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I almost walked out on the headliner of this one. Yep. One of my favorite bands, A Lull performed their going-away show that night and it was awesome. They premiered one, never-before played song (“Pregnancy”) and a two other new ones that I’d not heard (“Spread It All Around” and “Pot Luck”) and it was wonderful to see them again. As always, the stage was filled with drums of all sizes and their noise absolutely filled the room. I met a friend there I hoped he’d like A Lull, with their percussion-heavy, melodic songs. The room was packed with their fans. All of us eager to send our favorite band off on a three week tour, armed with new music. When the members of A Lull sing, harmonizing, sweetly high range notes just hanging out there in space surrounded by a clattering of trumpet and tambourine and snare drum, you realize that in all of this apparent chaos there is a very intentional and clear line of delivery. For all seven (!) of them to work together on stage and it not result in that noise my garbage disposal makes when a fork gets stuck in it surely takes practice, skill, and talent. A Lull personifies all three of those qualities to the max. The video below is for a song that I heard early on, the song that woo’d me toward them. But don’t judge them solely on this. They are this and much, much more. We all, the starry-eyed ones, caught in their cross-hairs, anticipate the new album. They’ve been teasing us with new material for months now. I hope we don’t devour them before it’s released to us. In the meantime, buy their CD, Ice Cream Bones here and go here to see their tour dates!
In between bands I turned to my friend and said, “Oh I don’t know about this next one… the description in Wikipedia says ‘folk’ are you sure you’re going to be able to handle this?” And he blanched a little, noticeably. We tried to appraise the situation; long and lanky band members, a slouchy hat, a casually thrown on scarf, a very small drum kit (!), a mac laptop (as it PINK? oh no, that was just stage lighting, whew!), the lead singer came out and plugged in an acoustic guitar and we felt quite certain this was a non-starter. None of these guys looked to me like they were gonna RAWK. And I encouraged my friend to just let me know, we’d be able to sneak out at any point. He even got his coat off the hook on the wall in preparation. We inched a bit closer to the middle back of the room, just in case. I’d never heard of Decibully. Shame on me.
William Seidel approached the mic and started singing and I thought, “oh well, we’ll give them three songs at least, before we leave.” Less than a minute later the whole band burst in on him and my friend and I turned to each other with astonishment. This shit was good. It was damn good. Decibully, it turns out, is a particularly talented indie rock band out of Milwaukee that knows just when to turn the volume down and when to let it all explode. Opening with “Broken Glass” Seidel’s earnestness soon gave way to complete, drop dead indie-head-nodding goodness. I can’t recall for sure, they held me in their spell for the entire set, but it seems that they played their entire new album, World Travels Fast, that night.
Songs like “Don’t Believe the Hype” showcase the capacity of this band for building tension in a song to the point where you’re gasping for that hard downbeat, begging for the clash of cymbals and swirling of guitars. And where other bands might give a strong, bass/kick drum lead boom, dragging you into a hard groove, Decibully takes it into another place altogether. That other end of high notes with keyboards and sharp harmonies simply compliments Seidel’s tenor vocals, leaving me shaking my head, … not in confusion or disregard but in pure happy release. Did I mention just how wrong I was about this band? Damn they’re good.
Decibully encapsulate many good things that an indie band should, their music is atmospheric; “Hour of Noise” is a large canvas of sound. World Travels Fast balances acoustic, stripped-down tracks with immense, carefully crafted pieces. “Somewhere In The World” is one of those songs where all the pieces (there are many!) fit together perfectly, making my head spin in a wonderful way. The counter rhythms of the keyboards and shaker, against the more obvious booms of Aaron Vold’s drums (that tiny drumkit gives you the wrong idea, Vold uses that kick drum like a hammer, it’s amazing) give Decibully a laid-back feel. “Let’s Not Fight” balances it all out,featuring a relentless, driving beat with some real hard energy. This is the record where Decibully show their full range of songwriting skills. I’m telling you now, pick up World Travels Fast and you’ll find yourself listening to it often, trust me. xoxo …. buy it here, there’s a beautiful double vinyl LP with CD inside. Of course, you can also purchase the album download as mp3s.
