Monday, July 31

The Walkmen 3-8-2006 @ Skully's Music-Diner, Columbus, OH

Beginning a couple weeks after their performance at the Pitchfork Festival, The Walkmen are going to invade the South. Among the dates on that tour is a stop on August 15 at The Loft in Atlanta, with Bobby Bare Jr. along for the ride. I wasn't planning to go, mostly because of the venue, but when I saw tix were a mere $5 ($7 after charges) I couldn't help myself. Should be a good one. If you plan to go, I'd pick up tix soon. They're available from Ticket Alternative.

In anticipation of the show, here is a Walkmen show from a few months ago. There are few little crackles and pops in places that I assume are an artifact of the original recording. Hope it makes for some good Monday listening:

The Walkmen
March 8, 2006
Skully's Music-Diner

Columbus, Ohio

01. Don't Get Me Down
02. This Job is Killing Me
03. Little House of Savages
04. Emma, Get Me a Lemon
05. Louisiana
06. Danny's at the Wedding
07. Thinking of a Dream I Had
08. Good for You's Good for Me
09. Rue the Day
10. All the Hands and the Cook
11. Always After You
12. Another One Goes By
13. The Rat
14. Lost in Boston
15. Bows + Arrows
16. Wake Up


If you'd prefer to download the entire show, it's packaged in two .zip files available via Rapidshare:
Part 1 (58mb)
Part 2 (62mb)

While they'll probably concentrate on the material from their new album, here are a couple of tracks from their prior releases:

The Walkmen - Rue the Day
The Walkmen - The Blizzard of 1996


While I'm at it, here a couple of tracks from Bobby Bare Jr.

Bobby Bare Jr. - I'll Be Around
Bobby Bare Jr. - Strange Bird


You can also download Bobby Bare Jr.'s new track "Snuggling World Championships" at Stereogum.

The remaining tour dates for The Walkmen are available at Pitchfork.

Friday, July 28

Tapes 'N Tapes returning to ATL, Athens 10/28-10/29

Tapes 'N Tapes have just announced new tour dates for the fall. Among them are stops at Tasty World in Athens (10/28) and The Loft in Atlanta (10/29). The full slate of dates is available at Pitchfork.

Tapes 'N Tapes - Insistor
Tapes 'N Tapes - Cowbell

Might be worth giving them another chance after I wasn't too into the June show. Then again, I almost never go to The Loft because it feels like watching a band in a parking garage.

For more on Tapes 'N Tapes, see their official site.

ATL weekend preview: The Cogburns and more

While a bunch of bloggers are up in Chicago this weekend, I'll remain in Atlanta enjoying music right here. Even though I'm not up in the Windy City, my weekend is shaping up to be a good one. On Friday night there are several interesting shows in the area, including The Cogburns' CD release party.


The Cogburns are one of Atlanta's leading rock/garage/punk bands, full of piss and vinegar. Their new album, Pay Up, Sucker, is the first from the current lineup of Glenn, Jenn, Doug, and Tony Cogburn. As you might have noticed from the shared last name, they consider themselves a family as well as a band.

They recently told Creative Loafing that the album is dedicated to a slew of themes as old as rock itself -- sex, booze, and rock 'n roll. The CD will be made available for the first time tonight (Friday) at Star Bar, where The Cogburns will play alongside Rocket 350 and The Bluejays. I haven't heard the album yet, but I'll be sure to pick up a copy on Friday night. Here are a couple tracks from Pay Up, Sucker to check out:

The Cogburns - You Want It You Got It
The Cogburns - Spooky Song

The band has also been generous enough to make their entire Bob EP (2003) available for download on their website.

You can order Pay Up, Sucker directly from the band for just $12 (postage paid). Those of you across the pond should also note they'll be on tour in Europe soon. Tour dates (foreign and domestic) are on their MySpace page.

If you're looking for some late-night fun in ATL on Friday, there's a trio of great local bands playing a "secret" show at Decatur Social Club. One of the bands is Atlanta's own KillGordon... and I'm not at liberty to identify the other two. More info can be found at KissAtlanta.

KillGordon - In the Know


If you happen to be in Athens on Friday night, both The Selmanaires and 63 Crayons are playing at the 40 Watt. That should be a lot of fun. I'd totally be there if it weren't for the allure of seeing The Cogburns rock out at Star Bar.

The Selmanaires - Images
63 Crayons - Mrs. Brewster

Other interesting shows this weekend include a pair of Ryan Adams gigs (Sat. and Sun.) at Tabernacle and an appearance by Arizona-based pop band The Format Saturday at Masquerade. I won't share any Ryan Adams tracks here (I'd rather not have to hire a lawyer), but here a couple songs by The Format to check out:

The Format - She Doesn't Get It
The Format - The Compromise

Hope you have a great weekend, whatever you're up to. Hope to see some of you running around ATL!

Thursday, July 27

Girl Talk coming to ATL 8/11

According to Pitchfork, mash-up superstar Girl Talk has scheduled a handful of U.S. shows. One of them, oddly enough, is at Lenny's in Atlanta. Whoa. It better be the new Lenny's, because if it's the current location... well, you know. The date is August 11.

Girl Talk - Bounce That
Girl Talk - Hold Up
Girl Talk - Smash Your Head

If you're up for a dance party today, just stream the tracks from his MySpace page.

Frank Turner - "The Outdoor Type"


There often come moments when one is tempted to lie, or at least exaggerate, about one's abilities. After all, even the hapless Napoleon Dynamite recognized that girls only like guys who have skills. Whether a result of bravado or stupidity, it seems that we all too often make this dubious mistake.

Like many such everyday occurrences, this phenomenon has found its way into song. Originally penned by Tom Morgan (of Smudge), the track "The Outdoor Type" appeared on the Lemonheads' 1996 release Car Button Cloth. It's the tale of a guy who lies about his abilities as an outdoorsman. Why? To match the ideal attributes of his love interest's perfect mate, of course.

Featured on C&T today is a cover of that song performed by Frank Turner (ex-Million Dead) that appears on his current split release with Jonah Matranga (ex-Gratitude, Onelinedrawing, New End Original). Each artist contributed a pair of covers to the project as an homage to their own favorites, and this song was one of the two by Turner. Give it a listen:

Frank Turner - The Outdoor Type
[Lemonheads/Smudge cover]

The split 12" vinyl release on which this track appears, featuring both Turner and Matranga, was just released online July 25. However, it won't be in retail stores until September 5.

Along with the song above, Turner contributes a cover of the classic "You Are My Sunshine." Matranga's songs are a cover of Billy Bragg's "A New England" and Babybird's "All I Want." I have had a chance to hear it, and I like it a lot. Only 1,000 have been pressed, 100 of which are special dual-color vinyl issues (about 20 of which reportedly remain), and it can be ordered from Welcome Home Records for only $7.50 (postage paid). Not too shabby.

If you'd like to see The Lemonheads perform "The Outdoor Type," there's a pretty nice video of them doing so (in Germany, no less) on YouTube.

One more thing -- I noticed that of the 10 most popular tracks on Hype Machine, exactly zero are anything I would ever post here. So thanks for reading my blog anyway!

ELSEWHERE...

Kwaya Na Kisser has a live Neko Case show from May in Germany. Sooooo good.

Wednesday, July 26

Thee Headcoatees - "Spineless Little Shit"


Matt over at You Ain't No Picasso is fond of posting songs that celebrate love. While I applaud his optimism, let's not forget that messy break-ups can result in some great music as well. Beck's Sea Change immediately comes to mind, as does the most recent Nicolai Dunger album.

