Silver Jews "Random Rules" (MUSIC VIDEO)

ZACH THAT:

With youtube and a million other video sites, it's kinda hard to lose a piece of digital media...but in true Silver Jews fashion, the music video for their song "Random Rules" just disappeared from the internet. Sure you could view fan videos, live videos, or videos that posed as the 0fficial song...but none of them were the official video. Where did it go? Now, after years, it pops up again. Enjoy:

Silver Jews on MUZU.

Man Man Halloween Show

ZACH THAT:

If you live in Kentucky or are in driving distance to Lexington, this is where you need to be on Halloween.


Bullhorn and The Beaux Arts Ball Foundation presents:
The Fall Ball
proceeds to benefit the BAB

Man Man
The Hood Internet
Dinosaurs and Disasters
The Ford Theatre Reunion
Burning House Side Show
The Seedy Seeds
The March Madness Marching Band

costume contest(winner receives free tickets to the spring Beaux Arts Ball)
Sat. 10/31 at Busters
doors @ 830
tickets- $20 advance $25 DOS, $10 after 1AM

extra hour for doing weird stuff as the clocks fall back!!!

Tickets on Sale at Busters, CD Central, and Pops Resale.
Here is the schedule:

8:30-Doors Leeroy DJing
8:45-9:25 Seedy Seeds (front room)
9:30 March Madness Marching Band + Thriller
9:50-10:20 Burning House Side show
10:20-10:50 Ford Theatre Reunion
11-12:15 Man Man
12:15-12:30 Costume Contest
12:30- 2 Hood Internet
2-3:30 Dinosaurs+ Disasters

History of the BAB

Lexington began its own Beaux Arts Ball in 1969. Throughout the years its legacy has continued, and its popularity has grown significantly. Visitors have come to the Ball from the University of Kentucky, the community of Lexington, surrounding cities and counties, and even internationally. The event has been held in unique spaces all around the city, from tobacco warehouses to hotel parking garages. They come to explore creativity, enjoy music and spectacle, and celebrate comraderie.
The Beaux Arts Ball is planned and organized by students from the University of Kentucky’s College of Design and is the largest student-run, non-profit organization in the state of Kentucky. We strive to foster creativity and diversity, and our ultimate goal is to raise money for charity and strengthen the community of Lexington.

Each year our donation has grown, and in 2009, we donated an astonishing $44,000 dollars in student scholarships and to the AGL and Sunflower kids!! Past donations have been to the Aids Volunteers of Lexington, Lexington Community Action Council and Moveable Feast. We thank the community of Lexington, those who support us with donations, and especially those who attend each year for making the Beaux Arts Ball an exhilarating and truly unique event!

The Best Album Of 2009 (That You Don't Know)

ZACH THAT:

Merriweather Post Pavillion, Veckatimest, Bitte Orca, On My Way????????

For those of you who heard Tap Tap's amazing Lanzafame (2006) you understand how big of a deal it is that after three years we finally get a follow up record. For months I've discussed about how hard it would be to follow up an album like Lanzafame...but guess what....Tap Tap put out an even better record! You can go HERE to buy the album, which you are now required to do, it is fantastic. We are fortunate to be able to show off one of the tracks off the album below. Listen to the track, buy the album, and become a huge fan of TAP TAP!

Tap Tap - "Feelin' Funny"

Expect a full album review soon.

Rap fo Beginners

HANK ALTOGETHER:

Rap confuses me. As a white person, sometimes I can't undertstand street "slang." I recently looked up "Superman dat ho." Boy, was I off. Not only that, I'm afraid that what rap people are saying is going to adversely affect my children. Thankfully, RapExegesis has lyrics AND music I can listen to and read at the same time that way I can stay up on the game, boyeee.

Goes great with the newest Lil Wayne Mixtape:
Lil Wayne - No Ceilings (Mixtape) [Properly Tagged] Usershare

Mountain Man - "Dog Song" (live @ CMJ, Video)

HANK ALTOGETHER

From Ray Concepcion, via Gorilla vs. bear and Chocolate Bobka are a trio of women who are known as Mountain Man. All ironies aside, this stunning video from their live show at CMJ is one part Kali, one part mountain hymnal, and one part microbrew. Don't be too quick to draw the Fleet Foxes comparisons, these ladies harmonies can stand on their own. Not too heavy, it's a deep breath of fresh air right out of the Vermont mountains. Mountain Man are gossamer enough to weather a storm.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner: Mountain Man [Part 2 of 14] from Ray Concepcioñ on Vimeo.

Weird Music Video Looks too Much like Me

HANK ALTOGETHER:

This guy has nothing on my dance moves. Unf. our appearances are a little too close for comfort.

"Bloody Nose Song" by Jack Conte:

Me:

By the way, that's at a Thao show. So, you know I get down to her, and my review isn't total bumpkis.

