Tune In Saturdays: King Khan & the Shrines

James Brown + Detroit Rock & or Roll = Awesome.

Please enjoy King Khan & the Shrines.

How's that for a review?

From Pitchfork:

Thing is, the gritty production of this latest Shrines record might beat Black Lips in the  painstaking reproduction department, and underneath that analog hiss is a clever pastiche that hits those nostalgia buttons while sneaking in moments of cacophony and synthesis. "69 Faces of Love" adds strings and brass to cool "Love Potion No. 9"-style rock before a layered and bewildering bridge that's like a middle-school marching band taking on Steve Reich. Elsewhere, Khan plays a bizarro-world James Brown who demands only bum notes from his band on the breakdown of "Land of the Freak", and "In Your Grave", with its bubbling wah-wah over a simmering rhythm section, is another sly nod to the future (or at least the early 1970s).

Home.MySpace.King Khan & the BBQ Show

King Khan & the Shrines - Mr. Supernatural Part 1 (video)

King Khan & the Shrines - Welfare Bread (mp3) Be careful with this one. It's a jam.
King Khan & the Shrines - No Regrets (mp3)

Tune In Saturdays: Sometimes It Rains

I get those annoying band requests over on the myspace page pretty much constantly. I realize you can turn them off, but I refuse because through all the bullshit crap that I usually get, there's also the occasional gem like Dallas' own, Sometimes It Rains.

I couldn't really find much about these guys past the fact that they go to SMU, and their debut EP was mixed by Mark Pirro of Tripping Daisy and Polyphonic Spree fame. But they get a huge bonus for putting up their first release, Elijah Wood You Please Sign Us, for free download on their myspace page, as well as the obvious influence of some of by favorite bands, most notably Built to Spill.

From Flawed Logic:

"I’ve spent the past two hours listening and re-listening to this release, trying to come up with something negative to say. I don’t like being 100% positive because it implies that there’s nothing better that could have been done - that it was a perfect album. Unfortunately for the time being, it’s going to have to stay that way. For God’s sake, they have the entire thing available for download 100% free on their website. Absolutely recommended."

So, it's friggin' free. Go download it. You'll like it, I promise.

Sometimes It Rains - Motion Sickness (mp3)
Sometimes It Rains - You Got Me Thinking (mp3)

Tune In Saturdays: Liam Finn

Although I buy a ton of music, it's rare that I get this excited about something new. Dr. Dog was probably the last one. Liam Finn is the next. A native Australian and current New Zealander, Liam is far from new to the scene after growing up with a family in the business (poppa finn Neil was in Crowded House). The album is friggin' fantastic, full of sing-alongs and great melodies.

From Stereogum:

"We like to wait 'til we've got a full record to play with before whipping out the BTW brand, but one listen of the masterful pop composition "Second Chance" sealed 23-year-old Liam Finn's fate with no need for second chances, or guesses. On his debut LP, the Kiwi takes all the writing credits and most of the musical ones, too, a one-man band approach apparently he recreates during his heralded live gigs, jumping from bass and guitar loops to the drums and back to the mic. Didn't realize it at the time, but we saw him at Coachella, on stage with Crowded House. Nice gig, but there was a bit of nepotism to Liam's securing that slot (note the last name). Royal rock pedigree, but more than just the name Liam got his pop Neil's songcrafting genes."

Home.MySpace.
Liam Finn - Second Chance (mp3)
Liam Finn - Lead Balloon (mp3)
Liam Finn - Second Chance (video)

Tune In Saturdays: Bridges & Blinking Lights

Proving once again how magnificently underappreciated the Dallas music scene actually is, here's the latest from Bridges & Blinking Lights, the Texas country-ish, indie rockie four piece. I really wish I knew more about them. I know I fed the drummer lots of drinks back in my bartending days, but haven't heard much until I saw this new record. Think Fugazi meets Centromatic (in one of their better moods).

Yup, it's a short one. There's no reviews for me to use. But it's damn good stuff. You heard it here first.

MySpace (not on itunes yet, use snocap on myspace to buy)

Bridges & Blinking Lights - One of Us (mp3)
Bridges & Blinking Lights - Half Way Home (mp3)

Tune In Saturdays: Man Man

On another working weekend, but at least I've got the music of Man Man to keep me company. Their one line description on Wikipedia does about as good of a job describing the wild ass style of music that this band plays as anything else. "Man Man is a playfully exuberant United States Viking-vaudeville punk-wop rock-and-soul collective from Philadelphia."

Viking-vaudeville punk-wop rock-and-soul collective? Sure, why not.

From Dusted Magazine:

"None of this description really does justice to the three-ring cabaret circus clowning that is really at the core of everything Man Man does. Each moment of each song is completely unpredictable, to the point where even after multiple listens some of these transitions still seem to come out of nowhere. To call it art-rock excess, though, is to miss the point. Man Man isn’t merely a concept (unlike, say, Need New Body or other likeminded weirdos), and once one gets past the convolution and surrealism and the occasional sense of whiplash, a strange yet appealing vision of the world emerges: the ultimate playground for the caffeine-laden mind."

