Brooklyn act Swimclub’s Funhouse for Friends is a pretty great crash course in pop history. Singer Gene Davenport, Morrissey perched on his shoulder, intones his way through a few generations of rock ‘n’ roll music — highlight “What You Want” offers handclaps, romantic befuddlement and ’50s guitars; “El Lamento!” brings in the ’80s synths; “Never Tried” dips into post-punk. But the band’s textbook dives never go deep enough to distract from tunes catchy enough to win a Gold Glove and moving enough to wallow away your workweek woes. The self-released EP is out now.
In honor of the 10th anniversary of Michael Azerrad’s classic Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991, a number of today’s indie icons and Annie Fucking Clark paid homage to their predecessors at Bowery Ballroom last night. Don’t watch this video if you don’t want to pee your pants.
Some Smalltalk from the elusive Mr. Lekman from May 16:
It was good to release some energy after sitting with my mixes for several weeks, I feel focused now, monday morning and back to work.
And from March 16:
I think there’s roughly 30 songs circulating in my head at the moment, thirty songs to be juggled and constantly kept in the air.
It bears remembering that the singer’s last full-length, 2007′s Night Falls Over Kortedala, was a summer release. Having survived the Rapture, we can dream…
Here are my L.A. concert recommendations, short and sweet, for the week. Only things I actually would like to see. On days with multiple listings, they’re in descending order of priority. Click below to add the ongoing calendar to your Google Calendar, iCal, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
When we last heard from ex-Slowreader singer Gabe Hascall, he was releasing the fine Just Dust EP. With “Love It All,” he gives up his earlier work’s crisp guitars in favor of bedroom synth-pop — Casiotone, painfully alone, etc. But maybe it’s not so bad: “I can’t help it / I love it all,” he sings. Download the new single exclusively right here, with a stream of the even sunnier b-side “When I Think” as well. The Love it All single is due on Tuesday — get more info on Facebook.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah will release Hysterical, their would-be comeback album, on Sept. 20. I’m not sure sanding off the edges and sounding more like the Walkmen, as the group does in this album trailer, is the way to bounce back from the experimental, kinda-bad sophomore swan dive Some Loud Thunder, but it’s nice to see the band together again — even if it already feels like a Strokes-esque “don’t call it a reunion tour.” Thoughts? [More: 2011 album release calendar]
It’s funny, because tUnE-yArDs’ Merrill Garbus’ introduction to this performance — an explanation of why she dubbed her new record w h o k i l l — is about as art-school pretentious as it gets, an Exhibit A for why artists shouldn’t be allowed to ruin their art by talking about it. And yet, there she is moments later, ecstatic and effortlessly improvisatory and utterly within the moment in the way the best musicians are. While w h o k i l l falls short of the blend of off-the-charts virtuosity and songwriting acumen that made Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca an album-of-the-year caliber record, few releases this year sound so ferociously alive. Nice work, as always, by Yours Truly, who should really put out a three-hour Blu-ray for me to give them money for.
Last year, former Harlem Shakes (R.I.P.) drummer Brent Katz released a very fine, very unexpected chamber-pop record under the name Thunder & Lightning. It’s the sort of music that Wes Anderson might make, were he as skilled on piano and tenor vocals as he is with Final Draft. (Just kidding, everybody knows he delivers his scripts on a vintage typewriter with keys made from elephant tusks.) Katz was kind enough to make Rawkblog a wee mixtape, which you’ll find after the jump. Put The Royal Tenenbaums on on mute while you dive in? The words, like the picks, are Katz’s. Read the rest of this entry »
Brooklyn act Swimclub’s Funhouse for Friends is a pretty great crash course in pop history. Singer Gene Davenport, Morrissey perched on his shoulder, intones his way through a few generations of rock ‘n’ roll music — highlight “What You Want” offers handclaps, romantic befuddlement and ’50s guitars; “El Lamento!” brings in the ’80s synths; “Never Tried” dips into post-punk. But the band’s textbook dives never go deep enough to distract from tunes catchy enough to win a Gold Glove and moving enough to wallow away your workweek woes. The self-released EP is out now.
When we last heard from ex-Slowreader singer Gabe Hascall, he was releasing the fine 
Last year, former 
