Bitter bitter weeks featured at Aquarius Records
Aquarious Records has posted a great review of Bitter Bitter Weeks’ album Peace is burning like a river: BITTER BITTER WEEKS
Peace Is Burning
(High Two)
cd
16.98
It’s weird. We can describe some stuff like nobody’s business, dark drones and buzzing black metal, freaky folks and found sounds, harsh noise and weirdo electronic music, but for some reason, pop music seems the hardest to review. Which might be what makes the best pop music so timeless. It’s some ineffable something that in some ways is actually impossible to describe, the music contains some mysterious magic, it’s what makes songs stick in your head. And your heart. Some impossible chemistry, there’s a moment when the drums and the guitars, the bass and the vocals, the voice and the melody, just click, and suddenly, what is just a regular old rock band, and just a plain old song, is transformed into a piece of music, that stirs your soul and that can stick with you forever, whatever is going on in your life, right at that moment, is somehow fused to the music that accompanies it. That record you loved when you broke up with the love of your life, 10 years later it still makes you weep, that first song on the mixtape given to you by someone special, still gives you a little thrill, the first music that made you want to start your own band, the songs that got you through the tough timesŠ there’s a reason people NEED music.
And the more music you listen to, the more you realize that the best pop music is the simplest. No amount of overdubs, or crazy psychedelia, or far out production or instrumental prowess can disguise a mediocre record. Granted that stuff can definitely be mixed in such a way, that a record can be total ear candy, but without the songs and the hooks, candy is all it is, sweet and fizzy and then it’s gone.
We first discovered Bitter Bitter Weeks a few years ago, aka Brian McTear, an engineer and producer from Philadelphia, and we’re sort of kicking ourselves for only getting BBW on the list now, not sure what exactly kept us from reviewing any of those records, especially considering that the first two discs were on constant rotation. Still are actually. That’s the problem with so many records to review and only so many hours in the day. But we’re finally trying to make it right. The first two BBW records were mostly acoustic affairs, just McTear and an acoustic guitar, it was all about the songs and the voice, the vocals so emotive and intense, warm and familiar, a high, almost falsetto (slipping into a full on falsetto here and there), but rich and rough, and the songsŠ so so gorgeous, perfect indie pop, hell perfect pop period, just so goddamned good, that we were convinced that McTear HAD to be a guy from some other band that we knew, but nope, he was an engineer, and BBW was his first real project. This latest record finds McTear expanding his previously solo outing to a full band and as hard as it is to believe, considering how much we loved those stripped down discs, it sounds even better.
The songs are still simple and spare, but manage to be lush and layered, clouds of jangle guitar, wrapped around McTear’s gorgeous voice, the melodies lilting and perfect, subtle harmonies everywhere. The first song alone is worth the price of admission. A killer main riff, that manages to be heavy and crunchy, but without losing any of its jangle, a cool dark smoky twang in the guitar, intricate but understated drumming, the whole song propulsive and intense, the vocals soaring and lovely, the main hook absolutely unforgettable. This is where writing about music all falls apart, where words begin to fail to describe something that is essentially magical, not sure what else to say. Catchy, lovely, a bit rocking, emotive, lilting, jangly, by now you probably know if this is your cup of tea or not. Listen to the first sound sample, if you’re not sold after that, then you have a black black heart devoid of pop and we pity you! The closest comparison we can come up with is maybe My Dad Is Dead, that same sort of dour beauty, minor key melancholia, a definite nineties indie rock / college rock jangle vibe, but at its core, just timeless and practically perfect pop.
Sonic Liberation Front heads to Illinois for a series of shows
Sonic Liberation Front is in to Chicago and Urbana for a series of shows next week. Be there.
Chicago – Chicago Cultural Center – Apr. 22, 2008 (Tue)
Chicago – Uncommon Ground – Apr. 25, 2008 (Fri)
Urbana – Krannert Center for the Performing Arts – Apr. 26, 2008 (Sat)
Chicago – Ascension Loft @ Fine Arts Foundry – Apr. 27, 2008 (Sun)
Make A Rising – Infinite Ellipse

Make A Rising - Infinite Ellispe...
Make A Rising
Infinite Ellipse and Head with Open Fontanel
2008 CD, Mp3 Download
Great reviews for His Name is Alive’s Marion Brown CD

