popwreckoning

This past April, Mates of State released Re-Arranged: Remixes Volume 1 on limited-edition 12″ vinyl. Featuring four interpretations of tracks from Mates of State’s latest full-length, Re-arrange Us, it included contributions from noted remixologists DJ Sega, Flosstradamus, The Mae Shi and RAC. Packaged in a classic DJ white sleeve, the 12″ EP was limited to 1000 copies worldwide.

But, for folks who prefer the digital to the analog, we’re excited to announce that Mates of State’s Re-Arranged: Remixes Vol. 1 is now available digitally at fine digital retailers everywhere. This digital version features a bonus track remixed by Amp Live and not available on the 12″ physical edition.

Check out the Mae Shi Remix of “You Are Free” here:

.“You Are Free (The Mae Shi Remix)”

Tracklisting:
01. You Are Free (The Mae Shi remix)
02. The Re-Arranger (Flosstradamus remix)
03. Now (RAC remix)
04. Help Help (DJ Sega Philly Club remix)
05. The Re-Arranger (Amp Live remix)

Mates of State: website | myspace | live review | Re-Arrange Us review

Photographer Lauren Goldberg captured Murder by Death Oct. 15, 2009 when they played at NYC’s Terminal 5.

Murder By Death: website | myspace | @ bottleneck | @ grog shop | @ mr small’s

New Yorkers are really getting lucky. As if the entire weeklong musicfest CMJ wasn’t enough entertainment, those in New York have the chance to hit up not one, but two secret free shows in the coming week.

First up, is the DJ stylings of Girl Talk. The show is Sunday, Oct. 25 at a secret location. It’s part of the Kia Soul Collective tour and OJ Da Juiceman will also perform. The sow runs from 2-7 p.m.

There is a catch- to gain access to the show, you have to test-drive the all-new 2010 Kia Soul at Reed Space at 151 Orchard Street in NYC. You have until Saturday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. to do this and learn the location of the Girl Talk show.

More information here.

Then if you’d rather singalong than dance-along, check out the secret Weezer show Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.

To access this one you, have to enter a contest.

You can gain access to the primary contest here or you can be more creative and honor Weezer’s “The Sweater Song” by uploading pics of you in an ugly sweater on Facebook here.

Brand New announced the full lineup for massive November 28th hometown show at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale,NY. Joining Brand New on the main stage will be close friends and familiar faces Glassjaw, Thrice, Manchester Orchestra, and Kevin Devine. There will also be an acoustic stage with special guests including Andy Jackson (Hot Rod Circuit/Death in the Park), Vinnie Caruana (I Am the Avalanche), Robbers, and Brian Bonz. To commemorate this very special event, a limited edition silk-screened poster will be available for purchase with a minimum donation of two canned food items to Island Harvest, Long Island’s largest hunger relief organization (for more information on Island Harvest visit this site).

Brand New recently released their fourth album, the critically-acclaimed Daisy which has received raves from SPIN, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and led NME to proclaim “such unassuming people never made transcendent music since Radiohead.” Daisy debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 and soon after the release, Brand New hit the road, playing sold out shows at venues across North America including the Aragon Ballroom (Chicago), Fillmore (Detroit), Palladium (LA), La Zona Rosa (Austin), Electric Factory (Philadelphia-2 nights), House of Blues (San Diego-2 nights), Kool Haus (Toronto), and House of Blues (Boston-2 nights) amongst others. Brand New will end this incredibly successful Fall headlining tour with this huge hometown show at Nassau Coliseum, a venue they grew up going to for hockey games and concerts. This is another step in what has been an exciting and amazing journey for the four guys from Long Island.

Brand New: website | myspace | @ uptown | Daisy review

Whether he’s performing a DJ set or appearing with a full band, Moby has always been able to deliver his music with a very sincere and natural approach. His show at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco on October 15th was a great example of those two qualities coming together in a very easy and earnest way. This was one of three California shows which Moby has decided to donate the revenue to the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence. After handling a few technical hiccups which came across as more endearing than disruptive, Moby led the crowd on an impressive tour of his nine studio albums and 20-year career.

