The Hippodrome

It’s really strange what the internet can do to personal space. In my MySpace travels, I came across the intimacies of Richie and the Romantics, a band composed of one Richard John Cyprus the III and a lot of homemade lo-fi recordings. Richie is from Woodland, California, which is a suburb of Sacramento.

I’m having trouble putting my finger on it, but there’s something slightly awry about these recordings that hits a good nerve. Maybe reminiscent of a much sobered up Robert Pollard? Short is sweet.

Audio: Spaceship
Audio: You and I Language

Whew, it’s been a while. This is a pretty sweesh video of New Yorkers Francis and the Lights jiving at Galapagos. The band has an entire EP up for download on their website.

It doesn’t look hip at all. In fact, it looks stuck in the nineties but The Live Music Archive is one of the best places to find live bootlegs. They have almost everything you can think of and it’s all free! The legality could be questioned but when it comes to media legalities this days, what isn’t questioned?

The site is really easy to use! All you have to do is search for whatever artist you want. The results are quick and relevant unlike a lot of other “archive” sites out there. Just today I was able to find some awesome Beirut and Animal Collective bootlegs. You can even find free Creative Commons albums by boss artists like Dan Deacon! It’s a huge resource for the aural senses and I whole-heartedly recommend staying a while here, searching, and listening till your heart is content.

Some notable picks:

Animal Collective at Satellite Ballroom 05.30.07

Dan Deacon- Twacky Cats

Spy Island, Portland’s independent torch bearers of the Apples in Stereo manifesto, have just released their latest disc, Famous Shipwrecks EP. The album will be officially released on April 8, so while this isn’t an exclusive, frontman Dale Nicholls was generous enough to provide me with some tasty advance meats.

The EP sees seven members contribute the usuals plus a little lap steel and saxophone. Think Jason Anderson guesting on a Stars record. The band is also working on their second LP, and if it’s like anything in their past discography, it’ll be a tenderly pieced together collection of basement and living room recordings. Nicholls has his homemade operation, Ginger Gorilla, doing da ‘distro.

Audio: Pink Like Smog
Audio: Small Storm