by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Razika - Eg Vetsje (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Razika - Nytt Pa Nytt (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dominant Legs - Hoop of Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dominant Legs - Where We Trip the Light (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nurses - "Fever Dreams" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tycho - "Dive" (MP3)

Razika

I guess this is the pre-CMJ edition of This Week In Indie which is a slightly less busy week than normal, though not by much. (And CMJ this year isn't the most exciting line-up I've seen for that matter, but we'll get to that next week.) In fact there's some pretty cool musical things you should be considering, so let's get into it.

As mentioned elsewhere on this site, Norway's Razika are playing Friday (10/14) at Cameo, their first-ever U.S. show, and only one for now. You may not think you need a Norwegian all-girl ska band in your life, and maybe you don't, but Razika do it really well. I wasn't expecting to like it. And really, what they do is more ska-tinged pop than actual ska. Which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. There's definitely a Lilliput/Kleenex vibe (or even Electrelane for a more modern comparison) to what they do. And the songs are crazy catchy. You can get half-price tickets ($5) if you use this link.

It's a good show all around at Cameo, with Ski Lodge whose EP I like a lot. As I've said before, it's like early Smiths meets Beach Fossils. The other band on the bill is Lips which is New Zealander Stephanie Brown who now lives in Brooklyn. I like the songs on her Bandcamp page, which are kind of laptop soul, not entirely unlike Little Dragon or, you. There's a really cute video for her song "One Not Two" at the bottom of this post.

Dominant Legs

San Francisco's Dominant Legs  and tourmates Nurses are in town, playing Mercury Lounge on Friday (10/14) and Glasslands on Saturday (10/14). Dominant Legs released their debut LP, Invitation, last month on Lefse Records and it's an appealing take on effervescent '80s pop, completely with lightly funky guitars, glistening keyboards and big choruses. You can download a couple songs from Invitation at the top of this post.

As for Nurses, the Portland trio get called "psych-pop" a lot which I guess is code for "vaguely MGMT-ish" but it's the funkier side of that band and not really so much psych to my ears. There's a lot of echo on it, I guess that's psychedelic. That said, their new album Dracula is pretty catchy and danceable and is more directly comparable to fellow Portlandians Unknown Mortal Orchestra than anyone else. You can download a track at the top of this post.

Tycho

And lastly, Tycho is at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday (10/16). (Tickets are still available.) The Bay Area electronic artist released his new album, Drive, last week on Ghostly and I've been listening to it a lot. No doubt it owes a giant debt to Boards of Canada, more in the dreamlike synth sounds than in execution. Tracks like "Hours" (downloadable above) more blatantly danceable than BoC but it's still the kind of record you could sleep to as well. And though I no longer have a car, this would be good music behind the wheel, and not just because of the album title.

While listening to Drive, you might think that a live show might just be just a guy and a laptop, Scott Hansen has a full Tycho band that looks to be pretty good from the YouTube clips I've watched. Canada's Teen Daze are also on the bill, and blissed-out Swedes Korallreven are the DJs for the evening.

That's the major stuff for this week...though don't forget Lotion plays their first show in ten years on Monday (10/17) at Knitting Factory! More day-by-day picks are below.

Arkells

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12

Early show tonight at Mercury Lounge: Canadian fourpiece The Arkells whose 2008 debut was one of that year's undiscovered gems, full of hook-filled, strident heartland rock that would've done gangbusters in the '80s. (You may remember me writing about them from M for Montreal.) Their new album, Michigan Left, is out next week in Canada.

I'm ashamed to admit I haven't given The Rosebuds' new album, Loud Planes Fly Low, enough attention but I definitely like what I have heard. You can download "Woods" at the top of this post. One of the nicest bands around, The Rosebuds are always good live and if you've never seen them before, they play Bowery Ballroom tonight. Want to go for free? We have a couple of pairs of tickets you can win if you email bvcontests@hotmail.com (subject: Rosebuds) right now. Include your first and last name in the email and we'll get back to the winners with instructions.