One angry, two-minute addition to this genre was contributed about a decade ago by Thee Headcoatees (with Holly Golightly!), who were a side-project of the Billy Childish-led garage outfit Thee Headcoats. Titled "Spineless Little Shit," the song is basically a bitter outburst toward the vocalist's soon to be former lover. It's a fuzzy garage/punk number, and it's straight to the point.

Thee Headcoatees - Spineless Little Shit

How's that for some venom, eh? I'd hate to be the guy on the receiving end of this little ditty.

This song originally appeared as a 7" single, but was later released on a CD compilation of Thee Headcoatees material titled Sisters of Suave. It appears to be out of print, but there are some used copies for $25 at Amazon. You can hear more from the band at this fan-made MySpace page.

Heroes and Villains - "Color Coded"


It's not often I use the "repeat" button on my Winamp player, but I did so today. I was listening through some songs a friend sent me to check out (hey James!) and "Color Coded" by Portland's own Heroes and Villains came on. You might expect that a band named for a Beach Boys song would write some fine pop, and in this case you'd be right on target.

The song recalls a sea shanty for the first minute or so, reminding one of Colin Meloy and that other Portland-based band known for nautical and fantastic tales. "Color Coded" features a lovely harpsichord, glockenspiel, piano and a children's choir. The first minute or so is subdued, but from that point on the song is essentially a piano-led romp in which the vocalist laments his station and time away from home. After a tumultous latter third of the track, I'm actually a bit unsure of what happens at the end -- has he been reunited with his bonnie lass? Am I reading too much into the female vocal? If you're a fan of bands like The Decemberists or Lylas, this is up your alley.

Heroes and Villains - Color Coded

This song was released both as one side of a 7" release and on the band's Heroes and Villains EP (2005). Both of those releases are available through the band's website.

Their site also says that their forthcoming album has been mastered and will be released in August. Keep an eye out for that one. For more on the band, check out their MySpace.

Tuesday, July 25

John Common - Good to be Born

Today on C&T we have a guest post from my buddy Lance, a long-time friend who currently lives in beautiful Denver, Colorado. He'll be reporting in occassionally with info on the music scene out there in his neck of the woods. Thanks Lance!



Hey crew! Rich was hospitable enough to let me sequester his blog for a post, giving me the opportunity to introduce you to some of the great albums coming out of Denver.

My personal favorite for the year is Good To Be Born, the debut album from John Common. Hailing from an alt-country background with the band Rainville, John has now moved on to push the creative envelope with this exploratory record, a classic headphone album from start to finish.

The blending of traditional acoustic rock and electronic elements is incomparable to anything I've ever heard. Case in point: The album fades in with the relaxing sound of crickets chirping, but the nighttime creatures are slowly overcome by a layer of industrial effects, which in turn give way to a vehement rock ballad. And no, the sampling isn't yet another take on Radiohead; this is an immediately accessible pop CD from start to finish.

A quote from John Common sums up the attitude taken in recording the disc: “The only rule we had was that any obvious choices had to be challenged. And that meant hours of trying different things, looking for how the puzzle of each song might fit together in new ways."

Here are a couple tracks from Good to be Born:

John Common - Anyway
John Common - It's Out

Also, here are a couple non-album tracks I taped at a show last month:

Following Cynicism [live 6-29-2006]
Do You Know My Name[live 6-29-2006]

The disc is currently streaming (in its entirety) and for sale at Free School Records, and will be available in Tower Records and other retail outlets this fall. Also be sure to check out myspace.

The Simpsons - "Amendment to Be"

Everyone seems to be digging the "I'm Just a Bill" post (judging by download numbers, anyway), so here by popular demand (hi Joel!) is the Simpsons parody of that song. It's called "Amendment to Be" and it's a brilliant send-up of the flag-burning debate that emerges each election year in the U.S. In fact, such an effort failed yet again this year. And will fail again in 2008, and 2010, and so forth.

The Simpsons - Amendment to Be

And thanks to YouTube, here is video of the same:



For a decent discussion of U.S. flag-burning law, see the Wikipedia entries for Texas v. Johnson (1989) and U.S. v. Eichman (1990).

Tap Tap - "100,000 Thoughts"

Ryan at Catbird Records (an off-shoot of his outstanding Catbirdseat.org) has made available the label's fifth release, Tap Tap's Lanzafame. I just ordered my copy, and I'd like to encourage y'all to do the same. I've yet to be disappointed by any of Catbird's wares.

I don't know much about Tap Tap, but they're British and their #1 friend on MySpace is the Black Lips. WTF? Whoa. From what I've heard, I'd say that Tap Tap would probably appeal to fans of bands like Beirut, Jens Lekman, DeVotchka, and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names. And now I feel like a weirdo for not being able to name-drop more mainstream bands for the sake of comparison. Oh well.

Here's a track from Lanzafame. If you're a fan of interesting pop music you should check it out:

Tap Tap - 100,000 Thoughts

You can buy it here for only $7, or $8 in the deluxe packaging. I also kicked in an extra buck for the artist, which you can opt to do during the checkout process. There are also 8 colors to choose from in the limited (200) run of deluxe versions, but some are nearly sold out.


By the way, I also picked up CBR006 by Maestro Echoplex recently. It's actually a re-issue of a great album that was self-released in 2001 but never received wide distribution before going out-of-print. It doesn't ship until August, but you should probably pre-order it before they sell out. Here's a sample from that one, which I think is pretty damn cool:

Maestro Echoplex - My Eyes Are Disconnected from My Head is Disconnected from My Body

More info on that release can be found here.

Monday, July 24

Deluxx Folk Implosion - "I'm Just a Bill"

On the occassion of President Bush's first veto, as asinine and misguided as it was, I felt it might be an appropriate time to review the legislative process. Or, at least a simplified version of it. Luckily our friends at Schoolhouse Rock contributed a handy little song to the popular culture that does the deed. Even more fortuitous is that a kickass cover of the song appears on the Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks album released a decade ago. Here are both versions, for your edutainment:

Schoolhouse Rock - I'm Just a Bill
Deluxx Folk Implosion - I'm Just a Bill


Also, even now that primary season is winding down, be sure to register to vote this November if you haven't.

"The future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter."
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Word.

Sunday, July 23

TMNT teaser trailer online & Little Miss Sunshine


Man, did I ever watch me some Ninja Turtles back in elementary school. I used to have toys of Leo, Donny, Raph, and Mikey that would regularly kick the asses of Shredder and the legions of the Foot. Many of you have probably seen the live action films based on the characters in the early 1990s. Now those are being followed up (to an extent, it seems) with an animated CGI film based on the characters. It looks to be darker than prior versions of the characters, consistent with the comics that spawned them in the first place. The teaser trailer was just released, and is online here (via Apple) or here (via YouTube).

The film is due out in March 2007, and reportedly includes neither Vanilla Ice nor ninja-rapping of any sort. Although an animated MF Doom might an acceptable addition.


In other movie news, I caught an advance screening of Little Miss Sunshine last week and it is terrific. If you like bittersweet indie flicks with a wicked sense of humor, do check it out. Don't just take my word for it -- it has a 93% positive rating at RottenTomatoes.com. Wow.

Cold War Kids music videos & Lylas reminder

I have been on a total Cold War Kids kick since the show on Thursday. In the midst of a recent visit to YouTube, I came across the recently posted video they shot for "Hair Down" from the With Our Wallets Full EP. Directed by Josh Forbes, it's very well done and captures a bit of the manic behavior the band exhibits on stage.



In addition, here's the "Hang Me Up to Dry" video, featuring a cast of hundreds (of high school kids) rockin' out with the band:



Also, for the Atlanta crowd, a quick reminder that Nashville indie-folk/pop band Lylas will at Criminal Records (ATL) at 3pm today (Sunday, 7/23). Here's a track from their current release, Lessons for Lovers:

Lylas - His Master's Merriment

I did a more extensive post on Lylas here. If you'll be there, say hello.

