Gillian and David are Back

It’s been a long time since Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have released an album; eight years to be exact. But, that’s OK. We don’t mind waiting because these two are masters, and masterworks take time. That being said, a handful of us around the store are bubbling over with the anticipation of hearing, loving and learning, word for word, a whole new album of material.

Tuesday, June 28 is the day. That’s when The Harrow & the Harvest comes out, and we have a special treat for you. For the first two hours of the day, we’re going to be having a listening party so you (and we) can check out the new album. We have some posters to give away and some cool little postcards and it should be a nice morning. So if you’re around tomorrow at 11am and want to give the new album a listen, come down to the store.

I didn’t see any videos up of their new material, but here’s a cool one of them doing “Look at Miss Ohio” at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur last month.

-Cat

Little Dragon, Big Splash

by Mari Stauffer

I had heard the name Little Dragon mentioned here and there in the past year or so, always in a very positive light. When I decided to check out their live show here in Santa Cruz, none of the great things I was told about them could have prepared me for the amazing performance that was to come.

Hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, Little Dragon is a four-person electronic music band made up of Yukimi Nagano (vocals & various percussion), Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Källgren Wallin (bass), and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards). They are all former school-mates who decided to join forces in 2006.

Their musical sound is definitely electro-80′s influenced-pop/soul, but with a very serious, pensive, and slightly darker undertone including some heavy bass lines…even on the more uptempo dance tunes (which, by the way, are a challenge to NOT dance to!).

Nagano is a charismatic and mesmerizing tour-de-force to watch live. Don’t get me wrong, they are all great musicians, but the amount of heart, soul, energy and amazing dance moves that Yukimi Nagano displays, along with her soulful & ethereal voice, is immediately captivating.

Little Dragon was featured on the latest Gorillaz album “Plastic Beach”, and they accompanied the band on tour.

Since touring in the U.S. the past couple of years, they have developed quite a large and dedicated fanbase here, and I hope their path will lead them back many, many more times!

Check out their newest album, Machine Dreams for a unique new sound that somehow also feels familiar and nostalgic at the same time. And, if they ever play in your local area, seeing their live show will take your experience of their music to an entirely new level. Here is a small taste…

New Lucinda Williams Album: Blessed

There’s a new Lucinda Williams album out today. It was made with a bunch of different covers, randomly shipped to different stores. We have the cd and lp versions.

Here are some accompanying videos, all celebrating and exploring the notion of what it is to be blessed. Nice one, Lucinda. Again.

Songs I’m Currently Digging

by Cat

M.I.A. – XXXO
Her third album has been slowly growing on me and has been my go-to this week. It’s loud and aggressive and at times completely un-danceable, but, it also has pockets of sonic and lyrical brilliance. This song is my latest sing-along jam.

Black Angels – Telephone
These guys came crashing onto my radar with their latest release Phosphene Dream. Their nod to garage music has been creeping closer to the mainstream and this one is more radio-friendly than their previous albums, but it is still raw, noisy, energizing and groovy.

Pantha Du Prince – Stick to My Side
I grabbed the Pantha Du Prince album Black Noise on a whim and it almost immediately became my new favorite album. Think chill electronica with bells. Lots and lots of bells; perfect for dreamy nights and creative endeavors. Also: that tree suit is fabulous.

Re-Introducing the Vagrants

by Raul

Can Light In The Attic Records do no wrong? They brought it hard to the folk-rock fans with Jim Sullivan’s U.F.O. and now they bring us the Vagrants.

Who are the Vagrants you ask? Is the band that lit the rock ‘n’ roll fire for the Ramones a good answer? The New York-based band was popular in their home state for their soul-influenced rock and heavy use of the Hammond organ. One of the few rock bands signed to the Vanguard label that was known for folk artists, they were later signed to Atco where they had a semi-hit with a cover Otis Redding’s “Respect.” Unfortunately Aretha Franklin’s version was released around the same time and kept The Vagrants’ version from reaching the rest of the U.S.

Luckily it also ended up on the famous Nuggets collection which introduced the Vagrants to garage-rockers outside of the east coast. After a couple more Atco singles they called it quits due to guitarist Leslie West forming Mountain, known for their hit “Mississippi Queen,” but thanks to Light In The Attic Records we can enjoy the Vagrants with the release of I Can’t Find A Friend: 1965-68, available on both CD and LP and filled with extensive liner notes by Mike Stax of Ugly Things magazine, an interview with Johnny Ramone and unseen photos of the band.

Thanks again Light In The Attic!

Steph Up To the Mic: Vault Dweller – Messenger of Doom

by Stephanie Vossekuil

With bands such as Job for a Cowboy, The Devil Wears Prada, The Black Dahlia Murder and countless others of that breed standing right in the way of what we should really be paying attention to in the realm of heavy music, it’s no wonder so many groups worthy of our whipping hair and thrusting horns fade into obscurity only to be enjoyed by those dedicated to sifting through the mounds of garbage to get to the goods. Lucky for us, the few and the proud are still out there somewhere, building an impenetrable wall of sound designed to keep the spit-shined melodies and glamorous images out of our line of sight. It’s comforting to discover that fun and the “big fuck you” are still a priority for many up and coming bands.

One such band, Vault Dweller, hailing from Salem, Oregon, graced our comfortable Santa Cruz with their presence back in 2009 when they played a supremely badass house show on 3rd street with our local ambient black metal warriors, Fell Voices. Out in that tiny garage, steam billowing out with the licking of the cool night air against our sweating, stinking flesh, people swinging from the rafters, they conquered. The energy was raw and captivating with the entire crowd feeding into the thrash.

I was pleased to have obtained their recording they had for sale, entitled Messenger of Doom, and it quickly became my favorite album of 2009. Thus, I feel obligated to do my part to communicate the good news to as many thirsty metallians as I possibly can: True heavy, fun music didn’t die with 80′s thrash!

Vault Dweller’s Messenger of Doom is a deliciously grimey slab of crusty groove metal that blends a generous amount of that ol’ Sabbath worship with the quick ‘n’ dirty thrust of crust punk. Upon the first listen, the raw energy of the lo-fi, oftentimes simple, yet effective riffs is apparent. The vocals range from high-pitched shrieking cries to a more guttural grunting. We also get a taste for the band’s dedication to pure, ass-kicking fun with tracks like “Thunderdome”, which lends itself to a drunken thrashing good time and primarily consists of a group chanting of the lyrics “Two men enter, one man leaves!”

Another prominent characteristic of this recording is the thick, sludgy, and wholly sexy bass lines that give a sense of fullness to this otherwise delightfully distorted tone of the drums and guitar. The riffs are extremely catchy especially in songs such as “Eat and Learn” as well as the title track “Messenger of Doom” and tend to alternate between a more mid-tempo then crushing punk speed. On certain releases of this album, the final track is composed of a 22:58 long live recording which is notably fuzzed-out, but makes for a interesting little bonus to the release.

This album comes at a high recommendation for those of you looking for a good old fashioned thrill, a record that beckons you to crack open your cheap beer and fucking mosh.

Bands of honorable mention: Coffinworm, Winterfylleth, At Dusk, Idolater, Cough, Funebrarum. For more suggestions from fellow fiends of the loud such as yourself, check the blogs! (cosmichearse.blogspot.com, ravishinggrimness.blogspot.com)

Wanna Hear the New Decemberists Album?

You’re in luck. The wonderful people in NPR’s music department have hooked it up and are featuring the Decemberists forthcoming album, The King is Dead as part of their First Listen series.

Check it out: Decemberists – The King is Dead on NPR

Top 10 Albums of the Decade

by Raul

So we’ve come to the end of a decade. Seems like just yesterday people were freaking out about Y2K. Here we are 10 years later so full of Facebook and iPhones that we’ve forgotten that it was the same technology that brought us these things that had us afraid of the turn of the century. Anyway, I’ll stop there and give you my top 10 releases of the past decade. Mind you this was not an easy list to compile and they are in no particular order.

