Chapterhouse announce US tour
March 11, 2010
Early ’90s British shoegazers Chapterhouse are planning a rare North American tour. Opening will be German electo-artist Ulrich Schnauss, who will also join the band on stage for some songs.
Chapterhouse vocalist Stephen Patman tells Under the Radar, “This really is a one off deal for us so there are no plans for any further shows after these North American dates. It is the original line up except for Greg Moore who is filling in for Russell Barrett on bass.”
The band formed in 1987 and released two albums, 1991’s Whirlpool and 1993’s Blood Music. Chapterhouse were one of the leaders of the now highly influential shoegazing scene that included such artists as Ride, Lush, and Slowdive (and, to a lesser extent, My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins). -undertheradar
Recommended if you like: Blonde Redhead, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YtB4kxfQPs
Dates:
May 1st – Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto
May 3rd – The Bell House, Brooklyn, NY
May 5th – Lincoln Hall, Chicago
May 6th – Tractor Tavern, Seattle
May 7th – Troubadour, LA
May 8th – Mezzanine, San Francisco
http://www.chapterhouse.info
http://www.myspace.com/chapterhouseofficial
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March 2010 music sampler
March 10, 2010
Fire Zuave
Recommended if you like: Of Montreal, The Decemberists, Neutral Milk Hotel
Grand Atlantic
This song reminds me of so many bands that I can’t grasp one outright. Brit Rock meets mid-90’s grunge.
Recommended if you like: Swervedriver, Stone Temple Pilots
The Mummers
The Howling Bells
Recommended if you like: The Duke Spirit, The Long Blondes, The Joy Formidable, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Doves
National Skyline
Recommended if you like: Hum, Jeremy Enigk
National Skyline was a band formed in Champaign-Urbana, IL, by Jeff Dimpsey of Hum to perform a 45-minute long song he had written. In 1999, Dimpsey and vocalist/guitarist Jeff Garber (Castor) released their self-titled mini-LP on Parasol Records. A live tour that consisted only of Garber, Blacklist/Compound Red guitarist James Minor, re-worked electronic tracks and a blinding, strobe-heavy light show followed. The band promptly signed to Philadelphia’s File 13, but not before contributing an early demo called “Eurorak” to the Parasol Records’ Sweet Sixteen, Volume 2 compilation. Upon tour’s end, Dimpsey and Garber quickly recorded and released their Exit Now EP. Minor was made an official member, and the three convened later that year to write and record their full-length debut, This = Everything. Garber jumped ship shortly after the record’s release, moving to Los Angeles to join the short lived Year Of The Rabbit.
In 2006, Garber leaked information about a new project on the group’s MySpace account, without involvement from Dimpsey or Minor, including the new track “Pack Up,” and launched the group’s homepage – a Byzantine series of clipart images in a Flash animation ending with the eagle logo and the words “FAUX EVIL.”
In early 2007, Garber posted two new songs and a blog entry on the group’s myspace page indicating that a new National Skyline record would be forthcoming.
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Adorable – ‘Against Perfection’ album download
March 5, 2010
I don’t think I’ve ever linked to a full album before, and don’t plan on making a habit of it, but this band is so (criminally) unknown (and defunct) that I think it’s ok this one time. Note that I didn’t upload this… I just did a search and found it.
Highly recommended if you like: Interpol, The Stone Roses, The Chameleons, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Echo & The Bunnymen and any other early 90s guitar based British Rock/Pop
http://www.mediafire.com/?90ln3eyi30m
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5541SAMT
“Adorable arrived when the shoegazer scene in England was starting to fade away. Formed in Coventry, England, in late 1990, Adorable was comprised of Piotr Fijalkowski (vocals, guitar), Robert Dillam (guitar), Wil (bass), and Kevin Gritton (drums). The band’s wall of shimmering riffs drew comparisons to shoegazer icons such as My Bloody Valentine and Ride; however, their most noticeable influence was Echo & the Bunnymen as Fijalkowski has a harrowed, melancholic voice similar to Ian McCulloch’s. The group didn’t deny its Bunnymen worship in the U.K. press, either, as Fijalkowski stated in one interview that the Bunnymen were even superior to the Doors. Adorable recorded their first single, “Sunshine Smile,” in 1991. However, the 800 copies made of it were never released. In January 1992, the band met Alan McGee, the owner of the British independent label Creation Records, at a pub in Coventry. The group signed with Creation and “Sunshine Smile” finally appeared in April of that year. The record was voted Single of the Week by the U.K. magazine NME and hit number one on the indie charts. But the band’s cockiness — which separated the group from faceless shoegazer acts — began to annoy critics. Adorable’s first album, Against Perfection, was released in 1993. The band then toured America for a month; however, Creation and the group’s U.S. label, SBK, were bickering, throwing Adorable into the crossfire. Although it made the Top 75, Against Perfection didn’t sell as heavily as it should’ve and reviewers — perhaps still turned off by the band’s arrogance — were not impressed. After Sony took over Creation, Adorable felt pressured in recording a follow-up LP that would keep them with the company. Unfortunately, 1994’s Fake didn’t have the snotty self-confidence of Against Perfection, and it flopped. Consequently, the group was dropped from Creation; a year later, they split up. Fijalkowski formed Polak in the late ’90s.” – by Michael Sutton
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exlovers
February 26, 2010
Recommended if you like: The Cure, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The XX
http://www.myspace.com/weareexlovers
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Schooner – Duck Kee Sessions
February 24, 2010
SCHOONER
Duck Kee Sessions
(Cytunes)
Release Date: February 9, 2010
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Hailing from Carrboro, NC, Schooner is a four-member band currently comprised of Reid Johnson (whose sister, Kathryn, played and recorded on all of the band’s material until recently), Billy Alphin (The Ashley Stove, The Rosebuds), Maria Albani (Organos, Pleasant), and Chris Badger (Hotel Lights). Together they create an understated, disheveled pop sound that ranges from narcotic sad-eyed tunes to erratic rock numbers highlighted by boy-girl harmonies and impressionist lyrics.