Now, off to watch Meet the Press...

Saturday, July 22

The Decemberists coming to ATL 10/27

The Decemberists have a new album, titled The Crane Wife, due out on October 3. To support the album, they have just announced fall tour dates. Happily, they include a stop at The Tabernacle in Atlanta on October 27. Woohoo! That gives each of us about three months to pray/wish/beg/whatever that they play "The Tain" again during their Atlanta stop.

More info on the album can be found here (via Pitchfork) along with the full list of tour dates.

mp3's from their older albums courtesy of Kill Rock Stars:

The Decemberists - The Soldiering Life
The Decemberists - Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect
The Decemberists - The Engine Driver

Sound Team, Cold War Kids, and The Preakness 7-20-2006 @ The EARL

I don't know if there's a backlash coming soon (see CYHSY, Tapes 'N Tapes, etc.) but when it comes to Cold War Kids, I have to say -- believe the hype. On Thursday night I saw them for the second time in two months, and yet again I thought they were simply great. While they weren't technically the headliner, they were clearly the biggest draw on the bill (alongside The Preakness and Sound Team) and brought the rock just as well or better than they did a month ago at the Drunken Unicorn.


The Preakness on stage at The EARL.


Bassist Tracy Clark of The Preakness.

The evening began with an impressive set by Atlanta upstarts The Preakness, who have recently been generating a solid local buzz. After starting their set with a slower (as yet untitled) new song, the band played a cover of Smog's "A Hit" before playing about a set of original songs including the "Frog Logic," "What They're Saying," and "This Drive" before closing with a rockin' version of "Don't Ask Me." The crowd was quite receptive to their indie rock/pop sound, which even inspired one individual to skank uncontrollably on the dance floor during (I believe) "Air Traffic." It was a veritable Preakness Boogaloo. Here's a snapshot of the complete setlist, as snagged from the stage:


While I very much enjoy The Preakness and did so Thursday night, the main draw for the evening was obviously Cold War Kids. While the room had been reasonably full during the Preakness set, when the L.A.-based Kids came on the size of the audience swelled and the crowd's gaze turned fully toward the stage. The band proceeded to play a 40 minute set that more than justified the attention they received.


The band began with the rollicking "We Used to Vacation" from their Up in Rags EP and continued to hold most of the crowd throughout their set. There were a handful of talkers who more than made their presence known (assholes...) but that's all too typical of Atlanta shows. The band played what already seem like old favorites in "Hang Me Up to Dry," "Saint John," and "Hospital Beds," all the while scampering all over the stage, exchanging instruments, and overall giving as much energy to the crowd as it could give back. I've rarely seen a band sweat so much on stage, although the warm room certainly contributed to the perspiration.


In addition to the material from their EP releases, Cold War Kids also played two new songs that they're working on during their current tour. The first, "Hat in Church," would fit in well on either of the recent EP's with its driving bass, spastic guitar, and Nathan Willett's distinct vocals. The other new song, titled "Make Up Your Mind," began as a slower number, picking up the tempo in its second half before peaking with a series of stop-start sections toward the end. I was told after the set that each of these songs are very much works in progress. Here's the complete setlist, as it looked at the feet of bassist Matt Maust:


Headliners Sound Team followed Cold War Kids, but played to only about half the crowd that had seen their predecessors on the stage. In a scene much like the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah/The National tour last year, much of the room cleared out after the second opener. Whether as a result of disinterest or the fact the show was running late on a Thursday night, it was a little disheartening to see the audience thin out. I can only hope it had nothing to do with Pitchfork's too-harsh review of their recent album (and there's your obligatory P'fork review mention). Regardless, I have to admit that I wasn't terribly attentive during their set either -- by the time they took the stage I was already on my downward slope after three hours at the venue and two great sets. Apologies for not providing a decent run-down of the Sound Team set. It was not unlike similar recent experiences with Starlight Mints and The Spinto Band when they were the third of three bands on the bill, so perhaps there's a lesson there of some sort. I'll have to listen to the tape again in the near future. Once again, here's the setlist from the stage:


For another take on the show and more pics, see The Yellow Stereo.

As noted, I taped. Shocking, huh? You knew this would show up here...

Cold War Kids
July 20, 2006
The EARL
Atlanta, GA

Taped and converted by Rich Vining

Taping: SP CMC-4's > batt box > Nomad Jukebox 3
Conversion: JB3 > Dell Inspiron 6000 > Cool Edit Pro 2.0 > CD Wav > mkwACT

01. We Used to Vacation
02. Hat in Church*
03. Hang Me Up to Dry
04. Saint John
05. banter/tech
06. Robbers
07. tuning
08. Hospital Beds
09. tuning/audience
10. Make Up Your Mind*
11. Quiet Please! intro > Quiet Please!


* second time played

Those boys are good. I'll also seed the show in .flac format tomorrow, so check back if you'd prefer it in lossless format.

UPDATE 7/22: The .flac version can be grabbed via dimeadozen.org. I may be seeding intermittently through the day, but stick with it. If you do download it, please help seed.

Friday, July 21

A Fir-Ju Well name change

After getting much attention here and elsewhere about a "break-up," it seems A Fir-Ju Well are still around. More or less, anyway. Someone called in to the Georgia Music Show on WRAS yesterday and said that A Fir-Ju Well had changed their name to Gringo Star. Looks like it's official.

Thoughts?

Thursday, July 20

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals 6-2-2006 @ World Cafe

Just how much fun are Grace Potter and the Nocturnals? They kicked my ass at Bonnaroo, and since then I've been thoroughly enjoying their albums and live recordings. She's been all over the blogs, including this one, so I doubt a lengthy bio is necessary. In short, this is one feisty gal with a fatty B-3, supported by a talented and energetic backing band. As much as I like the studio albums, I have to say their live shows are even better.

Recently my friend Adrienne pointed me in the direction of their performance on NPR's World Cafe program, and I decided to capture the stream and cut it up into tracks for the sake of convenience. I thought C&T's readers would enjoy this too, so it's available below for download. Good Lord I can't wait 'til these guys make it to the southeast.

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
June 2, 2006
World Cafe
Philadelphia, PA

Taping: Streaming audio (NPR.org) > audio output > Nomad JB3 > 44.1 wav
Conversion: .wav > Cool Edit Pro 2.0 > CD Wave

01. Treat Me Right
02. banter
03. Ragged Company
04. banter
05. My Toothbrush and My Table
06. banter
07. Left Behind
08. banter/intros
09. Over Again
10. banter
11. Joey
12. banter/tuning
13. Belladonna
14. banter
15. Nothing But the Water
16. outro/station ID


Thanks very much to NPR and World Cafe for making the show available. Be sure to support their programming!

By the way folks, look at all the great stuff coming to The EARL:

7/20 Sound Team, Cold War Kids, The Preakness
7/21 YOU, Modern Skirts
7/31 The Minders, The Kingdom, The Protectors Of
8/4 Telegram, Engineering, Creve Coeur, Elevado, Atlanta Rollergirls
8/5 The Selmanaires, Forget Cassettes, El Hub
8/6 The Selmanaires (dunch)
8/6 The Clientele, Great Lakes, Snowden
8/9 Thee Crucials, Poison Control Center, Sound AD
8/11 Charles Walker & the Dynamites
8/17 All the Saints, Bones, The Judies
8/18 The Hiss, Variac (CD release), KillGordon
8/19 Elf Power, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, Jupiter Watts
8/26 Syd Barret tribute (The Sweetloves, Mike Wright, and more...)
8/31 Birdmonster, The Sammies
9/8 Ultrababyfat (CD release), The Preakness, others..
9/9 The Features, Sovus Radio, Parade
9/22 Magnolia Electric Co.
9/23 Jose Gonzalez
9/26 The Electric Six
9/30 Luigi, Producto, The Skinwalkers
10/4 The Hold Steady
10/11 Damien Jurado
10/26 Alejandro Escovedo

Hopefully the Nuclear No-Shows (thanks Paulie) will make an appearance this time. Quite a lineup, eh?

