The Area Weekend

With everyone going to or coming from CMJ in New York, the IA region has a ton of shows coming through the area. Not many multiple city stops to tell you about, but plenty of local and one-off shows.


Toronto's Born Ruffians is one of the bands making multiple stops. They are on tour with fellow Canadians Plants & Animals. Friday, they take on DC at the Rock & Roll Hotel. For the remainder of the weekend, sBach joins the fray for shows at Talking Head Saturday and Johnny Brenda's Sunday.

mp3: Born Ruffians - Hummingbird
mp3: Plants & Animals - Faerie Dance
mp3: sBach - 1

Some of Billy Bragg's best music came from his time collaborating with Wilco. The Watson Twins have teamed with Jenny Lewis for some great music. Both are now doing their own thing and sharing the stage at the Keswick Theater in Glenside Friday. DC and Baltimore gets them Monday at 9:30 and Tuesday at Ram's Head Live.

mp3: The Watson Twins - Sky Open Up

San Francisco's Deerhoof is back with a new album and is playing Philly for the first time in almost 3 years. You can catch them at the First Unitarian Church Saturday and the 9:30 Club Sunday with fellow bay-area residents Experimental Dental School and Brooklyn's Flying.

mp3: Deerhoof - Offend Maggie

The Magnetic Fields are out on tour in support of Distortion, their highly regarded release from earlier this year. Saturday they are in Philly at the Merriam Theater, then head to Lisner Auditorium on the GW campus in DC.

mp3: Magnetic Fields - Please Stop Dancing

It's a homecoming of sorts for K records artist Mirah. Born in Philly, she moved and began her music career in the Pacific Northwest. She is playing the First Unitarian Church on Friday and the Black Cat Saturday. Joining her are Vancouver's No Kids.

mp3: Mirah - Cold Cold Water
mp3: No Kids - Old Iron Gate

Friday

The loudest band in New York is coming back to Philly for a show at Johnny Brenda's. Bring your earplugs as A Place to Bury Strangers takes the stage. Joining them is Philly's own psychedelic garage rock artists The Cobbs. Take the pop sensibilties of The Kinks and throw in Brian Jonestown Massacre with some psyche guitar and viola, The Cobbs. And a new album is in the works, so expect some fresh material.

New material is also forthcoming from Philly's Canadian Invasion. Expect a new album sometime in February. You can catch them at The Fire.

John Wesley Harding's (Wesley Stace is his born name) music is obviously heavily influenced by Bob Dylan. Why else would he take his perfomance name from a Dylan album. But he also draws comparisons to Elvis Costello. Now also a published novelist, he is set to release a new album in March (a digital release through his website will be available for Christmas). He is playing the Tin Angel in Philly.

Rounding out Friday is Le Concorde from Chicago at the M-Room and singer-songwriter Andy Laird at Milkboy Acoustic.

mp3: A Place to Bury Strangers - My Weakness
mp3: The Cobbs - Say You Never Knew Me
mp3: Canadian Invasion - Standing on the Shoulders of John Mayer
mp3: Le Concorde - Parallel Lives

Saturday

Low Red Land, our friends from the San Francisco Bay, is in the area at The Red & The Black. Head on over and see why we like these guys so much.

Over at Dahlak, you can catch another Bay area act Michael Zapruder and New York's Porter Block.

DC9 is showcasing Mother Mother from Vancouver.

mp3: Low Red Land - Better Angels
mp3: Michael Zapruder - Ads for Feelings

Sunday

Known for their satirical and mostly stupid punk songs, Dead Milkmen are Philly originals. Now they are officially reuniting and playing a sold out show at First Unitarian. They are then heading down to Austin for the Fun Fun Fun Fest the first weekend of November. Anyone going with an extra ticket? I really want to see this.

More Philly originals are also performing Sunday. Hoots & Hellmouth are in Phoenixville at The Colonial Theater as part of the Flower Power Music Festival. At the M-Room The Swimmers are joined by New Yorkers The Figgs.

Baltimore darlings Wye Oak and Caleb Stine are playing a hometown show at Metro Gallery.

Over at the Ottobar, The XYZ Affair shares the stage with E Joseph and the Phantom Heart, who sound hauntingly like Echo & The Bunnymen and locals FFHH and Person Parcel (members of Gary B & The Notions).

Down at DC9, Norwegians The Royalties and Professor Pez perform.

mp3: Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl
mp3: Hoots & Hellmoth - Rattle These Bones
mp3: The Swimmers - St. Cecilia
mp3: The Figgs - Breaking Through These Gates
mp3: Wye Oak - Warning
mp3: Caleb Stine - Devil
mp3: The XYZ Affair - Little Fool
mp3: FFHH - The Body

Low Red Land

Photo Credit
Springing forth from the revitalized Bay Area indie music scene, San Francisco's Low Red Land continue to impress with their latest, Dog's Hymns. Throughout the album the band takes spare folk and country melodies and morphs and bends them in unexpected and beautiful directions, often building to dramatic, noise-drenched conclusions.

