Filed under: Uncategorized
This semester has been essentially void of any new writing, mainly because anything I seem to write nowadays is in various coding languages (html, mySQL, Python(?)…) Well, we’re getting closer to the summer, and that means less time necessary for schoolwork and more time for writing. While the general focus will continue to be on music, I plan on expanding into more of my general interests.
Anyway, I have been working on a few things, so keep you’re eyes peeled, because I’ll be unveiling them sooner than later.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: brooklyn, matt and kim, new music, rcrdlbl.com
First off, I have to recognize that this music isn’t exactly ground breaking stuff. It’s simplistic pop melodies, played by an overexcited dude and girl. But we’re not talking about any old, hyperactive duo; this is Matt and Kim! Everyones favorite pair from Brooklyn bringing us catchy singalongs that are somehow fun to dance to. And this new track from their upcoming release “Grand” is no different. It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything new from these two and from the sound of it, we have more of the same fun stuff to look forward to.
I’d post the track itself for you, but rcrdlbl.com has asked nicely not to repost it so I won’t. Click to head over to their site and grab the track!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: baltimore, best of 2008, ecstatic sunshine, ponytail
I figure that since we’re a bit more than halfway through 2008 and there have been a TON of great albums released so far, we’re long overdue for a recap. First though, I’ll lay down a few rules.
1. No leaks. Even if they are scheduled for later on in the year, I don’t think it’s fair to slap a number on them yet. Changes still can occur between the leak and street dates. Besides that, I’ll get to write about more albums overall.
2. No Re-Releases. Who wants to read about old stuff?
3. Even though today is technically more than halfway through the year, everything released up to last Tuesday counts.
ecstatic sunshine- WAY
The path that Ecstatic Sunshine has taken is certainly a unique one. Starting off as a minimalist artsy surf-rock duo, the band released Freckle Wars in their native Baltimore to complement many of the other art-rock groups coming out of that region. We heard dueling guitars squash riff upon riff into each of the 12 compact songs on the disc. The result was an enjoyable listen, something that, while extremely catchy, you could listen to over and over and seemingly discover something new each time. That continues to be the appeal of Ecstatic Sunshine in 2008. After their transitional EP Living, their latest album has seemingly made a 180 degree turn in direction.
Off the bat, the track number is a bit deceiving. Only 3 songs? This must be another EP right?
Well it’s not. With each track ranging from 7 to 12 plus minutes long, we have a full album’s worth of material, even if the movements aren’t exactly separated from one another. And instead of quick and dirty guitar jamz, we have heavily effected-guitars, blissfully droning away. This now-3-piece-collective has taken the soul of Ecstatic Sunshine’s previous works and embedded this love of melodies that are equally uplifting and wild into a tangled nest of amplifier static and processed loops.
So check out these dudes from Baltimore. Dustin Wong founded the band with his pal Matt Papich back in 2004, and while he has since traveled on to focus full time on another group of Baltimore natives, Ponytail (who are soon to be the focus of another Best of 2008).
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: documentary, gogol bordello, heavy metal in baghdad, pied piper of hutzovina, super size me, the brian jonestown massacre, the dandy warhols, vice magazine
I’ve been getting into documentaries lately, and I just stumbled upon this site today which I think is fabulous. Visit Snag Films to watch free streams of hundred of documentaries. And I wouldn’t be talking about this site unless it was well worth it. For the price of free, no registration required, you can watch full length docs like Super Size Me, State of the Union, and my personal favorite Dig!, an incredibly interesting account of the trials and tribulations of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. Two bands with intertwined histories that allowed them to reach the peak of their popularity in the late 90’s, but had many struggles on the way to their own versions of success. Please go watch this now, I promise that you will love it.
The next two films on my list are Heavy Metal in Baghdad and Pied Piper of Hutzovina. Heavy Metal in Baghdad was produced by Vice, everyones favorite hipster rag, and follows an Iraqi heavy metal band in the period of time during the fall of Saddam regime. Pied Piper of Hutzovina is a travel account of Eugene Hutz, ring leader of Gogol Bordello, during a 2004 road trip through his native Ukraine.
Anyway, go watch some films. It’s a much better waste of your time anything on Youtube.
Also, keep an eye out for my reviews of “The Best Albums of 2008 (so far)”. It’ll be good. I promise.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: best buy, hannah montana, technology, vinyl records
Over the past year, people all over have been commenting on the growing trend of vinyl being the choice format for physical music purchases. And evidently, the mainstream market has begun to notice.
Now, this information all needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Even with current sales trends for vinyl records exploding over previous numbers, LP’s account for less than .5% of all album sales. Vinyl records are not, nor will they ever, rise again to dominance and account for the majority of album sales in the music industry. But what I can see in the not so distant future is vinyl overtaking CD’s in the physical media market.
