That Was The Show That Was: The Fun Years | The Echo Nest

Only recently did The Urban Legend hip us to The Fun Years, an electrodrone duo whose music not only maps an overlap between the hypnotic iterations of William Basinski and the quieter elegies of A For Carnation but also serially draws comparisons to Wolfgang Voigt's sublime GAS project. After listening to The Fun Years' gauzy music for several weeks, we were surprised to learn that the now bi-coastal concern -- featuring Cambridge-based turntablist Isaac Sparks and California-based guitarist/laptopper Ben Recht -- had booked a live performance in the offices of a technology start-up operated in part by a former co-worker. And so it was that we found ourselves sitting in an office suite in a corner of Davis Square last night for a pleasant hour-longish set. In a recent interview the band made no pretense about its show being a fiery spectacle, but they did promise that they do their thing loudly. And while the set at The Echo Nest wasn't overly loud, it was very satisfying.

The Fun Years architect its somnolent tracks by gradually sampling live and layering snatches of vinyl and guitar, then manipulating those sounds from spare arcs that crest and fall into washes that undulate and phase. The dynamics can be predictable, but that is somewhat par for the course when working in a musical idiom whose foundation is repetition. Some of the more dramatic moments were a couple minor technical snafus during which entire beds of guitar samples -- painstakingly stacked like so many pillows of wind -- mysteriously vanished from the mix. Mr. Recht ably and affably, ahem, rectified those situations and as a result those tracks suffered little loss of altitude. We aren't so fluent in The Fun Years' music yet to know exactly which compositions we heard, but The Urban Legend reports that the band finished up with "The Surge Is Working" ("Oh yeah, didn't you guys get the memo? Ambient rock is the new protest-folk," the band jokes in this recent interview), the closing track from its most recent collection Baby, It's Cold Inside. That record, the duo's seventh in its five-year career, was released by Barge Recordings July 22. UK-based digital music storefront Boomkat named Baby, It's Cold Inside album of the week during the month of September. The Fun Years graciously offer the opening second track from the record as a free download at its site, and we're reposting it below to save you the trip.

The Fun Years -- "Auto Show Day Of The Dead" -- Baby, It's Cold Inside
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[buy The Fun Years records from the band right here]

The Fun Years: Internerds | MySpace | Vimeo | Flickr

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, Guitar, Frightened Rabbit

>> [Image Credit: Lewes Herriot] Believe it or not, there will be a fourth single from Johnny Foreigner's cataclysmically great debut Waited Up Til It Was Light. In the UK, anyway. According to an email, the band's label Best Before will release Jan. 12 the double A-sided single "DJ's Get Doubts" b/w "Lea Room." Which means that five of Waited Up Til It Was Light's 13 tracks will have gotten the single treatment, while, miraculously, some of the best tracks ("Absolute Balance," "This End Is A Beginning") remain relatively, and curiously, uncelebrated. We had written previously here and perhaps elsewhere that the Birmingham, England-based noise pop trio's prior single "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" was the fourth from Waited Up, but we just went to our discs and checked and, no matter how we count, that doesn't add up. "Sometimes In The Bullring" was released as a single by Laundrette, but that was an older version of the track released prior to the band's signing with Best Before. So anyway, the ballad "DJ's Get Doubts" (which is nice, but not as strong as "All Mosely Gardens" in our opinion) and the raucous rocker "Lea Room" (named for the band's driver/tour manager guy, who can be spotted just offstage in all of those awesome live videos we hyped up on our Twitter feed later last month) are next in the spotlight. No word on when, if ever, any of these Johnny Foreigner singles will be issued in North America, where Waited Up Til It Was Light was issued to zero fanfare in July (well, some fanfare -- our review is here). Incidentally, the same email from Best Before referenced above noted that superlative Glaswegian indie rock sextet Dananananaykroyd has completed recording its full-length debut, and the set is currently being mixed by The Machine in Hoboken, New Jersey.

>> Surfing On Steam reports here that German electrobliss duo Guitar will release a new set titled Come Summer Come Blues early next year. In addition, Clairecords has recently reissued two Guitar sets, 2004's Honeysky and 2005's Salty Kisses, and there is a note at the Clairecords site stating that the label also intends to reissue It's Sweet To Do Nothing. According to this MySpace blog the new set contains eight tracks that apparently harness Guitar principal Michael Lueckner's love of bluesmen Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and Big Bill Broonzy. We reviewed Guitar's Sunkissed for Junkmedia six years ago right here; our first exposure to the act was its contributions to the excellent Morr Music-curated Slowdive tribute comp Blue Skied An' Clear which was released in September 2002. One of the best tracks on Blue Skied An' Clear [review here] is Guitar's MBV-influenced stomper "House Full Of Time," which we're posting below.

