>> So we went 0-for-3 seeing shows this past week. We had intended to get out to see Seattle electropop act Say Hi at Great Scott last night after viewing the newly released DVD Kurt Cobain: About A Son. However, the film is so subdued, nearly static -- as well as somewhat repetitive of Michael Azerrad's very good Cobain biography "Come As You Are" -- that we were lulled into a state of not wanting to drive across the river come show time. So we didn't. Further comments on the film: The colors -- particularly the greens -- are stunning. Is that the work of a particular color filter, or digital processing, or was the footage just captured during those perfect spring days where the greens are so green? Also notable is the pleasantly diaphanous soundtrack written by Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard and producer Steve Fisk. Ultimately Kurt Cobain: About A Son is a somewhat unusual blend of video travelogue and intimate audio interview that succeeds most of the time, although we think viewers without any knowledge that the film is actually Azerrad's semi-legendary interviews set to pretty pictures may find the proceedings somewhat unsatisfactory. For those interested in seeing the film in tiny chunks, it appears this YouTube user has put the whole film online. We've posted the trailer for the film atop this item. Here's some free Death Cab For Cutie courtesy of the band's web site.
Death Cab For Cutie --
[right click and save as]
[Buy Death Cab For Cutie and Nirvana records from Newbury Comics here and here]
>> It is worth reminding you that Portland, Ore.-based quintet A Weather's exceptional full-length debut Cove will be released by Team Love Tuesday. We've returned to this record over and over again during the last 90 days and it is a good bet that the set will be included among our favorite records of 2008. We reviewed Cove here. Gang Of Four's Dave Allen recently interviewed the band for a recent Pampelmoose podcast you can download right here. And if you are fan of the band's stirring brooder "Oh My Stars" we highly recommended listening in, because the podcast includes a live or alternate version of the track -- it's never explicitly stated whether the band is actually performing live or not. The Pampelmoose version (for lack of a better descriptor) features some perfect slide guitar, which fits so nicely we wonder why it wasn't included in the studio recording. Also somewhat different in the Pampelmoose rendition: some clanking percussion; a different vocal arrangement at the climax of the song. Whatever the source of this version, we're hoping the track is eventually offered as a standalone MP3. For now, here's the studio version of "Oh My Stars."
A Weather -- "Oh My Stars" -- Cove
[right click and save as]
[buy Cove from Saddle Creek right here]
>> There's no surer sign of spring than the waves of spring tours that kriss-kross the land like so many sets of youngsters wearing pants backwards. Clicky Clicky faves Mobius Band -- after returning from its current successful European tour next month -- sets its sights on America (with Cut Copy and hype-hamstrung blog darlings Black Kids in tow) with the aim of further evangelizing the October release of the sophomore set Heaven. Here are the your Mobius Band 2008 U.S. tour dates below. While we're on the subject, exemplary rockers Minus The Bear and Cardiff, Wales-based indie pop sensations Los Campesinos! will also circumnavigate the states this spring. Both acts will come to entertain in Boston, and Pantsfork has tour dates for each here and here respectively.
MOBIUS BAND TOUR DATES
04.28 -- Doug Fir Lounge -- Portland, Oregon
04.29 -- Richard’s On Richards -- Vancouver, British Columbia
04.30 -- Neumos -- Seattle, Washington
05.02 -- Urban Lounge -- Salt Lake City, Utah
05.03 -- Larimer Lounge -- Denver, Colorado
05.05 -- Waiting Room -- Omaha, Nebraska
05.06 -- 7th Street Entry -- Minneapolis, Minnesota
05.07 -- Abbey Pub -- Chicago, Illinois
05.08 -- Magic Stick -- Detroit, Michigan
05.09 -- Lee’s Palace -- Toronto, Ontario
05.10 -- Cabaret Music Hall -- Montreal, Quebec
05.12 -- Paradise -- Boston, Massachusetts
05.14 -- Bowery Ballroom -- New York, New York
05.15 -- Black Cat -- Washington, D.C.
05.16 -- Pure -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
>> We've been spending some time with Scottish post-rock behemoth Mogwai's Come On Die Young as of late. And we'd like to show just how dense we can be sometimes. Despite the record coming out in 1999 and our listening to it for months on end upon its release, it occurred to us only just yesterday that the song title "Cody" is an acronym for the album title. Sometimes stuff just goes over our head.
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