The Ash Gray Proclamation

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:08:00 +0000

Japandroids Perform on Fallon, Announce Tour

If you missed the opportunity to catch Japandroids back in July when they played Great Scott, you've been given a second chance. The Vancouver duo of Brian King and David Prowse will play The Middle East on March 31st with Sweden's Love is All supporting. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 AM at The Middle East Box office and through the usual convenience charge happy ticket outlet. Japandroids kick of their massive world tour on January 23rd in support of 2009's superb Post-Nothing (Polyvinyl). The tour will start in Denmark later this month and will include dates at this years SXSW music conference.

Japandriods 2010 Tour
1/23 - Hanover, DE - Cafe Glocksee
1/25 - Vienna, AT - Arena
1/26 - Krakow, PL - RE
1/27 - Warsaw, PL - Jadlodajnia
1/28 - Poznan, PL - Eskulap
1/30 - Moscow, RU - MSPRKT
2/2 - Aarhus, DK - Musikcafeen
2/3 - Copenhagen, DK - Loppen
2/4 - Lund, SE - Mejerlet
2/5 - Oslo, NO - Blaa
2/6 - Stockholm, SE - Debaser Slussen
2/8 - Cologne, DE - Luxor
2/9 - Hamburg, DE - Molotow
2/10 - Berlin, DE - Bang Bang Club
2/11 - Munich, DE - 59TO1
2/12 - Offenbach, DE - Hafen 2
2/13 - Munster, DE - Gleis 22
2/15 - Paris, FR - Le Point Ephemere
2/16 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso
2/17 - Nijmegen, NL - Merleyn
2/18 - Leuven, BE - Stuk
2/19 - Diksmuide, BE - 4AD
2/20 - Lille, FR - La Peniche
2/22 - Brighton, UK - The Freebutt
2/23 - London, UK - ICA
2/24 - Leeds, UK - Cockpit 3
2/25 - Manchester, UK - Deaf Institute
2/26 - Glasgow, UK - King Tuts
2/27 - Liverpool, UK - Korova
3/17-21 Austin, TX - SXSW
3/24 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larrys*
3/25 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree*
3/26 - Nashville, TN - The End*
3/27 - Charlotte, NC - Snug Harbor*
3/29 - Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel**
3/30 - Philadelphia, PA - The Barbary**
3/31 - Boston, MA - Middle East Downstairs**
4/1 - New York City, NY - Bowery Ballroom
4/2 - Montreal, QC - Il Motore**
4/3 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern**
4/5 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig^
4/6 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
4/7 - Champaign, IL - High Dive
4/8 - Indianapolis, IN - Radio Radio
4/9 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
4/10 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
4/12 - Columbia, MO - Mojo's
4/13 - Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck
4/15 - Las Vegas, NV - Beauty Bar
4/19 - Phoenix, AZ - Trunk Space
4/21 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
4/22 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
4/23 - San Francisco, CA - Independent
4/24 - Salem, OR - Willamette University
* w/ A Sunny Day In Glasgow
** w/ Love Is All
^ w/ Bear In Heaven

Japandriods performed Wet Hair on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night. Suffice to say, faces and TV's were melted.

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Closing Out The Decade:
Robert Pollard - From A Compound Eye (2006)

I wrested with the idea of coming up with a list for the AGP's favorite releases of the last 10 years. After some serious back and forth, I made the decision that the last thing we need is another list. Instead we will feature some of the albums that have made a lasting impact on us. These are the albums that we told our friends to buy, annoyed our spouses with, and ultimately inspired us to launch this blog.

From now until the end of December The AGP will feature our favorite albums of the decade. Each week we will feature posts highlighting our favorite albums of the 00's. We will even have a few contributions from the AGP's extended family. We invite your comments, we want to know why you agree with us or perhaps why you think we're off our collective rockers.

We hope you'll join us as we take a look back at the albums that shaped the past 3,653 days our lives.
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On January 24, 2006 Robert Pollard released From A Compound Eye, his first with then new label and indie powerhouse Merge Records. Sure Bob had released solo albums throughout his career fronting Guided By Voices, but From A Compound Eye was the first album he released since dissolving the band he fronted for over 20 years in 2004. Gone were the expectations of the next GBV album, he was now able to record what,when, and with whomever he wanted.

From A Compound Eye is the double album that he had been threatening us with for several years. The 26 tracks found on the album are a mix of new compositions and a handful of unreleased tracks. Pollard described the album as "Massive...epic..It's all over the place and sees in all directions at once." That's a pretty fair description, the album has it all. From the GBVesque guitar pop of I'm A Widow to the skewed folk of Fresh Threats,Salad Shooters,and Zip Guns to the prog-rock of Conquerer of The Moon, to the noisy sound collage of Kensington Cradle. From A Compound Eye features a revitalized Robert Pollard delivering a monumental rock record.

From A Compound Eye still sounds as fresh, experimental, and fascinating as it did when it was released. It's no accident that I waited till New Year's Eve to feature it. It's hard for me to write about Bob and contain my total fandom of everything Pollard, So I'll try to temper my enthusiasm. From A Compound Eye is Robert Pollard exhibiting his tremendous gift for song craft, experimentalism, and the almighty pop hook. A flawless record that rivals Pollard's best work and an absolute joy to listen to.

