Episode024: MP3/Feed\Archive
Previous: Episode023 - The Measure
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♬Liner Notes♬: As I write this, I'm on a flight out of Charleston, West Virginia back to Portland, Oregon. I've spent the last 10 days in my hometown of Fayetteville with my amazing parents, relatives and the few good friends who still live there. I was able to go to Cheap Thrills Records in Beckley (which, like many things, didn't exist when I still lived there) and picked up some vinyl: Aerosmith 'Permanent Vacation', Against Me! 'Reinventing Axl Rose', Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse 'Dark Night Of The Soul' and even one from Portland, Oregon's own Starfucker - the title of which I can't recall off the top of my head.
I was also able to go through my basement collection of vinyl that's still stored at my parent's house - or more like rescued as they were starting to get moldy! Yikes! They're going to continue shipping the rest of my collection to me via media mail. I even scored some records from a little shop in Fayetteville called The Hobbit Hole: Bing Crosby and Betty Hutton 78's, a Spike Jones 45 EP and, get this, The Pet Shop Boys "Opportunities" 12-inch single!
Needless to say, between my new job as producer on Ground Zero With Clyde Lewis and this vacation, running the Media Monarchy kingdom has slowed down. But I hope to back on 'New World Next Week' with James Corbett this week, as well as having Episode025 of this show back on our regular schedule of Friday/Saturday.
ANYWAY, this week's Episode024 has another great blast of brand new music from Cat Power, Redd Kross and Azure Ray, some rare and retro music from The Valdons and return visits to PUTV from Poolside and The Sea And Cake... So welcome to wherever you are, thanks for listening and don't forget to Pump Up Tha Volume!
Passion Pit
"Constant Conversations"
'Gossamer'
Columbia, 2012
Note: Consequence Of Sound reviews 'Gossamer' like it's a suicide note from the future, but they do call our lead track this week an essential offering from the album: "Given that the R&B renaissance is in full swing, “Constant Conversations” couldn’t be more timely, and Angelakos’ four octave-spanning vocals offer a unique twist on the genre. He’s also just a solid storyteller and the track unfolds one hell of a setting: “Well you’re wrapped up in a blanket/ And you’re staring at the floor/ The conversation’s moderated/ By the noisy street below.” It’s so heartbreaking, but never devastating; in fact, it’s slightly cozy, and really, that’s the mark of an able songwriter... In a sense, the album’s title, Gossamer, is somewhat oxymoronic. There’s nothing extremely light, flimsy, or delicate about any of this"
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Books On Fate
"Memory"
'Memory' EP
Ephemerata, 2012
Note: As song source KEXP says: "Formerly Books on Tape, the new solo moniker of San Francisco-based songwriter Adam Dishart (ex-The Catholic Comb), Books on Fate specializes in ’80s-influenced tunes that echo the widescreen sentiment of the last M83 album in terms of scope and emotion. Dishart sporadically released songs across the past three years, all leading up to the release of Memory, his first EP that finds the musician arriving fully-formed... the title and opening track on Memory, sets an emotive and resonating tone for the rest of the EP. Led by fading synths and a twinkling keyboard line, Dishart’s wistful vocals and smooth delivery hammer the song’s reflective tone home. Erupting in a chorus that recalls traces of The Cure and The Psychedelic Furs, Dishart steps back and lets the song wash him (and the listener) over with a flood of synths before returning to the beguiling clam that opens the song."
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Cat Power
"Ruin"
'Sun'
Matador, 2012
Note: Personally, I've always found Cat Power to be over-rated - but maybe it's not meant for me, probably I should reconsider and definitely music can always change your mind. Again, from Consequence Of Sound: "Beat-friendly (thanks to Beastie Boys’ mixer, Philippe Zdar) and production-heavy (thanks to herself), Sun is Marshall’s most evolved work. With a little light and a new perspective, Chan Marshall reveals yet another beautiful way she maneuvers in the dark... Between the bookends, Marshall probes more world problems that resonate as much with her life as on a dance floor. “Ruin” is Marshall’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire”. She rattles off city names like “Chile, Meh-hee-co, Great Britain,” while the tick-a-tick loop builds into an anxiety-ridden dance jam railing against global passivity. Or as she puts it: “bitching.”"
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The Sea And Cake
"Harps"
'Runner'
Thrill Jockey, 2012
Note: As Stereogum reminds us: "Chicago indie rockers the Sea & Cake announced plans for a new album called Runner, the follow-up to last year’s The Moonlight Butterfly. They also offered the first taste of Runner, the floating, pleasant “Harps.” … Runner is out 9/18 on Thrill Jockey." This is the second week in a row that we get to hear new music from 'Runner' as on last week's Episode023 we heard "On And On". The Sea And Cake will be playing the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland on 11/4, which is the week before I go see Morrissey!
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Redd Kross
"Stay Away From Downtown"
'Researching the Blues'
Merge, 2012
Note: As our good friends at SPIN wrote back on August 6: "Tomorrow, Southern Californian punk and power-pop veterans Redd Kross will uncage Researching the Blues, their first full-length in 15 years and an album that boasts a rock'n'roll vision more "singular" than anything co-founder Steven McDonald says they've recorded to date. Below, check out the video for corkscrewing album highlight "Stay Away From Downtown," directed by David Markey and Steven's bandmate/brother Jeff". Judging by the musical blogosphere, that video is a super fun, rock 'n roll fantasy to behold.
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Bill Fay
"This World" (w/ Jeff Tweedy)
'Life Is People'
Dead Oceans, 2012
Note: Stereogum wrote on August 27: "Last week, the British singer-songwriter Bill Fay broke a 40-year silence and released his new album Life Is People. Califone frontman Tim Rutili directed the video for Fay’s Jeff Tweedy duet “This World,” and in the clip, we see the faces of different people — one of whom is Jesus Lizard frontman David Yow — with different scenes projected on them."
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Azure Ray
"Scattered Like Leaves"
'As Above, So Below'
Saddle Creek, 2012
Note: Again from Stereogum: "Azure Ray will release a new album this fall, a record that symbolizes a bit of a departure from their band’s early records and their 2010 return Drawing Down The Moon. “We looked for inspiration from James Blake, Nicolas Jaar, and Apparat in keeping the music minimal and modern but still working as a textural and emotional extension of the lyrics,” the band stated in a press release."
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Tilbury
"Tenderloin"
'Exorcise'
Record Records, 2012
Note: As song source KEXP writes: "Considering their Anglophile moniker, it’s no surprise that Iceland’s Tilbury have a strong British vibe to their dreamy indie pop… “Tenderloin,” the album’s opening track, features a retro-electronic sound, as if modulated synths were part of USO routine, though lyrically it’s more internally reflective and tinged with paranoia: “When I tried the alternative / You pulled me down / Someone’s going to murder me / Oh, no / Will you come and watch / Him take me down.” This sort of play between light and dark makes all the songs on their debut, Exorcise, an engaging listen. That, and the expert quality of the band."
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LOL Boys
"Changes" (w/ Heart Streets)
'Changes' EP
Friends of Friends, 2012
Note: As long-time future music magazine XLR8R notes: "LA/Montreal duo LOL Boys seems to take to heart the name of the label which released its solid new Changes EP on th[e] video for the title track, as it features loads of friends of friends of friends (not to mention familiar faces) getting down via webcam to its bubbly and soulful groove. Look on as the likes of Salva, Samo Sound Boy, Groundislava, Kitty Pryde, Andrew Ryce, assorted WEDIDIT Collective heads, Friends of Friends label head Leeor Brown, and many other young and attractive folk have what amounts to a five-minute Google Hangout throughout the colorful and light-hearted clip directed LOL Boys' own Jerome Potter."
