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Showing posts with label Week In Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Week In Review. Show all posts

Friday, March 4, 2011

Slender Man

Is one terrifying motherfather. If you follow the MarbleHornets debacle, then you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, go watch all of these late at night in a dark empty house. It's FUN!

Kind of like the eerie digital malfunctioning MarbleHornets series, I've been listening to a lot of minimal elctronic music recently. E.I. James Blake, Flying Lotus,

News

- The 83rd Academy Awards um, happened? this past Sunday night. But Andy, old chap, how does this pertain to music, I say? Well, good question 1920's Englishmen reader. It almost entirely doesn't. Howevsys, what about those two little score and best song awards. Well, the song went to Randy Newman, who won for the third time after some 23 nominations. Normally, this statistic is more embarrassing than me talking to girls, but when it's for the greatest song in a movie all year long, It's pretty impressive. In more suprising news, former Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor somehow won best score. It's a fantastic score, and I'm really amazed that the Academy was willing to look past how unconventional it was and give it some dang respect.

- My friend's Natalie and Wilson saw Beach House in New York this week. No news, just thought that was cool.

- Dave Pajo left Interpol. I fell like I should find this important, but I've never really been introduced to the band, so oh wellzz.

- A few months ago, I had the opportunity to go to Moogfest over Halloween weekend this year. I had the time of my life, but I chose to not see a (seemingly) one-time Caribou/Four Tet show in a little club in Asheville. I chose instead to see Jonsi, and I still stand firmly behind that decision, as it was the best show I've ever seen. However, I did later play woulda shoulda coulda. However, the two techno stars announces that they will be releasing a limited edition vinyl collaboration in the near future. Buy it all night long.

- Wavves sucks. Not news, again, but it needs to be said.

- This week in Off Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All news, Mellowhype, the rap OFWGKTA duo of rapper Hodgy Beats and producer Left Brain

- Festival Smorgasbord

- The Roots annual The Roots Picnic lineup was released this this week, and this year, the Picnic, including shows by The Roots, Nas, Wiz Khalifa, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Esperanza Spalding, Yelawolf, and Man Man, will be held June 4th in the Columbus Boulevard and Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA.

- The Glastonbury line-up hasn't been released, but U2, Coldplay, and Beyonce have been confirmed as headliners.

- The Solid sound Festival, Wilco's second annual fest in North Adams, Massachusets will take place June 24-26 and will include Wilco (Obviously), The Levon Helm Band, Thurston Moore, Here We Go Magic, Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy, and comdey from Eugene Mirman, John Hodgeman, and Wyatt Cenac.

- Pitchfork dates and line-up were released today and am there. I will be there. Trust me. It has an amazing lineup. So far, Animal Collective, James Blake, Curen$y, Das Racist, Fleet Foxes, The Dismemberment Plan, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Woods, Sun Airway, Kylesa, TV On The Radio, Cut Copy, Deerhunter, Destroyer, OFWGKTA, and Yuck are on the bill with more coming later. This seriously looks amazing. Who's going with me?

New Music

I could go on and on this week, but everything has spawned from NPR's SXSW playlist. If you like the alternative music SXSW showcases, it's all too easy to get lost in this. Check it out here.

I did find this brilliant video. Be warned it's about a puppet committing suicide. Pear-ental discretion advised.



This is great too.



Discoveries

I've been digging through my dad's record collection some this week and listened to some Weather Report. The 70's jazz band had a huge impact on jazz and their bassist Jaco Pastorius. Give Black Market a listen.

Believe it or not, I never heard Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, in its entirety, until this week. As most people claim, it is really good. I'm not really into the whole deep thought lyrical genius crap though. I mean, it's not bad, but I don't think it's a magical earth shattering black hole of euhporical knowledge. The album stands out to me for its synthesizers. I did not expect the atmospheric lazer-ish soundscapes. And yes, I did watch some of the Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of The Moon in the background.

I pulled Van Halen's 1984 and Springsteen's Tunnel of Love out of the old collection, too.

