Slumberland Turns 20!...Q+A with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Since starting up 20-years ago, Slumberland Records has been providing the world with some of the best and noisiest pop music around. Lately the label has really stepped up its game with a new crop of bands ready to carry the torch of the label for the next 20-years. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have to considered the cream of that crop of bands. Their self-titled debut perfectly captures the influence of early Slumberland acts, while also updating the sound and pushing it towards a more modern place. On Saturday the band will be headlining the Slumberland 20th Anniversary party at The Bell House! (tickets) I had a chance to chat with the band's front man Kip Berman about what it's like to be a part of the Slumberland family, his favorite Slumberland records, and what the band is currently up to! Enjoy!

PTST: We're celebrating the 20th anniversary of Slumberland Records, how does it feel to be part of the new regime of bands that have taken the label to a new height of popularity within
the last few years?
Kip: When we were putting together our debut with them, we knew they were also putting out bands we loved like Crystal Stilts and caUSE co-MOTION! and that factored as heavily as their storied tradition in deciding to do our record with them. Now they're putting out records by Pants Yell!, Frankie Rose, Lichtenstein and lots of other bands we feel really proud and honored to be label mates with.

PTST: Were you guys big fans of Slumberland before signing to the label?
Kip: Slumberland bands were always some of our favorites growing up, and definitely the sound of the label had an impact on us. Bands like Rocketship, Aislers Set, Velocity Girl, Henry's Dress, Black Tambourine and even their re-issue of 14 Iced Bears were all pretty essential listening for most of us prior to forming the band.

PTST: What are your top 5 favorite Slumberland records ever?
Kip: 1. Aislers Set "The Last Match"
2. Rocketship "A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness"
3. Crystal Stilts "A Light of Night"
4. Velocity Girl "6 Song Compilation" EP
5. Black Tambourine "Complete Recordings"

PTST: What are you guys currently working on?
Kip: We just put out an EP called "Higher Than the Stars." We'll be touring in Spain, France and the UK for the remainder of the year, then we're heading off to Australia and Japan in early 2010, with a bit of time off in between to start working on our next record.

PTST: How has Slumberland help you get to where you are now?
Kip: Mike has been about as terrific and overwhelmingly awesome as any band could ever hope their label to be. He wakes up everyday at 5 am to take care of label business because he works a regular job full time AND has a newborn baby (Hi Theo!!!!). He always goes the extra mile for us and has really gone out of his way to do as much as he possibly can to help the record do well. In short, he rules and we love him.

PTST: Do you have a favorite Slumberland band past or present?
Kip: That's really too hard a question. Rocketship or Aislers Set, probably.

PTST: What's the best part of having been invited to play one of Slumberland's 20th Anniversary shows?
Kip: Well, getting to see all the other bands on the bill. We've loved Pants Yell! for a while, and it's cool we're now label mates. Plus, I'm really psyched to see one of Frankie Rose's first shows, as she's a really talented songwriter and it'll be cool to see her in a front-person capacity.

PTST: If you were to get the record label a gift for it's anniversary what would you give it?
Kip: I think an intern would be appreciated. I don't know how they have time to do it all, especially with Baby Theo who, at <1 style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" size="4">Listen: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Contender"
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "A Teenager In Love"

Monday's Leaky Faucet

Who: Tom Waits
Title: Glitter and Doom Live
Release Date: November 24th
Label: Anti-
Thoughts: Having never seen Tom Waits live I have conflicting feelings about listening to his new live album. On the one hand here is a chance to hear what Waits' live show is like without ever leaving the comfort of my home. On the other, it kind of spoils the possibility of being surprised if I ever do manage to see Waits on stage. That said, I did listen to the record, both discs, straight through and I'm a little disappointed in the disjointed nature of the two discs. On one disc we are given the live songs of Waits, performed with his standard, raspy voice, that includes a slew of great tunes. It sounds fantastic, beginning to end and is exactly the way I would imagine Tom Waits sound live. On the second disc we are given the hysterical stories that Waits tells from stage between songs. It is truly a charming slew of stories, totalling 35-minutes of humor and insight from a man that seems to have seen it all. My problem with it is that it's totally separate. The great joy of the live album is hearing how an artist interacts with his audience between songs. Great live albums do this in spades, but here it's one disc of music and one disc of stories. As good as the stories are there's a good chance you won't be turning to this disc after on listen. If they had instead placed the stories between songs you'd come back again and again, each story lending a little more charm to the songs Waits had just sung or is about to sing. Really the only problem with Glitter and Doom is this formatting problem, other than that everything else is aces.
Listen: Tom Waits - "Live Circus"
Tom Waits - "Lucky Day"



