Casiotone for the Painfully Alone @ BOTH

I discovered Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (henceforth referred to as Casiotone in this entry, just for brevity's sake) fairly recently. It was one of the bands that I found by clicking through a lot of "similar artists" and neighbors on last.fm, until I finally ended up on Casiotone's page. I downloaded some songs, and immediately was taken by the simplicity and airy feeling his songs gave off. They are enchanting little pop/electronic ditties that create a small kingdom of their own.

The brains behind Casiotone, Owen Ashworth, started to make music on a small casio keyboard back in 1997. His first two albums, "Answering Machine Music" and "Pocket Symphonies for Lonely Subway Cars," were made using nothing but small, battery-operated keyboards and Ashworth's own voice (along with occasional accompaniment by guest musicians). These early albums are now available on one CD, appropriately titled "The First Two Albums by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone." After this, he has released numerous EPs and albums, all to the happiness of those who follow his steady beats and lyrical style.

Owen is coming to Bottom of the Hill this coming Wednesday. Definitley head down and check it out.
He will be playing with
Papercuts and DJ Matt Bonar

Info:
Wednesday, December 5th
9:00 PM (doors a t 8:30 PM)
$10
All-ages

And now, for your listening pleasure:
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Young Shields
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - When You Were Mine

Los Campesinos! at the Great American Music Hall

Los Campesinos! will be performing tonight at the Great American Music Hall. This is their first show in San Francisco, and their first set of three tour dates in the United States. The seven-piece band hails from Cardiff, England and only picked up instruments to form the band in early 2006.
Los Campesinos! (meaning "the peasants" in Spanish) sounds like a fresh mix of indie pop vocals and instrumentals. Don't write them off as just another pretentious twee band, even if members have taken Campesino! as their surname pseudonyms. No, this band's got wit and indie cred. The opening lyrics to "You! Me! Dancing!" (an abundant use of exclamation points is only fitting for them) go, "it's sad that you think that we're all just scenesters, even if we were it's not the scene you're thinking of." Many of their songs provide commentary on the music scene of the UK. "...And We Exhale and Roll Our Eyes In Unison" talks about the misogyny of music journalists when writing about female musicians.
My favorite lyric comes from the song "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives": It's your party, but I'll die if I want to.
They have released an EP, Sticking Fingers Into Sockets, via record label Arts and Crafts, and plan to release a full length album in February 2008.

Here is their song You! Me! Dancing!:
Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!