DIRTBOMBS - Ultraglide In Black

OUTKAST - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

MAYER HAWTHORNE - A Strange Arrangement

THE STROKES - Is This It

TURBONEGRO - Scandanavian Leather

V/A - Zulu Stomp!! South African Garage Beats!!

COLD CAVE - Love Comes Close

DARONDO - Let My People Go

DEATH - For The Whole World To See

NUGGETS II - Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond

Our Favorite Releases From 2010

Roger (In no particular order)
01. Black Keys – Brothers
02. Sly Johnson – Complete Mythology
03. Aloe Blacc – Good Things
04. Mavis Staples – You’re Not Alone
05. Billy Bang – Prayer for Peace
06. Bruce Springsteen – Promise
07. Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate – Ali & Toumani
08. Holmes Brothers – Feed My Soul
09. Paul Weller – Wake Up the Nation
10. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way

Raul
New
01. Jaill – That’s How We Burn
02. Dum Dum Girls – I Will Be
03. Dwight Twilley – Green Blimp
04. Soft Pack – Soft Pack
05. Gonjasufi – A Sufi & a Killer
06. Personal & the Pizzas – Raw Pie
07. No Age – Everything In Between
08. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus
09. Off! – First 4 EPs (Box Set)
10. Purling Hiss – Public Service Announcement

Reissues
01. Flamin’ Groovies – Flamingo & Teenage Head
02. Iggy Pop & James Williamson – Kill City
03. Syl Johnson – Complete Mythology
04. Jim Sullivan – U.F.O.
05. Black Tambourine – Black Tambourine
06. Rolling Stones – Exile On Main Street
07. Los Saicos – Demolicion
08. Rationals – Fan Club Album & Out On The Floor
09. Zombies – Set of 6 7″s: R & B, at The BBC, A Go Go, At Work ‘n’ Play, 66, Time Of The Season
10. Chromatics – Night Drive

Cat (In no particular order)
01. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
02. Black Angels – Phosphene Dream
03. National – High Violet
04. Florence & the Machine – Lungs
05. Black Keys – Brothers
06. Mavis Staples – You’re Not Alone
07. Beach House – Teen Dream
08. Album Leaf – Chorus of Storytellers
09. Midlake – Courage of Others
10. John Mellencamp – No Better Than This

J.J.
01. The National – High Violet
02. Arcade Fire – Suburbs
03. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
04. Immolation – Majesty & Decay
05. Blood of Kingu – Sun in the House of the Scorpion
06. Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma
07. Salem – King Night
08. Gonjasufi – A Sufi & a Killer
09. Watain – Lawless Darkness
10. Death in June – Peaceful Snow

Mari
01. OMD – History of Modern
02. The Orb & David Gilmore – Metallic Spheres
03. Vampire Weekend – Contra
04. OK GO – Of the Blue Colour of the Sky
05. Underworld – Barking
06. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way
07. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
08. Bonobo – Black Sands

Rey
01. Jimi Hendrix – Valleys of Neptune
02. Black Mountain – Wilderness Heart
03. Gaslight Anthem – American Slang
04. Fitz & the Tantrums – Pickin’ Up the Pieces
05. Flamin’ Groovies – Baby Scratch My Back
06. Eli “Paperboy” Reed – Come and Get It
07. Brandon Flowers – Flamingo
08. Arcade Fire – Suburbs
09. Gaslight Anthem – Tumblin’ Dice 7″
10. Tom Petty – Mojo

Dan (In no particular order)
1. Low Threat Profile 7″ (Deep Six)
2. GLAM – GLAM 7″ (La Vida Es Un Mus)
3. Willful Neglect – Both LP’s on 1 (Havoc)
4. Cülo – Military Trend 7″ (Deranged)
5. Varaus – 1/1 LP (Feral Ward)
6. Much Worse – Proper Execute 7″ (Pass Judgement)
7. Direct Control – Bucktown Hardcore LP (Tankcrimes)
8. Big Soda – Paper Route 7″ (Evil Weevil)
9. Chronic Sick – Cutest Band In Hardcore LP (No Way)
10. Final Conflict – In the Family 7″ (Havoc)

Stephanie (In No Particular Order)
01. Cough/Wounded Kings Split) – An Introduction to the Black Arts
Crushing, evil doom for fans of trudging black rituals.
02. Iskra – Bureval
A perfect blend of black metal and crust punk that will have you praising the dark lord and casting down “the man.”
03. Watain – Lawless Darkness
A transcendent follow-up to Sworn to the Dark. Relentless black metal from start to finish
04. Cough – Ritual Abuse
A more doomy release from Cough reminiscent of Electric Wizard circa Come My Fanatics. A solid record!
05. At Dusk/Idolator (split) – At Dusk/Idolator
Local black metal split that is a must for any fiend of the heavy and distorted. Idolator slays you blind while At Dusk leaves you entranced within the void.
06. Winterfylleth – Mercian Sphere
Folk black metal from England done right
07. Salem – King Night
Dark. Odd.

Hans
01. Salem – King Night
02. Health – Disco 2
03. Thee Oh Sees – Warm Slime
04. Tobacco – Maniac Meat
05. Liars – Sisterworld
06. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way
07. Dave Holland Octet – Pathways
08. The National – High Violet
09. The Walkmen – Lisbon
10. Ganjasufi – A Sufi and a Killer

Number One Reissue That’s Got Me Stoked: Fourtet – Rounds Vinyl Rerelease

Number One Album I Came To Love In 2010 That I Never Thought I Would- Doobie Brothers Minute By Minute (It was a shock to me too)

Number One Use of Music in a Film- Inception (so the score wasn’t fantastic, but dammit, you could measure that tension with a football field.)

Number One Guilty Pleasure- Lady Gaga’s music videos (shut up)

David
01. Death in June – Peaceful Snow
02. Electric Wizard – Black Masses
03. Crocodiles – Sleep Forever
04. Black Angels – Phosphene Dream

Zach
Records
1. Frank Turner – Rock & Roll EP
2. Murder by Death – Good Morning, Magpie
3. The Sword – Warp Riders
4. The Hold Steady – Heaven is Whenever
5. Evelyn Evelyn – Evelyn Evelyn

Films
1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
2. Toy Story 3
3. Cop Out
4. How to Train Your Dragon
5. Iron Man 2

Jason
Grinderman – Grinderman 2
Watain – Lawless Darkness
Salem – King Night
Bruce Springstein – The Promise
Rolling Stones – Exile on Main Street (re- issue) Deluxe Edition

Andrew (In no particular order)
01. Roots Manuva – Duppy Writer
02. Lazer Sword – Lazer Sword
03. Henry “Junjo” Lawes – Volcano Eruption
04. Tipper – Broken Soul Jamboree
05. E-40 – Revenue Retrievin’: Day Shift/ and Night Shift
06. Gappy Ranks – Put the Stereo On
07. Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma
08. Shlohmo – Shlomoshun
09. Grateful Dead – Crimson, White and Indigo
10. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way

John
Salem – King Night
Dream Boat – Visions
Mater Susperia Vision – Second Coming
Balam Acab – See Birds EP
oOoOO – EP
†‡† – Untitled CDr
GR†LLGR†LL – Untitled CDr
///▲▲▲\\\ – Untitled CDr
Fostercare – Sunfreeze
▲NGST – Still Grim Up North
Shlohmo – Shlomoshun Redux
LA Vampires & Zola Jesus – LA Vampires Meets Zola Jesus
Forest Swords – Dagger Paths
Baths – Cerulean
Teebs – Ardour
Mount Kimbie – Crooks & Lovers
Ikonika – Contact, Want, Love, Have
Shed – The Traveller
Lorn – Nothing Else
Sleigh Bells – Treats
Shacklton – Fabric 55
Marcel Dettmann – Dettmann
Emeralds – Does it Look Like I’m Here?
Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal
Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
Robyn – Body Talk Pt. 2
Lazer Sword – Lazer Sword
Shigeto – Full Circle
Flying Lotus – Pattern + Grid World
Various Artists – Worth the Weight: Bristol Dubstep Classics

Wes
Okay listen up you primitive screw-heads, here’s my “Best of Entertainment 2010″ list. No, I’m not limiting myself to one format since I deal with all of them every day. That’s like asking me to pick amongst which of my friends is best (the one who brings me the most cookies! Duh!)
In no particular order:
01. Iron Man 2
This movie ripped! I really, really like having Mickey Rourke play a bitter ex-girlfriend, er I mean bad guy/bitter son of a forgotten Russian super-scientist? I think he’s found his niche market!
02. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
TOTALLY RULING! This movie is a video game/comic book geek’s wishful thinking come to life on the big screen. Plus the Xbox live game that followed the movie release was great fun as well.
03. Kick Ass
This movie was AWESOME! Good ol’ Nick Cage finally picked a good role! As far as I’m concerned he hasn’t picked a good role since 2002…and the movie lived up to (well as much as it could have) the comic book very nicely. Do not miss this movie!
04. MicMacs
MicMacs, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet is probably one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. It’s cinematography and delightful story really left me feel totally satiated after watching it. Rarely has a movie left me like that.
05. The Black Keys – Brothers
With their moody garage rock sound, you’d think they were some mopey kids but no, these guys inject you with some heavy rock blues sounds that make you get up off your ass and move your feet! If you can’t get down to this, you best check your pulse my friend, cause you are DOA!
06. Cee Lo Green – Lady Killer
This is one funky church-trained vocalist. I can’t get enough of this album. He captures the Motown sound, living up to his self-proclaimed title “The Soul Machine”.
07. Fable 3 for the Xbox 360
While I don’t care for the new menu screen war room, I do love how streamlined combat is now. Plus the backgrounds are simply gorgeous!
08. Halo: Reach for the Xbox 360
Really wraps up the series in a grand manner with great cut scenes, a beautiful score, and awesome gun play. I really like this game!
09. Fallout: New Vegas for the Xbox 360
There. I said it. Yes, in my best of. This game rules despite all the glitches (which many have already been patched). It’s not really a new game but it is more of what I like which is the V.A.T.S. system and exploding bodies! Even the ending upset me a little which is GREAT. To get me riled up over something not real is definitely a sign of a good game.
10. Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine: 2010 Remaster
Duh. You think anything else is going to take this last spot? I’ve waited 20 years for the stupid album to get remastered so it didn’t sound like it was playing on one of those old cassette players that only had one speaker in it. I love this album and it definitely benefited from new technology.

So there you have it. Take it or leave it. There was definitely some great stuff that didn’t make the list but they’ll always have a place in my heart anyway.

Jim Sullivan – U.F.O.

by Raul

Once again, Light in the Attic Records digs deep and brings us another treasure—this time by west coast folk-rock artist, Jim Sullivan.

In the mid-sixties Sullivan was performing nightly for locals in a Malibu bar. He was known to rub elbows with all the right people in the movie and music business; Harry Dean Stanton to name one. He had a cameo role in Easy Rider and even had the help of Phil Spector’s session musicians in the making of his record.

His seminal record, entitled U.F.O. was much different then his singer/songwriter performances in Malibu. Thanks to Spector’s crew he added a full sound to accent his songs of sorrow that at times drifted to the stars, as the title suggests. With the lack of distribution the record went unnoticed.

In the mid-seventies, another disregarded album and a broken marriage led Sullivan to pack up and head to Nashville in hope of success as a Country and Western session musician. Unfortunately, Sullivan never made it to Nashville. He was last seen in Santa Rosa, New Mexico by local authorities after they pulled him over for swerving on the highway. He was also spotted by a local family trespassing on their ranch. Some of his belongings were found in the the La Mesa Hotel and his abandoned car a few miles down the road from the ranch.

Some say he got lost in the desert, others say the ranch owners had mafia ties and their confrontation was unpleasant, and there is even talk of alien abduction. To this day, no one knows the whereabouts of Sullivan.

Luckily for us, he won’t be forgotten thanks to Light in the Attic and Sullivan’s love for music.

Come in to Streetlight and check this album out in our listening post. It’s available on both cd and lp, and for more info, check out the short film, the Jim Sullivan Story.