947 posts tagged “vu”
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ELIZABETH & THE CATAPULT
elizabethandthecatapult.com ♥ myspace.com
The last time we mentioned Elizabeth and the Catapult, the song "Race You", went straight to the top ten on The Hype Machine. And it's easy to see why, the song is such a fun and cute pop song.
This Christmas song, "Christmas with the Jews", is also fun and cute (and not to mention quite short). But what you're thinking when you're listening to this song, is "er, aren't you forgetting Hanukkah?"
Maybe you can ask them if you see them live:
myspace.com ♥ twitter.com
When I first heard of The Joy Formidable last year, I was impressed. I said I saw "lot of potential"
in this band. Based on the free Christmas song, "My Beerdrunk Soul is
Sadder than a Hundred Dead Christmas Trees" (available at musicglue.com), I'm still loving the vocals by Ritzy.
Maybe there was a problem with my download, but the MP3 track is 4:56, where the last 30 seconds of the song is complete and utterly garbage... it sounds like it was encoded in error and not part of the song. I've edited out the crap part for you.
The tour information they sent me is as follows:
themanchesterorchestra.com ♥ myspace.com
We're on Day 10 of the 12 Days of Christmas,
so hurry on over if you're a fan of the Manchester Orchestra. Each of
these songs are acoustic live versions of their song. My only complaint
is that you have to listen to these songs on the computer - so if
you've got 30 minutes to spare, sit and listen away.
My favorite track is "One Hundred Dollar", you can simply hear the anger as singer Andy Hull asks to borrow $100. While the song is short and doesn't offer much explanation, you, as the audience makes up your own background to the song. Anyway, the song is from their latest album, Mean Everything to Nothing, they'll probably be playing loads of their new songs on tour:
siamusic.net ♥ myspace.com
Finally, we have Sia. This actually has nothing to do with Christmas, unless you count getting a new music video as a holiday gift. But just talking about the video for "You've Changed" isn't enough to warrant its own article, so I thought I might as well stuck her here.
Sia has always seem to me to be this child trapped in a grown-up's body. The latest video is wonderful, it features this weird stop-motion, "dress up" video-gamey feel to it. I don't know who's idea it was, I'll bet it's a combination of Sia's child-mind and director Dennis Liu of @radical.media, but it came together pretty great.
Be sure to watch the high-resolution video of it (you'll need it to read the song lyrics scrolling at the bottom).
elizabethandthecatapult.com ♥ myspace.com
The last time we mentioned Elizabeth and the Catapult, the song "Race You", went straight to the top ten on The Hype Machine. And it's easy to see why, the song is such a fun and cute pop song.
This Christmas song, "Christmas with the Jews", is also fun and cute (and not to mention quite short). But what you're thinking when you're listening to this song, is "er, aren't you forgetting Hanukkah?"
Maybe you can ask them if you see them live:
- 01/28/10 The Barn Clinton, New York
02/05/10 World Cafe Live Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
02/06/10 8x10 Baltimore, Maryland
myspace.com ♥ twitter.com
Maybe there was a problem with my download, but the MP3 track is 4:56, where the last 30 seconds of the song is complete and utterly garbage... it sounds like it was encoded in error and not part of the song. I've edited out the crap part for you.
The tour information they sent me is as follows:
- January 2010.
Fri 8 USA New York Terminal 5 w/Passion Pit.
Sat 9 USA New York Terminal 5 w/Passion Pit.
Mon 11 USA New York Union Hall.
Tue 12 USA New York Pianos.
February 2010.
Sun 21 Norway Oslo John Dee w/The Temper Trap.
Mon 22 Denmark Copenhagen Vega w/The Temper Trap.
Tue 23 Denmark Copenhagen Vega w/The Temper Trap.
Wed 24 Sweden Stockholm Debaser Slussen w/The Temper Trap.
Fri 26 Germany Hamburg Molotow w/The Temper Trap.
Sat 27 Germany Berlin Postbahnhof w/The Temper Trap.
Sun 28 Germany Cologne Gloria w/The Temper Trap.
March 2010.
Tue 2 Germany Munich Atomic Café w/The Temper Trap.
Wed 3 Germany Frankfurt Nachtelben w/ The Temper Trap.
themanchesterorchestra.com ♥ myspace.com
My favorite track is "One Hundred Dollar", you can simply hear the anger as singer Andy Hull asks to borrow $100. While the song is short and doesn't offer much explanation, you, as the audience makes up your own background to the song. Anyway, the song is from their latest album, Mean Everything to Nothing, they'll probably be playing loads of their new songs on tour:
- 01/29/10
Salt Palace Convention Center^ Salt Lake City, Utah
01/30/10 The Fillmore^ Denver, Colorado
01/31/10 The Black Sheep* Colorado Springs, Colorado
02/02/10 The Marquee* Tulsa, Oklahoma
02/03/10 Juanita’s Cantina Ballroom* Little Rock, Arkansas
02/04/10 New Daisy Theatre* Memphis, Tennessee
^ with Brand New
* with Harrison Hudson
siamusic.net ♥ myspace.com
Finally, we have Sia. This actually has nothing to do with Christmas, unless you count getting a new music video as a holiday gift. But just talking about the video for "You've Changed" isn't enough to warrant its own article, so I thought I might as well stuck her here.
Sia has always seem to me to be this child trapped in a grown-up's body. The latest video is wonderful, it features this weird stop-motion, "dress up" video-gamey feel to it. I don't know who's idea it was, I'll bet it's a combination of Sia's child-mind and director Dennis Liu of @radical.media, but it came together pretty great.
Be sure to watch the high-resolution video of it (you'll need it to read the song lyrics scrolling at the bottom).
12/23/2009 04:58:16 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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I like love Samurai series like Lone Wolf and Cub and Hanzo the Razor
(while Lone Wolf is all about bloody violence, Hanzo is all about sex
& ultra-violence). I only mention Hanzo, because the "hero" is played
by Shintaro Katsu, who also play one of Japan's most popular Samurai,
Zatoichi. If you've never heard of Zatoichi, he's a blind swordsman,
who wanders Japan in the Edo period as a masseur (although he seems to
make most of his money at dice games).
The Zatoichi series ran 26 movies (1962-1982) and a television series ran for five years (1974-1979). Twenty years later, Takeshi "Beat" Kitano reinvented Zatoichi with his version of the character. This was easily one of my favorite movie at the time, I saw it at the independent theater twice in 2003 and ordered a region 3 release of the DVD as soon as it was available on import. Incidentally, to show support for the US market, I also bought the US edition of the DVD, which came with a bonus Sonatine movie (which was originally released in the states by Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder productions).
Considering the movie did quite well, critically and (I'm assuming) in sales, I was hoping for a follow-up movie by Kitano, but unfortunately there's no such plan. However, interestingly enough, one of my all-time favorite Japanese director, Takashi Miike* directed a stage adaption of Zatoichi for live performances in 2007.
I'm happy to report that, I saw a very good re-imagined of the familiar character, reinvented as a female protagonist, called Ichi. I wish the producers had kept the brand of "Zatoichi", as people who hear "Ichi" does not always associate the name with the blind swordsman. To be fair, Ichi is the original character's name. The term "zato" means low-ranking blind person (low-ranking in the Todoza guild). Logically, they could've named this movie Gozeichi, because Goze refers to blind musician women of that time period.
Anyway, beside my gripe about the Ichi name as the movie title, I also didn't like the idea that a model (Ayase Haruka) is playing the part of the protagonist. All that was really not worth worrying, because the whole movie is quite entertaining and enjoyable, and there is only once where Haruka is seen 'dolled up' for a music performance (most of the movie, she's covered from head to toe in dirty rags). However, there are at times when the director Fumihiko Sori choose to stay too long on Haruka's beautiful unblemished face. We get it, she's cute.
