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March 31, 2007
Video: Xiu Xiu Live in Mexico
You Tube is strange. Things pop up years after they were originated, without more than a sentence or two for context. So, even though this is a three year old performance of even older songs, I almost have to consider it "new" because outside of Mexico, who's seen it?
A quick Wikipedia check tells us that the channel responsible for broadcasting this Radio 3 session is state sponsored TVE2, Mexico's second federally run television station which plays to a college audience by featuring off-beat American shows like Six Feet Under and Veronica Mars. That programming scheme seems pretty reasonable, but Xiu Xiu concerts? No wonder its routinely on the bottom of the ratings scale. Say what you will for the merits of state run media versus the free market, but the free market has little room for marginal art.
Anyway, the footage...
Xiu Xiu - "Suha"
(Live, Conciertos de Radio 3)
Though his detractors often express distaste for the over the top nature of Jamie Stewart's performance, what's always struck me coming out of a Xiu Xiu concert (I've seen three, I think?) is the complete commitment he gives to even the most ear damaging noises or embarrassing sentiments. If it's all an act, he's a hell of an actor.
Xiu Xiu - "Poe Poe"
(Live, Conciertos de Radio 3)
I may be a weirdo, but I think that the completely disinterested, almost passive aggressive way Caralee McElroy hits the mini cymbals is kind of hot.
Xiu Xiu - "Crank Heart"
(Live, Conciertos de Radio 3)
it's easy to miss the humor in Stewart's off putting lyrics, but the line "You were so cool/ Your high school colors/ were black and light black," is still pretty hilarious.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 01:20 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 30, 2007
Save the Date
Hey, just a quick self aggrandizing note, if you'll permit. A week from tonight, on April 6th, I'll be DJ'ing at the Lotus Lounge on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. You know, for money. if you haven't been there, believe me when I say that it's basically a perfect little LES neighborhood joint. Cheap drinks, warm atmosphere, and good music (even when I'm not in charge). It's quite possible that I'm either incredibly picky or incredibly square, but even in the vast tangles of New York City I have trouble finding such a thing.
I've got nothing concrete in mind as of yet, but here are the sorts of things I'm liable to play:
the Long Blondes - "Autonomy Boy"
David Bowie - "Breaking Glass"
Josef K - "Sorry For Laughing"
Junior Boys - "In the Morning"
So that's it. No immediate action necessary, but just put this piece of info into your head and bat it around playfully for a bit.
I'll remind you next week, and like, give you directions.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 03:59 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Daft Punk Fridays: 9 of 12
Daft Punk - "Alive (The Prime time of your Life)" (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
Daft Punk Fridays: 4 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 5 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 6 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 7 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 8 of 12
Posted by Merry Swankster at 12:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 29, 2007
Racing Ahead of the Curve...
Despite some light posting I've been mainly absent from MS duties for a week or so thanks to some R & R and family type festivities in my old stomping grounds of Salem, Oregon. The upside of this absence for you, the lurker, is that I've had time to catch up on some listening. Here are a few songs that, though posted about the internet previously and perhaps even gracing the stands of a record store near you, have finally been graced with my seal of approval.
Gui Boratto - "Beautiful Life"
While I'm certainly no Brazilian techno afficionado, I know a killer pop song when I hear one. Gui Boratto might lose a few dance music phobics in the first three minutes of "Beautiful Life," as even a restrained metronome beat such as this tends to overshadow lovely waves of pastel synth. From there, when the earnest (almost grateful) female vocal rides in, the track evokes a clean breeze ruffling the hair instead of sweat shrapnel flying from shimmying club kids. Its structure technically fits the Pavlovian build and release pattern that the dancefloor commands, but it's far too gentle to really dictate motion. The flush faced bliss of the MDMA set is present and accounted for, however.
//Gui Boratto - website
//Gui Boratto - Chromophobia buy
Imagine that you, at age fourteen, were forced to sit idly by while your older brothers wrapped themselves in feedback and dark glasses, suddenly embraced as the world's coolest band. How could you not grow up wanting to be a rock star? Well, her gratification might have been delayed a bit, but little sis Linda Reid has finally taken a slice of the family spotlight. Although some of her debut album as Sister Vanilla invites the inevitable Jesus and Mary Chain comparisons, it's for the most part the sweet Scots indie that we know and love.
Here, the brothers Reid offer some restrained country guitar lilt and some soft vocal support, but are lovingly subdued enough to not overshadow. It charms with modest melody, and the sweet breathy delivery that Glaswegian girls always seem to deliver. I'm sure her gene pool has a good bit to do with her musical acumen, but since my only real knowledge of Scotland is from records, I live under the sweet delusion that you could take any bonnie lass off the cobblestoned streets and into the studio to get a similar result. False of course, but isn't it pretty to think so?
// Sister Vanilla - website
// Sister Vanilla - Little Pop Rock buy
Times New Viking - "Love Your Daughters"
I declared last week that I was going to have to give in and listen to Times New Viking, so I did. It only took me 28 minutes. For 15 tracks! For a non-hardcore album, that's tough to beat.
At 3 minutes and 35 seconds, "Love Your Daughters" is their record's "sprawling centerpiece." They might try flirting with slightly less instantaneous track lengths going forward, as the slowed pace here gives the buoyant melody a chance to bob in the thick waves of fuzz. The Drag City Records comparisons are valid, though for most of the album the unhinged sloppiness and boy girl vocal trade offs place them closer to some of the less psychotic Royal Trux material than Pavement's early noise singles. This one might be the exception, though. There's romance in its roughness, humanity in its hiss, and maybe a drunk on the drums.
