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Found this on the internet today and I thought I would share it with you. Here we have one British export, The Streets, doing a remix of another Brit export's song, that being Bloc Party's "Banquet." He manipulates the original to create this one-off track about how he stole the microphone he used to record his album. It's not the best quality, I'm not sure where this got ripped from, but it sounds a little hollow. On the other hand, I wouldn't put it past this just being a total bedroom recording like most of Original Pirate Material. So yeah, here it is for you, The Streets definately hasn't lost his touch, it's a pretty great track.
The Streets vs. Bloc Party - Banquet (remix)
(via Between Though and Expression)
Love,
John
Thought I'd just remind you folks of my presence. I've had a rather nasty habit of doing this and leaving it for a little while lately. I hope you all watched Extras last night, because it was fantastic. Cerebral Palsy, Nazi, and Catholic jokes galore all in one TV show! You can't ask for much more than that! I thought Curb Your Enthusiasm was markedly weaker than its newborn time-slot follower. I'm not sure what was off in the episode but it was just sorta boring instead of uncomfortably funny. Ah well. I still have to watch last nights Rome, I wasn't able to watch it. I must know what the next step in that bloody, sex obsessed rampage of a show is. So, yeah, I don't think I even touch TV the rest of the week (notable exceptions being Arrested Development and LOST) but Sunday is totally a destructive night of television.
Today is a music post, I don't have all that much to rant about as of right now. Things are pretty fantastic and right where I want them to be. But that's all personal stuff, and that's not really what I'm herre to talk about. What I am here to talk about is the album I'm dropping on you today. As of late we have see a rise and fall and rise and fall and sort of rise again of dance-punk or neo-new-wave or whatever you want it to be. Fact of the matter is, in so few word's, the indie-scene is attempting to find its groove, learning once again that those hips can indeed shake. You've got increase usage of dance beats, synths, and bands having their songs heavily remixed so as to make things club friendly. Has anyone been doing this before the 2000's? Fuck yeah they have and they were waaaay funkier when they were doin it with less technology. I first came across this band when I bought the second DFA compilation. The song that those guys remixed on there just had a totally different sound, compltely full of lightning speed xylophones, incdecipherable vocals, and a heavy beat. An unreleased Rapture track? No sir. Some new find by these oh-so-hipper-than-you New Yorkers? Nope. Liquid Liquid have been twistin' heads back in the 80's with a sound that's being aped like nuts today. Eighteen tracks total, this compilation of, from what I know, most of their recorded material just busts out of the gates with "Optimo". You want percussion? These guys have got it. Most of the instruments are percussion. Each track is basically some yelped vocals over a bassline and a fucking wall of percussive instruments. Hell, by track two, "Caverns," you'll be even able to have the joy of figuring out where the dark-funk of Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines" came from. Some of the album isn't stellar, but most of it is completely enjoyable. "Bellhead" is bizarre but wholly too short for its own good. (Luckily those DFA boys decided to extend it to a five and half minute long xylophone and cowbell opus on their comp that I mentioned before.) Roots for electronica, drum and bass, hip-hop, dance-punk, and most and avant-garde music you can dance to can all be found in these 18 tracks. So please please enjoy. You won't be able to keep still for the first two track, this I promise you. It's funky, weird, and compltely accessible, the way good music should be. So without further ado, download and be merry:
Liquid Liquid - Liquid Liquid | TWO
Love,
John
P.S. It may be a while until my next post, I'm hitting a period in my schooling with a bunch of work. So this album may be the last from me for a little bit. I'll try to pump another post out before the week is through though. This is my sort-of, not really at all a promise to you.