Wednesday, July 19

Jon Auer covers everybody


Well, not quite everybody, but you get the idea.

Here we have Jon Auer (Big Star, Posies, etc.) covering a few songs you might recognize. Who ever thought the guy from The Posies would cover Madonna? I hope you enjoy these as much as I do:

Jon Auer - Baby Bitch [Ween cover; 12-15-2001]
Jon Auer - Is She Really Going Out With Him? [Joe Jackson cover; 6-30-2000]
Jon Auer - Beautiful Stranger [Madonna cover; 12-15-2001]
Jon Auer - Gold Star for Robot Boy [Guided by Voices cover; 12-15-2001]


For more on Auer, including more songs and tour dates, see his MySpace.

Thanks to C&T buddy Stan for passing them along!

ELSEWHERE...

If you're in the Nashville area, note that Out the Other is giving away tickets to see The Format this Sunday at the Exit/In. Go there for the 411 and some mp3 samples.

Sunset Rubdown coming to ATL -- Sept. 30

Good news! The band behind one of my favorite releases of the year, Sunset Rubdown, has scheduled an Atlanta show! Matt Musick of KissAtlanta.com is reporting they'll be at Lenny's on Sept. 30.

For more info on the band, see their MySpace page.

Here's an mp3 sample, courtesy of Absolutely Kosher Records:

Sunset Rubdown - Stadiums and Shrines II


You can also go download their Daytrotter session.

The rest of the tourdates, courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan:
07-20 - Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
07-26 - Ottawa, QC - Zaphod Beeblebrox
07-27 - Toronto, ON - Lee‘s Palace
07-28 - Chicago, IL - Metro
09-23 - Boston, MA - Middle East
09-24 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
09-25 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
09-26 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Chruch
09-27 - Washington DC - Black Cat
09-28 - Raleigh, NC - Duke Coffeehouse
09-29 - Charlotte, NC - Tremont
09-30 - Atlanta, GA - Lenny‘s
10-02 - Birmingham, AL - Bottle Tree Cafe
10-03 - Cincinnati, OH - Alchemize
10-04 - Columbus, OH - Little Brothers
10-05 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom

Tuesday, July 18

Sound Team, Cold War Kids, and The Preakness @ The EARL (Thurs, July 20)

Hey Atlanta folks -- do I have to remind all of you how excited I am about this show? I think not.



mp3 samples:
Sound Team - Your Eyes are Liars
Cold War Kids - Hospital Beds
The Preakness - What They're Saying (demo)

MySpace:
Sound Team - Cold War Kids - The Preakness

Buy tix here. $8 at the door or $10 online.

Remember to get there early. The Preakness go on first.

Arcade Fire 3-7-2005 @ Maida Vale Studios, London (BBC)


Don't have a lot of time for blogging today (work and all), but I thought I could share with you what I'm listening to at the moment. This is a short little FM set by The Arcade Fire last spring, on what was apparently their first tour of Europe. It's a great quality little set, and if you dig the band I imagine you'll find this a nice little addition to your music library.

The Arcade Fire
March 7, 2005
BBC Maida Vale Studios
London, England

01. interview
02. Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
03. interview
04. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
05. Rebellion (Lies)
06. outro


I'm loving the version of "Rebellion (Lies)" here. Nifty.

For more on The Arcade Fire, see their homepage or their MySpace.

I was actually inspired to listen to this by a bit of news about their next album at Pitchfork. You might check that out too if you haven't already.

ELSEWHERE...

Berkeley Place has some cool Raconteurs covers here. Go pay Ekko a visit.

Monday, July 17

Kite Flying Society 7-7-2006 @ AmplifySD

By now you've probably heard that the new Kite Flying Society album is finally available for pre-sale. As I've said here before, I'm rather excited for this release. To support it, Kite Flying Society will be going on their first extended tour up and down the west coast. I haven't heard a note of live KFS yet (San Diego tapers, are you out there?) but was pleased to be able to hear Dustin and Kelly from the band do a live interview and a play a couple of songs for Sign on San Diego's AmplifySD broadcast last week.

I ripped this from the July 12 broadcast, but I'm told the interview and performance actually took place on July 7. Along with the first interview with the band members that I've heard, you can also check out live acoustic versions of "Groundflower" and "Tiger Stripes" and sample a couple songs from the album. It's my first time hearing "Tiger Stripes" in any form and it has me even more excited about Where is the Glow?. Here is the full set either track-by-track or packaged in a .zip file:

Kite Flying Society
AmplifySD session
July 7, 2006
San Diego, CA

Interview with Maya Kroth and acoustic performance
Dustin and Kelly only

Taping: Streaming audio > audio output > Nomad JB3 > 44.1 wav
Conversion: .wav > Cool Edit Pro 2.0 > CD Wave > mkwACT

1. interview
2. If I Could Split (full studio version)
3. interview
4. Tiger Stripes (live, acoustic)
5. interview
6. Groundflower (live, acoustic)
7. interview
8. Submarine Music (partial studio version)


Full set/interview: YouSendIt, 45mb (link good for a week).

For those of you lucky enough to be within range of their tour, here are the dates that have been announced so far:

7/23 FM 94.9, San Diego, CA
7/27 Lestat's, San Diego, CA (all ages CD release party)
7/28 The Whistlestop, San Diego, CA (CD release party)
8/8 Spaceland, Los Angeles, CA
8/10 Cafe Noir, Salem, OR
8/11 The Acme, Portland, OR
8/15 The Make-Out Room, San Francisco, CA
8/16 The Casbah, San Diego, CA
8/19 M Theory Music, San Diego, CA (in-store performance)

Now, go buy lots of copies of their album so they can do an east coast tour. I can dream, right?

Demetri Martin

"I keep a lighter in my back pocket all the time. I'm not a smoker, I just really like certain songs." -- Demetri Martin


One of my favorite performers at Bonnaroo this year wasn't even a musician. I caught Demetri Martin's set in the comedy tent, and he might have been the most entertaining comic I saw the entire weekend. Prior to the show I knew him primarily through his "Trendspotting" pieces on The Daily Show, in which he explains to Jon and the audience current trends in youth culture. His profile of MySpace has become almost legendary, I'd say. Classic.

While Martin's taped segments are usually hilarious, he has won acclaim as a stand-up comic and comedy writer (primarily with Late Night with Conan O'Brien). His style as a comic is defined by rapid-fire punchlines and observational humor, often accompanied by music at some point in the show. Here are a few of his performances I've acquired or captured, beginning with his performance last year on Comedy Central Presents. Hopefully they'll help you start the work week with a smile.

Demetri Martin
Comedy Central Presents (2005)
1. Observations
2. Material Enhancers
3. Jokes with Atmosphere
4. Where My Jokes Come From


If you'd like to watch a video of part 2 with the "material enhancers" viewable you can do so via YouTube.