Buy From A Compound Eye at the Merge Store

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:21:00 +0000

Closing Out The Decade:
The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee (2002)

I wrested with the idea of coming up with a list for the AGP's favorite releases of the last 10 years. After some serious back and forth, I made the decision that the last thing we need is another list. Instead we will feature some of the albums that have made a lasting impact on us. These are the albums that we told our friends to buy, annoyed our spouses with, and ultimately inspired us to launch this blog.

From now until the end of December The AGP will feature our favorite albums of the decade. Each week we will feature posts highlighting our favorite albums of the 00's. We will even have a few contributions from the AGP's extended family. We invite your comments, we want to know why you agree with us or perhaps why you think we're off our collective rockers.

We hope you'll join us as we take a look back at the albums that shaped the past 3,653 days our lives.
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I got my introduction to The Mountain Goats in early 2002 when the band released All Hail West Texas on Emperor Jones. A superb 14 song collection of John Darnielle at his lo-fi best. It was also the last album by The Mountain Goats to be recorded on Darnielle's Panasonic RX-FT500 Boombox. In November The Mountain Goats went on to release Tallahassee their 2nd album of 2002 and their first for the legendary indie label, 4AD.

Tallahassee was recorded at Tarbox Studio in Cassadaga, NY with John Darnielle sharing recording, mixing, and production credits with Tony Doogan (Belle & Sebastian/Mogwai). The album also features past Darnielle collaborators, Peter Hughes and Franklin Bruno. As a result The Mountain Goats sound more like a band unit than ever before.

The full band arrangements and the expensive studio did not take any of the unpolished charm out of the Tallahassee, in fact the expanded instrumentation and full production brings something new to the table. Tallahassee is a concept album about a dysfunctional couple, A couple who share a life of love, anger, bitterness, and alcohol. A couple that stays together out of spite, or as Darnielle sings on Internatiional Small Arms Traffic Blues: "My love is like a powder keg /in the corner of an empty warehouse/somewhere outside of town/about to burn down."

As far as I can tell John Darnielle isn't capable of writing a bad song, and nowhere is that more evident than on the 14 tracks of Tallahassee. An album I go back to frequently and it still chills me to the bone. The record transcends you into the messy world of this couple, hanging on to each other by a thread. It's as dark as it is beautiful.Tallahassee is an absolute classic.

Buy Tallahassee at the 4AD store

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:02:00 +0000

Gravity of The Situation:
Remembering Vic Chesnutt
"What this man was capable of was superhuman" Kristen Hersh

When I got the news on Christmas that Vic had died from an overdose of muscle relaxants I was saddened and shocked by the horrible turn of events that ended the life of one of Americas most vital artists. I immediately thought back to the first time I heard the music of Vic Chesnutt. I was visiting my brother at his then South Boston apartment and he was playing 1991's Michael Stipe produced, West of Rome and I was immediately taken by Vic's music and his dark lyrical wit. Since that fateful day, I have followed Vic's career, from the major label debut, About to Choke to the two stellar records he released on Constallation, North Star Deserter and this years At The Cut.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to have seen Vic live, at various stages of his career and each show was equally as powerful and impassioned as the next. However the first time I saw Vic Chesnutt was in the fall of 1994 at the Paradise and that's the show I've been thinking about over the last few days since getting the news of Vic's passing. To say he was on top of his game that night would be a major understatement. What came out of that man on stage was mind blowing. After a while you saw past his physical disability and saw Vic for what he truly was, the genuine article. Vic, I hope you finally found the freedom and peace you were looking for. RIP.

Please make a donation to the Chesnutt family to help with the costs associated with his hospitalization and death.

Photography courtesy of Jem Cohen

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Vic Chessnutt
November 12, 1964- December 25, 2009

Kristen Hersh is taking donations for Vic's family to assist with the costs associated with his recent hospitalization and death. 100% of all donations will go directly to Vic's family.

Kristen has also posted a beautiful and heart wrenching letter about her friend and colleague at Kristen Hersh/Cash Music.

What this man was capable of was superhuman. Vic was brilliant, hilarious and necessary; his songs messages from the ether, uncensored. He developed a guitar style that allowed him to play bass, rhythm and lead in the same song — this with the movement of only two fingers. His fluid timing was inimitable, his poetry untainted by influences. He was my best friend.

I never saw the wheelchair—it was invisible to me—but he did. When our dressing room was up a flight of stairs, he'd casually tell me that he'd meet me in the bar. When we both contracted the same illness, I told him it was the worst pain I'd ever felt. "I don't feel pain," he said. Of course. I'd forgotten. When I asked him to take a walk down the rain spattered sidewalk with me, he said his hands would get wet. Sitting on stage with him, I would request a song and he'd flip me off, which meant, "This finger won't work today." I saw him as unassailable—huge and wonderful, but I think Vic saw Vic as small, broken. And sad.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to listen to his music again, but I know how vital it is that others hear it. When I got the phone call I'd been dreading for the last fifteen years, I lost my balance. My whole being shifted to the left; I couldn't stand up without careening into the wall and I was freezing cold. I don't think I like this planet without Vic; I swore I would never live here without him. But what he left here is the sound of a life that pushed against its constraints, as all lives should. It's the sound of someone on fire. It makes this planet better.

