As much as Chairlift want to paint themselves as meek nocturnals with their third LP, stomachcheckMoth, do not be fooled for a second.
Considering the New York duo’s past, it’s fair to see some correlation with a moth’s love of night lights and attic-dwelling clothes from a bygone era. Although the band’s break came nearly a decade ago when their charmingly twee “Bruises” soundtracked an iPod Nano ad (which, if you’re looking to feel a bit old, is worth a watch), their high water mark (to date) came with 2012’s brooding Something.
Beyond showcasing a total transformation in production and songwriting, Something felt somewhere between a quiet divorce from their more precious tendencies and a love letter to the early ‘80s wave of eclectic pop that begat Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel. The standout track, however, was the band’s most unabashedly pop friendly song, “I Belong In Your Arms”. Revealing a band that found ease in crafting massive choruses around singer Caroline Polachek’s marquee vocals, “Arms” fell somewhere between the intimacy of a mixtape’s crucial last song and the promise of a song fit for a coming-of-age movie soundtrack.
“Arms” proved to be an important point in Chairlift history going into the band’s tour kickoff on Wednesday, which largely acted as the introduction to the NYC-inspired Moth. Featuring eight of the unreleased LP’s ten songs, Chairlift’s setlist spared very little room for doling out old favorites to some crowd trepidation. After sneaking Something opener “Sidewalk Safari” in though, singer Caroline Polachek took command with airtight, but seemingly effortless dancing on “Polymorphing”, a strutting charmer that utilizes Polachek’s lilting falsetto to its full pop potential.
Bassist/drummer Patrick Wimberly and the band, rounded out by multi-instrumentalist Starchild and saxophonist Danny Meyer, found similar fulfillment in Moth’s dancier sections. Playing their eclecticism to its extremes, “Show U Off”, a nu-disco ode to PDA, shifted into the fuzz-poppy anxieties of early single “Romeo” without so much as a breather from the pockets of followers dancing along. “I don’t even see a single phone out,” Polachek remarked mid-set. “That’s just fucking incredible!”
The phonelessness felt obvious for the same reason why a band like Chairlift shouldn’t call themselves humble moths anymore: a new, undeniable confidence has emerged from the four year cocoon they’ve kept themselves in before Wednesday night. It was evident early on in slacker pop openers Babydriver’s undying praise for Wimberly (who produced both their LPs) despite the two bands’ nonexistent overlap in sound. It shined with Polachek’s increasingly stadium-ready vocals, which have transferred from the school of Regina Spektor’s warbles to near-Mariah Carey levels of command. And, with a goofy “Bruises” singalong for old times’ sake and unrestrained jamming throughout set closer “Ch-Ching”, Chairlift’s confidence will sustain with enough charm to light up a few blocks of any city they flutter through.
For photos from the show, check out our gallery below.
Boston is often dubbed a “literary city”, owing to its rich history. This moniker finds home in the city’s residents: bursting with endless creativity. A collective of artists, calling themselves Waywords & Meansigns, have decided to set James Joyce’s novel “Finnegans Wake” to music. A goliath project (or “proj”, as director Derek Pyle calls it), it’s set to be released on the author’s birthday, February 2nd.
The novel’s words find themselves in their entirety–unabridged–throughout the project. Coming in at over 600 pages, it lends itself to verbosity: 17 unique artists have each adopted a chapter and given it their own touch. The artists range from Minutemen’s Mike Watt, David Kahne, Maharadja Sweets, and so many more. The contributors come from all corners of the globe, with the project based in Canada.
The entire project is DIY–no money involved, and released and distributed for free via Creative Commons licensing. It clocks in at 40 hours, and the artists involved range from authors, to painters, to actors, and of course, musicians.
While each artist has their own reason for getting involved with the project, musician Maharadja Sweets in particular opted in because of what the novel means to him.
