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August 31, 2007
Labor Day Weekend Done Right...
Our late summer doldrums are about to morph into crisp fall sharpness, but I feel like we've been a bit preoccupied with our various sponsored festivals and Olympic quality sweating to really focus on the newest and brightest tracks that may have been floating around the internet's seedy underbelly during these dog days. Let it not be said that our fine site is all wind and no heat!
Here, for your Labor Day drive/train/boat/plane ride, or your mythic, eclectically soundtracked art-pop BBQ, we give you a heaping helpin' of Swankster approved tracks. Newly released or soon to be, well circulated or painfully obscure, we're interested if it's interesting.
Just this once, in the grand tradition of honoring hard work by slacking off, the tracks will be presented in an abbreviated "less talk more rock" manner. Enjoy the three day, friends...
Album of the summer? Certainly. Song of the year? Maaaaaaybe. Has there ever been a chorus that's this catchy and as completely impossible to sing along to? Name it.
The ethereal experimentalists young ladies that comprise Telepathe (pronounced like mind reading) have expanded their sound past the whispering melodies and free form background of initial recordings to encompass record stunning and ghostly shoegaze already. Now they bring us hip-hop tinged who knows what. An album mixed by Spank Rock's Alex XXXChange should arrive early next year and trigger a hype-nami shortly thereafter. This is our first taste from said record.
the Fiery Furnaces - "Restorative Beer"
Perhaps the most clean and self contained composition on the forthcoming Widow City, features one of those great, desperately breathy vocal melodies that Eleanor always completely owns. Also, and I might be at a severe handicap by not knowing much about mainstream country music, but there doesn't seem to be enough songs about the head clearing properties of a nice, tall cool one.
Clockcleaner - "Caliente Queen"
Nasty, ball swinging, gutter punk bravado from "Philadelphia's Most Hated Band."
Liars - "Protection"
Liars - "Mimic the Hurricano"
A couple years ago, we would have never expected Liars to be capable of a song as pretty and sentimental as "Protection." Last year I'd never have wagered that the band would never again come close to anything that resembles their old dance punk style as much as b-side "Mimic the Hurricano" does. Following my instinct to avoid predicting where they'll go next, as it will clearly be something that seems highly improbable now.
Those of us who only came to know and love the music of the Scroggins Sisters because of Soul Jazz Records' fantastic A South Bronx Story compilation have another thank you note to write. A South Bronx Story 2 will soon be in the import bins and digital record booths of these United States. This track, from 1992's angrily titled Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills EP proves that the "people don't dance no more" mantra has been thrown down for a solid decade and a half and counting with little progress made.
Brooklyn newcomers combine a clattering alien electronic background with sweet and playful female vocals, and a ever twisting yet ever satisfying sense of song structure. I will take a very strong interest in singing this band's praises to you in the very near future. Hint, hint.
Animal Collective - "For Reverend Green"
Though Strawberry Jam is probably the more conventionally structured album of Animal Collective's career, I have a feeling old Rev. Al won't be playing this on his car stereo anytime soon. for those of who've come to love the Collective on their own terms already, the screeching is as joyous as ever.
Sunset Rubdown - "The Taming of the Hands That Came Back to Life"
First three listens to Random Spirit Lover; Huh? Next five; Oh, OK. Next ten; Holy Hell! It's a creeper folks, don't lose heart. This track is the heart and soul of the record's second side, and it's charms are more initially apparent than some. If you want your socks knocked clean off, though, you should give it some room to breathe. Oh, Krug.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 06:02 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Shocking Pinks - Live @ Orchard Bar, New York City, 08.15.07
All of the advance warning for Shocking Pinks' first ever New York City show consisted of a last day MySpace bulletin, a late afternoon PR e-mail, and a humble post from the Brooklyn Vegan. Considering that this non existent push was for a band whose pre-existing records are totally unavailable even in the wilds of New York, it would be fair to say that if you weren't deeply in the know, you weren't gonna know. It probably should have been obvious to us that there was no way that this impromptu event was going to be prompt. We sat in the tiny Orchard Bar, nursing waters and head colds for over an hour before our more intuitive and snugly panted contemporaries filled the room to the degree that the thing could begin.
Frontman Nick Harte, managing to look painfully goth even in a Paul McCartney t-shirt, stood to the pink lit stage's far right, while members of New York City's Panthers set up stage left as his makeshift (but probably ongoing) live band. The visual disparity between the band and its leader was stark. Harte; rail thin, sleepy, and introverted. The Panthers; stocky, sweaty, and intense.
Sonically, the two factions were on seperete pages as well. Aborted set opener "Emily" sounded thick and confused until it was called off entirely, as the band was apparently playing a completely different song. An understandable gaffe considering there'd only been less than a week for the unit to gain coherence, but kind of a rough break in context. The game of hipster telephone that was the gig's advertisement ensured that there were at least two cameras to every four attendees capturing every false step for prosperity (if that's what getting posted on various music websites can be called). Once the kinks were worked out, the short set was indeed buzz worthy.
Replacement opener, "Victims," was quick and rad, Harte's imploding shoegaze posture bizarrely matched with the bounding enthusiasm of his troupe. They added muscle to his thin but gorgeous DIY melodies. "This Aching Deal" was transformed from bedroom New Order, to well, louder bedroom New Order. "How Am I Not Myself," "End of the World," and even another go at "Emily" were all immensely charming and romantic with a second guitarist handling all of the record's keyboard melodies. The added six string textures made everything seem impossible dreamy.
The show ended in an orgy of feedback wankery, each guitarist crouched in front on an amp, back to the audience, pounding in rapid down strokes like twelve year old boys in the throng of self discovery. The white noise continued for four or five minutes, long enough for people to start filing for the exits. But you can't have an event designed solely for buzz and interest piquing without a little self indulgence can you?
Expect to hear much much more about the band as their DFA debut compilation Singles nears release.
Shocking Pinks - "End of the World"
Previously:
"Like a Movement Without the Bother of All of the Meaning," "Video: Shocking Pinks - "End of the World"
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 01:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 30, 2007
Retrohump: Al, you look like Chevy Chase
There are men and women and manchildren that like Simon and Garfunkel better than me (I can think of at least one member of this blog), but even I enjoy their whimsical, easy-going stylings. For some reason (given that I am a fan of many a troubadour), I probably enjoy the covers more than the originals. Maybe because my first introduction to the duo was Simon's "You Can Call Me Al" video. Anyways...
Bangles - Hazy Shade of Winter
This song sort of kicks some ass. This is probably as angry as you will see the Bangles.
Lemonheads - Mrs. Robinson
The video's a bit much, but the Lemonheads were okay. Still, you have to admit, they were this close to being no better than the Gin Blossoms. This version adds a bit of guitar crunch and quicker pace, but stays true, mostly, to the original.
Elvis Presley - Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Jeff: when is retro going up? I have dave's numerology a day early, and I wanna space it out
me: end of day is fine for me - so feel free with numerology
Jeff: OK,
me: you have a third Simon & Garfunkel cover, btw?
