Jazzy post-rockers The Sea and Cake are the latest Chicago-area band to record a set over at Daytrotter.

The group’s five-song set featured a few tunes from its latest album The Moonlight Butterfly as well as an oldie “The Argument” from 1997’s The Fawn.

The Sea and Cake’s set is solid with plenty of upbeat pop grooves. Specifically “Up on the North Shore” sounds like it would have been this year’s high contender for sparkling summer jam with its perky rhythms and swirling waves of guitar tones that sound oh so much like whales speaking to each other.

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By Audrey Leon  \  comments

Back in August, we gave you the scoop on the new solo album from The Sea And Cake’s Sam Prekop. Titled Old Punch Card, the album, which was release in September, was very much a departure from his previous solo material and main project and instead focused on electronic and avant garde compositions. Well, late last month, a video was released for the Old Punch Card track “The Silhouettes” that’s a warmly animated affair directed and partly animated by Yo Gabba Gabba! and Tom Goes to the Mayor animator Jordan Kim. Check out the impressive looking clip below:

By Richard Giraldi  \  comments

Sam Prekop, guitarist, bassist and vocalist for Chicago’s The Sea And Cake, is releasing a new solo effort on September 7 titled Old Punch Card.

According to a press release from local imprint Thrill Jockey, Old Punch Card is not only a departure from Prekop’s previous solo material but from his main band The Sea And Cake as well. The album is said to be influenced by early electronic music as well as avant garde compositions as it’s composed entirely of modular synthesizers with no vocals, no beats and only one instance of guitar.

If this sounds like something right up your alley, good news! Download the Old Punch Card track “The Silhouettes” right here. The song is definitely composed entirely of synthesizers with whirling blips and buzzes, but it is highly melodic, which is very promising for the rest of the album.

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By Richard Giraldi  \  1 comment

Broken Social Scene is setting out on a world tour starting June 18 in Toronto at Toronto Island and they’re bringing The Sea and Cake with them for the majority of their fall dates.

Expect Sea and Cake and Tortoise member John McEntire to be busy on tour.  Having produced the latest Broken Social Scene album Forgiveness Rock Record, which was partly recorded at Soma Studios in Chicago, McEntire quickly became an unofficial member of BSS. Sam Prekop, singer for The Sea and Cake, also contributed to Forgiveness.

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By Andrew Kahn  \  comments

There’s no group that truly lives the motto “variety is the spice of life” quite like Toronto’s Broken Social Scene.

For the follow-up to its 2005’s self-titled album, Broken Social Scene jumped at the chance to work with Tortoise multi-instrumentalist John McEntire. The new, as-of-yet untitled album, was recorded in part at McEntire’s Soma Studios in Chicago and Giant Studios in Toronto, which is owned by former Death From Above 1979 vocalist Sebastien Grainger and Metric guitarist Jimmy Shaw.

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By Audrey Leon  \  comments