Citizens Here And Abroad: New Album + MP3s

Album number two from San Francisco's Citizens Here and Abroad is out today through Turn Records. The whole gang's nice enough to share two fine songs with the world. The band darkens jangly, '90s-style indie rock into lush sonic landscapes. Whoa. That sounded like a high school kid writing his first music review. But it's true! Not to worry, Citizens Here and Abroad sound nothing like a high school band recording its first song...

Secret [MP3, 4.7MB, kbps]
Accelerator [MP3, 4.0MB, kbps]

Buy from iTunes
www.turnrecords.com

The band has a couple New York shows early next month, then head on over to the UK for a bit. Here are the details:

When:
October 07, 2006
Where:
Pianos
158 Ludlow at Stanton
New York, NY
Who:
Citizens Here and Abroad
Info:
TBA, 21+, 8 pm

When:
October 09, 2006
Where:
The Annex
152 Orchard Street
New York, NY
Who:
Aeroplane Pageant
The Dramas
Citizens Here & Abroad
Info:
, 21+, 7 pm
We go on first, right at 8, like a movie!

When:
October 12, 2006
Where:
Moles
14 George Street
Bath, UK
Who:
Citizens Here and Abroad
Info:
£, all ages,

When:
October 14, 2006
Where:
Le Pub
1 Caxton Place
Newport, Wales
Who:
Citizens Here and Abroad
Info:
£, all ages,

When:
October 16, 2006
Where:
Night and Day
No. 26 Oldham Street
Manchester, UK
Who:
Citizens Here and Abroad
Info:
£TBA, all ages, 8 pm

When:
October 17, 2006
Where:
The Head of Steam
2 Neville Street
Newcastle, UK
Who:
Citizens Here and Abroad
Info:
£, all ages,

When:
October 18, 2006
Where:
Brundell Social Club
33 Queens Road
Leeds, UK
Who:
Citizens Here and Abroad
Avast!
Info:
£TBA, all ages, 8 pm

When:
October 20, 2006
Where:
Buffalo Bar
259 Upper Street
London N1, England
Who:
Citizens Here and Abroad
October All Over
Spraydog
Swimsuit Issue
Info:
, all ages, 8 pm

When:
October 21, 2006
Where:
A Badge of Friendship
London, UK
Who:
Citizens Here and Abroad
Polaris
Future Corpses
Info:
£TBA, all ages, 7:30 pm

When:
October 24, 2006
Where:
Scruffy Murphys
Newton Street, Dale End
Birmingham, UK
Who:
Blakfish
Citizens Here and Abroad
Info:
£TBA, all ages, 8 pm

When:
October 25, 2006
Where:
Bitterscene
The Bassment, 16 Wells Street
Chelmsford, UK
Who:
Citizens Here and Abroad
Bendigo Tennyson
Info:
£, all ages, 8 pm

When:
October 28, 2006
Where:
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell Street
San Francisco, CA
Who:
Figurines
Citizens Here and Abroad
Morning Benders
Info:
10, all ages, 8 pm

When:
November 03, 2006
Where:
El Cid
4212 Sunset Blvd. @ Myra
Los Angeles, CA
Who:
Citizens Here and Abroad
Info:
8, 21+, 8:30 pm

A WOXY Miracle!

Looks like the people behind LaLa.com are making a good run at resurrecting woxy.com. You can follow the story line on woxy's message boards. Damn fine news!

Apples in Stereo to Release New Album

I'll leave it up to the official press release to sort out the details:

Celebrated indie rock band The Apples in Stereo have been signed to a new label and will release their first album in five years, the pop triumph New Magnetic Wonder. Scheduled for release on February 7th, New Magnetic Wonder marks the debut album to be distributed on Elijah Wood's newly formed Simian Records (co-released and distributed via Yep Roc Records/Elephant 6/Redeye Distribution).

Apples lead singer Robert Schneider met Wood at SXSW music festival in Austin, TX in 2003. As fate would have it, the Apples, who recently departed from their long-time label spinART, were looking for a new label at exactly the same time Wood was launching Simian Records.

"I've been a fan of the Apples for years," said Elijah Wood. "I'm truly honored and excited that New Magnetic Wonder will be Simian Records first release."

New Magnetic Wonder is an ambitious LP clocking in at 53 minutes containing 14 songs and 12 additional musical segue-ways (or 'link tracks' as Schneider refers to them). The album features an array of special guests including many members of the Elephant 6 collective. Sticking with their indie-rock pedigree the Apples sought the production skills of acclaimed engineer Bryce Goggin (Pavement, Sebadoh, Phish, Sean Lennon) who mixed their last record Velocity of Sound.

Recorded in five cities (Brooklyn, NY; Lexington, NY; Denver, CO; Athens, GA; and Benton, KY) over 12 months, the recording and completion of New Magnetic Wonder spanned great change within the band (which includes bass player Eric Allen and guitarist John Hill). New Magnetic Wonder led Schneider through a labyrinth of new directions, including the recent departure of the band's longtime drummer and second vocalist, Hilarie Sidney, to focus on her own band The High Water Marks, as well as Schneider's invention of a new musical scale.

