Possible new Velvet Teen song!

(btw.. boo again to Tim and Emelie leaving..hopefully they'll keep posting on the blog)

So I was looking for new info on the Velvet Teen's upcoming album, and they apparently recently changed their site (they often do with new cryptic messages and strange graphics) and a song plays in the background..check it out:

http://www.thevelvetteen.com/

It isn't a randomly generated or looped video game song..it definitely has an ending about 3 minutes later. Could be a song off the new album, could be something from lead singer Jonah's long awaited solo album, or it could be them trying to fuck with us..in any case it sounds pretty awesome. Try counting it, for fun

They've been recording since last fall or early this year I think..so cross your fingers for a late 2009 release. Apparently the label they were on, Slowdance, recently folded, so they'll have to make the jump to a new label (possibly Pandacide?) but I don't foresee that being a problem.

Gold Sounds 5/6/09: Last show! Crazy music after 12pm!

So this is my last scheduled show at WRPI. I'm really glad I was able to spend the last two years (more or less) as a member of and DJ at the station. Extra thanks go to Emelie for getting me involved originally, Blar for making this blog and being an awesome Music Director/person, and you for listening! It's been a lot of fun, and has definitely inspired me to become more involved with music in general. For this last show I'm going to try to play really loud/fast/tension-filled music for the last four hours (12pm to 4pm) without letting up. We'll see if I have the stamina/musical knowledge to do such a thing. I'll play a few blocks of tracks from personal favorite albums/artists as well.

New music in red. Requests in blue.

1100am
Akron/Family "River"
Jason Lytle "Birds Encouraged Him"
The Music Lovers "A Word From Your Fashion Editor"

Camera Obscura "My Maudlin Career"
A Camp "Stronger Than Jesus"
Metric "Blindness"

The Bronzed Chorus "16Fifty Hundred"
Spokes "Precursor"
Woods "Rain On"
Ape School "Be an Encore"

Gramercy Arms "Nothing I Can Do" (ft. Matthew Caws from Nada Surf)
Harlem Shakes "Niagara Falls"
The Vaselines "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam"

1200pm - Here we go!
Maps & Atlases "Witch"
So Many Dynamos "Bed of Nails"
Fugazi "Epic Problem"
Choking Victim "500 Channels"

The Misfits "Last Caress"
Les Savy Fav "Asleepers Union"
The Mae Shi "Run to Your Grave"
Pegasuses-XL "The Big Haunt"

Refused "The Deadly Rythm"
Television "See No Evil"
Shudder to Think "X-French Tee Shirt"

Husker Du "Never Talking to You Again"
Georgie James "Hard Feelings"
The Last Shadow Puppets "Standing Next to Me"
Sondre Lerche "Phantom Punch"
Bear Vs. Shark "Ma Jolie"

100pm - So far so good.
Bridge and Tunnel "Call to the Comptroller's Office"
Slingshot Dakota "The Golden Ghost"
Mates of State "Fluke"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Pin"

Defiance, Ohio "Petty Problems"
O Pioneers!!! "The Architect of Disney World"
Bomb the Music Industry! "Ghost of Corporate Future" (Regina Spektor cover)

Favorite artist block: We Versus the Shark
We Versus the Shark "Ten Uh Clock Heart Uh Tack"
We Versus the Shark "This Graceless Planet"
We Versus the Shark "I Am a Fantastic Battle"
We Versus the Shark "Hello Blood"
We Versus the Shark "Suddenly it's a Folk Song" (Future of the Left cover)

Drive Like Jehu "Sinews" (the last time I'll play this song on WRPI...so sad)
Jawbreaker "Ashtray Monument"
Shinobu "Sometimes I Wish I Were a Cat"
Desaparecidos "Man and Wife, the Latter (Damaged Goods)"

200pm - Exhaustion! But we'll keep going.
Germans "Tiger Vacuum Bottle"
Deerhoof "Dummy Discards a Heart"
The Unicorns "Jellybones"

Failure "Pillowhead"
Local H "Bound for the Floor"
Glassjaw "Tip Your Bartender"
Devo "Gut Feeling"

Favorite artist block: Pavement (duh)
Pavement "Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite at :17"
Pavement "Stereo"
Pavement "AT & T"
Pavement "Shoot the Singer (1 Sick Verse)"
Pavement "Unfair"

Q and not U "Soft Pyramids"
Cap'n Jazz "In the Clear"
Cinemechanica "Antsinjapants"
Los Campesinos! "Death to Los Campesinos!"

