Apollo Audio FREE Album Streams

8/20/2010 10:15:15 AM Listen to The Early Days - "The Early Days"

8/20/2010 10:15:15 AM

asdfasdafsdfaVinyl is a 7" of songs "Contrary" and "Shee". When purchasing the vinyl you will receive an immediate download for the entire tracklisting available for "Contraries..."

The "Contraries..." album is an Apollo Audio exclusive -- a combination of the 2 CD EPs the band has available. The 7" is a promo for the CD EP containing "Shee", "Fall", "Contrary", and "Hill".

To purchase the CD EPs please contact the band directly.

This album is the US release of the two previously released EP's by Swedish psychedelic rock band The Early Days.

The Early Days started out in 2007 as a sunday living room-jam duo, but rapidly evolved into a six-piece fullrockband from Stockholm, Sweden

This creative apparatus quickly emerged into one of Sweden’s most interesting and hypnotic rock-acts in recent years, maybe in decades... They proudly administrate the heritage from the 60’s psychedelic pop, but also clear new paths for the neo-psychedelic wave that is tearing up shores across the world as we speak. With repetitive, melodic songs, floating vocals and dreamy guitars The Early Days build upon both new and old traditions, still you would not be fully satisfied with labeling them as just “Psychedelic”, or just “Shoegaze”.

In autumn 2008 they released a self-titled EP, recorded at Studio Gröndahl in Stockholm. The songs has circulated at indie radiostations in Australia, USA, UK, Germany and France since the release. Dispite their short career The Early Days already have been touring with Black Lips, Crystal Stilts, The Drones and The Bats. At the festival “Shoegaze Weekender” in Hamburg 2009 they met with Mark Gardener from Ride. Impressed by their sound Mark proposed a collaboration. The result was the songs “Fall” and “Shee.

7/24/2010 9:00:29 AM Listen to The Vacant Lots - "The Vacant Lots"

7/24/2010 9:00:29 AM

asdfasdafsdfaTHE VACANT LOTS ARE A MINIMALIST PSYCHEDELIC DARK POP DUO FROM THE NORTHEAST UNITED STATES, FORMED IN THE SUMMER OF 2008. IN LESS THAN 2 YEARS THE VACANT LOTS HAVE PRODUCED 3 FULL LENGTH ALBUMS AND HAVE TOURED SUPPORTING SONIC BOOM'S SPECTRUM. INFLUENCED BY NATIVE AMERICAN DRUMMING, INDIAN SITAR MUSIC & EARLY ROCK N ROLL, THE VACANT LOTS MERGE LIGHTS & PROJECTIONS WITH HYPNOTIC-RIFFS & DRONES & HEAVY DRUMMING. IMAGINE BO DIDDLEY JAMMING WITH THE STOOGES.

7/19/2010 4:15:55 PM Listen to The Young Sinclairs - "The Young Sinclairs"

7/19/2010 4:15:55 PM

asdfasdafsdfa"Jangly ’60s pop that almost makes us remember summer and a time before snowdrifts…the future is clearly overrated…" -- MAGNET

”extremely prolific '60s pop throwbacks” – GORILLA VS. BEAR

Roanoke, VA's The Young Sinclairs mark their debut release via Planting Seeds Records with the fabulous four-song EP "We Spoke Our Minds" (PSR-065).
The worldwide launch is July 20, 2010 on limited edition 33 1/3 RPM 7" Vinyl and Digital Download – which includes two fabulous bonus tracks.

Heavily influenced by the sonic landscape of the 60’s, “We Spoke Our Minds” is full of shimmering guitars, sweepingly melodic vocals, and slices of timeless pop-nuggets. The moment the needle touches vinyl, The Young Sinclairs are off and running with the reverb-laden excitement of the title track.
This is quickly followed by the raw jangly romp of “You Can Have Her” complete with a fantastic electric twelve-string guitar break and “Oh yeah” refrain.
On the flipside ”Girl, I’m For Real” rolls out with it’s bass heavy induced groove, while the sweet harmonies of “Have A Home” takes flight and soars to new heights.

The Young Sinclairs have been bringing their brand of jangly 60's inspired psyche/folk/rock (RIYL: The Byrds, The Essex Green, Rain Parade, The Zombies,
etc.) to the world since 2005 as part of the Magic Twig Community. The band features: John Thompson, Daniel Cundiff (Eternal Summers), Sean Poff, Jonathan Woods, and Samuel Lunsford (ex 63 Crayons). In their five years they have self released several full length LPs, EPs and cassettes. Along with their new "We Spoke Our Minds E.P." the band has just released the 18-song vinyl only LP "Songs Of The Young Sinclairs" via Athens, GA's Kindercore Records.
In 2009 the band toured the east coast with Australia’s The Lovetones.
The Young Sinclairs are fresh off their tour
with THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE.

7/20/2010 3:12:45 PM Listen to Ghost Box Orchestra - "Ghost Box Orchestra"

7/20/2010 3:12:45 PM

asdfasdafsdfaPicture Ennio Morricone and Dick Dale driving through the desert listening to Zeppelin and Floyd.. psychedelic western soundtracks infused with desert rock and surf reverb reaching an epic hypnotic density.

The Only Light On is the debut album from Bostonʼs Ghost Box Orchestra.
The album was recorded in early 2010 at 1867 Recording Studio, a cavernous Freemasons Lodge-turned-recording studio in Chelsea, MA.

Using a mix of analog outboard gear and digital recording workflow, the band achieved the best of both vintage and modern recording styles, tracking all songs live in the ornate former Freemasons haunt.

Considering the rich history of Boston and the mysterious nature of the Freemasons, mystical forces were perceived influencing the recording process.

The band's name refers to a piece of equipment used to record the communications of ghosts.

A "ghost box" is a recording device consisting of a microphone, white noise generator and small radio (modified to constantly scan channels), all enclosed in a glass case.

Imagine a room full of these Ghost Box devices - all channeling different beings from the beyond, and you have an idea of the swirling sound and séance-like experience Ghost Box Orchestra create.

7/20/2010 3:12:45 PM Listen to Speed Skating - "Speed Skating"

7/20/2010 3:12:45 PM

asdfasdafsdfaSpeed Skating is a project from Philadelphia led by multi-instrumentalist Steven Urgo. After playing drums for all sorts of bands ranging from jazz to shoegaze, Steven teamed with producer/engineer Jeff Zeigler to create a mostly one-man record, later expanding to a full band. The music combines a post-rock approach of instrumental layers on top of driving bass lines and drum beats, all neatly fitted into pop song structures with melodic vocals leading the way.

8/27/2010 2:16:02 PM Listen to The Beatin's - "The Beatin's"

8/27/2010 2:16:02 PM

asdfasdafsdfaThe vinyl verson of this EP
include tracks 1-4.
Tracks 5-6 are included in the digital download via a coupon along with tracks 1-4.

The beatin's are a man and a woman on a frontier.

Having lived in the civilized cities of new york and washington dc, they have also resided elsewhere:

Archaic ruins of italian tower towns, dusty gullies of the wild west,lazy mazes of southern alleyways, abandoned farms with mysterious crop circles and un-mappable inner-landscapes found between the pages of beloved dog-eared books and the lost canvasses of the washington color school.

Today, they make art.

Poetry, sculpture, photography, fiction, food and music. as picasso said, " art is a lie which makes you realize the truth." they travel their frontiers, collectively and singularly in search of it.

He also said,

"Art is dangerous; yes, it can never be chaste, if it's chaste it's not art."the beatin's future is full of the promise of danger in search of impure thoughts for worn souls.

6/28/2010 8:46:11 AM Listen to Cult Of Dom Keller - "Cult Of Dom Keller"

6/28/2010 8:46:11 AM

asdfasdafsdfaFormed in 2008, Cult of Dom Keller are four psychedelic generals from England Uk who's kaleidoscopic sonic tapestries weave a mind expanding blend of experimentation, lysergic freak outs and space blues bastardisations that pull the listener into their dark psychedelic world.

Band members:
Ryan DelGaudio :Vocals and Guitars
Neil Marsden : Vocals and Keyboards
Jimmy Vincent : Bass
Dave 'Caveman' Biggs : Drums

The band began playing alongside the likes of The Warlocks, Spectrum, Asteroid no.4 and earlier this year EP1 became the debut release from the band, self recorded, self produced.

The band have just completed recording their Debut Album recorded by Doggen (Spiritualised/Julian Cope guitarist) for release later this year. Follow us on face book at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/THE-CULT-OF-DOM-KELLER/115323275680?ref=ts

SOUNDBYTES AND REVIEWS:
Dom Keller sound like they've fallen from the back of Ken Kesey's legendary LSD loaded magic bus, down 'n' dirty slabs of fried freak beat are sumptuously decoded within a swamp infested heavy beatnik chassis, part acid laced shade wearing psyche and part heavy stoner goo, a wasted baby laced with hazy 60's sourced keys and looping gridlocked riffs of mind expanding proportions; a blissed out frenzied fuzz laced tripping haze and bone rattling f**k you,a bludgeoned blues bastardisation spewed out by a tranced out Brian Jonestown Massacre amid an impenetrably squalling sonic wall feedback fisticuffs with a volatile 13th Floor Elevators" - LOSINGTODAY.COM

"Fans of space-rock, early Floyd, should look out for Dom Keller, a feast of crushing guitar riffs, effects and psychedelic madness. Their stated mission is "To document our hallucinations into sonic impressions", something they achieve!" - TERRASCOPE

5/5/2010 9:30:41 AM Listen to Tennis System - "Tennis System"

5/5/2010 9:30:41 AM

asdfasdafsdfaPowered by thundering drums, two guitars awash in distortion, and rumbling bass, Tennis System are the loudest band in D.C. today, full of the same raw energy of their predecessors Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine, and D.C.’s own (The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope. But there’s more to this band than raging soundscapes. Listen hard, and through the noise, threads of melody emerge; these are picturesque pop songs, full of woe, optimism and yearning, even delivered at times in sweet falsetto. Tennis System doesn’t sound like any band you know. It sounds like the band you should be listening to.

6/7/2010 9:06:31 AM Listen to Elephant Stone - "Elephant Stone"

6/7/2010 9:06:31 AM

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Just one short year after the release of their acclaimed, Polaris Music Prize-nominated debut The Seven Seas, Montreal’s Elephant Stone returns with The Glass Box EP. Shunning the convenience of modern digital recording, The Glass Box EP was recorded on a vintage Nieve console (allegedly used by Led Zeppelin during the Physical Graffiti sessions) to a 16-track 2″ tape machine at Montreal’s infamous Breakglass Studios. Working within the creative confines of an all-analog recording and mixing process, Elephant Stone has given birth to a 5-song suite of inspired power-pop/psyche classics.

Elephant Stone is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Rishi Dhir. A founding member of Montreal pop / psyche veterans the High Dials, Rishi grew disillusioned with the Rock n’ Roll lifestyle and went out on his own in 2006. He spent the next few years studying Indian classical music and performing sitar on records by drone-rock heroes the Black Angels and prog-prop innovators the Earlies. In 2008, he found himself drawn back to his love of pop music and The Seven Seas was born. Perfectly melding Rishi’s obsession with the perfect pop song and the trippiest raga, The Seven Seas was warmly embraced by the global indie-scene and long-listed for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize.

The Glass Box EP builds upon the promise shining through on The Seven Seas as Elephant Stone continues to delivery power-pop/psyche (or as they call it–tongue planted firmly in cheek–”hindie-rock”) gems. The Glass Box EP is being lovingly released around the world digitally and on beautiful 12″ vinyl with artwork by *Pardon My Hindi.

2010 will be Elephant Stone’s busiest year yet: a Spring US/Canda tour with cult-heroes, and old friends, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, an inaugural summer tour of the UK/Europe, and North American fall dates with fellow Montrealers the Besnard Lakes.

4/30/2010 11:49:52 AM Listen to Elephant Stone - "Elephant Stone"

4/30/2010 11:49:52 AM

asdfasdafsdfaJust one short year after the release of their acclaimed, Polaris Music Prize-nominated debut The Seven Seas, Montreal's Elephant Stone returns with The Glass Box EP. Shunning the convenience of modern digital recording, The Glass Box EP was recorded on a vintage Nieve console (allegedly used by Led Zeppelin during the Physical Graffiti sessions) to a 16-track 2″ tape machine at Montreal’s infamous Breakglass Studios. Working within the creative confines of an all-analog recording and mixing process, Elephant Stone has given birth to a 5-song suite of inspired power-pop/psyche classics.

Elephant Stone is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Rishi Dhir. A founding member of Montreal pop / psyche veterans the High Dials, Rishi grew disillusioned with the Rock n’ Roll lifestyle and went out on his own in 2006. He spent the next few years studying Indian classical music and performing sitar on records by drone-rock heroes the Black Angels and prog-prop innovators the Earlies. In 2008, he found himself drawn back to his love of pop music and The Seven Seas was born. Perfectly melding Rishi’s obsession with the perfect pop song and the trippiest raga, The Seven Seas was warmly embraced by the global indie-scene and long-listed for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize.

The Glass Box EP builds upon the promise shining through on The Seven Seas as Elephant Stone continues to delivery power-pop/psyche (or as they call it–tongue planted firmly in cheek–”hindie-rock”) gems. The Glass Box EP is being lovingly released around the world digitally and on beautiful 12″ vinyl with artwork by *Pardon My Hindi.

2010 will be Elephant Stone’s busiest year yet: a Spring US/Canda tour with cult-heroes, and old friends, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, an inaugural summer tour of the UK/Europe, and North American fall dates with fellow Montrealers the Besnard Lakes.

4/21/2010 12:44:25 PM Listen to Chief Nowhere - "Chief Nowhere"

4/21/2010 12:44:25 PM

asdfasdafsdfaThis is the debut album from Los Angeles four-piece, Chief Nowhere. Paying hommage to the heavy psychedelic bands of yesteryear, the band weaves mind-bending musical tapestries that will make you think you are "on" something nice--even if you are not. It was recorded mostly live at the committee to keep music evil headquarters with engineer Rob Campanella at the helm (Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Quarter After, Mia Doi Todd).

4/1/2010 7:06:51 AM Listen to Linda Draper - "Linda Draper"

4/1/2010 7:06:51 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe evolution of singer/songwriter Linda Draper's music continues to thrive with her third Planting Seeds Records release: "Bridge And Tunnel" (PSRCD-059) - produced by Brad Albetta (Martha & Rufus Wainwright, Teddy Thompson). The album showcases 10 fresh new songs further exploring Draper's signature sound - light, enchanting music with gentle, heartfelt honest lyrics. "Limbo" leads off the LP capturing the very essence of morning's first ray of sunlight. It is followed by the stripped down splendor of "Sharks And Royalty". The collection's charm continues to shine bright in the tracks "I Will" and "Pushing Up The Day" - both primed to be sure classics. A trio of tracks - "Time Will Tell", "Broken Eggshell" and "Bridge And Tunnel" unveils Linda's vibrant, melodic pop side. The LP also includes Draper's uniquely unadorned take on The Rolling Stones classic 1966 hit "Mother's Little Helper." Added into the mix are drummer Anders Griffen (Kimya Dawson, Regina Spektor, Jeffrey Lewis), bassist Rob Woodcock (see also Draper's "Keepsake" LP), along with multi instrumentalist/producer Brad Albetta (keyboards, Wurlitzer, bass, and electric guitar). "Bridge And Tunnel" will no doubt have the listener back for repeated plays with its timelessly captivating sound. A tour in support of the LP is in the works for Summer 2009. The evolution of singer/songwriter Linda Draper's music continues to thrive with her third Planting Seeds Records release: "Bridge And Tunnel" (PSRCD-059) - produced by Brad Albetta (Martha & Rufus Wainwright, Teddy Thompson). The album showcases 10 fresh new songs further exploring Draper's signature sound - light, enchanting music with gentle, heartfelt honest lyrics. "Limbo" leads off the LP capturing the very essence of morning's first ray of sunlight. It is followed by the stripped down splendor of "Sharks And Royalty". The collection's charm continues to shine bright in the tracks "I Will" and "Pushing Up The Day" - both primed to be sure classics. A trio of tracks - "Time Will Tell", "Broken Eggshell" and "Bridge And Tunnel" unveils Linda's vibrant, melodic pop side. The LP also includes Draper's uniquely unadorned take on The Rolling Stones classic 1966 hit "Mother's Little Helper." Added into the mix are drummer Anders Griffen (Kimya Dawson, Regina Spektor, Jeffrey Lewis), bassist Rob Woodcock (see also Draper's "Keepsake" LP), along with multi instrumentalist/producer Brad Albetta (keyboards, Wurlitzer, bass, and electric guitar). "Bridge And Tunnel" will no doubt have the listener back for repeated plays with its timelessly captivating sound.

4/1/2010 7:06:43 AM Listen to International Jetsetters - "International Jetsetters"

4/1/2010 7:06:43 AM

asdfasdafsdfaInternational Jetsetters is an Oxford-based five piece. The band was formed in March 2007 by singer and guitarist Mark Crozer (The Jesus And Mary Chain) and bass player Bert Audubert. The line-up also features drummer Loz Colbert (The Jesus And Mary Chain, Ride), lead guitarist Paul Crozer, and vocalist Fi McFall. The Jetsetters have been best described by the British press (Nightshift Magazine) as "an amalgamation of everything that was great about indie rock, when that term actually meant something. From the narcotic fuzz of Spacemen 3 to the insistent jangle and drone of The Wedding Present, and lifted spaceward by singer Fi McFall's ethereal vocals, they're dark and dreamy but they rock like bastards."

"Heart Is Black" is International Jetsetters debut six song release. The EP blasts into the stratosphere with the full throttle, melodic guitar buzz, of "Inside Out" followed swiftly by the rhythm heavy groove of "Inside Yourself". "Never Slows Down" and "My Redemption" showcase Fi McFall's range as a singer. The low, breathy tones of the opening verses gradually ascend to pulsating choruses where she resonates like a siren. The title track "Heart is Black" strums and thumps with a dark atmospheric burn. The disc closes with a bit of a twist - A glaring early version of "Never Slows Down". International Jetsetters "Heart Is Black" CDEP hits quick and begs for repeated listens. It's a nice glimpse into what's in store from Oxford, UK's latest export.

International Jetsetters have been seen and heard from London to New York. They have recently supported The Inspiral Carpets and The Whigs among others. The band has also played at various festivals, live studio performances and stripped down acoustic sets. BBC Radio and the UK press have critically praised their music. International Jetsetters continue to stretch its collective creative output with more songs soon to surface on a follow up release already in the works. Their travels have only begun...stay tuned!

3/15/2010 12:13:29 PM Listen to Blood Feathers - "Blood Feathers"

3/15/2010 12:13:29 PM

asdfasdafsdfaAfter two years spent in the great American wilderness -- from the desert climes of Arizona to the (currently very) brisk blunt edges of their native Philadelphia and all points in between -- Blood Feathers have returned with their sophomore album, the appropriately titled Goodness Gracious. What's happened in between? A lot. The core songwriting and harmonizing duo of Ben Dickey and Drew Mills have been joined by a crack band that includes members of Lilys, The A-Sides and Pink Skull. Meanwhile, Dickey and Mills have honed their craft and made an ever-more-rare thing: A Great American Rock 'n' Roll Album. The 11 songs that make up Goodness Gracious -- which is also the debut release on Philebrity Label, helmed by the popular Philadelphia cityblog of the same name -- will find a home with anyone who's ever grooved on Creedence Clearwater Revival while channeling Little Richard and wondering when and how The Traveling Wilburys were ever gonna reunite. Still, Blood Feathers' new record is no throwback move. It's just true.

2/16/2010 11:29:38 AM Listen to Various Artists - "Various Artists"

2/16/2010 11:29:38 AM

asdfasdafsdfaSecond compilation installment from Lounge Records, released 1998. Features tracks from most of the "Psychedelphia" era Lounge Records bands from the time. CD available from Rocket Girl Records in the UK.

2/16/2010 12:09:34 PM Listen to Various Artists - "Various Artists"

2/16/2010 12:09:34 PM

asdfasdafsdfaFirst Philadelphia-artist based compilation installment from Lounge Records circa 1996. CD currently out of print.

2/17/2010 7:03:44 PM Listen to The Chimeras - "The Chimeras"

2/17/2010 7:03:44 PM

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I got a few drinks with Matt Turnbull after the two of us had been set free from a lecture on Kant and his benefits of the beautiful, a Temple night class. We went to Dirty Frank’s, it was a warm night, the spring was coming on, we drank quick and then slowly. We talked about Kant and families; about very sober fathers who eventually drank themselves to death. Somewhere in that night, we decided to start a band. The genesis, the impulse, was predominantly a theoretical one, if I remember rightly: curious and challenging ourselves to see if we could create a musical outfit which was both popular and credible at once. It seemed so few bands then could do it then: Radiohead, Wilco, maybe, the Strokes were big but fading. Looking back, we wondering how to harness the energy of the music we liked and grew up on; employ it to bring us and its adherents together. Everything seemed to be fracturing: the radio was a frothing cesspool, the internet was destroying the idea of popular music, generating an infinite set of disparate tastes and their corresponding outlets. Somewhere over those beers we came to realize rock was losing a power it once enjoyed: to create a community around the beautiful.

Matt had been frequenting a Pad Thai take-out spot around the corner from his apartment downtown, Adam Cooper worked there punching the register and ingesting grease. Adam wasn’t really a bass player but he came over, tentatively I suppose, to our little studio in the basement of my south Philly row-home. I had a heavy old Peavey bass from 1987, he picked it up. My Lebanese neighbor and newborn mother would call and leave messages on the machine: “the rock and roll is destroying the night; we cannot be.” Matt and I knew this as a good sign.

We decided we could write easy pop Kinks songs in minutes, if we wanted. We wrote the music for ‘Ginger Dear’ in an hour or two, over a box of red wine. That wine would ultimately and forever stain my girlfriend’s new plush beige carpet, with scarlet-orange chunks. And Matt labored over the ‘Ginger Dear’s lyrics for a year and one half.

Adam and Il Shim Pearlman were playing together in the jazz ensemble at Philadelphia Community College. By this time we had been bullied out of South Philly and Adam turned us on to West Philadelphia: a sweaty old basement there, thick with muck, effervescence dripping off the walls, being inhaled. It was the West Philly of my infancy. I had been born around the corner from our practice space, my head didn’t know it yet but my marrows did. This again felt right, and Il Shim’s tight coils of drum kept us from disarray, as none of our previous drummers had.

We played our first show at Tritone, with Casual Viking and The Bitter Sweethearts, October of ‘o5, I think. We walked there, having all moved out and in together in West Philly. We crossed the South Street Bridge and I threw my whiskey fifth into a placid Schuylkill. We opened and opened with ‘Advertisement’ ‘won’t somebody say something true.’ Thought the bouncer slash soundman was an asshole, and Il Shim got a ticket, this once more felt right.

We let loose 2 EPs: ‘Soil Beside the River’ and ‘A Month of Ash;’ nobody took notice but we were almost content, to have gotten such sounds from a four-track cassette recorder. We took a tour of the Midwest and rented cabins in the woods.

Matt left for Scotland and school and after a time off, we set to work on our first full length album, ‘Party of God’. It was released on May 10th, 2008.

A second full length album, “Her” was released January 2010.

1/27/2010 5:03:50 PM Listen to Helicon - "Helicon"

1/27/2010 5:03:50 PM

asdfasdafsdfaHelicon were formed in East Kilbride / Glasgow by brothers John-Paul and Gary Hughes, and Laura O'Brien. Soon after they recruited Steven Jamieson on bass and Martin MacVicar on drums. The band has now been together since around May 2008 and continue to build on an already expanding psychedelic sound, live show and fanbase.

Take the Ride EP - Drone Magazine review, by Beth Keating. Haven't heard of Helicon? We quite fortuitously stumbled across these guys a few weeks ago and have been completely mesmerised by their three track EP since. Standing in close proximity to Drone favourites, The Warlocks, Helicon produce a beautifully slowed down take on traditional elements of psychedelic music. The tracks on the EP mix visceral broodiness with envigorating, light-after-dark hopefulness. While the effect ridden, layered instrumentation conjures up favourable comparisons to The Warlocks last two recorded efforts, Helicon's vocals take the music to a new place - somewhere heading up and out of the uncertain terrain of limbo.

Helicon influences include; The Brian Jonestown Massacre / The Warlocks / The Black Angels / Mogwai / My Bloody Valentine / The Velvet Underground / 13th Floor Elevators / Twilight Sad / Acid Mothers Temple / Spacemen 3 / Spiritualized / Sonic Youth / The Jesus and Mary Chain / The Committee to Keep Muis Evil

1/26/2010 12:30:16 PM Listen to Various Artists - "Various Artists"

1/26/2010 12:30:16 PM

asdfasdafsdfaShaking Through, a curated series of audio and video recordings featuring great independent artists, their music and artfully produced video of the actual recording sessions that went into making that music. Shaking Through combines the music and video production resources of Weathervane Music with the radio and online distribution and marketing reach of WXPN, the nationally recognized, non-commercial, member-supported radio service of the University of Pennsylvania.

1/13/2010 8:29:37 AM Listen to Adam & Dave's Bloodline - "Adam & Dave's Bloodline"

1/13/2010 8:29:37 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe new single from Adam & Dave's Bloodline 'Come See Come Saw/Living Gets Easy' was recorded during sessions for their newest album, 'Boycott Classics' and mixed by Kirk Henderson at the Philadelphia Recording Service. Additional guitar on 'Come See Come Saw' by Kris Klein.

"Adam & Dave's Bloodline, a band who has cruised the Philly scene in recent years, are shape-shifters. The band has never shied away from genre-bashing techniques in the past - one of their older songs called "The Traveler", Petersen once said, was essentially fused together from the Crystals' "Then He Kissed Me" and Bob Dylan and the Band's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" . These guys deliver rock and pop with guitar hooks aplenty. At times sounding radio-ready while unabashedly indie-rock, A&D's Bloodline are a solid troupe of noisemakers."

12/10/2009 10:07:20 PM Listen to Like A Fox - "Like A Fox"

12/10/2009 10:07:20 PM

asdfasdafsdfaThere is a place within modern music where a foundation of rock-solid songwriting can be married to progressive Technicolor production, resulting in both satisfaction for the soul and brilliant sonic candy for the ears. Like A Fox have crafted a debut batch of songs that deliver on that promising union.

Songwriter Jay Laughlin and engineer Dave Grubb spent the 1990s developing their vision in the critically acclaimed Philadephia/New Jersey area noise-pop band Lenola, releasing numerous full lengths and amassing an international word-of-mouth following for their unique sound that proved Pop music could be seriously damaged, yet retain its infectious hooks & charms.

