MP3

Town Hall: Sticky Notes & Paper Scraps

Here Comes The Flood — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:28:00 GMT

Pastoral folk with luscious harmonies from Brooklyn. Town Hall have just released their second EP Sticky Notes & Paper Scraps. They recorded at Mason Jar Music, a studio that goes analog in a digital age. This old school approach fit their tunes like a glove. They brought in some friends to handle percussion, brass, woodwinds and strings to add texture, but they focus on their core qualities: acoustic guitar and harmonizing. Phoebe Ryan and Stefan Weiner share lead vocal duties, keeping it intimate and turning it up when they step up to the mike for a duet.

A full-length will be released on March 12. Recommended if you like Kingsley Flood and Richard Thompson

Town Hall:
Stefan Weiner: vocals, mandolin
Phoebe Ryan: vocals, omnichord, guitar
Jesse Kranzler: guitar, banjo

Sticky Notes & Paper Scraps is a self-released album. Buy it (pay-what-you-want) from the band's website.

Tracks:

Just Watching My Breath
Alright
Pandora
Mary A. Longden
Charlie

Mary A. Longden by Town Hall

Live date:

02/23 NYU’s Ultra Violet Live, New York, NY @ Skirball Center

Town Hall post quite a lot of cover songs on their website. Stefan Weiner is an avid 78 RPM collector and when he picked uyp Old Man Duff by Frankie Marvin, the band decided to cover it using an omnichord (Eighties gizmo) to update the sound a bit.

Video: Town Hall - Old Man Duff

» townhallband.com

Cover Me: Regret

Here Comes The Flood — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:35:00 GMT

Space folkies Orienteers tackle the New Order track Regret. The Ottawa quartet built their version around wavering guitar lines and whispered vocals.

(Regret by Orienteers)

» Orienteers on Facebook

Terry Radigan: The Breakdown of a Breakup

Here Comes The Flood — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:59:00 GMT

photo: Craig Blankenhorn

NYC singer Terry Radigan broke up with the guy after a 20-uear relationship. Her new labum The Breakdown of a Breakup serves a therapy set to music: eleven songs about grief, loss and anger. Recorded at the Catherine the Great studio Radigan switches between soft-spoken jazzy tunes (Beautiful Lie, brass-driven music hall ( Mistake), country (I Dont'Feel Like That) and even a NOLA vibe (Voodoo).

With her lightly husky voices, sounding as mix between Karin Bergquist (Over The Rhine) and Bonnie Raitt, she analyses what went wrong, being pretty pissed that her guy slept with another woman. The wounds are still healing, but Radigan is ready to move forward, proudly proclaiming that she is Not Giving Up On Love. She picked Valentine's Day as the release date for her album, a nice touch to tell the world she is back in business.

The Breakdown of a Breakup is released on Catherine the Great Records. Buy it from her website. Release date: February 14th.

Tracks:

Love Would'n't Lie To Me
Emily
Beautiful Lie
Mistake
Voodoo
I Dont'Feel Like That
Siamese Twin
Every Now & Then
The Truth
Under My Wheels
Not Giving Up On Love

(Mistake by Terry Radigan)

Live date:

02/17 New York, NY @ The Dominion Theater

» terryradigan.com

A Place To Bury Strangers: Onwards To The Wall

Here Comes The Flood — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:04:00 GMT

NYC noise rock trio A Place To Bury Strangers Have added another layer of brick to their wall of sound. The Onwards To The Wall sidesteps the cliches of the genre and is dipping its toes more than before into pop like The Jesus and Mary Chain used to do. So Far Away is the prime example of this "new" direction, while a track like Drill It Up and the title track will live up to the expectations of longtime fans.

(A Place To Bury Strangers - So Far Away)

It is challenge to record noise without ending up with a musical quagmire. It's all about texture if you want to get it right and A Place To Bury Strangers pulled it off. The big sound even comes across when played through the cheap speakers of a battered portable radio.

A Place To Bury Strangers:
Oliver Ackermann: guitar, vocals
Dion Lunadon: bass
Jay Space: drums

Onwards To The Wall is released on Dead Oceans.

Tracks:

I Lost You
So Far Away
Onwards To The Wall
It'll Be Alright
Drill It Up

They will be on the road in North America The Joy Formidable and Exitmusic. An European club tour kicks off in Bologna on April 4.

