Dear Grails.. Sincerely: Mrs. Caroline Wigginton XXV

Dear Grails (the band) ,

I am writing you to discuss your show at the Rock and Roll hotel (a devilish name for a hotel) and ask you to put a stop to all “music” you are currently playing. I happened to be walking down H-street in Washington, DC last Friday when I heard a horrible racket coming from this said demonic establishment. I had walked by this place before (from across the street) and heard similar debaucherous tones that kids might call “music” these days but on this day of April the 22nd I was shattered to my bones with what I heard (or tried not to hear!)…. so I HAD to enter this temple of debauchery, face the sinning head-on and put a STOP to this!

Anyways, your first song of the set was a complete abomination, I could not comprehend why so many teenagers would want to expose their ears to this filth. The only conclusion I can come to is that you turned them into ZOMBIES!.

However, since I had my cross on I was immune to this insane orgy of unearthly pleasures and I continued to listen just so I could give a full and complete report to my divine pastor so he could take this and use his special powers to rid the earth of this BEAST!

Just when I thought the battle was over you brought out a slide guitarist who looked like a hobo. If you thought those hooligan kids were zombies before, they were on a whole new level of unholiness at this point in this concert. The way he slid up and down the guitar looked like a masturbating sphinx spawned from beelzebub. I will have none of this!

In the end, I resisted all temptation to enjoy this demented spectacle with your intricate eastern guitar influences, inapropriately spastic drum fills and violently howling (but meticulous) bass lines.

After the show I bought a CD, with what usually would be my donation money, only for some evidence to show the atrocities I heard. I also talked to one of the band members, the slide guitarist/drummer, and apparently he is in another band called Holy Sons( I bit my tongue when I heard this). How could such a sinner have the word “holy” in their band name… get a job!

I leave with a final note to you: If you continue to play this rechid music may you be struck down with great vengeance and furious anger for you are those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brethren.

Sincerely,

Ms. Caroline Wigginton XXV

April 30th, 2011 | by quarterlife

Crystal Stilts “Sycamore Tree”

The new Crystal Stilts album, In Love With Oblivion has been on daily repeat for me this past week and I can’t get enough of this song “Sycamore Tree”. That opening guitar line is infectious and reminds me of something that would be a left out track on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. The vocals on this song are a bit too much of Jim Morrison, but that doesn’t really carry through on the other songs. The music of the Crystal Stilts goes beyond just psychedelia and takes on that 50′s rock sound a bit (think Glasvegas with more psych.)

Crystal Stilts “Sycamore Tree”
Crystal Stilts “Invisible City”

April 28th, 2011 | by brent

Bill Calahan Daytrotter Sessions

If you haven’t jumped on the Callahan train yet then I suggest you get on it quick, this is one of the most interesting singer songwriters out there right now. It might throw you off at first with the talky vocals, but a lot of Callahan’s material can cut pretty deep and has a lot of good emotional content without being overdramatic. Besides the vocals, the music itself is a great take on folky songwriting, if you can even call it that.

Bill Callahan put in a Daytrotter session yesterday and performed 3 songs that work perfectly with the Daytrotter format.

Listen to the entire set here.

Bill Callahan “Honeymoon Child”

April 27th, 2011 | by brent

Black Lips @ Ottobar Live Review – April 7th

The Black Lips played the Ottobar April 7th to a larger crowd than expected. I had caught the Black Lips at Coachella a few years ago to much less of a crowd (about 30 people in a late night tent) not knowing what to expect. The Black Lips, at that time, were a big surprise and it was a spectacle watching such a “rough” group. At the time I was more focused on their stage performance and I hadn’t really been introduced much to the music before. This time around I knew what to expect and was pleasantly surprised at what I heard.

First off, let me just say that the Vivian Girls made a great opener for the show. Their music isn’t anything mind-blowing but they are incredibly consistent and it also doesn’t hurt that it’s a trio of cute girls who know how to play their instruments. Them leading into the Black Lips just made sense.

The Black Lips came on pretty quickly after the Vivian Girls, there wasn’t much of a wait, which was nice, and they just jumped into their set. Their brand of “Punk-Beatles” (early Beatles) is full of energy and you can tell they just love performing. Of course in know way as original or talented as the McCartney, Lennon and the group, but the traditional rock/pop style is there, throw in the simplicity of the Ramones and you have the Black Lips.

The new song “Modern Art” sounded great and gives promise to the upcoming album ( Arabia Mountain out June 7th)

Despite their rough appearance and loose performance these guys know how to put together a catchy song with catchy lyrics, get a crowd into the music, and aren’t afraid to get loud. They also aren’t afraid to spit into a crowd, or in the case of the guitarist, spit in the air and catch it in his mouth..impressive!

If you haven’t seen them before, then this is a good representation of what they are like live:

Black Lips – Raw Meat from NOW Magazine on Vimeo.

April 27th, 2011 | by brent

Junior Boys Stream 9-minute Album Closer “Banana Ripple”

Must be a Junior Boys kind of day.  I literally just posted the below RIYL Junior Boys post, when i saw that pitchfork announced the band is now streaming their 9-minute closing track “Banana Ripple” from their upcoming album It’s All True (6/14).

Quirky track name, and equally light-hearted beats on this track…that is until they get to the bridge, which gets the “lets space jam the shit out of this” treatment.  It ends with a great repeating line of “no, you’ll never see me go”… perfect for inevitable sing-a-longs during their upcoming tour.

Stream “Banana Ripple” at Pitchfork.

April 26th, 2011 | by ryan97ou