deb's mp3s...

a year

2011-01-12T22:03:00.002-05:00

Wow, it's been almost a year since I posted on this blog...maybe I should start again...

This is my favorite song off Sufjan's new album, his first"real" new record in five years. My daughter Anneliese loves it too.

MP3 Sufjan Stevens - I Walked (from 2010's The Age of Adz)

Radiohead - How to Disappear Completely and Never be Found (live for Haiti, Los Angeles, January 2010)

2010-02-06T18:12:00.004-05:00

my favorite Radiohead song ever...this guy allbearsrule has a whole bunch of clips up from this show, check 'em out!

Q&A: Drive-By Truckers' Patterson Hood (via Billboard.com)

2010-02-04T12:45:00.003-05:00

Billboard interviews the leader of the Drive-By Truckers, inheritors of the Allman Brothers Band's mantle and yet another phenomenal act based out of Athens, GA.

Q&A: Drive-By Truckers' Patterson Hood

The Magnetic Fields - You Must Be Out of Your Mind

2010-02-02T17:53:00.006-05:00

Just beautiful! and I'm always a sucker for Stephen Merritt's (above, upper right) clever lyrics:

You can't go 'round just saying stuff
Because it's pretty
And I no longer drink enough
To think you're witty

MP3 The Magnetic Fields - You Must Be Out of Your Mind (from 2010's Realism)

Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms vs Bad Arms

2009-12-01T15:29:00.005-05:00

A beautiful, powerful breakup song off this Scottish band's tremendous sophomore album.

MP3 Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms vs Bad Arms (from 2008's The Midnight Organ Fight)

Jeff Mangum - Two-Headed Boy (live at the Knitting Factory, NYC, in 1998)

2009-11-21T13:57:00.001-05:00

Wow. The intensity that is Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel. No wonder people throw fits every time he appears to sing backup at an Olivia Tremor Control or Elf Power show. Come back Jeff!

Girls - Lust for Life

2009-11-20T10:25:00.000-05:00

You have to hand it to San Francisco's Girls. With perhaps the least Google-able band name possible, they have nonetheless ascended to the top of the search results. This song is a good example of their retro sound. They most often get compared to the Beach Boys and are certainly as melodic but also much noisier. Right now the band is famous mostly for its frontman Christopher Owens' (right, above) having grown up in the cult Children of God.

Note: this is not an Iggy Pop cover!

Girls - Lust for Life (from 2009's Album)

Lou Barlow - Gravitate

2009-11-19T13:48:00.002-05:00

Catchy single from Lou's new solo record. He is the bass player and writes the introspective lyrics for Dinosaur, Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion.

MP3 Lou Barlow - Gravitate (from 2009's Goodnight Unknown)

Here We Go Magic - Fangela

2009-11-19T13:35:00.002-05:00

Here We Go Magic is the moniker of young singer-songwriter Luke Temple from magical Salem, Massachusetts, who also performs under his own name.

MP3 Here We Go Magic - Fangela (from 2009's Here We Go Magic)

The Antlers - Two

2009-11-19T12:14:00.001-05:00

It's been TOO LONG since we've featured a new Brooklyn band, so here are the Antlers with the tune Sirius XMU's been playing off their 2009 LP, Hospice. Record gets an 8.5 from Pitchfork.

MP3 The Antlers - Two (from 2009's Hospice)

Holy Fuck - Lovely Allen

2009-11-19T10:16:00.002-05:00

I know this is old (2007) and already a car commercial, but the song just keeps sounding better and better to me. From Toronto, these guys use real instruments and children's toys to make electronic-sounding sounds without using computers. Pretty cool!

Holy Fuck - Lovely Allen (from 2007's LP)

Vampire Weekend - Horchata

2009-11-12T16:14:00.003-05:00

Because I just love it and can't wait for the new album! (Bert's birthday, January 12th)...

MP3 Vampire Weekend - Horchata (from 2010's Contra)

The Flaming Lips - Watching the Planets live on Conan

2009-10-15T08:23:00.002-04:00

Absolutely hilarious and who doesn't wanna bang that gong? Funniest live rock show I ever saw, well worth the price of admission. New double LP getting fantastic reviews.

MP3 The Flaming Lips - Watching the Planets (from 2009's Embryonic, featuring Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

The Beatles vs Radiohead

2009-09-10T11:13:00.008-04:00

So let us review...this week the Beatles' remastered albums were reissued and reviewed by Pitchfork, who rated them as follows:

1963 Please Please Me 9.5
1963 With the Beatles 8.8
1964 A Hard Day’s Night 9.7
1964 Beatles for Sale 9.3
1965 Help! 9.2
1965 Rubber Soul 10.0
1966 Revolver 10.0
1967 Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 10.0
1967 Magical Mystery Tour 10.0
1968 The Beatles (the white album) 10.0
1969 Yellow Submarine 6.2
1969 Abbey Road 10.0
1970 Let It Be 9.1

Compare these numbers to the numbers for Radiohead, the most critically acclaimed band of the last 15 years:

1993 Pablo Honey 5.4
1995 The Bends 10.0
1997 OK Computer 10.0
2000 Kid A 10.0
2001 Amnesiac 9.5
2003 Hail to the Thief 8.6
2007 In Rainbows 9.7

In their 8 years of recording together, the Beatles put out 12 studio albums (not including the soundtrack to Yellow Submarine, which Pitchfork rightfully calls the "only minor album" of their career), including the double white album. They released at least one album every one of those years, and most years they released TWO. In contrast, in 18 years of recording, Radiohead have put out just seven studio albums, and no doubles.

Now I love me some Radiohead, but there is no overestimating the significance of the Beatles' catalog on popular music.

Of course there is a major difference between the bands. After 1965, the Beatles were strictly a studio outfit. They did not tour or perform live at all (except for that rooftop last-gasp thing), which gave them lots of time to write and record. Bands can no longer pull this off and are now forced to tour relentlessly, as recorded music is something most people don't pay for anymore.

The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother

2009-07-14T08:35:00.002-04:00

Super cool video by The Dead Weather, Jack White's new project with Alison Mosshart of The Kills. If you've ever wanted to mow down an ex...

The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother

X - We're Desperate (live in Philly)

2009-06-05T15:15:00.005-04:00

I posted this clip to youtube! My favorite band of all time X played a great requests-only set last night at WXPN's World Café on Walnut Street in Philly, a fantastic venue that seats only a few hundred and serves excellent food to boot. Mark went to his first punk show in 30 years. Openers Twisted Hearts (featuring Steve Soto of Agent Orange and the Adolescents) were also very good. And the World Café actually has free parking now right across from the club, it's amazing!

X - White Girl (from 1981's Wild Gift)

RIP Jay Bennett, 1963-2009

2009-05-26T09:35:00.009-04:00

Bennett smoking one of millions of cigarettes during the filming of IATTBYH.

Mark and I watched I Am Trying to Break Your Heart last night in honor of Jay. We're seeing Wilco July 18th at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, NY, with Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band.

Chicago Tribune obit
NYT obit
BrooklynVegan tribute

MP3 Wilco - I'm Always in Love (from 1999's Summerteeth)

Sigur Rós video on Pitchfork TV

2009-05-09T13:10:00.003-04:00

MUST-SEE incredible 48-minute behind-the-scenes documentary on Sigur Rós, this week only on Pitchfork TV.

Rivers Cuomo and Rainn Wilson - One of Us

2009-04-12T10:18:00.004-04:00

Recording was done for this weekend's "takeover" of Sirius Radio's AltNation by Rivers Cuomo of Weezer and actor and Coconut Records frontman Jason Schwartzmann (two Coppola posts in a row, what are the chances?). They don't actually start the song until 4:40 but Rivers sings it quite beautifully, and Rainn does a more than serviceable job on bongo.

MP3 Joan Osborne - One of Us (from 1995's Relish)

Phoenix - Love Like a Sunset

2009-04-10T09:32:00.010-04:00

Like Air and Daft Punk, this French band is from Versailles, but unlike their neighbors, Phoenix are not a techno outfit, but more of a straight-up indie rock band (though with some techno elements), who sing in English. In other words, they sound like they could be from Brooklyn.

