Los Tres

Here's another nice find from listening to the KCRW Today's Top Tune podcast...Los Tres from Chile. It's not too often that you get any exposure to the Chilean indie music scene but I at least got a tiny slice of it from KCRW.

Los Tres was one of the first Chilean bands to hit it big in the 90's following the end of Pinochet's reign. It appears they broke up around 2000 but three of the four members reunited recently and released Hágalo Usted Mismo last July. The track below is from that album. It's a breezy bit of folk-based pop with a slight 70's feel to it. Is that a flute in the background making that fetching little horn sound? Plus, songs in Spanish sound cool.

Los Tres | Bestia | Buy

Green Mountain Strongest Man Competition

If you've ever been flipping around the channels at odd hours, I'm sure you've stumbled upon the oddly entertaining World's Strongest Man Competition. It's a series bizarre test of the strength of numerous genetic (and likely steroid guzzling) freaks. Well, it looks like the Vermont Chapter of the American Lung Association is hosting a similar competition on June 2nd at the Champlain Valley Fair Grounds to determine the Green Mountain's Strongest Man.

This obviously begs the question of what tests of strength they'll make the competitors complete. Since the competitions always seem to take on a local bent, here's a quick list of suggestions:

• The Patchouli Oil Barrel Toss
• The Subaru Outback Carry
• The Snowblower Lift
• The Dead Moose Drag
• Lifting Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield for Reps
  

The Airborne Toxic Event

As I've said before, 99% of the stuff that record promoters send to music bloggers is utter crap. However, once in a while some band catches my ear and I fall in love. One of those bands arrived a week or so ago by the name of The Airborne Toxic Event.

The fact that they've only released a single EP so far with a sum total of about ten minutes of recorded music may raise the question of the legitimacy of posting about them. However, if you listen to the tracks below, you'll understand that it's justified in this situation.

The easiest comparison is to The Smiths wrapped in a warm blanket of sun-drenched California pop. The band is catching a bit of flack because one of the band members used to be the Managing Editor at Filter magazine and folks think he's using those connections to advance their career. However, I'm calling bullshit on that argument. I heard the disc without knowing any of that crap and, very simply, I loved the songs. Plus, Ira Kaplan used to be a music writer before starting Yo La Tengo and nobody holds that against him. The music stands on its own merit.

The Airborne Toxic Event | The Girls in Their Summer Dresses | Buy
The Airborne Toxic Event | Wishing Well | Buy

Championship Goals

Here's a pair of championship goals from Saturday's action.

The first one is Didier Drogba's winner in the FA Cup for Chelsea against Manchester United in extra time. Nice one touch passing.



The second one is from Germany. Thomas Hitzlsperger saved Stuttgart's collective asses when he tied the match against Energie Cottbus. Stuttgart needed at least a tie to top Shalke 04 for the season title but they were down 1-0 when Hitzlsperger nailed this beautiful volley from 27 yards out. They went on to win 2-1 and win the title.



Lastly, in Spain, Real Madrid and Barcelona are tied at the top of the Spanish Primera with two games to play (tomorrow and next Sunday) while Valencia and Sevilla are one and two points back collectively with one game left each. Sweet Jesus. It's going to be a fun final week to that league.

The Spinto Band | Bennington College

I'm sorry about the late notice but I've been a bad blogger lately.

Tonight, May 19th, Tom and Sam Hughes of The Spinto Band will be returning to their ala mater with the rest of The Spintos and playing the Bennington College Sunfest concert. There are a bunch of other bands on the bill also but I'm not familiar with any of them. The gem of the line-up is the pop sextet from Wilmington.

The festival kicks off at noon but figure The Spintos will hit the stage sometime after 8pm. The festival is open to the public but I'm not certain where it is on campus. I'd just head for the center of campus and follow the flow of students and music.

The Spinto Band | Late | Buy

Legion of Rock Stars

This is a silly idea but the execution keeps me giggling. There are a bunch more over at the Legion of Rock Stars YouTube channel.

Delta Spirit | Daytrotter Session

A month or two ago, I caught Delta Spirit opening for Cold War Kids and Tokyo Police Club and loved their set. It was chock full of passion, multi-percussion and immediately enjoyable melodies. Plus, I liked the lead singer's voice. However, I was disappointed in their EP, I Think I've Found It. It lacked all of the passion of their live set. It was mid-tier over-produced pop.

Flash forward to earlier this week when Daytrotter posted the four songs from Delta Spirit's Daytrotter session. The songs are more mellow than their live show was but the passion is back which makes for an entertaining session. One benefit of the mellower tunes is that they feature Matthew Vasquez' vocals a lot more.

You can download the songs for free here. I'd particularly recommend French Quarter and their cover of Paul Simon's Duncan.

