3 posts tagged “mixel pixel”

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Morrissey, I've come to wish you an unhappy birthday. Heaven knows he's miserable now.

May 22, 2009
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Exit Clov

Morrissey Tour Dates
05/22/09 Apollo Manchester
05/23/09 Apollo Manchester
05/25/09 City Hall Salisbury
05/26/09 Mile End Troxy London
05/28/09 Brixton 02 Ace London
05/29/09 Brixton O2 Ace London
05/30/09 Brixton O2 Ace London
06/02/09 Grand Rex Paris
06/03/09 Aeronef Lille
06/05/09 Rockhal Club Luxembourg
06/06/09 Watt Rotterdam
06/08/09 Elizabeth Hall Antwerp
06/09/09 Capitol Offenbach
06/11/09 Palladium Cologne
06/12/09 Columbiahalle Berlin
06/14/09 Poer 2 Bremen
06/15/09 Rytmeposten Odense
06/17/09 KB Hallen Copenhagen
06/18/09 Ahaga Boras
06/20/09 Senstrumscene Oslo
06/22/09 Lisebergshallen Gothenberg
06/24/09 Hovet Stockholm
06/26/09 Tampere Arena Tampere
06/27/09 Cable Factory Helsinki
06/29/09 Maneshe St Petersburg
07/01/09 B1 Club Moscow
07/04/09 Tallin Rock Café Tallin
07/05/09 Riga Dream Factory Riga
07/07/09 Warsaw Palladium Warsaw
07/09/09 Archa Theatre Prague
07/11/09 Gasometer Vienna
07/13/09 Velvet Rimini
07/14/09 Velvet Rimini
10/23/09 Birmingham Symphony Hall
10/24/09 Oasis Swindon
10/26/09 Opera House Bournemouth
10/27/09 Royal Albert Hall London
10/29/09 Academy Leeds
10/30/09 City Hall Sheffield

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Morrissey

http://weheartmus...

Being a huge Morrissey/The Smiths fan, people often ask me: "What's your favorite Morrissey song?...

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Every Morrissey fan knows what today is: it's Steven Patrick Morrissey's 50^th Birthday.

The people over at The Music Slut (or at the very least, Matt, a self-proclaimed horn-rimmed glasses-wearing non-emo) are massive Morrissey/Smiths fan have compiled a their TMS♥MOZ.

They have been unveiling a cover everyday at 4pm until the end of May. Most of the tracks are downloaded directly from their website, with the exception of A Brief Smile's "Speedway". Possibly because it's a much longer track (larger file).

Since I'm actually kind of lazy when it comes to checking the website everyday, I've downloaded all the tracks currently and will probably forget the last five tracks. Well, that's just the way it goes.

Mojo Nixon - Girlfriend In A Coma

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Bill Nye (Momentisey) - "The Faster You Push Me"

So far, I've noticed a few duplicated covers: "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" (covered by Sharon Van Etten and Unicycle Loves You) and "Girlfriend in a Coma" (covered by Teddy Blanks and Mixel Pixel). Let's just face it, as far as "Girlfriend" is concerned: Mojo Nixon did it best. As for "Ignore", Bill Nye The Science Guy's version is pretty awesome.

Of all the songs, I was drawn the songs that rarely gets covered, like "Suffer Little Children" (not sure if I like the synth/electronic approach by Chris Garneau), "The Headmaster Ritual" (reduced to a slow piano and backup vocals by Max Vernon) and "November Spawned A Monster" (Microfilm's version has techno beats - a weird approach, but it's fun).

My favorite song so far is Exit Clov's "Sing Your Life". It's pretty faithful to the original, but with female vocals. They seem to understand this song needs a "lovely singing voice" and also the message of 'nothing lasts forever, so... do it now'.

I have included the original announcement below.

ANNOUNCING: TMS HEARTS MOZ (A COVERS ALBUM IN HONOR OF MOZZER’S 50TH BIRTHDAY)
Posted by m | 5.1.09 12:00 pm
As many of you are well aware, I’m a massive Morrissey fan. In fact, ‘massive’ might just be an understatement. As Mozzer’s 50th birthday approaches (May 22nd), I wanted to celebrate in some sort of special manner. After much deliberation, I decided that a covers project would be the perfect way for The Music Slut to mark the occasion. Over the course of the last few months, I’ve asked a bevy of my favorite artists to contribute tracks to TMS Hearts Moz. Highlighting a selection of their choice, the result is a 19 song compilation that includes renditions of Smiths favorites, Morrissey rarities and nearly everything in between. I’m so proud to present this to you, our dear readers, and I’m forever thankful to each of the acts that took time out of their busy schedules to submit their own interpretations of some of my most cherished tunes. Beginning on May 4th, and concluding on May 28th, one cover will be profiled & available for free download every weekday at 4PM EST.
The full list of artists included on TMS Hearts Moz (in alphabetical order) is as follows: A Brief Smile, Bridges & Powerlines, Chris Garneau, Deleted Scenes, Exit Clov, Free Blood, The Glass, Laura Palmer, Max Vernon, Microfilm, Mixel Pixel, My Burgundy Waltz, Pattern Is Movement, The Physics Of Meaning, Sharon Van Etten, Soren Anders, Spanish Prisoners, Teddy Blanks & Unicycle Loves You.
In addition to the digital LP, we’ll be teaming up with DJ Jess & the team behind Trash! for an unforgettable extravaganza on the evening of Moz’s 50th birthday. It will be held at New York’s Studio (at Webster Hall) on Friday, May 22nd. The celebration will feature live cover performances from A Brief Smile & Teddy Blanks in addition to a slew of surprises that we can’t reveal just yet. Much more info to come shortly. Dust off your dancing shoes & be certain save the date. Once again: MAY 22ND @ THE STUDIO!
Cover photo courtesy of yours truly. Manipulation via Blanks Space.

Feel like more Morrissey celebrations? Read more here at morrissey.weheartmusic.com. Look for Morrissey making his triumph return to Manchester tonight for his 50^th birthday bash at the Apollo Theater.

05/22/2009 11:08:54 ♥ vu () ♥ themusicslut.com ♥ itsmorrisseysworld.com ♥ true-to-you.net

Mixel Pixel, Let's Be Friends

Sep 25, 2008
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09/25/2008 07:27:30 ♥ written by derek (

/ www.pegritz.com)

Mixel Pixel - What Ever Happened to One

Mixel Pixel

Mixel Pixel (MySpace) is one of those "cute" bands whose sugary songs and kindergarten melodies usually make my teeth ache. They've even been dubiously graced with the abhorrent adjective "twee," which pretty much means "as sickeningly precious as an army of hummels and giant-eyed puppy paintings." The cover of their latest album, Let's Be Friends, is a crowd of little cartoon characters reminiscent of the doodles that I sketched in the margins of my notebooks in grade school. Now, I'm certainly not one of those stuffy critics who thinks childlike, let's-just-have-fun-and-write-some-nifty-little-songs music is inherently bad--but generally, the kind of over-self-consciously "cute" music typified by, say, the soundtrack to Juno just leaves a bad aspartame taste in my mouth. So why, then, do I like Mixel Pixel so much?

The answer's simple: their songs are fun and catchy, but behind the toy sounds and candycoated melodies, there's some real depth to Mixel Pixel's lyrics that give their youthful music a very grown-up appeal.

Mixel Pixel's history has a lot to do with their experienced sound. In 1995, founder Rob Corradetti was inspired to begin experimenting with recording by everything-and-the-kitchen-sink musical experimentalists like Beck and Ween, and was joined by collaborator Matt Kaukeinen when Rob relocated to Delaware in 1997. They released their first album, Mappyland, in 2001, after the duo had moved to Brooklyn. With the addition of third member Kaia Wong, the band was complete and began building a substantial following in the US and Canada with their adventurous music and imaginative live performances. To date, they've released a number of independent albums and three LPs on indie labels, the third and latest of which, Let's Be Friends, is now out on Mental Monkey Records.

