Fancey

Passing this on…

Isn’t technology great? Just two days after it got mastered, Fancey’s new album “Schmancey” is now available for download exclusively from the What Are Records? On-line store. It’ll be on other on-line stores as fast as they can handle it, and in record stores sometime in October.

Tonight bandleader Todd Fancey starts a serious indie-rock double duty tour. He’ll be opening the show with Fancey, and then roaming stage left behind his Gibson Explorer with his other long-time band, The New Pornographers.

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, raised as a student of 70’s AM Radio, and also a closet metal-head, Fancey’s music can most simply described as “soft rock that rocks,” but be careful not to oversimplify, because there’s a lot going on here, as evidenced by the reviews for their debut album:

A varied, always melodic, and an often breathtaking tour through ’70s pop and more recent indie pop - AllMusic.com

more: WhatAreRecords.com

Fancey (all dates with the New Pornographers and Lavender Diamond):
09-14 Seattle, WA - Showbox
09-15 Seattle, WA - Showbox
09-16 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
09-17 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
09-18 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
09-19 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
09-28 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom

Popularity: 18%

Weakerthans and TLTC Play Neumos in October

This press release wouldn’t have caught my attention if it didn’t contain the word “Weakerthans”. As it stands, it did contain the word, thus the following communique from headquarters.

The Weakerthans are a) from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and b) damn good.  And if one can predict the future by looking at the trainload of hot Brooklyn acts lately (Matt and Kim, Pela), The Last Town Chorus will be good as well. I’m tempted.

The Last Town Chorus, a Brooklyn collective fronted by lap steel guitarist and magnetic songwriter Megan Hickey, is fresh off of an amazing tour of the West Coast and is preparing to tour the rest of the United States in support of their stellar new release, Wire Waltz.

On the other side of the pond, the British press crowned Wire Waltz “one of the top albums of the year.” Stateside, the album has drawn critical raves from the likes of SPIN, The Washington Post, NY Press, LA Weekly, and others.

In addition, the Last Town Chorus’ haunting cover of Bowie’s “Modern Love” was featured on a pivotal episode of Grey’s Anatomy, is currently bewitching viewers in the promo for the film Diana: Last Days of a Princess, and was selected as one of the “Best Cover Songs of SXSW” by The Boston Globe.

Adding to a phenomenal year, The Last Town Chorus was chosen as one of Borders Books & Music’s primary “Emerging Artists,” joining a select group that includes The Arcade Fire and Amy Winehouse.

The Last Town Chorus will be touring extensively this fall with The Weakerthans.

The Weakerthans follow The Last Town Chorus on Oct. 5 at Neumos in Capitol Hill.

Popularity: 22%

Wolf Parade @ Neumos

Outfuckingstanding. Un-fuckingfanstastic-believable. Brilli-fucking-ant. Outbrilliantstanding.

I’m blown away by how blown away I am by a band with ONLY ONE RECORD, by the way. Nevermind that, they played what was one of the best shows I’ve seen in months. Abso-ridiculously great.

They were relaxed and having a great time, and they played a bucketload of new material. If even half those songs are on the upcoming disc, it’s going to be Damn Good ™. The only conspicuous absence from Apologies to the Queen Mary was Modern World.

Popularity: 24%

First rap band to say their band name in their lyrics?

Anyone know who this would be? A friend and I were talking about the Beastie Boy’s License to Ill (1986), and thought that might be it — of  the handful of examples we could come up with.

Thanks in advance.

PS: in that wiki entry, check out what the album’s title was going to be.

Popularity: 20%

Beer koozies, music, sunshine, oh my!

 Heading out on Thursday to the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Preparing myself for excessive heat, muchas margaritas, way too much money spending and more music than I’ve seen in the past 2 years — all in one weekend!Below I’ve listed out the bands that I’ll be checking out between cowboy boots shopping and the aforementioned margaritas. It’s hard to believe this is less than  ¼ of the line up! I would love for anyone reading this to check out the ACL site and let me know of any must see bands that I shouldn’t miss out on. Click here to see the line up.

Here’s my list so far…

Popularity: 19%

Bumbershoot Day 2 & 3

More Bumbershoot.  So after a full day of Bumbershoot, I was pretty tired.  Then some things came up and after that I just couldn’t motivate myself to head down to the Seattle Center.  So there is nothing to say about day two.  If anyone is dying to know what happened, the Seattle Weekly and the Stranger had professionals covering the event.  The Stranger has some nice pictures from day 1, here.  Full coverage on their ‘Slog’.

So on to Day 3…

Popularity: 31%

Bumbershoot: Day 1

A big, bloated post about a big, bloated festival.  Before I even get to the Seattle Center, I’m already dealing with the crowds.  Not long after I get on the bus, the bus becomes packed with people headed to Bumbershoot.   As soon as I enter the gates, I immediately become engulfed by a sea of people who seem to have no idea where they want to be.  As with nearly every year, I’m planning on seeing moslty local bands.  Bands I would probably see a few times a year even if I skipped Bumbershoot.  So as fight my way through the crowd, I’m wondering why I put myself through this.  I left my house later than I planned, so there is no chance to see the Cops or the Cave Singers.  So I head to the mainstage inside Memorial Stadium to see the Shins. 

First I have to wait in a line that wraps around the stadium and stretches to the fountain.  I find out the reason for the long wait is because at the entrance to the stadium all bags are being searched.  What are they trying to keep out of the stadium?  Primarily plastic water and soda pop bottles (which are sold by vendors outside the stadium) and any camera with a detachable lense.  I notice many people were able to get glass beer bottles and pot inside the stadium without any problem.  So the main point of the search seems to be to make people wait in a long, slow line. 

Popularity: 30%