I'm suddenly stricken with an internal debate regarding Information / Knowledge.
The basic quandary is thus: what is the point of information if you do nothing with it?
The possible scenarios I have argued to myself are:
- The point is that if you have the hypothetical information then when a situation comes up where it can be used it will be. This is a sort of 'wait and see approach'
- A secondary argument is that maybe it is unnecessary to be proactive, but that people, either because of insecurity or an attempt to provide due diligence share new information whenever they learn it with variable results.
-The other main branch then would be that no information is useful until it has been acted upon.
Maybe the question should be posed as Is the 'value' of information derived from it's initial creation or from it's resultant effects?
The answer stinks of a scenario where opposing viewpoints could select equally valid scenarios.
Someone would probably get shot.
2010-12-30
2010-12-28
2010-10-14
anarchy is dead, let freedom ring
in what is sure to be a drawn out, sporadic, and typically substance depraved event i've recently decided to declare my music op-ed and news hobby retired.
i don't think this is a permanent end to my hobby. but the ideas and creativity that have at least existed in my mind, whether they actually made it into the realm of palpable existence ... if you think something does it exist, or does it not exist until it is shared with someone else? .... they no longer inhabit the same space in my thoughts and hopes and plans ... it's like if my brain were a metropolis that was run by music the city has been vacated by the music. music still exists. music still runs city hall. music still lives in the boojy neighborhoods with the big gates and the fancy cars. but that's only one neighborhood. the best neighborhood, but not the majority of the city.
see, sporadic? i just liked that analogy so i ran with it.
anyways, i still like music, i'm just not really feeling like it needs to run so much of the show lately. i think i really enjoyed music as a companion because of the ups and downs that personal relationships are prone to. music is solid and will always be there. and will not be unforgiving should i let go for a while and decide to come back later on.
so adieu to sonic anarchy ... it was mostly about the dream anyways.
i don't think this is a permanent end to my hobby. but the ideas and creativity that have at least existed in my mind, whether they actually made it into the realm of palpable existence ... if you think something does it exist, or does it not exist until it is shared with someone else? .... they no longer inhabit the same space in my thoughts and hopes and plans ... it's like if my brain were a metropolis that was run by music the city has been vacated by the music. music still exists. music still runs city hall. music still lives in the boojy neighborhoods with the big gates and the fancy cars. but that's only one neighborhood. the best neighborhood, but not the majority of the city.
see, sporadic? i just liked that analogy so i ran with it.
anyways, i still like music, i'm just not really feeling like it needs to run so much of the show lately. i think i really enjoyed music as a companion because of the ups and downs that personal relationships are prone to. music is solid and will always be there. and will not be unforgiving should i let go for a while and decide to come back later on.
so adieu to sonic anarchy ... it was mostly about the dream anyways.
2010-09-11
Contra Contrast
Sadly I won't be able to devote enough time to this post. Still, it'll prove a relief to get some of these thoughts out, and make room for new ones to be born, grow, and eventually mature to a point where they always want to borrow your car every friday night.
Last night's vampire weekend show in rochester raised a multitude of ideas and questions. From the beginning of my experience listening to vampire weekend I've always been quite intrigued by many facets of their existence. Friday evening only led to a number of interesting angles to think about.
For example, has vampire weekend reinvented the 'college rock' band? Judging from last night i would say yes. The mix of fans was very typical of what you would see at concert where the band's largest audience demographic is the 18 -22 range. Meaning, most of the people there were 18-22. This is not unique in itself, but looking more closely at who these people were, and by that, I mean what they wore, and general mannerisms it was easy to tell that these were not punk kids, they were not hipsters, they were not older post college faded rock glory folk, and not hippies.
They were a generation of in betweens, and since so many shows I go to are full of 'scene' kids, it was awkward experience to feel like the 'scene' of the night was vampire weekend kids. Why do i say 'vampire weekend kids', well because in my mind this distinguishes them from the 'oar' and 'guster' type college radio crowds. An overwhelming appreciation for opener's Beach House clearly indicated that the crowd was indie leaning ... i'm not sure what that really means, but it was meant to more clearly define the difference between those who listen to slightly off the beaten path pop, and those who tend to adventure a little bit further into the pop jungle.
Above all this is my interest in VW's ability to remain a credible band, shirking the sellout label that eventually every band who doesn't end up living in the drummer's mom's basement gets stuck with because the music they make is no longer 'real' once you've collected a paycheck for playing it.
There is no question that VW gets fat paid. A #1 album tells you that they got a few fans. In the past I've talked about how the music industry is learning to survive without big money. And that listeners are controlling the quality of the product, not boardrooms. So how does VW do it? How do they remain 'in' when it's 'out' to have mainstream appeal. A video starring jake gyllenhal, a bunch of obvious rich kids, and yet they are admired and adored for following the same steps that many of other bands have taken into the 'sellout dungeon'.
I guess I remain one of the admirers for now. They have definitely earned my respect for being able to balance the air of coolness and the legitimacy of a band as a profitable career. I suppose it's as easy as continuing to create interesting, and enjoyable music, huh?
Last night's vampire weekend show in rochester raised a multitude of ideas and questions. From the beginning of my experience listening to vampire weekend I've always been quite intrigued by many facets of their existence. Friday evening only led to a number of interesting angles to think about.
For example, has vampire weekend reinvented the 'college rock' band? Judging from last night i would say yes. The mix of fans was very typical of what you would see at concert where the band's largest audience demographic is the 18 -22 range. Meaning, most of the people there were 18-22. This is not unique in itself, but looking more closely at who these people were, and by that, I mean what they wore, and general mannerisms it was easy to tell that these were not punk kids, they were not hipsters, they were not older post college faded rock glory folk, and not hippies.
They were a generation of in betweens, and since so many shows I go to are full of 'scene' kids, it was awkward experience to feel like the 'scene' of the night was vampire weekend kids. Why do i say 'vampire weekend kids', well because in my mind this distinguishes them from the 'oar' and 'guster' type college radio crowds. An overwhelming appreciation for opener's Beach House clearly indicated that the crowd was indie leaning ... i'm not sure what that really means, but it was meant to more clearly define the difference between those who listen to slightly off the beaten path pop, and those who tend to adventure a little bit further into the pop jungle.
Above all this is my interest in VW's ability to remain a credible band, shirking the sellout label that eventually every band who doesn't end up living in the drummer's mom's basement gets stuck with because the music they make is no longer 'real' once you've collected a paycheck for playing it.
There is no question that VW gets fat paid. A #1 album tells you that they got a few fans. In the past I've talked about how the music industry is learning to survive without big money. And that listeners are controlling the quality of the product, not boardrooms. So how does VW do it? How do they remain 'in' when it's 'out' to have mainstream appeal. A video starring jake gyllenhal, a bunch of obvious rich kids, and yet they are admired and adored for following the same steps that many of other bands have taken into the 'sellout dungeon'.
I guess I remain one of the admirers for now. They have definitely earned my respect for being able to balance the air of coolness and the legitimacy of a band as a profitable career. I suppose it's as easy as continuing to create interesting, and enjoyable music, huh?
2010-08-24
quick quick quick!!
Ok I've slacked on updating this lately. And by lately I mean August. I think this is my first post of the month.
That doesn't mean I haven't had my ear to the ground or the speaker or what have you. So what's going on?
1. Rock Fuckin Tember - There's just shy of a donkeyfuckton of awesome shows coming in September liiikeee ... black keys, shellac, Of Montreal, built to spill, vampire weekend, cocorosie, holy fuck ... oh and broken social scene ... all good, be there or be rectangle.
2. i knocked my most valued possession off a table. It'll going to take felony level downloading over the next few months to regain the fort knox of music back into my possession. Sad fucking times.
3. New music for august ... hmmm, i started checking out cocorosie, they're kinda weird but I think I kind of their weirdo bjork esque bulls hit.
The !!! album is aight, actually it kind of sucks. I mean it's better than listening to whatever shitbrew pop douchebaggery the radios are pumpin these days, but it's not the dance hurricane i hoped for.
The Arcade Fire album pissed me off at first. I thought every song sounded like something Bruce Springsteen would write. And I loathed all the old NJ turds who think the Boss is boss. Cause I mean he writes NJ blue collar darsh anthems ... it's not really my bag man. But then some of the tracks started to stick, and i realized ... i'm probably going to be one of those old lame aggressive dudes some day ... i suppose whiney canadian indie pop can be my Boss for now.
I think I am just really starting to hate NJ ... at least the music scene
Except ducktails, I got II and it's not bad ... I def want to check out the first album. It's pretty awkward pretentious bullshit, but it's a lot better than the shit heap that is usually forced on my ears via "in" music scenes telling me what I'm missing out on.
Besides that I'm furthering my love of Love is All ... they're a strange cross between my high school ska punk sentiments and my late 20's indie pomposity.
Also, I really want to see either shellac or black keys sept 2nd. Fate decides where i end up that night.
That doesn't mean I haven't had my ear to the ground or the speaker or what have you. So what's going on?
1. Rock Fuckin Tember - There's just shy of a donkeyfuckton of awesome shows coming in September liiikeee ... black keys, shellac, Of Montreal, built to spill, vampire weekend, cocorosie, holy fuck ... oh and broken social scene ... all good, be there or be rectangle.
2. i knocked my most valued possession off a table. It'll going to take felony level downloading over the next few months to regain the fort knox of music back into my possession. Sad fucking times.
3. New music for august ... hmmm, i started checking out cocorosie, they're kinda weird but I think I kind of their weirdo bjork esque bulls hit.
The !!! album is aight, actually it kind of sucks. I mean it's better than listening to whatever shitbrew pop douchebaggery the radios are pumpin these days, but it's not the dance hurricane i hoped for.
The Arcade Fire album pissed me off at first. I thought every song sounded like something Bruce Springsteen would write. And I loathed all the old NJ turds who think the Boss is boss. Cause I mean he writes NJ blue collar darsh anthems ... it's not really my bag man. But then some of the tracks started to stick, and i realized ... i'm probably going to be one of those old lame aggressive dudes some day ... i suppose whiney canadian indie pop can be my Boss for now.
I think I am just really starting to hate NJ ... at least the music scene
Except ducktails, I got II and it's not bad ... I def want to check out the first album. It's pretty awkward pretentious bullshit, but it's a lot better than the shit heap that is usually forced on my ears via "in" music scenes telling me what I'm missing out on.
Besides that I'm furthering my love of Love is All ... they're a strange cross between my high school ska punk sentiments and my late 20's indie pomposity.
Also, I really want to see either shellac or black keys sept 2nd. Fate decides where i end up that night.
2010-07-30
summer mix adds
beach fossils - golden age: I've got a post about this band. I just like it. It's killin me this summer
ceo - illuminata: this is basically the best song this summer. Furthermore I strongly urge you to check out the full album White Magic. It's basically the best album that has come out the entire summer. You're going to fucking love it.
ceo - illuminata: this is basically the best song this summer. Furthermore I strongly urge you to check out the full album White Magic. It's basically the best album that has come out the entire summer. You're going to fucking love it.
my darlins
this isn't any type of ringing endorsement, but I came across this band while doing some early morning reading. I basically played the first song, and then switched back to reading, and at one point realized i had listened to like three of their songs.
it was enjoyable.
