Sunday, July 09, 2006

3rd Time's the Charm

My friend - you are Bonnaroo

Dueschland took teh "little final" and 3rd place in convincing fashion to cap off a great run though the copa. And Remind me not to say anything bad about Zidane's momma.

Now onto the last in my extended Bonnaroo review...

Waking up Sunday was a wonderful relief - the clouds had come in and the temps cooled off to a very comfortable level. I went off to the Sonic Stage for some small sets from several different artists. I was a tad late to catch Matisyahu's performance - not that it would've mattered as you couldn't get near the micro venue. This would be a sign of things to come.

The tiny confines of the Sonic Stage

Settled into a nice spot near the front and right of the stage after that mass departed for Andrew Bird. Bird does the one man band type thing by playing, singing, whisteling and then looping it all and adding more elements overtop of those loops. It was a good performance though there was a distinct lack of energy.

After a bit of a break i moved closer to the stage for Rusted Root. Root was decent - they mostly played tracks from solo projects then Michael came out and did Scattered on his own. When they all finally got together to do a Root track he broke a string on the guitar as they started to go into (possibly "Martyr" or "Faith I Do Believe", can't remember which) and took a few minutes to restring and then they just did "Send Me on My Way" and left.



Bonnaroo 2006: Rusted Root: Sonic Stage Acoustic on Vimeo

Next up was Mike Doughty - had to get to the absolute front for this. He was taking requests and then doing his sarcastic Doughty thing with what was shouted out. A girl next to me packed a bowl during one of his songs and after Doughty did a great riff on it afterward - say he might be a narc. Such a quick wit. These are actually my carppy camera phone pics.

Doughty being clever.


Finally left the Sonic Stage to cath The Streets in This Tent. Went up near the front for the first few songs and the sound was terrible. Much like at Sasha, these venues aren't equiped as well for the bass that electronic atrists produce - it was a garbled mess. Moved to the back of the tent and the sound was much clearer. There were some grime heads back there dancing with hippies - wow. Mike Skinner was great - calling out americans for an in ability to drink and proving his point by handing out brandy to the front row who mostly didn't partake. Then some guy in a bright green pool tube and an anti-bush shirt somehow gets on stage and Skinner shoves the bottle of brandy in his face before security drug him off stage. The live band backing him up really added to the performance.

Soybomb's cousin?
Crossing swords on stage
Cheers Mate

Went to try and see Matisyahu for a second time - he was well into his set by the time The Streets were done - but i couldn't get within a quarter mile of the stage. He was obviously the main draw of the day as i can't imagine there were many other people at any other venue. Hung out listening for a bit but the decided to turn around and watch the venue i was actually closer to.

You can't see me in this pic

That venue was inhabited by one Atmosphere - whom I found boring and evoked in me the need to deficate for the first time since thursday morning (or at least the inability to ignore that pressure). So I headed back to camp (Centeroo's facilities had a bit too high a AQ - ass quotient - for me). But i did catch a bit of Sonic Youth on the way back - decent though i've never been a huge fan.

At this point the night was complete for me as watching increasingly un-ironicly named Greatful Dead remnants jam on for hours in the rain. All that was left was a quite enjoyable night of crazy 'Roo experiences with random people coming in out of the rain to our jury-rigged hovel.

Well EzArchive has been down most of the day so no Radiohead set just yet.

___________________________________________________________________

So for now a couple tracks from one of the most download friendly labels out there Vice Records. Home to a great stable and a bunch of tracks and videos to keep you entertained.

Bloc Party - "Banquet (Junoir Sanchez Remix)"

Pretty typical from JS - decent remix but nothing really special. Suprised its not as danced up as i would've thought. This is only availible on white label.

The Streets - "When You Wasn't Famous (Professor Green Remix)"

Its all Grimey! Pretty funny really, Green is a newly signed artists to Mike Skinner's label so Green makes fun of the fact that he's a no-one and that Skinner is making more on his records than he is as well as taking the piss out of 'im for being all famous.

"The Stills - Destroyer (Demo Version)"

An early version of the track from their Without Feathers set that came out 2 months ago. Another beautiful indie track from these guys. I like this version better than the album version - less highly produced bombast than that version. This has a very Velvet Underground feel to it.

Favorite Sons - "Hang on, Girl"

One of their most recent signings. Their debut, Down Beside Your Beauty comes out in September 12th. Favorite Sons are out of NYC and have a sound similar to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club sans fuzz. 4/5 of the band come out of the psychedelic philly based Aspera
___________________________________________________________________

late-

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Review Numero 2



Back to Bonnaroo once again for 2 more days of sun and song.

After late night with west coast mc's I managed to wake up at some point in enough time to head down for the USA v. Itlay world cup match - as i posted before this was not to be. Mounties were even brought in to hold back the crowd.


Mounties!!

So it was off to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah over at That Tent. The good thing about the tents being the shade i savored this as ot would be the only time i was able to get any on the day. Clap is a band that grows on you and after several listens to the couple tracks i have from their eponomous debut they had grown to the point where i was totally psyched for this show. They didn't dissapoint as they went through an short but solid hour long set.

Moved on from here to the main venue, finally after 2 days, the What Stage. Elvis Costello played a decent set did a few of the classics did some new stuff. Elvis was acting like he was on VH1 storytellers for a bit detailing some song history which was cool. Overall it was pretty average compared to mostly everything else. He brought out current recoring partner Allen Toussaint for a bit but i left this to catch the end of Rusted Root.

