Music Snobbery

Jagwar Ma Readies First 7" -- Come Save Me / What Love?

New music alert for you, so put your pencils down and pay attention. Jagwar Ma is the new project of Jono Ma, former guitarist for the Australian band Lost Valentinos. Joining him on vocals is Gabriel Winterfield of the Aussie band Ghostwood. Their effort is a little slice of goodness called Come Save Me. It's a sunny 60s California pop that morphs into an lo-fi electro dance beats. It's start like the Beach Boys, then eases into Panda Bear and ends like Hot Chip.

The single will be available to the masses in digital and vinyl form on Feb. 27th via The Blue Rider label.

So please check out for the video for Come Save Me, and I think you will approve.

This Week in Random Reunions -- Ben Folds Five

This time, they are back full-time, bitches. Last year, Ben Folds announced that they recorded a song for a Greatest Hits complilation. Today, Foldsy announced that Darren Jessee and Robert Sledge have joined him in the studio to record their fourth full-length album. This is their first album since 1999's The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. Benny tweeted the above photo of Day One of their recording session.

One would assume that a tour would be in order after the album is released. This begs the question, will Darren and Robert be forced to play on Ben's solo songs? That might be a bit awkward.

That's all we know so far, but they got the band back together, man!

Previously:

• Ben Folds / Jukebox the Ghost @ Wellmont Theatre
• Ben Folds / Kate Miller-Heidke @ Wellmont Theatre

 

The Darcys Joining Bombay Bicycle Club and Lucy Rose on U.S. Tour

So here, they projected a band image over themselves. It's like they are their own ghosts, man.

In any event, Toronto's The Darcys are having a busy 2012. First off -- in an act of sheer brillance -- they recorded Steeley Dan's 1977 masterpiece Aja in it's entirity in their own style. Better yet, it's yours for free at their website. Black Cow, Deacon Blues and Josie, that's smooth.

As far as original material, they released their self-titled third album last year via Arts & Crafys, which was produced by Dears' lead singer Murray Lightburn. Here's a sample of their sound -- arty, emotional, chaotic is what I call them. It's a tune called "Don't Bleed Me".

I would hope they play that song, as well as a Steeley Dan cover, when they tour with BBC and Miss Lucy Rose. Here are those dates again, which includes visit to NYC, NJ and Philly.

• February 14: The Casbah -- San Diego
• February 15: El Rey Theater -- Los Angeles 
• February 16: The Rickshaw Stop -- San Francisco 
• February 17: Doug Fir Lounge -- Portland 
• February 18: Crocodile Café -- Seattle
• February 20: The Commodore -- Vancouver 
• February 21: Blue Grotto -- Kamloops, BC - 
• February 22: Republik -- Calgary
• February 23: Starlite Room -- Edmonton 
• February 25: 7th Street Entry -- Minneapolis 
• February 27: Subterranean -- Chicago
• February 29: The Basement -- Columbus, OH 
• March 1: Mod Club -- Toronto
• March 2: Cabaret Mile End -- Montreal 
• March 3: Music Hall Of Williamsburg -- Brooklyn 
• March 5: Bowery Ballroom -- New York
• March 7: 9:30 Club -- Washington, DC  
• March 8: Maxwell's -- Hoboken, NJ 
• March 9: The Middle East Downstairs -- Cambridge, MA 
• March 10: Union Transfer -- Philadelphia

DZ Deathrays Returing to New York; EPs Getting U.S. Release

That looks painful ... two people wearing the same t-shirt.

Australian duo and ultra-magnetic personalities DZ Deathrays are like a swift kick in the groin when you hear them. They play hardcore, post-punk DIY rock that's intense and sizzling. Comparable to Bass Drum of Death, if you are so inclined. One of their songs is called "Messed Up" and, indeed, as in they will mess you up when they grind and pound away until they are bleeding from their fingers.

