Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Tiger Bell- Cheerleader Punk


Occasionally, I receive emails from bands, DJ's, labels and music PR people offering up samples of songs or notices of upcoming concerts and shows. I usually will read the email, follow the links and listen to the song samples and I may or may not respond to the request. Actually, I feel kind of bad for not replying, but I figure most of these emails are send out to dozens and dozens of blogs and websites hoping for a review or a mention on said blog/sites. If I do respond it means something special has caught my attention and I genuinely enjoy what is being brought to my attention.

A few weeks back I received a message from a band from Stockholm, Sweden called, Tiger Bell. For all you aspiring bands and for future reference, here are some of the reasons to like Tiger Bell:
  • pop-punk all-female bands- Not all, but I will give a listen to most bands in this category. I like fast, melodic, poppy punk, but the key is I have to like the voice. If it's too high pitched or screechy or too manly (I prefer more "girly"), I probably won't listen beyond one song. A little off-key (not too much though) is good and of course attitude is everything, though not too feminine butchy.
  • Bands from Sweden- Actually, I dislike many well-known Swedish bands, Abba, Roxette, Ace Of Base, and The Cardigans. But there are a lot of cool bands such as The Concretes, Shout Out Louds and the Hives, as well. I always appreciate foreign bands that make the effort to sing in English (their website is written partially in Swedish) and I haven't heard of any other all-girl bands from Sweden.
  • Cute- Cute helps a lot, but not essential. I like bands where you see them as individual members, all different with their own personalities, instead of boring lookalikes. That's why I prefer videos when a band is performing (or pretending to play) instead of some artsy off-topic storyline. Of course, seeing a band live is always the best way to know and appreciate a band.
  • Cheerleader-punk!- The band self-describes themselves as cheerleader-punk, how can I not like this band. From their site, "Tiger Bell stands with one foot in pop, one in punk and one in rock (which adds up to a lot of feet) and our music is characterized by the nagging and repeated girly choirs. With high energy, hard work and lots of fun we realized early on that we create music in the same way cheerleaders carry out their sport. Cheerleader-punk was born!" Yeah!
Tiger Bell has only released a 7" vinyl single, "Wanna Wanna/German Boy", you can purchase the single here. You can watch their video for Wanna Wanna here at Vimeo (watch it in HD!). You can also watch the video on the TDIT Facebook page.

And to hear both songs, go to Soundcloud. Watch for a future full-length, hopefully soon.
Enjoy!


Sloan- (You Don't Need To) Coax Me

Photos by Corbin Smith/Torontoist

When I returned from vacation an envelope had arrived in the mail with my tickets (I purchased online before I left) to the Sloan show here in mid-September. I'm excited because the band is performing their Twice Removed record in it's entirety and since it's one of their classic albums (and one of my favs), it promises to be a good time. While on vacation to get in the mood, I listened to the album multiple times and it seems to get better every time I hear it. To coincide with the Twice Removed tour, Sloan is reissuing the album in early September in a grand deluxe edition which will feature 3 vinyl LP's (Twice Removed album, demos and outtakes), 7" vinyl single, 32 page booklet, as well as some others goodies and additional exclusive items for pre-orders. Sounds like a real treat for the hardcore fan, but for $90, might be too rich for the casual listener. To pre-order (before September 4th) the Twice Removed Deluxe Edition, visit the Sloan site.

Sloan isn't shy to perform the "album in it's entirety" thing as they performed the One Chord To Another record for a benefit (# see below) in Toronto in 2011. Another great Sloan album that works well live when played in sequence. I downloaded this show from Dime via http://mechanicalforestsound.blogspot.com/, an amazing live music blog that features recordings from the Toronto, Canada area. Blogs like this really are a labour of love created and maintained by true music fans that want to share music we would otherwise not be able to enjoy. Please visit and appreciate their sites! Thank you  MFS, hope you don't mind if I re-post this show!
Enjoy!

 SLOAN
The Great Hall
Toronto, ON Canada

December 21, 2011
"One Chord To Another" Live

00. [introduction by Damian Abraham]
01. The Good In Everyone
02. Nothing Left To Make Me Want To Stay
03. Autobiography
04. Junior Panthers
05. G Turns To D
06. A Side Wins
07. Everything You've Done Wrong
08. Anyone Who's Anyone
09. The Lines You Amend
10. Take The Bench
11. Can't Face Up
12. [banter]
13. 400 Metres
14. [encore break]
15. Snowsuit Sound
16. 500 Up
17. [Damian takes the stage]
18. Nervous Breakdown (Black Flag cover)*
19. [Feist takes the stage]
20. She Says What She Means**

* feat. Damian Abraham (vocals)
** feat. Leslie Feist (guitar)

Recorded by Mechanical Forest Sound
http://mechanicalforestsound.blogspot.com/

# This show was a benefit for the Barriere Lake Legal Defense Fund (http://barrierelakesolidarity.org/)
and COUNTERfit Harm Reduction Services (http://www.srchc.ca/program-group/street-outreach-harm-reduction)


SLOAN- 2011-12-21 FLAC. rar


Monday, August 13, 2012

Juliana Hatfield- Live In NYC 1997

Speaking of new releases, I received my digital download for the new Juliana Hatfield album, the Covers Album. Actually, the cover of the album indicates it's self-titled, so officially I'm not sure what it's called, but throughout the Pledgemusic updates it's been referred to as The Covers Album. I haven't listened yet, but there's an interesting selection of cover songs she's chosen. I'm saving my first listen for my road trip and a quick reminder I won't be posting anything new until the last week of August (feel free to check out my past posts). The official release late of the album is August 28th, as one of the benefits of supporting the project on Pledgemusic is the advanced copy of the record. Look for it on iTunes and according to Juliana, it will be a very limited release.