Who: Norah Jones
Title: The Fall
Release Date: November 17th
Label: Blue Note
Thoughts: For the past two years a lot has been made about how Norah Jones was shifting to a more rock oriented sound. The piano was going to be discarded, band members were to be recruited, famous stars would help out, and Norah would move away from her contemporary adult standards and move to something a bit younger. There's some truth in all those statements, but none are whole truths. Norah did recruit a band of all-stars to help her move to a more guitar oriented sound, but the rock part is more of an exaggeration and really this album does nothing to move her away from the adult contemporary star she currently is. Her voice is still refined and very, very sexy, her lyrics tend to be far more mature than her 30-years, and the music is as good as it gets for the "rock you gently" sect of the population. All in all, it's an okay record that neither reaches beyond her capabilities nor does it truly ever falter. About the only fault that can be found here is that the claims leading up to the album were greatly exaggerated.
Listen: Norah Jones - "Chasing Pirates"
Norah Jones - "It's Gonna Be"



Who: The Fiery Furnaces
Title: Take Me Round Again
Release Date: ?
Label: Thrill Jockey
Thoughts: Over the past few years The Fiery Furnaces have built up the reputation of being enigmatic performers prone to re-working their songs on stage and recording some of the stranger sounds in pop music today. After releasing the very underrated I'm Going Away earlier this year the band has spent the past few months touring and have taken to re-working the songs on their most recent album. The result of this is normally only seen onstage, but this time the Friedbergers decided to record their tweaks and changes in a truly unique way - with Eleanor and Matthew each recording their own versions of these songs. Now I don't know how necessary this recording is, it is mostly just a stripped down take on what they just did, but for fans of the band they will want to own this as soon as it becomes available. The songs aren't changing the wheel but the idea is intriguing enough to merit a listen or two by even casual fans.
Listen: The Fiery Furnaces - "I'm Going Away - Matthew Friedberger"
The Fiery Furnaces - "I'm Going Away - Eleanor Friedberger"
Buy It Here!

This Week's Live Picks

Monday: Cass McCombs @ Bowery Ballroom 7pm $15 [tix]
Over the course of his last two albums Cass McCombs has truly gone through some sort of metamorphosis, transitioning from dreamy bedroom pop to a cleaner, better produced, and wordier version of himself. The focus on the lo-fi sound of his past has been taken off and instead casts a blinding spotlight on his abilities as a songwriter. Thus far McCombs has been up to the task crafting deep, emotional songs that are worthy of all the attention he's received these past couple of years. If you're a fan of brilliant songwriting there is no better place for you to be on Monday night.
Cass McCombs - "The Executioner's Song"

Tuesday: Free Energy + Small Black @ The Bell House 7:30pm $8 [tix]
During the Pop Tarts Suck Toasted CMJ Show Small Black absolutely stole the spotlight away from bands like Surfer Blood and Holiday Shore who may have come into the day with a bit more buzz. As good as the rest of the bands were Small Black stood out with their blend of live instrumentation and electronic sounds, making for the perfect current version electronic rock music. There's more to it than that, but I think you'd be better off witnessing it for yourself.
Free Energy - "Dark Trance"
Small Black - "Weird Machines"

Wednesday: Deastro + Max Tundra @ Mercury Lounge 7:30pm $12 [tix]
Last we saw Max Tundra he was still a whirlwind when he hits the stage. His music, which is so meticulous on record, comes off a bit scattered and watching him spin back and forth from his equipment and sing while prancing around is definitely a sight to see. The music is still very good, not quite as perfected as it is on record, but what would you expect from one man trying to do it all.
Deastro - "Rivers of Life"
Max Tundra - "Orphaned"

Thursday: Miracles of Modern Science, The Lisps, + Pet Ghost Project @ Glasslands 8pm $8 [info]
It has been ages since we last saw The Lisps, and to be honest with you we are kind of getting a bit of an itch to see the band doing their best vaudeville impression once again. Tonight the band meets up with a couple other solid acts, Miracles of Modern Science and Pet Ghost Project who are definitely worthy of your attention, but when things are going right for The Lisps there are few bands we'd rather see live.
Miracles of Modern Science - "Bossa Supernova"
The Lisps - "The Winter That I Missed"
Pet Ghost Project - "Age of Automatics"

Friday: Alela Diane + Marissa Nadler @ (le) poisson rouge 7pm $10 [tix]
As much as enjoy Alela Diane and Marissa Nadler I have an ulterior motive in pointing out this show to my regular readers. The fact is my girlfriend Rachael (of Underrated Magazine) will be doing her DJ thing in the gallery bar from 7pm - 10pm so I'm hoping some of you will come and enjoy the tunes she spins and a drink or two before you head in to catch these two wonderful performers. Seriously, they're great but Rachael does a whole Motown hour that is not to be missed!
Alela Diane - "To Be Still"
Marissa Nadler - "Mistress"

Saturday: Slumberland 20th Anniversary @ The Bell House 6pm $15 [tix]
All this week we will be highlighting the fantastic 20-year history of Slumberland Records. We have interviews with some of the bands playing the show, a special Top 10, and other Slumberland related posts ready to go up all week long starting with today's Q+A with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Saturday night we'll be checking out the recent additions to their awesome roster and we're hoping you'll all be coming out to thank the label for 20-years of fantastic pop music!
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Stay Alive"
Crystal Stilts - "Love Is Wave"
Brown Recluse - "Night Train"
Pants Yell! - "Cold Hands"
Frankie Rose - "Where Do You Run To"

Sunday: Art Brut @ Bowery Ballroom 7:30pm $16 [tix]
About a month ago I drove up to Boston to visit my little brother in college. It was game one of the ALDS, Yankees versus Angels, and I still left my native New York for the visit and to see Art Brut play. They have that much of a pull on me that they could get me to break my ritual of not leaving New York during October and amazingly they also helped break that jinx. They also played a wildly energetic and fun show so make sure you see them this weekend.
Art Brut - "Summer Job"

Live Review: Fucked Up @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, 11/5

("Golden Seal" & "Days of Last" w/Andrew W.K.)

