i loved young folks , i really did. but there was also a time i couldn't stand the mere mention of it. you could hear it on the radio after rihanna's umbrella was played, followed by some sean kingston. it made me sick. the streets were flooded with boys and girls who wore PBJ tees like it was a badge of superiority. well, i'm assuming. then there was an instance when a few inebriated girls were spotted screaming that [...]
Remember when I used to blog here? No? Well, here I am... and at the risk of appearing completely irrelevant, here are my 25 favorite albums from 2007. Many apologies for the delay and for my general lack of posts over the past couple months, but now that I'm done with college I plan on dedicating a lot more time to this undertaking. I expect I won't post again until I finally sort out the move to my new server. I've just gotta deal with a slight technical hiccup, but hopefully you'll be hearing about that move very [...]
Remember when I used to blog here? No? Well, here I am... and at the risk of appearing completely irrelevant, here are my 25 favorite albums from 2007. Many apologies for the delay and for my general lack of posts over the past couple months, but now that I'm done with college I plan on dedicating a lot more time to this undertaking. I expect I won't post again until I finally sort out the move to my new server. I've just gotta deal with a slight technical hiccup, but hopefully you'll be hearing about that move very [...]
Dear upstairs neighbor: Congratulations on discovering Peter Bjorn & John. It's admirable that you're working to catch up for lost time by playing their 2006 international smash hit "Young Folks" at least once a night, every night. Victoria Bergsman is a dear, no? The thud sounds you hear are a broomstick handle striking my ceiling/your floor. Perhaps you might consider sampling other cuts from their fine catalogue. Failing that, maybe you mix it up a bit by playing different variations of the song each night. [...]
I Get Around – The Beach Boys Last week I had the pleasure of seeing Brian Wilson. Despite him missing many of his lines, barely touching his keyboard and just generally being out of it, it was an incredible show. It really is testimony to his genius and the strength of the Beach Boys material. His band were also excellent, especially Jeff Foskett who really carried the performance. Don't ever let anyone put you down for listening to a bunch of men singing falsetto harmonies. It's heavenly. From Little Things, [...]
The bad part about waiting to put this out is it gets lost in the sea of lists . The good part is that it's given me the time to look at a lot of lists and see a few things I hadn't heard, which to me is one of the real points of it all, to make sure you've heard the cream of the crop. I've listened to virtually everything on most best-of lists that I looked at, and have got to say, that at least to my ears - the National, M.I.A., and Arcade Fire couldn't match [...]
Shugo Tokumaru Exit (10.2007, P-Vine) 9.5/10 Oh Shugo, I'm in love again. There is something about this little Japanese import that is flush with the type of magic you feel when you go to Disneyland when your eight years old. On this, Shugo's third proper album, his previous melancholy has brightened noticeably. A deft multi instrumentalist, Tokumaru's songs have become progressively more complex with hordes of morphing melodies running throughout each second of each song. Tokumaru masterfully employs all sorts of odd and unique instrumentation as he continues to develop [...]
Here are some mp3 freebee's to start off your winter wonderland of music getting. Lots of people are starting to make their best of/top/favorite lists of 2007. I know my friend Steven here is writing one of those up as we speak. I'm glad he's posting because it's been like the dust bowl/drought/trail of tears in posting this year. I guess I'll make this my New Yearsy post as well. It's been a pretty good year. Lots of eventful happenings. And Ch-ch-changes. I've been a [...]
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Just when I felt like I was starting to get a handle on my year end list we get news of Shugo Tokumaru's third solo release Exit . Granted, the album has been released in Japan since October, but sometimes we here at FG are a bit slow. Regardless, we are staggering around trying to get ourselves a copy as Mr. Tokumaru is one of our dearest faves. Here are some sampling goodies for your listening (and viewing) pleasure! [...]
English Version: A contemporary classic, a hit, a hymn and an overexploited song, but at the end of the day there's no way to take it out of our mind. So, let's whistle Peter, Bjorn and John's Young Folks in its 6 different versions. MP3s: Dawn Landes – Young Folks James Blunt – Young Folks Kanye West – Young Folks Nena - Ich kann nix dafür (German Cover) Pete [...]
