So by far the biggest thing to happen during my absence (sorry for the lack of posts, been busy and sick) is the gigantic news that the almighty Pavement, one of the greatest bands of the 90s and designated kings of the lo-fi indie rock throne have gone and done what so many people have been hoping they'd do for the last 10 years and play a reunion show~! If this is news to you and you want to go, you're too late as tickets for four shows on four consecutive nights in New York City sold out in minutes. Howevever, the band has stated that they've got more shows than those in them, hinting at playing some of the bigger american festivals next year such as Coachella, Lollapolooza and (fingers crossed) Sasquatch... one can only hope. For those not familiar with Pavement, I'll start you off where I started off all those years ago as a kid who saw their video on tv and didn't really understand it, but still thought it was the coolest thing he ever saw. Fast forward to years later and I find myself owning all their records and generally obsessing over them (especially for the past year or two as Matador has re-issued all their releases on some really awesome deluxes packages). So here we go, the classic video for their underappreciated alternahit from 1994, "Cut Your Hair" and if you like what you hear, I emplore you to check them out further (start with either 92's "Slanted & Enchanted" or 94's "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain").
Another thing I did in the past little while is go to a ton of shows and buy a good chunk of records at these shows. Here's a brief rundown of what I listened to both live and on vinyl this past little while:
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart w/ The Depreciation Guild, Cymbals Eat Guitars (9/15/09 - Neumo's - Seattle, WA)As you're probably aware by now, I'm completely in love with one of this year's buzz bands, Brooklyn's The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, making mention of them every opportunity I get in this blog. It seemed kind of silly to head down to Seattle to see them, especially considering I had already seen them less than 2 months previously, plus it was a Tuesday night. I'll be honest in that I was actually more excited to see New York's Cymbal's Eat Guitars who also put out a pretty darn good lil' album this past Febuary, "Why There Are No Mountains". It was just my luck to find that when I got to Seattle, that Cymbals... would in fact not being playing due to apparent food poisoning. We decided to check the show out regardless, having come all that way and were pleasantly surprised by other opener, The Depreciation Guild, 2/3rds of which consist of members of The Pains. What we were treated to was a set of really cool shoegaze-y indie rock, fronted by layers of guitar, chiptune backing tracks, precise drumming and cool, laid back vocals courtesy of Kurt Feldman who drums in TPOBPAH but is a perfectly capable guitar player/vocalist. Backed by a nice visual display consisting of a variety of ever-changing colours/shapes, projected on the wall, I found myself really enjoying The Depreciation Guild's set to the point that I wasn't so bothered that I missed out on Cymbal's. Content and tired, we didn't stick around to see The Pains play that night, although I heard they were very good... I definitely look forward to my next opportunity to see them play live again.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Higher Than Stars" 12" EP (Slumberland Records, 2009)The other nice thing about the show was that I managed to pick up a copy of The Pains stellar new 12" EP. Having already heard a couple of the songs live back in July, as well as finding a leak of the EP a few days previous, I knew exactly what I was in for. Featuring songs along the same lines as their awesome full length from earlier this year, this record is definitely a thumbs up for the most part. The only negative thing I have to say about it is in regards to "Falling Over", the lead off track on the B side of the record which is so annoying and repetitive and in the words of my friend Shaun, "like the worst Pet Shop Boys song ever recorded" to the point that I can't stand to listen to it. Hey, I said they were really good... not perfect. Even with that being said, this is definitely an EP worth checking out though.
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Titus Andronicus w/ The So So Glos (9/16/09 - The Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver, BC)As excited as I was for the show the previous night, I found myself far more excited to see New Jersey's finest lo-fi punk n' rollers, Titus Andronicus play a show at the Biltmore Cabaret. Ever since I heard their amazing debut full length, last year's Seinfeld-referencing "The Airing of Grievences", I've wanted to see these guys play what I could only imagine would be a full energy, down and dirty set. Unfortunately for those guys, I seemed to be in the minority as this show was scarcely attended which was a shame as this is a band that people shouldn't sleep on. Through their previously spoken of full length, as well as a variety of 7"s, Titus Andronicus have unleashed their own brand of multi-movement indie rock, like a really great punk rock record with act breaks or an early Bruce Springsteen record recorded on a tapedeck by a group of dudes who don't give a fuck, they just give it their all.
The other great thing about this show was the discovery of the opening act, The So So Glos who call New York City home. Not expecting much, boy did I find myself surprised when I was greated by four guys who played straight forward punk inspired jams that doubled as party anthems that got the entire dance floor moving. I went to pick up their self-titled 7" after the show was over which they only had one copy left of, their display copy which they ended up giving to me because they didn't feel right making me pay for it as it was a tad banged up. Really nice guys and hopefully they can manage to make some noise on the indie scene in the future (in more ways than one).
I'm going to take this opportunity to introduce everyone to a fantastic website known as Daytrotter, a group based in Chicago who record musicians of all shapes and sizes in their studio and put the mp3s as well as interviews, essays and original artwork up for ones' viewing and downloading pleasure, completely FREE of charge. Usually bands will record different takes on their favourite tracks or perhaps take the opportunity to record something unreleased or even a cover. All it takes is a quick signup with a valid email address (the only emails you ever get from them are once a week rundowns of what sessions were released). The reason I bring it up now is because both of these bands have recorded stellar sessions over at Daytrotter within the last year and I figured it'd be a good way for:a) people to hear these amazing bands (Titus Andronicus and The So So Glos)
b) people to discover one of my favourite websites for finding new musicians as well as hearing a new spin on some of your favourite songs by bands you're already familiar with.
http://www.daytrotter.com
Sunny Day Real Estate w/ The Jealous Sound (9/17/09 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC)Not to sound cliche but as much as I was looking forward to seeing Titus Andronicus, I think the show I was most looking forward to all week was seeing the return of probably the greatest emo band of the 90s, Seattle's own Sunny Day Real Estate. Having disbanded and gotten back together in various incarnations, this was the original lineups first show together in almost 15 years and it also happened to be the kick off of their reunion tour. Not knowing what to expect but hoping for great things, I was very pleased with what I saw: a band who sounded just as good today as they did all those years ago, playing hit after hit from their 2 amazing releases (as well as a new song) recorded during their peak, almost 2 decades ago.
Speaking of those releases, 94's "Diary" and 95's posthumously released "Sunny Day Real Estate", were just recently re-issued by Sub Pop on CD and deluxe vinyl 2xLP packages, featuring some beautiful artwork and coloured vinyl and for those who have never heard them, there's no better time than the present to check out some of the greatest emo records of all time, from a time when "emo" wasn't a dirty word that was reserved for shitty mall punk and bad screamo. Just days after these records were re-issued and I had the opportunity to hear some of my favourite songs of all time, the newly reformed SDRE played "Seven", the lead off track from their much-heralded debut on the Jimmy Fallon show, hopefully reaching a new generation who may not be familiar with them but will like what they hear and discover a group whose influence was immense but not necessarily recognized at the time. Check it out for yourself...
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