Internet music finds of the day:
1. Japandroids are going release a series of 7-inch singles this year to tide over fans. Hear the first one, streaming here:
http://pitchfork.com/news/37860-japandroids-announce-singles-series/
2. Afro/UK bangers The Very Best are offering a remix of Yeasayer's standout single "Ambling Alp" here, with Esau Mwamwaya going "nuts over top":
http://www.thefader.com/2010/02/11/premiere-yeasayer-ambling-alp-the-very-best-mulomo-remix-mp3/
3. She and Him perform "Thieves," from their upcoming follow-up to Vol. 1, live on BBC radio.
http://stereogum.com/archives/she_him__thieves_live_on_bbc_113991.html
4. Online music 'zine Tiny Mix Tapes did the right thing and actually waited for 2009 to end before unveiling its best-of-the-decade list. It's releasing 20 entries of the list per day. Today they have finally gotten to 40 through 21. TMT typically veers more obscure than Pitchfork, which means as they get to the top of the list, I'm actually recognizing more and more of the albums. In at number 40 is the Avalanches "Since I Left You," one of my personal favorites (even though I didn't discover it until almost 10 years after it was released.)
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/favorite-100-albums-2000-2009-40-21
5. Bonnaroo announced it's lineup this week and will now officially be known as "Bro-nnaroo."
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/02/09/bonnaroo-2010-lineup-rolls-out-weezer-jeff-beck-the-flaming-lips-and-more/
6. This video has been all over the interwebs today, and it's pretty great. Brooklyn by-way-of SF retro-pop outfit the Morning Benders got all their old Cali friends into the studio and recorded a Phill Spector Wall-of-sound version of their track "Excuses."
http://stereogum.com/archives/video/the_morning_benders_excuses_chris_from_girls_john_vanderslice_114041.html
This clip has also introduced me to the site http://yourstru.ly/
Showing posts with label japandroids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label japandroids. Show all posts
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Friday, July 31, 2009
Pitchfork Music Festival 2009 - pt. 1
I'm the guy everyone else behind me hates at concerts - tall with a big head. But that also means I get to see everything and have a heads-and-shoulders advantage for taking pictures and video. My camera doesn't do justice to any of the guitar sounds, mostly all you can hear are the vocals and drums, and typically my pictures are mediocre at best. Just take my word for it that it was one of the best, and most exhausting weekends of my life. The festival crams about a dozen bands into 10 hours each of Saturday and Sunday, and a few bands on Friday. (I did not go on Friday.)
Acts I wish I didn't miss: The Walkmen, The National, Pharaoh Monch, Vivian Girls
Worst show: Doom
Most annoying hipster accessory I'm guilty of: Wayfarer shades
Good shows I don't have pictures of and therefor aren't covered below: M83, Matt and Kim
The following clips and videos are ranked with my favorite show of the weekend first.
Black Lips
Saturday, July 18
The Black Lips are a bunch of deviants. After a lengthy sound check, guitarist whats-his-face immediately smashed the shit out of his Gibson on the first song, tossing the broken neck into the crowd, asking if anyone needed a pick-up.
Known for their onstage antics, the boys didn't do anything illegal this time around, but they did a fine job of letting the world know that they, in fact, do not give a fuck.
Standing in the first few rows for the Black Lips, it was too rowdy to take any video, and the stills I took before we pushed our way to the front are mostly garbage 'cause it was nighttime. Needless to say, the Black Lips put on a raunchy, awesome show, full of crowd surfing, band-member drinking and fan behavior-bating. Over the course of seeing more than a dozen bands, the dirty bastards in the Black Lips still find a way to standout as the grimiest bunch of rock n' rollers in the group. They had to play a short set - Pitchfork agreed with the Po to shut everything down by 10 p.m., and the band before the Black Lips played late. I should feel guilty for skipping the National for the Lips show, they were, of course, every critic's favorite, but I can listen to the National at home. I can't jump and sweat and scream with kindred idiots at home. The set hit all the favorites - "Oh Katrina," "Bad Kids," "Starting Over," but they could have easily played for another hour and not run out of titles I wanted to hear.
The Thermals
Sunday, July 19
The Thermals mixed in several covers, opening with Sonic Youth's "100%," (a song I didn't know) along with some others easier to recognize - Green Day's "Basket Case," which they played without a hint of irony, giving it the same level of enthusiasm they imbue any of their own political indie-pop punk. This was probably the closest I got for any show, and left without most of my voice, and several ounces of sweat. This video is lame, one of my least favorite songs they played, but the crowd wasn't going as crazy so I could pull our my camera without risk of breaking it.
Japandroids
Sunday
This buzz band blew up quick as hell (and without backlash, so far), from recording on a bedroom record label to playing for thousands at Pitchfork. And they rocked. Dude's got one guitar feeding 12 12-inch fender speakers (in 4 cabinets), mic'd for the PA of course, and gets the crunch only a pile of hot glowing tubes can get. His confidence borders on cockiness, but the guys from Canada know how to put on a rock show. Did I mention/brag that I had the vinyl before anyone else? Sorry.
Acts I wish I didn't miss: The Walkmen, The National, Pharaoh Monch, Vivian Girls
Worst show: Doom
Most annoying hipster accessory I'm guilty of: Wayfarer shades
Good shows I don't have pictures of and therefor aren't covered below: M83, Matt and Kim
The following clips and videos are ranked with my favorite show of the weekend first.
Black Lips
Saturday, July 18
The Black Lips are a bunch of deviants. After a lengthy sound check, guitarist whats-his-face immediately smashed the shit out of his Gibson on the first song, tossing the broken neck into the crowd, asking if anyone needed a pick-up.Known for their onstage antics, the boys didn't do anything illegal this time around, but they did a fine job of letting the world know that they, in fact, do not give a fuck.
Standing in the first few rows for the Black Lips, it was too rowdy to take any video, and the stills I took before we pushed our way to the front are mostly garbage 'cause it was nighttime. Needless to say, the Black Lips put on a raunchy, awesome show, full of crowd surfing, band-member drinking and fan behavior-bating. Over the course of seeing more than a dozen bands, the dirty bastards in the Black Lips still find a way to standout as the grimiest bunch of rock n' rollers in the group. They had to play a short set - Pitchfork agreed with the Po to shut everything down by 10 p.m., and the band before the Black Lips played late. I should feel guilty for skipping the National for the Lips show, they were, of course, every critic's favorite, but I can listen to the National at home. I can't jump and sweat and scream with kindred idiots at home. The set hit all the favorites - "Oh Katrina," "Bad Kids," "Starting Over," but they could have easily played for another hour and not run out of titles I wanted to hear.
The Thermals
Sunday, July 19
The Thermals mixed in several covers, opening with Sonic Youth's "100%," (a song I didn't know) along with some others easier to recognize - Green Day's "Basket Case," which they played without a hint of irony, giving it the same level of enthusiasm they imbue any of their own political indie-pop punk. This was probably the closest I got for any show, and left without most of my voice, and several ounces of sweat. This video is lame, one of my least favorite songs they played, but the crowd wasn't going as crazy so I could pull our my camera without risk of breaking it.
Japandroids
Sunday
This buzz band blew up quick as hell (and without backlash, so far), from recording on a bedroom record label to playing for thousands at Pitchfork. And they rocked. Dude's got one guitar feeding 12 12-inch fender speakers (in 4 cabinets), mic'd for the PA of course, and gets the crunch only a pile of hot glowing tubes can get. His confidence borders on cockiness, but the guys from Canada know how to put on a rock show. Did I mention/brag that I had the vinyl before anyone else? Sorry.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Pitchfork Music Festival
Of course, several of the bands I most want to see at this weekend's Pitchfork Music Festival are playing at the same time, so I'll be seeing some half-shows. But, one of the biggest advantages of the P4k fest is it's condensed lineup that stresses quality over quantity — at a reasonable price. There are only two bands playing at any one time, as opposed to 4 (like Bonnaroo). Plus I won't have to dodge trust-fund hippie acts cluttering every other stage. Instead I'll have to watch my back for scarfed trust-fund brats riding around on fixed-gear bicycles.
I plan on taking some pictures, and maybe some short videos.
Bands I don't plan on missing:
SATURDAY, JULY 18
8:30 The Black Lips (I will probably have to skip the National, they play at 8:40. Oh well, I see them as more of a sit-at-home-with-the-headphones kind of band rather than a jump-in-the-heat-and-sweat-all-over-your-neighbors kind of band. And who would want to miss the dissolving depravity of a Black Lips show. It's rock 'n' roll devil's music with all the fun and dirt and stink of the garage. )
5:30 Wavves (He had an onstage breakdown a few weeks ago in Europe, and then broke his wrist skateboarding this week. We'll see how well the lo-fi train wreck plays out.)
4:30 Ponytail (Orgasmic screams bellowing from a petite art school student backed by post punk guitar riffing and swirling? Sounds good to me.)
3:35 Bowerbirds (In a festival concert setting, I like big loud guitars and concussive drumming more than mellow, female/male singer-songwriter duos, but their album is tits. I'll probably just leave the Pains of Being Pure at Heart show 15 minutes early to catch the last few songs from this boyfriend/girlfriend team.)
3:20 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (A Pitchfork-endorsed act with a gag-inducing name? Check. Abuses all the "correct" influences at just the right time to be "hip"? Check. Do I like them anyways? A little bit.)
2:30 Fucked Up (Hell yeah, Pink Eye and his other misfits are going to destroy. Too bad I'm going to be too tired after this show to enjoy the rest of the day.)
SUNDAY, JULY 19
8:40 The Flaming Lips (nothing to say here. The put on a fucking spectacle.)
7:25 Grizzly Bear (The first half of their new album, "Veckatimest," is pretty awesome. The rest? Puts me to sleep. Either way, I'll wanna catch a little of the most blog-buzzed band of the year)
6:30 Vivian Girls (Along with Grizzly Bear and the rest, P4k might as well be called Brooklyn Weekend: Chicago Addition. Oh well. These girls ain't too shabby.
5:30 Japandroids
5:15 The Walkmen
(This is the scheduling conflict I'm most pissed about. I've worn out my copy of Japandroids 2009 full-length debut "Post-Nothing," and the Walkmen's "You and Me" is one of my favorite records (and classiest) of '08. I figure since Japandroids only have one full length, and the Walkman have half a dozen, the latter's show will go quite longer. So they should have scheduled Japandroids first, so you could start there an then move on. Oh well.)
4:15 The Thermals (This is my most heavily anticipated show. I'm going to injure myself. Hopefully the set is "The body, the blood, the machine" heavy.
2:30 Blitzen Trapper (Some roots-rock will be a nice change of pace from the rest of the noise damagd, post punk fair filling the lineups here. Plus, Blitzen Trapper rule. Will be a good start to day number two.
I plan on taking some pictures, and maybe some short videos.
Bands I don't plan on missing:
SATURDAY, JULY 18
8:30 The Black Lips (I will probably have to skip the National, they play at 8:40. Oh well, I see them as more of a sit-at-home-with-the-headphones kind of band rather than a jump-in-the-heat-and-sweat-all-over-your-neighbors kind of band. And who would want to miss the dissolving depravity of a Black Lips show. It's rock 'n' roll devil's music with all the fun and dirt and stink of the garage. )
5:30 Wavves (He had an onstage breakdown a few weeks ago in Europe, and then broke his wrist skateboarding this week. We'll see how well the lo-fi train wreck plays out.)
4:30 Ponytail (Orgasmic screams bellowing from a petite art school student backed by post punk guitar riffing and swirling? Sounds good to me.)
3:35 Bowerbirds (In a festival concert setting, I like big loud guitars and concussive drumming more than mellow, female/male singer-songwriter duos, but their album is tits. I'll probably just leave the Pains of Being Pure at Heart show 15 minutes early to catch the last few songs from this boyfriend/girlfriend team.)
3:20 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (A Pitchfork-endorsed act with a gag-inducing name? Check. Abuses all the "correct" influences at just the right time to be "hip"? Check. Do I like them anyways? A little bit.)
2:30 Fucked Up (Hell yeah, Pink Eye and his other misfits are going to destroy. Too bad I'm going to be too tired after this show to enjoy the rest of the day.)
SUNDAY, JULY 19
8:40 The Flaming Lips (nothing to say here. The put on a fucking spectacle.)
7:25 Grizzly Bear (The first half of their new album, "Veckatimest," is pretty awesome. The rest? Puts me to sleep. Either way, I'll wanna catch a little of the most blog-buzzed band of the year)
6:30 Vivian Girls (Along with Grizzly Bear and the rest, P4k might as well be called Brooklyn Weekend: Chicago Addition. Oh well. These girls ain't too shabby.
5:30 Japandroids
5:15 The Walkmen
(This is the scheduling conflict I'm most pissed about. I've worn out my copy of Japandroids 2009 full-length debut "Post-Nothing," and the Walkmen's "You and Me" is one of my favorite records (and classiest) of '08. I figure since Japandroids only have one full length, and the Walkman have half a dozen, the latter's show will go quite longer. So they should have scheduled Japandroids first, so you could start there an then move on. Oh well.)
4:15 The Thermals (This is my most heavily anticipated show. I'm going to injure myself. Hopefully the set is "The body, the blood, the machine" heavy.
2:30 Blitzen Trapper (Some roots-rock will be a nice change of pace from the rest of the noise damagd, post punk fair filling the lineups here. Plus, Blitzen Trapper rule. Will be a good start to day number two.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
2009: The first half in music
Heyo! The year's almost half over, and it's looking to be twice as bad as 2008(!) —crumbling financial structure, overblown epidemics, escalating situation in Afghanistan — even Hulk Hogan is depressing, brotha!
The year in music has been OK, here's the play list (in no particular order):
Animal Collective - My Girls
Dan Deacon - Woof Woof
M. Ward - Rave On
Japandroids - Heart Sweats
Heart Sweats - Japandroids
The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes in Waves
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - Inspiration Information (from the "Dark Was the Night" charity album)
Black Lips - Trapped in the basement
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