"I'm Not Getting Any Younger" As an east-coaster it's often hard to keep up with all the great music coming from the left coast. However, I Make This Sound is too good not to keep up with. Full of clever, often counter-intuitive, melodies, I Make This Sound has a vibe that owes as much to the Laurel Canyon scene as much as it does pre-school choirs. An affable mix of pop hooks and odd time signatures, mixed with some rainbow sprinkles, makes for a devilish cookie batter that one can't help but devour before cooking. Check out "One, Two, Three!" below, which should be the archetype of a modern pop song.
It just so happens that The Breakups are also releasing an EP next week and playing a show with I Make This Sound. Crazy, right? I've really been digging "Let's See What Happens", an electro-pop song with all the slicing funk guitar needed to get my shoulders shaking, which you can hear at their MySpace page (here). The tune is one of the standouts on their soon to be released Eat Your Heart Out EP. We expect alot out of both of these bands in the coming year. Now come to New York already!
"All Whales Can Sing" This afternoon I realized that CMJ was almost 4 months ago, and that means that I have been listening to The Shaky Hands self-titled debut for 1/3 of a year. I knew these guys were the real deal when the only pauses between songs was to suck down a deep breakth and break back into their Murmur-esque jangle pop. Their label, Holocene Music, recently posted a video for The Shaky Hands "Whales Sing" on YouTube. No doubt influenced by A Hard Day's Night and '60s beach party movies ala any Annette Funicello and Franky Avalon, there is really only one word to sum up it up: Fun.
"Was It Just A Bad Antenna?" 2007 was a year of musical overload. When it came time to compile my year end, best of- list I finally understood why my old college computer took to that life-fucking blue screen. Too much use, too much abuse. There were way too many records to keep up with, and I knew I hadn't spent enough time with some (Bodies of Water, Marissa Nadler, Bowerbirds) but The Acorn'sGlory Hope Mountain was a record I couldn't stop thinking about. A few tracks spread around the blogosphere ("Crooked Legs", "Flood Pt.1", "Low Gravity") in the late summer and immediately became drive-thru liquor store staples.
Everything seemed to line up, except without OINK it was quite tough to find Glory Hope Mountain. Fortunately, the guys at Paper Bag Records make it worth the import price, as they sell a limited edition of 300 copies of The Acorn's masterful creative non-fiction fairy tale Glory Hope Mountain on vinyl for $20 (Buy HERE). Not only is the album art silk screened, but each side of each record has the songs etched in wax and side 4 has an absurd etching of a butterfly instead of proper songs. We're not really sure what they're drinking in Canada, but we really wish they'd import Molson export.
If you're in a mood to listen to something that sounds like an ancient postcard from Pan's Labrynth, then be sure to check out Glory Hope Mountain. Also, the band will be in the NYC area at the end of the month, playing consecutive shows at three of our favorite clubs; Union Hall in Brooklyn, Mercury Lounge on Houston, and Maxwell's in Hoboken. Even better, the Union Hall and Mercury Lounge shows they will be opening for Phosphorescent and the Bowerbirds, basically making this the best bill of 2008 (so far). We'll be there, you should be too.
From nyctaper.com: "Thursday [Jan 31] was the fifth and final night of Marco Benevento’s January residency at Sullivan Hall, and it was a party in more ways than one. The night was a CD release party for Marco’s new CD Invisible Baby, and it featured the twice-performed “Real Morning Party” along with a premiere of the video for the song in between sets [see above].
"Benevento was joined by the superb bassist Reed Mathis (from Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey), and drummer Andrew Barr (from The Slip). The band performed two long sets of a superb mix of jazz, prog, jam, rock and pop, all anchored by the unique keyboard and effects of Marco."
Download the entire show HERE (courtesy of nyctaper) Buy Marco's new album HERE
"World Music" for a Globalized World Using the traditional sounds of his native Brazilian Northeast as a starting point, DJ Dolores makes World Music for the 21st Century: music that proudly shows its local roots, but is recontextualized through modern production techniques and by adding elements of diverse genres.
Brazil's most well-known musical exports, Samba and bossa-nova, undoubtedly shape a lot of the rhythms on DJ Dolores' third and latest offering, 1 Real, but the beats on the album also evoke the tribal percussion of Fela Kuti, the downtempo dub of Thievery Corporation, and the head bangin' snare of Chad Smith.
Inventive instrumentation (violins, melodicas), voice-over sampling, and tight computer-programming jack up the music to the point where one might expect it to feel too crowded, but DJ Dolores is able to effectively weave together all of these disparate influences to create a sound that simply works. The music is original but still feels recognizable, in large part due to its user-friendly nature.
Look for 1 Real in stores March 25 courtesy of Crammed Discs. Until then, stream two tracks below.
Needless to say, the stunning Super Bowl XLII upset by the New York Football Giants led to a pretty awful hangover this morning. But as I was recovering in bed, I stumbled across the following gem in the latest book from our friends at The Onion, Our Dumb World: Atlas of the Planet Earth
New Jersey: Demanding People Shove It Up Their Ass Since 1832
Located in you know where the fuck we are, and bordered by a bunch of places that can suck it -- especially you, Pennsylvania -- New Jersey is one of the nation's oldest and most historic states. So f*ck you.
Founded by a guy who could kick your state-founder's ass, and boasting some of the safest, cleanest cities in America -- you hear that, jerk? -- New Jersey will destroy you, just say the word.
And while the state has in recent years come under fire from environmental groups, that doesn't f*cking matter because Jersey rules.
Oh, and by the way, the entire state was balls-deep in your girlfriend last night.
"The Meteorite is the Source of the Light" It took a while, but we finally got to see Joanna Newsome with an orchestra. And not just any orchestra, but The Brooklyn Philharmonic. Needless to say, we were anything but let down.
The show was divided into two sets. First came the formal set with Joanna, and band, accompanied by the 29 piece orchestra, playing Ys in its entirety. The opener "Emily", one of my favorite Newsome tracks, was an incredible way to kick start the evening and immediately silenced the sold out capacity crowd at BAM's Henry Gilman Opera House. By the time she got to "Monkey & Bear" I was in total ecstasy, eyes closed, feet tapping, mouth silently singing along ("My bride/ Here is my hand, where is your paw?/ Try and understand my plan, Ursala/ My heart is a furnace/ Full of love that's just, and earnest"). To sum it up, her set with the Brooklyn Philharmonic was the absolute cat's meow of indie-rock cross pollination with high culture. Something I will take with me the rest of my life and be thankful I had the opportunity to watch such wonder unfold before my eyes. Not to mention, she looked damn good in that black evening gown.
After a short intermission, Joanna, now clad in a pink velvet cocktail dress, returned with her band for a set of classics and newcomers, many of which played on her increasingly celtic sound, a term I never would have used to describe her music in the past that, for some reason, seemed to click last night. Maybe it was Gaelic drum or the intricate fluttering of the harp, but something really made me want to drunkenly dance a jig during "Colleen", arguably the highlight of the second set. Whatever it was, it was special and her encore cover of Karen Dalton's "Same Old Man" and it's New York shout out, was exactly the right way for her to end night one at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Set 1 Emily Monkey & Bear Sawdust & Diamonds Only Skin Cosmia
Set 2 Bridges and balloons Book of right on Colleen Inflamatory Writ Barbara (temp title) En gallop Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie New song "Kindess prevails"
Encore Same old man
If you have any doubt as to the wonder of Joanna Newsome, check out the video below from the Jools Holland Show. It should convert all non-believers.
Instead of Souljaboy and his oh-so-lame choreographed dance moves, we need to be exposing our youth to real videos, like the one above. In this circa 1982 clip from the Detroit-based show The Scene, couples work their way through the dance gauntlet while strutting their funkiest moves to the classic beat "I'm Ready" by Kano. "I'm Ready" is one of my all-time favorite disco/funk cuts, and was heavily sampled by the middle shool dance anthem "Whoomp! There It Is" by Tag Team. But for some reason, I don't remember my middle school dances being nearly as funky as The Scene.
So, yes, we saw Vampire Weekend play a CD release show at the Virgin Mega-Store in Union Square last night. Yes, it was alot of fun and the kidz were out in droves. Needless to say, the hype is off the charts and everyone I know seems to be humming "Oxford Comma." While the short set made up of VW staples like "Mansard Roof", "A-Punk", "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa", the aforementioned "Oxford Comma" and new jam "M-79", was fun and had Union Square grooving, we couldn't help but register the absurd amount of hype the evening seemed fueled by. Fortunately, VW stands the test of time, as I'm in month 7 or 8 of shacking up with the Blue Cd-R and the songs are still fresh. Maybe not heady, organic fresh anymore, but still fresh. Pretty soon your parents will be jamming out to "CCKK" on the morning commute. Which raises a good question, should Feist be worried?
Although we won't be attending February's sold-out Yeasayer/MGMT double bill, we were lucky enough to catch a secret MGMT show last week at The Mercury Lounge thanks to Other Music and a heads-up from McG.
Despite pre-show problems with one of their keyboards (they ended up having a brand new one brought in; the perks of being on a major label) the set began at 10:45 and lasted only an hour, just long enough for our minds to be blown.
Their set covered most of their debut album, Oracular Spectacular, with the exception of 'Youth' and 'Kids.' Highlights included '4th Dimensional Transitional,' 'Of Moons, Birds & Monsters,' and a killer 'Electric Feel.' They also played a few tracks unknown to us, either from their debut EP or possibly b-sides. Overall MGMT was able to harness the strengths from their infectious debut and build on them until the whole place was gripping their proverbial seats, begging for more.
Make Your Own Techno Bored at work? Want to create some techno music to kill time? Then check out the Tony-B Machine, a highly interactive loop station that is controlled by your computer keyboard. With Tony-B, you can adjust bass, drums, and synth levels; modify the key of the given track; and even record your work so that you too can feel like the hottest European techno producer while slaving away for the man.
"Let It Shine On You" I've been a major proponent of reissueing Dennis Wilson's out-of-print classic Pacific Ocean Blue since it found it's way into my psyche a few years ago. Lately I've been yearning for more than my digital copy which I found on the royal pink OINK. While OINK was totally illegal, it's celebrated archives were so vast that it made it near essential for music obsessives scouring for obscure tracks and forgotten gems. If it weren't for OINK I never would have found Pacific Ocean Blue.
Dennis' first solo effort, the first by any Beach Boy, is a golden slice of '70s Angelino extravagance. Released in 1977, the record plays well alongside the Beach Boy's Holland and Fleetwood Mac's self-titled. This makes sense as Dennis had a long, tumultuous love affair with Fleetwood songstress Christine McVie. A sailor at heart, Pacific Ocean Blue invokes Wilson's love of the sea in song and in tone. Ironically, Dennis hated Pacific Ocean Blue, claiming it had no substance.
Besides making music, Dennis led a rather bizarre existence.Full of heart and love, Dennis's vulnerability often got the best of him. His innocence is what solidified his relationship to Charles Manson, who frequently stayed at Wilson's home. The two also played music together. Charlies really wanted to be a pop star. In a magazine interview, Dennis once referred to Manson as "The Wizard." After the murders, Wilson rarely spoke on the Manson connection, although he hinted that he knew what provoked the murders and said one day he would publish it in a book. However, addiction took its toll on Wilson, who lived a remarkably self-destructive lifestyle in late '70s Los Angeles (He was said to have crashed Christine McVie's Rolls Royce twelve times!). In a a stroke of tragedy, Denny drowned while drunkenly swimming in Marina Del Ray in 1983. He was quoted earlier that day as saying "I'm lonesome. I'm lonesome all the time."
But we shall Rejoice! Rejoice! because Wilson's masterpiece is finally getting the remastered, re-issued treatment it deserves. Out of print since 1991, copies of the album on record go for up to $300, while CD's are at upwards of $120. Now thanks to Legacy Recordings and Sundazed, who will release a 180-gram vinyl mini-box re-issue, the public will finally be able to bask in the light of the Dreamer.
If you would like to know more about the fascinating life of Dennis Wilson, check out this great documentary, Dennis Wilson Forever on Flasher. It's free.
In 2004, Rolling Stone labeled Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour as "perhaps the most famous singer alive." "How could that be?" you ask. "I've never heard of him." Let's put this into perspective: Africa is the second most populated continent after Asia, with a total population estimated at about 1 billion. And for more than 20 years this musical demographic has belonged to Youssou N'Dour.
Africa's musical history is both rich and complex. In essence, music seeped out of Africa beginning with the slave trade and eventually led to the creation of rock and roll via the blues. Starting in the 60's, American music began making its way back to Africa, and eventually clashing with both Soukous (African rumba) and the introduction of Cuban music (first in the Congo, then everywhere else).
I couldn't even begin to illustrate how popular / important Youssou is in Africa. (Wikipedia does a pretty good job at hitting the important points). But even outside Africa, Youssou is considered a major force. Some of his Western collaborations have included Paul Simon, Dido, Wyclef Jean, Branford Marsalis, and a co-headlining gig in 1988 with Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel, Sting, and BRUUUUUCE on the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! tour.
In 2007 Youssou released Rokku Mi Rokka, his first album in three years (his third on Nonesuch). The album had a very quiet American release, yet somehow Rolling Stone actually got something right and voted it #30 on their Top 50 Albums of 2007 list.
Check out "4-4-44" (a reference to Senegal's 44 years of independence) the opening track to Rokku Mi Rokka, below, as well as Youssou and his boy Peter Gabriel doing a nearly 10 minute rendition of "In Your Eyes."
That's right kids, Nada Surf. Yep, the same band that sang the mid-nineties teenage anthem "Popular" (whose video was filmed at Bayonne High School). Nope, we're not talking about '90's alt, although we probably should, this Delorean is set on traveling back to '02/'03 when Nada Surf came out of nowhere to release a power pop gem in the vein of Big Star's #1 Record.
One of the things that always struck me about Let Go is it's relative lack of innovation. Don't get me wrong I'm all for innovative thinking of all sorts, but this is something different. Nada Surf aren't inventing a genre, or experimenting with studio theatrics or piling on Phil Spector layers of sound, no none of that is present on Let Go. What you'll find here are catchy, hook laden pop songs thrown over mildly distorted power chords and glowing harmonies. Sound familiar, it should, as this is what was played on the radio when we were kids, when terrestrial radio still mattered. Let Go is pop music for kids who hate pop music, kids raised on Tripping Daisy and Veruca Salt, kids who used to rent Sonic Youth albums from their public libraries and kids who still rock out to the Smashing Pumpkin's "Cherub Rock." It's oddly nostalgic for years not so far gone, yet still representative of post-millenial shifts in the musical landscape. The record kicks off with the "Blizzard of '77", a short story documenting the neurotic boredom of one stuck in a figurative blizzard, a place your just not sure how to get out of. Not to mention the lyrics which reflect on a youthful drug experience ("In the blizzard of 77 the cars were just lumps on the snow/ and then later, tripping in 7-11 the shelves were stretching out of control"). "Happy Kid" could've been sandwiched between Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" and Chavez's "Unreal is Here" on a mythical Maxell XL-II mix tape from your youth. Personally, I think that's a damn good thing.
While many have hailed Let Go as an under rated masterpiece from a band almost everyone had written off, I was stunned to see that the rating mongers at Pitchfork(3.8) chose to exercise their critical backwash by urinating on a record that 5 years later is as catchy and bouncy and exciting as it was when I was a fresh faced 18 year old bound for college. Any review that spends more than half it's time shit talking a band's efforts from 7 years prior, and limits the album under review to a few worthless bullet points isn't really worth reading anyway. Another reason why you shouldn't always listen to P4K.
On a positive note, peep a few tracks from Let Go and judge for yourself.
"I'm Not Crazy I'm Just A Little Boy" Our love affair with The Rosebuds is quite complex. You see, besides being major fans of The Rosebuds Make Out, Birds Make Good Neighbors & Night of the Furies, we also sweat the backing vocals they laid down on the Shout Out Louds Cure-conjuring Our Ill Wills, not to mention they are good buds with our Fall obsession Bon Iver, who used to play second guitar in the Rosebuds and whom we were introduced to the last time we saw Ivan and Kelly during CMJ at the Bowery Ballroom. So yeah, we like the Rosebuds and all their friends and their various incarnations, alot.