Performing with a full band for the first time in recent memory, Moby has managed to put together an impressive set of groovy chicks and bald dudes on stage. Moby was joined by Hagar Ben Ari on bass guitar, Joe Goretti on drums and Claudia Chopek on violin. Most impressive were singers Inyang Bassey and Kelli Scarr who also saw action on keyboards. Performing live versions and sometimes doubling up Moby’s trademark soulful samples, Bassey and Scarr were powerful and organic forces behind the mic. Knowing the strengths of his bandmates, Moby was perfectly content to take the back seat and let one of his singers belt out some seriously searing lead vocals while he rocked the Gibson SG or assaulted the conga drums.

The show drifted through tranquil and emotional orchestrations from Moby’s current release Wait For Me including, “Pale Horses,” “Shot In the Back of The Head,” “Wait For Me,” “A Seated Night,” “Walk With Me” and the mournful and slightly off-key lament “Mistake.” The vocals of Scarr were both potent and tender, especially on ”JTLF,” with it’s images of hopelessness and vulnerability: “We heard the rain on the window like a simple waste of time. We heard the sirens wailing like the world had lost its smile.” The album, seemingly recorded on the fly and with no trace of studio over-engineering or effects-rack wizardry, came through in the live show as fluid, poetic and refreshing.

While Wait For Me is filled with beautiful and cathartic tracks, some of the most appreciated moments from the show included the more raucous anthems and gospel-inspired hooks from the 1999 album Play and the 2002 release, 18. The crowd, singing along to music which is not really built for that type of crowd participation, jammed to Bassey’s incredibly soulful vocals on “Honey,” “Extreme Ways,” “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?” and “Natural Blues” and bounced happily along to “a stupid little song” called “Bodyrock.” Although I was a bit disappointed not to hear Bassey’s smooth take on “Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday),” high-points included Moby’s “unlikely Top 40” hit about a “dystopian, amoral, post-apocalyptic” world, “South Side” as well as a hazily captivating version of “When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die.”

Though I’m not sure what all of the ingredients are or how exactly he does it so well, Moby continues to deliver lives shows which are spontaneous, spiritual and liberating. Somehow, I don’t think he would have it any other way.

Moby: website | myspace

Gossip is currently on tour, rockin’ the country. Last month, Sara had a chat with guitarist Nathan “Brace” Paine and talked about European radio, queers, fat girls, and their newest release, Music for Men.

Sara, PopWreckoning: In an age of music where so many genres are bent and merged, how would YOU classify Gossip?
Nathan Paine, Gossip: God, how would I classify us into a genre? I don’t know, I mean, that’s kind of a hard question. Cuz we enjoy sort of spreading out. I don’t know. How would I classify Gossip? We’re a band.
BOTH LAUGH
PW: Well what I mean is, there is so much music that’s genre bending and merged together. There’s so much music that breaks all the rules. So what would be the best way, for someone who hasn’t heard you guys before, to describe you guys sonically?
NP: Oh jeez. I like to think sometimes that we’re a soul band?
PW: I like that. You don’t have to pick just one genre!
NP: Uhhh…..a soul disco band.
PW: Soul disco! I like that!
NP: Like a soul-disco-pop ticket?

PW: I would have said something similar! I read about you talking about this Suicide Club in Portland?
Nathan: Oh yeah, yeah.
PW: Tell me about it, and why is it illegal?
NP: Umm…Maybe I shouldn’t be talking about that.
BOTH LAUGH
NP: Um well, it’s not that it’s illegal. It’s like an underground spot, in this little illegal warehouse bar. That was a dance club that I did for years in Portland that was like post-punk music and electro and sort of everything.
PW: Any chances of it coming back?
NP: I don’t know! I mean, I would LOVE to, but it’s just…I tour so much it’s hard to sort of set up a proper party, y’know? Cuz you’ve gotta take time to flyer around town, and I’m not there to flyer. But yeah, I love to DJ. I was thinking about doing a new night. So, possibly, yes.

PW: Ok, you were mentioning touring so much. You guys have….Europe has been really good to you guys, yes?
NP: Yes!
PW: Tell me a little bit about that.
NP: Yeah, Europe’s been really good to us and I can never really figure out why. I feel like we approached things the same way over there as we did over here. I don’t think there’s necessarily anything we did different over there. It’s just…people really rallied us from the get-go over there. I don’t really know why. I think, I mean, y’know… Maybe it’s cuz we’re from the South in America and it’s different, y’know? But I don’t know. And y’know the radio over there too is interesting. Cuz in America they say it’s not pay to play. But mainstream radio is COMPLETELY pay to play. And they only stick to certain playlists. The DJs have no power over what they want to play, really. In Europe, like in the UK, on a BBC or whatever, the DJs actually get to pick what they want to play. It can be totally indie, totally independent, or not. I mean, they have a few things they have to play like anything else. But it’s definitely more freedom on the radio over there. So I think that might have something to do with it as well? I don’t know.
PW: Huh. That’s interesting to hear. I didn’t know that about radio in Europe.
NP: Yeah it’s really… I don’t know if you’re familiar with Jon Pill. He’s like the British guy who….
PW: Yeah, I was reading a little bit of Beth’s (lead singer, Ditto) comments on that.
NP: I think he really started something amazing over there with this weird radio thing and playing records you like and that you want to champion that are not popular.
PW: That’s awesome. That’s really awesome. We need more like that over here.
Nathan: Ohhh… We need a Jon Pill so bad.

PW: (Laughing) Um…speaking of your guys’ success in America, you guys, last year, got some exposure from MTV on a couple of spots.
NP: We did!
PW: Did that help build your US fanbase some?
NP: Oh yeah, I remember that. I don’t know. We haven’t really played America since then. We played in Seattle recently and we’re touring in October, so we’ll see.

PW: Ok! You’ve said that nothing has changed for you guys since you broke through. Is that really true? Have there been no major changes at all?
NP: You mean personally, or whatever?
PW: In any way, shape, or form. You said that you guys still live in the same house?
NP: Oh yeah yeah….I do, we do. I mean, well, Beth just bought a house, but there have been a couple changes, but I still really feel like we’re the exact same people. I don’t think it’s effected us really. I mean, we’re on a major [label], so there’s like, y’know…there’s some better treatment or whatever. Like, the tours are cushier. But those are little changes. I don’t think personally it’s affected us really. In our day to day lives, I don’t think we really feel it.
PW: That’s cool that you can remain so grounded around all that.
NP: Yeah, it’s really important to think about, I think. I think we all try to keep ourselves grounded all the time. I think it’s important. To continue to be creative, I think you have to do that.

PW: Yeah, definitely. Speaking of things that are important, you guys have become role models and icons for both the LGBT Community as well as Beth, for plus-size girls everywhere. How does that feel?
NP: I support it 100%. I really think that Beth as this icon for girls as well as the Queer Community…I think it’s really special. She’s something that’s not really seen in the mainstream world and I think that what she’s offering up is really good and interesting and it’s also just about equality. And people say it’s not true, but it’s SO true that there’s fat-phobia in the world. How often do you see fat people on TV? I think there’s a total negativity connected to it. And I love that she’s started to change that and I think that’s amazing.
PW: Yeah that girl has balls.
NP: Yeah…
PW: She really does, I admire her so much.
NP: Yeah, it’s a really powerful statement and I really enjoy being supportive of her and being a part of it with her and the band. I think it’s a beautiful thing.
PW: I love how you use the word “Queer” in reference to the Queer Community, with complete and total pride and without any fear or anything.
Nathan: Yeah, it’s funny…well not funny…because I’m straight and I have so many friends that are gay and part of that community. It’s something that should be – something I don’t think people should be afraid of. We’re living in a time now where differences like that should not matter at all. It’s kind of a ridiculous topic to even be brought up because this shouldn’t even matter.

PW: I agree. How do you guys manage to keep things so simple while still having such a full and heavy sound?
NP: We usually try not to do…like, we’re the opposite of My Bloody Valentine, like, no guitar over-dubs. We try to keep things really simple. Like there’s no over-dubs at all. There’s one guitar line. There’s no over-dubs. There’s no bassline. We try to keep it minimal, that’s really important to us. Over-production can be really irritating to me. Somebody like The Ramones are perfect.
PW: But is there a trick to getting everything to sound so heavy while the instruments are so simplistic? Is it just passion that you guys got in there? What’s the trick?
NP: I don’t know. I guess so. (chuckles).

PW: With your best effort can you describe Music for Men sonically and how it’s different from your previous albums?
NP: Well sonically, it’s the most hi-fi recording we’ve ever done. A lot of thought went into production and mic placement and all that. So its super-well recorded. It’s really clean, pretty crisp. It’s different than other records because on this record I actually play bass and piano and synth, and on our other records it was just guitar. There was no bass or anything really. So it makes a big difference on the record.
PW: Yeah, I’m sure. Do you have any last words for our readers, or your fans, or anyone at all?
NP: Stay tough.

PW: Oh! I have one more question that I completely forgot about!
NP: Ok!
PW: Do you guys have anything that you really want to accomplish that you haven’t yet, thus far?
NP: That I personally want to do?
PW: You personally or as a band….
NP: I’d like to write a book! That would be a fun project.
PW: Yeah! Ok! And stay tough!
NP: Yep. Stay tough!
PW: Nathan, this was great. Thanks so much for your time!
NP: Yeah, I had a lot of fun!
PW: I think it was one of my favorite interviews that I’ve done so far!
NP: Aw! That’s sweet! Thank you!
PW: Yes, thank you!
NP: See ya, Sara!

Gossip: website | myspace

Eddie Argos, self-professed lover of comics and lead singer and lyricist for Art Brut, has a way of conducting himself in live performance that is, shall we say, interesting. As if a cross between a benevolent general and a wacky concert conductor, he asks his bandmates at the start of every song bandmates, “Are you ready, Art Brut?” He doesn’t sing so much as emote in a speaking voice, detailing anecdotes from his reality in a humorous way, backed by his extremely animated band. And as I describe to you what I saw when I saw this band playing at the Black Cat over the weekend, you probably wouldn’t believe me anyway. But what I say is entirely true.

The opening act for the night was a Californian band called Princeton. (Forget that I thought maybe they got the name because they were all Ivy Leaguers; their Web site says the name came from Princeton Street in Santa Monica, where three of them grew up.) The band is comprised of cute-as-a-button twin brothers Jesse and Matt Kivel (lead and bass guitars), Ben Usen (keyboards), and David Kitz (drums). Being four guys hailing SoCal, they probably would not appreciate it when I say they are good at writing and playing danceable, bouncy pop songs, but I found myself tapping my feet and dancing to their appealing rhythms. Like the Beach Boys? I think you’ll love this band.

To be perfectly frank, I was not expecting a band like them to open for Art Brut, a band known to be off the cuff and unpredictable. As an unabashed lover of good pop, I found Princeton terribly engaging. I had initially decided a song entitled “I Left Me Love in Nagasaki” had to be the punchline of a bad joke, but I was pleasantly surprised by its poppiness. I also found the “musical chairs”-like passing off of guitars between the twins, the keyboardist, and the drummer between songs very cool, as if they wanted to prove that they each had more than one talent. “Shout It Out” was one of several songs that the band encouraged us to clap along to and you know what? From a cursory glance around me, the audience was game. Somehow they’d managed to charm the bohemians.

And then there was…Art Brut. Eddie Argos divulged to me before the gig that he likes being a show-off and the internet is a great platform for spreading his wit. So it should come as no surprise that the star of the evening was, in fact, Eddie himself. I’d read that he likes to jump rope with his microphone cord, but actually seeing him do this in front of an audience was another matter entirely. Another part of the Art Brut show is Argos stopping mid-song, the band patiently waiting to begin playing again as he entertained us on a variety of topics, including his insistence that if you ride on the glass elevator to the basement of Willy Wonka’s crazy chocolate factory, you will find the Batcave. He told us this in such a deadpan matter, so earnest that you wouldn’t dare not believe him. Later on he said we should all stop what we’re doing and form bands, also threatening us that if this did not happen by the next time he came to town, he would come after each and every one of us, because he never forgets a face. You can’t make this stuff up. Don’t forget, their first single was “Formed a Band”: “Formed a band / we formed a band / look at us / we formed a band / I want to be the boy / the man / who writes the song / that makes Israel and Palestine / get along“.

