The Foals
By chris | April 15, 2008
myspace.com/foals
wearefoals.com
The Foals - Balloon
The Foals will be playing Popscene at 330 Ritch in San Francisco on May 22nd.
West Coast Dates:
22 May 2008 Pop Scene @ 330 Ritch San Francisco
24 May 2008 The Troubadour West Hollywood
25 May 2008 Brick By Brick San Diego
28 May 2008 Doug Fir Lounge Portland
29 May 2008 Richard’s On Richards Cabaret Vancouver
30 May 2008 Neumo’s Seattle
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Wikipedia / Last.fm mashup
By chris | April 15, 2008
WikiFM is the mashup of two very popular sites, Wikipedia and Last.fm. The fact that it is free, simple, and intuitive makes it even more attractive. The information provided on Wikipedia is much more in-depth than what’s provided on Last.FM artist pages.
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A Sunny Day In Glasgow, Thursday at Edinburgh Castle
By chris | April 14, 2008
Fronted by identical twin sisters Lauren and Robin Daniels and masterminded by their brother Ben, A Sunny Day in Glasgow make synth-laden pop songs reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine or the Jesus and Mary Chain. Ben Daniels started making cassette recordings with the help of his friend Ever Nalens years before A Sunny Day in Glasgow got together. Nalens moved to Glasgow from 2002 to 2004 in order to go to art school, and Daniels moved to London about a year later. They started collaborating again after Ben returned in the summer of 2005, but Nalens abandoned the project after a couple months. Daniels continued to write songs, asking his sister Robin to take over the vocals. Lauren was brought in as a vocalist a few months later, and the group started recording tracks in Ben’s West Philadelphia apartment and at their parents’ house in the suburbs.
They put some of the tracks together and released them as an EP, called The Sunniest Day Ever, in March 2006. The EP charted at number one on New York’s WNYU, the songs started bouncing around online, and soon enough Pitchfork gave the first track on their EP, “C’mon,” a four-star rating. Indie labels started to pay attention, and the group snagged a record deal with Notenuf Records in October 2006. Their first full-length record consisted of tracks recorded between January and August of 2006, and was scheduled for release in February 2007.
See them Thursday, April 17th at the Edinburgh Castle in San Francisco.
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Echodrone
By chris | April 11, 2008
Echodrone was birthed in summer 2005 from the miasma of Craigslist. Answering a call for like-minded musicians, Brandon and Mark F. joined Eugene and began Echodrone’s exploration of the intersection where Medicine, Ride, Stars of the Lid and Mogwai meet. Original drummer Kahlil Karn felt the call in June 2006 and provided a visual component to initial gigs, but parted ways with the band in June 2007. Another call out to Craigslist ensnared drummer/sonic maestro Mark Tarlton, who began contributing electronic touches to the mix. The final stage of Echodrone was set when Meredith Gibbons (ex-One Becomes One Hundred) replaced departing member Mark F.
The Echodrone recipe: combine Post-Rock textures, Ambient atmospherics, Dreampop harmonies and feedback-drenched classic Shoegaze into a mold shaped from the band’s musical exploration. The result: a cathartic mix of vivid musical colors and patterns that is greater than the sum of its parts. Echodrone is an indie band for those bored with the indie genre.
After first unleashing their barbaric yalp onto receptive audiences in September 2006, Echodrone has since played with such local luminaries as Sciflyer (Clairecords), Murder of Lilies, and Halcyon High. March 2007 saw the release of a debut 4-song EP, recorded at SoundPort Studios by Michael Padilla (Dora Flood) and released on the band’s own label, Isomer Records. This self-titled EP was a top-seller on shoegaze specialty retail site toneVENDOR and has received airplay locally on KALX, KSCU and KZSU, nationally on the respected online station Vertigo Radio, where opener “Here We Are” was voted 2 listener favorite in the first month of release, and internationally on Australia’s 3RRR station.
