VIDEO: Twin Sister - "All Around and Away We Go"

"I'm Smiling 4 2"
It's a THRILL to see this really polished new music video from beloved NY band Twin Sister for one of the first songs we ever loved by them. It's hard to miss the really grade A production value on this piece. The graphics, mattes, composites, choreography, soft focus and lighting - all is beautifully done in a delightfully retro girly style. With a tongue-in-cheek attitude of course. This is really one to be proud of:

ALBUM: Joseph Andreoli - Eye Candy & the Breath of Heaven Themselves

So our friend Joe is half of this totally stellar band Giraffes?Giraffes! who we love. He also likes to take part in the (inter)national album making month.

On top of these already wonderful achievements, he just made a really excellent solo EP called Eye Candy and the Breath of Heaven Themselves.

I know everyone really likes to know what they are getting into ahead of time with listening to something new and unfamiliar but, oh well. This time, trust our judgment and enjoy!

MP3: Crystal Stilts - "Shake the Shackles" New 7"

Bind Me to the Past

Crystal Stilts' Alight of Night (2008) remains one of our most listened-to albums to date. It is for this reason that we are so very excited by the most recent single to come from Crystal Stilts, from a recently released 7-inch entitled "Shake the Shackles."

Crystal Stilts - "Shake the Shackles"

This is the first thing we've heard from them since their 2009 single "Love is a Wave," another huge favorite of ours. And while we are comforted to find that Brad Hargett has retained his super sleepy, Ian-Curtis-esque melancholia, there is something lighter, peppier, and... well, more fucking fun. Not that one normally looks to a Crystal Stilts song for "fun and peppy" necessarily, but what brews under Hargett's voice here is a bubbling, unleashed energy.

Expect a full-length album to be released next year.
GAAHH!

VIDEO: Nite Jewel - "We Want Our Things"

Am I Real?

Nite Jewel have released a new video and a vinyl EP called Am I Real?

MP3: Twin Sister - "Ribbon Bow"

"I'll Be Your Destiny" Whoa whoa what's that? A song that combines both Twin Sister and my epic, childhood-rooted, undying love of Otis Redding??

Twin Sister - "Ribbon Bow"

They didn't call me Big O in high school just cos I'm nigh 6' tall and wear size a 11. Shoes. Size 11 shoes, that is.

MICRO-PIXEL-RITES PRESENTS:

CMJ 2010

MP3: Flower Orgy - "Boneyard"

Power Crystals Orgy
Once upon a time way back when, we posted a song called "Bone Yard" by Stingray Migration, a Bennington student musical group whose members included Will Stratton (after his show with El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees, we dug his song "Bluebells") and Nate "Skippy" Luce - whose duet show with Alex Bleeker of the Freaks we posted videos of here. Cutie and a sweet, sweet soul, Luce has now formed his new project Flower Orgy. Their new take on the once-Stingray-Migration track is slow and shitfaced-hazy. It opens with guitar distortion so familiar you could swear you grew up with these guys, listening to Neutral Milk Hotel and getting stoned in your backyard together. Plus there are snippets of soft vocal harmonies at all the right moments.

Flower Orgy - "Boneyard"

100% pure bedroomy raunch. I love it. Soo, DO NOT miss this show this Saturday - uh, yesss TOMORROW - with Alex Bleeker and the Freaks! OHH, SHIT:

Alex Bleeker and the Freaks
Flower Orgy
Carla Baker
Red Hook Bait and Tackle (corner of Van Brunt and Pioneer, Red Hook, BK)
Saturday 09/10/10 8:30PM

: FREE : FREE : FREE : FREE : FREE : FREE :

MP3: Caribou - "Every Time She Turns Round It's Her Birthday"

From The Mouth That Gives Good Head
Caribou are putting out a double LP entitled Vibration Ensemble of their set at ATP this year. This song is pretty epic, just like the title:

Caribou Vibration Ensemble - "Every Time She Turns Round It's Her Birthday"

[via one thirty BPM]

MP3: Washed Hands - "Datsun Dream, 1980"

"Sixty Miles Strong"

Have you ever heard the sound of one washed hand clapping? No; a hand cannot clap itself, or otherwise, and the sound of fingertips barely tapping its own palm cannot be construed as a clap - it is but the sound of juvenile contrarianism.

