Mind The Journey EP

Mind The Journey is Spencer Sabo of Madison CT. He makes super weird synthy psychedelic pop music. On his eponymous EP he explores some pretty thick territory and the results are both confounding and joyous.

Lake Kwan Do - Recordings

The few who know me know that I tend toward music that has no real categorization, and sometimes even less information. On occasion we get submissions of this kind and I instantly take to them. One such submission is by Lake Kwan Do, in the form the their EP "Recordings".

Laser Week - Rose Beetle

Laser Week is a new mysterious band featuring members of the now-defunct (and totally amazing) Jake Ryder.

Fake Babies - Summer Bodies EP

Dirty Soul pioneers Fake Babies have done it again. A new EP to get you moist and limber all night long. This one is jam packed with sweaty hot beats and enough gorgeous melody to get any party started and continue perpetually.

KINGS - "WE ARE" Video

Kings are working on some new music, and to start teasing us about it here is an amazingly awesome video for "We Are". The video is by Sarah Lasley who intends on making a video for every song from a new song cycle that John Panos is working on, which will probably end up as an LP. This is a video you don't want to miss! Beneath the video are links to the soundcloud for the song "We Are" and its possible 7" bside "You Don't Have To (Txt Me)"

KINGS "We Are" from sarah lasley on Vimeo.

JEN URBAN & the BOX, MISSION ZERO, Hanging Hills @ TWO BOOTS on 2/15

Jen Urban and The Box are playing at Two Boots in Bridgeport this Friday with Mission 0 and Hanging Hills!

You Scream I Scream - Zookeeper

You Scream I Scream have just released their new LP Zookeeper and it's a WEIRD one for sure. If there is one thing I like, it's music that takes me by surprise...

Motion Atlas Command You To Dance (via recordings and live!)

 

Somers, CT brings us a new band filled with enough dance rhythms and party hooks to stun a team of oxen in its place! MOTION ATLAS

D. GOOKIN - SPIRAL STYLE

I am not sure when it began or why. In the late 80s and early 90s, which is my remembered youth, I recall coming to the assumption that as technology grew fidelity and quality would grow with it. Over time this assumption was challenged on many fronts with the "art vs. commercial" war of the past 30 years. Automation and machines gave us Kraftwerk but they also gave us Dee-Lite. "Laptop music" ranges from the most predictable disco to the most impromptu experimental drone noise. There is truly no way to accurately measure how technology has affected the many ways we experience and participate in life.
This becomes especially interesting when you see how people use their computers to make music that harnesses the power and fidelity we were "promised" with technologies growth, as well as the less polished, even intrusive sounds that we always seem to gravitate toward. Perhaps it's another constant struggle, this time between our need to achieve "perfection" and our ultimate desire to conquer/destroy it.
D. Gookin is a man who makes musical creations operating out of new haven. For years he has been busting out seriously energetic live shows. His bio says he is a drummer and vocalist, and that the remaining sounds of his band are "lovingly crafted backing tracks".
His newest set of recordings, Spiral Style, was released September 23rd via Moodgadget and EXPLODES into your ears with infectiously sugary electro pop.
Combining 8bit sounds with glossier synth samples, the listener is caught between decades of technology all while celebrating the pulsing thump of the natural pop music we all share instinctively. The drums are expertly played and programmed, and while auto-tune is definitely a cliche in terms of music fashion, the use of it in these enjoyably cliched pop songs feels fitting.
Opener "Way 2 Grow" makes no mistakes about its sound, coming right into being with an intense musical optimism that carries all the way to the closing number "Stealing Sunchips", with no breaks to relax.
I got a chance to ask D. Gookin's Mike Birnbaum a few questions about his music and tastes recently via email, here's what he had to say:

So, what's the big idea with you anyway?
No big deal. I'm just this screwy dude.

How has your perspective on music changed growing up in an increasingly technological world?
My perspective has continuously changed for the better as technology has progressed. As the internet and music making tools have together become easier to maneuver and more uniform, music for me has become de-mystified in a good way. It all makes it easier to have big ideas on a small scale and vice versa. Before having your own solo act vision seemed like a way too personal endeavor for lots of people to care about. But now this kind of "putting out your personalized vibes and doing you" mentality is fully embraced. Whats the most fun and immediate about making music and being creative in general has become what matters the most.

You seem to make infectious pop while simultaneously mocking it, who's side are you on?
My intention has never been to mock pop music. A giant realization for me though at some point was that music I didn't have a choice to listen to ruled my mind and emotions the same as, if not more so, than music I sought out on my own. I'd say also in the scheme of pop music my stuff is too weird to truly be pop. I think my music ends up being laced with poppy feels sounds and melodies because I want my music to come from a really raw and exciting place. And for me that place is usually some kind of overindulgent sugary wasteland.

What is your opinion of "atom and his package"?
Ya know, you asking me this promptly reminded me that it is my duty to finally check that out. My first listen impressions - I am not really a "clever one man act" enthusiast and him laying on the pseudo nerd core vibes is a turn off but some that "worms going into holes posi synth sound meets some big chords" going on in some of those tracks is awesome! Can't hate on that!
What is your dream gig?
Try this one out - Tobacco, Paramore, Millionaires, Super Cat, Andrew W.K., New Boyz, Unicorn Kid, Lady Gaga only performing 'eh eh' and.......Incubus. Secret show too. Ahahah you asked!

Which of your influences would surprise your fans/friends the most?
KELLEY CLARKSON! & as of recent Shwayze & Cisco :)

How do you harness inspiration for songs?
Occasionally I'll go after the "I'm gonna make a song in this style" mentality but mostly looping things that contain vibes I enjoy, trying to hear a melody in it, and staring at something like a recycling symbol or certain girls' facebook photos........YOOOO JUST KIDDING

Learn more about D. Gookin at his website: www.dgookin.com
Also check out his Facebook Page and Bandcamp

Way 2 Grow by DGOOKIN

PS I Love You, Holiday Shores, Ghostwaves, Darlingside

Sunday, December 5 2010, Manic Productions and Ampeater present

Location:
Daniel Street
21 Daniel Street
Milford, CT

8:00pm - 21+ - $8

Buy tickets now or pick them up at Redscroll Records

Be sure to check out the Ampeater Review of PS I Love You (AEM027)

Paperbag Bio

PS I Love You have been extremely busy over the past couple of years having already released two acclaimed 7″ singles. The first was a split 7″ with friend Diamond Rings in August of 2009. Earlier this year, the band released a 7″ for ‘Starfield’ before wowing audiences at their Canadian Music Week and NXNE showcases. Recently, the band has shared the stage with the hottest indie acts including label-mates Born Ruffians as well as Japandroids and Wavves.

PS I Love You was originally the solo project for multi-instrumentalist Paul Saulnier who has performed in everything from a country-rock band to an improvised noise duo. PS I Love You was intended to be his experimental, pop music outlet using guitar looping pedals, keyboards with some gadgets and gimmicks. The addition of Benjamin Nelson on drums suddenly transformed PS I Love You’s little songs into mini, soaring rock anthems.



Manic's blurbs

Holiday Shores: Songwriter Nathan Pemberton grew up on Holiday Shores Court, a two-block road located on the Florida panhandle. With breaking waves and sandy beaches nearby, he began playing piano at age seven and picked up the guitar several years later, leading to a number of memberships in teenage bands and college groups. The geography of his home turf continued to inspire his writing, though, and he launched Holiday Shores in his early twenties, rounding out the band’s lineup with Josh Martin, Ryan O'Malley, and Peejay Perez de Alejo. The group made its studio debut in 2009 with the release of Columbus’d the Whim, a collection of lo-fi, summery pop songs.



Ghostwaves: Hartford, CT (via Ibiza, Spain) dream pop/chillwave.

Darlingside is a Northampton, MA-based "string rock" quintet that is exploding onto stages across the Northeast. Together only a year, they have already played to packed houses from Portland to D.C., headlining such prestigious venues as Iron Horse, Brooklyn Bowl and the Paramount Theatre. Lush five-part harmonies, classical cello-violin duets and compelling break-beats characterize the band's sound. Darlingside keeps audiences on their toes with exuberant stage presence, spontaneous a cappella, frequent instrument switches, mind-boggling covers and a widely eclectic, cross-genre blend of original material.

Menomena with Suckers and Tu Fawning

Sunday, October 3, 2010 Asterisk Concerts presents

Location:
Daniel Street
21 Daniel Street
Milford, CT

8:00pm - 21+ - $14 Advance / $16 Day of show

Buy tickets now

Menomena are an experimental rock band from Portland, Oregon, made up of Brent Knopf on guitar, keyboards, and glockenspiel; Justin Harris on bass, guitar, baritone sax and alto sax; and Danny Seim on percussion. All members of the band share singing duties.

They self-released their debut album, I Am the Fun Blame Monster!, on May 20, 2003. The album was elaborately packaged in an 80-page flipbook that Seim designed and individually hand-assembled. It later received nationwide distribution through FILMguerrero in 2004. The title is an anagram for The First Menomena Album.

In 2005, Under an Hour was released as a three-track album of instrumental music written for and performed with Monster Squad, an experimental dance company based in Portland.

In August of 2006, Menomena signed with Barsuk Records although the band still maintains a relationship with their old label, FILMguerrero. It was stated that FILMguerrero would still be involved in their old catalog and future vinyl releases.

Menomena released their next album in 2007, titled Friend and Foe. It received relative critical acclaim — while some websites like Pitchfork Media praised the album for its effective modular pop, others like PopMatters criticized it for presenting a sense of feigned maturity. Their record release show was held in their home town of Portland, Oregon. The packaging was designed by Knopf and features artwork by graphic novelist/cartoonist Craig Thompson, consisting of die-cut shapes, decoder rings, and hidden messages. It was nominated for “Best Recording Package” at The Grammy Awards.



Suckers: The experimental side of indie pop has gotten a nice little creative boost lately, thanks, in part, to the artistic contributions of bands such as Baltimore’s Animal Collective and Portland’s Menomena. Tack another “Made in New York” outfit on this short list of artists challenging the sonic limits of modern day indie pop. Comprised of Quinn Walker, Austin Fisher, Brian Aiken, and mystery man Pan, Suckers offer indefinable and stunningly unpredictable fare that ranges anywhere on the sonic scope between sedate guitar songs and crunchy, erratic drones. It is a new musical landscape that Suckers have set out to find; one that lies beyond the fringes of more traditional pop, psychedelia, noise, and folk music. Packing their knapsacks with a wild assortment of ambient guitar work, ritualistic percussion, wolf pack vocals, and a variety of other knick knacks (organs, keys, horns, etc), Suckers set up camp in a manic, yet wildly imaginative place where pop music is contrived of equal parts melody and dissonance; a place where musical limits do not account for much. - DELI MAGAZINE, David Pitz 2007



Tu Fawning is a Portland, OR 4 piece band started by Corrina Repp and Joe Haege, augmented soon after its inception by members Liza Rietz and Toussaint Perrault. Haege (current member of Menomena and founder of 31knots) was a longtime fan of Repp’s hushed and understated emotional approach to songwriting, which has always had a strong following in Portland. This brought them to work together on Repp’s last solo album, which was the first “outside” release for Mark Kozelek’s (Red House Painters) artist-owned Caldo Verde records. To the surprise of both of them, they found themselves crawling out of their respective shells to create a new and exciting process that was nowhere near its end.



Menomena US Tour
09/27/10 Menomena in Cleveland, OH at Beachland Ballroom
09/28/10 Menomena in Toronto, ON at Mod Club
09/29/10 Menomena in Montreal , QC at La Sala Rossa
09/30/10 Menomena in Boston, MA 
 at Royale
10/01/10 Menomena in New York, NY at Webster Hall
10/02/10 Menomena in Providence, RI at Jerky’s
10/03/10 Menomena in Milford, CT at Daniel Street
10/05/10 Menomena in Philadelphia PA at First Unitarian Church
10/06/10 Menomena in Washington, DC 
 at 9:30 Club
10/07/10 Menomena in Carrboro, NC at Cats Cradle
10/08/10 Menomena in Atlanta, GA at Variety Playhouse
10/09/10 Menomena in Nashville, TN 
 at Mercy Lounge
10/11/10 Menomena in St. Louis at St. Louis at Luminary Center for the Arts
10/12/10 Menomena in Lawrence, KA at The Bottleneck
10/14/10 Menomena in Denver, CO 
 at Bluebird Theater
10/15/10 Menomena in Salt Lake City, UT at Urban Lounge
10/16/10 Menomena in Boise, ID at Neurolux
Tour: EU Tour
11/18/10 Menomena in Dortmund at FZW
11/19/10 Menomena in Amsterdam at Paradiso
11/20/10 Menomena in Berlin at Admiralspalast
11/21/10 Menomena in Heidelberg at Karlstorbahnhof
11/22/10 Menomena in Feierwerk at Munich
11/24/10 Menomena in Leipzig at Skala
11/25/10 Menomena in Cologne at Gebäude 9
11/26/10 Menomena in Utrecht at Le Guess Who Festival
11/28/10 Menomena in Brussels at Autumn Falls
11/30/10 Menomena in London at XOYO
12/01/10 Menomena in Manchester at Deaf Institute
12/02/10 Menomena in Glasgow at Arches
12/03/10 Menomena in Liverpool at Kazimir
12/04/10 Menomena in Leeds at Brudenell

America Addio - Cotton Kingdom

America Addio has done it again. In case you haven't heard this band is the work of one M. Kestigian, a synth genius recording pop in his bedroom. His second release is titled Cotton Kingdom, and it's mindblowing. Over the past two years he's been working on recording the album, and it's finally finished and available as the 9th release on Middletown label Enemies List.

It's danceable pop, with catchy guitar licks and fun vocal effects, but if you listen deeper, you'll hear intelligent vocals and very complex effects and production. With lines like "We're all raised by nature /Some of us by the woods and some of us by the wolves" in the track Simply Living and "I will have my Grushenka / The same girl that my father adored" in Astray in Hawkeyeland, you know Kestigian is well-read, and won't settle for typical pop tune lyrical fluff. When was the last time you heard someone spitting lines about Dostoyevsky? The entire album as a whole is a beautiful faded snapshot of the life in the midwest that seems to both praise and criticize all of it's flaws.

There's no way you should miss this. You can stream the album from last.fm but please consider buying one from Enemies List, as it's only $10, and all profits are being donated to Heifer International, an organization that fights poverty and hunger by providing useful and profitable animals to needy families.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Arms and Legs, Lion Cub

Wednesday, July 14 2010, Manic Productions presents:


Location:
Lilly's Pad (Toad's Place Upstairs)
300 York Street Street
New Haven CT

$8 - 7:00PM - All Ages (21+ to drink)

Directions

Buy tickets now or pick them up at Redscroll Records

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (CFTPA) is the beats-and-keys solo project of singer, songwriter and Chicago resident, Owen Ashworth. Drawing heavy influence from traditional Americana as well as 80’s synth pop and commercial hip hop, the music of CFTPA is a curious mix of austere character studies and playful electronic programming. His final North American tour will be in September/October of 2010, and then after a tour in Europe he will be retiring the project.

The first three Casiotone for the Painfully Alone albums were made using only battery operated keyboards and electronics recorded to 4-track cassette. With 1999's Answering Machine Music, 2001's Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars (now collected onto one CD), and 2003's Twinkle Echo, Ashworth defined a hybrid strain of raw, emotional, and very homemade synth pop that was instantly recognizable as his own. Claustrophobic two-minute character studies shuddered with reverbed beats, blown-out chords, and simple but infectous melodies, all layered beneath Ashworth's sometimes funny but always heartbreaking lyrics.

Believing he had taken his self-imposed set of limitations to their logical conclusion, Ashworth expanded his sound with 2006's Etiquette.
Etiquette removes the focus from a decidedly utilitarlian aesthetic to a broader production spectrum that finally gives Ashworth's personal, affecting song writing the space it deserves. In collaboration with producers and musicians like Jherek Biscoff (of The Dead Science and Degenerate Art Ensemble) and Jason Quever (The Papercuts and Pan American Recording Studio), the sound of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone has grown to include pianos, organs, strings, flutes, drums, and pedal steel guitars in addition to Ashworth's signature electronics and drum machines. Tomlab



Arms and Legs (full band):
Electro-Indie-folk with thick 3 to 4 part harmonies. Touches of 60's pop, all the way back to All Time Quarterback. Elliott Smith. Modern Sky

Lion Cub is the new project from the former members of beloved Kill Normal Records band La Guillotine and features friends from Aeroplane, 1929. With their giddy mixture of organic instrumentation reminiscent of their rural New England background and the sleek rhythms of electric drums and looped beats Lion Cub is a constantly shifting and progressing take on classic pop music.


CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE IN THE NORTHEAST

7/14 New Haven, CT @ Lily's Pad
7/15 Albany, NY @ Valentine's Upstairs
7/16 Boston, MA @ Temple Sound & Stage
7/18 Brooklyn, NY @ Monster Island Basement

CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE IN MILLENNIUM PARK

7/25 Chicago, IL @ Jay Pritzker Pavilion
201 E Randolph St
Noon, Free, all ages

America Addio trailer

America Addio's new album Cotton Kingdom will be out soon. It'll be out on the fantastic Enemies List label. For those of you unaware, America Addio is an electronica/synthpop project by the wonderful and mysterious M. Kestigian. Meg wrote up a little review of it last year, check it here: CLICK. The LP should be really good.

Show Review: Depreciation Guild, Wild Nothing, EULA @ Daniel Street

It’s eight o’clock sharp, on the slightly humid night of Wednesday, June 23rd. I am the fourth person in line at Daniel Street. So as not to be presumptive, I ask the bouncer if he has a guestlist, instead of just telling him that I should be on the guestlist. Shrewd move on my part – he is guestlistless. However my contact comes immediately to the door, and all is well.

Once inside, a lone woman onstage is tuning a left-handed guitar. The music playing over the sound system reads like one of my high school mix CDs: Pavement, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Gang of Four. I reminisce a bit and get settled into the seat that, barring a few chats with friends and closer looks at the bands onstage, I will be parked in for the rest of the night.

When the opening band’s members take to the stage, it turns out that the woman from earlier is the guitarist and lead singer of the New Haven three piece outfit EULA. The first sounds consist of errant drum hits, bass runs, and slow, deliberate guitar strums. This free rhythm of sounds seamlessly morphs into the band’s first song where distorted, picked bass guitar is prominent. Throughout the set the drummer and bassist are very busy with their respective instruments, creating a propulsive sound punctuated here and there by staccato rhythms that the guitarist joins in on. Conventional chords seem to be avoided by the guitarist, who often uses voicings that include open strings. The klieg lights blink idly in the background. Between songs the lead singer addresses the audience but avoids eye contact with the crowd. There are seven brave souls who have elected to stand up close to the stage, some with arms crossed, most nodding stiffly to the music. The band has a nervous energy, but is tight and competent.




After EULA's set, I comment to a friend that they have a good live sound. No frills. But unlike the other two bands, I have not listened to EULA on record. Maybe they, like the other bands with whom they’re billed, have a reverb-saturated sound on record or use other types of studio trickery to find a distinct sound, and from only listening to them on record perhaps I would have gotten a different sense of the band. It is this studio recording / live performance dichotomy that has me interested to hear the next two bands because both of their sounds depend heavily on effects. How would the bands choose to adapt their sound to a live performance?

The next band, Wild Nothing, is outfitted with shiny new Fender guitars, including a fire engine red Jaguar bass, a style of Fender guitar that along with the Jazzmaster, first gained popularity in alternative rock circles because they were a favorite of Elvis Costello, who incidentally started playing over the PA as soon as Wild Nothing’s set was finished. My previous thoughts on the transition from recording to performing are quickly proven to be naïve. Effects that are used in the studio are easily reproduced onstage - the lead singer simply asks for some reverb on the mic, and there’s that characteristic sound. The plaintive vocals and the shimmering harmonics of the arpeggiated suspended chords contribute to the band’s bittersweet, ethereal sound. About halfway through the set the band’s half scale Roland synth gets some attention from the second guitarist. After each song the guitarists take time to alternately retune or change tunings. There is about double the number of people standing up close to the stage during this set.

The Depreciation Guild sets up their gear while I’m outside, and when I hear obvious mic checks I make my way in to watch the last band of the night. Like EULA the band's tune ups become the first song, which uses guitar atmospherics and long note vocals, conjuring a sonic landscape firmly in step with My Bloody Valentine, Low, etc. The second song starts with an e-bow swell from the second guitarist, then the wall of guitars comes in. Then the chiptune elements pop up, which is more prominent in the band’s older material. 8-bit major scale keyboard parts always make me think of baroque classical music. I wonder to myself if the band’s name is truly inspired by those institutions (Guilds) popular during the period, or if it’s just coincidence. After each song the band takes time to adjust their tunings or to add capos to the necks of their guitars. However, they sustain a nice white noise during the breaks that gives continuity to the whole set. Towards the end a slower, quieter number starts off with what I’m pretty sure is the same major seventh chord from the Cocteau Twin’s classic “Heaven or Las Vegas”. Sweet.


If there is a theme to this evening’s show it is understatement. Instrumental prowess is on display by all the bands, but it takes second stage to songcraft and the cultivation of a mood. Synth pop is the way I heard Wild Nothing described before seeing them live, but the synth onstage was used sparingly. The chiptune elements of the Depreciation Guild’s sound were subdued as well. Is it a tasteful use of technology that if used too much would only diminish the mood the bands were going for? Are they elements of a band’s sound that make them unique and simply were not used enough? You decide.


Photos by Luke "The Duke" Dringoli