There's also an article and interview with the band here. However, the real magic of their session are those recordings. It amazing how the folks at Daytrotter continue to pull nice recordings out of bands that have laid out flat and thin official releases. Perhaps someday there'll be a Daytrotter label.

If you're a gearhead, you'll also dig these videos from Gear Wire. The first two are interviews with engineer Paul Stolley where he explains all the equipment he uses for the Daytrotter sessions. The last video shows Delta Spirit performing French Quarter. One thought about the last video...that can of Miller in the middle of the soundboard between Stolley's arms looks like a recipe for disaster (or at least some sticky knobs).

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3

Creed Thoughts

In case you haven't seen Creed's blog yet...here you go.

Saturnine | Remembrance of Things Past

Before moving to NYC in the early 90's and starting the indie rock band Saturnine with guitarist/vocalist Matt Galloway, bassist Mike Donofrio grew up in Vermont. Plus, he has since moved back to the Green Mountains from the Big Apple. So, I think it's safe to call Saturnine's new album Remembrance of Things Past a "Vermont album" even if the rest of the band is scattered across the country. That's close enough for me.

Remembrance of Things Past is a very literary album based upon the same-titled work by French writer Marcel Proust. I'm not making that up...I'm sure all of The Decemberists fans out there will love that. Regardless, I'm a simpleton and always fall for the melody, beat and progression of a song before the lyrics hit me. That's exactly what has happened with RoTP. Right from the opening bass line, you get swept along on a melodic flow that brings you up for rocking moments before coming back down for quiet darker sounds. While I'm not a big "concept album" guy, the whole album flows well together rather than listening to it in individual tracks.

One other highlight of the album is that Saturnine scored Frances Gibson of The Cannanes to do the female vocals. She even gets a cool spoken word riff in towards the end of "Marcel Remembers He Tried To Stop His Obsession For Albertine" which, if you are a Cannanes fan, will remind you of the one on The Cannanes' "3-Way Release".

Besides the music, the other cool thing about the album is that's it's been released using a creative commons license. So, the band is allowing bloggers and fans to link to all the tracks for general sharing. So, go ahead, download and link away.

With that in mind, Bradley's Alamanc has a lengthy post up about the album including tracks from some of their earlier releases.

Saturnine | Remembrance of Things Past

"Marcel Remembers The Summer He Met Albertine"

"Later, At A Bar"

"Albertine"

"Marcel Remembers He Tried To Stop His Obsession For Albertine"

"I Can't Shake Her From My Mind"

"Some Months Later, At A Club In New York City,
Marcel Sees Albertine Dancing With Another Girl
(With Whom He Suspects She Is Having An Affair)
And Leaves, Jealous And Upset"

"Later, On A Walk Together"

"Later, Albertine Alone At The Apartment"

Or download all eight 192kbps Mp3s as one 58MB zip file.

Or download higher quality versions of each song at the Internet Music Archive.

Tobias Fröberg

Last summer, I posted about how I had fallen in love with Tobias Fröberg's diddy "When the Night Turns Cold". Well, I guess La Blogotheque heard me because they asked Fröberg to record a Take Away Show for their site. The result is an amusing unscripted video of Fröberg walking down the middle of the street playing the song, forgeting the lyrics, getting yelled at by garbage men and nearly causing a few scooters to crash. It's made me relive my quick love affair with the song all over again.

The Hero Cycle on WRUV's Exposure

Courtesy of Eva Sollberger's excellent vlog Stuck In Vermont.

Herman Düne

During my hiatus, I spent a lot of time spinning Herman Düne. I had never heard of the France-based Swedes and Swiss before a friend gave me a copy of their album Not On Top at the Clap Your Hands show last month. Since then I've been loving their vocals-driven folk-based multi-instrumental sound.

While they're new to me, they've been cranking out their brand of folk pop since 2000. They just haven't established a foothold in the American indie scene (despite living in NYC for a period of time). I find that a bit surprising since they remind me a lot of The Mountain Goats and Silver Jews who have certainly carved out their niche in the states.

Here's their video for "I Wish I Could See You Soon" off their latest album Giant, Very catchy song and a quirky enough video.


Their summer tour dates reads like a senior citizens bus trip through western Europe. Zero US dates. Perhaps that's why they don't have much of a presence here.

Herman Düne | Walk Don't Run | Buy
Herman Düne | Little Wounds | Buy

FreeRide

Since I'm talking about bikes, I thought it would be worth a quick post to mention a new non-profit cooperative in Montpelier called FreeRide. It's all about bikes and opens this Saturday (89 Barre St.). You can read all about it in a nice article in Seven Days. There is also an article in the Times-Argus about FreeRide.

