W♥M (Archive)

K Tours

Read More K Records K remains one of the most interesting and diverse record label out of Olympia, Washington. It's no wonder that I love K and so does Kurt Cobain (who had a tattoo of the K shield).

You know I love K Records, so here are a kouple of K tours:

TENDER FOREVER
myspace.com/tenderforever

I briefly mentioned Melanie "Tender Forever" Valera (the email came in as we were recording our podcast), so you may, or may not, hear her on the podcast - to be out tomorrow.

In the meantime, I thought I'd let you know that she has a new EP called Where Are We From, to come out December 6th on K Records. I have not had the chance to listen to the new songs, and if it's anything like her previous releases, I am sure I will enjoy it. Judging a book by its cover, I would say it looks very naughty? Or illusionary? I'll find out soon enough...

If you live in Cali, see her in person:

11/11/11 - Arcata, CA @ Green House
11/12/11 - Chico, CA @ Cafe Flo
11/13/11 - Sacramento, CA @
11/15/11 - San Francisco, CA @ El Rio
11/16/11 - Oakland, CA @ East Nile
11/17/11 Isla Vista, CA @ Biko Garage

CALVIN JOHNSON
www.krecs.com

K Records owner, Calvin "Selector Dub Narcotic" Johnson, will be heading out on tour this fall, doing all-ages shows. I guess it's no big deal once you've turn 21, but for all the youngsters out there: this is great news.

Nov. 13, 2011 - L.A., Ca. @ The Smell
Nov. 14, 2011 - San Luis Obispo, Ca. @ Kreuzberg Café
Nov. 16, 2011 - Santa Cruz, Ca. @ Pioneer Street
Nov. 17, 2011 - Oakland, CA. @ LoBot
Nov. 18, 2011 - Sacramento, Ca. @ Bows & Arrows Collective
Nov. 19, 2011 - Chico, Ca. @ Rayray Gallery
Nov. 20, 2011 - Corvallis, Ore. @ Interzone,
Nov. 21, 2011 - Portland, Ore. @ House of Preblon

CHRISTMAS
whipsoflove.tumblr.com

The impossible to google Christmas band (the one with Emily Beanblossom) is on tour:

11/12/11 Philadelphia, PA Little Bar
11/13/11 Washington, DC Comet Ping Pong
11/16/11 Boston, MA Muthership
11/17/11 Brooklyn, NY Legion Bar

From the looks of things, it seems their LP is sold out, but you can still grab their Namiot 7".

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

Girls Girls Girls 5

MIRAH
mirahmusic.com

Mirah's digital-only single, "Low Self Control" (featuring Tender Forever) is released today, August 16^th.

I have gone on record saying how much I love both Mirah and Tender Forever, so it's really natural that I would love "Low Self Control". You can download the track over at MTV Hive. While I did like the track, can't say I am a fan of the autotune. French rap, I'm okay with though!

Mini-tour starts tomorrow:

August 17 - Boston MA @ Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
August 18 - Northampton MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall
August 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Dead Herring
August 25 - Berkeley, CA @ UC Botanical Redwood Grove

GIRL IN A COMA
girlinacoma.com

Can't believe how far these girls have gone. As you know, I've followed their career from their beginnings in 2004. Well, they are currently on tour with THE Go-Go's! This should be an excellent bill, considering how much we all like Belinda and the Go-Go's around here.

Girl in a Coma will release their fourth album, Exits & All the Rest on November 1st, 2011 via Joan Jett's Blackheart Records.

Here are their tour dates:

8/16: San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
8/17: Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
8/23: Aspen, CO @ Belly Up Aspen
8/24: Denver, CO @ Ogden Theater
8/26: Dallas, TX @ House of Blues Dallas
8/27: Houston, TX @ House of Blues
8/28: Austin, TX @ The Paramount Theatre

ALEX WINSTON
alexwinstonofficial.com

Alex Winston, the girl with the boy-sounding name, is releasing Velvet Elvis EP, coming out September 19th, 2011, via Island Records UK/HeavyRoc US. Incidentally, today (August 16th) is the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death.

I haven't heard the song, but it's described by her press release, that it's about how people fall in love with objects. You can watch the music video at Pitchfork.

