ChinaShop » SXSW

Saint Motel Announce National Tour, Unveil “At Least I Have Nothing (Junk Remix)”

Shop Keeper — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:42:22 +0000

Off the heels of their first vinyl release, 7″1, Los Angeles-based indie pop quartet Saint Motel are pleased to announce their upcoming national headline tour. Kicking off in San Diego on February 8th, the band will embark on their spring tour culminating at SXSW. A full list of dates is after the jump.

To celebrate the trip, the band has made the stems from both songs on 7″1 available to all at http://www.saintmotel.com/remixes/ for your remixing pleasure, and dropped their latest offering, an energy filled remix of their most recent single “At Least I Have Nothing” from crime capitalists Junk.

SAINT MOTEL – At Least I Have Nothing (Junk Remix) by saintmotelremixes

With sophisticated savvy and singularity, the Los Angeles quartet Saint Motel has built a formidable reputation for itself on the back of inventive indie pop and wildly fun live shows. Mixing blistering pep with unique flair and a knack for rousing rhythms, Saint Motel’s upbeat, aural catharsis is pure bliss with a twist of cynical humor subversive and sincere.

With thematic twists and turns, stories reveal themselves lyrically through a narrative lens of understanding and universal truth. With such honest motifs strung together by tongue-in-cheek notions, delivered with such charm, the band’s intentions are often left open to interpretation. And so, what might be easily perceived as sexy with one listen, with another might seem mean-spirited or flatly perverse. That is the flair of Saint Motel’s rapturous pop and the graceful dichotomy of its existence.

Live Dates:

02/08 San Diego, CA, The Casbah
02/14 Los Angeles, CA, TBA
02/17 San Francisco, CA, Brick & Mortar Music Hall
02/18 Fresno, CA, Audie’s Olympic
02/25 Scottsdale, AZ, The Roxy Lounge
02/29 New Haven, CT, BAR Nightclub
03/01 New York, NY, Mercury Lounge #
03/02 Brooklyn, NY, Glass Lands #
03/03 Philadelphia, PA, Kung Fu Necktie #
03/05 Rochester, NY, The Bug Jar
03/06 Toronto, ON, Horseshoe Tavern
03/07 Pittsburgh, PA, The Shadow Lounge
03/08 Chicago, IL, The Hideout
03/09 Minneapolis, MN, 7th St. Entry
03/10 Ames, IA, The Maintenance Shop
03/11 St. Louis, MO, The Gramophone
03/13-3/18 Austin, TX, SXSW

# w/ Young Empires

http://www.saintmotel.com/
http://www.facebook.com/saintmotel

Mad Lib Monday: Damon Moon and the Whispering Drifters

Rich Thomas — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:49:02 +0000

It’s Mad Lib Monday at ChinaShop, where they fill in the blanks and we make up the rest. Check out our exclusive portraits and listen to some brand new music.

NAME: Damon Moon and the Whispering Drifters
LOCATION: Atlanta, Georgia
RECORD LABEL: Unsigned

If a little drawl and twang is what you’re looking for, Damon Moon has the cure for what ails. This Atlanta band lists five on their active roster, but an entire baseball team’s worth of alumni, so you know they come with that backwoods psychedelia that only an ensemble can produce. Look for them to hit the road hard in September—check tour dates here—then drop a new full-length in February of 2012. Come for the beard, stay for the ballads.

Words by Rich Thomas. Photo by Dustin Downing.

Mad Lib Monday: Sugar Glyder

Rich Thomas — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:54:19 +0000

It’s Mad Lib Monday at ChinaShop, where they fill in the blanks and we make up the rest. Check out our exclusive portraits and listen to some brand new music.

NAME: Sugar Glyder
LOCATION: Charlotte, North Carolina
RECORD LABEL: Unsigned

So we’ve been doing these Mad Libs for a few months now, and I’m pretty confident that Sugar Glyder’s is the funniest of the lot. Check out their photo. How can it not be funny? Then you listen to their tunes. This tiny group writes songs that are big, bold and slickly produced. Very pop and very accessible, but without over-sweetening the mix. “8″ is anchored by fat, round wound bass, but the spacey synths give it a future retro vibe that’s totally groovy. You can listen to all the tracks off their Lovers At Lightspeed EP at their Bandcamp, but it’d be even cooler if you downloaded it. (Less than $1 per track, man. C’mon.)

Words by Rich Thomas. Photo by Lisa Johnson.

Mad Lib Monday: Eatliz

Rich Thomas — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:46:47 +0000

It’s Mad Lib Monday at ChinaShop, where they fill in the blanks and we make up the rest. Check out our exclusive portraits and listen to some brand new music.

