2 posts tagged “bad education”

Tilly & The Wall - Pot Kettle Black Tilly & The Wall 2 comments Tour Dates 07/04/08 Richard on Richards Vancouver,BC 07/05/08 Neumo’s Seattle, WA 07/08/08 Great American Music Hall SF, CA 07/10/08 Echoplex Los Angeles, CA 07/11/08 EpiCenter San Diego, CA 07/12/08 Modified Phoenix, AZ 07/13/08 Club Congress Tucson, AZ 07/16/08 Granada Dallas, TX 07/17/08 Emo’s Austin, TX 07/19/08 One Eyed Jack’s New Orleans, LA 07/22/08 Social Orlando, FL 07/23/08 Jackrabbits Jacksonville, FL 07/24/08 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA 07/25/08 Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, NC 07/26/08 Black Cat Washington DC 07/27/08 First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, PA 07/29/08 Music Hall of Williamsburg NY 07/30/08 Bowery Ballroom New York City, NY 07/31/08 Paradise Boston, MA 08/02/08 Mod Club Toronto, Ontario 08/03/08 Hartwood Acres Pittsburg, PA 08/06/08 Abbey Pub Chicago, IL 08/07/08 Sokol Auditorium Omaha, NE Discography [Jun 2004] Wild Like Children [May 2006] Bottoms of the Barrels [Jun 2008] O

I've been hearing a ton of stuff about Tilly and the Wall for months now. They have a new album, O, coming out next Tuesday, June 17^th.

You might have already heard their latest hit "Pot Kettle Black", a song that you can download for free from their record label, Team Love, or from Spin.

This indie pop band is from Omaha, Nebraska. They took their name from Tillie and the Wall, a children's book written by Leo Lionni. I want to say that most people will probably followed them because of their relationship to Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes).

Incidentally, I was actually surprised to find out that Oberst is co-owner and founder of Team Love, but I suspect that the majority of the label is run by Nate Krenkel, an ex-Sony executive.

Tilly and the Wall - Bad Education Tilly and the Wall on Letterman! Tilly and the Wall - Dust Me Off 7 comments

It would seem that Steve Lamacq (the famous BBC DJ) championed Tilly & The Wall early in their career, and they made national splash on David Letterman. Hopefully with the promotion of O that they will get a another appearance on Letterman.

Compared to their previous efforts, it sounds to me as if this new album production sounds much better, but still retaining their DIY and Synth. They also seem to enjoy using non traditional sound in their songs. Such experiments are the tap dancing on "Too Excited", accordion with marching and stomping on "Poor Man's Ice Cream", guitar distortion on "Tall Tall Grass". I actually really like the quirky addition, it's never overly distracting from Kianna Alarid's vocals.

My favorite songs off this album are more pop-oriented in such songs as "Jumbler", "Dust Me Off" (such a great melody on this one) and, of course the very danceable "Pot Kettle Black".

I was kind of disappointed to not see new artwork from band member Derek Pressnall, who paints all their cover. But despite having a very simple (and crappy) cover art for O (see update below), the music will make up for it. Look for O this Tuesday, they're already shipping the CD if you order it from team-love.com.

Update: Regarding album artwork, that is not the finalized art. According to Fanatic:

As a band who surround themselves not only with artistic friends, but also artistic fans, Tilly and the Wall have invited everyone in their community to contribute to the cover art for their record. o will have limited edition runs of handmade prints available by different artists that will act as the record's cover, giving the band's fans a unique piece of art for both their album and their walls. Each month, the record will have a different cover; or, of course, you could very well create your own. The frame of the cover art allows the listener to put him/herself into the album, and believe us: this is a record into which you'll want to pour yourself.

Links: www.tillyandthewall.com myspace.com/officialtillyandthewall www.team-love.com

"Moon River" is a 1961 song, written by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini (you know, that Pink Panther theme guy?). It was featured in the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's at the scene where Audrey Hepburn clumsily pretends to play the guitar and singing the words to "Moon River".

It was a big hit for Mercer and Mancini and hundreds of musicians have covered this song. I am only including some of the more interesting rendition of this song here. (You can listen to even more Moon River rendition here).

MORRISSEY
The original song is less than two minutes, so it's quite strange that Morrissey decided to release a NINE FREAKING MINUTES version. I believe there is an edited version of this song available on 7" or radio promo or something, but I don't have that handy.

DIVING WITH ANDY
The singer's French, so it's cute hearing her say some of the lyrics... much like...

RITA ERIKSEN & EMI FUJITA Same thing as above, only Japanese accent. Listen to her try to say "crossing". MIA RIDDLE AND HER BAND (aka MARISA RIDDLE) This song is a great closer for any album, unfortunately it's not on the album artwork displayed. The song is available from her myspace page (you have to scroll down to the last song). ESH No lyrics, just instrumental piano and stuff. There's plenty of non-lyrics version out there, this one didn't make me fall asleep.

SARAH VAUGHN She's a Jazz singer and made "Moon River" to a jazzy tune. KID KOALA It's actually just him mixing the song. It sounds warped, and it's probably best if you saw him doing it live via youtube THE DIVINE COMEDY This song is not listed on the second cd "Rarities" off the "A Secret History" Book/CD release. I suspect it's because they ran out of space, or they never got permission from the license owner... so this song is the last hidden track. Quite fitting too.

thedharmablues wrote: Apr 3, 2007 at 7:43 PM

The eeriest cover of Moon River can be found in the soundtrack to La Mala Eduacacion.

thedharmablues wrote: Apr 4, 2007 at 4:12 AM

It took me ages to find it but it is uploaded :)

It turns out it is more haunting when accompanied by the scene in the film.

Jix wrote: Apr 4, 2007 at 5:51 AM

I have a cottage on Moon River, and I know the story behind the song... I think it was Harry Mancini who came to Moon River, and met the owner of Moon River Marina...who is the "huckleberry friend" in the song. For any who don't know, Moon River is apart of Georgian Bay, in Ontario, Canada.

Alex Leonard replied to crankypants’ comment: Apr 5, 2007 at 4:26 AM

I have a copy of the REM version of Moon River - I've posted it up over here

I could have sworn I had a Tiny Tim version but can't find it.. must have imagined him singing it.

Isie wrote: Apr 21, 2007 at 3:19 PM

I think Audrey's version is the best. I must have watched Breakfast at Tiffany's more than ten times and that song will always make me cry. You can watch the video, it's on YouTube: Audrey Hepburn - Moon River

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