Tuesday, December 16, 2014
music Mixtape: Modest Mouse, 'Strangers to Ourselves'
Posted By Amy Atkins on Tue, Dec 16, 2014 at 12:00 PM
If releasing your first album in eight years was going to be your New Year's resolution, Modest Mouse beat you to it.
Strangers to Ourselves which drops March 3, 2015, is technically the follow-up to Modest Mouse's crazy-popular 2007 studio album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Sony): in the intervening years, the band released a couple collections of b-sides and previously unreleased songs, as well as reissues of 1996's This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About and 1997's The Lonesome Crowded West on Glacial Pace, Isaac Brock's imprint.
Strangers to Ourselves is a double LP and can be pre-ordered for the low, low price of $23 from Glacial Pace.
Listen to "Lampshades On Fire" off of Strangers at modestmouse.com
Strangers to Ourselves which drops March 3, 2015, is technically the follow-up to Modest Mouse's crazy-popular 2007 studio album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Sony): in the intervening years, the band released a couple collections of b-sides and previously unreleased songs, as well as reissues of 1996's This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About and 1997's The Lonesome Crowded West on Glacial Pace, Isaac Brock's imprint.
Strangers to Ourselves is a double LP and can be pre-ordered for the low, low price of $23 from Glacial Pace.
Listen to "Lampshades On Fire" off of Strangers at modestmouse.com
Saturday, August 16, 2014
music Mixtape: Rotties, 'Pacific NorthWaste'
Posted By Amy Atkins on Sat, Aug 16, 2014 at 12:00 PM
If you knew nothing about Portland, Ore.-based rockers the Rotties and played a track from the band's debut LP Pacific NorthWaste (Hardcore Mermaid Music, 2013), you'd be hard pressed to say if the song was 30 years or 3 months old. Neither is correct—the album has been out for a little more than a year now—but it says a lot about the Rotties' take on classic bombastic punk mixed with a modicum of metal.
The Rotties play a free show at The Crux Saturday, Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. Locals Marshall Poole (a must-see band) and Give Chase open.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
music Mixtape: Dying Famous, '40 Minutes Late'
Posted By Amy Atkins on Thu, Aug 14, 2014 at 2:30 PM
For most musicians, a documentary about their lives usually comes at the zenith of their career or long after it's over, as with Anvil: The Story of Anvil or Last Days Here (a film about Pentagram lead singer Bobby Liebling).
In the case of local hard-rock band Dying Famous, however, a documentary came out even before the band's debut CD. Local filmmaker Michael D. Gough followed Dying Famous as the newly formed band loaded up and headed to Hollywood for a gig it secured at the Whisky a Go Go (something local band Black Tooth Grin also did a couple of years later).
Though the trip was full of speed bumps—all chronicled in Gough's 2011 film Dying Famous—the band made it back to Boise intact, and, earlier this year, released its debut LP, 40 Minutes Late (Tate Music Group, April 2014).
Both the CD and the film are available at dyingfamous.net.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Literature Mixtape: Dauterman and Antosh, 'Dirty Library: Twisted Children's Classics and Folked-Up Fairy Tales'
Posted By Amy Atkins on Tue, Aug 12, 2014 at 10:38 AM
Dirty Library (Running Press, Aug. 2014), by Mary Dauterman and Peter Antosh (based on their Tumblr blog, dirtylibrary) may force you to look at your halcyon days of childhood through a pair of beer goggles.
In their illustrated book, Dauterman and Antosh reimagine favorite childhood poems and tomes with titles like Mary Pill Poppins, Where the Girls Gone Wild Things Are, Little Whorehouse on the Prairie and Huckleberry Gin. Dirty Library includes opinions, descriptions, book club discussion questions and reviews of the "new books," much like any literary piece of work would receive. The difference is, these tongue-in-cheek reviews are "in the style of The Onion," and while Little Bo Peep isn't at all funny, you may laugh your ass off reading about Little Bo Creep:
"Little Bo loses her job as a shepherdess after misplacing an entire flock of sheep. Her newfound free time only feeds her addiction for stalking, but nothing seems awry until severed sheep's heads start appearing around the village, and the nightmare has only just begun."
