FRICTION Recap: 5.5.08 w/ Fuck Buttons, Sightings

Thanks to everyone who made it out to FRICTION last night for Pattern Is Movement, Sightings, and Fuck Buttons. Philly’s Pattern Is Movement kicked off the show with a stellar set of polyrhymic pop, warming up a soundsystem that was likely exhausted by the end of the night (much like my ears). What followed was something between a searing drone/distortion fest and club-like rave. Sightings and Fuck Buttons both fashion experimental noise in different ways, Sightings – via drums, guitar, bass, processors, and plenty of pedals, while Fuck Buttons employ mainly electronics, Fisher Price-like toys, and gadget’s I’ve never seen before. However different, both erupted from the stage last night with bigger than life sounds. Sightings tends to be more sonically violent, but still rhymically drving, crafting a primal sound that most bands wish they could do with a mouse and laptop. Fuck Buttons make you wonder how noise can be so beautiful, inducing a euphoric-like haze only to be snapped out of it by electro house beats and cutting distored vocals.

Thank you to to all three acts for playing the show along with Mercury Lounge for being such great hosts. Check out pics from the night below, on our Flickr page, and also at Self Titled who has some amazing black and white shots of Fuck Buttons.

FRICTION moves across the East River to Brooklyn for back to back shows in late May and early June at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Jump below the pics for details and stay tuned for updates!

////////UPCOMING FRICTION SHOWS////////

5/28 – DARK MEAT @ MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG
[MP3]: Dark Meat  ”Dead Man”

DARK MEAT are an Athens ensemble mixing elements of blues, punk rock, psychedelic jams, jazz and Zappa/Beefheart styled explosions. Imagine The Stooges meets Crazy Horse with killer Stax / Funeral / Marching band horns, wailing gospel-style female backing vocals, ripping guitar leads and free jazz freakouts. -Orange Twin

6/8 – THESE NEW PURITANS @ MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG
[MP3]: “Numbers”

THESE NEW PURITANS have done a lot in their brief time. This is symptomatic of a band whose identity is rooted in mystery, and which first began to emerge in the form of oddly filmed webcasts and a website splattered with cryptic writings and links to pictures of boiling water and trees speeding past car windows. -Domino

Trackback: Black Tambourine

At a time when punk was the way to go and in a city where most bands were taking heavy influences from the mid-80’s hardcore scene, Washington, DC’s Black Tambourine was conceived primarily as an indie-pop group. One of the first bands to be signed to the Slumberland imprint, Black Tambourine’s sound provides a snapshot of the early American indie-pop scene in the late 80s/early 90s.

The seminal quartet of Archie Moore and Brian Nelson (later of Velocity Girl), along with vocalist Pam Berry (later of Glo-Worms, The Shapiros, and Castaway Stones) and drummer guitarist Mike Schulman (Slumberland founder) went against the grain of what was happening in their city and looked across the Atlantic to British twee and C86 groups like The Pastels, along with noisemakers Jesus and Mary Chain for inspiration. Like many shoegaze bands that followed, Black Tambourine were influenced by Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound production, predating the sounds that later caught on rather largely in the States.

Black Tambourine’s short, instrumental only “Pam’s Tan” was the band’s debut and first release on Slumberland in 1990. The group’s first official single, “Throw Aggi from the Bridge,” a track about a crush on The Pastel’s Stephen Pastel dropped in 1991. Its tracks like “Aggi” and “Can’t Explain” that really make you fall in love with Black Tambourine. Berry’s ethereal vocals wash over bouncing layers of guitar and bass lines soaked in fuzzy layers of distortion and feedback. Sweet irresistable numbers about unrequited love, crushes, and broken hearts makes for perfect rainy day listening. You’ll find yourself happily singing along “just throw her off the bridge, we both know it’s gotta be done.” Other favorites include the more downtempo/shoegaze-oriented “For Ex Lovers Only” and “Black Car,” along with the 60s pop influenced “Drown.”

After just two years together, the group called it quits in 1991. In that time span, Black Tambourine released nine singles and played only a handful of live shows. The nine released tracks along with the previously unreleased “I Was Wrong” were amassed on 1999s stellar Complete Recordings: Black Tambourine. For fans of bittersweet charming pop combined with gorgeous walls of distortion, this one’s not to be missed.

[MP3]: Black Tambourine  ”Throw Aggi Off the Bridge”
7″ Single, Audrey’s Diary; 1991

Previous “Trackback” Posts

My Bloody Valentine Friday

With all the buzz about My Bloody Valentine’s live return to the US after a sixteen year hiatus, I decided to put up an accompanying post to this one from last summer. Like the last post, most tracks below are rarities, covers, remixes, live bootlegs, or tracks from the band’s early EPs. Enjoy. Happy Friday.

[MP3]: My Bloody Valentine  ”Instrumental B”
1988, Free 7″ given with first 5,000 copies of Isn’t Anything
[MP3]: Kevin Shields  ”Ikebana”
2003, Lost In Translation Soundtrack
[MP3]: My Bloody Valentine  ”Map Ref 41N 93W”
Whore: Various Artists Play Wire, WMO 2CD; 1996
[MP3]: The Pastels  ”Cycle (My Bloody Valentine Remix)”
Illuminati, Domino; 1998
[MP3]: My Bloody Valentine  ”Moon Song”
Tremelo EP, Creation; 1991
[MP3]: My Bloody Valentine  ”Emptiness Inside”
Feed Me With Your Kiss, Creation; 1988
[MP3]: My Bloody Valentine  ”Soon (live 16:12 version)”
Paradisio, Amsterdam; 4/28/1992
[MP3]: Placebo  ”Pure Morning (My Bloody Valentine Remix)”
Black-Eyed single, 724389797022; 1998

Autolux’s Second Album is in Transit Transit

Good things come to those who wait. That’s what it seems like Los Angeles noise pop trio, Autolux, have been teaching their loyal fans (myself included) for the last two years. A posting on the band’s MySpace page in January 2007 announced a follow-up to 2004′s excellent Future Perfect, which was slated for a late 2007 summer release. The summer came and went without any new material or news from the band. One fan wrote recently on the trio’s MySpace page:

Dear Autolux,
Can I please hear a new album?
I may have have heard your last album as much as I’ve heard Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, which means I must love you guys.
Love,
Troy

Troy will be happy to know that a new single, “Audience No. 2,” is currently on its way to radio stations for arrival next week and will be available on iTunes shortly thereafter. The band sparked further anticipation with and email last night to their mailing list announcing the single and the new album titled Transit Transit. Still no word on the release date, tracklisting, or artwork, but the band assures us that they are coming soon enough. However vague the news, it’s something, and I’m stoked for this release as Future Perfect was one of my favorites of 2004.

Autolux plays Coachella on April 27th followed by European dates. For nostalgia’s sake, listen to “Turnstile Blues” below.

[MP3]: Autolux  ”Future Perfect”
Future Perfect, Red Int/Red Ink; 2004

M83 Unleashes 21st Century Shoegaze with “Graveyard Girl”

Anthony Gonzales shows even more song structure and pop influences with his new single, “Graveyard Girl,” the second song to be released from his new Saturday’s = Youth album.

The single comes off like Power, Corruption, and Lies-era New Order doped up on hazy shoegaze atmospherics and textures, while uttered female vocals speak of a young girl roaming and aching to be a part of a cemetary. The least cynical of us will struggle from rolling our eyes when hearing the cheesy lines like “And I’ll read poetry to the stones / Maybe one day I can be one of them…I’m 15 years old and I feel it’s already too late to love / Don’t you?” Kitschy lyrics aside, the song is retains its catchy beauty with shimmering synths and addictive melodies, marking one of the most accessible and coherent tracks put out under Gonzales’ M83 moniker.

Pre-order Saturday’s = Youth which is out April 15th on Mute and check out the new single below. Tickets still on sale for live dates.

[MP3]: M83  ”Graveyard Girl”
Saturday’s = Youth, Mute; 2008

Secret Shine to Release Sophomore LP After 15 Years

Fifteen years after the release of their debut album, Secret Shine will be dropping their sophomore full-length titled All Of The Stars on April 8th via Claire Records. The album follows the Elemental and Beyond Sea and Sky EP’s, which were released in 2006 and marks their lone LP since their 1993′sUntouched. I’ve only heard a couple tracks from the record, but according to the band this album “has everything you would want from a Secret Shine record and more; noisy, swirling power pop, sweet and brittle melodies and girl/boy shoegaze harmonies.”

The shoegaze/dream-pop trio, was formed in Bristol, England in 1991 by vocalist Jamie Gingell and guitarist Scott Purnell. The group was originally signed to Sarah Records where they released a couple of singles including “After Years,” “Ephemeral,” and “Loveblind” as well as Untouched in 1993. The band broke their silence in 2006 when the limited edition Ephemeral EP hit the streets, ten years after the band’s last recorded output. Earlier this month, Secret Shine appeared at SXSW and did a mini tour of the Midwest. The band will go on a brief UK tour in May and June. Full details along with streams of new tracks on MySpace. Pre-order All of the Stars now via Tonevendor.

[MP3]: Secret Shine  ”Temporal”
Untouched, Sarah Records; 1993

All of the Stars Tracklisting:
01. “Voice of the Sea”
02. “Know”
03. “Stars in the Sky”
04. “Café Crash”
05. “Another Day”
06. “Hate You When You Smile”
07. “All That’s Left”
08. Oblivion
09. “Last Leaves”
10. “The Sound of Light”

M83 Saves Saturday’s for the Youth

A month or so ago I was lucky enough hear most of Saturday’s = Youth, the new album from Anthony Gonzalez, better known as M83. And although I only listened to Gonzalez’s fifth studio album just once through, I can confidently say that Saturday’s = Youth is the best thing I’ve heard so far this year. Keep in mind though, I’m a big fan of M83, so my opinion is somewhat biased.

The hazy shoegaze atmospherics and deep space textures of Gonzales’ past efforts are still present on Saturday’s = Youth, but the Frenchman loses the melodrama of previous records, crafting more structured songs with a pop mentality. M83’s recent composition, the eight-and-a-half minute “Couleurs” is driven by assertive thumping beats and glistening synths with an ambient fog hanging over layers of feedback, which is broken through by a trance-like rhythm as the song picks up in its later minutes. I’m really digging the less rock, more pop/dance aspect of this song and the record.

Saturday’s = Youth drops on April 15th via Mute and was produced by Ken Thomas (Sigur Rós, Suede, Cocteau Twins, Sugarcubes) and Ewan Pearson (The Rapture, Ladytron). The first single set to be relased from the record (following the already released “Couleurs”) is “Graveyard Girl.”

Gonzales and his crew consisting of drummer Loic Maurin, bassist/guitarist Pierre-Marie Maulini, and Morgan Kibby, who did vocals for the album lands in New York City on 6/3 at Music Hall of Williamsburg and 6/4 at Bowery Ballroom, while Philly gets the band on June 6th in the basement of The First Unitarian Church before they head to D.C. the following night for a show at Black Cat. Tickets are on sale now.

[MP3]: M83  ”Couleurs” (via)
Saturday’s = Youth, Mute; 2008