Pela: Waiting at the Stairs (live)

Here's a clip of "Waiting at the Stairs" live taken at SXSW. I'll have lots more up by the soon, including an interview and the contest! Check back.

For now don't forget to check out Anytown Graffiti. You can stream it here.

And if you'd like to purchase Anytown Grafitti, you should purchase it from Insound. Buy at Insound and receive a free mp3 of “Present”, from the iTunes-only “Exit Columbia Street” EP.

Pela: Lost to the Lonesome

Photo credit: Bob Sanderson

MP3--Pela, Lost to the Lonesome

So if you are wondering what Pela sounds like, here is the best place to start. Pela has given A Better Offer permission to post this track as part of our coverage. So grab it while you can.

We recently had a death in the family so I'll be traveling quite a bit for the next few days so my posts may be a little scarce...but stay tuned as I may extend my coverage of Pela because I've got lots to share...

For now check out Pela's tour dates and get out there and see them while you can.

07/11 - Black Cat , Washington, DC
07/12 - Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC
07/13 - Village Tavern, Mt. Pleasant, SC
07/15 - The Earl, Atlanta, GA
07/18 - Schubas, Chicago, IL
07/20 - Buffalo Icon, Buffalo, NY
08/14 - Spaceland, Los Angeles, CA with Film School

08/15 - Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA (tickets) with Film School

08/17 - Douglas Fir, Portland, OR (tickets) with Cloud Cult

08/18 - KEXP BBQ, Seattle, WA (tickets) with a bunch of great bands

08/25 - Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY (tickets) THEY ARE HEADLINING THIS SHOW!

New Featured Artist: Pela

Photo Credit: Bob Sanderson

Ladies and Gentleman, it is my pleasure to announce that I will be covering Pela exclusively for the next two weeks. You can expect all the usual highlights from A Better Offer. I have tour dates, background info, album reviews, an interview with the band, and hopefully another contest! Check back often during the next two weeks, to find out much more about the spectacular band Pela.

If you are completely new to their music, you can stream their new album "Anytown Grafitti" here. Or you can check out the links to the right as to where to hear more Pela. And about their sound--think good old American rock and roll. These guys make brilliant rock music. Their website describes them as being, "guided by the voices of Bruce Springsteen, Hubert Selby, Husker Du, Raymond Carver, The Replacements, Andre Dubus, The Pixies, Wilco, and the Hold Steady, amongst others, Pela’s brand of pastoral punk has been beautifully described as equal parts desperation and inspiration, which they have masterfully crafted into a signature sound."

You can go ahead and make your day by purchasing their music through any of the usual online retailers...

Buy Anytown Graffiti by Pela at Insound

Buy Anytown Graffiti by Pela at Amazon

Buy Anytown Graffiti by Pela at Itunes

Or you can buy the Shifted Sound Volume 1 cd which features "Lost to the Lonesome," by Pela

Gotye: The Winner

Congrats to Sarah, from Portland, Oregon

She is the winner of a copy of "Like Drawing Blood" from Gotye. I'll get your cd out early next week! Thanks to all who entered. It was one of my most successful contests! I had lots of entries.

And if you still have not done so, I strongly suggest you check out Gotye. He is making some of the most creative music around today. It will move you.

Gotye (you can purchase his music here)

Gotye's myspace

And if you missed it, you should check out Faux Pas music also. He remixed one of Gotye's tracks on the upcoming "Mixed Blood" LP.

Gotye: Some final thoughts (and some Basics love thrown in)

So as my coverage of Gotye comes to a close, I hope you have had the chance to listen to his music objectively. Gotye does not easily fit into any category. However, in my opinion, his music is heartfelt, moving, and downright fun to listen to. So if you haven't heard it yet, make sure you scroll down and download a few MP3s, or head over to Shifted Sound to hear the interview and some other tracks. And make sure you continue to check Gotye.com to find out more about the remix album "Mixed Blood."

And Wally posted the following info about his tour on his website...

In response to much demand, 500 more tickets are being released for the Gotye mini orchestra’s matinee performance at Sydney’s Metro Theatre on Sunday July 29.

Also, an extra show at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne will be happening on Friday August 10.

The extra Sydney tickets and new Melbourne show will go on sale at 9am on Wednesday July 4 through Ticketmaster and the venues.

In other news, the Gotye mini orchestra will also be playing a set at Splendour In The Grass on Sunday August 5.

And tomorrow I'll announce the winner of a cd copy of "Like Drawind Blood," by Gotye! There is still time to enter. All you have to do is send me an email to thetwomirrors@yahoo.com by tonight at midnight with the subject "Gotye" and your mailing address. And in the body of the email answer this question...

Where will Gotye play on August 10th?

And I'll randomly choose a winner tomorrow morning.

And finally, I would be a failure if I didn't mention that Wally was also in another band that you may enjoy. The band is called The Basics and they are much more of a straightforward rock band, but somehow find a way to infuse more types of music into their music than humanly possible. Check out the Basics here.

Gotye: The tour, a contest, and A Better Offer interview

For the record today's post was going to be about Gotye's tour (which I will still write about) but Wally sent back his responses to my interview questions. So you get a double post today, which I'll leave up through the 4th of July holiday. And there is contest information and the end of this post.

This tour is set to kick off on July 26th. Wally will be hitting the four corners (so to speak) of Australia in a little more than two weeks. All the shows have sold out--which is a huge accomplishment--but some more tickets will be released on July 4th (tomorrow). Gotye will be accompanied by a "mini orchestra" and Mountains in the Sky will be opening. And according to Wally you can expect "an audiovisual treat featuring strings, skins, saxes and axes, not to mention projections and reflections (that’s lights yo)" Those of you in Australia better get out there and see at least one of these shows. They are sure to be amazing. The dates are...

Jul 26 2007
8:00P
Fly By Night - SOLD OUT
Perth, Western Australia

Jul 27 2007
8:00P
Fly By Night - SOLD OUT
Perth, Western Australia

Jul 28 2007
8:00P
The Metro - SOLD OUT
Sydney, New South Wales

Jul 29 2007
2:00P
The Metro (Matinee all ages show from 2pm) - MORE TICKETS RELEASED ON WED JULY 4
Sydney, New South Wales

Jul 29 2007
8:00P
The Metro - SOLD OUT
Sydney, New South Wales

Aug 3 2007
8:30P
The Powerhouse (all ages) - SOLD OUT
Brisbane, Queensland

Aug 4 2007
8:00P
The Powerhouse (all ages) - SOLD OUT
Brisbane, Queensland

Aug 5 2007
8:00P
Splendour In The Grass - SOLD OUT
Byron Bay, New South Wales

Aug 9 2007
8:00P
Governor Hindmarsh - SOLD OUT
Adelaide, South Australia

Aug 10 2007
8:00P
The Athenaeum - TICKETS ON SALE WEDNESDAY JULY 4
Melbourne, Victoria

Aug 11 2007
8:00P
The Athenaeum - SOLD OUT
Melbourne, Victoria

Aug 12 2007
2:00P
The Athenaeum (Matinee all ages show from 2pm) - SOLD OUT
Melbourne, Victoria

Aug 12 2007
8:00P
The Athenaeum
Melbourne, Victoria

So, Wally from Gotye is simply one of the nicest (and busiest) people on the planet. Since Shelby from Shifted Sound conducted such a great interview last week, I decided to focus in on one Gotye track in my interview and go in depth into that song. The song I chose was "Hearts A Mess" from the Like Drawing Blood LP. If you have not heard the song yet, here's the MP3 again.

ABO: Can you talk a little about the inspiration for "Heart's A Mess".

