W♥M (Archive)

Flat Bloody Bed

Buried Beds: Breadcrumb Trail

It's still too cold and I'm still in hibernation, but I've been keeping an eye out for tour dates and bands have started to announce their Spring tour dates.

BURIED BEDS
buriedbeds.com

Buried Beds are from Philadelphia and is described as "chamber-pop", which I have no idea what that sounds like. Is choir involved? I was curious enough to head over to their official website to see they're really into cute hand-crafty things. Apparently, they're offering two songs from their sophomore album, Tremble The Sails, on their website for free. They sound a bit indie, lots of girl-boy-girl-boy singing, if that's your sort of thing, you should check them out.

They seem quite excited to do some tour dates with Dr Dog:

01.29.11 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
01.31.11 - Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre
02.01.11 - Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall
02.03.11 - Charleston, SC @ The Music Farm
02.04.11 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
02.05.11 - Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom

FLATS
myspace.com/flatsofcourse

Flats is apparently one of those NME band (appeared on their Radar and recently wrapped up their NME tour with Joy Formidable and Chapel Club).

Starting this March, they're about to head out on their own first ever headline tour for their self-titled single (available in 7" and CD formats).

LIVE DATES
MAR 02ND KING TUTS, GLASGOW
MAR 03RD RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER
MAR 04TH COCKPIT, LEEDS
MAR 05TH FRUIT, HULL
MAR 06TH HMV INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM
MAR 07TH JERICHO TAVERN, OXFORD
MAR 08TH FORUM, TUNBRIDGE WELLS
MAR 09TH BULL AND GATE, LONDON
MAR 10TH JAM, BRIGHTON JAM
MAR 11TH BODEGA, NOTTINGHAM
MAR 12TH COOLER, BRISTOL

SURFER BLOOD
myspace.com/surferblood

I've mentioned this before, but I keep reading this band as "blood surfer", which sounds like a horror movie... and speaking of horror movie, they'll be co-headlining a tour with ...and You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead, which Lara claims is a lame name.

Surfer Blood is working on a new EP on Kanine Records, possibly available just in time for their tour:

04.29 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
04.30 Boston, MA @ Middle East
05.01 Montreal, QC @ Le Tulipe
05.03 Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
05.04 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
05.05 Columbus, OH @ Basement
05.06 Lansing, MI @ The Loft
05.07 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
05.08 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
05.10 Washington DC, @ Rock and Roll Hotel
05.11 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
05.12 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
05.13 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bowl

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Dance To The Best Of ESG

ESG: Dance to the Beat of My Moody

I remember the first time I heard "Dance" by ESG, I had to stop and ask "who is that?" I just loved it, the drums, the beats, the lyrics of "yew yeww ooh ohh" said it all.

For those that aren't familiar with ESG, they're initials for Emerald, Sapphire and Gold. The band, minus the guitars and bass, are a bit of a Scroggins family affairs. You can tell their influence span generations, especially with 70s disco.

Their first album came out in 1983, called Come Away with ESG, this is where I've heard "Dance" (the song would later resurfaced on a compilation, A South Bronx Story).

Anyway, I just found out that Fire Records released Dance To The Best Of ESG a few days ago (January 4^th).

I have not had a chance to listen to the greatest hits Dance To The Best Of ESG album, but it's probably safe to say that it'll contain a lot of fat bass and funky beats. I did preview their free track, "Dance to the Beat of My Moody", it's pretty catchy with the repetitive "the beat!" lyrics.

Full track listing below.

CD1: 01 You're No Good 02 Tiny Sticks 03 Moody 04 Come Away 05 U.F.O. 06 Dance 07 Parking Lot Blues 08 Chistelle 09 Talk It 10 Erase You 11 Hold Me Right 12 It's Alright 13 Get Funky 14 My Love for You 15 About You 16 Insane (Tambourine Mix) 17 Keep on Moving 18 I Can't Tell You What to Do 19 Moody (Spaced Out)		CD2: 01 Dance to the Beat of Moody 02 Bam Bam Jam 03 A New Day 04 In the Streets 05 Erase You (Puppy to Your Side) 06 You're No Good (Alternate Version) 07 Standing in Line 08 I Wanna Dance 09 Six Pack (Original Version) 10 Moody (A New Mood) 11 There Was a Time 12 Earn It 13 Like This

vu () ♥ myspace.com/esgtheband

Edwyn Collins is Losing Sleep

Read More Orange Juice Remember Orange Juice ? They have a boxset coming out November 22nd called Coals To Newcastle, and Domino Records is giving "Felicity" as a complimentary download. They also noted that it's Morrissey's all time favorite Orange Juice song.

Sally and I recorded a new podcast, which I will be editing over this week, so it should show up on Saturday. One of the item we talked about is Edwyn Collin's new album (his seventh!) called Losing Sleep, out in the US on March 22^nd on Heavenly Recordings/Cooperative Music USA/Downtown Records.

Reading the announcement, it seems that he's collaborating with heaps of great musicians, such as Franz Ferdinand, The Drums and Johnny Marr. Already out in the UK, the album's getting a lot of love, particularly from Mojo (calling it "sheer brilliance") and Q Magazine (calling it "a triumph"). Can't wait to hear it myself, even though I did confess I only know Edwyn Collins from his work in Orange Juice and, of course, that song, "A Girl Like You".

