Author: chip midnight

Another one bites the dust: So long New Frontiers …

… I barely knew ya!

This is sad news since I had pegged The New Frontiers to fill in for The Damnwells as that band seems to be on a permanent hiatus (though an Alex Dezen album of some sort is supposedly in the mixing phase right now). Both bands have a rural rock sound without coming across as too alt.country, though I wouldn’t mind if either band indulged a bit in the twang!

This song (“Mirrors”) reminds me a lot of my friends in Bel Auburn (who seem to be missing from the scene as well … please don’t say THEY’VE broken up too).

Another great one (“Walking on Stones”).

And the one that’s going to end up on my “Favorite Tracks of 2008” mix (“Black Lungs”).

Here’s the official word from the band:

It’s never fun to tell people news they don’t want to hear so I’ll get right to it: The New Frontiers are quitting. It’s been a priceless experience, writing music together and sharing it with all of you in our travels across America, but the time has come for us to move on to other things. There are so many people out there that we couldn’t possibly thank you all for the support you’ve given us through the years. Giving us a place to stay on tours, making care packages for us, coming out to shows, buying records, feeding us, the list really does go on and on… We could not have done it for as long as we did without you. We’ll be playing a couple final shows here on the home front in Dallas and we would love to see any and all of you who can make it out. Thanks for taking part in the life of our band. We will miss you all…

Love,

The New Frontiers

If you’ve got it, Faunts it

This isn’t going to be a long diatribe about how there is no longer any M on MTV. I think if you’ve watched the cable channel any time in the last 10 years, you’ve figured that out for yourself. What I do want to say though is that videos still do help sell music and if the labels were smart (which we all know they aren’t), they’d figure out someway to get videos broadcast to consumers. Case in point, I DVR MTV2’s Subterranean every week and this morning was catching up on Thursday night’s episode. I was surprised at how many bands were broadcast in the hourlong show that I had never heard of before. My favorite of the bunch was the video for “M4 (Part II)” by a band called Faunts.

The video is great as is the song. I was really, really hoping these guys were from Scotland (they remind me a bit of Aereogramme) as I seemingly love just about everything that comes out of that country lately but a quick Google search revealed they are from Canada. I’m not sure whether or not the Blogosphere has already championed these guys but they are definitely on my radar now. And, solely because I loved this song, I went out to eMusic and picked up both the EP – M4 – that this song is featured on as well as the band’s debut full length – High Expectations/Low Results – which preceeded the EP. It seems like a perfect time to get into the band – which has been compared to everybody from Radiohead to The Cure to Sigur Ros – as their new album is due out in January 2009 and hopefully that means touring will follow.

How about some free downloads courtesy of Friendly Fire Recordings?

DOWNLOAD: “Instantly Loved”
DOWNLOAD: “Memories of Places We’ve Never Been”
DOWNLOAD: “M4 (Part I)”

It’s Fig Dish Friday

Been on a steady diet of Fig Dish‘s two major label releases this week – seeing Willison’s photos on a friend’s Facebook account made me hungry for some long-lost, gone-but-never-forgotten pop-rock mastery from the little Chicago band that could (or at least tried). I’ll be damned if the songs don’t hold up over time, but that should be expected from a band that is cut from the same cloth as the founding fathers on Mount Rockmore (Westerberg, Mould, Dando, Zander).  Yes, I did just quote myself from a 1995 article I wrote about the band for MOO Magazine.

If you’re not familiar with the band (and their record sales from the mid-to-late ’90s indicate that you’re probably not), maybe read some other sites that discuss the first album – That’s What Love Songs Often Do – and the follow up – When Shove Goes Back to Push (surprise, surprise, Pitchfork didn’t like it). Check out the love Wilfully Obscure gives the band’s first single (“Rollover Please” / “Miss California) which you can download. And if that’s not enough, I’ll refer you to the unreleased third album the band recorded, but never officially released, instead, allowing AtomicNed to offer it up as an exclusive free download. Hell, as long as you’re clicking around and downloading, how about a live reunion show from 2006?

If you’re willing to part with a penny (+ shipping and handling), you can pick up That’s What Love Songs Often Do on Amazon.com where you can also find used copies of When Shove Goes Back to Push used for prices ranging from a buck to 3 bucks.

There’s all kinds of post-Fig Dish projects (Caviar, Ness, The Prairie Cartel) you should check out but I’ll let you explore those on your own.

In the meantime, though few and far between, Fig Dish videos ARE available on YouTube and are presented here, for your viewing pleasure.

“Seeds”

“When Shirts Get Tight”

Free download from Jill Cunniff (ex-Luscious Jackson)

Jill’s giving away a new remix on her website (it’s in the M4a format) FOR FREE and it’s a great, end-of-the-summer, loungy dance track.

DOWNLOAD: “Last Summer (Sparkle Mix)”

If you somehow missed it, Jill released her first solo album, City Beach, in early 2007 and it made my year-end Best of list that year. If you are/were a Luscious Jackson fan and this is news to you, you can find the CD used on Amazon.com for $.01.

Here’s my review of that CD:

Perhaps it was the fact that they were introduced to the world as the female version of The Beastie Boys, but Luscious Jackson never seemed to live up to the hype despite scoring a number of moderately successful hits during their short run. By the time the ladies went their separate ways in 2000, their kinky disco music had worn out it’s welcome. Lead singer Jill Cunniff started a family and worked with the New York disco duo The Cooler Kids all the while writing songs that she’d eventually use for her debut, City Beach.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Cunniff’s own work is cut from the same cloth as the material she contributed to Luscious Jackson, but it’s more subdued and there is even a hint of Brazilian pop spread throughout the songs. While Cunniff’s lyrical prowess may leave a bit to be desired, the general lazy summer afternoon tone of songs like “Lazy Boys” and “NYC Boy” make for a welcome return by this one-time New York City street punk.

And a low-budget video for “Lazy Girls”.