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Bands

07.27.10

Cap’n Jazz at Maxwell’s NJ – Full set from NYCTAPER Bands (0)

I’m back from Comic-Con in 98% one piece. Joints a bit achey, shoulders a bit sore, brain very muddled. Kicking around the internet I completely ignored for the last week, I’m both very happy and a little sad to find this bootleg from the recent Cap’n Jazz reunion show. The joyful part of me is happy to hear these guys playing again. I’ve kept up with some of the myriad of projects that Tim Kinsella has been involved with over the years, but Cap’n Jazz has a special place in my heart. The sad part of me recognizes that I’m old enough to see some of the bands from my uber depressive “glory days” have run out of cash and are pulling together reunion tours. I blogged about the Swans reunion tour and I’m more excited than I care to admit about the upcoming Godspeed You Black Emperor! tour. One can only guess that in the 10 year window since these bands were actively touring, the cash reserves have run out and it’s easier to sell merch & tickets by gettin’ the band back together. As with the somewhat palatable Silver Mount Zion, which have been touring and releasing over the last few years, I’m far more excited about a GSYBE tour than any new release that the fans won’t instantly love. Often nostalgia is an easier dollar to find instead of fighting the rough seas of new material.

Now, Joan of Arc has put out some solid albums in the time since Cap’n Jazz released their sole album and following compilation. Though generally I love Kinsella’s sometimes polarizing style, I’m extra excited about the prospect of him taking the older band out around the country.

nyctaper was at their most recent show available for download:

Cap’n Jazz – Full set live at Maxwell’s in New Jersey

Here’s a sample track (rehosted on the Taking Tiger Mountain servers out of respect to nyctaper’s always good work and generosity):

CAP’N JAZZ – OH MESSY LIFE (LIVE AT MAXWELL’S)

In honor of the tour, is finally seeing vinyl release and is available through Insound.com. Quoth the product description:

The double LP, recut from the original high resolution masters and pressed at RTI on 120 gram vinyl, is packaged in a deluxe gatefold jacket with bonus materials including a full size, eight page booklet with unseen photos, fliers, and extensive liner notes by Tim Kinsella. The accompanying high quality digital download of the entire album also includes ten additional songs from the original CD release.

If you’re still craving an interesting Kinsella collectible, in about a month Joyful Noise will be releasing a very limited cassette boxed set of the entire Joan of Arc catalog.

The set will feature a custom built, screen printed box that is hand numbered and limited to 100. The albums, which have never been released on cassette before, will feature the original album art. When the boxed set was released for pre-order, it sold out in two days…so you’ll have to hunt a clever record store to find a copy.

All 10 cassettes, minus the sexy custom packaging are still available from the Joyful Noise website.
07.02.10

SLEEP ∞ OVER – ‘Your World Is Night’ Bands, Video (0)

Mood maximalists SLEEP ∞ OVER are a refreshing find. The trio churns out that kind of reverb enhanced music that I adore so much. Originally released on the now sold out cassette compilation Dark As Night from Bathetic Records, the track ‘Your World Is Night’ traffics in a beautiful kind of mood that rests somewhere in between bliss and paranoia. Sparse percussion, undulating tones and echoed vocals make for an excellent track.

SLEEP ∞ OVER – YOUR WORLD IS NIGHT

Take a look at the equally moody video by Josh Morgan, who’s also done clips for Neon Indian’s ‘Mind Drips’ and Cold Cave’s ‘Cebe and Me’.

Though the Bathetic comp is sold out, you can grab their self titled cassette for $7.00 from Night People.
06.28.10

Marvin’s cover of Brian Eno’s ‘Here Come The Warm Jets’ Bands (0)

I was set up this morning to write a little bit about LCD Soundsystem…not really something undiscovered or needing of press, but it’s a beautifully composed album. James Murphy seems to pull from a lot of things I love: Brian Eno, Talking Heads, Joy Division…so the album hits me in the right places. The track “All I Want” always stuck in my ear, because the guitar riff felt warmly familiar. The song opens with a warmly dissonant, wandering guitar lead that I ultimately figured out is the love child of riffs from Brian Eno’s ‘Here Come The Warm Jets’ and David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ (also produced by Eno).

From a 1977 Bing Crosby christmas special

A pretty amazing song, from an equally amazing album

Listen to those, then give a try to LCD Soundsystem’s ‘All I Want’. It’s not some note for note thieft, but you can see where the Eno influence has bled into Murphy’s music…something I wholeheartedly approve.

While I was researching, poking around at different versions of the above songs to post up here I came across this French experimental metal trio Marvin. The chose to close out their bizzarely sprawling album Hangover The Edge album with a spaced out, Isis-derived take on the Eno’s album closer. I think as much as I’m really just happy that anyone is still interested in Eno’s solo pop work, I’m a fan of the riff heavy route that Marvin has gone. It’s a good way to discover a band.

MARVIN – HERE COME THE WARM JETS (BRIAN ENO COVER)

From what I’ve heard of the album, it’s a mixture of many different metal influences. Some songs groove like old Trans Am, hit riffs with that same Isis-ian sense of space, others are like the faster moments on any given Boris record. The band is just synth, guitar and drums, which makes for some interesting moments throughout. Given their taste in covers, I’ll definitely endorse.

Hangover The Top was released on April 6th, 2010 (my birthday, bonus points for that) and is available on iTunes, Amazon, or direct from their label African Tape.
06.23.10

Portland’s Breakfast Mountain is kinda blowing my mind Bands (0)

I’m realizing now I probably should have counted my pennies last year and hit up that DAT Politics show when I lived in Portland. I’ve been meaning to see what the fuck they do live with their live set, but it’s hard to convince folks that the spastic electro they make is awesome. Had I gone, I would have gotten a sense of the equally awesome weirdness that is Breakfast Mountain, as they opened up the show. Instead, a year later I had to find out via the PDX Pop Now comp that is released in honor of the long weekend of music. Among them, Breakfast Mountain is my favorite and they’ll be of the 40+ bands playing the festival, which showcases the fertile & eccentric scene that Portland is home to.

Go download Hooooded Plus+, which is Breakfast Mountain’s debut-ish, for free by clicking on the cover above. It’s a collection of tracks, edits, remixes and live stuff that is hard to really put a single genre tag on, as it’s an explosion of styles assembled with a Jackson Pollock precision. The smashed together, sound collage element of Breakfast Mountain feels like it’s a mixtape made for someone you love that was left in a shoebox full of liquid acid for a few months. Heavily influenced by beat driven electronic music, cheeseball hip-hop & at times, noisy shoegaze, it’s incredibly enjoyable without slotting it under any single group.

His myspace page says he’s off recording, so keep an eye out for new material hopefully soon.

Here’s two of my favorites, both available on Hooooded Plus+:

BREAKFAST MOUNTAIN – J HOLLERDAY (RE-EDIT)

BREAKFAST MOUNTAIN – SECRET DRUMM
06.10.10

Yay, meta-criticism! Deer Tick reviews Zach Kelly’s Pitchfork Review of Deer Tick’s new album Bands (0)

Now, if we can only get Zach Kelly to go one level deeper, we’ll all be that much closer to the editorial event horizon.

I’m going to go listen to Deer Tick, a band that before this bout of recursive humor I wasn’t aware of.