Today's Hotness: Collection Agency, Montag, Dananananaykroyd

>> Timothy Bracy's Collection Agency, the vehicle of the eponymous former Mendoza Line co-fronter, now apparently goes by the more succinct moniker Collection Agency. The outfit tends a MySpace dojo right here, where you can stream one folksy, rough demo titled "Doug Yule" along with a cross-section of various standout Mendoza Line cuts. Collection Agency purports to count among its number various of the Mendoza Line cohort including Clint Newman, John Troutman, Elizabeth Nelson and mustachioed fan-favorite Paul Deppler, as well as the heretofore unknown-to-us Beth Wawerna -- who fronts the very good Bird Of Youth, which features Mssrs. Bracy and Newman in supporting roles -- and Federico Bortoletto (sadly, no Clark Wallace). The aforementioned MySpace outpost promises a Collection Agency record will surface in 2009, which is welcome news. A Bird Of Youth record produced by Okkervil River's Will Sheff is also apparently in the offing, and about which we are now very excited. Speaking of Mendoza Line, only last summer did we finally get our hands on the excellent and out-of-print collection I Like You When You're Not Around. Pay just about any price necessary to obtain this. Here's one of several standout tracks.

Mendoza Line -- "(We'll Never Make) The Final Reel" -- I Like You When You're Not Around
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[buy in-print Mendoza Line titles from Newbury Comics here]

>> Another holdover from the late, great 2008: electronic music purveyor Montag -- also known as the newly Montreal-based Antoine Bedard -- has just released the EP Hibernation, which features six instrumental, somnolent head-nodders and one track ("La Symetrie Du Coeur") sung in French. The icy and pulsing "Labrador (Encore)" sounds like the soundtrack to a solitary walk in the snow. The physical manifestation of Hibernation is available in a limited edition of 150 handmade discs (presumably it is the packaging and label that are handmade). Carpark previously released Montag's full-length Going Places in 2007, which included the very catchy bleepers "Best Boy Electric" and the title track. Bedard hopes to release a new long-player before the year is out. Recently he has kept busy remixing tunes for indie acts Au Revoir Simone, M83, I'm From Barcelona and others.

Montag -- "Labrador (Encore)" -- Hibernation EP
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[purchase Hibernation at The Blue House right here]

>> Although its hotly tipped full-length debut Hey Everybody! won't be in U.K. stores for months (the band says the new record "makes Sissy Hits sound like really boring crap or Keane"), Glaswegian fight-pop septet Dananananaykroyd is already pondering a follow-up. According to the band's 2008 recap at its blog here, the groop claims (half-claims?) to have begun writing new material for a set tentatively titled Creep. It reads like a joke, so perhaps it is. But either way, it is bracing to see that Los Campesinos!' two-fer in 2008 might be a harbinger of more bands breaking away from a no-more-than-one-album-a-year pace. Yeah. Dananananaykroyd embark on a month-long tour of the U.K. and Europe with Kaiser Chiefs Jan. 19.

Today's Hotness: Darker My Love, Shannon McArdle

>> We give a resounding "yes" to the new Darker My Love video, despite the frustrating tempo. The song would be much more forceful with heads-down, four-on-the-floor drumming, but instead -- and somewhat surprising, in a good way -- DML's drummer lays down a loping mom-ma dad-dy with paired snare strikes on the twos and fours. That coupled with the echo on the vocal and a somewhat unsynchronized playback of the audio and video of the stream above makes the song somewhat disorienting. We just streamed "Two Ways Out" again with headphones on and realized that we must have had a bad stream before, because everything synchs up and makes a lot more sense. Weird. And we haven't even discussed the visual shtick, which takes that great Doors album cover, pulls it apart and reconstitutes it as a loose mobile of faces, hands and instruments. It's particularly neat-o when the band suddenly looks as if it is falling (reminds us of the great Cars video). As we reported here late last month, the L.A.-based quartet will issue its second set 2 Aug. 5 on Dangerbird. Between now and then the band has lined up a smattering of tour dates on the west coast. Darker My Love commences a tour supporting The Dandy Warhols Sept. 9. The acts play The Wilbur Theater in Boston Sept. 16. All tour dates are posted at the band's MySpace hacienda right here.

