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Pick Your Poison: Thursday 6-14-12

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On 06/14/2012

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Usually I save this for Friday, but given my penchant for mixing things up a bit on occasion, let’s talk about it now. All of the site’s social media links are on the upper right corner of the page, but I’ve been working especially hard to generate some “Likes” over on the good ‘ol Facebook page. Twitter’s doing well, as is site traffic, but things have been progressing slowly at Facebook since I started the page a couple months back. So I’m going to keep mentioning it once a week until it’s doing well too. There’s extra, exclusive content over on Facebook too, including music videos I like and Spotify playlists I create. Just sayin’. I’m also just sayin’ today’s Pick Your Poison is solid. There are some pretty damn good tracks up for download from Emily Hane White, Fires, The Inner Banks, Mission of Burma, Mrs Magician, and North Atlantic Drift. Stream songs in the Soundcloud section from Lantern, Mika and Passion Pit, along with A-Trak’s remix of Justice.

Chilljren – You Got It

Dots Will Echo – I’m A Monkey

Emily Jane White – Oh Katherine

Esperi – Silo the Fire

Fires – Blood On Black

Grace Jones – Williams Blood (Aeroplane Remix)

The Inner Banks – Box and Crown

Jhameel – Let’s Run Away

Jon Sandler – Late Night Champ

Mission of Burma – Second Television

Mrs Magician – Fools Paradise

North Atlantic Drift – Waiting in the Afterglow

Rah Rah – I Could Tell You I’m Sorry

The Sometime Boys – Summer Solstice

Tiger! Tiger! – Cut Them Where They Bleed

White Light Parade – Want You to Know (Is Tropical Remix)

SOUNDCLOUD

Justice – New Lands (A-Trak Remix)

Lantern – Out of Our Heads

Mika – Make You Happy

Passion Pit – I’ll Be Alright

Society – All That We’ve Become

Tan Sister Radio – Flashing Vents

Album Review: POP ETC – POP ETC [Rough Trade]

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On 06/14/2012

In album review, mp3, music



When talking about the self-titled debut album from POP ETC, it’s almost essential to forget what you know and think you know about The Morning Benders. The storyline plays out as follows: upon learning that their band name was being used as a homophobic slur in the UK, The Morning Benders made the executive decision to change their name to POP ETC. With the name change came a lineup tweak and a move from San Francisco to Brooklyn. It’s close to the musical equivalent of gender reassignment or witness protection, and such radical adjustments also provide the opportunity to reinvent yourself however you like. The old Morning Benders liked guitars and indie pop. They wrote a super catchy song like “Excuses” that found placement in a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups commercial and on “Best of” lists back in 2010. They corralled their musician friends from San Francisco like John Vanderslice and members of Girls into a small studio to play a song or two for fun.

By contrast, POP ETC like synths and commercial pop music. They use AutoTune liberally and even apply it to a cover of Bjork’s “Unravel”. They release mixtapes titled “New Influences Weekend Mix” and “1986 Weekend Mix” full of artists like Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Tears for Fears and Boys II Men. The moving parts might be the same, but this is an entirely new model and should be regarded as such. Those still in denial need only listen to the appropriately titled opening track “New Life” on POP ETC’s new album to best understand the group’s aim. Synths warble next to drum machines, and singer Chris Chu mourns the death of a relationship through R&B flavored sentiments and AutoTune. Somewhere, the 808s & Heartbreak version of Kanye West can relate. Top 40 and Urban radio stations should be licking their chops over the sparkling Drake-like bounce of “Back to Your Heart,” if only the lyrics weren’t so cringe-worthy. “She said, ‘Why do we bother?’/and I said, ‘I’m not your father,'” is just one moment in the song that might make you wince. First single “Keep It For Your Own” is perhaps the best four minutes of pure pop on the entire album, where light bits of acoustic guitar, bass and piano actually support the verses, the hook in the chorus is strong, and all the vocals/harmonies haven’t been modulated. It’s the only track on the record produced by Danger Mouse, and considering how well it works, they might want to have him do the entire thing next time.

So much of the rest of the album feels like a blatant attempt at mainstream pop it can be almost disturbing at times. “R.Y.B.” stands for rock your body, and not only did Justin Timberlake do a song about that very topic that was a whole lot better, but it’s easy to get the impression that ‘NSYNC would probably pass on it too. That and closing track “Yoyo” are both obnoxiously loud too, as if the synths have been turned up to 11 to distract you from how utterly mediocre they are. The faux R&B seductions of “Live It Up” and “I Wanna Be Your Man” have decent melodies and even some impressive harmonies in them, but stumble and fall from downright painful lyrics. “I ain’t never disrespect no woman/never called a girl a ho,” Chu AutoTunes on “Live It Up,” a song about sleeping with groupies while on tour. The chorus of “I Wanna Be Your Man” is the song title repeated over and over and over again ad nauseum, to the point where if you play this song for a girl you’re trying to woo she’ll likely say yes by the halfway point so the begging doesn’t have to go on any longer. You could say POP ETC are trying as hard as they can to develop a relationship with as many people as possible on this album, beating you over the head with a sonic lead pipe until you finally come around to the idea that they’re a good band.

