I may still be on the fence about Jimmy Fallon's new show, but I'm a staunch supporter of anything The National does. They debuted the lead track from their upcoming album High Violet on Jimmy's show last night and it sounds like vintage National, with a slow, epic buildup packed with emotion the way only these Brooklyn indie rockers can do. Its called "Terrible Love," and its wonderful.
In honor of the recently released albums Heligoland and Plastic Beach – by Massive Attack and Gorillaz, respectively – I post this video in honor of crossover performances. Enjoy:
YES! A new track from one of my favorite new bands of 2009. Sounds like their sound is maturing a bit, perhaps even moving away from the chillwave sound that drove their first LP. Give it a listen! I wish I could post the MP3, but fucking Pepsi would shut down the blog (that's happened before). So, enjoy this nice, refreshing taste of Neon Indian brought to you via FUCKING PEPSI! If you feel like wading through the ad-infested site, there is an MP3 you can download w/ no strings attached (minus the abhorrent agreement you have to make not to re-distribute it).
[I do not endorse drinking copious amounts of high fructose corn syrup... and I'm sure NI doesn't either. But thx pepsi!]
Kavinsky. The man behind of some of my favorite French speed electro that ran parrellel to the bloghouse era of 2k8 is back a new EP entitled Nightcall. An EP which was mixed by SebastiAn, who turned Kavinsky's "Testarossa Autodrive" into the most testosterone fueled electro explosion of the whole era. An EP which was produced by motherfucking Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk. With vocals from Lovefoxxx from CSS!
"Nightcall" itself is not exactly a return to that unabashed energy, but its a super slick track thats definately worth a listen.
However, the true highlight, at least, for myself, is "Pacific Coast Highway," which is a return to that energy, and is perhaps the closest thing to "Testarossa Autodrive" that there can be, as a reporter tracks an high speed chase. I have no idea why Kavisnky knows how to perfectly soundtrack an 80's influenced high speed pursuit, but he does, and it works.
You should probably check out "Testarossa Autodrive" if you missed it, because its one of the coolest things ever.
Jon has a long love-hate relationship with YACHT. For the most part, that conflict arose from the severe impact the break-up of The Blow had on me. Jona Bechtolt went on to form YACHT, playing shows with some great opening acts for a couple of years (I saw them with Architecture in Helsinki and Vampire Weekend). Recently, Claire Evans joined the team and the duo produced See Mystery Lights, one of 2009's big surprises and certainly in my top ten for the year.
I decided to give the band another chance last two summers ago when a festival in Astoria was canceled and promptly rescheduled, very last minute for Portland. The first leg of the festival was on a sunny afternoon in West Portland, beyond the industrial district, on a cliff looking out to an expansive mountain range. The mood was oh-so-fitting for the local sound-bands that Jona was introducing. There was an incredible energy in the air, just pure love for music.
For the second leg, we all filled our flasks and headed down to an alley on the Eastside where the rest of the, much louder, bands played. I was there to see E-Rock and not so excited for YACHT but I stuck around because of the passion and willingness to contribute to the Portland community that Jona exhibited throughout the day. I figured, even if I don't like his music, this man is incredible.
And then he played some early versions of tracks from See Mystery Lights - it was whiplash.
The sun was entirely absent and the alley was dimly lit by the streetlights and a couple well-positioned shop lights. The music reverberated between the walls, creating something of a typhoon of sound. A man in a bar across the street began verbally harassing Jona before the crowd broke into a chant of "fuck off" sentiment while Jona and Claire brought us seemlessly into 'The Afterlife.'
Brilliant. Exquisite. This DFA Records oldie is certainly a goodie! I can't wait for the bands follow-up. Check out this mash-up I recently found: a mashup of 'I'm In Love With A Ripper' and Dominique Young Unique. Not everyone's bag of chips, I'm sure, but we all need a little delicious hip-hop mashers every once in a while. Yummy.
ALSO! The band recently announced something very big, which is described in thorough, weird detail in the following video. In brief, YACHT has added three new members to the team who will be known as The Straight Gaze. YACHT and The Straight Gaze will be touring with LCD Soundsystem in North America and Europe this year. Fuck yes.
Titus Andronicus is a great band. That much is obvious. The Airing of Grievances is an incredibly strong debut, with spiky punk rock made all the more meaningful with the shoegaze, lo-fi buzz that envelops it.
You know what else they are great at? Naming stuff. Being English majors all, they must be painfully conscious that their band's name is a reference to Shakespere first and most unbelievably violent revenge play - a Tarentinoesque romp through an ancient Roman world of murder, cannibalism, gang rape and incest. The first albums title is equally awesome,being the name of a coveted ceremony of Festivus, the Christmas celebration made popular by Seinfeld.
So what are they talking about in Monitor? It can be hard to tell, with inscrutable liner notes and the inablility to make out most of what the lead singer barks - but it turns out its the Civil War, as the Monitor was the first ironclad ship which was deployed during the civil war (you know those ugly tent looking things? yeah). Titus Andronicus decided to use their 2nd album to honor the upcoming anniversary of this great conflict, and have appropriately shifted their approach. The songs hear are longer, more epic, and tinged with an atmosphere that recalls the work of The Pouges or The Dropkick Murphy's.
I haven't had a chance to make it through the whole album yet, but what I've heard is solid and interesting. And this song, "A More Perfect Union," seems fairly emblematic of the character of the album as a whole. And its good!
I'll come out and be the first to say that I'm not a big Minus the Bear fan. Seattle's darling band has released a few very averagely good records over the years and created a fan base that spans oceans. They are, to me, the remnants of Seattle's grunge - among other NW favorites like Built to Spill and Modest Mouse. They are the natural, direct evolution of that dead genre and, likewise, embody a sound that 'sounds NW.' Seattle's grunge movement captured the contrast between the raw energy of a newly bustling city, surrounded on all sides by some of the best nature has to offer in this country, with the general feeling of what it's like to live here. As Seattle died in the late 90's, so did grunge. From the ashes emerged a new kind of post-rock that embodies [imo] the mundanity, general dreariness, and out-of-touch feeling that graces our land for a majority of the year (it rains here a lot, btw!). Minus the Bear, as well as the other bands mentioned, have built mountains of sound: tall, twisty, complex, guitar-driven masterpieces.
So what is Minus the Bear up to on their upcoming LP release Omni (May 4; Dangerbird Records)? New record label + new toy = new sound. The album, named after the Omnichord synthesizer, will not be that complex guitar mountain masterpiece fans are expecting. And I expect that the scene will take notice. "My Time" is the synth-driven lead single from their upcoming release. The track marries the MTB vocals and general MTB caveats with a retro-future synth sound that could make Michael Angelakos' head turn. It's everything you would expect from MTB, except not. I'm wondering how hard it will be on the fans to swallow the new sound. I've listened to plenty of MTB in my time - Planet of Ice is one of my favs in my record collection - but I've never been able to get over the severe bland taste that develops in my mouth after back-to-back replays. It's like drinking soda; the first can is just as quenching as you'd expect it to be, but the second just tastes like corn syrup. MTB builds albums - not iPod filler; they're like books - you don't reread them back to back and you don't skip through to your favorite parts.
If MTB can build an album off of this sound, it has the potential to bring forth something new in Seattle's music scene. Not that the ideas presented in this song are anything special, just different. A new decade; a new sound. Let's just see what happens. Please, listen for yourself (you've been warned).
So I discovered two things today that I should have known sooner. The first is that Splinter Cell: Conviction is coming out next month, which I thought would never happen and which I had stopped thinking about. This might seem musically irrelevant, but here's how my brain operates:
1. Man, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was awesome.
2. What was even more awesome about Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was the fact that somehow they got fucking Amon Tobin to do the entire soundtrack.
3. I love, LOVEthat soundtrack. It might be the best shit he's ever dropped. I'm really glad he's contributing to the new Splinter Cell game!
4. Hey, I wonder what my favorite Brazilian musician is up to anyway? After all, Foley Room came out in like, 2007, right? That's 3 years! Maybe he's touring! Or maybe I should go check out his website and HOLYFUCKINGSHITHE'SINTHE
5. STUDIORIGHTNOWWORKINGONANEWALBUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6. Is there.......a new track.......per chance.....?
7. FUCK YES THERE'S A NEW TRACK!!!
The album isn't named yet, but the track is called Hey Mr. Tree. Enjoy having Amon Tobin unleash 500 different drum effects upon your brain-hole at once (enjoy the visualizer too). Fuck, I cannot wait for this album:
Cheetah loves music, and just wants to share some love with the world. If you like the music, then you should find a way to support the artist (go to a show or buy a tshirt [or both]).
If you are the artist then Cheetah loves you. If you are the label, then Cheetah maybe loves you. In either case, I post your music because I feel that people need to hear it. If you don't like me doing that for you, just ask me to remove it, and it will be done so promptly.
