03:13 -0700

Hardly Art
Photo by Eric Penna
Colleen Green
Sock It to Me
(Hardly Art)

On the basis of "Time in the World," which plays like "Lucky Star"-era Madonna gone shoegaze, I expected good things from Colleen Green's full-length debut, and she delivered (and she really should cover "Lucky Star"). That first single sets the template as Green sings in an inviting voice over hot-rod guitars, rickety drum-machine beats, and the odd synthesizer flourish.

Sock It to Me also brings femme-fronted '90s outfits like Lush and the Breeders to mind, but that may have more to do with the way she sings than the music she makes, and I don't recall that's she's cited either of those acts as influences. Instead, she's mentioned the Descendents, who inspired the 2010 cassette Milo Goes to Compton, but punk doesn't come to mind when I listen to this record.

In fact, there's nothing particularly punk about it at all, although I realize some people think of punk as an attitude or a spirit more than a style or a sound, but I mostly hear pop; not in the Top 40 sense, since the producer didn't buff everything to a high polish, but there's a buoyancy here that most punk lacks.

The primary exceptions: "Heavy Shit," which features a faster pace and a Clash-like guitar line, even if her singing remains as smooth and steady as ever, and "Number One," which sounds like a lost Ramones track, circa "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," so...I still hear more pop than punk, particularly since Dee Dee and the boys took so many cues from the Brill Building brain trust. And there's nothing wrong with that, so I'm sorry "pop" has developed so many negative connotations over the years—Sock It to Me is a great example of the form.

Sock It to Me is out now on Hardly Art. Stream it at Stereogum and catch Colleen Green with White Fang at Heartland (5306 Roosevelt Way NE) on May 13.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Sean Nelson Returns With New Music and a Wonderfully Adorable New Video

Megan Seling — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:24:31 -0700

Good news, fans of good music! This morning NPR announced that Seattle's own Sean Nelson is releasing a new album this summer! Make Good Choices will be out on June 4th, via Really Records, a new label started by Bomb the Music Industry's Jeff Rosenstock and If You Make It's Dave Garwacke.

The first single is the title track, which you can hear here, in a video animated by Clyde Petersen of Your Heart Breaks and Boating With Clyde.

So basically—with Sean Nelson, Jeff Rosenstock, Clyde Petersen, and more—this is a great example of everything I love colliding into one big pile of wonderful.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Brent Amaker and The Rodeo's Badass New Single, "Death is Always Near"

Sean Jewell — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:05:20 -0700

Takashi Okazaki
Upping the cover-art game ante

Wall Street Journal (yeah, that rag) has premiered Brent Amaker and The Rodeo's new single off their forthcoming album Year Of The Dragon and it's badass!

Known to wear influences on their sleeves and superhero costumes on their bodies, B.A.R. will be rocking their love of graphic novels and manga with this album thanks to some amazing art from Takashi Okazaki, the influential manga artist who fathered Afro Samurai.

Year Of The Dragon can be pre-ordered over at Fin Records.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]