9:29 AM I was going to do Love Spit Love's cover of How Soon is Now (obvs not S&G), but no video exists
Jeff: somebody had to do "the Only Living Boy in New York"
9:30 AM me: bunch of dudes on couches, yeah
Jeff: yikes, looking now
9:33 AM how bout a high school jazz band playing "keep the customer satisfied"
9:34 AM lot of cool people have done "graceland"
closer but not s & g
9:35 AM me: that's fine.
Jeff: hmm, not old though...
me: nothing pre-the oughts?
9:36 AM Jeff: letme ponder
me: maybe I'll post a video of Garfunkel's math videos
Jeff: bam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eagcXtT2ZG4
me: well played sir
9:38 AM Jeff: thank you, they have Aretha doing it too
but Elvis is better I'd think
9:39 AM i can't believe Elvis was serious with that jumpsuit
9:40 AM me: no one complained; he got worse and worse, i guess
9:41 AM Jeff: "nice shot, E. Blew up that whole TV from across the room. Want more marshmallows and chicken for dinner?"
9:42 AM me: mas or menos
For kicks:
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 12:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 29, 2007
Underground Music Showcase @ Various venues, Denver, CO
Our long, unabated tradition of non-expeditious follow ups continues. Now that we are two Saturdays removed from DPUMS, the colloquial acronym for the Denver Post Underground Music Showcase, it is fair time to tell you what went down. Seeing as how Merry Swankster's Denver resources lie in the eyes and ears of just one person, a comprehensive wrap up of all the action that went down at all the South Broadway music venues would be impossible. But that doesn't really matter does it? Along with the usual suspects putting on shows (Hi-Dive, 3 Kings, etc), an eclectic mix of shops in the area lent their real estate for added square footage to the DPUMS event, serving as refreshing backdrop to Denver's burgeoning independent music scene.
Stepping out of the standard venues was a cool experience and gave the showcase a unique character with minimal effort. Without getting into additional benefits of boots-in-the-door exposure for these shops, their one-day engagement as music venue allowed for interesting set pieces for performing musicians. Most impressive was IndyInk's display of skateboards as canvas pieces. Hung in a grid pattern on the walls of the shop where dozens of wheel-less skateboards, or would that be called just a 'board'? The concept worked so well it appeared specifically designed for this moment. Always count on random art installations to brighten up the joint. I've always been a fan of non-traditional spots for live music settings, overly romanticized visions of roof top jams are partly to blame, but DPUMS lo-fi conversions drove the point home further.
Though most of the M.S. crew have at one point or another passed through the mecca of music showcase orgies that is SXSW, I have yet to pull the trigger and experience Austin's annual musical bacchanal. From I gather about SXSW, its where I imagine the inspiration for DPUMS lies. Both the spirit and layout of SXSW seems to form the backbone of DPUMS' vision, albeit a spec size version compared to the legendary craziness of Austin in March. (I should have an answer on this directly from the source shortly (hint hint).
After the jump: DPUMS from the vantage point of the Merry Swankster. Pictures are included at no charge with the exception of Porlolo's lovely performance (forgotten memory card!).
Pee Pee @ Hi-Dive
[Photo Cred]
Frontside Five @ Thrifty Stick curb
[Photo Cred]
Denver skate (SK8!) band is so punk rock they wouldn't perform indoors. Instead opting to quite literally play out in the gutters of Denver. Rawk!
Porlolo @ IndyInk
Pixie sized Erin Roberts of Porlolo is an incredible talent. I look forward to checking out more Porlolo.
Dualistics @ IndyInk
Magic Cyclops @ Skylark
Magic Cyclops is something of an institution in Denver; half-maniac, half-performer, all jokester. You can catch him hosting Championship Karaoke every Monday night at Hi-Dive. Yes, those are casts on both (!) his arms. Broken while dancing (of the slam variety presumably) at the Dan Deacon show. Most memorable line from DPUMS: "I need condoms cause after this song I'm getting laid." It was terrible, but amazing.
Reverend Deadeye @ 3 Kings Tavern
A legitimate gospel infused blues man in the vein of Tom Waits. The Reverend sings what he knows rather than what he thinks he knows. (I'm looking at you Jack White.)
Monofog @ Hi-Dive
With a vibe like a more dance punk Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Very tight, very confident, and very good.
What is going on with this drum? [Click for larger]
[Click for larger]
Posted by Merry Swankster at 02:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Numerology: February in a Leap Year, Bones in your Skull
by David Klein
It feels appropriate that as I struggle to put together a proper survey of songs featuring the number 29, we are smack dab in the dog days of summer, a time when I traditionally feel that I’ve had too much of a good thing and start longing for the crispness and less jaded priorities of fall, as well as the feeling of wearing a jean jacket again. My late-summer listlessness has found expression in a less-than-critical but still heartfelt list, which appears oddly enough on the 29th of August. That being said, I am relieved to be able to report that I did find a song I can respect in the morning.
Sorry, all you wheezy, goateed nighthawks in your porkpie hats, our winner is not “Twenty Nine Dollars” by Tom Waits. I dig Tom Waits, his albums, I mean, and he was really excellent in Robert Altman’s Short Cuts. But this sleepy blues number, sporting a refrain (“All you’ve got is twenty-nine dollars/and an alligator purse”) that’s growled out with boozy gusto, could hardly be called essential Waits. Less essential still is “29,” the name of a song AND an album by prolific, recently sober rocker Ryan Adams. Transparently based on the Grateful Dead’s “Truckin,’” both musically and lyrically (even down to mentions of cocaine and getting busted) the entirety of this heavy-handed tale of drug abuse and getting straight can’t hold a candle to Dead’s nimble opening image of “Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street.”
29 Palms is the name of a small city in the Mojave Desert that is home to the Joshua Tree National Park, where Bono & Co. glowered and squinted their way to black and white glory in 1987, and where the Stones took mushrooms and wore ponchos and watched for UFOs with Gram Parsons in an earlier decade. Other things happened there too, but those seem the most relevant. What all this has to do with “29 Palms” by Robert Plant is hard to say. It’s a dreamy, innocuous ballad that enjoyed chart success in 1993, but as much of a Zeppelin fan as I am, my interest in post-Zep Robert Plant is roughly commensurate with my utter indifference toward Mick Jagger’s solo record. It’s not clear if Plant’s song title had something to do with “The Lady From 29 Palms,” a chestnut about an untouchable tease dating from the ‘40s that was sung by people like Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra. It’s corny and it’s dated, but TLF29P boasts a praiseworthy numerical lyrical structure:
She got twenty-nine Cadillacs, babyTwenty-nine sables from Saks and them Cadillacs
Twenty-nine fellas who never had their arms
Around the lady from 29 Palms
Goes Cube - "Goes Cube Song 29"
Oh, I should say that the numerically minded, totally happening Brooklyn outfit known as Goes Cube have a 29 song on its fairly recent EP with the chuckle-inducing name of Beckon the Dagger God. It’s called “Goes Cube Song 29,” but then, all the band’s songs are named for numbers, i.e., “Goes Cube Song 30,” “Goes Cube Song 46,” and that one you can’t get out of your head, “Goes Cube Song 34.” The only problem with this numerically nomenclative predilection is that the numbers are not reflected in the songs at all. There’s no “29-ness” to “Goes Cube Song 29.” Ditto the utterly catchy “Goes Cube Song 34.” Unless the evil-sounding shrieks unleashed by singer Dave Obuchowski represent the sheer panic that sets in as one contemplates the decade after one turns 29. But I doubt it.
Deniz Tek, the leader of legendary Australian punkers Radio Birdman, could not possibly have added to his cult status with songs like “Hit 29” from 1998’s Equinox. A queasy hybrid of metal riffs and lounge lizard licks, this ponderous non-hit would almost surely alienate both constituencies. But compared to the Rembrandts’ “April 29” (rhymes with “everything is fine”) “Hit 29” is “A Day in the Life.”
Willie Dixon - "Twenty-Nine Ways"
In “Twenty-Nine Ways,” blues titan Willie Dixon boasts that nothing can keep him from his baby’s door, and he ticks off the various ways he has of getting there: “One through the basement/two down the hall/ When the going get tough/I got a hole in the wall.” While we are not given exact numerical evidence (he only mentions about a dozen ways), we have to take the singer’s word for it when he says there’s a reason he’s not laying all of his cards on the table: “A lot of good ways I don’t want you to know/I’ve even got a hole in the bathroom floor.” It’s hard to imagine that Paul Simon didn’t take the central idea of Dixon’s song and flip it around when he wrote “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” In his ubiquitous mid-‘70s radio staple from Still Crazy After All These Years, Simon enumerates the many ways of getting out that very same door. Coincidence? I wonder. But there’s no debate about the sturdy appeal of the Willie Dixon song, which sings the praises of the 10th prime number like no other.
Koko Taylor, whose signature hit, “Wang Dang Doodle,” has been covered by everyone from the Dead to the Nuge to the estimable Polly Jean Harvey, sang perhaps the definitive version of Dixon’s song, with the longer title “Twenty-Nine Ways (To My Baby’s Door)” on her self-titled1969 LP, which Dixon produced. In the ensuing decades, “29 Ways” has been covered by blues outfits ad infinitum, as well as a host of singers with bluesy leanings. But the fact that it’s been covered by both ‘70s actress Susan Anton (that’s right. Susan Anton, of Goldengirl) as well as Jim Belushi, who couldn’t possibly be a good singer, speaks to the appeal of this song, which even people whose best talent isn’t singing are just dying to wrap their vocal chords around.
In any case, the point of this excursion has always been to find not just the best song for every number up to 100, but a good song, too. “Twenty-Nine Ways (To My Baby’s Door”) is both definitive and good and unarguably the best 29 song ever written. Ever ever ever! Take that, Ryan Adams. My work is done here.
Koko Taylor -"Twenty Nine Ways (To My Baby's Door)"
Numerology is our pal Dave's ill advised quest to find the definitive song for every number from one to a hundred. The plague of self absorbed twenty-something songwriters should see him through for now, but there are rough times ahead.
Previously: No. 1, 2-4, 5-7, 7 (counterpoint), 8, 9, 10/11, 12/13. 13 (counterpoint), 14/15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26/27, 28
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 10:30 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
August 28, 2007
Video: Free Blood live @ After the Jump Festival
Though right now, in its near immediate after glow, the prospect of doing a comprehensive write up of Saturday's After the Jump Festival seems almost unfathomable, I can give you some quick and easy video documentation of !!! spin off Free Blood's overheated nighttime set. For this we have 'Sup Magazine, PunkPhoto, and occasional Stereogum photographer Abby Braden to thank...
Free Blood - "Quick and Painful"
(Studio B, Brooklyn, August 25th, 2007)
To get a glimpse of Ra Ra Riot in ATJ action, go to Prefix TV, and check under Live Videos.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 02:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 27, 2007
Denver/Boulder: Shows this week | 8.27 - 9.2
Get some!
August 27th Monday
All Teeth And Knuckles @ Larimer Lounge
Andy McKee @ Walnut Room
Diana Krall @ Red Rocks
Girl In A Coma @ Bender's Tavern
Subhumans @ Marquis Theater
Ukelele Loki's Folderol Follies @ Fox Theatre
August 28th Tuesday
Dark Meat @ Hi-Dive
Combichrist @ Oriental Theater
Homestyle @ Fox Theatre
Honeytribe @ Soiled Dove
Magnolia Electric Co. @ Bluebird Theater
Shooting Azimuth @ Larimer Lounge
Voodoo Organist @ Lion's Lair
August 29th Wednesday
Amos Lee @ Denver Botanic Gardens
The Nancy Drews @ Larimer Lounge
Shakedown Street @ Oriental Theater
Soullive @ Fox Theatre
The Wild Birds @ Walnut Room
August 30th Thursday
Alice Peacock @ Trilogy Lounge
American Head Charge @ Gothic Theatre
Blue Turtle Seduction @ Fox Theatre
Dualistics @ Hi-Dive
Hopesfall @ Marquis Theater
Ian Cooke @ Lion's Lair
Kamelot @ Bluebird Theater
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum @ Ogden Theater
Unmerciful @ Oriental Theater
Von Skinny @ Larimer Lounge
August 31st Friday
Alice Peacock @ Soiled Dove
Apex Vibe @ Walnut Room
The Apples In Stereo @ Bluebird Theater
Ben Kweller @ Club 156
Blues Night @ Oriental Theater
Denver Fest @ Larimer Lounge
Dierks Bentley @ Red Rocks
Every Last Word @ Lion's Lair
Fresh Flash @ Hi-Dive
Gina Go Faster @ Pasquini's
Global Hour @ Gothic Theatre
The Gones @ Larimer Lounge
Jackie Greene @ Fox Theatre
Weird Al Yankovic @ Coors Amphitheatre
September 1st Saturday
5280 @ Gothic Theatre
Alvin Youngblood Hart @ Bluebird Theater
B.B. King @ Red Rocks
Ben Harper @ Mackey Auditorium
Mark Darling @ Lion's Lair
Weather The Storm @ Larimer Lounge
Wilco @ Fillmore Auditorium
Under A Blood Red Sky (U2 Tribute) @ Oriental Theater
Yonder Mountain String Band @ Fox Theatre
September 2nd Sunday
Denver Fest @ Hi-Dive
P.O.S. @ Fox Theatre
Scorpion Child @ Larimer Lounge
Wilco @ Fillmore Auditorium
Yonder Mountain String Band @ Red Rocks
Schedule appears courtesy of Mystik Spiral.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 09:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 24, 2007
After the Jump Smorgasbord
So tomorrow is the big day as the New York Times told you, but the festivities actually start tonight. those of you with the ability to be in the greater Williamsburg region are invited to drink free beer on a roof, listen to (even more) bands for free, and celebrate awesomeness in general.
