2007-03-28

Dudes from SF:

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2007-03-25

Shitload of of Montreal @ the Booty Patrol



The world finally came together as one, joined in a common, desperate plea that has been heard from New York city streets to the war-torn ghettos of Baghdad: give us an of Montreal fansite! And so your humble blog-jockey looked out over the fields of bloodied mullets and non-decaying breast implants for another soul with the fortitude to take the action that was necessary, and saw in the bottom of a cracked lens a large glittery flag being waved over Wisconsin. Quixoticgoat is very cool and spits out great design like I spit out spit. And so it goes that the Booty Patrol was born. We may not be the world's biggest of Montreal fanatics (we're close), but we play one on TV. We're just trying to give fans another home, a place to compile news and downloads. We'll include as many rarities as we have room for, and links will be permanent. I'll include a single song here to bring readers, but if you want the goods, head over to the Booty Patrol... three whole albums (2 are demos), several other mp3s, an of Montreal interview by yours truly, and even more to come in the future. Although I can understand why you wouldn't go check it out, I mean some people just don't like music.

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2007-03-17

Nips '79 - pre Pogues MacGowan's first live rec.

If you're any kind of Irishman, you're already too drunk to read this, I rarely drink much but cracked it open before noon today, tried to remaster this show then after a few hours said fuck it, it's already pretty good quality for an old boot, plus it took me long enough to edit and arrange these pics, thank the good lord for spellcheck to dress this post up, this is a rare baby, the first known live recording of Shane Macgowan. I remember first seeing him, in the Pogues "White City" video, and I remember thinking, alright, don't get like that. Must brush teeth. And if you're any kind of Irishman (I'm a quarter, for real) or music fan for that matter, you've already burned through your Pogues collection on many a Saint Paddy's Day, and if you haven't, you really haven't celebrated St Paddy's Day. The Nips are more punkish London than drunken Ireland, but oddly enough still goes well with a good buzz. Here's a sample, the rest is the complete show:

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2007-03-11

A Tribute In Stereo

The E6 Townhall proudly presents a tribute to Robert Schneider and the Apples In Stereo...

"A Tribute In Stereo"





First, big thanks must be extended once again to Benjamin, AKA Grimey. A tribute was attempted previously on the Apples Townhall and failed and he simply had gotten excited about it and didn't want to see the idea die (that's all it takes to make good things happen, folks). And for good reason... apart from providing some of the sunniest music around today, Robert Schneider and all the Apples In Stereo are genuinely nice people. Schneider is hilarious, too, he gets so excited when he's on the radio that he talks like he's about to die from Red Bull OD. But in an era full of posturing, attitude, and unoriginality, his over-the-top enthusuasm for music deserves to be applauded. (clap, clap, clap, clap). Don't miss them on tour right now!

And the music on this tribute album is really, really, good, i was very surprised, much of it even somewhat pro-sounding, but to pay homage to one of the studio masters of our day, you gotta put a little effort into it. Also: sorry, no individual mp3s... it's an album, and will therefor be downloaded as such. Shouldn't be hard to figure out which one is my effort. I'll just repeat what I said before this release: there will be no doubt who in the Townhall has taken the most acid after this. "We still need your beat, head of Hillary!". There's some really nice art with it, too, and as a side note I know that the artist is currently working on a super-secret top-cool of Montreal site, and has plans to be a famous fabulous artist. So go ahead and print those covers up and do you up a good cd, and make a few copies for friends... and strangers. Here's the tracklisting... enjoy!


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2007-03-04

The Huge Housemartins Post

Where to begin... I discovered the Housemartins like I did many bands in the 80's: through MTV's 120 minutes, once THE indie/alt music bible... one of my favorite fantasies was that I was one of those cool English kids like in the Smiths videos, savvy and brash yet clean and bookish. The Housemartins were similar, but more danceable and soulful at the same time. I think one of me and my best friend's strongest bonds is being both Housemartins and Rush fanatics at the same time. To say I adore them would be an understatement. Most people today sadly don't even know of them, although they definitely know the bassist (if you don't know I'll save it for below.) The reason I post today is because after the Housemartins broke up, the lead singer (Paul Heaton) and drummer (Hemmingway) went on to form The Beautiful South, who became even more popular in the UK and worldwide than the Housemartins (the bassist went onto even bigger fame solo). The Beautiful South's 1994 greatest hits collection "Carry On Up The Charts" is among the top 75 best-selling albums of all time in the UK, but they announced last month that they've called it quits. Their website cheekily reads: "The Beautiful South have split up due to musical similarities. The band would like to thank everyone for their 19 wonderful years in music." Thing is, and I don't want to disrespect the Beautiful South now during their swan song, but I never liked The Beautiful South half as much as the Housemartins. One of the things that broke up the Housemartins: Heaton wanted to go in a more soulful direction and the bassist wanted to be more dancey. It was only together as the Housemartins I believe that the true magic between these two ideals took place.