Since releasing The Chemistry of Common Life last year, Fucked Up have been one of the most consistently played bands on my iPod. Their music gets to me and turns me into something of a maniac as soon as the first gut wrenching wail rips through my ears. It has led me to see the band a couple of times already and each time I walk away from their shows knowing I have just witnessed a band that loves every minute of what they do and fans that adore them for it.

("Crooked Head" w/Vivian Girls)

Right from the start of last night's show the fans kicked things into overdrive, launching themselves off the stage with reckless abandon, taking chances to kick the gong in the center of the stage or grab a mic and belt out a few lines before hurling themselves off the stage. It was an insane scene to witness, but Fucked Up made it even more so, throwing their all into their Polaris Prize winning masterpiece and pulling out all the stops for it.

By song three, "Golden Seal", Pink Eye introduced Andrew W.K. to play keyboard for a couple of songs, followed closely by Vivian Girls for their backing vocals on a couple of tracks, and then onto opener Katie Stelmanis for the last planned guest appearance of the night. Of course a few fans made their own appearances, but that only lent to furthering the awe inspiring nature of the performance.

The band themselves were as tight as they were the last few times we saw them, including that jaw dropping performance at the Pool Party this summer where they totally upstaged Mission of Burma. Smiles were on their faces as the witnessed their fans face plant after diving off the stage, and the seemed like there was nowhere on Earth they would rather be last night.

Obviously the draw of the night was to see The Chemistry of Common Life performed fully, and the band nailed every moment of the record, from the opening wails of "Son the Father" right on down the final, screeching notes of the title track. It was absolute bliss to watch it unfold right there on stage, and of course the band came out for a three song encore which sounded like a Misfits cover and two other songs but I could be totally wrong (my ears are ringing something fierce right now, need to replace my earplugs!).

Last night was possibly the show of the year for me, in energy and sound it had a bit of everything I could have asked for - new bands to fall in love with, songs from two of my favorite albums of last year being performed, energetic bands, and fans eager to fall over one another for a few hours of controlled chaos! If you can't get behind a show like that, what are you listening for in the first place!

Live Review: Titus Andronicus @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, 11/5

("My Time Outside the Womb")

So apparently Titus Andronicus have changed a lot since the last time I saw them. Before they were a five piece band that had a shit ton of energy to unleash on their fans. The sound was at times flawed, but it was also full with three guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer unleashing the fury of their songs on our heads. This time out they had scaled back to a four piece, with Patrick Stickles still at the head of things, Peter Feigenbaum of Dinowalrus chipping in some crazed guitar work, and a rhythm section that I don't know if they're old or new. Obviously something happened to change things up for this band.

("Upon Viewing Brueghel's 'Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus'")

All that said Titus Androncius still do an excellent job of getting a crowd riled up. The band started the deluge of stage divers that would plague Fucked Up's set, had people bouncing around the front right from the first song, and kept their energy up straight through the set. The band is still sticking to material from their 2008 release The Airing of Grievances with just a small hint of new tunes thrown in.

("Fear And Loathing In Mahwah, NJ")

The new tunes are solid. A bit of a step towards a more refined sound, but not enough that you'll wonder what happened to the Titus Andronicus sound that we all fell so hard for last year. I still enjoy hearing the old tunes though and watching the kids throw their all into singing along with Stickles. That alone is enough to make seeing them worthwhile, and in the mean time we can all get used to the changes that have gone on in the band.

Live Review: The Girls at Dawn @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, 11/5

(sorry not the best video ever!)

Let's go ahead and get the obvious out of the way, the ladies of The Girls at Dawn bear a striking resemblance to the ladies of Vivian Girls. Their tunes are similar in that they both tend towards the lo-fi end of things, with a heavy garage influence, and lovely girl group harmonies. Now let's move on and try to not compare them to Vivian Girls more than that.

Right from the start of their set on Thursday night, The Girls at Dawn had a few sound problems. Part of that is obviously done on purpose to get the whole shit gaze vibe going, but the mix was pretty awful and the bass dominated the sound last night. That said you can tell that these girls aren't just on stage looking pretty, they do do that well, but they also have some solid tunes that just didn't come across flawlessly. But let's be fair, they are a relatively new group and that tightness should come with playing out more.

