AT-AT Day Afternoon

Well isn't this the most adorable thing I've seen since the kitty-kat World Cup video... Look at that guy go go go

Guided By Voices reform for Matador

Hey look, a re-post of my work! Ahhhh, I miss these. Just posted on the Boston Phoenix OTD about the Guided By Voices reunion, which goes down in Las Vegas along with a lineup that kicks the shit out of a lot of festivals. Yowza.

VIDEO: Marina & the Diamonds 'Oh No'

Seriously, how the FUCK is Marina Diamandis not the biggest thing in pop music. We tolerate Katy Perry bullshit 24/7 and yet this absolute genius stays hipster. Fine, we'll keep her -- another gem of a pop diamond from the lady, "Oh No." That synth loop at the end is devastating.

O'Brien's Pub gets itself a sign.

Look at this bad boy! All wood and shit. Very sophisticated for Allston's famed-yet-cleaned up punk/metal pit.

IMH: 'Dream About Me' by Depreciation Guild

Told you Vanyaland was going all self-promo (as if it wasn't already...)

The Depreciation Guild - "Dream About Me" from Jack Ferry on Vimeo.

Tonight: The Depreciation Guild @ the pill

Oh shit, it's the Depreciation Guild tonight at the pill, and boy oh boy can I not wait to neon-daydream with these cats...

friday june 25:

The Depreciation Guild

A skygaze pop comet in an 8-bit stratosphere

The neon lights once again explode in pixilated reverb synths Friday at the pill as Brooklyn’s the Depreciation Guild continue our live summer session at Great Scott with a cascade of blissful sonics for the skygaze generation. 

A sharp sonic blend of both early-‘90s dream-pop yearning and the synthetic blips and bleeps screaming from a modified Nintendo Entertainment System, the Depreciation Guild sound is that of an exploding star crashing down in a microchip landscape. 

Before two of its members found glory with The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, the Depreciation Guild drew rapt attention for its Famicon-enhanced 8-bit electronics, and this year’s critically-acclaimed “Spirit Youth” album (Kanine Records) is set to elevate the band to greater atmospheres by incorporating a greater wash of metallic guitar reach while remaining faithful to the band’s pop vision. 

As front man Kurt Feldman quipped to Spinner.com before a gig at SXSW earlier this year, the Depreciation Guild sound, quite frankly, is “pretty synthpop with loud, distorted guitars.” Furthering the point, the Onion’s AV Club Review recently noted that the Guild’s "Nintendo-synth hooks and John Hughes-soundtrack dynamism splash the songs with a kind of expertly crafted lushness." 

The Guild just wrapped up a stateside dream-pop romp with Serena-Maneesh, and before going back out on tour with the Pains of Being Pure at Heart the band has strung together a run of club dates, finding the time to spark the pill in ultrasonic guitar swirls and 2A03 sound chips for the sky ghosts of dance parties. This is the sound of dreaming brightly.

Catch a moonlit preview of the Depreciation Guild at myspace.com/thedepreciationguild, and while you’re scouting, get lost in the beautiful haze of the incredible Jack Ferry-directed “Dream About Me” video. Before and after the band, DJ Ken and Michael V spin the best in Britpop, Modern Indie & Beyond. Look skyward, look sharp. 

xothepill

Courtney Love & Bret Easton Ellis

Yes, it's been a HELL of a first half-week over at the Phoenix. Chilling with Courtney Love at Ames, hearing Bret Easton Ellis read at the Brattle. I wish I had more time/energy to get into all this but I am fucking exhausted.

Vanyaland is dead / Vanyaland is not dead

Oh lordy, I think I found myself a brand new lover.

When I started Vanyland several years ago, it was a reaction to the over-edit and re-write hack jobs I was suffering from at the Herald. I created this blog as a means for me to break out of dinosaur print restrictions and write about what I wanted, what I thought Boston needed to know about and whatever other bullshit romancing me at the moment. It was great therapy.

With the new gig as Music Editor of the Boston Phoenix, I don't feel there is a need to distinguish this blog from my day job. In reality, aside from videos like the ones below, any "news" or show promo plugs I post here should be going to the alt-weekly. They, after all, pay the bills. But more importantly, they have my target demo, and allow me the freedom to spit how I spit.

Vanyaland will not die; just slow down considerably. I'll still hype the pill news and Endless Wave (the lone member of the streamlined Vanya MMC) and other random nonsense, but it's time to shift focus to the Phoenix. It's quite a gig, and demands my full attention.

Thanks to all who read this over the years. As Bertie says so timelessly, here's looking at you, kid.

Tonight: Danzig @ the House of Blues

FUCK YEAH -- Way stoked for Danzig tonight at the House of Blues. Last time I saw Glenn live was probably high school for the Danzig 4 tour, which hit the Roseland Ballroom and blew my tiny little Operation Ivy-loving face off. A scan of recent set lists has a nice bit of Danzig II: Lucifuge and a solid filling of the classics (dying to hear "She Rides" again), but I'm really hoping he breaks out this lost gem:

Friday @ the pill: Depreciation Guild

Quick hit as I recover from the past 24 hours with Endless Wave in Brooklyn -- New York dream-pop trio The Depreciation Guild swing by the pill this Friday, my first ever pill night while employed by the Boston Phoenix. Yeah, I'm excited. (And yes, Vanyaland will likely slow to a self-serving promotional crawl, as any music news worth reporting will likely contribute towards the alt-weekly's coverage.)

Natalie Portman gets dumped by Brite Futures

The pill's favorite Seattle synthpop kids Natalie Portman's Shaved Head -- who killed it with us in August 2008 -- are breaking up with Natalie Portman. Yeah yeah, guess the actress wasn't fond of the band name, and I guess recently they have been going by the more obscure NPSH.

Now they are called BRITE FUTURES -- but not before breaking up with Nat-Nat on YouTube. Band statement after the best name-change-gimmick-by-a-band-with-a-gimmicky-name-ever:



Said the new Brite Futures:

“We chose our band name on a whim when we were still in high school, and ‘Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head’ has seen us through an unexpectedly amazing four years. Our love affair with Natalie’s name was like a summer fling that lasted… and lasted… and lasted… But now it is summer once again, and time for a change. Also it has recently come to our attention that our muse Ms. Portman is not so keen on us using her name in ours… Ultimately we are lovers, not fighters, and our mamas didn’t raise no fools, so we feel it is time to move forward with a new name. We are BRITE FUTURES. Ps no hard feelings Natalie. You remain +1 on every guest list.” --Brite Futures

Boston Saturday: Kid Sister & Brittanya

While I'm back in NYC with Endless Wave for a gig at Don Pedro -- Dirty Apple old schoolers get at me -- there's all sorts of ill shit going down at home tomorrow night. Most importantly is Kid Sister at the Middle East, a gal I've been obsessed with since LA Riots remixed her jam "Control" a few years ago. And I still can't get over how "Right Hand Hi" didn't become this huge mainstream mega-hit.



But also, downtown, to keep the Ladies In Charge theme hot as the Allston pavement, Brittanya from Rock of Love Bus is laying the smackdown at one of the never-ending rows of Same Clubs near the Theatre District. I wonder if her "booty call" boyfriend from the VH1 show is going to be there.... why can't I remember his name?!?! LOL remember when she tried to beat up Heather?!?!?! Ahh, my life was lame back then. Anyway. Ahem.

Tonight @ the pill: Veil Veil Vanish

Fuck yeah, tonight it's on. Several months ago I discovered Veil Veil Vanish through a Metropolis Records catalogue, and immediate reached out to them for a gig at the pill. Obviously, connecting a band from San Francisco with a Boston dance party is no small accomplishment, but things worked out and tonight we party Bay Area style. Will Clarks for EVERYONE!

friday june 18:

Veil Veil Vanish

San Francisco's dark shadow on the dance floor

!! Phoenix poll: Best Club Night (Dance) !!

Eight days after being once again named “Best Club Night: Dance” in the Boston Phoenix “Best Music Poll” – the 3rd straight year? Longer? – the pill launches its live summer sessions with a black strobe shot straight from the hazy darkwave gates of San Francisco.

After cultivating a cult following on the west coast, Veil Veil Vanish have finally brought their atmospheric underground post-punk sound to the eastern end of the stateside dance floor, an electro-shock attack of reverb-rock cast in the increasingly black shadow of gemstone pop.

Though brand-name band comparisons are often callous reaches in promotional posturing, San Francisco’s annual NoisePop festival summed things up nicely, writing that Veil Veil Vanish “have made a name for themselves by combining ‘80s goth and ‘90s shoegaze into a dramatic and potent concoction of The Cure meets A Place to Bury Strangers.” Works for us.

While we first discovered Veil Veil Vanish after they contributed a spirited cover of the Cure’s “The Upstairs Room” to the 2008 tribute album “Perfect As Cats,” we became enthralled after Metropolis Records tipped us off to their critically acclaimed debut album “Change In The Neon Light.” Darkening up the pill’s grittier dance sets through the winter, Veil Veil Vanish counters the emerging sunlight of spring, creating an appropriate sonic-haze live dance set in the gloomy modern indie midnight glow of Allston Rock City.

Get acquainted with Veil Veil Vanish over at myspace.com/veilveilvanish, in particular the recent pill dance hits “Modern Lust” and “Anthem For A Doomed Youth.” Before and after the band, DJ Ken & Michael V spin the best in Britpop, Modern Indie & beyond at Boston’s best dance party. And because our live guest hails from San Francisco, we’ll be drinking Great Scott’s famous Will Clark cocktail all night. Look sharp. xothepill.

VIDEO: Hundred In The Hands 'Tom Tom'

In the previous post I mentioned New York duo The Hundred In The Hands. Seriously people, I am not fucking around here. Live tonight at the Mid Easy...

TONIGHT: Golden Filter & Hundred In The Hands

Really sexy shit going down tonight in Cambridge's Central Square, as NYC glitter-pop duo the Golden Filter hit the Middle East with fellow Dirty Apple on-the-rise electronic post-punk duo The Hundred In The Hands. Hot damn that is some synth-alicious pairing.

