New Music Tuesday: Cut Copy, Akron/Family, ...Trail of Dead, Jessica Lea Mayfield

Very much the New Music Tuesday we have been waiting for since the last one. I am just diving into this weeks "aural pool" myself but I hear good things about soooo many things. P4K loves the new Cut Copy, do you? I am pretty excited to own Akron/Family on CD (just kidding, I already have it on mp3z LOL!) There has to be a un discovered gem in here somewhere. Who among us will find it?

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead: Tao of the Dead
Akron/Family: S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT
The Asteroid #4: Hail to the Clear Figurines
Covenant: Modern RuinCreeping Weeds: See Through
Cut Copy: Zonoscope
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors: Chasing Someday
Esben and the Witch: Violet Cries
Fionn Regan: Shadow of an Empire [vinyl]
Folkazoid: Folkazoid EP [vinyl]
Goddamn Electric Bill: Jazz
Gord Downie: The Grand Bounce
Holydrug Couple: Ancient Land EP [vinyl]
James Blake: James Blake
Jessica Lea Mayfield: Tell Me
Joan of Arc: Oh Brother [vinyl]
Lullwater: Silhouette
Merzbow: Graft [vinyl]
Miles Davis: Bitches Brew LIVE
Motorhead: The World Is Yours
Mummers: Mink Hollow Road
Murray Gold: Doctor Who: Series 5 (soundtrack)
Nicole Atkins: Mondo Amore
The O's: Between the Two
Okkervil River: Mermaid
Over the Rhine: The Long Surrender
Pete Seeger: Songs of the Spanish Civil War Vol. 1
Religious To Damn: Glass Prayer
Residents: Not Available [vinyl]
Shooter Jennings: Black Ribbons
Silk Flowers: Ltd. Form
Sparklehorse: Good Morning Spider (reissue) [vinyl]
Sparklehorse: Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (reissue) [vinyl]
Spiritualized: Lazer Guided Melodies (reissue) [vinyl]
Spiritualized: Pure Phase (reissue) [vinyl]
Teddy Thompson: Bella
Thin Lizzy: Jailbreak: Deluxe Edition (remastered with bonus CD)
Ty Segall: Live in Aisle 5
The Union Trade: Why We Need Night
The Wailin' Jennys: Bright Morning Stars
Wild Nothing: Gemini
Wires Under Tension: Light Science [vinyl]
Woodsman: Rare Forms [vinyl]
Young Galaxy: Shapeshifting
Young Magic: You With Air

Jessica Lea Mayfield, What Laura Says and Annuals | Phoenix 2/17/2009

If you recall I just heard Jessica Lea Mayfield for the first time on Sirius XM and I really and truly liked her a lot. So naturally I immediately wrote a post and emailed her management hoping to score a interview with her at last nights show at the Rhythm Room. Since it was such short notice I did not get the interview but I DID get put on the guest list (being a famous blogger really has some good perks).

I showed up around 8pm with my good friend Ryan of Fungdark fame, procured beer and got ready for space, rock opera, old thyme local band What Laura Says. I must admit that I didn't listen to What Laura Says before the show because I thought their name sucked and they were going to be a crappy emo band. I am happy to report that they effing rocked my balls off...seriously I was totally not expecting them to be so good, well I wasn't expecting anything really but I was blown away. They are easily the best band coming out of Phoenix right now. I suggest you purchase their debut album Thinks and Feels.

So after grabbing another beer and a square we got ready to relax to the smooth sounds of Jessica Lea Mayfield but instead of smooth sounds we got a very unexpected "melt your fucking face off rock show" featuring Jessica, her giant bearded brother playing upright bass, the skinny cowboy whose name sounded vaguely Irish and a rocking chick drummer with a nice hat. If you have heard the album imagine it with Pink Floyd as her backing band. Her voice with the chorusie reverb guitar (that isn't on the actual album) creates an ethereal combination that gave me chills multiple times. I still love that time she gingerly climbed up on her brothers upright bass for a couple seconds...I still do love it ;-)

Then we get to the headliner the Annuals, after checking them out on Myspace last week Ryan and I had every intention of leaving before they played but since the first two bands were so good we though we would give them a chance live. Let me say that we were rewarded for our diligence. The 702 members of the Annuals (sans the keyboardists but especially the lead guitar player) look like a bunch of dorks that should have been playing World or Warcraft. And their drummer looks like a young Bob Seger but as they say "Don't judge a band by how retarded their haircuts and clothes are". The almost 2 hour long set contained a shit ton of awesome songs...some people might think that the vocals were a bit "emo" but those same people also like the Medic Droid so they can go fuck themselves and their 8 referring click throughs.