Oh to be in London! You have no idea how many times in a week I say this to myself, to the little wife, to anyone who will hear it. (Well, ok, to be fair, I often say I wish to be in Edinburgh or even just in the U.K., but you get the point.) But honestly, this is one of the nicest reasons to want to be in London. Communion is a club night, at Notting Hill Arts Club. Founded in 2006, by Ben Lovett (Mumford and Sons), Kevin Jones (Cherbourg) and producer Ian Grimble, “it grew into a community of musicians, industry and fans alike, and provided a platform for the newest bands on London’s circuit. The night has seen the likes of Noah and the Whale, Laura Marling, Mumford and Sons, JJ Pistolet and Peggy Sue grace the stage and has become closely associated with the nu-folk movement in the capital.” (says it’s MySpace page)
On March 1 you can receive their first debut compilation album. But, of course you may pre-order it here. It features 22 tracks from a range of artists including Johnny Flynn, Peggy Sue, Jeremy Warmsley and Jay Jay Pistolet. It will be available as a double-gatefold vinyl and download. I’m gagging for it, as they say
Here’s a taste of Johnny Flynn (no, no idea if this track will be on the album, it’s just a gorgeous tune on Johnny’s EP and one you should buy!)
Rob Pierangeli’s EP, Casper Bangs, the same name as he performs under, is awesome. What’s even more awesome is that you can hear it all at his site over on his bandcamp page (and put some $ in the cup there too, eh?) The little wifey just walked into the room as I’m listening to this brilliant EP and said, “this reminds me of going to a college dance” and yeah, it does have a early 90′s feel to it, doesn’t it? Just gorgeous.
Swim (To Reach The End) mp3 Surfer Blood Astro Coast …. buy it here from Kanine Records (they’re a wonderful indie label, go support them!) … I nabbed that mp3 off Pitchfork’s site, you can go read their review of it here.
Wow! This Tart got waaaaay more than she bargained for last Saturday night when these four bands played Schubas for the Tomorrow Never Knows 2010 show! I walked into a fog-filled room to hear the sweet sounds of good old fashioned punk/noise sung enthusiastically if not angrily by a bearded, crazed man accompanied by an excellent guitarist who made it look all too easy and a bass player that made it look all too fun. Lasers and Fast and Shit hit the stage only after it was “optimally fogged.” Oh the lead singer played keys pretty damn well too. I loved most all of it. In fact, I turned to Steve (of the great new-to-Chicago, formerly-of-DC blog, Baby, You Got a Stew Goin’!) and said, loudly, “I LOVE THIS SHIT” when he walked in the door to Lasers and Fast and Shit. That’s just the kind of girl I am. I make an awesome first impression!
Bear in Heaven had moments of brilliance and had me moving to a real nice groove. Their drummer, Sadek Bazarra, is amazing… he captured my attention throughout the set even when the prog rock, psychedelica-tinged electronica wore me down a bit. This is an intense band. The music is heavy and yet also very sexy. I’d have loved to have been lying down to hear it. If only I could still have a good view of that drummer, yum!
Next up came Freelance Whales and yes, they did NOT disappoint. I had heard their album, thanks to the lovely people at Tell All Your Friends PR, and I loved it but also wanted desperately to know how it would translate to a live performance. Would those ethereal vocals be too sweet, too pretty, too precious? Or would hearing them live bring on a welcomed edginess? I gladly experienced the latter, but what I did not expect (I should have) was the amazing energy cast off by the interaction between the members of this band. You know a performance is enhanced when the band realizes they are there to play amongst themselves and not really just for you, right? Freelance Whales plays for each other and it is wonderful to watch. The music is freakishly alive and creative, no… scratch that…. created right there before your eyes in a manner that it is so often not done in many public performances. This show was a joy to hear and see. “Hannah” was especially beautiful and downright FUN. The squeezebox organ was lovely and the more she pumped it the higher the energy rose. I was thrilled, plain and simple. Here’s what they were doing last summer
Finally, Surfer Blood, the band that I’m sure everyone had come to see, took the stage. They gave a great set, full of energy and presented with considerable poise for such a young band. I give them a lot of credit for handling the amount of hype they’ve received in the past few months. These kids are pushing forward a very solid debut. I look forward to what they turn into. They got on stage and did their thing with some 20-something banter in between songs and a necessary amount of tuning and fiddling with instruments. Tom Fekete, on lead guitar did some nice bits and of course all eyes were on JP Pitts, the quintessential lead singer; he’s got that lean-into-the-mic move down pat, not to mention the singing…. that’s pretty good too. But honestly, the song we all came to hear, “Swim (To Reach The End)” is just THE PERFECT POP SONG right now. That is all. xoxo
Cold Spring (Daytrotter Session) mp3 Cymbals Eat Guitars Daytrotter Session, click on it for more songs, from the album, Why There Are Mountains (just click on that title to purchase)
Yeah, you can only have so much pretty, sad, girly music, right? So today I bring you some Cymbals Eat Guitars. I know my good friend Tom currently loves this band (well he’s a fickle man, today he loves this band, next week it’ll be another one, we have that in common, he and I) and I ran into this live Daytrotter session and thought of him (there’s loads more artists and more songs there, it’s a fantastic site!) I had the chance to see Cymbals Eat Guitars and silly me, I had in my head that it was Tuesday when it was really Wednesday and completely missed them!
