StereoactiveNYC

Photos: Spanish Prisoners at Crash Mansion

We were at the release show for Spanish Prisoners‘ new EP, Los Angeles Guitar Dream (our review here), on Saturday. It was our first time seeing front-man Leo Maymind play with a full band, which we enjoyed. While listening, it occurred to us that, live, there are casual hints of Neil Young and Crazy Horse to their sound. Also, as we readied the photos below for posting, we had the band’s 2007 full-length, Songs To Forget, playing and suddenly got the feeling that there’s perhaps a bit of a Harry Nilsson influence to some of those songs — specifically we’re thinking some of Nilsson’s early work on Pandemonium Shadow Show, Aerial Ballet, and Harry.

Here are photos from the show, with more on Flickr:

Tags: crash mansion, los angeles guitar dream, spanish prisoners

At The Deli: Pink Noise

The band is almost a late-2000s-NYC rock music time capsule; they texture their tunes with an abundance of electronically-manipulated guitars, sparse alternative percussion in reverberant space, and shifting dynamics. “Moving In” features Sulami growling like a hoarse, accented Kim Gordon, and tracks like “I Shut My Eyes” feature guitar harmonics riffage and slappy drum grooves pulsating along with a dance-y bass. Softer songs like “I Miss You All” and “Insomnia” float out on hushed horns and shoegazing reverb. The end result is a welcome and fitting addition to the indie rock canon of the here and now. – Toney Palumbo

via The Deli NYC

Tags: pink noise

Recently On Tumblr

Here are some interesting items recently featured on our tumblr:

• 8 reasons to release a follow-up EP
• Study: Illegal music downloaders buy 10 times as much legal music as non-illegal downloaders
• Top 25 Songs That Should Be Made Into Movies // EAR FARM
• New Sonic Youth MP3, “Sacred Trickster”
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs on Letterman [VIDEO] // My Old Kentucky Blog
• Blast from the Past: Yo La Tengo’s Painful // Pop Tarts Suck Toasted
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Zero” (Animal Collective Remix)
• New Pink Mountaintops MP3, “Vampire”

Tags: animal collective, ear farm, pink mountaintops, pop tarts suck toasted, sonic youth, tumblr, yeah yeah yeahs, yo la tengo

2009 Releases: Spanish Prisoners – Los Angeles Guitar Dream EP

Spanish Prisoners – Los Angeles Guitar Dream EP

Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Bandcamp | Muxtape

Spanish Prisoners’ new Los Angeles Guitar Dream EP offers a bit of a shift from the band’s preceding full-length effort. The three songs offered here are  more tightly arranged than what we’ve heard from them before, but still manage to maintain much of the psychedelic ephemera that made the previous work interesting. Perhaps what makes Spanish Prisoners so intriguing to listen to is the sense that they seem to be quite comfortable placing their tongue in cheek as they go about making serious music. The wordplay of the opening song, “Kiss The Lawn Goodbye” (at least we assume it’s wordplay), immediately makes the song beam with a sense of charm that nearly masks what just may be a decidedly dark mini-narrative. This mix of charm and tonal ambiguity laced throughout the three tracks makes for a very enjoyable ten minute listen that easily tempts the clicking of the “repeat” button.

Take a listen to the first track:
mp3: “Kiss The Lawn Goodbye” by Spanish Prisoners

You can also stream and download, currently for free, the entire EP via spanishprisoners.bandcamp.com:

Also, check the band out live tomorrow night at Crash Mansion as they celebrate the EP’s release. Details are on our showpage.

2009 releases so far by favorites of StereoactiveNYC:

• The Antlers - Hospice
• Asobi Seksu - Hush
• chopshop - Hugs And Hand Shakes
• The Fatales - Great Surround
• Goes Cube – Another Day Has Passed
• Harlem Shakes - Technicolor Health
• The Jaguar Club - Sleepwalking/Blood Pressure EP
• Le Rug - Party Rock EP / America EP
• Limbs - Seeds On Stone
• My Teenage Stride – Singles Series
• The Naked Hearts - These Knees EP
• Screaming Females – Power Move
• The Secret Life Of Sofia – Empty Sleeves EP
• Spanish Prisoners – Los Angeles Guitar Dream EP

Tags: los angeles guitar dream, spanish prisoners

Live Tonight: Abigail Warchild’s Last Show

Abigail Warchild is a band that’s impressed us much over the last couple of years, having consistently given top-notch performances brimming with a particular gritty energy that’s always left us wanting more. Tonight they’ll play their last show together, at Coco66 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We suggest you take the opportunity to see them one more time.

Details about the show are on the showpage, and you can download their recent EP for free courtesy of RCDLBL.com.

mp3: “The Dive” by Abigail Warchild

Tags: abigail warchild, coco66

Live This Week: April 20-26 /// mp3 Mix

Here are mp3s by some artists playing live this week:

“Bell” by Screaming Females (Monday)
“Fight Song” by Renminbi (Tuesday)
“L’amour (Or Less)” by Mancino (Wednesday)
“Filthy And Free” by Shilpa Ray And Her Happy Hookers (Wednesday)
“The Dive” by Abigail Warchild (Wednesday)
“So Weird” by pow wow! (Thursday)
“Sunlight” by Harlem Shakes (Friday)
“Champagne And Cold Coffee” by El Jezel (Friday)
“Stand Where I Can See You” by She Keeps Bees (Friday)
“Guitar Feelings” by Grooms (formerly The Muggabears) (Saturday)
“Kiss The Lawn Goodbye” by Spanish Prisoners (Saturday)

Also playing this week:
The Five Cents (Monday)
Bridges And Powerlines (Friday)
Locket (Friday)
Churn (Friday)
The Golden Kittens (Friday)

Visit our SHOWLIST for more information about these and other upcoming shows.

Tags: abigail warchild, bridges and powerlines, churn, el jezel, grooms, harlem shakes, locket, mancino, pow wow!, renminbi, screaming females, she keeps bees, shilpa ray and her happy hookers, spanish prisoners, the five cents, the golden kittens, the muggabears

The Village Voice Reviews Screaming Females

The Village Voice has very nice things to say about Screaming Females:

The storied New Brunswick, New Jersey, basement show is alive and well. Grungy, loud, and literally underground, these shows have been a source of local pride for years and a sign of enterprising, creative life in an underdog of a college town with a serious shortage of “proper” venues. These days, the format’s endurance is owed in no small part to the dizzying energy and appealing earnestness of Screaming Females, a cunning punk-rock trio fronted by one pint-size, guitar-shredding (and, yes, screaming) 22-year-old female—Marissa Paternoster—and ferociously backed by two slightly more demure males on drums (Jarrett Dougherty) and bass (the appropriately named Mike Rickenbacker).

Visit Screaming Females on MySpace.

Tags: power move, screaming females

Oh, By The Way, The Muggabears Are Now Grooms

The band we knew as the Muggabears quietly announced last week that they have changed their name to Grooms. They can now be found online at myspace.com/groomstheband. We’re not sure what prompted the switch, but it’s a nice name, so more power to them.

Tags: grooms, the muggabears