DOWNLOAD: Damon & Naomi - "Walking Backwards" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Damon & Naomi - "Shadow Boxing" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: Amor de Dias - "Bunhill Fields" (MP3)

Damon & Naomi

Damon & Naomi will add to the embarassment of Record Store Day riches by playing a free show at Sound Fix in Brooklyn on 4/16 at 7PM, AND releasing a limited 7" featuring "Walking Backwards" with a cover of Scott Walker's "The World's Strongest Man" on the flip. Look for that limited 7" wherever new vinyl is sold.

The former Galaxie 500 pair are also headining out on a US campaign with Amor de Dias in May, adding Ghost/Boris axeslinger and frequent collaborator Michio Kurihara (Boris, Ghost) on some dates and saxophonist/arranger Bhob Rainey of nmperign on others. Look for Kurihara at their Brooklyn show on May 22nd at Knitting Factory. Tickets are on sale.

Damon & Naomi will be touring in support of their new album, False Beats and True Hearts, which is out 5/17. Download "Walking Backwards" and "Shadow Boxing" from that CD above. Stream the same songs, and watch their new video, below.

Amor de Dias

Amor de Dias ("Love of Days") is the duo/supergroup of Alasdair MacLean (The Clientele) and Lupe Núñez-Fernández (Pipas). Their album, Street of the Love of Days, is also due 5/17. Their label is Merge Records, and Merge says:

"Over the course of three years, they quietly put together their debut record during evenings and weekends as they called in local friends (Louis Philippe) and visiting musicians (Damon and Naomi, Gary Olson) for sessions, building up the songs' multifaceted arrangements and vocal harmonies with harps, bouzoukis, strings, recorders, and brass over the core of dual Spanish guitars and the dream imagery of their bilingual lyrics.

The result is a focused, cohesive jewel of chamber pop that reflects a little of Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso's elegant brand of bossa nova, a bit of Erik Satie's haunting night music, and a large dose of spooky psychedelic folk. But the beautiful harmony that sings throughout the record makes it all their own."

Try out "Bunhill Fields" from their album above.

Expect a bit of collaboration between the two duos on tour. All dates below...

Continue reading "Damon & Naomi have a new LP, playing Record Store Day show @ Sound Fix, touring w/ Merge power couple Amor de Dias"

DOWNLOAD: Crystal Stilts - "Shake The Shackles" (MP3)

"We are also playing tomorrow night with Crystal Stilts, German Measles and The Mad Scene (Hamish from the Clean, Girl from Yo La Tengo)..." - Street Chant

Crystal Stilts at Rock Shop (Pascale Gueracague)


Crystal Stilts played Rock Shop on Friday (10/29), days after the release of their new Shake The Shackles 7" via Slumberland Records. Download the title track above and stream both tracks from that release, below.

Crystal Stilts seem to open for half of the indie legends that pass through town (The Vaselines, Dean Wareham playing Galaxie 500, Henry's Dress/Aislers Set, Comet Gain), and/or play with every notable current indie-pop band who are on tour too. They're also part of indie supergroup Cinema Red & Blue which prominently features Comet Gain's David Feck, but also "employs the services of Amy Linton, Hamish Kilgour and Gary Olson." It's not a big surprise then that their recent Rock Shop show with German Measles, The Surprisers and The Mad Scene was equally indie-star studded, though it was the Mad Scene that consisted of regular member and New Zealander/Brooklynite Hamish Kilgour of The Clean along with Georgia Hubley of Yo La Tengo, Amy Linton of Aislers Set, and Gary Olson of Ladybug Transistor. New Zealand band Street Chant, who were in for CMJ, also played some songs at the show.

If you missed Crystal Stilts over the weekend, you won't have long to wait to catch them again, and for FREE; the Brooklyn band will play a free show at Brooklyn Bowl on 11/14. It's part of the venue's "Local by Local" series of shows. 21+. 8pm show.

Meanwhile, Cinema Red & Blue released their debut LP last month on What's Your Rupture. Crystal Stilts have a new LP on the way as well and though very few details have been released, look for it in early 2011. Until then, tide yourself over by checking out the new 7" tracks streaming below.

Continue reading "Crystal Stilts played w/ a guest-filled Mad Scene, released a 7" (stream it), playing a free show"

DOWNLOAD: Cinema Red & Blue - "Same Mistakes" (MP3)

Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips/Moon Duo (more by Abby Braden)

Wooden Shjips will be at ATP NY this weekend (hand-picked by Jim Jarmusch). That's followed by a show at MHOW on 9/6 (tickets) and then more dates north and west as far as Chicago, but then Ripley Johnson of the psychedelic left coast crew will start heading back east for a different string of dates with his other project, Moon Duo. The band will team up with Crystal Stilts and Messages (mems of Psychic Ills) for a show on 9/17 at Knitting Factory. Tickets are on sale.

Crystal Stilts recently played Bowery with Dean Wareham but have otherwise laid relatively low. Members of the band recently completed a new collaborative LP with David Feck of the UK's Comet Gain under the moniker Cinema Red & Blue. You may remember they played here back in September...

"Cinema Red and Blue is a Comet Gain side project featuring frontman David Feck, as well as that band's Anne Laure and Hoffner Burns. They're actually in town to record their album at Gary Olson's Marlborough Studios in Brooklyn and decided to play a show while here. I ran into Feck at a show on Monday and he told me that the album is about half covers and to expect the same from the live show. He rattled off a bunch of the songs they're covering but the only one I remember now is a Julian Cope song from his 1989 album Skellington. The band will be augmented live by former Comet Gain / current Soft City member Phil Sutton, plus JB, Andy and Kyle from Crystal Stilts. I have to imagine Gary Olson will contribute trumpet to at least one song. This should be fun." [Bill]

That self-titled LP is due 9/28 via What's Your Rupture, and features the Vic Godard cover "Same Mistakes" which can download above. Finest Kiss adds that, "the makeshift band also employs the services of Amy Linton, Hamish Kilgour and [as Bill predicted] Gary Olson."

Wooden Shjips released Vol 2 earlier this year, a compilation of rare singles available via Holy Mountain. Moon Duo was recently featured on the Woodist comp Welcome Home / Diggin' The Universe.

Messages (the band featuring members of Psychic Ills) also have another show in the near future, supporting Excepter and Up Died Sound on 10/27 at Coco66.

All tour dates and some video is below....

Continue reading "indie supergroup Cinema Red & Blue LP coming soon (MP3), Crystal Stilts, Moon Duo (a NYC show) & Wooden Shjips too"