Ah but wait, a smattering of things to look at before you go fast into this good night:
- Disconap interviews Bling Kong
- Riot in Belgium talk to ProductShopNYC
- the Music Snobbery talks to Jukebox the Ghost and lays down an absurd number of potential raffle prizes
- the Modern Age chats with the Teenage Prayers
- Pop Tarts Suck Toasted with the Virgins
- Earfarm on Locksley and Spacemen 3/ Spectrum
- Punk Photo with a verbal snapshot of Free Blood
- Music Slut takes on both Spectrum and Soulico
- Slap You in Public gets down with Apache Beat
- Bumpershine takes a liking to DJ David Bruno
- I Rock, I Roll summons the Golem
and
- Yeti Does Not Dance with Ra Ra Riot
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 05:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
We are ashamed to be from the same country as Ted Nugent
"I have never contemplated how, what or if I should do this or that. I was raised to discipline myself to be the best that I can be. Good will, decency and positive energy drives my everyday. Always has, always will. My music and dreams have lives of their own. Unstoppable." - Ted Nugent (El Paso Times 8.24.07)
End quote. [emphasis added - MS]
Posted by Merry Swankster at 05:25 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Reading the Deerhunter Blog For You
The Deerhunter blog is a bizarre and wondrous thing. With a band whose sound is so thick and evocative, you'd think that demystifying it with day to day ramblings would be detrimental. But the site has gone so far past demystification that it has almost thickened the mystery. From keeping a journal of band members' bowel movements to posting lengthy diatribes on homoerotic fantasies, from posting exhaustive lyrical explanations and guitar tabs to elegies for deceased band members and well remembered acid trips, the level of intimacy allowed to the group's fans is flatly unprecedented and really quite strange. You're never quite sure if you're getting 100% honesty or performance art, or whether there is any distinction between the two at all.
Though I understand the turn off for those who can't be bothered to follow this stuff so closely, the blog has been posting original material at the rate of a well updated mp3 blog. In typically odd and uncomfortable fashion, singer Bradford Cox has attributed his prolificacy to an antidepressant that has rendered his unable to jerk off, and with literally alot of time on his hands. Though quickly "tossed off" (sorry), much of the posted material is quite good.
Song highlights to date:
The strongest original composition from Cox's solo Atlas Sound project to be given away so far is the warped, dreamy "Monochromatic." As the Atlas Sound MySpace page has already posted the tracklist for next year's expected Atlas Sound full-length Let the Blind Lead Those Who See But Cannot Feel, it's a sound assumption that this sub three minute gem has seen its moment in the sun. With cymbals steady shaking, Cox intones again and again, "we cut their throats, we cut their throats." The mantra like repetition matched with some sweetly melted psychedelic guitar lines places this very closely in quality and style to Deerhunter's excellent Fluorescent Grey EP released earlier this year to near universal acclaim.
"Solar Ropes" has a faster tempo than most of the other song sketches, letting an off kilter loop take center stage while Bradford multi tracks himself into oblivion over the top. Structurally, this wouldn't rate in the top percentage of his compositions by any means, but the textural oddity in conjunction with a tone that's more spritely and playful than usual makes it an interesting listen.
Atlas Sound - "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)"
In addition to giving himself challenges like recording a full EP in a single evening, Cox has taken to performing and producing cover versions as fast as readers can suggest them. While haunted takes on Liars, Neil Young, and the Velvet Underground were all worth a listen, this gorgeously eerie cover of the Everly Brothers' 1960 top ten smash is in another class entirely. His singing style and guitar strumming is surprisingly reverential, but the mind bending production gives the words an different color altogether.
the Wet Dreams - "Circuit Breaker"
The blog is also a clearing house for material from forgotten Atlanta side projects that never got anywhere near Deerhunter's level of attention. Such a group were the Wet Dreams, a garage punk three piece in which Cox played drums. Their sound is closer to the fast and raw sixties dominated songs of the band's close friends and fellow Georgians, the Black Lips. But there's something on the edges of this sloppy girl fronted track, an odd disconnected white noise that floats to the surface in between rushed drum beats and bratty harmonies. There's a connective tissue here linking it to the new and extemporaneous material that the site so regularly delivers.
Lockett Pundt - "Glass Snake Rendered"
Though posting with nowhere near the frequency (I was going to say "or intimacy" but then I remembered the poop journal) as his Deerhunter band mate, guitarist and possible complicated Madden Football play Lockett Pundt occasionally offers an original recording or cover of his own. His version of the Amps semi-forgotten "Bragging Party" was pretty swell, but this song is the jewel among his contributions to date. With his main band's signature ambience, some constantly creeping electronics, and a surprisingly sweet yet muffled singing voice, "Glass Snake Rendered" might be the most nuanced and fully developed track yet discarded through the site.
Keep checking in for yourself if you can bear to. Though it can sometimes resemble a slow moving train wreck, it more often resembles a slow motion box set. A logical and groundbreaking move to keep up fervent attention in an ADD digital age.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 04:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 23, 2007
After the Jump Fest: Spotlight on Donor's Choose
From muscle memory alone, it seems odd to hover in a laptop's glow without getting hot and bothered about this band or another. My fingers feel wrong when not typing vague adjectives like "ethereal" or "propulsive." So, although there are many great bands playing Saturday's After the Jump Festival on which to expend pixels, it's important to fight through the alien sensation of focusing on something a bit bigger than pop music for a minute. Last week, along with my Neon Lights' cohort D (madam of the word brothel known as Soft Communication, as you well know) had a jovial beer with Michael Everett-Lane, the Executive Director of Donor's Choose Northeast. After briefly interrogating him about his musical tastes (Mountain Goats, the Pipettes, with a big ol' softspot for Journey's Escape) and his own blogging pedigree (Mike maintains the Ishbadiddle blog and was a founder of the now on hold NYC Bloggers site) he let us in on the details of the organization that will directly benefit from this weekend's event, and why the work they do is so important.
Donor's Choose was born to help address the massive funding shortfall in this country's public school system. 40% of public school teachers in the United States don't have enough money for textbooks, let alone the supplementary supplies that would make their jobs easier. This year the average teacher will pull an average of $520 dollars from their own not nearly overstuffed wallets in order to give their students a proper education. Mike notes the larger implication that, "Nationwide, public schoolteachers pay billions of dollars a year on average for items that are not covered by their budgets." Frustrated by the bureaucracy of the system as it existed, Bronx schoolteacher Charlie Best founded Donor's Choose in 2000.