Following Lenolas demise in late 2002, Laughlin soon began work on new compositions that pushed harder into some of the Electronic-meets-Rock directions that latter period Lenola had only hinted at.

A full ensemble was put together in 2004 to perform these songs live before proper recording commenced. This lineup includes Brian Wilkinson on bass, Jeff Scioli on guitars and vocals (who was also a part of the final Lenola lineup) and drummer Pete Girgenti (from Philadelphia's Grandfabric).

After allowing Laughlins new batch of music to evolve in a group setting, recording began in early 2005 for their debut full length, from which this sampler is pulled.

There is an astonishing balance between the delicate acoustic textures and crushing choruses of these songs. The vocals float and soar while effected keyboards & buzzsaw electric guitars guide the songs along a happily disorienting ride, all above the pulse of rhythms both man and machine-made.

It is apparent that the development of these recordings was a labor of love with fine attention to aural detail, yet the songs themselves are of a classic form that could have been brought to life anytime in the last four decades.

It is this adherence to song tradition while also sounding like it is being beamed back to you from the future, covered in beautiful static & gloss, that confirms Like A Fox as a unique and forward looking group. Enjoy the songs.

11/12/2009 3:25:28 PM Listen to The Asteroid No.4 - "The Asteroid No.4"

11/12/2009 3:25:28 PM

asdfasdafsdfa"Here We Go," the single from An Amazing Dream, b/w "What Do I Really Want to Do" (unrelased). Vinyl 7" single released by Rainbow Quartz. Digital version only available here on Apollo Audio.

9/23/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to Enumclaw - "Enumclaw"

9/23/2009 12:00:00 AM

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Opening Of The Dawn is the first full-length album by Enumclaw aka Norman Fetter (of Niagara Falls, Espers, ex-Golden Ball). It channels the spirit of early German experimentalists such as Ash Ra Temple and Popol Vuh as well as the minimalism of Terry Riley and La Monte Young.

Under the nom de kosmiche Enumclaw, mild-mannered Philadelphia auteur Norman Fetter

emerges from the Honeymoon Music studio/lair with a suite of joyous 22nd century transfinitum music for your spectacularly analog ears: cosmic orbs hover, lightning bugs frolic, electric rain drizzles, galactic ponds shimmer, herds pass in the distance, minutes stretch into daze. Fetter is a communications officer for the cosmos, and Opening of the Dawn is his first report to you. Enjoy.

8/31/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to Various Artists - "Various Artists"

8/31/2009 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThis 2009 Clean Air Clear Stars Compilation is compiled of 16 performing CACS artists at the 2009 festival in Joshua Tree, California. This compilation has been curated and is powered by Apollo Audio. All proceeds from the sales of this digital compilation will be forwarded to the festival's benefactor Global Inheritance (www.globalinheritance.com), and will help to build awareness to keep our air clean and our stars clear.

For more information on CACS and Apollo Audio, please see below.

About Clean Air Clear Stars
CACS was formed to promote environmental awareness. Two years ago the "Sawtooth" fires swept through the Mojave desert region and burned over 61,000 acres and claimed some 60 homes and 170 businesses in and around Pioneertown and the surrounding high desert. Being a destination point for escaping the city, many of us were alarmed when we learned that these fires were attributed elevations in nitric oxide, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. Scientists have concluded that the desert regions of the American Southwest are among the hardest hit as temperatures continue to rise globally. The steady increase in greenhouse gasses has increased the prevalence of a ground cover weed called Red Brome. Red Brome is suspected of carrying fire across bare zones allowing the devastation to spread without limitation. This event is only the beginning of the global struggle that we face. Our goal is to spread awareness and encourage responsibility. Lifestyle changes are the key to a lasting and significant reversal of current trends. While industry is slow to implement change, we make choices daily that when made collectively can make a difference. In time we hope changing people's attitudes about the effects of Global Warming will encourage government to act responsibly and implement changes that will ensure both the survival of our planet and human life.

For more information on CACS, please visit www.cleanairclearstars.com

6/22/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to Various Artists - "Various Artists"

6/22/2009 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaB.C. Camplight is the thrid artist to be featured in the 2009 Weathervane Music Project Series. For more information go to http://weathervanemusic.org/projects.

6/17/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to Floorian - "Floorian"

6/17/2009 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe second injection from Floorian, who appear to be channeling some sort of lurid serenity from years spent doing space in Columbus, Ohio. Maybe it's the water, but Floorian rather prefer floating face-down just above the surface, reflections revealing a thirst for higher levitation after a liaison with the dark of heartness. Following their highly acclaimed 2004 debut What the Buzzing, Floorian kick up where they left off... right on. Culminating in the majestic six-song suite "Seance" -- a ritualistic, post-apoplectic excursion to an other side -- "More Fiend" unveils more evidence of Floorian's affinity for sinuous sonic escapism. Dark rawk for doobious times. Give 'em the evil ear... and the trip shall set you free.

6/7/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to Chatham Rise - "Chatham Rise"

6/7/2009 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaSlowly emerging from the depths of 10,000 lakes, these subaqueous occupants have carefully observed over time the activity of the crotaphatrema lamottei, the epicurionops lativvitatus and of course the chthonerpeton noctinectes.

Witnessing the success of these caecilians, they thought they may also test tellurian existence.

5/7/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Young Sinclairs - "The Young Sinclairs"

5/7/2009 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe year two-thousand and seven - the heat is dripping off the bricks of our decorated tomb - space - there's people moving away ("you gotta move") - relation-ships crumbling and sinking along with whatever treasure was rumored to be on board - but for everything that falls apart there is something being constructed - ("L-U-V") - a song or a friendship or a control booth - ("a hippy-drippy name-dropper came to my door") and lying in bed - laying - suppose you have to? Still writing and still singing and still playing but never being still, only sometimes ("sometimes always" + "here there and everywhere") and some record-reviewer uses the word 'pastiche' like a fine critique or artiste. But "you're too afraid to sing" ("I said that"). Oh yeah, and family tree came out - far out - books and pianos and intellectual paraphernalia - surrealist games and the realest pain - review my pain, why dont'cha? huh? (it's ours too - (notice no quotations) ["taste my mouth in your ear"]. HA! now there's one for ya - these are songs and poems and rhythmical exorcism exercises in tension and release - think what you want.

5/7/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Young Sinclairs - "The Young Sinclairs"

5/7/2009 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThis album was supposedly recorded in Winter 2007 according to the liner notes - it actually spans back into 2006 - and through the middle of 2007 - but what does that matter? You can really feel the presence of every member of the Young Sinclairs in this album with Daniel Cundiff and Sean Poff taking lead vocals on a few tracks. This album also marks the beginning of John Thompson handling basically all of the engineering/mixing and really refining and expanding the Young Sinclairs sound with the use of reel-to-reel technology. Overall, it is a diverse album with much different textures and colors than the Sinclairs' debut album, "Feel Bad". In fact, it is a huge leap forward from that album not only in terms of sonic quality, but in the arrangements and the lyrical content - but who cares? Feel the sounds...

5/7/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Lovetones - "The Lovetones"

5/7/2009 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe Lovetones released their debut album, Be What You Want in 2002 through Bomp! Records, creating a palpable buzz amongst critics from the like of Creem and Rolling Stone magazine. The latter hailed mainman Matther J Tow's songwriting worthy of Ray Davies, Bowie, Lennon and McCartney: a bold statement, yet in his case, completely justified.

After enjoying the ciritical success of Be What You Want, touring Australia extensively and even supporting Morrissey during his first ever solo Australian tour, Tow joined The Brian Jonestown Massacre in 2003 and contributed two brilliant tracks to their sonic mastery, ...And This Is Our Music.

Tow's opening track "Starcleaner" later also appeared on The Brian Jonestown Massacre retrospective Tepid Peppermint Wonderland. In the same year, UK based Fire Records invited The Lovetones to contribute to the James Joyce Chamber Music project alongside Mercury Rev, Sonic Youth, and REM's Peter Buck. 2004 saw the release of the Stars EP, coinciding with The Lovetones supporting The Brian Jonestown Massacre on their infamous and now legendary tour of Australia.

The second album Meditations was released through New York's Tee Pee Records in late 2005, revealing an stunning development in Tow's songwriting and providing a soundscape of radiant pop, ethereal psychedelia and truly remarkable vocal melodies that arched for the stars. Soulful and sincere, Meditations nodded gently and respectfully to the pop masters of the sixties whilst never lacking in original vision.

Returning from triumphant shows in the US in late 2005 and also SXSW 2006, The Lovetones toured to support Meditations' Australian release in May 2006. June 2006 saw The Lovetones complete a crazed European tour across 12 countries with The Brian Jonestown Massacre in support of Meditations' release there through Tee Pee/Cargo Records, culminating in a rave album review in respected UK magazine Uncut.

The Lovetones also managed to record their third album Axiom during 2006 with fervent sessions split between Figment Studios in Hollywood and the Sydney Opera House Recording Studio. More extensive touring in the US and Australia followed.

Released in Australia in November 2008 and now set for a stateside release in February 2009, Dimensions is The Lovetones' fourth studio album and the latest chapter in the indie psychedelic pop legacy of frontman Matthew Tow, who remains one of Austalia's most underrated songwriters. The album was recorded in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, mixed in Los Angeles by Rob Campanella (Brian Jonestown Massacre, Quarter After, Black Angels) and mastered by William Bowden (one of Australia's finest mastering engineers).

3/9/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to Vetiver - "Vetiver"

3/9/2009 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaTight Knit is the fourth full-length album from Vetiver—singer/songwriter Andy Cabic's ever-evolving musical home base. Luminous and surprising, Tight Knit unfolds like a road trip down Highway 1, towards Cabic's home in San Francisco. It represents a summation of the different styles and directions heard on past Vetiver releases, while it introduces some unexpected twists.

"I think I was able to make the most of the different moods of each song," Andy confirms. "Several of the songs have been staples of Vetiver's live show for some time in much the same form as they appear on this recording. Other songs were given a last polishing in the studio. And a few songs were radically reworked from the way they were performed on the road."

"There are songs here that allude to elements of everything I've done so far, and songs that have something which heretofore I maybe only hinted at."

Some songs are so stripped down, Cabic played almost all the instruments himself; others work to capture the sound of Vetiver performing live. Tight Knit is layered and rich, with subtleties and nuances that will be more fully appreciated only after repeated listening. While there's also more immediate gratification than on past Vetiver releases, Tight Knit is an album that rewards your attention. As Andy lets us know, "There's still the 'way-homer' vibe that I've come to understand is intrinsic to what I do."

Vetiver's songs have been described as "dreamy, gentle songs that George Harrison would have written in some sunny country garden." Happily, that element is alive and well on songs such as "Rolling Sea" and "Everyday." Tight Knit also introduces new aspects of the band's sound with the light bop of "Sister" and "On the Other Side," as these songs glide along with a steady bounce and groove. Tight Knit also contains the faraway and ethereal "Down from Above" and "At Forest Edge," which conjure up images of misty mornings simultaneously filled with sunlight and fog.

Recorded in Sacramento at The Hangar and in LA at Melva, Tight Knit was produced by longtime Vetiver collaborator Thom Monahan and features Andy Cabic on lead vocals and guitars, guitarist Kevin Barker (aka Currituck Co.), Sanders Trippe on guitar and vocals, drummer Otto Hauser, and bassist Brent Dunn. Special guests include Eric Johnson (of Fruit Bats, The Shins, and an occasional touring member of Vetiver), Jonathan Wilson, "Farmer" Dave Scher, and Adam Peters.

Vetiver's Andy Cabic grew up in northern Virginia and spent a few years in Greensboro, North Carolina, playing guitar, writing music and recording as a member of The Raymond Brake, which is where he first met future Vetiver members Trippe and Dunn. After moving to San Francisco, Cabic helped form the rock band Tussle, and at the same time began recruiting other local musicians, friends and confederates, including Colm O'Ciosoig (My Bloody Valentine), Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star), Devendra Banhart, and Joanna Newsom, among others to record the 2004 debut Vetiver for the Dicristina Stair Builders label.

Vetiver has since gone on to release two more full-length albums, 2006's To Find Me Gone (Dicristina Stair Builders) and in 2008 Thing of the Past (Gnomonsong Recordings), a collection of cover songs tapping Cabic's deep catalog of inspirations and further illustrating Vetiver's unique aesthetic. Throughout the band's existence, Cabic has toured the world extensively both in his own right as leader of Vetiver as well as serving as guitarist and singer with his longtime friend Devendra Banhart's various touring ensembles. And, in January 2009, in a personal and professional highlight, he will be producing Vashti Bunyan's forthcoming new album.

Tight Knit is Vetiver's first release for Sub Pop Records.

2/17/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to Benjy Ferree - "Benjy Ferree"

2/17/2009 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaCome Back To The Five And Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee, the second full-length album from Benjy Ferree, is a musical eulogy to the forgotten child star, Bobby Driscoll. He portrayed Peter Pan in the 1953 Disney feature, then faced the reality of growing up in a world without Neverland. Once Disney's golden boy of cinema, Driscoll was fired from Disney after the making of Peter Pan for the unforgivable crime of hitting puberty and developing acne. No longer cute and profitable, he struggled to find work and fell into a life-long battle with drugs until ultimately dying homeless and broke in a Manhattan tenement in 1968 at the age of 31. With police unable to identify his body, the Academy Award winner ended up in an unmarked pauper's grave on New York's Hart Island. Driscoll was a natural subject for Ferree as Peter Pan wasn't just an entertaining fictional character during Ferree's youth – he was an obsession. As a child, Ferree spent hours imitating the mischievous, magical child adventurer. His eventual discovery of Driscoll's sad fate led to this album – an ode not just to his childhood hero, but to anyone who's gotten the short end of the stick in life – with Driscoll renewing his role as the leader of life's ignored Lost Boys. Musically, Ferree lets his distinctive blend of rock and roll and Americana across new borders and genres. Drawing as much from the country meandering of Jimmie Rodgers and the passionate blues pounding of Son House as he does from the vocal hysterics of Freddie Mercury and the balladry of Nick Cave, Ferree crafts a sound that is difficult to fit into any one category, but upon listening is as gratifying as it is unique.

Produced by Ferree himself, engineered by Mark Nevers, and mixed by Brendan Canty, Come Back To The Five And Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee displays Ferree's evolution as not only a masterful songwriter and arranger, but more importantly, as one of today's most intriguing and imaginative voices.

1/22/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to Sweet Jane - "Sweet Jane"

1/22/2009 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe brainchild of Danda & Lydia Des Dolles, Sweet Jane's origins lie in early 2007. After recording in their home studio, they realized each of their songs true potential and decided to put more focus into a band. Almost 2 years on they have successfully become one of Ireland's most exciting new bands. The duo and their 3 accomplices have been spending the last year gigging furiously throughout the UK & Ireland, gaining plenty of riveting live reviews and a firm following to keep them busy for the foreseeable future.

Shows over the past year have seen them share stages with greats such as BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, THE KILLS, THE DUKE SPIRIT, THE DILLETANTES & SKY PARADE.

Their live set could only be described as an energetic roller coaster of sleazy guitars achingly sexy vocals, which are split between Lydia & Danda, and of course they top it all off with their trade mark droned out dream gaze rock 'n roll.

They are currently self - managed but have recently joined forces with DEAD FLOWER RECORDS and these recent weeks have seen them complete their long awaited mini album Blackboots Blackhearts which was recorded in Dublin, Ireland and mixed in Philadelphia, USA by none other than the Asteroid No. 4's very own Ryan Van Kriedt.

Blackboots Blackhearts was released October 17th 2008 with distributor RMG in Ireland & is currently available on Itunes whilst physical copies are available from Tower Records, Dublin's online store (www.towerrecords.ie), they are already knee deep in demo recording's for their first full length studio album due for release in 2009, accompanied with a strong tour schedule to keep them sweetly occupied and content for the forthcoming months.

If you only set your ears on one band this year - we recommend that band is SWEET JANE.

1/22/2009 12:00:00 AM Listen to Niagara Falls - "Niagara Falls"

1/22/2009 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaNiagara Falls is an experimental band from Philadelphia, PA that has ties to the recent psych folk resurgence as well as the burgeoning noise and neo-ambient or space music movements. They formed in 2004 as a quartet of Norman Fetter, Jeff Carpineta, Erich Breimhurst, and Jennifer Lee, and became known for their live improvised performances, and constantly shifting instrumentation. Comparisons are often made to German groups such as Tangerine Dream and Popol Vuh. Their music references German krautrock, and Minimalism, as well as contemporary artists such as Thuja, Jackie-O-Motherfucker, and Wooden Wand %26 The Vanishing Voice.

Norman Fetter and Jeff Carpineta also co-founded the Honeymoon Music record label in 2004, which releases Niagara Falls albums.

They released their first album, Barrel Vault in 2004 which was a live improvised recording of their fist meeting. They followed in 2006 with Zwei, which saw the band drastically changing instrumentation, and performance approaches. Released in late 2006, Plays Spiral Isles saw the band exploring a more electronic approach to creating their signature drone.

Carpineta and Lee left the band in 2007. In late 2007, Noah Levey and Sam Cusumano joined the group. Breimhurst left the band in Spring 2008.

Fetter, Levey and Cusumano entered the studio in Spring 2008 to begin recording their fourth album, Sequence of Prophets. After recording, Geoff Bucknam (of Blood Like Mine) joined the group on electric guitar.

12/2/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Vinyl Stiches - "The Vinyl Stiches"

12/2/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe Vinyl Stitches were born in Camden, London. We are a high energy rock n roll band with an ambition to create a new sound and image that seeps our influences. Thanks to all our friends who are supporting us (you know who you are). Oh and these songs are for Alice who started the band but can no longer be with us. See you out there!

12/31/2009 11:23:04 AM Listen to The High Dials - "The High Dials"

12/31/2009 11:23:04 AM

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12/2/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The High Dials - "The High Dials"

12/2/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaA quartet from Montreal, the High Dials are firm believers in the three Bs: the Beatles, the Byrds, and British psychedelia as purveyed by the Who and the Pretty Things. Their second record, A New Devotion, is a pleasant trip back to the '60s that is also a quaint concept album dealing with the travails of Silas, an average guy trapped in a futuristic nightmare. As with most concept records, the narrative flow is kind of fuzzy, but that is no big deal because the songs themselves (like the dreamy "Desiderata," the subdued "Leaving Alphaville," and the peppy "Morning's White Vibration") are mostly pretty decent. The group blends the soaring harmonies and jangling guitars of the Byrds with the charging songcraft of the mid-period Beatles and tops it all off with a heady dose of pastoral psychedelia in the lyric department and on the occasional tune like the trippy "Can You Hear the Bells?" The melodies are strong and the performances convincing, and if you dig where the bandmembers are coming from, it is hard not to be impressed at the skill with which they capture the feeling of the mid-'60s. The only faults with the record: at a little over an hour, the disc is about 20 minutes too long, and the band doesn't seem too interested in the thing that helped make the three Bs so groundbreaking — a sonically imaginative and exciting sound. The High Dials are too polite-sounding and too willing to play things straight to truly measure up to their heroes in any meaningful way. Too many of the songs feel like rote imitations; by the end of the record one is left with an impression of a band with no imagination. All this really is in the end is a pleasant exercise in nostalgia, and when it comes down to a choice between listening to A New Devotion or pulling out your copy of S.F. Sorrow again, S.F. Sorrow will win out every time. - Tim Sendra, Allmusicguide.com

12/2/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The High Dials - "The High Dials"

12/2/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe High Dials story begins in 2003, when their debut album, "A New Devotion," was released worldwide on NYC-based Rainbow Quartz Records. A wopping 18 songs, ranging from soft, pastoral pop to groovy, garage rave-ups, told the tale of a mysterious and troubled boy known only as "Silas" and his attempt to escape evil powers in a nightmarish city of the future. Drawing on everything from science-fiction, old comic books, movie soundtracks and psychedelia to Trevor’s garden- the album came off like some dark kaleidoscopic cartoon, a soundtrack to a movie that has still not been made. A New Devotion won great reviews and enjoyed college radio success in both Canada and the US. They got tons of airplay from Little Steven, a big fan, on his nationally syndicated radio show the Underground Garage. They hit the top 5 in Canada on the national college radio chart and cracked the U.S. top 50 reaching 42 on the CMJ Top 200 and 31 on the Core Top 75. They made a name for themselves as a strong live act touring North America and were opening acts for the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Kaiser Chiefs and Sloan. In 2004 they released a 6-song EP, "Fields in Glass" with remixes of the title song by Davy Love and Will Caruthers (Spaceman 3, Spiritualized) and Mike Musmanno (Lilys). They performed at Little Steven's Underground Garage Festival in New York with the Strokes, the Stooges and New York Dolls. In March 2005, the New York Post and Spin magazine both listed them as one of the top ten "must-see" bands at SXSW.

Meanwhile, the High Dials worked in secret on their highly anticipated follow-up. They recorded tracks in rehearsal spaces, barns, apartments and Blue Rodeo`s Toronto studio before finally deciding to join forces with Joseph Donovan (the Dears, Marlowe) as co-producer in Montreal. The end result is "War of the Wakening Phantoms," another patchwork of contrasting moods and tones that holds together in vibe without another buried storyline. Mixed by Dave Bianco in L.A. (Teenage Fanclub, Frank Black, Jayhawks), the new album is full of ghost stories that surge with sadness and optimism- bright and melancholy psychedelia touching on rock n' roll's timeless themes: heartbreak, longing and idealistic joy. "War of the Wakening Phantoms" was released in Canada in June 2005 and it went promptly to the number one spot on the college radio charts. Following its July release in the US, the album won glowing reviews from the All-Music Guide and Spin magazine.

12/2/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The High Dials - "The High Dials"

12/2/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaTheir newest album, "Moon Country", was released in Canada through Fontana North in October 2008, and may be their best album yet, delivering everything from droning dance grooves to spaced-out rock anthems to wistful psych folk. As a nod to the classic LP in an Mp3 age, the release is divided into two sides, A and B. Begun in a remote stone cottage in Ireland and completed in the studio in Montreal, "Moon Country" is for anyone who loves the album as art form!

11/16/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The December Sound - "The December Sound"

11/16/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaSometimes it is hard to listen to a shoegaze-influenced band with an open mind. Far too many groups cite My Bloody Valentine and Jesus %26 Mary Chain as influences, ripping on those classic sounds without even trying to put their own spin on it. This is not the case with The December Sound, a Boston/NYC quartet that I am totally digging right now. The guys recently released their debut album, dubbed The Silver Album, which they have put out themselves. You've got to respect the DIY work ethic of bands, especially when they're mighty fucking awesome.

For fans of the shoegaze genre, you'll be mighty pleased with the sounds of this album. The fuzzed out guitars soar throughout, along with echoed vocals pushed far back into the mix, such as on the opener "Never." At times this does make it a bit tough to decipher the lyrics, but the beauty of the sonics of these tracks make up for that... and then some. What I really dig about The December Sound is their use of rock in their sound, rather than simply relying on effects pedals and drum machines. "No Heaven Like Hell" walks that fine line between fuzzed out sonic bliss and rock aesthetics.

Where The Silver Album really caught my attention was on the stunning "Drone Refusenik," a track with a repeated melody perfect for zoning out. It slowly builds, adding in layers of noise over the droning guitar line and steady beat, bringing to mind a more rocking version of one of my all-time favorite bands, 7% Solution. This vibe returns once again later on the album with "Il Forte."

If you are obsessed with the pitch-bending distortion of My Bloody Valentine, "Truth Hurts" will send chills down your spine. It has all the necessary elements of a perfect shoegaze track, complete with buzzed-out guitars that blur together in absolute sonic bliss, forming the backbone to support ethereal, reverb-soaked vocals and plenty of distortion. For those longing of the early days of Lush, Swervedriver, Slowdive and Jesus %26 Mary Chain, you can add The December Sound to your list of bands to check out ASAP in 2008. - by Chip Adams, thetripwire.com

11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to (the Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope - "(the Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope"

11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfa...Moving ever closer to the light, (the sounds of) kaleidoscope return with another offering heavily steeped in truth.

At the first sign of light, the darkness fades into a battle of balance; neither ceding to one another until realizing that one cannot fully exist without the other.

These butterflies of the night, these moths of space, appproaching the light of truth which illuminates the path through the darkness of the unknown.

What started out as a basement 4track operation involving vaccuum cleaners as rhythm sections has slowly grown into a solid body of work (now available digitally through apolloaudio.com) and seen the band sharing stages along the east coast with the Fall, Luna, the Electric Prunes, Lilys, Damo Suzuki, Swirlies, Velocity Girl, Weird War, The Oranges Band, J. Mascis and the Fog, Indian Jewelry, Lason Lowenstein, Boyracer, Relay, the Mantras, Sky Drops, Asteroid 4, The Evens, French Toast, Mazarin, Rogue Wave, the Extraordinaires, Company Corvette, Dead Meadow, Dog and Pony, Suns of Guns, Neil Hamburger, Appletown Gun Shop, Capitol Years, Eyes of the Killer Robot, Comets on Fire, The Grey Daturas, Kohoutek, Miminokoto, Cotton Casino and Billawtm Doppleganger, the Black Lips, the Carlsonics, and some people said: "they are not bad".

The band started out in DC and moved up the road to Philly in 2007. The album "All This Heaven" could literally be out any day now for god knows how long, and new material is being developed everyday as recording dates are being made. maybe they would like to have a nice lunch sometime.

12/10/2009 6:08:09 PM Listen to House Of Fire - "House Of Fire"

12/10/2009 6:08:09 PM

asdfasdafsdfaFormed in 2005 by Isaac Betesh, House Of Fire quickly became a favorite of fans hungry for original and inventive music rooted in the 60's rock 'n' roll tradition. The band has built a reputation for putting on unpredictable and riveting live shows around their home base of Philadelphia and NYC, including CMJ. House of Fire has also performed on NBC, and various radio stations.

Their debut release, a 9-song self-titled LP on Universal Warning, is available on iTunes, Amazon.com, Best Buy, ToneVendor, and everywhere good music is sold. It's receiving favorable reviews from the music press and on the Internet. But even before the record button cooled down from their first effort, the band began work on their follow up effort (due out in December 2008), which they credit as being even better than their first.

House of Fire filmed their first video for Walking Along the Sun, which is available on NME.com, YouTube, Vimeo, as well as their own website, and Myspace. They contributed a track to the Northern Star Records Psychedelica Vol. 3 compilation coming out later this year.

