DRIVE BY TRUCKERS: THIS F*CKING JOB
Drive-By Truckers eighth studio album The Big To Do, and the official followup to 2008’s Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, is “very much a rock album. Very melodic and more rocking than anything since disc 2 of Southern Rock Opera.” Covering everything from death, the murder of a preacher by his wife, working a shitty job, being homesick, and binge drinking, The big To Do is a southern rock opera unto itself. Read what Patterson Hood has to say on “This Fucking Job”:
I wrote this one in my office shortly before the economic collapse of last 2008. I came out of a several year drought of songwriting and wrote about three albums worth of songs for this project but I always knew that this one would be for The Big To-Do.
I never forget how lucky I am to get to do what I love so much as a job and career. I also never forget that it almost never happened and happened only after a lot of sacrifice and some gut wrenching decisions that at the time seemed very foolish to anyone looking for tangible evidence of our reasons. Cooley and I were in our 30’s when we started this band. We hit the road with a vengeance that went way beyond obsession and at a pace of much younger bands. At the same time, coming home meant working shitty jobs to pay off the debt that touring at that level incurred (plus some of us were married and everyone had to eat). I can still remember a soul-searching decision where we just decided to go for broke and try to make all of this happen. We didn’t really have much chance of making all of this work out to a point of actually making a living at it but decided to do it anyway.
We worked really hard, made some right moves but inevitably we also got lucky and I still go to bed knowing that my shitty old day job is still nipping at my heels and with children in the picture we certainly couldn’t be so cavalier in waging it all on some pipe dream.
download the track here:
Drive-By Truckers – “This Fucking Job”Download
and check them out on Letterman last week:
YEASAYER: ODD BLOOD
Yeasayer: Odd Blood
Label: Secretly Canadian
Release Date: February 9, 2010
It’s a good thing Yeasayer is mostly full of shit. In the run up to the release of its second album, the Brooklyn band claimed it was partially inspired by the theory of Singularity, which hypothesizes that artificial intelligence will eventually overtake that of the human mind. If that were actually true, and the group had gone ahead and constructed a concept album about man versus machine, Odd Blood wouldn’t be the florescent joy that it is. It certainly starts out hinting at some larger idea which might possibly involve revolting computers: opener “The Children” features garbled vocals and a clanging, industrial stomp, and is easily the worst song of the ten. But by the end of the record, frontman Chris Keating is singing about he and his girl “making love ’til the morning light” over a clattering clap-along chorus, and the experience as a whole is less a pseudo-scientific think-piece than it is the soundtrack to the romantic sci-fi drama John Hughes never got to make…on acid.
A lot easier to believe is the group’s assertion that it wants to compete with the likes of Rihanna for space on the world’s dance floors. As Animal Collective did with last year’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, on Odd Blood Yeasayer puts aside its art-pop pretensions in favor of making art that simply pops. 2007’s All Hour Cymbals thought being psychedelic meant not having to write real songs, and sometimes it does, but the flashes of melody and atmospheric inventiveness on their debut only made you hope the trio would eventually hang its mishmash of ideas on something sturdier. And now it has—namely, the drums of a dude who used to backup Peter Gabriel. And a shitload of synths, too.
So yeah, this is a “New New Wave” (or, sigh, “nu-wave”) record. Those aforementioned drums—particularly on the sublimely airy highlight “Madder Red”—are the same kind of huge, echoey cloudbursts that made wimps like Simple Minds and Human League seem muscular. Anand Wilder’s guitar appears only in snippets, often buried under a stack of glittering keyboards. And the slow-drifting closer “Grizelda” is about ruthless Colombian drug kingpin Griselda Blanco, whose exports kept American clubs up all night back in the ’80s. But Odd Blood is not a work of empty nostalgia. It is, in fact, very much an album of the late-aughties, when the accessibility of music has saturated young artists with so many sounds it’s impossible not to just feed them all through the pop kaleidoscope. And, despite appearances, it is still very much a Yeasayer album. The band hasn’t ditched the worldly influences of All Hour Cymbals—they’ve been absorbed into rhythms. First single “Ambling Alp,” a jittery earwig named after 1930s boxer Primo Carnera (between this and “Lisztomania,” Phoenix’s hyper-infectious ode to 19th century composer Franz Liszt, the key to a hit single appears to be clicking the Random Article function on Wikipedia and writing about the first historical figure that comes up), has a reggae lilt beneath the glowing electro production. “O.N.E.” bounces along on a rubbery disco beat that’s straight out of carnivale. And there are traces of dub and Middle Eastern folk sprinkled throughout. Everything is coated in a unifying Technicolor sheen, showing the group has learned that psychedelia can be trippy and groovy at the same time, man.
