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Friday, September 30, 2005

IN THE CITY MUSIC FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND IN MANCHESTER




For anyone that is lucky enough to be in Manchester this weekend for the IN THE CITY MUSIC FESTIVAL, be sure to catch this great showcase of great Irish talent:

In the City Sunday 2nd October
THE IMMEDIATE
BOSS VOLENTI
DELORENTOS
ALPHASTAES
STARS OF THE CITY
MAINLINE

MUSIC FROM IRELAND SHOWCASE
DAY Sunday 2nd October
WHERE 14 Lloyd Street
WHEN Doors 6:45pm Acts 7:15pm till 11:30pm
ADMISSION£ FREE
WWW.MUSICFROMIRELAND.ORG

You've heard THE IMMEDIATE and STARS OF THE CITY on numerous FUTURE SOUNDS past, worth your trip over to see this showcase.

Watch the new POSIES video for 'Conversations'

The Posies' video for "Conversations" can now be viewed online here at Rykodisc's website

If you are in New England and on your way up/over/down to NEMO in Boston this weekend, be sure to see them tonight in Northampton at The Iron Horse or at B-Side Records at 5pm (273 Main Street Northampton, MA).

Catch APARTMENT tonight in Camden!

You may remember APARTMENT from way back on FUTURE SOUNDS 16, but they've just returned from the US, all fresh from playing shows and recording new material in New York City and Philadelphia. They have a disc out on FIERCE PANDA RECORDS in the UK and look to have some exclusive singles out on STOLEN TRANSMISSION.

But if you are lucky enough to be in London right now and are taking the night off of seeing FILM SCHOOL, go see them tonight.

Here are the details:
10 pm at the Purple Turtle on 61-65 Crowndale Road,
Camden NW1. Doors open at 8pm and support comes from Wherewithal and 586.
Entry is £4 before 8pm/ £5 after

Thursday, September 29, 2005

LIVE REVIEW: The Posies @ The Khyber, Philadelphia

The Posies @ The Khyber, Philadelphia, 28 September 2005

Last night power-pop heroes The Posies played The Khyber in Old City, Philadelphia, in support of their first studio album since 1998, Every Kind of Light. Opening were the fine groups Deathray Davies, Oranger (which includes current Posies drummer Darius Minwalla), and Los Angeles indie band Earlimart, who put in a tuneful, well received but hard rocking set.

The Posies are the very definition of "criminally-overlooked" bands. A melodic, power pop band that came of age in Seattle in the early-'90s, they were simply the wrong genre at the wrong time and in the wrong city to see any mass-commercial success. Their music has proven to be far too lush and emotionally honest to otherwise crack the Top 40 world of pop music. The plus side for their cult following, however, is that you can still see them in intimate venues like The Khyber in front of 100-150 people on a Tuesday night.

The Posies' founders Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer have had various rhythm sections over the years and are now gelling very nicely with Minwalla and bass player Joe Howard. The result is a revved up, often thunderous rock band that also happens to have produced some the most wonderfully structured and melodic music of the last fifteen years. Even a song like the pop-punk thrasher Grant Hart, while utterly chaotic, still retains its near-perfect pop structure. If Good Charlotte ever heard these guys they might quit music on the spot.

Stringfellow and Auer each possess angelic vocals (they share lead vocal and songwriting duties) and harmonize better than anyone since Simon and Garfunkel. Yet, when they focus on the harder portion of their catalogue, as they often do live and most certainly did last night catalogue (much from Frosting on the Beater and Amazing Disgrace and only a handful from the latest album), they can be utterly pulverizing, as well, recalling more Cheap Trick's Live at Budokan than Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park. And the influence of The Who on power pop is never more evident than watching Stringfellow attack and thrash his guitar (often with Pete Townsend-like windmills) without missing a beat. Even the more composed Auer spontaneously throws his guitar around and produces some of the coolest guitar riffs in rock (see Solar Sister).

Somewhat surprisingly, nothing was played off of what many consider (myself included) to be one of the great power pop albums ever, 1991's Dear 23, until after the crowd had pretty much been wiped out. Yet the effect was that the almost overwhelming beauty of songs like Any Other Way was only appreciated that much more.

Auer and Stringfellow are also current members of the legendary and reconstituted Big Star, whose new album happened to be released the same day as this show. Thus, the encore appropriately began with a cover of the classic ballad Thirteen. It was hard not to be moved not only by this beautiful song itself, but in seeing this "thing" created by Big Star still being carried along some thirty years later, proudly and more than capably.

- Jim Cosby

BUY The Posies - Every Kind Of Light

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

HABITFORMING TONIGHT @ Bottom Of The Hill

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

FROM THE FUTURE BANDS LIVE THIS WEEK!

Plenty of chances to catch FTF bands in your town this week:

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 27TH
PHILLY - THE POSIES @ AKA Records
PHILLY - THE POSIES @ The Khyber w/Earlimart
LONDON - FILM SCHOOL @ Dublin Castle (Club Fandango)

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28TH
LONDON - FILM SCHOOL @ Water Rats
HOBOKEN - THE POSIES @ Tunes Records
HOBOKEN - THE POSIES on WFMU
HOBOKEN - THE POSIES @ MAXWELLS
SAN FRANCISCO - HABITFORMING @ Bottom of the Hill

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29TH
NEW YORK - THE POSIES @ NYCD
NEW YORK - THE POSIES @ THE BOWERY BALLROOM


FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30TH
NORTHAMPTON, MA - THE POSIES @ B-Side Records
NORTHAMPTON, MA - THE POSIES @ Iron Horse

SATURDAY OCTOBER 1
SPOKE, UK - FILM SCHOOL @ The Underground (Club NME)
BOSTON - DAVID HOPKINS @ The Burren (NEMO)
BOSTON - THE POSIES @ The Middle East

SUNDAY OCTOBER 2
LEEDS, UK - FILM SCHOOL @ The Cockpit
MONTREAL - THE POSIES @ El Salon

Friday, September 23, 2005

HABITFORMING TONIGHT WITH STELLASTARR/EVERY MOVE A PICTURE

A great triple bill going down tonight in San Francisco at THE INDEPENDENT:

STELLASTARR*
EVERY MOVE A PICTURE
HABITFORMING


Doors 8:30 PM | Show 9 PM

It's sold out, but I know you all got your tickets early enough.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

THE POSIES MARCH ON THROUGH SOUTH ON NA TOUR

My boys, THE POSIES, are still out on the road in the South at the moment in support of their latest release, Every Kind Of Light.

Here is a look at what's coming up this week and weekend:

SEPTEMBER 22, 2005 - THURSDAY - ATLANTA

6PM CRIMINAL RECORDS
Ken & Jon in-store appearance
466 Moreland Ave NE, Atlanta, 30307
http://www.criminal.com/

11PM THE EARL
448 Flat Schoals Avenue
Atlanta, GA

SEPTEMBER 23, 2005 - FRIDAY - NASHVILLE

6:30PM GRIMEYS NEW & PRELOVED MUSIC
Ken & Jon in-store appearance
1604 8th Ave. South
Nashville, TN 37203
http://www.grimeys.com/

8PM WRVU
Jon & Ken on-air performance
Vanderbilt University - 182 Suite in Sarratt Student Center
Memphis, TN
http://wrvu.org/

11PM EXIT/IN
1604 8th Avenue South
Nashville, TN

SEPTEMBER 24, 2005 - SATURDAY - ATHENS

5PM SCHOOL KIDS RECORDS
Ken & Jon in-store performance
264 East Clayton St.
Athens, GA 30601
http://www.schoolkidsrecords.com/athens.html


7PM WUOG
Jon & Ken on-air performance
153 Tate Center Athens, GA 30602
http://www.wuog.org/


11PM TASTY WORLD
312 E. Broad Street
Athens, GA 30601

SEPTEMBER 25, 2005 - SUNDAY - CHAPEL HILL

11PM LOCAL 506
506 W. Franklin Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

MICROPIXIE RECORD OUT NOW - AVAILABLE ONLINE




You may remember a few months back when I told you of this amazing alien that I met called Micropixie?? Well, she just completed her full length, Alice In Stevie Wonderland, and it is available on her website for sale and it's pretty amazing!

