May Mix - 6. Minus the Bear - Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse

The sixth song on our mix comes from Minus the Bear's 2002's Highly Refined Pirates. This song is a good example of Minus the Bear's signature sound of staccato guitar licks and quick hi-hat hits. Before seeing them live last week, I had no idea that the lead guitarist utilized the fingertapping technique as much. This was the song that some kid next to us was yelling for all night and they finally played it to end the show. This is the best video I could find regarding audio quality. This is a good spot in the mix for this song leading into the closer for side A.

Coming Attractions: Mice Parade

On Adam Pierce's 7th full length record under the moniker Mice Parade, he finds himself surrounded by an array of talented musicians and friends. The FatCat recording artist holed himself up in his brand new Bear Mountain home recording studio, and this self-titled album -released last Tuesday- is the studio testing results. He has a list of fellow FatCat musicians as contributors and Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab is featured on this song called, "Tales of Las Negras." Mice Parade will be playing the Echo on June 7th. According to the FatCat site, "the lineup of the touring band includes two drumkits, both nylon and electric guitars, vibraphones, keyboards, and whatever or whomever else is available."

Dylan Cover Friday: White Stripes - Outlaw Blues

This video comes from the White Stripes DVD Under Black Pool Lights. I had been searching around for covers of this Dylan song because it's one of my favorites from the electric years. Dylan loved the outlaw imagery and one of my favorite lines comes from this song when Dylan mentions the history of Jesse James' murder. Because this was part of a medley on the DVD, Jack White doesn't sing this particular line but head over to the Dylan lyrics site, and the Jesse James Wiki if you actually care about what I'm talking about.

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky Stream

Now at Spinner, AOL's music site, you can stream the entire new Wilco album that is set to drop in stores next week. Upon first listen I thought it was a little watered down and tame, but after reading some interviews with Tweedy and relistening today, I would tend to replace those adjectives with 'subtle' and 'put together.' From what I've gathered this is supposedly the most collective effort from the band, with all touring members being apart of the recording process for the first time. With album art this pretty it has to be good, right?? You can hear for yourself here.

Coming Attractions: Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles, another Toronto band that is turning some heads is due to stop in Los Angeles on May 26th at the Echplx. Named after She-ra's castle (not the classic arcade game) the band consists of two members who know how to pump out the jam. I checked out some of their live vids on YouTube and to be honest a couple of them looked kind of lame - but with the right crowd and atmosphere (and the right amount of alcohol) I think this could have the ingredients for a great time. Check out this song called "Lovers Who Uncover." They don't have anything that appears to be an official website so for more tunes click over to their MySpace.

Weekend Concert Roundup: Los Angeles

Thursday, May 10th
John Vanderslice, St. Vincent - Largo
Matt Skiba, Chuck Ragan - Troubadour
Peachfuzz - Echo

Friday, May 11th
Dinosaur, Jr. w/ Awesome Color - Troubadour
Lavender Diamond, Dntel - Amoeba Music
Nikka Costa - Largo

Saturday, May 12th
Dinosaur, Jr. w/ Awesome Color - Troubadour
The Gray Kid, Oliver Future, Infinity - Spaceland

Vintage Bright Eyes Thursday

This video is of one of my all time favorite Bright Eyes songs, and this performance in particular is pretty sweet (besides a couple verses having been edited out.) I'm not sure if it's an act or not (you never can quite tell) but watch until the end to see Conor tightrope walk the monitors and yank his guitar cord out twice. ROCK!

Patrick Wolf Unplugged

In honor of me going to see England's goofiest(?) popstar next week at the Troubadour, I'm posting a video of Pat doing his hit song "The Magic Position" recorded in his loft. Check out the violin player's killer chops. This guy is going to be a trip to see.

Emily Haines Announces Solo EP, Metric News

Hot off the Pitchfork presses, Emily Haines announces her gameplan for a good part of 2007 (song included!) She's keeping busy with a solo EP containing Knives outtakes called What is Free to a Good Home, a new Metric full length, and a slew of Canadian and European tour dates. With Knives Don't Have Your Back one of my favorite records of last year (thanks Steve!), I couldn't be more thrilled to hear about this EP. The song Pitchfork decided to stream is called "Rowboat" and seems to be more of the same stylings.