>> As we are still eagerly awaiting official word from Bar/None Records about the purported reissues of The Feelies catalog, we excitedly scanned an email from the venerable label this morning. Alas, there was no Feelies news. However, we were surprised to read therein about a forthcoming solo set from former Mendoza Line principal Shannon McArdle, whose debut long player Summer Of The Whore will be released Aug. 5. The set was realized last summer in the wake of Ms. McArdle's split from The Mendoza Line and ex-husband/bandmate Timothy Bracy. Bar/None characterizes the set as emotionally raw, which is really saying something, as the final Mendoza Line release 30 Year Low [our review here] was widely received as a "break-up record." Two tracks from Summer Of The Whore are posted here at McArdle's MySpace dojo and they sound terrific. Mendoza Line collaborator Adam Gold engineered the project and collaborated on arrangements, and so there's no big shift in tone or style -- the tracks sound, for lack of a better term, Mendoza-esque. The strident strummer "This Longing" is, however, relatively lush, and "Poison My Cup" hinges on some nice reverbs and murmured vocals. Brooklyn-based McArdle's set will be heralded as part of a triple record release party Aug. 19 at Mercury Lounge in Manhattan; Bar/None acts Starling Electric and Hotel Lights will also be celebrating new records.

>> You can get two things done today. You can buy the new Camper Van Beethoven set Popular Songs Of Great Enduring Strength And Beauty, which concatenates hits, near-hits and should-have-been hits including re-recorded versions of classic numbers from the band's Virgin Records releases. And then you can also write your congressman or Sir Richard Branson or EMI or whoever it is that won't return to the band the rights to said Virgin records. And when you write or call or email you can tell them to get their crap together and make it so that Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart and the crucial (CRUCIAL) Key Lime Pie get reissued. Preferably expanded, too. Anyway, if you do those two things you'll have had a pretty full day. Anyhoo, one of the re-recorded jams was "When I Win The Lottery." Here's an MP3 of a great version of the number from the Live Music Archives at Archive.org.

Camper Van Beethoven -- "When I Win The Lottery (Live)" -- Live At Pipeline, Oct. 4, 1990
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[buy Popular Songs Of Great Enduring Strength And Beauty here]

>> Wow.

Oceans Never Listen To Us Anyway: Muxtape Numero Tres

Kids hip to the Twitter feed got the early word Thursday, but now the rest of you can spend an hour or so listening to and generally pondering our third Muxtape. The same caveat applies; that is, we were surprised and disappointed at how much of our music is encoded in the AAC format and therefore not eligible for uploading to Muxtape. That said, it has become another facet to the game of creating the mix. Looking over this one a couple days later, we're not sure of the order in a couple spots, and the Cherubino track might rock a little too much for this mix. But it is what it is. Here is a link to the Muxtape, and below are remarks for each track:

1. Galaxie 500 -- "Ceremony (Live)" -- Copenhagen
(Listened to this live record incessantly around the time we started dating the missus. Dean Wareham really takes things higher when he finishes out the lyric and goes to the solo to bring the song home. But isn't there a second guitar here all of a sudden, backing him up during the solo? Did Kramer step up on stage to fill out the sound there? Dunno. We'll have to go back to the liner notes. Incidentally, the interview segment Wareham did last month on WMBR to promote his recently issued memoire "Black Postcars: A Rock And Roll Romance" was very enjoyable, insightful, and we look forward to reading the book.)

2. Lilys -- "Salad Bar" -- The Station Tapes demos
(Rare, unreleased Lilys demo recorded in Gaithersburg, Maryland in 1991 in a basement studio. Really sublime stuff, sounds Ride-influenced. It is a shame the song didn't get a proper re-recording in Lancaster, PA where and when the sessions for In The Presence Of Nothing were done. It seems like Lilys-leader Kurt Heasley has been doing some cleaning out of the proverbial closets of late, what with the offer for sale of virgin copies of Eccsame The Photon Band recently. Perhaps he'll get together some odds and sods sets -- we're sure there's got to be acres of demos and outtakes.)

3. The Mendoza Line -- "Now Or Never Or Later" -- 30 Year Low
(Heart-stopping, slow burning demo version of a track that was featured on the Slow Dazzle record, which featured the now dissolved partnership of Mendoza Line fronters Tim Bracy and Shannon McArdle.)

4. David J. -- "I'll Be Your Chauffeur (Original Version)" -- Songs From Another Season
(No rhythm section on this version. Another classic mixtape track from a gentleman who know lives in parts unknown and who had ripped out the only working bathroom in his house around the last time we spoke. The other version of the track will always signal autumn for us, but this more subdued take seems more dreamy and optimistic. Very tasteful saxophone here.)

5. Girlfriend 2000 -- "Ladybug"
(Unreleased track from a former combo of our once and current bandmate Jeff Stern, whose songwriting prowess should be supported by copious grant funding so he can just do it full time. Although he'd probably use the grant money to make a movie. Even so, this track continually reveals itself in different shades of emotion every time we listen to it. Very tasteful organ here.)

6. Gravel -- "Yesterday" -- International Hipswing comp
(This song is pretty flat as far as structure and production goes, but it captures a cat-gray, flannel-shirted mood of isolated desperation common among indie boys of the age at the time.)