Here's how it works: they accept old donated bikes which they then refurbish and sell for a small amount based upon how much money you have to spend. You can also buy a membership for $30 a year which gets you all the bike repairs you need. The other option is to donate your time at the co-op which gives you the same benefits of a membership.

I love projects like this simply because they add to the community. Plus, I love seeing the freaky bikes people cruise around town on; like this one. Hopefully, FreeRide will foster more of those oddball bikes.

GT Slipstream

OK. I'm back. I've been away from this blog for over three weeks and that's a long hiatus for me. No good reason why...except for the last week. The last week has been all about my new 18-year-old bike, a GT Slipstream.

I haven't owned a bike in about 25 years but while strolling around the Onion River bike swap last weekend, I decided to try one out. It looked like crap and a bit dorky which fits my style just fine. So, I rode it around for a little while and decided to pony up the $75 for it.

Since then, I've been cruising all around town and up & down Rt. 2 and Rt. 12. I had completely forgotten how much fun it is to ride a bike. Plus, the big bonus for me is that my knees don't hurt when I'm done riding. After I run for a half-hour, my knees ache like a mofo but with biking they feel great.

The things I love about the bike is that I can sit upright on it, it's easy to shift and the seat is very comfortable; big and with springs. I've been getting a bunch of odd looks from the other bicyclists on the road, so I must look like a spazz sitting upright on a big bike with a giant helmet on my head. All I need is a wicker basket and a horn on the handlebars to complete the look. However, I really don't care. I'm just enjoying the ride.

Wilco

Wilco has scheduled an outdoor show this summer in Vermont with Low in support of their 6th studio album, Sky Blue Sky.

Wilco w/ Low - June 29th - Shelburne Museum Concerts on the Green

I've yet to see a show at Shelburne Museum, but I'm pretty psyched. Beyond being a pretty big fan of both Wilco and Low (whom I would of never imagined sharing a bill), I love outdoor shows and Shelburne Musuem is a pretty awesome place with it's spot overlooking Lake Champlain to the High Peaks of NY.

History Lesson Tangent: The Museum is primarily the collection of Electra Havemeyer Webb, grandaughter of the mighty powerful Vanderbilt and family to other great industrialists. Given the lineage, it isn't surpising that when she collected things, she went big. Shelburne Museum's collection of Americana is housed within the property's real jewels, a collection of 18th- and 19th-century buildings from New England including houses, barns, a meeting house, a one-room schoolhouse, a lighthouse, a jail, a general store, a covered bridge, and the 220-foot steamboat.

The tickets are pretty steep at 40 bucks, but it's a great bill, at a great spot, and I can bring my little guy (show scheduled for 6 pm and kids under 12 are free).

Sky Blue Sky, which drops in two weeks, has been all over the internet. Click here to stream the album directly from Wilco's official website.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah | Higher Ground | Apr 12th

Seacrest: OK. First up tonight...Elvis Perkins in Dreamland.

Randy: Yo Yo Dog. What's happening tonight? Yo Dog, listen, you brought it tonight. It was a bit pitchy in spots but, you know, it was just a'right for me. I like what you're doing with the whole band thing. It works for me. Paula?

Paula: Elvis, you gave it up. You did your best. You smiled and had so much fun. You were wonderful. Simon?

Simon: Very good. I like the transition you're making from being a Dylan replica to a Neutral Milk Hotel replica. You just need to work more on finding your own sound and keep writing the good songs.

Seacrest: OK. Next up tonight...Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

Randy: Yo Dog. [heavy sigh, head cocks to the side and hands start wiggling] It was a bit pitchy in spots, you know. Uh, in fact, it was actually pitchy the whole time. I don't know Dog. It didn't work for me. The runs were tight but I don't know if you care. You know what I mean, Dog? I don't know. It just wasn't a'right for me. Paula?

Paula: It's a tough night. I know you've been playing so much, you must be tired. You need to bring out that beautiful you and smile some more. Robbie's the only one smiling. I know you guys can do better.

Simon: Look. You can't charge Sonic Youth prices, start an hour late, look bored on stage and expect to have a career. You have very good songs that are fun to hear but you have to at least appear interested in playing for us. Robbie seems to want to be here. The rest of you need to talk to him some more. I've seen you do much better. Take some time off maybe.

Seacrest: Ooooh. Tough words from a little man. That's it for tonight. Seacrest out!

Kris Gruen | Langdon Street Cafe | Apr 20th

Trying to figure out the best way to ride your 4:20 buzz? Well, one good option is rolling over to Langdon Street Cafe to catch Kris Gruen on Friday night. The Bowmans are playing right before him too. I caught this double bill a few months ago at Langdon Street and it was a good night of music that fits right in with the Langdon atmosphere...and that should be an interesting atmosphere on 4:20.

Here are two clips from that show.

