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November 30, 2005
Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals along with their Welsh charm are live on KCRW right now.
Starsky: "Ok, do it, Do It."
If you missed it, check back with later for the archived podcast.
Tags: Super Furry Animals, Morning Becomes Eclectic, KCRW
Posted by Merry Swankster at 11:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 29, 2005
George Harrison
George Harrison
2/25/43 - 11/29/01
"Still my guitar gently weeps"
Tags: George Harrison
Posted by Merry Swankster at 11:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Guero + Remix = Guerolito
Beck announced a remix version of 2005's Guero will be released on December 13th. The remix version is titled Guerolito. Anyone who has taken Spanish classes will know that the adding of -ito to Guero means smaller Guero. It works with everying. Zapatos is shoes, zapatitos is small shoes. Brilliant right? But what is a Guero anyway? A friend tells me that its Spanish slang for white people, or as the Urban Dictionary says "Spanish equivalent of "whitey".
Does Beck fancy the remix as something less endowed than its original, a smaller, stunted whitey? Is that a bad omen? Taken derivatively, its just a small Guero. Beck's dig at the remixing artists perhaps? Fucker.
Beck's Guerolito will join Bloc Party's Silent Alarm Remixed as an album that spawned its own (officially sanctioned) full length remix in 2005; the same year as their respective original releases.
Full tracklist and remix artists for Guerolito:
01 Homelife - E-Pro
02 Islands - Que Onda Guero
03 Octet - Girl
04 Air - Missing
05 Ad-Rock - Black Tambourine
06 Mario C - Earthquake Weather
07 8-Bit - Hell Yes
08 Boards of Canada - Broken Drum
09 El-P - Scarecrow
10 Superthriller - Go It Alone
11 Subtle - Farewell Ride
12 John King - Rental Car
13 Th' Corn Gangg - Emergency Exit
14 Beck - Clap Hands
Beck's website is streaming Guerolito tracks Broken Drum, Go It Alone, and Black Tambourine.
//Beck - Guero - Buy
//Beck - Guerolito - Preorder [ed note - Insound's release date is wrong]
//Bloc Party - Silent Alarm - Buy
//Bloc Party - Silent Alarm Remixed - Buy
Tags: Beck, Guerolito, Remix, Bloc Party, Silent Alarm,
Posted by Merry Swankster at 09:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 24, 2005
The Rock DVD: Type 2: DVD as Independent Product
Take some time off from demonstrating how thankful you are today by momentarily pausing the binging and gorging and sit back, unbutton your pants and let yourself spread.
Presenting Part 2 of Jeff Klingman’s continuing analysis of The Rock DVD. A terrific match for the pumpkin pie cheesecake.
The Rock DVD: Variations on a Theme :: Type 2: DVD as Independent Product
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow DVD
For all the marketing muscle dedicated to alerting the wayward music connoisseur of upcoming releases, most of the effort is firmly directed towards the album. Albums generate the most pre-release buzz and the most tortured post-release dissection, and any other product a band might put out is treated as a marginal supplement lucky to get any discussion at all. So it was that late last year I stumbled across the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ DVD "Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow” with, get this, no idea that such a thing even existed!
Somewhere an Interscope PR suit’s blood just ran cold.
It’s unfortunate, and a tad ironic, that a band who gets attacked for the amount of press they receive should release such a well produced DVD with such little fanfare. To the surprise of no one, Lance Bangs is the man behind the disc. As opposed to the somewhat sloppy assembly of the Sleater-Kinney disc I discussed in my last post, Tell me What Rockers to Swallow looks great and is bursting with more content than one would think such a young band could muster. In addition to a full concert at San Francisco’s Fillmore Theater, the DVD is fleshed out with six songs from a separate live performance, all the band’s uniformly neat videos, two behind the scenes type featurettes, and a MTV performance. There’s even funny menu art by Liars drummer Julian Gross depicting Karen O as a pizza loving mummy and a cameo appearance by a nonsensical vampire piece of toast.
The YYY’s have sort of a mixed reputation in the indie world at the moment, frequently the butt of jokes in too-hip torch bearers like Vice and Chunklet. As one of the first beneficiaries/victims of the post Strokes/White Stripes cycle of hype and backlash, I get where the venom comes from but I don’t think it’s deserved.
Sure it’s annoying to read article after article about a band who’ve at that point only written five songs. Sure it’s lame to see a fledgling band ride that hype to a degree of mainstream success without a lot of time toiling in the tiny venue trenches. But the bottom line is that they have some really good songs and have shown improvement on every subsequent release. They aren’t overly derivative and in fact write more personally engaging and melodic songs than the No Wave artists to whom they were frequently compared. They were mentioned in the same derisive breath as bands like the Hives, but were consistently more sonically challenging and forward thinking than that. Hell, even that vocal Karen O provided for the Adidas commercial was pretty and uniquely tailored to the ad’s visuals, rather than the band just accepting a check for a pre-recorded track.
The most instructive example of this conundrum comes with the DVD’s inclusion of the YYY’s performance of signature tune “Maps” at the dreaded MTV Movie Awards. Lame, right? Total sell-out. On paper, maybe, but really it’s quite visually interesting. Placed ant level in a heavily art directed grassy knoll, space-suited Karen shines in a wash of soft, almost psychedelic light. As the song builds in intensity a shower of red rose pedals wafts from the ceiling (or the towering flowers above, if one is to suspend disbelief). Culminating in a crushing torrent completely obscuring Ms. O by its climax. As the camera pulls back to show row after row of painstakingly cast Road Rules look a likes in the auditorium’s audience, the juxtaposition of something odd and well thought out with the run-of-the-mill MTV aesthetic template is jarring. Don’t these shows usually rock out to Sum-41? I have a hard time getting mad about the substitution.