7. Cherubino -- Car Wreck -- Bird
(This record was treated poorly by Pitchfork when it was released about six years ago, and we think it deserved better based on the two very strong songs on the set. "Car Wreck" is one of these. The band featured Haywood drummer (and, truly, one of only two people you should ever call if you need a drummer, since he's tops) Rob V playing bass and hitting the backup vocals. Keep talkin' 'bout it, keep talkin' 'bout it.)

8. Destroyer -- "I Want This Cyclops" -- City Of Daughters
(We made this muxtape the day this very good Catbird Seat item was posted about Destroyer's large, but mostly new fanbase. The only reason we were cool enough to know about Destroyer early was because we know a guy who knows a guy, and that second guy was/is a partner in Misra Records, and that first guy one day gave us a handful of Misra CDs for free out of the trunk of his car. One of those records was Streethawk: A Seduction, which is a splendid recording and features some very compelling and Bowie-tastic tunes. "I Want This Cyclops" we got from some blog, perhaps the late, lamented Mystical Beast.)

9. Ambulance Ltd. -- "Stay Where You Are" -- Ambulance Ltd. EP
(This songs seems to be singular in the Ambulance Ltd. catalog, as if they wrote it, realized it was awesome, and then decided they didn't want to be pigeonholed by it. Which is a shame, because if Ambulance Ltd, which has undergone some lineup changes in recent years, created entire records of subdued pop gems such as this, they would be our favorite band. Sadly, the long introduction is excised for the video, which is otherwise a pretty nice piece. As it stands, "Stay Where You Are" is at the top or very near the top of the list of most-played songs in our ITunes. More recently the band issued a set that included a cover of Pink Floyd's "Fearless," if memory serves.)

10. Boys Life -- "Two Wheeled Train" -- Boys Life/Christie Front Drive split 10"
(Another song with a long introduction, and a song with a huge payoff. This one cataclysmic in scope. At the climax, about two minutes in, hair on our arms stands up. Every time. And then this song has a weird outro, as if the storm has passed and the clouds are breaking up.)

11. Sunset Rubdown -- "Shut Up I Am Dreaming Of Places Where Lovers Have Wings" -- Shut Up I Am Dreaming
(We used to see the word "restraint" bandied about a lot in relation to one of our favorite bands back in the day. This is not that band, but even so this song epitomizes restraint. Which is why "Shut Up..." has such a huge payoff when it finally gets to the second go-round of "oceans never listen to us anyway." It's a musical journey, and when you get there, it is immensely enjoyable.)

12. Adrian Crowley -- Trilogy -- A Strange Kind
(If not the perfect mixtape beginner, then certainly the perfect mixtape ender. Ambient washes. Sad/creepy piano.)

Clicky Clicky Music Blog: The Best Records Of 2007

In the past we've cast our annually anointed selections as "records you should have heard," which served a two-fold purpose. The designation reiterated our focus on relatively unsung releases and differentiated us (we hope) from the lockstep feel of many music blogs' lists of year-end favorites. You can read our 2006 list here, 2005 here (albums | songs), and we expect if you look around the Interweb a little you can find lists for other years. While we harbor hopes that our list stands out, as in the past our method of choosing the top records comes down to a very simple tabulation of the number of plays each album has garnered in our ITunes in the given year. So there's really no magic to it: our favorite records are the ones we listened to most.

We report with great satisfaction that one of our top picks for 2007, the recently issued EP Arcs Across The City, came from an act that was unknown to us prior to February of this year. Johnny Foreigner's then-manager emailed on an odd Saturday, said he thought we'd like the band, and gave us some links to MP3s. Our fandom was instant. The larger message here is that, beyond all the bullshit of press hype, actual Hype and awkward MySpace solicitations, this music blogging thing continues to be rewarding. On a one-to-one level, some cat from another country can see that you love Meneguar, email you some files, and bang: dumb joy. We look forward to many similar experiences in 2008, although we recognize how fleetingly rare such experiences are. Our picks for favorite songs of the year will be along later. For now, we welcome you to consider what we believe to be the best records of 2007.

1. Meneguar -- Strangers In Our House -- Troubleman Unlimited [BUY]

The lyric "you get what you want when you don't want it anymore" somehow one-ups and explodes John Lydon's anarchistic boast "don't know what I want but I know how to get it." But for the most part we don't know what singer Jarvis Taverniere is on about for much of this record. All the same, when he shouts "you could never do what distance does" or even "at the bottom of my heart there is a ledge" we are suitably moved. Strangers In Our House is a blockbuster collection of sophisticated indie rock anthems, with the emphasis on rock. We already proclaimed it the rock record of the year when we reviewed the set here in September. Prior to Strangers In Our House being released we saw Meneguar explode in a basement up at Tufts University. While we weren't familiar with much of the new material at that point, the set was astounding, and we were able to stand close enough to the action to get jostled by the band rocking out. Read our review of the show here. Meneguar will be touring the east coast of the United State in February, and in the meantime the quartet is working on a new record that will be released through Woodsist.

