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RECORD STORE DAY 2015!!
It's super hard to believe that Giant Sand have been a band for THIRTY YEARS, but here we are, with the 30th anniversary reissue of the band's 1985 debut Valley Of Rain, and even after three decades, Howe Gelb and Co.'s first record sounds as good as ever, Giant Sand's distinctive sound already fully formed, fusing a sort of twang flecked desert rock, with the paisley punk jangle of the LA bands at the time, Leaving Trains, Green On Red, Dream Syndicate, along with a little new waviness. A confusional combo for sure, but somehow, those disparate elements managed to fall perfectly into place, and some of our favorite Giant Sand jams can be found on this first record. Since then they've released a crazy amount of impossibly good records, and let's not forget that aQ faves Calexico started out as Gelb's Giant Sand rhythm section. This new version adds a bonus track to the original album, and then includes a whole extra lp, which features pre-Giant Sand material from when they were still called Giant Sandworms, as well as some live Giant Sand recorded in Holland in 1986, and some other rarities. A few of the tracks were too long to fit on the vinyl, so those are included with the download that accompanies the release.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!! Includes liner notes from Giant Sand mastermind Howe Gelb. And this is a Record Store Day release, which means it once we run out of the handful we got, we probably will not be able to get more.
Just in time for the chill in weather we are feeling right now, it's a new set of ultra warm and cozy tunes from the always dependable Howe Gelb. His latest Giant Sand outing is so hitting the spot on these wintry days, with songs perfect for sitting by the fire, drinking some bourbon, and swapping stories with close friends. The album sinks in right away with the kind of intimacy and southwest charm that Gelb is so masterful at evoking. Blurry Blue Mountain covers so much of the terrain that Giant Sand have explored in their long wonderful career. From the subtle and seductive to the all out twang filled rockers. Fans of Smog, Johnny Cash, and Townes Van Zandt will find so much to love here, and if for some reason Giant Sand has slipped under your radar over the years this is a great time to jump into their wonderful world of warm honest sound.
Fifteen new songs from the pen of Howe Gelb (and one by the late Rainer Ptacek, to whom this album is dedicated) make up this, the newest full length from Giant Sand. Yet another band whom we've not heard from in quite a while. Oh certainly, there's been a veritable plethora of side projects and solo efforts from John Convertino, Joey Burns, and Mr. Gelb, but y'know it's just not the same. The fine tracks here were recorded in three cities - Tucson, Memphis and New York - with a giant list of guests, instruments and toys. Produced by Howe Gelb, Kevin Salem, Jim Dickinson, and John Parish.
On "Cover Magazine" the follow up to the wonderful "Chore Of Enchantment" from 2000 (and the beautiful recent reissue of OP8's "Slush"), Howe Gelb, he of the ever-severe countenance, takes a slightly different path and is joined by an illustrious gathering
Giant Sand are probably most well know for featuring the rhythm section of John Convertino and Joey Burns, who left to form aQ beloved Calexico, and who would end up becoming WAY more popular than Giant Sand. But they are so much more than that, and so much of their music directly informed the sound of Calexico.
This reissue celebrates 25 years of Giant Sand, and is part of a comprehensive reissue of all the GS records. Glum, originally released back in 1994, was many folks first exposure to the band, which was a bit ironic considering it was their ELEVENTH album, but it was their first for a big label, and their first with a big budget, but none of that did anything to temper the group's experimental proclivities and difficult sonic tendencies, which is precisely why it might just be thee best. Sand mastermind Howe Gelb gathered up everyone who had ever played with them in the past and assembled what was essentially a Giant Sand big band. And the band set out to make Glum.
For those who have never heard Giant Sand before, as we mentioned before there's definitely a line that can be drawn from Calexico, the same sort of deserty shuffle, a dark countryish twang, but with Gelb's super distinctive drawl, and cool distorted guitar playing, like a warped Neil Young, blasts of gnarled psychedelia or bursts of squealing feedback erupting from the most tranquil of tracks. Just check out the title track, which is definitely one of our favorites, a dark twangy shuffle, Gelb crooning over muted minor key fingerpicking, and whirring organ, a sort of slowcore country, but then bam, the sharp crack of a snare, and some super distorted angular riffing, very Marc Ribot like in fact, which becomes a warm wash of chords, only to fade out again leaving that original dark shuffle.
"Yer Ropes" is more of a rocker, and could have bit a hit in some alternate universe, the sound lush and warm, the guitars thick and fuzzy, the drums muscly, and Gelb's voice sounding better than ever.
This whole record is just magical, and the family/big band vibe of Giant Sand is evident everywhere, from the sweet vocals of Victoria Williams, the oh so sweet "Bird Song", written and sung by Gelb's daughter, in a bid to prolong her bedtime, with Gelb adding some creepy chords, and the family pitching in on drums and bass, or the heartbreaking version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", a gorgeous version sung by long time GS collaborator Pappy Allen, who passed away, soon after, featuring both his wife and daughter on backup vocals, and it's those sorts of songs, that most bands would leave off the record proper, that so defined Giant Sand's idiosyncratic approach to music making, one born of a seemingly pure love for, and joy in, creating, in singing and playing and performing, and that totally seeps into every note, every song, and every sound here.
The rest of the songs on Glum are just as great, the band getting heavy and distorted as often as hushed and melancholic, the songs peppered with strange sampled sounds, lush layers, whatever they could think of, all woven into something special and unique, their sound falling somewhere between Sparklehorse, Uncle Tupelo, Neil Young, Calexico and other similar country rockers, but there's something about Giant Sand that is utterly unlike any of the others. Which is probably why they never really got super popular. But then that's probably also exactly why we love them, and this record in particular, so much.
This reissue tacks on six extra songs, that sound like they could have come from the same sessions, and if that is indeed the case, it's kind of hard to figure out why they were left off, cuz they're pretty goddang great, beautiful and strange, like the band itself. Also included is new liner notes written by Gelb, about the making of the record, the songs, and what all was going on with GS way back in 1994.
We've said it before and we'll say it again... Mr. Howe Gelb is an admirably freewheeling music maker. His newest album under his longstanding band moniker Giant Sand is another prime example of this. The title is the most a propo to date! He truly follows his every whim, revisiting older songs he's done in the past, and bringing many of his musical friends and relatives along for the ride. Unlike past works that had a tendency to frequently veer into somewhat puzzling/alienating territories, IAOTM is more cohesive, warm and engaging (the female backing vocals help a lot) while still maintaining his roaming unpredictability. The new Giant Sand band incarnation includes skilled craftsmen Anders Pedersen (on lapsteel, electric slide mandolin and guitar), Thoger T. Lund (on upright and electric bass), Peter Dombernowsky (on percussion and drums) and John Parish (on drums, mellotron and national guitar, and who also co-produced the album with Gelb). Plus this time you can look forward to a guest appearance by Vic Chesnutt! Gelb redoes "Crackling Water" from the Slush album by OP8 (his collaboration with John and Joey of Calexico with Lisa Germano on vocals - excellent!). The OP8 version is pretty damn fine and hard to beat, but his new one with Marie Frank on vocals comes pretty close. Hurrah for Howe!
