Review: Guillermo Sexo | Secret Wild

Guillermo Sexo's recently issued fourth full-length is doubly remarkable: not only is the Boston-based dream-pop quartet's collection Secret Wild very good, but also it strongly underscores that the band is very good at doing more than one thing -- no mean feat in today's atmosphere of the Internet subjecting acts to harder scrutiny ever earlier in their careers, before they even figure out how to do one thing right. Of course, Guillermo Sexo has been writing and recording records for more than five years at this point, and don't qualify as "new" by any metric. But all the same, the band's facility with different styles -- as particularly evidenced by Secret Wild -- is impressive.

As we stated here earlier this month, the new record charts the "middle ground between heavy atmospheric shoegaze...and Led Zeppelin-styled English folk." The same sonic range also characterized 2010's terrific and relatively slept-on (at least, admittedly, by us) full length Vivid Nights, which we discussed briefly here a year ago. But the songs on Secret Wild resonate even more strongly, perhaps because of a heightened air of psychedelia shot through the music, or perhaps because of the rich production. It's no matter -- either way Secret Wild is one of the strongest releases to date in 2011.

Highlights abound. When co-fronter Noell Dorsey pushes her voice into overdrive for the concise, spine-tingling rocker "Green Eyes," it takes on a tonal similarity to that of Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker. Guillermo Sexo's "Exhale" opens with melancholy strumming, and something about the production and tension consistently tricks us into thinking an explosive chord will arrive at any moment, as in The Boo Radley's epic jaw-dropper "Foster's Van." Instead, tasteful and spare guitar leads coax the composition along like a lure on a line, all while the atmospheric swirl just below the song's surface continues its seamless, endless respiration. The title track ("Secret Wild") offers a starry strummer that -- as noted supra -- reminds us of the sort of mystical English folk we assume (but about which we have to confess ignorance) must exist outside of the context of Led Zep's (and, to a lesser extent, Fields') compelling acoustic compositions. The song conveys an ideal pastoral carelessness that one only ever really gets to experience via nostalgia, which is to say you don't know it is happening until after it has happened.

Guillermo Sexo self-released Secret Wild July 16 in a limited edition of 300 white LPs, 100 t-shirts with download codes and also digitally. Five of the album's nine tracks can be streamed at Bandcamp, and we've embedded a player containing same below. But wait, there's more! The digital version of Secret Wild comes packaged with three otherwise unreleased demos; these are not included on the vinyl, although those who purchase the LP receive download codes for the digital version of the album which includes the three demos. Guillermo Sexo is planning a tour to support the record that will launch in September.



Guillermo Sexo: Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube

Today's Hotness: The Futureheads, Fields, Asobi Seksu

>> You know what totally smokes? The forthcoming Futureheads single "I Wouldn't Be Like This If You Were Here." The high-octane slammer hearkens back to the Sunderland-situated quartet's amazing 2004 full-length debut. The single will be issued Dec. 8, but you can already hear a crappy-sounding stream of the track at the band's MySpace dojo here. The Futureheads embark on a three-week tour of the U.K. and Ireland with clicky clicky faves Johnny Foreigner at the end of the month. We weren't all that certain of the pairing, but now that we've streamed "I Wouldn't Be Like This If You Were Here" a few times and hear The Futureheads are back with their A game it is starting to make sense. Full tour dates are listed at the aforementioned MySpace page. The Futureheads released its third set This Is Not The World on its own Nul Recordings label in May; we reviewed the band's July 2006 Boston gig here. We just remembered something Johnny Foreigner and The Futureheads have in common: both acts have been remixed by Dolby Anol. Here's the remix of "Radio Heart."

The Futureheads -- "Radio Heart (Dolby Anol Remix)"
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[buy Futureheads records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> London-based indie rock foursome Fields Tuesday cited label negotiations as the precipitating factor behind the cancellation of a planned strand of November tour dates. The cancellation isn't quite as interesting as the fact that Fields, which was apparently the subject of a bidding war in the U.K. in 2006 after playing only a small number of shows, is -- according to a MySpace blog from fronter Nick Peill -- "in talks with a new record label." The band's full-length debut Everything Last Winter was issued by Warners in the UK; in our opinion it did not live up to the promise of the mysterious, stellar preceding EP 7 From The Village. As we reported here in October, Fields had intended to issue its sophomore set Hollow Mountains in March 2009 (after previously hoping it could be out by the end of this year). However, the aforementioned label negotiations could push back the release of the long-anticipated set. Strangely, a second MySpace blog posted Tuesday made it sound as if a new label deal was already in place, and that it was the new label's decision to scotch the dates. "We have been trying to get the label to organise some shows for us for months now and the decision to pull this tour was not that of the band." Drama!

>> News circulated Tuesday that Asobi Seksu's forthcoming third full-length us titled Hush. We had reported here in September that the New York-based dream pop duo would issue the new set in early 2009, and Asobi Seksu now says the release will be in March, which we expect is timed perfectly with the annual South By Southwest confab. As we had also reported previously, Hush will be preceded by the single "Me & Mary" b/w "Breathe Into Glass" Nov. 18. For you vinyl-ophiles, the band's supremely great sophomore set Citrus will finally be issued on vinyl Nov. 25 by Friendly Fire. More details and the Hush track listing can be found in this Pitchfork item.

>> Pun Canoes here points to this recent post on The Lemonheads' blog, in which band leader Evan Dando explains the delay of the planned covers album Varshons, which was to have streeted in September. The set will apparently now be released in March, Mr. Dando says.

