From an outsider's perspective anyway, You're Jovian feels like an intermittent project, so it is cause for much rejoicing when the Virginia Beach, VA shoegaze four surfaces. Although the band led by fronter and guitarist Elliot Malvas seems to come and go, it makes up for its ephemeral nature by routinely recording incredible songs. Over the weekend the latest iteration of the quartet (which has been together since November) took to the airwaves of Norfolk, VA's WODU for a live session. There You're Jovian premiered new tunes "Ball And Chain," "Pieces" and "Endless Possibilities;" that latter tune echoes in a pleasant way the sound of early Lilys circa the bootleg The Station Tapes, for those of you keeping score at home. One new number you didn't hear was the uptempo and bright gem "Revelations," which is, well, revelatory, and available now as a digital single on Bandcamp courtesy of the good people of Funny/Not Funny Records. It rides a cycling 12-string lick supporting sentimental lyrics and tasteful backing "ooohs" and "las." The chorus has a massive but soft hook, and then, suddenly, the song ends -- all too soon. The cleaner, more "pop" production feels like a fresh path for You're Jovian, and perhaps nods to anglophile influences held dear by Mr. Malvas, who told WODU the band is working on writing more constructed music that a live ensemble can really get behind.
Sadly, based on other remarks during the radio session, the band isn't playing "Revelations" on this tour, but there is other new music to be heard, although the only way you can acquire it -- for now -- is to go to a show. Fortunately, a very rare tour kicks off tonight, and those able to see the band rock should be able to get their hands on a new show-only cassette titled Singles. You're Jovian performs at O'Brien's Pub in Boston's Allston Rock City neighborhood Monday (that's June 6) with The Guilloteenagers and Motto; you can buy tickets ahead right here. Fans not in Boston, or even fans in Boston, should try to be in New York the prior night, as You're Jovian is slated to perform there with with colossal Clicky Clicky faves Infinity Girl. In unrelated, Post-Tour But Still A Big Deal Show News, You're Jovian will open Kurt Vile & The Violators' July 25 show at The NorVA in Norfolk, VA. Hot, right? Stream "Revelations" via the embed below, and be ready to stream it several more times right after that: it's that good.
06.02 -- The Blind -- Virginia Beach, VA
06.03 -- Tea Bazaar -- Charlottesville, VA
06.04 -- Paradise Lost -- New Brunswick, NJ
06.05 -- Shea Stadium -- Brooklyn, NY
06.06 -- O'Briens Pub -- Boston, MA
06.07 -- Kung Fu Necktie -- Philadelphia, PA
06.08 -- TBA -- Washington, D.C.
06.09 -- Golden Pony -- Harrisonburg, VA
06.10 -- Charlie's American Cafe -- Norfolk, VA
>> London's ineptly brilliant Audio Antihero recently unleashed a cracking, 31-track charity compilation, the latest in the label's efforts to leverage the music of its various constituents and supporters to do some good for those in need, in this instance the organizations Rape Crisis -- England and Wales and Rape Crisis -- Scotland. These two entities do an impressive number of things that you can read about here and here, but we think it is important for our largely US-based readership to understand that these services "are community-based, and independent of government and the criminal justice system." It being Audio Antihero, of course the comp has a ludicrous professional wrestling-inspired title, Regal Vs. Steamboat. Given the length and stylistic breadth of the collection of songs -- which is available for a minimum donation of £3.99 -- the set is just short of an unspoken invitation from the label to fans to mix and match favorites, perhaps creating three more traditionally sized compilations. The line-up includes a number of tunes from Clicky Clicky besties, including a thrilling hyperpop gem from Internet Forever and a classic downer from Benjamin Shaw, whose tune "Goodbye, Cagoule World" was recorded live at London's Union Chapel last year as part of Daylight Music weekly Saturday lunchtime shows. Well, consider AAH's unmade challenge met, as we've gone ahead and identified a Clicky Clicky's Choice (tm) version of Regal Vs. Steamboat that spotlights our 10 favorites of the 31, jumping off from AAH helmer Jamie Volcano's own lead-off choice, Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love's "Change The Mistake." Along the way you'll also hear a blindingly brilliant rocker from Glaswegians United Fruit and a similarly vital anthem from Ben Parker's current and ridiculously slept-on project The Jonbarr Hinge. You can stream our truncated, guitar-pop-plus-leaning Clicky Clicky's Choice version via the series of hyperlinked titles below, but once you click through, do what you can to support this extremely worthy cause being championed by Mr. Halliday, who is both a good and amusing man.