North American live dates:

03/08 Toledo, OH @ Frankies
03/11 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
03/12 San Francisco, CA @ Independent
03/13 San Francisco, CA @ Independent
03/14 Los Angeles, CA @ The Music Box
03/17 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre
03/19 Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe
03/20 Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
03/22 Bloomington, IN @ The Bluebird
03/23 Cincinnati, OH @ 20th Century Theatre
03/24 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
03/25 Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
03/26 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
03/28 New York, NY @ Terminal 5
03/29 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
03/30 Boston, MA @ Paradise
03/31 Montreal, QC @ Cabaret Mile-End
04/02 Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace

European live dates:

04/05 Bologna, Italy @ Locomotiv
04/06 Moncalieri, Italy @ Audiodrome
04/07 Milan, Italy @ Mezzago
04/08 Saint Jean De Vedas, France @ Secret Police
04/09 La Rochelle, France @ La Sirene
04/10 Bordeaux, France @ Le Krakatoa
04/12 Lyon, France @ Le Ninkasi
04/13 Chelle, France @ Les Cuiines
04/14 Reims, France @ La Cartonneire
04/15 Paris, France @ La Boule Noire
04/16 Cologne, Germany @ Gebaude 9
04/18 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Loppen
04/19 Oslo, Norway @ Blaa
04/20 Stockholm, Sweden @ Strand
04/21 Malmo, Sweden @ Debaser
04/23 Hamburg, Germany @ Hafenklang
04/24 Berlin, Germany @ C-Club
04/25 Weinheim, Germany @ Cafe Central
04/26 Lausanne, Switzerland @ Impetus Festival
04/27 Barcelona, Spain @ Sidecar
04/28 Murcia, Spain @ 12 & Medio
04/29 Madrid, Spain @ Moby Dick
05/01 Utrecht, The Netherlands @ Tivoli De Helling
05/02 Nijmegen, The Netherlands @ Doornroosje
05/04 Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix Club
05/05 Courtrai, Belgium @ De Kreun
05/06 Amsterdam, The Netherlands @ Paradiso
05/08 London, UK @ Cargo
05/09 Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
05/10 Manchester, UK @ Sound Control
05/11 Glasgow, UK @ King Tuts
05/12 Newcastle, UK @ Cluny
05/13 Leeds, UK @ Cockpit

Video: A Place To Bury Strangers - So Far Away

» aplacetoburystrangers.com

Proof I Exist: Suburban Sci-Fi

Here Comes The Flood — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:28:00 GMT

Proof I Exist is the stage name of singer and multi-instrumentalist Paul Kulis a. His full-length Suburban Sci-Fi was put together piece-by-piece over the years. Starting out in 2033 he gradually applied new layers and instruments to his songs resulting in a surprisingly cohesive sound. He sounds like a full band, switching from pop to reggae to funk.

A couple of songs were picked by college rock stations In Ohio, but the Cleveland base musician could break out of the cognoscenti niche. Trespassing in Heaven is a pop song that could by covered a new boy band if he isn't careful, the rollicking Misbehave will get you a speeding ticket and the slightly proggie Time Bomb is a hipster anthem in the making.

Suburban Sci-Fi is a self-released album on his label Scatterbrainiac Records. Download it from his website.

Tracks:

Modern Day Love Song
Season of Make-Believe
Ghost Rider
Twentynothing
Songbird
Trespassing in Heaven
Misbehave/li>
Remote-Controlled
Time Bomb
Euphoria at 4 AM
Waiting for Paradise
Out of Reach

Misbehave by Proof I Exist

» proofiexist.com
» Proof I Exist on Facebook

Lia Ices: "Little Marriage" video, "Wish You Were Here" b/w "Late Night" single

Here Comes The Flood — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:05:00 GMT

Brooklyn singer Lia Ices has releases a new video for Little Marriage, a track from her Grown Unknown album. Her new single Wish You Were Here b/w Late Night is released as a 7"and digitally on March 4 on Jagjaguwar.

(Lia Ices - Wish You Were Here)

The Pink Floyd classic has been hanged and quartered by hordes of talentless buskers and god awful cover bands. Her take is quite good actually and for the B-side she throws down an interpretation of Late Night of Syd Barrett's The Madcap Laughs. Makes perfect sense - Wish You Were Here is about Syd, but you already knew that.

Video: Lia Ices - Little Marriage

» liaices.com

The Forty Whacks: The Death Of ...

Here Comes The Flood — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:20:00 GMT

Garage band The Forty Whacks play fast punk metal songs with a rock twist. Based in Beach Park, IL, the quartet is slowly building a fan base. They have released one EP so far. The Death Of... is a collection of lo-fi songs, energetic and - sometimes - all over the place. A few unmemorable mid-tempo metal songs - New Pathology and Flowers) but also some good stuff: the angry Afterbirth, with the typical nu-metal lyric "I've lost my job today and now I'm really fucked" and Ever Since That Day, with a weird out-of-tune intro that will catch punk loving listeners on the wrong foot.

There is one track on this EP that can get them out of obscurity. Death by Electric Car is a fist pumping rock anthem with simple but highly effective riff that gets stuck inside your head instantly. The band is currently working on Dying Is So Last Year, their first full-length. If they focus on their strong points these guys may have future as a leading underground band.

The Forty Whacks:
Johnny Pierro: vocals
Tom Rutledge: guitar, vocals
Todd Rutledge: bass, vocals
Marc Harman: drums

The Death Of ... is a self-released EP. Buy it from the band's website. Steam the fiuull EP on Soundcloud.