If that's just not enough for you, here are a couple of full, brief live sets by Demetri from the last couple years:

Demetri Martin - Invite Them Up [August 10, 2005]
Demetri Martin - Melbourne Comedy Festival [May 2006; video here]

You want more, you say? Well, I'm happy to oblige. Here is the aforementioned Daily Show segment profiling MySpace. If you, like me, sometimes find yourself spending too much time on that site you'll probably get a kick out of this too. And you have to love the emo-rock ode to MySpace that closes the piece. Take a gander if you haven't seen it:


And here's the full "studio" version of the song mentioned above, ripped from the stream on his own MySpace page:

Demetri Martin - I Got 9000 Friends

Notably, in the months since that piece aired he's skyrocketed up to nearly 50,000 friends. Dude is more popular than Zack Morris, Brandon Walsh, and Summer Wheatley combined. Damn. And C&T has a mere 600+ friends. Sigh.

You can also hear an NPR interview with Martin and more material here.

By the way, anybody seen Strangers With Candy yet? I'm thinking about going this week. Thoughts?

Have a good Monday, y'all!

Sunday, July 16

JoeRockhead.com sale for C&T readers

Some of you may have noticed by now that C&T has an ad for JoeRockhead.com in the sidebar these days. For those who don't know, JR.com is an Atlanta-based online music retailer. It should surprise none of you that I'm up for helping out a local business. While they have a great variety of indie, garage, twang, pop, etc., they also have a good and growing selection of music by Atlanta and Athens artists.

All that said, I wanted to make sure my readers were aware that this week JR is running a sale just for C&T readers -- 15% off all orders over $15. The sale is good through July 23. To get the discount, enter the code TWEED15 at checkout.

Artists and labels, if you'd like for JR.com to carry your items in stock or through consignment, drop them a line. ATL locals, note the Smoke and Kelly Hogan albums in their Atlanta store. Sweet...

Saturday, July 15

Danielson - "Did I Step on Your Remix?"

While I've only recently picked up Danielson's Ships album (Pfork review here), which was released back in May, I've been really enjoying the widely circulated "Did I Step on Your Trumpet?" track for several months now. In fact, it may be one of my favorite songs of the year so far. It's rather weird, but somehow still infectious.

Recently, it was brought to my attention that a remix of the song was released on 7" vinyl a while back and is available from Anticon Records. Umm... nifty. It was one of a few vinyl releases the band put out prior to the release of Ships, it seems. The vinyl pressing was limited to only 1500, but it appears some are still available. This remix was actually the B-side (technically, AA-side) of the "I'm Slow, but I'm Sloppy" single. You can purchase it here.

Here are the original track and the remix. Checka-check 'em out:

Danielson - Did I Step on Your Trumpet?
Danielson - Did I Step on Your Remix?

For more on the vinyl releases see Danielson's website.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: The Beatles

Has any band ever sold out and retained their credibility as well as The Beatles? Maybe it's because they broke up without riding out their legacy too long; perhaps it's because the music was just that damn good. Either way, one interesting artifact of the "Beatles mania" four decades ago was a syndicated cartoon featuring the band.

Airing from 1965-1969, the cartoon featured many performances of Beatles' classics by their cartoon counterparts interspersed among ridiculous storylines. A few of my favorites are presented below. Saturday mornings are for cartoons, right?

"Tomorrow Never Knows":



"Run for Your Life":



"Strawberry Fields Forever":



For more, see YouTube.

Friday, July 14

Thom Yorke 4-16-2005 @ Trade Justice Rally & ATL weekend preview

Well, it seems that I just can't get enough Radiohead this week. I hope I'm not boring all of you with my music selections. I just keep coming into possession of more cool stuff by those lads, and I want to share. Cool? Cool.

Today we have what is actually a pretty widely circulated set, but one I haven't featured here before. Good enough for me. This is what I understand is a solo set by Thom Yorke on April 16, 2005, at a rally for trade justice in London.

A little bit of Googling makes it apparent that Thom felt his presence would boost the profile of the rally, and it did just that. Whatever the case, Thom took it upon himself to play a short set at the rally that included some rarities. Fortunately, somebody with taping gear was apparently on hand to get a pretty good audience recording out of the event. Note the police whistles you can hear a couple of times. Here it is for your Friday listening enjoyment (unless you grab it at a later date...):

Thom Yorke
April 16, 2005
Trade Justice Movement rally
London, England

01. intro
02. Last Flowers ('Til the Hospital)
03. House of Cards
04. Big Ideas *
05. No Surprises
06. The Reckoner


* a few seconds of cell phone interference/static at 2:35

Can I say how much more I like this stuff than I do The Eraser? There, I did it.

Now, as for what's going on in ATL this weekend...


It looks like the only show I'll be able to make this weekend is the Cassavetes CD release party at The EARL. I've been looking forward to the release of Funny Story this week since seeing them at Corndogorama. I dig their Constantines-meets-Wilco sound, and I'm eager to hear the album.

Cassavetes - An Ancient Mistake
Cassavetes - My Heart Your Beat

If you can't make the release party this weekend, Funny Story is now available online.


Other shows this weekend in Atlanta:

Fri 7/14
KillGordon, Tentonic, Pasadena @ The EARL
The Futurists @ Masquerade
Creve Coeur @ Vinyl

Sat 7/15
Tiger Bear Wolf @ Star Bar
Zoroaster @ Criminal Records (free in-store)
Zoroaster @ Drunken Unicorn (CD release party)
Chickens and Pigs, Hardly Darlings, Brad Jones @ Aurora Coffee, Virginia Highlands (free)
Indie hip-hop showcase of some sort (I guess) @ Masquerade
Trey Anastasio & Mike Gordon@ Masquerade Music Park

Hopefully I'll see some of you at The EARL!

Thursday, July 13

M Coast album pre-sale (and KFS pre-sale reminder)

The forthcoming M Coast (formerly Marshmallow Coast) album, Say It In Slang, is now available for pre-sale from Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records. I ordered mine today. Supposedly pre-orders will come with special packaging and a bunch of goodies, and they're only $11. Apparently the only catch is that it isn't out until sometime in September or October. I'll take the wait in exchange for cool packaging and bonus goodies.

To encourage you to purchase the CD, here are a few demos of tracks from Say It In Slang. I wrote reviews of these tracks back in May, but here they are again:

M Coast - Sail Around the World
M Coast - Out of the Water
M Coast - Johnny Kasai

Order Say It In Slang here.

The M Coast have an upcoming show with 63 Crayons on July 22 at Secret Squirrel in Athens. Anybody wanna carpool over there from ATL? That's gonna be a great night of indie pop.

Oh, and remember that the Kite Flying Society album is available for pre-sale too. It'll certainly keep you entertained all summer while you're waiting on your M Coast CD. Yep. Once again, here are some more tracks I posted back in May to remind you of how good they are:

Kite Flying Society - 6000 Shipwrecks
Kite Flying Society - Groundflower
Kite Flying Society - Love & Seagulls

Order Where Is the Glow? here. Pre-orders get a bonus CD of non-album material.

Couple of fine indie pop bands, eh?

The Pee-Pees 7-8-2006 @ The EARL *and* new Selmanaires!

Note: First off, my apologies that EZArchive was down most of the day. Out of my hands, you know. Seems to be back online now.

Herb Harris of The Pee-Pees (The Selmanaires). Photo by Alex Adan.


If you read my review of the Shannon Mulvaney benefit show last weekend, you've already seen me gush about how much fun the Pee-Pees' set was that evening. You've also already seen me point out that The Pee-Pees were in fact Atlanta's own Selmanaires playing a "secret" show under another name.

