am/fm

For those of you following the saga, my computer is now back up. Super.

eh.www.amNY.com

I have no love for my computer, nor it for me, as it is totally NOT WORKING today. At this point, it's only mildy stressful, but I did a lot of work for tomorrow's paper last night and now I cannot access it. I'm not doing that junk again.

So I'm hoping Kraftwerk can spread their "Computer Love" and turn my unweildy paperweight back into a functioning analytical engine.

Oh, yeah, and the song may sound familiar because Coldplay sampled the main riff on "Talk."

eh.www.amNY.com

So I saw "Iron Man" this weekend.

Suicidal Tenancies, "Institutionalized"

Apparently Tony Stark is a punk fan. The movie has him listening to this song while he's working on his cars down in his workshop. Nice.

Also, because I know you care, I like that Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts has freckles. I hope she wears sunscreen ...

eh.www.amNY.com

"Going On"

Scifi-licious!

I love the supersaturated picture with the '70s-style titles. Neat video, neat song. Yes, there's nothing on "The Odd Couple" as ear-wormy as "Crazy," but I think the album as a whole is stronger than "St. Elsewhere."

If you still haven't heard it, download a backwards version here. And then ...

eh.www.amNY.com

This Garmin commercial aired during the Super Bowl this year, but I was among the five people in the U.S. who didn't watch (I don't like football OR commercials, so it seemed the telecast had nothing to offer). Anyway, this song sounds a heck of a lot like Plastic Bertrand's "Ça Plane Pour Moi" ... but it isn't.

Listen.

(Here's a Red Hot Chili Pepper cover)

The Garmin song, I believe, is a jingle written especially for the commercial. Full lyrics here.

(Also, the horn part sounds like an inversion of "March of the Swivelheads" from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (Listen), which itself is a remix of The English Beat's "Rotating Head.")

eh.www.amNY.com

We have moths. In our office. Thank goodness it's our Friday. With any luck, by the time we get back on Sunday they'll be gone.

In the meantime, here are some insect-inspired songs for ... well, us, really.

Jethro Tull "Moths"

Tiger Moth

Psapp "Rear Moth"

Black Moth Super Rainbow "Sun Lips"

They Might Be Giants "Bee of the Bird of the Moth"

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks "Dragonfly Pie"

Adam Ant "Goody Two Shoes"

So much more, after the jump ...

Continue reading "Mothra vs. the Office" »

The Village Voice Announces Initial Lineup for the 8th Annual Village Voice SIREN MUSIC FESTIVAL™ at Coney Island

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Broken Social Scene, The Helio Sequence, Beach House, Times New Viking, Jaguar Love, The Dodos, Annuals, Film School, Parts & Labor, Dragons of Zynth, These Are Powers and more to be announced!

I totally heart Stephen Malkmus. I guess if you've been reading this blog for a while, that's pretty obvious.

eh.www.amNY.com

Nasty Little Man, Beck's PR firm, just sent out a release that confirms rumors that Beck's as-yet-untitled forthcoming album will be out this summer, months ahead of the original fall release date.

Having met a few years ago, Beck and Danger Mouse had planned to work together at some point, finally convening last December to do a few songs. Encouraged by the results, they decided to make an entire record and over the next few months recorded extensively, with the goal of using only 10 pieces in the end.

Yay! I'm excited. I won't hear anything bad about either of these two. Anything they touch separately turns to gold, so I'm sure this project will be ... well, gold-plated gold.

eh.www.amNY.com

I don't know if you know this, but it freaking RAINS in New Orleans. And as much of the city is below sea level, when it rains, it floods. We forded our (rental) car through some major water on our way down ... and while we freaked out, local residents did not bat an eye. This is all to set up our rainy Sunday spent at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

But first, though it had rained heavily the day before and the ground was quite soggy, we arrived to sunny skies and stopped in the gospel tent to hear Paulette Wright & Volume of Praise. The ensemble was dressed radiantly all in white, and from their volume (ha!) it sounded like there were far more people on stage than there actually were: Ten singers plus a small backing band. They were joyous and fun. We sat for one song to churchify the start to our adventure, but on the way out, they started in on "Tell Me Something Good," and we had to go back. I don't think the Rufus and Chaka version was talking about Jesus, though. But with a little tweaking, it actually works well as a song of praise.