I separate that statement because, as silly as it is to make generalizations the fact is that I for the most part do not enjoy most bands with female lead vocals. this is not rooted in any type of sexist way. It's more that I find there are too many bands that sound exactly the same. I'll try to keep a running list of vocalists I think sound the same.
For the record there are many many female vocalists that i pretty much adore including:
Lykke Li, MIA, Nekko Case, Sharen Worden, Tracyanne Campbell, and Karen O. just to name a few. I feel like their voices cover both amazing and unique whereas artists like Ingrid Michaelson or the vocalists in bands like Best Coast just get away with being 'amazing' because they've penetrated the scene and are considered 'cool'.
I'm certainly not trying to take away from their vocal talents outright. They are far and away more talented than I am. And if I were them I'd probably find me, and punch my groin for badmouthing them. But too many times I get jazzed when I hear about a new great band, only to find out the vocals pretty much sound like a million other bands before them, and I struggle to determine what makes them unique.
anyways ... the funny thing is that this band is not all that unique ever, but they carry a country twang with their punk rock, and for whatever reason this morning it struck a good nerve:
My Darlins
it was enjoyable.
I separate that statement because, as silly as it is to make generalizations the fact is that I for the most part do not enjoy most bands with female lead vocals. this is not rooted in any type of sexist way. It's more that I find there are too many bands that sound exactly the same. I'll try to keep a running list of vocalists I think sound the same.
For the record there are many many female vocalists that i pretty much adore including:
Lykke Li, MIA, Nekko Case, Sharen Worden, Tracyanne Campbell, and Karen O. just to name a few. I feel like their voices cover both amazing and unique whereas artists like Ingrid Michaelson or the vocalists in bands like Best Coast just get away with being 'amazing' because they've penetrated the scene and are considered 'cool'.
I'm certainly not trying to take away from their vocal talents outright. They are far and away more talented than I am. And if I were them I'd probably find me, and punch my groin for badmouthing them. But too many times I get jazzed when I hear about a new great band, only to find out the vocals pretty much sound like a million other bands before them, and I struggle to determine what makes them unique.
anyways ... the funny thing is that this band is not all that unique ever, but they carry a country twang with their punk rock, and for whatever reason this morning it struck a good nerve:
My Darlins
2010-07-28
Menomena: Mines
One of my most highly anticipated releases of ohhh, the last 3 years is finally here. And when I say finally here, I mean streaming on npr.org for free. I have to disclose up front that I don't actually have a full copy of Mines yet, and so maybe somehow I am missing something. However, I have listened to that stream a number of times and feel like one of the things I want to get better at on sonicanarchy is getting reviews of new albums done while they're still new.
Menomena first rose to prominence in my vast collection of musical interests back in 2007 when they released Friend and Foe. I recall being immediately taken with their first single Muscle n' Flo. A dramatic, beat heavy awkward pitched track that incorporated an awesome saxophone backing track. Everything about that song embodied what was to be found on the rest of the album, and can easily stand as my flagship track to introduce new listeners to Menomena's sound. Friend and Foe easily stands as one of my top albums of the decade, and is the reason Menomena has become my next 'must see' band (though unfortunately they're not doing any festivals or coming near WNY on their tour).
With Mines taking over 3 years to record and release perhaps the level of excitement for this album may have become a bit exaggerated. This was the first time I had followed a recording cycle for the band, and every news update mentioned the meticulous work that goes into creating one of their songs. Many articles mentioned how they like to lay down a song, then dissect it over and over until it's almost a new song. Far be it from me to tell someone how their creative process should be handled, but I sometimes worry when I hear this type of program employed in that a band might be prone to 'overdoing' it.
I make note of that because what I think a listener will find on Mines is probably the result of this type of work ethic. Each song sounds very carefully mixed, and constructed. Utilizing the sonic build up's and epic conclusions that are common among the group's previous works. One thing Menomena is not for lack of is evoking a sense of intimacy between a song and it's listener. On Mines they have carefully crafted a 54 minute set of agreeable indie rock.
To this listener though the album feels like a let down. After introducing myself to their work on the aforementioned 'Foe' I delved back into the band's earlier work. To me, a lot of similarities can be found between Mines and the group's freshman LP 'I am the Fun Blame Monster'. Much like on 'Monster', Mines' songs are filled with twists and turns, vocals that seethe and yearn, and a complementary mix of pianos, horns, and drum tracks. But what separated 'Foe' from these two was the jagged edges, the unexpected twists, and the brash calamity of noises that often dissipated into sickly sweet conclusions. To me, this is what makes Menomena feel like a 'must see' band. One that is truly pushing the envelope, and embarking on sound collages too daring for those who wish to only sell records.
I can't in good conscience tell readers not to check the album out. It could be completely possible that my follow up expectations have led to my not so favorable conclusions. And by golly, this album IS GOOD. Those unfamiliar with the band might crap their pants in delight to finally discover their sound. Far be it from me to discourage you to listen, because it all actuality the album is the clever, concise work that the band has been promising all along. It never really drags, and parts seem to continue to dare listeners to think outside the verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus box. But it just hasn't pushed me like I really expected it would.
Menomena first rose to prominence in my vast collection of musical interests back in 2007 when they released Friend and Foe. I recall being immediately taken with their first single Muscle n' Flo. A dramatic, beat heavy awkward pitched track that incorporated an awesome saxophone backing track. Everything about that song embodied what was to be found on the rest of the album, and can easily stand as my flagship track to introduce new listeners to Menomena's sound. Friend and Foe easily stands as one of my top albums of the decade, and is the reason Menomena has become my next 'must see' band (though unfortunately they're not doing any festivals or coming near WNY on their tour).
With Mines taking over 3 years to record and release perhaps the level of excitement for this album may have become a bit exaggerated. This was the first time I had followed a recording cycle for the band, and every news update mentioned the meticulous work that goes into creating one of their songs. Many articles mentioned how they like to lay down a song, then dissect it over and over until it's almost a new song. Far be it from me to tell someone how their creative process should be handled, but I sometimes worry when I hear this type of program employed in that a band might be prone to 'overdoing' it.
I make note of that because what I think a listener will find on Mines is probably the result of this type of work ethic. Each song sounds very carefully mixed, and constructed. Utilizing the sonic build up's and epic conclusions that are common among the group's previous works. One thing Menomena is not for lack of is evoking a sense of intimacy between a song and it's listener. On Mines they have carefully crafted a 54 minute set of agreeable indie rock.
To this listener though the album feels like a let down. After introducing myself to their work on the aforementioned 'Foe' I delved back into the band's earlier work. To me, a lot of similarities can be found between Mines and the group's freshman LP 'I am the Fun Blame Monster'. Much like on 'Monster', Mines' songs are filled with twists and turns, vocals that seethe and yearn, and a complementary mix of pianos, horns, and drum tracks. But what separated 'Foe' from these two was the jagged edges, the unexpected twists, and the brash calamity of noises that often dissipated into sickly sweet conclusions. To me, this is what makes Menomena feel like a 'must see' band. One that is truly pushing the envelope, and embarking on sound collages too daring for those who wish to only sell records.
I can't in good conscience tell readers not to check the album out. It could be completely possible that my follow up expectations have led to my not so favorable conclusions. And by golly, this album IS GOOD. Those unfamiliar with the band might crap their pants in delight to finally discover their sound. Far be it from me to discourage you to listen, because it all actuality the album is the clever, concise work that the band has been promising all along. It never really drags, and parts seem to continue to dare listeners to think outside the verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus box. But it just hasn't pushed me like I really expected it would.
2010-07-09
Sum Ten Awe Sum
instead of trying to compile a playlist that is easily distributable I'm going to take to the blog and bring
sonic anarchy's Songs of Summer aka SumTen Awesum
here's the first ... Male Bonding track: Nothing Use To Hurt ...
edit: in case it doesn't load you can check the video here ...
sonic anarchy's Songs of Summer aka SumTen Awesum
here's the first ... Male Bonding track: Nothing Use To Hurt ...
edit: in case it doesn't load you can check the video here ...
2010-07-08
beach fossils update
bah, i'm going to miss the beach fossils when they play rochester on july 13th, but that doesn't mean that you should ... why?
well basically i really like their album here's why so far
con(s)
- they are from brooklyn
- they sound like they are from brooklyn
- they are hyped like they are from brooklyn
- i am kind of getting sick of brooklyn
pro(s)
- their shit isn't catchy cause a hipster told you it was. it actually is.
- they triumph where others in their group have failed ... to win me over that is.
- what i mean is that they sound a SHIT TON like real estate. which i suppose is technically NJ, but whatever. however where real estate's last album as pointless and meandering Beach Fossils kick up the pace, keep the music to their point, and don't try to overdo it. Overdo it? Isn't that what bands are all trying to achieve, something new and unique ... perhaps ... but at the same time when you're just experimenting with sound only validation for hipster douches are going to tell you if it's good. People with ears and without pretentious posture just want to hear shit that is invigorating on some level, not confusing or sorta ok, unless you're stoned, then it's totally ok ...
- they have that weird black lips hollowed out vocals thing which is awesome. i'm pretty sure my parents have a cheesey plastic toy that can make the same effect if you speak into it. shit, if only i had known, i would have saved my plastic neon sunglasses and echo microphone toys from my youth. I would be sooooo effing hipster.
- but enough ... the beach fossils album is genuinely enjoyable. thanks guys, sorry i'm gonna miss ya.
well basically i really like their album here's why so far
con(s)
- they are from brooklyn
- they sound like they are from brooklyn
- they are hyped like they are from brooklyn
- i am kind of getting sick of brooklyn
pro(s)
- their shit isn't catchy cause a hipster told you it was. it actually is.
- they triumph where others in their group have failed ... to win me over that is.
- what i mean is that they sound a SHIT TON like real estate. which i suppose is technically NJ, but whatever. however where real estate's last album as pointless and meandering Beach Fossils kick up the pace, keep the music to their point, and don't try to overdo it. Overdo it? Isn't that what bands are all trying to achieve, something new and unique ... perhaps ... but at the same time when you're just experimenting with sound only validation for hipster douches are going to tell you if it's good. People with ears and without pretentious posture just want to hear shit that is invigorating on some level, not confusing or sorta ok, unless you're stoned, then it's totally ok ...
- they have that weird black lips hollowed out vocals thing which is awesome. i'm pretty sure my parents have a cheesey plastic toy that can make the same effect if you speak into it. shit, if only i had known, i would have saved my plastic neon sunglasses and echo microphone toys from my youth. I would be sooooo effing hipster.
- but enough ... the beach fossils album is genuinely enjoyable. thanks guys, sorry i'm gonna miss ya.
atlas sound at rockin the knox
it's not important how i got this.
also if you look hard when the song is winding down and they're showing the crowd you'll see me, ha, sweeeet.
also if you look hard when the song is winding down and they're showing the crowd you'll see me, ha, sweeeet.
