Wayfaring Strangers: Lonesome Heroes
Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli
Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies From The Canyon
-kevin-
Broadcast and The Focus Group – #1 : Witch Cults
What an incredible song and video. Kind of reminds me of a psychedelic ye ye single.
Real Estate set to release full length LP on Nov. 17th
First off, what an amazing album cover for what has become one of my most anticipated releases this year. Second, can I acknowledge for a second how frustrating it is searching for information on the bands name between Sunny Day Real Estate getting back together and the general other use of the words Real Estate? Anyways, it’s worth the trouble because these dudes have consistently been crafting some of the best music all year through a series of singles, 7″‘s and a great EP. It’s about time that a full length LP came from them and I really think that it will be a great listen. They’re gearing up for tour in preparation for the Real Estate S/T full length release and will share about half their shows with the other deservedly hyped Girls. Just wish that Real Estate would make it out to California already!
Listen to the lead off single:
Real Estate – Beach Comber
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Album Tracklist and Complete Tour Dates after the jump…
San Francisco Garage
Ganglians photo by Devin Woolf
I’ve been severely neglecting writing about San Francisco’s increasingly great garage and rock scene. Whether it be catching a Sic Alps show at the Sutros Baths, seeing Girls play some run down night club, seeing a Bridez show in someones backyard, or seeing the Ganglians play one of their extremely rare Bay Area appearances it’s becoming more apparent each week here that there’s some very real momentum and talent to the unfairly under the radar musicians here. First off, to call any of the artists garage is to oversimplify, to my ears they’re the same music obsessive multi-genre interested music fans that are creating the music and thusly their music doesn’t boil down to 60′s garage derivatives but incorporates just about any genres influence they fancy into some great new fashioned rock n’ roll.
I can’t shake the feeling that it feels like the music scene here is about to boil over soon beginning with Girls new album Album, combined with the fantastic 7″ by Ganglians and a slew of other amazing San Francisco artists releases and singles that I will run through some of right now. To be honest it’s refreshingly difficult to classify in any way many of these artists into one specific genre and that is truly what is making their music so interesting and making them more intriguing than the well worn derivative paths so many have taken in garage and rock influenced music.
First, go check out the Ganglians tracks “Make it up” and “Blood on the Sand” from their most recent 7.” For now that’s the best glimpse you can get into their ever increasingly great mostly new songs live set. Also, if you ever can get the chance to see them live DO IT, I was unsure of how their sounds would translate live and I walked away stunned at how amazing they were live, easily one of the best shows I’ve caught in San Francisco. Apparently Monster Headroom was recorded over a year ago and their new unreleased stuff is insanely good live.
The Mantles -- Don’t Lie
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Byrds meets the Chills with a little bit of Echo and the Bunnymen thrown in. What better a way to have your garage served?
Grass Widow -- Lulu’s Lips
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Easily the best newish girl group I’ve seen live here in a long time. Their mult-part harmonies are beautifully done and every show they play here seems to get that much better.
Sic Alps - L’s Mansion
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This is Sic Alps newest single and it’s great. It can be be found on their new 7″ titled L’s. I like the direction they’re headed on this acoustic stripped down song.
Fresh & Onlys -- Invisible Forces
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I love this single of theirs, it sounds like some lost The Church b-side, only a bit grittier. I’m not that big on their live set, or even the rest of this album…but what a great single.
Ganglians
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Watch them play at a recent performance in Portland. Their guitar player just kills it.
This next video showcases their ability effortlessly shift from harder garage/surf songs to warped sunshiney California 60′s tinged pop.
Bridez are in my opinion really underrated and more deserving of some attention. This new video really captures their catchy rock n’ roll bravado pretty perfectly.
Ty Segall - Universal Momma
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Sweet tunes, cool dude.
Devin
Kings of of Convenience debut new songs
I’ve been dying to hear new Kings of Convenience ever since their remarkable second album form 2004, Riot on an Empty Street. I was thrilled to hear that they were beginning to play shows again, and now that I see that they’re going to be releasing another album soon my world is beginning to look even brighter.
=tyler=
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions: Through the Devil Softly
I am completely blown away by the newest Hope Sandoval album, Through the Devil Softly, out September 29th. Hope’s voice is amazingly expressive, as are the songs and the arrangements. There is a beautiful depth of intimacy here, of insight, that is reached by the combination of poetry and performance.