Simon Parsons and Simon Ridley have been releasing singles and EPs in Australia and Europe since 2009. They logged some miles with Foo Fighters, Fucked Up, Band of Skulls, S.C.U.M. and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. They played SXSW last year, as they will again this year. Thus, they will stop back in NYC with a date at Glasslands on March 9th. I highly recommend you attend, and try not to spontaneously combust when you see them.

As far as music, they will give their two EPs, Brutal Tapes and Ruined My Life, a proper U.S. release in February via Odd Future's 3/4 Records label. You can listen to those bad boys on their SoundCloud page. For 2012, they've been putting the finishing touches on their debut album, with PVT's Ricard Pike producing.

Maybe this barn burner will be on there. It's a track called Rad Solar. Prepare to be blown away.

Two Songs Nominated for Best Song Oscar Tells Us: Movie Soundtracks Suck

A big day for the nation of New Zealand, as Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords is nominated for a Best Song Oscar for the tune he wrote for The Muppets. Jemaine is said to be crying somewhere.

He's up against legendary Brazalian artists Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown for a song from Rio.

The other nominated songs are .... are .... umm ... let me think ....

That's it.

When you have two nominees for an Oscar category, it's time to ditch it, or it was a suck year for movies and music. Elton John and Madonna were up for Golden Globes a few weeks ago, I guess nobody in the voting group thinks those whipper snappers are worthy of a vote.

In tha past, the Swell Season, Eminem, Prince, Three 6 Mafia, The Boss, Dylan, Lionel Richie, the bald dude from Genesis, Burt Bacharach and Isaac Hayes have won.

These leads me to ask you folks a question, when was the last time you bought a soundtrack album? Or even listened to the one? I think we all said the Jonsi soundtrack for We Bought A Zoo. If you said The Twilight Saga, please get off this page now.

It's a lost art form. I think of the great soundtracks of all time: Saturday Night Fever, American Graffiti, High Fidelity, Trainspotting, Boogie Nights, Pulp Fiction. We've hadn't anything to add to the canon. Instead, we get a bunch of random artists thrown together to add to the marketing machine of dolls, t-shirts and posters. If anything, the song that is in the trailer gets the most recognition. M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" in Pineapple Express and Florence + the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over" in Eat, Prey, Love made them both household names.

So I challenge the film makers of today to come up with a soundtrack, mixing old, new and original material that will add to the great pantheon of movie music. Do as Tarantino does and Lucas did for Graffiti, write the songs into the script.

Final thoughts, this was an ass year for movies. We all agree on that. Yes, The Artist is great (big fan of Michel Hazanavicius' OSS 117 films), but really, I'm not inspired.

The Twilight Sad Tells Secrets on New Album, No One Can Ever Know

Scottish doom dockers The Twilight Sad are back with more heavy sounds. They are ready to release their third album of deep dance beats against gloomy guitars, No One Can Ever Know. The trio name-checks bands like Cabaret Voltaire, Can, Liars, Magazine, Autechre and Public Image LTD as inspiration for the new album. Tracklisting below, album art to right.

1. Alphabet
2. Dead City
3. Sick
4. Don t Move
5. Nil
6. Don t Look At Me
7. Not Sleeping
8. Another Bed
9. Kill It In The Morning

Fat Cat records will release the opus on February 7th here in the U.S. As a side note, I went to Rutgers where a Fat Cat is a torpedo roll stuffed with two cheeseburgers, lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup and french fries mashed in there. God help you if you have one.

In anticipation for the new album, they will come back to the U.S. for a few weeks of live shows, including stops in Brooklyn and Philly.

