On the recommendation of Ryan at The RSL Blog, I had the pleasure of catching VD this past Thursday….yeah I know. You should see the buttons.

Anyway, these guys have an old-school new-wave sensibility. You hear a bit of Cake and early 80’s Elvis Costello flavoring their own brand of solid indie rock music. This is a style that’s easy to do bad. Instead, these guys pull it off with a sophistication that you don’t see in bands that have been doing it for decades.

Their tunes have a lot of transitions, relatively speaking, but they’re unforced. You don’t hear them try to shoe-horn a bridge in just to keep things interesting. Their songs are simply well composed, with good energy and a great effort from all parts. No one piece overshadows the others.

I’d highly recommend you pick up the CD, “Let’s Become Machines” it’s a great addition to your collection. Also, catch them live. They’re solid performers and Rob Morris does this thing with his Wii-mi bar….or perhaps its a WiiWii Pedal. Cool to see, great to hear.

Vivian Darkbloom

MySpace - Tracks Tour Dates & More

MP3 - Jamie

These folks have been generating a lot of buzz ever since the release of Gulag Orkestar in 2006, but they were under my radar until they came to my attention a few weeks back. Beirut has been know for being more of a music collective, than a formal band, similar to Broken Social Scene, although I’ve read a couple places the lineup may be solidifying.

What finally got me was a live performance of them from SXSW 2007 on largehearted boy. Totally sucked me in. This was once again a great piece of luck, since The Flying Club Cup, their second LP, was released just a few days later.

Zach Condon the 21-year old singer/songwriter, who heads up Beirut, has a crooners voice that is laid over an updated version of gypsy folk music. Their instrumentation is outstanding. In addition to the standards like guitars, bass, drums and violin, you have accordion, ukulele, mandolin, glockenspiel, a variety of brass and percussion and other unusual instruments. They create simply gorgeous interlocking melodies.

This is a brilliant album from beginning to end. Ever since I picked it up, its been in regular rotation. What’s interesting is that as good as it is, there is a whole other version of it. You can hear and see it at this site. Its a complete set of videos for The Flying Club Cup. Each video is one continuous shot where the music is recorded live. It is brilliant. I can’t recommend them highly enough. I keep going back to watch them again and again. (Thanks to Hip To Be Square for bringing the new collection from La Blogotheque to my attention.)

These folks are a must see next time they are in town. All the live recordings I’ve heard are just spectacular.

Beirut

MySpace Tracks, Tour Dates & More

Band Web Site

MP3 Nantes

MP3 A Sunday Smile

After reminiscing a couple weeks back about all the great bands that came out of that other Massachusetts Music Mecca, Northampton, I wondered what was going on recently. Coincidentally, I bump into someone just a few days later that turns me on to the Winterpills who are just a great band. (Big thanks to Katie from the comments on my Jose Gonzalez post)

The first thing that stands out when you listen to the Winterpills are the gorgeous harmonies between Philip Price and Flora Reed. There are times when they sing all alone, usually Phillip, but most of the time they sing together. The second thing that strikes you are the great textures they create with the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass and drums. They mix and flow with an artful sense of rhythm that weaves all the instruments together.

I’ve spent a few days listening to both their self-titled debut and their latest “The Light Divides”. On a first listen their eponymous first album gave me a feel of Badly Draw Boy or Elliot Smith. There is a strong flavor of those artists on that album, but on subsequent listens you hear a lot more there. It is a very strong album and a great addition to my collection.

I think the newest album shows a great progression to a sound that more uniquely their own. The feel ranges from truly atmospheric on “Eclipse” to alt-country on songs like “July”. I love the drum work on Eclipse. In fact, Dave Hower does a lot of subtlety ingenious drumming that is fantastic. (Its not always a straight ahead as it feels) Dennis Crommet’s use of distorted guitar and occasional feedback is superb. It adds an edge and tension to the songs that gives a feeling of repressed energy that contrasts the softness of the acoustic guitar and ubiquitous beautiful harmonies. These folks are all top notch musicians.

Winterpills have two shows coming up in town as well as other dates around New England. I’m looking forward to catching them next Monday October 1 at the Middle East Upstairs when they play with The Brunettes and Ferraby Lionheart. You can also catch them at Great Scott on November 2, but I’m sure you’ll agree that’s too long to wait.

Winterpills

MySpace - Tracks, Tour Dates & More

MP3 Lay Your Heartbreak

It was a real struggle to pick which track I would post because there are so many good ones, but this is one of my favorites off “The Light Divides”.

