The First Weekend of Summer

After a few days of figuring out a new server and everything, we are finally back. There are still a couple of things to work out, but things are just about back to normal. Actually, it is going to be better than normal soon, very soon.

Anyway, it is the unofficial start of summer. For those of you not heading to your vacation spot of choice, there are some great shows to see. Here's the breakdown:

Friday

For the third time in a month, David Ford is in Philly at the TLA. Wild Sweet Orange will be joining him.

Philly natives Canadian Invasion play to the home crowd at North Star.

Brit indie-rock is at Johnny Brenda's with Air Traffic. Local act The Bye Byes round out the bill. They remind a lot of Spoon mixed with 60's pop.

Down at DC9, The Republic Tigers take the stage a night after hitting The Late Show w/ Letterman.

David Ford - Go To Hell
Wild Sweet Orange - Wrestle With God
Canadian Invasion - Nikita
The Bye Byes - Binoculars
The Republic Tigers - Buildings and Mountains

Saturday

It gets a little sparse for the rest of the weekend.

Frightened Rabbit is in Philly at The Manhattan Room.

Of course, no holiday celebration would be complete without a performance by The Dance Party. You can catch them at Jammin' Java.

The Dance Party - Lipstick

Sunday

Head back to the Manhattan Room (you know you don't work Monday) for The Hymns.

At the Metro Gallery, its a huge local bill with Karmella's Game, AVEC, Second Saturday, and Your Black Star.

The big show is at the Rock & Roll Hotel with Sea Wolf. I've seen these guys and it is a great show. Opening is The Jealous Girlfriends. You can catch this show in Philly next Thursday.

Karmella's Game - One Phone Call
AVEC - Dysplasia
Second Saturday - Arianna
Sea Wolf - You're A Wolf
The Jealous Girlfriends - Organs on the Kitchen Floor

Monday

Finally, after you finish grillin', drinkin' and whatever else your holiday entails, check out Greenland at Galaxy Hut.

Greenland - Forward Frame to Frame

The Regional Weekend

Wow, so this is a strange weekend. There is a huge line-up in Philly and it is sort of quiet elsewhere. That said, there is plenty to choose from and pretty much everyone can find something that interests them.

Friday

I will be at Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore with Jukebox The Ghost, but if you must go elsewhere, here's what to check out:

-Cat Power/Appaloosa @ Starlight Ballroom SOLD OUT!
-The Major Leagues/Wild Sweet Orange @ North Star
-Photon Band (CD release)/Canadian Invasion @ Johnny Brenda's
-White Williams/Ecstatic Sunshine @ Ottobar

Jukebox The Ghost - Hold It In
Cat Power - Found A Reason (via Hard To Find A Friend)
Appaloosa - The Day (We Fell In Love)
The Major Leagues - Fire
Wild Sweet Orange - Wrestle With God
Photon Band - Cry, CryCryCry
Canadian Invasion - Juvenilia
White Williams - The Shadow
Ecstatic Sunshine - Tuscan

Saturday

The big show for Saturday is the long awaited state-side return of Gene Loves Jezebel at The Khyber with Spear of Destiny. They will also be at Bedrock in Baltimore on 2/23.

-White Williams/Ecstatic Sunshine/Rings @ Johnny Brenda's
-Squaaks @ Metro Gallery

Gene Loves Jezebel - Killer Hurts (Love and Rockets Remix)
Rings - Mom Dance
Squaaks - Be Dry My Bleeding Heart

Sunday

-Liars/No Age @ First Unitarian Church (Also at 9:30 Club on 2/12)

Liars - Plaster Casts of Everything
No Age - Boy Void

Two Weeks of Releases

School consumed my life last week, so I was not able to get you your weekly release post. Fear not, because I have combined both weeks into one massive post.

Week of 11/6:
Last week was a week of EPs. It seems that a number of our favorite artists could not wait to give us some new music, so they put out EPs to hold us over while they finish their new albums.

The first EP for the week is from one of my favorite bands of the year, Tokyo Police Club. This was the official release date for the Smith EP, but it has been on iTunes since early summer. I actually didn't realize that it was never officially released, as I have been listening to it for months. Similar to their other releases, it is a short 3 song EP that is full of great music. I featured "Box" on a mix awhile ago and if you have had the chance to see them live, then you will be very familiar with all of these songs.

