Ha! Turns out this was an April Fool's joke by Said the Gramophone: http://saidthegramophone.com/april2008.php Turns out that online April Fool's jokes don't work so well when you come across them on June 25...
(via Grabb.it)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes
Wow, interesting! Said the Gramophone ad on the front of this mp3 with sponsors (including SubPop, Fleet Foxes, and some bagel place). Kinda long and wandering, but also kinda nice to personalize it by hearing the guy's voice. Especially since he's Canadian...
(via Grabb.it)
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Water Curses by Animal Collective
It's amazing that Animal Collective continue to be so prolific. They keep finding new areas to explore within the specific sonic territory they've had staked out for awhile. Who would have guessed it was so spacious? It's also quite striking how vocal-centric they've become. It's a long distance from the ambient noise space they started in to tracks like this that have the verbal density of rap.
(via Grabb.it)
Smart Girls by Brian Wilson
Holy crap! Un-released Brian Wilson rap song. The track is made largely of chopped up pieces of Beach Boys songs. It's like watching a car accident: gross, but hard to pull your attention away. WFMU's got the rest of the info: http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/11/brian-wilsons-l.html Apparently the rest of the album has guest appearances by Bob Dylan and Weird Al...
(via Grabb.it)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Old, New Bicycle by Helvetia
Gotta dig the raw warm old-school soul sound and the laid back vocals. Plus, I really love the way the lead fuzzy guitar cuts way above the rest of the mix and is way nuttier; almost like it's visiting from a whole other style. This is a great demo of how low-fi can sound fresh and original rather than retro.
(via Grabb.it)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Crooked Legs by The Acorn
I'm always surprised that I'm not bored by The Acorn. At first listen, their songs seem so simple and 'traditional'. I don't know what it is exactly that differentiates them from so many other bands that kind of sound like this, but there's just something spellbinding about their songs to me. Kinda like #Fleet-Foxes -- I'm not necessarily into this genre, but these songs just feel really good.
(via Grabb.it)
Crooked Legs by The Acorn
I'm always surprised that I'm not bored by The Acorn. At first listen, their songs seem so simple and 'traditional'. I don't know what it is exactly that differentiates them from so many other bands that kind of sound like this, but there's just something spellbinding about their songs to me. Kinda like #Fleet-Foxes -- I'm not necessarily into this genre, but these songs just feel really good.
(via Grabb.it)
Crooked Legs by The Acorn
I'm always surprised that I'm not bored by The Acorn. At first listen, their songs seem so simple and 'traditional'. I don't know what it is exactly that differentiates them from so many other bands that kind of sound like this, but there's just something spellbinding about their songs to me. Kinda like #Fleet-Foxes -- I'm not necessarily into this genre, but these songs just feel really good.
(via Grabb.it)
Crooked Legs by The Acorn
I'm always surprised that I'm not bored by The Acorn. At first listen, their songs seem so simple and 'traditional'. I don't know what it is exactly that differentiates them from so many other bands that kind of sound like this, but there's just something spellbinding about their songs to me. Kinda like #Fleet-Foxes -- I'm not necessarily into this genre, but these songs just feel really good.
(via Grabb.it)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Feel the Love by Cut Copy
This is definitely the Cut Copy song I can most get behind. It's an interesting melding of #Clap-Your-Hands-Say-Yeah and classic #New-Order house. Jangly acoustic guitars float over rich bouncing bass lines. The drums alternate between a disco-y high-hat/snare alternation and a more conventional indie beat. Nasal affected vocals transform into vocoder. It's an interesting blend of styles and this song shows it at its most effective.
(via Grabb.it)
Monday, May 12, 2008
Teen Drama by Times New Viking
There's a big contrast between this "new lo-fi" stuff and the original 90s sound it's aping that I haven't heard anyone point out yet: digital lo-fi sounds are worlds apart from analog ones. Where cheap tape recordings have a warmth to their distortion, this digital stuff sounds super bright to the point of being grating. In comparison, classic #Bakesale era #Sebadoh feels like a bath of warm butter. Even the famously harsh #New-Day-Rising by #Husker-Du sounds soft and fuzzy. Add the contemporary dynamic-squashing mastering that this stuff undergoes and you start to hear how far apart it stands even from the recordings that most inspired it.