Sweet Earth Flower
When we started telling people we were gonna release a jazz tribute album from a rock band, some were quite suspicious. Those who have heard, now also believe. A few months after its release, His Name Is Alive’s daring and sensitive tribute to Marion Brown, Sweet Earth Flower, is already considered an instant classic. The reviews are in and Downbeat, Magnet, All Music Guide, All About Jazz, Signal To Noise, Boston Phoenix, Point of Departure, Chicago Reader, Dusted Magazine, WonkaVision, Bagatellen, and a whole bunch of others have praised HNIA’s thoughtful mining of Brown’s music. Links to many of said reviews here: hightwo.com/ht014.html
New Fan of Friends and Joshua Marcus


New music from Make A Rising and Public Record


April 8 is a day that’s been long time coming for High Two. On that day, we issue our two new releases — albums that seem to have taken forever to get to you. Make A Rising’s second album, Infinite Ellipse and Head with Open Fontanel, has been a long three years in the making and we are so excited that is finally here. Likewise, we have been working on Public Record’s debut for over a year and are so excited that we can fianlly make it available to the public.
Hear some at hightwo.com/audio. Buy some at hightwo.com/store
Read More
Public Record: Public Record
- Intro
- Look How Dead the Reeds Get
- Fake Rain
- French Suburb
- A Beaten Path
- Throw it Towards Rome
- Mermaid’s Purse[download#4#image]
- Fall of the Fruit
- Ca Purange
- Heavy Ornament
- You are a Mara
- At the Blinds
- Comfortability
Gareth Duffield: guitar, keyboards
Brent Bohan: bass
Greg Pavlovcak: guitar
Hilary Baker: alto saxophone
Ted Johnson: drums, percussion
Matt Lyons: drums, percussion
Charles Duquesne: drums, percussion
Recorded by Jeff Zeigler at Uniform Recording, Philadelphia
Philadelphia septet Public Record blend together a vast array of musical genres ranging from early-disco to shoegaze; Afro-beat to Scottish postcard pop; and northern soul to Factory Records funk. The product of this co-mingling of musical ideas and sensibilities is a refreshingly creative take on dance music that manages to surprise and bewilder listeners with each changing verse and track. When it’s all said and done they could be described simply as a pop band or a dance band, but it will be their complexity that will allow listeners to enjoy multiple dimensions otherwise figured to be missing from many groups today. The 13 tracks of Public Record’s self-titled debut bring to fruition the band’s unique composite with great intricacy and cohesion.
Reviews
Philebrity.com
“Your new favorite band …anyone can get into them: drum circle nerds, indie kids, boomers,
old timers, whoever.”
Washington Post’s Express:
{Apr 15, 2008, Katherine Silkaitis}
“Public Record’s debut exemplifies Duffield and Bohan’s belief in both moderation and
experimentation…. the two have added five members to the group and created an identity for Public Record that transcends easy genre-tagging… even the biggest music nerd might be thrown for a loop with some of Duffield and Bohan’s references.“
Washington City Paper
{Apr 9, 2008, Maggie Serota}
“The result is subtle and well-orchestrated instrumental riffs that don’t fade into the background as comfortable dinner party music. Public Record advertises to those who use music as an entrancing conduit for getting lost inside their own heads as well as those who
are prone to shaking hips and shuffling feet.”
Reax
{May 2008, Jason Ferguson}
“Public Record is a messy, funky and wide-ranging party band.Weaving afrobeat, dub, indie rock, spazzy post-punk, chunks of driving soul and an atmospheric jazziness into their sound, the instrumental sextet is hellbent on defying any strictures of genre expectation. And they certainly succeed… Public Record is as much about sonic bravery as it is about sweaty fun.”
Girl About Town
{May 2008, Royce Epstein}
“This record is all about versatility, agility, complexity, and diversity. Even though the songs are dance-able, this isn’t a vacant pop record.”
Uwishunu
{Apr 2, 2008}
“After a long time in the making, Public Record has created a masterful debut album that instantly has established the band as one of the best instrumental bands in the U.S. and has set the table for even more innovation in the near future.”
Dream Magazine
{Summer 2008} This Philadephia sextet mix up a heady combination of soul pop, ska, jazz, funk, a dash of krautrock, icy cool, and lots of human warmth. Refreshingly all-instrumental with guitars, keyboards, bass, alto sax, and two excellent drummers these guys stir up a truly joyful noise that will have you dancing even if you’re sitting down, but it’s just as effective to be hypnotized by, as it is to groove to. This outfit is making universally appealing music that will delight even the most jaded hipsters as much as it does dancefloor divas.