Four Tet- Ribbons O! the joy - this fault is not mine Plants and animals- feedback in the field Flight of the conchords- Business time
Show start Memphis- I dreamed we fell apart Fog- Song about a wedding Dosh- Steve the Cat The Notwist- Good lies Efterklang- Bright Brand New- Degausser Denali- Relief Feist- La meme histoire Cortney Tidwell- Lala Son Lux- Stand Annuals- Sore Cut copy- Feel the love Neva Dinova- A man and his dream Wye oaks- Warning South- Better things Cloud cult- Journey of the featherless El perro Del mar- Glory to the world Stars- The Big fight Bright Eyes- Neely O' Hara The Velvet teen- Forlorn Arovane-Tokyo ghost stories Hammock- Bird's flying in sequence Sigur Ros- Svefn G- Englar
Today is lots of Daft Punk Day. Clearly I made that up.
Daft Punk - Alive 2007
[artist - track] M.I.A. - Paper Planes - Scottie B Remix Moby - Alice Lowfish - Bitter Calvin Harris - The Girls Crystal Castles - Crimewave The Ting Tings - 7th Heaven Remix B-52's - Funplex - CSS Remix Neon Neon - Neon Theme Ghislain Poirier - No More Blood FEAT Face T Jimmy Edgar - 18th Street Reflections Bad Dudes - Suez
The third in a series of reviews of albums by bands whose prior releases have solely consisted of EPs and singles. Tokyo Police Club's song repertoire before this album consisted of, at most, 30 minutes of music: a 7 song EP, a 3 song EP, and the Your English Is Good single. Despite the meager portions Tokyo Police Club has served the world in the past, the band has been subjected to great praise since releasing the 7 song A Lesson In Crime EP in 2006. Each song packed insanely catchy guitar rock melodies (think "Is This It?") into songs no longer than three minutes. This brevity has served Tokyo Police Club well; perhaps the melodies would grow tired and repetitive to the listener if they were to extend past the three minute mark, but the band instead chooses to ride out the melody until it gets old, then they stop the song altogether.
Keeping this in mind, it's no surprise that Tokyo Police Club's first full length album follows the same formula for the most part. All 11 songs have catchy hooks and short lengths (the album runs for 28 minutes). Last year's single "Your English Is Good" (which makes an appearance on this album) is the exception, clocking in at a lengthy 3 minutes and 12 seconds! By now, you get the point: Tokyo Police Club make short songs with a sense of immediacy about them, and this album is no exception. However, while this new batch of songs is still decent and catchy, it's very hard not to think that the band is somewhat of a one-trick pony. Even more unfortunate is the fact that there aren't as many good songs here as there are on A Lesson in Crime, which is a real problem considering the music world has waited for this full length for over a year now.
That's not to say that the album doesn't have some attention grabbing songs. Seriously, some tracks are catchy as hell; the opening "Centennial" and "Nursery, Academy" have driving, get-off-your-ass drum beats, "Graves" starts off with a sweet keyboard hook (the catchiest of the album), and yeah, the album has 2007 standout "Your English Is Good", which would probably still sound amazing had I not played it to death last year.
Unfortunately, most of the other songs aren't as memorable as anything on A Lesson In Crime. The worst offender, "The Harrowing Adventures Of..." finds the band trying to incorporate glockenspiels and strings into their hand claps and guitars (here, acoustic) sound. However, the song fails to sound anything but schmaltzy. This failure is more alarming because it shows that the band fails when they do something different than what they normally do (and what they normally do is not as exciting on Elephant Shell as it has been in the past). What does a band do when they can't squeeze as much life out of their previously successful formula and can't be successful when they deviate from that formula? Speaking of schmaltz, I really enjoy the vocal melodies of "Listen to the Math," but lyrics about people gasping about babies being born are somewhat ridiculous and take away from the enjoyment.