2. Johnny Foreigner -- Arcs Across The City -- Best Before Records [BUY]

After anticipating this release and subsisting off of MySpace rips of songs from Arcs Across The City for months, Johnny Foreigner's finished product surpasses our expectations. Although the appealing grit and rough edges of the successive demos are partially scrubbed away, the Birmingham, England trio's characteristic, irresistible energy remains and is augmented by additional guitars, vocal parts and production flourishes. With a first full-length basically in the can and poised for a spring release, it will be interesting to see whether working with a noted emo and hard rock producer burnishes or dims the band's aural charms. Arcs Across The City is a formidable debut, packed with compelling narratives, fractured arrangements, big guitars and miles and miles of anthemic lyrics. It is a compelling declaration from a trio that went from nowhere to everywhere in our esteem over the course of 2007. We reviewed the record here last week.

3. Dinosaur Jr. -- Beyond -- Fat Possum [BUY]

We reviewed this record here. Beyond is a gift that keeps on giving... although we're starting to wonder whether they'll be making another gift anytime soon? The Dinosaur Jr. tour has gone just about everywhere this year (we've got one of their roadie's blogs in our RSS reader), and it even made a stop at the local clothing store Urban Outfitters in June. We reviewed the awesome show here. But the record is just superlative, melding the potency of vintage '80s Dinosaur with the compact brilliance displayed on Mascis' astonishingly strong solo release More Light. This record succeeds because it doesn't try to overthink anything: there are great songs augmented with ample and sublime shredding throughout. Mascis is as cryptically charismatic as ever. And it helps that Murph beats the hell out of the drums. Dinosaur Jr. just played two dates at Boston's Paradise Rock Club before Thanksgiving, and unfortunately our travel plans made it impossible for us to attend. But we are looking forward to whatever comes next from J, Lou and Murph.

Dinosaur Jr. -- "Almost Ready" -- Beyond
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4. Spoon -- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga -- Merge [BUY]

We listened to this record over and over and over: in the car; in the office; in the kitchen. It's exceptional. Taut, glistening pop-rock, touches of spacey, warts-and-all production, and hooks galore. The songs all flow with an ease, an internal logic that is so finite that each tune seems representative of what indie rock is, at its core. If (when?) space aliens come to the United States asking about indie rock, perhaps the most obvious example to hand them is Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. We reviewed the Texas-based quartet's October show at the Roxy here.

Spoon -- "The Underdog" -- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
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5. Frightened Rabbit -- Sing The Greys [US release] -- Fat Cat [BUY]

This record was issued at the tail end of a stint this year during which we worked 40-something days in a row at the day job, a time when we were suffering with tendonitis in both wrists from all the hours. On the first Friday in October we decided we'd had enough so we took the day off and went to the oldest fair in America. On the way we stopped at a satellite branch of trusty Newbury Comics and we bought Sing The Greys. And then we got in the car, cranked it up, rolled the windows down, and had a perfect fall day. We'll always remember that. Oh yeah, the record is great. While we never wrote a proper review of this rough-hewn indie gem, we otherwise offered microscopic coverage of the stellar Glaswegian trio in 2007, up to its Nov. 11 show at Boston's Great Scott nightclub, which we reviewed here. Sing The Greys is packed with hits, and we recommend listening to it often.

6. The Mendoza Line -- 30 Year Low -- Glurp [BUY]

30 Year Low, a slightly odd double-disc collection, was released almost in tandem with the announcement that the band's two principal songwriters, married for a short time, were divorcing and going their separate ways. And so the discs ache and throb in places, or at least some of the compositions lend themselves to having the songwriters' travails projected onto them. But elsewhere on the set there is a bit of glee, a touch of drunken hijinks. Whether feel-good or feel-bad, the music feels immediate and real, like you've caught a strange wild animal in your hands, and now you can't believe you've caught it and don't know what to do. Just listen. We reviewed 30 Year Low here, and a triumphant show in May by the now-truncated band here.

The Mendoza Line -- "30 Year Low" -- 30 Year Low
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7. Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start -- Worst Band Name Ever -- Gradwell House [BUY]

As we said in this review in July: "Worst band name ever? Does it matter if your band is among the best American indie rock bands currently working?" The latest addition to a rock-solid catalog packed with trebly reverie and cacaphonous crescendoes, Worst Band Name Ever presents Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start in its most refined state. The band has always championed brevity, melody and nostalgic romance. On Worst Band Name Ever the music is more laid back than ever before, with acoustic guitars setting the scene for a lot numbers. Even with a somewhat more reserved approach UUDDLRLRBAS still succeeds in imbuing tracks with dynamic changes, and no other band this year has created a record with more subtlety.