Guitar -- "House Full Of Time" -- Blue Skied An' Clear
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[buy Guitar music from Clairecords right here and EMusic here]

>> A propos of nothing... you know what would be a great mash-up? Do the kids still go for the mash-ups these days? We honestly don't know. But anyway, a clever remixer could take B. Fleischmann and Ms. John Soda's absolutely sublime cover of Slowdive's "Here She Comes" and combine it with Frightened Rabbit's stunning "Floating In The Forth" and make something perty. Yeah.

Today's Hotness: Thunder Power, Answering Machine, Abbey Lounge

>> Keeping up with the Omaha/Saddle Creek indie rock scene seems complicated and difficult. Or at least it seems that way from a thousand miles away. So many projects, so much overlap in personnel, all of it makes our head spin, and as a result we don't really pay too much attention. However, there is a new EP out today titled Love Yourself released by an Omaha sextet called Thunder Power that certainly warrants consideration. The jewel of the EP's five fizzy pop tracks is "(Why Don't You Go) Take A Hike?" [video embedded above]. The light bounce of the tune -- the acoustic strummery of which reminds us of If You're Feeling Sinister-era Belle And Sebastian -- is counterbalanced by the weary, melancholy vocal of fronter Kacynna Tompsett. Ms. Tompsett's singing voice carries an unplaceable accent and is cradled in a close reverb on these recordings; combined those two things give her lyrics a timeless, yet otherworldly quality. Slumber Party Records, which is distributed by the aforementioned Saddle Creek, releases Thunder Power's Love Yourself EP today. The band already has another release in the pipeline in the form of a planned split EP Friend Ships, which also includes music from British singer-songwriter Alessi Laurent-Marke. That EP will be issued sometime this winter on Laurent-Marke's Zooey Records. Thunder Power was cool enough to allow us to post an MP3, so here is "Take A Hike."

Thunder Power -- "(Why Don't You Go) Take A Hike?" -- Love Yourself
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[buy the Love Yourself EP from Saddle Creek right here]

>> The Answering Machine will likely sign a record deal with the small indie Heist Or Hit, according to a recent blog post from fronter Martin. The fledgling label is based in either Ashford or Middlesex, England -- we don't really understand how British addresses work, we're afraid to admit. Or it is based in London, according to the label's MySpace hacienda. Heist Or Hit's only other signing at the moment appears to be San Francisco-based dream pop quartet LoveLikeFire. As we reported here last week, Manchester-based The Answering Machine is currently recording its debut full-length, whose title is Another City, Another Sorry.

>> We don't know much, but we do know that we are not happy that soon we will have to live in a world with no Abbey Lounge. We've seen a lot of great bands there over the years, including The Kickovers and Neptune and The Farmhands. Sadly, the club will close its doors Nov. 28. More at On The Download here.

Today's Hotness: It Hugs Back, Revelation Records, Henry Rollins

>> Letting go is hard to do. Especially when one of your favorite bands makes a groundbreaking recording, and then follows it up with something unexpected and dramatically different. Fans of the mercurial and chameleonic Lilys know what we are talking about. And to a certain extent we felt the same way when Dustin Reske of '90s dream pop heroes Rocketship left the world of sunshiney guitars to explore a more electronic palette. Last week we found something that filled the crater of certain unmet expectations whilst minding our own business listening to WMBR's delightful Breakfast Of Champions radio program. And that something is the latest single from It Hugs Back, "Work Day," the video of which we've embedded above. The Kent, England-based quartet's new single certainly reminds us of Rocketship, although in exploring its back catalog over the weekend it is notable that there is even a touch of Mission Of Burma to be found among the band's four prior singles. It Hugs Back isn't easily pigeonholed, however; "Early Evening" opens as an acoustic ballad that gradually gains steam and transforms into a light chime-studded rocker with overtones of Sufjan Stevens and Gastr Del Sol. "Work Day" was released by 4AD Sept. 29; 4AD and Too Pure, which put out the band's first four singles, merged in June. Another single is in the works, and both it and "Work Day" will appear on a planned 2009 debut full length release on 4AD. It Hugs Back's first four singles were collected up in April on The Record Room, which was issued on CD and in a limited-edition canvas bag, but can also be downloaded right here at EMusic. Highly recommended. Here's the A-side to its first single, the sold-out "Lights In The Trees," which was initially released by Too Pure in October 2006.

