I haven’t written anything about The Basement Band yet, but I have a feeling that’s going to change over the next few months. As a genre I don’t have a great deal of faith left in alt-country music, but this NY-based, harmony-drenched sextet proves there are bands still doing that sound with passion and expertise. The Basement Band are preparing the release of their brand new, self-released record Until The Evening Came - due out June 28. Until then you can hear 3 new songs over at their myspace, or check out these tracks from a free internet EP called Meeting House released some time back.
MP3 :: Another Reason To Be Down
MP3 :: Kick Me (bluegrass)
-----------------------------------------
CD Release Show: Piano’s, June 28, NYC
-----------------------------------------
And check out other Talkin’ New York features on local NY acts over there --->
-----------------------------------------
Talkin' New York, Vol. 12 - The Basement Band
[video] - Bon Iver plays Later...With Jools Holland
If there’s a better voice out there today I’d sure love to hear it. From Later… with Jools Holland.
MP3 :: Skinny Love
(from For Emma, Forever Ago. Buy here)
----------------------------------------------------------
Justin Vernon and band play NY again in late July:
July 29 @ Bowery Ballroom w/ Bowerbirds
July 30 @ Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Bowerbirds
More dates and music here
-----------------------------------------------------------
Unsatisfied
I’ve already mentioned the new Rhino re-issues of the 4 Twin Tone albums The Replacements made in the early-80’s. I know this. But I was listening today to Let It Be and realized that there are several noteworthy absences from the new CD that for all intents and purposes have no business not being included among the bonus material. [UPDATE :: check the comments, apparently there is good reason for them not to be included!]
Of the 6 bonus songs included, 2 are alternate versions of Let It Be songs, 3 are covers (I‘d never heard “Heartbeat - It’s A Lovebeat” - and it was a welcome surprise), and there is but one previously unreleased original - “Perfectly Lethal”, which has been cleaned up nicely from the bootleg versions I'd previously heard. In hindsight these 6 songs seems to be on the slight side, especially considering the wealth of bootlegged material that has been circulating for years among fans, not to mention that the CD could hold at least 20 more minutes of music.
Noticeably absent are the Paul Westerberg originals “Who’s Gonna Take Us Alive?” and “Street Girl” - both of which would certainly be of interest to any Mats fan who has never tracked them down before. Hopefully the rumored re-issues of the post-Let It Be Sire years, scheduled for later this year, will be able to be a bit more comprehensive.
MP3 :: Who’s Gonna Take Us Alive?
MP3 :: Street Girl #1
MP3 :: Street Girl #2
(Let It Be outtakes)
----------------------------------------------------
Related: Pitchfork has a new, in-depth interview with Paul Westerberg in which he discusses lots of interesting Replacements details.
----------------------------------------------------
Gold Soundz: "Nite Club"
Of the albums I love to play loud and shout along with, I can’t think of any I like better than Too Far To Care. The Old 97’s alt-country classic is stuffed full of songs that practically beg to make your throat sore. On it an impossibly charismatic Rhett Miller wrote a series of youthful anthems documenting heartbreak, drunkenness, and a handful of (very) short love affairs which together still stand as the finest set he’s penned. Musically, the band’s rousing shuffle beats and memorable riffs come on like a runaway train. Too Far To Care is the apex of their career, a perfect synthesis of the barreling speed-country of Wreck Your Life with the more traditionally pop-inspired songcraft of Fight Songs and Satellite Rides.
So, picking one song to feature is quite the daunting challenge. Opener “Timebomb” may be the sentimental favorite and somewhat obvious choice. “Barrier Reef”, “Salome”, “Melt Show”, and a handful of others are no different. But tonight I’m in the mood for “Nite Club” - a true barn-burner (in every sense) and perhaps an under appreciated gem from deep on the record’s back half. For all the wild nights and questionable decisions brimming out of Too Far To Care, it’s the struggling musician‘s frustration heard in “Nite Club” that might be the most volatile. "Well I just might get drunk tonight and burn the nite club down" comes off as the most fun sounding borderline-psychotic song lyric since "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die". And just like that classic line, you’ll find yourself feeling good about singing right along.
