Pulp gave the world the song "Bad Cover Version." But seeing as I'm a sonic optimist, I'm of the belief that there's more likely than not more good cover versions floating around than bad ones. Good Cover Version celebrates the good, and leaves all that bad and ugly stuff alone. Seeing as the Buzzcocks are in town tomorrow night, it felt like a rather good time to talk about this gorgeous cover version of "Ever Fallen In Love," one of pretty much everyone's favorite Buzzcocks songs. Dynamic duo Katy Goodman (La Sera) and Greta Morgan (Springtime Carnivore) take the classic punk abruptness and turn the song into a languid, lovelorn ballad. The perfect harmonies alone are worth many a listen.
There’s a bunch of videos out there. Some of them are good. Some of them are a cut above. I like to think my picks for Video Of The Day are a cut (or two) above. New Order. Breakdancing. Together. If you ask me, that's a simple recipe for success if ever there was one. New video for "People on The High Line" features a lady (B-Gyrl Lyra) and gent (Hakim Saber) breaker, doing their rather impressive moves to the backdrop of this joyous piece of top-form New Order. Naturally, there's a bit of intrigue. The 7" picture disc comes out on vinyl on 10/21 on Mute. Preorder yours now.
"Remember that you do not have to freak out." Sage advice, though perhaps a bit of an eyebrow-raiser when the line isn't coming from a well-meaning advice-giver but being sung amidst a clamor of chaotic aural contortions. It's as if Weird Pennies (of Raleigh) is more than a little down with contradictions. And that's a good thing. "Freak Out," the song in question premiering right here, can be found on the Pennies' forthcoming EP Popular Wisdom (out October 2nd). When working on the song, singer Thomas McNeely was "trying to write a song that was based around a hypnotic rhythm and didn't rely on too many words." And "Freak Out" is just that - exhilarating and hypnotic right off the bat. Absorbing some of the sounds the band listened to at the time, the cutting riffage takes some cues from Television and The Soft Boys, while the softer, curvier synthiness is a nod to Animal Collective and (yes) Simon & Garfunkel. All in all, the EP is full of mercurial maneuvering, letting shine the band's self-proclaimed sonic ethos of planting "pop seeds into some bizarre rock soil and let the fruits rot" in all manner of ways. You'll definitely want to get your hands on this on release day, y'all.
You love going to shows. I love giving you tickets to shows. It's a match made in heaven. Read on for how you can win some tickets. I've been going to shows at the legendary 9:30 Club since I was a teenager, and have seen some of the best of the best grace that venerable stage. It is a pleasure to be offering a pair of tickets to several upcoming 9:30/IMP shows over the next few months. The ladies of Warpaint are at it again, y'all, touring the pants off latest long player Heads Up, newly released on Rough Trade. The NY Times calls the record's songs "both brooding and frisky," which pretty much means you certainly don't want to miss hearing them up close and in person. I can help you achieve your dream of seeing Warpaint live, since I happen to have a pair of tickets up for grabs to see this feisty outfit here in DC for their 10/4 show. To win, in honor of the first presidential debate tonight, give me your best campaign-ese for why you should win the tickets to the show. Email me your propaganda no later than noon on Sunday, 10/2. Winner will be notified by email. Good luck!
There’s a bunch of videos out there. Some of them are good. Some of them are a cut above. I like to think my picks for Video Of The Day are a cut (or two) above. If you think you're experiencing deja vu when checking out Get Inuit's video for "Teriyaki," it's not just your imagination. Those matching striped shirts and VW bus are the band's homage to the one and only Beach Boys. Besides the nod to the good vibrations legends, the band displays an affinity for tuneful, tongue-in-cheek jangle (not to mention hamming it up for the camera). Just brash enough, the song is a good antidote for the Sunday-night blues.
