Monthly Archives: November 2010

11.22.10
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The Morning Benders @ Webster Hall, NYC – November 18, 2010


The Morning Benders are a band I first encountered at The Market Place Hotel (R.I.P.) in Brooklyn supporting Surfer Blood (also that evening playing alongside bands such as Grooms, Turbo Fruits, and Beach Fossils) and I’ll admit at first I wasn’t impressed, but there was a certain charm their stage presence put out that has stuck with me. The band not only seemed incredibly young but ripe for the journey most aspiring musicians cannot even comprehend, fast forward to where we are today, the bands sophomore record Big Echo is destined to make many top 10 list, they have already supported Ra Ra Riot, White Rabbits, MGMT, Yeasayer, and The Black Keys, and after all of that the band have set out on their first headlining tour. Not bad for the four little guys who played Market Hotel earlier this year.

The bands performance really surprised me. Its unbelievable how much a band can change in the span of a year but The Morning Benders make it a feat to show that they’ve been doing nothing but learning. Chris Chu fronts the band with a relaxed talent but isn’t afraid to get into his tunes, while his brother Jon Chu backs him up with a rhythm guitar which could be named precision. After the third track Chris Chu proclaimed “Earlier this year we released an album called Big Echo! We’re going to play a lot of tracks from it to thank all of you for the year we had!” I was lucky enough to capture their show at Webster Hall (along with photos of opening act Twin Sister).

Photos from the show can be viewed here.

11.19.10
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NYC Weekend Show Roundup!

Earl Greyhound, Cavalier Rose, Knights on Earth @ Bowery Ballroom
The Naked and Famous, Savoir Adore @ Brooklyn Bowl
Amazing Baby, Acrylics, Teen, Psychic @ Cameo Gallery
Kittens Ablaze, Team B, Baby Alpaca @ Glasslands
Greg Laswell, Harper Blynn (formerly Pete and J) @ Highline Ballroom
Wakey! Wakey!, Jenny Owen Youngs @ Maxwell’s
Tall Tall Trees, Great Elk @ Mercury Lounge
Lee Fields & The Expressions, Charles Bradley and The Menahan Street Band @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Roadside Graves, Motel Motel, Dinosaur Feathers, Ivana XL, Teletextile @ Pianos
Peelander Z, Starscream, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re @ Santos Party House
Paul and the Patients, Zoos Of Berlin, Life Size Maps, Sports, The Sanctuaries @ Spike Hill
The Frames @ Terminal 5
Bardo Pond, Pontiak, Crazy Dreams Band, Bad Dream, Silver Summit @ The Bell House
La Strada, Hospitality, Birdlips @ The Rock Shop
Black Dice, Blues Control, McDonalds (mbrs of Oxford Collapse), Avey Tare (DJ set) @ The Schoolhouse
Kate Nash @ The Wellmont Theatre

Javelin, Future Islands, Lonnie Walker @ 285 Kent Avenue
Delorean, Lemonade, Light Pollution @ Bowery Ballroom
Young Prisms, Weekend, MINKS, Big Troubles @ Glasslands

11.19.10
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The Morning Benders’ “Excuses” Get the Golden Filter Treatment


If you missed The Morning Benders’ shows in the US and unfortunately cannot afford a Christmas/New Years’ vacation in Australia where they are headed next, this may not quite be enough to counter the disappointment, but it can at least provide you with one extra tune you can impress your friends with. New York City electronic duo The Golden Filter have remixed the Californians’ ballad “Excuses,” off their album Big Echo (Rough Trade). In this shiny new arrangement, Chris Chu’s voice is complimented with Golden Filter singer Penelope Trappes’s for an eerie, echoed beginning. It quickly transitions into a steady beat that replaces the original song’s twirling guitars. Instead, a never ending keyboard loop will have you entranced, so much that the abrupt breaks in the song will have you disoriented, until you realize they were just there to let you catch your breath before another round of frenetic dancing.

You can download this remix for free on The Morning Benders’ website HERE but make sure to get a first listen below:

11.19.10
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Wildlife Release Full Length Version of Their EP, “Strike Hard, Young Diamond”

Canada is a big and confusing place, unless of course, you’re from there. But even then, it’s still a lot to grasp, eh? Seems like the vastness and all the maple sugar highs can often cause people to freak out like a Moose Gone Wild. Or at least, they write songs about the confounded feelings from living in such a large, cold and too-cussing-polite-about-it-all place. Toronto’s Wildlife clearly is no exception, as demonstrated on their latest release, Strike Hard, Young Diamond.

Channeling fellow Canadians Tokyo Police Club and wilderness influenced uber-rockers, Wolf Parade; Wildlife delivers a melodic, heady, transfixing offering with Strike Hard, Young Diamond. Extended from their EP of the same name, Wildlife thought it fitting to finish the project by adding gutsier tracks to round out the effort.

Emoting youth gone angstier, Strike Hard, Young Diamond plays almost too candid at times, offering desperation right from the opening tracks, “Stand in the Water” and “Sea Dreamer” all the way through to “American Eyes” and “Out,” but it works in their favor, like a sordid reality show, it’s hard to turn away. “Drunken Heart” is sure to be a classic. It waxes and wanes with a precision so hypnotic that you’ll mourn it’s ending with maudlin pause. Even “Move to the City,” which sounds familiar and somewhat unimportant at first, unravels into anthem status.

Though there are at least more than twelve moments eerily indistinguishable from Wolf Parade (or any of their myriad worthy side/side/side projects), there’s solace in the sounds on Strike Hard Young Diamond. Imagine that you’re standing in the middle of Canada’s magnificent Boreal Forest. Certainly no one would feel nearly as comforted if there was only one frail tree standing alone. Wildlife embraces the Canadian sound with hubris, laying deep roots alongside fellow greats, hopefully for decades to come.

Vive le forests.

But don’t take my word for it. Listen for yourself. Three songs for FREE:
http://wildlifeband.bandcamp.com/

11.19.10
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The Concretes Release Vowel-Free Album

Well…Unless you count Y. The Concretes released their newest album, WYWH, last week. The album features a new singer and a new label for the band, but the album still manages to sound like an evolved version of  The Concretes.

Drummer Lisa Milberg has stepped up for vocals duty and Friendly Fire Records will be bringing the release to a store near you (or Amazon).

To celebrate the occasion, the band has put out a new song from the album. The song “All Day” is a melodic piece of fuzz-pop that would have fit perfectly into the summer rotation for the beach. However it’s still pretty amazing in the midst of a chilly November.

You can check it out right here.

11.19.10
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The Cordelier Club Reveals Debut Song on December 6th

The Cordelier Club’s December slated single, “Don’t Let It Go By” from the London based ensemble is fused with bouncy guitar, dance-synth keyboards and percussion that you can clap your hands to. The music has a similar effect as many of their contemporaries today but with a style almost evoking disco and vocals influenced by 70’s rock singers, merging that current sound with an older generation’s. The Cordelier Club has created a refreshing new take on what’s popular right now.

The brother-sister vocal effort from the core of the band – Richard and Alice Smith – comes through with charming harmonies and an echo throughout the chorus from Richard after Alice implores “is any body out tonight?” Alice’s vocals are more prominent and powerful and are the melody to Richard’s cool rhythm.

It’s a great dance song and a perfect debut for a band on the verge of breaking out. If they don’t manage to blow up the scene, well then it’s one perfectly pleasant song to be proud of. The latter seems to be less likely especially with the help of the likes of Mike McCarthy, the man responsible for the production of Spoon and …Trail of Dead.

Look for “Don’t Let It Go By” on December 6th.