Check out the records we got in the office today

Krista Ravengael- Thanks, but No
In the Christmas Groove compilation
Sententia- The Center in the Sand
Pale White Moon- Call of the Wolf Peach
Allison Weiss- Allison Weiss Was Right All Along
Lakehurst is Burning- Lakehurst is Burning
Bill Bachmann- Big World Out There
Destry- It Goes On
Michael Tinholme- Brother, Can You Spare a Dime
Michael Tinholme- The Party’s Over
Michael Tinholme- When Winter Falls on New York
Michael Tinholme- Happy Christmas (War is Over)
Lima Charlie- Easy Kill
Estrella Cristina- This is Life
Brad Heller and the Fustics- Beyond this Life
Hot Day at the Zoo- Zoograss
Distant Lights- Simulacrum
Angelo Spencer- Angelo Spencer et Les Hauts Sommets
Letters- If It Ain’t Breakfast Don’t Fix It
Dave Perkins- Pistol City Holiness
Lemon Sun- Run With the Faithless
Stu, Mac and Clive- Dirty World Supreme
Brett Gleason- The Dissonance
Bray- @mphibian
Richie Lawrence- Melancholy Waltz
Virgin Islands- The Age of Anxiety
Neil Sedaka- The Music of My Life
Tab the Band- Zoo Noises

Live Review: Picture Atlantic // Bottom of the Hill // San Francisco, CA // Nov. 6, 2009

The Bottom of the Hill pulsed with a vibrant energy as Picture Atlantic took the stage, enveloping the crowd in an aura of fantastic merriment. Frontman Nikolaus Bartunek (vocals/keys/guitar) radiated a sort of vivacious attitude with his spastically entertaining dance moves and his contagious smile (not to mention, he had a hell-of-a-voice). All the members in the band were lively and energetic, having as much fun playing their music as the audience had listening to it. Their stage presence was electrifying and spirited, adding to the overall aesthetic of the performance.



The band produced catchy, danceable tunes that drove the crowd wild and clung to your memory. Their slower, more intimate songs drove straight to the heart, pulling you into a state of emotional bliss and putting your mind at ease. Although the band may appear to be producing traditional alternative rock, that is not the case. Their pop-ish, upbeat songs are reminiscent of a British pop-rock sound, but the they manage to take that style and make it completely their own. The set consisted of an even balance of jaunty and contemplative songs, quickening your heartbeat and then soothing you with a soft, delicate ballad.

The crowd continued to respond positively to the band’s zealous performance, feeding into the energy emitted by the musicians and creating an atmosphere of overall delight. Although they were the opening act at a CD release party, Picture Atlantic owned the stage while they were on it, putting on a memorable show and raising the spirits of all who were in attendance. It’s perfect lazy day beach music for anyone who loves a captivating sound and that good lasting feeling you get when you know you’ve just experience something that truly made you smile.

-Stephanie Dotto

Record Review: As Tall As Lions - You Can't Take It With You

Press play. Hear the music swell forward, anxious and wanting, elevating your heartbeat with every stomp and clap. Finger-picked acoustic guitar smoothes the edges of the music as it crests into a wave that thrusts your ears into the many, many thick, calm and serene rewards of You Can’t Take It With You. An album overflowing with moments that feel so very lush, with moments that are here and now and nowhere else.

This is As Tall As Lions.

This latest album from the Long Island quartet, nearly two years in the making, achieves sonic landscapes as arid as desert and dripping wet as jungle – all encompassed within a flow that feels as natural and evolving as the passing sun. There is a sensibility in the writing and production that evokes images of closed eyes and shared smiles in the engineering booth. They worked hard, that much is clear. Did they get what the worked for? Well, it’s difficult to throw full support behind something, but it must be said: yes. You Can’t Take It With You by As Tall As Lions is a positively stellar work of music.

The opener, “Circles” is an immediate departure from the wintered cityscape texture of their previous, self-titled album. The song is kinetic and it is a statement piece. It immediately comes alive with a pulse that feels like a more organic nod to Radiohead’s “15 Step.” The coarse rhythm of the stomps and claps flower into a satisfyingly thick harmony-laden chorus. Pulsating harmonies and a guitar solo that absolutely screams mounts the energy higher and higher, culminating in an abrupt ending. It leaves the ears suspended mid-air to be utterly smacked by the entrance of the next track, “Sixes & Sevens.” This is Rock Music, ladies and gentlemen.

The title track, “You Can’t Take It With You,” with its glistening textures and opening Spanish Phrygian melody, is a desert mirage in the heat of this album’s mid-day sun. The heavy verse precedes a lush chorus drenched in the sweat of an acid trip. By the end, a dramatic color change triggered by the line “give me your consciousness” may very well dilate your pupils. “Duermete” is where the labor becomes that of love. The song is warm and damp, a deeply personal celebration of introspection. It’s a love song for the present, no matter how difficult it may be. Its delicate, piano-driven hits bounce into the thick of four-part harmony to close out the first half of the album.

The split in You Can’t Take It With You is quite apparent from the four-minute ambient interlude that follows “Duermete.” From here on out, it feels like the B-side with its enjoyable, but alas, significantly less memorable tracks (excluding “The Narrows”). While this album was perhaps abrasive on the first listen, it was compelling and on fire from minute one. Since that first listen, it has aged well as its distinctly foreign flavors soon became familiar and ultimately soothing. The music stays warm until the nightfall of the B-side, and even then, remains endearing. As they are not profoundly technical musicians, As Tall As Lions rely on their natural gift to turn what in lesser hands may just be sounds into pure music. In their lyrics, they are hopeful where others are lonesome – even in their darkest of subjects such as existential crisis:

“What a life, what a lie
We’re living here on borrowed time
And life’s what happens in between the planet and the…
You either live it up
Or don’t live it down
So don’t be giving up
Or let it bring you down”

It’s hard to say how far-reaching this album will be. It’s melodically driven pop-rock, but with a very distinct flavor. One can only hope this album spreads to as many heads as possible, since those are sure to become home to expanded minds.

-Will Cady

Check out the records we got in the office today…

The Great Affairs – self-titled
Anna Madorsky – Incantation
Diego’s Umbrella – Double Panther
Patrick Kavaney and the Last Drags - Darning Socks for the Apocalypse
Camp Out – Closer
Bryan Minus – Forage
Faello Nor – Solus Affairs
Tomeka Williams - The Black Hood
Thomas’ Apartment – Tuesday Night Lights
The Alpha Centauri – Lavarocks
Lovewhip – Love Electric
Doug & Telisha Williams – Ghost of the Knoxville Girl
Hey Mama – self-titled
Julianna Barwick – Florine
JahQues – self-titled
Toro y Moi – Causers of This
Field Music - self-titled
Bums Life – Stumblin’ & Mumblin’
Annie Crane – Through the Farmland & the Cities
Jacob Jones – Bound For Glory
Derek Hoke – Goodbye Rock N Roll
Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore – Dear Companion
The Album Leaf – A Chorus of Storytellers
Brown Bird – The Devil Dancing
South China – Washingtons
Honey Clouds – Fall on the Honey Clouds

News: Kill Hannah's van stolen

Emo-goth band Kill Hannah recently had their van and trailer with all of their equipment (totaling $120,000), merch and personal belongings stolen in Philadelphia. Their van was parked at the Holiday Inn, 900 Packer Ave., when the robbery happened.

The band had to cancel the rest of their tour dates. Police recovered the van with an empty trailer a day later. Tragically, the band's equipment was destroyed in a bus fire in Europe last year.

This happened only a week after another band, Mae, had their van stolen from the same location. Sean Agnew of R5 Productions says that at least 10 bands have had their equipment stolen from this location.

Keep your eye out for some of the stolen gear:

Epiphone Elitist Riviera Custom Shop SN#T301722
1992 Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray Bass
Pair of matching vintage 1968 Fender Bassman Heads Custom Shop
Gibson ES-135 White
2003 Gibson Firebird
Marshall Triple Lead Stack

Fans have already starting helping the band out by setting up a donation website: www.killhannah.net/donate.

If you have any information about the missing equipment, e-mail bethany@davisartistmanagement.com.

News: NY Songwriter's Circle announces songwriting contest finalists

The New York Songwriters Circle recently announced 12 finalists for its fourth annual songwriting contest and three finalists for its Young Songwriters Award.

The finalists for the songwriting contest are Barnaby Bright, Kate Branagh, Caleb Hawley, Clara Oman, Janet Onyenucheya, Adrien Reju, Martin Rivas, Bobby Smith, Chloe Temtchine, Justin Tracy, the Sweet Remains and Reed Waddle.

The Young Songwriter Award finalists were chosen by a poll on the social networking and gaming website Fashion Fantasy Game. They are 15-year-old Ali Brustofski of New York, 17-year-old Aubrey Caswell of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and 17-year-old Maddie Georgi from Pittsburgh.

Past winners of NYSC’s contest include Grammy-wining songwriter Gordon Chambers (who wrote “I Apologize” for Anita Vaker) and Siedah Garret (who co-wrote “Man in the Mirror” for Michael Jackson).

The winners will be determined by a panel of judges at live performances on Nov. 18 and 19 at Bitter End in Greenwich Village.

The winner will receive over $25,000 in cash and prizes as well as a performance spot with John Oates, a Gibson acoustic guitar, an opportunity to record with producer Glenn Barrett and a guest spot on Jonathan Clarke’s Q104.3 radio show.

Live Review: Hawks and Predator

Hawks

The 529 // Atlanta, GA // Oct. 26, 2009

Once again, the 529 Bar in the East Atlanta Village hosted a magnificent Monday night concert that showcased some of the city’s finest local talent. The small club has quickly gained a paramount reputation for cheap drinks, great bands and one of the best sound systems in the entire city. Usually Monday night shows are free, but a touring band from the U.K. called Future of the Left caused the door price to rise to $7. Still, by the time Predator took to the stage at a little after 10 p.m., the venue was at capacity.

In the vein of classic punk rock bands from a time forgotten, Predator is easily one of the city’s most entertaining punk acts. The three-piece blistered through their borderline early '80s hardcore songs that also entwine bits and pieces of more modern elements. The guitars were raunchy and distorted, the drums were fast and often in double-time, and the when the vocals synced up it was damn near perfect. Their vintage-punk sound is slightly nostalgic, but also at the same time incredibly progressive. Tearing through some of their songs like “Creep” and “You,” it was plain to see that these men are students of their genre and are well on their way to becoming masters.

Hawks

For anyone in Atlanta that hasn’t seen the spectacle that’s a Hawks show, my god was this a great night to start. Hawks is the sort of band that will unapologetically scare the shit out of your parents, grandparents and other assorted family members. Their songs are noisy, dissonant, aggressive and sexually charged. Their set opened up with their traditional mix of samples and crowd banter, but quickly exploded into their noise-core set. Andrew Wiggins’ guitar riffs scream and yell with the utmost ferocity and gruff. The rhythm pockets created by the drummer and bass player drive the songs while chaos is created around their anchor.

When singer/screamer/yeller Mike Keenan starts doing his thing, well…that’s when the real show begins. One of the best front-men in the city, Keenan charges the crowd, grabs random bystanders and screams into the microphone and their ears, climbs structures and lets girls stick their fingers down his throat. Needless to say, if you have any qualms about being in a situation that could potentially erupt into an awkward situation, or if you can’t hold your own in the pit, then stand back. Otherwise, the show culminates in Keenan stripping down to a banana hammock while the rest of the band builds to a dissonant and dischorded crescendo. Hawks is always an awesome experience and on this night they were in rare form.

-Albert Opraseuth