Phillies win. Harry Kalas with the call, check it. Chris Wheeler cries toward the end. What a night.
October 30, 2008
October 29, 2008
Guilty Pleasure and Ukulel-Amen Brotha
I have more guilty pleasures than most, I'm not going to lie. But perhaps one of the guiltiest and most pleasurest is Eminem, the best rapper on the other side of 8th grade. I remember hearing "My Name Is" on my friend's discman in 6th grade, I think. I had a friend who listened to "Til I Collapse" before every single baseball game we played freshman year of high school. And even more recently, I recall listening to tracks like "Toy Soldier" and "Yellow Brick Road" when no one else was around.
Needless to say, I'm guiltily obsessed with Eminem's new track "I'm Having A Relapse". Vaguely middle-eastern and full of Em's signature "chicka chicka's," the track showcases a loose and fluid flow from Marshall Mathers, indulgent, light hearted, and completely without redeeming qualities. I shouldn't like this track, and in fact I don't like it. I love it. And I'm embarassed about that. Listen to this track and let's never talk about it again, great.
Eminem - I'm Having A Relapse
A totally different feel comes from Dent May and the Shakes, a Jens Leckman-ish guy who wants to meet me in the garden. I really dig this track and its minimalist approach to things. A couple well placed vocal tracks, a ukulele backing, and some strings every now and then really let the lyrics shine through on this track. Check out this track, and also peep this Ukulele cover of Kanye's Stronger. Who knew Ukulele could be so baller? Not I.
Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele - Meet Me In The Garden
Finally, The Truth and I caught a Cold War Kids show a couple weeks ago at The Paradise. Cold War Kids always put on a great live show, and this was no different. Great rocking on old classics (from like 2 years ago) like Hospital Beds and Saint John, and some great new tracks. Also, a really cool cut where they killed the lights and shone flashlights from the stage throughout. Pretty cool effect. Anyway, the show inspired me to revisit their newest album, Loyalty to Loyalty. Love this tune, thought I'd share. Not quite as solid as the hits from Robbers & Cowards, but this tune and Against Privacy are pretty vintage CWK, which is definitely not a bad thing.
Cold War Kids - Mexican Dogs
Phillies for the win tonight! Why can't us?
October 28, 2008
Dang Dang Gance and James Taylor Under the Covers
Lots of good new music to talk about here, so I'm gonna make it quick and get to the jams.
The first comes from Gang Gang Dance, a group I haven't heard much about before, but who caught my attention after getting some good review around the interwebs for producing a very danceable album. After listening to the album, Saint Dymphna, a couple times, I feel a little more qualified (read: qualified at all) to pass some judgement.
It's good. Weird, but good. And while it is dancey, it evolves to that point, starting slowly but having you fully bopping by the 4th or 5th track. Very cohesive as an album, and altogether impressive. Here's "Princes" which features a very Dizzee Rascall-ish verse from Tinchy Stryder, one of the few scant vocals on the record. Very solid track.
Gang Gang Dance - Princes f. Tinchy Stryder
Moving on, I also had a chance to check out the new James Taylor cover album being hawked everywhere from Starbucks to WalMart, I'm guessing. It's been a long time since JT has put out an original album - 2002's September Grass - but a Christmas album and now a Covers record have kept the middle-elderly groupies at bay. This album is hit and miss, with some covers really striking home (Grateful Dead's "Not Fade Away" for example) and others sorely missing the mark ("Houndog" by some guy named Elvin or Elvus or something). Overall pleasant, but not something I'd break down any doors to get to.
James Taylor - Not Fade Away
Also new to my iTunes is the latest from Madlib's Beat Konducta, the Dil Withers Suite. Coming hot on the heels of Suite 5, Suite 6 is fresh and sweet. The short 1-2 minute tracks are relaxed but come at a furious pace, changing moods and grooves with frequency. Here are a couple of my favorites, including "First Class (The Best Catalogue)", which shares a sample with personal fave Brother Ali. Disfrutalos.