I can't actually believe it's been so long, but all the way back in 2010, when I had the pleasure of seeing them up close and in person, I said that to see Foals was "unfathomably, splendidly, amazingly glorious." I haven't seen the Oxford lads since, however I have unwavering confidence in their ability to melt faces with their fantastically powerful, full-throttle noise. As it happens, the band is popping over to the US (among other destinations) for a long string of dates. If you've never seen Foals before, do yourself a favor and go see them. If you've seen them before, do yourself another favor and see them again. And if you're in DC, stay tuned for a rather pertinent announcement. FOALS TOUR DATES 27 September | Los Angeles, CA | The Palladium 30 September | Austin, TX | ACL 1 October | Monterrey, MX | Live Out Festival 3 October | Dallas, TX | Granada 4 October | Houston, TX | White Oak Music Hall 6 October | Austin, TX | Austin City Limits Taping 7 October | Austin, TX | ACL 8 October | San Antonio, TX | Aztec Theatre 12 October | Santiago, Chile | La Cupula 14 October | Lima, Peru | CC Barranco Arena 16 October | Bogota, Columbia | Carmel Club City Hall 19 October | Sao Paolo, Brazil | Cine Joia 22 October | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Grove 25 October | Ft. Lauderdale, FL | Revolution 26 October | Tampa, FL | The Ritz Ybor 28 October | New Orleans, LA | Voodoo Festival 31 October | Philadelphia, PA | Electric Factory 1 November | Boston, MA | House of Blues 3 November | Washington, DC | Echostage 4 November | New York, NY | United Palace Theatre 5 November | New Haven, CT | College Street Music Hall 7 November | Toronto, ON | Sound Academy 9 November | Chicago, IL | Riviera Theatre
The first Saturday of the best season seems as good a time as any to plot ones weekly live music schedule, I think. Let's take a look at what's happening in the greater DC metro this week, shall we? Hot diggity! Hallelujah and then some, it's fall! My most favorite of seasons is full of goodness, from sweaters to Halloween to non-sweltering temperatures. It's also a pretty good season when it comes to bands being out there on the road. Much to be excited about in the fall, y'all. So here we go, a look at some recommended shows for the coming week. And if you happen to see an asterisk by a show, I'll be there. You should too. And as an aside, if you've got a show coming up you'd like me to consider including in my weekly calendar, just shoot me an email with "Calendar" somewhere in the subject line. Thanks y'all! MONDAY, 9/26/16 -Beaty Heart + Beach Baby (DC9) -JEFF The Brotherhood + Music Band (Black Cat) -The Del Arcos + Mimi Loco & The Drama Queens (Galaxy Hut) TUESDAY, 9/27/16 -Kid Congo Powers & The Pink Monkey Birds + Escape-ism (Comet Ping Pong) -Billy Bragg + Joe Henry (Birchmere) -The Dandy Warhols + Savoy Motel (Ram's Head Live Baltimore - worth the drive) -Ages and Ages + Cereus Bright + Wylder (DC9) WEDNESDAY, 9/28/16 -Buzzcocks + Residuels (9:30 Club - win tix!!) -Big Black Wolves + Mundy + Stonewalled (Velvet Lounge) -Big Hush + Snail Mail (Black Cat) -Elliott Moss + Yoke Lore + FLASH FREQUENCY (DC9) THURSDAY, 9/29/16 -The Suffers + Jakubi (Rock & Roll Hotel) -Luna w/ Britta Phillips (Birchmere) -The Bird & The Bee + The Sweet Hurt (Black Cat) -Matt Tarka (Gypsy Sally's) FRIDAY, 9/30/16 -Kaleo + Bishop Briggs + The Wind & The Wave (9:30 Club - SOLD OUT) -Iska Dhaaf + Aerial View + Airospace (Velvet Lounge) SATURDAY, 10/1/16 -Death Valley Girls + Cinema Hearts + Madeira + DJ Ian Svenonius (Comet Ping Pong) -The Growlers (9:30 Club) -Forlorn Strangers + Two Ton Twig (IOTA) -The Shondes + Hemlines (Black Cat) -James Blake + Moses Sumney (Lincoln Theatre - SOLD OUT) SUNDAY, 10/2/16 -Kula Shaker + The Beginner's Mynd (U Street Music Hall)* -Electric Six + In The Whale (Black Cat) -Pygmy Lush + Slow Mass + Two Inch Astronaut (Comet Ping Pong) [posted 9.24.16]
There’s a bunch of videos out there. Some of them are good. Some of them are a cut above. I like to think my picks for Video Of The Day are a cut (or two) above. It feels like a lovely, languid Saturday, so what better music to listen to than lovely, languid tunes? Such as "Feel Alright" from MV & EE. The video is so very pretty, following Mr. V and Ms. E and a dear little lass as they spend a day wandering in a glorious lakeside locale. All the while the magical meanderings of the song provide bucolic escapism. Happy Saturday, indeed.