As more and more people turn to online downloading and physical media-less methods of obtaining music, what we are going to find is that CD sales will continue to decline, at a higher rate than ever. The market is not dedicated to the technology of the Compact Disc, which even to this day is arguably a flawed format in some opinions. And as high speed internet access continues to penetrate households, people will continue to choose the convenience of downloading music as opposed to heading to the store to buy the latest CD.
So where does the vinyl record fit into this equation? The technology of vinyl records was one of the first analog audio recording formats developed to bring music and sounds to the masses over 100 years ago and has barely changed since then. On the other hand, digital methods were first introduced in the early 1970’s, and have gone through many generations of preferred physical format. The next distribution method on this chain is not a new physical format however; direct to consumer downloads are on the path to become the primary source.
But vinyl has shown that it can outlast these technology changes. New formats appear every few years, and then they quickly fade once the newest method arrives. Vinyl has been the only type of media to last. A great example of the physical media downfall can be found in film and movies. Most experts are predicting that Blu-Ray will be the final physical media of videos sold. Almost every video distribution company has invested in digital download technology, giving signs towards the industries eventual acceptance of this method.
Some will argue that consumers will always desire to physically receive something for their money, and that having a tangible item in their possession will always be important. Flash memory is a far superior technology to any type of disc, and because of the reliability, standard acceptance by virtually every home media hub, and small physical size, brick and mortar retailers will find that this will be the preferred form.
But vinyl collectors will live on. Some find benefits in the small size and convenience of physical media, but record heads want precisely the opposite. And that is why, once the market embraces digital downloads as a whole, LP’s will live on for those who appreciate the artform.
And I, for one, look forward to the day that I can buy the latest Hannah Montana 3XLP printed on deluxe color splashed 12″ 180 gram virgin vinyl, with a hologram gatefold sleeve, at Best Buy.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: abe vigoda, ecstatic sunshine, fuck buttons, gang gang dance, no age, no pain in pop, south street seaport, telepathe, tv on the radio
I’ve been mulling over posting about Telepathe (pronounced “TEL-EP-ATH-EE”) for a few days. I first heard of them once the lineup was announced for the past Friday’s free show at South Street Seaport, featuring Telepathe and Abe Vigoda opening for No Age. I tried looking up their music online, but it was extremely difficult to find much of their work, with the exception of their 2006 EP, Farewell Forest. After listening to it, I couldn’t exactly say I was impressed. Airy-drone that combines ritualistic beats with repeating hooks and loops is not exactly a new style of music, and unless you can write interesting and engaging songs, it is far too easy to slip into a description the realm of boring. While true drone fans may disagree with my assessment, what I can say is that bands like the current lineup of Ecstatic Sunshine have seemingly mastered the act of balancing repeating noises and sound loops while preventing the songs from becoming monotonous.
Anyway, I had low expectations going into the gig, and unfortunately I cannot say my mind was exactly changed after seeing them live. Telepathe certainly had the look, being avant-garde artists and musicians from Brooklyn, and the ladies could have easily modeled for whatever is the favorite alternative-fashion magazine nowadays, stealing the front cover from the likes of Agyness Deyn and her counterparts. But their live show was just not that interesting. Most of what they performed was off of a laptop, and the one real instrument that was used, a guitar, was completely inaudible. While that may have been due to the lack of a decent sound system (or the fact that all the bands sounded terrible outdoors), it caused all the attention to be focused on the girls, and there is only so long that you can listen to spoken word and repeating lyrics.
So after all of that, why am I bothering posting about Telepathe? Well, it mostly has to do with the song I’ve linked on the bottom of the post, Chrome’s On It. Right now, you can hear the song on a 7″ single out on No Pain In Pop. Everything I that I complained about with the music on Farewell Forest has seemingly been revised. This track continuously surges forward during the length of the song, slowly building a thick and hazy atmosphere that is enhanced by floating vocal harmonies. And while around 3 sentences of lyrics are used, lead singer Busy Gangnes keeps things interesting with the sweet melodies. Instantly, Telepathe’s sound become pure pop, a direction they are far more equipt to head in. Rather than trying to match up to the dense tones of bands like Gang Gang Dance or Fuck Buttons, Telepathe have embraced the melodies and create the environments around those.
Keep a lookout for their full length debut, Dance Mother, produced by David Sitek of TV on the Radio. If this song is indicative of the direction Telepathe is heading, you can count me amongst the interested.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: emusic.com, high places, lucky dragons, reviews, thrill jockey
Please excuse my terrible pun. I still haven’t gotten the hang of witty post titles. Anyway, this post will be infinitely more relevant come September, when Brooklyn’s High Places release their first, self-titled LP on Thrill Jockey. The band has an compilation of EP’s released in 2007 fittingly titled 3/07-7/07. It had previously been released on a new independent artist service on emusic.com, but Thrill Jockey is pressing and re-releasing the album for the iTunes crowd and beyond.