MP3 :: Nite Club
(from Too Far To Care. Buy here)
----------------------------------------------------
Gold Soundz columns highlight some of my favorite songs of all time. It‘s called “Gold Soundz” because I thought this blog would be cooler if I ripped off a title for a “column” from a not-at-all obscure Pavement song. Previously featured:
Slobberbone :: “Gimme Back My Dog”
The Jam :: “In The City”
World Party :: “Way Down Now”
Elmore James :: “The Sky Is Crying”
John Prine :: “Lake Marie”
The Band :: “Jawbone”
Neutral Milk Hotel :: “Holland, 1945”
The Velvet Underground :: “I Heard Her Call My Name”
Hank Williams :: “I Saw The Light”
-------------------------------------------------------
New Music - Hallelujah the Hills
Boston band Hallelujah the Hills released their debut last year, Collective Psychosis Begone, through Misra Records. Despite being a somewhat uneven collection, the album wound up housing one of my favorite songs of 2007 in the song that actually gets its name from the band. Or vice versa. “Hallelujah the Hills” has kept, er, Hallelujah the Hills both on my radar and on my playlists for almost a year now.
Last month the band released a new FREE EP through their website. The 7 tracks that make up Prepare To Qualify once again display the band’s penchant for very skewed pop songs with memorable melodies and creative arrangements. “Monster Eyes”, is a lo-fi folk waltz and an instant standout. The song itself is a collaboration with best-selling author Jonathon Lethem. The music was written by the band around lyrics from his latest novel, You Don’t Love Me Yet.
MP3 :: Monster Eyes
(from Prepare To Qualify EP. Download the rest here)
------------------------------------------------------------
Bonus MP3 :: Hallelujah the Hills
(from Collective Psychosis Begone. Buy here)
------------------------------------------------------------
[mp3] Wolf Parade - "Language City"
Along with that crazy ass cover art, another new song has leaked, er...I mean, graciously been given away by Wolf Parade (the outstanding side project of Sunset Rubdown, Handsome Furs, and Swan Lake). This track, from the upcoming At Mount Zoomer (June 17, Sub Pop), comes from the Dan Boeckner half of the singing tandem and follows the Spencer Krug led first single, “Call It A Ritual”. It was made available through their myspace.
“Language City” continues Boeckner’s impressive songwriting evolution, which has always been critically under-appreciated compared to the sporadic genius of his partner. The song’s thumping beat, deft guitar/synth interplay, and sharp lyrics (urban dismay, go figure!) place this among his finest compositions. I haven’t heard the whole thing yet (wink wink) but these first two tracks are indeed appetite wetting.
MP3 :: Language City
(from At Mount Zoomer. Info here)
--------------------------------------------------
[mp3] The Cotton Jones Basket Ride - "Midnight Monday And A Telescope"
I was a big fan of Page France’s 2007 album …And The Family Telephone when it was released last year, which led me to backtrack to their even better 2006 effort Hello, Dear Wind. Band leader Michael Nau has put them on a temporary (?) hiatus as he works at establishing his other project, The Cotton Jones Basket Ride. Looks as though their aforementioned debut album, Paranoid Cocoon, will be pushed back until later in the year, which leaves some time for an EP or 2. Quite Scientific will be releasing a limited run of EPs - the first being 500 copies of The Archery, released this week. That’s 500, so get a move on. Another as-yet-untitled EP will see release at a later date. Check out the first single from The Archery:
MP3 :: Midnight Monday And A Telescope
(from The Archery EP. Buy here)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Check out the band on tour:
Wed May 14 - Hamden, CT - The Space
Thurs May 15 Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
Fri May 16 - New York, NY - Pianos
Sun May 18 - Philadelphia, PA - The M Room
Mon May 19 - Arlington, VA - The Iota
Tues May 20 - Norfolk, VA - The Boot
Wed May 21 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
Thurs May 22 - Charlotte, NC - The Milestone
(full dates here)
-----------------------------------------------------------
[mp3] Okay - "My"
It seems that if your band is better than average you don’t name it Okay. I’m no band naming expert here. Just a guy and a keyboard and some time on his hands. But that should be a given, no? Maybe they mean it as an word of agreement. Do you want to listen to this awesome song I just heard? Okay. I don’t know. I don’t think I like it.
I sure do like this song though. Absolutely Kosher will release Huggable Dust on May 20, and I am now officially looking forward to hearing more from it. “My” is a sort of space-aged little folk song, not unlike some of those from Deserter’s Songs without the fancy David Fridmann orchestration. Singer/songwriter Marty Anderson has a disarming voice on first listen - part Mark Linkous, part night insect. Gradually though it overcomes those awkward first few seconds and reveals itself as full of hurt and honesty. It didn’t take long, but it’s my heart you got. Am I speaking too soon?