The key innovation of Donor's Choose is that, like blogging does for would be writers, it allows individuals to pursue causes that interest them on a specific and personal level. Teachers submit proposals to the organization, and after they are carefully vetted by the National Office (in reality a 40 man garment district office Mike likens to "a sweat shop") they are placed online to await possible donors. While they only fund programs in select parts of the country at the moment, the charity will soon open its doors to proposals from all 50 States. "Teachers know best what they need in their classrooms," explained Mike in regard to this direct micro-scale approach. Requests run the gamut from basic needs like a classroom set of To Kill a Mockingbird to more elaborate and ambitious enrichment programs. Based on their own philanthropic desires, donors choose to fund their preferred proposal large or small, partially or in full.
This level of choice has pulled in people who never would have have contributed before, either due to a previous lack of ease or skepticism that their money would make any kind of tangible impact. From the Brooklyn 1st Graders who held a bake sale to buy their North Carolina counterparts some classroom puzzles to the individual donor who purchased a $27,000 playground set, folks who help Donor's Choose know that their effort is not putting leather couches in the Superintendent's office. To exponentially increase the warm and fuzzy quotient, every single donor receives a comprehensive feedback package of student thank yous, a letter on the impact of their donation from their aided teacher, and photos of their funds in action. It's philanthropy in its purest form.
So, besides a good time what will buying a ticket to Saturday's Night Show at Studio B accomplish? Well, your ticket will help the students at the Bronx High School for the Visual Arts purchase the DJ equipment they'll need in order to teach nearly 400 students how to mix, produce, and perform compositions of their own design. For once, having a drink and a dance could actively nurture the next generation of beat makers and rappers, rock stars and future dance floor fillers. Misanthropists take note, with the Virgins, Soulico, Free Blood, and Riot in Belgium in full swing, you will hardly notice that you're being a good guy.
Advance tickets are available now on Ticket Web for $12 dollars, and it jumps slightly at the door to a still reasonable 14. Kids planning to only attend the free day show should be aware that raffle tickets purchased at the event, which give you a shot at hundreds of CD's, DVD's, boxed sets, concert tickets, and maybe even a $500 dollar all access pass to this year's CMJ Music Festival, will be directly aiding the cause as well.
So buy your tickets right here now, or find your pet cause on Donor's Choose.
Frivolity will now resume...
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 02:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 22, 2007
This is Next: 0.0
[POTUS doesn't get it either]
Pitchfork's Matt LeMay reviews the new This is Next compilation and gets himself in a tizzy over why the record exists when most if not all of the songs are freely available online. Fair enough for a spokesman of the venerable Pitchforkian institution to be confused by such a release. Blinded is he who takes for granted the "joy" of downloading MP3s and perusing the Internets for tunes. Obviously this album isn't for him, or for most of us for that matter. With a tracklist that reads like the top 15 Elbo.ws tracks of the last two years, this is a compilation for the uninformed, the casual shopper; or, people with priorities that exist outside the musical underground - a term used very loosely in this context, but perfectly on point for the potential owners of the disk.
The coup de grâce:
None of which is to say that indie rock shouldn't be reaching a large audience. Nobody wants good bands to fail, just as nobody wants to be that insufferable asshole fruitlessly trying to protect his favorite music from the uncool masses. Even so, as a shoddy, transparent, and poorly packaged ploy to sell indie rock cachet to the "casual" consumer, this compilation is far more condescending than some dude who gets pissed off when he sees a Shins CD at Starbucks. Not every attempt to bring underground music to a wider audience is well-intentioned and praiseworthy, and the recent popular emergence of indie music is a product of circumstances that can't really be corralled or replicated. Ironically, these very circumstances stand to thoroughly undermine This Is Next. If nothing else, this album is a reminder that it's not the bands that sell out, it's the business.
Kudos for pointing out irrational fickleness from the indie folks, but then again the entire review can be summed up as so: "This is Next is shit. People should just buy these bands' albums." Which of course would likely be followed by another F-bomb laden tirade from the news desk should the Wal Marts of the world start carrying the latest Merge releases. Confused yet? So am I. Clearly Mr. Average Joe living his day ignorant of this little niche in the music world benefits by the availability of these compilations, because that guy is never going to purchase the Of Montreal album. However, after listening to "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" (included in the comp.) he might just go out and buy the amazing Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? which of course is the point of these releases. Am I missing something here?
Posted by Merry Swankster at 11:31 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Words would cheapen this
(from Idolator)
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 11:05 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Retrohump Day: Spacemen Three-way
For all of the up and comers on the bill for Saturday's inaugural After the Jump Festival, we do have a certified legend in our midst, namely Pete Kember, better known as Spectrum, better known as Sonic Boom, best known as a founding member of the psychedelic juggernaut that was Spacemen 3.
Spacemen 3 - "Revolution"
Spacemen 3 took the Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat drone techniques to lengths unseen in their native 80's. After an embryonic stage as a sloppy garage punk combo, Sonic Boom and J Spaceman (Jason Pierce to his mum) would stumble upon their signature sound with 1987's the Perfect Prescription. The boys would extend one chord to infinity, jamming furiously for long stretches until hitting a tonal epiphany. It was not for nothing that their song and album titles often had a pharmaceutical bent (the bootleg Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs to, being an all time classic of that sub genre).
"Revolution" is from the band's 1989 swan song, Playing With Fire. Sonic Boom has said that the album "was the refining point of a lot of my theories on minimalism being maximalism." One killer riff is hammered over and over again, as our man Boom drolly espouses his rhetoric in a deadpan fashion. For such simple elements, it sounds effin' huuuuge. As with most of the band's clips, the footage is straight on, disaffected live playing, distorted with swirling light visuals that were clearly designed to be "trippy" though that word deserves a stern banning.
Spiritualized - "Anyway That You Want Me"
When differences within the band became insurmountable, J Spaceman followed his muse to a more conventional place, forming Spiritualized. The visuals in this video may be completely lifted from the Spacemen 3 playbook (which is home to maybe two plays) but the sound is gentler, more melodic, and less submerged in white noise. Though everything is prettied up as compensation, the dangerous edge provided by Sonic Boom is noticeably missed.
Spiritualized - "Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space"
Shame there was no complete footage of the band performing this, which is perhaps their enduring signature song. The beneficiary of their former tourmates' Radiohead paving the way for abysmally depressing yet sonically pleasing rock, it routinely scored the horrible pain of soul searching brats on MTV reality shows and even got a few nubs of alternative radio play. A song so nice that I'd snarkily suggest that it would quickly be snapped up for a car ad, except that I have a fuzzy remembrance that Volkswagon actually did just that.
Spectrum - "How You Satisfy Me"
Which brings us to Sonic Boom's little branch of the family tree, our After the Jump MetroMix day stage headliners, Spectrum. Here, with a swirling blue screen visual style that's surely familiar to you by now, is the band's first single from 1991. Though Pete Kember would eventually follow paths that were far more experimental and avant-garde than his former bandmate, this track is an exceedingly melodic little fuzz bomb. Sheets of white noise surround a simple, sixties inspired melody and the doggedly repetitive organ sound takes the place of the guitar as the drone agent of choice.
Spectrum - "How You Satisfy Me"
You can be personally attacked by Mr. Kember and his magic distortion pedals this Saturday at Studio B in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for a grand total of free. With like eight other bands. At a charity benefit. Basically, you're gonna look like a total jerk if you don't go.
