April in Paris conjures up images of tranquility; down in the south of France at Villa Nellcote during spring and summer 1971, not so much. Formerly occupied by Nazis trying to hide after WWII, the villa had a history of decadence. The Rolling Stones simply updated it with sex, drugs and rock & roll. Despite all their problems (check Robert Greenfield’s excellent account in the book, “Exile On Main Street: A Season In Hell With The Rolling Stones”) The Stones produced what many agree was their best recording and their only double-album. Even with all this music there was plenty left behind. On May 18th “Exile On Main Street” will be re-released in two deluxe packages: one with LPs, a book and DVD material, the other a CD-only package. Both contain ten songs not commercially available before:  alternate takes of Soul Survivor and Loving Cup (perhaps the drunken Keith version), Pass the Wine, I’m Not Signifying, Dancing in the Light, So Divine, Following the River, Plundered My Soul, Title 5 and Good Time Women (which became Tumbling Dice). Although “Exile” is a great title (based on the band’s tax problems), it could have just as easily been called “Song of the South”. It has roots in American blues, country, rockabilly and R & B from our southern states, played better than most Americans ever will.

Hear the original radio ad for “Exile on Main Street” here

Hear this classic on KZSC along with other sounds from the Regan Era Saturday mornings between 10 AM and noon on “Living in the 80′s”.  You’ll also have a chance to win a copy of “This is Big Audio Dynamite: The Legacy Edition” this week so be sure to brush up on your 80′s trivia. Good luck!

This is one of those records that is sure to get a huge amount of love at our station: Golden Triangle‘s “Double Jointer” album. Check out the video below to get why. It’s a mix of sweaty sweaty garagey post-punk with lots of pretty girls. Really, it’s a very special KZSC recipe for success.

FALL BE KIND

So, yep they did it. To us. Again. Through the heart? Maybe.

Animal Collective released a new collection of songs: their Fall Be Kind EP. As a long-time AC fan, it’s kind of easy for me to slip into really loving everything they do. However, their last album (Merriweather Post Pavillion) sort of threw me through one of those trials we have in romantic relationship; the “you’re still really cute but you’re getting seriously irritating” romantic trial that some of us might know all too well. Summertime Clothes? Undeniably catchy. My Girls? Good god this is summertime bliss! But it didn’t blow me out of the water. More importantly, it didn’t blow my head off with greatness, it didn’t rub my face in fleshy dirt the way Sung Tongs was capable of doing. So consider me, at this point, a skeptical yet still enamored fan.

The new EP? Compelling. Gorgeous. “Bleed” is the most wonderfully hypnotic song that I need to hear every morning that I need to hear late at night that a crazy night of storytelling is incomplete without. The whole EP draws out, brings me in, hypnotizes me, and brings me to that meditative state that only a good cup of distortion and repetition could take me to. The final verdict? A good move in the Animal Collective story. It’s possible that they hype can scare us all out of our skin at times, but there’s nothing like some good meditative noises and shouting to wash it out of our systems.

Come getchyer Hottmess Holiday

That’s right sisters, and they’re here to knock the monochromes offa your outfit and offa your face. Harlequin Baby is the name of the fantastico: 2 girls, 1 guy, no baby, and notso gruesome. They make an edible brand of electronic music that is all crystals all candy all icecream all sexycute. ANDDD big news: they’re returning from their no-show vacation this Thursday. It’s a house show, boos, you know how we do, and it’s going to make you dance dance sweat sweat super happy happy meal. Got it?

Instructions:

1. Head to their hosted colorful land

2. Listen to their jamz, get jamming.

3. Come to the show: This THURSDAY 11/19 … 6:35pm sharp … 215 Storey St.

Local greats San Narciso (space) and Starcircleanatomy (space) will both also be playing, come love them!

It's all buried in our Reservoir

The new album from this London-based indie bouquet of wonderful is called Reservoir, and it is a striking and bold maturation from the single “You Are One Of The Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us” (hypem) that I fell in love with so many years ago. There’s beauty here, you betchya, and better yet there are anthems to beauty. Anthems to being swept away by a driving rhythm, by the sounds of a marching band, by the elevating force of melody.

This albums downfall and success both lie in the fact that the sounds on this album are familiar — Arcade Fire is here, Beirut is there, and oh man! Is that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah over there?? Yeah, this band sounds similar to other indie rock bands. But let’s note that all three of those bands are something worth being compared to. All of them swooped in and stole our indie rock hearts and Fanfarlo has come along to heal the hole that is left when a band moves on from you. This band’s songs are intelligently and perfectly crafted into something beautiful, big, orchestral, and lush. And to nicely top it all off, they’re catchy. You can dance to this, you can jump rope to this, you can spin in circles to this. This band has taken the sounds of those we loved and knit them together into something all their own. Something worth taking home.

