Posts tagged ‘Generationals’
GENERATIONALS 3D EXPERIENCE TOUR 2011
Generationals are doing a couple shows around the Midwest in January, including a date for Chicago’s TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS series at Schubas on January 12th (with Magic Kids, Pet Lions, and In Tall Buildings). I am rearranging some things to try and be there and so should you!
Check out this snazzy tour poster created by Scott Campbell
I want one! And if you haven’t already, buy their latest EP Trust for only $2.99. That’s not a bargain, that’s a steal!
TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS 2011: EPIC TIMES AHEAD
Every year, hundreds of bands trek from all over the world to play SXSW and CMJ in hopes of becoming the latest and greatest blog darling. And every year, the person currently typing these words on her bruised and battered sony vaio** complains about the lack of love the Midwest receives in terms of touring bands and festivals*.
But for the last five years, Schubas (and now sister venue Lincoln Hall too!) have presented TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS, a winter music festival showcasing some of the best up-and-coming bands from around the world. This year, one particular blogger hit bank with the lineup. Many have been using the old phrase “happy as a clam” to describe her feelings about TNK 2011.
TNK 2011 will take place Wednesday January 12th through January 16th at Schubas and Lincoln Hall. For the first time ever, the festival has also partnered with the Metro to bring Chicago even more good times! Initial lineup below!
Chicago Reader & Threadless present TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS 2011
JANUARY 12th
Schubas: Special Guest / Generationals / Drink Up Buttercup / Pet Lions
Lincoln Hall: The Helio Sequence / Special Guests
JANUARY 13th
Lincoln Hall: The Besnard Lakes / Special Guest / Lia Ices / A Lull
Schubas: Markéta Irglová / Sam Amidon / Jeremy Messersmith / Special Guest
JANUARY 14th
Lincoln Hall: MYSTERY JETS / Title Tracks / Special Guests
Schubas: Special Guest / Fol Chen / BRAHMS / Special Guest
Metro: Freddie Gibbs / Rita J / Special Guests
JANUARY 15th
Schubas: The Boogers (early show)
Schubas: The Concretes / The Red River / special guest (late show)
Lincoln Hall: Handsome Furs / Special guest
January 16th
Schubas: Human Tim And Robot Tim (early show)
Schubas: S. Carey / Darwin Deez / Young Man / Sea of Bees (late show)
Lincoln Hall: Little Dragon / Alex Winston
FOR SHOW TIMES, AGE RESTRICTIONS and MORE INFO about the bands, the venues or TNK, please visit the official page on SCHUBAS.COM
TO PURCHASE TICKETS (INCLUDING 5-DAY PASSES), CLICK HERE!!!!
January 14th, see you home slices there.
**if people can namedrop their macs, why can’t i namedrop my vaio?
* i guess it’s all very subjective
New tune from Generationals!
Me professing my love for Generationals on this blog is nothing new, so I’ll spare you the fangirling and get right to the goods! The band have recently released the title-track off their upcoming EP Trust, released November 9th courtesy of Park The Van, and it’s the PERFECT song to help us all segue into the cold, harsh winter after three months of sun and fun.*
In true Generationals fashion, “Trust” is laden with bright guitars, a catchy bass line, and vocals that sound sweet as saccharine. It all comes together so wonderfully, creating a warming, notalgia-inducing pop song, cleverly veiling lyrics that hint at something far darker.
DOWNLOAD Generationals – “Trust”
*Here in the midwest, we seem to skip over fall and go straight from summer to winter. It’s really a shame, fall happens to be my favorite time of year.
10 favorite albums of 2009
It just occurred to me that I never got around to making this post. Whoops? We’re a month and a half (ish) through the new year and it kind of seems pointless to do it now, but it makes my last post about “albums I quite liked” seem super awkward all on its own. I’m going to post my favorite albums of the year FOR REAL now.
As I was writing the first little paragraph about Phrazes for the Young (SPOILER ALERT), I realized my babbling would be too time consuming considering how late in the game I’m coming around to this task. By now, who really cares right? So of course the obvious solution to my too-long-to-write conundrum was writing…….HAIKUS! Oh my gaawwddd. That’s just how my brain works, don’t ask. So yeah anyway, I wrote a crappy little haiku about each album on my top ten for your (and my) amusement. I don’t claim to be an artsy poet, I’m just a girl who hasn’t been sleeping much and comes up with stupid ideas that seem funny at the time. Let’s do this.
I’ve decided to play favorites this time around, with No. 1 being my personal “album of the year” or whatever. In a way, this list is almost as arbitrary as the last because, if I’m being perfectly honest, I spent most of the year listening to the same three or four albums on loop and squeezed in some of the lower-ranked numbers every now and then. It’s not like I love them that much less, it’s just that some own my soul more than others. That’s just how my heart works.
Just a heads up, there is no Animal Collective or Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Grizzly Bear or whatever on my list. Guess I missed the boat on that stuff.
#10: Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young
Love not there at first.
Words and synth sounds found my heart.
I wait for The Strokes.
#9: Fanfarlo – Reservoir
A long time coming.
Magnificent collection.
Feel it in your heart.
#8: Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
Awesome musicians.
Pastoral feelings evoked.
Love the mandolin.
#7: Generationals – Con Law
A random listen.
Sounds are nice, feels like sunshine.
Everyone should love.
#6: The Fiery Furnaces – I’m Going Away
Like Gallowbird’s Bark.
Still crazy but not like Choir.
So misunderstood.
#5: Dead Man’s Bones – Dead Man’s Bones
Love lives, ghost children.
Some actors make real music.
Surprised? Yeah me too.
#4: Jamie T – Kings & Queens
Epic excitement.
A genius lyricist.
Need album three please.
#3: Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring
Brokenhearted man.
Maturing musicianship.
Beautiful release.
#2: The Maccabees – Wall of Arms
Changes were coming.
Bigger, bolder sounds. Growing.
Always be there, love.
#1: Regina Spektor – Far
Would there be new songs?
Ruler of the universe.
Never disappoints.
Generationals tour the US once more!
Generationals will be supporting The Apples in Stereo on their Spring tour. Bummer that it’s not their own tour, but yay for more exposure!
Apr 16 Cosmic Charlie’s – Lexington, Kentucky
Apr 17 123 Pleasant Street – Morgantown, West Virginia
Apr 18 The Rock & Roll Hotel – Washington, DC, Washington DC
Apr 20 Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia
Apr 21 Bowery Ballroom – New York, New York
Apr 23 Middle East Underground – Cambridge, Massachusetts
Apr 24 Castaway’s – Ithaca, New York
Apr 25 Bug Jar – Rochester, New York
Apr 27 Grog Shop – Cleveland, Ohio
Apr 28 The Pike Room at The Crofoot – Pontiac, Michigan
Apr 30 Lincoln Hall – Chicago, Illinois
May 1 Turf Club – St. Paul, Minnesota
May 3 Turner Hall – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
May 4 Billiken Club – St. Louis, Missouri
Only time will tell if my financial situation will allow me to attend the show at Lincoln Hall (it’s sad when $14 seems pretty steep), BUT YOU SHOULD GO AND SEE THEM BECAUSE THEY’RE VERY VERY GOOD LIKE A WARM SUNNY DAY.
Favorite songs of 2009, finally.
Yeah, I pretty much failed at life when it came to keeping up with my favorite-songs-of-the-year-advent-calendar idea. My bad. At first, it was easy to blame exams and schoolwork. But by the end of the month, my laziness was to blame. And life. I actually had what seemed like a life for a couple days there, it was weird.Then the holidays, can’t forget those.
New Year’s Resolution? Finish these posts and try not to neglect this poor blog. So, let’s roll. I will try to keep commentary to a minimum since there’s quite a few songs to go through.
14. Emmy The Great – Two Steps Forward
“Two Steps Forward” is yet another example of Emmy the Great’s songwriting talent. This is one of Emmy’s older songs that didn’t make it onto her debut album First Love, but it was included on the Edward EP released back in August. I highly recommend you watch the Black Cab Sessions performance of this song.