And if I'm honest with myself, I admit that I still feel like he's here, but free of his constraints. Maybe now he really is huge. Unbroken. And happy.

Love,
Kristin

Please make a donation to the Chessnutt Family

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:41:00 +0000

Happy Christmas From The AGP

The small staff at The Ash Gray Proclamation we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. We've offered up three of our favorite holiday tracks courtesy of Sufjan Stevens, Shane MacGowan and The Popes, and The Hush Now.

We return early next week to finish up our Closing out The Decade feature and we'll also be unveiling our best of 2009 list shortly.

Seasons Greetings.

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:24:00 +0000

Closing Out The Decade:
Sigur Ros - Takk... (2005)

I wrested with the idea of coming up with a list for the AGP's favorite releases of the last 10 years. After some serious back and forth, I made the decision that the last thing we need is another list. Instead we will feature some of the albums that have made a lasting impact on us. These are the albums that we told our friends to buy, annoyed our spouses with, and ultimately inspired us to launch this blog.

From now until the end of December The AGP will feature our favorite albums of the decade. Each week we will feature posts highlighting our favorite albums of the 00's. We will even have a few contributions from the AGP's extended family. We invite your comments, we want to know why you agree with us or perhaps why you think we're off our collective rockers.

We hope you'll join us as we take a look back at the albums that shaped the past 3,653 days our lives.
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Recorded at the bands Sundlaugin studio near Alafoss, Iceland with Ken Thomas co- producing the recording sessions with the band. Sigur Ros released their fourth full length on September 12th 2005 through Geffen/EMI. After the superb ( ) album I was unsure where the band could go next. With the release of Takk... the band answered the challenge by adding to their already impressive catalog with arguably their finest record to date. Combining some of the bombast of
( ) with the intricate beauty of Agaetis byrjun and delving headlong into pop structures with songs you actually could sing along to, after carefully deciphering Jonsi's lyrics.

Don't get me wrong the songs on Takk... are slow building epics that fall within the six or seven minute mark, but there is a quiet confidence that the band conveys on Takk... that seemed absent on their earlier releases. As a result this album is a bit more welcoming than it's predecessors, but no less stunning. With their fourth album Sigur Ros proved once again and maybe like never before that they are as gifted as they are unconventional.

I was already drinking their Icelandic Kool Aid by the time Takk... burrowed it's way into my brain in 2005 and the friends that I hadn't converted with their previous output were about to stop taking my calls and e-mails or they would succumb to the magnificence of Takk. Luckily for all involved it wasn't hard to hear what I was going on and on about once they gave Takk... the attention it deserved. The word masterpiece gets tossed around pretty freely these days but this record meets the criteria on every level.

Buy the album at Amazon

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:19:00 +0000

Closing Out The Decade:
Super Furry Animals -
Rings Around The World (2002)

I wrested with the idea of coming up with a list for the AGP's favorite releases of the last 10 years. After some serious back and forth, I made the decision that the last thing we need is another list. Instead we will feature some of the albums that have made a lasting impact on us. These are the albums that we told our friends to buy, annoyed our spouses with, and ultimately inspired us to launch this blog.

From now until the end of December The AGP will feature our favorite albums of the decade. Each week we will feature posts highlighting our favorite albums of the 00's. We will even have a few contributions from the AGP's extended family. We invite your comments, we want to know why you agree with us or perhaps why you think we're off our collective rockers.

We hope you'll join us as we take a look back at the albums that shaped the past 3,653 days our lives.
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After the demise of Creation Records in 1999 Super Furry Animals singed a deal with Sony Music that would afford them a major label budget and the expansive resources that would allow them to follow up the experimental Guerrilla with an equally as adventurous and song driven recording. On July 23, 2001 Super Furry Animals released Rings Around The World throughout the U.K . and Europe simultaneously on CD and DVD album. Unfortunately it took several months for the record to make it's way to the U.S., but on March 19th 2002 the album finally dropped here in the states courtesy of XL/Beggars Group USA and it turned out to be well worth the wait. Fans and critics alike hailed Rings as the finest record of the bands career.

The ambitious Rings Around The World was recorded in two locations between April and September of 2000, Bearsville Studio, NY and Monnow Valley Studio in Manmouthshire, Wales with the band co-producing the sessions with Chris Shaw. Rings Around The World is a varied record that alternates between electro punk, trip hop, and classic pop. For my money the material found on the album are some of the bands finest recorded moments and it's the their most consistent from top to bottom. From Alternate Route To Vulcan Street to the albums somber closing number Fragile Happiness and everything in between, this record found the Furries at the peak of their many powers.

