Best New Music: I Break Horses

Swedish duo I Break Horses take their name from a Smog song -- an annoying trend,* but luckily, their debut record, Hearts, more than makes up for it. A bedroom album full of lush, enveloping synths, dreamy vocals and hypnotic beats that push and pull -- Hearts has helped me through many morning commutes already and promises to be on constant rotation come fall.

the band, enveloped by the haze

There's something vaguely autumnal about these tracks for sure: awash in reverb and billowy synths, as wispy as autumn leaves. Read the full review over at Phrequency.com, and check out the stunning vid for first single "Winter Beats."

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*I mean, it's not like the Stars of Track and Field were any good, right? (although i do have a soft spot for Cherry Ghost)

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XPN2 Playlist, 8/29/11

6:00

Fool’s Gold, “Wild Window”
Leave No Trace

Cajun Dance Party, “The Race”
The Colourful Life

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Brown Recluse, “Impressions of a City Morning”
Evening Tapestry

The Essex Green, “Don’t Know Why (You Stay)”
Cannibal Sea

Monsters of Folk, “Whole Lotta Losin’”
Monsters of Folk

The New Pornographers, “The Laws Have Changed”
Electric Version

The Kinks, “Supersonic Rocket Ship”
The Ultimate Collection

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The Subjects, “Lonely You”
With the Ease Grace Precision and Cleverness of Human Beings

White Birds, “Hondura”
White Birds

MGMT, “It’s Working”
Congratulations

I Break Horses, “Wired”
Hearts

The Shins, “Red Rabbits”
Wincing the Night Away

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Male Bonding, “Dig You Out”
Endless Now

Black Lips, “Time”
Arabia Mountain

Royal Shoals, “Started Dancing”
Dirty Water

Times New Viking, “It’s a Culture”
Dancer Equired

Swell Maps, “Blam!!”
A Trip to Marineville



the crazy thing about '70s indie bands is their photos all look like this


7:00

The Dead Trees, “Play Your Hand”
Whatwave

The Donkeys, “New Blue Stockings”
Born With Stripes

The Thrills, “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know”
Let’s Bottle Bohemia

The Strokes, “Last Nite”
Is This It

Art Brut, “Bad Comedian”
Brilliant! Tragic!

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Animal Collective, “Water Curses”
Water Curses

The Hidden Cameras, “Doot Doot Plot”
Mississauga Goddam

The Horrors, “Moving Further Away”
Skying

Foster the People, “Call It What You Want”
Torches

Alex Winston, “Locomotive”
Sister Wife

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Electrelane, “The Greater Times”
No Shouts, No Calls

Ellie Goulding, “Starry Eyed”
Lights

Exit Clov, “Moving Gaza”
Respond Respond

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Date With the Night”
Fever to Tell

Bad Sports, “Days of Denton”
Kings of the Weekend

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Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, “Forever 28”
Mirror Traffic

No show next week (I'm off for Labor Day!) but tune in again on Monday, September 12 for a back-to-school special!


(Pssst! Notice the .'s in the playlist? These represent breaks, and help to delineate sets. In case you were wondering!)

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Music Video Mondays: TV Girl

Just a short, stop-motion vid from San Diego duo TV Girl -- whose, sweet, vintage-inspired pop will make you nostalgic for the days of doo-wop and 45's.

Like this tune? Download the whole EP for free at their Bandcamp.

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Local Radar: The Sky Drops

Spacey, shoegaze duo The Sky Drops are based in Wilmington, DE -- and are possibly the best thing to come out of the city in years (sorry Wilmington.) Formed in 2006 by indie vets Rob Montejo and Monika Bullette (Montejo having previously fronted shoegaze band Smashing Orange and Bullette having played in Licorice Roots) -- the band crafts tunes that are immense and expansive: moody vocals and fuzzy, droning guitars, for a result somewhere between the volatile intensity of Sonic Youth and the gutsy swagger of the White Stripes.

fuzzed out in photos too

Their 2009 album, Bourgeois Beat, is a surprisingly hook-y album of spaced-out psych rock. On new EP Making Mountains, they continue to indulge these tendencies, with a slippery collection of pulsating beats, seductive harmonies, and hypnotic, sprawling melodies. Stream the whole thing for free at their Bandcamp -- then catch them live September 21 at the North Star Bar. It's the headiest trip you can indulge in without the help of psychoactives!