The story is uncomplicated, Ichi wanders into some town with an inept sword-drawing samurai Toma (the name is close to a slang "tonma" for idiot or fool). The town is in trouble from the Banki gang, and in Zatoichi fashion, Ichi and Toma saves the town. During the course of the film, there are the tried-and-true Zatoichi moments like slashing out the lights and Ichi triumph in complete darkness, the use of sound to throw Ichi off, and, of course, the Cho-Han Bakuchi dice gambling.
What made the film interesting, at least to me, is that the soundtrack is by Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard! So throughout the movie, you do hear that ethereal vocals, similar to her efforts on Ridley Scott's Gladiator. I suspect she only wrote the vocals, the credit I have for composer is Michael Edwards, who previously worked with Gerrad on her solo material. The soundtrack was a bit of a surprise to me, generally these J-movies' music and production team are usually kept inhouse. Although, having said that, the one outro credit song is by Korean J-Pop singer SunMin.
Ichi the movie will be made available in the US market via Bluray and DVD in two days (December 22nd), just in time for last-minute xmas shoppers. Hopefully those Best Buy tonmas will be smart and order some copies for their store (however, if it costs over $25, I'd rather order it online, or not own it at all - hey times are tough!).
* I love all three billion of his movies! Audition, City of Lost Souls, One Missed Call, Ichi the Killer, Fudoh, The Happiness of the Katakuris, Zebraman, Sukiyaki Western: Django, etc.
The Zatoichi series ran 26 movies (1962-1982) and a television series ran for five years (1974-1979). Twenty years later, Takeshi "Beat" Kitano reinvented Zatoichi with his version of the character. This was easily one of my favorite movie at the time, I saw it at the independent theater twice in 2003 and ordered a region 3 release of the DVD as soon as it was available on import. Incidentally, to show support for the US market, I also bought the US edition of the DVD, which came with a bonus Sonatine movie (which was originally released in the states by Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder productions).
Considering the movie did quite well, critically and (I'm assuming) in sales, I was hoping for a follow-up movie by Kitano, but unfortunately there's no such plan. However, interestingly enough, one of my all-time favorite Japanese director, Takashi Miike* directed a stage adaption of Zatoichi for live performances in 2007.
I'm happy to report that, I saw a very good re-imagined of the familiar character, reinvented as a female protagonist, called Ichi. I wish the producers had kept the brand of "Zatoichi", as people who hear "Ichi" does not always associate the name with the blind swordsman. To be fair, Ichi is the original character's name. The term "zato" means low-ranking blind person (low-ranking in the Todoza guild). Logically, they could've named this movie Gozeichi, because Goze refers to blind musician women of that time period.
Anyway, beside my gripe about the Ichi name as the movie title, I also didn't like the idea that a model (Ayase Haruka) is playing the part of the protagonist. All that was really not worth worrying, because the whole movie is quite entertaining and enjoyable, and there is only once where Haruka is seen 'dolled up' for a music performance (most of the movie, she's covered from head to toe in dirty rags). However, there are at times when the director Fumihiko Sori choose to stay too long on Haruka's beautiful unblemished face. We get it, she's cute.
The story is uncomplicated, Ichi wanders into some town with an inept sword-drawing samurai Toma (the name is close to a slang "tonma" for idiot or fool). The town is in trouble from the Banki gang, and in Zatoichi fashion, Ichi and Toma saves the town. During the course of the film, there are the tried-and-true Zatoichi moments like slashing out the lights and Ichi triumph in complete darkness, the use of sound to throw Ichi off, and, of course, the Cho-Han Bakuchi dice gambling.
What made the film interesting, at least to me, is that the soundtrack is by Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard! So throughout the movie, you do hear that ethereal vocals, similar to her efforts on Ridley Scott's Gladiator. I suspect she only wrote the vocals, the credit I have for composer is Michael Edwards, who previously worked with Gerrad on her solo material. The soundtrack was a bit of a surprise to me, generally these J-movies' music and production team are usually kept inhouse. Although, having said that, the one outro credit song is by Korean J-Pop singer SunMin.
Ichi the movie will be made available in the US market via Bluray and DVD in two days (December 22nd), just in time for last-minute xmas shoppers. Hopefully those Best Buy tonmas will be smart and order some copies for their store (however, if it costs over $25, I'd rather order it online, or not own it at all - hey times are tough!).
* I love all three billion of his movies! Audition, City of Lost Souls, One Missed Call, Ichi the Killer, Fudoh, The Happiness of the Katakuris, Zebraman, Sukiyaki Western: Django, etc.
12/20/2009 02:06:34 ♥ vu () ♥funimation.com/ichi
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Ever since I've first heard "There is a Place in Hell for Me and My
Friends" in 1991, I've always known that Morrissey and I would be
friends. Longtime readers will know that I'm a huge fan, but post-Ringleader, I found myself not actively collecting various editions (a good example of this is the "expanded" editions of Southpaw Grammar and Maladjusted).
While I would love to have them in my collection, I feel like I've
already bought them the first time around and I'm contented with the
original cd and vinyls.
For this Christmas, I did buy myself Swords deluxe edition via my favorite store, amazon. It was a bit pricey for a CD/DVD combo ($23 vs $12 for the standard disc), but I'm worth it.
I actually have had a digital copy of the B-Sides compilation since late October, thanks to pen pal friend Mel, as it was a "bonus" if you had preordered tickets to see Morrissey in live in 2009. And of course, like most fans, we still buy the physical release anyway, so it's a bit of a win-win situation for everyone.
I'll briefly summarize Morrissey's history: he's a bit of a sensitive, indie songwriter with The Smiths. He went solo in "nineteen-eighty-hate" with some classic modern rock hits with "Suedehead" (aka that "I'm So Sorry" song) and "Everyday is like Sunday". He went a bit rockabilly with Your Arsenal (his previous album Kill Uncle was heading to this direction, especially with the B-Sides and singles from this era), and pretty much stayed in this "muscular" rock type music since. As I previously mentioned, I think this has to do with his musical collaboration with Boz Boorer and Alain Whyte.
If you're new to Morrissey, I don't think Swords would be a good starting point for you. I would recommend starting with Bona Drag, a weird mix of b-sides and oddities. Most of the songs on Swords were co-written by Alain Whyte, and there's a nice cohesive feel to each song as they have similiar song writing structure. When you do run into a non-Whyte song, such as "Sweetie-Pie", it just feels out of place. In fact, I think this is possibly one of the worst Morrissey song, right up there with "Michaels Bones".
There is one non-Morrissey-penned song, and it's a live recording of "Drive-In Saturday" (live at Omaha on 11 May 2007). Morrissey's music obsessions tend to be from the 60s and 70s era, so it didn't surprise me to hear him doing a David Bowie cover from the Aladdin Sane time period. But the two are friends, I know that Bowie showed up at a Morrissey show in Los Angeles in the early 90s to do a duet of a T.Rex's song for "Cosmic Dancer", and, of course, Bowie would later record a soul-ish version of Morrissey's "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" in 1993.
Also, it seems in post-2008, Morrissey's songs have been about fatherhood and retirement. Just looking over his titles: "Good Looking Man About Town", "Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice", "Teenage Dad on His Estate", "Children in Pieces", that "constipated look" for Swords, and that controversially album cover for Years of Refusal ... you would think that he's married with kids. Maybe that's not a bad thing, with Morrissey's heath in question, maybe he should take it easy. We all can't be like James Dean, you know.
For this Christmas, I did buy myself Swords deluxe edition via my favorite store, amazon. It was a bit pricey for a CD/DVD combo ($23 vs $12 for the standard disc), but I'm worth it.
I actually have had a digital copy of the B-Sides compilation since late October, thanks to pen pal friend Mel, as it was a "bonus" if you had preordered tickets to see Morrissey in live in 2009. And of course, like most fans, we still buy the physical release anyway, so it's a bit of a win-win situation for everyone.
I'll briefly summarize Morrissey's history: he's a bit of a sensitive, indie songwriter with The Smiths. He went solo in "nineteen-eighty-hate" with some classic modern rock hits with "Suedehead" (aka that "I'm So Sorry" song) and "Everyday is like Sunday". He went a bit rockabilly with Your Arsenal (his previous album Kill Uncle was heading to this direction, especially with the B-Sides and singles from this era), and pretty much stayed in this "muscular" rock type music since. As I previously mentioned, I think this has to do with his musical collaboration with Boz Boorer and Alain Whyte.
If you're new to Morrissey, I don't think Swords would be a good starting point for you. I would recommend starting with Bona Drag, a weird mix of b-sides and oddities. Most of the songs on Swords were co-written by Alain Whyte, and there's a nice cohesive feel to each song as they have similiar song writing structure. When you do run into a non-Whyte song, such as "Sweetie-Pie", it just feels out of place. In fact, I think this is possibly one of the worst Morrissey song, right up there with "Michaels Bones".
There is one non-Morrissey-penned song, and it's a live recording of "Drive-In Saturday" (live at Omaha on 11 May 2007). Morrissey's music obsessions tend to be from the 60s and 70s era, so it didn't surprise me to hear him doing a David Bowie cover from the Aladdin Sane time period. But the two are friends, I know that Bowie showed up at a Morrissey show in Los Angeles in the early 90s to do a duet of a T.Rex's song for "Cosmic Dancer", and, of course, Bowie would later record a soul-ish version of Morrissey's "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" in 1993.
Also, it seems in post-2008, Morrissey's songs have been about fatherhood and retirement. Just looking over his titles: "Good Looking Man About Town", "Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice", "Teenage Dad on His Estate", "Children in Pieces", that "constipated look" for Swords, and that controversially album cover for Years of Refusal ... you would think that he's married with kids. Maybe that's not a bad thing, with Morrissey's heath in question, maybe he should take it easy. We all can't be like James Dean, you know.
12/19/2009 03:47:04 ♥ vu () ♥itsmorrisseysworld.com ♥ truetoyou.com ♥ morrissey-solo.com
DOMINO? YOU MEAN DOMI-YES
dominorecordco.com
You know, I honestly don't know how Ryan does it, keeping up with the various 'tweets'. I personally think twitter become absolutely useless if you have more than 50 friends. There's also so much spam on twitter!
So, I mostly just have it filtered to reading our own twitter to discover new freebies. So below was sent out a few days ago:
weheartmusicWe♥Music
Check out the @DominoRecordCo Xmas Sampler - http://bit.ly/53Thv0 - Final Fantasy, Wild Beasts, The Kills, Franz Ferdinand & King Creosote.
11:49 AM Dec 14th from web
I also really dig Joker's Daughter (for non-comic book nerds, yes the Joker had a daughter - I think she mostly fought the 70s Teen Titans). I love "classic" pop girl-group sound, and this band has the vocals and melodies. Although the subject of Gremlins and "Bouncing Liquorish Bears" may be on the weirder side.
OF DOVES AND FISH
harveysidfisher.com
Dovecote Records gathered three of their recording artists to do a mini-tribute to Harvey Sid Fisher. While I don't know much about Fisher, based on hearing the three covers by Mason Proper, Tim Williams, and Trevor Giuliani, I have concluded that Fisher was a bit of a strange songwriter and has a bit of an interesting "older" man's vocals... each of the modern artists do try and emulate the singing style.
My personal favorite is Tim Williams' rendition. Nice backup vocals and the repetitive "hit another wall" refrain.
If you want to hear these songs for yourself - head over to dovecoterecords.com and click on the "Download Now" link. There's no catch either, none of that "give us your email" thing. Just a nice little free EP.
UPDATE 12/18/09: I misread the press info, the songs are all sung by Harvey Sid Fisher (doing covers of Dovecote artists). This would explain why all the songs sounds like an "older" man.
OLD WAVE MIXTAPE
nouvellesvagues.com
Cover lover band of approval, Nouvelle Vague, made a 10-track free mixtape at whenyouawake.com.
Most of the tracks are by American artists, some classic from Roy Orbison ("You Got It"), Louis Armstrong ("We Have All The Time In The World"), Johnny Cash ("Ring Of Fire"), etc. There are a few weird ones (weird as in didn't fit in) like Sufjan Stevens and Rolling Stones... however, I will admit tapping my feet when I heard the intro to "Let's Spend The Night Together". There is the token French artist Serge Gainsbourg on the mixtape for good measure.
While I'm not entirely sure about the legality of this free download, I think it's good promotions for the bands mentioned on the tape. Plus, it's a nice boost of ego, you know?
daffodilpublicity.com confirms these are their forth-coming North American tour dates:
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Friday, Jan. 22, Philadelphia, PA, World Café Saturday, Jan. 23, New York, NY, Webster Hall Sunday, Jan. 24, Boston, MA, Somerset Tuesday, Jan. 25, Montreal, PQ, Metropolis Wednesday, Jan. 27, Toronto, ONT, Opera House Thursday, Jan. 28, Detroit, MI, Crofoot Ballroom Friday, Jan. 29, Chicago, IL, Logan Square Monday, Feb. 1, Denver, CO, Bluebird Tuesday, Feb. 2, Salt Lake City, UT, Urban Lounge Thursday, Feb. 4, Seattle, WA, King Cat |
Friday, Feb. 5, Vancouver, BC, Venue Sunday, Feb. 7, San Francisco, CA, Regency Monday, Feb. 8, Sant Cruz, CA, Rio Theater Tuesday, Feb. 9, Los Angeles, CA, Henry Fonda Friday, Feb. 12, Dallas, TX, Granada Saturday, Feb. 13, Austin, TX, Mohawk Sunday, Feb. 14, New Orleans, LA, Republic Tuesday, Feb. 16, Miami, FL, Revolution Wednesday, Feb. 17, Orlando, FL, Firestone Thursday, Feb. 18, Atlanta, GA, Loft Saturday, Feb. 20, Washington DC, 9:30 Club |
YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO SAVE MONEY
I don't work for Best Buy, but I wanted to pass along this deal, since it is almost a crime to not buy it. It is $140 for HANNspree 23" HD LCD 16:9 Widescreen Monitor. That's cheap, considering the same monitor would've cost at least $700 a few years ago.
I did buy it and setup was very plug-and-play easy. It came with a disc for a Windows Vista driver, but if you just have XP, it would just recognize the monitor. Hooking it up on the PS3 using the HDMI cable (not included) was also easy - however I did not like the long pauses as PS3 auto adjust when it plays bluray discs (I suspect this has to do with determining that it's a compliant display since HDMI is notorious for anti-piracy junk).
Compare to the old CRT monster monitors, this 23" is superlight - even Mr Burns can easily move the monitor around. The product page lists 9.9lbs, but it feels like it's only one or two pounds.
The monitor does have built-in speakers, but it sounds tinny. Not exactly awesome audio, but for $140, that's just a bonus. I recommend buying monitor headphones and plugging it in the monitor for clearer audio. And speaking of audio, since this is marketed as purely a monitor - there is also no remote control access. If you need to turn down the audio, you have to adjust it on the monitor itself.
Despite my complaint, this is one of best image display I've own. It's native 1920x1080 is pretty sweet when I'm playing Dragon Age (since now I can have more items in the "quick" slots at the bottom).
* practically free
12/16/2009 11:25:14 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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As you can tell, we still don't have a metal reviewer.
Anyway, for the metal fans in your family....
GOBLIN COCK
myspace.com/goblincock
First of all, I love the name and theme. All the band members have RPG elements to their name, like singer Lord Phallus (Rob Crow) and guitarist Larben the Druid. You can tell that this San Diego doom metal band are fans of comics (due to their self-titled Bagged and Boarded) and the Terminator movie (that's a famous line, "come with me if you want to live"). From the cover artwork, to ancient runes, it's safe to assume these guys are also into Warhammer and D&D stuff, pretty geeky - and proud of it!