2010-07-07
more more more
ok ... in an attempt to pick this damn summer up I've been hittin the new music circuit hard and fast ... a couple of first impressions:
Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot, Son of Chico Dusty - ehhh, it's pretty fuckin awesome if you, like me, are an old school Outkast fan. I guess record label drama keeps Dre off of it which kind of sucks, but Sir Lucious pretty much kills it regardless ... great summer album. Bouncin dungen fam style, shake it like a tamborine.
ceo - White Magic - ehh it got propped up good by p4k but it's actually kind of awesome. It's only like a half hour long though which is kind of disappointing ... need more!!!
fang island, future islands, julian lynch, male bonding ... pretty meh on all of these. male bonding is kind of cool in a 'i miss old school nirvana fuzz' sort of way.
ariel pink's haunted graffiti - another album to hold p4k skepticism up to. but i actually kind of dig this album, it's kind of deep though and i haven't gotten too much into it yet. but it stays out of the dust pile and in regular rotation for now.
beach fossils - have only listened to like 4 songs off the album ... they're like a less punk sounding black kids. it could go either way. i'm having some issues with the brooklyn music scene presently. so much coming from the same place is kind of stagnating the entire movement.
Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot, Son of Chico Dusty - ehhh, it's pretty fuckin awesome if you, like me, are an old school Outkast fan. I guess record label drama keeps Dre off of it which kind of sucks, but Sir Lucious pretty much kills it regardless ... great summer album. Bouncin dungen fam style, shake it like a tamborine.
ceo - White Magic - ehh it got propped up good by p4k but it's actually kind of awesome. It's only like a half hour long though which is kind of disappointing ... need more!!!
fang island, future islands, julian lynch, male bonding ... pretty meh on all of these. male bonding is kind of cool in a 'i miss old school nirvana fuzz' sort of way.
ariel pink's haunted graffiti - another album to hold p4k skepticism up to. but i actually kind of dig this album, it's kind of deep though and i haven't gotten too much into it yet. but it stays out of the dust pile and in regular rotation for now.
beach fossils - have only listened to like 4 songs off the album ... they're like a less punk sounding black kids. it could go either way. i'm having some issues with the brooklyn music scene presently. so much coming from the same place is kind of stagnating the entire movement.
finally inspired
psst ... guess what. people not living in brooklyn also make awesome music.
found this post earlier today. it's well ... kind of amazing. cannot wait for that ep ... just a few more days.
for now you'll have to just deal with this
and the vid:
found this post earlier today. it's well ... kind of amazing. cannot wait for that ep ... just a few more days.
for now you'll have to just deal with this
and the vid:
2010-06-26
toronto island fest - review pt. 1
I've decided to break up my thoughts on the toronto island festival because it was such an epic situation. In equal parts musically and culturally. Foremost on my mind though, and above else, and I just really want to kind of rant about was the Pavement show. It was in a word
UNBELIEVEABLE
ok, all caps, it's own paragraph. maybe that is over the top. however, it was definitely the best show I've seen since radiohead. I think it's safe to say that I'm an above average Pavement fan, but that said I sort of had low expectations for their show. I hadn't heard too much since they started touring. I even had a friend from Seattle see them, and didn't really hear anything about it. Pavement quite frankly are not what I consider heavy, or experimental, or groundbreaking ... anything that people would lose their shit to.
But they totally rocked the fuck out of toronto island. most people there might not agree as the average attendee seemed like they may have been only vaguely familiar with the band, and were just hanging around to get their money's worth.
It can't be denied that Stephen Malkmus is an amazing guitarist though. He shredded the shit out of the songs, and rocked them far more heavily than I expected. Oh, and did I mention how epic their set list is. 26 fucking songs. I think most bands that headline tend to do a lot of filler, bullshit, let each member do a 20 minute bullshit solo ... not pavement ... you get your fucking looney's worth man.
That's not to say that they didn't jam out a bunch. If you've listened to Pavement then you know they definitely do stretches of sonic chaos in many of their songs. However, when a band reunites after 12 years apart the fans want to hear the damn classics, and the classics, a lot of them are 3 - 4 minute geeky sing alongs. I keep comparing them to weezer, but there really is no comparison. Weezer has 1 album that people sing along to. The next best album they have they don't play songs off of because it's when Rivers was depressed, and the rest of their 90 albums have one song that corporate radio shoved down everyone's throat so they know the words and those get played as well. But the songs blow.
Pavement's discography is bound by great indie pop songs. While walking towards the ferry and listening to Pavement play out the end of their set during "stereo" one of my lady friends mentioned "oh, i know this song". No shit Shirlock. And their show definitely stood up to that test.
Perhaps the most interesting thing I could actually say about the mannerisms of the band is the way Malkmus did a bunch of really silly rock star moves that somehow came across as tongue in cheek, but perhaps I only think that because I read the lyrics too closely, and maybe he has turned into a weird dude who thinks playing a 2 note guitar solo behind his head is actually cool ... that's not mockery, that's just honesty. He also pulled the 'swing the guitar around the body' and the 'play the guitar extra high' moves as well. Those were most notable. Besides that the band seemed to get along, and kind of seemed like they were picking songs on the fly as they set into 'starlings of the slipstream' but openly debated playing 'perfume-v' (played later on in the night). I thought that was kind of awesome. I hope luck has it in store for me to catch them again some time. I thought they were absolutely amazing. Of course this is all relative if you don't know their music. If you are invigorated by this post I would definitely suggest getting into either Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain which was my first and favorite album, or check out the new 'best of comp' Quarantine the Past. It's actually a really good mix.
All in all the set was real treat. Check out the post at brooklyn vegan since they're a reputable blog site, and they covered this event much better than I did. Plus they include a set list, some live video ... and they're hipster. I'm just a d-bag.
An unforgettable night nonetheless. Thank you pavement.
UNBELIEVEABLE
ok, all caps, it's own paragraph. maybe that is over the top. however, it was definitely the best show I've seen since radiohead. I think it's safe to say that I'm an above average Pavement fan, but that said I sort of had low expectations for their show. I hadn't heard too much since they started touring. I even had a friend from Seattle see them, and didn't really hear anything about it. Pavement quite frankly are not what I consider heavy, or experimental, or groundbreaking ... anything that people would lose their shit to.
But they totally rocked the fuck out of toronto island. most people there might not agree as the average attendee seemed like they may have been only vaguely familiar with the band, and were just hanging around to get their money's worth.
It can't be denied that Stephen Malkmus is an amazing guitarist though. He shredded the shit out of the songs, and rocked them far more heavily than I expected. Oh, and did I mention how epic their set list is. 26 fucking songs. I think most bands that headline tend to do a lot of filler, bullshit, let each member do a 20 minute bullshit solo ... not pavement ... you get your fucking looney's worth man.
That's not to say that they didn't jam out a bunch. If you've listened to Pavement then you know they definitely do stretches of sonic chaos in many of their songs. However, when a band reunites after 12 years apart the fans want to hear the damn classics, and the classics, a lot of them are 3 - 4 minute geeky sing alongs. I keep comparing them to weezer, but there really is no comparison. Weezer has 1 album that people sing along to. The next best album they have they don't play songs off of because it's when Rivers was depressed, and the rest of their 90 albums have one song that corporate radio shoved down everyone's throat so they know the words and those get played as well. But the songs blow.
Pavement's discography is bound by great indie pop songs. While walking towards the ferry and listening to Pavement play out the end of their set during "stereo" one of my lady friends mentioned "oh, i know this song". No shit Shirlock. And their show definitely stood up to that test.
Perhaps the most interesting thing I could actually say about the mannerisms of the band is the way Malkmus did a bunch of really silly rock star moves that somehow came across as tongue in cheek, but perhaps I only think that because I read the lyrics too closely, and maybe he has turned into a weird dude who thinks playing a 2 note guitar solo behind his head is actually cool ... that's not mockery, that's just honesty. He also pulled the 'swing the guitar around the body' and the 'play the guitar extra high' moves as well. Those were most notable. Besides that the band seemed to get along, and kind of seemed like they were picking songs on the fly as they set into 'starlings of the slipstream' but openly debated playing 'perfume-v' (played later on in the night). I thought that was kind of awesome. I hope luck has it in store for me to catch them again some time. I thought they were absolutely amazing. Of course this is all relative if you don't know their music. If you are invigorated by this post I would definitely suggest getting into either Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain which was my first and favorite album, or check out the new 'best of comp' Quarantine the Past. It's actually a really good mix.
All in all the set was real treat. Check out the post at brooklyn vegan since they're a reputable blog site, and they covered this event much better than I did. Plus they include a set list, some live video ... and they're hipster. I'm just a d-bag.
An unforgettable night nonetheless. Thank you pavement.
lollapa-booo-za
remember that time you mentioned how bad lolla's set scheduling was? Guess what genius did ... arcade fire is playing at the same time as soundgarden.
Granted the bands may not have EXACTLY the same fan base (perhaps i'm the only one), but it doesn't make sense. On one hand one of the biggest deals of lolla is that they're promoting the soundgarden reunion, and at the same time Arcade fire is like the 3rd band on the list ... of the headliners.
I suppose they kind of did that when I went a few years ago with the Kanye v NIN, Wilco v Radiohead, I guess I kind had forgot about that and now I think Lolla is probably out of the question for me in the future.
They have really solid lineups though. Kind of a shame.
Granted the bands may not have EXACTLY the same fan base (perhaps i'm the only one), but it doesn't make sense. On one hand one of the biggest deals of lolla is that they're promoting the soundgarden reunion, and at the same time Arcade fire is like the 3rd band on the list ... of the headliners.
I suppose they kind of did that when I went a few years ago with the Kanye v NIN, Wilco v Radiohead, I guess I kind had forgot about that and now I think Lolla is probably out of the question for me in the future.
They have really solid lineups though. Kind of a shame.
2010-06-17
Now this is sonic anarchy
It just occured to me that sonic anarchy isn't really anarchy to me since I enjoy the music i usually talk about. To try and break the cycle let me rage about what I can only describe as the sonic apocolypse . Let me count the ways in which I have become irritated by this concert.
1. Gin blossoms ... more like jizz blossoms. Yuck.
2. Soul Asylum - well the internet has failed me. Right in here should be a video of Sweet Dee from IASIP singing that 'runaway train' song drunkenly. Because, well that's the most interesting part about the band soul asylum. Which apparently is so fucking uninteresting that even the internet has failed to cover facets of THEIR ONLY HIT EVER.
3. On top of these shitheap bands being the 'headliners' the promo goes on to threaten us with 5 HOURS of this. I just threw up in my mouth.
4. Oh did i mention that Uncle Plum is opening? Aren't they 50? Are they still trying to sound like Blink 182, even after Blink 182 has stopped trying to sound like Blink 182? Uncle Plum? Lame.
Did anyone read the previous post which mentioned the disparity in cultural awareness between Rochester and Buffalo? Add this one to the score sheet.
In the end it's actually kind of sad as the event is supposed to promote genessee brewery (which unless they're giving it away for free you might want to BYO), and also try and get some donations together for a good cause. Both quite noble endeavors, but it's like the deaf are leading the way. Actually strike that, the deaf would at least bring in some acts with awesome bass. I have no idea whose warped idea of a good concert would pair these together and try to engage the public.