I tried to pimp the show in my last Boston Herald Cheap Thrills column, but typical of the newspaper, it got cut because they just wanted to run Father's Day items. Whatever.

GLITZ-POP EXPLOSION
Four To The Floor presents The Golden Filter at the Middle East
Thursday, June 17 at 8 p.m. at 472 Massachusetts Ave. in Central Square, Cambridge; 18-plus, $10 in advance, $12 day-of-show
In April of last year, early attendees to the sold-out Presets concert at the Paradise were in for a sweaty disco-dance treat -- a rare opening act performance by fresh-as-a-daisy New York synth-pop duo the Golden Filter. The band had kept a low profile while unleashing one of the sexiest dance floor hits of the year (“Solid Gold” and its treasure trove of remixes), but the live show was a showcase of things to come. Fast forward 14 months and the Golden Filter’s debut album “Voluspa” has exploded in both the indie rock and dance scenes, with tracks like “Hide Me” and “Dance Around The Fire” showing a glitzy, glitter-infused electro update of post-millennial disco. It’s an ultra-sultry noir-pop sound, led by the angelic voice of Australian-born diva Penelope Trappes. An added bonus is the openers, fellow Dirty Apple duo The Hundred In The Hands, whose blend of synthetic psych-pop and post-punk is certain to explode by the turn of the calendar. Add local electro-rock kids Southern Belle, who are just back from tour, and this is one white-hot show that should pack the Mid East’s upstairs room to the neon gills. Don’t wait to get tickets at the door.
Info: thegoldenfilter.com; mideastclub.com, 617-864-3278

@Bonnaroo: The Postelles get heads nodding

My boys in the Postelles crashed Bonnaroo this past weekend, offering a big-stage taste of what's to hit the pill next month. Really feeling these cats, and their jam "Can't Stand Still"...

Hello, Boston Phoenix.

Less than a week after leaving the Boston Herald, today I was named music editor of the Boston Phoenix. Needless to say, I am extremely excited about this opportunity, and can't wait to work with Carly Carioli, who was promoted today to Editor in Chief. (For those keeping score at home, my nightlife agency, Vanya MMC, will be streamlined to accommodate just two clients: Boston skygaze trio Endless Wave, and my indie dance party, The Pill.)

Here's word of the Phoenix changes from Dan Kennedy's blog. And here's my pull quote:

Michael Marotta, a music writer from the Boston Herald, will become Phoenix Music Editor, replacing Michael Brodeur, who left the Phoenix for the Boston Globe.

Kitten in tiny hat gets smacked up

Well, this is no doubt the best thing on the Internet today.

See more funny videos and Cute Animals Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Klaxons release greatest album cover ever

Hear that, MGMT? In this Pitchfork report of the new Klaxons album, something FAR more interesting than new Klaxons music was revealed -- this motherfucker of an album cover!! Will be buying this for sure. What's the album called? No idea. When's it out? Dunno. Again: ALBUM COVER VICTORY.

VIDEO: Endless Wave 'Premeditated' @ GS

Mick Murray recorded several songs from Endless Wave's EP release party last week at Great Scott -- thanks to Asteroid #4, the High Dials and Jupiter 28 Degrees Transmission Taurus for the goods -- and we thought "Premeditated" come out sounding rosy. Here's a peek while we beef up the sound quality on the rest. As always, cheers to Mick Murray, and you can check out links to his overall video his collection here.

Review: Ellis revisits Zeroes in "Imperial Bedrooms"

Bret Easton Ellis's new novel "Imperial Bedrooms" gets the release treatment today from Knopf Publishing, and to celebrate, I reviewed the dashing piece of work in this past weekend's Herald. Yes, my last Herald piece as a Staff Writer was on Bret Easton Ellis. How very Michael. Can't wait for the book signing next Thursday.

More of ‘Less’

Bret Easton Ellis revisits his Zeroes in ‘Imperial Bedrooms’

By Michael Marotta
Sunday, June 13, 2010 - Updated 2d 19h ago
“IMPERIAL BEDROOMS” By Bret Easton Ellis (Knopf, $24.95): A-


As Hollywood proves yet again this weekend (“The A-Team,” “The Karate Kid”), it’s possible and profitable to remake, reboot and reimagine movies from the ’80s.

It remains impossible to rewrite a book.

But Bret Easton Ellis, that compelling literary voice of The Decade That Won’t Die, is back Tuesday with a sequel to his most important work, 1985’s “Less Than Zero.”

“Imperial Bedrooms,” Ellis’ stunning seventh novel - which he will read from at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge on June 24 - tracks the lives and deceit of the network of friends and enemies who first appeared in “Less Than Zero.” The characters who defined the so-called “Catcher in the Rye” for the jaded, disaffected and affluent youths of the ’80s are now 25 years older and running amok in present-day Los Angeles.

