Push and Pull

Get Him Eat Him is one of those bands I nearly refused to listen to because of their ridiculous name … and man was that a foolish thing to ALMOST have done. Very seldom does a song line the walls of my brain and envelop my subconsciousness like this one has. The most unruly synths you will ever hear bouncing off one of the funnest melodies and guitar lines I have heard all summer and the end product is something so magically sunny it’s almost not right to listen to this song unless you’re having fun.

[mp3] Get Him Eat Him – Push & Pull

Buy Arms Down.

The Con Analysis

Tegan & Sara released a pretty amazing collection of pop songs last Tuesday, which is not being properly praised in my opinion. A lot of bloggers are taking the angle of “I’m only posting about this because of who is involved,” and while there are a good deal of immensely talented people involved, that is simply not a fair stance to take. Let’s run the shortlist: Matt Sharp (Weezer, The Rentals) plays some things, Jason McGerr (Death Cab) plays some drums, Hunter from Afi (…..well…..) plays some things, and Chris Walla produces and plays a bit. Okay, yes I realize that is a good list of people, but the key here is the songs.

Some of the most catchy, girl-rock pop songs I have ever heard are contained. There are bubbly synths, tight and choppy piano riffs, guitars that are pretty dark, and an overall sound that puts you right in the control room. Things are a bit more loose than you would expect while still remaining tight within the well-structured pop songs they live in. I guess the best way to describe it would be a summery pop record full of incredibly dark overtones and well-performed rock parts.

The best example of this, I would say, is the track Back in My Head, which features a choppy piano riff, drums that wander, and a yell-along refrain that will make the most jaded of hipsters hit repeat. Give it a listen, and pick the record up while you’re at it.

[mp3] Tegan and Sara – Back in Your Head
[mp3] Martin Youth Auxiliary (Chris Walla) – The Shift

You can most likely catch the twins on tour this summer/fall, as they are playing a lot of places. Those dates can be found at the T & S myspace.

Alternately, You can pretend you are seeing them live when they preform live on Conan tonight at 12:35 am EST. Check your local listings for more on that.

Dance, Dance, Dance

So, I have always hated dance music more than most people, which is why writing this post with it’s bad stock photo of dancing twenty-somethings and it’s mp3’s made in minutes by computer programs is almost making me sick, but I am in the infant stages of a back to school dance party, and thus am compiling some tolerable yet danceable music.

It’s not that I don’t know how to have fun, or am too uptight or any of the other typical defenses of dance fans, it’s just that I find the stuff repetitive, un-original, and annoying: I think the fact that someone can have a relative hit by spelling the word dance and counting to five is somewhat sickening.

All this to say, here is a small mix of stuff I have been able to stomach so far and a couple of tracks I already loved which are not at all dance music, yet still very danceable.

[mp3] Hot Chip – And I was a Boy From School….
[mp3] The Knife – We Share Our Mother’s Health
[mp3] Hot Hot Heat – Talk to me, Dance With Me
[mp3] Justice VS. Simian – We Are Your Friends
[mp3] Stars – Sleep Tonight (Junior Boys Remix)
[mp3] LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends
[mp3] Broken Social Scene – Hotel
[mp3] Thom Yorke – And it Rained All Night

Songs to Wake Up to

There is a certain kind of song that I love and don’t quite know how to explain other than calling them “wake-up songs.” Songs that build, but build very gradually and never explode, they just sort of become realized, if that makes sense. I have spent a good amount of time compiling a definitive mix of these songs, which are all part of a 50-song playlist that is played on shuffle each morning to wake me up. I think you will enjoy these a lot.

The Voxtrot song I featured in this mix really embodies the kind of song I am talking about: A repetitive open guitar riff enters, followed by some atmospheric swells and strings, then one of the most beautiful verses I have ever heard:

Open your eyes and stretch your hands
This house is clean but it is not my home
Did I make this bed
The two hands touch on two

Sometimes I think of some place colder
The sound of traffic and the way it’s worn
When you feel yourself grow up inside of here

Then the rest of the band comes in and the whole thing develops into something sweeping and beautiful without ever getting too loud or frenzied. It may very well be one of my favorite songs of the year, but I’ll talk more about that in December.

