Together Again: Clicky Clicky Presents Two Nights of Adventurous Electronics And Under-Pop May 18+19

Hey, remember a year ago when we did this thing? It was a righteous time, orchestrated by indefatigable Clicky Clicky Staff Writer and Producer of Clicky Clicky Presents Dillon Riley in partnership with the fine people of Boston's Together Festival. Well, this Sunday Together launches its latest annual run, its seventh and vastest yet, they've agreed to have us back, and we're delighted. Mr. Riley has been hard at work orchestrating another ambitious two-night stand featuring a range of decidedly forward-thinking electronic and under-pop sounds. First up: next Wednesday, May 18, Clicky Clicky presents a solo performance from nü-romantic electropop standout St. Nothing, the refracted folk rock of All Talk, and vibrant indie pop from the Berklee-spawned ensemble Aüva. That will assuredly be a very good time, but the energy doesn't let up the following night. Thursday, May 19, we present for your sensual pleasure a special performance from heroic dreamers Strange Mangers, who will be reinterpreting their sighing guitar band sound via various electronic means. Equally as exciting will be strong vibes from techno producer and selector Lychee and a set of kaleidoscopic electro-spazz from Cyberbully (one of the many musical guises of Elizabeth Colour Wheel's Alec Jackson). Inman Square's proverbial living room, the great Lilypad, hosts both nights.

We'd like to advise you not to fuck this up and leave it at that. But we can do you one better and direct you to music embedded below from each of the artists performing. If you want to get down to brass tacks with key tracks, here's four to get you started: (1) Cyberbully's protracted enigma "Descent|Pts1-3," which takes an "everything plus the kitchen sink" approach but remains focused, sometimes to the point of claustrophobia, not to mention paranoia; (2) St. Nothing's big, throw-back synth-pop ballad "Align," a song so hook-heavy you could scrap it for parts and make an entire Depeche Mode AND Thompson Twins album; (3) Lychee's recent set at Cambridge, Mass.' legendary Middlesex Lounge goes deep on chill, but stick around for the return of the boom bap when Søren Nordström's "Transmission IV" hits the mix; (4) it sounds like Aüva will have new music for fans this year, but with spring kicking into gear for reals it is hard to stop listening to its infectious confection "Into Place," the opener to last year's Light Years EP. For more detailed details on either night -- and to pledge your allegiance to one or both -- hit the relevant Faceblorp pages: Night One; Night Two. We're looking forward to being with you. Do be sure to check out all that Together has offer -- just make sure to not wipe yourself out before our shows roll around. Ringo peace signs.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18 >>







THURSDAY, MAY 19 >>

Clicky Clicky Music Blog Is 10

Well, no, not just yet. But on Feb. 26, 2006, or thereabouts, we waved goodbye to the fine folks at Junkmedia.org and began writing here under our own shingle. We'd had a personal blog here or under a clunky AT&T URL (dial-up, fool!) since 2000, but early in 2006 we looked at the future and wondered something akin to what the Red Stockings of the era were thinking: why not now? Why not us? Autonomy appealed to us, we gave it a go, and here we are 10 years and some 2,150 or so blog posts later. A great many terrific writers helped us along the way, including upstanding citizens (and one French national) Michael Piantigini, L. Tiburon Pacifico, Jay Kumar, Ric Dube, Nick Lorenzen, Michael RobbGrieco, Brad Searles, Mark Griffey, Jeff Breeze, Vanessa Deroo and D.P. Dean. And of course we would be nowhere without the indefatigable efforts of current long-tenure writers Edward Charlton and Dillon Riley. So many thanks to all, but especially you, the readers. It seems ridiculous to think that we'll do this for another whole decade, but for the time being we aren't going anywhere. There is just too much rock to rock.