Ahhh, band PR emails...

Washed Hands is a psych synth pop group from Montreal. That's in Canada. You can download their PWYC album at their bandcamp site here. Dig this song, "Datsun Dream, 1980:"

Washed Hands - "Datsun Dream, 1980"

MP3: Ducktails - "Art Vandelay"

"Everybody Knows"
Everybody knows... this song to be a Real Estate song. Well, you do if you've seen them perform it regularly in their sets from the last year or so. But it's a Ducktails jam, actually! Although this recorded version is decidedly more bedroom-y (a la old Ducktails one-man-band style), "Art Vandelay" definitely feels like a Mondanile-penned Real Estate song. (Though it should be noted it is not new or uncommon for them to play Matt Mondanile's solo project Ducktails' songs.) It's the one we'd leave their shows singing, Everybody knowwws, somethin somethin somethinnn...

Ducktails - "Art Vandelay"

And we still can not get it out of our heads. Seriously, it's been months.

MP3: Andrew Valentino - "Party Beach"

"Meet Me At the Beach"
We recently brought you some Andrew Valentino tunes in the first and most recent edition of the Burlington Hype List. He was kind enough to bequeath us some additional music that we requested, including his most recent project Meet Me At the Beach. Available for download here. Not quite lo-fi enough to be labeled lo-fi, not quite cliche enough for chillwave, Valentino waxes on a popular summer theme in a charming, unscathed way. This mostly instrumental track stands out hard:

Andrew Valentino - "Party Beach"

Really, what is it with me? I love every pop song with clapping, snapping, or a chorus with very layered vocal chorus. Or all of the above. Dig it!

VIDEO: Radiohead Live in Prague

A Fan-Made Project

On August 23rd, 2009 a group of Radiohead fans descended on the Výstaviště Holešovice Exhibition Hall in Prague on a mission - to capture the band playing using as many different angles as possible. Bringing together the exceptional talents of many contributors, here is the result:

Last night, the entire set was posted. This thing has been in the works for months! A cross-continent editing operation, the project was shot on every kind of video format available, from cell phone to handycam, from photo JPEG to H264 - sort of an editor's nightmare. While the audio masters were generously provided by the band, cutting it all together was a huge undertaking, all done by volunteers - fanatics really. I know this because I work with one of them. I've watched him stay nights and weekends to see this whole thing through and it's been inspiring. "By the fans, for the fans." There is something beautiful about that.

Check out all TWENTY-FIVE videos here.

MP3: Lady Lioness - "My Defeat"

Glimmer and Gleam
Not to be mistaken for Lady Gaga - Lady Lioness is Erin Cavellier, a Burlington, VT flower child armed with pretty songs ranging from the childish to those which are deep in texture and tone. Lady Lioness shares similarities with the playful drum machine beats of local kin Alexandria Hall aka tooth ache (who y'all know we dig) and ukelele sounds of New Hampshire sis Merrill Garbus aka TUNE-YARDS (who we also dig). In this particular tune, "My Defeat" we hear a heavier, more syrupy smoking vocal style, much more closely resembling Beach House's Victoria Legrand:

Lady Lioness - "My Defeat"

MP3: The Burlington Hype List (Ed. 1)

PIXELHORSE Flava in Burlington, VT

So it seems as if the further north you live, the lazier you get. At any rate, your favorite PIXELHORSE lady in the north country has compiled a bulleted list of what you need to listen to. It is in no particular order, except that all should be listened to, post haste:

Andrew Valentino
Long Island, NY

Super busy boy with lots of creative output to show for it. Awesome records including House Record (think drum machiney beats, noisy a la John Maus' Songs), International, a self-titled, and many more. When Will I Be Loved is a cover album with the best cover of "Hot in the City" by Billy Idol ever recorded. This dude is buds with with John K, Ted Raviv, and Gabe (a P-HORSE crush) from Twin Sister.