[download] Wild Roses
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Tour Dates
September 18, 2009 … Santa Cruz, CA … Brookdale Lodge
September 19, 2009 … Sacramento, CA … Jean Runyon Little Theatre
September 21, 2009 … Portland, OR … The Doug Fir
September 22, 2009 … Vancouver, BC, Canada … The Red Room
September 23, 2009 … Seattle, WA … The Crocodile
September 25, 2009 … Arcata, CA … The Arcata Theatre Lounge
September 26, 2009 … San Francisco, CA … The Fillmore
September 28, 2009 … Santa Barbara, CA … Soho
September 29, 2009 … Hollywood, CA … Hollywood Forever Cemetery
October 1, 2009 … Denver, CO … The Bluebird Theatre
October 3, 2009 … Minneapolis, MN … Music Box Theatre
October 4, 2009 … Milwaukee, WI … The Pabst Theater
October 5, 2009 … Chicago, IL … Lakeshore Theater
October 7, 2009 … Toronto, ON, Canada … The Mod
October 8, 2009 … Montreal, PQ, Canada … Le National
October 10, 2009 … Brooklyn, NY … Music Hall of Williamsburg
October 12, 2009 … New York, NY … Bowery Ballroom
October 13, 2009 … Philadelphia, PA … First Unitarian Church
October 14, 2009 … Washington, DC … Sixth & I
October 16, 2009 … Atlanta, GA … The Loft
October 18, 2009 … Austin, TX … Texas Union Theater
October 19, 2009 … Dallas, TX … Sons of Hermann Hall
October 22, 2009 … Los Angeles, CA … The Mayan
October 29, 2009 … Galway, Ireland … Roisin Dubh
October 30, 2009 … Cork, Ireland … Cyprus Avenue
October 31, 2009 … Dublin, Ireland … Vicar St
November 2, 2009 … Hamburg, Germany, OR … Kampnagel
November 3, 2009 … Cologne, Germany … Gloria
November 4, 2009 … Paris, France … Café de la Danse
November 6, 2009 … Berlin, Germany … Astra Kulturhaus
November 7, 2009 … Brussels, Belgium … Botanique
November 8, 2009 … London, England … Southbank Centre
-kevin-
September 18, 2009 … Santa Cruz, CA … Brookdale Lodge
September 19, 2009 … Sacramento, CA … Jean Runyon Little Theatre
September 21, 2009 … Portland, OR … The Doug Fir
September 22, 2009 … Vancouver, BC, Canada … The Red Room
September 23, 2009 … Seattle, WA … The Crocodile
September 25, 2009 … Arcata, CA … The Arcata Theatre Lounge
September 26, 2009 … San Francisco, CA … The Fillmore
September 28, 2009 … Santa Barbara, CA … Soho
September 29, 2009 … Hollywood, CA … Hollywood Forever Cemetery
October 1, 2009 … Denver, CO … The Bluebird Theatre
October 3, 2009 … Minneapolis, MN … Music Box Theatre
October 4, 2009 … Milwaukee, WI … The Pabst Theater
October 5, 2009 … Chicago, IL … Lakeshore Theater
October 7, 2009 … Toronto, ON, Canada … The Mod
October 8, 2009 … Montreal, PQ, Canada … Le National
October 10, 2009 … Brooklyn, NY … Music Hall of Williamsburg
October 12, 2009 … New York, NY … Bowery Ballroom
October 13, 2009 … Philadelphia, PA … First Unitarian Church
October 14, 2009 … Washington, DC … Sixth & I
October 16, 2009 … Atlanta, GA … The Loft
October 18, 2009 … Austin, TX … Texas Union Theater
October 19, 2009 … Dallas, TX … Sons of Hermann Hall
October 22, 2009 … Los Angeles, CA … The Mayan
October 29, 2009 … Galway, Ireland … Roisin Dubh
October 30, 2009 … Cork, Ireland … Cyprus Avenue
October 31, 2009 … Dublin, Ireland … Vicar St
November 2, 2009 … Hamburg, Germany, OR … Kampnagel
November 3, 2009 … Cologne, Germany … Gloria
November 4, 2009 … Paris, France … Café de la Danse
November 6, 2009 … Berlin, Germany … Astra Kulturhaus
November 7, 2009 … Brussels, Belgium … Botanique
November 8, 2009 … London, England … Southbank
Naturalismo Visits Nick Drake
I know the updates of my European adventures have been few and far between, but finding internet access is a lot harder when you’re living out of a backpack and sleeping in a room with ten people. I stayed for a week and a half in London and, aside from the overwhelming influence of American culture, the place is beautiful and filled with nothing but friendly people. I only encountered generosity in its truest form there, and I thank all those who made my time so fun. The biggest highlight of my time in the UK, though, was not in London at all. It was at Tanworth-in-Arden, in fact, that I had my most refreshing — if a tad morbid — experience thus far. This small village is the birth and death-place of possibly my favorite artist of all time, Nick Drake. It was only right to pay my respects to the man whose songs have dominated my musical landscape for so many years.
If you’d like to visit Tanworth-in-Arden, take a train from London’s Euston Station to Birmingham, about 2 hours north. At Birmingham, cross the street to the Moor St. train terminal and catch another train towards Stratford-upon-Avon and stop at Danzey. This was another 20 to 30 minutes. Make sure you let the train driver know that you want to stop at Danzey because, as I quickly found out, the stop was in the middle of a cow pasture and no one ever gets off there. Take a right out of the Danzey train platform and walk a mile down a single-lane road where you’ll see the church steeple of Tanworth. The grave is behind the church. If you need a place to stay, I’d recommend the Bell Inn which is actually the only food/pub/lodging/sign of life in the entire village.
=tyler=
Naomi Punk
This little bit of youthful Rwandan magic is making the rounds this week and rightfully so. I’ve listened to it enough times this week that I’d feel guilty if I didn’t post it. Naomi Punk’s mother teaches in a Rwandan school and she recorded her students singing this hymn that is quite entrancing.
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Naomi Punk’s – Rwandan School Children Song
Devin
//Weed Diamond
Pings of autumn increasingly falling upon afternoons, it is with the arrival of the seasons changing light that Weed Diamond’s music begins to make more sense. Fitting in somewhere between Real Estate and Woods, Weed Diamond’s music is lo-fi but warm and melodic.
Weed Diamond – Nothing to write home about
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Weed Diamond - Mr. Vacant State
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Girls
I’ve been completely blown away by the diverse and frankly fantastic debut album by Girls over the past few weeks. It seems to get better with every listen and you can now stream it in full here. There’s something to be said about a band that can tackle several genres head-on and master all of them elegantly and with enough originality that they stand out on their own. Ranging from the Beach Boys to Brett Smiley and back again to just about anything melodically intriguing in music in the past few decades you can tell Girls Christopher Owens is an exceedingly talented songwriter. I’ve mentioned it before but I think this year is going to be deservedly huge for them.
Girls Album comes out on Sept. 22nd
Watch some new clips from an acoustic Fader set: