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The Week That Was
The Week That Was
(Memphis Industries)

If there's a sibling rivalry brewing in Britain's Field Music camp, it's good news for fans of the Brewis brothers' oblique pop collective. David Brewis' early 2008 release as School of Language found him performing most of the instruments and adding a heavier sheen of distortion to Field Music's futuristic chamber pop. Andrew Brewis, by contrast, pursues a more collaborative and pensive route on his solo detour as The Week That Was. His supporting cast includes his brother David, Field Music keyboardist Andrew Moore and various performers on vibraphone, cello, flute and cornet.

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The great thing about havin' me a blog is that when I'm just cooking along editing shit and downloading pictures of dinosaurs and cavegirls and eating tortillas (you know, the usual workday stuff) and I'm stopped dead in my tracks by some song I ain't heard before is that I can post it up here and wax a bit and generally avoid doing real work.

So, today, I opened a package, and this ugly little sucker fell out:

I didn't even know there was a new Toby Keith Mainstream Middle American Entertainment Vehicle coming out, but here was the soundtrack for it. Luckily, I didn't put it on the slush pile. See, I've been auditioning Keith and other pop-country artists for my guilty pleasures index, and I thought I'd give this a spin. After all, James McMurtry contributed a song as the token literary liberal, so that at least would be good. Little did I know.

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Brodie Rush, tenacious leader of Be/Non -- the band of which he's famously the only original member and of which everyone else in town is an ex-member -- posted a MySpace bulletin today drawing fans' attention to two brand new songs from his newly rebuilt (again) band. In the band this time: Jeremiah Gonzales, ex Elevator Division and Lovers in Transit; Ryan Shank, ex Golden Republic and Lovers In Transit; and Ben Ruth, who was in the previous incarnation of Be/Non and is also in Overstep and the Grand Marquis.

Head to myspace.com/thebenon to preview new songs from the group's upcoming album A Mountain of Yeses.

Good Christ, what I've heard so far is incredible, and I'm only halfway through the second song on the page, "Passion for Displacement," which starts out with a freakish quivering forest of analog keyboard over rolling toms like the work of some kind of forgotten '70s Spanish prog band then pops into a disco Roxy Music debauch with horns. God. Damn.

By ANDY VIHSTADT

Aside from a few guest spots, NYC rapper (and former Babbletron member) Cool Calm Pete (above) has kept a low profile since his 2006 debut, Lost. He resurfaced with a new track yesterday. “One last one for the summer…free for the kids,” as he puts it. Download “Gitty Up Baby” at his MySpace page.

On the opposite coast, Time Machine’s DJ Mekalek is hosting a free mixtape on the L.A. outfit’s Glow Like This blog. Says Mek:

Be warned, this is NOT your run-of-the-mill mixtape; this monster took me over 2 years to make. I created all the beats using records I’ve collected over that time, various keyboards, plus my ASR-10. I then carefully assembled everything so that it flows non-stop, adding scratches and more melodies as spice. Some of you may know me for my BPM comfort-zone of the typical hip-hop type, but on this project i bust out of that slow shit and slam the tempo meters waaaaay up. If you’re in a somber mood and want to reflect on life, this is not for you, but if you’re getting ready to go out or just psyched to be alive, bang that Mek’s Party Mixx.

Get it here via zShare.

Illustration by Johnnie Cluney for Daytrotter.com

OxBlood Records' Ghosty stopped by the Daytrotter studio for a live session and played three previously unreleased songs. Grab them and read some inscrutable Ghosty-inspred prose here.

Anyone out there locally bringing it as heated, original and stylish as fair Doris Henson did what seems like such a long time ago?

If so, let me know. In the meantime, let us reminisce.

MP3: Doris Henson, "Dark Time for the Light Side of the Earth"
MP3: Doris Henson, "Sidestepping"
both from Give Me All Your Money (De Soto)

Granted, I always felt this record could've sounded a lot better. The mix is just very flat and shallow-sounding. This was a band that deserved to sound good LOUD, which is why their shows were not to be missed, and boy do I miss Miss Henson now. For my money, they were easily one of the best this town has birthed.

The MP3 for this week's feature on Lawrence's swingingest new metal band, Hammerlord, has arrived!

It thrashes. It bashes. It wails. It's the perfect gift for Mother's Day. It cleans your chimney. It cleans your dad's chimney. It cleans your chimney dad. It makes all children resemble Clive Owen. It makes lawn furniture more comfortable. It makes French kissing legal again in Oklahoma. It turns plaid into paisley and paisley into the new symbol of the NOW. It elects Barack Obama's head on Claire McCaskill's body and gives it a John McCain-headed baby to kiss. In short, it may be the best thing to happen to metal since The Nothing. Plus, it's kinda catchy.

MP3: Hammerlord, "Dead City Radio"

"No wimps. No false metal."