Frontman Thomas Mars (looking right at you, above) is director Sofia Coppola's boyfriend and father of her two-year-old daughter. They met when Mars was helping with the music for Coppola's directorial debut, The Virgin Suicides, one of Anneliese's favorite movies when she was a teenager.

Below, this seven-and-a-half minute opus off the nicely titled new album starts out instrumental and ambient, morphs into a (still wordless) dance number at about 3:45, and then at 5:45 completely folds on itself to become a lovely rock ballad (with vocals).

And while these vids are still up, catch the band on SNL last weekend, doing Lisztomania and 1901. As somebody said, they couldn't be from Brooklyn because they actually looked like they were having a good time on SNL, lol.

MP3 Phoenix - Love Like a Sunset (from 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)

M. Ward - For Beginners (aka Mt Zion)

2009-04-07T09:46:00.006-04:00

You really have to read 35-year-old Portland, OR native M. (Matt) Ward's Wiki to get a feel for the kind of people he has worked with in his 10-year career. He is an absolute top-shelf songwriter with a warm, sexy voice, and his records are impeccably produced. The latest is fantastic, and features Ward's She & Him collaborator Zooey Deschanel, the great Lucinda Williams and Jason Lytle of Grandaddy. Highly recommended.

Very nice recent Vanity Fair interview with Ward here.

MP3 M Ward - For Beginners (aka Mt Zion) (from 2009's Hold Time)

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr - A Little Help from My Friends (live at Radio City)

2009-04-06T18:03:00.017-04:00

I'm very grateful I've had the chance to go to spectacular venues like Radio City Music Hall, so when I see a video like this, I can really imagine what it was like to be in that very big and very beautiful room participating in this communal spectacle of half-a-Beatles-reunion. Quality is poor but this is a must-see anyhow. Paul (66) and Ringo (68) share a mic and everybody knows all the words.

There's a better quality video of just Paul doing Drive My Car over here. And Ringo reaches WAY back into the catalog for Boys, here. The whole gang (including Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Sheryl Crow, Donovan, and Mike Love of the Beach Boys) does I Saw Her Standing There, here. This was a benefit for transcendental meditation organized by movie director David Lynch.

The thunderous applause that follows is of course a thank you not only for this performance but for almost 50 years of art and entertainment from these guys. It's basically a thank you for rock and roll as we know it.

I have a feeling Sir Paul is going to actually kill headlining at Coachella in eleven days. And with Morrissey (49), Franz Ferdinand (Alex Kapranos, 37), and Leonard Cohen (74) playing right before him, night one is quite excellent, if a bit on the older side for the festival. I wonder what the kiddies will think of all these geriatrics...

Prince three nights in a row on Leno

2009-03-29T14:11:00.009-04:00

Good gracious this guy is a performer. I saw him 27 years ago open for the Rolling Stones at the enormous LA Coliseum. He was the first act on a bill that also included George Thorogood & the Destroyers and the J. Geils Band. Prince came out (this was two years before Purple Rain) and utterly KILLED, but he was booed and pelted off the stage by the Stones' macho fans after only ten minutes. It was the best ten minutes of the entire day; the Stones (on their first "farewell" tour) totally sucked.

Unlike U2's similar recent stunt, Prince's three nights on Leno was TV worth watching (on YouTube, of course). Catch Dreamer here and Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful here. And if you'd rather see Prince wail on a song you KNOW, check out his blistering performance on While My Guitar Gently Weeps at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band includes Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne of ELO and Dhani Harrison (George's son), but Prince completely murders all on the solo.

Amadou & Mariam interview

2009-03-27T11:31:00.004-04:00

The extremely articulate Amadou does most of the talking but occasionally Mariam or their latest producer Damon Albarn has something to say in this fascinating interview with the blind, married, French-speaking music makers from Mali.

MP3 Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali (from 2008's Welcome to Mali)

Where the Wild Things Are trailer (featuring Arcade Fire)

2009-03-26T08:24:00.002-04:00

This looks like a must-see even if your kids aren't little anymore. This is the trailer for the long-anticipated Spike Jonze film of Maurice Sendak's iconic children's book Where the Wild Things Are. Soundtrack is Arcade Fire's excellent Wake Up from their 2004 debut, Funeral.

Feist and Ben Gibbard - Train Song

2009-03-18T11:45:00.005-04:00

Aaron and Bryce Dressner of The National just produced a stellar compilation to benefit AIDS research called Dark Was the Night. It features mostly new songs and some cool collaborations by just about all the best indie artists operating these days (check out the tracklist here).

As this Dutch review put it, "'Dark Was The Night' is een fraaie staalkaart van al het nieuwe talent dat momenteel in het Amerikaanse muzieklandschap rondloopt." ("Dark Was the Night is a delicious menu of all the new talent currently inhabiting the American musical landscape." Below, Leslie Feist of herself and Broken Social Scene with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service.

MP3 Feist and Ben Gibbard - Train Song (from 2009's Dark Was the Night, compilation to benefit the Red Hot Organization)

Cursive - From the Hips

2009-03-11T09:09:00.009-04:00

Cursive are a four-piece from Omaha, Nebraska on Saddle Creek, the label founded by Bright Eyes wunderkind Conor Oberst when he was all of 13 years old. Their seventh full-length came out yesterday and here's the single, a fantastic song featuring the intelligent lyrics that mark this band.

We're all just trying to play our roles
In a play that runs ad nauseam
I hate this damn enlightenment
We were better off as animals, right?

MP3 Cursive - From the Hips (from 2009's Mama, I'm Swollen)

You can also watch them do this song on Letterman here.

New eels album in June, woo-hoo!

2009-03-03T08:06:00.010-05:00

It was in 1999, during the shortlived Age of Napster, that a 10-year-old Anneliese sent me some MP3s from Beautiful Freak and Electro-shock Blues with the note, "I think you'll like these." Well she was completely right, I LOVED the band/man and have only grown to love them more over the last decade. A perfect songwriter for our time, E is a misanthrope who keeps hoping. Pitchfork reports (in fact, it's their lead story today) new album Hombre Loco will be out June 2nd. They also report it appears he's still got the beard. Below, the emotional closer from the double LP Blinking Lights.

UPDATE! first track to be released off the new album, Fresh Blood, featuring E howling like a werewolf, is here.

MP3 eels - Things the Grandchildren Should Know (from 2005's Blinking Lights and Other Revelations)

Tapes 'n Tapes - Hang Them All

2009-03-02T10:49:00.005-05:00

Tapes 'n Tapes are youngsters from Minneapolis, always a good music town, on their third decent album. Thought I'd post this as these guys are playing the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC tonight, which I just mentioned below when talking about The Physics of Meaning.

MP3 Tapes 'n Tapes - Hang Them All (from 2008's Walk It Off)

Black Lips - Short Fuse and O Katrina!

2009-03-01T13:40:00.009-05:00

The Black Lips are a funny garage band from Atlanta who describe their sound as "flower punk." They do silly things like kiss each other on the lips at their shows and actually had to flee India recently for fear of being arrested for "homosexual acts." Here's their new single as well as their classic ode to a killer hurricane (O Katrina/Why you gotta be mean now?)

MP3 Black Lips - Short Fuse (from 2009's 200 Million Thousand)
MP3 Black Lips - O Katrina! (from 2007's Good Bad Not Evil)

David Byrne live at Radio City

2009-03-01T06:34:00.012-05:00

Apparently (alas, I wasn't there) David Byrne absolutely killed the last two nights at Radio City. Above Houses in Motion and below Burning Down the House, with a New York City twist at 3:51. As always Byrne is a consummate performer and the show is highly theatrical with unusual dancing. The first clip is taken from up close but the second is from further back and shows the typically too-hip NYC audience getting into it. Great pix and setlist over at BV. FULL SCREEN these vids.

MP3 Talking Heads - Houses in Motion (from 1980's Remain in Light)
MP3 Talking Heads - Burning Down the House (from 1983's Speaking in Tongues)

The Physics of Meaning - Why Can't We Fall in Love Forever? (Anything is Possible)

2009-02-28T08:47:00.005-05:00

I don't think the kid's in the band...

The Physics of Meaning hail from Chapel Hill, NC, a cool college town. I enjoyed seeing local bands at the Cat's Cradle (technically in Carrboro, I know!) when I lived in "the Triangle" 1989-1990. The Physics of Meaning is fronted by violinist Daniel Hart who also plays with John Vanderslice, St. Vincent, and Pattern is Movement. Because there's a violin, the music is considered "chamber pop" or "baroque pop."

MP3 The Physics of Meaning - Why Can't We Fall in Love Forever? (Anything is Possible) (from 2008's Snake Charmer and Destiny at the Stroke of Midnight)

The Soft Pack - Parasites

2009-02-27T09:00:00.018-05:00

There seems to be a lot of controversy over whether this San Diego outfit is a "real" or "manufactured" band. They used to call themselves The Muslims and just changed their name which has aroused suspicions. The old name was admittedly problematic (it was all anybody ever talked about, and made them impossible to Google) but the general consensus is that the new name sucks. Pitchfork was not particularly impressed with their 2008 self-titled debut. Whatever!

They may be a flash in the pan but this new single is one crank-it-up tune with a mad sexy bassline. Right now they're opening for Franz Ferdinand, who are touring their fine new record all over. I'd go see that. Speaking of Franz I see a cut-and-paste version of the ridiculously catchy No You Girls is already an iPod commercial--those Apple folk know how to pick 'em.

MP3 The Soft Pack - Parasites
(2009 single)

Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon - This is a Low

2009-02-26T11:10:00.010-05:00

Albarn & Coxon in younger days

If you follow British pop at all, you have been hoping for the day when the two principals of Blur would finally grace a stage together again. That actually happened last night at the NME awards, when Damon Albarn (40) and Graham Coxon (39) played the gorgeous This is a Low from their 1994 Britpop masterpiece Parklife. Click here to see the performance. Apparently it was supposed to be the full band but Dave and Alex were late...though it seems fitting that Graham's return would be just him and Damon. Also interesting is this interview done immediately afterward with the childhood pals, who seem very relaxed in each other's company after about a decade of not speaking. Lovely to see! And now Pitchfork's reporting they're booking a whole bunch of reunion shows in the UK...hope they make it over here, I saw them in 2003 without Coxon and would love to see them again WITH.

MP3 Blur - This is a Low (from 1994's Parklife)

The White Stripes - We're Going to be Friends

2009-02-22T00:09:00.003-05:00

The White Stripes played one of Conan's favorite songs for him on the last night of his show after 15 years (he's taking over for Leno at the Tonight Show, who knew? I don't really follow TV...)

Some hostile comments on brooklynvegan about this clip, directed at Meg. Thing is, whether YOU think she's good or not, Jack White needs her in some way or really gets something out of having her up there with him. When I saw them play for a small crowd for free in Union Square Park in September 2002, I was amazed at how dependent Jack seems on Meg. He stood way in the back near her drum kit and faced her a lot of the time. OK that was six and a half years ago, maybe it's different now, but I think there is just something Jack gets out of playing with Meg, even if his fans don't necessarily feel it.

MP3 The White Stripes - We're Going to be Friends (from 2002's White Blood Cells)

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Contender

2009-02-19T08:30:00.010-05:00

Yes, it's another great new band from Brooklyn! The borough where rocks bands grow on trees, or between cracks in the sidewalk. These guys-and-gal might actually have the debut of the year here with their very appealing self-titled record. Almost every song sounds like a hit to me--catchy pop with affecting melodies and vocals. Pitchfork interviews the band here and Aural States has another good interview here.

MP3 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Contender (from 2009's The Pains of Being Pure at Heart)

UPDATE: nice video of the band doing Young Adult Friction (great song title)

Bruce Springsteen - The Wrestler

2009-02-18T08:26:00.006-05:00

The Wrestler is a heartbreaking movie and this is Bruce's excellent title song, written for and donated to the film at the request of his friend Mickey Rourke, who should have won the Oscar for this role. It plays over the closing credits and the night I was there, no one left the theater till the song finished.

Charlie Rose interviews Mickey Rourke here.

The Wrens - Marked Up

2009-02-13T08:22:00.004-05:00

The best band in New Jersey, and certainly the best band anywhere in which all the members have actual day jobs. It's been a LONG TIME (almost six years!) since their masterpiece The Meadowlands and I am jonesing for some new Wrens. This is a good start. Nice interview with the band on Stereogum here.

The Wrens - Marked Up (from a hopefully forthcoming new album!)

Beirut - A Sunday Smile live on Letterman

2009-02-09T13:26:00.003-05:00

22-year-old pheenom Zach Condon's Brooklyn-based band Beirut made its television debut Friday night on Letterman. They did A Sunday Smile, a very sweet oom-pah-pah off 2007's The Flying Club Cup. As with many of today's bands, it is tough to clarify exactly what makes this rock music, lush as it is with fleugelhorns, cello, violins, and accordion, and with nary a guitar or bass in sight.

MP3 Beirut - My Night with the Prostitute from Marseilles (from 2009's March of the Zapotec/Realpeople Holland)

Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood with the USC Marching Band - 15 Step

2009-02-09T08:05:00.012-05:00

Well it's NOT really Radiohead, it's just Thom and Jonny with the entire USC marching band doing 15 Step, the opener off In Rainbows, which went on to win Alternative Album of the Year at this year's Grammy awards. The kids are wearing Radiohead t-shirts and having a blast. They'll probably rip this down in a couple days but enjoy, it was a million times better than anything else at the Grammy's (though Paul McCartney singing I Saw Her Standing Here with Dave Grohl on drums was good).

The USC Trojan Marching band has a cool clip of rehearsals for the event on their YouTube channel here. You also see the mic check prior to the Grammy performance, with Thom bopping around to the band's famous version of Fleetwood Mac's Tusk.

"You used to be all right--what happened?"

MP3 Radiohead (i.e. Thom and Jonny) and the USC Trojan Marching Band - 15 Step (live at the 2009 Grammys)

Arcade Fire, Jay-Z and Beyonce for President Obama

2009-01-23T17:19:00.014-05:00

It was a great week in American history. And in one of the most inspired bills ever, Arcade Fire opened for Jay-Z at Wednesday night's inaugural event for Obama campaign staffers. As Pitchfork put it, "If this bill is any sort of cosmic indication of Obama's future, he should solve the economic crisis in about four days."

Really, it's a genius move. The greatest indie band of the last five years (featuring a married couple with dual US-Canadian citizenship) and the greatest MC of all time who happens to be married to the reigning princess of pop.

Arcade Fire do their antiwar song, Intervention, at the staffers' ball

Jay-Z changes the lyrics to 99 Problems but a Bush Ain't One at the staffers' ball

Beyonce serenades the Obamas with a cover of Etta James' At Last...this was the Obamas' first dance as president and first lady the night of the inauguration

Tweedy, Marr, Finn, O'Brien and Selway - Fake Plastic Trees

2009-01-09T09:08:00.009-05:00

This is so nice I am just lifting it right from Pitchfork via some guy named Evan C. New Zealander Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House and some of his friends (Jeff Tweedy and John Stirratt of Wilco, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway of Radiohead, Johnny Marr of the Smiths, Modest Mouse and the Cribs) cover Radiohead's anti-consumerism anthem, Fake Plastic Trees. Video and audio quality aren't great but the performance from these pros is, especially Ed and Neil on the guitars starting about 2:30. Shot at one of the live shows done a few weeks ago in NZ to promote Finn's collaborative album, 7 Worlds Collide, all proceeds from which go to Oxfam.

Bon Iver - re: stacks

2009-01-07T21:19:00.009-05:00

His melodies are so subtle you barely notice them till you realize they've been stuck in your brain all day. Perfect example, the new single, bizarrely titled.

MP3 Bon Iver - re: stacks (from 2007's For Emma, Forever Ago)

New Year's Eve tunes!