"Swimming with Fishes" from Bourgeois Beat

Previously on local radar: Arches. (See all "Local Radar" posts here.)

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Best New Music: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong decade -- that I should have been going out partying and hooking up with dudes in the '90s, when all the guys were skinny and smart and shaggy-haired and looked like Stephen Malkmus. (As opposed to now, when they're skinny and shaggy-haired and wear neon Ray Bans.) And even though I was still watching Nickelodeon when his first record came out, I'll always probably have a crush on Malkmus, who -- old man and all -- still writes some of the best damn pop songs this side of the O.E.D.

Malkmus. (Note: not really an old man.)

Case-in-point: the recently-released Mirror Traffic, a snarky, melodious romp through 15 songs, and each of them as excellent and memorable as the next. Check out my full review at Phrequency.com, and revel in Malkmus-y joy.

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XPN2 Playlist, 8/22/11

6:00

Mosquitos, “Boombox”
Mosquitos

Fool’s Gold, “Bark and Bite”
Leave No Trace

Local Natives, “Warning Sign”
Gorilla Manor

Harlem Shakes, “Natural Man”
Technicolor Health

TV Girl, “Baby You Were There”
Benny and the Jetts

Gruff Rhys, “Sensations in the Dark”
Hotel Shampoo

T. Rex, “Jeepster”
Electric Warrior

Dom, “Happy Birthday Party”
Family of Love

Yeasayer, “ONE”
Odd Blood

YACHT, “I Walked Alone”
Shangri-La

Friendly Fires, “Blue Cassette”
Pala

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, “Tigers”
Mirror Traffic

Silver Jews, “San Francisco B.C.”
Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea

Witch Gardens, “So Many Parties”
Alice, Agatha, Branch, & Christ

Wire, “Ex-Lion Tamer”
Pink Flag


Google image result #29 for "Ex-Lion Tamer"


7:00

The Teeth, “Ball of the Dead Rat”
You’re My Lover Now

Nurses, “Fever Dreams”
Dracula

Polytechnic, “Man Overboard”
Down Til Dawn

Dark Dark Dark, “Celebrate”
Wild Go

Pete and the Pirates, “Mr. Understanding”
Little Death

Geoffrey O’Connor, “Whatever Leads Me to You”
Vanity is Forever

M83, “Midnight City”
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

Talk Talk, “Living in Another World”
The Colour of Spring

New Order, “Dreams Never End”
Movement

Division Day, “Colourguard”
Beartrap Island

Shout Out Louds, “Show Me Something New”
Work

Blur, “Charmless Man”
The Great Escape

XTC, “Earn Enough for Us”
Skylarking

Orca Team, “Shane”
Let it Go

The Kooks, “Shine On”
Konk
Lilys, “Dimes Make Dollars”
The 3-Way

Tune in again next week for more sweet jamz!

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Music Video Mondays: Gruff Rhys

Ever wondered what a scuba diver looks like wearing a mariachi hat? Gruff Rhys answers this burning question, and more, in this video for "Sensations in the Dark," off Hotel Shampoo.

Like this track? Tune in to my radio show tonight to hear more Gruff Rhys.

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Recap: The War on Drugs + Caveman at JB's

Johnny Brenda's last night was enveloped by a thick haze, as space-y doom-pop band Caveman joined hometown heroes the War on Drugs for a sold-out record release show. The former filled the space with dense beats and cutting bass lines, while the latter was sprawling and engulfing, front man Adam Granduciel's twangy vocals and impassioned guitar jamming striking a balance between world-wearied reflection and exuberant celebration.

Granduciel

Caveman

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Best New Music: Fool's Gold

L.A. island rockers Fool's Gold write sunny, buoyant charmers equally influenced by West Coast life (3 of the members logged time in Foreign Born) as band co-founders Luke Top and Lewis Pesaco's Israeli upbringings.

sun-drenched and pixelated

The result is an easy-going listen of world music-inspired, late summer jamz -- such as those found on sophomore effort Leave No Trace. Read my full review over at Phrequency.com -- then don't be surprised if you feel like throwing a luau. Won't say it's not on MY mind.