I suppose it makes me a bad person for crapping on the event, but damn, they made it near impossible, and a fully laughable one at that..
If someone followed me here from BR please excuse the use of jizz above. But not really. I mean this is called sonic anarchy, not sonic bible study.
1. Gin blossoms ... more like jizz blossoms. Yuck.
2. Soul Asylum - well the internet has failed me. Right in here should be a video of Sweet Dee from IASIP singing that 'runaway train' song drunkenly. Because, well that's the most interesting part about the band soul asylum. Which apparently is so fucking uninteresting that even the internet has failed to cover facets of THEIR ONLY HIT EVER.
3. On top of these shitheap bands being the 'headliners' the promo goes on to threaten us with 5 HOURS of this. I just threw up in my mouth.
4. Oh did i mention that Uncle Plum is opening? Aren't they 50? Are they still trying to sound like Blink 182, even after Blink 182 has stopped trying to sound like Blink 182? Uncle Plum? Lame.
Did anyone read the previous post which mentioned the disparity in cultural awareness between Rochester and Buffalo? Add this one to the score sheet.
In the end it's actually kind of sad as the event is supposed to promote genessee brewery (which unless they're giving it away for free you might want to BYO), and also try and get some donations together for a good cause. Both quite noble endeavors, but it's like the deaf are leading the way. Actually strike that, the deaf would at least bring in some acts with awesome bass. I have no idea whose warped idea of a good concert would pair these together and try to engage the public.
I suppose it makes me a bad person for crapping on the event, but damn, they made it near impossible, and a fully laughable one at that..
If someone followed me here from BR please excuse the use of jizz above. But not really. I mean this is called sonic anarchy, not sonic bible study.
Sonic!
Felt like it was time to share ...
This weekend stands to be possibly the most exciting of the year ... at least in terms of musical experience. It all kicks off with a free concert with War tonight in the ROC. War, what is it good for? How about a free show, a couple of beers, a decent outdoor venue, and a genuinely funkified jam session. Yes the beer is watered down. Yes there are sure to be a lot of rods also there. But it will be hard to not have a good time.
Followed by the Rockin at the Knox show. Hello Atlas Sound, Hello National. Color me excited!! Plus, i somehow managed to get a press pass for the show. I can't lie, I'm fucking stoked about that. It's like the cherry on top of a sundae, except on friday, and a press pass instead of a weird fruit.
Check buffalorising.com for my review afterward. I'm def a bit nervous that I'll be able to do the readers justice. Certainly I'll try and do my best to prop the event up. Even if it turns into a shitty show the fact that the Albright had the stones to put together such an interesting lineup makes it worth lending some backing support regardless of actual turnout.
In all my years in Rochester, even with the increasing popularity of the Jazz fest (which is kind of a poorly managed event, but that rant will be saved for later) no one has ever brought a legitimately decent lineup of rock acts that parallels the Knox show.. If there is any time to make the comparison as to how Rochester matches up against Buffalo culturally here is yet another prime example of why a big back yard, a driveway, and clean suburbs isn't necessarily all one needs in life.
And if it weren't for the presser I would probably have just tried to catch the show for free by setting up a lawn chair and a giant refreshing cocktail down in the fucking epic setting Albright has going on and just sit back and take in the show. God ... what a cool situation to be in.
And that's not even the best part...
Call it what you will ... Tonapalooza, Tonnaroo, Tonchella ... is going down on saturday. The lineup? Oh how about every favorite band of mine ever ... well ... not quite, but fucking epic nonetheless ...
Pavement
Broken Social Scene
Band of Horses
Beach House
not to mention Timber Timbre .. which admittedly i have not sunk my teeth into yet, but buzz is buzz and they're a buzz band.
Should be fudging epic music weekend ... probably won't update this space but you can check my nerd spew over at BR.com. I am slated for 3 posts this weekend. Heyo!
This weekend stands to be possibly the most exciting of the year ... at least in terms of musical experience. It all kicks off with a free concert with War tonight in the ROC. War, what is it good for? How about a free show, a couple of beers, a decent outdoor venue, and a genuinely funkified jam session. Yes the beer is watered down. Yes there are sure to be a lot of rods also there. But it will be hard to not have a good time.
Followed by the Rockin at the Knox show. Hello Atlas Sound, Hello National. Color me excited!! Plus, i somehow managed to get a press pass for the show. I can't lie, I'm fucking stoked about that. It's like the cherry on top of a sundae, except on friday, and a press pass instead of a weird fruit.
Check buffalorising.com for my review afterward. I'm def a bit nervous that I'll be able to do the readers justice. Certainly I'll try and do my best to prop the event up. Even if it turns into a shitty show the fact that the Albright had the stones to put together such an interesting lineup makes it worth lending some backing support regardless of actual turnout.
In all my years in Rochester, even with the increasing popularity of the Jazz fest (which is kind of a poorly managed event, but that rant will be saved for later) no one has ever brought a legitimately decent lineup of rock acts that parallels the Knox show.. If there is any time to make the comparison as to how Rochester matches up against Buffalo culturally here is yet another prime example of why a big back yard, a driveway, and clean suburbs isn't necessarily all one needs in life.
And if it weren't for the presser I would probably have just tried to catch the show for free by setting up a lawn chair and a giant refreshing cocktail down in the fucking epic setting Albright has going on and just sit back and take in the show. God ... what a cool situation to be in.
And that's not even the best part...
Call it what you will ... Tonapalooza, Tonnaroo, Tonchella ... is going down on saturday. The lineup? Oh how about every favorite band of mine ever ... well ... not quite, but fucking epic nonetheless ...
Pavement
Broken Social Scene
Band of Horses
Beach House
not to mention Timber Timbre .. which admittedly i have not sunk my teeth into yet, but buzz is buzz and they're a buzz band.
Should be fudging epic music weekend ... probably won't update this space but you can check my nerd spew over at BR.com. I am slated for 3 posts this weekend. Heyo!
2010-06-10
where i'm at
so i recently moved to a new apartment. yes, it's been two weeks, but damn, i'm busy (read:lazy) and have not yet set my rig up proper yet.
because of this I've been relying on a combination of mp3 player / streaming online media / singing to myself for music inspiration. that said, there's not too much new to report.
i burned out bad on the heavy Broken Social Scene / The National / Band of Horses combo that infused excitement for this blog and for the music scene in general over the last month or so. Other notable albums helping to keep the rock a rollin were west coasters Local Natives and the Morning Benders.
But recent disappointment / lack finding 'that hook' that draws my listening interest in albums by Holy Fuck, Crystal Castles, and the Black Keys is kind of souring my grapes if you know what i'm sayin. you're souring my grapes, don't sour my grapes man, take your sour grapes elsewhere .... i like that ... anyways yeah ... i'm back in a lull. However here's a few things i'm digging
Tame Impala - the aussie's are supposedly "psychedelia" but it just sounds like later year beatles. The man does a damn good mccartney impersonation ... it's actually really cool.
Holy fuck - yes, the album isn't great, but there are moments that brighten up the day, and are epic summer tunes.
phosphorescent - they're playing soundlab in July so I'm doing some advanced scouting ... they're basically a folky jams band ... but it's a good switch from the heavy beat laden electronic influences of crystal castles and holy fuck.
the black keys - i'm not digging the new one. i mean, it sounds like a black keys album but i'm not finding anything particularly great about it. obvious good jams scattered throughout, but i feel like i can only do one of these a year and the dan auerbach album came into my life first ...
because of this I've been relying on a combination of mp3 player / streaming online media / singing to myself for music inspiration. that said, there's not too much new to report.
i burned out bad on the heavy Broken Social Scene / The National / Band of Horses combo that infused excitement for this blog and for the music scene in general over the last month or so. Other notable albums helping to keep the rock a rollin were west coasters Local Natives and the Morning Benders.
But recent disappointment / lack finding 'that hook' that draws my listening interest in albums by Holy Fuck, Crystal Castles, and the Black Keys is kind of souring my grapes if you know what i'm sayin. you're souring my grapes, don't sour my grapes man, take your sour grapes elsewhere .... i like that ... anyways yeah ... i'm back in a lull. However here's a few things i'm digging
Tame Impala - the aussie's are supposedly "psychedelia" but it just sounds like later year beatles. The man does a damn good mccartney impersonation ... it's actually really cool.
Holy fuck - yes, the album isn't great, but there are moments that brighten up the day, and are epic summer tunes.
phosphorescent - they're playing soundlab in July so I'm doing some advanced scouting ... they're basically a folky jams band ... but it's a good switch from the heavy beat laden electronic influences of crystal castles and holy fuck.
the black keys - i'm not digging the new one. i mean, it sounds like a black keys album but i'm not finding anything particularly great about it. obvious good jams scattered throughout, but i feel like i can only do one of these a year and the dan auerbach album came into my life first ...
2010-05-27
indie-lievable!!!
i sort of suck because i am totally piggybacking on this article. But I suppose I am here to lend some thoughts rather than just report the news.
So just to summarize the article before going ahead with my thoughts. This week the Black Keys, LCD Soundsystem, Band of Horses, and Nas/Damien Marley, Janelle Monae, and The national all made billboard's top 20 albums this week.
Earlier in the year Vampire weekend made history by being the first independent label artist to strike #1. And if it weren't for those pesky bastards in Glee or the fact that Keith Richards needs more money for ... well speculation on that should be saved for another time but i'm putting my money on black market fetuses ...
So yeah, indie is the new mainstream. It makes a lot of sense. I actually think in terms of the music industry it's an interesting look at how things like corporate radio and music stores and basically the entire major label industry is no longer the model that works. Well at least not in rock music.