UUDDLRLRBAS -- "The Red Loop" -- Worst Band Name Ever
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8. Mobius Band -- Heaven -- Misra Ghostly [BUY]

The fact that a young woman writing for a popular online publication just trashed this record in a ridiculous manner makes us love Heaven even more. And while we don't feel it is worth the time to refute her outlandish assertions, we do feel like it is worth noting that she is simply wrong. We can tie this to one example: somewhere in the review she makes some comment that conveys the idea that the music on Heaven is more conventional than the music on its predecessor, 2005's The Loving Sounds Of Static. This is simply untrue. The compositions on Heaven are markedly more sophisticated and make nods here and there to the more complicated music of Mobius Band's self-released series of EPs, which are well worth seeking out. On top of that is a melancholy that is manifested in fairly sublime ways throughout the record. Weathering life's disappointments offers a great well of experience for artists to leverage and/or exorcise in their work, and of our year-end selections Heaven is the set that does this most openly, and very intelligently. But it is hard not to circle back to the way Heaven *sounds*. Mobius Band's dense, gritty electronic production is remarkable, and we expect that the trio will begin to be in demand as much for production chops as for their records before this decade is over.

Mobius Band -- "Hallie" -- Heaven
Mobius Band -- "Friends Like These" -- Heaven
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9. Ringo Deathstarr -- Ringo Deathstarr EP -- SVC Records [BUY]

We breathlessly exhorted you to check out Ringo Deathstarr as soon as we heard a promo MP3 posted by its label SVC Records. The Austin, Texas-based quartet's sturdy rendering of the most captivating aspects of Jesus And Mary Chain ("Some Kind Of Sad") and My Bloody Valentine ("Swirly") -- that would be airy vocals and guitars, chunky bass and keys -- is irresistible. At just five tracks in length, the Ringo Deathstarr EP is easy to listen to so often you just hear it in your head all the time. Not bad for a band with a shifting line-up (albeit one consistently led by Elliot Frazier) and -- reportedly -- no ready source of transportation to gigs. Well the transportation thing must be sorted out, because we are told that Ringo Deathstarr will be touring in February, and at least one of the planned dates is in the Boston area. Hopefully a full-length record isn't too far off either, because the EP is dynamite.

Ringo Deathstarr -- "Sweet Girl" -- Ringo Deathstarr EP
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10. The Good, The Bad & The Queen -- The Good, The Bad & The Queen -- EMI [BUY]

Yeah, a major label record -- we're as surprised as you are. But something about The Good, The Bad & The Queen really fire our imaginations, over and over. It is an immensely deep and massively patient collection of songs from one of the pillars of '90s Britpop; a sideman from one of the greatest bands of all time who by many accounts is responsible for bringing ska and reggae into the punk consciousness; an Afrobeat drummer; and a fourth player whose identity we can't even recall without walking across the room and consulting the liner notes (this is still our first instinct, even though Google is two clicks away). And yet Damon Albarn's quartet The Good, The Bad & The Queen made what is perhaps this year's most engrossing record. And, as we are in the middle of reading the book "Britpop!" we must reiterate what we think we saw written elsewhere earlier this year: With The Good, The Bad & The Queen, Albarn has finally succeeded in making the quintessential British record.

Review: The Mendoza Line | 30 Year Low [MP3s]

It turns out what seemed like it would be the biggest feel-bad record of the year actually feels pretty good in places. Certainly there are down-in-the-mouth tunes on the final album of new material from long-running indie rock concern The Mendoza Line, the shambling project started by Tim Bracy and Peter Hoffman in Athens, Georgia more than a decade ago. With the dissolution of the marriage that has bound the band's remaining principal songwriters together in The Mendoza Line, the flatly glum tone of Shannon McArdle's album opener "Since I Came" is unsurprising. Even so, as we asserted above, there are cuts on 30 Year Low and its companion set Final Reflections Of The Legendary Malcontent that are absolutely jaunty, particularly Mr. Bracy's imperturbable, Replacements-esque title track. "The unraveling of a grand design..."

So there is a balance -- albeit a slightly uneasy one -- that holds aloft these two records across a fulcrum that wavers between tragicomedy ("Go Shopping") and tragedy ("Withered And Died"). And with some of the songs only the context of the startling announcement of the end of Ms. McArdle and Bracy's marriage lets us know that the two discs contain the sounds of the wheels coming off. The over-driven "31 Candles" or the unabashedly carefree interpretation of the standard "Anything Goes" don't feel weighted down by concerns greater than rocking out and the next drink, respectively. "Now you're rolling down the stairs in a barrel..."

