4/2/10

Oh hi!
Gigs just announced:

A Grave With No Name - 24th April @ Nice n Sleazys
A Grave With No Name are dreamy, whoozy pop with a grungy backbone.
"A uniquely 21st century take on lo-fi that compels spectral washes of sound to tussle with fuzzy guitar breaks in a considered game of cat and mouse. 8/10." - NME

"A shoegazing masterpiece to round off a year of lo-fi brilliance." - Dummy
www.myspace.com/agravewithnoname

Xeno and Oaklander - 16th April @ Nice n Sleazys
Liz Wendelbo and Sean McBride make up the minimal electronics duo known as Xeno and Oaklander. Instead of geeking out on software like much of their Brooklyn brethren, the pair record their songs live in their home studio, playing analog synthesizers and drum machines exclusively.

www.myspace.com/xenoandoaklander

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM @ Nice N Sleazys Wednesday 2nd June

After the split of the Olivia Tremor Control, songwriter W. Cullen Hart's first step was to create the Circulatory System. Featuring members of the former Olivias and other notable Elephant 6 luminaries, the Circulatory System's self titled first album is an exploration of the larger and the smaller, the here and the far away, and the now and the forever

"....cellos churn ahead of grating guitars and what sounds like a mellotron, constantly wobbling off kilter picking itself up, dusting itself off and always managing not to devolve into complete chaos (or at least, not for long). Likewise, Hart's lyrics have always been infamous for their tendency to invite the listener into a Gondry-esquepact of make-believe. "We", "us" and "you" must be the most common words in Hart's palette, and they splay in full display with scattered lines like "We still make up this world as we go along" on "Particle Parades". The record's melodic songcraft, inventive yet reflective, tumbles out so effortlessly that it's almost an afterthought. Hart and his co-collaborators fashion a shambling take on psychedelic rock, flaunting experimental production that was undoubtedly intricate yet never burdened by professionalism. Think George Martin or Brian Wilson in tatters." - Pitchfork

www.myspace.com/thecirculatorysystem


HIGH PLACES

They will be playing Nice n Sleazy - Thursday 6th May

Check them out www.myspace.com/hellohighplaces and have a read at what Pitchfork has to say about them

"It's not that Brooklyn's High Places remind me of a lot of things I like already-- minimal, bleary indie pop like Beat Happening or Young Marble Giants; subaqueous psychedelia from Ricardo Villalobos to Martin Denny exotica; girlish nursery-rhyme vocals; New York City; heavy syncopation; pentatonic scales; kissing-- it's that I usually only get to have them all together when I'm dreaming. High Places sing about dreaming. They sing about dreaming and evolution and writing letters-- to Mars, I think!-- and even though they sing about the haze of falling in love on "Head Spins", the closest they come to sex is watching hermaphroditic banana slugs swap sperm while clouds roll overhead......."

Check out this review of Dum Dum Girls new single from Pitchfork

Dum Dum Girls - "Jail La La", Sub Pop

You could talk about the virtues of obscured melodic accessibility in almost any of the bands that have emerged from the lo-fi scene, but good luck finding the immediate pop charms that Dum Dum Girls possess. Sure, they're noisy as shit(gaze), but their early singles have showcased songwriter and sole permanent member Dee Dee's penchant for 1950s pop earworms and spiky post-punk alike.............

"Jail La La", the first single from the Dum Dum Girls' Sub Pop debut, I Will Be, continues the Girls' trajectory towards the "pop" side of the noise-pop spectrum. It's a transition perhaps brought on by the co-producing hand of longtime songwriting and production Svengali Richard Gottehrer (the Angels' 1963 classic "My Boyfriend's Back", Blondie's 1976 self-titled debut). Feedback fanatics will still find plenty to love in the metallic drumbeat and rumbling guitar line that anchor the song, but it's the separation of Dee Dee's quickly delivered and melodically enunciated vocals from the rest of the mix that give "Jail La La" an expansive, three-dimensional sound.

Those new dimensions also reveal Dee Dee's lyrical skill, as she details the protagonist's mental transition throughout the song. She doesn't know how she landed in the pokey, she can't remember many phone numbers off of the top of her head, and she's surrounded by grotesques in her holding cell (the woman "covered in shit/ And high as a kite"). But the time the chorus hits, the observations and rationalization drop out, and she's left with a time-honored girl-group ache for someone to "Tell her baby/ Or else he won't know I need saving." It's a compelling take on someone's thought process when trapped in such a non-negotiable situation-- from complex details to broad pleas-- and it showcases Dee Dee's ability to fuse the more threatening and noisy aspects of new wave and post-punk with the teenage heartache of girl-group pop.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11721-jail-la-la/

By now you have probably heard of the sad passing of Jay Reatard. We promoted one of his first Glasgow shows in 2008 and it was one of the most powerful and interesting gigs we have done. Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this sad time.

If you would like to know more about Jay a good place to start would be his Myspace page www.myspace.com/jayreatard

Jesca Hoop - 13th February @ Nice n Sleazys
Jesca supported Horse Feathers at one of our gigs last year and we were so impressed we invited her back to headline her very own show. Hailing from Southern California, Jesca was mentored by none other than the great Tom Waits. She has toured with the Polyphonic Spree and Elbow, recording a song on her new album, Hunting My Dress, with the latter's front man, Guy Garvey.

Support comes from John Rush, My Old Blue Terraplane and Superbad Comrade.

"Hunting My Dress rejoices in an off-the-cuff dreamlike sensuality, pitching and rolling in all sorts of unexpected directions. Just as importantly, her voice sticks out from the crowd, too, edging into a rich and fruity Celtic brogue." --- Q Magazine

"Her music is like going swimming in a lake at night." --- Tom Waits

http://www.jescahoop.com/

The Pharmacy - 1st May @ Nice n Sleazys
Seattle lo-fi rock band the Pharmacy was initially constructed by guitarist/vocalist Scottie Yoder and drummer/vocalist Brendhan Bowers. Meeting in school, the two began working on music in 2000, recording noisy punk. Joined by classically trained pianist and fellow Vashon kid Stefan Rubicz, they booked their first tour as The Pharmacy in 2003 and have kept the show on the road ever since.

Support comes from Japan Four and Majestic Dandelion.

http://www.myspace.com/pharmacy

Check out the shows page for a full list of upcoming KMR gigs, including Mount Eerie, Times New Viking, Crystal Antlers, Dum Dum Girls and DD/MM/YYYY.

Tickets available from:
www.tickets-scotland.com Tel: 0141 204 5151
www.ticketweb.co.uk Tel: 08444 77 1000