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Scott Reynolds with The Gerunds – Tritone (Philadelphia) – August 5, 2011
Please see my full review here.
Archers of Loaf – Trocadero (Philadelphia) – August 6, 2011
Review forthcoming
Vivian Girls – “Take It As It Comes”
They just made a new video for this track from their excellent new album Share the Joy and you can watch it here.
Hüsker Dü – New Day Rising (final unreleased mix)
Though I love this album, it’s always been one of the absolute worst sounding CDs in my collection. Furthermore, the officially released mix has always been muddy. In Bob Mould‘s new memoir, he mentions that there was a final, unreleased mix with several extra tracks (including “Erase Today”, which ended up on the second installment of the SST compilation The Blasting Concept) This mix is a little better and well worth hearing for Hüsker aficionados. I have no idea how this leaked, but it’s out there.
The Men – split cassette with The Nomos (Vinyl Rites)
Since this Brooklyn punk band (not JD Samson of Le Tigre‘s indie-dance project) is kind enough to let folks download their entire back catalog, I’ve been listening to their older recordings this week, including this split cassette with The Nomos that was originally limited to a few hundred copies each in two pressings. Anyway, The Men are rawer and noisier here than on their new Leave Home and not unlike say, a slightly more tuneful Pissed Jeans. The Nomos are a nice surprise, too. Instead of sounding like The Men, their vocalist is a dead ringer for Joe Denunzio of Infest, though the music is more straight-up hardcore punk than super speedy power violence type stuff. You can get this and the rest of The Men’s back catalog for free here.
The Men – Leave Home (Sacred Bones)
Everything you may have heard about this much-lauded (via Pitchfork and others) record is probably true. Yes, there’s a nod to Spacemen 3‘s “Take Me the Other Side” in one song and another is called “Shittin’ with the Shah” (shades of The Urinals‘ “Surfing with the Shah”, perhaps?). Furthermore, the album title reminds one of the same-titled The Ramones‘ classic 2nd Lp, but the music on here is quite different. They occupy similar territory to Fucked Up, Pissed Jeans and No Age in that they’re a punk band who tinker with the formula and add enough psych, post-punk and even shoegaze elements to make themselves accessible to indie kids as well. This isn’t a bad thing and in fact this is quite an enjoyable release. I’m just not completely sold on its greatness. If there was a bit more melody and catchiness here, I’d be completely on board but this is a fine release nonetheless and an intense ride.
Bob Mould – “If I Can’t Change Your Mind”
As part of the AV Club’s “Undercover” series, Bob Mould recently “covered” his own composition, this 1992 classic from Sugar‘s Copper Blue album. The video also featuresYou can watch the video here.
Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest ®
Michael Rapaport‘s documentary focuses much more on the internal dynamics of the band members, especially main rappers and creative forces Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, than it does on their amazing music (though plenty of it is heard in the movie). With that said, it’s surprisingly affecting and quite moving in parts and with reunion shows in 2010, features an unexpectedly happy ending after their second breakup in 2008.
A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory (Jive/RCA)
Because of watching the documentary, I’ve been pulling out their albums. This is my favorite and quite simply, one of the very best hip-hop albums ever.
Wild Carnation – Superbus (Lucky Pig)
I played this excellent 2007 release for the first time in a while recently and it’s still as great as ever. For those of you who don’t know, this is the band led by Brenda Sauter, the bassist for The Feelies. The combination of Sauter’s songwriting and heartfelt lyrics (which really strike a nerve), Anne Hopkins‘ organ (a new element that makes a world of difference here), Rich Barnes‘ guitar and Chris O’Donovan‘s drumming is intoxicating. I can’t wait to see them in a few weeks and to hear some new material!