In their illustrated book, Dauterman and Antosh reimagine favorite childhood poems and tomes with titles like Mary Pill Poppins, Where the Girls Gone Wild Things Are, Little Whorehouse on the Prairie and Huckleberry Gin. Dirty Library includes opinions, descriptions, book club discussion questions and reviews of the "new books," much like any literary piece of work would receive. The difference is, these tongue-in-cheek reviews are "in the style of The Onion," and while Little Bo Peep isn't at all funny, you may laugh your ass off reading about Little Bo Creep:
"Little Bo loses her job as a shepherdess after misplacing an entire flock of sheep. Her newfound free time only feeds her addiction for stalking, but nothing seems awry until severed sheep's heads start appearing around the village, and the nightmare has only just begun."
Friday, August 1, 2014
music Mixtape: Customary, 'Compassion'
Posted By Amy Atkins on Fri, Aug 1, 2014 at 9:00 AM
Local hip-hop artist Customary may have a new lucky number: 13. That's where his recent release, Compassion (July 29, 2014), peaked on iTunes' Hot Indie Hip-Hop chart this week.
Check out the video for the single "Hanging On" below and get more info on Customary and Compassion at facebook.com/customaryhiphop.
Check out the video for the single "Hanging On" below and get more info on Customary and Compassion at facebook.com/customaryhiphop.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
music Mixtape: Sleepy Seeds, 'Sleepy Seeds'
Posted By Amy Atkins on Wed, Jul 23, 2014 at 8:20 AM
Sometimes, when a band includes a number of well-known musicians—or even only one—and the term "supergroup" gets attached to it, misconceptions can either preclude someone from listening or can lead to unfulfilled expectations.
Local indie-rock band Sleepy Seeds is comprised of four talented musicians: Joey Corsentino (vocals, guitar); Chad Keever (drums); Marty Chase Martin (vocals, guitar); and Brett Nelson (vocals, bass). If that last name seems familiar, it's probably because it was on the sleeve of an album or two—Nelson is the former bassist for Built to Spill.
So, it would be accurate to use "super" in conjunction with Sleepy Seeds, but not for the reason groups get that moniker. The self-titled debut of the newish band (the quartet has been together less than two years) fits the true definition of the word as something "outstanding," "surpassing others" and "beyond a standard or a norm."
So, set aside whatever preconceived notions you may have and listen to Sleepy Seeds. In a word, it's better than good.
Local indie-rock band Sleepy Seeds is comprised of four talented musicians: Joey Corsentino (vocals, guitar); Chad Keever (drums); Marty Chase Martin (vocals, guitar); and Brett Nelson (vocals, bass). If that last name seems familiar, it's probably because it was on the sleeve of an album or two—Nelson is the former bassist for Built to Spill.
So, it would be accurate to use "super" in conjunction with Sleepy Seeds, but not for the reason groups get that moniker. The self-titled debut of the newish band (the quartet has been together less than two years) fits the true definition of the word as something "outstanding," "surpassing others" and "beyond a standard or a norm."
So, set aside whatever preconceived notions you may have and listen to Sleepy Seeds. In a word, it's better than good.
Sleepy Seeds - “Different” (2014) from Jason Sievers on Vimeo.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
music Mixtape: Sea Wolf, "Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke"
Posted By Amy Atkins on Tue, Jul 1, 2014 at 4:39 PM
In the fall of 2013, Alex Brown Church reached out to fans via Kickstarter for help.
"I’m suuuper excited to share with you the possibility of creating a very special, very unusual, Sea Wolf album that I’d like to do just for you," Church, frontman for SoCal indie band Sea Wolf, wrote on his Kickstarter campaign page. "People have been asking me to do a more stripped down album for years, and now that I've officially fulfilled my label contract, and until I decide on a home for the next official Sea Wolf album, I can do ANYTHING I want. And what I want to do is make this album!"
