It seems that ever since 2005, I see Bloc Party on a semi-annual basis in March. The first was at SXSW on the evening of their stellar debut, Silent Alarm. Two years later it was here at the Orpheum in Boston. Two other times occurred when they did a one-off opening for some Pixies band at Merriweather Post Pavilion, and the last time was in August along with 70,000 others or something before Radiohead at Lollapalooza.
So for the fifth time, in support of their latest album, Intimacy, which is quite awesome and much better than A Weekend In The City, they started off some US dates at the recently opened House of Blues by that baseball field. Since seeing them at Lolla, "Mercury" has grown on me. During said song was highly entertaining: lead singer Kele Okereke was having a stage hand remove the mic stand for him, when suddenly he became tangled around him. He danced around the guy a bit, and finally with a barrel roll, successfully became untangled and at stage right reaching out to shake some fans hands. I have video. It's on my phone. Someday I will upload it to the internet and share with you.
And while they played all the fan favorites and classics ("This Modern Love", "Hunting For Witches", "The Prayer", so forth and so on) for me the second encore proved to be perfect. The two song finale of Intimacy opener "Ares" in to Alarm opener "Like Eating Glass" was like a perfect portrait of where the band is now and where they've come from. The huge drum 'n bass Chemical Brothers freak out of "Ares" and the whole just perfect song in "Glass" it was simply the evening's highlight.
Longwave started up a leg of dates with the Party on this night. Focusing most on songs from last year's Secrets Are Sinister (no "Devil & The Liar" though - tsk tsk), the band also were able to play a few tracks from both There's A Fire and The Strangest Things. Lead singer Steve Schiltz even got a chance to make a shout out to his friends in The Sheila Devine in the middle of one song; it was awkard yet refreshing to know that bands still give shout outs to bands when they are in their territory. I also found out that the band recently joined the ultimately hip as they now have a Twitter account and are giving away a download of Secrets import bonus track "Sideways Sideways Rain". Cool, huh?
Bloc Party Set List One Month Off / Trojan Horse / Hunting For Witches / Positive Tension / Biko / Waiting For The 7.18 / Song For Clay (Disappear Here) / Banquet / Better Than Heaven / Blue Light / Mercury / This Modern Love / The Prayer /// Halo / Price of Gasoline / Flux / Helicopter // Ares / Like Eating Glass
After finishing off some headlining dates, New York rockers and moisturizing musiciansLongwave will take the month of February off before hitting the road again in March. Dates begin in the early part of March supporting OK Go, before meeting up with Bloc Party here in Boston for a half dozen shows.
See Longwave Play. 03.06 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts* 03.07 Towson, MD @ Recher Theatre* 03.08 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg* 03.10 New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place* 03.11 Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street* 03.13 Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall* 03.19 Boston, MA @ House of Blues** 03.22 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club** 03.24 New York, NY @ Terminal 5** 03.25 New York, NY @ Terminal 5** 03.28 Chicago, IL @ Rivera Theater** 03.30 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue** 03.31 St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant** *with OK Go **with Bloc Party
And for those who didn't pick up on my quip about moisturizing, Longwave's "The Devil and The Liar" from Secrets are Sinister is in a new Lubiderm commercial. And here people thought bands didn't take care of their skin.
Earlier this week, it was David Byrne and Brian Eno who gave us their first album in nearly three decades via the internet. And it was at 4AM east coast time was when the world was invited to the most private sector of Bloc Party land when they unleashed upon the world Intimacy, their third album.
The band announced on Monday that, surprise, our record is done and you can buy in this Thursday. The album won't be in stores until October 28th, but you can buy it digitally this instant. I won't lie, A Weekend In The City wasn't my favorite Bloc Party album, but the open drum and bass and buzzsaw guitars of "Ares" have me reeled in. I still can't get in to "Mercury" though. Even after seeing them play it before 50,000 or so people at Lollapalooza, Kele Okereke looping and manipulating his own vocals, the song .. wait, I already mentioned this in my Lollapalooza write-up.
It appears that the album's title comes from Okereke's brutally honest lyrics this time around, after going through a break up last year. Maybe we'll finally get an album as good as their landmark debut, Silent Alarm. I'm finding out right now as we speak.
Saturday 54-year old Sex Pistols singer John Lydon broke open a can of whoop-ass. On the receiving end was 25-year old Bloc Party singer Kele Okereke. The backstage mele led to the arrest of *Foals *singer Yannis Philippaki for his attempts to forcibly stop the dispute. Okereke claims that the attack was racially motivated. Lydon maintains that he's just fucking tired of being asked about Public Image Ltd. Jose would like to see the instant replay.