Xeno & Oaklander @ Home Sweet Home.

continued below....

Continue reading "Razika, Tycho, Dominant Legs, Nurses, Arkells, Laetitia Sadier & more in This Week in Indie"

Camera Obscura in a church @ SXSW (Miss Lady Lee)

tonight in NYC
* Arkells @ Pianos
* Dept of Eagles @ MoMA
* Zee Avi @ Mercury Lounge
* Black Acid @ Santos Party House
* Jay Jay Pistolet @ Sidewalk Cafe
* Bloc Party, Longwave @ Terminal 5
* Micachu & The Shapes @ Death By Audio
* Camera Obscura, Laura Cantrell @ The Bell House
* LadyHawke, Heartsrevolution @ Bowery Ballroom
* Golden Triangle, Garotas Suecas @ Mercury Lounge
* Grapevine, Apollo Heights, Cale Parks, Autodrone @ Public Assembly

"Suitably bloated from our free BBQ and free drinks, some guy from Canadian Radio assured us that Arkells were one of the best upcoming bands from Canada." [Strangeglue]

What else?

by Bill Pearis

Beast

The second night of M for Montreal was easily the best of the fest, with no bands I didn't like and three or four who were pretty incredible. Like the previous night, we were herded between the two performance rooms at Juste Pour Rire which is normally a comedy club, (Just for Laughs is the translation if you're French is like mine) but actually had great sound and lighting.

Judging by audience reaction alone, of which there were many locals in attendance, Beast were the most loved of the night - kind of impressive as the band only played their first live show in March. Some have called Beast "trip rock" which sort of works - you can definitely draw comparisons to Portishead or even Moloko, but they are heavier and louder. Most of the adoration, deservedly, goes to singer Betty Bonifassi, who was the main singing voice in the movie Triplets of Belleville, and who has one of Those Voices (Shirley Bassey comes to mind) - smoky, world-wear, yet powerful, enough to cause the hair on the back of your neck to stand at attention.

I also really liked Arkells who are from Hamilton, Ontario and who sounded to me like '80s heartland rock - both the Bruce Springsteen / Bob Seeger, and Replacements / Soul Asylum varieties. No pretension, just ridiculously catchy songs - I've been singing the chorus of their song "John Lennon" in my head ever since Friday.

Also on the bill: Chinatown, who were sort of a melding of The Strokes and traditional French pop with very catchy songs (in French); The night featured two new signings to Paper Bag Records (home of Tokyo Police Club and The Acorn), Winter Gloves and Woodhands. Montreal's Winter Gloves play keyboard-oriented indie rock a la TPC or Passion Pit and were definitely local favorites. Toronto keyboard-drums duo, Woodhands, were the only band to feature a laser show and were there to make you dance. You may have caught them when they played Studio B in Brooklyn with Crystal Castles.

CLAASS

The night's "official selection" ended with CLAASS, which is two-thirds of We Are Wolves plus a DJ friend on keyboards, have loads of style -- dressing like they were in a '40s noir film and shrouded in smoke machines. They pump out the kind of dance music I haven't heard since the heyday of Wax Trax! It's pastiche, but they do it well and I have a soft spot for this kind of stuff.

Next came the after-party which was free and open to the public. The place immediately flooded with kids, there to see Misteur Valaire, who I'd never heard of before, but are obviously massively popular in Montreal. Shout Out Out Out Out are the easiest comparison, but it's more musically varied (they're all trained jazz musicians apparently), more of a seamless dance party. Their album, which is available for free on their website, sounds more like the kind of club music you'd hear in Asian-fusion restaurants (but better) and absolutely does not do justice to their amazing live show. Hopefully they'll be bringing it across the border soon.

More pictures below...

Continue reading "Bill reports from M for Montreal, Night Two (Beast, Arkells, CLAASS, Misteur Valaire & more)"