Be prepared before you listen. My previous "wild ass" statement was probably more understatement. It might knock you a bit of kilter.

Home.MySpace.

Man Man - I, Manface (mp3)
Man Man - Van Helsing Boombox (mp3)

Man Man - 10 lb. Mustache (video)

Tune In Saturdays: Tokyo Police Club

I guess I'll follow up my post from yesterday about a Denton show with a post about a band that sounds very Denton. Only they're from Toronto. With all their garage-iness and odd sounds, it's nice subtle reminder of my former home. They've got a new record on the way, and if the first single's any indication, it'll be cool as shit.

From Pitchfork:

"Even tighter are the twitchy micro-Strokes riffs adorning tracks like "Cheer It On" and "Nature of the Experiment". Frontman Dave Monks even apes Casablancas' vox-via-megaphone a bit, though with more nasal, less growl. The Strokes comparisons only hold for so long though as the EP's second half forks off into Pretty Girls/Q and Not U hyper post-punk and straight-laced emo. "Shoulders & Arms" demonstrates the band's ability to pull off the former, a bustling juggernaut of stratospheric guitars and squalling synths. Meanwhile, "Citizens of Tomorrow" headlines the emo-minded selections, swelling to a futuristic climax that's three parts Sunny Day Real Estate, one part Sparta."

Home.MySpace.

Tokyo Police Club - Nature of the Experiment (mp3)
Tokyo Police Club - Your English is Good (video)

The Rock Lottery

One of the coolest show themes I've seen is having a tenth anniversary this weekend in my old stomping grounds of little Denton, Texas. While now Seattle has a version of it's own, this is the true birthplace of the Rock Lottery.

An explanation:

"Twenty-five carefully selected musicians meet at 10:00 A.M. at the evening's performance venue. They are a cross-section of the music community with different social and cultural backgrounds, with divergent levels of musicianship and experience. The musicians are organized into five bands through a lottery-based chance selection. The bands depart to different practice spaces and are given 12 hours to create three to five songs (with a one cover-song limit). Each band is asked to create a unified sound while still maintaining the individual styles of the members. At 10:00 P.M., the bands return to the venue and perform their songs infront of a waiting audience."

So badass. All the musicians are hand picked, so it's always the best of breed in the city. But it's really incredible to see the raw dynamic of a band being formed and named, songs written and then performed, all within the span of a few hours. Sure, there's some rough starts and stops, and sloppy miscues, but that's expected with something so purposely unpolished. But more often than not, you get something more interesting and exhilarating than you could see on any other indie rock weekend.

Radiohead Likes Me

So, I thought I would be the coolest kid on the block (not to be confused with new kid on the block) and actually pay something for the new Radiohead album. Thought is the operative word. I must say that it's cool that they are allowing you to name your price, and even cooler that they actually kept this under wraps until 10 days before the release. That's one way of working with (not suing) the torrent generation.

But, then I got this verification message. Verified by Visa? Is this real? You want my credit card number (again), my name (again), and the last 4 digits of my social, too? Fuck you. You had me until social. Fraudulent or not, I've never seen that shit before. So, I'll take my new album for free, thanks. But good job on everything else. I was only going to pay you 5 bucks, anyway.

Tune In Saturdays: The Archivist

The Archivist is good.

You should listen to it a lot.

You can even download the whole EP here, for free. In your face capitalism!

I wish I had more to say here, but unfortunately, I can't seem to find shit for information about this guy. I just heard his fantastic song Jeremiah over at Gorilla vs. Bear, but his website and myspace lack any information past the fact that he makes Milwaukee home. But, free music is free music, and it's even better when it's this good.

Home.MySpace.

The Archivist - Jeremiah (mp3)

Tune In Saturdays: Port O'Brien

Simple, but not simplistic. You guys have heard that enough from me, but that's the sweet spot. Good, classic songwriting without the need to show off. And that's the spot where Port O'Brien resides, making these lovable folksy tunes, and really, the kind of stuff you might expect from a guy that spends so much time on the water. The music is written by a Van Pierszalowski, who still spends his summers in Alaska fishing salmon on his dad's boat, and that sort of solitude has certainly done him well. I'm guessing you'll hear more from them, as they seem to be getting all the right kind of attention, including opening for some indie stalwarts like Bright Eyes and Rogue Wave.

From Pitchfork:

"In the process, The Wind and the Swell builds and fades, suggesting a landlocked anomie that only the ocean can assuage: "And I just wanna be floating on the sea," Pierszalowski sings on "Anchor", "with my anchor tied to land." The product of days and days at sea, The Wind and the Swell retains the songs' original documentary impact, even as it shows that Pierszalowski's music is less about seafaring summers than simple remoteness, both geographical and emotional."

Home.MySpace.Blog.

Port O'Brien - I Woke Up Today (mp3)
Port O'Brien - My Eyes Won't Shut (mp3)
Port O'Brien - Five and Dime (mp3)
Port O'Brien - A Bird Flies By (video)