by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: 14 Iced Bears - Inside (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: 14 Iced Bears - Like a Dolphin (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: 14 Iced Bears - Hay Fever (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The 1900s - Babies (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tuung - Don't Look Down or Back (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Blank Dogs - Northern Islands (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dead Gaze - This Big World (MP3)

14 Iced Bears

I did a double take when I saw that UK indiepop cult heros 14 Iced Bears were playing The Rock Shop on Thursday (11/11). I didn't even know they had reformed. They're associated with the jangly C86 scene (though not actually on that famed cassette) and released singles on seminal indiepop labels Sarah and Slumberland. You can download three songs at the top of this post, all of which are on the Slumberland-released singles comp In The Beginning. A little more on the band from Slumberland:

Formed in 1985 by Rob Sekula, 14 Iced Bears ably blended shambolic pop with a psychedelic punk edge that set them apart from their C86 contemporaries. Inspired by bands like the Stooges, Velvet Underground, 13th Floor Elevators and Echo & the Bunnymen, Sekula injected the then-nascent indie-pop sound with a twisted dose of noise and experimental menace. While still owing plenty to the Byrds/Ramones influences evident in the output of labels like Creation and Pink, it was this dark 60s flavor that always set the 'Bears apart. [Slumberland]

If you can find 14 Iced Bears 1988 debut album, it's an underheard classic of the era. I also really like their fuzzed-out cover of "Summer Nights" from Grease, which was my introduction to the band. If you like Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Dream Diary and Crystal Stilts, here's some OG indiepoppers making a rare, totally unexpected appearance on American shores. The band broke up in 1992 and these are their first shows since then. Highly Recommended. The band are over, ostensibly, for Popfest New England which happens this weekend, but are making a short Northeast tour out of the visit. All 14 Iced Bears tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

1900s

The other super-exciting this weekend is the return of Chicago's The 1900s who haven't played NYC in almost two years. They play an early show at Mercury Lounge on Thursday (11/11) and then The Rock Shop on Saturday (11/13). Their new album, Return of the Century, is pretty fantastic, somewhere between Velvet Underground and Fleetwood Mac, brimming with perfectly crafted pop. Says Chicagoist:

The 1900s have many musical precursors, but it seems unfair to name check any of them since the group has obviously labored so hard to create something of their own. And in that they've succeeded. Return of the Century is surrounded by a golden warmth, coursing through every harmony and bittersweet guitar chord. The band has mastered the art of creating a genuine atmosphere, as opposed to taking musical shortcuts to convey sentimentality, and it's impossibly not to lay back and luxuriate in the sound washing over you. Previously The 1900s excelled in mirroring sounds from the past, and the sonic dressings haven't changed, but now there's a genuine and unique beating heart giving their tunes life. It's like watching the difference between four-color print and HD TV, only through gauzy pastels.

You can listen for yourself -- the whole of Return of the Century is streaming via a widget at the bottom of this post. And if you haven't already, you can download an MP3 of single "Babies" at the top of this post. And I do urge you to go see them. The 1900s are just as skilled live, and a lot of fun too.

Tunng

If you don't mind paying again 'cause it's a separate show, you can stick around after The 1900s play at Mercury Lounge on Thursday (11/11) and catch folky UK act Tunng. They also play Bruar Falls on Saturday (11/13). The band have gone through some line-up changes since their last album, most notably the departure of singer Sam Genders (he of the Robert Wyatt-esque voice).

Losing their singer/songwriter could prove disastrous (see: The Concretes new LP review in P4K) but Tunng's fourth album, And Then We Saw Land, is pretty good, if a little more straight-up folk pop than their previous albums which mixed acoustics with glitchy electronics. Laptops still make appearances here and there, but the new LP is breezy pastoral stuff. You can download "Don't Look Down or Back" at the top of this post, and watch the video for single "Hustle" at the bottom. The Mercury Lounge show is the first of a short North American tour, and all dates are at the bottom of this post.

