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February 28, 2007
Works in Progress - Thinning out with age
This is an interesting one. Three years in between demo and official (scene) release, and not much has changed. But what has changed has done so in reverse fashion. It doesn't take a smart man/woman/manimal to think a band's demo will become fuller when it gets a record deal and the better studio. But it's not always the case, as we find with Revl9n's Someone Like You. Overall, the song follows the same theme and structure. It's a source of intrigue. Were the slight changes intended or a result of humans' inability to replicate sound exactly?
Revl9n - Someone Like You (single version)
This version is less urgent (read slower) than the (presumed) upcoming album version. The thing that first jumped out to me when comparing the two was the fullness of Maria Eilersen's voice in the demo. Here she seems melancholy; in the new one she seems angry. This is a pouty number. The fact that she's not with the someone like you is a cause of concern. The guitar work is muddled, thick.
Revl9n - Someone Like You (album version)
The new version has some enhanced DFA cowbells after the choral break. The guitars are more angular and crisp. Her voices is more direct, more irritated.The fact that she's not with someone like you makes her murderous. Is it the result of a environmental change or probability? Maybe the band itself doesn't even know.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 11:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Retrohump - From the coast
And there was Portishead. From a coastal town in England to a small New Jersey suburb, Beth Gibbon's sultry and lugubrious voice broke through one person's musical spectrum like a Duvel to a Bud drinker, aged Gruyere to a cheese whiz devotee, and so on.
19.02.05 Bristol Carling Academy; photo by Dan Keefe
The band's sounds straddled so many contradictions that any group less qualified would have brought, to the aisles of (then solvent) Tower Records, a limp mess of spaghetti. Simultaneously calm and paranoid; smooth and jagged; romantic and heartless. It provides make-out music with jagged lyrics; hook-up verse with warning sounds. The first album, Dummy, remains one of the most awesome things to join me as we exited the 90s.
The second album, Portishead, suffered from not-Dummy-icitis, but anyone who has given the sophomore effort a chance knows how good it is. Dummy opened a colorful door; Portishead carried the torch deeper into the band's dark world view. PNYC (along with Nirvana MTV Unplugged) might be the only officially-released live discs you need from your childhood.
No band has seemingly dragged out the inevitable reunion/third studio album more than Portishead, perhaps because of their fondness for Web site and MySpace updates.
January 25: the most recent such update.
hello againbeen working on the new songs
going around in circles every day
but things are progressing upwards
trying to meet deadlines for this year
ive goto go
my little ones cryin
g {P}
We, the huddled masses, can't promise we'll do more than check out the new album when it drops. But we can, and oh, will we always, look back.
Before we get into the videos, here are some rare live tracks, unearthed live tracks from the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool (1995).
Portishead - Sour Times (PNYC)
The single that started it all. A great example of how Portishead songs were often multi-layered. Gibbon's wonderful phrasing and pace made the song at once mournful and hopeful - Nobody loves me... It's true... (pause)... Not like you do.
Here's two doses of Humming, from the forgotten sophomore album Portishead.
Portishead - Humming (music video)
Portishead - Humming (PNYC)
Portishead - Roads (PNYC)
And one of Portishead's most beautiful (and heart-wrenching) song - the near hush of Beth's voice - with the church-symphonic organ and the trip-step drumbeat.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 10:40 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 27, 2007
Video: the Rapture - "Pieces of the People We Love"
Bit busy out here in the blog factory, but it'd be a shame to let our recent updated every day streak fall by the wayside. So, we do what we do every time we're unable to post in depth. Lean on You Tube for all its worth.
At least this is pretty new, and not completely ubiquitous...
the Rapture - "Pieces of the People We Love"
The most purely enjoyable track from the album of the same name gets the glossy vid treatment, and it's all class. I offer the caveat that my girlfriend is appalled that the leggings that have marred the wardrobe of many a Brooklyn girl have now infiltrated our stylish video clips where they'll live in infamy for all time. You're gonna regret it ladies...
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 05:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 26, 2007
Boyfriend/Girlfriend tonight
The GF and I will be making our Denver DJing debut tonight at 3 Kings Tavern for the Boyfriend/Girlfriend party hosted by Ricardo & Nichole. No guarantees on smooth mixes. Its been a while people, gotta dust off the rust that has formed from a long hiatus away from publicly working a mixer. Maybe my gf is one of the Daft Punk robots and I don't even know about it. If so you'll see me at the bar...
//3 Kings is on 60 S Broadway Denver, CO
Posted by Merry Swankster at 05:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Shins - Live @ Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO - 2.15.2007
Never before has a line from a fictitious motion picture become so true. The oft-quoted life-changing allegations do not require repeating since they became the routine storyline filler that a Shins' piece seemingly requires. (Challenge: find a mainstream article on the Shins that does not reference that movie.) The semi-postmodern twist of the film's alteration proclamation turns out a slightly different benefactor when actual and quantitative change gets measured: the band itself.
The pressure of meeting such bold predictions, from the fictitious or otherwise, stemming from a scene as famous as the one above could very easily lead down the well worn path of busted expectations. “Not us!” Say the Shins as they embark on a tour while riding the career defining momentum that has placed them at the pinnacle of the indie rock world.
That pinnacle is a treacherous peak for indie purists who count among the audience of Garden State viewers that jumped in amazement upon hearing their favorite folksy pop group from Albuquerque getting such a high profile mention. Treacherous because it marked the beginning of a vastly larger and inevitably reshaped demographic moving in on their territory. Those confessing to discovery of the band through the movie soundtrack or reliance on google for clarifying this professed influential band certainly skew things against newbs. It makes for the type of pop culture infiltration that can be a toxic mixture for veteran fans who balk at changing the status quo, regardless of the obvious benefits. The potential conditions for a rift between post-Garden State fans and those learned on Shins prior to Natalie Portman’s cathartic declaration is also ripe.
Trust that I, humble author of this website, am merely drawing out an example of fickle indie fan realities rather than my own trajectory with the band. My beliefs on this special brand of throwaway culture ("me first" is better than "you second", hence "me first" is better) has historically believed it all to be rubbish. Bands fall out of favor all the time, even after previous ecstatic praises (current example - Bloc Party), but I respect changes of opinion more when there is a declared reason rather than just smug haughtiness and disdain towards the latecomers. Alas.., I digress.
Continued with more pics after the jump.
The word de jour for the Shins is burgeoning. Though there are those that would disagree and say the band has been attracting new fans for years. I believe 2007 will be a good one for the Shins. With one foot in the world of bobbing teenage masses, and one in the scratchy humble roots they grew from James Mercer and company seem to be enjoying it more than ever, so it must be alright, right? Yes, and comparing Wincing the Night Away to Bill Cosby's favorite (shilled) dessert, the proof is in there.