I don't have their debut album, but based on listening to Come With Me If You Want To Live, I can see why they were nominated for the PLUG metal album award (they lost out to Fantômas). Come was designed as a whole album, from the instrumental introduction music "Hissless" through all these film/movie references. You can hear movie samples in some of their songs, like "Trying to get Along with Humans" and "Ode to Billy Jack" (which is really about those 70s movies).
Some of the songs on this album sounds too clear and sounds too slow to be classify as metal. On those songs, they seem more like early 90s grunge music (think Soundgarden, not Nirvana).
Not really sure where Goblin Cock will exists in Rob Crow's ever-growing band involvement. He's still in Pinback, Heavy Vegetable, Physics, Optiganally Yours and Thingy. Plus earlier this year, his other band, Aspects of Physics, just released their third (in a trilogy of album) called Marginalized Information Forms 3: Other.
Come With Me If You Want To Live is available now from Absolute Kosher Records. Recommended if you don't take your metal too seriously, and enjoy the adolescent geekiness of the band.
Trivia: "Beneath the Valley of the Island of Misfit Toys", another instrumental, seems to be derived from Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Valley of the Dolls, and Rudoph the Red Nosed Reindeer (he ends up on Island of Misfit Toys).
METAL RETARDATION
metalretardation.com
When I first read Bill Zebub's name, I chuckled a little at his nod to the lord of the flies (Satan). So the guy has a sense of humor, and you can hear a lot of that humor in his interviews for his magazine, The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds, on this DVD collection.
Unfortunately, sometime his questions goes on too long (note: the bands are the star, not the interviewer), and sometime the questions have nothing to do with anything. I'll give you an example, during the George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher from Cannibal Corpse, Zebub had a long question about Almond Joy and Mounds. I won't give away the punchline, but when it was delivered, neither myself or Fisher cared much for it. The same feeling of "I don't get it" or "I don't care" came up again when Mathias Nygård, from Turisas, had to endure the shark jokes.
I'll have to admit, there are some some gems like the Cannibal Corpses and Nevermore interview, however the footage is unwatchable due to poor lighting. The filming is very gorilla-style, often with just Zebub and his camera. Some footage looks like it was taken from old VHS tapes, while some of the more recent footage looked incredible. The uneven quality, the lack of transition (these are quick clips going back and forth), uneven audio levels... these things made the program really hard to enjoy.
It doesn't feel like there's a purpose or direction - just random questions and answers. Personally, I feel this whole disc should be a "bonus" disc of some other feature. I can't recommend this unless you're a fan of The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds or the bands on the disc (Finntroll, King Diamond, Type O Negative, Gwar, etc).
Extras includes Band Introductions & Skits, Darkthrone Phone Interview and Venom Phone Interview. The phone interview also includes topless women. The "area" are censored, so it's not entirely pornographic.
PAGAN METAL: A DOCUMENTARY
billzebub.com ♥ thegrimoire.com
Like Metal Retardation, the Pagan Metal DVD begins with a disclaimer that if you don't appreciate this film, then you are "too gay". What are you twelve? I feel like I have to defend myself and any reviewers out that that doesn't like this documentary - I do own and watch a lot of movies and documentaries.
What makes a good documentary for me is to keep me interested in the subject. Like for instance, if the band is talking about, say Norse gods, the editor should insert an image referencing said god. I will say that to keep us entertained, between sessions of interviews, you're shown some live footage of various Pagan Metal bands. My favorite is Turisas, only because of that crazy looking violin player.
Usually really good documentaries tries to do answer three questions: 1. Where did (subject) came from and its origin? 2. What exactly is it and why do people like it? and 3. Where does it go from here? Unfortunately, this documentary doesn't really address any of these questions. I'll grant you that Zebub did try and ask the Pagan past, but the interviewees, such as Korpiklaani, were unprepared to answer.
The one shining light out of this is Primordial's Alan Averill (note: the DVD does not credit the interviewee, I am guessing it is the singer). Everything he had to say was intelligent and smart, and even if it had nothing to do with Folk or Pagan Metal, it sure made a whole lot of sense to me. There's a section where he talked about in the "old" days when he was doing his fanzines, he would swap a lot of tapes. Compared that to today's file-traders, he feels like it's too easy and unfulfilling. Maybe it's a generational thing, but for old fanzine editors like myself and Sally, we still want to own the vinyl or CD if we like what we've heard on cassettes, or later minidiscs and cd-rs. What does this this have to do with Pagan Metal? Well, I think it's relevant because how else are people going to hear Pagan Metal - the radio stations aren't going to play it.
So, if you are wondering why Pagan Metal is have taken over the Black Metal scene in Europe and interested in hearing some of these bands (Korpiklaani, Finntroll, Leaves Eyes, Tyr), then I'd recommend this DVD to you. Although, I wouldn't call it a documentary, this is more like a series of interviews with these bands. Between Metal Retardation and Pagan Metal, I would, without a doubt, recommend Pagan, because it has a theme and a purpose.
The extras ? There are none, unless you count the Rated R trailer for Assmonster prior to the feature.
GOBLIN COCK
myspace.com/goblincock
First of all, I love the name and theme. All the band members have RPG elements to their name, like singer Lord Phallus (Rob Crow) and guitarist Larben the Druid. You can tell that this San Diego doom metal band are fans of comics (due to their self-titled Bagged and Boarded) and the Terminator movie (that's a famous line, "come with me if you want to live"). From the cover artwork, to ancient runes, it's safe to assume these guys are also into Warhammer and D&D stuff, pretty geeky - and proud of it!
I don't have their debut album, but based on listening to Come With Me If You Want To Live, I can see why they were nominated for the PLUG metal album award (they lost out to Fantômas). Come was designed as a whole album, from the instrumental introduction music "Hissless" through all these film/movie references. You can hear movie samples in some of their songs, like "Trying to get Along with Humans" and "Ode to Billy Jack" (which is really about those 70s movies).
Some of the songs on this album sounds too clear and sounds too slow to be classify as metal. On those songs, they seem more like early 90s grunge music (think Soundgarden, not Nirvana).
Not really sure where Goblin Cock will exists in Rob Crow's ever-growing band involvement. He's still in Pinback, Heavy Vegetable, Physics, Optiganally Yours and Thingy. Plus earlier this year, his other band, Aspects of Physics, just released their third (in a trilogy of album) called Marginalized Information Forms 3: Other.
Come With Me If You Want To Live is available now from Absolute Kosher Records. Recommended if you don't take your metal too seriously, and enjoy the adolescent geekiness of the band.
Trivia: "Beneath the Valley of the Island of Misfit Toys", another instrumental, seems to be derived from Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Valley of the Dolls, and Rudoph the Red Nosed Reindeer (he ends up on Island of Misfit Toys).
METAL RETARDATION
metalretardation.com
When I first read Bill Zebub's name, I chuckled a little at his nod to the lord of the flies (Satan). So the guy has a sense of humor, and you can hear a lot of that humor in his interviews for his magazine, The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds, on this DVD collection.
Unfortunately, sometime his questions goes on too long (note: the bands are the star, not the interviewer), and sometime the questions have nothing to do with anything. I'll give you an example, during the George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher from Cannibal Corpse, Zebub had a long question about Almond Joy and Mounds. I won't give away the punchline, but when it was delivered, neither myself or Fisher cared much for it. The same feeling of "I don't get it" or "I don't care" came up again when Mathias Nygård, from Turisas, had to endure the shark jokes.
I'll have to admit, there are some some gems like the Cannibal Corpses and Nevermore interview, however the footage is unwatchable due to poor lighting. The filming is very gorilla-style, often with just Zebub and his camera. Some footage looks like it was taken from old VHS tapes, while some of the more recent footage looked incredible. The uneven quality, the lack of transition (these are quick clips going back and forth), uneven audio levels... these things made the program really hard to enjoy.
It doesn't feel like there's a purpose or direction - just random questions and answers. Personally, I feel this whole disc should be a "bonus" disc of some other feature. I can't recommend this unless you're a fan of The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds or the bands on the disc (Finntroll, King Diamond, Type O Negative, Gwar, etc).
Extras includes Band Introductions & Skits, Darkthrone Phone Interview and Venom Phone Interview. The phone interview also includes topless women. The "area" are censored, so it's not entirely pornographic.
PAGAN METAL: A DOCUMENTARY
billzebub.com ♥ thegrimoire.com
Like Metal Retardation, the Pagan Metal DVD begins with a disclaimer that if you don't appreciate this film, then you are "too gay". What are you twelve? I feel like I have to defend myself and any reviewers out that that doesn't like this documentary - I do own and watch a lot of movies and documentaries.
What makes a good documentary for me is to keep me interested in the subject. Like for instance, if the band is talking about, say Norse gods, the editor should insert an image referencing said god. I will say that to keep us entertained, between sessions of interviews, you're shown some live footage of various Pagan Metal bands. My favorite is Turisas, only because of that crazy looking violin player.
Usually really good documentaries tries to do answer three questions: 1. Where did (subject) came from and its origin? 2. What exactly is it and why do people like it? and 3. Where does it go from here? Unfortunately, this documentary doesn't really address any of these questions. I'll grant you that Zebub did try and ask the Pagan past, but the interviewees, such as Korpiklaani, were unprepared to answer.
The one shining light out of this is Primordial's Alan Averill (note: the DVD does not credit the interviewee, I am guessing it is the singer). Everything he had to say was intelligent and smart, and even if it had nothing to do with Folk or Pagan Metal, it sure made a whole lot of sense to me. There's a section where he talked about in the "old" days when he was doing his fanzines, he would swap a lot of tapes. Compared that to today's file-traders, he feels like it's too easy and unfulfilling. Maybe it's a generational thing, but for old fanzine editors like myself and Sally, we still want to own the vinyl or CD if we like what we've heard on cassettes, or later minidiscs and cd-rs. What does this this have to do with Pagan Metal? Well, I think it's relevant because how else are people going to hear Pagan Metal - the radio stations aren't going to play it.
So, if you are wondering why Pagan Metal is have taken over the Black Metal scene in Europe and interested in hearing some of these bands (Korpiklaani, Finntroll, Leaves Eyes, Tyr), then I'd recommend this DVD to you. Although, I wouldn't call it a documentary, this is more like a series of interviews with these bands. Between Metal Retardation and Pagan Metal, I would, without a doubt, recommend Pagan, because it has a theme and a purpose.
The extras ? There are none, unless you count the Rated R trailer for Assmonster prior to the feature.
12/12/2009 01:45:36 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
We've been receiving a ton of Christmas/Holiday recordings lately. It's really hard to pick and choose what I'll be writing about in the upcoming week. I might as well get on top of some of these recording. Today we have Kill It Kid (killitkid.com / myspace.com) If they sound familiar to you, that's because we've previously mentioned them before.
Their song, "Just Like Christmas" is a cover of Minnesota's own Low. Since we're from Minnesota, this is worth checking out. You can download your own copy in a variety of formats (including flac) over at www.killitkidchristmas.com.
The band is finishing up their 2009 tour:Low's ‘Just Like Christmas’ is a great tune, with an understated lyric and tender sentiment that we felt - with all our festive strength - we could break into a duet and still compliment the narrative. So we put it in front of the fire, filled it with cinnamon, brandy, and cranberry sauce and put some spurs on it!-- singer Chris Turpin
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12 Dec Play It By Ear @ The Monarch London
15 Dec The Glee Club* Cardiff
16 Dec The Duchess* York
17 Dec Jericho Tavern* Oxford
* with Foy Vance
As you know, it's the nature of the business, but I have to use myspace because of its deep roots in music. Anyway, by choice, I am using Firefox 2.0. I tried 3.5, I don't like the way it handles scripts ... and there are some themes and extensions that does not work in the latest version, so yes, I'm still clinging on 2.0.
About a few weeks ago, myspace made this boneheaded decision that it wouldn't let you in if you're using old browsers. It's okay, it's not like I actively use myspace, but as the weeks went on, I realized I had to stop ignoring this problem.
So here is the solution for those of you suffering from the same problem (such as all Mac firefox users, apparently): get User Agent Switcher 0.7.2.
This little extension tells myspace, "I'm Internet Explorer 8, let me in!!". If you want to fool it into thinking you're running Firefox 3.0, add the following in "new":
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Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; ; rv:1.9.0.14) Gecko/2009082707 Firefox/3.0.14
PS, User Agent Switch is also useful when you stumble upon a "members only" forum. You simply change your agent to "Googlebot 2.1".
12/10/2009 11:29:04 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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I want to say that gangster rap is out of fashion, but there's still
the troubling hip hop songs that addresses women as ho's and bragging
rights of doing criminal things. That's why the following artists is
spreading their message of love, peace, and understanding.
STATE OF EMERGENCY
billcosby.com
Most people will know Bill Cosby from The Cosby Show or Fat Albert, but did you know that early in his entertainment career, that he released a music album called Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings? He also plays drums and bass... so it shouldn't surprise anyone to know that he's the person behind State of Emergency.
Before we continue, let me be clear in one thing: Bill Cosby does not sing on this album. Most of the singing is done by Jace the Great, with some help from Cedric Miller and Brother Haz. It's not clear on the music writing credits, most of the songs are credited to W.H. Cosby Jr (Bill Cosby), William Patterson, Cedric Miller, Jamal Gary (Jace?) and Hassan McMillan (Brother Haz?).
My favorite song off the album is "Dads Behind the Glass", with its refrain "I wish my daddy was home/tired of sitting here all alone/Mommy's not here she's working two jobs". The song also features samples from Bill Cosby and Friends' performing "Ursalina".
Some of the song's message, I can see Cosby writing. Like the constant "Why?" question, or "In a Perfect World", or "Runnin'". But songs like "Where Did I Go Wrong?", about being a Blood gangster, with being the son of a Muslim, I can't see Cosby writing this... but I can feel it's Brother Haz's contribution to this song.
Even if Cosby have little to do with this album, he's involving and lending his name to the project - and for most people, that's good enough. He believes in the project enough to do talk about it and promote it, and I think that's awesome. Though, I would've pegged him as a Jazz guy, considering his love for jazz music, but it's refreshing to see him working in the hip-hop music industry.
State of Emergency is available now at BillCosby.com. There's a variety of packages, but I recommend getting the CD and book (New York times bestseller Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors by Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint) combo.
THE GOSPEL OF HIP HOP
powerhousebooks.com
Having spent all of my holiday reading on and off KRS-One's The Gospel of Hip Hop, I came to the conclusion that, like the Holy Bible, understanding of its message does not come overnight... but through years of practice and study.
If you love hip hop and embrace all of its kulture and lifestyle, then I say this is a wonderful book for your library shelf. This 800+ page hardcover, gold embossed cover, words of wisdom, is well worth its price of $24.95. I have bought more expensive books for less content and value, so take it from me, this is a good deal. Plus, I noticed that your order of The Gospel of Hip Hop via Powerhouse Books will come autographed by KRS-One.
So, this book does not necessary require you to read front-to-back, but you can't just skip around either - considering that it makes sense to read "The First Understanding" vs "The Eighteenth Understanding". What KRS One, who, in the book, refers to himself as the teacha, tries and break down some of the components that makes hip hop - in particular: graffiti art, DJ, emcees, b-boy, and free styles.
The book isn't necessary all about the hip hop culture, but also faith, religion, and, most of all, love. Love to stop the violence, and love to help others in need. I'll give you evidence, this past Thanksgiving, KRS-One practiced his teaching by serving meals to thousands of New York's homeless at the Bowery Mission:
Again, let me be clear: the understanding of all of The Gospel of Hip Hop's teaching and written words does not come overnight. In some ways, this book will require multiple reading. Below, I leave you with a small teaching from the book, which you can apply in any situation:
THE PEACE
hipfolkinc.com ♥ myspace.com
The impossible to search for The Peace, a band out of Vermont, plays what they bill themselves as "hip hop folk" - a combination of their inspiration of music from Dave Matthews and KRS One. At least that's what they describe themselves, personally, in my opinion, I don't believe The Peace to be hip hop (or even folk). They seem like a jam band, their influence is closer to funk and improvisation progressive rock.
The most hip-hop/rappish song on the album is "Heaven", but based on Bobby Kendes' singing style (which actually sounds so much like Dave Matthews), it's not really a hardcore rap song. I did enjoy hearing Kurt Cobain's name drop in that song. And speaking of name-dropping, there's a ton of that on "Rookie And The Vets".
As their name suggest, this album is about zen, harmony, and peace. Songs like "This Is Life" and "Goin To Yoga" are great theme for the album - but some song like, "Racing The Devil", seems conflicting. The thing I remember about the Devil song is that the f-word is censored.
My favorite song on the album is "Seven", I think mostly because I enjoyed the Spanish and can pick out "siete", "por favor" and "callate". Not sure about the last word, I could've sworn he said 'shut up' in the song.
If you live in New York, The Peace is spending some time there. I know they played a few dates prior to this writing. Their next show is at Arlene's Grocery (which is famously not a grocery store) on December 13th. The Peace's self-titled debut can be bought via hipfolkinc.com. If you don't mind a milder Spin Doctors, you'll enjoy this. If you were looking to Notorious BIG-type, I would avoid.
STATE OF EMERGENCY
billcosby.com
Most people will know Bill Cosby from The Cosby Show or Fat Albert, but did you know that early in his entertainment career, that he released a music album called Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings? He also plays drums and bass... so it shouldn't surprise anyone to know that he's the person behind State of Emergency.
Before we continue, let me be clear in one thing: Bill Cosby does not sing on this album. Most of the singing is done by Jace the Great, with some help from Cedric Miller and Brother Haz. It's not clear on the music writing credits, most of the songs are credited to W.H. Cosby Jr (Bill Cosby), William Patterson, Cedric Miller, Jamal Gary (Jace?) and Hassan McMillan (Brother Haz?).
My favorite song off the album is "Dads Behind the Glass", with its refrain "I wish my daddy was home/tired of sitting here all alone/Mommy's not here she's working two jobs". The song also features samples from Bill Cosby and Friends' performing "Ursalina".
Some of the song's message, I can see Cosby writing. Like the constant "Why?" question, or "In a Perfect World", or "Runnin'". But songs like "Where Did I Go Wrong?", about being a Blood gangster, with being the son of a Muslim, I can't see Cosby writing this... but I can feel it's Brother Haz's contribution to this song.
Even if Cosby have little to do with this album, he's involving and lending his name to the project - and for most people, that's good enough. He believes in the project enough to do talk about it and promote it, and I think that's awesome. Though, I would've pegged him as a Jazz guy, considering his love for jazz music, but it's refreshing to see him working in the hip-hop music industry.
State of Emergency is available now at BillCosby.com. There's a variety of packages, but I recommend getting the CD and book (New York times bestseller Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors by Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint) combo.
powerhousebooks.com
Having spent all of my holiday reading on and off KRS-One's The Gospel of Hip Hop, I came to the conclusion that, like the Holy Bible, understanding of its message does not come overnight... but through years of practice and study.
If you love hip hop and embrace all of its kulture and lifestyle, then I say this is a wonderful book for your library shelf. This 800+ page hardcover, gold embossed cover, words of wisdom, is well worth its price of $24.95. I have bought more expensive books for less content and value, so take it from me, this is a good deal. Plus, I noticed that your order of The Gospel of Hip Hop via Powerhouse Books will come autographed by KRS-One.
So, this book does not necessary require you to read front-to-back, but you can't just skip around either - considering that it makes sense to read "The First Understanding" vs "The Eighteenth Understanding". What KRS One, who, in the book, refers to himself as the teacha, tries and break down some of the components that makes hip hop - in particular: graffiti art, DJ, emcees, b-boy, and free styles.
The book isn't necessary all about the hip hop culture, but also faith, religion, and, most of all, love. Love to stop the violence, and love to help others in need. I'll give you evidence, this past Thanksgiving, KRS-One practiced his teaching by serving meals to thousands of New York's homeless at the Bowery Mission:
My favorite chapter from The Gospel of Hip Hop is the Fourth Understanding: The H-LAW. What the H-LAW is an acronym for Health, Love, Awareness and Wealth. For anyone, a healthy body & mind also translate to peace and positive attitude. There's an interesting bit in the section that describes that not all food is life-giving, that everything edible is not food. What follows Health, Love and Wealth, seems pretty obvious. Love is not lust, while Wealth doesn't always mean riches in the monetary sense. The Awareness part, that seems more like Knowledge. KRS-One gives you an example of a normal person and an electrician, who looks at a room with very different perspective. For instance, the electrician, with his knowledge of wiring knows a little more than the average person.I am participating in The Bowery Mission's Thanksgiving food drive and event because I myself was once homeless, walking these very streets, and spending time with these wonderful people at The Bowery Mission. I depended on them to survive. I am showing up for Thanksgiving this year to not only lend a hand, but hope that I am may inspire others in the Hip Hop community to consider their role towards helping the homeless, and join me by helping those in your community that need help during this holiday season.
I chose the Bowery Mission because it epitomizes the spirit of true human resources, love, care and compassion. I have stayed at many shelters were you are called "the client" and the administration made you feel like a prisoner in a system. At the Bowery Mission you feel at home. Homelessness is a pandemic, and most people do not realize the severity of the situation. You may be homeless one day yourself. I urge the Hip Hop nation to live up to the true nature of our culture and give.- KRS-One
Again, let me be clear: the understanding of all of The Gospel of Hip Hop's teaching and written words does not come overnight. In some ways, this book will require multiple reading. Below, I leave you with a small teaching from the book, which you can apply in any situation:
Disobedience, stubbornness, suspicion, criticism, fear, doubt and/or arrogance toward your teacher only hinder YOUR learning. We must not unnecessarily criticize each other; we must question and always acknowledge our collective development as a young nation.
THE PEACE
hipfolkinc.com ♥ myspace.com
The impossible to search for The Peace, a band out of Vermont, plays what they bill themselves as "hip hop folk" - a combination of their inspiration of music from Dave Matthews and KRS One. At least that's what they describe themselves, personally, in my opinion, I don't believe The Peace to be hip hop (or even folk). They seem like a jam band, their influence is closer to funk and improvisation progressive rock.
The most hip-hop/rappish song on the album is "Heaven", but based on Bobby Kendes' singing style (which actually sounds so much like Dave Matthews), it's not really a hardcore rap song. I did enjoy hearing Kurt Cobain's name drop in that song. And speaking of name-dropping, there's a ton of that on "Rookie And The Vets".
As their name suggest, this album is about zen, harmony, and peace. Songs like "This Is Life" and "Goin To Yoga" are great theme for the album - but some song like, "Racing The Devil", seems conflicting. The thing I remember about the Devil song is that the f-word is censored.
My favorite song on the album is "Seven", I think mostly because I enjoyed the Spanish and can pick out "siete", "por favor" and "callate". Not sure about the last word, I could've sworn he said 'shut up' in the song.
If you live in New York, The Peace is spending some time there. I know they played a few dates prior to this writing. Their next show is at Arlene's Grocery (which is famously not a grocery store) on December 13th. The Peace's self-titled debut can be bought via hipfolkinc.com. If you don't mind a milder Spin Doctors, you'll enjoy this. If you were looking to Notorious BIG-type, I would avoid.
