This Just In: Radiohead Influential...

Duh. In the midst of my afternoon TPS report reading, I noticed something inherently familiar in Shearwater's song "The Snow Leopard". Alert your neighborhood mash-up DJ.

Obviously I do not write jams for Shearwater, Jonathan Meiburg of Okkervil River's other project. But, track nine on Rooks definitely seems to have spawned from "Pyramid Song" by Radiohead.

The second track on Amnesiac, piano keys and similar structures have me thinking this might have been rocked out in the studio or ipod when creative juices were flowing.

Whether or not my theory on the roots of inspiration is correct, the song is pretty great. If anyone ever runs into Jonathan ask him if this theory is valid, and report back.

XXXChange Makes it Good

Shilo dropped volume four of the We Make It Good Mix Series today. Spank Rock's Alex XXXChange mixed up a doosey of a playlist, available free on the worldwide interwebs.

This 43 minute jaunt features Alex's favorite film score tunes, compiled into one easy-to-digest mp3 nugget. Sure to please nearly any palette, the mix ranges from Isaac Hayes to Daniel Johnston to even some Peter Gabriel. Yup.

Have at it folks (link to free download).

Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez and Small Sur Release Party

Jana Hunter heads the bill for Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez and Small Sur's CD release party at the 2640. Should obviously be a pretty stellar lineup. Hopefully this will not be a repeat of the chat-happy whartscape crowd.

Recent Informings

TV on the Radio announced the release of their 3rd LP earlier this week. Much to my pleasantry, it will be released September 23rd right after I go to this out west.

But for those that urn for more instant gratification, a whole lot has come out recently that's in need of your ears. Dr. Dog's newest release Fate is one of which described, and contains guitar pop keyboard goodness.

Menomena's Danny Seim released his 9th LP under the moniker Lackthereof this week. Most of his other releases, including numerous CDR's he passed out amongst friends, have been more sedated folksy endeavors.

Your Anchor displays loads of Menomena-infused jams that float along swimmingly. This is the first one that Barsuk has released of his, and certainly has my strong endorsed recommendation.

Thrill Jockey has dropped lots of love lately. Not only have they debuted the album from Baltimore's own Thank You, They also released Arbouretem and Pontiak's split vinyl action called Kale this week.

In addition to the previous two fine LP's, High Places' collection of singles 03/07 - 09/07 came out on the label Tuesday. This compilation includes experimental fuzz pop gems from 7" vinyls, and some other enjoyable tunes.

The Dutchess and the Duke's debut is also worth your short attention span. The album is full of tracks that sound like an infusion of Exile-era Stones and The White Stripes. Not too shabby.

Also, Bodies of Water's LP, A Certain Feeling, arrived this week. Think Fleet Foxes but infused with opera and soul, and somehow even better than I described. Check out their Daytrotter session right here.

Whartscape Hotness

Friday night's set in the steamy old church went as imagined, but at times not withstanding excessive verbal socialization throughout parts of the crowd. Highlights that I caught included Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, Golden Age, Arbouretem, Jana Hunter, and Beach House. Lesser Gonzalez, to the left, may have possibly written some of the most preeminent folk songs of recent memory. The LP drops September 9th.

Jana Hunter had the task of playing the middle stage before the headliners took the main stage. Despite Dan Deacon repeatedly reminding people to put aimless conversation to rest throughout the evening, people continued to suck. Jana still sounded great, and obviously needed to be performing on the main or back stage.

Beach House filled the space with sounds that made it impossible for even the most ignorant of folk to gab to their neighbors about ice cream and shoes. They were loud, they were into it, and as usual their familiar sounds resonated otherworldly.

I Was Sold, Hard

In 9th grade my buddy gave me a CD and I listened. It was DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist's Product Placement, and I was instantly captivated. However, it has taken me until last night to actually go check out the spectacle live, and man have I been missing out.

The stage looked like the mothership, wires and turntables everywhere. But the main attraction of the tour did not fail to disappoint. Using only 45's throughout the entire set had to be the most ridiculous display of DJ skills I have ever witnessed. Not to mention the visuals, Cut Chemist was wearing a sweatband camera that projected on stage. And there were even chipmunks.



















