popwreckoning

As first reported by Wayward Blog, via Capybara‘s blog, local band Saharan Gazelle Boy has appeared in a graphic for Apple’s Application Store. The screen shot seen below is of the blog Paper Brigade, who recently covered the band.

For more on Saharan Gazelle Boy, Capybara or other bands from The Record Machine, feel free to click the following links:
The Record Machine
Saharan Gazelle Boy
Capybara

2010 has been an unstoppable year for The Record Machine. You’ve already heard us rave about several of its artists such as Cowboy Indian Bear and Soft Reeds, so we’re excited to see its roster continue to grow.

The Record Machine has just announced the signing of another Kansas City act: Lazy. Lazy (sometimes called Lazy K) is an indie art rock act that draws from everything from punk to new wave. They’re like a KC super group with members from Fortuning, The Church, Ssicon, Whoop Dee Doo, Biker Chick and the Riff Raffs, Cunt-Alope and Witch and Hare.

. “Who Could Break Your Heart”

by Forester

They’re about embark on a West Coast tour. Expect their debut 7″ on The Record Machine this fall.

Tour Dates:
7/26 Kansas City, MO at the Newsroom
7/27 Denver, CO at Rhino Glob
7/28 Salt Lake City, UT at The Woodshed
7/29 Twin Falls,ID at 8th St House
7/30 Eugene, OR at John Henry’s
7/31 Olympia, WA at Track House
8/2 Portland, OR at Valentines
8/3 Oakland, CA at Stork Club
8/4 San Francisco, CA at Jenifer Howard’s House
8/5 San Francisco, CA at Pissed Off Petes w/CCR Headcleaner
8/6 Monterey, CA at Jose’s Lounge Underground
8/7 Los Angeles at The Smell w/Mike Vidal (Abe Vigoda), Back To The Future Ride
8/9 Los Angeles at Tribal Cafe w/ Lots of Crap Night w/ Dylan Doren, Murmaid
8/10 Tempe, AZ at Yobs
8/11 Austin, TX at Club 1808 w/Zoltars and Holy Wave
8/12 Austin, TC Wyatt Tall’s House

Friday night in Kansas City boasted a bountiful crop of local acts to check out. One of the best bets could be found at the Record Bar where The Record Machine was hosting a showcase for Soft Reeds‘ CD Release. Opening was Motorboater and Cowboy Indian Bear.

Motorboater is Dan Eaton, a musician who also plays in KC’s Queen’s Club. With his solo project, Dan trades in the guitars and pop rock jams for his Macbook and electronic-dance tunes. The music was like Passion Pit meets Yeasayer meets Metro Station – I’ll let you decide if that sounds like a good combination or not (and to make the genre even more confusing, Eaton left everyone with a Taylor Swift remix). Hunched over his computer monitor, shoulders bobbing to his tunes, I could see how Motorboater could really take off in the proper environment, but in the low key Record Bar where the majority of patrons would rather chill in a booth with beers than get up and dance, Motorboater got a little muddled.

“We’re a new band called Black Man Running,” quipped Marty Hillard after his band had already warmed the crowd up with a couple songs. In reality, Hillard is part of the very popular Lawrence three-piece Cowboy Indian Bear. This band draws in listeners with cool vocal trade-offs between Hillard and CJ Calhoun, but then blows fans away with bombastic drums not just from backbone drummer Beau Bruns, but from all the members. It’s serious music, but as Marty’s quip proved, there’s also a light-heartedness to it as well.

Since the showcase was all about Soft Reeds and the band’s new album Soft Reeds Are Bastards, the band did a few things out of the norm for a typical local band show. They began with the premiere of a music video for “This Affair,” made by Gnarly Productions. It wasn’t only the first time fans were seeing the video, but a first for the band as well. The band began their set with album opener Brave New World, a catchy rock tune with a bit of a garage rock edge. Though a bit out of order from the album, as can be expected at a CD release, Soft Reeds played through most of their songs on Soft Reeds Are Bastards until the bar turned on the lights to kick everyone out. The songs have a classic, jangly upbeat sound that make this release perfect timing to catch the tail end of the summer bbq season. Just be warned, for as happy as the major chords and and staccato key notes make it sound, lyrically and vocally, the music is juxtaposed with a gritty edge. One of my favorite Soft Reeds songs both live and on the album, “The City and the Stars” has a chorus that says, “I”m torn between the city and the stars: open spaces and lived-in bars.” Kind of fascinating sentiment if you really think about it, but a good metaphor for the type of feeling I get from this album. Yeah, you can have the cliche openness of the countryside and the stars just like you can have the clean cut cheery sounds of music like the Beach Boys or you can go with something more true to how life is – it might be a little worn-in, but it is familiar and interesting at the same time, much like the sounds of this album: familiar, a bit worn-in, but very interesting.

You can stream the new album at the Record Machine here. It is officially released July 13.

Soft Reeds Set List:
Brave New World
Bleeding Hearts
The City and the Stars
Thick of Thin Things
Wasted Time
Baby’s on Fire
Hemel Dalingen
The Sirens of Titan
This Affair

Saharan Gazelle Boy‘s Airplanes Can’t, released on Kansas City label, The Record Machine, evokes thoughts of sunny sea sides and breezy afternoons.

Saharan Gazelle Boy is the solo project of Darin Seal from Kansas City’s classically calm indie rock band, Capybara. Seal incorporates Capybara’s quaint style with his own soft, subtle melodies. Big-hearted folksy tunes sway, indie rock rhythms gallop, and electronic beats pitter and patter across speakers like subtle spring raindrops.

Simple, free-flowing synths bend and sway through the album’s title track, “Aiming a Wave.” Melodies play out in tiny verses. Delicate vocals, which are almost fainter than the song’s backing music, serve as musical icing.

Airplanes‘ songs slide from scratchy, old, ragtime tinged tracks to fast tempo 80s dance songs that take on influence from new wave artists, such as New Order.

The sleepy-eyed ballad, “Those Days,” sounds as if it’s drifting out of an old jukebox, similar to the feel and pace of The Flamingos‘ “I Only Have Eyes for You.”

While the album’s songs are simple in structure, each sounds whole. Airplanes‘ 11 tracks are diverse and a good buy for $2. Buy the album, and drive yourself out to a lake. Lay back, insert ear phones, relax.

When 10pm rolled around on Friday night I found myself babysitting, and watching The Wedding Planner on the Oxygen network. Despite the insipidness of the moment, I just wasn’t sure how I was going to muster the gusto to bear the frigid KC air and make the trek downtown to review some bands. Despite myself, I cracked open a Coke Zero, tried to erase any annoying traces of JLo that were lingering in my mind and hit the road (that is of course, after the baby’s parents got home).

I arrived at The Czar Bar around 10:45 for The Record Machine’s Holiday Showcase, unfortunately just missing the opening act, Sam Billen (of whom two uh, endearingly sloppy, gentlemen at the end of the night claimed was their favorite). After grabbing a Boulevard Wheat (hey no PBR tonight, I scored some babysitting cash) I made my way up front to find a corkscrew haired, ripped jean-clad kid in the corner hovering over a Mac laptop. Meanwhile a curled up form sitting on the stage fiddled with some lights. Moments later, some dark house beats started thumping, lights were flashing and people were instantly dancing. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew that I liked it. All I heard was electro madness that thudded in my head and a sound that was both bright and haunting. Somehow a piñata was offered to the crowd (this would be the first of many that night) and whacked open, while the beats droned on. There was cheering, dancing, sweating, and Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” (which had indie kids singing along word for word) that was electronically mashed and backed with live vocals. After the set was over and candy littered the floor I gave the man behind this madness a high five. Later, I would look him up on the Internet and find next to nothing. I found out later that this entire progressive hubbub was issued from a laptop and the throat of an airy voiced, unassuming boy who calls himself, Motorboater. The night was off to a great start.