Narrator Clay (the Holden Caulfield of his era) is now a screenwriter, back in Tinseltown after a sabbatical in New York City and ready to cast his new film, “The Listeners.” It’s a movie set in - of course - the 1980s. As he returns to his home city, he finds the same old song and dance - and same friends, in particular ex-girlfriend Blair and junkie-turned-pimp Julian (who was played with frightening realism in the 1987 movie adaptation of “Less Than Zero” by Robert Downey Jr.).

About all that’s changed since the first romp down Sunset are the names of the hip, new spots, the name-dropped celebrities and, of course, the technology. Now we get text messages and online social networks where we once had pay phones and MTV. But the undercurrent of moral bankruptcy remains, and it remains Ellis’ strongest vantage point.

Like its predecessor, “Imperial Bedrooms” takes its name from an Elvis Costello song, serving as a reminder that while this book takes place in a new century, its themes are inherently ’80s. And maybe that’s Ellis’ point.

Ellis has always been a master of blurring the line between reality and fiction. The first line of this new novel - “They had made a movie about us” - immediately smashes that wall, allowing Clay to both praise the first book’s honesty and bemoan the Hollywood film adaptation. He slams actor Andrew McCarthy’s portrayal of Clay and notes that the movie failed to recoup its production costs. Classic Ellis.

“Imperial Bedrooms” is unlikely to generate the attention and controversy of “Less Than Zero” or Ellis’ “American Psycho.” But it’s a fitting evolution for an astute writer, who doesn’t deserve to be faulted for noticing that the disillusioned youths he famously chronicled are no less messed up as adults. It truly is the ’80s all over again.

Bret Easton Ellis at the Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, June 24. Tickets: $5; call 617-876-6837.

mmarotta@bostonherald.com

Summer spotlight @ the pill: Depreciation Guild

Lots of cool shit going on at the pill this summer -- from live shows by Veil Veil Vanish this week to DOM and the Postelles next month to Blur Vs Oasis Nite in August -- but the end of June find a sparkle gem like no other as we welcome Brooklyn skygazers The Depreciation Guild to Great Scott.

Imagine spinning softly to the on a cool June night in the starry Dance City of Allston Towne.

I-95 shuffle: NY and Boston

Back from a New York coma -- from visiting my old Bay Shore neighborhood for the first time in 6 years to having @MsMatchGirl try to convince me why Brooklyn is cool ( not buying it, never will). Awesome weekend, now back to the grind.

Perhaps there will be an announcement or two in the next week regarding my future.

Later, Boston Herald. It's been real.

Nearly four years after crashing the Boston Herald newsroom, today I depart, ready to launch Vanya MMC and take on a new chapter in my life. I'm equally terrified and excited. I'll miss this joint more than I ever let on, and I'd always be a Herald guy despite the political slant the news section takes. I'll remain a freelancer -- writing the weekly Cheap Thrills and other features, but I am a staff writer no more.

TONIGHT: Modern Indie dance party @ the pill

Ahh yes, the day after winning Best Dance Night in the latest Phoenix poll, we get to show Boston why. So much going on -- last day at the Boston Herald, World Cup kickoff, Bret Easton Ellis new book -- and the latter is the theme for tonight's party. Let's merge.

friday june 11:
dance party summer
britpop. modern indie. disappear here

“People are afraid to merge on freeways in [Boston]. This is the first thing [you] hear when you come back to the city. [DJ Ken] picks [you] up from [Logan] and mutters this under [his] breath as [he] drives up the onramp. [He] says, ‘People are afraid to merge on freeways in [Boston].’

Though that sentence shouldn't bother [you], it stays in [your] mind for an uncomfortably long time. Nothing else seems to matter. Not the fact that [you’re twenty-one] and it's [June] and the ride on the plane had been rough and the couple from [Cambridge], who were sitting across from [you] in first class, had gotten pretty drunk. Not the mud that had splattered on the legs of [your] jeans, which felt kind of cold and loose, earlier that day at an airport in New Hampshire.

Not the stain on the arm of the wrinkled, damp shirt [you] wear, a shirt which looked fresh and clean this morning. Not the tear on the neck of [your] gray argyle vest, which seems vaguely more eastern than before, especially next to [DJ Ken’s] clean tight jeans and pale-blue shirt”

And certainly not the all-night dance party this Friday at the pill, the last in a three-week stretch before San Francisco’s Veil Veil Vanish joins us live on the 18th and New York’s Depreciation Guild crashes the stage on the 25th.

Not the new Bret Easton Ellis book “Imperial Bedrooms,” which is released June 15 and serves as a sequel to “Less Than Zero,” the copyright-infringing inspiration for this bulletin. “All of this seems irrelevant next to that one sentence.”

So while people, 25 years later, are still afraid to merge, DJ Ken and Michael V spin the summer time modern indie dance party this Friday night at the pill, inspired by the mindset of Ellis' characters and scattered across a checker-board Great Scott dance floor.

Disappear here. Look sharp. Merge. xo

BK Vegan: Pete Doherty in NYC tonight?

Awesome find by those Brooklyn Vegan peeps, who just posted a flyer advertising a Pete Doherty gig tonight in NYC. Yowza. I wanna goooooooooooo...