The Housemartins deserve to be more known... straight from allmusic, written by Stephen Thomas Erlewine:

"One of Britain's more popular indie guitar pop groups of the late '80s, the Housemartins' post-Smiths guitar jangle and subtle updating of catchy, melodic British beat groups earned the Hull-based quartet a substantial critical and popular following within the U.K. Though the group never gained much more than a cult following in America, their balance of simple, memorable melodies and cutting sarcasm helped them rise into the British Top Ten, as well as earn consistently strong reviews. The Housemartins broke up in 1988, just before they fully broke into the mainstream. The group's lead songwriter, Paul Heaton, formed the Beautiful South the following year, and his new band capitalized on the success of the Housemartins to become one of the more popular U.K. groups of the early '90s.

Paul Heaton (vocals, guitar) formed the Housemartins with Ted Key (guitar), Stan Cullimore (bass), and Hugh Whitaker (drums) in 1984. From the outset, the group cultivated a distinctly English image, blending a cynical sense of humor with leftist political leanings and a low-key, commonplace appearance. In 1985, they signed with Go! Discs and by the end of the year, Key was replaced by Norman Cook. "Happy Hour," the Housemartins' third single, became the group's first hit in the summer of 1986, climbing all the way to number three. London O Hull 4, their debut album, followed shortly afterward and, like the single, it cracked the British Top Ten. At the end of the year, the a cappella "Caravan of Love" became a number one hit.


Due to their success in 1986, the Housemartins were award the BPI award for Best Newcomers. Before they recorded their second album, Hugh Whitaker left the band and was replaced by Dave Hemmingway. The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death followed later in 1987, spawning the hit singles "Five Get Over Excited" and "Me and the Farmer." Though the Housemartins were developing into one of the most popular bands within Britain, they broke up in the summer of 1988, claiming they only intended to stay together for three years. In reality, Heaton and Cook were suffering from creative tensions, as the singer wanted to move into sophisticated jazz-pop while the bassist was eager to explore dance music. This difference in taste became apparent in the groups they formed immediately after the disbandment of the Housemartins. Cook formed Beats International, who had a few hits in the early '90s before Cook became a full-time remixer and producer as Fatboy Slim. With drummer Hemmingway, Heaton formed the Beautiful South, which carried on the aesthetic of the Housemartins, but added more complex melodies and arrangements. Toward the end of 1988, a compilation of Housemartins' singles and rarities called Now That's What I Call Quite Good! was released. In 1993, original drummer Hugh Whitaker was imprisoned for wounding with intent and arson attacks on a business partner."


I think the wounding was something with an ax. He's, uh, been released. Wikipedia says he "resides in Leeds, where he occasionally drums with local band Percy". WP notes guitarist and co-songwriter Stan Cullimore "has gone on to become an author of children's books and television scripts. He also composes music for children's television." About this picture to the right... they say: "The Housemartins' lyrics were an odd mixture of Marxist politics and Christianity, reflecting Paul Heaton's beliefs at the time. He has since stated that he is an atheist."

Newer fans will want to start with the Glastonbury performance, it is top in every way and includes many of the band's greatest songs. If you're going to burn these files into an audio CD, mark the CD with small letters "mp3" and tell people you give copies to, so they don't try to trade it as "lossless" and get embarassed with the audiophiles.










This is a wonderful short acapella show they did in London for the BBC, hilariously performing as "Fish City Five", who say the Housemartins "haven't got an ounce of talent", are "satan", and "stole a lot of our tricks". Like so many bands I love, they wear old-school influences like badges of honor, although Housemartins influences can be hard to pin down, especially without knowing a bunch of British 80's beat bands, but here they clearly show a bow to gospel/soul and street corner R&B acapella. They do their first UK #1, a cover of the Isley Brothers' "Caravan Of Love", "He Ain't Heavy (He's My Brother)", which has been recorded by Glen Campbell, Cher, Neil Diamond, and most famously by the Hollies, and "Heaven Help Us All", one of the finer songs recorded by Stevie Wonder. "When I First Met Jesus" was also recorded and appeared as the B-side on the Housemartins' "Caravan of Love" single, if anybody has an mp3 of this, email me.


The Housemartins - BBC Saturday Live Session Sep 6, 1986

01 Caravan Of Love

02 He Ain't Heavy

03 Interview

04 Heaven Help Us All





Below is a demo recorded before their first album "London 0 Hull 4", showing off the beautiful soul which made them stand apart from the crowd. This site about Hull bands says the demo (the 80's, everything was cassette), called "Themes For the Well-Dressed Man", "was recorded at Sharon's old house in Stepney Lane", and has other info and a live version of "Sheep".







In a sane American musical world their two studio albums would have been chock full of 80's radio hits. Head over to Insound, they have a good selection and prices.


Here's the wikipedia page and the myspace fan site and again what seems to be the official site.

Show your Housemartins love and share any old stories you older Brits may have in the comments!

It's sheep we're up against!

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2007-02-25

Calling All Apples In Stereo Fans!

There should be a good name for us, something to do with worms... if you haven't heard, there is finally a decent fan tribute album to the Apples In Stereo being worked on, called A Tribute In Stereo, and by decent I mean more than a few songs, although the quality of what I've heard is really good... I hope it doesn't dissuade other Worm-heads (eh) from plugging in their crappy Casios and using online synths and sound effects or just singing acapella with their sister in the shower, in fact I for one am really hoping to see more lo-fi stuff, so if you're interested in the slightest, please don't hesitate to head over to the Apples Townhall and read the Tribute thread to see rules and what songs have been taken, and get your submission in by this Friday! (and if you are a fan and haven't been to the Townhall, you should easily find lots of other good stuff to listen to there.)




By now you may have heard the Apples In Stereo have released their sixth studio album, "New Magnetic Wonder". To be honest, I'm not sure exactly how it works or who releases what where, but it is being simultaneously released under the labels of (the reborn) Elephant 6, Yep Roc, and Elijah Wood's new label Simian. It is mindful of the original communal spirit of the Elephant 6 collective, is the first release in some time to feature the old Elephant 6 logo, and features a host of E6 heavyweights including Jeff Mangum, W. Cullen Hart, and Bill Doss (who has now started playing live with the Apples). Robert Schneider ("the man") has also included on this album some of his newer experiments with musical scales. You can read about it and other good album info at Yep Roc (96 tracks for "Same Old Drag" ?!?), as well as buy "New Magnetic Wonder" there as a download, CD, or on vinyl.

I can't hear "Same Old Drag", one of my favorites on the album, and not think of this crazy homemade video that's been on youtube for a few weeks. And if this isn't the real (MTV) video for this song, it needs to be...











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2007-02-20

Cruisin with Trans Am (& Dungen)

Sometimes when I listen to Trans Am I get the feeling I'm in the imaginary backseat of one of Crockett and Tubbs' Ferraris, peeling down the streets of Miami, sometimes when manic energy, sometimes an erie brooding, often a line of coke on the way to some fabulous party or rougher predicament, only imaginary coke that doesn't suck balls the way the real stuff does, and it's dark and I tilt my head back and let the highway lights roll off my face... on the last album we let our instrumental groove get sidetracked when the guys from Trans Am got so mad at their president that they had to get vocal, but now it's back to the faux-80's cheesedick (in a good way) party, on their eighth album, released today, called "Sex Change"




Different fine feelings are felt from faraway Sweden, which is experiencing a surge in its artists' popularity, especially Jens Lekman, Peter Bjorn & John, and Dungen (pronounced doon-yun). Dungen will be releasing their fifth album (and the follow up to their unexpected indie-smash "Ta Det Lungt") on May 1. It's called "Tio Bitar" ("10 pieces"), and from what I've heard it's for the most part much more spacey than Ta Det Lungt, although this track shows they will still be bringing their monster rock hooks:




I wish I spoke Swedish, from what I've read their lyrics are actually intelligent words about common music themes, not fighting mystical beasts. Some of the new spacier Dungen mp3s and some good info can be found at Obscure Sound.




You can not only buy the new Trans Am direct from Thrill Jockey but listen to the rest of "Sex Change" there, too! Trans Am are just beginning a huge Europe/US tour, don't miss 'em... Haven't seen preorders for the Dungen yet, but Insound has a ton of Dungen stuff.

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2007-02-18

This Is The Shiiiiiiit

Edit: The artist known as DJ Klock took his own life on April 10, 2007, leaving behind a wife and child (and a lot of musical promise)

His name is DJ Klock. Hype Machine reveals only two other blogs with his mp3s. And he may be getting ready to take over the world. Of course, I thought Cornelius was going to take over the world, but this Japanese experimental turntablism is so new and exciting that it will be even harder to ignore. It's not going to take away the macho posturing and vibrato-warble of American Top 40, but surely if enough producers hear it, they will have no choice but be influenced by the weight of its genius. Klock has recently released his third album (also feat. his band Trilo), but first in the States, called "San"... it's cohesive, but the tracks are varied. It's got the experimentalism of Otomo Yoshihide mixed with physical beats that don't so much assault your booty as lull your head into gyration, with lots of live instrumentation (flutes, toy piano, Japanese instruments, etc.) and samples (like the sounds of a child) to give his electronic music a much more organic sound than most. There's a lot of panning (left and right) which makes headphone listening that much more enjoyable.




Doing some online research I found this good article about DJ Klock from Spin Science (and the mp3 below, and a pic of Klock with his Dachsund : ] ) and some good info on the label that is releasing "San" in the US, Ropeadope Records (w/ a DJ Klock page + another Klock mp3 + see their myspace for some DJ Logic)... their news page explains they don't do many CDs anymore, mostly digital releases ("San" is available in both), two albums on the first Tuesday of every month, letting the artists own their own masters. Now that's indie spirit!



There's not much about Klock on the internet right now, but that should be changing soon, he is huge in alternative Japan and has done collaborating with DJ Krush and his list of partners and releases is just beginning, keep on the lookout! I found two videos of DJ Klock on Youtube, the first one is the video for the first track on "San", called "Theme" (the other mp3 at Ropeadope), and is done by the art collaborative Barnstormers, who also did the artwork for the release version of "San" pictured above.















and this one from a Klock side project called Cacoy, video by Danish artists Ufex:











Like I said, not a whole lot else online right now. Klock's website doesn't seem to be up at the moment, and for goodness sake don't expect to find more information at www.djklock.com:


... I don't know if this guy has any idea he shares the same name with one of the most groundbreaking musicians working today, although it would be cool if the Japanese Klock brought glow sticks and prizes for everybody! Eh, screw it, this music is prize enough.

You can buy DJ Klock's "San" (and another album on vinyl) at Ropeadope Records, either on CD or as a digital download.

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2007-02-16

Baby, It's Cold Outside



...so come dip yourself in some warm pudding! Here's three sunny tracks to lift your spirits. This first may be the most obscure thing I'll ever post. It's a brand new band I found on Myspace, from San Fransisco, called We Is Shore Dedicated. Their page currently has less than fifty views and this song has around a dozen listens... I really like it how instead of the same usual staged or goofy photos they artfully use imagery from the classic film "Battleship Potemkin". This song is quite nice, starts off warm and soft, kind of reminds me of some of Paul Weller's newer solo stuff, and then Neil Young when the drums kick in... just don't tune away before the beautiful chorus!









And if that doesn't warm your spirits, here's one of my favorite songs that I discovered last year. It's on the first comp from Skybucket Records (a Birmingham, AL-based indie label, also w/ the Dexateens) and it's from Taylor and the Puffs, as in Taylor Hollingsworth And The Spidereaters. You can listen to the other songs on the Taylor and the Puffs CD and buy it for dirt-cheap from cdbaby.







I picked up the Skybucket comp for free at SXSW last year, and it comes with a reminder: you don't need that expensive SXSW pass to have a good time! Last year during one daytime jaunt I saw mostly totally free shows including: The Joggers (loove), of Montreal (from outside), Hot Chip, Patton Oswalt, the Polysics, an Animal Collective soundcheck (from the fence), and Rogue Wave. Not complete sets, but all the better to keep you moving around to see more action! And to bring this full circle, Rogue Wave released this summery track recently on the album "At The Crossroads: A Benefit For Homeless Youth", released by San Fransisco-based Three Ring Records, the label which most likely will end up signing We Is Shore Dedicated:





Hard to imagine buying this at any retailer, since you can buy this CD strait from the label for twelve bucks - and EVERY PENNY GOES DIRECTLY TO HELP HOMELESS YOUTH !!!

Now that's definitely something to keep you (and someone in need) warm on these cold nights!

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