So mc chris has an excellent new album out. It's called mc chris is dead, so go buy it, quickly now! But first, have a listen. I picked 2 of my favorite songs to share with you guys. Firstly I chose the masturbation song. Upon reading the title I giggled and thought "oh this is gonna be silly", it's got this awesome throwback feel to it, old school and at the same time it makes me think of Donnie Darko. ya know what i mean? I dunno, anyway it just sounds awesome and the lyrics are pretty good too. It's about how mc was a bit of a jerk in middle school and then this dude totally tells everybody that when mc was at his house he caught him masturbating in his sleeping bag. Somethin' like that. It's really good ^.^ and Secondly I chose Pizza Butt. Sometimes when I'm just walking around or washing dishes I just like to say "THAT PIZZA BUTTTTT". You'll see why when you listen to the song. So fun to sing along to. or rap along to. However you choose. So yeah, go buy his album, digitally or hardcopy, don't matter. I plan to get a hardcopy eventually. Maybe he'll have some at warped tour here in Fresno. I sure hope so. I hope I get to meet him too. That'd be awesome! Oh yeah, he's got like a BAJILLIAN tour dates so please please please check him out. mc chris is the coolest. Add him on your myspace and read all his bulletins, he's great. I'll post a couple more of my past favorite mc chris songs too for your listening pleasure.
And here are some oldies, but goodies. ^.^
alright, well I guess that's all for now. Make sure to make a donation if you can to his nephew Murray. He was recently diagnosed with Cystic Phibrosis. He's just a little guy, so help him out. :) That as well can be done at mc's myspace.
Bye!
I know, I'm the worst writer here ^.^
They pretty much sound awesome and the choruses are totally sing-a-longable. Most excellent. I really can't get enough of this band and I so want to be an Alligator. They hail from Provo, Utah and have a couple of shows posted on their myspace. So check them out if you are in the area, because I'm more than sure they are awesome live too. Almost all the songs are downloadable except one of my favorites which is called Affliated so go to their myspace and listen to it! Because it's awesome. So here are a couple more, so enjoy :)
Oh I know it's not right, being a music blog and all, but this is one of the funniest things I've seen all year. Thanks to daljian in the Eurovision post comments we now know who the funny drunk man was. Björn Gustafsson is unsurprisingly even funnier though, as this amazing standup performance on some at some Swedish awards show. Don't worry, it's all subbed up, just promise me you'll watch right to the end, yah? "Steeg diev!" Rofl11.
- Chris-so gonna get smacked by vu-topher
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Le Tigre, "The Tiger", is undoubtably the best project that Kathleen Hanna's been involved in since Bikini Kill. Originally, this band was conceived to be a "live" version of her solo effort, Julie Ruin, but as it developed between Johanna Fatman and Sadie Bennings, they quickly realized this was a birth of a new sound and a new band.
Although Bikini Kill was more DIY/Riot Grrrl, Le Tigre's sound, although still involved in feminism, seems to emphasize on dance, visual performance art, and electro. Take a listen to their first single, Hot Topic to hear what a wonderful tribute to strong women throughout the years, backed by a great drum beat and chorus.
My favorite moment was when I was listening to this song, quite loudly in my car, at a stop light. I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings, but apparently these black youths in the car next to me were rocking out to this song. They absolutely loved it.
I listened to their debut album constantly around this time, and I can tell you these are the songs that never got skipped:
"Deceptacon": absolutely love this song. This is also a great track to play at a dance club, I remember hearing this at Popscene in San Francisco and the audience loved it.
"Hot Topic": See comment above. I love hearing and picking up on all the artists mentioned, including Sleater-Kinny, Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, Leslie Feinberg, etc.
"The The Empty": Contains the best lyrics: "I went to your concert and I didn't feel a thing/Oh Baby, why won't you talk to me?/Oh baby, you just want me empty!"