Where Are They Now? - DFA '79

When Death From Above 1979 broke up a couple years ago, I was heartbroken that I never had the chance to see them live. Instead I've had to settle for live YouTube clips (which are still pretty cool.) So lately, I've been wondering what the duo are up to now. Bassist Jesse Keeler has been keeping himself busy with labelmate electronic duo MSTRKRFT. He even reworked a couple DFA classics under this moniker for the remix album, Romance Bloody Romance. Drummer/vocalist Sebastien Grainger has been keeping a little more under the radar with his solo project. He hasn't announced a release date, but a few tracks have found their way onto MySpace. He did a couple of opening gigs for Bloc Party's latest jaunt and has successfully teased fans (myself included) as to when the full length will come out. Check out his instrumental track "The Rhythm Method":

May Mix - 5. Screaming Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell On You

The sixth entry for our mix comes from the annals of Rock history. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Screaming Jay released this song in 1956. As the legend goes, the song was intended to be a toned down blues ballad, but prior to recording the producer brought in a feast of ribs and booze getting everyone nice and drunk before cutting the song. Hawkins has been quoted as saying he doesn't even remember recording it. "I Put a Spell On You" has been named one of the 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll by the RnR Hall of Fame and I think it fits well coming after the previous Radiohead track.

Electrelane Blows Up

With their new album No Shouts, No Calls hitting stores today across the U.S., the U.K.'s Electrelane is getting a lot of attention. Their song titled To The East calls to my mind a Nico fronted Arcade Fire (which is fitting because they are currently on tour with AF doing opening duties.) They are also doing a handful of headlining shows on their days off. Look for their L.A. stint with the Arcade Fire May 28-29 at the Greek Theatre with a headline on May 30th at the Troubadour.

"To the East" off of No Shouts, No Calls out today on Too Pure Records:

Björk, Elliott Smith Highlight Today's Releases

Record Releases for Tuesday, May 8th:

Keren Ann - Keren Ann
The Bad Plus - PROG
Björk - Volta
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony - Strength & Loyalty
Brakes [aka Brakesbrakesbrakes] - The Beatific Visions US release

The Clientele - God Save The Clientele
Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls
Sage Francis - Human The Death Dance
Mike Jones - The American Dream
Lavender Diamond - Imagine Our Love
Maximo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures UK: 2 Apr
Mice Parade - Mice Parade
Mystery Jets - Zootime
Dolores O'Riordan [of The Cranberries] - Are You Listening?
The Sea And Cake - Everybody
Elliott Smith - New Moon [2xCD rarities comp]
Mary Timony Band - The Shapes We Make
Travis - The Boy With No Name
The View - Hats Off To The Buskers US release

Harvey Danger Lip Sync

Connected Ventures rubs it in that they have more fun than we do at work with this video. I caught it on the 'Gum last week and thought it was really creative. A good throwback to 7th and 8th grade dance sing-alongs. My favorite is the kid who sings the "now I'm an amputee, God Damn you" part. Who's your favorite?

Modest Mouse on NPR's Live Concert Series

NPR comes through yet again with a worthwhile listen, this time from MM's Philly performance earlier this week at the Electric Factory. The show features songs off the new Billboard frontrunner album, but has a couple pre-Good News era songs. I love that they start and finish the show with older tunes. NPR even provides the setlist so you can determine if it's worth your hour to give it a listen. NPR: Modest Mouse in Concert

Fox Channel 11 Investigates "Scene Kids"

I saw this on the news last night and couldn't resist looking it up on YouTube. Definitely worth the watch. "The sound is intense..."

Cajun Dance Party Blows Up

London based indie rockers, Cajun Dance Party become the next in a long line of dance rock bands to put bloggers into a tizzy. First came Stereogum's Band to Watch, and now everywhere my browser turns - there they are. All I had to do was type in the word Cajun into my Google toolbar and they were the first(!) thing to pop up on the suggested search list. Whatever happened to cajun food? Anyhow, I'm sure a coveted spot on one of London's most trendsetting labels, XL Recordings helps - but the two songs from their first released single actually live up. Check out what the hype is all about on the single called The Next Untouchable:

Ratatat - Remixes Vol. II

For anyone who heard the first volume of Ratatat remixes this release comes as good news. With an even more attractive track listing than the first volume, this record is bound to make some waves in the remix/mashup markets. Here's a peak at just some of what we're in for:

Young Buck, The Game & Ludacris - Stomp
Notorious B.I.G. - Party & Bullshit
Jay-Z & Notorious B.I.G. - Allure
Z-Ro, Devin the Dude & Juvenile - The Mule
Beanie Sigel & Jay-Z - Glock Nines
Kanye West - Diamonds
Notorious B.I.G. - Dead Wrong

Check out this cut of The Mule from Ratatat.com:

P.S. I'm gonna try to post their take on Kanye's Diamonds because it owns.
UPDATE: Here's the link: Diamonds of Sierra Leone (Ratatat Remix)

May Mix - 4. Radiohead - Wolf at the Door

The fourth entry for May's mixtape comes from Radiohead's latest, Hail to the Thief. Not only does it have a similiar arpeggiated organ at the beginning as one of my favorite songs of all time (Funkadelic's Maggotbrain) but it also features a quick lyrical spouting from Thom Yorke that you can't find on many Radiohead songs. This is one of my favorite tracks off of Hail and I think it works really well in livening up our mix at the cleanup spot.