Todays Hotness: Fields, Johnny Foreigner, Calories

>> There is finally news about new releases from Fields. The now-London-based quartet, whose "Brittlesticks" is one of our favorite songs, will release a single Dec. 1 for the track "Are You Ready Yet?" The tune will also feature on the band's sophomore full length Hollow Mountains, which will be released in March 2009 ( at least in the UK, and by Warners, so far as we know). The set was produced by band fronter Nick Peill and mixed by the one and only Chris Zane, who you will recall worked on the Human Television track we raved about here as well as the most recent and forthcoming sets from New York-based dream pop heroes Asobi Seksu. Fields mounts a small tour of the UK beginning in mid-November and lasting through the end of the month. You can check out all of the tour dates at the band's MySpace casa right here. We last wrote about Fields here in July when we were slipped the new track "Worst Love;" at the time we reported the record was to be released before year end, but apparently it's been pushed back. No word on what the b-side to "Are You Ready Yet?" will be, but we can already offer you a download of a version of the track courtesy of band reps RadarMaker.

Fields -- "Are You Ready Yet?" -- Preview MP3
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[buy Fields records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> Here is awesome full-screen live video of Johnny Foreigner performing their single "Eyes Wide Terrified" at the New Slang club night in England last month. We sadly realized yesterday that due to work commitments we're not going to be able to make it down to see the band's Friday evening set at CMJ, as had been our plan. On the upside, that means we will be able to see Ringo Deathstarr at Tufts that night. But the video linked supra does a good job of instilling that feeling that we're really missing out. Oh well. Johnny Foreigner is likely touring the U.S. a great deal next year, so hopefully they'll do it up like Frightened Rabbit, who seem to play Boston five times a year despite being from Selkirk, Scotland.

>> Birmingham, England-based indie trio Calories, which sprung from the ashes of the late, lamented indie rockers Distophia earlier this year, reports (in our MySpace comments, no less) that it has completed recording a debut full-length and it is slated for release in February 2009. A scouring of Calories' MySpace turns up this blog post that states the band recorded 10 songs at Northampton, England's The Lodge Studios last June. Two tracks, "A Bear A Bison" and "To Encounter A Deer," are streaming at said MySpace, but there is no information available currently about a label. We wouldn't be all that surprised if Big Scary Monsters was attached to the project, but then again BSM can't put out *every* record now, can it? How about some kickass old Distophia? This file is tagged "Ten Inch," but we've always been suspicious that that is a bad tag. Great song though.

Distophia -- "Ten Inch" -- MySpace Download
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Today's Hotness: Fields, Mercury Rev

>> Loyal readers may recall that six weeks ago we guest posted at Keep Hope Inside, which along with Another Form Of Relief pretty much holds it down for us as far as British music blogs are concerned. Keep Hope Inside celebrated its second anniversary by asking like-minded souls to post about their favorite British record of the prior two years. And while we weren't too good at following directions -- we picked an American EP released by a British band -- we deemed London-based Fields' excellent 7 From The Village EP as our favorite (non-Johnny Foreigner-issued) record while also throwing in our take on the band's major label debut Everything Last Winter. The guest post, now that we re-read it, is pretty comprehensive. So check it out here.

All of the blather above is just background and context for some real news, which is that we received through proper channels this afternoon a brand new and apparently finished track from Fields. It's called "Worst Love," and it's a low-key but well-appointed and orchestrated acoustic strummer with some bleepy sections, pianos, lead guitar lines, more bleeps, and so on. One thing that it definitely is: an improvement on the demo of the track that has been posted at Fields' MySpace since March, which we wrote about here. The new version of "Worst Love" benefits from real drumming and instrumentation gently situated throughout a stereo field that seems to waver from a light gravitational push and pull among twinkling electronics and natural reverbs. We're still hopeful the band has another urgent uptempo rocker like its now-classic "Brittlesticks" up its sleeve, but "Worst Love" ain't too shabby. The tune will be on Fields' forthcoming sophomore set, which is as yet untitled but expected to be in stores (at least in the UK) by the end of the year. Grab the MP3 below and revel.

Fields -- "Worst Love" -- Preview MP3
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[buy Fields records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> A new Mercury Rev track made the rounds of the Internet today, and we love its decidedly non-organic feel. As the band's music retreated from the early, guitar-driven semi-psychedelics of the early record Boces and into the contemplative, more traditional balladry, we were slightly disappointed. Sure, there are few songs released in the last decade more beautiful than "Holes," from Mercury Rev's breakout 1998 set Deserter's Songs, but we love the overblown early tracks like "Bronx Cheer," "Something For Joey," and "Snorry Mouth." The new track is called "Senses On Fire," and while it is not a return to form in the sense that the tune sounds like something from Boces, it is a pronounced step away from the naturalistic Mercury Rev sound that won the act substantial acclaim. Instead, "Sense On Fire" deploys drum sequencers and an arsenal of synths to create something approaching a dance track. Really. The vocal does little more than repeat the title over and over again, but singer Jonathan Donahue's voice is very pleasantly reminiscent of David Goolkasian of The Elevator Drops, and honestly if we hadn't been told beforehand we probably would be more likely to believe "Senses On Fire" is an Elevator Drops track than a Mercury Rev track. Hit this link and snatch the file from Pantsfork and hear it for yourself. Mercury Rev intends to release two records on Sept. 29; Strange Attractor will be given away for free, and Snowflake Midnight is going to cost you -- unless you steal it off the Intertubez.

Muxtape No. 10: The Same Records, The Same Shoes

Here is the long-promised explication to the most recent Muxtape, which we posted over the weekend. You can listen to it right here. And in fact we highly recommend that you do.

