Andy and Jayme Ralph of Writer have been fine tuning a batch of songs throughout the majority of this year, live and in the studio. I've had the priviledge of hearing what's been tracked so far, and I can already say this record will be towards the top of my list for 2011. Brotherface will serve as the record's title, referencing their transition back to a two piece. Your first taste of this driving, lo-fi epic is Miss Mermaid, which can be downloaded for free below.
Writer will hit the road tomorrow on a two week tour up the coast. Check the dates below, and pass along this post to any friends who want to catch one of the best bands San Diego has to offer.
11/10 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place
11/11 - Santa Rosa, CA @ Arlene Francis Theater
11/12 - Portland, OR @ North End Gallery
11/13 - Seattle, WA @ The Black Lodge
11/14 - Portland, OR @ Rontoms
11/16 - Fresno, CA @ Veni Vidi Vici
11/17 - Oakland, CA @ WE Artspace
11/18 - San Francisco, CA @ El Rio
11/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ 3269 Casitas Ave.
11/20 - Goleta, CA @ The Hard To Find Showspace
The brothers Ralph will close out 2010 with one last San Diego show at The Casbah w/ The Growlers and Little Deadman on Wednesday, December 29th.
Posted By zack | 11/9/2010 | 2:16 AM | Add a Comment
Bear in Heaven is a psychedelic influenced Brooklyn based band who will be playing tomorrow night at the Casbah. If you are bummed about Best Coast selling out and need your weeknight Casbah fix, I recommend checking these guys out. Joining them is Lower Dens, another band that should be on your radar. Here's Bear In Heaven's music video for "Deafening Love".
Posted By carly | 11/8/2010 | 4:37 PM | Add a Comment
Fresh off a week of recording in Idyllwild, and a week in Iceland mixing their debut record, The Tree Ring will kick off Four Day Weekend this Thursday evening with The Vision of a Dying World. Brad Kester joined Joel, Kelly, Darla, Doug and friends in the mountains to film a short behind the scenes piece. Enjoy that video below, and pick up tickets for Thursday night's performance here, where The Tree Ring will perform every song off their forthcoming record.
Posted By zack | 11/2/2010 | 10:04 AM | Add a Comment
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This Thursday is the first day of Sezio’s Four Day Weekend. To get you geared up, here is a selection of music videos from each day’s headlining band.
11.04 - The Tree Ring w/ The Vision of a Dying World
Individual tickets for the shows can be purchased here, along with a VIP Pass which guarantees access to all four performances, priority seating, your first drink on the house and a limited-edition, letterpressed pass. Each show will have a 200 person capacity, so grab your tickets now! Doors will open at 8pm each night, with the opening act starting promptly at 9pm.
Posted By carly | 11/1/2010 | 6:51 PM | Add a Comment
Our Brooklyn buds in Small Black are heading West with a new LP that drops today via JagJaguwar. We're psyched to be hosting them again, this time at The Casbah on Wednesday, November 3rd alongside Class Actress, Young Prisms, and Lesands. You can grab your tickets here (presale $8, door $10) and check out the first two singles of New Chain below.
Small Black - "Photojournalist"
Small Black - "Search Party"
Grab your copy of New Chain at Insound, iTunes or M Theory today!
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Adam, last summer's intern, recently interviewed Josh from Small Black for his new college radio gig at Emory in Atlanta. Here's an excerpt from his Q & A.
Adam: How did the writing/recording process change on the new record, transitioning from a two piece to a four piece?
Josh: Well, we had more hands/minds to shape the finalized versions of the songs and new skills & tricks to play with. We learned a lot recording the EP as far as how to produce records on our own and I think there was a lot of growth on that front with New Chain.
The new record sounds like an even mix of old and new - what have you guys been listening to lately?
Thanks! Listening to the Emeralds’ record right now. Oneohtrix Point Never, Tanlines, Best Coast, Ducktails.
Did you draw any direct reference or inspiration for New Chain?
A lot of the titles for our songs I'd generate through word games, putting two words together and seeing how they related. New Chain came from that, and I felt like it was evocative and suggested a few different emotions/images. Whether it’s starting anew or being caught within another set of actions, pulling from hip hop stuff like Gucci Mane/Waka Flocka. I love ATL rap jams.
Did you feel any pressure on this new record? I'd imagine recording the EP (before many knew who you were) would feel a bit different than recording a much anticipated debut full length.
It’s definitely a different feeling than doing the EP, because we had no idea if anyone would ever hear it. But there was no pressure, other than for us to be happy with it and live up to our personal standards. Jagjaguwar is a wonderful label and gives us total free reign to make whatever is exciting us. With New Chain, we just wanted to top ourselves sonically and use more of the production tricks we've picked up.
I bet the budget was helpful with that.
Yeah! We were able to mix with Nicolas Vernhes at Rare Book Room, which was a great help at the end of the process. He's worked with bands like Deerhunter, Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors in the past.
Alright, so to wrap this up, any shout outs? New Brooklyn bands we should keep an ear out for?
Lots! Psychobuildings is Juan's darkwave side project with our friend Peter. Prince Rama is super cool. BABIES! It’ s Cassie from Vivian Girls & Kevin from Woods’ new band. Starslinger did a real cool remix of Photojournalist. All his jams are pretty sick.
Posted By zack | 10/26/2010 | 1:17 PM | Add a Comment