The Great Unknown - "I Can See Forever Up Here" (Video)

HANK ALTOGETHER:

Google Reader is a beautiful thing. Not so long ago, my friend Buchino, who runs this amazing blog about beards, posted about a fictional punk band he was in with a member (see dude w/ megaphone) of what is now The Great Unknown (MySpace), a Philly band who recently released an album entitled Tonight, Let's Pretend. If you listen to the MySpace page, you'll hear a sound that is cut on americana and down-home rock 'n roll. Sounding like the kind of stuff you make love in the mud to, The Great Unknown has definitely hit my radar and should be on yours as well.

Here's a vid for their tune "I Can See Forever"

PS - if you're reading us, dudes, drop a line in the contact, cuz we wanna hear your shit.

Neon Indian "Ephemeral Artery (Live Video From CMJ)

ZACH THAT:

Thanks to NickyDigitalDotCom for this great video.

Preview: Uninhabitable Mansions

HANK ALTOGETHER:

Our second Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! post-hiatus sighting is Uninhabitable Mansions, a Brooklyn-based super group. Robbie Guertin (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) sings and plays guitar. Annie Hart(Au Revoir Simone) sings and plays keyboards. Tyler Sargent (CYHSY) sings and plays bass. Chris Diken plays guitar. Doug Marvin (Dirty On Purpose) plays drums. Not only do they play music, but they also put out art and books and such. If it's anything like that killer cover art up there, I'm down.

The music (cuz it's not "We See for You") has more of that CYHSY punch to it than Alec Ounsworth's latest. The phrase pop gems come to mind, but what else would you expect when you drag out Annie Hart and put some CYHSY instrumentation behind them. It's less Bowie/Byrne, as Ounsworth turned the sound into, and more New Pornographers. Either way it sounds great to me.

Not only are they an art collective, Uninhabitable Mansions are nice enough to give us a free glimpse into an album, which is why I can write those preceding paragraphs. Enjoy!

Glen Hansard - "Say It to Me Now" (Live, Video)

HANK ALTOGETHER:

Not only does I am Fuel, You are Friends have some of the best music blogging out there on the net, they've also got this great clip of Glen Hansard singing outside to the crowd before his band The Swell Season performs.

Ain't nothin' as good as that, right? The Swell Season's new album Strict Joy (PS - it's 9.99 on Amazon right now) drops tomorrow. You can see them all across the country and hopefully in a couple parking lots too.

Tour:
11/01 Milwaukee, WI – The Pabst
11/02 Indianapolis, IN – Clownes Theatre
11/03 Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
11/04 Montreal, QC – Olympia
11/06 Boston, MA – Berklee Performing Arts Centre
11/07 Providence, RI – Lupo’s
11/08 Philadelphia, PA – Merriam
11/09 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
11/12 New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
11/13 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
11/14 Dallas, TX – Palladium
11/15 Austin, TX – The Paramount
11/17 Mesa, AZ – Mesa Arts
11/18 Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
11/19 Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern (WITH JOSH RITTER)
11/20 San Francisco, CA – The Paramount
11/22 Seattle,WA – The Paramount
11/24 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
11/25 Vancouver, BC – Centre For the Performing Arts
11/27 Boise, ID – Egyptian
11/28 Salt Lake City, UT – Jeanne Wagner Theatre
11/29 Denver, CO - The Ogden
11/30 Kansas City, MO – Uptown
12/03 Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theater
12/04 St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
12/05 Minneapolis, MN – The State Theatre
01/19 NYC, NY – Radio City Music Hall (WITH JOSH RITTER)

Two Amazing Papercuts Videos

ZACH THAT:

The Papercuts released one of the most underrated albums of 2009. Clear your calenders and go back and spin it again. In the meantime check out two live videos brought to you by Yours Truly:

"Future Primitive"

Papercuts: Future Primitive from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

"Once We Walked In The Sunlight"

Papercuts - Once We Walked in the Sunlight from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Hey Louisville! Win Tickets to "It Came from Indiana!" Opens Tonight!

HANK ALTOGETHER:

Today, we spread the wealth around. Tonight, 10/22/2009, my play It Came from Indiana! opens at Walden Theatre in Louisville, KY. As a special treat, we're offering some free tickets to the show. Getting signed up is really simple. Just email itcamefromindiana@gmail.com and our crack team of monkeys will take care of you. In the email, include how many tix you'd like as well as when you'd like to come. Dates and times follow the synopsis.

A bit about the show:

When students from Yum! Brands High School start making a movie about the environmental issues of the West End, the movie is only half the problem. Is it life-imitating-art or life-imitating-art-imitating-life? Set in the near future, when the I-64 bridges still aren’t done, Louisville still fears what resides across the river, but it may be what’s at home that’s the real problem. Directed by Walden’s Associate Artistic Director, written by Hank Willenbrink, and designed by Lily Bartenstein, It Came from Indiana! proves that the real danger may be what we’re all forgetting on this side of the Ohio.

For those of you who don't get the joke, Louisvillians kinda make fun of our northern brethren. Kinda like people making fun of Scranton, where I'm leaving to head down to the show this weekend.

All performances will take place at Walden Theatre, 1123 Payne St. in Louisville, KY

The show runs October 22, 23, 24, 29, & 30 @ 7:30pm
October 24 & 31 @ 2:00pm

Call (502) 589-0084 for tickets and information.

Allen Ginsberg & Paul McCartney - "Ballad of the Skeletons" (Video)

HANK ALTOGETHER:

This one goes out to Sandy who said that they couldn't hear Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard as the soundtrack to Kerouac. It's a video of Sir Paul McCartney and that other fantastic beatnik, Allen Ginsberg, putting music to his poem "Ballad of the Skeletons."

If you like this sort of thing you might also check out Ginsberg's Lion for Real which has some nice spacey jazz accompanying Ginsberg reading including a rather, um, provocative come on to Kerouac called "C'mon Jack." Or you can buy the single of Ballad of the Skeletons featuring McCartney, Ginsberg, and Phillip Glass.

REVIEW: Thao w. the Get Down Stay Down - "Know Better Learn Faster"

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down -
Know Better Learn Faster

Release Date: October 13, 2009
Label: Kill Rock Stars



9.0






HANK ALTOGETHER:

On Thao's 2008 LP, We Brave Bee Stings and All, there was invincibility. Even the title track's suggested this: "we brave bee stings and all / we don't dive we cannonball." Thao's ferociousness, her untireability, the refusing to duck to geography, travel, age, riddles the album. It's not a middle finger but a statement of fact. We're going to make it through.

A year later, with Know Better Learn Faster, the verve is still there, but Thao's tune has changed quite a bit. The lyrical content of the album is a continual challenge to the listener from the buoyant but bluesy chorus of "When We Swam": "Bring your hips to me" to the swoon of her intro to "Easy": "Sad people dance too." Even the sound of the album has become more intricate, fuller, deeper, more instruments, more melodies, more more.

What drives us along, though is the same old Thao -- a plaintive demand backboned by a thumping rhythm section. It's enough to make you wanna cry and dance and do fucked up things all at once. The title track, and heart of the album, is the joyous cry of a failed relationship: "And you need me to be better than me / And you need me to do better than you." In Thao's songs, no one seems to ever get quite what they want from one another. What we're left with is the immeasurable power of want.

And the best part about want is that it can draw you to the dancefloor again and again. As this album does. It's almost impossible to listen to sitting down. "Body" is the beautiful beat of fuck buddies, the morning-after waltz of jilted lovers. Too often, we end up wanting just one emotion out of a song out of an album, but like a great actor Thao can play more than one emotion at once. A little like life, don't you think? And, as the title suggests, a little impossible. What's wrong with wanting impossibility? It's not invincible, but it's not going to go away anytime soon.

Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard - "One Fast Move Or I'm Gone"

HANK ALTOGETHER:

When I was maybe 13 or 14, I found a copy of Dharma Bums at my local library. Being a nascent theater dork at the time and thinking that this was about theater people (only instead of Drama they had added in an "h"), I picked it up and found it to be nothing quite like what I had imagined. I can't say that I'm the first, nor will I be the last to be enchanted with the deliberate will of Jack Kerouac. There's been quite a few Kerouac-related music projects over the years, from Morphine to the re-jazzification of the seminal On the Road. This year's fare features Ben Gibbard (aka DCFC, the Postal Service, & Mr. Zooey Deschanel) and Jay Farrar (ex Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt) scoring the Kerouac documentary and writing some music for Kerouac's book Big Sur with the forthcoming One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Music from Kerouac's Big Sur. I gotta say that I'm way more excited about Farrar on this project that Gibbard. There's always been something in Jay's voice that's tipped off the aire of the open road, that Kerouacian longing. Gibbard seems way too polished for something like this. But the first I heard "One Fast Move or I'm Gone," my mind slowly changed.

Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard - "One Fast Move or I'm Gone"

Stream the whole thing at NPR

"I Think of Myself as a Song & Dance Man"

HANK ALTOGETHER:

P4k posted this fantastic link to a 1965 Dylan Press Conference. It's unbelievable. And we've been trying to read into him ever since. Good luck, folks.

Preview Julian Casablancas Solo Album

ZACH THAT:

Pitchfork was all over this one. The Strokes frontman Casablancas (killer last name) lets us all preview his new album and I'm liking what I'm hearing so far. Also, a video Q & A attached below as well. Enjoy.

Vampire Weekend's "Horchata" is NOT GOOD. Will MESS YOU UP.