300pm - I think we're going to make it!
Weezer "No One Else"
The Anniversary "The D in Detroit"
The Go! Team "Feelgood By Numbers"/"The Power Is On"

Miniature Tigers "Octopus"
The Dismemberment Plan "Girl O'Clock"
Ozma "Korobeiniki" (yes, this is the Tetris theme. It is awesome)

Favorite Artist Block: So Many Dynamos
So Many Dynamos "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning"
So Many Dynamos "Search Party"
So Many Dynamos "Progress"
So Many Dynamos "Friendarmy"

Alkaline Trio "Armageddon"
Fourth of July "Purple Heart"
Why? "Fatalist Palmistry"

Tokyo Police Club "Your English Is Good"
Archers of Loaf "Plumb Line"
Pavement "Gold Soundz" (I had to, apparently!)

Thanks, everyone :).

Gold Sounds: Covering Ambient Signal (5/5/09)

Blar's had a busy few days, so I'm filling in for Ambient Signal today. But don't worry, it will (mostly) be like he never left! New stuff in red.

600
Akron/Family "Everyone Is Guilty"

R.E.M. "There She Goes Again" (Velvet Underground cover)
Blonde Redhead "Without Feathers" (do you remember when albums were mixed really low? Blonde Redhead does!)
Mew "Special"

Camera Obscura "French Navy"
Sunset Rubdown "Stadium and Shrines II"

Great Northern "Houses"
The Dismemberment Plan "The City"
The Bronzed Chorus "Hiding in the Woods"

Stars "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead"
Broken Social Scene "Fire Eye'd Boy"
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's "My Baby (Shoots Her Mouth Off)" (the cd2 malfunction version)

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists "Biomusicology"
Other Girls "White Rabbit"

700
Why? "Simeon's Dilemma"
Mogwai "Kids Will Be Skeletons"
Radical Face "Welcome Home"
Years "Binary Blues"

Jason Lytle "Brand New Sun"
Jeremy Enigk "Sandwich Time"
Bill Callahan "The Wind and the Dove"
Hum "The Very Old Man"

Six Parts Seven "Falling Over Evening"
Holopaw "Curious"
Bend Like Branches "Bedroom Eyes" (oh hey 'sup Blar?)
Tortoise "The Lithium Stiffs"

Cornelius "Chapter 8 - Seashore and Horizon -"
Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew "Big Love"

Blar will be back next week, and my last scheduled show at WRPI will be tomorrow at11am! It should be crazy. Thanks for listening!

Weird Noises 5/4/09

Last show of the semester!

Christian Marclay/Otomo Yoshihide - Deep Down Under
Terry Riley - In C (performed by CCA, SUNY Buffalo)
Acid Mothers Temple - In C
Henry Cowell - 26 Simultaneous Mosaics (Take 7) (performed by Musicians Accord)
Giacinto Scelsi - Anahit (performed by Krakow Radio Orchestra)
People - Please Send Me a Refund
Iannis Xenakis - Epei (performed by Spectrum)
Seth Nehil - Weald
Wet Fur - Untitled
Tom Johnson - The one 13-note chord
Luigi Nono - Der Rote Mantel (excerpt) (performed by Deutches Symphony Berlin)

uhh, yeah, Monday May 4th (WG Hours)

Andrew Bird - Giant of Illinois
Bebeto - Flamengao
Ben Sollee - It's not impossible
Lord Melody - Booboo Man