Check her out live if you get the chance:

Friday, September 23rd
from 7 - 9 PM
at Catalyst Cocktails
312 Harriet St. @ Bryant
San Francisco, CA


Friday, September 30th
from 7 - 9 PM
at Lucid Bar
580 Sutter St. @ Mason
San Francisco, CA

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Some great pictures from the 12 GALAXIES show on Friday



Check out some great photos from the band's show in San Francisco at 12 Galaxies last Friday from photographer Shannon Corr - CLICK HERE.

FILM SCHOOL ID REVIEW OF "ON & ON"

DAVID HOPKINS press still rolling in....

The two performances by DAVID HOPKINS at CMJ and THE CRAICFEST were amazing for all those that could actually fight through that insane NYC traffic this weekend (United Nations, Fashion Week, & CMJ). Sunday night's Craic Fest show at Arlene's Grocery was especially sweet.


Here is the HERALD article just dropped....

CHILD OF LIR BECOMES MASTER OF HIS OWN DESTINY
by Eamon Carr

With one of the more impressive Irish albums of the year to his credit, you'd think David Hopkins would be happy. But back in Ireland from his home in the States, he has a problem. People see him as a solo artist and have even begun to suggest he'll give Damien Rice a run for his singer-songwriter melancholy. "I don't come from that background," he stresses. "I got a guitar because I didn't want to lug keyboards around anymore. When I write a song, I think of a whole band. I much prefer that sound. I'm into Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin."

Hopkins was a member of local outfit LIR, a brash combo wilfully out of step with their times. A good band who probably got the wrong breaks. They moved to America and that's where Hopkins' story took a new twist. "We got signed straight out of school," David recalls. "We were 17 when we got a deal. They put money into us. It was great. We thought we were going to make it. "At one gig in the States, we had 37 record companies come to see us," he says with a wry laugh. "The management strategy was, 'Let them wait'. But we waited. And waited. And nothing happened. We had a great time for a couple of years but after that it was a struggle." Hopkins quit the band. Then he quit music.

"I wasn't into it", he confesses. "I sold all my equipment. I went to college in New York for a few months but then I moved to San Francisco. I needed to earn a few bob." After a few years, he bought a guitarand began writing new songs, some of which are still performed by acts around ~San Francisco where he lived for seven years before moving back to New York. He'd worked as a session-player, toured with The Who for six months and was eventually spotted by the management company which handles The Killers. As his album, Amber & Green, receives a critical thumbs up, Hopkins is putting a band together in Dublin, a town he barely recognised on his return. "It had totally changed, he says. "People had money. The prices are unbelievable. It's worse here than in the States. But the music scene here is great. It's buzzing with all these young bands and singer songwriters."

Meanwhile, the songwriting continues: "I probably write about a hundred songs a year," he reveals. As the word of mouth buzz builds on Amber and Green, Hopkins is planning to tour with his band around the end of October. Expect the gigs to be a sell-out.

*Amber & Green is out on Reekus Records.

ON & ON NME REVIEW - FILM SCHOOL UK TOUR STARTS THIS WEEK




The band is heading for the airport now to set out for London for the following tour dates:

SEPT

Thu 22nd - London, Bunker Club @ Metro
Sun 25th - London, Brixton Windmill
Mon 26th - Manchester, Night and Day
Tue 27th - London, Club Fandango @ Dublin Castle
Wed 28th - London, Water Rats

OCT
On tour with The Rogers Sisters
Sat 1st - Stoke, Club NME @ Underground
Sun 2nd - Leeds, Cockpit
Mon 3rd - Brighton, Komedia
Tue 4th - Bristol, Louisiana
Wed 5th - London, The Garage
Thu 6th - Sheffield, Fuzz Club @ University
Fri 7th - Liverpool, Club NME @ Academy 2
Sat 8th - Birmingham, Cold Rice @ Academy 2
Sun 9th - Newcastle, Cuckoos Nest @ Red Rooms
Mon 10th - Manchester, Club NME @ Bierkeller
Tue 11th - Nottingham, The Social

Thursday, September 15, 2005

FILM SCHOOL @ 12 GALAXIES FRIDAY

Film School is about to leave for the UK for a tour next Tuesday, so this is your last time to catch them in the US before they become the darlings of Britain.