It's been a few years, Mr. Gelb, we've sure missed you! Your new album is absolutely wonderful, and not just because you've got Neko Case, M. Ward and Isobel Campbell on board this time around... although that definitely sweetens the deal!
Each of the thirteen songs slowly unwinds in the dusk hour shadows with the ever enigmatic Gelb occasionally bringing to mind a southwest desert sun-baked Leonard Cohen. While he definitely pulls out a few classic Giant Sand twangy eccentric yarns (particularly late in the album - "Belly Full Of Fire" and "Saturated Beyond Repair"), overall Provisions seems to be his most mellow, straightforwardly melodic and song structured work to date. Even when he drifts off into the downright cryptic and bizarre, the raw emotion and poetry of his music somehow still speaks straight to the heart. Some of the album's best moments feature are the most bare bones with just voice and piano ("Spiral"). Wow. You might recall the short lived superb collaboration that took place many years ago between Gelb, Lisa Germano, and Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino. OP8 was its name, and Slush was the title of their amazing album (it's still one of Cup's all time top faves!). Of any of the albums that the individual artists have released since, this new Giant Sand full length comes the closest to capturing that magic (albeit with different parties involved).
And attention all you new Calexico fans picking up the latest album from those fellow Arizonans, time for a little history lesson! Burns and Convertino were members of Giant Sand prior to forming Calexico. If you haven't checked GS out yet, you are missing out! Some early GS albums may initially seem impenetrably strange and more of an acquired taste, but you don't wanna miss this album!
Most certainly highly recommended!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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Italian post-rock on Zum. Very beautiful, exercising on the same treadmills as Slint, the Dirty Three, and more recently Mogwai and God Speed You Black Emperor.
Now at last, Beth Gibbons' solo debut gets a domestic release (so it's a little cheaper) AND it's got some bonus stuff for you slowpokes/cheapskates who didn't get the import. Yeah, isn't life like that? Bonus tracks and video clips for those who wait... (Specifically, Lou Reed's "Candy Says" done live and a video for "Mysteries".) Anyway, it's a great record, here's what we said about the import:
Here it is, the highly anticipated album from the voice of Portishead - Ms Beth Gibbons! Much like such artists as Joni Mitchell or Leonard Cohen, Gibbons possesses a timeless, immensely affecting voice that exists outside of passing fancies and dated trends. Out Of Season dispells any question of that, presenting a very different -perhaps more accessible- backdrop than that of Portishead, but a no less dramatic and fitting one. The former embodies a mysterious, complex and haunting otherworldliness, the latter is much more familiar, folkish and earthbound. But who is Rustin Man with whom Ms Gibbon's is collaborating, you might ask? Why he is the alter ego of her friend Paul Webb (formerly of Talk Talk). And we should also note the presence throughout this album of her Portishead comrade Adrian Utley in both performance and production mode. A great line-up, indeed. Grand orchestral, big band and cabaret arrangements sit well beside more minimal instrumentations and Gibbons conveying her trademark deepest of despairs chameleons gracefully into the changing landscapes. This is apparent very early on with the expansive John Barry-esque lushness of "Tom The Model". Following that number is the sparsely beautiful "Show" with its assembly of cello, flute, double bass and piano, and a vocal performance that echoes the emotional brittleness of Chet Baker's "My Funny Valentine". While she still often stirs up those Shirley Bassey-esque inflections as she did in Portishead, in our opinion, she's at her best without them. Refined and elegant. Recommended.
Here it is, the highly anticipated album from the voice of Portishead - Ms Beth Gibbons! Much like such artists as Joni Mitchell or Leonard Cohen, Gibbons possesses a timeless, immensely affecting voice that exists outside of passing fancies and dated trends. Out Of Season dispells any question of that, presenting a very different -perhaps more accessible- backdrop than that of Portishead, but a no less dramatic and fitting one. The former embodies a mysterious, complex and haunting otherworldliness, the latter is much more familiar, folkish and earthbound. But who is Rustin Man with whom Ms Gibbon's is collaborating, you might ask? Why he is the alter ego of her friend Paul Webb (formerly of Talk Talk). And we should also note the presence throughout this album of her Portishead comrade Adrian Utley in both performance and production mode. A great line-up, indeed. Grand orchestral, big band and cabaret arrangements sit well beside more minimal instrumentations and Gibbons conveying her trademark deepest of despairs chameleons gracefully into the changing landscapes. This is apparent very early on with the expansive John Barry-esque lushness of "Tom The Model". Following that number is the sparsely beautiful "Show" with its assembly of cello, flute, double bass and piano, and a vocal performance that echoes the emotional brittleness of Chet Baker's "My Funny Valentine". While she still often stirs up those Shirley Bassey-esque inflections as she did in Portishead, in our opinion, she's at her best without them. Refined and elegant. Recommended.
Not sure where the idea came from for this match up: Billy Gibbons of legendary boogie rock gods ZZ Top, and Bonnie Prince Billy, formerly of Palace Brothers. Was it the two Billy's thing? Could be. But then there's also the fact that both are covering Fleetwood Mac! Seemed kind of silly, and like a total novelty, but goddamn if both tracks here aren't pretty great.
Gibbons tackles an older Peter Green 'Mac track, back from when they were a proper blues band, and thus it suits him perfectly, a dirge-y swampy blues, driven by a simple rhythmic stomp, Gibbons' badass raspy vox, all slithery blooze stomp, and it sorta kills! BPB takes on a Stevie Nicks track, and it ends up sounding like it could have been a BPB original, all stripped down and mostly acoustic, gorgeous vocal harmonies, all building to a lush final few minutes, helps that it was already a beautiful song to begin with.
