Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Girl Talk's Block Party

Girl Talk made a glorious return to Seattle last week, doing his thing at the Capitol Hill Block Party on Friday night. He opened up the show by noting that Seattle was the only city that he's visited twice this year, (referencing the Chop Suey gig,) and then he let the good times roll for a little over an hour. There were a couple of miscues/sound issues early on, but once Girl Talk gets into the set he's right on his game. And don't thank me, thank this guy.
"The Block Party is a huge, two-day explosion of bands and a unique combination of Seattle Music Community forces including The Stranger, 90.3 KEXP, 107.7 The End, The Vera Project, Neumo’s, Fuzed Music, Mackie and Home Alive, bringing together over 40 bands on 3 stages into the Northwest’s biggest celebration of independent music, art and progressive culture. Partial proceeds from The Block Party benefit Home Alive and The Vera Project. The Vendor section is made up of local independent businesses, indie crafts people, local artists, and various non-profit and political groups. All this takes place on Capitol Hill in Seattle at Pike and Broadway." -capitolhillblockparty.com
Also you can hear a new remix from Trey Told 'Em at myspace, watch some live video from the NYE show in Chicago, and read this interview over at the Stranger:
"Gregg Gillis is the man behind Pittsburgh postmashup party-starting phenomenon Girl Talk. His preferred sampling equipment is a PC laptop. Spencer Manio is a DJ/producer with Seattle's rock-hiphop bastardizers the Saturday Knights. Preferred sampling equipment: Emu sp1200 and a Pioneer CDJ. The Stranger got the two of them together on the phone to talk about ripping people off, choreographing backup dancers, and grunge." -theStranger.com

Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 12:06 PM 5 comments

Friday, July 27, 2007

Spinning

Here's a quick list of things that have been in rotation around here. If I had time to write a bunch of pretty things I certainly would, but there are many things to do. So have a listen, and if anything sounds good just follow the link to find out the rest.






Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 4:31 PM 4 comments

The Go! Team, Proof of Youth

The Go! Team aren't dead yet. Quite the opposite, in fact. I sat down with their new album yesterday and I was blown away at the progress they have made since their debut album. I was a quick fan of their music when I first heard about them, but for whatever reason that appreciation began to fade even before the U.S. version of Thunder, Lightning, Strike was finally released.

Well, my appreciation wasn't actually fading per se, it was more of a situation where I had already fully digested the album and had moved on to other things. So while I was anxiously waiting to hear their newest creation, I was doing so with a bit of trepidation and a fear that the Team might have already played their best game. Boy, was I wrong. This album is a hit, front to back. It is their strongest work so far, in my opinion.

According to Wiki,
The album will be preceded by two singles: "Grip Like A Vice," (which we've already heard,) and "Doing It Right", which will be released the week before the album comes out on September 10th. On July 2nd, "The Wrath Of Marcie" was made available for streaming.

Proof of Youth will feature Bonde do Role's Marina Ribatski and Solex vocal contributions, along with the Double Dutch Divas. Also contributing vocals to the album are the Rapper's Delight Club and Public Enemy's Chuck D on "Flashlight Fight".
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 1:45 PM 1 comments

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Austin is the new Seattle

Yes it's true, Austin has become the new Seattle. No, that doesn't mean that there are grunge bands and coffee shops on every corner. Well, there are coffee shops on every corner, but that's beside the point. Austin is the new Seattle because at some point it started raining here like every single damn day. I swear to Christ I feel like I should invest in a canoe and some floaties.

Just over a week ago I was passing Town Lake on the 1st Street bridge and there were actual waves crashing on the water below. Not Patrick Swayze-Point Break type of waves, but still, waves. Like if you were a midget surfer you could hang ten out there. You know the scene in Forrest Gump where he goes on and on about all the different types of rain? Yeah, it's pretty much just like that. Every day. I've lived here for five years and there's never been this much rain. As of a few days ago we had already surpassed our average yearly rainfall total. Someone make it stop.

Here's a little mix of songs that pretty much says it all. Follow the links to get more.
  1. Bill Baird - "Rain On The Window"
  2. Bob Dylan - "Early Mornin' Rain"
  3. Neko Case - "Buckets of Rain"
  4. RJD2 - "Rain" (site)
  5. Ellis Island Sound - "Bontempi Rain Effect"
  6. Pixies - "Stormy Weather"
  7. The Apples in Stereo - "Rainfall"
  8. The Jesus and Mary Chain - "Happy When It Rains"
  9. Cake - "It's Coming Down"
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 2:43 PM 1 comments

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Locals at La Zona

It's going down tomorrow night. Do512.com and Direct Events have partnered to bring you another Locals @ La Zona showcase, an exciting new series that brings a whole lotta good local Austin music to the La Zona Rosa stage. The show on Wednesday night will feature Preserve the Sound, Color and Light, and Firekills. If you're unfamiliar with these artists and want to discover what the fuss is all about, simply click here to RSVP on the guestlist and you can come enjoy the fun without having to pay the $5 cover.
  • Links to peruse:

  • Something totally unrelated:
Not only are the White Stripes playing ACL, but it appears that they'll also be playing on that Sunday with the Cold War Kids at Stubb's. That info and the rest of the ACL aftershows are listed here.

While we're on the subject, here are a couple of 7'' tracks for your rocking pleasure. "Baby Brother" is the b-side to the "Icky Thump" single, and the 7'' version of "Rag and Bone" came with the June 7th edition of NME.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 4:19 PM 3 comments

Monday, July 23, 2007

From the Inbox

Here's some interesting stuff I found in my inbox. Have a listen, or two.

The Poison Control Center have been hanging from chandeliers and doing somersaults around the country for the last six years. Releasing numerous EPs and Singles, garnering national press for their explosive live shows, been featured on NPR, played the CMJ festival twice, opened for their idols, headlined festivals, and even had Max Weinberg sit in on drums for a show. They are floored to be newest part of the Afternoon Records family.

The Poison Control Center's debut full length album "A Collage of Impressions" is being released on Septeber 24th. The 16-track album was put to analog tape on the banks of the Mississippi River with Patrick Stolley (www.daytrotter.com) in the recording booth and mastered by Doug Van Sloun (Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley, Cursive).

from Fanatic
The Coathangers are newcomers to Atlanta’s vibrant punk, pop and experimental music scene, but the group has risen quickly through the ranks to become one of the city’s most talked about acts. Since July of 2006 Julia Kugel (guitar/vocals), Stephanie Luke (drums/vocals), Candice Jones (keyboard/vocals) and Meredith Franco (bass/vocals) have hammered out a bat cave crunk-punk dirge that explodes with energy and creativity.
White Rabbits come to NYC via the arid plains of the Mid West. Although they have been in The City for just over a year, they have managed to catch the attention of Say Hey Records and producer Chris Zane (Shy Child, Asobi Seksu, Les Savy Fav) with their stellar songwriting ability and instrumental aplomb.

Lead by dual vocalists, Greg Roberts (Guitar / Vox) and Steve Patterson (Piano / Vox), the 6 piece is rounded out by Alex Even (Guitar / Vox), Adam Russell (Bass), Matt “The Duck” Clark (Drums) and Jamie Levinson (Drums). With a certain joie de vive, playfulness and charm White Rabbits thematically evoke the more decadent and bygone era of days spent on the green, old cinemas “Tourist Trap”, tragic mothers “Navy Wives”, and restrained, but no less awkward domestic disputes, with the first single, “The Plot.”
from Folding Leg Records
Recorded throughout 2005, this Hi-Fi/Lo-Fi exercise marked the solo debut of Adam Chandler and the first release for Folding Leg Records.

Ladyslipper is a three-piece Minneapolis band consisting of two childhood friends and a co-worker. All from different backgrounds in the Minneapolis music scene, the three together form a solid lineup of guitar, keyboards, and drums to create a charged and energizing sound that has been compared to the likes of bands such as Fugazi, Mission of Burma and Television.

The Time, Not The Weather is Ladyslipper's debut full-length, consisting of ten songs all written throughout the course of 2006, some while the band was a four-piece and the rest as three, at Electric Funeral Studio with Knol Tate, singer/guitarist of fellow Minneapolis band, Askeleton.
from Pirate!
So I went out to see a band called Pearlene the other night at my usual hangout in Brooklyn. I had been out more than I wanted to be all weekend and they happened to be playing on a Sunday night. Though I was tired and admittedly a little cranky, this band kicked my ass into shape. They were full on, belting out their vocals and nearly breaking their instruments. The crowd was loving it. It might as well have been a Friday night at a dive bar in the Smokies where everyone that knows each other gets together for a great night of blues and rock n roll music.

Pearlene is currently touring behind their third album, For Western Violence and Brief Sensuality, after having put out a couple records on Dim Mak and Sympathy For the Record Industry. Front man Reuben Glaser is an incredible guitar player and vocalist. He's also a completely laid-back dude, full of swagger and grit, but not the least bit of pretention. In fact, I think he knew everyone at the bar and he's from Ohio. Reuben's attitude and talent come through in Pearlene's music. The band has had plenty of experience on the road too, having toured with acts like Dead Meadow, The White Stripes, Detroit Cobras and Bellrays, as well as blues and punk survivors like T-Model Ford and Dead Moon.
from +1
Just wanted to let you know that Jamie T will be coming to the States for a US Tour in addition to his appearance in my ‘hood tonight. His debut Panic Prevention (which won him best solo act of the 2006 NME awards) is coming out here in the Fall on Caroline Records. This track is rad and was actually featured in an episode of Entourage recently (Ari Gold has like, insanely good, taste in music apparently).
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 4:43 PM 0 comments

Friday, July 20, 2007

Whartscape is going down

WTF is Whartscape, you say? In 2006 the members of Wham City (Dan Deacon et al) wanted to be included in Baltimore's Artscape, your basic local arts/music family fair, and they had all these rules so Wham City decided to do their own festival and book all the great underground artists (hence the bad name - a blemish on society).

So they did, without any help from the city. Fast forward one year when Deacon and Spank Rock are now two of the hottest names in the biz and yet they're still playing small homegrown art galleries during Whartscape (this Friday through Sunday). All organized by Wham City, an indie art/music DIY group of kids in their mid twenties.
Dan Deacon said it best:

"Our main reason for having Whartscape during Artscape is that Baltimore is packed that weekend with a lot of people looking for stuff to do that a city-sponsored festival can't really be host to," Deacon told the City Paper . "Not that we are doing anything insane, but I don't think Artscape would be too into Blood Baby screaming 'stab my face' at families eating gyros and looking at painted plates. Plus, Artscape ends at sundown, while we can rage into the night."

Want to find out more? Butter Team is covering Whartscape like white on rice, with artist info, sights & sounds from the event, and more. Go check it out.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 12:31 PM 5 comments

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Rare Shadow

I recently came across a DJ Shadow compilation of some of his work with the (now-defunct?) record label Mo' Wax. The seventeen tracks on the Mo Wax DJ shadow 12" compilation were previously tough to find, and it features all his finest moments from the early to mid-'90s when he was a founding member Mo' Wax. If you're a fan of DJ Shadow, you need to get your hands on this stuff.