P.S.The Music Slut's tireless Jen Kellas gently grilled Pete a bit.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 10:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 21, 2007
Monolith VIP contest
Win a VIP pass to Monolith. Denver's the Hot IQs present the rules:
Watch More Videos Uploaded by www.bebo.com/fecher
At no point does the band play to stereotypical write ups regarding the pleasing physical appearance of their drummer as she is dressed like a schoolgirl. Not at all.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 04:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Video: Shocking Pinks "End of the World"
The first video from Shocking Pinks' forthcoming DFA debut. Long time producer Richard Bell, who helped Anton Corbijn realize such immortal videos as "Atmosphere" and "Heart Shaped Box," steps into the director's chair to give us a subtle and devastating clip. My review of the band's under publicized first ever New York City performance last week will be coming at you as soon as the fates will allow.
Previously: Like a Movement Without the Bother of All of the Meaning
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 01:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 20, 2007
Numerology Special: Blog of a Thousand Posts
by David Klein
Being asked to veer away from my inexorable numerical path for a moment and take a giant leap on behalf of Merry Swankster’s 1,000th post is both an honor and a welcome respite. To those of you who are paying attention, this week I am poised to take a good hard look at the handful of musical offerings with the number 29 in their titles, so if this isn’t a good time for a digression, I don’t know what is. In any case, may MS continue to thrive and mutate for another thousand posts at least.
What does a thousand mean? It means a grand, a thou, a Grover Cleveland. It’s an iconic number. A thousand years is ten centuries. It would take a thousand-yard-stare to take it all in. But with a number this beautifully simple—just zeroes, a one and a comma—there has to be a song to do it justice, right?
Right. But first, just place these imaginary headphones on and feast your virtual ears on a deuce of angry ‘thou songs from the grunge years: “Room a Thousand Years Wide” from Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger, and the Offspring’s “A Thousand Days” from the 1989 self-titled debut. A little too manic this early in the morning? Try this one, from the 1997 debut by the Stereophonics, a Welsh trio led by the wonderfully raspy-voiced singer Kelly Jones, which opens up with “A Thousand Trees,” a passionate and tuneful blast that still packs a punch, while making the irrefutable argument that, “It only takes one tree/to make a thousand matches/Only takes one match/to burn a thousand trees.” The wistful “A Thousand Miles Away” by the Heartbeats has been used in a thousand ‘50s movies. You know it, “You’re a thousand miles a-way-hey…” I think of a post-Opie, pre-Richie Cunningham Ron Howard in American Grafitti when I hear this one. Far less tolerable is “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton, which seems tailor-made for on-air promos for the Lifetime Channel. Country crooner Lefty Frizzell swore to his beloved that “I Love You a Thousand Ways,” while the gravelly voiced, NYC-based singer-songwriter Jim Allen, who regularly earns vocal comparisons to Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits, assures us that there are “A Thousand Ways” to kill a man.
Before we get to the best thousand song of all time, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the honorary best thousand album of all time award goes to Guided By Voices for Bee Thousand. (Apparently there is indeed a song called “Bee Thousand”—Robert Pollard wrote it while unconscious in a puddle behind a Dayton 7-11—but even my esteemed colleague Mr. Klingman is having trouble tracking it down.) Here to accept the award for B1000 the album is Charles “Echos” Myron, the real-life subject of GBV’s cryptic “Echos Myron.” Take a bow, Myron. Do you have anything to say? “Shit yeah, it’s cool.” Thank you, Echos.
I bet Echos Myron would have dug “Thousands of Days” by R. Stevie Moore, who has self-released a stream of homemade cassettes for decades, and seems to straddle the line between an oddball lo-fi experimentalism and a genuine Howard Finster- or Jandek-level artistic eccentricity. One of my favorite bands of all time, XTC, have a song called “1000 Umbrellas,” which I worked very hard to like but never quite embraced. It’s the penultimate song on side one of what some call the band’s best single recording and what I call their last great record, the Todd Rundgren-produced Skylarking. The song is a bit fussy and arch, a portent of the “orcoustic” direction the band would take when they finally got out of their protracted record-contract nightmare in the late ‘80s.
The wonderful If I Should Fall From Grace With God by the Pogues was graced by “Thousands Are Sailing,” a sober, elegiac number about coming to America, the kind that Shane McGowan cunningly slips in next to his scrappy pennywhistled raveups and drinking songs. Speaking of raveups, the Real McKenzies from Vancouver fuse punk rock fervor with trad Scottish melodies and instrumentation on the rousing “Swords of a Thousand Men,” which would have sounded good in a punk rock version of Braveheart.
Pale Saints - "A Thousand Stars Burst Open"
The Cure’s “A Thousand Hours” is a lugubriously seductive downer from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, with Robert Smith intoning morosely over the lush atmospherics. Cut from a similar melancholy cloth but a bit less tragic is “A Thousand Stars Burst Open” by Pale Saints, a hidden gem, but a gem, to be sure. It turned up on the soundtrack of a forgettable little movie called Joy Ride, which had one thing going for it: a soundtrack by a slew of dreamy 4AD bands including Lush, This Mortal Coil and the not-often-remembered Spirea X. I’m glad I’ve never seen the movie because apparently the sequence featuring this song could put you off it forever, and that would be a pity. I’m wagering you’ve never seen it either, so you can now listen unfettered to this little slice of heaven. When people throw around “shoegazing” these days, they usually mean something hazy in the extreme, with buried vocals and curtains of distorted guitars. This is a more austere and melodic version of the scene that celebrated itself, saving the wailing wall of chordage that we crave until the very end. All hail Pale Saints!
The Pale Saints didn’t make much of a dent stateside, but today’s winner is a song that everybody knows, even you, whether you know it or not. It was a smash for Wilson Pickett in 1968 and it’s been used in a ton of ads, so it seems fitting to commemorate MS’s thousandth post with a song that is well established in the rock firmament, and versatile enough to earn the accolade “timeless.” “Land of 1,000 Dances” is one of the great list songs. Just a bunch of crazy dances—“Got to know how to Pony/Like Bony Maronie/Mash potato/Do the alligator” and an indelible chorus. The list part came first. Chris Kenner, an R&B singer who’d had a hit with “I Like it Like That,” based it on the traditional “Go Where I Send Thee,” and recorded it in 1962. The song kicked around for a few years, and the indelible “Na-nananana” chorus got added along the way when a singer forgot some of the song’s many lyrics, and his improvised melody stuck. It’s been covered by everyone from Tom Jones to the Rezillos, but it was Patti Smith who left a totally modern and skewed imprint on the song forever, lacing what seemed to be a song celebrating the latest dance crazes with transcendental rock powers. Amazing that she was able to add lines like “white shining silver studs with their nose in flames” without completely destroying the thing. I’m partial to Echo & the Bunnymen’s live version of “Do it Clean” in which Mac would truculently interpolate lyrics from songs like “All You Need is Love” and “Land of 1,000 Dances” over a sizzling beat. “Do you know how to twist? It goes like this, goes like this, goes like this, goes like this!”
