30 milkshakes » shows

music for this week

chris — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:24:11 +0000

NP: “Away (Live)” – The Feelies. The Feelies reunion (and reissues) that we’ve been waiting for a long time are finally almost upon us. They’re playing July 4 with Sonic Youth (and… there’d BETTER be a Maxwell’s show or two in the works), and the re-issues are coming out on Bar/None. I have this bootleg of two shows they played one night at Maxwell’s in 1988. It’s blistering, and makes me happier than just about any music possibly can.
NP: “If Only The Moon Were Up” – Field Music. This is the band of the School Of Language dude I posted last week (although, if you read the backstory to these albums and the School Of Language album, you’ll understand that that statement isn’t entirely accurate.) This is a great in an XTC kinda way, where School Of Language is great in a Futureheads kinda way.
NP: “Mallo Cup” – Lemonheads. We went to go see the “It’s A Shame About Ray” Lemonheads show at Bowery the other night. I would have killed to see Evan pull this one out, but… I knew it wasn’t going to happen.
NP: “Stove” – Lemonheads. Same with this one. There was even less of a chance, actually, as “Mallo Cup” was always a live staple of the post-Ben Lemonheads shows.
NP: “Rudderless” – Lemonheads. And here’s where I actually admit that I followed The Lemonheads around for a week in the summer of 1992 on their first “It’s A Shame About Ray” tour. There are many great moments from that tour… watching Nic teach Evan a song written by his girlfriend called “Into Your Arms” at soundcheck at CBGB’s, and then Evan actually playing it solo that night at the start of the encore. Going with Evan to buy weed in Asbury Park, NJ, and then having him come back to the venue to find out he bought a baggie full of oregano. Being told, repeatedly, that I was a loser and a nerd for continuing to show up at the next town/show by the bass player for The Juliana Hatfield Three, who happens to be Bob Weston. Etc. ad nauseum. So, anyway… the Bowery show was pretty great, actually. It was seeing Turnpike Down and Alison’s Starting To Happen that were the real treats, although “Rudderless” is still my favorite song on the album.
NP: “School” – Nirvana. Bedroom Walls covered this at SXSW, and it’s been in my head ever since.
NP: “Puerto Rican Jukebox” – Panther. I don’t really know anything about this, but… catchy song.
NP: “Reverie’d” – Five Blank Pages. Same as above. I don’t even know where I grabbed this. But… a great pop song for those of you that like Ladybug Transistor or Great Lakes or Stars kinda pop.
NP: “Pour Me Another” – Ola Podrida. Beautiful. Restraint at it’s finest.
NP: “I Sing I Swim” – Seabear. Just a nice little pop song.
NP: “The Weight Of Lies” – The Avett Brothers. I tracked this down after reading about it in Magnet (when’s the last time you heard anybody say THAT phrase?) And it’s a bit samey at times, but… quite nice at others. Reminds me a bit of The Haynes Boys / Tim Easton and something else that I can’t put my finger on.
NP: “Jodi” – The Dodos. Animal Collective and Lightning Bolt and a dozen other bands get mentioned when talking about The Dodos, and unfortunately those both sell them pathetically short. The Dodos are the real deal, and can (and should) easily surpass those bands both in quality and popularity. Meric Long’s got the muse that only visits the likes of Doug Martsch, Eric Bachmann, Jack White, Isaac Brock.
NP: “Five Ways I Didn’t Die” – The Low Lows. Parker, from Parker & Lily. More sad tales of drunken stupidity. I’m assuming, at least… I can’t really make out the lyrics.
NP: “Raindrops Remain (First)” – The Boats. It’s a bad idea for these guys to pick such a moniker so alike The Books, if only because there are probably a dozen bloggers that are going to type a similar sentence.
NP: “Yod He Vau” – Ya Ho Wha 13. I really should have went to go see them at Knitting Factory last week. I’ve been listening to this reissue on Cold Sweat a lot over the last two weeks. Every time I expect to be sick of it, and then suddenly, somehow, this 11-minute composition just makes itself at home. (Even if it IS a bit like The Mighty Boosh episode about finding “the new sound.”)
NP: “30_milkshakes__2008_04_10.m3u” – stream all of the above songs.
NP: “30_milkshakes__2008_04_10.rar” – rar file of all of the above songs.
NR: OK… so just listing “The New Yorker” is pretty dumb. So… lessee… “Auteur Wars” by Richard Brody in the April 7th issue, about Godard and Truffaut and the French New Wave is pretty interesting. “The Real Work” by Adam Gopnik, a history of modern magic, in the May 17th issue was fantastic.