FRIDAY NIGHT AT 12 GALAXIES
EVENT
Film School


DETAILS
Date: 09/16/2005
Show: 9PM
21+


LINKS
http://www.filmschoolmusic.com/


TICKET INFO

Advance Tickets $8
Tickets at Door $8
Tickets available at www.virtuous.com

THE POSIES IN AUSTIN TONIGHT!

If you are in Austin and can't afford the steep ticket price of The Austin City Limits Festival, go see THE POSIES @ The Parrish.


TIME
DOORS AT 8pm

COST
$12.00 ADVANCE
$14.00 DOOR (TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR)


OPENERS
Deathray Davies - http://www.deathraydavies.com

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

DAVID HOPKINS @ CMJ

CMJ is this week, and I know everyone has to make choices early on which showcases and parties to attend in such a short time, but please put the following on your calendars if you will be in New York on the 17th & 18th.

FROM THE FUTURE'S own DAVID HOPKINS (www.davidhopkinsmusic.com) will be performing twice during CMJ weekend. David just released an Irish only CD, Amber & Green, on Reekus Records and has just returned from a month tour of IRE. Reviews of the record in Hot Press and The Irish Times have been stunning, but come see for yourselves how amazing David truly is.

I invite you all to the following - come down and hang out with me!

SAT 9/17/05 SIN-E

CMJ SHOWCASE - MusicFromIreland.org:

Sin-e is at 150 Attorney Street (btwn E. Houston & Stanton Street) (212) 388-0077

7:00 Valerie Francis

7:45 DAVID HOPKINS

9:00 The Radio



SUN 9/18/05 ARLENE'S GROCERY

THE CRAIC FEST - :WWW.THECRAICFEST.COM
Arlene's Grocery is at 95 Stanton Street (btwn Ludlow St. & Orchard St)

7:00 DAVID HOPKINS (acoustic set)

Award winning shorts with live acoustic sets by David Hopkins, Brendan O'Shea and Colin and Emmett from Mr. North.

----------------------------------------


http://www.davidhopkinsmusic.com

Thursday, September 08, 2005

POSIES pictures from SLIM'S




Check out some of the pictures from last night's insane POSIES show, where the audience over took the band and Ken Stringfellow stipped down to his skivvies....

CLICK HERE FOR MORE from photographer Jonathan Krop.

KNITTING FACTORY IN LA TONIGHT

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

THE POSIES IN CALIFORNIA THIS WEEK

THE POSIES begin their North American tour tonight in San Francisco.


DATE LOCATION VENUE WITH DETAILS
09.07.05 San Francisco CA Slim's Oranger, The Deathray Davies All-ages
09.08.05 Hollywood CA The Knitting Factory Oranger, The Deathray Davies
09.09.05 San Diego CA The Casbah Oranger, The Deathray Davies
09.10.05 Tempe AZ Last Exit The Deathray Davies
09.11.05 Tucson AZ Plush The Deathray Davies


The Posies pop up with a new comeback CD -- and a live show that rocks
Derk Richardson, special to SF Gate


THE POSIES

When the Posies emerged from the Seattle pop scene in the early 1990s, their refreshing bursts of power pop updated a legacy rooted in the late-'60s British rock of the Beatles, the Kinks, the Who, the Zombies and the Move, and traceable through later decades in Big Star, XTC, the Replacements, Young Fresh Fellows and Husker Du.

As the band re-emerges today, a full 15 years after making its major label debut -- with a new album, Every Kind of Light (Ryko), and a U.S. tour that brings the reinvigorated quartet to Slim's in S.F. on Wed., Sept. 7 -- little has changed in the band's bracing blend of big, crunching guitar chords, complex keyboard ornamentations and sumptuous, alternately smooth and tangy vocal harmonies. But a lot of turbulent water has passed under the bridge.