Schooner has released two full-length albums, You Forget About Your Heart (Pox World Empire Records) and Hold on Too Tight (54, 40 or Fight Records), along with a few limited edition EP’s. Their latest EP release Duck Kee Sessions recorded at the legendary Jerry Kee’s Duck Kee Studios (Superchunk, Kingsbury Manx, Polvo) will be released exclusively on Cytunes.org, a music downloading site that donates all proceeds to brain cancer research.
Soon after Cy Rawls, a music scene staple in NC and friend of the band, began his struggle with brain cancer, Cytunes was conceived of by Chris Rossi (Spacelab Studio) to help with mounting hospital bills. After Rawls passed away in October 2008, the concept of Cytunes changed; it became a site where musicians can upload music (Superchunk, The Rosebuds, Polvo, and many more artists have exclusive material on the site), and fans can purchase music with 100% of the proceeds going to brain cancer research.
Johnson has released music on the site via The Flute Flies, a studio band which consists of he, Ivan Howard (The Rosebuds), and Zeno Gill (Pox World Empire), and realized that Cytunes was the most meaningful place for Schooner’s newest recordings. The band began talking with Chris Rossi about selling download codes at their shows for Duck Kee Sessions and incorporating friends’ artwork to buy via codes as well.
Contributing artists’ artwork will be featured at the Duck Kee Sessions EP release party. The artwork will be available February 19, 2010 at The Pinhook in Durham with Erie Choir, Veelee, and The Popular Kids, a comedy troupe that counts Cy Rawls and Johnson as former members. Some of the artists include: Ron Liberti (Pipe), Chris Williams (Plastic Flame Press), Will Hackney (Trekky Records, Lost in the Trees), and Catherine Edgerton (Midtown Dickens).
Schooner will be recording another full-length album in the Spring of 2010.
http://www.schoonermusic.com/info.htm
http://www.myspace.com/schooner
http://cytunes.org
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The Joy Formidable – Cradle video
February 10, 2010
download this song free here
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White Rabbits
February 1, 2010
White Rabbits are playing Coachella 2010 on Saturday, April 17th.
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The Catherine Wheel, earliest known live recording from 1991
January 13, 2010
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=285069
The Catherine Wheel
Astoria Theatre, London England
April 5th, 1991
Analogue Audience Master Cassette (Sony Tcs 430 with clip on mic)/ION Tape2pc/Sony VAIO/Audacity v1.2.6/WAV/Traders Little Helper Encoding Level 6/FLAC
Setlist:
01. Spin
02. Wish
03. She’s My Friend
04. Upside Down
05. Black Metallic
06. Painful Thing
07. Salt
—–
According to the now defunct Catherine Wheel gigography, they played on April 4th at the Astoria with the Lemonheads & Kingmaker. There is no listing for April 5th.
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The Soft Pack
December 28, 2009
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Recommended if you like: Japandroids, The Catherine Wheel (tell me that the above tune doesn’t sound remotely like “Show Me Mary”)
The Soft Pack are an indie rock band which formed in San Diego, California, United States in 2008. They consist of Matt Lamkin (vocals, guitar), Matty McLoughlin (guitar), David Lantzman (bass) and Brian Hill (drums). They were originally known as The Muslims and released one single and a 12” EP on 1928 Recordings under their previous name. As the Soft Pack they have released two EPs.
“The Soft Pack have been hogging the office stereo for the last couple of weeks now (well, until the unintentionally hilarious new Fun Lovin’ Criminals album came in). Here’s a previously leaked track from the LP that’ll demonstrate why.
Clocking in at barely two minutes, it’s one of those tunes that gets you playing it over and over.”
For more Soft Pack get ‘Answer To Yourself’ and ‘Call It A Day’ on previous posts here at NME…
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Recording Studios Face Uncertain Future (NPR)
December 11, 2009
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121304883
Here is an interesting story on how digital recording (your laptop) is replacing expensive recording studios. There is a 6 minute audio segment from NPR at the top of the above link.
“”The real value for most bands isn’t the equipment,” says McTear. “A guy at Guitar Center or Sam Ash would like you to think it is. They’d like you to think if you just spent 3 grand, you’re on your way to making your record because you bought the equipment. The sort of unseen, disappearing player in all the records being made today is collaboration — between artists, engineers and producers and studio musicians — all those people.”"
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