Blog: Bwank!

1. The Stills - ' Changes Are No Good (Grand National Remix) ' (mp3) This remixed version appears as a b-side on the ' Changes Are No Good ' single. The original version appeared on ' Logic Will Break Your Heart ', which is one of my favorite albums of all time. However, I've permanently substituted the remix with the original. I liked a few songs off of Grand National's ' Kick The Habit ', but I always end up listening to ' Talk Amongst Yourselves ' and nothing more. Their electro-fuzz grooves were applied to the [...]

Live Review: Acute @ The Troubadour 06/20/07 I'll be posting the weekly sack of songs and other reviews later today! Check back for more.

Let me be the first to say that this year will be huge for LA bands. I've written about the not-so obvious, The Little Ones, and the obvious, Cold War Kids. Despite their associations, Earlimart fits in with the former category, but not for long. Their forthcoming album ' Mentor Tormentor ' is a prodigious effort that links them to various well-known Los Angeles musicians. The connections begin with ' The Ship ', an Earlimart-owned studio nestled in the eccentric hills of Eagle Rock. ' The Ship ' has produced some of LA's favorite acts: Great Northern and Silversun Pickups. [...]

Just when you thought the days of physical retailing were over, The White Stripes transform the iconic Sunset Strip Tower Records location into ' Icky Thump Records '. The building has been taken over for the midnight sale of their forthcoming release ' Icky Thump '. What a brilliant marketing ploy: A reversion to the days when midnight sales were just about the only means to getting an album "early". Woo, the mere idea makes me nostalgic. At 12:01AM tonight, the accumulating line of fans will be allowed to enter the revamped Tower with hopes of being one of the [...]

The Shins aren't exactly the kind of band you'd expect to be remixed. The idea came into fruition on their latest record ' Wincing The Night Away '. The first remix ever, ' Sleeping Lessons (The RAC Mix) ' appeared as a b-side on the ' Australia ' single. I much prefer the remix to the original. Apparently, they took a liking to the remix idea and decided to pool together a batch of remixes for the ' Sea Legs' (Remixes) single. The first remix to appear on the remixed single is ' Australia ' remixed by Peter Bjorn [...]

Tuesday night's show at the Echoplex was almost a euphoric experience. As I stated earlier, The Little Ones and Cold War Kids are two of my favorite local LA bands . So, there was little room for dissatisfaction. However, I must impart a useful tidbit about the newly established Echoplex. For those of you who don't know, the Echoplex is located directly below the Echo in Echo Park. The new-comer venue is filled with chaise-like furniture and a full-fledged bar, lavishly disguised as a Hollywood club. I just wish they paid a little more attention towards the sound. The [...]

1. Justice - ' B.E.A.T. (Extended) ' (mp3) With my friends sending me 'THE WAY YOU MOVE IS A MYSTERY' text messages, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say the Justice-craze is in full effect. ' B.E.A.T. ' is a redone version of ' D.A.N.C.E. ' Instead of the bass-heavy disco-sampled dance background, they implemented beat-heavy electro-fuzz. Now we've got two slightly different versions of ' D.A.N.C.E. ', essentially equating that if you don't hear one this summer then you live in a fucking cave. 2. Air - ' Don't Be Light [...]

I am going to see two of my favorite local LA bands, The Little Ones and Cold War Kids, at the Echoplex tonight for A Benefit for 826 and African Water Wells , a truly worthy cause. 826LA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Water Wells for Africa is a nonprofit organization that installs drinking wells in Malawi, Africa. Before signing to Astralwerks, The Little [...]

Alas, the Minus The Bear vinyl presale has arrived! Act fast and snag the double lp in all four colors varieties . Straight from Suburban Home Records: " This record will be pressed on 4 color varieties: - clear w/ magenta splatter - white w/ silver splatter - clear w/ silver splatter - metallic silver solid The double LP will be pressed on 140-160 gram vinyl. Only 2,000 will ever be pressed. 500 of each color variety will exist. For those [...]

Iron & Wine, Sam Beam's moniker, is one of those prolific songwriters that can pump out album after album of, for the most part, flawless tunes. I'd like to think that he just wakes up one day, arbitrarily decides to go into the studio and then effortlessly bangs them out. On ' The Shepherd's Dog ', due out September 25th via Sub Pop, Iron & Wine consciously explores a variety of sounds, deviating from the minimal lullaby style of ' Our Endless Numbered Days '. I can't say it sounds as though Beam simply popped out [...]

I've always had Metric 's debut album ' Grow Up and Blow Away ', thanks to the internet, and I mistakenly presumed it had been released. After recording in 1999, Metric toured extensively and apparently sold some copies of the debut, as it was originally intended for release, to fans. However, ' Grow Up and Blow Away ' was simply shelved when Rykodisc snapped up their first label, Relentless. What a terrible case of negligence. Fortunately, Last Gang Records saved the record from potential death by purchasing the rights. The unforgettable collaborative writing of Emily [...]

I'm borderline obsessive when it comes to collecting b-sides. I have to have every last drop the artist squeezed for the record. The possibility of one b-side being the best song I've never heard off the album makes the exorbitant singles completely worthy. Well, that's just how I justify these, by most standards, unnecessary purchases. Lily Allen has amassed an extensive collection of b-sides considering the fact that she has only released one full-length album. Similar to Lily's personality, ' Alright, Still ' is extremely polarizing: either you love it or you hate it. Regardless, the [...]

Fujiya & Miyagi are one of those extremely eclectic groups, so experimental yet entirely distinctive. Even associating them with other artists or a genre would simply be a wrongful act of pigeonholing. Despite the Japanese-sounding name, Fujiya & Miyagi, Steve Lewis and David Best respectively, formed in Brighton (UK) over their mutual love for world heavyweight wrestler Kendo Nagasaki ?! Yeah. We won't bother delving into whether or not there's any truth to it and, if there were , why they think it'd be funny to impart such an irrelevant tidbit. Perhaps to underscore the mere fact that [...]

Justice's ' † ' will be 2007's dance album of the year. Don't ask us how to pronounce it, cross? Before Spin and Rolling Stone graciously allocated an extensive page ( sarcasm ) to Justice in their ' Breaking Artists ' section, under the immoderate heading "The Next Daft Punk ", Justice made waves in the dance scene with the infectious 2006 single ' We Are Your Friends '. The unexpected first hit-single was a remix of Simian's ' Never Be Alone ' and it made it's way onto dance floors across the world via [...]

I listened to Portugal. The Man's debut release ' Waiter: "You Vultures! "' almost non-stop when I first got my hands on it. I found comfort in that avant-indie, pop-punk mess: an abstract yet manageable release at a time when Mars Volta's prolific career was getting sort of old. I really like the fact that they hail from Alaska. What can I say, I'm a weirdo. But really! How many bands do you know from Alaska? Anyways, their forthcoming release ' Church Mouth ' is due out July 24th on Fearless Records. I can't say I'm as huge of a [...]

1. Fink - ' Make It Good (Acoustic Version) ' (mp3) I discovered Fink through the brilliance of Bonobo's latest album ' Days To Come '. Finian Greenhall, a.k.a. Fink , was commissioned to sing on the slow-paced down-tempo 'If You Stayed Over'. They share the same amazing label, Ninja Tune, and consequently come from similar roots. Both musicians hail from Bristol (UK), which makes me wonder if there's something in the water over there that yields such unforgettable electronic music. Finian used to be a turntable-master, solely exercising his electronic abilities, but decided to pick [...]

I am waiting with an air of expectancy for Kanye West's forthcoming ' Graduation '. With production from Jon Brion, Chris Martin, Dr. Dre and 'ye himself, how could you really go wrong? In typical Kanye fashion, ' Harder ' is constructed around samples. Unexpectedly though, ' Harder ' features the sampling of Daft Punk's electrifying ' Harder, Better, Faster, Stonger '. Kanye slows down the vocoder-disguised vocals, interspersing the verse and chorus line of the original with Miami Vice-like synth parts, and adds a simple bass-drum heavy beat. Lyrically, ' Harder ' imparts an expected impervious tone (that kanye [...]