The "Non-Pythagorean Scale" will be featured on an enhanced portion of this multimedia CD release, which includes digital files for MIDI usage and an in-depth description by Schneider of the Non-Pythagorean scale both in both document and video form.

New Magnetic Wonder contains such fist pumping anthems as "Can You Feel It?," the 70's AM radio-esque "Same Old Drag," the slice of infectious vocoder heaven "Joanie Don't U Worry" (a 'link track' throwback to the 'Computer Love' of the late 80s/early 90s), and the Mellotron majesty of "Energy." This is perfect music for Jeff Lynne and Brian Wilson to make-out to.

However, this is a mere fraction of New Magnetic Wonder's pop conquest!

National and regional tour dates for the Apples in Stereo will be announced shortly.

Track Listing:

SIDE 1

1. Can You Feel It?
2. Skyway
3. Mellotron 1
4. Energy
5. Same Old Drag
6. Joanie Don't U Worry
7. Sunndal Song**
8. Droplet
9. Play Tough
10. Sun is Out
11. Non-Pythagorean Composition 1

SIDE 2

12. Hello Lola
13. 7 Stars
14. Mellotron 2
15. Sunday Sounds**
16. Open Eyes
17. Crimson
18. Pre-Crimson
19. Vocoder Ba Ba
20. Radiation
21. Beautiful Machine Parts 1-2
22. Beautiful Machine Parts 3-4
23. My Pretend
24. Non-Pythagorean Composition 3
**Featuring Hilarie Sidney

Zune: Sharing the Sharing

First a disclaimer: I'm am not a gadget geek. I've never felt compelled to be on the bleeding edge of hot, new tech gear. Usually I sit out the first round and wait for the discovery and repair of the inevitable flaws in a new product. So don't expect some uber-geek review of the Zune. For official details, head over to Cesar's site zuneinsider.com.

That's right, I said Zune (More screenshots). Last week I made my way up to Seattle for a sneak preview of Microsoft's Zune along with Rachel from Scenestars, Dodge from MOKB, Anders from Music For Robots, Amrit from Stereogum, and Grant from Tiny Mix Tapes. There were a handful of reputable press outlets present as well, but they kept us riff-raff separated from the heavy-hitters. And much to Grant's and my chagrin, those heavy-hitters polished off the complimentary lunch wraps and left us with a few cookie crumbs. Hungry, but curious, we played nicely in their sandbox.

I suspected they invited us lowly bloggers in on this first look at Zune as a quick appeal to authenticity. I was right. And wrong. I was quickly impressed with the people behind the product. As I'm sure you've heard, a lot of the brains behind the Xbox are behind Zune. They're coming at Zune with the same passion and eye for design they did with Xbox. Then there's the music geeks. People like Richard Winn, straight up music fans who slyly tricked a multi-national corporation into paying them to geek out on music. Sure he's gotta deal with the Timberlakes and Beyonces, but don't think for a second he's not going to hit you with the good stuff. Richard's responsible for pre-loading (a small but generous gesture) the Zune with bands like CSS and Band of Horses.

Great, fine Sean, tell us something WE DON'T KNOW about Zune!! Hasn't everything been leaked already? Ok, I'll start with my favorite feature: like 3hive, Zune shares the sharing (we got the copyright on that Gates you hear me? Step off!) with its wireless functionality. If the right preferences are set Zune automatically finds other Zunes in the nearby vicinity (we didn't get to test the range). Then you can share single songs or entire playlists with other Zune users all wi-fi stylee. The recipient can listen to the song(s) three times, or over a period of three days, whichever comes first. Then the DRM kicks in and silences the tracks. If you want to buy the songs your friend Zuned you, they're one click away. When the Zune is synched with a computer there's an inbox feature built into the Zune store that remembers the shared songs for easy purchase. Speaking of the Zune store, ahem, Marketplace you can shop there a la carte (one song at a time) or all you can eat buffet (a monthly subscription to access all the tracks).

The wireless function opens up all sorts of possibilities, like DJing to an entire room of Zune users. Hey, I thought the idea of DJing with an iPod was ridiculous at first, but that doesn't stop people from doing it. Of course you can share your photos wirelessly with your friends, sans DRM. The drawback to the sharing function is that ALL MP3s get chained with DRM. So that favorite new song your friend downloaded from 3hive and Zuned over to you, even though the band wants you to have it no strings attached, you only have three plays/days to enjoy it. After that, you'll have to go download it yourself. A complete pain, but hopefully someone will build a handy hack to straighten things out.

