« October 2008 | Main | December 2008 »
By eh
I saw this commercial several times this weekend, and was very struck by the jingle (we'll leave aside the fact that this product is a Polly Pocket rip; this isn't a toy blog). It's obviously an original jingle, with a heavy Latin influence. But it actually reminded me a lot of Manu Chao's "Me gustas tu" (below). I thought it was really interesting. And I don't think that jingle is ever going to leave my head.
By eh
Recently on Stereogum, the music blog has started running a twice-a-week feature called Progress Report where they catch up on bands we used to love.
Some of them are a little more obscure than others; Andrew Bird has been releasing albums pretty steadily for the past few years, so its not shocking (but not unwelcome!) to hear that his next album, "Noble Beasts," is out in Jan. Whereas The Boy Least Likely To ... made a big splash in 2005 and then all but disappeared after their tour (their new album is due in March).
But it's a pretty cool feature. I only wish that I had thought of it first.
By Hal Bienstock
Special to amNewYork
• Gang Gang Dance is at Music Hall of Williamsburg Friday, 9 p.m., $15
• They play Santos Party House Saturday, 11 p.m., $15 adv/$18 day of show
Like many seemingly overnight sensations, Gang Gang Dance have spent the better part of a decade creating their unique soundscapes that encompass techno, hip-hop, punk, dance, world music and more. Yet it wasn’t until this year that the Manhattan-based band began to get the attention afforded to fellow musicians living across the river in Williamsburg.
The fact that Gang Gang’s latest album, "Saint Dymphna," is its poppiest to date is a big reason why. But rather than a new direction, the band members see it as a culmination of a process that began in 2002 when their friend and collaborator Nathan Maddox was struck by lightning and killed while watching a storm on the roof of his apartment building.
“We first got serious when Nathan passed away,” said singer Lizzie Bougatsos. “We felt like everything we were doing was a homage to him and that spreading his message was an important job of ours.”
More after the jump.
By eh
Recently, the Rough Guides book "The Best Music You've Never Heard" came across my desk. To a music geek, that sure sounds like a challenge.
I wondered how obscure these treasures really were. On a quick flip through the book, there were definitely bands I recognize, some of whom were already my favorites. But there were also bands, that true to the title, I had never heard of.
But music is part of my job, and I'd been kind of a geek for free before that. I wondered what the average person would make of this book. So I rounded up a few of my friends and tested them on 20 bands chosen at random. The results, in spreadsheet form, here.
Everyone, from casual listeners to music journalists, had heard of someone. No one had heard of all of them.
Some more analysis after the jump.
(Also, apologies to Scott R., Adam U.; I had your answers, and then my email ate them. Groupwise!)
By Scott A. Rosenberg
• “The Pitchfork 500” release party is at The Gutter Bar Wednesday. 9pm.
Forget Rolling Stone, Spin and any other music publication. When it comes to music writing these days, it’s the Web site PitchforkMedia.com that sets the standard today.
The site, which has been known to jump-start a music career with a 9.2 rating out of 10.0 (Broken Social Scene’s “You Forget It In People”) and slaughter musicians hopes with a 0.0 stab (Travis Morrison’s “Travistan”), has taken its online dominance to the printed page with its new book, “The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs From Punk to the Present” edited by current Pitchfork editor Scott Plagenhoef and the site’s creator, Ryan Schreiber.
Continue reading "Pitchfork picks it's top 500 singles since 1977" »
Shuffle down a little bit on the blog here and you'll find an interview with Miles Zuniga of Fastball, who's performing at Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday night.
I jumped on to YouTube to grab a video of the band's infectious single "The Way," and the related videos section was like a cross section of my high school years where, I loathe to admit, I was a slave to the radio.
After the jump, you can experience what I was going through in the mid- to late-'90s with a video retrospective I call "Songs I can Sing in Karaoke Without Looking at the Words That I Don't Want Anyone to Know About."
OK, in all fairness, I actually still like some of these songs, but do people really need to know that I'm very familiar with Verve Pipe's "The Freshman"?
Continue reading "I unfortunately have been reminded of the nineties" »
By Charles Devilbiss
Special to amNewYork
• Castanets are at Union Hall Wednesday. 7pm, $10
Ray Raposa, the creative magus behind Castanets, recorded “City of Refuge” all by his lonesome in an Overton, Nev., motel room, holed up with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.
“It was very helpful to have a concrete lack of distractions,” Raposa says regarding the solitude of the Western town. “I didn’t have a vehicle or a means of getting out of the five-block radius, so there was just very little else to focus on.”
By Ed Condran
Special to amNewYork
• Fastball is at Bowery Ballroom Tuesday. 8pm, $15.
Trends in rock can change faster than Sarah Palin’s popularity.
A decade ago, power-pop bands, such as Fastball and Semisonic, enjoyed a brief period of success. The former rose out of oblivion when its ultra-catchy “The Way” reached the Top Five of Billboard’s pop chart.
Continue reading "Fastball still knows how to find "The Way"" »
By eh
Thanksgiving is Thursday, which means it's time to start looking ahead to Christmas. Black Friday is the traditional day when radio stations switch to an all Christmas format, so the assault is coming soon.
ASCAP today has released their top 25 most performed in the past five years, and if trends hold, this is what we can expect to hear a lot of in the next month. (Listen to the full list here.)
1. Winter Wonderland
Written by: Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith
Performed by: Eurythmics
2. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
Written by: Mel Tormé, Robert Wells
Performed by: Nat "King" Cole
3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Written by: Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin
Performed by: The Pretenders
4. Sleigh Ride
Written by: Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish
Performed by: The Ronettes
5. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Written by: Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie
Performed by: Frank Sinatra
The rest after the jump.
By eh
Today's the day, people. "Chinese Democracy" is out, and Dr. Pepper is giving away free sodas. Apparently, in this economic climate, people really like free, as the Dr. Pepper website was down for part of the day. But you can claim your coupon now at the above link (by 6pm, hurray!).
By eh
MTV news is reporting that No Doubt is considering a reunion. The new and improved No Doubt website seems to confirm that interpretation.
But, really? Is that a good idea for real? Gwen seems to have taken her career in a different direction entirely, and I'm not sure her fans want to see her get back in that ska box. As an original fan of the band, I'm not sure I want to see any of them get back in that ska box. There was a time and a place for that kind of thing.
Sure, "Return of Saturn" saw the band go off in a more rock direction, but as far as I'm concerned, that's where the band lost their charm.
Yes, it's incredibly unfair of me to confine No Doubt to a nostalgia act, but until I see evidence to the contrary, I don't think we really need to hear more from Gwen, Tony and Co. as such.
Prove me wrong, guys.
Look for them to tour this summer.
OK, he won't. But his cover of "Brother can you spare a dime?" is awesome.
Ken Moore hacked his Wii-mote to give it theremin-like functionality. See how here.
By eh
This event is so bizarre, I'm just going to let the press release speak for itself:
From Noon till Midnight at Spike Hill In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Roger Greenawalt and guest singers will perform all 189 original Beatle songs in one day on ukulele.
The many guest singers include The Pierces, We The They and Rex Moroux. The event will be hosted by Blender Magazine’s music editor Rob Tannenbaum.
A series of films investigating the relationship between The Beatles, the ukulele and the world's most powerful man, Mr Warren Buffett, directed by David Barratt, are being posted at www.forthebenefitofmrbuffet.blogspot.com
The Ukulele's magical powers impacted Mr. Buffett in his formative years and Roger and David feel he is the perfect recipient for the proceeds from the concert. They will be delivering all monies to him personally.
Apparently, this is for real. Above, Greenawalt shows his prowess on the uke.
(NB: There are bad words in this song. Also, it may cause you to spontaneously get freaky, now.)
(via)
By Ed Condran
Special to amNewYork
Here's a classic
President Bush ends the war in Iraq. The Chicago Cubs wins the World Series. Guns N’ Roses, aka Axl Rose, finally decides to release “Chinese Democracy.”
Each of those are things that most thought were unlikely to occur in this lifetime.
But shockingly enough, the latter will occur Sunday, which is extra strange since albums traditionally are released on Tuesdays. But the move almost makes sense for Rose since the enigmatic frontman is unlike any other rocker.
By eh
In the biggest music news of this millennium, Guns 'n' Roses' long awaited "Chinese Democracy" will actually hit shelves on Sunday, after many, many delays -- work on the album started in 1994. But, if you just can't wait any longer, the album is streaming in full on MySpace.
It definitely already sounds dated, but it's also ... dare I say it ... good. Chuck Klosterman says so much more eloquently over at the A.V. Club.
By Ed Condran
Special to amNewYork
• Tom Morello is at The FIllmore New York at Irving Plaza on Friday. 9pm, $25.
Tom Morello has been plenty busy in 2008. His reunited band, Rage Against the Machine, embarked on a world tour while the Harvard alum with a political science degree — with honors, of course — performed and stumped for President-elect Barack Obama. Now he’s back with his other project, The Nightwatchman, and a new album, “The Fabled City.”
amNewYork spoke to the iconic guitarist
By eh
I love these kids' interpretation of "Dirty Work."
Today, on The Onion's main page: Donald Fagen defends Steely Dan to Friends.
And then, on the non-fiction AV Club side, the staff writers discuss which albums they spend the most time arguing about. First up, Keith Phipps: "Any album by Steely Dan." A debate rages in the comments, with more people coming out in favor of the Dan than not.
More fuel for my theory: People who love music, love Steely Dan. Even if they won't admit it.
By eh
Almost a year ago, I listened to Sia's debut album on the Starbucks label, "Some People Have Real Problems." At the time I hated it. I said something snotty, like, "We already have one KT Tunstall."
And I take it all back. There have been several times that her album has popped up on random on the old iTunes, and I've said to myself, "I like this. Who is this?"
It's still not my favorite album ever, but I find it quite pleasant, and I think she has a nice voice. Almost like a less funky Alice Smith. (Oh, and listen to Alice Smith always. That's an opinion I'll stick by.)
By eh
Rihanna's video premieres tonight on MTV. I'm not sure why that's significant, as the video is already online (see above), but kudos to MTV for getting back to the music. (And enough with premiering videos on 20/20, etc.)
The video itself is not super exciting: mostly languid shots of static people looking wistful, but I guess it matches the tone of the song.
Thanks!
By Ryan Chatelain
• Bob Schneider will be performing at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday. 8pm, Sold out.
“Believe me, I would love to be as popular as possible,” says singer-songwriter Bob Schneider.
While the Austin, Texas, musician has developed a nationwide cult following and flirted with big-time success (his video “Captain Kirk” cracked VH1’s rotation in 2004), Schneider believes he might be more famous if he settled on a uniform sound or delivered only songs from the heart.
By eh
Stereogum has a new video up for Army Navy's "My Thin Sides," featuring Human Giant's Paul Scheer.
The video is pretty funny, and the song is catchy, too.
I recently picked up "Things The Grandchildren Should Know" by Mark Oliver Everett, aka E of the alt-rock band The Eels. E had a pretty interesting life - his dad, for instance, was Hugh Everett III who was a physicist who proposed the Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum physics. If you want to know what that is, you'd better click on the link cause I can't explain it.
Anyway, E's book is a memoir which follows his life that is filled with tragedy. For example, and this is pretty well documented, The Eel's second album, "Electro-Shock Blues" was written after his sister committed suicide, some of his friends died and his mother was diagnosed with cancer. This is not your typical rock autobiography.
Continued after the jump.
Continue reading "The Eels video review or an investigation into the mind of Mark Oliver Everett" »
By Ed Condran
Special to amNewYork
• Nicole Atkins is at Bowery Ballroom Friday. 8pm, $16.
Even though Nicole Atkins moved out of New York City in 2007 after living in Brooklyn for seven years, the sensual singer-songwriter still has an affinity for the city.
“I still love New York,” Atkins says. “I come back often.”
Continue reading "Nicole Atkins in a New Jersey state of mind" »
Elephant 6 member Julian Koster is taking his holiday cheer on the road.
(You can't see it so well, but he's playing the saw.)
The musician is going on a standard tour, but just to spice things up, he's also going caroling at people's houses while he's in town. Koster is in NYC Dec. 13-14.
Press release, which includes details on how to get Koster and friends to come to your house, after the jump.
Continue reading "Julian Koster goes caroling, orThe Christmas rush is starting" »
By eh
(via)
The baby from Nirvana's "Nevermind" cover is now 17 (jeez, was it that long ago?), but he just can't get enough of that pool. Just recently, Spencer Elden recreated the photo, this time wearing shorts. "It remains unclear as to why Elden decided to shoot this new photo," reports MTV news.
Well, why the heck not? See the original here.
By Robert Spuhler
Special to amNewYork
•Big Daddy Kane is at B.B. King Blues Club on Friday. 8pm, $30.
Tired of the same five producers recording every song on hip-hop radio? Tired of rappers with the same flows talking about the same topics?
Big Daddy Kane feels your pain.
Continue reading "Big Daddy Kane celebrates 20 years of hip-hop stardom" »
By eh
(via Boing Boing)
The team called Walter Robot produced Gnarls Barkley's latest music video, a B-side to the single release of "Who's Gonna Save My Soul" called "Mystery Man." It features a self-doubting superman-type rendered in paper cutout-style animation, and follows in a long line of inventive and fun GB videos. (Also, there's an official video of GB doing a cover of Radiohead's "Reckoner" up on the YouTube.)
By eh
A few weeks ago, I posted about the abundance of "Womanizer" remixes, and here's one more to add to the list. The Hood Internet mixes Spears' track with The Department of Eagles' "No One Does It Like You." It's pretty cool.
By eh
Pretty Much Amazing has a leaked Rihanna demo from her new album, expected in 2006. I like the crunchy guitar and deflated horn riffs in the background. It keeps the song from feeling too slick. I hope that doesn't get lost in the final mix. It clocks in about 3 and a half minutes, though something about the song feels really long. It could be that the whole song is sung within a span of about three or four notes, and the chorus is a little underwhelming, so there's really noting to break up that monotony.
But it is just a demo.
If you're in the mood for some "Classic" Rihanna, here ya go:
Twin brothers Eric and Todd Dammann do a folk cover of "Umbrella." It's better than you'd expect. They have a whole series of videos of them doing acoustic covers of R&B and pop songs here.
By Hal Bienstock
Special to amNewYork
• Girl Talk is performing at Terminal 5 on Saturday, Sunday and Nov. 18. Sat. 8pm; Sun. and Nov. 18 7pm, sold out.
For much of the time Gregg Gillis has been making music as Girl Talk, he felt like Clark Kent. All week, he’d work a 9-to-5 job as a chemical engineer before morphing into a rock star for the weekend.
“Every Friday, I’d duck out of work early and run to the airport, jumping on planes, selling out shows, signing autographs and partying with kids,” Gillis says. “Then on Monday, I’d get back to my cubicle and people would assume I was at the movies eating popcorn.”
Continue reading "Girl Talk standing on the shoulders of musical giants" »
By Hal Bienstock
Special to amNewYork
• Eagles of Death Metal play Music Hall of Williamsburg Sunday and Bowery Ballroom Monday.
Jesse Hughes of Eagles of Death Metal has one goal in life. “I like to bring a healthy appreciation for the ladies back to rock and roll,” he said.
And the ladies have certainly responded. An Eagles of Death Metal concert is like a return to the days of "Almost Famous," complete with groupies and panties thrown onstage. Hughes says it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how to appeal to the women in the crowd.
“How many bands have you seen lately that are just a bunch of angry dudes pumping their fists?” he asked. “I want girls to dance and like me and know that I know how to get down, so I try to tell them that in every song.”
More after the jump.
Continue reading "Eagles of Death Metal wants the ladies to dance" »
By Scott A. Rosenberg
• Neil Halstead is at Maxwell’s Monday. 8pm, $12.
• He is at Mercury Lounge Tuesday. 6:30pm, $12.
• He is at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Wednesday opening for Mark Kozelek of Red House Painters and Sun Moon Kil. 8pm, $25.
At the best Neil Halstead shows, it’s super quiet. At the bad ones, people make fun of his facial hair.
“Occasionally, you do gigs and they haven’t gone as well as you wanted them to,” says the hirsute musician, who is also the frontman of Mojave 3 and the late shoegazer band Slowdive. “Sometimes you just feel like you haven’t grabbed people in the right way. … I also had a few people heckling my beard, which is weird.”
Continue reading "Neil Halstead rides into New York on his 'Mighty Engine'" »
By Charles Devilbiss
Special to amNewYork
• The Sea and Cake is at Bowery Ballroom Monday. 8pm, $20.
• The band is at Music Hall of Williamsburg Tuesday. 8pm, $20.
Sam Prekop is a one-man art machine.
Though quite soft-spoken in person, Prekop has found a lot of ways to make his voice heard loud and clear.