The centerpiece of the DVD is the Fillmore show. The attribute that got the YYY’s any notice in the first place was their energetic live shows, for fans that haven’t caught the band in their home town won’t be disappointed. With two set-lists to draw from, practically any song one might want to hear is covered
Guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase lay down a tight minimal backdrop for Karen’s theatrics. Theatrics is the right word, as the girl lives up to her reputation as a whirling dervish on stage. Admittedly, the antics can take away from the quality of the vocal performance at times, and pouring a bag of chips over your head isn’t exactly Iggy Pop caliber reckless abandon, but you have to give her enthusiasm points.
With the band taking its sweet ass time recording a follow up to 2003’s Fever to Tell the inclusion of five new songs in the disc’s set list stand out as its most exciting aspect. If these tracks had been leaked to the internet in MP3 form I’m sure the blog discussion would have been swift and furious. Since posting or illegally downloading a visual clip is less commonplace, they’ve managed to escape close scrutiny. Until now.
Two of the tracks, “10 x 10” and “Rockers to Swallow,” are fairly harmless rave-ups that fall a little too comfortably within the band’s established sound to be ecstatic about. The remaining three are much better.
First off is “Down Boy,” beginning with a sustained synth note accompanied by a light, shuffling drumbeat. Karen joins in shortly with a restrained and gentle vocal line. Her yelps and screams may get more ink, but in my view her strength as a vocalist lies in her ability to create a memorable melody, rather than shred at top volume. Zinner is the real star of the track, however, alternating a lilting melody on the keys with a raucous guitar part to good effect.
“Cheated Hearts” starts with an over-long intro that seems to exist only for Karen to mine dramatic tension from slowly reeling the mic cord in from the other side of the stage. When the song finally starts in earnest it’s worth the wait. Again, she gives a nuanced delicate vocal, and Zinner backs her up with a pretty, chiming guitar. Rather than debauched, it sounds downright sunny.
Karen then launches into the oh-so knowing chorus:
“Sometimes I think that I’m bigger than the sound/ I think that I’m Bigger than the sound.”
Zinner begs to differ, and lets loose with huge, crunchy guitar riff. Point proven, the melody rises again euphorically. Sounds like a possible single.
The best of all the new songs is “Sealings,” which is included in the bonus songs section. Marked by a strong up-tempo Chase drumbeat, Karen’s vocal here is more unhinged and impassioned than in the two aforementioned numbers, but in sort of a clipped fashion. To the song’s favor she manages this without veering all the way into Screech Town histrionics. Zinner lets loose maybe the catchiest guitar part he’s ever written - epic, jagged, gloriously fuzzed out. KO barks odd lyrics about “her baby” and “the crash” and “a glove” as NZ creates a one man maelstrom beside her. The intensity builds to a mid song climax with “I Want Out!” screamed repeatedly, and then falls back into the staccato delivery of the songs first part. Guitar parts and vocal lines interchange and repeat. It sounds bigger and looser than anything they’ve done to this point, and they pull it off really well.
The band is currently putting the finishing touches on their second LP and the comments made to the press about it’s progress have been sort of goofy. Karen spouts off about bringing in a tabla, and making everything acoustic or whatever, and its easy to lose heart and gear up for a big critical comeuppance. But this DVD and these new songs especially give me some courage in my convictions.
Sound for the disc is credited to Zinner himself, and producer Alan Moulder. With the old Eno associate and ex- My Bloody Valentine producer behind the boards for the album as well, some of this lush guitar grandeur’s got to make it to the finished album. I for one am rooting for the kids to pull it off.
-Posted on behalf of Jeff Klingman.
See also - The Rock DVD: Variations on a Theme – Type #1: DVD as incentive to buy
//Yeah Yeah Yeahs site
//YYY - Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow – Buy
//YYY - Fever To Tell - Buy
Tags: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, DVD, Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow, Karen O, Lance Bangs,
Posted by Merry Swankster at 09:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 23, 2005
Arctic Monkeys - Listen for yourself
Dear MS,I read your blog about the Arctic Monkeys, but I can't seem to find any of their music. How in the hell do their shows sell out? How did they get the attention of the NY Times (and Bowie, again) with such limited releases? Are you part of a vast record industry conspiracy, in the band, or just rehashing other blog bullshit?
- Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
Borrowing liberally from the Brooklyn Vegan, who may not eat meat, but does link to juicy slabs of Arctic Monkey mp3s. Just about all of them via UK's Take Your Medicine. Take a listen for yourself. As for the other questions - I am not in the band or the record industry, but I am guilty of rehashing bullshit, allegedly.
Tags: Arctic Monkeys, mp3
Posted by Merry Swankster at 12:21 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Band names at the ready from NYC graffiti walls
Inspired by the picture below, the Heart On a Stick blog posts suggestions on what to name your band. With the help of witty NYC graffiti. Below is my favorite:
Can't wait for the Why Do You Keep Kicking Yourself? Stop tour!!
Tags: Graffiti, Band Names, NYC, Why Do You Keep Kicking Yourself? Stop,
Posted by Merry Swankster at 11:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 22, 2005
Critical Mass? - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on the Office!
The story of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah has been the indie sensation of the year. 2005 has seen the still unsigned band perform sold out shows across the country while on their first national venture, often overshadowing headliners The National. This week they completed their first trip abroad with a sweep through the Netherlands and UK. They have a few more shows on the continent before returning to New York for a New Years blowout at Irving Plaza.
They rank #303 on Amazon's sales list, are top sellers with online retailers, have been the subject of countless articles and even more blogosphere talk. Here, here, and of course what was the most key - 'The' pitchfork review. All this hype may sound like a cacophony of chicken-headed, knee-bruised, music geek slobber jobs over one of their own (or one claimed as their own) but the band is really that good and their story is just irresistable to boot.
All that being said (once and probably not for all) I was still somewhat shocked when I received the following text message early this evening from a New England-based confederate delivering field reports for the Merry Swankster. His mom calls him Greg, we'll call him the Naughty Elephant:
CYHSY being played on The Office...'yellow country teeth' in background at a BBQ party. Pretty cool. The Naughty Elephant reporting.
Wow! Not only did the Naughty Elephant's sharp ears pick up on the music, he scooped the Merry Swankster by 3 transcontinental hours before the show aired in good old Pacific standard time. The show itself is consistently funny and showcases the brilliant Steve Carell as the awful boss of a small office in Scranton. I guarantee you will cringe and laugh in equal and often bursts.
Once again the growing network at Merry Swankster.com has proven its worth and will be rewarded with riches and adoration...or at least drunk voicemails this Friday night around 3am (PST). If you are interested in contributing, email the merry swankster immediately.
Tags: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Office, Television
Posted by Merry Swankster at 10:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Non-News News - Hip-Hop Artists Behave
Headline of the month - "Hip-hop stars on best behavior at awards show"
The Vibe awards went off sans incident during the taping in Los Angeles last week. The big reporting scoop? No fights! Last year knuckle head Jimmy James Johnson punched Dr. Dre and then got stabbed by Young Buck, which led to a huge brawl with chairs being thrown, curse words yelled, and not one "I'm sorry" on record. Other news from the night, 50 Cent was texting Eminem about doing a jolly rancher commercial, and Ciara was seen going to the bathroom, twice!
For more on the 2005 Vibe awards check this.
Tags: Vibe Awards, Young Buck, Dr Dre
Posted by Merry Swankster at 11:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 18, 2005
Arctic Monkeys - US Radio Debut Today!
The Arctic Monkeys will make their US radio debut today by performing live on Los Angeles station KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. The show runs from 9am to noon PST, the monkeys are scheduled at 11:15 PST.
Don't fret if you are not in Los Angeles - the show (and station) is simulcast here, or by using the Radio feature in iTunes. Go to Radio > Public > KCRW Simulcast. The Morning Becomes Eclectic program runs Monday through Friday and is in the Merry Swankster's opinion - the best radio program in the country. Check out recent performances archived online for a taste.
Tags: The Arctic Monkeys, KCRW, Morning Becomes Eclectic
Posted by Merry Swankster at 08:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 17, 2005
New Flaming Lips - You Gotta Hold On
Via Web Vomit, a new Flaming Lips video for the song You Gotta Hold On, off the forthcoming At War With the Mystics - currently slated for release in early 2006.
NME has Lips frontman Wayne Coyne commenting on the new album's sound:
"We've been using more computers and gadgets, but trying to make them sound more organic and less electronic."
So, "more computers and gadgets" in order to sound "more organic and less electronic." Reminds me of a college friend who would spend 8 hours a day reformatting his computer and writing programs so his life would be more manageable.
No strangers to corporate advertising, the Lips new song is already part of a unique marketing effort by Coca Cola. This website, as the No Rock & Roll Fun blog describes, is part of the promotion for a "new metal Coke bottle (designed for overpriced clubs, apparently) called M5." Brazilian animation team Lobo describe the inspiration for their Coca Cola M5 video:
"For M5, Lobo depicts the need for ingenuity, patience and fortitude as some very determined robots make their own destiny to the tune of "You Gotta Hold On," by The Flaming Lips."
Great cross promotion for both the Lips and Coca Cola. Before you call bullshit, did you check out the M5 link? I thought so. Look for more
Cool Hunting has more on the Coca Cola M5 campaign.
Tags: The Flaming Lips, You Gotta Hold On, Coca Cola, M5, Lobo
Posted by Merry Swankster at 12:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
New Darkness Video + Piracy Staining + Pete Doherty hating
Few, if any, of our entertainment can ever succeed in being equal parts ridiculous, hilarious and as awesome as The Darkness. Ridiculous in its most brilliant and most moronic role will always be a necessity for keeping our wits in check. Hilarious is good too, with some of the best hilarity often at the expense of others. Not unlike those insane Japanese game shows. And what hasn't been said about awesome? The Darkness mix these three ingredients, season with inimitable British cheekiness, and not only produce videos that are equal in their ridiculousness, hilarity, and awesomeness, they overdo it - EVERY TIME. They go over the top with everything in epic fashion, truly going to eleven, its one louder innit?
The new video for current single "One Way Ticket" comes to Merry Swankster HQ courtesy of Sound Bites and can be seen here. If anyone out there is paying attention - when an "absence of significant rock-based music of exceptional quality" occurs and hell freezes over please make sure the devil knows to snort the darkness to make everything right again. Only then can "the lads from the Darkness save Rock N' Roll." Someone smarter than me should analyze the duality of the Devil ingesting The Darkness nasally in order to defrost hell.
The Darkness' One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back will be released November 29th, but that hasn't stopped early leak attempts on the web. The Coolfer blog leads to an article about how falsetto master and Darkness lead singer Justin Hawkins recently purchased an advance copy of the album on eBay for £350 (about US$600). Hawkins:
"I've bought our own album back off this character who's selling it on eBay," he told the BBC. "It cost me £350 and it's going to be a tenner when it's in the shops - with artwork."
Coolfer likes the artwork, as seen above.
In other Darkness news NME reports that band members are not fond of ex-Libertine, current Babyshamble - Pete Doherty. (Some readers may also know Doherty as the druggy (ex?) boyfriend of Kate Moss.)
Hawkins on Pete Doherty:
"...he only sells records because people are curious as to what a junkie sounds like. I think he's a talentless waste of fucking skin!"
Drummer Ed Graham chimes in:
"He's not got a good song in his body. I would like to smash him in the face really hard. I hate everything about him. He should be on the plate. Served up on Sunday, with a selection of veg."
Hawkins reponds and tells us how he really feels:
"You wouldn't put that fucking poison in your mouth would you?"
Maybe Robbie Williams can start a Tupac/Biggie style battle across the pond once he saves Doherty from himself.
So damn cheeky!!
Tags: The Darkness, One Way Ticket, eBay, Pete Doherty, Robbie Williams
Posted by Merry Swankster at 09:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 16, 2005
The Rock DVD: Variations on a Theme
Fighting the struggles of Joe Everyman, once again Jeff Klingman.
The explosion of the DVD as the dominant video medium has been swift and ruthless. They’re cheaper to make, smaller, and of higher sound and picture quality than their lame older brother the video cassette. Record companies in their altruistic search for the next $18.99 price tag have woken up to the milk capacity of this cash cow. With outlets for rock performance on television weirdly dwindling as the number of places for them to be potentially shown grows, DVD’s are a nice treat for us nerds. Their uses are varied and growing, so over the next few days I thought I’d spotlight a few of the predominant types with a representative example. How’d that be? Great.
Type #1: DVD as incentive to buy
Sleater-Kinney: The Woods – Bonus DVD (inserted in first pressing of The Woods CD)
You know why record companies have such a problem with people downloading their artist’s new albums instead of buying them? Well, disregarding the enduring truth of the Slavic proverb “People like free shit,” it’s their own damn faults. It’s the constant IV drip of information that’s fed to the press by record company flacks. “Band working on new album!” “Band’s new album gets name!” “New album track list revealed!” “New album artwork revealed!” “New album almost here!” “Three days until new album!” Ahhhhh! It’s too much.
I just want to hear the record, man. I know it’s done. Can’t we figure out a way to get it out sooner? You’ve been punching me in the face about this album for six months, so you know what? I’m going to go check Soulseek. If you would sell it to me, I’d buy it, but you won’t, so screw you. Of course from the record company perspective, this is wrong. But really, I don’t feel that bad. Maybe they could do something crazy like making the album available for paid download as soon as the band has completed it and then if trotting out the physical album takes longer, so be it. Make too much sense?
Since there are no signs of pre-record hype being cut back any time soon, the question of “How do we get people to buy something that we’ve already driven them to steal?” remains a pressing concern. Increasingly, the answer to that question has become, “Uhhh, stick a DVD in there?”
This brings us to Sleater-Kinney. Ten years and seven albums into a career that puts them squarely in the “best modern indie rock bands” conversation (and sort of scoffs at the need for a “best band made up of ladies” discussion), it’s a shame that any incentive is needed to get folks to check out their new disc. But there it is, a live, four track bonus DVD made up of practice performances in Portland, OR clubs where the new material got a road test. It is entirely irrelevant.
It was produced and directed by the super-ubiquitous Lance Bangs. I think he was involved in every indie rock DVD I’ve seen in the last five years. I’m not joking. Some of them have been pretty cool. This, however, looks and sounds like he tossed it off in a weekend. Well, since the band plays in four different clubs, two weekends.
Opening track, “Everything,” is a pretty forgettable b-side with muddled sound and a performance handcuffed by the small size of the venue. It’s also a little sad - screens behind the band are filled with already dated political slogans. But thanks for stopping the Bush girls, we all appreciate it. Next is “The Fox,” off of the album proper and it’s better shot and sounds clearer than the opener, but it’s still not all that interesting. The mixing of the song is not as aggressively in the red as it is on record, but that’s the only notable difference. “Modern Girl” sounds the same as it does on CD, but this time with even more harmonica. Thanks alot.
The last song is “Entertain,” the lead single from the album, and clearly a highpoint. This is the best of the performances on the disc by far, and the only one that really hints at the immense classic rock inspired sound that makes The Woods so good. Drummer Janet Weiss hits like a pissed off collection agent, and the acoustics of Portland’s Doug Fir give the track some real, echo-heavy, room to breathe. Since the song was a work in progress at the time, there is a Corin Tucker verse shoe-horned into the first part of the song that doesn’t really work, and is dropped from the final version. For that reason it might be interesting to obsessives interested in the development of the song-writing process.
The wisdom of the Slavs persists, and I’m certainly not mad that this DVD was included in my copy of The Woods. Ultimately though, it’s not even a good example of the muscle Sleater-Kinney put into their live shows and thus not recommended for fans who’ve never seen the band live. It’s definitely not a compelling reason in and of itself to buy the record in physical form, and I’ll probably never watch it again. But, uh, thank you?
