Stars’ new EP, Sad Robots, is one of my favorite releases of this year. In my opinion their 2007 release, In Our Bedroom After the War, didn’t live up to their 2005 release, Set Yourself on Fire, but after spending 10 days recording this EP, I’m happy to see Stars is back, and at the top of their game.

“14 Forever” and “A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife” have been getting the most spins from me, but I’m not lying when I say all six tracks on this EP are great.

Amy Milan, the female vocalist for the Montreal band, is one of today’s really exciting musicians to follow. Besides Stars, she is an active member of Broken Social Scene, and has recently produced and toured on solo material as well. In a great interview with Kansas City’s, The Pitch, Milan says “You know, I like to think of Stars as my wife and the others as my girlfriend or goomah. You know, you love your girlfriend, your mistress, but when it comes down to it, you come back to your wife,”

The interview also discusses how Stars decided to part ways with their label, Arts & Crafts, and released this EP independently. Milan said, “You know, it was really extraordinary to be able to very quickly release this album so soon after we’d produced it, to just put up a splash page with the download and watch excitement spread through word-of-mouth through the blogosphere.” They are currently selling the EP for $4, and are considering starting their own label.

Stars is currently on tour, check their Myspace for dates.

Sad Robots EP (2008):

Stars – 14 Forever

Stars – A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife

(remember that you can buy this EP for only $4, and it’s all going into the artists pocket. yay!)

In Our Bedroom After the War (2007):

Stars – Personal

Set Yourself On Fire (2005):

Stars – Your Ex-Lover is Dead

Stars – One More Night

Heart (2003):

Stars – Look Up

Sad Robot site |Arts & Crafts (Stars’ site) | Myspace

I went to church last night, and baby, I’m a new man.

No, but really. I saw Pikelet, Lucky Dragons and Mount Eerie in a church. In Australia. Did I mention they played in a church? Like, the holy kind? Well, I’m not much of a church goer myself, but this was damn near the closest I’ve come, and might ever come, to experiencing god. (Blasphemy?)

Pikelet opened, accompanied by a friend playing bass, clarinet, and anything else Evelyn (Pikelet’s secret identity!) could not manage with her hands and feet. (And I say hands and feet because, while playing whatever instrument she has on her lap, she is often twisting knobs and manipulating her delay pedals with her feet). There was something vaguely transcendent about her last performance (as previously mentioned), a sound hovering at the periphery hinting toward the divine. At a church, with her voice echoing from the vaulted ceilings, bathed more in an arrangement of shadows than any one light, Pikelet proved angelic, ascending over legions of synthesized harpsichords, floating above a tumultuous sea of her own creation. Check my previous post on her here.

Lucky Dragons (of LA) set up in the middle of the crowd with an odd assortment of objects, proving that most anything can be an instrument. Their show is magic, and relied on complete audience immersion. To describe what happen would take pages. And an understanding of mystical arts that, from what I can tell, transcend human thought. Their instruments used people as conductors, the magnetic attraction of human touch to create sound. They built more of an aesthetic than a specific sound, letting the random bleeps from the audience fill the canvas offered by their back beats. Sound trippy? It was. As it ended, as we put down the various cables and rocks that were handed us, we began to look around, bewildered. (And I use “we” freely, because, at this point, there may have been a collective consciousness). No clapping. No noise. Was it over? Had it passed? Was I still the same person? The only answer was their closing “song,” a freaked out electric groove to which we danced and flailed and screamed. It ended. We sat down. “Thank you,” they said. “We’re MGMT.” Laughs. For some pictures, check here for a website run by a very nice Aussie named Ro, who was also at the show.

Bashful and visibly humbled by the rapt attention of a church-full of cross-legged attendees, Phil Elverum took his seat under lighting that seeped from the walls, borrowing Pikelet’s guitar and addressing the audience in a timid voice bordering a whisper: “Hi, my name is Phil. Mount Eerie is my music-band project…ok, I’ll play a song.” Later, as he rambles through his stream of consciousness banter, we find that he is jet-lagged and nearly delirious with fatigue. The perfect time to catch an artist, no inhibitions.

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When Armchair Apocrypha came out, I had a hard time listening to anything else. In fact, I felt a similar way when I first heard Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs. There’s something very infectious about his music; there are pop sensibilities without compromising any lyrical depth. The wait for this new album Noble Beast will be a long one (it’s released 1/27/09), and after hearing this track, you’ll only want to hear more.

