D o you miss Pavement? I do. Yeah, sure Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg are still around and still making decent music, and Bob Nastanovich is probably still running the Lucky Lavender tip-sheet, but it's not the same. Which brings me to Hockey Night . People will say shit like, "I liked this band... when they were called Pavement." But don't you listen to them, even if they are right. 'Cause it's not the same. Hockey Night does sound like a little like Pavement, but that's mostly due to Paul Spranger's nasally talk-sing delivery. [...]
L ike Leonard Cohen or Peter Murphy or Nick Cave , Stuart A. Staples has a deep voice that holds onto notes long enough for each to resonate in that dolorous section of the brain. Add a little slow organ underneath, to increase the sadness, and as the story progresses let the songs build. With a pair of headphones turned up loud enough, you'll lose yourself in the melancholy. Between the organ and the slide guitar, you'll wonder, though only momentarily, if this is gospel or country music. If [...]
W hat's not to love about Cincinnati in the summertime? You can climb the Purple People Bridge , paddle the Ohio River , or hear a whole lot of Apollo Up! The Nashville trio of Jereme Frey (drums), Mike Shepherd (bass), and Jay Leo Phillips (guitar / vocals) has been to the Queen City so many times in the past month, it feels like they've taken up residence here. First there was the Desdemona Festival , then an appearance on WOXY's Lounge Acts , then a show at (Desdemona [...]
I s Lily Allen the English Nellie McKay ? I don't know, but I do know that she's impossibly cute with an appealing slangy English accent. She plays a lot of ska/island beats, which don't normally grab me but do seem to have lasting appeal on English folks. Lily sounds sweet when she sings and her songs are sunny-sounding and fun, perfect for summer. However, she's got a fair amount of pixie in her. She'll trick ya with her cuteness and then hit you with lyrics about pimps, thieves, annoying dance clubs, and how great it makes [...]
L ike Leonard Cohen or Peter Murphy or Nick Cave , Stuart A. Staples has a deep voice that holds onto notes long enough for each to resonate in that dolorous section of the brain. Add a little slow organ underneath, to increase the sadness, and as the story progresses let the songs build. With a pair of headphones turned up loud enough, you'll lose yourself in the melancholy. Between the organ and the slide guitar, you'll wonder, though only momentarily, if this is gospel or country music. If [...]
What's not to love about Cincinnati in the summertime? You can climb the Purple People Bridge , paddle the Ohio River , or hear a whole lot of Apollo Up! The Nashville trio of Jereme Frey (drums), Mike Shepherd (bass), and Jay Leo Phillips (guitar / vocals) has been to the Queen City so many times in the past month, it feels like they've taken up residence here. First there was the Desdemona Festival , then an appearance on WOXY's Lounge Acts , then a show at (Desdemona organizer) [...]
I s Lily Allen the English Nellie McKay ? I don't know, but I do know that she's impossibly cute with an appealing slangy English accent. She plays a lot of ska/island beats, which don't normally grab me but do seem to have lasting appeal on English folks. Lily sounds sweet when she sings and her songs are sunny-sounding and fun, perfect for summer. However, she's got a fair amount of pixie in her. She'll trick ya with her cuteness and then hit you with lyrics about pimps, thieves, annoying dance clubs, and how great it makes [...]
H a ha ha! Good stuff , Seamus. I do disagree with you, as you guessed since I raved about The Fiery Furnaces when Bitter Tea came out, but I understand your position. I even appreciate it. The Friedbergers definitely won't appeal to most people, and that's a good thing; at least to me. I find it hard to get any personal feelings for art that does have mass appeal. When I was a kid, I didn't listen to pop or rock. I didn't even really listen to the radio. Sometimes [...]
This post is probably going to stir up a hornet's nest, especially from my fellow monkeys, but after watching Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger shriek through a monotone set at Desdemona this past weekend, I have one thing to say: the Fiery Furnaces suck. I admit, I have previously bought into the hype. Enough so that I have wasted a good $50 on their albums. Yet, to this day I struggle to listen to them all the way through. I know, I know. The Fiery Furnaces are like [...]
I'm psychologically preparing myself for the inaugural Desdemona Festival here in Cincinnati this weekend - a festival which features some pretty fucking good bands in my opinion: Apples In Stereo , Saturday Looks Good To Me , Annie , Mates of State , Enon , The Walkmen , the Fiery Furnaces , Rogue Wave , and We Are Scientists , to name a few. BUT, there's always a big butt. When I performed my monthly MySpace check last week, I found the following message in my [...]
H ave you noticed that lately the good people of France have graciously offered to entertain us through song? That recent Phoenix album is awesome enough, but if you're looking for something lighter and possibly relaxing, there's a pair of Juliens ready to fill your DAP, a duo known as Hey Hey My My . Listening to a few of their songs it's easy to understand why they chose such a name. Though they don't really sound like Neil Young , they do share a love for well-placed harmonica and hats from the old [...]
I'm psychologically preparing myself for the inaugural Desdemona Festival here in Cincinnati this weekend - a festival which features some pretty fucking good bands in my opinion: Apples In Stereo , Saturday Looks Good To Me , Annie , Mates of State , Enon , The Walkmen , the Fiery Furnaces , Rogue Wave , and We Are Scientists , to name a few. BUT, there's always a big butt. When I performed my monthly MySpace check last week, I found the following message in my [...]
H ave you noticed that lately the good people of France have graciously offered to entertain us through song? That recent Phoenix album is awesome enough, but if you're looking for something lighter and possibly relaxing, there's a pair of Juliens ready to fill your DAP, a duo known as Hey Hey My My . Listening to a few of their songs it's easy to understand why they chose such a name. Though they don't really sound like Neil Young , they do share a love for well-placed harmonica and hats from the old [...]
L ast weekend I worked on the 48 Hour Film Festival here in Cincinnati. What's that, you ask? Well, over the course of a 48 hour period, Friday, June 9 through Sunday, June 11 in this case, we made a short film. And by made, I mean all creativity (concept, scriptwriting, casting, rehearsing, costume/set design, shooting, scoring and editing) took place over 2 days. And we were required to incorporate these three elements into our [...]
CD Sales vs. Downloads. Which is better? From a recent Q&A on Weird Al's site : Tim Sloane of Ijamsville, MD asks: Al, which of these purchasing methods should I use in order to make sure the most profit gets to you: Buying one of your albums on CD, or buying one of your albums on iTunes? Weird Al: I am extremely grateful for your support, no matter which format you choose to legally obtain my music in, so you should [...]
M an the jib, hold the course, and port the starboard (?), motor-boatin' sunsabitchin' Danielson just sailed into town. Br. Danielson and co., all (sea) decked out in their sailor uniforms, found themselves ship-wrecked in the intense desert heat of Phoenix. This crew's mission: to put on a production of the excellent new album Ships . The rockin' (but not tippin' over) sextet mini-orchestra grandly performed the album almost in it's entirety, and was very much anchored by Daniel Smith's signature vocal stylee. The course of the evening was filled [...]
A pologies for the scarcity of posts lately, Drewl and I were attending our sister's wedding and you know how emotional and inebriated family weddings can get. That said, one of the things that has been slowly easing me back to Planet Earth is the the new Phoenix album, It's Never Been Like That . Fans of The Southland and other mellow 70s rock-pop stylings will enjoy this. I don't know if it's reception hangover, but this group of Parisians has quickly pulled even with Islands and [...]
M an the jib, hold the course, and port the starboard (?), motor-boatin' sunsabitchin' Danielson just sailed into town. Br. Danielson and co., all (sea) decked out in their sailor uniforms, found themselves ship-wrecked in the intense desert heat of Phoenix. This crew's mission: to put on a production of the excellent new album Ships . The rockin' (but not tippin' over) sextet mini-orchestra grandly performed the album almost in it's entirety, and was very much anchored by Daniel Smith's signature vocal stylee. The course of the evening was filled [...]
Apologies for the scarcity of posts lately, Drewl and I were attending our sister's wedding and you know how emotional and inebriated family weddings can get. That said, one of the things that has been slowly easing me back to Planet Earth is the the new Phoenix album, It's Never Been Like That . Fans of The Southland and other mellow 70s rock-pop stylings will enjoy this. I don't know if it's reception hangover, but this group of Parisians has quickly pulled even with Islands and Band [...]
Can a human subsist on a constant diet of pelletized, nutritionally complete food like puppies and monkeys do? Adam Scott of The Monkey Chow Diaries is about to find out. View This Video on You Tube
(((withoutsound)))
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Mr Fogg - Eleven
Crocodiles - Endless Flowers
