3 posts tagged “the panda band”
Lucky you: The Panda Band is in town. And, by town, I mean North America. The melodious boys from Perth are in the States for an indefinite amount time -- to record, tour, act obnoxious, look cute, etc. So, here's a chance (or three) to see them live, before they skedaddle back to Western Australia. Whenever that may be. I don't think it's anytime soon, though.
As you may recall, the Panda Band had previously been mentioned by Vu, in his Perth Bands podcast and entry, and by Jason, in his Halloween songs post. They're a whimsical five-piece comprised by members of Rollerskates, Eye Spy, and band-of-one Damian Crosbie. Since the 2005 release of their first ep, Sleepy Little Death Toll Town, they've garnered love, praise, and a few awards -- as well as spots on tours with The Grates, The Sleepy Jackson, and Gomez.
In 2006, The Vital Chapter, their first full-length cd, was released. An ep, Pioneer, appeared in late 2007. (I think that you can pick up the latter at their shows. I can't find it on-line.)
The January 18th (tomorrow!) show at The Delancey in NYC is a 21 and older gig, but actually only costs $7, which is a good deal for four bands. Also gracing the stage that night will be the Massachusetts' triple threat of Baker, Harris, and Township. (Unintentionally sounding like points on a map.)
But, if you can't make it or feel particularly thrifty, on Saturday, January 19th, the Panda Band will be playing a free show at the Penguin Store in NYC at 3 PM.
They'll be at the Burke Mountain Ski Resort in Vermont on February 2nd.
Dates pop-up randomly, so keep an eye on the Panda Band's MySpace page for any new shows.
Wishing you an enviable year, Cristina
P.S. It's the Panda Band's guitarist's birthday on Friday. If you go to the gig, buy him a drink.. or show him some nip. Hairy man-nip is ok, too.
Here's my contribution for Halloween related music. I had an idea to post songs that were created specifically for Halloween, can be interpreted as Halloween songs, or conjure up images of Halloween. Hopefully you agree.
Belaire
"Haunted Castle" from Haunted Castle 7"
First up is Belaire's "Haunted Castle" from their out-of-print 7-inch with the same title. It's a perfect Halloween inspired song and the lyrics are quite straight-forward so there's no need for explanation.
Official Website | MySpace | Label | W♥M Post
"Skulls" from BlackBlack EP 2
BlackBlack's "Skulls" is a Misfits cover about wanting and needing skulls. Instead of the high-energy, upbeat, punk sound, they covered it as a down-tempo, slow, dull (not in a bad way, it fits the tempo), rock song.
Official Website | MySpace
"Skeleton Song" from Made of Bricks
Kate Nash's "Skeleton Song" is a happy sounding, upbeat, pop song about love, though you don't have to view it that way. Since it's Halloween, you can view it as some weird relationship with a live skeleton.
Official Website | Virb | MySpace | Label
"The Dandy Cowboys" from Not Sokute - EP
"The Dandy Cowboys" adds to the wonderful songs that Soko creates. It's a love song about a cowboy couple in which a lady is telling a man how much she loves him... or does she?
Virb | MySpace
"Ghosts Have the Best Time" from This Vital Chapter
I'm not exactly sure what this song's about, but I guess if you're dressing up for Halloween, go as a ghost.
MySpace | Label
Jarvis Cocker
"Black Magic" from Jarvis
"Black Magic" is about that dark magic that "blows your mind away and takes you somewhere that you wanna stay".
Official Website | MySpace | Label | W♥M Posts
"October Leaves (October)" from Album of the Year
"October Leaves" isn't about or related to Halloween, but I thought it was a good song to segue away from Halloween. It's a beautiful song about someone acting differently around their partner around this time of the year; "everything's changed."
Official Website | MySpace | Label
| Happy Halloween! | Posted by Jason |
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Podcast Footnotes [1] blog.myspace.com [2] bielerbros.com |
Wow, can you believe Google is down for almost four hours now? I had to use alternate search engines. Remember Alta Vista? They offer an MP3 search feature!
Anyway, in my second of series of interviews for W♥M Podcast (which have been moved to weheartmusic.mypodcast.com), I spoke with Jason Namour, who tells us a little about the music scene from Perth, Australia, and his days when he started www.perthband.com.
Below are all the Perth bands that were mentioned in the Podcast:
♥ The Panda Band
www.thepandaband.com | myspace.com/thepandaband
Band Members: Damian Crosbie (Vox, Guitars), David 'Rufus' Namour (Bass), Steve Callan (Keys/Synth), Chris Callan (Guitar), and Gabriel Nicotra (Drums)
Originally called Philius Phog in the late 90s, they tried to reform as another band before ending up as the Panda Band in 2003.
Currently signed to Filter Magazine's Record label for US distribution.
♥ The Sleepy Jackson
thesleepyjackson.com | myspace.com/thesleepyjackson
Band Members: Luke Steele, Malcolm Clark, Lee Jones, Dave Symes, and Felix Blossom.
One of Perth's most well-known band, they were nominated for the ARIA Awards in 2003 and 2006, but didn't win in either categories for either of their two albums.
The band got their name from an ex-drummer whose name was obviously Jackson and was narcoleptic.
♥ Eskimo Joe
www.eskimojoe.net | myspace.com/eskimojoemusic
Band Members: Kavyen Temperley, Stuart MacLeod, Joel Quartermain
The most popular Australian band among all the bands we mentioned here. Their albums have gone gold and double-platinum.
They're slowly charting at 160 on the CMJ Top 200[1].
Yeah... I've never heard of them either :/
♥ Karnivool
karnivool.com.au | myspace.com/karnivool
Band Members: Ian Kenny (vox), Andrew "Drew" Goddard (guitars), Mark Hosking (guitars), Jon Stockman (bass), and Steve Judd (drums).
When asked where the name "Karnivool" came from, guitarist Drew said:
That's one question I can never answer very well, as the name Karnivool was around before even I was in the band. Kenny originally played guitar and sang with a couple of lads from his high school, Brett and Andrew. They used to play Nirvana and Carcass covers and had a few originals floating around, as well as the name Karnivool which they used loosely as band name for when they played at their local high school parties.[2]
They are currently on tour in the South area of the US.
♥ Snowman
www.thesnowmanempire.com | myspace.com/thesnowmanempire
Band Members: Andy Citawarman (guitar/vox), Joseph McKee (guitar/vox/trumpet), Olga Hermanniusson (bass), and Ross DiBlasio (drums)
What makes this band interesting is that each member was born in different countries. They are from Indonesia, England, Iceland and Australia.
They're currently on tour in September and October. Unfortunately, they're only touring in Australia.
September 16, 2007 1:25 AM
vu
my♥posts
vu@weheartmusic.com
www.thepandaband.com