Church received more than his ask, and he must have put all the funds to good use because the result, Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke, is a collection of 10 utterly exquisite, evocative tracks. With the inclusion of a couple of instrumentals, it's not hard to imagine a film being built around Song Spells instead of the other way around.
Song Spells is available on Spotify Tuesday, July 8, and on other streaming services and at seawolfmusic.com Tuesday, July 15. "Bergamot Morning" from Song Spells is still available for streaming on Church's Kickstarter page
"I’m suuuper excited to share with you the possibility of creating a very special, very unusual, Sea Wolf album that I’d like to do just for you," Church, frontman for SoCal indie band Sea Wolf, wrote on his Kickstarter campaign page. "People have been asking me to do a more stripped down album for years, and now that I've officially fulfilled my label contract, and until I decide on a home for the next official Sea Wolf album, I can do ANYTHING I want. And what I want to do is make this album!"
Church received more than his ask, and he must have put all the funds to good use because the result, Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke, is a collection of 10 utterly exquisite, evocative tracks. With the inclusion of a couple of instrumentals, it's not hard to imagine a film being built around Song Spells instead of the other way around.
Song Spells is available on Spotify Tuesday, July 8, and on other streaming services and at seawolfmusic.com Tuesday, July 15. "Bergamot Morning" from Song Spells is still available for streaming on Church's Kickstarter page
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
music Mixtape: Ought, 'More Than Any Other Day'
Posted By Amy Atkins on Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 4:28 PM
A debut LP followed by a multi-city tour is a indication that a band may be worth listening to. Decent reviews are usually a good hint as well. And, so far, all signs point to post-punk quartet Ought finding (and keeping) an audience.
Pitchfork gave Ought's debut, More Than Any Other Day (Constellation Records, April 2014), an 8.4, calling it "endearing and electrifying ... an anxious, distressed record to be sure—brimming with feelings of disaffection and dislocation—but it presents itself as such simply to show you how that nervous energy can be put to more positive, constructive use."
And, in a few days, the Montreal-based band kicks off a North American tour that wraps up in Boise on Monday, July 14, at The Crux. Dub Thompson opens.
Pitchfork gave Ought's debut, More Than Any Other Day (Constellation Records, April 2014), an 8.4, calling it "endearing and electrifying ... an anxious, distressed record to be sure—brimming with feelings of disaffection and dislocation—but it presents itself as such simply to show you how that nervous energy can be put to more positive, constructive use."
And, in a few days, the Montreal-based band kicks off a North American tour that wraps up in Boise on Monday, July 14, at The Crux. Dub Thompson opens.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
music Mixtape: Faded Leroy, 'Days Between Stations'
Posted By Amy Atkins on Thu, May 15, 2014 at 7:00 AM
If you like your music borne of the realm between melodic hard rock and metal, high production values and hooky melodies and delivered via wrenching screams (and some singing), Days Between Stations, the debut full-length from local rock band Faded Leroy belongs in your library.
Catch Faded Leroy live Thursday, May 29, at Knitting Factory when 100.3 The X Presents Royal Bliss, Like A Storm and locals Fly2Void and Faded Leroy.
Catch Faded Leroy live Thursday, May 29, at Knitting Factory when 100.3 The X Presents Royal Bliss, Like A Storm and locals Fly2Void and Faded Leroy.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Mixtape: Famous Motel Cowboys, 'Garden City Skyline'
Posted By Sam Hill on Fri, May 9, 2014 at 3:00 PM
The Famous Motel Cowboys are not new to the Treasure Valley music scene, but their latest release, Garden City Skyline, is a new offering in the old-school country/honky-tonk realm.
The band does not deviate from their strengths and what fans have come to adore: honest, thought-provoking stories told through song. Pedal-steel licks glide over vocal harmonies and guitar riffs, creating sounds reminiscent of the best Americana. The track "Rumor Creek" has a Jackson Browne-esque vibe and serves as a great point of entry for anyone new to the band.
Check out Famous Motel Cowboys and Garden City Skyline on Facebook or the band's website.
