The Meanest Boys

"These are all songs i've recorded in my room when im tired of watching t.v."

Well this is probably the best music I've ever heard from someone randomly friending me on Myspace. The Meanest Boys is apparently just one .gif-loving dude in his bedroom who apparently sounds like this:


Anyway, "I Don't" actually sounds something like woodsy dude Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) if when he emerged from the woods he was actually on a beach, while "Take This Dream" is more upbeat and bouncy. "Mountain Top" is rad too, a bit crunchy and spacey. Listen to his songs on the Myspace and if you like them too you can message him for a CD and/or check out The Meanest Boys Too.

Jeans Wilder

So No Pain In Pop is great. Today they blurbed about Jeans Wilder (a sub-par name on the level of Gringo Star and Truman Peyote), who shifts between a dreamy drones and a lazy tropic bounce, as featured in "Tough Guys," available on the Myspace. Also check out non-Myspace track "Mosquito" here. I first heard about this guy cos he is/was labelmates with Wet Hair, who I've also been digging. Check out their The Beach cassette if you can find some MP3s, or listen on that Myspace. Their forthcoming LP Dream will be released on Not Not Fun sometime soon.

The Good Feeling Sounds of...

...Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele have been kicking my ass lately. I've fallen for his new record The Good Feeling Sounds of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele after picking it up from WMUA. It'll be released on Paw Tracks February 3. Highlights include "College Town Boy," "Meet Me in the Garden" (listen on his Myspace), and "Oh, Paris!," whose video is rather silly so check it out:


Before heading to SXSW, one can find Dent touring around North America with A.C. Newman of the New Pornographers, including a stop in Boston at the Paradise on March 14 which I'd consider/suggest checking out.

Grizzly Bear Wait

So we gotta wait til May (officially) for the new Grizzly Bear record, which ain't got a title yet. It does, however, contain arrangements from Nico Muhly, whose Mothertongue record last year I found rather interesting.

In the mean time, there's that Daniel Rossen song turned into Grizzly Bear song "Deep Blue Sea on the Dark Was the Night compilation. Support HIV/AIDS research and buy it eventually.

There's that other band Rossen does as well. Listen to/download a bunch of songs at that there link.

You can listen to that same band, Department of Eagles, doing Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW from last Thursday right here.

Cadence Weapon Mixtape

Cadence Weapon was selling this mixtape on his most recent tour, ran out, and now has the set, Separation Anxiety, available in MP3 or .zip format here for however many dollars and cents you'd like to pay. The mix features a shit-ton of remixes including reworks of Sally Shapiro, Kid Sister, RJD2, Roots Manuva, The Cansecos, and Busdriver, as well as a cover of Chad VanGaalen's "Mini T.V.'s" (which features Final Fantasy), a couple other new tracks ("Kennedy Curse," and "Rupture Vers Le Haut" attributed to his actual name, Roland Pemberton III), and the A-Trak produced "Roll With the Winners." Jam.

Stepper aka Work

New "Stepper aka Work" video from Skeletons up on the Pitchforks. I've been diggin their record from last year, Money (Tomlab), and so should you. The video's alright, just a couple dudes walkin around, eventually down to the river where baptism happens and a bible flows down the river.

Two Things

The Dirty Projectors are playing a show with Icy Demons at Bennington College, just north of the MA/VT border Feb 27 at the student center. Tickets are $10, doors at 8PM. They've been slackin on their shows since I saw Dan Deacon/Adventure, Ebu Go Go, and Xiu Xiu/Thao & the Get Down Stay Down all ages ago... and only Xiu Xiu previously cost anything.


Also, there's a new song El Guincho did at Studio 5 for maniatv.com "Bombay." It's a pretty great track but who knows if it'll appear proper on any upcoming release.

My Girls Video

Well, well, as if you thought Animal Collective were done doing new things for a while. Their official video for "My Girls" was just posted up on their site, which you can watch here. Basically, it's a semi-trippy workout with blood cells sweeping by and some weird silhouetted images of the boys playin the music. Smoke some drugs and enjoy.

Psychic Ills

If you're into droning psych jams then chances are you'll like Psychic Ills. These New Yorkers released their record Mirror Eye on The Social Registry this month and I can't wait to get ahold of it to hear the whole thing. They remind me of a slower Excepter with some influence from their labelmates Growing and Sian Alice Group. So far I've only heard the 10-minute "Mantis," whose creepy bug video appears below, and "Fingernail Tea," which you can download free from TSR here.

River of Dirt

There's a simple equation to you hearing new Marissa Nadler which equals no cash out of you and one song into you. "River of Dirt" just premiered on Stereogum's Gum Drop and all you've got to do is sign up for the mailing list to receive it. If you really don't want to sign up, her new record Little Hells comes out on Kemado March 3. She told the Gum Drop that the song was essentially a stream of consciousness exercise with a bottle of wine to work out a nagging guitar melody. It turned into an upbeat piece with lapsteel sighs, clicking drum sounds, and Nadler's cold, echoed vocal. Don't forget she's opening for Deer Tick at the Iron Horse on Valentine's Day.

IHEG Upcoming

The Iron Horse Entertainment Group's Spring calendar has been lookin' pretty slim these days. Easy answer? Bad economy. Who knows. They've got a few shows of interest coming up in the month of February, however:

Feb 6 Pearl Street Clubroom - High Places w/ Soft Circle, Eric Hnatow 9PM


I listened to the newer self-titled High Places record last night and was met with two feelings: Firstly I remembered how bouncy and catchy all their songs were and secondly I was struck with the boredom associated with the record due to remaining within a comfort zone. Their previous recordings collected on 03/07-09/07 were perkier, offering some variation and some real pep. They were wonderful opening for No Age last summer at the Middle East in Cambridge. Actually, High Places were probably better than them. Speaking of No Age, opener Soft Circle also opened for No Age (along with Silk Flowers) last November when they played Clark University's venue The Grind. Dude drummed hard over looped guitars or bass and was nice to watch until repetition got the best of him. I needn't describe Eric Hnatow, for I've talked about him many times, but he's always fun to watch. The first time I saw him was actually in the same place this show will be, Pearl Street Clubroom opening for Dan Deacon. Magic.

Feb 7 Iron Horse Music Hall - Passion Pit w/ Paper Route, Cale Parks 10PM


Passion Pit's from Cambridge. Their Chunk of Change EP is alright, disco for almost cool kids. Michael Angelakos recorded the whole thing himself and the six songs are sort of hit or miss. He hits when he gets real melodic and dance oriented. He fails when his voice becomes unlistenable and shrill, which luckily doesn't ruin the EP. I don't know much about Paper Route or Cale Parks except that Cale Parks was/is in Aloha and drummed/drums for White Williams.

Feb 14 Iron Horse Music Hall Deer Tick w/ Marissa Nadler 10PM


I mentioned this show before, I believe, but Deer Tick's new record should be out sometime soon and this show should tide everyone around here over til it does. Marissa Nadler is someone I forever will miss when she comes around or is going to play a show I was going to then couldn't, but I'm sure she'd be a real treat.

(awful High Places photo cred: Me)

Friends

Seems like there's always fun stuff to say about Matt Mondanile, a.k.a. Ducktails. Hes got the whole tropical breezy thing down real well whether it's the Ducktails songs, Real Estate, or even the more Kraut-oriented 20-minute jams of Predator Vision. He'll be hanging out at SXSW this year, so hopefully he plays some shows between now and then even though he's got all those releases pending.

Dude's also got a new track up on the Myspace called "Friends." Click here to check out the dreamy laziness.

Also there's some stuff up at RCRD LBL I didn't know about. Download "The Mall" and "Daily Vacation" here.

And Real Estate's got a 7" coming soon!

DOOM

Oh ho ho - New MF DOOM! Mask dude just upped a new track, "Ballskin," on his Myspace. The inappropriately named track will appear on Doom's new record Born Like This out sometime this year on Lex Records. What happened to Stones Throw? Either way, can't wait for the whole record.

Also I believe this is either the album art or possibly art for the "Ballskin" single?



After the initial throat-clear, the track consists of about 90 seconds of familiarly flowing verses including a good line about DDTs for all the WWE fans. Stream the track here.

Deer Tick

John McCauley III is a real cool guy. I mean, I doubt he'd remember my face after talking with him 3 or 4 times, but no one's counting. His band/namesake Deer Tick is also very cool, and they'll be bumming around Northampton this Valentine's Day for a show at the Iron Horse with Marissa Nadler (click here and here). What's cooler is they're getting ready to release their second record, Born on Flag Day (Partisan Records), the follow-up to 2007's War Elephant (Feow!), which was re-released by Partisan in November. Deer Tick is also already working on a third album in addition to gearing up for their Eastern U.S. tour, which runs from mid-February til mid-March. For a free MP3 cover of Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years," as well as some not-so-appetizing drink recipes, click here.

Beware

New Bonnie "Prince" Billy record Beware is out on Drag City March 17. While I appreciate the new record from Mr. Oldham (and the creepy-cool Hamlet cover art up there), I must take notice that the closest his tour will come to New England is Indiana. Some east coast love next time?

Either way, click here for a streaming WNYC interview with Oldham and new Beware track "You Can't Hurt Me Now."

Fever Ray

The Knife's Karin Dreijer has been turned into a graphic novel character with R Kelly sunglasses and will now star in Sin City 2. Actually she's going ahead and digitally releasing her Fever Ray record under the Fever Ray moniker today, a couple months before the U.S. Mute physical release on March 24. It's a solid affair, calling many of the Knife's sounds to the forefront, though it's noticeably less danceable (but not entirely undanceable), making way for more ambient touches and general weirdness. Buy it here. The internet was teeming with buzz regarding her new "If I Had a Heart" video's creepiness, so check it out.

King Street Manor

There's a show tonite at the Purple House (109 Bridge Street in Northampton) with Noise Nomads (Thurston Moore's #4 in his top 10 things of 2008), Chris Cooper, Bonos, and No Sound.

There's a show tomorrow night at 7:30PM at the King Street Manor, 113 King Street in Northampton, with Viking Moses (Missouri), Golden Ghost (NY), Whyte Kastles (Easthampton), and Pictish Trail (Scotland). Suggested donation of $5 for bands.

There's a show Wednesday January 14 at 145 South Street in Northampton with Infinity Window, Treetops, Sick Llama, and Northampton Wools (Bill Nace/Thurston Moore). Pretty sure it's at the guy's house who runs Breaking World Records. This is part of the "Escape From New York/ Welcome to Thunderdome Tour."

Edge Marginalization

I was introduced to The Stray Shopping Cart Project through a recent article in aesthetically pleasing food magazine Gastronomica. Somehow the creators categorized a long list of various reasons and assumptions about those shopping carts one sees in strange locations, mangled, deformed, abandoned, and otherwise forgotten.

I Have No Fun

Vivian Girls played for the LaundroMatinee recently (made possible with My Old Kentucky Blog), playing four songs including "I Have No Fun," which, to my knowledge, hasn't seen a recorded version yet. It's a solid feelin' bad for yourself song, I suppose, more upbeat and fun than some of their other non-album material. An interview with My Old Kentucky Blog reveals that their next full-length will appear this year as well as much U.S./Japan/Australia touring. There's also some MP3s of the sessions for download as well as "Where Do You Run" and a cover of Daisy Chain's "Blind Spot." Good to know they're not stopping.


Vivian Girls~I Have No Fun from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

Blood Bank

Bon Iver's Blood Bank EP, out January 20 on Jagjaguwar, is available to stream on his Myspace, so peep that for free.

BROMST

Yesterday Dan Deacon's new record Bromst got its album art revealed (up there) and today a new song, "Get Older," was made available. The album comes out March 24 on Carpark and I honestly can't wait afte hearing this track. Actual instruments? Yes, please.

Get Older - Dan Deacon

VFW

Three Fifteen demolished Saturday night at Pittsfield, MA's Linden Street VFW, playing everything one would need to hear while inducing battering force from everyone willing to try their hand at being near the front. The white fluorescence of the room, provided by sterile ceiling lights, was replaced with a single warm yellow lamp, hardly illuminating but wholly better than the institution glow. The band doesn't seem to have missed a beat since their previous "last show." The drumming is still the tightest, the guitars and bass still rip, and Joe Wilk's convulsive presence has not ebbed in the slightest. He flails, barks, screams, throws himself into others, whips his mic around, and pumps his fist triumphantly. Also, it doesn't hurt that the show was in their hometown with all their fans itching to freak out to one of the most beloved bands to come out of Pittsfield's once active punk scene. These guys really should keep playing. Listen to their anthology for free.

Gift Horse played before Three Fifteen and they were quite mediocre. Bands playing this kind of show should probably have some sort of edge, even if its a gimmicky one. Mudlark preceded and impressed, churning out well-crafted guitar songs, some with vocals, which came off as a sort of tame Dinosaur Jr junior, to good effect. Brain Fever (formerly Zombie Assault) opened with unintelligible words (not a bad thing) and an attention-grabbing (and eardrum-weakening) wall of punk guitar noise.


Three Fifteen


Three Fifteen


Three Fifteen


Brain Fever


Collection

Ducktails Correction

Turns out I previously mentioned that New Jersey's Ducktails would be releasing a split LP with Sun Araw this year. Turns out the Sun Araw split will be with Predator Vision, a band with Matt Mondanile/Ducktails with Ben Daly and Etienne Duguay, out sometime on Not Not Fun. Also forthcoming from Not Not Fun is Ducktails' 7" split with Tomutonttu, and much more Ducktails on the way: a Not Not Fun LP, a Holy Mountain CD, and the Acres of Shade cassette on Arbor. Check out their non-Ducktails 7" track "Backyard" on their Myspace.

Knitting Factory

New Years Eve at the Knitting Factory was a sight - lots of bands, lots of people, and lots of fun. I got there in time for the Dirty Projectors, who sounded very good. This was apparently the last time they'll be playing songs from the Rise Above record, which is a bummer for some, but their version of "Depression" kicks. Deerhoof hopped around a lot and were generally fun, Deer Tick was stationed in a lower level so I missed him, but Akron/Family came on at midnite and really were spectacular, jamming out songs to dance to, crowd surfing, and producing euphoria and heat inside the venue, which was a stark contrast to how numbingly freezing it was outside.


Crowdsurfing w/ Deerhoof


Akron/Family Nuts


Akron/Family


Family