2007-12-13

Jens Lekman Solo Radio Performance



Is Jens Lekman too quirky to break into the mainstream? His smooth crooning can sooth even the most jaded listener, and it's easy to see how his romantic sounds could appeal to a wider, older, less "hip" audience. He has called himself (here in the interview below) the "indie Frank Sinatra", although I have two arguments against that: 1. Jens's swagger doesn't have the tough streak of Sinatra's 2. Sinatra would probably never, even if the technology were available at the time, sing over a loop of his own beat-boxing as Jens does here. His newest, Night Falls Over Kortedala, is appearing on many year-end best-of lists, and also sees him exploring where he can take "crooner" music, encorporating various styles and offbeat musical elements. The combination of quirkiness (especially with lyrics) with pure pleasantness has won over much of the indie community, and it won't be long before a more mainstream crowd knows his name.






Jens Lekman
KEXP Seattle Nov. 6, 2007

01 The Opposite of Hallelujah
02 Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig
03 Interview
04 Your Arms Around Me
05 Shirin
06 Interview





Night Falls Over Kortedala would be an excellent gift idea for someone you wouldn't think would normally listen to indie music, and the cheapest price I found was directly from the label Secretly Canadian, 11 bucks for CD or vinyl.

Thanks also to your friend laura for the great photo of Jens, taken at an in-store he played the same day as the set above and a full show later that night.

2007-12-12

of Montreal Cover 2 More Prince Songs

of Montreal are a band known for their great covers, both performance-wise and selection-wise, but I don't think before this year's tour that they ever covered more than one song from the same artist. First there was "Moonage Daydream" (*bows*), then came a slew of other David Bowie covers. Then earlier this year they covered "Raspberry Beret" and lately they started playing "Purple Rain" (which I saw in Austin), and have now gone even further into the Prince catalog. Both Bowie and Prince seem to be huge influences on the newer of Montreal sounds, so it's good to see Kevin Barnes acknowledging that fact outright and firmly by playing so many of their songs. The show these following tracks are from was in St. Louis on November 19, the second-to-last stop of this American leg on their massive tour, and were the opening two songs of the concert.


2007-12-08

Karlheinz Stockhausen



Karlheinz Stockhausen died Wednesday (obit.). I had heard him mentioned several times as an electronic pioneer and an avant-garde composer who influenced popular music from the Beatles (he was on the Sgt. Pepper cover collage) to Sonic Youth, yet I admittedly (like most I presume) had heard little of his music. Like any kind of music, if you're interested in it, look to the pioneers and heavyweights, and if you missed their contributions while they were alive, a wake is an appropriate time to take a moment to examine somebody's work, so for the last couple days I've been diving in. I learned that Stockhausen (wiki) did much more than tinker with electronics, he was a quixotic visionary who (along with John Cage) pioneered the use of chance in music, even having musical scores which could be read by the performer upside down or begun at a random page. Stockhausen also experimented with atonal music, which even today sounds challenging, and probably much more so to audiences of the fifties and sixties. He was always looking for new possibilities in sound, and the music I've heard from him has very different styles, from noise to abstract choral arrangements to strange silence>note cluster collages. He is most influentially noted, though, for his electronic experiments, incorporating new musical equipment with his atonality and serialism experiments, like in his Kontakte, recorded from 1958-1960 in his studio in Cologne:









Below is an intriguing later example (early 90's) of his exploratory composing enititled "Helikopter String Quartet" (part of his LICHT [light] cycle of operas), featuring four classical instrumentalists matching dizzying tremolos to the rotary sound of the four helicopters they are riding in while performing. Here is a more in-depth description.




Karlheinz Stockhausen "Helikopter String Quartet" (edit)




If you take the time to explore Karlheinz Stockhausen, you'll inevitably come upon many internet opinions regarding him as everything from " unparalleled genius" to "unlistenable". As with virtually any artist, there is talk about how the later stuff is not as good as the earlier stuff. As with any music that is new (to you), try to ignore all of the words and focus on the sounds. They can be difficult piece to listen through, but good or bad, it brings up a quote I saw in an interview with Stockhausen, where he said that all music and sound effects you. You are different after listening to anything. Certainly the "Helikopter String Quartet" will, at least unconsciously, make you more aware of the interplay between what you think of as music and what you think of as daily noise.


Don't miss the multimedia page at the official Stockhausen site for more audio.

Amazon has a wide selection of interesting-looking Stockhausen CDs

2007-12-01

The Joggers Cover Deerhoof, Grateful Dead

On The Joggers myspace page, they now link to a new Joggers blog. It's been going on for a month now, and has lots of info - I didn't realize Dan and Jake also play in a band called Pseudosix, which I will be checking out immediately, and Daryl the bassist is out for a while with a hockey injury. But the big news comes in the form of a link to PRA radio - Portland Radio Authority, which is a treasure-trove of Portland area recordings, including TWO shows from the Joggers, plus an interview, as well as a Damo Suzuki (Can) tribute featuring Dan and Jake from the Joggers. One of the Joggers' shows is the cover-laden set from NYE last year featuring the below songs, and, oh, Led Zeppelin. The links at PRA are working weirdly right now, though, to get to the Joggers shows you first have to go to the PRA homepage and then to the link for PODCAST - PRA Events. When I went to that link yesterday it showed me a page full of concerts including the above mentioned Joggers' sets, but now it seems to be directing to a Yahoo page to "add events to my Yahoo". It wouldn't be as fun if you didn't have to work to uncover it, would it?