I'd like to see The Girls at Dawn in about three months, see where they've gotten to from where they are now and then revive my opinion of them. For now I will suggest checking out their show on Saturday at Market Hotel with Grass Widow and check out how the tunes sound recorded on their MySpace.

Live Review: Katie Stelmanis @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, 11/5

Before heading out to Brooklyn last night I was bit torn about what time to show up to the venue. Doors were slated for 7pm, but I knew Titus Andronicus wasn't going on till 10pm with Fucked Up to follow. Luckily thanks to the magic of Twitter I learned that there were two other bands opening up for Fucked Up and thankfully they were both well worth getting there early to see!

The first of these bands was Katie Stelmanis, another Canadian artist who just happens to have appeared on The Chemistry of Common Life ("Royal Swan" for those keeping track). So it made sense for Katie to be there since Fucked Up were performing the album in its entirety, but she also brought along a percussionist and a guitarist to round out her fantastic sound.

That sound is pretty tough to narrow down, it crosses genres gently and without notice, spanning the spectrum of pop, dance, electronic, and the occasional rock bit. All of it is kept in check by the amazing voice Stelmanis has, it absolutely captivates - though the bright pink blouse she was wearing also held your eye, until you could stare at it no more!

The set was short and sweet but did enough to win me over and force me to check out what she's done on her own! You should probably do the same!

New Tunes: Spoon

Get excited Spoon fans! There is a new album coming January 26th! The 7th studio album from the Austin band will be called Transference, will be released on Merge, and will most likely follow in the footsteps of all their past great records and wind up being one of our favorites of 2010! We're excited for it and now that the first taste of the record has found its way online we're even more excited!

"Mystery Zone" starts off with the obvious, killer guitar riff, Britt Daniels unmistakable voice, and the slow infusion of the piano into the song. It comes like a wave rushing over you and receding back almost as quickly as it came. The song can be sparse at times, the songwriting is kept minimal, and it seems the instruments take turns filling up the space. It's a solid introduction to a new record that is sure to have very high hopes from music fans all over. Check it out!
Spoon - "Mystery Zone"

Top 10: Music Videos by Spike Jonze

Now that the World Series is over and the Yankees have won their 27th World Championship life around these parts can get back to normal. No more scheduling things around game time, waiting till the last out to go out, and missing everything I hope to see! That means this weekend I will finally have a chance to see Where the Wild Things Are my second most anticipated movie of the year (The Road is first) three weeks after it came out! At this point everyone's probably seen it so don't spoil it for me! Anyway, since I'll be seeing the movie I thought it was a good time to look back on the career of the movie's director Spike Jonze, specifically the amazing music videos that helped to kick start his ascent to fame! Jonze has worked with some of the best bands throughout the last two decades, putting an emphasis on dancing and movement in his videos and they are a spectacular collection of the best in all genres - rock, hip hop, dance, you name it he's probably dabbled in it. He's won tons of awards from MTV, has a DVD collection of most of his videos, and has pretty much done everything he could to push the music video into a new direction all of his own making. It was tough to narrow it down to 10, there are so many great ones, so feel free to chime and let us know what you think we left out! Enjoy!


10.
Dinosaur Jr. - "Feel the Pain"; Playing golf in New York City is normally reserved for the outer boroughs where there's more space and green, but Spike and Dinosaur Jr. collaborated to turn Manhattan into one giant golf course for this video. The highlight, beating down the three business men in the park who try to pick up their ball where it lay. Don't they know that's against the rules!

9.

Daft Punk - "Da Funk"; It may seem like the start to a bad joke, a dog with a broken foot walks through the city and...yeah. It's not a joke though instead it's a fantastic tale of dog that's left a bit down on his luck. Whatever your take on it there's no denying how awesome this simple video is.

8.
Fatboy Slim - "Praise You"; The Torrance Community Dance Group worked for five weeks to put together this wonderful public performance of elegance and grace. A motley crew of middle ages dancers prances around the in front of a movie theater interpreting the song their own brilliant way. It's an amazing show of what small bits of talent and determination can create and it is definitely a top notch music video.

7.

Ludacris - "Get Back"; Guys, please don't talk to other guys while you're taking a piss. It really is the wrong time to do anything but focus on what's coming out of you. We're not women, we don't go to the bathroom in groups, we don't need that shit. If you wanna do that some dude with Popeye arms may just knock the shit out of you.

6.

Kanye West - "Flashing Lights"; In 2;46 seconds, Spike Jonze and Kanye West manage to captivate our attention with a beautiful woman, a beautiful scene, and some traumatic, unexplained violence. It makes for a video you cannot turn your eyes away from.

5.

Bjork - "It's Oh So Quiet"; Choreography has often gone ignored in music videos of the late 20th century. More people focused on shaking booty and live performances rather than letting an artist truly let loose to their song. Amazingly it was Bjork who decided to don the dancing shoes in the gorgeous video. The dancing, the colors, the sounds all flow so brilliantly together to create a wild dream like music video.