We really weren't too sure what to expect from this, the former drummer from Pennsylvania heavies Pearls & Brass gone country, which is nothing new really, plenty of rockers we dig have made solo records that were essentially country records, and it's not all that surprising that some dark introspective twang might lurk beneath much of the music we love. But what is new, is that this is not a 'dude with a guitar' country record, instead, it's more like 'a dude with a laptop, a drum machine and a sampler' country record! The twang here is often just implied, with the music a murky, swirling, layered loopscape of softly stuttering samples, but there's plenty of slippery lap steel, acoustic guitar and piano, all wreathed in electronic halos, drifting through lush expanses of softly reverbed electro-shimmer, the songs tethered to loping looped rhythms and shuffling programmed beats, the sounds washed out and shimmery, reminding us more of Magnetic Fields, Gibson's deep dramatic croon not all that far removed from Stephen Merritt's, in fact opener, "Bad Guys" definitely sounds like a countrified Magnetic Fields. "In The Beginning" adds some soulful vox, and Gibson ends up sounding more like Antony or Arthur Russell, and a looped vocal sample acts as background vox, a method used throughout the record, like on "Tiffany Lou" with what might just be a Jolie Holland vocal sample gets slowed down and looped, hip hop style into a murky chopped and screwed chorus.
Gibson often gets compared to James Blake, his approach to country similar to the Blake's take on soul music, but we might also mention Dirty Beaches' Elvis worshipping electro-rockabilly, which seems a much more apt reference, as Gibson's vocals definitely hew closer to the King a lot of the time, especially on tracks like "Lookin' Back on '99", which sounds like Elvis crooning along to a modernized version of some eighties TV theme, all hiss drenched chase scene propulsion, tense and cinematic. We also hear the influence of folks like John Maus and Ariel Pink, Gibson's sonic innovation similarly idiosyncratic, check out the title track, which closes the record which initially sounds like Portishead via Barry Adamson, but when the vocals come in becomes something more like James Ferraro collaborating with Ariel Pink on a theme for the next James Bond movie! Strange, dark, haunting stuff, a woozy, dreamily druggy late night electro-twang gem. Most definitely recommended for fans of Scott Walker, Arthur Russell, Magnetic Fields, James Blake, Dirty Beaches, Ariel Pink, & John Maus.
LIMITED TO 400 COPIES!!
We've been trying to review/list the recent full length from Daughn Gibson for a while now, but our suppliers are constantly out, which is not surprising, cuz the rest of the world must be as smitten as we are by Gibson's weird electro-country, traveling a similar sonic path as Dirty Beaches, but where DB reinvents Elvis style rockabilly electronically, Gibson does the same with country ballads, looping voices and soul snippets and creating dark haunting electronic country soul ballads, driven by Gibson's deep cowboy vocals. The weirdest part is that he was actually the drummer for heavy rockers Pearl And Brass, which makes electro-country side even more of a surprise. But until we can get copies of the full length, this new 7" will have to tide you over, the A side draping Daughn's deep snarly vox over swirling looped strings, and subtly sampled soul snippets, all infused with a dark country twang, it's not until the end that the song really reveals itself as a strange electronic studio concoction, with layered looped background vocals coming to the fore. The B side is a dark sultry country ballad, again super subtly looped and sampled, only close listening reveals the strangely disparate elements, otherwise it plays like some long lost honky tonky jukebox ballad. Nice!
We've long been fans of weirdo murk merchants Net Shaker, a duo who traffic in twisted Starfuckers style abstractions and echo drenched downtempo 'electronica', but of a sort you've likely never heard. Warped, and woozy, fractured, and gloriously fucked up. Well, Ernest Gibson, one half of Net Shaker struck out on his own, and delivered two cd-r's, both equaling the balls out weirdness of the Net Shaker mothership, but definitely digging a little deeper, although as we mentioned in our review of the most recent cd-r, the sound is not that far removed from Net Shaker, so much so, that at one point it had us mistakenly assuming Net Shaker was in fact just Gibson anyway. Apologies to the other half of Net Shaker! But fans of Net Shaker, and either of those two cd-r's will not be disappointed with Island Records, which begins with probably the most 'rocking' jam we've heard from Gibson or Net Shaker, all churning loping rhythm, detuned swamp guitar, mumbled FX drenched vox, and reverby twang, it sort of sounds like a more minimalist Woven Hand, it's got a similar swagger, a creepy apocalyptic vibe, but it's way more smeared and blurry and indistinct, the krautrock vibe is huge, super motorik and mesmerizing, it's the sort of thing we could listen to forever. It actually also reminds us of that Tony Conrad / Faust collaboration, but again, a bit more druggy and warped.
And while we'd like to say the rest of the record follows suit, it really doesn't, the sound does remain echo-y and swampy, reverby and darkly psychedelic, but the songs themselves seem to deconstruct before our very ears, sprawling into oozing expanses of jittery skitter, and moaning guitar thrum, bleary, baffling, slo-mo blooze-y stomp. There's lost of abstract drift, like disembodied pop songs via Nurse With Wound, all creaking and shimmering, crystalline sonic structures seemingly melting and crumbling in slow motion, the songs like time lapse recordings of these psychedelic implosions.
That krautrock vibe does surface throughout, "Groupwork" is like Moon Duo on thorazine, and "All Of Us Together" is like a slightly souped up Suicide, but in-between, rubbery basslines billow into clouds of slo-mo thrum, thick, twang guitar hovers over garbled vox and dense textural swirls and chordal swells, with some tracks delving into full on dub territory, but then it's like some sort of Spacemen 3 via the Scientist as re-envisioned by the Climax Golden Twins, warped and woozy and seriously sonically wonderful.
Includes a download code!
What a pleasant surprise. It's not at all rare to get a new record from a gentle folky singer songwriter these days, but what is rare is when one creates music this immediately pleasing and soft on the ears. With a fragile and intimate vibe, this album has the same kind of charm that made us fall in love with Jolie Holland when we first heard her. With labelmates Norfolk & Western on board as her backing band, Gibson and Co. utilize saw, vibraphones, mandolin and banjo, creating the perfect sonic moments. Gibson's enticing voice makes us think of an even dreamier Karen Dalton or a more rustic Hanne Hukkelberg. While Hush is best known as the Portland label that first put out Decemberists records, this gem by Laura Gibson is the new jewel in their crown we think!!
Oops, dragged our asses a bit on this one! It came out back in August 2006. Ah well, better late than never. Funny thing is this South London band's second album *sounds* as if it was released much longer ago than that... oh , like maybe over a decade ago! Characterized by angular guitars, distempered male vocals and a boiling cauldron rhythm section, Giddy Motors' churning sound is a familiar one to those of us born before 1977ish. Authentically recalling the angst and aggression of their forefathers Jesus Lizard, Cows, Die Kreuzen and The Fall, Giddy Motors' Do Easy could easily be mistaken for a long lost, late '80s / early '90s release on Amphetamine Reptile or Touch & Go. Pissed, scarred and raw.
This is kinda like a lot of those tough, angular Touch & Go type bands from the late '80s, plus a bit of that oh-so-now dancey post-punk, and a heaping spoonful of the Pop Group via the Birthday Party as channelled through the Jesus Lizard, topped off with a big dose of extra testosterone. At first I thought I'd try to like it, being, as it is, similar to many of the skronky and confrontational bands I love, but then I was like, "nah."
