And yet another new category on Jukebox Heart, this time it’s all about the happening. Live Transmission documents shows, and as such, will try to bring live video and other goodies to the table. For the premier event, it was April 28, 2010 at the Middle East Upstairs. Headlining the night was Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, who toured with Magical Beautiful. Opening for both was Vancouver band Yukon Blond. I just wonder why I never thought to do this before. Hmmm.
The intent is to bring you some video slices from the evening’s performances, but, on our Virgin Run, all of the videos’ audio tracks were dramaticlly compressed, so the videos were useless. I know. Lame. Better luck next time. But the show was still exciting, so I wanted to start this off with Casiotone For the Painfully Alone anyway. Instead, I’ve include some tracks from the bands’ studio output.
Yukon Blond were straight ahead, current and tight power-pop with an outstanding drummer who was in spontaneous combustion mode for the band’s last track. Well crafted and expertly performed, but nothing new enough to move dollars from my wallet in exchange for their records.
Opening for CFTPA was Magical, Beautiful who are made up of four members of the CFTPA touring band.
Magical Beautiful “Platform on the Lake”
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/live/cftpa/magbeaut.mp3]
The track above is taken from one of CDs the band was selling at the merch table entitled “Not Building a Wall But Making A Brick.” While I had been filled in about the beauty of Magical Beautiful by friends who had seen the band in DC several days before the show in Boston, they were still an unexpected delight. The band immediately brings to mind an early factory records amalgam of Key of Dreams-era Section 25 and early A Certain Ratio. Lots of synths over a combination of live and electronic drums as well as brass and distant vocals. Very nice! I’m sure you won’t be able to find any of their recordings in stores, so visit the band’s website to learn about their other releases and how to obtain them.
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, on the other hand, was an entirely different venture. Heart-throb Owen Ashworth had a variety of boys and girls swooning in the audience as he retold all of his endearing stories on the stage before us. Owen has a way of taking the experiences we have all had and relating them in a way that we all can appreciate. With song titles such as “It’s Winter and You Don’t Love Me Anymore,” “Tonight Was A Disaster,” “I Should Have Kissed You While I Had The Chance,” and “A Normal Suburban Life Is A Near Impossibility Once You’ve Fallen In Love With An Inernational Spy,” one cannot help but but say “Yeah, that’s me he is singing about!” His unique, decidely lowfi approach provides a living soundtrack, and his deadpan vocal is the default voice in our minds. I’ve included two tracks here. One from an early album “Answering Machine Music”, and a gorgeous electronic instrumental from a more recent EP, Town Topic.
“A Normal Suburban Life Is A Near Impossibility Once You’ve Fallen In Love with an International Spy”
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/live/cftpa/casiotone1.mp3]
“Lesley Gore on the TAMI Show”
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/live/cftpa/casiotone2.mp3]
Owen started CFTPA after he dropped out of film school in 1997. His frst single appeared shortly in 1998. (Want!) The three songs it contained appeared re-recorded on Answering Machine Music. The musical style is characterized by the use of electronically produced beats, cheap keyboards, and slow, frank lyrics. On 2006’s Etiquette album and forward, Owen widened his musical horizon and added more analog instruments and an overall more organic sound. Answering Machine Music was first released in 1999 on Owen’s own label Cassingle USA. It was reissued on Tomlab in 2002 and included four bonus tracks. In 2005, a remastered version of the album, along with a remastered version of Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars, was released on Tomlab as The First Two Albums by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.
Their current tour is just about over; if you missed them this time, don’t let it happen again!