The Wheel's Still In Spin

New Releases - 13 May 2008

Here are a few of this week’s new releases that The Wheel’s Still In Spin highly recommends:

The Black Angels – Directions To See A Ghost | Amazon CD MP3 | Insound CD
Download “Doves” (mp3) from KEXP
This band takes its name from the Velvet Underground song “The Black Angel’s Death Song.” The music holds true to the sonic qualities of its namesake, from the tom pounding of the drums to the melodic drone of the fuzzy guitars. Vocalist Alex Mass sounds like Jim Morrison on some of the songs. Ultimately, this band summons the sound of ‘60s psychedelic rock.

Dosh – Wolves And Wishes | Amazon CD LP MP3
Download “If You Want To, You Have To” (mp3)
Multi-instrumentalist Martin Dosh is a member of Andrew Bird’s band. For his fourth solo album, Dosh creates an organic sounding electro-folk album. The album is full of guest appearances by Bird, Will Oldham and many more, but Wolves And Wishes is much more hypnotic and groove oriented than the work released by these artists.

Plantlife – Time Traveller | Amazon CD LP MP3 | Insound CD
This album has a distinctive ‘70s soul free to it. But it also mixes hip hop, funk, rock, and R&B. The album has an old school feel to it, but with modern energy and production. The opening track, “Time Traveller,” begins by stating “I was there when it all began/ I made the whole planet rock with Afrika Bam/ I had Melle Mel’s back when he was by the edge/ I used to wear them big suits with the Talking Heads” and goes on to declare being a part of most major moments in music history from telling “ACDC to come Back In Black” to telling “John Lennon he should leave the Beatles” and from being “with James Brown when he said it live” to “When Dre came along with the bag of chronic/ Then we all got high and made the Supersonic/ Yeah, a little different from the gangsta rap/ But I was with him and Snoop when they made all that.”

Pomegranates – Everything Is Alive | Amazon CD MP3 | Insound CD
Download “Whom/Who” (mp3)
Download “Thunder Meadow” (mp3)
This Cincinnati band calls their music “experimental pop.” This album sounds like Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot mixed with Modest Mouse’s The Moon & The Antarctic. Songs like “Whom/Who” and “In The Kitchen” show the Pomegranates’ upbeat, syncopated style, while melodies like the one employed on “Late Night Television” highlight the pop aspects of the band. But the song “Desert Hymn” keeps haunting its way into my head with the simple, clean guitar strumming backing by eerily ghostlike tones. In the liner notes to the album, the band describes how they recorded the album in four days and mixed it down in two. They “didn’t use any pitch correction or metronome, which added a bit to the flavor of the album.” The outcome is a true and honest rock and roll album that sounds fresh and unique on each track.

The Submarines – Honeysuckle Weeks | Amazon CD MP3 | Insound CD
Download “You, Me, & The Bourgeoisie” (mp3)
Married couple Jack Dragonetti and Blake Hazard shared lead roles in this band. The album volleys between a minimalist production and orchestra production. It is full of catchy melodies and diverse instrumentation. The band tours as a three-piece with a drummer added to the duo. I can’t imagine how these songs could be duplicated live as they are on this album since this release sounds much bigger than a three-piece band.

After the jump, see a list of more new releases from this week.

Better Than The Chili: The Hiders

Once a week The Wheel's Still In Spin highlights a band from the Greater Cincinnati area. Whether you prefer Skyline or Gold Star, you will agree that this band is "Better Than The Chili."

Download “Plastic Flowers” (mp3)

The Hiders are a local band with roots from the best bands of Cincinnati’s recent musical history. The band is the led by Bill Alletzhauser, from The Ass Ponys and Ruby Vileos. Michael Horrigan, from The Afghan Whigs and Brendan Benson’s band, plays bass. Local jazz and blues drummer Tony Franklin keeps the beat. Rounding out the band is Beth Harris, who provides the sultry harmonies.

The band’s first self released album, Valentine, was well received with strong praise from World Café. This Friday, May 9th, the band will hold a CD Release Party at the Historic Southgate House for their newest release. Most of Penny Harvest Field was recorded with producer Brad Jones (Matthew Sweet, Josh Rouse, Richard Julian, Hayes Carll, locals Over The Rhine, and many more). Two additional tracks were recorded at Cincinnati’s Ultrasuede Studio with John Curley (also from The Afghan Whigs).

