3 posts tagged “david yazbek”
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WOW, another epic podcast, with co-hosts Derek & Soup. Although this episode is more topics-centric (RIAA, MP3s, and state of music), I think the next podcast will be half-topic and half casual.
Download this episode (41 min)
Some topics we touched on:
RIAA vs Muxtape, CDs are too expensive, music blogs, internet radio royalties going up twice as much as traditional radio, taping off the radio, whatever happened to recording hunting?, Taping Kills Music, concerts, what we're listening to...
Music used:
♥ David Yazbek - Introduction (davidyazbek.com)
♥ Weird Al - Don't Download This Song (weirdal.com)
♥ Hellsongs - Breaking the Law (hellsongs.com)
♥ Le Tigre - Get off the Internet (letigreworld.com)
♥ S*M*A*S*H - Take Your Breath Away ( myspace.com/llyc)
♥ Spin - Not In Love (spinrocks.com)
♥ Ladyscraper - Gangbanger (hellsongs.com)
♥ Ironlung - Liar (myspace.com/lifeironlungdeath)
♥ Jeff Hanson - I Don't Quite Remember (jeffhanson.net)
♥ P. Hux - Wear My Ring (parthenonhuxley.com)
♥ Elastica - Operate (live)
♥ AIDS Wolf - Down, Holy Ground (myspace.com/aidswolf)
If you want to join us on the podcast, send me an email - I will need your telephone number or Skype username.
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Okay, so these were all going to be different articles was actually meant to go live on May 6th to today, but you know how it is when things don't go exactly according to plan.
I'm actually feeling a little under the weather (coughing/horrible throat issues and too much mucus build up). I just feel incredibly miserable right now.
Item #1: Christopher's Rollo Armstrong article is featured on vox.com/music - but the real conspiracy is that doesn't feature any The Crimea.
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Item #2: One of the PR company that sends us music to review did some promo for us and among the 20 tracks, these are my favorite: Phil Anastasia and David Yazbek, only because they really deviate from the standard "you're listening to We Heart Music" script that they were probably given. Phil Anastasia especially cracked me up and I had to play that back a few times when I first heard it.
I do have a note I wanted to mention about Yazbek, I was shopping at Cheapo Records in Uptown. Yes, I still buy CDs, although I have to admit, often used. Anyway, I was in the very end of the Jazz area when I happened to see that distinctive Evil Monkey Man cover! I had to smile to myself as if there was some kind of inside joke with the punchline of "I saw you on W♥M, dude".
Item #3: By the way, speaking of Jazz, one of my favorite shows that I listen to is NPR's Jazz Profiles, which I get as a podcast.
This is such a great program. It's often very detailed, and in fact, the last episode I listened to on Charles Mingus was so long and rich with interviews and history that it was split up in two parts.
Even if you don't love Jazz, I think you'll enjoy listening to host Nancy Wilson as she takes you on a journey of some of American's famous (and not-so-famous) Jazz musicians.
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05/08/08 New York, @ Bowery Ballroom
05/09/08 Boston, MA @ Middle East 05/10/08 Montreal, QUE @ Lambi 05/11/08 Toronto, ON @ Mod Club 05/12/08 Chicago, IL @ Shuba’s 05/14/08 Vancouver, BC @ Red Room 05/15/08 Seattle, WA @ Triple Door 05/16/08 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir 05/18/08 San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 05/19/08 Los Ang, CA @ El Rey Theatre 05/31/08 Siesta Hässleholm 06/01/08 Blue Flowers London 06/02/08 Night & Day Manchester 06/03/08 Hi-Fi Club Leeds 06/04/08 Cargo London 06/06/08 Albert Brighton 06/07/08 Stealth Nottingham 06/08/08 King Tuts Glasgow 06/10/08 Jericho Tavern Oxford 06/11/08 ICA w/ El Perro del Mar London 06/12/08 Sugar Club Dublin 06/14/08 Hultsfred Festival Hultsfred 07/03/08 Quart Festival Norway 07/04/08 Arvika Festivalen Arvika 07/05/08 Roskilde Festival Roskilde 07/06/08 Eurockeennes Festival Belfort 07/31/08 Storsjöyran Ostersund 08/07/08 Öya Festival Oslo 08/08/08 Haldern Festival Lower Rhine 08/09/08 Way Out West Göteborg 09/05/08 Bestival Isle Of Wight |
Item #4: Lykke Li releases Little Bit EP on said Tuesday, and Buster called her album, Youth Novels:
Pretty much flawless. With a perfect balance of catchy sweet pop tunes, and depressing slow jams, it's going to be one of the best albums of 2008... if not the best.
Those are some pretty bold words.
Now, I actually listened to just one of her b-side, "Dance Dance Dance", and I'll have to say that it's actually pretty good. She has a very sweet voice, a little bit creepy, and I'm even going to refrain myself from saying "me lykke".
She's currently on tour with fellow Swedes, Anna Ternheim (read more) and headliner, El Perro Del Mar, who we've previously mentioned, many, many, times, throughout the US.
Item #5: Okay, I'm not even sure why this fascinate me, but apparently hot girl Scarlett Johansson has an album coming out called Anywhere I Lay My Head on May 20th. What probably saves her is that they're all Tom Waits cover songs!
There's not really too much I can add to this, except that I remember the first time I saw Johansson on Dan Clowes's "Ghost World", I thought she was going to go places. By the time "Lost in Translation" came out, she was already a star.
I don't know, maybe I see her differently now, but now I just group Johansson with other popstars and I can't really take her seriously.
That's all I can muster up, I'm heading back to bed now. Goodnight and thank you.
Links:
www.lykkeli.com
You can praise the lord
You can curse your fate
You can stand in line
You can lie in state
But the truth’s right there
On a paper plate
David Yazbek is not only a Tony award nominee for musicals like The Full Monty and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels but also an Emmy Award winning T.V. writer for Late Night with David Letterman, which may help explain the tenor of this album.
Let me say that any album that has the word monkey in the title already has my attention. And “Evil Monkey Man” quickly delivers the message in the first song, “Terrible Thing” a funky Stevie Wonder vibe where Yazbek sings about landing right in the middle of middle age and deciding to give up. So, if that’s the case, what’s the point of continuing on with the album? Well, there are a few reasons.
First, Yazbek has catchy tunes with cool titles like “Monkey Baby Hanging on a Chicken Wire” and “Bazooka Joe.” He also sings a couple of ballads like “A Blustery Wind” and “Steps of an Other Man’s House” that could fit nicely into a new musical. And interspersed between the songs is what can best be described as three musical interludes called The Traveler:
#1 (The Fecund Woods)
A
happy-go-lucky-trudge-of-a-romp, if that’s
possible.
#2 (He Stomps Rhythms Down to Hell)
A
jazz screed that sounds like a couple members of Metallica stumbled into an
all-night jam session.
#3 (Beside the Antifreeze Pond)
The
title of the song says it all.
My favorite song is “Never Get Out of This” a
fun-loving ode to fatalism. It has some of Yazbek’s best lyrics and it chugs
along with a Johnny Cash train beat, which is the beat of fate, which is a
reoccurring theme of this album.
So, if you are looking for a light hearted fare to
brighten up your day, you may want to take a pass. But if you are looking for smart, sarcastic
irony with a strong New York
attitude, you may want to pick up this album and listen to “Wasted”, probably
the first lament to a life unfulfilled buoyed by an uplifting samba beat.
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