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Countdown to Cursive: Day 1

You know the drill. Cursive will be playing Cine El Rey in McAllen next Sunday November 29th and I am extremely excited. I believe that the past is what makes us who we are in the present so I’ve decided to post one track from their back catalog each day leading up to the show.

Today’s track comes from an album that I’ve only recently come to appreciate, Happy Hollow. Now, know that I didn’t avoid it in any way, I just spent more time listening to Domestica is all.

The album takes the listener to one of the many worlds inhabited by Tim Kasher’s lyrics; a small town to be exact. A town that seems to be near a small colony of brass instruments that make their presence known immediately and remain to be an integral part of this album’s songwriting.

On the album’s first single, “Dorothy at Forty”, these creatures seem to represent the oppressive nature of the town’s inhabitants as they try and pull this ‘Dorothy’ character back to reality. At least, that’s what I get out of it.

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Countdown to Cursive: Day 2!

You know the drill. Cursive will be playing Cine El Rey in McAllen next Sunday November 29th and I am extremely excited. I believe that the past is what makes us who we are in the present so I’ve decided to post one track from their back catalog each day leading up to the show.

Today, still recovering from the many things I ate over my two great Thanksgiving meals, I have decided to include a song that the band contributed to a Smiths tribute album.

It seems incredibly fitting that the band would cover, of all Smiths songs, “Frankly Mr. Shankly”. A statement about one’s desire for fame and hearty disdain for a dead-end job that is ‘holding them back’. I can most definitely relate. Have a listen below:

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Countdown to Cursive: Day 3

You know the drill. Cursive will be playing Cine El Rey in McAllen next Sunday November 29th and I am extremely excited. I believe that the past is what makes us who we are in the present so I’ve decided to post one track from their back catalog each day leading up to the show.

Today’s track comes from the band’s fourth album, The Ugly Organ, which was the band’s last album with the wonderful Gretta Cohn.

Now, everybody knows this song. It’s the first single off of the album and it’s the tagline on the flyer for crying out loud. Here is “Art Is Hard”.

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Countdown to Cursive: Day 4

You know the drill. Cursive will be playing Cine El Rey in McAllen next Sunday November 29th and I am extremely excited. I believe that the past is what makes us who we are in the present so I’ve decided to post one track from their back catalog each day leading up to the show.

Today’s track comes from the split EP the band released with Japanese punk band Eastern Youth. The release has one of the coolest names ever to don an EP, 8 Teeth To Eat You. (fyi: there are 8 songs on the EP.)


This track is called “May Flowers” and brings Cursive’s contribution to this EP to a close. Now, don’t be fooled by it’s soft, serene intro, this tooth will most definitely eat you.

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OH! I also have an announcement to make, guys!

E-mail questions with your Name and City of Residence to ilpasetto@gmail.com before Saturday November 28th, 2009.

Only five (5) questions will be chosen.

Go! Go! Go!

Efterklang to release new album in 2010!

Bands have power.

Let me rephrase that, good bands have power. The power to make you feel whatever they want you to feel. They can bring you up and tear you down in the same verse if they wanted to.

But they don’t. Most bands, anyway.

Efterklang is probably one of the few bands I can always count on to move me in some way. Their sound is just so surprising and from a storyteller’s perspective, infinitely enviable. I have the capacity for admiration of bands that can tell stories with sounds. Even if there is no defined narrative, emotions are shown and understood in a sequence that has an impact on you and I absolutely LOVE IT when that happens. Ahem, that’s kind of my “thing”.

Now, as I take a few dainty steps out of my pool of hyperbolization, I bring you exciting news!

Efterklang will be releasing their third full-length LP in 2010!

February 22nd to be exact (23rd in the USA). The ever-so-elusively titled Magic Chairs will be the band’s first release on their new label-home, 4AD.

According to their website, this album will introduce new aural territory for the band. I honestly can’t wait.

Have a listen to the opening track, “Modern Drift”, below.

Efterklang – Modern Drift

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HOLY JESUS CHRIST THE ACTION FIGURE!

SXSW has just posted a fuckload of showcasing bands for 2010!

There are so many great acts listed already! I seriously can’t wait to see who else hits the list!

Scope it out for yourselves!

GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO

EDIT: A few acts that I’m excited for: Japandroids, Miniature Tigers, Mariachi El Bronx (The Bronx), The Mantles, Past Lives, Plants and Animals, Princeton, Warpaint, & We Are Scientists.

Countdown to Cursive: Day 5

You know the drill. Cursive will be playing Cine El Rey in McAllen next Sunday November 29th and I am extremely excited. I believe that the past is what makes us who we are in the present so I’ve decided to post one track from their back catalog each day leading up to the show.

Today’s track comes from the band’s first EP featuring then newly-added cellist, Gretta Cohn.(pictured above)

Off of Burst and Bloom, here is “Sink To The Beat”. The interesting thing about this track that trails on over to their next full-length, The Ugly Organ, is the acknowledgement of the song-writing process. At the time, this was the latest from Saddle Creek. ;)

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Show: DAYTES at Galeria 409

A couple nights ago, me and a couple of friends including fellow blogger Sin Caras made the pilgrimage to the far off city of Brownsville to catch a show.

The line-up went as follows: The Counterparts, The Child Forgives And Creates, DAYTES, White Zebra. Retro Goes Vintage was nowhere to be seen.

I arrived at the venue an hour or so late and unfortunately missed The Counterparts’ performance. However, I have seen them before and was entertained. :D

Now, the band I did arrive to catch was The Child Forgives and Creates. The last time I saw these guys play was sometime in May and this time around, they were short two members and had thus written new material which the set consisted of. There is something really captivating and stimulating about watching TCFAC set up. The excitement and anticipation builds with each instrument and piece of equipment they bring out and arrange on the floor of this place. One thing I did notice about their setup, losing two guitar players means their signature wall of amplifiers/speakers had a couple of cab-sized holes in it.

(L-R: Niko, Mark, Matt, Jeanette, Kenny, & Zeke)
Just the same, the band played really well. This new material incorporated several instrument switches between band members which I did not see coming at all. Thoughts of Godspeed run through my mind with this new material. The band played two songs, the first, “Harvest Moon”, ran for 35-minutes and spanned four movements. The final song, which I do not know the name of, ran a little over 10 minutes and ended as epic as the last two performances I have seen from them did. A little slow to build, but build they did. Here’s some video of their set taken by Sin Caras.

Following them were the headliners of the show, DAYTES. (I think White Zebra’s Raul Altamirano was at work and the band was bumped to the last spot.)

(Daytes’ Mark Esquivel)
I did a little research on these guys and found that they are being compared to bands like Tera Melos and Fall of Troy. The latter of which was the only influence I heard amidst the band’s sporadic output. They played several songs and even played an encore but all throughout the performance I wasn’t very moved. I would normally blame my change in musical interest over the past years but it wasn’t a lack of interest, it was more of a lack of focus. This trio consists of musicians who are incredibly skilled at their craft. I’m talking tap-slide bass solos, shredderific guitar parts, and the craziest drum solo I’ve ever seen.

However.

Technical proficiency does not denote good music. There were too many things happening for me to appreciate this music. I mean, it appealed to the WZ crowd. Hell, White Zebra’s vocalist/guitarist Esteban Elizondo was losing his shit in the front of the audience. I guess it’s cool if people are into it somehow but I didn’t find it very entertaining. The drum solo was the performance’s saving grace. Daytes drummer, Mason Macias, can pound skins like there’s no tomorrow and proves it.

But. and I say this with the utmost respect and uncovered ears.

Musicians should remember that, with music like this, one must not go ‘full retard’. I mean, playing guitar over your head is only impressive if it’s not the same trill over and over again. In terms of showmanship, these guys deliver in spades. In terms of musical entertainment, they maybe carried a little hand shovel with them.

Of course, the audience ate it up. So good job there.

After them came the hometown favorites, White Zebra, who played their hearts out as usual.

(L-R: Justin Marin, Justin’s Jag)
The band went through a bunch of songs that didn’t stop short of getting the crowd going. And I’m talking waaaay past the point of dancing. I nearly lost my left eye to a bottle of vodka. But yeah, good job guys. Here’s a video of five minutes from their set taken by Sin Caras.


All around a pretty solid show.

MySpaces:
The Counterparts
The Child Forgives And Creates
White Zebra
Daytes

Countdown to Cursive: Day 6

You know the drill. Cursive will be playing Cine El Rey in McAllen next Sunday November 29th and I am extremely excited. I believe that the past is what makes us who we are in the present so I’ve decided to post one track from their back catalog each day leading up to the show.

Today’s track comes from my personal favorite album of the band, Domestica, which tells tales of deceit and sorrow fueled by a deteriorating relationship resulting in a divorce.

The band had just reformed with newly-added guitarist Ted Stevens. (Note: not this Ted Stevens)
Here is “The Martyr”.

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