Endless Wave in spinning colors

Thanks to all who came out to last night's Endless Wave EP release party at Great Scott. I'm digging the light show for future performances:

Hotline's last Weekend Flyer Roundup

Awwww, it's OVER. Hotline is DEAD. Here's the highlights of the last post on my Boston Herald blog, naturally, a weekend flyer roundup.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed tonight in Cambridge

So much going on this evening -- a night that starts with Mystery Roar, Mean Creek and Bearstronaut doing the Phoenix Best Music Week thing at Revolution Mock Bar -- but a tip of the homecoming cap to my friend and Brookline's own Eli "Paperboy" Reed, who brings his True Loves to the Middle East tonight. Spirit Kid, who straight up killed at the pill a few weeks ago, open the show with Diamond Mines. Look at this flyer!!!

The Pill wins Best Dance Night in the Phoenix

Hey look at that, another Best Club Night trophy for the mantle. This might be the 4th or 5th straight year we've won this -- we've lost count -- but like the Yankees in the late '90s, even those givens against the Braves and Mets still feel pretty sweet. Thanks to all who voted in this Best Music Poll.



Best Club Night: Dance in Boston
The Pill at Great Scott

The view this year hasn't been so pretty for the window-gazing door guy at Allston's Great Scott. First, Marty's Liquors packed it in and left a dull bunch of plywood in its place for a year. (Hail, hail, Kelly's Roast Beef.) Then, crosswalk buddies Uno's Pizzeria (sure, scoff, but their laid-back bar was Allston's snickeringly best-kept secret for years) folded. Hey, at least the McDonald's sign is still flickering. All the same, Friday nights can make all the urban decay go away. Boston's longest-running dance party broke ranks with the dance scene with a simple set of principles: loose Britpop and indie formats that pick up where your car stereo left off, bare-bones light-show theatrics, and no dress code. It's never failed to rule. But you obviously don't need us to tell you that.

Runners-up
2. Foxy at ZuZu
3. Maneuver at Middlesex Lounge
4. Thunderdome at various locations

Best Coast debut album drops July 27

12 songs! 29 minutes! Endless noisy melody and heartbreak! Oh yes, the long-awaited Best Coast debut album will see the light o' day through Mexican Summer Records on July 27. It's called "Crazy For You" and I'm already obsessed with it without even hearing it! OH MY!!!

And -- get this -- it'll be ALL NEW JAMS, not just a collection of previous singles and 7-inches (though Vanyaland obsession "When I'm With You" is rightfully all up in that bitch as a bonus track). Post-grunge surf-pop, bitches!


Here's word from those LA cats at Rock Steady:

The band's much-awaited debut album was recorded at Black Iris, a studio in LA's Echo Park neighborhood, by Lewis Pesacov of the bands Fool's Gold and Foreign Born. The result is a collection of maudlin and magical songs that approach relationships with a pure heart, a cloudy mind and pair of gas station sunglasses.

None of the songs on Crazy for You were previously released on the earlier 7-inches. For the album's sessions Cosentino brought in a collection of demos she had never sent to Bruno. "I wanted the record to be something completely fresh and new," says Cosentino. "I just felt like my first record needed to be really special."

With an exciting press embrace, and an aggressive touring schedule, Best Coast are bound to be a memorable and important act starting in Summer 2010 and imminent adventures onwards.

Track Listing
01. Boyfriend
02. Crazy for you
03. The End
04. Goodbye
05. Summer Mood
06. Our Deal
07. I Want To
08. When The Sun Don't Shine
09. Bratty B
10. Honey
11. Happy
12. Each and Everyday
Bonus Track: "When I'm With You"


Tour Dates
06/18 Pitchfork Music Festival - Chicago, IL
07/23 South Street Seaport - New York, NY
09/09-11 Hopscotch Festival - Raleigh, NC

New Treasure Fingers 'summer mix'

Oh lordy, just in time for my permanent vacation starting Friday at 5pm, along comes a new "Summer Mix" from Brooklyn disco bad ass Treasure Fingers. Should be banging this down I-95 on Sunday. Track listing after the link and art jump...

Download this shit here
Download this shit here
Download this shit here
Download this shit here
Download this shit here

01. Nightriders - a love feeling
02. Malente - i like it (riva starr snatch! mix)
03. Popcop - whenever you're ready
04. Treasure Fingers - close to me feat. vega (unfinished teaser clip)
05. The Phantoms Revenge - machine gun girl
06. Moulinex - lover in me
07. Empire of the sun - walking on a dream (treasure fingers remix)
08. Felix Da Housecoat - ready 2 wear (u-tern's evening wear edit)
09. Don Diablo - disco disco disco (treasure fingers cutup edit)
10. Classics - i'll get you feat. jeppe (treasure fingers remix)
11. Swivel Hips - no future for you
12. Nightriders - the beginning
13. Gramophonedzie - why don't you
14. Oh Snap - plus size model (treasure fingers shake it dub)
15. Toecutter - best party ever (shazam remix / TF edit)
16. Denis Naidanow - je t aime loletta
17. Mansion - gasaida
18. Groove Armada - i won't kneel (treasure fingers epicwave mix)
19. N.A.S.A. - gifted feat. kanye west, lykke li & santigold (treasure fingers epicwave mix)
20. little Boots - earthquake (treasure fingers epicwave mix)
21. Diamond Cut - teardrops (treasure fingers filter disco edit)
22. Treasure Fingers - lift me (teaser clip)

TONIGHT: Endless Wave EP release party

After months of recordings, meetings and sinister plotting, Endless Wave's debut EP "City Walls" gets the release party treatment tonight at Great Scott in Allston Rock City. It's the inaugural release from Fort Point Recordings, and Endless Wave finds itself at the forefront of the Vanya MMC attack.