I hadn't seen Root since a very memorable show on NYE 97/98 and only made it for their final 2 tracks knowing i was planning on seeing them again the next day at the sonic stage but they closed with "Ecstacy" and that had all the hippies in twirl-on-the-grass heaven. I liked it too.

Obviously there were many partial set seen on saturday as so much was going on at the same time. After Root it was over to the Which Stage for a couple minutes with Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley. Saw Damian when he opened for U2 in their 2 fall shows in Philly last year and again he had "Flag Guy" with him! This guy's only job is to hoist and wave the Jamacian flag through the whole set - he rocks. Marley covered a few of his dad's tracks while i was there (way way in the back by the way). But i had to move on as Beck was coming up on the main stage and there aint no way i was gonna miss that - and try to get as close as possible.

He's a flag wavin' machine.

That turned out to be just about even with the front of the video booth in the middle of the stage which was a pretty decent vantage from which to see the man. This was definitely the most entertaining show of the weekend. Beck had a marrionette stage set up behind hin and instead of showing him and the band on the big screens to either side of the stage, those screens showed puppets doing an exact impersonation of the band (luckily i was close enough to actually be able to see both - friends further back didn't even realize that the puppet show was going on live). Beck played the ultra-cool center of all the crazyness going on around him. Later in the set he played solo while his band retired to a stage-left table for dinner. They were served salads, wine and some other items while Beck launched into brief covers of the Flaming Lips "Do You Realize" and a bit of Radiohead's "Creep" - which he then chided himself for doing as they were coming up next and might have played it (he didn't need to worry). Then band then started playing aling with their utensils and water glasses while the puppets mimed the whole thing. It was brilliant. During the encore they showed a prerecorded bit with said puppets touring through Roo and commenting on the action. This was liberally peppered with hippie culture jokes - all in good fun of course. When they came back out the audience was treated to a Bear costume wrestleing match across the stage and finally a giant boom box was brought on for the closer. Easilly the most memorable show of the event - thats not to say the next one wasn't a trancendent experience.

Beck - Do You Realize? (Flaming Lips Cover)

Beck, meet throng. Throng, Beck.
Malcovitch, eat your heart out.
Try the cobb salad.

After Beck i was able to move foward only another 8 feet or so - it was jam packed. And there was no place for me to sit so i stood in my little spot for the next 2 and a half hours. I remember my toes going numb at one point. Finally about 15 minutes before the show was to start some other people stood freeing up groud space which my ass quickly conqured - such relief and possibly the only reason i was able to stand and jump and sing and dance for the next 2.5 hrs. Stood up 5 mintes before they were supposed to go on and it was just in time - don't know what happened up front but suddenly the crowd surged forward several yards - ace. Then just before the show it happened once again - there were a few people caught under this time - I tripped on someone who was still sittingin a beach chair and went flying onto my face. Insanity. But i was now a mere 30 yards or so from the stage and ready to be blown away.


[This is the part where i drone on about how incredible Radiohead were are and will ever be. If you wish to skip the fawning scoll down to just after the set list]

Sharply at 8:30 Radiohead take the stage and the glowstick start to fly. Someone tossed several thousand of those glowstcik braclets into the front of crowd and each person who caught one launched it again and so on. For a solid 5 minutes during the opener There There the skies were awash in intense colored strands of glowing liquid. This continued sporatiacally throughout the show culminating in a lightstorm during the second encore - those tripping may still be seeing trails. Thom even joined in hurling the sticks on stage back at the audience.

Ooohh, the drugs

The set was amazing - 28 fuckin songs deep!!! New tracks "15 Step", "Videotape" "Arpeggi" and "Body Snatchers" sounded great. They played longer than Tom Petty who has 20 years on or more 'em. When 80,000 people go completely silet during "Exit Music" you know you are watching something incredible - and I got to start the audience eruption going into the climax of the song. The sound of the show was amazing though there were massive video problems which seemed to have left a large portion of the crowd with a bad taste - when they did finally come back on they were tapped into the Radiohead backing screens and not stand alone images and were difficult to make out at times. Thom's playing with the camera during "You and Whose Army" took me back to my first Head show in '01 (this was #4). This may be the best show they have ever played - and you could see they were having a blast doing it.

Thom's crazy little monkey dance!

1. there there
2. 2+2=5
3. 15 step
4. arpeggi
5. exit music
6. kid a
7. dollars & cents
8. videotape
9. no surprises
10. paranoid arndroid
11. the gloaming
12. national anthem
13. climbing up the walls
14. nude aka big ideas (don't get any)
15. street spirit
16. the bends
17. myxomytosis
18. how to disappear completely

encore 1
19. you and whose army
20. pyramid song
21. like spinning plates
22. fake plastic trees
23. body snatchers
24. lucky
25. idioteque
26. karma police

encore 2
27. house of cards
28. everything in it’s right place

After Head i crashed and sat on the field for 30 minutes while people very slowly filed out. Finally made it back top camp around twenty after twelve chatted a bit with Arron & Dave and went to sleep in the tent - setting the alarm on my phone for 3:45. That, along with the girls from the next tent over (what up sam, sofia & cat) woke me up in time to chat a bit more and run of to Sasha!!!

