A keeper from the first listen

French Kicks latest release Two Thousand, is one of those records that on the first listen made me say "Wow, this album is amazing!". This is one of those albums that you could easily sell five copies of in five minutes just by playing it, a la, The Beta Bands - The 3 ep's in High Fidelity. The entire thing is absolutely brilliant, song after song and will have you jamming out in no time with its layers of piano / keyboards, haunting guitars, drums, bass and perfectly harmonized vocals. The link below to their site has quite a bit of stuff to listen too and actually, as I am writing this I am listening to their WOXY set, (I noticed that there are two more live sets (DayTrotter and WNYC) to check out as well as tracks from the new and previously released albums. Their music translates very well live, as I am finding out more and more by the second, but unfortunately the night that they are going to be in Boston, I am am going to be across town at the Band of Horses show. I am hoping that they are going to do an after hours show somewhere, but that is very doubtful.
French Kicks are from N.Y. and are made up of five members, Lawrence Stumpf, Nick Stumpf, Aaron Thurston, Josh Wise and a guy named Chris (I think) who joined the band after the liner notes of the latest album were put together, but he made the picture.
Their site is very well done and very easy to get around and as mentioned, full of stuff to listen to, enjoy and get lost in.

http://www.frenchkicks.com/news.htm

Hills Like White Elephants = Pink Mountaintops????

For some reason whenever I hear the band name Pink Mountaintops I think of my favorite and most meaningful of all of Hemingway's short stories "Hills Like White Elephants" (I have to thank my wonderful mother for buying The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, for me for Christmas 2001 as the inner cover reads.) There is nothing about the story that makes me think of the band and nothing about the band, aside from a color and a geological formation within the band name that is similar to the Hemingway title, that makes me think about the story. But anyway, I digress and move on to band. Pink Mountaintops, how do you post about this band and be on point? There are so many different directions to go in, in regards to the description of the music that it almost isn't even worth it. All that I am going to say is that the music itself is pretty dark with ominous and melodious lyrics (for the most part) and relentlessly driving beats that will have you involuntarily nodding your head.
The band itself seems pretty anonymous, they don't have their own website only the link below to the labels (JagJaguwar) page, and the liner notes of Axis of Evol their latest release only denotes Stephen McBean as the song writer. There is only one mention of any assistance / backing on the album, and that is a 7 member choir. I do know that Mr. McBean is a part of another fine outfit named Black Mountain who is signed to the same label and who you can check out from the link below.
Anyway, the link has a couple of songs for your listening enjoyment. Check them out and see if you can stop your head from nodding. I bet you cant!


http://www.jagjaguwar.com/artist.php?name=pinkmountaintops

P.S. - Check this link attached to Gorilla Vs. Bear, your boy got a little shoutout for helping name a weekly piece by a fantastically talented author named Austin LaRoche.

http://gorillavsbear.net/

In the air, it's an Eagle*Seagull

The other night I was in Boston, again at GreatScott for a band named Eagle*Seagull. No, really I am serious that is their name asterisk and all! For those of you who do not know of this band, and judging by the attendance at said show I'd say that you are the majority, Eagle*Seagull are a 7 member band out of Nebraska who play very emotional songs, with over dramatic vocals, a bit of synth, a lot of piano / keyboard mixed with a healthy portion of hook laden guitar riffs and driving, focusing drums. ( Wow, I need to catch my breath after that one!) I absolutely love this band and their debut album of same name, released on Paper Garden Records in late '05 early '06. Their show however really did not impress me. First off they are a 7 member outfit and the GreatScott stage is roughly the size of a jail cell. Carrie Butler the bands violinist came seriously close if not actually making contact with Eli Mardocks (vocals, keys, guitar) orbital cavity on many occasions with her bow. I almost offered the kid my aviators for protection, I wasn't using them at the time. But, any who back to the music. Now I know that the band was not the headliner and they only had about 45 mins to an hour to get their set in, but that is no reason in my mind, to speed up your songs to get as many in that time span. I know that all they are trying to do is get as much of their material out to the listening public as possible, but when it completely transforms your songs into something unrecognizable it is a bad thing. Especially, when the songs are so good in their original form. I would love to know what you think about this issue. Is it more beneficial to rearrange your songs to get as many in, in an allotted amount of time or, is it better to get your original product out to the listening masses, the product that is actually on the record, even if it is only a small portion of the work?
Eagle*Seagull are Eli Mardock - vocals, keys, guitar / Luther Mardock - guitar, vocals / Austin Skiles - guitar, bass, vocals / Carrie Butler - violin, keys / J.J. Idt - guitar, keys, banjo / Mike Overfield - bass, keys / and Britt Hayes - drums.
Below are links to a few of the original songs off of the a fore mentioned masterpiece as well as links to the band and labels' sites. I hope you enjoy, and if you do be sure to purchase the album from Paper Garden Records, as they offer great customer service and only have a few copies left!


