Come On, Let's Go. » Music

Two Beat Society

griph — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:16:31 +0000

I got my hands on, of all things, Nelson Riddle's soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick's film version of Lolita. The vocals on this track were actually recorded by Sue Lyon, the 14-year-old girl playing the titular role. The track was released as a 45 in 1962. One one hand, it matches the late-50s/early-60s musical aesthetic pretty well. On the other hand, knowing the content of the novel/film makes this delightfully creepy.

Where’s the Beat?

Come Back Some Day

griph — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:38:55 +0000

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

griph — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:50:56 +0000

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":

Percussus

griph — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:24:07 +0000

So AV artist Bartek Szlachcic attached a couple of sensors to a drummer's sticks and recorded it, creating a motion-painting of a drum solo. It's unsurprisingly amazing. I've been going to live shows for a while now, and impressive drumming can be one of the most visually delightful parts of the show. I've previously written about the late Jerry Fuchs, who was a drummer of such skill that his kit was on the front line with the guitarists. Watching Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel/A Hawk and a Hacksaw) play "Drums on Fire" while on tour with Broadcast or, uh, whoever was drumming on Ladytron's Light and Magic tour play "USA vs White Noise" are some of my most cherished concert moments. So, this is video is a special delight.

Calling Softly From The Street

griph — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:26:17 +0000

Co. NeutralMilkHotel.org

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.

[See post to listen to audio]

In My Home Town

griph — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:17:52 +0000

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

griph — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:15:45 +0000

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

griph — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:23:35 +0000

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:

via

Bonus Get

griph — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 04:38:35 +0000

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 Rez and Vib Ribbon: an auto-moving platformer that "generates" music. It's a game that requires memorization and very strict reflexes, neither of which are my forte or even something I thought I would enjoy. But it somehow it all comes together. The controls are incredibly limited; you can jump, spring off platforms, slide and kick through obstacles. Each obstacle has only one way around it. Playing the game becomes something more akin to practicing a musical instrument than beating a stage in Super Mario Bros. The minimalist chiptune/synth tracks it creates are things of beauty. Here's a play-through of the stage I am currently stuck on:

Gelt

griph — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:15:55 +0000

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.