MP3: Andrew Bird – Oh No

Bonus MP3s

MP3: Andrew Bird – Fake Palindromes (Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs)

MP3: Andrew Bird – Heretics (Armchair Apocrypha)

I only post this because I feel this song has slipped under most people’s radars. (So, sorry if this post seems slightly irrelevant. I just re-discovered it and got really excited.) From his first album, A Sun Came!, this is one of the zanier things Sufjan’s ever released. It sounds like something you’d record stoned at four in the morning on a whim. Which was probably the case, evidenced by the off-key vocals and the warm crackle of a four-track. I especially recommend this for any doubter’s of Sufjan’s songwriting prowess. If there is a song to turn you, it’s Super Sexy Woman. And with lyrics like “She is super duper smart/I like her for her mind/She’ll shoot a super fart/The deadly silent kind,” what’s not to love?

And for whatever reason, no one ever talks about A Sun Came!, which is just as good, if not better, than his more celebrated releases. So check it out. I know Sufjan has been blogged to death, but most of it is deserving.

And just for some context (and in the event that you’ve been living under a rock, which is somehow underneath another, larger rock), I’ve included Chicago, one of his hits from Illinoise!.

Sufjan Stevens – Super Sexy Woman

Sufjan Stevens – Chicago

Oh, and this video is hysterical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv5AELClUNs

|Myspace|Amazon|Website|

The past few weeks I’ve been listening to co-founding member of Rilo Kiley, Pierre de Reeder’s, solo album, The Way That It Was. It’s got some really solid songs on it, and if you are looking for new easy listening summer/fall music, it’s definitely worth your time to check out.

“Not How I Believe,” is by far my favorite song on the album. I’ve got a soft spot for choirs in songs like this, and it’s the exact same reason I love the Rilo Kiley song “With Arms Outstretched” so much. “Not How I Believe” also has a flute–it’s awesome!

It’s clear that The Way That It Was is a very personal album for de Reeder, and it ranges from songs about growing up, to a song for his daughter, “Sophia’s song,” which brought to mind Ben Folds’ song “Gracie.”

I’m a really big fan of solo albums like this, not only because of the music, but what it represents. Pierre de Reeder is very talented, and does a great job performing his role in Rilo Kiley. However, it’s impossible for a collaboration to be as personal as a solo album. Pierre decided to release an album because he has something to say that’s meaningful to him, and though the lyrics can be a bit soft at times and some of the songs fall a little flat, there is no questioning that it is extremely honest.

Pierre de Reeder lives in Los Angeles and is the bassist for Rilo Kiley. He’s been working on and off on The Way That It Was for the past five years, and plays most of the instruments, although Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett and Jason Boese did offer a hand.

The Way That It Was (2008):

Pierre de Reeder – Not How I Believe

Pierre de Reeder- I’ll Be Around

Bonus:

Rilo Kiley – With Arms Outstretched

Read de Reeder’s essay on why Obama should be President.

Site | Amazon | iTunes | Myspace

Being in a band is not the easiest thing in the world, especially when you’re young. It can seem stupid and foolish to pursue something with such vigor and intensity knowing well and good that you could fail at any moment. Regardless, one must accept that their innate connection to the art will keep them satisfied and must remember where it comes from. With years of practice, you can finally come out of your cave and share your work with the world–and hope that that child-like energy isn’t gone. But how can you be certain? Thus a band is born in tension, irony, anxiousness and excitement.

Today I listened to an album by New York’s Ravens & Chimes. A group of wonderful musicians who fight against the all-too-common outcome of a band losing track of what’s really important. These are people truly singing of what they know and are well aware of what they tend to project. I’m a sucker for layering, and these guys layer themselves musically as well as poetically. The results could not be a finer debut album–one full of peaks and valleys but is all tied together by a sense of proud urgency. I haven’t taken a lot of time to get into the album, Reichenbach Falls, but I will tell you, after my first listen I’ve had numerous hooks and imagery stuck in my head.

It’s a grunge at times–at others it’s a folk explosion. In an attempt to disassociate with the tendency to simply describe an artist in terms of others, I suggest you take these beautiful pop songs as they are. If you are interested in these emotion behind these tracks, you will love their album. Buy it. Now.

Today’s SotD were two chosen at random. Almost every song on this album has some truly fine quality and to decide on a definitive description would be unfortunate for the creative and talented members of this band. Please, let me know what you think. It’s been a little while since I had the time to listen to music, so I’m excited to get back to it.

MP3: Ravens and Chimes – “Far Away Sound of Cars”

MP3: Ravens and Chimes – “Saint Jude in the Village Voice”

MP3: Ravens and Chimes – “…and I Came Upon It in the Clearing”

Home | MySpace | Hype Machine | Better Looking Records

Support this band: Amazon | iTunes | InSound | Better Looking Records

Check out this beautiful intimate performance on Brightest Young Things: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQACN9TMTRE Awesome.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been listening on and off to Roommate’s 2008 release, We Were Enchanted. The album is a little on the darker side, and reminds me somewhat of John Vanderslice’s albums, such as Time Travel is Lonely and Emerald City. Both artists give off a paranoid feeling at times, but Roommate is even more eerie.

Truthfully, I’m a bigger fan of their lighter toned songs like “Day After” (half way through) and “Night (Rhombus Cover).” Some of the songs that are more rigid are less appealing to me, similar to how I feel about some of Vanderslice’s work, but overall I would still recommend you check out the album.

Kent Lambert originally started Roommate as a solo-project in 2000, and after moving from Iowa City to New York, recorded an EP, Celebs. Soon after 9/11 he relocated to Chicago, and has been there ever since. In 2004, Lambert formed a live band with a variety of members–you can see the list on their Myspace. Members of the live band change based on availability, playing instruments such as musical saw, banjo, violin, theremin, Buchla Music Box, and bassoon, as well as hand percussion and traditional rock instruments.

For more on the band and recording check out Chicago Reader.

We Were Enchanted (2008):

Roommate – Night (Rhombus Cover) – This doesn’t represent rest of band’s music.
Roommate – Day After (wait through intro)

Songs The Animals Taught Us (2005; re-released 2006):

Roommate – Tuesday

Site | Amazon | iTunes | Myspace

Bonus:

Emerald City (2007):

John Vanderslice – Kookaburra

This is a mix of great songs from bands in Boston that, despite my best efforts, won’t get unstuck from my head. And there’s a reason they’re stuck there. That being that they’re great. And when I feel that void creeping in, the one I get after scrolling through all 7,000 songs on my iPod and not finding a single thing to listen to, that I click a random link from one of these bands myspace pages, and hopefully find something new to latch on to. So hopefully, one (or more!) of these tracks will become your new obsession. So folks, here you go, a brief introduction to Allston Rock City. (Some of these albums might be a bit tough to get, so if any of it strikes your fancy, shoot me an e-mail (PeterNC9@gmail.com) and I’ll steer you in the right direction.)

Tulsa – Mass – Clouds of distortion, jagged classic-rock guitar solos, and Carter Tanton’s reverb drenched voice, floating through the song in his best Jim James. This is one of those songs that makes you want to storm a castle with an army at your back. In slow motion. Up hill.
If you dig My Morning Jacket, you’ll love Tulsa. Grab I was Submerged, and look for their newest LP sometime this fall.

The Toothaches – It’s All Gunna Be OK – And after you stormed your castle, settle down with the Toothaches. From their first LP, A Month of Sundays, this is one of the happiest songs I know. And as I sit here, hung-over on a Sunday, it’s all I need. Also pictured above. They’re adorable. Oh god, don’t tell them I said that. They’ll hurt me.

Hooray For Earth – Warm Out – HFE are kind of like if the dude from Islands fronted Nine Inch Nails. Or if Beck decided to redo Odelay as a grunge epic. I’ve used this line in a past review, but if the birth of a star were to have a soundtrack, the Cellphone EP (and Warm Out) might be appropriate. Also one of my favorite songs in recent memory.

Helms – It Takes Skin to Win – If Slint formed a super group with Explosions in the Sky, and wrote more hook-oriented songs, it’d almost be as good as Helms. I’ve had this song stuck in the back of my head for three years. And their live shows are unlike anything else in town. Their album McCarthy is a good place to start.

King Tuff – Lady – King Tuff isn’t from Boston, so this is kind of cheating. But he writes brilliant 60s power pop. Super lo-fi, completely self-recorded, he sounds like a more cohesive Television. I was introduced to King Tuff at a show my band played last summer in Vermont. Toward the end of our set, he strode in, looking like a grizzlier Neil Young, walked on stage, picked up a guitar, and just started shredding. He didn’t say anything, it was unreal.

Ketman – Oubliette – When I first saw Ketman, I thought I’d walked in on a Meat Puppets show. They were recently voted best new band in Boston by a reputable weekly mag, and are definitely the best power-trio in town. I did an interview in Performer Magazine with them this month. Their new album, El Torro, is like a hard slap in the face. In a good way.