Wilson Pickett - "Land of 1000 Dances"
Patti Smith - "Land: Horses, Land of a Thousand Dances, La Mer"
Numerology is our pal Dave's ill advised quest to find the definitive song for every number from one to a hundred. The plague of self absorbed twenty-something songwriters should see him through for now, but there are rough times ahead.
Previously: No. 1, 2-4, 5-7, 7 (counterpoint), 8, 9, 10/11, 12/13. 13 (counterpoint), 14/15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26/27, 28
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 12:30 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Denver/Boulder: Shows this week | 8.20 - 8.26
Monday, August 20
Back Door Slam @ Larimer Lounge
Billy Bob Thornton @ Blubird Theater
June @ Marquis Theater
Clutch @ Boulder Theater
Pelican @ Black Sheep (Colorado Springs)
Tuesday, August 21
Lil' Slugger @ Larimer Lounge
Deep Purple @ Fillmore
Left Alone @ Marquis Theater
Hilary Duff @ Coors Amphitheatre
Wednesday, August 22
Wu-Tang, Nas, Cypress Hill, Talib Kweli, others (Rock the Bells) @ Red Rocks
Burning Brides @ Larimer Lounge
Crowded House w/Fountains of Wayne @ Fillmore
Portugal The Man @ Marquis Theater
Beyonce @ Pepsi Center
Thursday, August 23
Fell @ Larimer Lounge
Steve Miller Band @ Red Rocks
On Point @ Bluebird Theater
Gann Matthews @ Hi-Dive
?uestlove @ Fox Theatre
The Classic Crime @ Marquis Theater
Missing DuFrenes @ The Walnut Room
Friday, August 24
Workhorse @ Larimer Lounge
David Wilcox @ Chautauqua Auditorium
The Detroit Cobras @ Bluebird Theater
Dance Gavin Dance @ Marquis Theater
Evanescence (Family Values tour) @ Coors Amphitheatre
Saturday, August 25
Nurses & Maps and Atlases @ Larimer Lounge
Beatles "1964" Tribute @ Red Rocks
Stand By Your Band @ Hi-Dive
Supersuckers @ Gothic Theatre
Tower of Power @ Paramount Theatre
Sunday, August 26
Lorene Drive @ Marquis Theater
The Avett Brothers (etown) @ Boulder Theatre
Posted by Merry Swankster at 12:28 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
One sentence review: M.I.A.'s Kala
With no drive or incentive from the Merry Swankster crew to write traditional record reviews, and the lack of any willingness on our part to join the uptick of music writers currently part of this amazing web 2.0 phenomenon, one which, even with the best intentions, dilutes the market of opinions, I will state we are not in the business of writing full on reviews (what business we are in is up for debate). We are well aware of the obvious hypocritical nature of such comments when it comes from opinionated authors of a music blog, but before we entertain accusations of undermining ourselves I must remind the narrow focus exclusively lies with album reviews of the established format.
Did the dramatized lead-in produce wagging tongues for our new album review feature, did it? In the spirit of the new theme I will utilize just one sentence for describing what this is all about:
These are reviews of new albums written by Merry Swankster.com staff using just one sentence.
We are cognizant of the importance of portion control. Enjoy. - M.S.
David Klein: Kala is nothing less than a feat: a rich sonic stew that incorporates
styles and sounds of the last three decades while managing to sound
completely up to the minute.
Yonah Korngold: Studies will soon show that hospitals are abandoning the
defibrillator and using Kala to restart patients' hearts.
Randall Monty: The flamboyant strings part on "Jimmy" is the most discotastic sound I have ever heard.
Jeff Klingman:Eclectic in the fullest sense, Kala throws the hippest parts of global pop culture into a trough and gorges omnivorously.
Merry Swankster: If Kala were candy, it would be an explosion of flavor in my mouth.
Keith O'Brien: Kala is the soundtrack for a Model UN conference, gone both awry and insane - or the pop equivalent of distractedly spinning the globe on an indolent, late-May school day
//M.I.A. - Kala - BUY!
Posted by Merry Swankster at 11:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 18, 2007
After the Jump Festival One Week From Today!!!!
Next Saturday, the 25th of August, will be the inaugural edition of the blogger run and organized After the Jump Festival in Greenpoint, Brooklyn to which I've most shadily alluded in the past. All day from 2 o' clock on at Studio B we will be throwing 9 bands at you on two stages for a whopping zero dollars. For non math majors, that comes down to nothing per band. Headlining our little extravanganza will be Spectrum, also known as Sonic Boom of the legendary 80's drone titans, the Spacemen 3. Also appearing will be energetic and courageous local favorites Ra Ra Riot, former Neon Lights stars Apache Beat, the air tight Beatlesesque songsmiths of Locksley, New York City pop workhorses the Teenage Prayers, gypsy superfreaks Golem, numerical minded thrashers Goes Cube, witty indie rockers Jukebox the Ghost, and the multi drummered madness that is Bling Kong. The day will be hosted by Sara Schaefer, host of the DL Show on AOL's Spinner.com.
It all promises to be very eclectic, and very wonderfully strange.
A less scattershot, and much more helpful, guide to next Saturday's set times:
Metro Mix Main Stage
2:00 The Teenage Prayers
3:00 Locksley
4:00 Golem
5:00 Ra Ra Riot
6:00 Spectrum
CONCERT.TV Side Stage
2:30 Jukebox the Ghost
3:30 Bling Kong
4:30 Goes Cube
5:30 Apache Beat
At this point you'll likely convince yourself that you've been rocked enough, and goddamnit you need to eat some food and fucking dance. Oh, but there'll be no need to hop on a train or carry yourself off to boroughs unknown, because we're also prepared to bring the dance party (also, there'll be food). To get you to fancy dancing, we've got Strokesy charmers the Virgins, Isreali party rockers Soulico, feted !!! offshoot Free Blood, and insane dance magnates Riot in Belgium.
Metro Mix Late night line-up:
10:00 The Virgins
11:00 Soulico
Midnight Free Blood
1:00 Riot In Belgium
This one will cost you, but modestly and with fine purpose. Your twelve dollar ticket, which can be purchased right now on Ticketweb here , will not only let you furiously get down. All proceeds will not be funding a sad addiction to import 7" singles, but will instead be going to fund elementary school music programs in the Bronx via the wonderful charity organization, Donors Choose. You'll hear much more about these fine fellows and the things they do in this space next week.
As this event is being held in the world and not some beautiful marshmallow puppy land it does cost a bit to put on, so I'd be remiss to neglect our fine sponsors.
Cellfish Media: Cellfish Media creates digital content for mobile phones and is helping to revolutionize the blogging community.
MetroMix.com: MetroMix is your one-stop local entertainment guide on where to go and what to do, from the hottest restaurants and bars, to the latest in events, music, movies, and more.
