The Ruby Suns | The Barbary 3.20.08

I found myself standing in a loosely crowded room at The Barbary last night to see The Ruby Suns who are currently touring the States with Le Loup. It was another one of those all-ages shows that make me feel like an old man. This time, instead of being in a church basement surrounded by youth, I was in a familiar club, a place that is usually dancey, drunk, and loud. And to add to that, people are usually pissed off their asses (at least I am) at The Barbary, dancing and partying into the wee hours of the morning.

Last night, er, yesterday evening was a bit different. Instead of being surrounded by late night partygoers, I was surrounded by a crowd consisting of high school kids, the typical show crowd, and actual children as the evening sun poured through a glass door into the dimly lit venue. It kind of felt like I was at SXSW, CMJ or something like that, which was pretty rad, even though I’m used to being in the club at midnight instead of dinner time. It’s great that Philly has these all-ages shows, they’re something unique that I never experienced in New York, or anywhere else for that matter, with the only drawback being the lack of booze. My heart sank when upon entering The Barbary only to see the taps covered with a fire hood leaving me to decide between vitamin water and chocolate milk (kidding about the choco milk, of course, but it would have been nice!). The show ended while the night was still young and I could have easily caught another show, actually an entire bill, or stuck around The Barbary for a DJ night. These “after-work” shows are something I can get used to and certainly a unique and welcomed addition Philly’s already busy music scene.

The Ruby Suns ended their set by the time it was dark outside and frontman Ryan McPhun made a quip about how the night was still young. It was good to see him in such good spirits after a set that was plagued with technical difficulties. Getting the band set up and sound checked took a good while and throughout the show there were issues with the backing track volume, mic stands tipping over, and every time McPhun got near his mic, he received a zap on the lips. Despite issues with the sound, the trio soldiered through about half of Sea Lion, treating the crowd with their sun-struck psychedelic goodness. Since the Suns were performing as a three-piece, they used a backing track for some of the instrumentals and vocal harmonies, while all three juggled various instruments and traded off vocals. McPhun exchanged guitar for percussion and back again, while Amee Robinson swapped between guitar, bass, and keyboards, and Imogen Taylor was in charge keyboards, and the flute. Each bandmember’s ability to switch between instruments mid-song and not lose a beat was the most impressive part of their set.

The three-piece ended the show with a solid rendition of “Tane Mahuta,” serving up the best of the night and going out on a good note. The sizable crowd responded accordingly, giving the group a substantial cheer despite the sound problems. It would be great to see the band fully perform Sea Lion live, but with all the record’s intricacies it would make touring trickier and much more expensive. If Sea Lion serves as any evidence, I’m expecting the band to mature their live show and eventually flesh it out to include supporting members and instrumentation.

The Ruby Suns play The Mercury Lounge on March 23rd with Le Loup and FRICTION alums The Silent League.

[MP3]: The Ruby Suns  ”Kenya Dig It?”
Sea Lion, Sub Pop; 2008

Scenes from SXSW 2008 | Day 4

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Days 1 | 2 | 3

Last year‘s candid shots were a little more fun.

Check out this cute little chubster with hearing protection on.

The Stills at Rachael Ray’s party
[MP3]: The Stills  ”Still in Love Song”

Rachael Ray acting all slutty at her day party. lol!!! Check out that huge rock on her finger.

Crowds flocking to see No Age at Mess With Texas.

The Breeders at Mess With Texas were one of the bands I was waiting all week to see. It almost brought me to tears when they started playing, bringing back memories of seeing them almost 15 years ago when I was a kid opening for Nirvana and playing with Shonen Knife on tour.
[MP3]: The Breeders  ”Happiness is a Warm Gun”

Scenes from SXSW 2008 | Day 3

Friday, March 14, 2008

Days 1 | 2 | 4

I was super psyched to see hometown heroes …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead at the Village Voice party.

[MP3]: …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead  ”Another Morning Stoner”

Lightspeed Champion and Emmy the Great
[MP3]: Lightspeed Champion  ”Galaxy of the Lost”

A sleeping Wombat

Team Robespierre
[MP3]: Team Robespierre “Ha Ha Ha”
These guys stayed in the same hotel, so I saw them trekking back and forth every morning and night. They played hard with something like 12 shows in four days.

Apse Prep New EP, Album, and Tour Europe

Avante-garde post-rock outfit Apse are gearing up for a busy 2008. The last time we checked in with the Cape Cod, MA six-piece was in 2006 on the heels of their elegant LP Spirit. Originally released on Spanish imprint Acuarela Discos, the record will be re-released in May this year (according to the band “60 days from March 5th”) via ATP Recordings.

In addition to the re-release of Spirit, the band will also be dropping a 45-minute EP titled Eras initially in a beautifully packaged vinyl-only format in April and eventually in CD/digital format by mid-summer. The extended EP “will feature new material, covering a range of different kinds of songwriting and experimentation. It has musical ties to Spirit, but is the most progressive, experimental and exploratory record the band as made to date.”

Following the EP, the sextet plans to unleash a brand new full-length in the autumn which is currently in the works with over 30 new tracks. Apse won’t just be busy in the studio though, they have lined up an aggressive European tour that kicks off on April 24th and continues well into May, including a stop at All Tomorrow’s Parties. Here’s to hoping for some U.S. dates (outside of New England would be nice).

The tracklisting for the EP along with some mp3′s to tie you over are below, including the grinding “Up In The Eaves” from the Eras EP.

[MP3]: Apse  ”Keep”
Apse, Acuarela Discos; 2005
[MP3]: Apse  ”Shade of the Moor”
Spirit, Acuarela Discos; 2006
[MP3]: Apse  ”Up in the Eaves”
Eras EP, Equation Records/Acuarela Discos/ATP; 2008

Eras Tracklisting:
Side A
01. “Cyd”
02. “Ark”
03. “Up In The Eaves”
04. “Gloom”
05. “The Letter”

Side B
01. “Deathless”
02. “Wishlist”
03. “The Tipping”
04. “Black Stars”
05. “Salt Of The Earth”

Video of the Week | HEALTH “Triceratops”

As a kid, I was way into dinosaurs, always fascinated by the exhibits of their bones at museums and would be constantly reading about them in books and encyclopedias (the Wikipedia of yesteryear). And who can forget “Land of the Lost” let alone the blockbuster hit “Jurassic Park?” Shit, I’m still into the prehistoric beasts to this day, I can’t lie, I get pretty hype for those Discovery Channel specials like “Walking With Dinosaurs” and “When Dinosaurs Roamed America.”

HEALTH brings back sounds of the Cretaceous with their single “Triceratops” from their self-titled debut long player. The LA quartet dips into the primordial soup, crafting sonic assaults of rumbling guitar lines, massive electronically produced locust-like buzzes, shrieks, thundering drums, squalls of noise, crashing symbols, along with Cro-Magnon chants and screams (yeah, I know part this doesn’t jive with the prehistoric timeline). The Saul Levitz directed video for “Triceratops” shows band members intensely performing the track live in front of a small audience for Dublab’s “VisionVersion Project.” The audio accompanying the video is also the live version and not the album recording of the song.

HEALTH brings the noise to New York City next Wednesday for FRICTION with Crystal Castles, Team Robespierre, and Apache Beat. Grab the album version of “Triceratops” below.

[MP3]: HEALTH  ”Triceratops”
Health, Lovepump United; 2008

Shoegaze in 2008 | Five Acts not to be Missed

Shoegaze will always remain one of my favorite genres of music, even if I get away from it from time to time, it’s something that I always come back to. Granted, shoegaze and dreampop saw their heyday in the early nineties, but today many acts continue to reinvent and push the envelope with the genre. I was reading an interview with Soundpool (one of the bands featured in this post) about the relation among shoegaze, electronica, and indie-pop becoming more familiar in Japan. One of the group’s members stated that there has been “a significant change in the global shoegaze scene with bands from many different cultures and backgrounds are collaborating and inspiring each other and exploring the possibilities of this creative genre which has brought so many different types of musicians together.”

This post aims to focus on some of my favorite new shoegaze acts that define the previous statement and for the most part features bands putting out material in 2008.

RESPLANDOR
Pleamar, AE; 2008
[MP3]: “Downfall”
Members of Mahogany initially tipped me off to the Peruvian trio, Resplandor, and since I’ve been a big fan of the group’s output. Their early recordings initially reminded me of Raphael Toral, but tracks from their forthcoming full-length Pleamar sound more akin to Just for a Day era Slowdive. Two words: sonic morphine.

AUBURN LULL
Begin Civil Twilight, Darla; 2008
[MP3]: “Coasts”
Michigan/Pennsylvania five-piece Auburn Lull craft dreamy, haunting, and ethereal dream pop. “Imagine The Moody Blues produced by Eno, if Slowdive originally wrote and recorded Surrealistic Pillow, or perhaps Seefeel on a good sedative/hypnotic [Darla].” Ulrich Schnauss mixed a track on added some treatment to two others. Begin Civil Twilight hits the street on April 8th.

FLEETING JOYS
Secret Garden Vol.1, Invada; 2008
[MP3]: “Good Kind Of Tomorrow”
Sacramento’s Fleeting Joys craft shoegaze in the vein of Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine with an aural assault of shivering dissonant guitars, low-end baselines, atmospheric keyboards, layers of squalls, heavy drums, and buried androdynous vocals. Lush melancholia for the shoegazer soul.

SOUNDPOOL
Dichotomies & Dreamland, Aloft; 2008
[MP3]: “The Divides of March”
I’ve had New York’s Soundpool (pictured) on my radar for some time now and was stoked about the release of their second record, Dichotomies & Dreamland earlier this month – an album I’ve been playing pretty heavily recently. Danceable Joy Division/New Order-inspired basslines and guitars lie beneath saturated swaths noise and synth arrangements that are fronted with sugary female vocals. Soundpool plays Pianos in New York on March 22nd and a day later in Philadelphia at The Khyber. Dichotomies & Dreamland is out now on Aloft.

PORTS OF CALL
Like Thieves…, Self-Released; 2008
[MP3]: “Washout”
I couldn’t write this post without giving Philadelphia some love, so enter Ports of Call as another shoegaze act that you should get familiar with this year. The Philly quintet blends psychedelic with atmospheric in the most beautiful of ways, painting haunting soundscapes which are highlighted by the interplay of innocent boy/girl vocals that are almost drowned out by the noise. Ports of Call play Club Midway in New York on April 23rd and Johnny Brenda’s in Philly on April 30th. Like Thieves is out now and can be ordered from the band.

Scenes from SXSW 2008 | Day 2

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Days 1 | 3 | 4

[MP3]: These New Puritans  ”£4″
Beat Pyramid, Angular/Domino; 2008

[MP3]: Black Mountain  ”Tyrants”
In the Future, Jagjaguwar; 2008

[MP3]: The Fiery Furnaces  ”Restorative Beer”
Widow City, Thrill Jockey; 2007