Orange You Glad?

A couple months ago Julian Lynch provided me with one of my favorite records I've heard this year, Orange You Glad. The record is supposed to be released on LP eventually and he's got some more stuff on the way including a tape on Multiverse, a tape on Burn Tapes and a couple splits, one with M. Pyres and one with Gary Caruth. I think his split with Ducktails on Underwater Peoples is available now. Here's two of my favorite songs from Orange You Glad.

Julian Lynch - Venom
Julian Lynch - Andaza

Seals Your Fate

I've been rumbling about Nick Donlin a.k.a. Paralyze Humanity Sequence for a minute now, especially his free free free Feelings Party EP. My Swiss boys over at Delicious Scopitone started beamin' at his sounds as well. He's from Chicago, his full-length is called A Glow in the Spring and seems like it will be released sometime soon. Nick's just finishing up the vocals and figuring out the label and when it sees the light of day we'll all know about it. For now enjoy streams of my favorite tracks from Feelings Party, download if you like (donate if you really like) and stream a couple non-EP tracks at his Myspace (I recommend "Being Groovy").

Paralyze Humanity Sequence - Hammock
Paralyze Humanity Sequence - Eating Cake

ABSORPTION

Lazy Friday mornings mean meandering, pandering and slandering.


Girls over at BXF dropped a string of records bands/artists sent to them, the cream of the crop. Dem Hunger a.k.a. Louis Johnstone was one of those posted with some warped tape jam/space beat/banger-status cuts on his Heavy Spinach mix. BXF appropriately calls the tracks "banging radio mash glitch static and rasta transmissions" and also implores you to "imagine if Lucky Dragons listened to a little more crunnk rap and was a lil more street." I played his track "Charles Shit" on the radio Wednesday and can't stop listening.

Dem Hunger - Charles Shit

Download Heavy Spinach here along with a bunch of other boss business - Toro Y Moi, Word Salad, M. Pyres.

DH also posted a little mix today just short of ten minutes long called "Ejaculation Control," which you can download from his Myspace.

Regarding new material Louis had these promising words to say:

"hoping to get peaceful on my next ep

magnetic brothership im gonna call it

just gonna soak that fucker in dirty dust and naked ladies"

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I'm diggin "David," a new track from The Radio Dept. that I heard over at MBV. The band's got their David EP out June 24 on Labrador. Only heard of these guys in passing, but I can't believe I've slept on em so long. They're from Sweden, they've been releasing music since 2002 and have apparently been making music for almost 15 years. "David" recalls some Saint Etienne vibes - upbeat, gauzy, ephemeral, carefree. One might throw the phrase "dream pop" around. Their fourth record Clinging to a Scheme is supposed to be released this September.

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Cold Cave really reminds me of Silk Flowers, but more upbeat and immediate. RSTB posted "In a Cave" and "Gates," two couple tracks from their Cremations compilation (Hospital) which are fantastic. The comp collects the Painted Nails EP, the Coma Potion LP, the Electronic Dreams cassette and unreleased stuff. Cold is right - metallic synths, very inorganic and spacey. "Gates" has been on repeat. The songs on the Myspace are less noisy than those on RSTB and I don't fancy them quite as much but it's good to know there's those scattered, chaotic tendencies.

Order Cremations here.

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NPIP posted two aptly-titled and rad songs from Beach Fossils for you to stream/download/enjoy - "Vacation" and "Daydream." This is pretty mundane stuff, along the same lines as a bunch of bands hitting it big this year - NPIP notes a "sharper" version of Wavves' "lax zones," a.k.a. no fuzzy noise bullshit, just straight to the pop elements of the songs (save the choppy vocal effect). I'm also reminded of Nodzzz and Real Estate. Dude's from Brooklyn and is playing a handful of shows in that area including a Fourth of July show with Vivian Girls, Woods, the Beets, Dum Dum Girls, Thee Oh Sees, Real Estate, etc, etc.

Download those two tracks here and stream an extra ("Lazy Day") here.