I just got Tim Williams‘ upcoming album, When the Work is Done, a few days ago and I have been totally digging it. The sound is mostly acoustic guitar, bass, drums with keyboards working their way in from time to time. I like the instrumentation a lot and he’s got a solid voice.

This is a very accessible CD. Its kinda mellow, but its intense and has more energy then most folks can create with much heavier song writing. He has some good variety in the songs on here. The overall impression you get is of Jeff Buckley or Bishop Allen. There’s also a touch of New Pornographers, especially on the track Tape Your Head.

So the just in time from the title of my post is because he will be playing in town at the lilypad in Inman Square, Cambridge this Wednesday the 19th. And, its just five buck. Nice. Anyway, I’m totally psyched and I’m looking forward to see him live. I recommend checking out When the Work is Done, when it comes out October 2nd.

My thanks to Dovecote for sending it along and Ryan’s Smashing Life for putting the show together.

Tim Williams

MySpace - Tracks, Tour Dates & More

Novel MP3

I was wondering which of my old CDs would make the first randomly selected appearance on my blog. Turns out its one, and many, all in one. (How philosophic) Actually, I thought with all the new folks arriving in town this weekend, a little Boston Alt-Rock history and flavor would be cool.

Frustrated by “antiseptic” studios (no booze, butts or joints) and mainstream rock, Fort Apache Studios was formed in 1986 in Roxbury, MA where the Pixies and Treat Her Right recorded their first albums. They eventually moved to Cambridge in 1990, after a band was held up at gunpoint, and christened the new studio recording Throwing Muses‘, House Tornado. (You will love the picture of them on Wikipedia)

Most samplers have a couple singles and a bunch if crap, but I love all the songs on here. I stumbled across this in a used CD shop over 10 years ago and it has lived in semi-regular rotation ever since. And! Through the magic of the internets, this beauty can be all yours for just a penny, plus shipping.

This is Fort Apache

“This is Fort Apache” is an amazing retro tour through the early 90’s alt-rock scene in New England. (I actually saw most of these folks in Rhode Island) I am simply floored when I look at this album and see all of the acts from in and around Boston that were producing amazing music at that time…and some still are. Clearly this is not all of them, but its a great selection. It also includes a couple non-Bostonians, including Radiohead and a personal fav of this blog, Billy Bragg.

For a standout, I love the Treat Her Right song featuring the late Mark Sandman, of Morphine fame and of simply being awesome fame. (Fun Fact: the intersection of Brookline Ave and Mass Ave in Cambridge, where you’ll find the Middle East, is Mark Sandman Square.)

Just take a look at who is on here:

Cold Water Flat, 1990 in Amherst, MA (UMASS)
Dinosaur Jr. 1983 in Amherst, MA
Belly, 1991 in Boston via Newport, RI
The Lemonheads, 1986 in Boston, MA
The Walkabouts, 1984 in Seattle
Buffalo Tom, 1986 in Amherst, MA (UMASS)
Throwing Muses, 1981 in Newport, RI
Sebadoh, 1986 in Westfield, MA
Radiohead, 1986 in Oxfordshire, Original England
Juliana Hatfield, 1986 in Boston with Blake Babies, 1991 solo
Billy Bragg, 1977 in Essex, Old England
Treat Her Right, 1984 in Boston, MA
Come, 1990 in Boston MA

This is all glorious stuff and if you don’t have these folks in your collection, time to dig in. Here’s a taste:

Cold Water Flat, Magnetic North Pole

Belly, Star

Treat Her Right, I Think She Likes Me

I picked up Jaime T’s album Panic Prevention over the weekend and it was a great grab. I have to thank Exitfare for the recommendation, although I can’t imagine what people didn’t get when he played SXSW. His stuff is solid.

His voice reminds me of a more aggressive G. Love with a British accent. The second time I listened to the album I remember being surprised how much he sings as opposed to rapping. Its probably because the songs are loaded with funky beats and that he almost always riffs a little.

I think this is a great CD from top to bottom. I only wish it had come out at the beginning of the summer. This is a great BBQ album. Well, the warm weather should last for a little while longer.

Jamie T. is going to be playing a show at Great Scott next week, September 12. This is going to be quite an intimate show for an artist with so much amazing stuff. I would be stunned if he wasn’t in a much bigger venue his next time around.

Calm Down Dearest Video

Jamie T.

MySpace - Tracks, Tour Dates & More

Salvador

G. Love & Special Sauce

MySpace - Tracks, Tour Dates* & More

Baby’s Got Sauce

* So I look at their tour dates, and they are in Australia next month. Man, an endless series of unintentional Aussie connections…apart from the first two. Those were on purpose.