Aside from the schmaltz issue, my main gripe with Elephant Shell is how homogeneous it sounds. In most cases, it's really hard to differentiate one song from another. Even though most songs on the album aren't bad, this is a little disappointing; each song on A Lesson In Crime had its own distinct feel to it, whereas these songs do not. The three songs after "Graves" are catchy, yes, but it's really really hard to tell the difference between the three because they sound so similar to each other. Homogeneity leads to filler, and an 11 song, 28 minute album really can't afford to suffer from such a thing. Unfortunately, Elephant Shell does suffer from the filler problem, ultimately resulting in less memorable songs than the much shorter A Lesson In Crime EP. I look forward to seeing if the band can remedy this in their future releases.
Rating: 5/11
Key Tracks: "Graves", "Centennial"
The album comes out in the U.S. on April 22nd via Saddle Creek Records
* Kanye West & T-Pain - Good Life * Bangers & Cash feat. Santogold & Betty Black - B.O.O.T.A.Y. (Leif Remix) * Ying Yang Twins - Salt Shaker (KillPhil Remix) * The Streets - Let's Push Things Forward (Hostage Remix) * Boys Noize - Wisconsin '95 * Turntablehoshies - Blond Skinny Biorobot (Shokkaboy Remix) * Count & Sinden - Beeper (A-Trak remix) * Erykah Badu - Honey (Letroset Erykazoo Blend by Luminfire) * Jay Z - Ignorant Shit (Son of Kick remix) * Lil Mama - Shawty Get Loose (KBACA Remix) * Twinpitch - debut (timo di roy mix) * Alphabeat, FrankMusik and Leon Jean-Marie - Digital Love * Estelle feat. Kanye West - American Boy (Stockholm Syndrome Club Mix) * Blaqstarr - Blaw! (Neo's Let the Attack Begin Edit) * Walter Meego - Girls * Petter - Goda dagars magi (Alvy Singer remix) * Supreeme - Who We Are (Royal Rumble remix) * The Ghost Frequency - Never Before Have I Seen A Man Alive That Looked So Exactly Like A Skeleton (Zombie Disco Squad remix) * Warboy feat. Mama Shamone - London's Gettin' Dirty (blend! Scuzzy redesign) * Rails to Russia - Turning Into You (Lismore remix) * Ghislain Poirier feat. Face-T - No More Blood
The first 4 bands I played are playing at Ground zero this saturday at April 12th..see below post for details!
Pre show - Slow Six
The Red Lions - Bay of naples Charlie Everywhere - Mouthful of diamonds On a scale of 1 to 10 - North (live) Battles- Tij The Velvet Teen- Tokyoto Menomena- Rotten Hell Neva Dinova- Apocalypse Head of Femur - Jetway Junior Wye Oak - If children were wishes Why? - Torpedo or Crohns (finally get to play this!) Son Lux - Wither Cloud Cult- Everybody here is a cloud South- Wasted Elbow- Starlings Foxhole- Spectacle Camphor - The sweetest tooth Animal collective - For Reverend Green Bear Colony- Hospital Rooms aren't for lovers The Arcade Fire- Intervention Amy Millan- Skinny Boy Helio Sequence- So Stop! Annuals- Just stay in Ulrich Schnauss- Shine Sunset Rubdown- Shut up I am dreaming of places where lovers have wings
this is my "windows down, cruisin on the highway, bobbing your head with a huge smile on your face" playlist
B-52's - funplex - CSS remix delta 5 - mind your own business act - ping pong chromeo - fancy footwork calvin harris - the girls - groove armada dub moby - alice cystal castles - alice practice M.I.A. - paper planes - DFA remix boys noize - my head - para one remix benny benassi - put your hands up daft punk - rollin' & scratchin' busy p - rainbow man hot chip - ready for the floor neon neon - i lust you cut copy - hearts on fire lowfish - 999 charlie everywhere - as far as I can see jimmy edgar - 18th street reflections ghislian porier - no more blood feat face-t - hudson mohawke remix metaform - urban velvet cloud cult - everybody here is a cloud 65daysofstatic - i swallowed hard, like i understood dance like robots - we were vampires slow six - evening without atonement (playing at GZ this Saturday!!! see below) silver mt. zion - movie (never made)
I really think this is going to be the best Ground Zero show since Battles came in 2004..Check it out!
(blurb copied from facebook posting)
If you only knew what we went through to lock in this show... It's worth it though, all of these bands are mind-blowing. Seriously, ask anyone who came to see Slow Six last semester - they're almost TOO good.