By all accounts, this double LP of pure brutality finds the Canadian noise outfit The Rita remixing source sounds from Brooklyn noise king Carlos Giffoni and vice versa. In the press release for this album, The Rita's Sam McKinlay offers a cogent argument about the aesthetic differences which stem from The Rita's 'dirty' methods of overdriving sound through daisy-chains of pedals contrasted against Carlos Giffoni's pulsing synths which cruise beneath the turbulent noise surfaces. While there are some notable differences on both of these pieces of vinyl, they are secondary to the overwhelmingly harsh noise which persists throughout. This is all about the noise, and this noise is an abject, blackened sound which has the feeling of particulate soot from a very dirty coal power plant given to the force of a sandblaster used not on a brickwall, but your eardrums to penetrate as a viral agent. On occasion, thicker chunks enter this jet-powered stream of sound, smashing against each other like massive sheets of shattering glass. The first of the two LPs uses these sounds within a series of erratic compositions that gradually build to cut-the-power conclusions. The second LP unleashes the flood gates from beginning to end with very little variation to the punishment. In both cases, it's still all about the quality of that noise, as an extremely aggressive tool of harsh, ugly, vile blackness. Limited to 300 copies!
Doug Hilsinger is one talented fellow. On his own, he's remade the entire Brian Eno album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) with Caroleen Beatty on vocals. Together they're two fifths of SF smoky twang combo Waycross. He's also played with numerous local and international artists. Plus he was previously in two other great Bay Area bands... namely Bomb and the creators of this here album, Gifthorse, a heavy prog/psych/metal band who rocked the bay area from 1991 through 1996, and perhaps as referenced in the title, this was their first full length. Absolutely tight and powerful instrumental hard rock! If you dig the Fucking Champs, why don't ya let their elder Bay Area brethren rip your head off too... in a good way!
WONDERUL! Japanese-only reissue of the third Gil album (also known as the self titled Gilberto Gil album), originally issued by Brazilian Polydor in 1969. Mutantes fans hungering for more should not skip this gem, and who knows how long it will be available to us so buy now or cry later.
"Every bit as in the zone as Gal's epochal '69 testament; musta been something in the Bahian water that year! The Brazilian military dictatorship of the time didn't know what the fuck to make of these records, but they knew they were plenty subversive & placed Gilberto & Caetano Veloso (don't sleep on his '69 White Album either, even though it's never been as hard to find as these two) under house arrest before exiling them for several years. Lanny, again, provides some of the most psychedelic guitarwork the world has ever known & studio wiz Rogerio Duprat outdoes himself on the almost-Dockstadteresque 'Objeto Semi-Identificado'. There's even a Mutantes cover ('2001' or 'Dois Mil e Uno') which out-freaks the original! ... This was Gil's third album, and second in the Tropicálist style. I've yet to hear a bad one from him..." -- Tropicalia expert Jason Witherspoon in the (Forced Exposure catalog [http://www.forcedexposure.com/])
Originally released in 1972, Expresso 2222 was Gilberto Gil's first recording after his two year exile in London. The record opens with a truly riveting, playful, and festive flute and drum instrumental, that harkens to the ceremonial flute music of the Andes. Sadly, it's the last stylistic foray on the record into the spiritual heights of the high mountain tops, but for those uninitiated, let it be the delectable hors d'oeuvre that sends you on your hunt for more. Luckily what is to come is by far one of the greatest statements in popular Brazilian music of the '60s and '70s. When the second track rolls in, we're thrust back, deep into the midst of a more archetypical Tropicalia sound, though the movement itself was considered to be properly dead at that point. It is clear Gil is looking to Africa for inspiration more than classic American '60s rock and roll and pop, a hallmark of the Tropicalia movement. In all cases however, Gil continuously mines funky indigenous rhythms and melodies, and reinvigorates them with a contemporary urgency. Gil's vocal delivery is always vividly commanding, with plenty of flare and pomp alongside a general purity of form and intention. Gil's frantic guitar playing is a true feat to behold and always rich in craft. Anyone who hasn't spent a little time watching Gil shred in his prime on YouTube should do themselves a favor, it is a real pleasure, and frankly a gift. Gil's supporting cast is in fine form as well on this outing with Tutty Moreno providing crisp, inventive drumming and Lanny Gordin delivering a great chugging and supple bass performance. The production is not as wild or intensely psychedelic as Gil's most immediately previous records at that point in his career, generally emphasizing clarity and separation ahead of the sometimes schizophrenically boisterous psychedelia he also dabbled in. Perhaps the record's most luminous moment occurs on "Cada Macaco No Seu Galho," wherein Gil and sometime collaborator Caetano Veloso launch into a frenetic and roiling duet over one of the most gorgeously sturdy yet lyrical Latin guitar riffs ever recorded. Seriously, go there.
Don't let the English-sung lyrics deter you from getting one of Gilberto Gil's finest Tropicalia recordings. Recently reissued in a more affordable version by the Water label, here Gil revisits some of his most popular songs such as "Volkswagen Blues" and "Nega", as well as one some great cover versions of Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home" and The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band". Full of the exuberant singing and fuzz electric guitar as showcased on his previous record, Cerebro Electronico, this record is pretty damn Great!
Finally available domestically, Cerebro Electronico (Also known as s/t (1969)), is Gilberto Gil's most wild and exciting Tropicalia outing. Mutantes fans hungering for more should not skip this gem. If Gal Costa's 1969 psych-fuzz groove album floated your boat, get ready for this. Another raucous and wild slab of political subversion that later caused his and Caetano Velosos house arrest and subsequent political exile for many years. Featuring some of the most psychedelic guitarwork the world has ever known, studio wiz Rogerio Duprat outdoes himself on the almost-Dockstadteresque 'Objeto Semi-Identificado'. There's even a Mutantes cover ('2001' or 'Dois Mil e Uno') which out-freaks the original! And some fucking awesome whistling on "Volks Volkswagon Blue." Those unsure of where to start on Gilberto Gil's long musical career should begin right here! Highly Recommended.
Gilberto Gil's Frevo Rasgado is as true an archetypal expression of Tropicalia as one is going to find. As is always more or less the case with defining a genre, some portion of the mental gymnastics hinges on construction and projection. As humans trying to categorize things we like, we often blur the edges and collapse differences in service of our desire to be able to declare unequivocally: "I like Alternative!" Or Shitgaze, or Go-Go, or whatever crackpot concoction you've got brewing. So, all that said, this record does an incredibly good job of presenting a thorough and accessible example of a genre that is surprisingly elusive, now 40 years past its zenith. And perhaps what makes it elusive is the breadth of influence it incorporates, mixing bossa nova, rock and roll, Bahian folk music, myriad African forms, and even a brand of Portuguese blues called fado. The pastiche is so rich in fact that it's pretty easy to lose track of the ingredients in the blend. A good pair of headphones will certainly help you tease the detail out of the auxiliary percussion tucked under the horn section, or pull a thread of whistling out of a dense flute section. For those inclined towards this kind of sonic excavation, this record is a true pleasure.