“James Joyce’s writing represented an insurmountable mountain for much of my life, ever since I struggled with Portrait and Dubliners in high school and couldn’t get much further than ‘moocow’,” the New York lo-fi artist said.
After tackling “Ulysses”, he decided to pursue other Joyce writings, taking him through “Finnegan’s Wake”. That’s when he found himself interested in Waywords & Meansigns, as a way to guide him through the book as he read it.
“Some recording projects have taken me years, decades even, with lots of frustration and failure. For whatever reason, working on this project was the most enjoyable recording experience I’ve ever had. I found myself on a journey through Joyce’s words–inhabiting the different characters and spaces he created.”
Maharadja Sweets said his goal for his contribution was to “create music that opens up the book to the listener,” and make it accessible for even those who aren’t familiar with Joyce’s writing.
Though the whole project isn’t set to be released for a couple more weeks, you can check out an excerpt Maharadja Sweets’s passage here today. If you want to learn more about the project, director of Waywords and Meansigns Derek Pyle will be speaking at Boston College on February 10th, in addition to a live performance of the project. Check out the event here.
Chapter I.6, Maharadja Sweets
Waywords and Meansigns: Recreating Finnegans Wake will premiere Feb 2. 2016. All audio freely distributed via waywordsandmeansigns.com.
“Bizarre, crazy, amazing, I need to go get some ear plugs,” were just a few comments I heard during Ty Segall and The Muggers set Tuesday night at the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco. You could feel the bands excitement of playing at The Fillmore and sharing the same stage as so many legendary acts.
Ty creepily strolled onto stage as his new alter ego, “Sloppo”, in a baby face mask. As his first song begun, the crowd erupted with hair and limbs everywhere and an occasional smoke cloud drifting through the air. Ty was drooling and spitting from the beginning, which he continued to do so here n’ there through out the epic 90 minute set to a nearly sold out show. At one point, he grabbed a fans hand and then proceeded to spit on his hand and rub hands with him, which is a first i’ve seen. Not once did he pick up a guitar, just leading the band with amazing stage prensense and antics! With his new album, “Emotional Mugger” appearing on Drag City Records due out January 22nd, it was amazing seeing him perform his new songs along with some older ones sprinkled in as well.
The rest of the gang absolutely killed it, from their music talent to their attire. King Tuff was rocking an all orange jumper with matching finger nails and shades. Wand’s Cory Hanson was rocking an epic trench coat and killer shades, he was really impressive on the keys/synth and occasionally adding a third guitar. They all blended so well together, it was a real treat to see so many talented musicians sharing the same stage. All and all, the night was one for the books and i’m sure many people would agree with that! Also big thanks to CCR Headcleaner for blowing our minds beforehand!
Make sure to catch Ty and The Muggers March 1st at Royale in Boston! http://royaleboston.com/event/ty-segall-the-muggers/
If you’ve ever thought about packing up your stuff and moving to a tropical island for a few years, cialis you aren’t alone. And if you’ve never actually done it, click then you have something in common with just about every person you’ll ever meet. Unless, of course, you’ve met Magic Magic vocalist/guitarist John Murphy.
Murphy recently moved back to Boston after spending the better part of two years living in the US Virgin Islands. Murphy’s island departure has led to the reinvigoration of Magic Magic, the six piece who rose to local stardom after releasing 2010’s What Ever Happened To Monday Nights and 2011’s LP II.
While the stress of constant touring and recording led to the band’s 2013 hiatus, the group is now back in a big way and in the middle of a four night residency at Great Scott.
In addition to the residency, which is being supported by local favorites like Hallelujah The Hills and Kitner, Magic Magic also released TV Life, an album of previously recorded material just last week, and they are working on a brand new full length that will be released sometime this year.