She's doing some tour dates:

19/08/11 Pukkelpop Festival Hasselt
20/08/11 V Festival Weston Park / Chelmsford Park
21/08/11 V Festival Weston Park / Chelmsford Park
30/08/11 Shepherds Bush Empire London
02/09/11 Lock Tavern London
09/09/11 Berlin Festival Berlin
11/09/11 Bestival Isle Of Wight
14/09/11 Proud London
09/11/11 University Anson Rooms Bristol
10/11/11 Roundhouse London
12/11/11 Leadmill Sheffield
13/11/11 Olympia Dublin
15/11/11 O2 ABC1 Glasgow
16/11/11 Empire Middlesbrough
17/11/11 Academy 2 Manchester
19/11/11 HMV Institute Birmingham
20/11/11 The Junction Cambridge
21/11/11 The Waterfront Norwich
23/11/11 Pyramids Centre Portsmouth

BROUS
brous.com.au

Speaking of girl with boy names, Brous is pronounced like "Bruce".

Sophia Brous is working under her surname (like how Megan Washington is doing the same thing, despite how common of a name that is in the USA - where 'Washington' is often associated with our first president and the state).

According to Brous' press release, her single, "Streamers", "has been on everyone’s lips…the lush production, undulating melody and hypnotic performance signaling the emergence of an exciting new artist in Australia". This probably has something to do with Triple J picking up the song for their rotation.

If you don't live in Australia, like me, the song is a free download via bandcamp.

09/03/11 Buffalo Club, Melbourne
09/06/11 The Vanguard, Sydney
09/07/11 Woodland Bar, Brisbane

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

Forever is a long time

 

Best Friends Forever - Handpocket

Our podcast server crashed, so subscribers will have to wait a little. I've read that it won't be until Monday before they have the servers up and running. If you can't wait, or just want a preview, you can download the full hour show at archive.org. I'll write in more details about the show, but its main features are Chatelaine and Oh Mercy.

I also wanted to apology for being absent for the whole of last month. As you know, I took a break to mourn my best friend, who passed away in mid-April. Well, the good news is that I'm back. Here are some overdue reviews, the theme to this entry is "forever", if you haven't figured it out.

Tour Dates 06/26/10 popeye's garage new haven, ct 07/09/10 Velvet Lounge Washington 07/10/10 JR's Bar Phila, PA 07/31/10 Temple Jamaica Plain, Boston 08/26/10 Casa del Popolo Montréal 08/28/10 Parts And Labour Toronto

PROCEDURE CLUB
Doomed Forever (06/22/10)
myspace.com ♥ slumberlandrecords

The Procedure Club are a new duo, Adam Malec and Andrea. Just scanning their online pages, I see that Adam has an unhealthy obsession with 60s pop girl singers and seems vindictive towards his ex-girlfriend Andrea. I'm sure it's not to be taken too seriously, I'm sure he will explain it was hackerz that made him sound like a jerk.

The good news is that Procedure Club is one of the latest band to be released on indie-favorite Slumberland Records. I generally find that anything that SLR releases, that it's worth checking out.

Doomed Forever is everything that I love about indiepop. Lo-fi music quality to the twee-ness of the girl. The formula is generally doubly cute when it's girl vs boy vocals, but if you can't manage to get some non-caring devoid boy to sing the part, multi-layered vocals will work just as well - as heard on "Vermont", "Artificial Light" and "Feel Sorry For Me".

While Sally will tell me that I shouldn't use the word "cute" when describing things, I think it really fits Procedure Club.

When they are not cute is when it's loud, abrasive, and unpleasant, like especially on "Nautical Song" and "Dead Bird". Even Andrea's sweet singing could not save this wall of crashing sound.

If you enjoy noise/shoegaze, such as JAMC with cute vocals from Alex Taylor, you'll like Procedure Club. The song to check out is "Rather", you'll fall in love with it, even though the song is about cheating on your boyfriend.

Hope to see them at Popfest next year. I'm eager to see what they're like live, since the vocals trickery on Doomed Forever seems hard to reproduce (unless they have backup singers?).

The album is not listed on SLR as of this writing, but if you want to pre-order the vinyl from amazon.com, it's only $11.

Tour Dates 07/02/10 Northern : The Olympia 07/17/10 Walker Creek Ranch Petaluma, CA 08/06/10 Womyn’s Music Festival Walhalla, MI 08/21/10 Helsing Junction Farm Rochester, WA 09/15/10 TBA Festival - Washington High School 09/24/10 Kennedy School Gymnasium, Portland Discography [2005] The Soft And The Hardcore [2007] Wider [2010] No Snare Read More Tender Forever http://weheartmus... Melanie Valera is Tender Forever, currently based out Olympia, Washington .... and Bordeaux, Fran...