But enough hemming and hawing about genre, because this record is much more. It's a gorgeous collision between two of Brazil's greatest auteurs. Gil, the once exiled pop star with more than 20 records under his belt, and the current Minister of Culture in Brazil, head to head with Rogario Duprat, something of a Tropicalian Phil Spector, and undeniably� a fucking wizard. And both are in fine form, confident in their skills, expansive in their vision, technically inventive, and generally charming. Many of the melodies and the phrasings will be familiar to anyone whose spent time with the rest of the Rogario Duprat catalogue, especially A Banda Tropicalista Do Duprat, another classic from '68. However, Frevo Rasgado shows Gil also exploring a moodier and more atmospheric terrain. In particular the tracks "Ele Falava Nisso Todo Dia" and "Luzia Luluza" balance Gil's typically boisterous and winning vocal approach with a pensive, rainy-day production and arrangement aesthetic resulting in a sweet and sour treat you don't find often. Their sentimental gravitas is absolutely the stuff of soundtracks. Grab it before Wes Anderson does so you can have the pleasure of imagining or living the magic, before its potential is fixed in celluloid. Frevo Rasgodo is less of a guitar record than some of Gil's other records. Instead the many and varied horns, flutes, strings, and percussive ephemera drape the song structures in counterpoint, drawing your attention to the far reaches of what each song's core could imply. It's in this distance perhaps that the magic lies. Between whatever spare version of a song Gil first cooked up, and the spacious context and gallant style Duprat places it in. Anyone whose imagination has been piqued in regards to '60s and '70s Brazilian music by the likes of Animal Collective or Devendra Banhart should spend time with this record and uncover the origins. It's a full spectrum gift that keeps on giving.
One of the earliest releases from the nascent 4AD label, issued in late 1980, 3R4 marked one of many facets to the structuralist experiments of Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis. Those two had parted ways with the other half of Wire in 1979, bringing forth a deluge of exemplary projects of adventurous post-punk including Dome, Duet Emmo, and Cupol, with this album being one of the few things ascribed to their birth names. It follows relatively closely - or rather as closely as one could - to the deconstructionist approach to the song espoused by Dome, with angular mechanical noises, tape loop miasma, psychological-drone slumber, and flanged noise engineering. The pastoral swell that grounds the first half of "3.4" could very easily have been the inspiration for William Basinski's baroque anthology of crumbling tape loops, through a languid melodic fragment whose origins could hail from a similarly decontextualized Muzak via slow-motion pitchshifting. It's quite a stately progression that takes a rather lumbering turn upon the introduction of a series of tape loops of orchestral flourishes, wooden rhythms, and a hypnotic lurch that tumbles out from Lewis' bass. The flipside "R" builds on a rhythmic interplay between two chiming sets of guitars glides from urban gamelan grittiness to flanged tape loop exploration with a drone-on dubbiness that easily parallels the anti-rock stupor of This Heat's posthumous album Repeat. Another necessary reissue from Superior Viaduct!
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THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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"Some people obsessively collect all of the records by Stereolab, I collect all the things on Drone Records (the label run by Stefan Knapp of Maeror Tri) and Sahko (the exceptional Finnish label that is home of Panasonic and Miko Vainio's Philus and O). While this may not be the best piece of electronic warblings I've ever heard, I'll admit to being a sucker and having to get it. Gilbert (who later went on to form Wire) and West improvised two lengthy pieces on analogue synths and tape loops way back in 1974." - Jim the Sahko / Drone freak.
Rev-Ola brings us the sweet summer breeze early this year by reissuing this pop-jazz gem from Astrud Gilberto. Famous for her refreshingly lackadaisical vocal debut on Stan Getz's "The Girl from Ipanema", September 17, 1969 marks her last recording date with the Verve label (released in America as "Let Go", with a different song order), as the Bossa Nova craze that had invaded America since the mid-sixties was waning. Filled with more contemporary covers than Brazilian standards, including songs by the Bee Gees, The Beatles, The Doors and Harry Nilsson, the album's standout track is the eight minute opener, a cover of Chicago's "Beginnings", a beat-heavy groover that fans of Wax Poetics will drool over. But the Brazilian cuts are still strong with "Let Go (Canto de Ossanha)" popularized by Elis Regina, being a return to the soft samba vibe that made Gilberto famous. It'll be easy to cringe at some of the more obvious pop interpretations like "Light My Fire", but most of the time her choices work. It's better to think of it like this: without Astrud Gilberto, there would be no Nouvelle Vague!
Yes, we've been a little out of seasonal sorts what with the extra early daylight savings time this year, but we truly know that spring is in full bloom by the arrival of the bright and breezy third album from Bebel Gilberto. It's a definite charmer for fans old and new. A particularly hot one-two punch comes at the album's midpoint when Gilberto turns on a dime from the groovy thumpin' finish of "Cacada" to the gentle wispy beauty of "Night And Day". Effortlessy captivating.
Wow! if you've a penchant for rustic melancholia richly rooted in American country folk traditions, don't miss this new SF quintet's debut album. Although these days The Gilded Rooks are a full band of five, for these recordings which were captured in Nashville, TN, the band leaders Jessy Brown and Devon Angus were backed by locals Red White Blue. From the sounds of things, they got along smashingly well. The performances are terrific!, so easy-going and relaxed, you can easily imagine that they've been playing together for years. Scarecrow's Pockets is wonderfully drowsy and withery in mood and tempo. Brown's honeyed lilt and Angus' considerably more bristly, Waits-tinged delivery play off one another beautifully. The band tastefully embellishes the core guitar, bass and drums with piano, lap steel and organ, as well as surprise appearances of bright horns and a ghostly whisper of musical saw - all while still maintaining plenty of space to allow the duo's vocals to truly take flight. Each of the dozen songs is burnished to a mellow, whisky hued glow. Very warm and inviting despite the plaintive tones. Highlights are the opening title track, "31 Pages (Of Country Music)", and the closing "Joan Of Arc Of Bernal Hill". Along with the ten originals, they transform Jules Shear's "All Through The Night" (popularized by Cyndi Lauper) into a sweet shadowy lullaby, and also do a terrific rendition of Richard Thompson's "Walkin' On A Wire". Recommended!
