Come Back Some Day
So this is Sleigh Bells new single "Comeback Kid" off the upcoming Reign of Terror and I'm really, really digging on it. Derek Miller's hardcore roots are really on display in the guitar work and Alexis Krauss' upbeat, poppy vocals are the perfect counter to it. Their new directions is starting to remind me more and more of the Raveonettes, except influenced by sources considerably more modern than rockabilly and shoegaze. And speaking of those sources, the band's aesthetics -- something the half-dead authenticity purist in me usually puts somewhere on the boring/obnoxious gamut -- are great. The whole 80s day-glo/letterman jacket/high school punk thing is a perfect fit for the sound. Still pretty mad I forgot to get tickets for their upcoming live show because it definitely sold out in a hot second.
I Grow Dizzy
My boss is out this week, which means I'm stuck making and cleaning up my own messes at work for a while. Which means overtime and getting home way the hell past I'd like and, uh, I think you can see where this is going. So, here's something that's always (well, since the last time I heard it in ...2004?) relaxed me - Love Spirals Downwards' "Will You Fade":
Calling Softly From The Street
So this Friday, my girlfriend and a couple of friends and I will be seeing Jeff Mangum play at BAM. I saw him a few months back in New Jersey and the moment tickets for this show came on sale I rallied the troops, found a friend with a BAM membership, and scored advance tickets. So, as a treat for y'all, I have a old, old demo of one of my favorite tracks, "April 8th". This actually predates Neutral Milk Hotel as an entity, being released under the Synthetic Flying Machine name (which you may remember from the lyrics to the "Up and Over" section of "The King of Carrot Flowers Pts. Two & Three.") It sounds very different than the original; it's considerably faster and with almost a bluesy/R&B beat and an entire extra guitar section. The lyrics, which are some of Mangum's best and unfortunately somewhat mumbly on the On Avery Island version, are much clearer too.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In My Home Town
I've been enjoying the new album by St. Petersburg hip-hop group Есть Есть Есть. The name translates to either "There Is There Is There Is" or "Yes Yes "Yes" depending on how bad my Russian is getting. They sound roughly like Anti-Pop Consortium: IDM-style beats and an somewhat abstract delivery with an odd, almost hypnotically monotone delivery. Most the lyrics go right over my head, but I catch snippets here and there. Like I wrote in this previous post, hip-hop can be about the sound of the vocals as well as the meaning, so we can all enjoy it on those grounds. The track is called Паста, which means "Pasta" and may or may not mean something else in Russian slang, but I have no idea.
Clowning
I am, quite literally, a year behind on the times with this, but I just started watching Portlandia (it just arrived on Netflix) and the opening song from the first episode has been stuck in my goddamn head for a week now. It's always good to see that a sketch comedy show with a budget you could hold in a change purse can produce something like this. Even without the humor, it's a good and almost unfairly catchy tune.
Three Ring Orchestra
So, in the early 1990s composer Marc-André Hamelin decided to create a piece of piano music specifically for the player piano. How is it specifically for the player piano? Well, it is completely impossible for a single person to play this. Several might be able to do it, but then it wouldn't be played as intended. Here's a MIDI rendition, along with the sheet music. Now, I'm sheet-music-illiterate -- I got out of Music Appreciation in high school with my school's equivalent of a gentleman's C (meaning I made it clear that having me repeat the class would be to no one's benefit at all) -- but you can plainly see the complexity.
Of course, it's not the same without seeing it on an actual player piano. Or, more specifically, an actual player piano that looks as if it's possessed by ADHD-riddled ghosts trying to chase a cat off the keys:
Bonus Get
So, I bought the Humble Indie Bundle this year -- something I suggest everyone who likes video games do -- and I got into a game I never thought I would. Bit.Trip Runner is a game reminiscent of
Gelt
Gogol Bordello really brought the concept of a post-Communist Russian identity to the forefront. Down here in Brooklyn, everyone knows someone somehow related to the band. My mother stole my copy of Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike. I've never heard a Russian-born person ever complain about them selling out. If Eugene Hutz is going to be a millionaire, god bless him. However, they never really addressed the true immigrant mentality of the Russian immigrant: make money, hand over fist, any way, any how. So I'm glad that Berlin's Rotfront have a song about it. While Gogol Bordello can evoke a fists-up punk rawk reaction, this track is more of a knowing laugh.
Rotfront - Money Money Money (feat. Amsterdam Klezmer Band) by essayrecordings
Also, the song is based around the beat from Amsterdam Klezmer Band's "Naie Kashe" and, considering the lyrics, can be seen as that song's origin story.
Shreds
I think it would come as no surprise that I am not a fan of purely technical guitar playing. When I think of a genuinely good guitarist, the raw bluesiness of Jack White comes to my mind, not the neoclassical masturbation of Yngwie Malmsteen. So I am surprised I like Snuffy's new album Mangia as much as I do. There's some very technical work involved behind the expert beats. I'm reminded of the days back when Ratatat were two drunk dudes with vintage guitars playing in front of an animation of forties filling up. This track isn't as exemplary of the more glitchy, dissonant sides of the album, but it's probably my favorite off the album.
About Me
Reading
Listening
Friends
- "Backup Control Room". Perfect!
- Armagideon Time
- Bimshwel
- Chronomancy
- Igor Kossov
- Imminent Disaster
- One Hour Empire
- Pre-Sonic Genesis
- Remembering Cats
- The Loyal Stanley Steamerite
Categories
- animation (20)
- Anime (4)
- board games (1)
- Comics (44)
- Conceptual Art (2)
- Design (20)
- Film (87)
- Fine Art (12)
- Literature (20)
- Live (42)
- Music (187)
- New York City (4)
- Photography (5)
- Politics (6)
- RP (5)
- Standup (5)
- Television (81)
- Theater (10)
- Uncategorized (16)
- USSR (13)
- Video Art (11)
- Video Games (73)
- Web Video (42)
Archives
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009