While Argos’s onstage antics are entertaining, you can’t discount the high energy and seemingly never-stopping soundtrack to the evening. This was provided handily by Jasper Future and Ian Catskillkin on guitars, Freddy Feedback on bass, and Mikey Breyer on drums. Everything melds together for a perfect rock noise; Future and Catskillkin are wailing on their guitars maniacally, and Feedback and Breyer are driving the tunes along with their beats. Older favorites like “Modern Art”, “Bang Bang Rock and Roll”, the thoughtful “Emily Kane” (about a childhood flame), and the previously mentioned “Formed a Band” went down extremely well with the crowd. And Argos is still funny and on top form in their newest album, Art Brut vs. Satan, as evidenced in songs like “The Passenger”, in which he walked around the stage, mimicking the wheels of a train with his hands, and causing all of us to laugh; “Alcoholics Unanimous”, with its triumphant chorus of “bring me tea! / bring me coffee!“; and “DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake”, Argos wistfully talking about his boyhood loves and how it’s perfectly natural to be a grown man and still love such things. Overall, this was one highly enjoyable night. Catch them live if you can as they make their way across North America.

Set list
Formed a Band
My Little Brother
Summer Job
Good Weekend
Rusted Guns of Milan
What a Rush
Modern Art (DC Comics version)
Demons Out
Bad Weekend
Alcoholics Unanimous
Emily Kane
The Passenger
DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake
//
Bang Bang Rock and Roll
Twist and Shout
Post Soothing Out

Tour dates
Oct 20 - Earl / Atlanta*
Oct 22 – Bottletree / Birmingham*
Oct 23 – Spanish Moon / Baton Rouge*
Oct 24 – Walter’s on Washington / Houston*
Oct 25 – Mohawk / Austin*
Oct 27 – Club Congress / Tucson*
Oct 28 – Casbah / San Diego*
Oct 29 – Glass House / Pomona, Ca.*
Oct 30 – Cafe Du Nord (2 shows) / San Francisco*
Nov 1 – Holocene / Portland*
Nov 2 – Neumo’s / Seattle*
Nov 3 – Biltmore / Vancouver#
Nov 4 – Neurolux / Boise#
Nov 5 – Urban Lounge / Salt Lake City#
Nov 6 – Bluebird / Denver#
Nov 8 – Slowdown / Omaha#
Nov 9 – Triple Rock / Minneapolis#
Nov 10 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago#
Nov 12 – First Unitarian Church / Philadelphia#
Nov 13 – Brooklyn Bowl / New York City#
Nov 14 – Ottobar / Baltimore#
Nov 15 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City#
*with Princeton
#with Surfer Blood

Art Brut: website | myspace | Art Brut Announce Big Fall North American Tour | Video for Art Brut’s New Single “Alcoholics Unanimous”
Princeton: website | myspace | @ SECAC Day Stage @ SXSW

Awesome New Republic, a band from Miami consisting of Michael John Hancock and Brian Robertson, will be releasing their second album this October 27. The title of their sophomore album is Hearts. Hearts is an eleven track record filled with electronic-disco-indie music.

On Awesome New Republic’s MySpace, you can hear four of the tracks (“Birthday,” “Alleycat,” “Digital World,” “Dark Water”) that will be coming out on their album this month. If I had to compare them to any band out there, I would have to say they sound like Under The Influence Of Giants (UTFOG), so if you’re a UTFOG fan you’re going to love Awesome New Republic.

The album title track “Hearts” sticks out not only because it’s the name of the album, but because it’s a retro sounding dance love song. On the entire album, you can find other tracks that have that same retro sound to them. Most of the vocals have that high pitch that the BeeGees made popular through Disco, mashed together with modern day electronic music.

