StereoactiveNYC

The Secret Life Of Sofia Going On Tour

The Secret Life Of Sofia, whose Seven Summits album we recently wrote about, is going on a week-long tour that will take them through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. And they’re getting the whole thing kicked off with a free show at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn tomorrow night. Here are a couple of mp3s from the album and the band’s tour schedule:

“Fifty Fourteeners”
“Outside”

Friday, July 25th
Pete’s Candy Store / 9pm
709 Lorimer St
Brooklyn, NY
w/ The Kyle Sowashes

Saturday, July 26th
Double Wide / 7pm
2339 E Carson St
Pittsburgh, PA
w/ The Kyle Sowashes, Workshop

Sunday, July 27th
Carabar / 10pm
115 Parsons Ave
Columbus, OH
w/ Melty Melty, Flotation Walls

Monday, July 28th
TBA
Louisville, KY
w/ Husband&Wife, Rodeo Ruby Love

Tuesday, July 29th
Bluebird / 10pm
216 N Walnut St
Bloomington, IN
w/ Husband&Wife, Alexander the Great, Morrow

Wednesday, July 30th
Noah’s / 8pm
Corner of 38th and Washington
Marion, IN
w/ Husband&Wife, Rodeo Ruby Love, HenriHenrietta

Thursday, July 31st
Howard’s Club H
210 N. Main St
Bowling Green, OH
details TBA

Friday, August 1st
Village Green Records / 8pm
519 N. Martin St
Muncie, IN
w/ The Impetuous Impregnables, The Bears of Blue River

Saturday, August 2nd
The Catacombs / 6pm
123 E Diamond St
Butler, PA
w/ Hideous Beasts, Hand Drawn Mountains, Timbre

Live Tonight: The Muggabears @ Market Hotel

The Muggabears
@ Market Hotel
1142 Myrtle Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
w/ Joan of Arc, The Death Set, Ponytail, The Mae Shi

Photos: Aldenbarton at The Delancey // plus mp3

Aldenbarton plays a certain brand of indie power-pop that requires an amount of skill and charm that not every musician is capable of exhibiting, no matter their level of talent. So it’s a good thing these guys are all excellent musicians with skill and charm to burn. Their sometimes/somewhat-retro sound, with its big rhythms and dramatic shifts, is played with a sincerity that stands in stark contrast to much of the ironic tendency seen and heard in many bands today. They’ll soon be releasing their first album, Exodus Of The Eldest, and we have an mp3:

“The Heir”

And here are some photos of the band at a recent show at The Delancey, with more available on Flickr:

Live Tonight: Higgins + Looker + The Homosexuals

Higgins + Looker + The Homosexuals
@ Public Assembly (formerly Galapagos) / 10pm
70 North 6th Street
Brooklyn, NY

Limbs Play Tonight With Umami + Photos

We recently saw Limbs play at the Delancey with Umami. It was a great combination of talented musicians. And they’re playing together again this evening at Union Hall (info below). It’s one of Umami’s two last shows (with the other one being tomorrow night), so catch them together again while you can. Here’s an mp3 by Limbs, as well as some photos of the band at the Delancey show, with more available on Flickr:

“Stages”

Friday, July 18th

Umami + Limbs
@ Union Hall / 8pm
702 Union Street
Brooklyn, New York
w/ Buke & Gass, Guitar Zeros

Live Tonight: El Jezel

Thursday, July 17th

El Jezel
@ Europa / 8pm
98 Mesarole Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
w/ Two Seconds To Midnight, AM Preacher

“Champagne And Cold Coffee”

Umami To Play Final Two Shows This Weekend + Photos

Umami is a band that we’ve long been interested in checking out. The whole drums with two basses and no guitar thing was immediately intriguing when we first heard about it and the songs we were first able to hear on their MySpace page were impressive. We were finally able to see them play live recently at the release party for their new album, Fire & Spiders, and their intricate indie-prog sound was well worth the wait. We just wish we’d been able to see them much sooner, as they now only have two shows left before they go their separate ways. They’ll be playing this Friday at Union Hall and Saturday at a Brooklyn loft party (details below). Here’s an mp3 from the new release, and some photos from the release party at the Delancey, with more available on Flickr:

“Bureau Of Weights & Measures”

Friday, July 18th

Umami + Limbs
@ Union Hall / 8pm
702 Union Street
Brooklyn, New York
w/ Buke & Gass, Guitar Zeros

Saturday, July 19th

Umami
@ LOFT PARTY (LAST SHOW!) / 9pm
76 Rutledge Street
Brooklyn, New York
“Loft party at Newsonic HQ in Brooklyn!! we’ll play a short set which will be the (actual) last show. party starts at 9 with these bands: Simple, The Ingenues, Umami, Fan-Tan, Dynasty Electric, Nervous Cabaret, and Asa Ransom. Cheap drinks available or BYOB. directions here: http://www.mysteriousmedia.com/directions.html”

The Song Corporation Releases PIRATES! // Listening Party Tomorrow

Listen to The Song Corporation‘s new full-length album, Pirates!, and you’ll hear a band that’s not only good at playing, but enjoys it and doesn’t care if you know it. One of the things we like about them is that they’ve never been afraid of letting their music be fun. Even when the lyrics are busy setting a scene that may be decidedly dire and grim, the music is often a contrast to that — not always, but often. They’re quite capable of letting the music get as dark and moody as the next indie band, but the way they’ve always been able to work in those contrasts or turn a beat or progression around into something lighter without anything ever falling apart or losing substance is not only impressive, but refreshing.

The band always easily strode the line between the noise and pop sides of indie and alternative. Their two EPs often brought to mind Sonic Youth or the Talking Heads. Those influences are definitely still evident, but, for some reason, Pirates! has us realizing the band’s probably been listening to Television for just as long.

The Song Corporation is releasing the album tomorrow and celebrating with a free listening party at The Delancey that we’re sponsoring. Check out the details, including drink specials, below. And if you can’t make it to the party to get a copy of the CD, it’s available at Insound and will be on iTunes soon. Here are a couple of tracks to check out:

“Just Like Us”
“We Found A Map”
“NYC Love Song”

Tuesday, July 15th

The Song Corporation PIRATES! Listening Party
@ The Delancey / 7pm
168 Delancey Street,
New York, NY
- ALBUM PLAYS BETWEEN 8pm & 9pm on the main level
- 2 for 1 drinks from 8pm to 9pm
- $3 PBR all night
- Happy Hour until 8pm – $2 off drinks
- BBQ on the roof!
- DJing by the Music Sluts before and after listening to the album