15. No Doubt – Stand and Deliver (Adam Ant cover)
This year, No Doubt returned and my heart could barely handle it. 2010 will (hopefully) see the band release a new album and I will get to experience more of this. YES PLEASE.
16. Jack Peñate – Let’s All Die
Who doesn’t love a good party jam about death? Hm? I wasn’t exactly head-over-heels for Peñate’s Everything Is New, but “Let’s All Die” was one of my favorite tunes from the album. It wasn’t until after seeing Peñate live that it definitely became my favorite from the album. It’s just too much fun.
17. Jamie T – Sticks ‘n Stones
For the longest time, I had this dinky little live recording of “Sticks N Stones” and of course I loved it, but I had no idea the power this song would have over me once my ears experienced a proper quality recording. HOLY SHIT. This song was born to be on repeat. When I feel like life is kicking my ass, “Sticks N Stones” is there to help me kick life right back, square in the balls. It’s like my own personal “Eye of the Tiger” but a million times better. People, there’s a reason Jamie T is KING.
18. Generationals – Nobody Could Change Your Mind
I like happy music. I really really do. And you know who made some damn good happy music this year? Generationals.
19. Slow Club – When I Go
There’s something very beautiful about the way Charles and Rebecca’s voices complement each other as they sing about back-up plans for love and life.
20. The Lullaby Club – Batman and Robin
The Lullaby Club were a 2009 musical discovery who are still quite a mystery to me. They were a random friend request on the ol’ myspace and for some odd reason instead of hitting the usual ‘ignore/delete’ button on band requests (like I did 98% of the time), I decided to click and have a listen. There was close to nothing on their page, just a link that led nowhere and a couple songs. And as luck would have it, the songs were rather good. If you’re a fan of the whole folk/pop/happiness thing, you might really dig them. There’s something quite familiar about the vocals and I’ve tried to find more information on the band, but my google searches have yielded nothing. If you know anything, please fill me in.
21. Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring
I think I’ve made my feelings about this song pretty clear on previous posts. Something about it being so good I want to have babies with the song, or whatever. This summer I discovered that one of the greatest ways to listen to this song is while driving through a thunderstorm, darkened clouds and lightning in the distance, with thunder roaring just as the song reaches its climactic ending. Talk about epic. Totally helps you forget about the possibility of hydroplaning, crashing, and dying.
22. Peggy Sue – Lover Gone
Sometimes when people break up, they write bitter, hurtful songs about their ex-lover. Sometimes when people break up, they write nice songs about their ex-lover and how there’s no hard feelings since ultimately it was for the best. This is one of those songs. 2010 will be a good year for Peggy Sue as it will see the release of their first album Fossils and Other Phantoms. Excitement!
23. The Maccabees – No Kind Words
It was the first taste of what was to come from The Maccabees on their second album Wall of Arms and mother-eff if it didn’t leave you wanting more! Recently, the boys reworked the tune with Roots Manuva and the result, “Empty Vessels,” will be featured on a special reissue of the album in early 2010.
24. Johnny Flynn – Lost & Found
This whole year has been a tease of what Johnny Flynn has in store for his second album, set for release sometime in 2010. Sweet jesus, I am excited!
25. Regina Spektor – The Calculation
Alright, I intentionally saved the best for last. OMG REGINA?! WHAT A SHOCKER! Part of the excitement in a new Regina Spektor album is (a) not knowing how she’s changed up some of her “classics” and (b) not knowing how many songs will actually be brand new songs no one has ever heard before in any way, shape, or form. “The Calculation” was one of the latter. In classic Regina fashion, she wrote a whimsical love story jampacked with Spektoresque metaphors that manages to be as catchy as it is beautiful. Since May, I’ve listened to “The Calculation” at least once a day everyday and I’ve been happy for at least three minutes.
BAM! Done. Better late than never, right? For songs 1-13, check out the tags.