// Times New Viking - MySpace
// Times New Viking - ...Present the Paisley Reich buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 02:10 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
March 28, 2007
Retrohump Day- Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
With a contagious rhythm section set against a musical philosophy that enjoyed the good parts of life, Charles Wright became one of the more dominant musical figures who helped forge a bridge from the looseness of 60's soul to the tightly wound funk of the 70's. Regarded as the middle ground between Otis Redding and James Brown, Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Band fashioned about 9 top 100 singles between 1967 and 1972. Even if you were nowhere near the West Coast four decades ago you probably can recognize their sound from artists like NWA and Tribe Called Quest who sampled Charles Wright's pocketed bass-lines and bright horn arrangements in order to launch a hip-hop generation. Recently, the advertising world has locked on to the idea that Charles Wright can help them sell everything from burgers to sneakers as Wright’s “Express Yourself” continues to find new life.
Charles Wright's early musical career started in Doo-Wop in the 50’s. By the 60’s he had formed an eight piece band that quickly became a club sensation. In 1967 Bill Cosby was looking for back up on his first attempt at a singing album and came looking for Charles Wright the Watts 103rd. With the Cos the band recorded Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings
Though it could not compare to Rudy Huxtable lip synching to Ray Charles for Grandma and Grandpa Huxtable's 49th Wedding Anniversary, the album actually landed them a hit single. They were signed by Warner Bros. in 1969 and became one of the first successful R&B artists on the label. Wright and the 103rd went on to record a dream catalogue for DJs looking for samples with hits like "The Joker," "65 Bars and a Taste of Soul," and "Keep Saying."
I'm not real sure what the below video proves other then begging the question on why any editor would cut straight from a picture of MLK to Charles Wright admiring a dancer's a$$...nevertheless, the song is a classic. More importantly this ill advised video serves as a great transition on why NWA's remake of the song was so remarkable for reminding the world that the song's true origin was in the tumultuous years following the Watts Riots.
"Express Yourself" sexed up/ possibly offensive version
"Express Yourself" from NWA's remake from Straight Outta Compton
This song is so good that even if they did not share the same last name false rumors would still circulate that Charles Wright was the late Eric "Eazy-E" Wright's father.
// Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band buy
Posted by Yonah Korngold at 06:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Elite Eight: The recap
For those of you who have come to love our survey tool (and hate our comments function)...
Here is where you can vote on all matchups (listed below)
LOU REED BRACKET
1. Radiohead's OK Computer vs. 3. Pixies' Bossanova
BOB DYLAN BRACKET
1. Neutral Milk Hotel - In An Aeroplane Over the Sea vs. 2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
ERIC B. BRACKET
1. Nirvana - Nevermind vs. 3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
IAN CURTIS BRACKET
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet vs. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 09:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 27, 2007
Album Insanity - Nevermind versus Siamese Dream
ERIC B BRACKET
1. Nirvana – Nevermind
Overall Ranking: 2
[PF 6
Key songs: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium
Year: 1991
Defeated 16. Quasi – Field Studies 4-0
Defeated 8. Le Tigre – S/T 32-5
Defeated 4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines 20-0
NCAA team: UNC (1 seed)
The historical favorite, but people, because of their successful past, are sleeping a bit on them.
VS
3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Overall Ranking: 10
[PF 18]
Key songs: Today, Cherub Rock
Year: 1993
Defeated 14. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory 2-0 (community vote was tied)
Defeated 11. Blur – Parklife 26-11
Defeated Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)13-6
NCAA team: Memphis (2 seed)
A good team and the best team from a weak conference (pop grunge (allow me some liberties) that shocked a sleeper favorite (Wu-Tang Clan) are expected to get easily bounced in the Elite 8Al
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 02:30 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Jack White as Elvis Presley
Parodies abound... Will Ferrell and Napoleon Dynamite as male-partnered figure skaters, Merry Swankster as a real journalist, and now Jack White as Elvis Presley - ZING!
Jack White is reportedly in line to play Elvis in an upcoming comedy.IGN.com have reported the unusual casting choice will be appearing in a parody of recent musical bio-pics, with a current title of ‘Walk Hard’
The film will spoof recent films such as ‘Walk The Line’ and ‘Ray’, with John C Reilly (‘Gangs of New York’, ‘Talladega Nights’) starring as a Johnny Cash-esque fictional character called Dewey Cox. (via)
IMDB describes the plot outline as "Singer Dewey Cox overcomes adversity to become a musical legend," but alas, no Jack White listed in the cast credits. To take a page from Mr. Drudge, developing...
Posted by Merry Swankster at 01:17 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Album Insanity - Fear of a Black Planet versus My Bloody Valentine
IAN CURTIS BRACKET
1. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
Overall Ranking: 3
[PF 17]
Year: 1990
Defeat 16. Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle 4-0
Defeated 8. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole 28-5
Defeated 4. Belle and Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister 13-6
NCAA Team: Kansas (1 seed)
Best team from a great (at least, as the top, conference) was a trendy pick to go all of the way. Like Kansas' youth and poor foul shooting, PE's undeniable patrician and anti-Semitic tendencies are its Achilles' heels.
VS
2. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
Overall Ranking: 6
[PF 2]
Year: 1991
Defeated 15. Silver Jews - American Water 4-0
Defeated 10. Lauryn Hill – Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 20-13
Defeated 6. Elliott Smith – XO 12-7
NCAA Team - UCLA (2 seed)
Their brand of play is not for everyone (distorted noise rock; tenacious D, offensive O) - you could, depending on the matchup (and, in this case voting public) could have been bounced immediately or take it to Hotlanta.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 10:52 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 26, 2007
Explosions in the Sky
It's reminiscent of the moment when Andy Dufresne emerges from the sewer umbrella-less and opens his mouth to the pouring rain outside the walls of Shawshank. If music can be a visual process, then Explosions in the Sky must hold the copyright to the Hollywood moment where the guy who all of the sudden (after a leisurely thought provoking stroll through the rain) begins to sprint in the other direction after the girl who is off to the airport. For some reason Hollywood has made me believe that all dramatic moments must occur in a downpour. Nevertheless, for these moments there is a certain haunting musical feeling that all of the sudden can erupt into a euphoric pounce that captures the moment of revelation. For all these rain soaked moments there is a music, and one of the bands that personify this sound is Explosions in the Sky.