MP3 :: My
(from Huggable Dust. Buy here)
-------------------------------------------
[video] - My Morning Jacket play SNL
"Evil Urges"
"I‘m Amazed"
-------------------------------------
While I’m not yet convinced that Evil Urges, as a whole, is a particularly worthwhile addition to the MMJ catalog (I‘m sure there will be many who disagree, most likely the same people who championed Sky Blue Sky last year), I am quite comfortable saying that the title track is among the year’s best tracks (which I pointed out here and then again here). I’m not at all amazed by “I’m Amazed” - wished they would have done the E-Street-esque rave up “Aluminum Park” or the pulsing “Smokin’ From Shootin’”, but beggars can’t be choosers. At least they didn’t embarrass themselves with “Highly Suspicious”.
-------------------------------------
MP3 :: Evil Urges
(from the forthcoming Evil Urges. Info here)
-------------------------------------
Catching Up w/ New Music
I’m not a youtube junkie like so many people. Usually it’s my brother who passes on “must see” videos. I first saw this one last summer, and today I thought I’d throw it in an unrelated post for your viewing pleasure. Over 30,000,000 people with 9 free minutes to spare have watched “Battle For Kruger”, but if you are one of the ones who hasn’t yet, now is your chance. It’s long, but give it time. 30,000,000 people can’t be wrong.
Here’s an attempt to catch up and post a bunch of songs that have been waiting patiently in my inbox for me to get around to. I’m only one guy here at PHW so I can’t get to everything, but these songs are all worth checking out - and some are quite good. Maybe you’ll find a little gem that I should have given a proper write up….
MP3 :: Couch On Fire
(from Boo And Boo Too EP by Boo And Boo Too)
MP3 :: Odds And Ends
(from Colonies by Canon Blue)
MP3 :: Paper Float
(from Small Time Machine by Cassettes Won’t Listen)
MP3 :: Everybody Here Is A Cloud
(from Feel Good Ghosts by Cloud Cult)
MP3 :: Coming Down The Hill
(by El Perro del Mar)
MP3 :: Westward Bound
(from Lander’s Peak by The Fairline Parkway)
MP3 :: Dog Years
(from Ghetto Cross 7’’ by Ghetto Cross)
MP3 :: Out of School
(from Housewifelovers by HouseWifeLovers)
MP3 :: End Result
(from 12 Crass Songs by Jeffrey Lewis)
MP3 :: Cinco de Mayo
(from Entropy by King of Spain)
MP3 :: The Good Old Days
(from Life Is Sweet by The Lodger)
MP3 :: Come On Feet
(from Little Death by Pete And The Pirates)
MP3 :: Right
(from Shooting Spires by Shooting Spires)
MP3 :: Cacophony
(from O by Tilly & The Wall)
MP3 :: Highway Robbery
(from Unicycle Loves You by Unicycle Loves You)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
[mp3] Brendan Canning - "Hit the Wall"
Last year Kevin Drew released the wordily titled Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew - Spirit If… to solid reviews, even if most fans saw it for what it was. Which, truth be told, was basically the next Broken Social Scene album, minus lead vocals from the other guys, part timers, and side men (and woman). Spirit If was spirited, sloppy, sexual, and, like the prior BSS outings, overlong - in essence encapsulating everything that made Broken Social Scene special in the first place. It was also, arguably, a more marketable release. Despite featuring most of the usual BSS contributors, it put Drew’s boyish good looks and laid back regular-dude persona front and center, revealing a likable front man from out of this near-anonymous collective.
Following its success comes the second release of this new series. Occasional BSS lead vocalist Brendan Canning, a founding member of the group, will drop his solo debut, Something For All Of Us, on July 22. It comes via Arts & Crafts (home of Drew, Feist, and now Constantines, among others) as well. First single “Hit The Wall” is a dense, robotic rocker led by a driving rhythm and an repetitive electric guitar riff that, like the song, begins murky and gradually builds in intensity. In fact, if not for Canning’s buried, breathy vocals, the last 2 minutes of this song could almost be described as anthemic. Though not nearly as distinct as the best songs from Spirit If, “Hit The Wall” is competent indie-rock, even becoming quite memorable as it evolves towards its explosive ending.
MP3 :: Hit The Wall
(from Something For All Of Us. Info here)
---------------------------------------------------------
[mp3] The Black Keys - "I'm Glad"
Just in case, somehow, Attack & Release didn’t satisfy your craving for new music from The Black Keys, the boys just posted this free Captain Beefheart cover over at their myspace. After recording their latest effort in a real studio with a real producer for the first time, it seems the Keys must have been hankering to get back to the basement recording of their good old days, and the slow building blues of “I’m Glad” delivers all the cement wall grit of their first few records.
MP3 :: I’m Glad
---------------------------------------------------------
Related: Album Review: The Black Keys - “Attack & Release”
---------------------------------------------------------
MP3 :: Strange Times
MP3 :: Remember When (Side A)
(from Attack & Release. Buy here)
---------------------------------------------------------