Madlib/Beat Konducta - First Class (The Best Catalogue)
Madlib/Beat Konducta - Another Bag of Bomb (No Seeds)
October 15, 2008
The Judgement of TV On The Radio
10/13/08. TV On The Radio. Wilbur Theatre, Boston.
Wow. What a show. My fourth time seeing TVOTR, and each time surpasses expectations. Great venue, good spot, good crowd, great concert.
I think the thing about TV On The Radio's live show that I love most is the genuine joy that emanates from the stage. A palpable belief that the song they are playing is the only song that could be played in that time, at that place. Some bands get on stage, play the familiar riffs and hooks from their latest (2) album(s), melt face, and then call it a night. TV On The Radio
explores their own music, changing speeds, highlighting melodies, and looping rhythms until the song that you've spun 100 times before sounds completely new. The last time I saw TV On The Radio, a relatively low-ranking track from Cookie Mountain, "Wash The Day," took over my brain and my iPod for a good three weeks.
This show did not disappoint, with breathtaking moments of awesomeness. A triple speed version of Satellite, a hauntingly good Shout Me Out, an awesomely powerful percussion breakdown on A Method, and a horn-heavy Wrong Way anchored a uniformly fantastic set.
One more note, the band comes to us fresh off of the release of its newest LP, Dear Science,. Most bands would play all those tracks and few select hits from other albums. TVOTR, however, does whatever they want. Including playing 3/5 of their debut EP and lesser known tracks from their first and second albums without skipping a beat. A tremendous set that ranged from bangers to groovers, stellar stellar stellar.
A couple trax:
Read The Truth's review too. Baller.
October 14, 2008
The Truth about TV on the Radio
10/13/08 - TV on the Radio @ The Wilbur Theater
Ah, Fall in New England, the time of apple picking, foliage, crisp mornings and ballin' concerts apparently.
This is my second time having the pleasure of seeing TVOTR live and they certainly didn't disappoint. Besides the music itself atmosphere is a huge part of any concert experience. Sometimes a band seems like its only going through the motions or that they really don't want to be there onstage and that they're doing you a favor by being there. In addition to coming on stage promptly, which is always appreciated, TVOTR were just having a ton of fun. The tempo doubled on a blistering rendition of Satellite and a comical group of brass players called the Benedictine Horns. The Benedictine Horns came out dressed in monks habits and provided great support for Wrong Way. Also, the venue itself added to the atmosphere. An old art deco theater, the Wilbur removed its orchestra level seats to great a general admission area for dancing, while doing a good job controlling the crowd in a large and interesting space.
The take home message is that Tunde, Kyp and the whole menagere on stage were playing the songs how they felt and were having a great time doing it. From the horns that provided an extra musical dimension, to just the raw passion with which Tunde spit his lyrics, the show was alive. Drenched with sweat, TVOTR left the stage appreciative of their reception and pleased with the show they put on. As put by a dude wearing a cow outfit, "We appreciate you!." And for me it was that mutual appreciation and the pure musical talent of TVOTR to tinker with their songs and really do whatever they pleased that made the concert that awesome. But yeah, in short, the concert was absolutely awesome. If you've never seen TV on the Radio, please do, it will change how you view modern music and how it should be performed.
TV on the Radio - Satellite
TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
TV on the Radio - Staring at the Sun (In Digital Time Remix)
October 7, 2008
Osos Gumosos
There are good blasts from the past, and there are terrible blasts from the past.
Example:
Good: Gas Prices
Terrible: My 7th Grade Class Picture
Example:
Good: Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls
Terrible: Tamagotchis
Today, a great blast from my musical past dropped in the ol' inbox, a pleasant surprise. Most b's from my m. p. bring back memories of Lit and Limp Bizkit, so it's rare to be reminded to appreciate my past taste. But Minus The Bear does exactly that. And I think they realize that.