• February 23: Rock N Roll Hotel -- Washington, D.C.   
• February 24: Johnny Brenda's -- Philadelphia    
• February 25: Music Hall Of Williamsburg -- New York    
• February 26: Brighton Music Hall -- Allston, MA    
• February 28: il Motore -- Montreal    
• February 29: Lee's Palace -- Toronto    
• March 1: Pyramid Scheme -- Grand Rapids, MI    
• March 2: The Empty Bottle -- Chicago    
• March 3: 7th Street Entry -- Minneapolis    
• March 5: The Casbah -- San Diego    
• March 6: The Echo -- Los Angeles    
• March 7: The Blank Club -- San Jose, CA    
• March 8: The Independent -- San Francisco    
• March 10: Tractor Tavern -- Seattle    
• March 11: The Doug Fir -- Portland   

Here's a video from the album. It's for the track, "Another Bed"

Previously:

• Idlewild/The Twilight Sad @ KOKO
• The Twilight Sad @ Siren Festival

Miracles of Modern Science Does a Bon Iver on You Give Love a Bad Name

Here's something fun to do. Show this clip to your doofus co-worker/friend/mom from Jersey. Watch the confusion on their face.

Here's local heroes Miracles of Modern Science covering Bon Jovi's You Give Love a Bad Name. Awwww, this song just hurt Pitchfork's feelings.

Joy Formidable and A Place To Bury Strangers Team Up for Loudest Tour of the Year

Two bands, six members, 100% power.

If you need to wake up from your winter hibernation, might I suggest you see the insane pairing of Joy Formidable and A Place To Bury Strangers.

Ritsy and her boys are still riding high on their big debut last year's major label debut, The Big Roar. It seems that the band has been going strong ever since I saw them in the summer of 2009 in the UK. They've gone from Pianos to Mercury to Bowery to Webster to now Terminal 5. Throw in a few arena shows with the Foo Fighters and festival appearances and you have one of the most dynamic new rock bands to appear in the past few years.

Opening on the whole tour are local trio A Place To Bury Strangers. Thus, we can call this A Place to Bury Formidable Strangers, The Joy Place or A Formidable Place to Bury Joy tour. While they have been working on their third full-length album, they have an EP for us in the meantime. Onwards to the Wall will be released February 7, just in time for your Valentine's Day. Here's a video from that EP. It's hipstamic-goodness called So Far Away.

Here are the tour dates. Might I suggest ear protection for these shows. Etymotic Research ER-20 Earplugs. $12 a pair. I bought them in bulk.

• March 12-13: The Independent -- San Francisco
• March 14: The Music Box -- Los Angeles
• March 17: The Bluebird Theatre -- Denver
• March 19: Fine Line Music Café -- Minneapolis
• March 20: Majestic Theatre -- Madison, WI
• March 22: The Bluebird -- Bloomington, IN
• March 23: 20th Century Theatre -- Cincinnati
• March 24: Masqureade -- Atlanta
• March 25: Orange Peel -- Asheville, NC
• March 26: 9:30 Club -- Washington, D.C.
• March 28: Terminal 5 -- New York 
• March 29: Union Transfer -- Philadelphia
• March 31: Cabaret Mile-End -- Montreal 
• April 2: Lee's Palace  -- Toronto

Exitmusic will join the fun in Minneapolis and beyond.

Previously:

• The Joy Formidable: The MusicSnobbery.com Interview
• The Joy Formidable / She Keeps Bees @ Mercury Lounge
• The Joy Formidable @ Pianos
• The Big Pink / A Place to Bury Strangers @ Maxwell's

Pulp -- Radio City Music Hall -- April 11

That is all.

Also playing San Francisco's Warfield, April 17.

Ticket info:

Presale begins:Wed, 01/25/12 10:00 AM for Radio City Music Hall

On Sale for San Francisco, Friday, January 27 for The Warfield.

Fanfarlo Fan Out Across North America For Tour, Rooms Filled With Light Due February 28

That's more like it. Fanfarlo is back, boys and ladies. Details are in, dates are set and smiles are ready for action.

First off -- details on their second album, Rooms Filled With Light. Tracklisting is as follows, album art to the right.