Wally: A broken relationship. Ruminating on my attempt to feel alright afterwards. One night stands versus longer term meaningful relationships. Oh...and a loop from a 60s record ;)

ABO: One of my favorite things about this track, and your music as a whole, is your ability to push the limits (lyrically and sonically). You seem to be able to take listeners to a place that's almost uncomfortable, yet not cross the line. Can you talk a little about that moment in "Hearts A Mess" where you sing, "But I'm desperate to connect..."

Wally: Sometimes pop songs have a key moment. I guess in Hearts A Mess it's that line/vocal. I think I was pretty aware that I needed to usher the listener into a tension/buildup towards that moment. I believe the radio edit (available on Gotye's MySpace) does that"ushering" less effectively because it gets to the chorus too early. That vocal is the top of my range, where my voice starts to break up, but if I keep it together it can have a certain power to it I guess. Perhaps I captured something special in that final take.

ABO: What about the technical aspects of this song? Can you talk a little about the samples used, instrumentation, and how it will play out live. I know you mentioned that you really never intended to play these songs live, and I'm interested in hearing how you expect this track to play out live.

Wally: This particular track has proven very difficult to play live. Specifically the main loop of drums and bass. Sometimes samples have some idiosyncratic vibe/sound that just can't be recreated/reinterpreted without gutting your song. In the end I've decided to use the loop from a sampler live. It's augmented by my live vocals, live bass, drums and string quartet.

ABO: Is there anything else the readers at A Better Offer should know about this track?

Wally: It's missing an apostrophe (Hearts A Mess). Should technically be "Heart's A Mess". But I'm gonna stick with the apostropheless spelling :)

And now for the contest...I have a copy of "Like Drawing Blood" that Wally is sending my way to give away to one lucky listener. Just send me an email (thetwomirrors@yahoo.com) with the subject line "Gotye" and answer this question.

Where will Gotye play on August 10th?

Make sure to send me your mailing address also (its open to anyone who reads A Better Offer regardless of where you live) and I'll announce the winner on Saturday. Good Luck!

Gotye: Faux Pas remixes "Coming Back"

Gotye will release a remix version of his acclaimed record, "Like Drawing Blood" soon. The remix album is entitled "Mixed Blood." It is not your typical remix album in the sense that it will have remixes, covers, reinterpretations, and more from a number of different artist. Last week on Shifted Sound Shelby played the ENS remix of Puzzle with a Piece Missing (which is exceptionally beautiful) that will be featured on the album. You can check that out here. The full track list follows...

Joe Hardy - Hearts A Mess (3AM remix)
Karnivool - The Only Way (cover)
ENS - Puzzle With A Piece Missing (remix)
DLake - Hearts A Mess (Electro-Baltimore Club remix)
Faux Pas - Get Acquainted (A Distinctive Sound remix)
Bass Kleph - Learnalilgivinanlovin (That’ll Learn ‘Em remix)
Bitrok - Thanks For Your Time (remix)
Infusion - The Only Thing I Know (remix)
Duosseudo - Hearts A Mess (remix)
Rocky Lolo - Seven Hours With A Backseat Driver (Way Back When remix)
King Charlie - Out Of My Mind (Oceans of Dub remix)
Velure - Puzzle With A Piece Missing (cover/remix)
Inga Liljestrom - Coming Back (cover)
Fourth Floor Collapse - Worn Out (Worn Out Blues cover/remix)

But here at A Better Offer, I strive for a little more than the typical. And through a serious of misspellings and emails, I came in contact with an you fella named Tim. Tim happens to be the brains behind the acclaimed Faux Pas (who was also played on Shifted Sound). And Tim has given A Better Offer permission to post a web exclusive remix that he did for the Gotye track "Coming Back." This track did not end up on "Mixed Blood," but another one of Faux Pas remixes did. Anyways check out the remix below and check out Faux Pas music as well. I think you'll be delighted.

Coming Back (Faux Pas remix)