4 posts tagged “information society”
|
chairliftmusic.com ♥ myspace.com Wow, such a great pop song, that "Bruises" song. It's a perfect blend of catchy bass and Rilo Kiley-esque vocals from Caroline Polachek and trying to impress someone with handstand but only regretting getting nothing but black and blue bruises for your trouble. And just when you thought "yes, what a great song", the song turns into a duet! Then ends on a non-sense "doo doo doo", just for good measure. What I like about them, based on their album, Does You Inspire You, is that their lyrics aren't all about love and relationships: "Garbage" is about all the junk we produce ("we're making shit for you to throw away!") and "Planet Health" seems to be a community of health nut and something about putting out fires by stop, drop, and rolling. I won't read too much into their lyrics, because they seem cryptic enough. What I think the band is having trouble with is what musical direction they want to take. They're either really catchy pop song ("Bruises", "Garbage") or no-so-pop music ("Ceiling Wax", "Make Your Mind Up", "Le Flying Saucer Hat" - although the beeps are awesome on this song). I know this sound harsh, but I feel that most people who hear "Bruises" and expecting the band to sound like this for the other 12 tracks might be in for a disappointment. As evidence, I submit one Kate II, who recently saw Chairlift on tour with PB&J. I get the impression that was how the audience react to their show: kind of zombie like, until that "one song" came on. Still, that song is so good and you'll play the pants off that song and ignore what I've said about the rest of the album. The band's currently taking their hit song on the road:
06/11/09 Bonnaroo Manchester, TN 06/18/09 Echo Los Angeles, CA 06/21/09 Detroit Bar Costa Mesa, CA 06/22/09 Casbah San Diego, CA 07/18/09 Lovebox London 07/19/09 Latitude Festival Southwold 07/26/09 Secret Garden Party Cambridgeshire 08/01/09 All Points West Liberty State Park, NJ 08/08/09 Lollapalooza Chicago 08/13/09 Oya Festival Oslo 08/14/09 Way Out West Goteborg 08/16/09 Summer Sundae Leicester Get "Evident Utensil" free from killeropeners.net |
|
yeahyeahyeahs.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter Let me be clear: we are not a YYY website, I get questions about the banner all the time, showing one model/singer Marijne van der Vlugt. So, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are pretty well-established now, with their third studio album, It's Blitz!. If you've liked the old yyy with their experimental noises and guitars, you may not like their new album - even though I think it's the best and most easily accessible music from them. If you think that's a joke, well the yolk's on you. Because I'm serious, this is their best work... I would recommend It's Blitz!, not the over-hyped Show Your Bones album, to fans that are just getting into the yyys. The band seems to mostly a collaboration between singer/fashion-trendsetter Karen O and guitarist Nick Zinner. They seem to share most of the spotlight, and you almost feel bad for whatthedrummer's dude (Brian Chase). But I don't think he minds it much, based on his incredibly detailed blog. For the most part, the I really liked the electro-dance songs: "Zero", "Heads Will Roll", and "Dull Life" sounds anything but dull. There's also a few tuned down tracks, "Hysteric" and "Little Shadow", which are great as you can really take the time and hear Karen O singing. If you get the deluxe edition of the album, which I'll recommend, it comes with four bonus acoustic tracks. Maybe you can pick it up at one of their shows:
06/10/09 Club 101 El Paso, Texas 06/12/09 Bonnaroo Manchester, Tennessee 06/24/09 T-Mobile In Music Festival Zagreb 06/26/09 St. Gallen Festival St. Gallen 06/27/09 Le Rock Dans Tous Ses Etats Evreux 06/28/09 Glastonbury Festival Worthy Farm 06/30/09 Openair Arena Vienna 07/01/09 Roxy Prague 07/03/09 Eurockeenes Belfort 07/04/09 Werchter Festival Werchter 07/05/09 Roskilde Roskilde 07/07/09 Docks Hamburg 07/10/09 T In The Park Kinross, Scotland 07/11/09 Oxegen Festival Punchestown, Dublin 07/18/09 Quebec City Summer Festival Quebec City, Quebec 07/19/09 Ottawa Bluesfest Ottawa, Ontario 07/31/09 All Points West Jersey City, New Jersey 08/28/09 Rock en Seine Paris 08/29/09 Leeds Festival Leeds 08/30/09 Reading Festival Reading |
|
