The Spits

There's no real reason why you shouldn't like the Spits. They're simple, fun and have some of my favorite lyrics in punk. Their new one came out about a week ago and it's pretty typical Spits, with not much "evolution" in their music. Just the way it should be. If these guys ever start putting out conceptual double albums, I may have to shoot myself in the face.

TV GIRL

You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl. You will now listen to TV Girl.

Dark Entries Records

Dark Entries Records hosted a small event last night to celebrate the release of their new compilation record, Bay Area Retrograde Vol 1. An amazingly awesome collection of local underground new wave bands of the early eighties. The record is wonderfully designed, with an awesome fold out poster, much like you would actually get back in the 80s when you purchased vinyl. The whole thing made me happy as cat getting it's belly scratched.





Here's a little mix put together for the event (I pulled this and everything else from their website, which you should check out below):

BART Vol 1 Party Release Party 5.26.11 by darkentriesrecs



After you get through with that, then listen to Tuxedo Moon "No Tears"... just because:

Friends

There have been several points in my life that friends have approached me and asked for my opinion on their music. 9 times out of 10, I have to bend the truth a bit or give a remark such as "It's good for what is was", or some near asshole response like that. Sometimes I just avoid them after the show altogether.

So, it's nice when I don't have to.

My buddy, Joey Postiglione makes electronic dreampop/chillwave under the guise of Sunless, that's right up my ally. Special attention must be given to the third track "The First", a slowed down tune that reminds me of driving home watching the sun go down after a long day at the beach. He ends the four song endeavor with something that sounds like it could have been pulled out of the Cocteau Twins back catalog. I hope he appreciates the comparison...




Also just crafted, are some new Boyz 4 Men tracks. This was recently recorded by Phil Manley of Trans Am fame. If you don't know who Trans Am are, then I'm sorry. You're missing out...




Rocky IV by Boyz IV Men

One of my favorite Trans Am tracks:



...also, check out The Fucking Am, if you get a chance...members of Trans Am and The Fucking Champs get together for some mayhem...

On the flip side...

I'm kind of amazed these guys, Boring Girls, are from the UK. They sound like more of a trashy Midwest kind of thing...

Portlandia Electronica

If you missed the Reporter show (along side Boyz4Men) at Engine Works in San Francisco, you missed a good night of dancing. I like a lot of the minimal italo disco infused beats of groups hailing from Portland.

Reporter:



Chromatics:



Glass Candy:

Miss The Postal Service?

Yeah,so do I....but there's still some stuff out there that is in line with what they were doing....

Magic Man was definitely a favorite of last year....














The year before that, I was listening to Deastro a lot. Some of their songs sound like they may even need to pay royalties to The Postal Service.





















You know that before The Postal Service, Jimmy Tamborello was in Figurine, right? Good. Glad to know you're in the know...

Off!

It's kind of hard not to get excited about Off! Bringing punk back to the way it's supposed to be, simple short and powerful get's an old timer like me all in smash mode.


I can't wait to see them at the Eagle Tavern on April 21st.

Top 5 favorite hardcore bands as follows (in no particular order):

Social Distortion (A bit of a man-crush on Mike Ness)



Minor Threat



Black Flag



Die Kreuzen




Circle Jerks

Chrome Guy

Yup. That was my nickname for a while. It wasn't even self appointed either. It was coined by my friends due to my complete obsession with this experimental band from the late 70s and early eighties. I won't destroy your mind with anything to obscure and abrasive, however, if you want to further dig around, know that they did get a little demonic over time...








They were pretty science fiction....



The Stooges on acid?



Jesus Lizard covered them once...

Ripley Johnson

Both of Ripley Johnson projects are good. I haven't had a chance to see Moon Duo, but I've seen Wooden Shjips a few times now, and will probably see them again. Moon Duo is playing at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on the 11th.

MOON DUO "KILLING TIME" MUSIC VIDEO from FUTURE PRIMITIVE FILMS on Vimeo.

Slacking....

Yeah, I know I've been slacking...

I used to listen to a lot really slow, sleepy music. You know...slowcore. Bands like Codeine, Bedhead and Low. A lot of it had to do with my life style at the time, which I won't get to specific about here.

All of this, later lead to listening to bands such as Mogwai, Sigur Ros and Explosions in the Sky. If you ever get a chance to see Mogwai live, I suggest you take that opportunity. It's cool some folks are still making this kind of stuff. It makes rainy days that much more....I dunno...rainy?? Hah....

Hey, remember The Blues Explosion?

Funny story that you're not going to believe, but I actually "jammed" with Judah Bauer way back in (I want to say) 1990 (?). Anyway, it didn't take long for me to figure out that this guy way WAY out of my league.

Years later, I saw him at a show after they got pretty big, and I was pleased that he remembered who I was (it helped that I was good friends with his best bud from Appleton, Wisconsin.