I guess my biggest problem with most of the analysis out there on this point always seems to allude that there's is some mysterious "other" way that people are getting their information. When in reality it's pretty easy to figure it out. I like math so lets build the equation for how to make money these days.
x = people in America root for the underdog. example a: the red sox, example b: apple. while as neither of these "brands" are really underdogs (check the financial records) they have positioned themselves against their industry titans in such a way that makes them look and feel like the underdog.
y = out is in. being "cool" means that you're into shit that other people are not. or being part of a scene that is somehow underground.
z = all people want is to do whatever they feel like in any given moment and not have to answer to anyone for it. specifically one surmises a musician just wants to write music. when they're not in the mood to write music they want to watch tv. or perhaps they don't even like music that much but the fact remains they do not want to deliver pizza or clean urinals or tend bar or work in the mall food court or whatever the fuck people who are artistically inclined do to cover rent.
operand= money. money drives z. don't take this as some personal tirade against money. i'd much rather work in the financial paradigm rather than the fucking bartering system. as a small, middle class, average intelligence, creativity deprived individual i would essentially be royal effed without money.
to that end. to get money you need to get it from people who already have it. and the people that have it can afford internet. fucking everything is related to the internet.
which leads to function
function = internet. people with money are ALL using the internet. the internet provides endless ways for people to use their money. the word "internet" will soon be too small of a word to describe what is really going on. it's easy to predict in the future everything EVERYTHING will be run through the electronic communication pipelines known as the internet.
the internet is now what drives all trends. and the only reason things like corporate radio and movie theaters and other hard brick and mortar establishments still exist is because people with WAY fucking more money than you and I have invested their entire fortunes in the success of something that at one point seemed impossible to not need, at least for entertainment value.
it's almost like a battle of billions of people with $100's of dollars vs. 100's of people with billions of $'s. Not to mention the whole idea that without realizing it the more people fund and support electronic ways of dealing with everyday life are essentially taking money away from the people that currently have to service the brick and mortar versions ... and possibly taking their own jobs away. a simple, possibly stupid, but effective analogy would be the movie theatre employee who only watches movies with their netflix online account ... they're basically ending the need for their own job. A slightly less direct idea would be movie-philes who demand the crisp picture offered by digital projectors thereby destroying the film / projection industries.
but enough about movies. the point is that the internet has bred indie music into the 'new mainstream' by providing the allusion that people are making a less popular choice when they listen or support an indie label musician, which is actually the 'cool' thing to do and thereby has now become the more popular choice.
so how does one get to z through f using x and y?
zf(x * y) ... or something ... effed if i know...
i could probably talk about the economics of 'cool' forever. i just thought it was almost a milestone in indie label popularity when i saw that article. figured i'd lament some, because ... well this is my blog and that's kind of what i do.
So just to summarize the article before going ahead with my thoughts. This week the Black Keys, LCD Soundsystem, Band of Horses, and Nas/Damien Marley, Janelle Monae, and The national all made billboard's top 20 albums this week.
Earlier in the year Vampire weekend made history by being the first independent label artist to strike #1. And if it weren't for those pesky bastards in Glee or the fact that Keith Richards needs more money for ... well speculation on that should be saved for another time but i'm putting my money on black market fetuses ...
So yeah, indie is the new mainstream. It makes a lot of sense. I actually think in terms of the music industry it's an interesting look at how things like corporate radio and music stores and basically the entire major label industry is no longer the model that works. Well at least not in rock music.
I guess my biggest problem with most of the analysis out there on this point always seems to allude that there's is some mysterious "other" way that people are getting their information. When in reality it's pretty easy to figure it out. I like math so lets build the equation for how to make money these days.
x = people in America root for the underdog. example a: the red sox, example b: apple. while as neither of these "brands" are really underdogs (check the financial records) they have positioned themselves against their industry titans in such a way that makes them look and feel like the underdog.
y = out is in. being "cool" means that you're into shit that other people are not. or being part of a scene that is somehow underground.
z = all people want is to do whatever they feel like in any given moment and not have to answer to anyone for it. specifically one surmises a musician just wants to write music. when they're not in the mood to write music they want to watch tv. or perhaps they don't even like music that much but the fact remains they do not want to deliver pizza or clean urinals or tend bar or work in the mall food court or whatever the fuck people who are artistically inclined do to cover rent.
operand= money. money drives z. don't take this as some personal tirade against money. i'd much rather work in the financial paradigm rather than the fucking bartering system. as a small, middle class, average intelligence, creativity deprived individual i would essentially be royal effed without money.
to that end. to get money you need to get it from people who already have it. and the people that have it can afford internet. fucking everything is related to the internet.
which leads to function
function = internet. people with money are ALL using the internet. the internet provides endless ways for people to use their money. the word "internet" will soon be too small of a word to describe what is really going on. it's easy to predict in the future everything EVERYTHING will be run through the electronic communication pipelines known as the internet.
the internet is now what drives all trends. and the only reason things like corporate radio and movie theaters and other hard brick and mortar establishments still exist is because people with WAY fucking more money than you and I have invested their entire fortunes in the success of something that at one point seemed impossible to not need, at least for entertainment value.
it's almost like a battle of billions of people with $100's of dollars vs. 100's of people with billions of $'s. Not to mention the whole idea that without realizing it the more people fund and support electronic ways of dealing with everyday life are essentially taking money away from the people that currently have to service the brick and mortar versions ... and possibly taking their own jobs away. a simple, possibly stupid, but effective analogy would be the movie theatre employee who only watches movies with their netflix online account ... they're basically ending the need for their own job. A slightly less direct idea would be movie-philes who demand the crisp picture offered by digital projectors thereby destroying the film / projection industries.
but enough about movies. the point is that the internet has bred indie music into the 'new mainstream' by providing the allusion that people are making a less popular choice when they listen or support an indie label musician, which is actually the 'cool' thing to do and thereby has now become the more popular choice.
so how does one get to z through f using x and y?
zf(x * y) ... or something ... effed if i know...
i could probably talk about the economics of 'cool' forever. i just thought it was almost a milestone in indie label popularity when i saw that article. figured i'd lament some, because ... well this is my blog and that's kind of what i do.
2010-05-24
ok cornell, now it's on
basically band of horses is my favorite band of the current "era" of my music preferences ... soundgarden was my favorite band of a much earlier era ... imagine why i think video is 'bout as epic as it gets for me:
so now it's cornell's turn to retort, perhaps with the national's matt beringer later this summer at lolla ... oh god, how effing cool would that be?!!
so now it's cornell's turn to retort, perhaps with the national's matt beringer later this summer at lolla ... oh god, how effing cool would that be?!!
2010-05-22
shanghai cop affiliation
video for the first single by the cooky canucks sounds like they haven't lost a step. still quite capable of making fun singalong pop ..pop... they're playing buffalo at town ballroom in late July ... see you there!!!
Tokyo Police Club - Breakneck Speed
TOKYO POLICE CLUB | MySpace Music Videos
Tokyo Police Club - Breakneck Speed
TOKYO POLICE CLUB | MySpace Music Videos
2010-05-17
where's soof
so i was totally going to do this whole mildly humorous "you have 4 minutes and 22 seconds. ready .... go" thing ... but the preview frame of the vid totally took the fun out of that ... sunzabitches.
My first (attempted) article
Attention shoegazers! hey, if you took a moment to look up from the laces then consider yourself in luck! Why? Well, because fuzz pop all stars the pains of being pure at heart are coming to town on Saturday, June 5th.
The brooklyn based power poppers bring their brand of lovelorn haze infused indie crunch to the Tralf for an 8pm show ($15). Having already run the gauntlet of touring behind their self titled LP and an EP released last September the hipsters extraordinaire come riding in on a wave of indie cred and a new 7" hope to show Buffalo what all the fuss is about. Taking a page from the Smiths and NYC's own Sonic Youth the Pains combine a syrupy mix of overdriven guitar pop, dreamy synths, and lyrics about what else, the heart. Lace up your favorite gazing loafers and practice your best late 80's dance moves cause if their show last spring in Rochester was any indication these guys know how to entertain.
Along for the ride are West Palm, Fla. based and metaphorically appropriate Surfer Blood. But don't let the name scare you, these indie pop knuckleheads are gaining notice after impressive shows at CMJ '09, and SXSW in March. They specialize in singing about what they know girls, music, and Obama. But do it with gusto that raises their brand of simplistic pop into grandiose slacker anthems. Lucky for us they must have had a good time in Buffalo when they played in April cause they're back for another go. And yes, they play catholic pagans, no need to shout it at them throughout the set you goon ... karaoke alert: you may want to brush up on your old school weezer lyrics prior to the show!
And for all you fellow synth lovers out there make sure you catch the opening and up and coming Hooray for Earth. Their light hearted swimmy synths and jubilent croons should provide a swell introduction to a night of good times. They're touring to promote their new EP titled Momo which is released on June 1st under the Dovecote Records label.
Also is it just me or would "Hooray! Surfer Pains!" make an excellent band name? That one is on me, free of charge.
Check the primer videos below and start practicing your dance moves now!!
Pains of Being Pure at Heart: Young Adult Friction
via: p4k
Surfer Blood: Swim
via: youtube.com
Hooray For Earth: Surrounded by Your Friends
The brooklyn based power poppers bring their brand of lovelorn haze infused indie crunch to the Tralf for an 8pm show ($15). Having already run the gauntlet of touring behind their self titled LP and an EP released last September the hipsters extraordinaire come riding in on a wave of indie cred and a new 7" hope to show Buffalo what all the fuss is about. Taking a page from the Smiths and NYC's own Sonic Youth the Pains combine a syrupy mix of overdriven guitar pop, dreamy synths, and lyrics about what else, the heart. Lace up your favorite gazing loafers and practice your best late 80's dance moves cause if their show last spring in Rochester was any indication these guys know how to entertain.
Along for the ride are West Palm, Fla. based and metaphorically appropriate Surfer Blood. But don't let the name scare you, these indie pop knuckleheads are gaining notice after impressive shows at CMJ '09, and SXSW in March. They specialize in singing about what they know girls, music, and Obama. But do it with gusto that raises their brand of simplistic pop into grandiose slacker anthems. Lucky for us they must have had a good time in Buffalo when they played in April cause they're back for another go. And yes, they play catholic pagans, no need to shout it at them throughout the set you goon ... karaoke alert: you may want to brush up on your old school weezer lyrics prior to the show!
And for all you fellow synth lovers out there make sure you catch the opening and up and coming Hooray for Earth. Their light hearted swimmy synths and jubilent croons should provide a swell introduction to a night of good times. They're touring to promote their new EP titled Momo which is released on June 1st under the Dovecote Records label.
Also is it just me or would "Hooray! Surfer Pains!" make an excellent band name? That one is on me, free of charge.
Check the primer videos below and start practicing your dance moves now!!
Pains of Being Pure at Heart: Young Adult Friction
via: p4k
Surfer Blood: Swim
via: youtube.com
Hooray For Earth: Surrounded by Your Friends
"Surrounded By Your Friends" by Hooray For Earth from Johnny Woods on Vimeo.
2010-05-11
Infinite Arms - Review
Last week I posted some initial thoughts on a few albums that I have been keeping in the regular rotation. One of them was the (personally) highly anticipated release by Band of Horses "Infinite Arms". My initial take was an unsurprisingly disappointed look at the band's new direction.
As a long time fan of the band a short but necessary historical look at the band's discography will provide context to my defense of my initial reaction, as well as support my second take. The initial make up of the band consisted of lead man Ben Bridwell's delicate lyrical crooning and Mat Brooke's powerful guitar pop. "Everything all the time" is filled with both these guys trying to one up the other's grandiose.
But when the two visionaries didn't see eye to eye Bridwell packed up his banjo, the band name, and headed back home to South Carolina. There is where Cease to Begin was born, and it's easy to tell with tracks that harken small town America, and simple southern lifestyle. At the time of it's release my infatuation with the epic ballads of EatT craved more of the same. Cease to Begin did not feed this craving well, which as is usually the case ... hunger makes people cranky. Eventually though, the softer craftsmanship on CtB began to shine through until a more thorough and full appreciation of the album led to a spot on the mantle next to EatT.
It's not hard to figure where I'm going with this.