Here's a vintage Juliana Hatfield show from 1997 with her performing solo acoustic. This show was between the releases of Only Everything and Bed and around this time the unreleased record, God's Foot was schedule to be released...as you know it never has been released officially. This is a great sounding audience recording I received in a trade maybe a bit less than 10 years ago and as far as I know hasn't been shared on Dime (or anywhere?).
Enjoy!

JULIANA HATFIELD
Knitting Factory
New York City, NY
February 14, 1997

(Audience recording)
solo acoustic

01. Charity
02. Waves
03. Universal Heartbeat
04. What Have I Done To You?
05. My Sister
06. My Darling
07. Nirvana
08. Make It Home
09. Spin The Bottle
10. Blue
11. Fleur De Lys
12. Where Would I Be Without You?
13. Feed Me
14. I Got No Idols
15. Outsider
16. Ugly
17. Take Your Head Off My Shoulder
18. Perfection

JULIANA HATFIELD- 1997-02-14 NYC. rar

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Young Fresh Fellows- Live At The Crocodile Cafe 1997


Mark August 21st on your calender because the Young Fresh Fellows, new album, Tiempo De Lujo hits the street on that date. If you're a fan like I am, there is reason to celebrate, it's only their third album of new material since 2001 and it's great to see them still making music together (when they have off-time from their other projects). It would be wishful thinking to expect a tour besides gigs in the Seattle and the Portland area and of course another jaunt to Spain, but any new material from the Fellows gets me in a good mood. I'll also be in an extra good mood starting next week when I start a 2 week vacation to relax and get the hell away from work and it will be a bonus to return home to a package from Yep Roc with the new LP and shirt I pre-ordered. To pre-order go to the Yep Roc store and take advantage of some presale bundles.

As a tribute to the Fellows, I have some live shows to share. I'll try to squeeze a few more in before I take a break, but if not I'll post more later in the month. This show is from 1997 and features the Fellows dipping back in their catalog with a set heavy in material from their early albums (Topsy Turvy/The Men Who Loved Music), along with a (then) new song, Barky's Spiritual Store which appeared on Tribute To Music, released in 1997 and re-recorded on the Because We Hate You album in 2001. In this set they opened for Robyn Hitchcock whom they later opened for on their 2001 tour with his band, the Soft Boys.
Enjoy!

YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS
Crocodile Cafe
Seattle, WA
June 13, 1997


01. Ted, Woody And Junior
02. When The Girls Get Here
03. Hank, Karen And Elvis
04. Mr. Salamander's Review
05. The Sharing Patrol
06. "If A Picture Paints A Thousand Words" (excerpt)
07. Where Is Groovy Town?
08. Barky's Spiritual Store
09. How Much About Last Night Do You Remember?
10. Rollercoaster By The Sea
11. Teenage Dogs In Trouble
12. "Old Man Down The Lane"
13. Beer Money
14. "Take Me Down To the Rivers Edge"
15. My Friend Ringo
16. Backroom Of The Bar

YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS- 1997-06-13, Seattle FLAC. rar

Friday, August 03, 2012

Ben Kweller- Live At The Hi-Fi, March 2, 2012

Photo by Katie Dutton
 Here's a great recording I found on Dime semi-recently from Ben Kweller during his Australian tour this past spring. This one is especially worth a listen because it was a FM broadcast so the sound quality and performance is amazing and the setlist is outstanding with songs from throughout his solo career, especially his earlier albums. The only downside is that the set is incomplete and edited down for radio which means there are at least 5 or 6 songs missing from the recording. Don't let this stop you, it's a nice sampling of Ben Kweller live in concert! If you're a fan, check out archive.com site for many more Ben Kweller live concert recordings.
Enjoy!

Ben Kweller
Hi Fi

Sydney, NSW, AUS
March 2, 2012

Source Info: FM>LPCM>WAV>FLAC [Sharp Tuner > Sony PCM-M10]
Mastering : Soundforge normalise > Audacity track split > Downsample to 16 bit.


Converter : Roman79

1. Mean to Me
2. I Need You Back,
3. The Rules,
4. My Apartment,
5. How Should it Be (Sha Sha),
6. Gossip,
7. Falling,
8. On My Way,
9. Sundress,
10. Jealous Girl,
11. Penny on the Train Track,
12. Commerce, TX,
13. Wasted and Ready.

BEN KWELLER- 2012-03-02, Sydney FM FLAC. rar

Locations of visitors to this page