This isn't really about Sufjan Stevens....

Are you sure you like Sufjan Stevens, or are you just pretending because all the critics are gushing over him? Personally, I keep trying to listen to him to find out what it is I might be missing that continues to force me to pass on him, time and time again. It usually starts out with "you know, this song isn't bad" but always ends up with "fuck, this song is annoying as hell" and I turn it off. I just don't get it and I don't think I ever will. Just like Beefhearts "Trout Mask Replica".



I don't know. Maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I like "songs". You know the kind with discernible melodies, verses, choruses, etc...music with emotion behind it. There's only so much improve I can take before I start calling bullshit. I'm the same way with jazz. Coltrane, sure....Albery Ayler, not so much.

Force Field, sure...Sufjan Stevens, not so much.

Hunters NYC

Thank god for Glenn Branca. Thank god for Sonic Youth. Where would New York trash and noise be without them? Your precious White Stripes or Yeah Yeah Yeahs would be non-existent. Sure, there still might be the Strokes, but those guys are kind of boring anyway.....

There wouldn't be these guys, Hunters, and that would be a shame, because I was really into this 
today. Kind of kicks ass...




note: I have been listening to this every day now and have decided it kiss ass for sure.

Stone Darling

And thy first song they created had sort of a "Mazzy Star" feel to it, and it was good.



Then on the second song, they covered P-funk, and it was, well, OK...sort of....

Soul

Here's a really good mix for Friday. It's so good, that it was actually hard to wait until today to post about it. Kraz does a pretty amazing job at drawing a line from the "Godfather of Soul" to the "CEO of Rocawear" and back.

The New Division wha....?

I don't know. Calling yourself New Division seems kind of a bold and presumptuous move. They should have called themselves "Fashion Dispatch", 'cause some of their songs sound like Martin Gore and company than any incarnation of New Order or Joy Division. Still, I enjoyed listening to this today, as I like all three of those groups.

Weekly shoegazey noise pop post....

OK, so these two bands sound a lot alike. Not that it's a bad thing, since I'm in full support of the whole "muddled vocals in the background" deal. It's way better than listening to a grating and annoying singer. It's always a bummer when you hear the beginning of something great, only for it to be ruined by someones annoying voice.



Youth Castles describe themselves as "depressed new york city college students trying to write songs that sound decent enough to listen to while driving in the suburbs."....I like that. I hate their name though....








I'm looking forward to these guys finishing the album....They have a much better name.









You know, they all kind of sound like tamer versions of Flying Saucer Attack, a band in the ninties that you probably never heard of. Even back then, nobody had really heard of them either, so don't feel so bad.

Kraftwerk

What can be said about Kraftwerk which hasn't been said a million times before? If you hate electronic music, than you will need to start with them. They started it all.

I had a chance to see then back in 2004 and it was pretty amazing. At one point, they took a break and the next song was "performed" by robotic representations of themselves. They re-entered the stage and completed their performance wearing tron like glow suits. Epic.




Computer World (German Version)











DIe Roboter - (German)











Trans Europa Express (Deutsch)

Monster Rally

So, this guy is from Ohio. He obviously shares the same love for Lex Baxter and Martin Denny as I do.




Les Baxter (You'll surely recognize this one):



Martin Denny (people making animal noises rules!):

Boyz IV Men

If you don't already know, Boyz IV Men are a local group here in San Francisco. They play synthesizers not unlike someone would play a guitar, which is what makes their live shows much more interesting than most electronic based acts.

BOYZ IV MEN from DL on Vimeo.

Does Satan go to the Club?

Well, if he does, he definitely gets freaky listening to Ritualz. I don't expect anyone to like any of this. Actually, I'm pretty sure I don't, but it's kind of like this. I hate horror movies, cause I'm kind of a pussy, get scared easily and find myself sleeping with a light on afterwards. But sometimes, I have to freeze the gore on the DVD and examine it carefully in slow motion to see what's going on. Listening to this is kind of like that.

†‡† (Ritualz) - ▲ from Petit Pistolette on Vimeo.

I'm almost positive there are satanic messages recorded in forward...no need to put them in reverse.

Dancing and the President of the United States of America

I'm pretty sure the amount of dancing is usually in direct correlation with what political party is in the White House at the time. When Jimmy Carter was president, everyone was at the disco. When Clinton was in office, everyone was out raving. I suppose if the economy wasn't so shitty, people would be dancing more now, but let's face it. Bush was such a killjoy, it's practically spilling over into this administration. In spite of this though, fun electronic dance-able beats are still being churned out....



The Young Liars....was it "Hot Chip" that started this whole sound?

Just to get you started...

One of the coolest album covers I've seen in a while. Modern Soul.

Teen Daze

I really like everything that he puts out. His music all has a real sentimental feeling to it that I can't explain. His live performance needs work though.....