Perhaps the most, ahem, bracing aspect to 30 Year Low etc. is the return of a lackadaisical mania, present in the dysphoric, vertiginous guitars slashing across the stereo field in the final minutes of the pulsing piece of perfection that is the Bracy-sung "I Lost My Taste." As The Mendoza Line's profile grew earlier in this decade the band assumed a traditional formalism. This won, or at least coincided with the arrival of, more than a little acclaim, but in our opinion it came at the cost of the exciting sonic experimentalism of catalogue highlights including the massively under-rated set We're All In This Alone from 2000. There's more of that sort of experimentalism in the howling guitar chords that feed back in the bridge of the aforementioned, sublime ballad "Go Shopping," which is situated in the middle of the second disc next to the stunning original demo for the Slow Dazzle track "Now Or Later Or Never." The latter song was a highlight of the Mendoza Line live set we saw in May [review]. "Now everybody's laughing about the size of your IPO..."

The breadth and depth of material on 30 Year Low and Final Remarks Of The Legendary Malcontent provides a questionably tidy but self-contained (like fraternal twin Capra-esque scenes in snowglobes; like jars full of fireflies) summary of a great, and greatly under-appreciated, American rock band. We expect we'll be hearing more from McArdle and Bracy before too long. Incidentally, the Mendoza Line web site (it seems the MySpace page is no longer) was updated recently with the news that "upcoming Mendoza Line shows will be performed by Timothy Bracy with band." So despite the cancellations we noted here, it would seem Mr. Bracy intends to get out to support 30 Year Low with live dates at some point. For now, enjoy these MP3s. "You were blue chip once, you were quite a ride..."

The Mendoza Line -- "Since I Came" -- 30 Year Low
The Mendoza Line -- "Thirty Year Low" -- 30 Year Low
The Mendoza Line -- "Aspect Of An Old Maid (Alt. Take)" -- 30 Year Low
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[pre-order 30 Year Low from Newbury Comics here; check out Glurp's e-card with album stream here]

The Mendoza Line: InterWeb | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

All The Dreams You Gave Up On, Other Things You Might Have Done

>> Word on the street -- well, in our email -- is that all of the Mendoza Line tour dates we reported about here last week are canceled, despite the fact the dates are still posted on Misra's web site. The TT The Bear's date in late August we've been looking forward to for a while has been excised from TT's web site. And that's all we're going to say about that. The Mendoza Line releases its final record, 30 Year Low, on Glurp Aug. 21. Incidentally, tonight's headline is from our favorite Mendoza Line song, 2000's "I Hope That You Remember To Forget." You can stream the track on Rhapsody here, but you should really just buy the record its from, We're All In This Alone, from Newbury Comics here. In our opinion it is the best Mendoza Line record.

>> Brit post-rockers 65DaysOfStatic's show in Boston last night didn't go off, and the band will miss others due to problems obtaining visas for the U.S. tour. Drowned In Sound reports here that shows in Washington, D.C. and Brooklyn are also in jeopardy, but the quartet hopes to be in the United States in time to pick up the trail at Richmond, Virginia's Alley Katz Saturday. Full tour dates are posted at the band's MySpace casa here. We posted MP3s and a stream of 65DaysOfStatic's most recent album here last week. Yesterday we bought overly expensive tickets to see the band open for The Cure at Boston's Agganis Arena in September.

>> This item isn't completely aligned with tonight's theme of cancellations, but we were tickled to read at Stereogum that our favorite nightly news broadcaster, NBC's Brian Williams, is a bit of an indie rocker and has opinions on the work of musical luminaries including Interpol, Feist and Cat Power. Read the Stereogum item here. Getting back to the theme, maybe somewhere is BW's past he had to give up on his dream. Of ROCKING OUT. Woahhhh.

We'll Take 'Bands Whose Names Start With An M' For $1000, Alex.

>> Curious... Misra Records sent a MySpace bulletin earlier today with tour dates for all of its acts. And for some reason those Mobius Band tour dates we posted here were on there, too. Mobius Band is also now listed on Misra's tour dates page. We wonder why that could be? Anyway, one thing we forgot to add to our Mobius Band item from the other day was that the band was selected to take part in Stereogum's already acclaimed OK Computer covers project OK X. The trio covered "Subterannean Homesick Alien" and you can download it, and the rest of the covers, right here. [EDIT: Wow, there's actually some ungood stuff on this comp. Definitely check out the Mobius Band, Doveman and Twilight Sad cuts for sure, though].

>> Speaking of Misra tour dates, the venerable label has confirmed more gigs for flagship act The Mendoza Line. We just saw the latest incarnation of the band play at Cambridge's Lizard Lounge in late May and they were great, so we are looking forward to that show at T.T.'s, which occurs one week before the band releases what its web site is calling its "final release," the mini-album 30 Year Low. We reviewed the Lizard Lounge show here. In other Mendoza Line news, Chromewaves here alerted us to a rare update of the Mendoza Line Internet Home Page, which is featuring a few downloads from 30 Year Low, including the excellent title track (which is, incidentally, a bit reminiscent of the band's earlier track "The Triple Bill Of Shame"). Check it out. We'll be posting a review of the record before it streets next month.