antlersmusic.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter I've mentioned before that I think a band is important/notable when they have a Wikipedia page... as usually I rely on the user-submitted website for a lot of research. Unfortunately, The Antler's Wiki page tells you nothing about this mysterious band... only to mention that their latest release, Hospice, was "critically acclaimed". Upon digging, NPR calls Hospice Best Record of 2009 So Far. The band seems to center around Peter Silberman, who's been having a lot of success. He recently signed with Frechkiss Records. Apparently the album, Hospice, was inpired by the idea of caring for a terminal patient, who's mentally abusive. It's a difficult situation because they're the one that's dying... This will all be suddenly clear when you hear "Epilogue", which tells the story in song. So, I'll have to say that listening to the album was a struggle for me. It is very atmospheric and you really need to listen with headphones to try and catch everything. The vocals are often drowned in a sea of noise and it feels like shoegazy/spacey for me. It's also too dense for me, and it seems like the sort of music that Pitchfork would love (and they do). I would suggest checking out "Sylvia" as a sample song, but it's a bit too harsh and loud. Instead, I'll direct you to check out "Two". There's a lot of interesting sound on this song, and the vocals sounds like it's being sung far, far away from the microphone. Oh yeah, tour dates:
06/10/09 BAR PINK San Diego, CA 06/11/09 EL REY* LOS ANGELES, CA 06/12/09 VELVET JONES* Santa Barbara, CA 06/13/09 BIMBOS* San Francisco, CA 06/14/09 DRUNKEN UNICORN+ (Peter Solo) Atlanta, GA 06/16/09 LOCAL 506+ Chapel Hill, NC 06/17/09 OUTBACK LODGE+ Charlottesville, VA 06/18/09 IOTA+ Arlington, VA 06/19/09 M ROOM+ Philadelphia, PA 06/21/09 MAGIC STICK# Detroit, MI 06/26/09 SOUNDFIX presents @ ROOFTOP FILMS New York 07/18/09 PITCHFORK FESTIVAL Chicago, IL 07/21/09 MAGIC STICK# Detroit, Michigan 07/22/09 HORSESHOE TAVERN# Toronto 07/23/09 PETIT CAMPUS# Montreal 07/24/09 JERKY’S# Providence, RI 07/25/09 IRON HORSE# Northampton, MA 08/21/09 MERCURY LOUNGE (record release!) New York 09/12/09 MONOLITH FESTIVAL Morrison, CO 09/13/09 MONOLITH FESTIVAL Morrison, CO * w/ Au Revoir Simone, + w/ Cotton Jones, # w/ Frightened Rabbit |
|
hootsandhellmouth.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter So, the first thing I think about when I hear Hoots and Hellmouth's sophomore album, The Holy Open Secret, is that they are good old country folks. You can't help but smile when you hear their music, that's for sure. It would seem that the band name comes from their two primary songwriters: Sean Hoots and Andrew "Hellmouth" Gray (the nickname comes from an ex-girlfriend). The band came together as part of the West Chester University music scene in Philadelphia in 2005. Obviously, as I previously mentioned, I was drawn to the happier songs (banjo-picking "You and All of Us", "Watch Your Mouth"), while the softer, more introspective songs ("Ne'er Do Well", "Family Band") fits well enough in the album, but I don't know how well-receive they will be performed live. To me, they seem like a high-energy live band. It's also worth noting when I saw "What Good Are Plowshares If We use Them Like Swords", this is the first time I've ever heard the word plowshare used in a song. It made me smile as I think of Magic the Gathering. Yes, they're on tour:
06/09/09 The Redstone Room Davenport, IA 06/10/09 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN 06/11/09 Shank Hall Milwaukee, WI 06/13/09 Intersection+ Grand Rapids, MI 06/14/09 Ribfest Chicago - North Stage Chicago, IL 06/18/09 joe’s pub New York, NY 06/19/09 Gullifty’s Camp Hill, PA 06/20/09 Southern Shore Music Festival Millville, NJ 07/03/09 Jewish Mother* Virginia Beach, VA 07/04/09 Jewish Mother* Virginia Beach, VA 07/09/09 Club Passim Cambridge, MA 07/10/09 Empire Dine & Dance Portland, ME 07/11/09 StageOne Fairfield, CT 07/16/09 The Basement Nashville, TN 07/17/09 JJ’s Bohemia# Chattanooga, TN 07/18/09 The Beacon Pub Swannanoa, NC 07/19/09 Unplugged in the Park @ Park Tavern Atlanta, GA 07/21/09 The Melting Point Athens, GA 07/22/09 The Evening Muse Charlotte, NC 07/23/09 The Camel Richmond, VA 08/05/09 Musikfest - Liederplatz Stage Bethlehem, PA 08/07/09 Infinity Hall Norfolk, CT 08/14/09 Summerfest Society Owen Sound, ON 09/11/09 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI + w/ Rev Horton Heat! * with The Hackensaw Boys # w/ Madeline and The Ginger Envelope |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
06/08/2009 01:25:28 ♥ vu (
)
♥weheartmusic.com♥podcast.weheartmusic.com♥news.weheartmusic.com
A while back, in a discussion with a fellow W♥M writer, I told him that I've always liked "themed" posts. One of my idea was to do a special kitchen utensils article, about bands' names involving 'spoon' or 'fork' or 'knife'. At the time, it sounded really cool, I mean, far out, wouldn't it be a blast to have these bands go on tour together?
Well, it sounded cool at the time. When it came to executing the article, I found myself for the lack of time and commitment (especially because I've been spending so much time devoted to watching DVDs and reading nowadays).
I started doing research on utensil bands, and, of course, most of these bands refused to accommodate any requests that I made regarding correspondence.
Anyway, I have settled on focusing on these bands below. I present to you, the perfect Utensil bands!
|
SPOON
spoontheband.com ♥ myspace.com
My friend, Robin, told me that Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was the "best album of the year". That was in 2007. Of course, with a recommendation like that, I had to check them out. At least give it a try, you know? She's not
wrong, but given the sheer amount of music released in '07, she can't
be right either? I will have to say that for an indie rock album, I did enjoy the various brass instruments thrown in there on "The Underdog". And I did like Britt Daniel's vocals, which sounds like a lazy Paul Westerberg. They are not afraid of experimenting with unconventional noises either, like the piano-driven "The Ghost Of You Lingers" features weird loops and feedback, giving a sense of a spirit in the song. Picking between two of the best song on Ga ("Eddie's Ragga" and "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb"), I decided to go with the former. It looks like this Texan band is playing mostly in California (they seem to really love the Fillmore):
20 Sep 2008 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA 22 Sep 2008 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA 23 Sep 2008 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA 24 Sep 2008 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA |
fork.fi ♥ myspace Not quite acapella (there are actual music) and not quite glam, this is a Finnish pop band, consisting of two boys (Winston Chill and Miles Precious) and two girls (Chiq LaDesire and Angel d'Ville) and something called "The Greg". Looking at their website, it looks like they've released two albums, but in fact they have over four albums, with the latest called Games We Play from 2007. As a cover lover, I was drawn to their 2005's Cover to Cover, an all-covers album. Of course, I don't have any of their albums, so here's a video for for Fork's version of the Bon Jovi's classic, "You Give Love a Bad Name".
Having seen the entire thing, I can only describe this as cheesy. Especially when the Metallica guy shows up! |
|
|
THE KNIFE
theknife.net ♥ myspace.com
The Knife is a pretty electronic duo (Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer) from Sweden, who I've previously briefly mentioned their Christmas Raindeer song. Mostly beats and electronic, Andersson does lend her vocals on 99% of their songs - at least from what I've heard on their 2006 album Silent Shout. If you happen to get the limited edition version of this album, it comes with a bonus live disc - featuring one of their best-known song, "Heartbeats" done live. I will also mention that not only are they loved in the US by Pitchfork (they named Silent Shout best album of 2006), but also in their home country where they won six Swedish Grammies:
What is amazing is that they were nominated for six - and had won all six! It looked like it was a busy year for the duo in 2006 and 2007, but surprisingly, currently, the band is on a three-year hiatus as Olof is determined to make his DJ stuff as "Coolof". I'm certain you'll hear from The Knife once again in 2010. |
SPOONFORK
spoonthefork.com ♥ myspace.com
Also from Sweden and also a duo, is the garagey/indie rock band, Spoonfork. Their 2008 debut album, All Is Well from Gourmé Records, is receiving rave reviews all across the board. Spoonfork's biography lists that they started just last year by one-man-musician Oscar Lundin. I suppose it wasn't long before he recruited his friend, a "classical guitarist" named Adam Olson. Between the two of them, they create this kind of White Stripes/The Strokes sounding music, but with lots of bass and guitar riffs. In true punk attitude, all their songs were recorded with one take, resulting in some raw rock and roll. This is what I like about talented bands, the ability to play and record something in one take. If there are any imperfections/mistakes, it only adds to the charm of the song. Although, as I previously mentioned, these guys are from Sweden, Oscar Lundin's vocals styles sounds as if he's from Missippipi - so their songs tend to come off like southern rock. Most of the songs I enjoyed aren't particularly radio friendly, especially the 9-minute epic "The Undertaker" and "Bustin' Heads for Dr Death" (both songs seem to be inspired by horror movies). The later song, "Dr Death" sounds as if it is actually two songs. It sounds to me like during recording, Lundin thought "fuck it, I'm going to continue playing the song and who knows where it's going to go!" If you like what you heard, you can pick up their album on CD Baby and while you're at it, download their free The Zombie EP via Gourmé Records.