(via Grabb.it)
Another Day by Times New Viking
I just watched an MTV News report on the rise of lo-fi music: http://perpetua.tumblr.com/post/34249893 in which #Times-New-Viking featured prominently along with #No-Age. No Age have been highly buzzful lately and I've really been trying to get on board, but I haven't quite managed to succeed. I have to agree with Fluxblog: http://www.fluxblog.org/2008/05/wash-away-what-we-create.html Their songs are just a little too generically "90s teen punk" for me. The 90s retro movement that Fluxblog's harping on definitely bothers me about it as well. While this song surely falls into that same genre trap, it has a stronger sense of pop drama. The way the high guitar follows the girl's voice, reinforcing the melody, the more laid back beat, and the slightly darker more complicated harmony all make for a more emotionally evocative effect than any No Age I've heard. This is starting to get into old school #Sleater-Kinney territory, which is a rich vein of influence that wasn't quite as brutally strip-mined as the main artery of the 90s "lo-fi" cliche.
(via Grabb.it)
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above (Spank Rock remix) by Cansei de Ser Sexy
I always used to think that the "Death From Above" in this song's title was a band name; it was a hipster offer: "let's have sex and listen to cool music". But now I'm starting to wonder if "death from above" doesn't have the more conventional meaning of bombs falling onto your house.
Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above (Spank Rock remix) by Cansei de Ser Sexy
let-s-make-love-and-listen-to-death-from-above-spank-rock-remix-by-cansei-de-ser-sexy.mp3
let-s-make-love-and-listen-to-death-from-above-spank-rock-remix-by-cansei-de-ser-sexy.mp3
(via Grabb.it)
Knife by Cansei de Ser Sexy
Rendering this dark, haunting #Grizzly-Bear song in neon plastic synth colors ironically makes it sound like #The-Knife after which it is almost certainly not named.
(via Grabb.it)
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Launch Yourself by Adem
This was the first Adem song I ever heard and is still by far my favorite. The melody is choked full of hooks. The sound is warm and intimate. The percussion is playful and pushes things forward. The arrangement is original and satisfying. A lot of the rest of his work falls too far into the boring/generic area just adjacent to this sound that I like to call The Coldplay Zone. It's not a pretty place. But then again, it's not an ugly one either...
(via Grabb.it)
To Cure A Weakling Child/Boy Girl Song by Adem
Really cool #Aphex-Twin cover/mashup here. The incredible musicality of #Richard-D-James era Aphex means that it often strikes softer-timbred (even classically-instrumented) musicians as good fodder. In this case, I thnk #Adem is actually right since the pleasantness of his tones brings out the beauty of a lot of Aphex's melodies while the complexity of Aphex's arrangements push this song out of The #Coldplay Zone of comfortable edgelessness into which Adem too often falls. The end result sounds a bit like a missing song by #The-Books -- your folks could probably listen to it without complaining but it's also possible that the experimental music kid in the internet cafe might dig it too.
(via Grabb.it)
Creator by Santogold
Woah! Crackly old vinyl sound, squeaky vocals, and beepy lo-fi synths. Very #MIA. Haven't really heard anyone go this much straight after her style before. Santogold (at least here) isn't as vocally exciting, but I definitely dig the production. MIA works with the best (esp. #Timbaland) and there's lots of rich ground to mine there.
(via Grabb.it)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
"Thriller" (Michael Jackson cover) - Ben Gibbard
Sincerity is Ben Gibbard's super power. Except for the screams of pop recognition from the crowd, he almost manages to make Thriller into a murder ballad. It's an impressive feat.