2007-11-26

A Birthday Mix

Yeah for me. I've managed to keep this blog going for a year now, and my download numbers keep increasing, so it's good to know I can still turn people onto music, take them on a slightly different musical journey than they would have. People always have a curious reaction when they first hear the name Funeral Pudding. It is actually an album by one of my all-time favorite bands, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 - from San Francisco and often on Matador Records. The odd juxtaposition of words is what always caused it to stick in my mind, and when I needed a name for my old college radio show, it worked, especially with my oh-so-clever tagline "as commercial radio kills music...". So anyways, here's a couple of tracks from TFUL282's Funeral Pudding (buy):






TFUL282 "Waited Too Long"



TFUL 282 "23 Kings Crossing"














And here's a special birthday mix, it's quite nice if I do say so myself (go here and click "download now"):
















.
My first post was also a mix, and amazingly those original fileden links still seem to be working. It'll have to do for Christmas this season, because this year I'm working on a Festivus mix...

2007-11-21

Ropeadope/Klock/Critters/9-11

I was thinking about this year's releases, reading some early lists, and catching up on some albums I might have missed or not explored enough. One of my favorite's was San, from japan's DJ Klock, finally released in America, just before his death. I was looking for something more from him or the group Cacoy he was a part of. San was released on Ropeadope Records, who have a regular page and forward-thinking Digital page, as well as artist-friendly terms, and I found this sampler:





...but that's a small selection of the mp3s they have available on their site (which definitely makes exploring it more worthwhile), just look around - on many album info pages you'll find mp3s, too. The music selection is indie and eclectic, but seems to have a good deal of avant-garde, DJ, and jazz- inspired artists, including DJ Logic; Medeski, Martin, and Wood; and Critters Buggin (who I love and saw in 2000 - TFUL282 opened, but lost track of). Ropeadope released the last Critters Buggin album (and links to a new DVD), and on the album info page (buy it) I found this mp3 sample:




______________________




And I just came across this at WFMU, possibly the most hilarious remix contest ever:




Whether you decide to try to remix yourself or not, just listening to the sound clip alone is worth the visit.

2007-11-15

Brown Whornet is Back Hitting the Streets

Austin avant-meisters Brown Whornet (myspace) are like creeper weed: you kind of go "what the fuck? not bad..." at first, but slowly it envelops you. The faux-crooning and musical weirdness and tongues in cheek start to warble your own sensibilities a bit, and this is a good thing. Fans of Ween, Zappa, and Mr. Bungle / Fantomas should really like them, but they do have their own peculiarities, both musically and in their presentation. Chicago Reader says: "Brown Whörnet mangle free jazz, luv-me-baby R & B, parodically straight hardcore, and something that sounds like Yes on a boom box whose batteries are dying are all in their arsenal." They do musical scores for old silent movies ("Nosferatu"-1922, "The Adventures of Prince Achmed"-1926, and "The Lost World"-1925), their live shows often see costumes and slide slows, and have been as likely as (my heroes) TFUL282 (who they've toured with, along with Melt-Banana and Wesley Willis) to use outtakes from the studio or even a late-night hotel jam sessions on their releases. Brown Whornet have been on hiatus for a while, but are back with a series of new releases that they are making available as free downloads. They've got about 300 hours of audio that they're going to be releasing - two episodes a month, each episode containing more musical ideas than most bands' discographies. Releases like this are normally known as a podcasts, only, of course, these are called Brownloads. And to celebrate, they're playing a rare show Saturday night in Austin, I can't wait.



Although for some reason this stuff's not linked to on their main page, don't miss the other page with a Brown Whornet jukebox, plus downloads available HERE and HERE


This is a newer song that was a track of the week at garageband.com earlier this year:





And these are from a couple of older albums, the first three from Now I have A Pussy (funniest album cover of all time) and the fourth from Emena Pesticode, and both are available as a package deal along with a cassette as a Valupack HERE, along with lots of other releases sure to make your collection a bit more interesting.


Brown Whornet "Lik mye balls"

Brown Whornet "Outside World"

Brown Whornet "assboss"

Brown Whornet "Surf Song"



The first track holds special meaning to me - in 2002 I was doing my first stint on college radio before eventually moving to England for a bit, but before I left this was the last track I played.



Visit the Brown Whornet shop.