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Boogie Boarder's Pizza Hero record comes out June 23 on Famous Class. Download two tracks from the album ("Bummers Begin" and "Bio Hassle") here, via Impose Magazine, who relate the band to Ponytail, which totally makes sense. In addition to those tracks featured on Impose, stream some more songs "Sparkles" and "Little Giants" here.

THESE ARE POWERS

Pretty excited about a show coming up my friend Gabriel is booking presumably through WMUA: These Are Powers, Golden Cities, Fossil Mountain (Amherst dudes) and Hadoken (Amherst dudes) at Earthfoods Cafe in the UMass Student Union June 15. I unexpectedly caught TAP at Vassar College some months ago playing with Teengirl Fantasy and Telepathe. I meant to ask them about playing the Parts & Labor/Talk Normal show back in April but it didn't happen. Luckily they contacted Gabriel and worked something out. He's also squeezing an interview out of it for his show MYNDBLYNDRZ, which airs Fridays from 8-10PM EST.

Grab an MP3 of "Double Double Yolk," one of the better cuts from their newer record All Aboard Future, here (via Fluxblog).

AUDITORYMAGIK

That's right. Tune in right now, 8PM EST til 10PM EST for Auditory Magik, with DJ Sallinger and myself, DJ VJ Singh. That's 91.1FM local, wmua.org otherwise. New music from Blind Man's Colour, Bullion, Family Portrait, Explode Into Colors and Here We Go Magic.

Uh Huh Hoh Babyskins

Here's that Family Portrait track "Babyskins" I mentioned in a previous post. After finally conquering the demons and overcoming all odds, I have (with endless help) figured out how to do the whole Yahoo Media Player business. Anyway, you heard my take so for your listening pleasure, "Mega Secrets" and "Babyskins"

EDIT: I think these are back up.

Family Portrait - Mega Secrets
Family Portrait - Babyskins

Summer Shows

Not a heaping mound of shows coming up this summer in the Pioneer Valley area, but some nights of interest include:

June 14 Sore Eros/Por Que (w/ local projected moving art) - Elevens

June 15 These Are Powers/Golden Cities/Fossil Mtn/Hadoken - Earthfoods Cafe

June 16 Mika Miko/Strange Boys - Ralph's in Worcester

June 17 Predator Vision/Sudden Oak/Tarp - South Street Northampton

June 18 Ted Leo/Titus Andronicus - Flywheel, moved to Easthampton High School

June 29 Magik Markers/Mouthus - Copperworks in Pittsfield

July 2 or 9 Wet Hair - South Street Northampton

July 14 Yeasayer/Ponytail - Pearl Street Clubroom

July 19 Screaming Females - Rebel Sound

July 22 Deer Tick - Iron Horse

July 31 George Myers presents: Eats Tapes - Elevens

August 2 Gang Gang Dance - Pearl Street Clubroom

August 6 St. Vincent - Pearl Street Clubroom

September 6 Disco Dance Party with Escort - MASS MoCA

These of course don't include punk shows in Pittsfield at the fairly new Rebel Sound Records.

See Mystery Lights

You can download/stream "Psychic City," a new track from YACHT's forthcoming record See Mystery Lights (DFA) over at MBV. It's the same light electronic blips and twirls but perhaps even lighter than most sounds from his last record I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real. According to YACHT himself/themselves, the song is "a subversive damaged zombie pop banger" cover/reintepretation of the song "Voodoo City" by Rich Jensen, a guy who booked shows with YACHT a few years ago in Oregon and released cassettes (including Two Million Years which "Voodoo City" was on) on K Records. See Mystery Lights drops July 28. Surely we'll hear more by then.

Explode Into Into

I'm still on the thumbs up side of "Portland Best New Band" Explode Into Colors and in addition to the previous on-repeat track "Sharpen the Knife" you can snag a recording of their "Wooden Ghost" number over here (via new buddies Delicious Scopitone). In other EIC news, according to MBV they've got three 7"s coming out this summer, one each on KRS, M'Lady's Records and Just For the Hell of It. The 7" material will be collected on an EP and their full-length will be released on Kill Rock Stars. Ready set go.

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Also, reporting in on a couple other bands with works in the works.


Trailer Trash Tracys sent me a self-proclaimed "very rough bedroom demo" of their song "Half Naked Screamers." No matter how rough, it sounds great. Airy and fuzzy and warped and everything else one would love from the other song you can grab from them, "Strangling Good Guys." Can't wait to hear an official version.

Family Portrait hit me up with another of their tracks, "Babyskins." It follows what one might expect after hearing their Underwater Peoples comp featuring track "Mega Secrets." The track they sent me's got that same golden sheen, this time with new and improved Elvis Costello-sounding vocal take. Sounds youthful and carefree in the place to be.

If you haven't already, download the Summer Showcase here then preorder it with an email to underwaterpeoples@gmail.com (via other new buddies BxF).

Mud Booger Flex Magik

Oops turns out Sesame Street Bandaids is defunct. However, I will move from co-host duties there to side-kick duties on DJ Sallinger's Auditory Magik which will air Wednesday nights from 8-10PM EST on 91.1FM/wmua.org. Same DJs, different show name and apparently different leadership roles. As always we'll be spinning new seedless raspberry preserves, old toe crust and everything in between all summer.

RELIGIOUS PORTRAIT

I've been swoonin' over Religious Girls all afternoon. I checked out their self-released 4-track EP (with hand-sewn packaging) over at Pukekos and it's not what I expected a.k.a. no detectable girls in the mix. However, the band produces some instrumental work-outs which seemingly have no place or time - battering percussion strength, spacey electronic scales and communal choruses of "oh"s and "ah"s, all under a decidedly warped mindset where urgency is present but not apparent. Each song sounds primal while at the same time futuristic, like if Dan Deacon performed for the monkeys from 2001: A Space Odyssey. They'll be coming around to Boston July 13 on their upcoming tour.

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I've also been digging Family Portrait hard. Their track "Mega Secrets" can be found on the Underwater Peoples Summer Showcase comp. Little information as of now, but the singin's got soul, the guitar's got gold and the songs is fresh. Click the Myspace link to hear a couple more songs.

LATE WALE

It was over a week ago, but here's some photos from the Wale show at Pearl Street May 10. The biggest surprise for me was the appearance by G.O.O.D. Music's Kanye-approved Big Sean to open the night. He did "Getcha Some," one of my favorite tracks from Kanye's 2007 Can't Tell Me Nothing Mixtape. A bunch of mediocrity followed and Wale finally came on after a long wait, performing with "legendary Go-Go band" UCB. He made up a song about "pussy, alcohol and weed," performed a bunch of his best jams and even slid into a little "Smells Like Teen Spirit" interlude. Read my full review here.

Wale

Wale

Big Sean

I Have Feelings Deep Enough To Swim In

Honestly, this is my shit. I think my parents instilled a love for the late Vandross in me. The song, the video, the facial expressions... all perfect.

Summertime-Funk

Celebrate - that Dam-Funk remix of Animal Collective's "Summertime Clothes" I mentioned last week is the real deal. The "Summertime Clothes" 12" single will be released in June on Domino with the track and the Dam-Funk remix on the A side and more remixes by Leon Day and Zomby on the B. The cover art is up there (featuring asparagus, citrus and peacock feathers) and apparently the track has been on "heavy rotation" over at Stones Throw.

Bottom of the Barrell

That's right, tonight marks the last edition of SESAME STREET BANDAIDS at its current time, which has been Monday nights 8-10PM EST on 91.1FM and wmua.org. It's been a great semester at the station - loads of new music to spin, sort of old music to reinforce and old old music to discover. Do not fret though, we're not leaving - our new spot will be Wednesday nights from 6-8PM EST for the duration of the summer. Same name, same dudes. Tonight you can prepare your ears - new music from Sad City, Reading Rainbow, Joker, Elfin Saddle and Meercaz as well as tried and true tunes from Trailer Trash Tracys, Kanye, CFCF, Animal Collective and more.