- Posted on behalf of Jeff Klingman.
//Sleater-Kinney site
//The Woods - Buy
Tags: DVD, Sleater-Kinney, The Woods, Lance Bangs
Posted by Merry Swankster at 06:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 15, 2005
Television DID NOT Kill the Radio Star
Radio clearly finished them off. Regardless, check out this handy resource from VH1. The site lists upcoming television appearances and specials with your favorite and not-so favorite artists.
I'm thinking of adding a regular feature that culls down the listings for the week to show recommended shows.
I picked out a diverse sample below. Should have something for everyone (hippies, hip hop heads, pretentious geeks, and glam rock revivalists, respectively).
All times EST - Set your TIVOs!
- Jammys @ MSG Theatre - (String Cheese Incident, Allman Brothers, Black Crowes, more) - Tuesday, 11/15/05 5pm - HDNET
Festival Express (Grateful Dead, The Band, Janis Joplin) - Tuesday, 11/15/05 5:30pm - TMC XTRA
Kanye West - Tuesday, 11/15/05 9pm - MTV2
Radiohead Live in France - Friday, 11/18/05 8pm - Showtime 3
The Darkness - Friday, 11/18/05 9:30pm - Showtime Next
Tags: Television, String Cheese Incident, Allman Brothers, Black Crowes, Grateful Dead, The Band, Janis Joplin, Festival Express, Kanye West, Radiohead, The Darkness, Hippies, Tivo
Posted by Merry Swankster at 09:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 14, 2005
Arctic Monkeys, Buzz, Craigslist delusions
The British buzz machine (always much more excited and prone to excitable statements such as "ROCK IS BACK" and "BEST BAND EVER!") is currently salivating at web-born sensation - The Arctic Monkeys. The group has scored a #1 hit in the UK with "I Bet You Look Good on the dancefloor." The story goes like this, postings on a Libertines message board begins hyping up new band called Arctic Monkeys, fans start talking about them. Demos spread around the web and suddenly thousands of music kids are in a frenzy about the group. They play shows in front of thousands of fans, without a record deal, traditional promotion, or even an album! A member of the band weighs in:
“What’s happened has been proper hysterical.” grins lead singer/guitarist Alex Turner, acknowledging the hurricane of hero worship his band have been swept up by in the last few months. “If I say ‘phenomenon’ it sounds like I’m right up my own arse, but we’d be daft to act like we didn’t realise how incredible the last year’s been. When it all started we were like ‘fucking hell, what’s going off here?’”
If this story sounds familiar, its because you heard it already. Blog praise and an influential review on Pitchfork Media launched Clap Your Hands Say Yeah as 2005's official indie rock darlings, deservingly so.
The jury is still out on these Arctic Monkeys, but the Merry Swankster is a fan of "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor," . That being said, WTFs all around for the awful band name.
From the See You in 2... blog comes a Guardian article discussing both CYHSY and the Arctic Monkeys rise on the "bleeding edge of a new musical revolution."
Arctic Monkeys entered the charts at number one with I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor. They had just played their second London gig, before an audience of 3,000. Even by the hyper-speed standards of modern rock and pop, this was a remarkable rise, apparently made possible only because the band had posted their songs on their website and thus built up a vast virtual fanbase before even securing a record deal.
And this:
"[T]he notion of the internet as a hotbed of new talent has been further bolstered by the story of a Brooklyn-based quintet called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. They self-released their Talking Heads-influenced debut album via their website and managed to shift 25,000 copies after a glowing review on another website.
Read the rest of the article here.
//Listen and watch Arctic Monkeys on BBC Collective.
Sidenote to be filed under Hype gone terribly wrong or ambitious bastard in NYC.
Tags: Arctic Monkeys, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Guerrilla Marketing, craigslist
Posted by Merry Swankster at 02:23 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
The Kid from Brooklyn
The Merry Swankster loves Rock and Roll and considers it an institution. Legends, like the Beatles and Rolling Stones, would be on the board of directors if Rock and Roll had one. I'm certain that the Kid from Brooklyn would agree.
[Caution, hilarity will follow immediately after clicking link, you've been warned.]
Tags: Kid from Brooklyn
Posted by Merry Swankster at 01:16 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Good Day Sunshine
Sir Paul McCartney wakes up the international space station astronauts with a live feed from an Aneheim, CA concert, becoming the first ever live concert broadcast into space. Cool.
Tags: Paul McCartney,Beatles, NASA
Posted by Merry Swankster at 10:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 11, 2005
Confessions of a 26 year old 17 year old Girl
Mates of State – I Got This Feelin'
“I got this feeling once before”
OC Episode #72. Opening scene - Quick camera pans between Marisa Cooper’s improbable struggles of the day, Ryan Atwood’s acting like a savior, most likely running, and Seth & Summer watching television in a very animated, combative but cute looking way. Shot returns to Ryan running, flashes to memories of earlier runs, in Chino, helping his d-bag brother and arguments with drunken mother.
“You and your daughters have their eyes”
Scene Two – A dinner interrupted by what appears to be a disturbing cell phone call. Kirsten’s eyes sink, Sandy looks worried, concerned, helpless yet still heroic and before he gets to mouth the words “Is everything ok?” Kirsten remembers a childhood scene with her late father Caleb and her sister, the flaky hot one.
Like the OC, this song makes you feel good, even though it may be cheesy (it is) and a bit over the top (absolutely). The Mates of State also give Ryan a Chino-spiced line all for himself.
“I couldn’t be more Ghetto!!”
Bright Eyes - Going for the Gold
Self aware confession of douchebaggery and truth in music.
"If I could talk to myself like I was someone else, well then maybe I could take your advice. And I wouldn't act like such an asshole all the time"
Conor Oberst sings about winning the "sadness contest", about being the "champion of idiots." Conor sir, you are winning at something! By definition alone, you are a winner not a loser! But don't let this get to your head, you are much too talented to stop writing about your misery. Wear that gold medal proudly.
The Merry Swankster heads away from the coast to the Midwest, on a tour with Sufjan Stevens, expert Illinois guide. Stevens, our talented Midwestern hero, is pouring out the seams with stories from the Land of Lincoln, or in Rock and Roll parlance - Illinoise. Up there with Rocktober, "Illinoise" might be the coolest/lamest/greatest wordplay ever. On the other hand, Sufjan's Illinoise, is fantastic.
Love As Laughter – Dirty Lives
A distorted opening guitar lick leads to garage infused drums and a rolling, road trip like bass line presenting this incredibly catchy tune. Power chords take over and stories of vice with tongue in cheek attempts to clean up said vice are told by songwriter Sam Jayne.
"We can stand with our hands in pockets
We can grin with our cherub smiles
And there is still a chorus singing we are vile"
- My name is the Merry Swankster, and I approve these picks.
Tags: indie rock,The OC,Conor Oberst,Mates of State,Sufjan Stevens, Love As Laughter,
Posted by Merry Swankster at 02:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 10, 2005
DogCatRadio.com - Internet Radio for Snoopy & Heathcliff
Thats right folks, now your beloved pet has a home on the web for his listening pleasure. DogCatRadio.com, "The radio station all pets enjoy," is run by a guy out of a converted trailer in Los Angeles. Homeboy is so in touch with his many pets that they were not only the inspiration for the webcasts, they told him to do it. Seriously:
[Adrian] Martinez, 34, who owns six dogs and two cats, said he founded the station because "my cat, Snickers, asked me to do it." One day, Snickers was pacing the floor restlessly and meowing. "I said, `What do you want?"' Martinez recalled in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. "I turned up the music, and she was fine."
Martinez is also president of Morusa Records, a label I know nothing about except they have hilarious album covers. The NYT wrote a story (sub req) about DogCatRadio that doesn't seem the least bit facetious in spite of such gems like this one from Larry Family - host of the Pet Vet, on WROW-AM in Albany, NY.
Dr. Larry Family...recommends DogCatRadio to his patients' owners. "It's of interest to those people whose pets have certain phobias or anxiety issues. It might be helpful with dogs with separation anxiety issues. Dogs, especially, are interested in watching TV with their owners and listening to music."
Dogs are not only Man's best friend, but they want to rock out too?! The Merry Swankster will follow up with local dogs and cats suffering from mental health issues with their take on Dr. Family's claim. Begs the question though, does the good doctor recommend doggie radio for non-depressed pets? What about the more discriminating pets? I once knew a cat who would absolutely claw your face off if you changed its early postpunk-disco glam mixes from the stereo. Damn cat music snobs.
Hat Tip - Angry little black guy. Who recently got angry at a gay cowboy and introduced his face to the fabulous pavement of L.A.
Tags: Internet Radio, Pets
Posted by Merry Swankster at 02:49 PM | Comments (1)
November 08, 2005
Wolf Parade – Live @ Bowery Ballroom, New York City. October 24, 2005
This site aims to shine light on the local scenes of different cities around the country, and someday perhaps the world. The Merry Swankster is just one man and with the cost of private jets, and that annoying full time job thing, he cannot be in all places at all times. To ensure diverse postulation, Swankster allies from points far and wide will be contributing show reviews, their own m.s. style track breakdowns, and other excellent dispatches from their corner of the world. Perhaps you'll feel like you just had a great nights sleep, with clean sheets! Or maybe you'd wish the band should do so and get on the wagon before a big show.
Old friend of the Merry Swankster, scholar of the obscure, and fellow quasi-bicoastal resident I present Jeff Klingman and his take on last weeks Wolf Parade show in Manhattan.
Wolf Parade 10.25.2005 - Bowery Ballroom, New York City
I love Wolf Parade’s album Apologies to the Queen Mary. Since they are currently walking the tightrope between rapturously received debut album and inevitable “too much press” backlash this is hardly an earth-shattering opinion, but it really is terrific. I’m hard pressed to think of another rock album released in the 00’s that is as consistently filler free.
The band has two primary songwriters (Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner) who are both strong, distinctive vocalists who write these great weird and catchy songs built around interlocking and overlapping guitar and synthesizer parts. Usually when a band has more than one chief songwriter, I’m usually instinctively pulled towards one guy over the other, but with Wolf Parade it’s a real toss-up. Krug’s voice has more of a wavering 70’s art rock quality while Boeckner is the more familiar “too much booze and cigs” type of anthemic belter. The record is very well sequenced and the differences between the two men’s songs help make it a varied and rewarding piece of work that holds up well under repeat listens.
So, carrying that level of enthusiasm like a lead weight into the Montreal band’s first headlining spot at Manhattan’s venerable Bowery Ballroom, I am probably partly to blame for my mild disappointment coming out of the show.
On the album, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock really did a hell of a job on the production. As tightly layered with melody and instrument as the tracks are, each component really stands out and interacts with the others in service of the songs. Live, playing with a small venue sound system, maybe this kind of density just isn’t possible. The starting numbers of the set, “It’s a Curse” and “We Built Another World” seemed rushed, with the synth and guitar assault coming off as sort of sloppy and incoherent, rather than complex.
To be fair, fans of the band who discovered them through their self titled 2004 EP might be better served as the live performances had more of the unhinged feeling of their EP versions. That theory was sort of quashed for me though with a so-so version of “Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts” missing the charming la la la lead in that distinguishes the EP version from its album counterpart.
Boeckner then gave the crowd a bit of damning banter, claiming, “The blogs say I shouldn’t tell you how drunk I am.” Well, this blog agrees, but I’ll go one further and suggest that maybe you shouldn’t actually GET that wasted before what would seem like a fairly important show. Maybe I’ve suddenly become an old man, but it’s a Monday Night and these guys played for an hour/hour and a half. Couldn’t they get drunk later? I mean, by all means have a couple drinks to loosen the NYC nerves, but when you’re lead guitarist is blatantly pounding Amstel Lights in the two minutes he has before he has to rock a guitar solo, it just seems kind of rude and excessive. (Speaking of rude and excessive, there was a funny moment when Boeckner was briefly forced to comment on a piece of heckling so filthy that I suspect it was nurtured quietly for a couple years with Canadian government grant money. I wasn’t directly in earshot but I’m fairly sure it was, “Shit in my pussy!” It was properly met with “Ewww, that is really disgusting.” – Silent beat. – “Thanks for coming out.”)
All of this is nit-picking I guess, but I was soooo ready to have my socks knocked off out of the starting gate that the presence of my socks mid way into the set was annoying. The band settled down as the show went on and put together their best sequence of the night with “Shine a Light/ You are a Runner and I am My Father’s Son/ Fancy Claps.” The first two songs are perhaps the strongest of the band’s whole catalog, and their relatively minimal structure came across much better than some of the trickier songs did. I mean when the songwriting is this strong, you’d have to be “A Tragic Day for Our University” drunk to screw them up. Krug repeated the last verse of “You are a Runner…” with only keyboard accompaniment as the band then launched into the beginning of “Fancy Claps” behind him. That was very cool. “Fancy Claps” itself was great, as it is more loosely arranged in general than some of the songs that I wasn’t totally into and the lack of precision wasn’t as missed.
Recently joined, and ex-Hot Hot Heat member, Dante DeCaro (nice trade up by the way, DD) took a break from bashing wind chimes and what looked suspiciously like a cheese grater to join in on vocals on the latter two songs and the power of two or three voices combining in specific bursts really took them over the top in terms of quality.
Another risky move for the band was the inclusion of 2-3 new, unrecorded songs in the place of some familiar material. Audience calls for “Grounds for Divorce” were met with the earnest explanation from Krug that the band was sick of it, and were just not going to pay it. Stellar album cuts “The Same Ghost Every Night” and “Modern World” were given similar snubbing. Personally, I was cool with this. I mean “Grounds for Divorce” is a great song, but judging by my response to some of the other songs in the set maybe this wasn’t the right night for me to see them play it.
The new songs were really good, to boot. The most memorable was a long, mid-tempo Spencer Krug track that has since been posted on the Internet as “Bones Song.” It’s built on a keyboard loop accentuated by noodle-y guitar and sleigh bells, and features the depressive chorus;
“Don’t throw the bones away/ We’ll find a place to pray” I can see ‘em/ You can see ‘em/ No one saves the day.
It builds to a yelling climax of “Oh come on!”s, with Dan joining in on vocals. Definitely an encouraging sign of things to come, and well worth tracking down.
They ended the show with a really nice rendition of ballad “Dinner Bells” and it was a good choice. I had mostly forgotten my early qualms by then, and on balance just seeing the band perform songs I was so obsessed with made it worthwhile. I just hope that next time they run through town they have a little more distance from the euphoric press reviews, and earn their stripes as a compelling live act as opposed to a nervously wasted “Next Big Thing” candidate whose great album landed them a bit over their heads too soon.
- Posted on behalf of Jeff Klingman.
//Wolf Parade site
//Buy Apologies to the Queen Mary
Tags: Wolf Parade
Posted by Merry Swankster at 09:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 07, 2005
In the Name of the iPod
From Bruno & The Professor, an article about a company rigging up iPod Shuffles to look like a Cross. Bruno's crack research team unearthed this gem from the Holy Father himself:
"Do not make a sculpted image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above..." - God, The 2nd Commandment
Curious to see if a Star of David design is being worked on for Larry Lindenbaum?
Posted by Merry Swankster at 06:25 PM | Comments (0)
November 03, 2005
White Stripes Manipulate, Passively
The White Stripes sent the following note to their UK fans today:
Jack and Meg are making each version of 'The Denial Twist' they play on their current sold-out British tour available to their UK fans to buy as a download.In addition, everybody attending any of the UK dates will be given a blank CDR, with exclusive artwork specific to that night's show, upon which they can burn their download - giving you an unprecedented momento [sic] of the tour.
Here’s a great example of an intrepid tactic artists can use to both satiate, and reap from their fans. Everybody wins ...fans get a unique keepsake of their show, the WS make money from fans who will purchase the single online - purchases that likely would not occur seeing how they probably already own the latest album anyway. Not to mention the likely flood of "The Denial Twist" on file sharing networks, which coincidentally is their next single. Jacky boy, how do you do it!
More details on the download, including a cover slideshow of all artwork can be found here.
Tags: White Stripes, Guerrilla Marketing
Posted by Merry Swankster at 06:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 02, 2005
CD USA
Satellite television provider, DIRECTV, announced a new, original channel for their 2006 lineup featuring live performances by "popular music artists including the Goo Goo Dolls, Sean Paul, Ben Harper and David Gray." The artists on the press release are not exactly Swankster worthy, or critically acclaimed, but an interesting piece of news nonetheless.
More interesting, however, is that DIRECTV will be teaming up with online phenomenon MySpace.com to feature emerging artists on the new channel, which will be called CD USA. Both DIRECTV and MySpace are controlled by News Corp, who control about 135%* of the world’s media outlets. This is a fascinating cooperation between the Television and Internet medias. The MySpace network has taken off as a 2nd Generation version of Friendster and is now practically a requirement for bands and artists to extend their fan base by setting up a MySpace page.
I’m curious to see how prominent a role the MySpace emerging artists will play on this new channel. Taking a quick glance at the UK version, CD UK, it seems pretty bubblegumish. I do see The Darkness scheduled for next week though, so I’ll hold out hope for the American version.
Any British Swankster readers out there willing to share a word on CD UK?
*Exaggerated for humorous demonstration that News Corp owns lots of shit.
Tags: CD USA, DIRECTV, MySpace
Posted by Merry Swankster at 05:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Introducing Larry Lindenbaum
Larry Lindenbaum is not like anyone you've ever met. He's loud, abrasive, charming, and wouldn't feel the least bit uncomfortable going toe to toe with Bill O'Reilly. In fact, its been reported on a Merry Swankster tribute message board that he was the first person allegedly called when I allegedly ran into some trouble in a Turkish prison.
The esteemed Mr. Lindenbaum will be contributing on a semi-regular basis his take on the state of music, as well as ranting on the New York sports teams in which he is a minority owner. Without further ado, I present you Larry Lindenbaum's debut:
Shalom, Mi Gente!
My name is Larry Lindenbaum and I am a revered Attorney from a little place called "Money-Makin' Manhattan". I have an opinion about anything and everything, and have been given the opportunity to share my weekly rants with a column on merryswankster.com. So sit back, open your minds, and be enlightened my little Gentile grasshoppers…
Mike Jones, the rapper (and I am using that term EXTREMELY loosely in reference to him) most widely known for releasing his real phone number in the song "Back Then", was in Denver, CO last night performing with Twista, the outrageously rapid lyricist whose flow is delivered so quickly, only the Micro-machine man can appreciate his verbal skills. Indeed, this is America - land of capitalism and democracy, equal opportunity and affirmative action - yet I have a legitimate issue with the fact that a moron with the intelligence of the Grey Goose bottle I just polished off can be making more money than I will ever see by simply screaming out his name over a simplistically-produced beat. "MIKE JONES! WHO? MIKE JONES!"
Are you serious? Is this a joke? I keep waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out from behind a tree to tell me I am punk'd, to tell me that this is all some huge, conspiracy-laced ploy to get back at me for all the ball-busting I have done to people my entire life. This guy is a clown straight out of Barnum and Bailey's Circus! Zero originality - the platinum and ice on his teeth; the 20 idiots standing behind him bouncing around to his songs like the Oompa Loompas as if they liked it, yet secretly plotting his murder out of jealousy. All of his beats sound the same, and lyrics about ho’s and life in the ghetto are tired. That all definitely justifies him being a millionaire!
Let me sum him up in one statement, kids: IF HIP-HOP HAD NOT BECOME A TRAIN-WRECK THAT NOW ALLOWS FOR ANYONE AND THEIR MOTHERS TO CUT A DEAL, HE WOULD BE MOWING MY LAWN AS WE SPEAK.
I have more to divulge on this topic, but that is enough for now. I will conclude this week's discussion on hip-hop with a list of the top 5 lyricists of all-time according to me, Larry Lindenbaum, Attorney from Manhattan and Hip-Hop Connoisseur. Obviously this is a subjective list, but my credibility is far superior to anyone’s. I studied hip-hop in-depth for eleven (11) years and worked in the industry for four (4) years.
T1. Notorious B.I.G.
T1. Jay-Z
T3. Eminem
T3. Nas
T5. Big L
T5. Rakim
T5. Tupac Shukar
In other important news, my beloved New York Football Giants abused the Washington Redskins in a way similar to how Ike Turner used to beat up that chick. The Giants are the real deal and it has made my fall a lot more exciting. Not so sure this will be the case this winter with my Knicks; however, I do have some predictions for their up-coming season:
1) Jamal Crawford will commit many turnovers.
2) Eddy Curry will probably die of a heart murmur before the 12th game of the season.
3) Anfernee Hardaway will have his 4th grandchild.
4) Stephon Marbury will buy some expensive jewelry.
5) Someone on the team will give birth to an illegitimate kid.
6) David Lee, the only white person on the team, will begin to act like he is black.
7) Larry Brown will contemplate killing himself.
8) The Knicks will either miss the playoffs or get destroyed in the first round.
-Posted on behalf of Larry Lindenbaum, who made me sign 37 pages of release forms before agreeing to join the Swankster team. Email Larry.
Tags: Larry Lindenbaum, Mike Jones, Hip Hop, NBA
Posted by Merry Swankster at 05:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
