MP3: Imaad Wasif - “Priestess”

In another life, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Imaad Wasif might have been a poet or a priest. He draws inspiration from beyond the veil, seeking connections and cosmic patters in the hopes of expressing the simplest but most profound message to his listeners: We are not alone. The urgency of that communication, and his need to convey it, give both his delicate guitar ballads and his fervent rock songs a ferocity and focus that resonates with every note.

Wasif goes far beyond the here and now in his music, but he is very much of this time. He is a rock musician who came of age in the Coachella Valley of the 1990s. Early on he played live and in the studio with Lou Barlow’s Folk Implosion. In 2006, Kill Rock Stars released Wasif’s self-titled solo debut, an acoustic psych gem. Around the same time, he was enlisted as a touring guitarist and opening act for Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Sophomore album Strange Hexes revealed Wasif’s varied influences. The album was recorded with his band Two Part Beast (Bobb Bruno and Adam Garcia) and self-released in March 2008. That album was the first to hint at the distinctive sound Wasif has ultimately crafted for himself; a blast of post-modern psychedelic rock that is at once potent and refined. The album will be re-released by Tee Pee Records in 2010.

Having gained a reputation for his intense live shows while opening for RTX, The Raconteurs, Neko Case, Arthur Lee’s Love and Sebadoh, Wasif has plans for an extensive tour in the fall of 2009. He can also be found playing guitar on “Little Shadow” from the YYY’s latest album, It’s Blitz! and Lou Barlow’s forthcoming solo album, Goodnight Unknown. His collaboration with Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bradford Cox of Deerhunter, and “Little” Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs and Dead Weather on the score for the Spike Jonze-directed film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are hits theaters in October.

The theme of love in its many guises, both as redemption and call to arms, is one that Wasif returns to again and again in his songs. Its mythical quality becomes a springboard from which he explores the mysteries of life and the universe on his third album, The Voidist. Recorded with Two Part Beast, plus guests Dale Crover (Melvins) and Greg Burns (Red Sparowes), by Chad Bamford (Weezer) with additional recordings by Mathias Schneeberger (The Obsessed, Gutter Twins), the release is due from Tee Pee Records in October 2009.

IMAAD WASIF

10/02 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle $
10/03 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues $
10/04 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk
10/05 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues $
10/23 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool (CMJ)
10/23 - New York, NY - Piano’s (CMJ)
11/07 - San Francisco, CA - Fog Rising Festival / Broadway Studios *

$ = w/ The Dead Weather
* = w/ Witch, Ancestors, and more!

Imaad Wasif
The Voidist
(Tee Pee)
Street Date: Oct. 13, 2009

1. Redeemer
2. Priestess
3. Fangs
4. Widow Wing
5. Our Skulls
6. Return to You
7. The Hand of the Imposter
8. Daughter of Fire
9. Her Sorcery
10. Another
11. Razorlike

IMAAD WASIF LINKS:

Myspace: www.myspace.com/imaadw

Label Page: www.teepeerecords.com

ID all the cartoon characters in the tour poster and win a glorious prize package, including a portrait of yourself painted by Dan Deacon!

Hi-Res Versions Of All The Images Found Here!

Dan Deacon is heading back out on tour next week with his pals Nuclear Power Pants - they’re traveling once again in his veggie oil bus (they’ll need veggie oil this time too, same offer stands from the last tour if you’re able to help provide them with veggie oil along the way). Complete, final and updated tour dates are listed below. To celebrate this tour, Post Typography designed an amazing new poster - your job is to ID all of the 243 cartoon characters portrayed within the poster - be the first one to get ‘em all right and an amazing prize package awaits you!!!!!

THE PRIZE:

1. $500 cash
2. A Portrait of you painted by Dan Deacon
3. One of the last copies of Wham City Box set #1
4. A Copy of each of Dan Deacon’s first 8 impossible-to-find releases (silly hat vs egale hat, meetle
mice, goose on the loose, a green cobra is awesome vs the sun, porky
pig, twacky cats, live 2003, acorn master)

Send your submissions to: postercontest@whamcity.com

About Dan Deacon’s Bromst:

The art made by Baltimore artist Dan Deacon is about community and how to organize and inspire it. From founding a now well-known art collective (Wham City), to organizing and running an annually sold-out DIY music festival (Whartscape), to conceiving, planning and curating a massive 60 person/30 band tour (Baltimore Round Robin Tour), it’s clear to see that community and bringing people together is the major theme of his work. Bromst is the embodiment of that way of thinking.

For the last three years Dan Deacon has been working on Bromst. Fusing together the growing intensity of his live performances with his background in electro-acoustic composition, the outcome is a collection of pieces that are intense and epic and at the same time down to earth and welcoming. Bromst embodies the same energy and excitement as Spiderman of the Rings, however the craftsmanship and composition on Bromst have a wider scope and richer palette.