Tracklisting:
01. Whatever
02. Dances When
03. Alleycat
04. Birthday
05. Digital World
06. Footstomping Decay
07. Dark Water
08. Deep Love
09. Last Drop
10. Wheels, No Engines
11. Hearts

Awesome New Republic: website | myspace

Speechless. That’s what I was after the local show I caught recently  at Kansas City’s Davey’s Uptown. I wish I could say that the performance was so spectacular that the music left me speechless. Unfortunately, it was a weird chain of events that led to my loss for words.

Before I explain the strange events, I must say that the music was in fact, quite good. The more local shows I go to, the more respect I have for Kansas City’s local scene (There’s a lot more here than the Get Up Kids!)

The young O’Giant Man opened. These guys have shifted their line up around recently, so this was one of the first (if not the first) performance for the latest and hopefully final lineup. The group has a lot of potential if they can stay solid and practice defining their sound. They do some great harmonies and nice instrumental solos, but they had a tendency to test out too many ideas in a single song. This is a problem that many young and eager bands have, but it is something easy to grow out of it. I look forward to seeing them again when they’ve had a chance to refine their sound.

The lone out of town band It’s True was next on the bill. They easily could have been remembered as the best band there had the singer non-gone and fucked things up later in the show. The Omaha indie pop group had a solid sound and harmonies to rival the Fleet Foxes. Considering they’re an Omaha group where warbly vocals are popular (Conor Oberst, Tim Kasher), they’re a refreshing sound for that scene. Graceful keys provided the perfect compliment to their tunes. Aside from the incident that happens later (I’m getting there! Just wait), my only other criticism is that they got to be a little predictable. Sing, then keys, then instrumental breakdown where the singer sits in plays into the monitor. It was cool the first time, but come up with a new movement or song structure. It loses its charm with time.

Lawrence three-piece Cowboy Indian Bear continued the impressive with their full sound (hard to believe there were only three of them!).  All three contributed to vocals and percussion. A recent trend in Kansas City area music is filling out your sound with some pre-recorded electronic beats and effects (see Republic Tigers), which CIB has embraced. I’ve noticed many groups tend to over-endulge in their use of the computer, but CIB was tasteful. They were joined by a friend for their final number titled “Colour Music,” I think, but not to be confused with their “Mathematicians/Colours” played directly before it. They said was this their largest KC audience, which kind of surprised me. With their Postal Service instrumental vibe and smooth vocals, I feel it won’t be long before they gain a large following. They just released an EP. Go check them out.

Sailor Sequence has been described to me as the best band in Kansas City on more than occasion. The trio reminded me a lot of Snow Patrol from the Final Straw era. Perhaps a cover of “Run” is in their future. The difference between them and Snow Patrol is that the Snow Patrol guys have a more pop tendency, while Sailor Sequence leans toward shoegaze without fully embracing that sound.

Now while I’m not sthe full Sailor Sequence converts that my friends are, I do agree that they are quite good. They just lacked in the stage presence category, which might hurt them getting bigger past KC. It just felt distant.

Now I told you that this show left me speechless and I’m finally ready to explain why.

Toward the end of the Sailor Sequence’s set, a guy in a hat walked up to the front of a stage and started drinking a random beer pitcher left on the edge. Weird, but just the sort of weird that you chuckle and roll your eyes at and forget about. But when he put the pitcher down, he proceeded to climb on the stage, stumble over to the microphone by the keyboard and then sang an “Oooh” bit into the microphone when the band was in a big instrumental breakdown.

“Omaha!” yelled someone from the back. I looked again. Sure enough, this was the Omaha band’s lead singer Adam Hawkins.

The audience was confused. Was this part of the act?

The answer: no. Sailor Sequence tried to laugh it off, but when they started another song and Hawkins tried adding notes on the keyboard, the guys in Sailor Sequence just quit and stormed off the stage, incredulous that some drunk opener would ruin your set.

Hawkins wasn’t done there. He fell on the floor in the room by the main bar and attempted getting in a fight. A strange ending to what could have been a perfect night.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say he ruined the Sailor Sequence’s set. For what they did play, they sounded great. But Hawkins did ruin my opinion of his band. Like I said, they could have been remembered as the best band of that night, but that bit at the end was just rude.

O’Giant Man: myspace
It’s True: myspace
Cowboy Indian Bear: myspace
Sailor Sequence: myspace