|
|
Tour
01/05/08 Trocadero Theatre - Philadelphia, PA 01/06/08 El Corazon - Seattle, WA 01/13/08 DNA Lounge - San Francisco, CA 01/18/08 Elysium - Austin, Texas Album Discography
Band Members
Links |
|
|
I saw my sister over the Thanksgiving holiday and we were talking about the first CD we bought. We've previously were both buying and sharing cassettes album and, according to my sister, our first CD was going to be special. We pooled our money together and we bought Information Society's Hack. I don't even think we even had a CD Player back then (as those were quite expensive in 1991).
In this entry, I'll just be talking about Hack, as Information Society's history is both long and rich.
Most people know Information Society through their hit song "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" from their debut album (I say debut because Creatures of Influences seems more of a very long EP). That self-titled album sold very well, but my first album I bought was Hack on cassette, before replacing it with the CD version co-owned with my sister.
Hack remain one of my all-time favorite album. I know all the songs by heart and it was really the first album that introduced me to sampling and mashups. I can't even tell you how often I listened to this album non-stop throughout high school. I even spent hours reading and looking at the liner notes.
From the liner notes, I was able to tell that all the sampling and loop hack songs were by Think Tank. I've long thought that this was an independent DJ, but I found out that it's basically Paul Robb's alter ego.
Two singles were released from this album, Think and How Long - which I own both cassingles (I also have "Think" on Maxi-CD Single). "Now That I Have You" was considered for release, but only the 12" Promo exists. If you asked me, I would've chosen "Fire Tonight" or "Mirrorshade", as I felt these were stronger songs.
The entire album works as a gapless album, between each main song (usually written by Paul Robb) are Think Tank's samples. Kurt Harland did write about five songs on the album, but some of them seem to be more arranging and programming samples.
If you love 80s synth-pop songs, this is such a great album. It's pure pop, and closed with a wonderful instrumental called "Chemistry". For a long time, I ended most of my mixtapes with this song.
On the subject of the album being called Hack, here is an excerpt from Harland:
A great deal was made of the name, "HACK". We were using the name much more loosely than most people assumed. True, we were thinking of computer hacking, but we were also implying the idea of musical hacks, meaning, getting the job done efficiently and moving on. Or, as Jim liked to say, it meant that "we cut up meat!". Truth is, things like that rarely mean as much to the band as they do to reporters and fans.
Currently, Information Society are back together. They've just released Synthesizer in October and planning on some tour dates in 2008.
EDIT: From Patrick:
Kurt is back in the band and is doing all vocals on the live tour. He also did vocals for one song on Synthesizer and will do all vocals on future albums.
There's a tour information page here:
http://dancing-ferret.com/isjangig.htm
12/01/2007 00:32:33
vu
my♥posts
www.insoc.org
informationsociety.us
I had a few cassingles for Information Society, so I'm going to put them on the playlist for this week! I love them so much !!
You may remember them back in the 80s with their big hit "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)", which had a big problem with the sampling of Leonard Nimoy from Star Trek.
My Groups
-
Human Rights Updated: 19 minutes ago
-
song of the day Updated: 50 minutes ago
-
We♥Music (host) Updated: 50 minutes ago
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
