hooves on the turf

Hospitality: Betty Wang
Overlord: Oh My Mechanical Heart
Pure Horsehair: The Sun Is the Source
Tapes ‘n Tapes: Insistor 
Luke Temple: Saturday People
The Depreciation Guild: Butterfly Kisses
Mates of State: My Only Offer
Diamond Jackie: Nocturne In A Minor
Longwave: It’s True
Backwords: I Need an Ocean
Elika: Nowhere
The Homophones: Everyone’s Dead
The Darts: Inside Out
Shock Cinema: Oddfellow
Helicopters: White Lily No Soul
Magic Bullets: Yesterday’s Seen Better Days (this mp3 here only for a week)
Gang: Rat Poison
Takka Takka: Silence
Tift Merrit: Keep You Happy

My favorite line-up today is at Cake Shop: Hospitality songs are a fresh source of quirky and dorky merrymaking (the best kind?), and Overlord just makes my head bob incessantly. Also, they’re both from Brooklyn–of course I’m biased. They’ll be playing with Claymation Velociraptor and Elika. Ooo, an update:

Brooklyn-based indie pop group overlord will release its first track from the forthcoming album “In Soviet Russia, My Heart Breaks You” at Cake Shop on Thursday August 7th. All attendees will be given a copy of the single in limited edition Too-Clever-by-Half ™ packaging.

This is the first show of the overlord Singles Series, in which a new track will be released at a show each month until the album is finished.

Fantastic idea. I like it!

When a band records in someone’s apartment, it should always warrant a listen, especially if one of the songs is titled “Nocturne in A Minor”, as is the case with Diamond Jackie, whose homemade songs, incidentally, sound to me like they’d be perfect for action movies. While listening to the boozy track, you have to imagine, in slow motion, vehicles sequentially blowing up in large balls of flame; somewhere else, someone’s teeth flying out of his mouth amongst splattering blood, and a hot, powerhouse woman (like Uma Thurman, but I’m sure we all prefer someone else) walking away from it all cooly, knowing very well the kind of trouble she can brew. Seriously, if you go to Lit to see the band, try it out. They’re playing with The Darts and Shock Cinema.

More cool bands are playing, continue after the jump.

Whenever a band humbly puts up an EP or an album for free, I want to cling to their neck and give a huge hug, no matter how it may sound. The Depreciation Guild’s In Her Gentle Jaws, however, is not only absolutely free, but also weaved with lush guitar layers that benefit from an interesting texture only a famicom can provide. The duo is playing Mercury Lounge with Gang and The Shalitas. Listen to Gang’s “Rat Poison” for a depressing theory about the center of the earth. 

The big show tonight, needless to say, is: The Black Keys, Tapes ‘n Tapes and Love as Laughter at McCarren Pool. In the spirit of Olympian musicianship, Tapes ‘n Tapes are also playing an after-party show at Sound Fix Records, conveniently located nearby. 

Lots of soft, cottony melodies from Hiss Golden Messenger, Pure Horsehair and Backwords at Union Pool, playing with Michael Talbott // The Homophones‘ “Everyone’s Dead” is an interesting apocalyptic song–despite the disaster, the sky is sure to be a rich, crisp blue, and somewhere afar the ice-cream truck song can definitely be heard. See them with Public Record and The Spinto Band at Union Hall // Luke Temple is playing at Zebulon and though he sounds nothing like Sufjan, I have to admit: to hear the familiar and smoothing sound of banjo, forever engraved with the memory of Sufjan, is comforting.

I know I wasn’t thrilled with the Mates of State show at Mercury Lounge (see photos and read review), but to be fair, I’ve listened to some of their songs many more times since then, and I’d probably like them better if I saw them again (though I may not call it the best show of the year just yet); they’re playing with Takka Takka and Brazil’s Telepathique at Highline Ballroom // Tift Merritt, Jason Collett at Bowery Ballroom // Helicopters, Motel Motel, Magic Bullets at Pianos // Longwave, Bloc Party at Webster Hall.