This Week's Mix

The first full week of 2009 and the weather pretty much matched everyone's feelings on the subject. I am headed up north in search of snow this weekend, but I leave you with some music that will hopefully have you forgetting the weather and enjoying yourselves.

Peter Broderick - And It's Alright
School of Seven Bells - Iamundernodisguise
Ambulance Ltd - Stay Where You Are
Secret Machines - Now You're Gone
Mobius Band - Hallie
Autodrone - Strike A Match
Ladyhawke - Magic
Ruby Isle - White Winter Hymnal (Fleet Foxes Cover)
CFCF - Crystal Mines
Miniature Tigers - Cannibal Queen

School of Seven Bells

Photo By Guillermo Herren
When guitarist Ben Curtis left The Secret Machines last year, The Machines denied that sibling rivalry amongst the brothers Curtis had anything to do with his split. So you have to love the symmetry of Ben now hooking up with the Deheza sisters, Alejandra and Claudia, in School of Seven Bells. Their release, Alpinisms, certainly bears some of Curtis' trademark droning guitar parts, but is a much more electronic-based affair, with hypnotic beats over the airy, electronically processed vocals of the Dehezas, punctuated by icy synth lines.

Secret Machines fans might take a while to warm to the different sound, but in many ways, School of Seven Bells takes inspiration from some of the best of the Machines work, stripping away some of the bombast and adding new sonic layers that make for a more varied sound.

Give the first single "Connjur" a spin and judge for yourself. If you like it, they will be coming through the region this November.

11/13/08: Black Cat, Washington, DC
11/15/08: Starlight Ballroom, Philadelphia, PA

mp3: Connjur

Tonight's Mess and The Silver Lining

Yeasayer - credit
So there has been a ton of noise made about tonight's Yeasayer and MGMT show at Black Cat. It's sold out and people have been scrambling to get tickets. Fans have gone as far as starting a grass roots campaign to get the show moved to a larger stage. Many of you have e-mailed me with your pleas. After spending the last couple of days looking into everything, I actually have a new twist to this saga that many of you have not heard.

As some of you may know, IA is a regional affiliate for Filter. Well, Filter is running promotion for MGMT's tour. When they run promo for a tour, Filter sends out e-mails to their affiliates offering tickets. They had one of our writers on the list for tonight's show and they were also trying to hook us up with some tickets to give away to our readers. Late yesterday, they received word from MGMT's label that due to high demand, all of their (Filter's) tickets for the show had been revoked. So, Filter can't even get into this show. All of that said, I do have some good news.

Yeasayer's tour with MGMT starts tonight in DC, but it ends on Friday 2/15 in Philadelphia. Last I checked, tickets were still available for that show and they can be purchased here. Also, Yeasayer's management announced that Yeasayer will be back for a Black Cat main stage show in early April. They are going to offer a presale to that show to accommodate everyone that missed out on this one. To get in on that, all you have to do is send an e-mail to jason@nowwearefree.com. In the subject, put “YEASAYER + BLACK CAT” and include your e-mail address in the body. They will be in touch with how you can get your advance tickets. So while many of you are bummed, you have a couple of opportunities in the near future to get your fix.

If any of you are lucky enough to have tickets to the show tonight, let us know how it goes. In the meantime, enjoy some tunes.

Yeasayer - Sunrise
MGMT - Time To Pretend


Blonde Redhead - credit
There is also a pretty good show happening at 9:30 Club tonight. Blonde Redhead will be in town and School of Seven Bells will be providing support. Tickets for this one are still available, so you definitely can get into at least one show tonight.

Blonde Redhead - 23
School of Seven Bells - Limb By Limb