[mp3] Voxtrot – Introduction
[mp3] Cool Hand Luke – Two Pianos
[mp3] American Analog Set – She’s Half
[mp3] Christian Kiefer – Slow Rivers
[mp3] Imaginary Baseball League – The Heiress
[mp3] The Cinematic Orchestra – Into You
[mp3] Cloud Cult – Car Crash
[mp3] Fionn Regan – Snowy Atlas Mountains
[mp3] Julie Doiron – Sending the Photographs

New Travis Morrison (Dismemberment Plan)

If you never saw The Dismemberment Plan live, you can’t really claim to have seen an “amazing” show. It embodied everything that was (originally) rock and roll: Daring, crazy, and ultimately unsafe.
About several years after the band’s breakup and two years after the not-so-well received solo effort Travistan, front-man Travis Morrison is back with All Y’all, an album that is consuming a lot of time in my car playlists.

The record is what you would expect from the eccentric and apparently good-hearted (read on) guitar/microkorg and front-man, but with a certain “it” factor that makes it feel completely new. Healthy doses of dance punk and indie pop freakouts, but with Travis’ signature brand of smart-dude coolness. There could not be a more perfect album for the home stretch of summer; I dare you not to dance when you listen to this thing. Recorded with a new band (Travis Morrison & The Hellfighters is what you will look for on the shelves), the record is out on Barsuk on 8/21.

Here’s what Travis wrote about the record on his website

“The record was written mostly in early 2005, and then after some unsatisfactory attempts to record them, me and the Hellfighters stopped working on it. I started singing in church choirs, working for volunteer organizations here in DC, and did some travelling. We reconvened in Chicago in the fall of 2006 and recorded the songs with Jason Caddell, who was a bandmate of mine in the Dismemberment Plan, at the Chicago Recording Company. It was mixed by Jason and Joel Hamilton.

The art is done by an Israeli fellow who calls himself Jewboy (http://www.jewboy.co.il.) His mother calls him Yaron though. Well, I mean, what do I know, maybe his mother calls him Jewboy. That would be different.”

[mp3] Travis Morrsion – As We Proceed
[mp3] Travis Morrison – Churchgoer
[mp3] Travis Morrison – People Die

Pre-order All Y’all from Barsuk.

A note: Thanks for the emails of concern. No my blog did not die; everything is back to normal, I just took a little break for the week.

-CP

David Bazan Tour Dates (With CTFPA & All Smiles)

The Bazan-inator has announced some awesome fall tour dates with some awesome support. Bazan will embark on a massive tour hitting just about everywhere in North America with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and All Smiles (The cambridge date will also feature The Soft Drugs). You can find the dates here, you won’t wanna miss these.

[mp3] David Bazan – Cold Beer & Cigarettes
[mp3] David Bazan – Backwoods Nation (acoustic)

[mp3] Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – In a Yellow Shirt

[mp3] All Smiles – Piles of Burning Leaves

Tour Dates

David Bazan | Fall 2007

09/04 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry #
09/05 – Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon #
09/06 – Milwaukee, WI – Shank Hall #
09/07 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen #
09/08 – Champaign, IL – High Dive
09/10 – Bloomington, IN – Waldron Arts Center #
09/11 – Saint Louis, MO – The Billiken Club #
09/12 – Springfield, MO – Randy Bacon Gallery #
09/13 – Memphis, TN – Hi Tone Cafe #
09/14 – Little Rock, AR – Sticky Fingerz #
09/15 – Denton, TX – Dan’s Silverleaf #
09/16 – Houston, TX – Walter’s On Washigton #
09/17 – Austin, TX – Emo’s Lounge #
09/19 – Lubbock, TX – Jake’s #
09/20 – Lawrence, KS – Jackpot #
09/21 – Norman, OK – The Opolis
09/22 – Iowa City, IA – The Picador
09/23 – Omaha, NE – The Slowdown
10/23 – Detroit MI – TBA +
10/24 – Cleveland OH – The Grog Shop +
10/25 – Pittsburgh PA – Garfield Artworks +
10/26 – Buffalo NY – TBA +
10/27 – Cambridge MA – T.T. the Bear’s + %
10/29 – New York NY – Mercury Lounge +
10/30 – Brooklyn NY – Southpaw +
10/31 – Philadelphia PA – TBA +
11/01 – Washington DC – TBA +
11/02 – Charlottesville VA – TBA +
11/03 – Durham NC – Duke Coffeehouse +
11/05 – West Columbia SC – New Brookland Tavern +
11/06 – St. Augustine FL – Cafe Eleven +
11/07 – Orlando FL – The Social +
11/08 – Tallahassee FL – Club Downunder at FSU +
11/09 – Birmingham AL – BottleTree Cafe +
11/10 – Atlanta GA – TBA +
11/12 – Nashville TN – Exit In +
11/13 – Newport KY – Southgate House +

# with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
+ with All Smiles
% with The Soft Drugs

M. Ward + Zooey Deschanel = Magical

A while ago I told you about an upcoming collaboration from HTFAF idols M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel. There is no further news on that album; there IS, however, a brand-new song from an upcoming soundtrack (of a movie called The Go-Getter, which I know nothing of) that features the two duetting in all of their splendor and glory. It’s sort of like if you ascended to heaven to listen to the gods play mid-70’s AM folk-rock (it’s a Richard & Linda Thompson tune) … it’s sorta like that.