This is the last time they are touring The Hard Sell. So if you didn't make it down to DC last night, shame on you. I'm not usually one for DJ sets, typically preferring instruments opposed to turntables. But Shadow and Chemist not only made me think twice about my preferences, they rocked portable turntables and mixers as if they were guitars.

Friday @ 2640

This Friday has the potential to be one of the most aurally stimulating sets of the upcoming Whartscape weekend. I saw Beach House open up for Grizzly Bear at the space last year, and the high brick ceilings of the old church hugged and echoed Victoria's voice with luminous results. Expect similar brilliance in a few days, with a full house of onlookers reaping the benefits.

Another Friday night highlight, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez's first release is due out on September 9th. Expect to hear future praise of the LP on this site. It's going to be titled Why is Bear Billowing?, and will be released by Carpark. Check out his curiously awesome artwork here.

Baltimore by way of Texas songstress Jana Hunter will also grace the sanctuary's presence. Her LP was one of my favorite albums of last year, with folksy sounds of pure beauty from start to finish. There's No Home was released on Devendra Banhart's label Gnomonsong. Please indulge in her highly recommended Daytrotter session.

Whartscape Re-Up

Celebration's set got changed to Saturday night, where they will headline the bill at Sonar. The perfect nightcap to a day that could include Oxes, The Mae Shi, Deathset, Wzt Hearts, Ecstatic Sunshine and Videohippos.

Celebration is amazing, and is not to be confused with this, that, or them.

Also, big news broke last week about the correlated works of Spank Rock, Dan Deacon, and Greg Gillis (Girl Talk) that will debut this weekend.

Even Pitchfork mentioned the supergroup's creation, taking a breather from hyping their own party that coincides with Whartscape. Tickets for the one that's locally relevant are still here. Meanwhile, gawk at Katrina Ford's pipes.

Over-Genrefication At Its Best

Sonar plans to hit us with a psych-fuzz-folk-noise-experimental-rock triple threat this fall. The Dodos, Wye Oak, and Au round out what could be one of the best bills later this year.

If you're not already acquainted with local boh-drinkers Wye Oak, familiarize. If Children was beyond awesome, and expect future big things from Andy and Jenn.

Au put out a curiously mesmerizing self titled LP last year, and have recently just released Verbs. I've only heard one track so far, but it sounded like quite the carnival. Literally, like Barnum and Bailey's.

And then there's The Dodos. They've already churned out 2 ear swooning albums and can supposedly rip it live. The show is September 29th. Listen to the tracks below, and I'll see you there.

Fox Flavored Smoothie

Lets say we put the Beach Boys and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young into a giant blender. However, instead of turning into a giant smoothie that John Stamos would chug, they turned into one of the best new bands of the last couple years.

If you procrastinated like me this Monday, you probably missed out on the Fleet Foxes performance at the Cat in DC. No need to fear, NPR is here to the rescue with the entire performance archived on their site.

Need more harmonizing goodness? Daytrotter also has a nice little session for you. Want even more? Check out the following top notch video they just released earlier this week. And stop being so needy.

Brian Adam Ant Listening Party

Brian Adam Ant writes songs. Sometimes about zombies, but usually not. Either way, he's probably better than this schmuck at it. Yep.

Anyways, he's coming back from NY to drink natty boh's in the fall, and has been creating some truly awesome stuff in the meantime.

The first few tracks are demos that still require oven mits, and are subject to augmentation. The new demos are trailed by his first album Separation Celebration. Which can be purchased here or here.

No High Abe Places Age...Vigoda!

Floristree makes your Wednesday much cooler bringing three pitchers of kool-aid to their party. No Age, High Places, and Abe Vigoda will rock the space on the 9th, and will likely fail to disappoint. The bill will also bless the RNR Hotel in DC the night before. Your midweek evening will thank you.

Cheap Time

Naming influences like GG Allin and David Bowie, Nashville's Cheap Time have put out one of year's most fun albums. With the most recent close call being early Black Lips, this power slop punk record brings it back to when bands could make an album of this variety...and actually do it right.

The band is skipping over Baltimore on their tour, I guess time is a bit more pricey than advertised. They are touring with Jay Reatard, who just put out an excellent singles collection and includes a DVD with shows. Unfortunately upon scanning through most of the DVD, there are no shots of Jay wailing crucial punches on rowdy fans.