Please invite your friends!
======= Saturday, April 12th @ 8pm ========
:: Slow Six ---> Beautiful post-rock/neo-classical :::: Charlie Everywhere ---> Electronic indie duo :::::: The Red Lions ---> Classy indie/jazz/folk :::::::: On a Scale of 1 to 10 ---> Epic post-rock
[Ground Zero] Basement of Nugent Hall (On The RPI campus) more info/directions: http://www.gzbasement.net | 8pm | Nominal Fee
============= Band Descriptions ==============
[Slow Six] Website: http://www.myspace.com/slowsix // http://www.slowsix.com Slow Six are a Brooklyn outfit led by Christopher Tignor, who experiment with live sampling and digital signal processing to create brooding and beautiful ambient music somewhere between post rock and neo-classical. One really can't put into words how amazing this band is. For fans of Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Kronos Quartet, etc.
[Charlie Everywhere] Website: http://www.myspace.com/charlieeverywhere2 Self-described as "a culmination of unique urban influenced rhythms, and psychedelic melodies, with combined technology and organic textures," Charlie Everywhere present their unique take on electro-indie pop with female vocals. By blending hip hop influenced samples and beats with the synths and melodies of your favorite indie band, Charlie Everywhere's resulting sound offers something for everyone.
[The Red Lions] Website: http://www.myspace.com/theredlions Project mastermind Eric Margan calls the Red Lions "a fine mixture of popular song, classical virtue, jazz chops, folk storytelling and timeless lyrics. Music which draws upon countless influences, borrowing and blending elements resulting in an original sound to which most listeners reply with an affecting familiarity." I'd elaborate, but I don't think I could make it any more accurate. I hear a variety of bands in their sound, ranging from Nick Cave to the Beatles, but I'm sure you'll hear an even wider selection of influences. This is classy.
[On a Scale of 1 to 10] Website: http://www.myspace.com/onascaleof1to10 Epic post-rock in the vein of Explosions in the Sky. From soft, ambient melodies to driving crescendos, On a Scale of 1 to 10 play instrumental pieces fitting to be heard in the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. Except less nerdy.
* Fort Knox Five (feat. Afrika Bambaataa & King Kamonzi) - Radio Free DC * Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Solly Remix) * Damaged Goods - Yo Righteous (A1 Bassline Remix) * Aaron LaCrate & Debonair Samir (feat. Young MC & Masta Ace) - Know How (Gutter Remix) * Mark Almaria - Freak Em Slow (Panty Dropper Freak A Leek Mix) * Wiley - Wearing My Rolex (DJ Friendly Ikon Refix) * Adam Tensta (feat. Dr. Alban) - My Cool (Al Azif Remix) * MC Gringo & MC Binho - 1 Real (Ebb Mix) * Larry Tee - I Love U (Bart B More Secured Dub) * Jahcoozi - bln * Purple Crush - Shopping on the Dancefloor (AC Slater Remix) * AC Slater - Party Like Us (Udachi Remix) * The Bloody Beetroots - Mac Mac * Yoav - Club Thing (Aaron LaCrate Remix) * Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Weird Science * Jahcoozi - flatline * New Europeans - Dr. Rhythm (Facteur Remix) * The Doors - People Are Strange (Chew Fu Manjamango Remix) * Queen - Flash Gordon (Jaimie Fanatic Bootleg) * The Bloody Beetroots - Ezekiel Eats Red Hoodie * Munk (feat. Chloe) - Ce Kul (Passarani Remix) * Bryan Cox - Let's Go to Work (The Bulgarian Remix) * Barrett Richards - Speakas Up (Knowlton Walsh rework)
Yeeeahhhh... this set featured some up and coming artists that I really am digging at the moment. The three that I'm excited about are the Fort Knox Five, Jahcoozi, and The Bloody Beetroots. I highly recommend you check these groups out cus you won't find much better!