1. Elvis Costello and The Attractions -- "Welcome To The Working Week" -- My Aim Is True
(The most obvious mix starter ever? Ah, but it took us until Wednesday to post this, so it is likely you've already been welcomed to the working work by someone else. Short, sweet, hooks, social criticism. Why is this song never covered? It's dynamite. And it's got some great "oohs" in it).

2. Embrace -- "Building" -- Embrace
(The original emo band -- unless Rites Of Spring or Faith formed first? No matter. Embrace was Ian Mackaye's project between Minor Threat and Fugazi. This is one of the act's better tracks, although "Last Song" is probably their defining statement. Mackaye's singing in the first two verses is, well, a little wimpy, although we suppose the whole point was about being direct in dealing with emotional material. Anyway, things gradually build -- no pun intended -- and eventually we're treated to the Mackaye howl we've all come to know and love.)

3. Loomis -- "Conquistador" -- You're No Tiger, Meow, Meow, Meow
(Amazing post-hardcore track from midwestern act that reformed late last year for one reunion show. This number opened the band's 1996 set, and is an incredibly satisfying rocker in that "bad things happen to me" or "I am ill-equipped to thrive in contemporary society" sort of vein. "Conquistador" has a vocal melody that is never far from our memory.)

4. Bettie Serveert -- "Kid's Alright" -- Palomine
(Such a delicious guitar riff opens this one. We love the high bending pull that signals things are coming around again, and we were particularly thrilled when we figured out the tuning for this as a relatively new guitar player. Highlight from an amazing record whose execution seemed effortless. Palomine is the last rock record to have really amazing dynamic range, which is a weird thing for us to note when we consider the album, what with all the remarkable tracks it contains. This veteran act still soldiers on, but we're always most inspired by the electric sunshine on this set.)

5. Fields -- "Isabel" -- 7 From The Village
(Now London-based Fields is about to return to playing live at the end of this month with a new lineup. The quintet -- which may or may not be a quintet any longer -- led by Nick Peill released this remarkable EP in 2006, and we wrote about it recently here as part of our guest blogging stint over at Keep Hope Inside. This is one of the hotter numbers from the set, and we are eager to hear what the act's new record will sound like, despite not being that into some demos we hear earlier this year.)

6. Gastr Del Sol -- "Eight Corners" -- Unsorted
(This song should be the whole Muxtape. No, no, we should just go to Half.com and buy all the Gastr Del Sol records we don't have. Anyway, this song name-checks Western Avenue, and many other avenues. Given Gastr's Chicago orientation, we don't imagine the Western Avenue that is a couple blocks from where we are typing, but even so our ears perk up every time this number shuffles on. After the brief lyrical introduction this turns into a hypnotic, spare piano exercise that draws you further and further down the rabbit hole. And then suddenly, woodwinds and electronic bleeps. Astonishing.)

7. Dosh -- "The Magic Stick" -- Wolves And Wishes
(Here we are at the center of the concept we were most interested in exploring with this Muxtape: that the new Dosh record -- which is excellent and which we fear we'll never find the time to review -- rests somewhere along a heretofore unimagined axis between Gastr Del Sol and Caribou. Doesn't this Dosh track seem of a piece with the Gastr number? We think so. Dosh is Martin Dosh, sometime sideman to Andrew Bird and an accomplished multi-instrumentalist in his own right. Dosh has released a number of records, but prior to hearing a track from the new record on WMBR some weeks back we'd never heard of him. We need to "get out more," musically.)

8. Caribou -- "Eli" -- Andorra
(Not sure if this song sells the whole axis idea we posit above, but it is one of our favorites from Andorra. The guitar lick it rides in on really sounds like the beginning of The Notwist's song "Neon Golden." Speaking of, The Notwist record came out Tuesday, and we hope to get out of the office at lunch tomorrow to score it at Newbury Comics.)

9. Creeping Weeds -- "Long Way Down" -- Creeping Weeds EP
(An odd Southern California '70s rock vibe permeates the verse of this very nice rocker from this Philadelphia-based act discovered via Jon Solomon's roundly excellent This Is Local Support podcast. Creeping Weeds also have a full-length called We Are All Part Of A Dream You're Having out; this EP was from 2004, if we recall correctly. We think the west coast psych/respectable Eagles feel makes it a nice pairing with the Caribou track.)

10. Archer Prewitt -- "Final Season" -- White Sky
(Mr. Prewitt never executes the way we'd like him to. This is primarily because his gentlemanly pop doesn't have much edge to it. But darn it if the songs don't stick in our head all the time. We just recently re-ripped In The Sun to our hard drive and listened through it for the first time in years. We bought the disc along with Wilco's Being There on a business trip to Kansas City 11 years ago and whiled away many, many autumn hours in a downtown office building listening to those discs. Strangely happy memories, perhaps because this is strangely happy music.)

11. Johnny Foreigner -- "Absolute Balance" -- Waited Up Til It Was Light
(We had to include this track, which we singled out in our review of the record last weekend. When singer Alexei Berrow starts shouting in the middle distance at the end of the track it gives us goose bumps. Johnny Foreigner trades almost exclusively in anthems, and few of them get more anthemic than this. Five solid minutes of joy.)

12. Diagram -- "Remember The Days" -- History Of The White Flag EP
(We thought we'd round out the mix by extending the ethereal joy of the Johnny Foreigner track with even more shoegazing electronic brilliance. Diagram broke up a couple years back, and we did this blog item in February where we caught up on what music the various members are making now. Which reminds us -- we think another similar and very good Philly act Relay is opening the Frightened Rabbit/Oxford Collapse show here in Cambridge, Mass. July 1. That's a hell of a bill).