Delightful, somewhat melancholy pop-psych with jazz and folk flavorings from this obscure pre-King Crimson outfit. (Michael) Giles, (Peter) Giles & (Robert) Fripp released an LP on Decca in 1968 that was not a commercial success (not too surprising since their label described them in press materials as "one of countless groups who have come to London with the vain hope of making good" -- a style of humor that may have backfired on this Monty Python-esque looking group). Undaunted (well, perhaps somewhat daunted), the trio carried on, building a primitive home studio in their flat at 93a Brondesbury Road and turning out quite a few amazingly well-done tracks with just a second-hand Revox F36 stereo tape recorder and some old microphones and a makeshift mixer. These songs appear on this cd for the first time (mostly). There's some really lovely stuff here, much of which benefits from the presence of ex-Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble (Fairport's pre-Sandy Denny female vocalist) and her musical cohorts, songwriting partners Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. These three met up with the GG&F trio via a Melody Maker ad, and, aside from these long-lost tapes, eventually made rock and roll history when McDonald and lyricist Sinfield became part of King Crimson along with Fripp, Michael Giles, and Greg Lake, for that group's groundbreaking "In The Court of The Crimson King" debut. So, one audience for this "Brondesbury Tapes" cd would certainly be Crimson fans curious about the origins of that band. True Crim heads will recognize some of their material here in early form. But, you'll find nothing like "21st Century Schizoid Man". This is a fine record in its own right, more pop than prog, both eerie and whimsical, demonstrating both Beatles and Beach Boys influences, and incorporating UK folk-psych sounds that of course recall both Fairport and the more gentle, pastoral stuff done by early Crimson. Quite nice! And, actually, quite a bit better than Decca's offical Giles, Giles & Fripp release, if only because it doesn't suffer from Fripp's silly/annoying narration all throughout (another bit of British humor that didn't really work for GG&F). The liner notes provide a detailed history of the group and, from Peter Giles, details of their multi-track recording methods (layering overdubs by bouncing tracks back and forth on a 2-track machine) complete with schematic charts illustrating the process. He's rightly proud of what they managed to accomplished, back in the days before home studios were commonplace.
Ooh La La! Foolish Season is one of those rare pop-psych treasures that actually exceeds the expectations stirred by its delicious and mystical cover art. So often we have been burned after seeing some lost record from the '60s or '70s that looks like it's going to be the best record ever, complete with cryptic and captivating artwork, filled with unicorns, sunshine, and band members dressed in nothing but white robes. But then when we listen to the record it turns out to be nothing more than ho-hum middle of road faux-psychedelic rock often with less than desirable vocals.
But every once in a while we actually find a record that lives up to the expectation of its amazing artwork, and Foolish Seasons is one of them! Gillespie adorns the cover in a beautifully embroidered robe, standing beside a white horse, on a bleached out sun-soaked afternoon. Inside we find more great photos of Dana in all her voluptuous and curvy beauty. But most importantly from the first time we pressed play on Foolish Season we were hooked big time! This is truly one of the best lite-psych records we've ever come across. Infectious orchestrated pop with Dana's warm and inviting vocals. We started thinking of Nancy Sinatra collaborating with The Free Design or if somehow Scott Walker as arranger for Dusty Springfield in the late '60s. With songs written by Donovan, Billy Nichols, Michel Polnareff as well as herself, Gillespie perfectly tapped into the magic of bright, bold and breezy orchestral pop done so right. Highly recommended!
One of two new releases on the reinvigorated Flying Nun label, recently reactivated (apparently repurchased by the label's founder) who besides repressing many of the label's classics, is also signing new bands, the shoegazy punky pop trio Die! Die! Die!, whose latest record is reviewed elsewhere on this week's list, and Grayson Gilmour, whose fifth full length is fast becoming a big hit around these parts. A lush collection of soaring layered orchestral pop, dreamy melodies, fantastic arrangements, shades of long time aQ faves like Zumpano, Cardinal, High Llamas, as well as Beach Boys, XTC, Sufjan Stevens. Grayson is a classically trained pianist, plays most of the instruments himself, has a crystal clear voice, and has a knack for sweeping majesty and epic pop bombast.
"Loose Change" is an instant classic, woozy piano melodies, smoldering big builds, those gorgeous vocals, a killer hook, the production lush and rife with odd filigree (xylophone, cello), and a seriously soaring emotional coda. It was tough for us to make it past that song, we found ourselves listening to it over and over and over, but once we did, the whole record is just as good, perfect pop assembled from flurries of piano, bell like melodies, tinkling chimes, layered vocal harmonies, intricate drumming, soaring strings, Reich like repetition, gorgeous lush production (especially considering much of this was recorded in bedrooms and "Mum's house"), the songs slipping easily from hushed moody ballad to crashing epic heartfelt pop. Fantastic!
You should have seen some of us jumping with joy (literally!) when we finally got this in stock a few weeks back. And we wanted to list it immediately but it's take us until now to get enough copies! Gina X Performance were a totally ahead of their time electro-pop outfit outta Germany who formed at the end of the 1970's. Nice Mover was their first and best album. Essentially the collaboration between Zeus B. Held, a musician and producer who was getting way bored with the stale world of rock at the time and was seeking to create some cold, dark and sexy electronic based music, and his perfect partner in crime Gina Kikoine, who had a background in art-history and was leaning heavily toward the avant-garde. Together they sounded like Giorgio Moroder and Kraftwerk hooking up with Grace Jones in the middle of the night at a dark seedy club in Berlin. Such the perfect late night record for those nights that you are feelin' a lil' dirty, a lil' sassy and lot up to no good.
When Pam in mailorder heard this for the first time she thought it sounded like the best kind of "slutty dracula-music!" or the soundtrack to early '80s cult-favorite Liquid Sky. Gina X were the prototype of riot grrl and electroclash. Musically it's that gettin' you so hot by being so cold, with Gina singing queer-positive lyrics about gender bending. there's even a song dedicated to Quentin Crisp. You can't help but hear Gina X Performance in the sounds that would come almost 25 years after from the likes of Tracy & The Plastics, Chicks On Speed, Goldfrapp, Adult, Solex, and Ladytron. Also if you loved that great So Young But So Cold comp as much as we do then this is pretty essential listening as well! Those of us who DJ know that sometimes all you have to do is put on "Nice Mover" or "No G.D.M." and immediately all the wild and sexy dancers will hit the dancefloor all flushed and feverish!