2007-11-07

Two Compilation Albums For Free Download

Sorry for the lag, I've been using a lot of my storage space for the Booty Patrol. You should head over there at once and download the new of Montreal tribute album Aluminum Plums (and the several concerts available there). This tribute really is better than many others I've heard - the musicianship is elevated, and there's a good range of periods in of Montreal's music, and in the interpretations, and also a good range of experience levels - from bedroom recordings to an acapella group to Pitchfork-worthy bands like Tokyo's Elekibass and former of Montreal member Jason NeSmith's band Casper and the Cookies, who deliver a jaw-dropping version of "Penelope" that jumps across genres like a frog on a lilypad, from funk to alt-rock to Queen to bluegrass to reggae to heavy metal to chamber music, all effortlessly and without sounding contrived, just an enjoyable exploration of where that song can go. Here's that song, the album's closer, and the opening track, from Mimi and Flo mastermind Jeff Maksym:








Also, beloved Bay Area label Three Ring Records has a free sampler album available on emusic. I previously featured another great (charity) compilation from them, featuring Rogue Wave and other great Bay Area artists. Three Ring was recently voted "Best Local Label" by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, who say "An impeccable design theme (circus nostalgia - how can you lose?), a community-oriented approach to music production and marketing, and some rockin' and folkin' good tunes from the likes of Rykarda Parasol and Boyskout make Three Ring Records our tune-savvy readers' favorite this year." Here's a couple of my favorites: Scrabbel (with Aislers Set keyboardist Dan Lee), and The Ebb and Flow (from download.com: "backhandedly progressive brand of indie pop... so catchy, you might not spot the avant-garde", don't miss Sam Tsitrin's side project We Is Shore Dedicated - mp3):







2007-10-19

Thai Pop Spectacular

Sublime Frequencies is a label run by Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls (and filmmaker Hisham Mayet), with help from brother and fellow SCG (Sir) Richard, where they can share little heard or seen musical treasures from Southeast Asia to the Middle East. And with Thai Pop Spectacular, they've managed to compile an eclectic mix of Thai music from the 60's to 80's that I wish would have been a part of my musical language long ago. It's a wild mix of genres held together for English-only ears by not only the foreign, melodic, slightly melancholy longing warble of the singing but by a strange sense of familiarity with the music. The first two tracks below especially gave me the feeling I had heard them somewhere before (especially the second one, I'm almost positive this is a cover but can't find info on it, it's not the "Don't Deceive Me" listed on allmusic.com - anyone?). And in this album the funky grooves, killer guitar/bass/keyboard/horn riffs, surf and disco-wah-wah influences, and a reverence for standards and oldies aren't the generic pastiche or giant mess you might think, but rather like a glorious Thai Nuggets, like what you expect to find in the record collection of a hip Thai kid in the 70's or 80's, who wears the same new-wave sunglasses as his American contemporaries, only with more wistfulness, palm trees, heat, and coconut curries.






Buy it direct from Sublime Frequencies. This is #32 in their collection of unique audio and video, and admittedly the first I've come across, but I look forward to exploring their other releases, too, which are all listed on their main page.

2007-10-12

Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus

Super Furry Animals are one of my favorite bands. The show I saw of their Rings Around the World tour, 2002 in Austin at the Mercury (now Parish), replete with head-swirling quadraphonic speaker set-up, is perhaps my favorite show of all time. I admittedly didn't fall in love the very first time I heard them in the 90's, I thought they were just OK. I had heard they drove around music festivals in a large blue tank that had techno music blasting out of it, that they were on Creation Records, and that I just hadn't listened well enough. I listened again to Guerrilla and it hit me - and it's funny, all of their albums are the same way for me - it's always on the second or third listen that the genius truly reveals itself, the interplay of harmonies is comprehended, the great lyric is realized (tongues are often either firmly in cheek, stuck out at bad politics, or on their first two EPs and the LP Mwng lilting unintelligibly in their native Welsh). The magnificently polished production fills the ears with warmth, repeated listenings affirming the hand-crafted care they take with every song.

They've always straddled the line between guitar-pop and electronica experimenters with various genre-bending including country thrown in, but on their newest, Hey Venus, they sound more like a proper rock band than they ever have, but at the same time they are as mellow as they've ever been. The songs are a bit simpler, leaner, less epic, more light-hearted, and both they and the album as a whole are as short as SFA have ever made. There's still the wonderful string and horn arrangements by Sean O'Hagan (Microdisney, High Llamas, Stereolab) which always provide an extra lovely richness to their sound, and a touch of 50's nostalgia at the core of several of these songs, like the doo-wop-ish "Runaway" or the summery longing strings of "Carbon Dating". Their psychedelic wackiness does still peek in from the cracks, like the random electronic arpeggio over the chorus of straight-ahead rocker "Neo Consumer", the bursts of spacey electro-whirring and Turkish-style dulcimer on "Into the Night" (Gruff says he's into mostly 70's Mediterranean pop these days), and the crickety rollercoaster-pitch trickle of the guitar on "Battersea Odyssey", or all the lyrics and 'No-no-no-no' vocals on "Baby Ate My Eightball" or that song's polyrhythmic bridge. Even a relatively subdued song like"Carbon Dating" has sound effects at the end that sound like the shrieking metallic apocalypse at the end of "Full Metal Jacket". But mostly here they're showing how brilliantly keeping things in check can sound, especially after the previous album, the less-focused Love Kraft. Closing track "Let The Wolves Howl At The Moon" is a late-night piano-bar sing-along elevated to perfection with just a backing band and no frills, an apt close. This is SFA's first album for the beloved Rough Trade label (after a major-label stint), almost hit #10 in the UK (as almost all of their releases do, this hit #11) and entered the iTunes charts at #9, and hopefully is a sign that after over a decade as a band there's still no end in sight.





Be sure to check the SFA official site (listen to streaming tracks from this album and others in the upper-right), especially the extras section with mp3s and videos of the recording session for "Hey Venus!" (including some funny outtake tracks). Like the new AC, I've had a few months to fully digest it and be able to say without a doubt it's one of the tops of the year. You can get it now for about 14 bucks on (UK) CD at Amazon, and they have it digitally for $9.49. There is a Japanese version available with two bonus tracks, but these are also the two b-sides to the first single, "Show Your Hand" ("Aluminum Illuminati" and "Never More"). The US vinyl release is apparently in November, and domestic CD (with bonus goodies according to fansite superfurry.org) Jan 22, 2008.

Here's first single "Show Your Hand" performed live recently at UK's T4 Festival. Apparently, Yeti costumes are out and Power Rangers are in (although the drummer Dafydd Ieuan seems to be wearing a bright yellow yeti body with red arm scales? in this performance on morning TV)













Here's the video for the second single, "Runaway", starring Matt Berry (anybody see the bizarre British hospital-over-the-gates-of-hell show 'Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'?) and directed by Richard Ayoade (same show - he acted, and wrote and directed episodes)













And why not take this chance to have you (again) watch the great video for Juxtaposed With U, one of the gentler cuts on 2002's "Rings Around The World", about letting go in more ways than one. Nice, serene video by Pedro Romhanyi
















2007-10-10

Mick Jagger

"Greatest hits albums are for housewives... and little girls." -Bruce McCullough's KITH sketch about the Doors. And it's partly true. I had the Best of Creedence for a long time until Pavement's cover of "Sinister Purpose" inspired me to buy CCR's "Green River" album, which blew me away and made me mad at myself for relying on the greatest hits package for so long. But for some artists, a greatest hits package makes perfect sense, as in the case of the brand new "Very Best of Mick Jagger." Mick obviously wants to spread his wings and do something different than he's done with the Rolling Stones in his four solo albums and other side projects, but it can end up sounding like a generic 80's pastiche, like on the faux-urgent driving rock of the Lenny Kravitz produced opener "God Gave Me Everything" or the strutting "Lucky In Love" and "Just Another Night" from his first solo album in '85, which did have Bill Laswell producing and Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend, and Herbie Hancock playing, and both of those songs and the album itself were huge hits at the time, but they haven't exactly aged well. But even though a few hits are misses, several of these tracks hit the mark, especially when he and the music stretch out and are at their most soulful, like on "Memo From Turner" (from the "Performance" movie soundtrack, written with Keith Richards and with Steve Winwood on bass and Ry Cooder on the bottleneck, from 1969), "Sweet Thing" (not too dissimilar from some newer era Charlatans UK, from Jagger's ecelctic third and by far most acclaimed album), and on his appearance on Peter Tosh's "(You Got To Walk And) Don't look Back" (I can hear it: 'Hey, mon, dijoo see 'im doon that chicken dance? cuh-razy, mon'). Also included are three previously unreleased tracks, including the long-fabled super-funky John Lennon-produced "Too Many Cooks (Spoil the Soup)" and a fine blues stomp with the Red Devils. If you're a fan of Jagger's legendary sway and swagger with the Stones, it'd be worth picking this up, ten bucks or less at Amazon.


2007-10-08

Collections of Animal Collective

Here is every known Animal Collective live recording


And a large selection of Animal Collective rarities



Huge thanks to all the Animal Collective fans who record and give their time to help share, especially sherbz at bansheebeat.com for compiling the live shows and chemotion.com for compiling the rarities.

There's not much more to say that hasn't been said about Animal Collective. If you haven't joined the bandwagon, then ignore it and listen to the music (after emptying your mind of preconceived notions), but note that most of the old-school fans are still on board.

On their newest, Strawberry Jam, their forest-chanting experiments and shakers and stick rhythms have completely gelled with their samplers and electronics and pop sensibilities into a more focused, steadier beat - where the whoops and ahhhs and hey-oooos and squirts of noise synchronize with the arpeggioed scales and steady but warbling waves of delay that shimmy off of nearly every sound, the whole time phasers and swooshes and other indistinguishable effects are all ingrained, the whole glorious mess somehow vibrating as one. They practice and prerecord their music as much as they improvise, but it always has a live manic energy, and always blends together, and it can be a game wondering during their live performances just what the hell sounds beyond drum shots and singing each member is producing. Third man Geologist (with headlamp) has compared his role to that of Bob Nastovich's in Pavement: the extra background sounds and flourishes, the icing on the cake. But even if Geo doesn't whip out the maracas or shout loudly, perhaps his role is even more important - he's talked on the Collected Animals message board about some of the electronics that are being used, how he and Panda synch their machines together and bounce sounds and samples back and forth to each other. But mainly it's the hooks and beautiful, primal vocal melodies that Panda (top) and Avey (second from top) seem to pull out of a never-ending bag of inspiration that elevate this band to something special. Says Geo: "You can give someone the best sampler in the world and are they gonna make something as killer as what Noah (Panda Bear) made with two sp-303's when he did 'Person Pitch'?" And while both Deakin (bottom) and guitars have been absent from Animal Collective on their recent tours, his recent appearance with the rest of AC on Conan seems to indicate he may be rejoining them again soon. It'll be interesting to see how his guitar fits in to some of the new songs, it seemed to just gently reverberate into the background in the Conan appearance - perhaps there will be some Afro-pop noodling on some of the post-Strawberry Jam tracks like "Will To Joy".


Before you dive into the treasures linked to at the top, be sure to have a taste of Strawberry Jam if you haven't already:



Amazon has it for about twelve bucks new, Insound has it for ten bucks on mp3 and nineteen on LP (nows a good time to experience the richness of vinyl) Thanks to Daniel/Arnold for the Panda pic, *Peter for the Avey and Geologist pics, and Soulsick for the Deakin pic - all three of them have other great pics of AC with not a whole lot of views on them, a shame. BTW, I do have an AC show in my previous post, and it is a great performance of their post-Strawberry Jam tracks with not-too-bad sound, but since then other recordings have come out that handle the super-low bass they've had rumbling lately a bit better, check the newer recordings in the above thread, especially the Charlottesville and London summer shows that come from the Live Music Archive. And if you missed it, they finally made their national TV debut on Conan last Friday night. Avey explained on the CA board that they were limited to around four minutes, so options were limited, but the only rationale I can think of for them choosing to play #1, perhaps the strangest of all tracks on Strawberry Jam, as opposed to the shorter (more energetic) "Chores" or even shorter (and less dissonant) "Derek" is clear: it is them saying, "this is who we really are - even though we're poppier than ever, we're still freaks":



2007-09-27

Junior Brown

When I've tried to turn people on to Junior Brown, I've settled on this description: imagine Jimi Hendrix playing old traditional country. Of course there's more to it, from the instrument he invented himself to his unique baritone voice, to the touches of surf, jazz, rock(abilly), and even Hawaiian slide that flavor his music. Junior is one-of-a-kind, and should not be dismissed by those who have a predisposition to not liking much country music. From the bio on his site: "A lot of people tell me they don't like country music, but they like what I am doing. I hear that line more than anything else." As a side note my wife is often stunned at my knowledge of old country (from my dad). She can't fathom how after decades of not hearing some of those songs I'm still able to sing along to each and every one, like on the Time-Life country oldies collection commercial. It's because a lot of them just had real feeling, and real playing and songwriting which explored the language of country music rather than relying on the same gimmicky phrasings of today. No other modern artist has taken country music further than Junior Brown.

The instrument he invented (after dreaming about it) is called a guit-steel, and has a regular guitar neck on top and a slide guitar built in below that, and when playing live he switches seemlessly between the two. He plays super-fast, and it's always highly inventive and slightly improvised and it's truly a thrill to watch and listen to him magically finger pick his way up a guitar neck (often with this characteristic chinka-chinka sound) and pull out his slide to finish off a run, or lay down some jazz chords, or play a string by de-tuning and tuning it back and forth, always somehow tuning it right back to the note it needs to end on (see "Brokedown South of Dallas" at 1:05, 1:40, and especially 2:28). His backing band (often in suits) is a stand-up bass, a drummer who often has little more than a single snare drum and cymbal (and usually brushes), and an acoustic rhythm guitar - and together they lay down the rhythmic tracks for Junior's enjoyable explorations of melody. I've seen an old guy and a young guy on bass, an old-timer named Pete playing drums (and one night at Floore's outside stage when Pete couldn't play, opener and Texas legend Johnny Bush sat in), and that's Junior's lovely wife Tanya Rae strumming the acoustic and smiling at him much of the time (with the rest of the crowd), though they have had a different guy strumming lately.

Junior is definitely in my list of top guitarists of all time. He plays tight licks but has a loose style. He doesn't take himself too seriously, writes great, often funny lyrics, and his concerts are some of the most entertaining I've ever seen - these pics are mine from the first Junior show I saw ('96) at Floore's Country Store in Helotes, just outside San Antonio, where Willie once played weekly shows. One NYE in the late 90's me and two guys drove a few hours away to see Junior play at the Cabaret in Bandera, TX (best NYE ever). It was the most energetic and electrifying of the half-dozen or so shows of his I've seen. I think. I was a little out of it, but I do remember that Junior was, too, his (slightly slurry) New Years countdown drawl of "uh, what time is it? Aw, hell... 3, 2, 1 Happy New Years!", and he launched into Auld Lang Syne, and he brilliantly peppered that song into others for the rest of the night. I cannot stress the fact enough that you have got to see him for yourself - if you're on the US West Coast, luckily he'll be coming your way this month.

Junior was born in Arizona, spent time growing up in Annapolis, Maryland, but now calls Austin his hometown. After working bars and clubs in obscurity from the late sixties on and then teaching some guitar in Oklahoma, he moved to Austin in the late 80's and became the house act at the storied Continental Club. His first album was released in '93, and Junior has steadily gained a growing legion of diverse fans. The following show was a homecoming for Junior at a small dinner-type theater, an intimate venue which didn't hold a lot of people, at least not on this night: "Better not try hecklin', 'cause we got you outnumbered," he jokes. "But we're gonna try and make a good time out of this." And dagnabbit that's just what he does. Don't miss an epic "I Hung It Up".






Check Insound for some great prices on Junior Brown albums. "Semi-Crazy" and the newest, "Live At the Continental Club", are highly recommended, the latter pulled from two smoking shows at his old stomping grounds in Austin.

2007-09-22

Oh No! Oh My!

Austin's Oh No! Oh My (myspace) are another band on the rise (a new song on "Weeds", tour with Au Revoir Simone and everything). Their whimsical anthems are for the most part light and refreshing, twee at times, sometimes with a few minor chords which either give way to catchy refrains like on "Our Mouths Were Wet" or "The Party Punch" on the new EP, or continue along in their emotion, like the almost British sea song-sounding James-like "I Love You All The Time" from the self-titled debut album or "Oh Be One" or "A Pirate's Anthem" on the new EP. The percussion is especially nice - easy and laid-back, with a lot of clicking, clopping and clapping, cymbals, and tambourines - usually with acoustic guitar, soothing keys, and at times Animal Collective-like whooping filling out the sound, helping keep these new songs bouyant and spright. Their debut album last year was met with wide acclaim, as is their new EP (released just last month), "Between The Devil And The Sea". The influences and approach are college-rock, and they don't take themselves too seriously, as evidenced by the track "The Bike, Sir", which is charming in its silly yet earnest nursery-like simplicity. Oh No! Oh My! make me think "my day ain't so bad." Get 'em now while they're hot here from the label Dim Mak or at iTunes. Also check their Huey Lewis cover at Stereogum.


2007-09-20

Octopus Project / Ghostland Observatory

There are two bands from Austin that are playing sold-out shows here and are soon to do the same everywhere after break-out shows, both with big plans for the future: Octopus Project and Ghostland Observatory. They are also two of my favorite Austin bands, and both mix up indie and electronica - Octopus Project glows and shimmers and warps while Ghostland Observatory cackles and pops and rumbles, Octopus Project following a more artsy experimental route (somewhat like Tortoise and the Avalanches) while Ghostland Observatory clearly run the streets at night (like the Rapture, which is an oft-repeated but not untrue comparison). Octopus Project played Coachella last year after winning a contest and Ghostland followed a breakout performance at 2006's Austin City Limits Festival with one that from what I've heard was one of the best from this past weekend's ACL. They both have two albums under their belt, and Octopus Project's third, "Hello, Avalanche" will be released Oct. 9, (fourth counting their collaboration with Black Moth Super Rainbow, which was one of the best things of the last year) coinciding with their big summer tour, and Ghostland Observatory is racking up their own invites including Lollapalooza last month, and as mentioned the last two ACL Festivals as well as this year's Playboy SXSW after-party. Definitely check these two bands out now if you haven't already heard the buzz.


Octopus Project "Exit Counselor"

Octopus Project "Responsible Stu"

Octopus Project and Black Moth Super Rainbow "Lollipopsichord"


Listen to a track off the new Octopus Project album "Hello, Avalanche" at their Myspace and check their site for current tour dates before you miss them - you can also buy music directly from them and listen to other mp3s.






Buy directly from them at Trashy Moped Recordings.

2007-09-19

Cockaboody, Okkervil River

Alright, now I've gotten myself into a corner. If I include Voxtrot, there's a whole shitload of bands now that I'm going to have to include in my Austin run. Which I'm also doing instead of ACL Festival, because I just moved and am a broke motherfucker. And then Monday night's Yo La Tengo show sold out but I settled on watching them hang out for a short while and introduce a couple of films at the Alamo Drafthouse: Cockaboody and Four Flies On Grey Velvet, the latter a ridiculous 70's flick about a drummer in a murder/blackmail plot, but with a great psychedelic/almost disco-ish soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. Cockaboody (youtube) was made by Georgia's (of YLT) parents, John and Faith Hubley, who did animation for Disney and Sesame Street, and features the voices of 3 year-old Georgia and her older sister. Georgia talked about how her parents just held out microphones and told them to improv and how she was later fascinated about how they put it together with the animation.

Anyways - the music. If you want the absolute most current new thing in Austin, well I just happened to stumble on Ringo Deathstarr, but other than that, I'm definitely not a Hot Freak, but I'll try to work my way down into a few lesser-known bands. So while I'm hitting the bigger Austin bands everyone should know, I'd be remiss not to include Okkervil River, representing the folksier side of Austin's alt scene (by way of New Hampshire). Their newest album "The Stage Names" came out last month and has received a ton of good reviews. It's mixed by Jim Eno of Spoon, and like the new Spoon it's Okkervil River's most soulful album, and most rocking as well, or about as hard as alt-folk can rock. This interview with Wireless Bollinger (excerpt below) is an interesting insight into the workings of their songs, like the superb "John Allyn Smith Sails":

The album's final track, 'John Allyn Smith Sails', takes this idea to fruition, ending the album with lyrics from a traditional folk song and poem – most famously used as the center of the Beach Boys' 'Sloop John B' – as a way for Sheff to reckon with his John Berryman connection. "The 'Sloop John B' character and the John Berryman [real name John Allyn Smith] were at the same juncture in their lives. They both kind of wreck," says (Will) Sheff.

Like Spoon, though, I'm kind of liking the bonus disc of acoustic demos that comes with early copies of "The Stage Names" almost a little more, fits the songs well:



Buy "The Stage Names" and other Okkervil River at their label Jagjaguwar and preview "The Stage Names" at their site

2007-09-18

Voxtrot



Voxtrot are definitely an Austin band on the rise. They mine indie influences with an earnest attitude and chops. And a piano. Ben Folds would not be an unfair comparison, they both incorporate piano and power-pop. I like Voxtrot's active bass lines, jangly guitars and overall energetic playing, although I must say I'm more a fan of their less-brooding work, like the following two tracks. Voxtrot are on MTV and are currently opening for the Arctic Monkeys' North American Tour, but are indie enough to have released two EPs on their own record label and maintain approval from Pitchfork.





Voxtrot "Your Biggest Fan" (The 3rd EP, went to #4 on Billboard Singles charts last year)

Voxtrot "Honeybee" (Firecracker 7")

Always if possible buy direct from the band.

2007-09-17

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness




Let's hit the other bigger, more nationally-established Austin bands of today you have probably heard of, and make a connection - this next band's first EP was produced by Britt Daniel of Spoon, and they have the pretty good name of I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness (Myspace), which about sums up their sound. I've read Joy Division comparisons that I just don't really understand, as if everything dark is influenced by Joy Division's sounds. If anything, I hear more Ministry-style darkness, which makes sense since that's the former band of the producer of ILYBICD's debut album, which is decidedly darker and also more Chameleons-like dark new wave-y than the EP.





2007-09-16

Spoon

Spoon are no doubt the best-known Austin band right now. Even their album covers are blogged about. The two albums previous to the newest were big critical and commercial successes, and the newest, "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" hit the Billboard Charts at number 10. Here's how I feel about Spoon: First off, local boys make good is always a good thing. Even though Spoon (co)leader Britt Daniel has called Portland home since 2006, Spoon are essentially an Austin band, and this newest album was mostly all recorded in Austin. I've always really liked them and loved several of their songs, just not over-the-top loved as much as some do. The first song on 2002's "Kill the Moonlight", "Small Stakes" (mp3), helped me put into words the thing that I liked about them: the angst, the build-up never quite unleashed, detached yet steady anticipation building into nothing but itself. The songs now still have some of that urgency, but not as much of the stark angularity. This newest has been out for a couple of months now, and critics from Pitchfork to AMG are praising it to the heavens, and it's not all wrong: the newer sounds are more soulful, have more varied instrumentation, are fussed over, but it's sometimes a bit too fussed over. I wish in the case of a lot of their songs that I could hear the studio less, that the production was more stripped down. I don't know why I think that, it's hard to put in words why I feel that's the case here because I love these things about Super Furry Animals. But on this newer Spoon it's like the emotions are trying to escape the studio. Here's three versions of "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb", it's interesting to hear the different takes because it kind of makes me wish they had gone with the less fussed-over alternate mix throughout the whole album, the sound of foot-stomping on a wood floor and hand claps over the sound of a tambourine being struck with a stick in a studio, or at least the more live-sounding tambourine on the KCRW version. There's still Spoon's looseness and swagger on the new album, but I want it to be even looser I guess. I like the alt mix of Cherry Bomb because it just has a first-take kind of spontaneity that fits them well. Still, though, all said - they've obviously taken their time with it, it's a pleasing listen all the way through, is still full of great chops and mid-tempo energy, and I'll probably change my mind and think this album version's better in a few months.



You can stream all of "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" over at Merge, and buy it there, too, and listen to select tracks from all of Spoon's releases at their site.

2007-09-14

Back In Austin - Ringo Deathstarr

I'm settled in Austin, sorry for the delays. No more four weeks between posts. Probably more like a week, week and a half, haha... after this spurt of making it up to y'all. After this I'm going to hit some major albums of the summer that you shouldn't have missed, but for the next few posts I'm going to highlight some great bands coming out of Austin, TX.



First up is Ringo Deathstarr. The comparisons to Jesus & Mary Chain are unavoidable, and I also hear a lot of Joy Division, and those aren't two bad points of reference. It's gritty and raw and reverby. I hope to see them take it further, but for now recreating JAMC-style songs through their own kind of wall-of-fuzz is hitting my ears alright. They just played on my good friend Brian's radio show, The Casbah, which he podcasts. You can check out this show featuring Ringo Deathstarr from last Saturday night in its entirety, with three more songs and interview, HERE.







edit: I heard from Spoilt Victorian Child Records, who informed me Ringo Deathstarr's debut EP will be available shortly, by Oct. 29 on CD, iTunes, etc., to coincide with their upcoming support slots with the Dandy Warhols. And they were kind enough to offer a taste of the debut EP, here's how two of the tracks sound. I'm thrilled to hear a little bit of Church, Ride, and MBV, too in these:






and there's another mp3 over at SVC Records, the demo of "Some Kind of Sad". I definitely predict you'll be hearing more about these guys, they've just got great hooks and warm fuzz, hard to go wrong with that combo.

2007-08-16

Talking Heads, Heatwave, talk

The Talking Heads debuted their "Remain In Light" (iTunes) material at the Heatwave Festival in Canada, 1980. As Animal Collective starts to add an Afropop feel to their new songs, it's interesting to go back and see perhaps the most famous incorporation of African sounds into modern American music. Let's read the words of someone who was there, guitar and multi-instrument virtuoso Adrian Belew (wiki), who recounts in his blog how he joined the Talking Heads for this legendary performance in a post titled "How Not To Join A Famous Band":

"in 1980 I received a call asking me to come to new york city to rehearse for four days in order to learn the Talking Heads record remain in light. only months before I had recorded the record all in one day with the heads and brian eno. talking heads had the idea to expand their normal quartet to a thumping funky 10-piece band with two bass players, two keyboard players, two guitar players, two female back-up singers, one drummer and one percussionist (note: added were Belew, Busta Jones (bass), Steve Scales (percussion), Dolette McDonald, Nona Hendryx (both on vocals), and Bernie Worrell (keys). and we were going to learn the very layered studio monster remain in light in four days and then play two shows! somehow we did it, we learned the record and several songs from other records. but just barely. and just in time to board a plane for our first show in toronto. only then did we see the whole enchilada. our first show was a festival of 70,000 people! they flew us to the vast backstage area in helicopters. looking down at the sea of tiny flesh baffles, I was nervous enough to jump out in mid-air. it seemed like all the hip bands of the moment were present. the B-52's, the pretenders, elvis costello, the clash. it was called the heatwave festival, billed as the first "new wave" festival, and was actually in a place called mosport park. dave edmunds and nick lowe played. the pretenders played. the B 52's played. minutes before we were set to play I opened the door to our backstage trailer to discover most of the band snorting lines of coke from the backs of guitars. they quickly shooed me away, knowing I didn't partake. the timing of our performance was fortuitous; just as the sun was setting. I joined the original four heads to play psycho killer, then the full band was brought onstage. we launched right into the new material. no one in the audience even knew the remain in light record as yet but it didn't matter. the band was smoking! halfway through our set we played a song from fear of music called I zimbra. on the recorded version robert had played a fast running guitar line. as soon as we started that song I could tell the coke had kicked in. we played it twice as fast as it was on the record! my fingers had a hard time keeping up and I was worried our 45-minute set might be over in 20. but it all worked out. the band was an instant success. for our second show we played in central park but only 125,000 people showed up! at the time you couldn't go into a bookstore, bar, record shop, or restaurant without hearing talking heads music in the background. (kind of like rascal flatts in mt. juliet nowadays.) it was an exciting time to be in the band. david, chris, tina, and jerry decided to keep the 10-piece funk machine rolling for a whole world tour including japan and europe. it was a wacky cast of characters to live with and we had loads of fun."



TALKING HEADS

Heatwave Festival
August 23, 1980
Ontario, Canada


1 Psycho Killer
2 Warning Sign
3 Stay Hungry
4 Cities
5 I Zimbra
6 Once In A Lifetime
7 Houses In Motion
8 Born Under Punches
9 Crosseyed And Painless
10 Life During Wartime
11 Take Me To The River
12 Take Me To The River (continued)




The soundboard master cut out at the very end, so the remainder of "TMTTR" is from an audience source.


Belew's current post talks about him joining up with Frank Zappa... it's so great to see a legend take the time to share good stories, and Belew is indeed a legend - besides the Heads and Zappa he's played with King Crimson, David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, Tom Tom Club, Paul Simon's "Graceland", Nine Inch Nails, yada yada yada. A freakin legend. Buy his freakin albums (directly from the artist, click "store")!

Everybody needs a physical Talking Heads album in their collection.

Also check out Francey's excellent Taking Heads fan page with a BBC radio doc and loads of other good stuff