Add me to the long list of those impressed by M.I.A.’s new album Kayla. Her music is a mix of rap, electronic, world music and probably a few other things.

She gets my attention right out of the box by riffing on the lyrics to classic Boston Rock Song, “Roadrunner” by Jonathan Richman in “Bamboo Banga”. She follows with the amazing rhythms in “Bird Flu”. “World Town” is a favorite and grabbing The Clash’s “Straight to Hell” for “Paper Planes” was another nice one.

Bird Flu Video

I’m a total sucker for great beats, so its probably no surprise that this was a hit for me. Normally I like them a little less electronic, but there’s a world tour of sounds on here. (Check out the didgeridoo on Mango Pickle Down River) Part of the reason is that is was recorded while on tour in Trinidad, India, Australia and Jamaica. Sweet beats in many flavors. Gotta dig it.

Maya is an interesting character. Apparently her father was a Tamil Tiger, which influenced all of her art. She was born in London, spent some years in Sri Lanka and India as a child before returning to London. Her first work was in visual arts, not music. You can see animated versions of her grafitti art in the video for galang from her first album Arular, named for her father.

galang Video

The closest I see her coming to Boston is New York on October 19, based on the dates that are up so far, but hopefully she’ll add more. I think this would be a great show.

M.I.A.

MySpace - Tracks, Tour Dates & More

Bamboo Banga

Jonathan Richman

Roadrunner

The Clash

Straight to Hell

I picked up Apples in Stereo New Magnetic Wonder this past weekend almost totally blind. I’d seen their album mentioned on YANP, but I hadn’t gotten around to listening to any of the tracks. So I had no idea what to expect.

I knew I’d be in for a ride with these guys when I put on the CD and heard the little twitter of keyboard followed by a FREAKIN’ VOCODER, a half second of acoustic guitar which was immediately replaced by driving electric guitar and Robert Schneider telling me to turn up my stereo and asking me if I can feel it…and I have to say. Yes, yes I can.

These guys give you some soft, some heavy but all of it moves and is a blend of indie rock and psychedelic pop. You’ll hear all kinds of electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano and keyboards mixed and matched all over the place. The songs pull flavors from bands like ELO, Stone Roses and Oasis.

When I noticed that there are 24 tracks on here, my first thought was, How long is this album? Its only 56 minutes long, but that’s because there are 10 tracks under one minute. They are transition tracks that add an amazing texture and make the album a single piece of art in addition to the greatness of any one song. (Gapless playback very helpful here)

The only bummer is that Hilarie Sidney has left the band to work on her project The High Water Marks because her vocals are just great.

The Apples in Stereo will be playing The Middle East Downstairs on September 17 and I cannot wait to see them. New Magnetic Wonder made it instantly to one of my top 3 albums of the year.

Apples in Stereo

MySpace - Tracks, Tour Dates & More

Can You Feel It

Energy

The next Aussie alt-group that comes to mind, since the Hoodoo Gurus are playing downstairs at The Middle East on September 8, had a lot more commercial success than Hunter & Collectors or the Hoodoo Gurus.

Midnight Oil was one of those uber-political bands that managed to not ruin their music with their politics. But, that’s only because they were never separate things to begin with. (I know The Booze Bus will be itching to comment on that) I really liked these guys a lot early on in their career, but I think I tuned them out after you couldn’t seem to turn on any music producing device without hearing “Beds are Burning” for an entire summer.

After thinking about the Aussie bands from Hoodoo’s heyday, I went back and listened to a bunch of The Oils music again. I have to hand it to them, they created a very original sound and produced a lot of driving, just plain good rock tunes. There is strong guitar, vocals, drumming and the singing can’t be questioned.

****The Booze Bus******

Question: From the below photo who is the leader of the Australian Green Party and who is the suit representing the powerful political party that unleashed a wave of economic rationalist-free market reforms in Australia during the 80’s?

A) Bald dude leads the Green Party
B) Grey haired dude leads the Green Party

If you answered B you’d be correct.

On the right is Bob Brown, leader of the Australian Green Party, Tasmania eco-nut, who was ejected from Parliament for heckling George Bush during his address to the Australian Parliament after the start of the Iraq War (of which Australia was a member of the coalition of the willing).

On the left is Peter Garrett from whose pen the song US Forces flowed. He was last seen meeting with Timber company executives in Tasmania to discuss how to rollback his party’s policy on banning logging in the politically sensitive marginal seat, which cost his party the last election.