"We sold the mother out"
You could sense the satisfaction and wonder in Mercer and the band when he took a moment to tell the audience that they were just informed the show was sold out,. He continued by telling a story of a past, non-sold out appearance at the Fillmore. "Pretty sure there was a huge curtain dividing this place up. And still there was room at the back". For disambiguation purposes the feat of selling out the Denver Fillmore is not the historically important one you might think. The more venerable Fillmore is the San Francisco building. However, the mile high version appears to award trophies to bands that sell it out, or at least the Shins made it out to look like that. Did they pull a not-so elaborate hoax when they triumphantly marched out with trophies in hand? Tokens of this Rocky Mountain Front Range milestone or ongoing tour shenanigans?
The Shins were never a band that knocked you out with their live show, and they still aren't, but you can still bank on quality musicianship and in spite of this they sounded good and performed well. Mercer appears fully settled in as front man, something that might be related to Marty Crandall’s keyboard being shifted to the back near the drums – which was smart as I always found the bunched up duo a distraction. This new confidence shows most when engaging the crowd with light PG-13 rated stage banter. Like when the crowd was asked to contribute to the choral sections of new Wincing… cut “Australia” instructing them to, “Please sing along and ‘La-la’ the shit out of it.”
When introducing "the new Shin,” Eric Johnson, known also as a member of fellow Subpop band, the Fruit Bats. The intro of “the new Shin” came off humorous, as if answering unasked questions on who this scruffy character on the side of the stage was. Johnson diligently added keyboards and acoustic guitar to the greater pop melodies of the night. Rounding out onstage personnel additions was Anita Robinson who joined for a handful of songs, most notably in "New Slang" to lend female harmonies. Her band, Portland duo Viva Voce, was present earlier in support.
One highlight of the show that seemed to have been missed by many of the young fans, as felt from the noticeable lull during its performance, was a reworking of "Girl on the Wing." Omitting the jagged space-rock keys and start/stop drums for a slower, down tempo, bass heavy, jazzed out version resulting in a product almost unrecognizable from the original. Cool, but I can't commit to liking it forever. Still, nice to see the stage experimentation with an oldie taken to new places.
Large sections of the crowd likely disagreed on that last point as the most applauded song of the night was unsurprisingly "New Slang." I’ve always wondered if bands get tired of playing the big hit? Do they feel cheap? Get bored with it? In terms of a go-to audience pleaser its not a bad one by any means, I’ve just always been curious. It is likely that I’ll never know but the reaction confirmed my previous suspicions with palpable evidence that the majority of the audience who pushed this show into trophy awarding status were post-movie fans. Welcome to life with the Shins today.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 01:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 25, 2007
Video: The Pierces - "Boring"
The Pierces - "Boring"
Sundays are for sexy slithering sultry slinky sexpots sick of stodginess whether in showy splendor or simple standard.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 05:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Video: Ennio Morricone, live with orchestra
Legendary film composer Ennio Morricone will be honored tonight with an honorary Academy Award. Despite five nominations for original score (only 5?) the maestro has never won. In other news, the Oscars are a total sham.
Expect to hear this one early and often in the montage.
Ennio Morricone - "the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
(Munich, Germany 2005)
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 01:55 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Arcade Fire - makes 'SNL' worth fast-forwarding through
Trust SNL (2007) to make an episode featuring Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute, The Office) relatively unwatchable.
Arcade Fire - "Keep the Car Running" SNL - 2.24.2007
Here's
Previous Arcade Fire coverage.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 10:06 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 24, 2007
Video: Okkervil River - "Love to a Monster"
Okkervil River - "Love to a Monster"
Via Blogotheque
Posted by Merry Swankster at 11:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 23, 2007
Daft Punk Fridays: 4 of 12
Daft Punk - "Around the World (Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger mix)" (4.29.06 - Live at Coachella)
What is this all about...?
Previously:
You may have heard Daft Punk was pretty good at Coachella...
Daft Punk Fridays: 2 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 3 of 12
Posted by Merry Swankster at 05:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
the Gothic Archies: the Tragic Treasury (an album review / book report)
by Randall Monty
Is there anyone else who remembers the Dinobots? They were characters from the Transformers series that could turn into dinosaurs rather than automobiles. For a childhood me, this was much more than a toy line, it was a spectacular turn of events that I could only describe as serendipitous. Simply put: Two of my favorite worlds had collided. When the Dinobots burst onto the scene, it seemed as though the entire universe were aligning for my personal benefit. How did anyone know? The whole was even greater than the sum of its parts and I couldn’t believe how it happened. It was with a similar mix of disbelief and excitement that I approached the Tragic Treasury, a collection of songs written and performed by Stephin Merritt (this time incarnated as the Gothic Archies), and demarking the various books of the Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events collection of children’s novels.
This is much less than a coincidence, as Daniel Handler, the man in front of the Snicket pen name, is the same Daniel Handler that played accordion on the Field’s magnum opus, 69 Love Songs, one of my four or five favorite albums of all time, (although not specifically for the sqeezeboxing). Still, it is unlikely that my interest and excitement could have gotten higher were any other musician commissioned for the task of soundtracking these books.
Of course, there is a solid likelihood that I’m completely missing MS’s target audience here; but I’m sure that even the most cynical of you child-hating New York liberals have at least heard of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, (and perhaps even some of you have read them). For the uninitiated, the ASOUE books tell of the various trials and tribulations of the three Baudelaire orphans in the year following their parents’ mysterious deaths. The time and place of the stories are purposefully vague, although it seems to be first quarter 20th Century American. The novels, while intended for younger audiences, provide frequent moments of mature humor, allusion and linguistic play. (Imagine if Colin Malloy and Edward Gorey collaborated on a book.) To that point, these are much more than mere children’s; they are a collective enterprise that have spawned a feature-length film, a video game, countless imitators (such as The Spiderwick Chronicles and The Time Warp Trio), a revitalized mall-Goth culture, an oddly humongous fanbase for A Nightmare Before Christmas and, arguably, the careers of My Chemical Romance and Panic! At the Disco. (OK, so not all of it’s good.)