Last night we had a chance to catch Ivan and Kelly at Maxwell's on the last stop of a 4 show January tour. Surprisingly, Hoboken's itsy bitsy rock club never really filled in, which was great as we were able to pogo bounce with the rowdy kids up front all night long. And bounce we did as The Rosebuds brought a swinging '60s dance party to the best club in the Tri-State area. Culling from all three albums, with an extensive foray into their debut The Rosebuds Make Out, Ivan & Kelly, accompanied by drummer Matt McCaughn, played one of the most invigorating sets of live pop music I've seen in a while. This shouldn't come as a surprise as their CMJ show at the Bowery was a ton of fun, however the lack of a restricted set time and the coziness of Maxwell's made it feel like one of the best house party we've ever been too. Yeah, it was that kind of intimate goodness (Ivan even laughed at a few of our jokes). All in all a great night, unfortunately they won't be coming North again until the Fall. So until then, we leave you with this, The Rosebuds covering Salt N Pepa's "Push It" with their dog.
"Have You Ever Been Up Salinas Way?" It's hard to deny that the Beach Boys hit their stride on masterful Pet Sounds, but I'd like to argue that that peak merely plateaued around Pet Sounds, breeding the lovely Sunflower & Surfs Up and the majestic Holland, which was recorded in Baambrugge, The Netherlands. In a classic case of the record industry making ludicrous financial decisions, Warner Brothers allowed the Beach Boys to build a new "Clover Systems custom quadrophonic console: 30 input channels, 1000 position patch bay, 20 Dolby noise reduction units," a wide variety of microphones, custom monitoring system and a boat load of custom JBL speakers. "All equipment was designed specifically for this project by Brother Records (The Beach Boys label) in Los Angeles, then flown to Holland for this recording." Must've been sweet to be a rockstar in the '70s, when rock stars still existed.
Technically, Holland is one and a half long playing records, as Brian Wilson's bewildered "Mount Vernon and Fairway: A Fairy Tale" is included as a 7" record separate from the 12" LP. Why? Probably because Warner Bros. was freaked out by Brian's monotone spoken word about a magical transistor radio that comes alive at night and awakens teenage rock fans. The 7" is weird, and I say this as someone who eats weird for breakfast, and comes with instructions: "Please listen in the dark." Needless to say, it's a stoner's delight and one of the most fascinating, albeit bizarre, Wilson compositions.
Holland kicks off with the funky, piano driven "Sail On Sailor", a Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks collaboration with lyrics by Jack Rieley and Ray Kennedy, a bit of a departure from the usual BB's penned tunes. (You may know the song from Martin Scorcese's "The Departed".) While "Sail On Sailor" is all harmonies and pop and everything you've come to love and respect about the Boys, the real highlight here is Mike Love's mini-opera "The California Saga" made up of "Big Sur", "The Beak of Eages" and "California." It's the type of mini-epic you can't really explain, so take a listen below and enjoy the wonder that is post-Pet Sounds Beach Boys.
"Trying to Retrace Our Footsteps in the Snow" It's been such a long time since we've heard anything about The Boy Least Likely To that I was worried we'd forget about them. Lucky for me when I was looking for a CD to take a shower to this morning the bright yellow spine of The Best Party Ever jumped out at me. Technically, TBLLT hasn't released a record since 2005 but we can cut them some slack for the rash of killer b-side singles and the precious cover of George Michael (and Limp Bizkit's) "Faith." We don't really have any Boy Least Likely To news or info to offer, but they did just have a great post on their blog which quotes from an article that Laura Barton in The Guardian regarding the difference between listening to music in the car and listening on a bus or train.
"sitting behind the wheel you are filled with the exhilarating sense of possibility, the feeling that you could go anywhere", whereas on bus journeys "your destination is always limited by the bus route, and your music is, by and large, confined to your headphones rather than billowing out of a car speaker system." and so, she writes, "the best music for bus journeys always seems characteristically introspective, the kind of music made for dreamers and loners.
Here is a list of songs that X from The Boy Least Likely To enjoys listening to on the Bus:
Saint Etienne- Hobart Paving Kenickie- Lights Out in a Provincial Town Isobel Campbell & Eugene Kelly- Time is Just the Same Glen Campbell- Gentle on My Mind Bright Eyes- First Day of My Life Lambchop- The New Cobweb Summer The Tindersticks- Tiny Tears The Field Mice – Willow The Smiths – Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want Felt- There's No Such Thing as Victory
Below is a ridiculous video of TBLLT performing on a British morning show, complete with lip synching, a backing track and dancing furry animals (which totally makes up for the lip synching and shitty backing track). And to hold you over until whenever TBLLT drops some new shit, here's some old B-sides.
The new sound of UK urban music It is difficult to describe the dubstep sound, but a few words immediately come to mind: heavy, dark, bass-driven. Visually, dubstep evokes images of a dimly lit, grimy underground club with cavernous sub-woofers, or a late-night walk on deserted city streets with headphones on and hoodie pulled up.
Because of the genre's newness, it is difficult to say exactly what makes something "dubstep" as opposed to some other genre. But at the very least, dubstep is a heavily modified version of UK Garage (aka 2-step) infused with dub-reggae elements. Sparse yet intricate rhythms and deep sub-bass lines are two major aesthetics of the genre.
Burial is ironically the poster-child of the genre (nobody knows his true identity), but Skream and Rusko are two rising producers that are expanding the palette and reach of the genre. Stream two tracks and watch a short documentary below. [Quality headphones most definitely recommended.]