All in all it was the best combination of "3 bands I was not expecting to be so good that ended up being REALLY good" show I have ever seen.

Check out some shitty iPhone pics below, the official electricmustache photographer could not make it last night and the camera I took crapped out on me so I did my best with what I had!!!! Leave me alone!

On The Calendar: Tuesday

dear and the headlights

Here is what's happening this Tuesday in Phoenix:

• The Annuals, Jessica Lea Mayfield, and What Laura Says will all be playing an all ages show at the Rythm Room. Tickets are available for $10 at Zia Records, Stinkweeds, Hoodlums and online here. Doors open at 8:00 PM. You can run into Electric Mustache's own Dr. Pony at the show. If you're not sure what he looks like he kind of looks like Fidel Castro with a hangover.

• Dear and the Headlights and Gospel Claws will both be performing live and acoustic at Stinkweeds in celebration of Gospel Claws' new EP. Show starts at 7:00 PM and is free.

mp3:
Dear and the Headlights - "I'm Not Crying. You're Not Crying, are you?"

Jessica Lea Mayfield | With Blasphemy So Heartfelt

I know I am probably a little late to the game with this one but I just heard Jessica Lea Mayfield on Sirius XMU for the first time today and she is really fucking good so I don't care that her album came out last September (the day after my birthday so I was probably hung over) I am going to write about it anyway.

If you are old like me an like Mazzy Star then you are going to love JLM, with laid back vocals and some nice slide guitar you can throw on your favorite sweater and head to your nearest Starbucks for a venti Pikes Peak and just relax. Oh and if you really do that I will pee on you and your coffee. Just kidding I will meet you there...cocks. Check out the song I heard on Sirius that is making me talk all funny and if you like it and live in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan area then meet me at the Rhythm Room 2/17 for a live and not so smoky (stupid smoking laws) performance. If you live in any of the places on the list below go see her at one of the places next to the city closest to you on the day it says.

Feb 10 - The Parish @ HOB - New Orleans, LA *
Feb 11 - Spanish Moon - Baton Rouge, LA *
Feb 12 - Walter's On Washington - Houston, TX *
Feb 13 - The Parish Room - Austin, TX *
Feb 14 - Pontiac Garage @ HOB - Dallas, TX *
Feb 17 - The Rhythm Room - Phoenix, AZ *
Feb 18 - The Casbah - San Diego, CA *
Feb 19 - Troubadour - West Hollywood, CA *
Feb 21 - Slim's - San Francisco, CA *
Feb 23 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR *
Feb 24 - Pit Pub @ Univ. Of British Columbia - Vancouver, BC *
Feb 25 - Chop Suey - Seattle, WA *
Feb 27 - Kilby Court - Salt Lake City, UT *
Feb 28 - Hi-Dive - Denver, CO *
Mar 2 - The Record Bar - Kansas City, MO *
Mar 3 - The Gargoyle - St. Louis, MO *
Mar 4 - Southgate House - Newport, KY *
Mar 6 - Exit/In - Nashville, TN *
Mar 7 - The Earl - Atlanta, GA *
Mar 24 - The Cooler - Bristol, England
Mar 25 - King Tut's Wah Wah Hut - Glasgow, Scotland
Mar 26 - Bodega Social Club - Nottingham, England
Mar 27 - Barfly Camden - London, England
Mar 30 - Tivoli de Helling - Utrecht, The Netherlands
Mar 31 - Paradiso - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Apr 1 - Rotown - Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Apr 3 - MOD - Hasselt, Belgium
Apr 4 - Ancienne Belgique - Brussels, Belgium
Apr 17 - State Theatre - Cleveland, OH #
Apr 18 - Taft Theatre - Cincinnati, OH #
Apr 19 - Michigan Theater - Ann Arbor, MI #
Apr 21 - The Riverside - Milwaukee, WI #
Apr 22 - The Pageant - St. Louis, MO #
Apr 24 - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium - Asheville, NC #
Apr 25 - Brown Theatre - Louisville, KY #
Apr 27 - Alabama Theatre - Birmingham, AL #
Apr 28 - Florida Theatre - Jacksonville, FL #
Apr 29 - Tampa Theatre - Tampa, FL #
Apr 30 - The Fillmore @ Jackie Gleason Theater - Miami Beach, FL #

* with ANNUALS and WHAT LAURA SAYS
# with RAY LAMONTAGNE