Today's Hotness: Coco B's, The Hold Steady, Pink Floyd

>> Loyal readers may recall a couple pleas [1, 2] for MP3s of an old Retriever single from 1995. As we noted in March we finally thought to search for the erstwhile L.A.-based act's stuff on EMusic and turned up a very nice compilation track. And then we forgot about Retriever again until this past weekend, when we wondered what would happen if we simply Googled around a bit for information about the band. And lo and behold, the Internet served up all the information and MP3s we could ask for, and provided links so we could buy even more Retriever goodness. And along the way we learned that Kevin Retriever has a new band you may have heard of called Coco B's, which were featured just the other day here at the RCRDLBL music blog thingamajig. The good news for us is that Coco B's sound just like Retriever, so we're totally on board with the quartet. RCRDLBL has a few Coco B's MP3s you can download at the link supra (definitely pull down and listen to "Give Up The Money/1982," which sounds a bit like a gentler Quicksand). But the link we'd like you to really think about clicking is this one, where you can download a whole lotta Coco B's demos, and also a whole lotta Retriever jams, including the one that got us started on this hunt in the first place, "Q-Tip" (released on a split single with Rock Band #47 in 1995). Since they're offering, we're also linking to "Evil K," the hot number we discovered on the comp at EMusic. Coco B's next gig is June 12 at Alex's Bar in Long Beach, CA.

Retriever -- "Q-Tip" -- Retriever/Rock Band #47 split single
Retriever -- "Evil K" -- Greatest Moments Of Doubt
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[make yourself happy and buy Coco B's and Retriever records right here]

>> Did you know that The Hold Steady's forthcoming fourth full-length Stay Positive will be issued digitally by EMusic June 17? Well, it looked like it was true for a couple shining days, but now an update to the 17Dots blog indicates that the chaps at Vagrant are having second thoughts. Even so, this updated blog post hasn't completely recanted the claim yet, so there is still some hope that in fewer than two weeks you will be knee deep in Mssrs. Finn and Kubler's freshest batch of boozing anthems. We were not initially taken with the lead single "Sequestered In Memphis" (would it kill you guys to turn up the rhythm guitar just a little more in the verse?) but it has since wangled its way into the forefront of our minds with its ultra-simple lyrical hook. The physical release of Stay Positive is slated for July 15. "Yeah, sure, I'll tell my story again..."

>> We love the weird post-Barrett, pre-Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd catalog, as well as bootleg recordings of the quartet during the period (which were showing up online with surprising frequency this spring). So it was with great interest we read this NME item about Floyd guitarist David Gilmour deigning to perform June 15 with a Floyd tribute act for a performance of the 1970 epic Atom Heart Mother. You know, the one with the cow on it. Atom Heart Mother includes two very long proggy pieces, and then three short songs, one written by each of the writing Floyd members. It is really a wonderful record. One of the shorter tunes is Gilmour's ballad "Fat Old Sun," which was covered by the early '90s Montreal-based four-tracking concern Mennen with great, gritty success. We really thought this track came from a Purr Mama Resistor cassette comp, but we just checked the site and it isn't on any of them. We must have gotten it straight from the source. Check it out.

Mennen -- "Fat Old Sun" -- A Four-Track Joint
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>> Notable British indie rockers Fields will make their live return at the end of the month, playing the Proud Gallery in London June 28. A MySpace blog post indicates the band will be playing new material. Who's going to YouTube some of that for us?

Today's Hotness: Ringo Deathstarr, New Radiant Storm King

>> Texas-based shoegaze quartet Ringo Deathstarr plans to spend at least part of its late spring and summer recording new music, according to a MySpace bulletin from the band. This is very good news, as the band's sadly small body of recorded work is excellent, but, well, sadly small. The Deathstarr also plans another East Coast tour at the end of the summer, which makes us happy, as we were sick when the band played Boston earlier this year. We'll try to take vitamins between now and the band's return to ensure our attendance. In the meantime Ringo Deathstarr heads west in the first week of April to convert the unwitting. No word yet on who will release the planned Ringo Deathstarr recordings.

>> Legendary Western Massachusetts rockers New Radiant Storm King have been working on a ninth record, which will be released by Darla in the fall. The band will showcase new songs during two performances in early April, including a show at PA's Lounge Sunday April 6. New Radiant Storm King plays The Brass Cat in Easthampton the previous evening. Both dates also feature sets from Dr. Powerful, a band that counts among its number former members of even more legendary angular North Carolina rockers Polvo. No title has been announced yet for the next New Radiant Storm King record, its first since the release of The Steady Hand two years ago. We reviewed that latter set for Junkmedia right here.

>> We're pretty sure we read a MySpace bulletin from exemplary Philadelphia-based rockers The Swimmers last week reporting that they would have a Daytrotter session posted at the venerable music site Friday. We just checked Daytrotter.com and found nothing. Maybe The Swimmers were simply recording the session that day -- this seems likely, as the band is on tour in that general area of the country. The band's recently issued Fighting Trees has been getting a lot of play around :: clicky clicky :: HQ and we reviewed it here.

>> Fans of London-based indie rock act Fields who missed last week's MySpace blog post about the goings-on of fronter Nick Peill, drummer Henry Spenner and plastic dinosaur Godzuki certainly missed alot. Amusing photos and travelogue here. Notable items include the fact that, among other equipment, the studio Fields is using for final tracking and mixing of its planned sophomore full-length contains a piano owned by Phillip Glass and drum gear of The Walkmen. Wild and wildly amusing.