>> While Clicky Clicky will always have at least one ear on the city because it is the former home of our esteemed executive editor, presently Philadelphia is noticeably gathering some of that shifting, cyclical shine that periodically illuminates the music scenes of certain cities, causing folks to weigh appellations like "indie rock mecca." Between the runaway success of the Crutchfield twins (who you know from their shit-hot and totally quality acts Swearin' and Waxahatchee), the buzzing rise from Purling Hiss and the prolonged success of scene mainstay Kurt Vile, Philadelphia's present ascendency is incontrovertible. One could make an argument the aforementioned shine shows no sign of dimming based on the city of brotherly love's latest entry into the fold, indie-pop trio Break It Up. The band -- which includes Easton, Mass.-bred Dan Morse on guitar -- achieves a familiar, '90s-styled sound without a bassist, instead electing to leave aural space into which fluid, textural guitar work blossoms and bounces. The threesome's "New Penzance," taken from its recently released full-length debut Break It Up, is a stunner, all galloping drums, ringing guitars and two-part harmonies. Stream the tune via the Soundcloud embed below, and purchase the entire peppy and bright set, recorded at Philadelphia's Uniform Recording with renowned engineer Jeff Zeigler, via Bandcamp right here. -- Dillon Riley
>> As we've stated somewhere, we've been coming back around to revisit and catch up on the progress of certain of the electronic acts we used to follow when we first started spending a lot of our time writing about music. Some 11 years back we drew an assignment for Junkmedia to review a full-length of minimal electronic compositions from Russian-born Swede and acoustic engineer Ivan Pavlov, who releases music under the guise of COH, among others. We were largely stymied by COH's 2002 release (of recordings made several years prior) titled Mask Of Birth, as this over-long and rather defensive review evidences. There have been at least 17 releases since that time for various projects Mr. Pavlov is part of, but the latest set from COH (which, incidentally, is the Russian word for sleep), Retro-2038, is where we've finally picked up the thread again. In contrast to Mask Of Birth, the new eight-song collection is warm and inviting -- not necessarily the first two adjectives that come to mind when discussing minimal electronic music, we admit. Even so, we can't say enough good things about what we've heard: there is still a variety of textures and tones at play here, but rhythms tend to gravitate largely around a conventional 4/4 and melody is as pronounced in these eight songs as it is in, say, this recent, more banging but brilliant track from the untouchable electronic genius Keith Fullerton Whitman, or even My Bloody Valentine's superlative 2013 surprise mbv. Retro-2038 was issued by Editions Mego May 13, and the record is available for purchase on CD on double LP (drool...) as an import right here. Sure, with the shipping and exchange rate, this isn't a cheap investment, but it is certainly one of our favorite electronic releases of the year so far. Stream the entire collection via the YouTube embed below.
>> Alta Mira heretofore in these electronic pages warranted only a sidelong mention as billmates with local dream pop heroes The Hush Now at PA's Lounge a year ago. But we enjoyed their set and made a mental note to keep an eye on them, and we're glad we did, as the Clifton Park, NY-based indie rock concern has just released to the wilds of the Internerds one of the most delightful songs of the year, a rare, perfect pop song. "Good Enough" delivers bright guitar pop smoothed over lightly percolating bass and tempered with the laid-back tone and overt melodicism of The Sea And Cake. The tune is uptempo, perky, studded with handclaps and dolled-up with quick cascades of "ohohoh" that slide by like ice coming off your roof. "Good Enough" is from Alta Mira's newly minted sophomore set I Am The Salt, which was self-released by the band last weekend. As of today, the rest of the album is available to stream at the act's Bandcamp yert, and we look forward to taking the pulse of the rest of the collection; Alta Mira sounds like they are hitting their stride, just in time to rule your spring time. The band was in the Boston area last month playing at The Rosebud, but hopefully they'll be back sometime soon now that the record is out. Stream "Good Enough" over and over and over via the Bandcamp embed below.
