My band Tony Smokes and the Ladykillers plays Bluntfest tomorrow!

As if there weren't reason enough to go to Bluntfest, Tony Smokes and the Ladykillers will be playing as the opening act.

My band has come a long way from the beginning of the year. We have began recording tracks for our album as we prepare for our most comprehensive live set yet. The recordings are coming out very tight so we're more energetic than ever about our performances.

Here's a video from our performance of "Jellylegs" at The Big Easy Battle of the Bands show:

The doors for Bluntfest @ SPACE Gallery opens at 7 and the show starts at 7:30. It is all ages, and the cover is $10.

Don't forget to check out the other awesome bands playing that night including Moneycastia, Passing Lane, Dysfunktional Mayhem, and DJ Graymatter. From what I hear, there will be raffle prizes that night as well! All of the money will be going toward's WMPG's Blunt Youth Radio program. If you would like to learn more about Blunt, check out Bluntradio.org.

Hope to see you there!

Icelandic music tonight at SPACE

Icelandic band Parachutes will be playing tonight at SPACE Gallery with Providence-based Vio/Miré and Cerf-Volantes.

From SPACE538.org:
Parachutes (based in Reykjavik, Iceland) is the music of Alex Somers and Scott Alario, taking their name from the seeds of a dandelion flower. They play lots of different toys and instruments and often sample objects from around the house. Their music develops organically, with layers of acoustic instruments, old marching drums and gentle, hushed vocals. Their most recent release was mixed by fellow Icelander Jón Birgisson (Sigur Rós) and feature the strings of Amiina. With Providence's Vio/Miré opening along with local pop-ambient purveyor Andrew Frederick, aka Cerf-Volantes for his first show at SPACE in way too long.

Sounds like a cool way to decompress for the night. I'm sold. See you guys at the show!

Doors open at 9. Show starts at 9:30. 18+ with a $6 cover charge.

Review: Grizzly Bear and The New Pornographers at Calvin Theater

For this concert that happened last Thursday, I did a little traveling--scratch that--a lot of traveling to get there. My mom, my brother, and I drove down to Northampton, MA (an hour's drive from the Connecticut border) to see one of our favorite modern bands, The New Pornographers.

Grizzly Bear, an Brooklyn-based folk band that has received voluptuous amounts of publicity from music blogs like Pitchfork and Stereogum, opened and they lived up to the hype. I knew from before that Grizzly Bear was a chilled-out version of Animal Collective (my recollection of one listening from their Yellow House album), so there was to be this organic, experimental folk feel to them. I had that right but the level at which they performed was stellar.

Grizzly Bear playing "Little Brother [Electric]"

Not your average opening band, Grizzly Bear played a sacred set list full of haunting and beautiful harmonies, sparse and spacious instrumentation, and lofi, psychedelic rock riffs. Although they played a great set in its entirety, the electric version of "Little Brother" found on their latest Friend EP was one of their big highlights, featuring Daniel Rossen singing an evocative hymn about his little brother. In between his singing and the sparse, lofi guitars, there was a great crescendoing guitar break down with a very hooky riff and eventually the four members of the band broke into a spooky harmonization for the bridge. Another highlight was from a brand new song, "Two Weeks", with Daniel Rossen playing a repeating and sometimes fleeting melody on an old, electronic piano and leadman Edward Droste singing a beautiful ballad, backed up by harmonizations from the other members. Grizzly Bear's overall sound was redeeming and full; if you have not given these guys the chance yet, the time has come now!

Read about The New Pornographers power-pop set after the cut!

Flaming Lips: Christmas on Mars...finally coming out!

Christmas on Mars, a Flaming Lips special feature, has been in production for more than 6 years, and it's finally coming out later this year! It looks like it's going to be a a B-movie extravaganza. I can't wait to see Wayne Coyne as an alien! Anyhow, here's the trailer via Pitchfork.tv:

Review: The Informati, The Cambiata, and The Baltic Sea at SPACE

Saturday night brought in SPACE's first show of August. It was a night of the progressive; it was a night of the experimental; it was a night of music whose genres aren't so clearly defined; something to make you think outside of the boxset.

The Informati

Boston-based The Informati took the stage first with an ambient-dub session of songs. The setup consisted of guitar, bass, keyboards, turntables and electronic drumkit. The first song they played was the most appealing. The guitarist slid his guitar with a bow to make a hauntingly celestial hum while the ghastly echoes of a new age singer was spun on the DJ's turntables. My brain fluttered with green, luminescent moths as if I was overtaken by this force of music. The way the bowed guitar and the new age singing came together was very beautiful and ethereal. The songs following didn't grab me as much. A lot of them seemed too repetitive and didn't have enough changes to hold my interest for the duration. I'm keeping my mind open, though; a second listening could change my mind about the rest. For comparison's sake, The Informati is like Sigur Rós without all the vocal ee-Yoooing.

Read about my impressions on Cambiata and The Baltic Sea after the cut...

Brenda for free at Noon Today and The Baltic Sea Tomorrow

From SPACE538.org:

From the ashes of Cult Maze comes Brenda! This indie rock trio is cut from the classic mold, tipping its hat with equal reverence to Pavement and the Beach Boys, Elvis and the Walkmen. The Portland Phoenix calls them an "ideal no-frills, no-pretension band to have around this summer".

Brenda performs at noon on Congress Square (corner of Congress and High st.) for free today. Check out their music here on Myspace. Sounds like a good way to spend a lunch break!

Learn about The Baltic Sea show after the cut...