4.
Fatboy Slim - "Weapon of Choice"; Speaking of odd dance choices, who thought Christopher Walken could move like that before seeing this video. Sure, some of the moves are done by stunt doubles, but this video is absolutely incredible almost solely for the performance Walken gives in it. When you consider his most recent film work this might just be the best thing he's done in the last 15-years!

3.
Wax - "California"; There's a good chance you don't remember Wax and their one big hit, but chances are also pretty good that you remember the image of the man on fire running in slow motion down a California street to catch a bus. It's an indelible image for anyone who was brought up on MTV during the 90's.

2.
Beastie Boys - "Sabatoge"; Along with choreography and movement, Spike Jonze is amazing at turning music videos into mini-homages to some of his favorite TV shows and movies. "Sabatoge" manages to wrap just about every 70's crime drama into on 4-minute long video. It works amazingly well with the music of the Beastie Boys, almost too well, to the point where we can't hear the opening guitar riff without picturing the mustachioed guys of the band running around and posing for the camera.

1.
Weezer - "Buddy Holly"; The Happy Days inspired video that launched Spike Jonze into the public eye. Before this Spike had done a number of solid videos, but this was the one that got him on MTV and pushed him to scale the heights he has. There is no doubt that you know every second of this video by heart and remember the days of waiting for it to come on MTV every half hour. Simply put this may just be the best music video ever made.

New Video: White Rabbits "Percussion Gun" on Jimmy Kimmel Live

White Rabbits perform "Percussion Gun" on Jimmy Kimmel Live with the help of Spoon's Britt Daniel, who produced their latest album. It sounds as good as any late night performance I have ever heard! Not perfect but damn good!

New Video: The Antlers "Kettering"

A dedicated fan made this wonderful video for The Antlers' "Kettering". Composed entirely of still photographs, the video somehow manages to translate those stills into the exact emotion and pace of the song from The Antlers. The photographs are of course beautiful representations of the various emotions pouring from The Antlers in the song, making for a truly wonderful visual and aural experience.
(via Muzzle of Bees)

New Tunes: El Perro Del Mar

The sultry voice of El Perro Del Mar is usually enough to make us swoon, but when you add in the fact that she's covering Lou Reed's "Heavenly Arms" in the video above we have gone well beyond melted to a new state of absolute devotion to this songstress. She explained why she chose to cover Reed and this is what she had to say...

"For some coincidental reason Lou Reed worked as some kind of muse for my new album, and perhaps especially this very song as the overall theme of it.

I knew from the beginning I was going to do an album of love songs but as I was far from in an amorous state of mind at the time I realized, I couldn't write anything that would be pretending I still believed in love. I wanted to though. Desperately. And upon reading the lyrics to "Heavenly Arms" I realized he'd find the way to express this dark and desperate fight for love to survive against all odds. Although time and space had come between it - you keep fighting for it until the end. In some ways "Heavenly Arms" helped me set the tone for the album. Performing it live is always very special. At Way Out West in Gothenburg this summer I had the chance to do it in a grand church with this huge cross hanging over my head. It was a strange and quite eerily beautiful feeling."

Pretty awesome if you as us, also make sure you check out "Change of Heart" off her new album below.
El Perro Del Mar - "Change of Heart"

New Video: Kurt Vile "Freak Train"

Enjoy the new clip from Matador's Kurt Vile!

EP of the Week: Dirty Projectors' "Temecula Sunrise"

It has been a huge year for Dirty Projectors! With the release of Bitte Orca the band went from being an interesting little indie band to being a band that could appear on all the late night talk shows and tour the world to packed houses. It was a pretty big leap but based on the tremendous pop sounds coming off Bitte Orca it's one that is totally merited. Ask just about any music critic about their year end list right now and I assure you Bitter Orca will come up just about every time, it is that good, and now the band has followed that up with a 4-song EP that includes two songs off Bitte Orca and two new tunes.

At this point I will assume you know all about the EP's title track, "Temecula Sunrise" and "Cannibal Resource", the two songs that also appeared on the band's break out LP earlier this year. Those tunes set the tone for the EP with their gorgeous melodies and harmonies leading into the two new songs folks are probably most excited about. Recorded at the same time the rest of Bitte Orca was, "Ascending Melody" and "Emblem of the World" sound like they too belonged on the record. The melodies are as beautiful as what we heard on the album and those vocal harmonies fit right alongside everything that has come before. But I guess that should be expected since they were all born of the same creative process.

I suppose Temecula Sunrise serves more as a victory lap for the Dirty Projectors and their fantastic year than anything else. It gives their fans a chance to witness a few cast off B-sides, and allows them to close the book on their Bitte Orca chapter and start looking towards what will come next for the band. Even then the four songs here are beautiful examples of the indie pop music fans have fallen head-over-heels for all year long.
Dirty Projectors - "Temecula Sunrise"
Dirty Projectors - "Emblem of the World"

Tuesday's Recommended Release

It must have been great for young rockers growing up in the early days of the genre. Imagine hearing all this great guitar music and knowing that every inch of it was brand spanking new, inventive, something mind altering, it would have been such a phenomenal time to be young. Of course we are not in that time, we are in a time where any new song that is recorded can be likened to something before it and where any time a song is released it is available at the click of a button. It's kind of a "best of times, worst of times scenario" but this is where we are. Luckily we have an act like King Khan & BBQ Show (King Khan's slightly more popular other project King Khan & the Shrines) to remind us of the vibrant early days of rock music, the rebellious call to teenage arms that was punk, and the current state of instantaneous gratification all in one fell swoop.