Charlie Everywhere - As Far as i can see (playing at ground zero April 12th with slow six! ) Clare and the Reasons- Pluto St.Vincent- All my stars aligned Doves- Someday Soon Bright Eyes- The Center of the World Jeff Buckley - Halellujah Daylight's for the birds- To no one The Cinematic Underground- Work (Carparks and Cubicles) Son Lux - Raise Neva Dinova- Clouds (Brand new album out!) Why? - Simeon's Dilemma Colour Revolt- Elegant View Black Keys- All you ever wanted Camphor- Castaway Foxhole- Lamentation Cassettes Won't listen- The Finish line Strangers die everyday- Bicycle The Notwist- This Room DNTEL- Last Songs Cars and Trains- Further from home Mum - Marmalade Fires Saxon Shore- This shameless moment Bracken - Fight or flight Broken Social Scene- Cranley's gonna make it The Album leaf- Twenty two fourteen
these new puritans - numerology (aka numbers) neon neon - raquel autechre - the PLC lowfish - 999 ghislain poirier - no more blood feat. FACE-T (hudson mohawke remix) moby - alice - general midi remix boys noize - my head - para one remix daft punk - television rules the nation, cresdendolls, too long, steam machine, around the world, harder better faster stronger substantial - resurrection of the house party M.I.A. - paper planes - scottie b. remix b-52's - funplex - css remix ghostland observatory - dancing on my grave calvin harris - the girls - groove armada dub busy p - rainbow man delta 5 - mind your own business crysyal castles - untrust us mates of state - hoarding it for home los campesinos - death to los campesinos! the blow - pile of gold harry belefonte - matilda matilda mystery palace - stepchild 65daysofstatic - retreat! retreat! denali - everybody knows subtractive lad - decay as a lifestyle bitcrush - a false movement, true
sweet shows coming up: John Vanderslice @ MASS MOCA April 4th Jimmy Eat World @ the armory in albany April 28th Murder By Death @ Valentines April 2 (today) JR SR EMAC Exhibition @ The Arts Center (Downtown Troy) featuring some of my graphic design work as well as Blar's video work! Exhibition runs April 18 - May 6.
* M.I.A./Diplo - "Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1" (all tracks by M.I.A. unless otherwise noted) - Galangton (Diplo Mix) - Galang - Two Bit Rhythm (M.I.A. Mix) [LL Cool J / Cavemen] - Fire Bam (Diplo Mix) - Fire Fire - One For The Headskirt [M.I.A. / Missy] - Amazon (Diplo Mix) - Definition Of A Roller [The Clipse] - Untitled [MIA / Cutty Ranks] - M.I.A. - You're Good (Diplo Mix) - Pop - Sunshowers (Diplo Mix) - Baile Funk One - Bucky Done Gun - Baile Funk Two - China Girl (Diplo Mix) - Baile Funk Three - Lady Killer (Diplo Mix) - U.R.A.Q.T. (Diplo Mix) - Bingo (Diplo Mix)
* Santogold - Shove It (Switch Remix) * 45 King vs. Pase Rock - The 900 Number (2k8) * Ghostface Killah - Charlie Brown (DJ Mehdi Remix feat. Mapei) * Blaqstarr - Shake It To The Ground (Self Evident vs. Dan Solo Refix) * The Count & Sinden feat. Kid Sister - Beeper (Detboi Remix) * 45 King vs. Wale - 126 Strings (Inflagranti Remix) * Art Whiplash - Quand tu reviens au petit matin * The Dance, Inc. - Matador (Frittenbude Zerkau Deinen Knebel Remix) * Flux Punx - Sound Check * L.A.H.E. - Bump In The Night (Thrills Remix) * Theatre of Disco - YOA (The Twelves Remix) * Revolver - Can't Stand (ZZZ Remix)
* edIT - Battling Go-Go Yubari in Downtown L.A. * Bangers & Cash - Loose * Spank Rock - Get It On The Floor * Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Chew Fu Refix feat. J-Cast & Substantial) * Juvelen - Hanna * Justice - DNVO (LA Riots Remix) * The AKAs - This Is The Way (Bird Peterson Remix) * Cut Copy - Far Away * Donzelle - Zebra Kiss (feat. Spoek) * SebastiAN - Head/Off (Faex Rework) * These New Puritans - Swords of Truth * TTC - Quand Je Claque des Doigts * Kanye West - Stronger (A-Trak Remix) * Boys Noize - Oh! (A-Trak Remix) * Paul McCartney - Temporary Secretary (Radioslave Edit) * Round Table Knights - Freak From Desire * Does It Offend You, Yeah? - We Are Rockstars * Mr. Miyagi - Pick Your Poison (Pfunkt Remix) * Mr. Flash - Champions * Wu Tang Clan - The Jump Off (Bird Peterson Remix) * Estelle - American Boy (Scuola Furano Fireworks and Tears Remix) * Yelle - Je Veux Te Voir (Disco D Remix)
I know I know.... this post and the next come a few weeks too late. But here they are all the same.
[artist - track]
* Vince Guaraldi - Linus and Lucy (Pocketknife's Hark the Holler Remix) * Bjork - Declare Independence (Mark Stent Mix) * Justice - tonics jurkin edit * Santogold - You'll Find a Way (Switch and Sinden Remix) * The Shoes - Knock Out (80Kidz Remix) * Nid & Sancy - M.U.S.I.C. (SymbolOne Remix) * Karin Strom - Silent Night * WSGM - Kids Vacation (80Kidz Remix) * Saigon - C'mon Baby (DJ Beware Remix) * Death From Above 1979 - Romantic Rights (Girls Are Short Remix) * Krames - Fuck You Pay Me (Krames Remix) * New Rave Kids On The Block - Strange Phenomenon * The Teenagers - Love No (Tepr Remix) * Midfield General - Disco Sirens (Them Jeans edit) * Joanna Newsom - The Book of Right On (Pocketknife's Scowling Owl Remix) * CFCF - How Bizarre * PNAU - Baby (Breakbot Remix) * Does It Offend You, Yeah? - We Are Rockstars * The Whip - muzzle no. 1 * Free Blood - Quick and Painful * Simian Mobile Disco - The Count * Ladytron - Seventeen * The Coconut Wireless - Get The Fuck Up * Santogold feat. Spank Rock - Shove It (Switch Remix) * Belleruche - Minor Swing
P.s. - You should def check out Belleruche, a London based trio comprised of a guitarist, vocalist, and DJ. Their debut album is titled "Turntable Soul Music" and is the dopest shit I've heard in a long long time...
Welsh septet (!) Los Campesinos! is one of many bands releasing their debut full-length in 2008 while attempting to deliver on a promising EP. Their brand of indie pop is full of shout-along verses and choruses as well as slightly out-of-the-ordinary instrumentation (glockenspiels and violins are prevalent in their songs). However, instead of distracting from the rest of the music, they serve as just two more pieces of the whole; each instrument (including vocals) assists in completing the songs and makes them more enjoyable.
One of the things I liked about last year's EP was how FUN it was. Every song made me want to jump around and dance like a maniac. Though the album is longer, most songs still have a similar effect. Single "My Year in Lists" exemplifies this quality; the drumming provides a solid beat and lyrics about the romantic implications of decorated stationary and the breaking of New Year's resolutions will make you laugh or at least crack a smile, guaranteed. The chorus also is one of the album's catchiest (employing the previously mentioned violin and glockenspiel to great effect; the chorus wouldn't be as memorable without them, though they hardly distract from the rest of the music). Another highlight is opener "Death to Los Campesinos!," whose lyrics I really love, speaking of being "better off with artificial intelligence" and "ctrl-alt-deleting your face with no reservation." This album isn't only new in sound, its lyrics are also contemporary, which I enjoy (if you read my last article, I'm somewhat tired of the obscene amount of new music that would have sounded just as comfortable in the 70s or another previous decade as they do today).
Indeed, one strong point of Los Campesinos! is their lyrics. Most bands often get lazy and sort of add lyrics as an after sight, but in LC!'s case, lyrics really add something to the song, usually a certain sort of giddiness and excitement (and they're clever to boot). It's obvious that the band pays more attention to writing lyrics than most bands (or else they're just naturally good at it). My personal favorite are in "We Are All Accelerated Readers," where they're about relationships, but in a cleverer (there's that word again) way. Instead of whining about breaking up, they ponder the point of entering relationships in the first place:
You should have built a statue And so I did of you But you were ungrateful and slightly offended at the dimensions of it You said you look less like the Venus de Milo And more like your mother in a straitjacket I think it's great that you're doing fine now, but enough is enough And I've had enough
It's a unique perspective for a pop song to take, which is pretty refreshing. Also in the song is favorite and probably soon-to-be frequently quoted lyric, "The opposite of true love is as follows - reality!"