Speaking of which, and as you might have gathered from the hot graphic above (featuring Mark from "G-Force" / "Battle Of The Planets," for those of you not as nerdy as us at the turn of the '80s), we are having a rock and roll show at the end of the month to celebrate our decennial. Topping the bill at Out Of The Blue Too in Cambridge, Mass.'s lovely Central Square are Boston fight-pop heroes Earthquake Party!, whose long-germinating full-length will hopefully feel the warmth of daylight sometime this year. Shoegaze titans Bedroom Eyes and upstart 'gaze-punk outfit Blew will also perform, and we're not ruling out a last-minute addition should a Clicky Clicky fave come knockin'. We're also sorting out someone special to provide interstitial and post-prandial auditory delights from the proverbial DJ booth, so expect an announcement on at least that in the coming days.

We've also been cooking up some other stuff to mark the anniversary. This link, for example, will take you to a Spotify playlist representative of the Clicky Clicky Sounds Of The Decade. It's not wholly comprehensive, of course, as it only contains what music is presently available on Spotify. And it is long on older sounds and short on more recent stuff, as we figured most of you know what has been "up" in more recent years. We've been thinking about creating a hard-copy 'zine to hand out at the show mentioned supra, and perhaps soliciting guest listicles of one sort or another from writers. But in all likelihood, the Spotify playlist is all we'll get done in the next two weeks, as we're always looking ahead, and only look back in rare instances like these. No matter. Clicky Clicky is 10. Hope to see you at the show in a couple weeks. Here's the Facebook event page where you can pledge your allegiance. Thanks for reading Clicky Clicky Music Blog. Here are a few of our guiding stars, all released on Slumberland a distressingly long time ago, now out-of-print, but never far from our thoughts.

Velocity Girl -- "My Forgotten Favorite" -- "My Forgotten Favorite" / "Why Should I Be Nice To You?"
Whorl -- "Maybe It's Better" -- "Maybe It's Better" b/w "Christmas"
Lilys -- "Claire Hates Me" -- In The Presence Of Nothing

Together With Together: Clicky Clicky Presents Two Nights of Abstract Electronics And Indie Rock May 12+14

As a long time admirer of one of the driving forces behind it, we could be none more pleased to announce Clicky Clicky has partnered with the annual Together festival to bring abstract electronics and indie rock to adventurous listeners next month. Whether it be serendipity or silliness, we somehow have ended up presenting not one but two nights of programming during the five-year-old festival's seven-day run this year. First up, on Tuesday, May 12, Together and Clicky Clicky present folktronica/collage duo Skinny Bones and abstract electronic improviser Dinnersss (a/k/a producer Jimmy Hughes) at Lilypad in Cambridge's fashionable Inman Square. That night of programming is enough to raise pulses out there among the cognoscenti, but we've got yet more bunnies up our pant leg: on Thursday May 14 we present at the very same venue contemporary 'gaze greats Strange Mangers, Bostonian Virginia De Las Pozas' charming and other-worldy electronic project Couples Counseling the creaky and haunting strummery of trio Horse Jumper of Love, and a very, very special performance from slowcore giants (and recent Kill Rock Stars signing) New Dog. The Tuesday show is all ages, a 10PM start, and will cost you five American dollars, while Thursday jumps off at 8:30, is all ages, and will cost eight American dollars; Together festival passholders can walk in like royalty and not have to gesture toward their billfolds at all.

We would need many hands to count up all the reasons to be excited about these musical programs, but let us just drop a few here. The music on Skinny Bones' 2014 debut Noise Floor feels as unbounded as the work of Syd Barrett, but as deeply personal as the harrowing and beautiful music of Bad History Month. Dinnersss' recent and entrancing modular synth reverie "Mise En Place" (embedded below) is evocative head music and among the most exciting electronic music we've heard coming out of Boston in this decade. Equally enticing are the electronic sounds of Couples Counseling, which at times seems to provide Boston's most on-point, contemporary response to Nuno Cannavarro's classic 1988 masterwork Plux Quba Horse Jumper of Love's recent EP Ur Real Life Dress builds up a slow and dusty, lower-case-g gothic head of steam and hits a groove on closer "Nose Bleeder," all of which makes us excited for the trio's forthcoming full-length. That live set from New Dog? It's a warm-up for the act's forthcoming European tour, and may very well be the band's first show as a duo: former Soccer Mom kit-minder Justin Kehoe now backs fronter and former Travels/Metal Hearts principal Anar Badalov. The band's new set Classic Ballroom Dances is out June 2, and June 6 the pair kicks off a couple weeks of dates in Germany, Czech Republic and Belgium. Strange Mangers topline Thursday night, bringing with it the big-guitars/big melodies sound that Clicky Clicky devotes most of its time to championing. Strange Mangers had a big 2014, releasing a terrific and haunting EP Return Eternal as well as an entirely arresting comp of older material, and we are expecting big things from the act in 2015 as well.

It is worth noting these two shows -- Facebook Event Page 1; Facebook Event Page 2; pledge your allegiance now -- represent the first efforts of this blog's nascent Clicky Clicky Presents arm. Clicky Clicky Presents is already planning sick bills every other month for the rest of the year and into 2016. We will certainly keep you apprised of these future goings on, but for those curious about what we've got planned, here's a hint and another and another and another about what we're planning or July. But for now let's stay focused on the short term, and the many auditory delights the Together festival has in store for us. Sure, our bills are great, but be sure to scrutinize the entire schedule: there is a ton of hot, hot stuff going on. Don't sleep on it.

TUESDAY, MAY 12 >>





THURSDAY, MAY 14 >>

Idiot Genes, Chandos, Flat Swamp, Strange Mangers | O'Brien's Pub | 7 June

Is this the last show flyer you'll see that refers to Boston anxiety-pop heroes Chandeliers by that name? Maybe! Attentive fans likely saw the threesome announce a name change late last month, and know that henceforth the act will be called Chandos (look, we already put it in the headline). We'll leave it to you to speculate for yourselves why a band might make that kind of change, although if you've ever googled them you've already figured the easy part of it out. And, really, it's what's on the inside that counts, right gang? Whether their amps have "Chandeliers" or "Chandos" stenciled on there matters little; it's the trio's characteristic jittery jangle that puts the proverbial asses in the figurative seats. Which is hopefully where they'll find you tomorrow night, specifically at O'Brien's Pub in Allston Rock City. There Chandos anchors a ridiculous evening of aural entertainment that also includes fuzz-faces Idiot Genes -- one of the first signings to the new Eye Design Records label -- as well as candied-punk purveyors Flat Swamp and the more progressive, twinkly indie rock of Strange Mangers.

While Chandos and Idiot Genes have been known quantities to us for years -- we last wrote about Idiot Genes here in November, and our coverage of Chandos goes back to 2010, as we said here -- Flat Swamp and Strange Mangers had not yet traversed our ear canals until early this week. We're happy to report both make rock sounds we like. We're particularly interested in Flat Swamp, which features Ovlov drummer Theo Hartlett on the guitar and sing-sing and also counts among its number Grass Is Green drummer Jesse Weiss. You read that right: this band, which is very good and wears its Weezer influence right there on its collective, comically oversized novelty sleeve, has two key players that are also drummers. It kind of takes some air out of all of those old hackneyed drummer jokes, yeah? Maybe they can get Dave Grohl on their next record... In the meantime, we certainly recommend you check out their cassette El Jefe/Nicolas Cage Match, which was released a year ago by Midnight Werewolf, and which contains lotsa windows-down-driving-fast-shouting-along-fist-pumping anthems. You like those, right? Indeed, every act on the bill tomorrow night has something hot for you to hear, so spend some time now with the links below, put on your socially acceptable pants tomorrow, and come check out the show with us tomorrow night. Full details are at this Facebook event page. Support the spleen.