"We've had this amazingly up-and-down relationship over the years," singer-guitarist Jon Auer said in a phone call earlier this week from Seattle, talking about his partnership with singer-guitarist-keyboardist Ken Stringfellow. "There's something about what we create when we do work together that just seems to be indestructible. We've done things to each other and said things to each other that perhaps would cause most people to not even bother talking to each other ever again. Yet for some reason we feel still drawn to making music together."

Auer and Stringfellow started recording together as a duo in Auer's Bellingham, Wash., basement studio in late 1987. They released their first record, Failure, on the PopLlama label, and then got the jump on the Nirvana-triggered Seattle-scene explosion with their 1990 DCG release as a quartet, Dear 23. By the time the Posies broke up in 1998, with two more studio albums in their catalog, two drummers and three bassists had passed through the band.

"Our relationship, musically and friendship-wise, came to a halt for a couple of years," Stringfellow said in a separate phone conversation from France, where he and his family were taking a vacation break after the European leg of the Posies' tour in support of Every Kind of Light. "Slowly those doors opened again, and we had an opportunity to do some shows in Spain and took the chance to experiment over the course of a year or so. I spent some time repairing my friendship with Jon, and then we were probably open to anything at that point."

The sporadic reunions that began in 2000 seem to have settled into a groove, with the Auer-Stringfellow creative alchemy supported more or less permanently now by bassist Matt Harris (of Oranger) and drummer Darius Minwalla. "We saw that we had a golden opportunity to make something new out of fossils and bones and burnt pieces of wood we had laying around," Stringfellow continued, "and that it could be more exciting than certainly the last few years of the Posies, when whatever excitement happened was balanced out by a not very good personal vibe -- moments of exuberance surrounded by months of quagmire."

"There's just something that's greater than the sum of its parts when we play together," Stringfellow said of his creative bond with Auer. "It's always a high-energy, intense experience for us to play together -- we anchor each other's extremes in a certain ways so that we can push ourselves out a little bit farther musically -- and energy-wise -- and know that there's something solid holding it together. It has a unique, as "Star Trek" fans would say, energy signature."

While Auer noted that hooking up with a new rhythm section "made it easier to move forward," Stringfellow offered a caveat. "We weren't really sure about yet another go-round with yet another team: Was it going to be mining past glories for ever diminishing returns? Or was it going to be able to generate something new. With a little time, it did generate something new. Somewhere along the line, we went through the appropriate bonding experiences to feel like a band."

The band ethos is serious enough that album royalties, tour income and even songwriting credits are being shared equally among the four members. Of the songwriting, Stringfellow said, "One person may have worked up more of the starter dough than another, but by the time the thing was recorded, all these things had been pushed and pulled by all of us." On the same issue, Auer added: "It's funny how many things someone can start versus finish. What ends up being the important thing is what gets finished, and the new record wouldn't have been made had it not been for all of us being there together."

Nonetheless, in keeping with the Posies' origin and tradition, Stringfellow and Auer were responsible for the lion's share of lyrics on the quickly recorded Every Kind of Light, though the collaboration was anything but straightforward. Take the CD closer, "Sweethearts of Rodeo Drive," for instance. The title, with its pun on the classic Byrds country-rock album, was Auer's idea. But after sharing it with Stringfellow, each arrived at the recording session with his own melody and set of lyrics, resulting in the intriguing vocal interplay that starts the tune and a point of view that weds an anti-war sentiment to a critique of conspicuous consumption.

"As soon as Jon evoked the image of Rodeo Drive," Stringfellow explained, "I certainly wasn't going to set about glorifying consumerism. Lord knows, popular music has enough of that in it already. Granted, I'm not against consumerism per se -- I have been known to spend $700 on a bottle of wine -- but I was really thinking more about how Paris Hilton's whatever can be Page One news and a kid getting his arm blown off doesn't even merit news coverage. A death is still like Page 12 news, and that totally blows my mind. It infuriates me. I find it so insulting to that person's death, especially, and to my intelligence, also, to see it presumed that I would find Paris Hilton more interesting than a dead American soldier, which I do not."

