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I first saw Babes in Toyland in (I think) 1991. Around there. My friend Gypsy and I snuck our way into the Khyber Pass. It was probably my first packed to the gills bar show since I wasn’t 21 yet. All sweat and fun.
I really want Babes in Toyland to come to Pittsburgh. They have such great energy and they don’t seem to have missed a beat here.
Welcome to another edition of the Interstellar Radio Shower Week in Review. Here in we pick the favorite song posted by the other (ie. Jim picks his favorite Matt song, and Matt his favorite Jim song) and we say why it’s our fav. Also, quick summaries of our other long posts for the week. Basically, herein we navel gaze.
Matt Picks a Jim Song
The Ethical Debating Society caught me at a time when I was ready to rock out, but I ultimately have to give the honor to Pterodactyl’s Magik Markers-cum-Battles noise beat.
This also seems like as good a forum as any to point out that if you’ve been enjoying the blog lately (and a decent amount of you are, if our page stats are to be believed), y’all should give Jim a big thanks for making this thing a real labor of love over the past few months. He’s really made things work while I’ve reduced my music nerddom to a part-time hobby due to work/travel/other 30 year old adult(ish) real-life shit. I should be able to start pulling my weight once things settle in, but til then it’s Jim’s ship to steer.
Jim Picks a Matt Song
I sound like a broken record but another week of great songs from Matt. I liked the live tune from It’s a Place to Bury Strangers. And I really liked Gun Outfit as well. But I think Rats on Rafts hits the right note, with the clever band name as well as the great song.
7″ Highlight – Melkbelly’s BATB
On Tuesday, we highlighted the new 7″ from Melkbelly. Singing about the Bathroom at the Beach, this noisy pop from Chicago is excellent. Read the post here or listen below.
10″ Highlight – Bouquet’s In a Dream
This was a busy week for highlighting newish music releases. We won’t do this one every week, but when we find a great 10″ release we’ll make sure to highlight it. This week was Bouquet who brought this mega-dreamy relaxing indie pop. Really, listening to In a Dream is very much like living In a Dream. Read the post here or listen below.
LP Highlight – Conspiración Autista’s LP
As a sort of last punch follow up to the Drunk Radio Shower, we highlighted the new release from Conspiración Autista. This lp is just phenomenal if you like a sort of screamo post-rock. Check out our post or listen below.
International Radio Shower
We also launched a new feature focused on music from different countries. In August, we have a 4-part series on music from Greece. Check out our first post featuring Acid Baby Jesus and Nefeli Walking Undercover.
Sunday, August 2nd Radio Show Playlist
Besides pulling out a few of our new discoveries from last week’s Drunk Radio Shower, we also featured Janitor Joe, new Widowspeak, and two bands named Gunk. Check out the full playlist here.
An old friend of mine put this video up this week. This was part of a show bidding farewell to Diva Haus in Columbia, MO. I know nothing except that Rough Blush is pretty great. When you are done with the video, check out their stuff on bandcamp too.
If you don’t like that then you’re no rock n roll fun. Seriously. Sometimes though, you need a classic. And I had this scheduled to post today before discovering the awesomeness that is Rough Blush. So why not leave it up?
Each month, in the International Radio Shower, we will explore interesting (to us) music from around the world. This feature publishes every Friday. This month will focus on music in Greece.
OK, so, lately i’ve fallen in love with clicking on a country tab on bandcamp and finding new music. This started with my self awareness that I have no idea what is coming out of most parts of the world. Sure, I know some music from some of the obvious places (hi UK and New Zealand). But what are they doing with indie, punk, post punk, or riot grrrl in Greece or Greenland or South Korea? Matt told me they have a great psyche rock scene in Chile. So it seemed obvious to spend more time exploring music internationally and to share what we find.
And so it was that a couple of weeks back I ventured into music from Greece. Aided by the fact that my girlfriend enjoys doing this too and she is fond of Greece. I already have an LP from Acid Baby Jesus. So I know there is goodness there. But all I know is that someone in Greece came up with the awesome band name, Acid Baby Jesus, and they make good garage rock.
Of course, not all Greek bands are available affordably on the US domestic front. Slovenly Records happens to have several from Greece. And keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive take on Greece music. It’s just me poking around and making note of interesting (to me) music on bandcamp.
More after the fold…
Nefeli Walking Undercover
Greece seems to have a lot of post rock and a lot of stoner rock (limited sample size aside). But it was an experimental folk rock album from Nefeli Walking Undercover that caught most of my attention. Nefeli Walking Undercover is the pseudonym for a musician and music teacher from Athens named Nefeli Liouta. She is a composer too which is something that explains the fine arrangements on many of these tracks. Some of my favorite songs are from her older ep. Here is a sample:
I really appreciate their cover art for the lp. It’s just great and probably what caught my attention in the first place. And if you are in Greece, or are ok paying the international shipping, the cd comes with a 60″x60″ poster of the cover art. Also, they have a bunch of great videos they have made for their music, such as this one.
Coming Next Week: Part II on Greek’s record label εἰρκτή.
Pterodactyl hailed from Brooklyn. This song belongs to 2007. It’s noisy, catchy, fantastic.
ps. Tonight we debut a new regular series called International Radio Shower. Basically just us exploring music from around the globe. This month we are highlighting some music from Greece.
I was so impressed with Conspiración Autista when we did our drunk blogging about Chilean music. The thing about it, this was a brand new release. Only 5 days old when we rambled on about how great it was. And it really is that good, so I think it deserves special attention here.
This is a debut release for Conspiración Autista. I tried searching and didn’t see any evidence of a physical release. It appears to be primarily a digital release on bandcamp. So don’t go looking for this in record stores just yet. But be thankful that platforms like bandcamp exist and make it easy for great bands to share great music. And if you run a label, drop these folks a line stat.
The entire 7 track lp is extremely great. The opening track Todas las sirenas en camino al lugar de la emergencia, and yes the track titles are mostly very long, is some peaceful low key post rock. It doesn’t really fully prepare you for the glory to come. But it sets it up quite nicely. And Solanas Maquillada continues the pattern effectively before launching into epic screaming post punk goodness. I’m quite picky about how my singers scream their lyrics and this works quite well for me.
More after the fold…
I really like how Nariz Sangrante switches between an unintelligible full throat scream to a loud, almost yelling, sorta talking thing. Once the tone is set with the first two songs, the rest is just history as they say. I think my favorite track is He visto a Dios: Es una cámara de vigilancia, which translates as “I saw God: A surveillance camera.” Possibly in large part due to the presumably implicit politics of it.
There isn’t a bad track here. And it’s lyrically interesting. I’m glad I got the urge to punch the lyrics to Virgen del Espectáculo into google translate. Here is what I got, some of which is clearly lost in translation, but it’s still pretty great.
Virgin Entertainment, show the contents of the unconscious
under the influence of drugs mystical Andean highlands,
glue for bicycles, live TV,
Wine of liquor stores, coffee police stations.
And here is the music. So listen in and enjoy.
This is fun. I have posted from these folks before and highlighted their lp a couple of weeks back. Here is a video. A new LP highlight coming tonight btw.
So, I obviously think of music somewhat in terms of vinyl (a product of my age I think). And I do now and then come across vinyl EPs that are released in the 10″ vinyl format or sometimes in other weird formats (such as Deerhoof releasing their latest album in a flexidisc book option). So, roughly once a month we will highlight some unique release. We will obviously highlight it primarily for it’s music, but also maybe make note now and then of interesting experimental releases (such as maybe records made out of urine?).
It’s true we sometimes like our music on the Interstellar Radio Shower loud and screaming oriented, but we also love the power of a lovely synth backed indie pop EP such as Bouquet’s 10″ In a Dream. In a Dream was released in March as a limited edition run of 500 on Folktake Records. Folktale Records is one of my favorite indie folk labels so I think that’s how it initially got my attention.
This is the kind of relaxing music that facilitates the contemplation of one’s life and circumstance. I’ve always been a fan of smartly construct albums and this one does not disappoint there.
The title track In a Dream opens up the EP and it thrusts that contemplation aspect right at you. It’s got a repetitive catchy thing happening. Not the kind that gets you up in dancing (though swaying is plausible). But the kind that facilitates the closing of eyes and the non-sleep kind of dreaming. Lyrically the song reinforces this as it talks about a romantic journey in a dream and the attempt to hold onto it.
Stacks on Stacks builds off of the opening track, elevating the poppy catchiness of our dreaming, contemplating couch state. But it’s Come To Your House that really elevates the indie pop elements. This song is so good and if by this point you are almost in a state of coma-level contemplation, I think this wakes you up and alerts you to the fact that you’ve been lost in contemplation and there are a million wonderful things you can do today.
Over Mountains continues our contemplative trend. A song about loneliness and letting go. It’s just beautiful. Falling closes the album in an appropriately completionist mindset. “I’m falling, falling, still falling.” Listen to the whole EP below.
Digging this indie rock from Sarah Persephona in St Petersburg. Here is a video from a couple months back. And below that a link to her EP. Also worth noting as Russia is a possible contender for our next session of the drunk radio shower.