>> We're still hoping that someone out there has ripped their copy of Retriever's "Q-tip" single, which was released in 1995 or so and which we first requested here. In the meantime, however, we finally thought to search for Retriever stuff on EMusic and lo and behold the site is selling one track by the band. The song "Evil K" is the lead track on Zum #10 A CD Compilation. It scorches. You should download it from EMusic here. It is also notable on that comp includes tracks from Boyracer, June Of 44, The Raymond Brake and Vehicle Flips, although only the Vehicle Flips and Retriever tracks rise to the level of remarkable. Not that you asked, but the best June Of 44 release is the 1997 Anatomy Of Sharks EP, and one of the band's best numbers is the harrowing lead track from said EP, "Sharks And Sailors." Here it is.

June Of 44 -- "Sharks And Sailors" -- The Anatomy Of Sharks
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[buy June Of 44 records from Newbury Comics right here]
[we just noticed the copy of The Anatomy Of Sharks we bought used is autographed by two members of the band; how cool are we?]

Today's Hotness: The Same Bands We're Always On About

>> So without intending to, we took a week off. We suppose the South By Southwest music confab resulted in a lack of activity that interested us. Which is probably why the most interesting coverage of the conference to us was these Flickr photo sets [1, 2] posted by Internet radio streamer Woxy.com, for whom Glasgow's finest Frightened Rabbit and Manchester, England-based indie pop foursome The Answering Machine recorded live sessions.

>> As we expected, you can get the new Johnny Foreigner single "Our Bipolar Friends" b/w "The Houseparty Scene Is Killing You" at EMusic [linky, linky]. Which we expect is pretty much the only way you can get it in the U.S. at this point, as the vinyls were so close to sold out even prior to the single's release that we expect you won't see any in shoppes here. Our vinyl copy is still making its way across the ocean, but we received an email from HMV claiming that it should arrive in the middle of next week. All of which raises the question: when will the Birmingham, England-based indie trio's hotly anticipated full-length debut Waited Up 'Til It Was Light get released? That information seems conspicuously absent. No clues in Alexei Foreigner's latest monthly round-up for Drowned In Sound, which you can read here. The entry, incidentally, describes a bit of the process that went into creating Johnny Foreigner's first official (or at least biggish-budgeted, we expect) video shoot. As for current events, this afternoon is Johnny Foreigner's final SXSW appearance for this year. We're a little disappointed that the band garnered no visible press or blog coverage, although we haven't really read much of the coverage at all -- so maybe they did, but their performances didn't make any headlines in our RSS reader. Johnny Foreigner resumes its breakneck UK and European touring schedule with an appearance Tuesday in London. These t-shirts don't fold themselves... Incidentally, the recently posted-to-MySpace tune "Henning's Favorite" has definitely grown on us -- we think we are put off a little by all the reverb and gratuitous panning, but under all that is a barnburner. Anyway, we've posted the track "All Mosely Gardens" many times, but we're doing it again, as it suits a rainy Saturday morning with a cup of coffee in Cambridge particularly well.

Johnny Foreigner -- "All Mosely Gardens" -- Undated Demo
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[Buy Johnny Foreigner MP3s at EMusic here]

>> London-based indie rockers Fields have posted three new demos to its MySpace domicile here for tracks that are slated to appear on the band's planned sophomore full-length. We'd describe the tunes, "Sun In Your Eyes," "The Worst Love" and "Carry The Fire" as adequate, but perhaps a little lifeless in demo form. We look forward to hearing what the proper recordings sound like, with the belief that some big guitars, proper drumming and more vibrant vocal performances could improve upon the demos immensely. After releasing the major-label debut Everything Last Winter last spring (confusing, right?), the band executed the requisite touring and quickly dropped off the radar. As we wrote here last month, the band recently resurfaced with news about line-up changes and the new record.

Today's Hotness: Fields, Johnny Foreigner, The Notwist

>> Now London-based indie rock act Fields has resurfaced with news about line-up changes and a new record. Fronter Nick Peill reports via MySpace bulletin that lead guitarist Jamie Putnam has left the quintet, and a new line-up will greet fans when Fields tours to support its forthcoming sophomore set. Peill and drummer Henry Spenner shortly embark on a trip to New York, where the duo will apply "finishing touches" and mix the songs. The as-yet-untitled collection was tracked during the last few months in a bedroom studio referred to as The Woods which the band cobbled together in Peill's East London apartment. The resulting music is allegedly "less dense and more optimistic." As we liked the density, we're not sure what to think about this. Watch Fields' MySpace wigwam for demos of the new material soon. We reviewed the band's 7 From The Village EP here, and named it one of our favorite records of 2006 here. Then the band finally played Boston last May after releasing their somewhat over-polished debut Everything Last Winter, and we reviewed the show here. In case you've forgotten what all the hubbub is about, here's the band's sublime indie pop strummer "Brittlesticks."

Fields -- "Brittlesticks" -- 7 From The Village EP
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[buy Fields records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> So, remember Johnny Foreigner? Biggest band in the world right now, yeh? The Birmingham, England-based trio's forthcoming single "Our Bipolar Friends" b/w "The Houseparty Scene Is Killing You" -- which we wrote about exhaustively [1, 2, 3] last month -- will finally be issued by Best Before Records March 10 on 7" vinyl and via digital storefronts. The vinyl is limited to 1,000 copies, and 200 of them are signed. A MySpace bulletin from the band suggests pre-ordering from RecordStore.co.uk here to get your hands on a signed copy, so perhaps in our haste to pre-order last month (from HMV) we inadvertently screwed ourselves. Oh well. If you keep your fingers crossed and wish really hard US fans may be able to snag the digital version of the single at EMusic, as the band's stellar 2007 EP Arcs Across The City was sold through the site despite Johnny Foreigner having no US label deal in place. Directly following the single release Johnny Foreigner will be wowing crowds in America at the annual South By Southwest music industry confab, and we noted the specifics here last week.

