{Kurt Vile is going to be playing the Capitol Hill Block Party on Friday, July 22, starting at 5pm on the Main Stage.}

Kurt Vile has an occasionally insouciant vocal presence, yet a luscious guitar tone. "Baby's Arms," the new single, is as much a raspberry blown at the world as a lustful kiss splattered on the cheek of his sweetheart. "I get sick of just about everyone / so I hide in my baby's arms." That's how this timelessly rebellious dichotomy is presented on his new, fourth full length Smoke Ring For My Halo.

Vile only kind of means being mean. He likes to sing about "a whole lot of dirt" (a mocking, baiting masterwork called "Runner Ups"), yet was raised in a genteel bluegrass, Jesus-loving household. According to rumor, he tried to bring the banjo of his youth back on this album, but maybe those got left in the outtakes (next time?).

 

more...

If one were to freely associate a few words with Thurston Moore, phrases like “technical,” “experimental,” or “Sweet Lord, did I just listen to 10 minutes of feedback?” might come to mind. Moore has always seemed to have a certain aloofness in his approach to his music, the results often being something beautiful, at times clinical and cold. His fourth album, Demolished Thoughts, released on May 24^th (Matador Records) is an absolutely stunning deviation from his usual aesthetic. His soft, pink underbelly is revealed, and the unexpected warmth and intimacy make for a spectacular listening experience. 'Atmospheric' might be an apt descriptor for this album: Moore creates an atmosphere with sound, but it's a highly accessible one. For once, it feels as though he actively invites his listeners into this space, instead of simply allowing them to observe from its borders.

According to the Matador website, the album was written over a two-year period and recorded over fall of 2010 / winter of 2011 at Beck's Los Angeles studio, as well as in Northampton, Mass. Beck’s influence is unmistakable here, as it has a very similar orchestration and tone to that of Sea Change. The result is an organic confluence of tracks, and a continuity of sound that one would not necessarily expect from either artist. Moore’s hallmark dissonance, distortion, and feedback are nearly non-existent on this album, and despite a somewhat brief 45-minute length, it undulates slowly with a natural drama. It is not overwrought or artificial. It is simply beautiful music.

more...

{Perfume Genius headlines in Seattle on September 22, at The Crocodile}

Learning is the first album by abused and otherwise, only briefly formerly-juvenile delinquent, Mike Hadreas. It never rises much above a whisper, with Hadreas' gentle, sugary voice floating on about murders happening in the neighborhood, sex with older men in their vans in exchange for weed to smoke, and hiding mouthwash from your mother so she won't get drunk on it.

These musical chapbook-chapters are set to soft, elegant, piano-led electronics-brushed compositions, which only on the Book of Ecclesiastes-bitter "You Won't B Here" gets near to spry, but then think of that juxtaposition. Without the UK hype for Perfume Genius when it was released past February, this disc could easily have fallen through the cracks as a seemingly underdeveloped Grandaddy-ballad sounding fusion of warbled, cracked vulnerability with Larry Clark-movie cutting and doping imagery, instead of hiding in a band or hanging at the mall.

more...

"If there's one place where you're scared, it's a bunker." So said urbanist, art critic, and political theorist Paul Virilio in an interview in a book of conversations called Crepuscular Dawn, before he and author Sylvere Lotringer described the architecture of the Brutalists, in which construction is associated with "pulling out the insides, the guts of a building." So that it "makes a facade of the skeleton" of a structure. Sort of how our country has been pulled inside out from eight years in a bunker, the hope still sucked out of our lungs by the louts in power.

In a similarly Expressionist way, power pop prophet Ted Leo welcomes back his fans with "When the cafe doors exploded, I reacted to you," the opening to "The Mighty Sparrow," the splattering, rippling opening track on his return and Matador debut, The Brutalist Bricks.  "Then I saw you, the red, white, and blue."

more...

(Three Imaginary Girls is excited to present a very special GET TOGETHER to have a sneak listen to the brand new NOT YET RELEASED album from the New Pornographers on Friday, April 23 at Neptune Coffee (at 8415 Greenwood Ave N.) from 6p-7:30p. The evening is free.)

We are on the pendant eve of Matador's supergroup The New Pornographers' gypsy-caravan tour, including dates with The Dutchess & The Duke, Imaad Wasif, The Dodos, and The Mountain Goats (yow!). Starting in London May 19 and ending up in Madison, WI in August, they will all be scrambling on stage to send up their surround sound power pop operas at George, Washington during the Sasquatch Festival on May 31.

This album is an essential 2010 purchase, and if pre-ordered from the Matador store, you'll also get a 7 " with three songs originally recorded by notorious Detroit psychedelic group Outrageous Cherry. Don't miss them at Sasquatch, and come hear the sneak peak at Neptune Coffee in Seattle this Friday night!

more...

I can't stop listening to Casual Victim Pile. It's a compilation put together by Matador co-head Gerard Cosloy and features some of his favorite Austin, Texas bands of the last few years. Incidentally, and cutely, the anagramic album name was contrived from Austin's nickname "live music capital". Cosloy put this comp together out of love, and you can tell. These aren't bands you find gracing the charts or garnering much attention, in the indie rock scene or otherwise. These are locally lauded underground bands, and they most definitely deserve a little exposure.

more...

 

The majority of the discussion initially focused on how Derek Fudesco, Pete Quirk, and Marty Lund all played in loud rock bands prior to The Cave Singer's formation, but the continual touring shows they consider this far more than a side project. Their debut in the fall of 2007, Invitation Songs, was notable for being completely stripped down to the basic elements - vocals, a strummed guitar, and quiet drums providing a beat in the background. Instant comparisons were to Woody Guthrie or early Bob Dylan, while some of the darker lyrical content was offset by the gentle melodies.

more...

Well, nadie la tengo this album yet, because it won't be released until September, but there exists, mis amigos, un MP3 for your listening delight.

"Periodically Double or Triple" gives the indication that Popular Songs is going to be fantastic! As always, the music is tight but not overstylized and feels a lot like a track off of Electr-o-Pura, or one of the lighter, poppier tracks off of I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (ala "Mr. Tough"). After the noisy, wonderful diversion that Condo Fucks' Fuckbook, Popular Songs sounds like it will be a return to their more traditional form and will most likely make many Best of '09 lists in a ninth-inning squeeze play.

Popular Songs will be released September 8th on the Matador Records label. It would appear as though US fans will have to be a bit patient for a tour on this album, as they will be making the jump across the pond for the entire month of November. A few stateside dates are planned for this summer, but nothing is yet indicated for September. It will, however, most likely be well worth the wait!

more...

“Smash the moral hypocrisy” is one of the lines in “Anti-Orgasm,” one of the many standout tracks on Sonic Youth’s brand new landmark album, The Eternal. The epigram is not only standard fare, but is also a sign that the group still has the characteristic unsettled angst that it is known for. After countless classic albums, the band still has the gritty edge and intellect that defined them some twenty-five years ago.

more...

This album is thick with great lyrics, but there is an overall ambiguity to them.

more...