The Pee-Pees are supposedly a flamboyant dance band from Lyon, France, who for some reason wear disguises on stage. Regardless, they put on one heck of a fun show. They came out and treated the crowd at The EARL to a set of mostly covers, only one of which I'm aware The Selmanaires had played in the past. Regardless, here's the set so you can check it out for yourself. If you were at The EARL that night, I know you're gonna want to grab this:

The Pee-Pees (The Selmanaires)
July 8, 2006
The EARL
Atlanta, GA

01. Pee-Pees' Theme Song (aka Pee-Pee Rock) *
02. Moody ^
03. Miss You #
04. banter
05. Do Ya Think I'm Sexy $
06. Agua de Baber %
07. banter
08. Danger @
09. banter
10. Havah Nagilah **
11. banter
12. Pee-Pees' Theme Song Reprise *
13. applause


* Herb on bass, Tommy on guitar
^ E.S.G. cover; Herb on cowbell; tommy on bass and drum
# Rolling Stones cover
$ Rod the Mod Stewart cover; dedicated to Shannon Mulvaney
% Antonio Carlos Jobim cover
@ Pylon cover
** traditional; with Herb on drums, Tommy on guitar, Jason on melodica

You can also download the entire set at once via YouSendIt (link good for a week). Oh, and I hear it's even more fun if you listen to it in disguise. Feel free to send in pictures.

In other Selmanaires news, the band also posted a couple of new demos on their MySpace today. The band reports that each was recorded for a possible 7" release that never came to be. One is for "GMAFB," which they've been playing live since at least February, and the other is for an instrumental called "The Air Salesman."

The rollicking "GMAFB" is a fun rocker, and this version sounds like it was recorded in one live take. I wonder if it was, however, because there is a prominent cowbell and what sounds like organ in a few places -- additional instruments that I'm not sure the band could pull off in one take unless they were aided by extra personnel. The vocals sound a little distant, however, which again makes me thing it was simply recorded live. Either way, it's nice to have another version of the song that I didn't tape at a club.

The Selmanaires - GMAFB (demo; NSFW lyrics)

"The Air Salesman" is a mid-tempo instrumental, with a prominent organ and bass. There are also what sound like shakers, wood block, and even a sitar in the mix. Perhaps an accordian too? What is that tone? To me, this track sounds like something that would be blaring out the car windows of a '70s TV detective. I bet it would sound even better on an 8-track than as an mp3. Notably, it's the first instrumental I've heard them play since their "Man from UNKLE" cover and the original "Mid-Afternoon Motionless" some months ago. Hopefully they'll bust out some more at their afternoon acoustic show on August 6.

The Selmanaires - The Air Salesman (demo)

For more Selmanaires stuff, see their MySpace.

Bonus mp3:
The Selmanaires - Selmanaire Rock
The Selmanaires - In the Direction of Yes


Bonus, bonus mp3 (for Amy):
Pylon - Danger
Pylon - Feast on My Heart

Apollo Up! 7-7-2006 @ WOXY.com

While in Nashville for The Clutters and The Woggles last week, a fellow patron of the Exit/In suggested that we check out Apollo Up! if we hadn't done so. Apollo Up! is a trio from Nashville including Jereme Frey (drums, vocals), Jay Leo Phillips (guitar, vocals), and Mike Shepherd (bass, vocals). I had seen the band mentioned on several blogs recently, but hadn't yet taken the time to see what they were all about. However, with all the great stuff coming out of Nashville these days I figured it was worth a shot. Fortunately, I came home to an email notifying me that they had just performed a WOXY.com session that was now up for download.

Further research revealed many references to post-punk, which tends to make me nervous. It's not that I'm afraid of the genre, it's that so many of the bands seem to sound like a rehash of the same old formula. Luckily, it appears that Apollo Up! doesn't fall into that trap. I've only had a chance to listen through this set a couple of times, but it sounds like a quality performance. Their sound is in the neighborhood of other contemporary post-punk acts, but the vocal is more Elvis Costello than Ian Curtis and they seem quite willing to carry on an extended jam (not Phish-style, mind you) when the mood strikes. Check it out for yourself:

Apollo Up!
July 7, 2006
WOXY.com session

1. introduction
2. Walking the Plank
3. Situation: Hot!
4. interview
5. Even If You Don't Die
6. Custom Critical
7. The Job's a Game
8. interview

Once again, this set is available from the WOXY.com archives, along with many other performances. I thank them for providing the set as a download. I still haven't heard Apollo Up!'s current album, Chariots of Fire, but I have heard a few tracks from it. Sounds like good stuff.

Here are some tracks from Chariots of Fire, courtesy of the band:

Apollo Up! - Walking the Plank
Apollo Up! - Cut Up
Apollo Up! - Invisible Syllable
Apollo Up! - Plans

For more on the band, see their MySpace page.

ELSEWHERE...

You Ain't No Picasso has the Oh No! Oh My! set from WOXY yesterday. Go get it!

Wednesday, July 12

Shannon Mulvaney Benefit 7-8-2006 @ The EARL

Last Saturday, July 8, The EARL hosted a benefit show for Shannon Mulvaney, a mainstay of the Atlanta music scene. Mulvaney is a former member of Magnapop and other projects, current member of Anna Kramer's band and The Sweet Loves, co-owner of International Hits Records, and manager at Atlanta institution Criminal Records. Sadly, Mulvaney has recently been diagnosed with colon cancer and has been undergoing treatment as a result. In a show of support for Mulvaney, many acts from Atlanta's music scene came together for a benefit show and roast at The EARL.

The evening began with sets by Johnny Knox and Hi-Test, Lennys, The Liverhearts, and The Roy Owens Jr., all of which I missed because of the early start time. However, I wandered into the venue in time to catch most of a solid late evening set by rock act The Close. For me the evening really picked up when the Sweet Loves took the stage, followed by the reunion of shoegazers Seely, a spirited set by Anna Kramer, and a special set by The Pee-Pees -- who were in fact Atlanta post-punk favorites The Selmanaires playing a set of covers under a pseudonym.


The Sweet Loves at The EARL. Photo by Alex Adan.

The Sweet Loves are a quintet of familiar faces from the Atlanta music scene, including Mulvaney (bass), Adam Renshaw (drums; ex-Forty-Fives), and Brandon Smith (vocals). Unfortunately, Mulvaney has been unable to play with them so they have employed a guest bassist. Although they have been playing together only a short time, they put on an entertaining show. Their '70s-style rock is reminiscent of The Faces, with Smith's vocals not unlike those of Rod the Mod. They certainly put on a fun rock show, and have attracted a good deal of attention within Atlanta's rock community in a short time.


Seely on stage at The EARL. Photo by Alex Adan.

Following The Sweet Loves was the reunion of Seely, a once-successful local band who broke up years ago but reunited on this night to show their support for Mulvaney. There was a strong sense of curiosity about their set, both from old fans eager to see them reunite and others (myself included) who knew little about the band but wanted to see what the fuss was all about. I'd say that they certainly impressed this new fan -- their music was like nothing I've seen from the current local scene and was refreshing despite the age of the tunes performed. The band even joked that some of the songs were more than half as old as some in attendance.

Their sound was primarily rooted in the dream pop/shoegaze mold, but never lost my interest. The same can't be said of the too-chatty folks in the back of the room. Regardless, I was impresed and glad to catch the reunion show -- odds are it won't happen again.


Anna Kramer at The EARL. Photo by Alex Adan.

Seely was followed by Anna Kramer (vocals, guitar, organ), with whom Mulvaney typically plays bass while Adam Renshaw handles the drums. However, on this night it was only Kramer and Renshaw on stage. Kramer plowed through a short set of her unique country-rock, including a cover of Alice Cooper's "Long Way to Go" and Sam Cooke classic "Bring It On Home To Me" along her original tunes. At the end of her set Kramer was joined on stage by three of the four former members of A Fir-Ju Well, a favorite Atlanta band that played its own final show just a week prior on July 1. They played a roaring version of "He's Got the Power" by The Exciters (with Kramer on backup vocals) before exiting the stage.