Next up was Kansas City four-piece, Capybara, who was fresh off of a three-month tour and grateful to be home. From the moment these boys stepped on the stage there seemed to be a warm glow about them. The crowd seemed eager for Caypbara’s set to commence as the area in front of the stage quickly filled up. There was a multifarious collection of instruments and props on stage, which speaks for the band’s unique, full-bodied, and jaunty sound. There was everything ranging from the standard keyboard and drum kit, etc. to a not so standard melodica, xylophone and a giant five foot cut out of Shaquille O Neal’s face. The energy of Capybara was contagious. One of the band members, Mark Harrison, even sported a holiday reindeer sweatshirt and as the show continued, he proceeded to shed layers, later revealing a button up shirt accented by a Christmas tree tie (belonging to his Dad), which he threw into the crowd. Soon after, he simply ended up in a maroon tee shirt. If Motorboater’s performance was a well-timed appetizer, then Capybara was the main course: rich, complex, and satisfying. At times, Capybara captured Grizzly Bear-esque harmonies. At other times I heard earnest yelps that echoed Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade. There were “world beats” and catchy rhythms that bordered on a Vampire Weekend Sound. Sometimes I heard the somberness of Casiotone For the Painfully Alone in the keyboards.

However, aside from any references or comparisons, Capybara truly has a quality that is uniquely their own. This quality produces a sound that is sincere, spirited and soulful. When they played “Magpies,” I envisioned stars winking at each other, tumbling around for a bit and then floating off into another galaxy. Next, was the gentle ditty, “Cutaway Kid,” which speaks of a “kid with hope and little despair” and “drinking whiskey and milk from a hand painted cereal bowl.” “Any Kind of Life” was a rousing, shouty, spirited song that elicited fist pumps from the crowd as well as the band. I believe the band closed the set with “The Wimp,” a popular song they claimed to hate playing, yet also love playing. I saw not one iota of hate from the band for the duration of the song, instead, only vigor and zeal. In the end, Capybara is a talented and bright band that is as quixotic, endearing, and intriguing as the giant rodent it is named after.

After Capybara’s sparkling set, Max Justus took the stage showcasing equal amounts of energy and craft as the bands before him, yet he seemed to present himself with a different angle and texture. Justus was heavy, dark, electronic, heavenly and macabre all at once. At one point my friend who was dancing alongside me yelled over the pulsating beats and melodies, that Justus sounded like Nine Inch Nails meets Moby…. an interesting and well-aimed observation, I thought. The sound of Max Justus is dark and bright; mechanical and rhythmic; strange and alluring.

Like Motorboater, Max Justus uses his own voice alongside his laptop. In addition, he was operating some high-tech looking type of light-board (or so it appeared to my eyes), but I have no understanding as to what it did. Hell, for all I know, magic unicorn dust could account for all of this electronic mayhem. Seams feasible to me. After all, you must be doing something magical if at the end of the night there are several guests voluntarily dancing along side you on stage in various limbs and heads of severed piñatas while the giant head of Shaquille O’Neal floats behind you and a dedicated crowd dances unaffected even though the entire bar reeks of parmesan cheese and BO.

To sum it up, everyone, everything, every instrument and even every piñata was brimming with life Friday night for The Record Machine’s Holiday Showcase. Kansas City and its wide range of musicians and the people who love them pullulated with energy, indeed making it a holiday night to remember and it sure as hell beat The Wedding Planner.

The Record Machine: website

Photographs and writing by: Crystal Clem

iTunes growth as stunted as the economy? KC local Sam Billen and label The Record Machine have teamed up to add a little holiday cheer to your world with new tunes that won’t break the bank.

Stream Billen’s entire new record, Headphones & Cellphones, for free through The Record Machine. This record is Billen’s first since former band The Billions broke up in 2008, and also marks his first solo album in 5 years.

Feedback for Headphones & Cellphones:

“While Tokyo Sessions was an introspective and minimalist offering, the 10-song Headphones & Cellphones seems more a reflection of Billen’s inspirations, namely ’70s AM Gold and more modern, soul-infused Top 40 pop music. Think Christopher Cross meets J.Lo meets Death Cab for Cutie.”

- Kansas City.Com

“Woke up one morning to find some of Sam’s tracks in my e-mail and I haven’t been able to stop listening since.”

- Sing Your Song In The Shower

If the free online stream isn’t enough (didn’t Santa tell you not to be greedy?), Billen’s full album can be purchased for just two bucks via The Record Machine Site. Catch it fast though – the promo ends today.

Keep an eye out for Billen’s upcoming album, Removers, which will feature covers of Deastro, Republic Tigers, The Postal Service, Todd Rundgren, Capybara and more.

By Caitlin Dean