Trend You Wish Would Go Away

1. 90s revivalism (No Age, Japandroids, Cymbals Eat Guitars)
2. Afropop indie (Dirty Projectors, Fool's Gold, Abe Vigoda)
3. Animal Collective acolytes (Blind Man's Colour, Our Brother the Native, USF)
4. Balearic (jj, John Talabot, Windsurf/Hatchback)
5. Chillwave/glo-fi (Washed Out, Neon Indian, Nite Jewel)
6. Dubstep and its offshoots (wonky, funky, bassline)
7. Post-Lily Allen UK pop (La Roux, Little Boots, Florence and the Machine)
8. Prim, buttoned-up indie (Grizzly Bear, Andrew Bird, St. Vincent)
9. Shitgaze/lo-fi aesthetics (Times New Viking, Wavves, Vivian Girls)

Vote for that & more in Pitchfork's 2009 Reader's Poll. Image via Hipster Runoff.

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Blind Man Color - Heavy Cloud Hustle (JVG Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Beach Fossils - Vacation (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mitch Easter - Time Warping (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mitch Easter - Sudden Crown Drop (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Asteroid #4 - Flowers of Ours (MP3)

Beach Fossils

Hope everyone stayed cool this weekend. Before I get into picks for the first part of this week, I'd just like to point out that we've got a remix (a BV exclusive, I'm told) of Blind Man's Colour's "Heavy Cloud Hustle" in the popular MP3 format to download at the very top of this post. The band were in town this weekend and I caught their Saturday night set at Union Hall where I was surprised to see a traditional guitar-bass-drums-keyboard setup for a band whose album, Season Dreaming (out tomorrow 8/18) leans heavily into Animal Collective sound collage territory. They pulled it off pretty well for only have played live for a month, though the band could use a few more peppy songs.

That night's show -- that also included San Diego's Lights On and Philly's Drink Up Buttercup -- was stolen by locals Beach Fossils who've figured out a distinctive sound: two guitarists but neither of them play chords, just single notes that play off each and the bouncy basslines. The band bounces around a lot too; nobody stands still in this band. It's a sound somewhere between the Clean and early R.E.M. and it's hard to dislike. I wish they'd drop the vibrato effects on the vocals which I think are an unnecessary affectation, but otherwise I'm a fan. They haven't put out anything yet, but they've got records out sometime soon on Woodsist and Captured Tracks (not surprisingly they played the festival put on by the same two labels), and you can download an MP3 of their track "Vacation" at the top of this post. They've also got ties to the Underwater Peoples Records who are putting on a show at Market Hotel this Saturday (8/22) that Beach Fossils are playing -- along with every band associated with the label. That includes Ducktails, sister band Real Estate, Air Waves, Fluffy Lumbers and bunch more. The show's only $5 and doors are at 4pm. Full schedule for the show is at the bottom of this post.

Ambulance LTD

Rewinding a bit, Ambulance LTD play their first shows this week since finally being released from their contract from former, bankrupt label, TVT. I really like their 2004 debut and hopefully we'll get to hear its John Cale-produced follow-up sooner than later, but you can get a taste live this week. The band's show tomorrow night (8/18) at Mercury Lounge is sold out, but you can still get tickets for tonight's show (8/17) at Union Hall. Both shows are with the great Savoir Adore so get there early and be sure to pick up a copy of their debut, In the Wooded Forrest, which is only available at their shows (or digitally) right now.

In town for two shows this week is North Carolina indie rock legend Mitch Easter, who plays Southpaw on Tuesday (8/18) and Maxwell's on Thursday (8/20). While he's maybe best known as a producer (the first two R.E.M.'s albums [with Don Dixon], Pavement's Brighten the Corners, Moose's ...XYZ among other things), but Easter has had a long career as a musician, as a part of The Sneakers in the late '70s and frontman/songwriter for Let's Active, easily one of the most underrated bands of the '80s. He's also an incredible guitarist, and Let's Active albums are resplendent with awesome axe-work.

I like everything they ever did but 1986's Big Plans for Everybody is especially great, one of my favorite albums of that decade. Mitch put the kybosh on Let's Active in 1990 and didn't release any original material until last year's Dynamico, an album which showed he still has chops and songs to spare. He opened for the dB's at Bowery Ballroom two years ago where he played most of Let's Active's big songs ("Every Word Means No," "Waters Part," "Fell," "In Little Ways") and has since been touring with his "Let's Active cover band" Gravel Truck that splits the set between classics and new songs. Easter helped shape the sound of the underground in the '80s and '90s, and is absolutely still worth checking out.

Both shows are with Amy Speace whose new album 'The Killer In Me' was engineered by Mitch.

The Asteroid #4

And lastly, Philadelphia's The Asteroid #4 is playing Tuesday night (8/18) at Glasslands in Brooklyn. The band recently toured with The Brian Jonestown Massacre which gives you a good idea of what you can expect, and they're not unlike Philly neighbors (The Sounds of) Kaleidescope... but they're better. Last year's These Flowers of Ours, is pretty ace, a nice blend of The Byrds, Ride and Spiritualized. You can stream the whole thing here and download the album's title track at the top of this post. The Glasslands show is with a couple likeminded bands: Austin's Runaway Sun and Brooklyn's Revival Times.

That's it for now. Tour dates, flyers and videos after the jump...