Herb and Jason Harris of The Pee-Pees (The Selmanaires). Photo by Alex Adan.


Shannon Mulvaney during "Havah Nagilah." Photo by Alex Adan.

Whatever party atmosphere had been ramped up by their predecessors on the stage, headliners The Pee-Pees took it up a notch. As some had been aware before the show, The Pee-Pees were in fact Atlanta band The Selmanaires playing under the guise of a French disco band complete with costumes and a setlist of covers they'd never played at their own shows. Their opening tune left no doubt that they were taking on another identity for the evening; it's main reprise was the lyrical statement that "We used to be The Selmanaires/Now we're the Pee-Pees!" After that number they proceeded to cover songs by E.S.G. ("Moody"), The Rolling Stones ("Miss You"), Rod Stewart ("Do Ya Think I'm Sexy"), Antonio Carlos Jobim ("Agua de Baber"), and Pylon ("Danger").

While each of those were great fun, the highlight of the set may have been a sick version of the traditional "Havah Nagilah" with drummer Jason Harris on melodica while brother Herb took over the drum kit and bassist Tommy Chung manned the guitar. A great moment came during the song when Mulvaney was hoisted up on a chair and carried around the room. The Pee-Pees followed that up with a reprise of their opening "Pee-Pees Theme" before being shut down by the 2am curfew.

Overall, it was a spectacular night for a great cause. Although the occassion was prompted by an unfortunate circumstance, it was in the end a celebration of local musicians' love for Shannon Mulvaney and all he's done for music in the city. Here's hoping the next show is held to celebrate his recovery.

For more of Alex's pictures from the event, see his Flickr site.

Tuesday, July 11

Sufjan Stevens tickets pre-sale

Sufjan Stevens tix for the Fox on Sept. 20, as well as the rest of the tour (I think), are available for pre-sale now via the Sufjan online fan community. You can get them here. You'll have to sign up for an account to initiate the process.

The password to purchase is in the comments...

Radiohead 10-6-2003 @ HiFi Buys Amphitheatre (Part II)

Note: This is part 2 of 2. The first half of the show is available here.

As promised yesterday, here is the second half of Radiohead's October 2003 appearance at Atlanta's HiFi Buys Amphitheatre. The sound and source appear to be identical to the tracks posted Monday. If you enjoyed those, you should enjoy this.

Once again, this half is equivalent to the second CD if you plan to burn this to disc. Many thanks for the kind comments and marriage proposals in response to yesterday's post. Keep 'em coming. I like to know what you guys think of this stuff.

Radiohead
October 6, 2003
HiFi Buys Amphitheatre
Atlanta, GA

*Part 2 of 2*

01. Go To Sleep
02. I Might Be Wrong
03. Idioteque
04. You And Whose Army?
05. Sit Down, Stand Up
06. applause
- encore -
07. No Surprises
08. National Anthem
09. Wolf At The Door
10. Fake Plastic Trees
11. applause
- encore 2 -
12. Airbag
13. Everything In Its Right Place

Note that the track numbers on the files themselves are such that they should be placed in the same directory as the show's first half (i.e., track 1 above, "Go To Sleep," is numbered as track 14 and intended to follow track 13, "Scatterbrain," from yesterday's post).

If you prefer, you can also download the entire second half of the show in a .zip package via either Rapidshare (beware the annoying popup) or YouSendIt (link good for a week).

Also, remember that Thom Yorke's The Eraser is available in stores today. If you're in Atlanta, I recommend picking it up at Criminal Records (L5P), Decatur CD (downtown Decatur), Ella Guru (Toco Hills), or Wuxtry (north Decatur). We have too many good indie stores to be feeding our dollars to Best Buy, Tower, Target, etc. in this town.

ELSEWHERE...

Atlanta folks, note that Butch Walker is playing a free in-store at Criminal Records today, Tuesday, at 6pm to celebrate the release of his new album.

Wu-Tang Clan are going on tour in August. No Georgia date, but they'll be in North Carolina and Florida. Who plays Florida but not ATL? Then again, they do have 3 days open between Winston-Salem and St. Petersburg. Hmm...

Pitchfork Media has begun an Infinite Mixtape series. It looks like they're basically linking to the same mp3's that your favorite blogs do, only without commentary, context, or explanation. Awesome!

Speaking of Pitchfork, I have a couple extra weekend passes to the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago at the end of the month. I understand these are sold out. If anybody wants them for face value ($30) plus postage, drop me a line.

Monday, July 10

Radiohead 10-6-2003 @ HiFi Buys Amphitheatre (Part I)

Note: This is part 1 of 2. The second half of the show will be available soon.

With Thom Yorke's much-anticipated release The Eraser due out tomorrow, it seems an appropriate time to post some material by his primary project. Back on October 6, 2003, that little band from across the pond paid a visit to Atlanta. Radiohead took the stage that evening at HiFi Buys Amphitheatre and entertained some 19,000 of their closest southern friends.

Luckily for you and me, the show was broadcast on local alternative (but now increasingly lame) station WNNX, better known as 99X. Even more luckily for us, some kind soul felt it appropriate to circulate the pre-FM soundboard recording from that night. Great sound, and no station breaks or chatter. In short, this is a terrific recording. They've yet to announce an Atlanta date on their current tour, so this may be the closest thing we have for a while here in the southeast. After Bonnaroo, of course. Anyhow, on with the show...

Radiohead
October 6, 2003
HiFi Buys Amphitheatre
Atlanta, GA

*Part 1 of 2*

01. {Fade In}
02. The Gloaming
03. There There
04. 2+2=5
05. Where I End And You Begin
06. Exit Music (For A Film)
07. Morning Bell
08. Myxomatosis
09. Paranoid Android
10. In Limbo
11. Sail To The Moon
12. Creep
13. Scatterbrain

For the sake of convenience, you can also download this entire half of the show via either Rapidshare (with an annoying popup to close) or YouSendIt (good for 7 days). This part of the show is equivalent to the first CD if one were to burn it to disc. The second half will follow shortly, most likely tomorrow or Wednesday.

Also, remember the Radiohead set from Bonnaroo is still available here, and I still have Thom Yorke performances from the 2002 Bridge School Benefits available here (day 1) and here (day 2) in the C&T archives.

UPDATE: If you download the .zip file, please note the directory name within should be rh2003-10-06 rather than 2006, etc. This show was in October 2003, not October 2006. I regret to inform you that I have not yet invented time travel. My apologies.

Kite Flying Society album pre-sale!

After several months of waiting patiently, I am happy to announce that C&T favorites (and pop marvels) Kite Flying Society have officially made their forthcoming album available for pre-sale. Oh, happy day! While the official release date is July 28, if you pre-order it before that date you will receive not only the album, titled Where is the Glow?, but also a bonus 3-track CD of songs that didn't make the release. The band reports that this pre-sale period is the only chance to pick up the bonus CD, so get your copy now. This is one of my most anticipated releases of the year, so I expect it will be worth it.

To date I have only heard what demos the band has released, but they've been kind enough to send along a version of "If I Could Split" from Where is the Glow? for download here on C&T.

Kite Flying Society - If I Could Split

The pre-order can be made at this page and requires payment via Paypal. International folks, they'll accommodate you too. There's contact info on that page. Spread the word, y'all.

For more on Kite Flying Society, see their MySpace page or official site.


ELSEWHERE...


Local country-rocker (and another C&T favorite) Anna Kramer is on the cover of this month's edition of Southeast Performer magazine, which dubs her "the new voice of Atlanta." Sounds good to me. You can read the cover story here.

Pete M. wrote in to let me know that the Man Man/Fiery Furnaces show from June 30 is now available for download as one big mp3 thanks to NPR. You can grab each set here.