For a few years now Khan and Mark Sultan (BBQ Show) have been making music together, first as members of the Spaceshits and now in their two piece, soul revival King Khan & BBQ Show. Like the Shrines, Khan and BBQ Show do things the old way, with killer guitar riffs, playful attitudes, and the absolute need to make every lyric and lick sexual. It's a fun trip down memory lane for sure, but it also serves as one of the most compelling and enjoyable listens these days. The tuneful blend of rock, soul, R&B, and punk is a wonderful thing, certainly not new but re-imagined as a dirty free for all with lyrics that are certainly not anywhere near radio friendly.

On Invisible Girl, King Khan & BBQ Show once again assault all sorts of the old school rock ideas, novelty dances, teen love, and straight up insanity, all served with a bit of the crass attitude King Khan often exudes. For a guy that spends half of his on stage time in some stage of undress you shouldn't expect anything less, Khan uses his lyrics as a chance to truly stretch the limits of what is crude and what is downright filthy with songs like "Tastebuds" and "Tryin'". The language is filthy, the ideas are always sexual, but it sounds like so much fun coming from these guys.

Don't get us wrong, we're not offended by any of the words or messages in the music of King Khan & BBQ Show - we curse like sailors on a regular basis - but it keeps the music from reaching any sort of a wider audience in any sort of "acceptable" outlets. Luckily for Khan and Sultan there is the internet where flocks of fans have found the band and will now follow anything and everything they ever do. Like I said, it's a "best of times, worst of times" scenario but with a soundtrack like this we're not really concerned which of those times winds up winning out in the end.
King Khan & BBQ Show - "Invisible Girl"
King Khan & BBQ Show - "Animal Party"

This Week's Live Picks

Monday: Fuck Buttons, Growing, + These Are Powers @ Bowery Ballroom 7:30pm $15 [tix]
Most acts that set up in front of a table are never able to truly capture an audiences attention in the live setting. They stand there, pressing buttons and twisting knobs, letting the music do the work for them and a lot of times it winds up as a boring performance. Fuck Buttons are not one of those bands. Yeah they do the pushing and twisting, but their music captivates, the sheer volume and magnitude of the sound make it so you can't help but be enthralled. Their shows are not to be missed!
Fuck Buttons - "New Crossbow"
Growing - "Lateral"
These Are Powers - "Life of Birds"

Tuesday: Mon Khmer @ Pianos 8pm $8 [tix]
Month long residencies at Pianos are not a new idea, but they have managed to create waves of buzz surrounding artists and launching them to the next level. Just look at Passion Pit who took over the stage for a month and spent the next year touring the festival circuit and lining up a major label record deal. This month Mon Khmer sets up shop at Pianos for three consecutive Tuesday's, and while their music isn't quite as catchy and immediate as Passion Pit's, they have a deep, well rounded sound that is not to be missed.
Mon Khmer - "Birthplace"

Wednesday: The Fiery Furnaces, Cryptacize, + Dent May @ Maxwell's 8pm $15 [tix]
Amid all the hoopla surrounding the decade end lists which have flooded the internet in recent weeks, The Fiery Furnaces have somehow been seemingly forgotten by a lot of the bigger people making these lists. Over the last few years the band have been nothing but envelope pushing, taking their indie pop base and expanding it in strange and amazing ways on each successive album. Maybe it's time for people to remember how great they've been in this decade and catch them live to remind yourselves what everyone else has been forgetting.
The Fiery Furnaces - "Tropical Iceland"
Cryptacize - "Tail & Mane"
Dent May - "When You Were Mine"

Thursday: Fucked Up + Titus Andronicus @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple 7pm $18 [tix]
This summer Fucked Up put on one of my favorite performances of the year at the first week of the relocated Pool Parties. It was a set that was foaming at the mouth with energy, one that will not soon be forgotten by the people that were there, and just the latest in a string of shows that have wowed people wherever they happened to see them. So it figures that the band knew they had to up the ante with their next New York show and chose to perform their Polaris Prize winning album The Chemistry of Common Life in its entirety, complete with backup vocals from Vivian Girls and instrumentation from some surprise guests. This show is going to be surreal and I can't wait to see it all unfold before my eyes!
Fucked Up - "No Epiphany"
Titus Andronicus - "My Time Outside the Womb"

Friday: Girls + Real Estate @ Bowery Ballroom 8pm $13 [tix]
At this point Girls debut record Album has become my favorite album of the year. Sorry to The Antlers and Animal Collective who have spent the whole year at the top, but this record of deeply personal and wildly eye opening lyrics has shot to the top of the heap. It makes Girls one of the best bands I've never managed to see and thankfully all that will change on Friday evening. If you've yet to explore the amazing debut please do so immediately! Album is the perfect soundtrack to the economic downturn we've all been in lately, focusing on the small pleasures in life rather than the gaudy financially driven ones, and it has really helped me through a tough stretch of unemployment personally.
Girls - "Lauren Marie"
Real Estate - "Saturday Morning"