I think what’s most important is that the ASOUE books manage to get kids enthused about reading, and I have little ill to say about anything that accomplishes that. In any event, I figure it’s my duty to step up and run these companion pieces through the ol’ rhetorical analysis machine. Here is my book-by-book and track-by-track take on the series and the album:
the Bad Beginning and “Scream and Run Away”
We begin with the book that introduced the literary world to the sympathy-educing Baudelaire orphans: eldest Violet, who fancies herself an inventor; middle-child Klaus, who enjoys reading and research; and baby Sunny, who bites things. We also meet Count Olaf, the series’ primary villain who is determined to steal the fortune the orphans are set to inherit. The plot is very easy to follow, even if it is initially difficult to accept. (The Baudelaire parents’ death set the events in motion.) The language is on level, and in the instances where higher order words are included, the author creates asides that give in-text definitions. Clearly, this is a book intended for younger audiences, right? Even though this is a book clearly intended for younger audiences, there are aspects of the novel(s) that are intended for the adult readers as well. Handler expertly packs his writing with idiosyncratic peculiarities and highbrow allusions the he can’t possibly expect a child to understand. (For instance: the oft-mentioned Beatrice1, the storyteller’s unrequited love; Instead of saying “thank you”, Sunny says “Takk”2.) For most of the story, The Bad Beginning operates a duality, appealing to readers both young and old, like a Roald Dahl of Shel Silverstien story. Towards the end, however, things turn pretty creepy. Olaf stages a fake/real wedding to twelve-year-old Violet so that he can get his hands on the Baudelaire money. Most children will read this section and probably find it ridiculous – A grown-up marrying a kid? Crazy! – mature readers will note the disturbing and sorry reality of forced underage marriages. Even when Olaf’s plot foiled, there is still no happy ending in site, as the children are whisked away to another foster home. Waitaminute, is this really a kid’s book? Starting the album off rightly, “Scream and Run Away” is an awkward, Bohemian jaunt that does a better job introducing the series than I just did, and manages to rhyme “Olaf” with “zerof”.
Book: A
Song: A-
the Reptile Room and “In the Reptile Room”.
Sadly, the second book in this series should have been entitled The Sophomore Slump. This is something we have unfortunately (sorry) seen many times over in children’s and young adult literature. The follow-ups to spectacular debuts like J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and Philosopher’s Stone, Cornelia Funk’s The Thief Lord and Mo Willems’s Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus all failed to live up to their writers’ initial works. Perhaps it’s the industry pressure to expediently release a successor of the commercially and critically acclaimed originals, (children’s books require extremely quick sequels to maintain a strong following by its fickle target audience), or maybe it’s just the heavy weight of expectations the authors place on themselves, but rather than being satiating sequels that pick up where their predecessors left off, the second editions tend to be rushed and simply bank on resting on the laurels of the established characters. As a result, most come across as nothing more than celebrated episodes of Scooby-Doo: an unknown bad guy causes trouble, a little action follows, and finally the heroes unmask the villain. The HP series bounced back immediately with the third book of the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Willems’s other Pigeon books were equally as hilarious as the original, but Funk’s following second, third and fourth books failed to capture the imagination and originality of her first work. And such is the unfortunate (sorry) fate that befell The Reptile Room. “In the Reptile Room”, however, is pulsating mix of awkward rhythm, nearly random chimes and pulsating keyboards – none of which will be surprising to regular fans of the more new-wavey Magnetic Fields tracks but in this instance, it’s an interesting and welcome change from its predecessor.
Book: C (I’ll upgrade it from C- because it contains a character named “Monty”.)
Song: A-
the Wide Window and “the World is a Very Scary Place”
The title of this track is a reference to Aunt Josephine, the orphan’s ill-fated hypochondriac caretaker. Perhaps the Gothic Archies could have outsourced this track, as the Decemberists have pretty much built their reputation on writing songs that sound like they belong in a Lemony Snicket book, and their nautically-themed tone would have fit this novel perfectly. The Wide Window gets major points because it’s the first book in the series that is legitimately scary, although I have to dock it a little favor because it blatantly reiterates some of the series’ major themes and images. Namely, libraries.
Book: B+
Song: B
the Miserable Mill and “Dreary, Dreary”
This track has very little to do with its paired novel, specifically, which is kind of a shame because I’m confident that Merritt and Handler could have utilized some cheesy buzzsaw guitarwork to a great deal of success. Instead, we get an ode to the frequently-mentioned-but-scarcely-explained Beatrice, (see above). I think that had the GA’s switched the music of this track with the preceding song, it would have worked to a better effect. The Miserable Mill is one of the few in the series that plays up the setting to its logical conclusion, and as a result, this portion of the story seems more realistic than the others.
Book: A-
Song: C-
the Austere Academy and “When You Play the Violin”.
The fifth track on the album is a tribute to the most annoying character in the ASOUE library, Vice Principal Nero, whose mere presence nearly makes the book unbearable to read. But then again, it is precisely that sort of uncomfortable pacing which makes these books so irresistible. It is right around book number five that the reader really begins to grasp the hopelessness of the situation – and then you realize that you’re not even halfway through yet! The song possesses a charming lo-fi quality that perfectly embodies this book and the series by giving it an implacable year and place of origin, just like the books themselves. The quasi-baroque coda is a nice touch, too.
Book: B+
Song: B
the Ersatz Elevator and “the Abyss”
This is my favorite book in the series, mostly because it reminds of The Catcher in the Rye. (The justification for that claim is pretty weak, so I’ll spare us both.) It is also the first one in the set to completely utilize a Dickensian urban setting wherein the city and buildings are just as important as characters as their human counterparts. “The Abyss” starts with dueling synths and is a rapidly played Casio beat away from being a When in Rome cut.
Book: A
Song: C+
the Vile Village and “Crows”
The seventh novel employs a Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets The Children of the Damned setting as a mysterious backdrop to really get the ball rolling on the set’s extensively interconnected plot. Unfortunately, the focus on the larger picture hurts this particular installment, which closes with an ending right out of Waterworld. The track, like the novel, shows the scars of numerous influences. It opens with echoed acoustic guitar and minimal bass accompaniment. At the first hook, a swirling rhythm guitar comes in, turning the track into something off of American: V, where the corpse of Johnny Cash covers a Galaxie 500 song. This is the track that could most seamlessly appear on some other Merritt album.
Book: B+
Song: A
the Hostile Hospital and “Smile! No One Cares How You Feel”
The next few books all seem to be of the “get the ball rolling” variety. While there is an overarching story throughout the entire series, books 8-11 exist almost solely for the extended plot and do not function very well on their own, a characteristic that does not burden books 3-7. However, this book still contains all of the little nuances and references that dot its predecessors, such as allusions to Russian literature. This book is best remembered for the patient name anagrams. The song, has a drowsy car alarm-sounding loop with an Eastern-tinged guitar overlap. Merritt’s viscous tone drips over every thing. Even though it’s the shortest track on the album (1:51), it feels like the longest.
Book: C+
Song: C+
the Carnivorous Carnival and “Freakshow” and “Walking My Gargoyle”
Here is another plodding chapter that seems to be merely moving the story forward rather than operating as its own interesting text. Horror movie fans will no doubt enjoy the names of the various circus freaks. For some unexplained reason, the GA’s chose to write two songs for this fill-in-the gaps book. The first, the predictably named “Freakshow”, is an annoying little bit, complete with quirky circus beat and muppet-esque backing choir. “Walking My Gargoyle”, on the other hand, is an instance where Merritt and Handler decided to write a song related to the book, rather than simply make a song about the book. The difference between these two is that the former can only be listened to with immediate considerations to the book, while the later makes for a song that is enjoyable in nearly any context.
Book: D+
Song: C+/B+
the Slippery Slope and “How Do You Slow This Thing Down?”
The title of this track corresponds with the first chapter of book number ten where the two eldest Baudelaire orphans are trapped in a circus caravan that is racing down a mountain road. As its name suggests, this is a s-l-o-w song; the drumming doubles over every time the pace gets too quick. (I can imagine a video of this scene where the caravan is still-shot and the background whizzes by in black and white slow motion.) The book, on the other hand, moves by at an accelerated pace, and occasionally seems rushed. There is one instance, however, where the increased speed fits the novel, wherein the writer tastefully mentions an intimate moment between Violet and Quigley Quagmire with only minimal detail. This novel brings the series to a higher level of maturity not only through romance, but also with a focus on ethics. Most children’s books have characters that are overtly flat; the heroes are always noble, the villains always evil. The Slippery Slope, however, doesn’t let it’s protagonists off so easily. In this novel, the characters are faced with decisions that inspire realizations that people are not one-sided and easily definable as we believe them to be when we are children. What’s worse, they begin to discover this truism applies to them as well.
Book: B
Song: B+
the Grim Grotto and “A Million Mushrooms”
A weird, almost a capella track with minimalist instrumentation to mimic dripping water is here to accompany a book that is set almost entirely underwater. I was hoping that heavier, deeper tones would have been employed for this one; it just doesn’t seem to capture the claustrophobic mood of the novel. Like the three preceding it, book the eleventh cannot stand on its own they way the first seven novels can. Of course, each book in the series is dependent upon the familiarity of the characters, but this group of four is primarily there to move along the greater story arc of ASOUE. In spite of that factor, The Grim Grotto does interject a new, interesting theme into the story, that being, even though the Baudelaire’s lives had been filled with terrible event after terrible event, there still exist out in the world things that are far too dangerous and disruptive for children to know about.
Book: A-
Song: C
the Penultimate Peril and “Things are Not What They Appear”
In this, the second to last book in the series, Handler brings together all the loose ends of the previous eleven books but cleverly/annoyingly keeps them untied. All of the aforementioned questions are re-asked, and all the characters are re-introduced a la a television reunion special, but answers are at a scarcity. By reading this book, you would think that there would need to be another eleven that would follow just to unravel all turns and twists the author has worked into the plot. As if all of that didn’t add up to enough confusion, there are more than a few red herrings thrown into the mix, seemingly just for the hell of it. The accompanying track, “Things Are Not What They Appear”, is another track that keeps a slowed pace throughout. The songs title refers to a bit of advice/contention that the Baudelaire orphans are repeatedly told throughout this chapter of the story. Repetition is a major component of Handler’s writing in this series; an affect that builds familiarity and frustration for the reader and characters alike.
Book: B+
Song: B-
the End and “Shipwrecked”
Stephen King often claimed that the ending was the most important part of the story. Essentially, the writer can do whatever he or she wants for the duration of the story, and as long there’s a good ending, the audience will forget everything that happened before it and only remember the final scene or line. There’s probably more than a little truth to that; audiences and critics alike fawned over Babel even though its storyline was convoluted and unconnected. All the director had to do was patch up all the loose ends into a somewhat believable ending and the viewers were successfully tricked into forgetting that they had just spent the last two hours of their lives watching a film that was going nowhere. The End offers the complete antithesis of this sort of ending; Book the Thirteenth only complicates the already difficult plot. Those seeking answers to the countless questions brought up in previous chapters need not apply. Instead, Handler uses the final section to further the sense of mystery. His ultimate reasoning, that stories have no real beginnings nor endings, might be a stretch, and surely, some will view it as a cop-out, however, it does fit the series perfectly; a happy ending just wouldn’t seem right. In spite of the novel’s less than pleasant ending, the bouncy, tropical “Shipwrecked”, which might simply be a b-side to 69 Love Songs, was chosen to represent The End.
Book: B
Song: A-
Chapter 14: Book the Last and “We Are the Gothic Archies”
This part of the story is not its own separate publication. Instead, it is an added chapter to the end of The End that takes place a year after the end of The End. It doesn’t really add much to the series at all, except leave the door open for a continuation of the series. (Which I guess isn’t a bad thing at all.) “We Are the Gothic Archies” is a self-promoting theme song in the vain of “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” and “The Tra La La Song”. Towards the end of the track, Merrit starts singing the lyrics backwards, which is a nice touch.
Book: C-
Song: B
// the Gothic Archies - the Tragic Treasury: Songs From a Series of Unfortunate Events buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 09:00 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 22, 2007
Whither "Sealings"?
Around this time last year, we were all excited about the prospect of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Show Your Bones, gobbling any leaked snippets that appeared and panting our way through live show reviews. The subsequent album, while gaining more of a mixed reception than a complete rebuke, felt lifeless in long stretches and (save a few songs) completely fell out of listening rotation within a few weeks. This is by no means the final word on the subject (It wormed its way into the other contributors' year ends, if I remember correctly). The point is that for me there's no longer a tangible excitement there. For the musically (way) over saturated and hyper fickle, this can be the kiss of death.
This sort of thing happens to me all the time, and perhaps the small army of blog readers can relate. Preferences seem to shift on a dime lately, and many things probably don't get the consideration that they rightfully deserve before they are tossed to the curb. I think Show Your Bones definitely got a fair shake though. In retrospect, it seems the main problem was that my expectations were screwed because I was promised something that was never really delivered.
Fittingly, my quest for continuing updates on the band resulted in me taunting myself. First taunting myself with the rumor that ex-Bloody Valentine associate Alan Moulder would be involved in the production, suggesting a sound that would be pretty, odd, and above all heavy. The replacement of Moulder with *cough* Spike Jonze's brother was a tough one to take. A second taunt was the disparity between my imagined tracklist and the actual selections. When this blog was still in its infancy, I offered a lengthy piece about YYY's just released DVD, Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow. Reading it now is a bit like looking at gawky year book pictures (marvel as I lament the inability to link video clips into a post in all my pre You Tube innocence) but the main thrust was that, yeah Show Your Bones is going to be great, because listen to all this great new material they've amassed. New material that, save "Cheated Hearts," was nowhere to be found once the record dropped...
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Sealings"
(from the Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow DVD)
In this inevitably 'Tubed clip, you can see and hear what I was so excited about. Nick Zinner does the heavy lifting, just destroying a monster riff, and then biding his time to do it again. Karen tries to keep up, and although she does get a few coos in, it's mostly tattered throat primal screaming. It moves, it swoops, it hits. Even though I've lost my loving feeling, I'm quick to accept that this still falls on the right side of quality, by a safe margin.
-I'm a little less convinced that the poses and costumes and faux aloofy (aloof + goofy = aloofy) stage banter won't continue to age rapidly. Luckily for us, the cycle of disdain and nostalgia shows no sign of abating either, so it should all come back into style in about six years-
But back to the point, what happened to this song? Why would an epic live staple be excised in favor of something like "Dudley," a half formed idea that lifts its melody from a well known children's song? Was the studio version so terrible? In the face of roughly 10, 000 records to be excited about since then, I forgot to even be curious. It occurred to me yesterday for who knows why, and I did a quick search only to find that the track had indeed been completed, discarded, and filtered meekly into the hype machine wilderness...
In review, I don't think they nailed this, but it's still a good song. The problem, as with the album, is that Zinner's guitar is placed far too far in the mix's background, subservient to the Karen O persona. That act still has some legs, but for me it was always better when the components were on more equal footing. Karen hopping giddily (or drunkly) around the tiger, too oblivious to realize that she was hopelessly overmatched. There was a drama in that dynamic more interesting than a backdrop for a charismatic front person. Her star turns work perfectly well when she shoots for tear jerker or glossy new wave, but we're looking for some balance. With the caveat that I wish Zinner was fully unleashed, this still stands as the best counterweight that they could have offered. Easily in the top five percentage of all possible inclusions, and a terminally boneheaded omission.
Sifting through Bones and its related outtakes and b-sides for stuff that I was still excited about listening to, I had a hard time filling out an alternate album tracklist that wouldn't have been ultimately disappointing. "Cheated Hearts" still sounds great, "Turn Into" is lovely, uhhh, I kind of like "Honeybear?" Sigh. So, I cobbled together a seven track mini playlist;
1. "Cheated Hearts"
2. "Down Boy" (another unloved castoff)
3. "Honeybear"
4. "Sealings"
5. "Gold Lion"
6. "Turn Into"
7. "Diamond Sea" (their non-radical, but pretty rad Sonic Youth cover)
I called this "the Better Bones EP" and called it a day (my schedule is very demanding).
I have no doubt that YYY's will have as long a career as they like, but unless the next album is alot weirder or alot catchier, the fan base demographics are going to shift dramatically. They're probably better off without us neurotics, wringing our hands over previous preoccupations..
// Yeah Yeah Yeahs - MySpace
// Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 02:10 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
What do Kevin Barnes and Britney Spears have in common?
They are not both in rehab, nor are they admiring each others shiny heads. More along the lines of what, a few months ago, the world learned about Brit's inability to get out of sports cars properly. The same mystery of what is under the packaging is now out in the open for Mr. Barnes as well. Not quite through the same quasi-accidental showing, mind you. Though I think Barnes' exposed penis will not be in the same ballpark in terms of payoff as Britney's hooha was.
We are not going to dare and post the pictures. Head to Pitchfork's news section for the full monty. *Warning: NSFW
Posted by Merry Swankster at 11:57 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 21, 2007
Retrohump Day - The Zombies
The Zombies are perhaps the least famous British invaders of the 1960s Anglo-centric takeover of music. Equally infamous for being casualties of an era that defined success by chart placement and hit singles as they are for an adventurous sound that handicapped them to only modest success compared to the stratospheric rise of peers like the Beatles and the Beach Boys.
The Zombies will always be relegated to the shadows of those bands' critical and commercial successes. However, they deserve mention besides juggernauts of influence due to the eccentric energy they breathed into their music. It's important to recognize the context of those times when tossing around the labels of eccentricity.
Conservative by today's standards, but in relation to the pop music of the day it was way out there. The Zombies where evolving rock music and tweaking the building blocks for progressive rock even as the newly minted, still newborn baby of rock and roll gestated along (m.s. note - not to be confused with prog-rock). In terms of posterity, not terrible company to be in. Though I'm sure even a small sliver of Brian Wilson sized royalty checks would be welcome. The Zombies are history's odd men out.
All that baiting for the hits:
The Zombies - "She's Not There"
Dapper and cool is singer Colin Blunstone's modus operandi. His slightly vampy, in-place dance teases and rolls with the tension of the song. And damn, that voice is buttery smooth.
The Zombies - "Time of the Season"
Some serious fashion on display along with what I can only guess where pretty shocking sexual images for those times. Bikinis! Hands fondling knees! Its like Benny Hill and Robert Altman circa The Long Goodbye got together to make this one. NSFW if you are still in 1968.
The Zombies - "Tell Her No" Shindig television show - 1965
Embedding into the lush fabric of MS.com is currently prohibited. Fortunately for those that click through you'll see a passionate performance and a prancing Blunstone. Or, as much as you can be prancing in 1965.
Argent - "Hold Your Head up"
Takes me back to high school nights of driving around in beat up junkers while listening to classic rock stations. Logging dozens of miles every weekend night doing nothing but activities revolving around enriching evening events like meet ups at 7-11 (DQ, et al), purposefully getting lost, or returning to one of the many soulless fast food joints that litter the suburban landscape. Other joint-related recreation may (or may not) have played prominent (or nonexistent) roles throughout this suddenly opened window of memory (allegedly). Um,..what did I just say? Maybe I'm getting teenage nostalgia mixed with a story my friend once told me. Right.
Here you have the man behind the Zombie ivories with his post-Zombies band. Argent reached modest levels of success and this was by far their greatest hit. Speaking of hits, did Rod Argent get beat up for coming up with such a criminally inexcusable name for a band? Does this fall under the 'things-got-weird-in-the 70s' clause we are all supposed to ignore? Does this?? Almost ruins the badassness of calling your previous band the Zombies. Almost.
//The Zombies - fan site
//The Zombies - Oddysey and Oracle - buy
//The Zombies - The Singles Collection: A's & B's, 1964-1969 - buy
Posted by Merry Swankster at 12:53 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 20, 2007
Can Au Revoir Simone win an Oscar?
Forgive the oblique title. An explanation follows... Now.
A friend made a case, at the bar, that The 40 Year-Old Virgin deserved the nod for best picture at that year's Oscars. On the surface, it's easy to dismiss this as ludicrous. But that mockery surface loses its luster when you realize that past winners have included A Beautiful Mind and Crash. The 40 Year-Old Virgin was a warm, funny, and well-written and paced comedy. Sane people could argue that, reel-for-reel, that movie was better than the contenders.
This set-up, dear folks, is for me to contemplate whether the eventually-to-be-released Au Revoir Simone album The Bird of Music could be considered for album of the year.
The Bird of Music, the second album from the Brooklyn trio of keyboardists/singers, is lush, welcoming, and delightful from start to beginning. But it is not audacious, adventurous, or dramatic, the type of music that usually wins (at least my list).
An argument could be made that, second-for-second, it could be the best album of 2007. But we'll see how that goes.
Au Revoir Simone - A Violent Yet Flammable World
Getting past the Wall of Sound drum intro (ladies, I hate to admit something I love so much is hackneyed, but we got to get past our Ronettes obsessions), the synth carries through multiple layers, becoming enveloped by swelling strings, mellifluous singing, and staccato drums. The song carries along pleasant enough, understated, until, after the second musical bridge, the ladies get into a full-force asymmetrical round. Truly blissful stuff.
Au Revoir Simone - Sad Song
When you have three band members playing keyboards, there's plenty of nuanced developments that are only detectable after multiple listens. Sad Song combines the familiar keyboards (one holding the base, the other the melody) with horn section and a vocal emotion that expresses disillusionment, echoing the titular emotion.
Video for Fallen Snow
With a crop of strong albums already released in 2007, Au Revoir Simone has a lot of competition. But don't think that, because they're earnest or understated, they don't deserve a chance.
// Au Revoir Simone Web site
// Au Revoir Simon MySpace
// Buy music in May. See notes here.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 08:34 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
the Astounding Song Machine
With the run up to the show this past week (and I thought I'd give you all a bit of a respite before I roll out the big recap), I haven't had the chance to discuss some stuff I've been enjoying, both old, new, and new to me. Making up for it in a cluster, here's five...
These New Puritans - "En Papier"
These New Puritans continue to impress, even if their relative blog invisibility makes finding their songs a bit of a chore. About a two week ago the UK teens made their Now Pluvial EP available for free download on their confusing website, after the initial print run had expired. Then they took it away two days later. Did you catch it? I was going to tell you, but then I didn't.
The band's charm in this early stage seems to be marrying the stomping, barking deadpan of the Fall with the twitching (occasionally floating) deadpan of Liars. Which is so obvious, that it borders on brilliant. Like what if we took this ice cream cake and threw some peanut butter in there? One of the year's most exciting debut album prospects that you're not excited about.
The Nicolas Cage pic took in about $45 mil. at the box office, and is quite certainly terrible. I'm a sucker for comic book movies, and they're all fairly adolescent, but there's something about a flaming skeleton in a leather jacket that does motorcycle tricks that suggests a dim witted ten year old's demented notebook scribbling. You're waiting for a stealth bomber and a T-rex to show up.
Suicide's ode to Johnny Blaze and his blue jumpsuit has the reverse effect, sounding better as the years go by and adding a touch of sexy danger for the ladies. I don't mean any disrespect to Black Sabbath, but this is the best song ever named for a Marvel Comics character.
It probably won't help my reputation as a Kate Jackson stalker to tell you that I got this song from an offhand mention of hers in an issue of the NME. Discovering some semi-ignored ABBA 26 years after the fact demands an explanation, however. I've been a bit hard on the cheesiness of the archetypal Swede poppers before, but this track feels almost like a completely different animal. I apologize for the ignorance, but there isn't a scene in Mamma Mia where the cast is assaulted by jackbooted thugs, is there?
Taken from their final studio album of the same name and recorded in 1981 after both in-group couples had divorced, it's tempting to try to attribute this darker material to interpersonal strife. Aside from a few broad lines like, "My whole world is falling, going crazy," it's hard to read relationship trouble into this narrative about persecuted Russian dissidents being abducted. You read that right. Of course, being ABBA, the rising tension of the home invasion takes the form of a tight and infectious disco beat. The synth tones are stranger than usual, though. The electro pulse sounds kinda dirty, and the higher pitched alien washes that interject on the chorus swells aren't that far removed from the first Magazine album (although the guitar work doesn't stand up to that improbable comparison). If you've never heard this and you think you have a total handle on ABBA, or conversely avoided their sunny disposition like the plague, prepare for a minor revelation.
It always generates goodwill for me when a band, newly hyped and beloved, strikes the hot iron. Prolific output at the right time can nudge a crush over to a full blown obsession. If "Like New" is a representative offering from the looming Flourescent Grey EP, we're in for more mysterious and lovely songs in the vein of the schizophrenic Cryptograms' second half personality. "Be like you/ Be like new" isn't much to cling to lyrically, but there isn't a second of this that isn't gorgeous.
Now this is kind of a miracle. What are the chances that the original (and supremely awesome) line up of Dinosaur Jr. would make up, tour, and stumble directly back onto the path they abandoned after Bug? I mean it doesn't seem so far fetched on paper, but these things almost never end in a satisfying way. Anyone out there have confidence that new material from the Stooges or the Pixies will fare nearly this well? Maybe the low expectations are letting a song that's simple and melodic and squarely in the band's former sweet spot signify too much. But what could we all want more than that assured, but too muted to be gratuitously wanky guitar wrangling, horse voiced insecurity, and warm lo fi fuzz? More of it all, I guess. That wish has a come true date of May 1st.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 10:38 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 19, 2007
Message from Merry Swankster Engineers
We are working on several tweaks to the site. Do not hit the big red panic button if you see anything weird, just refresh. Apologies if you're at work, and the site goes down, and the Internets suddenly appear bereft of meaning.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 11:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Camera Obscura - Live @ Bluebird Theatre, Denver, CO - 2.08.2007
Blessed with the most velvety smooth voice in indie rock, Glasgow's Camera Obscura stepped into Denver last week to showcase their brand of melodic pop to a mostly reverent audience. Tracyanne Campbell and her unassuming bandmates politely performed a set that drew heavily from last years gem, Let's Get Out of this Country. An album that just barely got squeezed out from our Top 10 by some late tallying (which incidentally dropped it to number eleven in the MS.com rankings for best album of 2006).
When beautifully written songs of sadness are delivered with the mellifluous treatment that Campbell gives them, you get a pass when you find yourself contently humming to the forlorn words of "Come Back Margaret," which kicked the night off. That pass then gets extended to the balance of the audience when the supremely satisfying rapid handclaps are demanded (and obeyed) by the band to the crowd. Wonderment officially set in when "The False Contender" followed and it cha-cha-cha'd straight down to the bowels of the near-capacity Bluebird. You could almost feel the heavy, heart-filled gazes from fanboys and girls wrestling to see who could slyly emote their smitten appreciation loudest.
Camera Obscura is the kind of band that inspires the doodle art of hyper sentimental high school kids when they deface schoolbooks. If those kids happen to be the same ones that get teased for straying far from the adrenalized music of their peers, they surely melted into their Chuck Taylors when Tracyanne mixed in a tale of karaoke fun from the night before to thanking the crowd for showing up and skipping the Incubus show across town. "Nothing against Incubus, never heard of them. At least they're on the jukebox." Now just think how adorable that sounds in a Scottish accent.
More pics after the jump.
//Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country - Buy
//Camera Obscura - If Looks Could Kill (Single) - Buy
//Camera Obscura - Site.
//Camera Obscura - Myspace.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 10:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 18, 2007
Video: Fab Faux - "I Am the Walrus"
Fab Faux - "I Am the Walrus" (Live on Letterman - 2.09.07)
Fab Faux might be the most true -to-the-original cover band to ever exist. Live, they recreate each intricate detail of the Beatles studio recordings.
They band says they share...
"[a] commitment to the accurate reproduction of The Beatles' repertoire; this is the band to see if you want to know what it might have been like if The Beatles toured behind their later albums. Imagine hearing complex material like "Strawberry Fields Forever", "I Am the Walrus", and "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite."
Upcoming dates after the jump.
//Fab Faux - site
03.13.07 - Webster Hall - New York, NY *Solo years show.
03.14.07 - Webster Hall - New York, NY *Solo years show.
03.31.07 - Glenside, PA - Keswick Theatre
04.14.07 - Washington, DC - Warner Theatre
04.20.07 - Hollywood, CA - House of Blues *Performing the White Album in its entirety
Posted by Merry Swankster at 03:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 17, 2007
Video: Fiery Furnaces - "Japanese Slippers"
An unreleased song from the family Friedberger...
See you tonight?
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 12:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 16, 2007
Neon Lights Tomorrow!
At this point I'm sure hype fatigue has set in, so I'll shut my trap and just give you a handy link guide to the band profiles that have come to pass:
- A Sunny Day in Glasgow (11:30)
- Apache Beat (10:30)
- the Muggabears (9:30)
- Please Dept. (8:30)
Even more info can be found at our MySpace page here. Be our friend why don'tcha?
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 02:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Daft Punk Fridays: 3 of 12
Daft Punk - Steam Machine (4.29.06 - Live at Coachella)
What is this all about? - Previously:
You may have heard Daft Punk was pretty good at Coachella...
Daft Punk Fridays: 2 of 12
-- -- --
Related:: Coachella sold out!
Wow. Anyone got a pair of extra tickets for me?
Posted by Merry Swankster at 01:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Obscurer Than Thou: the Velvet Understudy
by David Klein
When a great band breaks up, it isn’t pretty. Usually somebody dies. The Beatles fell apart in acrimony; the Stones refuse to break up, but things are often harsher when the star of your huge rock band dies suddenly and expectedly. After Jim Morrison’s final soak in a Parisian bathtub, the remaining Doors got together and in essence decided, “Hey, let’s just continue as The Doors, with our spindly keyboardist Ray Manzarek as lead singer, and hope the fans will dig our new direction.” Needless to say, the post-Jim Doors sunk into well-deserved oblivion until they reemerged years later, with some unreleased Lizard King poetry they’d set to music. Led Zeppelin knew enough to simply hang up its enormous wings after drummer John Bonham consumed his final “forty-four ‘measures’ of vodka. (I’ve always loved that genteel phraseology in the oh-so-British coroner’s report.) Zep showed uncharacteristic restraint in realizing that they would never be the same without Bonzo, so why tarnish their legacy? (Until Live Aid, of course, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves). The surviving band mates of Keith Moon, who, incidentally, gave Led Zeppelin its name, were not ready to make the hard choices. They opted to replace the insanely talented Moon with someone talented but not insane (i.e., Kenney Jones of the Faces franchise)—which makes sense on paper, but didn’t yield much (some would say anything) in the way of essential Who songs. Thank God the remaining members of Nirvana didn’t take this approach and tap, say, Chris Cornell to front Nirvana 2.0.
Which brings me to the Velvet Underground. I know, I know: Lou Reed didn’t die like the other people I just mentioned. He just went solo. But to the remaining VU members, what’s the difference? At least until that reunion thing twenty years later. And the comparison is also specious in that, unlike the Who, the Velvets were largely unsung at the time. They didn’t have the means to like, go out and sign up Nick Drake up for the job of new lead singer. And it must be said that, unlike the other bands, the Velvets had already withstood the loss of a founding member, John Cale, who left after 1968’s White Light White Heat, taking with him his overt avant-garde leanings, his back-up vocals, and his viola. Nevertheless, the Velvets actually did have some great music in them at that point. But when Lou Reed went solo in 1971, when it would have seemed so apt for the rest of the band to shuffle off into obscurity, the band, or the name of the band, at any rate, soldiered on. Doug Yule, who had joined the band around the time of Loaded, originally as the bassist and later guitarist and singer, thought he could keep things going. Crazy idea in itself, but what’s crazier is that, instead of finding some sullen, artsy-fartsy would-be Lou type, or at least someone with a New York accent, the final version of the VU was fronted by Willie “Loco” Alexander, a stalwart of the Boston rock scene. I’m sure you’ll agree that there is something very, very wrong about the idea of the Velvet Underground being led by Bostonian. Can you see “Waiting for the Man” set in Southie? “Feelin’ wicked bad/more dead than alive”? I don’t think so.
The rest of the story, Willie Alexander mp3's, and more pictures of Willie Alexander that will confuse your sexuality after the jump...
Nevertheless, the Lou-less, Cale-less VU released one record with Willie Alexander as lead singer, 1973’s Squeeze. At that point only Yule remained; Sterling Morrison had long since left for the groves of academia, and Maureen Tucker had finally commenced her lengthy disappearance. Squeeze, which sold even fewer copies than the famously low-selling VU records, is now, of course, a collector’s item due to its utter obscurity. But I won’t champion it because a) I don’t own it and b) that’s not the kind of obscurity I want to single out for praise. By the same token, I am writing to praise Willie Alexander, and not for being a footnote in hipster history.
Willie was not an innovator but he had charisma. With a singing style combining elements of Mick, Iggy and Cher, he added a mush-mouthed, glam delivery all his own. Willie’s two major-label releases in the late ‘70s garnered little excitement outside of the Boston region, favorable press, or sales. Prominent rock critic of the era Dave Marsh was not alone in heaping scorn upon Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band (1978) and the follow up Meanwhile…Back in the States. Ira Robbins, who headed up the influential and invaluable Trouser Press magazine, dismissed them as a merely competent bar band. But I say they can all take a powder because Willie’s salacious singing style combined with the ace fretwork of fleet-fingered Billy Loosigian (he’s loose and Armenian: he’s Loosigian) still deliver a certain specific vintage of ‘70s rock, unmoored by a desire to imitate the complicated art-rock stylings of the day, and rooted in a more basic hard-rocking flavor. This is the way you wanted to play guitar in 1978: with swagger and extreme wailing. So I offer you:
Willie Alexander - “Mass. Ave.”
This swaggering track epitomizes the sound of Willie & the Boom Boom Band’s major-label releases: prancing T. Rex vibe, Willie’s cocky half-spoken delivery, like Iggy with a touch of Dr. Frank N. Furter, and Loosigian’s lightning licks. And to end it, an indulgent sloppy fadeout.
Willie Alexander - “Kerouac”
The vulnerable side of Mr. Alexander comes through here, with an off-key piano adding poignancy to Willie’s straightforward tribute to the king of the Beats.
Although Willie was nothing like the man he temporarily replaced, this track’s opening like sure sounds like one that Lou might have written (after a long night, perhaps):
“I wanna sing like a Puerto Rican hooker/in a black limousine”
Previously: Obscurer Than Thous...
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 08:28 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 15, 2007
Neon Lights: A Sunny Day in Glasgow
Regular readers of this site will need no introduction for Saturday's final Neon Lights act, A Sunny Day in Glasgow. We've been following the exploits of Ben Daniels, his sisters, and their Philadelphia posse for almost a year now. Neon Lights couldn't be prouder to present the record release show for the stellar new album Scribble Mural Comic Journal (which happens to be the group's only NYC appearance). You can buy it now on iTunes, eMusic, and maybe even at what our ancestors used to call "a record store." Because I'm completely out of different ways to say "ethereally pretty" here's the previous attempts...
A Sunny Day in Glasgow - "A Mundane Phone Call to Jack Parsons"
A Sunny Day in Glasgow - "Game of Pricks" (Guided by Voices cover)
A Sunny Day in Glasgow - "Watery (Drowning is Just Another Word for Being Buried Alive Under Water)"
Plus, an interview with Ben Daniels...
I'm certainly not the only impressed. Check out this murderer's row:
Pitchfork
Allmusic.com
Prefix (full disclosure, I wrote this one...)
Idolator
Fluxblog
Gorilla vs. Bear
Marathonpacks
the Rich Girls are Weeping
Cracker's United
Chromewaves
This is not to mention publications so esteemed as to not have linkable web versions of their accolades. Just to give you two, real quick like;
XLR8R Magazine:
"Philly's A Sunny Day in Glasgow is dreamy. Their The Sunniest Day Ever EP is both creepy and awe-inspiring, with tracks like "C'mon," where atonal My Bloody Valentine noise rubs up against melodic pop. The quartet masters the clouds like no other."
Under the Radar Magazine:
"Captivating. Stunning. A Sunny Day in Glasgow has single-handedly returned the shoegazer genre to its former glory. One of the best releases of 2006!"
Believe me, I could go on providing you examples like this all day. I think the case has been made, however. You should either come down to the Delancey this Saturday (Delancey between Clinton and Attorney, by the way) or be forever injured by your stunning desire to be hit in the face repeatedly by reliable recommendations while remaining completely unmoved.
Remember: WNYU (89.1) will again today be giving away the ASDIG album, a guestlist spot for the show, and much more. So tune in the New Afternoon Show (4-7PM EST) for your chance to win. If that doesn't work out go to Breakthru Radio and listen to the Blog Show for yet another chance. We are very forgiving...
// A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Scribble Mural Comic Journal buy
// A Sunny Day in Glasgow - MySpace
// Neon Lights - MySpace
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 11:45 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 14, 2007
From the Retrohump News Desk
Lost in the "don't look over here" shuffle of laying off 6% of its workforce, MTV announced that it plans to make all of its videos available for bloggers to share and place on their online properties.
Astute parent company structure fanatics immediately know that MTV is owned by Viacom, which has famously tussled with YouTube over copyrighted clips. This is, in some respects, a challenge to the reigning online video champ (and leading Retrohump supplier).
This can only mean good things for you, oh Internet users, you 120 Minutes-remembering stargazers and Retrohump devotees. This shit just got realer.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 05:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Retrohump Day - Cristina
So in lieu of a traditional V-Day lovesong post, we're taking a more cynical tact with a very jaded song indeed...
Cristina - "Ticket to the Tropics"
Like today's earlier post, this one features a fashion forward young woman singing about "tropics." The difference in early 80's art-diva Cristina's case is she's almost certainly using it as a vagina metaphor. Yowsa. Listen to the way she vamps about "warm, wet...sand," and there's no other interpretation to make. The song itself is a killer pop number, a campy, catchy parable of sex and materialism that's one of the two or so best cuts on 1984's recently reissued and entirely awesome Sleep it Off album. The heavy handed sexual connotations aren't gratuitous (well, aren't that gratuitous) in the context of the story, where poor Cristina is wooed by a young man who only cares about one thing. He gets it. She sounds more annoyed than distraught though. She's a Harvard grad and woman of the world, who had plenty offers I'm sure. She ended up marrying an heir to a fortune, after all...
Cristina - "Ticket to the Tropics"
The video sees Cristina dolled up with a really unfortunate poodle do that makes her a dead ringer for Woody Allen-era Mia Farrow (she looks better on the later club stage in Chicago garb). She's courted/ ripped off by a perpetually creepy OG Patrick Bateman type, who gets his eventual comeuppance. This is roughly the 400 millionth absolutely amazing You Tube find featuring an artist who's almost too obscure to even get a re-issue. You Tube earns our completely sincere romantic love...
// Cristina - Sleep it Off buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 02:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Camera Obscura receive Valentine
A group of fans at last weeks Camera Obscura show in Denver gave sweet voiced singer Traceyanne Campbell pom-poms and assorted items in a Valentines decorated Hello Kitty bag. Unsure of what to do Traceyanne Campbell set it aside. Do Scots celebrate the racket of Valentines day or, 1st quarter bonus day at Hallmark, as much as we suckers in America do? Full review, and additional pics coming soon. More pics of that lonely bag after the jump.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 12:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Neon Lights: Apache Beat
The wild card of the Neon Lights bill is the enigma known as Apache Beat. Ilirjana Alushaj, a front woman so stylish she co-he