This track just premiered over at pitchfork. Just reading the title put a smile on my face. Holy Fuck's "Lovely Allen" is notched somewhere down in the bottomless archives of this blog, and I've flaunted my respect for LA-locals Randy Randall and Dean Spunt (aka NO AGE) on more than one occasion. It's no real surprise that these two groups would be inclined to do a little collaboration. They both adhere to the same simple recipe - equal parts noise and unadulterated beauty, with dashes of distortion and reverb... For this track, Randall ramps up the cymbal crashes. They must have so much fun playing this stuff live. Even through a shitty pair of headphones you can feel the energy of late-night dank warehouses, where it's always cheap to get in the door and the cheap drinks fuel all that positive energy.
Then do Holy Fuck some justice and check out their myspace, which has posts a slew of upcoming tour dates. Check out that upcoming date in SF, with JMC-admirers A Place to Bury Strangers, no less...
White Williams is playing Cafe du Nord this coming Saturday, along with Bridez and Eat Tapes. It should be an awesome show. White Williams is essentially Joe Williams out of Cleveland plus a backing band of a few. He recorded his latest album, Smoke over a period of a couple years while bouncing between SF, Cleveland, and NY. The album was released last year on the Tigerbeat6 label, and it's been a repeat player ever since. White Williams' pop sense is reminiscent of 70s-era Eno albums, before Eno got all into that space-y ambient tribal stuff.
Bridez and Eat Tapes are also on Tigerbeat6. These three groups typify Tigerbeat6's affinity for experimental pop/punk/electro groups. An eclectic mix, but the same spirit inspires all three acts..
White Williams, Eat Tapes, and Bridez @ Cafe du Nord, SF.
For the meantime, check out www.myspace.com/whitewilliams
remember Blood on the Wall's last album, Awesomer, from 2005 ? probably not, because it seems like little do (if so, high five), but it ripped, and so does this hugely underrated lo-fi rock band's new LP, Liferz. it seems like they might be garnering more buzz this time, and here is one of the stars off the new record, called Junkee...Julieee... :
Dae Kim is simple shoegaze in "Postcard." Their myspace shows more of their garage-rock side. It also says they're out of Bordeaux, France. Maybe jaded expatriates? Who knows... The three songs posted there are pretty low-fi tracks - nice and simple. I'm a fan of what they can bring to the table with a little higher production value, though. The little electronic blips and fuzz are used sparingly and effectively. Otherwise, the vocals really stand out in this track with heavy reverb and subtle but consistent harmonies. The video itself has a few of its own tricks. I dig the slow-motion shots of them playing in the living room, and that view of the ocean is shot with really cool light. The video adds context to the simple lyrics, and pretty much captures the washed-out mood of the whole song. Smile!
A Place to Bury Strangers, the self-proclaimed loudest band in New York, played a show a few nights ago at Death by Audio, a janky, unmarked Williamsburg warehouse which is home to a practice space, audio pedal workshop, and small stage. The show was recorded for an upcoming live LP, and the band played through their first album from start to finish. I kind of freaked because i forgot to bring earplugs and was anticipating leaving the venue completely deaf, but the sound must have been subdued as it had been when I saw them in LA, because I didnt notice any blood trickling out of my ears. The show was good, no exceptional performance, but im always kind of amazed that the sound they make is actually coming from a guitar, bass and drums, just with super heavy pedals. i took a bunch of photos at the show, so click the photo below for the gallery..
if you dont know APTBS, id say think jesus & mary chain my bloody valentine industrial shoegaze.
Recognition for this band is overdue... "Dead City/Waste Wilderness" is my latest fix. The song rips through riff after riff after riff, and it's so poppy and bright and energetic. It captures the good vibes of local LA joint The Smell, which has remade LA into a center for new experimental punk music. Check out the New Yorker article on The Smell and Abe Vigoda-pals No Age here. Anyway, Abe Vigoda rocks off socks, so check out this jam...
Then check out their blog of bizarre random photos if you really have some free time on your hands.
we played a show a bit ago at the treehouse in los angeles. daniel berkman of rough cuts also played a pleasant set of tunes. a lot of friends showed up for a good time. here are some quality pics taken by our friend ian rios...
so much for a day-by-day log of the recording process. we've been recording track by track, and it's been a very tedious but rewarding process. after spending five full consecutive days in the "studio," we have the basic groundwork for nearly seven new jams. some are a bit more rockin' and dance-able than others, but there's definitely a dose of melancholic drone that will transport you to other planets. each day leaves me pretty exhausted, and there's plenty of work to be done. needless to say, it's not necessarily the booze-trip whore-fest i expected it to be... i think that happens once we land the opening slot for the whitesnake reunion tour. i'll try and post some pics of the neighborhood we recorded in. it was pretty atmospheric. there were so many signs of life - houses, cars, shopping centers - but there were no people to be seen anywhere. just a bizarre, silent ghost-town vibe. the sky was perpetually gray, except for a brief period when a patch of teal space pierced through the thundering clouds. my feeling is that these surroundings influenced much of the recording process...
things i'm listening to... 50s/60s motown (the supremes, the isley brothers, vandelles, etc.) - this stuff still has such a fresh production style. it's upbeat and simple, but i dig the positive vibes.
talking heads "fear of music" - t-rock recently bought me this vinyl, and it has many of the major talking heads hits on it. you can always count on these guys for an instantly catchy groove.
king khan and the shrines "what is?!" - saw these guys at 12 galaxies in sf and was blown away. such fun summer jams, with bitingly witty lyrical twists.
as i continue to plunder the jewels of music's past, the recording continues. at least some of these tracks will be posted sooner than later.
it must be a year since ive posted to this blog, but being at home lends to more free time, and this song is too jamming to pass up. this is a DJ Howlermonkey remix of Wiz Khalifa's Youngin On His Grind. i havent heard the original, nor do i know anything about either of these two artists apart from what i read on pitchfork this morning, but the remix has this kind of simultaneously futuristic- and 80s-sounding beat made up of synths and drum machine and bass funk, all of which fit startlingly well with Khalifa's crisp, fresh vocals.
This post begins a short journal while IM is together to record for an upcoming 10-disc box set of their greatest hits. Should be fun!
Our New Years festivities were pretty massive although we were all separated by the time the ball finally dropped. I spent the last moments of 2007 in front of a liquor store chatting with a bunch of friends and some homeless guys. When I finally decided to make the long trek back to Lee's place I was chased there by two dudes with knives. Not exactly what I was hoping for in the first hour of the new year but I guess you gotta take what you can get. Yesterday was the first day of actual recording in the studio and things went really well. It's hard to know what to expect when you first get started. We have been planning and thinking so much about this record and now it's time to just let go and let it happen. Now it's time for round 2. We'll let you know how that goes.
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road trip playlist Grizzly Bear Of Montreal Liars Lil Wayne Deerhunter Betty Davis Art Blakey Dirty Projectors The Talking Heads Beirut The Good, The Bad and The Queen Interpol The Clash
In honor of the coming holiday, Excepter is bringing the holiday 'dreer' with their take on the time-honored classic "Little Drummer Boy." Perhaps a more accurate take on the holiday season than the famed original, Excepter's track finds the six-member Brooklyn noise troupe demonstrating their affinity for monotonous vocals and old-western twangy drones. The track is free for download from Excepter's myspace and I'll post it for download here as well.. eventually...
Noah Lennox, AKA Panda Bear, talked to pitchforkmedia about his 10 favorite things of 2007...
" Bleza In March my friends Nelson and Pedro set up a show for me in Lisbon at an old African music disco called Bleza. The people who ran the club were very nice and seemed pleased at the end of the night, and that always makes me feel good about how things went. Also some people came from far away (Latvia, I think) to see the show and brought me flowers bunched with leaves and carrots. I wound up giving the carrots and leaves to a man who worked at the place, and he was saying he was going to make them in a soup the next day, and I figured that was a much better use for them than if I had taken them home.
Pantha du Prince: This Bliss While we were mixing the album I got really into these jams. Sometimes when I was listening I would feel things very strongly, and I liked that about the music. We met Hendrik (who's Pantha du Prince) when we played in Paris and he was awesome. A little later on in the night I accidentally spilled most of a small glass of water on his girlfriend and felt really stupid about that, but I dont think it did any harm in the end. Even later me and Bresson and Dave DJed at another club and Hendrik fell a little bit on a low seated broken stool, but he was all right.