The band cites their main influences as the psychedelic sound of the 60's, the paisley underground and canyon rock movements. Their songs also display songwriting and instrumentation reminiscent of contemporary bands such as the Morning After Girls, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Dandy Warhols, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Lovetones, and too many more to name. You'll also find hints of Mort Garson, Chad and Jeremy's Psych years, and Syd Barrett

Band Lineup: Isaac Betesh - vocals, guitar E.J Hagen - guitar Dave Reis - vocals, bass Lucy Rodemich - organ, tambourine Peter Trezzi - drums, percussion Alex White - guitar

6/6/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Russell Huie - "Russell Huie"

6/6/2008 12:00:00 AM

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6/13/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Fauna Valetta - "Fauna Valetta"

6/13/2008 12:00:00 AM

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6/6/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Echo Slightly - "Echo Slightly"

6/6/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaEcho Slightly is a downtempo project that draws influences from Massive Attack, Imogen Heap, Portishead, and The Gathering. In 2005, Morgan Long did guest vocals on Stabilizer's A Project Called Red album. The track, called Grey to Green, demonstrated a keen chemistry between the her and them. 3 years later, they have released an album together under a new name.

6/6/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Asteroid No.4 - "The Asteroid No.4"

6/6/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaPhiladelphia's The Asteroid No. 4 takes dreamy shoegazer pop and mixes in elements of '60s psychedelia and latter-day space rock to create a folk-rock sound that falls somewhere between The Byrds and The Stone Roses. The group's fifth studio album,

These Flowers of Ours, is dripping with reverb, echo, and tremolo effects - from the jangly, offbeat guitars of "My Love" to the spacey vocals of "She's All I Need" to the wispy melodies of the space-to-ground-control message "War." The album plays like a pastoral work of stargazing time-travel.

"Let It Go" echoes the sunny, carefree folk sounds of '60s-era British rock. The song's reverb-doused psychedelia offers a space-rock feel that reaches its apex during the track's huge, two-minute wall-of-sound finish. Unlike many cosmic rockers, Asteroid No. 4 grounds itself enough to keep the record from sounding like an interstellar jam session. Instead, the group writes catchy and accessible pop songs, driven by the lazy vocals and quirky vocal melodies that drive the Stone Roses comparisons.

These Flowers of Ours finds the band settling in to a more concrete sound after four albums that saw much sonic change from record to record. "There's elements of country, early-'90s shoegazer, and swinging London Pink Floyd," lead vocalist Scott Vitt says. "I think this is the first record that's kind of become us."

The group places as much of its musical influences in the '80s and '90s as it does in the '60s. On the group's fourth album, An Amazing Dream, the band covered the Australian rock band The Church in "To Be in Your Eyes," and for These Flowers of Ours, the group covers the '80s psychedelic band The Rain Parade in "I Look Around." Vitt explains the covers as attempts to draw attention to bands lost in the shuffle - influencial acts not named Pink Floyd or the Beatles. "We try to tip our hats to the music that came a generation before us, rather than two generations before us," he says. - Conor McKay, NPR.org

3/18/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Tough Shits - "The Tough Shits"

3/18/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaAll of the Tough Shits were born at a very young age. We formed a band and moved into the same house so that we could devote all our energy to becoming the tightest bros of all time (TBOAT). Without the hassles of jobs, girlfriends, or money we could finally put together outfits for the stage. John became a catalog model (he's tall) so he could pay for us to record. Now he is an object of ridicule to many and has lost all respect amongst people who know him personally.

We take a lot of influence from the populist attitudes of CCR, The Minutemen, Johnny Cash, and Bruce Springsteen; on the other hand we have a shamelessly flashy live presence that owes a lot to KISS and the Stones. All together, our package is substantial.

3/7/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Stereo Workers Union - "The Stereo Workers Union"

3/7/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe Stereo Workers Union creates classic songs with instantly memorable melodies placed over beautiful and often dark guitar/organ backdrops. Heavily influenced by The Beatles, their Cleveland upbringing also brings comparisons to other working class bands, such as The Kinks and Black Sabbath. This is the band's debut album "God Bless The Stereo Workers Union." Songwriter H.J. DeBoe co-produced the album with Robert Campanella (member of The Quarter After and The Brian Jonestown Massacre) at Rob's Lake Hollywood studio. Other production credits for Rob include The Tyde and Mia Doi Todd. Besides collaborating with longtime friend Jon Sajetowski to write Sadly Tonight, the album features many guest appearances from well-known musicians/artists, including a duet with Mara Keagle and additional production help from Hunter Crowely and Anton Newcombe.

3/7/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Federale - "Federale"

3/7/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfa"...Federale relies on the oldest tools of the trade: loud guitars, pounding drums, great musicianship and hooky songwriting. Their self-released debut is a triumph of twisted blues and boogie played loud and fierce and frenetically…this is not a record of dark and sludgy dirges, this is rock and roll. So is it Other Music? That question is getting harder and harder to answer these days, and less and less relevant, but I know that I want to rock, and Federale deliver." -Josh Madell (Other Music)

3/5/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Koolaid Electric Company - "The Koolaid Electric Company"

3/5/2008 12:00:00 AM

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3/5/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Lovetones - "The Lovetones"

3/5/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaIf you're looking for an ultimate half-and-half fusion of John Lennon with early-'70s David Bowie, the Lovetones' second album is one of the closer approximations that's apt to appear. They credibly recall both of those figures in the arching vocals and earnestly penetrating vocals, and (at least as far as Bowie goes) in a vague sort of launching-into-the-cosmos ethos. As with many efforts that bring to mind icons of decades past, half and half don't necessarily make a whole on par with the whole of any single one of their inspirations. There's a slightly lazy, drifting feel to lyrical preoccupations, and a similarity of approach throughout most of the tracks, that the masters of these kinds of forms transcend with greater eclecticism and vision. Keeping your expectations realistic, however, it's a pleasant listening experience, with an effectively psychedelic-tinged, full but not densely cluttered blend of electric and acoustic guitar and keyboard textures. The keyboards in particular recall early Pink Floyd on "Genius" and the dramatic closing instrumental, "The Color and the Cut," which builds to an opus-like piece after a comparatively modest beginning. Among the highlights are "Inside a Dream," with its gently sliding guitar glides; "Come Home," which sounds a little like the Beatles' "Free as a Bird" as done by an indie band; and "Across the Sea," whose chorus can't fail to recall the melody of Buffalo Springfields's "Broken Arrow." - Richie Unterberger

3/5/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Meow Meow - "Meow Meow"

3/5/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe debut from California pop underground tunesmiths Meow Meow begins with the crackling of the radio dial. This has been done before, but instead of trailing off into a pretentious wash of post-rock noise passing for a well-written song, it does the exact opposite. Lush harmonies, a love of melody, and old-fashioned pop sensibilities permeate Snow Gas Bones, bringing to mind alternative rock heroes like the Posies, the Boo Radleys, and Spiritualized. There are hypnotic seven-minute epics ("Finis"), slices of pop perfection ("Sick Fixation"), and delicious balladry on the closer ("Wear You Down"), but -- and this is not necessarily a bad thing -- one would be hard-pressed to find anything truly groundbreaking about the material. What sets the band apart from its mentors, and keeps this retro-tinderbox from exploding, is guitarist Kirk Hellie's heavily processed guitar. He wields it like a matchstick, threatening to burn every sweet, harmony-laden chorus and melodic bridge into a smoldering ruin. It's this reverence for psychedelia that allows the album to transcend complete alt-rock facsimile. These are meticulously plotted-out pop songs that reveal surprisingly complex layers of sound. "Amaurosis," with its descending melody and ghostly vibes, sounds like a cross between Pink Floyd's "Nobody Home" and Portishead's Dummy filtered through Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan," all the while waiting to implode its middle section in a deft nod to Goldfrapp's equally sonic "Lovely Head." It's awfully hard to describe Meow Meow without comparing them to the bands that have so obviously inspired them. This is not to say that the group lacks originality. It's just that the idiom in which they choose to work in is so well-documented, mined, and distinguishable that references become adjectives. A record like Snow Gas Bones would have won the group legions of fans in the early '90s, and a single like "Sick Fixation" would probably have ended up on a slew of period "hit" compilations. However, with groups like the Darkness stoking the flames of the last century's predawn glow, Meow Meow, who are better than 80 percent of this era's so-called indie pop bands, may surprise some people by making that fire roar. - James Christopher Monger

2/27/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Shot X Shot - "Shot X Shot"

2/27/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaShot x Shot is an improvisational acoustic quartet performing original compositions steeped in jazz tradition, but with experimental sensibilities. Formed in 2004, while the members were students at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Shot x Shot quickly established itself as one of the most groundbreaking bands in one of jazz's most important cities. Shot × Shot was the first jazz group signed to debut on the High Two label, home to such acts as Dave Burrell and Sonic Liberation Front.

The band's self-titled live debut (High Two, 2006) showcased the group's compositional dynamism and transcendental vibrancy creating a unique balanced sound that is often missing in improvisational jazz. was heralded in the pages of Downbeat, The Wire, Signal to Noise, and other publications. Village Voice, Chicago Reader, and All About Jazz-NY listed the album among the top debuts of 2006.

Jazz critic and author Francis Davis hears the band's vitality. "Something fresh and exciting is unfolding in jazz, and these talented young Philadelphians are doing their part to speed it along," writes Davis of the band's debut. "It's been ages since I've heard a debut recording this adventurous and assured."

Usually in jazz, youth is seen as a liability, but for Shot × Shot the opposite is true. Having been exposed to and performed all sorts of eclectic music, Shot × Shot infuse their music with diverse modern influences and a daring spirit, creating an experimental mix of sounds and structures.

With Dan Scofield (alto) and Bryan Rogers (tenor) on dueling saxophone ballasted by Dan Capecchi (drums) and Matt Engle (bass), the band's multi-dimensional, layered sound relies on each musician's unique contribution. Both Scofield and Engle have been key contributors to Sonic Liberation Front, the African percussion-infused jazz group, whose two High Two albums, have been widely praised by the Village Voice, Jazz Times, The Wire, among others. Scofield is also a member of the noise-improv band Karu Karu Pa and performs, alongside Rogers, in Bobby Zankel's large ensemble. Capecchi, a recent transplant from Minnesota, is a former member of indie rock band Triangle, now also plays in the Jeff Baumeister Quartet. Shot × Shot has performed alongside or collaborated with such artists as Peter Brötzmann, Marshall Allen, Susie Ibarra, Odean Pope, and Khan Jamal.

Shot × Shot is reminiscent of Human Feel, the band that launched the careers of Chris Speed, Jim Black, Andrew d'Angelo, and Kurt Rosenwinkel when they were music students in Boston. Similarly, Shot × Shot unites unique voices who are poised to be important musicians individually and collectively.

The band's second album - and first studio effort, Let Nature Square, was released on High Two in May 2008. The album's five compositions posit Shot × Shot in different contexts, with all maintaining the organic, non-dogmatic aesthetic for which the band is known. Three of the band's four members contribute compositions, pulling in varying influences from jazz and other genres.

2/27/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Public Record - "Public Record"

2/27/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaPhiladelphia's Public Record blend together a vast array of musical genres ranging from early-disco to shoegaze; Afro-beat to Scottish Postcard pop; and northern soul to Factory Records funk. The product of this co-mingling of musical ideas and sensibilities is a refreshingly creative take on dance music that manages to surprise and bewilder listeners with each changing verse and track.

When it's all said and done, Public Record could be described simply as a pop band or a dance band, but it will be their complexity that will allow listeners to enjoy multiple dimensions otherwise figured to be missing from many groups today. The 13 tracks of Public Record's self-titled debut bring to fruition the band's unique composite with great intricacy and cohesion.

The amalgam that is Public Record's sound is not the result of forced intersections, but due rather to the band's sincere interest in and keen awareness of music from all over the world. American indie rock, Jamaican dub, West African pop, British northern soul, Krautrock, Detroit funk, are just some of the influences that creep into (rather than being forced into) Public Record's music.

Public Record's cross-genre explorations have led them to share bills with a list of quite varied acts such Vampire Weekend, Budos Band, The Clientele, Relay, Ladybug Transistor, Brown Recluse Sings, Sonic Liberation Front, The Lodger, Lorelai, and Benjy Ferree - all in the past year.

Public Record started all the way back in 2001 as as a recording project between Gareth Duffield and Brent Bohan. After the first incarnation faded away, the two decided to recruit a band to peform the songs. By the middle of 2005, Public Record had a full array of songs and a full lineup. With Duffield on guitar and Bohan on bass, the band had expanded to a sextet, with Greg Pavlovcak (formerly of indie pop bands The Ropers and The Saturday People) on guitar, Hilary Baker on saxophone, Matt Lyons on drums, and Ted Johnson (formerly of Eltro). With two rummers, an extra guitar player, and a saxophonist, Duffield and Bohan had the resources to bring their layered, involved compositions to fruition. Public Record has perfected the balance (both live and in studio) of integrating multiple drumkits and saxophone - either could drown out the intricacies of the other musicians, but not here.

2/22/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Photon Band - "Photon Band"

2/22/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaWhile playing guitar for the Lilys in the late fall of 1993, Art Di Furia picked up his favorite astrology mag, Welcome to Planet Earth, and read about a "band of photonic matter" that will envelop the earth and change consciousness forever. It seemed to Art that this explained everything: music of all kinds had been filling his head lately. Sometimes, he'd hear a lyric or a melody. Sometimes he'd hear an entire song with full instrumentation. His dreams featured unreproducable sounds with corresponding colors, and visitations from Jimi Hendrix, Syd Barrett, John Coltrane, and Sun Ra.

He had already begun filling tapes with these ideas. Now he began labelling them, "Photon Band". But what to do with all this music? He couldn't bring it to the Lilys. That would always be Kurt Heasley's gig. In the summer of '94, Art left the Lilys to form the Photon Band with Heasley's blessing.

To make his inner musical visions real, DiFuria snared astronomer / professional weirdo Simon Nagel to play drums. Soon, chain-smoking ne'er-do-well Jeff Tanner had conned his way into bass-ing for the band.

The rest is an unending sonic adventure. The trio began to gig, and DiFuria kept writing and recording. So far, the results are five full-length albums and a harvest of singles and comp tracks revealing an eclecticism that continues to expand like the universe itself. The Photon Band's early tunes sounded like the Beatles with the Who's rhythm section. But by the time of their full-length debut (1998's All Young in the Soul (Darla)), they had incorporated influences as disparate as Buddy Holly and the MC5. Expansion continues.

It's no accident that the Photon Band's last two albums feature the words "Alone" and "Lonely" in their titles. DiFuria recorded both by himself. 2001's Alone on the Moon, and 2003's It's A Lonely Planet (both on Darla) are so filled with hallucinogenic solitude that they make Syd Barrett sound like a stable, upstanding citizen.

However, on the Photon Band's new album, DiFuria has abandoned the solitude of outer (and inner) space to come to terms with this world. Appropriately titled Back Down to Earth, the new album features eight outside musicians, more than on any previous Photon Band effort, including N. E. Farnsworth III from Bardo Pond, Dmitri Coats of the Burning Brides. The results are the bluesiest, heaviest, most soulful Photon Band ever. Hendrix's ghost haunts most of the songs, especially the upbeat trio of songs that start the album. But by the time we reach the blue-eyed soul of the Track 4, "Your Doubt, Your Truth", and the Monkee'd-up Motown of Track 5, "Where Did the Love Go?", easy answers are in short supply. Of the remaining cuts, even the uplifting sounding "Whatchagonnado?" offers no solutions. Things don't end pleasantly; on the album's closer, "Last Call, Badnight", it sounds as if our initially optimistic hero has come "back down to earth" in the worst of all possible ways. After a drunken ballet of twitches and stumbles, he has collapsed with a dazed thud.

While our hero may be down, he's certainly not out. There can be no doubt that as he dozes, he's dreaming up tunes for the next Photon Band album.

2/21/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Adam Arcuragi - "Adam Arcuragi"

2/21/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaAfter the release and of his self-titled solo album and the ensuing tour, Adam Arcuragi began the arduous task of sorting through all the songs, sketches of songs, and half-songs that he wrote in the time since his debut was recorded in late 2005. The quality and quantity was quite astounding. Knowing that the path to realizing his second record in the grand manner it has been imagined, Arcuragi knew it would be a long path.

The five songs that make up the Soldiers for Feet were recorded during a break from working on Arcuragi's yet-untitled, soon-to-be-finished second proper album. Originally conceived as a home-recorded documentation of his new material, the sessions flourished into into a portrait of the artist in his most intimate situation -- at home, playing and singing his songs, with his friends in tow. When you have friends in such great bands as BC Camplight, National Eye and War On Drugs, success was guaranteed. Arcuragi opens himself up with graceful charm; his new songs are bound to impress and recruit fans.

2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Vera Violets - "The Vera Violets"

2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaAn enchanter, a flatterer, a liar in Picasso's art-is-lie-yielding-truth sense, Vera Violet is the muse artist dream of meeting. She came for band founder Jonathan Beadle in a willowy frame, wearing 60's thrift store chic and death trip eyeliner. She whispered songs of raging happiness in "Touch", blush worthy infatuation in "You Turn Me", drug sick harmony in "Light Head Crash" and numbing acumen in "When You Realize". She's the unreal dream we all long for while listening to our favorite music, and with The Vera Violets latest release "Dirty Rainbow", the band has her under their collective thumb.

2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to His Name Is Alive - "His Name Is Alive"

2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaHis Name is Alive presents Sweet Earth Flower: A Tribute to Marion Brown

Originally conceived only as a single concert at the University of Michigan Museum of Art in 2004, His Name is Alive began recording Sweet Earth Flower shortly after that very successful evening. Although the connection between His Name is Alive and Marion Brown may not be obvious to some of the younger students, this is album is truly a very special release in either artist's varied catalog.

His Name is Alive is probably best known for having been one of the few American bands signed to famed British label 4AD. HNIA's sonic experiments in electro, folk, blues, r b, pop, and indie, have left fans always guessing what direction the band will turn next. Their most popular recording was a song (recorded on a four-track cassette recorder) that was used on the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire film, others may recognize the band from its collaborations with legendary animators, The Brothers Quay. HNIA has chosen to honor the music of Marion Brown (1935- ), saxophonist, composer and one of the great innovators of New Music. His body of work includes Geechee Recollections - a blending of childhood experiences in Georgia with traditional Gullah culture – to Bismallahi, a lyrical performance with composer Harold Budd, produced by Brian Eno. Although Brown appeared on John Coltrane's Ascension album, performed alongside Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, and Archie Shepp and recorded his albums for IMPULSE!, ECM, Black Lion, and ESP, he remains largely an unsung hero of improvised music and avant-garde jazz.

On Sweet Earth Flower, His Name is Alive collaborates with members of Nomo and Antibalas for the project Album contains studio recordings and several live recordings Marion Brown has given the project his blessing. "I thought we should do it while he is alive. We've talked quite a bit about the project and he's supported us all the way. His encouragement and insight has been incredible," says His Name is Alive's mainman Warn Defever.

2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to A Cricket In Times Square - "A Cricket In Times Square"

2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaRolling Stone {David Fricke, Jan 2005}
"This twin-guitars band takes its inspiration from the echo-impressionism of Ride, the Church, and Sonic Youth. The blurred grandeur of this debut is particularly impressive..."

Despite deriving its name from a classic children's book, a quick listen should convince you that A Cricket In Times Square is in no way another twee band (and, you'll note, the acronym ACITS is much tougher sounding). Like the best groups of the shoegaze era, ACITS swathes its pop songs in a substantial, but not obliterating, layer of distortion. With ethereal vocals encircled by caustic, competing guitars, the Seattle quartet's songs guardedly confront post-adolescent ennui and frustration thru both sullen lyrics and the episodic tension present in the music.

Although the intricately layered sound is thanks to the band's lengthy recording and post-production efforts, and founders Michael Tyler and John Wood are more than just studio obsessives. Their unique sound is a rather specialized accomplishment (one Kevin Shields fans would surely appreciate), but they may have crafted the best album for attempting to puzzle out lyrics since Murmur.

The best example may be the first song, "Careless," although you may well find yourself hitting repeat even if you don't feel the need to decipher every word. If you're looking for "the single," look no further-this is the most driving, passionate song about apathy you'll ever hear. Track 2, ", 52-Minute Hallway," and track 5, "Blood From Heaven," capture everything that made those early Ride releases so excellent- a combination of atmospherics, dynamism and solid songwriting that is increasingly hard to come by. Fans of stateside distortion enthusiasts should find a lot to like as well, as the Galaxie 500 dreaminess of track 6, "Outliving Your Shadow," builds into Sonic Youth-style guitar heroics, leaving no doubt that ACITS is not just a couple of hacks with a lot of pedals-although they do have a lot of pedals.

>As Interpol, British Sea Power, BRMC and Saddam Hussein have shown us, the first Bush administration is culturally relevant again. ACITS, mercifully, manages to evoke the best bands of that era without resorting to slavish copycatting.

2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Arc And Sender - "Arc And Sender"

2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaArc And Sender's self-titled debut includes a range of pieces - from avant-garde interstitials to hard-driving walls of sounds to placid guitar arrangements. Despite being a relatively new band, the trio is earning comparisons to similar adventurous instrumental guitar-based bands like Growing, Tarentel, and godspeed you black emperor as well as guitar experimenters like Glenn Branca and Nels Cline.

Arc and Sender's primary line-up features Jason Hutt on guitars, Ryan Grove on drums and Greg Pardew alternating between standard guitar and baritone guitar. The result is a density and swiftness that are impossible with the involvement of bass guitar. The album begins with a foreboding introduction before the storm-like crunch of "Hundred-Year Flood" fully introduces the band. The intricacy of Arc and Sender's cacophony is best heard in this piece as each guitarist improvises freely within the composition's structure. The guitars swell like waves out of the song's surface, speeding by like a passing ambulance's sirens.

Perhaps the most interesting track is "Squares and Circles." Featuring all three members on prepared guitar, Arc and Sender creates a unique gamelan-type sound that showcases the band's innovative quest for unique tones and textures. Likewise, "Skinner Box" showcases the band's ability to construct fully improvisational pieces alongside with fully composed pieces.

While the massiveness of the guitars often sounds like more than two guitars, the only instance of actual over-dubbing is of violin and saxophone. Saxophonist Dan Scofield guests on "Light Pain." His layered parts (he plays both alto and baritone) give the piece an unorthodox dizzying effect. Similarly, the addition of Jennifer Hutt's violin on "Perambulations" gives the track more gravity and urgency. Pieces like "Semblance" and "Sleep Wake." add another dimension to the band. Arc and Sender prove that they can create heavily textured music without the guitar barrage present in pieces like "Hundred-Year Flood" and "Perambulations."

While the quiet/loud and soft/hard dichotomies are explored by Arc and Sender, it is done unobtrusively and gradually - differentiating the trio from bands often described as 'math rock' or 'post-rock'.

1/16/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Quarter After - "The Quarter After"

1/16/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaIt’s been about two years since the release of the debut album by California’s The Quarter After - flag wavers for all things melodious and harmonious in the vocal department, combined with the jangle, fuzz, and noise of their guitars. In the grand tradition of many rock’n’roll "brother" bands, the Quarter After is lead by the two Campanella siblings- songwriter/singer Dominic and guitarist/producer Robert. The band greets the new year of 2008 with their second release, Changes Near.

The Quarter After formed in the first year of our young century in the Campanella’s home town of Los Angeles. The brothers started jamming with a young bass guitar wizard from Ohio, Dave Koenig (ex- Brian Jonestown Massacre, currently Spindrift) and dynamic veteran east coast drummer Nelson Bragg (now in the Brian Wilson Band) to create a propulsive and sympathetic rhythm section to their psychedelic/folk sounds. The quartet came of age in the burgeoning L.A. psychedelia scene alongside such bands as the Beachwood Sparks, the Warlocks, and the Tyde. After honing their live show playing gigs up and down the West Coast, the Quarter After were personally chosen by Arthur Lee and Love to be the only opening band for his first show in seven years after being released from prison. After such triumph and upward momentum, the Quarter After did what any decent band would do—break up for almost two years.

Inspired by an invitation to open a show with their friends, Dead Meadow, the band reformed and the reconvened in the studio to finally put together their first album. The Quarter After’s eponymous debut was released on Ric Menck’s Birdsong label and gathered an impressive cluster of gleaming reviews. Critics found much to love about a band that could write near-perfect 3 minute pop songs and have them co-exist along spiraling, psychedelic epics. One person who understood where the Quarter After were coming from happened to be musician and DJ, Steve Jones, who began spinning songs from this record on his influential and popular radio show, Jonesy’s Jukebox, on LA’s Indie 103.1 FM. Jonesy not only regularly began playing "A Parting," one the finest examples of Dominic’s songcraft, but also the band’s nearly 12 minute psychedelic tour-de-force "Too Much To Think About"—a highlight of the Quarter After’s live show.

Along with new bass player Victor Peñalosa, and substitute drummer Joel Williams, national and west coast tours followed, sharing the stage with bands such as the Black Angels, the Lovetones, the High Dials, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre (of which brother Rob is an on-and-off-again member), as well as an appearance in 2006 at SXSW. The band is now looked upon by those in the know to be one of the leaders in the "3rd Wave Of Psychedelia," and selections from the band’s first record were chosen to be on the Turn On Your Mind compilation released by Psyilocybin Sounds and Northern Star Records’ Psychedelica: Volume II compilation.

Throughout all of this activity, the last couple of years saw Dominic writing and demo-ing new songs while Rob remained an in-demand producer, working on recordings by the Tyde, the Black Angels, Mia Doi Todd, Scarling, Goldrush, the Morning After Girls, as well as upcoming 2008 releases by Dead Meadow and Innaway. The naturally symbiotic combination of Dominic’s songwriting and Rob’s producing has resulted in the new Quarter After record, Changes Near.

Changes Near is still the Quarter After as we know them--Dom’s prominent twelve-string Rickenbacker and rich melodies set the tone for songs that range from dense guitar-driven psychedelic attacks to further explorations into down home country - in the grand tradition of West Coast rock. There are more "roots" influences present, from country to gospel to English folk to garage rock. The songs are tighter and more concise though there is still no shortage of the droning psychedelia, eastern scales, and proto-punk noise created by Rob’s guitar.

All Quarter After members past and present make appearances on this record as well as a fantasmic - collection of LA musicians including friend and mentor Ric Menk (Velvet Crush, the Tyde), Matthew Sweet, Miranda Lee Richards, Mara Keagle, Eric Heywood (Son Volt), Christoff W. Certik (Winter Flowers), Kirk Hellie (Meow Meow), Probyn Gregory (Wondermints, Brian Wilson Band), and Matthew Sigley (Lovetones, Daytime Frequency). There’s also help from Anton Newcombe and Collin Hegna of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, who helped steer some of the mixes with Rob.

The Quarter After recently completed a late summer tour of the U.K. with fellow compatriots the Asteroid #4, creating their biggest buzz so far and plans are currently being made for tours of North America and Europe in support of the new record.

Changes Near is being released on newly revamped label the Committee To Keep Music Evil, a partnership between Rob and Anton of the BJM, manufactured and distributed through Cargo U.K. Look for other bands and new releases from the Committee in the coming year.