They’d fare far better with a touch of moderation, as songs like “Halfway to Heaven” and “Everything Is Gone” display. Unfortunately such moments are too few and far between to make much of a difference. One thing that does make a difference is how and where you listen to the album. Like a blockbuster action film, sometimes you need a good popcorn record to mindlessly enjoy for awhile. If you’re out on a deck with a cold beverage and a good book or are at a party with your friends, a little POP ETC can be quite nice. Don’t be too surprised if the band starts to pick up some mainstream success from this album either. I mean it IS better than Ke$ha. That last sentence probably tells you all you need to know. In an ideal world, the transition from The Morning Benders to POP ETC would have gone a lot smoother. Chris Chu has proven he can write smart and addictive pop songs with guitars, and it stands to reason he could do the same without them. Let’s hope that next time the band returns they learn from this misstep and come up with some music that’s truly worthy of their new name.

POP ETC – Everything Is Gone
POP ETC – Halfway to Heaven

Buy POP ETC from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 6-13-12

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On 06/13/2012

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Have you heard of The Deer Tracks? I mentioned them a couple weeks ago, but wanted to bring them up one more time quickly before tomorrow, when they’ll be playing a show at Schuba’s here in Chicago. In a nutshell, The Deer Tracks are a duo from Sweden who make electro-pop with sort of an insular edge. Their melodies shimmer and sparkle and often have a fun, danceable edge to them, but at the same time there’s an intimacy and preciousness to them as well. Maybe it’s their wider use of glockenspiel or their male-female vocal interplay that gives it that vibe. Anyways, they’re working on a trio of records known as The Archer Trilogy. Two of the three parts have been released, and the final piece will be out this fall. If you see them tomorrow night or on another one of their tour dates, they’ll be playing material from the entire trilogy. Buy tickets for the Schuba’s show here, and download the songs “W” and “Dark Passenger” to get a feel for their sound. I hope to see you at the show! Now let’s get to today’s Pick Your Poison. I’ll offer up recommendations that you download tracks from Azealia Banks, Finn Riggins, Odd Hours, and Radio Moscow. In the Soundcloud section stream tracks from Attaque, Panoramic & True, Supreme Cuts and Van She.

Azealia Banks – Aquababe

Bart and Friends – There May Come A Time

Don Serata – Disorder

Fair Play Knight – Starlab

Finn Riggins – Big News

Fiona Apple – Every Single Night (Its Overture Remix)

Love and Radiation – Faith Permits No Doubt

Odd Hours – Electric Soul

Radio Moscow – Creepin’

Saint Saviour – Midnight City (M83 cover)

Sam Densmore – Why’d You Let Me Down?

Total Warr – xxx HATE xxx (Is Tropical Remix)

Touch Tone – Home Away From Home (Starcadian Remix)

SOUNDCLOUD

Attaque – Flow

Dynasty Electric – Oasis

Panoramic & True – Product On

Supreme Cuts – Ciroc Waterfalls

Van She – Jamaica

Woven Bird – Saw You In Two

Yeti Lane – Warning Sensations (School Of Seven Bells Remix)

Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 6-12-12

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On 06/12/2012

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Tuesdays mean new music release days in America, and I’m pleased to try and inform you each week of what’s out there for you to buy. Here’s a long list of artists putting out new stuff this week, be it an EP or a full length album. If you notice one of your favorites in here and haven’t been keeping up with them, finding out they’ve got new material being release could be a nice surprise. Look for fresh stuff from the following artists: Anabot, Azealia Banks, Bobby Womack, The Bouncing Souls, The dB’s, Dent May, Emily Jane White, Future of the Left, Hot Chip, The Hundred in the Hands, The Inner Banks, Jaill, Joan of Arc, Jukebox the Ghost, Metric, Motion City Soundtrack, Nouela, Phoebe Jean, Piano Magic, POP ETC, Richard Hawley, The Tallest Man on Earth, These United States, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Variety Lights, Wintersleep and The Young. Phew, that’s a long list. It’s almost as long as today’s dose of Pick Your Poison. In this particular set, I’ll give a thumbs up to tracks from The Fire Tapes, The Ocean Floor, She’s So Rad, Warning Light and Wild Ones. Beastie Boy Mike D remixed Bosco Delrey pretty well, as did Mmoths with a Vacationer track. Other than that, stream good stuff from Atlas Genius, Levek and Plant Plants in the Soundcloud section.

Bosco Delrey – My My Race Car (Mike D Remix)

Dogtanion – Islam

The Fire Tapes – Transistor, Monitor (ZIP)

Girl In A Coma – One Eyed Fool

Infantree – What You Wanna Do

Jack Dolgen – Baby I’m Afraid Tonight

Jeremy Fisher – Built to Last

Kimbra – Settle Down (tree & docko Remix)

Le Le – Drunken Cigarettes

Meyhem Lauren – Peruvian Desserts (ft. Action Bronson and Roc Marciano)

The Ocean Floor – The Last Four Years

Sacred Caves – On the Outside

She’s So Rad – Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart (Twin Peaks/Julee Cruise cover)

The Toothaches – Pretty and Loud

Vacationer – Trip (Mmoths Remix)

Warning Light – Whispering Priest

Wild Ones – It’s Real

SOUNDCLOUD

Atlas Genius – Symptoms

ev ree whuhn – Control

Levek – Black Mold Grow

Phantom Limb – Angel Of Death (Hank Williams Cover)

Plant Plants – One To Adore

Race Horses – Mates

Show Review: Radiohead [First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre; Chicago; 6/10/12]

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On 06/12/2012

In chicago, live music, music, show review


“I have no idea who I am anymore,” Thom Yorke joked near the end of Radiohead’s set at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre on Sunday night. Plenty of people could say the same thing sincerely about Yorke and his bandmates once the show was over. For incessant Radiohead devotees and casual fans alike, the band’s trajectory since releasing The King of Limbs last year has been anything but normal. They’ve forsaken guitars and more traditional song arrangements for music that’s heavily influenced by the electronica subgenre IDM and kinetic polyrhythms. The response hasn’t exactly been enthusiastic so far, in large part because it’s quite a bit different from some of their most popular work on albums like In Rainbows and OK Computer. The closest cousin to The King of Limbs is Kid A, and even that was more of a subtle art statement than a fidgety dance record. Still, it was the new album with its twists and turns that transformed Radiohead’s live show from a display of superb rock craftsmanship into a morbid dance party. Consummate professionals that they are, the band is in no worse shape because of it.

Things didn’t exactly get off to a mindblowing start though. Opening with “Bloom,” the live rendering of it felt just a little sluggish and mixed with a little too much bass. With most of the crowd utterly distracted because the band was on stage and they needed documented pictures of it immediately, the so-so launch either went unnoticed or was shrugged off as soon as “There There” kicked in. It’s also worth noting that as with any new album, sometimes it takes a band a bit to figure out the right way to perform certain songs. Perhaps “Bloom” is one of those. But from that point onwards, things only got better. “There There” benefited from the dual drummer attack Radiohead is using to supplement their newest material. Portishead’s Clive Deamer does a wonderful job working in tandem with Phil Selway, and in certain situations even Jonny Greenwood or Ed O’Brien would pick up some sticks and add extra fuel to the percussion fire. That was perhaps most noticeable on “Morning Mr. Magpie,” one of a couple tracks from The King of Limbs that managed to exceed the recorded version.

The middle of the main set attempted to calm things down a bit starting with piano ballad “Codex,” but when you’ve got a crowd numbering in the tens of thousands that can get a little tricky. As Yorke’s falsetto moaned into the night and the keys were tapped with measured grace, some overzealous fans felt it necessary to cover the quiet with quite a few “Wooo”‘s and “Yeah”‘s. It stripped away some of the power that moment could (and was intended to) have had, which was unfortunate. Also just a touch unfortunate was the live treatment given to “The Amazing Sounds of Orgy.” Fantastic as it is that Radiohead chose to perform one of their best b-sides because it was a good sonic match with everything else that night, it was the only other song besides “Bloom” that didn’t hit the way it was supposed to. There’s an underlying dread about a political menace woven through the song, as Yorke himself explained when introducing it, but the band dragged while playing it and sucked some of the raw emotional power out as a result. The recorded version on the “Pyramid Song” single gets it all the way right.

The second half of the main set was about as perfect as anybody could ever ask for. The song selection was a fantastic mix of old and new, a pair of huge hits, and a massive dose of energy that sent the crowd into a frenzy. There was the sing-along to “Karma Police,” Yorke sending his voice soaring on “Reckoner,” the dance party on stage and off for “Lotus Flower,” the fuzz and buzz combo of “Myxomatosis” and “Feral,” with a closing capper of “Idioteque.” No doubt those last several tracks fulfilled the vision Radiohead had to shift their direction towards a much more physical live show. If they can find a way to harness that magic for the entire night and not just a majority of it, who knows what that would do to a crowd. Bodies might explode from sheer ecstasy.

In the last week or two, word quickly spread around the internet that Radiohead had a brand new song called “Full Stop” that they were playing around with during soundchecks on tour. A couple people managed to get some shoddy recordings of the band messing around with it, but it had never been performed during a show before. That is, until this show. With bright tye-dyed rainbows of color splashed across every video screen surrounding the band, the excitement in the air was palpable and every hair on my body was standing straight up. Holding true to the more electronica-based material from The King of Limbs, the song starts fast with a hazy keyboard base. Tension and speed quickly build atop one another until the dam fully breaks about three minutes in. Yorke’s voice yo-yos between normal and falsetto near the end so many times he sounds like a skipping record. Call it euphoria from hearing it live for the first time, but I think “Full Stop” is destined to be a hit. “It’ll get better with age,” Yorke said after they’d finished playing it. If it’s this good now, who knows what it’ll sound like five years from now. It’s tough to even fathom.

The first encore wrapped up with a ripped up rendition of “Bodysnatchers,” which was the most rock and roll the band got all night. Then Yorke stepped back behind the piano and teased a little of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” before blending it seamlessly into “Everything In It’s Right Place.” That’s sort of typical Radiohead fare, and they’ve been doing those sorts of things for years now. Relatively new to their encore plot is the stark and stripped down version of “Give Up the Ghost,” which Yorke and Jonny Greenwood played to start the second encore while everyone else remained backstage. Thankfully this time the crowd was much more sedate and respectful relative to the emotion and quiet of the song, and it represented one of the more powerful moments of the evening. “Identikit” is another new song they played that hasn’t yet appeared in studio recorded form, and like “Full Stop” it’s a percussive dance juggernaut worthy of getting excited about. After ignoring almost their entire pre-Kid A catalogue all night, Radiohead finally said goodnight with the show-ending classic “Street Spirit (Fade Out).” “Immerse your soul in love,” Yorke sang as the last lines of the song. With their stellar execution, jaw-dropping stage set-up, quite a bit of dancing and upbeat demeanor, the band gave out plenty of soul-immersing love to the Chicago crowd on Sunday night. I’d like to think we returned that love in full.

Watch Radiohead perform “Full Stop” for the first time

Set List
Bloom
There There
15 Step
Kid A
Staircase
Morning Mr. Magpie
The Gloaming
Codex
The Amazing Sounds of Orgy
Karma Police
Reckoner
Lotus Flower
Myxomatosis
Feral
Little By Little
Idioteque
ENCORE 1
Separator
Full Stop (FIRST TIME PERFORMED)
Bodysnatchers
The One I Love–>Everything In It’s Right Place
ENCORE 2
Give Up the Ghost
Identikit
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Pick Your Poison: Monday 6-11-12

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On 06/11/2012

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Happy Monday to you. I hope your weekend was a memorable one, filled with fun and time with friends or family. I’m going to keep this intro short today, mostly because I’m hard at work on a review of the Radiohead show that happened last night and I don’t want to take up too much time from that (ed: it’s finished now, read it here. In one quick sentence? The show was amazeballs. More on that later. For now, please enjoy this set of mp3s and music streams. A quick Class of 2012 note for you. You can grab an mp3 of a new Frank Ocean song below. He’ll have a record out this fall that you and I will need to pay attention to. Also part of my Class of 2012, Charli XCX has a new single out this week, which you can stream in the Soundcloud section below. Other downloads I’ll recommend today come from Archers, The Drowning Men, Pony Trash (which has members of The Chambermaids and Polica in it), Restorations and Zucchini Drive. There’s a new CocoRosie song up for streaming in the Soundcloud section too. It features the great Antony Hegarty, so I hope you’ll check it out.

Archers – Super Blues

Baby Buffalo – Sea Salt

Dead Rat Orchestra – The Geshin and The Guga

The Drowning Men – Lost In A Lullaby

Fallon Cush – Forever After

Frank Ocean – Pyramids

How Many Birds? – Helium

Matthew E. White – One of These Days

Mothlight – Marble Giant

Of the Opera – Cities of Gold

Olof – Seven Things

Pony Trash – Submarine

Restorations – A

Shy Hunters – Time Bomb

Vancans – Like A Kid (Born Upstate)

Zucchini Drive – Jaguar Sky

SOUNDCLOUD

Big Scary – Falling Away

Charli XCX – You’re The One

CocoRosie ft. Antony Hegarty – Tearz For Animals

Dog Is Dead – Glockenspiel Song

Passion Pit – Take A Walk (The Highweights Remix)

The Penelopes – Summer Life

Snapshot Review: Liars – WIXIW [Mute]

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On 06/11/2012

In album review, music, snapshot review



Liars are undoubtedly a talented band. They’re also impressively weird, to the point where even some of their most hardcore fans have probably felt a little alienated at times. In effect, they are the onion of bands: multi-layered, not for everybody, and sometimes they’ll draw tears from your eyes. If you’re listening to “The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack”, those tears might be the result of sheer beauty, whereas “Scarecrows On A Killer Slant” could easily bring forth tears of terror. So yeah, it’s not easy to pigeonhole Liars, and they seem to like it that way. Not knowing what to expect from them on each new album is an exciting proposition, even if it doesn’t always work out. For the most part they’ve been smart with career twists and turns, jumping from a concept record about witches (They Were Wrong, So We Drowned) to one that places a huge emphasis on percussion (Drum’s Not Dead) and then attempting to grind out something more straightforwad with heavy post-punk leanings (Sisterworld). On their new album WIXIW, the band once again explores new territory, this time peeling away most of the guitars and focusing on programmed beats and electronica elements. Many are calling it a “Kid A-like shift”, in reference to Radiohead’s steep change in sonic direction after the immense success of OK Computer. Liars frontman Angus Andrew even sounds a little like Thom Yorke on a couple tracks, perhaps most notably on “Ill Valley Prodigies” and “His and Mine Sensations”. Apt as those comparisons might be, the last thing you want to do is try and imitate a record that many believe was the finest thing released in the last dozen or so years. The band hasn’t said that was their intention, so maybe the similarities are wholly accidental. Really the whole “abandon instruments and go electronica” thing has become a plague among artists in recent years, with most citing the apparent limits that guitar and drum combinations have versus the wider realm of programmed sounds. That’s the main reason why Liars did it too, as they’ve said in recent interviews. Hell, that’s probably Radiohead’s excuse as well, only they did it before it was cool. Parts of WIXIW feel like a cop-out because of it though. It’s as if the band has lost confidence in their own ability to generate something original, so they’re creating new music based on sounds and influences they know are cool at the moment. That doesn’t mean the record is terrible or devoid of original ideas though. Opening track “The Exact Colour of Doubt” features calming waves of synths and handclap percussion that is downright beautiful. Single “No. 1 Against the Rush” glides, pulses and tinkers in a very Brian Eno-like fashion, even evolving the final minute of the song into a touch of instrumental madness. Those moments when Liars can condense some of their best elements from earlier records into the more electro-based structures are what work best. The rhythmically complex and bassline-driven madness of “Brats” is the band’s classic rave-up with a synth-etic twist, and “A Ring On Every Finger” puts a Depeche Mode spin on some of their favorite tribal rhythms. Most of these songs are interesting at least in concept, and the closer attention you lend them the more carefully composed they seem. That your perception of this record can change over time definitely makes it worth repeat examinations, even if those changes cause you to like it less. When you’re Liars, that comes with the territory. WIXIW may not be the shining moment for this band, and their own bout of self-doubt spawning its creation isn’t helping, but nobody else could have made this album. Sometimes that’s enough.

Buy WIXIW from Amazon

Set List: Radiohead at First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre [Tinley Park, IL, 6/10/12]

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On 06/11/2012

In live music, music

Radiohead made their “Chicago” stop on the King of Limbs tour tonight, and I was there to witness all the action. I’ll have a full report for you in a day or two, but in the meantime, here’s the full set list for your pleasure. It includes the first-ever live performance of new song “Full Stop”. To say that every hair on my body was standing on end and shivers went down my spine during that song is putting it lightly. When a reasonable quality video of it hits YouTube, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Set List
Bloom
There There
15 Step
Kid A
Staircase
Morning Mr. Magpie
The Gloaming
Codex
The Amazing Sounds of Orgy
Karma Police
Reckoner
Lotus Flower
Myxomatosis
Feral
Little By Little
Idioteque
ENCORE 1
Separator
Full Stop (FIRST TIME PERFORMED)
Bodysnatchers
The One I Love–>Everything In It’s Right Place
ENCORE 2
Give Up the Ghost
Identikit
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Pick Your Poison: Friday 6-8-12

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On 06/08/2012

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Short and sweet on the Friday beat is what I aim for, so instead of chatting about weekend plans, let’s get to business. First it’s my weekly reminder that Faronheit has a Facebook page. Go there, click “Like”, and get links to every single post on this site, plus a few exclusives like music videos that strike my fancy and Spotify playlists of my own creation. Secondly, Pick Your Poison is good today, as it is most days. You don’t want to miss downloading songs from Beast Make Bomb, Little Daylight’s remix of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Giraffage, The Mynabirds, Richard Hawley and Swiss American Federation (featuring Cary Brothers). In the Soundcloud section there’s a new Whigs track you might get excited about streaming. Have a great weekend!

Autosave – The (Shit-Faced) Memoir

Beast Make Bomb – Dream Boat

The Canvas Waiting – This City

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Man On Fire (Little Daylight Remix)

Force Fields – Robot Milk

Giraffage – Feels

Herculion – Restless

Jonti – Nightshift in Blue (Dro Carey Remix)

Kyle Adem – Armour

The Mynabirds – Generals

Pinks Quieter – May I Come In

Plant Plants – Embrace the Real

Richard Hawley – Leave Your Body Behind You

The Smittens – Burning Streets of Rome

Swiss American Federation – Oxygen (ft. Cary Brothers)

SOUNDCLOUD

Drops – You Have My Word

Dublin Aunts – Heartbreak Reputation

The Malex Kings – The Getaway

Nude Beach – Some Kinda Love

The Whigs – Summer Heat

Pick Your Poison: Thursday 6-7-12

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On 06/07/2012

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Wayne Coyne and The Flaming Lips might be in a little bit of trouble. Okay, it’s more like a slightly heated argument than anything serious (for the time being). You may recall that on their Record Store Day exclusive album The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends that there was a track featuring the lovely and powerful Erykah Badu. If you’ve also been paying close attention to music sites the last couple weeks a music video for that song may have caught your eye. A very NSFW music video that features Erykah’s sister Nayrok sans clothing and bathing in a variety of liquids and such. Well surprise, surprise, I guess that video wasn’t officially “done”, or as the band says it was, “unedited and unapproved”. Oddly enough, it looked quite edited. The “unapproved” part makes more sense though. The video has been scrubbed off the internet for the time being, with the hopes of posting an “edited and approved” version next week. In the meantime, Erykah is none too pleased with how this whole thing went down. She took to Twitter with a long missive about how angry she is about that video. She seems to feel that the video was “tasteless, meaningless and shock motivated” and disrespected her as an artist. That was point one of many as to why she disapproves of that video. Hopefully they’re able to come to some sort of agreement on a final product, but in the meantime, Wayne tweeted a pretty snarky reply that included a photo of his lips covered in glitter with the comments of “I kissed it!!!!” and “Nice ass!!!!” in reference to Erykah’s sister Nayrok having her body covered in it for the video. So there’s your amusing tidbit for the day. More on that if it develops. In the meantime, here’s today’s Pick Your Poison, complete with “edited and approved” mp3s from Baby Monster, Brown Shoe (covering Springsteen), Burning Hotels, Manor, The Spring Standards and TEEN. In the Soundcloud section there’s some good streaming stuff from Family Band, Four Tet and Class of 2012 artist Blonds.

Acid House Kings – I Just Called to Say Jag 脛lskar Dig (SAW Remix by Nixon)

Baby Monster – Hitchhiker

Birds and Batteries – Let the Door Swing

The Bolts – Walk Away

Brown Shoe – I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover)

Burning Hotels – Always
Burning Hotels – Always (Shuttle Remix)

Christina Martin – Marina

Fat Tony & Tom Cruz – Bad Habits (ft. Bun B and Nick Diamonds)

Hills Like Elephants – Invisible Ink

Manor – Afghan Hound

Michael the Blind – Who Is She?

The Spring Standards – Watch the Moon Disappear

TEEN – Better

White Widow – Serial Love Affair

SOUNDCLOUD

Blonds – Run

Family Band – Moonbeams

Four Tet – 128 Harps

Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders – Cold Feet

Making Movies – Hangover Blues

Shoreline Is – French Leave

Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 6-6-12

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On 06/06/2012

In mp3, music, pick your poison

“America! Truck Yeah!” That’s the slogan an NYU graduate film student Heather Fink wanted to use as part of a Chevy advertising campaign. Because one doesn’t simply suggest a slogan without some hard evidence to back up how effective it could be, she put together a couple of “spec” commercials to fully sell it. Savvy filmmaker that she is, she recruited Les Savy Fav’s Tim Harrington along with comedian Bobby Tisdale to star in those commercials. Naturally, they’re pretty funny. You can watch one of the commercials here and the other one here. I’d love it if Chevy adopted these, however they chose to pass on the idea. Maybe Ford will be interested? Anyways, that was just a fun little slice I thought you might enjoy on this Wednesday. As for today’s Pick Your Poison, I’ll recommend tracks from The 65’s, Bogan Via, Calexico, The Dust Engineers, Ian McGlynn and Will Magid. Be sure to check out a full mixtape from How to Dress Well too. In the Soundcloud section don’t miss streaming a song from Museum of Bellas Artes.

The 65’s – Greatest Pretense

Afrobeta – Do You Party? (UMF Remix)

Alphanaut – Back to the Stars (Acoustic)

Alt-J – Fitzpleasure

Bass Science – Ghost in the Wires

Bogan Via – Kanye

Calexico – Para

The Dust Engineers – Snot Nosed Dweeb

Guantanamo Baywatch – Sad Over You

Guy Capecelatro III – Joe the Sailor

How to Dress Well – Live Yourself (Mixtape)

Ian McGlynn – Falling Towards Heaven

Jhameel – The Long Run

A Thousand Fuegos – No Up No Down

Will Magid – Brown Paper Bag

Zambri – My Could Have True (Plastic HealtH Remix)

SOUNDCLOUD

Eyan Green – Chico Norte

Fur – Cocoon

LTD – You Must Be Dreaming

Museum of Bellas Artes – Bear Cubs

Sick Fix – Boudica

The Young Evils – Dead Animals

Snapshot Review: Japandroids – Celebration Rock [Polyvinyl]

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On 06/06/2012

In album review, BNM, mp3, music, snapshot review



Japandroids are a band with an expiration date. The Vancouver duo crafted their last album Post-Nothing with the thought they’d be breaking up soon thereafter, having not found success in the relatively unsupportive music scene of their hometown. That record was in essence a mission statement from two guys that had nothing left to lose and wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Well, it seems that glory found them, because their song “Young Hearts Spark Fire” did as its title described and ignited the passions of rock fans across the globe. The entire album actually did wonders for the band, and two years of touring with large crowds suddenly made returning to a much more normal, non-music life a far less appealing option. As much as they dislike recording, it remains an essential part of any artist’s shelf life to keep generating new material. So with the exact same collection of people, instruments and rules they had on their last album, Japandroids set out to see if lightning could strike twice. Celebration Rock is the result. While the artwork, 8 song track list and running time might well have been photocopied from Post-Nothing, the songs themselves represent a very important progression for the band. First and foremost, the very internal and personal nature of the songs has been excised to focus on bigger emotions and an outward projection. The tortured thoughts of two guys on the verge of imploding their band have been replaced by songs about other people, possibly you, that want to live and party and lust and take revenge – sometimes all at the same time. The music plays along with that vibe too; there’s a distinct hunger and energy present in Brian King’s guitar riffs and Dave Prowse’s drumming that’s designed for bigger and better things. Whereas before they were making music for themselves, now they’re making it for their fans. Opening track “The Nights of Wine and Roses” sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the record, saying we’re all drinking and smoking and spending time with friends while waiting for the big and important moments in our lives to finally arrive. The lesson learned in the end is that those big and important moments are the ones where you’re waiting. The supercharged kick in the teeth that starts the album holds up in all its headbanging, devil horns and mosh pit glory through “Fire’s Highway”, “Evil’s Sway” and an effervescent cover of Gun Club’s “For the Love of Ivy”. They truly epitomize what the album’s title is all about. At the halfway point however, a shift takes place that changes the dynamic of the record. Rather than racing for the finish line in blistering fashion, they temper the energy only slightly and go for more of an emotional and nostalgic approach. “Adrenaline Nightshift” evokes some of the best moments The Replacements ever had sonically while tapping into abstract imagery like “a blitzkrieg love and a Roman candle kiss” and espousing that “there’s no high like this.” A similar mentality is tackled in “Younger Us”, reflecting back on youthful indiscretions with a bunch of “remember when”‘s and “thinking that this feeling was never gonna end.” But those two tracks really wind up as stepping stones for “The House That Heaven Built”, a crossroads at which the band’s intense instrumentals and recent lyrical prowess collide at their peaks. As the song chugs along with sheer purpose, King sings like he’s just achieved a newfound clarity and confidence in his life and wants to pass such wisdom onto us. “If they try to slow you down/tell ’em all to go to hell,” he professes like a man that has broken through all of his boundaries and is utterly ecstatic at the possibilities that lie before him. If that doesn’t suck you in, the hook most assuredly will. Celebration Rock ends on a ballad, or at least something that turns the speed and noise down from 11 to maybe a 9.5. “Continuous Thunder” is about the electricity between two people and the question of whether they can salvage their tenuous relationship. It might not be the happiest song on the record, but it does strive to keep the same sense of boldness and conviction as everything else. As the guitars finally drift off gently into that good night, the album’s final seconds are the same as its first: the sound of fireworks. We use those pyrotechnics only in the most joyous and exclamatory circumstances, such as weddings or after a home run in baseball. On Celebration Rock, Japandroids knock one out of the park.

Japandroids – The House That Heaven Built

Buy Celebration Rock from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 6-5-12

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On 06/05/2012

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Remember yesterday when I said I wasn’t feeling well? After a night that was ultimately spent praying to the porcelain god, I strongly suspect I had food poisoning. Feeling better today (so far), though I have been careful about what I’m eating. That cleared up, the normal Tuesday business is that I tell you all about the new full lengths and EPs being released this week, in case you’re looking to pick something up. This week you’ll find new stuff from Alejandro Escovedo, Amanda Mair, The Beach Boys, Crocodiles, Dntel, The Hives, Japandroids, Kelly Hogan, Langhorne Slim, Liars, Melvins, The Mynabirds, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Pujol, Rhett Miller, The Rocket Summer, Scott Lucas and the Married Men, Teen Daze and The Temper Trap. Definitely some interesting stuff on there. Also some interesting stuff in today’s Pick Your Poison. I’ll advise you to download tracks from Dalton, Dub Pistols, Echo Lake, Emily Jane White and Marissa Nadler cpveromg Townes Van Zandt, Flosstradamus & DJ Sliink, and Silver Medallion covering Robyn. Lest I forget, The Deer Tracks are a pretty awesome electronica duo from Sweden, and they’ll be playing a show at Schuba’s on Thursday, June 14th. It’s set to be a great show, and they’ll be performing songs off their Archer trilogy. Hell yes you should go if you’re in the area. Buy tickets here.

Dalton – Breaker

Damon Moon and the Whispering Drifters – The Fool

The Deer Tracks – W
The Deer Tracks – Dark Passenger

Dub Pistols – Alive (Radio Edit)

Echo Lake – Even the Blind

Emily Jane White and Marissa Nadler – Close Your Eyes I’ll Be Here in the Morning (Townes Van Zandt cover)

Emorie – Change

ExDetectives – The Lawn

Fine Steps – Tomorrow For All of Today

Flosstradamus & DJ Sliink – Test Me

Maren Parusel – Tightrope Walker

Men Without Hats – Head Above Water

Niyaz – Parishaan

Nova Albion – Human Condition

Sidi Tour茅 – Ma茂mouna

Silver Medallion – Dancing On My Own (Robyn cover)

Sinden – Keep It 1000 (L-Vis 1990’s Construction Mix)

SOUNDCLOUD

Miriam Bryant- Finders Keepers

Project 46 – Atarax (Original Mix)

SirAiva ft. Laura – Miss Tery (Original Mix)

The Traps – Your Head Land

Pick Your Poison: Monday 6-4-12

By

On 06/04/2012

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Have you ever felt sick but had no idea what was wrong with you? As in, your sinuses are clear, your head feels fine, but your body feels like there’s something out of whack? I’m no doctor and haven’t asked anyone for their opinion, but I feel like I’m coming down with something. It’s possible I have a fever, and there’s just a slight touch of nausea rising from my stomach. I’m not looking for a diagnosis from some helpful commenter, but really I’m just trying to reflect my current state and explain why I’m not going to mess around with this Pick Your Poison intro today. Let’s get straight to the meat and potatoes of this before another symptom arises. I’ll recommend tracks from Amanda Palmer, Anabot, Archers of Loaf, EDH, Laetitia Sadier, Patrick Watson, Perfume Genius and Super Magic Hats. In the Soundcloud section there’s good stuff from Arrange, The Hudson Branch (covering Wilco), Liam Titcomb and a Fela Kuti cover collaboration that involves tUnE-yArDs and ?uestlove of The Roots. Let’s hope I’m feeling right as rain tomorrow.

Ajnabi – My One and Only Love

Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra – Want It Back

Anabot – Take Down

Archers of Loaf – Dead Red Eyes

The Aston Shuffle – Won’t Get Lost (96 Bulls Remix)

Blak Lyons – California
Blak Lyons – SUnrise

Branko – Going In Hard (ft. Dominique Young Unique)

EDH – Ice

Enola Fall – We Become Wolves

Laetitia Sadier – Find Me the Pulse of the Universe

Motion City Soundtrack – True Romance (Alternate Take)

Noonie Bao – Do You Still Care?

Patrick Watson – Words in the Fire

Perfume Genius – Rusty Chains

SANGO x ZandSHE – Saturn x Neptune

Super Magic Hats – Charcoal

Thallie Ann Seenyen – Dub 4

Twin Sister – Kimmi in a Rice Field (Spanish Prisoners Remix)

SOUNDCLOUD

Age of Consent – Ghost Rider (Suicide Cover)

Arrange – North

The Hudson Branch – Sky Blue Sky (Wilco Cover)

Liam Titcomb – Love Don’t Let Me Down

tUnE-yArDs, ?uestlove, Ang茅lique Kidjo and Akua Naru – Lady (Fela Kuti cover)

Album Review: Sigur R贸s – Valtari [XL]

By

On 06/04/2012

In album review, music



Nobody makes a record quite like Sigur R贸s. Many have tried, and all have failed. This niche they have carved out for themselves puts them in a rather unique position; one where expectations are almost simply that they just make music that sounds beautiful. The consumate professionals they are though, the band hasn’t simply rested on their laurels and made the same record five times over. They’ve spent the last 15 years refining and twisting their post-rock crescendos in new and exciting ways that may not always have worked but still kept fans engaged. They earned so much credit for the brilliance of 脕gaetis Byrjun that nobody even blinked an eye when they invented their own language. The point was to show how the voice is but another instrument, and you don’t need words to express your feelings if the melody already does that for you. They furthered that point by titling their 2002 record (), with a track listing that was (for all practical purposes) “Untitled #1” through “Untitled #8”. They followed that record up with Takk, an album that pushed at the edges of restraint and took on a sunnier, more explosive disposition. Yet that still didn’t quite prepare you for 2008’s Me冒 su冒 铆 eyrum vi冒 spilum endalaust, which featured the band trying to trim the bloat of some of their grandest and most atmospheric work in an effort to fully harness those moments of pure release. The shift was both a blessing and a curse. Great as it was to hear Sigur R贸s breaking out of their mold a little bit, they didn’t fully commit to the idea and the album wound up uneven as a result.

After more than a decade of the recording and touring cycle, Sigur R贸s decided to take a bit of a hiatus in 2009 to spend time with family or work on other projects. Frontman J贸nsi Birgisson first made an atmospheric instrumental record with his boyfriend Alex Somers called Riceboy Sleeps, then took on a legitimate solo album that was heavy on pop and light on atmosphere. The band tried to keep up with their schedule of releasing an album every 2-3 years by unleashing Inni last year, a double disc live album and DVD recorded at a couple shows the band played in London in 2008. That served as a great reminder of how the band’s catalogue has evolved over the years, though it didn’t do much to hint at where they might head next. In an interview in the Wall Street Journal late last year, band members described their new album Valtari as “introverted,” “floaty and minimal,” “ambient” and “a slow takeoff toward something.” All too often what the music makers hear versus what the music listeners hear tends to be two different things, but in this rare case the record comes as described. That can be a positive or a negative depending on how you look at it.

If you were thrilled by how Me冒 su冒 铆 eyrum vi冒 spilum endalaust changed the game for Sigur R贸s by taking them in a poppier, freak-folkish direction, Valtari will instantly feel like a betrayal of that and a step backwards. Fans of the band’s earlier material that was largely atmospheric and measured should find solace that the new album is ingrained with that same spirit. Yet it’s still missing one essential component. For years, the best word to describe Sigur R贸s was “epic.” J贸nsi would play his guitar with a violin bow, and the noise would be so expansive it could topple mountains and carve out canyons. The visual representations of the music are intended to be equally impactful. In their video for “Gl贸s贸li” kids jump off an oceanside cliff, and their video for “Untitled #1” has schoolkids playing outside in a post-apocalyptic wasteland while wearing gas masks and building snowmen out of ash. As a mode of contrast, the video for Valtari‘s first single “Ekki M煤kk” is nearly eight minutes of grainy footage showing a boat floating through the air over the ocean. That does not lend itself well to the word “epic”, and neither does the song. So while this record might be long on mood and time, it comes up short on big moments. That doesn’t make it bad, just once again different from everything else they’ve done.

The classic Sigur R贸s move is to steadily build tension within a track and then give release in an outpouring of noise. That’s the standard for post-rock in general, actually. The closest thing you’ll get to that on Valtari is “Var煤冒”, which develops into an ocean of loud right around the 4.5 minute mark. A track like “Rembihn煤tur” however, becomes loud out of sheer necessity given the number of instruments and moving parts attempting to fit into that space. Graceful orchestral swells primarily take the place of widescreen guitars, and percussion seems to be a second thought or entirely forgotten on many of the songs. Similar things could be said about J贸nsi, whose vocal presence vanishes entirely from the last third of the record. As one of the band’s most unique and greatest assets, his absence is felt the most, even if he’s pounding the keys on stark piano-driven pieces like “Var冒eldur” and “Fj枚gur P铆an贸” instead of singing. But such twists are part of what make Sigur R贸s such a compelling band to listen to time and time again. Just when you think they’re headed into autopilot, they hang a left and take a new road.

With the consistent sonic maneuvering between records, one of these days Sigur R贸s is going to turn down the wrong path. Valtari could well be start of the band’s slow decline from their mountaintop. The record’s biggest strength and weakness is its complacency. Six albums in, so many of us want more with each new release, and this album is one case where the band is giving us less. The soundtrack to the most immense and incredible natrual wonders of the world has been replaced by the experience of sitting by a lake in the woods at sunset. The way the light shimmers off the calm water is breathtakingly gorgeous, but plenty of people will shrug their shoulders and ask where the beaches and waves are. For an oft minimalist record such as this, sometimes you need to just sit back and appreciate how little it takes to craft something that’s meaningful and emotionally stirring. Sit in the dark and let the music steamroll over you, giving it your full and undivided attention for an hour. If you can’t detect the care, precision and love poured into it, perhaps this isn’t the record for you. This is one for the socially awkward, the mentally calm and the extremely artistic. It stands to be their most divisive long player to date. Whether you love it or hate it or simply feel indifferent about it, you still can’t deny this album is anything less than beautiful. From that point it’s just a matter of if that beauty goes beyond skin deep.

Sigur R贸s – Ekki m煤kk

Buy Valtari from Amazon

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