Blank Dogs

There's so much good music coming out on Captured Tracks lately much of it in single form. If you haven't heard Craft Spells' "Party Talk" or Soft Moon's "Breath the Fire," you should definitely seek them out. Don't forget about Blank Dogs, the musical alter ego of C/T major domo Mike Sniper. Blank Dogs new album, Land and Fixed, has come a long way from the murky, effects-overload of their early EPs into new sonic clarity. There's still a lot of delay and chorus effects but it no longer sounds like it was recorded in a bog. If you like the weirder side of early Mute Records (Fad Gadget seem a big influence), or the dark pop of Ohio cult legends My Dad is Dead, give BD's new album a listen. It's pretty good.

Really more of a studio thing, the Blank Dogs Live Experience has been a bit more of a mess, but Sniper has formed a new power trio version of the band and given the strength of the last few records it may be time to revisit. They play Friday night at Glasslands as part of a really good bill. Also on the bill: Mississippi's Dead Gaze (super-catchy bedroom recorded pop, check out an MP3 above); Swimsuit (new band from Fred Thomas of City Center/Saturday Looks Good to Me); and the jangly psych-pop of Minneapolis  Velvet Davenport (who also play Shea Stadium on Saturday [11/13]).

That's the main stuff this week. A few more picks, night-by-night, of things not covered above.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10

I'd kind of forgotten about Favourite Sons who haven't released an album since 2006's underrated Down Beside Your Beauty. But after a dormant period they're about to release it's follow-up, The Great Deal of Love, and play Union Pool tonight. (Watch a video of the title track at the bottom of this post.) Singer Ken Griffin, who sounds a little like Ian McCulloch, fronted the excellent but mostly forgotten '90s band Rollerskate Skinny (seek out 1996's Horsedrawn Wishes, it's a lost classic).

Tonight at Bruar Falls is what is likely Pursesnatchers' last show for what will likely be a while, as Doug Marvin and Annie Hart are expecting a bundle of joy any second. They're on at 8PM and it's FREE.

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Continue reading "14 Iced Bears, 1900s, Tunng, Blank Dogs, Obits, Magic Kids, Popfest New England & more in This Week in Indie "

Bear In Heaven is playing the Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 19th. Tickets are on sale now.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Deerhunter, Real Estate, Casino Versus Japan show at Webster Hall (you can also catch Deerhunter and Real Estate for free much sooner).

Tickets are on sale for the Thermals / Cymbals Eat Guitars show happening at Irving Plaza.

Paul Weller is playing Nokia Theatre on November 7th. Tickets are on sale.

Samiam, The Casting Out, I Hate Our Freedom, and Vs. Antelope are playing the Music Hall of Williamsburg on October 13th. Tickets are on sale now.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Wavves show at Music Hall of Williamsburg

Aziz Ansari is headlining the Beacon Theatre as part of the New York Comedy Festival on November 6th. Tickets are currently on presale. General sale starts Monday at 10am.

Other New York Comedy Festival tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster too., though the Louis CK show is on sale directly at Carnegie Hall.

Fitz & The Tantrums are playing The Mercury Lounge on September 25th. Tickets are on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Primus show at The Wellmont Theater

Sharon Van Etten and Kyp Malone are playing The Mercury Lounge on October 9th. Tickets are on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale at noon for The Sword show at Webster Hall

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Phantogram show at Music Hall of Williamsburg

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Black Mountain and Black Angels show at The Bowery Ballroom

Ra Ra Riot tourmates, Givers, are playing The Mercury Lounge on November 6th. Tickets are on sale at noon. It's Givers' only New York City show at the moment. They're not opening any of the four New York Ra Ra Riot dates.

Tunng is playing The Mercury Lounge on November 11th. Tickets are on sale at 9:30 PM.