His latest realease seems to be scraps of electro leftovers.




I'm not sure where the inspiration for this one came from. Brian Wilson probably. He demostrates that he's quite capable of writing beach inspired indie pop tunes and more so, quite good at it.




An oldie but a goodie. This was one of my favorite tunes from last year.

JAPANTHER

I like Japanther quite a lot and don't feel I need to explain this to anyone.

Blog Name Explaining

There is a reason why this blog is called Tunesifter. Mainly it's because I have to sift through tons of pure shit to get to stuff that I like. And I don't mean "sounds that I'm just not into" type of stuff. I'm talking about the "these guys shouldn't even be playing music" type of garbage that has nothing to do with genre or whatever....just terrible music no matter what the style. know what I mean?

Jabroni's pretty good though...






They remind me a bit of the sort of jazzy inluenced indie rock of the late 90s and early 2000s....sort of like:









Karate maybe?



...or Tortoise...hmmm....

Old Stuff

I finally picked up a copy of Herb Albert's classic album from a thrift store for a buck. This is probably the best album cover ever.



South African garage? Yes, there was quite a bit.

Electronic Submission #3

I probably won't go see these guys. See earlier post.










I wish I hadn't missed the Geographer show though....I learned later that I might have been able to go to the show for free. Damn.

T.G. vs. The Knife

I'm pretty sure The Knife were influenced by Throbbing Gristle. But then, what electronic group wasn't. Directly or otherwise. You be the judge:

Throbbing Gristle - Hot on the Heels of Love (1979)



The Knife - Silent Shout (2005)



I'm sure I'm not the first to make this comparison.

Blip Blip

I really like older sounding lo-fi electronic sounds. I like anything that sounds like it was made from an Atari. I don't even care if the songs all sound the same.

MC5

Just because they rule. If you don't think so, you have no business listening to rock and roll. PERIOD.

Shoegaze

How does todays shoegaze bands compare to the bands of the nineties? I feel it's actually somewhere in between the noise rock movement of NYC and the British shoegaze of said decade. I don't know....you be the judge....


Todays band No Joy:




















Todays Tamaryn, who in my opinion take a note from Mazzy Star as well as the shoegaze movement.



The DustDevils circa NYC in the 90s:



DustDevils - Throw the Bottle Full











Swervedriver from Oxford, UK circa 91.



Thanks to Josh Franta for the music referrals.

Bruise Cruse

Anybody want to fly me to Miami? Only $20? Whoever is going to this is lucky.



Ty Segall is really tearing it up these days...



I mean, Surfer Blood with Thee Oh Sees? My two favorite bands right now playing together??

Surfer Blood - Fast Jabroni - Halfway House Sessions from Halfway House on Vimeo.

Thee Oh Sees

Most everyone who knows me, knows that I love Thee Oh Sees. I just think they are the perfect blend of old psychedelic and garage rock. Their live shows are usually pretty amazing and most importantly, fun as all hell.

And they're from the Lower Haight.

And sure they are gaining popularity, and that usually wards me off, but their last show was so good, I can't help but remain true to them. They are my favorite band right now.







Once you watch this video of them live on KEXP, performing "Tidal Wave", you can listen to the whole show here:




I Was Denied

Best Coast/Wavves

If you want to see them, you should probably hurry. This will most likely sell out. I would be surprised if it didn't.





February 26th at the Regency Ballroom

Fridays are for Dancing

I decided that Fridays are the days for electronic beats and such. After all, the weekend is here. So....this would be the day for haters of electronic and dance beats to completely avoid my blog (assuming that anyone is even reading this anyway).

A remix of an acoustic Matt Gonzalez song? Doesn't seem likely, but it really works for me.



Somebody took Blip, Cut and Glitch 101 at the University of Daft Punk.



People still make mix tapes? Weird. These guys made a mini-mix tape of disco ooze goodness.



Both are on Teenage Gang Records

New Zealand and Kiwis pt. 2

A few more gems from New Zealand:



Before Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Magnum was having nervous breakdowns in reaction to "fame", the Tall Dwarves were making ingenious lo-fi pop gems south of the equator. Chris Knox of the Tall Dwarves later invited Magnum to play in NZ with them. It would have been brilliant to see.



Peter and Graeme Jefferies are two brothers from Aukland. They had a band called Nocturnal Projections. They went on to do separate things.



Peter mostly did piano type stuff. I had a chance to see him at the Bottom of the Hill some years ago, and all I can remember from that show was how bombed he was. He almost fell out of his chair a couple of times...it was a BBQ show in the afternoon....oh those Kiwis...

Listen to this song while reading or taking a bath.






Graeme Jefferies went on to do more experimental stuff with "This Kind of Punishment" and later, a more conventional group called "Cakekitchen".