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Poolside
"Take Me Home"
'Pacific Standard Time'
Day & Night, 2012
Note: Again from song source KEXP: "Southern California band Poolside is a delightful project from Filip Nikolic and Jeffrey Paradise. Both have been around the indie dance scene for some time now. Nikolic played bass for Junior Senior at one point and Jeff Paradise DJed alongside members of The Rapture back in college. But unlike the highly excitable tunes of their peers, Poolside opts for a more subtle approach, that yields a unique and enjoyable sound… “Take Me Home” definitely finds itself amongst Poolside’s most lovable tunes. Sporting a longing guitar lead and one of Nikolic’s famously awesome bass lines, the tune is one big build through most of Poolside’s loves and sounds. It starts mellow, but after the first chorus, the song incorporates a funky drum kit that eventually builds into a house beat. “I want you to take me back home”, Nikolic croons over and over again. The longing is felt throughout this song, and the build emulates the excitement of return very eloquently, albeit in a danceable style." We last heard from Poolside's acclaimed album on PUTV's Episode021 with the track "Why You Wanna".
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The Valdons
"All Day Long"
'Twin Cities Funk and Soul: Lost R&B Grooves from Minneapolis/Saint Paul 1964-1979'
Secret Stash Records, 2012
Note: It's not often we get to hear some classic sounds on PUTV, but thanks to Secret Stash Records we get the pleasure of tasting some true 'Nuggets' this week: "Twin Cities Funk and Soul: Lost R&B Grooves from Minneapolis/Saint Paul 1964-1979 is the first of its kind 21 track compilation uncovering and documenting this largely forgotten music. From sweet soul to full on dance floor funk, this record tells the story of the Twin Cities' R&B scene starting with the days of unofficially segregated clubs right up to the explosion of 'The Minneapolis Sound'."
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Rayland Baxter
"The Mtn Song"
'Feathers & Fishhooks'
ATO, 2011
Note: Our penultimate track this week isn't as old as The Valdons, howver it was posted almost exactly one year ago on LiveAndBreathing.com: "Tradition is a staple in Rayland’s music. In any given song, one can hear the nuances of his favorites from Dylan to Van Zandt, Johnson to Hopkins, or anyone else on the musical map that has tickled his fancy at one time or another. His reconstruction of song is mesmerizing in its own right; a true artist, and a humble man."
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Tokyoidaho
"Other Places, Other Days"
'Tokyoidaho'
Neon Sigh, 2012
Note: One last time from song source KEXP: "Formed by three former members of Seattle’s Voyager One, Tokyoidaho is a self described “surrealist pop” group… Led by a skittering martial beat and pulsing electronic bass lines, “Other Places, Other Days” is both a mellifluous slow burn and a rigid march of a track that keeps its tension at the highest point without ever giving into the indulgence of a soaring hook or a crashing breakdown. Marchese’s coolly depraved vocal and scraping guitar are reminiscent of Year Zero-period Trent Reznor in the verses before the band lifts off into a strong, buzzing chorus. The band then slinks back into their sinister groove one last time before the letting their instruments’ feedback create a droning outro. Although “Other Places, Other Days” shows that Tokyoidaho has plenty of room to grow, it’s even more remarkable how fully-formed they’ve arrived on their debut, which is something that only a handful of bands do every year."
(More Info)
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@PumpUpThaVolume Music News:
Q&A: Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla on the Obama campaign and his new solo project
@TheRealVaccines perform live on @latenightjimmy Fallon tonight! Tune in to NBC at 12:35am ET/11:35pm CT to watch... #TeenageIcon #ComeOfAge
@Japandroids @Sloanmusic Among Nominees For 2012 ECHO Songwriting Prize http://is.gd/cCHN5M via @misformusicnews
Stream @James_Iha's album Look to the Sky in its entirety at @TeamCoco. He plays @WorldCafeLive on 10.7
@CorbettReport hooked me up with the original Japanese version of @James_Iha's #LookToTheSky a couple of months ago because I couldn't wait!
“@GuitarWorld: Led Zeppelin begin cryptic countdown...to what? the #iPhone5 or @ledzeppelin album #V?
Russian Prime Minister Calls For Pussy Riot To Be Freed From Jail
The Company Behind the Tupac Hologram Is Now Bankrupt
(Thanks again to @TheUdog, @KEXP, @KCRW, @TheCurrent and you!)