Andrew Valentino - "Fighting At Home"

Andrew Valentino - "Everybody Gets It"

Andrew Valentino - "Leave Him Tonight"

(Really, Valentino's sound varies from record to innumerable record so much that it's difficult to provide a good sense of his ever-changing sound here. Check him out.)

John K

Philadelphia, PA

Also from NY. Low fuzzy voice. I think Chocolate Bobka may have posted some of his newer stuff earlier this year. In any case, check out his upcoming show August 12th at Monster Island Basement in BK.

John K - "She's Got Me Running"

John K - "Just Once"

Toothache
Burlington, VT

A local mama who frequents BK quite a bit. Beautiful voice/looping effects.

Maga

Burlington, VT

Burlington two piece. Sweet boys with lovely tunes.

Maga - "Where You'll Go"

Maga - "We Vs. Us"

Parlovr

Montreal, Canada

Montreal-based three piece band of boys. Sounds like the Unicorns' vocals plus "a cheap Kmart guitar with its guts ripped out (and) a two-piece drum kit and a keyboard with a mind of its own:" [via]

Watch their La Blogoteque video:

Parlovr - "Sleeping Horses"

Parlovr - "Pen to the Paper"

Suuns

Montreal, Canada

Beautiful, loud, psych rock. On tour with Parlovr. Also Canadian boys. Joy Division and Suicide influences.

Suuns - "PVC"

Suuns - "Optimist"

Til next time!

SHOW: BOMB Summer Bash!!!

BOMBlog Presents...

BOMB is having a party!!

Our wonderful friends over at BOMB Magazine's BOMBlog have put together this radical summer fundraising party. It's this Sunday, August 1st, 8pm at Glasslands, and the cost is $10 which includes a FREE issue of this preeminent arts magazine and a really splendidly curate lineup of bands:

Title TK
An art world supergroup…We aren’t at liberty to disclose the names involved, but we can promise that you’ll be blown away.

Gunn Truscinski
Steve Gunn (Guitar) and John Truscinski (Drums), live in Brooklyn and have been playing together for almost a decade in various forms and collaborations. They have solidified their duo exchange by honing in on their instruments and simplifying their discourse. Both have toured the U.S. and Europe extensively. Recently, they recorded an album at Black Dirt Studios which will be released in the Fall of 2010 on Three Lobed Recordings.

Noveller
The solo project of Brooklyn-based guitarist and filmmaker Sarah Lipstate. She has performed in Rhys Chatham’s Guitar Army, and as a member of Glenn Branca’s 100 guitar ensemble. Noveller has toured supporting Xiu Xiu, the Jesus Lizard, Man Forever, and Emeralds. She’s just released Desert Fires, her full-length, on Saffron Recordings.

LA BIG VIC is an up-and-coming Brooklyn-based four-piece. Their HEYO cassingle (that’s a single on a cassette) released on Whip Casettes, was recently praised by Pitchfork Media as “absolutely cavernous, with a pretty sweet violin line” on their Forkcast blog.

Steve Keene is an extraordinarily prolific Brooklyn based artist whose work has been featured in numerous publications as well as on album covers by rock groups like Pavement, The Silver Jews, Merzbow and Surf City.

SHOW: Julian Lynch, Ducktails, LA BIG VIC & More...

Microphone Memory Emotion Presents...

Georgia over at MME is throwing this rad show on Friday. We'll be there. So you should be, too.

VIDEO: Lazer Crystal - "Love Rhombus"

"Our Hearts They Consume"

Spazzy Chicago synth pop band Lazer Crystal have come out with a new video for "Love Rhombus":

This video is delicious and the opening title graphics make me feel things that are at once stimulating and sexually conflicting. Fuschia Boy George-esque lips sing a chorus that sounds like Buffalo Bill and the Kids covering a song by Q. Lazzarus. Composited fires and rainbows and spiraling naked bodies and a rabbi on drums. Grab the mp3 below:

Lazer Crystal - "Love Rhombus"

MP3: COOLRUNNINGS - "Road to Nowhere"

"And We're Not Little Children"

Talking Heads released the album Little Creatures in July of 1985. One year and one month later, I was born. My father's original vinyl copy was playing in the background of about 85% of our childhood home videos. I have a deeply happy, deeply nostalgic connection with this album.