HANK ALTOGETHER:

Do NOT make eye contact with Vampire Weekend. They will follow you home. They will take your credit cards. They will write a new song and make it as an un-erasable ringtone that will play over and over while you are making love to a partner you like. This partner will leave you. You will do anything you can get to get them back, will go broke, get evicted, wind up on the side of the road in Wichita, KS with a used condom and a Gremlins doll not remembering the 3 nights before except the deer carcass you had to sleep in so that the drifters didn't smell the university education on ya.

If this is what it takes you -- the internet -- to see that this song has permanent, lasting implications for your health and well being. Then, lets make it happen. But, DO NOT go around saying that "Horchata" is GOOD. It's abysmal. It's awful.

If you like it, you might as well go around calling Kendra (the show) art.

Please, let's never speak of this again.

Frightened Rabbit - "Swim Until You Can't See Land" (Video) + 2 Streaming Tracks

HANK ALTOGETHER:

They sure do have one great sad bastard factory over there across the Atlantic. My favorite UK import of the past few years has been Frightened Rabbit, a couple of Scottish lads who make getting pissed off about fucking and not fucking sound about as great as it makes you feel bad. After a generous helping of live albums coming off the appropriately double entendre'd album Midnight Organ Fight, they're getting ready to drop a new LP in 2010. No title yet, but they have given us a video and a couple streaming tracks.

You can listen to "Swim Until you Can't See Land" and "Fun Stuff" streaming here.

The Tallest Man on Earth Daytrotter Session

HANK ALTOGETHER:

Have you ever had one of those feelings like -- damn, I should've known this already. I should've been the one telling OTHER people about this. Why didn't I already know this?

The Tallest Man on Earth's Daytrotter Session is, like, the definition of this. Posted just last week, it's probably one of the best session's I've heard. The quixotic vocals of Kristian Matsson (aka The Tallest Man on Earth) simply pour out. The instrumentation has been all fooled around with, including a banjo-only cover of Dylan's Blonde on Blonde classic "I Want You."

But the coup of the session is the languid, melodic rendering of "I Won't Be Found." For the first time, Matsson steps up to a piano and lets it all fall. One of the best music moments of the year.

(illustration by Johnnie Cluney)

Go here to listen.

Stream The Swell Season - "Strict Joy"

HANK ALTOGETHER:

Glen Hasnard & Marketa Irglova must have better stomachs than me. Everytime I see my ex, I jump into a bush. They manage to not only be amiable about the whole thing, but record another album together. That's like art imitating life imitating art. Well, who cares really, as a few seconds into the pair's latest Strict Joy (out 10/27), you get the feeling that Van Morrison has come back to life and returned to form. I've always been a Van fan, and this album makes his brand of emo-folk burst out of the speakers. Of course the harmonies are just as linked and the heart-on-shirtsleeve just as bloody. You'll swear you just fell into and out of love again.

NPR has the whole thing streaming here, now. They're NPR, that's what they do.

R Kelly Cain't Read Good

HANK ALTOGETHER:

I don't know how this isn't getting much play. According to Animal, R. Kelly...you know the guy behind Trapped in the Closet, Real Talk, and other, um, water sports...can't read.

That's right. CAN'T READ. Kelly said:

“When I was trying to make it out here, I already knew, and I was stubborn about it,” he said. “I don’t even read really and I’m not afraid to say that. My cousins and brothers used to tease me ‘you can’t even read right. How you think you’re going to come up?’”

“The only reason I graduated from grammar school is because I had a great jump shot. I went to high school and [my teacher] told me ‘you will be one of the greatest writers of all time.’ I believed. You [have to] believe it. You can’t believe [anything] if you’re hating. You can’t achieve [anything] if you’re hating.”

This may be one of those times not to take the interwebs seriously, but I like to think that it's real. And if I think it's real, that means it is, right? So R, if you're reading this, prove to us that this is wrong. If you can't read it, well, make a hand signal or something.

R. Kelly - "Ignition" (Remix)

Hear a Free Preview of Tom Waits' "Glitter and Doom"

HANK ALTOGETHER:

I have a friend who got to see Tom on his Blood Money tour. This friend likes to bring up that he saw Tom Waits before I did -- over dinner, at golf outings, during TV shows. It's pretty annoying that I didn't get to go see the show. Well, thankfully, Tom has enabled me to get this preview of his forthcoming Glitter and Doom live LP just for putting my email address into a little box. Now, I can hear the first 8 tracks, but not a taste of the whole BONUS CD of Waits' stage banter.

Go to TomWaits.com for the free preview.

Preview A Jarvis Cocker Song From The Fantastic Mr. Fox

ZACH THAT:

As a huge Wes Anderson fan, I'm really getting excited for his stop motion animated film, "The Fantastic Mr. Fox". Jarvis Cocker, who created some tunes for the movie, has a preview for his song HERE.