I was in NYC 2 months before the legendary Sasha & Digweed residency at Twilo abrubtly ended due to Gulliani's crackdown on the club scene and was geared up to see 'em. You may be able to tell that this didn't happen. The people i was there with decided they didn't want to go - i ended up sitting in the hotel room that night listening to their mix cd instead. This will not happen again. So I tossed on Sofia's cowboy hat (now my ever present accessory of the weekend) and went to the rave. I don't think i've ever seen that many dilated pupils in one place in my life. I love crazy, drug addled ravers. I really do. The Man Like kicked a great set that went well past the scheduled endtime. He even came back for an encore but i think he was a bit fuct up as well as his attemp to mix out of the first song in the encore killed the computers (he's doing that whole Fundacion remixing on the fly thing) and he smiles and stumbled off stage. Crack end to a crack day at the 'Roo. I headed back to sleep in the car (the tent would be an oven in less than 2 hrs) as the sun was now well above the horizon.

The disco plated decks.

Ok i think i'm gonna spread this out into a 3 post effort as it is again getting long in the tooth. So sunday will have to wait.

Head here for a daily blog from the fest from John Roderick - the guy from The Long Winters who was brought out on stage during Death Cab's set to play guitar. Good read.
___________________________________________________________________

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - "Treat Me Right"

Ms. Potter was also at Bonnaroo this year but was not on my radar at the time. Nice blues/soul piece.

The Strokes - "I'll Try Anything Once"

What they try here is a loungy, casio piano tinged take on the opener "You Only Live Once" from their latest disc. Its availible as one of the b-sides on the "Heart in a Cage" single.

Nas - "Where Y'all At (Clean)"

New track from Nas - minimal yet jazzy production style from Salaam Remi. The emphatically titled disc Hip Hop Is Dead comes out in September. This is of course an edited track but it's what's out there at the moment.
___________________________________________________________________

1 more day at Bonnaroo - then I'm done. I'm also gonna get the whole radiohead set up at some point.

late-

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Bonna-review

Do You Roo?

Fantastic times at Bonnaroo last weekend. Here's what i managed to get to:

Thursday
(8:15 - 9:30) Comedy Tent: (Host Vic Henley) Morgan Murphy, Jon Reep, Tom Papa, Demetri Martin
(10:30 - 11:30) Devotchka

Friday
(2:15 - 3:15) Ben Folds
(4:20 - 5:30) Bright Eyes
(5:45 - 6:00) Robert Randolph & The Family Band
(6:15 - 7:45) Death Cab for Cutie
(9:00 - 11:00) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (listened from camp)
(12:00 - 4:30) Lyrics Born / Common (mostly unconscious for this one) / Blackalicious

Saturday
(2:30 - 3:30) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
(3:35 - 4:20) Elvis Costello and The Imposters featuring Allen Toussaint
(4:30 - 4:45) Rusted Root
(5:00 - 5:20) Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley
(5:30 - 7:00) Beck
(8:30 - 11:15) Radiohead
(4:20 - 6:00) Sasha

Sunday
(12:45 - 1:15) Andrew Bird (Sonic Stage)
(1:30 - 2:15) Rusted Root (Sonic Stage)
(2:30 - 3:00) Mike Doughty (Sonic Stage)
(3:15 - 4:45) The Streets
(4:45 - 5:15) Matisyahu
(5:15 - 6:15) Atmosphere
(6:20 - 6:30) Sonic Youth
(8:30 - 12:00) Phil Lesh & Friends (listened to this off and on from camp)

Tom Pappa was the highlight of a lackluster comedy tent experience - Morgan Murphy was absolutely awful. The rest of the weekend it was almost impossible to get into the comedy tent un less you lined up well before the start and i just wasn't down for that. You also couldn't get near the cinema tent for that US/Italy cup match oon saturday. there were at least 3000 people in line more than an hour before hand and the tent couldn't have held more than a few hundred.

Really impressed by DeVotchka on the first night I'd only heard 2 tracks from them ("Venus in Furs" & "This Is How It Ends" - both played) but their gypsy jamming was great.

Ben Folds put on a fine show in the evil Friday heat. Didn't get to his set till a bit of the way in so we was pretty far back but with the crowd singing along it was easy to get into the set. "Army" was one of the highlights.


Ben Folds - Army (Live @ Bonnaroo 6/16/06)

Wandered around Centeroo for a bit afterwards and returned to the Which Stage 20 minutes or so into Bright Eyes's set. Again the heat was nuts but Connor was havin a blast with his big cup of Tequila and a slew of special guests joining him on stage including Gillian Welsh & David Rawlings, Gruff Rhys from the Super Furry Animals and My Morning Jacket's Jim James. I was on the fence about Bright Eyes before this show but i'm a fan now. Highlights include a horn-ed up version of "Lover I Don't Have to Love," a new track "Soul Singer in the Session Band" and the play-along with all the guests on "Sing a Song in the Morning." Check out these soundboard quality tracks.