Remember “Elephant Gun”, Beirut’s testament to changes to seasons to dancing to parties? “The Walls are Coming Down” has the same effect, and sounds similar. It’s a theme worth following. (And hey! There’s a video available here!)

“I’m a Pilot”, the opening track, seduces you with what sounds like a slow marching band spinning through the Tundra. It’s pianos and violins are cold and sparkly but the crunching stomping beat is driving, deliberate, and determined. You’ll get swept away in blue icy dust, no doubt.

There are a lot of tracks available for listening on Fanfarlo’s website, as well as a number of videos from live performances. I’d suggest wrapping yourself in something comforting and beautiful and settling down for some Fanfarlo. Try not to get swept away.

Good night, we love you. Love, Fanfarlo.

It’s time we sit down and cuddle up to something that I personally cannot get my ears to move away from. The band is Air Waves, out now on Catbird Records. This is what happens when you get a copy: your hand is filled with this beautiful, screen printed, yellow artwork on what looks like a 45rpm sleeve.

in love with your sunny afternoon, this is Air Waves

And inside, the sounds inside, are equally as gorgeous, as striking, and as warm. It’s lo-fi in the sense that it sounds like it was recorded in a really sunny afternoon bedroom. And it feels like you’re in that bedroom when you listen to it. The head songstress, Nicole, has a beautiful if not toughened voice that is intimate and trustworthy and heartening. The music is sunny and breezy and relaxing. This is music to lay on your floor and craft to. This is music to sit in the park with. This is music to swing on a hammock with. It’s your summer sweetheart, if nothing else.

Keep listening to KZSC for sneak peeks of this grand self-titled EP. Chances are you won’t be able to wait for that serendipitous moment, which is why you should go to their myspace, listen to some tracks, lay on your bedroom floor, and maybe get your own beautiful Air Waves EP.

I hope someone else falls in love with this record, because really, it’s too warm not to share.

Love,

Caitlin of KZSC

take care!

]]> http://kzsc.org/blog/2009/08/07/lost-in-the-air-waves/feed/ 0 http://kzsc.org/blog/2009/08/06/rock-charts-for-84/ http://kzsc.org/blog/2009/08/06/rock-charts-for-84/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:03:49 +0000 Music Director http://kzsc.org/blog/?p=384 We’ve got some fancy new music at our station again!

Let's get lost

KZSC Radio 200 Adds

Welcome to summer, KZSC-ers

They’re not quite coming from the beyond the grave; these are our charts from last Tuesday. Next Wednesday will bring new joys, but until them, check out this greatness:

Rock music wins:

Top 5 adds:

Soundtrack to your Motel Motel raptor battle adventure

1 Motel Motel – “New Denver” – We’re messy kids listening to The Walkmen, taking them by storm, upping the pop and having way too much Coffee Cigarette fun. By far one of my favorite new indie rock bands, Motel Motel are doing it right. (The songs “Coffee” and “Cigarettes” are by far some faves)

space.

This is your Neon Graveyard. Love, Gobble Gobble.

2 Gobble Gobble – “Neon Graveyard” – Pop music made on an acoustic guitar by a solemn boy run through a room full of vocal filters, chopped and cut for glitch effect, added blips and spilled out onto a CD. Some songs (esp. “Meteor Eschat”) are incredibly compelling. Honest and intimate despite the amount of sonic experimentation going on.

space.

We believe in indie rock, you can too: You Can Be a Wesley

3 You Can Be a Wesley – “Heard Like Us” –  Okay, let me be honest here. I’ve become disillusioned with this so called “indie rock” banner that us kids have been carrying for so long. That “sound” (you know, the classic one, the one that Spoon stands for) had eluded me, and experimental music took over my heart. Well, until now. Starting this week with Motel Motel and held up halfway by You Can Be a Wesley, my heart is now achingly happy about our genre. This band has enough upbeat pop sensibilities to keep your ADD-kid leg a-hoppin’ and enough indie rock sound to not make you sick from pop-cleanliness.  (Listen to “Stuck in a Battle”, please, for the goodness of your own happiness)

space.

Japandroids will set us all on fire.

4 Japandroids – “Post-Nothing” – We’re alive and well, we listen to Rock and Roll and as much as Los Angeles has made apathy hang on our lips like bummed cigarettes, we still believe in fun. We still have an ounce of hope and with that ounce we’re going to dance around and have fun. Go it? Good. Rock music is still alive, don’t forget. (“Young Hearts Spark Fire” is the soundtrack to this scene, to your new life. Get up, friends.)

space.