Tonight has a bum rush of shows and I’m here to talk about some of them. Here in Baltimore the Zodiac has EAR PWR, Adventure, Dinowalrus, and Bachelor Of The Arts. Should be sweet. Also the hip hop poet himself, Common will be rolling into Sonar with Saleem and the Music Lovers and Wendel Patrick opening. Rams Head Live has one of my (and probably everyone else’s) favorites in Modest Mouse performing. Also don’t forget that Eureka Birds are playing/recording a micro show at 2603 N. Charles St. Space will be limited. Down in DC Hoots and Hellmouth perform at the Rock and Roll Hotel with Good Old War while Nancy plays the Red and the Black with Jay Paslay. The 9:30 Club is the place to be though with Bell X1 and another one of my favorites, Harlem Shakes opening. Finally up in Philadelphia Bishop Allen rock the First Unitarian Church while Langhorne SLim, The Bones Royal, and Red Collar play Johnny Brenda’s. Enjoy!
mp3: EAR PWR – Future Eyes
mp3: Modest Mouse – Here It Comes
mp3: Common – Ressurection
mp3: Eureka Birds – Found
mp3: Nancy – Keep Cooler
mp3: Bell X1 – Bigger Than Me
mp3: Harlem Shakes – Frontiers
mp3: Bishop Allen – Busted Heart
mp3: Langhorne Slim – Spinning Compass
Photo of Eureka Birds by WM Schmidt Jr.
In the US on March 3rd Ireland’s Bell X1 will release the follow up album to the highly praised Flock they released a few years back. The new album is entitled Blue Lights On The Runway and is being released on Yep Rock. I was a fan of most of Flock, but admittedly I was turned off by the slower, sappier songs on it. I was interested to see where the rise in fame would take them, but unfortunately it wasn’t higher. Blue Lights is okay. I feel the same way about as I did towards Flock. Their more uptempo odes to Talking Heads songs are what capture my attention, but the slower ballads (which Blue Lights seemingly has an excess quantity of) make me drift away. So what does that mean? It means those three or four songs will make the car playlist and the rest of the album will fade into the nether regions of my hard drive. They’ll be playing the 9:30 Club in DC on March 12th and World Cafe Live in Philly on March 13th.
mp3: Bell X1 – The Ribs Of A Broken Umbrella
mp3: Bell X1 – The Great Defector
On March 3rd Yep Rock Records will release a follow up to Bell X1’s Flock. The album is entitled Blue Lights On The Runway. I gradually came to enjoy Bell X1 after I didn’t give up and gave Flock some extra listens. Something about them didn’t sit right the first spins through (a bit too much swooning in there or something), but eventually I turned. I’m not quite sold on the first track of the new one as well, but I guess I haven’t really digested this one yet either.
mp3: Bell X1 – How Your Heart Is Wired
What do you think?
Tonight in Baltimore the Ottobar has Soul Cannon and The Egg Babies Orchestra while the Metro Gallery has The Squaaks, Grammar Debate, The Swimmers, and Los Doggies. Also in Harm City is Crooked Looks who play the Bedrock with Grilled Lincolns, Lunic, and Sonic Social. Or if you want the big show in Baltimore you might want to head over to Sonar to see The Pretenders, The Hold Steady, and The All Mighty Senators. Down in DC the Black Cat has Sunset Rubdown and Parenthetical Girls. It’s a big night if you’re up in PHilly. The Fillmore at the TLA has Ice Cube while the Starlight Ballroom has Mogwai and Fuck Buttons. The North Star Bar has Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies, On Mono, The Defog, Soft Targets, and The Private Sea, but the show of the night might just be at the Trocadero with Stars (don’t forget to pick up the tour exclusive Sad Robots EP) and Bell X1. Photo by Luke Olsen
mp3: Sunset Rubdown – For The Pier (And Dead Shimmering)
mp3: Grammar Debate – I Stab Myself To Sleep
mp3: Mogwai – Friend Of The Night
mp3: Stars – Ageless Beauty
mp3: Bell X1 – Flame
mp3: Crooked Looks – VIP
mp3: Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies – Julia
So I’ve been pretty impressed with Stars since…um…I first heard of them way back when Nightsongs came out. Well they’re at it again and about to embark on a new tour with the fabulous Bell X1. For this tour they’ve adopted a new visual and audio them, Sad Robots. Fans attending these select shows will not only get Stars’ magnificent sound, but they’ve packed in some visual excitement too. For those able to attend, be sure to look out for the Sad Robots limited edition EP featuring 5 brand spanking new tracks and a live version of Going, Going, Gone (off of Nightsongs). This EP will only be available at these shows so go grab it if you can. Stars, being the gracious band that they are, will put the live track of Going, Going, Gone up for free download here September 1st for all those fans who can’t quite wait until the show. Check the full line up of dates and the EP track listing after the jump, and here’s something to get you a little pumped for the tour:
mp3: Stars – Going, Going, Gone
mp3: Bell X1 – Reacharound
Continue reading ‘Stars Announce Sad Robots Tour/EP’
Recent Comments