This Is Book’s Music

This is super fresh footage of Lil’ Daggers from a performance they did last week Friday, shot by Chuck Livid.Li

Bee vs. Moth are a quintet out of Austin, Texas that combine a crunchy means of rocking out with intricate instrumental passages and arrangements. In fact they are an instrumental-only band, although they seem to be the kind of band who may surprise people with a vocal/verse or two at any given time. Acronyms (Aggraveire Music) is an album for fans who enjoy a bit of mathematical rock loud and raw but organized, full volume but with a knack for sparsity at unpredictable moments. Go back to the first few Weezer albums and add to that a hint of 65daysofstatic or Pelican, and use instruments normally associated with jazz (saxophones, trumpets, cornet). But take the Sun Ra theory of thinking by using those instruments as percussion. If that sounds unusual or different than what you’re used to, then you’ll eat up songs like “I Listen To Coffee All Day”, “Mexican Noise Soda”, and “Salisbury Steakhouse” (and no, I didn’t use the words “eat up” on purpose to specifically mention songs with food or drink in the titles, I’ll call that a happy accident).

You could tap your feet or fingers to this, but this is about a band who want you to bang your head hard, but without feeling too much like an idiot. Instrumental bands in the last few years have been incorporating a lot of different textures and soundscapes, and Bee vs. Moth are no exception. In their case, just imagine a band who understand volume and power in their music, but hold back from being completely obnoxious. Don’t get me wrong, I love an obnoxious sound, but these guys will take the more delicate moments of songs and play in and around it, sometimes not returning with a blitzkrieg of energy. In the next song, they may take that concept, flip it backwards, and then look at its reflection in water. It’s not boring, and just when you expect for them to take a song to a direction you feel is right, they do you one better.

Go along for the Bee vs. Moth ride and see where you’ll end up.

(Acronyms will be released on September 6th. CD’s and digital downloads can be pre-ordered from BeeVsMoth.com.)

Look at them. They’re called Peelander-Z, which is funny in itself. Now listen to them. They call themselves a “Japanese Action Comic Punk Band” and reside in New York. They’re now on Chicken Ranch Records, who will be releasing their new album, P-TV-Z, on September 28th.

From now until what seems like the end of time (well, November), Peelander-Z will be on tour so a lot of people will have an opportunity to see them. Make plans.

08/26 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
08/28 Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East
08/29 Providence, RI @ AS220
08/31 Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah
09/01 Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground
09/02 Toronto, ON @ The Silver Dollar Room
09/03 London, ON @ Call The Office
09/04 Montreal, PQ @ Il Motore
09/05 Kingston, ON @ The Mansion
09/23 New York, NY @ Santo’s Party House w/ Guitar Wolf
09/28 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
09/29 Richmond, VA @ The Camel
10/01 Nashville, TN @ Grimey’s In-Store
10/02 Nashville, TN @ Next Big Nashville
10/05 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
10/07 Austin, TX @ End of an Ear In-Store
10/07 San Marcos, TX @ Triple Crown
10/09 El Paso, TX @ Chalk The Block Festival
10/11 Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
10/12 Oklahoma City, OK @ Conservatory
10/13 Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
10/14 Indianapolis, IN @ Melody Inn
10/15 Detroit, MI @ Lager House w/ Birthday Suits
10/17 Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club w/ Birthday Suits
10/18 Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
10/19 Sioux Falls, SD @ Nutty’s North w/ Birthday Suits
10/20 Lincoln, NE @ Knickerbockers
10/21 Denver, CO @ Hi – Dive
10/22 Salt Lake City, UT @ Burt’s Tiki Lounge
10/23 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
10/24 Seattle, WA @ Fun House
10/25 Portland, OR @ Berbati’s Pan
10/31 Las Vegas, NV @ Double Down Saloon *
11/02 Albuquerque, NM @ Atomic Cantina *
11/03 El Paso, TX @ Low Brow *
11/05 Dallas, TX @ Double Wide *
11/06 Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/07 Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/09 Pensacola, FL @ Sluggos *
11/10 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum *
11/11 Sarasota, FL @ Paddy Wagon *
11/12 Gainesville, FL @ Common Grounds *
11/13 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl *
11/14 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 *
11/16 Charlotte, NC @ Milestone *
11/17 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
11/18 Philadelphia, PA @ North Star Bar *
11/19 Bordentown, NJ @ Record Collector In-Store
11/20 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East

* = w/ Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re

Couraeous is what I’d call the sound of Clogs, who may do just that with their music and keep it in your head where it needs to be. “Last Song” is dreamy and eerie, and will probably do what it wanted to do.

The song is the title track for the band’s new 3-song EP.

Take a look at that equation again: Melvins.

Remix EP

Scion

Put them together, and you have a remix EP Melvins are releasing through Scion. Yes, the car company, or in this case Scion AV, the audio/visual department of the automobile company. The Electric Flower EP features remixes by Doorly, Lovelock, MRK 1 and J Phlip. Since it is 2010 and the industry wants you to believe everyone is pro-digital, you can find this EP at the usual digital merchants. Fortunately for diehard fans, you will be able to find it on both vinyl and CD (phew).

Her album is due out on August 10th, so consider this song a preview of Kathryn Calder‘s Are You My Mother?. It’s animated, it’s music, it’s fun.

The Portland Cello Project have just release their new album Thousand Words (Sad Rabbit Music), and here is the first video from it.

Wild Beasts have released a 10″ with “We Still Got The Taste Dancin’ On Our Tongues” on the A-side, and two tracks found on the B-side: “Two Dancers II” and “The Devil’s Crayon”. “Two Dancers II” was remixed by Jon Hopkins. You can order the record directly from Domino Records or from Insound.com.

The band will be heading towards this year’s Lollapalooza festival, check them out when they play in your vicinity:

Fri. Aug. 6 — Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle w/ Lone Wolf
Sat. Aug. 7 — Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza Festival – 1:15 PM at PlayStation Stage
Mon. Aug. 9 — Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club w/ Lone Wolf
Wed. Aug. 11 — New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom w/ Lone Wolf
Fri. Aug. 13 — Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre w/ The Mimicking Birds
Sat. Aug. 14 — San Francico, CA @ Outside Lands Festival

The Swedish Legal System are a trio that may or may not be from Sweden, since their bio says they are “from Sweden where it counts”. Interpret this as you must, but the band recently covered Carly Simon‘s hit song “You’re So Vain” and created a video for it outside of Seattle’s Lusty Lady, a strip club/theater that closed down after decades of being in business. Many songs and stories have been written about the events that have happened behind The Lusty Lady’s closed doors, even a small handful of books, and as the club was coming to a close, The Swedish Legal System felt it was more than appropriate to shoot their musky loins between their cavernous space.

If you want to hear more, here are the band’s cover of Lady Gaga‘s “Bad Romance”.

There’s freaky, and then there’s deranged. Then there’s this video by Tera Melos, which is so messed up that it’s great. It reminds me of the lo-fi productions of public access circa 1981, ready-made for USA Network’s Night Flight or something. The song is from the band’s forthcoming album, Patagonian Rats (Sargent House).