Two-Thirds of Fugees Reunite in Malaysia:
wow, you know what they look like? like that guy in the 80's who would be on Star Search or whatever singing a duet and you'd see him from the side profile and he'd be singing the guy's part and then would turn over 180 and the other half of his face and body would be in a full woman's gown and makeup and he'd also sing the ladies part.
like that.
[link via whatevs]
Album that's been blowing my mind this week: Devin Davis - Lonely People of the World, Unite!. It's fast, upbeat, fun, sad, and more importantly, hopeful. Reminds me of Bishop Allen, Decemberists, and even The Arcade Fire. Stopped by A&B Sound at lunch and was so pleased they had it, only $14.99 too. Listen to Iron Woman MP3.
Albums that haven't been leaked that I'm most looking forward to this year: NIN, Gorillaz, and Wolf Parade.
Indie hip-hop supergroup Living Legends, featuring underrated MC, Murs, has a new album called Classic. It has a nice cover:
The Kirk Van Houten Award for Excellency in Song Naming goes to Youth Group for "Why Don't the Buildings Cry?". The album isn't bad so far though. Kinda reminds me of Uncut, which I like more and is way more rocking shoegaze than "dark and melancholic" Youth Group. At least the name Youth Group is better than Dogs Die in Hot Cars, but not by much. Youth Brigade has a better name than most bands.
I have no problem with someone finding God, really, I appreciate your quaint traditions and superstitions. But who knew that Getting Down With Jesus turns you into a comedian? I point to ex-Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch cause he's pretty funny:
Welch explained that "A Cheap Name" was not an attack on 50, but rather a "message from God" (the last line in the song is "Love, Jesus"). And as he explained further in his letter, Welch only wants the rapper to change the way he lives his life, because, as he put it, "God told me there will be many attempts made to kill you by the enemy."
Stop it, you're killing me!
Party Ben has a new mashup featuring Tegan & Sara vs. Mylo - "Walking with a Ghost in Paris". I had a discussion last week with a friend about how Tegan & Sara - Superstar is worthy of a remix, since they never play it live any more. Their next single will be Speak Slow to be released to coincide with their upcoming bill supporting the Killers tour.
Most played song of last week: Aqueduct - Growing Up With GNR. I was 10 when all I listened to was Appetite for Destruction.
come on and kick me!
This morning The House of Blues mailing list had a presale for the upcoming Weezer show at the Commodore Ballroom, a tiny Vancouver venue for an arena rock band. A few years ago they played the Pacific Coliseum, which I think is the last arena show I've been to.
I got on that motherfucker quick and got my tickets. I checked back 5 mins later and it looks like the presale sold out quickly:
Better get on it Saturday.
I've returned to making mixtapes again with a new volume. i know it's not a real mixtape because no tape is used, but i like that word better than "mix mp3 playlist". The track listing:
pindermix 01 - oh, IT IS ON!
If you know me, you know where to get it.
Updated: I forgot to add the Johnny Boy track.
| andrea says: | you are so smart and level-headed pinder. |
| andrea says: | you should live in my pocket. |
| pinder says: | http://cheston.com/pbf/PBF022BCSmallMan.html would i get a helmet? |
Why it's probably not the best idea to put your work "todo" list on a webservice:
Ninja High School - It's All Right to Fight
Ninja High School is a lo fi hip hop/punk/electro band by a bunch of white indie kids from Toronto who sound like a mix of Pavement and Public Enemy.
Even though the song isn't terribly original ("Mama Said Knock You Out") and is part joke and part party anthem, it's still fun and still more sinister and menacing than anything from the flacid new 50 Cent album. While Eminem is on his 8th song about his daughter, and 50 has become the thing he hated and is now singing fucking Ja Rule like love songs, Ninja High School promises that "You're going home in a fucking ambulance!" and that hip-hop can still be exciting when you fly by your own rules.
This mp3 is from a forthcoming 7" as part of Tomlab's "Alphabet Series". The release is limited to 500, so the band is offering both songs as mp3s on their site.
See, even the motherfucking man, Ted Leo, likes Kelly Clarkson.
Ted covers "Since You've Been Gone" for an acoustic set for Ugo.com. Notice that even Ted won't use the stupid Prince spelling! Plus he throws in Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps! Best acoustic mashup since The Mountain Goats combined Boys are Back in Town with Ignition (Remix).
Here's the direct link to the video, but it won't work if you click on it. Copy the URL into Windows Media Player yourself.
[link via stereogum]
I went to the Destroyer/Frog Eyes concert on Friday at WISE Hall, just off Commercial Drive. I hadn't seen a show there before so I didn't know what to expect. I found a parking spot easily on the street just around the corner and it wasn't till I got to the front I realized why. Bikes, everywhere. All the cool kids had rode their bikes to the show. And not like cool bikes, like the rusted leisure bikes of the Netherlands.
Inside was full of mostly dirty indie kids with hair that needs shampooing and asian indie kids with painfully coordinated outfits. This is what I get for liking beard rock.
I was alone, since most everyone else I know who has listened to Destroyer thinks he sounds like a vampire. I wasn't drinking cause I drove, so I got bored quite quickly. I put on my headphones and listened to my ipod Shuffle. Take that indie kids, I out-assholed you all!
Local band Book of Lists were first and they were pretty good for an opening band. Good music, ok vocals. The howling beast that is Carey Mercer and his band Frog Eyes came up second. If you haven't heard Frog Eyes, you'd probably hate it, unless you like stuff like The Books and Animal Collective. Carey was wearing a long beltless naval trenchcoat. Combined with the beard, he reminded me of Chris Farley's "fat guy in a little coat" bit from Tommyboy.
I've only heard the previous album, The Golden River, which is hit and miss for me. I'm assuming he was playing songs from mostly the new album so I didn't recognize any. The first song was pretty good, but the rest were hard to listen to. I'm all for howling vocals, after all I am a Mike Patton fan, but I couldn't get into this. I think Carey's vocals sound great as background vocals for the Destroyer songs, but I can only listen to a full song worth of his howling for 20 mins or so.
Dan Bejar played guitar for a few of the Frog Eyes songs with his back to the audience, and then left. He must have gone to the Miles Davis school of Performance instead of the Armand Assante School of Smoldering Intensity.
After a break, they all returned for the Destroyer set. If you were disappointed by the recent Notorious Lightning and Other Works EP, I highly recommend the CBC Radio Session they did. Whereas the tracks on the EP are a bit more subdued, the tracks on that CBC Session are faster and much more immediate. The show was a combination of the two, some slower and quiet tracks ("Don't Become the Thing You Hated"), and some loud and urgent tracks ("An Actor's Revenge"). They only sang one older track, and almost everything off of Your Blues except for "It's Gonna Take an Airplane" and "What Road", which are coincidentally, my favourite tracks from that album. But it was fun hearing the full band versions of all the other songs, especially a non-interludish version of Fox and the Hound and Carey's vocals at the end of Notorious Lightning. Great show, and the sound at WISE Hall was surprisingly good.
Also:
The Ratio is currently running an All Destroyer Special Issue.
techno music for the sarcastic by toothpaste for dinner
***
I'm generally not one for most techno/electro/whatever music. Eminem was right, "nobody listens to techno!". Repeat the above formula to metal and I'm all over it, like Isis. The formula is a bit different in prog or math rock though. It's not about layering on top, it's about building up layers and crescendos and peaks.
I'm very particular when it comes to electro though. Anything with some big black lady singing "What is Love?" or something sucks. And I'm bored by "bands" like Hybrid, but love those Felix da Housecat mixes. I like electro for indie kids, like that Erlend Oye DJ Kicks mix, and of course anything DFA.
With that said, Holy Crap these Manhunter mp3s are currently blowing my mind out!
An exclusive Ted Leo/Pharmacists EP is now available on iTunes. Called "Sharkbite Sessions", it includes the full band version of Sorrowful Country and Leaky Boat as well as Stiff Little Fingers' "Suspect Device"
Finally, iTunes Music store gets some good music. The Canadian one that is. The US one is good, the Canadian one still mostly <Jon Stewart voice>blooooows</Jon Stewart voice>. Go buy it. Downloading it from my FTP won't work for you.
Oh, and buy that Kelly Clarkson - Since You Been Gone song. It's also damn good.