"My My Metrocard": When I was in New York, I suddenly realized how much this song is so closely tied to the metro: "Next Stop: Atlantic Avenue/Next Stop: Christopher Street/Next Stop: Transfer to the/Next Stop: A, C, or E"
"Les and Ray": The lyrics to this song suggests that these were Kathleen's neighbors when she was very young. She used to put her head next to the wall to hear these two guys composing music and it really inspired her... at least that's what the song is about.
While waiting for their sophomore album, I found this little EP, From the Desk of Mr Lady, at Circuit City. I think, also by this time JD Samson came on as a full member of Le Tigre, while Sadie retired quietly in the background.
I thought there were a couple of good songs on the EP: "Get Off the Internet" (relates to me...) and "Gone B4 Yr Home" (a nice pop song)
I did wanted to talk about their song "Bang! Bang!", it's about Amadou Diallo, who was shot 41 times by four officers. When I saw Le Tigre live, when they performed this song, they asked us to note how long counting to 41 was (it was the longest part of the song it seems).
By the time Feminist Sweepstakes came out in the winter of '01, I was still in love with Le Tigre. I thought this album was a little militant and I kind of felt slightly discriminated because I wasn't "a lady or a fag", as they put it on "LT Tour Theme".
Some may argue that it's not anti-men, but I really felt like this album didn't want any men to listen to it. The women-only theme continues on "F.Y.R." (which stands for "Fifty years of ridicule"), "Dyke March 2001", "TGIF", just to name a few.
One of the few favorite off this album, for me, was "On Guard", which contains a catchy line: "En Garde, let me see you shake it baby, shake it some more"
After picking up the rather disappointing Remix EP, containing remixes by various DJs, I was pretty much convinced that I should stop buying remix EPs (which is why I've avoided getting This Island Remixes). Like Randy, I'm not a fan of remixes (although occasionally, I will admit, some remixes are much better than the original).
I would only recommend people to pick up the Remix EP if you're a hardcore Le Tigre/Kathleen Hanna fan, otherwise, I couldn't endorse this.
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In 2004, This Island made its debut on a (gasp!) major record label, Universal Records. No idea why a major label would want to pick up a band with such a niche audience (no offense, but Le Tigre are more political and feminist-charged rather than "mass appeal").
There's a couple of good tracks off the new album, which is tame compared to Feminist Sweepstakes.
I liked "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo", which was a fun song, The Pointer Sister cover song, "I'm So Excited", and "TKO". They tried to market the later as single, it contains the ironic line "TKO/heard it on the radio", which as you know never quite made it to popular radio.
There was another effort to release After Dark as a single, but I have never found this single (and never bothered to do ebay, etc).
So, where are Le Tigre now? They're currently taking an extended break since 2007. The band (minus Kathleen Hanna) formed Men, but I haven't heard anything from this band yet. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for new material from Men, Le Tigre, or Kathleen Hanna, so keep on livin'.
Well, The Very Most have taken a lot of forms over the years, but at the core of all of them is songwriter, Jeremy Jensen writing pop songs that wouldn't sound out of place on any Elephant 6 release of the past 8 years or so, right down to the massive list of contributors playing pretty much every instrument known to man. His new album, Congratulations Forever continues that tradition, with a full band and some pretty (locally) high-profile contributors, including Kris Doty (who will definitely be the subject of an upcoming article) and John McMahon (This is where you dig out your Built to Spill albums. You know those awesome cello parts on There's Nothing Wrong With Love, and Perfect From Now On? That's him; he seems to be the go-to guy whenever people need a cello part around here), as well as contributions from friends and family.
The lead-off track, “Good Fight Fighting,” features a really cool vibraphone intro and backing secondary vocals courtesy of his sister, Rachael Jensen, also of Portland's Parenthetical Girls. The song has an upbeat, summery melody to it, and is incredibly catchy.
The second track, “Sod Off,” features a dancey rhythm and vocals by local favorite, Kris Doty. Jeremy doesn't even sing on this one, but it's a great track. I love the keyboards on it.
“Polygraph” features backing vocals from Kris Doty and a violin, a flute, and even a singing saw. I really dig how the instrumentation of this track accentuates the upbeat pop melodies of it in a really graceful way that, despite its excess, never seems like overkill.
The next track, “Neuron,” features drums and Rhodes organ played by Bales of Hey's Steve Gere (fun fact: he also played with The Halo Benders for their reunion shows last April, and he's also the only dude I've ever seen rock pigtails without looking “too hip”) and backing vocals by Julia Green. Also, vibes and clarinet. It's one of the slower tracks on the album. It reminds me a little bit of Soft Bulletin-era Flaming Lips.
“Profoundly Imperfect” has a really cool almost surf-rock sound to it. The reverb on the vocals sounds really cool. The drumming recalls that cool, bouncy 60's pop sound.
The album is split with a cool instrumental track, “Dodged Ev'ry Bullet Pt. 2.” It sounds like a keyboard demo, but I mean that in a good way. That leads into “Spilt, Spilt Milk,” which features cute vocal flourishes from Kris Doty. It's a softer track. Sort of Flaming Lips-ish, and Elephant 6-ish, in that it includes pretty much every other kind of thing you could use as an instrument ever. Saw, flute, vibes, bells, baritone sax. This is a really cool track.
“Love at Home” features cello, violin and backing vocals by Kris Doty all over a simple acoustic guitar progression and surprisingly tasteful “mom rock” drumming, complete with that 70's pop cymbal thing. To say I miss slow songs like this would be an understatement.
“The Word 'Almost'” continues in a similar vein, but in a more excessive way. Elijah Jensen is credited for the “whale sounds,” and the song also features violins, keyboards, and Kris Doty, Julia Green, and Zach Von House on backing vocals.
“When Not Being Stupid is Not Enough” is a Built to Spill cover, from the EP they did with Caustic Resin. The original version of this song was nine minutes long. Here, it's a three minute pop song, although it's definitely a good cover. John McMahon plays cello and Rachel Jensen does backing vocals. They make it their own, even though it still sounds like a Built to Spill song, with the trademark, almost “classic rock” rhythm style that Doug does so well.
The last track, the title track, is a bouncy pop song with no real lyrics for the first minute and a half. The slide whistle and bells are a nice touch, and Kris Doty, Sarin Jensen, and “C of I choir students” provide backing vocals. This album also features a hidden track that announces itself as “Hidden Tracke.” The “e” is intentional. It's a cool little weird thing with Elijah Jensen on vocals and a nice keyboard thing backing it.
Basically, this is an awesome, summery pop album that anyone who digs The Flaming Lips, Elf Power, Olivia Tremor Control, The Apples in Stereo, or any band along those lines will probably like (and probably about as good as any of those bands). Check it out! More info can be found at the album's official website. Also, there are some upcoming shows. Unfortunately, none of them are outside of Idaho.
May 31 2008, The Bouquet, Boise, Idaho
Jun 6 2008, Flying M Coffeegarage, Nampa, Idaho
Jun 27 2008, The Plastic Garage, Rexburg, Idaho
Jun 28 2008, The College Market, Pocatello, Idaho
Sep 12 2008, Neurolux Boise, Idaho
Ascend is, at its core, a collaborative effort between Sunn 0))), Engine Kid, and Goatsnake's Greg Anderson and Iceburn and Eagle Twin's Gentry Densley, and also featuring contributions on trombone, organ, and Wurlitzer from Sunn 0))) and Earth collaborator, Steve Moore (a.k.a. Stebmo), on lead guitar from Bubba Dupree of Void (one of the finest hardcore bands of the 80's) and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden.
And, of course, a lineup this great doesn't disappoint. The debut album, Ample Fire Within, is all about slow funeral dirges with rough-throated vocals, a strangely jazzy feel, and some of the finest, sludgiest doom you'll find outside of a Sunn 0))) album.
“The Obelisk of Kolob” starts out the album with a heavily distorted drone. Before long, feedback starts cutting through it, and the band kicks the heaviness up to 11, with Andy Patterson's drumming giving it a sort of Burning Witch feel to it, but with far more melodic guitars that sound like they'll blow your speakers if they get any heavier. As they build, Stebmo's trombone comes in and adds a whole new dimension to the sound, and then it's over almost as fast as it began.
The title track, “Ample Fire Within” (also mentioned on the back of the promo as “Amplifier Within”) starts with a riff that sounds a lot like a jazzier Earth, which eventually turns into a building, discordant riff with Gentry's vocals buried underneath it. This gives way to an atmospheric drone courtesy of Stebmo's Wurlitzer. This gives way to more full-on doom, which is eventually invaded by speaker-shattering leads. The song ends with a strange Wurlitzer/guitar drone that sounds like someone trying to imitate the Sputnik satellite with their instruments.
“Divine” feature's Gentry channeling Tom Waits, surprisingly effectively, over a slow, heavy, and yet sparse guitar/Wurlitzer backing with plenty of time to sit back and reflect on itself without ever relieving any of the tension it's built. The guitar/Wurlitzer/trombone breakdown (not like metalcore) near the end is really cool.
“V O G” opens with what sounds like a bagpipe far off in the distance, with marching drums, all of which turns into another sped-up, Sunn 0))) style sludge riff.. This track features Bubba Dupree and Kim Thayil on lead guitar. The classic doom vocals don't come in until almost five minutes in. What I really love about this track is that you can pretty easily pick out who's playing which guitar on lead.
“Dark Matter” opens with Stebmo's organ and low, doomy vocals and detuned, Earth style guitar drones. The organ really makes this track, providing a backbone of creepy drones that holds everything else together, and there is a lot going on here. About halfway through, the trombone supplements the organ's drones as the riffing gets heavier and the drums come in. Then the riffing gets about as straight-up metal as the context of this album allows, with a triumphantly stoned doom crescendo somewhat reminiscent of Candlemass.
Basically, this is one of the best metal albums I've heard so far (so far, because I have a stack of seven more that Vu sent me that I have yet to listen to), this year. If you consider yourself a self-respecting metalhead, and you're into doom, this one is pretty much a no-brainer. Pick it up!
More info can be found at Southern Lord's official site
A couple of months ago I saw an announcement that my favorite record label, Labrador Records, had signed a new band called The Sound Of Arrows. Since I love just about every band on their roster, I was quite excited about this. At the time, Labrador released an mp3 for the track called "Danger!", which I immediately put into heavy rotation in my playlist.
A few weeks ago the debut release from The Sound Of Arrows was finally made available. They are touting this as an E.P. but it's basically the title track, "Danger!", plus two b-sides, four remixes, and "intro" and "outro" tracks. I'm normally not a fan of remixes, but the ones on this E.P. are not too shabby. Also, the b-sides, "A Very Sad Song" and "Winding Roads" are really quite good.
The Sound Of Arrows is a duo comprised of two Swedish lads, Stefan Storm and Oskar Gullstrand, who now live in Stockholm. Together they have differing backgrounds: house music and classical. I think a bit of each comes across in their music. In Labrador's original press release they said "The Sound of Arrows treat their own songs like remixes and will present their releases almost like mixtapes. Their approach to music bare some similarity to Saint Etienne around 'Foxbase Alpha' or The Avalanches, but they never end up sounding like either." I can't wait to get their full-length album, which is due out later this year.
May
29, 2008 4:50 AM Randy my♥posts
thesoundofarrows.com myspace
The theme of this entry is babies and children:
New Yorker, Alan Wilkis just finished his album called Babies Dream Big released this year. The album isn't really meant for children, it's meant for adults and it inspires the child in all of us.
It's well worth noting that it said that this was his "solo" effort, and I looked around to see what band(s) he was in, but I couldn't find any additional information.
Anyway, the first thing I read was that there were trumpets (by Eric Biondo) on "I Wanna Know", so it was the first song I checked out. This is a soulful pop song and the trumpets serves up nicely in the solo.
The album has a weird mix of styles, such as electronic and synth ("Burnin'", "I'm Famous", "Milk and Cookies"), mixed with some soul ("I Wanna Know", "It's Been Great ") and some classic rock ("Girls on Bikes").
However, with all the layers and electronic, I would have to admit that my favorite was the almost naked acoustic song, "Astronaut (Would You Be One?)". It's a great song to end the album and it sounds like it's a hippy song from the 60s. I realized that this song doesn't really represent Wilkis' music as a whole, so feel free to check out most of the songs I've talked about on myspace.com/alanwilkis and pick up the CD at cdbaby.com/cd/alanwilkis
Trivia: the cover art for Babies Dream Big is by Jerry Sabatini.
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07/06/08 Cedar Run Song Madison, VA
07/07/08 Cedar Run Song Madison, VA 07/08/08 Cedar Run Song Madison, VA 07/09/08 Cedar Run Song Madison, VA 07/10/08 Cedar Run Song Madison, VA 07/11/08 Cedar Run Song Madison, VA 07/11/08 Cedar Run Song Madison, VA 08/17/08 Cedar Run Song Madison, VA 08/18/08 Sum.SongsCamp Zaca Lake,CA 08/19/08 Sum.SongsCamp Zaca Lake,CA 08/20/08 Sum.SongsCamp Zaca Lake,CA 08/21/08 Sum.SongsCamp Zaca Lake,CA 08/22/08 Sum.SongsCamp Zaca Lake,CA 10/23/08 Alys Stephens Birmingham, AL |
Mae Robertson's album, Dream, features a baby on the front cover. This is an album full of classic and original lullabies. If you listen to "I See the Moon", it uses the music and melodies from "Hush, Little Baby".
As what lullabies suggests, this album features a very sweet and beautiful vocals of Robertson, singing gentle songs. I have to admit, it was hard to keep my eyes open when listening to this album, which I suppose it's just doing its job.
As a cover lover, I did enjoy her mellow versions of Meatloaf's "Forever Young", Dixie Chick's "Godspeed", and Art Garfunkel's "Dreamland", especially the later as hardly anyone ever covers Garfunkel's solo work.
I found out that she was "discovered" by a friend who overheard her singing "The Water is Wide" to her baby. After recording her first in a series of Lullaby & Lovesong Collection, All Through the Night (1994), she released three other in the collection: The Sun Upon the Lake is Low (1997), Sweet Dreams of Home (1999), Dream (2007).
She has an eighth album out called Meet the Sun Halfway, released in 2008 (possibly around February). I don't have her new CD, but Meet the Sun Halfway doesn't look like it's targeted towards babies, it looks like they're mostly cover of folk and pop songs.
All the details on all her music can be found on www.maerobertson.com and myspace.com/maerobertson.
If you're looking a fun music album for children, check out Kids Totally Rock by Jimmy G Pop. Most of the songs on this album are pretty much meant for children, but done in a variety of different music genres.
For instance, you have funk on "Funky Monkey", rock and roll surf music on "Banzai Buckaroo", Elvis-style 50s rock on "I Stink", and the obvious country-western on "Billy Goat's Gorge".
I'm dedicating this to all chihuahua owners (that's you Cranky & Papi Chulo): "Totally Chihuahua". This song is done in a Spanish-style song, and it's my personal favorite song off the album.
Not all the songs are fun & dumb for kids, but there are a couple songs that is actually sounds like storytelling protest songs ("My Piggies Fly" and "Everything's Gonna Be Ok"). Basically there's enough songs for kids, but also a few for the grownups so they aren't bored.
You can pick up the CD and find more information on jimmygpop.com and myspace.com/jimmygpop.
Links:
www.weheartmusic.com
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05/28/08 Tripod Dublin, Dublin
Discography
05/29/08 Mandela Hall Belfast 05/30/08 Bologna Estragon-Rocker Festival 06/29/08 Glastonbury- John Peel Stage 07/04/08 Transmission Festival Kufstein 07/10/08 Alive Festival Lisbon 07/12/08 Les Ardentes Festival 07/18/08 Benicassim Festival- Spain 07/20/08 Pitchfork Music Festival 07/21/08 The Vogue Indianapolis 07/22/08 City Hall Nashville, TN 07/23/08 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA 07/25/08 9:30 Club Washington DC 07/27/08 Terminal 5 New York 08/01/08 House Of Blues Cleveland, OH 08/02/08 Town Ballroom Buffalo, NY 08/03/08 Jean Drapeau Montreal, PQ 08/06/08 Toronto Islands Park Toronto, ON 08/09/08 Tokyo Summersonic Festival 08/10/08 Osaka Summersonic Festival 08/15/08 Green Man Festival , Wales 08/30/08 Inveraray Castle Inveraray 09/06/08 Virgin Festival - Toronto 09/17/08 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles 09/21/08 Treasure Island Festival 09/27/08 Austin City Limits 10/09/08 Carling Academy Newcastle 10/10/08 Leeds University Union 10/11/08 Manchester Academy 10/13/08 Oxford Academy 10/14/08 Portsmouth Pyramid Centre 10/15/08 Birmingham Academy 10/16/08 London Roundhouse
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There's no need to introduce you to Spiritualized, but in case you have no idea who they are, they are a "space rock"/stargazing band from the early 90s in Rugby, Warwickshire, that formed from the ashes of Spacemen 3. Jason Pierce is the man behind Spiritualized, with his constant band members (currently with keyboardist Thighpaulsandra, ercussionist Tom Edwards, drummer Kevin Bales, bassist Martin Schellard, and guitarist Doggen).
By 1997, the band's become famous with their NME's Album of the Year, Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. At this time, they were so well-known that the other band members wanted more money for public appearances. These monetary disputes resulted in having the entire band sacked, which kind of resulted in somewhat erratic output, with their last few studio albums, Let It Come Down (2001) and Amazing Grace (2003).
In 2005, it
would seem that main man and founder Pierce became seriously ill (can I speculate drug abuse?, see comment) and
spent the better part of his time at The Royal London Hospital in
Whitechapel, London.
What came out of it was an inspired medical hospital album called Songs in A&E, an album that took nearly two years to write and eventually released yesterday, May 27th.
I am looking at the CD's booklet, and there are an assortment of needles and tubes, done as artwork. Having said that, it looks like Pierce have had an obsession with medications, as Ladies & Gentlemen was originally conceived as a medicine bottle, that was ten years ago... the same direction with the minimalist art and text also appears on this latest album.
Besides from the hospital theme, the album seems to be revolves around fire ("I Gotta Fire", "Soul on Fire", "Sitting on Fire") and death ("Death Take Your Fiddle", "Borrowed Your Gun"), all held together by transitional pieces of music called "Harmony" (each harmony was done with different instruments, such as piano, accordion, mellotron, violins, etc.)
I liked the Dylanesque song "Yeah Yeah", the heavy breathing on "Death Take Your Fiddle", the soft and sweet "Goodnight Goodnight". I also generally liked all the "fire" songs, "I Gotta Fire" sounds a southern rock number, the orchestra on "Sitting on Fire", while "Soul on Fire" is a soulful pop song - it's also the band's lead single for Songs in A&E, so I thought this would be a great song to represent this album with.
So, since back to full health, Spiritualized will be touring throughout Europe and the US to promote Songs in A&E, including massive festival appearances. You can find Songs in A&E on