Soft Black - I am an Animal. I cannot lie to you, I like the '90s revival that's slowly taking place. The simplicity of it all is just so refreshing. I know that Soft Black are often marketed as a psych band, but I think that's somewhat misplaced. While they do have some fuzzy tendencies and can wander with the best of them, a song like this reminds me of the psych-by-way-of-'90s like the Afghan Whigs. It's got some soul, some fuzz and some personality. The rest of the album is just as good, just simple hooks and straightforward...
The Jackson Five - Forever Came Today....
This came in the mail today. It's worth your time. Teith features Trevor from Pelican....
I love the Go! Team, but I seldom listen to an entire record by the band - it's like eating ten Pixy Stix, or drinking three cans of Coke. I think the Go! Team, despite making nuanced, well-sequenced records, are more of an EP band. A few songs here and there, a good kick in the ass, and you're on your way. Here's an example of a good kick in the ass. Black Moth Super Rainbow - Twin Of Myself (Go! Team Remix). The original Black Moth track, from their hazy new record Eating Us, is a sleepy-eyed, Dave Fridmann-produced...
I imagine this will be everywhere today, just as coverage on this record has been everywhere for a while now. I know we give that disclaimer pretty often, and it gets tiring to hear: but it's because we try to introduce you to something new to both of us, something not featured on every other blog. But sometimes we just have to say: fuck it. Mos Def - Casa Bey. Mos Def! I think many of us have the same experience with the onetime Dante Terrell Smith: we loved Black On Both Sides and Black Star, we dutifully checked out...
Saxon Shore - Nothing Changes. Things are starting to wind up around here. The spring is coiling back, tightening. It's a slow process, but at some point soon it's going to release. You can feel it. The clockwork winds and winds, each quarter turn bringing us closer to the beginning. For four years the Saxon Shore have been winding that spring, and on track one of their new album the finally let it all go. It's a glorious exercise in crescendo dynamics and remind me why I love this genre so much. Producer Dave Fridmann tucked his usual bloops...
Paz Lenchantin - Kentucky Hymn. I fully support the current increase in popularity of small-batch, handmade vinyl-only labels. I love the attention to detail, the designs, the card stock. It's a great thing to order and get in the mail, knowing as much time and effort went into the packaging as did the recording inside. One such label is Black Tent Press here in Los Angeles. They have a small catalog so far but continue to grow, and when their two first releases are from Paz Lenchantin and David Pajo, you know that off to a good start. The...
Finally. Doesn't it seem like forever ago that we went to one of these things? Let's tell this june gloom to fuck off and go to a good old fashioned vice party. June 13 - Los Angeles, Lot 613 - 613 Imperial Street The bands are Night Marchers, Soft Pack, Japanese Motors, Lamps, No Age (DJ set) and Travis Keller from Buddyhead (DJ set) There will be tequila drinks and tacos. I'm not sure who is providing the tacos but I can probably find out. Free with RSVP. Let's do this up right....
Ethan Rose and Laura Gibson - Sun. And here we have another gloomy Los Angeles day and here I am writing about a song about the Sun, from Portland no less. But as I type the sun is finding its way through the clouds and honestly it couldn't be more perfect. I've made no secret about my love for Ethan Rose's music, and it lays a perfect bed for Laura Gibson's voice. She ambles along the ambiance in such a way that it grabs a melody out of the ether. It's a beautiful thing. The song itself is from...
Boston! We made it back. It took a couple days, including a very long car ride with two cats who did not want to going on a very long car ride. But here we are in Newton Highlands, living in my late grandmother's house until the dust settles. It's funny how things work out sometimes. Faces On Film - Famous Last Words. So now it's just a question of getting back into the Boston music scene. To start, I headed over to the Boston Phoenix's Best Music Poll entries the other day, and was encouraged by what I found. Among...
Discovery - Orange Shirt. Listen; I know this is everywhere today, but who honestly cares. The fact is that this song is way too fun to ignore. One of the more interesting things is how unlike Ra Ra Riot and Vampire Weekend it is. Those are both fine bands, and bands who know how to have fun with their music and performance. So it makes sense that when two of their members got together to lay down some booty bass that it'd be this good of a time. The production is so clean and sweet. I love that they've...
Lightning Dust - I Knew. It's the day after the rains here in Los Angeles and there's work to be done. There's no time for sitting around, feeling sorry for ourselves. It's time to strap on our boots and head out. Clean ourselves up a bit, hot shower, quick shave, out the door. Lightning Dust only gives us two minutes and thirty seconds to get this all done, so we better be focused and we better be quick. The introduction of electronic elements -- the drum machine, the synth line -- feel entirely organic. Amber Weber's voice has completely...
So. On Sunday, my wife and I are moving from Minneapolis back to Boston, where we both grew up. We moved out here five years ago because of her Ph.D program, and we're moving back to Boston for the same reason. When we moved here, we were a bit dazed. My dad had just died of cancer, and we were going somewhere completely new and foreign. We didn't know what to expect, and we didn't have much time to think about it. Luckily, Minneapolis and St. Paul have proven to be awesome cities. We've not only made some great friends...
I only saw Jay Bennett once, shorty after the Wilco documentary. He was touring with Ed Burch and made a stop at TT the Bear's place in Cambridge, one of my favorite venues. I wasn't expecting much, since I hadn't seen the movie and had only second-hand knowledge of his relationship with Wilco. What I did know was that I loved Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and liked a lot of Summerteeth, so I was curious to see what he would do. It turns out he was great, and it was one of the better shows I saw that year. He and...
Aw man, you guys. This show ... look at the lineup over there, would you? You can't lose. I know, I know, it's all the way over in Shakopee, Minnesota, and it might be hot, and wah wah wah. Look at it this way: mini road trip, sunshine, hip-hop. If I didn't have this monster cold, I'd probably be going, so why don't you go instead, and tell me how it went? Now in its second year, Soundset is put on by the good people over at Rhymesayers Entertainment. Last year it was held over by the Metrodome, but because...
This one is what's come to be known as a "grower", or if you're like me and get half your vocabulary from Coen Brothers movies, a "way-homer". The first time I heard it I thought it was a nice little Arcade Fire soundalike, and now, it's constantly in my head. Constantly. All Smiles - Our Final Role As Birds. All Smiles is the nom de rock of Jim Fairchild, and the record in question, Oh, For The Getting And Not Letting Go, comes out on June 30. It's crammed full of melodies and ornate arrangements, cinematic soundscapes and thumping beats....
Free Energy - Dream City Dear summer: thanks for starting. From the first second the drums kick in you realize you're in for a classic. What follows is three minutes and twenty seconds of rock pop perfection. You know these guys had dreams and goals when they set out to record this record-- bases they wanted to hit. You can hear it in the far off saxophone, slowly blowing its way out of the song, or in the na na nas, or in the tone of the guitar. It's still organic, it's still real. Does anyone else hear some...
Future of the Left - Arming Erirtrea. You get all amped up to write about something, and then you've got nothing to say. All I know is that Future of the Left shows nothing but growth and promise. Their first album seemed cloudy, but this single is clear. A few of the rough eccentricities of the old band have been honed into weapons. Each instrument hits like a sack full of oranges -- never breaking the skin but causing internal bleeding. The vocals could cut hanging beef. I dare you not to get swept up around the 1:45 mark, when...
Au Revoir Simone - All or Nothing. As another rush of heat starts fires and bakes Los Angeles, it signals the need for what has become something of a standard around here: hammock music. Sometimes you need the lazy, gauzy, effortless music that washes over you while the heat smothers everything else. Now, Au Revoir Simone aren't quite right for this, but they're something even better. They're the music you listen to when the heat finally breaks, when the cool night erupts, lapping over you like the break of a wave. When the sun's finally set and the stars come...
I'll be honest: I've been putting this one off. Not because I don't like it, but because I don't know what to do with it yet. Mouthful of Bees' record The End is my favorite Minneapolis album to be released in the five years I've lived here. It's full of concise pop hooks and relentless energy, fuzzy distortion and thundering drums. Mouthful of Bees' new self-titled record has none of these things. Mouthful of Bees - Please and Thank You. Instead, it's an album you have to listen to from beginning to end, a series of abstractions and unusual time...
music (for robots)
Watch: Trailer for Dave Grohl’s documentary, Sound City
Conchord On Composing Music For Muppets
Webcast: The Kills’ 10th anniversary concert
Free James Blake live album given away
