Monthly Archives: March 2008

Guest Post: Review of Bishop Allen

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Bishop AllenYou should make plans to see Bishop Allen play at the Middle East. Not because Bishop Allen will be on the Best of Pitchfork, the AV Club’s top music of the year, the New York Times, the Village Voice, or any other trusted source for new and talked about independent music.

You should see Bishop Allen because you’ll enjoy the show. By enjoy, I mean, you’ll have a smile on your face and so will your friends that have never heard the band. If a typical indie rock show is to be compared to a night at the cool, 40-beers-from-all-around-the-world, up-and-coming-part-of-the-city-bar, a Bishop Allen show would more closely resemble drinking domestic beers on a summer day at the beach. It’s like returning to your friends and family after an extended bout of traveling. Good, clean, un-pretentious fun lyrics. Not quite a sing-along, thank god, but you hear enough to know that the song isn’t about killing people.

Post by Tim “Sammy Adams” Baker

Their myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/bishopallen
Official Website: www.bishopallen.com
Next Boston Show: May 15th @ Middle East Downstairs ($12)

Kips Notes on “Click Click Click Click”: The simplicity of both the song and the video create a lasting effect on the listener, quite similar to that of a good photo taken. I find the video to be ingenious. You take a simple concept like that of the animated flip book and give it a tiny twist.

MP3: “Rain”
MP3: “Click Click Click Click”
Video for “Click Click Click Click”

Sub Pop invades Brookline St. & Mass Ave.

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Sub PopWe’ve got some great shows coming up in the Boston area. Besides the obvious greats, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks @ Paradise Rock Club on April 3rd and Hot Chip @ Paradise Rock Club on April 14th, there are also some smaller lesser known shows taking place next week.

Next Tuesday, March 25th, @ T.T. the Bear’s Place:

The bands: The Ruby Suns play along with Le Loup
Cost: $9 (TicketWeb)
Times: Ruby Suns @10:15 and Le Loup @ 11:15

The Ruby Suns are Sub Pop’s most recent success story. Their self-titled album has been on rotate for the past couple weeks and their latest release, Sea Lion, has been getting great reviews. The group is from New Zealand and fit extremely well into the Sub Pop sound along side groups such as The Shins.

MP3: “Tane Mahuta”
Buy Sea Lion: (Amazon) (Subpop)

Le Loup is headlining this show. They originate from the D.C. area and have been on a tear the last year. They’ve toured over seas and have been all over this fine land and the craziest part is they’ve only been together for about a year. I first caught them by accident a few months back opening up for some band that obviously didn’t catch my attention as much as this seven piece outfit. They’re on the Hardly Art label which is a subsidiary of Sub Pop. Le Loup bring the force with four guitarist a drummer and plethora of toys such as a French horn, tambourine, banjos, keys and I’m sure there are some more they’ve got in the chest.

MP3: “We are Gods. We are Wolves”
Buy The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millenium General Assembly (phew): (Amazon) (iTunes)

Next Thursday, March 27th @ Middle East Upstairs:

The bands: Fleet Foxes open up for Blitzen Trapper
Cost: $9 advance / $10 at door (Tickemaster)
Times: The usual

Ah, yet another smooth crooning southern rock sound ala My Morning Jacket. “Oh man, Fleet Foxes are their own sound.” Yes, I agree, but like all great musicians, everyone plays off each other. Therefore my comment should be looked at as a complement and not an insult. Fleet Foxes have a big sound and there is no question they fall in to the same category as My Morning Jacket or Band of Horses. Yet their bouncy rhythm section gives them a unique sound and their own spin on this genre.

MP3: “Oliver James” (Download MP3 at Brooklyn Vegan)

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Buy Fleet Foxes: (Amazon) (Sub Pop)

Blitzen Trapper “blitzed” onto the scene late last year with their catchy song “Wild Mountain Nation” which made it clearly into my top tracks of 2007. Their latest album, Wild Mountain Nation, took home some praise from critics all over the music world. It’s got a hectic pace and at times the arrangements are a bit messy but I think that’s on purpose. They have a dirty sound but some how manage to pass it off as clean fun. I remember reading one review that liked them to Pavement but I honestly don’t see that at all. Maybe in their wild arrangements but their sound is more raw Americana then the lo-fi indie rock that Pavement was kicking out.

MP3: “Wild Mountain Nation” (download MP3 from A Free Man)

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Buy Wild Mountain Nation: (Amazon) (Sub Pop)

Amie Street – New Online Music Service

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Amie street logoWe’re all familiar with the eMusics and the Rhapsodys of the world. There are new concepts arising every day when it comes to the distribution of digital music. Just recently, one concept got a pretty nice boost from major players in the indie world.

The site Amiestreet.com was created about two years ago by three Brown University grad students(Elliott Breece, Josh Boltuch and Elias Roman). When they first launched the site, they only had a few labels and some indepedent musicians that were providing their songs for download to the Amiestreet community. And that’s just what this site is all about, the community.

I also like to compare this site concept to the stock market. Every member of Amiestreet is given the capability to give a REC to a song (that’s short for recommendation). The member can also write a short little comment about why he or she likes it. The more REC’s a song gets, the more it goes up in price. Songs range from FREE to no more then $.98 depending on their popularity. And, if you provide a REC to a song and over time it gets more REC’s and the cost goes up, your account gets a certain amount of credits depending on how much it rises in cost. Each credit is worth a song download. And to get these sought after REC’s you have to download songs (1 song= 1 REC).

For all you artists out there, Amiestreet lets you keep 70% of the proceeds from the sale of your songs except for the first $5, which covers the cost for storage, maintenance and bandwidth. There is also no commitment that says you can only sell your music through their site and no other outlet.

When I first heard about Amiestreet.com a little over a year ago I thought this was a great idea. And I wasn’t the only one. It was just announced that artists from Matador, Beggars Group and Polyvinyl Recording will be available through the site. That’s over 15,000 songs! This includes such artists as Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, Tom Yorke, The National, The New Pornographers, Pavement, Belle and Sebastian, Of Montreal, Interpol, and a Square favorite, Stephen Malkmus. The list goes on. The service also has the recent hyped up fellas from Columbia University, Vampire Weekend, available.

It doesn’t take much to sign up (username, password, email and your location). There is no commitment to purchase any music as there are tons of songs available for free. However, if you want the good stuff, you’ll have to penny up. Or perhaps you can fulfill that dream of becoming an A&R rep and discover a band or artist before everyone else and load up on the credits by REC’ing their songs first.

For you Square readers, we have a promotional code that you can enter upon signing up. Just enter in the code “hip2besquare” and you will receive a $5 credit to your account along with 5 RECs. So sign up TODAY!

Free and legal Downloads from new Amiestreet artits:

- Stephen Malkmus “Cold Son” (Album: Real Emotional Trash)
- Brightblack Morning Light – “Everybody Daylight” (Album: Brightblack Morning Light)
- The Pony’s – “Double Vision” (Album: Turn the Lights Out)
- Yo La Tengo – “The Summer” (Recorded at KEXP during their Freewheelin Tour)
- Architecture in Helsinki – “Heart it Races” (Album: Places Like This)
- Hail Social – “Hands are Tied” (Album: Hail Social)
- Of Montreal – “Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse” (Album: Hissing Fauna, Are You – The Destroyer)
- Someone Loves you Boris Yeltsin – “Oregon Girl” (Album: Broom)
- Film School – “Lectric” (Album: Hideout)