5 posts tagged “nerd”

 
“We think it’s the best thing we’ve done” – Team Genius

Despite my lukewarm review of The Drums, I do occasionally endorse hip New York pop bands. Like Team Genius (claps, cheers, bears), whose natural charms and sweet odor make me blush.

Handsome Drew sent us the following update:

You can listen to a rough cut of “Love and Love Songs” on the band’s Myspace. The (currently) untitled sophomore album is expected to release in mid-September. If their previous creative ventures are telling, expect plenty of butt wigglin’ and ass grabbin’. It’s good, clean fun.

Keep checking their Myspace and website for information. For now, satisfy those indie pop hunger pains by supporting Team Genius Live!

·         Aug. 9 @ Cameo Gallery, Brooklyn NY (w/Pet Ghost Project)

·         Aug. 25 @ Monkeytown, Brooklyn NY (full album debut)

·         Sept. 17 @ Cameo Gallery, Brooklyn NY (w/XYZ Affair)

It's that time of year again... Glastonbury! Unless they've already been done, I might get some Ting Tings up, but for now I'm gonna complain about the Glasto organizer's plug pulling on N*E*R*D's set. I mean geez, 25 minutes late? That's two hours early compared to any gigs I've been to. It's not like the whole thing ain't gonna run late anyway, is it? Just get Lilly Allen and Lady Gaga to stop flashing their bits and changing costumes and you'll free up 25 minutes easy. But alas, two thirds through their set and N*E*R*D, having arrived just a little late for their slot, had their lead vocals cut and that was that, only the BBC highlights remain.

Even if you've not heard of N*E*R*D (that's "No one Ever Really Dies"), you'll likely know of founding member R&B producer Pharrell Williams. N*E*R*D are a collaborative effor between Pharell, Chad Hugo, Shay Haley and whoever they manage to drag in to band duties, and are pretty much the only band I've ever known to try and combine R&B style lyrics in to Hip-Hop / Rock tunes whilst trying to pass themselves off as an Indie / Rock band in the likes of metal mag Kerrang!. If it was anyone other than Pharell, I'm sure it'd crash and burn, and they've deffinately got their fair share of critics (especially for the lyrics), but the result is at least one extremely catchy album - Fly or Die - from which I've included the track Breakout but you really should check out the rest if you've not already.

- Chris"f*ck glas"topher

Hi.  It's just me, Lara (the 'we' is singularly inclusive).  I thought I'd start this week talking a bit about awesome things like impromptu street jams and hot pants, and non-awesome things like Ryan Adams quitting music (which is old news but still totally funny-sad!).

Team Genius in the streets of Brooklyn

Brooklyn blog Hooves on the Turf recently filmed the kids of Team Genius being all silly and adorable.

Credit:  Sarahana @ Hooves on Turf

Clubhouse Jäger (Minneapolis, MN) / DJ Hot Pants / HOMG! (OMG, hot pants!)

Saturday was VD (Vu hates VD).  What better way to celebrate love things than by dancing to some funk (music that stimulates many a love thing), courtesy of Hot Pants.

Hot Pants is a collective of DJs that spin under the single moniker.  I recently learned that real DJs never choose their own name, they earn it (HOMG!).  How do you suppose the DJs Hot Pants earned their name?  Did they fight for it?  Maybe they engaged in some sort of musical rumble (much like the dance-off in “West Side Story”)?  My sincere guess is that ‘hot pants’ relates to the style of music they spin—groovy, bootylicious, makes-a-girl-wanna-pull-on-a-pair-of-short-shorts-and-shake-it music—but I could be wrong and it could have involved some serious ownage.

See Hot Pants, second Saturday of the month, at Club Jäger in downtown Minneapolis.  Music starts at 10pm (no cover).  Info here and here.

Ryan Adams blogs about being misunderstood in music, then quits music

I wish I read celebrity blogs.  Celebrities are people too, but better people, and they have sadness just like you and me!  Recently, I discovered via Stereogum, that Ryan Adams blogged about his decision to stop making music (and to stop blogging) and then later went back and deleted the blog.  Fortunately, the Internet preserves everything, and thanks to Stereogum, you can read about Adams’s soul searching/destroying here. 

Back already?  I know.  It’s long and (mostly) uninteresting.  Here are the highlights:

“i won't be blogging here anymore either- but not for effect- it just is not being kind to myself- i need a life that is mine- i need to grow up and grow in to who i have subtly been working back towards since i stopped all that nonsense and i know also no matter what i choose to do in the music world, because i chose to do things my way and never lie i will always be viewed as an "asshole" ( i hear and have seen things in the past) and i am not, and i know the truth and i know who i am.”

“…no it is not monetarily as rewarding as people would like you to believe and yes, it is soul destroying. especially when you spend your life trying to write about the really difficult stuff and you stand there losing your way and people yell at you like you were in a circus. when it was your dream to matter and you realize one day, it never mattered- i mean, i am a punch-line and a footnote in what is worse to yell at someone besides "free-bird". i mean, i lost…”

Honestly, I feel for the guy.  It must be hard when even the career eulogy he wrote for himself is accidentally amusing.  But then you wonder why is it amusing?  Because it’s Ryan “Worse than ‘Free Bird’” Adams?  Or because he publicly declared his retirement by writing a very, very long blog about it (with no capitalization and minimal punctuation, which basically screams “I’m too depressed for grammar”)?  Call me a softie, but I’m going with the latter.