The Mendoza Line -- "30 Year Low" -- 30 Year Low
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[pre-order 30 Year Low from Glurp right here eventually]

08/01 -- Washington DC -- The Black Cat
08/02 -- Knoxville TN -- The Pilot Light
08/05 -- Atlanta GA -- The Earl
08/08 -- Austin TX -- Emo's
08/09 -- San Antonio TX -- Casbeer's
08/13 -- Chicago IL -- Schuba's
08/18 -- Buffalo NY -- Mohawk Place
08/24 -- Cambridge MA -- TT The Bear's

That Was The Show That Was: The Mendoza Line | Lizard Lounge

It may be a coincidence that -- only weeks after disclosing that his marriage to and musical partnership with a longtime bandmate had folded -- The Mendoza Line's Tim Bracy decided to open Thursday night's show with "Catch A Collapsing Star." Or it may not.

Historically, The Mendoza Line has touted as many as three singer-songwriters. Smooth-voiced and melodically gifted founding member Peter Hoffman left the fold a couple albums back after contributing his share of great tunes. Singer-songwriter Shannon McArdle joined the band several years after it formed and it was recently disclosed that she and Mr. Bracy have split, a dramatic departure that leaves the future of this pile of rock 'n' roll things called The Mendoza Line in question.

The metaphor of a collapsing star seems apt for pretty much the whole of the existence of the now defiantly traditional band, as tales of intra-band tumult, departures and serial lineup changes have proved to be a constant product of the band just existing. Miraculously, the rag-tag bunch of indie rockers has created a formidable and ample catalog over the last decade. That catalog will expand by one or two more titles in August, depending on how you count, when Bracy & Co. issue the mini-album 30 Year Low and an attendant collection of outtakes and rarities. Not that The Mendoza Line needs a reason, but it's unclear to us why all of a sudden it scheduled four dates to tease a release three months off. But we'll take it, especially given how surprisingly vital the performance was.

While we've seen an uneven Mendoza Line show or two over the years, last night's set was rock solid, as Bracy hollered and drawled his way through nine feverish rockers with the assistance of his able supporting players. In the wake of the news of McArdle's exit from the band, we wondered who would actually be in The Mendoza Line when the act hit town last night. Presumably Mr. Bracy would show, and he obliged. With him were recognizable, amiable and able guitarists Clint Newman and John Troutman, a fellow named Adam Gold on drums and a young woman on keys named Beth Nelson. And of course there was a bassist -- we'll get to him in a moment.

Prior to the show it might have seemed counterintuitive, given the flux of things Mendoza Line, to predict that the set would be the best Mendoza Line show of the handful we've seen. And yet Bracy and his henchpersons make for a no-nonsense and hale live unit. It is just like the Mendoza Line to snatch triumph from the jaws of farce (or vice versa) and turn in a vivid and tight show just when you thought you were going to get a scratchy train wreck on kinescope.

The set opened with a smoldering take on the aforementioned "Catch A Collapsing Star," and then chugged through many highlights of the last half-decade or so of Bracy's tunes. It was a bit jarring to hear Bracy sing parts previously sung by Ms. McArdle, particularly on the new track "Aspect of An Old Maid," which features traded lines of tightly packed lyrics about a relationship that is taking on water, fast. Mr. Newman's articulate guitar playing proved a dynamic foil to Bracy's chord-crushing acoustic guitar strumming, and Mr. Troutman's slippery licks at the pedal steel infused tunes with substantial color. This was particularly the case with the new (we think) number "Now/Never/Later," during which the slow tremolo of Troutman's pedal steel caused the whole of the understated and beautiful song to throb in the basement nightclub [EDIT: Eagle-eared Mendoza Line fan The Good Doctor tells us this track is actually from the sole Slow Dazzle record, The View From The Floor. Our bad]. We were particularly gratified that the band played "Road To Insolvency," a favorite of ours.

And now an extended aside: A big surprise for us came as we approached the band's van behind the club before the set to discover that our old friend Clark Wallace was playing bass on this current slate of dates. This blew our mind, and it remains somewhat blown today. Imagine going out to see one of your favorite bands and discovering that your old friend is playing with the band that night. Wild, right. Mr. Wallace, a multi-instrumentalist and fine songwriter in his own right, acquitted himself very nicely while filling the shoes of longtime Mendoza Line bassist (and mustachioed crowd favorite) Paul Deppler.

