I'm DJing Otto's Shrunken Head!

I'm DJing a couple upcoming dates at Otto's Shrunken Head - the first, Wednesday, April 30th and then again on Wednesday, May 14. I'll be playing everything from the Zombies to Baroque Bordello to the Horrors to Blitzen Trapper. With special emphasis on our lovely Brits.

Come out, kick back, drink up, and dig the sweet sweet sounds of Access: Interzone. You won't hear this stuff anywhere else in NYC, guaranteed.

iLiKETRAiNS Go Hunting

"We Go Hunting," the latest single from iLiKETRAiNS' brilliant album Elegies to Lessons Learnt, is the most musically upbeat and pop-ish track from that record. But this, of course, is a bit like saying Linda Kasabian was the happiest and most well-adjusted member of the Manson Family since she only drove the getaway car and didn't really mean to kill anyone. (Side note: She didn't technically kill anyone, just watched.)

Despite a somewhat airier sound than the other tracks, the opening lyric on "We Go Hunting" sets the tone: "I curse the day I ever set foot in this god-forsaken town." And the rest of the song goes on to talk about Samuel Parris, a Puritan minister during the Salem Witch Trials (and morally-incongruent father and uncle to two of the child accusers).

iLiKETRAiNS don't make the mistake Parris did with simplistic, black and white thinking, however. "We Go Hunting" is an empathetic portrayal: a father truly worried about his daughter resorting to the only method he thinks will save her. Or, conquer the demons before they conquer you.

All of this translates into a taut yet thunderous and haunting song. More than that, however, "We Go Hunting," like so many of iLiKETRAiNS' songs, highlights the tenuous relationship between fear and morality, between authenticity and cardboard selves. Man versus His Own Nature is perhaps the most critical conflict of all, for what could a man hope to accomplish when he himself is mis-aligned? But then it is probably more complex than that . . .

"We Go Hunting" will be released April 21 to coincide with iLiKETRAiNS' UK tour. If you pre-order with Record Store, a DVD version of the single will be included for free.

*View a timeline and read more about the people and events in Elegies to Lessons Learnt here.*

www.myspace.com/iliketrains

www.iliketrains.co.uk

Mystery Jets Revamp Sound with Twenty One

Sorry for the wait, folks! Couldn't post the review until it appeared first on PopMatters.

The sirens that rumble in the opener of Twenty One, the sophomore album from Eel Pie Islanders Mystery Jets, serve as more than alarms that signal the start of the album. They hint at an ongoing change within the band.

Last year, Henry Harrison, lead singer Blaine’s father, stopped doing live performances indefinitely. He was largely influential on their debut Making Dens, sculpting the band’s sound and writing the majority of their songs. For Twenty One, though, his influence has dwindled significantly, and the resulting divergent path of the Jet’s newest album becomes apparent after listening to even the first few songs.

- Read the rest of the review here.

Listen to Samples:

- Veiled in Grey
- Hideaway