NAME: Eatliz
LOCATION: Tel Aviv, Israel
RECORD LABEL: Anova Music

These eight-year veterans are huge in their native Israel, but are coming on strong here in the States. Their latest album is titled Teasing Nature, and you can download a bunch of free tunes from it via their Bandcamp. With six players in their band, Eatliz gets super lush and vibrant with their sound. (Dig on the horns in “Lose This Child” below.”) Their self-described style of “complicated pop” fits like a glove, and Lee Triffon’s pipes are a thing of beauty. They’re not currently touring, but when they do, get yourself a spot up front. You’ll want to see as much as you hear.

Words by Rich Thomas. Photo by Dustin Downing.

Mad Lib Monday: RTB2

Rich Thomas — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:15:18 +0000

It’s Mad Lib Monday at ChinaShop, where they fill in the blanks and we make up the rest. Check out our exclusive portraits and listen to some brand new music.

NAME: RTB2
LOCATION: Denton, Texas
RECORD LABEL: Unsigned

Bass. Who needs it? Not these dudes. All they need are themselves. Ryan Thomas Becker and Grady Don Sandlin are a new sort of two-man heavy. Southern inflection on the vocals, lock-step drums and dirty, reverbed tone on the guitar that doesn’t detract from Ryan’s storyteller lyrics and melodies. Witness “Goon” below, then download it from their Bandcamp. It says it’s a song from their forthcoming album, to which we say, “C’mon boys…let’s git ‘er done!”

Words by Rich Thomas. Photo by Lisa Johnson.

Mad Lib Monday: Ornery Little Darlings

Rich Thomas — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:04:52 +0000

It’s Mad Lib Monday at ChinaShop, where they fill in the blanks and we make up the rest. Check out our exclusive portraits and listen to some brand new music.

NAME: Ornery Little Darlings
LOCATION: Chicago, Illinois
RECORD LABEL: Unsigned

In addition to having one of the coolest Mad Lib Monday photos, Ornery Little Darlings was the band that gifted us not one but two sweet posters for our ChinaShop office walls. They’re currently working on their first full-length album, appropriately titled Get After It, but have a free EP call OOh La La! you can snag from their Bandcamp site here. As you’ll see from the video for “Run From The Gun,” Emmi, Jason and Paul are a nice little splash o’ hot sauce. This is what we like our music to sound and feel like: energetic, fresh, colorful and sexy. A “slender, hot pink cheetah” if you will. (Read the Mad Lib, you’ll understand.)

Words by Rich Thomas. Photo by Dustin Downing.

Mad Lib Monday: Sing The Body Electric

Rich Thomas — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:17:05 +0000

It’s Mad Lib Monday at ChinaShop, where they fill in the blanks and we make up the rest. Check out our exclusive portraits and listen to some brand new music.

NAME: Sing The Body Electric
LOCATION: Los Angeles, California
RECORD LABEL: Unsigned

According to Sing The Body Electric’s Facebook page, “Drinking a lot of bourbon and staying up late” is one of the band’s favorite activities. Funny, ours too. In fact, when guitarist Isaiah Powell kicked us down with an MP3 for “Indecisive Things,” we had a spontaneous office dance party and ran to the store to pick up a fresh fifth. (You can download the tune here.) Blaring horns and an indie rock jingle jangle make this band one of our choice picks for your summertime BBQ playlist. Good time music for sure.

Words by Rich Thomas. Photograph by Dustin Downing.

Mad Lib Monday: Atlantic Line

Rich Thomas — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:00:39 +0000

It’s Mad Lib Monday at ChinaShop, where they fill in the blanks and we make up the rest. Check out our exclusive portraits and listen to some brand new music.

NAME: Atlantic Line
LOCATION: Los Angeles, California
RECORD LABEL: Unsigned

Psychedelic and spacey are terms that tend to make eyes roll when used to describe bands, mostly because one assumes good melody and songwriting have been replaced by epic meanderings and solos. Not so with Atlantic Line. These guys churn out big time riffs and catchy hooks, but aren’t afraid to go out on a limb and concoct a space jam or two. Right now the band is holed up in the studio writing their new album, but if you need a little something to tide you over, you can jump over to YouTube to see a performance of “I Prophet” at SXSW earlier this year. You can also download an MP3 of “Collectors” off their last album, Big Brother.

Words by Rich Thomas. Photo by Dustin Downing.

#justsayin: Northside Fest Day 4

Courtney Dudley — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:39:10 +0000

It was Sunday afternoon and I set out to enjoy the last of the Northside Festival riches. Four days of music and art were drawing to a close and I was content with the events of the weekend. I fought my way through crowds, rubbed shoulders with indie music celebs, I saw more shows in four days than I have since SXSW and I’ve got a list of EP’s to download.