Releases

Lupe Fiasco - Lasers

Raekwan - Shaolin Vs. Wu Tang

R.E.M - Collapse Into Now

Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo

Wye Oak - Civilian

Playlist



Slenderman, out.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Reddit PART 2

So, I've dug a little deeper into reddit this week. I've started to really post things, and upvote when upvoting is due. Moreso, I have been deemed a DJ on pirateradio, a title that is not as much power as pride. If you're ever looking for good underground(ish) music from people you don't know, look no further. There seems to be a real emphasis on the electronic side of the music world, which I've been getting a lot more into. I'll even be doing a review on a fellow redditor's album pretty soon. Keep checking back for more. Please.

News

- Daft punk keeps going farther towards the commercial lime-light and further from making music. The French dance duo have recently commisioned a set of gold and silver Coke bottles for, well, Coke; the cola, that is. I love these guys, so I can't rip them too hard, but man, I could use a new album right about now.

- Um. Kanye and Rhianna did the All-Star Half Time Show? It's been a reallllyyy slow news week.

Notable Music

This Lykke Li is getting a lot of attention from the hipster underground. I like her voice a lot. And how purty she is.

Lykke Li - Love Out Of Lust by LykkeLi

T.V. on the Radio is working on their fifth studio album, and the first single is striking to me, because it doesn't focus on wishywashy vocals and guitars like almost everything "indie" now. It's refreshing.



I got the chance to catch The Civil Wars down at The Disc Exchange this last Tuesday, and I was floored at how great they could harmonize, especially with their very warbling voices. Alas, I showed up to the show at Pilot Light, and there were a hundred people just waiting to get in. Homework got done that night, instead.

The Civil Wars - "20 Years" by A Mindful Earful

Jamie xx from the aptly named xx, has released a remix of Gil Scot Heron's last album, I'm New Here, also aptly named Were New Here. As I said last week, the duo were streaming the album from specifically designated radio towers across this great nation, but now, it's out, and I found this gem on stereogum.



My dad's got a friend. Not a real friend, a radio friend. I assume they would be good friends if they had physically met, but hey have not. Tom, however, has met lots of famous people. His sidekick on his weekly radio show, The Best Show On WFMU, Jon Wurster also has many actual friends at his creative disposal. Hence, when the New Pornographers asked Tom Scharpling to direct the video for their single "Moves", the two got their heads together and made a fake movie trailer for a very faker movie based on the creation, explosion, psychotic meltdowntion, and re-explosion of the New Pornographers career. The whole thing is really funny, and surprisingly well done for a man who has just one other video under his belt (one that made it onto my best of the year list, at that). Gotta love the early 5 second cameo from Paul Rudd and Bill Hader, too.



Discoveries

I can't believe it took me this long, but I finally got a hold of the Fleet Foxes album this week, and I've listened the mandolin out of it. It's absolutely fantastic. The harmonies are some of the best since the Beach Boys. New album comes out sometime this year, and it's one of my most anticipated now.

This whole reddit thing is getting me into bands I know I should have heard but hadn't. This week, that example is the Kinks. This british rock band is what is so amazing about the Rolling Stones, ELO, and especially The Beatles in one little package. Well, it's not that little. They have some 70,000,000 million albums. I hope all of them are as good as Arthur.

Releases

Beady Eye [Oasis' Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, and Andy Bell] - Different Gear, Still Speeding

DeVotchka - 100 Lovers

Dropkick Murphys - Going Out In Style

Alexander [Formerly Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros] - Alexander

Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

Rural Alberta Advantage - Departure

Lucinda Williams - Blessed

Playlist

Im leaving you with my official Reddit playlist this week. It's kind of a grab-bag of the best music ever.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Magnets?

How do they work?

Sorry there's no new material on here since last week. I kept telling myself all week that I was going to do a review or a cover at the very least, and I did not do those things. Productivity is overrated. I'm going to try my best to get a few things up this week, but....no promises, because as the famous philosopher Drakeonius once said, and I quote "I'm doing me".

I had a solo shift on good ole' WUTK this week, so SHAME ON YOU........ if you did not listen. If you did listen, then, good for you. I'll give you a high five sometime. If you did and you're Jessica Alba, call me.

Wanna hear some MTV news that isn't about Jersey Shore? 90.3 the Rock has gotten into the final round of the MTV Woodie award's Best College Station in America. Sure, you can say we ARE THE BEST! GO AMERICA! So, um, we need your help to win. Go to this link right here that is green, and vote for us at least 693 times. At least. If you tell me that you helped us win, then I will have a special surprise for you, but only if you prove it. DONTTHINKABOUTITDOITNOW!!!!!!

The bonnaroo lineup came out, but I'm not going to talk about that specifically, yet. I tell you to let you know that I was planning on doing a big seperate post on it specifically, and once again, i dropped the ball on that. So, I'm going to have a bit of a Roo 2011 guide directly below the words you are reading, and my play list for this week is going to have at least one song from every artist on the bill. So, sit back, relax, and find out what you might have missed this week.

News

- Last week, LCD Soundsystem announced that they would play their last show April 2 in Madison Square Garden in what is sure to be a fantastic time; such a great time that scalpers up and bought a huge portion of the tickets (infuriating lead singer James Murphy), so the band has added four shows on March 28,29,30, and 31 in New York's famous Terminal 5. Who's taking me?

- The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held last weekend, and it was generally as dissapointing as ever. Lady Gaga lived in a egg-ish thing for three days to get prepare to get out of it. Bob Dylan, with all of the respect in the world, sounded absolutely rusted out. Justin Bieber somehow made ninjas look really lame. All around it was pretty bad. But there were two glaring bright spots. As you probably know, Best New Artists didn't go to Beiber, it didn't go to Drake, it didn't even go to Mumford and Sons. The award went to jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding, who has sold a fraction of the records the rest of the group has, proving that there may be some life in the music industry yet. Later in the show, after Eminem had taken my hope for the industry back back, Arcade fire beat out Em, Lady Gaga, and favorite of the night Lady Antebellum for the Album of Year, citing mass confusion and this really funny website.

- This past Monday, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All member Tyler, The Creator signed a one year deal with XL Recordings. He will use this to record his album,
Goblin, which is going to be released around April.

- The Flaming Lips released a 12 section song on Youtube, Tuesday, that is supposed to be played on iphones or ipods with other people. You can play all of them at once, or experiment with certain ones. Kinda like this.

- Elvis Costello announced this week that his new tour will feature a wheel, very similar to Yo La Tengo's, filled with hits, rarities, and b-sides, that an audience member will spin, and either get dance in an on stage Go-Go cage or watch the show from a lounge off stage. My dad's a huge fan, and I would pay thousands to see him stuck in a go-go cage.

- Monday, Radiohead announced that they would release their next studio album, King of Limbs, this Saturday, and would be accepting pre-orders for both digital versions of the album, as well as a loaded box-set with two see-through vinyls, a cd, many large sheets of artwork as well 625 small frames, and a digital version in either WAV or MP3 format. Let me re-iterate, Radiohead is releasing this after one week of build-up. I am busting at the seems to get out of the store, so I can get home and listen to it.

Notable Music

Daytrotter is a brilliant thing. For those who have been deprived of its existence, Daytrotter is a studio in Rock Island, Illinois that records bands daily. They accompany the recordings with a portrait drawn on the spot and a brilliantly written piece incorporating the performer. They get some pretty big names, This past month has seen the likes of Van Dyke Parks, Bela Fleck, and Tapes n' Tapes, but the real beauty in the whole institution is the quality acts that are rarely heard of. For instance, Cedarwell. I heard this song, and immediately fell in love with it. I'm not going to put too much Daytrotter on here, but this one deserves the recognition.

Check it out here.

I heard this little blip-tastic ditty on pitchfork and it's resonated with me for a while.