>> The increasingly indispensible Notwist-Ultras blog has posted fresh information here about the still-untitled forthcoming set from Bavarian futurerock geniuses The Notwist. The band's new record will be issued in Germany on City Slang May 2, and will feature 11 tracks. You can read all the track titles at the link above, as well as some roughly translated impressions of each song as published recently by a German blogger named Walter Wacht, who was afforded the distinct pleasure of a preview listen. May is not so far off... although we don't relish the prospect of paying import prices. Which label will step up and release the set in North America? Whoever it is, we likely won't be able to wait for the deal to be worked out, so we're beginning to horde spare change now. Them Euros are 'spensive.

>> We've already written our review of standout Glaswegian trio Frightened Rabbit's forthcoming sophomore set The Midnight Organ Fight. The record is dynamite. But as the disc isn't out for another six weeks or so, we're holding off on posting it. Although we hate to keep things sitting around, so we imagine we will run it next week. In the meantime you can watch a new video for the hot track "Head Rolls Off" right here.

Today's Hotness: The Answering Machine, Fields, Meneguar

[PHOTO: Ian F. Simpson] >> Hey, remember that forthcoming single "Silent Hotels" from Mancunian trio The Answering Machine we raved about here? Turns out you can already buy it at the ITunes Music Store, even though it isn't supposed to street until Monday. It's an end-to-end awesome indie pop solution, scritchy like The Strokes, but kinda down in the mouth like Haywood. Revel in it. As we mentioned in our earlier item, the curiously drummerless Answering Machine has UK tour dates booked far into the foreseeable future, so if you live over there make an effort to get out and see them so they can earn enough money to come play in Boston.

>> We have to admit we were more than a bit wary of news from Birmingham alt. pop quintet Fields that the act had recorded some sessions with a string quartet. But you know what? The gentler, stringed-up versions are very listenable. With some of the stormy energy dialed back to make room for the sweet string arrangements, there is even more room for showcasing the classic pop melodies that underpin Fields tunes. Sure, there is a lot of terrible deployment of string quartets out there in record store bins the world over. But what Fields have done is far from shlock. There is a slight hint of camp, but mostly the two tunes we sampled just sounded -- we are reluctant to say it again -- sweet. Anyway, here is a link to the revamped version of "You Brought This On Yourself," and here is the revamped version of "If You Fail We All Fail." We reviewed a recent Fields show at Boston's Paradise Rock Club here.

>> We just watched with much interest VBS.tv's 10-part series on dancehall in Jamaica and it is totally worth it, besides a couple slow spots. There is a lot of footage of raw tracks being laid down by up-and-coming artists, a lot of incisive interviews with street-level people involved with dancehall. There are links to all 10 parts here. At least watch the final episode, which we think is "Portland Pt. II." The last 45 seconds, when the immensely hungover reporter points out his carmate has already been partying despite the fact that it is 8:30AM, is hysterical.

>> Brooklyn's Meneguar is booking a U.S. tour for October, according to this MySpace bulletin. Which means the genius indie rock quartet will be logging a lot of miles this fall, as it already plans to be touring Europe and the UK for most of September. We've been sitting on the European dates for a long time, just because the shows are a long way off. But what the hell, here they are. Attention Europeans: Meneguar is among the best we have to offer, so definitely check them out. We reviewed Meneguar's recent show at Tufts University here. It was awesome.

Meneguar Euro Tour

09/06 -- OCCII -- Amsterdam
09/07 -- Paper and Iron Festival -- Cologne
09/08 -- Trainspotting Festival -- Schweinfurt
09/09 -- Carambolage -- Karlsruhe
09/10 -- Komma -- Esslingen/Stuttgart
09/11 -- Rockhall Cafe -- Luxembourg
09/13 -- Sonic -- Lyon
09/17 -- Arena -- Vienna
09/18 -- Kafe Kult -- Munich
09/19 -- K4 -- Nuernberg
09/21 -- Hafenklang -- Hamburg
09/22 -- Vera -- Groningen
09/23 -- ZXZW Festival -- Tillburg
09/24 -- Old Blue Last -- London
09/25 -- The Social -- Nottingham
09/26 -- Social Club -- Leeds
09/28 -- Boom Boom Room -- Dublin
09/29 -- Club Ping Pong @ Liquid Lounge -- Cork
09/30 -- Roisin Dubh -- Galway
10/01 -- Bar Korova -- Liverpool
10/04 -- The Portland -- Cambridge

>> We just got the forthcoming Mendoza Line record 30 Year Low in today's mail. We far prefer the Tim-and-Shannon version of "Aspect Of An Old Maid" to the Will Sheff-and-Shannon version. It's hard to beat Mr. Bracy's weary, cracked voice for the lyrics to that song.

Today's Hotness: Mendoza Line, A-Sides, Spoon, Fields

>> The biggest surprise of the day was news that indie rock journeypersons The Mendoza Line are playing several shows this week; we've posted all four of the dates below. Needless to say we'll be seeing the show. But given the recent tumult within the band [which we noted here], we're not sure who we'll be seeing besides guitarist and singer Tim Bracy. We are excited to see a set of all Bracy compositions -- his songs have always been our favorites of those penned by three songwriters (although Peter Hoffman's "Baby, I Know What You're Thinking" is also a favorite). What's left of the Mendoza Line in the wake of Bracy's split with singer-songwriter Shannon McArdle will release Aug. 21 the mini-album 30 Year Low along with a companion disc The Final Remarks Of The Legendary Malcontent. In all there's 26 tracks of new tunes, covers and alternative takes. We're excited to hear it. Here are those tour dates:

05.22 -- Philadelphia PA -- World Cafe Live
05.23 -- Hoboken NJ -- Maxwell's
05.24 -- Boston MA -- Lizard Lounge
05.25 -- Providence RI -- AS220

>> Well, they hinted about it early in the day here, and then Philebrity broke the news here at the end of the day. All of which means that the A-Sides have finally disclosed that they have signed to Vagrant, which we first posted here in January after seeing the news at HerJazz. Anyway, the band has several shows booked in the near future, and its long-awaited sophomore set Silver Storms will be released Aug. 28.