I recall the summer of it's release quite fondly, as that was the summer my wife and I had just purchased our first home and we were expecting our first child. As any expectant mother that's suffered through a hot August will tell you, the summer is no time to be with child. So when Rings Around The World dropped into my lap at pretty exciting time in my life, it provided the perfect soundtrack for those late night ice cream runs or late night painting sessions. I'm pretty sure my oldest son could sing you a good portion of It's Not The End Of The World if put to the test.

With Rings Around The World, Super Furry Animals turned out an eclectic and timeless record, it's also a whole lot of fun to listen to. While SFA have continued to impress with each and every release, Rings Around The World stands as the bands high water mark and an unabashed pop opus.

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:26:00 +0000

Sloan's Rabid in The Kennell Session

Recorded on December 2nd when Sloan stopped by The Big Takeover radio show, hosted by Jack Rabid at Breakthru Radio in Brooklyn. The first video from this session has just been made available and features Andrew Scott performing Where Are You Now?, from the the bands excellent new five song EP, Hit and Run.

Buy the Hit and Run EP at Sloanmusic.com

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:57:00 +0000

Sneak Peaking

I've been so focused on wrapping 2009 I nearly forgot about all the fine releases we have to look forward to in the first few months of the new year. Here's s a look and listen at some of those albums I'm anxiously awaiting, with MP3's.

On January 26th Los Campesinos! will release Romance is Boring on Arts and Crafts. The albums 15 tracks were recorded with John Goodmanson in Manmouthire UK, Seattle, and Connecticut. In a recent press release issued by Arts and Crafts, the bands label is urging fans to leave all preconceptions at the door,"it's a record that's bigger, deeper, more complex and more direct than anything Los Campesinos! has recorded to date." Personally I can't wait to hear it in it's entirety, for now you can check out the two tracks the band has made available over the past couple of months.

[MP3/Stream] Los Campesinos! - The Sea is a Good Place To Think about The Future

[Video/Stream] Los Campesinos - These Are Listed Buildings

Liars will make their return on March 9th with the release of their 5th album, Sisterworld on Mute Records. Sisterworld was written and recorded in Los Angeles with Tom Biller. Liars have just issued the albums opening track Scissor for download at theSisterworld . All they ask in return is your e-mail address. It starts out all quiet and innocent and then it proceeds to blow your head off.

[MP3/Stream] Liars - Scissor

I've been hearing rumblings from the west coast about the possible return of former Beulah front man Miles Kurosky for some time now. A new song was posted in the spring of 2008, but since then it's been pretty quiet. Well it appears it's finally official, according to various sources including antimusic Miles will release his solo debut, The Desert of Shallow Effects on March 9th via Majordomo , an imprint of Shout!Factory. Produced by Kurosky and engineered by his former Beulah band mate Eli Crews,The Desert of Shallow Effects features over 20 musicians including several ex-members of Beulah. Look for Miles Kurosky on tour this spring after the albums release.

[MP3/Stream] Miles Kurosky - An Apple For An Apple

On April 6th Austin, TX's Harlem will release their Matador Records debut. The 16 song, Hippies was recorded with Mike McHugh and will serve as the follow up to the excellent Free Drugs LP, released earlier this year on Female Fantasy. While we wait for winters thaw and album #2 from Harlem, the bands new label have offered up Friendly Ghost at the Matablog to hold us over. It's a fantastic dose of their rough around the edges pop.

[MP3/Stream] Harlem - Friendly Ghost

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:52:00 +0000

Closing Out The Decade:
Guided By Voices -
Universal Truths and Cycles (2002)

I wrested with the idea of coming up with a list for the AGP's favorite releases of the last 10 years. After some serious back and forth, I made the decision that the last thing we need is another list. Instead we will feature some of the albums that have made a lasting impact on us. These are the albums that we told our friends to buy, annoyed our spouses with, and ultimately inspired us to launch this blog.

From now until the end of December The AGP will feature our favorite albums of the decade. Each week we will feature posts highlighting our favorite albums of the 00's. We will even have a few contributions from the AGP's extended family. We invite your comments, we want to know why you agree with us or perhaps why you think we're off our collective rockers.

We hope you'll join us as we take a look back at the albums that shaped the past 3,653 days our lives.
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For frequent readers the inclusion of Guided By Voices to this segment should come as no surprise. The question should be, what took me so long? Let's just say this is the first but possibly not the last time you will hear about a Robert Pollard fronted project on Closing Out The Decade, a look back over the last 10 years of the music that inspired us here at The AGP.

Universal Truths and Cycles is a return on many levels. A return to the lo-fi/mid fi wizardry of the bands early output, a return to the Matador stable after two fine releases with TVT, and a return to Pollard taking back the control over production. The results proved to be GBV's finest recording since the holly trinity of Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, and Under The Bushes, Under The Stars.

After recording there two previous records with big name producers, Ric Ocasek and Rob Schnapf respectively, Robert Pollard took back production control by self producing Universal Truths and Cycles with Todd Tobias. Tobias, a member of Pollard 's experimental outfit Circus Devils would go on to produce two more GBV albums and pretty much everything Pollard has released since then. Universal Truths and Cycles was recorded at Cro-Magnon in Dayton and at Waterloo Sound in Kent, OH. The album was released on June 18th, 2002 by Matador. Prior to the albums release Matador issued a press release in which they described the record: The big story with ‘Universal Truths And Cycles’ is that it melds old and new GBV approaches to spectacular effect.

Wire Greyhounds sets the tone for the album as the bands charges through 35 seconds of guitar bashed prog-punk. From there what follows is a sharp and focused record and one's that has aged incredibly well due to the sheer quality of the material found on GBV's 13th long player. Universal Truths and Cylcles is Pollard's strongest batch of tunes in the final stage of Guided by Voices long and beer soaked career. With tracks like Christian Animated Torch Carrier, Pretty Bombs, Storm Vibrations and the ultra catchy Back To The Lake UTAC stole my attention, but it was the shorter songs on the record like Zap, The Weeping Bogeyman, and The Factory of Raw Essentials that hold the record together. For me the sign of great record is if you can listen to it over and over and manage to find a new favorite song each time, Universal Truths and Cycles is that kind of record. If you ever liked GBV even in a little you owe it yourself to hear one of the decades truly remarkable recordings.

Buy Universal Truths and Cycles at the Matador Store.

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:48:00 +0000

Closing Out The Decade:
Deerhunter - Microcaslte/Weird Era Cont.(2008)

I wrested with the idea of coming up with a list for the AGP's favorite releases of the last 10 years. After some serious back and forth, I made the decision that the last thing we need is another list. Instead we will feature some of the albums that have made a lasting impact on us. These are the albums that we told our friends to buy, annoyed our spouses with, and ultimately inspired us to launch this blog.

From now until the end of December The AGP will feature our favorite albums of the decade. Each week we will feature posts highlighting our favorite albums of the 00's. We will even have a few contributions from the AGP's extended family. We invite your comments, we want to know why you agree with us or perhaps why you think we're off our collective rockers.

We hope you'll join us as we take a look back at the albums that shaped the past 3,653 days our lives.
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To say this record took me by surprise is a bit of an understatement. I had my first taste of Deerhunter in 2007 with the release of the bands excellent 2nd album Cryptograms, a record full of instrumental psych rock jams and reverb drenched post punk. I was pretty much hooked on Bradford Cox and Co. So in 2008 when Microcastle/Werid Era Cont. popped onto my radar I immediately grabbed it. What I found was one of the most innovative and rewarding listens of the decade.

Deerhunter's third album Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. was released by Kranky in the U.S. and 4AD in the U.K., on October 28th 2008. The album(s) were recorded at the Rare Book Room in Brooklyn, NY by Deerhunter's four core members Cox, Lockett Pundt, Joshua Fauver, and Moses Archuletta. If Deerhunter had raised the bar with Cryptograms, they obliterated it with Microcastle/Werid Era Cont. It's a much cleaner sounding record than both it's predecessors, with hints of 50's/60's Motown, shoegaze, and krautrock. The album opens with Cover Me (slowly), a minute and twenty two seconds of claustrophobic washed out guitars that build into the chilled out Agoraphobia. From there the Atlanta band weaves through songs of confusion, loneliness, and the fractured human spirit. Somehow it sounds more like a celebration than a funeral march.

I was approaching my late 20's when OK Computer was released and subsequently spoke to a generation about being alone in the computer age and Microcastle /Weird Era Cont. struck me on a similar level thematically. Cold isolation in the new millennium has never sounded so good. I still find myself alternating between the two discs, the cleaner Microcastle and the more experimental psych rock of Weird Era Cont. It's a battle that I have from time to time, which one is better? It's also a testament to the music of Deerhunter, especially since Weird Era Cont. is an outtakes/b-sides album. That fact is astounding considering the quality of the tracks found on it. This was one of record I immediately thought of when I decided to take this segment on, and one that never gets old, I mean ever. How Dearhunter follows up an album as good as Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. is anyones guess, but one thing is clear in the fall of 2008 they released a timeless document of guitar squall, ambient soundscapes, and masterful pop hooks.

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:45:00 +0000

The Boston Screening of Here Come The Waves

Here Come The Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized, a collaboration between The Decemberists and four film makers: Guilherme Marcondes, Julia Pott,Peter Sluszka, and Santa Maria. The epic Hazards of Love on the big screen, sign me up. The band has trusted four gifted animators to bring their rock fairytale to the big screen and if the trailer is any indication we're in for a real treat. The film will be released exclusively via itunes tomorrow, but luckily Boston has been chosen as one of only two cities to get a theatrical screening tonight.

The film will screen tonight at 9:30 at The Brattle Theatre
Tickets are just $5.00

Watch the trailer:

decembericsts.com

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:10:00 +0000

Licking Stamps and Drinking Shitty Coffee

With the his recent releases with Boston Spaceships and a solo album in Elephant Jokes that might just be one of the mans finest. Some might say Robert Pollard is on a run and I would have to agree. So while we wait for the next Spaceships album to drop sometime in the new year, you will find comfort in this Live document from Boston Spaceships' one and only tour.

Licking Stamps and Drinking Shitty Coffee is the just released double live album limited to 500 copies and issued on colored vinyl & CDR. One LP is orange, the other is one is black. The album was recorded in Atlanta on October 17, 2008 and based on the mp3 I just heard, it's a keeper.

[MP3/Stream] Boston Spaceships - Dorothy's A Planet (Live)

Track Listing:
Hard Running Rabbit
Winston's Atomic Bird
You Satisfy Me
Headache Revolution
Still In Rome
The Original Heart
Love Theory
Brown Submarine
Two Girl Area
Rat Trap
Catherine From Mid-October
Little Green Onion Man
Confessions Of A Teenage Jerkoff
Andy Playboy
North 11 A,M.
Soggy Beavers
Dorothy's A Planet
Ate It Twice
Blue Gil
Ready To Pop
Go For The Exit
Wealth And Hell Being
Crutch Came Slinking
Sensational Gravity Boy
Heavy Crown

Buy Licking Stamps and Drinking Shitty Coffee at The Factory of Raw Essentials

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:35:00 +0000

Closing Out The Decade: Mclusky Do Dallas (2002)

I wrested with the idea of coming up with a list for the AGP's favorite releases of the last 10 years. After some serious back and forth, I made the decision that the last thing we need is another list. Instead we will feature some of the albums that have made a lasting impact on us. These are the albums that we told our friends to buy, annoyed our spouses with, and ultimately inspired us to launch this blog.

From now until the end of December The AGP will feature our favorite albums of the decade. Each week we will feature posts highlighting our favorite albums of the 00's. We will even have a few contributions from the AGP's extended family. We invite your comments, we want to know why you agree with us or perhaps why you think we're off our collective rockers.

We hope you'll join us as we take a look back at the albums that shaped the past 3,653 days our lives.
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Mclusky are dead, but from 1998-2005 they were responsible for some of the most vitriolic, spite ridden rock, these ear have ever heard, and I loved them for it. McClusky formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1998 and released their debut album My Pain and Sadness is More Sad and Painful Than Your in 2000 on Fuzzbox Records before hooking up with Too Pure for Mclusky Do Dallas in 2002 and The Difference Between Me and You is I'm not on Fire in 2004. Unfortunately in January of 2005 Andy Falkous issued a statement via the bands web site that Mclusky had broken up, and just like that it was over.

It was in the fall of 2002 that I was introduced to Mclusky through a fellow music obsessive, as I recall, the conversation went something like this:
Him: have you heard Mclusky?
Me: No who's Mclusky?
Him: Go buy their new album Mcluslky Do Dallas, you're gonna shit man!

Of course I went out the next day and tracked down the album and you know what? My foul mouthed friend was right on with his prediction, if anything it was understated. Since then I've bought all of the bands records, but Do Dallas remains a favorite and frequent listen. From the opening notes of Lightsabre CockSucker Blues to To Hell With Good Intentions to Alan Is A Cowboy Killer, on Mclusky Do Dallas the welsh trio deliver viscous two minute buzz saw punk that I still can't get enough of. Mclusky laid down the majority of the tracks on the album with the assistance of sound engineer Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in the spring of 2001. Talk about a band custom made for Albini's recording approach, the results more than speak for themselves. Andy Falkous anchors the record with a notebook full of smart ass lyrics to match the 36 minute sonic assault that awaits you with, Mclusky Do Dallas. In the words of Falkous, Fuck This band.

Buy Mclusky Do Dallas
Mclusky/myspace

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:59:00 +0000

Catching up: The Sea Navy - Memory Matches

Every once in a while an old band from our past creeps up with a solid new offering, takes us by surprise, and reminds us why we became fans in the 1st place. The Sea Navy's new album Memory Matches certainly qualifies as such a release. The Sea Navy is fronted by Jay Cox, former Bostonian and member of the gone but not forgotten, Ivory Coast. From 1998 to 2003 The Ivory Coast were responsible for some of Boston's finest homespun tunes. The band released two fine records during their time together, 2000's The Rush of Oncoming Traffic (Big Wheel Recreation) and 2001's Clouds (Polyvinyl). Sadly The Ivory Coast called it a day in 2003.

Since then Cox has been writing and recording with The Sea Navy in Seattle. The current line up is rounded out by bassist Stuart Fletcher and Drummer Jordan Cummings. Memory Matches is the bands great new LP. The album was recorded at The Tank in Black Diamond, WA with a true DIY ethic at work, with band recording, mixing, and self releasing the record. Memory Matches consists of 10 songs in 24 minutes for a concise and staggering pop record. On What Curse? Cox sings, "as Chicago knows and Boston did, Seattle only hopes", with the excellence of Memory Matches it shouldn't be long before all 50 of our states our familiar with pop goodness of The Sea Navy.

The rumor mill:
In a recent interview with Ear Candy Jay mentions that he's has eight new songs written and there's a possibility of an east coast tour next spring. Here's hoping that comes to fruition, if so we'll be front, center, and accounted for.

Buy Memory Matches
The Sea Navy
The Sea Navy/Myspace

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:25:00 +0000

Closing Out The Decade:Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (2005)

I wrested with the idea of coming up with a list for the AGP's favorite releases of the last 10 years. After some serious back and forth, I made the decision that the last thing we need is another list. Instead we will feature some of the albums that have made a lasting impact on us. These are the albums that we told our friends to buy, annoyed our spouses with, and ultimately inspired us to launch this blog.

From now until the end of December The AGP will feature our favorite albums of the decade. Each week we will feature posts highlighting our favorite albums of the 00's. We will even have a few contributions from the AGP's extended family. We invite your comments, we want to know why you agree with us or perhaps why you think we're off our collective rockers.

We hope you'll join us as we take a look back at the albums that shaped the past 3,653 days our lives.
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The first time I heard Okkervil River was shortly after the release of 2003's Down The River of Golden Dreams, the bands excellent second LP. It was one of those rare eureka moments, when a band makes you perk up and pay attention. I had no idea what it was, but I knew I had to have it immediately. I owe my local Newbury Comics a debt of gratitude for the impromptu introduction. Since then I have followed the literary song writing of Will Sheff and his Austin, TX band mates closely. I've also collected everything the band has committed to tape so far and I can hardly wait for the bands next release. Maybe that rumored collaboration with Rocky Erickson or the follow up to The Stand Ins will materialize in the new year.

Although the band officially formed in Austin, TX in 1998, the bands nucleus came together several years earlier in Meriden, NH when Sheff, as well as fellow founding members Zach Thomas and Seth Warren were high school friends. After college the three would leave The Granite State for Austin's burgeoning music scene, hook up with Johnathan Meiberg as well as Okkervil River's currents line up, and eventually ink a recording contract with the Indiana based indie power house Jagjaguwar.

On April 5th, 2005 Okkervil River released Black Sheep Boy, the bands third and most ambitious album to date. The album leads off with the title track, a Tim Hardin cover, not only is it a great opener it sets the tone and theme for this semi-conceptual record. In 2005 I was still getting my head around being a father of two and functioning on very little sleep and Black Sheep Boy came along as the perfect remedy. I can't think of a commute that year, that didn't include Black Sheep Boy in it's entirety. The complex and poetic storytelling, the superb instrumentation, and the fact that you can listen to this record at least 100 times and still discover something new, powerful, and exciting is a testament to this record. Even my excitement for the bands earlier work did not prepare me for the gigantic step forward Okkervil River took on this Americana folk rock masterpiece.

Buy Black Sheep Boy via Jagjaguwar

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:47:00 +0000

Received Punctuation

Cambridge's Pants Yell! will release their fifth album, Received Punctuation tomorrow courtesy of Slumberland Records. Based on my first few listens, it's another solid batch of jangle pop with that understated charm, that we've come to expect from Pants Yell!. If you've had the fortune to catch the band live over the past few months you've undoubtedly been treated to the strong material featured on Received Punctuation.

As for what the future holds for Pants Yell!, that is a little unclear. Singer/Guitarist Andrew Churchman was recently quoted in the Swedish magazine, Devotion that this will be the final Pants Yell! album. Let's hope something was lost in translation.

The band will celebrate the release of their new long player on Monday November 16th with a Hometown LP Release Party at ZuZu.
Tickets are only $3.00, so grab them now.

Two tracks/one video from the new record:

[MP3/Stream] Pants Yell! - Cold Hands

Buy the album from Slumberland
Pants Yell!/Myspace

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:21:00 +0000

Closing Out The Decade: Hood - Cold House (2001)

I wrested with the idea of coming up with a list for the AGP's favorite releases of the last 10 years. After some serious back and forth, I made the decision that the last thing we need is another list. Instead we will feature some of the albums that have made a lasting impact on us. These are the albums that we told our friends to buy, annoyed our spouses with, and ultimately inspired us to launch this blog.

From now until the end of December The AGP will feature our favorite albums of the decade. Each week we will feature posts highlighting our favorite albums of the 00's. We will even have a few contributions from the AGP's extended family. We invite your comments, we want to know why you agree with us or perhaps why you think we're off our collective rockers.

We hope you'll join us as we take a look back at the albums that shaped the past 3,653 days our lives.
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Formed in Leeds, England in the winter of 1990. Hood have released 9 records on a variety of different labels, including Domino, Aesthetics, and Mispalced Music. The band has been on a long term hiatus since just after the release of Outside Closer in 2005. While band members have been actively releasing music with their own bands including but not limited to founding members Richard and Chris Adams projects The Declining Winter and Bracken respectively. Hood's absence over the past four and half years has been a hard pill to swallow. A band that defies categorization by blending styles and instrumentation from track to track. From IDM to Post-Rock to Shoegaze to Experimental. The band at one-time described themselves as lo-fidelity avant pop. Regardless of classification, Hood's recorded work from the early limited vinyl singles to their (at this point) final record, is nothing short of impressive.