Tonight was a fabulous exercise in today's music scene. The world of entertainment and media is extremely different than any other era that has come before. We, as a society, are constantly craving the next big thing, barely ever sticking with bands for more than an album. The "buzz band" is the epitome of this. This band normally has one album and has really only had a following for a few months. Said band will be able to sell out in large New York venues just because people want to say they saw the "next big thing" while they still were "the next big thing" instead of just the "big thing." This is not to say that being a buzz band discredits you in any way, in fact some of the most recent ones really and truly have been fantastic bands (those second albums better live up ya jokers or else its back to nowheresville, ya seee?). What of the time tested band? They've paid their dues and certainly deserve to be shown respect right? Apparently not, because this was the case at Wednesday nights show with buzz band, and Pitchfork lauded, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and the indie rock veterans (yes in this case 3 albums will classify as a veteran)The National.
Now, I've written on the National before, they're a favorite of mine, so I can just say that I was pretty excited to see them. On the other hand, though, I also enjoy CYHSY quite a bit as well. The crowd was fairly excited to see them and we're fairly vocal with their "yeahs" and very adept at clapping. The set was primarily from their debut album and it was played well. They are obviously still getting a feel for playing, and are fairly static onstage, but all in all they were aided by very strong songs. Kudos to their keyboard/guitar player though, he kept that party attitude that their music affects. Hopped around like a damn grinnin fool is what he did.
Now when does this buzz/older band divide come into play, you ask. Right now, good sir! After the opening band played people, I guess, decided that they had come to see what Pitchfork liked. The crowd preceded to thin out to about half at this point, which is pretty sad considering The National commenced in kicking the bejeezus out of CYHSY. I realy haven't seen a band with a true front man in a long time. Often now you've either got your guitar anchored front man, or the introverted shoe gazer front man. Both of these types are held back in some way, but not Matt Berringer, no sir. That boy is a fuckin wild-man. Listen to their albums and you may hear only a couple of rave ups, and frankly you'd be correct. On the quiet songs Berringer would be the soft sort of crazy boy, pawing at his head, twitching and ambling blindly around the stage. Come a total rocked out song though, whether Abel or Mr. November, Berringer transformed into a complete and utter psycho. I honestly have never seen a person disconnect a mic stand from its solid metal base but there it happened, in the flesh. Not to mention his set closing antics during Abel in which he scaled the venues stacks and jumped to the balcony. He is one of the few frontmen able to do the quiet baritone and switch completely into a throat shredding scream without making it seem jarring. Screaming, you say? Absolutely!!! Everything about all of their songs was absolutely pushed to 11 (sorry, but there really is not other way to get that across without using the traditional Spinal Tap refernce), every last part of the show was ear splittingly loud and it was fantastic. It truly was unfortunate that people left before the men who actually knew their way around a stage hit the scene. Ah, well, it's their loss. What they should know is that Pitchfork basically gave this same review of their NY show on their website...how bout that for fuckin up yourday trend-setters?
Since this is my second post with primarily words, I'll put a quick musical tidbit up. I'm not really postive if this is the best album to start you in on a band with, but I enjoy it thouroughly so you can just deal. It's a good album one way or another. The Wedding Present were contemporaries of the Smiths in their heyday, and frankly you could give me one of their albums over any of Moz's, solo or with that famous band. This album is not from that time, however. Released in '94 Watusi is sort of an all over the place hop-around tour of the power-pop/punk/spaz-out tunes of the Wedding Present's general catalog. The opener "So Long, Baby" has a great switch over from rollicking, bass-heavy trot to hopped up sing along at the drop of hat. "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" is a jangly pop nugget that makes you feel like doing 20 things at once. So yeah, I dont really feel like talking about this album all that much more. Interesting factoid: It may be the best album with the worst art ever! Use that at the next cocktail party!
The Wedding Present - Watusi
Love,
John
So, I've always had issues with the overusage of the term "sell-out." Usually this seems to refer to bands who have signed to a major label or perhaps had their song used in an ad. I never really ageed with this, I see no issue with playing the game a little bit, and when you are subsisting on Top-Raman and living in a crappy studio apartment you could the extra dough from Clairol using your song in an ad for mousse.
No, the two options above aren't selling out, I've now truly witnessed selling out and it was ugly. So, just who are these sell-outs, just who is sucking at the large breast of corporate Amercia? The Faint are, that's who, and it was an ugly scene Saturday night at Bogart's in Cincinnati as I attended their concert as part of the "Sin City" tour. What I thought was an unamusing tour title actually meant that this tour was a traveling cigarette ad aponsered by Camel. That's right, not only did the FAint, Omaha indie-synthrockers, join up with a company for their most recent tour, they joined up with Big fucking Tobacco. Way to set a good example. This wouldnt have been so bad in my eyes if there would have just been a couple camel ads, some flyers, a few packs handed out here and there; that sort of behavior happens everywhere. No, Camel took it upon themselves to make this into a mock-casino, complete with gambling where the only prize you could win was cigarettes, and scantily clad go-go dancers shakin their shit onstage and on strategically placed dancin platforms. It was an ugly smokey scene, and even i felt like i was doing something wrong paying for the ticket. If I would've realized it was sponsored in this sense I may not have attended. The Faint should be ashamed of themselves.
To add to what made it rediculous was that they were obviously using a backing track the whole concert. So basically instead of live music you were just watching them dance around spastically to a mix CD of their own music played really loud. Way to go, gents. Connor Oberst should kick your asses of his label for more or less breaking every and all "what not to do as an indie rocker" rules. Their preformance was wooden, unspontaneous (for obvious reasons) and moronic. And to think, I was actually sort of looking forward to seeing them. I have a feeling we can look forward to seeing the Faint on Mountain Dew's "Xtreme Snow Job 2006" tour. XTREME!!!
All is not lost though, since it's a lot easier to say mean things than nice, I have an extra paragraph about Sufjan Stevens. All you need to know about this is that it was amazing. The sound was great, the fake cheerleader schtick was amusing without being obnoxious, and everyone was in pretty good spirits. He mainly played stuff off the new album but that wasn't all that dissapointing considering they were dressed in costumes for doing so and also due to the fact that the album is amazing.
Final verdict, avoid the Faint, follow Sufjan everywhere he goes.
Love,
John
P.S. I'll put some actual music up eventually. I'm just busy lately.
Last night I attended the Sigur Ros concert and it was amazing. I worried going into it that the novelty of seeing them live would wear off, and thankfully it didn't. This was, of course, aided by the space, the newly constructed Strathmor Music Hall in Bethesda, Maryland. The acoustics were amazing so everything from the littlest ping to the ear gnashing drums closing out the set were perfect.
It's always interesting to attend a concert at a music hall with people who are used to cramped smokey venues. Everyone is confused, bumping into each other, still believing the "first come, first serve" rule to be in effect. Thankfully we had seats and there was no spot-jockeying going on. I would have been able to deal with it, but my lovely parents who attended along side me, may have needed many replacement bones by the end of the night. First off, I would like to comment on the t-shirts. All of them are extremely cool and subtle designs. However, there are two groupings of t-shirts, the mass-produced ones for us normal fans, and apparently the wallet vacuuming section made by little icelandic elves in igloos. I don't know about you but spending the same amount of money on one t-shirt as i did on one ticket for the concert seems a little stupid. But, hey if 40 dollar concert t's and 50 dollar hoodies made of t-shirt material are you thing, more power to ya, they were pretty cool. (but not all that much cooler than the other merch, to be honest, with the exception of the "Sigur Fucking Ros" shirts) Besides the crazy pricing, the merch table was an amaing cluster-fuck of people queueing and buying like this is not only the last t-shirt they'll ever be allowed to buy but also the last concert that will ever be played by anyone.