>> As if we haven't been enjoying enough of a dream-pop resurgence lately in the States, it seems there is mutual appreciation for the form across the Atlantic. Or at least that's what we're led to believe based on what we've heard recently from Spain's I Am Dive. The Seville-based duo has announced it will reissue in the US an EP, Constellations, next week via Norman, Okla.-based Slanty Shanty Records. The band, a collaboration between Seville music veterans Esteban Ruiz and Jose A. Perez, trades in floating acoustics with a tasteful continental, digital sheen. A digital promotional track, "A Morning Walk," commences with a warm, pumping synth line that conjures images of drizzly streets in foreign ports of call. Indeed, despite the pair's Spanish heritage, "A Morning Walk" has much in common with pastoral and downcast Northern English outfits like The Engineers or Epic45, both groups that deliciously combine melodrama with the fuzzy introspection of damp seaside living. Perez's guitar lines melt away into the background, adding a tantalizing layer of delay to the proceedings. At the same time, I Am Dive incorporate the same sort of stark, programmed beeps and whirs that are sprinkled throughout Lali Puna's impressionistic Teutonic mumbles, making the Spanish band's four-song release a very compelling fusion of dream-pop elements that have really only come together in the last decade or so. Stream "A Morning Walk" via the Bandcamp embed below. Constellations was originally released in Spain last year on Foehn Records; it will be released by Slanty Shanty April 10, and you can download it for free right here. I Am Dive already has a new EP, Tides, available at its Bandcamp page and you can listen to it right here. -- Edward Charlton
>> While we've followed the career of Lower Dens' Jana Hunter since her haunting 2005 solo sort-of-best-of Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom [capsule review], and marveled at the wonderfully small scale of her tour-by-boat in 2006, her current outfit seems poised to break big on the strength of its hotly tipped sophomore set. Indeed, the (lower-cased) hype machine is already cranking up for the upcoming Nootropics, which will hit racks May 1st on Ribbon Music. And for good reason, as the album seems rife with intricate instrumental showcases, judging by the already leaked "Propagation" and first single "Brains" (the two songs feature on a 10" with exclusive b-side "Hours" that Ribbon Music is using to promote the full length; details here). Like Philadelphia's Kurt Vile, Lower Dens' precise attention to detail and devotion to a peculiar style lends the Baltimore foursome a fair helping of both relevancy and individualism among contemporary indie scene-makers. Krautrocker "Brains" makes a kind of sense, given a peek at the album cover featuring an image of early synthesizer wiring. The song latches on to a groove so quickly the listener simply falls in, while the bass and guitar scratch to the beat rather than strike substantive notes; it truly grabs the ear. Following that intro, open-string guitar leads and synth set up a thick stew for Hunter's continually captivating vocals. As much as Hunter coos, there's also often a distinct growl underneath that injects menace into her performance. As the song reaches its end, "Brains" finally breaks from its held chords, in true Stereolab tradition, while distant siren sounds flitter away. It's five minutes that are over too fast. While we find it hard to believe this quota has not already been met, Ribbon Music has announced that the first 50 pre-orders of Nootropicshere at Insound will receive a free ticket to a secret NYC show on April 30th. We last wrote about Lower Dens here in May 2010. -- Edward Charlton
[Thurston Moore at the Somerville Theatre, 1/31/2012. Photo by Michael Piantigini.]
"Sonic Youth lives!" shouted one patron last night, during one of the quiet breaks between a pair of quiet songs (why can't people handle quiet anymore? why does it make them nervous?). And it may yet. Or not. Mum is still the word, and this isn't TMZ or something, so I'll lay off the speculating. But this "solo" Thurston Moore, as distinct from the member of any number of one-off projects who produce cassettes full of droning feedback and other interesting things, is a chill take on the fractured art-pop of latter day Sonic Youth.
