with m83 coming back to town, i figured i should finally review their show from last halloween at the the masquerade.

all in all, the show was great! the new songs sounded amazing live and the crowd was way into it. at the same time, this was my fourth time seeing m83 and i had high expectations. i was definitely bummed they didn’t play any old songs, including completely skipping dead cities, red seas & lost ghosts, which is one of my favorite albums. i understand they have to cater to their huge new fan base, but i still want a set list that goes deeper than their last two albums (they’ve released six since 2001).

i still plan on checking out m83 at the buckhead theatre in may, i just hope for a better selection of songs this time.

– ryan

fans of vinyl records and neutral milk hotel rejoice! jeff magnum recently self-released a vinyl only box set featuring their entire catalogue along with fifteen previously unreleased tracks.

the box set includes the in the airplane over the sea and on avery island lps in new deluxe gatefold packaging, the everything is 10″ remastered with 3 bonus tracks and new artwork, the new ferris wheel on fire 10″ featuring eight previously unreleased acoustic recordings, the little birds 7″ with 2 unreleased recordings of the song, the you’ve passed/where you’ll find me now 7″ with unreleased 4-track demos from on avery island, the holland 1945/engine picture disc 7″ with fold-out poster, and two 24″x24″ posters, all enclosed in a fancy box. they really went all out with on this one!

you can find this amazing box set at current jeff magnum shows or on his new website for neutral milk hotel records. it’s a little pricey at $88, but you could easily have paid more than that for just the holland 1945/engine picture disc 7″ before this repress.

– ryan

i’m really digging jessica jalbert’s debut album from the end of last year. if you are a fan of lo-fi indie rock with female vocals, ala the spinanes or early stars, then you will probably like it as well. you can listen to the album here or check out a couple tracks below.

– ryan

i gathered a list of my favorite concerts from 2011. i hope to also put up a list of my favorite albums later in the week.

archers of loaf & band of horses – sun, jul 24th – the earl
broken social scene – thu, feb 10th – the buckhead theatre
casiokids & strfkr – wed, mar 23rd – drunken unicorn
godspeed you! black emperor – tue, mar 22nd – 40 watt
kurt vile – sun, aug 7th – the earl
m83 – mon, oct 31st – the masquerade
the pains of being pure at heart & twin shadow – tue, apr 5th – the earl
sebadoh playing bakesale – mon, mar 28th – the earl
tUnE-yArDs – tue, oct 4th – the basement
zola jesus – tue, oct 25th – the earl

-ryan

-here is my favorite concert list from last year.

i’m really digging the new m83 double album hurry up, we’re dreaming! don’t miss their upcoming show at the the masquerade on halloween.

– ryan

talk about a classic show! i just got back from seeing archers of loaf on their reunion tour at the earl!! what’s even better, the opening act birdsmell and freinds, turned out to be band of horses!!! how amazing is that? i guess ben bridwell has played under that name before, but seeing these two bands in such a small sweaty venue was quite the memorable concert!

archers were amazing! they were super loud and sounded great, it was as if they hadn’t take a thirteen year hiatus. the setlist was pulled from their entire catalogue; including all four albums and various eps & singles. my highlights were web in front, wrong, plumb line, might, harnessed in slums, dead red eyes, well, they were all pretty awesome. screaming along to web in front with a bunch of sweaty people made me feel like i was in high school again!

birdsmell and friends, aka band of horses, were also great! they played as a stripped down three-piece but still sounded awesome, i think ben bridwell’s brother might have even been on bass. the setlist was a mix of songs from their three albums and a few covers. i know ben bridwell is a fan of the loaf, archers bassist matt gentling has even toured as a member of band of horses, but it’s still awesome he played a secret show just to share the stage with them!

on a side note, i’m glad archers opted to play a few nights in a small venue rather than playing a larger venue for one night. such a small setting was perfect for them. the show i saw was the third of three sold out shows at the earl and it wouldn’t have been nearly as fun in a big venue.

– ryan

ps…it’s funny, the last time i saw archers of loaf was also a pretty epic show for me. it was on their farewell tour in 1998 and they played with built to spill, creeper lagoon and 764-hero at the metro in chicago. classic!

i had a blast at record store day 2011! i went to decatur cd, which worked out perfectly. they had all of the records i was looking for and lacked the long lines i would have dealt with at criminal records, where i went last year. there were live bands, free beer, community q bbq, king of pops, contests and a ton of cool vinyl to be had.

i heart record store day!

i ended up grabbing architecture in helsiki – places like this on pink vinyl and an of montreal 12″ from polyvinyl records, as well as a new franz ferdinand covers 12″ on orange vinyl from domino records.

i have to admit i’m a little disappointed that record store day is becoming so reissue heavy though. here’s to more new releases on future record store days!

– ryan

don’t forget tomorrow is record store day! there will be lots of rare vinyl treats up for grabs, including items listed here. in atlanta, you can hit up criminal records and wax ‘n’ facts or wuxtry and decatur cd in decatur.

see you there!

– ryan

the recent pains of being pure at heart & twin shadow show at the earl was super fun! twin shadow was a killer opening act and nearly stole the show. their debut album forget is really solid, you should check it out if you haven’t already.

the pains of being pure at heart was also awesome! i am a big fan of their s/t debut but hadn’t really listened to their latest album, belong, too much before the show. the new songs were great live though, i will definitely have to check it out some more. they played a good mix of new and old, making it fun for a guy like me!

– ryan

the sebadoh reunion show last night at the earl was a blast from the past! they were touring in support of the bakesale and harmacy re-issues, so their setlist consisted of those albums and their singles. being that those are my two favorite albums of sebadoh, i was pleased as punch! on top of that, they sounded amazing at the earl, so it was a super fun evening. i have to say i was impressed at how great the songs still sounded 15+ years later.

gimme indie rock!

– ryan