Continue reading "Beach Fossils, Ambulance LTD, Underwater Peoples, Mitch Easter, Asteroid #4 & Blind Mans Colour in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Lights On - John and Anne (MP3)

Trashcan Sinatras

Glasgow's Trashcan Sinatras have been with us for 20 years now, having perfected their brand of sparkling, literate guitar pop that initially garnered them comparisons to The Smiths. Like fellow Glaswegians The Blue Nile, the Trashcan Sinatras take their time between albums -- the brand new In the Music is only the band's fifth. (It should be noted that time between albums is not entirely their doing -- the band have had colossally bad luck with record labels.) The band made the album here in New York with Ivy guitarist Andy Chase behind the boards. Like their other four records, it's loaded with gorgeous songs, arpeggiated guitar lines and swoon-worthy harmonies. Weirdly, it's also got Carly Simon singing backing vocals on the song "Should I Pray?" How did that come about? Guitarist Paul Livingston explained to Bullz-Eye.com:

PL: Well, after we recorded the backing tracks in New York, the producer, Andy Chase, was going to set up a studio at his house in Martha's Vineyard. And he said, "Come on, Carly Simon lives here." And we were floored, and thought, "That would be great if we could meet her." And so he asked her to sing on a song, and we got her a lot of the songs we were working on. But the disappointing thing was, when we were in Martha's Vineyard, she was in New York. So we didn't meet her, which is kind of a bummer.

BE: Oh, that's no fun.

PL: Yeah, that's shit, isn't it? The idea was that she'd come to Martha's Vineyard and sing, and that'd be great. And then when people asked us in interviews, 'what was it like,' we thought we'd have a better answer than, "We didn't meet her." But we're going to invite her to some of these gigs, see if she'll come. But it was really nice of her to be so into the music.

Maybe Carly will show up at Trashcan Sinatra's show this Saturday at Bowery Ballroom (8/15). Tickets are still available. Either way, they tour here about as often as they make records so don't miss this chance to see them. Opening is Andy Chase's other band, Brookeville, who definitely owe a little to Trashcan Sinatras and other pristine '80s pop.

Miles Hunt

You could make it a night of late-'80s/early-'90s UK pop Saturday (8/15) if you bolted from Bowery Ballroom right after the Trashcans and hit Cake Shop where former (and sometimes current) Wonder Stuff frontman Miles Hunt will be performing. For those who don't remember, the band were originally part of the short-lived UK "grebo" scene (bands that looked like hippies but sounded punk-ish) that also included Pop Will Eat Itself (Hunt was their original drummer) and Neds Atomic Dustbin, but the band soon developed a celtic pop sound that got them into the British charts many times. In those days of the most unfortunate fashion in modern history, The Wonder Stuff were staples on U.S. college and commercial alternative radio too, with cheeky songs like "A Wish Away," "Don't Let Me Down Gently," and "Welcome to the Cheap Seats." Miles is touring with Wonder Stuff violinist Erika Nockalls which is nice since fiddle played heavily into their sound.

Lights On

Also this week: San Diego's Lights On make their first trip to NYC, playing four shows starting Thursday night (8/13) at Club NME at the Annex. I don't know a whole lot about them, but their self-released debut EP is a nice collection of '80s-influence pop -- most reviews I've read bring up New Order and Echo & the Bunnymen, both of which are pretty easy to detect in their sound. But it's definitely more influence than imitation, and I like them enough to check out one of the four shows (all dates at the bottom of this post). If you could go to any of the four, I'd recommend the Saturday (8/15) show at Union Hall in which they're part of a solid lineup that also includes Philly's can-banging Drink Up Buttercup, Kiwi-influenced Brooklynites Beach Fossils, and Florida buzz band Blind Man's Colour.

Blind Man's Colour

Blind Man's Colour make the sort of cut-n-paste psychedelia that gets you quick comparisons to Animal Collective, and they've been praised by Kanye West ("SOME DOPE SHIT FOR MY APARTMENT"), as well as by people you might more expect (Ed Droste, Stereogum, Pitchfork). Their debut album, Season Dreaming, which I like about half of, is out next week on Kanine Records (Grizzly Bear, Chairlift, Princeton) but I'd have to imagine they'll be selling it at the merch table. These guys had their first-ever live show a couple weeks ago, so you might want to go in with lowered expectations. BMC are playing a number of shows this weekend, and all area dates are listed at the bottom of this post.

Other shows happening this weekend: Tonight (8/13) at Hudson River Park at Pier 54 we've got a free River Rocks show with Yeasayer and Amazing Baby. I haven't seen Yeasayer since All Hour Cymbals was still fresh (circa CMJ 2007?), so I'm curious to hear some of their new material and check out the now five-strong lineup. As for Amazing Baby, it's well documented on this site I'm a fan but realize many are not. Chacun à son goût.

Friday is the final show of this year's Seaport Music series, ending strong with School of Seven Bells and The xx. The forecast looks good, and shows have been sounding great at the Seaport all summer so this is how I'd recommend you kick off the weekend, though I realize many will be at Prospect Park for Animal Collective. But Seaport is free.

Too much going on Friday. If you want to dance, Littlefield has Canada's slightly nerdy duo Woodhands and the Latin-loving Project Jenny/Project Jan.

And if shambly DIY pop is more your thing, The Beets (who will soon be hitting the road with Vivian Girls), German Measles, Pop.1280 and the new-but-quite-promising Fluffy Lumbers play Silent Barn. It's a birthday bash for my pal Rachel (full disclosure!) but everyone's welcome. Flyer below.

I think that about does it. Tour dates, videos and flyers are after the jump...

Continue reading "Trashcan Sinatras, Miles Hunt, Lights On, Blind Man's Colour, Yeasayer, School of Seven Bells & more in This Week In Indie"