There were a handful of day shows but none to stand out. I stopped in at Spike Hill and saw Whale Belly and Clouder before making a trip to the Brooklyn Flea market to claim my free food item. Wee! Finally, a free thing at Northside Fest and in the shadow of a breathtaking skyline! I’m not gonna encourage Northside Fest to turn into SXSW ‘cause last year was so damn corporate that I couldn’t see a truly innovative indie band because Kanye’s HUGE EGO was blocking the way. At the same time, you guys gotta get some more sponsors. Sponsors that are willing to hand out free samples. Fred Water was one of the main contributors and I didn’t get one free bottle of water. In fact, they were selling them at the main stage for $2 a pop. Most people there had paid $35 or more to get into a hardly even half sold out show and they can’t even get a glass o’ water? Shame on you.

Maybe I sound like a mooch but three SX’s ago I picked up a sample of Old Spice’s ‘Fresh Collection’ Denali and haven’t bought a different stick of deodorant again. #justsayin

Later I stopped by Cameo Gallery and saw Christopher Paul Stelling pour his mother loving heart out on stage. Honestly, when the dude went on, I was thinking, ‘Oh, another singer songwriter. These guys are a dime a dozen.’ Then he started to pick the guitar. Then he started to wail. He wailed, whined, gritted and ground his way right into the existential conversation in my brain (its a reoccurring conversation, prompted when viewing great art, where I chide myself for not being a better artist). Stelling is a truly compelling artist. He lets himself feel everything and then pours it out into the songs he writes in an absolutely obtrusive manner. Listen to his music and you’re gonna get chills, you’re gonna wanna yell and you’re gonna be reminded that as much as you want to, you don’t need to listen to electro-pop dance remixes for every second of the day. Breathe a little. Sit down. Imagine you’re on a train. Broke down in Kentucky but you made a friend who shared his moonshine. Now you’re both drunk and raspy and hes schooling you on life in the country via his song. That is what listening to this guys music felt like.

I walked out of Cameo Gallery, squinting into the sun to find that, alas, I was still in Brooklyn. I needed a break. During every festival there comes a time when you just wanna get away and go see some music not festival related. Luckily I knew a couple ‘o guys playing a show at Southpaw so I jumped in a cab and headed down to see Elliot and the Ghost.

Lead singer Will Thompson is recently displaced from Austin, Texas but you can still hear the hill country in his voice. They recently added a keyboardist to their lineup which seemed to add some smoothness and depth to Will’s otherwise gritty sound.

I fled back to Williamsburg just in time to catch what ended up being my favorite performance of the weekend. Not surprisingly, the award goes to YACHT, who just launched a new album that is better than and different from their last but still gets your feet moving (remember what I said about not needing to listen to dance music all the time? I take it back.) and your body shaking. Oh and good luck trying to take your eyes off of Claire. The bands performances are always quite interactive (‘This one’s a singalong!’ said Claire before their hit, ‘Psychic City’) and it felt much more like a meditative dance gathering than anything resembling a concert.

Then Northside Festival drew to a close and the people were happy because there was plenty of music to go around. I had trouble figuring out if this was a festival for the people or for the potential money-lenders. At the same time, if you didn’t know the festival was going on, you may have walked down Bedford Avenue thinking it was just any other day in Brooklyn. Nothing happened that doesn’t normally happen… it just all happened during one weekend and under one name. Anybody who lives in Willamsburg knows that the neighborhood is changing fast. We can’t stop it, nor do we really have any right to; this spot was someone else’s way before it was ours. So lets feel lucky that we have Northside Festival and continue to support the events that promote the uniqueness of the area. You guys can stick around and drink Starbucks, I’m moving to Greenpoint.

Words and photos by Courtney Dudley.

Mad Lib Monday: Scott Bartenhagen

Rich Thomas — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:05:15 +0000

It’s Mad Lib Monday at ChinaShop, where they fill in the blanks and we make up the rest. Check out our exclusive portraits and listen to some brand new music.

NAME: Scott Bartenhagen
LOCATION: Lathrop, California
RECORD LABEL: Unsigned

That’s Scott on the left in the back. The giant fellow. The troubadour. The dude with a knack for jazzy folk phrasing that’ll have you reaching for your Jackson Browne and Geoff Keezer albums. He’d like you to check out a track of his called “Beacons,” which you can listen to and download here. Two years ago, he released an album called Ten Songs Ten Men, which he dedicated to “a bunch of dudes I have not met,” and which you can check out here. You can also watch out a video of him performing a tune called “Roll The Dice” at a cafe in Modesto, California. I guess what we’re trying to say is, Scott is way talented, and you should really get to know him.

Words by Rich Thomas. Photo by Dustin Downing.