This lo-fi. electronically-damaged, synthesizer-diseased new wave punk rock band from New Orleans with perhaps the best punning band name EVER (for a synth punk band, anyway!) is back with their debut full-length LP, after a couple of great singles on Goner. They blurt out distorted, primitive keyboard-laced, drum-machine-driven gobs of punky downer-pop with wasted-sounding, snotty vocals on such tracks as "Get Murdered By A Robot", "I Ain't Doing So Hot" (we believe it) and "Beat Up The West Coast" (hey!). The last 7" we reviewed by them, "Lazer Lord", garnered the following comment from us, which applies here too to these eleven new tracks: "Stupid in a good way, like the name Giorgio Murderer". And by stupid in a good way, we mean, another track here, one of a few instrumentals, is called "Theme From Bill And Ted Vs. Grey Goo". Definitely awesome, especially for fans of good ol' Six Finger Satellite, or maybe imagine an eerie, down-on-their-luck, strung-out-on-drugs Devo.
RECORD STORE DAY 2015!!
Maybe not what most folks were looking for on Record Store Day, but WE thought it was cool that this brilliantly named synth/noise/punk groop put out a special RSD release. Theirs is a brilliant name not just 'cause we like dumb puns, but also 'cause they sound EXACTLY like what a band called Giorgio Murderer should sound like. We loved their previous "Primitive World" single, also on Goner, and this is more of that distorted, synth-laden raw punk beat and blurt, with wastoid, foul-mouthed vocals and some stupidly loud, simple keyboard melodies. Stupid in a good way, like the name Giorgio Murderer.
Plus you have to love the fine print on the back cover: "The name 'Giorgio Murderer', Giorgio Murderer's likeness, and the concept that there is a person named Giorgio Murderer all appear courtesy of Giorgio Murderer. All rights reserved." So there.
Being a Record Store Day release, of course, it's limited.
Just when you thought all the bad pun band names had already been taken (Cream Abdul Babar, Earl Greyhound, Cerebral Ballzy), along comes the delightfully/ridiculously monikered Giorgio Murderer. Clever! And their name is actually kinda appropriate to their sound: lo-fi garage synth blurt, all distorted electronics, tick tick ticking drum machine beats, and sneering snotty vocals. There's four songs on this 7", including one that's a 'cover / homage / tribute / re-enactment' of the skit "Studio Time" by hiphop group Three 6 Mafia, featuring lots of sampled gunfire and dogs barking. However, our fave track here has gotta be the downer anthem "Nobody Likes You".
Apparently Giorgio Murderer is a side project of New Orleans punks Buck Biloxi and The Fucks, but we'd say quit the day job and concentrate on Giorgio Murderer, both 'cause we like the music AND the name.
At one time, the collaborative project between Michael Gira (Angels of Light / Swans) and Dan Matz (Windsor For The Derby) was called Ourselves, but the two had opted against that in favor of their names. While this may be a silly semantic decision, it
As a means of generating some income to help finance the studio time for Angels Of Light recordings, Michael Gira produced two cds that he sold exclusively through his Young God website and featured material that he recorded alone in his office with just a microphone and acoustic guitar. Many of these songs from those two discs (called Solo Recordings From Home and I Am Singing To You From My Room) had gone on to be incorporated into the Angels Of Light repertoire. By all accounts, those two self-released discs are long gone... and may never get reissued, in fact. However, Lumberton Trading convinced Gira to compile the choice moments from those two discs on the vinyl only Songs For A Dog. To insure that even the die-hard Swans / Angels Of Light fans will pick this up, Gira has tossed in a couple of unreleased tracks that didn't appear on those aforementioned discs. There's also a couple of nods to Gira's time wrangling Swans as the track "God Damn The Sun" (from Swans' Burning World album) and "God's Servant" (which was in rotation for late Swans live gigs, only to be reworked as an Angels Of Light tune). Expect jagged edges to Gira's downer folk which has been getting strangely cheery in recent years... and also expect this to disappear rather quickly, as it's a pretty limited pressing.
Hot stuff! The liner notes for this soundtrack suggest that the movie, which paired the ultra sexy Marianne Faithfull with the equally irresistible Alain Delon, fell "somewhere between fetish and fantasy" and we'd venture to say that this soundtrack does too. Sooo perfectly '60s - bringing together the grand orchestra and the rock band! There's the expressive horns that frolic, chuckle, taunt and weep... the glorious strings and woodwinds that sweep you around a dancefloor or along an open road... oh and let's not forget the funky noodly electric guitars and keyboards. Now, punctuated the proceedings with some thunderous timpani drums, some enchanting Cleo Laine and Mireille Mathieu vocals and yes, some ambient sounds from the film itself like the roar of a motorcycle! Super sexy and stylin'. If you dig hip '60s flicks, this soundtrack and the movie is totally for you. To boot, the insert is a cool six-panel foldout of the movie's original poster!
It's been a while since a San Francisco pop band has gotten the kind of national attention that Girls are receiving although in the case of Girls, we have to say it's totally well deserved! The timing couldn't be more perfect for some totally unabashed romantic, wide eyed soaring pop. Recently most of the pop we've been digging on is so much about its lo-fi aesthetic and somewhat detached disposition, so it's super refreshing to hear a band who really understand the power of a song, and who also display a really nice sonic range that turns and flows so perfectly throughout their record. Girls kind of make you want to be a twenty something dreamer for the rest of your life. They conjure images of running through the streets at night with a bottle of wine and no cares, a ratty old shirt, a tattered heart but an unrelenting smile plastered on your face. No doubt many of the songs here will conjure images of those early Elvis Costello records that are so undeniable in their universal appeal.
While so many records have been made in tribute, love, admiration and under the influence of New York City, it's so nice for those of us here in San Francisco to get a record that really does feel like an absolute product of the city we live in. Laying in the grass in Dolores Park, taking that special someone to the top of Bernal Heights, getting lost in the fog of the Outer Sunset... We've listened to this record so much as we ride the bus and walk the streets and hills of SF and we just can't think of a better soundtrack to remind us of how magical this city really is. But not to fear, no matter where you live, this is an album that gives so much as it taps into universal feelings of yearning and bittersweet triumph with such ease and undying conviction. Get with Girls!
For all the hype and publicity that has surrounded Girls, its easy to lose sight that why so many, including us have fallen so hard for these guys (Girls?), is that they write such earnest, endearing and moving songs that have a kind of pure emotional honesty that just doesn't come along in music that often.
We first heard a couple of these songs over a year ago when Girls performed very stripped down versions for the first time on Irwin's radio show Sleeves On Hearts on KUSF. And what makes Christopher Owens such an amazing songwriter is that his songs can be delivered totally bare bones or fleshed out with full production and both ways they still hit to the core. These new songs introduce a delightful twang and bittersweet elegance to the already wide scope of sonic terrain that Girls cover within their songs. Tracks like "Oh So Protective One" and "Broken Dreams Club" have a melancholic southwest charm that makes us think of some of our favorite Giant Sand records, or if Calexico teamed up with Elvis Costello in his prime. With beautiful horn arrangements, and a very talented cast of players, including one of our favorite and most unsung talents of San Francisco, Ara Anderson backing them up, this record finds Girls growing in such exciting ways.
