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Swervedriver with Heaven – Bowery Ballroom (New York) – March 31, 2012
Look for a review up soon!
The Joy Formidable with A Place to Bury Strangers and Exitmusic – Union Transfer (Philadelphia) – March 29, 2012
Please see my full review here.
Real Estate with The Twerps and Belgrade – First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia) – April 3, 2012
Look for a review up soon!
Frankie Rose with DIVE and East Hundred – North Star Bar (Philadelphia) – April 5, 2012
Look for a review up soon!
Screaming Females – Ugly (Don Giovanni)
Look for a review up soon!
Sinead O’Connor – How About I Be Me and You Be You (One Little Indian)
Before I heard this album, I was skeptical as I hadn’t heard any of her albums in a long time. This is a phenomenal and always, deeply personal and confessional, record. In her 40s, she’s lost none of the vocal firepower she had in her 20s and songs like “Old Lady” and her cover of John Grant‘s “Queen of Denmark” will melt your heart. She falters a bit in the self-righteousness of the closing track “V.I.P.”, but overall this is a very strong Lp and an unexpected surprise.
Recorded back in December with the core of the band (singer/guitarist Maria Sciarrino and guitarist Mary Beth Ray) along with drummer Will Noon after their former bassist and drummer left, these two songs (the other being “Obligated”) show Bedroom Problems moving in a direction perhaps a bit closer to Helium than the previous 6-song digital EP they put out last year.
Elvis Costello & The Imposters – The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook (Universal)
Look for a review up soon!
DIVE – “Geist”
The A-side of their new 7” on Captured Tracks may be their best track yet and actually manages to capture the energy of their wild, hyperactive live show. This is dream-pop played with punk rock abandon by excellent musicians who can jam at the drop of a hat. I’m impressed and can’t wait for the full-length! You can stream the track here.
Toy Cannons – “Ice Age”
Toy Cannons is the new band of ex-Gerunds members Ben Goldberg and Peter Cortner (also formerly of Dag Nasty and Los Vampiros) and this amazing demo track features both of them trading vocals. Imagine a trade-off between Goldberg’s Elvis Costello-isms and Cortner’s deep to the point of Calvin Johnson (Beat Happening) vocalizing and you may not think that it works, but it really does. Musically, there’s rockabilly, surf and new wave influences run fantastically amok. Hear it and one other track here.
