LANDy :: AD SIRIUS/XMU Session

Today, during the second hour of our SIRIUS/XM show, we are airing the LANDy session recorded at The Ship Studio in Eagle Rock, CA.    LANDy, who just released their debut album Eros And Omissions, began as the songwriting vehicle for actor/filmmaker . . .

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Diversions :: Megafaun On The Los Angeles Lakers

(Diversions, a recurring feature on Aquarium Drunkard, catches up with our favorite artists as they wax on subjects other than recording and performing.)

Megafaun released their sophomore LP, Gather, Form & Fly,   this week on the rising Home Tapes label.   I've gushed about this band numerous times on AD in the past, and their performance at our SXSW party was a personal highlight . . .

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The Seeds :: Can’t Seem To Make You Mine

Hey Los Angeles, heads up: this Friday, July 24th, there is a Sky Saxon Tribute being held at the at the Echoplex in Echo Park.   The Seeds leader died Thursday, June 25th, in an Austin, TX hospital at the age of 71 -- the cause of death is at present unknown.

The seminal garage rock pioneers had their first local hit here in their native L.A. with

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Girls :: Album

True Panther Sounds, again in conjunction with Matador, is releasing the San Francisco based duo Girls debut album on September 22nd.   In what could soon become a growing trend, the album is simply entitled album.   Girls channel the vocals of an early, lo-fi . . .

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Yo La Tengo :: Here to Fall (New MP3)

Matador just released "Here to Fall," the second mp3 teaser off Yo La Tengo's upcoming LP, Popular Songs, which is slated for retail shelves September 8th.   The band plays the Avalon, here in Los Angeles, October 15th.

Related: Yo La Tengo :: They Shoot, We Score

Download:

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paradis :: avoir une écoute

Speaking of modern takes on sixties girl-groups, back in the early '90s long before her relationship with Johnny Depp, French actress/model/pop star Vanessa Paradis recorded her self-titled, English language, debut.

Helming the production, instrumentation and songwriting was her, then, beau Lenny Kravitz who, long known for his fascination with all things retro, created the perfect vintage palette for Paradis' coy, come hither vocals. Taken for what it is . . .

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Esau Mwamwaya :: The Very Best

The Summer jams continue.   Yeah, the season's heat can be oppressive, and by September you are pretty much over it, but as far as seasons go there is little argument that summertime is the most footloose of the the four.   Beach days, bocce ball, cookouts, rooftop parties, road trips, friends with pools and ice-chests filled with beer - all topped off with cold margaritas and music.   I've rapped about seasonal/situational listening patterns multiple times, and Summer, without a doubt, owns them all.

If you've pulled a Rip Van Winkle, and haven't been . . .

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Vivian Girls :: When I’m Gone

This track went on my Summer mix-tape 2.0 last week.   Say what you will about Vivian Girls live show, but for fans of lo-fi pop channeling a bedroom version of the Shangri-Las, last years S/T debut delivered.   No frills, simple and concise. The Girls sophomore LP is set for release in September via become a member or log in.

N O A G E

Announced last week, L.A.'s local purveyors of noise-pop, No Age, are set to release the follow up to their 2008 Nouns LP in October -- an EP entitled Losing Feeling. Another sign the CD continues to go the way of the dodo, Sub Pop will . . .

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Rehashing Red Hash & Rare Bert Jansch Reissues

Beardo.   As I mentioned last week while discussing Death's For The Whole World To See, the Drag City label is no stranger to digging up and releasing the long lost and nearly forgotten.   In 2005 the label pulled . . .

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Atlas Sound/Panda Bear :: Walkabout (New)

While I'm a casual fan of Animal Collective, Panda Bear's Person Pitch LP remains one of my favorite albums of 2007.   Panda (Noah Lennox) has tagged up with Bradford Cox on the track "Walkabout" from the upcoming Atlas Sound release Logos.   Highly anticipated.

Cox on Logos: "My last album was a bedroom laptop type thing. Very introverted . . .

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Pitchfork Festival :: Chicago, Day Three

J. Neas here, winding up AD's coverage of the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. I want to start by laying some serious kudos on the festival staff and planners. Not only was it a breath of fresh air commerce and surroundings wise - from the diverse but non-traditional food booths to the exclusive beer sales of just local, excellent micro-brewery Goose Island to the great and interesting companies, non-profits and charities with booths - but also in the responsiveness to festival-goer comments. When complaints mounted about long lines at bathrooms on Saturday, the festival brought in additional facilities for Sunday. The result? I didn't wait longer than five to ten minutes for a toilet on Sunday, where Saturday had been an average of anywhere from fifteen to thirty. Obviously a festival run by people who, as music fans themselves, get what people want from a festival, Pitchfork is a shining example of what can go right in festival planning.

Today was full of tremendous highs and some disappointments as well. It opened with quite possibly my favorite performance of the weekend, Frightened Rabbit. I'm a bit behind on this band, but I do enjoy getting to have one eureka moment at a festival. I knew nothing of this band other than their name going in and was floored from moment one. Every song was a winner and I literally had chills sitting there listening to them. Strains of Scottish jangle pop and even some things resembling American roots-rock strolled through their songs. Thrilling live, even more so in a smaller setting - go see them if you can.

Continue Reading After The Jump...

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Pitchfork Festival :: Chicago, Day Two

J. Neas reporting again from Chicago. After a bit of late start due to some brunch navigation around closed lines on the L, I arrived at the festival in time to catch Fucked Up. Having grown to enjoy the layered and complex post-hardcore of their recorded material, the live show was a bit simplistic, but still powerful - whether it was lead singer Pink Eyes, ripping beach balls open with his teeth or parading around with a sunflower tucked in his shorts, and his howling menace or the three guitarists, bass player and a drummer behind him pounding out the cadence for his barks. I'm still at a bit of a loss for why they need three guitarists on stage - I couldn't hear anything that lead me to believe much was going on that needed them all - but it was a powerful blast of a show and the front of the stage became somewhat of a pit for the first time all festival.

I had one serious worry about seeing the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. I saw them on some late-night talk show and had thought their performance was somewhat lacking. A bit low-key, not very loud, really not what I was hoping for out of a band that seemed to craft C86 music like nobody's business. But I was completely taken with their performance. It was catchy, loud, energetic and really one of the highlights of the festival. They did a giddy rush through of "Come Saturday" that had people dancing throughout the audience. Best comment, from lead-singer Kip Berman: "We got some great advice from Pink Eyes [of Fucked Up] - he told us we should sound more like Weezer."

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AD Presents :: Stephen Malkmus @ Echoplex, 7.25

Saturday, July 25th, Aquarium Drunkard presents Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks at the Echoplex in Echo Park, L.A. If memory serves, this is the first eastside Malkmus show in a long time.   Expect a packed house.   Tickets are $19 adv/$22 door. We have several pairs of tickets to giveaway to AD readers.   Interested?   Leave a comment below with your favorite Pavement track, your full name (for will-call . . .

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Pitchfork Festival :: Chicago, Day One

J. Neas here reporting from Chicago. I'll hand it to Pitchfork - they know how to get a crowd invested in the opening night of a festival. Whether it's been the previous years' Don't Look Back-style album performances or this year's Write the Night theme, they have guaranteed to have an audience who is looking forward, intensely, to what's going on on . . .

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