Alkaline Trio is having a contest to remix “I Found Away” from their latest album Agony and Irony (which is phenomenal). It’s hosted by Indabamusic.com.
The winner gets his/her mix put on the upcoming Remix CD and there are a bunch of other cool prizes on the contest page. Check it out!
I’m going to try to do a mix myself this weekend. “I Found Away (Scripted Failures Mix)” Be on the lookout for it on the listing of recent entries.
I was reading a nifty interview with Jason Kulbel of Saddle Creek records (once again from (d)NOT) and he let something slip that made me start. When asked if they might use Cursive’s $1-a-day model for any other releases, here’s what he said:
[W]e don’t have plans to do this with the Beep Beep record or the Tokyo Police Club records that come out later this month.
What new TPC records? It’s been a year since Elephant Shell, which was phenomenal, but I haven’t heard anything about a new release. Did he misspeak? I’m incredibly curious…
Cursive’s new album, Mama, I’m Swollen, is selling for $2.00 digitally today at the Saddle Creek store. It was $1.00 yesterday, and it’s going to increase $1.00 a day until the physical release date on the 10th. I just bought it (even though I’m buying the physical one) so that I can hear it early legally. Sweet deal. Awesome band.
For those of you not into Cursive, a good entry point is probably The Ugly Organ, as it’s the album that got me into them.
Thursday is streaming their new split with Envy on Buzznet. Check it out right here. I’m impressed.
KEXP has put up a cool interview with the guys from Stars of Track and Field. Among other things, they’re planning a new album, and, contrary to popular belief, they did not take their name from the Belle and Sebastian song (though they do like the band). Read all about it.
I love this band. You could call it a guilty pleasure, but I’m not guilty about it. It’s just one of a couple of Warped Tour bands that I just find overly catchy.
They just put up a new song from their upcoming album Life Is Not a Waiting Room on their MySpace page called “Family Tradition.”
Apparently, Matthew Pryor (former lead-singer of The Get Up Kids, and (current?) lead singer of The New Amsterdams and The Terrible Twos) has started his first true solo project, though The New Amsterdams kinda felt that way most of the time anyway. I haven’t had a chance to listen to the newest song he put up on his Myspace page, but I will when I get home from work.
His album, Confidence Man, is due out July 28th on Vagrant. I’m incredibly excited. I’ve never been disappointed by anything this man’s had a hand in.
(Also, if you’re like me, and you still miss The Get Up Kids, check out Blackpool Lights and White Whale for more post-TGUK-member material.)
Equal Vision Records has finally given the date for the new Damiera record: June 24th. It’s called “Quiet Mouth Loud Hands.” I’m incredibly excited to see where they’re headed.
Their first album M(US)IC is great. Imagine early Further Seems Forever with the guitarist from Fall of Troy. “Via Invested” is just plain amazing. A friend and I slowed it to half-speed and still couldn’t play it consistently. Of course, we do suck at guitar. But that’s not the point. It’s awesome, so go download it. And then be as excited for the new album as we are.
Below is the track list:
1. Rainman
2. Quiet Mouth Loud Hands
3. Nailbiter
4. Image and Able
5. Teacher, Preacher
6. Weights for the Waiting
7. Chromatica
8. Blind Sir Bluest
9. Woodbox
10. Silvertongue
11. Trading Grins
If you head on over to Kori’s blog on Babble, you can hear about a minute or so worth of one of the new Mates of State songs, albeit while Mags (that’s Magnolia their daughter) sings over it. The song sounds beautiful, and the video is just too cute!
So today, Joy Electric posted the title track of their new album, “My Grandfather, the Cubist”, which comes out May 27th, on their myspace. It’s sweet. Here’s my review of the song:
Opening up with the atmospherics and percussive elements that have become a Joy Electric trademark, the song then blooms into a sweet chord progression with a beautiful, and instantly catchy lead line. The minimalism promised on this record is instantly noticeable and it works incredibly well. It’s like the elements that need to be there to have a full fufilling song are there, but any extraneous elements that might detract from the song aren’t. Ronnie’s non-effected upfront vocals are also noticeable right off the bat. I was very interested to see what these would sound like and they sound absolutely wonderful. They sound very emotional and very fragile. As a comparison point, think of the vocals on the verse of “Write Your Last Paragraph”, and you’ve got your sound.
Basically, this song sounds like a more minimalistic version of the Joy Electric I fell in love with way back in 1997. Based on this song, it seems like this album may be the a return to the “Melody” era of songwriting in terms of chord progressions and lead lines which isn’t a bad thing at all. I enjoy every Joy Electric record, but “Melody” and “We are the Music Makers” are the two records that have had the most emotional impact on me. That said, this song has me more excited for this new Joy Electric record than I have been for any of the recent ones, besides maybe “The Otherly Opus”, and it should be noted I get very excited for the release of every new Joy Electric record. All that said, this maybe their “Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice”, which, like that Starflyer 59 record, fully renews my love of the band and makes me remember all the things that made me fall in love with them all those years ago.
I really don’t know what else to say. It’s a wonderful song and everyone definitely needs to check it out. If you didn’t notice, check out that bitchin’ cover art. Best Joy Electric cover ever? Possibly! May 27th is going to be a good day.
