Here’s something you should check out. The Road to Bonnaroo starts tonight at Mercy Lounge! Many are familiar with Mercy’s 8 off 8th series – a free Monday night concert showcasing eight local bands that play super short sets – giving audience members a crash course in what’s happening in the scene. “The Road to Bonnaroo” is the ultimate of 8 off 8ths, where the best local bands compete for a slot on the Bonnaroo bill. Say what?!
Mercy Lounge is given three spots to fill, so there are three installments of “The Road to Bonnaroo.” At each event, everyone is handed a ballot, so they can vote for the most deserving artist.
Along with Architecture, the Chicago Mixtape show from a few weeks ago also introduced us to the incredible Elephant Gun. The Chicago nine piece has a unique style so difficult to pin to any one genre that I’m just going to describe them as americana/folk/punk/country/pop.
Just a few months ago, in November, Elephant Gun released their third album, Kid Scissors. It’s got such a great sound, that we felt it was only right to share the love, and give away a copy of the record on vinyl. If you don’t win big here, you can always pick up the record through Cassette Deck Media.
After their high-energy, party of a set, vocalist/guitarist Jared Olson and bassist Paul Chivari, were nice enough to stand outside in the cold with us for a quick interview about vinyl, Kid Scissors, and the dynamics of a band with 9 members.
Kid Scissors is your third release, and first on vinyl. What influenced the decision to put this record out on vinyl?
Jared: We had the idea from the beginning that we wanted to make a 12” record, and to write a record that worked on a record – that has 2 sides that obviously have different feels. We had done the CD thing previously, so we were like “we can figure this out”, and looked up Rainbow Records. There’s nothing that sounds like vinyl.
Paul: We wanted to release our previous records on vinyl, but it’s so expensive to do it and we just wanted to do it the most affordable way the first few times. Read More »
When we last heard from Lenorable in these parts, a Kickstarter was underway to fund their dreams of pressing a 7″ single. Tomorrow night, all things come 360 when the Black Cat hosts said single’s release party—and we’ve got a pair of tickets and that 7″ to put in the hands of one of you.
As the duo of Lisa Reed and Ian Graham told us last September, “Over a year ago we were inspired to put together a concept-album based on three Edgar Allen Poe pieces: The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death, and Ligeia. Within a few months we had the songs ready to go, and through some unexpected friend-of-a-friend connections, fell into the engineering arms of the talented Edie Sedgwick.
One day and several mugs of hot green tea at Inner Ear studios later, we had laid down some tracks that would eventually be pulled together as our soon-to-be-released concept EP, The Prince.”
It’s our weekly Twitter #MusicMonday recap of the brand new tracks from last week that the folks in the press offices want you to be hearing. We post, you download.
Brooklyn based Indie-Pop quartet The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are to put out a 12″ coloured vinyl remix EP for Record Store Day. The remixes are taken from their 2011 album, Belong, which was produced by ‘Flood’ (Depeche Mode, U2) and Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride).
The band will also play a one-off London show on 8th March at the o2 Academy Islington.
On Tuesday someone offered me a link of Mardi Gras beads. It was a temptation I could not resist. After all, it was Fat Tuesday and placing those beads around my head brought my memory back to a blurry and cloudy Tuesday morning, stumblin thru the dirty New Orleans streets 25 years ago.
This week’s Idelic Hour has absolutely nothing to do with New Orleans or the amazing pageantry of Mardi Gras. Instead, the playlist was inspired by a Mojo compilation CD of New Order covers that had found its way onto the floor of my car.
I popped in the disc and cruised my Prius. A warm winter’s day, listening, and appreciating Barney Sumner’s lyrics via different ears. The drive made me yearn for early period New Order and the carefree days of LA in the mid ’80s. I got stuck on “Temptation” and this week’s Idelic Hour muse was born.
Much like most Sunday afternoons, I dug through crates until I made a musical connection. Funny, as I think about it, I don’t often feel lead by temptation?
I kept thinking of the 25 year old “Mardi Gras me,” trying to explain to the patient police officer why I wouldn’t be tempted to stab someone in the crowd with the pocket knife. He just nodded saying, “Son, either you or this knife is spending Mardi Gras weekend in jail.”
Summer Camp rolled through DC in mid-February, playing a show at U Street Music Hall that delighted listeners with some sunny California teen-pop, which complimented an unusually warm winter. Duo Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey followed Ghost Beach’s performance (band name obviously pulled from an online indie band name generator) with aplomb, equipped with a keyboard and guitar, complemented by a live drummer.
Someone might as well have been blowing glitter-filled bubbles throughout the audience, because the sounds from the stage were simultaneously sweet and buoyant. Summer Camp’s performance was like the sun peaking through the cracks of the cavernous basement that is U Street Music Hall; it just brightened up the entire place.
Sankey’s vocals are powerful and dominate the stage. At time,s I wondered to myself if the constant duet between Sankey and Jeremy was even necessary because her stage presence is so strong. Sankey’s vocals are soulful with Beth Ditto’s of The Gossip’s attitude, but simultaneously delicate and lovely, as Harriet Wheeler’s vocals in the English band The Sundays.
The upcoming White Hills album, Frying on This Rock, might be my favorite White Hills album to date. Its riffs are fantastically fuzzed-out and pleasingly pounding, and its grooves are at times motorik and other times lusciously left of the pocket. Synths are added to spatially-stellar affect and the Martin Bisi production is top-notch. Definitely a transportative album. And no, I don’t care that transportative isn’t a word on this dimension, because that’s not where I am when listening to Frying on This Rock.