Twink – What The Dickens – Twink‘s one-sheet describes his music as “chaotic toytronica.” A Very Fine Adventure sounds like one of Jon Brion’s freaked out instrumentals, or b-sides to the I Heart Huckabees soundtrack. Slightly atonal toy piano floats through elaborate arrangements of other toy instruments, synthesizers and a whole bevy of phasing, pulsing instruments I can’t name. It’s a trip, freak out. But make sure a pillow or a friend is handy, you’ll eventually want to cuddle.

Get into it. And please, don’t be shy, contact these people, find where they’re playing, enjoy their tunes, and support local music!

A few weeks ago, my band had the fortune of sharing the stage with Dayton, OH indie-rockers Captain of Industry, who came at us by way of our friends in Pretty & Nice (who are about to drop ’08’s indie-pop bomb in October, more to come on that as the date approaches). Without ever having heard Captain prior to playing with them, I was instantly engaged in their live show – singer Nathan Peters calmly hid behind a battered Fender Rhodes piano, acting as the eye of an indie rock storm while his four band mates writhed around him, all dueling guitars a la Television and popping, instantly accessible, just short of recognizable hooks. But it wasn’t until I sat down with their album, The Bronze, that it really hit.

Their songs are short and sweet, just long enough to establish hooks but short enough to leave a distinct longing for something more. Each song has a story to tell, a message to convey, something instantly relatable reminiscent of early Pavement’s sincerity (like my favorite lyric from “Range Life,” – You gotta pay your dues, before you pay your rent). They’re just as likely to create shimmery neo-folk as they are frantic, deranged rock and roll. The album still knocks me over in it’s uniqueness, and that’s why I’ve included two tracks for download today. But dear god, buy this album, support this band.

Choosing which songs to upload was tough. Every other minute I’d decided on a different song, but here are the two I finally settled with:

“Face Full of Head Full of Hair” is on their neo-folk-shimmery-guitar-line side, as mentioned above. Great lyrics, dynamic structure, intriguing from start to finish. Peters uses a very peculiar inflection on his lyrics toward the end, some of the more engaging lyrics too.

“Sweet Nectar Action” is a minute and a half of furious, indie-rock bliss. Beginning with frantic hard-rock guitars, the song seamlessly transitions into a dance-rock anthem, with Peters’s double-tracked, harmonized falseto leading a tight groove that quickly crescendos and fades. Boom.

And one of the more precious lyrics from the album:

“Let’s be friends and hold f’ing hands, burn me up we’ll tumble to the sun” – Blood, Sweat, Sex

from The Bronze:

Face Full of Head Full of Hair – Captain of Industry

Sweet Nectar Action – Captain of Industry

| MySpace | eMusic | Rhapsody |

Sub Pop, my most beloved record label, is celebrating their 20th Anniversary this year. Co-founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman started a radio show in 1979, which turned into a fanzine, later to become the official Sub Pop Records we’ve all come to love. It’s hard to say exactly when Sub Pop “started” because in a decade it morphed from strictly a passion to a business.

Sup Pop is partially responsible for surfacing the 90’s grunge scene in Seattle, releasing albums by Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney. The label is now shaping the sound of indie music, signing bands such as The Postal Service, The Shins, Iron & Wine, and a slew of other amazing acts.

Jon Poneman is still running Sub Pop, although Pavitt resigned in 1996 to raise a family and experience life’s other offerings. NPR recently interviewed Poneman, at which time he gave an update on what’s going on at the label and listed his five favorite Sub Pop released songs.

If you are looking for a fascinating story, read more about Sub Pop. Not only are they the most revolutionary independent label of the last decades, but have had a truly inspiring battle to get there. They saw a lot of rough times, and weren’t always able to treat artists as well as they would have liked. Pavitt says in an interview with Pitchfork, “We opened the doors to our very, very tiny office on April 1, 1988, and by May 1, 1988– 30 days later– we thought we were going out of business.” The dark years at Sub Pop got so bad that they had to beg the phone company to give them 10 more days of service. Then in 1995, verging bankruptcy after the label spent a lot more money then they could afford, Sub Pop was forced to sell 49% of the company to Warner Bros.

Thanks Sub Pop for all that you’ve done!

Jonathan Poneman’s 5 Favorite Sub Pop Records Songs:

Iron & Wine – Lion’s Mane

Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal

Pernice Brothers- Monkey Suit

Zumpano – Here’s the Plan

The Vaselines – Dying For It

Sub Pop website | NPR radio interview with Poneman | Pitchfork interview with Pavitt and Poneman