CONCERT.TV Concert.TV he first television channel dedicated to live music by offering both cutting edge shows and past favorites.
Indaba Music: Indaba Music is an international community of musicians, music professionals, and fans exploring the creative possibilities of making music with people in different places.
Imeem: Imeem is an online community where artists, fans & friends can promote their content, share their tastes, and discover new blogs, photos, music and video. Visit After the Jump on Imeem.
CMJ: CMJ Network connects music fans and music industry professionals with the best in new music through interactive media, live events and print.
Xanga: Xanga is a community of online diaries and journals.
Colt 45: For over 4 decades, Colt 45 Premium Malt Liquor has been the "class of all malt liquor brands". With its smooth and distinct flavor and historic affiliation with Billy Dee Williams, it has become an urban American icon.
Studio B: Simply put, a night club in Brooklyn but really, a Greenpoint phenomenon.
...and that's how a bill becomes law.
Anyway, this is quite a lot of overwhelming and exciting information, I know. I've not even touched on the opportunities to win more free stuff from this free show, including two all access pass to the CMJ Music Festival this Fall (details at Music Snobbery). You'll hear more about it throughout the week, but for now just plan on making a Brooklyn run next Saturday and clear your cluttered minds.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 06:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
You cannot escape the robots!
[Photo cred: Jeremiah Garcia]
I too attended the Keyspan Park Daft Punk show Thursday (look at me, whoo!), and a review is definitely forthcoming. While I cannot promise the painstaking effort that Sebastian put into the Coachella set, but here's a link to the complete bootleg set.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 11:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 16, 2007
Los Campesinos! - Live @ the Mercury Lounge, 08.09.07
* Again due to a girlfriend/photographer workstrike/vacation, photo is Flickr-napped from a man called Jalapeño, whose work you can see here.
Welsh indie pop sensations Los Campesinos! would headline the Mercury Lounge the night after I saw them play to a sparse room in an unusually early opening gig. So there would be no ecstatic sing alongs from the newly dedicated, and not enough arms to support the crowd surfing that was depicted in floating pictures from Saturday night's show. It was a warm up gig, a chance for the band to feel out the space and pick up a few extra bucks. It was also a free pass for me (which explains why I didn't care).
The young band was awfully enthusiastic from the start, members filling every corner of the stage in the manner that we've come to expect from their Arts and Crafts label (home to platoon-ish bands such as Broken Social Scene). Frontman Gareth sported a Casiotone for the Painfully Alone t-shirt and a truly awful haircut. One disembodied strand of hair jutted from one side of an otherwise close cropped head, only to be swept over the front of the face. It came perilously close to personifying a made up hipster hair style I've long longed for; the ironic combover. His male bandmates weren't as folically challenged, but also much more non descript, looking like the sorts who could have been in any indie band from the UK anytime in the last 15 years. Luckily, the were framed by the comely violin player Harriet on the right and the truly delicately beautiful Aleksandra on keys to the left classing up the joint. Also, according to press materials all of their last names are Campesino, so they really had no choice but to form this band.
The early set number, "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives," was a prime example of the real charm the band can occasionally display. Enough energy to get feet to moving, a dash of delicacy provided by the string swells, and some smart lyrics. Gareth Campesino sings like a less sarcastic Eddie Argos, which could grate on the nerves in the set's duller compositions, but suited this track just fine. The non ironic (or was it, I can't even tell anymore) slip into the Lesley Gore's "It's My Party (and I'll Cry if I Want to)" was especially delightful.
You'd think that competently covering one of my favorite band's very best songs would be enough to win me over, but the band's energetic take on Pavement's "Frontwards" managed to leave me cold. As much as I enjoyed mouthing the words along, the sped up ramshackle version tanked a good deal of the song's unchecked romance. "I've got style/ miles and miles/ So much style that it's wasted..." is just not a line to start pogoing to, after all. Perhaps I'm just being picky though, as it was quite warmly received.
More unequivocally good was the mighty anthem, "You! Me! Dancing!" Harriet did her part to sell the opening minute's stately bait and switch, playing somber violin notes straight out of some daftly titled Mogwai track. But when the fun comes bounding in, motion is hard to suppress. Gareth and Aleksandra traded lines and doe eyes in between his elastic spastic act, taking every few minutes to calm down to a serene place before launching off again. It's in joyous compositions like these that a possiblyu bright future for the band may lie. They're a bit precious and a tad excitable at this point, but there are songwriting chops here, I'm sure.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 04:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 15, 2007
Retrohump Night: The Yeh Yeh Girl From Paris
Though the You Tubed clips we regularly feature on Wednesdays are more often an indulgence in nostalgia or an expression of disbelief that we were ever able to find such obscure vids in the first place, the cultural juggernaut of a website has other musical uses. Letting you hear elusive album material in the first place, how about?
An album I've been wildly unsuccessful in tracking down is the 1965 compilation of French language music by dreamy 60's dish Françoise Hardy, The "Yeh Yeh" Girl From Paris. It exists to be found on the pricey online import scene, but that's sort of for suckers and it ruins the thrill of the hunt, so until I see Hardy's gorgeous rain victim staring up at me from the racks, these terrific old clips will have to suffice. The record was designed to capitalize on a Life magazine spread introducing the glamorous girls from the so called Ye Ye movement in French pop to the U.S. market. It compiles the best tracks from a string of EP's that were big hits in early 60's France.
Françoise Hardy- "Tous Les Garcons et Les Filles"
Perhaps the best known and, as evidenced by the mp3 below, easiest to find tracks is the beautifully restrained "Tous Les Garcons et Les Filles" or, for the dolts, "All the Boys and Girls." In an era of outsized melodies, overbearing brass arrangements, and open throated singing, this haunting melody barely rises above a whisper. The video sees young Francoise riding an early version of one of those state fair Viking boat rides that make you feel like your stomach will soon exit via your face. There's no present evidence of motion sickness, as the only emotions registering from Ms. Hardy are ennui and perhaps mild disappointment. The prominently featured ferris wheel would seem to be the more idylic and romantic carnival ride, but shooting film on one was probably rather tricky. At least that's what the Frenchmen told these models before taking multiple reels of up-skirt footage.
Françoise Hardy - "Tous les Garcons et les Filles"
Françoise Hardy - "Le Temps Pour L'Amour"
The prominent bass line and slightly less relaxed tempo here have more of an overt rock influence than the previous song, though it's not quite as devastatingly pretty. The video makers of the era were determined to portray our girl as a fille on the go, so here we get a full clip of her rowing around while trying to look natural in her singing efforts. A weird conceipt for a love song, but the moments when they pull in close for a shot of her face against the slightly moving, sun dappled water behind her are quite fetching.
If any of our loyal followers out there are in possession of The "Yeh Yeh" Girl From Paris in its entirety, and were of the kind notion to pass it along, I would be willing to work out some kind of crazy barter system. Be warned though, I have no practical skills.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 06:04 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack