Mannuals Mashup Contest - Show in Boston
I picked up Annuals‘ Be He Me a little while back and haven’t really paid much attention to them since. That happens often in today’s crazy fast past world where bands come in and out of the lime light. But there is no question the Annuals are a band that need to stay towards the front of my brain.
They play sporadic and jaunty melodies with instruments galore. It’s not often that multi-instrumental bands find it in to my regular rotation. It’s a hard gig to pull off as you have so many instruments to manage and the slightest miscalculation can ruin the experience. More well known members of this genre are Arcade Fire and to a lesser known degree, Beirut (although a recent MTV News appearance could help change the low profile). But to an even lesser lesser degree are the Annuals. The Annuals popped up on the radar around last years CMJ festival and really impressed the critics and grew a small but growing following.
They originate from Raleigh, N.C. and are currently on tour. They arrive in Boston this Thursday at the Great Scott with another young band in tow. Opening up is the Atlanta based group Manchester Orchestra, who have recently opened up for Kings of Leon and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
The two groups seem to have started a strong relationship as they have started a contest called Mannuals Mashup Contest. The rules are you have to take one Annuals track and one Manchester Orchestra track and mash them together. The bands will then pick their favorite track and the winner gets a brand new Epiphone guitar signed by both bands, a copy of the Annuals’ Be He Me and MO’s I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child, the bands’ split 7″ (only being offered at their show) and a limited edition lithograph of the 7″ artwork. Five runners up will get the CD’s, the 7″ and the lithograph.
Enter the contest HERE
Annuals also have a new EP coming out full of B-sides called Frelen Mas. There will be a cover of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, which I’m interested to hear them play. It comes out November 6th through iTunes but you can have a sneak peak with the download of “Nah Keseyi” below.
Areas of Interest -
Download “Nah Keseyi”
Stream “Nah Keseyi”
Purchase Be He Me (Annuals Music Store)
Purchase I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child (Manchester Orchestra Store)
Streaming Halloween Mix - Other stuff
Let me throw in a quick pitch for eSnips… It’s very easy to create a playlist using another users uploaded tracks and I find that very useful. Especially if you don’t have the time to upload the songs yourself or if you just don’t have the songs to upload. I’m planning on creating a bunch of mixes using other user uploads and of course giving them cred.
The beginning of my Halloween mix (that is probably playing right now as I turned on the auto play, hope you don’t mind) was entirely built using Brad’s mix - Check out all Brad’s Halloween Mix
I’ll be surfing around eSnips for more ‘weenie goodies so my playlist should grow. That way, you can just turn it on at your party this weekend and let it fly. Or, you can create your own mix using eSnips.
Bonus Halloween Mix:
If you’re in need of some scary background sounds for Halloween night as the little ones come knocking at your door, I recommend WFMU’s mix from a couple years ago. They still have it available for download. I guess they have plenty of server space.
Download Mix Here - Test it out by streaming below
