Via saddlecreek.com: Polydor Records has commissioned 5 animators to make short videos for songs off of Bright Eyes' latest release Cassadaga. The songs are "I Must Belong Somewhere," "Clairaudients," "Lime Tree," "No One Would Riot For Less," and "Soul Singer in a Session Band." So far I've only seen the "I Must Belong Somewhere" one and it's pretty cool. Check out the story and links to all the videos here at DigitalArts.
Friday, July 13th
Icarus Line @ El Cid
Os Mutantes, Busdriver @ El Rey Theatre
Shitting Glitter, Death By Doll @ Pehrspace
David Vandervelde, Blitzen Trapper @ Spaceland
Lemon Sun @ The Echo
Glassjaw @ The Glass House
The Muslims, Soft Hands, The A.M., Anchors For Architects @ The Smell
The 88, The Satisfaction @ Troubadour
Saturday, July 14th
Jessica Fichot @ Amoeba Music- Hollywood
Bitter:Sweet, Meiko, Basa Band @ El Rey Theatre
Divisadero, The Devils, Romantics, Meredith Meyer, Love, Christine @ Pehrspace
The Rentals, Goldenboy, Kyle Chipman @ Spaceland
Howlin' Rain, Citay, The Moon Upstairs @ The Echo
Hard Place, Laco$te, Ponce De Leon, Guam, Duchess of Tek @ The Scene
DiGiTS, Cryptacize, I Think I Did Something Wrong, Duhkha @ The Smell
Persephone's Bees, Something for Rockets @ Troubadour
I went to see Dr. Dog play last night at the Echo and was treated to an opening set by labelmates The Teeth. This Philly quartet is comprised of old time rock 'n roll sensibility with some good natured goofiness. Their command of the stage came from not only tight-knit rocking out, but also from the lead guitarists' extraordinary handlebar mustache. It looked like one of those fake ones you'd see in an amateur video project, yet I'm almost positive it's real. They put out a new LP called You're My Lover Now about a month ago and it's a really great album. Check out their music video for the song "So Long," where you can see that glorious mustache in full form:
I just saw the yet-to-be-released movie "The Go Getter" the other night and I really enjoyed it. The movie stars Lou Pucci (Thumbsucker) and Zooey Deschanel with a smaller role from Jena Malone. Merge Records folkstar M. Ward did most of the soundtrack and even had a really quick cameo in the film. The rest of the soundtrack is flushed out with a couple Black Keys licks and an Elliott Smith song. The movie has yet to nail down distribution, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time until this one hits major cities. Check out the MySpace. Here's part of the tracklist I've been able to dig up thus far:
1. M. Ward - Vincent O'Brien
2. M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel - When I Get to the Border (Richard and Linda Thompson cover)
3. Elliott Smith - Coast to Coast
4. The Black Keys - 10 AM Automatic
I'm not sure that any album over the course of my life has helped shape my musical palate as much as Weezer's Blue Album. I remember that BMG scam of a CD club had sent the CD to my older sister back in 1994 and upon first listen I promptly stole it from her. The opening track "My Name is Jonas" was slated to be the third single off the record but at the last minute "Say It Ain't So" was chosen instead. The acoustic intro to the song takes the listener in one direction and as soon as the distorted guitars kick in with the vocals, it yanks the listener in another direction. The call and response on this song work really well and it's one of the very few songs that original guitarist Jason Cropper had writing credits for (he came up with the acoustic pieces.) Check out Rivers' haircut in this live vid from the 2000 Warped Tour:
This post is coming a day too late, but I thought it was newsworthy anyways. Amoeba announced earlier last week that Spoon will be playing a "secret" show in Los Angeles. According to their website:
Spoon will be playing a secret show in Los Angeles on July 16th.
On July 10th at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, the first 150 people who
purchase Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (CD or LP) will receive a coupon from Merge
Records that will admit you to this very special (and secret) 21 and over
show!
One ticket per CD purchased. The coupon will explain how to register
with them to attend the show. Quantities are limited to the first 150
CDs/LPs purchased -- while they last!
In another example of how Indies are much better at evolving than the Majors, Art & Crafts announced today that they are releasing the new Stars' album In Our Bedroom After the War today for legal downloading - only four days after wrapping!. From a Blogpost on Stars' MySpace:
We believe that the line between the media and the public is now completely grey. What is the difference between a writer for a big glossy music magazine and a student writing about their favourite bands on their blog? What differentiates a commercial radio station from someone adding a song to their lastfm channel? or their myspace page?
As such, we are making the new Stars album available for legal download today, four days after it's completion. The CD and double vinyl versions of the album will still be released on our official release date, September 25th. We hope you will continue to support music retailers should a physical album in all it's packaged glory be your choice of format.
This song comes from 2000's Billy Bragg and Wilco collaboration Mermaid Avenue Vol II. The idea behind these releases is pretty cool - giving the words of Woody Guthrie to Wilco and folksinger Billy Bragg and seeing what kinds of songs they could come up with. The opening track, "Airline to Heaven" is my favorite off of this release and one of my favorite songs by Wilco overall. It displays one of the prettier melodies of Jeff Tweedy's and it works really well against the chugging beat of the music. The slide guitar solo in some of the live versions I've heard is mind-blowing. Whenever I hear this song, it's usually stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Check out a live video from a 2006 concert in Duluth MN:
Last Saturday in New York City
June 16th, when I saw him in L.A.
Dan in Dallas, June 13th
I was going to save this one for later on in the mix, but I think this theme leads to enough quality material that I don't really need to hold back. In honor of Stereogum's Tribute and the 10 year anniversary of OK Computer last week, Radiohead's "Airbag" is batting cleanup in the 4 spot. The song is about the feeling of having a near accident, and suddenly having this rush that life is all that more precious. The opening riff paired with the sleigh-bells kicks the song off powerfully, and Thom almost didn't get away with including the bells - the rest of the band was against them. I always am so enthralled to hear Radiohead studio tales, because with the way the songs turn out, it seems to be such a mystic recording experience. This album is in my top 4 favorite of all time and I absolutely love everything about this song. Here's a pretty cool live video of them performing the song back in 1997:
Those guys over at Stereogum are up to some cool shit these days. Today, in commemoration of Radiohead's OK Computer's 10 Year Anniversary (has it really been 10 years?! Jesus) Stereogum has presented us with an album of covers by some interesting indie acts. It even comes complete with notes from each band/artist that performed the cover. Pretty neat stuff. My personal favorite so far is the John Vanderslice electronic twist of "Karma Police", but I'm only halfway through the album. Doveman's "Airbag" is also a very beautiful piano-based rendition. I suggest you check it out by clicking here!
YouTube's best sounding clip of The Decemberists performing with the LA Philharmonic last Saturday at the Hollywood Bowl. This song is pretty cool and the orchestra add a lot of oomph to it. I'm excited to see Bright Eyes perform with them as well later this summer. Check out this Playlist that someone set up on YouTube to view most of the songs from this show.
I picked this song up via 20 Jazz Funk Greats and I haven't stopped listening to it all day. This song makes me wish that I was driving around at night doing things that I'm not supposed to be doing (and acting like it's no big deal.) I also think this would be a great film intro song from something in the mid-80's. I think I like this one better than that Bats For Lashes song I came across last week, and I wish this would get the same type of artsy music video treatment. Check it out!:
Chromatics: Night Drive
The Beastie Boys' Ill Communication will always be in my top 5 hip-hop albums of all time. The opening track, "Sure Shot" is debatably the best song on the album (I'd also make a case for "Root Down" as well.) Sure Shot's classic intro of that weird dog-like noise into a Jeremy Steig flute sample can instantly take most of my generation back to 1994. This song was the gateway to the most badass thing my 11 year old ears had ever heard. Check out the classic music video:
