News: August 2011: Elm City PopFest, Dexter Poindexter

PUSH IS ON FOR ELM CITY POPFEST
New Haven’s Elm City PopFest will return for a third installment this September. We’ll have four shows in four nights at three locations in New Haven. We’re happy to have teamed up with other local promoters and bloggers — Manic Productions and New Haven Music — to put together this mini-festival. The festival is heavy with local pop talent and will also feature folk, Americana, punk and noise rock bands. We like to keep our definition of “pop” pretty broad. Some bands of note that will be performing will be Eternal Summers (Roanoke, Va./Kanine Records), Reading Rainbow (Philadelphia/HoZac Records), Dream Diary (NYC/Kanine Records), Boy Genius (NYC), 28 Degrees Taurus (Allston, Mass.) and EULA (NYC/New Haven). The tentative schedule is below. For more information, check out the ECPF blog at elmcitypopfest.wordpress.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
@ BAR, 254 Crown St., New Haven, Conn.
9 p.m., FREE, 21+

Collaboration with Manic Productions
Reading Rainbow (Philadelphia/HoZac Records)
Eternal Summers (Roanoke, Va./Kanine Records)
Ghost of Chance (New Haven)

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
@ Popeye’s Garage, 50 Goffe St., New Haven, Conn.
$5. All ages.

28 Degrees Taurus (Allston, Mass.)
EULA (NYC/New Haven)
The Field Recordings (Conn.)

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
@ Cafe Nine, 250 State St., New Haven, Conn.
9 p.m. $5. 21+

Sidewalk Dave (New Haven, Conn.)
Dream Diary (NYC/Kanine Records)
The Inclined Plane (Hartford, Conn.)
+1 TBA

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
@ Cafe Nine, 250 State St., New Haven, Conn.
9 p.m. $5. 21+

Boy Genius (NYC) featuring Mr. Ray Neal
The Cavemen Go (New Haven, Conn./Boston, Mass.)
Jamestown, The First Town In America (Yale/New Haven, Conn.)
+1 TBA

In addition, Elm City PopFest will be preparing for the event with two warm-up shows in August. We’re pleased to be putting on our first show in Hartford, and returning to a favorite venue in New Haven.

PRE-SHOW: SATURDAY, AUGUST 6
@ Elm Bar, 372 Elm St., New Haven, Conn.
9 P.M., $3. 21+

The Tyler Trudeau Attempt (NYC/New Haven, Conn.)
Dead Wives (New Haven, Conn.)
Celebrated Tigers (New Haven, Conn.)

PRE-SHOW: SATURDAY, AUGUST 13
@ Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Ave., Hartford, Conn.
8 P.M. (doors @ 7:30 p.m.), $6 or $5 with a canned good. All ages.

Collaboration with CT Indie
The Guru (Watertown, Conn.)
Teens Across The North featuring Jason Bourgeois (Northampton, Mass.)
Girls In The Boy Scouts (Hartford, Conn.)

DEXTER POINDEXTER SELF-TITLED FULL LENGTH NOW STREAMING
Dexter Poindexter’s upcoming full-length is now streaming at February Records’ bandcamp. Dexter Poindexter is Tommy Komorowski, hailing from the suburbs of Chicago. He records pop gems in his parents’ basement. After a release on WeePOP and a digital single on February Records, Dexter Poindexter is ready to release his debut full-length of sweet, sunny tunes. Beerandbands blog had this to say about the February Records single: If you like your bands jangly, a little bit country, and full of joy and chorus that’ll stay with you, then this is right up your street. The physical release is expected late summer/early fall of this year.

Elm City PopFest: Hartford warm-up show

Check out the ECPF blog for information about the second warm-up show at the Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford.

Elm City PopFest: New Haven warm-up show

Check out the ECPF blog for information on the first of two August warm-up shows.

New release: “Gypsy Paw” by Eastern Phoebes

FEB027: “Gypsy Paw” — Eastern Phoebes
1. Old Toronto
2. Combat Missile Diploma
3. Gypsy Paw
4. LeBron’s Lament
5. I’m Gonna Bite Your Head Off When I’m Done Making Love To You

Download FEB027

Eastern Phoebes began as the home recording project of a Long Island, NY, couple: multi-instrumentalist/producer Ry Smith and holistic health guru Meg Bayley.

In January 2010, Ry started recording songs he had been writing in their loft apartment. He asked Meg to help sing and clap on a bunch of tunes, and the band was formed.

Eastern Phoebes released their self-titled five-track EP that summer — a CD-R in a handmade cardboard envelope with artwork by Andy Drake. A second EP, “Rods of Energy,” was released digitally in December of the same year. Through the group’s alternative means of self-promotion (random endearing posts on Craigslist), the EP began to attract listeners both regionally and nationally. In February 2011, Ry and Meg recorded “Wampum,” their debut full-length. Written and recorded entirely within the month, the album was he band’s entry for the RPM Challenge (http://rpmchallenge.com). It was released on March 1st as a free digital download. Recently, Ry and Meg joined forces with two of their dearest friends, guitarist/bassist Rick Kattermann and drummer Frank Filipo, to create the performing version of Eastern Phoebes.

“Gypsy Paw” offers 5 sunny folk-pop tunes that are catchy and charming. Eastern Phoebes have a way of being touching and comical in the same breath.

RIYL: One Happy Island, Beulah, Fruit Bats, The Boy Least Likely To, Andrew Bird

Exclamation Point, Period:

These tunes are the kind that power up the sun and make the snow melt.

Fensepost:

Eastern Phoebes have pieced together a release to rival the lighter moments of Beulah, the catchier pop side of Michael Nau and the early days of Elephant 6.

The Lucid Listener:

Give them a cramped room full of random forgotten instruments, and they will give you an album full of love, humility and maybe even a cup of hot herbal tea.

Elm City PopFest: Band announcement No. 4

More bands announced over on the ECPF blog … collaboration with Manic Productions.

Elm City PopFest: Band announcement No. 3


More bands announced over at the Elm City PopFest blog. Check it out.

Elm City PopFest: Band announcement No. 2

Check out the Elm City PopFest blog for the second round of band announcements.

Elm City PopFest: Band announcement No. 1


Check out the Elm City PopFest blog for the first round of band announcements. This year’s fest will happen Sept. 14-17, 2011.

New release: “If” by Even Artichokes Have Hearts

FEB019: “If” — Even Artichokes Have Hearts
a. If
b. Summer

Download FEB019

Even Artichokes Have Hearts just want to be your friends. The dreamy love children of Joan Baez and the Andrews Sisters, these two girls from New Haven believe in the healing power of the ukulele. They specialize in quirky folk-pop with a sense of humor and share a sweet tooth for chocolate and puns.

Chloe Sarbib (vocals, tambourine, and accordion) and Sarah DeLappe (vocals and ukulele) met at Yale University. They began playing music when they spent a summer together making movies in Prague and farming in the South of France. Needless to say, it was love at first sight. They’ve been making sweet pop music together ever since.

“If” is a whimsical pop gem — complete with ba-ba-ba’s — bringing to mind innocent childhood friendships. The backing track, “Summer,” is a breezy, dreamy song perfect for the season it’s named after.

RIYL: Allo Darlin’, One Happy Island, Joan Baez, She & Him, Regina Spektor,
Joanna Newsom, The Weepies, Ingrid Michaelson, The Andrews Sisters

January 11, 2011: Short feature on F*ck Yeah! Go Team! blog:

The most frustrating thing about returning to Connecticut is that 98% of anyone who plays an instrument in this state chooses the wrong path, and that 99% of the listening population here could give a shit. That’s fine. I gave up trying to change that a long time ago, but every now and then you get a glimmer of hope and today I present the new brightness: Even Artichokes Have Hearts. … Two pals just killing it sweetly …

New release: “Catch Me When I Fall” by Bangkutaman

FEB024: “Catch Me When I Fall” — Bangkutaman
a. Catch Me
b. Train Song

Download FEB024

Bangkutaman, which taken from Bahasa Indonesia with the meaning “park bench,” was originally formed by J. Irwin and Bayu Prabowo in 1999 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The band members are J. Irwin (lead guitar and backing vocal), Wahyu “Acum” Nugroho (lead vocal and bass guitar) and Dedyk Erianto (drums).

After 10 years together, Bangkutaman is ready to branch out beyond their native Indonesia and introduce the world to their 1960s-’70s rock’n'roll sound. The band sites American and British influences such as The Velvet Underground, The Byrds, Led Zeppelin, The Beach Boys, Donovan and The Who, as well as some of their Indonesian pop contemporaries.

RIYL: The Velvet Underground, The Byrds, Bob Dylan