Frightened Rabbit will be on Fearless Music TV in NYC this Sunday night, April 13, performing “The Modern Leper”. Fearless Music TV is on Sunday night at 1:00 AM (technically Monday morning) on Fox 5 in NYC. If not in NYC, check out the time and channel listing at the Fearless Music Myspace Blog to find out when and where else it airs (it’s on Saturday nights in most markets [including usually in NYC]).

Before and after the episode airs, fans should go to the Fearless Music website and vote for Frightened Rabbit. The band that receives the highest amounts of votes will be featured again on next week’s episode.

The performances they recorded a couple of weeks ago were actually AMAZING, so I’m really hoping to get to see one of the other songs!

Also, Frightened Rabbit have just signed on with Domino Publishing Company. This week Domino announced their two new publishing clients: Frightened Rabbit and a little band called The Jesus & Mary Chain. Not too shabby!

In other news-type-announcements, Rock Plaza Central are going to be touring in Europe in early July (July 6 – 18). If you have somewhere they should play, or know somebody that can help, please let me know!

Rock Plaza Central also just announced a string of dates with Plants & Animals, and one big show for a good cause with The Mountain Goats:

05.14.08 Philadelphia, PA – at World Café Live Upstairs w/ Plants & Animals
05.15.08 Baltimore, MD – at 8×10 w/ Plants & Animals
05.16.08 Brooklyn, NY – at Masonic Hall w/ The Mountain Goats. AIDS Walk Benefit
05.17.08 Brooklyn, NY – at Union Hall w/ Plants & Animals
05.18.08 Boston, MA – at TT The Bear’s w/ Plants & Animals

Here are some other upcoming recommended shows in NYC:

04.17 – The Forms / Cloud Cult @ Union Hall
04.18 – The Forms / Cloud Cult @ Bowery Ballroom
04.18 – High Places / CEX / Evangelista @ Market Hotel
04.19 – Palomar / The Oranges Band / My Teenage Stride @ Union Hall
04.19 – Tapes ‘N Tapes / White Denim @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
04.24 – Foals @ Bowery Ballroom
04.25 – Big Dipper / Antietam @ Southpaw
04.26 – Fiery Furnaces @ Southpaw
04.26 – American Music Club / Franz Nicolay & Major General @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
04.27 – American Music Club @ Mercury Lounge
05.03 – The Acorn / Ola Podrida @ Union Hall
05.07 – The Night Marchers @ Mercury Lounge
05.08 – Foals / The Ruby Suns @ Union Hall
05.10 – Jukebox The Ghost @ Mercury Lounge
05.14 – Cut Copy @ Bowery Ballroom
05.15 – Los Campesinos! @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
05.16 – The Mountain Goats / Rock Plaza Central @ Masonic Temple
05.17 – Rock Plaza Central / Plants & Animals @ Union Hall
05.17 – Blood On The Wall @ Bowery Ballroom
05.27 – Joe Lally @ Knitting Factory
06.06 – M.I.A. / Holy Fuck @ McCarren Pool
06.08 – Jamie Lidell @ Bowery Ballroom
06.09 – Jamie Lidell @ Bowery Ballroom
06.11 – Swervedriver @ Bowery Ballroom
06.12 – Swervedriver @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
06.20 – My Morning Jacket @ Radio City Music Hall
06.21 – Polvo @ Bowery Ballroom
06.26 – Eddie Izzard @ Radio City Music Hall
06.27 – Eddie Izzard @ Radio City Music Hall
06.28 – Eddie Izzard @ Radio City Music Hall