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Veil Veil Vanish
By chris | April 11, 2008
Veil Veil Vanish is a San Francisco based 4-piece that brings dark, post-punk energy, shoegaze atmospherics, and modern indie aesthetics into the current era of pop music. Featuring ex-members of Andalusia , Astral & Jada Morning, Veil Veil Vanish began in January of 2006 and has since played venues throughout the US, with bands such as 1990’s (UK), Celebration, Midnight Movies, and Bellmer Dolls to name a few. Veil Veil Vanish has also toured the West Coast including a January 2008 tour with New York’s Apollo Heights.
In March of 2007 Veil Veil Vanish completed a southwest tour in support of their debut, self-released EP titled, “Into a New Mausoleum, which combines dark, blissed out atmospherics, danceable drums and high-rise choruses turning these alluring soundscapes into seductive pop gems.
Veil Veil Vanish has also been receiving support from legendary Bay Area radio station Live 105 including being a featured band at their Summer Concert Series in 2007, as well as being picked in the top 5 to be in the running to play music festivals Not So Silent Night and BFD featuring headliners such as The Killers, Bloc Party, and Interpol. The song ‘Shadows Dripping Like Honey Kissing’ from the new EP has also been featured on Live 105’s new music show, Soundcheck.
This year Veil Veil Vanish played the San Francisco music festival Noise Pop 2008 with A Place to Bury Strangers and Holy Fuck. Veil Veil Vanish will contribute a song to the Cure tribute album ‘Perfect as Cats’ to be released this fall on Manimal Vinyl Records, and is currently finishing new material for a fall release.
Veil Veil Vanish is playing at San Francisco’s Knockout on April, 25 2008 with Magick Daggers (PDX) & The Holy Kiss.
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Venus Beltran
By chris | April 11, 2008
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iPhone found in airplane toilet
By chris | April 10, 2008
On my flight home to San Francisco last night, the flight attendant came on the intercom and announced this to the airplane:
“May I have your attention. Someone found an iPhone in the toilet in the back of the plane. If you’re missing your iPhone, please come and get it.”
There was a fair amount of chuckling that went on for a few minutes afterwards.
Topics: apple | 1 Comment »
muxtape.com, mixwit.com
By chris | April 3, 2008
Two new online mixtape sites have bloomed recently. Muxtape.com and Mixwit.com. Below are two I made in a matter of minutes.
Muxtape is bare bones. BARE BONES! you upload your own mp3s and the playlist is just a simple list.
Mixwit is fancy, graphical and more customizable. You can choose your cassette tape style and the text colors and styles. You can easily add songs from a nifty search feature which searches music files already found online so you don’t have to upload anything.
http://alternapop.muxtape.com/
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new Frightened Rabbit due next week
By chris | April 3, 2008
I first posted some songs from these guys over a year ago. They have a new album coming out on April 15th called The Midnight Organ Fight.
Be Less Rude (the file says Modern Leper but it’s not)
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Broken Records, “The Next Arcade Fire”
By chris | April 2, 2008
“Jamie, Ian, Arne, Rory, Gill, Dave & Andy formed Broken Records in December 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Using a range of instruments including guitars, bass, violin, cello, accordion, mandolin, piano, trumpet, glockenspiel and drums, they create a sound combining traditional European folk with modern Scottish alternative music. 2007 was a busy year for the band, playing 60 gigs including live sessions on BBC Radio One in Scotland and BBC 6 Music, being voted Best of the T Break Stage at T in the Park, and headlining a sold-out show at The Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh (750 capacity). They have supported Editors, Idlewild, Sons and Daughters, The Twilight Sad, Emma Pollock, and Peggy Sue and the Pirates.
At the beginning of August 2007 they mixed and released a debut EP which was sold at shows, and created a wider interest in the band in the music industry and across the nation. Drowned in Sound said of the release, “This is magical, engrossing and wholly enveloping, genuinely and excitingly bursting with commercial potential. From beginning to end, this self-titled EP delights and amazes (9/10).”
Gaining a management team (Two Thumbs) the band moved in to 2008 with a new focus, and have already courted the interest of National Radio One (in the form of a session at Maida Vale for Huw Stephens) and several national promoters, agents and record companies. A limited single is being released through Young Turks (release date 14th April) and the band have plans to target the festival circuit throughout Europe this summer.”
download mp3s courtesy of Toad
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