Stringfellow and Auer have maintained busy, even hectic lives outside of the Posies: Stringfellow has recorded solo albums, including last year's exquisite Soft Commands, toured as an adjunct member of R.E.M. and performed as a member of the Minus 5 and Saltine. He and Auer have also rounded out the reformed Big Star (with Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens), whose new album is about to arrive in stores. And Auer has worked for several years on his own, long-anticipated solo CD, Songs from the Year of Our Demise, which will be released next March by Pattern 25.

"With the solo stuff," Auer said, "you get a chance to be a bit more -- I don't want to say 'emotional,' because I'm emotional with the Posies -- but maybe it's a bit more personal. The record I just made is more of a heartbreak record, more melancholy. It's hard to fully express oneself in a group, so with the solo records you get a more direct path to me and a direct path to Ken."

"There's something altogether different that happens when we get together," Stringfellow reiterated. "Something sonically more aggressive. Our live shows are nothing short of furious."

Auer agreed. "There's a certain level of insanity that occurs in the Posies that doesn't necessarily happen other places," he said. "One thing about the Posies now as a live group -- it's a rock show. You can't come to a Posies show expecting a kind of moody, melancholy, 'it's four in the morning and you're by yourself listening in headphones' affair. It's hard to describe, but once you come see this version of the Posies live, you'll understand what I'm trying to get at. It's almost like a Kiss show without the makeup."

The Posies perform Wed., Sept. 7, at Slim's, 333 11th St., SF; showtime 8 pm; tickets $13/$15; Oranger and the Deathray Davies opens. Call (415) 255-0333 or click here. For the Posies' itinerary, click here.

DAVID HOPKINS RELEASE PARTY IN DUBLIN ON THURSDAY





DAVID HOPKINS will be performing at the Sugar Club in Dublin, IRE this coming Thursday, Sept 8th.
Cover is 12 Euros. He's playing with special guests, THE RADIO.

David's band consists of Eammo Griffin on drums, Andy McDonald on bass, and Marcus O'Toole on guitar.

FILM SCHOOL "On & On' review in THE FLY



Article on FILM SCHOOL in the 'Ones to Watch' piece that run in this months issue of The Fly.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

THE POSIES KICK OFF THE NA TOUR @ BUMBERSHOOT THIS WEEKEND!




The Posies will be starting their North American tour on Sunday at Bumbershoot in Seattle at 7PM. If you're up there, you can also catch them at their 'after party' at Easy Street Records at 10pm.

This year's Bumbershoot is loaded with great acts, check this out:
lineup
Friday

Garbage + New York Dolls + The Donnas + Mavis Staples + Kermit Ruffins + Little Brother + Zion I + Razrez + M. Ward + The Ruby Doe + Anna Oxygen + Maktub + Stan Ridgway + Chris Stamey + Smoosh + many more!

Saturday

Trey Anastasio + Citizen Cope + John Butler Trio + Digable Planets + Lemony Snicket + Andre Feriante + DeVotchKa + Marc Bamuthi Joseph + Samite + Minus the Bear + Harvey Danger + Visqueen + The Academy Is... + Hidden In Plain View + Mavis Staples + Tift Merritt + Billy Joe Shaver + Bill Frisell Trio + Charlie Hunter Trio + Duke Robillard Band + Smart: Dave Eggers, Sarah Vowell, Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket), Mike Doughty and the Transatlantic Orchestra in a Benefit for 826 Seattle + many more!

Sunday
Elvis Costello + Common + The Pharcyde + Talib Kweli + Son Volt + Bo Diddley + Damien Jurado + The Duhks + The Posies + Israel Vibration + Midival Punditz + Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto + Hothouse Flowers + Marlena Shaw + Billy Preston + Pepper + The Locust + Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter + Juana Molina + Mary Gauthier + Pretty Girls Make Graves + STREB + Marc Broussard + many more!

Monday
Iggy & the Stooges + Michael Franti & Spearhead + The Decemberists + Ted Leo / Pharmacists + Dashboard Confessional + Okkervil River + Aqueduct + Brazilian Girls + Earlimart + Sonny Landreth + Buckwheat Zydeco + many more!