Posts Tagged ‘Exitmusic’

Friday, May 4th, 2012

White Wind

School Of Seven Bells and Exitmusic at The Hoxton in Toronto

Photo By Frank YangFrank YangWhen I think back to School Of Seven Bells’ last headlining show in Toronto in September 2010 circa Disconnect From Desire, two things leap immediately to mind. One, that it was less than a month before Claudia Deheza announced her departure from the band and two, that it was shockingly poorly attended – as in you could count the dozens of people there on one hand from where I stood. That these come to mind before the fact that it was a great show – the best I’d seen from them at and not uncoincidentally the first time I saw them with a live drummer – was unfortunate.

Wednesday night wasn’t their first time back since then – they opened up for Interpol at The Sound Academy in February of 2011 – but it was their first in support of Ghostory, their third album and first as a duo, and first in front of their own local fanbase, however many that would turn out to be. To my ears they’d recovered quite well from losing a third of the band as far as writing and recording went, but was certainly curious to see how their live show adapted. Questions about whether or not they had fans in the 416 were thankfully answered early on as The Hoxton, while not nearly sold out, was respectably full. We’ll call that last show an exception, then.

Support on this tour came from fellow New Yorkers Exitmusic, a new act – their debut EP From Silence came out last year and their first full-length Passage is due May 22 – but one whose face may be familiar to viewers of Boardwalk Empire. Not that this tidbit offered any insight into what sort of music they might make; indeed, you don’t get much further from the sounds of the prohibition era than the dark and goth-y dreamscapes that they offered. They moved at a steady, determined pace that preferred to render dynamics on the scale of their set than in each individual song. Aleksa Palladino’s voice has a great range, but rather than show it off she tended to restrict it to what was necessary for the song – a commendable approach that you don’t hear as much as you should. Utilizing plenty of electronics but with few synthetic affectations, they succeeded at creating a distinct mood but were light on melody and the songs were ultimately only intermittently memorable.

I probably make too much out of the loss of Claudia Deheza from School Of Seven Bells. Certainly it disrupted my sense of symmetry and novelty, but as Ghostory proved it didn’t adversely affect them creatively, this show proved it wasn’t even a speed bump in their ever-improving live show. Recall that when they first started performing, it was as near to a literal translation of a studio project to stage as you could get with the Deheza sisters on guitar and keys flanking Ben Curtis on guitar, all playing over dense backing tracks – it sounded note-perfect, but felt overly mechanical. Now with their sound having evolved towards a full-on dance-rock hybrid, having a live drummer and keyboardist/backing vocalist augmenting Allie Deheza and Curtis may have made them a more conventional band, but also a much better one.

With Deheza as the focal point – okay, the glowing Ghostory glyphs on either side of the stage were also eye-catching – they worked a set that had good weight and flow and stretched equally across their discography, sounding much more organic than you might have expected but still sleek and gleaming where it counted. Allie Alvarado didn’t try to replace all of Claudia’s departed harmonies, but when called on to double Deheza as on “Iamundernodisguise”, she acquitted herself alright – for the most part though, they were able to get the listener to gently accept that that facet of the band was no more but it was going to be alright. It was impressive just how many great songs they’ve produced in just three albums and half a decade, but it was the set-closing selections from Alpinisms that still got me the most – “Half Asleep”, which opened the encore, is still pure and glorious pop. And this time, there were people there to see it.

The Detroit Free Press has an interview with School Of Seven Bells’ Ben Curtis and The Daily Kansan Q&As Exitmusic’s Aleksa Palladino.

Photos: School Of Seven Bells, Exitmusic @ The Hoxton – May 2, 2012
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Lafaye”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “The Night”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Windstorm”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Babelonia”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Connjur”
MP3: Exitmusic – “The Sea”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Reappear”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Lafaye”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Windstorm”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “My Cabal”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Half Asleep”
Video: Exitmusic – “Passage”
Video: Exitmusic – “The Hours”

Before opening up for Bear In Heaven at The Garrison later that night, Blouse will stop in at Sonic Boom’s Kensington location this Saturday – May 5 – for a little record-shopping and in-store performing at 5PM. There’s features on the Portland dream-pop outfit at The Boston Phoenix and SSG Music.

MP3: Blouse – “Into Black”

Exclaim reports that How To Dress Well – the pseudonym of Brooklyn’s Tom Krell – will bring his take on R&B sounds backed by a full band to The Drake Underground on June 7 as part of a Summer tour, presumably in support of a new record.

Video: How To Dress Well – “Lover’s Start”

!!! have made a date for Lee’s Palace on July 7, tickets $16.50 in advance. Could a follow-up to 2010’s Strange Weather, Isn’t It? be on the way?

MP3: !!! – “AM/FM”
MP3: !!! – “Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass”

After putting on a helluva show at The Horseshoe in November, Chicago soul outfit JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound will return to that same room for a show on July 13, tickets $9. For a taste of what to expect, check out their Epitonic Saki Session and read and interview at Go Pride Chicago. They also just released a new video from Want More.

MP3: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – “Everything Will Be Fine”
MP3: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – “Sister Ray Charles”
Video: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – “Sister Ray Charles”

Reunited San Diego hardcore legends Hot Snakes are coming to town for a show at The Horseshoe on September 21, tickets $20 in advance.

MP3: Hot Snakes – “Who Died”

NPR welcomes Hospitality for a Tiny Desk Concert. They’re at The Garrison tomorrow night – May 5 – opening up for Eleanor Friedberger.