I’ve had 3/07-7/07 for a few months now and it’s the type of album that I enjoy in cycles. At first, it was a pretty fresh sound, certainly being unique and interesting to listen to. But then I thought to myself, who actually listens to this stuff? Songs literally bubble up, noises fade in and then everything immediately fades out. Most of the time, it sounds like children’s music. This fact certainly is not helped by Mary Pearson’s feint, girly vocals.
Now I’ve come to realize that this is precisely what makes High Places appealing. Songs grow into one another allowing for the entire album to have an organic feel. Listening to it seems like you are experiencing a living, breathing organism. I can best compare the music to a group like Lucky Dragons, who share the notion that music should be organic, not something mathematically constructed. Bells, woodwinds, chimes and wooden percussion are all fair game, and the amount of melody that can be generated from these instruments by two people is impressive. While many of the instruments are actually electrical or computer generated, High Places definitely extracts the living spirit from them.
So it’s official. The album is coming out in October on Kranky and before then, we can look forward to a limited 7″ of “Nothing Ever Happened.” And by the look of the track list, there aren’t too many differences from the leak.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: abe vigoda, los angeles, no age, sonic youth, sub pop, telepathe, todd p
So I figure now is a good time as any to get a No Age post in here. I was recently reading through a copy of AM New York, a free newspaper distributed all over the city and in between articles about the latest celebrity gossip and the sports scores, I came across a full page spread on No Age. They are playing a free show at the South Street Seaport on Friday with Abe Vigoda from LA, another one of my favorite new bands, and Telepathe from Brooklyn.
The article didn’t give me any new insight into what the band has been up to lately, nor what their future plans hold, but it got me thinking about the group as a whole and their rise to success over the last few months. While I had been anticipating their Sub Pop debut, Nouns, for a while, I never would have thought that the album would still be in my daily rotation today, more than two months after its release. The songs may not immediately catch your attention, nor will the long intros and endings consisting of distorted effects loops and noises attract the casual listener, but once you’ve listened to the album for the fourth or fifth time, you begin to get it.
And maybe, because of my appreciation for the music, I’ve been so excited to see the success the band is having. The band has been featured in various magazine photo shoots and covers, had their first video premiere on an MTV show hosted by Pete Wentz, everyone’s favorite emo-celeb, and have been headlining tours all over the country. It would be easy to say that the band has been “selling out,” but to use another cliche, maybe more and more people are “buying in.” There is nothing wrong with a band finding success and despite the oddity of finding them featured in a relatively mainstream spotlight, I can’t help but think how cool it is that “alternative culture” is being brought to the front lines. I don’t subscribe to the idea of exclusivity and preserving the underground nature of anything. While it’s nice having things to yourself, wouldn’t you want to share with others? I find that to be so much more satisfying.
Anyway, back to No Age the band. Rumor has it that in addition to the free show on Friday, they will also be playing at Todd P’s gigantic mid-summer show extravaganza. Go see them. It’ll be worth your time. If you are at all a fan of Sonic Youth’s signature distortion, or the punk rock aesthetic of countless Brooklyn-based bands right now, I promise you’ll have a good time.
EDIT: Again, for some reason, I think it’s kinda cool that No Age has reached the people. Including dudes in Montauk wearing No Age tee shirts at the train station.
I wish I had more information to give you about Ida Maria (pronounced Eee-duh Mah-ree-yah, not that this information is terribly important). But for some reason, US audiences have been extremely slow picking up on this awesome new singer from Norway. She blends the best of PJ Harvey’s vocal style with the countless number of poppy, upbeat indie-rock bands. Her versatile voice can float up with the catchiest of melodies or it can growl with the best of cigarettes-and-whiskey-fueled troubadours. If you can imagine a female, less frightening Tom Waits, you are heading down the right path.
Ida Maria’s latest album was released in May in the UK, however I’m not sure if and when Fortress Round My Heart will be coming out on our side of the pond. But don’t let that stop you from using your own methods for obtaining the album. The music is widely available on the internet and it is well worth checking out. Every song is undeniably catchy, and while this isn’t groundbreaking stuff, you have 10 worthy songs for your summer road trip play list. Highlights for me include the first single, “Oh My God,” which I heard once on Sirius radio, never to hear it there again. But it was memorable enough to spur me to find out more about the artist. Also listen to “Stella” and “Louie.” Well worth a 2 minute search on hypem.com, everyone’s favorite music blog aggregator.
