Podcast Episode 21 - news news news

Tiny record chat, this week, Neutral Milk Hotel show blues, Warm soda pentacolor!, new mammoth cave, Simply Saucer - Bullet Proof Nothing 7", PIAPTK offshoot label first release - Eric Slick's "Out of Habit" from Solid Gold, New Real Estate single on Domino, new Death single on drag city, Hussy/digital leather split, SISYPHUS! (aka Serengeti, Son Lux, & Sufjan Stevens) & Hew Time on Joyful Noise

Shockwave Riderz are coming from Darren's VELOCITY OF SOUND


Get the episode HERE

Smugglers Way - record store day zine/flexi discs from Domino

Truth be told, I didn't get a whole lot record store day, I knew it was going to be completely insane in Greenpoint.... then after reading Chad's piece on Creative Loafing about some of the frankly...lame releases and co-opting by huge labels, I'm starting to think it's just not for me anymore....I support small record stores all year round. I'm glad it's become something with cool unique releases, but then again a MICHAEL BUBLE/RAY CHARLES single! Now you've gone too far...or another picture disc version of the Clash or Rolling Stones?!! You just want those people who will buy anything to line up.

So 1,2,3,4 Go records posted their stock online and I actually picked some things up without fighting anyone, the Jeff the brotherhood United record and The Cure live... Entreat, what can I say I don't have any of this era Cure on vinyl and I didn't want to pay for just shipping on the Jeff record.
Not much to even report sadly, and then I got an email about this book thingy from Domino which I have to say looks pretty amazing, 5 single sided flexi discs and a book with short stories/photos by the musicians and Bjorn Copeland of Black Dice designed the whole cover.

I've been big time into that Real Estate album, sometimes you're just in the mood for a relaxed summer ride with no big freakouts...it's a bit of a zone out album, simple, but where they go with next to nothing is just perfect...I'd get this just for that track. $20.

Smugglers Way is Domino and Ribbon's first ever limited edition zine made exclusively for Record Store Day (April 21st) featuring FIVE individual, multi-colored flexi discs of unreleased songs from Dirty Projectors, Real Estate, Cass McCombs, John Maus, and Villagers. The zine comprises 24 pages of original art and prose from Domino and Ribbon artists.


Highlights include a short story penned by James Yorkston; a long form poem by Laura Marling; short form pieces by Alex Bleeker (Real Estate), Ade Blackburn (Clinic), and Tom Fleming (Wild Beasts); illustrations from Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Andrea Estella (Twin Sister), Conor O'Brien (Villagers) and Jon Hopkins; photography from Jana Hunter (Lower Dens), and an original arranged score of music by Owen Pallett.


Bjorn Copeland of Black Dice designed the cover and Rob Carmichael at SEEN is responsible for the art direction and layout.


Supplies are limited on this one!

Real Estate at Music Hall of Williamsburg 6-5-09

I ended up seeing Real Estate opening for Love is All Friday at Music Hall of Williamsburg. I was there to cover Love is All, but I wanted to see Real Estate rock a huge venue like MH. The kick drum was turned up insanely loud...I've been to this venue before and haven't heard this insane pounding bass before....I had to literally hold on to my beer or it was going to shake off the railing. Even on the balcony it was deafening...but it made sense with their wall of sound.

I loved both of their singles, and was a little confused where they were coming from...I couldn't quite place it into anything else I was into. It's really polished, a little bit country...shoegazey....latching onto huge grooves, but not devolving into a masturbatory jam....ever. They are concise, packed with changing melody.
Real Estate is the perfect moniker...songs about suburbia, that complacency of modern life. The mundane realities...or obligations to get caught up in...the distance... the alienation of a cul de sac.
Great loungey basslines...for a minute I was back in high school at my first show The Ocean Blue at a local college...something about the vocal quality...and when they hit certain chord progressions, but then again their music is just a vision...a dream of the good old days. The uncomplicated high school vacations...the crushing boredom. They are that summer haze...the drunken day at Coney Island, nothing can go wrong, and if it does, oh well, you're just kind of lying there watching everything happen anyway. Wrapped in a wall of reverb, they play with huge peaks and valleys. The rhythm of the waves back and forth...slowing down for a washed out vocal by Matt Mondanile.
Both of these projects are really great, to hear what's going on when that Ducktails sound when expanded into a 4 piece. it's completely it's own with a lyrical element, but keeps it's tropical fog. It's inexplicably catchy, it's hard to think of this outside the context of the indie single...it has palace-like potential in it's own beautiful logic.

You'll hear the major compression I had to try to put on the low end to keep it under control but it was peaking constantly, still it's so worth hearing. Click here to hear it. (18mb-20min)

Real Estate -Fake Blues- on Woodsist

Real Estate has a new single from Woodsist, just out maybe today...I was just there looking at the Kurt Vile full length a few days ago and this wasn't listed yet. So I paypaled for both this afternoon, along with a new Thee Oh Sees they have as well.
Looks like a full length from Real Estate is scheduled from them later this year.
I'm really into this sleepy rock sound, not as tropical, dense sample heavy as Ducktails, Matt Mondanile being a member of both of course. This is a more live sound, heavy on reverb, two-step drums. Nothing like I expected actually. It's a produced and really clean full band sound...hypnotic and repeating, a little like Bedhead....or Fuck.
I love the Suburban Beverage track on their other single, which is still available. It goes on forever in this groove. They are creating a really catchy, almost jazz induced feel in every song. This live show from Breakthru radio is a great example, recorded at Piano's is full of great stuff. It's so familiar, every sound, but they manage to keep it really engaging.

I don't know why but it's reminding me of my first show ever... The Ocean Blue and The Mighty Lemon drops at oswego college. It's dreamy...and solid. I could stand there forever. Looking forward to catching them this Thursday at Public Asembly.

Fake Blues, the A-Side starts out with their signature reverb picking, a coupe of great little melodies layered and the drums come in with an all tom beat. They do this thing where the bass notes are hit at the same time as the cymbal crashes...it's all muted, but that little part is so perfect. The vocals are mixed down...angelic. It's really settling the scene for summer...I could see this as slow-mo music. The camera sweeps underwater as someone jumps in. Laughing. There's water everywhere.

From fusetron:
*Artist: REAL ESTATE
Title: Fake Blues
Format: 7"
Label: Woodsist
Country: USA
Price: $5.00

or of course Woodsist.

Real estate on underwater peoples records

If you've heard Ducktails, Matt Mondanile's solo project then you'll want to jump on this.
That Ducktails single has really grown on me, I can't exactly explain to someone why I like it, it won't blow you away the first time you hear it, but it works it's way in there and I keep putting it on. It's something I'll keep close to the record player and play while I'm figuring out what to play.
Real Estate is Matthew Mondanile III, Martin Courtney IV, Etienne Pierre Duguay & Bleeker.
One track from this single, Suburban Beverage is on their myspace. From this brief listen I think in the way that Ducktails uses a lot of etherial samples and loops, this is the same tropical vibe, but played live, drums, guitar etc. In a nicely room sounding jam, but isn't meandering. It never becomes tedius, which is usually my complaint...I know where it's going.

This is a pretty epic track building up with a kind of slow vibe I'm hoping fake blues is the b-side that track is killer, the tom drum rhythm with echoed high treble guitar melodies, It has a great room sound, like will oldham in Viva last blues, full of space between drum hits, the vocals match the shimmer of the electric guitar, it's very intellectual beach boys, what I always wanted from them lyrically, some smarts.
There's a haze covering everything, a little whatever-gaze...but combined with country slide ....

I sound like I'm describing something alt-country, but I'm just not getting that feeling here, it's more like Rex or Bedhead. Not the extreme of slowcore, but melancholic and deliberate.
I'm loving everything I'm hearing...every one of these tracks keeps me interested.

They are playing the Cakeshop this weekend, and I'm going to see this live...

From Underwater People's records:
Hey Everybody,
So, assuming all goes to plan, the official release date for the Real Estate 7" is February 1, 2009. The 7" costs $7.00 plus shipping, is pressed on wholesome white vinyl, and will include a free CD insert with all the songs. Pre-orders can be made by emailing us at underwaterpeoples@gmail.com, please put the subject of the email as PRE-ORDER and we will get back to you ASAP to confirm.