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XPN2 Playlist, 8/15/11

6:00

Fruit Bats, “Heart Like an Orange”
Tripper

Beirut, “Santa Fe”
The Rip Tide

Generationals, “Ten-Twenty-Ten”
Actor-Caster

Mister Heavenly, “Reggae Pie”
Out of Love

The Love Language, “Horophones”
Libraries

The Rosebuds, “Woods”
Loud Planes Fly Low

1,2,3, “Scared But Not That Scared”
New Heaven

Is Tropical, “South Pacific”
Native To

Passion Pit, “Eyes as Candles”
Manners

The Polyphonic Spree, “Section 22 [Running Away]”
The Fragile Army

Charlotte Gainsbourg, “IRM”
IRM

Air, “Do the Joy”
Love 2

The Klaxons, “The Night” (Frankie Valli cover)
It’s Not Over Yet

Black Mountain, “Stay Free”
In the Future

Real Estate, “Beach Comber”
Real Estate


Real Estate real-life beach-combing (At Fort Tilden beach. Photo by Colin O'Neill)


7:00

Best Coast, “When I’m With You”
Crazy for You

Male Bonding, “Tame the Sun”
Endless Now

John Maus, “Cop Killer”
We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

Maritime, “Black Bones”
Human Hearts

The New Year, “The Company I Can Get”
The New Year

The Notwist, “Gloomy Planets”
The Devil, You + Me

The Postal Service, “Clark Gable”
Give Up

The Sky Drops, “Explain it to Me”
Making Mountains

Fergus & Geronimo, “Baby Don’t You Cry”
Unlearn

The Fresh & Onlys, “I’m All Shook Up”
Play it Strange

The Animals, “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”
The Animals Retrospective

Clarence Reid, “Nobody But You Babe”
The Bees Present the Sound Selection

The Grass Roots, “Temptation Eyes”
The Grass Roots Greatest Hits (Tribute to Rob Grill!)

Vivian Girls, “Take it as it Comes”
Share the Joy

The So So Glos, “Fred Astaire”
Low Back Chain Shift

BOAT, “Bite My Lips”
Dress Like Your Idols

Camera Obscura, “Let’s Get Out of This Country”
Let’s Get Out of This Country

Swedish for Beginners, “My Pretty Little Head”
Facts and Fabrications

Tune in again next week for more sweet late-summer jamz.

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Music Video Mondays: Conversations With Enemies

Breezy Fishtown folk-pop collective Conversations With Enemies are suckers for a good love story -- especially when it's a good zombie love story. The amusing and brilliantly-cast video for "Night of the Living Dead" (featuring Jay Purdy as a zany professor) celebrated a proper premier last Thursday at World Cafe Live; here's the small-screen version for your viewing pleasure:

Even among zombies, cigarette-smoking still looks cool. That and I hope to spend the Zombie takeover at a raucous, musical zombie bash too.

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Like this post? See other posts about zombies here.

Best New Music: Fruit Bats

In a blog-based culture that favors newness and "breaking" bands amongst all else...it's not uncommon for a veteran group, who has been quietly rolling out new releases for years -- to get overlooked. And this is really a shame, especially when that group is the Fruit Bats, the wonderfully whimsical, breezy, folk-rock project of one Eric Johnson, whose fifth LP Tripper dropped last week, and is a sweet listen of storied folk pop.

The F. Bats (from their Facebook)

Read my full review over at XPN's All About the Music blog...then catch this sweet vid of first single "You're Too Weird." As if it's possible to be too weird for anything!

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Best New Music: Mister Heavenly

Mister Heavenly -- a collaboration between Man Man's Honus Honus, Islands' Nick Diamonds, and Modest Mouse's Joe Plummer -- was a project I knew I would like long before I ever heard its first single. It was a project, I figured, that couldn't possibly NOT be good -- especially given how much love I have for the components.

Possibly the best band photo ever

Turns out, I was totally right (<3 it when that happens) -- from skulking, bar-band sing-alongs to harmony-filled doo-wop charmers, Mister Heavenly bring it hard on debut album Out of Love. Read my full review at Phrequency.com, and prepare to fall in and out of love (but mostly in love!) with Mister Heavenly.

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XPN2 Playlist, 8/8/11

6:00

Razorlight, “To the Sea”
Up All Night

Kaiser Chiefs, “I Predict a Riot”
Employment

Cee Lo Green, “(You’re so Square) Baby, I Don’t Care”
Rave on Buddy Holly

Rachael Yamagata, “Starlight”
Chesapeake

Oh Laura, “Thunderbird Motel”
A Song Inside My Head, A Demon in My Bed

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi, “The Rose With a Broken Neck” (Feat. Jack White)
Rome

The War on Drugs, “Come to the City”
Slave Ambient

Arcade Fire, “We Used to Wait’
The Suburbs

Foreign Born, “Keep It in Mind”
Keep It in Mind (Single)

Fanfarlo, “Harold T. Wilkins or How to Wait for a Very Long Time”
Resevoir

Cloud Cult, “Lucky Today”
Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus

The Lovely Savages, “All About Me”
Yes

Jawbreaker, “I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both”
Dear You

Brilliant Colors, “Back to the Tricks”
Again and Again

Super Wild Horses, “Mess Around”
Fifteen

Lykke Li, “Rich Kids Blues”
Wounded Rhymes

Cold Cave, “Confetti”
Cherish the Light Years



From their tumblr (Because everything is cooler when it's a polaroid)



7:00

Austra, “Beat and the Pulse”
Feel It Break

Sleeping Bag, “Slime”
Sleeping Bag

Pavement, “Gold Soundz”
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

The Walkmen, “The Rat”
Bows + Arrows

Gardens & Villa, “Spacetime”
Gardens & Villa

Of Montreal, “Lysergic Bliss”
Satanic Panic in the Attic

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, “Round and Round”
Before Today

Architecture in Helsinki, “Escapee”
Moment Bends

Free Energy, “Dream City”
Stuck on Nothing

Unicycle Loves You, “Quagga”
Mirror, Mirror

Seapony, “What You See”
Go With Me

The Pastels, “Coming Through”
Truckload of Trouble

Black Tambourine, “Drown”
Black Tambourine

Mister Heavenly, “Pineapple Girl”
Out of Love

Islands, “Switched On”
Vapours

Tune in again next Monday from at 6 p.m. for more sweet tunes!

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Haiku Review: Cold Cave

Blustery beats ring

out amongst haze; somber yet
fueled by passion; lust


photo Teresa McCullough for Phrequency.com



Read my full review (Making Time at Voyeur) + see more pics here.

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Mad Decent Block Party: In Photos

I was mostly too busy romping around excitedly/ avoiding water-gun fire to take lots of photos this Sunday -- but I did manage a couple shots from Mad Decent 2011. Exhibit:

(click any photo to enlarge)

All photos (c) Kate Bracaglia; do not use without permission.

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Music Video Mondays: Gardens & Villa

Flute-toting, California psych-pop fivesome Gardens & Villa craft funky, futuristic tunes that really, err, come to life in a live performance -- or at least that's how it seemed 2 Fridays ago, when I caught them live opening for Dom. (I confess I was slightly substantially drunk at the time.)

Anyway, the band's debut, self-titled album dropped back in July; "Spacetime" is a slick, synth-y nibble that comes complete with this tripped-out vid:

Like this tune? Tune in to my radio show tonight from 6 to 8 to catch Gardens & Villa, live on the airwaves.

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Best New Music: The War on Drugs

Adam Granduciel, War on Drugs front man; guitarist; harmonica-player; visionary -- crafts songs that make you feel -- whether it's happy, restless, yearning, exuberant, exhausted, or content. It's something in that twangy, affected drawl that gives the illusion of soaring above the ground -- while still remaining very much connected to all that's below.

Granduciel at SXSW

On Slave Ambient (out August 16 on Secretly Canadian), he weaves these emotions together seamlessly, for a stirring listen of laidback, late-summer jams. Check out my full review over at Phrequency.com, and catch the fantastic, Urban Outfitters-produced vid for single "Come to the City."