Unlike the completely electronic Spiderman of the Rings, the instrumentation on Bromst is a mixture of acoustic instruments, mechanical instruments, samples and electronics. The player piano, marimba, glockenspiel, vibraphone, live drums, winds and brass give Bromst a much richer tone than his previous work. The intricate and complex parts, skillfully executed by the performers, are woven together into a rich, dense, noisy dance pop that has become Dan Deacon’s signature sound.

DAN DEACON

10-01 Chapel Hill, NC - Cat’s Cradle *
10-02 Atlanta, GA - Eyedrum *
10-03 Athens, GA - 40 Watt *
10-04 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree *
10-05 Nashville, TN - The End *
10-06 Memphis, TN - Hi Tone Café *
10-07 New Orleans, LA - Big Top *
10-09 Austin, TX - Emo’s Alternative Lounge Outside *
10-10 Marfa, TX - The Shade Structure*
10-14 Irvine, CA - Pacific Ballrom (UC Irvine) *
10-15 Los Angeles, CA - Echo *
10-16 Los Angeles, CA - Eagle Rock Center for the Arts *
10-17 San Francisco, CA - Treasure Island Festival
10-19 Sacramento, CA - Fungarden *
10-21 Eugene, OR - Agate Hall (University of Oregon) *
10-22 Portland, OR - Worksound *
10-23 Portland, OR - Holocene *
10-24 Seattle, WA - Vera Project *
10-27 Denver, CO - Rhinoceropolis *
10-29 Northfield, MN The Cave (Carleton College) *
10-30 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium *
11-01 Gambier, OH - The Horn Gallery *
11-03 Toronto, Ontario - Sneaky Dees *
11-04 Toronto, Ontario - Great Hall *
11-05 Montreal, Quebec - Il Motore *
11-06 Montreal, Quebec - Eastern Bloc *
11-07 Middlebury, VT - Middlebury College *
11-08 Boston, MA - Pozen Center (Mass. College of Art) *
11-09 Pawtucket, RI - Machines *
11-10 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street Nightclub *
11-13 Troy, NY - Experimental Media & Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute *
11-14 Worcester, MA - The Grind (Clark University) *
11-15 Ithaca, NY - Emerson Suites (Ithaca College) *

* with Nuclear Power Pants

Dan Deacon
Bromst
(Carpark)
Street Date: March 24, 2009

1. Build Voice
2. Red F
3. Paddling Ghost
4. Snookered
5. Of The Mountains
6. Surprise Stefani
7. Wet Wings
8. Woof Woof
9. Slow With Horns / Run For Your Life
10. Baltihorse
11. Get Older

DAN DEACON LINKS:

MySpace - www.myspace.com/dandeacon

Twitter - twitter.com/ebaynetflix

Press Materials - www.carparkrecords.com/bromstpresspage

NUCLEAR POWER PANTS LINKS:

Press Materials - whamcity.com/records/wickedpress

MySpace - www.myspace.com/nuclearpowerpants

STORY AT PASTE ONLINE

MP3: Holopaw - “The Art Teacher And The Little Stallion”

I don’t believe that many people actually sing these days. Generally “singing” usually sounds like some sort of talking or yelling in tune. Bjork sings, Chan Marshall of Cat Power sings, that Thom Yorke fellow from Radiohead sings, and yes, you saw it coming. John Orth from Holopaw also sings. That’s what really grabbed me: the singing and the lyrics. With a quivering, liquid voice and lyrics that make you feel like you’re standing there and smelling the air of all four seasons; the sky is the perfect color that it only becomes for a few minutes, every once in a while. You’re heartbroken, you’re in love, the world’s not complicated.

-Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse, Ugly Casanova)

‘Oh‘ is an invective, the poet’s alchemy. Most commonly used to express either an emotion (as surprise or desire) in response to physical stimuli, or to acknowledge understanding of a statement or situation. In lesser songs it’s a trite shorthand. With Holopaw the word becomes benediction, praise and gateway.”

-Travis Fristoe (Obscurist Press)