We sat down to talk to with Murphy just before the band’s second residency show last week. In addition to discussing the new material, we also touched on David Bowie’s impact on the band and why Magic Magic would likely be a distant memory if not for their time apart. Peep it below and then check out Magic Magic at one of their two upcoming Great Scott residency shows this Sunday (1/24) and the following Sunday (1/31)
Allston Pudding: Magic Magic had been on hiatus for quite a while before you announced this residency – and you were in the Virgin Islands for most of it. Can you tell us the story behind that?
John Murphy: I guess it was over two years ago that I moved to the US Virgin Islands and posted up there on St. John, which is the smallest of the three islands. It was a good time, just very different. I was in screen printing. I met a guy who owned a few surf shops, and I do painting work and light construction, so I ended up getting a job through him when he was opening a new store. I helped him build that, and then he sort of absorbed me into the company. I worked with him for a while and then switched over to the screen printing side of the business and ended up making all of their t-shirts.
AP: Has the time away from the States affected the way you play music and the way you’re approaching this new record?
JM: Yeah! A lot of it did. The personal benefits translate into the music – like your experiences and what you make of them. But I think the most beneficial thing was not being in a band and not identifying as a musician. I did write a lot and record a little bit of reggae stuff with some guys I met on the island, but it’s a very different scene down there. There are no real rock bands – it’s just like background music, and tourist music, and steel drums, and great stuff, but it was nice to not be thinking about bands and songs and shit like that.
But in a way, it made me miss it. And when we talked about it (as Magic Magic), we all agreed we wanted to get it started again, and that’s one of the reasons I decided to move back.
AP: So would it be safe to say that if you hadn’t taken that break, you wouldn’t still be doing this?
JM: Yeah. I mean, the timing was right when we got out. We weren’t playing that much at that point and we were all just not kind of “together” – we were still friends but doing our own things.
But no, I don’t think we would be doing this. Maybe I would have a different band, but when I got back I decided that I wanted to do it with this group, the same group I’ve been playing with for ten years.
AP: After all that time off you’re making your comeback with a four night residency, which sounds kind of daunting. How do you approach that?
JM: We have these songs that aren’t 100% fleshed out, so we want to try them out in a live setting. That way we’ll have experience paying them when we get in the studio. And we want to play as much live music as we can since we’ve been off for so long and get out of the house a little bit. This weekend we’ve changed it up and we’re working on a David Bowie cover to honor him.
AP: Bowie obviously meant a lot to a lot of people – what influence did he have on you and the rest of the band?
JM: Well our drummer Mike is the notorious Bowie addict since we were in high school. He kind of turned me on to Bowie, and he’s dealt with the passing quite well.
I usually don’t care when celebrities pass away, but Bowie has been a weird one. And I think it’s because of the nature of David Bowie. He’s always been alive, but kind of sounding off from a realm beyond the material world. So it’s interesting to see the star man go home…. It doesn’t feel like we lost him but he just jumped on the bus and was like “later guys”.
I feel kind of happy. A lot of his music was about the lows of earth and being a physical human, and I felt like he spent most of his career trying to translate that spirit world and make it real. I think he was successful because he’s changed the way people think about life and music. I mean, everyone dies, that’s how it goes, and he talked about that a lot, and it’s almost like he told us how to swallow his own death.
“When I got back I decided that I wanted to do it with this group, the same group I’ve been playing with for ten years”
AP: So in addition to the Bowie cover, you’re also working on new material and putting out a new record soon – how is that going?
JM: We’re focusing on recording the new record in the studio in February. We have our own studio in Norwood – it was our rehearsal space in an old mill. We call it Hanging Horse Studio and our bassist Brad Krieger is the head engineer there. We’ve spent a couple years building it up and collecting gear, and we’ve had a lot of local bands like Horse Jumper of Love record there, so we’re excited to finally record our own stuff there.
While you’re waiting for Magic Magic’s new record, be sure to grab tickets to their upcoming residency shows. They’re only $9 and available now.
Boston’s own Magic Shoppe are gearing up for their new EP, viagra 60mgcase February’s Interstellar Car Crash, prescription in the only way they know how: setting the city alight.
Since they’re not arsonists (…we think), the Shoppe resorts to psychedelia-steeped light shows and infinite guitar worship on first single “City Alight” to achieve total urban illumination. Seriously though, I know their press photo’s got four people in the shot, but I feel like I counted at least seven or eight different guitarists in that video. Considering the canyon-wide reverb and general massiveness of “Alight” though, I wouldn’t be surprised if they enlisted a few more guitarists to hide amongst all the strobe lights and projections.
Magic Shoppe will be celebrating Interstellar Car Crash with yours truly at Great Scott on February 6th with the likes of Zip Tie Handcuffs, Bong Wish, and S.S. Cretins. Check out our poster below and Facebook page for further information.
As chilly temperatures and snowstorms finally start hitting the East Coast, survival methods can vary from person to person. Hot chocolate, Snuggies and generous amounts of whiskey are all tried and true, but for those looking for a musical antidote, switching playlists up to sunny-sounding jams can make all the difference. If that kind of self-deception is up your alley, Miami Horror might just be the ticket.
Originally formed in 2007 as a solo project of Australian producer Ben Plant, Melbourne-based four piece Miami Horror peddle a distinct, endlessly-groovy synthpop sound. Boasting collaborations with the likes of Kimbra and Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo, the band’s 2010 debut, Illumination, offered a vibrant entry in the genre, matching dreamy synth sonics with a healthy dose of nu-disco guitar work. Quickly catching fire on the Australian charts, the band steadily built a dedicated worldwide following (with the inclusion of their catchy “Sometimes” on the Grand Theft Auto 5 soundtrack certainly not hurting).
After five years on the road touring their energetic, playful and often raucous live show, Miami Horror dropped their second album last year. All Possible Futures dove even deeper into the post-disco vibes, reaching new heights of driving instrumentation and tight production. The band embraces 80’s vibes but never gets bogged down in nostalgia, with nearly all of the album’s 15 tracks sounding like a potential single.
Miami Horror is hitting the US for a brief five date tour, including a stop at Royale tonight, and we took the opportunity to chat to co-frontman Josh Moriarty. He told us about stage antics, breaking the US and dream venues.
Allston Pudding: Miami Horror started as Ben Plant’s producer project . How did you first get involved?
Josh Moriarty: Well yeah, very early on he had made two or three remixes and then on the first EP I sang on one song and then Alan [Palomo] from Neon Indian sang on another, then it was three instrumental tracks. From that point the band started; so pretty much straight away. He had made a few things but then we were all doing it as a band from that point. We were touring a lot with the band before the first record was completed, which Aaron and myself worked a lot on.
So we all got involved relatively quickly, but I suppose Ben’s sort of the driving force; the main brains behind the whole thing.
AP: It’s still a collaborative project though, right?
JM: Yeah. He’s always largely in the driver’s seat I suppose. Aaron did a lot of the production on the new album though, and then we’ll just kind of all throw in our bits and pieces. Have you seen us play live?
AP: Yeah I caught you at Electric Forest.
JM: (chuckles) That a was a weird one! That was fun though. I think I managed to climb on top of the stage and do a couple of songs.
AP: You did! Don’t think I’ve seen anyone pull off anything quite like that before.
JM: That’s good, glad I can still shock people now and then.
AP: You guys throw back a lot to 80’s sounds and disco, but always manage to avoid sounding stale or rehashing too much. When you’re writing are you conscious of using old school influence without sounding too much like an imitation?
JM: Yeah, I guess it’s just about picking the right bands to be influenced by and also making sure you’re using new technology, new sounds and new ideas at the same time. We never want to be just a rehash thing, though obviously we love a lot of that stuff. For the new record it was Talking Heads and InXS, but also a lot of bands that were around at the same time but weren’t as popular. Finding some of the half-hit songs and using those as influences.