The idea that these visual moments come to mind while listening to Explosions is of course the very reason why they were chosen for the soundtrack of Peter Berg’s Friday Night Lights. But the band will be the first to share their amazement on how their audience has grown with every tour. This points to the fact that Explosions have managed to simultaneously become a solid studio instrumental band while developing a stage presence that can hold the attention of a sold out crowd through even the most ambient corners of silence.
The story that Temporary Residence signed the band in 1999 after only listening to half of their demo, which was delivered with the attached note "This totally f$cking destroys," speaks to the emotional power of the music. However, it also highlights a critique that someone can take one sniff at the beaker and know exactly what goes into the formula regardless of its exploding power.
This is the critical scale in which their most recent album All of the Sudden I Miss Everyone has been viewed.
Most have lauded the recent release but also feel it necessary to comment on the point that the band is still using the same recipe for all three meals. I have a similar take on the matter but, for what it's worth, I usually skip breakfast anyway and am all for eating chicken for dinner and chicken salad for lunch.
Below are two tracks, the first from their 2003 release The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place which is followed by "Welcome, Ghosts" from the new album. With their fierce attack in moments of intensity and inventive approach during periods of calm, drummer Christopher Hrasky and bassist Michael James are the chemical ingredients of the explosion in Explosions in the Sky. Seeing the band last weekend at the Starlight Ballroom in Philadelphia only heightened my respect for these two members.
The repetitive guitar riffs make these songs seem hauntingly familiar while also giving the music some air before the sound is grounded by the rhythm section. Christopher Hrasky’s Darth Vader-esque marching beat countered against the lightness of the guitar riff drive these songs into motion and propel them forward.
I'm real interested to see what kind of direction this band takes as critical pressure to change with every album grows. But for now we will have to suffice with my cheap explosion metaphors. So... even though the rebels may blow up the Death Star in every episode, the Empire will keep building it and I will keep watching the pyrotechnics.
// NPR's recent stream of their 9:30 club performance here
// All of the Sudden I Miss Everyone buy
Posted by Yonah Korngold at 06:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Elite Eight: Slanted and Enchanted versus In an Aeroplane Over the Sea
BOB DYLAN BRACKET
1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea
Overall Ranking: 4
[PF 4]
Key songs: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-headed Boy
Year: 1998
53%)
Defeated 16. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love 4-0
Defeated 9. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head 18-12
Defeated 12. Daft Punk - Homework 11-8
NCAA Team: Ohio State (1 seed)
Because a perceived bias (abstract, somewhat abrasive singing, Big Ten) some though it might be the first to exit. But they have a grinder (Oden, Mangum) that pushes them through. Also, the band (team) will likely be disassembled next year.
VS
2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
Overall Ranking: 5
[PF 5]
Key songs: Here, Conduit for Sale
Year: 1992
Defeated 15. Primal Scream – Screamadelica 4-0
Defeated 7. Cat Power – Moon Pix 22-7
Defeated 3. Portishead – Dummy 10-8
NCAA Team: Oregon (3 seed)
West Coast bias. And, of course, Oregon.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:41 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Elite Eight: Ok Computer versus Bossanova
Vote in comments.
LOU REED BRACKET
1. Radiohead - Ok Computer
Overall Ranking: 1
[Pitchfork Rank 1]
Key songs: Paranoid Android, No Surprises
Year: 1997
Defeated 16. Rage Against the Machine S/T 4-0 Round One
Defeated 9. Mogwai - Young Team 33-1.
Defeated 5. Beck - Odelay 16-4
NCAA Team: Florida (1 seed)
Returning champ (read: Pitchfork champ) is one of the most recent picks might be more ingrained in one's mind than say, Nevermind. Prevailing favorite. Still people question whether they might have the stamina to repeat.
VS
3. Pixies – Bossanova
Overall Ranking: 9
[PF 28]
Key songs: Velouria, Allison
Year: 1990
Defeated 14 seed Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children 4-0
Defeated 6 seed Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One 22-12
Defeated 10 seed Sonic Youth- Goo
NCAA team: Georgetown (2 seed)
The best team to come out of a historic conference (Big East, rock) in awhile (at the time of the Surfer Rosa), but it's not the best team they've ever fielded.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:02 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 25, 2007
Album Insanity: The year of the chalk
Chalk may also refer to predicting the expected result ("picking chalk") or that result occurring, especially in sports or in the NCAA Division 1 College Basketball Tournament when predicting most or all of the favored teams to win.
We'll open up voting for who joins the final four tomorrow (if you're that desirous to start today, you can do so in the comments). Notice how eerily similar this tournament is to the actual tournament. Four one seeds; two three seeds; two two seeds in the Elite Eight.
LOU REED BRACKET
For the top of the bracket.
1. Radiohead - Ok Computer
Overall Ranking: 1
[Pitchfork Rank 1]
Key songs: Paranoid Android, No Surprises
Year: 1997
Defeated 16. Rage Against the Machine S/T 4-0 Round One
Defeated 9. Mogwai - Young Team 33-1.
Defeated 5. Beck - Odelay 16-4
NCAA Team: Florida (1 seed)
Returning champ (read: Pitchfork champ) is one of the most recent picks might be more ingrained in one's mind than say, Nevermind. Prevailing favorite. Still people question whether they might have the stamina to repeat.
