am/fm

Canada Day is Sunday, and so in honor, all of our selections today come from the Great White North. Lay back and think of snow.

Young Galaxy "Young Galaxy"
I was initially excited by this album, but it really failed to keep my interest. Airy pop with a slighly Euro flavor.

Memphis "A Little Place in the Wilderness"
Wilderness indeed. The album opens (and closes) with the sound of crickets chirping and builds up to some staid indie pop. It's mellow and melodic, and actually sounds a little like Stars.

Gonzales "Solo Piano"
Relaxing but vital jazz-inflected modern classical.

Patrick Watson "Close to Paradise"
Dreamy and calming. Just what I need as I start the crunch time of my day. The longer I listen, the more I like this.

The Hidden Cameras "Awoo"
These boys sound talented enough, but they're irritating me right now.

Danko Jones "Sleep is the Enemy"
The first actually rocking CD of the day. Whatever, it's not good, though.

The Besnard Lakes "The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse"
Kind of post-rock Beach Boys, with beautiful melodies and crunch.

"Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man"
Here's where I had to stretch things a little bit. I couldn't actually find 10 CDs in The Pile that were by Canadian artists. But I did dig up this film soundtrack about Leonard Cohen — THE Canadian songwriter. And! There are some Canadians who perform. Most of them are Wainwrights or related.
Cohen's one of those guys that you know his work even if you don't know that you know it. "Hallelujah," for one, although that's not on here. What is on here is a lovely rendition of "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" by a Wainwright — Rufus.
Wainwright, Martha's voice drives me nuts, so I don't so much enjoy her contributions, and on the whole, I'm not sure how I feel about Leonard Cohen. But it's a well put together compilation, featuring cuts by Nick Cave, Beth Orton, Antony, the Wainwright/McGarrigle clan and others. Eh, I'll give it half marks.

"Peanut Butter Wolf presents Chrome Children"
And this album has nothing to with Canada at all, unless MF Doom is secretly from Saskatoon, or something. But it's a funky mix tape produced by those hip-hop geniuses over at Adult Swim.

Final score: 4.5 out of 10, I think. Sorry guys. Today was a little harried at actual work, so I didn't have too much time for blog playtime. I leave you with this:

eh, www.amNY.com

We are less than a month away from the release of book 7, people!

If that sentence makes no sense to you, you probably won't be interested in the rest of this post.

For my fellow HP fans, you can bide your time listening to the artful stylings of Massachusetts-based group Harry and the Potters. They're all over the internets these days. You can find some tracks here, here, and of course, here. They'll even be in town July 19, playing the Bohemian Beer Garden with Draco and the Malfoys, the Hungarian Horntails and the horn section from Dumbledore's Army.

Holy crap! I'm a dork!

eh, www.amNY.com

• You Ain't No Picasso, in honor of his 21st birthday, has got a track listing up for his perfect musical education mixtape. And, if you act now, he's still got all the MP3s up.

• Grizzly Bear is playing an Urban Outfitters in-store July 14 to benefit radio station WNHU — which is in New Haven, but still, free Grizzly Bear. (via)

• The Walkmen have a new instrumental track up on their MySpace.

• 17 Dots has the scoop on the new Arcade Fire.

• I really wish that the song in this commercial was real.

Aw, mom you're just jealous it's the Beastie Boys!

And, oh, how they've grown. Their latest album, "The Mix-Up" dropped today, and, as you've probably heard, it's a long way from anything on "Licensed to Ill." In fact, it barely sounds like a Beastie Boys album. The concept is, the boys go instrumental, playing licks similar to those they would have sampled back in the day.

And it's groovy little background music. It wouldn't be out of place (or offensive to the moms) in a Pottery Barn. But that's really all it is. Metacritic gives the album an average of 55 out of 100. My favorite quote comes from the Entertainment Weekly review: "Who'd have guessed that a Beastie Boys record could be too subtle?"

Beastie Boys - The Gala Event

eh, www.amNY.com

The 'gum has David LaChapelle's new video for Amy Winehouse's "Tears Dry on Their Own."

This video is BOR-ING. I expected so much more. I think this song might be more favorite to me than "Rehab," but LaChappelle's idea seemed to be, "Let's remove all of the energy of this song and present it as drably as possible." This is an active break-up song; yeah, she's sad and alone, but girl's getting it back together. She's backed up by one of the most famous Motown horn samples there is, for heaven's sake. None of that says to me, "Mope in a hotel room, then walk down a street filled with delightfully weird characters but keep your eyes down and ignore them." I kind of wish this video was about one of the street characters instead.

eh, www.amNY.com

UPDATE:

Oho! This comment over at Stereogum was enlightening:

c'mon.... it's a video full of hookers, she's staying in a hooker hotel..... he walks away, etc.....

It all goes together. You guys need to hang out on the dirty streets for a while..... although hookers never look as good as they do in this video Posted by: bc at June 25, 2007 10:39 PM

The video's still boring.

Aol is streaming Bad Brains, The Beastie Boys, Brian Ferry and more.

They also have a Bloc Party cover by Smoosh.

eh, www.amNY.com

I don't know if I've shown New York Noise any love on here recently, but they deserve it. I'm a big fan of cable access television anyway, and a well-curated music video show? Yeah, I like it.

Anyway, was watching last night and caught The Go! Teams' "Junior Kickstart."

Sweet!

eh, www.amNY.com

• Paolo Nutini takes on "Rehab." (via)

• Any Ryan Adams tix left?

• Test your ice cream knowledge.

• Spice Girls!

eh, www.amNY.com

All of our music today comes from the Borough of Kings.

Tall Firs "Tall Firs"
Downtempo dirge rock that's right at home on Ecstatic Peace — Sonic Youther Thurston Moore's label, if you didn't know. Quality, but a little too slow for my tastes. I really need a nap right about now, and this is not helping.

The Rub "European Tour"
Featuring the talents of DJ Eleven, Cosmo Baker and DJ Ayers, this album is a mix tape by which to shake your rump. It's a good soundtrack for a rooftop party or a barbecue. I wish I was at a barbecue.
"A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays, Afro Heat 4, Let's Dance, Ghetto Life" — Featuring De La Soul, Afrodisiac Sound System, West Street Mob, Rick James

Life in a Blender "The Heart is a Small Balloon"
These guys send me a lot of email, and they seem really nice and funny.

The Beasts of Eden "End Times" EP
Not too bad. I don't know that I'll spin this album again, but if I were out and they happened to be playing where I was, I wouldn't leave.

Mudville "Iris Nova"
Vocalist Marilyn Carino does her best Beth Gibbons here, but it's not quite enough.

Action Painters "Chubby Dancer"
It's growing on me.

Locksley "Don't Make Me Wait"
I was beginning to despair. The only decent thing I've listened to so far was a mixtape. Does anyone actually in Brooklyn make good music? Looking at the remaining no-names in my pile, my hopes were low. These guys were a pleasant surprise. Derivative retro pop complete with handclaps, yeah, but they do it well and you can tell they're having fun. Title track is definitely best, but I think we can expect good things in Locksley's future.

And from the video you can see, they have a sense of humor about their derivative-ness. Or their entire act is an homage.

Seems So Bright "Blinds Down"
Oh, dear.

Luff "Blanket Ice"
Serviceable instrumental noodling.

Ta-Shma "Come Listen"
"Ta shma" is a Hebrew (?) phrase meaning "come and listen," and is used to invite discussion and promote understanding. Ta-shma is a Brooklyn group that raps about Torah-related issues, kind of following in the footsteps of Matisyahu (who appears on their track "Rachamana"). Umm...not really my cuppa.

Final score: 2 out of 10.

To be fair, I really had to dig to come up with these 10 Brooklynites; anyone with any notoriety (We Are Scientists, Sufjan, etc.), I would have listened to straight away. And, looking back at the other 10 CD Thursdays, that's pretty much the average. So, way to go Brooklyn!

Appropriately enough, the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival (with Ghostface) starts this weekend. Visit www.brooklynbodega.com for more.

2 Skinnee J's (718) would be perfect here, but I cannot find the video anywhere online. :(

eh, www.amNY.com

He hates 'em. Stereogum dug up The Long Winters frontman's thoughts on Craig Finn and co., and they are amusingly full of vitrol. The context: Roderick was invited to liveblog Bonnaroo for MSNBC, and apparently he thought the Hold Steady's set sounded like "a medley of the greatest hits of the E Street Band, Bad Company, Foreigner and Styx. As played by your uncle’s friends."

I totally enjoyed his takedown (and happen to agree with it), and am definitely a "If you don't have anything nice to say, come sit next to me" kind of girl (which by the way, I always thought that quote was Dorothy Parker, but it's actually attributed to Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the wild child First Daughter of Teddy R.). Sometimes my own criticism veers into angry evisceration. But I was also reminded of something Martin Amis said in his amazing collection of literary criticism "The War Against Cliche". He too fell prey to the lure of the slam early in his career. It's easy to be provocative while you're putting someone down, and he says (in the intro to the book, I think) he regrets some of his meaner reviews now that he's a more mature writer. It's an interesting perspective.

I don't have any amazing insight here. Just: John Roderick = Funny; Hold Steady = Average; Martin Amis = Darn good writer. Well, and: Writing mean things about people = immature but delightful.

eh, www.amNY.com

This is awful. Best Week Ever breaks down the many, many things that suck about this poster.

eh, www.amNY.com

This is really only tangentially related to music, but they're comedians who sing, so I'm going to go for it. New Zealand duo Flight of the Conchords have been all over New York City recently, pimping the start of their new HBO series, which premiered Sunday, although I'm sure it's on like 70 billion times during the week. And, or, you can watch it online here. It's funny as heck. The premise of the show is that Bret and Jemaine are in New York trying to break into show business, but the actual storyline follows their more mundane antics as they crash parties and break hearts. Oh yeah, and they break into song about every two minutes. It's totally absurd, and deserves to find a real audience.

Brooklyn Vegan has a review of their live show at Gramercy Theater from last week. And, to get back to the music, here's the Conchords performing "Bowie in Space."

I love it! Space IS a freaky place.

eh, www.amNY.com

Last night I was a judge at the Starbucks Avant-Grande music competition, a sort of battle of the bands for employees. I don't drink coffee, so I can't make any comment on their product (and leaving aside for the moment their ubiquity in the city), but that company is good to their employees. In addition to benefits and above minimum wage salaries, they also provide an outlet for their workers' creative talents, in the form of art shows and, yes, music competitions. That's pretty cool. </soapbox>

Anyway, six bands competed for two winning slots. The winners were offered an opening slot at a Celebrate Brooklyn and SummerStage concert.

There was an impressive array of talent on display, but in the end, my two favorites won (ah, the power of being a judge). Preston Edmonds' band, a stylish indie rock ensemble, will be opening for Alloy Orchestra on July 19 in Prospect Park. Their high energy on stage may have derived from the fact that they seemed to have brought their entire fan club, but their set showed promise. I especially liked their last song, the name of which I failed to write down. The band doesn't seem to have an internet presence yet, so we may never know just what song that was. You'll just have to go to the show and check them out.
The second winner was jazz combo Luma. They'll open the July 28th show at SummerStage. This group seems to have already attained some measure of local stardom, with profiles in different Long Island papers. I have to say, they're worth checking out. Their playing is super tight, and they give off a good energy.

All the kids were pretty talented, but I thought John Biz and the Rolling Stallones deserved an honorable mention, so I'll give that to them here. As one of my judging partners said, they're less goofy than their name suggests. According to their MySpace, they have an upcoming show at Luna Lounge July 7.

eh, www.amNY.com

Rilo Kiley blew up big, like, two summers ago. Then frontwoman Jenny Lewis had her solo moment in the sun last summer. But what have they done lately?

Recorded an album, fools. Tiny Mix Tapes has the good news that their album is due out August 21. They also have a track for download.
Go get it!

eh, www.amNY.com

Apparently helming the sprawling supergroup Broken Social Scene is not enough for Kevin Drew. The multi-instrumentalist (and Leslie Feist's boyfriend, according to Wikipedia) is releasing a solo album in the fall. The unweildily titled "Broken Social Scene presents: Kevin Drew, What If..." hits shelves Sept. 18, but the track "Tbtf" is available for free download now. The official website doesn't have much more information, but it does have a video of Drew (I assume it's him) eating cereal. Mmm...cereal.

So, anyway, "Tbft." It's a pretty, low-key cut. It would make good montage music. In fact, I can see it now: small-town girl in her first big city job; making copies; juggling paperwork, spilling coffee; getting yelled at by the boss; splashed by a cab going through a puddle; sinking down on the couch, in front of the television, alone. Aww, don't worry plucky heroine. That cute guy at the coffee shop is gonna ask you out, his band will make it big and you'll quit the rat race to be his wildly successful manager/producer. You'll see.

eh, www.amNY.com

• Thurston Moore has some interesting news re: Starbucks.

• I like this song. Maybe you will too.

eh, www.amNY.com

What could be better than a free festival featuring Menomena, Les Savy Fav, Land Of Talk, O' Death and others? How about if that same festival was good for the Earth?

Citysol 2007 takes place July 12-15. According to their press release:

[The] clean-energy-powered festival (now in its second year) aims to inspire interest and support for local sustainability initiatives through music, collaborative art installations, games, workshops, and numerous other elements meant to both entertain and educate. Events and activities over the weekend include everything from go-cart races with reclaimed renewable-energy powered carts, lessons on how to make your own bio-diesel, performances from DJs using bicycle-powered turntables, and great bands from near and far including Menomena, Les Savy Fav, Land Of Talk, O'Death, and more.

Sweet. The festival is at Solar One at Stuyvesant Cove Park (located along the East River between 18th and 23rd streets), except for Menomena, which is at the Seaport, July 13. For more info, visit www.citysol.org.

eh, ww.amNY.com

Within seconds of putting it on, I just thought, "This is KICK ASS." The Daptone Horns wail on album opener "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face," and it just gets funkier from there.

The album seems like a concept that should implode under the weight of its own hype: cover versions of It band songs, featuring super hot collabs with the hippest of the hip (both Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen are featured — Ronson has produced both of them). But instead of feeling like an extended bout of name checking, the album is one long party, where all the cool kids just happened to show up. Effortless funk that's already familiar ('cause, hello, covers) the talent involved keeps the project from veering off into novelty territory. Even the cover of "Toxic" works. The original is already a joke, but Ronson slows it down into a soulful, angry ballad and overlays the rap stylings of Ol' Dirty Bastard (which as far as I can tell, Ronson had some leftover material from working with ODB before he died, and Ronson worked his studio magic to make it work).

Check out "God Put a Smile on Your Face"

And, as the kids in the UK already know, 'cause it's been tearing up the charts over there, his version of Radiohead's "Just" featuring Phantom Planet is awesome:

I like the video shout out to Space Invader.

eh, www.amNY.com

Liam McEneaney has this video of Johnny Cash visiting with Oscar the Grouch. Hmm... I wonder if Dan and Pearl's kid grows up to be Young Nasty Man...

—eh, www.amNY.com

If you've visited the McCarren Park website in the last few months, then you know that these concerts have been on the calendar for a while. But Jelly NYC has just officially announced the line up for this summer's Pool Parties. There is some good stuff in there: Ted Leo, TV on the Radio, MAN MAN, Superchunck...

The concerts are free, thanks to sponsor Helio. Although, this sounds kind of BS:

Helio is setting its members up with VIP treatment this summer for Pool Parties — members who flash their Helio devices can sneak past the lines and slip into a VIP entrance just for them. Helio members also get reserved front row standing room to see their favorite bands in style.

Well, I like to hang out in back. So there Helio. As long as you're not messing with the slip 'n' slide line, we're cool.

(via)

—eh, www.amNY.com

Best Week Ever has a link to a website that has the Billboard number one songs for every week since 1890. This must have taken him forever.

Also, a sidebar on the phrase "with a bullet": It seems obvious now that I know the answer, but the bullet refers to, not ammo, but the notation that would indicate that the record had made significant gains on the chart from the week prior. A-duh!

—eh, www.amNY.com

To celebrate the release of Art Brut's sophomore album "A Little Bit Complicated," which I loved, Beauty Bar is hosting an Art Brut karaoke night on Monday. Bring your best Eddie Argos (which is not that hard: "And, yes, this is my singing voice.") and be prepared for silly fun. The question is, will Argos' goofy earnestness win out over New York cool?

Here's "Direct Hit," from the new record.

—eh, www.amNY.com

The theme this week is just what it sounds like, CDs that have been moldering on my desk for months or more. We'll see how that goes...

Les Sans Culottes "Le Weekender"
This group of Brooklynites sings exclusively in French. It's a trick that could get old, because from what I can tell, they're no Samuel Beckett. But it sounds like they're having too much fun to care. Over all: retro rock complete with "la la la" choruses that's minimally gimmicky.

Pere Ubu "Why I Hate Women"
These guys do indeed rock out on the theremin. Robert Wheeler is the man with the hands.

Elf Power "Back to the Web"
Hmm...nothing much to say about this one.

Why? "Sanddollars" (EP)
"No one knew your name at the local open mic tonight" — from "Miss Ohio's Nameless". That's awesome.
OK, this album is more than two years old. I had heard good things about it, but something about the way the promo disc was packaged made me keep reshelving it without listening. That's too bad. I was missing out. Pleasant downer rock with barbed lyrics. It's kind of what I imagine living in the center of the country sounds like.
They also kind of sound like a cross between TMBG and my friend Brook (which everyone involved should take as a compliment).

Finian McKean "Shades Are Drawn"
A nice Irish name if I ever heard one.
McKean plays Pete's Candy Store pretty often (in fact, he was there last night) and he has some free downloads up on his site, so if you're into vaguely bluesy, somewhat depressing folk-rock jams, he's pretty accessible.

¡Forward, Russia! "Give Me a Wall"
This band was the talk of the town when this album came out in Sept. 2006, receiving nearly Clap Your Hands Say Yeah-amounts of attention. I thought they broke up shortly after (I think I may have gotten them mixed up with Test Icicles, who can say why), but turns out they're busy working on a follow up. I don't know. It kind of sounds like whiny Bloc Party to me.

J.Dilla "The Shining"
I honestly had no idea what to expect on this one. I had heard his story, but wasn't so familiar with his work. It openings with Busta Rhymes spewing (and I can't believe I'm going to write this) an alarming barrage of curse words over a kazoo rendition of "Flight of the Bumblebees." The tunes that follow feature smooth rhyming over old school soul samples and other mixing board shenanigans. The man was not the go-to production guy for nothing.

Let's Go Sailing "The Chaos in Order"
Average girl pop.

Five for Fighting "Two Lights"
I don't have much patience for John Ondrasik's "sensitive" and "deep" ballads, so I came to this album with great prejudice. And, ugh, I think even if I had never heard of F-for-Fing before, I'd still be annoyed by this album. His lyrics are trite and cloying over boring-ass string and piano arrangments: "I never loved the soldier until there was a war/Or thought about tomorrow/'til my baby hit the floor." ... I know, right?
And I even liked "Superman" at the time it came out. It was a good expression of the idea that sometimes just living is hard. Until it was picked up as the 9/11 anthem, thus imbuing it with Importance and Weight that it couldn't really carry.

