The small amount of time I'm able to put into this blog does not effectively reflect how much I love music. And the few words I could write about Pash wouldn't accurately describe how happy their new album makes me. The Best Gun - expect to see it near the top of my year end countdown. I'm urging all of you locals to join me at Black Cat. Exit Clov is headlining and Carol Bui is another opener.
After weeks of indulging myself with Letters Of Resignation, I am convinced that The Western Civilization is the best band you are not hearing. I'm hoping to change that. For me, the instant draw was a likely comparison to bands like Bound Stems since the music is melodic every step of the way. And you won't be able to resist with heartfelt lyrics like "I'm so tired of being the reason you're broken" and "You should never put your faith in me."
Do not be fooled by the (lame) name of this band - urbantramper & 10,000 times glorious. This is truly a great collaboration showcasing the endearing use of male/female vocals. Sad most of the time but always beautiful.
If you adore Regina Spektor or if you've grown bored with her by now, please check out Marit Fahlander. Swedes just always seem to get it right, right?
Earlimart has given us their most polished tunes on the latest album, Mentor Tormentor. The band is currently bouncing all over the U.S. in support of it. However, DC doesn't seem to be a stop at this point.
Division Day's Beartrap Island was my #7 album for 2006, and it's already getting remastered now in 2007 by the fine folks at Eenie Meenie. More information on this one coming soon...
Tonight Northern State will grace the stage at Rock & Roll Hotel. Their latest disc, Can I Keep This Pen?, will be in stores on Tuesday from Ipecac, and it's one of this year's most appealing listens for your summer mood. Opening up the show is Jenny Owen Youngs, who is sure to draw in fans of Beth Orton. The show starts around 9pm and tickets are $10.
My buddies in Bridges And Powerlines will be on the main stage at New York's Knitting Factory tomorrow night, opening up for Bella Noir. The show starts at 8pm sharp, so please go out and support my friends if you can.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 Goodbye from Cedars... Cedars are no longer a functioning band. We'd like to give a special thanks to a few of the many people who were with us through these last 3+ years of Cedars/Cartel madness. Many thanks to Mark W. Hemingway who was an original member. A firm hand-shake to Rob Muller who managed us, booked gigs and tried getting our act together with great patience on a pro-bono basis!! Tons of respect and gratitude to www.woxy.com. Mike, Shivy, Barb (and by extension one Mr. Brad Freeman) exposed our music to people we would have otherwise never imagined reaching. For that we'll be eternally grateful. Thanks to all our friends who consistently showed up at our gigs and got their friends to come out even when it was a tough sell, Mitch & Dezi come to mind. Thanks to all the club bookers in DC: Lisa@9:30, Viki@Black Cat, Stephen@IOTA, Bryan@DC9, Stephen@RnRHotel, etc etc etc. Thanks to Kyle G., Peter D. and Rebecca A. for championing us in the media via DCist, blogs, the Express, On Tap, etc. Thanks are also due to Bracken Records for the Fleets single in the UK, cheerio'.
A pint in the air goes to all the bands we shared a stage with. Army of Me, Soft Complex, Monopoli, Telograph, Middle Distance Runner, Vita Ruins, Shade and Airthieves shared the stage with us on multiple occasions, many of them on special nights such as cd release parties, residences or buzzed-about shows. In that sense, big thanks to Washington Social Club who gave us the chance to play the mainstage of the Black Cat for the first time...looking back it was a huge step for us. Cheers to the national/international acts who let us open their shows, here's to the like of Editors, Stellastarr*, French Kicks, Lake Trout, Giant Drag, Augustana, SeaRay (flashback!), Cinematics, the Changes, Aloha, Voxtrot, Afterhours, Jeremy Enigk and any other band my forgetful memory could've missed.
We hope we find a way to pay back Nelson Poket, Miguel Cunillera and the Dominican Republic crew for making our trip & shows there one of the band's best memories...if not the best memory. You were class acts all around and we didn't take a thing for granted. MIL GRACIAS y PA'LANTE!!
We had grand ambitions; we wanted to settle for our dreams and no less. Some might chalk it up to plain naiveté, but it stemmed out of our own massive self-belief and a (healthy) lacking dose of cynicism. We'll all personally look back at this time and make our own conclusions as to if we failed or succeeded, if it was a thing of luck, timing or else. Either way, it's been pretty damn interesting and that's more than what we could've said of our own lives had we not had Cedars in it. Ed and Luke are already dreaming it up again and working on some real cool stuff from what I hear, I'll most likely be sitting in with them at some point. Brian is going off to tend to his personal life and best interests. We'll most likely announce through here any new endeavours we may embark on for those who might care or be curious enough.
Our farewell show is being discussed about and will most likely take place within the next weeks, stay tuned.
With cache to spare and a heartfelt thanks, we bid you all farewell...
Wahoo! One week from today you'll be able to pick up the latest EP from LoveLikeFire. It's entitled An Ocean In The Air, and it can be pre-ordered at the band's website. Tracklisting is below.
1. Unlighted Shadow 2. From A Tower 3. Broken Shapes 4. SOS 5. Skin And Bones 6. Wish You Dead 7. I Will
In addition to the EP we'll be getting not one but two new videos ("From A Tower" and "I Will"). LoveLikeFire will be in the DC area on October 20 at Galaxy Hut in Arlington. For the latest tour info, please check their tour page.
I'm so happy for the guys in Thing One. They've landed a great opening spot at The Bowery Ballroom for Bitter:Sweet this coming Thursday (August 23). If you're in NYC, please go out and support the band.
Here's the perfect summer track. Coincidentally the name of it is "Summertime." In fact, the entire debut from Project Jenny, Project Jan is funky and fresh just like this.
Calvin Harris has been an internet hottie for a while now. I Created Disco is out here in the States on September 4 and will appeal to those of you who like LCD Soundsystem.
Thanks to Joe over at Instrumental Analysis I was reminded that Branches from Benzos saw a release last week. I have been loving this one for a while now.
A lot of my friends think I truly loathe Jenny Lewis. This isn't true. I just can't stand the honkytonk vibe she loves to dive into so much of the time. Under The Blacklight is out on Tuesday, and I really do enjoy it. Rilo Kiley has managed to completely reinvent themselves on this album. It's diverse in sound and so much of it is nothing like their previous material. Highly recommended - especially if you haven't been a huge fan in the past.
Please join me at The Red & The Black tonight for an exciting show including Sun Committee, The April Skies, Warm In The Wake, and The Beanstalk Library. Tickets are only $8 and it'll all get started around 9:30.
I mentioned a few weeks ago when I posted about Amiina that I'd be giving away tickets to see them perform live at the 6th & I Historic Synagogue in DC on September 4. If you'd like to go to the show, please e-mail me at 5ActsBlog at gmail dot com and give me the complete names of all four members of Amiina. I will pick a winner at random and notify him/her in one week. Good luck!
Not convinced you need to see them live? Here's a video of them performing "Seoul."
White Rabbits is for sure one of my favorite new acts for 2007. Stroll on down to Black Cat tonight to catch them live along with Takka Takka and The Cribs. Tickets are $12.
District dwellers: please come out tonight to Rock & Roll Hotel to help celebrate the one year anniversary of Instrumental Analysis. This joyous event will include performances by Jette Kelly, Bellman Barker, Lejeune, and Le Loup. If you get there before 9pm, the show is free. Only $10 if you arrive after that.