See you tonight. In the meantime, catch a song preview on Sound Cloud...

Cambridge fun times: Throwed & Pocahaunted

After the Celtics battle the Lakers and Stephen Strasburg makes his ultrahyped debut for the Nationals, Cambridge's Central Square has the party shazz going on right. Twin Berlin opens the "Hot Pink" party at Throwed at the Mid Easy, featuring Hot Pink Delorean and a DJ set by my roommate Vadum Rankin.

And next door Los Angeles experimental-psych-freakout-warpaint-whatever kids Pocahaunted get all intense at T.T. The Bear's Place, a bill also featuring local psych cats Quilt, who I dig just the same.

So with all this awesome in one tidy spot, clearly I'm going to pass out at 9pm reading "Imperial Bedrooms." Just. Watch. Me.

VIDEO: A.R.E. Weapons 'Darker Blue Triolgy'

Oh christ all-freaking-mighty ARE Weapons are back, and they've gone... rockabilly? Sigh. I don't know why I'm even posting this. I want to go home.

Fuck You Pay Me 2010.

A.R.E. WEAPONS - DARKER BLUE TRILOGY - WHAT THE FUCK / SUBWAY / DE-EDUCATOR from Tim Barber on Vimeo.

Lady Gaga's new "Alejandro" video

I still sweat this shit sounds too much like Ace of Base, but hey, there's now a video. Have yet to watch it, so lets gather 'round the Vanyaland campfire and watch it... together.

Videodrome's 1 year anniversary

Has it been a year already? Vintage-pop party powderkeg Videodrome turns 1 years old this weekend, and it seems only yesterday I was drunkenly dancing to Gaga then singing Suede at the Freezepop HQ's weekly, 'til-6am afterparty. This party created awesome friendships and allegiances, and was vital in getting back on my dance floor feet a year ago. Cheers to DJ/VJ Craig MacNeil and host Blythe -- Key Largos for all.

In My Head: the Parallels 'Find The Fire'

Not entirely hip to the Parallels (a word I could never, ever spell, like architecture or curriculum) but I do know they are from Canada, they sound like an electro Kylie and this jam, "Find The Fire," sounds dope in a nightclub. Spun it last night at Grand Theft Auto, and it carried over to Hangover City, making it today's "In My Head." Feel it.

Endless Wave gets Scissorkick'd

After a fun time in the FNX studio last night, Endless Wave got a nice spin on the latest Scissorkick poscast based out of Brooklyn, a sonic turn alongside folks like Jonsi and Broken Social Scene.

Listen to Scissorkick's Scissorkast 8: Split Personalities podcast

Listen to Scissorkick's Scissorkast 8: Split Personalities podcast

Listen to Scissorkick's Scissorkast 8: Split Personalities podcast

Listen to Scissorkick's Scissorkast 8: Split Personalities podcast

Full playlist:
Broken Social Scene — “Meet Me in the Basement” Forgiveness Rock Record
Endless Wave — “Last Phase” City Walls EP
Jonsi — “Boy Lilikoi” Go
The Album Leaf — “Until the Last” A Chorus of Storytellers
Mimicking Birds – “The Loop” Mimicking Birds
Mr. Scruff -- “Pickled Spider”
Flying Lotus — “Dance of the Pseudo Nymph” Cosmogramma
Ratatat — “Bare Feast” LP4
Javelin — “We Ah Wi” No Mas
The Time and Space Machine – “Infinite” Set Phazer to Stun
Caribou — “Kaili” Swim
Delorean – “Stay Close” Subiza
Take — “Neon Beams” Only Mountain
Mux Mool — “Lady Linda” (Digital Bonus) Skulltaste

July 1: Girlfriends 7-inch release show

Yeah yeah advanced warning, but if you start listening to upstart Boston garage rock band Girlfriends right the fuck now, no doubt they'll be your new favorite band by the time this show hits Allston. Watch these kids take off (yes I had them in my 10 Bands to Watch feature in the Boston Herald back in January). More to come as the show draws closer...

Kevin Hoskins leaving Mid East; heads to Texas

Bittersweet Boston music news today, as Middle East talent buyer Kevin Hoskins is leaving the Cambridge nightclub and taking his booking skills down to Emo's in Austin, Texas. Sucks for us that we're losing such a solid all-around dude and music eye, but after spending a few days with Kevin at SXSW in March, I'm certain he's very excited about this new gig and no doubt he'll kick some serious Lone Star ass.

The Middle East is maybe the area's finest rock club, and no doubt Kevin had a huge hand in that. But these sudden Texas connections maybe open a few doors when it comes to SXSW showcases, haha.

His announcement:

Dear Friends,

I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that I will be moving to Texas at the end of June. It’s been a great seven plus years here at The Middle East and the past six years I’ve spent booking The Middle East have been amazing. I’m thankful for everyone I met during this time and appreciative of everyone I’ve worked with and will continue to work with in the future.
I’ve been offered the opportunity to be the in-house booker at Emo’s in Austin, Texas starting at the end of June. I’m excited at furthering my career in a new setting and a new city and at a venue as legendary as Emo’s. Will Evans, the current in-house buyer, is moving to North Carolina and in order to pursue a graduate degree at Duke University. I wish Will the best of luck in the future!

I’m excited to announce that Kieran Fallon will be the new Downstairs Booking Agent for The Middle East. Kieran has been the Box Office Manager at The Middle East for the past eight years and having worked with him during this time, I can think of no better person to take up the reins. Kieran is a great guy and I wish him and The Middle East nothing but the best. Kieran can be reached at Kieran@mideastclub.com

My new email address for Emo’s booking will be Kevin@emosaustin.com.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
-Kevin

The Drums cover the Supremes

Friday night at the pill I spun the Drums' "I Felt Stupid" right into an old Elkland jam, "I Think I Hate Her." It felt right. Way before the Drums set a course to become pop darlings -- watch it happen this summer -- Jon Pierce fronted a NYC synthpop explosion named Elkland (also featuring Drums guitarist Adam Kessler).

They played the pill several times, including our 8th anniversary, and well, few boys have ever stolen my heart's sanity like Mr. Pierce. This was rare air.

So yeah, watching/listening to him sing the Supremes "Where Did Our Love Go" for the UK Sun's Showbiz Bizarre Bizsessions just takes me places few people, boys or girls, could ever dream of. Le sigh. Press stuff from Girlie Action after the video jump.



Following a massive wave of critical acclaim, New York City’s own The Drums are preparing to release their self-titled debut album on Downtown Records.

It will be available June 8th digitally, with the vinyl following on August 10 and the CD will hit stores in September. The US version of the CD will contain bonus tracks not found on the UK release.

After the release of their debut EP Summertime! and a string of tour dates in the UK, The Drums were listed at #1 on both Clash and NME’s Top Tips of the Year and #5 on the BBC’s Sound of 2010 poll. Pitchfork’s readers voted the band as ‘Best Hope for 2010’ in their 2009 Readers’ Poll and the band topped Shazam’s Sound of 2010 list as the most searched band by users in 2009.

You’ve heard the buzz and with the release of the band’s debut album, the songs speak for themselves.

Battles gets all up in the 'Twilight' saga

With each new Twilight movie soundtrack comes the collective groan of the vaunted indie elite bemoaning their fave band's inclusion to the teenage vampire weekend in the theatres. Boo hoo vs Get Paid. Now that we've offered up Muse to the Cullen-ary Gods and written off that big arena ticket, sights have been apparently set on Battles, the New York-based experimental rock band who -- based on this new track -- really don't seem out of place in the "Eclipse." But nooooooooo, not Battles, "Atlas" wuz mai jam!!! Chase paper 2k10. Cool track, though.

TONIGHT: Grand Theft Scooter in Allston

Organized just two weeks ago, tonight is Grand Theft Scooter at O'Brien's Pub in Allston, a fund raiser dance party for Lex McDermott -- a great gal who last month had her scoot-scoot jacked from behind her Brookline apartment. All money from the door goes to Lex, and a shit ton of DJs will chip in and bring the electro ruckus. Party notes after the flyer jump.



GRAND THEFT SCOOTER

MONDAY JUNE 7

Some jackass stole Lex’s beloved scooter.
We’re raising money so she can buy a new one.
7 DJs come together to help Lex get back on the road.
100% of the door goes to Lex’s new bike purchase.

// DJs (as seen on flyer)

Eli Wilkie
Riot Now
Gil-T
Michael V,
Repeat Offenders
Domonique
Chris Crisis

MC Incite

- GRAND THEFT AUTO ON O'BRIENS TELEVISIONS FOR FREE PLAY

- BRING YOUR OWN SCOOTER (BUT, LOCK THAT SHIT UP)

- $3 PBR AND HIGH LIFE

O’Brien’s - 3 Harvard Ave - Allston MA

Monday, June 7th - $10 - 9pm-1am

If you are unable to attend the event and want to donate please visit : http://scooter.chipin.com/

New look for summer

The Mod Bangz were tight, but it's going to be a hot summer and I wanted a crisp new look for my last week at the Herald. I suddenly look far less effeminate...

CALA: Class Actress, Los Angeles

Hey LA, go see my girl Elizabeth Harper and Class Actress tonight at the Echoplex. Send my love. xo.

New adidas Star Wars commercial

Holy shit this is the coolest thing I've ever seen. Daft Punk, Ian Brown & Noel Gallagher, a light-saber wielding Snoop Dogg and Greedo trying to get David Beckham to play for Jabba's team -- all in the Cantina's World Cup viewing party. Holy fuck.

Props to: @emmawelles RT @rubicantekid: Adidas Originals' Star Wars cantina scene. Totally awesome. http://bit.ly/cUAXnc (thanks @ianfitzpatrick) 5 minutes ago via TweetDeck

Phoenix MP3 of the Week: Endless Wave

The always-on-the-money Boston Phoenix has posted Endless Wave's "Ocean Drive" as their MP3 of the Week, a nice bit of promo for Wednesday's EP release party at Great Scott. Cheers to the On The Download team, and hear Endless Wave in the studio Sunday night at 10 p.m. on FNX Radio's New England Product.

Download the "Ocean Drive" mp3 here
Download the "Ocean Drive" mp3 here
Download the "Ocean Drive" mp3 here
Download the "Ocean Drive" mp3 here

VIDEO: Best Coast: 'Sun Was High (So Was I)'

All I want to do is lay on a beach, read "Imperial Bedrooms" and listen to Best Coast.

Tonight: wet hot modern indie dance party

Oh hey look, another wet hot modern indie dance party tonight at the pill, taking on the new Summer of Britpop a decade and a half after the original and sprinkling it in glitter across the Allston Dance City. I love this time of year.

friday june 4:
dance party united
Fifteen years after the Summer of Britpop

As we approach the 15th anniversary of the Summer of Britpop, the pill not only rides high on the modern indie dance party shuffle through springtime in Allston Dance City, but also recalls the period in typical drunken celebratory fashion.

After all, we got our running start just two years and a season later over at the Upstairs Lounge on Causeway Street, the only real attraction in North Station as the winter sports teams were gobbling up lottery picks like we were swallowing ecstasy. A decade and a half later the sentiment remains, and though Britpop is just a fraction of the pill’s extended “Beyond” dance floor play list in the 2k10, it remains the foundation that built the party into what it is today.

This week, we carry the Boston dance night torch into summer, with the second of three all night dance parties before San Francisco’s Veil Veil Vanish darken up the neon strobe on June 18. The summer will be heavy on the dance party tip, letting resident good mixers DJ Ken and Michael V roll the shitshow from the booth, but we also have some excellent live performances lined up, including Brooklyn sky-gazers the Depreciation Guild on June 25, Worcester glow-pop heroes DOM on July 9 and the Postelles on July 30.

But before all that shines bright on our Abott Square corner, dance it up this week at to ace new tunes by Reporter, Penguin Prison, Two Door Cinema Club, the Postelles, Courteeners, Hustle Club, Designer Drugs, Sleigh Bells, The Heavy, Crystal Castles, Wolf Parade, Yacht, the Drums, Best Coast, Marina & the Diamonds, Delphic, Scissor Sisters, the Like and more.

See you Friday at the pill. Look sharp. xo

Hotline: Weekend Flyer Roundup (the end?!?!)

While I'm not re-posting my Cheap Thrills column in today's Herald -- cuz it kinda sucks; can you say "checked out"? -- I will re-post the possibly last Hotline Weekend Flyer Roundup, or at least the best bits of it. Dropped a nice Brett Anderson reference right up there at the top, as well. This day is shaping up!

N.B.S. with the Boston Celtics battlecry

I don't like hip-hop, and I don't like basketball. But you know what I love?

BOSTON

So today before the NBA Finals get started, I'm feeling this jam from Cambridge crew N.B.S., the official Celtics anthem "Who Are We."

Go green. Celtics in 6. Beat LA. (And props to Ball Don't Lie for the look.)

Endless Wave EP takes flight

Last night under a haze of izm smoke and way too much vodka, the Endless Wave "City Walls" EP was mailed out to unsuspecting media, bloggers and tastemakers. The release party is Wednesday at Great Scott. Get there before 11 p.m. to snag a free CD.

Die Antwoord & Sleigh Bells in Boston 7/22

Summer just got a bit more interesting with today's news that Die Anterwoord and Sleigh Bells are playing Royale on July 22. While the NYC glitch-pop cheerleadercide duo might be kinda played out by the time the show hits, the South African MONSTER that is Die Antwoord will be as fresh, hip and crisp as ever.

I can't believe we get to experience this shit live. It's bigger than KISS coming to town in the '70s, and I'm totally gonna throw 100% game at Yo-Landi Visser. Imma be yo' protection, doll.

IMH: Delorean's Cold Cave 'Life Magazine' remix

Today's hot hump day jam comes from Fader, which just premiered the new Delorean sunrise-party remix of Cold Cave's otherwise distant "Life Magazine."

Says da 'Fade: Delorean lifted the vocal and buried and echoed it underneath their seashore synthesizer melodies before the ending jack-attack, air horns and acid house yelps. This will go over great anywhere people like to dance with their hands in the air, your dorm or Ibiza, whatever. Indeed. Pop bottles.

Premiere: Cold Cave, “Life Magazine (Delorean Remix)” MP3