If I had a time machine I would set it to 1970s Soul Train
Funk legends The Commodores are playing a short, four show run in the NJ area in mid-February, which gives me the perfect excuse to post the video above: a 1974 performance of the dance-floor slayer "Machine Gun" in front of the perpetually-funky Soul Train audience. I'm not sure which I like best about this video (besides the music): the ridiculous costumes on the band, the flashing "Soul Train" lights behind the stage, or the dude in the front row with his back to the stage gettin' DOWN. Decide for yourself.
This past week, Blue Note Jazz Club hosted Nawlins R&B legend Allen Toussaint for a string of ten sold out shows in the heart of Greenwich Village. We were lucky enough to catch the final performance last night, and were enraptured by his funky set of soulful pop that had us grooving in our seats. Toussaint has worn many different hats over his career, including producer, songwriter, arranger, session pianist, solo artist, and entertainer. And last night's show was entertaining to say the least, as he mixed together originals and covers while weaving in humorous and heartfelt stories about his life and music. We only wished that he could have played longer, but he did mention that he will likely be back next year. Not to be missed.
"What is the central theme to this everlasting spoof?" Without Phish, there would be no Bobka. You see, it was a shared love of all things Phish that initially brought the Bobka crew together, and our passion for the music and community has slowly evolved over the years into what you see today. And so, to honor the recently-past 10 year anniversary of (one of) our favorite Phish era(s), we have assembled a few choice cuts from the Fall/Winter 1997 tour for your dancing and listening pleasure. This segment of dirrty Cow Phunk mixed with spacey transcendental improv will remind even the most jaded of phans why they liked the band so much in the first place, and it is also a great starting point for newbies who want to get an idea of what the fuss was all about. Check out LivePhish for more information.
Phish earned a reputation as one of the best live bands in the biz not only for their music but also for their dazzling light shows. Their lighting designer, Chris Kuroda, transformed a Phish "concert" into an "experience" by way of his mindblowingly synchronized lighting displays. Check the video below to understand why Kuroda was considered to be a member of the band, and why this particular jam had those in attendance thinking the Mothership was touching down for a visit.
Big thanks to Arthur Fischer-Zernin for sending this our way.
In one of the greatest bits of Behind the Music history, Metallica Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett tag team in one of the most unintentionally funny moments in the history of rock and roll. Metallica and Guns N' Roses were playing a co-headline show in Montreal, when James Hetfield was severely burned by a "twelve foot high, 3,200 degree tower of flame." The commentary from lead Metallica mouth Lars Ulrich is guaranteed to make you giggle, especially if you love Napster and think Axl is a douche.
At 3:05 in: Lars: Guns N Roses could've come out and saved the day by going on and playing a three hour blistering set. Kirk: That didn't happen.
"I Want Your Love" Occassionally cool people send us emails containing encrypted codes that when un-crypted transform from random numbers and letters into real music! I know, what a great world we live in. Recently we got an email from a dude called Jase from Outer Space from Los Angeles who sent us a copy of his new mix Space Talk. The subject of the email said "new mix featuring italians do it better" so I knew I'd love it. And I do. Not to mention how bad ass that Kano track is.
"Do Yourself Some Right" The crew at Blog Fresh Radio is back from their winter vacation and decided to kick off 2008 with final dose of 2k7. We'd like to send a big shout out to Bill at Blog Fresh corporate headquarters for including Bobka pick "Left Foot Stepdown" by The Bee's as part of 2008's inaugural edition, as well as raising a really good question as to why I only made a Top 9 list (Idiot, oh well). This mix is really a great summary of 2007 and includes a ton of our favorite songs by the likes of Jens Lekman, Escort, LCD, Of Montreal, Roison Murphy, basically everyone that made 2007 an aural thanksgiving feast. Also, I've never heard The Builders and The Butchers before, but their "Spanish Death Song" is f'ing badass. Big ups to Song by Todd for the intro.
This has been a favorite in the Bobka world since before the Bobka world even existed. If someone has a video of Lars Ulrich talking about Axel after James Hetfield's skin burning incident, plllllease send it our way. Chinese Democracy 2022??
Authentic, original music; No Cover Bands allowed John and Peter's looks more like a converted basement/pizza parlor than a concert venue, yet it has been an integral part of the local music scene for the past 32 years. Located immediately over the border in New Hope, PA, John and Peter's is best known for serving as the home-base and launching pad of the original indie-band, Ween.
And Dean Ween certainly looked at home last night while sitting in with local legend Chris Harford and his Band of Changes, which also featured Bobka-friend Scott Metzger on guitar and the incredible Joe Russo on the drums, among others. The vibe was mellow and the standing-room-only crowd of roughly 50 people was attentive as Harford led his band through an array of songs and musical styles; sometimes light and introspective, other times powerful and rocking, but always sincere and captivating.
What I love most about John and Peter's is the automatic sense of intimacy one gets as soon as they walk in the door. It is impossible to be more than 10 feet away from the stage, and the low ceilings effectively capture every sound that is produced (including cell phone ringtones). Just be sure your phone is on 'vibrate'.
I love me some Cat Power. With that said, I couldn't be more excited about her upcoming release of covers, a follow up of sorts to 2000's The Covers Record. This time Chan's calling it Jukebox and her jukebox consists of her covers of Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, James Brown and Janis Joplin. Your gonna want to buy this one on January 22nd as the official release comes with a limited edition bonus disc that has Chan covering Cash Money's Hot Boys and Nick Cave. Thanks to the Matador Blog we have a lil taste of the recording sessions. Pre-order the deluxe edition with the Lil Wayne cover from Insound (here).
"Oil!" I had given Johnny Greenwood's score to There Will Be Blood a few digital spins and knew it was good, but it wasn't until tonight when I saw the film that it truly hit me. While the movie left 2/3 of the Bobka speechless, literally, Greenwood's score had us sneering some sinister "I've struck it big and will destroy anyone or anything that gets in my way" smile all the way back to Jersey. Entertainment Weekly recently had an interview with the film's director, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Greenwood, where Anderson noted that "The whole opening 20 minutes was meant to be silent." Without Greenwood's unsettling, often nihilistic, string arrangements the opening scenes of this incredible film would be lost in a haze of dirty desert sage. With the score you are transported into the menacing mind of a broke down prospector traversing the wicked desert in search of the unattainable American dream, to strike it rich.
Fans of Radiohead and Anderson's work (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love) may want to check out the above mentioned interview HERE. I know it's not playing in many theaters yet but if you are in the New York area you can catch a showing at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square or at the BAM theater in Brooklyn. Buy the Soundtrack HERE. If you haven't seen it yet, the theatrical trailer is below. No doubt about it, if this film doesn't win best score, best picture, best actor (Daniel Day- Lewis), best supporting actor (Paul Dano) and best screen adaptation than something is seriously wrong with the world.
"I Hate California Girls" Just a lil something something to keep you warm as the new year settles. A lil funk, a lil soul, a lil country, a lil retro rock, some reggae and a new Magnetic Fields song. Yee-haw. Warm wishes from the Bobka crew
Bobkast #8: A Lil Something Something 1. Lee Dorsey- Yes, We Can 2. Friends & Lover- Reach Out of the Darkness 3. Allen Toussaint- Night People 4. Herman's Hermits- I'm Into Something Good 5. The Magnetic Fields- California Girls 6. The Limes- Beyond Blue 7. Madlib- Mystic Bounce 8. Lord Rhaburn- More Love Reggae 9. Jacob Miller- Curly Locks 10. The Kinks- Waterloo Sunset 11. Bob Dylan & The Band- Ain't No More Cane 12. Emmylou Harris & Ricky Skaggs- Darkest Hour is Right Before Dawn 13. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins- Rise Up with Fists!!! 14. Dr. Dog- Mystery to Me 15. The Clientele- Bookshop Casanova 16. Belle & Sebastian- Asleep on a Sunbeam 17. John Phillips- Holland Tunnel 18. Neil Young- Cripple Creek Ferry 19. Grizzly Bear- Deep Blue Sea (Daniel Rossen home recording re-edit)
"Say Cheerio to Books Now/ The Only Thing to Read are Faces" There aren't many things I can remember from when I was 14. Buying Belle & Sebastian'sThe Boy with the Arab Strap is one of them. The band, formed by Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David while at Stow College in Glasgow, Scotland, had already released two beloved records across the pond on Jeepster Records. Matador had already re-issued the wickedly kick ass If You're Feeling Sinister, but The Boy with the Arab Strap was the first time my insanely young ears heard the groups ravishing harmonies and melancholic melodies. I remember this because the first time I listened to the record was on a disc man during the famed Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show starring the world renowned Rockettes. If you'd heard "Ease Your Feet in the Sea" while a hundred leggy women in sequined leotards did the can-can you'd probably remember too. Needless to say I didn't become a lifelong fan of the Rockettes that night, but I did start a ten year love affair with the best thing to come from Scotland since tartan and single malt Scotch Whiskey.
Not everyone felt the same way about The Boy with the Arab Strap. In fact, most wrote it off as another case of a band's third record being mediocre at best. Those loons at Pitchfork even went as far as saying the album was a parody of itself and compared it to the man juice that hangs from Ben Stiller's ear in There's Something About Mary. Then they went and gave it a 0.8.
While the record is by no means a masterpiece in the sense that If You're Feeling Sinister is, it is an artistic statement more concerned with experimental growth than regurgitating the same old hooks and harmonies that catapulted them to precious indie stardom in 1996. The album, which is divided into two sides even on CD, is centered by the spacey spoken word of "A Space Boy Dream", which is easily the worst song on the record. But that's ok, it's song number 7 on a record where songs 1 through 6 are charming and hummable and with fun little poetics like "Soberly without regret/ I make another sandwich." For some reason when Stuart Murdoch coo's those words I feel as if I'm listening to Kerouac, or one of his absurdist beat cronies. "A Summer Wasting" has justified every lackluster summer evening I've spent drinking and playing and waiting for the sun to rise before going to sleep, while "Seymour Stein" plays like a Dear John letter to the famous record exec, an apology for missing a dinner meeting ("I heard dinner went well/ You liked Chris' jacket/It reminded you of Johnny/Before he went electronic"). "TBWTAS" contains the best recorder solo in recorded history. Oh yeah, and an ass load of hand claps to keep you happy even when the songs are oh-so sad.
If you're still not convinced, then peep this video below and chew on this line for a bit: "We all know your soft cause we've all seen you dancing/ We all know your hard cause we've all seen you drinking from noon until noon again."
P.S.- In case you were wondering, an Arab Strap is a sexual device for retaining an erection.
No one has ever done New Years Eve better than the Grateful Dead. Don't believe me, peep this video from the Dead's 1985 New Years show in Oakland. Not only do they have Father Time parading around the arena on a giant cake, but Ken Kesey and the great Father Guido Sarducci provide a timeless, albeit a bit strange, commentary. See you in the midnight hour!
"We Just Wanna Emote Til Were Dead" Of Montreal'sHissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? became one of my favorite albums due to its indelible irony. How can one deny something so good that seems so wrong? You can't. It's in that spirit, albeit in jest, that Kevin Barnes master work with Of Montreal came to do be. It makes sense that a record documenting Barnes "divorce from himself" and his transformation into the mythical "Georgie Peach" (as well as his schizo divorce from wife/Of Montreal bass player Nina Twin) would break from the band's sugary lysergic mold, however it seems counterintuitive that the band romps over forlorn, depress fest lyrics to reinvent itself as the funkiest white disco band in the world. And there in lies it's magic. At every corner you are faced with Barnes lyrical struggle. "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger" is a champagne bubbling synthetic pop gem which finds Barnes "on the verge of a total breakdown while living in Norway." Georgie Fruit is most biting during the 11 minute transformation funk of "The Past is a Grotesque Animal" and the absurdist "She's a Rejector", where he crows both "Eva I'm Sorry But You Will Never Have Me/ To Me Your Just Some Faggy Girl/ And I Need A Lover with Soul Power" and "There's the Girl that Left Me Bitter/ Want to Pay Some other Girl to Just Walk Up To Her And Hit Her." It's alot funner than it sounds, I swear.
You can hear bits of Hissing Fauna... along with a laundry list of the best albums of the year on this weeks Blog Fresh Radio, which dissects the Blog Fresh posse's favorite records of the year. Definitely worth a look and a listen.
Also be sure to peep the righteous video for "Gronlandic Edit" below, as well as Kevin Barnes Year End Top 10 list, which he composed for P4K: 1. Caribou: Andorra 2. Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity 3. M.I.A.: Kala 4. Robert Wyatt: Comicopera 5. Liars: Liars 6. MGMT: Oracular Spectacular 7. Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam 8. Panda Bear: Person Pitch 9. Fiery Furnaces: Widow City 10. A Hawk and a Hacksaw: A Hawk and a Hacksaw and the Hun Hangar Ensemble
The complete lack of verifiable information about Black Devil adds an element of mystery to their music that automatically makes them intriguing, and has even led some to question whether they exist at all. As the story goes, French duo Bernard Fevre and Jackie Giordano quietly released the Disco Club EP in 1978 under the Black Devil guise before quickly fading away. The record was a highly respected, hard-to-find artifact that was years ahead of its time in terms of musical style and technique: pulsating, bongo-infused, arpeggiating spacey disco with a slightly darker edge, recorded without the aid of computers.
Fast forward to 2004, when Rephlex records (which is co-owned by Richard D. James) re-issued the mythical EP as a series of 12" vinyls, apparently inspiring Fevre to end his 25+ year hiatus and head back into the studio; Black Devil released 28 After in late 2006, followed by a remixed version of the album entitled Black Devil In Dub shortly thereafter.
If you think the story sounds a little too patchy to be believed, well, you are not alone. There is mounting speculation among fans that Black Devil is nothing more than yet another prank by Richard D. James himself. The stylistic similarities between Black Devil and James' work (Aphex Twin, AFX, etc.) are hard to ignore, as are the mysterious backstory and coincidental 're-issue' by Rephlex. Although it is difficult to say one way or the other whether James was simply heavily influenced by Black Devil, or is in fact the diabolical mastermind behind it all, it has no effect on the music itself, which the BBC described as a "fitting soundtrack to filling a yacht with supermodels and heading out to St. Tropez." Check it out for yourself.
"On Just Foot" from 28 After
"I Regret the Flower Power" from Black Devil In Dub
Merry Christmas from your friends at The Bobka. Enjoy this novelty remix of the infamous "Nintendo 64 kid" home video while opening your presents and sippin' on some egg nog.
"Artisanal Power Hour Mixes for the Discriminating Binge Drinker" "When you have a seemingly unquenchable thirst for alcohol and music, combined with a short attention span, there really is nothing like a well-curated, well-sequenced power hour mix to kick drive a weekend." So say the folks over at TheseArePowerfulHours.com, and by the looks of it, they are not kidding.
Offering a vast variety of mixes for download -- ranging from Prince to Tom Petty to Timbaland to Hall & Oates -- TAPH has you covered for all of your Power Hour needs. And they recently posted a Christmas edition to help make all of those family parties a little bit more tolerable (and sloppy). Just make sure you take your shoes off before passing out, unlike the dude pictured above.
Digitized Holiday Classics What better way to recycle those old video game systems collecting dust in your basement than to turn them into bonafide musical instruments? That's what the 8bitpeoples have done, a collective of artists who modify old consoles in order to create crudely digital and highly innovative music. And now they have turned their skills to re-interpreting some of the most beloved Christmas songs of all time.
Check out Bit Shifter's rendition of "Let It Snow" on a GameBoy, and Nullsleep's NES-created "Silent Night" below. You can download the entire album (and many others) for FREE at the 8bitpeoples website. Sounds like a good Christmas present to me.
Nostalgic, booty-shakin' disco/house Jersey native Morgan Geist and colleague Darshan Jesrani are better known as Metro Area and they recently released their seventh 12" on Geist's Environ label. Their latest effort isn't much of a stylistic departure (aside from the vocals) from their past work, and that is a very good thing: The duo are known for their 'new-school disco' sound, which incorporates the sleekest elements of the old days and mixes it with house and electro influences to give the music a freshness and punch that will slay any dancefloor.
Speaking of which, Metro Area will be spinning a hometown show at Brooklyn's own Studio B on January 4, so be sure to ask for a pair of dancin' shoes this Christmas. Check out a live set of theirs below to get a taste. You can purchase Metro Area 7 (and their other releases) at "all fine physical and digital music outlets."
"Santa Got a DWI" Last night a good friend said "I really wish that I knew Santa was real." I agree. Many of these Christmas gems were uncovered at the Big Rock Candy Mountain, an incredible resource specializing in "both kinds of music: Country and Western. A little trash, a little junk, a little grease, a little truckin." An hour of oddly unique and drunk tunes, this mix has everything from Santa doing the Mambo, to "Christmas in Vegas" and even Christmas in Prison. Not to mention it's much easier on the ears than those infamous Very Special Christmas mixes. In the spirit of Christmas, we present you with:
Chocolate Bobka Presents...Deck the Halls, Bitch The Polyphonic Spree- Carol of the Bells Sufjan Stevens- Come on! Let's Boogie to the Elf Dance The Ramones- Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight) The Kinks- Father Christmas Robbers on High Street- Seasons Greetings Sherwin Linton- Santa got a DWI Loretta Lynn- Country Christmas Robert Earl Keen- Merry Christmas from the Family Big John Greer- We Wanna See Santa Do The Mambo Holly Golightly- Christmas trees on fire Elvis Pressley- Santa Clause is back in town Hank Thompson- I'd like to have an elephant for Christmas The Sonics- Santa Clause Mae West- Put the Loot in the Boot, Santa Johnny Cash- Blue Christmas Loretta Lynn- To Heck With Ole Santa Clause Casper and the Cookies- Kiss me beneath the Christmas tree Dale Watson- Christmas in Vegas Sufjan Stevens- Put the lights on the tree Ferlin Husky- In Santa's bag Seasick Steve & the Level Devils- Xmas prison blues the dbs- Christmas time Brenda Lee- I'm gonna lasso Santa The Pogues- Fairytale of New York
"Sometimes Have My Breakfast Right Off of A Mirror" When Spiritualized released Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space in 1997 it came packaged like prescription medication. This came as no surprise to long time fans of J. Spaceman (aka Jason Pierce) who founded Spiritualized after his group the Spacemen 3 disbanded. Founded on the idea that they would "take drugs to make music to take drugs to," Spiritualized mesmerized audiences with a reverberated blend of hypno-psych music that still feels druggier than any existing chemical cocktail.
It has been widely rumored that J. Spaceman wrote the record after the disillusionment of his relationship with girlfriend, and Spiritualized bass player, Kate Radley, who had secretly married Richard Ashcroft of the Verve. While Spaceman has denied this, it's hard to believe as much of the album is steeped in disenchanted heart break and self destruction. The liner notes read like medication, covering active ingredients, recommended dose, possible side effects and answers to questions like "What should I do if symptoms persist? (ans: try alternative medicines 'Laze Guided Melodies' and 'Pure Phase' available without a prescription)" and "What is Spiritualized used for? (ans: Spiritualized is used to treat the heart and soul.)"
Musically Ladies and Gentleman... is 70 minutes of reverberated guitar drones, massive horn swells, epic orchestrations and ethereal madness. An ominous voice welcomes you, announcing that, yes, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in space," as if you had just woke up on a psychedelic voyage to the Moon. The next part of your journey arrives in the form of Spaceman's aching vocal, "All I Want In Life Is A Little Bit of Love to Take the Pain Away/ Getting Strong Today/ I Try and Step Each Day" before backing vocals whisper lines from the Elvis' "Only Fools Rush In" ("Wise men say/ Only fools rush in/ Only fools rush in/ But I, I cant help/ I cant help falling/ Falling in love with you").
The strung out orchestrations of "Broken Heart" feels like what I imagine it must be like to float in the celestial darkness, while the 8 minute "I Think I'm In Love" blends harmonica shivers with trembling bass and the druggiest lyrics this side of Surrealistic Pillow ("Cool cos I'm wired and I'm out of my mind/Warms the dope running down my spine... Free as the warmth in the air that I breathe/ Even freer than dmt... Love in the middle of the afternoon/ Just me, my spike in my arm and my spoon").
Side effects of Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space include, but are not limited to "delirium, a sense of intoxication, visual and auditory hallucinations, euphoria, fever, cold sweats, slurred speach, numbness of the extremities, lack of coordination, stupor, memory loss, bloodshot eyes, mental detachment, paranoid psychosis, temporary paralysis, jerky eye movement, imbalance, sense of well being, purposeless movement, lethargy, dizziness, visual disturbances, palpitations, disorientation, confusion, personality change, arrhythmia and changes in sexual desire," all of which can be experienced in the albums 17 minute opus "Cop Shoot Cop."
While there is an overwhelming amount of paraphernalia makes it's way into Ladies and Gentleman... it's most striking feature is its universal sense of heart broken self-destruction, of which J. Spaceman is seasoned veteran. Luckily for his own heart he got help, chronicled on Let it Come Down and Amazing Grace.
"Our Destination Lies Beneath the Pillow" Fans of indie pop are surely familiar with the rising scenes in Sweden, Norway and Finland. While Scandanavia is a sure fire hot bed for all things indie, it should be no surprise that their neighbors to the south, the Danes, have quite an affinity for well honed melodies, night time synths and a general indie aesthetic. Copenhagen's epo-555 are the epitome of slow burning mood-tronica. Melting the jangly distorted jams of Yo La Tengo with Sigur Ros-esque tapes loops and the sexy femme fatale darkness of Goldfrapp, epo-555 is pure insomniac bliss. At moments they remind me of fellow Dane's Mew, other times Hot Chip. With that said, be the first on your block to tell all your friends about the dark psych pop coming out of Copenhagen.
all songs are posted because we love them and think they make the world a better place. they are for sampling purposes only (duh). if you like what you hear, buy the record or see the concert!!! if you own the copyright to anything that appears on this site, contact us.