Bright Eyes - Lover I Don't Have to Love (Live @ Bonnaroo 6/16/06)
Bright Eyes - Soul Singer in a Session Band (Live @ Bonnaroo 6/16/06)
Bright Eyes - Singing a Song in the Morning [ƒ Gillian Welsh, David Rawlings, Gruff Rhys & Jim James] (Live @ Bonnaroo 6/16/06)

Headed off to Robert Randolph for a few tracks before once again coming back to the Which Stage for Death Cab for Cutie. They were in rare form during this set - Ben Gibbard was all over the place and drenched in sweat just like the crowd (this caused some technical issues but...). He also has an 'issue' with a guitar stap that was pretty amusing for the crowd. The engergy was great as the sun set over Bonnaroo allowing the crown to dance some more especially late in the set when they went into a 9 minute jam during "We Looked Like Giants." At one point Ben is playing with his teeth and then (literally) tosses his guitar to John Roderick of The Long Winters (apparently there as a journalist), runs across the stage, hops on a drum kit, and proceedes to drum duel with primary drummer Jason McGerr. This show easilly surpassed their show in Camden earlier this year with Franz Ferdinand - though they didn't play "Marching Bands of Manhattan" at either one.

Death Cab for Cutie - Company Calls (Live @ Bonnaroo 6/16/06)
Death Cab for Cutie - We Looked Like Giants [ƒ John Roderick] (Live @ Bonnaroo, 6/16/06)

After this it was dinner and a nap time so we headed back to camp and listened to Tom Petty from there - you could here pretty well. we were planning on going back for the end of that show, which was scheduled to 12am but he ended just after 11. Instead we went to the late night hip-hop show at This Tent featuring Lyrics Born, Common & Blackalicious. Lyrics was funky as all hell and with the sun safely down everyone was shaking ass. I was drinking heavily (thank you Magic Hat #9) so i kinda passed out on the grass before Common came on. Luckilly the set ups between the 3 took longer than planned so when I regained consciousness Blackalicious had not yet gone on. I made my way toward the front of the tent and got down into the early morning hours.

This is getting pretty long (accidently deleted 1/2 of it once) and there are still 2 days and a new Roots track to get to so Imma break from the review till next post.

For more check this Rolling Stone article that mostly covers the indie aspect of the Roo.
___________________________________________________________________

If you haven't heard yet the Roots have put the first single from their next set up on their myspace page. The track is called "Don't Feel Right" and the disc is Game Theory. It drops August 29th.

Here's a quote from ?uestlove in another RS piece:

"In this day and age, I'm kind of noticing that nobody in urban music really has the balls to just stop partying for one second," says ?uestlove. "I mean, partying is good and whatnot, and it's cool to get down, but I really think that 2006 called for a very serious record. This ain't the Debbie Downer record, or the political, save-the-world record, but this is definitely not the MC-based, battle-themed album that the Roots have been known for. This is our most serious record to date."

The Roots - Don't Feel Right
___________________________________________________________________

A'igit thats it for now. Still got reviews of Radioheads epic set, Beck's puppet-fest, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Mike Douhghty, The Streets and more to come along with a Bloc Party remix and some mash-up fun.

Late-

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Bonnaroo Pre Show!!

Off to Bonnaroo Wed round noon for four days of music and partial consciousnes. Oh and its official - the show is sold out and no tickets will be availible at the gates. I've enboldened who I'm really there to see though Radiohead, Elvis Costello and Sasha are the big 3. Oh and they will be showing World Cup matches from the air conditioned cinema tent!!

Acts:
Radiohead, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Phil Lesh & Friends, Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Buddy Guy, Ben Folds, Common, Elvis Costello, Oysterhead, Cypress Hill, the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Sonic Youth, G. Love & Special Sauce, The Streets, Umphrey's McGee, Cat Power and the Memphis Rhythm Band, My Morning Jacket, Soulive, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Bright Eyes, Steel Pulse, Mike Gordon & Ramble Dove, Nickel Creek, Gomez, Atmosphere, Steve Earle, Amadou & Mariam, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, the Dresden Dolls, Son Volt, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Jerry Douglas, Rusted Root, Devendra Banhart, Donavon Frankenreiter, Mike Doughty's Band, Sasha, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, the Magic Numbers, the Codetalkers, Bonnie Raitt, Bill Frisell, The Disco Biscuits, Bettye LaVette, Lyrics Born, moe., Dungen, Shooter Jennings, Damian Marley, Rebirth Brass Band, Robinella, Andrew Bird, Dumpstaphunk, Matisyahu, Steel Train, Blues Traveler, Jackie Greene, Devotchka, Randolph & The Family Band, World Party, Brothers Past, Blackalicious, the Wood Brothers, dios (malos), Toubab Krewe, Les Claypool, the Motet, Marah, I-Nine, Matt Costa, Balkan Beat Box, Deadboy & the Elephantmen, Medeski Martin & Wood,Tortured Soul, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Electric Eel Shock, David Ford, the Refugee Allstars of Sierra Leone, Seu Jorge.

Also Patton Oswald and Lewis Black among others in the comedy tent.

Yes I've looked at the shcedule and it will be impossible to see everyone i want to (Elvis, Rusted Root & Damian Marley for instance all overlap each other - though i'm most pissed of The Streets/Matisyahu overlap) but everyone knows technical issues come up that throw off nicely ploted out time lines so i'm hoping that the stars line up just right.

And yes, as you can tell by the bolds I'm not a jam band fan. Its just not my cupa. I refuse to twirl on the grass and thats is final.

Today is a selection of mp3s from some of those acts.
___________________________________________________________________

The Streets - When You Wasn't Famous

Devotchka - Venis in Furs (Velvet Underground Cover)

Andrew Bird - Lull

Death Cab for Cutie - Title and Registration

The Magic Numbers - Forever Lost

Clap Your Hands say Yeah - The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth (mislabeled as "Is This Love"

Blackalicious - Supreme People

Mike Doughty - 27 Jennifers

Bright Eyes - When the President Talks to God
___________________________________________________________________

That should be good for now. Recap to come next week!

And if you can't make it the main show (Fri-Sun) will be

streamed live right here in both video and audio.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Olay, Olay Olay Olay, Olay Olay

Copa time and there have been some great matches so far - Argentina v. Ivory Coast and the German v Costa Rica especially. Brunner - hope you are havin a good time over there. Anyone else on the east coast taking a 2hr lunch tomorrow? Instead of Germany I'll be heading the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on Wednesday. Tickets are still availible for the event so if you wanna see Radiohead, Beck, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Death Cab, and many many more and camp out for a 4 day party then get your tickets and come on down.
___________________________________________________________________

Mazarin - New American Apathy

More Philly sounds for you. After releasing 2 discs in 18 months it took almost 4 years for the third set from these psy-indie-posters to drop. This track is the first off that release, We're Already There. Its brilliant shining indie pop on the level of The Flaming Lips but also recalls the Chemical Brothers' more tripped out work with Beth Orton or more recently The Magic Numbers. There is an abundance of sounds swirling in the reverse direction. Lyricaly, the subject matter is similar to the Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. track from an ealier post. “Who wants to be oblivious? / The new American apathy / The news so safely keeps you occupied / With lies” Its a dreamy psychadelic rant against the American tendency for heads to be nicely burried in sand.

The Killers - Scratch Studio Instrumental

This track is a little April Fools joke from The Killers. They posted on their web site on 4/1 that they had a new track for their upcoming album (set to drop in the fall). Its really just a loungy, bossa nova instrumental of "Somebody Told Me." I think it might sound good on my summer burn mix! Oh, and the latest Rolling Stone says that this disc is better than Hot Fuss, if you can believe that.

The Decemberists - Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect
The Decemberists - Engine Driver


Fall of '06 is shaping up to be great one for music fans - aside from The Killers set, The Decemberists aim to follow up my personal favorite disc of '05 Picaresque, with another collection of sea shanties and trubadorian laments. The second track is off that set while the first is from their debut full length Castaways & Cutouts from 2002. The new album will be their first on a major label - that hasn't changed Colin Maloy's crew in the slightest. In Colin's interview at Pitchfork he states there will be at least 2 epic, multi-part song cycles including one over 12 minutes and that absinth binges have been involved?!? Looks like the label people are really up for it though:

"So they came in, and we had strategically put together the two obvious singles that were both short and kind of poppy and fit in with the Decemberists idiom and played them for them. And they liked them. And they asked what else we were doing, and then we started playing the long proggy song cycles, and that's when they got really excited. So it was kind of a positive bit of reinforcement, that they actually support the fact that we're moving in a relatively strange direction."

Oh, the title is The Crane Wife and it drops the day after my birthday (party!) - October 3rd.
___________________________________________________________________

Next update will be all aboot Bonnaroo then I'm off to the fest. Drop me a line if you're gonna be there and lemme know who your are most juiced about witnessing - mine should be pretty obvious as I've mentioned them in the last 3 posts now.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Giving Great Radiohead

Thanks to StayBeautiful @ the radiohead boards a recording of the Radiohead show in Philadelphia on June 1st has been made availible. I've done up a little cover thing with current RH graffix & fonts ect - kinda looks like space invaders & asteroid taking on the pope. Trax are encoded @ 64k and sound best in iTunes when applying the dance EQ preset (don't know if presets are standard across platforms though.) Some have said that night 2 was better but this night was damned good though only the second best head i've ever gotten. That title goes to night 2 at Liberty State Park in August of 2001. Enjoy!
___________________________________________________________________



1. Intro

2. You and Whose Army

3. National Anthem

4. 2+2=5

5. Open Pick (New Track)

6. 15 Step (New Track)

7. Exit Music (For a Film)

8. Kid A

9. Nude (New Track)

10. Arpeggi (New Track)

11. Street Spirit

12. Pyramid Song

13. Myxomatosis

14. House of Cards (New Track)

15. Spooks (New Track)

16. Idioteque

17. Bangers N Mash (New Track)

18. There There

19. Airbag

20. No Surprises

21. Bodysnatchers (New Track)

22. Everything in Its Right Place

23. 4 Minute Warning (New Track)

24. Karma Police

And now a post head chuckle - SNAKES ON A PLANE + BONO STYLE!!


And here is another AudioBlog worth checking - Badminton Stamps 2 heads one from NYC and one from here in Philly - see we can get along, just not at sporting events. Next time some more local music and an April Fools joke 2 months too late.

___________________________________________________________________

Less than a week till Bonnaroo!

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Blame it on the Black Star

Radiohead have emerged once again from that small cramped little monster hole in england in which they reside. Went to their first US show on Thursday and their new material (they played 9 new tracks in the set!) is great. Its all over the place as far as the sound goes: breakbeats, jungleesque brit rock, alt rock, jazzyness. It feels like a return to Pablo Honey through the lense of what they have learned in the interveening 13 years. There is currently no release date set for their 7th LP - seeming called Xendless Xurbia (its on the tour posters and on the website) - as they are tweaking the tracks on their current tour which is in the US through the end of July followed by a month of festivals in Europe. So it looks like fall may be the earliest we will see it. They are headlining the Bonnaroo fest this year as well which will be quite a difference from the 1500 seat theater they played in Philly and I can't wait for that. Even if you have to pay triple face value for a ticket it will be worth it to see this tour - though hopefully they will swing back again next year after we've all memorized the new tracks. On another note Thom has a solo disc out next month called The Eraser. Set list for the show:

01 You And Whose Army
02 The National Anthem
03 2+2=5
04 Open Pick
05 15 Step
06 Exit Music
07 Kid A
08 Nude
09 Arpeggi
10 Street Spirit
11 Pyramid Song
12 Myxomatosis
13 House Of Cards
14 Spooks
15 Idioteque
16 Bangers And Mash
17 There There

Encore 1:

18 Airbag
19 No Surprises
20 Bodysnatchers
21 Everything In It's Right Place

Encore 2:

22 4 Minute Warning
23 Karma Police

Here is a video of one of the new tracks ("Arpeggi") from the show (good audio quality):



This is for "Open Pick", audio not as good:



O, and the Final song of the night, "Karma Police", again sketchy audio:



ok so mptrees!
___________________________________________________________________

Psapp - Hi

New genre alert - you can now add "Clunktronica" to your list. This is the sound on London's Psapp. Its a kind of blips and beeps combines with bossa and bits of other beautiful live instrumental bobs. All mixed together to make a clunktronic stew! A bit Groove Armada, a bit Esquivel & a bit Combustible Edison. This is the first track off their second set, The Only Thing I Ever Wanted, which comes out Tuesday .

Youth Group - Skeleton Jar

Another aussie group but no revivalist tendencies here. They lean toward the indie side sounding clean and ernest like The Shin, The Stills, Phoenix, and Death Cab for Cutie. Great summer nightime drive song.

Trashcan Sinatras - Welcome Back

Literate Scottish rock in the vein of Doves, British Sea Power, Snow Patrol & Keane (all of whom they preceeded by at least a decade). You may remember their single US hit "Heyfever" off 1993's I've Seen Everything. This is the first single from their 4th album - released in '04 after an 8 year hiatus during which their style became huge. This is a soaring uptempo number that deals a bit tounge and cheek with their down time: "I hid my head in irrelevant books/tell me is that where catastrophe looms & everyone's alive/everyone's surprised." Unfortunately when I saw them last year the energy in their live performance didn't live up to the record. Maybe they just needed a few more pints?
___________________________________________________________________

Auf Wiedersehen.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Bloated and In Need of Sleep

Hope everyone in the US had a great long holiday weekend. I drank - a lot - and am dreading tomorrows return to work. Beautiful weekend here in the Philly area though - official start to summer indeed.

So a quick bit for the web...

___________________________________________________________________

Wolfmother - Woman

Here is the single version of the song (remix below in the last post). Very guitar heavy, rockin jam. These guys are from Australia and seem to be similar in their revialist desires to fellow Aussies Jet. While not nearly as sing-a-long-catchy as Jet they put down some solid tunes on their self-titled debut. This single is actually a bit different than the album version - much better i think. It's tempo is a bit reduced in comparison.

Just Like We (Breakdown) (DFA Remix)

This mix is the B-side to Over & Over. Hot Chip is on the DFA label which is enough for me to pick up their stuff. These London boys have a kind of Postal Service meets the Beta Band vibe, a nice indie dance act. The original of this track can be found on their set: The Warning which is out in most of the world now and drops June 13 in the US. This mix amps up the dance quotient, as the DFA are wont to do with epic synth stabs and a quicker beat than the original but you don't lose that languid meloncolic feel in the vocal - if you like Tracy Thorn's delivery style in Everything but the Girl then you'll dig all 8 and a half minutes of this mix.
___________________________________________________________________

K, thats all. Hope you enjoy, and now back to the grind.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Worldwide Mix Tape Trading and other Hippiesque Persuits

Its called Summer Burn - basically you make the best damned, laid back, sun shine dripping, make even the Chilli Pepper's jealous, summer mix tape you can with the choon's at your disposal. Then you sign up, make two copies and mail them to whomever the Funjunkies tell you to. In return you will get two mixes from different people and everyone gets to experience new music and maybe a great summer soundtrack. Yes, its a bit Haight/Ashbury but hey, it could be fun. Click the title to be taken to the site for more info - anyone know any good songs about swamp ass? (Thanks to Steph for the link)

A few MSTRKRFT remixes i like...
___________________________________________________________________

Death From Above 1979 - Sexy Results (MSTRKRFT Version)
Bloc Party - Two More Years (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Wolfmother - Woman (MSTRKRFT Remix)

Toronto duo DFA79's debut You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, had some great tracks and some so-so ones. However, 1/2 of that band has a dance project alter ego known as MSTRKRFT and has nailed every production he's done. The first single was an iTunes SOTW earlier this year (dead-on Daft Punk impression) and there are a slew of fantastic remixes including Annie, Metric, The Kills and an upcoming mix of She Wants Revenge for interested people to track down.

The remix of the DFA79 original can be found on their remix album Romance Bloody Romance with a bunch of other treats (check Erol Alkan's toss up of their hit "Romantic Rights"). It goes from machismo fuled stoner rock to a kitchy indie-dance meets 60's bossa-nova number with a few french lyrics.

The Bloc Party original was released as on a double single with Hero after the massiv success of their debut Silent Alarm - currently i have no idea where this remix can be found outside the net. The original will likely also pop up on their forthcoming sophomore effort. I can't stop listening to this track.

Wolfmother came out of Australia with the nearly the same level of back home hype that the Arctic Monkey's enjoyed when they finally landed stateside from snaggle-tooth island (that's Britian). The remix chops up the obvious classic rock of their track and gets all electro-funk up in there with hand claps, synths, cowbells and a guitar sans fuzz.

and just for good measure here are 2 hilarious vids - "Sexy Results":



and their first single, the french house slathered "Easy Love":



___________________________________________________________________

Next time I'll see if i can put up some of the originals for comparison.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Content 'eh?

Hey, need some more content? (Don't we all?) Then head over to Draxhall's blog: Big Thoughts From A Small Mind. It's filled with clips, mp3s, cd reviews ect - and the cat's got good taste... oh and he's from Canadia but don't hold that against ;) For the link just click the title. He's currently sporting some stuff from Tribe, MF Doom, Daft Punk & The Fiery Furnaces so you know the net is cast wide.

And look, Titles & Sidebar links! Slowly getting the hang of this blog thang down!


Now 4 more tracks I like...
___________________________________________________________________

Jamie Lidell - What's the Use

Latest iTunes US Store Single of the Week (so DL by Monday @ 11:59 EST). This is a nice funky piece of neo-soul. I am a big fan of the SOTW as it lets you discover things like this. Excellent replication of Shuggie Otis ("Strawberry Letter 23" - He's a woefully underappreciated genius) style 70's sound with real attention to interesting production. Starts off as a pretty simple beat with some atmospheric shades and a funky bass line but as the track progesses the beat meanders incorporating an odd break here and there while some other sounds and harmonies fill up the sparse musical space - including a subtle but deadly horn off in the distance during the bridge. Ace.

The Sounds - Painted By Numbers

An ass shaking bass line that gives way to a piano breakdown, lalalas and dramatic 80's synths highlight this perfect pop/rock gem. Naturally, The Sounds are from Sweeden. If you like Blondie you'll love this shite. Singer Maja Ivarsson has that a trace of a Joan Jett snarl in her voice that cuts through the pop sheen and lets you fall head over heels in love with the track. The track is from their second CD Dying to Say This to You which came out back in March.

Jedi Mind Tricks ƒ Killah Preist - Saviourself

Repin' the 215 (that's Philly) JMT are celebrating 10 years in the game. MC Vinnie Paz's voice tends toward the grating but his lyrics however drip with Egyptian and other ancient world imagery and make for a flow that takes you off to his world. The verse from Killah Priest, turntable play and Indian inspired production smooth the whole package out. It's this last element however that really makes the track. Its an oustandingly listenable beat that I could easilly loop on instrumental and get lost. the track is off their 2004 release Legacy of Blood

And here is an amazing image - the cover art for the disc that preceeded Legacy. That is City Hall in Philadelphia:



We Are Scientists - Inaction

This Brooklyn trio's first set, With Love and Squalor, dropped in Jan and is packed with 12 catchy, art rock, tracks that sound like Bloc Party, the Killers, ect. Unlike thise bands WAS seem to have a tounge in cheek delivery that starts with the cover of said disc:

Where as Bloc Party inhabit the political and the Killers have a hyper-dramatic pomposity about them this track is has a self depricating, loser way about it.

___________________________________________________________________

All for now and remember "Ape shall never kill ape!"

Sunday, May 14, 2006

For the not-so-techno-savy

Just occured to me that some may not know how to download these tracks - for most of them if you click the link you can listen in a window and if you right click and select "save target as" you can dl to your hard drive. I know there is a different way for Macs but i don't know it. For some links a download dialogue box will automatically open up and for iTunes links you need to have iTunes installed to get the track.

Here are 3 more tracks that I like...

___________________________________________________________________

Andy Dick - Cosmic Dust

Yes, that Andy Dick. This is goofy experimental/surf rock number feels like a B-52's b-side. Dick channels Fred Schnieder at times as well. There's some lyrics about sniffing lines (duh) and "the moon, who's one good eye's on us." Yes this is very camp but its a catchy number and good for a laugh or two.

Kula Shaker - Diktator of the Free World

The lads from Kula Shaker are back! Anyone remember Kula from the 90's? Lots of 60 Psychedelic influences, Indian sounds and chanting? Ok, I was a big fan at the time (their debut K was and is one of my most played cd's) and they recently released an ep on iTunes with 3 other tracks beside this one. Diktator is one for the anti-bush crowd. Lyrics are in the first person as though W is on vocal and its pretty scathing (first line: I'm an A-1, major league, sociopath/My daddy's in oil and my life is a gas) but never fails to be a rousing rockin number - lots of guttural howling and some psy-organ noise. So if your a neo-con that just likes solid rock tracks then you might dig it as well.

Mike Doughty - Looking At the World from the Bottom of a Well

Doughty is the former lead singer of the singular act Soul Coughing. This track is the lead off on his 3rd and latest solo disc Haughty Melodic. Sounding a bit like mid-era R.E.M. or the Counting Crows with a nice upbeat folk style acoustic strum that gives way to some of the more "produced" sounding music he's done since SC split up. Doughty biggest strength is his highly literate lyrical mastery and playful, catchy delivery of those lyrics. Based on the album title, he obviously know this.

___________________________________________________________________

Late-

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

And a 5, 6, 7, 8...


Post 2 and it starts with a bang. Here are 4 more tracks that I like...
___________________________________________________________________

Editors - Feel Good Inc. (Acoustic)

Sweet damn, this is really hot. If anyone picked up their single Munich a few weeks ago when iTunes has it as their free DL of the week then you know that its a soaring new new wave track in the same vein as Block Party. Well they recently did a spot on Radio 1's Live Lounge and went thru this great acoustic cover of the Gorillaz smash hit "Feel Good Inc". They also get a few bits of "Munich" in at the end of the song. Just DL this - NOW!


Man Man - Engrish Bwudd

Man Man - I'd Rather Go Blind

File under experimental rock. This insane set of characters from Philly (E-A-G-L-E-S...) just released their second disc titles Six Demon Bag on Ace Fu Record. You can't read a review of them without a reference to Frank Zappa or Capitan Beefheart - I listen to a lot but never got into either of them but if they are as excitingly odd and refreshing as Man Man I'll have to pick some up. Bwudd is an over the top sing along with strange lyrics ("He traveled across the sea in the belly of a Japanese businessman / on a pleasure ship to France"). Kind of like the Squirrel Nut Zippers on LSD. The second track is a sublime and faithful cover of the Etta James blues classic. Lead singer Honus Honus delivers an honest heartfelt rendition without a trace of irony that you might expect after listening to the first track.

Grandaddy - Rear View Mirror

After 14 years Grandaddy decided to break up early this year - however they recorded a final album before that happened! It out today and called Just Like the Fambly Cat. This track is a sprawling mini-epic clocking in at 6:06. Bits of psychedelia soak up the front end of the track about a third of the way along they kick it up to a solid driving rocker before heading back out. Shows that even up till the end they were turning out great tracks.

___________________________________________________________________

And I'm spent.


Thanks-

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Hi Mom, Thanks for reading my blog!

Just in case anyone else stumbles by though, i guess there should be some kind of JFE (justification for existence) statement or at least an attempt to explain what it is i'm attempting to do here.

Well, imma kick this thing off as an audioblog - a little review of various mp3s that are available around the net and the links of course so you can listen your damn self. I know, i know - i saw an already over crowded market place and said "me too!" I feel just like Antwon Bugleboy. All links will be to legally dl-able files that the band or their record label decided that you should have. Since there is so much stuff out there this thing will be like a strainer so you can keep hold of the tasty ravioli while letting the rest of the water run down the drain. But who knows where it will go, this is my first attempt ect ect...

First i should say a bit about what i like - so if your tastes do not match up with my own or you suffer from a lack of adventure you can stop reading now (if you already haven't). I'm very much a part of Indie Nation right now along with the NYC garage revival sound, DiscoPunk/ElectroClash/IndieDance whatever you wanna call it, New New Wave or Art Rock, most of the genres of electronic music (Techno, House, Trance, Jungle...), General Alt Rock, occasionally some Alt Country, i also dig on Standards & Crooners, Pop, Reggae, Hip-Hop - ok actually this is a little useless and i have not the talent of Brett Easton Ellis to make the reading of lists the least bit engaging so basically: i dig music. Now lets dive (off this roof and) into this thing.

Here are four tracks that i like...

___________________________________________________________________

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. - Whitewash Is Brainwash

19 year old bedroom musicians turn out a lot of crap. Thankfully most of it we don't have to listen to and thankfully this is an exception. The track starts with an acoustic guitar intro just before a mellow breakbeat kicks in. The track has a Postal Service feel to it while the lyrics are a whole lot more cynical - he even calls himself a cynic in the song. The song is a meditation on TV and consumer culture and escapist entertainment but in a fittingly fun, bubbly little pill that's a snap to swallow. The goofy ending is just as endearing - the beat drops out and there's a little acoustic sing along of the chorus followed by a few Yeahs and Woo-Hoos. Fantastic. GCWCF has yet to release a proper album but having just signed to a major label it should be coming out at some point this year.

Elefant - Lolita

This is the 2nd 'single' from NYC band Elefant's second album - The Black Magic Show. A droning, paranoid affair about well - a lolita. The track moves more in an Interpol direction than anything on their previous album, emulating The Cure/Echo & Bunnymen with a more driving urban rock sound. Lead singer Diego Garcia has a romantic yet urgent Morrissey style croon. The first track from the cd has a much different carnival style sound to it so it seems that they are reaching farther sonically that their previous release.

The Raconteurs - Steady, As She Goes (Acoustic Version)

iTunes current free Single of the Week so the free period will expire this Tuesday. Jack White of the White Stripes' side project sounds... well a lot like the White Stripes. Not that i mind. Actually, this acoustic version of the song sounds more like the minimally produced style of the White Stripes than the plugged in version, which has a bit a of a sheen to it. Typically when something new comes along the record company releases the most familiar sounding material first so i don't expect the whole album to sound this similar to the Stripes. The full length drops in 2 weeks and i can't wait to here it.

The Ark - This Piece of Poetry is Meant to Do Harm

Apparently this Swedish glam-rock band has been around sing the dawn of the 90's - who knew. Anyway this is the first track of their newly released disc State of the Ark (clever). There are some video game style sounds, distorted guitars and an overall funky sound that recalls T.Rex with a hint of Devo. Infectious.

___________________________________________________________________

Sweet, well that was relatively painless - though i took it slow. So if you do happen to stumble upon this (or are one of the select for whom i'll send out an invitation) drop a comment and let me know what ya think. I'm going to attempt to add a hand full of tracks every 3-5 days.

late-