Anybody who has read this blog for more than three months knows how much of a fan I am of Intimate Stranger. I have been in the cheering section within 30 seconds of hearing their first tracks on MySpace a few years ago and it hasn't let up.

But finally there are results and the dream is starting to unfold. I just got word a couple days ago that Intimate Stranger are finally getting airplay on radio in the U.S. and they have made the Indie charts, both firsts for the band. And both payoffs from very hard and relentless work. And for that I am completely thrilled.

So tonight, as a kind of celebration of their first airwave success I am posting the single currently being played around the country. Under came out last year but it's only now starting to grab audiences and make fans.

It is one of the great pleasures in life to see. There is always something gratifying to see a band you've been so excited over finally get the recognition they deserve. And believe me, it didn't come over night.

Hopefully, this is the first of what will be many more to come in the future. And you were all in on the ground floor.

A few weeks ago, on one of my Roundtable posts,I ran one of the tracks off Intimate Stranger's new album "Under". I hinted it would be great to be able to run a live show featuring Intimate Stranger on my Backstage Weekend feature since they sounded as great live as the did in the studio. I ran a taste of the show they did at Maxine's earlier this year which was available via their website. A few days later I got an e-mail from Lau (Lautauro Vera), their lead guitarist who turned me on to the whole gig that night. So it's with great pleasure I run it for you this weekend with a huge and special thanks to Lau for taking the time and mixing the tapes.

Intimate Stranger have been getting some great word of mouth and press of late, including their appearance at the SXSW Festival earlier this year. Lau pointed out to me they will be touring around the U.S. again this Fall with at least one gig in San Francisco on the schedule. Their new album Under is doing very well (and it's available at their site - hint, hint) and the future is looking bright.

Further evidence that bands can really make it out there without the aid of a major label anymore also speaks volumes about the fact that festivals like SXSW, Coachella and many others are forward thinking and realizing modern music is completely international and there are scenes flourishing everywhere, and that now the casual listener has access to them in ways they never did before.

As a reviewer in the early 70's I knew there was a lot of great music happening in the world, but there was very little easy access to it, unless you knew what to look for or were friends with the local import record store, sometimes hearing about a band would take months. Many times a band would cut an album, and by the time you got it to review the band had already broken up. Fortunately, that doesn't happen any more and you are the beneficiary of that - lucky you.

Enjoy the concert - you'll be hearing a lot more about Intimate Stranger in the future and the very rich musical scene that's happening in Chile, even as we speak.

Oh . . .have I told you about The Ganjas lately?

Stay tuned.

It's always so gratifying when a band you really love and enjoy start getting the success they deserve. Several months ago I ran In The Black, a track off Intimate Stranger's first album. I was completely knocked out by this multi-national band (the guitarist and drummer - and now keyboards, are Chilean and the singer is East European and their production is based out of London) and how fresh they sounded when I first ran across them on MySpace a few years ago.

In the interim they've been recording, gigging a lot (even playing SXSW this year as well as touring the U.S.) and getting great word mouth going and some very positive press in the process.

It's always nice to see the good people win and Intimate Stranger is just that. A lot of very strong material, well produced with a killer singer (Tessie).

So tonight it's actually two things: first is their new single, Nighttime, from Under, their new album (the player up top), and the second is a taste of them live during a gig at Maxine's in April of this year (the player down there) playing one of their early tracks In The Black. I'm hoping to get a copy of one of their live gigs to post on the Backstage Weekend so you get to hear what they sound like live and won't think twice about catching them if they hit your town.

As always, support them if you can. Their website is jammed with goodies and words. So check them out and hear what else they have going on.

Things are looking up - and that's a good thing!

(Intimate Stranger - Chile by way of London by way of Chile again)

A double bill of sorts tonight. First up is a band who are scheduled to tour the U.S. sometime this year. Intimate Stranger are a Chilean band who met up and formed in London in 2006 and then went back to Chile and started gigging around and getting their MySpace page happening. Fronted by English/Croatian singer/bass player Tessie Stranger, they've been getting a good word of mouth going. This track "In The Black" is one of their earlier tracks from 2007. Check them out if they hit your town. Meanwhile, check out their website and see what's being said about them.

(In Veins - just a bunch of mind-melting kids from Bordeaux)

Our bonus band, In Veins, comes from Bordeaux and freely admit to being a psych/shoegaze outfit. Like Intimate Stranger, they've been around since about 2006 and are getting a steadily increasing following based on good word of mouth and a lot of gigging around Europe(and a new ep coming out in February). This track, a short one is just called "Intro" - no need to drag your French/English dictionary out for a translation, it's an instrumental. But a heavy one.

Enjoy the Hump Day tunes!