VS
3. Pixies – Bossanova
Overall Ranking: 9
[PF 28]
Key songs: Velouria, Allison
Year: 1990
Defeated 14 seed Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children 4-0
Defeated 6 seed Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One 22-12
Defeated 10 seed Sonic Youth- Goo
NCAA team: Georgetown (2 seed)
The best team to come out of a historic conference (Big East, rock) in awhile (at the time of the Surfer Rosa), but it's not the best team they've ever fielded.
LOU REED BRACKET
1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea
Overall Ranking: 4
[PF 4]
Key songs: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-headed Boy
Year: 1998
53%)
Defeated 16. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love 4-0
Defeated 9. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head 18-12
Defeated 12. Daft Punk - Homework 11-8
NCAA Team: Ohio State (1 seed)
Because a perceived bias (abstract, somewhat abrasive singing, Big Ten) some though it might be the first to exit. But they have a grinder (Oden, Mangum) that pushes them through. Also, the band (team) will likely be disassembled next year.
VS
2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
Overall Ranking: 5
[PF 5]
Key songs: Here, Conduit for Sale
Year: 1992
Defeated 15. Primal Scream – Screamadelica 4-0
Defeated 7. Cat Power – Moon Pix 22-7
Defeated 3. Portishead – Dummy 10-8
NCAA Team: Oregon (3 seed)
West Coast bias. And, of course, Oregon.
IAN CURTIS BRACKET
1. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
Overall Ranking: 3
[PF 17]
Year: 1990
Defeat 16. Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle 4-0
Defeated 8. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole 28-5
Defeated 4. Belle and Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister 13-6
NCAA Team: Kansas (1 seed)
Best team from a great (at least, as the top, conference) was a trendy pick to go all of the way. Like Kansas' youth and poor foul shooting, PE's undeniable patrician and anti-Semitic tendencies are its Achilles' heels.
VS
2. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
Overall Ranking: 6
[PF 2]
Year: 1991
Defeated 15. Silver Jews - American Water 4-0
Defeated 10. Lauryn Hill – Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 20-13
Defeated 6. Elliott Smith – XO 12-7
NCAA Team - UCLA (2 seed)
Their brand of play is not for everyone (distorted noise rock; tenacious D, offensive O) - you could, depending on the matchup (and, in this case voting public) could have been bounced immediately or take it to Hotlanta.
ERIC B BRACKET
1. Nirvana – Nevermind
Overall Ranking: 2
[PF 6
Key songs: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium
Year: 1991
Defeated 16. Quasi – Field Studies 4-0
Defeated 8. Le Tigre – S/T 32-5
Defeated 4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines 20-0
NCAA team: UNC (1 seed)
The historical favorite, but people, because of their successful past, are sleeping a bit on them.
VS
3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Overall Ranking: 10
[PF 18]
Key songs: Today, Cherub Rock
Year: 1993
Defeated 14. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory 2-0 (community vote was tied)
Defeated 11. Blur – Parklife 26-11
Defeated Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)13-6
NCAA team: Memphis (2 seed)
A good team and the best team from a weak conference (pop grunge (allow me some liberties) that shocked a sleeper favorite (Wu-Tang Clan) are expected to get easily bounced in the Elite 8
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 11:02 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
March 23, 2007
Video: Times New Viking - Live @ SXSW
I'll admit that I'm not exactly a pioneer for having my interest piqued by Ohio band, Times New Viking, but sometimes you just get hit in the face by something a million times before the light goes off that you should actually check it out. So the Matador signings, Fluxblog mentions, and comparisons to my beloved 80's Kiwi rock scene all surprisingly made no mark, but today's Pitchfork review claiming similarities to Drag City era Pavement was more than I could bear.
I give...
Times New Viking - "Let Your Hair Grow Long"
Here's the band making a racket in some parking lot in Austin. The ultra washed out picture is a great match for the low fi bashing somehow. Like the sound is so fuzzy that it can't be correctly photographed.
// Times New Viking - MySpace
// Times New Viking - ...Present the Paisley Reich buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 02:08 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Daft Punk Fridays: 8 of 12
Daft Punk - "The Brainwasher (Rollin' & Scratchin')" (4.29.06 - Live at Coachella)
What is this all about...?
I just bought tickets for the Red Rocks show in July with the Rapture. CO folks, the presale password is Robots.
Previously:
You may have heard Daft Punk was pretty good at Coachella...
Daft Punk Fridays: 2 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 3 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 4 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 5 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 6 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 7 of 12
Posted by Merry Swankster at 12:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 22, 2007
Crate Digging
While I still think that picking on boring music is worthwhile as an occasional pastime, a comment from Koren on my last hyper negative post made me think for a second. My defense was that most of the things that we've been recently loving have been floating around in the e-ther for quite some time, and have thus been dissected to death. But nothing's stopping us from opting out of modernity entirely. At any time, we are more than able to dive into the gigs and gigs of old and unloved songs over stuffing our hard drives. There are scores of forgotten acts whose names do not yet grace the annals of Hype Machine.
In short, we could try a bit harder.
the Revelons - "Lover's Dilemma"
The Revelons were also rans in the New York punk scene, and though they played CBGB's and shared members with some of their more famous contemporaries (Fred Perry played in Television, and Jay Dee Dougherty was part of the Patti Smith Group), they slipped immediately into obscurity without a proper LP to their name. A few years back, Sepia Tone Records collected all of their existing studio material, along with some live takes. It did not spark a massive revival.
The unequaled gem of that compilation is 1978's "Lover's Dilemma." Singer Gregory Lee Pickard pulls off the tortured whining punk voice even better than the more celebrated scenester Richard Hell. He's on the brink of collapse from his first trembling word. The real star might be the hissing, far away production and an insistent guitar line that's ever so slightly warped, as if the master tapes were left on a van dashboard in Arizona. The chugging rhythm and call and response vocals on the chorus sound like a mob of tear stained teenagers storming City Hall demanding to get laid more. Of course it was actually just a bunch of homely guitar wonks, who do a nice bit of shredding around the two minute mark (in hopes of getting laid more).