NYC Taper has a recording of a recent Lower Dens show and Paste, Blurt, and The Baltimore Sun have interviews. They’re at Lee’s Palace on July 17.

Design Sponge gets a tour of Sharon Van Etten’s apartment. Can’t say I’m not disappointed that she’s got one of those terribly Crossley turntables… There’s also interviews at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Nashville Scene. Van Etten plays The Phoenix on July 31.

DIY interview Peter Silberman of The Antlers.

Perfume Genius has released a new video from Put Your Back N 2 It, starring Mike Hadreas and his mom.

Video: Perfume Genius – “Dark Parts”

The Alternate Side and The Guardian both have video sessions with The Magnetic Fields and The Silver Tongue an interview.

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

A Heavy Abacus

The Joy Formidable and A Place To Bury Strangers team for tour; loudness ensues

Photo via Big HassleBig HassleBoth Wales’ The Joy Formidable and New York’s A Place To Bury Strangers know a thing or two about the merits of turning one’s amplifiers up as far as they’ll go, destroying their instruments, and making their audience wish that it were possible to wear more than one pair of earplugs at a time. So with the announcement yesterday that the two acts were teaming up for a trans-Atlantic summit on (inflicting) hearing loss, those who like it loud responded with excitement. And fear.

A Place To Bury Strangers have a legitimate reason to be hitting the road – they’re releasing the Onwards To The Wall EP on February 7, and have just put out an MP3 and video from said release to build anticipation. The Joy Formidable are still working last year’s debut The Big Roar, and though they’ve said they’re working on the follow-up and want to have it out this year, it’s hard to imagine how they’ll find the time as it seems they’ve been touring non-stop for years now – they were here thrice in the span of a year and the April 2 stop at Lee’s Palace will make it four times in under two years. Tickets for that are $16.50.

And rounding out the bill will be New York’s Exitmusic, who aren’t all that loud – their 2011 EP was called From Silence, after all – but whose frontwoman Aleksa Palladino might be familiar if you watch Boardwalk Empire (and if you do, you know she’s got a lot of time to devote to her music now).

The Vinyl District has an interview with The Joy Formidable and, as a bonus, over the holidays the band shared a cover of their tune “I Don’t Want To See You Like This” as done by long-time Elvis Costello keyboardist Steve Nieve. Random, but nice. And not loud.

MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
MP3: A Place To Bury Strangers – “So Far Away”
MP3: Exitmusic – “The Sea”
MP3: Steve Nieve – “I Don’t Want To See You Like This”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
Video: A Place To Bury Strangers – “So Far Away”
Video: Exitmusic – “The Hours”

The Twilight Sad – themselves no strangers to the joys of noise – have made a second MP3 from their forthcoming No One Can Ever Know – out February 7 – available via Spin. They’re at Lee’s Palace on February 29 and there’s interviews with the band at The Skinny and Delusions Of Adequacy.

MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Another Bed”

The Big Pink give Spin a track-by-track tour of their new record Future This, and you can follow along at NME as they’re streaming the whole thing ahead of its release next Tuesday, January 17. Drowned In Sound also has an interview with the band.

Stream: The Big Pink / Future This

The Stool Pigeon talks to David Lewis Gedge of The Wedding Present; they’re at The Horseshoe on March 25.

Laundromatinee has got a video session with Yuck for the sharing.

While I’m beyond disappointed that Allo Darlin’s Spring American tour isn’t a NORTH American tour – which is to say there’s no Canadian dates – that sting is lessened just a bit by the fact that the first proper single from Europe is now available to stream. The record is due out sometime in May.

Stream: Allo Darlin’ – “Capricornia”

Fanfarlo have premiered a new video from Rooms Filled With Light over at NPR. The record is out February 28 and they play The Mod Club as part of Canadian Musicfest on March 24.

Video: Fanfarlo – “Shiny Things”

Arctic Monkeys have put out another new video from Suck It And See; they’re at The Air Canada Centre on March 14 supporting The Black Keys.

Video: Arctic Monkeys – “Black Treacle”

BBC6 talks to Richard Hawley about his next record, which will be much more “guitar-centric”. Can. Not. Wait.

New Jersey Underground reports that British Sea Power’s New Year’s resolution appears to have been to release a shit-tonne of new music. Starting now – BSP EP1 is already available – the band will release an EP every month for the next six months, each featuring in-progress new material that may surface in different forms in future albums.

Loud & Quiet talks to Greg Hughes of Still Corners.

Australian dance-rock outfit The Temper Trap have made a March 25 date at The Phoenix. They’ve still yet to follow up 2009’s Conditions, but planning shows on the other side of the world could be a sign that that’s going to change. Or maybe they just want to do some shopping.

Video: The Temper Trap – “Sweet Disposition”

Snow Patrol will be at Massey Hall on April 17. Their latest album Fallen Empires came out in Europe last year but only just came out in North America yesterday – Billboard has a track-by-track tour of the record from frontman Gary Lightbody.

Video: Snow Patrol – “This Is Everything You Are”

Spin talks family bands with First Aid Kit. They’ve released a new video from their forthcoming The Lion’s Roar, out January 24, and will play The Great Hall on April 4.

Video: First Aid Kit – “Emmylou”

Swedish singer-songwriter Amanda Mair has set a February 15 release date for her self-titled debut.

MP3: Amanda Mair – “Doubt”

The AV Club interviews Anthony Gonzalez of M83. They play The Sound Academy on May 6.