Saturday: Small Black, Cale Parks, + Girls At Dawn @ Market Hotel 8pm $10 [info]
At my CMJ show two weeks ago Small Black proved that all the hype surrounding them and their upcoming EP has truly been justified. Supplementing their synthetic sound with a live rhythm section, the band managed to expand their sound on stage rather than simplify it like a lot of electronic bands will do when they take the stage. The result is a sound that demands your energy and your attention right from the opening notes, and considering this is a young, inexperienced band they can only get even better at pulling it off on stage.
Small Black - "Bad Lover"
Cale Parks - "Once At A Time"
Girls At Dawn - "Never Enough"

Sunday: Monsters of Folk @ The Beacon Theater 8pm $50.50 [tix]
For most people $50 is just way too much to go see some band play for a little more than an hour. With Monsters of Folk you will most likely get your moneys worth though. Seeing a band that features Jim James, Conor Oberst, and M. Ward all together will not only be amazing for the experience of it alone, but because these musicians know how to weave a song and how to put on a performance to keep people talking for weeks after it. I know the piggy banks have been getting tighter and tighter lately but something tells me this will be a show not to miss.
Monsters of Folk - "Say Please"

Live Review: Future of the Left @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

After spending a week at the CMJ Music Marathon I was a bit worried about what music has been presenting us with lately. Most of the bands of that week seemed to be trying to cash in on trends, sounding eerily similar to each other, and blending into a huge blur that was really difficult to differentiate between. Luckily there are bands out there that can remind you of the power of rock music in one fell swoop.

On Friday night Future of the Left restored my admiration for music quickly and thoroughly. The band straight up rocks for every moment that they are on stage. Even when they are playfully bantering with the crowd they are still in complete control of the stage, chiding the audience, making fun of bands they abhor, and generally showing that they're having a great time despite their tendency towards music that is as angry as anything I've ever heard.

Prior to Future of the Left the steadily building Music Hall crowd was given sets from up-and-coming, Brooklyn psych rockers Dinowalrus and Brooklyn's Freshkills. Dinowalrus were up to the task, playing the big Music Hall stage for the first time since last year's After the Jump Fest, they were full of rambunctious energy that propelled front man Peter Feigenbaum across the stage. Their music is wild, creative, energetic, loud, and pretty amazing to behold. The sounds run wild just as Feigenbaum does on stage. His band of cohorts aren't quite as bouncy on stage, but we'll chalk that up to being behind the drums and behind a big table of synths for most of the night. As good as they were on Friday there set was a bit shorter than what we would have hoped for, then again we did get there just a little bit late.

Freshkills didn't have quite the same energy that bookended them during Friday night's show. The band is a solid appropriation of garage rock, but for whatever reason they mostly just stand in a line at the front of the stage for their set. It was more of a come down than anything else on Friday, but the sounds they are cranking out aren't half bad. Still if they could have somehow taken the intensity up a notch I might have been captivated, but as it was it got a little bit boring to behold for the full 30-minutes making primo drinking time!

Following Freshkills must have been a cake walk for Future of the Left. The band took the crowd from half empty to more or less full and from practically no energy to full out mosh pit by the end of the first song, a fantastic rendition of "Arming Eritrea" and flat out killing it from there. The band tackled most of their most recent album, Travels with Myself and Another, threw in a bit of Curses and generally nailed every bit of music they performed for us. Taking a break only to take shots at Oasis or each other, the band seemed to be flying high performing with an energy that never depleted.

Instead of doing a traditional encore the band decided it would be better to take apart the drum kit and place it all over the stage while the feedback continued to play on. Yeah, it's a page straight of Nirvana and The Who's playbook but it works to really send home the point that this show is over now, get the fuck out, and remember what you saw here! And believe me, that audience will remember that show for quite some time!

New Tunes: The Antlers on Daytrotter!

Way back in March I e-mailed the guys at Daytrotter and tried to set up this session while I knew the band and Daytrotter would both be down at SXSW. I never heard back and my days of attempting to manage The Antlers pretty much came to a close (though I did line up their awesome WOXY Lounge Act the week after!). I've spent the last few months continuing to adore the band's music and watching as they've grown into the big buzz band of the moment, complete with their own (undeserved) backlash and countless new opportunities forged by their brilliant music. Forgive me for sounding so childish, but it's kind of been like watching a kid grow up for me considering I booked Peter's first performance in New York even if it was on Staten Island. Well as I've listened and watched them appear on all these different internet programs I've never stopped thinking about how cool it would be for them to do a Daytrotter session. Since I first stumbled onto Daytrotter I have been obsessed by their unceasing ability to bring in the best up-and-coming acts to play four songs just for them and their friends on the web. If I had more knowledge of recording and better contacts I would aspire to be like them, but obviously I could never top the real thing. Anyway, the two have finally come together for an absolutely haunting four song set that includes three fantastic songs from the amazing Hospice, ("Shiva", "Kettering", and "Two") along with the rarely heard "Cold War" from their Cold War EP of a couple years ago. As always it's an amazing performance that is not to be missed!
The Antlers on Daytrotter