1/16/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Lovetones - "The Lovetones"

1/16/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaBe What You Want is a striking debut for Sydney, Australia’s the Love-Tones, a trio led by singer/songwriter Matt Tow, that manages to keep its balance on that difficult path between the past and the present. Tow is clearly a major fan of ’60s U.K. pop from Revolver-era Beatles to the Move in their early days to the gossamer pop of the Zombies to David Bowie’s pre-stardom mod phase (the anthemic, powerful opener "The Sound and the Fury" would have been a killer follow-up to Bowie’s 1966 single "Can’t Help Thinking About Me"), but unlike a lot of his contemporaries, Tow knows the difference between homage and thievery. Think Neil Finn or Allen Clapp, not Oasis. Songs like the dreamy neo-psychedelia of "Guiding Star" or the passionate title track are mature, literate pop with thoughtful, non-clichéd lyrics and sturdily memorable hooks. Be What You Want is a small, intimate record that proves that it’s no longer enough to simply churn out third-rate Todd Rundgren and Badfinger imitations in the pop underground.

1/16/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Floorian - "Floorian"

1/16/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaFloorian is a seductively spellbinding band from O-high-o. Exploring the realms of psychedelia, space rock and experimentalism, Floorian has conjured its own unique style of darkly melodic, hypnotic drone rock. While not easy to describe, these excursions are very easy to space out to, filled with mind-stretching sounds and textures... yet they also spend a considerable amount of time rocking out. The critics rave -- Matt Shimmer said: "While some songs are predominately atmospheric and soundscapey, the focus rests on a strong rock and pop influence that Floorian pulls off wonderfully. "Symptoms Alone" is a nine-minute epic of intergalactic folk-rock, like what you'd get if you shot Yo La Tengo even further into the depths of space. "Auravine," meanwhile, focuses more on drones, making great use of a wavering bassline, a sparse beat, and some echoing, atmospheric sounds in the background. Filled with amazing solos, galactic atmospheres, and catchy, all-enveloping bouts of rock, this is one of the best psychedelic records of the year." And Matt Howarth digs it too: "Dreamy guitars waft in the air, squealing, grinding, defining astral chords with tasty ease... these stringed manipulations achieve a transcendental disposition, building from a nebulous fog to screeching outcries, further elaborated by lead guitars that seek quite foreign sonic territories with their languid sustains and bent notes... alternating between psychedelic stylings and gothic darkness, conjuring melancholia that then strives to escape the box with emotional exertions. There's a romantic edge in this music, bestowing this spacerock with more than a touch of humanity, making the tunes more accessible."

1/16/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Telescopes - "The Telescopes"

1/16/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThis 14-track Telescopes collection is a very idiosyncratic sampling of one of the leading lights of the late-'80s noise rock/shoegaze scene in the U.K. The band began in 1988 as a full-on noise band influenced by the Jesus & Mary Chain's wall of blistering guitars, the Stooges' sneering vocals and attitude, and Sonic Youth's disregard for the niceties of traditional song structure. Songs like "I Fall She Screams," "There is No Floor," and the epic-length "Suicide" howl and scream, with singer Stephen Lawrie's thin voice cutting through the haze to deliver vaguely apocalyptic drugged-out lyrics. The first seven songs here all fit that general description, and are taken from the band's 1989 debut album for What Goes On, Taste. Following that record, the band began to shift away from the pure noise approach and to experiment with dynamics and a lighter approach. "Pure Sweetest Ocean" (taken from the To Kill a Slow Girl Walking EP from 1990) features an actual semblance of a melody and five minutes of whale noises tacked on the end of the song. After signing to Creation in 1990, the band evolved even more. The title track from their Everso EP, released at the end of 1990, shows the band ditching the wall of noise guitars entirely and employing some subtlety and sonic adventurism (dig the wild sitar drones and dreamy background vocals from guitarist Jo Doran). They continued to explore textures and a more ambient approach on their cover of the Beach Boys' "Never Learn Not to Love" (another track from Everso); it even manages to be quite beautiful, with Lawrie crooning instead of whining.

By the time of their next single, the Telescopes had made a complete transformation to a great pop band. "Celeste" is truly celestial, with Lawrie's vocals soaring over a baggy drumbeat and spacy clouds of guitars (also included on the collection is the expanded dubby version of "Celeste" titled "Celestial"). Their next single, "Flying," was another top-notch blast of phased-out dream pop (with banjo!), easily on par with anything the over-hyped Spiritualized released. "Flying" also appeared on the band's crowning achievement, the self-titled release for Creation that came out in 1992. Here's where the idiosyncratic nature of the compilation comes into focus. One could forgive (to a certain extent) the non-inclusion of some of the band's early singles like "The Perfect Needle" or "7th # Disaster." One could overlook the shocking decision to leave off one of the band's best songs, "Precious Little." One could even forgive the strange choice of "Pure Sweetest Ocean," with the five minutes of irrelevant whale noises, or the less than essential "Celestial." What cannot be forgiven is the painful lack of songs from their second album. Songs like "High on Fire," "You Set My Soul," and "To the Shore" are pinnacles of dream pop and should have been included here — especially since that record is out of print. There is a very good Telescopes collection waiting to be made, but this isn't it.

12/23/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Lightshines - "The Lightshines"

12/23/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfathelightshines is a solo artist based in Manchester, England.

Working very much in the punk DIY ethic thelightshines absorbes influences from psychedelia, rock and roll, contemporary english folk, blues, and indian music.

12/20/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to My Best Fiend - "My Best Fiend"

12/20/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaMY BEST FIEND FORMED IN BROOKLYN IN MAY 2002; PLAYING THEIR FIRST SHOW TWO MONTHS LATER.THEY HAVE SINCE SHARED STAGES WITH THE SECRET MACHINES, DIPLO, THE BIG SLEEP AND A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS. THEY RECENTLY COMPLETED AND CO-PRODUCED THEIR DEBUT S/T FULL LENGTH WITH MATT BOYNTON (VIET NAM).

"INTRIGUING ELECTRONIC PSYCHEDELIC POP WITH OCCASIONAL DANCE RHYTHMS RECALLING SPIRITUALIZED AND CLINIC."
THE DELI MAGAZINE

"A MORE ROCK N' ROLL VERSION OF THE RAPTURE ... A SOLID UNSIGNED BAND."
OHMYROCKNESS

"AN EXERCISE IN CONTROLLED CHAOS AND GENRE-BENDING."
A LESS STUFFY NAME

11/27/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Richard Hawley - "Richard Hawley"

11/27/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaIn an era where next big things, scenes and in-sounds flash by and even our favourite tunes are listened to on shuffle we need music that will stick around for a while, albums that we can go on listening to in one sitting until they wear out like previous generations had done with their Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles and The Smiths records. Something real. Something timeless. Something proper.

Just as he did with the Mercury nominated Coles Corner, Richard Hawley has risen once again to the challenge of quality in a cheap thrills economy. Recorded between January and June this year his new album Lady's Bridge is filled with enough classics to last you a lifetime. Great music doesn't need hype, it makes its own friends. And Lady's Bridge will find plenty.

When Coles Corner was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize Richard Hawley was an outsider with an album whose success had been by slow burn word of mouth. But by the evening of the ceremony itself he'd become many peoples favourite, including winners Arctic Monkeys who remarked, "Somebody call 999, Richard Hawley's been robbed". Naturally, Hawley himself remained firmly rooted to reality but then you'd expected nothing less of a man whose velveteen lullabies have seen him labelled "the Elvis of the North" among many other tributes but who regards himself as "that speccy twat from Sheffield".

Today, Coles Corner still sounds wonderful but the good news is that with Lady's Bridge he has made an album that's even better, more ambitious in scope, bigger and bolder.

"I didn't want to re-invent the wheel or anything," he explains. "I write songs and I play guitar, that's it. There isn't any mystery to it. I'm just constantly in search of something beautiful, melodies that just hit. That's kind of what I do, I find it difficult to explain because its so simple."

It's an intensely personal record for many reasons but mainly because during its recording Richard lost his father Dave Hawley, after a three-year battle with cancer, in February 2007. Hawley Snr was a man who not only inspired his son to pick up a guitar but who gave him his work ethic (he was part of a generation of musicians who'd work in the steel industry all day then play gigs at night) and his sense of humour. Here, in Richard's words was "a first wave teddy boy who lived life to the full" and "could make a cat laugh".

"It was very difficult to not let the events that were happening affect the record," he says "I tried to keep balanced and keep my eye on the ball. The last thing my dad would say to me every night at the hospice would be, 'Now then bastard, keep your eye on ball' and then just as I was leaving he'd say: '... and don't forget my ale and fags'."

As a tribute to his dad the album cover features Richard in Sheffield's answer to The Cavern, the legendary Club 60, on the stage where his father, over 30 years ago, played with blues legends John Lee Hooker and Muddy Walters. No doubt his father would also approve of the series of videos Richard's made with Made In England director Shane Meadows -- one of the growing legion of Hawley fans -- which feature the singer in various states of embarrassment enjoying a romance with a mannequin, navigating a wheelchair around his local park and dressed as John Travolta crooning to a baffled audience in retirement home.

Back in January he began recording with 40 songs in various states of togetherness. Four months later he left with 11 classics to add to the Hawley cannon. There's just no stopping the speccy twat.

11/27/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to (the Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope - "(the Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope"

11/27/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfa(the sounds of) kaleidoscope started out in 1995 as a home recording, cassette only, sporadic touring outfit involving Damien C. Taylor and any interested parties. After 5 years and many friends and enemies made, the lineup was solidified with Douglas Bailey and Alex Hacker joining the fold. Time went by, other people came and went, and three releases appeared: "these are..." once reviewed as "slowly becoming an instant classic"; "can and do what they will", a lysergia soaked mini album analogous to the native american treeclimb in which a peyote fed youth transitions into the awarenesses of oncoming adulthood; and "from where you were to how you got there", fueled by the discovery of repair through loss and destruction. (the sounds of) kaleidoscope have supported many top notch acts, including the Fall, Damo Suzuki, Lilys, Swirlies, Weird War, Comets on Fire and Luna, just to name a few. With the addition of Mike Hirst, their forthcoming full length "all this heaven" is due to be released in spring 2008, though (the sounds of) kaleidoscope are known to leak handmade copies of their albums through their show cycles.

11/27/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to (the Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope - "(the Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope"

11/27/2007 12:00:00 AM

11/27/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to (the Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope - "(the Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope"

11/27/2007 12:00:00 AM

11/7/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Park The Van Records - "Park The Van Records"

11/7/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaNew Orleans is hot, love for life keeps you cool. Dear Dr. Dog, Thanks for sending us this awesome record. Let's start a record label! Let's put out a Teeth EP too. Carter Tanton is the real deal, let's release a record from him as well. National Eye = better than Radiohead! Thank you friends. Oh fudge, water just destroyed our apartment. There are CD's floating amongst sewage and water snakes. This stinks. What next? Thankfully the Marriot in Berwyn, PA will put us up. Now, there's an idea, Pennsylvania! Let's get this National Eye record out now. The Capitol Years, my goodness, can we release this masterpiece? Thanks guys. Schwenksville is nice. Watch out for the Absinthe. Yes, the High Strung have been through some bullshit, we'll help them dudes out, we love them. Thanks Shai. The Peekers are brilliant, we can't wait for 2008! Thanks Shai! More Dr. Dog! Ok Fast Food, nice try. It was a nice try!

Dr. Dog makes We All Belong, who needs a 9.3? The Teeth are my heroes now, they tour the universe and remain beautiful. The High Strung tour various libraries and Get the Guests is released. Our team is invincible. Welcome Golden Boots! Of course. Welcome Seth Kauffman, thanks for doing Research! Tulsa! Carter Tanton's new band receives some much deserved attention. Goodnight Frank Jordan, love ya homie. Let's go to Chicago and see Dr. Dog open for Wilco. Pepi Ginsberg finds her way to our speakers. Thank you Scott! Wake up, fly home. Park the Van in the driveway, enjoy the company of cats. Dr. Dog sings the National Anthem at a Phillies game, Hallelujah Cornbread. The record business can be awesome if you have a team like this.

10/31/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Amy Pickard And The Cradlers - "Amy Pickard And The Cradlers"

10/31/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaAmy Pickard sings bittersweet country songs that blur the lines between folk music, traditional Americana, and hate mail. Her spare arrangements and rough country flatpicking complement a writing and performing style that is intimate and to the point. With a backing band of accomplished musicians Ramon Monras-Sender (Hong Kong Stingray, BC Camplight, Hoots and Hellmouth), Joshua Marcus (Like Moving Insects, Fan of Friends), Aron Dunlap, and Claudio DePujadas, she's just finished recording her first solo album, Cut from the Hopeless, after fronting the country band She-Haw for seven years. With She-Haw she released three records, including one for Glasgow-based label Shoeshine Records, and had the pleasure of touring with Alejandro Escovedo, Laura Cantrell, and Jason Ringenberg. Amy has also composed and performed music for the internationally-renowned Pig Iron Theatre Company, as well as Headlong Dance Theater, Iron Age Theater Company, the Broken Hipsters, and the Jangling Sparrows.

10/17/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Mountain Home - "Mountain Home"

10/17/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaSan Diego, CA's Mountain Home is releasing their eponymous debut CD on Language of Stone, the Philadephia-based label run by Greg and Jessica Weeks (members of Espers and Woodwose respectively). The album was recorded and mixed to entirely analog formats at Greg's Hexham Head studio with Weeks producing. Guest musicians include Fern Knight's Margie Weink Greg and a guest singer. Mountain Home is released September 25 on Language of Stone, distributed by Drag City Records.

Mountain Home began by accident when future member Ilya Monosov (banjo, acoustic guitar, hurdy gurdy) called Joshua Blatchley (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonium) to fill in for his group when another member was stricken by the flu. Blatchley showed up to the gig with a few loose Derek Bailey-inspired solo guitar pieces to perform. The show prompted Joshua to take a new approach to music experimenting more with fluidity of structure and arrangement. The material that wound up comprising Mountain Home reflects this in that the music seems simple and free, but underlying arrangements are jagged, concise and deliberate. Joshua's new direction began to grab the attention of his counter-part Kristin Sherer who decided to join him in this new endeavor. Then Ilya came on board - though he soon moved to the Baltimore/Washington DC area and had to fly back and forth to help in recording demos.

Blatchey and Sherer were both fans of old-time, traditional styles, particularly that which migrated across the Atlantic to the Appalachians and that became an important influence. Two songs on Mountain Home are numbers which have been sung for generations, "Omie Wise" and "Nottamun Town"; the other tunes were penned to mirror their brooding quality and could well be mistaken for authentic folk numbers. According to Joshua: "These are songs of death, regret, love, love lost, and then death again, so that we can always be reminded we're not alone in death; generations before we existed others were griped by the same fears we have today." Joshua and Kristin's leaning towards venerable rural sounds also informed their choice of primary instrumentation: dulcimer and acoustic guitar. However, rather than adopting the open D guitar tuning common to rural music, they chose Classical standard tuning yielding more of a challenge, as well as more options in playing and composition. Ultimately, Mountain Home promulgate an earthen visage and wooden sound capable of bleeding sap into the veins of city dwellers and suburban refugees the world over. Mountain Home works as much as inspiration as actualization, and Mountain Home sing the gospel soundly.

10/17/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Orion Rigel Dommisse - "Orion Rigel Dommisse"

10/17/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaWhat I Want From You Is Sweet is the debut release from Orion Rigel Dommisse on Language of Stone, the Philadephia-based label run by Greg and Jessica Weeks (members of Espers and Woodwose respectively). The album was recorded and mixed to entirely analog formats at Greg's Hexham Head studio with Orion and Greg co-producing. What I Want From You Is Sweet is released September 25 on Language of Stone, distributed by Drag City Records.

This is classical music set to Lucio Fulci's The Beyond, folk music from some lost Balkan province where moonlight feeds all need for Vitamin D. Orion sings and plays electric cello, Wurlitzer electric piano, omnichord, Univox Mini-Korg and Metallaphon. She's accompanied by Margaret Wienk (Fern Knight) on acoustic cello, Robert Pycior on electric violin, acoustic guitar, Jesse Sparhawk (Fern Knight) on harp and Greg Weeks on bones, bell, and electric guitar. Orion's text is a dark, rich blood that oozes through organs, infusing them with all manner of unearthy metastices; mutations which allow them to evolve through pain, survive the corruptions of this world and deliver upon it an inverse of the negativity it so often yields. Orion feels the world like few others can.

On the surface the song-world Orion Rigel Dommisse has created on What I Want From You Is Sweet is marked by death, desolation and personal disaster. That the events populate a fairy-tale-like terrain is no small point. The transmutation of terror and dread into a manageable folkloric currency makes complete sense given the fantastic elements sewn within Orion's singular visions. "Fake Yer Death" was written when she was homeless and squatting at a college she wasn't enrolled at (she liked using the pianos and library); it was a small, secluded campus and only a few people knew she wasn't a student. She says "I think the song might be about how nice it feels when no one knows where you are and have no way to contact you." "A Faceless Death" is loosely based on a Grimm fairy tale about putting back together someone's bones to bring them back to life; it's about dying unexpectedly, not leaving a will so that people you love have to figure out what to do with your body. "Suicide Kiss (Because Dead)" is a cover of a Japanese song from the film Suicide Club; a glam rock band sings it while stomping on people and animals under white sheets. As with the best fantasy tales, Orion's songs thread multiple meanings, some obvious, others occluded, through a linear narrative of disarming depth. All the while the tone is charged, with menace and beauty.

Orion Rigel Dommisse grew up in Virginia and has played piano and cello since childhood. She moved to electric cello upon joining a very loud band called "Kiss Kiss" (with Robert Pycior who appears on her solo debut). She left that band to play her own music which she writes, "because it's the way I'm able to be most honest to myself and to other people."

10/17/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Extraordinaires - "The Extraordinaires"

10/17/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaWhat began as a two-piece acoustic duo with members Jay Purdy (guitar) and Matt Gibson (bass) in 2004 is now a thriving theatrical and musical quartet of good humored, mustached performers. Purdy and Gibson, teamed with pianist Jacob Wolf and drummer Peter Hurd, use their shanties as means of storytelling.

10/10/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Jack Penate - "Jack Penate"

10/10/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaIn the last eight months, 22-year old Londoner Jack Penate (pronounced Pen-ya-te) has made quite a name for himself. No shirker, he’s done most of the hard work himself by regularly posting songs online and playing feverish live sets all over the UK resulting in him firmly positioning himself at the very forefront of the new wave of British musicians. Word of mouth has spread far and wide – he’s all over the internet, recently featured in the Babyshambles & Friends video, has supported Larrikin Love, Jamie T and Lily Allen and already appeared in UK magazines, NME, Dazed & Confused, i-D, Dummy and Another Man.

9/25/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Devendra Banhart - "Devendra Banhart"

9/25/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaDevendra Banhart's latest release is Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon which was recorded at home in Topanga, CA throughout the Spring of 2007, co-produced by Noah Georgeson and Devendra. Banhart exploded on the international music scene in 2002 quickly winning a coterie of devoted fans as well as an unusually hefty amount of critical kudos right from the outset. The critics' acclaim and the size of his audience both at home and abroad earned by his debut Oh Me Oh My The Way The Day Goes By The Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs Of The Christmas Spirit was impressive to begin with and increased dramatically with each subsequent release: 2004's Rejoicing In The Hands, Nino Rojo and 2005's Cripple Crow. Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon is released world-wide by XL Recordings, hitting U.S. stores September 25. Devendra and band kick off an extensive North American tour that begins September 1 in Vancouver, BC and ends in Los Angeles in mid October.

For the writing and recording of Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon Banhart set up housekeeping in a rustic hillside home in the longstanding bohemian enclave of Topanga, North of Los Angeles. Noah, Devendra and engineer Beauraymond Fletcher created their recording studio (known by a myriad of names including "P.I.G Studios" and "Relax the Eagle Unmask the Beagel") in a second floor recreation room with a panoramic view of the canyon. Basic tracks were laid down using a core line-up of Banhart (guitar, piano, Cuatro, psaltery), Georgeson (zither, guitar, backing vocals, Hammond B-3, bass, et al), Luckey Remington (bass, guitar, background singing, water drum and freedom chime), Greg Rogove (drums, tablas, supporting vocals, geese and duck calls, pots and pans, mop stomp), and Pete Newsom (piano, keyboards, backing vox). The other musical contributors being Rodrigo Amarante (from Brasil's Los Hermanos on guitar and harmony vocals), Andy Cabic (guitar, vocal support) and Otto Hauser (drums).

The new album has a nocturnal feel with performances that respectively evoke hushed, twilight atmospherics or boisterous, late night partying. There's wide but natural stylistic breadth evident, running the gamut of gently crooned ballads like "Bad Girl," the loping Blues of "Saved," epic rockers such as "Seahorse," sprightly reggae tunes, sultry South American stunners like "Cristobal" and a few fun surprises mixed in for good measure. At the same time it's a more focused effort. Where Cripple Crow sounded like Devendra trading licks with a never ending caravan of passing musical gypsies, Smokey is very much the work of a band, Devendra's regular touring line-up strategically complimented by a few very special guests. The vocal arrangements are noticeably more intricate and ambitious with lush harmonies running through many of these numbers. The instrumental performances are comfortably loose but in-the-pocket a rich blend of acoustic and electric guitars, understated drumming and gentle percussion, diffident bass and a variety of downhome keyboards (venerable upright piano, Hammond B-3, sharp electric piano) subtly colored with the occasional lightest touch of strings or woodwinds.

Devendra Banhart was born in 1981 in Houston, TX then moved with his family to live with his grandmother in Caracas, Venezuela. When his mother remarried, the family relocated to Encinal Canyon in California where he first began to play music and learned to speak English. Devendra began making waves in underground music circles in 2002 with his debut album Oh Me Oh My The Way The Day Goes By The Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs Of The Christmas Spirit . Over the course of 2003, Oh Me Oh My. became a grass roots sensation attracting a passionate and rapidly growing audience as well as abundant praise from the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Arthur Magazine, LA Weekly, and Magnet among others. When Rejoicing In The Hands and Nino Rojo were released in Spring and Fall 2004 respectively, Devendra's following became still larger and more zealous and two headlining tours packed venues across the country and overseas. Meanwhile, journalists on both sides of the Atlantic were unstinting in their praise of these two albums. The following year he recorded and released Cripple Crow to even greater overwhelming acclaim from Rolling Stone, Mojo, Sunday New York Times Magazine Harp and Paste among many others. He toured with his "Hairy Fairy" band filling large halls across the U.S. going on to play large, prestigious music festivals around the world including America's Coachella, and Bonnaroo. In February 2007 he headlined a bill at Carnegie Hall of friends and colleagues called "Welcome To Dreamland" curated by ex-Talking Heads David Byrne.

Devendra Banhart has emerged as one of the most fascinating, unpredictable and inspiring artists of his generation and with Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon he continues to surprise and delight an ever-increasing audience of fans and critics alike.

9/24/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Soundpool - "Soundpool"

9/24/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaNYC based 5 piece shoegaze/space rock audio/visual recording artists with sweet girlie vox saturated guitar sounds lush synth arrangements and a danceable driving rhythm section who prefer to play out with the backdrop of self produced psychedelic visuals whenever they can.

9/24/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Grammar Debate! - "Grammar Debate!"

9/24/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaGrammar Debate! formed in the summer of 2005 and is a product of the concerted efforts of Joseph Lekkas (vocals and guitar), Grant Whittaker (drums), James Alf Becker (guitar and vocals), Carolynne McNeel (guitar, keyboards, violin and vocals) and Alexander Yaker (bass and vocals). Grammar Debate!'s sound is found somewhere between the saccharine-sweet indie-pop of Death Cab for Cutie and Stars, the quick-draw energy of bands like The New Pornographers and Guided By Voices and the warm Americana of Son Volt and Early Wilco.

Joseph spent 5 years leading Hilliard, a punk-infused, rock n roll band considered by Magnet Magazine to be "Your jeans and t-shirt defense against fashionable music trends". J.A. Becker is the guitarist of one of Philadelphia's hardest working rock n roll bands, Taggart. A band who, among many other things, has hosted the amazing Guided By Voices live karaoke nights throughout the city. Grant Whittaker moved to Philadelphia from New Orleans after hurricane katrina and has played in a few local projects in addition to working as an engineer at Third Story Recording in West Philadelphia. Carolynne McNeel comes to us straight from the Rarebirds, a band the Philadelphia Weekly says "Writes smoky, twinkling tunes well above standard singer/songwriter fare. Fans of Tsunami and the Spinanes would be wise to take note." Last but certainly not least, from Birmingham, Alabama by way of Eastern Europe is Alexander Yaker. He comes to us from The John P. Strohm Band (a founding member of the legendary Blake Babies and Antenna), the now defunct brit-poppy the Northern Hues, and Roomtone, his own 8-piece indie-bossa project you've most likely seen performing around the city. Grammar Debate! played their very first show in public on the legendary Jon Solomon show on WPRB radio and will most likely continue to do equally as crazy things for the duration of their career.

Grammar Debate! have self-booked and promoted two successful national tours, spanning 20 states with over 100 local and national shows, self-produced and recorded a full-length record and are currently working on their second. Grammar Debate! have performed nationally and locally with such great bands as Midlake, Longwave, the Ike Reilly Assasination, Dirty on Purpose, The Plastic Constellations, John P. Strohm (ex-Blake Babies, Lemonheads), Hopewell (ex-Mercury Rev), The High Dials, Measles Mumps Rubella, Dressy Bessy, Jai Alai Savant and Tommy Keene.

9/24/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Nicole Atkins - "Nicole Atkins"

9/24/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe shores of New Jersey are littered, quite literally, with small towns whose better days are far in the past. They're towns that have been written about, and sung over; towns that have been mythologized and idealized; and they are the towns that 28-year-old musician Nicole Atkins-a native of Neptune City, located a stones throw from fabled Asbury Park-was born and raised in.

They can be places steeped in their own history, buried under the sense of their own pasts. Places of hey-days and what-once-was. And it's that sense of something lost, and of what perhaps should have been, and what might be, that permeates Atkins's debut, Neptune City.

"Neptune City is just this old place," Nicole says. "There was this glory time, way back when, that I never experienced, but that you cannot escape if you live there. Everyone talks about. They almost yearn for it, but I never experienced it. So maybe this album is my attempt to build something new on top of all that."