12/08/2009 21:00:02 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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Below are late entries from The Turf Club! The first entry is written and from Brody (original entry here). Miles sounds like such a friendly guy, he even dropped over Brody's house to play something (see video).
Miles Benjamin at the Turf Club, St Paul (11/13/09)
 Miles Benjamin Turf Club, St Paul (11/13/09)photo by Brody |
Mr. Miles does it all. Even in the worst situation when his van breaks
down and the rest of his band heads back to Brooklyn with all the gear,
Miles manages to continue the tour. Performing solo for the last two
weeks on his tour, he is impressing a lot of fans playing by himself.
He even came over to our house to celebrate with me and some other die hard fans.
Chatting with him after with threw his gear in my trunk, he talked about playing guitar since he was about 13. Now 27, Miles born in Pasadena spent a lot of time in L.A. early on his life. I didn't ask him about any of his past experiences or musical changes. From what I've read he had some early drug addictions and some friends from TV on the Radio picked him up and got him back on his feet.
Lately MBAR has been on a tear with his sophomore release "Summer of Fear". He's played plenty of shows with TV on the Radio and Grizzly Bear, but now he's doing it on his own. Daytrotter sessions, a full headlining national tour, and even an mini solo leg.
The folk scene is growing and the competition is extremely tough, but Miles may be the new Bob Dylan. I certainly found out he's a huge Dylan fan. After his show we jammed the night away to Dylan, Tom Petty, Bob Seger, and plenty more. Unfortunately he broke a string when he was starting to play some of his newer tracks.
In his actually set he played an Otis Redding cover. Keep and eye on this extremely talented artist. The sky is the limit for Miles.
He even came over to our house to celebrate with me and some other die hard fans.
Chatting with him after with threw his gear in my trunk, he talked about playing guitar since he was about 13. Now 27, Miles born in Pasadena spent a lot of time in L.A. early on his life. I didn't ask him about any of his past experiences or musical changes. From what I've read he had some early drug addictions and some friends from TV on the Radio picked him up and got him back on his feet.
Lately MBAR has been on a tear with his sophomore release "Summer of Fear". He's played plenty of shows with TV on the Radio and Grizzly Bear, but now he's doing it on his own. Daytrotter sessions, a full headlining national tour, and even an mini solo leg.
The folk scene is growing and the competition is extremely tough, but Miles may be the new Bob Dylan. I certainly found out he's a huge Dylan fan. After his show we jammed the night away to Dylan, Tom Petty, Bob Seger, and plenty more. Unfortunately he broke a string when he was starting to play some of his newer tracks.
In his actually set he played an Otis Redding cover. Keep and eye on this extremely talented artist. The sky is the limit for Miles.
12/06/2009 17:11:16 ♥ brody
♥ myspace.com/milesbenjaminanthonyrobinson
Mark Mallman at Turf Club, St Paul (11/7/09)
As you can see, a special guest star showed up at the end of the set to end it on a bang. Since I didn't attend the event, I can tell you that it looked like a lot of wild energy and fun... I've seen the dude before, he's wonderfully mesmerizing to watch. If I had half his energy, I would explode.
Opening up Mallman were The Magic Castles (myspace) and The Alpha Centauri (official/myspace).
All photos below are from Erik Hess.
As you can see, a special guest star showed up at the end of the set to end it on a bang. Since I didn't attend the event, I can tell you that it looked like a lot of wild energy and fun... I've seen the dude before, he's wonderfully mesmerizing to watch. If I had half his energy, I would explode.
Opening up Mallman were The Magic Castles (myspace) and The Alpha Centauri (official/myspace).
All photos below are from Erik Hess.
12/06/2009 17:11:16 ♥ vu () ♥ mallman.com
♥ myspace.com/markmallman
♥ twitter.com/markmallman
This is the latest series in my EPs reviews. I like doing
these because I don't think they take that long to listen to these four or
five songs. You get the gist of the band, but unfortunately, it's
probably not as detailed and explored as reviewing albums.
Also, I am back on reviewing music as I have stopped going out to see live bands. I am still not accepting new music as I still have to clear out what I've already been sent/requested. Apologies to any promises that I may have made.
SARAH ELIZABETH FOSTER
sarahelizabethfoster.com ♥ myspace
Sarah Elizabeth Foster's EP, Gardening From the Ground Up Part 1 from Studio Sarah Records, is the first submission I've received for a 2010 release. Generally around this time, I get a ton of Christmas music offers (which, hey, I will be doing a roundup next week!).
Foster actually has a degree in music, singing French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and, of course English. While this EP is only in English, it does showcase her classically singing abilities. My favorite song is actually the title-track, "Gardening From the Ground Up". There's something about this love song, from rain drops to the up-beat jazzy tempo, that I really like. This is in contrast to the opening song, "Wake Up", for a song that's about waking up, it sounds like "take it easy" evening song.
While people will automatically associate Foster to 60s girl singers, I think her vocal styles, would actually lends itself really well to modern indiepop music. I'm certainly interested in hearing what part two sounds like. If you live in New York, Foster will be playing tomorrow, December 4th at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn.
FERAL CHILDREN
myspace.com/feralchildrenseattle
Feral Children is a "backwoods" band from Seattle, Washington. Their self-titled EP was a free released on Sarathan Records, while their forth-coming album, Brand New Blood, will be available digitally December 8th, while a physical release on January 19th, 2010.
As their name suggest, their music seems, I don't know, wild. Like "grizzly bear", "panda bear, "deerhunter" and "animal collective" wild, and this isn't surprising, considering Scott Colburn (Animal Collective's Feels producer) is their producer on the Feral Children album. Compared to previous bands I mentioned, Feral Children seems more melodic and less experimental. I'm not sure who produced their EP (I rarely get liner notes for digital submissions), but they certainly have that collective-like influence.
I did give the EP a few listens, and not entirely impressed with the singer (is it Bill Cole?). His vocals is very rough, voice cracking comes to mind on tracks like "Saint". While this may possibly be the greatest song done live, listening to it on headphones made me cringe.
Who knows, maybe their album will be much better than the self-titled EP. It is, after all, their first release, I'm sure they'll improve over time. Information on the free downloads, head over to Sarathan Records.
MOJORISING
mojorisingband.com ♥ myspace
I keep mis-reading this band as Major/ising, so I'm not sure if other people might have the same problem reading the name (it's OK people misread W♥M as "we love music" all the time...)
Mojorising recently moved from Los Angeles from Australia. So prices for their EP at $12 on the merch page might seem high, until you realize it's in AUS dollars.
My impression is that this duo makes some really funky music, but with classic rock attitudes (think Jamiroquai). The funk soul translate well on a few of their songs, "She Woke Up To Me" and "Sooth Me And Use Me". The later is very dancey, I suspect it will play well to a live audience. Incidentally if you are interested in hearing the first song, it's available as a free download.
The band is playing a few dates in California:
SEA OF BEES
seaofbees.com ♥ myspace
Lara dismissed Julie Baenziger, aka Sea of Bees, as being too "CocoRosie/Joanna Newsom", and really - what's wrong with that ? As expected, Baenziger's vocal style is that of a small cute child. And also cute is the title of the EP, called Bee Eee Pee. This is a collection of four songs and one intermission song.
All of the songs are pretty minimalistic, usually with just acoustic and Baenziger singing. The stand-out track for me is "Willis", because it does feature a melodic backing music (vs just acoustic alone). Also, the inclusion of the random intro is nice - it explained that this particular recording happens to be the third take.
Julie is doing some winter dates:
PS, That's all I can manage today. Check out Ryan as he's retweeting on twitter/weheartmusic. You can see some of the tweets on the right-side of this page. The account is kept active by live blogging by myself, Ceji, and Ryan. Not just a robot account!