New Tunes: Yeasayer

Yeasayer have not been my favorite of the recent glut of indie bands rising to the top of the heap. I enjoyed "2080" but there was something off-putting about the rest of their raved about debut All Hour Cymbals. Maybe it was all the hippie vibes it gives off, whatever that is not what this is about. Today the band offered the first single off their new album, Odd Blood (out February 19th), for free download via their website. Amazingly the song is nothing like their last record, with bits of funk, lots of horns, and of course the melodies that most people wound up enjoying on the first record. It's really a much better song than I ever thought it would be and it opens up the possibility that I will actually listen to the new record when it leaks in a few weeks. For now you can all submit your e-mail address at the link below and get your own mp3 version of the song to tide you over until then!
Yeasayer - "Ambling Alp"

New Tunes: The Soft Pack

For whatever reason the act of changing a band's name has always annoyed me. You start to get to know a band as one thing and then all of a sudden they're something totally different. It sucks and it really fucks up your iTunes cataloging! In the case of the band formerly known as The Muslims I think I can make an exception to the rule. Let's face reality and realize that naming yourself after a religious group was not a good idea, so the change to The Soft Pack was actually pretty welcomed, especially since they haven't even released their debut LP yet!

Here we have our first taste of the new LP, a sweet sounding single called "Answer To Yourself". Like much of their stuff as The Muslims, the new tune tends towards the straight up rock sound. The riffs are hard charging, the rhythms pummel you immediately and throughout, and the song itself is pretty darn catchy. These guys aren't re-inventing the wheel, they're just adding their own rims to it and making it shinier. The other great news is that the band recently covered Phoenix for RCRD LBL and we all get to hear the results of their great take on "Fences"! Enjoy both below!
The Soft Pack - "Answer To Yourself"
The Soft Pack - "Fences" (Phoenix Cover) [via RCRD LBL)

Buzzworthy!!! Or Not???

Who: Warpaint
Location: Los Angeles, CA
elbo.ws Ranking: #48
Thoughts: One of the major flaws of the CMJ Music Marathon is the inability to see everything you want to see. Of course with 1,300 bands playing dozens of venues over the course of five days it would be impossible to do and with all time schedules that get skewed there is no way you can be everywhere you want to be. As such I managed to miss L.A.'s Warpaint when they hit the town last week, but a lot of the internet's buzz machine managed to see the band and launched them onto the elbo.ws charts. It helps that they also released a brand new music video last week, for their song "Stars", so pretty much everyone in the know was talking about the band non-stop. And why not? The band has such beautiful, fragile melodies, driven by the vocal harmonies of the three ladies in the band, and really do captivate right from the first listen. The music can be haunting and pretty at the very same time, lulling into you a calm state and keeping you there for the duration. Warpaint have really built something beautiful and minimalist that will keep you coming back for more thanks to the diversity and the chilling singing throughout each and every track.
Verdict: Buzzworthy!
Listen: Warpaint - "Stars"
Warpaint - "Billie Holiday"
Warpaint - "Elephants"

New Tunes: Xiu Xiu

Since we were shut out of the exclusive Jamie Stewart subscription service we have kind of been jonesing for some new Xiu Xiu since last year's solid Women As Lovers. Luckily most of our problems will be alleviated by the anticipated 2010 release of the band's new record Dear God, I Hate Myself. Before we get to that though the band has contributed two tunes to upcoming projects outside of the normal Xiu Xiu world!

The first is a remix that is part of SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Remixes!, the latest piece of the seemingly never ending celebration of Merge's 20th year. The remix is of "Volcana!" a tune from The 6ths and is a solid reworking of the original track that sounds more like Xiu Xiu than it does The 6ths, which I think is a good thing when it comes to remixes.

The other project is a split 7" with Parenthetical Girls, a pairing that seems so obvious we can't believe it hasn't been done already. Both bands adore the works of that Morrissey guy who keeps passing out at shows, and so they each have decided to tackle one of his songs. Xiu Xiu chose "I Am Hated for Loving" and continue the song's depressing nature with a mellow interpretation that gives chills! (And in case you're keeping score at home, Parenthetical Girls are covering "Handsome Devil")

Check out both below and don't go too crazy waiting for the new record!
Xiu Xiu - "I Am Hated for Loving" (Morrissey cover)
Xiu Xiu - "Volcana! (I Hope Your Train Crashes Remix)" (The 6ths)

(Editor's Note: so once again tinkering with the format of the blog! I'm taking out the weekly track reviews for now and will hope to cover some of the newly released songs as they happen throughout the week. We'll see how it goes and how my time holds up in working this way! As always let me know what you think if you care to!)