TENDER FOREVER
No Snare (05/12/10)
myspace.com/tenderforever ♥ krecs.com

It's been a while since I last heard from Melanie Valera, aka Tender Forever, but she's back with her third album, No Snare, released on K Records (man, I really want one of those custom made wallets!!)

�

Tender Forever - Well I Can Take It

Since Wider, which I've previously mentioned was "diary pop" music because her songs are all very, very personal - mostly about personal relationships and love... set in a pop song. It seems that with No Snare that she's doing what she loves, because after all, her motto seems to be "I can do whatever the love I want."

I have to say that there seems to be more emphasis on the music on No Snare, rather than sparse arrangements. The title of the album comes from the second track, "Like The Snare That's Gone", which is such an amazing song that I got stuck looping the song over and over for this review.

It's ultimately a breakup song, but it's not vengeful, the song sounds more like a celebration (you'll find yourself dancing to it).

Why are you coming to my door?
You know I'm not yours anymore.
Because my heart sounds sounds like a baby
Like the snare that's gone and the deep sounds goes
You know, I have to go, when you have no love to show.
And your heart pounds pounds baby
But the snare is gone and the deep sounds goes

Unfortunately, "Like The Snare That's Gone" is so good that I find myself thinking about that song, while listening to the rest of No Snare. It seems the rest of the album is that tender-sweet songs. They sound very shy, and it's really an album for any fans of girl-power music.

Tour Dates 07/10/10 Empty Bottle Chicago, IL 07/23/10 Cactus Club Milwaukee, WI Discography [2007] Breathe Bodies EP [2009] Pink Live Forever

TIRRA LIRRA
Pink Live Forever (2009)
myspace.com/tirralirratirra ♥ electricagemedia.com

I don't really know much about Tirra Lirra, except that they stole their name from William Shakespeare ("the lark, that tirra-lyra chants"). Their debut full length is barely what you'd consider a full album, just eight songs, a total of about forty-minutes, which is fine because it seems I don't really have much time.

From the start, "We Are All Strays", sounds a little psychedelic to me, particularly when the mixer started to warp the vocals to sound like he's singing into a blowing fan. While that may sounds fun when you're doing this as bedsit teenager, I don't think it makes for good songs.

Tirra Lirra seems to me to enjoy lots and lots of musical layers in their music. The vocals often takes a backseat to the overpowering beats, on such songs like "Mystery Eyes" and the title track, "Pink Live Forever", so it gives off a kaleidoscopic, dream-like quality.

I think if you enjoy 60s guitar/lyrical bands, you'll like this band. They're currently offering free songs from their soundcloud account:

�06/13/2010 22:15:08�♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥podcast.weheartmusic.com�

Tender Forever

Discography [Dec 2005] The Soft and the Hardcore [Dec 2007] Wider   Then If I'm Weird I Want to Share

Tender Forever - Well I Can Take It Tender Forever See Also The Blow http://weheartmus... I lived in Olympia, Washington for a few years and will be moving back next month. To prepare my...

Melanie Valera is Tender Forever, currently based out Olympia, Washington .... and Bordeaux, France?

I've only heard a few songs from her debut album, The Soft And The Hardcore (you can download one of the song on krecs.com), so I already knew what to expect with her latest album, Wider (released last December).

Her biography lists that she used to be in a band called The Bonnies, covering sixties girl bands in Bordeaux. After meeting an American friend in San Francisco, she started in various electro-pop projects. Eventually this lead to her solo project of Tender Forever, which she self-describe as "emotional pop" or "lo-fi R&B".

I think she should've called it "diary pop" as it seems all of Tender Forever's songs are very, very personal. I don't know how she does it, exposing herself like that for the world in these songs-stories. Like in "Doves vs Pigeons", where she's talking about her partner:

Oh when you talk about sex, you don't talk about love. It's like saying pigeons are nicer than doves, it's a lie and we lie.

 

The title of the album is taken from the song "Wider Too". The song is basically a diary entry or love letter to someone she loves. It tells about how she first saw this girl (and didn't know she even liked girls!).

I was really amuse to see her reference to The Slits in "Well I Can Take It": "After soundtrack, we draw fat dogs on napkins. In the green room, we'll sing at least three or four songs of the Slitssss." The song is short and sweet, and it's probably my favorite.

I've also decided to include her video for "How Many", only because I love the dancing and mentally R&B.

Wider is out now and can be purchased through K Records. I just discovered that there is a link from the main page that would let you stream the entire album.

01/27/2008 00:08:13 vu my♥posts www.krecs.com myspace.com