As I said before, Radiohead released their album today, as well as this video of Thom York pulling his best "Single Ladies" impression. If it doesn't scare you a bit, then you scare me. The hand claps are a nice touch.


I'm really intrigued about this James Blake guy. I feel like dub-step is a little for there to already have a genre called post-dub-step, but that's kind of what this guy does. Kind of. He's the kind of artist that you can't pin down. Please excuse the remarks from the DJ. This song is especially great because he takes the same synth heard in the worst of elevator music and pokemon games, and flips its world inside out.


Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All is quickly becoming one of the most exciting things to happen to rap since Wu-Tang came along. The band of misfit-skater thugs took to Fallon this week and chaos ensued. fun chaos.


Discoveries

I havent listened to a ton of new stuff this week but my History of Punk rock at school has helped me really appreciate the Ramones. The first album is really intense and angst filled, but also very influential. They were truly one of a kind (at the time).

Buffalo Springfield is another new-to-me band this week, as I just discovered them through the Roo' lineup. Chances are, if you are my age, you know the song "For What It's Worth" and nothing else, but "Bluebird" is absolutely fantastic.

Releases

Radio Head - King Of Limbs

Adele - 21

Banjo or Freakout - Banjo or Freakout

The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh

Gil Scott Heron and Jamie xx - Were New Here

Toro Y Moi - Underneath The Pine

BONNAROO

Oh Bonnaroo, how I love thee. I've been once, and I'm already sucked in. I feel like I can't not go. As I said earlier, the line-up dropped this week, and despite the usual hatred towards it, I think it's one of my favorites already, and it's not even finished. It's especially sweet for those who tilt a little bit more towards the country/folk spectrum than normal.

I was going to go through and label every band with the type of music they play, but I ran across a thread on inforoo that had really bested me, so I'm just going to put it in here for you all to see. Once again, this is from someone on inforoo, not me.

Baroque Rock

Arcade Fire
The Decemberists
Freelance Whales

Blues-Rock

Widespread Panic (Jam Band)
The Black Keys
Cold War Kids
Warren Haynes Band (Jam Band)
Dr. John and The Original Meters
Gregg Allman
22-20s
Band of Skulls

Country and/or Bluegrass

The String Cheese Incident (Jam Band)
Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas
Old Crow Medicine Show
The Del McCoury Band and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Loretta Lynn
Wanda Jackson
Railroad Earth (Jam Band)
Justin Townes Earle
Ryan Bingham
Abigail Washburn
Karen Elson
Hayes Carll

Electronic Rock & Electronica

Bassnectar
Girl Talk
Pretty Lights
STS9 (Jam Band)
Sleigh Bells
School of Seven bells
Ratatat
Beats Antique
Omar Souleyman

Experimental Rock

Primus
Portugal. The Man
Man Man

Folk & Folk Rock

Buffalo Springfield
Robert Plant and The Band of Joy
Mumford & Sons
Ray Lamontagne
Iron & Wine
Florence + The Machine
Beirut
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Amos Lee
Junip
Deer Tick
Sharon Van Etten
The Low Anthem
Alberta Cross
Jessica Lea Mayfield
The Head and The Heart
Phosphorescent
Clare Maguire

Funk

Bootsy Collins & The Funk University
Dam Funk

Gypsy Punk Rock

Gogol Bordello
Global Gypsy Punk Revue curated by Eugene Hutz
Devotchka

Hip-Hop

Eminem
Lil Wayne
Big Boi
Atmosphere
Wiz Khalifa
Chiddy Bang
Jovanotti
J Cole

Metal

Opeth
The Sword
Kylesa

Multi-Genre

Bruce Hornsby and the Noise Makers (Jam Band)
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

Pop Rock

Scissor Sisters
Best Coast
Robyn
The Drums
Neon Trees
Wavves
Smith Westerns
Twin Shadows

Post-Punk Rock

The Strokes
Deerhunter
Matt & Kim
The Walkmen
!!!

Post-Rock

Explosions in the Sky

Psychedelic Rock

My Morning Jacket (Jam Band)
The Black Angels
Nicole Atkins and The Black Sea

R&B

Mavis Staples

So, that's that. There are some great acts that are going to be there this year, and I'm feeling there are going to be a few things hidden up Ashely Capps sleeve that will come to light in the coming months. The Superjams already look to be promising. In case you missed them, this year will find

Dr. John and the original Meters performing Desitively Bonnaroo, the album which the fest is named after.

Dr. John and Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys)

and the Global Gypsy Punk Revue curated by Gogol Bordello front man Eugene Hutz.

Therefore, followers of the world, I leave you with this playlist of a song from everyone on the farm this year. Enjoy


Wednesday, February 9, 2011

It's been a hip-hop week

I've been cranking the like of N.W.A., Public Enemy, Q-Tip, and Outkast allll week.

Howeva,

Welcome to my new idea. I've been thinking of ways to make people want to read the crap I write, and I'm trying this one starting now. I figure, the general public doesn't scour sites like Pitchfork, Stereogum, NPR, and Paste like I do, sooooo I'm going to start posting what I find interesting in music news per week. It's going to have a really loose format, hopefully including music news, some music and videos that standout to me in a week, weekly releases, stuff that I've gotten into that week, and I'm going to end each week of with a semi-structured playlist to get you through the day. 123 GO.

News

  • Early this week, rap-pop-cartoon supergroup the Gorillaz were rumored to have broken up after news of some heavy internal fighting between front-man Damon Alborn and Jamie Hewlett. However, while the band will be taking a break after a massive world tour that took them through 11 countries and thirty eight shows.
  • Festival season is a few months away, and line-ups are finally coming out. This week Sasquatch, Lollapalooza, and Sasquatch at least released when they are going to announce their line-up. Coachella was a few weeks ahead, having already announced their line-up last week. So who's playing? Good question.
-As I said, Coachella's line-up is out and it is pretty stacked. Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, and Kanye West, and the festival has booked some great smaller acts such as The Black Keys, Chemical Brothers, Robyn, Cee Lo, The Kills, Erykah Badu, Broken Social Scene, The National, PJ Harvey, Wiz Khalifa, Jimmy Eat World, and Chromeo. I'd be there if it wasn't 234,086,234,191,123 miles away.

-Sasquatch has also released their line-up, and for a smaller festival, it looks pretty incredible. Headliners are Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, The Decemberists, and Bright Eyes, and undercards include Iron and Wine, Bassnectar, Cold War Kids, MSTRKRFT, Yeasayer, Beach House, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Major Lazer, and Flying Lotus.

- Coachella hasn't released their line-up yet, but rumor has it that Eminem, Foo Fighters, and Muse. Muse would be incredible; the other two are genuinely mediocre to me, but oh well. I guess you've gotta go with what sells tickets.

-And then theres Bonnaroo, my personal favorite, because It is where I'mma be. I've been following inforoo.com pretty heavy the last few days in anticipation of the line-up that is going to come out next Tuesday, and front runners for headliners are supposedly Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, Robert Plant, Widespread Panic, and possibly Eminem. Something tells me this years going to have something no one expects, it being the 10th anniversary and all. AC entertainment has said that they have some surprises up their sleeve ever since the festival last year, so I'm looking for some big things to come. More on that next week.

  • LCD Soundsystem has announced their final show before their eminent break-up, and it's going to be a dance fest for the ages. The band will play three hours in The Garden with numerous surprise guests and just as many songs they have not played but a few times, if ever. Presale sold out in just a few hours, so I'm guessing it's going to be a pretty huge show. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't stick around for their whole ste at Roo' last year.
  • English DJ Jamie xx recently worked on remixing Gil-Scott Heron's critically acclaimed I'm New Here, bbbuutttt there's a catch. They are currently only streaming the album from random radio towers across the nation, aaaannndddd you can only hear it on an iPad or smart phone. Interesting artistic move, or bothersome hassle? Your call.
  • Rome, the epic side project of infamous DJ Danger Mouse, featuring the help of Jack White, Norah Jones, and Italian composer Daniel Luppi, is finally coming to light. The tribute to western film soundtracks, recorded in the same studio Ennio Morricone scored The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, is supposed to come out May 17 through Capitol Records. Should be a doosey.
  • How bout that Superbowl? Nope, not the sports. The Black Eyed Peas and Christina Aguilera joined hands and took a musical dump on America this past weekend. The Superbowl actually played it smart, setting the bar so low that acts like Tiffany, ICP, or, oh I don't know, a crippled goat would surely be openly praised after the atrocity that was the half time "show" and national anthem. To top it all of, Jerry Jones spent millions of dollars to have four fighter jets patriotically soar over a very closed Dallas Stadium roof right at the peak of Aguilera's screeching "FFFFFFRRRRRRREEEEEEEE". Ain't that America.
  • Hipster rockers Yo La Tengo acted out an entire episode of Seinfeld for an audience in Chicago this week, as a part of their latest tour where they have an audience member spin a wheel that determines how their show will be played. Apparently the audience absolutely loved all of it, except for the finale, which everyone hated.
  • My Morning Jacket front man Jim James and all around fantastic musician M. Ward have joined culinary forces to create the cremebrulog, a blog critiquing their favorite desert. The first one they do looks like the greatest desert in the world. Check it out.
  • Lastly in news this week, MTV is bringing back the popular 90's cartoon Beavis and Butt-Head. No clue on how it's going to work, but props to MTV for sucking a little less hard with this one.
Notable Music

The Strokes are back after a five year hiatus, and they were giving away their first single for a while, but I believed the date on that has cut off. However, you can hear it down below.


The Black Keys make great videos. Their hilarious video for "Tighten Up" made it pretty high on my year end countdown. Though their new video for "Howlin' For You" isn't quite as funny as "Tighten Up", it's pretty dang great, and kind of inspiring seeing as it looks like a lot of work went into it. Check it out on imdb com.

Trippy mastermind Flying Lotus directed this video of Erykah Badu's "Gone Baby Don't Be Gone" with Erykah's head floating through a factory of light; with a theme so simple, only Flying Lotus himself could pull this off so effectively.


Last off in the video sector this week, I really enjoyed this pseudo-documentary of the Local Natives making a video (kind of). It's hard to throw a label on it, but it's dang cool.


Just today I heard this single from Okkervil River, a name I had heard, but never really paid any attention to. I'll probably check em out this week. You can hear the single at pitchfork.

Discoveries

I want a section in here to put stuff that might not be new, but that I have started listening to. So, I'm going to do that.

  • First and foremost, I have really been getting into Black Star this week. Amidst scrounging around inforoo.com, I saw everyone freaking out that Black Star was going to be at Roo', but I had never heard of them. When I found them, I fell in love with them. The pair, Mos Def and Talib Kweli rap together perfectly, spitting out way more words than most emcee's can handle. Definition is absolutely mind blowing.
  • Outkast is the other group I have played non stop this week. I have heard Stankonia at least 7 times, because it is just that good. Gasoline Dreams put me to sleep the other night.
  • "Bang, bang, bang went Frankie's gun. He shot me down, Lucille" Felice Brothers, how have I missed thee?
  • I heard the latest album from Oneohtrix Point Never, which is just as brow-raising as the name. I like it, but it is literally carefully constructed noise. Gotta have some patience to stand this at all.
  • I love a good funk band, and Fitz and the Tantrums fit the part. The doo-wop rockers have popped up in car commercials through out the year, but the album is definitely worthy of a whole listen. MAYBE, even a purchase.
Notable releases in the coming week

James Blake - James Blake

Esben and The With - Violet Cries

Teddy Thompson - Bella

...Andy You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Tao Of The Dead

P.J. Harvey - Let England Shake

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Bright Eyes - The People's Key

Drive By Truckers - Go-Go Boots

Twilight Singers - Dynamite Steps

Yuck - Yuck

MUSIC


Let me know how you like this.