http://www.eagleseagull.com/
http://www.papergardenrecords.com/2005/index.html

http://www.eagleseagull.com/2005/av.html#
http://www.eagleseagull.com/2005/av.html#
http://www.eagleseagull.com/2005/av.html#

FDR "The New Deal"

No not this guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt , but a guy who plays all instruments heard, as well as a mac powerbook G4, pro-tools, some mics and an M-Box. He also engineers, mixes, and produces the tracks! I caught him last Friday opening for Rogue Wave and he blew my friend and I away! Plus he looks like Elvis Costello on stage and that is pretty cool in my book! He did a novel thing in recording this record and laid down a track everyday for 50 days! That too is pretty cool in my book. I unfortunately did not have any cash on my person at the show (does anyone carry cash these days?), so I was unable to purchase The New Deal (a 3 disc set for $13.00 + shipping) , but from the tracks that I had heard at the show, when it arrives in the mail, hopefully soon, I will not be disappointed. For a one man band, you would be quite surprised at the complexities and layers he can produce and for that we can thank the leaps and bounds that technology in the music and recording industry have made. How great is it that someone who maybe cant work that well with other people can now sit in their bedroom and create wonderfully brilliant music, like Casiotone For the Painfully Alone http://www.cftpa.org/, or Chad VanGaalen http://www.flemisheye.com/chad.php ( who incidentally released a record today entitled Skelliconnection, which at this very moment is looking me in the face patiently awaiting my maiden listen!) FDR has a great stage presence and persona, as well as interesting and funny interlude stories in between songs while he is setting everything up. Check out his myspace page to listen to some songs and if you are in any of the areas where he is touring it wouldn't be a disappointment to check out his live show. Not only will you be endlessly impressed, but you will only have to spend some short dough on the tix!


http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=33722665

http://www.fdrmusic.com/

http://teamclermont.com/CFTPA_YoungShields.mp3
http://teamclermont.com/CFTPA_ColdWhiteChristmas.mp3 (CFTPA mp3s)
http://www.paradeofexquisites.org/audio/casio_nights.mp3

http://www.subpop.com/scripts/main/download.php?url=/downloads/free/Flower_Gardens384.mp3&mid=384 (CVG mp3s)
http://www.flemisheye.com/music/ChadVanGaalen-ClinicallyDead.mp3
http://www.flemisheye.com/music/ChadVanGaalen_Somewhere.mp3
http://www.flemisheye.com/music/ChadVanGaalen-Traffic.mp3

ROGUE WAVE!

About a year ago I really started to "get into" new music, or at least music that was new to me. Now when I say "get into" I mean checking around the various blogs everyday, dedicating way to much of my paycheck to music and pretty much letting it take over my life. Now I go out and throw out various references to bands that I have been getting into lately, to the all to common blank face stare of my friends who reply, "yeah, I have never heard of them." Anyway it keeps me happy and that is all that really matters, right? To get back to the point, about a year ago one of the first bands that I had really got into and who are still with me today in pretty heavy rotation is Rogue Wave. A band out of Oakland, who bring great pop sensibilities and wandering guitar riffs to straight forward drums and bass mixed with delicate, fragile, and beautiful vocals. I caught their set for the 2nd time in a week last night at The Iron Horse in Northampton Mass. and earlier last Friday at the Bank of America Pav. in Boston opening for Ray Lamontange and Guster. The show in Boston was great and their set, though short and in daylight was very well received by the first time listening audience as well as the few head boppers and jamming outers like myself. They filled up a larger venue with their sound just as well as they do a 100 seater. Last nights show was a bit different, marred by technical issues (which were resolved by the mid way point) and an absolutely unruly Northampton crowd! That type of thing is very rare in N-Hamp, the crowd is usually very relaxed maybe even sedated, but agitation can be expected when the delays from the tech. issues were at times extended. The set was started off with a new song which I unfortunately did not catch the name of and then commenced into cuts from the bands two records, Out of the Shadow and Descended Like Vultures. A couple stand-outs for me were a new song entitled Lake Michigan and a fantastic extended encore version of California. Rogue Wave are Zach Rogue, Pat Spurgeon, Gram Lebron and Evan Farrell. I didn't include instruments or duties of the band members because one of the coolest things about Rogue Wave is that they all play pretty much every instrument! They do kind of a carousel type thing on stage exchanging instruments and duties on every couple of songs. Check out the link below to their web-site, there are a few songs for your listening pleasure so please enjoy and have a great weekend!

