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Birds Of Avalon - "Your Downtime Is Up"
Psychedelic Raleigh quintet Birds Of Avalon release their expansive sophomore album Uncanny Valley 6/23 (7/21 on vinyl) via Volcom. We spoke with guitarist Cheetie Kumar and bassist David Mueller about the hazy, disorienting standout "Your Downtime Is Up."
The idea of down being up's used by the Velvet Underground, Richard Fariña, William Vollmann, etc. What was the song's inspiration? Down and up can be used to create a plurality of interpretations -- a literal physical disposition, emotional states or something more intangible -- as in "rising up," or "standing down." The inspiration, I guess, was to have a title that suggests the sort ambiguity and mystery that reflect the overall musical elements and feeling of the song.
What's the narrative? You can get close to figuring it out, but the instrumental swells drown out a complete meaning. Maybe that's intentional? The idea is that ultimately songs are about what they feel like, not necessarily what they "say." That said, there is a loose narrative about a child playing in a storm tunnel, coming face to face with his doppelganger and getting frozen to the spot. He watches his double leave the tunnel to assume his identity while he (the child) remains trapped below forever. A playful scenario gone horribly awry...
The Fresh & Onlys - "Vanishing Cream" Video
A few days ago we posted the The Wicker Man-meets-Jewelled Antler sun splotches of the Fresh & Onlys' (sorta) eerie "Invisible Forces" video. Things get psychedelic in a more intensely tripped-out (and Sublime Frequencies DVD) way in the EyeBodega-directed clip... (more)
Colin Hay Responds To "Down Under" Verdict
Hay is not happy. He says the flute line in question was a live "improvisation" that made it onto the official "Down Under" recording a year after the song was written. Read his full statement, including a few other convincing... (more)
Bonnaroo 2010 Lineup
From naming stages and tents Which, What, This, That, and Other so that asking for directions can't help but become a stoned Abbot & Costello routine, to unveiling its lineup via a protracted runup of internet-published "clues," to just generally... (more)
The Golden Filter - "Hide Me"
With their carefully sustained clandestine aesthetic and tendency toward darker but still deeply jubilant dance music, the Golden Filter are, in one sense or another, the NYC version of the Knife. And, yeah, in other senses their not. As far... (more)
MGMT Congratulations Details
So much better than their sophomore album's working title, Mad Kudos. Spacemen 3's Peter Kember produced and Dave Fridmann mixed Congratulations, which will be out April 13. Andrew VanWyngarden reveals the tracklist and the album's "surfing thread" over at SPIN.... (more)
