This week's recommended live show: JEFF the Brotherhood!

JEFF the Brotherhood's album Heavy Days has been getting a ton of spins by WTBU DJs this semester! They are a totally badass 70's metal/80's punk influenced duo from Nashville, and they are playing at "The Spot" at Bay State College on Tuesday, February 2nd. The show is open to the public and $7 for non-students. You definitely don't want to miss this!!!!

Check out this sweet video of JEFF's song Bone Jam:


More details here on the Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=287307891666&ref=mf

Also check out some photos from their last show in Allston here http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2009/11/jeff_the_brothe_6.html

Also, check out The Zookeepers, who are opening:
http://www.myspace.com/thezookeepers

Interview w/ Damon Krukowski today on Left of the Dial

Damon Krukowski of Damon & Naomi (and formerly of Galaxie 500) will be calling in to Left of the Dial today around 4:30!

On Sunday Damon & Naomi will be performing at the Brattle Theatre for a special event: 1001 Nights: An Evening of Music, Film and Conversation. The night will feature a screening of Naomi's films from the Factory 25 DVD 1001 Nights; a Q&A with D&N moderated by Haden Guest, Director of the Harvard Film Archive and author of the liner notes to 1001 Nights; and a live show featuring sets by Sharon van Etten and Damon & Naomi w/ Michio Kurihara.

WEEKLY CHART!

Top 30 MOST-PLAYED THIS WEEK:

1 BEACH HOUSE Teen Dream SUB POP
2 VAMPIRE WEEKEND Contra XL
3 ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Campfire Songs Pawtracks
4 NANA GRIZOL Ruth Orange Twin
5 TUNE-YARDS BiRd-BrAiNs 4AD
6 NEON INDIAN Psychic Chasms Lefse
7 JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD Heavy Days
8 BONUS EVENTUS Canaceros Dinosaurs In Vietnam
9 GROOMS Rejoicer death by audio
10 BEST COAST "When I'm With You" [Single]
11 PANTS YELL! Received Pronunciation Slumberland
12 THEM CROOKED VULTURES Them Crooked Vultures Interscope
13 FLAMING LIPS Embryonic Warner Bros.
14 THAO WITH THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN Know Better Learn Faster Kill Rock Stars
15 KING KHAN AND BBQ SHOW Invisible Girl In The Red
16 XX The Xx XL-Young Turks
17 GOLDEN GIRLS "Amateur Teen Sex Attics" [Single]
18 SPOON Transference Merge
19 BANG BANG ECHE Sonic Death Cuntttt [EP] Self-Released
20 COLD CAVE Love Comes Close Matador
21 JAPANDROIDS Post-Nothing Polyvinyl
22 MISSION OF BURMA The Sound The Speed The Light Matador
23 VARIOUS ARTISTS Underwater Peoples Winter Review Underwater Peoples
24 BRILLIANT COLORS Introducing Brilliant Colors Slumberland
25 TOM WAITS Glitter And Doom Live Anti
26 FANFARLO Live [EP] Canvasback
27 VIVIAN GIRLS Everything Goes Wrong In The Red
28 YO LA TENGO Popular Songs Matador
29 BLAKROC BlakRoc BlakRoc
30 R.E.M. Live At The Olympia Warner Bros.

TOP 5 NEW ADDS THIS WEEK:
1 FUCKED UP Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009 Matador
2 LOS CAMPESINOS! Romance Is Boring Arts And Crafts
3 COMPILATION Mozart Park All-Stars Breakfast Of Champs
4 EELS End Times Vagrant
5 SPOON Transference Merge

ALSO NEW IN ROTATION THIS WEEK:
Quilt - s/t (self-release)
Golden Girls - Amateur Teen Sex Attics (self-release)
Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
Magnetic Fields - Realism
Various Artists - The Underwater Peoples Winter Review (Underwater Peoples)
Kal Marks - Recovering After the Storm (self-release)
Various Artists - Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010 (Matador)
Yawn - Yawn EP (self-release)

MARTAY interview.

Tune in to Redefined this week (Fridays, 10PM-12 Midnight) for an exclusive live in-studio interview with BU's very own MARTAY!

This is her bio:

Her name is Martay and what she does is point people towards the "Most High". Taking into account what St. Francis of Assisi says - "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words", Martay views music as an influential avenue to reach others with the Great news of Jesus Christ. "There's no need to always be speaking and letting my mouth run. The Gospel is bigger than that. It's absolutely necessary to walk it out.. demonstrate it.. perhaps even depict it through music" says the wise, beyond-her-years, 20 year old.

"Most of the world is seeking for something that's deeper than what we can see, hear, taste, and touch. And most are tired of people talking about it.. we want to witness it first hand." This is why Martay, birthed- Gabriella Williams, does what she does. She sees it necessary to bring music to the table that glorifies Jesus and empowers spiritual maturity. The music that this young innovator is putting out is something that's never been produced before: Catchy, soulful melodies laid perfectly over edgy, modern instrumentation.

It's terribly hard to put this young woman in a box and say she's going to be the next "so-and-so". The passion for Christ she demonstrates, the edgy sound she's equipped with and her determination to make good music are qualities that give her a genre of her own. To say where this witty, fun-filled musician is going to be in the near future is like predicting what God will do next. We must all stay in tune for this one, she is a mighty voice of this generation.

Top 30; Top Adds this week

Recent plays and adds this week

"Top 30" is a list of the 30 most played albums this past week; "Top Adds" is a list of the new albums we added to the rotation this week.

Top 30:
1 BEACH HOUSE Teen Dream SUB POP
2 FLAMING LIPS Embryonic Warner Bros.
3 THEM CROOKED VULTURES Them Crooked Vultures Interscope
4 BEST COAST "When I'm With You" [Single]
5 NEON INDIAN Psychic Chasms Lefse
6 R.E.M. Live At The Olympia Warner Bros.
7 TUNE YARDS Bird Brains Marriage
8 VAMPIRE WEEKEND Contra XL
9 BONUS EVENTUS Canaceros Dinosaurs In Vietnam
10 RAIN MACHINE Rain Machine Anti
11 THAO WITH THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN Know Better Learn Faster Kill Rock Stars
12 KING KHAN AND BBQ SHOW Invisible Girl In The Red
13 MISSION OF BURMA The Sound The Speed The Light Matador
14 BANG BANG ECHE Sonic Death Cuntttt [EP] Self-Released
15 GROOMS Rejoicer death by audio
16 JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD Heavy Days
17 GOLDEN GIRLS "Amateur Teen Sex Attics" [Single]
18 AWESOMELIES MAKE WAY Self-Released
19 VARIOUS ARTISTS Underwater Peoples Winter Review Underwater Peoples
20 BRILLIANT COLORS Introducing Brilliant Colors Slumberland
21 PANTS YELL! Received Pronunciation Slumberland
22 TOM WAITS Glitter And Doom Live Anti
23 GIRLS Album True Panther Sounds
24 VIVIAN GIRLS Everything Goes Wrong In The Red
25 YO LA TENGO Popular Songs Matador
26 PASSION PIT Manners Frenchkiss
27 BLAKROC BlakRoc BlakRoc
28 COLD CAVE Love Comes Close Matador
29 TIMES NEW VIKING Born Again Revisited Matador
30 BOAT Setting The Paces Magic Marker

New adds
1 JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD Heavy Days
2 BEACH HOUSE Teen Dream SUB POP
3 ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Campfire Songs Pawtracks

Get to Know: the Grinding Tapes Recording Company (+++free mp3s)

Since 2005, The Grinding Tapes Recording Company has released beautiful and interesting records by sweet folk-influenced bands like The Points North (who stopped by WTBU for an in-studio last semester), Elijah Wyman (now making music with the name tiny mtns), and Mr. Sister. The Boston-based label's catalogue ranges from an EP of folky sing-a-longs with friends, home-recorded straight to cassette (Elijah Wyman's tiny mtns) to a collection of pop songs inspired by Nordic and Eastern European folk (Detektivbyrån's Wermland). Grinding Tapes founder Jason Rozen recently answered some questions for WTBU about the label's history, upcoming releases, their socially-conscious mission, and more.

How/when did Grinding Tapes Records form?

I started Grinding Tapes back in 2005 to release Elijah Wyman's Why We Never Go Swimming... album on vinyl. I mostly just wanted to be able to own the album on vinyl, but Elijah encouraged me to expand the project and start looking for more artists. It quickly became apparent just how much unrecognized talent existed in the Boston indie scene, and Grinding Tapes was born! Since then, several friends got involved and we have now released 18 albums in all kinds of formats including vinyl records, CD, digital download, and cassette tape.