It was one of those nights when Twitter saved my life. Have you ever had those? Well, if you don’t tweet, then I guess not, eh? But if you do… well, sometimes I’m sitting around, watching the TV (not really watching, the little wifey is watching House or Dexter and I’m pretending to watch but I’m sneaking an eye to my computer to be with you lovelies here) and my twitter stream will be scrolling slowly…. up pops a live tweet from a gig I’m supposed to be at!! EEEEKKKK!!!! Oh shit! I forgot to go to a show I actually have tickets for! Damn. Well, thankfully it’s only just started, I’ve missed the first act (that was, you guessed it, Cymbals Eat Guitars) and it’s only about 20 mins. away and thankfully I’ve had a shower that day so I can just throw on some clothes and run.
I got there in time for the last two songs of one of my favorite bands that year, the Depreciation Guild. And I managed to hear the whole set of the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. But what a lineup that was that night, eh? Lesson learned, check your damn calendar, Tart! But seriously, thank you all you live concert tweeters, you’ve saved more than one of us, I’m sure. The wonderful guy from The Milk Carton kindly helped me out that night and let me know just how much I’d missed and if it was worth rushing over for. I’ve still not met him, we anonymous bloggers, we’re a weird and wonderful little group, xoxo
Tour Dates
Feb 9 2010 8:00P Scopitone Club – Scopitone Club Paris, Ile-de-France
Feb 11 2010 8:00P Le Romandie – Le Romandie Lausanne, Waadt
Feb 12 2010 8:00P Twiggy – Twiggy Varese, Varese
Feb 13 2010 8:00P Bronson – Bronson Ravenna, Ravenna
Feb 15 2010 8:00P Chelsea Club – Chelsea Club Vienna, Wien
Feb 18 2010 8:00P Start The Bus – Start The Bus Bristol, Southwest
Feb 19 2010 8:00P Korova – Korova Liverpool, Northwest
Feb 21 2010 8:00P Captain’s Rest – Captain’s Rest Glasgow, Scotland
Feb 22 2010 8:00P Cockpit – Cockpit Leeds, Northwest
Feb 24 2010 8:00P Hoxton Bar & Kitchen – Hoxton Bar & Kitchen London, London and South East
Mar 5 2010 8:00P Johnny Brenda’s – Johnny Brenda’s w/ Bear In Heaven Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 6 2010 8:00P Rock And Roll Hotel – Rock and Roll Hotel w/ Bear In Heaven Washington, Washington DC
Mar 7 2010 8:00P Local 506 – Local 506 w/ Bear In Heaven Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Mar 9 2010 8:00P The End – The End w/ Bear In Heaven Nashville, Tennessee
Mar 10 2010 8:00P Pilot Light – Pilot Light w/ Bear In Heaven Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 11 2010 8:00P Earl – The Earl w/ Bear In Heaven East Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 13 2010 8:00P Will’s Pub – Will’s Pub w/ Bear In Heaven Orlando, Florida
Mar 14 2010 8:00P The Engine Room – The Engine Room w/ Bear In Heaven Tallahassee, Florida
Mar 16 2010 8:00P Mango’s – Mango’s w/ Bear In Heaven Houston, Texas
Mar 17 2010 10:15P Hailey’s – Hailey’s w/ Bear In Heaven Denton, Texas
Mar 18 2010 SXSW – Austin, TX
Mar 19 2010 SXSW – Austin, TX
Mar 20 2010 SXSW – Austin, TX
Mar 22 2010 8:00P The Rhythm Room – Rhythm Room w/ Bear In Heaven Phoenix, Arizona
Mar 23 2010 8:00P Casbah San Diego – Casbah w/ Bear In Heaven San Diego, California
Mar 24 2010 8:00P Echo – The Echo w/ Bear In Heaven Los Angeles, California
Mar 25 2010 8:00P Bottom Of The Hill – Bottom of The Hill w/ Bear In Heaven San Francisco, California
Mar 27 2010 8:00P Berbati’s Pan – Berbati’s Pan w/ Bear In Heaven Portland, Oregon
Mar 29 2010 8:00P The Biltmore Cabaret – The Biltmore Cabaret w/ Bear In Heaven Vancouver, British Columbia
Mar 31 2010 8:00P Kilby Court – Kilby Court w/ Bear In Heaven Salt Lake City, Utah
Apr 1 2010 8:00P Hi Dive – Hi Dive w/ Bear In Heaven Denver, Colorado
Apr 2 2010 8:00P Replay Lounge – Replay Lounge w/ Bear In Heaven Lawrence, Kansas
Apr 3 2010 8:00P Turf Club – Turf Club w/ Bear In Heaven Saint Paul, Minnesota
Apr 4 2010 8:00P Schubas Tavern – Schubas w/ Bear In Heaven Chicago, Illinois
Apr 6 2010 8:00P El Mocambo – El Mocambo w/ Bear In Heaven Toronto, Ontario
Apr 7 2010 8:00P Il Motore – Il Motore w/ Bear In Heaven Montreal, Quebec
Apr 8 2010 8:00P Middle East Downstairs – Middle East Downstairs w/ Bear In Heaven Cambridge, Massachusetts
Apr 9 2010 8:00P Music Hall Of Williamsburg – Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Bear In Heaven Brooklyn, New York
I heard this song, this voice, and I loved it for it’s bleak, sad, sound. Holding just a hint of one of my favorite Country singers, Dolly Parton, but in a lower key and more modern tone, Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo are a trio of young women who perform beautiful folk music along with Ms. Barker. The four have been onstage at Glastonbury, End of The Road Festival and The Cambridge Folk Festival. Those of you in the UK will possibly recognize this song from Wallander a BBC 1 series that stars Kenneth Branagh, featuring a version of this song. This single will be released in February and for now you can pick up this lovely cover of Neil Young’s “Look Out For My Love” right here on this little blog. Look for the album soon! Details to follow, of course, m’dears, xoxo
Look Out For My Love mp3 Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo
Emily will be on Tour this spring with her band:
Jo Silverston – cello and backing vocals
Gill Sandell – accordion, flute and harmonies
Anna Jenkins – violin and backing vocals
Emily Barker – main vocals and guitar
Tour Dates
Jan 21 2010 8:00P The Donkey- The Red Clay Halo Leicester
Feb 7 2010 8:00P Perth International Arts Festival (Becks Music Box)- Solo support for Sharon Shannon Perth
Feb 14 2010 8:00P Swan Basement Hotel- The Red Clay Halo North Fremantle, Perth
Feb 20 2010 1:30P Bridgetown Repertory Theatre Matinee- The Red Clay Halo Bridgetown
Feb 20 2010 7:30P Bridgetown Repertory Theatre Evening Show- The Red Clay Halo Bridgetown
Feb 21 2010 8:00P Mount Lawley Bowls Club- The Red Clay Halo Perth
Feb 25 2010 8:00P Perth International Arts Festival (Becks Music Box)- The Red Clay Halo supporting Dan Sultan Perth
Feb 27 2010 8:45P Nannup Folk Festival @ Nannup Ampitheatre- The Red Clay Halo Nannup
Feb 28 2010 11:30A Nannup Folk Festival @ Town Hall- The Red Clay Halo Nannup
Feb 28 2010 3:00P Redcliffe On The Murray- The Red Clay Halo Pinjarra
Jul 16 2010 4:00P Larmer Tree Festival @ Larmer Tree Gardens- Duo with Gill Larmer Tree Gardens
Win a $550 social media integrated website from Kilted Chaos just for being a musician, band or DJ – there must be some catch right?
Nope, Kilted Chaos is a small web agency started last year by two guys – Andrew a musician and Alex a music nut – who have developed expertise in WordPress sites and online marketing. They reckon that by offering a free website to the music community it’ll get their name out there and in doing so some lucky Band, DJ or solo act will get their internet presence sorted in one shot.
Is this just another Lame Competition?