Previously on U.E.: Song of the Week: The War on Drugs, "Baby Missiles"

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Haiku Review: tUnE-yArDs

Wily vocals meet

percussive loops and sax; there's
chaos in bold art


photo K. Bracaglia for AV Club Philly


Read my full review, and CHECK OUT A LIVE VIDEO OF "BIZNESS" (yours truly is now a cinematographer) at AV Club Philly.

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Music Video Mondays...on a Tuesday: Vivian Girls + They Might Be Giants (Double Dose!)

"Take It as It Comes," the new video from snarky chick rockers The Vivian Girls pays tribute to AND pokes fun at cheesy, '50s movies in the absolute best way possible. I'm not sure Cassie Ramone will get cast in the hipster production of Bye Bye Birdie anytime soon (tho she'd make a great Rizzo in Grease)...but Kickball Katy def has a shot. Just look at those bedroom eyes! I wonder if these are the Viv Girls' actual bedrooms?

And just in case that's not enough ridiculous for ya...Join Us, the new record from light-hearted geek-chic rockers They Might be Giants dropped a few weeks back; and the band -- fully confident in their nerdy technologically-savvy fans -- held a contest to see who could come up with the best vid for lead single "Can't Keep Johnny Down." The winner, as you might guess, is pretty much amazing:

No worries Johnny -- sometimes work makes me feel this way too!

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XPN2 Playlist, 8/1/11

Note: I put together the first half of this playlist while super dizzy and hungover; as a result, there's a lot of moody shoegaze and postrock. The second half of the playlist I did the next morning (when I felt much better), so it's poppy and fun. Broadcasting the show live was like reliving this experience once more -- if you could get through the darkness of the first half, the second half felt exuberant. Or something.

6:00

St. Vincent, “Surgeon”
Strange Mercy

Point Juncture, WA, “Violin Case”
Handsome Orders

Arches, “This Isn’t a Good Night for Walking”
Wide Awake

Morning After Girls, “To Be Your Loss”
Alone

Warpaint, “The Undertow”
The Fool

The Black Angels, “You on the Run”
Directions to Seek a Ghost

The Raveonettes, “Let Me on Out”
Raven in the Grave

Grooms, “Skating With Girl”
Prom

My Bloody Valentine, “Only Shallow”
Loveless

Asobi Seksu, “Me & Mary”
Hush

Lush, “Hypocrite”
Split

Pinback, “Fortress”
Summer in Abaddon

A Sunny Day in Glasgow, “Failure”
Ashes Grammar

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, “Howl”
Howl


Sweet BMRC shot. From these guys.


7:00

Pack A. D., “Sirens”
Unpersons

The Joy Formidable, “I Don’t Want to See You Like This”
The Big Roar

Joy Division, “Transmission”
+- (Remastered Singles 1978 - 1980)

Surfer Blood, “Territorial Pissings”
SPIN Presents Newermind: A Tribute Album

Patti Smith, “Words of Love”
Rave On Buddy Holly

Eleanor Friedberger, “My Mistakes”
Last Summer

Dominant Legs, “Young at Love and Life”
Young at Love and Life

Young Buffalo, “Catapilah”
Young Von Prettylips

Fruit Bats, “You’re Too Weird”
Tripper

The Booze, “The List”
Easy Beats in Modern Times

The Twang, “Either Way”
Love it When I Feel Like This

Kate Nash, “Take Me to a Higher Plane”
My Best Friend is You

Fair Ohs, “Summer Lake”
Everything is Dancing

Vampire Weekend, “Cousins”
Contra

Rafter, “Fruit”
Animal Feelings

The Sounds, “24 Hours”
Dying to Say This to You

Two Door Cinema Club, “What You Know”
Tourist History

The Spinto Band, “Later On”
Moonwink

Catch me again next Monday, and every Monday after that, from 6 to 8 p.m.!

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Photos: tUnE-yArDs at 2nd Street Fest, 7/31/11

Ukulele-toting, freak-folk sensation tUnE-yArDs played the 2nd Street Musical Festival this Sunday; I was on hand to snap a few pics.

Click any photo to enlarge

All photos (c) Kate Bracaglia. Do not use without credit.

Stay tuned for a full review coming shortly via AV Club Philly!

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