Kris Gruen doing "Tender Theory":


The Bowmans doing "To Rise":

Messi Goal

In the post about the MLS goals, TK left a comment about Lional Messi's goal the other day against Getafe. It's an amazing 60 yard run that immediately brings back thoughts of Maradona.

Jackson Browne Mania

It's rare that a big name comes to play a show in Barre, VT. People still talk about the Johnny Cash and Harry Belafonte shows and those were decades ago. Well, Jackson Browne is now coming to the Barre Opera Housae on June 9th and 10th to do a benefit show for L.A.C.E. (Local Agricultural Community Exchange) and people are going ga-ga for tickets.

I knew he was coming to town and he was popular but it really hit me when I noticed all of the pleas for tickets on craigslist. People are offering $175 and $250 a ticket but here's my favorite posting:

Spectacular Trade Offer: If you have Stellar Jackson Browne Seats - $1
Reply to: sale-310842291@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-04-12, 7:13PM EDT


I am a VIP ticket holder for the Oakland Arena in Oakland...Roger Waters is bringing his "Dark Side Of The Moon" show to this venue 7/1...Includes Vip Club access, seperate enterance and parking...saw his show last year at an outdoor venue...SPECTACULAR...he has original Floyd drummer Nick Mason playing with him as well as several guests. 3 hours solid...no opening act.

Here is the deal...I lived in New Hampshire for awhile prior to moving to the San Francisco Bay Area...I am a huge Jackson Browne fan and have seen and met him numerous times...If you have premium tickets as I do...I will consider a trade and include airfare and possibly accomodations if the deal works fairly...my VIP seats are in the finest location in the Arena...I have a pair or 4 in the most sought after seats in the house...I have saved a pair for myself...as I wouldn't think of letting this show slip by...a MUST SEE.

If indeed you are serious...get back to me via e-mail or call me at (510)469-6123

Take care...hope to see you on the dark side of the moon!

Holy crap.

MLS Week 1 Goals

The first goal by Sacha Kljestan was the goal of the week.

Geez, those football lines in Salt Lake City are ugly. Someone needs to pony up the bucks to paint that field for the season.



Courtesy of Climbing the Ladder

Pond Skimming at Bolton Valley

Yesterday, we spent Easter Sunday up at Bolton Valley watching the pond skimming competition. It was a fun way to end the ski season. Although with the temperatures around 32°, a steady wind and constant snow showers, it felt more like the middle of the ski season rather than the end of it.

I would have loved to have been able to edit all of these videos togther into one long montage but I don't have the knowledge or software to pull that off. So, instead you get a post with twelve embedded YouTube videos in it.

First up is a lady who went with the Easter theme and dressed as a bunny. This was one of the best face plants of the day.


The snowboarders definitely had an advantage skidding over the pond. This guy was so cavalier that he even kicked up a big splash right over a bunch of the judges at the end.


I was glad to see Ronaldino was represented on the pond.


This guy tried it backwards. A+ for effort.


Ninja with a flag. He sinks more than crashes.


Why are penguins all of a sudden so popular? They're everywhere these days.


Ben the Moose came so close to making it. I was just impressed that the person was able to snowboard down wearing that big moose head.


This guy did it in just shorts which would have made for an entertaining crash but he cruised right over.


The Boy Wonder glides right over but wipes out on the jump.


This guy tried it on one ski which got him about five feet into the pond.


Go Go Go-Cart. This one was a big hit with my son.


And lastly, the pirate ship came down as the grand finale.

Wynalda Interview

Since MLS' season started this past weekend, I thought I'd finally get around to posting the link to this fun interview with ESPN soccer analyst and all-time leading US National Team goal scorer, Eric Wynalda. This is another reason to love soccer. Name another sport where the top TV analyst sits down for beers and an interview with someone from a fan website and proceeds to let every opinion and profanity fly. Wynalda even ends the interview with " Alright, let’s go take a piss and get another beer."

By the way, ESPN suspended Wynalda for a game for this interview.

Beers with Wynalda

Junior Boys to Play Easter Burlington Show

I don't know about bunnies and pastel eggs, but I'm quite certain there will be plenty of hip shaking on Sunday night when the fine Canadian duo Junior Boys play the small room at Higher Ground with San Serac. Laptop music isn't usually my thing, especially live, but Junior Boys' last two records, Last Exit and So This Is Goodbye, are entirely infectious. I can't get enough of their white boy soul layed over electronic pop beats.

Below are the finalists in the Junior Boys video contest. The first one, "So This Is Goodbye," has the greatest stop motion since The Wizard of Speed and Time. Pretty great project with awesome results:

Cold War Kids | Tokyo Police Club | Delta Spirit | Higher Ground | Apr 1st

Yes. That is a keg. And, yes, that's a bass drum being waived in the air in the background. And, yes, that's general bedlam on stage during Cold War Kids' set. However, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up.