1. Replicate
2. Deconstruction
3. Lenslife
4. Shiny Things
5. Tunguska
6. Everything Turns
7. Tightrope
8. Feathers
9. Bones
10. Dig
11. A Flood
12. Everything Resolves

While their debut was made in Connecticut, this one was made in North Wales with Ben Allen producing (Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion). Last year, they teased with their video for Deconstruction. For their second video, they bring in the big guns -- ballet dancers. It's for their song "Shiny Things".

Opening on this tour from Boston to Ann Arbor is Frenchkiss artist Young Man.

March 5: Paradise Rock Club -- Boston
March 6: Webster Hall -- New York,
March 7: U Street Music Hall -- Washington, D.C.
March 8: Union Transfer -- Philadelphia
March 9: Cat’s Cradle -- Chapel Hill, NC
March 10: Vinyl -- Atlanta
March 13: Fitzgerald’s -- Houston
March 14: The Loft -- Dallas,
March 15-18: SXSW -- Austin
March 19: Blueberry Hill -- St. Louis
March 20: Mercy Lounge -- Nashville
March 22: Zanzabar -- Louisville, KY
March 23: The Blind Pig -- Ann Arbor, MI
March 24: Mod Club -- Toronto
March 25: Mr. Smalls -- Pittsburgh
March 27: Skully’s -- Columbus, OH
March 28: Lincoln Hall -- Chicago
March 29: High Noon Saloon -- Madison, WI
March 31: Varsity Theatre -- Minneapolis
April 1: Record Bar -- Kansas City
April 3: Bluebird -- Denver
April 5: Urban Lounge -- Salt Lake City
April 6: Neurolux -- Boise, ID
April 7: Doug Fir Lounge -- Portland
April 9: The Biltmore -- Vancouver
April 10: Crocodile Café -- Seattle
April 17: Slim’s -- San Francisco

Previously:

• Fanfarlo: The MusicSnobbery.com Interview
• Fanfarlo / The Antlers / Laura Marling @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
• Fanfarlo @ Fat Baby

You Can't Win Charlie Brown Found On I've Been Lost; Help Them Go to SXSW

C H R O M A T I C -- got it

Coming from that haven of new and interesting indie pop -- Lisbon, Portugal -- comes You Can't Win Charlie Brown. Hey, I've been to and partied in Lisbon, and I thought the only thing they had to contribute to the world was naval domination in the 1400-1500s, Fado and the bestest egg tarts ever. Now, there's YCWCB.

You would have never have guess they are from Portugal by hearing their music. You combine the harmonies of Midlake, the creativity of Sufjan Stevens, the vibrant percussion of The Dodos and the lo-fi electronics of Metronomy then you might have the Charlie Brown formula. There's definitely an eclectic edge to them, but what makes them strong are those harmonies, mellow and comforting. All of this goodness can be found on the their self-released debut album, Chromatic, which you can find on iTunes.

You might say to yourself, "Gee UNKLE Chris, I would love to see these six fellows in America where I can get the full YCWCB experience?" Well, we can ... maybe. They are going to SXSW if they can raise enough funds to afford the trip. Thus, they set up their quasi-Kickstarter on their website in exchange for downloads, autographs and whathaveyou. Come on, can you name another indie pop band from Portugal. I certainly can't. 

In the meantime, they have a cute animated video for one of the tracks on Chromatic. It's called "I've Been Lost".

To Protest SOPA, Listen to Internet Forever's Break Bones

Bands in mirror may be closer than you think.

Well, thank God, Wikipedia is back up. Now I can find out what the capital of Estonia is (Tallinn). It saved us from scrolling down on google results to find what we needed. When it comes to social issues like this, I take the philosophy that Patton Oswalt speaks -- whatever pisses off hippies most, I'm for. So go ahead and take the internet away. I won't miss hipster Ariel memes.