In November of 2001 Hood hit what I would call their high water mark with the release of Cold House. An album of excellent songs, beautiful arrangements, and flourishes of glitchy electronics for one of the most innovative releases of the past decade. It also features the brilliant collaboration between Hood and MC's Why? and Dose One from San Francisco's Anticon Collective and Clouddead. I flipped out as soon as I heard this record. It was like nothing I had ever heard before or since for that matter. For example take the opening track They Removed All Trace That Anything Had Ever Happened Here, with it's big beats, violins, acoustic guitars and Chris Adams fragile vocals, it's pretty close to perfection and that's just the albums jumping off point. In 2001 Hood seemed destined to be one of the biggest bands in the world. Alas that was not to be but what they did do is cement themselves as one of the most creative and exciting bands I'd ever heard and I anxiously await their return.

Almost nine years later and Cold House still sounds as inspired as it did that fall afternoon I drove home from the record store with my jaw on the floor. A truly stunning album.

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:44:00 +0000

Regurgitated Video

White Rabbits killed on last nights Jimmy Kimmel. They even got a little help from Spoon's Britt Daniel. check it out.

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:37:00 +0000

Setting the Paces
Boat returns with new album and tour

Seattle's Boat are back with their third full length, Setting The Paces. The new album was released this week via Magic Marker and is available on CD and orange vinyl. Setting The Paces finds Boat delivering their best work to date on an album full of messy indie pop and smart ass lyrics. When I first heard Setting The Paces I was immediately transcended back to the early 90's when bands like Pavement, Archers of Loaf, and Built To Spill were ruling supreme, in my world anyway. Comparisons to such 90's indie touch stones are inevitable, but where Boat sets itself apart from those influences is their gift for churning out songs with irresistible pop hooks and lots of them, buckets full in fact.

Boat are setting out on a short east coast tour in support of the excellent Setting The Paces and will play PA's Lounge on November 11th.

[MP3/Steam] Boat - Lately
[MP3/Stream] Boat - We've Been Friends Since 1989
[MP3/Stream] Boat - Prince of Tacoma

Buy the album from Magic Marker Records/CCNow

Boat (official)
Boat/Myspace

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:27:00 +0000

Funeral Singers
Califone returns to Boston tonight

Over the course of eight full lengths, a hand full of ep's, singles, and compilations Califone have remained one of the most original and consistent bands in America. Their new set, All My Friends Are Funeral Singers comes via there new label Dead Oceans, further proves this point. This is starting to sound like a review, which is not my intention but sometimes these things tend to take a life of there own. On their new album Califone continue to explore the cross pollination off folk, blues, and fractured electronics, for a record full of rich melodies and unforgettable songs. All My Friends Our Funeral Singers is a masterful and devastating album. Highly recommended.

So much for not writing a review. The fact is this record is very easy to get excited about and once you hear it I think you'll agree.

The new album is only half the story. Tim Rutili the bands principal songwriter wrote and directed the film All My Friends Are Funeral Singers as well. A story of a house haunted by aggrieved but mostly friendly ghosts. The music was written and recorded while the film was in production and Califone's music is featured throughout the film, as is the band themselves, fittingly as ghosts.

Califone are currently undertaking it's most ambitious tour to date. They are taking the new film and accompanying album to thirteen city's where they will perform live during the films screening. The band will play a short 30 minute set of older material before providing live musical accompaniment during the presentation of All My Friends Our Funeral Singers.

Califone will play tonight at the Brattle Theatre
Doors 8:30/Show 9:00

[MP3/Stream] Califone - Funeral Singers
[MP3/Stream] Califone - Ape-Like

Buy the album at Califonemusic.com

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:21:00 +0000

For Amie: A Breast Cancer Awareness Benefit

Show your support for a great cause and one of Boston's most ardent local music supporters as his immediate family deals with this issue first hand. All the information is on the poster below, and what a line up.

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:51:00 +0000

Free Shows and Test Drives

The Kia Soul Collective are set to take over the Artists For Humanity space in Southie for 4 days of music, art, and design. Plus (here comes the corporate twist) a chance to test drive the new Kia Soul.
It all kicks off tonight when Staten Island's Cymbals Eat Guitars (pictured above) take to the stage at 8:30 to kick this weekend of free music off.

Here's the full line up:
Friday - Here We Go Magic @ 6:30
Friday - White Rabbits @ 7:15
Saturday - Boy Crisis @ 6:00
Saturday - Antlers @ 7:00
Sunday - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ 8:00

Don't miss your last chance to see The Pains of Being Pure at Heart in one of their last US shows for the foreseeable future. The band will close out this weekends festivities before heading off to Europe to round out what can only be described as an incredible year.

Corporate angles aside, this event is chock full of quality bands performing full sets for free. You can RSVP to each show and get all the details here.

The Venue: Artists for Humanity
100 W. 2nd Street
Fort Point Channel
South Boston

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Hamill) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:13:00 +0000

Regurgitated Video

The video for However Wrong You Are from the just released Boston Spaceships album Zero to 99 turned up over at Stereogum earlier this week. The clip is just too amusing not to share.

As far as the track goes, I just can't get enough of it personally. It's got it all, big hooks, charging guitars, and a chorus that will have you humming it all day. It's a hit!

Buy Boston Spaceships - Zero to 99 via The Factory of Raw Essentials