KYOTY's CD Release Party

With all the craziness going on last week such as Paul Baribeau, Spraynard, Snoop Dogg and Obama in town, I didn't get to tell you all about my experiences last friday (3/23). It's a bit lengthy but it gets to the point I promise!

A while back I posted a killer post metal band from New Hampshire called KYOTY (Keep Your Opinions To Yourself). They only had a CD-R of a 14 minute long song called "Nine" at the time and I was patiently waiting to hear back about a possible full-length in the future. News got out about a month or so ago that they had finally finished a whole CD entitled Undiscovered Country Of Old Death And Strange Years In The Frightful Past. I was pretty pumped to hear of such good news until my friend asked me if I wanted to go to Boston with him to see them at their CD release party a few weeks later. Then I was mega pumped. I hadn't seen KYOTY since my first Rosetta show a year and a half ago and to not only see them play once again but to pick up their new release at their release party no less, well, that's the kind of thing I get excited about.

Fast forward to the week of the show and we learn the location is called The Dragon Cat's Den. No location or map is given to this venue in Boston however, presumably do to the respect of the space holders and their clandestinity. We (my friends and I) respected this and waited for further information (patience is a key theme in this story. Just keep reading). This information though, came in the form of an email we had to send to the people of the spot with a RSVP to the show, our name, and which band we were going to see. In return for this we learned the address and pseudo directions to the place called The Dragon Cat's Den. This was obviously an eventful start to our friday night.

And thus, let the mini road trip to Boston begin!

After getting a little lost on our way in and walking a few blocks on foot, we made it to the building with a few minutes to spare... so we thought. The show was scheduled to commence at 8PM like any good show should (unless you are Snoop Dogg maybe) but here's the thing, we got to the location, and there we walked up to a building that looked not only closed but abandoned. I'm used to things looking abandoned when it comes to shows so my friends and I went in anyways. Inside was a hallway leading to a shaft elevator and some flights of stairs of which we and everyone else at the show that night learned was seven flights of stairs. All part of the mystery of course, so we walked up the stairs to the only door that was open in the building. When we walked in - through a few more twists and turns for good measure - we came into a room with a very large but low to the ground stage and some couches. The only people there yet though, was us, the 'owners' and the bassist for KYOTY. Here in Maine, we are used to shows not getting started right away.. poster says 8PM: show might not start until 8:30. Things are different in Boston I guess because we watched as every band (All three of 'em) came in after shlepping their instruments up seven flights of stairs for a good two hours before the first band, Astronomer slowly got ready to set their instruments up on the stage made up of plywood and styrofoam (that's what it looked and felt like when you were on it, at least) and tune up.

So what was a 8PM show started at 10:30 and we didn't even see the band we came to see until about mid-night. So yeah, this was probably the slowest show I had ever been to; I've seen five bands set up, play and leave faster than the three bands that played that night at The Dragon Cat's Den! Was it worth it though? Absolutely it was worth it! In the time that I was there in Boston, I not only saw an amazing emotionally driven KYOTY show but a fire eater/dancer/flesher, The Fire Department Museum, three bands carrying their instruments up seven flights of stairs and even the mayor of Boston himself!

The KYOTY performance in itself may have been the highlight of the trip. One thing I remembered from seeing them a year or so back was that they are a play on the floor and right up next to you kind of band. That being said, they asked everybody to get on the stage and real close to them so they could shred some faces and display their intoxicating riffs to everyone up close and in personal. No smoke and mirrors.

I really enjoy that KYOTY seem to have as much fun as my friends while they play. Some folks in the crowd obviously weren't as excited as their guitarist that night and so they got a little surprise when he came hurling into them full force with his guitar. When bands make super fun and intense music like KYOTY do, I don't think they should have to hold back, and neither should the audience! I know some people that don't agree with that and they are stiffy stiffersons and only care about their image and not themselves. Loosen up punks! But hey, that's my opinion and I'm keeping it to myself.