On Sunday night, I caught the trio of bands in the title of this post at Higher Ground. In general, I had a great time during the show but here are a few more specific thoughts about the night:

- I had thought there was just two bands on the bill. So, when I arrived and saw some other band strolling onto stage, my first thought was, "Oh, crap. I gotta wait through these guys." Thankfully, that thought wound up being hideously wrong because I loved Delta Spirit's set. Lots of multiple percussion and off-mic singing from the other band members.

While not anything groundbreaking, it felt passionate and seemed to draw in the rest of the crowd. One guy with a bit of excitement in his voice yelled, "Where are you guys from?" (San Diego was the answer). I ran into Kris Gruen after Delta Spirit's set and we both had the same reaction, "Holy crap! Who the hell were those guys?!?!" Plus, it seems like a bunch of people have had a similar reaction during the tour since they had run out of CDs at the merch table and they aren't even close to being done with the tour.

- By the way, I've since gotten Delta Spirit's EP I Think I've Found It and it isn't as good as their live show. It lacks a lot of the fiery intensity of their live show and comes off more as "run of the mill" pop rock. Not bad; just not as good as their live show. Having said that, their song "Gimme Some Motivation" is pretty damn good.

- What happened to the spinning planet things on the ceiling at Higher Ground? Were they just there for the Sonic Youth show?

- Tokyo Police Club looks really, really, really young; like "high school talent show young". However, despite their facial baby fat, they rocked the house. Their sound was a little thin at first but someone must have tweaked a few knobs and pushed a few slides because from about their third song on, they sound great. They played fairly straight versions of everything but I love those songs so much that I was quite happy. I loved watching their keyboardist hunch over those synths and bang on them with his fists.

- One of the things I like about the evening is that all the bands were coming on stage at different times to play with each other. The Cold War Kids joined Delta Spirit, Delta Spirit joined Tokyo Police Club and all thirteen musicians were on stage during part of The Cold War Kids' set. That fact, along with the similar sound of the three bands, gave the night a feeling of one big music event rather than three bands who happen to all be playing on the same night.

- The Cold War Kids' bass player is kind of a peculiar guy to watch but I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He had this sort of weird stare he'd use when he'd look at the crowd. His face was expressionless but he'd hold his head and eyes perfectly steady and just piercingly stare at people in the crowd. Plus, he never stops moving on stage. It's like watching a cross between Flea and a mental patient.

- The crowd was much larger than I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be me and a few thousand square feet of empty floor space. However, there were about 200 people there. Still a small crowd for the big room but at least it didn't feel awkward being there.

- The Cold War Kids blasted through all of the more popular songs off their album Robbers and Cowards in the first half of their set which I though would lead to a lackluster second half but it didn't. About halfway through their set, all the musicians from the first two bands came out on stage to join them for "Saint John". I've never been a big fan of that song but with twelve percussionists bouncing around on stage, it was great entertainment. Here's a video of the scene. As usual with my little Casio, the sound is horrible but it gives you a good view of what was going on.

- CWK also debuted a new song for the first time during the show. called "Brainstorm 3 A.M.". I guess VT is a good place to try out new material on stage for the first time since very few people will see it if you screw it up. I filmed it but the sound quality sucks so bad, it isn't worth posting.

- In a bit of an April Fool's trick, they let the fans clap for a few minutes at the end of the set before turning the house lights on. I was fine with no encore but make the decision quickly. Don't leave people hanging.

- The show posters that they handed out at the end were pretty cool. If anyone wants mine, it's on the top of my fridge. My wife isn't keen on hanging them up in the house. So, if anyone wants it, let me know.

- Oh, and by the way, everyone played their own instruments unlike at the Lindsey Buckingham show across town that night.

Delta Spirit | Gimme Some Motivation | Buy

Deep Soda | Higher Ground | Apr 20th

Apr 20th is shaping up to be a busy night for music. Besides the Yo La Tengo show in Northampton and Kris Gruen's show at Langdon Street (which I'll post about soon), Burlington's Deep Soda will be playing the big room at Higher Ground with RAQ.

It's almost impossible to pigeon hole Deep Soda into any one genre or description since their sound changes from album to album, song to song and verse to verse. Sometimes they flash brief animated jingles with flushes of strings and chorus and then they're singing a capella through a synthesizer and then they're rocking bar chords. If they were folkies, their deconstruction of the modern song format would make them eligible for the freak folk moniker but they plug-in and rock much too hard for that scene. So, let's just go with "rock deconstructionists with a pop bent".