06.20 –- Dark Horse Tavern -- State College, PA
06.22 –- Schuba’s Tavern -- Chicago, IL
06.23 –- Continental Block Party -- Chicago, IL
07.20 –- Xponential Music Festival -- Camden, NJ

>> That piano riff in the recently available-ized and awesome Spoon tune "The Ghost Of You Lingers" really reminds us of that Billy Joel hit "Pressure." Just sayin'. So obviously the Spoon record leaked -- so why can't we pre-order it? We'd buy this record five times -- it is our favorite Spoon record of them all. There's something about the skeletal tunes made bombastic with rich Motown-ish production that makes every song a victory. In all the glorious melodicism we even hear shades of E.L.O., who we've been talking about much too much lately. And the tune "The Underdog" sounds a bit like Thin Lizzy, no?

>> Notable Western Mass-based indie trio The Mitchells are on tour. We caught their show at the end of March and reviewed it here, and we reviewed their latest record Slow Gears here. Definitely worth checking out.

05.22 -- The Cake Shop -- New York, NY
05.23 -- The Brighton Bar -- Long Branch, NJ
05.24 -- The Reservoir -- Carrboro, North Carolina
05.26 -- Valentines -- Albany, NY
05.27 -- Great Scott -- Allston, MA
06.01 -- The Elevens -- Northampton, MA
06.29 -- Paper City Brewery -- Holyoke, MA

>> There's something about the animated figures in Fields new animated video for the revamped version of "Song For The Fields" that makes us think of the animated dood in the videos for Judas Priest's "Locked In" and "Turbo Lover." Check 'em out.

>> Our new favorite podcast? Keep Hope Inside. We like how the host explains where towns are situated in the UK when referring to them, because our knowledge of the geography over there is virtually non-existent. Here's the Keep Hope Inside blog where there's information to get all set up with the podcast.

That Was The Show That Was: Fields | Blonde Redhead

The story goes that in the early '80s fans turned their backs on superlative Birmingham, England-based pop band Electric Light Orchestra after feeling betrayed because much of the E.L.O.'s live show was produced by pre-recorded tapes. Or at least we think that's how it goes. Fast forward a quarter century or so. We recently read somewhere that indie rock stalwarts Blonde Redhead were using lots of backing tracks on their current tour. When we saw the band headlining a bill over English upstarts Fields (coincidentally also hailing in part from Birmingham) Wednesday night we felt it was only necessary to see three songs of what was too close to Blonde Redhead karaoke before looking for the door. We do enjoy the band's latest set 23, but we didn't feel like seeing the music performed as it appeared the trio intended to was going to inspire us much. And, of course, "LOST" was about to come on...

Fortunately for us, it was Fields that we were primarily interested in. The band formed only last year, were the subject of an allegedly heated bidding war among certain labels, and ultimately signed to Warner. This was the quintet's first North American tour, and to hear the band tell it (and play it), their performances in New York and Boston were plagued by sound problems. We can certainly attest to the problems Wednesday at Boston's Paradise Rock Club. More problematic than Þórunn Antonía's keyboard's rising and falling through the mix in the first few songs was the fact that lead guitarist Jamie Putnam's amplifier flat-out died. Eventually charismatic fronter Nick Peill requested a DI box, and by the middle of Fields' too-short set the band had rebounded, but it was hard not to feel like the band had missed an opportunity to win some new fans.

From our preferred Paradise perch in the balcony we observed an audience standing still as the band struggled to hit a groove. Finally, once Mr. Putnam's sound issues were addressed, there was discernible movement among the potential converts. As Fields began a woman asked us who the opening act was. This was a bit surprising to us, not because we expected there to be a lot of Fields fans in Boston, but because we expected there might be *some*. After all, the show was sold out, and, well, we just find it hard to believe that Blonde Redhead is selling out the Paradise on a Wednesday. Sure, their catalog is impressive. But we don't think many of the fans at the show that night were familiar with highlights of the band's catalog such as "Jetstar" or the incredible 1995 album La Mia Vita Violenta. Anyway, kudos to the trio, because clearly the club was packed because of them.

Time was Blonde Redhead rocked like rock was going out of style. We saw the band two or three times when they were supporting La Mia Vita Violenta and the shows were spine-tingling, with twins Simone and Amedeo Pace and bassist Maki Takahashi (who has long since left the band) laying down hypnotic grooves and jagged guitar lines while singer as guitarist Kazu Makino dropped jaws with electrifying vocal performances. We felt no tingle Wednesday, although the rest of the audience gazed on enrapt.

Anyway, back to Fields. The (surprisingly diminutive, save for Mr. Putnam) band tried to open strong with its two biggest numbers. "If You Fail, We All Fail" from the new records impressively sequed into the older cut "Brittlesticks," but the band's sound issues took much of the sonic wind from its figurative sails initially. However, once the problems were sorted the band caught fire, leading up to a paint-peeling version of "Song For The Fields." Perhaps the band rocked so hard because they felt they had to overcome earlier setbacks, but we'll take it. After streaming Fields' debut full length Everything Last Winter (stream below), and after watching the band's video for "If You Fail, We All Fail," we became concerned that the band had lost a lot of the darkness and grit that was present on their excellent 7 From The Village EP (reviewed here) in favor of sonic gloss and sharp dress. Our fears were put to rest as the band stormed to the conclusion of its program. Fields has a week's worth of dates remaining on its visit to the continent, and we've posted the balance of them at the bottom of this item. In the meantime, check out an MP3 of "If You Fail..." and a full stream of the band's debut below. We took a handful of very bad photos of Fields' performance -- check them out here.