Practice Week In May Animal Collective toured for three weeks or so around the US to a bunch of cities that we hadn't been to before, mostly because they weren't on the easiest (and quickest) route around the country. Because we had just finished the album and because we had spent the last two or so years playing the Strawberry Jams, we wanted to get about a set's worth of new songs together for the tour. Even though it was a lot to do in a little time we still had fun doing it (got goofy often) and it came together pretty easy and surely.
John Maus: don't know the title yet John had sent the songs for his new album a while before but it took a bit before I heard them. We were on tour (there was a lot of it) in France and were out driving in the rain near a coast and it was in the morning time. Whenever I hear these songs I feel some of that, I think, and I like it. There's a lot of attention in the songs and they feel soaked, and I'm into that for sure. I like the details, like the way the bass bounces with the delayed floor tom sound on one song, and the way the synth sounds pulse with the drums on the last part of another, and there's intense energies all over. I don't think this album is out just yet, but I'm pretty sure I've listened to these songs more than any others this year, I should say.
Tour Soldiering We had some tough times on tour this year and some bad things happened, but I'm pretty sure that's par for the course for any touring band so I don't mean to complain at all. We played more times this year than any other, too, so we should have expected to hit some roughness. But I feel good about how we dealt with the problems and how we didn't let them mess us up too bad or get us down too much. We gave a very bad performance one night and I think I felt lamer that night than any other this year, and all I wanted to do was to try and play all right the next night. And the next night was all right and the shows on the tour after that were all right, too, and I'm happy that we just kept going and kept doing our best. I suppose this is where the skateboarding analogy (down below) holds up for me. Also there were some intense sick times on tour. Brad and I both got it bad in Europe the first time but we kept going and got better. I don't think I aced every one of those performances (I'd have to stop and gag every other song or so) but I did my best and I'm happy with that. Then more recently Dave got really ill and held on for as long as he could, but it became very clear one night that he couldn't make it happen. We were already at the club and Brian and I figured we could play something and we could play some sort of show so we did. I feel good about how we tried to make the best out of any situation this past year as far as the touring goes, and I won't feel bad about the decisions we made. I'd like to have that attitude always with just about everything.
Enjoi Video I really like to skateboard even though I'm no good at it, and I really like to watch skateboard videos. Lots of times on airplanes or in airports I'll watch them or in the van or whenever, just to calm down. Something about the motion and the fluidness of it calms me and makes me feel good. When they're really good it seems like magic and it's like watching something that's impossible, and watching those impossible moves over and over again is very satisfying for me. I like to see sometimes what it took to get to the finished performance, like, all the falls and things like that. It's often pretty brutal but I think it's the really going for it, and going for it in your own way with your own style, that I find so attractive. The going for it and the trying to make impossible magic is what I'd like to be aiming for with music always, even though that sounds out there. I've been thinking about a lot of similarities between professional skateboarders and professional musicians lately, so perhaps this is all just on my mind. But the Enjoi "Bag of Suck" video is the one I watched more than any other this year, and it's the one I'd return to the most for sure. I like every part of it, but for different reasons I would say, and some of the parts I didn't like at first, but now they're my favorite, and that's always a good sign, I'd say.
Burial: Untrue I really liked the first album and this one is more of the same but prettier and with more voices. I think of ghosts when I hear the music and I like that sensation. I really like how he (or she, I suppose, I really don't know) does things with the voices and how they're twisted around and high and then low. Also I'm really into how metallic all the sounds are and how sharp things are, and I like how deep it is and how dreamy. I like the simplicity of the words and the small repeated phrases all the time. I feel like this sort of thing is right up my way on many levels, if you know what I mean, so this is kind of a no-brainer if you've known me for a bit. Lots of people I've talked to who are into all the dubstep music don't really like this at all and say it's not dubstep and that's OK. I suppose I don't really care what it is; I just like it a lot.