The show was great, the experience was noteworthy (as you can see) and KYOTY killed it. Not only with their performance but also with the CD that they released that night and what my friends and I had intentionally gone for. A CD and a show to me is like a dinner and a movie at the same place if those places didn't suck! I'm really glad KYOTY has a full CD out now and so are they. Anyone who has ever been interested in instrumental, metal, post rock, riffs, heavy stuff or just straight-up good music in general should definitely check it out!

KYOTY - Undiscovered Country Of Old Death And Strange Years In The Frightful Past (2012)

I wanted to call this post "KYOTY, Boston and Seven Flights of Stairs" but I noticed that someone else had beaten me to the punch with a release party review and I couldn't remember what they called theirs. I also knew I wasn't the only one to notice the lengthy time it took for bands to start playing. I don't blame any of the bands for this, mostly because I could tell Astronomer's guitarist of the first act was also getting very antsy to play , but I don't blame the nice people from The Dragon Cat's Den either. It was apparent that they hadn't put on a lot of shows yet and I really did enjoyed their clean and comfortable space they had up there on the seventh floor of some giant building in Boston.

Also: here's a look at the last track KYOTY played that night. They said they didn't know it too well but that didn't stop them from playing the hell out of it!

Bandcamp
Tokyo Jupiter Records
Official site
Last.fm

Huak - Sleep Debt

Huak - Secret Trees EP (2009)

I feel bad that I haven't mentioned Huak, the noisy post punk a la Fugazi gang from Portland, Maine and how they also played with Paul Baribeau and Spraynard last monday night. So now I'm mentioning it.

This is their EP from 2009 and is the material that I was first introduced to by Huak. Last monday was the first time I had seen Huak since they released Yorba Linda, of which I reviewed last September. It was nice to see them again, especially after the small hiatus they were on while their Jake absence was participating in Occupy Wall Street. It was pretty fun to see Jake trying to stand in the Poland Street basement again. Jake may be the tallest person I know.

It was also nice to hear some older tracks like "Monument" from Sleep Debt in between tracks from their full-length and a new one about a friend who was tasered at Wall Street for no reason. He was in charge of the fun committee. Some of the other tracks played last monday were "Teenage Idealist", "Our Friends" and "Stuffed" for the closer.

My favorite track on Secret Trees would have to be "Sleep Debt". If I remember right, I believe I put it on the first Nostalgia For Tomorrow mixtape I ever made, which is where I got the name for this blog from. Someday when I'm a little more internet savvy, I'll post the whole mix for everyone. Every time I've tried getting it out to the world before, I've just ran into errors or my computer has crashed.

I mean exploded!

Similar sounds/acts: Fugazi, Q and not U, Red Medicine, Grass is Green, The Waldos, Metal Feathers, Pamola, and more-ish.

PS: Both Snoop Dogg and Barack Obama are in Portland today.

A beautiful event to cap off Diversity Week here in Maine.

Bandcamp
Last.fm

Paul Baribeau Part 3

I couldn't resist talking more about Paul Baribeau and the show on Monday. So here's the rest of Paul's work that I have (or know).

Yikes Baribeau (2005)

I meant to ask Paul about "Yikes Baribeau" but the more and more I think about it now, the weirder and ruder it would have been if I just went up to him and started asking him about his work rather then saying how cool it was that he was here and such.

At first I thought Yikes Baribeau was a collaboration of Paul and the San Francisco noise rock band Yikes. While this is a full band and much punkier Paul Baribeau, it doesn't seem to actually have anything to do with "Yikes". Turns out that this is actually pre-Paul Baribeau Paul Baribeau before he stuck with an acoustic guitar and really opening up for all of us.

Yikes Baribeau does feature the precursors to the tracks "I Miss That Band", "Brown Brown Brown", "Strawberry", and "When You Go Back To College". They are the same tracks we have all become familiar with and grown to love but with electricity and a more punk'd up approach. I'm not sure who the other musicians are in the band or the ladies voice on a few of the tracks is. If anyone knows, lemme know too.

Demo Tape (2009)

Demo Tape was just an unreleased Paul tape that washed up on the internets in 2009 and featured mostly tracks that went on to be in Unbearable. The only track not on Unbearable is "Sand Dollar" and the track "Through the Wall" is just "The Wall".