My favorite track that most perfectly exemplifies the childish and playful nature of Little Creatures is "Stay Up Late." A close second would have to be the closing track, "Road to Nowhere," of which COOLRUNNINGS just released their cover:

COOLRUNNINGS - "Road to Nowhere"

This song is also the closing credits track from the movie Little Monsters (1989) starring Fred Savage and Howie Mandel. Thanks weekly tape deck, for reminding us of the horrifying memories of nightmares this movie gave us:

Here's another earlier version of the song which is rather different from the album cut:

Talking Heads - "Road to Nowhere (Early Version)"

MP3: Chris Owens - "Oh My Love"

"I Know You're Just Foolin', Foolin' With My Heart"

MBV posted these lovely intimate videos today of Chris Owens in his boudoir being interviewed in connection with this movie I Want Your Love (NSFW) which the band recently soundtracked. Watch him perform Girls' unreleased song "Oh My Love" here.

We offer you the mp3:

Girls - "Oh My Love"

iPod awayyy...

MP3: LA BIG VIC - "LYNY"

"I Love You, I Need You"

For the next few nights this week, I've been told to let my soul go flying out my lua'uhane. The "soul pit," according to Hawaiian mythology, is located in the tear duct of the eye. I was further instructed to let my "backlog of stored-up tears rain down on the secret garden" that I have been neglecting. Now any thick-skinned New Yorker would be quick to brush off this fucking froofy piece of advice. Like, "Suck it up, you buncha hairy-backed Mary's." Right??

But think about it. We New Yorkers who work full time (and if you're like me, "full time" in NYC rarely means less than 65+ hours/week) are laden with stress and anxiety, and the accessories that accompany these nasty little beasts. For this New Yorker it means nightmares, hypertension, heart problems, and emotional failure at the complete lack of time I have for a long distance relationship with the person I love and care about more than anything.

As I opened the e-luv (as I prefer to think of it) that included an mp3 from my dear friend Emilie - a kindred who I know is quite familiar with all the feelings I have thus described - I could think of nothing more fitting than the words "I love you, I need you."

While this all may seem to you like nothing more than the rantings of one rather frazzled, sleep-deprived, emotionally unstable young woman, I beg you to go against the NY grain and listen to this song with an open heart.

It is with this in mind that I give you the following song by LA BIG VIC, entitled "LYNY":

LA BIG VIC - "LYNY"

Let your soul soar out through your soul pit. Let it pour, if need be.

MP3: COOLRUNNINGS

BABES FOREVER

We'd be lying if we didn't admit that COOLRUNNINGS' cover art was a big part the reason we decided to post about them. They're a Tennessee band that basically sound like a hybrid of Harlem + RUN DMT + Wild Nothing + Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Right? I mean, how could you NOT dig that??

COOLRUNNINGS - "SAN DIMAS OASIS"

COOLRUNNINGS - "WHEN I GOT HIGH WITH YOU"

Really though, you should just get the whole BABES FOREVER EP. Free download here. Also, they will be playing a show August 26th, around the time of their tape release, with Family Portrait and Tennis. Do NOT miss that one!

VIDEO: Ducktails - "Landrunner" / "Don't Make Plans" Live

PIXELBOMB Presents...

"Matt Mondanile makes girls wet." This is what I overheard some girls saying during the Ducktails set at Shea Stadium during Northside Fest. Okay, MAYBE those girls were us.

Here are two videos of Ducktails we shot that night. One is of an old fave, "Landrunner," which is now being performed with a whole band, which is new and diff for Ducktails. You can hear Matt say, "This one's a doozy" before launching in:

This next one's a new song, a chillwave mantra if you will, called "Don't Make Plans":

Ducktails will be touring with Big Troubles the next month or so. You should catch their show.