It's these environs that brought her to where she is today. Nicole was that kid slightly out of touch. When her friends were collecting the latest New Kids on the Block album, she was raving about Traffic or Cream. At the age of 13 she found an old beat up guitar in the attic of her house. It had belonged to an uncle who died when he was young, and she taught herself to play a Grateful Dead song. Her father turned her on to blues artists like Jimmy Reed, and allowed Nicole to sit in on sessions with local musician friends. And then she left that town, that place, behind, attending art school in North Carolina, where she played for three years with the North Carolina alt-country band Los Parasols before making a name for herself as a solo performer on New York City's anti-folk scene. She slept in an old Dodge Ram Charger on Avenue A, finally, with a little help from her friends, among them David Muller (occasionally a member of Yoko Ono's band, Fiery Furnaces and Fischer Spooner) finally discovered her own sound.

And it's that sound that washes over Neptune City, produced by Tore Johansson (Cardigans, Franz Ferdinand, OK Go, Saint Etienne, New Order), an album that sounds like it came from anywhere but the New Jersey Americana rock tradition made famous by Bruce Springsteen. Her music ranges far afield: at some times vaudevillian, at others psychedelic, a little bit country, a dash from early musicals, all under a cloud of pop-noir, often all coming in the very same song. Atkins writes songs that could have come from an episode of Six Feet Under, or an updating of Grease, as directed by David Lynch.

The characters in her tunes seem to live in an idealized past. "This record is the history of my town; it's the history of my family and friend in this town," she explains. "From the time I was a kid I started collecting these sad little tragically beautiful personal stories from the people in my life, and my own as well. That sense of history really appeals to me as an artist." These tales became her blue prints, her inspiration, that would become songs like "Maybe Tonight," a Ronnettes sounding traipse about a possible chance meeting, or "The Way It Is," a dark and haunting defense, an insistence by someone hell bent on finding out for herself that something might be wrong. But it might be right, too.

The record calls to mind Roy Orbison if he were a woman; the bleak visions of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen; the darkly mysterious girl group-on-acid musings of Julee Cruise and Lynch composer Angelo Badalamenti; the sorrow of Patsy Cline, the '60s experimentation of Love and Nuggets; all with a redeeming sense of hope amidst the emotional wreckage that is all Nicole. A sense that's perfectly captured on "Cool Enough," on which she sings, "I don't care where you're going/You're taking me with you/This place got nothing that I could want/But I think that someday, I might feel different/But still, that's someday/Still that's someday/So take me with you."

"War Torn" is about the frustration of a long-distance relationship that inevitably must end for your own good, while "Neptune City," with its double-tracked harmonies providing its ghostly atmosphere, is an elegy, an homage, to her home.

Over everything, Atkins brings a painterly quality to her music, fitting for a woman who studied illustration while at UNC Charlotte, and still has her own mural business. Her songs are aural paintings, mixing and matching colors and sounds.

"That's why I have such a hard time playing solo these days," says Nicole, who plied her trade in hundreds of bars North Carolina, New York, and New Jersey before attracting the attention of a major entertainment attorney, who helped her get signed. "When I write a song, I think about all the different layers that will go on top of it."

In the end, Neptune City comes across as a restoration project in a way, an attempt to build something new on something old. There's an acute subtlety to the art of restoration. Do it wrong and you're simply cribbing the past. Do it right and you're actually, in a profound way, carrying it forward into today. And that's what Neptune City accomplishes. It brings its past with it, carries its heart on its sleeve, and strides hopefully into a better day it can hardly imagine, but hopes will be there nonetheless.

9/18/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Birdie Busch - "Birdie Busch"

9/18/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe music of Philadelphia's Emily 'Birdie' Busch is natural. There is no pretense, nothing forced or processed - just delicate, beautiful melodies and deceptively simple lyrics that resonate deeply upon further discovery. Inspired by writers like Paul Simon, Gillian Welch and Neil Young, there is a distinct jubilance to her writing that is informed with a sweet sorrow, creating a musical balance that is at once comfortable, familiar and still unique.

In 2006, the Village Voice said of her acclaimed debut, "The Ways We Try is one of the slyest neo-folky records in recent memory, its blues loopy and eccentric, and its simple melodies often as inspired as say, Syd Barrett's." That unique sound has elicited raves from the press and created genuine anticipation for her new album. "If Birdie Busch is this good on her first, we expect greatness for #2. [vh1.com], " Busch closes by using a full rich band on the last track, concluding the freshman record the way the sophomore should begin. [CMJ]

Penny Arcade does indeed build on the promise of The Ways We Try. Again working with producer and musician Devin Greenwood (Norah Jones, Amos Lee) the two decided to record the bulk of the record in South Philly in a room in Devin's house dubbed "The Honey Jar" and then moved to Scullville Studios, NJ, once again creating another home spun sonic statement. Restored inspiration for the home locale came about on a spring trip to the Stax Museum in Memphis TN, where the influence of close knit community and collaboration conjured up real magic on the Arcade recordings.

Along with Birdie and Devin, multi-instrumentalists Todd Erk and Ross Bellenoit worked on Penny Arcade with everyone switching up and playing different instruments experimenting to find the best core groove for the song. "I loved witnessing the quality of music that comes about when people are thrown together because they are neighbors and friends, believers and musicians, all able to have this dialogue that somehow seems more intimate because of that. There's a certain feeling that is transmitted in making use of all that. I'm conscious of wanting to make meaningful work with the people I've come to know meaningfully.

One such standout track is "The Huff Singers (North Philly)", about a gospel-singing group Birdie met while waitressing at a gospel brunch. "Mr. Huff, who is in his eighty's, carries a Polaroid camera around and he asked me if he could take my picture and then he gave me the copy. I love to visit the group in their rehearsal space and listen to them swap old time songs and recordings, and we have made an effort to bridge the gap between cultures, and it's a real pleasure for me."

If Birdie's first album was like peaking into a quieter world of journal meanderings and short vignettes, consider Penny Arcade a musical manifesto, with declarations of forgiveness, mercy, mysticism, and beyond. Expect some pop culture references in songs like "Go Go Gadget Heart" and her interpretation of the Steve Miller Band gem, "Wild Mountain Honey". What we have on Penny Arcade are shiftier tempos, evolving sounds, a verve for songwriting and a voice that perfectly characterizes the songs. Melodies infuse and refuse to leave the brain, and words seem to resonate even more in songs like 'Clemency', which really captures the essence of her writing style and general outlook on life.

Birdie Busch weaves wonderfully upbeat arrangements with a whimsy and looseness usually honed by more experienced songwriters. Penny Arcade delivers on the promises identified in her first recordings, and will again find an audience of fans who appreciate her fascinating style, resolute honesty and refreshing sense of melody and lyric.

9/17/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Lightshines - "The Lightshines"

9/17/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfathelightshines is a solo artist based in Manchester, England. Working very much in the punk DIY ethic thelightshines absorbes influences from psychedelia, rock and roll, contemporary english folk, blues, and indian music.

9/20/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to New Motels - "New Motels"

9/20/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaNew Motels play music that is essential to the tapping of the toe. Without the toe, there would be no foot, and without the foot, there would be no walking. We've borrowed many things from those we know, but they've never asked for them back. And, even if they did, it wouldn't matter because we don't even use them anymore.

9/7/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Jena Berlin - "Jena Berlin"

9/7/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaAlthough Jena Berlin has named their sophomore full-length Quo Vadimus - Latin for "where are we going?" - the Philadelphia, P.A. quintet seems less concerned with the final destination than with the unpredictable, uncharted process of actually getting there. After all, it's always been the lessons learned and the connections made during the journey that has validated this fiery post-hardcore band's unshakeable core of DIY values. Regardless of all the trials and tribulations of being independent and punk in a landscape increasingly preoccupied with scene politics, commercialism and the glossy shell that surrounds it, Jena Berlin has persevered and Quo Vadimus is another impressive chapter in their compelling history.

When Jena Berlin formed nearly four years ago, their mission was simple: music should be openly shared with the masses - an exchange of ideas, if you will - and together we can build something based on friendship and camaraderie.not cut-throat competition or the superficial musical hierarchy that follows. If it sounds like something vaguely socialist, that's because it is: Jena and Berlin are the two cities in Germany where Karl Marx attended college. The name is a reminder that art - and even living and surviving on your art - should be about substance and meaning; not about surface appearance or hype. Doing so makes for a stagnant, gridlocked scene, severing the lines of communication and thus making it impossible to foster a proactive community of likeminded music supporters.

Thankfully, Quo Vadimus is anything but stagnant. Beside subject matter which traverses everything from social change to personal evolution, there's a volatile storm brewing beneath the album's eleven angular songs. It's a relentless whirlwind of dynamic, dueling guitars. It's an unstoppable hurricane-force rhythm section.the backbone which bends and twists, but never breaks. It's Jon Loudon's erupting, exploding and always heart-stopping vocals, singing an earnest narrative by which it's impossible not to be captivated. It's all of this, plus an intangible feeling of cohesion between members, as if each part of the song could not exist or thrive without the others. Symbiotic relationships like this not only allow Jena Berlin to feed off one another but to grow and develop within themselves as well.

Jena Berlin have always cited bands like Boy Sets Fire, At The Drive-in and Texas Is The Reason as a touchstone for their sound: impetuous, youthful and with a fire in the gut, but open to revolutionary ideas and the notion that change can be positive. Their 2005 debut Passion Waits as the Program Keeps Going captured a hungry, enthusiastic band igniting a spark that would find them lighting stages ablaze across the U.S. While they were borrowing equally from Dischord and Midwestern scenes of the early 90's, the band was also injecting a new-school punk sound and hardcore aesthetic into their music and live performances.

Let's not forget though, it's all about the journey: the victories and defeats of being on the road for six months a year, not to mention cultivating new friendships which propel Jena Berlin forward while simultaneously providing the insight to reflect on that time. Although the band remains as incendiary and urgent as ever, Quo Vadimus benefits from maturation and a sense of purpose that only experience can bring. Jena Berlin still might not know where exactly they'll end up, they're happy to hang on tight for one hell of a ride.

8/19/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Asteroid No.4 - "The Asteroid No.4"

8/19/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaFollowing up The Asteroid #4's latest album "An Amazing Dream," the A4 has compiled and remastered the best of the singles and b-sides released on 7" and compilations throughout the years 1997-2007.

8/19/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Asteroid No.4 - "The Asteroid No.4"

8/19/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe Asteroid #4 have added Ryan Carlson and Aislynn Hackett of the group Sunsplit, in which Scott, Adam and Eric Asteroid also backup in their live show. It's family -- and a new sound is being born from the collaboration. Recorded in the same huge reverb sound of previous A4 releases, My Love and Going Down begin a new era for the A4, and will be the start of the new record, slated to be available by March or April of 2008.

8/19/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Ulrich Schnauss - "Ulrich Schnauss"

8/19/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaUlrich Schnauss was born in northern Germany fishing port Kiel in 1977, during his formative years he grew a love for a broad spectrum of music ranging from my bloody valentine to tangerine dream, chapterhouse to early bleep & breakbeat tracks. There was not much opportunity to see some of his musical heroes in Kiel, so the inevitable pull of the big city meant a move to Berlin in 1996.

By which time Ulrich's musical output had already become prolific with a variety of pseudonyms (most notably View to the Future and Ethereal 77) veering from ambient to drum and bass via electronica. These earlier works were soon, catching the eye of Berlin electronica label CCO who took up the story.

It came a bit of a regular thing, those anonymous packages sent to us from Berlin with a single CDR, a biro scrawl revealing at closer inspection the simple stamp 'Ethereal 77'. Ulrich had been making music for years, producing, touring, piecing together that BIG sound. And yet each of these CDR instalments revealed something a little more personal.

Soon these submissions to CCO developed into Ulrichs first album under his own name entitled Far away Trains Passing By which as it slowly seeped into peoples consciousness became an electronic classic. Listeners were taken with the lush instrumentation and the emotion of the elegant, simple and beautiful music.

Yet nothing was to prepare his growing army of supporters for this next record A Strangely Isolated Place which slowly came together during 2001 into a record that really showed some of Ulrichs youthful indie influences. His debut album under his real name established his pedigree as an outstanding electronic composer, but somehow he managed to take it further by developing his interest in songwriting for electronic music, born of his love for such giants of the independent world as My Bloody Valentines Kevin Shields and Cocteau Twins Robin Guthrie. From this humble conception, comes forth a record of surprisingly rare emotional power.

A Strangely Isolated Place has become one of those extraordinary and rare occurrences; a genuinely word-of-mouth record slowly growing in stature by virtue of its over-riding ability to deliver more than the usual arid and academic treatises on the state of the synthesizer, or solipsistic bedsit meanderings.

When youve worked with computers and keyboards for a number of years, they become not so fascinating of themselves anymore. I gained in confidence after people began to discover Faraway Trains and it hasnt really stopped since then. This time I decided not to compromise on what I wanted to do, with what I thought people might want me to do.

Ulrich's third album, Goodbye, is his first for Independiente. It is also the end of a chapter in his sound. "I see these three albums as moving closer to something I wanted to do right from the beginning but didn't quite manage," he says. "Merging songwriting and indie elements with electronic music. I've tried to take all the ideas to the maximum."

So the ambient tracks are more spacious, the songs more memorable, the multi-layered, guitar-heavy tracks more ragingly psychedelic. Just listen to the obliterating rush of Medusa, or the cloudbusting dream-pop of Stars (performed by long-time collaborator Judith Beck). At times, there are over 100 different audio tracks playing simultaneously: a tower of song. No wonder Goodbye has taken three solid years of in the studio.

If Ulrich hailed from somewhere less boring, things might have been different. Fortunately, he was born in 1977 in Kiel, an unprepossessing city on Germany's Baltic coast best known for its naval base. It seemed to the young Ulrich as if everything important was happening elsewhere.

Like its predecessors, Goodbye constructs its own world, vast and vivid. When he's making music, Ulrich sees colours: one song might be red, another blue. Next time, he wants to "record an album based on more traditional electronic music structures - which could enable me to merge all these different influences beyond recognition". Meanwhile, this is the album he's been moving towards for over a decade: a sonic tour de force, an alternative reality, a life-changer.

6/12/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Bitter Bitter Weeks - "Bitter Bitter Weeks"

6/12/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaNoted indie producer and engineer Brian McTear (Matt Pond PA, Mazarin, Espers, Danielson, The A-Sides) returns with his third album as Bitter Bitter Weeks. Peace is Burning Like a River is a rock record. As Bitter Bitter Weeks has evolved from a solo project to a full band, McTear returns with his finest songs and best album. While past albums were dark and minimal, this is vast, honest, assured and, dare we say, "triumphant". It taps into McTear's work with Mazarin, as well as subtle Eno-esque beds of organ and tape echo, and the American jangle of the 1980s college underground music.

With Peace is Burning..., Bitter bitter weeks has arrived at a new era, presenting an extraordinary album of fully orchestrated memorable songs with featured guest performances by members of Mazarin, Apollo Sunshine, The A-Sides, BC Camplight, The Velvet Crush, and more. There are songs about life and death, mid-air daydreams, cold war apocalyptic fantasy, ghost dreams, hyper-awareness in the last seconds of life, friendship gone sour, apologies to future generations, and much more.

6/5/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Nova Saints - "The Nova Saints"

6/5/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe Nova Saints are a gang of five mates from Hereford, relocated to Bristol, UK where they live, sleep and rehearse under the same roof.

Driven by a shared love of golden-era Creation Records, and an unshakable belief in their collective music vision, The Nova Saints blend spaced out rock 'n' roll, psych-tinged pop, anthemic choruses and west coast harmonies.

Among their champions is The Verve's Nick McCabe who has gone on to lend his expertise in the studio as well as choosing the band's appearance at Bristol's Ashton Court festival to mark his return to the live stage, joining them for their set finale.

6/4/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Pissed Jeans - "Pissed Jeans"

6/4/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaFollowing on the heels of their monumental Don't Need Smoke to Make Myself Disappear 7", Pissed Jeans drop album number 2 and their Sub Pop debut: Hope for Men (we like to think of it in the "mankind" sense). For those who found a glimmer of the stuff on the aforementioned single (two pressings of which have sold out), the album delivers more, and in abundance. That is to say, if classic, thick-as-glue punk bombast and Aussie sludge stoke the coals of your existence, you have found, not only your new favorite band, but a reason to get up in the morning.

Since 2004 the Jeans have spent many a night playing in their hometown, no-rules hellhole, Allentown's legendary Jeff the Pigeon (RIP). Their first single, "Throbbing Organ" and album, Shallow (both on Parts Unknown) set many self-styled punk scholars' hearts a-flutter. Songs like "Ugly Twin" sent jaws floor-ward by including a plaintive piano part in a bruiser of a song. Such touches abound on Hope for Men. The album is diverse, but the Jeans ain't no dilettantes. Mixing volatility with humor is a damned hard thing to master in music. Pissed Jeans do it with smarts and poignancy. Consider the bar raised.

5/19/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Three-4-tens - "The Three-4-tens"

5/19/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaFrom Philadelphia, The Three-4-Tens new album is a textured, crystaline blend of rock, pop and pyschedlia. The lead-off track "Every Day" sounds like R.E.M on peyote buttons meets Good Earth-era Feelies. And track #2 sounds like a Doors, Echo and The Bunnymen, Happy Mondays collaboration.

ALTERNATIVE PRESS: ap recommends ...another contemporary ideal copy of '66-67' garage -psych for which we are major suckers.skillfull revisionism rarely sounds this joyous. feb 1998 (THROWBACK MOVE)

PHILA CITY PAPER: one swinging single....thre 4 tens are all about brilliant approiation,proves the band is branching out in all the right directions .it's gear man. oct16th 1998. (MAGIC TRIP-E.P.)

PITCHFORK MEDIA .COM: ...ASTOUNDINGLY,and in strict defiance of current science,it seema the THREE 4 TENS have somehow managed to produce a working flux capacitor.and in a truly devious move,they've used it to travel to 1967 and steal the master tapes to the newly completed full-length of some poor ,unsuspecting garage band.sure,thier story--that they formed in Philly in 1996 and released a seven song EP a couple of seven-inchessoon thereafter,andthat this their bona fide"debut album"--may sound convincing,but i dont buy it for a second.this stuff just sounds way too authentic. oct 12 2001 (CHANGE IS ON ITS WAY)

PHILA WEEKLY: .impossible to ignore.3 1/2 out of 4 stars. dec 13 2000 (CHANGE IS ON ITS WAY)

3/2/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Sunsplit - "Sunsplit"

3/2/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaSunsplit was born in Oakland, CA in 2004. Specificly July 11th, the night I met Aislinn at this shit hole called "The Golden Bull". Soon there after we begain dating and making music together in our home studio. Most of this material was recorded there with the exception of "Something From Nothing", "We Fall Away", and "The Warmth in Me" which were all recorded in New Lanark, Scotland at our friend Martyn's house in the winter of 2006. Over the summer of '06 Aislinn and I got married and moved to Philladelphia. Now here we are and finally have great line up which is Scott Vitt (The Asteroid #4) on guitar, Chris Mcallen (Lilys) on bass, and Adam Weaver (The Asteroid #4) on drums. We will hopefully see you soon.

Cheers,
Ryan Van Kriedt

3/1/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Red Heart The Ticker - "Red Heart The Ticker"

3/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaRed Heart the Ticker is the musical home of Robin MacArthur and Tyler Gibbons (formerly Mildew and Star.) Red Heart's first album For the Wicked was recorded in 2005 in a barn in Vermont. While recording they were living in a cabin (they built) with no running water and no plumbing. Their songs are about geography and the poetry of places. Their music was bred in isolation. It is about drinking, and blinking, and racing stripe winters. Their haunting sound, lush with harmonies, has been compared to The Innocence Mission, Will Oldham, Wilco, and Emmylou Harris. They now live in the wonderful city of Philadelphia.

2/5/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to Benjy Ferree - "Benjy Ferree"

2/5/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfa"Is this a good time? Sure it's a good time. Let me just put the lid on." Benjy Ferree leaves his dinner to simmer for an hour and tells his 32 year-old tale. It makes him think of a film, but for the moment, he can't think which one. Born in Silver Springs, Maryland, he left Prince Georges County, where he was raised, for California convinced that his passion for cinema could be turned into a career in acting. In spite or perhaps because of the fact that music had always been there -- Nick Cave, Shellac, Curtis Mayfield, Fugazi, Jimmy Scott, the Baptist hymns of his childhood -- Ferree never considered that songs might be something he might actually create. His first attempt came late. Aged 21, when he realised he couldn't afford to buy a Christmas present for his brother, he sang him one he'd prepared earlier.

Thereafter, there was no stopping him. A flood of songs followed during three years spent being "Hairy Poppins" to the three children of a famous L.A. scriptwriter. At night, he would leave the airy, salubrious confines of the house where he nannied, and return to the only rented accommodation he could afford -- an annexe adjoining the house of an eccentric landlord, who had seemingly sprung fully-formed out of a Tom Waits song. "This guy, Michael, he wore a wig which belonged to a friend who had passed away in a psychiatric ward some ten years previously. He kept wild animals, as a result of which his house smelled of ammonia the whole time. Most people would lay down mousetraps for the mice; but Michael laid down food for them. He painted collages from the 1984 Olympics -- a subject which, for some reason, seemed to obsess him."

If you had told Ferree, aged 15, that he might have gone to Hollywood and met David Lynch, he would have stayed frozen to the floor. "Twin Peaks was my teenage obsession," he confesses. In fact, Ferree got as far as overseeing playdates with Lynch's kids and those that Ferree was employed to look after. But acting began to lose its appeal and long days spent entertaining children became like BabyBio to a nascent songwriter's imagination. "I remember entire months spent singing Dylan and Beatles songs together with those kids." Occasionally, Ferree even threw his own creations into the mix to see how they went down by comparison. Watership Down inspired the brilliantly Iggy-tastic pop clatter of Dog Killers! But Ferree didn't need to be around kids to mainline the world from a child's perspective. Cock an ear to several of the other nine songs on Leaving The Nest (In The Countryside, Hollywood Sign) and you'll see that Ferree shares with Daniel Johnston (another hero) a purity of heart that, in most other souls, disappears with the news that Santa Claus is just, like, this made-up old guy with a long white beard.

Until his adolescence, Ferree continued to worship another made-up old guy with long white beard. Those Baptist hymns were a soundtrack to his earliest years and, you can hear as much on the magic worked by Ferree on his arrangement of Johnny Cash's A Little At A Time. Childhood ghosts are also awakened on You Were Here -- a simple song which pays respects to lives already lived on the very soil where we now get to take our turn. Listening to The Desert and Leaving The Nest (It's A Long Way Down), Ferree's sepia sketches evoke a young Ray Davies -- as, indeed, does the careworn half-smile with which he seems to impart them.

As befits the untutored erudition of an autodidact, Ferree's fascination with history produced another standout on Leaving The Nest. The woozy waltz-time chamber pop of Private Honeymoon was, he explains, inspired by the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Monticello slave Sally Hemings -- which was said to have yielded six children.

In 2000, after three years of childminding -- and a spell at Starbucks in Hollywood serving Jay Leno, Gwen Stefani and Big Mike from Goodfellas ("Nice guy -- always asked for two ice cubes in his red eye" [a regular cup of coffee with extra shot of espresso in it]) Ferree returned to the homestead. To quote another of his heroes, Marlon Brando he coulda been a contender -- now he became a bartender at a Washington DC joint called Aroma. He continues to work there, but for how long, who knows? The songs just keep coming, and word of mouth has its own magnetic force.

"The gigs are getting further and further," he enthuses. Then, suddenly, he stops dead in his tracks. It turns out that he's remembered the film that had been nagging away at his subconscious. "You like Truffaut?" he chimes. "You know that film, The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cent Coups)? For some reason, I related to that kid, Antoine Doinel, so much. And at the very end, after his parents turn his back on him and he runs away to the ocean shore, you see the word, 'FIN' come up. It's the end of the story, but it's also a beginning." Somehow, an hour has elapsed. Benjy Ferree lifts the lid. His dinner is ready now. And so are you.

12/21/2006 12:00:00 AM Listen to Dave Burrell - "Dave Burrell"

12/21/2006 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaDave Burrell has long been recognized as an important pianist among the most astute jazz fans. Best known for his contributions to the music of Archie Shepp, David Murray, Pharaoh Sanders, and others, Burrell has finally positioned himself as one of the pre-eminent bandleaders in jazz. After a long hiatus from recording, Dave Burrell returned in 2004 with the album Expansion (High Two). His new trio recording, Momentum, is his best and most assured album to date.

Fronting a new, more dyanmic trio, featuring bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Guillermo E. Brown, Burrell shows a brave and complex new vision for jazz – one that respects precedents while forging a new path, all without falling into the traps of wandering improvisation. While Formanek and Brown lay the foundation, the pianist boldly roams in and out of the structure of his compositions, elegantly improvising on the songs' motifs. Momentum is a lesson in both vigor and restraint – a captivating achievement that is certain to impress and attract.

After going nearly 30 years without a proper studio recording as a group leader, Dave Burrell returned with a definitive recording, 2004's Expansion. Despite the long break from group recordings, Burrell was anything but inactive during that period. He worked for many years with David Murray and experiment in composing music in a variety of genres, breaking away from free jazz that established his career in the 1960s.

While Expansion captured the variety of Burrell's compositional and improvisational skills, Momentum achieves a brilliant cohesiveness.

Joined in the studio for the first time by either Formanek or Brown, Burrell plays much more inside the jazz tradition than at any point in his career. That's not to say that Burrell has compromised his innovative style, but his new working trio combines for a more eloquent and sophisticated sound.

Although Burrell is the composer and leader of the group, he is not one to monopolize the spotlight; Burrell understands the power of collaboration. He allows his bandmates to weigh in not just with solos, but allows stylistic control. Just as he let bassist William Parker and drummer Andrew Cyrille help shape the tone of Expansion, his new compatriots, both bandleaders in their own right, help define Momentum.

Fomanek, known for his longtime association with Tim Berne and his work with Joe Henderson and Fred Hersch, has added a stabilizing dimension to Burrell's music. Brown inserts a complex rhythmic dimension into Burrell's pieces. Equally influenced by jazz and electronic music, Brown is a new kind of jazz drummer. As a member of the David S. Ware quartet and some of Matthew Shipp's various ensembles, Brown established himself as a new voice behind the drums, but rarely has been as innovative as on Momentum.

Burrell composed six new compositions for Momentum. Picking up on some of the motifs from Expansion. Influenced by the continuing conflict in the Middle East and discontent in the U.S., Momentum is full of dark contemplation, but also of inspiration and promise.

Three of the pieces come from a score Burrell composed for the Oscar Micheaux silent film, Body and Soul (which starred Paul Robeson in his first film role). "Downfall," "4:30 to Atlanta" and "Broken Promise" were first performed to accompany the film in Spring 2005.