Which brings me to today's featured band that I hope you'll find interesting. They are a London three-piece called Internet Forever. The band won't last forever, but maybe their music will live on in cyberspace. They started releasing music in 2009, where they sounded like a crossbred of Los Campesinos and Times New Viking -- fuzzed-out, lo-fi pop with shout out choruses. Next month, they will self-release their debut album, and in that time, they've fine-tuned their sound to put some clarity in there. Songs like 3D and Centre of the Universe have a strength and fullness, like Camera Obscura if they had some gumption. It's the kind of music where you want to high-five the band if you see them live. It's life-affirming stuff.

The jewel of their new album is their first single and video, it's for the track "Break Bones"

Diagrams Erect Tall Buildings; Debut Album, Black Light, Out Now

Diagrams, the project from former Tunng frontman Sam Genders, might be the best new music nobody is talking about ... until now. I kid.

Unlike the warped out folk and electronics of Tunng, Diagrams leans more towards the minimalist electronic based pop with Genders providing some soothing vocals. His debut album, Black Light, reminds me of a remixed version of Midlake's The Trials of Van Occupanther. He surrounds the album with violins, slight beats, quiet harmonies and subtle blips and do-dads. On "Antelope," Genders taps into his inner-Sufjan with a spunky, oddball jam. There's not a boring track on the album. It's out now via download services via Full Time Hobby Records.

A little bio info. Diagrams is mainly a Genders project with some help of some familiar names. There's one of my favorite under-the-radar singers Hannah Peel and Laura Hocking of Laura Hocking & The Long Goodbye on vocals and Danyal Dhondy working on string arrangements.

This is my favorite track on the album. It's a tune called Tall Buildings. It is also iTunes UK Single of the Week.

The Good Natured @ Mercury Lounge

First show of 2012 is in the books, and I hope all gigs are like The Good Natured's set -- loud, fun, beat-laden and over early. Although, the UK band has played in New York for three years straight, including two CMJ appearances, tonight felt like a highly anticipated debut of sorts. People are more familiar with the band and their debut EP, Skeleton (out on Astralwerks).

Looking back when I saw them in 2010 at Littlefield, where they were on a line-up with two now-popular UK bands Frankie & The Heartstrings and Chapel Club, here's what I said, "I wouldn't mind seeing them again with some more shows under the bet. From the songs I've heard, Sarah has some groove and style to her songs. She fits neatly into the Bat for Lashes and Florence Welsh vibe with defiant vocals and strong beats."

I was correct. The three-piece have plenty of live shows to build up a presence since then and it has paid off. They were crazy exciting. Their tunes have a techno/synth EuroPop sound that would be right at home in a Berlin disco circa 1984. The beats are punchy and the bass in thumbing. It's the type of music that you feel cooler after you listen. "Be My Animal" and "Skeleton" are the songs you should be listening to now from the EP. "Dead on the Dancefloor" and "Lovers" will be the songs you'll be listening to when they release their debut album later this year. It's being finalized this month.

The setlist:

• Video Voyeur
• Be My Animal
• Wolves
• Your Body Is A Machine
• Lovers
• Sting
• Dead on the Dancefloor
• Skeleton

Let's get this name into your system, Sarah McIntosh. She's the lead singer and face of the band. That Sarah is good times on the stage, and even better off when she jumps off to saunter around the crowd. The gay guys were have a grand time dancing with her. She's a pistol that McIntosh -- joking on stage and check this, she smiles and says "thank you". The music is a tad on the dark side, but that won't stop her from her doing her thing. As you can see in the pictures, she hides her eyes underneath her big mop of hair, but once in a while, you can see a darken eye peering through to survey the crowd. She's got a good stage presence when she prances around on stage and sings to people in the crowd.

So let's put Sarah on my cool list for 2012. NME has theirs, why not mine. It won't be full of sell outs and flash in the pans. I'm sure the other two guys are fine folks, but Sarah Mac will be my prom date this year. She sings, plays guitar, drums, keyboards and wears velvet pants.