And if we are indeed entering a post-Sonic Youth era and this is how it is to be from now on - largely acoustic, with an emphasis on subtle coloring and melodies from harps and violins, with only occasional descents (or ascents) into noisy chaos - I'm good with that.
I'd only seen opener Kurt Vile with his backing band the Violators (and this show was billed as such in some places), which certainly gives a tougher, heavier edge to his stuff. Here he was on his own but for some harp accompaniment on a couple of tunes and it's a whole different deal. It just seems easier to get lost in his meandering alternate-tunings and surreal lyrics nearly as effectively as you can on a pair of headphones if you let yourself go. He closed with an unexpected but revelatory cover of Gram Parsons' "A Song For You." I just re-listened to the original, and damn if it isn't now an obvious influence on Vile's style.
[Photo of Shit Horse at Habana Bar, Austin, TX 3/16/2011 during SXSW. Photo by Michael Piantigini.]
Twenty aught-eleven was one of those star-aligning years that gifted me with tons of music I like - This year's list is admittedly pretty heavy on my wheelhouse veterans, but how lucky to still get such strong stuff from bands like Buffalo Tom, Five Eight, and the friggin' Feelies! Having taken to heart The Long Winters' John Roderick's admonitions on top 10 lists (and let's hope he gets that new album out in 2012), I offer these 10 for '11 in alphabetical order. Tune in to Clicky Clicky Radio next Thursday, 8-10 pm eastern, and I'll play lots of stuff from these and other great 2011 releases!
Buffalo Tom Skins (Scrawny) With guitars big and autumn gentle, these beloved Boston mainstays returned with their strongest album in years, and one that could stand up to the reminiscing of their 25th anniversary celebrations later in the year (reviews: night 1/night 2/night 3). [review/buy]
Eleventh Dream Day Riot Now (Thrill Jockey) Chicago's legends-in-certain-circles take their time and make records when they're ready. Riot Now turns up after a five year gap and Rick Rizzo's feedback and Janet Beveridge Bean's harmonies were worth every moment of the wait. [buy]
The Feelies Here Before (Bar/None) This year's lottery of unlikely new albums was won by The Feelies who, speaking of gaps, waited 20 years to make their new one. And it sounds just like The Feelies - and I mean that as high praise. [review/buy]
Five Eight Your God Is Dead To Me Now (Iron Horse) Long-running Athens, GA stalwarts Five Eight take a stand on their 2011 album. They may offer more grown-up perspectives, but never grew out of a youthful existential dilemma. If we're being honest, who does? They continue to strike a nerve. [buy]
Fucked Up David Comes To Life (Matador) Huge. Just... HUGE. [buy]
The Rationales The Distance In Between The debut full-length by these Boston Americana-rockers is a warm, guitar comfort food blanket with pop hooks that keep the songs in your head. [buy]
R.E.M. Collapse Into Now (Warner Brothers) Admittedly, sentimental reasons might have been reason enough for me to put the final R.E.M. album on the list, but this is legit - Collapse Into Now is great on its own terms and is the best R.E.M. album since at least 1996 (put another way: their best in a generation!). A worthy swan song for a band that spent most of their last 15 years in the wilderness. [buy]
Kurt Vile Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador) Wherein which Kurt Vile continues to outdo himself with his best batch of songs yet. In the alt-rock (and what-have-you) world, producer John Agnello's credits are untouchable: from Dinosaur Jr to Drive-By Truckers and Sonic Youth to Son Volt (among MANY other greats), he has helped shape the sound of alt rock (and such) for more than a generation. Here, he translates Kurt Vile's stoner daydreams into a lush, earthy headphone cinemascape. [buy]
Wild Flag Wild Flag (Merge) OK, I'll admit it - if I were numbering the list, this'd likely be number one with a bullet. Has anything so highly anticipated delivered so solidly? Don't see how it would be possible to see them live and not think they're huge rock stars. Now if we can only get people to stop yelling "put a bird on it" at their shows. [buy]
Wussy Strawberry (Shake It) Wussy's been quietly churning gems out of Cincinatti for a decade (much like co-gutarist/vocalist Chuck Cleaver's band Ass Ponys did for the decade before that), and Strawberry just about snuck out in the last month or so. It's both barnstorming ("Pulverized," for one) and beautiful ("Magnolia," for another). Do your ears and soul a favor and go buy this now and then make your way through the rest of the catalog. [buy]
Bubbling under: Office of Future Plans - S/T (Dischord) Obits Moody, Standard and Poor(Sub Pop) Megafaun - S/T (Hometapes) And, let's face it - pretty much everything else Merge produced this year, especially Wye Oak's Civilian, Apex Manor's The Year of Magical Drinking, and Mountain Goats' All Eternals Deck [buy]
My 11 favorite shows of '11, in brief and chronological. A bit heavy on the SXSW, as you can see, but it was a fun one: -Reigning Sound at the Magic Room Gallery - February 17, 2011 [review] -Shit Horse at Habana Bar - March 16, 2011 (SXSW) [photos] -Wild Flag at The Parish - March 18, 2011 (SXSW) [photos] -Eleventh Dream Day at Yard Dog - March 19, 2011 (SXSW) [photos] -Alejandro Escovedo at The Continental Club - March 20, 2011 (post-SXSW) [review/photos] -Joe Pernice/Scud Mountain Boys at the Lizard Lounge - August 25, 2011 [review/photos] -Jeff Mangum at Jordan Hall - September 10, 2011 [review] -Tommy Keene with Doug Gillard at Church on September 11, 2011 [photos] -The Low Anthem at Somerville Theatre (and outside) - October 20, 2011 [review] -The Hush Now/Soccer Mom/Chandeliers at Precinct - October 22, 2011 -Buffalo Tom at Brighton Music Hall - November 25, 2011 (25th Anniversary shows, night 1) [review] -Michael Piantigini
Philadelphia-based The War On Drugs' towering second full-length, Slave Ambient, is an agreeably loose (but emotionally prodigious) consortium of oasis and mirage. The so-called psych-Americana act's more formalized compositions are oasis, mappable destinations; soundscapes (like the roaring greyscale inferno "Original Slave") that form the firmament between are the mirage, beautiful, impossible to reach out and touch. All of it sits together as a series of supraliminal dreams you can't quite remember, just images that will spring to mind with surprising sharpness but questionable clarity. Which is to say that Slave Ambient doesn't communicate as a sequence of discrete riffs and lyrics, but as a holistic collage of awesome.
This fuzzy presence is more pronounced on Slave Ambient than on on its terrific predecessor Wagonwheel Blues, as Drugs songwriter and fronter (and Dover, Mass. native) Adam Granduciel said in a recent interview that in writing and recording Slave Ambient he didn't really re-work lyrics, and in some instances recorded them in just a few takes long on improvisation. Adding to the slippery now that is this new collection is that a reel of music -- the eponymous slave ambient tracks -- was left to run in the background of the songs as they were mixed. Aurally there is a tension between the dense (and in places strong -- "Brothers" is loud, the rhythm tracks boom) wall of sound, and the fact that Slave Ambient's fever-dreamed construction can be quite delicate, a house of playing cards. Importantly, the record is best played very loud, as increased volume illuminates innumerable soft layers, renders the transparent diaphanous, and the diaphanous opaque, everything shifting in the 10-song set's deftly realized and fluid mix. Indeed, Granduciel said in still another recent interview that Slave Ambient was realized as much in the mix as it was in the writing and recording.