Hammerlord singer Stevie Cruz asks that you visit the band's MySpace page and bang your head to three other releases from the upcoming record.

I don'ts gots cables, otherwise I might have plunked myself in front of the tube a couple weeks ago to catch Lawrence band Big Surrender on the Lifetime show Army Wives. And then I might have grown breasts, but it wouldn't have been the band's fault.

Check out the playlist for episode 7, "Uncharted Territory," and go to the band's MySpace to hear the mighty catchy "Empty House."

Cool! But how'd they do it? Read on, friends, read on....

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By FLANNERY CASHILL

Dead Child combine chugging hardcore with heavy metal wails for the ultimate in dude rock.

MP3: Dead Child, "Sweet Chariot," from Attack (Quarterstick Records)

Richard Lloyd, former guitarist for proto-punks Television, gets technical with simian psychedelia.

MP3: Richard Lloyd, "Monkey", from Radiant Monkey (Parasol Records)

More after the jump.

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Photo by Sara McManus from Johannes' MySpace page.

a.k.a "New Song For You To Not Stop Listening To"

The title of the song alone is diamonds.

MP3: "Horserider's Smile" by Suzannah Johannes

When Neil Young went out on that one weekend, he must've met a previous-life Suzannah Johannes. Her sleepy, lilting voice that comes near breaking on verse two, that beautiful old-country guitar lead, the Stray Gators-style rhythm lope, the line I was born with a key in my hand and a horserider's smile/I'll come looking for you in the night and I'll make it worth your while -- this song really is hard to stop listening to, a perfect lowdown ode.

Suzannah's debut EP comes out on vinyl 7-inch and digitally September 2, 2008, courtesy of her label, Range Life Records.

By FLANNERY CASHILL

Titus Andronicus play the Pistol this week, brandishing epic pop songs in the triumphant, fist-pounding tradition of Bruce Springsteen.

MP3: Titus Andronicus, "Titus Andronicus," from The Airing of Grievances (Troubleman Unlimited)

The ACBs perfect the crowd-pleaser with melodic, summertime power pop.

MP3: The ACBs, "Everyone Wants To See You," from the ACBs (self-released)

And Alina Simone chills the blood with her stark guitar melodies and icy vocals.

MP3: Alina Simone, "Siberia," from Prettier in the Dark (Fractured Discs)

Tune in to 90.1 FM tonight from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. to hear Pitch music experts Jason Harper and Crystal Wiebe chat with host Charles Ferruzza about the Kansas City music scene and the ghosts, llamas and fashionistas that populate it, as well as spin lots and lots and lots and lots of music, including, but not limited to the following....

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. “I Think I Wanna Die.”

Koufax. “Strugglers.”

The ACB’s. “Everyone Wants to See You”

Dri. “You Know I Tried.”

The Architects. “New Boots and Truncheons.”

Super Black Market. “Wonderwall (Oasis cover).”

The Beautiful Bodies. “Strut.”

Devil Blare. “The Journeyman.”

The Black Tarantulas. “Outta My Head.”

Rooftop Vigilantes. “Oscar Want 7.”

and more after the jump!

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By FLANNERY CASHILL

Punk rock has a few recurring characters. Nearly every ‘80s band riffed on Reagan, nearly every band now rips on Bush. The Misfits made motifs of JFK and Jackie O, Millions of Dead Cops roasted John Wayne, and I wouldn’t know who Sacco and Vanzetti were if it weren’t for Against All Authority. But I’m tired of political name drops, and partial to more creative tributes, like this track from local late '90s punks the Basement Disasters. Somehow their homage to Gilligan of TV’s Gilligan’s Island transcends kitsch, and the blistering chorus “I! Am! Gilligan!” is sung with such fury that you can almost taste the spittle. I take dumb punk very seriously, which is why I'm awed by lyrics like I wear a white hat/I wear a red shirt/ They think I'm stupid/ One day I'll kill them. Members of the now defunct Basement Disasters went on to other bands including the Black Tarantulas and Ad Astra Per Aspera. Enjoy this now, before the last remaining cassette tape melts on someone's dashboard.

MP3: The Basement Disasters, "Gilligan"

Have old and esoteric MP3s from Kansas City past? Send them my way.

By FLANNERY CASHILL

Supergrass fuse cocksure Britpop with stomping '80s new-wave. The band plays Kemper Arena this Saturday.

MP3: Supergrass, “Rebel in You," from Diamond Hoo Ha (Astralwerks)

Boris flog the Granada with squealing speed metal.

MP3: Boris, “Statement," from Smile (Diwphalanx Records)

More after the jump.

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Earlier this week, Super Black Market arrived at our office dressed like Kevin Spacey from Se7en when he arrived at the police station covered in blood.

We have a shoot-first-interview-later policy at The Pitch. But when we realized the Warrensburg trio just wanted to pass along some new demos, we decided to put the air rifle away and smokum peace pipe.

Listen to the fruits of our temperance after the jump.

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