May 14, 2008
We've told you how we like Man Man's Rabbit Habits, on the stereo and in the great outdoors. Now we can say we like it in cartoon form, too. The Arthur Jones-drawn video for "Mister Jung Stuffed" opens in the men's bathroom, heads to the bar, and walks past an assorted number of miscreants (sexy nun, guy killed with banana, talking taxidermy, Santa and his hot elf, some dude having a pizza party in his pants, talking hamburger, Mr. T, hippies, the Rockettes), until arriving at the dramatic moment that sends our poor protagonist into the depths of hell where he pilots his little boat on the River Styyx. It's probably safe for work unless your work thinks genital-grabbing cartoons are a bad scene.
CONTINUE READING NEW MAN MAN VIDEO - "MISTER JUNG STUFFED"...
Posted at 5:13 PM in ,
Tags: Man Man
latest by Adrianna
The last we heard from Andy Cabic & Co. was a pretty heady section of the 10-minute extended ProTooled remix of "You May Be Blue." But Naturalismo blog caught and videotaped his show at the Troubadour in West Hollywood this past Wednesday, so now we can update your Vetiver log with a brief interview about his covers collection A Thing Of The Past (seemingly out tomorrow on Gnomonsong), among other things (like Vashti Bunyan), plus the performance of a brand new tune, "Another Reason To Go," which will ostensibly show up on his next full-length, slated for an '09 release. The band sounds great. Even better, Naturalismo tells us they recorded the entire concert and will post additional songs in the next few weeks. Cool. One thing first, though: Does that say "freak folk" above Andy's head? Incorrigible.
CONTINUE READING VETIVER SINGS AND TALKS LIVE...
Posted at 1:53 PM in ,
Tags: Vetiver
latest by yes yes - no
May 13, 2008
Make this advance track two from noted child-rearing bloggers/indie rock couple Mates Of State's Re-Arrange Us. Maybe not as memorably melodic as the outstanding "Get Better," but it's not for lack of arrangement: "My Only Offer" builds bells, glockenspiels, horns on top of a simple two-chord piano figure, with Kori and Jason's vocals swapping on the verses, harmonizing on the hook, hitting the callback/echoes later. All in all pretty pop, but the story here's in the lyrics, two lovers maybe not so much in love, slogging through the dulled luster, trying anyway. The chorus: "Oh, It's my only offer / stifled copies of myself / as someone else." Gives a little more resonance to the melody, innit.
CONTINUE READING NEW MATES OF STATE - "MY ONLY OFFER"...
Posted at 6:04 PM in ,
Tags: Mates Of State
latest by some people fill in the 'URL' section so others can see more about them
May 12, 2008
Cursive got a passing mention last week, and before that we were shrugging our shoulders at the bad video for "Bad Sects," but the Omaha quintet passed through Daytrotter so now they get an updated, more joyous post all to themselves. Tim Kasher & Co. recorded three songs including an impassioned take on The Ugly Organ's "Sierra" plus two brand new ones, the organ-drenched "Let Me Up" and airier "Donkeys." They deal with people behaving badly or sadly. Take a listen at Daytrotter. We're told Cursive's booked studio time beginning next week to get going on their follow-ups to 2006's Happy Hollow!, and that these two will be on it, so this at least offers a tiny idea of what to expect. They also have a few dates coming up during which they'll debut more new material (in fact, the folks at Saddle Creek say they'll play "almost all new" material). Just three dates, though, so spin the bottle and see if they're passing through your city.
CONTINUE READING CURSIVE VISIT DAYTROTTER, DEBUT NEW SONGS...
Posted at 4:49 PM in
Tags: Cursive
latest by Taryn
May 9, 2008
Although it's not any sort of epic transformation, the half-the-title-track to Viva La Vida or Death Will Come Before This Album Title Is Over, posted earlier this week, is at least a good cut and successful rut-buster. Who knows what the rest of the record holds as far as that's concerned, but while Chris Martin has little to no skill when it comes to naming things (see: album titles, children), you can be sure he is well versed in the use of multiple screens and stage lights to achieve an overdramatic aura. So if you want to see Coldplay's sparkly new Eno-isms translated for the arena -- and if you live in Japan, Europe, or North America -- 2008 is your lucky year: it is World Tour Time. If you can't make it to the free shows (which, btw, you can enter to win now), here's how to help make the lads a little richer via these confirmed commitments for the North American leg of Falsetto '08:
CONTINUE READING COLDPLAY WILL VIVA LA VIDA IN YOUR TOWN, PROBABLY...
Posted at 1:06 PM in
Tags: Coldplay
latest by killachika
Earlier this week we posted a couple MP3s from Gregor Samsa, the multi-city minimalist collective that shares members with Kayo Dot. Now we turn our gaze toward KD. Led by Toby Driver and Mia Matsumiya, the NYC sextet just released their third album Blue Lambency Downward on Isis man Aaron Turner's Hydra Head records. The opening, title track is a mysterious 10-minute meandering of bells like crickets, bursts of patient guitar, jazzy drum fills (kept to a toppling spaciousness), electronic pulses, and chiming vocal melodies. It kinda feels like a psychedelic boat trip piloted by Ghost, albeit it with bigger "pop" tendencies.
CONTINUE READING NEW KAYO DOT - "BLUE LAMBENCY DOWNWARD"...
Posted at 10:28 AM in ,
Tags: Kayo Dot
latest by Huph
May 7, 2008
The 24-year-old Brooklyn (via Philadelphia) singer-songwriter Pepi Ginsberg released her third album Red the end of last month. The collection, produced by her Park The Van labelmate Scott McMicken of Dr. Dog, has a vintage, analog-drenched feel, but with more than enough tweaks and twitters to keep it expansive and interesting. The Albert Birney-directed video for bona fide standout "The Waterline" finds Ginsberg ambling through a shifting, color-coding NYC landscape (St. Marks, Alice tripping in the park). She smiles, looks concerned, loses her head, is frozen in space and smeared with paint, and there are creepy encounters with people in masks, etc., but the real star of the whole thing is her gorgeous voice. It hits with some sorta Edie Brickell warmth, but in a much jazzier Jolie Holland or, better yet, Spector realm. Also, listen closely to her words: "Tell them life is poetry, you can't ... read twice."
CONTINUE READING NEW PEPI GINSBERG VIDEO - "THE WATERLINE"...
Posted at 1:24 PM in , ,
Tags: Pepi Ginsberg
latest by John
We were big fans of First Imaginary Symphony For Nomad back in the day, as well as the Music Tapes' prop-heavy, metronome-toting live show. If you can believe it, that debut came out nine years ago. Around that time, Neutral Milk Hotel was still active, so it was seen as Julian Koster's singing-saw and wire-recorder side project. Since then, NMH went the way of legends, and Koster's kept a lower profile. Well, he and his Tapes are back. Via Merge:
[Koster is] working on a story album entitled 2nd Imaginary Symphony for Cloudmaking, narrated by Brian Dewan and accompanied by bowed banjos, singing saws and sound effects. Portions of the story were aired in early 2003 on WNYC in New York, and were met with great enthusiasm by Music Tapes fans longing for new material.
Music Tapes For Clouds And Tornadoes spotlights Julian's songcraft and distinctive vocals, his almost religious devotion to the singing saw, and numerous contributions from other musicians in the Elephant 6 orbit. As on previous efforts, recording was done using an array of antique hardware, giving Music Tapes For Clouds And Tornadoes a timeless, texturally rich sonic palette. It is the sound of Julian's world poking through the curtain surrounding objective reality. In his words, "I just find the imaginary more real than the physical. Magic, the way we find things beautiful, the light behind eyes, kindness, and how we want to serve and protect the things we care about - these things seem like the real foundation of the world to me. I hope that the songs on this record can be more than just postcards from a world, but an invitation to it, to anyone at all who may find such a place comforting and nice."
Quite the build-up, eh? Now it's time to look and listen.
CONTINUE READING STILL NO NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL REUNION, BUT THE MUSIC TAPES ARE BACK WITH NEW ALBUM, VIDEO, LIVE SHOW...
Posted at 11:14 AM in , ,
Tags: Neutral Milk Hotel | The Music Tapes
latest by Unlimited