We’ll see if the retirement sticks.

 12/11/2008 08:16:10  ♥ written by lara ()

Just in the (Saint) nick of time…  (Zing!)

Team Genius releases music video for “Take Me Home”

Let’s recap:  indie pop band from New York (by way of the Midwest); two brothers, two sisters, and some unrelated friends; dance-friendly nerdy beats, fun-to-frank (but never derisive) lyrics, merriment, tomfoolery, beers, and, apparently, bears. 

The Team recently released a video for “Take Me Home,” off their self-titled debut album.  I sat down to watch it and these are my thoughts.

A stream of consciousness stream of “Take Me Home”:

There’s Chad.  He looks like a character from Zoobilee Zoo. 

Chad’s waiting for the train.  He’s just a bear underground, trying to get out of Brooklyn (is that not an existential dilemma we can all relate to?).

People are staring.  A man dressed as a bear hardly seems worth a New Yorker’s attention.  I would be thankful that he isn’t wiping his bum with a used surgical glove or performing a one-man interpretation of Annie Get Your Gun.

I love that view from the bridge.  See it at night and you’ll understand why a rational, college-educated professional would share a pantry-sized apartment with seven music interns just to be in this city.

Chad is in Times Square.  I just noticed that his bear hands have thumbs but not fingers, which makes me wonder how he buttons his shirt.  Also, is he hairy underneath the shirt?  These are serious, important questions.

The mood is exciting at first—Manhattan adventures!  Then it becomes somber when Chad gets his camera stolen and is unable to hail a cab and has trouble with a map.  What does a man-bear do when he’s feeling down?  Does he find a place where everybody knows his name?

Of course.

This video has to be an homage to this video.

Some final thoughts:

“Take Me Home” (the song) is a little world weary and jaded.  It seems to be about wanting comfort, sanity, someone to share in the apathy, and escape from the terrible distaste of youth.  I get that (high five).  The video is a little absurd and (so!) cute, but it doesn’t stray from the song’s message about finding a “home” that fits.  In the end, bears need families too! (Even though they are not social animals and are often mean and scary.)  Bears, bees, hipsters, whatever, we’re all the same inside (guts and feelings).  Thanks, Team Genius!

An invitation:

Did you know that Team Genius is the Monthly Featured Artist at Jezebel Music?  Indeed.  For a chance to see the members dressed biblically, check out Jezebel’s holiday show Dec. 18 at Union Pool in Brooklyn, NY.  While Team G may not officially endorse Christmas, they do encourage the wearing of festive sweaters, moustaches, and large adult diapers.  More info can be found at the Jezebel website.

 10/06/2008 20:13:20  ♥ written by lara ()

Team Genius still sound like big fat dorks (minus the ‘fat.’  They are probably very svelte).  Only now they sound like grown-up dorks, with fancypants studio polish and cool thumbprint-made-from-cassette-tape-tape album artwork.  Where the Hooray EP lacked in vocal brawn, Team G’s self-titled release has plenty of chub in its gut.  It’s possible that Drew Hermiller’s a man now (often puberty is late); it’s also possible that Team Genius is actually a team of geniuses (possible but not probable).  Genius or not, they certainly are—prepare yourself for a music pun—hitting the right notes with the boy-girl harmonies and the toe-tappin’ jangle pop.  Let’s delve further, shall we?

Upon further observation, the cool thumbprint-made-from-cassette-tape-tape is actually a cool thumbprint-made-from-mixtape-tape, which is obviously a reference to season 2, episode 6 of the popular Nickelodeon show “Salute Your Shorts,” when Budnick develops a sad crush on Dina and (presumably) makes her many Slayer mixtapes; unfortunately she is unable to return his love because he has long hair.  Eventually Budnick tries to change himself for Dina, who is a rich bitch and incapable of feelings; the pinnacle of this transformation is his decision to cut his hair.  I think Team Genius is at a similar crossroad as Budnick, trying to find that balance between silly and serious, spontaneity and control, fun and work, long hair and Super Cuts crew cuts.  The fellas (and ladies) may have one foot in the sticky mess of youth, but it’s clear that they’re making a genuine effort to explore broader avenues beyond the nerd-core limits.

“Take Me Home” is absolutely tits:  snappy electro-funk-meets-downtown dance dive, as realized by a hip suburban jazz choir.  Interestingly, the song is not about gettin’ bizay in da club and going home with lots of shorties; the lyrics, in fact, are “reflective” and serious (but still fun).  Although they maintain some of the low-tech unfussiness that made Hooray enjoyable, the Team’s lyrical psyche has definitely evolved (“Let’s All Sleep Together” and “I’m Just an Idiot” have been replaced with “The Wise Ones All Give Up” and “Meanderings and Musings”).  Even “Sing Song,” a cheeky little ditty-bop about singing and being loud but not sorry sounds better post-studio magic (and this was one of the standout tracks of Hooray).

Team Genius is still a Brooklyn band (but not the sucky one).  They buy things at stores (just like us!), have Myspace pages (just like us!), and play live shows (not like us).  They’re debut full-length album will be available tomorrow (Oct. 7).  You can get it somewhere (the ‘where’ is TBD; check their website for more info).