(via Grabb.it)
Lover's Spit by Broken Social Scene
This song is timeless: lush, beautiful, catchy, moving, and original. It has a similar quality to #Transatlanticism by #Death-Cab-for-Cutie -- even though it's made of simple parts combined in a minimal way, it's still extremely expressive; somehow with each repetition it become more compelling, pushes closer to the emotional heart of things. It's an approach that's very "post-rock": you can only make pop like this in a world where #Godspeed and #Tortoise have broken down the barriers that kept patient atmospheric swells and more linear classical structures out of rock.
(via Grabb.it)
MP3: Brendan Canning: Hit the Wall [from the Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning: Something for All of Us... LP]
It's amazing how the signature #Broken-Social-Scene sound (big, buzzy, and driving) went from sounding so fresh it was almost avant-garde circa #You-Forgot-It-In-People to so stale it's almost retro with this new series of "Broken Social Scene Presents..." releases. Don't get me wrong, there's still a lot that's good here musically, but it says a lot that what I like most about this song is how it reminds me of the golden moment of hearing #Almost-Crimes for the first time.
MP3: Brendan Canning: Hit the Wall [from the Broken Social
Scene Presents Brendan Canning: Something for All of Us...
LP]
-mp3-brendan-canning-hit-the-wall-from-the-broken-social-scene-presents-brendan-canning-something-fo.mp3
(via Grabb.it)
Bright Tomorrow by Fuck Buttons
Kind of like a more abstract #Dan-Deacon song, here. I like the way each element that comes in alters the feeling of the rhythm without actually breaking the four-on-the-floor pounding. Also, if you're gonna have a bass drum on each quarter note for the whole song, it damn well better sound as good this one.
(via Grabb.it)
Thursday, May 1, 2008
We Carry On by Portishead
Wow. Another great new Portishead track here. This one is very #Silver-Apples -- all buzzy analog synths, pounding bass, and huge drums -- which is crazy since the one I just heard right before this ( #Deep-Water ) was a nice little ukulele ditty.
(via Grabb.it)
We Carry On by Portishead
Wow. Another great new Portishead track here. This one is very #Silver-Apples -- all buzzy analog synths, pounding bass, and huge drums -- which is crazy since the one I just heard right before this ( #Deep-Water ) was a nice little ukulele ditty.
(via Grabb.it)
Machine Gun by Portishead
Hot damn, this new Portishead record is awesome! There was much chatter about their #Coachella show, but I didn't expect anything like this. Also after a ten year lapse, this record was talked about as their #Chinese-Democracy so how could it possibly fulfill expectations? But I'm totally into this: it's like old Portishead plus #Bjork plus the Blade Runner soundtrack! Radical dark haunting spooky synth with crunchy percussion.
(via Grabb.it)
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Can't Get Used to Losing You by Andy Williams
This song seems prime for sampling/remix. I can just hear that raw beat at the beginning with huge bass and skittery snare. Any takers?
(via Grabb.it)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
On To You by Constantines
#Shine-a-Light was the second Constantines record and it was a revelation. It was one of the next big things out of Toronto in the wake of the #Broken-Social-Scene explosion and it managed to combine BSS's fresh sound and experimental energy with a classic kind of rock expressiveness that was reminiscent of #Bruce-Springsteen (or #Jesus-Lizard, depending on your background). Though they have their own virtues, #The-National, and even the Constantines later albums, pale in comparison.
(via Grabb.it)
Phonder - Juliette
I've never heard of #Phonder before, but this track is totally awesome! Fun glitchy chiptune with lots of rhythmic playfulness. Uses the great #Aphex-Twin trick of letting every part of the beat go mad, dropping out, being super syncopated, etc., while always retaining the core bass-snare alternation so you have something to hold onto. I'm excited to hear more Phonder.
(via Grabb.it)
Saturday, April 26, 2008
She's the One (Hot Chip remix) by Caribou
This is the first #Hot-Chip remix I've come across where I can really hear his engagement with the musicality of the original song (rather than just the sounds it happens to be made of). Maybe it's because this is the song I've known best that he's taken on, but I can't help noticing all the ways he's engaged with the original arrangement, amplifying the differences between parts by breaking up the rhythm here, reinforcing it with additional bass drum and synth lines there. More than just remixing it, he's actually increased the emotional impact of this already great song.
