Non-stop energy. Those are 1.5 words that most writers, including myself use to describe the bombastic yet somewhat kitsch music of Rhode Island based, Math the Band. NPR said it best when describing the band as “Bonkers” before explaining, “The two play with such intensity during live shows, they’ve reportedly suffered seven broken bones and multiple stitches from thrashing around. Now that’s a show.”

So who is this duo? Well it’s Justine Mainville and Kevin Steinhauser, who create catchy 8-bit/electro music that juxtaposes light lyrics and content matter with heavy casio beats. They just returned  from playing their fair share of SxSW shows last week and will be stopping by Ithaca this weekend to play an Ithaca Underground show on Saturday. For fans of acts like: Mates of State, Matt and Kim, Casiotone for the Painfully alone, or hell, Ozma, this is a show not to be missed.

The pair also recently phoned into Ithaca to do an exclusive interview with the Ithaca Underground free zine, read it over here so you know what they mean when they mention candy trail mix this weekend.

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DL: Math the Band – “Why Didn’t You Get A Haircut”

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Ithaca Underground presents:
MATH THE BAND
Beach Parade
Speak Daggers

When: Sat, March 27th at 8 PM sharp
Where: The Shop (312 E Seneca St, Ithaca)
Details: $5,  ALL AGES

While Skipster was in Philadelphia for Joanna Newsom’s set at First Unitarian Church last weekend, we managed a late-night breakfast at a diner full of black trannies. Even more importantly, I grabbed the physical 12″ of Tanlines‘ outstanding new Settings EP, which features some of the year’s most memorable/unnerving cover art. These six tracks — perched somewhere between “dance pop” and “calypso” — have seemed to conspire with the late-March sunshine, soundtracking glimpses of Upstaters jaunting outside in the 45-degree weather as if it were August.

Memory Tapes — who you’ll remember as an MVP of 2009’s chillwave scene — recently contributed a remix to the release of Tanlines’ single “Real Life,” which you can listen to below. His signature bliss-out fares much better here than on his previous redo of Yeasayer’s anthemic “Ambling Alp,” those coruscating synths tempering the song’s overflowing enthusiasm without softening it, coaxing us into its key shrug-off moment: “It was a past life thing, it wasn’t anything at all.”

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DL: Tanlines – “Real Life (Memory Tapes remix)

Settings is out now via True Panther Sounds. Buy it.

Here at Skipster HQ, we keep a backroom full of indentured servants who stay busy generating new content ideas while we sit around and listen to Kate Bush. Finally, we’ve got something fresh and exciting to share with you: Parallax Views, a feature where guest contributors deliver their thoughts on buzzy new indie tracks. Call it Skipster’s first foray into cultural anthropology.

Essentially, our mission with this project is to contextualize the music we focus on within the wider Upstate community. We want opinions from people who have never browsed websites like Pitchfork and Hype Machine, people whose musical interests operate outside the influence of South by Southwest. If there’s anything we dislike about the state of independent music, it’s that cliqueish behavior that keeps so much behind closed doors. We genuinely want to know how what’s happening in this self-contained world is perceived by the outside.

With each new entry, we’ll give a quick background on the contributor followed by his or her responses to a series of prompted questions. Stay tuned.

The weekend has been busy, with Psychedelic Horseshit last Thursday in Rochester, Joanna Newsom in Philly on Friday, and finally City Center, Niao and Spiral Bodies in Ithaca on Saturday. Well…now that it’s Sunday night, I finally have some time to sit back, breathe and realize the weekend and its fun has slipped away. When thinking about tomorrow I’m getting considerably nauseous , however, the one thing I can count on to carry me through the day (a day in which I know will be filled with ridiculous requests and last minute work) is music. Is that corny? Oh my god, it’s so corny.

That said, here are four songs I’m counting on, and if you’re in my boat, hopefully they’ll help you stay afloat too (oh, hai, see what I d1d theRRe?)

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tUne YarDs// Real Live Flesh
(Merrill Garbus AKA tUne YarDs will be hitting Buffalo on April 8th with Xiu Xiu! I’m currently still on the fence in regards to how I feel about Merrill, however I cannot deny her vocal and percussive talent. Formulated opinion TBD.)

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Goldfrapp // Believer
(Off of Head First, out this Tuesday on Mute Records!)

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Gang Gang Dance // House Jam (Hot Chip Remix)
(Gang Gang Dance…oh, how I yearn for their newest album. Currently you can download this Hot Chip remix of “House Jam” on the band’s myspace.)

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Sleigh Bells // Holly
(Sleigh Bells just announced their debut full length, Treats, will be released May 11th on MIA’s own record label, NEET recordings in conjunction with Mom + Pop Music. Seriously, everything about this equation is pure gold. Thank God the bells are hitting Western NY in April to give us a taste of their Treats.)

the gig list is m4d upd4t3dd!

anything we’re missin’ give us a SH000UT!!!

xox s

skipster ally Bob Proehl, local Ithaca promoter under the alias, Automatic Buffalo, sent us this nice reminder about K Recording Artist City Center’s show this Saturday. Considering Bob is a wordsmith, I’d rather let his message stand alone than ruin it! So without further adieu– Bob Proehl, everyone:

So this Saturday, Fred Thomas of Saturday Looks Good to Me brings his new band City Center to Ithaca.  Finally.  Like, I’ve been trying to get Fred back up here since forever o’clock.  The band released its first record last year, and for my money, it was one of the best albums of 2009.  Informed first and foremost by Fred’s uncanny gift for crafting pop melodies, City Center uses those melodies as a sort of map to explore vast sonic landscapes.  There’s a definite Animal Collective influence going on, but City Center remains melodic throughout, setting the listener adrift but never leaving them stranded.

Okay, see that right there?  That’s why I’ll never get a job writing for Pitchfork.  Sigh.

Anyway, it’s a goddamn beautiful album, and having seen Fred perform some of these songs in their more nascent form over two years ago, I can tell you it makes for some pretty compelling performance.  Joining Fred on the bill are NYC minimalist musicians Niao and Spiral Bodies.

Automatic Buffalo presents: City Center
The Giving Tree Cafe, Ithaca (The Old ABC Cafe on Stewart Ave)
When: Saturday, March 20th // Doors: 9 pm
All Ages, $5

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City Center // Heat Isn’t the Word

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City Center // Open House

Erykah Badu’s incredible New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War has aged beautifully since its 2008 release, unusually so considering its Bush-era timeliness and bizarre self-indulgence, and we’re finally about to taste the follow-up. Part Two: Return of the Ankh drops 3/30 on Universal Motown. Get an early look at the mind-bending cover art — in which android Erykah finds a Garden of Eden sprouting out of her head, or something — and grab lead single “Window Seat” below.

Erykah Badu – “Window Seat”

Note: Badu appears 4/6 on The Mo’Nique Show. This sounds like essential viewing… for obvious reasons.

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I thought this would be of interest to our Swedish readers (and yes, I’ve just learned we have quite a few! so hello Swedes, we love you!) and, uh, readers from all over as well…

Swedish Indie Pop star Robyn announced last month that she doesn’t plan on releasing a full-length anytime soon; what she is doing is releasing three shorter EP’s in the next year. The first one will drop in June, the second one will arrive in the fall, with the third one hits your hard drive sometime next Winter. I’m thinking it’s going to be way worth the wait. Last time we gave you a sneak peak of the recently-titled “Dance Hall Queen”, and this time we have “Fembot” — which is also available for listening on her official site.

Check out Pitchfork Media’s very detailed interview with Robyn here, as well as some short videos that document Robyn’s making of these songs over the past year.

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Robyn / “Fembot”

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Robyn / “Be Mine” (Ballad vers.)

Attention all Metric fans and Facebook users! Starting today you can hear two unreleased b-sides from the group on their Facebook page. Apparently the unreleased song “Black Sheep” was written for Fantasies but was left on the cutting floor. However, the band was approached by director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) asking if they’d like to work with Radiohead’s Nigel Godrich to make some music for the movie. Obviously the band said yes, and now the resuscitated “Black Sheep” will be featured in Wright’s upcoming film, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, in what they refer to as “a pivotal scene.”

Check out the official site for more info on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

Hear the song, as well as another unreleased track entitled “The Gates” below. Lastly, I’d like to mention how mushy it makes us feel when metric signs their emails xoxoxoxLOVEmetric. Really! What a stand up group of people!

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Metric / “Black Sheep”

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Metric / “The Gates”

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Thank you to all who came out last Thursday night to see Marissa Nadler and Emily Arin performing at Skipster’s first show. We had a great time and hope you did as well. Hopefully this is the first of many more to come. Hearty thanks to the WildFire Lounge, Luke Fenchel and The Ithaca Post, all musicians who performed, and again, all attendees.

We hope to see you all soon..

love,
mike and scott

P.S. Here are two post-show treats for you to help re-create the night.

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Emily Arin / “The Invitation” (from Slipstream EP)

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Marissa Nadler / “Mexican Summer” (from Songs III: Bird on the Water)