Monthly Mixtape - March '06
My Monthly Mixtape for March is now available for your listening pleasure.
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iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 31st, 2006
Wolfmother - "Woman" from Wolfmother - EP
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 30th, 2006
Girls in Hawaii - "Flavor" from From Here to There
50 Freebies
Stereogum hooked everyone up with their 50 favorite indie label mp3's today.
My initial favorites off the list are the Voxtrot track "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives" and the Danielson song "Did I Step On Your Trumpet".
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 29th, 2006
The Clash - "I'm Not Down" from London Calling
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 28th, 2006
Swell Maps - "Full Moon In My Pocket" from A Trip to Marineville
Favorite New Release of the Week - Mar. 28th, 2006
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
This is an underground-purist alert: "Gold Lion," the opening track on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' second album, Show Your Bones, is named after an advertising award. Last year, an Adidas television spot featuring the original composition "Hello Tomorrow," written by Show Your Bones co-producer Sam Spiegel, a.k.a. Squeak E. Clean, with vocals by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O, took the Gold Prize for Best Use of Music at the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival in France.
"Gold Lion" itself is not about selling out or buying in. The song -- a strident, initially acoustic march that suggests Beck conducting the Beta Band, until guitarist Nick Zinner stomps on his distortion pedal and drummer Brian Chase frees his inner Dave Grohl -- is mostly about getting close. "Tell me what you saw," Karen O sings with sizzling impatience, "I'll tell you what to . . ." -- at which point her voice becomes a hot, spiked yelp, the obvious sound of a trip to the moon and back. But the song's title is a sly admission of ambition and self-possession, a declaration of how far this New York neogarage trio intends to go in this game. Zinner, Chase and Karen O left indie-rock piety behind when they signed to Interscope. But Show Your Bones is their true show of brass.
This album is, above all, a textural triumph, a quantum bounce from the brittle jitter and insect-chatter fuzz of the band's 2001 Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP and 2003's full-length Fever to Tell. It's as if the Velvet Underground had gone from the black-crusted minimalism of their first album right to the pop bloom of their fourth, Loaded. "Fancy" starts with guest keyboards by Money Mark, doing his impression of Ray Manzarek on the Doors' Strange Days, while Chase invokes the thunder-tabla math of Led Zeppelin's "Four Sticks." In "Way Out," Zinner -- whose guitar architecture is outstanding throughout the album -- shoves and charges with stacked power chords and basement bass lines, compounding Karen O's frustration: "The face ain't making what the mouth needs." When the song's bridge blows up like Bug-time Dinosaur Jr, Karen O's distrust and anxiety erupt with it. "When you mean it on the inside," she signs off at the end, "you still can't get to me." Rough translation: Giving is a bitch in a world where everybody wants, all the time.
Lyrically, Karen O makes sense mostly in spurts. On paper, her run-on flood of disjointed metaphors and interrupted thoughts makes Bones' eleven songs read like BlackBerry mail from William Burroughs. Consider this mouthful from "Honey Bear": "What, what did you do to your back/Kept soft thoughts cut lips carry pin back/Junk jump off too much talk/Old hope breeds/Cold needs/Undress cold keys." But where there is clarity, Karen O slices through with dagger-blade warning ("She'll make you sweat in the water" -- "Phenomena") and authority ("What's in the trash bag/Just another part of you" -- "Fancy"). My favorite lines are actually the first two in "Honey Bear": "Turn yourself around/You weren't invited," a sharp slap in the face in which Zinner doubles Karen O's saucy squeal on guitar before the whole thing swerves into a metallic goose step. I would have opened Bones with "Honey Bear," just for the mixed message: Here's our album. Now fuck off.
The one thing missing from Show Your Bones is the electrifying sight of Karen O's singing: the Tina Turner body language and steely Chrissie Hynde command that come with her Siouxsie Sioux-like whoop onstage. You have to pay at the box office for that. But in the last two songs here, she brings an urgency that deserves its own golden lion. "Warrior" begins with what seems like Karen O gasping for air, singing in exhausted tiptoe step with Zinner's acoustic-blues picking. Then the song shoots into guitar-choir time, and she accelerates likewise -- "Trouble at home, travel away" -- as if she's jumping from bad news into the unknown with deep, fearless breaths. The confidence is even bigger in "Turn Into" -- the next word in the lyric being "hope." "I know what I know," Karen O sings repeatedly over Zinner's flamencolike strum and Chase's hardy gallop. (Extra-nice touch: the electro-squiggles that sound like they fell in from Del Shannon's "Runaway.") There is no mistaking the sexuality in her announcement and the pride that comes with it. But the momentum in the music is purely the joy of moving forward, and in control. That's the real lesson here, from "Gold Lion" on. It's not enough to show your bones. Shake 'em around, make 'em go somewhere, anywhere. Otherwise, they just go to waste.
- David Fricke, March 20, 2006 via Rolling Stone
NIKKI SUDDEN - R.I.P.
Nikki Sudden - July 19th, 1956 to March 26th, 2006
Swell Maps frontman Nikki Sudden died Sunday after a show the night before at New York's Knitting Factory, Billboard.com has learned. He was 49. No cause of death has been made public yet, according to Secretly Canadian label head Chris Swanson, whose company reissued 10 of Sudden's albums in recent years.
Always a prolific artist, Sudden has just completed a new solo album, "The Truth Doesn't Matter," and has a gig booked in London on Wednesday (March 29) with his band the Jacobites. According to a post from longtime group member Dave Kusworth on Sudden's MySpace.com page, the show will go off as planned in memoriam to Sudden.
"Nikki Sudden believed in rock'n'roll -- and how hard was that in this cold new millennium?," Kusworth wrote.
Sudden rose to fame with his brother Epic Soundtracks in Swell Maps, a late 1970s rock combo that has remained influential despite its brief lifespan. Soundtracks died of unknown causes in 1997.
According to Secretly Canadian, Sudden was nearing completion on his autobiography, "The Last Bandit."
"It was a great honor to work with such a legendary figure, and his warmth and generosity of spirit will not be forgotten," Secretly Canadian said in a statement. "He was a good man in endless pursuit of his artistic dreams. We extend our deepest sympathies to his friends and family."
- Jonathan Cohen, March 27, 2006 via Billboard
P.S. Nikki played what, very unfortunately, was his final recorded radio performance on Mike Lupica's show at WFMU last week. You can read more about the performance and listen to a stream of it here.
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 27th, 2006
Band of Horses - "Our Swords" from Everything All the Time
Of Montreal Interview
Here is a nice article that Flagpole Magazine did with Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes. It's good to hear the band is enjoying some newfound success.
(via largehearted boy)
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 24th, 2006
Spoon - "Anything You Want" from Girls Can Tell
Pete & Repete Were Sitting In A Crackhouse
He's a good man, and thorough.
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 22nd, 2006
Tapes 'n Tapes - "Just Drums" from The Loon
SOUND team - Live at Good Records
A big thanks to JAX over at Rock Insider for the heads up on some video of SOUND team performing "TV Torso" at Good Records in Dallas on March 10th.
I was actually supposed to be at this performance, as well as their show that evening, but my travel plans fell through. This will have to do until I see them elsewhere I guess!
UPDATE - Check out "Your Eyes Are Liars" which is a great new track from the band's upcoming release Movie Monster. I can safely say I haven't been this excited about a new release in a long time.
Thanks to gorilla vs. bear via Rock Insider.
Favorite New Release of the Week - Mar. 21st, 2006
Editors - The Back Room
The Editors debut album, The Back Room, has finally been released today in the US. It's definitely worth a listen if you haven't already picked it up as an import.
Rock music has always been taken more seriously when it echoes out of the darkness. The darkness (not the comedy spandex clad hair-rockers) presumes a certain authenticity; that the artist has suffered to bring you the fruits of their troubled soul. That the music has been agonized over in low-lit rooms with every note of pained vocal and every jolt of shrill guitar loaded with meaning and weight. The truth is, it’s more often than not, all a bit of a con. Drinking cider on the wall of the cemetery and reciting Nick Cave lyrics hardly means that you’re some sort of super interesting, tortured artist-type worth listening to. So it comes as a relief to find that, while they might dress in regulation black and inject the 11 songs here with no small dose of Joy Division style panic and pain, Birmingham’s Editors are really just a bloody good pop band at heart. Their songs resound with creeping paranoid lyrics but their pitch-black soundscapes are cracked with light.
It seems like they’re onto something with their enticingly packaged pop as well. The Back Room, despite being out for some six months, currently occupies an envied position in the upper echelons of the UK charts, and in “Bullets”, “Blood” and “Munich”, Editors have delivered a handful of unlikely indie-disco floorfillers. Over in the US, they’re attracting a Franz Ferdinand size buzz. Gigs have been crawling with snooping record company bods, and tickets have sold out left, right and centre. It’s actually a bit silly really, because, as far as I remember, there have been no publicity seeking antics, hyperbole filled statements or celebrity girlfriends to propel the band onto the brink of stardom just some old fashioned touring, word of mouth hype and a few cracking singles. And they deserve it as well, because The Back Room is a very good record indeed. Far more than a stop-gap Interpol or Joy Division-lite, Editors have made a thoughtful, expertly crafted and darkly sensuous indie-pop gem. And though nothing else on the album can quite match the intensity and brilliance of those three singles, their brooding energy is rather hard to resist.
Central to the album’s success is singer Tom Smith’s engagingly passionate baritone. The presence of Ian Curtis looms heavy in the air when he sings, and the lyrics have enough of Curtis’ taut anxiety running through them to suggest that Unknown Pleasures was a carefully studied record in the Smith household. What delivers these songs from being mere copies however, are the pop sensibilities on display. Moments of sheer excitement inform the rousing choruses in “Open Your Arms” and “Lights”, as the band touch on something that is more in debt to The Cure at their most radio-friendly than any crucifix toting Goth band. The set does suffer from something of a mid-album lull and a few songs that could be described as samey, but it is expected that a debut album is usually imperfect. It’s ultimately to the bands infinite advantage that the songs don’t parody Ian Curtis’ desolate howl from the dark, and even in their gloomiest moments, Editors never lose sight of ‘the tunes’.
Editors flirt with the darkness but they are clever enough not to be consumed by it. The Joy Division comparisons might well lazy, but listening to The Back Room, they are undeniable. Of course the band never has quite the same sense of urgency and destiny that meant a band like Joy Division were enshrined in greatness. What they do have is the panache to make brilliantly crafted and perfectly timed indie rock and roll that ensures they fit snugly into the post-Franz musical landscape. Editors offer a darker, more dangerous alternative to most of the arch nu-wave rock around. They sound like a more cynical, foreboding Bloc Party, like Franz Ferdinand with a heart. The Back Room is an assured debut album from a promising band. Greatness, for the moment, might elude them, but Editors are the real deal. The spiky guitars and swirling synth textures that make up this record are hardly visionary, but when it’s all done as effortlessly as this, it sure is exciting. Touching on desolate themes of loss and mortality and shooting them through with a sparky, almost hopeful abandon, the songs Editors have given us here are definitely worth listening to.
- Michael Lomas, March 17, 2006 via PopMatters
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 21st, 2006
The Raconteurs - "Steady, As She Goes" from Steady, As She Goes - Single
EofDM - I Want You So Hard (The Boys Bad News)
Check out the new Eagles of Death Metal video for their song "I Want You So Hard (The Boys Bad News)" featuring guest appearances by Jack Black and Dave Grohl.
SOUND team - Live on Minnesota Public Radio
SOUND team performed two tracks, TV Turso and Movie Monster to be exact, for Minnesota Public Radio last week during SXSW. Click here for an mp3 of the performance or here for the Real Audio stream.
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 20th, 2006
The Jesus and Mary Chain - "Just Like Honey" from Psychocandy
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 17th, 2006
The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl - "Fairytale of New York" from If I Should Fall From Grace with God
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 16, 2006
Dr. Dog - "The World May Never Know" from Easy Beat
Pearl Jam
Have you seen the cover of the new Pearl Jam album? Supposedly the image to the left is it. Click on the image for closer look.
It's certainly different than what I would have expected but, if one comment I read is correct, it makes a little more sense in regards to the symbolism potentially being tied to the Avocado Declaration. (via goldenfiddle)
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 15th, 2006
Grand National - "Drink to Moving On" from Kicking the National Habit
SXSW XX
If you're like me you're really wishing you were at SXSW right about now. That being said, if you're like me you're not at SXSW so maybe listening to the SXSW Music Player will help ease the pain.
As the website states, "The SXSW Music Player V.06 is a fun and exciting way to explore the sights and sounds of SXSW 2006. You can listen to a continuous stream of all the acts, and the player will show you who you are listening to and give you a link to their band page."
In all honesty, that kind of sounds like the nicest way of getting all of us who aren't there to step back from the edge but, I'm not sure it's helping.
If you want to check it out click here or the SXSW Player icon above and then do the same once you get to the SXSW music page to load the player.
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 14th, 2006
Hot Chip - "Keep Fallin'" from Coming On Strong
TOTP2's Marc Bolan Special
Just when I thought I couldn't find anything interesting to post today, I found this on YouTube. It's the special that aired on Top of the Pops 2, I'm assuming sometime in September of 2002, commemorating the 25th anniversary of Marc Bolan's untimely death.
You've got to love Marc's haircut during "Born to Boogie" and the "New Romantic" look he's sporting during "Laser Love".
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 13th, 2006
Badly Drawn Boy - "Once Around the Block" from The Hour of Bewilderbeast
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 10th, 2006
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - "Lights" from Fear Is On Our Side
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 9th, 2006
Beck - "Fuckin With My Head (Mountain Dew Rock)" from Mellow Gold
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 8th, 2006
Editors - "Munich" from Munich - Single
The New Pornographers & Belle and Sebastian - Live at the 9:30 Club
Thanks to So Much Silence for providing mp3's of The New Pornographers recent show at the 9:30 Club. The show was broadcast as part of NPR's All Songs Considered concert series.
If you want to stream or download both concerts in their entirety you can do so here.
Favorite New Release of the Week - Mar. 7th, 2006
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - Fear Is On Our Side
After a lifetime of nightfall and foggy moonlight, I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness creeps out of the shadows with their long-awaited full-length debut, Fear Is on Our Side. The Austin, Texas, band follows up their 2003 self-titled, five-song EP - a much poppier affair produced by Spoon's Britt Daniel - with a dose of thunder and lightning, pain and pleasure.
Produced this time around by Paul Barker (Ministry, Revolting Cocks), the record is more sadness than joy with Christian Goyer's lonely lyrics and hauntingly echoed guitar persuaded by Edward Robert's chorused basslines. The sound is coaxing and familiar, Ernest Salaz's textured guitar melodies alternately subtle and entrancing; then howling and anguished. From opening tragic tale "The Ghost," the five-piece echoes past ages and foretells the future. Powerful layers rip through the silence, bonding strength and longing with the weight of a sigh.
Reminiscent to latter-era Talk Talk, with the introspection also comes passion. "According to Plan" throbs and gristles through Tim White's pulsating beats that insist on movement. Originally electronically recorded for an Artikal Records 12-inch, the track comes alive here, just as tight as on the original but even darker. Mixing lulling instrumentals ("The Owl") with epic storytelling ("Today We Choose Faces"), ILYBICD breaks out of any genre-specific molds.
Since 2001, Chosen Darkness (along with their local predecessors Paul Newman, Windsor for the Derby, and Glorium), have paid their dues by becoming THE band to play with in Austin. Now, it's time to put a sound with the name. Fear Is on Our Side is not trivial or banal. It's not trendy or futile. Fear is a testament to our times, our revolutions, and our meaning. It's timeless, maniacal, and resounding. Darkness and truth.
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 7th, 2006
Eagles of Death Metal - "Speaking In Tongues" from Peace Love Death Metal
The Strokes - Live at Ryman Auditorium
So I made it to the show last night and as always, wasn't disappointed. First of all, the Eagles of Death Metal are absolutely fantastic. They are 100% Rock 'n Roll through and through. Lead singer, Jesse Hughes, is one of the best frontmen I've seen in a long time. Their new album will be out April 11th and is definitely something I'm looking forward to.
As for the Strokes, the band sounded great and one of the things that immediately stood out was the new set and lighting. It really tied in some of the underlying themes of First Impressions of Earth that have been discussed like an aliens "first impression" of earth, space, the future, etc... The addition of a big drum riser that elevated Fab above the rest of the band was also a nice addition and gave the whole stage a "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" vibe!
The older songs from Is This It and Room on Fire sounded as good as they always have. The new tracks sound great as well. The new tracks that really stood out in my mind were "Red Light", "Heart in a Cage", "Ize of the World", and "Ask Me Anything". "Ask Me Anything" was one of the biggest highlights of the night despite a girl in the second row thinking she could and should sing along with Julian, only louder. If you're out there reading this and realize I'm talking about you, it's ok, just please don't do it again. I say this as nicely as possible and out of concern for you and those who sit around you at future concerts.
Another highlight was Julian performing the 2nd to last song of the main set (I think it was Vision of Division) from within the crowd. The somewhat reserved crowd finally came out of their shells when they found Julian in their laps. Also, the bands cover of The Ramones' "Life's a Gas" was an excellent addition to the setlist much like The Clash's "Clampdown" and the Guided By Voices song "A Salty Salute" have been in the past. The encore started out with the always rocking "New York City Cops" and ended with the standard show closer "Take It Or Leave It".
All in all, the show was great and another example of what separates The Strokes from a majority of the bands out there today. The time and hard work spent on performing these songs comes through in an extremely tight set that certainly shouldn't be missed.
P.S. The Kings of Leon were in attendance and I had a chance to talk to Caleb after the show and he mentioned they were heading into the studio next week to begin recording the follow-up to Aha Shake Heartbreak. When I mentioned how much I liked Aha he said, "Wait 'til the next one man, just wait 'til the next one!" It's good to hear the confidence and excitement heading back into the studio. It doesn't sound like the Kings plan on having a letdown on the heels of Aha Shake Heartbreak and from the sound of things, they won't be having one.
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 6th, 2006
The Stone Roses - "Fools Gold" from The Stone Roses
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 3rd, 2006
The Secret Machines - "All At Once (It's Not Important)" from Ten Silver Drops
The Strokes - Live at Hammerstein Ballroom
Now for a concert review of a band that, in my opinion, definitely doesn't suck. The Strokes kicked off their U.S. tour in support of First Impressions of Earth last night at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom and Stereogum was there to cover it. Read all about it here.
God Hates Scott Stapp
As a rule, I've tried to refrain from casting any light on artists who completely suck even if it's to make fun of them. I'm not talking about musicians who I just personally don't like but those who suck in the, "you just saw your dog get run over by a car," kind of way. That being said, the DCist's review of Scott Stapp's recent show at the 9:30 club is far too funny to not post a link to.
The most heartwarming moment for me came after seeing the photo of the show's $35.50 tickets taped to the front door of the club in an effort to give them away for free. (via Information Leafblower)
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 2nd, 2006
Nine Inch Nails - "Something I Can Never Have" from Pretty Hate Machine
iTunes Song Suggestion of the Day - Mar. 1st, 2006
Depeche Mode - "Policy of Truth" from Violator
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