Tonight: The Ash Gray Proclamation Proudly Present Summer Fades

Tonight we welcome the approaching autumn equinox with Summer Fades, A Free Boston Music Showcase in the heart of downtown Plymouth to celebrate those warm days in the surf, late afternoon cookouts and look onward to crisp leaf covered mornings with cornstalks propped up in the front yard, but most of all with Summer Fades we celebrate the fertile Boston Music scene in the shadows of the Mayflower II.

The night will kick of with a Sneak Preview of Dark Spring the highly anticipated and forthcoming album from Boston's dream psych outfit, Guillermo Sexo. The LP will be released by Midriff Records on September 24th, but tonight we get to play you all 11 tracks for you and we are expecting a visit from a member or two from Guillermo Sexo to stop in for this special album screening. From there you can anticipate Live sets from three of Boston's best and brightest, including the muscular indie pop of Slowdim, the intelligent noise pop of Eldridge Rodriguez, and the euphoric psych drone blues of The New Highway Hymnal. Summer Fades is a free event and sponsored by Cisco Brewers of Nantucket. So grab the car keys, a friend or two, a fall favorite, perhaps Galaxie 500 or Yo La Tengo and point that vehicle to Plymouth, skip The Plantation and go straight to The New World Tavern at 56 Main Street in Historic Plymouth, as we watch and listen as Summer Fades.

Noise & Pop: A Conversation With Cameron Keiber Of Eldridge Rodriguez

Cameron Keiber is perhaps best known as the co-frontman of Boston's indie stalwarts The Beatings or perhaps as a co-founder of Midriff Records  the Boston/NYC based indie label he operates with his brother Clayton. However, over the past few years Cameron has been largely focused on writing and recording staggering noise pop under the moniker Eldridge Rodriguez.We recently got the chance to catch up with Cameron to discuss the recording of his next album, his label, a short lived project called No Love and playing this weekends AGP Presetned Summer Fades event.

Bryan Hamill : The last we spoke in this forum you had recently released You Are Released, how have the past couple of years since that release effected the music you are making these days?

Cameron Keiber: I think that with each album I work on I learn how to be a better writer and producer. I've learned how to not treat the work as too precious. It allows me to take more risks and be a better listener and in turn the writing has become stronger and more assured. I'm just trying new things with each album and I'm realizing that that new thing is often opening myself up more and more with each record. I think the first 2 full lengths and couple EP's where written as if I was an observer to the process or a passive participant, and I think that's a cop out. I'm trying to say what I mean as plainly as possible and stand behind it more now than I did before. It's really all you have. People don't expect you to be sincere in pop music. They expect you to be sentimental or saccharine or maudlin but not sincere and that excites me.

Bryan: What can you tell us about the recording of the in progress Eldridge Rodriguez album in terms of the line up and direction of the new tracks that you are currently working on?

Cameron: There has been a different line up for the band every few years and albums and I'm not sure why. But it's a trend and because of that we get new people involved which is great because you get to play to their strengths and skill set. The crew I have with me right now is wonderful. We are doing things closest to the way that I hear them in my head without compromising what the rest of the guys want to hear. Dennis (Grabowski ) and I have been playing together since college and through The Beatings so he knows how I write and I trust his instincts and that partnership is solid. Clayton (Keiber) has a very similar aesthetic as I do so we talk the same language with regard to noise and pop and tones and such and Dave(Grabowski) does stuff that blows my mind. He is a big electronic buff and he knows how to get those blips and buzzes that I wasn't able to get before he came on. It's a really great band.

Bryan: How does the Eldridge Rodriguez material differ from the material you've recorded with The Beatings or with No Love?

Cameron: No Love, a band I brought together over a year ago, fired me last week. I don't know why, you'd have to ask them.
The Beatings aren't as interested in trying new instrumentation, tech, etc. They are very comfortable and set in the way we record and write currently. For better or worse, I couldn't do what I'm doing now in Eldridge Rodriguez with The Beatings. It wouldn't get past the introductory stage. So I'm happy that I have an outlet to do this type of material with people who dig it, as it's become my primary venue.

Bryan: How has Midriff Records evolved since that label was started to help promote The Beatings recorded output?

Cameron: Clayton and I run the day to day instead of Mike and Tony. Aside from that, not a whole lot. The core principals of releasing sincere music regardless of genre and current trends remains. We've gotten a lot more bands on the roster and have a bigger footprint now, but the stuff that matters, the integrity and continuing to build everything from the ground up guided by a DIY ethos is intact. Everything is still totally hands on.

Bryan: You recently singed Guillermo Sexo and will release there new album, Dark Spring. Can you tell me how that partnership came about?

Cameron: We've known Reuben (Bettsak) from the scene for a couple of years now and they sent us the EP that they self released this past Spring and we flipped over Bring Down Your Arms and started talking with them about doing a full length.

Bryan: What can we expect from your set at this weekends AGP Presented Summer Fades show?

Cameron: Noise and pop... combined. We'll be doing a lot from the upcoming album. Hopefully people will dig it. If they don't, hopefully it doesn't ruin their night.

Bryan: You recently confirmed a show on September 8th at T.T. The Bears as part of their week long 40th Anniversary Celebration. What does it mean to you to be able to join the festivities?