Midnight Oil - they didn’t follow trendy left wing causes, they started them…….then flogged them to death, sold out, and finally realized that politics is about compromise, deal-making, shaking hands with the devil and discovering that he is you.

Musically they were phenomenal, but to me the greatest gift that Midnight Oil gave to the world is the resolution to the age old question: Can music really change the world?

The answer is a resounding no.

*****End The Booze Bus****

2b: Thus ends today’s edition of “You Got Music in My Politics….. No! You Got Politics in My Music” Next week The Booze Bus will explain why Bono is nothing but a dirty f’ing hippie. Thanks for stopping by. Now back to the music.

The next one is on the obscure side, but I totally dig this album. The band is Frente! (That is their exclamation point, not mine) and the album is “Marvin the Album”. Don’t be fooled into thinking they are being ironic, this album is as cute as the name suggests. There are no hard edges here, even on the one song they try, but it is brilliant.

Angie Hart has a sweet voice, amazing range and most of the songs have an acoustic guitar strumming away somewhere in the background. You also get a few songs where they drop in a little funk beat a’ la the DNA remix of Suzanne Vega. This album really captures a sound that was big in the early 90’s. “Labour of Love” was the single in the US, which I’m sure you’ve heard someone cover at some point, along with “Ordinary Angels” and their very cool acoustic cover of “Bizarre Love Triangle” by New Order. All great songs.

This is not a perfect album, but there is much more good than bad here. If you can find this album, pick it up. I think I got mine for four bucks. There’s usually one kicking around most used CD places, often times in the black-hole closeout racks. You know, sometimes there’s gold in there.

***Crank up The Booze Bus****

OK, When 2b told me about his love of Frente I knew that this was a man whose taste in Australian music was so refined that he might be a fellow undercover ASIO officer, working with me and Rupert Murdoch to instigate the downfall of the American Empire from within.

I hope I haven’t just blown his cover.

To be honest, I don’t know too much about Frente, other than their psychedelic video made it to #3 in the Aussie charts back in 1992. If you have a few minutes and some LSD handy, check it out.

*****End The Booze Bus****

The Church made this list originally as an afterthought. They came to mind mostly because my first band learned “Under the Milky Way” as one of our first covers. It also seemed like every other aspiring alt-rock band at the time time played it too. The only other song I remember from that time was “Reptile”.

However, as I started doing a little background research I discovered a some very interesting things. 1) I’ve seen world leaders with less in-depth wikipedia listings than these guys have. 2) They have more than 20 albums!! 3) I’d heard none of the songs on their MySpace page before, but they are really good. 4) I’m going to have to pick up their 2007 Singles Collection.

*****Start The Booze Bus****

Nothing to add here.

****Stop The Booze Bus****

Disclaimer: I did not mention INXS even though they were once upon a time an alt-rock band, since they were really a top 40 band the whole time.

****Start the Booze Bus****

INXS rocks and I won’t have you denigrate them in this way. They are musically complex and lyrically interesting (Example: Never Tear Us Apart — beautiful song). Just because a band is successful doesn’t mean they are sell outs. For fucks sake, Michael Hutchence, died asphyxiating himself with a belt during a sex act. If that’s not true rock and roll, I don’t know what the hell is.

Cool fact to tell your friends over a beer: Terence Trent D’Arby replaced Michael Hutchence as lead singer of INXS. Drop that one on them, bet them it’s true and collect your winnings.

*****The Booze Bus is closed for business****

Midnight Oil

MySpace - Tracks & Stuff

Blue Sky Mine

King of the Mountain

Frente!

MySpace - Tracks, Shows & More

Labour of Love

Ordinary Angels

The Church

MySpace - Tracks, Shows & More

Under the Milky Way

My self-imposed hiatus from buying any more concert tickets (for a couple days anyway) lasted all of one day (way to go 2b). thewicked just has to tell me that the Hoodoo Gurus are playing downstairs at The Middle East. I had no idea these guys were still together and I can only hope they still put on a great show.

This brings to mind a number of things that would be great candidates for Forgotten Disc Friday. The Aussies had a great little run of solid contributions to the alt-rock scene in the 80’s and 90’s and I’ll have a two-part series outlining my favorites. To give some more perspective to the discussion, I’ve enlisted the help of an actual Australian. You’ll see his comments in bold.

The Hoodoo Gurus were one of the bands that fundamentally based my musical sensibilities in the alt/indie-rock world. There is a great review of their album Mars Needs Guitars on Forgotten Disc Fridays to check out, although my personal favorite is Stoneage Romeos.