David Vandervelde "The Moonstation House Band"
Oops. I forgot I was supposed to be listening critically to this. It's good background music, although the thought "his voice is a little annoying" keeps floating to the forefront of my mind.

Young Love "Too Young to Fight It"
This CD is dumb. And so am I, because those of you who can count will realize that this is album number 11. But, anyway, it sounds like dishwater electro-emo.

So, 4 out of 11.

Bonus:
I meant to post this video with the post on the VLES, but I forgot. So here it is.

I loved this video when it came out — how does he move like that? The "Pop-Up Video" version of this video is especially cool. Why aren't any of those on YouTube?

—eh, www.amNY.com

This guy makes a habit of rounding up cover versions of popular songs. Today he turns his ear to Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me." You're welcome.

—eh, www.amNY.com

In case you don't think the Lower East Side is caricaturish enough, the Virtual LES launched today. Create your own tattooed avatar without worrying what the boss will say and hit the town. The primary activity, ostensibly, is club hopping, catching different "live" performances by actual bands. It's basically scenesterism for agoraphobics, from what I can figure.

—eh, www.amNY.com

This English group is wild. Check out "Porcupine or Pineapple":

It kind of reminds me of that Badger Badger Badger video from way back when.

Anyway, you can see 'em at Mercury Lounge on Saturday. It's sold out, but check here for tickets.

—eh, www.amNY.com

Here's the video for They Might Be Giants' "With the Dark" off of their forthcoming album "The Else." It's out July 10, but I got my hands on a copy today. And its great! It's full of classic TMBG silliness, but it's also quite rocking. Produced by The Dust Brothers, the album is full of unexpected sonic trickiness.

My favorite track is the album closer, "The Mesopotamians," which recasts the Mesopotamian kings Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal and Gilgamesh as a Monkees-style '60s boy band. (NB: My spell check recognizes these names, but has a problem with theremin.) The song works well as a cute story and as a '60s pop homage. It even includes a clever shout out to the "Paul is dead" phenomenon.

—eh, www.amNY.com

The Fratellis are my new favorites today. Upbeat, joyous rock with simple but killer hooks. And they're coming to town July 18.

—eh, www.amNY.com

Here.

The four-day Tennessee music festival kicks off Thursday, mixing together jambands, indie rock and camping. The acts include The Hold Steady, Lily Allen, Fountains Of Wayne, Franz Ferdinand, Tool, The Police and more.

But what if you want all the aural benefits of attending Bonnaroo without having to sleep on the ground? WFUV has you covered! Music Director Rita Houston is going so you don't have to. She'll bring you highlights, interviews and more. It's a far cleaner way to get the best of the fest. Visit their website for more.

—eh, www.amNY.com

I never really got all that into Bjork. She's just too inscrutable for me. In fact, there's only one song of hers that I like. It so happens that my friend RG was singing it last night. She said, "I can't get this song out of my head. It's this really old show tune..."

And I said, that's not a show tune. That's Bjork!

(On a semi-related note of my history with this song, I once watched this video with my friend MC, like, 5 times in a row. Also, when they make certain faces, my mom and Bjork look very much alike. And, I kind of resent her for "Dancer in the Dark" (Bjork, not my mom); that movie is just unnecessarily awful and sad.)

According to ma soeur, Bjork has an unabashed love for show tunes — which is where this song came from. I don't know how to confirm or deny that fact, so I'm just going to believe it. It makes a nice tidbit, anyway.

—eh, www.amNY.com

Antony sounds kind of like David Sedaris' impression of Billie Holiday. (Listen here, the story starts around the 6 minute mark, Billie starts around minute 18.)

—eh, www.amNY.com

MTV.com is streaming the White Stripes "Icky Thump." (I can't get it to work on my computer, though, so you'll have to tell me how it is.) This, after Jack White took a Chicago radio DJ to task for spinning the album two weeks ago. Miss Modernage has the deets.

She also has the news that the new album will be