When Expansion received various accolades from such outlets as NPR, Downbeat, The Wire, Village Voice, and JazzTimes, Burrell set out to make an even better record. As a reference point, he sought out to re-tackle one of the tricky compositions from Expansion for Momentum, "Coud d'Etat." With Brown and Formanek giving the piece a deeper, smoother base, Burrell carves out the melody. The new version shows not just a new arrangement, but how Burrell continues to change, adapt, and develop – an artist still taking risks and growing forty years into his career.

12/8/2006 12:00:00 AM Listen to Various Artists - "Various Artists"

12/8/2006 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaMind Expansion enters its 11th year of making music history. owned and operated by Fuxa frontman Randall Nieman. distributed exclusively by Carrot Top Distribution (CTD). Mind Expansion was created as an outlet for Randall's own music (Fuxa and ...Unexplained Transmissions) as well as other like-minded artists and friends. Mind Expansion has released records by artists such as: AMETHYST ROOM, AMP, ARBOL, AZUSA PLANE, BARDO POND, CHILDRENS ICE CREAM, DEAN WAREHAM AND BRITTA PHILLIPS, ELEVATOR, FIBREFORMS, FLOWCHART, FREELOVEBABIES, FUXA, GETAWAY CRUISER, GRAVITY WAX, IMAJINARY FRIENDS, KID YAHTZEE, KIM FOWLEY, LANDING, LANDIS, LARGE NUMBER, LSD AND THE SEARCH FOR GOD, MAGNETOPHONE, MARKUS, MAZARIN, MS. BLISS, MOOG MONDAY, ORANGE CAKE MIX, OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY, OWL EYE, PAIK, PAPER, PIANO MAGIC, MARTIN REV, SIX CLIPS, SONIC BOOM, SPACEMEN 3, SPACE MONKEYS, SPRING REVERBS, TEENAGE FILMSTARS, THE TELESCOPES, TELEVISE, TEX LA HOMA, TRANSIENT WAVES, ...UNEXPLAINED TRANSMISSIONS, UNISEX, UNKNOWN CELEBRITIES, VENTURE LIFT, WATERWHEEL AND WINDY AND CARL.

11/28/2006 12:00:00 AM Listen to Cynthia G. Mason - "Cynthia G. Mason"

11/28/2006 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaIntimacy and honesty are what draw people to Cynthia G. Mason. The Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter has the rare ability to bring listeners inside her emotions. For nearly 10 years, Mason has earned acclaim and fans through a series of self-released recordings. On Quitter's Claim, Mason makes her songs widely available for the first time with a national release.

Mason's voice is best compared to Suzanne Vega and Chan Marshall of Cat Power, but her voice is more than just her vocal intonations. She also has a distinct voice as a writer, crafting elegant, engaging ballads of regret, guilt, and longing. Her songs -- always dark and unhurried -- are marked by opposition. She is open, but guarded; honest, but mysterious; bitter, but reassuring; calm, but unsettled; restless, but complacent. Her songs are quiet ruminations that somehow resonate loudly.

Her first set of new songs in five years, the tracks on Quitter's Claim are raw and delicate. Backed only by sparse acoustic guitar, Mason allows nothing to distract from her assured voice and cathartic lyrics. The result is a collection of songs that appear cold and dark, but reveal themselves to be warm and permeating.

Depending on your frame of reference, Quitter's Claim marks either a departure or return to form for Mason. After experimenting with a backing band and elaborate production for her self-titled, self-released 2001 recording, Quitter's Claim brings her back to her roots with a stripped-down, raw production style that presents her songs with utmost immediacy.

While the recording style may alternate, there are elements of Cynthia's music that are moving in one direction. Most essentially, Cynthia's lyrics have entered a new level of sophistication and superiority. Her songs have always been raw and revelatory, commanding and engaging, poignant and intrepid, but the 10 songs that make up Quitter's Claim advance her style in a huge leap that was worth the wait.

While the arrangements of her previous record were well-suited, her first-person songs are even more engaging in first-person singular. Cynthia is joined by just one other musician on the album, guitarist and longtime accompanist Larry D. Brown, who makes music under the Grey Reverend moniker. The sparse arrangements and the intentional room ambience of the recordings give the album a perfectly balanced level of distance and warmth. Having just two guitars and vocals might seem monotonous, but Mason does an excellent job with Brown, who produced the recordings, to vary the proceedings. First of which, is that even though the overall tempo of Mason's songs is always slow, she and Brown do an excellent job of varying the underlying guitar tempo in each song. There is also a certain subtlety as to how the duo augment the base material. On a number of tracks, Brown sneaks a delicate harmonica into sections of songs; rather than playing for the course of an entire song, he instead uses the harmonica for sporadic texture. Backing vocals by Brown and Mason (overdubbed) along with other subtle touches give the album an incredible amount of depth.

The songs that comprise Quitter's Claim developed over the past five years. Most of the songs are ones that Mason has been playing live for almost that long. The time away from recording has given those songs time to grow, develop, and evolve into the perfect paintings that they truly are.

While Quitter's Claim presents an artist who has been growing a devoted fan base and developing her craft for ten years, in many ways the album also presents a new artist who deserves to be recognized as a fresh voice with a remarkable talent as both a writer and perfomer.

Listen to My Best Fiend - "My Best Fiend"

asdfasdafsdfaThe thing about NYC's My Best Fiend is that they have tremendous stage presence. They've got the jumping around thing down cold. You know how some bands, when they rock out, just look like they're chickens running around with their heads cut off? That's not this band. It's hard to juggle hops and tambourine clashes in one fluid motion, but they pull off the polyrhythmic feat admirably. But My Best Fiend are more than just show... they can bring it, too.

I guess think of them as a more rock 'n' roll version of The Rapture. Granted, this comparison is mostly due the similar falsetto and warbled vocals, but you can hear it if you try. But they shouldn't be pigeon-holed as one of "those" NYC bands. They cite the Zombies, Spiritualized, Neil Young, and Aphex Twin as influences and their sound clearly shows these eclectic tastes. All in all, a solid unsigned band. ( via ohMyRockness.com - thank you! )

Listen to Ty Cobb - "Ty Cobb"

asdfasdafsdfaFirst things first: The members of Ty Cobb aren't baseball enthusiasts. Nor are Paul and Ryan Cobb as notoriously dangerous as the Philadelphia Athletics player who shares their band's moniker. The Philly duo just thought the name sounded right when they heard it.

"We were in a bar and we were playing one of those trivia touch screen games," says Paul. "And the question came up that asked 'Who was the only player to beat up a fan with their own crutch?' It was Ty Cobb. And we just laughed. We thought that it sounded like a good, strong American name. But don't worry; we don't beat people with crutches."

It should be no surprise that the duo's name came about over a couple of beers. Even though their sound is reminiscent of boundary-pushing alternative guitar bands such as Guided by Voices, the Pixies and The Flaming Lips, Paul and Ryan's creative process is a relaxed one. You can see it in how the partnership was forged, and in their latest project, a delectable four-track EP "7y Co66."

The first release on the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's imprint label Abstract Dragon, "7y Co66" showcases the duo's ability to craft alluring melodies and intriguing guitarwork that discerning music fans can't resist. NME has already embraced the two, hailing the EP as "utterly lovable." And they're smart to do so. Because from the playful pop of "Wondering" to the painfully beautiful, piano-based "When You Smile," Paul and Ryan prove that they can do plenty good with the use of a four-track, a good tune and something to say.

The two met over ten years ago through a girl -- Paul's sister, to be exact -- the singer of a grunge rock band. Ryan and Paul played guitars in her band, but began creating music on the side that didn't quite fit into the group's rock sound.

"We just put everything on that machine," says Ryan. They began recording their songs on a four-track in Paul's basement, just to see what would happen. Neither had sung before, but the process was a fluid one. "We were writing a lot of tunes and just kept cranking them out. It was very easy. We felt that something good was brewing."

They also learned a thing or two about songwriting. Again, they went with their collective gut and let things flow naturally.

"Some lyrics might not plug into an entire song, but they might tell their own little story," explains Paul. "There are just those lines that come up when you're writing a song that you just can't get rid of. That happens a lot in our music."

The prolific duo quickly had recorded enough to make a few albums. They took the best of it and self-released the 20-track "Trophies for Lovemaking" with the songs as-is, in their raw four-track state. It's a wide-ranging achievement recalling The Velvet Underground, Americana road tunes, Beatles-esque pop and much more. A homespun, grainy quality binds the songs together. And that's just the way the guys like it.

"Most bands record to a four-track and then record songs for real. But we kept those initial takes. We just liked the way they sounded. You can't go back and make the stupid little sounds that the four-track made," says Paul. "Besides, we were writing so much, we didn't have time to go back and re-record songs."

Paul and Ryan equally share vocal duties and both play whatever instruments are needed -- from guitars to drums to keyboards to piano. They record what happens, and worry about being able to play it live later. The unrestrained process allows for moments of great inspiration, musical insight and experimentation. This open nature has also allowed Ty Cobb to become a pure musical partnership, able to expand and stretch utilizing both musicians' array of talents. And it leads to an interesting by-product: The creators can actually enjoy their own music.

"I'll play our CD all of the time, because I like to hear it," says Ryan. "It's not always me singing, so it's almost like listening to another band."

Critical acclaim of "Trophies" quickly had the two sharing the stage with hipsters such as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Strokes, Free Heat and Apples in Stereo. To keep up, Ty Cobb expands into a five piece rock band for its live sets, adding even more range and dynamics to the music the Ryan and Paul create at home.

Mutual admiration and friendships developed among groups. And when members of BRMC got hold of a copy of "Trophies for Lovemaking," they quickly found themselves addicted to it.

"We got slipped a CDR by Ryan Cobb after a show they opened for us and The Strokes in Philly," recalls BRMC's Rob Turner. "It was one of those CDRs that wouldn't read right, but we finally figured out how to get past the first four, visible songs and found there were 20 on the disc, all great. We didn't listen to much else on the road after that. So we wanted to help give them a chance to get their music out there."

Beyond supporting the release of "7y Co66," BRMC also took the band on a UK tour in December 2002. Since Ryan and Paul couldn't take all five members of the band overseas, the two played to their biggest crowds - sometimes nearly 1600 people a night -- backed by their trusty four-track. Again, fans and press flipped out and NME called the shows "the coolest tour of 2002."

With a start like that, who knows what the future will bring.

Also Available:
Sing the Deathcapades, 7y Co66

Listen to Ty Cobb - "Ty Cobb"

Listen to Future Pigeon - "Future Pigeon"

asdfasdafsdfaBy way of Los Angeles, California, Future Pigeon are an eight piece Punk/Dub outfit with a live sound operator. They draw upon elements of Dub-Reggae, Psychedelic Rock, Afro-Beat, and Death Disco. Taking the experimental slant of Lee Perry and Can, and fusing it with the Punk sensibilities of The Clash to create a sound all their own, the Pigeon is not content to emulate, but innovate.

The year 2000 saw the self-release of their first CD, "Golden State of Dub". Following up with a 7" on Rhystop and a 10" on Dim Mak, the band is now releasing their second full length album on Record Collection, "The Echodelic Sounds of Future Pigeon".

With this album Future Pigeon truly pushes the envelope of it's sound. Dubbing harder, heavier and meaner than ever before. Enlisting the help of such Reggae luminaries as Rankin' Joe and Mikey Dread (who's work with the Clash is the stuff of legend) they gave birth to an album the likes of which the world has never seen.

Listen to Simon Dawes - "Simon Dawes"

asdfasdafsdfaSimon Dawes is a band… named after no one. Though they’re mostly just creaking into being twenty-one (bassist Wylie Gelber is barely 18), you could play their new record Carnivore for anyone and tell the most insane lies about it: reissue of some lost rock artifact, unknown bootleg side project containing a member of Traffic, Pavement and The Kinks - and they would all be believed. The young men in Simon Dawes are scholars and hard workers, taking a musicologists rock diet and making it alive in relevant in ways it hasn't been for millions of years.

Guitarist Blake Mills and singer/guitarist Taylor Goldsmith are a viciously precocious songwriting combo -- Davies brothers from different mothers — while Wylie Gelber and Stuart Johnson form a rhythm section as unlikely and unheard of as Rick Danko and Keith Moon. For Carnivore, they took forty-some songs they'd demoed on one mic in Johnson's house and tenderly bled them down to a tight fifteen. Five days of studio sessions couldn't match the energy of what were originally intending as practice tracks recorded at producer Tony Berg's house, so most of Carnivore is actually a happily haphazard set of wild live rehearsals. "For most of the record, we didn't realize we were making a record," says Mills. But it turned out to be the perfect circumstance for a debut full-length that not only doesn't lose the early fuzzy lo-fi lovability that got Simon Dawes the infamous “Black-Flag-plays-the-Beatles” comparison but amplifies it into an album that says as much for that beautiful stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway as The Kinks did for Waterloo Station.

It's a record that matches the ramshackle power of Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers (an album Mills admires for its deliberately fucked-up feel: "I think every band should exercise that right," he says.) to ambitiously sophisticated indie-pop warhorses like Spoon or Pavement. Goldsmith has generations of musical heroes in his head alongside writers like Henry Miller, whose uncompromising self-analysis inspires some of Simon Dawes' above-their-age lyricism on songs like "All Her Crooked Ways" or "Salute The Institution". "There's a bravado that can be found in every song, but at the same time, it's underlined with this sort of self-effacement," he says. "You can't tell if we’re making fun of ourselves or if we actually mean it—which is kind of nice.”

It's all in the details with these guys; songs put together so carefully that new pieces keep swimming to the top with every listen. There’s an anything-goes feel and a dedication to the unexpected that puts dots of harmonica or fuzz guitar or handclaps or chant-along choruses or everything you'd never think to include on just about every single song. "If it works, don't argue with it," says Mills.

They're doing a million things at once and they aren't falling down on any one of them. And they're still tiny babies in the dinosaur scheme of things too—the boy geniuses of a new Los Angeles. Live, they are a machine beyond their years— with the kind of heartfelt professionalism that almost died out when rock bands started demanding deli trays. You'd think every band around them would just surrender in shame...

1/28/2010 9:38:57 AM Listen to The Cobbs - "The Cobbs"

1/28/2010 9:38:57 AM

asdfasdafsdfaGreetings from Philadelphia. My name is Ryan Cobb. Here's the story...years back, my brother Paul Cobb and I wrote a shit load of songs, recorded it, and called it Ty Cobb after the ruthless and sometime violent baseball player. Humming with the hiss of some cheap recording equipment, Paul and I compiled a 20 track record entitled TROPHIES FOR LOVEMAKING! on our own Mad Action Records imprint. That record gained much critical acclaim and fans such as Jim Read of Jesus and Mary Chain and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Following "Trophies,Ó our pals BRMC released our follow-up EP entitled "7y c066" on their Abstract Dragon imprint. Again, we received rave reviews in the British music press resulting in shows and tours with BRMC, Kasabian, The Strokes, The Pretty Things, Babyshambles, The Liars, The Warlocks, Freeheat, Longwave, Fiery Furnaces, The Blueskins, and The Open.

Unfortunately, the Ty Cobb estate then came a knockin' and attempted to sue us for using the name. From that moment forward, we called ourselves Mad Action. We immediately released 18 songs spread out between the two EPÕS entitled TEAC ATTACK and JUST LIKE FRESH AIR (LOOG/POLYDOR records). Following the two EP'S, we then released our 2nd full-length record entitled AND BEGIN. After sharing the stage with Modest Mouse and Super Furry Animals at the READING/LEEDS FESTIVAL, Paul and I then came home to our recording studio to engineer and mix a few songs on the latest Black Rebel Motorcycle Club record entitled HOWL. On that note, Paul and I are currently recording various artists such as Gildon Works, Bottom of the Hudson, The Nooses, Mainline, Pepper's Ghost, War on Drugs, and Rio Vouga.

Throughout 2006, Paul and I spent a good part of the year playing guitar and drums in the band Mazarin. In support of the record WE'RE ALREADY THERE (I&Ear/Bella Union), we played shows and toured the US with The Walkmen, Rouge Wave, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, etc. A UK/European tour followed.

Between Mazarin tours, Paul and I took every opportunity to record the songs for our bands new record. After locking ourselves in our basement studio for a few months, we have resurfaced with a new record entitled SING THE DEATHCAPADES, a new name, and three new bandmates. Chris Coello on drums, Maxwell Lee on Bass, and Ryan Smith on guitar & keys.The 5 of us are THE COBBS.

See You Soon,
THE COBBS

Also Available:
Trophies for Lovemaking!, 7y Co66

Listen to Relay - "Relay"

asdfasdafsdfaAnyone who knows something about the process of recording music understands there's often a fine line between the producer and the produced. (The recent un-Phil Spector-ed Let It Be is a perfect example.) Northern Liberties' Jeff Zeigler has been a studio engineer for the past five years, recording bands like the Swirlies, Aspera, the Last Wave and S Prcss out of his own home. His own pet project of the past few years, Relay, in many ways reflects a sonic sensibility garnered from endless hours of tracking and tweaking. The band spins out carefully crafted dark pop--taut yet spacey, noisy yet melodic. Humming bass, shuffly drums, glitchy keyboards and dissonant pedal-treated guitar all melt together into an iridescent sheet of sonorous reduction, and you can still tap your foot to it. Over the past year Relay has gone from a bedroom four-track project (well, okay, a 24-track project) to a full-fledged band, with new contributors bringing a single-track vision to a multitrack reality.

Also available:
Type Void EP

Listen to Mahogany - "Mahogany"

asdfasdafsdfaMahogany, now an octet, (one band member for every letter in MAHOGANY) have finished "Connectivity!", their second album. It has been five years since the last Mahogany full length, 'The Dream of a Modern Day.' During this time the group wrote and recorded in many different studios and spaces. In the fall of 2005 the Simultaneous Workshop, Mahogany's studio, was broken into and most of their equipment as well as a portion of the recording was stolen. Yet Mahogany, undaunted and optimistic, will release "Connectivity!" this fall with burgeoning West Coast indie Darla Records (My Morning Jacket, Manual, Piano Magic).

"Connectivity!" is music that dovetails thoughts and ideas on architecture, city planning, travel, space, appropriate technology, sustainable energy, transportation, the rural landscape, sex and eroticism, clothing, pattern, color and light. It is an album about every emotion one can hold. "Connectivity!" is the group's most fecund, evocative and delicately complex work yet, employing every instrument, voice and magic black box within Mahogany's own subterranean New York studio. It is a densely arranged, dynamic record made unique by Mahogany's massively celestial, guitar-driven sound. "Connectivity!" is also, quite possibly, the loudest record ever made.

The group is forever honored that legendary Cocteau Twin Robin Guthrie produced and performed on a handful of the tracks on "Connectivity!", one of which features vocals sung by Lucy Belle, Robin's daughter with Elizabeth Frasier.

"Connectivity!" will be available as a 2xCD with extra features, and also as a limited letterpress LP.

Listeners can pre-order their copy "Connectivity!" and also find Mahogany's first full-length CD "the Dream Of A Modern Day" and the 2xCD "Memory Column: Early Works & Rarities MCMXCVI-MMIV" at Darla Records.

Following the release of "Connectivity!", Clairecords will release a limited edition 12-inch with Mahogany remixes by Dave P (Making Time, Fixed) and Ulrich Schnauss (Domino Records).

Listen to Stellarscope - "Stellarscope"

asdfasdafsdfaOver the course of a decade and several releases, Stellarscope has developed a sound architecture that is constantly evolving. Formed in the mid-90's, by guitarist/vocalist Tommy Lugo, Stellarscope have the rare ability to combine quality space-pop and sonic-ly charged experimentation.

Influenced by music ranging from classic rock, jam bands, progressive rock, punk rock, psychedelic rock to shoegaze, modern rock, and alternative; they have an innate ability to create textured soundscapes that border on the psychedelic with emphasis in songwriting and expansion.

Unlike most bands of the genre, Stellarscope relies heavily on straight ahead vocal conviction, giving the songs a sense of grounded-ness when the chaos of sound ensues. They have consistently played the East Coast of the USA & Canada for many years now, honing they’re live, bliss-out sounds, astonishing performances made of massive walls of sound, and has released several full-lengths, EPs, and they have also participate in various world wide compilations and tribute albums. Bob Forman joined Stellarscope in 1998 and has been consistent member through-out the years. He brings the element of progressiveness and power to the sound. Pete Cohlert joined the band in the winter of 2004 bringing with him a fresh approach to music creation, beautiful bass-lines, and an excellent groove oriented vibe.

Living Under the Radar is their newest effort and it takes the band into new era of sound exploration and songwriting, featuring the song Insdie Out, which receieved an Honorable Mention by the Billboard two years in a row for Songwriting.

The rest will soon be history...

Listen to Yo La Tengo - "Yo La Tengo"

asdfasdafsdfaIra Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew sound like no other band. This is not because they're contrarians, but because they're artists. I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass has everything that ever made Yo La Tengo great, but elevated to new heights, from the remarkable orchestral chamber piece "Black Flowers" to the garage-punk rave-up "Watch Out For Me Ronnie." If there's one constant about Yo La Tengo, it's that this famously restless band continues to broaden its horizons.

I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass is an album that delights in being an album. This is no mere loud followed by soft merry-go-round, but a subtle parade. Bookended by very different but equally intense ten-minute-plus guitar epics, the set has dramatic arcs that don't all build in expected ways. After a dense thicket of forest they may find a clearing, stop for a picnic, but then fall asleep, dreaming away as day turns to night. A violin (played by David Mansfield, of Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue) threads its way through the heartbreakingly fragile "I Feel Like Going Home," mirroring the longing in Georgia's vocal, after which "Mr. Tough" struts in on a funky piano riff, with Ira and James singing in falsetto about the transformative power of music.

As much as the full album experience is about the big picture, Yo La Tengo are aware of the small moments. In fact, it is the slivers that make the band so hard to describe: The ambient static in the haunting instrumental "Daphnia"; Georgia's dramatic reading of the vaguely "Autumn Sweater"-esque "The Room Got Heavy"; the way the drums, bass, and tambourine turn themselves inside-out in the intro of "Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind".

The band's quest for musical release is inextricably tied to a sense of community. It's suffused with the hope borne of realizing that if music can transcend the fractious or mundane realities of life, then we can and must rise above the troubles that divide us (see "Mr Tough"). They embody these ideas in dealings with fellow musicians, and have worked with an incredibly diverse range of artists, from Jad Fair to Ray Davies. Their week of Hanukkah shows at Maxwell's has become an annual Hoboken tradition and raised tens of thousands for local charities, as scores of guests take the stage, stepping into a community forged around the gentle yet sturdy triumvirate that is Yo La Tengo. Similarly, the band's Swing State Tour in fall 2004 encapsulated much of what the band is about, involving tons of friends, a wild array of songs, a radically-different three-hour set each night, and political motivation with little to no actual politics at the shows except by implication.

It's been said that while Yo La Tengo is not a jazz combo, they think like jazz musicians, and indeed their penchant for surprise stretches beyond their well-documented work with free-jazz ensembles Other Dimensions In Music and the Sun Ra Arkestra. Their annual covers-by-request WFMU fundraiser gets a huge audience and lots of laughs (and a CD compilation released earlier this year as Yo La Tengo Is Murdering The Classics), but is also a shocking display of improvisational skill (and ridiculously encyclopedic knowledge of pop history). In July 2004, they performed at the Anthology Film Archives in NYC, improvising a soundtrack to a live light show by artists Joshua White and Gary Panter, which led to their using a Panter painting as the cover of I Am Not Afraid.

Clearly, Yo La Tengo act like no other band either. Since their last record, Summer Sun, they've also scored four films ("Junebug," "Game 6," "Old Joy," and the forthcoming "Shortbus") and turned what could have been an inspired one-off - their score to the experimental underwater films of Jean Painleve - into a well-received CD release and frequent repeat performance. They recorded the Simpsons theme for one episode, and played on the recent Gilmore Girls finale. Anderson Cooper loves 'em.

As a trio, Yo La Tengo are a complex engine, but they're a completely natural one, tearing through the underbrush like a fully focused prehistoric creature. As much as spontaneity is built into the construction of their sonic world, everything is considered. From whispered ballads to punkish verve, from intricate arrangements to the heady allure of happenstance, Yo La Tengo - as their name suggests -have it all. They manage the near impossible of satisfying both their quest for the loving embrace of their unshakable musical character, and the tirelessness that has kept them from repeating themselves.

Whether one thinks of life as being brief or interminable, the clock is always ticking. We must be ever grateful for any endeavors which distort our sense of time. That is one of the many things that Yo La Tengo do.--David Greenberger

Listen to Relay - "Relay"

Listen to The Capitol Years - "The Capitol Years"

asdfasdafsdfaShai Halperin first introduced The Capitol Years to the music world in July 2001 with his homemade full-length release Meet Yr Acres (Full Frame Records/Poor Poor Records).

Co-produced by Thom Monahan (Devendra Banhart, Pernice Brothers, Beachwood Sparks), the self-released Meet Yr Acres spent much of 2001 innocently making its way around the globe while garnering a goldmine of critical accolades and regular comparisons to Beck, Bob Pollard, George Harrison, and Bob Dylan. All of this unexpected critical attention culminated in a spot on Magnet Magazine's "Top 10 Hidden Treasures" list.

Urged to leave the bedroom and share his music with a live audience, Halperin (aka Shai, Son of Eli) recruited Dave Wayne Daniels, Jeff Van Newkirk, Sir Kyle Lloyd and Adam Granduciel on bass, guitar and drums, respectively. Immediately, The Capitol Years sought to do away with the 'one-man band' aesthetic of Meet Yr Acres and began concentrating on new material. With collective backgrounds in noise-rock as well as Beatle-esque pop, this full-band incarnation of The Capitol Years immediately generated a buzz in Philadelphia's growing music scene. Word quickly spread about this maniacal live band whose songcraft suggested Guided By Voices as much as their performances recalled The Who.

Ready to take their show to the national level, The Capitol Years set out on a series of U.S. tours, sharing the stage with bands as diverse as The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Rooney, The Kills, The Lilys, Daniel Johnston, Crooked Fingers, and Beachwood Sparks. A two-week tour of the UK with The Mooney Suzuki followed, allowing the band to spread the buzz overseas.

Continued touring and television appearances, as well as a handpicked opening slot for The Pixies' first show in 12 years, have helped generate a significant buzz for one of Philadelphia's best bands. In September 2006, Park the Van Records will release "Dance Away the Terror", the most realized collection of songs that the band has ever recorded. This new record is a return to the home studio, fully encapsulating both the lo-fi studio nerds and the roaring, high-flying and harmonizing rock and roll band; the end result - a hybrid which is certain to stand the test of tastes and time.