MP's music is a playful composite of sounds: guitars, synths, old 1980s Casio keyboard rhythms, and sounds produced by a variety of musical toys. This gives them a very intimate kind of sound that immediately calls to mind visions of teenagers writing songs in someone's bedroom littered with toy keyboards and Fisher-Price drumsets. The production is much better than you'd imagine, though, as is the quality of the songwriting because, remember, Mixel Pixel have been around the block a few times. Though their music may hearken back to childhood noodlings with Mattel pianos, their songs are written from a mature perspective that nonetheless has not abandoned the glee of youth.

Let's Be Friends is a warm, tender little album of songs about friendship, very obviously written from the heart. Here's the band's official story behind the album:

Rob and Kaia wrote Let's Be Friends in the spring of 2007 following parallel break-ups from long term relationships. Helping each other get through tough times, they channeled their experiences - both concerning shared life on the road with the band and as individuals - into a semi-fictional, mostly-factual batch of songs.
At the core, Let's Be Friends is about a boy and a girl who are best friends in a band - in the Big City. It's about their friendship but it's also about their individual desires to find love, to seek adventure, and to follow their dreams. On a broader level it's about loving one another - not as lovers - but as friends.

Mixel Pixel - Sinking Feeling

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"What Ever Happened To One" opens the album with an 8-bit Casio beat that soon blossoms into a pleasant guitar riffs and synths that support Rob and Kaia's duet vocals. Though the song has a shimmery, upbeat sound, the lyrics speak of tough matters: at one point, Rob sings, "My parents are dead, they're up in the sky," and Kaia answers, "My parents divorced when I was five" but later the two come together to deliver the line, "You found me on a planet of five billion people" that hints at the power of friendship to overcome life's difficulties. "Sinking Feeling" has a touch of The Raveonettes in its occasional bursts of distorted guitars but is primary built of a pure acoustic guitar melody and a robotic rhythm and catchy lyrics that speak of everything from puffy stickers to French ticklers to cats lying in the sun. Even a track with a title as eye-rollingly cute as "Favorite Sweatshirt On" reveals a more experienced side, as does the title track, "Let's Be Friends," which reveals that the lines about parents in the first song were flat-out lies. In this way, the album depicts the growth and development of friendship in all its many aspects, the good as well as the not-so-good. "Fake Girlfriend," with its cheap, hollow beat and zippy melody, is a highlight as Rob compares the false love of a "fake girlfriend" to the true, solid love of a good companion. Finally, the album ends with the somewhat melancholy, but ultimately reassuring "Distant Station," in which Kaia affirms, "We only have so much time together before we die / so that is why I want to be your friend forever / on this little planet." This is not some saccharine, all-too-typical love song, but a final summation of the album's main point: boys and girls don't have to be lovers to love on another unconditionally.

Let's Be Friends is ultimately a sort of concept album that sounds a bit like Beck collaborating with Suzanne Vega, whose sunny music will bring a smile to your face even as the songs themselves deal with heartbreak, uncertainty, and other rocky subjects. It's consistently uplifting without suffering from forced cheerfulness, and at just a few minutes over a half hour long, it doesn't overstay its welcome or overstate its message. It's...comforting. Listening to this album will make you feel warm and fuzzy, but won't drown you in a false sense of oh-everything's-just-so-wonderful security. And that's how Mixel Pixel can be both cute and substantial at the same time.

I'm going to give this album to my best friend/pseudo-adopted sister Jamie as a belated birthday present this year. Fellas, ladies, if you've got a great friend of the opposite sex, I suggest you do the same. In a world supersaturated with albums about love and loss, it's nice to see a record that affirms the power of plain ol' friendship, which is always there for everybody (hopefully) even when the greatest love and the greatest loss are gone.

Oh, and get out there and see the band play! They'll be performing on September 26 at Bodega in Brooklyn, New York--and won't be playing live again until November 25 (at the Cake Shop, again in Brooklyn, with Yip-Yip)!

Links: mixelpixel.com myspace.com/mixelpixel

Reviews: MP3 Downloads

Apr 9, 2008
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This week's review are all based on one or two MP3s that I've either downloaded or were submitted to me for possible inclusion on W♥M. Needless to say, they are reviews based on a few songs, so these are very short articles. I think next week's reviews will all be based on "sexy" cover art.... oooh can't wait!