Having never been involved in what I can only describe as “The Flogging Molly Experience” (not to be confused with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, that’s a different experience), I was surprised, dumbfounded, intrigued, amped up and entertained by the resulting shock-and-awe campaign put into motion.
This is accomplished by the band as well as the participation of the fans themselves, who demonstrate a total immersion into the music that makes Flogging Molly not only a seven-piece Irish-infused rock group, but one with a rotating line up of hundreds depending on what city they happen to be in. It’s something I’ve never really seen first-hand until last Sunday at the House of Blues, a band inspiring a sold-out crowd of drunken hooligans into a cult like fervor, all in synchronization, and all creating the atmosphere of an epic pub hoe-down, complete with crowd surfing and mosh pits.
By the time Flogging Molly took to their throne, the crowd was already jittery and pretty beered up. Fittingly, they came out with their classic, “Drunken Lullabies,” which instantly endeared them to their loving fans. A frontier of even faster songs followed, building up to “Speed of Darkness,” which got everyone going with its catchy ascension. I began to see the appeal of what was happening on the stage, as their Celtic-infused speed pacers were driven by the stage energy of the band members and singer-guitarist Dave King’s rapid-fire strumming and duckwalking.
“Founders Entertainment is excited to announce the lineup for the 2012 edition of the Governors Ball Music Festival. Expanding to two days in its second year, the festival will take place on June 23rdand 24th, providing attendees with a full weekend’s worth of good times and great music spread across two stages with no overlapping sets.”
“Building upon the inaugural year line-up that focused on Dance, Hip Hop, and Electronica, Governors Ball 2012 will also incorporate Indie Rock, Americana, and Pop acts. There will be a distinct vibe to each day, with Saturday mirroring the lineup featured at Governors Ball 2011, and Sunday’s bill focusing primarily on the expanded genres. Single and Two Day tickets will be available, as well as VIP packages.”
To help celebrate the 5th anniversary of Record Store Day and TVD’s own 5 year milestone, we’re spreading the love with 10 weeks of vinyl giveaways in anticipation of Record Store Day 2012, which arrives on April 21st this year. Week 2 of our 10 Weeks of Record Store Day Vinyl Giveaway is now upon us, and once again we have your chance to win a great new release.
Dr. Dog will be bringing their meticulously crafted harmonies and unmistakable, indie meets classic rock sound to a venue in your neighborhood next month, but before you check them out live, we’ve got your chance to win a copy of their highly anticipated new album, Be The Void, released February 7th on Anti Records.
The psychedelic rockers’ newest release is their strongest effort yet, with NPR raving, “the previous Dr. Dog records have their pleasantly grabby moments. But sometime in the past few years, Dr. Dog has grown into a hook-writing machine. The band’s new record has a bunch of refrains that register as sledgehammers to the brain.”
This past week in Memphis has been gigantic. The Folk Alliance Conference has brought through a slew of talented musicians and artists to our fair city. But what if you weren’t able to attend? No worries, even when there’s a huge event that’s claiming the title of talk of the town, Memphis has got you covered with plenty of other options.
If you weren’t fortunate enough to attend the Folk Alliance Conference, Friday (2/24) is the perfect dose of relief as some local heavy hitters team up with an underground icon at a Memphis hot spot. Grace Askew and her southern drawl will share an evening with Chris Milam’s sugary sweet acousta-pop at Otherlands Coffeebar in the heart of midtown.
But that’s not all! Blaze Foley: Duct Tape Messiah will be performing with his dry and overtly honest guitar music for all ears in attendance.
February is almost over!? It went by so fast! This is depressing, and a bit alarming, but what else could you expect from the shortest month of the year? It’s a leap year though, so that’s kind of cool. But here it is, Cleveland’s music agenda for February’s final weekend.
Our featured show of the week is the Del Fuegos and Rosavelt at the Beachland Ballroom. The Del Fuegos were a well-respected garage pop band from Boston in the 1980s. Tom Petty even liked them so much that he played with them and brought the band along as his opener in 1987. They broke up in 1990, and then they reunited in June of 2011. Now, they are on their first tour in over 20 years.
The show on Friday will feature Cleveland roots-rockers Rosavelt in the opening slot. Since it’s at the Beachland, try to get to Waterloo a little early so you can scope out Blue Arrow Records (down the street a little), Music Saves, and This Way Out. You never know what insanely rare records you’ll find there.
Looking for some live music in Chicago this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Check out this weekend’s featured show along with a more extensive weekend list below!
In support of their newest release, Limo, Chicago natives Pretty Good Dance Moves have been touring around the Midwest. The electronic-pop trio partnered with Brazilian Girls’ vocalist Sabine Scibba for Limo; a 32-minute work across eight electro-experimntal “movements”. You can pick up Limo through Insound, or the PGDM EP on vinyl through their online store. The show is free with an RSVP to rsvp@emptybottle.com by midnight tonight.
Supporting Pretty Good Dance Moves will be Chicago’s garage-rock quintet, Rambos. They will be celebrating the release of their debut record, Rock and Roll Monsters, due out March 6 on Grape Juice Records.
Carnival may be over for another year (Fat Tuesday is February 12 next year), but St. Patrick’s Day, the French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest are right around the corner. This week’s edition of Weekend Shots! is dedicated to those fine folks at the Decatur Street institution.
“One of the most important businesses related to music in New Orleans, the Louisiana Music Factory, opened in early 1992 on N. Peters Street in the French Quarter. The record store, started by the entrepreneur Barry Smith and Jerry Brock, one of the founders of WWOZ and a local music expert, quickly became an alternative to the chain mentality of Tower Records located three blocks away.