So after a full week of continuing to give Infinite Arms a chance the album has finally began cracking the shell. Where as one can see EatT as a duet, and CtB as a solo, Infiinite Arms provides a new chapter in the band by truly being a BAND album. Unlike previous albums this one is filled with songs where multiple instruments stand out. Keyboard/piano, steel guitar, banjo, and even a synth or two have taken a turn being featured here. And while it's hard to deny the simple brilliance of songs like "For Annabelle" and "Blue Beard" which disassemble the notion that Bridwell has fallen off (at all), it's still a necessary and enjoyable evolution into songs like "Compliments" and "Laredo".
My initial distaste was being unfamiliar with the band's new fuller sound, and almost an homage to the simplicity of the previous efforts. However a band must grow or else they'll get bored and dissolve. The fact that the album turned out like this should have been easy to guess. As last year's Bonnaroo set showed Bridwell is having a damn good time jamming with his friends as his stage show featured upwards of 7 members all rocking their asses off for the crowd.
And that's what this album is. Bridwell earned his place, showed the world his talent, and now just wants to have fun making music with his friends. While not all the songs on Infinite Arms are going to cause lighters to be thrust into the dark night air, they might however cause one to throw their arm over the shoulder of the one they're with perhaps signaling the idea to be passed along ... and along ... and along into infinite arms.
As a long time fan of the band a short but necessary historical look at the band's discography will provide context to my defense of my initial reaction, as well as support my second take. The initial make up of the band consisted of lead man Ben Bridwell's delicate lyrical crooning and Mat Brooke's powerful guitar pop. "Everything all the time" is filled with both these guys trying to one up the other's grandiose.
But when the two visionaries didn't see eye to eye Bridwell packed up his banjo, the band name, and headed back home to South Carolina. There is where Cease to Begin was born, and it's easy to tell with tracks that harken small town America, and simple southern lifestyle. At the time of it's release my infatuation with the epic ballads of EatT craved more of the same. Cease to Begin did not feed this craving well, which as is usually the case ... hunger makes people cranky. Eventually though, the softer craftsmanship on CtB began to shine through until a more thorough and full appreciation of the album led to a spot on the mantle next to EatT.
It's not hard to figure where I'm going with this.
So after a full week of continuing to give Infinite Arms a chance the album has finally began cracking the shell. Where as one can see EatT as a duet, and CtB as a solo, Infiinite Arms provides a new chapter in the band by truly being a BAND album. Unlike previous albums this one is filled with songs where multiple instruments stand out. Keyboard/piano, steel guitar, banjo, and even a synth or two have taken a turn being featured here. And while it's hard to deny the simple brilliance of songs like "For Annabelle" and "Blue Beard" which disassemble the notion that Bridwell has fallen off (at all), it's still a necessary and enjoyable evolution into songs like "Compliments" and "Laredo".
My initial distaste was being unfamiliar with the band's new fuller sound, and almost an homage to the simplicity of the previous efforts. However a band must grow or else they'll get bored and dissolve. The fact that the album turned out like this should have been easy to guess. As last year's Bonnaroo set showed Bridwell is having a damn good time jamming with his friends as his stage show featured upwards of 7 members all rocking their asses off for the crowd.
And that's what this album is. Bridwell earned his place, showed the world his talent, and now just wants to have fun making music with his friends. While not all the songs on Infinite Arms are going to cause lighters to be thrust into the dark night air, they might however cause one to throw their arm over the shoulder of the one they're with perhaps signaling the idea to be passed along ... and along ... and along into infinite arms.
2010-05-04
new release thoughts
Broken Social Scene - forgiveness rock record: if by chance you end up at a backyard barbecue, you look around and all you see are specialty beers, kids wearing plaid, mustaches, and jean shorts, and in the background you hear fuzz and trumpets and crooning .... you're probably at a party with indie kids who are rocking this record. It just sounds like that kind of an album. BSS is back on the ambient indie noise pop train. It's no 'You forgot it in people' but the hipsters will love it.
Band Of Horses - Infinite Arms: As much as I tried and tried to convince myself that BoH could do no wrong, the best I could muster is that while there may not be any bad songs on their new album, there aren't really any great ones either. A few tracks stand out, but fail to meet the bravado and compassionate pieces littered throughout the previous efforts. Bridwell's squeeky sheen basically carries what seems like a band trying to be a band instead of Bridwell solo + a backing band. It's probably too early to tell whether this is growing pains, or the end of what was once indie brilliance (the emo in me declares Infinite Harm). Did i hear syths on one of the tracks ? Wha?? Oh hell no. Keep your fingers crossed they keep a good mix of the old stuff in their live sets. And expect to see them sucking up commercial air time with the floaters found within.
MGMT - Congratulations: When MGMT first hit the scene I was not really impressed. Catchy dance pop wasn't my thing. I had the album and noticed that the tracks that weren't receiving bubble gum fame were completely different and comparatively for the genre downright awful. What I interpreted as indie lamestars attempting to no-talent assclown themselves to fortune and fame, was actually indie credstars just trying to a foot up in that ... needless to say missions accomplishsed. What Congratulations then turns out to be is an album made post-foot out your ass ... it's like they said ... 'yeah, we can make shitty pop, but check out the indie psych-rave we really dig playing'. I haven't gotten too deep into this one, especially since it at first felt like a cannonball into the Pacific on first listen ... but i can tell you it's at least an interesting listen. Just set your expectations down at the door.
Band Of Horses - Infinite Arms: As much as I tried and tried to convince myself that BoH could do no wrong, the best I could muster is that while there may not be any bad songs on their new album, there aren't really any great ones either. A few tracks stand out, but fail to meet the bravado and compassionate pieces littered throughout the previous efforts. Bridwell's squeeky sheen basically carries what seems like a band trying to be a band instead of Bridwell solo + a backing band. It's probably too early to tell whether this is growing pains, or the end of what was once indie brilliance (the emo in me declares Infinite Harm). Did i hear syths on one of the tracks ? Wha?? Oh hell no. Keep your fingers crossed they keep a good mix of the old stuff in their live sets. And expect to see them sucking up commercial air time with the floaters found within.
MGMT - Congratulations: When MGMT first hit the scene I was not really impressed. Catchy dance pop wasn't my thing. I had the album and noticed that the tracks that weren't receiving bubble gum fame were completely different and comparatively for the genre downright awful. What I interpreted as indie lamestars attempting to no-talent assclown themselves to fortune and fame, was actually indie credstars just trying to a foot up in that ... needless to say missions accomplishsed. What Congratulations then turns out to be is an album made post-foot out your ass ... it's like they said ... 'yeah, we can make shitty pop, but check out the indie psych-rave we really dig playing'. I haven't gotten too deep into this one, especially since it at first felt like a cannonball into the Pacific on first listen ... but i can tell you it's at least an interesting listen. Just set your expectations down at the door.
2010-04-29
2010-04-22
musicians are sassy
Check this interview with Dom of the band Dom. I haven't even heard a song yet and i already like them. He covers all of my favorite topics:
pop culture songs' true meanings ... check
Lil Wayne ... check
foster homes ... check
porn ... check
craigslist ... check
worcester mass .... check
talking shit about a fellow indie musician ... double check
food stamps ... check
hockey ... check
... and more!!!
i work-lol'd reading this ... oops
pop culture songs' true meanings ... check
Lil Wayne ... check
foster homes ... check
porn ... check
craigslist ... check
worcester mass .... check
talking shit about a fellow indie musician ... double check
food stamps ... check
hockey ... check
... and more!!!
i work-lol'd reading this ... oops
2010-04-14
new band of horses
i'm going to go ahead and give them the benefit of the doubt seeing as how they disproved my initial reactions on cease to begin ... but whatever, here's the first single:
2010-04-07
july 17ers against Gaga
M.I.A. from an interview in NME: "The pop rebel also had some choice words for Lady Gaga in the interview: "People say we're similar, that we both mix all these things in the pot and spit them out differently, but she spits it out exactly the same. None of her music's reflective of how weird she wants to be or thinks she is. She models herself on Grace Jones and Madonna, but the music sounds like 20-year-old Ibiza disco, you know? She's not progressive, but she's a good mimic. She sounds more like me than I fucking do!"
...a-fucking-men sister ... amen
...a-fucking-men sister ... amen
2010-03-03
quick takes
a few words on a couple of the albums on regular rotation at the moment:
titus andronicus - the monitor: still not able to make this one hook like "airing of grievances". the punk epicness was replaced with countrified banjos and piano parts which shows growth in their sound repertoire but it didn't translate to growth in songwriting.
you say party we say die - XXXX: read a decent review, also caught the genre hook "dance punk" ... but found the album a bit more dance / mood / electronic than punk ... not really my thing i guess. think they'd be a decent live show though. dance punk bands always are.
gil scott-heron - I'm new here: still making my way through this album. Unfortunately i haven't made the time to sit down and dissect, but have it in multiple shuffle lists and i am digging what i am hearing. bluesy / soul / spoken word spruced up with interesting beats and tempo tricks. think there's a lot more here to explore still.
pantha du prince - black noise: ambient electronica is not where i'm at right now. when and if it becomes that type of mood i'm pretty sure i will not be able to turn this album off. it is pretty much awesome, but a 7 minute electronic journey is not fitting for my attention span at the moment. plus panda is on a track so you know it's gonna get at least some props from me ...
local natives: too early to tell. at first i was really annoyed by the voice. actually i'm working on a piece relating east vs. west coast indie bands and some completely made up theories about what that's all about. but overall there are a few tracks here that have been stuck in my head some. i think this is gonna be a good one.
hot chip - one life stand: i think i definitely caught onto hot chip because of the pop dance electronic of their last album. this album explores more of the brooding englishman thing they have going. and what i would call the portions i found less interesting on their last album. it's not bad, but it's not what i dug about them. not ready to bury it yet, but running out of motivation to keep it in rotation.
titus andronicus - the monitor: still not able to make this one hook like "airing of grievances". the punk epicness was replaced with countrified banjos and piano parts which shows growth in their sound repertoire but it didn't translate to growth in songwriting.
you say party we say die - XXXX: read a decent review, also caught the genre hook "dance punk" ... but found the album a bit more dance / mood / electronic than punk ... not really my thing i guess. think they'd be a decent live show though. dance punk bands always are.
gil scott-heron - I'm new here: still making my way through this album. Unfortunately i haven't made the time to sit down and dissect, but have it in multiple shuffle lists and i am digging what i am hearing. bluesy / soul / spoken word spruced up with interesting beats and tempo tricks. think there's a lot more here to explore still.
pantha du prince - black noise: ambient electronica is not where i'm at right now. when and if it becomes that type of mood i'm pretty sure i will not be able to turn this album off. it is pretty much awesome, but a 7 minute electronic journey is not fitting for my attention span at the moment. plus panda is on a track so you know it's gonna get at least some props from me ...
local natives: too early to tell. at first i was really annoyed by the voice. actually i'm working on a piece relating east vs. west coast indie bands and some completely made up theories about what that's all about. but overall there are a few tracks here that have been stuck in my head some. i think this is gonna be a good one.
hot chip - one life stand: i think i definitely caught onto hot chip because of the pop dance electronic of their last album. this album explores more of the brooding englishman thing they have going. and what i would call the portions i found less interesting on their last album. it's not bad, but it's not what i dug about them. not ready to bury it yet, but running out of motivation to keep it in rotation.