Mixel Pixel - Sinking Feeling

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Mixel Pixel
Apr 8, 2008 at 9:38 PM

When I was writing the article to Yip-Yip, I ran into Mixel Pixel by accident. I have to admit, I really enjoyed their songs on myspace. I noticed they have "Sinking Feeling" available for download from their forth-coming album Let's Be Friends in June.

The song is a duet between Kaia Wong and Rob Corradetti, with some quirky 8-bit sound and beats to make this song really catch and sweet.

Since I haven't heard any of the other songs, I would be really interested in checking out the rest of the new album. Look for Let's Be Friends on June 3rd from Mental Monkey.

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Micah - Goodbye

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Micah
Apr 8, 2008 at 9:10 PM

Micah is a modern day folk singer/songwriter from Rochester, New York. Going to school and working on his music craft on the side, he was able to produce a four-track EP last August at GFI Studios in Rochester.

Again, I don't need to stress just how important to be searchable and brand recognition, especially because "micah" is a name that a lot of people share. I don't want him to change his name, it's just an observation.

Of the three tracks sent to me, I liked "Goodbye", with its acoustic notes to start the song, followed by a sweet and soulful folk vocals. I'm not quite sure if the protagonist in this song is...

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Of Fate And Chance - Bravery

Of Fate and Chance
Apr 8, 2008 at 8:30 PM

It looks like New Jersey's Of Fate and Chance are going to do a massive "Extreme" tour this year. Looking at their myspace page they've already released five EPs and a full length, so these guys are constantly writing new material and (probably) evolving their music along the way.

Of the two mp3s, I received ("Bravery" and "Post Explosion"), I thought the first one is pretty good at displaying their energy and sound - but I also get the impression that they are very young. This is not meant as a putdown, but I could not picture someone in their late 30s...

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Tafra - Cheesy Epic View

Tafra
Apr 8, 2008 at 7:46 PM

Niklas Tafra is a Swedish guy living in London, and I suppose people just know him as Tafra. You know, kind of like Steven Patrick.

Series Two Records sent over some of Tafra's music, I reckon it's from his album Why Even Bother?, which you can buy by paypaling $13 to Seriestworecords(at)gmail.com. I could not for the life of me open up their biography which was saved in docx (why doesn't Word 2007 documents work with Word 2003? For god's sake, text is text is text, right?)

So I really couldn't tell you much about Tafra, other than that he played on the third Suburban Kids WIth Biblical Names album, which you may remember Randy writing an article on them.

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Kennedy - Lovechild

Kennedy
Apr 8, 2008 at 7:13 PM

Kennedy are a southern rock band based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Since Nashville is the home of all-things-Country / Western, you would expect to hear that influence in their music - but no! They're pretty much sound very alternative southern-sounding rock.... at least based on the two songs that were submitted to me.

According to their biography, the band have been around since 2004, honing their song playing skills.

I believe their album or EP will be called Slanky.SEXY.Rock, which pretty much described the songs I've heard.

Both "Cocaine" and "Lovechild" are available to download on their myspace. Check out the bassline in "Cocaine". It's really good, you can hear it very clearly in the song's...

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Pic Vicious-Systematik II

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Pic Vicious
Apr 8, 2008 at 6:46 PM

I just reviewed The Living Legends and I guess I'm already in the mood for underground hip-hop.

Already an established rapper frontsman for Illadapted, Pic, aka Pic Vicious have decided to concentrate more on his solo material. It would seem that he also has a sidekick woman in his group, which I believe her name is Letta Love.

His latest album will be called Welcome to the Clown Show, which as of this writing, it doesn't look like they've put together the cover artwork.

"Systematik II" features Love completing lyrics to Vicious to some computer noises and beeps. If they both perform with clown makeup, it should be a very interesting and fun show. Unfortunately, I didn't notice any live tour dates on their myspace.

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04/09/2008 08:05:46 vu my♥posts www.weheartmusic.com