But yeah, we’re always using new technology, so I think that’s probably what makes it not so completely throwback-y and ripoff-y.
AP: How did recording in LA influence the latest album?
JM: It added another level of openness and exploration. The first record was recorded in Melbourne where we’d all lived for so long and was home, and then we started playing in America and the guys moved over there.
Then you’re away from home, you know? You’re living in a different country, it’s sunny every single day, there were other bands around and the guys were DJing a lot at pool parties. I guess it just gave it more of an open, summery vibe. Your environment definitely influences your music. Melbourne can be a bit dreary sometimes. The winter’s a little harsher and it doesn’t have that Californian thing. So yeah, being in LA added that element to the music.
AP: How has the experience of building an audience in the US compared to Australia?
JM: The Australian thing all just happened, well, not easily, but we got played on a radio station here that’s the main youth radio station [Triple J]. They were on board very early on. With that we were booked for a lot of the festivals in Australia, so it wasn’t that hard to do it from there. Because Australia’s not that big, there’s only five or six of the big cities, so you play those and then do a few festivals here and there and you’re established. (chuckles) It makes it sound easy, which it wasn’t, but it happened pretty quickly and for a few years we did a lot of those things.
The American thing is a bit harder. There are more places to play; it’s more spread out. We’ve done a tour once or twice a year from the past five years now and every time we start to incorporate more cities. Some places we go people will be like “man I’m glad you finally made it out here, we’ve been waiting for you to come since 2010!” It’s been a lot of fun. It’s nice playing places you haven’t been before. Smaller clubs shows, with people all jazzed up and ready to go.
The last tour we did was quite extensive- 25 shows over a couple of months. There were a bunch of places we hadn’t played and it was nice to start to establish ourselves in those towns. I think we’ll definitely be going back. We’re just gonna keep doing it!
AP: I was really blown away by some of your stage antics. Do you ever pre-plan certain moves or flourishes after you see what kind of stage you’re working with, or is that kind of stuff off the cuff?
JM: You kind of have your book of tricks that you like to use and you just pick your moment. It’s not really hugely planned, but you know what things you like to do. When that moment arises, if you see that opportunity and there’s a little move you’ve picked up off of somebody then you pull it out.
The climbing stuff is the old At The Drive In/ Mars Volta move, or Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam. I always loved it when those bands did it, so why not in Miami Horror?
AP: Through your time together, synth music hit a pretty massive worldwide popularity that it didn’t have in the 2000s. Is that something you were aware of as that was happening?
JM: I guess you’re always aware of things going on around you. It’s changed even more now; I guess with Chet Faker becoming really popular there’s a lot of that chill R&B sort of thing, with things a bit slower and a bit more soulful. I’m seeing that happen a lot.
When we first started there were a lot of synth bands around. Of course, we took influence from them too, it’s not like we were the first. Now we’re starting to write a new record, so we’re getting influenced by new things, but I guess you have to find the things that make you you. The vocals are kind of specific to us and the friends we use to make our music, and then obviously the type of chords and melodies you use will be what makes you you as well.
What I don’t think matters so much are your synths, or changing to be more chill, or if it’s house, because house is popular, or any of these things. We use David Bowie as an example; he was a 70s rock guy because that was the thing that was going on, then he got more 80s because the 80s changed things. You take what’s going on around you but you’ve gotta always be yourself. Even look at Justin Bieber: he’s got his own voice and he’ll always sound like him, but he’s doing whatever the cool new sound is.
You’ve gotta find out what makes you you but change with the time and incorporate new sounds and technology.
AP:Are there any venues worldwide that you really aspire to play?
JM: Madison Square Garden- that would be alright, wouldn’t it? Haven’t done the Hollywood Bowl; that would be pretty sweet. There’s this Red Rocks place in America; we were around there but didn’t play it. Some people told us that’s pretty badass, so you want to tick those sorts of spots off. Those outdoor amphitheater places are some of the favorite. Then Wembley. When’s Wembley happening?! I think that’s well away though.
AP: What’s next for Miami Horror after this record?
JM: Writing the new record, man. Starting on number three. We’ve got about three or four songs that we’ve started working on. Nothing finished yet, obviously, but I think that’s the next priority. We’ll continue to tour and I think there’s a handful of shows around Coachella in April. There’s potential for a European tour and I guess we’ll probably do another American tour as well. We’ll probably put out another single from the second record and keep playing in support of that, but it’s about writing number three now. Gotta write some smash, smash hits! Gotta have some huge songs- pay the bills, get everyone excited so we can do Wembly!!
Miami Horror will be at Royale tonight, 1/20 with openers MOTHXR and Foreign Air. Tickets are still available here.
Local math rockers Hit Home have a new full-length album titled …After the Fact coming out soon, and we’re excited to premiere the first single, “Picturesque.” The emo-tinged tune matches technical but jumpy drums with tapping guitars to make you feel good about 2005 again. The track ends with the line “we could be picture perfect in a fractured frame,” but this song fits together with no bumps, breaks or scratches. Stream “Picturesque” below and read the …After the Fact track listing.
1. Careworn
2. Picturesque
3. Opaque
4. Augury
5. Some Day Find the Words
6. Unsunset
7. Lackluster
8. Vernate
9. To Heart
After candidly talking about their newest album and tour with Allston Pudding, which you can read here: Interview, Ratatat lit up the House of Blues with a blazing dance party full of slick guitar riffs and rumbling bass. Here are some of the sights from last week’s show.
Months after promising an album through 30th Century Records (Danger Mouse’s new label, pilule a partnership with Columbia Records) Autolux has finally announced “Pussy’s Dead”, due out April 1st. The announcement was followed shortly by the release of a tour schedule spanning both the US and Europe, including a Boston stop at the Middle East Downstairs just days after the album drops. Check out the slated track listing and tour schedule below.
Track Listing:
Selectallcopy
Soft Scene
Hamster Suite
Junk For Code
Anonymous
Brainwasher
Listen To The Order
Reappearing
Change My Head
Becker
Tour Schedule:
3/16 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
3/17 El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace
3/21 Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall – The Raven Tower
Littlefoot has quietly but relentlessly been writing beautiful pop tunes out of Boston for years, and we’re excited to premiere their new video for “Maps & Hands.” The video cuts performance segments with childhood videos to create the perfect dream-like state to accompany the song. Watch the new video and check out Littlefoot’s upcoming tour dates with California Redemption Value below.
1/19: LOS ANGELES, CA @ Gnarburger w/ Shannon Lay (from Feels) 1/23: PORTLAND, OR @ Desiree’s w/ Brumes, Haste, CRV 1/24: OLYMPIA, WA @ Doodle House w/ CRV, Skrill Meadow 1/27: SEATTLE, WA @ Highline w/ Camp, CRV, Night Cadet 1/28: TACOMA, WA @ The New Frontier w/ Shrews, CRV 1/30: OAKLAND, CA @ The Golden Bull w/ Peacers, The Moonsaults, CRV 1/31: LOS ANGELES, CA @ All Star Lanes w/ Banny Grove, IAN, Ian’s Tall Boys, CRV 2/1: SAN DIEGO @ The Merrow w/ Big Bloom, Fake Tides, CRV
Beyond showcasing a total transformation in production and songwriting, Something felt somewhere between a quiet divorce from their more precious tendencies and a love letter to the early ‘80s wave of eclectic pop that begat Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel. The standout track, however, was the band’s most unabashedly pop friendly song, “I Belong In Your Arms”. Revealing a band that found ease in crafting massive choruses around singer Caroline Polachek’s marquee vocals, “Arms” fell somewhere between the intimacy of a mixtape’s crucial last song and the promise of a song fit for a coming-of-age movie soundtrack.