// the Revelons - Anthology buy
the Eggs - "Government Administrator"
The Eggs were a brainy early 90's indie pop band from D.C., which meant that they were commanded by law to be on Teenbeat Records. Label founder Mark E. Robinson's Unrest got a larger slice of attention, and the fact that we're still periodically posting demands for folks to like that band does not bode well for the Eggs. Not that singer Andrew Beaujon is sweating it, spending his post rock career living in Virginia with wife and kid, writing about music for Spin and the Washington Post. He's even joined the blogging masses with a site amusingly named Jimmy Page's Sweater Vest.
The Eggs finest hour is "Government Administrator," a slacker anthem about taking the civil service exam because you haven't got any better ideas. Since this decade seems to be more about self promotion than self pity, minor classics about not wanting to do anything have fallen out of fashion. Which is itself a pity. The slacker, though basically the 90's version of the hipster, is much more romantic than their modern counterpart. The repulsion towards visible effort is key. Anyway, the lovable Jonathan Richman-esque "singer's got a cold" vocals and non stop wit on display here attracted John Peel's attention back in the day, which is always clear sign that it deserves yours now.
// the Eggs - How Do You Like Your Lobster?: a Collection of Crustaceans and Flotsam buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 09:20 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Album Insanity - Sweet 16 - final call
To vote for the Sweet Sixteen matchups (listed below) either click on the respective matchup after the jump to vote in the comments or here using this survey tool. Whatever you do, vote! Voting ends Saturday.
Here are the live Sweet 16 matchups. Enjoy.
LOU REED BRACKET
1. Radiohead's OK Computer versus 4. Beck's Odelay
10. Sonic Youth's Goo versus 3. Pixies' Bossanova
BOB DYLAN BRACKET
1. Neutral Milk Hotel - In An Aeroplane Over the Sea vs. 12. Daft Punk Homework
2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted vs. 3. Portishead Dummy
ERIC B. BRACKET
1. Nirvana - Nevermind vs. 4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines
3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream vs. 2. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
IAN CURTIS BRACKET
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet vs. Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 08:53 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 21, 2007
Retrohump Day - Buffy Sainte-Marie
Given that Monday marked our fourth goddamn year in Iraq, it only made good sense to devote this week's retrohump to folk activist Buffy Sainte-Marie.
Born on a Cree reservation in Canada's Qu'Appelle Valley, she was later orphaned, adopted by her parents' white friends, and raised in the U.S., where as a bright, young thing, she taught herself to play piano and guitar.
Fast-forward to 1962, by which time Buffy was in her early twenties, playing gigs in concert halls and folk festivals and hanging around the blooming Greenwich Village folk scene, along with Canadian cohorts Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.
Her spankin' good early songs were (in the predictable American fashion) reappropriated by lesser-talented but whiter-skinned men and women, including Barbara Streisand, Sonny and Cher, Chet Atkins, Roberta Flack, Janis Joplin, Neil Diamond and, yes, the 'King' of all song-stealing, Elvis.
In 1963, while recovering from a throat infection, Buffy developed an addiction to codeine (very rockstar), an experience that she drew on to write the song "Cod'ine" (very popstar).
The very same year, the U.S. government began withdrawing our war-busted troops from 'Nam, saying, roughly, "The political situation in South Vietnam remains deeply serious. While U.S. action there has not yet significantly affected the military effort...it might do so...you know, in the future." Ah, it all sounds so vaguely familiar, eh?
The returning veterans inspired Buffy's protest song "Universal Solider," which was released on her debut album It's My Way! Although the song earned her Billboard Magazine's title of Best New Artist, it became a hit, not for her, but later for Donovan (the poor man's British Bob Dylan).
The rest of the Buffy Sainte-Marie story is an even further flop, filled with religious conversion (she became a member of the Baha'i Faith), ill-fated forres into the land of Buchla synthesizer ("People were more in love with the Pocahontas-with-a-guitar image," Buffy has explained), a five-year stint on Sesame Street, and a "Best Song" Academy Award for "Up Where We Belong," which appeared in the Debra Winger classic An Officer and a Gentleman. (Let it be known that the film's producer Don Simpson tried to cut Buffy's tune saying, "The song is no good. It isn't a hit.")
Perhaps to blame for Buffy's lack of popular success is the suggestion that she was blacklisted in the 1970s, along with other Native Americans who belonged to the Red Power Movement. "I found out ten years later, in the 1980s, that Lyndon B. Johnson had been writing letters on White House stationery praising radio stations for suppressing my music," Buffy's said.
Also in the 1970s, her records began doing the old poof-and-disappear. Although distributors claimed the LPs had been shipped, there never seemed to be any in-stock or available for her fans to purchase.
In her words, Buffy was, "put out of business in the United States." Today, she's put back in business by Merry Swankster.
Buffy Sainte-Marie - "Cindy"
Okay, so Pete Seeger is sort of hogging the spotlight here, with his baseball metaphors and gratuitous banjo close-ups. But perhaps it's just because he's artistically threatened by the bruised power of Buffy's brusque voice... Also, nothing commands attention like a woman with a massive, fucking tree branch in her mouth.
Buffy Sainte-Marie - And The Mystery of the Mouth Bow
It's official. The first band to bring back the mouth bow earns my MS Pick. (And the first band to attach a gourd to the end wins my vote for 2007 Album of the Year.)
Buffy Sainte-Marie - "Little Wheel Spin and Spin"
God, I can't decide what makes this clip so haunting. Is it because the same themes (hate, greed and senseless war) still apply? Is it because there still aren't any Native American artists on the radio dial? Or is it all due to the simple fact that we still think "Vampire Slayer" whenever someone says the name "Buffy?"
// Buffy Sainte-Marie - Official site.
// Buffy Sainte-Marie - It's My Way! - Buy.
// Buffy Sainte-Marie- Little Wheel Spin and Spin - Buy.
Posted by Koren Zailckas at 02:05 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack
March 20, 2007
I Say Thee, Nay!
In spite of its reputation for bursting at the seems negativity and immediate backlash generation, the music blogosphere is actually overwhelmingly positive. The rationale being that, given complete editorial control over your own little tyranny, why waste time talking about stuff you can't stand? Well, how about to take a stand? A stand against boring music being exalted and revered, so that those poor souls who have been bored (or are downloading right now in anticipation of being bored) can be vindicated (or perhaps saved the trouble).
Yes, I realize that saying that, and then providing the tracks to prove that they are boring, is a little bit like saying, "Hey come smell this milk, it's totally gone bad," but this is the medium in which we work and it's just something you do...
Now, seemingly no one has noticed that Wilco have actually been getting worse since Summer Teeth, but they certainly have. The lucid dream surrealism of career highpoint "Via Chicago" gave way to empty refrigerator magnet poetry on the much loved but overly fussy Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and despite some token krautrock influence and back pills anxiety, Ghost is Born slipped further into irrelevance. Now, with their last chance to capture my attention (surely their most prized secret ambition) we hear material from Sky Blue Sky, and it's boring from the title down.
To be fair, "Either Way" starts out being mostly inoffensive, with an acoustic lullaby strum and harmless piano dragging Jeff Tweedy's "I'm saying absolutely nothing" lyrics into the realm of the ignorably pretty. Then, around the 1:50 mark, with bloated strings acting as rattlesnake warning, comes some of the most horrendous jazz lite guitar noodling I've ever heard outside of an elevator. "Maybe the sun will shine today, and the clouds will roll away" reads Tweedy (presumably off a Hallmark card), while I for one hope they stay long enough for a judicious lightning strike. Some have labeled Wilco's brand of soft nothing, "Dad rock," though "dead rock" might be even more appropriate. If you're excited by this, do an immediate pulse check to make sure you aren't recently deceased.
The quality of Voxtrot's output has been steadily decreasing as well, and at an alarming rate. Their first self titled EP was wildly derivative sure, but at least it was bouncy and fun. In an attempt to create a distinctive "Voxtrot sound" the emphasis has shifted towards sappy over arrangement and increasingly saccharine and clumsy wordplay, sacrificing the sharp dynamic shifts and tasteful appropriation that was the band's only likable attribute. "Future pt. 1" from their forthcoming debut is no exception. Over a terminally mid tempo backdrop, the beaten to bloody death theme of growing up at the cost of precious innocence is kicked again, just to make sure. The point, as cliched as it is, is muddled further by imprecise lines like "I could pretend to think fondly of the summer that I spent in the wilderness/ playing soccer and kissing girls." I mean, if you're positing that we get cruel and hard as we get older, then wouldn't you sincerely look back fondly on a summer like that? Sounds rad, guy. Bad lyrics are epidemic in this sort of dreamy indie nostalgia rock, and maybe we could forgive if the sharp songcraft let them speed by, but the whole point here seems to be to slow down in order for the words to gain some kind of poignancy. It's just wrongheaded, and the result is safe but completely forgettable.
In another of the album's songs, singer Ramesh laments, "I watched the world get boring, there's too much restraint in the mix." Have you no self awareness, man?
Beirut - "Fountains and Tramways"
I almost feel bad slagging off young Zach Condon, whose work I've so far enjoyed. Quality control is an underrated virtue in an enduring artist, however, so a completely unnecessary release, be it eMusic exclusive or no, is worth a quick comment. Coming right on the heels of the lovely Lon Gisland EP and not so far removed from last year's Gulag Orkestar, the two track "Pompeii EP" just seems half baked and unfinished. When trying a new, glitchy electronic flavor to his croon-smanship, it's shocking how much ZC sounds like the similarly middling Thom Yorke solo material that landed with a thud several months ago. Old hand Thom can still wring some dark edge from his beats and bleats though, and Zach's gentility just leaves this texture in search of a tune. I hope this is just a momentary blip.
If you're still looking for an additional Beirut fix, go here for the recently surfaced demo of the pleasingly Beatles-esque "Interior of a Dutch House."
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 02:50 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack
Album Insanity Sweet 16 Eric B. matchup 2
3. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Overall Ranking: 10
[PF 18]
Key songs: Today, Cherub Rock
Year: 1993
Defeated 14. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory 2-0 (community vote was tied)
Defeated 11. Blur – Parklife 26-11
VS
2. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Overall Ranking: 7
[PF 36]
Key songs: Da Mystery of Chessboxin, Method Man
Year: 1993
Defeated 15. Galaxie 500 – This is Our Music 3-1
Defeated 10. Jeff Buckley - Grace 5-0 (in overtime)
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 12:32 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Album Insanity Sweet 16 Eric B. matchup 1
1. Nirvana – Nevermind
Overall Ranking: 2
[PF 6
Key songs: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium
Year: 1991
Defeated 16. Quasi – Field Studies 4-0
Defeated 8. Le Tigre – S/T 32-5
Comments
I know I know. It's almost cliche to pick Nevermind at this point. But when a modest little band is transformed into a Collosus by an album it's because said album has caused a turning point in history. Note all the top 40 copycats working today. Every riff, of every song is genius here. Even when I was sick of hearing it, I knew that.
Le Tigre was over-ranked as an 8 seed. No chance here.
VS
4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Overall Ranking: 15
[PF 85]
Key songs: Blue Lines, Unfinished Symphony
Year: 1991
Defeated 13. The Breeders - Pod 3-1
Defeated 5. Nas – Illmatic 20-17
Comments
Almost a nostalgia vote, Massive Attack was the background music for many get togethers in the 90's. But this is a close one. Nas' album was a turning point both for him and East Coast Hip-Hop. But judging from sound and impact, Nas has to take this one.