Box

Sigur Rós released a dual EP box set called Hvarf/Heim. It has been described as beautiful, can't miss and a work of greatness. They have always been too mellow for me, but I cannot dispute the fact that these guys are some of the most talented artists out right now. There is a DVD out by the band on 11/20 that is supposed to be a beautiful visual take on their music.

Hljomalind

Grizzly Bear's Friend EP is a ten song album (and a bonus track tacked on to the end of the last song) with a few covers of such indie favorites as Band of Horses and Atlas Sound. A few of the songs appeared on Grizzly Bear's first album Yellow House, but have been totally reworked and sound extremely different from their first recordings. The entire album weighs in around 30 minutes and could be considered a full LP, if all of the songs were original recordings. I consider it a strong enough release to stand on its own against Yellow House. This album is sure to delight its listeners and is sure to hold fans over until the next LP comes out next year.

He Hit Me

The next EP is from Wild Sweet Orange, who hail from Birmingham, Alabama. I have been following this band for a long time and eagerly await any release from them. The Whale EP has been hard to track down, but the preview songs sound great. There are rumors that their full length is due out early next year, so lets hope that holds true.

Wrestle With God

Great Northern has an iTunes only EP out now and it sounds pretty good. It happens to be the prequel to their full length. After seeing them at Black Cat, they had to be one of the best opening bands not from DC that I saw all summer. So I look forward to listening to any additional music that they put out.

Shakey

The final release of the week that I want to tell you about is White Williams' Smoke. This is the first full length from this electronic band. I saw them open for Girl Talk a couple of months ago and they are really talented. They have a similar appeal to most of the indie electronic dance bands. If that is your thing, you won't be disappointed by this.

The Shadow

Other Releases This Week:

Burial

Untrue - "Shell of Light"

60 Watt Kid

60 Watt Kid - "Ocsicnarf Nas"

The Black Swans

Change! - "Change"

Zookeepers

Becoming All Things: "Trumpets" & "Becoming All Things"

Oslo

The Rise and Fall of Love and Hate - "The Rise and Fall of Love and Hate"

Minipop

A New Hope - "Like I Do"

This Week:
Not much was released this week, but there are a few good releases from some notable artists.

Led Zeppelin

Mothership (Greatest Hits) - Full Album Stream

LCD Soundsystem

45:33 - Full Album Stream

Os Mutantes

Live - Full Album Stream

Christine Fellows

Nevertheless - "Nevertheless"

Aarktica

Matchless Years - "Seventy Jane"

Dirty on Purpose

Like Bees EP - "Mind Blindness" & "Girls & Sunshine" (from Sleep Late For A Better Tomorrow)

The Whigs, The Broken West, Wild Sweet Orange On Tour

The next big thing from Athens, The Whigs are on tour with their own brand of southern indie-rock. Merge Records artist The Broken West, who have been featured on prime-time TV shows, joins them as well as Alabama's Wild Sweet Orange. Be sure to check them out this weekend.

10/26: The Khyber, Philly
10/27: Rock and Roll Hotel, DC

The Whigs - Violet Furs
The Broken West - Down In The West
Wild Sweet Orange - Ten Dead Dogs

This Week's Music Mix

Since I am going away for the weekend, I won't be able to post my normal weekend mix. Instead of waiting until Monday to post it, I will post it today! I have been getting a lot of new music and listening to many different things, but these are all songs that I have playing on repeat on my mp3 player:

1. Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
2. The Vita Ruins - Godspeed To That Polytheist
3. Sigur Ros and Mob Deep - Untitled Shook Ones (Emancipator Mash Up)
4. Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have To Leave It
5. Iron and Wine - Boy With A Coin
6. Zulu Pearls - Half Hearted
7. Fields - Charming The Flames
8. Film School - On & On
9. Wild Sweet Orange - Ten Dead Dogs
10. Ra Ra Riot - Each Year
    
11. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Isis (Video Shown Below)<hype machine>

I have two local bands in there, The Vita Ruins and Zulu Pearls. The Vita Ruins played an amazing set last Friday at Black Cat and Zulu Pearls are having their CD Release Party this upcoming Tuesday at the Rock & Roll Hotel. I will definitely be attending this show and I highly recommend it! Enjoy the music and I will be back with a lot more next week.