Idlewild is playing The Bowery Ballroom on November 22nd and November 23rd. 2 Day Passes are also available for purchase. Tickets all on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale Monday, August 9 for the Joanna Newsom show at Carnegie Hall

by Bill Pearis

The '90s shoegaze revival marches on. Swervedriver got back together in 2008 and now 2010 will see Chapterhouse tour America, including a May 3rd show at the Bell House in Brooklyn. Tickets just went on sale.

Chapterhouse's 1991 debut, Whirlpool (reissued in 2006), mixed swirly guitars and breathy vocals with a hefty dose of dance music (Madchester was peaking then) and the album's single "Pearl" was a big Modern Rock radio hit in America. It's hard to hear "Pearl" and not think it was a big influence on The Big Pink's "Dominoes." The band made a second album -- the more overtly dancey Blood Music -- in 1993 but went their separate ways not too long after that. Drummer Ashley Bates now plays in Tunng.

Chapterhouse play Japan in April before heading to America. The Bell House date is the only U.S. show announced so far but expect more cities soon. In addition to some of their music videos, click through to see the reformed Chapterhouse perform "Pear" at London's ICA in November 2010 -- sounds pretty good I think...

Continue reading "Reformed Chapterhouse schedule a US show (in Brooklyn)"

DOWNLOAD: Hope Sandoval - Wild Roses (MP3)

1- THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS - Asleep from day
2- ALPHA - Elvis
3- *NOUVELLE VAGUE - Confusion
4- FINK - Trouble's what you are in
5- *HOPE SANDOVAL - Wild Roses
6- TUNNG - Bullets
7- TWO FOR THE ROAD - Road Trip
8- APPARAT - Hailin' from the edge
9- *TELEPOPMUSIK - Ghost Girl
10- FOUR TET - Everything is alright
11- *THE SHOES feat. KELLY DE MARTINO - 7 am
12- JOSÉ GONZALEZ - Down the line
13- KELLY DE MARTINO - Long, long, long
14- BOARDS OF CANADA - Dayvan Cowboy
15- ASWEFALL - Between the miles

"Air France's first ever album features symbolic tracks already used on board the aircraft, plus three exclusive pieces composed especially for the occasion (Hope Sandoval, Telepopmusik and The Shoes featuring Kelly De Martino). For this next musical step, it was logical that the compilation take its name from the on board Air France music channel itself - 'In The Air'."

Six of the songs are streaming at MySpace including all three news ones. Most importantly...NEW HOPE SANDOVAL (also available for download above)

Hope is also supposedly (hopefully) going to appear on the new Massive Attack album ("The Weather Underground") coming out some time in 2009.

In related news, Mazzy Star keyboardist Suki Ewers is still making music and playing shows.

Check out the classic Jesus & Mary Chain video for "Sometimes Always" (starring Hope) below...

Continue reading "HOPE SANDOVAL pens a NEW song for Air France (MP3), Chemical Brothers, Boards of Canada & others on CD too"

DOWNLOAD: Tunng - Bricks (MP3)

David Byrne & Classic Riders Bicycle Club @ Town Hall - Oct 6, 2007 (CRED)

Mr. Byrne, dressed in black and sporting his cool taxi-yellow bike helmet (see our previous StreetFilm here) then rode onto the stage and locked up. Moments later Hal Ruzal, NYC bicycling icon and mechanic at Bicycle Habitat, emerged from behind a curtain to pick his lock with a variety of tools. Mr. Ruzal’s advice on not getting your bike stolen? “Have a bicycle lock that is real expensive, and a bicycle that’s really cheap.” True dat. [StreetFilms]

In related news, David Byrne is playing the Wordless Music Series, and he covered Fiery Furnaces' "Ex Guru" for an upcoming Thrill Jockey Box Set. More info, below....

Continue reading "David Byrne talked bikes, covering Fiery Furnaces ---------------------- Thrill Jockey box set ---- Tunng"