This week Christie’s auctioned off a lot items from the home of James Brown. Christie’s had projected a haul of 2 million from the sales but netted only $800,000. Sold from the South Carolina house were over 350 items including his medical bracelet, his Hammond organ, a black cape, pink leather couches, even the man’s astereo system. The proceeds are ear marked for Mr. Brown’s tax debt.
Deerhunter are planning to release their third full length, Microcastle, this October. The album will be availably on Kranky in the U.S. and is rumored to me less noisy and more listenable than anything previous. They’ve also been confirmed to be touring with Nine Inch Nails beginning in August. Does anyone else remember when they were just famous for putting pene de venado on their album cover?
Also this October, Gang Gang Dance will be releasing their third album, Saint Dymphn. The album contains no pene de venado but is more dancey than anything previous. Before the full album drops, they will be giving a digital download sneak peek.
A tragedy in Moscow last week, as dozens of ravers at the Aquamarine Open Air Festival burned their retinas. A laser light show ran amuck and caused 12 cases of laser-blindness. The owner of a Moscow laser rental company told Reuters that the accidental blinding were due to "illiteracy on the part of technicians.”
On August 16th the Queens Of The Stone Age will be holding a memorial show for their former bandmate Natasha Shneider at the Henry Fonda Theater. Shneider, died of cancer July 2nd. PJ Harvey, Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Matt Cameron, Brody Dalle, Jesse Hughes, Billy F. Gibbons, Chris Goss and Alain Johannes. Proceeds from the funerary go to pay Shneider's medical bills. Donations can be made at
Kylesa will be hitting the Jam Room studio next week to start recording a new album. The CD will be released on Prosthetic Records in 2009 . The untitled release will be produced by guitarist/singer Phillip Cope.
Jose just heard about Fratello Metallo this week and giggles uncontrollably at the sight of a 62-year old Capuchin Friar belting out cookie monster vocals in Italian.
The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti is working on a side project with his girlfriend, Binki Shapiro. The duo has recruited guitarist Rodrigo Amarante, of Los Hermanos to fill out their line up. It’s to be produced by Beau Raymond. Rough Trade will be releasing their first album this fall even though the trio has recorded nothing and has no name. This promises to be incredibly bad.
Is there anything more nerve-wracking than making an album in the midst of a long and difficult breakup between band members? Granted, there have been some classics to come from this sort of emotional turmoil, like Rumors (Fleetwood Mac), Foolish (Superchunk) and Look Now Look Again (Rainer Maria), but more often than not, it's a battle that tears a band apart. With All or Nothing, The Subways' second release, the split is the catharsis which drives the music, almost making me forget how much I loved their debut. Album opener "Girls & Boys" packs in all of their Ash-inspired guitar crunch, while tracks like "Move to Newlyn" and "Strawberry Blonde" show a band is growing by leaps and bounds with a new found melodic mastery. Buy the import now or wait until Sept. 9th for the US release. [Buy Here] Download: "Girls & Boys" [mp3]
For the longest time, I thought all remix albums were self-indulgent and artistically lazy, and really, a lot of them still are, but Health is a smart band, one that is adroit enough to make a remix CD unlike any other. At times, it's not even listenable, but that's one of the charms of these guys. Unlike band of today's bands that are reaching backwards to go farther, Health just continues to reach ahead, so far in fact that it's sometimes tough to full wrap your head around what the fuck it is they are doing. But this isn't the sort of music that you should allow to go over your head, because for the most part, the band produces likable post-hardcore. What their music does require is time, and like any good novel, if you're willing to put in that time, then you'll be rewarded. [Buy Here] Download: "Triceratops" (Acid Girls Remix) [mp3]
It's up in the air as to whether or not this song will end up on Bloc Party's third album. First off, this video is weird, and the song comes off like a distorted version of "She's Hearing Voices." There's been a lot of smack already talked about this, but since BP is the type of band that likes trying on a few different hats, this should be taken with a grain of salt. By no means the band's best song, it is a solid tune from a band that is almost obsessed with not being categorized. [Buy Here]
These guys are at the forefront of the two quasi-scenes in the UK: the glut of amazing music coming out of Leeds and the countrywide resurgence in post-hardcore. Putting scenes aside for a moment, these are quality in their own right, first release a record whose titles were simply numbers, and then leaving the label which they started for the release of this new record, which has quickly become an office favorite and contender for record of the year. "Breaking Standing," "A Prospector Can Dream" and "We Are Grey Matter" are already summer '08 hits. [Buy Here] Download: "Breaking Standing" [mp3]
Download Audio/Video Tracklisting
--
Also, make sure to Sign Up for our weekly newsletter, letting you know about what's going on with the blog and website, alongside news about upcoming SIS co-sponsored Rumbles.
--
See your MP3 up here and want me to take it down? Just want to write and say "Hi, you're an awesome blogger?" Feel free to reach me at info at strandedinstereo dot com
(Photo by G. Khaikin/iPhone)