Not to be all indie crit "new-stuff-isn't-as-good-as-old-stuff" in two consecutive posts, but it's been a while since I've rocked out to Minus The Bear. Highly Refined Pirates is one of my favorite albums of all time, an honor I don't bestow lightly. Although it has been replaced, it was one of my 3 desert island albums for quite some time. The up-beat, synthy goodness is delicious and wonderful.
Unfortunately, I never got into they're next album, Menos El Oso. It was, alas, the last blip on my radar screen from these guys, making Minus The Bear a one-album band in my heart. But here they are capitalizing on my nostalgia with a NEW album covering OLD songs. How novel.
On this, the most recent of 5.5 EPs, the band puts away the amps in favor of acoustic geets, as indicated by the clever title "Acoustics". It's great. It's like good, slower covers of great songs. We Are Not A Football Team is fantastic. And listening to some of the other tracks makes me want to get back into MTB (<--- I'm cool).
There's a new track too, which is pretty catchy even in the acoustic iteration. I'd love to hear get the synth treatment at some point. Se llama Guns & Ammo. Que rico el bass drum.
Minus The Bear - Guns & Ammo
That's all for now, check it out. Also, check out this sickies Jackson 5 remix. So I guess that wasn't actually all for now. But this is. Piece.
Jackson 5 - I Want You Back (Z-Trip Remix)
October 6, 2008
Ratatatatatatatatatat 9/28
Lots of great things have happened since the last time I posted.
The Professor got a job. The Truth grew a chest hair. The Mets cried.
I also went to a Ratatat show. Baller. Second time seeing them live, and although it didn't quite live up to the epic first time, the hits were hard and the beats were bumpin'.
The opener, E*Rock, sucked pretty hard. The music wasn't particularly great, the graphics on the screen behind him were weird and repetetive, and the volume was about 47089979% too loud. I'll give my eardrums to Ratatat. I won't give them to Ratatat's brother's friend who happens to have a MacBook.
One cool thing about E*Rock, however, was that he used a modded Wii-troller to control his music. Second time in 2 shows I've seen that. Cool. One not cool thing about E*Rock was that he used his Wii-troller to create 4 minutes of obnoxious noise at the end of his set that made everyone want to vomit. Lame.
Moving on. The second band, Panther, was pretty deec. The lead singer sounded a little like Demetri Martin and cracked some dry humor jokes, but cracked a few too many of them. I get the feeling that on an album they could be pretty great, but the live show suffered from a lack of crowd enthusiasm and some technical difficulties. Apparently the second night they got booed off the stage. They didn't deserve that.
Ratatat finally came on around 10 (what is the formula for doors, listed showtime, and actual showtime?) that should be published. Doors at 7:30, "Show" at 8, good band at 10.
The Ratatat show followed an arc. Really great hard hitting rockers, followed by really mellow stoner james, followed by hard hitting baller tracks. Not coincidentally, the tracks followed an arc as well. Old stuff, followed by new stuff, followed by old stuff. NOTE TO BANDS: If you are starting and ending your shows with old tracks, you should already realize that your new stuff isn't what fans are looking for. And therefore your show shouldn't be 60% new stuff.
Minor quibbles. All in all, the show was great. A good crowd, the nicest bouncer I've ever met (grabbed a camera to take a picture from the stage of a cute couple), and come great tracks. Highlights: Loud Pipes, Wildcat, Nostrand.
Ballin.
Here be some trax for your enjoyment, including a Panther track about defective trains or something, a dope new Ratatat remix of The Knife's "We Share Our Mother's Health", a good electro remix of "Shempi" (original from LP3), and my favorite Classics track, "Loud Pipes".
October 5, 2008
Just the tunes sir
I went apple picking today. The trees were on a hill and you could see the surrounding countryside. Lovely. I've eaten about 8 apples today. The Red Sox are going for the sweep right now as we speak.
Bodies of Water - Water Here
A great rock song that transforms into a delightful jaunt complete with a horn medley. Highly recommended for fall. check out their album please
The Very Best - Kamphopo
The Very Best is Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit who collaborate with the likes of Santogold and Vampire Weekend on their upcoming release that takes you on a trip around the world.