The songs ebb and flow between alt-country twang and yelping harmonies, ATDI neo-prog freak-outs, the earnest post-hardcore of Sunny Day Real Estate and the driving, over-driven guitars of a Neil Young and Crazy Horse garage work-out. Even more impressive, each song flows into the next, the album as a whole comprising a single, fully realized composition. Truly heady stuff for their second full-length release.

I'd recommend grabbing a good pair of headphones, picking a particularly forlorn and rainy night, and immersing yourself in Dog's Hymns for a little while - it's that kind of record.

Even better, mark your calendar for Low Red Land's show at the Red and Black on October 25th. I've heard the live shows are particularly intense and not to be missed.

10/25/08: The Red and The Black, Washington, DC

mp3: Dog's Hymns
mp3: Better Angels

indie at the abby: San Francisco Rolls In

Tonight is another round of indie at the abbey at The Abbey Bar in Harrisburg. This evening features San Francisco's noise-experimentalists Tartufi and alt-country faves Low Red Land.

Tartufi - Boat of Armor

Low Red Land
credit

Dreams That Heroes Dream
West Texas

Upcoming Shows:

11/28/07
Canadian Invasion (Philadelphia, PA)
Monogold (Brooklyn, NY)

12/05/07
The Jaguar Club (Brooklyn, NY)
The Shackeltons (Chambersburg, PA)

This series is brought to you by IA, Jersey Mike Presents, WiAB Records and Appalachian Brewing Company. It is sponsored by our friends at 717 Tattoo.

Wednesday in Philly

Photo by Aubrey Edwards

Ah, experimental synth-pop from Austin. There are times I miss Texas. If you missed The Octopus Project show in DC last night, go to their show in Philly at Johnny Brendas. Also, different openers than last night, with Bucks County's Drink Up Buttercup and from San Fran, Sky Pilots, who go on tour with our friends Low Red Land throughout the IA area the next few days.

The Octopus Project - I Saw The Bright Shinies
Sky Pilots - Mussels and Clams

Down at The Khyber, a four band set featuring two Philly locals, The Major Leagues and Papertrigger ("they'll blow your nuts off"), and two Midwesterners, Head of Femur, out with a new EP, and The Roman Numerals, sporting members from all sorts of other bands.

Head of Femur - Leader and the Falcon
The Roman Numerals - Induce
The Major Leagues - Fire

Coming This Weekend

There are a lot of shows happening today and tomorrow. I have talked about some of them already and others have only appeared on the calendar. As a quick reminder, here are your choices...

SATURDAY


Exit Clov/Jukebox The Ghost (EP Release)/ Le Loup @ Black Cat

This is sure to be a ridiculous show. You have local sweethearts Exit Clov supported by two of the biggest new buzz bands in the area. Jukebox The Ghost and Le Loup are two names that you will be hearing a lot about in the coming months. This is your chance to see them early in the game.

Exit Clov - Violent Berries
Jukebox the Ghost - Hold It In


Cedars/Shade/The Vita Ruins @ IOTA

Cedars and The Vita Ruins are two local bands that have been covered quite a bit on this site. Shade is a great band from Pittsburgh. Throw them all together and you have a great night of atmospheric rock.

Cedars - Arrivals/Departures
Shade- Broken Ribs
The Vita Ruins- My Last Days On Earth


Low Red Land @ Warehouse Next Door

Low Red Land is a great band from San Francisco. They are an indie rock band that has a strong helping of alt.country sensibilities. They also know how to put on a great live show.

Low Red Land - West Texas


A Lot Of Bands @ Rock 'N Roll Hotel

11 local favorites including Middle Distance Runner, These United States, Telograph, Let's French and The Hard Tomorrows, are all playing together. This show has each band playing their favorite upbeat cover songs.


SUNDAY


Summerbirds in the Cellar @ Lo-Fi Social Club

They delighted DC on Monday. Now it is Baltimore's turn to check out the great band known as Summerbirds in the Cellar.

Summerbirds in the Cellar - The Night Thief (Demo)


Blonde Redhead/The Fields @ 9:30 Club

Blonde Redhead has been around for awhile. Their latest CD has been gaining them some of the best reviews of their career. They will be joined by Fields.

Blonde Redhead - Spring and By Summer Fall
Fields - Brittlesticks

IA Exclusive: Low Red Land

It is sort of ridiculous how many great bands are playing locally tomorrow night. A band that is most likely going to get overlooked (and really shouldn't), is San Francisco's Low Red Land. The 3-piece will be playing Warehouse Next Door and they're certainly worth your time. Take a small dash of the best elements of alt.country and add them to a large serving of really good indie rock and you'll arrive at these guys. Another thing about this band, is that they know how to bring it live. I promise you, they do not disappoint.

In honor of their return to DC, they provided me with an exclusive new track. "West Texas" is the result of a recent studio session and has never been available before. The track is held down by tight grooves and they do a great job with changing up the tempo. Personally, I can't stop listening to song and I love the musical direction that they are heading in. What do you think? I'll also include a track off of Weight of Nations for good measure. Enjoy!

West Texas
Dreams That Heroes Dream