Deep Soda | Red Carpet | Buy
Deep Soda | Viy | Buy

Letter to the Editor | Burlington Free Press

I happened to catch Paul Kaza's review of Lindsey Buckingham's show at the Flynn Center in yesterday's Burlington Free Press and it sort of pissed me off. So, I thought I'd write to the editor like a cranky old man.

You can read the full review here.

Dear Editor,

I'm writing you concerning the giant dick slap Paul Kaza laid on every musician that has graced a stage in Vermont since 1977. The offense occurred during Mr. Kaza's review of Lindsey Buckingham's show Sunday night at the Flynn Center which appeared in the Burlington Free Press on Tuesday.

Early in his review, Mr. Kaza lets the hyperbole fly when he uncorks, "it was one of the most superlative rock performances in the last three decades". WOW! Now, normally, that statement alone would be enough to warrant a letter to the editor pointing out all of the other great acts that have come through the Green Mountains over the last three decades. However, I'm more annoyed with Mr. Kaza's next revelation.

After heaping praise on the brilliance of the performance, Mr. Kaza then points out that, for part of the show, the bass tracks weren't played by a musician but simply pre-recorded and mixed in at the soundboard. Geezum crow! Mr. Kaza thinks a show using pre-recorded music was one of the best live performances in Vermont since the Carter administration?!?!

Out of respect to every musician that has ever had the guts to stand on stage and play their own instruments, Mr. Kaza should have immediately eliminated Lindsey Buckingham's show from even being considered worthy of such adulation. Perhaps, Mr. Kaza should have come down off of his emotional high of hearing "Go Your Own Way" for the 4,513th time before he sat down to accurately assess the concert.

New J DiMenna EP Released Today

If He Could Speak Now by J DiMenna (Myspace page) is a digital-only live EP comprised of an XM Café performance and a show in DiMenna's former home base of Asheville, NC, and includes 2 new tunes. This is a follow-up to J's fantastic debut release, Awkward Buildings, that came out a year ago.

Video for Preacher, directed by Roland Becerra:


Video for Getting All You Want:

Yo La Tengo | Coming to Northampton | April 20th

Most of the time I'm pimping a show around here, it's for bands I've never seen live since the bands are often on their maiden tour. So, while I know I like the album, I really don't know how they are live. Talking up a Yo La Tengo show is the complete opposite. They've made countless laps around the club circuit and I've been lucky to catch them about 15-20 times. So, with great confidence, I say "Driving two hours down to Northampton (@ Academy of Music) to see Yo La Tengo on a Friday night is well worth the trip."

Not only do they keep their entire discography alive in their set lists, they constantly reinterpret their songs which makes for an exciting night of music. You never know what you are going to get during any given show. Plus, you get occasional covers, honored requests from the crowd and some amusing stage banter.

An additional bonus is that The Clean guitarist, and longtime YLT friend, David Kilgour will be opening for them. So, there is an excellent chance, he'll join them on stage at some point too.

Yo La Tengo | Did I tell You (Live)
Yo La Tengo | Gates of Steel (Live) (Devo cover)
Yo La Tengo | Sheena Is a Punk Rocker (Live) (Ramones cover)

Live video of "Little Eyes":


Live video of "Cherry Chapstick":


Photo courtesy of dmguz.

Peter Bjorn & John | Fujiya & Miyagi | Coming to Montreal | May 5th

I love it when my favorite bands tour together. It makes for a mini-festival without having to deal with camping, mud and sunscreen. Well, come May 5th, two of my recent faves, Peter Bjorn & John and Fujiya & Miyagi will be rolling in Montreal to play Le National on May 5th.

Rather than retype my feelings about all these guys, here's some links to past posts:

Fujiya & Miyagi rave
Peter Bjorn & John post about new album and Casey's review in Dusted
Peter Bjorn & John rave

If you aren't in the Montreal area, Pitchfork has some other tour dates.

Peter Bjorn & John | Amsterdam | Buy
Fujiya & Miyagi | Ankle Injuries | Buy

Peter Bjorn & John's video for "Objects of my Affection":


Fujiya & Miyagi's video for "Collarbone":

Have You Seen Axl Rose?

Clever Idea + Good Execution = Pretty Damn Funny

Be sure to stick around to the end to see the train scene.

Ski Vermont Jukebox

In an interesting marketing move, Ski Vermont, the marketing arm of the Vermont ski industry, has decided to promote Vermont bands as a part of their attempt to broaden the "Vermont brand". There's two parts of this. The first is a CD sampling Vermont bands which will be distributed at trade shows. The second part is a jukebox on Ski Vermont's site that streams about a hundred tunes from Vermont bands. Both projects are being done in concert with Big Heavy World, the non-profit Burlington music promoters.

I don't know how much impact this will have on either the ski industry or the bands involved but it's nice to see some cross promotion. I could squabble with the bands selected for the jukebox but that's BHW's call and it seems to change every few weeks. So, perhaps some of my favorite local bands were included in other playlists.