When we finished up there, we headed across the hot concrete to catch Mamadou Diabate -- a man with a group hailing from Mali in west Africa and Brooklyn -- in the blues tent. Even their warm up was fun and bouncy. Diabate plays the kora, a traditional west African instrument that looks like a giant sitar mated with a gourd (also, the drummer played something that looked like a nerf ball). The music was largely instrumental, although there were a few songs with lyrics, both in French and English.

Not that I've ever seen anyone play this instrument before, but Diabate wailed on the kora. His virtuoso fingers danced over the strings and he's obviously a master of the instrument. The music was both challenging and soothing, structured like jazz, with a main beat giving way to each band member's solo. While the structure of the music is complex and rhythmically intense, the melody just washes over you. It was cool.

It was during this set that the storm clouds gathered and let loose. We were under a tent, so it was mostly alright, although at a certain point, the water crept up under the tent and covered the ground (up to about half an inch). It was the last time my shoes would be dry all day.

more after the jump...

Continue reading "JazzFest @ New Orleans Fairgrounds, April 27, 2008" »

She just opened for Gnarls Barkley at Highline Ballroom, she's playing Summerstage in July and she's reportedly good friends with indie grimster M.I.A. Her name has been tossed around by cool kids all over, and her recently released album has received rave (albeit qualified) reviews.

Yeah, but what does she sound like? Well, listen for yourself. Downtown Records is offering an unreleased track for free download here. It's pretty good. "Your Voice" is a chill reggae-inspired ramble, and while we're talking voices, Santi White (that's her real name) has a beautifully unadorned one. She recalls an early Gwen Stefani with less affectation. This song is a good summer jam for when it's too hot to move but smooth beats are the order of the night. Don't sleep.

eh.www.amNY.com

• Spinner has a list of 20 bad songs by good bands. For the most part, it seems they just picked notable singles by bands we've all heard of and arbitrarily anointed them bad. Because Blondie's "Rapture" (no. 20) is awesome. As is Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" (no. 12) (I have an uncle Gus, so as a child, me and my sisters found endless amusement in this song). I'll give them Weezer's "Beverly Hills" (no. 16) and Madonna's "American Life" (no. 4), though.

• Idolator has a shorter and more accurate list of Five Bad Album Titles.

• Are you sick of Britney yet? Me neither! Here are some unreleased tracks. Apparently, she tried to go a funkier, R&B route ("Baby Boy") and was denied.

• The Mountain Goats, John Oliver, Rock Plaza Central, Dave Hill and more in one show? Yes, please. Brooklyn Vegan has the details on this benefit concert for AIDS Walk NY.

• Stereogum has news of a new single by Miles Kurosky. Who's Miles Kurosky, you ask? Why, the ex-lead singer of Beulah, of course. Who's Beulah, you ask? Oh, honey. You're missing out ...

• Over at 17 Dots, they're explaining the "Brooklyn Scene" to a baffled Minnesotan. Go add your voice.

• New Beck! Maybe soon!

eh.www.amNY.com

eh.www.amNY.com

I missed this while I was away, but here's the video for ScarJo's cover of Tom Waits' "Falling Down." When on road trips, listening to music and staring out the car window, I always think that that POV would make a great music video, which is what they're doing here. Turns out, if it's not you that's doing the actual traveling, that view is pretty boring. The song itself is alright, but I still like her "Anywhere I Lay My Head" better. (Get some real Tom here. It's everything great about the man.)

People.com has a preview of New Kids on the Block's new single "Summertime." It's not any worse than any of the other pop crap that's out there.

Trent Reznor (whose old house I saw in New Orleans; it's currently owned by John Goodman) is offering the latest Nine Inch Nails album for free download.

eh.www.amNY.com

• Did they have other songs besides "Sex & Candy"? Yes, three whole albums worth.

• Have you heard any of those other songs? If you saw "Cruel Intentions," "Simply Irresistible" or "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," you did.

• Are they even still around? Yes! Their last album was "MP3," released in 2004. Lead singer John Wozniak is also trying to get a solo career off the ground.

• Are they touring? Evidently.

• What's their website like? Down.

eh.www.amNY.com

I like this concert series the best of all the free summer shows, even though I rarely get to see any of them, because they're all Sunday afternoon (when I am busy working to bring you Monday's paper). But anyway, Pool Parties has let the word out that this year's schedule will include: The Breeders, MGMT, The Hold Steady, Liars, Aesop Rock, Black Lips, Deerhunter, Fuck Buttons, Matt & Kim, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Team Robespierre, The Loved Ones, Panther, King Khan and His Shrines and Ting Tings.

It's gonna be a great summer. I can just feel it.

eh.www.amNY.com

(Preservation Hall Jazz Band via Getty)

And I thought that New York was a music town. After spending a week in New Orleans, I have reassessed my parameters. We were there for JazzFest, but even just walking down the street, you could hear live music everywhere.

We spent the bulk of our time in the French Quarter, where along with countless cover bands playing bar favorites at every club, many restaurants had performers jazzing out to accompany their patrons' gustatory explorations. We dined at Crescent City Brewhouse one night, where a small combo played standards like "Autumn Leaves" and the slowest version of "Watermelon Man". I didn't get the name of the band, but I can tell you that the baked brie is delicious.

Also along Bourbon Street, there's a live karaoke place. Depending on the level of talent/drunkenness in the room, that can make for an interesting experience.

Uptown, we took Frenchmen Street by storm. It's a cool little alley of jazz clubs. D.B.A. (which is related to the one here on First Ave) had the best cover/available space ratio, so we plunked down there for the night. If we were splurging, we would have hit up Snug Harbor, which is where everyone told us to go, but it was $20 to get in and we're poor. Meanwhile, at $5-to-get-in D.B.A. we took in a really cool keyboard-based group. They were really good (and their drummer was pretty cute), and I think I wrote their name down somewhere, so more info may be forthcoming.

The other thing everyone told us to do was Rock N Bowl at the Mid City Bowling Lanes. This time we did pony up the $20 for their Zydeco spectacular. While we bowled (I bowled a strike, by the way! Just the one, though. Otherwise I did miserably.), like, a billion different bands plied their washboards and accordions for our listening pleasure. My favorite was Sunpie Barnes.

This man is enormous!

And that was pretty much the highlights of the week. There's a lot we didn't get to see, but we're going back. Someday.

If this report seems a little sketchy, that's because it is. I was on vacation fools! I didn't take notes. Except for our day at JazzFest, on which you'll receive a full report tomorrow.

eh.www.amNY.com

I wanted to do a little something special for post 500, and what's more special than a video interview? Well, lots of things. Cake, for example. But I'm not making you a cake.

Apropos of nothing, except that I really like them, I sat down and spoke with Christian Rudder of Bishop Allen. Fortuitously, they have a gig at Music Hall of Williamsburg May 16, so if you like what you hear, go see 'em.

Here we are in all our camera-shy glory:

Let me know what you think. If you like it, we may do more of these.

Also, a special thank you to One Brooklyn Bridge Park for the use of their location.

And here's "Click, Click, Click, Click," the best indie pop song about photography since Spoon's "I Turn My Camera On."

Happy 500! See you again in 500 more ...

eh.www.amNY.com

PS I'm on vacation next week, so I really hope you like this ... enough to tide you over until May 4 when I'll be back ... with tales of Jazz Fest in New Orleans!

I totally thought the Ocarina was an instrument made up by the folks who produced Zelda. I was wrong.

eh.www.amNY.com

499 ...

OK, it's been a while since I've done one of these, and I can't believe the theremin wasn't the first instrument I picked, but here is another exploration of non-traditional rock instruments rocking out.

Actually, tons of people use the theremin, these people even did a podcast about the theremin. So here's just a couple substantiated claims. Leave your own in the comments.

One Ring Zero - "The Ghost of Rita Gonzolo." This Brooklyn band is a big proponent of the theremin.

Muse - "Invincible"

Apparently Phish used to use a theremin regularly, but wading through the videos to find A/V evidence of it is beyond me right now.

The Decemberists use a theremin on the "Youth an Beauty Brigade" half of this song. You have to listen hard for it, but it's there. You can really hear it in the transition part of the song.

Pixies - "Velouria"

The Flaming Lips - "Crazy" (cover, but Wayne Coyne plays the theremin all the time)

Cornelius - random video

Portishead - "Humming"

Polyphonic Spree - "Hold Me Now." I'm kind of just guessing here, because it's hard to pin down individual instruments, but they have a full-time theremin player (Toby Halbrooks), so there must be theremin.

And this is actually really annoying to research, more so than the cowbell, because it's just so damn ubiquitous, that I'm just calling it quits now. Let me know what I left off. Point to videos or music files, or it doesn't count.

eh.www.amNY.com

PS For those keeping count (and I am), this is post 498.

eh.www.amNY.com

* OK, I do want to comment on this. I heard this song years and years ago, and it always creeped me out the way the people laughed in the background. The song's not that funny, and sometimes there seems to be no stimulus at all to what they're laughing at. Weird.

ETA: Oh.