“The Art Teacher and the Little Stallion” is the first track on Oh, Glory. Oh, Wilderness. the third offering from Holopaw. The song introduces the character the Little Stallion who inhabits most of the songs to come. “Toy piano tinklings punctuate his every step” as we follow his coming of age. His journey is marked by lost sailors, boys on motorbikes, lazy matadors, hobbyists and foxes lurking in fake gas lamp light. The Little Stallion welcomes these characters, seduces them with “polished pearls” or is, in turn, seduced by their “horseplay, towel whips and bathing suits rolled down off sunless hips”. He falls in love with them and, more often than not, betrays them causing him to lament, “So many sailors lost to this drunken sea, so many sailors lost to me.” There is sweetness and grit, longing and potential violence.
Holopaw musically plays with similar tensions: lulling strings are undercut by anxious guitars, lilting “la’s” turn sinister and demanding. In “Little Stallion with a Glass Jaw” horn blasts announce a charge that is quickly clipped to a hush. The bounce of “P-a-l-o-m-i-n-e” stumbles towards chaos at the bridge only to be righted by a whimsical Bay City Rollers-esque chant. The last song on the record, “The Hobbyist and the Conductor (Avalanche)” begins with bright, carillon chimes that stand in stark contrast to the thunderous din that ends the song like a slack jawed finale to a fireworks display. Triumphant “la’s” punch through the smoke and ash to have the final say.
The band articulating these musical tensions is Holopaw’s strongest yet. The core songwriting team of John Orth and Jeff Hays has remained constant. The lineup has contracted and expanded in the swampy heat of Gainesville, Florida to now include Patrick Quinney, Matt Radick, Jeff McMullen, Christa Molinaro and Jody Bilinski. Throughout the record Pink Razor’s Erin Tobey lends sublime backing vocals and harmonies to buoy these otherwise troubled tales.
The album was recorded over a year and several trips to New York by Jeremy Scott (Woods, Vivian Girls, These Are Powers) at The Civil Defense studios in Brooklyn, USA. Holopaw is joined by members of Taigaa!, the Good Good, and Mahogany who add violin, clarinet, and trombone. Their additions further embellish arrangements that include trumpet, pedal steel, organ, accordion, piano, cello, clavinet, pianet and rhodes. After two records on the Sub Pop label (Holopaw, s/t and Quit +/or Fight), the band considered both self-release and working with Glacial Pace Recordings (owned and operated by John’s friend and collaborator on the Ugly Casanova record, Isaac Brock) before deciding to join the Bakery Outlet family.
The last line of Oh, Glory. Oh, Wilderness. calls out, “The trains that you sent screaming into tunnels (boot black) will spill into the light. La, La, La, La, La!” Oh, Glory. Indeed.

HOLOPAW

10/21 New York, NY Pianos (CMJ)

Full East Coast Tour TBA

Holopaw
Oh, Glory. Oh, Wilderness.
(Bakery Outlet)
Street Date: Nov. 3, 2009

1. The Art Teacher and the Little Stallion
2. The Lazy Matador
3. P-A-L-O-M-I-N-E
4. Little Stallion With a Glass Jaw
5. The Last Transmission (Honeybee)
6. Oh, Glory
7. Boys on Motorbikes
8. The Cherry Glow
9. Black Lacquered Shame
10. The Conductor and The Hobbyist (Avalanche)

HOLOPAW LINKS:

MySpace: www.myspace.com/holopaw

Band site: holopawmusic.com

Label Page: bakeryoutletrecords.com

MP3: Real Estate - “Beach Comber”

“Real Estate waft in on vibes of hazy summers past. The New Jersey quartet of Martin Courtney IV, Matthew Mondanile III, Etienne Pierre Duguay and Alex Bleeker cut the sleeves short and the pop smooth to shade you from the midday heat. Every song works its way to that part of your consciousness that reveled in the fleeting waves of freedom that eked in once classes broke and the sun lingered a little longer over suburban roofs. And with three quarters of the band holding down Garden State roots its no surprise that a bit of Jersey indie-pop heritage sneaks its way into their sound, lifting the most sun streaked moments from The Feelies and Yo La Tengo and filtering them through the kaleidoscope of memories aimless drives through parched neighborhood streets.

Martin Courtney’s songwriting has a way of wrapping up the immediacy of youth with the ennui of age for the perfect shade of bittersweet bliss, mind you though, much heavier on the sweet than the bitter. Add to this Mondanile’s (Ducktails / Predator Vision) shimmering guitar strains full of equal parts sea foam and beer foam, pepper in the boardwalk clatter of Duguay’s drums Bleeker’s staccato low end and the perfect afternoon is just a lawn chair and boom box away.”-Andy French / Raven Sings The Blues

REAL ESTATE

10-14 Brooklyn, NY - Monster Island Basement ^
10-15 Charlottesville, VA - The Southern @
10-16 Charlotte, NC - The Milestone
10-17 Atlanta, GA - 529 *
10-18 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 *
10-19 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel * #
10-20 Philadelphia, PA - The Barbary * #
10-21 New York, NY - Pianos (Force Field PR CMJ Day Party)
10-21 New York, NY - Santos Party House (Oh My Rockness CMJ party)
10-22 Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands *
10-23 New York, NY - The Delancey (Underwater Peoples Showcase)
10-24 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg (Mexican Summer Showcase)
10-25 New York, NY - The Living Room #
10-30 Storrs, CT - University of Connecticut $
11-02 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell’s %
11-03 Washington, DC - Black Cat %
11-04 Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie %
11-06 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom %
11-07 Boston, MA - Great Scott %
11-09 Montreal, Quebec - Il Motore %
11-10 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo %
11-12 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle %

^ with Big Troubles
@ with Andrew Cedermark
* with Japandroids
# with Neon Indian
$ with Vivian Girls
% with Girls

Real Estate
Real Estate
(Woodsist)
Street Date: Nov. 17, 2009

1. Beach Comber
2. Pool Swimmers
3. Suburban Dogs
4. Black Lake
5. Atlantic City
6. Fake Blues
7. Green River
8. Suburban Beverage
9. Lets Rock The Beach
10. Snow Days

REAL ESTATE LINKS:

Label Page - http://woodsist.com

MySpace - www.myspace.com/letsrockthebeach