Droning but buoyed by mechanistic rhythm tracks that mirror Mr. Granduciel's regimented but drawling streams of Beat-echoing free verse, "Your Love Is Calling My Name" serves as an able proxy for the 2011 sound of the Drugs. The aural motifs (tremeloed guitar, spectral "Walk Of Life" synth, apparitions of feedback in the final thrilling moments) pile up, not in a pejorative way, but in the same way that elements in certain David Lynch films iterate: the more they are presented, the less certain things become, the more pronounced the aesthetics and sheer beauty. Still, the music's ebb and flow produces recognizable touchstones. "Brothers" has something of Stevie Nicks' "Stand Back" in either the lyrical weft or warp, perhaps it is Granduciel's declaration "looking out the window of my room / I'm looking out where something once ran wild." "Come To The City" at times approximates U2's "Bad," right down to Granduciel's "woo hoo" mid-way through the song (as an aside, it makes one wonder whether Granduciel was a Philadelphian as far back as 1985, and also suggests The Edge's signature guitar playing as a significant precursor to The War On Drugs' repetitive layering). The preview track that's been out in the wilds of the Internet for some time, "Baby Missiles," is just classic Drugs: cold mecha-shuffle, streaming vocals stamped with slap-back, Dire Straits-styled synth. The affecting "Blackwater" beautifully closes the album: the acoustic guitars are laid bare, the leads shimmer. The song's biggest victory may be making the waltz time almost inapparent, but it is the line "Remember me when you dissolve in the rain" that sticks with you.
Secretly Canadian released Slave Ambient Tuesday; the entire record can be streamed at SoundCloud right here. The War On Drugs' full-length debut Wagonwheel Blues was one of Clicky Clicky's top albums of 2008.
>> Philly-based dream-pop veterans Arc In Round (lest we forget the band's years working under the nom de guerreRelay) kick off Monday night's Kurt Vile show at Brighton Music Hall, and we strongly advise folks to get there early to check the quartet out. Co-fronted by in-demand recording engineer/live sound guy Jeff Zeigler, Arc In Round has issued a second EP, logically titled II, hot on the heels of its long-awaited debut EP Diagonal Fields, which was released early in 2011. The II EP unsurprisingly centers around Arc In Round's standout song "II," which has been kicking around for years (we wrote about a version of the track in 2008 here). The latest iteration of the song sounds as if the tempo has increased, or at least the drums are more rocking. "II" still swirls like a classic Lorelei jam, but this face-melting version from the new, four-song (plus a remix) EP is perhaps more visceral, immediate and dense than anything that storied Slumberland act recorded. The rest of II is similarly strong (for example, "Volume Sets All The Time" sounds like what you wished Ladytron sounded like these days), and we again exhort you to see Arc In Round Monday night in Allston-Brighton. The band's complete tour dates are below (note the Allentown date is with goth-tinged shoegaze luminaries SOARS), and below that we've embedded the entire II EP. Buy it at Bandcamp (it's currently being sold at "name your price" for a limited time. You're welcome).
07.10 -- Death By Audio -- Brooklyn, NY
07.11 -- Brighton Music Hall -- Boston, MA
07.12 -- La Sala Rossa -- Montreal, PQ
07.13 -- Lee's Palace -- Toronto, ON
07.14 -- Grog Shop -- Cleveland, OH
07.15 -- Russian Recording -- Bloomington, IN
07.16 -- Subterranean -- Chicago, IL
08.26 -- Kung Fu Necktie -- Philadelphia, PA
09.23 -- Allentown Brewworks -- Allentown, PA
>> Also in town early next week are rising Richmond noise rockers White Laces. The act launches a two week-long strand of tour dates Tuesday night in Jamaica Plain, when it brings its fractured pop to a low-key, non-traditional venue called Muthership. Long-time readers will recall we have written about White Laces, fronted by former Cinemasophia member Landis Wine, a bit over the last year or two. White Laces is no stranger to JP; the band recorded a fair amount of material there a year ago that wound up on White Laces' eponymous debut EP, which we wrote about here last September. White Laces has a pending release in the works, the single "Hands In Mexico" b/w "Bastard's Dead." The A side may be the catchiest song White Laces has recorded to date; the song is particularly gripping when the repeated ascending guitar arpeggio gets munched up by a crazy bending finale. To promote the tour White Laces is giving away an MP3 of "Hands In Mexico" at Bandcamp right here. If you prefer the stream, have at it below.