Tracks:

Ever Since That Day
Afterbirth
Flowers
Death by Electric Car
Lies
New Pathology

(Death by Electric Car by The Forty Whacks)

Live dates:

02/11 Chicago, IL @ Venue: Lilly's
02/22 Chicago, IL @ Cubby Bear Wrigleyville
03/02 Kenosha, WI @ Finney's Lounge

Video: The Forty Whacks - Ever Since That Day

» The Forty Whacks on Facebook
» moriartyrecords.com

The Pines: Dark So Cold

Here Comes The Flood — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:07:00 GMT

photo: Cameron Wittig

Benson Ramsey and David Huckfelt of Minneapolis folk band The Pines find themelves fronting a six-piece band nowadays. Their new album Dark So Cold retains the lonesome atmosphere and subdued vocals of their previous output. Originally out of Iowa they sing about the demise of traditional farming and dealing with living in the city.

The Pines are not romanticizing country life. They are field reporters writing musical postcards touching a nerve. Expanding the band into a sextet has deepened their sound without losing the intimacy. Dark So Cold is a folk noir album, tailor made for a widescreen movie about the Midwestern plains.

The Pines:
Benson Ramsey: guitar, vocals
David Huckfelt: guitar, vocals
Michael Rossetto: banjo
J.T. Bates: drums
James Buckley: bass
Alex Ramsey: keyboards

Dark So Cold is released on Red House Records. Release date: January 31.

Tracks:

Cry Cry Crow
If By Morning
All the While
Moonrise, IA
Rise Up and Be Lonely
Be There in Bells
Grace Hill
Chimes
Dead Feathers
Losing the Stars

(The Pines - Chimes)

Live dates:

01/31 "Dark So Gold" Electric Fetus, Minneapolis, MN (in-store performance)
02/03 Cafe Paradiso, Fairfield, IA
02/04 CSPS Legion Arts, Cedar Rapids, IA
02/17 Cedar Cultural Center - Dark So Gold Record Release, Minneapolis, MN
02/18 SPACE, Evanston, IL
03/02 Ironwood Theater, Ironwood, MI
03/03 Stagenorth, Washburn, WI
03/13 South By South West Music Festival, Austin, TX
03/27 The Iron Horse, Northampton, MA
03/29 City Winery, New York, NY (opening for Mason Jennings)
03/30 City Winery, New York, NY (opening for Mason Jennings)
03/31 Castaway's, Ithaca, NY
04/06 The Englert Theater, Iowa City, IA (opening for Mason Jennings)
04/07 Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI (opening for Mason Jennings)
04/20 Stoughton Opera House, Stoughton, WI
04/21 Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL (opening for Loudon Wainwright two shows 7pm & 10pm)
05/19 Sacred Heart, Duluth, MN
07/21 Moonshine Showcase - Broadway Theater, Wabasha, MN

» thepinesmusic.com

Wooden Constructions: "Quality" live on Dutch TV, "Full Brother" MP3

Here Comes The Flood — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:08:00 GMT

Watch Dutch rock band Wooden Constructions perform Quality. Recorded live for Dutch TV show De Wereld Draait Door - 2011/01/13.

Full Brother, a song from their upcoming debut album People Now People, is available as a free download.

(Full Brother by Wooden Constructions)

» woodenconstructions.com

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour: Out Of Frequency

Here Comes The Flood — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:17:00 GMT

photo: Sigurd Grünberger

Danish pop band got lucky. In fact, they got lucky three times, getting major exposure when their songs were picked for Apple and Heineken ads, and a promo for Mad Men. The core duo Mette Lindberg (vocals) and Lars Iversen (songwriter and producer) have been together since 2007. The girlish vocals and the old school keyboards proved to be a wining team, crossing over to the hipster crowd as well as the mainstream.

Their new album Out Of Frequency tips its toes into psychedelica (Theme From 45 Eugenia, Fantasy Friend Forever), but as whole technicolor pop reigns supreme in songs like Major, and the first single Heart Attack). Cloak & Dagger borrows the bass line from Love Cats (The Cure).

Odds are that Out of Frequency will be in heavy rotation throughout the Summer. Smart party time music that brings back the heyday of The B52's.

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour:
Mette Lindberg: vocals
Lars Iversen: producer
Miloud Carl Sabri: trumpet
Sven Meinild: saxophone
Mikkel Baltser Dørig: guitar
Rasmus Valldorf: drums

Out Of Frequency is released on BMG. Release date: January 31.

Tracks:

Gold Rush PT. I
Dollars In The Night
Gold Rush PT. II
Major
Heart Attack
Out Of Frequency
Cloak & Dagger
Arrival Of The Empress Prelude
Theme From Eugenia
Mafia
Ghost In My Head
Suburban Space Invader
Fantasy Friend Forever
When It Comes To Us

(The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Major)

Live dates:

01/31 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
02/01 Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
02/02 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
02/03 Boston, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
02/07 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
02/08 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
02/10 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
02/13 San Diego, CA @ Belly Up
02/14 Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
02/15 San Francisco, CA @ Independent
02/17 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
02/18 Seattle, WA @ Neumos

Video: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Heart Attack

» theasteroidsgalaxytour.com

HCTF review of Fruit.