Most folks who know the Hoodoo Gurus seem to know “Miss Freelove 69″” or “Come Anytime” which you can hear on their MySpace Page along with “I Want You Back” which is the classic that sucked me into these guys. Stoneage Romeos also has great tunes such as Leilani which is kinda a Joe vs the Volcano thing and the Ampology collection has the original before they decided to get a bass player. “(Let’s All) Turn On” is a fantastically frenetic tune and “Tojo” is another favorite.

***The Booze Bus****

Ilovedahoodoogurusinger - Billy Birmingham (AKA “The 12th Man”). The Hoodoo Gurus were indeed so much part of the pop lexicon during the 80’s and 90’s in Australia that they were immortalized by being referenced as an Indian cricketers name by Australia’s greatest sports-comedian, Billy Birmingham in his faux-cricket commentary The Twelfth Man Again. A higher honour, I do not know.

If you research any Australian alt-rock bands, you’ll notice that the common theme is that they were all discovered by the radio station Triple J (or for older bands Double J). Triple J is a quasi-communist organization that has found a way to extort the Australian government into subsidizing a Nationally Broadcast alt-rock station (Think a fully subsidized NPR that just plays alt-rock). The Australian government seems ok with this set-up because at least it means that the disaffected youth will concentrate on getting stoned and rocking out, rather than on setting about on any kind of really revolutionary actions. Given that the hosts and executives get to act like serious cultural barometers, this appears to be a win-win-win relationship for all involved.

Leaving aside political opinions for a second, it must be admitted that the folks running Triple-J has fantastic taste in music and have played a significant role in propelling many cultish inner city rock acts who really have no marketing (or indeed have anti-marketing) instincts into national and internationally recognized artists.

For anyone with the slightest interest in Australian music, Triple J’s hottest 100 list (released annually on Australia Day - that’s Jan 26 to the great unwashed of the world) is a great resource for discovering new music from Down-Under.

***End The Booze Bus***

If you take anything from this post, its that Hunters & Collectors is a phenomenal and largely unknown band outside of Australia and their album Human Frailty is a must have. Hell, I tried to swipe it from my brother’s record collection when I first heard it, with mixed results.

H&C or Hunna’s, if you find yourself in Australia, have a powerful alt-rock sound with brass. Not the saxophones (woodwind, I know) that were all the rage in bad 80’s pop, but deep baritones that shake along with a strong bass guitar (both deep and tinny) almost honky tonk guitar flourishes and the powerful vocals of Mark Seymour.

Now I’m not usually lyrics guy, but the writing on here is superb. “Throw You Arms Around Me” is considered the classic off this album, a song about a one night stand with great lines like “and we may never meet again, so lets shed our skin and get started“. Or Dog, with lines like “Its all coming out into the open, and I’m licking your hand all over“. I could keep on these, but you can check out the official MySpace to hear “Throw Your Arms Around Me” and some stuff from their other albums.

The version of Human Frailty I have now is a CD released by IRS with both Human Frailty and the Living Daylight EP. If it wasn’t for the magic of the interwebs and Amazon, this would be a “Holy Grail” album. You are unlikely to come across it in most US music stores and iTunes has just a live double album.

These guys still have very dedicated following and you can learn more at their fan site True Believers that seems pretty up-to-date.

***Start The Booze Bus****

Ahhhhh, Hunters and Collectors - The filet-mignon of Australian rock. If you want to break down the stereotypical tough Aussie guy just add a six pack of Victoria Bitter, crank up Throw Your Arms Around Me and watch the person you had assumed had the personality of Crocodile Dundee turn into a blubbering, snivelling mess.

Their lyrics touch on many Australian hot-buttons, like What’s a Few Men a song about the way Australian troops were treated by British Officers during the trench warfare of WWI. It always conjures up Winston Churchill in my mind as it’s a little known (outside of Australia) historical fact that he was responsible for planning and executing the disasterous Gallipoli campaign. Given how revered Churchill is these days, for fans of military history, it’s worth remembering just what a ruthless cold hearted killer he was.

But that returns back to how epically great H&C lyrics are - Holy Grail is sung as an anthem by yobbos and dickheads all over Australia, but you really have to wonder whether they know that they are singing about Napoleon’s campaign into Russia.

From the epic to the intensely personal, H&C are considered in the same way that the Irish consider U2 or maybe a Pearl Jam is considered here in the States.

****End The Booze Bus****

Hunters & Collectors

Say Goodbye

Dog

Hoodoo Gurus

MySpace - Tour Dates, Tracks & More

Leilani

(Lets all) Turn On