Fields -- "If You Fail, We All Fail" -- Everything Last Winter
[right click and save as; stream selections from the record at Rhapsody here]

Fields: InterWeb | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr
Blonde Redhead: Interweb | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

05.12 -- Club Soda -- Montreal, Quebec
05.14 -- Drake Underground -- Toronto, Ontario
05.15 -- Lager House -- Detroit, Michigan
05.16 -- Empty Bottle -- Chicago, Illinois
05.18 -- Union Hall -- Brooklyn, New York
05.19 -- Mercury Lounge -- New York City, New York

Today's Hotness: Mendoza Line, Smashing Pumpkins, Built To Spill

>> And we're back. We're so far behind that we're not sure where to begin. Let's just set 'em up and knock 'em down shall we? In addition to this round-up, keep your eyes peeled in the coming days for track reviews for The Mendoza Line (in the meantime, check out the mother lode of information about the tumultuous state of the band -- yikes! -- in the comments to Frank's Chromewaves post today) and Sleeping In The Aviary as well as our show review of the Fields/Blonde Redhead gig Wednesday night.

>> NME reports here that Smashing Pumpkins 3.0 (or is it 4.0? There was someone before Auf Der Mar but after D'Arcy, wasn't there? The '90s all start to blend together after a while) will include bassist Ginger Reyes and guitarist Jeff Schroeder. We don't know either of them by name, but Schroeder plays with Lassie Foundation, who we've heard good things about from our guy at Rhapsody. Anyway, NME cites reports in the Chicago Trib and MTV News while also reporting that nothing is confirmed by anybody. Smashing Pumpkins will release the (attempted comeback) record Zeitgeist July 7. And if it is anywhere near as good as Gish we'll eat one of our many hats.

>> Pantsfork reports here that three Built To Spill records will get reissued on vinyl in limited editions of 2,000. Unfortunately, none of these records is the band's high water mark and sophomore set There's Nothing Wrong With Love. Instead, Built To Spill's major label releases Perfect From Now On, Keep It Like A Secret and You In Reverse get the nod. The trio will be released by Warner Brothers as double LPs. The band will play at Boston's Avalon nightclub, assuming that the club isn't shut down for the renovation and remodeling of the property described in this Boston Globe article.

>> Quick ones: Ride's not reforming; our senior year we had Sun Ra Arkestra and Cub; Qui, the trio newly expanded to include David Yow, actually signed to Ipecac; the Operation Ivy reissue we've mentioned here and here previously is delayed again, this time until an unspecified date in the fall; the forthcoming Photon Band release has also been delayed [scroll down to comments], unfortunately for an indefinite period of time; Last.FM is adding videos to its music and social networking service; a preview of the forthcoming Dinosaur Jr. DVD and clips of J Mascis playing live at VPRO in Holland.

Today's Hotness: Hockey Night, The Cure, Mission Of Burma

>> Late word here this afternoon from More Cowbell is that Minneapolis-based indie rockers Hockey Night have broken up. Citing a post at Daytrotter, the blog reports that two members, guitar players Paul Sprangers and Scott Wells will continue working together on a new project that has already been signed to an imprint operated by those DFA Records/LCD Sound System fellows. There's more information at the link above. Hopefully, you've already heard Hockey Night's irresistable rocker "For Guys Eyes Only;" if not you can stream it over at the erstwhile band's MySpace hut here. The band also recorded a Daytrotter session including the song that you can check out right here.

>> We find it inconceivable that some may not read Boing Boing daily, nay, hourly, but in case you don't, or in case you didn't read today, the venerable web outlet posted here links to vintage videos of punk legends, including Boston-based luminaries, performing live. The quality of the clips we viewed is excellent. Definitely check out this clip of The Cure performing "Secrets" (as a quartet) at The Underground in 1980; Mission Of Burma performs "Peking Spring" at The Space in 1979 here. The Burma clip was included at least in part in the recent Burma documentary "Not A Photograph" (which we reviewed here in December). Anyway, click around, there's also a bunch of other videos not filmed in Boston by bands including Buzzcocks, Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Clash and The Specials. [UPDATE: we heard from KinoDV.net proprietor JC and it turns out that Buzzcocks clip was filmed in Boston, at the Bradford Hotel in 1980. La Peste opened the show and JC directed the shoot himself.]

>> Why don't we just turn this into a TV party tonight? Freakscene here today pointed to two vintage Dinosaur Jr. clips recorded in 1988 at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ, "back before the 'jr' was tacked on," as the poster quips. Here's a link to "Kracked," and here's a link to "Does It Float?" The sound quality is great and Murph has tons of hair. So wild.

>> Some programming notes: we'll be at the Fields/Blonde Redhead show tomorrow, and then Thursday we see the documentary "Zidane," which is soundtracked by Scottish post-rock dynamos Mogwai. We'll be back early in the weekend with a review of the Fields/Blonde Redhead joint -- since we pleaded with them to come to Boston in our review of their 7 From The Village EP, we feel a bit duty bound to show up. And you can stream all of Fields' forthcoming record Everything Last Winter here -- we're hoping hearing its track performed live will get us more excited about the record than we are since streaming it yesterday ourselves. Incidentally, we did see Ted Leo And The Pharmacists last Friday, but we took the show off from a journalism perspective. We hit the show with KoomDogg, however, and he briefly runs down the wildly entertaining proceedings in this blog post.