CiTR

Looking out the window at a grey sky and pissing rain, I tried to invoke a few last rays of sunshine as the summer officially grinds to a halt. New tracks by Washed Out, who has been absolutely exploding across blogs, Pearl Harbour (following suit?), and Real Estate have been doing their damndest at squeezing the last dying breath out the summer. I kinda wonder if all this beach-y dream pop stuff that has been popping up like dandelions can keep coasting through until next year. Seems doubtful, though looking at the Mexican Summer release list for the next few months, which includes all 3 of the above mentioned artists, they're obviously hedging their bets that way. If it doesn't work out for 'em, at least '09 will be the year that summer crept into the 4 tracks of every bedroom savant in the land and spread rays of cheer across the blogosphere and into tape decks.

Haven't checked 'em out yet, but this new-ish Vancouver band Indian Wars have been steadily getting some coverage, but outside of our own city, of course. Great stuff, I have to say. Nothing too new, but jangly, fuzzy, reverb laden garage pop with massive hooks will always perk up these ears. Coupla' shows coming up here in Vancouver, including a show on the 18th of September at some venue called The Enchanted Forest. Anyone who knows the whereabouts of this place should drop a comment below.

Though some of his earlier work has left me wanting a little more, the new 2LP Dan Melchior Und Das Menace on S-S is jaw droppingly good. It's also pretty biting, with the most bite left over for a track dedicated to Williamsburg, NYC and the locust-like hipster invasion the NYC suburb has been dealing with lately. Anyways, this monster should satisfy those who loved last year's solid skewed garage-rock album Christmas For Crows.

Played it on the show already, but once I heard Woven Bones has a new 12" coming in via Zoo Music, I had to play the excellent b-side off the already excellent Janie 7" from Needless Records. The Austin Texas native is on a flawless run right now, having released 3 dynamite 7"s on some of the best garage labels going right now (ie. Sweet Rot, Hozac and Needless). The 12", so I've been told, should be ready for the first week of October. You'll hear all about it here when it does drop.

Speaking of having a flawless year, San Francisco's Fresh and Only's drop LP number 2 this week and it's easily as good, if not better, than their Castleface debut LP from earlier this year. The mp3's were sent my way a few weeks back, courtesy of Color Magazine, and though I don't listen to much music off my computer, this album has burned a hole in my hard drive. I'm not entirely sure how the group is able to peel off so many impossibly infectious songs (so far, the group have released 2 cassettes, 2 seven inches, 2 LPs and there is another LP on In The Red due year's end, aaaand another couple 7"s due by year's end as well. Oh, and don't forget about that Tim Cohen solo LP) but here's hoping they can keep running with it.

Vancouver's Defektors are back in the city and they have a new cassettes available, featuring some covers and demos from the forthcoming LP due on Nominal sometime soon. Pretty limited run, so grab while you can...

Thee Expressway has definitely shared the love for Belgium's Sloow Tapes here before, but now I've done it live on the air. Excerpts from the kraut-riddled Von Himmel, space-drone of Chicago's Drmwpn (featuring Steve Krakow of Plastic Crimewave/Galactic Zoo fame), and the ethereal forest-folk-psych of Im Jarhtal all got some airplay this week. Most of these cassettes play through as a whole, so only excerpts could be played. But, hopefully, it was enough to turn some people on to one of the best cassette outfits going.

More local action: Ahna and Solars have just released a split 7", and, man, have these two put a lot of time into this package. Linocut sleeves and labels, spraypainted inner sleeves and an insert! Limited to 300 copies. Essential Vancouver power-drone/psych release. Any Canadian listeners/readers outside of Vancouver will have a ton of chances to catch Ahna as they embark on a lengthy cross-Canadian tour. Check below for those dates.

The fine people at Vancouver's Ketchup Cavern passed along the test pressing for a forthcoming Robedoor 7", which should see the light of day in the next few weeks. Robedoor have been pretty quiet for most of 2009, but this new 7" see's the group stretching out a bit and amping things up. Their doom-drone vibe rooms intact but the group have added a pulse to it and come off with a bit of an Om vibe. Easily the most interesting stuff I've heard from the group (now a trio) in ages. You'll hear more about this one when it's finally ready to launch.

Ketchup Cavern also has a brand new one-sided LP by Hamilton, Ontario's Fossils. Haven't had much time to sink my teeth into this one, but it should be ready for airplay for the next show.

KC also have a new Sissy Spacek 7" due and two, count 'em TWO, full lengths by Aidan Baker. Keep 'em coming. In other Aidan Baker news, Nadja will be playing the Rickshaw Theatre on Saturday, October 3rd. Ahna and Empty Love both support. That one there is being presented by the skyrocketing Twee Death label and promotion group. Also in the works is a Blues Control show at Little Mountain on November 3rd, Wooden Shjips at the Anza club on Sunday, September 27, and Sic Alps with Magik Markers on Friday December 18th. All those bands will be playing Vancouver for the first time! Thanks for livening up this city a touch, Twee Death.

Finally, ending the show in a typically noisy fashion, we have the brand new LP by Vancouver's The RITA, just recently released on RRR. I played the skate side, and rather than go into any details, I'll let the youtube video below do the 'splainin...





Limited run on this one that, like all other RITA releases, this one will not last long. Drop by the shop to snatch one up


Washed Out "Feel It All Around" High Times CS (Mirror Universe) 2009
Pearl Harbour "Sun Burn" Something About The Chapparrals 12" (Mexican Summer) 2009
Real Estate "Beach Comber" unreleased 2009
Indian Wars "If You Want Me" unreleased 2009
Dan Melchior Und Das Menace "O! Anxiety" Thank You Very Much 2LP (S-S) 2009
Meth Teeth "My Heart's Heart" Sleepy Sisters Honeymoon Tour CDR (self released) 2009
Woven Bones "Let It Breathe" Janie 7" (Needless Records)
Fresh And Onlys "DY" Grey Eyed Girls LP (Woodsist) 2009
Defektors "Shadow Of Fear" s/t CS (self released) 2009
Om "Thebes (Edit)" God Is Good LP (Drag City) 2009
Von Himmel "Moon Moss" Space Communion CS (Sloow) 2009
Drmwpn "Side A Excerpt (Live In Chicago, 29 July, 2008)" Smoker CS (Sloow) 2009
Im Jarhtal "Reprise 1" Reprisen Und Instrumentalstuecke CS (Sloow) 2009
Im Jarhtal "Thema Mit Rosenstrauch" Reprisen Und Instrumentalstuecke CS (Sloow) 2009
Ahna "Cognitive Dissonance" split w/ Solars 7" (Soldier Pumps) 2009
Robedoor "Pagan Drugs" Pagan Drugs 7" (Ketchup Cavern) 2009
The Rita "Skate" Skate/Snorkel LP (RRR) 2009