Ra Ra Riot – The Orchard
So, it’s been awhile. Things have been hectic in these parts of A&SB land, mainly because “the man” has been breathing down our neck… and being a small business owner I guess I am “the man” I speak of and I also guess that my neck is broken in order for my head to be positioned in a way for my mouth to reach around to the back of my head. In other words… whoops!
This doesn’t mean we haven’t been feverishly listening to music, going to shows and eagerly on the hunt for something new, something great. Great records are a necessity when working long hours, they help pass the time quickly and let you jump on and off the unbalanced boat of being relaxed and stressed. The Orchard by Ra Ra Riot is one of those records I’ve found that gives me that serenity during the work day and I hope it does the same for you. I will admit that there is no song on it that even compares to the lead-off track on their last record, “Ghost Under Rocks”, but as a unit from beginning to end, this album surpasses the last one as a cohesive piece of art rather than some good tracks here and there.
Without being too long winded, check out their video for “Boy” after the jump and don’t forget to pick up the album.
Original Guided By Voices lineup reunites for greatest show of all time
Matador Records is turning 21 and to celebrate they’re throwing the greatest goddamn party of all time. From October 1st – October 3rd in Las Vegas, NV they will be gathering their classic lineup from ’93 – ’96, including Guided By Voices featuring their original lineup (Tobin Sprout?!). Other artists include Lineup includes Pavement, Sonic Youth, Come, Belle & Sebastion, Spoon, Cat Power, Chavez, Yo La Tengo, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion & many more.This is good news.
Tickets go on sale Friday, July 9th on Ticketfly.com so get ready to sit in front of your computer and hit the refresh button until they’re available because this will sell out rapidly.
I will leave you with “The Official Ironmen Rally Song”:
New London Fire – I Ran To Hide (live)
New London Fire just finished recording their new record, Happiness Through Radios and Wires, in Woodstock, NY with producer D. James Goodwin. Check out the video below of an impromptu live performance in the studio of the track “I Ran To Hide”.
Stars Doesn’t Want Your Body
I have a soft spot for Stars, even for this new track which blatantly goes out of its way to explore a whole new world of fans throughout commercial radio. It’s catchy… very catchy and there is nothing wrong with that. My 17 year old, angst-ridden self would be mad at my 28 year old self for saying that… but that little prick had a big mouth and I’m trying to forget him anyway.
“I Don’t Want Your Body” and “Fixer” are from their fifth LP release, The Five Ghosts, which hit stores on June 21st via Vagrant Records in the US. Check out the video for their first single, “Fixer”, after the jump.
Ceremony – Rohnert Park [Review]
The first time I put on Ceremony’s new record, Rohnert Park, I knew I’d heard it somewhere before. The promotional material told me I was supposed to be reminded of protopunk and 80s hardcore. RIYL Fucked Up, Black Flag, and the Stooges. Maybe. But that didn’t sound quite right.
Then it clicked. On Rohnert Park, Ceremony reminds me of Flipper, the San Francisco punk band that didn’t tune, played terribly and slowly, and featured irritatingly repetitive vocals. Flipper hopped on hardcore bills just to mess with the scene’s expectations. And they were awesome for it. Ceremony takes a similar approach, and this record is already dividing hardcore kids.
Rohnert Park begins with “Into the Wayside Part I” (of III) and leads directly into the first true song of the record, “Sick.” On “Sick,” vocalist Ross Farrar lists a whole bunch of stuff he’s sick of, including 20 year old bands like Cro-Mags and Black Flag (presumably because they rhyme), politics domestic and international (realism?), and even–you guessed it–sick of being sick.
“M.C.D.F.” swings awkwardly, and “Moving Principle” rails against the modern world (hate that thing). The next track, “The Doldrums (Friendly City),” is a slogging three minutes of piercing single note melodies and jangling guitars, torpedoing the momentum of the first few tracks. Later in the record, Ceremony offers the No Trend -esque “Into the Wayside II,” which forgoes lyrics in favor of a story about saving some old guy (I think), and includes an ill-advised guitar solo.
The album continues with four indistinguishable minute-and-change songs, and then, inexplicably, it gets great.
Stream Rubik’s Data Bandits EP
Stream the new EP, Data Bandits, by Rubik below. If you like what you hear, head over to their website and download a copy for yourself for free!
Are We Still Supposed to Like Michael Scott?
Michael Scott, like the majority of Steve Carell’s characters, has mostly played the role of the lovable loser on The Office, which wraps up its sixth season tonight on NBC. Michael would do or say something either without thought or with an innocent ignorance, but the audience would always find something redeemable in the character, sigh and then forgive him. Essentially he was treated as if he was a child. You would find your hallway wall covered in crayon, but you’d later discover he was only trying to write you a birthday card.
In this sixth season, however, we’re finding it harder and harder to look past Michael’s flawed actions. It’s been a long season (it started all the way back in September if you recall), so let’s do a little recapping. Early on in the season and shortly after Jim & Pam’s wedding we find out that Michael didn’t just hookup with Pam’s mother on their wedding night, but is currently dating her. It’s unfair to look at the storyline of a sitcom through the eyes of reality, but even in the TV world this was overstepping an established boundary. As if Michael’s actions weren’t already atrocious enough, two episodes later the writers have the new couple briefly win over Pam’s approval only to have it all come tumbling down within minutes as we suffer through Michael painfully breaking up with Pam’s mom during her own birthday lunch.
For whatever reason, most of us forgave him and we went on watching. Only a few episodes later and the writers tested the audience again. This is of course the Scott’s Tots episode. Ten years prior, Michael made a promise to a class of underprivileged kids that if they graduated high school he would pay their way through college. He originally made this promise on the basis that he would be a millionaire by then. By now we all know Michael is pretty much broke. In the season 3 episode The Negotiation we find out that he’s barely making more than Daryl in the warehouse. Not to mention sinking who knows how much money into both Jan in season 4 and then his own paper company in the season 5.
Needless to say after much thanks from the students as their graduation day comes near, Michael has to break the news that all he can provide for them are laptop batteries. We’re just about halfway through the season and I really don’t know how we can like this character any longer. Yes, Michael does try to make good by telling one kid that he’ll pay for his books every year and the characters he screws over were never developed in a way where we had a true emotional tie to, but come on. He was the driving force of these kids’ lives for 10 years! As much as we can blame his stupidity on such a blunder, this one comes at a cost that cannot be reversed like so many of his previous missteps.
Finally we reach last week’s episode, the second to last of the season. Also know as the death of Michael Scott as a human being, or The Chump if we’re going to go by episode names. After Michael previously found out that Donna wasn’t cheating on him, but she was in fact cheating on her husband with Michael, they continue their relationship. This in itself is actually not the worst thing he has done. I was almost okay with it within the context of the show. Maybe Michael would learn some great lesson at the end of it. But that was not to be. The writers had to make the whole situation that much more appalling, putting Michael Scott in a hole I don’t think he can redeem himself out of. He gets called out by his office and only rebuts that Stanley and Phyllis had their own stint with infidelity themselves. And even slams Andy for being oblivious to Angela, his fiancée at the time, and Dwight’s relationship from the previous season. The last straw is when Michael returns from being forced to interact with Donna’s husband and shows even less remorse, eventually referring to himself as a James Bond type of guy. His return below.
Lapko – A New Bohemia
Head over to iTunes and pick up A New Bohemia, the new release by our friends in LAPKO. The album was produced by the all-powerful D. James Goodwin, was originally released by the all-awesome Fullsteam Records in Finland and is an intense listen from beginning to end. Stand-out tracks are “Grab The Stick”, “Please Need Me” and “I Shot The Sheriff”. Also, check out the video for “I Shot The Sheriff” after the jump.
Do yourself a favor and download the new Astronautalis mixtape. Ok?
It’s no secret that we love us some Astronautalis. We wear it on our sleeve. Now he’s gone ahead and crafted himself a free mixtape (with help from DJ Fishr Pryce) that anyone and their pop can download, only providing us with more ammo to help spread the gospel.
The album is available as “pay what you want”, but we suggest you “pay what you have” to help support Andy in his efforts to eat well/survive on his upcoming tour with Tegan & Sara in Australia this May. Pomegranate was one of the finest albums to come out in 2008 and this is a strong return to the hip-hop roots that drove Astronautalis to become the artist that we hear today.
Read the introduction, download the mixtape and become a new fan here.
Field Mouse – You Are Here [Review]
Sometimes a voice makes a record.
You Are Here, the debut album from (south) Brooklyn-based Field Mouse, is just that sort of record. A lush blend of shoegaze and 90s indie rock, You Are Here is steeped in hazy harmonies, delayed guitars, and emotive strings. But the crowning achievement of the record is the voice of Rachel Browne, whose soft, pristine vocals provide a consistently impressive narration through a stylistically diverse set of songs.
“Good at Me” opens the record, and features tight drumming and memorable (read: this will get stuck in your head) guitar riffs that recall mid-era Built to Spill. Tracks like “Anomie” and “Touché” show off the band’s shoegaze acumen, and include a few of my favorite moments on the album. And on “Tracing the Map,” the band picks up the pace with a cross-country adventure, where “time taps out slowly” as the song rockets forward.
Of all the songs on You Are Here, two stand out in particular. “Dirt vs. Grass” is a perfect summertime song. A simple, swinging jam including infectious handclaps and harmonies, the track is a welcome return to the best of carefree, 90s radio. The other highlight of the record is found in “End to End,” a heart-slaying, broken-down lullaby. The Disarm-esque chorus and the syncopated vocal line get me every time, and it has quickly become my favorite song on the record.
While the album is a fantastic listen, it is not without imperfections. Tracks, including the opener, could have been better served with a warmer bass, which is at times a bit too treble-y. “Tracing the Map” lacks a heavy guitar to match the locomotive drums and strong vocal delivery. And while the production is generally immaculate, sometimes I found myself longing for a more organic tone, without the effected guitars and vocals that make up a large part of the record.
However, these minor deviations do little to take away from the album’s overall strength. You Are Here is an excellent debut and a welcome addition to this summer’s soundtrack. Now let’s go outside.