Paul actually played most of these songs on the Demo Tape for the show monday night, which was awesome even if not as many people knew them as much as "Brown Brown Brown" or "Ten Things" . That's nothing new though...

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that once in a while on this demo there is a narrator type male voice that comes in during some of the tracks like "Sand Dollar". Maybe it was just on "Sand Dollar"... I can't remember.

Splits:

Ghost Mice/Paul Baribeau (2005)

I don't have the artwork but I do know the tracks for the Ghost Mice/Paul Baribeau Tour CD-R split. It features Paul Baribeau covering Ghost Mice and Ghost Mice covering Paul Baribeau. For the Ghost Mice side we hear Chris Clavin and the gang's renditions of  "Tablecloth", "Boys Like Me", and "Never Get to Know". On the other side, we hear Paul's renditions of "The Good Life", "Dead Flowers and Dirt", and "Ghost Mice Says" (also 'released' on 25).

The covers are pretty sick, obviously. Even Ghost Mice's cover of "Never Get to Know", a track that can really only be sung by Paul and Paul alone (like he wanted at the show), is still really fun to listen to even if it doesn't capture the emotion that Paul puts behind it.

Maybe I'll re-post this one sometime in the future with a further review for NFT's Got You Covered! Until then though, you can get fully acquainted with it by checking it out above!

Your Heart Breaks/Paul Baribeau Split (2009)

Features "Torrey Pines" by Your Heart Breaks w/Kimya Dawson whose track "Tire Swing" cleverly featured and gave a shot out to Pauly B.

Paul Baribeau's 7" split with Your Heart Breaks comes with some bonus tracks by YHB if you buy it from them. I don't have a linky for the tracks but you can grab the 7incher at YHB's store for a DIY punk price of 5 bucks, here. Paul's side of this split includes a different version of "The Rolling Clouds" (says it's "The Rolling Hills" on that site but I've only heard it as "clouds") from Unbearable.

Last.fm
Official site
Part 1
Part 2

This might be all the Paul Baribeau extra goodies that I can think of at the moment but there is surely more out there. Hopefully this wont' be the last time we see Paul on this blog or in person!

NFT's Got You Covered! The Boss by Paul & Ginger!

Well well well. I've been waiting a long time now to post this badd boy (that's right, two d's!) but it just wasn't the right time, that is, until now. Why is now a good time? Because not only did I finally get the physical copy but I got the copy straight from Paul Baribeau himself. Yep. Spraynard brought a friend with them to their show monday night and it was none other then fucking Paul Baribeau himself/in the flesh/live! The way Paul (we're on first name basis now, obviously) put it was, "yeah, Spraynard were going on tour for their new album and I basically just jumped on board last minute". And for that Paul, we thank you.

So yeah. I went to a Paul Baribeau show last monday night and picked this up. But wait! I forgot to say what this "this" is. Well it's boss whatever "this" is. Boss like The Boss. Who's The Boss? No not that Boss, Tony Danza... The Boss of rock 'n' roll... Bruce Springsteen! The release of 'steen covers is called Darkness On The Edge Of Town (Tour) (also a track covered on the album) and along for the bumpy ride and "bossing it up" with Paul, is Ginger Alford of Good Luck, Traveling and One Reason. The duo came up with the idea after the first time Ginger saw Paul and he was playing a Bruce Springsteen track in Detroit according to the end of the live "Pink Cadillac" cover. During their first meeting in "D-town" they began talking about a "Springsteen only" tour and BOOM! It happened! Darkness On The Edge Of Town is proof of this and features some of the best Bruce. I'm taking Thunder Road/Born to Run/Atlantic City Bruce.

But most importantly, Bruce and only Bruce.

Paul Baribeau & Ginger Alford - Darkness On The Edge Of Town (2006)

I've already given away some of the covers Paul and Ginger picked but I don't actually want to give 'em all away if you are a Springsteen fan and know any other song than "Born To Run". I will say however, that the "Thunder Road" cover can be found on Paul's 25 song shenanigans album which can be listened to here or read about in a previous post on NFT here.

And since I already gave away that Paul and Ginger play solo Bruce Springsteen's crime romance soft-hard jam, "Atlantic City", here's what it sounds like:

To be honost though, I myself don't listen to a lot of Springsteen other then to bug my anti-Springsteen friends. Not to mention that anytime I start hearing Christmas Springsteen, I get this nervous twitch and try to burn the Christmas tree down. Just another Christmas at the New Keith household is all. Paul and Ginger's Darkness On The Town is all the Springsteen I need anyways.

Unfortunately, Paul didn't play any of these Boss covers at the show and there wasn't any appearance by Ginger. He did play Barbarella (Jane Fonda is a hell of a thing) and meowed almost half of The Wall (I think it was).

The most ironic thing about this post is that the real Bruce Springsteen was playing at the Garden in Boston last monday night while I was watching Paul play on a kids nylon string acoustic guitar in a little basement in Portland, Maine. It's also worthy to note that I was just in Boston... also for a show. I'll get to that most interesting story some other time (hopefully this week). I just haven't had the chance with all this Paul Baribeau/Spraynard nonsense. Trust me though, It's interesting... not just, "hey, look at this awesome mixtape I found at this really awful place"*, interesting.

*I wasn't taking about this post.

Last.fm (Paul Baribeau)
Last.fm (Paul Baribeau and Ginger Alford)

I warned you there would be Bruce Springsteen. ;)

Monday XXVIII

More pre-planned than Wrestlemania XXVIII...


Goodtime Boys - Are We Now, Or Have We Ever Been (2011)

Uggh. Not as bad as it looks. Not totally hipster bullshit... just hipster hardcore. I guess.

Goodtime Boy are a British hardcore/punk outfit from Britain. They are currently on tour with Pianos Become The Teeth. That's pretty cool.

Last.fm

Solid Space - Space Museum (1982)

Solid Space was a minimal wave/synth pop, two person act from the future. They would be the hippest thing going today if they decided to time travel to this year in time. Space Museum was their only release here on Earth in 1982, unfortunately...

Listen to the track "Destination Moon" below:

Last.fm

Hivemind - MMXI (2011)

This is the chaotic hardcore Hivemind from New Zealand (not the hardcore Hivemeind from South Florida). They play loud and fast like a good band of their status should. There's even a couple of gnarly spoken samples included inside MMXI, like George Carlin's "The American Dream" speech and another that sounds like Steve Buscemi. Hivemind also has some nice metal tendencies which is really what I've been diggin' and looking for lately.

Though MMXI is a quick one with only four tracks no more than 2 minutes a piece, there is definitely a lot to hear and get behind. Be sure to check out any of their other stuff (Demo 2010), if you like what you hear!

It doesn't matter what color your collar is.

Bandcamp
Last.fm

Spraynard - Funtitled (2011)

I'm pretty fucking pumped to see Spraynard tonight! That's right, to-fucking-night! The venue they were original supposed to play at went on hiatus a few weeks back and I was a little worried that this wouldn't actually happen after all. Luckily, the cool cats on Poland Street will be entertaining the local and travelling punks tonight with their space instead. Mad props to those guys as always. I don't wanna give away who else is playing, however; it will ruin the surprise for my posts later this week!

I like to say that Spraynard is the less serious RVIVR, a band that I was overjoyed to see last year at this time! Spraynard are definitely one of the best edgy pop punk acts out there today and I would even go out on a limb here and call them the funniest. I mean look at that artwork above... Look at their silly song titles... Look at who is in the band for god's sake:

spooky, scary white boys.

Even their name cracks me up. All I can think about is Spraynard Kruger from Tim & Eric's Awesome Show Great Job everytime I tell them to a friend. 

Your son's name is Spray?

Yes, It's short for Spraynard...

Spray-Spraynard is his full name?

"Spraynard Kruger"

He didn't do very good in school this year.

There will be a lot more Spraynard in the future on this blog for sure after tonight. I even hope to pick up their new release, Exton Square while I'm there! Check back in for more!

If You Make It (both Funtitled and Copy and Paste are Free by donation!) (plus their pink couch session)

Bandcamp

Last.fm

The Black Hours Review

The Black Hours is the newest release by trashed-out and blacked-out metal band, Katahdin, slaying from the western parts of thrashed-out and blacked-out New England. And this time, they brought some friends along for the ride!

Katahdin & In Human Form & Aoi - The Black Hours (2011)

Along with Katahdin on this "cohesive onslaught" (I like that a lot) is the choir metal/medieval folk rock act, Aoi from Brooklyn (no less) and Progressive black metal band from Massachusetts, In Human Form.

...

This three way dance comes with a lot of unique looks into the depths of where metal has gone, can go and where the northeast is capable of taking it. The fact that Aoi sandwiched the two other bands was a pretty clever tool as it set up the album for what's to come and let you breath before the unrelenting storm of guitars, screams and double basses comes after you in the case of both Katahdin and In Human Form. Aoi kicks off the album with a church choir of a tune before In Human Form steps up to the shredding metaphorical plate and plays about 18 minutes of raw in your face progressive blackened death metal. The unpolished sound of IHF really takes on a life of its own and is actually quite impressive. A mere 10 minutes into IHF's two songs (tracks 2 and 3) I realized how much these guys remind me of Portland's progressive black metal/death metal band, Waranimal! I'm no booker but those guys could seriously have one hell of a show together! Some kind of beach party from hell theme would definitely be in order! Throw Maine's Folk metal enthusiasts Falls or Rauros in there and the rest of the bands on The Black Hours and we would have ourselves quite the ungodly event!

The album wouldn't be complete though without Katahdin, who like In Human Form, are ushered in by Aoi, starting with a chanted chorus leading into a medieval fairgrounds anthem. Aoi settles down and in comes Katahdin like a metal bat out of metal hell, relentlessly exploiting the meaning of  thrashy black metal for 13 and a half minutes. With walls of sound thicker than blood and machine gun blasting, Katahdin's three tracks (tracks 5-7) are sure to make your head spin. Hopefully even bleed. The album soon after caps off at track 8 ("Todos Los Santos") by Aoi who play one more medieval jig before calling it good.

All three of the northeastern bands on The Black Hours come with a different approach at metal and/or folk and it surely makes for quite a listen. I'm not a big folk metal fan, but that's okay because this really isn't even folk metal... it's medieval folk rock in between black metal and New England folklore. And that my friends, is something I want to listen to.

Official page (for Brooklyn's finest medieval band, Aoi)
Bandcamp (Katahdin)
Facebooks (Katadin, In Human Form, Aoi)
Last.fm (Katahdin)
Last.fm (In Human Form)

NFT's Got You Covered! With Titus Andronicus!

Here it is.

Boy oh boy am I pumped for this one. This baby is fresh! What I've got for this week's covered material is a "mixtape" that is actually straight out of this week! It's Titus Andronicus's LLC Mixtape Vol. 1! Titus Andronicus dropped this archive tape of goodies from the very beginning of their career together as a group up until now just a few days back (monday 3/19 to be exact) and it fits the NFT's Got You Covered! criteria perfectly. Not only a there demos, rarities, and split material; there are also a great deal of covers (hence the criteria part and that it is the cover album of the week)! The covers are mostly from live performances but are definitely the highlights of this 20 plus freebie! Not that there is anything wrong with live performances. Not when it is Titus Andronicus, of course.

Titus Andronicus - Titus Andronicus LLC Mixtape Vol. 1 (2012)

The best finds are the finds you aren't even looking for. This sweet find is proof of that very statement as I wasn't even looking for cover material... I was just minding my own business on the dark and scary parts of the internet (internet forums, dun dun dun!) and happened to not only find a righteous release but fucking Titus Andronicus covering Thin Lizzy! Nearly forgetting it was full of awesomeness like that and by that, I mean amazing covers, I almost dropped this off at the monday post just to gloat over my new indulgence. I even spent all yesterday trying to write it all down but had to keep changing my pants in the process. You know, from all the excitement. 

Well to begin, I guess I could go over my reactions to the things I found (in chronological order). After opening up the link and seeing the Thin Lizzy "The Boys Are Back In Town" cover, which is also very new/recorded only about two or so weeks the Stone Pony in New Jersey, I instantly downloaded the damn thing. I know have a new impulse where, if I see a Thin Lizzy cover, I will either DL it immediately not matter what or immediately post it on this blog (see: The Tallest Man on Earth part 2)! For any of you in a band who may be reading this, if you make/have a Thin Lizzy cover(s), take note: I WILL INSTANTLY DL IT! Moving on... After seeing and doing that, I quickly scrolled down to find another cover. this time it was "Anxiety Block" by Television Personalities. I don't know a lot about Television Personalities but I figured there would be more cool stuff ahead. There was, but this time in the form of The Monitor outtake, "First Inaugural Address, take two", a Abe Lincoln Speech speeched by Okey Canfield Chenworth III, that "somebody" who played Abe Lincoln in Titus Andronicus's Civil War themed second album. Along with the outtake was a demo version of A Perfect Union without Abe, another version of Titus Andronicus Forever, a demo from The Monitor, a violin demo and even a remix of a demo and then once again, we get to another cover. This cover (track 14) comes in the form of "El Scorcho" by Weezer, a song I ironically started to listen to and study a lot lately!  Just one track later, after another funny live "interlude", we get treated with a second Weezer cover! I think we even get to hear in the interlude before the second cover of Weezer that Patrick Stickles calls Weezer the greatest band of all time or maybe I just made that up, who knows? "Undone [The Sweater Song]" is the second Weezer cover and sets up a string of covers right after, including "I Fought The Law" by Booby Fueller (live rehearsal), "Riot Squad" by Cock Sparrer (live), the Hot Pockets TV theme (I guess you could call it a cover... ), and a 11-lineup/10 minute rendition of Velvet Underground's "Herion" (with a very surprising and horrifying ending) before getting to another interlude and then "Waking Up Drunk" by Spider Bags (featuring the lead-singer of Spider Bags himself, Dan McGee on vox to his own song) and last but not least, "Treatment Bound" by The Replacements (home recording); thus ending the tape and leaving me absolutely not speechless. Get it, because I won't shut up about it? 

I'm sorry

Here's an easier to read list of what is being covered, you know, since I made a mess of myself up above:

Track 2. "The Boys Are Back (Thin Lizzy)" (live at the Stone Pony in New Jersey)

Track 7. "Anxiety Block (Television Personalities)" 

Track 14. "El Scorcho (Weezer)" 

Track 16. "Undone [The Sweater Song] (Weezer)" (live at the Vice Halloween Party 2009)

Track 17. "I Fought The Law (Bobby Fueller)" (live rehearsal for OWS Benefit at Shea Stadium 2011)

Track 18. "Riot Squad (Cock Sparrer)" (live)

Track 19. "Hot Pockets Theme (TV)"

Track 20. "Herion (The Velvet Underground)" (11-piece live 2005)

Track 22. "Waking Up Drunk (Spider Bags)" (live w/ Dan McGee of Spider Bags)

Track 23. "Treatment Bound (Replacements)" (home recording)

With all those goodies I've listed above, you can tell this is a definite must have for any Titus Andronicus fan. I'm not even that big of a TA fan and I love it! Maybe it's all the fun and personal interludes that cut the tape up and make you feel as if you are at your favorite band's show and they end playing their favorite songs rather than their own. I can imagine that is what a Radiohead show must be like... Except not fun.

The only thing that I don't like about this Titus Andronicus LLC Mixtape Vol.1, is that it features zero Bruce Springsteen covers! I thought there would be at least one Thunder Road cover but nay. Oh well. There's always Vol. 2, right? 

There is always next week... stayed tuned. ;)

Official site

Last.fm

[Editor's note: official link is dead! :( ] [FIXED!]