There is still the exuberance and wide eyed wonder that made listening to their debut such a thrilling experience, but there is a depth and truth inside each of these songs that is just further proof that Girls are no of-the-moment fad, but instead a wildly talented band who will make beautiful and moving music for a long time to come! (And although this is an "ep", it's actually about 30 minutes long, longer than some Captured Tracks "full-lengths", haha.)
It sounds funny to say, but Girls really are a perfect all-American pop band! Not all-American in some cliche, red, white and blue way, but instead their songs and spirit really do capture the landscape, spirit and emotions that all of us share on a daily basis. They unleash their songs, heart fully on sleeve, oozing with guts and bravado that you never doubt, even for a moment. It's hard to talk about or describe what it means to be the real thing, but Christopher Owen's songwriting and delivery is the real thing. His songs are honest, sad, funny, bratty, brave, vulnerable and sincere. When you listen to this new album by Girls you can tell this is music being made not just as hobby or for fun, but that this is what gets him to keep on moving and living every day. So much music being made right now is so too concerned with sounding cool, or hinting at all the right references, but Girls make no apologies for just wanting to be one of the greatest pop/rock bands on the planet.�
While there are those wonderful tender and slow moments on the album that Girls deliver so well, this for sure finds them at their most epic and rocking. We hear their love of so much great classic rock come out during different moments in these songs, whether it's a Fleetwood Mac like melody, mid '70s Pink Floyd sprawling guitar complete with back-up gospel vocals, some Deep Purplish lyrics, or Big Star power pop phrasing, all interwoven into their already unmistakable sound.�Some of us had never made the connection before, but there are times when Christopher's vocals recall another amazing songwriter with a heavy and beautiful heart, Elliott Smith.�When the songs are slower and more stripped down, they can stop you in your tracks, goosebumps all over, as sentiments of extreme yearning sizzle to the surface. Yet alongside the heartache there is an undercurrent of self-endurance and triumph that rings through these songs. Once again, Girls brings us to glory!
While they last, the lp version (not the cd, sorry) we have comes with a bonus flexi-disc!!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Super limited edition 10" from Girls featuring their epic track "Hellhole Ratrace" a song that has proven to be the perfect gateway drug, as most folks first taste of the deliciously romantic pop that the guys in Girls create. If you haven't heard this song yet then by all means make sure you grab this as it really is one of the most heartfelt and achingly bittersweet songs in a very long time. The kind of song that gives you butterflies and goosebumps every time you hear it. The 'b' side is a song called "Solitude" that is not on the full length. Only 500 of these were pressed so act now or you know....
One of things we love most about local boys Girls, is their celebration and appreciation of THE SONG, and specifically THE SINGLE. They first caught our attention with the life affirming single Hellhole Ratrace, and after the release of their amazing full length here's another killer single, with a brand new song as the B-side. This time out "Laura" from the album gets singled out, which is great cuz we already loved that song, so it was the B-side we were anxious to hear and "Oh Boy" is one of the dreamiest, warm and warbly Girls songs yet! Like My Bloody Valentine doing a '60s heartache girl group broken hearted lament.
It continues to blow our mind that every time we hear a new song from Girls it makes us fall in love with them all over again. It's just a few days away from Valentines Day when Girls will be playing here and we can't think of a better band to celebrate hearts on sleeves and broken hearts that still beat brightly than an evening with Girls.
While usually we wouldn't say a pressing of one thousand 7"s is all that limited, with the massive popularity of these Girls in the last year odds are these are sure to disappear pretty quick.
With Valentine's Day just a couple weeks away, this fancy one-sided heart shaped single from Girls will be the perfect way to tell that special someone you dig them a lot, or more appropriately in the spirit of Girls, you should get it for yourself and lament the love that you have lost or you wish for but can never have.
"Lawrence" is dedicated to Lawrence Hayard, the frontman of Felt, and what an awesome dedication and tribute it is as this song has the same kind of languid and hazy daydream glow of so many of our favorite Felt songs. It's not a cover, but instead a way for Christopher Owens to show his gratitude and love to someone who has played such a big influence on his music making.
Quite possibly the most beautiful Girls song to date. We've been spinning this heart over and over since we got it in, and don't expect to stop any time soon...
When we gushed about how much we love the Girls debut full length last list, we talked about how much of a San Francisco record it was. Paying homage and being influenced by this great city we are lucky enough to live in. So it's more then fitting that this new single that features the great lead off track "Lust For Life" from the full length, offers a non-album track on the B side called "Life In San Francisco". The song really does perfectly demonstrate how much this city has shaped and informed the wonderful and romantic vision Girls create with their music. One of those songs that sounds as good whether it's crisp and sunny out or for those wet gray days we know are on the horizon. Never sure how long singles stay in print these days so best to grab one of these before you say oh how I wish I had......
I'd really hoped that GVSB's return to the rock arena after such a long absence would kick some serious ass with their crunchy, sinewy guitars and trademark sultry rasp vocals. Instead, what we get is something that sounds sort of like lead vocalist Scott McCloud doin' his best Mark E. Smith impression. Weird! In the mid-'90s, they unleashed Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby and Cruise Yourself, their first two releases on Touch & Go. A pair of hot, angstful and sexy full lengths. Since then they've gone through their fair share of major label entanglements and a few less than stellar albums (on which they sounded like slick, hollow GVSB replicas), but now that they've found a new label home on Jade Tree, is this a fresh start? Not quite. Although this is definitely much better than their last effort Freak-o-nica, it still pales in comparison to the aforementioned albums.
We were psyched by the debut ep of Girls At Dawn released on Captured Tracks nearly a year ago and are thus now doubly psyched to finally see their full length debut. Surely, unless you've been hiding under a rock, you must have noticed that there's a huge girl group revival thing going on, a lot of it spurred on by the great Captured Tracks label: Grass Widow, Wet Dog, and Aias to name but a few. But Girls At Dawn have carved out their own special niche. Where bands like the Dum Dum Girls mine the sixties Phil Spector / Shangri-las / Ronnettes sound and groups like Wet Dog and Grass Widow channel late seventies post-punk bands The Slits and The Raincoats, The Girls At Dawn have been exploring the eighties/sixties paisley underground sound of bands like The Pandoras, Strawberry Switchblade and The Bangles, as well as one of our favorite bands from back in the day, Fuzzbox. Girls At Dawn manage to apply a coat of strawberry-scented psych gloss to their lo-fi DIY ethos with punchy short songs (the longest track is 2:36) and sweet pop charm.
