New Pains Of Being Pure At Heart Song/Video

I've recently been pulled in by the Brooklyn band, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. While I enjoyed the Psychocandy-esque songs I heard on their eponymous debut, the memory quickly faded and I never went on to actually picking up the album. Having heard two newer songs by them recently, my interest has been renewed. The first here is their latest video for the title track of their semi-recent EP, Higher Than The Stars (2009). The song is an absolutely delicious synth pop stroodle (a song that would have fit nicely on The Cure's The Head On The Door). Likewise, they have a new song called "Lost Saint", which is a guaranteed summer staple.

Here is the video for "Higher Than The Stars". "Lost Saint" is linked above via Drowned In Sound.

RIP Ronnie James Dio

When I was a freshman in high school, my friend Chris used to drive me home frequently. A close friend to everyone in my family, he had just gotten his teaching degree and was working at another school close to where I went. On these rides, he used to blast a wide array of tunes - some good, some bad...always diverse. One day when flipping from some Beastie Boys to Machine's "There But For The Grace Of God Go I", Chris pulled out a metal mix, on which the main star was the great Ronnie James Dio. The CD contained tracks by Black Sabbath, Elf, Rainbow, and of course his titular band, Dio. For years since, RJD has been my go to man for rambunctious, dramatic, classic metal. I'm saddened by his passing and hope his legacy will live on, especially in car rides home from school. Here is a clip of my favorite Dio song.

Strange Powers at the Bell House 5/10/10

On Monday night, I was lucky enough to attend a screening of the new documentary Strange Powers, that chronicles the work of Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields. Among the attendants of the viewing were the film's directors, Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara, Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein, a guy who either was, or looked exactly like Justin Peroff from Broken Social Scene (it probably wasn't him; I think the band is touring Canada presently), and most importantly, long time Magnetic Fields member, and Merritt's manager, Claudia Gonson. Gonson, who just recently gave a solo performance at that Chris Knox benefit last week everyone was hollering about, performed again by herself, playing a medley of David Bowie songs while she recalled anecdotes involving herself, Stephin, and David Bowie. A rather hilarious twenty minutes or so later (Gonson played piano next to a portrait of a Ziggy Stadust era Bowie), the film began and I finally had numerous questions concerning Merritt and his past that I have pondered about for quite some time, answered (for instance, his songwriting and recording process). Like all documentaries about artists I love, I would have liked it to have been longer (although at 90 minutes, it was more attention I had ever seen a screen give to Merritt and company).

After the film, the directors and Miss Gonson took the stage for Q&A. While the crowd was timid at first, people eventually began asking pretty poignant questions concerning the film and the history of the band. One question that I felt was particularly notable was that if original MF vocalist, Susan Anway was contacted for interview (she was, but scheduling and personal conflicts prevented it from taking place). I asked Claudia if a Magnetic Fields live album had ever been considered, and that if the home release of this film could potentially yield a concert DVD as a bonus feature. While she pretty much ruled out the idea of a live record (Stephin apparently detests them), she did call to attention a fully edited video that exists documenting one of their 1999 shows where they performed 69 Love Songs in its entirety. While a release is not exactly under discussion right now, she did mention it as a remote possibility for the future. Until then, be on the lookout for Strange Powers as it will be receiving a theatrical release this Fall. Here is the trailer.

Sleigh Bells - Live at Ridgewood Temple 5/11/10

Last night, noise pop extraordinaires, Sleigh Bells, played a show at Ridgewood Temple in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The first opener, Sundelles went on around 9:30, rumbling forth with sunburned indie rock. While standing on line for beer, I noticed a tall, broad gentleman walk in, hand in hand with a pretty, young girl. It took me a second, but I quickly realized they were Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin of dreampop upstarts Cults, who I had posted about earlier. Accompanied by a full backing band, Cults' live sound is a lot different than what their etheral single, "Go Outside", would suggest. While that song sways in the gentle breeze on vinyl, the addition of drums, bass, and a second guitar player, gave the song a funkier sound, that suited it well, although it didn't quite have the magic of its "studio" counterpart. The band seemed a little tense at first but eventually eased into the set - an understandable, minor flaw considering this was approximately their third show ever.

The wait between Cults and Sleigh Bells seemed infinite, considering the instrumentation setup was minimal. Finally the lights dimmed as a metal song blasted from the monitors, eventually breaking apart like a scratched CD fighting it's way off a stuck note. In a flash, Derek E. Miller took the stage, guitar held prominently in his hands - he banged out the first chord like a siren calling the crowd to arms. Suddenly, an explosion of sound began with the thunderous canon blasts of "Tell 'Em", the first track off Treats, the band's debut album, released digitally that day. Alexis Krauss took the stage wearing a tie dyed moo moo and leather coat. Strutting her stuff on stage, she delivered her sugar-tinged vocals like a sexy, disinterested waitress telling you the specials - and there were many specials. Meanwhile, the crowd was flipped into absolute ecstacy, jumping and dancing in a sea of sweat and warm bodies. The liberating nature of the destructive music got cranked into full blast as they pounded into the tribal, "Infinity Guitars", probably the most decipherable song lyrically in their repertoire, evident in the audience's accompanying vocals.

The swirling rush of the show was so strong that before you knew it, you were back on the ground, waiting for the encore - this of course was not before Krauss stage dived into the audience during "Crown On The Ground", being carried all the way to the middle of the temple. The wait was brief, and she quickly came back and did a great rendition of "Rill Rill" (a song that's title seems to be disputed so much that even she drew attention to it saying, "this song is called 'Rill Rill', or 'Ring Ring' or whatever the fuck you want to call it" -paraphrased). The show itself was only about a half hour (roughly the length of the record), but the intensity was so strong that another five minutes would have felt like it was bordering on becoming dangerous.

When the show ended, I couldn't find my sweater which I had put on the front of the stage. I hopped on and ended up backstage where the band was with their friends. I asked Alexis if she saw it to which she told me she kicked it backward at one point during the show by accident. Eventually I located it and on my way out, briefly spoke with Derek who had just finished breaking down his equipment. A very nice fellow, we talked about the physical release of the album which he speculated would be June 1st. I thanked him and bid him adieu. A fantastic show through and through, and if the album lives up to my predictions, a show for the history books.

Check out Brooklyn Vegan for more pics.

Sleigh Bells - Treats

Do yourself a favor and listen to the first truly great record of the decade. NPR is streaming Treats for the rest of the week. Stop, collaborate, and listen...then go out and buy it.