VIDEO: Big Troubles - "Georgia" Live

PIXELBOMB Presents

Big things are in store for Big Troubles. I love these guys. They're just a great fucking band. (And they're so nice to look at.) Gazey, handsome, loud, fast. In fact, just before this song, I have a recording of McGregor (the handsome devil who threw this rad showcase-turned-dance-party-in-a-sauna) yelling out a request to play "some of dat Pure Ecstasy slow shit!" It was hot, admittedly, and chillers wanna chill. Ian's response is barely captured in the video below but you can hear him mutter back, "Yeah... this one's... slow." They proceed to play "Georgia," a song that is in keeping with the rest of their catalogue - fast as fuck and mind-meltingly loud. Keep it up, Big T's! Check out this deliciously wet video of their performance at Shea:

Big things indeed. For the next few weeks they'll be touring with Ducktails, opening up for him and also playing with him, for a change of pace, as his backing band. They have a 7" out on Blackburn Recordings as well as a 7" on Olde English Spelling Bee, and they are releasing an LP soon which, among others, will contain this song, to be titled "Georgia."

Here's a different song by Big Troubles for your iPoddin ass' pleasure:

Big Troubles - "Drastic and Difficult"

You can catch Big Troubles opening up Le Poisson Rouge tonight for their buds Real Estate and the magnificent Kurt Vile. I'll be there! Let's shake it.

VIDEO: YellowFever - "Culver City" Live

PIXELBOMB Presents

YellowFever are Austin transplants who we first saw in Austin at SXSW earlier this year. They blew us away. With Adam Jones on vocals, synths AND a standard drumkit, and Jennifer Moore playing guitar, singing lead vocals, AND playing a sickass vintage slide guitar, this duo wows us into a sense of childhood we haven't experienced since Dick Van Dyke's one-man band in Mary Poppins.

"She knows all the trouble she's caused!" Yeah! Here's the mp3 for your listening pleasure:

YellowFever - "Culver City"

YellowFever will be playing TONIGHT at Monster Island Basement with Wet Dog, Larkin Grimm, and MINKS. You should go if you haven't seen em yet.

VIDEO: Andrew Cedermark - "Ad Infinitum" Live

PIXELBOMB Presents

PIXELBOMB (the ladies of P-HORSE and BOMBlog) is happy to bring you the first of a short series of videos shot during Northside Fest of some of the P-HORSE gals' favorite players. First up is the talented Andrew Cedermark, accompanied by the multi-faceted bassist/keyboardist Jacob Wolf, and a clearly excitable, super cute drummer whose name has somehow escaped us.

This song, since it came out on the Underwater Peoples Winter Review, has been charming the hearts of millions. It's a beautiful, beautiful tune, and while the this particular live version does not have the female vocal harmonies that make it just so gorgeous, it retains that beauty with a warm red glowing light and the familiar face of former Titus Andronicus member, a Jersey native and Charlottesville transplant, Mr. Andrew Cedermark. And just in case you don't somehow already have it, here's the recorded version of the song, enjoy:

Andrew Cedermark - "Ad Infinitum"

Beautiful, right?? We can't wait til Andrew, Jacob, Victoria, and company come back to us real soon. You've always got a place on our couches and in our hearts.

You should definitely check out some more Cedermark band jams that are also located at the Underwater Peoples store, where you'll find his 7" split with Family Portrait.

MP3: LA BIG VIC Live at Cameo Gallery '09

"Magica Mystica"

These recordings are from LA BIG VIC's show at Cameo Gallery in November of 2009. Someone recently asked me for audio of one the songs they played, so I thought I'd post these:

LA BIG VIC - "FAO Schwartz (Live)"

LA BIG VIC - "Musica (Live)"

Aaaand what the hell, here's the whole set:

LA BIG VIC AT CAMEO GALLERY (entire set)

PHOTOS: NORTHSIDE FEST 2010

PRESENTED BY PIXELBOMB

Coasting @ Matchless

Family Portrait @ Matchless

Real Estate @ MHOW

Dana Jewell @ Shea Stadium

Big Troubles @ Shea Stadium

Andrew Cedermark @ Shea Stadium

Ducktails (feat. members of Big Troubles) @ Shea Stadium

Shea Stadium...

Barge Park Dawgs

Keepaway @ BK Bowl

Photos by Elise Oh, Emilie Friedlander, and Lena Vee