Small Black
[illustration coming soon]
Small Black is a band that some call “chillwave.” But despite the stigma that goes along with that tag, their new record New Chain on Jagjaguwar is a phenomenal record. “Photojournalist” is a song with notes of nostalgia, and so far, it’s one of my favorites of the year. Great band, nice dudes.
They’re playing the Empty Bottle tonight with Class Actress. Here’s five they’ve been playing in the van on this tour.
five tunes
1) Gold Panda - “You” - “The opening sample on You caught my ear immediately. He took such a common word and made it totally memorable.”
2) Arthur Russell – “Janine” - “Love is Overtaking Me is perfect afternoon road music record. Its emotional and sincere. Janine is that girl in high school you could never explain yourself properly to. I heard a cover of it playing in Criminal Records in Atlanta yesterday, but I’m not sure who it was.”
3) Big Country – “In a Big Country” - “‘In A Big Country’ is just such an undeniable hit. Even the guitar solo is classic and effortlessly part of the song. Never really heard anything else by this band, maybe I should check it out?”
4) Waka Flocka Flame – “TTG (Trained To Go)” - “I’m gonna dig any song with dudes named French Montana & YG Hootie on it. Waka is killing the game this year by keeping it hella raw.”
5) Salem – “King Night” - “This is thugged out, dreamy, weird, gothy. What else do you need? Seriously pushes the speakers in the van.”
BUY THEIR RECORDS ON ITUNES OR YOUR FAVORITE RECORD STORE.
Class Actress
[illustration coming soon]
Do you like New Wave? Hey, look—Class Actress! What were we saying? Oh yeah. New Wave is great. Hey, since we’re talking about Class Actress, they’re awesome at that smooth-as-Bryan-Ferry New Wave pop sound. And you should listen to them.
Class Actress is playing the Empty Bottle tonight with Small Black. Here’s their list.
five tunes
1) Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence – Every sound on this song is expansive, mysterious and beautiful, like we imagine Iceland to be even though we have never been there.
2) Kanye West - Monster – “When Kanye raps ‘what are you gonna do now? Whatever / Whatever I want to do’ and he skips up the track really awkwardly on the word ‘whatever’, just in a completely capricious and provocative way, its totally inspiring and just a reminder that limitations are imaginary.”
3) Tears for Fears - “Head over Heels” – “This is a monster jam, an epic jam, always huge and sophisticated, grandiose without being pompous, with a phenomenal flanged out drum fill and hooks hooks hooks galore.”
4) Five Star - “Let me be the one” – “at this point in time, the drum sounds and programming were still in the primitive stages, but these beats sounds amazing and are ahead of the pack.”
5) MGMT - Time to Pretend – “it’s a perfect psychedelic pop song, the lyrics are genuine, hysterical, real, all the keyboard and drum sounds crunch and sizzle, and because we live in the bubble we are just now truly experiencing the cultural phenomena of the past few years. Scott watched his first episode of Mad Men.”
BUY THEIR RECORDS FROM ITUNES OR YOUR FAVORITE RECORD STORE.
Reading Rainbow
Reading Rainbow is a pop band from Philadelphia. They’ve released a few amazing 7”s, and now they’re coming out with a full-length LP on everybody’s favorite label, HoZac. We think you should buy it when it drops on Nov. 23, because these tracks sound amazing:
Reading Rainbow - Always On My Mind by HOZAC RECORDS Reading Rainbow- Wasting Time by HOZAC RECORDS
And guess what? They’re playing a show tonight with Radar Eyes, People’s Temple, and Nones. Know what else? It’s free if you RSVP at rsvp@emptybottle.com with “HoZac” as the subject line. Amazing. Here’s five from the band.
five tunes
1) Glenn Branca - “Lesson No. 1” - “Have you heard this song? Epically beautiful, endlessly repeatable. I’m not saying it’s amazing on drugs but you might want to see for yourself.”
2) Sonic Youth - “Mildred Pierce” - “Recently we’ve been listening to this song on of way to play shows to get us PUMPED UP.”
3) 100 Flowers - “California’s Falling into the Ocean” - “This song keeps building up and changing and just when you think it can’t get any better, it ends with a beautiful harmony that’s the best part of the song.”
4) Black Tambourine - “Dream Baby Dream” (Suicide cover) - “Completely blew our minds the first time we heard it. Rob’s fav BT song and they didn’t even write the damn thing!”
5) New Order - “Age of Consent” - “Classic that is impossible to get sick of. Best use of cheesy violin synth EVER. (seriously, nobody else can pull it off)”
BUY THEIR RECORDS FROM ITUNES OR BANDCAMP OR YOUR FAVORITE RECORD STORE.
Heavy Cream
Heavy Cream is an awesome rock ‘n’ roll band. It’s power chords, head-on percussion, and semi-monotonous vocals. Anybody like the Ramones? Anybody like rock ‘n’ roll? Listen to this band.
They’re playing tonight at the Empty Bottle with her shredness Marnie Stern. Here’s their five
five tunes
1) Cheap Time - “People Talk” - “reallly sick cover. We get this song stuck in our heads all the time.”
2) Nu Shooz - “I Can’t Wait” - “Daniel loves this because it is a great party song and it puts everyone in a good mood.”
3) Happy Birthday - “Girls FM” - “this is Jessica’s pick because it overwhelms her with joy.”
4) Loretta Lynn - “You Ain’t Woman Enough To Take My Man” - “melissa’s pick she loves classic sounding country music. It’s powerful, simple, and incredibly fun. It’s one of her favorites.”
5) Nobunny - “I Am a Girlfriend” - “because it’s fuckin awesome” - Mimi
BUY THEIR RECORDS FROM ITUNES OR YOUR FAVORITE RECORD STORE.
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