There are a couple tracks I'm not too fond of, however: both "Knee Deep at ATP" and bonus track "2007, The Year Punk Broke (My Heart)" deviate from the Los Campesinos! norm by spending their duration building from quiet to loud, sparse instrumentation to a cacophony of sound (the former being the most obvious). I give them points for trying something different, but the music in both the songs is unremarkable, and I find the climaxes to be sort of, well, anti-climatic. However, "Knee Deep" has more excellent lyrics; "2007" is really the only song on the album that lacks in that department.
The 12 song album also has three songs from previous releases (including one of 2007's best songs, "You! Me! Dancing"). The three songs are all great, but I hope this doesn't mean the band is running out of ideas. I would hate to see their next release be a disappointment by being unoriginal because as the moment, Los Campesinos! is anything but; it's a hard task for a band to make music fun again in this day and age, but LC! are succeeding with frantic pop songs and lyrics to match. I'm sort of apprehensive about what will happen next, but that doesn't mean I won't enjoy this album in the meantime.
Rating: 9/12
Key Tracks: Death to Los Campesinos!, My Year in Lists, We Are All Accelerated Readers
Addendum: I'm in sort of a unique position to review this album; I heard the EP last year and played it literally all the time on my radio show, and now I'm studying in a country they tour in all the time (living near Wales and all). The album already came out here last month, but isn't out in the States until April 1. Judging by their huge rise of popularity over here since the album came out (selling out shows in small and midsized venues in the UK and Ireland), their upcoming U.S. tour should be a rousing success. I had the pleasure of seeing them live in Ireland and they were definitely a lot of fun. See them in NYC or Boston this May!
I got an extra 30 minutes because Emelie couldn't do her show..so i played a bunch of random stuff from the new bins..
Pre show
Crystal castles - Courtship dating Be your own pet- super soaked Don Cavalli- Agression Destroyer- Foam hands De novo dahl- Shout Devotchka- Basso profundo Pharmacy- Little toys on a shelf
Real show start
Charlie everywhere- Lucy's underground Mugison- I want you The Notwist- One with the freaks Forget Cassettes- Instruments of action A Northern Chorus- Rememberence day Ester Drang- Come back alive Marketa Irglova- The Hill (from the Once soundtrack) Neko case- Star Witness Cortney Tidwell- Our Time Son Lux- Stay (raving about this album below) Why?- Song for the sad assassin Cassettes won't listen- Paper float Unwed Sailor- Aurora Foxhole- The end of dying Colour Revolt- See it Plants and Animals- Bye Bye Bye Excepter - Kill People Autumns- Clem Margot and the Nuclear So and So's- Hello Vagina (b-side off the upcoming ' Animal! ' album) Neva Dinova- She can't change Montag- Hands off, creature! Radical face- Wrapped in piano strings M83- Couleurs This Will Destroy You- A three-legged workhorse
This Son lux album (At war with Walls and Mazes) is completely amazing. I can't say enough about the composition, technical aspects and emotion that this album has. The originality is really stunning as well. The blending of hip hop and classical elements with minimalist lyrics somehow all fit just right under Ryan Lott's careful hands. Many times during my first listen I remember saying to myself "what?? you can't do that" (especially in a song like "Raise" where a crunchy bass and scratched opera singing come out of nowhere on an otherwise docile track. Everything feels very deliberate, but very organic. The effects he uses start to make the music sound like it is going to break down and stop at any moment, and you start hoping "no! no! don't stop yet!" There are a bunch of unreleased songs on his myspace..so i'm crossing my fingers for an EP later on. Yet another homerun for Anticon this year...I thought Why?'s Alopecia was my top contender for album of the year, but Son Lux may have beaten them out for now..
