Saturday, May 03, 2008

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's New Album Animal - July 29th

Finally

I've been waiting quite a while to hear about the release date of Margot and the Nuclear So and So's sophomore effort: Animal! In 2006 they took me by surprise..I saw them play after another band I came to see and I was intrigued (which frankly rarely happens at a live show) but the rest of the people I was with thought they were lame so we had to leave...what a mistake. A month of so later I received their debut "The Dust of Retreat" in the first half of 2006 and it went on to become my #1 album that year. I've been keeping a casual eye on their myspace and homepage hearing tiny details about the recording process and tracklisting for about a year..they even threw us a bone with the release of a B-side track called "Hello Vagina" (its out there in the blagosphere for downloading..I've played it on my show before). A balmy release date has been set for July 29th, 2008. I'm very very interested to hear what this 8 piece folk/rock collective managed to put together this time..here is the tracklist from their myspace..some of the songs have been around as demos for quite a while:

Animal! tracklisting

1. At the carnival
2. German Motor Car
3. O’ What a nightmare!
4. I am a lightning rod
5. Love song for a schubas bartender
6. Mariel’s brazen overture
7. A children’s crusade on acid
8. There’s talk of mineshafts
9. The shivers (I’ve got ’em)
10. Cold, kind, and lemon eyes
11. My baby (shoots her mouth off)
12. Tall as cliffs.

Their myspace

p.s. to tell you how excited i am..my dog is named Margot


Yeaah

Friday, May 02, 2008

Justice Video for 'Stress'

New Justice Video for Stress
I'm not sure how I feel about it because I wish I knew what their intentions were in making the video this harsh. [9153]


Gold Sounds: Pattern Is Movement's new album "All Together" reviewed!

Pattern Is Movement - All Together



Philadelphia's Pattern Is Movement, who recently became a duo, are back with their third album (and first on new label Hometapes) All Together.

The band is often compared to Pinback, a comparison that makes sense in that both bands make intricate, minimalist pop songs with very precise rhythms. Indeed, nothing about this album is sloppy. Not one note of the album is extraneous, and all ten songs are very concise. Though all this is evident to the listener, none of it takes away from the record's appeal. While it sounds complicated on paper, this assembly line-like efficiency somehow translates to a very pleasant listen; everything just sounds so right about this album. It's impossible to listen from start to finish without finding yourself bobbing your head to at least one song, and the album is filled with many surprising twists and turns, keeping the listener interested and wondering what will happen next.

Starting with the very beginning of the first song "Bird," Pattern Is Movement reel the listener in and show them they mean business. Quick drumming and sailing vocals anchor the beginning of "Bird," but then out of nowhere everything stops and a single, beautiful Rhodes piano figure is performed, followed by a similarly beautiful flute piece, courtesy of member Andrew Thiboldeaux's mellotron. The breakdown ends as abruptly as it starts, flawlessly transitioning back into the song's opening notes. The band does not miss a beat during this song, which can be said for the rest of the album as well.

Similarly shocking are the transitions between songs. The subdued "Sea Captain," which sounds sort of like a waltz on a cruise ship, ends very innocuously but leads into the opening horn blare (again, the wonders of the mellotron) of "Sound of Your Voice," with singer Andrew Thiboldeaux declaring "How I just like the sound of your voice!" triumphantly over the music. This turn of events is surprising enough, but the immediate, driving introduction shortly gives way to a drumming/Rhodes piano breakdown (one of the album's best moments), and right when this breakdown ends, these two parts of the song are immediately repeated. All the songs employ repetition to great effect, and their ideas are so unique that this repetition does not bore the listener. It's obvious that the band named themselves Pattern Is Movement for a reason.

There are just so many impressive songs on this album, it's difficult to discuss them all in one review. "Peach Trees" offers some of the album's best and most haunting melodies, while "Jenny Ono" possesses an amazing vocal performance by Thiboldeaux. His vocal delivery, at first listen, sounds better suited for opera than pop, but they compliment the band's music very nicely, though lyrics are very hard to make out the majority of the time. As previously mentioned, all instrumentation is carefully calculated, but the main force behind the music of Pattern Is Movement is Chris Ward's drumming. The man clearly has talent, and none of these songs would work as well without his consistently impressive percussion skills. With his drumming, he serves as the band's navigation system, keeping them on track throughout all their unique instrumental flourishes. Without it, the lofty instrumentation would be harder to stomach and consistently listen to, and the music would just sail off into the distance, never to be remembered again.

All aspects considered, Pattern Is Movement have made a very impressive third album. Every song has a moment that makes an impression in the mind of the listener and stays there all day. Some songs are a little more impressive than others (it's hard not to play favorites here), but there are absolutely no duds on the record. Check out the band on tour in smaller venues around the Northeast before the influx of good reviews occurs, which it will. All Together is one of the best, most unique albums released so far this year, and it will serve to put the band on the map in 2008.

Rating: 8.5/10

Key Tracks: Sound of Your Voice, Peach Trees, Jenny Ono

Listen: Myspace

The album will be released in the U.S. on May 6th via Hometapes

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

No Radio Today

Sorrry kids! No pinkie swear today.. our transmitter is having issues and we've been off all day. We've got our team working on it so we hope to be back asap!

See you next Wednesday,

Emelie

HACKED:
no ambient signal either!

<3 blar..be back next week

Portishead and More...

XLR8R Magazine - The best magazine to keep up with electronic music.

Their latest issue is online here. (That's right, they post it online for free, it's amazing.)
In the new issue is an article on Portishead and a few blurbs about Cut Copy. I highly recommend checking it out. Not only that, it's some of the best graphic design work I've seen (every month). In addition to the magazine, new videos are posted each Tuesday about different artists and stuff going on, so tune in.

-Emelie

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

New Coldplay!

Free Coldplay song!

Download it from their site (it's sent to your email) at Coldplay.com

I like the song too, so how bout them apples? Free concerts coming up too!

-Emelie