Also, I am back on reviewing music as I have stopped going out to see live bands. I am still not accepting new music as I still have to clear out what I've already been sent/requested. Apologies to any promises that I may have made.
sarahelizabethfoster.com ♥ myspace
Sarah Elizabeth Foster's EP, Gardening From the Ground Up Part 1 from Studio Sarah Records, is the first submission I've received for a 2010 release. Generally around this time, I get a ton of Christmas music offers (which, hey, I will be doing a roundup next week!).
Foster actually has a degree in music, singing French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and, of course English. While this EP is only in English, it does showcase her classically singing abilities. My favorite song is actually the title-track, "Gardening From the Ground Up". There's something about this love song, from rain drops to the up-beat jazzy tempo, that I really like. This is in contrast to the opening song, "Wake Up", for a song that's about waking up, it sounds like "take it easy" evening song.
While people will automatically associate Foster to 60s girl singers, I think her vocal styles, would actually lends itself really well to modern indiepop music. I'm certainly interested in hearing what part two sounds like. If you live in New York, Foster will be playing tomorrow, December 4th at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn.
FERAL CHILDREN
myspace.com/feralchildrenseattle
Feral Children is a "backwoods" band from Seattle, Washington. Their self-titled EP was a free released on Sarathan Records, while their forth-coming album, Brand New Blood, will be available digitally December 8th, while a physical release on January 19th, 2010.
As their name suggest, their music seems, I don't know, wild. Like "grizzly bear", "panda bear, "deerhunter" and "animal collective" wild, and this isn't surprising, considering Scott Colburn (Animal Collective's Feels producer) is their producer on the Feral Children album. Compared to previous bands I mentioned, Feral Children seems more melodic and less experimental. I'm not sure who produced their EP (I rarely get liner notes for digital submissions), but they certainly have that collective-like influence.
I did give the EP a few listens, and not entirely impressed with the singer (is it Bill Cole?). His vocals is very rough, voice cracking comes to mind on tracks like "Saint". While this may possibly be the greatest song done live, listening to it on headphones made me cringe.
Who knows, maybe their album will be much better than the self-titled EP. It is, after all, their first release, I'm sure they'll improve over time. Information on the free downloads, head over to Sarathan Records.
MOJORISING
mojorisingband.com ♥ myspace
I keep mis-reading this band as Major/ising, so I'm not sure if other people might have the same problem reading the name (it's OK people misread W♥M as "we love music" all the time...)
Mojorising recently moved from Los Angeles from Australia. So prices for their EP at $12 on the merch page might seem high, until you realize it's in AUS dollars.
My impression is that this duo makes some really funky music, but with classic rock attitudes (think Jamiroquai). The funk soul translate well on a few of their songs, "She Woke Up To Me" and "Sooth Me And Use Me". The later is very dancey, I suspect it will play well to a live audience. Incidentally if you are interested in hearing the first song, it's available as a free download.
The band is playing a few dates in California:
- Dec 20 2009 THE MINT Los Angeles
Jan 10 2010 EL CID Los Angeles
SEA OF BEES
seaofbees.com ♥ myspace
Lara dismissed Julie Baenziger, aka Sea of Bees, as being too "CocoRosie/Joanna Newsom", and really - what's wrong with that ? As expected, Baenziger's vocal style is that of a small cute child. And also cute is the title of the EP, called Bee Eee Pee. This is a collection of four songs and one intermission song.
All of the songs are pretty minimalistic, usually with just acoustic and Baenziger singing. The stand-out track for me is "Willis", because it does feature a melodic backing music (vs just acoustic alone). Also, the inclusion of the random intro is nice - it explained that this particular recording happens to be the third take.
Julie is doing some winter dates:
- Dec 4 2009 Fox & Goose Sacramento, California
Dec 15 2009 Sacramento, California
Jan 26 2010 Matadero Huesca, Huesca
Jan 30 2010 Tanned Tin Festival Castelo, Castellón
Feb 10 2010 TBA w/ Mountain Man, Chelsea Wolfe and Dead Western Sacramento, California
PS, That's all I can manage today. Check out Ryan as he's retweeting on twitter/weheartmusic. You can see some of the tweets on the right-side of this page. The account is kept active by live blogging by myself, Ceji, and Ryan. Not just a robot account!
12/03/2009 22:55:52 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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This is The Books' last date on their national tour, so they seem very
comfortable being on stage. Since this was the Cedar Cultural Center,
the audience consists of an older "NPR"-type of crowd. This was one of
the most full show I've seen at the Cedar.
Opening up for them was Baby Dee (official/myspace),
an outrageous soloist cabaret that sings showtunes. Her flamboyant
performance style lends itself to not-so-serious songs like "Big Titty
Bee Girl (from Dino Town)". She spent most of her set on the piano,
before heading over to the ominous harp for two songs. Apparently, this
was just a small taste of what's to come, as she's heading back to the Cedar on April 19th, 2010.
Before her last song, she introduced The Books by telling this joke about next to the dog, a man's best friend is a book. Next because inside a dog, it's too hard to read.
The Books set up two chairs and their movie projector at 9 o'clock. Remember, this is the Cedar, their shows starts early and ends early (no later than 10:30pm). Which its audience is an older (and probably gainfully employed crowd), so they like early shows.
So, back to the Books, they provided the live soundtrack to their movies. Everything is in sync, no technical problems at all. They even went so far as having a one-minute intermission song as they tune up their instruments. The intermission song features anagrams of the word "Immediate". Everything is calculated.
I find that trying to watch the movie and watching Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong was somewhat distracting. I think they prefer you watch the screen, because watching the duo play isn't exactly that exciting.
Most of their songs are instrumentals,
usually with samples, so the few songs that they actually sing on (like
"Take Time"), I thought those stood out.
The other thing about The Books is that they seem to find inspiration
in anything and everything. For instance, their song "Smells Like
Content" is basically 10 hours of audio recording from Nick's older
brother. Their most interesting song, "Cold Freezing Night", are audio
loops from Talkboy tape recordings that they found at thrift stores.
As for the encores, which incidentally is predetermined because of the movies that is associated with the songs, they did two songs. The first is a Nick Drake cover "Cello Song", which Paul explained is their only cover they do. It was for the benefit of the Red Hot organization for Aids awareness. If you recall, I've previously endorsed the organization by buying many of their music releases. Their final song is "An Owl With Knees" from their 2005 album, Lost and Safe.
PS, This is my final concert for 2009 (I hibernate during the winter), I would like to thank everybody for offering shows for me to review. I will be able to accept assignments in March-ish 2010, and/or whenever it stops snowing.
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Baby Dee ♥ Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (12/01/09) |
Before her last song, she introduced The Books by telling this joke about next to the dog, a man's best friend is a book. Next because inside a dog, it's too hard to read.
The Books set up two chairs and their movie projector at 9 o'clock. Remember, this is the Cedar, their shows starts early and ends early (no later than 10:30pm). Which its audience is an older (and probably gainfully employed crowd), so they like early shows.
So, back to the Books, they provided the live soundtrack to their movies. Everything is in sync, no technical problems at all. They even went so far as having a one-minute intermission song as they tune up their instruments. The intermission song features anagrams of the word "Immediate". Everything is calculated.
I find that trying to watch the movie and watching Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong was somewhat distracting. I think they prefer you watch the screen, because watching the duo play isn't exactly that exciting.
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The Books ♥ Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (12/01/09) |
As for the encores, which incidentally is predetermined because of the movies that is associated with the songs, they did two songs. The first is a Nick Drake cover "Cello Song", which Paul explained is their only cover they do. It was for the benefit of the Red Hot organization for Aids awareness. If you recall, I've previously endorsed the organization by buying many of their music releases. Their final song is "An Owl With Knees" from their 2005 album, Lost and Safe.
PS, This is my final concert for 2009 (I hibernate during the winter), I would like to thank everybody for offering shows for me to review. I will be able to accept assignments in March-ish 2010, and/or whenever it stops snowing.
12/02/2009 11:29:30 ♥ vu () ♥ thebooksmusic.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter.com
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