It's really nice to be asked. The Beatings have a long history with the club and they've always been very good to Eldridge Rodriguez, as has Boston Emissions who are curating the night. I'd like to be all bravado and say that I expected to be asked, but the truth is I didn't. I totally expected that celebratory week to go off without a hitch without me. Now they have a hitch.





Eldridge Rodriguez plays The AGP's Summer Fades with Slowdim and The New Highway Hymnal at The New World Tavern in Plymouth on Sunday September 1st.

*Photo Credit: Johnny Anguish of Daykamp Music

The Ash Gray Proclamation's Top Tracks Of 2011

As we prepare to shut the door on 2011 we've gone ahead and prepared a spotify playlist of our favorite tracks of 2011. It's a testament to the vibrant Boston music community that over half of these tracks come from some of favorite locals. Our Top Tracks were determined by plays on iTunes and Spotify. Later this week we'll begin sharing album lists starting with Los Gamester's year in review on Friday and some lists from Echoes Myron and myself next week.

1. Soccer Mom - (A) Natural History
The remarkable EP, You Are Not Going To Heaven from Boston noise pop concern, Soccer Mom quickly became one of favorite releases of the year soon after it's October release. The opening track, (A) Natural History finds guitarist William Scales handling vocals on the crushing track that deftly marries noise and pop hooks to a euphoric effect.
Listen via Spotify or Bandcamp

2. Boston Spaceships - I Took On The London Guys
Let It Beard, the impeccable swan song from Robert Pollard's Boston Spaceships came a midst the GBV reunion frenzy and found the trio issuing their 5th and finest LP in just over 3 years. I Took On The London Guys features former Dream Syndicate member, Steve Wynn contributing guitar and the Spaceships delivering an inspired blend of British folk and power pop. Our Let It Beard review can be found here.
Listen via Spotify

3. Hallelujah The Hills - Some Of Them We Lost
Hallelujah The Hills spent a good chunk of the year writing and recording their forthcoming third full length, playing a handful of shows, and releasing a couple of singles. Some Of Them We Lost appears on a 7" that never actually got pressed to vinyl due to curious circumstances, but thankfully the band issued it digitally. When we saw HTH play this track last winter  at TT The Bears we were instantly sold on it's slow building charm, and exuberant and chaotic finish.
 
4. The Hush Now - Memos
The Hush Now released their third and in our estimation finest LP with Memos in September. The title track serves as the LP, centerpiece and finds THN delivering a  lush, lovelorn pop song with chiming guitars and Noel Kelly's soaring vocals. Now if we could just convince them to stop giving away their high caliber guitar pop anthems for free.


5. Los Campesinos! - Songs About Your Girlfriend
Arriving at the tale end of the year, the latest offering from Los Campesinos! is a bit more subdued than previous outings but no less devastating. The opening chords of Songs About Your Girlfriend bring to mind Back to Basics era Billy Bragg, until Gareth Los Campesinos delivers the line, "You don't like us, because your girlfriend likely does" and you quickly realize you're hearing one of the septets finest moments, full of swagger and wit.
Listen via Spotify

6. Sloan - Unkind
Sloan returned last spring to celebrate their 20th Anniversary with a new album, The Double Cross. Unkind finds the power pop luminaries doing what they do best, delivering killer hooks over charging guitars. One listen is all took to have us playing this from spring to winter.
Listen via Spotify

7. Eldridge Rodriguez - The Big Windup
The Beatings/Midriff Records founder and noise rock stalwart, issued one of the years most satisfying listens, with the superlative You Are Released. The set opens on a thrilling note with The  Big Windup, it's a cacophony of guitar squalls, strident rhythms and sad bastard lyricism.


8. Slowdim - Don't Cough Me Out
As soon as we heard Spirals, from Slowdim, we were more than a little smitten. All of the songs on the bands terrific debut, were written and recorded by fronter Paul Sentz last winter. There's a certain warmth and intimacy that runs through entire EP , especially on  Don't Cough Me Out. It's a damn near perfect pop song, smart, direct and arresting.


9. The Capstan Shafts - Come Wilder
To our surprise, back in July Dean Wells released a new LP from The Capstan Shafts as a pay what ever the hell you want deal on his Bandcamp page. We reviewed the album here.Some might say it's a return to his lo-fi ways after last years superlative mid-fi offering Revelation Skirts, but we prefer to focus on the fantastic pop songs it offered, like Come Wilder, which is 2 minutes of charging guitars and hooks a plenty.
Listen via Spotify or Bandcamp

10. Johnny Foreigner - New Street, You Can Take It
Birmingham, England's Johnny Foreigner made their return earlier this fall with their third and arguably best LP, Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything. New Street, You Can Take It begins innocently enough with Kelly Southern and Alexei Berrow trading vocals over a quiet snare drum and gently played guitar, but once they reach the chorus "You Kinda Always Know When It's Over" the track slowly builds until the band sounds as if  they could bring down the walls around them.
Listen via Spotify

11. Get Help - Little Symbols 
The duo of Tony Skalicky of The Beatings and Mike Ingenthron of Microdot, collectively known as Get Help released The Good Green Earth last spring via Midriff Records which we wrote about here.We were immediately taken in by the albums intelligent pop songs and massive hooks. Little Symbols is an impressive combination of  guitars heroics and heartbreak. Giving up never sounded better.