Design: The overall design and user-interface really surprised me. My favorite color is the brown. The pictures don't do it justice. But when you're holding it in your hand there's this warm, vintage look to it, like you're cuddled up to your grandparents' hi-fi, dropping needle to Herb Alpert groove. And the screen size puts Apple to shame I'm afraid to say. I was praying Job's announcement on Tuesday would include bigger screens on the iPods...nope. Zune puts the large screen size to good use. Album artwork practically fills up the screen, easily beating out the iPod's perpetual thumbnail presentation. Oh, I can't forget to mention this: turn the Zune to a horizontal position and the screen AND controls all assume and work properly from the horizontal position. Key for watching the Zune tube. Both horizontal and vertical photos can be displayed full-sized. You can also spice up the background and set one of your own photos as the wallpaper.

Navigation: Although the Zune is controled by what looks to be a click wheel rip-off, you don't actually use the circular motion to navigate through the different categories. Press the top of the wheel to move your selection up, the bottom to go down, etc. The center of the circle activates your selection. The left arrow button takes you back. But unlike the need with an iPod to constantly hit menu to move back, the Zune uses an extra navigation bar within the active screen so the option of going all the way back to the main screen is one step away instead of three or four.

ETC: Initially the Zune will be available in one size: 30 gigs. They were keeping any future development possibilities close to the vest. The emphasis of sharing and discovering music within a community, and the wireless technology to pull it off, will lead to a lot of fun possibilities. There are also plans to support emerging artists in a meaningful way, beyond throwing money at a band in exchange for pinning the Zune banner on stage. Keep your eyes on the upcoming CSS tour to see exactly what they've got planned.

Bottom Line: For as cool as the Zune looks and runs on cursory inspection I don't think it'll inspire anyone to dump their Macs and run pell mell to the Windows platform vis-a-vis the iPod's power inspiring the reverse. But guess what? Microsoft couldn't care less about Mac users. They're banking on selling Zune to the millions who don't have an iPod yet, and those who only have one MP3 device in their life. Shudder to think! As for all the Mac purists out there, hopefully Zune will force Apple to step it up and push the iPod to new heights instead of resting on its laurels and throwing out more storage or new colors occasionally.

Sonic Youth @ OCMA

Sonic Youth is opening up the Orange County Museum of Art 2006 California Biennial on September 30th in Newport Beach.

Tickets are expected to sell out.

The 2006 California Biennial showcases some of the state’s most exciting and innovative young artists. The only exhibition of its kind in California, the 2006 California Biennial includes over 150 new works by individual artists and collaboratives and presents large-scale installations, sculpture, paintings, works on paper, wall drawing, photographs, film and video art.

“The California Biennial is an indispensable exhibition for both the young artists it champions and for audiences interested in discovering bold new talent," said Director Dennis Szakacs. “This year’s exhibition builds on a 20-year history of supporting promising artists who have gone on to achieve world-wide acclaim.”

One piece to be exhibited is Winter in America (2005). In this work Hank Willis thomas, in collaboration with Kambui Olujimi, uses G.I. Joe type action figures to reenact the senseless murder of Hank’s cousin. Incorporating the tropes of contemporary cinema, from dramatic lighting to a soundtrack with Outkast and the influential poet-musicianactivist Gil Scott-Heron, the animated film underscores the violence present in much child’s play, especially in toys marketed to boys, while accentuating the horrifying reality of the true event.

Mobius Band: MP3, Video & Tour

Inspired by their namesake the Mobius Band just keep going and going and going. And people are paying attention. People like the New Yorker, SPIN, and MTV2. The band has been kind enough to share a new song with 3hive readers and are heading out on the road supporting The National on the West Coast, and headlining everywhere else. See you there!

You're Wrong [MP3, 4.5MB, 160kbps]

"The Loving Sounds of Static" Video:

TOUR DATES:
Wed. Sept. 27 Boston, MA @ Great Scott
Thu. Sept. 28 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge *
Fri. Sept. 29 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
Sat. Sept. 30 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues *
Mon. Oct. 2 Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot *
Tue. Oct. 3 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
Wed. Oct. 4 Salt Lake City, UT @ Velour
Fri. Oct. 6 Seattle, WA @ Neumos +
Sat. Oct. 7 Portland, OR @ Lewis & Clark +
Mon. Oct. 9 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour +
Tue. Oct. 10 San Diego, CA @ Casbah +
Wed. Oct. 11 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour +
Thu. Oct. 12 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall +
Fri. Oct. 13 Eugene, OR @ Wow Hall +
Sat. Oct. 14 Portland, OR @ Berbati's Pan +
Sun. Oct. 15 Missoula, MT @ The Loft
Wed. Oct. 18 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
Thu. Oct. 19 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Sat. Oct. 21 St. Louis, MO @ Creepy Crawl
Sun. Oct. 22 Lansing, MI @ Temple Club
Mon. Oct. 23 Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection
Tue. Oct. 24 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
Wed. Oct. 25 Philadelphia, PA @ Khyber

* with Scissors for Lefty (Rough Trade UK)
+ with The National (Beggars Banquet)
Baby Dayliner (Brassland) supports all dates except 9/28 and 10/10