2010-02-26
2010-02-25
fuel for the ring
i don't listen to much FM radio. For the most part, only the stations that live at the extremes of the dial tend to deliver music in a manner that is not blatantly fueled by corporations attempting to bend the consumers will to their financial benefit. Not that I'm totally against it. Despite what you might think I think corporate radio has it's place and usefulness. And for christ's sake I'm a fan of the Beatles. I don't think anything says more about my appreciation for pop music than that.
anyways, i get a fairly heavy dose of radio friendly tunes during my day job as my coworker plays her vanilla radio station to break what would be a silence otherwise only cut by the click / clack made by our fingers and the occasional sigh that comes with working in a dead end pointless job.
probably the most interesting part of the daily ritual of vanilla rock is the slice of americana known as the morning radio talk show. it's the typical guy / girl banter and "interesting" news chat. In particular the thursday ritual where they bring in a local artist to play a song in studio. Saved for a rant on another day, there is nothing more telling of rochester's awful awful creative musical vision than the sewage that typically spills out of the speakers on these days.
today in particular was so heinous i decided to write a post about it. in short ... in honor of the release of johnny cash's last volume of american recordings, a multi album compilation consisting of cash covering great songs by other musicians the in studio band played ... johnny cash ... covering soundgarden. it basically shit all over not one, but two of my favorite musicians in one fell swoop. wow ... that was bad, i hope the station posts it so i can link it for all eternity.
anyways, i get a fairly heavy dose of radio friendly tunes during my day job as my coworker plays her vanilla radio station to break what would be a silence otherwise only cut by the click / clack made by our fingers and the occasional sigh that comes with working in a dead end pointless job.
probably the most interesting part of the daily ritual of vanilla rock is the slice of americana known as the morning radio talk show. it's the typical guy / girl banter and "interesting" news chat. In particular the thursday ritual where they bring in a local artist to play a song in studio. Saved for a rant on another day, there is nothing more telling of rochester's awful awful creative musical vision than the sewage that typically spills out of the speakers on these days.
today in particular was so heinous i decided to write a post about it. in short ... in honor of the release of johnny cash's last volume of american recordings, a multi album compilation consisting of cash covering great songs by other musicians the in studio band played ... johnny cash ... covering soundgarden. it basically shit all over not one, but two of my favorite musicians in one fell swoop. wow ... that was bad, i hope the station posts it so i can link it for all eternity.
2010-02-23
when greed is good
completely off blog content topic:
maybe the best part about the US upset over Canada in hockey on Sunday night is all the extra press Ryan Miller is getting. Too often Buffalo sports icons remain icons only in the eyes of the local fans, but not so much perhaps in the national spotlight.
So the victory Sunday did a bunch of good things. First off America is almost never cast as the underdog. The US loves it's underdogs, but we are seldom in that position as a nation. It almost feels a little dirty though. It's not exactly like we put a team of amateurs out there. But that is a topic for another day. The point is that the national attention was definitely more affixed to a sporting event that wouldn't usually garner that much interest. Prodded of course by the fact that we could root for the little guy. Exposure for hockey +1.
Second, Millsy as my friend at work put it "stood on his head" during the game. For anyone who caught the affair they probably came away pretty much amazed by his performance. For us Sabres fans, this was a sight we've been lucky enough to witness on more than a few occasions. It was great to see him rise to the occasion on the largest stage of his career, and come away the hero. As far as what I know about him, he seems pretty great, and deserves all the attention he's getting. After seeing all the press headlines the next day it seems like Miller's name was part of all of them. He went from icon in hockey circles, and icon in buffalo to nationally prominent sports hero.
If the US wins the gold medal Miller might stand to be the biggest name to come out of the Olympics. And with that he stands to make a shit ton of endorsement money. And with that a shit ton of extra exposure for the city of Buffalo and the Sabres organization. At least for as long as the fleeting US attention span can muster. Beggars can't be choosers though ... here's hoping on a buffalo wing and a prayer.
maybe the best part about the US upset over Canada in hockey on Sunday night is all the extra press Ryan Miller is getting. Too often Buffalo sports icons remain icons only in the eyes of the local fans, but not so much perhaps in the national spotlight.
So the victory Sunday did a bunch of good things. First off America is almost never cast as the underdog. The US loves it's underdogs, but we are seldom in that position as a nation. It almost feels a little dirty though. It's not exactly like we put a team of amateurs out there. But that is a topic for another day. The point is that the national attention was definitely more affixed to a sporting event that wouldn't usually garner that much interest. Prodded of course by the fact that we could root for the little guy. Exposure for hockey +1.
Second, Millsy as my friend at work put it "stood on his head" during the game. For anyone who caught the affair they probably came away pretty much amazed by his performance. For us Sabres fans, this was a sight we've been lucky enough to witness on more than a few occasions. It was great to see him rise to the occasion on the largest stage of his career, and come away the hero. As far as what I know about him, he seems pretty great, and deserves all the attention he's getting. After seeing all the press headlines the next day it seems like Miller's name was part of all of them. He went from icon in hockey circles, and icon in buffalo to nationally prominent sports hero.
If the US wins the gold medal Miller might stand to be the biggest name to come out of the Olympics. And with that he stands to make a shit ton of endorsement money. And with that a shit ton of extra exposure for the city of Buffalo and the Sabres organization. At least for as long as the fleeting US attention span can muster. Beggars can't be choosers though ... here's hoping on a buffalo wing and a prayer.
2010-02-19
you can pretty much make any statement casting the following what i would describe as "buzz" or "emotion" words:
truth
love
freedom
and come out looking like a philosophical genius. regardless of how pointless the actual statement is. or regardless of how much it would add to the human experience.
at the same time it's odd to feel uncomfortable with these phrases, as their intent is to provide comfort. sometimes i find myself getting annoyed when some philosopher or social commentator comes up with some silly fragmented thought that regards LOVE as the ANSWER ... maybe 'answer' could go in that list. i think you'd be hard pressed to find someone that didn't want all of those things.
propping your intelligence up by keying in on those ideas seems like a cheap way to gain respect and admiration.
truth
love
freedom
and come out looking like a philosophical genius. regardless of how pointless the actual statement is. or regardless of how much it would add to the human experience.
at the same time it's odd to feel uncomfortable with these phrases, as their intent is to provide comfort. sometimes i find myself getting annoyed when some philosopher or social commentator comes up with some silly fragmented thought that regards LOVE as the ANSWER ... maybe 'answer' could go in that list. i think you'd be hard pressed to find someone that didn't want all of those things.
propping your intelligence up by keying in on those ideas seems like a cheap way to gain respect and admiration.
2010-02-16
base camp
got my dirty little fingers on the latest Lost Campesinos! album. And yes, I'm that douchey that I need to include the "!".
At this point it would probably be safe to say the following
- i would love to see los campys in concert. the unbridled enthusiasm that i've heard / read / see photographic proof of is probably their best quality. their albums (the three i have listened to) provide insight into what I can only imagine is a ridiculously raucous time. i mean shit, if their albums get you lit up with energy then the live show has to be quite the experience.
- i think their live show is pretty much all i have left in hopes for this band. when i heard their first album i became enthralled and engaged by the aforementioned ability to transpose vibrant forces via a studio recorded album. the energy of a live show, but in a sterile electronic format....
the two albums that followed ... yes the energy was there ... but the songs lost their edge a bit. the brooding wasn't quite as broody. and the keyboard synth tricks were played. and at this point i can pick out a los campesinos song from a mile away as they have not done much to stretch the listener's interest arc since their initial foray.
that said ... i honestly would not recommend this for a first time listener. i'd give you the old shit, and if you lost your balls listening to it then obvs you can get your fix on the new album. otherwise it's pretty meh.
yeah, i give it a "meh"
how about this for a proper los campesinos track title:
" ... don't hate me los c's, i still love you wacky brit son's of bastards aka this is how you spell meh meh meh i've heard this tune before but i still think you're sexy"
see if you listened to los campesinos that would be really funny to you .. or not .. but it is to me.
At this point it would probably be safe to say the following
- i would love to see los campys in concert. the unbridled enthusiasm that i've heard / read / see photographic proof of is probably their best quality. their albums (the three i have listened to) provide insight into what I can only imagine is a ridiculously raucous time. i mean shit, if their albums get you lit up with energy then the live show has to be quite the experience.
- i think their live show is pretty much all i have left in hopes for this band. when i heard their first album i became enthralled and engaged by the aforementioned ability to transpose vibrant forces via a studio recorded album. the energy of a live show, but in a sterile electronic format....
the two albums that followed ... yes the energy was there ... but the songs lost their edge a bit. the brooding wasn't quite as broody. and the keyboard synth tricks were played. and at this point i can pick out a los campesinos song from a mile away as they have not done much to stretch the listener's interest arc since their initial foray.
that said ... i honestly would not recommend this for a first time listener. i'd give you the old shit, and if you lost your balls listening to it then obvs you can get your fix on the new album. otherwise it's pretty meh.
yeah, i give it a "meh"
how about this for a proper los campesinos track title:
" ... don't hate me los c's, i still love you wacky brit son's of bastards aka this is how you spell meh meh meh i've heard this tune before but i still think you're sexy"
see if you listened to los campesinos that would be really funny to you .. or not .. but it is to me.
2010-02-15
dammit sauce
Basically out of jealous spite I kind of hate danger mouse. Specifically for how wacky and popular gnarls barkley quickly became. Though I'd be a liar if I didn't admit that I was definitely on that bandwagon.
Second grievance being the direction he took the last Black Keys (attack and release) album. Which was kind of cool, but consider myself a bk purist.
Third I just get annoyed by people who have that "everything i touch turns to gold" thing going for them. I suppose I still harbor a little of that high school nerd animosity for the cool kids. which doesn't make sense but whatever, get your trendy beats out of my head already ...
Anyways, from what I can tell everyone should brace themselves for Broken Bells. Broken Bells is the ratty one's latest collaboration project with James Mercer of the Shins.... and yes the new single is predictably kind of cool... check it out.
The High Road
Broken Bells | MySpace Music Videos
Second grievance being the direction he took the last Black Keys (attack and release) album. Which was kind of cool, but consider myself a bk purist.
Third I just get annoyed by people who have that "everything i touch turns to gold" thing going for them. I suppose I still harbor a little of that high school nerd animosity for the cool kids. which doesn't make sense but whatever, get your trendy beats out of my head already ...
Anyways, from what I can tell everyone should brace themselves for Broken Bells. Broken Bells is the ratty one's latest collaboration project with James Mercer of the Shins.... and yes the new single is predictably kind of cool... check it out.
The High Road
Broken Bells | MySpace Music Videos
2010-02-10
booooo-naroo
at long last the bonnaroo lineup was unveiled yesterday. honestly, after an indie heavy festival lineup last year I had my hopes up pretty high for this year. but unfortunately those expectations are far from being met. perhaps because of the quality of festival's past, or perhaps because LA's coachella fest is so exemplary this year, i feel like I would be serverly selling the main goal of seeing a ton of awesome bands way way wayyy short if went. To be honest the bonnaroo lineup seems like what I would imagine the old school classic bonna lineups look like. They are going back to their roots and I can appreciate that.
i'm sure i would have a great time, and there are definitely enough acts i'd be interested in seeing. additionally I could probably take this year as an opportunity to find new bands to fall in love with. but i suppose for my money and time it's just not worth it.
i'd much rather spend a weekend with friends camping much closer to home.
with that said it's time to evaluate the other options. so far pfork is pretty lame, but the problem with that fest is they wait till shortly before the actual festival date to add a lot of their acts. and i have never been anything but sorry i didn't go.
then lollapalooza is shortly after which based on the last two years seems like an almost sure thing, but that is pretty much what i thought about bonnaroo. ATP, APW, Outside Lands, Sasquatch? I just don't know at this point.
Coachella would be ideal but it looks pretty costly, and I'm not sure how many people would be able to join, and i would feel bad about leaving my fellow festival goers behind. It feels selfish and lonely.
here's to hoping this murkiness dissipates and an answer that satifies all my questions becomes clear.
i'm sure i would have a great time, and there are definitely enough acts i'd be interested in seeing. additionally I could probably take this year as an opportunity to find new bands to fall in love with. but i suppose for my money and time it's just not worth it.
i'd much rather spend a weekend with friends camping much closer to home.
with that said it's time to evaluate the other options. so far pfork is pretty lame, but the problem with that fest is they wait till shortly before the actual festival date to add a lot of their acts. and i have never been anything but sorry i didn't go.
then lollapalooza is shortly after which based on the last two years seems like an almost sure thing, but that is pretty much what i thought about bonnaroo. ATP, APW, Outside Lands, Sasquatch? I just don't know at this point.
Coachella would be ideal but it looks pretty costly, and I'm not sure how many people would be able to join, and i would feel bad about leaving my fellow festival goers behind. It feels selfish and lonely.
here's to hoping this murkiness dissipates and an answer that satifies all my questions becomes clear.
2010-02-09
oh my pants!
Lazy tuesday morn,
Ehh so instead of trying to come up with some snappy intro for this brief news update I just did a copzies / pastzies action on the original article (linked for props) but you can just readzies herezies .... zies zies zies
Ehh so instead of trying to come up with some snappy intro for this brief news update I just did a copzies / pastzies action on the original article (linked for props) but you can just readzies herezies .... zies zies zies
Chroma is a contemporary ballet by choreographer Wayne McGregor that features music by the White Stripes as interpreted by an orchestra. The award-winning piece debuted at London's Royal Opera House in November 2006, and now it's coming to Toronto as part of the National Ballet of Canada's forthcoming season. (Via CBC News.)
Chroma features five pairs in flesh-colored outfits artfully moving to White Stripes songs like "The Hardest Button to Button" and "Blue Orchid", according to a Guardian review of the London show.
The CBC reports that Jack White has been invited to the Canadian premiere, which takes place in November. And the Stripes love them some Canada, so a Jack sighting does not seem completely out of the question. Head over to the National Ballet of Canada's site for more info.
2010-02-05
ginger bread
the new beach house album makes me think that the bear exchange have a very long way to go.
i wish i had some bear exchange music to post here. gonna see about that soon.
i wish i had some bear exchange music to post here. gonna see about that soon.
2010-02-04
le butte francois
i have no idea if the blog title means anything, and frankly i don't care. i just thought it sounded fun to say out loud. and also since Phoenix is the topic of this post and they're french I supposed some loose relevance could be found there.
So yeah, Phoenix. I had Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix about a year ago. I listened to maybe one song. Then got annoyed by their tight pants and boringish music when they played SNL, so into the archives it went. But seriously those dudes got a lot of good press and high praise. It honestly wasn't for me though.
Then a like a month ago Buick put out a commercial that used 1901 as the music. I liked the song, looked it up, found out it was Phoenix and decided maybe I had hastily deemed them uninteresting.
Well upon second review more thorough revelations have been formulated. For the most part I'm more of a fan than I was before. I can see why people would like them, and why they probably deserved to win a Grammy (which we all know doesn't mean shit anyways). WAP is, if nothing else a catchy album.
I would recommend Phoenix to anyone who likes the Killers. They are basically a slightly less interesting version of the Killers. Voice, musicianship, sound, pop-iness (??) are pretty much mirrored. I say slightly less interesting because the first killers album is kind of awesome top to bottom in terms of it's pop perfection. Phoenix is close, but I think they suffer from taking the Liztomania / 1901 sound and just repeating it over and over again throughout the album.
I think the killers kind of played around with their sound on Hot Fuss. A good pop album successfully traps the pop sensibilities in a multitude of song types, blues / slow dance / rock / arena epic. Phoenix kind of stick to amalgamate of all those in one song and just repeats and repeats for 40 minutes.
Don't get me wrong. It's not actually half bad. But I think unless something tremendous happens to their sound that this one album will suffice for my enjoyment of the band.
So yeah, Phoenix. I had Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix about a year ago. I listened to maybe one song. Then got annoyed by their tight pants and boringish music when they played SNL, so into the archives it went. But seriously those dudes got a lot of good press and high praise. It honestly wasn't for me though.
Then a like a month ago Buick put out a commercial that used 1901 as the music. I liked the song, looked it up, found out it was Phoenix and decided maybe I had hastily deemed them uninteresting.
Well upon second review more thorough revelations have been formulated. For the most part I'm more of a fan than I was before. I can see why people would like them, and why they probably deserved to win a Grammy (which we all know doesn't mean shit anyways). WAP is, if nothing else a catchy album.
I would recommend Phoenix to anyone who likes the Killers. They are basically a slightly less interesting version of the Killers. Voice, musicianship, sound, pop-iness (??) are pretty much mirrored. I say slightly less interesting because the first killers album is kind of awesome top to bottom in terms of it's pop perfection. Phoenix is close, but I think they suffer from taking the Liztomania / 1901 sound and just repeating it over and over again throughout the album.
I think the killers kind of played around with their sound on Hot Fuss. A good pop album successfully traps the pop sensibilities in a multitude of song types, blues / slow dance / rock / arena epic. Phoenix kind of stick to amalgamate of all those in one song and just repeats and repeats for 40 minutes.
Don't get me wrong. It's not actually half bad. But I think unless something tremendous happens to their sound that this one album will suffice for my enjoyment of the band.
2010-02-03
nahsayer
One of my most anticipated album releases of the year was the Yeasayear album Odd Blood. Early last year I became addicted to their dark was the night offering "tightrope", and read subsequent articles that the song was to be on the new album. In my head this formulated to 10 to 12 songs of equally amazing quality.
Further eagerness came from the review of the album's first single Ambling Alp. Unfortunately this remains to me the brightest star in an otherwise less illuminating body of work.
My biggest issues with the album is that yeasayer lost the edge I liked so much in their previous effort. The jagged sentiments that encased songs about love and relationships gave a unique presence to what would be an otherwise typical pop electronica album.
And essentially that is what I see Odd Blood being. Outside of a few tracks most of the work here is electronica infused pop sentimentality. Gone are the deep riffs, and strangled howls, replaced with gimmicky keyboard solos, and honey drenched choruses.
Don't get me wrong. The album isn't terrible. I listened and enjoyed, but almost immediately I could tell the album would get tired quick. And less than two weeks later Odd Blood has already began to collect the metaphorical dust. Looking back I get the exact same reaction that I had to the tapes n' tapes follow up ... which i can't remember the name of off hand, and when I tried to look it up on my ipod only found the loon, and the self titled ep ... which i think pretty much exactly fucking sums up what i'm getting at about odd blood.
Anyways, i still have never succeeded in developing an acceptable rating system, so i'm going to continue to stay away from that, and instead just say not bad, not great.
Also, maybe now I should take the opportunity to suggest other start expressing their thoughts to me about these reviews. Not on my writing, but on the actual albums. Maybe i'm missing something. Maybe I can go back to the album thinking about it in another frame of mind. Help me enjoy this more!!!
turning over a new leaf ... house
despite immersing myself more in music than any point that i can remember since the early early months of '09 (coincidence?) i have been lax in my self imposed duty to inform the public as to my (rather pointless) opinion on my current bevy of new albums. Part of this is caused by my desire to try and provide a thorough and thoughtful review. This comes from a belief that expressing careful thought out ideas would help me to become a more skilled writer, as well possibly provide to a theoretical audience interesting, engaging, and unique viewpoints.
However the result of trying to carefully manage this space to cultivate an ideal blog that both entertains and informs led to a pressurized situation where the basic point became a daunting task, and original insight was lost in the idealism. This all sort of culminated with what has historically been my favorite part of keeping this blog in writing my year end thoughts. Aside from the typical top 10 albums, top songs, and associated information (playlists). This year also provide the spectacle of being the last year of decade. In truth the real world played into adding to the pressure, and the result was probably the most sub par level of involvement that I recall since ever envisioning myself as an amateur music critic.
So with that in mind I've decided to try and start offering up the ideas, without the idealism. More of a stream of consciousness approach. I think this sort of relates better anyways to my media posts. I mean anyone checking recent updates can see that most of the media based posts are simply video or mp3's of bands / songs of the moment to me. My way to quickly disseminate that which I find interesting. So why not try and cover the written opinion aspect of sonic anarchy in the same manner. I think not only will this help knock off the rust, but help to make this blog a more interesting and entertainment viable option.
p.s. inspirations behind this post in order of me remembering
1. the new beach house album - teen dream - expect some thoughts soon.
2. cousin cathie - me and my cousins and you and your cousins ... troof
However the result of trying to carefully manage this space to cultivate an ideal blog that both entertains and informs led to a pressurized situation where the basic point became a daunting task, and original insight was lost in the idealism. This all sort of culminated with what has historically been my favorite part of keeping this blog in writing my year end thoughts. Aside from the typical top 10 albums, top songs, and associated information (playlists). This year also provide the spectacle of being the last year of decade. In truth the real world played into adding to the pressure, and the result was probably the most sub par level of involvement that I recall since ever envisioning myself as an amateur music critic.
So with that in mind I've decided to try and start offering up the ideas, without the idealism. More of a stream of consciousness approach. I think this sort of relates better anyways to my media posts. I mean anyone checking recent updates can see that most of the media based posts are simply video or mp3's of bands / songs of the moment to me. My way to quickly disseminate that which I find interesting. So why not try and cover the written opinion aspect of sonic anarchy in the same manner. I think not only will this help knock off the rust, but help to make this blog a more interesting and entertainment viable option.
p.s. inspirations behind this post in order of me remembering
1. the new beach house album - teen dream - expect some thoughts soon.
2. cousin cathie - me and my cousins and you and your cousins ... troof
2010-02-02
sonic lamearchy
wildbeasts, the xx, neon indian, muse, hot chip, beach house, yeasayer, sleigh bells, the magnetic fields, jonsi ... fate is giving sonic anarchy the big bone in '10. lame.
2010-01-26
2010-01-20
2010-01-16
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