Dirty Projectors + David Byrne - Knotty Pine
Atlantik (feat. Tony Prescott) - All aboard
George Benson - Breezin
Bob Marley - Trench Town

Andre Tanker - Sayamanda
the Derek Trucks Band - Kam-ma-lay
David Rudder - Engine Room

Decemberists - Sons and Daughters
MGMT - Electric Feel
My Brightest Diamond - Feeling Good

Colin Hay - Beautiful World
Liam Finn - Second Chance
Krosfyah - Pump Me up

Bruce Springsteen - Erie Canal
Pretender - Never Ever Worry
Bela Fleck + Luo Cultural Association - Angelina

Credence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary
Bob Marley & the Wailers - Punky Reggae Party

Skip Parsons Trio - Swing that music
Skip Parsons Trio - Riverboat Shuffle
Skip Parsons Trio - the best things in life

We are Jeneric - After the Great Flood of Troy
Camera Obscura - the Sweetest Thing
George Clinton and his gangsters of Love - Let the good times roll

Willie Nelson + Wynton Marsalis - Down by the Riverside
Camera Obscura - the French Navy
the Decemberists - Annan Water

JJ Cale - Riverboat Song
Osibisa - Sunshine Day

Elvis Presley - Down by the Riverside

Gold Sounds: Akron Family - Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free reviewed

Akron/Family - Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free

You see that cover up there? The one that absolutely screams Grateful Dead? That will prove to be the main obstacle preventing casual shoppers from picking up this album in the 'New Releases' section of their local record store. This is very unfortunate, because while the album and band may have its hippie leanings, Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free is a snapshot of Akron/Family at its most dynamic.

Opener "Everyone Is Guilty" sets the stage nicely, distilling the album's essence in roughly six minutes. The song starts with some funky guitars and group chanting, but eventually this musical vehicle breaks down in a fit of glorious noise. Unexpectedly, the music builds back up, this time accompanied by strings and horns, marking a triumphant ending to a triumphant song. Second track "River" even attempts to get all "Young Folks" on us, offering some prominent whistling and genuine crooning. However, the song never comes off like a 2007 indie pop retread and is one of the album's several highlights.

Unlike other Akron/Family albums, Set 'Em Wild is front-to-back a compelling, great album. In addition to the first two songs mentioned, each track has unique, memorable qualities and serves to connect the tracks preceding and following it. The three tracks following "River" are all pleasant, relatively short, mellow and, most importantly, cause the high of "Gravelly Mountains of the Moon" to seem stratospheric. "Gravelly Mountains of the Moon," the album's centerpiece, sounds as epic as its title implies, and even ends with a musical reprise of one of their previous album's highlights. Such decisions really add depth to the material; not only have Akron/Family created a fluid album with Set 'Em Wild, but they're also striving to create a fluid discography, something very few artists even attempt.

Even after this highlight, the second half of the album still holds up strongly. "They Will Appear" features guitarwork reminiscent of fellow Dead Oceans band Dirty Projectors and effortlessly transforms from quiet campfire singalong to raucous fit of noise including, of all things, some truly intense harmonica playing. "Sun Will Shine (Warmth of the Sunship Version)" features Broken Social Scene-esque walls of guitar and horns at one point and perfectly leads into piano-based final song "Last Year," with lyrics consisting solely of the repeated couplet, "Last year was a hard year for such a long time/This year's gonna be ours." With an album as polished and deep as Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free, one can only hope this will be the year of Akron/Family.

Akron/Family's fifth release, Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free, will be released this Tuesday, May 5th by Dead Oceans records. Listen to "Everyone Is Guilty" and "River" here and catch them on tour this week (Your humble reviewer saw them live a few months ago was thoroughly impressed):

• 2009-05-05 Newbury Comics (Newbury Street) - Special Acoustic Set, 5PM, Boston, MA
• 2009-05-05 The Middle East, Cambridge, MA
• 2009-05-06 Bowery Ballroom - ALL AGES, New York, NY
• 2009-05-08 Metronome, Burlington, VT
• 2009-05-09 Bennington College, Bennington, VT