Who is currently on the roster and what releases do you have coming up?

Nine artists have released music on Grinding Tapes so far and most of them have plans for upcoming releases with us. We're usually described as a folk label, and for good reason. Many of our releases are by top-notch Boston-area folk artists like The Points North, tiny mtns/Elijah Wyman, and Mr. Sister. We have, however, recently started branching out to other music styles. For example, we just released our first straight-out rock EP by a local band called Dreamtigers. We've even started expanding geographically, as well. Vinegar Socks is an amazing folk band from Italy and Detektivbyrån are from Sweden. We've also been working with this great orchestral rock band from Brooklyn/Montreal called Slowest Runner.

Looking forward to early 2010, we are pumped to have releases from Mr. Sister and Manners in the works, plus a super-exciting collaborative record, which will include contributions from most of the Grinding Tapes artists. We're also having great success with our mp3 subscription service, where we send out rare and unreleased Grinding Tapes songs each month, so we're planning to continue that. We have some other crazy ideas as well, but we should keep those as a secret for now.

What is your mission as a label?

We're music fans first, so our priority is to make sure these great artists have an outlet for their talent and to maintain the highest standard of quality. We're also dedicated to maintaining our role as a socially-conscious record label by continuing to donate proceeds to charity, treat artists & fans fairly, and implement ethical & sustainable business practices.

What is the most awesome part of running a DIY record label in Boston, Massachusetts?

The best part is seeing the music get the recognition it deserves, and in that sense, this past year has been our most rewarding yet. We had some really successful showcases at venues like Club Passim and the Middle East. We released a total of six albums in 2009, all of which are doing very well. Some of our artists have had some exposure on local radio stations like WFNX. The Points North's new record was recognized by The Boston Globe as one of their top local albums of the year and Grinding Tapes even had a feature article in the Globe. It's just great to see all our hard work starting to pay off!

mp3: The Points North - Stone Wall
mp3 The Points North - Swift River Lament
mp3: Elijah Wyman - Thicket Holds a Ram
mp3: Elijah Wyman - We try too hard.
mp3: Detektivbyrån - Om Du Moter Varg
mp3: Detektivbyrån - Partyland
mp3: Slowest Runner - As the sea swells she bleats and moans like a goat in heat
mp3: Vinegar Socks - Life in the Sewer
mp3: Vinegar Socks - Chimney Sweeper

Interview: SUNSET

Bill Baird released his fourth solo album in two years on November 24th under the name SUNSET. Baird answered some questions for WTBU about the new record and living in Austin.

How would you describe your most recent album to someone unfamiliar with your music?

Acoustic guitar dispatched by rocket to observe alien civilization trying to advance and shooting itself in the foot. This acoustic guitar, strangely gifted with the power to walk, talk, and look at things, realizes that he is actually looking at the human race. So he decides to head off to Mars and party hard with some large red rocks who are also strangely anthropomorphically-endowed. They drink purple drank and champagne and pass out.

What is your favorite track on the album? What is it about?

Favorite track is "Fishtown." The song is about a neighborhood in Philadelphia, actually one of the oldest settlements in America -- where William Penn signed a treaty with the Deleware Indians. In looking at the history of this little neighborhood, it's like a microcosm of human development, with all its seeming contradictions that hang alongside one another -- beauty/decay, futility/meaning/meaninglessness, health food/mystery meat.

The only time I've ever been to Austin is during SXSW. What's it usually like to live/play music in Austin?

It's a great home base and generally pretty supportive. Still pretty cheap to live here. Main problem is being stuck in the middle of Texas, which is often pretty culturally conservative. I'm Texas-born, but the best part of the state in my opinion is West Texas... Big Bend, Marfa, the Chihuahua desert, and the Chisos mountains. Lots of artists and open space and cactus.

As an album, what is Gold Dissolves to Gray about?

It's just a general exploration of dissolution, both cultural and personal, and hopefully pointing at the possibility for a rise from the ashes.

mp3: SUNSET - Our Dreams Did Weave a Shade
mp3: SUNSET - Hill Country Smog