Black Dice: "Kokomo" Song and Video Black Dice are one of my favorite bands, for sure, and I've known them for a while. They took Animal Collective on our first tour and I feel like I learned so much just by watching how they did things and how they treated their situations. I saw this video on the internet while we were away and was so psyched and got really pumped to hear the album, although I haven't just yet. It's kind of a sensory overload, but all the images and the way they are put together are so pleasing that it feels really good to see it, and there's some funny parts in there and I always like that kind of thing so long as it's not overblown or over the top if you know what I mean.
Skateboarding in Lisbon My friend Randy (a Baltimore expat in Lisbon as well) and I went to two parks around Lisbon during the summer. He's very rarely around town and I haven't been around much this year either, so we had to get it when we could. We went to this one up in a wooded park called Monsanto with his bro from Germany. They're both much better skaters than I am, and so were all the kids that were at the park. I was probably older than any of the kids by at least a good eight years or so. I tried to drop in on a pretty tender slope right when we got there and pancaked when my wheels caught in some cut up wood. I put my hand down to break my fall and skinned it all up but I kept it near my body the rest of the time in shame so no one would see the blood. I'm hard pressed to say whether I felt lamer this day or the night of the really bad show (up above) but I had a really good time rolling around and jumping off a foot-high box for most of the day anyways. I'd say it's good to get slapped in the face every so often, and it's good to get hit hard. I ate more than a few slices of humble pie this year, but I imagine anyone could say that.
Hanging Out With My Family I was away so much that it made the times at home with my family more intensely sweet. I'm at home now and if I'm not playing music or at the computer doing more business or organizational kinds of things then I'm most definitely doing family things. That's a lot of the time, I should say. I like the routines with the kid for sure and mentally it's like washing dishes all day and I like that, and I don't mean it in a bad way at all. There's no room for my mind to meander towards useless thoughts if you know what I mean. Being with my family-- especially this year because the family times were contrasted so heavily and so abruptly with the touring and away times-- fully tunes my mind to what matters and what doesn't matter to me." (Courtesy of pitchforkmedia.com)
His record Person Pitch was definitely one of my top three records from last year (check out the last post...)
Oh, and the Black Dice stuff is great, too. They're signed to Animal Collective's label Paw Tracks, out of Brooklyn, the little bureau that could.
Expect more posts about the human condition and flying pigs in coming days...
I took some time today to vote for the PLUG: Independent Music Awards. Overall, PLUG compiled a pretty nice (though somewhat expected) set of nominees. I don't know much about the contest, but it's a great opportunity for me to be unabashedly indulgent in professing some of my favorite music of the year, at least until this point. I'm still trying to get my ears on the new Six Organs record. Below are my picks, all of which should be implicitly recommended...
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Panda Bear - Person Pitch. I love this record on every possible level. The album, like the artwork, evokes refined sentiments of pop nostalgia, liberation from construct, etc. Panda Bear creates a world that is as humanistic as it is digitized and manipulated. It is simultaneously experimental and immediately approachable. I found it strange that the latest Animal Collective record is not a nominee in this category, and Panda Bear's solo record is. (To initiate the uninitiated, Panda Bear is an elemental member of Animal Collective.) I'm a big fan of both records, and my vote for Panda Bear is just as much an attempt to voice my unrelenting support of the equally amazing Animal Collective record. I also felt compelled to vote for Battles' "Mirrored." On a conceptual level, this record bears many similarities to the Animal Collective's "Strawberry Jam." Both are refreshingly original approaches to pop music, though Battles' approach is decidedly more experimental in form and content.
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Deerhunter They hardly seem new anymore, but I've been a fan of "Cryptograms" since my first listen, not to mention the more sensibly refined "Fluorescent Grey" EP. Battles loses because I don't think they're all that new, really. And I almost voted for them for best record. I also really wanted to vote for No Age. You know, to show some LA loyalty. But that record gets some love a little later on...
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Sally Shapiro I got really into Itali-disco because of this record. I've read, though, that most credit for the beats go to some unknown dude she works with, and that she only writes the lyrics. So maybe she shouldn't get all the cred, and maybe I should have voted for Annie Clark (St. Vincent) because she's super cute and she actually rips on guitar.
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Jens Lekman Hands down. He gets a big push because I just saw him in concert last week at Bimbo's 365 Club in SF, and it was amazing. I spared Noah Lennox a vote, because I already hit him up earlier. Ya, I'm trying to diversify.
INDIE ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam So the categories are appearing more arbitrary, and at this point I'm just going with my gut. I also dug the Sunset Rubdown record.
AMERICANA ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Angels of Light - We Are Him WTF? Is Americana a fancy word for 'folk'? The Angels of Light record is great, and this gives me the chance to put in a word for Akron/Family, who backed up Michael Gira on the record. Also gets the prize for most.. umm.. thought provoking album art...
METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Om - Pilgrimage I rarely scout "metal" tracks, but I've been listening to this a bit lately, and it's pretty good.
PUNK ALBUM OF THE YEAR: No Age - Weirdo Rippers This record is great. I'm a big fan, though not as big as some... cough cough wink. It's hard poignant noise/punk, and watching this band develop over the past year and a half has been entertaining and rewarding. They're the leaders in my book of this new-ish LA scene, which is also shooting bands like Mika Miko and HEALTH to new levels of notoriety. As a side-note, I also really enjoy the Black Lips record.
ELECTRONIC/DANCE ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Justice - (Cross) This category was really tough, partially because I largely don't give a shit. I'd rather just vote for the DJ category... That said, I can't deny all the good times I've had dancing it out to the Justice record. As a caveat, I'm thoroughly sick of it, and don't find it particularly gratifying anymore. Maybe I should have voted for the lush and hypnotic The Field's "From Here We Go Sublime." I'm also not that interested in calling the Caribou record electronic/dance music, though I like it a lot as well.
DJ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Ricardo Villalobos - Fabric 36. I love the general vibe of this record. It's equal parts ambient, dub, minimal, and world. It's a continuously rewarding listen. Shout out to Lil Weezy, a very recent favorite...
AVANT ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Dirty Projectors - Rise Above I thought I already covered this category like six times previously, but I'll jump at the opportunity to cast my Dirty Projectors love into the blogosphere. This is definitely one of my favorite records of the year, for its sheer musicality and the utterly brilliant use of the most organic of all instruments - the human voice. Dave Longstreth's voice is one of the most original voices I've heard in a long time, and he is complimented to great effect by two enormously talented fems. Ya, and the album is a reconfiguration of Black Flag's "Damaged," composed from memory. Eric Copeland's "Hermaphrodite" is also a really great listen, if you're into a lot of everything all at once and on hyper repeat.
Other votes: LIVE ACT OF THE YEAR: Animal Collective. I haven't seen all the nom's in concert, but the Animal Collective show at the Fillmore was better than a snooz button.
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Bat for Lashes, "What's a Girl To Do?" Tres creepy. Check that one out...
MUSIC WEBSITE OF THE YEAR: elbo.ws. Somehow, terrigenus escaped a nomination... Elbo is a great resource, though, for making the internet just a little smaller and more easily navigable.
ONLINE RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR: KCRW, because I still love it. KEXP is a more recent favorite.
That's it! Go vote for yourself at www.plugawards.com.
I was going to delve into a pro-first amendment tirade, but what the hell, maybe Tipper Gore was on to something. I mean, what's with youth today? A bunch of fuckers, if you ask me. And now it appears that the 'in' thing these days is to embrace this fuckitude. It's like attitude but with fucking involved. Both Fuck Buttons and Holy Fuck are purveyors of extremely loud, electronic-based music.
And I fucking like it. I like my fuck bands loud and hard and intense. Just like, you know...
Fuck Buttons has a mesmerizing website at www.fuckbuttons.co.uk...
Holy Fuck is Canadian, just released a new LP called 'LP', and rose to notoriety backing up Beans...
The Holy Fuck song reminds me of the last time I rode my bike on the moon.
so, the band is working on its epic eponymous debut every day. we have commissioned a 90-piece orchestra and a gaggle of italian opera virtuosos. it should be bigger than the moon landing and thriller combined. SIKE! anyway, here are a couple versions of a new-ish song that's been floating around. the first is me on a mandolin, recorded on a friend's computer (yo frooz) during some late drunken binge.
the second is a tasteful re-working of the tune from daniel landau. he plays around with the chord progression to great effect. it's a slick jazz-tinged version. kudos, daniel.
cool random old video of france gall singing a serge gainsbourg tune for the 1965 eurovision contest. the song won. too bad eurovision hasn't caught on over here yet. it's basically like a war between every country in europe, except instead of bombs they sing songs. and no one dies. wow, music really is the vehicle of peace.
Just read that Ariel Pink is on tour with Cass McCombs right now... It seems like a great pairing. Both genre stylists have that vague punk edge despite their more melodic tendencies. Cass McCombs has been a favorite for a while now. He's had a couple of great albums out there from years back. Lyrically dense, harmonically sound, simple tunes. "What isn't nature" is prime example of what I like so much about Cass McCombs... The song's simplistic, repetitive structure evokes an appealing, somewhat nihilistic, philosophical stance. I can't figure out many of the verse lyrics, but I'm pretty sure he's explaining who killed JFK and redefining the theory of relativity. In other places, McCombs tackles subjects in mythology and the spiritual universe. Oh no, am I raising just another singer-songwriter to demigod status? What, you say he doesn't deserve a gold-plated pedestal? Maybe not. I wish I was going to the show, though.
Check out his new CD before it hits the shelves at a Starbucks near you.
this track is really cool. ariel pink has been around for a while now. i saw him a while back when he opened for grizzly bear at spaceland. i thought his live show sucked, and he was a prick. i bought one of his self-made, one-of-a-kind t-shirts because i thought it was cool and had to talk him down from an asking price of $75 to $15. it wasn't that hard... also, the shirt is pretty weak. i must have been drunk. and it was dark. and this hot girl behind the counter with subtle arm tats told me it would look good on me.
anyway, the guy has a whole lot of really cool tapes that sound like he recorded them live with a full band in a bathroom. i just stumbled on this one the other day. i'm pretty sure he's signed to animal collective's label paw tracks. he manages a lot with this track. the production style is really cool.. it sounds like he's working with an analog 8-track to give it that late-60s/early 70s sound. his deadpan vocals flow in the same lyrical vein as jonathan richman. but where richman obviates his irony and cynicism, ariel pink cloaks it with meta-narrative. and that driving funk beat. the vamp at the end makes me tap my foot. i rarely tap my foot. cool track. listen up...
every time i close my door, i sit at my desk, facing the door. every time i close my door, after thirty seconds it eases open, because it won't stay shut. my door won't stay shut because it is slightly too large for its frame. i almost asked the workers to shave it down, slightly, but i forgot. i forget every time because it really doesn't bother me much. except when i sit down at my desk and it eases open, unexpectedly, every time.
related to, but distinguishable from the aforementioned song-sound dialectic, this is the result of being repeatedly slapped in the face by mass media and other meaningless catch-phrases, in addition to the abstract consequence of spam, pop-ups, and non-mahalo-generated web searches. the wind-tunnel effect is akin to standing in a large cylindrical room surrounded by ten large speakers which play a different form of sound for a matter of seconds before they alternate and one stops when another begins, for example it all begins with this group of twenty kids laughing really loud and having fun but then it switches to the sound of a bomb exploding and the transition is so seamless that it sounds like it never switched, except in reality the transition is one where the mixed sounds don't gain or lose meaning through some trite juxtaposition. or like having the small end of a huge funnel stuck down your throat and this old italian grandma shoves some food in there and then an old greek grandma shoves some food in there and then some old grandma of another nationality gets up there and does the same thing until every type of food has been shoved down your throat and it all tastes so good because only grandmas cooked it. or like having your eyes peeled open all kubrick style and watching the best scenes from every best movie ever made but only the best scenes so they are totally out of context and you don't know what they mean but they are so beautiful and painful and sublime like standing on top of a cliff and feeling like you're about to fall. and it's so good that you almost cry but you don't because the aura evolves so fast that you forgot what you were feeling five minutes ago or thirty seconds ago, and time has become a series of tiny pin pricks coming at you from all directions. and then at the end of the day you realize that you've seen so much good stuff, and eaten so much good food, and heard so much rad shit, but you don't even know where it came from or what it means, but it was all so good and you want more and more and you want to be all of it at once, and in a way you are all of it at once, just like pinocchio was always somewhat human.