2008-12-31T14:35:00.004-05:00

I'm doing nothing, hope you have a more exciting evening planned. In any case here's three appropriate songs.
MP3 The Walkmen - In the New Year (from 2008's You and Me)
MP3 Death Cab for Cutie - The New Year (from 2003's Transatlantacism)
MP3 Nina Gordon - New Year's Eve (from 2000's Tonight and the Rest of My Life)

Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue

2008-12-19T19:52:00.004-05:00

Jenny Lewis is the frontwoman in Rilo Kiley and she's also quite good on her own. She writes songs filled with hooks and she's got one of the best voices in rock. Hers is the female voice you hear on the Postal Service's only record, 2003's Give Up.

MP3 Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue(from 2008's Acid Tongue)

Silver Jews - Suffering Jukebox

2008-12-15T21:03:00.006-05:00

David Berman of NY's Silver Jews

Silver Jews have been around for almost 20 years, a bit under the radar. Based in NYC, the band was formed by David Berman (the only permanent member) with Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich (both later of Pavement). After rotating through no less then 24 members if Wikipedia is to be believed (including Will Oldham), it's now just Berman and his wife, Cassie (who sounds an awful lot like Lucinda Williams to these ears, not that that's a bad thing!) This is a lovely alt-country song off their latest.

MP3 Silver Jews - Suffering Jukebox (from 2008's Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea)

The Black Ghosts - Full Moon

2008-12-13T17:32:00.003-05:00

In honor of last night's moon, here's a great song by the UK-based electronica duo The Black Ghosts, aka Theo Keating and Simon Lord. I get that this track is danceable, but it's also melodic and features beautiful singing, two things you don't usually get with a dance track.

MP3 The Black Ghosts - Full Moon (from 2008's The Black Ghosts)

Great Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa covers

2008-12-12T13:48:00.013-05:00

Easu with Ezra of Vampire Weekend (and his ubiquitous boat shoes!)

This is SO GOOD. Londoner Esau Mwamwaya (from Mali) has teamed up with Johan Karlberg (Sweden) and Etienne Tron (France) of Radioclit to produce a spectacular album that eases Westerners into African music, not least by including covers of artists like the Beatles, Architecture in Helsinki and the Ruby Suns. Pitchfork gave it an 8.6, and you know how THEY are. Here's the most high-profile cover off the record, which just proves that the VW boys are NOT making African music, in case you were mistaken.

Also don't miss Hot Chip covering the same song with Peter Gabriel name-dropping himself on vocals (he changes the lyrics to acknowledge the weirdness). I guess this was inevitable; it's very nice to have. Thing is it's just a very good song from a very good album and you can do a lot of things with it.

MP3 The Very Best (Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit) - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Vampire Weekend cover from 2008's "The Very Best Mixtape")

If you like this, you can download the whole album for FREE here!

Crystal Stilts - Shattered Shine

2008-11-20T09:48:00.007-05:00

This Brooklyn-based band makes muddy reverb-heavy garage rock. Melodies tend to one or two notes, the singer will remind you of Ian Curtis, and occasionally they throw some retro harmonica or tambourine on top. This is probably my second-favorite debut of the year, after Vampire Weekend. Go New York! So many great bands in the city these days.

MP3 Crystal Stilts - Shattered Shine (from 2008's Crystal Stilts)

Election songs!

2008-11-06T13:03:00.009-05:00

For Barack, for our children, for the country, for the world. Congratulations, we did it. An unbelievable night. My daughter and I are going to the inauguration.

MP3 PJ Harvey - Victory (from 1997's Dry)

MP3 The National - Mr. November (from 2005's Alligator)

MP3 Wilco and Fleet Foxes - I Shall be Released (live 2008 cover of Bob Dylan's 1967 classic)

A.C. Newman - There are Maybe Ten or Twelve

2008-11-01T19:57:00.004-04:00

Finally! Carl (aka A.C.) Newman of the New Pornographers is about to release his second solo album, the follow-up to 2004's excellent The Slow Wonder. Due January 20, it's called Get Guilty and here's a delightful preview. I really really like it.

MP3 A.C. Newman - There are Maybe Ten or Twelve (from 2009's Get Guilty)

Divorce songs

2008-11-01T15:40:00.006-04:00

In light of this week's events in a Trenton courtroom, I present two songs that sum up my feelings.

MP3 Elbow - Grounds for Divorce (from 2008's The Seldom Seen Kid)

MP3 Magnetic Fields - I Don't Believe You (from 2004's I)

Land of Talk - Some Are Lakes

2008-10-26T19:33:00.004-04:00

Yeah, I know, just what we need--another band from Montreal! When I first heard Land of Talk last year, I wasn't too keen on them. But this new song has me won over. Frontwoman Elizabeth Powell's got a lovely, lilting voice and this is really sticking in my head.

MP3 Land of Talk - Some Are Lakes (from 2008's Some Are Lakes)

Arlo Guthrie - I'm Changing My Name to Fannie Mae

2008-10-14T22:56:00.006-04:00

Arlo updates his "I'm Changing My Name to Chrysler" for our new era of poor, poor billionaire bailouts.

I'm changing my name to Fannie Mae
And I'm heading for that great receiving line
So when they hand a trillion grand out
I'll be standing with my hand out!

When my creditors are screaming for their dough
I'll be proud to tell them all where they can go!

Sing it Arlo.

~~MP3 Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant (HUGE file--18 minutes long and totally worth it! anti-Vietnam masterpiece from 1967's Alice's Restaurant)~~

Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel SINGS in NYC

2008-10-12T23:06:00.010-04:00

Jeff Mangum joins Elephant 6 pals Elf Power on the beautiful The Arrow Flies Close from their 1997 album When the Red King Comes (he walks onstage at the 2:00 mark to cheers and whoops).

Oh man, I just KNEW this was gonna happen at this Knitting Factory show, I shoulda been there. Maybe Mangum is finally coming out of his self-imposed exile from public view and maybe one day he'll even sing a NMH song again, wouldn't that be something? Here's how one fan in attendance described it (courtesy of brooklynvegan):

Jeff Mangum walked onstage 3 times last night at the amazing Elephant 6 collective show -- first just for the chorus of a song, about halfway through, then again for just a chorus, and finally at the last song ("The Opera House" by Olivia Tremor Control, before the encores) when he went NUTS and sang for the whole song. He was jumping around and sort of tackled Scott Spillane halfway through and put him in a headlock. He had the most intense look in his eyes the whole time he was on stage. Everyone chanted "Jeff Jeff Jeff", and someone was yelling for songs from Aeroplane ("anything from that album!!! you have to!!") but all we got from that album was Julian Koster and Scott Spillane doing a stripped-down, unpracticed version of The Fool, "dedicated to a friend", which Julian said they hadn't practiced in years. I'm sure you'll get more emails about it -- it was incredible.

I'm very encouraged by this! C'mon Jeff, ten years is long enough, please come back.

Springsteen plays for Obama in Philadelphia

2008-10-05T22:14:00.005-04:00

It was a beautiful day in Philly as local hero Bruce Springsteen performed a 45-minute acoustic set for the Obama campaign. The crowd filled the Ben Franklin Parkway for five city blocks as the Boss played songs that sounded like prayers, accompanied only by his own guitar and harmonica. Fantastic!

The setlist:

The Promised Land
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Thunder Road
No Surrender
Does this Bus Stop at 82nd St? (with its line "the dope is that there's still hope")
The Rising
This Land is Your Land (Woody Guthrie, 1940)

Listen to Bruce address the crowd just before he played The Rising (my own upload to youtube!):

Springsteen to play free acoustic show for Obama in Philly

2008-10-02T09:12:00.009-04:00

They don't call him The Boss for nothing.

Of course I'm going! There's not much could keep me away from free Bruce 35 miles from my house. All you have to do is sign up and they send you an email that serves as your ticket. If you volunteer to work the event (I can't get over to one of the PA offices before Saturday or I'd have done that), you get to stand in the VIP section up close, which will be nice cuz it's gonna be HUGE, something like this:

crowd on Ben Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia

MP3 Bruce Springsteen - My City of Ruins (from 2002's The Rising)

Martha Wainwright - So Many Friends

2008-09-29T13:02:00.004-04:00

Lovely song with exquisite vocals off the best-titled album of the year from Martha Wainwright, Rufus' little sister.

MP3 Martha Wainwright - So Many Friends (from 2008's I Know You're Married But I Have Feelings Too)

RIP Paul Newman

2008-09-27T23:15:00.009-04:00

Nothing to do with music, but I couldn't let Paul Newman's death go unmentioned. He was my mother's crush for more than 50 years. A fine actor and a beautiful person in many ways. Through the Newman's Own line of delicious, healthy foods he has donated over $250 million to various worthy causes. A tremendous humanitarian, and extremely humble about it. One of the greats. NYT obit here. Never have I seen such an outpouring of positive comments about ANYBODY on the Internet, either. Well deserved. Give something to the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps in his memory. Or just buy some salad dressing or spaghetti sauce.

Sigur Rós - Untitled 8 and Glósóli (live, Quai Jacques Cartier, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

2008-09-22T09:28:00.036-04:00

aka Popplagið (Pop Song)...they rarely play this last song from 2002's (), this set-closing version's almost 14 min long, real top 40 stuff

always-lovely Glósóli ("Glowing Sole") from 2005's Taak...the crowd goes nuts when they start to rock out at the 5-min mark

What a thrill to see this magical band with my sister, my son and his girlfriend on a beautiful last-night-of-summer in the old port of Montreal. Gorgeous pictures by aurora jayne here, including this one of Goggi (Georg, the mad sexy bass player), dashing in top hat and morning jacket.

For the first time since 2001, the band is playing this tour as a four-piece. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the Amiina girls on the more orchestral numbers as well as the brass section on the new material, but still they made a ton of noise as the original unit. It's hard to believe there's only one guitarist on stage; Jonsi gets so much mileage outta that cello bow and the massive overtones it produces. Kjartan makes his keyboards sound like a symphony, too.

To close with Gobbledigook they engaged the services of opening band Parachutes (fronted by Jonsi's BF) to bang the extra drums. (We missed their set because we were busy having a phenomenal meal here.)

The Montreal crowd was refreshingly respectful. I didn't see anyone talking on a cell phone for two hours, and there was even minimal photo taking and video recording (which explains why none of the new songs have been posted anywhere with decent sound quality--I should have taped one! my digital camera has great sound.) People actually came to see the show! (hint hint New Yorkers...) Some comments here and on the SR message boards.

setlist

Straumnes
Svefn-g-englar
Glósóli
Ni batterí
Fljótavík
Við Spilum Endalaust
Hoppípolla
Með Blóðnasir
Festival
Heysatan
Viðrar vel til loftárása
Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur
Sæglópur
Hafssól
Popplagið (Untitled 8)
Gobbledigook

MP3 Sigur Rós - Við spilum endalaust (from 2008's Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust, or "With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly")

Wolf Parade - Language City

2008-09-17T22:43:00.004-04:00

Here's a song that's been stuck in my head intermittently over the last few weeks (it's in heavy rotation on Sirius 26). Yet another great band from Montreal, where I will be in just three days to see Sigur Rós! Fun fact about these guys: they were signed to Sub Pop by Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse.

In keeping with the modern inclination to belong to many bands in a short lifetime, WP frontman Spencer Krug is also in Sunset Rubdown and used to be in Frog Eyes and Swan Lake, and another guy in the band is also in Handsome Furs. These are all good bands!

MP3 Wolf Parade - Language City (from 2008's At Mount Zoomer)

***three days till Sigur Rós in Montreal!***

Elbow - The Bones of You

2008-09-16T09:00:00.005-04:00

Even though they've been around for seven years, I never thought to check out Elbow till I read they were opening some of REM's European dates this tour. Then they won this year's Mercury Prize, beating out incredible records by Burial and Radiohead, whose Colin Greenwood said Elbow deserved it. That was quite enough for me, so I promptly gave the album a listen and I gotta say, I was not prepared for how good it was. Incredibly mature, complex and compelling. Has bumped Okkervil out of the CD player and is now on permanent repeat. And I have to get their other three albums.

Again, it's a whole album that begs to be listened to in its entirety, so hard to choose a single track, but here's the song that most resembles Radiohead, and I've never thought anybody resembled Radiohead. They come from Manchester, that perenially economically depressed region of England that has given us so much music from the Bee Gees and Herman's Hermits to the Sex Pistols, Joy Division, the Smiths, Oasis, the Verve, Badly Drawn Boy, Autechre and the list goes on.

If you've heard these guys compared to Coldplay or Keane, I gotta say NO WAY to that. OK, they are not as weird as Radiohead; they are playing in normal time signatures and using normal instruments and the song structures as well as the singer's voice are more conventional than Thom & Co's. but Coldplay and Keane are the Archies compared to these guys.

~~MP3 Elbow - The Bones of You (from 2008's Mercury Prize-winning The Seldom Seen Kid)~~

MP3 The Archies - Sugar, Sugar (from 1969's Everything's Archie)

***Four days till Sigur Rós in Montreal***

Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee

2008-09-15T11:33:00.007-04:00

Today's is an oldies track in "honor" of Lehman Brothers going down and Merrill being "sold" to B of A for pennies on the dollar (Colbert said tonight it was for "two goats and a bushel of oranges"). I told my sisters this is a great time to have nothing left to lose, because those who "have" are going to lose a lot. Except for those at the very top, they're not going to lose anything cuz it's all in gold in the Caymans.

Song was written by Fred Foster and superbadass Kris Kristofferson, one of the greats. Janis recorded it days before she died and it is one of only two posthumous #1 singles ever, the other being Otis Redding's (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay.

MP3 Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee (from 1971's Pearl)

Okkervil River - On Tour with Zykos

2008-09-10T22:49:00.008-04:00

Sometimes there's a record you have to have IMMEDIATELY as soon as it's available, and you play over and over until you know it inside-out and are almost sick of it. The new Okkervil River certainly fits that bill for me. I've played it all the way through four or five times in the last two days (and nothing else).

Will Sheff continues his reign as the best lyricist in rock, and though I don't NEED compelling lyrics (Radiohead's are mostly fragmentary, and Sigur Rós's are completely incomprehensible), I do appreciate them. I also just love how Okkervil's albums are truly ALBUMS, always built around a concept. They're musical novels penned by one of the most literate guys ever to pick up a guitar.

The Stand Ins can really be considered the second disc of a double album, the first half of which we got last year with The Stage Names. I love the whole thing, and it was hard to pick a cut to post here, but I'm going with On Tour with Zykos, the follow-up to the lovely A Girl in Port. Here the groupie in question wants her rock star one-night stand to get lost once she's had him.

He gets close, but I choke
take your shit
take your clothes and get out of my home
well I want you to love me, or I want you long gone
you say your real name is John

Hey thanks John, go sing songs
go rock on
roll your crew on down the road to the next sold out show

MP3 Okkervil River - On Tour with Zykos (from 2008's The Stand Ins)

Calexico - Two Silver Trees

2008-09-09T23:18:00.005-04:00

Oh, this is just delicious. Super seductive whispered vocals over enchanting instrumentation. WOW.

MP3 Calexico - Two Silver Trees (from 2008's Carried to Dust)

Joy Division - She's Lost Control

2008-08-31T21:39:00.028-04:00

Ian Curtis, far left
lots more excellent Joy Division pix by same photog here

Just saw the Joy Division movie, Control, the first feature film by Dutch photographer (U2, Bowie, REM, Kurt Cobain, David Byrne) and video director (Echo and the Bunnymen, Depeche Mode, U2, Nick Cave, Mercury Rev, At the Drive-In, Travis, Coldplay--the list is LONG) Anton Corbijn, who also shot Joy Division back in the day (1976-1980).

JD frontman Ian Curtis makes a fascinating subject and the movie's quite well done in gritty black and white to match the bleak Manchester backdrop. The four actors playing the band actually perform the songs and they sound almost exactly like the real versions.

We really do like to destroy our most sensitive artists, don't we. Curtis, an epileptic who suffered from grand mal seizures off and onstage, was only 23 when he hanged himself the night before the band was to leave on their first American tour. Joy Division and its successor, New Order, continue to be immensely influential 30 years later (see Interpol. Editors).

Below, the song that gave the film its title. It's about a girl having an epileptic seizure.

MP3 Joy Division - She's Lost Control (from 1979's Unknown Pleasures)

Blitzen Trapper - Furr

2008-08-30T11:52:00.004-04:00

My son Tim's now talking about moving to Portland, Oregon when he graduates from the University of Vermont next year. So with that in mind, here's the melodic title track from the upcoming fourth album by Portland's Blitzen Trapper, their first on Sub Pop.

MP3 Blitzen Trapper - Furr (from 2008's Furr)

Radiohead does Neil Young at the Hollywood Bowl

2008-08-27T09:23:00.007-04:00

And it's so pretty. Thanks Gorilla vs. Bear. Thanks ThomandJonny.

MP3 Neil Young - Tell me Why (original version from 1970's After the Gold Rush; this is live in Chicago, 1976)

How great is John Doe?

2008-08-23T21:15:00.019-04:00

Very great. Just back from seeing him with only fifty other people at a house concert in Freehold hosted by the extraordinarily gracious Mark and Elaine Costanzo at their lovely home near Bruce Springsteen's high school. The show itself took place in Mark's photography studio (a converted detached garage), and afterward everyone ate, drank and mingled most sociably in their backyard.

What a contrast from All Points West two weeks ago! I wasn't frisked, I didn't have to open my bag, I wasn't carded (yes, I'm carded EVERYWHERE even though I was born in the 50s, because this country is insane). Instead of waiting in long lines to buy $10 burgers and $7 beers, people brought their own food and drink and SHARED, can you imagine? John enjoyed what appeared to be his first Yuengling, which someone in the audience gave him. At least, he looked at it quizzically and tried to pronounce it (not easy).

the studio during a previous concert (excellent photo taken by this guy)

There was a rudimentary setlist but mostly folks just shouted titles out and he played them. Lots of beautiful stuff from his solo albums, including Twin Brother, She's Not, 7 Holes, Mama Don't, The Golden State, Unforgiven, Highway 5, and even I Dreamed of St. Augustine from the I'm Not There soundtrack. He also did Burning House of Love, an old X song he often plays with the Knitters and solo.

Below another song he did tonight, a lovely ode to wanting more time with your children before they're gone (John has three teenage daughters with his second wife).

Tonight some guy's backyard, tomorrow Lincoln Center. The music business.

Sidebar: If I could have been anyone in the world, I probably would have been Exene Cervenka. I can't think of anyone cooler. Besides being a great poet, songwriter and artist and an absolutely unique performer, she's got no looks at all and yet she married two of the foxiest men on the planet--Doe and Viggo Mortenson, with whom she has a 20-year-old son. Recently she was married for the third time to Jason Edge, her guitarist in the Original Sinners. Good 2002 interview with the two of them by Stanford U's KZSU here.

MP3 John Doe - A Little More Time (from 2007's A Year in the Wilderness)

Ra Ra Riot - Can You Tell

2008-08-22T20:34:00.003-04:00

Finally a great band from Syracuse, it's about time! Debut LP came out Tuesday and it is mighty fine. Girls on cello and violin are not used for embellishment but take the place of rhythm guitars. Band has already survived the death of its drummer (and principal songwriter). Go 'Cuse!

MP3 Ra Ra Riot - Can You Tell (from 2008's The Rhumb Line)

Sigur Rós - Inní mér syngur vitleysingur

2008-08-21T00:46:00.011-04:00

I was hoping some of this video would eventually surface. This is from the free outdoor concert Björk and Sigur Rós did in Reykjavik in June, the one that was webcast by National Geographic and attended by ten percent of Iceland's population. One of the best tracks off Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust and a perfect example of SR's "build it up/tear it down" song structure. Band is all costumed out (the Amiina girls look like goddesses) and it's a beautiful day in Iceland, albeit only about 50 degrees! (Note: audio is not live, it's the album cut.)

MP3 Sigur Rós - Inní mér syngur vitleysingur (from 2008's Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust)

Paul Westerberg - Who You Gonna Marry?

2008-08-19T09:42:00.000-04:00

This is easily the best 49 cents you can spend on music this year. Replacements frontman Westerberg's (b. 1959) awesome songwriting skills are front and center on this stream-of-consciousness recording released as one 43- (not 49) minute MP3 sold briefly by Amazon for 49 cents. Apparently it's been taken down now for some legal reason which is a crying shame.

The record just bursts with great songs, some of which you hear for only a few seconds; others are played on top of each other in the manner of interfering radio stations. Almost all are instantly catchy and memorable. The one about his father's death is heartbreaking (there are no song titles given). This record will blow you away.

However you can find this, HIGHLY recommended. Definitely gonna be in my 2008 Top Ten.

MP3 Paul Westerberg - Who You Gonna Marry (from 2008's 49:00 of Your Life)

Carl Newman and Will Sheff - Lost Coastlines

2008-08-18T23:54:00.011-04:00

Speaking of the New Pornographers, wow, this is really great. Carl "stands in" for the rest of Okkervil River as he and Will Sheff do the beautiful Lost Coastlines from the upcoming OR record, The Stand-Ins, a companion to last year's excellent The Stage Names. Sheff, the best rocker ever from New Hampshire, is one of those guys who's always got the next few records already written. Newman sings like a blind man with his eyes closed. They sound fantastic harmonizing together at the end.

MP3 Okkervil River - Plus Ones (from 2007's The Stage Names)

New Pornographers - The Bleeding Heart Show

2008-08-17T08:23:00.007-04:00

I also got to see the New Pornographers for the first time at APW, though I'm not sure it really "counted" as neither Neko nor Dan Bejar were present. Still Uncle Carl Newman and his hard-working niece Kathryn Calder (in her early 20s and up there onstage with a bunch of folks pushing 40) put on a nice show, opening with the divorce ditty My Rights vs Yours which segued into Use It. Myriad Harbor would have been appropriate considering the setting but without Dan, not possible. My girlfriend Pam had not been familiar with them but ended up liking them a lot.

Below, the Pornos' best song ever. Here Carl explain how its singalong coda came to be the theme song of the sketchy online University of Phoenix.

We're just trying to get by in this world. When you play music for so long and don't make any money, and people start offering you money for things that involve no effort on your part, you start going, "I'll do that."

At APW they also did a cool cover of ELO's Don't Bring Me Down (Pam and I were going crazy trying to remember whose song it was); you can see it here.

MP3 The New Pornographers - The Bleeding Heart Show (from 2005's Twin Cinema)

Kings of Leon - On Call

2008-08-16T16:20:00.033-04:00

I saw Kings of Leon for the first time just before Radiohead on day two of All Points West. Their propulsive and retro (interesting, because they were exposed to very little rock music growing up on the itinerant Pentecostal circuit) Southern sound drew a respectable daylight crowd (though many were just staking out a position for the headliners).

Now I know why Jenny Eliscu is so into them--they are indeed sexy rock-and-roll beasts in their long hair and very tight jeans. Thom Yorke, in thanking the band for opening for them (he pronounced Leon like it's French), dedicated Airbag to the homeschooled Followill brothers-and-cousin from Tennessee and cracked "If we were that good looking we'd be famous."

Radiohead guitarist (and excellent dancer) Ed O'Brien is also a known KoL fan. He played My Party on his portion of the Thumbs Down webcast last fall, and was quoted in the NME saying:

I don't get jealous when I see other bands, but when I see them I think, 'Man, I'd love to be in that band'. They're young...they remind me of... the Bunnymen or something like that. They're growing, they're evolving...They're amazing players, the drummer, he's amazing. They're all great but he's really special.

Nice to have fans like that!

Watch them play new song Sex on Fire for the first time ever at All Points West, Jersey City, NJ, 8/9/200

MP3 Kings of Leon - On Call (from 2007's Because of the Times)

Radiohead - Reckoner and No Surprises live at All Points West

2008-08-10T12:52:00.005-04:00

This is great because it's the opening number so you can hear the tension in the crowd before they come on.

Night two was even better. I can hardly believe I'm saying that as we got How to Disappear, Climbing up the Walls, Lucky and Street Spirit the first night, but the second night we got Fake Plastic Trees, The Bends, Exit Music and No Surprises. I'm so glad I saw both shows (full setlists for both nights here).

The funny list of things you couldn't bring into the festival:

NO Instruments
NO Knives / Weapons Etc.
NO Chains / Chain Wallets
NO Blankets
NO Outside Food & Bev
NO Camelpacks
NO Tents
NO Fireworks
NO Flags
NO Refunds Or Exchanges
NO Chairs
NO Video Cameras
NO Audio Recording Devices
NO Bota Bags
NO Professional Cameras
NO Stuffed Animals (???)
NO Pets
NO Drugs & Drug Paraphernalia (people must have had all the weed in their shoes, because it was very 420-friendly inside)

Radiohead - Paranoid Android live at All Points West

2008-08-09T13:12:00.003-04:00

Well what can you say. I mean, they just KILL. Great setlist, and I imagine we'll get Karma Police and Fake Plastic Trees tonight. Main set ended with How to Disappear Completely, my fav Radiohead song of all time. Excellent versions of Jigsaw and Bodysnatchers (I was actually afraid for Jonny, he didn't seem to be wearing his customary brace on his right arm and he was BRUTALIZING his guitar). Here's Paranoid Android which gives you a good taste of the well-deserved hysteria.

We're off in 45 minutes to do it again!

Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees live in Montreal

2008-08-08T11:50:00.002-04:00

They're HERE!!! We leave for Jersey City in ONE HOUR!!! Here they are doing a golden oldie (1995) in Montreal two nights ago. SO EXCITED!!!

Sigur Rós Live at MOMA

2008-08-07T08:24:00.006-04:00

I told myself I wasn't going to cry but in fact I didn't make it past the first few notes of Svefn-g-englar (the opening song) without tearing up. What IS IT about this band? Absolutely phenomenal. Cool poster for the event, too. They basically did a "greatest hits" set (with the exception of Vaka), sharing the makeshift stage with Auguste Rodin's Honoré de Balzac. Amazing. (Video contains some cool backstage footage but not all the songs played).

svefn-g-englar
glosoli
se lest
ny batteri
vid spilum endalaust
hoppipolla
med blodnasir
vidrar vel til loftarasa
saeglopur
inni mer syngur vitleysingur
olsen olsen
hafsol
gobbledigook
----
iceland's national anthem (it was Iceland's independence day)
popplagid

Ratatat - Shiller

2008-08-02T13:14:00.007-04:00

This Brooklyn-based duo makes moody instrumentals you can dance to. When Drowned in Sound asked why they didn't give their third album a more creative name, they responded "Would you prefer something like Viva La Vida? In Rainbows? Personally, I think we nailed it. ."

MP3 Ratatat - Shiller (from 2008's LP3)

Lykke Li - Little Bit

2008-07-28T08:52:00.003-04:00

Here's a cute song and current favorite of both my kids, 22-year-old Lykke Li from Sweden (according to Wikipedia she's also lived in Portugal, Morocco, Nepal, India and New York City). Her debut album, Youth Novels, was co-produced by the Björn of Peter Björn and John. Like all the Swedish artists I can think of, she sings in English. I think I'm a little bit in love with you...but only if you're a little bit in love with me...

MP3 Lykke Li - Little Bit (from 2008's Youth Novels)

John Doe - Pressing On (Bob Dylan cover)

2008-07-25T14:55:00.021-04:00

then and now

Oh, I do LOVE John Doe. He's been one of my biggest crushes since 1980 when I moved to Los Angeles and he and Exene were fronting X, the greatest of the LA punk bands. I was waitressing at the now long defunct Starwood, seeing bands like Fear, Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, the Blasters, the Gun Club and the Minutemen all the time, but X were always in a league of their own.

Now of course Doe is one of our best contemporary folk singers (not to mention a fine actor). I am excited to be seeing him in August at a VERY intimate show in Freehold (capacity 55). The next afternoon he will be playing a free gig with the Knitters (most of X and some of the Blasters playing acoustic folk/alt-country) at Damrosch Park, NYC, as part of Lincoln's Center's Roots of American Music series. Patti Smith will also be appearing.

While watching I'm Not There I was thrilled to hear Doe doing the singing for the Christian Bale character (Dylan in his evangelical phase). Doe mentioned in a recent interview that covering the song required some acting on his part, since he is not a believer.

MP3 John Doe - Pressing On (from the original soundtrack to I'm Not There, original released by Bob Dylan on 1980's Saved)

Sebadoh - Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)

2008-07-24T09:23:00.009-04:00

Here's the great Lou Barlow of Sebadoh (and Dinosaur Jr and Folk Implosion) doing a lovely solo version of Think during Pitchfork's Music Festival in Chicago this week. When he's finished playing this very quiet song all by himself the bassist for what some call the loudest indie band ever (Dinosaur) says "That was scary."

MP3 Sebadoh - Think (Let Tomorrow Bee) from 1993's Bubble and Scrape (band did the whole album at Pitchfork)

Congratulations to Björk

2008-07-19T16:34:00.013-04:00

for getting herself and many others banned in China, well done! Nice to know SOMEBODY in this world has the balls not to suck up to the Chinese government, even if it's an eccentric 42-year-old rock star from Iceland.

Much respect to Björk who is a gigantic institution in her home country and now lives most of the time in Westchester County NY with her American avant garde artist boyfriend Matthew Barney. Björk is what the British call a "gap mother," with a 22-year-old son from her early relationship with the Sugarcubes' guitar player (who'd been her boyfriend since she was 15) and a five-year-old daughter with Barney.

Here's the song she was banned for (she started chanting Tibet Tibet! at the end of it during a recent show in Shanghai), as well as one of my favorite Björk songs ever.

MP3 Björk - Declare Independence (from 2007's Volta)
MP3 Björk - Hyper-ballad (from 1995's Post)

Beck - Gamma Ray

2008-07-17T12:19:00.004-04:00

the original hippie cowboy from outer space, Mr. Beck Hansen

Beck is one of those artists who can do no wrong. Sure he's got his better and his lesser albums, but that's the fate of anyone whose musical career lasts more than a few years. Beck has done enough fantastic stuff that I will always consider him a major figure and I'm always interested in what he's doing now.

That said, the new record is way better than The Information, about on the same level as Guero. I absolutely love Joey Waronker's drumming on Chemtrails, but here's one you may not have heard yet, Gamma Ray, a fun summer song.

MP3 Beck - Gamma Ray (from 2008's Modern Guilt)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds -Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

2008-07-13T11:00:00.008-04:00

This is not exactly background music. Actually it kind of takes over the room--just see if you can ignore this boffo opening number from one of the best-reviewed records of the year. Australian Nick Cave, born 1957, gets props from me for being PJ Harvey's ex-boyfriend (that can't be an easy job, and in fact he wrote a whole album about it when it was over).

MP3 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! from (2008's Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!)

Born Ruffians - Hummingbird

2008-07-12T11:16:00.002-04:00

Born Ruffians in their natural habitat of Toronto

Charming retro sound on this track by Canadian youngsters Born Ruffians (nice album title too). As one reviewer wrote, only party-poopers wouldn't like this.

MP3 Born Ruffians - Hummingbird (from 2008's Red, Yellow and Blue)

Foals - Balloons

2008-07-09T10:44:00.001-04:00

Foals are a very young (as in, they could be my children) band from Oxford; a couple of them even went to the same 800-year-old prep school as all five members of that other Oxford band. This is from their strong debut album Antidotes. They're opening for bands like REM and Bloc Party on the other side of the Atlantic. People always ask me how I find out about new bands. Watching who your favorites pick for opening acts is an excellent method!

MP3 Foals - Balloons (from 2008's Antidotes)

My Morning Jacket - Librarian

2008-07-08T08:00:00.004-04:00

Their new album is not getting the rave reviews they're used to, but still a tonna people are downloading it off eMusic, and I think this is my favorite song ever by the Louisville, Kentucky band. Less reverby than usual. Syntax of Things has the lyrics and a live version from Bonnaroo. When God gave us mirrors, he had no idea...

I recently saw the Bob Dylan flick I'm Not There for the first time and had to Google it to find out who that was backing up Jim James cuz it didn't look my MMJ, and turns out it was Calexico, sweet. I gotta get me that soundtrack, I had no idea it was that great.

MP3 My Morning Jacket - Librarian (from 2008's Evil Urges)

Liz Phair - Soap Star Joe

2008-07-07T11:30:00.002-04:00

It was certainly odd to be listening to Jake Vogelnest count down the Top Ten on Left of Center this week and hear Liz Phair (b. 1967) at #5, albeit with the reissue of her debut, the classic Exile in Guyville from 1993. In recent years Liz has taken quite a beating from the hipster music press for turning pop and trying to make some money.

But this year it's back to Liz-worship in connection with the 15th anniversary of Guyville. Reviews of her recent acoustic performances of the album in its entirety indicate she's still the lousy live act she's always been, but the debut holds up as a masterpiece of writing, no doubt.

MP3 Liz Phair - Soap Star Joe (from 1993's Exile in Guyville, reissued 2008)

Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal

2008-07-06T10:13:00.010-04:00

Shoring up my theory that an astounding amount of the best indie rock comes from just a handful of places--Brooklyn, Canada (Montreal/Toronto/Vancouver), Seattle, Minneapolis, Athens (GA), London, Glasgow, Sweden and Iceland--Seattle's Fleet Foxes give Vampire Weekend (who seem played out just six months after they were the next big thing) a run for their money in the debut-of-the-year category. Their sound is characterized by gorgeous three- and four-part harmonies and they sing a lot about nature, but they want you to know they're not hippies. This album will be on everybody's Top 10 list for sure.

MP3 Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (from 2008's Fleet Foxes)

The Duke Spirit - The Step and the Walk

2008-07-05T15:59:00.006-04:00

Nice retro early 90s sound on this song, now in high rotation on Sirius 26 Left of Center, one of my main sources of new music. This is a young band from London. I'll see them at All Points West if I get there early enough!

MP3 The Duke Spirit - The Step and the Walk (from 2008's Neptune)

Hot Hot Heat - Bandages

2008-06-30T23:23:00.005-04:00

This song by the British Columbia band Hot Hot Heat is five years old but I just heard it for the first time. Incredibly, it was actually banned by the BBC because it was felt the repetition of the word "bandages" might be offensive in light of the war. (Note to the BBC and the rest of the dominant media--it's the WAR that's offensive, not rock songs.)

Check the lyrics and see if you think this song could possibly be construed as having anything to do with the war. It's a breakup song, for crying out loud. The stupidity would be amazing, if it weren't so common.

MP3 Hot Hot Heat - Bandages (from 2003's Make Up the Breakdown)

The Baseball Project - Past Time

2008-06-22T13:13:00.009-04:00

Now here's something completely different--apparently Scott McCaughey (of Young Fresh Fellows, The Minus 5, Tuatara, REM, The Venus 3 and God knows how many other bands), and Scott Wynn (frontman of the excellent 80s band The Dream Syndicate, who I saw open for REM in 1984) got ripped together at REM's Hall of Fame induction last year and talked baseball all night. Here's how Wynn remembers it, from the band's myspace page:

Everyone was happy. The wine was flowing, the food was incredible and spring training had just started. Scott and I talked baseball until most of the party guests had cleared out. And we actually remembered it the next day.

That drunken convo turned into The Baseball Project, which also features REM's Peter Buck (who's in at least six bands I can think of) and Wynn's drummer of ten years (and recent wife) Linda Pitmon.

This is a delightful song for anyone with a love of baseball. They name check a ton of players from the 60s and 70s. Whole album of this stuff out on Chapel Hill's great Yeproc label July 8th. Watch them do the song the other night on Letterman (one night after REM destroyed at a sold-out MSG) here.

MP3 The Baseball Project - Past Time (from 2008's Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails)

Sigur Rós - Gobbledigook

2008-06-14T13:00:00.014-04:00

The new Sigur Rós will be out in a couple weeks (it's streaming at the official site here). Check out all the different ways they are selling the record--everything from a $100 deluxe edition filled with photographs and videos to $8 for a high-quality MP3 digital download of the 11 tracks. This is the way to go people!

"Buzz" (that's what I'm calling it) will certainly be among my favorite records of the year. On several tracks they try to rock out but by the end of the song, they just can't help it, they're sounding like tears-in-your-eyes, lump-in-your-throat Sigur Rós again.

For the first time ever Jónsi supposedly sings one song in English, though after three listens to the whole album neither Liese nor I can tell which one that might be, so he's apparently just as incomprehensible in English as he is in Icelandic and Vonlenska. Good.

One of the most original bands ever. And check out the album cover! (NSFW)

MP3 Sigur Rós - Gobbledigook (from 2008's Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust, which translates as "With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly")

Johnny Marr joins REM for Fall on Me in Chicago

2008-06-07T16:41:00.017-04:00

This is just too cool. Peter Buck (b. 1956) and Johnny Marr (b. 1963), the guitarists for the best American and best British bands of the 80s, sharing a side of the stage in Chicago and playing dueling Rickenbackers. It is impossible to overstate the brilliance of both REM and The Smiths, and the instantly recognizable (and similar) playing styles of Buck and Marr are a big part of that brilliance (ok, also, the two bands have wildly charismatic lead singers and insanely good songwriting). Funny how both these guys ended up in Seattle, Buck relocating from Athens during the Nirvana era and Marr of course moving over when he joined Modest Mouse in 2006.

On yet another REM note, I recently heard this song for the first time and found it utterly charming. This is the band Pavement's tribute to REM, a 1994 song that references every track on Reckoning as well as Sherman marching through Georgia (lyrics here). Malkmus adores REM and here's the proof (as well as this).

MP3 Pavement - The Unseen Power of the Picket Fence (recorded c. 1994, released on 2004's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins)

REM - I've Been High (live @ the Hollywood Bowl)

2008-05-31T09:10:00.005-04:00

Gorgeous acoustic version of this criminally underrated song from Reveal. One reviewer rightly called I've Been High "as close to a standard" as REM has ever written. The melody is breathtakingly beautiful.

The original version is semi-electronic but what's wrong with that? Get over it folks!

MP3 REM - I've been high (from 2001's Reveal)

B-52's - Love Shack in NYC

2008-05-30T08:05:00.002-04:00

If this isn't fun I don't know what is. What a hoot. They also did Rock Lobster and the hilarious new single, Funplex. See 'em here courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan.

Prince covers Radiohead at Coachella

2008-05-03T20:39:00.005-04:00

by KILLMEAGAIN60

Quite amazing seven-minute cover of Creep in which Prince plays both Thom AND Jonny...he followed this with, of course, a Sarah McLachlan cover. I still remember seeing him booed off the stage after 10 minutes opening for the Rolling Stones at the LA Coliseum in the early 80s, before Purple Rain. People were not ready for him at that time.

NOTE: Prince and his mad legal team ordered this video pulled from youtube even though RADIOHEAD obviously owns the copyright to the song and THEY thought it was funny and wanted it to stay up! How does this happen?

Radiohead - All I Need video

2008-04-30T06:23:00.003-04:00

The great and powerful Radiohead have put out a new video for one of the best songs off In Rainbows, the stellar All I Need. It's an anti-slavery video. Using a split screen the band show a young Western boy going through his fun day of school, sports and art, while the young Asian boy who makes his shoes toils in misery on the other side of the world. The tag line: Some things cost more than you realise.