It'll be a good time..im doing video and there is plenty of quality musics for them dancins
Blurb from their site: www.goodship.net
The Official Unofficial Troy Night Out Afterparty (presented by Goodship)
Friday, March 28, 2008 9 pm to 3 am Revolution Hall 425 River street, Troy, New York, 12180 Nominal fee
What, oh what, Would Goodship Do? First off, we would ask for fifteen cents every time you use that zinger - plus we would charge double if you turn such hotness into a tattoo (you get double the high fives, though). And then, just as a lark, we would probably do up one of those new fangled Official Unofficial Troy Night Out afterparties that the kids cannot stop talking about around the water bubbler (bubble, water - BUBBLE). Disengage that parking brake, junior - we are rolling backwards down the hill, careening towards fun. And, ironically, you just happen to be riding with fun (I know, right?). Well, and Joro-Boro and Pandemic Pete are riding shotgun, as it was in their awesome, awesome rider (mineral water? really?). And, as always, strapped to the top, is the usual collection of hoboes, malcontents, fire-spinners, jaywalkers, freemasons, and blithering idiots we call "regulars" - bless their bonnets and so forth. So I ask again: What Would Goodship Do? Well, we would of course hope you can make it, you old so-and-so.
beats:
Joro-Boro (The man, the myth, the mayhem - welcome back) Pandemic Pete (As if the aforementioned mayhem was not enough, now we have a freaking pandemic! Perfect.) face removal services (Touching the sky on a bimonthly basis, it seems) Dostoevsky's Pistols (Bulgarian themed RPI band with more members than the Brady Bunch) back from japan (The pastor of plastic beats and blastic... pleats?) jenkins (Got a blue medal at the fair - he still has not told us what it is about, though...)
pixels:
Blar (VJ for the last czar - yeah, you could call him "Rasputin") skfl (Couldn't get the sword from the stone, but he apparently got a pixel or two as consolation)
You can upload up to 12 songs and share it with friends. I'm sure there are other fancy places that do this..but this is a really stripped down interface with no annoying ads or anything...maybe I'll make use of this with future playlist reporting or something..here is my friend's playlist..it has one of my old bands songs on it, haha..how embarassing:
Hello, listeners of WRPI's fine indie programming! What follows is the first of hopefully more posts about new, exciting and original current music. The first volume of this series explains the appeal of one of contemporary music's most thrilling bands, We Versus the Shark.
So as a college student, I spend a lot of time on my computer listening to music. A copious amount of new music gets released every single week, so much in fact that it can become overwhelming to keep up with it all. Often times it becomes pretty easy to just play some old favorites (in my case, usually Pavement or Archers of Loaf) instead of sifting through the large amount of strikingly similar bands. Popular music among the indie crowd today includes a countless number of overhyped slow folk/70s revival dream pop artists such as Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver and Grand Archives (who started out promising but ended up kinda bland) and dance rock bands such as 90% of all up-and-coming artists in England (seriously, it's kind of ridiculous) trying to be the next Hot Chip or LCD Soundsystem. This can become frustrating to the average music listener, trying to differentiate seemingly hundreds of bands from the same genre. Why bother with music when it lacks originality, right?
Please do not fret, fellow music aficionados! I am here to tell you that not all hope is lost. There are still some bands creating unique styles of music, playing unique stuff that you've most likely never heard before. One band that exemplifies these qualities is Athens, GA four piece We Versus the Shark, and 2008 is shaping up to be their breakthrough year.
I first heard of this band through their 2005 debut album "Ruin Everything!," which is incredibly consistent throughout and is one of my personal favorite albums. It's hard to describe the music played on the album, but I'll do my best: chaotic yet controlled and tight. The musical chops of all four members are obvious throughout the release, from the technical and aggressive guitar work of Luke Fields and Samantha Paulsen to the tight rhythm section of bassist Jeff Tobias and drummer Scott Smith. Each song on the album goes through, at the least, several hooks which tend to vary in time signature. It's music to dance to (anyone who has seen me listen to it could attest to this) but mainly it's music to drop your jaw to. The precision and beauty in the madness is a wonder to behold, and the fact that all ten songs on the album are so engrossing makes it all the better. The band ended a two year silence in recorded material last year with the release of the EP of Bees EP (which listeners of my show may have heard from time to time), featuring four more songs in a similar vein to and just as excellent as the ten tracks that make up Ruin Everything!
Furthermore, the band kills it live. I had the pleasure of seeing We Versus the Shark in Boston and Albany last year, and was blown away both times. Both times, they failed to play any songs from Ruin Everything! and I was still left unable to competently describe the experience. From seeing them live, one can easily tell that this band just loves playing music and are thrilled to do so for an audience. All four members play off each other, which makes the band seem like a fluid, well-oiled machine. Basically, everything just seems so natural. Perhaps this is why Ruin Everything! and their soon-to-be-released full length, Dirty Versions, were both recorded live; a band this comfortable, this fluid and this good should just record an album by doing what they do best, that being playing music together as a unit and not separately.
Since I just mentioned their new album, let's talk about that now. I've been looking forward to We Versus the Shark's next full length since hearing Ruin Everything! a couple years ago, and the moment has finally arrived! Dirty Versions, the official follow up, will be released this April, and two new songs ("Hello Blood" and "I Am a Caffienated Corpse") are currently streaming on their myspace. There are several reasons for my excitement about the new album, one being that the music has a very sludgey, dirty (hence the name) feel that differs greatly from Ruin Everything! and another being that yes, these new songs sound so different from Ruin Everything! and are still amazing. One thing that always impresses me in a band is their ability to change their formula from album to album and still end up sounding great (which is why I love bands like Pavement and Modest Mouse). Clearly, We Versus the Shark possesses this quality, yet another reason why this is one exciting band to watch.
One new album not enough for you? We Versus the Shark has seen fit to release another album's worth of material throughout the course of 2008. The album, titled Murmurmur, will eventually consist of 12 songs, with one song released at the beginning of each month of the year. Bands covered so far have been very diverse, from January's choice of "Right Away" by Pattern Is Movement, February's choice of "Greatest Gift" by 80s noise rock band Scratch Acid, and March's choice of "Dirt in the Ground" by the one and only Tom Waits. Clearly, the band's influences run a pretty expansive gamut, which is indicative of their already established musical diversity. It will be exciting to see what else the band will come up with in the future, which is more than I can say for a good amount of bands playing music today. The songs from Murmurmur are free to download from donation-based Quote Unquote Records.
Next, here is a video of the song "Party Animal" (track 11 of the upcoming Dirty Versions) at CMJ 2007. This video showcases the previously mentioned qualities of their live show, as seen from the impromptu dancing at the 2:50 mark and the guitar/drums interplay starting at the 5:40 mark:
Finally, I'd be remiss not to mention other bands related to We Versus the Shark and their label, Hello Sir Records. So Many Dynamos, coming off of 2006's excellent album Flashlights (released by Hello Sir on vinyl), have finished recording their next full length, which should be released later this year. Judging by live performances of the new stuff, it will be just as good as, if not better than, Flashlights (anyone seeing the band at RPI's Ground Zero last fall can attest to this). I could write another story about these guys (maybe I will someday!). Another band to watch out for is Cinemechanica, fellow city and labelmates to We Versus the Shark. The follow-up to their guitar-heavy debut The Martial Arts should be out either later this year (the band states on their website that they were writing in January) or next year.
In conclusion, yes, music is still exciting.
Listen: We Versus the Shark "Slide" from Ruin Everything! mp3
Charlie Everywhere - Mouthful of diamonds The Cardigans - Erase- Rewind Vio/Mire- Wood Splitting Sufjan Stevens- John Wayne Gacy Jr. Annuals- Bleary Eyed Midlake- Young Bride Death Cab for Cutie- Tiny Vessels Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton- Detective Daughter Son Lux - Weapons *favorite artist of the week!* Colour Revolt- Naked and Red Why?- Fatalist Palmistry Unwed Sailor- Little Wars Cassettes Won't Listen- Large Radio Autumns- Boys Fuck Buttons- Ribs Out Function- The Red Hook Overview A Whisper in the noise- In the dark Bright Eyes- Middleman Stars- Heart The Album Leaf- Always for you Styrofoam- Your eyes only Arovane- Tides Telefon Tel Aviv- Wha is was will never again Stars of the lid- The evil that never arrived