As far as the show goes it was pretty amazing. Hearing them in a space truly built to have optimal sound was a pretty incredible thing. The drums sounded huge, the guitars were all crystal clears and when the sharp staccato strings came in midway through the closing number, "Untitled #8", I about cried. It felt like a shorter set than when I heard them play a couple years ago, but that may have had to do with the fact that they were being broadcasted and needed to keep it within an hour and half or so. I must say, although I haven't listened all that much to the Untitled #1/#9, but #9 sounded pretty amazing. I really must emphasive, though how awesome the drums sounded. It was thunderous but not ear-splittingly oppressive, which is always a tough balance to find. So, yeah show 1 was a keeper, Sigur Ros sounded extremely strong and the new material sounded fantastic. At this point, I'm finishing this and it's almost ot a week later and a few shows later so I've forgotten things and I've run out of htings to say, so take my word on all this, it was awesome.
Love,
John
P.S. Next up is the White Stripes' show back in Cincinnati when I finally get around ot actually writing about it.
Well, please let me apologize, this has taken me a rediculous amount of time to do, but here I am, so you can stop asking me if I'm ever going to update my blog. I was planning on it, but really just kept getting busy and distracted from this rather trivial aspect of my life by more important people. This is not to say that, you my readers aren't important, but we should all have more important things to do than read/update a blog. Yes, I know it's free music.
So, what have you guys been up to? Oh yeah? That's great, I'm really glad things are going well for you. I've started school back at Xavier and am going to be living in Cincinnati more or less full time. This, however, doesn't seem to stop me from flying home tomorrow to see Sigur Ros play at Strathmore Music Hall in Bethesda, MD. Yes I have lot of concert reviews for you coming up. After I return on Monday morning I will attend my classes and then go see the White Stripes in the evening at Cincinnati Music Hall. Two nights later I will be attending a Sufjan Steven's musical event at the Southgate House. So look forward to me gushing about a few concerts, it should be self indulgent and overly loving of the bands. Hurrah!!!
I planned on penning a little piece on Drew's eBay trials, which are funny, but we haven't really gotten around to him giving me the document that makes it funny. So, instead of ruining the funny, I'll leave you hanging on that one. All I can say is it involves a record player and a death threat.
As for music, I'm giving a fairly recent release out that I know some, if not most of you have, but I still felt like posting because I know (well not really, but I haven't ever suggested it to him so I'm probably right) that my brother doesn't have it. In light of that the rest of this post will be written in letter form:
Dear Paul,
I have a feeling that this album will be one that you don't love instantly. I can't say for certain, but, in all honesty I didn't totally dig it right away either. I would like you to give the New Pornographers most rencent album, Twin Cinema, the old college try though. It's a pop album, unarguably. There's no post-punk, barely any jarring guitar work. What there are, however, is hooks upon hooks perched high upon a mountain of harmonies!!! Billy goats and Satyrs alike dance upon this mountain. Every song on here is endlessly catchy and I didn't absolute love this album until this morning. I mean, I liked it, don't get me wrong, but this morning somehting about it clicked with me and now I'm addicted. Play it loud, and sing along, it only helps the album. The hard drive of "Jessica Numbers" is totally brought full circle by Neko Case's background cooing. Fuck, I don't even know what that means, but I do know that I LOVE that song. "Use It" totally kills, "The Bleeding Heart Show" makes you want to throw your arms in the air, and everything else is just awesome. It's such a big sounding rock album. They aren't afraid to make everything sound large and just say "fuck it" to anything resmbling a tradtional hushed indie rock feel. A.C. Newman is just a plain pop music genious. Download now, my dear brother, enjoy it. Don't give up if you don't adore it the first time, it's definately one of those" grow on you" albums.
Love,
John
P.S. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema | TWO
P.P.S. - For all y'all that already have this album I'm going to do my best to not leave you empty handed. I've founf somehting else that I did not personaly put up, but still am excited about. So for some of you it's a doubly good day, for some a singularly good day. To each his own!
Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs | TWO | THREE
(A word of warning, I can't promise this second group of links work, I didn't put them up)