As for a theme? Well, that’s easy: love. Not a cloying, disingenuous love either. “I Remember,” a ballad about Keating’s wife built around a fluttering keyboard line, is the most full-hearted, with references to “making out on an airplane,” “golden hearts in a fresh cut grass” and “being stupid together.” It’s warm and sentimental without being saccharine. And it’s also the greatest counterargument to that Singularity nonsense: Computers might one day be able to think like us, but they’ll never be able to feel like we do.
-Matthew Singer
FANG ISLAND: FANG ISLAND
[rating:3.5]
Fang Island: Fang Island
Label: Sargent House
Release Date: February 23, 2010
Stream the album for free HERE
Dan Deacon, Mr Holland’s Opus, Joe Satanari, Early 90’s After School Specials, The Go! Team and Starburst (the candy). These are all things that come to mind after repeated listens to Fang Island’s eponymous EP. Band members say this music is the sound of “everyone high-fiving everyone.” And I have to say, I agree: this album is just so easy to love. But a written description doesn’t do it justice. My advice? Buy it and give it a listen.
Since I experienced this album in such a different way, I figured I’d approach this review in a completely different way. Here is my freestyle take on Fang Island:
Only good things, guitar circles and drum rings, celebration, congratulations, block party booming bass, tweeting, sweeping, smashing, crashing, putting a smile on everyone’s face. Is it Summer yet? It must be Summer. This is the new Summer sound. One foot planted firmly on the f/x pedal, the other never touches down. Flash, Panache, Substance and style, even the organ seems to smile, Joyful handclaps and blissed-out beats, mighty tighty moogs and keys. Echo chamber echoes, criss-crossing melodies, soaring, soulful ooh’s and aaaah’s, childlike glee. Muscle car guitars, glitter, sparkles and stars. Indie Tabernacle Choirboy choruses blasting from Chevy Cavaliers and Ford Tauruses, reoccurring ditties and nothing remotely shitty. Rock, pop, chamber and twee, psych, freak, alt and of course indie. Spin it some more and don’t let it stop. In with a snap and out with a pop.
-Casey Bowers
SXSW 2010: BANDS TO WATCH
With SXSW 2010 creeping up, Discosalt has a preview of this years bands to watch. There are some amazing bands to check out, so clear the rest of your schedule for the afternoon and comb through our list:
MINUS THE BEAR
Recent Dangerbird Records signees, Minus The Bear, are set to release their new album, OMNI, on May 4th. To celebrate their new label and upcoming release, the guys will head on tour starting April 21st, but before that, the guys will head back to SXSW, where they’ll play an impressive 5 showcases.
Download first single “My Time” and play OMNI Says The Game: http://www.omnithealbum.com/
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
18 Cedar Street Courtyard (FILTER Party)
19 Antone’s (Relix Day Party)
19 Rusty Spurs (The MuseBox Show)
20 Stubb’s (Official SXSW Showcase)
20 Mellow Johnny’s 10 AM- (Dangerbird Showcase)
Artist: Minus The Bear
Album: OMNI
Release: May 4th 2010
Label: Dangerbird Records
Release: Digitally Available NOW!
Album: Spells
Release: OUT NOW
Label: Autumn Tone Records
Japandroids (JPNDRDS) is a two piece band from Vancouver, BC. This ‘band’ started in 2006 as a creative outlet for the post-teenage angst of Brian King and David Prowse. Originally intending to be a trio, the boys decided to forgo the logistical nightmare of having a ‘lead singer’ and do it themselves. As a consequence, Japandroids are 1 guitar, 1 set of drums, and 2 vocalizers. They call it garage rock. They don’t care what you call it, as long as it’s not minimal. Japandroids are maximal – a two piece band trying to sound like a five piece band.
http://www.myspace.com/japandroids
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
20 Galaxy Room
Since releasing the first ever Norwegian language pop single in the UK – Grønt lys i alle ledd/Togens hule (Moshi Moshi) – back in October 2008, the electropop collective Casiokids have gone from strength to strength. With 170 shows in 18 countries in 2009 alone, and album deals with Moshi Moshi and Polyvinyl in the bag, the band have plans to release 3 albums in 2009 after previously only releasing a series of limited edition 7″s. Their live show has been known to include giant papier maché heads, dancing monkeys, shadow puppets, 3 metre tall orange monsters, and human sized balloons but the key to their growing fanbase is without a doubt their ability to create melodies that make you want to dance, or at the very, very least grin. Often described as a splicing of Hot Chip, Røyksopp and Sigur Ros and with a live show reminiscent of a fledgling Flaming Lips or Of Monteal, it’s no wonder that the NME declared them “The best thing to come out of Norway since black metal”, The Guardian said “Casiokids you rule in all sorts of wonderful ways”, and the BBC summed up one of their live shows thus “The band basically started a party on stage that emanated into the crowd like beams from the sun – warming all of us who presumably swam there. They swapped instruments, pogo jumped around stage and changed cow bell duties every few minutes. Pineapple shakers, multicolored drum sticks and grinning faces convinced the crowd as they played some absolutely brilliant pop songs.” The album “Topp stemning in lokal bar” is due for release in North America via Polyvinyl in March 2010.
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
20 Galaxy Room
Das Racist is an Art Rap/Freak Folk/World Music/Hare Krishna Hardcore duo based in Brooklyn, New York, comprised of Queens-born Himanshu Suri, San Francisco-born Victor Vazquez and hypeman DAP aka Ashok Kondabolu. The two met at Vassar Art College in Massachusetts, where Victor was Himanshu’s resident advisor in a “Students of Color for Social Justice” themed Freshman year dormitory.
http://www.myspace.com/dasracist
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
17 Buffalo Billiards
Bowerbirds’ debut album, Hymns for a Dark Horse, was nearly one hundred percent focused on the thesis that the earth is a sacred place with merit beyond us, and that humans are just visitors here. Its contrapuntal harmonies documented a moment in the life of the songwriter and the life of the band – Beth Tacular and Phil Moore living in an airstream in rural North Carolina, building a cabin of reclaimed boards by hand in the woods – but did so without, as far as we could tell, delving into their lives at all. While these weren’t protest songs, per se, they had the wry anger of a “Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.” The songs were interconnected, both musically and thematically, a musical whitepaper of the very best, most listenable kind. So it was a big surprise when we heard the songs collected on Upper Air. Bowerbirds were revealing more, writing from a personal voice, exploring love and human emotions in ways that have never been fully fleshed-out in their songwriting before. They have not abandoned their worldview from Hymns, but the lyrics are no longer just observational. These are songs written from a personal place, examining the contradictions inherent to a conscious life, and this emotional depth makes for an undeniably powerful collection of songs.
http://www.deadoceans.com/artist.php?name=bowerbirds
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
17 Club de Ville
Califone is a band that defies this blueprint. Their albums are full of layers and textures, offering endless depth, entire universes to lose yourself in – and beyond the thick spectrum of sound, they do something even more important: They write great songs. Califone is a band that will stand the test of time. Califone’s music has often been described as cinematic, and the band has been known to contribute live improvised soundtracks to silent films. Many of these performances have been released on Califone albums Deceleration One and Deceleration Two. Primary songwriter and vocalist Tim Rutili’s artistic endeavors stretch beyond music, and include the creation of surreal short documentaries, music videos and experimental films.
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
17 Club de Ville
Frightened Rabbit return with a brand new single ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ released through FatCat on 16th November, a primer for the band’s forthcoming and as yet untitled abum, expected in Spring 2010. Boasting a stunning string arrangment from labelmate, Teutonic ivory-botherer, Hauschka (http://www.myspace.com/hauschka) ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ takes up where we left off, a hugely anthemic song that is perfect as a first indiacator of the new album’s direction, it’s very upbeatness perhaps to be read as a subconscious riposte to the angst of the preceeding, ‘Midnight Organ Fight’ album. Scott expands, “’Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ was the title I had in my mind before I even started writing the album; I was becoming more and more interested in the idea of a rejection of the habits and behaviour most people see as normal, and in turn embracing a certain madness. It’s about losing your mind in order to reset the mind and the body. Forget what’s gone before and wash it out. This is not necessarily a geographical journey, as the ‘swim’ can involve any activity in which you can lose yourself. It’s a good introduction to the record as the theme unravels therein.”
http://www.wearefrightenedrabbit.com
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
17 Scottish Arts Council
18 Day Stage Cafe Austin Convention Center
Huddled around bowls of sushi rice and bottles of Sake in a hole in the wall Sushi-ya on East 7th Street, three of the four of members of NYC’s Cubic Zirconia are letting it all hang out. The East Village spaced-out RnB acid house revivalist outfit Cubic Zirconia is just getting started. The three founding members Nick Hook, Todd Weinstock, and Tiombe spent the last ten months file sharing and co-creating songs between the hours of 9pm and 5am fueled by high-grade java and premium sake. The result is what Tiombe affectionately refers so as “Soul white boy nerdy disco dance house fun party time music.”
http://www.cubiczirconiamusic.com
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
17 Speakeasy
The Walkmen is a rock band formed in New York in 2000. In the late 90’s, the guys constructed an analogue recording studio in an abandoned Nash Rambler factory in west Harlem, where they self-recorded their first album, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone. Three of the members now reside in Brooklyn, and two have moved on to the cheaper pastures of Philadelphia. The band has released 4 albums of original material–including 2008’s You and Me, which still sounds as fresh as the day it was conceived. The band has travelled extensively around the world in the last 8 years, but has always called New York home. They are currently in New York recording a 5th album, which is slated for release in early 2010.
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
17 Stubbs
18 Day Stage Cafe Austin Convention Center
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
17 Stubbs
Meet Surfer Blood: they call West Palm Beach home and, while still in their early 20s, have penned an album worth of catchy, summery indie songs that even the most hook-laden power pop band would rightfully be jealous of.. Comprised of members JP (dubbed “The Mastermind” by the rest of the band), TJ, Thomas Brian and Marcos, Surfer Blood met one fateful night at an after party for Miami’s Ultra Festival, though they didn’t attend the festival itself (“We do not like the D’n’B,” they proclaim). After discussing music, what else, for the remainder of the night, JP and TJ decided to recruit the three other guys to perfect a couple of songs they had been working on for some time, and thus, the band was formed.
http://www.myspace.com/SurferBlood
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
17 Wave Rooftop
18 Lustre Pearl
19 Mohawk Patio
There are many reasons why Deer Tick are an excellent band. Here are mine. Firstly, they have great songs. War Elephant is a great album. The follow up, Born on Flag Day is just as strong. Alt-country is a curious genre, often misconstrued, misrepresented and misunderstood. Well, for me, this lot here’s a contemporary blueprint. There’s country (duh), punk, blues, folk, grunge and garage rock. Hell, even their choice of cover versions – Replacements, Michael Hurley, John Prine, The Sex Pistols and Chuck Berry – goes a long way to pinning down their sound. McCauley’s voice is a hybrid of Kurt Cobain and Gary Louris from the Jayhawks. Sometimes he sounds like he’s been gargling gravel with moonshine. He can croon, he can yelp and he can shout. He’s a superb lead singer, backed by a talented, if mostly acquiescent unit.
http://partisanrecords.com/deertick
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
18 Beauty Bar
19 Red Eyed Fly
Seabear is 7 Icelanders who just finished recording their 2nd full
length album “We Built A Fire”. The band started out as a one man
project of singer/guitarist Sindri Már Sigfússon (also the main man
behind Sin Fang Bous and recently dubbed the “icelandic Beck” by
Rolling Stone magazine) but grew into a big experimental-indie-folk
collective with their debut album “The Ghost That Carried Us Away” in
2007. The band has been linked to their icelandic friends Múm and
Sigur Rós as well as being described as “Sufjan Stevens meets an
unplugged Arcade Fire” (Clash magazine).
http://www.myspace.com/seabear
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
18 The Hideout
The xx are a London quartet, featuring the dual lead vocals of Romy Madley-Croft and Oliver Sim (who also play lead and bass guitar respectively), Baria Quereshi (keyboards and guitar) and Jamie Smith (beats, MPC sampler).
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
18 Mohawk Patio
19 Central Presbyterian Church
Bad Veins are a rarity in today’s musical landscape: An act who didn’t set out to become critical darlings or the next “buzz” band, but managed to achieve both after only playing a handful of shows. However, despite the fact that Bad Veins’ music has been instantly embraced since their inception in late 2006, the duo of Benjamin Davis and Sebastien Schultz decided not to rush out the disc you’re currently holding in your hand. The result is Bad Veins, an album that’s unique but familiar, and not only lives up to the hype but surpasses it. Looking back, it’s hard to believe it all started out a little over two years ago in a non-descript attic in Cincinnati, Ohio.
http://www.myspace.com/badveins
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
18 Red 7
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
18 Stubbs
19 Central Presbyterian Church
After much anticipation, Love of Diagrams unveil Nowhere Forever, their third studio album. Recorded at Bear Creek Studios in Seattle with producer Ryan Hadlock (Gossip, Blonde Redhead, Steve Malkmus among many others) Nowhere Forever, is the guitar-drenched dream-pop record Love of Diagrams have always wanted to make. Throughout their career the band have constantly stretched and explored their sound – from the pummeling instrumental beginnings of 2003’s The Target Is You, through to a skeletal minimalism and bold introduction of vocals with 2007’s critically acclaimed Mosaic (recorded by Bob Weston and released world-wide by Matador Records).
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
18 Wave Rooftop
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
20 Cedar Street Courtyard
An elusive new project from composer Alan Palomo. Neon Indian delivers equal parts synthetic nostalgia, Dreampop lullabies, and grinding guitar noise to create something eerier than the sum of its parts. Forged after a hazy winter gathering in Texas, this initial batch of tracks were the result of field recordings, record samples, a collection of bizarre synth sounds. Soliciting the visual acrobatics of Video artist Alicia Scardetta, this project is setting out to be a multimedia maelstrom. Orbiting around the themes of drug induced heartbreak, weary afternoons, and lost chances, this music provides a lush soundtrack to the deadbeat exploits of teenage ennui . Neon Indian’s bedroom ballads have already forged the upcoming Psychic Chasms, set for release this summer. They’ve been compared to New Order, Future Bible Heroes, and most recently said to sound like a saw-wave cutting a Doobie Brother’s song in half. Expect much racket to be had from this fresh faced crew.
http://www.myspace.com/neonindian
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
19 Club De Ville
Sometimes you have to put yourself first, no matter how difficult that notion seems; no matter how much time and effort you’ve already put into this one person—the person who’s reduced your very being to its absolute core. Just ask Peter Silberman, the string-pulling founder of The Antlers, a solo project that suddenly went widescreen on the self-released Hospice LP (now receiving a proper widespread pressing through Frenchkiss). The first Antlers effort to feature two key permanent players—powerhouse drummer Michael Lerner and the layer-lathering multi-instrumentalist Darby Cicci—it’s an album with a sound that’s actually as ambitious as its concept.
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
19 Galazy Room Backyard
Suckers merged as the sound and aesthetic of three one-man bands playing together. Pan, Quinn and Austin each played multiple instruments per song: singing, shouting and chanting in unison. The trio knew they were missing something or someone, and thankfully, that person arrived in drummer/keyboardist Brian Aiken, fresh off a year abroad in Hungary. Once Brian was on board, the band hit their stride, packing local venues and sharing bills with friends and kindred spirits in Yeasayer, MGMT, Dragons Of Zynth, Chairlift, Kyp Malone and Awesome Color, among others. Their heralded live performances feature group singing, primal beats, future sounds, Serbian interpretive dancers, trumpet blasts, religious truths and sheer enjoyment.
http://www.myspace.com/suckers
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
19 Galazy Room Backyard
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club most recently released a three-disc Live DVD on Abstract Dragon/Vagrant Records The DVD features over two hours of live concert footage from three sold out shows in Berlin, Dublin and Glasgow. The footage documents the end of the band’s 2007 tour in support of Baby 81, their most recent full-length release and was directed and edited by Tessa Angus with live audio mixed by BRMC’s own Peter Hayes.
http://www.blackrebelmotorcycleclub.com
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
19 La Zona Rosa
THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
Since forming in early 2007, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart have become one of the most talked about pop bands in years. Their distinctive brand of noisy pop is a tidy distillation of all the great noise-pop precedents – early MBV, House of Love, Pale Saints, Rocketship – but with that incredible exuberance and energy that the Pains bring to every song. They have released a handful of singles on classy labels like Slumberland, Fortuna Pop!, Atomic Beat and Cloudberry, each one issued to greater anticipation and even wilder reception. Critical acclaim has come from such varied quarters as The New York Times, Pitchfork, Stereogum, Fader, Big Takeover, Skatterbrain, Drowned In Sound, Indie-MP3, Clash Magazine and uncountable others.
http://www.thepainsofbeingpureatheart.com
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
19 Mohawk
http://www.noagela.blogspot.com
SXSW PERFORMANCES
March
19 Red Patio 7
20 Barbarella
THE BIRD AND THE BEE: A TRIBUTE TO HALL AND OATES: FREE GIVE-AWAY!
the bird and the bee, the duo of singer Inara George and multi-instrumental/producer Greg Kurstin, kicked off a musical scavenger hunt for their fans today by premiering all nine songs from their new album, Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates on nine different websites: AOL Spinner, BrooklynVegan, Entertainment Weekly, Idolator, MySpace, PerezHilton, Prefix, SPIN and USA Today (links to all tracks below). Featuring eight classic covers and one original song, “Heard It On The Radio”, the band’s love letter to the “rock & soul” duo, will be released on March 23 courtesy of EMI’s Blue Note Records.
the bird and the bee also played a once-in-a-lifetime concert on Friday night in Los Angeles to celebrate the album’s impending release and were joined on stage by very special surprise guest, John Oates, for performances of “Maneater,” “She’s Gone,” and “I Can’t Go For That”. In a rave review in today’s Los Angeles Times, August Brown wrote that Oates “couldn’t have asked for a more articulate love letter than the one the bird and the bee just gave him.” The entire concert was webcast live at Livestream.com, and will be archived on the site starting March 22.
THE BIRD AND THE BEE’S HALL & OATES SCAVENGER HUNT TIPSHEET:
1. Heard It On The Radio –
MySpace
2. I Can’t Go For That – Brooklyn Vegan
3. Rich Girl – SPIN
4. Sara Smile – Entertainment Weekly
5. Kiss On My List – Idolator
6. Maneater – PerezHilton
7. She’s Gone – AOL Spinner
8. Private Eyes – USA Today
9. One on One – Prefix
DISCOSALT, courtesy of FILTER Magazine wants to hook you up with a rad the bird and the bee prizepack!
One lucky winner will receive a copy of the entire bird and the bee CD discography (Interpreting The Masters Volume 1, 2009’s Ray Guns Aren’t Just The Future and their self-titled 2007 debut), a band t-shirt and a copy of Interpreting The Masters on vinyl.
Sign up HERE
GOLDFRAPP: ROCKET
The new 80’s movie montage friendly, synth heavy album Head First from Goldfrapp is out March 22nd via Mute, along with the release of the new single /video for “Rocket”, which you can get HERE.
‘Head First‘ is Goldfrapp‘s most powerful trip to date, a speedy rush of synth optimism, euphoria, fantasy and romance. With life affirming lyrics and stellar production it lifts off at full tilt and takes us on a journey to the heart of 2010. That said, it took me a while to realize this wasn’t the Pointer Sisters but I can easily be convinced to take a ride on this rocket anytime.
Check out this remix of ‘Rocket’ below:
Goldfrapp: ‘Rocket’ [Penguin Prison Remix] [mp3]
QUAIL LUNGS:DUM DADADUM
Discosalt Video of the Week 7/3/10: Quail Lung’s 7″ single, “Dumb Dadadum,” on the Post Present Medium label, directed by Joshua Jay Elliott. Giving his best Dylan, Quail Lungs aka Portland, OR-based crooner Travis Bonilla, is a mix of DIY home-recorded, countrified Americana and 60’s British Rock (sorta the poor man’s, mustachioed Dylan and the band doing an acoustic Kinks cover).
The Kinks – I Am Free [mp3] + Bob Dylan & The Band – Too Much Of Nothing [mp3]
Don’t believe the shit-fi slams: this is worth checking out. You can also check out Quail Lungs Side B track, ” You Can’t Believe in Anything, Yo” HERE.
THE DIG, THE ANTLERS, EDITORS: LIVE AT TERMINAL 5
Warming up Terminal 5’s crowd on Friday night, unsigned Brooklyn band The Dig took stage, playing an incredibly tight five song set, showboating the bands potential to easily join 2010’s crop of breakout bands. Playing no frills power indie rock, the band solidified why they have been gaining recognition as one of the best young bands in New York. The trio, all Berklee alum, featuring David Baldwin on lead vocals/guitar, Emile Mosseri on bass/vocals, and Erick Eiser on keyboards/guitar, not only write intelligent catchy songs, but are all amazing performers with enough musical prowess to back up their swagger. At times showing brilliant influences in psychedelia with hooks drenched in trippy keyboard reverb, instrumental feedback and guitar distortion, at its heart, the Dig is a rock and roll band. They play modern garage rock without any gimmicks and they do it extremely well.
Check out a free mp3 of “You’re Already Gone” courtesy of sneakattackmedia: http://www.sneakattackmedia.com/media/thedig/yourealreadygone.mp3
Next up in the lineup, The Antlers, whose live show, like their album, is a testament to the bands creative ability to deliver grandiose and yet intimate smart indie rock. The Brooklyn band, curiously performed along side two potted plants, kicking things off with Hospice‘s “Prologue” before moving into “Kettering.” A fairly quiet album, Pete Silberman’s performance was anything but. His quivering wails and debilitating sonic guitar riffs had the entire room in a hypnotic trance and on the verge of tears (or at least me). “Sylvia” reached epic swells while on other songs, the band infused subtle shades of shoegaze with more delay and reverb than appear on album tracks making the music even more dense and interesting. The bands emotional performance left every ounce of proverbial sweat, heartbreak, guilt and loss on the stage that there was nothing left to pour out. Drummer, Michael Lerner seemed to be so emotionally drained by the performance, he hung his head and stared off into the crowd. At the end of their set, Lerner threw his sticks and stormed off as if he had reached the brink of emotional output.
The last band to perform were The Editors, UK’s dark indie rock/post-punk revival band comprised of Tom Smith on vocals, guitar, keyboards, Chris Urbanowicz on guitar, Russ Leetch on bass, and Ed Lay on drums. They played an extremely fluid 18 song set covering their newly and much criticized new album In this Light and On this Evening, almost in entirety, sans the last track. Mixed in, were some songs from 2007’s An End has a Start. All of which peaked into an high energy dance-y three-song encore of “Munich,” “Papillon” and “Fingers in the Factories”, performed way more synthy and beat driven than they appear on the album… and endlessly better. In equal part the hypnotic light effects showering down in green, red and blue, and Smiths overly dramatic performance energy, the live show, unlike the album had an infectious energy that had the crowd pouring as much ceremonial sweat into the observance as the performance.
For some photos from the show click below or check out our FLICKR page for the whole set:
The Dig[nggallery id=41]
The Antlers[nggallery id=42]
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RAIN MACHINE, IRAN, NEON INDIAN,FRENCH HORN REBELLION, CUBIC ZIRCONIA: LIVE AT GRASSLANDS
Thanks to our friends at Pop Gun Booking, I had a chance to escape my defeatist infused valentines day and check out Neon Indian,French Horn Rebellion and Cubic Zirconia at Grasslands Gallery in Brooklyn on Sunday night. While Valentines Day is always somewhat of a trap, the good folks at Grasslands and Pop Gun put together anything but a manufactured rip-off. Where else could $8.00 deliver a romantic view of the Manhattan skyline and a full nights lineup of amazing music. The Valentines dance party kicked off with an unexpected bearded v-day treat for me, TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone, performing double duty with his bands Rain Machine and Iran, side by side friends Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, and Candles of Paradise. An exceedingly solid block of incredibly talented musicians for such an intimate space. While, I caught Malone perform before with TV on the Radio at Prospect Park, the bandshell’s sound system was no match for hearing Malone’s calm tenor literally in the shadow of his massive afro, about two feet in front of me. A serious treat (both his voice and man mane). The noisy indie rock band Iran and the even more experimental Rain Machine are an interesting foray for him, which I both find infinitely more interesting than TVOTR . Iran’s no-fi sound is a more lyric based project with a nod toward retro-indie bands like Pavement. At its core, this is really just cleverly disguised pop/folk-rock under a blanket of fuzzed out guitars and sonic atmosphere. Rain Machine leans more towards psychedelia and even suggests an affection for shoegaze. A more textured sound with lots of percussion, bells, sparingly strummed fuzzed out crunchy electric guitars, more cow bell and static raining down on Malones introspective lyrics. Check out more of IRAN HERE or RAIN MACHINE HERE. Which one is better? Its hard to decide. The party continued late into the night with overlapping DJ sets from Cubic Zirconia, Neon Indian and French Horn Rebellion, spinning a grab bag of Ace of Base, C& C Music Factory (whom even in this economy still seem to be flourishing) disco boogie and 80’s synth. While Cubic Zirconia’s set stood out because of Tiombe Lockhart taking her voice to the mic, the nights highlight for me, was definitely Neon Indian’s set. Some really sick infectious dance remixes from these guys that had the crowd sweating. Big ups to all the bands involved and Pop Gun for throwing a great party that brought the funk to save me from my funk and another v-day plagued by listless apathy. While you are here check out some Neon Indian remixes below:
DOWNLOAD: Neon Indian – Deadbeat Summer (Afghan Raiders Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Neon Indian – Should Have Taken Acid with You (Future Rock remix)
DOWNLOAD: Neon Indian – Mind, Drips (LaundroMatinee.com session) (MP3)
Rain machine picture courtesy of Kyle Dean Reinford Photography
NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB: CHAOS
Discosalt Video of the Week 2/14/10: This weeks video comes from UK post-punk, new wave, pop band New Young Pony Club with the single “Chaos” off their forthcoming 2nd album The Optimist, which hits stores March 1st via Modular. A real marriage of dance and pop ethic, the video for “Chaos” features a simple but stylish performance by the band, directed by Jo Apps. The band will be on tour in the UK for most of March, but no news yet on whether the band will visit our side of the great pond this year.
The single “Chaos” was also given the remix treatment by Rory Phillips and will be featured on the single alongside other remixes by Melé and the Manic Street Preachers. You can check it out below:
| New Young Pony Club | “Chaos (Rory Phillips Remix)” | MP3 |
WU-TANG VS. THE BEATLES: ENTER THE MAGICAL MYSTERY CHAMBERS
[rating:3]
Wu-Tang vs. The Beatles: Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers
This new mash up of the Beatles & Wu-Tang Clan isn’t really strictly a blend of Magical Mystery Tour with Enter the 36 Chambers, nor is it necessarily a combination of actual Beatles material. Most of the loops and samples sound like they’re taken from a reggae Beatles cover band, whatever the Dread Zeppelin of Beatles might be, or taken from Big Band arrangements of Beatles hits. Without working from the actual source material, the album suffers from the first time curiosity of the whole “How’d they do it?” thing. That said, all the songs are buffered with radio news clips of Beatlemania at it’s highest, clips of teenage girls camped outside of the Beatles’ hotel or interviews with the band at the time. These clips make what can be a tedious listen (27 songs here people) entertaining, and for every lackluster track or failed mash in the mashing up process, there’s a fit that is near perfect. Check the obvious mash up of “Got Your Money” and “You Never Give Me Your Money,” or especially “Uzi (Pinky Ring),” which flips through the dial of Beatles greatest hits with the change of Wu narrator, and as we know, any one of these songs can have a LOT of Wu narrators. Worth a listen to check the archival interview stuff overlaid over the music, and for the occasional home run combo.
It’s a free download now from Tea Set Records, check it out HERE or check out a sample below:
Play Wu-Tang Clan x The Beatles – C.R.E.A.M.
– John Whitaker
DAVID BOWIE: SPACE ODDITY (ORIGINAL DEMO)
If the media monkeys and their junky junkies invite you to their plastic pantomime… throw their invites away. Just thought everyone could use a little Bowie break to space out to today.
Here’s the original demo of David Bowies Space Oddity, from the Sound & Vision box set:
BEACH HOUSE: SILVER SOUL
New Video from the much talked about new Beach House album Teen Dream. The Maryland indie dream pop duo officially releases Teen Dream on Sub Pop this week with a DVD containing videos for each song on the album. Check out the fifth video released through gorillavsbear for the song “Silver Soul” below directed by Beach House’s singer, Victoria Legrand:
Beach House “Silver Soul” from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.
Need some more Beach House? Stream their new album “Teen Dream” in full on NPR HERE.
GRIZZLY BEAR COVERS HOT CHIP
SPOON: TRANSFERENCE
Transference, Spoons latest record, stays the course with Austin’s 15 year pop veteran’s. Pushing 40, and now on their 7th album, this might be their rawest most stripped down album to date. Once around, this sounds a lot different to me than their last EP and “Nobody Gets Me But You” stands out, but stop by later this month for a full album review. In the mean time, Transference is available to stream in its entirety for the week on NPR Music’s Exclusive First Listen series, so check it out HERE and let us know what you think.
THE DIOGENES CLUB: 979
We get a lot of music suggestions from indie labels, artists, PR Firms…even grandmothers. Todays submission comes from a Brighton Band called The Diogenes Club. A pretty laid back melodic pop duo with an 80’s synth sound that reminds me of early Phoenix. Their new EP 979, is a spacey 3 song album that will be available February 22, 2010 but you can stream it for free HERE
THOM YORKE: THE ERASER (XXXCHANGE REMIX)
Brooklyn based DJ XXXChange recently re-mixed the title track off Thom Yorke’s Eraser EP. You can stream the free track below but we should warn you, it will be stuck in your head all day.
FREE HOLIDAY DOWNLOAD: DO THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS?
Oklahoma is pretty OK. Discosalt friend and album reviewer John Whitaker turned us onto a new music label based out of Oklahoma called Nice People.Their mission is to release great music, made by nice people, for free...and they truly are nice people. They don’t even know you and they already got you a Christmas present. You can download a cover of one of my favorite Christmas tunes, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Locust Avenue’s Jeff Richardson and The Flaming Lips‘ Steven Drozd below:
DOWNLOAD: Jeff Richardson & Steven Drozd – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
If you are interested in more free music, just subscribe to the Nice People podcast or click here to open the iTunes page for Nice People.
STATE CHAMPION: STALE CHAMPAGNE
Southern, garage-folk act out of Louisville, KY.
Stream their most recent album Stale Champagne HERE , peep their myspace or check out a vid below.
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE: FALL BE KIND
Animal Collective has just released another album this year to follow up one of my favorite albums of the year Merriweather Post Pavilion. The new EP “Fall be Kind” is a darker album, only five tracks long and you can stream it for free right now Here