[mp3] M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel – When I get to the Border
[mp3] M. Ward – Flaming Heart
[mp3] M. Ward – Were You There

M. Ward is playing some shows soon: One in NY, and one in SF.
You can buy M. Ward records here.

Thanks to The Playlist for the heads up on the mp3!

New Over the Rhine + Tour

One of the most criminally underrated bands on the planet, Over the Rhine, have announced an extensive fall tour and released a single that is rapidly burning up my most played list in iTunes. The song, Entertaining Thoughts, is a wonderful polished bit of folk-rock that is neither too folky to be polarizing nor too pop-produced to be unappealing. It will undoubtedly make an awesome addition to any summer mix: it’s especially good for a drive.

It’s sort of like a Wallflowers track only it doesn’t suck (Hey-oh!). I could listen to Karen sing all day.

[mp3] Over the Rhine – Entertaining Thoughts

OVER THE RHINE TOUR DATES:

Fri 8/31 – Cincinnati, OH @ Coney Island Moonlite Gardens
Sat 9/1 – Lexington, KY @ The Dame
Sun 9/2 – Nashville, TN @ 3rd and Lindsley
Thurs 9/13 – Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
Fri 9/14 – Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
Sat 9/15 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
Sun 9/16 – Bandon, OR @ Sprague Theater
Tues 9/18 – San Francisco, CA @ Café Du Nord
Wed 9/19 – San Francisco, CA @ Café Du Nord
Fri 9/21 – Hollywood, CA @ Knitting Factory
Sat 9/22 – San Diego, CA @ Anthology Lounge
Sun 9/23 – San Juan Capistrano, CA @ Couch House
Tues 9/25 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room
Sat 9/29 – Denver, CO @ Soiled Dove
Tues 10/2 – Kansas City, MO @ Grand Emporium
Wed 10/3 – St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill
Fri 10/5 – Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk-Chumley Theater
Sat 10/6 – Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center for the Arts
Wed 10/17 – Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle Tavern
Thurs 10/18 – Athens, GA @ Melting Point
Fri 10/19 – Greenville, SC @ Handlebar
Sun 10/20 – Charlotte, NC @ Visulite Theater
Mon 10/22 – Decatur, GA @ Eddie’s Attic
Tues 10/23 – Decatur, GA @ Eddie’s Attic
Fri 10/26 – New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
Sat 10/27 – Annapolis, MD @ Ram’s Head
Sun 10/28 – Alexandria, VA @ Birchmere Music Hall
Tues 10/30 – Boston, MA @ Sculler’s Jazz Club
Thurs 11/1 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live

New TW Walsh

Bostonian, current Soft Drugs ringleader, and ex-Pedro the Lion member TW Walsh has released his first piece of solo material since 2002 for free on his website. TW’s 2002 sophomore LP, Blue Laws, quickly became a cult classic with sad-bastards of the world, myself included (it’s in the top ten of all time). While this track is filled out a bit differently than the tracks on that effort (drum machines, a heavy synth line, and an overall groove are present here), it’s certainly a glorious return to TW’s sad and forlorn lyrics of yesteryear.

[mp3] T.W. Walsh – Borrow my Vibe (New)
[mp3] T.W. Walsh – Gullwatching

Buy T.W. Walsh / Soft Drugs Record

Everyday Is Like Sunday

Sundays are pretty commonly neglected by bloggers; it is an understandable practice, but not a fair one to you kind readers. So I am going to do my darndest to stop slacking on the Sunday posts. I decided there was no better way to start than with a cheesy mix of songs that have “Sunday” or “weekend” in the title. Luckily, they’re all great.
Next week an actual Sunday morning mix will come.

[mp3] Johnny Cash – Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down
[mp3] Spoon – Sunday Morning Wednesday Night
[mp3] Art Brut – Late Sunday Evening
[mp3] Neil Young – Out on the Weekend (Live on BBC)
[mp3] Bob Dylan – Medicine Sunday (Blonde on Blonde outtake)
[mp3] The Velvet Underground & Nico – Sunday Morning
[mp3] Morrissey – Everyday Is Like Sunday

Buy any of this at Insound