While I've known that Sufjan Stevens will be in Atlanta on Sept. 20 at the Fox (thanks, Alex!), the full slate of tour dates is now available. You can go see them at Pitchfork.

New Tom Petty tour dates are also available, including a September 22 date in Atlanta with The Strokes supporting. Full set of dates here via Live Daily, including dates with Trey Anastasio, Frank Black, The Allman Brothers Band, or John Mayer playing with Petty.

Sunday, July 9

Lylas

Back in February, I stopped in at Grimey's in Nashville and asked about local music I would enjoy. Along with Heypenny, How I Became the Bomb, and others, it was suggested that I check out the then-forthcoming album by Lylas when it became available. I picked up their older EP at the time, and since the release of their current album, Lessons for Lovers, I have had it in regular rotation. I have conversed with Lylas guitarist Luke a couple times at Grimey's, but still haven't seen the band live. It appears that will be changing soon, as they have recently scheduled a free in-store at Atlanta's Criminal Records on July 23.

Lylas is a Nashville-based quartet fronted by singer/guitarist Kyle Hamlett along with Josh Hamlett (bass), Luke Schneider (guitar, pedal steel), and Brice Blair (drums). Their sound may generally be placed in the indie pop/folk vein. If pressed to compare them to more established contemporary acts, I suppose that Belle and Sebastian or Clem Snide (each is cited as an influence on their MySpace page, incidentally) might provide a hint of their sound. The focus seems to be on the songs rather than quirky instruments or big hooks; it is apparent that each track was assembled with care and deliberation. The sometimes bare sound of the songs grabs the listener in a manner largely foreign to FM radio, other than perhaps the far left end of the dial. Here are a couple tracks from the album for your listening pleasure:

Lylas - His Master's Merriment
Lylas - Tiny Echoes

You can order Lessons for Lovers from Amazon. For tour dates and more info, see their MySpace or official site.

They (along with Modern Skirts, Iron Hero, and Now It's Overhead) will also be playing the 40 Watt in Athens as part of the Team Clermont "prom" event on August 3. I hear they may also be playing with The Selmanaires sometime in the near future. If that happens, you can bet you'll see it mentioned here...

Thursday, July 6

The C&T Mix Tape Project, Vol. IV: Atlanta Alternative

Admittedly, "alternative" is a bit of a meaningless label. That said, today's mix represents what for the moment I'll call alternative bands from Atlanta's vibrant music scene. Many of these bands could have just as easily been included in the rock or indie mixes, but were included here due to practical constraints.

Several rockin' bands are included (KillGordon, Snowden, Aviator). There is a bit of dream pop (The Blue Hour), pop-punk (The Swear), Southern-tinged rock (Gates of Berlin), and even a touch of hip-hop (Heavy Mojo). Creve Coeur, Y.O.U., and Rantings of Eva sound as if they're ready to jump straight from this mix onto the FM dial. The pained acoustic contribution by Sovus Radio is a standout, as is the sexy little number by jazz/rock act Telegram. Apologies that the Slack Republic tune isn't an original, but that's all they had available as a free/legal download.

Individual tracks can be snagged below. You can also download the entire mixtape via Rapidshare complete with uniform track names, ID3 tags, and a playlist (.m3u) file.

C&T Mix Tape Project, Vol. IV: Atlanta Alternative
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01. Aviator - Villain
02. Creve Coeur - 5th and Incident
03. KillGordon - In the Know
04. Rantings of Eva - Still Holding On (demo)
05. Sovus Radio - Love as a Bruise
06. Snowden - Anti-Anti
07. The Blue Hour - So Vivid
08. Heavy Mojo - Streets
09. Y.O.U. - Moviekiss
10. Telegram - Sugar Sugar
11. Gates of Berlin - Can't Get Off
12. The Swear - The Sleep Inside
13. The Slack Republic - Sweet Dreams [Eurythmics cover]

All tracks: Rapidshare, 60mb.


I should note that responses to e-mail, etc., won't be coming the next couple days. I'm heading up to Nashville to see The Woggles and The Clutters at Exit/In with Joe and Ian. My first time seeing each band, and I'm excited.

Bonus mp3:
The Woggles - Got a Heat On
The Clutters - Oh!
The Clutters - Clash City Girl
The Clutters - Are You Ready for the Country? [Neil Young cover]

Wednesday, July 5

Tom Waits coming to ATL, Nashville

According to Pitchfork, Tom Waits is going on tour. Concentrating on the midwest and southeast, Waits will play at The Tabernacle in Atlanta on August 1. The slate of dates so far:

08-01 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
08-02 Asheville, NC - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
08-04 Memphis, TN - Orpheum Theatre
08-05 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
08-07 Louisville, KY - Palace Theatre
08-09 Chicago, IL - Auditorium Theatre
08-11 Detroit, MI - Opera House
08-13 Akron, OH - Akron Civic

Bonus mp3:
Tom Waits - Hold On
Tom Waits - Alice
Tom Waits - Another Man's Vine

The C&T Mix Tape Project, Vol. III: Atlanta Twang

Now that we've spent some time with Atlanta's rock and indie/pop communities, it's time to sample what I've dubbed our "twang" contingent. I'll fully admit I'm using the name as a catch-all here; it occurs to me that bands like rockabilly/psychobilly The Cogburns and Americana act Georgia Fireflies would only appear together on a compilation such as this. But hey, it is a mix tape, right?

As noted, there is a virtual hodge-podge of genres represented on the "twang" mix. Country is represented (The Bluejays), as are indie folk (Tova Rinah & the Way Home, Brodie Stove, The Beggars' Guild) and the kings of Atlanta's Redneck Underground movement (Slim Chance & the Convicts). Alt-country finds a home in the mix (National Grain, The Roy Owens Jr., Bouldercrest Singing Group), as do country-rock (Anna Kramer, Chickens and Pigs, Johnny Knox & Hi-Test, Nekkid) and rockabilly/psychobilly (The Cogburns, Sodajerk). That said, I'd say this mix is a good, food-stomping time from start to finish.

As with the prior entries, you can download individual tracks or grab the entire mix with proper track names, ID3 tags, and a playlist (.m3u) file via Rapidshare.

C&T Mix Tape Project, Vol. III: Atlanta Twang
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01. Tova Rinah and the Way Home - Dream (live)
02. Chickens and Pigs - Green Lights
03. National Grain - Pretty Women Won't Give Me the Time of Day
04. The Bluejays - I Saw the Light (demo)
05. Anna Kramer - I Can't Take It
06. Bouldercrest Singing Group - Nickel
07. Georgia Fireflies - Angeline the Baker [traditional]
08. Nekkid - Wildflower
09. Johnny Knox & Hi Test - Ain't I Been Good
10. The Beggar's Guild - Minnesota
11. Brodie Stove - Drift
12. Sodajerk - Heartache by the Numbers
13. The Cogburns - Southern Daisy
14. The Roy Owens Jr. - Bottom of the Sea
15. Slim Chance and the Convicts - I Hate to See You Go

All tracks: Rapidshare, 62mb.

The alternative mix is up next. Hope folks are enjoying these so far!

Tuesday, July 4

Radiohead - "The National Anthem" (live 10-6-2003)

I thought about posting some patriotic music today, but then decided I would hear plenty of that tonight at the fireworks display. Time for my annual helping of Lee Greenwood, you know.

Instead here is Radiohead playing a live version of "The National Anthem" at Atlanta's Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre back in October 2003.

Radiohead - The National Anthem (live 10-6-2003)

I'm planning to post the rest of the show next week. Anybody have the Stone Mountain show from July 30, 2001, they could kick my way? It would be much appreciated.