My only suggestions for improving the jukebox would be to have the songs automatically play one after the other. The way it works with my Mozilla browswer is that I have to hit the "|>" button at the end of each song to jump to the next one. It's nice that there is a link to the band's website on the jukebox but it would also be nice to be able to download the mp3 directly from the player. Otherwise, it's a cool easy way to check out some VT bands.

New Bright Eyes

The more I listen to Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake It's Morning the more I love it. The album has been creeping since I bought it in 2005. There isn't a better time for new material, now that it's 2007. An EP, Four Winds, was released two weeks ago (which is appropriately named, as it shares the name of the place where all the kids in my town went once their parents became scared of their substance abuse/emotional state). April 10th marks the full release, Cassadaga. The tracks have a pretty heavy handed dry atl-country feel, but driven by Connor's waivering stories. Of course it is peppered with plenty exceptions, including the rawkus I Must Belong Somewhere, which I've been digging since I first heard it a year or so ago.

Four Winds EP - Buy

Bright Eyes - Tourist Trap.mp3

Cassadaga LP - Pre-Order

Bright Eyes - Four Winds.mp3

Bright Eyes - No One Would Riot for Less.mp3

The National | Boxer

In 2005, my favorite album was The Go! Team's Thunder Lightning Strike. However, since 2005, I'd say my most often listened to album from that year would be The National's Alligator. In fact, it isn't even close. The album is beauty from start to finish.

That's why I'm excited to hear their new album, Boxer, due May 22nd. Well, Blogotheque has given us a taste of the new album. They recorded two casual performaces of songs from the new album, "Start a War" and "Ada", and posted them on their site. They also have a brief piece explaining the night that drove these recordings.

The videos fall into the category of "artsy for the sake looking cool because it's artsy" but I'm just happy to get a taste of the new tracks.

"Start a War"

#40.3 - The National - Start a war
Uploaded by lablogotheque

"Ada"

#40.4 - THE NATIONAL -Ada
Uploaded by lablogotheque

Dirty on Purpose | Vermont Connection

For the last nine months, I'm been grooving to Dirty on Purpose's Hallelujah Sirens without ever knowing about their connection to Vermont. It turns out that guitarist (and vocalist on "Kill Our City"), George Wilson, is from Chester, VT which is down in the southeastern corner of the state near Bellows Falls.

Apparently, they even played Burlington a few years ago before I knew about them. However, they had played in Chicago the night before and then drove straight through to Burlington. So, if the show was lackluster, you'd have to cut them some slack. Hopefully, they'll come back again.

If you haven't heard Hallelujah Sirens, it's difficult to fit into any one category. Their shoegazing guitars tend to be consistent throughout the album but they keep their sound fresh by feeding you side dishes of horns, keys and strings too. The best comparison would be to mid-90's Yo La Tengo. Perhaps that's why I'm such a fan. Plus, now I can claim them as a Vermont band.

Photo courtesy of MUDSUGAR

Here's their video for "No Radio". George is the trumpet-playing guitarist; an obvious sign of Yankee thrift.


Dirty on Purpose | Kill Our City | Buy

U-20 World Cup Update

So, a few weeks ago, the draw was held for the U-20 World Cup this summer in Canada and the soccer Gods were shining on me because the US team got put in the group that will play in Montreal and Ottawa. Here's the schedule:

June 30th - Montreal - US vs South Korea
July 3rd - Montreal - US vs Poland
July 6th - Ottawa - US vs Brazil

It's a tough group because Brazil is always a favorite and the Koreans are very competitive in youth competitions. I don't know much about Poland but they probably won't suck.

Tickets for individual games are on sale via Admission.com. They are reasonably priced (the best seats are $24US) and all the dates are doubleheaders. So, on June 30th, your ticket gets you in to see Brazil play Poland at 2:15 and then the US plays Korea at 5pm. Good deal.

The beauty of this tournament is that you get to see the superstars of tomorrow. So, the question is who are those superstars to watch out for. Here's a few possibilities:

Our own Freddy Adu:


Brazil's Alex Pato:


Brazil's Kerlon the Seal (possibly hurt for the tournament):


Brazil's Denilson:


Now you can see why Brazil is one of the favorites.

Poland's Dawid Janczyk:

Tokyo Police Club | Daytrotter Session

If you're still debating whether to hit the Cold War Kids / Tokyo Police Club show at Higher Ground on April 1st, here's some more persuasion. Tokyo Police Club has followed their touring partners to Daytrotter's studio and cranked out four songs inlcuding two new ones. That gets them up to about twenty minutes of released material...it's small but stacked and packed with rock and roll goodness.