more music, and upcoming shows

chris — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:16:45 +0000

NP: “Swimmer” – Four Tet. I’ve got to give this new EP about 48 more listens, as it hasn’t fully grabbed me yet. But I’m positive it will.
NP: “Magic Doors” – Portishead. I’m not a fan of Portishead, I can admit. I’ve only went back and got the previous records after learning that there would be a new one. But there are a couple of songs on this record that I enjoy more than anything previous. This song gives me a nice Talk Talk meets “Wrecking Ball”-era Emmylou Harris tingle. (But, of course, nothing could ever be as good as Talk Talk or “Wrecking Ball”-era Emmylou Harris.)
NP: “Pennantless On Homecoming” – Hills Like White Elephants. Sounds like an emo version of Hood, with a horn and string section. Or a wussy version of The Paper Chase. How’s that for an entirely un-useful description?
NP: “Under My Skin” – Jukebox The Ghost. Philadelphia band that put out their own record recently. I only heard of them because they acted as the backing band for These United States at a recent TUS show. I tracked down this record and am thoroughly enjoying it. Hopefully you won’t see them touring with Say Anything anytime soon.
NP: “Let’s Make Some Plans” – The Wedding Present. Speaking of covering The Wedding Present (foreshadowing), here’s The Wedding Present doing one of my favorite songs ever: “Let’s Make Some Plans” by The Close Lobsters. I’ve been making the Frightened Rabbit boys listen to a lot of Close Lobsters in the van the last couple of times they’ve been over to the states. I think they’ve formed an appreciation, or perhaps they’re just trying to get me to shut up.
NP: “Let’s Make Some Plans” – Close Lobsters. Here’s the original.
NP: “Joni” – Correcto. This could easily be a cover of a song which didn’t make it onto the Bizarro album by The Wedding Present. The production on this is a dead-on impersonation of 1988, and I mean that as a high fucking compliment. I would have played this on my college radio show between The Poster Children and The Feelies (and there is a song on this Correcto record that sounds like The Feelies, too.)
NP: “White Winter Hymnal” – Fleet Foxes. You’re going to hear a lot about Fleet Foxes over the next couple of months. A lot of it is going to be warranted, as they ARE a good band. I don’t think they’re a great band, as I don’t think their songs are either a) catchy enough or b) lyrically important enough, and I don’t hear as much emotion from the lead singer as I’d like, but… perhaps with some touring under their belts they will turn the corner.
NP: “So High So Low So Wide So Long” – These United States. Now here’s the band that I think Fleet Foxes could become. Although they’re a bit flip-flopped with Fleet Foxes at the moment: These United States are great live, but made a good record, while Fleet Foxes made a good record, while are merely OK live. Perhaps they should merge into one band? These United States are from DC and don’t sound anything like any other band from that town ever. Lead singer Jessie has a voice like none I’ve ever heard – breathy and soulful, he makes his way through some serious verbosity with clarity and warmth. Highly recommended.
NP: “Only As The Day Is Long” – Sera Cahoone. Sub Pop putting this out. Sera has a real country voice that strikes hard and deep. I hear shades of Rebecca Gates, Lucinda Williams, Suzanne Vega, maybe even Aimee Mann, and 200 years worth of mamas singing to their babes. Something smoky and textural. Totally simple and pretty stunning.
NP: “Small Potatoes” – A Weather. Perhaps too twee, but there is something about this song which is charming and good. I’m reminded of both The National and Haywood, but only nominally, and the boy/girl vocals don’t sound like either.
NP: “There Are Birds” – The Ruby Suns. New Zealand lo-fi fuzzy weirdness. The album can be a challenging listen at times, but this is a great song.
NP: “Out Of My System” – Jamie Lidell. There’s no tongue in cheek here… this is a serious attempt to recreate some sorta Stax/Motown/Blues Brothers soul. And like Multiply, it is seriously fucking great.
NP: “That’s What Counts” – We Are Scientists. Holy fucking shit. What the hell were they thinking? This is straight out of 1984, and I love it like crazy. This is some total Lionel Richie or Wham slow jam, and they pull it off with panache.
NP: “30_milkshakes__2008_04_04.m3u” – stream all of the above songs.
NP: “30_milkshakes__2008_04_04.rar” – rar file of all of the above songs.
NR: Still wading my way through tons of New Yorkers, and now i’ve added Harper’s and Atlantic Monthly subscriptions. Yikes!