Penny Harvest Field sounds like a perfect amalgam of Americana influences, from Neil Young to Son Volt, from Emmylou Harris to Oakley Hall. The title track is full of lyrics of unlucky symbols and resolves with the lines, “I’m lying like a penny/ Facedown on the ground/ I wish someone would pick me up/ But they all think I’m bad luck.” All of the songs that I’ve heard from this album are addictive and more captivating with each listen.

The Kim Taylor band will be joining The Hiders at their CD Release Party this Friday, May 9th, at the Historic Southgate House.

www.thehiders.com
www.myspace.com/thehiders

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New Releases - 6 May 2008

Here are a few of this week’s new releases that The Wheel’s Still In Spin highly recommends:

Firewater – The Golden Hour | Amazon CD MP3 | Insound CD
Download “Borneo” (mp3)
Download “3-Legged Dow” (mp3)
Tod A of Firewater trekked throughout the Middle East and East Asia for three years. Along with a blog called Postcards From The Other Side Of The World, this Gypsy Punk album chronicled his travels. He also recorded musicians in India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Israel with a single microphone and his laptop. With supporting artists from five different countries, this Firewater album was born.

The Last Shadow Puppets – The Age Of The Understatement | Amazon CD LP MP3 | Insound CD LP MP3
The Last Shadow Puppets is a side project for Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) and Miles Kane (The Rascals) with assistance from James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco) and Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy). The music has a decisively retro 60s and 70s feel, not unlike The Strokes with orchestral backings.

Russian Circles – Station | Amazon CD MP3 | Insound CD MP3
This three-piece instrumental band takes a page from fellow Suicide Squeeze artists, Six Parts Seven, with sprawling and lush melodically driven tunes. But Russian Circles adds much more to their sound. There are metal influences and discordant distortion cleverly thrown in between the melodic, jazzy riffs.

Insound is also offering a "Give More" program for selected touring artists. Every time you buy an MP3 album from Insound, Insound will donate $.25 to a touring band. They choose six lucky bands that they like (and one of them is Russian Cirlces), but you get to select the actual artist to earmark your quarter to. If you don't choose a specific band, they'll distribute the funds equally to all of the bands. All funds are to be used by bands to support their next national tour. Currently, the bands that will benefit from our donations are: The Big Sleep, Russian Circles, The Twilight Sad, Headlights, Epsilons, Videohippos. New bands will be added 2-4 times each year.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.

Better Than The Chili: Junior Revolution

Once a week The Wheel's Still In Spin highlights a band from the Greater Cincinnati area. Whether you prefer Skyline or Gold Star, you will agree that this band is "Better Than The Chili."

Download “City That Never Wakes” (mp3)

After self-releasing their latest album near the end of 2007, Junior Revolution has embarked on a two month tour of the Eastern United States. Winding their way down the East Coast and then back up through the South, the band returns to the area with a few shows.

This Friday, May 2nd, at The Southgate House, Junior Revolution will play the Ballroom with 5 other bands. The Hanks, from Los Angeles, will be playing this and a handful of other Midwestern shows with Junior Revolution. Farmington, MI’s Empire Empire (that Will from Sound As Language recently interviewed) will also be sharing the stage along with the additional local bands All The Day Holiday, The Upset Victory and Oh, Here It Is.

After a few more Midwestern dates, the band will play in the area again on Saturday, May 17th, at the Madison Theater for The Host’s CD Release Party.

Junior Revolution has been through a number of lineup changes in the past five years, but seems to have settled on a solid musical team. Their most recent album, It’s A Process..., shows the current lineup meld multiple genres. With seven songs in about a half hour of music, the band mixed indie, emo, and progressive sounds into elongated pop songs. Throughout their songs, there is a layer of vocals with guitarist Jayson Hazelbaker, guitarist/keyboardist Daniel Erb, and bassist Brian Miller stacking their voiced atop Chris Denholm’s densely creative drumming.

www.juniorrevolution.com
www.myspace.com/juniorrevolution

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