All four songs are available as free downloads. And the interview portion of their time at Daytrotter revealed this sudden contradiction:

What are the new tunes sounding like? What are the plans for a full-length?

GW: They’re sounding pretty cool. A little bit denser and more complex than the EP, but still keeping the same brevity and poppiness.

Huh? But I don't care. I just love that EP of theirs.

Cold War Kids hit Daytrotter last August but their tracks are still up there too.

Dylan Hears a Who | UPDATE

OK. Even as a Dylan fan, I have to admit this is clever and pretty funny.

Dylan Hears a Who

Thanks to Jeff for the link.

UPDATE: I guess Columbia's lawyers got to whoever put the site up because it's down today. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

MC/VL

With a publicity photo like that, I'm not sure how seriously, I take Minneapolis' MC/VL. However, I largely felt the same way, the first time I first saw pictures of The Beastie Boys back in the mid-80's. At the very least, it shows they have a good sense of humor.

I can't say I know a heck of a lot about these guys but their song "Cold Check It" popped up on my iPod early in my vacation and I repeatedly dialed it up over the rest of the week. Like The Beasties, the song is a great combo of hip-hop and rock with a big addictive fuzzy bass beat.

The song is off their debut album Stance which came out last month. Now, if I could just figure out where to buy the album, I'd be set. Unfortunately, MC/VL has chosen to not inlcude that nugget of info on their site.

Oh, well. In the meantime, play this track loud.

MC/VL | Cold Check It

Fujiya & Miyagi

What do you make of a British trio that goes by a Japanese name and plays krautrock-inspired tunes? It gets even more peculiar when you learn that one guy has adopted the moniker Fujiya, another guy is Miyagi and the poor bass player goes by Ampersand. It sucks sometimes to be the last guy to join a band.

Regardless, Fujiya & Miyagi's recent album Transparent Things is droning yet melodic and back with beats. The songs can sound a bit repetitive as you progress through the album. However, I've listened to Transparent Things straight through numerous times and the repetition hasn't gotten on my nerves yet. There are enough sub-beats and sub-melodies to keep it fresh.

They're currently touring the US in limited cities to sold out crowds which seems to be the model to follow for blog-loved bands these days. Hopefully, they'll continue to follow that model and come back stateside later this year with a full-blown set of tour dates.

Fujiya & Miyagi | Ankle Injuries | Buy

Frost Heaves Playoff Tickets Info

After finishing their inaugural season in the ABA ranked #1 in the league, the Frost Heaves kick off their post-season campaign on Sunday afternoon (4pm tipoff) against the winner of tonight's Strong Island-Quebec City game. The Heaves dropped two games to Quebec City this year and one to Strong Island. So, those two teams accounted for half of the Heaves six loses this season.

Therefore, the Heaves are hoping for a big home court advantage when they take the court in Barre. Based upon ticket sales, it appears they are on their way to a big crowd. There are only 350 tickets left and the team is holding those tickets for sale at the door. The tickets will go on sale at 2pm when they open the auditorium.

We haven't gotten tickets yet so I may try to fight the crowds and get there early. However, it's supposed to be cold and windy tomorrow. So, it might suck to stand out in front of that old gym for a while waiting in line but if it's a good game and the crowd gets into it, it would be worth it.

Green Mountain Film Festival Starts Tonight

The Green Mountain Film Festival starts today in Montpelier and runs until Mar 25th. The picture above shows the line out the door for tickets the other day. I guess tickets are selling faster than they ever have before. When I stopped by yesterday to get tickets to see Gimme Shelter (10:15pm, tonight), the board showed that nine shows had already sold out. So, if you are planning on catching a movie, be sure to get your tickets in advance.

Here's the trailer for Gimme Shelter. I've seen the movie a few times on TV but never on a big screen with a loud sound system. So, it should be a hoot. Plus, with the threat of a flood and 18 inches of snow simultaneously, we should be able to feel the nervousness of the fans at Altamont.

Back from Vacation

A week or so ago, we left behind the scene above at our house for the scene below on the balcony of our hotel in Florida. It was a well needed escape from winter and life for me and my family. It's always nice to be back but it was also nice to get out of here for a little while.

I want to apologize to all the people that sent me time sensitive event and show dates to post while I was gone. However, I'll catch up on all the non-date specific stuff eventually.

If Phil Collins Was Ever This Cool...

Courtesy of cj.

Beware of the Ides of March

The White Stripes - St. Ides of March.mp3

Arthur Dodge - Ides of March.mp3

Flood Watch 2007 Continues

With yesterday's nine inches of snow, Montpelier's flood watch continues. As you can see above, they've sandbagged the post office. Plus, a lot of merchants are moving inventory out of their basements.

Someone sent me a link to another good graph for following the water level in the Winooski River. It's a lot easier to interpret than the one I posted last week.