We’re not going to propagate some bland marketing crap from a bunch of social media douches so let’s have a look at what you actually get? Aside from the actual WordPress website and 1 years hosting, (and yes they’ll even buy you the domain name if you need it) they will also create a visual identity that will work across your website, Twitter and Facebook – this alone is pretty cool. They’ll hook everything up so that your website talks to Facebook and Twitter and show you how to write a good looking post that is nice and sticky for the search engines. Throw in simple audio and newsletter management and ongoing support for a year, considering that it’s free it sounds like a pretty good deal – you can check out more here.
How do you win?
They have a competition tweet that they’re looking to send viral round the music community it is:
To enter the competition you need to follow @kiltedchaos, retweet the above tweet and finally add one more tweet (with the #FREECHAOS tag) telling them why you think you should win.
Finally
Alex and Andrew are also offering 20% off any of Kilted Chaos’ services to musicians, Bands and DJs who enter the competition for the next year. Obviously we wouldn’t have posted this if we didn’t think it was worth it – so go for it and good luck.
Backyard mp3 The Parade Schedule, Seeds To Be Planted, Trees To Be Cut ….. buy it!
The Parade Schedule... hmmm what to make of a name like that? Take one listen, as I did, and you know exactly what to make of this. It’s mellow and melancholy and sad and lovely. I want it. You’ll want it. The Parade Schedule is Matt Kinder and he’s got a slight country twang with a big chunk of acoustic folk. You can stream his album Seeds To Be Planted, Trees To Be Cut on The Record Machine Blog and buy it for only $2 this month. That’s 14 songs for only two bucks. Come on, darlings! You can do this. It’s beautiful, dare I say achingly sad and deserving your attention? Spread the word, get this artist known, xoxo
Tour Dates
Jan 29 2010 8:00P Czar Bar with Grizzly Hands Kansas City, Missouri
Jan 30 2010 8:00P The Firebird with Owen Pye and the Sunday School Band (CD Release) St. Louis, Missouri
Jan 31 2010 8:00P TBA Cincinnati, Ohio
[audio:http://www.loveshackbaby.net/wp-content/uploads/music/audio/ClemSnide_Walmartparkinglot.mp3](that button is tricksy, scroll your mouse over it, you have to hit it just right)
“Walmart Parking Lot”
Well, my lovelies! I have a very special treat for you today! I fell completely head over heels for Clem Snide last year when they came to town. I found their music over on Matthew’s blog and thought to myself, well…. I owe it to my Scottish friends to check this out. I’m so glad I did.Hungry Bird, as you can see from my Most Listened to List of 2009, became a favorite, immediately. Eef Barzelay is one of the most entertaining performers, and at the same time writes such poignant songs. One moment he’s making you laugh, the next moment you’ve got a lump in your throat as you see just exactly what he’s joking about. There’s a razor-sharp edge to his humor but his love songs ring so true! That voice is completely distinctive; he’s able to twist it up in irony and also wrap it softly around tender words. You just feel for this guy when he sings. Hungry Bird had such a long and twisted journey to it’s final release, taking literally years to finish after being left it and picked it up again, while Eef pursued solo work. Fans welcomed it with open arms and critics praised it, deservedly. With Brendan Fitzpatrick on bass and Ben Martin on drums, Clem Snide the band, had re-formed and been reformed.
So, with a sigh of relief, we’ve been hearing of a new album after only a year this time. The band’s creativity seemed unstoppable when I last saw them. I’ve been anticipating this new album for months as my friend DC, of the Waiting Room, has been teasing me with naughty whispers of it. Two days ago the title was announced to be The Meat of Life and just last night I was given this track for you to listen to by the kind folks over at 429 Records. I was thrilled to find that it is indeed that song Clem Snide debuted, right here in Chicago, last March at Schuba’s. The working title back then was simply “Walmart,” but now it’s filled out and completed, it’s “Walmart Parking Lot.” And just as I described back then, it’s “punchy and a little spiteful and a little sad, as I remember, and very, very, very good!!” Don’t worry, I’ll be telling soon enough what the rest of the album sounds like, xoxo
Songs on The Meat of Life:
1. Walmart Parking Lot
2. Denise
3. The Meat of Life
4. I Got High
5. Denver
6. Forgive Me Love
7. Stoney
8. BFF
9. Please
10. Song For Mary
11. With Nothing Much to Show of It
12. Anita
(just click on that title to purchase)
, as you can see from my Most Listened to 
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