Thanks to everybody that came out to the Frightened Rabbit shows and party. A good time was had by all, as the ancients would say.

I’m having some serious bad luck with Chinese restaurants in NYC. First, Mee Noodle Shop, at 1st and 13th, burned down about a year and a half ago. Now yesterday we went to go to Ten Pell Street for the world’s best steamed vegetable dumplings, and it’s closed with a For Rent sign hanging up. Dammit!

Anyway, here are some upcoming show recommendations:

04.04 – Oxford Collapse / Cause Co-Motion! @ 132 W. 3rd St.
04.04 – Optimo DJs @ Studio B
04.04 – Bachelorette @ Sound Fix
04.05 – Lewis & Clarke @ Union Pool
04.05 – Malcolm Holcombe @ The Living Room
04.06 – The Dodos / Silje Nes / No Kids / Overlord @ Mercury Lounge
04.07 – Nina Nastasia & Jim White / Phosphorescent / Gary Higgins @ Bowery Ballroom
04.08 – Ya Ho Wha 13 / No-Neck Blues Band @ Knitting Factory
04.08 – Hot Chip @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
04.09 – Dirty Projectors @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
04.09 – Kaki King @ Bowery Ballroom
04.10 – These United States @ Cake Shop
04.11 – David Dondero / These United States @ Union Hall
04.11 – The Weatherthans @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
04.12 – Rogue Wave @ Irving Plaza
04.12 – Glenn Mercer @ Luna Lounge
04.13 – Eugene Mirman / Michael Showalter @ Union Hall (and most Sundays thereafter)
04.14 – Jukebox The Ghost @ Southpaw
04.18 – High Places / CEX / Evangelista @ Market Hotel
04.19 – Palomar / The Oranges Band / My Teenage Stride @ Union Hall
04.24 – Foals @ Bowery Ballroom
04.25 – Big Dipper / Antietam @ Southpaw
04.26 – Fiery Furnaces @ Southpaw
04.26 – American Music Club / Franz Nicolay & Major General @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
04.27 – American Music Club @ Mercury Lounge
05.03 – The Acorn / Ola Podrida @ Union Hall
05.07 – The Night Marchers @ Mercury Lounge
05.08 – Foals / The Ruby Suns @ Union Hall
05.10 – Jukebox The Ghost @ Mercury Lounge
05.14 – Cut Copy @ Bowery Ballroom
05.15 – Los Campesinos! @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
05.16 – The Mountain Goats @ Masonic Temple
05.17 – Blood On The Wall @ Bowery Ballroom
05.27 – Joe Lally @ Knitting Factory
06.06 – M.I.A. / Holy Fuck @ McCarren Pool
06.08 – Jamie Lidell @ Bowery Ballroom
06.09 – Jamie Lidell @ Bowery Ballroom
06.11 – Swervedriver @ Bowery Ballroom
06.12 – Swervedriver @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
06.20 – My Morning Jacket @ Radio City Music Hall
06.21 – Polvo @ Bowery Ballroom