(via Grabb.it)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The World's Greatest by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Really like the way this setting transforms this #R-Kelly song into classic folk. When set against the finger-picked acoustic guitar, soft female backing vocals, and rich organ, even R. Kelly's bragadocious lyrics start to sound like Pete Seeger: all the "I am"s suddenly expressing a sense of oneness with the world rather than pride at its conquering. Thanks Andy for pointing this one out: http://newspeedwayboogie.tumblr.com/post/32722355
(via Grabb.it)
Movin' On Up/I Can't Turn You Loose (Reprise 3) by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band
It's great to hear live recordings of soul songs from this classic era. Without the incredible warmth of the period's sonic style this music seem more mortal (this sounds like it could have been recorded at a Portland house party this week). But the intimacy of this recording also highlights the insane level of performance going on, especially when they switch to I Can't Turn You Loose for the middle third of this track, starting with the shout of "people!" McCook's vocal acrobatics are filled with little percussive ticks and stabs that playfully dance between the rhythmic starts and stops of the band. You can start to imagine how electrifying this music must have been then and there. "Freedom! Boogaloo!"
Movin' On Up/I Can't Turn You Loose (Reprise 3) by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band
movin-on-up-i-can-t-turn-you-loose-reprise-3-by-charles-wright-the-watts-103rd-st-rhythm-band.mp3
movin-on-up-i-can-t-turn-you-loose-reprise-3-by-charles-wright-the-watts-103rd-st-rhythm-band.mp3
(via Grabb.it)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
U2 - Vertigo 2
As long as we're cataloguing ridiculous count-offs, here's a good one: "Uno, duos, tres, catorze!", i.e. "One, two, three, fourteen!"
(via Grabb.it)
Pressure Drop (feat. Eric Clapton) by Toots & The Maytals
Best count-off ever: "One. Eh, Two. Eh, one, two, ten, twelve!"
Pressure Drop (feat. Eric Clapton) by Toots & The Maytals
pressure-drop-feat-eric-clapton-by-toots-amp-the-maytals.mp3
pressure-drop-feat-eric-clapton-by-toots-amp-the-maytals.mp3
(via Grabb.it)
Pressure Drop by The Clash
Somehow I had never heard this cover before. I love it when bands cover songs from artists and styles that were formative for them: you can really hear the unique spin they've put on those influences. Like here, in contrast to the #Toots version, the crunchy guitars and scratchy vocals emphasize the grit and 'grunge' #The-Clash brought to the relatively smooth style of the ska and reggae they clearly loved. The comparison also lays bare how much of The Clash's rhythmic style was based on the tension between rock's straightforward rhythms and the syncopated reggae beat. Compared to The Maytals' version, this is marching music, but compared to most regular rock it swings its ass off.
(via Grabb.it)
London Calling by The Clash
Oops. I shouldn't have listened to this today. I spent last night writing and recording a bassline...I was feeling good about it too. But hearing this is just depressing. How are we mere mortals supposed to keep our spirits up about the quality of our efforts on either a musical or sonic front when there are bass parts like this one out there in the world?
(via Grabb.it)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
In the City by Chromatics
The Chromatics ooze creepy glamour. Can't you just hear this song playing over the end of a classic Italian zombie movie?
(via Grabb.it)
Monday, April 21, 2008
Waiting Room by Fugazi
Man, I forgot how much classic era Fugazi kicks ass! The super-melodic funky bass! The precise heavy riffage! The random breaks! The anthemic cries: "I am a patient boy. I wait! I wait! I wait! I wait!" How can you not love it?
(via Grabb.it)
Break by Fugazi
This is one of the best album-openers of all time. It's great driving surf-music quality makes it really exciting and propulsive. And just when you've gotten into the groove, are following the lead guitar, and are sure it's not going to change -- whamo! -- you get the vocals: "Can't ask for more so I hope you're full..." which end with a clarion cry of "Break!" that sends you blasting off into the rest of the album. It's a gutsy start; most albums couldn't live up to an open this good. Thankfully #End-Hits is a classic and totally can.
(via Grabb.it)
Saturday, April 19, 2008
A Breaks B (feat. Dianogah) by Andrew Bird
When I saw that this was an Andrew Bird and #Dianogah collaboration, I was like: "what a random combination, I bet they're both from Chicago" and lo and behold it is so. And, having listened to this, I can kinda hear some of the mellow Chicago darkness of all of the #Tortoise inspired bands in that scene in Andrew Bird's sound. And, come to think of it, #Jim-O'Rourke is from there as well, so mabye Andrew Bird is just the missing link between him and Tortoise.
(via Grabb.it)
The Boys Are Back in Town by The Cardigans
Just for kicks here's another Boys are Back cover. The Cardigans are a deeply under-appreciated cover band: in the 90s their Black Sabbath covers were taken as gimmicks, cheap grasps at a follow-up to their smash hit #Lovefool. But I think the irony of doing these super-masculine songs in their carefree, near-affectless style is more than thin reversal, it has some of the disarming power of camp, i.e. it makes the original seem corny and out-of-it while still getting some aesthetic millage by reveling in the band's obviously love of the material. To put it more plainly: don't you wish The Cardigan's version of Iron Man had been the one used in this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhgzIM-9lfA
(via Grabb.it)
The Boys Are Back In Town by The Mountain Goats
Despite my foray into Mountain Goats-related satire http://largeheartedgoat.com I've never really gotten into them as a band. That said, I love this cover. I get a kick out of how it makes Thin Lizzy's "all-american" style seem spooky and dark and the lyrical content really creepy (especially the Dino's section: "the drink will flow and the blood will spill" and the little "the boys are back" backing whisper). Plus doing the bridge in high 'nerdy white-guy' rap style at the end is a great topper.
(via Grabb.it)
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Please Come Home by At Dusk
http://grabb.it/users/greg exclusive! Rough mix of an unreleased song here from a new Portland band, Doonavetter. Even though this is a rough mix, they've already got a rich late-60s-style sound which is a great fit for their song-writing; this song sounds like it could have been written by a never-was Doors/Byrds supergroup and the warm slide guitar tones and open cymbal-heavy drums are a perfect match for it.
(via Grabb.it)
Please Come Home by At Dusk
Saw Dirty Projectors last night at Backspace (a rad Portland CyberCafe/all-ages music venue) with White Rainbow and Steve Kato. They are just unstoppable live: the crazy rhythmic interplays which can get a little abstract on record are totally visceral and propulsive and the harmonies -- oh, gosh, the harmonies! The three of them are so tightly in tune they make Erykah Badu's band look like a high school choir. The girls especially sing these amazing melismatic close lines while playing crazy cross-rhythms on their instruments like it's the most normal thing in the world. Check out all their songs from this Daytrotter Session: http://grabb.it/albums/0ebeb38a46a6 and don't miss the encore, it's a little smaller and more intimate and really reveals the vocal fireworks: http://grabb.it/albums/0d1853c94f0b
(via Grabb.it)
Please Come Home by At Dusk
I'm excited about the new Joggers material that's starting to make it's way out (like on the upcoming http://pdxpopnow.com/cd for example, hint hint). Era Prison was the first song I heard from their last record and listening to it now very vividly brings back the thrill of hearing that one for the first time and the period when With a Cape and a Cane totally took over my listening.
Please Come Home by At Dusk
I'm excited about the new Joggers material that's starting to make it's way out (like on the upcoming http://pdxpopnow.com/cd for example, hint hint). Era Prison was the first song I heard from their last record and listening to it now very vividly brings back the thrill of hearing that one for the first time and the period when With a Cape and a Cane totally took over my listening.
Please Come Home by At Dusk
I'm excited about the new Joggers material that's starting to make it's way out (like on the upcoming http://pdxpopnow.com/cd for example, hint hint). Era Prison was the first song I heard from their last record and listening to it now very vividly brings back the thrill of hearing that one for the first time and the period when With a Cape and a Cane totally took over my listening.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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