The four-date Mendoza Line tour closes out this evening in Providence, Rhode Island. 30 Year Low and its companion piece Final Remarks Of The Legendary Malcontent will be released Aug. 21. We look forward to more live shows then. We shot some pictures last night, and you can have a look at them at this link. And below are MP3s of two cuts the band played last night (alas, there was no "Name Names" or "Rat's Alley"... oh well).

The Mendoza Line -- "Catch A Collapsing Star" -- Full Of Light And Full Of Fire
The Mendoza Line -- "Aspect Of An Old Maid (Alt. Version)" -- 30 Year Low
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Here is the set list as it was to have been performed. We noticed that "Settle Down, Zelda" was moved up in the order, and Clark told us that one of the tracks -- we're not certain which -- was dropped from the set on the fly.

Catch A Collapsing Star
Fellow Travelers
Aspect Of An Old Maid
Love On Parole
I Lost My Taste
It's A Long Line (But It Moves Quickly)
Settle Down, Zelda
Road To Insolvency
Now Or Never Or Later
Sweetheart

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.

Today's Hotness: Up Up Down Down, The Mendoza Line, Ben Gibbard

>> The most awkwardly/awesomely named band in indie rock is about release a second full-length, and if the preview tracks at MySpace are any indication, the set is going to be superlative. Jersey-based post-emo superheroes Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start are taking pre-orders for the forthcoming set Worst Band Name Ever at a web site of the same name right here. New track "The Red Loop" in particular is hair-standing-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck good, a serene yearner that pairs pounding toms, acoustic guitar and murmured vocals to create a track that reminds us of the best American Football tunes, if not the best UUDDLRLRBAS tunes. Posted atop this item is the Gap ad-ish video for the upbeat but stilted popper "I'll Thank You Later," which you can also stream at the band's MySpace wigwam. The band expects the new CDs back from the pressing plant in the first week of June and will ship out pre-orders immediately thereafter. Folks who pre-order will also receive a copy of the band's simply stunning Girls Names EP, which has never been commercially released. In addition, Worst Band Name Ever is an enhanced CD that offers access to bonus material when you put it in a CD-ROM drive. Bonus material includes guitar tabs for the 10 cuts, and 18-song mixtape of the band's favorite indie acts, and the video for "I'll Thank You Later" in Hi-Res widescreen. Incidentally, Girls Names was one of our favorite records of 2006; you can read our other picks right here. Below we've posted a hot jam from the band's first full length recorded in late 2001 and 2002; the set is titled And Nothing Is #1 and it is out of print (but available at EMusic). You can check out the band's whole discography here, which is long on some very darn good EPs.

UUDDLRLRBAS -- "By Surprise" -- And Nothing Is #1
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>> And so we've finally listened to the new Mendoza Line cut. It's dramatic, kind of show-tuney, has a nice loose bounce and features typically great lyrics presumably from Tim Bracy. The cut is called "Aspect Of An old Maid," and it's an alternate take. The version that will appear on the band's (if you can call it a band anymore, considering the tumult described in the band's bio at the Glurp site we just found after reading the comments to the Chromewaves post we noted the other day) forthcoming set 30 Year Low, a double album which will be released on Glurp in August, features vocals from Okkervil River's Will Sheff. The second disc carries its own title, the equally bitter-sounding Final Remarks Of The Legendary Malcontent. The second disc features covers of cuts by Cole Porter, Dylan and Springsteen as well as live tracks (two actually from the Mendoza Line side project Slow Dazzle) and other stuff. We can't wait to hear the whole thing, although we find it takes a bit more effort for us to love the Mendoza Line's more countrified stuff, which makes up a large portion of its catalog since about 2000 or so. Our favorite Mendoza Line record is still the first one we received via The Good Doctor, the eclectic and adventurous We're All In This Alone. Here's that new track:

The Mendoza Line -- "Aspect Of An Old Maid (Alt. Take)" -- outtake from 30 Year Low
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>> Touch And Go will reissue two The For Carnation EPs as a single disc July 10. The band's first two Matador EPs Marshmallows (which was released in 1996 and features the excellent cuts "On The Swing" and "Winter Lair") and Fight Songs (released the prior year) will be combined into Promised Works. We'd say there are more details here, but really all there is is the album art. Still, we've always felt Marshmallows was a crucial EP (as was Stereolab's The Noise Of Carpet, which was released about the same time and which we recorded onto the same cassette tape way back when -- along with Versus' awesome Deep Red EP, no less), so get your hands on it if you haven't already.

>> The 'Nac has Death Cab For Cutie helmer Ben Gibbard's recent solo performance at the Somerville Theater posted. The set looks really solid, and if we can stop listening to UUDDLRLRBAS we'll stream it via The 'Nac Hype Machine feed this evening. Read the whole Almanac post right here.

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.