January 5, 2009
With "Snowblind," +/- {Plus Minus} showed us they weren't afraid of dramatic, narrative video treatments. Same goes for X's On Your Eyes's slighter "Unsung," which sadly isn't a Helmet cover. What it is is a sweet song accompanied by a David Lobser-directed video starring Alice In Wonderland with a pierced nose and a forlorn look along with her inexpressive White Rabbit and a helpful Jiminy Cricket that leads her to an hidden surprise -- which makes her mushroom-tea party a bit more exciting.
Continue reading New +/- {Plus Minus} Video - "Unsung" ...
Posted at 6:03 PM by brandon in
Tags: Plus Minus
Jay-Z + Radiohead = Jaydiohead • Considering the publicity wonders The Grey Album worked for Danger Mouse, we're surprised it's taken so long for someone to cook this one up. (Girl Talk did it for like 30 seconds, so that doesn't count.) Enter the enterprising DJ Minty Fresh Beats, who's mashed instrumental tracks from OK Computer, Kid A, and In Rainbows with various Jigga raps on a set titled Jaydiohead. Download it at jaydiohead.com. The sound you hear in the interim is a million DJs slapping their foreheads at once.
latest by Nils
Mr. Deacon's forthcoming Bromst LP landed in our list of 20 albums we're most excited for in 2009, a placement based on Spiderman Of The Rings' screwball electro-adrenaline rush as much as the promise of a thematic and aesthetic shift for its followup. We saw the unveiling of his new incarnation, complete with 14-piece ensemble, in Brooklyn recently. Dan was joined by members of So Percussion, with an end result (so) percussion and electro heavy: the bulk of Deacon's congregation holding mallets/sticks or lined up behind an array of synths. The Bromst stuff offered hip-hop glints with scratched vocal-samples in the mix and deeper, more deliberate dance beats than Spiderman, while retaining some of the album's quirk and whimsy at its core. This album cover is very true to that.
Continue reading Dan Deacon's Bromst Album Art...
Posted at 3:01 PM by amrit in
Tags: Dan Deacon
latest by j
Every week, Amazon.com lets us select one recent release from its MP3 store to go on super sale (up to 75% off normal prices). Hopefully you'll be able to add these must-own LPs to your library without breaking your budget.
While they landed album of the year at Decibel and were more often relegated to the lower ends of lists in indie publications (Pitchfork gave them an Honorable Mention), Torche's second full length Meanderthal was one of the best albums of 2008 in any genre. It's just that people need to lighten up about metal -- even the poppier stuff -- because like country (or, in books, romance and sci-fi), it's often pushed into its own separate genre-relegated realm. Anyhow, Torche: We mentioned being blown away by the heavy stoner goodness of the band a couple CMJ's ago and then the Steve Brooks-fronted Miami/Atlanta crew released the superb, Kurt Ballou-produced Meanderthal, a mix of math angles, Melvins-esque sludge, and full-on turbo-powered pop hookery. Call us blown away doubly.
Continue reading Stereogum X Amazon MP3 Friendly Deals #9: Torche's Meanderthal...
Posted at 1:52 PM in
Tags: Torche
latest by agrokrag
One of the videos we missed while sipping nog and sleeping off NYE was the Glasto (and possibly Bonnaroo)-bound Boss's clip for "Life Itself," from his forthcoming Working On A Dream. The "Life Itself" clip follows up on "My Lucky Day"'s shot of the E Streeters in the studio with an in-and-out of focus Bruce, again in recording mode, strumming and singing with gravitas. It's a sad relationship song, but the imagery seems to build off of the line that reads "Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart," screening shots of stone-faced Americans in all their diversity while white picket fences and elm trees and shadows of birds in flight dissolve in and out of frame. Heavy things.
Continue reading New Bruce Springsteen Video - "Life Itself"...
Posted at 1:27 PM by amrit in
Tags: Bruce Springsteen
latest by gimme
When we gave Noble Beast its Premature Evaluation, we noted Andrew Bird (here with flyaway hair) hasn't been shy about previewing album tracks live and via streams. The record -- along with the instrumental deluxe-edition disc Useless Creatures -- is out in a couple of weeks (1/20) and the previews have gained momentum: Catch Noble Beast in its entirety at NPR and those Useless Creatures at Bird's site. Contrary to the titles, the Useless instrumentals are more interesting than the Noble collection.
Posted at 1:01 PM by brandon
Tags: Andrew Bird
latest by jta
Looks like it. Sounds like it, too, if you spent your holiday with Animal Collective's latest on repeat like most everybody with torrent expertise. The album's out tomorrow but a couple reviews are already in, and they are glowing. SPIN went four-star style in a review from Andy Beta:
From [opening thumper "In The Flowers"] forward, these stalwart innovators ... elude all experimental-noise, freak-folk, and indie-rock tags, and create a startling, pounding, effulgent sonic template....
Call it searching for the perfect peak. Merriweather plays like the summation of a long, strange trip, combining the group's career touchstones: harmonic Beach Boys pop, African tribal chants, minimalism, minimal techno, psychedelia, and dub.
Pitchforkmedia.com went a little higher.
Continue reading Is Merriweather Post Pavilion The Best Album Of 2009?...
Posted at 11:52 AM by amrit
Tags: Animal Collective
latest by burn unit
As we've mentioned in the past (2007), Robert Schneider's not afraid of the graceful sellout. So, no, we're not surprised that he and his E6 cohorts just scored a Pepsi commercial. (Heck, we already knew how much E6-related bands loved steak.) We're more surprised it's 2009 and the Apples In Stereo are still alive and getting work. See, for instance, the use of New Magnetic Wonder's "Energy" in Pepsi's slick new-for-2009 rebranding campaign. The logo's color scheme remains red, white, and blue, but the spot's theme is about delivering soda pop (aka good cheer) the world over.
Continue reading Apples In Stereo Energize Pepsi Rebranding...
Posted at 11:40 AM by brandon in ,
Tags: Apples In Stereo
latest by Rinjo Njori
