My head is spinning round...
In other not-so-recent news (which, come to think of it, probably wasn’t even news in the first place), the latest Gnarls Barkley is awesome – perhaps, dare I say, even more so than St. Elsewhere (gasp!). As for the latest Destroyer, on the other hand, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to pick that one up if I were you – those of you who were put off by the over-mellowness of Challengers, Dan Bejar’s last record with The New Pornos, will probably feel roughly the same way about Trouble in Dreams. On the bright side, tthough, the warm weather is finally here, which can only mean that summer concert season is just around the corner! If only there were some legendary indie rock bands from Britain touring in...oh, right. GET EXCITED FOR RADIOHEAD!
April 09, 2008
Who's Going to Radiohead?....Oh, Everyone?
As you should! The last time Radiohead toured, it was amazing -- you should definitely NOT MISS THE SHOW this time around.
RADIOHEAD
AUGUST 2008 DATES & VENUES CONFIRMED
Dates and venues have been confirmed for the second leg of Radiohead's upcoming North American tour. They are:
August 1 - Lollapalooza - Chicago, IL
August 3 - Verizon Wireless Music Center - Indianapolis, IN
August 4 - Blossom Music Center - Cleveland, OH
August 6 - Parc Jean Drapeau - Montreal, QC
August 8 - All Points West Music & Arts Festival/Liberty State Park - Jersey City, NJ
August 9 - All Points West Music & Arts Festival/Liberty State Park - Jersey City, NJ
August 12 - Susquehanna Bank Center - Camden, NJ
August 13 - Tweeter Center For the Performing Arts - Mansfield, MA
August 15 - Molson Amphitheatre - Toronto, ON
August 19 - Thunderbird Stadium - Vancouver, BC
August 20 - White River Amphitheatre - Auburn, WA
August 22 - Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival @ Golden Gate Park - San Francisco, CA
August 24 - Hollywood Bowl - Los Angeles, CA
August 25 - Hollywood Bowl - Los Angeles, CA
August 27 - Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre - Chula Vista, CA
August 28 - Santa Barbara Bowl - Santa Barbara, CA
With the exception of the festivals (Lollapalooza, All Points West, Outside Lands), pre-sale for the above dates will begin April 9 with general on-sale following April 12.
March 12, 2008
The Jealous Girlfriends, and another reason to watch reruns of Buffy
Why listen to Vampire Weekend when you can just listen to Elvis Costello?
Or, you could listen to the Jealous Girlfriends, whose slightly shoegazer-y but undeniably lovely music is far fresher. Lead female vocalist Holly Miranda has a deliberate, versatile voice that runs the gamut from airy to edgy (the closest I can get is somewhere in between Leona Naess/Cat Power/Sheryl Crow[!]); the dual vocals with Josh Abbott are friendly and sweet. Interesting instrumentation (trombone, anyone?) and surprising tone shifts (“Something in the Water” is a shocker after the first half of the album) keep this S/T record engaging.
Download: “Organs on the Kitchen Floor”
February 19, 2008
The Handsome Family are very, very ... zzzzz...
maintain a high interest level ... or even moderately active. There are relatively quiet acts that, through lyrics or approach, will keep the listener with the artist through three or even five minutes of song. Bob Dylan, Bright Eyes, Joan Baez and Jose Gonzalez come to mind. The Handsome Family's Brett Sparks has a very soothing voice but unfortunately, after about four songs, the record becomes monotonous with its starkness and simplicity. If one wasn't paying attention, one might believe that there is an epic sixteen minute tune to start the album because the early songs sound very similar. Only until the engaging "Our Blue Sky" does the tempo pick up a little and energy is restored, only for the record to end soon after. It's too bad that the album does not contain more variety like "Our Blue Sky," for it could have saved this release from being a long hohum snore. Apparently the Handsome Family are quite something live, so maybe that is where people should spend their time.February 16, 2008
Portishead to Release 'Third' on 4/29/08; Neon Neon's "Stainless Style" drops on 3/18
Wow...Portishead, who have not released an album since 1998's Roseland Ballroom, are set to release their fourth album (cleverly titled 'Third') on April 29. No info on touring just yet (apart from being on the main stage at Coachella on April 26) but I'm sure that tickets will be a rather hot spring commodity.
Tracklisting is as follows:
1. Silence
2. Hunter
3. Nylon Smile
4. The Rip
5. Plastic
6. We Carry On
7. Deep Water
8. Machine Gun
9. Small
10. Magic Doors
11.Threads
Also....
Super Furry Animals are not just rocking Boston next Friday night (at the Paradise; tickets here), lead singer Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip have formed Neon Neon (with some help from Spank Rock, Yo Majesty, and others), a self-described electro-pop-crunk outfit who debut album "Stainless Style" hits stores on March 18. You can check out the first single 'Raquel' on iTunes, or visit their myspace page for more song samples -- my personal favorites are "I Lust U" and "I Told Her on Alderon." I also think they should expand their description to include post-disco, but maybe that's just me....
February 10, 2008
Cold winters call for even cooler music
Sufjan Stevens - Michigan
Though more melancholy than its younger brother, Illinois, 2003’s Michigan is one of Sufjan's more ambitious records, combining his mournful acoustic odes to his home state with lengthy, intricately composed songs of midwestern nostalgia. Awash with sleighbells, tinkling pianos, and Sufjan's signature banjo, Michigan is a perfect album for late-night drives through the wintry countryside.
Nico - Chelsea Girl
Upon buying this record, I was told by a cashier that when Nico's producer added the album's now-famous baroque strings to her original demos, Nico hated the final recording. But somehow Nico's unpolished, nasal tenor and the album’s sometimes nauseatingly saccharine violin section, neither of which make for terribly enjoyable listens on their own, work surprisingly well together on Chelsea Girl, especially when accompanying a midday stroll down a snow-covered sidewalk.
Grizzly Bear – Yellow House
Somewhat like Animal Collective on 2004’s Sung Tongs, Grizzly Bear sound on Yellow House like they’re recording in the bedroom of an empty house, trying carefully to play their guitars without waking the neighbors. Though its ethereal, minimal sound isn't always immediately accessible, it still makes a pleasant soundtrack for late-night, blanket-bundled evenings at home with hot tea in hand.
January 30, 2008
Ladies, ladies
Does the world really need an album of Dusty Springfield ‘interpretations’?
No, not really.
P.S. The quiet, minimal version of “Anyone Who Had a Heart” was quite good, though. Maybe this would have been better as a short EP (with reasonably done but boring b-side “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”).
Kate Nash, BricksWhen my friend Rebecca put “We Get On” and “Foundations” on a mix CD for me, I was smitten with Kate Nash. For their own reasons, both songs are practically perfect in every way – charming music, relatable and cheeky lyrics, and light, tuneful female (British, even!) vocals. I pounced on the album as soon as it was available on iTunes and was shocked, because I didn’t like it much at all. Nothing is as refreshingly revealing as “Foundations,” nothing as clueless and clumsy as “We Get On.” Instead, the album is 70% full of throwaway material, like the cleverly-titled “D******d,” and the irritating and unremarkable “Play” and “Nicest Thing.”
The entire album is not a waste; I could listen to “We Get On” all day, “Merry Happy” has a fun little beat, and “S*** Song,” though tragically titled, is catchy in a Scissor-Sisters-disco kind of way. I just can’t get over my initial crushing disappointment over the general non-brilliance of the record, and accept that it is just 'good.'
"The Proposition" is the grittiest of modern westerns
Although "The Proposition" came out in 2005 and may have gone unnoticed
aside from fans of Nick Cave, this is quite the film. Unlike the sparsely occuring yet well-received predecessors of "The Proposition," ("The Unforgiven", "Tombstone", etc) this film shows what in all likelihood is a more truthful depiction of what life may have been like in the 1880s Australian outback. Guy Pearce ("Memento") plays a renegade who is captured by the law and is forced to choose between his imprisoned, younger brother and his psychotic older brother. As he makes his journey to decide on this proposition, you see all sorts of dirt, flies, booze, and blood. Aboriginals run wild, outlaws do what they wish, and the defeated townspeople of a dustball town are at the mercy of the good and the bad (and sometimes both). Ray Winstone ("Beowulf", "The Departed") is an excellent, law-abiding police captain while Emily Watson, Danny Huston, and John Hurt all provide good performances. It also turns out that Nick Cave wrote the film and put together the soundtrack, which fits the mirthless film quite well.
Given the violence and some subject matter, this movie is not a cozy date movie. However, you do need to see this film if you're a fan of the infrequent western genre.
(SteveP: Nice one!)
January 28, 2008
Dear Cat Power
I’m not really sure where this relationship is going anymore, Chan. You
’ve changed so since I first met you almost six years ago, and now I feel as though we’re going in entirely separate directions. Before seeing you last summer, I had heard rumors that you had changed your tune, but I would never have guessed it would have been so drastic. I was certainly glad to hear you sounding more self-confident than usual, but frankly, I miss your old alcoholic, insecure, emotionally unstable self back when you had records like Moon Pix and The Covers Record under your belt.
It felt as though we were beginning to drift apart a couple years ago when you recorded The Greatest, an album that seemed to tell me you were trying to win over more clean-cut, mainstream guys. But now with this record, Jukebox, it’s obvious to me that I was right; not even your attempt to woo me by rehiring your Moon Pix-era band could fool me into believing that I’m still your main man.
Continue reading "Dear Cat Power" »
January 25, 2008
"The Hottest State" ... haven't seen it, but I've heard it and thus, seen it.
Ethan Hawke directed a movie entitled "The Hottest State" that
came out early last year with mixed reviews, but he also managed to put together a comforting film soundtrack with the help of Jess Harris. Harris, known for his upbeat solo efforts as well as his strong songrwriting, penned every song on this album. Yes, so that is eighteen tracks from this guy Jesse Harris that gets performed by the likes of Norah Jones, the Black Keys, Cat Power, Feist, and Emmylou Harris. Not bad for a man you probably haven't heard of, but what he has accomplished is a soundtrack that easily conveys the film's low key love story between a struggling actor and a songstress through its soft, acoustic songs. There are many pretty tunes you might not otherwise hear from your favorite modern artists, but even if renting the film turns out to be a dollar or two more than you think it was worth, the soundtrack proves to be something you can enjoyably listen to long after the film has left your mind.