Continued after the jump.
Continue reading "The Sea and Cake: More than just musicians" »
By eh
The Boxing Lesson - Dark Side of the Moog from Eric Power on Vimeo.
This video is pretty neat. I really like the animation, which is by Eric Power. You can see more of his videos here.
The song? I like it too. It definitely wears its influences on its sleeve, but these kids don't mess around. Check out more of The Boxing Lesson here.
By Sara Baumberger
sara.baumberger@am-ny.com
• The Jones Street Boys are at Housing Works Used Books Cafe Thursday. 8pm, FREE.
Brooklyn’s The Jones Street Boys are not a traditional bluegrass band. Traditional bluegrass bands feature acoustic stringed instruments like the banjo, fiddle, guitar and upright bass.
“Once we started adding drums and other instruments,” says JSB harmonica player Jon Benedict, “we weren’t strictly bluegrass anymore.”
Continued after the jump.
Continue reading "The Jones Street Boys help popularize bluegrass in New York City" »
By eh
• From Pitchfork: Stephen Malkmus and friends cover "Funk #49" by James Gang (above); Tom Waits collaborates with Kool Keith.
• From Stereogum: That cover of "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" you heard on "Gossip Girl" (Because you're all watching GG, right?) was Thurston Moore and Jemina Pearl; New Gnarls Barkley song; New Metric album!
• From Wired: Christian Guitar Hero exists.
It's a so-so "punk" cover of "What a Wonderful World" -- very Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (which, off topic, check out their cover of "The Boxer" on their MySpace page, linked above) -- but the video is a slide show of Obama photos, including some adorable snapshots from his childhood. I shouldn't admit this, but I've been on the verge of sentimental tears of joy since I voted yesterday, and this video made it hard not to cry at work. Which would be really freaking embarrassing. I just have allergies, OK?! I'm fine!!!
By eh
I posted this a few weeks ago in an Obama music post, but I thought it merited repeating. This is "Obama," by Afro-pop band Extra Golden. They're giving away copies of the mp3 today here.
By Hal Bienstock
Special to amNewYork
• Deerhunter is at Music Hall of Williamsburg Friday. 9pm, $15. The band is at Bowery Ballroom Saturday. 8:30pm, $17.
For most of its career, Deerhunter has been known as a challenging band thanks to noisy, experimental songs and a stage show in which lead singer Bradford Cox has been known to wear a dress, smear fake blood on himself and argue with audience members. But the band seems to be mellowing with age.
Deerhunter’s third album, “Microcastle,” finds the band mutating into something of a pop group without sacrificing any of the quirks that make it unique. The toned-down, but still offbeat, sound comes from a recent obsession with ’50s music, which inspired the members to write more concise songs. Still, “Microcastle” is a far cry from an Elvis Presley album.
Continued after the jump.
By eh
This T-Rex song has been going through my head for a week. I'm hoping that by releasing it out into the blogosphere it might leave me alone.
For you folks old enough to remember Mario Paint for the Super Nintendo, you might recall the game allowed you compose music to accompany your artistic creation.
Well, some people who are a lot more skilled that I am have turned the Mario Paint composer into a vehicle for some downright amazing covers, despite the limitations from the program.
Take on Me by A-Ha
More after the jump
Continue reading "Mario Paint - The world's best composing software" »
By eh
How many literary references can you find in rock and roll? A lot. For purposes of this list, we stuck with band names.
If you think of any we missed, leave it (with literary citation) in the comments.
• We start with an obvious one: Shakespeare's Sister.
• Airborne Toxic Event — name refers to Dom DeLillo's "White Noise"
• Augie March — Saul Bellow's novel of the same name
• Belle & Sebastian — is the title of a French children's book by Cécile Aubry.
More after the jump.
By Robert Spuhler
Special to amNewYork
• Mr. Lif is at the Knitting Factory Tuesday, 8pm, $18.
It should be no surprise to hip-hop fans that Mr. Lif would have some thoughts about the presidential race. The Boston-born emcee’s passion and focus has always been more serious and analytical than that of most of his peers.
But the presidential race has also been a major inspiration to the independent rapper. Thanks to the free material to work with given by Obama, McCain and three 24-hour news networks, he’s preparing to release his first full-length album in almost three years, appropriately enough on Inauguration Day.
More after the jump.