http://www.roguewavemusic.com/

Bedouin Soundclash of Toronto

Bedouin Soundclash are a band that I had found from a skiing video about a year ago. They have the perfect rock, reggae mix and their latest album, Sounding a Mosaic, which has been in heavy rotation on my playlist for quite some time, is an absolutely fantastic listen from start to finish. The three songs (just samples from the web-site unfortunatly) below are from the afore mentioned masterpiece. The band hails from Toronto (which in itself says quite a lot eh?!) and has a pretty hectic touring sched. always! The one time that I had actually been around to catch one of their shows in this area (Massachusetts) they had to cancel, which left me with the headliner, State Radio, which in turn made me realize how much I missed Dispatch. (The one other time that they were in the area, I ironically enough was in Toronto! That was a dirty trick.)
Bedouin Soundclash are Eon Sinclair on bass, Pat Pengelly beating the skins and Jay Malinowski strumming and singing and, "boy that some mighty fine a pickin' and a singin' " - Oh brother where art thou?

http://www.bedouinsoundclash.com/night.mp3
http://www.bedouinsoundclash.com/money.mp3
http://www.bedouinsoundclash.com/jeb.mp3



Band Site:
http://www.bedouinsoundclash.com/index.php

P.S.
Check this kid out! wow - http://www.bofunk.com/video/3547/spray_painting.html

Question on the month

With the recent trend of tv show movie remakes ( Dukes of Hazzard, Miami Vice etc.) who of todays leading men would play MacGyver, and would you in fact make them grow a real mullett?!!!!

Turn to Page France

I had first heard of Page France from 3hive.com http://www.3hive.com/2006/02/page_france.php , (check out this link the mp3 is actually still active). I fell in love with the song that was posted, but for some reason I didnt really do too much more research for more songs or info after my initial introduction, actually I didnt do any and I feel like an idiot for not. Page France opened for Silversun Pickups on Saturday at Great Scott in Boston http://www.greatscottboston.com/ ( A great place with fantastic sound and a very intimate feeling, so intimate infact that I actually was able to have words with both Page France and SSPU before and after thier sets ) and they absolutley blew me away! (SSPU tore it up as well, maybe the best show that I have seen this year, the music from the new album translates very very well to their live show) But anyway back to Page France, they bring a very modern folky feel to their music, its pretty simple and straight forward with catchy hooks, great lyrics filled with wild and vivid imagery and is very sing-alongable. YAY A NEW WORD! I picked up their Hello, Dear Wind album after their set and gave it a listen on the way home from the show, as I was cleaning the apt on a lazy sunday and now as I avoid doing any real work on a Monday morning. The entire album is brilliant and makes for a great listen.
Anyway, time to stop avoiding the job that I actually get paid for. Whats up with the saying that your job should be something that you love? How many people actually have jobs that pay, that they love?!

http://www.pagefrance.net/main.html

Silversun Pick(me)ups!

Greetings and what a Friday & subsequent weekend! Tonight heading to Northampton mass, to catch the Duhks at the Iron Horse and to put up many Rouge Wave concert posters for their show there in a couple weeks. The Duhks though, what a great band playing songs that are made up traditional Irish and American folk roots and who look great doing them.
Saturday to GreatScott in Boston to catch the Silversun Pickups. Their follow up album to 2005's PIKUL, Carnavas released just last week is geeting great responses and reviews from the more traditional media outlets as well as in the Blog world. Take the best parts of the Smashing Pumpkins Gish(my fav) and Siamese Dream records and you have the Silversun Pickups. I dont mean to classify them, but it really is what they sound like! Fuzzy guitars, the classic shoegaze boy girl lyrics and get out of your seat, jump around sound is all right with me. Especially in this day of electronic tunes and one member bands whose only instrument is a laptop. Dont get me wrong I am a fan of the music scene as a whole today, but I do have a longing for the more traditional sounds with which I grew up, and SSPU supply that! If you havent checked out this record please do not only for the music, but the fantastic artwork. The lazy eye track is one of the best, but unfortunatly not available to check out on their site, which does have a couple off of the new album though.
Anyway, thanks for you time and please have a great weekend!

http://www.silversunpickups.com/
http://www.roguewavemusic.com/

I've Been Born!

Hello, and thanks for viewing my bag 'o' pipes page! I am dedicating this page to music that is old, new, out of style and pretty much anything that I think is not created by no talent balloon knots!

The first band that I have decided to post is the Benevento Russo Duo http://beneventorussoduo.com. For those of you have not heard of this band I suggest a serious listen. It may be classified as jam band music ( no vocals, gigs with Trey A. and Mike G. from Phish), but if you really listen it isnt. It is experimental and actually rock and, if I had to classify them I would put them in the Jazz catagory due to the instrumental make up, organ and drums and that there is no vocals. But the great thing about the duo is that they are able transcend classifications and come into their own and create their own style of music. If you listen closely you can actually hear the organ singing! Their new album Play, Pause, Stop is a must have and you will be hooked by the first listen, like I was at 10pm a few weeks ago listening to it for the third time that night on really cheap computer speakers.

P.S. - I would love to post a song or two for your listening pleasure but I do not know how. I am new to this and would love any pointers as to posting music. thanks!