Listen to National Eye - "National Eye"

asdfasdafsdfaIn this bio, you will learn some helpful facts about Philadelphia music group NATIONAL EYE. Of course, the only really important thing to know is that it's five guys (Will Baggott, Gianmarco Cilli, Doug Kirby, Rick Flom and Jeff Love) pulling music from out of themselves that seeks to describe and deepen the Mystery Of Life (which is really a murder mystery, since everybody dies). That's the short of it, and here's the long:

They met at school in Colorado in the LATE NINETIES where they basically learned to play music with and from one another. Many recordings were made -- hiss-soaked, hobbling mood-bursts that provided the framework for what they would eventually do when National Eye began nebulously taking shape several years later. After college, they packed up for Philadelphia to continue to make music together. It took a few years, but eventually they began to unwittingly forge a method and a style that would take full advantage of the members' disparate tastes and abilities. Five guys met at the center of the Eye -- and recorded a bunch of great songs.

The result of these endeavors, The Meter Glows appeared in 2003 -- which is essentially the birth of the band caught on tape, in the sense that before these songs started to coalesce in their headphone universe, there was no "National Eye" (strictly speaking). The album contained 13 tracks of a startling variety, but all with a pathological devotion to sonic texture and emotional impact. New York label Feel Records recognized its power (or its weirdness) (or its vast commercial potential) and released the album, despite the band's utter lack of live experience or reputation. Good move.

Now that there was this document (The Meter Glows), the band set out into the world and began attempting to present the album's loping aural alleys on the stages of Philadelphia's lovely rock venues. As they were figuring this out, they met some truly momentous musicians who had very much in common with our National Eye -- despite the fact that none of them sounded anything like National Eye (or each other). But what the band found in those early, heady days was something they'd never really felt before -- a calibrated explosion of bands and artists who saw what the Eye was doing, supported it, and were trying to do something just as great. This is an important part of the National Eye story if only because of the band's spirit of ego-less collaboration (who's the FRONT MAN? they're routinely asked) and they thrive on a sense of constant creative activity among diverse weirdos.

The band played and toured and strove and struggled and meanwhile started recording another album, again at home (though mostly in a different home). When they finished tracking, they once again took the album to genius Thom Monahan (Pernice Brothers, Silver Jews, Devendra Barnhart) for mixing. Just as he had done on The Meter Glows, he took the beautiful mess of the raw Eye, broke it down and built it up again to make it a beautiful non-mess. Or a less messy mess. The point is, the guy's contribution is hugely significant.

This brings us to National Eye's ambitious second album, Roomful of Lions: a cathedral of color noise & conversation -- fractured human history mixed with fractured human relations. Where Meter was dense, Lions is expansive, providing a grander sonic architecture for the band's songs -- themselves offering a more nuanced and ambiguous moral universe.

Subjects range from a mutinous Nazi plot to assassinate Hitler ("Abwehr"), a 15th Century saint ("Casimir"), Marvel comics ("Silver Agers"), and a childhood bully ("Lights"). No matter how far out they go, the songs are of a piece and describe a world not too dissimilar to our own, full of passion and death and birds and thieves and love and "men who casino."

Some of Philadelphia's greatest musical persons appear on Roomful of Lions -- Dr. Dog's Scott McMicken plays a fevered guitar solo on "Juno 3"; Eliza Hardy of the gorgeous Buried Beds provides vocals on "Drowned in Bed"; Chicago transplant Janet "Evil Janet" Kim brings oboe to "Juno 3;" and two of the geniuses behind Like Moving Insects, Todd Starlin and Joshua Marcus bring trumpet and vocals respectively to songs like "Lights" and "Silver Agers."

Roomful of Lions is being brought to the whole wide world by indie record label Park the Van Records, who have been raiding Philadelphia's rockroll fridge of late, also putting out music by National Eye's friends Dr. Dog and The Teeth.

Listen to Junior Boys - "Junior Boys"

asdfasdafsdfaHaving torn up the rule-book with the robotic, hypnotic blue eyed soul meets R&B of their critically acclaimed debut 'Last Exit', Junior Boys' Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus return with So This is Goodbye on Domino Records.

The former featured influences from Timbaland's hiccuping hip-hop, John Foxx's pop noir and 2-step's chirruping pitched-up vocals and deep digital bass. The songs blended rhythmic psychedelia and glacial Foxxoid electronics with a late-night voice weakened by vulnerability and longing? No-one: but the combination made an uncanny kind of sense.

So This is Goodbye sees an elevation in the scale of Junior Boys' Pop ambitions, best seen as the pioneers of a New MOR rather than another attempt at New Pop. Junior Boys' songs have always had more in common with the likes of - Hall and Oates, The Blue Nile, Lindsay Buckingham.

House references are everywhere: the title track bears echoes of classic Mr. Fingers, and it's not only the arpeggiated synth which drives many of the tracks that is reminiscent of Jamie Principle. So This is Goodbye is like house music if it had started in the wilds of Canada rather the clubs of Chicago.

12/20/2009 5:53:59 PM Listen to Bastet Records / Arthur Magazine - "Bastet Records / Arthur Magazine"

12/20/2009 5:53:59 PM

asdfasdafsdfaTo commemorate the second annual Plastic Crimewave-curated, Galactic Zoo Dossier/Arthur-presented Million Tongues festival at the Empty Bottle in Chicago, occurring this year on two stages from November 3-6, Arthur's Bastet imprint will be releasing 2 Million Tongues, spotlighting work by artists performing at the festival.

Listen to Various Artists - "Various Artists"

asdfasdafsdfaA benefit album curated by Josephine Foster.

The title is a line from a poem by the great Apollinaire, who died from wounds he sustained while serving in World War I.

"All profits from sales of this compilation will be distributed to specific counter-military recruitment and pacifist organizations and programs. We hope to assist them in their efforts promoting peace and non-militarism in the United States.

"All of the musicians represented here are US citizens. Our voices join with many others across this land that freely question and openly oppose war." --Josephine Foster.

Apollo Audio is also participating in the distribution of all profits to the same organizations and programs noted above, with the sale of MP3s from the Apollo Audio website of this release.

Listen to Bastet Records / Arthur Magazine - "Bastet Records / Arthur Magazine"

asdfasdafsdfaThirteen gnarly tunes gathered from high and low by Ethan Miller of Comets On Fire. For lovers of bloody nose street folk, dangerous shit rock, drunken cosmic slop and those wandering down the outer and under paths alone. Each sleeve silk-screened and bound by loving hand. Liner notes by Miller. Limited edition of 500.

Listen to Bastet Records / Arthur Magazine - "Bastet Records / Arthur Magazine"

asdfasdafsdfaThe Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival (Sounds for the People Festival) presents Liberation music to audiences in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Liberation music is inspired by freedom of expression, improvisation, and sonic exploration and appeals to music aficionados world wide. Liberation music is comprised of an eclectic collection of genres which includes but is not limited to free jazz, noise, electronica, turntable art, soundscapes, experimental rock, electronica, musique actuelle and spoken word. Given the context in which much of this music is made and the reaction it provokes, it is also music that resonates with progressive social movements. The festival presents both established musicians who bring a wealth of tradition, experience and history to their playing as well as younger, emerging artists.

Arthur's Bastet imprint has released The Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival CD, spotlighting work by artists performing at the festival.

Listen to Plastic Little - "Plastic Little"

asdfasdafsdfaPlastik Lital, Plastique Likul, Plazdick Lidel, or quite plainly Plastic Little, is a hip hop group that has been performing at various music venues and art galleries on the east coast of the United States since the summer of 2001. Hailing from Philadelphia, Plastic Little is a blend of party hip hop and dancey broke pop beats courtesy of producer Michael 'SQUID' Stern and MC's Jon Folmar (aka Jon Thousand), Jayson Musson (aka PackofRats), and Kurt Hunte (aka No Body's Child aka NBC). Plastic Little has shared the stage with M.I.A., Bun-B of UGK, Diplo, Spankrock, Hollertronix, Blockhead, and Chromeo as well as Philadelphia's own Need New Body and Man-Man.

2005 saw the release of Plastic Little's Thug Paradise EP on the fledgling label aNYthing Records run by downtown Manhattan's A-Ron Bondaroff. Thug Paradise received critical acclaim from Vice Magazine (10 out of 10), The Fader, Beautiful/Decay Magazine, Anthem Magazine, URB (Next 100 of 2005), Made Magazine, and Opulent Magazine. On their sophomore project, Plastic Little has enlisted the talents the legendary Ghostface Killah, friend and producer Diplo, party monster emcee Spankrock, and indie femme emcee Amanda Blank to contribute to the album. She's Mature also features remixes and beat production by MF Doom/Viktor Vaughn producer King Honey, who executive produced the album. Graphic artist and Plastic Little super-fan ESPO art directed the project which inaugurates a series of artist/musician collaborations through Philly's artist collective Space 1026 - the album features a loving reenactment of the cover for This Charming Man by The Smiths, authentically captured by coverboy and IRAK graff legend EARSNOT.

8/19/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Asteroid No.4 - "The Asteroid No.4"

8/19/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaIntroducing... may have represented Asteroid No. 4's trip into druggy space rock, but its sophomore release is the band's ode to '60s garage. The "Psychedelphia" quintet's rock is stripped down from its effects-laden guitars, drawing from the likes of the Kinks, Nick Drake, and the Who. Several tracks, such as the upbeat "Monday Morning Gloom," are closer to traditional rock & roll, while "Poor Man's Falls" avoids electric guitar altogether, opting for flute-assisted folk. Of course, there are still psychedelic elements in the band's agenda (perhaps encouraged by the production of the Lilys' Kurt Heasley). These constants come in the form of gleeful harmonies, Byrds-esque guitars, and Mellotron. Surely enough to fulfill the needs of the psychedelia enthusiast. (allmusic.com, Kenyon Hopkin)

Other albums available from the Asteroid #4 here on Apollo Audio: Introducing..., An Amazing Dream

1/6/2008 7:42:04 PM Listen to The Asteroid No.4 - "The Asteroid No.4"

1/6/2008 7:42:04 PM

asdfasdafsdfaOn the Asteroid #4's self-titled debut album, released on their own label, Lounge Records, the foursome combines elements of acoustic folk, droning rock, and middle-eastern tinges with a heavy dose of psychedelia to create an uncommonly original and innovative space-rock album for the latter 1990s. Natives of Philadelphia (or "Psychedelphia" as they refer to it), the Asteroid #4 keeps the ratio even between instrumentals and songs with vocals. The album is consistent throughout, with no glaring weak areas, and many strong points. The instrumentals "Underbelly of a Mushroom" and "Visitation Rights" are psychedelic excursions into hypnosis, with the bass and drums providing a solid foundation from which delay and reverb-laden guitar, keyboard, and sampler lines emanate and swirl. On "The Admiral's Address," the vocals seem to float above the electric guitar, while on "What a Sorry Way to Go," and "Honey Bee" sitar lines add further dimension to the compositions. The guitar work throughout the entire album is wonderful in that it never takes forefront in the song. Everything that is done by the guitar, and the other instruments for that matter, contributes to the song as a whole. Much of the beauty of this album is a result of its subtlety. More rewards are discovered upon each listen, and look for the Asteroid #4 to take us further into space as the year 2000 passes. (Jason Kane, All Music Guide).

Other albums available from the Asteroid #4 here on Apollo Audio: An Amazing Dream, King Richard's Collectibles

Listen to The War On Drugs - "The War On Drugs"

asdfasdafsdfaThe War on Drugs is Adam Granduciel, Kurt Vile, Kyle Lloyd, Shai Halperin, Angela Fleegle and Dave Hartley. They live in Philadelphia.

Barrel of Batteries is a collection of Granduciel's home recorded songs and noise drips from the last year. Always more on the way...

Feel the gears loosening on this antique carnival ride.

1/27/2010 7:57:03 PM Listen to Joshua Marcus - "Joshua Marcus"

1/27/2010 7:57:03 PM

asdfasdafsdfaThere is urgency in my music. I sing honest compositions about the extraordinary circumstances inherent in everyday living. I perform with all of the energy I can muster, as if each were my best or my last. I understand that listeners invest a great deal of time and effort in coming to hear my music and it is my goal to reciprocate an offering full of life and vitality. I appreciate your time and hope my intentions meet yours.

Philadelphia's Joshua Marcus has been writing and releasing music of great subtlety and strength for over five years. As one of the founders of Like Moving Insects and Fan of Friends, Joshua's songwriting is powerful and astonishingly honest, evoking beauty from life's many juxtapositions

Although song themes and arrangements are often diverse, Joshua's vocal delivery earnestly beckons the audience to engage in the performance with him. His attention to lyrics and acoustic instrumentation- including plucked banjo and finger picked guitar- remain at the forefront of Joshua's creative instinct.

In 2006, Joshua Marcus releases 'make/ believe' a new full-length solo recording featuring duet compositions for the banjo and upright bass. Two east coast tours have already accompanied this release.

'make/ believe' is the second album of Joshua's solo endeavors. To date, he has also released one full-length and one EP with Like Moving Insects and two live recordings with Fan of Friends. Joshua Marcus has performed over two-hundred shows in the United States, sharing the stage with Okkervil River, Shearwater, Mike Wexler, Buried Beds and others, and appeared live on radio stations such as WPRB in Princeton, NJ and WXPN in Philadelphia, PA, as well as NPR's All Songs Considered 'open mic 'section.

'Marcus remembers what it was like before excessive irony made curmudgeons of us all. He remembers that the littlest things -- the sound of thunder approaching, the plaintive plucking of a banjo, and of course, the country-informed whine of his versatile voice -- can stop us dead in our tracks. Gorgeous stuff.'-- Doug Wallen, Philadelphia Weekly

Listen to Midlake - "Midlake"

asdfasdafsdfa"The Trials of Van Occupanther is now one of the most important modern records I own. In an age of overly-used irony and disconnected nonchalance, this record actually means something, and Midlake should be forever hailed for their unique and genuine approach to music. Simply put,Van Occupanther has backbone, and the fact that you don't feel cheated by it gives one hope that sincerity can still exist within modern alternative music." - Jason Lee, star of My Name is Earl (and Midlake Cohort)

Every once in a while, a band comes along that undoubtedly evokes something special. You don't know what the elusive ingredient is, but you are certain that they belong set apart from amongst the crowd of musical peers in which they lay. You quickly find yourself coming to the foregone conclusion that such a band's music is to be revered and will remain relevant for some time to come. Midlake not only embodies this idealism in the hearts of many already, but with the introduction of their forthcoming album, 'The Trials of Van Occupanther', they are making it a reality. Midlake formed in the small, quirky Texas town of Denton. There, the five diligent musicians toiled to create a sound that was both pleasing and of their own. They were soon discovered by Bella Union Records owner/Cocteau Twins bassist, Simon Raymonde. Simon fell deeply in love with the band, and together they began to cultivate a relationship focused on sharing Midlake's music with the world. The band worked continuously day and night to create what would become their debut album, a work of incredible vision, talent, dedication and eccentricity: 'Bamnan and Slivercork'.

Released in June of 2004, 'Bamnan and Slivercork' became a instant favorite of critics and fans worldwide. After a series of touring stints, both domestic and abroad, Midlake rapidly found themselves embraced by a much larger fan base than ever before. One notable member of this fan base is skateboarding legend turned actor, Jason Lee (My Name is Earl, Mallrats, Almost Famous, etc.). Jason joined forces with Midlake as a huge supporter, promoter, and collaborator, even directing and filming a video for their single, 'Balloon Maker'. In June of last year, Midlake appeared with Jason on 'The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson' where they were received with an overflow of wonderful reviews.

Midlake then retreated home to begin work on their next musical venture. With a desire to reach deeper within and accomplish something even stronger than before, Midlake's determined efforts produced 'The Trials of Van Occupanther'. Tim Smith, Singer/Songwriter for Midlake says, "Compared to Bamnan and Slivercork, this album uses less keyboards in favor of acoustic guitar, piano, more vocals and electric guitar. The sound is something more related to 70's folk rock but not in a gimmicky way, hopefully. I have a great affinity for those bands from the 70's, the music just seems to move me more. So when writing this album of course those sounds came out in the music." With the album slated for a June 2006 release, critics worldwide are already touting them as a 2006 "Band to Watch". Midlake will indeed further the rapidly growing momentum by delivering an album that is sure to merit such high expectations.

Listen to Peaches - "Peaches"

asdfasdafsdfaPeaches is a phenomena; the self-made, self-produced, do-it-yourself leader of the electro punk movement and high priestess of the original dirty lyrical classic (check 'Fuck The Pain Away' and 'Shake Yer Dix' for confirmation). Unique with her minimal pumping beats and loved by true innovators as diverse as Deborah Harry, Iggy Pop, Bjork, Josh Homme, Lil Kim, Kelis, 2 Many DJs, M.I.A. and LCD Soundsystem not to mention the entire fashion and art world. Her live shows are legendary - a one-woman Kiss concert that has left the pop world in awe!

So where exactly does she go, after Teaches of Peaches and Fatherfucker, for album number three? Where Teaches was about the self and Fatherfucker was about blurring the lines and asking questions about yourself, ImPeach My Bush is an album for the masses, a social album - to challenge, educate and encourage. ImPeach My Bush - the title obviously refers to getting rid of 'him in the Whitehouse' as one interpretation, but in the Peaches way of questioning power structures through the medium of sex, it also says if you don't get Peaches by now, censor her pussy.

She hasn't cleaned up her act with her new release, ImPeach My Bush, you'll be heartened to hear. Look no further than 'Two Guys For Every Girl', the first song of its kind. After hearing five hundred songs about guys and their fantasy of two women, Peaches, aided and abetted by Beth Ditto from The Gossip on chorus vocals, turns that on its head, "I wanna see you do your little nasty brother."

'Tent In Your Pants' has the choice lyric of "the tent's so big in your pants, gonna bring my friends for a dance", 'Downtown' may describe a visit to the lower half of a women using urban imagery and 'Rock The Shocker' is wholly dedicated to an alternative method of pleasing your woman using the "shocker" hand gesture ("thumbs up, fingers out, pull back, pull back") - a new alternative to the metal horns, flicking the bird and East/West coast Hip Hop hands. 'Stick It To The Pimp' and 'Fuck Or Kill' are pretty self-explanatory but it's not all about sex. 'Slippery Dick', for example, is far less obvious then you first might think; as she says, "It's just a fish in the Atlantic".

A massive record, ImPeach My Bush is pure Peaches and as ambitious as ever. 'Hit It Hard' and 'Do Ya' push things up a level, both are crossover rock / electro bangers and both further cement her as an untouchable force. Similarly, the break out single, 'Boys Wanna Be Her', is a charged electro AC/DC powerhouse about a girl rocker whom everyone wants. Yet another banger.

Peaches has stepped up the production by co-producing the record with Mickey Petralia (Beck, Saul Williams, John Cale, Ladytron, Moving Units, Dandy Warhols, Eels) and Greg Kurstin (who toured with Beck for years and was once locked down with Marlon Brando as his piano player, albeit only for a month), who was enlisted to recreate the MC909 on original Moogs and other synths. Peaches was so impressed with him that they wound up collaborating in the studio and the outcome was 'Downtown' and 'Tent In Your Pants'.

ImPeach My Bush was recorded at Jeff Pecaro's (the drummer from Toto, no less) self-built studio in LA (which came complete with studio, luxurious house and heated outdoor swimming pool). The guests who dropped by to party and play on the record include Joan Jett, who's featured on vocals and guitar on the raw rock of 'You Love It', Josh Homme and Feist, who both appear on 'Give 'Er' (a Canadian saying meaning to give it all you got). Also using the facilities were Darlin' Dave Catching and Brian "Big Hands" O'Conner (Eagles of Death Metal) who both appear on 'You Love It'.

The last two albums were made almost solely with the MC505 box. This time Peaches turns up her soundgasm using original analogue gear such as Moogs, original drum machines (such as 808s and synths), the 'rock' songs are fully realised, more live drums, more Les Paul Gibson guitars and more Marshall amps. All of which will prepare you for the new live Peaches.

Samantha Maloney (Hole, Courtney Love band, Motley Crue, Eagles of Death Metal) who lent her live drumming for some album tracks ('Give 'er, 'Do Ya', 'You Love It'), has also signed on to play drums as one quarter of Peaches' new live band. The line-up is completed by ex-Courtney Love guitarist Radio Sloan and JD Samson from Le Tigre on keytar and sequencing. This marks the first band Peaches has ever toured with and with this all-girl onslaught, the Peaches live experience will be even more of a sheer rock 'n roll free for all - if that's possible. The first live shows kick off this summer in the States with Nine Inch Nails and Bauhaus, followed by a full North American headlining tour with Eagles of Death Metal as main support. Then Peaches crosses the Atlantic to tour the UK and Europe, lifting off with the Carling Reading/Leeds Weekend.

Peaches might well be back but a question remains, are you ready for the next level? She certainly is.

Listen to Thom Yorke - "Thom Yorke"

asdfasdafsdfaThom Yorke releases his album The Eraser July 11 on XL Recordings.

The Eraser features nine new Thom Yorke tracks and was produced by Nigel Godrich.

8/19/2007 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Asteroid No.4 - "The Asteroid No.4"

8/19/2007 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe official release date of the CD version of this release is September 5, 2006 on Rainbow Quartz Records. You are listening to a pre-release, which is available for purchase for 8$ as an mp3 download from Apollo Audio. With the purchase you will also receive a bonus track "What Do I Really Want To Do" - the B-Side to the limited edition 7" single for "Here We Go".

The Asteroid No. 4 are from Philadelphia and began in the late 1990's with a series of singles, compilations and a debut full length dubbed "Introducing the Asteroid No.4". The album was compared to all things psychedelic from Pink Floyd to early Verve. In 2000, the band began experimenting with a stripped down aesthetic. They explored abandoning what was best associated with their sound, effected guitars. Looking to the mid-60's folkrock and British Invasion artists for inspiration, they created the "Apple Street" EP. After touring with fellow Philadelphians, the Lilys, they enlisted the greatest retro-revivalist in the land. Kurt Healsey produced the EP and it's corresponding full length, "King Richard's Collectibles", on the then recently signed to, Rainbow Quartz label from New York. After several national jaunts in '02-'04, including tours with the BrianJonestownMassacre and the Sights that stretched to the West Coast and Canada, the A4 yearned to continue their quest towards the roots of what influences the music they love, psychedelia. They went on to release the late 60's-early 70's countryrock tinged "Honeyspot" on Turquoise Mountain, an imprint specifically created by RaibowQuartz's Jim McGary as a home to the band's rootsy, Gram Parsons(Cosmic American Music) obsessed excursion.

Now, a few years on, the band celebrates their 10th year in existence with a new record. "An Amazing Dream", again backed by RQTZ, is slated to be released in early summer, 2006. It promises to evoke all of the group's previous recordings, specifically the psychedelic and spacerock ambitions they are best known for. This is number 4 for the number 4 and agian, a new course. Only this time it's slightly more familiar.

Other albums available from the Asteroid #4 here on Apollo Audio: Introducing..., King Richard's Collectibles

Listen to Mojave 3 - "Mojave 3"

asdfasdafsdfaMojave 3 arose from the ashes of Slowdive in 1994. Rachel Goswell, Neil Halstead and Ian McCutcheon decided that while distorted, ambient soundscapes were fun, they'd made three albums worth of them, and it was time for a change of course - for simple songs that could be written and played on an acoustic guitar. The newly-named trio recorded a hushed and magical collection of demos which swiftly brought them a new home (4AD) and subsequently emerged almost unaltered as their first album, Ask Me Tomorrow.

The band had expanded their ranks by the time that they came to make Out Of Tune a couple of years later - Alan Forrester signed up, complete with Hammond C3 organ, as had Simon "Rosie" Rowe (from the recently-deceased Chapterhouse) who was enlisted primarily to contribute rootsy, Robbie Robertson-inspired guitar lines. When asked to describe the difference between their first and second albums, Halstead responded, with characteristic self-deprecating humour, that they had pushed their sound on "from slow country to mid- slow tempo country-rock...right on!" In fact, Out Of Tune was a collection of slow-burning classics and gemlike songwriting - tracks from that era, like "Give What You Take" and "Some Kinda Angel", remain much-loved cornerstones of the Mojave live experience.

Having paid their dues on the road in America and elsewhere, the band regrouped at the end of 1999 to make a third album. Financial constraints too tangled to go into here meant that Excuses for Travellers - eventually released in May 2000 - was made on a shoestring, but this had very little impact on the rich quality of the material. Mojave 3 stretched out luxuriously, offering languid, bewitching melancholia like "My Life In Art" and "In Love With A View" alongside the deceptively jaunty single"Return To Sender". Their reward was a continued expansion of their fanbase, and the band toured once again in front of the warm audiences of their American spiritual home.

Mojave 3 took a back seat during 2002 as Neil concentrated on a wonderful solo record called Sleeping On Roads - a collection of songs which allowed him to explore both slightly more experimental areas - the motorik pulse of "See You On Rooftops", for example - and the intimate lyrical concerns of "Two Stones In My Pocket" and "Martha's Mantra". Halstead described the record as Bert Jansch recorded by Spiritualized, which isn't a million miles away.This impulse to experiment may have left a permanent legacy - certainly, when the next Mojave 3 album appeared, it was something of a departure for the band. Spoon And Rafter was mostly recorded in the band's own studio located "in a field smelling of cow-shit" just outside Newquay, Cornwall, and the band responded to the lack of pressure on studio time by making some of their most ambitious and kaleidoscopic music. The scene was set by the opening track "Bluebird Of Happiness", all nine glorious minutes of it - Spoon And Rafter is an album composed and recorded in widescreen technicolour. While songs like "Billoddity" and "Starlite #1" were as melodically memorable as anything else the band had recorded, they were characterised by a luxurious sense of space and lavish attention to detail in the arrangements - analogue synthesisers, acoustic guitars and pedal steel all arriving in warm, affirmative layers. "Battle Of The Broken Hearts", a multifaceted epic lurking at the heart of the album, only confirmed its gentle but thoroughgoing ambition.
The following year - 2004 - saw Rachel Goswell join Neil on the solo trail with Waves Are Universal. The record was a quiet triumph, majoring on organic, natural atmospheres and simple, folky melodies; it was stunningly beautiful and widely acclaimed. Ian has also been making productive use of his downtime, forming his own band, The Loose Salute; a debut album is currently in the works.

Which brings us to the band's fifth album Puzzles Likes You, set for release in summer 2006. Once again, it sees the band moving on - this time in a slightly unexpected direction.

Because, as Neil suggested in a recent interview with Pitchfork, the songs that make up the record are more immediate - poppy, even - than anything he and the band have written before. Puzzles Like You is filled with the life-affirming light of Mojave 3's Cornish base - splashed with sunlight and the heady sparkle of summertime waves. The songs - taking their cue from the soaring lead-off single "Breaking The Ice" - fizz past, brimming with renewed confidence.This effervescent poise is all the more impressive given that the album had a somewhat troubled genesis - its first incarnation was fully completed when a horde of mice decided to infest the studio, running amok among the band's equipment and making a general nuisance of themselves. This created technical mayhem and caused considerable delays as well. Fortunately, an angel was waiting in the wings in the shape of Victor Van Vugt (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Beth Orton, Luna, Athlete) who stepped into the breach, took the recordings to his New York City studio, and completed a set of wonderful mixes in short order.