REQUIRED LISTEN: THE SUBJECTS

ZACH THAT:

The Subjects write music that makes you feel like everything is right in the world. The Brooklyn four piece touts swinging beats, floating harmonies, and shatteringly beautiful melodies. They're one of those bands that you see live and then run to the merch table and grab all their swag. After playing some tracks to friends, I've come to the conclusion that it's really hard to not like The Subjects. They're fun and each member of the band loves the music they're sharing. They get a huge two thumbs up from me and I hope each and everyone of you out there gives them a chance. I'll end with their myspace quote summarizing the band: "Like Nickelback but less ballsy." Not quite, but even their myspace content is thoroughly enjoyable.

The Subjects - "Winter Vacation"

See The Subjects live!
Oct 12 2009 8:00P
Kilby Court - w/ Bad Veins Salt Lake City, Utah
Oct 13 2009 8:00P
Reef - w/ Bad Veins Boise, Idaho
Oct 14 2009 8:00P
High Dive - w/ Bad Veins Seattle, Washington
Oct 15 2009 8:00P
Rotture - w/ Bad Veins Portland, Oregon
Oct 16 2009 8:00P
Sam Bond’s Garage - w/ Bad Veins Eugene, Oregon
Oct 17 2009 8:00P
LUIGI’S CANCELLED, NEW VENUE TBA - w/ Bad Veins Sacramento, California
Oct 18 2009 8:00P
Brookdale Lodge - w/ Bad Veins Brookdale, California
Oct 19 2009 8:00P
Soda Bar - w/ Bad Veins San Diego, California
Oct 20 2009 8:00P
The Echo - w/ Bad Veins Los Angeles, California
Oct 21 2009 8:00P
Modified Arts - w/ Bad Veins Phoenix, Arizona
Oct 23 2009 8:00P
Emo’s Jr. - w/ Bad Veins Austin, Texas
Oct 25 2009 8:00P
Cicero’s - w/ Bad Veins St. Louis, Missouri
Oct 26 2009 8:00P
The Vollrath - w/ Bad Veins Indianapolis, Indiana
Oct 27 2009 8:00P
The Cambridge Room @ HOB - w/ Bad Veins Cleveland, Ohio
Oct 28 2009 8:00P
DC Nine - w/ Bad Veins Washington DC
Oct 29 2009 8:00P
Kung Fu Necktie - w/ Bad Veins Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 30 2009 8:00P
HALLOWEEN PARTY @ THE RED DOOR!!! NYC, New York

Clues - "Let's Get Strong" (Daytrotter MP3)

(image via daytrotter. illustration by Johnnie Cluney)

ZACH THAT:

It's always great when two of your favorite things come together in this world. Enter Clues, the band who put out a perfect record earlier this year, and Daytrotter, one of the best music blogs the Internet can offer. Put them in the same room and you get a haunting version of "Let's Get Strong". Enjoy:

Clues - "Let's Get Strong" (Daytrotter Version)

Fela Kuti - "Zombie"

HANK ALTOGETHER:

Probably one of the most acclaimed, innovative musicians of this century wasn't named Dylan, Lennon, or McCartney. He was Fela Kuti, the Nigerian-born pioneer of afrobeat, who managed to get himself expelled from Ghana, almost captured the Nigerian presidency, and had the bright idea to marry 27 women. He would later divorce 12 and keep the other 12 and kinda swap them out. Yeah. Dude was incredible.

On October 27, Knitting Factory Records is releasing The Best of the Black President, a compilation of the best of Fela's catalog. Including "Zombie," a song from 1977. Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

The album was a scathing attack on Nigerian soldiers using the zombie metaphor to describe the methods of the Nigerian military. The album was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic (a commune that Fela had established in Nigeria), during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Fela was severely beaten, and his elderly mother was thrown from a window, causing fatal injuries. The Kalakuta Republic was burned, and Fela's studio, instruments, and master tapes were destroyed. Fela claimed that he would have been killed if it were not for the intervention of a commanding officer as he was being beaten. Fela's response to the attack was to deliver his mother's coffin to the main army barrack in Lagos and write two songs, "Coffin for Head of State" and "Unknown Soldier," referencing the official inquiry that claimed the commune had been destroyed by an unknown soldier.

Fela and his band then took residence in Crossroads Hotel as the Shrine had been destroyed along with his commune. In 1978 Fela married 27 women, many of whom were his dancers, composers, and singers to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Kalakuta Republic. The year was also marked by two notorious concerts, the first in Accra in which riots broke out during the song "Zombie," which led to Fela being banned from entering Ghana. The second was at the Berlin Jazz Festival after which most of Fela's musicians deserted him, due to rumors that Fela was planning to use the entirety of the proceeds to fund his presidential campaign.

If you've never heard Fela Kuti before, I strongly urge you to take a listen. It's pretty damn rare that someone's music and life are so incredible.

Fela Kuti - "Zombie"

Radiohead to Record New Album for 2010 Release

HANK ALTOGETHER:

This wasn't supposed to happen already, was it? Well, ateaseweb is telling us today that it appears Radiohead's gearing up to record a new album for a physical release next year. Yeah. So that whole, Thom Yorke in The Believer thing about not doing a whole album again...well, that appears to be shot to hell. Or at least a misunderstanding. Remember that movie "He's Just Not that into You." Yeah, this one's more like, "They Just Didn't Quote You (Properly)."

Quoth Ed O'Brien to NME:

“We were misquoted,” claimed O’Brien of Yorke’s comments, loudly adding, “WE WILL BE MAKING AN ALBUM!” Although he said the band hadn’t decided how it would be released, he said the album would come out on vinyl and CD whether it first arrived as a download or not.

“We love the artwork; that’s really important, the physicality,” he explanied. “And we all like vinyl. That’s not going to go away. I still like CDs as well. I got the Speech Debelle CD the other day – I nearly downloaded it from iTunes but I thought, ‘No. I want the physical thing.’”

We want the physical thing too, Ed.

In the meantime, you can listen to Thom's stuff with Flea & co here. Or, here's the latest Radiohead before they make the latest Radiohead.

Radiohead - "These Are My Twisted Words"
Radiohead - "Harry Patch (in Memory of)"

REVIEW: Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms

Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms

Release Date: Oct 13th, 2009
Label - Lefse Records



9.3






ZACH THAT:

In a decade where the synth was grabbed from the bowels of the 1980’s and dusted off, there couldn’t be a better album than Neon Indian’s debut to perfectly bookend ten years of a machine that touts waveform generators, ADSR envelopes, ribbon controllers, and other electronic words I’ll never understand. Neon Indian’s Psychic Chasms acts as a history lesson of the synth in the 2000’s, moving from simplistic melodies to more evolved 2005 esq “synth art” tracks and ending with an almost 8-bit, “now” sounding synth track. Psychic Chasms is a loaded name for an album if one were to go greek/latin, which I shall. Psychic from the Greek psychikos means “of the soul” and chasms from Latin hiare means “to yawn”. Yawn being the Greek chainein meaning “to open wide”. This album, by definition, is the wide opening of the soul. Some of you reading are yawing already. Basically, I bring this to your attention because the first time I heard Neon Indian’s big beat psych synth sounds, my soul was opened, wide. The music notes rushed through my body like white blood cells and that little place in my mind that controls judgment smiled and determined one thing: this album is fantastic.

Psychic Chasms starts off with a short instrumental track that doesn’t seem to add much to the album. Four tracks later you’ll completely understand the opening track. Neon Indian has been slowly releasing tracks and building “buzz” with the two masterpieces “Deadbeat Summer” and Terminally Chill”. On the album, these two tracks are broken up by short instrumental clips that act as moments of rest. Another moment of rest, “(If I Knew, I’d Tell You)" acts as an exit point to these two songs and an entrance to the start of an actual album. Think of it as an EP starting out a LP. If a listener skips around to the longer songs, it will only hurt the overall experience in the end as I’ve found that “Terminally Chill” doesn’t sound half as good without the buildup from “Laughing Gas”. You’re eating the popcorn plain. Put some butter on it and let the album work as it was intended, with these rhythmic instrumental tracks building up to an explosion in the form of the longer tracks.

“Deadbeat Summer and Terminally Chill” are masterpieces. This being true in what these songs are trying to accomplish. I feel like the mission statement for Neon Indian is to create soundscapes that tip toe the line between being cool and artful. Let’s face it, when listening to both of these tracks, all I want to do is put on some colored hipster glasses, jump in a vintage car with an American Apparel model who likes Bukowski, and drive around a deserted Texas town blasting Neon Indian up and down the empty streets. At the same time, I also feel a deep emotional connection to this music that goes far beyond connecting an image of cool to the music. The vocals are consistently melancholy, one emotional note crooning throughout which allows for the melodies to waver from beauty to bleakness. In this respect the album reminded me of the emotional power the synth can create and how it has been executed in the same successful way as bands like Broadcast, Casiotone, Air, M83, Animal Collective, and many others of this decade.

While most will gravitate to the two “masterpiece” singles off the album, every track from “6669 (I Don’t Know If You Know)” to “Ephemeral Artery” sweeps me off my feet. These tracks are the spine of Neon Indian’s sound and really cements this album as something special. It’s one transcendental beat/melody after another for six straight tracks. “Should have Taken Acid With You” is foot pounding fun, while the title track, “Psychic Chasms” sounds like an 80’s prom slow dance song strung out on, well, acid. “Mind, Drips” is a very literal title since if you listen to the track with headphones on, every thought in that precious head of yours drips out as the beat floats in.

My excitement for this album mainly exists in two thoughts. First, for me, this album makes me feel something that no other can. It mixes emotions and creates new ones track after track. Secondly, the album is highly intelligent in its integration and reformation of the synth sound. Neon Indian pulls from those who used it successfully in the past and puts a fresh spin on the sound for the future. I don’t believe this album is for everyone as some people might find it boring, repetitive, challenging, or pretentious. For those who can close their eyes and see the lush soundscapes that Neon Indian created on Psychic Chasms, then you understand what I’m saying, for the others who can’t…try opening up that soul of yours and let the music sink in.

Neon Indian - "Deadbeat Summer"
Neon Indian - "Terminally Chill"

Thom Yorke @ the Echoplex

(photo via 911 Mary)

HANK ALTOGETHER:

As sure as the sun sets in the west...as sure as there will always be an England...Thom Yorke's Echoplex set is hitting the interwebs. The host? Musical Pairings who have a set put together by someone calling themselves "Atoms for Peace" from the Atease web message board. Not only are there servings, there's a link to download the whole thing. Tracks include new Yorke stuff as well as songs from The Eraser LP and an old chestnut of a Radiohead tune "Paperback Writer" from the Com Lag EP. I'm not going to regurgitate all that stuff about whose in Yorke's band or even be "surprised" about Flea playing with him. You've probably already read it. And just think, it could be worse, we could be posting about Vampire Weekend.

Yorke & co. at the Echoplex here.

Flaming Lips V.S Deerhunter: "That Guys a Dick."

PIERCE HOWEVER

Box Of Tracks (October 4th, 2009)

ZACH THAT:

The Subjects – “Winter Vacation”

Art Brut – “Weird Science”

Of Montreal – “Brush Brush Brush”

Loney Dear – “Airport Surroundings”

Richard Youngs – “Under Stellar Stream”

The Happy Hollows – “Highwire”

Imaad Wasif – “Priestess”

Winter Gloves – “Invisible” (Ease V Remix)

Holopaw – “The Art Teacher and The Little Stallion"

Royal Bangs - "My Car is Haunted" / New Album: "Let it Beep" Out Now!

HANK ALTOGETHER:

The last time I saw Royal Bangs was backstage at Forecastle. I was trying to interview drummer Chris Rusk when Honus Honus from Man Man showed up. In a video, which will probably make its way onto the net, Honus and Chris dug at each other, were slightly homosexual, and made a veiled threat to kidnap someone. Fuck, I love this band. So fucking up the stoke, yo. 'Bangs have a new album out it's called Let it Beep and dudes are traveling across the country trying to drop panties with it.

Royal Bangs - "My Car is Haunted"

Tracks like this have been concert staples for the past couple months, but it's gonna be slick to hear them get the studio treatment, because knowing Royal Bangs it's gonna sound like 30 people are hopped up on corn liquor and shoved into a dilapidated building in Ohio during the recording.

If you wanna be one of those 30 people, Royal Bangs are on tour thru October:

October

08 - Southpaw | Brooklyn, N.Y.

09 - Johnny Brenda's | Philadelphia, PA

10 - Mercury Lounge | New York, N.Y.

11 - TT the Bear's | Cambridge, MA

12 - DC9 | Washington, D.C.

13 - Ottobar | Baltimore, MD

14 - Local 506 | Chapel Hill, N.C.

16 - The Earl | Atlanta, GA

17 - Mercy Lounge | Nashville, TN

19 - Skull Alley | Louisville, KY

20 - Spin Nightclub | Indianapolis, IN

21 - High Noon Saloon | Madison, WI

22 - 7th St. Entry | Minneapolis, MN

If you boys wanna play Scranton, let me know. You can crash on my couch. All of you. In the mean time, the rest of you, pick up the album here.

REVIEW: Air - Love 2

Air – Love 2


Release Date: October 6, 2009
Label: Astralwerks


6.7






Lyndsay Hieneman:

Air’s fifth studio album, Love 2, has everything that makes these French electro-poppers who they are. Nicholas Godin and JB Dunckel continue to master intricate arrangements, sublime synth landscapes, and warm, soothing tones that make for a decently captivating chill out album. It’s nothing too fantastic, however. The idea of mashing oriental, jungle, and extraterrestrial themes together seems like an interesting concept. It is interesting. It is unique. Then we reach an issue. It gets too chill. It gets too entrancing. This might be another way to say a bit too boring. The repetitiveness that makes Air the perfect soundtrack to relaxation is a double-edged sword. If you can stay focused and remember that Air is supposed to sound like a blissful, tripped out dream, you’ll be fine. If you can’t stay focused, however, you’ll be begging the next track is something that’ll snap you out of the musically induced daze. Ambient music doesn’t have to knock you unconscious.

A few of the tracks do keep you on your toes. “Missing The Light of Day” reaches Depeche Mode territory with spacey, industrial beeps and bloops. The Air touch is added with, well, airy vocal harmonies that keeps the song from becoming uncharacteristically heavy. “Be A Bee” is propelled along with a driving bass line and grind saw synthesizers. “Tropical Disease” is a sultry, sax and marimba flavoured track with hints of bubbly melodies straight from the 70’s. Air does a fantastic job at painting a picture. Lucky for them, lyrics would be completely unnecessary. The atmosphere takes you a long, mellow ride.

When Love 2 ventures from pulsing beats and psychedelic distortion, it goes a bit wrong. “Heaven’s Light” sounds like something cut out for a hip televangelist. The single, “Sing Sang Sung” is perfect material for someone performing on the classic Gong Show, or even worse, the Lawrence Welk Show. The music becomes undeniably cheesy, even cheap at times. The melodic do-do-do’s heard throughout the album was reminiscent of the choir voice setting on an ancient Yamaha keyboard I got for Christmas years ago. No one buys an 8-year-old an expensive keyboard. No one. Air can do a bit better.

The problem with Love 2 is that there isn’t a single standout track. There’s no pop gem that screams for a bit of limelight. It isn’t that there’s not a “Sexy Boy” on the album. It’d be a bit foolish to expect Air to recreate that track for the sake of popularity. The issue here is more like there’s nothing that comes close to the seductive cool and invasive catchiness of “Sexy Boy”. Of course, excuses can be made. We can say that perhaps Air has moved past that hook filled portion of their career. We could also say that I’m an ignorant reviewer that just doesn’t understand Air’s genius. I don’t like excuses, however. I just want a good pop tune. Air has all the right ingredients, but they don’t put the elements together in the right way to create an impressionable album like 1998’s Moon Safari. Until their stars realign again, they’ll just be above par elevator music in my book.

REVIEW: Avett Brothers - "I and Love and You"

The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You


Release date: September 29, 2009
Label: Ramseur Records

HANK ALTOGETHER:

The Avett Brothers have always known how to turn a phrase. The title track to their latest, Rick Rubin-helmed project I and Love and You plays on what the group does best -- waxing nostalgic about lost love, longing for home, and playing it back to you like you hadn't heard it. For fans of the band, it's a recipe that plays along with the rest of the group's substantial catalog. But, from the opening salvo of the record, the winds of change are set in motion. A lonely piano riff leads into accented horns and an orchestral sound which is less bluegrass and more studio, chamber sounding. From the spareness of Country Was or Emotionalism, the Avett Brothers haven't been the most experimental of songwriters. Like I said, though, if you got something working for you, why quit it? On I and Love and You, the Avett Brothers don't give up on what they did before, but they make a distinct choice to flesh it out while maintaining the folksy feel -- think John Hartford wanders into one of Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds sessions.

Thankfully, the orchestration doesn't get in the way (does it ever when Rubin's by the board?). At the forefront, still, are the Avett Brothers voices, working in harmony, pressing onward into the uncharted core of the heart or America or the heart of America. For folks who caught onto this whole return to folky based rock through Fleet Foxes, welcome to the driving power of the souls of songwriters. Of course, phrases like this don't just bring up the requisite questions about the power of song, they also smack of a certain sentimentalism. And, to be honest, you gotta give into your sentimentality a bit to enjoy the Avett Brothers. This record isn't super ironic, it's vaguely danceable, I guess the easiest way to define it is to say that the Avett Brothers mean what they say and say what they mean--a grueling proposition for indie rock critics who tend to like their guitars played by picks of wit.

What's the power of sentiment? Well, that's pretty damn subjective, which means, that you gotta wear your heart on your sleeve and be damn good at songwriting to make it work. The line between therapy and sentimentality is one that gets blurred far too often. What the Avett Brothers are great at is merging both -- mixing song structure, mining the depths of American songwriting types, and sharing a bit of the pain and pleasure. The best parts of this album aren't found on the first listen but on the 10th or 20th way through, when your mood has changed, and when the album changes you. Because that's why we listen, right? To get a little closer to being human. Or to get a little closer to saying what being human means...

Tom Waits to Release "Glitter and Doom" Live Album

HANK ALTOGETHER:

NPR sez that Waits, off his latest '08 "Glitter and Doom" tour, will release a live album documenting the tunes off it. A Tom Waits live album, while not only being chock-a-block with great music, is probably the way to get into Waits. This one's sure to get up with Nighthawks at the Diner and the concert video from Big Time. Start lickin' yer chops, folks.

In the meantime you can listen to Waits' show from his Atlanta stop on the "Glitter and Doom" tour here.

And, if you don't remember the genius vid announcing the tour, here it is again:

Alela Diane featuring Alina Hardin - "Bowling Green"

HANK ALTOGETHER:

On Tuesday, Cali-folkie Alela Diane drops her new EP with BFF Alina Hardin. I actually don't know if these two are friends at all. But, what you can hear right away on this track is that their voices fit together, hand in hand, note in note. Is anyone else as pumped up as I am that harmony is back in vogue? If ya like it, be sure to go out and buy the album. You can get it here.

Alela Diane featuring Alina Hardin - "Bowling Green"