HOT: New Video From The Swimmers
The Swimmers - A Hundred Hearts
Check this out, it’s the newest in a string of excellent videos from the The Swimmers People Are Soft album. Way up on my list of favorites for this year, it’s an outstanding record. The video for A Hundred Hearts was directed by Scott French and Steve Yutzy-Burkey from the band along with Kevin Martin. It was shot by Kevin Martin and edited by Scott French and Kevin Martin.
Buy People Are Soft
[MYSPACE] [WEBSITE]
HOT : New Music From The Swimmers
It’s been a little over two years since I first heard The Swimmers- Fighting Trees album. An addictive set of well written, hook laden shimmery pop, it’s one of my favorites of the past couple years. Their new record People Are Soft really showcases how much they’ve grown as a band in the ensuing time, it’s a darker, more textural sound, powerful but no less addictive. Check out one of my personal favorites from the new disc, A Hundred Hearts, and be sure to pick up the album when it’s released on November 3rd. Clear your schedule now to be at Philly’s super cool Kung Fu Necktie for the offical CD release Party on November 6th. I’ll be there, it’s sure to be a blast.
The Swimmers - A Hundred Hearts
Buy People Are Soft
Upcoming Shows
Oct 15 Union Hall NYC
Nov 6 CD Release Party at Kung Fu Necktie w/ Capitol Years Philadelphia, PA
Nov 7 Pianos NYC
Nov 13 Progressive Galleries Lancaster, PA
Nov 14 he Bog Scranton, PA
Some More 2008 Odds And Ends
Putting the best of 2008 to bed with a few more odds and ends. Here’s a couple great albums That I excluded from the Top 25 list.
The Swimmers - Fighting Trees [BUY]
This technically was offically released in 2008, but I had it number one in my best of 2007 so I excluded it from this year’s countdown. Read my take on it from last year’s top 25 here.
The Swimmers - It’s Time They Knew
Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals [BUY]
This actually came out late in 2007 but I didn’t get to hear it until early this year. Had I included it would have been in the top 3 for sure. A hypnotic blend of heavily textured sounds and rhythms with layers of very spiritual sounding vocal harmonies woven throughout. Highly recommended if you like discs like Talking Heads Remain In Light or Paul Simon’s Graceland.
Philadelphia area bands put out so many excellent records in 2008, Here’s a bunch all worthy of best of 2008 status:
Adam & Daves Bloodline - New Age Boredom EP
Aderbat - We Belong To The Sea
The Chimeras - Party Of God
Gildon Works - Artful Rifle
Dr. Dog – Fate
Man Man - Rabbit Habits
The Spinto Band - Moonwink
Roomtone - Hits & Mrs
Scary Monster - Makeout At Werewolf Club
5 On A Friday : Moving On Up…
Welcome to the new Wordpress powered home of Bag Of Songs. Be sure to point any existing shortcuts you may have to http//:bagofsongs.com
The empty boxes are still sitting around and there’s still some cleaning up to do, but 5 On A Friday returns today with a tribute to the move. So hang in there while I tidy up the loose ends here and there over the next couple weeks and get back to a more regular posting schedule, I apologize, it’s been a bit sparse lately. Kick back and enjoy. there’s lots of good things coming your way soon.
1: Dumptruck - Make A Move
Buy D Is For Dumptruck
2: The Swimmers - Moving
Buy Fighting Trees
3: Jet - Move On
Buy Get Born
4: Primal Scream - Movin On Up
Buy Screamadelica
5: Brass Construction - Movin
Buy Soul Power Instrumentals
This Past Friday Night’s Show with The Swimmers.Missing Palmer West and Bitter Bitter Weeks @ Johnny Brenda’s
Some photos from this past Friday night’s all local show at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia. It was a packed house from the get go as Bitter Bitter Weeks kicked off the night with an excellent set that focused on the more rock side of their catalog and left the quieter numbers at home this time for a high energy set that recalled at times the southern jangle sound of early REM or Let’s Active. Up next was Missing Palmer West, a band who I somehow managed to have not seen until now, let me say I will be correcting that mistake go forward. Their keyboard driven, cello infused blend of indie pop is excellent. They have a new EP in the works and it is one I will be on the watch for. BOS favorites The Swimmers closed the night and threw a bit of multimedia effects into the mix this time out as they played while a film rolled on to the giant screen behind them. Their set was a blend of brand new songs and old favorites and also included a blistering cover of David Bowie’s Star.
Big big thanks to my new friend and fellow music fanatic Phil Appenzeller for all of the photos.
Bitter Bitter Weeks
Missing Palmer West
The Swimmers
[All Photos By Phil Appenzeller]
BOS Presents : Our 2nd Anniversary Party with The Swimmers,The Figgs,The Thirteen and Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Be Sure to head on out to the M Room this coming Sunday for The Bag Of Songs 2nd Anniversary Party co- hosted by my friends from Girl About Town and with four amazing bands. The shimmering pop of The Swimmers,the legendary Figgs, brand new music from Philadelphia’s The Thirteen, and the funk soul workout of Joe Lewis And The Honeybears. It’s going to be one hell of a party.
The Swimmers - Pocketful Of Gold
Sunday October 26th
Bag Of Songs 2nd Anniversary Party !
Co-hosted by our friends from Girl About Town
with The Swimmers, The Figgs ,The Thirteen,and Black Joe Lewis and The Honey Bears
At The M Room
15 W Girard Ave Philadelphia PA
8PM - $8
Sunday, June 22nd, Day 3 Of The Philly Popped! Festival
Some photos from Sunday, June 22, Day 3 of Philadelphia’s Popped! Festival at World Cafe Live. The home team made up the bulk of the lineup today with some of Philly’s best bands playing. I arrived in plenty of time time to grab a Grimbergen Dubbel Abbey Ale from the bar and stake out a prime spot to catch Cheers Elephant kick off the days proceedings with a dazzling set in the upstairs bar, showing why they are one of Philly’s hottest bands right now. Spent some time chatting with Jessica from Popwreck(oning) in between sets. Next up were The Vandelles, a band I had not only not seen before, but had never heard of. Well, I won’t be forgetting them anytime soon because their reverb laden psychedelic laced sound was amazing, with a sound falling somehwere between Jesus And Mary Chain and The Black Angels. They also delivered the “girls can rock too” moment of the festival in the powerhouse rhythm section of Suzanne Pagliorola and Lisha Nadkarni on drums and bass respectively. Then it was downstairs for Gildon Works who delivered one of the best sets of the weekend, their shoegazey psychedelic blend was absolutely massive sounding. Then it was back upstairs for one of my favorite Philly bands The Swimmers, who despite having to use a fill in bass player for the afternoon, sounded as fantastic as always. At this point the downstairs stage took a weird turn toward the performance art side with one man avant garde poet guitarist PWRFL Power up next. Three songs and it was back upstairs for me where I spent some time hanging out with Carly and Royce from Girl About Town for a bit while Takka Takka prepared to play. Caught most of Takka Takka’s interesting set before heading back downstairs to see the much buzzed about Tickley Feather. More avant garde performance art tinged music that continued the theme started earlier. Although much more great music still remained, it was at this point I had to jump ship and make my way across town to the M room for my Bag Of Songs night, more on that coming soon…
The Top 25 Albums Of 2007 - 1 to 10 And A Giveaway !
Okay here it is the grand finale, my top ten of the year. The albums I listened to and enjoyed most this year. There was so much great music this year that a short list of twenty five doesn’t nearly it do it all justice. There’s obviously way more omitted than included.
And, as I promised I have giveaways. A copy of The Swimmers - Fighting Trees that most of you will need to wait until it’s March release to get your hands on, but I have it for you now, and a copy of The Broken West’s I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On autographed by the whole band(Thanks Ross!)
Once again I’ll make it easy to win just leave a comment or send me an email to
bagofsongs@gmail.com with “Top 25 Contest” in the subject line.
You don’t have to, but feel free to get creative in the comments - your top albums, what I missed, etc. If you leave a comment make sure you leave an email or some way to get in touch if you win. I’ll pick 2 winners at random on New Year’s Day from all the entries. Good Luck !
1:The Swimmers - Fighting Trees
Back in January of this year when I received a rather unassuming email from Steve Yutzy-Burkey, not so unlike a lot of other emails I receive everyday from bands, letting me know they had shows upcoming and that their new album Fighting Trees was
streaming from their website if I wanted to give it a listen. What I found at the end of the link was a record I would unabashedly call one of the first truly important releases of 2007. Now nearly a year later, I’ve seen the band live more than a dozen times and there is no single album I listened to or enjoyed more this year. It’s the perfect balance of catchy hooks,vocal harmonies and intelligent lyrics that I just can’t seem to get enough of. The record saw a limited Philadelphia area CD release this fall on Mad Dragon Records, who signed the band and will officially release their record to the rest of the world in March 2008. Watch out for it.
MP3: The Swimmers - Pocketful Of Gold
[MYSPACE] [WEBSITE]
2:The Broken West - I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On
Guitar driven, smart, power pop. Reference points of Big Star,The Beatles,Cheap Trick and more come to mind but the sound ends up undeniably all The Broken West. A dozen songs here and each one could be a single in it’s own right, no filler here just great music.
MP3: The Broken West - Down In The Valley
Buy I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On
3:Julie Doiron - Woke Myself Up
The best overlooked album of the year. Emotional, ragged and real with a sound that falls somewhere between fellow Canadians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. Forget Feist you need this.
MP3: Julie Doiron - I Woke Myself Up
Buy Woke Myself Up
4:The Clientele - God Save The Clientele
Alasdair Maclean describes the band’s sound on this record: “The band are setting free their inner Monkees; a lovely blend of Big Star twisted power-pop and country achin’, with flashes of the Beatles at their most joyful and upbeat.” He’s dead on, it’s a perfect Sunday morning record, filled with smooth sixties overtones but never sounding retro or dated.
MP3: The Clientele - Here Comes The Phantom
Buy God Save The Clientele
5:Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
What Wilco could sound like if they didn’t sand all the edges off. The perfect mix of alt country and indie rock, they delivered one of the best live shows I saw all year.
MP3: Blitzen Trapper - Sci-Fi Kid
Buy Wild Mountain Nation
6:Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter
One of the best new songwriters of a generation, Josh amped it up a bit more than his earlier records for this one and created a new classic. And as good as this is, I somehow feel it’s still only hinting at the future greatness Josh has in him.
MP3: Josh Ritter - Right Moves
Buy The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter
7:Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
I’ll commit blogger heresy here and say other than a song or two,their debut Funeral did nothing for me. But with only one real clunker(Black Wave),this one is just shy of perfect. Anthmemic and engaging it grabs you right from the first listen. Openly embracing their Springsteen influences in their sound this time around didn’t hurt at all either.
MP3: Arcade Fire - Black Mirror
Buy Neon Bible
8:LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
James Murphy obviously honed his ear for what works during his time as a bouncer at Trenton’s alternative rock club City Gardens all through the mid to late eighties and delivered an album that put all that knowledge together for something relevant right now. Their live show is phenomenal, hearing All My Friends live was one of most transcendent concert moments I’ve ever experienced.
Listen To The Whole Album Here
Buy Sound Of Silver
9:Creeping Weeds - We Are All Part Of A Dream You’re Having
One of Philadelphia’s most original sounding bands this manages to run the gamut from desolate spacey piano, to jagged edgy guitar rockers and all points in between, and it all works. And having seen them live like 8 or 9 times this past year I can tell you they’re an awesome live band as well.
MP3: The Creeping Weeds - Eternity Is A Long Time
Buy We Are All Part Of A Dream You’re Having
10:Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
Twelve solid midtempo pop songs filled with hooks,violin, whistling and more, from th eopening notes of Fiery Crash it creates an alternate world and holds you there right through to the final notes of Yawny at the Apocalypse. One of the best sequenced albums of the year, each song perfectly setting up the next, just like a great mix tape.
MP3: Andrew Bird - Fiery Crash
Buy Armchair Apocrypha
Christmas Song of The Day 1 & 2 : Pearl Jam, The Swimmers
I thought this year I’d bring you all some Holiday music so everyday day between now and December 25th I’ll post a different song everyday so by Christmas you’ll end up with a nice little 25 song mix. Since I was a slacker and missed yesterday I’m bringing you a two-fer today. One of my personal favorites Let Me Sleep(Christmas Time) by Pearl Jam and and brand new Phil Spector influenced number by Philadelphia’s The Swimmers. Happy Holidays.
Day 1: Pearl Jam - Let Me Sleep (Christmas Time) [WEBSITE]
Day 2: The Swimmers - The Christmas Sound [WEBSITE]
The Swimmers are bringing their sound to you this holiday season as well.
Head on out and catch them live if they’re in your area.
Dec 4 2007 8:00P World Cafe Live Philadelphia PA
Dec 7 2007 8:00P Subterranean Chicago IL
Dec 8 2007 8:00P The Empty Bottle Chicago IL
Jan 3 2008 8:00P IOTA Arlington VA
It’s Time They Knew : The Swimmers CD Release Party
If you’re a regular reader of the is blog you know that The Swimmers have been one of the absolute favorites here since I received a copy of their as yet unreleased cd Fighting Trees back in January. I even boldly proclaimed it “the first truly important release of 2007” and talked it up relentlessly to anyone who would listen. Well folks “all the new sounds” are here, Fighting Trees will be seeing a national release on March 4 of 2008 on Mad Dragon Records and distributed by Ryko/Warner.
The lucky Philly peeps get a jump on the rest of the world at a special local release party this Saturday October 27th at Johnny Brenda’s, recently named Rolling Stone Magazine’s “2007 Hot Music Club”. It’s going to be a special night you won’t want to miss.
See the new cover artwork above by Janell Olah, but better yet see it in person, as anyone who comes to the show gets a copy of the cd right then and there with admission. I’ll be there so should you, and you, and you and you and you.
MP3: The Swimmers - It’s Time They Knew
Saturday October 27th
Y-Rock on XPN Welcomes - Swimmers CD Release Show
The Swimmers, Audible, Adam & Dave’s Bloodline, Denison Witmer
9:30 PM
$10 includes a copy of the CD! - Door Sales at 8pm
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