As a result, the melodic lilt of tracks like "Puzzles Like You", "Running With Your Eyes Closed" and "Big Star Baby" shines sweetly through, while the wistful introspection of "Most Days" and "You Said It Before" is redeemed by warm tones and the deftest of sonic placement.

All of which means that Puzzles Like You is the most approachable, infectious and downright fun record that Mojave 3 have ever made - a fact reflected in the exuberant artwork supplied by artist / film director Thomas Campbell (whose film Sprout majored on Mojave and Halstead music) and the marvellously quirky video for "Breaking The Ice" directed by Bradley Beesley (Flaming Lips). It seems set, like all of its predecessors, to bring the band a wider audience - and when people fall under the spell of Mojave 3's subtle and gorgeous music, they tend to stick around.

Listen to Adam Arcuragi - "Adam Arcuragi"

asdfasdafsdfaAs many of this era's best singer/songwriters to take cover behind band name aliases (i.e. Palace, Songs: Ohia, Iron & Wine, Bright Eyes), it's become more of statement when a songwriter sets out with his real name. For Adam Arcuragi, hiding behind an alias would contradict the nature of his songs - distinct epics that are simultaneously personal, sensitive, intense, and subtle. Arcuragi's debut full-length is an introduction to a bright new lyricist who combines the icy-melancholy of Red House Painters or Mark Lanegan, with the classic Americanism of Tom Petty or Bob Dylan, the sincerity of Elliott Smith or Damien Jurado, and the sophisticated use of words typical of the Mountain Goats or Neutral Milk Hotel. His unique form of free-flowing, introspective lyrics and compelling harmonies are certain to win fans from appreciators of bands like My Morning Jacket and the Shins.

Adam Arcuragi is a 26-year-old prizewinning poet and playwright who began seriously writing songs about five years ago. Despite having written and recorded dozens of songs, only five have had proper releases: four appeared on the split EP Opening Acts and Other Surprises (Father Records) with fellow Philadelphians, Audible, and a preview demo version of “The Song the Sinner Sings” (from Adam Arcuragi ) was featured on last year's Urban Outfitters/Filter Magazine tsunami relief compilation, alongside rare tracks from Interpol, Death Cab for Cutie, Franz Ferdinand and others.

Recorded in fits and starts over the past three years, Adam Arcuragi is the proper debut equal to his talent. The album's eleven tracks show a songwriter who has the uncanny ability to convey deep emotion through intelligent, poetic lyrics. His songs show an adventurous writer, rich with honesty, vulnerability, and sensitivity. Adam Arcuragi features contributions from members of Audible, Mazarin, Bitter Bitter Weeks, National Eye, Matt Pond PA, the Rachel's, the Trouble With Sweeney, and Ink & Dagger.

Listen to The Favorite Sons - "The Favorite Sons"

asdfasdafsdfaNYC's Favourite Sons formed in the cold months of 2004 and played their first shows in the warm months of 2005 after crafting a number of songs from Ken Griffin's deep creative pockets. Ken spent the second part of the 90s in Rollerskate Skinny while the other Sons released albums as Aspera. Two of the Sons first self-recorded demos, "No One Ever Dies Young" and "Pistols & Girls", ended up as their debut 7" on LA's GSL Records. After playing more shows through 2005, the Sons recorded a four song EP for the Loog Records and toured the UK in support of the release. Favourite Sons recently finished work on their debut album mixed by Victor Van Vugt and set for release on Vice Recordings September 2006.

2/4/2008 12:00:00 AM Listen to Like A Fox - "Like A Fox"

2/4/2008 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThere is a place within modern music where a foundation of rock-solid songwriting can be married to progressive Technicolor production, resulting in both satisfaction for the soul and brilliant sonic candy for the ears. Like A Fox have crafted a debut batch of songs that deliver on that promising union.

Songwriter Jay Laughlin and engineer Dave Grubb spent the 1990's developing their vision in the critically acclaimed Philadephia/New Jersey area noise-pop band Lenola, releasing numerous full lengths and amassing an international word-of-mouth following for their unique sound that proved Pop music could be seriously damaged, yet retain it's infectious hooks & charms. Following Lenola's demise in late 2002, Laughlin soon began work on new compositions that pushed harder into some of the 'Electronic-meets-Rock' directions that latter period Lenola had only hinted at. A full ensemble was put together in 2004 to perform these songs live before proper recording commenced.

This lineup includes Jay Laughlin on guitars & vocals, Dave Grubb on guitars, keyboards and backing vocals, Jeff Scioli on guitars, keyboards and backing vocals and most recently drummer Pete Girgenti & bassist Brian Wilkinson (from Philadelphia's Grand Fabric).

After allowing Laughlin's new batch of music to evolve in a group setting, recording began in early 2005 for their debut full length. There is an astonishing balance between the delicate acoustic textures and crushing choruses of these songs. The vocals float and soar while effected keyboards & buzzsaw electric guitars guide the songs along a happily disorienting ride, all above the pulse of rhythms both man and machine-made. It is apparent that the development of these recordings was a labor of love with fine attention to aural detail, yet the songs themselves are of a classic form that could have been brought to life anytime in the last four decades.

It is this adherence to song tradition while also sounding like it is being beamed back to you from the future, covered in beautiful static & gloss, that confirms Like A Fox as a unique and forward looking group. Enjoy the songs.

Listen to Espers - "Espers"

asdfasdafsdfaSix friends compose Espers, now a result of the collected ideals felt in the kinship those bodies share with one and other. The force made its initial presence in 2003 and evolved further into current form as years and music passed, the message of the first three travelling to divine twins. Together they create a sound that strives to commicate the collective viewpoints of the individuals, map new footpaths and add to the continuum of communal and passed-down music. The Philadelphia group has shared stages and collaborated with Clive Palmer, Michael Hurley, Devendra Banhart, Vetiver, Bridget St. John, The Incredible String Band and many, many more kindred folks breathing in this world. Drag City, Wichita, Time Lag and Locust Music.

Listen to Spank Rock - "Spank Rock"

asdfasdafsdfaDespite the incredible creativity of hip hop, its ability to throw up new styles, to morph and reinvent itself, it's not every day that something genuinely fresh drops in front of you. Welcome, then, to 'YoYoYoYoYo,' the debut album from Spank Rock. Drawing on the music of their hometown, Baltimore, Spank Rock make something genuinely unlike any record you've heard before. Of course there are antecedents - Missy's first album, 2Live Crew, the Beastie Boys and Dizzee Rascal all spring to mind - but 'YoYoYoYoYo' demands to be approached on its own terms.

Opening with white label smash 'Backyard Betty' (the story of an 'ass-shaking competition champ'), producer XXXchange lays out his stall early with ear-pummelling bass hits, a beat assembled from percussion garbage and a sinuous, catchy little melody seemingly played on a calculator. Over it Naeem Juwan aka MC Spank Rock lays out the funny, stinky little story of Betty and her many suitors in an instantly likeable, nasal drawl that has drawn comparisons with Q-Tip (only with more sex rhymes). This, though, is just the start. 'What It Look Like' is built around random violin plucking and fabulous boasting ('My tongue is a drum/My mind's a machine'). 'IMC' ups the pace and the lyrical complexity on the album's most xperimental piece, complete with drum programming that sounds like Mo Tucker playing bloco beats on kettle drums made from mountains and ending with the battle cry, 'Your sound is dead'. 'Rick Rubin,' a tribute/boast track takes the bearded zenmeister as its inspiration and turns into a dirty, catchy robot-latino number that's as addictive as weird sex. 'Touch Me' is cavernous abstract eroto-rhyming, 'Bump'early eighties frat house booty music reconfigured as an epic No Wave stomper (it also features the foul-mouthed contribution of Philly rapstress Amanda Blank). 'Sweet Talk' is the rawest, dirtiest funk tune you've heard since James Brown was in his classic period, resolving into sweet lofi soul, a truly breathtaking, brutal and beautiful musical moment, featuring sopmetime backing singers the Typical Girls. 'Chilly Will' builds slowly into a pure Club cut-up that's as clever and catchy as it is offbeat, a theme taken to yet another level on 'Top Billin' From Far Left'. 'Coke & Wet' slows things down onto a string-laden, more traditional hip hop beat over which MC Spank Rock once again shows just what a fine MC he is, mixing 'college' and 'gangsta' genres with ease and dissing 'hemp hacky-sacking motherfuckers' with the easy assurance born of pure star quality. 'Competition' takes the album towards its end on a darker note, a battle rap of immediate power over swooping cello, electronic pulses and disembodied offbeat guitar chops, which MC Spank Rock himself describes as 'a triumphant warrior song'. 'Screwville USA'acts as an extended outro, Juwan's tenor slowed down into a baritone, the strings and flutes giving you a final chance to draw breath and take in what you've just listened to.

At just under forty two minutes long, Spank Rock have managed to reconfigure the musical landscape around them by being funny, catchy, clever, fearless and most of all, innovative. We firmly believe that this is a debut album that will be talked about and loved for years to come. Catch on now...

Listen to The Unfaithful Servants - "The Unfaithful Servants"

asdfasdafsdfaThe Unfaithful Servants is a new group brought together by the member's personal twists of fate.

The band, consisting of John Ziemba (guitar/vocals), Scott Vitt(guitar/vocals), Eric Harms(bass/vocals) and Adam Weaver(drums/vocals) was conceived during a one-day studio session in the Autumn of 2005. The session was set up by the latter three, all of which had played together in Philadelphia shape-shifters the Asteroid #4.

John Z. had recently fronted another Philly band, the short-lived power-trio known as Rifle Choir. Scott, Eric and Adam, all being intrigued by John's soulful singing, playing and writing style, had invited him to work on a spontaneous recording where John presented an unfinished song structure and the other three added their own flavor. The result was an organic sound that seemed to cosmically combine all four of their influences and playing styles, yet captured a sprit and originality that they had all been searching for. The day had been such a success, that all four decided to get together again to work on additional songs that continued the same process.

The new group had an instant chemistry that was made apparent by a batch of material, that to them, seemed to evoke similarities of when Dylan and the Band locked themselves away to create the Basement Tapes. A few months on, the Unfaithful Servants are now gearing up to take their show on the road, release a single and begin working on a full-length record all before spring.

The sound is that of heartfelt lyrics about love and lost wrapped in an ethereal sonic blast of atmospheric guitars weaving in and out of thumping drums and bass. The Servants are not here to serve you....but themselves.

Listen to Freelovebabies - "Freelovebabies"

asdfasdafsdfaThis ep contains five songs from the album "home improvement for condemned buildings "and one from nowhere else.

Please allow me to introduce myself...I am a man of no wealth and dubious taste. My name is William B Carruthers. I played bass on four spacemen 3 records, the first spiritualized lp and the first spectrum one. You may be pleased to hear that I have now almost completely recovered.

Freelovebabies is the name of my band.

To be honest, calling us a band would be stretching it a bit.We are a loosely affiliated group of musical malcontents, misfits,mopers, and 100 to one outsiders. Like most bands, we hate the fucking sight of each other and we can only remain in the same room for short periods of time because the music we make is so special that all personal animosity is forgotten for the time we are making it. If we stop playing, even for a moment, our thoughts turn to violence and grudgeful behaviour.

These songs are from the second freelovebabies album.

It is called home improvement for condemned buildings.

It concerns beginnings and endings,. Dust and memory. Breakups, shakeups and makeup, ghosts and nostalgia.

You know what nostalgia is?

It's from the greek Nostos...meaning home.

I guess it's the pain that comes from yearning for home.

It concerns the strangely familiar and the last to leave.

Some very unsettling and life changing events led up to it's making. Within two years I had...traced my family, met my Mother, my Father, sisters, aunts uncles etc. etc.and learned I had a family history. Then I split up with my partner, lost my home, sold my shit, left the country,came back and....ahhh...you know what they say about looking back,

Ask Orpheus.

So...there always being music.

I made a studio in an abandoned office block in Leicester.

We were soon informed that the owners were going to knock it down and build a carpark.So...with the clock ticking...I moved in and went to work,

The imminent demolition added a little urgency to the proceedings.

I got some old friends in to help. It seemed appropriate.

Kevin Cowen is an unusually talented guitarist who has worked with, The Darkside, Tav Falco, Spectrum, and very briefly with Spiritualized. That is all he wants me to tell you about him... Mark Refoy played for Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized and currently,can be found doing occasional work for the Pet Shop Boys inbetween stints as a carer at a local hospital for the insane.. Jonny Mattock should need no introduction for the discerning and knowledgeable reader. He played for Spacemen 3, and Spiritualized, Lupine Howl, the Breeders and hundreds of other bands. He says that all he wants to do is "Play the drums ". And so he should. Adam Fernie is a talented local busker with a love for Jimi Hendrix and Django Rheinhardt. He once lived in an abandoned building that was filled with pigeons. Fiona Mcreath sings in local choirs and churches. Jon Wald lives a fabulous and glamourous life in Hollywood. He deserves it, he's from Detroit. He plays in a band called Perplexa.

Mainly it's just me,a part time odd job man, living in an abandoned building that's about to be demolished, trying to find a future in the past and coming to terms with dreams of a home that's been lost..

The MP3 download purchase offered through this player is for this 5 song EP. The CD purchase offered in this player is for the full-length CD, offered through the Freelovebabies webiste as an online purchase.

Listen to Blood Feathers - "Blood Feathers"

asdfasdafsdfaPhiladelphia winters are spitefully cold and longer than seems possible or even just. Its awfully hard to do anything at all. Yet right in the heart of those frozen doldrums Ben Dickey and Drew Mills (both lately band-bachelors and good-friends), got down to blowing on the embers of songs they had, individually and together, been incubatingfor some time. Aha. It caught: this prolific twosome favor each other so handsomely in tone, skill, presence and purpose that it was only natural to shake hands and make a band. And thus from ashes ~oh the formidable Phoenix!~ has risen Blood Feathers. Their fantastic fledgling album, curse and praise, was recorded during nine days of hibernation in a little nest of a studio tucked in the corner of an arctic warehouse in Fishtown. Hauled along by the rhythmic engine of Quentin and Mickey of Mazarin (who, by the by, produced and engineered), Feather Dickey and Feather Mills hatched a work of great balance and grace. The much anticipated curse and praise is out now on Box Theory Records (raise your glass high to this fine label digging in its heels in Philadelphia). This perennial record heralds the emergence of a band, with teeth sharp from cutting, who will strike fear in the hearts of cowards and courage in the rest of us. Their innate trust in the simple power of a song will land them on the rock roost for a good long while. Blood Feathers preen with passion alone. Pay attention...

Listen to Bound Stems - "Bound Stems"

asdfasdafsdfaBound Stems started making music together in late 2002, but they were already up in each other's business. Bobby Gallivan (guitar, vocals, lyrics), Dan Radzicki (bass, keys, vocals) and Dan Fleury (guitar) played basketball on the same team in high school. When they met Evan Sult (drums, tapes), they'd been playing together for a long while. He'd been in Harvey Danger in Seattle, but just moved to Chicago. Bobby's a high school history teacher. Fleury's a financial whiz kid. Radz is a lab scientist (no shit). Evan's an art director at a comic book publisher. Czech that out. Another voice that graced both the studio and the stage with Bound Stems for a while is Kate Gross. Newest member Janie Porche sings harmony and plays an SP606, an acoustic guitar, a keyboard or two and an electric guitar called Sweet Tones.

Three years later they present this EP, The Logic of Building the Body Plan. It was a lot of work in seclusion really - a practice space and a studio and back and forth for six months, pretty much every day. That's what made their album, Appreciation Night, such a complex, beautiful composition, full of tricky time signatures and memorable lines. Bound Stems will be releasing Appreciation Night in the summer of 2006. To celebrate, they made The Logic of Building the Body Plan, which features seven tracks, including two from the forthcoming record, three new songs and two song compositions created by Bound Stems and co-producer Tim Sandusky, with whom they recorded both releases at Chicago's Studio Ballistico.

The Logic of Building the Body Plan is an intricately arranged 26 minutes of pop music founded on secretly complicated rhythmic structures. Male vocals and female harmonies build narratives off scenes summoned by the instruments and by a library of stolen sounds that emigrated to their songs: grandmas, crafty cabbies, trains, party laughter, turnstiles, storytellers and a fieldsworth of crickets. It's approachable music. It sounds like they knocked themselves out, which they did, and it also sounds like a pleasure to dive headfirst into.

Listen to Nethers - "Nethers"

asdfasdafsdfaWashington DC's Nethers plays story-songs of doomed canaries, heiresses hiding from plagues, and parades at sea. Forming after the dissolution of their previous band, Arena Rock's Carlsonics, remaining members packed up their former-Quaker-high-school van and drove to the foothills of their adopted-home region of central Virginia. It was there that they rendezvoused with engineer/wunderkind Marshall Costan to record an LP., During a week's time, Nethers committed to tape funereal forest-marches and warm, early-evening lullabies, haunting culling songs and an orphan's lament, soundtracks of crashing waves, etc. etc. The result is In Fields We Will Lie, a beautiful, spectral album blending pop, country, and psych, carried by Nikki West's voice and shaped by undercurrents of dread and joy. Fields will be released on Sept. 27th on Philadelphia's Box Theory Records.

Listen to The Sixth Great Lake - "The Sixth Great Lake"

asdfasdafsdfaA new album of beautiful songs recorded in Brooklyn, NY by Zach Ward, Michael Barrett and Christopher Ziter. A cohesive collection of tunes, perfect for cuddling in bed with your sweetie on a rainy Sunday morning while the coffee is still brewing.Like warm caramel dripping down the side of an ice cream sundae, the songs ooze, melt and flow like sugar on snow. You've got to get a copy of this record. If you don't have a turntable, here is the reason why you should.

Originally born out of the ashes of the late Vermont group Guppyboy, The Sixth Great Lake has held many guises through an ever-evolving family of friends. This diversity produces a body of music which, though firmly rooted in American musical traditions, can transpose itself to the needs of many listeners in a given album. The band has recently emerged from the studio with a new album, Sunday Bridge. This collection, steeped in back-road roots/folk and relaxed mystery, unfolds like a diary, each song revealing a new tale of friendship, love and wallowing in the warmth of company. The Sixth Great Lake look forward to making new friends and renewing old vows.

The first record by The Sixth Great Lake Up the Country was released in the spring of 2001 (Kindercore Records). Described as a bucolic musical patchwork this album garnered critical praise in prominent pockets of the musical globe. That fall, they were invited to perform as one of the headlining groups at The Crossing Border Festival in Amsterdam, as well as live on VPRO: Amsterdam Public Radio.

The new album, Sunday Bridge is similar in style to the first record but with a much more cohesive sound throughout. The songs tap into that soul-bearing, heartwrenching feeling, both lyrically and musically, with quietly intense singing and soulful guitar playing.

Each album is numbered with an inserted playing card. There are ten different decks (blue bicyle, red bicycle, Jack Daniel', Marilyn Monroe, wild west, etc.) and the band is asking each album owner to send in their card style, suit and number, plus location and email for inclusion in a running chart page on their website http://www.sixthgreatlake.com

Press
Relaxing, refreshing, and genuine. The music is basic soft pop based around (mostly) acoustic and electric guitars. The ideas and melodies are subtle and understated... and the band leaves great open spaces in their music that make the compositions extremely effective and affecting. In our never ending search for sincerity in the world (and in the world of music in particular), it is rare indeed to find musicians playing for the right reasons.- http://www.babysue.com

The album's success lies in its ability to tap into universal emotions. It feels like a post-apocalyptic walk in the only garden that survived a nuclear holocaust. Dazzled and droll, you meander out of your underground-shelter. Giving an oblong glance left you suddenly catch a crimson gust of roses adjacent to a flaccid family of pink lilies in an otherwise barren wasteland. You sit. You smile. Happiness and tranquility seem to converge, spawning a subjectively new-sprung, delightfully restrained emotional force, and for a brief moment, as the album ends, you feel a sort of everlasting content.- http://www.splendidezine.com

This is a sleepy front porch affair featuring members of Essex Green and Ladybug Transistor. The Sixth Great Lake threads some subtle electric guitar and electric piano through their mellow, primarily acoustic-based sound, creating a bucolic musical patchwork that seems sewn together with the essence of '60s California country rock. Toss in a communal 'Big Pink' type spirit and a jug of wine and there you go. - http://www.milesofmusic.com

Listen to Honeymoon Music - "Honeymoon Music"

asdfasdafsdfaThis is a compilation from Philadelphia's new home for experimental sound, Honeymoon Music. All tracks were recorded exclusively for the release, featuring 14 projects from Phila, Portland, Oregon, and Europe. Folk + noise + inprov + songs + nonsongs = all reaching and psychic.

Each CD comes in hand-made, silk screened chipboard jacket. Original artwork. Limited edition of 500.

Listen to Nassau - "Nassau"

asdfasdafsdfaPsychedelia got hijacked by the hippies, and now we want it back. This music is not about kaleidoscopic oranges and yellows; it's about dark blues and blood reds. This is not about peace and love; it's about fever dreams and paranoia. This is not about living in the past, it's about living in Nassau. It';s a beautiful place, - a place where you think you've been before, until a creeping unfamiliarity sets in. For many years, it was a place with a population of one: Jon McCann, who kept these strange buzzing sounds and mystical melodies locked into a secret corner of his psyche while getting on with his daily business - providing the bruising backbeat for Toronto indie-rock stalwarts 13 Engines, Blurtonia and The American Flag. In 2000, he got the call to join the ultimate psych-pop playground: Guided by Voices, friends and tourmates of The American Flag who were looking for their Keith Moon. But even as Jon bashed his way around the world with GBV, the voices in his own head were ringing louder than the ones he was pounding out on the kit. After recording 2002's Universal Truths and Cycles, Jon left GBV on amicable terms and went into therapy - i.e., his home studio, where he dropped the drumsticks for guitar and spoke his mind for the first time. Over the course of the next year, he would welcome kindred spirits into the fold - brother Chris on guitar, bassist Scott Wilson, and drummer Brad Pallister - transforming Nassau from a solitary head-trip to a communal freakout.

Listen to The Voyces - "The Voyces"

asdfasdafsdfaBrian Wurschum and Laurel Hoffman's voices blend to create the unique sound that is the centerpiece of this rock band which was formed in 1999. Inspired by the likes of Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd.

11/15/2005 12:00:00 AM Listen to The Quarter After - "The Quarter After"

11/15/2005 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThe Quarter After hail from Los Angeles, although their music has more to do with San Francisco's eighties Paisley Underground in spirit than L.A.'s hyperbolic rock scene. The Quarter After offer bewitching psychedelic popsongs that bring to mind classic artists like The Kinks, The Byrds, and The Beatles, and contemporaries like The Tyde, The Green Pajamas, and Beachwood Sparks. Nationwide tour with Brian Jonestown Massacre this Summer.

'A fusion of dreamy '60's folk-pop melodies, reminiscent of the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Love, and a few lesser known Sunset Strip Bands' - ALTERNATIVE PRESS

3/5/2006 12:00:00 AM Listen to Planting Seeds Records - "Planting Seeds Records"

3/5/2006 12:00:00 AM

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10/30/2005 12:00:00 AM Listen to Ants In Japan - "Ants In Japan"

10/30/2005 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaAnts in Japan come from Philadelphia, not Japan. They play guitars, not synthesizers. They like girls, not boys. They prefer beer, not wine. However, wine is good.They like music, but they can't dance.....except the bass player Jeb. Jeb, cannot only dance, but he can build boats. Scott, Eric and Adam cannot build boats but they've played together in the Asteroid #4. Ants in Japan like melody, harmony, lots of effects, grass, the early nineties and Eno(who played synthesizer). They also like you.

10/31/2005 12:00:00 AM Listen to No Magic Man - "No Magic Man"

10/31/2005 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaWe've got the closest thing to a high fidelity release here from the confirmed kings of the under-the-counter-culture, Sunburned Hand Of The Man. No Magic Man comes courtesy of Arthur magazine's new audio imprint and it bundles a selection of some of Sunburned's most punishingly rhythmic heart-punches to date. There are pieces here that sound like Pete Cosey-era Miles cut up with Lhasa street song and stand-up stonerskits, while others make out like the logical Heavy Metal extension of Tony Williams' experiments with electricity as part of Lifetime alongside guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young. Guitarist Marc Orleans can generate kandy korn cartwheels as well as The Magic Band's Jeff Cotton and combined with Rob Thomas's bass, the two provide a steam-rolling backline that various drummers -- John Moloney, Phil Franklin -- work to bolster and undermine. Much of No Magic Man is possessed of a uniquely squelchy analog bottom end and between tracks there are some wowing cut-ups from various found sources that add a beautiful veneer of mystic shit to the already precariously dosed proceedings. -- David Keenan, The Wire (May 2005)

Finally they give us what we want... Essential to those interested in the band... Wicked funk grooves and trancey drone-outs... No Magic Man is a fitting rival for 'Jaybird,' 'Wild Animal,' and 'Headdress' as best Sunburned Hand of the Man release. Rating: 12/12 -- Jim Steed, fakejazz.com

A collection of all-new, all-weather nighttime sounds from one of the greatest tellin'-it-like-it-is, Apocalypse Later! bands around right now. No Magic Man is specifically designed for those with chronic cases of peek-a-boo, long eye and post-election stress disorder. 12 reports from the never-ending ritual running just under an hour, this is the next page in the Book of Sunburned, and it's yours!More info about Sunburned Hand of the Man at:

* the official Sunburned website

* Arthur No. 7 feature

10/31/2005 12:00:00 AM Listen to Bastet Records / Arthur Magazine - "Bastet Records / Arthur Magazine"

10/31/2005 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaThis is a compilation of underground psychedelic music by 20 artists appearing at this August's Million Tongues Festival in Chicago, as selected and sequenced by Plastic Crimewave. All are previously unreleased, unless otherwise noted.

10/15/2005 12:00:00 AM Listen to Bastet Records / Arthur Magazine - "Bastet Records / Arthur Magazine"

10/15/2005 12:00:00 AM

asdfasdafsdfaEssential. -- Mojo, September 2004

Sparkling. -- The Wire, July 2004

8.6 (out of 10): [Its] sprawling landscape presents a persuasive case for the depth of a scene that seemingly sprung up (like mushrooms) overnight. -- Pitchfork, July 8, 2004

This is a compilation of current underground folk music, as selected by Devendra Banhart. Features artwork and handlettering by Devendra on cover, back cover, sleeve, tray and the disk itself.