Harbours “No Souvenirs”
The good folks at Stranger Dance are hosting another stellar line up of music tonight at The Rickshaw Stop, featuring Bay Area locals Harbours and Sarah Bethe Nelson (also known as Prairie Dog), along with Seattle’s Moondoggies. Be sure to check it out if you’re in town!
I just couldn’t resist heading over to The Stud last night – one of San Francisco’s oldest and most legendary queer establishments – to see our hometown heros Girls play. It was a rare opportunity for me to a) have an excuse to patronage the joint and b) see one of my favorite bands play a most unconventional venue and c) enjoy a little tranny action between sets. Only in San Francisco! With the added bonus of 2 for 1 drinks at the bar, we all wondered why we weren’t frequenting the place more often.
The band’s full length debut album, entitled Album, will be released on Matador Records September 22. Album’s seven-minute opus, “Hellhole Ratrace,” rated by Pitchfork as “one of the 100 best songs of the year,” will be available prior to the album’s release date on a limited-edition 10″ vinyl single.
San Francisco, if you didn’t catch them at The Stud, they will be playing July 21 at The Rickshaw Stop with Pains of Being Pure At Heart. In the meantime, enjoy their latest video for “Hellhole Ratrace”.
Frankel, “Anonymity is the New Fame”
I’m obsessed with this track from LA-based Frankel, the brain child of Michael Orendy – singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Given the celebrity centered lifestyle of that city, it’s not hard to imagine how an album and song with such a title could come to exist.
Anonymity is the New Fame, is Frankel’s sophmore release out now on Autum Tone Records. I’ve enjoyed everything he has put out so far and this is no exception. His sound is decidedly low key and easy-going, like a sunnier, happier version of Elliott Smith.
Go get it on iTunes or Autumn Tone Records and enjoy.
I found this latest video from The Dead Weather to be mesmerizing. It documents the vinyl pressing process of their album and it’s fascinating to watch. It’s all so….analog. The band is running a contest too. Find one of 5 photo strips in the new The Dead Weather Horehound CD and you’ll win a guided tour through Nashville’s Third Man Records.
The Grizzly Owls, “Save My Soul, Conquistador”
The Bakersfield-based husband and wife duo calling themselves The Grizzly Owls are offering their latest EP “I Am A Shootist” for free download from their website. Their sound is distinctly Western noir – desolate, lonely yet beautiful at the same time (think Calexico, but with a female lead). And after reading their bio it completely made sense. The pair were inspired by their grandparent’s journey from Oklahoma to Bakersfield, California during the great Dust Bowl migration, 1960s spaghetti westerns, and David Lynch soundtracks.
Enjoy.
Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears singing the mantra du jour. Love the 70s homage in this video.
Reading the announcement that WOXY was exclusively previewing the Love and Rockets Tribute Album this week was like coming full circle for me. I grew up in Ohio and cut my teeth on WOXY (bam! The Future of Rock-n-Roll). And Love and Rockets was one of those bands they turned me on to, way back when in my formative years. So it’s with great satisfaction that this same station (to whom I hold somewhat accountable for my OCMD) brings these New Tales to Tell direct to my speakers -albeit in California not Ohio (thank god).
And judging by the line up of artists paying tribute, it appears as though Love and Rockets are getting their moment in the spotlight. This is a good thing too. I’m not sure how many more new bands I could take citing The Jesus and Mary Chain in their list of influences. The list of artists paying tribute include: THE FLAMING LIPS, BLACK FRANCIS, THE DANDY WARHOLS, MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN’S band PUSCIFER, A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, FILM SCHOOL, and more.
The Love and Rockets Tribute Album exclusive airs on WOXY, Wed. July 1 @ 9pm, Thur. July 2 @ 6pm, Sat. July 4 @ 4pm, and Sun, July 5 @ Noon, and then on-demand through the WOXY website. The album, New Tale to Tell, a Tribute to Love and Rockets, will be released digitally July 28 and in stores August 18.
So many music videos are produced so poorly and just plain boring. This one was quite the opposite. “Rising“, from Lhasa de Sela’s new self titled album.
Hey, do you like Arcade Fire? Then you’ll definitely like the debut album from Fanfarlo called “Reservoir“. They think so too and they want you to hear it. So until July 4th, the band is offering the entire album, plus bonus tracks, for just $1! Download it now.
But don’t let the cheap price fool you. The album is excellent. And I applaud their viral marketing efforts. I love to see new bands think outside of the box to get the word out and use innovative technologies such as TopSpin to enable those ideas. Bravo!
the OCMD 