It Hugs Back -- "Lights In The Trees" -- "Lights In The Trees" b/w "Soft Spot"
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[buy It Hugs Back records from the band here or EMusic here]

>> Speaking of EMusic, there was a recent notable addition to the digital music storefront's offerings, the Revelation Records catalog. Revelation pretty much cornered the market on New York Hardcore and the bands that sought to continue its legacy. Among its titles are astonishingly good releases that every fan of heavy music should own, including the crucial first Texas Is The Reason single [link]; Youth Of Today's final and un-eff-withable "Disengage" single [link]; and Burn's chillingly awesome self-titled EP, featuring "Drown" [link]. Noticably absent? The first Shelter record, which featured Ray Cappo backed by members of 76% Uncertain.

>> We don't get IFC on our living room lightbox machine. But if we did, we can only think of one thing we'd watch on it, which is Henry Rollins' talk show. This month IFC is rolling out three new episodes of "Henry Rollins: Uncut," including a show looking at New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a show capturing Mr. Rollins doing his talking show in Northern Ireland and a show during which Rollins tours a South African Township. Clips of all three shows, as well as a heralded show filmed in Israel, is combined with clips from Rollins doing his spoken-word bit live in an amusing 20-minute video you can watch right here. If you've see Rollins on a recent talking date (we saw him in 2006) some of the stuff late in the video will be familiar to you. That said, his story of meeting his idol Ted Nugent is one of a few that is easy to watch over and over and over. And it has historical import, as Mr. Nugent's teetotaler status was a direct inspiration on the straightedge hardcore movement.

Today's Hotness: Henry Clay People, Get Up Kids, Ryan Adams

>> [Photo Credit: Scott Schultz] We downloaded a handful of tunes from Los Angeles indie rockers The Henry Clay People recently [probably via ExitFare] and every time one of said songs shuffles up we have to grab our IPod to identify who's rocking us. The quartet, fronted by the Siara brothers Joey and Andy, will release release next week its sophomore set For Cheap Or For Free on Aquarium Drunkard's Autumn Tone label. The record was recorded in a number of different studios around Los Angeles with folks including the very personable Dave Newton, he formerly of The Mighty Lemon Drops and he whose acquaintance we made while visiting The Hush Now's recording sessions in Charlestown, Mass. earlier this year. We see a lot of Pavement references made to The Henry Clay People's sound, but that doesn't quite get to the heart of it, as the latter act isn't nearly as cracked as the former. But The Henry Clay People are certainly very good, and apparently put on a dynamite and inebriated live show. So what's not to like? The act has a number of West Coast tour dates booked through next week, so if you are a left coaster, check out the list at The Henry Clay People MySpace dojo right here. Below are two tracks from the forthcoming set; "Working Part Time" was previously released as a single.

The Henry Clay People -- "Working Part Time" -- For Cheap Or For Free
The Henry Clay People -- "Something In The Water" -- For Cheap Or For Free
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[pre-order For Cheap Or For Free from Autumn Tone right here]

>> Here's something we did not know. Doghouse Records is reissuing The Get Up Kids' debut Four Minute Mile on vinyl. The set, which was originally released by the now defunct act in 1997, will be available on blue vinyl from December 9. This all according to a Pun Canoes item right here. We've got mixed feelings about the records the renowned Midwestern emo quintet released following Four Minute Mile. But in our humble opinion -- which we've offered previously here -- its caterwauling emo classic "The Last Place You Look" [live video here] is is one of the top jams of the late '90s, up there with all your "Misunderstood" and "Paranoid Android" and "You Talk Twice" and whatnot. You can pre-order The Get Up Kids reissue from Amazon.com right here for about 13 bucks.

>> We're no huge Ryan Adams fan, but we have loved all the big songs ("Let It Ride," "Come Pick Me Up," etc.) from the big records, as well as few choice Whiskeytown cuts. And so lately we've been listening to the new Adams jam "Cobwebs" a lot. It gives us goosebumps. Mr. Adams and his Cardinals performed the track as the web bonus to the Letterman show the other night, and we think this link will take you straight to the clip. Totally worth rocking it.

Today's Hotness: AC/DC, Benge, Up Up Down Down

>> When we were youths the arrival of MTV inside our teevees was pretty much the end-all, be-all. We watched so much MTV between the ages of 8 and 16 that it is surprising we did anything else. And one of our earliest memories of the network is the Friday Night Concert. Or maybe it was the Saturday Night Concert, because we recall on Friday it was the Friday Night Video Fights. Anyway, there were two exceptional concerts in those days that were played over and over again. A dazzling assault by AC/DC circa For Those About To Rock, We Salute You, and another great set by rocker Billy Squier. The first thing we did when we heard about MTV's new "Hulu for music videos" was check to see if either of those old concerts was there. And we're pretty sure the amazing live rendition of "Put The Finger On You" embedded above is taken from the performance that was aired as part of the MTV concert. Legendary hard rock quintet AC/DC, of course, just released its latest record Black Ice last week, and Billboard here broke the news last night that the new set will debut at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 today. Black Ice, which is being sold exclusively at Wal-Mart, scanned 784,000 copies in its first week. The band launched a tour to support the record in Wilkes-Barre, PA last night. We can't imagine any of the performances will come close the the awesome clip above.