Regolith A2E3: Sean Tracy Presents Dye's Alone

Did you feel like we left you hanging? We apologize for the delay, but a bunch of real-life stuff got in the way of our publishing this, the final installment of Sean Tracy's plunge down the time-sensitive cataracts in the songwriting challenge barrel we here at Clicky Clicky call Regolith. We think you are going to agree it was worth the wait, however. We are very pleased to be able to present to you today the fruits of Mr. Tracy's labor, which he is attributing to his project Dye (which, of course, we first told you about here in A2E1). It's an EP titled Alone, a particularly fitting moniker, as Dye typically includes Tracy's cohort Sam, but here of course, per Regolith rules, does not. The Alone EP contains five concise compositions touting gauzy rhythm guitars, gently perforating leads and bass work, a warm low end and spectral vocals. The short collection is shot through with a sedately stunned vibe, not unlike that of The Cure's 17 Seconds, but its compositions are more densely populated by guitars, hinting at Tracy's love of C86 and shoegaze sounds. Alone is eminently listenable, and while in the interview below Tracy expresses dismay at the quantity of material he was able to complete in 30 days, there is no questioning its quality. The EP is streaming at the Clicky Clicky Bandcamp page and also embedded at the foot of this post. Read and listen on. -- L. Tiburon Pacifico

Clicky Clicky: So how did it go? Do you consider the results a personal success? A failure?

Sean Tracy: It went all right. I feel pretty good about it, but there a ton of things that I wanted to do over [or] add. I wrote 12 songs and I'm turning in four-and-a-half, so...

CC: What were the biggest challenges and frustrations?

ST: The biggest challenge was definitely recording the vocals. Personally, I'm not someone who is much of a creative writer, so writing lyrics is typically something I dread/dislike very much. Just getting the time to record them was hard enough, but then getting vocal takes that I actually felt good about was a different story.

CC: How were you able to work around or overcome these challenges?

ST: I'd say the second thing is closer to what happened. I pretty much had to write stuff as I recorded it, and even while I typically do that, I would still have [other] ideas that were literally more thought-out than I had for this project. At the end, I had gotten to the point where I was having to write vocals/lyrics and guitar parts at the same time.

CC: What song do you think came out the best?

ST: That's a hard question, probably "17." I spent the most time on it, and gave it the most thought out of any of them. To me, it seems like kind of a weird one, but I was really happy with how the instrumentals came out, if nothing else.

CC: What song or songs do you wish you'd had more time to work on? Do you see yourself re-doing any songs in the future, in any of your bands?

ST: The song I wish I had more time to work on was "Ripped." Lots I wanted to try out for that one that I just didn't have time for. And... maybe? Not in the immediate future.

CC: Are there any songs you did for this project that you couldn't re-create live?

ST: I guess the answer to that is, um, all of them, at least not without at least 3 other people to play them with me...

CC: If there was one person or piece of equipment you could have brought in for the project, who or what would that have been?

ST: If i could work with anyone else I'd probably have to say my friend Sam Glassberg, who I used to be in a band with. I feel like we could probably have written a full album if that were the case.

CC: Did you learn anything about how you write and record music? What specific or quantifiable lesson, if any, did you learn that will help you in the future?

ST: I've learned that I tend to be pretty spontaneous, and that sometimes I have a hard time being my own editor. I guess that's why working with others is beneficial. Having multiple points of view is probably for the best.

CC: If you could travel into the future and speak with the next Regolith participant, what one piece of advice would you give them?

ST: Store all your project files in the cloud forever (I just lost my external HDD and my Macbook, within two weeks of each other. Still trying to get over that).

Normally here we'd tease the next Regolith artist-in-her-or-his-own-residence, but at this point we are still hammering down start dates and batting orders for some prospective participants. In the meantime, get cozy with Alone, and keep an eye out for news about the release of the debut full-length from Chandeliers, which Tracy referenced in A2E1. Chandeliers play a very hot bill in Boston June 7 at O'Brien's, along with Idiot Genes, Flat Swamp and Strange Mangers. We last saw Tracy performing with Bedroom Eyes at the incredible Soccer Mom record release show early this month (which, incidentally, seems like 1,000 years ago now), but Tracy has since left that band.

Previously:
Regolith A2E2: Sean Tracy Writes Songs Under The Gun
Regolith A2E1: Sean Tracy Is A Songwriter
Regolith A1E3: Reuben Bettsak Presents Emerald Comets' Inside Dream Room
Regolith A1E2: Reuben Bettsak Writing Songs Under The Gun
Regolith A1E1: Reuben Bettsak Is A Songwriter
Introducing... Regolith