Of all the festivals in all the world that I have yet to experience for myself, the one I most want to go to is the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, otherwise known as Liverpool Psych Fest. The braintrust behind this upstart event continually brings together some of the absolute best bands in the UK and Euro psych scenes, and the lineup is always a treat. This year is no different, and there's no shortage of bands you should check out. These are my top picks from this year's bumper crop. Liverpool Psych Fest is going down September 23 & 24. (And as an aside, fingers crossed for yours truly finally making the LPF dream come true in 2017) If you're into psychedelic, 60s pop Western-tinted Krautrock, Tau should be right up your street. This is ageless, placeless, timeless music - a wickedly strange, potent potion that's just perfect for the ears of wanderers and wonderers.
Of all the festivals in all the world that I have yet to experience for myself, the one I most want to go to is the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, otherwise known as Liverpool Psych Fest. The braintrust behind this upstart event continually brings together some of the absolute best bands in the UK and Euro psych scenes, and the lineup is always a treat. This year is no different, and there's no shortage of bands you should check out. These are my top picks from this year's bumper crop. Liverpool Psych Fest is going down September 23 & 24. (And as an aside, fingers crossed for yours truly finally making the LPF dream come true in 2017) Japanese Krautrock. That's the short version when it comes to the excellence that is Tokyo's Minami Deutsch. Fans of dark, driving, muscle riffage and a pervading sense of sonic destruction should find quite a home with this band. This is some potent stuff, y'all.
Of all the festivals in all the world that I have yet to experience for myself, the one I most want to go to is the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, otherwise known as Liverpool Psych Fest. The braintrust behind this upstart event continually brings together some of the absolute best bands in the UK and Euro psych scenes, and the lineup is always a treat. This year is no different, and there's no shortage of bands you should check out. These are my top picks from this year's bumper crop. Liverpool Psych Fest is going down September 23 & 24. (And as an aside, fingers crossed for yours truly finally making the LPF dream come true in 2017) At times coming across as sonic kin to the wonderful whirlwind that is Tame Impala, Liverpool's Pure Joy does some rather wacky things with their interpretation of psych rock. Their Merseyside psych brings together the out-there with days gone by for a quirky, good time sound. They'll be sure to get the home fires burning at this year's LPF.
Pulp gave the world the song "Bad Cover Version." But seeing as I'm a sonic optimist, I'm of the belief that there's more likely than not more good cover versions floating around than bad ones. Good Cover Version celebrates the good, and leaves all that bad and ugly stuff alone. Don't mind me, y'all. I'm just sitting here swooning like crazy over this here dreamy piece of cover goodness from Oldermost. Taking on Graham Nash's majestic piece of self-reflection "I Used to Be A King," the Philadelphians tenderly update Nash's looking glass frankness, adding languid layers of their earnest folk ramble while themselves sounding like contemporaries of their cover subject.
Of all the festivals in all the world that I have yet to experience for myself, the one I most want to go to is the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, otherwise known as Liverpool Psych Fest. The braintrust behind this upstart event continually brings together some of the absolute best bands in the UK and Euro psych scenes, and the lineup is always a treat. This year is no different, and there's no shortage of bands you should check out. These are my top picks from this year's bumper crop. Liverpool Psych Fest is going down September 23 & 24. (And as an aside, fingers crossed for yours truly finally making the LPF dream come true in 2017) If you're craving some sticky, sultry drone delirium, look no further than Bristol's Saddar Bazaar. Their luxuriantly expansive creations frequently seem to call for swirling tendrils of smoke and dimly-lit dens of sen. No doubt this here is a band that's captivating live and in person.
Of all the festivals in all the world that I have yet to experience for myself, the one I most want to go to is the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, otherwise known as Liverpool Psych Fest. The braintrust behind this upstart event continually brings together some of the absolute best bands in the UK and Euro psych scenes, and the lineup is always a treat. This year is no different, and there's no shortage of bands you should check out. These are my top picks from this year's bumper crop. Liverpool Psych Fest is going down September 23 & 24. (And as an aside, fingers crossed for yours truly finally making the LPF dream come true in 2017) The aural equivalent of that sharp intake of breath when your heart skips a beat, Edinburgh's Man of Moon is nothing if not startling. "I will burn this city down," they proclaim in "The Road," and for some reason I get the impression that sentiment could very well apply to their live show. Deliberately churning, hefty nuggets of noise, these songs are incredibly vibrant and irresistible.