Here's a little info on Mo' Wax via Wiki:
Mo' Wax is a UK-based record label owned by James Lavelle, who founded it in the early 1990s. The label is responsible for bringing attention to the graffiti artist Futura 2000 by using his artwork on many of its releases in the early to mid 1990s. The Mo' Wax imprint became a collectors favourite. Not because of the limited runs of each release, but because the artwork was just as vital to each release as the music it contained and represented. The original Mo' Wax logo as used on the very early releases was designed by UK graphic designer Swifty, but the label excelled their reputation by featuring artwork contributions from Futura, 3D (from Massive Attack) and Req 1. Ben Drury was the main designer responsible for the art direction and design of the label.
Get more:
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 2:59 PM 2 comments

Monday, July 16, 2007

Beasties, live @ Sónar 2007

No description is really necessary, but here's one anyway. Last month the Beastie Boys put on an epic show at the Sónar music festival in Barcelona, performing a great mix of songs from their extensive catalog in front of 80,000 appreciative festival-goers. You can get more Sónar here, and more Beasties here.

Ch-check it out, setlist & audio from the show...
Root Down
Pass the Mic
Super Disco Breakin'
Sure Shot
Triple Trouble
Electric Worm
Ricky's Theme
Lighten Up
In 3's
Egg Raid on Mojo
The Maestro
Flute Loop
Brass Monkey
3 MCs and 1 DJ
Groove Holmes
The Gala Event
Tough Guy
Ch-Check It Out
Body Movin'
So What'cha Want
MMM Interlude
Intergalactic
Heart Attack Man
Sabotage
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 3:08 PM 2 comments

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Is that a Duck Hunt sample?

Japanther. Two dudes from Brooklyn who like their noise-punk-rock fast and intense, and on their latest effort they make sure that you won't be forgetting their name any time soon. Skuffed Up My Huffy is the name of the new album, and it contains the blueprints for your next great party.

Energy-infused punk rock originates from the duo's shared vocals, Matt Reily's lo-fi-fuzzed bass lines, and Ian Vanek's chest thumping drum beat. Add in a bit of intelligent sampling, a Casio SK-1, a light dusting of hip-hop and a few servings of controlled chaos, and you've scratched the surface of Japanther. Since forming in 2001 the Brooklyn duo has cut 13 + records, gone on a handful of world tours, and performed dozens of unforgettable shows anywhere from people's bathrooms to art galleries and pretty much everywhere else in between.

How can you not get immediately sucked into a song like "Cable Babies" from Japanther's new album? Thirty-five seconds of pot luck sampling that ends with the hilarious addition of Duck Hunt, followed by the noisy melodic structure that the duo has been crafting for the better part of this decade.
Begging for that underground anthem to counter the cookie cutter crap that you get spoon-fed from the mainstream? Here is your song.

"I wanna be a part of something. Revolution, baby."
If there is a song on Skuffed Up My Huffy that says it all for Japanther, that song is "The Boss." A short anti-authority sample is followed sixty seconds of the most fist-pumping moments on the whole album, while the lyrics tell you exactly what you need to do at a Japanther show. Apparently the two people at front left in the live video below never got the memo.


Get your copy of Japanther's Skuffed Up My Huffy from EXO Records, Amazon, and CD Universe, and you can also pick up some earlier Japanther releases at eMusic. See them on tour at the dates listed below, and tell them how much you enjoy their work at MySpace.

Jul 22 2007 9:00P Subterrean Chicago, Illinois
Jul 23 2007 8:00P Publico Cincinnati, Ohio
Jul 24 2007 8:00P Chattanooga Chattanooga, Tennessee
Jul 25 2007 8:00P Little Kings Athens, Georgia
Jul 26 2007 8:00P TBA St. Augustine, Florida
Jul 27 2007 8:00P BIKE PARADE Tallahassee, Florida
Jul 28 2007 8:00P Ark Wherehouse Gainesville, Florida
Jul 30 2007 8:00P Sluggo's Pensacola, Florida
Jul 31 2007 8:00P Defend New Orleans Party New Orleans, Louisiana
Aug 3 2007 8:00P Zach's house Hunstville, Alabama

  • If you're into the sound of Japanther, you should also check out The Death Set and a punk duo from Los Angeles called No Age.
I enjoyed what I saw from No Age during their set at the Fader for SXSW, and FatCat Records was kind enough to send over an advance of their album Weirdo Rippers along with this short bio:
"Two young heavyweights from the LA Skate / Art / Punk underworld, No Age are comprised of Dean Spunt and Randy Randall. Formed from the ashes of the fondly remembered Wives, No Age purvey a stripped, essential, life-affirming skewed take on pop delivered via a clearly defined punk rock aesthetic, taking in noise, energy and melody in equal measure. Reminiscent at various junctures of the likes of early Black Dice, The Ramones, and/or My Bloody Valentine, Weirdo Rippers documents a fast developing band hitting their stride. Harnessing an explosive dynamic tension, No Age's music is prone to switch from syncopated punk-rock squalls to melodic, transient flashes of colour, or conversely, a pop song might spontaneously cut through the noise. On some basic, fundamental level, No Age simply don't behave quite how you expect them to they are their own band, full of their own conviction, and following their own trajectory.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 5:13 PM 3 comments

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Gregg Gillis gets busy

Girl Talk goes topless for Playgirl, eats hot dogs with Congressman Doyle and Newsweek, quits his job and goes on tour with Dan Deacon.

Although you’re more likely to see Gillis strip down to his skivvies at a Girl Talk show, half a million people saw Gillis exposed in June’s “Man of The Year” issue of Playgirl Magazine. When discussing what he likes to do in his free time, Gillis says, “I enjoy swimming, playing basketball, lighting off fireworks, snacking it out, and bro’n down.” About the issue, Gillis says, “I didn't know it was out, and a friend actually spotted it in a women's restroom at this pretty dive-y bar in Pittsburgh. She didn’t know I was in it, she was just browsing. Pretty funny situation.”

What some might find even funnier is the fact that Gillis ate hot dogs with Newsweek journalist Steven Levy and Congressman Mike Doyle shortly after the Playgirl piece hit stands. Levy and Congressman Doyle flew to Pittsburgh to meet Gillis at local hot dog joint Franktuary to discuss Doyle’s recent statements supporting Girl Talk’s sample based music on the floor of Congress. Read all about it (LINK).

Gillis recently was granted the freedom to do the above mentioned things, as he recently resigned from his job as a biomedical engineer that up until now has also kept him from taking on more remix projects and touring on a regular basis.

“I couldn't keep up with both worlds,” Gillis says. “It was just too much. I keep getting sick because I'm in a constant state of running somewhere else. Music has always been my main interest, but I never really thought of it as a possible career. I think I'm extremely lucky to be in the position I am in now, where I can dedicate at least a year of my life to music and stay afloat.”

According to Gillis’ booking agent Sam Hunt at The Windish Agency, “It shouldn't have too great of an impact on his live schedule. There's something awesome about only playing on the weekends, and we'd like to do our best to keep that going,” Hunt says. “However, there have been a number of uniquely awesome opportunities that have been impossible because they took place during the week. Also, there's a chance he'll be able to do a more thorough/actual tour involving multiple consecutive shows!”

Gillis’s resignation also granted him the opportunity to go on tour with Dan Deacon, more flexibility to perform at special events during the week and also more time to work on Trey Told ‘Em, a band he started with friend and collaborator Frank Musarra (Hearts of Darknesses). The duo has already completed one remix for Tokyo Police Club, and has many more in the works including tracks for Simian Mobile Disco and Professor Murder.

Girl Talk was one of the highlights of this year’s Coachella festival (VIDEO), with Paris Hilton (mere weeks before her incarceration!) and Perry Farrell dancing alongside him and throwing confetti. As usual, Gillis had a crew of dancers join him on stage, with gigantic bright yellow balloons tied to their wrists. Girl Talk was also a hit at this month’s Bonnaroo Festival and the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona.

Who ever thought you would see the day when the words Playgirl, Newsweek and Paris Hilton could all be used in one of our press releases? In true Girl Talk fashion, he never ceases to amaze.

In addition to the tour with Dan Deacon, Gillis is excited to be playing several more summer festivals, including Pitchfork and the Winnipeg and Montreal Jazz Festivals. He will also put his fan base to the test this July by playing Red Rocks in Colorado with Violent Femmes and Blues Traveler, soon to be followed by a show with Widespread Panic in Boston. This just further illustrates Girl Talk’s notorious “down for whatever” attitude about music.
  • Girl Talk Live:
* w/ Dan Deacon

07/04 Morrison, CO Red Rock Pavillion
07/14 Chicago, IL Pitchfork Music Festival
07/18 Boston, MA Bank Of America Pavilion
07/27 Seattle, WA Capitol Hill Block Party
07/28 Louisville, KY Forecastle Festival
08/04 Baltimore, MD Pimlico Race Park
08/09 Indianapolis, IN Talbott Street
08/10 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon
08/24 Tulsa, OK Cains Ballroom
09/08 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
09/12 Toronto, ON Phoenix*
09/15 New York, NY Webster Hall*
09/17 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church*
09/20 Charlottesville, VA Satellite Ballroom*
09/21 Asheville, NC Orange Peel*
09/22 Atlanta, GA MJQ Concourse*
09/27 San Diego, CA Epicentre*
09/28 Los Angeles, CA Echoplex*
09/29 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore*
10/04 Lawrence, KS The Granada Theatre
10/05 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
10/06 Iowa City, IA The Picador
10/11 Calgary, AB The Warehouse
10/12 Edmonton, AB The Starlite Room
11/01 Houston, TX Engine Room
11/02 Dallas, TX Palladium Loft

After I saw the tour schedule I got in touch with Mr. Gillis and said "dude....you're hitting up Dallas and Houston, you should come by and see us in the capital city." He assured me that there will be another Girl Talk performance taking place in Austin before the end of '07. Keep an eye on myspace.com/girltalkmusic for all the latest news & tour dates.

I keep getting requests for another spin of the live Girl Talk tracks from his set at Chop Suey in Seattle, so I'm going to do this thing one more time. The same rules still apply from before:
  • 1. Turn it up.
  • 2. if you recognize a sample that is used in any of these tracks that hasn't been listed yet, or see one that is incorrect, leave it in the comments.
Girl Talk - One (2:48)
Ciara - "Goodies"
Boston - "Foreplay/Long Time"
Beyonce - "Ring The Alarm"
Rich Boy - "Throw Some D's"
Ginuwine - "Pony"

Girl Talk - Two (2:16)
Ciara - "Goodies"
Ying Yang Twins - "Jigglin"
Jackson 5 - "ABC"
*Cat Stevens - "Here Comes my Baby"

Girl Talk - Three (2:50)
* The Game - "One Blood"
Girl Talk - "Unnamed Original Track"
* Ludacris- "What's Your Fantasy?"
Wu-Tang Clan - "C.R.E.A.M"
Birdman & Lil Wayne - "Stuntin' Like My Daddy"
Manfred Mann - "Blinded by the Light"

Girl Talk - Four (2:24)
Clipse - "Wamp Wamp"
* Fine Young Cannibals - "Good Thing"
The Verve - "Bittersweet Symphony"
Kelis - "Bossy" (Feat. Too Short)

Girl Talk - Five (2:43)
DJ Cerla - "Yo DJ"
Neutral Milk Hotel - "Holland, 1945"
Soul II Soul - "Back to Life"
* Cream - "Sunshine of Your Love"
E-40 - "Tell Me When To Go"
Digital Underground - "The Humpty Dance"
Technotronic - "Pump Up The Jam"

Girl Talk - Six (3:10)
Technotronic - "Pump Up The Jam"
Pras/Ol' Dirty Bastard/Mya - "Ghetto Supastar"
* Amerie - "1 Thing"
Missy Elliot - "Work It"
* Beck - "Cell Phone's Dead"
Lakeside - "Fantastic Voyage"
E-40 - "U and Dat"
Zhane - "Hey, Mr. DJ"

Girl Talk - Seven (1:58)
INXS - "Need You Tonight"
Young Gunz - "Set It Off"
Keak Da Sneak - "That's My Word"
Lil Scrappy - "Money in the Bank"
Styx - "Renegade"

Girl Talk - Eight (1:41)
Lady Sovereign - "Love Me or Hate Me"
*The Beatles - "Lady Madonna"

Girl Talk - Nine (1:53)
* Elastica - "Connection"
Salt-N-Pepa - "Push It"
2 Live Crew - "If You Believe In Having Sex"
Nazareth - "Hair Of The Dog"

Girl Talk - Ten (2:11)
Nazareth - "Hair Of The Dog"
Deee-Lite - "Groove Is In The Heart"
Young Dro - "Shoulder Lean"
The Cars - "Just What I Needed"
Three 6 Mafia - "Stay Fly"
* Spank Rock - Backyard Betty

Girl Talk - Eleven (3:39)
Daft Punk - "Technologic"
Peter Bjorn and John - "Let's Call It Off"
Christina Aguilera - "Ain't No Other Man"
* Uniting Nations - "Out of Touch"
* Creation - "Making Time"

Girl Talk - Twelve (2:46)
Steve Winwood - "Valerie" / Eric Prydz - "Call On Me"
Elton John - "Tiny Dancer"
The Notorious B.I.G. - "Juicy"
Paula Cole - "I Don't Want to Wait"

Girl Talk - Thirteen (4:41)
The Eagles - "One Of These Nights"
Crime Mob - "Knuck If You Buck"
Too Short - "Blowjob Betty"
Queen - "We Will Rock You"
Ace of Base - "All That She Wants"
Kelis - "Bossy" (Feat. Too Short)
Snoop - Drop It Like It's Hot (Feat. Pharrell Williams)
James Taylor - "Your Smiling Face"
* T.I. - "Top Back"

Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 12:02 PM 6 comments

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Just make it clap

Since the last set of hand clap-filled tunes was such an overwhelmingly huge success, I had to come back for more. Put your palms to the test!

Please follow the links to support these artists.

The Beatles recorded their White Album only after they practiced it a few times in the studio, acoustic style. Listen to them practice "Revolution." I would assume that Lennon is on the guitar here, with McCartney handling the hand percussion.
Devendra Banhart and Jana Hunter both come from Houston, and both are associated with "New Weird America." Their music tends to consist of fairly simple guitar melodies with minimal other instrumentation, and in 2005 they teamed up to put out a split LP with five songs from each of them. This song is a perfect fit for this theme...
Get in your car, drive to a place that sells music, and buy some Spoon. It will be the best thing you've done for yourself all day. This is also from the free EP that you'll get with the purchase of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Now get to it already.
I'd bet that you haven't heard this Gorillaz b-side, err.....G-side. I really like the guitar riffage on the end of this one. Dear Gorillaz: Please make more music.
Stars are really burning up the blogs. Totally en fuego. In Our Bedroom After The War is their most confident and compelling work to date – an album that showcases the seven years of experience they share as a band. It was recorded at the Warehouse Studios in Vancouver, BC and mixed by Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, The Shins, Morrissey). Check out this groovy Junior Boys remix from Stars' 2004 album...
Here we have a live cut from the digital download album LCD Soundsystem released in 2006. Get more info on Introns right here. Did I mention how pumped I am that LCD are playing ACL? I think I did. This song is certifiably the jam.
Another track you might not have heard from a band we're very familiar with. This next one is from Hot Chip's 2004 EP Down With Prince. Clapping, guitar solos, and chocolate. Seriously, what else do you need?
Calvin Harris has love for you, if you were born in the 80's. If you weren't, then you're out of luck. This guy has all the girls over in Scotland shaking their tail feathers. More on him here.


Feel free to fill me in on any more songs like this that I may not be familiar with, and let me know what you think of this set.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 3:49 PM 5 comments

Speaking of '67....

Here's something cool that I stumbled upon. A BBC documentary called "Seven Ages of Rock" that features a lot of old Pink Floyd and Velvet Underground footage, interviews with the band members, and a researched history on their music and its effect on everything surrounding it. I have never seen a lot of the stuff that they include in this video, like Bowie covering (and being greatly influenced by) the VU.

With excellent video quality, this thing is a great watch. They also cover Roxy Music and Genesis, which is mostly lame, but the last part of the documentary is cool because it brings the story full circle.
  • The video runs for 60 minutes. To watch it, click here
For more info on this episode (and the rest of the series,) go here.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 1:02 AM 1 comments

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Catchy Title

...a few random things I find in my downloads folder when I inspect it to get rid of the stuff I never listen to. Like that AC/DC bluegrass tribute album, for example.

Before New Magnetic Wonder, the Apples in Stereo gave us Velocity of Sound. Be sure to say thanks.
I forgot that I had this trackfrom Dan's 2006 release. I'm pretty sure that he closed the show in Austin with this one. Fun listening...
With a name like Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, I really had to find out what they sounded like.I'm not exactly sure what this is, or where it came from.
I told you about this band not long ago. Rock and roll.
Fin.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 3:43 PM 3 comments

Loud, Wild, new Ratatat

The dudes from Ratatat just put out a couple of 12'' singles with a new b-side, a couple of remixes, and "outtakes" from one of my favorite tracks off of their Classics LP, "Loud Pipes." If you've got just a couple of dollars to spend and you head over to Turntable Lab, here's what you'll get:
  • Ratatat - Loud Pipes 12''
  1. Loud Pipes (Main version)
  2. Loud Pipes (Outtakes)
  3. Kennedy (E*Rock remix)
  4. Goose (B-side)
  • Ratatat - Wildcat 12''
  1. Wildcat (Main version)
  2. Wildcat (E*vax remix)
  3. Swisha (Main Version)
  4. Swisha (Guitar Instrumental)
  5. Swisha (Drum Instrumental)
There's also a "Lex" 12'' out there
  • Ratatat - Lex 12''
  1. Lex (Main Version)
  2. Lex (Mouse On Mars Remix)
  3. Truman (Main Version)
The "Kennedy" remix is semi-epic, very few people have ever heard "Goose" before, few also have an album version of the "Truman" b-side, and the "Loud Pipes" outtake is pretty much a whole new song. If you're a Ratatat fan, you need to get on this.
From the self-titled debut album (2004)
www.ratatatmusic.com
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 2:31 PM 0 comments

Monday, July 09, 2007

Get Nice!

Spoon will offer a twelve-track, 22-minute EP titled Get Nice! this week. The songs are short, noisy, weird, and each track leads into the next one. It's very cool. Included are a different version of "I Summon You" and from the new album, a stripped down version of "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb." "Love Makes You Feel" and "Curfew Tolls" both sound like a Dark Side era Pink Floyd messing around with the electronics, and "1975" is a lo-fi rocker that sounds like it has been sitting on their shelf for a while. Single tracks really don't do it justice, you've got to hear this thing in its entirety.
You can get the EP for free if you head to the record store on Tuesday and purchase Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga., the first pressing will come bundled with the Get Nice! EP. If you're local, you can see Spoon perform next Thursdsay (7/19) at Waterloo Records, 5 pm sharp. You can also read more on Ga over at Both Sides.

www.spoontheband.com
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 3:46 AM 2 comments

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Octopus Project Announcement

Coming off of such recent successes as playing Coachella, several sold-out nationwide tours, an incredible showing at the Austin Music Awards (Best Instrumental Band, Best Indie Band, Best Miscellaneous Instrument -- Yvonne Lambert on Theremin! -- and top ten placement in nine other categories!), and a proclamation by David Fricke as one of Rolling Stone's stand-out artists at SXSW, Austin's The Octopus Project will release its third proper full-length on Peek-a-Boo Records October 9th, 2007. The as-yet-untitled record is the follow-up to the band's collaborative album with Pittsburgh's Black Moth Super Rainbow, The House of Apples and Eyeballs (E-CARD), released last year on Graveface Records.

The band's new album was recorded and co-produced by The Octopus Project and Ryan Hadlock (Blonde Redhead, The Gossip) at Bear Creek Studio in Seattle during February, 2007 and was mixed by Erik Wofford (Voxtrot, Explosions In The Sky). Guest musicians include Stacy Meshbane (Cue) on Violin, Jherick Bischoff (The Dead Science) on upright Bass and Violin, and Nick Smith (Nick and The Six Sick Sticks) on Trombone. The band will kick-off three months of touring in Huntsville, Alabama in mid-August and will introduce material from its new record this weekend at a special performance in Brooklyn, NY headlining one of the now-annual McCarren Park Pool Parties with Dan Deacon, and Erase Errata on Sunday, July 8th at 2PM.

With ragged, furious distorted guitars at one end of the spectrum and the pure, luminescent tones of the Theremin at the other, the members of The Octopus Project mine a staggering variety of sounds in between (via synthesizers, drums, violins, glockenspiel, trombones, etc...) to fill their songs with brilliant contrasting colors and cascading waves of sonic bliss. Although Josh Lambert, Yvonne Lambert and Toto Miranda each have their instrumental specialties, they spread their ideas out on as many instruments as possible, each writing for and performing on any sound-maker they can find. And as if the instruments themselves weren't enough, many sounds on the band's upcoming record were manipulated to push them even further - inhuman drum breaks three layers deep piled over the live drum track, a heavenly four-Theremin choir from a Wizard of Oz soundtrack that never existed, guitar parts mulched into bits and reassembled into a tiny action figure of Prince.

This time around, The Octopus Project wanted to achieve the perfect blend between high-end studio trickery, and lo-fi home experimentation. Partially tracked to tape, partially to Pro Tools, lots of sounds were taken from the band's original demos - sequenced beats, edited loops, practice space recordings etc. Parts of the album track “Upmann” were recorded on a friend's front porch (listeners will note the sounds of passing cars.) As The Octopus Project's Yvonne Lambert has continued to gain notoriety for her expert Theremin-playing skills, the band decided to develop its multi-tracked-Theremins concept to its fullest extent -- something the group first tried on last year's The House of Apples and Eyeballs. The experiments yielded amazing results as can be heard on the album track “I Saw The Bright Shinies.”
The new album (title TBA) will hit shelves on October 9th, with the following tracklisting:
  1. Snow Tip Cap Mountain
  2. Truck
  3. Bees Bein' Strugglin'
  4. An Evening With Rthrtha
  5. Black Blizzard/Red Umbrella
  6. Upmann
  7. Mmaj
  8. I Saw The Bright Shinies
  9. Hello, Avalanche
  10. Vanishing Lessons
  11. Exploding Snowhorse
  12. Loud Murmuring
  13. Queen
Check out the long list of tour dates at myspace.com/theoctopusproject.

The image above was created by Austin-based embroidery expert Jenny Hart.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 8:02 PM 0 comments

Friday, July 06, 2007

1967 was a good year

On August 25th Ruta Maya will be hosting a hoot night in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love. 21 local bands will each perform 2-3 songs of their own choosing from the year of 1967, while also performing one song from their own collection, in the spirit of the Monterey Pop Festival. Doors are at 3 pm. There will be live sounds from the Summer of Love from 4 pm until 3 am, with beer and barbeque, and a portion of the $8 cover will be donated to the Roky Erickson Trust. This is a Bleu French Laundry Production.

I took a couple of friends to the Led Zeppelin hoot at Ruta Maya a few months ago, and it was by far the most outrageous time I've ever had in an establishment that serves coffee. Below is a list of artists who will be performing at the Summer of Love hoot on Saturday August the 25th, along with at least one of the bands that they will be covering:
Keep an eye on this event (and invite your friends) at Do512.com

___________________________________________________

Here are a few things designed to get you in that Summer of Love mood:
  • Watch: The PBS documentary titled Summer of Love right here:
In the summer of 1967, thousands of young people from across the country flocked to San Francisco's Haight Ashbury district to join in the hippie experience, only to discover that what they had come for was already disappearing. By 1968 the celebration of free love, music, and an alternative lifestyle had descended into a maelstrom of drug abuse, broken dreams, and occasional violence.

Through interviews with a broad range of individuals who lived through the Summer of Love -- police officers walking the beat, teenage runaways who left home without looking back, non-hippie residents who resented the invasion of their community, and scholars who still have difficulty interpreting the phenomenon -- this American Experience offers a complex portrait of the notorious event that many consider the peak of the 1960s counter-culture movement.

  • Read: "Summer of Love: 40 Years Later", right here:
Forty years later, the ripples from the Haight-Ashbury are still being felt in our culture. The event itself may have gone bad almost at once, but the fact that the Summer of Love had a profound and lasting impact on American life -- that's one thing on which all the now-gray leaders of what was once called the Youth Movement agree, even if they debate what lasted and what didn't. The effects are here, undeniable and quantifiable -- in pop music, human relationships and sexuality, racial and ethnic diversity, a whole agenda of social thought and, yes, drugs.

I see remnants of that movement everywhere. It's sort of like the nuts in Ben and Jerry's ice cream -- it's so thoroughly mixed in, we sort of expect it. The nice thing is that eccentricity is no longer so foreign. We've embraced diversity in a lot of ways in this country. I think it's done us a tremendous service.
  1. The Beatles - "Strawberry Fields Forever" (Demo Sequence)
  2. Big Brother and the Holding Company - "Call On Me"
  3. Pink Floyd - "The Gnome"
  4. The Rolling Stones - "She's A Rainbow"
  5. 13th Floor Elevators - "You're Gonna Miss Me"
  6. Jefferson Airplane - "White Rabbit"
  7. The Doors - "Love Me Two Times"
  8. The Mamas & The Papas - "California Dreamin'"
  9. Jimi Hendrix - "The Wind Cries Mary"
  10. Buffalo Springfield - "For What It's Worth"
  11. Scott McKenzie - "San Francisco"
  12. Van Morrison - "Brown Eyed Girl"
  13. The Velvet Underground - "I'll Be Your Mirror"
  14. The Yardbirds - "White Summer"
___________________________________________________

Things you might not have known:
  • On The Velvet Undrerground
Via the Margaret Moser interview with Austin Daze:
The most standout story I’ve done would probably have to be the piece I did on Sterling Morrison in 2000. Sterling Morrison was a member of the Velvet Underground and he left the Velvet Underground mid-tour in ‘69, I believe. They were leaving a series of dates they had done in Texas and they were in Houston at the airport and Sterling took a suitcase to the airport and got midway in the airport and said, “I’m not going with you.” And he decided to stay in Texas and came to Austin and settled here and began working in remedial studies at UT and ultimately got his Captain’s License to be a tugboat captain. He turned his back on what was arguably one of the great rock and roll bands of all time for this academic course.
Via Wiki:
In 1970, when The Velvet Underground was back in New York City to play an entire summer's engagement at Max's Kansas City, Morrison seized the opportunity to complete his studies and graduate (from City College). In 1971 he was offered, and accepted, a position at the University of Texas at Austin, which meant leaving the band. He played his last gig with them on August 21 in Houston. When it came time for the band to return to New York, Morrison packed an empty suitcase and accompanied them to the gate of their departing plane, before finally telling them he was staying in Texas and leaving the band. Morrison's tenure in the capital of Texas made him a well-loved and admired member of the local music community as well as an influential voice. During John Cale's renaissance in the late 1970's, Sterling could be seen playing with his former bandmate on stages such as the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin.
  • On Janis Joplin
Via Wiki:
Janis Joplin was born at St. Mary's Hospital in Port Arthur, Texas, on January 19th, 1943. While at Thomas Jefferson High School, she was mostly shunned. Among her high school classmates was another individual destined for stardom: future college and NFL coach Jimmy Johnson. In a 1992 Sports Illustrated profile of his career, Johnson claimed that he gave Janis the high school nickname of "beat weeds." Primarily a painter, in high school she first began singing blues and folk music with friends. Joplin graduated from high school in 1960 and attended the University of Texas at Austin, though she never obtained a degree. She lived in a building commonly referred to as "The Ghetto" which was located at 2812 1/2 Nueces Street. The building has since been torn down and replaced with new apartments. The rent was $40 a month when she lived there.
  • On the 13th Floor Elevators
Via Wiki:
Singer Janis Joplin was a close associate of the band. Joplin sang with the band at a few shows, and considered joining the group in Austin, before she headed to San Francisco and became part of Big Brother and the Holding Company. Director Keven McAlester recently completed a documentary film on the life of Roky Erickson entitled "You're Gonna Miss Me." The film is set for release July 10, 2007. The group's first single, "You're Gonna Miss Me" (actually a second version—the song had been recorded once before by the band when it was known as The Spades, with bassist Ernie Culley), reached #2 on local charts in early 1966, eventually reaching #56 on the pop charts nationwide. The band was contemporary with other Austin psychedelic bands including Shiva's Headband and the Conqueroo.

The International Artists record label (also home to contemporary Texas underground groups such as Red Krayola and Bubble Puppy) in Houston signed the Elevators to a record contract and released the album The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators in the latter part of 1966, becoming an underground classic among the burgeoning counterculture. Not uncontroversially, the album's sleevenotes advocated LSD as nothing less than a guaranteed gateway to a higher state of consciousness, a philosophy the band's members adopted with a vengeance. Drug and legal problems resulted in turmoil for the band. In 1969, facing a marijuana possession charge, Erickson chose to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital rather than serve a prison term.
Via Austin 360:
Late 1965: Psychedelic guru Tommy Hall puts Erickson together with the Lingsmen, a band from Port Aransas, to form the 13th Floor Elevators, who recut "You're Gonna Miss Me" for their debut LP, "Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators." Under the supervision of Hall, inspired by the 1961 psychedelic research project helmed by Harvard professor Timothy Leary, Erickson and the rest of the band drop acid, which is legal until October 1966, to expand their musical minds.

1966: Hall asks former University of Texas student and Erickson fan Janis Joplin to join the Elevators as second lead singer. But she doesn't like acid ("I'm an alky," she tells Hall), so Joplin instead moves back to San Francisco and joins the bluesier Big Brother and the Holding Company.

1967: The Elevators peak with second LP, "Easter Everywhere."
  • The Summer of Love mix album covers:













Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 12:54 PM 4 comments

Thursday, July 05, 2007

2GS

Two Gallants come from California. They are Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel, and they're no slouches when it comes to songwriting. The partnership began when the two were both 20 years of age, as they began gigging around their home turf of San Fransisco in 2002. They signed with Saddle Creek in 2005, released What the Toll Tells in 2006, and before this year is over they will have released a stripped-down EP called The Scenery of Farewell along with a self-titled, full length album.

The name Two Gallants comes from a short story written by James Joyce in 1914, that was included in his Dubliners collection and summarized like so:
In the evening, a young man named Corley is walking with his friend Lenehan and telling him about a woman he has seduced. His attitude towards her is clearly scornful, and he is happy to relate that she pays his tram fare and has brought him cigars stolen from the house where she is a maid. Corley considers the arrangement superior to when he used to take women out and spend money on them. A rendezvous has been arranged with the woman.

As Corley meets her, Lenehan appraises her at a distance, yielding an unflattering description of her physical attributes. Over a supper of peas, Lenehan thinks enviously of Corley and contemplates his own lack of achievement at the age of thirty. He dreams of settling down with a woman who has money. After eating, Lenehan wanders around a bit more before meeting up with Corley at a previously arranged time. Corley presents him with a gold coin that the woman has just stolen.
Check out a recent Q&A with Gallant guitarist Adam Stephens at Synthesis, where he gives a bit of info about the EP:
The EP, which was released June 19th, holds a completely different vibe from past creations, a straight acoustic set of songs, with a drawl of harmonica and overall slower, ballad pace.

“This is sort of just like a collection of songs that have been around for a while, but haven’t really found their home anywhere yet,” Stephens said. “We wanted to create a place to put them out.”

A long, hard listen to the words amidst the instrumentals opens ears to lyrically painted portraits of much older men. Yet these aged, unruly characters are born from the mind of an old soul only in his 20s. Is this an intentional story writing style?

“I really have no idea, it’s sort of beyond me,” Stephens said. “It’s nothing we choose to analyze, never intentional or conscious on our parts. They [the lyrics] dictate where they go and what they’re about. It’s not like sitting down one morning and deciding to write about a specific event; songs just kind of go word by word, like stepping stones.”
Once when I was daily growing
Dressed in red from head to toe
You were all the thoughts I was knowing

And the sun gave shine, no care the season
While I learned my one, two, three's
You fell in to teach me treason

And now I spend my each day busy
Jumping on the monkey show
Jumping on the monkey show
Searching for a face I know

And I just walk for hours
Down the red-brick march of market street
Of market street
I spend my each days in repeat

And lady, she's all right with me
Done borrowed all my empathy
And you know she got the best of me
'Cause she's not lying next to me

And all things fine, sweet day beginning
I got up and fell right in
Climbed up to where you was living

And you stood in the backdoor yawning
That cruel way that leads me on
You're the reason I wake each morning

And sunshine plays the puddles
Through the mornings evenings afternoons
Evenings afternoons
I count my thoughts with coffee spoons

And something reeks of heave 'neath the highway where the hobos sleep
Where the hobos sleep
And laugh about the pains I keep

And lady, she's a friend of mine
'Cause I know how to take my time
I can't say that without lyin'
So I'll try not to try next time

And I ain't got no one to bear my burdens
Though I could pay with sips of wine
Old men like me just tuck their shirts in

Too busy running out
Though we do our best to do without
Still too busy running out of time

Well lady I can't take no rest
With all this weight across my chest
Yesterday I loved the best
Don't borrow too much happiness

Get more at the Two Gallants official site.
Posted by Mr. Curiosity at 3:01 PM 0 comments
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