The Future

I'm graduating from college (?) May 23 into a world I am not familiar with - one without a writing position at a physical news publication. In a way it's dark, but there's so many opportunities online that I'm not worried. I spoke with the Daily Collegian's Brian Wood (current Arts & Living Editor, future Web/Multimedia Editor) recently about the future of journalism and he had a lot of insight into the matter regarding advertising, money, the power of the internet, and accepting overall changes in the way news organizations do their business.


One example where decreased cash flow is affecting business is at the Collegian. Ad sales are down so the paper's quality is down. They're used to running 12+ pages but have been forced to cut it down to eight lately, allowing certain sections only one page (including Arts & Living). This decrease in money flow has also lead to general pay decreases for those who are even making money - zero reporters (like me) make a dime, zero assistant editors (like me) make a dime... it's only the people with the title "editor" who make any money through the Collegian, and even then people are taking cuts. Editor in Chief Mike King even chose to forgo the rest of his pay for the year so the money can be put back into the paper.


The Collegian has readied themselves for the onslaught of converting to online, finally getting ahold of a server which works for them. They hope to better their multimedia content next year. Brian made a good point - why pay for a newspaper subscription when you're just going to put the paper down for your pet to piss on when you can get the news for free online? It just doesn't make sense, especially in this economy.

Fake Flowers

People need to start burying other people in steel coffins - garnish the iron tombstone with fake flowers and the memory of the dead will never rot like wood, petals and stems, rather live on in a slow fade. Silk Flowers craft fake flora. Little about them resembles anything organic, especially Avi's metallic vocal takes from the forever tomb. Turns out their first full-length comes out July 7 on Post Present Medium (thanks to MBV for the passive tip).


I picked up their Flash of Light 7" from them when they opened for No Age a while back at Clark University and have been enjoying it ever since.

They've also got an eight-track live set from WFMU up on their Free Music Archive available for stream/download here. I found out about that through the band's blog.

RSTB recently featured their track "Cannibals and Headhunters," which you can download here.

Put All Yer Hands Where My Eyes Can See

Last week Animal Collective played "Summertime Clothes" on Letterman and chances are if you care you've already seen the video down there. Either way we've got some goofy blacklight dancers and I couldn't help but be reminded of Busta's video for "Put Your Hands Where I Can See," which is one of my favorite videos ever. Maybe AC even freaked out some squares with those neon ghost tables.


(via Pitchfork via I Guess I'm Floating)

CRS

So remember that track "Us Placers" by Child Rebel Soldiers from Kanye's Can't Tell Me Nothin' Mixtape? If you don't, CRS is Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco. I've still only heard "Us Placers," which samples Thom Yorke's "The Eraser," and their N.E.R.D. "Everybody Nose" remix, but hopefully there's more to come. Here's a real silly/cute/Bob Dylan referencing for some reason video for the track.

Fluffy Lumbers

Yes, Fluffy Lumbers is a real band name. It's Samuel Franklin from Ridgewood, NJ (like Ducktails) and he has this noisy beach thing down pretty tight, which is to say they're jangly and loud like fellow Jerseymen Titus Andronicus and dig the beach and all the super pop harmonies which flow from its shores. Especially digging "Cruisers" + "Shore Patrol" + "Spaced Out." Cop a stream here. They've got a 7" coming out on Weird Hug Records to watch out for as well.

From the Dead

So I thought Delicious Scopitone was dead. It said "R.I.P." on their page for a bit, but now there's updates aplenty and a new layout. Swell. Check out tracks there by Reading Rainbow (best URL), Teengirl Fantasy, Pill Wonder (from that Underwater Peoples Showcase) and more.

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Speaking of the Underwater Peoples comp, Sad City's also on there with a song "Agua," which is very good much like their other three songs they sent me a while back, especially "Sad City Girls." Check em out and maybe they'll materialize with a proper release this year.