Full Losing Sleep track listing:

1. Losing Sleep
2. What Is My Role? (Co-written with Ryan Jarman)
3. Do It Again (Co-written with Alex Kapranos & Nick McCarthy)
4. Humble
5. Come Tomorrow, Come Today (Co-written with Johnny Marr)
6. Bored
7. In Your Eyes (Co-written with The Drums)
8. I Still Believe In You (Co-written with Ryan Jarman)
9. Over The Hill
10. It Dawns On Me (Co-written with Romeo Stodart)
11. All My Days (Co-written with Roddy Frame)
12. Searching For The Truth

To get a taste of the album, Edwyn Collins has released a video for "Do It Again", with Alex Kapranos & Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand, in glorious HD:



I would hazard a guess that Collins will be doing a US tour to promote his new album, so be on the lookout for his tour dates here.

vu () ♥ www.edwyncollins.com

Death of a Disco Dancer: Boney M

Boney M: Rasputin

Andrew was disappointed that I didn't mention that Boney M's singer, Bobby Farrell, passed away December 30^th, at the tender age of 61... so here is the brief mention.

I honestly have only have "Rasputin", because I need a sample to be used when Robin talked about the record store in California.

More details from observer.ug:

Boney M’s ‘Daddy Cool’ is dead
Written by Moses Serugo
Sunday, 02 January 2011 17:12

(excerpt)

Boney M’s frontman died on December 30, 2010 while on tour in Russia after a gig. He was found dead by staff at St Petersburg’s Ambassador hotel after failing to respond to a wake-up call. The cause of death was heart failure.

The impressive thing, though, was that at 61, Farrell was still carrying the Boney M torch. Following his 1986 departure from the disco quartet whose other members included [actual vocalists] Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, and Maizie Williams, he formed his own Boney M team, which saw him play up nostalgia touring all over the world.

I was told that Farrell died on the same day that Grigori Rasputin died (although a quick look on Wikipedia suggests that they died a day apart). Still, perfectly acceptable irony for Boney M's most popular song, "Rasputin".

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

W♥M100

W♥M100 (68min, 47mb)

This took ages to edit, it's over one hour and it's only part one. I have about two more hours to edit for part two, but I suspect part two are more or less throwaway bits because all relevant stuff (music-related) are put into part one.

So, one thing is certain: when Cristina and I get going, we tend to go off the rail. So a conversation will start with one topic and end up completely different, but the steps that gets there makes sense - at least to us.

We talked about a lot of things, but I've only included these items in part one:

Britpop, early W♥M, Coast, etc.

Peelander-Z

And Toni Halliday and Curve and Chatelaine.

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Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on mypodcast.com

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

The Hold Steady at First Ave, Minneapolis (12/29/10)

Tour Dates 02/04/11 University Southampton, UK 02/05/11 O2 Academy, Bristol, UK 02/06/11 O2 Academy 2 Birmingham 02/08/11 O2 Academy Newcastle 02/09/11 O2 ABC, Glasgow 02/10/11 Academy, Dublin 02/11/11 Spring & Airbrake, Ireland 02/13/11 Ritz, Manchester 02/14/11 Metropolitan University, Leeds 02/15/11 Norwich Waterfront 02/17/11 Junction, Cambridge 02/18/11 O2 SHEPERDS 03/08/11 Virgin Mobile Metro Theatre 03/09/11 The Zoo, Brisbane 03/11/11 The Hi Fi. West End 03/12/11 Golden Plains Festival

Wednesday night's Hold Steady gig at First Avenue was an interesting mashup of the generations, a testament to the group's massive appeal (locally, at least). It was the only show I've attended in recent memory where drunk 50somethings could chant along with equally plastered college kids, to music that is just as relevant to both of them.

There was no question that the night belonged to Craig Finn, the group's exuberant frontman. He was positively beaming during every minute of the show, literally trembling due to his overwhelming enthusiasm. This wasn't nearly the case for the five bandmates he shared the stage with, but I suspect that most of the crowd was far too inebriated to take note of their slight indifference.

On stage Finn plays the part of a manically enthusiastic storyteller, often delivering a line and then lurching away from the mic to bark an utterly inaudible response to emphasize what he's just said, typically with an exaggerated accompanying gesture.

One of the more lively songs of the night was "Sequestered In Memphis", which ended as Finn frantically paced the length of the stage screaming sans microphone; a careful read of his lips revealing that he was repeating the song's final lyric ("I went there on business! On business! On business!!")

The audience was remarkably tepid during some of the material from the band's latest full-length, Heaven Is Whenever, indicating a band that is arguably past its prime, but still showing a decent amount of chutzpah as its members near their forties. These more languid moments were thankfully brief though, as the lengthy setlist was loaded with enough older tunes to keep everyone satisfied. Particularly rousing were Separation Sunday highlights "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" and "Stevie Nix", both of which feature lyrics that are peppered with references to the Twin Cities, which were often met with an uplifted drink from most in attendance (or simply a raised fist in the case of those few with X's on their hands).

The pinnacle of the evening was certainly when they ripped through the title track from 2008's Stay Positive, with its "oh oh oh, oh oh oh" refrain that anyone who wasn't completely blotto was undoubtedly shouting along to.

The Hold Steady make good on their reputation of being a solid live act, but one that is decidedly welcoming to fans of all ages, making their performance so agreeable that it fails to be anything extraordinarily noteworthy (in my opinion anyway). I suppose it's kind of like going to see the latest Pixar film - you and your parents can go and undoubtedly both enjoy it to some extent, but ultimately it's not anything you haven't seen before, just something common that is done by this specific outfit particularly well. They simply put on a damn fun rock 'n roll show, no more, no less.

♥ The Hold Steady - First Ave, Minneapolis (12/29/10)

oscar () ♥ theholdsteady.net ♥ myspace.com/theholdsteady