Day three of this Pete & Pete madness! I don't care that so far this week I've gotten the fewest hits on this blog to date. I'm so enthusiastic about these posts. Drop Nineteens were one of the few post My Bloody Valentine shoegaze bands from the US, Boston to be exact. Other significant followers, Slowdive, Ride, Pale Saints, Lush, Chapterhouse, and Swervedriver were all of course from the UK. Not surprisingly, the Drop Nineteens found more success there. Their 1992 album Delaware fared decently on the college radio charts based on the strength of the [...]
Day two of Pete & Pete week. This 6ths song is one of my favorites to ever air during the series, yet it was only in one episode, "Das Bus" from season 3. Apart from Polaris, Stephin Merrit has contributed the most to the show's soundtrack, with a total of 5 songs (3 from the Magnetic Fields, 1 from the Gothic Archies and 1 by The 6ths.) Having written an album of 69 love songs as well as a record where every song begins with "I," Stephin Merritt is no stranger to conceptual projects. Also no stranger to irony, [...]
Welcome to Day 1 of the Adventures of Pete & Pete week! I'll begin with no other than the classic theme song, "Hey Sandy." This song has been subject to some controversy, as neither the creators, nor the band will reveal what exactly the third line of the song is. However, if you go pretty much anywhere on the internet, you'll see it transcribed as "Can You Settle to Shoot Me?" This makes sense in context, as the song is rumored to be about the Kent State shootings of 1970. The song's Sandy may be Sandra Scheuer , a [...]
Of Montreal are easily one of my favorite bands that are still actively making music today. They've been together for 10 years, have put out 8 albums, 6 compilations, and 4 EPs. Simply choosing one favorite song by them is practically impossible. However if I had to cut it down to my top 5, "Tim, I Wish You Were Born a Girl" would undoubtedly make the list. It comes from Of Montreal's first album, Cherry Peel , released in July of 1997, when Kevin Barnes was 21. It's a perfect little song, incredibly sweet and pure, catchy, and lovable. [...]
John Cale is a musical genius. His creative influence on the Velvet Underground exceeded that of any other member, and yes, that includes Lou Reed. It's apparent the impact he had on the band by comparing the sound of the first two VU records, The Velvet Underground & Nico and White Light/White Heat , and then the following two Cale-less albums, The Velvet Underground and Loaded . Band members has claimed that the sonic change has to do with the band's equipment getting stolen in the LAX airport, but that obviously should [...]
Feist has been blowing up lately. She's one of Vh1's "You Oughta Know" artists, and apparently it's hard to avoid "1234" if you're in a mall clothing store, or Canada. It's hard not to see the appeal in her, as though her music is very accessible, it's quality as well. "Somewhere Down the Road" is brand new, but as the case with Cat Power two entries back, it was written by Jesse Harris. Though I could go on for a week about the Hottest State soundtrack itself, me posting all the best tracks wouldn't exactly be fair to [...]
The Slits were one of the first significant all female post-punk bands. Though they could barely play their instruments when they first started, they toured with the Clash on their "White Riot" tour, along with the Buzzcocks, and would be an important influence for the Riot Grrrl movement. Additionally, they were friends with the Pop Group, a band I covered a few entries back, sharing a drummer with them as well as releasing a split EP. The band only released one true album, 1979's Cut. Their 1981 follow-up Return of the Giant Slits had [...]
Today's entry is a brand new Cat Power song off of the upcoming Hottest State soundtrack. I can't attest for the film (though the advance reviews haven't been particularly favorable) its soundtrack is definitely solid. In addition to Cat Power, it features new music by Feist, Bright Eyes, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, M. Ward, Norah Jones, and others. The catch is that the new music wasn't written by their respective performers, but rather entirely by singer/songwriter Jesse Harris. For a guy whose greatest triumph was a collaboration with Norah Jones, he's sealed himself a pretty respectable line-up here. [...]
Teenage Fanclub are a band that I discovered before my time. I picked up their album Bandwagonesque used for $3.99 when I was 14. I can't remember how I had heard of them, but I'm betting it had to do with at least one of these three facts: 1) They were one of Weezer's contemporary influences 2) Kurt Cobain proclaimed them as "the best band in the world" 3) Bandwagonesque beat out Nevermind for Spin's #1 album of 1991 At that age I was always hesitant to blindly buy albums. [...]
The Pastels formed in Glasgow, Scotland during 1982. In the 80's, Scotland had a pretty significant indie scene, also spawning the Jesus and Mary Chain, The Vaselines, Orange Juice, and Teenage Fanclub. Also, along with the Field Mice, and Beat Happening, they were one of the most significant twee bands of the 80's. For the song, there's not too much to say. It's pleasant, reassuring, and catchy. For a day like this, that's all you need. The Pastels - I'm Alright With You [...]
The Shaggs are a bad band. Often considered to be one of the worst ever. Normally that wouldn't be much of a recommendation, but for the Shaggs it's what makes them what they are. You see, they're terrible in the way that The Brain that Wouldn't Die is... charmingly bad. Rather than being repulsed and wishing it would go away, you instead smile, laugh, and keep listening. For a bit. Despite it being only 30 minutes long, I can't make it through their one and only album, 1968's Philosophy of the World in one sitting. The [...]
Today's entry about the Pop Group makes pleasant company with yesterday's on Suicide. Although they both have a shared affinity for occasional shrieking, they sound quite different. However, both bands pushed post-punk to its outer limits, making music that could only be classified as post-punk because what it truly was hadn't been invented yet, or was impossible to classify. The band had a short life, forming in 1978 in Bristol, England and breaking up by 1980. Their debut album, Y , remains their classic and is seen by many as a forgotten masterpiece. You can sum up [...]
Suicide were one of the first significant no-wave acts and the pioneers of the electroclash/ electropunk sound. What Suicide accomplished with their 1977 self-titled debut would be done to death in later years, but in its original form it still sounds just as affecting today. All their imitators simply pale in comparison (I'm looking at you the Faint!) although the Jesus and Mary Chain did take some of what Suicide laid down and made their own masterpiece from it. While they were never popular in their heyday, their influence was significant. In addition to the aforementioned, some of Suicide's fans [...]
PFFR are the twisted geniuses behind Wonder Showzen (the best show MTV has had since The State,) yet outside the show's most devoted fanbase, their music is unknown. According to the members, "A shimmering gem crashed down from the heavens, black clouds exploded unto the Earth and PFFR was formed." Other times PFFR are "group of highly motivated young people that formed a band in order to start a riot in the local public library." They also are home to one of the strangest band websites I have ever seen . The band's music is equally [...]
Drum & bass is an unfortunate genre. That's one of downsides of Kraftwerk, the whole club 4/4 thumpin' ecstasy popping rave scene that would eventually become an electronica subdivision. Actually I'm completely ignorant to the differences between techno, house, trance and drum & bass. What I've heard though is house= boring techno, trance = pretentious techno, and drum & bass = minimalist techno. What is techno? Obnoxious. I can never wrap my head around that scene. I do like Apex Twin though. Lightning Bolt, a duo from my wonderful home state of Rhode Island are a different type [...]
First things first, I have a final exam tomorrow, so this entry will be breezed through. Summer courses are such a pain in the ass. Now I've made passing references to " Krautrock " in the last 2 entires. If you're unfamiliar, it refers to the late 60's to the mid 70's experimental scene in Germany. In brief, its influence on rock music as we know it was immeasurable. The biggest band to come out of it was undoubtedly Kraftwerk, a band that is an important as the Beatles. Though bands like Silver Apples laid the groundwork, Kraftwerk [...]
Your grandmother will hate Boredoms. Boredoms will frighten your pet parrot. Boredoms are not reccomended for pre-pubescent individuals, as if exposed they may effect your development in unknown ways. This is weird week on the Boner blog. I'm digging out some of the strangest music I can find on my hard drive drive for your listening pleasure, or perhaps listening terror. In terms of oddity, chaos and inaccessibility, they're hard to exceed. I'll begin with a brief history on the band, as it their case, it can be as interesting as the music. Before forming the band [...]
I'm always fascinated by the way we react to an album upon first listen. I've found that some of my favorite records (The Pixies' Doolittle , Joanna Newsom's The Milk-Eyed Mender , Guided by Voices' Bee Thousand and the Jesus and Mary Chain's Psychocandy for example) were ones I could barely stand the first time I heard them. I'm not quite sure why this is... Maybe something along the lines of the albums not conforming to what we're used to musically and to appreciate them we need to ease ourselves in, gradually becoming more [...]
Slowcore... what a terrible word. I'd take it over Sadcore though any day. So Slow/Sadcore, what do you speak of? Well if you look at the history of it, Galaxie 500 were the predators to the genre, as it wasn't until the Red House Painters and Codeine came along that the term was coined. Though an eclectic mix of bands have been described as "slowcore" its main ingredients involve an understated, occasionally lagging rhythm section, minimal chord changes, and of course slow tempos. Now taken at face value that sounds pretty boring, and yes, when at its worst it can [...]
The Rentals...damn. I'm rediscovering these guys as I type. You see, in my early high school years I was obsessed with Weezer. I'm not using obsessed lightly here: I'd be one to pay almost $20 for a Japanese imported two-track single (for "Photograph" nonetheless!) The albums themselves weren't enough... I needed all the individual singles, t-shirts, posters, alternative versions, this , I even have an entire CD case completely filled with CD-Rs of live shows and demo versions. Looking at my hard drive, I have 5.22 gigs of Weezer related material. Jeez. To top it all off I paid [...]
Indie Selections For Your Erections
Sleigh Bells - Demons (Official Music Video)
The Rains of Castamere by The National
A-Trak & Dillon Francis - "Money Makin'" (Official Video)
DIIV "How Long Have You Known?" (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
Nas - Daughters
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
Mr Fogg - Eleven