Coin flip.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 12:31 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Album Insanity Sweet 16 Ian Curtis matchup 2
6. Elliott Smith – XO
Overall Ranking: 22
[PF 68]
Year: 1998
Defeated 11. Air – Moon Safari 3-1 (Community voted once more for Elliott)
Defeated 3. Bjork – Post 18-15
VS
2. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
Overall Ranking: 6
[PF 2]
Year: 1991
Defeated 15. Silver Jews - American Water 4-0
Defeated 10. Lauryn Hill – Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 20-13
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 06:43 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Album Insanity Sweet 16 Ian Curtis matchup 1
1. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
Overall Ranking: 3
[PF 17]
Year: 1990
Defeat 16. Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle 4-0
Defeated 8. Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole 28-5
VS
4. Belle and Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister
Overall Ranking: 14
[PF 14]
Year: 1996
Defeated 13. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space 4- 0
Defeated 12. Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral 21-13
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 06:17 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
March 19, 2007
Album Insanity - Sweet 16 Dylan Matchup 2
3. Portishead – Dummy
Overall Ranking: 12
[PF 48]
Key songs: Roads, Sour Times
Year: 1994
Defeated 14. Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West
Defeated 6. Guided by Voices – Bee Thousand 19-12
Comments
Dummy vs anything. Dummy wins (except Mezzanine and OK Computer)
Too smooth to lose. A great haunting album.
VS
2. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
Overall Ranking: 5
[PF 5]
Key songs: Here, Conduit for Sale
Year: 1992
Defeated 15. Primal Scream – Screamadelica 4-0
7. Cat Power – Moon Pix 22-7
Comments
Yeah, I just love this album. Cat Power is fantastic but I've downed way too many pints to Slanted and Enchanted at my local bar not to give it a nod.
Chan can't match up. Love to hear her sing "Here" though.
I wonder how Jeff feels about this match-up?
wow. no album art on this one?
looks like you've become the Merry Slackster
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:54 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Album Insanity - Sweet 16 Dylan Matchup 1
1. Neutral Milk Hotel – In an Aeroplane over the Sea
Overall Ranking: 4
[PF 4]
Key songs: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-headed Boy
Year: 1998
53%)
Defeated 16. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love 4-0
Defeated 9. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head 18-12
Comments
[Aeroplane] Start to finish, brilliant. Check your head has moments of shoddiness.
The better abstract rhymer is Jeff Magnum.
VS
12. Daft Punk - Homework
Overall Ranking: 45
[PF 65]
Key songs: Around the World, Revolution 909
Year: 1997
Defeated 5. Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes 4-0
Defeated 4. Pulp - Different Class 17-13
Comments
None for Daft Punk.
Different Class is less exhausting, and although you can dance to it, it has more than one use.
This might be Pulp's last win.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:00 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Album Insanity Sweet 16 Lou Reed matchup 2
3. Pixies – Bossanova
Overall Ranking: 9
[PF 28]
Key songs: Velouria, Allison
Year: 1990
Defeated 14 seed Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children 4-0
Defeated 6 seed Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One 22-12
Comments
Pixies rock all the time all the time. Too good. Too original.
Yo La at their best beat Pixies at being competent. Plus, there's no Pixies song as sweet and personal as "Autumn Sweater," their charms lie elsewhere.
VS
10. Sonic Youth- Goo
Overall Ranking: 40
[PF 82]
Key songs: Kool Thing, Dirty Boots
Year: 1990
Defeated 10 seed Ghostface Killah - Ironman 4-0
Defeated 15 seed PJ Harvey – Rid of Me 21-13
Comments
Best full album since daydream nation beats P.J. Harvey easily.
Cinderella in a filthy dress.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 07:51 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Album Insanity Sweet 16 Lou Reed matchup 1
Ladies and gentlemen, we're down to the top 16 albums of the 1990s. Risking disaster, we're moving the voting back to the comments. If you can't get through, e-mail me at keith.obrien@gmail.com.
For the top of the bracket.
1. Radiohead - Ok Computer
Overall Ranking: 1
[Pitchfork Rank 1]
Key songs: Paranoid Android, No Surprises
Year: 1997
Defeated 16. Rage Against the Machine S/T 4-0 Round One
Defeated 9. Mogwai - Young Team 33-1.
Comments
Can you really feel OK Computer the way you can experience Young Team?
Because I can't.
OK Computer changed what music would sound like in the 21st century.
VS
5. Beck - Odelay
Overall Ranking: 17
[PF 19]
Key songs: Where It's At, The New Pollution
Year: 1996
Defeated 12 seed Outkast - Aquemini 4-0
Defeated 4 seed Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin 22-12
Comments
Soft Bulletin? More like "Soft Defense"! Odelay's leading scorer, "Where It's At" is too much for the Sooners to handle.
tough one... Beck wins but should realize that the Lips were not full strength. If they threw Yoshimi at him he would have had no shot.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 07:43 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
OVERTIME! Wu victory
WU wins 5-0.
Before we can set the slate for the final sweet sixteen matchup, we have a 19-19 deadlock.
First one to five votes in the comments wins. If comments prove too slow, click here to vote.
10. Jeff Buckley - Grace
Overall Ranking: 39
[PF 69]
Key songs: Eternal Life, Last Goodbye
Year: 1994
Defeated 7. DJ Shadow - Entroducing 3-1
VS
2. Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Overall Ranking: 7
[PF 36]
Key songs: Da Mystery of Chessboxin, Method Man
Year: 1993
Defeated 15. Galaxie 500 – This is Our Music 3-1
Here is what people have said already
1 No sentiment here. Jeff Buckley particularly on this album gives us something that we've never heard before and haven't heard since. Hypnotic, beautiful and given his fate, often haunting, This album sticks in your veins like heroine without the nods.
2 wow...easily the toughest call out of all of these. i hope i can vote for both.
3 Man or woman, pop or rock, I'm hard pressed to love mellismic singing.
4 I'm sensing that the Wu is about to go on a tremendous run. Buckley is just the next victim.
5 wu tang clan ain't nothin' to fuck wit
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 06:34 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
March 18, 2007
Dr. Dog - Live @ The Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA - 3.14.2007
"Who are all you people?" Was the question Scott "Taxi" McMicken posed to the crowd at a sardined (if not quite sold-out) show at the Troubadour. "Are you film extras? Are they shooting some new reality show here tonight?"
Alright, so perhaps it wasn't the most original stage banter, given the gig's location. But these Dog lovers didn't seem to mind. Hell, the crowd didn't even bat a blue eye. This is L.A., after all. And chances are: by day, they are film extras.
Now, let me be honest here and say, I have a New Yorker's distrust for Los Angeles. If ever there were a place where the "World May Never Know" lyric "this city ain't nothing but show" applies, I think surely this must be it.
But that said, for as many times as I've seen Dr. Dog, I've never seen the Philly natives looking more at home then they did here, in the midst of Tinseltown's freakish global-warmed weather.
Suddenly, the psych rock whimsy, the sing-a-long whoopee all seemed so startlingly West Coast. I mean, god, even the boys' matching shoes (those navy-blue, slip-on, fishermen-looking deals) seemed to make so much more sense here! They appeared on stage looking suntanned, spry, and almost health-conscious. Instead of guzzling beer between songs, get this... they were chomping on apples.
And how did they sound?
Really fucking good.
How fucking good?
So fucking good, in fact, that no one could keep from gushing about it. Not the (ordinarily) surly sound techs. Not the kids crossing Santa Monica Boulevard to retrieve their German roadsters from $8 parking. Even Jeffrey Lewis Band drummer David Beauchamp was idling on the sidewalk after the show, remarking, "Yeah, when I heard them practicing the other day, I thought, 'Wow, they've gotten really fucking good!'"
A well-proportioned set list included both the recent (We All Belong's "Die, Die, Die," "The Girl," and "Old Ways") and the classic (Easy Beat's yelpier songs). During "Wake Up," opener Bobby Bare Jr. leapt onstage to lend a hand with the chorus. And the apropos encore was... Yep, you guessed it: "California."
As for performance, rest assured, the calisthenics are still all there. Taxi still hops around on one spindly leg. Toby "Tables" Leaman still busts out those moves that look like waist-down jumping jacks. The Dog hasn't lost its young puppy energy, but gone is the muddle, the hesitation, the kind of big-pawed tripping over itself. If anything, the band sounds louder; huskier; full-grown; like they're still friendly enough to pet; but suddenly they're strong-jawed enough to be a terror to feeble, old people and very small children.
I'm sorry for the dog puns, but suck it up.
This band's not heeling. It's not sitting. And neither will you if you see them this tour.
Doggie fetch more photos after the jump...
// Dr. Dog - We All Belong - Buy.
// Dr. Dog - Takers and Leavers - Buy.
// Dr. Dog - Easy Beat - Buy.
// Dr. Dog - Site.
// Dr. Dog - Myspace.
DR. DOG TOUR DATES::
Mar 20 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
Mar 21 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground
Mar 22 - Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar
Mar 23- Chicago, IL - Schuba's Tavern
Mar 24 - Chicago, IL - Schuba's Tavern
Mar 25 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
Mar 27 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
Mar 28 - Columbia, OH - Little Brother's
Apr 5 - Brooklyn, NY - Soundfix (in store)
Apr 5 - New York City - Bowery Ballroom
Apr 25 - Portland, ME - Space Gallery
Apr 26 - Boston, MA - Middle East
Apr 27 - Northampton, MA - Iron Horse Music Hall
Apr 28 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
May 1 - Montreal, QC - Main Hall
May 2 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
May 5 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
May 8 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern and Music Hall
May 9 - Raleigh, NC - Schoolkids Records (in store)
May 9 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
May 11 - Charlottesville, VA - Star Hill Music Hall
May 12 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
Posted by Koren Zailckas at 11:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 17, 2007
Daft Punk Fridays (one time only we got distracted by the NCAAs) Saturday: 7 of 12
Daft Punk - Interlude (4.29.06 - Live at Coachella)
Daft Punk - "One More Time (Aerodynamic remix) (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
Daft Punk Fridays: 4 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 5 of 12
Daft Punk Fridays: 6 of 12
Tour dates after the jump.
Daft Punk US dates
06.10 - Inverness, Scotland - Loch Ness (RockNess Festival)
06.14 - Paris, France - Bercy
06.16 & 17 - London, UK - 02 Wireless Festival
07.21 - Los Angeles, CA - Sport Arena*
07.27 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre*
07.29 - Seattle, WA - WAMU Center*
07.31 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks*
08.05 - Toronto, Ontario - Arrow Hall*
08.07 - Montreal, Quebec - Bell Center*
08.09 - New York, NY - Keyspan Park*
* w/ The Rapture
Posted by Merry Swankster at 06:25 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Video: Panda Bear - "Bros"
Further solidifying our leap onto the Panda bandwagon. This one is a special treat for anyone who's been long waiting to see an Other Music clerk take a shower. A very rare fantasy indeed...
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 04:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
From the Art Brut Archives: "Guitar Genius" Made Easy
While in studio, Art Brut found time to plot their guitar-playing progress from points A to B. What did they find? Well, at the very least, plugging into an amp seems to help.
// Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll - Buy.
// Art Brut - Site.
// Art Brut - Myspace.
Posted by Koren Zailckas at 03:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack