Analog Sunset - Yesterday

Analog Sunset are a band from Hartford that released their debut EP "Yesterday" in April. It's an incredibly poppy guitar driven EP that showed up just in time for Summer.

Ladyhips - Live at Farmtone EP

Ladyhips return with their new EP Live at Farmtone. These guys have taken their immense skill and decided to explore some of the fringes of genre and songwriting, and they pull it off with ease!

Track Premier: Ladyhips - The Crows

I hear the Ladyhips are working on new recorded material! While we all salivate for it, they have decided to give us a new/old track, an unreleased song from their 2012 "Best Friends" sessions, called The Crows. This is a much more serious and dramatic song than we are used to from Ladyhips and further shows off their versatility and experimentalism.

Direct from the band:

"This track was recorded back in 2012, during the "Best Friends" sessions. Our good pal ended up moving to Tennessee soon after "Best Friends" was finished. As a result, this song sat on the back-burner for quite some time before we sent it off to be mastered.. This song was written while Sean was happing sleeeeeeeeep issues..
We hope you enjoy this tune! It's definitely a step away from a lot of our other material and a great look into how experimental the band was during their first experience in the studio."

If you are up in Putnam you should go see Ladyhips at The Stomping Ground March 15. Here is the link to the Facebook Event Page!

ENJOY

The Sweet Ones - WINNERS! Video

Pushed boundaries + WTF + comedy + thinking outside the box = The Sweet Ones' (super weird) video for "WINNERS!"

Buck McGrane - Fire On Main Street (Single)

Buck McGrane is back with a new single from his forthcoming album "A Prima Vista", which should be ready in the spring.

Holy Grail lay down some pyrotechnic heavy metal at the Arch on July 6

In some ways, it must suck to be a modern metal band these days and have to deal with people on the internet or in person always questioning your "tru-ness". You know, the type of people who try to act as scene police and will always question your band's sincerity, if you haven't heard of the same obscure bands that they have heard of.

THE SWEET ONES and Brotherhood of Thieves @ Arch Street Tavern on 4/27

Now if all the other events we have been posting for the past couple days don't interest you, here's a show going on a Hartford's Arch Street Tavern on 4/27! Brooklyn's The Sweet Ones with Brotherhood of Thieves and Bret The One Man Band.

You Scream I Scream, Dr. Westchesterson, Ladyhips at Arch Street Tavern on 3/9

Very eclectic show coming up on Saturday at Arch Street Tavern in Hartford, You Scream I Scream is playing with Dr. Westchesterson and Ladyhips!

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.

Heather Maloney, Them Damn Hamiltons + Rum Glass Serenade @ Black Eyed Sally's on 2/7

Folk music, coming through! Heather Maloney is playing Black Eyed Sally's in Hartford on Thursday, and local favorites Them Damn Hamiltons and Rum Glass Serenade will also be on the bill!

Mandrake Mechanism - Monetary Artforms

All hip hop producers could learn something from this release.  One look at the cover and you’re not sure what to expect.  One listen through the album and you’re not quite sure what you just heard.  Mandrake Mechanism bring a stellar hip hop album to the table, drawing influences from across the musical spectrum.

 

Empty Vessels - Restraining Order EP

Empty Vessels do that confusing category thing, where you can't tell if they're hardcore punk or something of a metal outfit. And their guitarist is female, which messes up the possibility of baritone gang choruses and awesome macho promo shots with crossed, muscly forearms. They sound heavy and dangerous - aggressive even. But also like they're having fun, and not taking themselves too seriously. They sing about cool metal shit like alien spacecraft, betrayal, owls, and Michael Cera? The whole thing just pisses me off.

Lady Hips - Best Friends

Lady Hips are a genre defying group from Hartford. They blend folk, jazz, pop and rock into an eclectic hybrid ripe with lush melodies. On their debut LP "Best Friends" they explore several different musical environments.

IndieFest @ The Charter Oak Cultural Center 7/14

INDIEFEST IS HERE! The fine folks at The Charter Oak Cultural Center have graced us with an all day free event of AWESOME! An acoustic set of bands and then an electric one!

Grimm Generation Exposed: All You Need To Know About This Enigmatic Band (Or Didn't Want To)

photo: Joe Yunckes

When they're not winning over a tough crowd of metal heads or rocking the house at flower festivals, the Grimm Generation, which features Jason P. Krug (acoustic guitar), Carmen Champagne (vocals) and now talented avant-folkster Lys Guillorn (lap steel, banjo, mandola, and glockenspiel) along with guitarist (and Fleshtones enthusiast) Dave Hogan, who joins them for live excursions, like to answer questions about themselves. In celebration of their gig coming up at the Liquid Lounge at the Connecticut Science Center on June 8, as part of the organization's "Bedrock Birthday", where they will playing four sets, two full GG sets, as well as a Guillorn solo set, and a classic GG set with Hogan, we decided to send principals Krug and Champagne a bunch of questions. Here are their answers. One thing, the questions were answered as a duo, unless otherwise noted, or if the question was addressed to a certain person in the band. Duh! Anyway, enjoy.

The Gentle Stunts - Life-Size Deadbeats, A MUST LISTEN

Berlin's The Gentle Stunts are a band who I can completely identify with. Their new LP "Life-Size Deadbeats" doesn't beat around the bush. It gets right down to business with lean, beautifully recorded pop gems and rapid fires them straight into your brain.

CONTEST! The Besnard Lakes Ticket Giveaway

Saturday Oct 8th, Manic Productions presents:

Wadsworth Atheneum (Aetna Theater)

600 Main Street

Hartford, CT

7:00pm - All Ages - $12

Want win a pair of tickets to see the Besnard Lakes at Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford Oct 8th? Well, send an email to CTINDIECONTEST@GMAIL.COM answering the following: What's your favorite Besnard Lakes song and why? Winner will be picked at random.

(Winner will be notified Friday Oct 7th. So, check your email!)

Bios from Manic's site:

The Besnard Lakes

The Besnard Lakes are a band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formed by the husband and wife team of Jace Lasek (Vocals/Guitar/Keyboards) and Olga Goreas (Vocals/Bass), and completed by Kevin Laing (Drums) and Richard White (Guitar). According to Songfacts, their name comes from Besnard Lake in North-Central Saskatchewan.

The band gained critical attention with their second album, The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse, that was nominated for a Polaris Prize in 2007. It was recorded at Lasek’s own Breakglass Studios, with members of fellow Canadian bands Stars, The Dears, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor/A silver Mt. Zion making guest appearances. Their debut album, Volume I, was self-released in a limited 1,000-copy edition in 2003 and later rereleased in October 2007.

In March 2010, the band released their third album The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night to widespread acclaim and has also received a nomination for the 2010 Polaris Prize.

Jagjaguwar Records

Also playing:

Malajube

Malajube are an indie rock band from Montréal, Québec. They sing in French and have three albums out on Dare to Care Records.

The group made itself known in 2004 with the release of its first album, “Le Compte Complet.” Critics welcomed the disc with positive reviews, which allowed the group to become instantly famous in the Québécois music scene. Several of its songs, such as “Le Métronome” and “La Valérie,” were prominent mainstays on several Québec radio stations. For the production of the album, the group turned to Martin Pelland from fellow Montreal band The Dears.

Smoke Signals

Coley O'Toole and Joe Ballaro started their first band in the 7th grade in Shelton, Connecticut. They honed their skills as musicians, vocalists and songwriters by playing together daily.

Coley met Zac Clark over a decade later, when Zac moved into a river house on the banks of the Housatonic with Joe. The three toured as The Queen Killing Kings.

In early 2011, the three journeyed to Silverlake, California where Simon Katz (Youngblood Hawke) and Christian Letts (Edward Sharpe) awaited their arrival at the Effie House- a home equipped with, among other items, several recording consoles, a Steinway baby grand, two dozen guitars, a Hammond organ, and a ghost.

The band brought more than 30 songs, out of which one was chosen each day to arrange, record and mix. The 9 songs that comprise the band's debut self titled LP, "Smoke Signals," were recorded live, in the living room, in the span of 9 days.

These songs are a return to the blue-collar landscape of the band's hometown. They are honest, warm and timeless.

Friday night in Hartford

So... there's two great events happening in Hartford this Friday night, so strap on that jammy pack and get ready for a night of some great Hartford locals.

First up, at La Paloma Sabanera coffee house, you'll be able to catch two of the best up and coming Hartford bands, Heirlooms and String Theorie. Heirlooms are one of my favorite bands in CT right now, and they recently released a beautiful EP that's undeniably brilliant. If you haven't heard it yet, you should head over to their site right now. String Theorie describe themselves as a indie world folk - to me, they sound like their tunes are somewhere between classical and jam band. It's exciting and weird while still fun to listen to. Although La Paloma Sabanera is no stranger to having live music, this is the first time I've heard of the venue, it sounds pretty sweet. Also, it's a BYOB joint, so feel free to bring your booze of choice. The bands start at 7:30, and should give you plenty of time to hit your next destination: Sully's!

After that show, you can saunter on over to Sully's and catch Sunspots and Little Ugly at 10. Sunspots are a shimmery alt-country band that really remind me of Silver Jews (who mention CT in their song Strange Victory Strange Defeat.... coincidence?) with all of the choral buildups but none of the lazy meandering baritone vocals. Also, composer Matt Sargent plays guitar and sings for them, so you can't beat that. Little Ugly is also playing - they play some moody heartfelt acoustic americana. They've been around for a long time and have established a huge presence in CT over the past few years, and play a zillion shows a year. Check out their video:






Sully's website appears to be down, but if you're lost, they're at 2071 Park Street - can't miss it.

Heirlooms at Billings Forge

Tomorrow, something fantastic is going to happen in Hartford. Billings Forge, a non-profit organization and performance space in Frog Hollow is now going to be opening up its stage to some of Hartford's most talented musicians and performers.

Thursday, September 2nd will mark the first "Billings Forge Indie Music Night" which will feature local indie-folk band Heirlooms. Indie Music Night will be showcasing live musical performances in an intimate setting on the first Thursday of each month. Indie music night is a free event and will run from 8:30pm to 11:00pm.

Here's the lineup:

8:30-8:50 - Jesse Newman
9:00-9:25 - Kyla P.
9:30- 9:50 - "J"on Squared
9:55- 10:15 - Josh A.
10:20-10:45 - Heirlooms

For those of you who aren't aware, Heirlooms are Hartford's newest band. I was handed their new EP the other day (download and purchase it here) and was blown away. They're headed by Jesse Stanford, who many of our dedicated readers should recognize as a local folk music crooner with similar vocal timbre to Ray Lamontagne. If you're interested, he did a live set at my house show last year, you can read more and download the whole thing for free here. Anyway, Heirlooms is sort of a departure from the singer-songwriter vibe, and adding a full band has allowed him to split the songs wide open and give them the breathing room they deserve. There's so many beautifully orchestrated interludes, background electronics, and all the reverb-laden sparseness that I absolutely love. Take notice, this band is going to go places.

I haven't heard many of the other players, with the exception of Josh A. He's a member of Hi-Planes Drifter, and this is his solo work. The tunes are sparse, dense, and dreamy - which is a pretty big departure from his work with HPD. He has a great couple of songs out which are a teaser from his upcoming EP "The Foe", which you can preview thanks to bandcamp below:

Wilco comes to Hartford

This isn't something you hear every day: Wilco is coming to Hartford!

Regardless of how you feel about their past couple of albums, they're legendary and put on a great show. You can't really miss the chance to see Nels Cline, either. Seriously, has Wilco ever played a show in CT?*

They're on tour for the next few months - surprisingly bypassing NYC and playing Hartford, Providence and Boston instead. They'll be playing at the Bushnell's Mortensen Hall on April 9th. Hop on over to their site for the complete tour schedule.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, so get em fast - I wouldn't be surprised if this sells out now that Wilco's popular with the soccer mom crowd...

Another point of news on the Tweedy front: Wilco recently joined Beck Hansen, Leslie Feist and many others to cover Skip Spence's fragmented masterpiece Oar as part of Beck's minblowingly fun Record Club.

Here's a vid of them covering "Little Hands," which coincidentally is one of my favorite songs of all time:

Wilco
The Bushnell - Mortensen Hall
Hartford, CT
Friday, Apr 9th, 2010

*yeah, a bunch - but Hartford usually gets screwed