It's a new sub-genre! Toy Folk! Okay sort of, but I'm pretty sure someone already thought of that. Shugo Tokumaru is another example of awesome Japanese folk pop that has been popping up everywhere. He's got this synth pop sound with loads of wonderful melodies. You can distinctively hear toy instruments well arranged with electronic sounds, recorded overlays, and with Japanese verses that I completely do not understand! It's the appropriate happy song you've find in the funny or awkward scenes in films like Little Miss Sunshine or The Darjeeling Ltd. Tokumaru was playing [...]
It's hard to dig up any real 'dirt' on Shugo Tokumaru , a Japanese folk/pop artist whose latest album Exit is expected here in the States sometimes in 2008. So far I've managed to learn that he's been praised by both Coke Machine Glow and Pitchfork , he's commissioned videos for three songs on Exit thus far, and he's a talented multi-instrumentalist who plays over 100 instruments , all by himself. Exit is Shugo's third full-length in four years, a gorgeous collection of [...]
DOWNLOAD: Lykke Li - Tonight (MP3) DOWNLOAD: Shugo Tokumaru - Young Folks (PB&J Cover) (MP3) DOWNLOAD: Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have To Leave It (MP3) Peter Bjorn and John , Shout Out Louds , and Lykke Li are all from Sweden. Shout Out Louds play Bowery Ballroom in NYC tonight (Oct 25), Music Hall of Williamsburg tomorrow, Maxwell's on Saturday, and then they [...]
Shugo Tokumaru - Parachute
The Virgins - Fernando Pando Mobius Band - Hallie Shugo Tokumaru - Young Folks (cover) Modern dog - Citizen dog (OST) Ferraby Lionheart - The Ballad Of Gus and Sam Mobius Band + Tigercity @ Horseshoe Tavern on 7th Novermber 2007 (19+/$11.50)
Chris Benoit by Bill Barnwell You can't possibly understand how strange this all is. I've spent countless hours of my life watching unmotivated roided-up assholes in their underwear pretend to beat each other up. I've watched simulated necrophilia and rape, men and women systematically abused and mistreated to make those in power laugh, and hundreds of people lose their jobs over selfishness and laziness. There are many reasons why we shouldn't watch professional wrestling. The thing is, I still [...]
So I took a week break from blogging. Not that I had the luck to attend SXSW at Austin like some American music bloggers. I had to cram up for midterm tests, as I took a bunch of them last week for 5 days in a row. It was intense, but I'm glad I made it through. From now til summer, I won't be having as much free time so expect more megaposts, less profound commentary like this. Anyway, here's a load of covers that I've enjoyed lately. Shugo Tokumaru - Young Folks (Peter Bjorn and [...]
It's the peak of summer down here in Oz, so how about a short & sunny mixtape for everyone: Sound General's Warning: may contain traces of honey-coated, sugar-dipped acoustic ear candy IAN POOLEY - intro (this dude may be [...]
Today's artwork comes courtesy of a great little site that has been providing me with amazing desktop backgrounds for the last couple of months. Check out Amateur Illustrator for an ever growing collection of quality user-submitted artwork, it's the epitome of a niche social network and I hope it goes on to become really popular. (Pic courtesy of Si Clark ). On the music side, there's a load of new stuff and no content to merit a gig guide. Casting my lazy eye over the list of albums due in 2007, it's impossible not [...]
Perhaps calling Shugo Tokumaru "The Japanese Sufjan Stevens" is lazy-at times, he sounds just as much like The Books-and unfair-he didn't not-father Rosie Thomas's baby-but his 2005 debut L.S.T. certainly warrants the comparison. His aesthetic is marked by the same kind of intricate orchestration as Sufjan's, but where Stevens relies heavily on woodwinds and strings, Tokumaru is concerned with percussion ("Kiiro") and getting organic sounds out of a more unorthodox selection of instruments-check what we presume to be a toy piano on the claustrophobic "Karte." We can't even begin to identify some of the instruments [...]
!tashed
Chickens Don't Clap!
Butter Team
Open Your Eyes
Funeral Pudding
Forest Gospel
chinese restaurant in the forest
Deaf Indie Elephants
BBQCHICKENROBOT.com
i guess i'm floating
BrooklynVegan
Lambprey
Me You, We Two
This Recording
Zeon's Music Blog
Yahoo! 360° - TRIPNOLOUNGE STUDIO
The Muso
Wolf Notes
Stream: Neil Young and Crazy Horse – Americana