Don't Bring Up My Past

So you know that Clipse/King Khan & the Shrines/Santigold show that was supposed to go down at Wesleyan University Wednesday afternoon?


And you know that dude who went off and killed that Wesleyan University student Wednesday at a cafe in the middle of Middletown?

Well it's a poor combination because the extremely unexpected and brutal shooting prompted the University to cancel the show since, at the time, the killer was still at large. The gentleman, Stephen Morgan, even hung out for a bit at the scene after he did it and talked to police, officials completely unaware. Well he eventually turned himself in yesterday. A true summer bummer.

STONES THROW/WALE

Last night Stones Throw Records took over the Paradise Rock Club in Boston for their 2009 Showcase tour, featuring a Peanut Butter Wolf VJ set, James Pants live set with Royal Zodiac, Dam Funk DJ set/soul croons and Mayer Hawthorne on the cut as well as on the mic.


First off, we gave a needy dude our extra ticket cos he was broke.

Second off, Dam Funk was billed as "Dan Funk."

Then the show happened. I walked in to Mayer Hawthorne starting his set, which he claimed consisted of every type of music. While I disagree, he did squeeze a ton of stuff in there from space funk to soul funk to Italian disco to bass-rumbling hip hop. He also took time and hollered at J Dilla ("the greatest"). He went on for what seemed like an hour before giving way to Dam Funk ("the Ambassador"), taking the stage with his Jheri curl tucked neatly under his dashing fedora. Dude flashed a 7", seemingly to prove he wasn't just clicking a playlist from his iTunes and let his own beats ride, getting soulful with the vocal over the galactic boogie. He warned "don't be scared of the hook y'all" after noticing some audience members off-put by his chorus "we gonna kill this motherfucker today." The highlight of his set was probably his remix of Animal Collective's "Summertime Clothes," of which AC is apparently letting him do an official remix. Dam said he was doing the preview of the song for Boston exclusively, not that I have any proof that he hasn't played it or won't play it anywhere else, but it was fantastic - like an even more sugar-coated "My Girls" that'll make you sweat your clothes right off. Hypers at the ready.

Next James Pants took the stage with his band, Royal Zodiac. James Pants is a goofy dude, not that one would be surprised after listening to his music. He jumped around a lot in sunglasses and a winter hat playing cowbells. My favorite part of his band was by far Poncho P on the keys and on the vocal for "Crystal Lite," belting out the lyrics with the utmost soul. The bunch also did "KA$H" with a lot of audience callbacks, "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, and The Doors' "Touch Me." Before Peanut Butter Wolf finally took the stage, Mayer Hawthorne came back out and sang three songs (with the same band accompanying but James Pants on drums), "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out," a dub ode to weed, and another.


Peanut Butter Wolf was fantastic, hypnotizing with his manipulated videos as he spun some classic hip hop, pop, and R&B. Highlights included and were not limited to: Fat Boys, Q-Tip, Frank Zappa, Tupac, Jackson 5, Daft Punk, Hall & Oates, De La Soul, Prince and some sort of radio edit of N.W.A. He had the fly Stones Throw Chuck Taylors to cap everything off. Great night even though his sound and mic got shut off eventually.

Dam-Funk

James Pants

Poncho P

Peanut Butter Wolf

PBW

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Wednesday (today, sort of) Clipse will be playing a free show at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT with Wesleyan alum Santigold and non-alum King Khan and the Shrines. Apparently there might be another Wesleyan band opening. Stuff starts there at noon, which is so early but hey it's free. Groove right.

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D.C. rap dude Wale is going to play the Pearl Street ballroom Sunday May 10 on his Attention Deficit tour. He's also going to be doing an in-store signing at Unite in Northampton, who are sponsoring the show. If you did not have enough Wale by the time the show's over that's okay - there's the after party at Sam's Pizza. Go-Go.

Also Wale's on this new Daniel Merriweather track "Change." If you like Jamie Lidell's last record, a.k.a. fairly cheesy whiteboy funk, you'll probably like this (via RCRDLBL).

Also Pitchfork interviewed Wale.

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Also this rules.

SWISS MISS

Well the UMass Spring Concert featuring Lupe Fiasco, Girl Talk and All Time Low cold sold out. So, you know, students can't go. While this doesn't make sense to me that students at a school can't attend their own spring concert, I guess I'm not that bummed. I never got too into Lupe, Girl Talk was fun for a while but no thanks, and All Time Low is nothing I know anything about.


However, tomorrow night is a brilliant Stones Throw showcase at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston. Stones Throw's PR team fleshes out the details:

"Fresh off of their sold out spring tour of Europe, Peanut Butter Wolf, James Pants, Dam-Funk, and Mayer Hawthorne are now touring the US & Canada. Peanut Butter Wolf will be mixing music videos live, James Pants is performing with his band Royal Zodiac, and Dam-Funk and Mayer Hawthorne will be Djing. Mayer Hawthorne will perform a few songs with James' band as well. This will be the first US tour for James Pants, Dam-Funk, and Mayer Hawthorne and the best tour for Peanut Butter Wolf. Come to our show."

This is sure to be really rad and I encourage everyone to go.

Here's the biz:

Mogwai

Mogwai is playing tonight in Northampton at Pearl Street with the Twilight Sad. There was a time when I would have killed to see Mogwai and while that murderous run is over, I'm definitely going to check them out seeing as they basically showed up in my backyard. I remember listening to the first song made available from their new record The Hawk is Howling, "The Sun Smells Too Loud," and thinking it was almost dancey. I'm sure zero people will be dancing tonight. Earplugs are probably recommended.

Download/stream "The Sun Smells Too Loud" from Matador here.

The Sweats

Two things:


1. Check out Boogie Boarder. I was at a show they played once in Northampton but I don't think I saw them. I think I saw Hume and Snakes Say Hisss at that show. It's rad, yet I'm not currently going to try to figure out what I want to say it sounds like. Listen to the only songs I can find by them here.

2. Actually I'ma make this three things.


Two is listen to Hume.

Hume- Jump Tornado


3. My own personal economic stimulus occurred this week in the form of tax returns so I went to the record store. For $14.54 I got:

Sarah Vaughan - Sweet, Sultry and Swinging (Spin-O-Rama)

Ashford & Simpson - Solid (Capitol/EMI)

Key Tracks from R. Kelly - TP.3 Reloaded (Jive)

Kool & the Gang - Tonight's the Night/Too Hot 7" (De-Lite)

Kool & the Gang - Celebration/Take My Heart 7" (De-Lite)

Kool & the Gang - Steppin' Out/Get Down On It 7" (De-Lite)

Earth, Wind & Fire - Let's Groove 7" (ARC)

Rick James - Give It To Me Baby/Don't Give Up On Love 7" (Gordy)

Commodores - Three Times a Lady/Look What You've Done To Me 7" (Motown)

The Stylistics - Rockin' Roll Baby/You Make Me Feel Brand New 7" (Amherst)

Louis Armstrong - Tin Roof Blues/Mame 7" (Mercury)

Lipps, Inc. - Funky Town/All Night Dancing 7" (Casablanca)

Hall & Oates - So Close 7" (Arista)

Thomas Dolby - Hyperactive 7" (Capitol)

Mountain - Mississippi Queen/The Laird 7" (Windfall)

The Beach Boys - Bluebirds/Over the Mountain/Never Learn/Not To Love 7" (Capitol)

Roy Orbison - Wondering/Ride Away 7" (MGM)

4. Damn, actually four things - that Underwater Peoples compilation I mentioned a bit ago can be found for your listening pleasure here (via BUTTERXFACE). Pay attention to the Real Estate instrumental, the first Julian Lynch track ("Banana Jam Pt. 1"), Family Portrait, Frat Dad, Sad City, the second Julian Lynch track ("Droplet On a Hot Stone")...

This post is dedicated to Nerraw and Jevon, who played 21 with me under the lights until after midnite. Jam.