>> According to this item at The Quietus, there is a new set from electronic music luminary Ben Edwards' Benge project. Twenty Systems features as many compositions, one for each year -- crafted with one synthesizer from the same year -- between 1968 and 1987. Its concept seems somewhat similar to Keith Fullerton Whitmans' Multiples, which featured titles including "Stereo Music for Acoustic Guitar, Buchla Music Box 100, Hewlett Packard Model 236 Oscillator, Electric Guitar and Computer - Part Two" and which we reviewed here for Junkmedia in 2005. Twenty Systems was released on Mr. Edwards' own Expanding Records. According to the Expanding web site, Twenty Systems "combines an audio CD of new music with a full colour 60-page book containing photos and diagrams of the electronic instruments used, along with a detailed history documenting the development of synthesisers between 1968 and 1988." The release has garnered props from electronic luminaries including Brian Eno and Scanner. Twenty Systems doesn't come cheap -- it's 15 pounds sterling from Smallfish.co.uk. Perhaps Forced Exposure will stock it sometime soon (along with the latest Oblong release, please). As we stated here at the beginning of the year, we are big fans of Benge's 2002 release Meme Tunes; the most recent Benge set prior to Twenty Systems was called I Am Nine and it was issued in 2004. Here is the wonderful dreamer "Eve's Escape Valve" from Meme Tunes.

Benge -- "Eve's Escape Valve" -- Meme Tunes
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[buy Benge music from Smallfish right here]

>> Despite announcing its break-up in July and playing its last show in August, awkwardly monikered post-emo superheroes Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start have announced it will play a short set -- as Pearl Jam -- Friday night as part of a Halloween party in New Jersey. The party is at the band's studio in Haddon Heights, and more details, including the rest of the bill, are posted here at DinerState.com. Now listen to "Melanie Flury," which will make you wish the band were reuniting as itself. Sigh.

Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start -- "Melanie Flury" -- Girls Names EP
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[buy Up Up Down Down records from the band here]

Clicky Clicky 200: Jon Brion's "I Believe She's Lying"

[Photo Credit: Robert Gauthier/LA Times] Readers are likely familiar with L.A.-based Jon Brion because of his brilliant soundtrack work over the past decade, or his production work with big names like Fiona Apple and Spoon (Brion recorded "The Underdog" from the Texas quartet's brilliant Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga). The most interesting thing, to us anyway, about Jon Brion is that we had a couple opportunities to get on board with the formerly Boston-based songwriter and producer long before we picked up his solo set Meaningless at the short-lived Harvard Square location of Other Music about seven years ago. Whilst an undergrad in the early '90s, our compadre Mr. Obb emphatically recommended to our attention the work of Jellyfish, a combo that featured Mr. Brion along with whoa, wait a second, Jon Brion wasn't actually in Jellyfish, his future bandmate Jason Falkner was (Brion did, however, apparently play guitar on Jellyfish's Spilt Milk). OK, fast-forward to 1998 or so, and our co-worker Max recommended we check out The Grays, which featured Mssrs. Brion and Falkner. Even so, nothing from Jellyfish or The Grays fired our imagination.

However, we certainly found what we were looking for when we bought Meaningless. The set is packed with immaculately produced indie rock, and features clever and melodic pop numbers and ballads. The crown jewel is the up-tempo scramber "I Believe She Is Lying." According to Brion's liner notes, the lyrics were co-written with fellow Boston scenemaker Aimee Mann. Those circular words provide a sharp focal point for the tune, which rides a dizzying jungle breakbeat -- think Scooby Doo's legs spinning before he gets moving -- and brilliantly layers in vocoder backing vocals and harmonies over syncopated and arpeggiated guitars. The only other comment Brion offers in the liner notes is the short description "fear of commitment anthem." Which is sort of like calling Mount Rushmore an interesting hill. "I Believe She's Lying" is #90 on the Clicky Clicky 200, the countdown of our 200 most-listened-to favorites; read prior CC200 posts right here.

Jon Brion -- "I Believe She's Lying" -- Meaningless
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[buy Meaningless from CD Baby right here]

Jon Brion: Internets | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr