Monthly Archives: August 2006

arizona

Tonight: Reubens Accomplice at Modified

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I’m ashamed to admit that for as long as I’ve lived in Phoenix – or at least for as long as I’ve been attending shows – I’ve yet to see Reubens Accomplice, one of our local scene’s best bands.

The band’s principal members are Chris Corak and Jeff Bufano, although they seem to have stabilized the other half with Ryan Kennedy and the great John O’Reilly on drums, who apparently tracked some drum work in the studio for the Format’s latest LP Dog Problems.

Reubens has been quite active lately on the show circuit, which probably means they’re trying out new songs from the forthcoming LP, tentatively titled Mammal Music. If it’s as good as their last effort, The Bull, The Balloon, and The Family, then we’re in for a treat. The guys have a great ability in their writing to capture the vacant feelings of this city, its nostalgia and the sometimes depressing feeling that creates. There’s lots of sincerity in their irony.

If you’re on the West Coast, Reubens is playing a few dates with Maritime in Southern California in September and opening for the Format Friday night in San Diego. (Check their tour page.)

Limbeck and relative local newcomers Alcoholiday open the show tonight.

Reubens Accomplice | Underneath the Golden Grain
Reubens Accomplice | All Chorus

general

Mobius Band: “The Loving Sounds of Static”

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This likely will be a woefully short post because it’s late and it’s my Friday night (I’m off work on Wednesday and Thursday) … but let me tell you that Mobius Band, from Brooklyn, is opening some West Coast dates for the National. The shows also include So Much Silence favorite Baby Dayliner. Need I say more?

I’m going to do my damndest to make it out to LA for either the Oct. 9 or Oct. 11 show at the Troubadour. Mobius Band seamlessly meshes electronica into crisp guitar lines, leaving The Loving Sounds of Static as a song to which I’ve slowly, surely become addicted.

You can pick up Mobius Band’s album, The Loving Sounds of Static, on eMusic.

Mobius Band | The Loving Sounds of Static

Video: The Loving Sounds of Static

hip-hop

DJ Low Budget: “She’s Mature Mini-Mega Remix”

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A couple of months ago, I posted on irreverent Philly hip-hop group Plastic Little (which, I think, is also the name of some anime character. Anyone? … Anime … Hello?) and the single The Jump Off, one of the more refreshing hip-hop tracks of the year.

Well, we’re still waiting for the group’s full-length, She’s Mature (Tonearm), which allegedly is due Sept. 15. In the meantime, DJ Low Budget of Hollertronix fame has put together a nine-minute remix of tracks from the album. It’s a nice teaser, and I’m guessing the lighthearted approach will be just as thick through the album as it is on The Jump Off.

Word has it Diplo and Spank Rock make a guest spots on the album. Preorder it.

Plastic Little presents DJ Low Budget | She’s Mature Mini-Mega Remix

Video: The Jump Off
Video: Rap O’Clock

general

Badly Drawn Boy: “Born in the UK”

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In anticipation of the new Badly Drawn Boy album, Born in the UK (due on Oct. 17 on Astralwerks), I dusted off his back catalog over the weekend to reacquaint myself.

No matter what Badly Drawn Boy (born Damon Gough) does from here forward, he’ll always be a sentimental favorite for me; Annie and I chose his song The Shining for her walk down the aisle at our wedding more than two years ago.

But I’ll be interested to see how his new album is received. He doesn’t strike me as the type of artist that will stir much buzz among the blogs.

Talented as I think he is, Badly Drawn Boy does just as much to befuddle me. We saw him in Tempe, Ariz., in support of his last album, One Plus One Is One, a couple years back. For some reason, BDB insisted – somewhat stubbornly – on playing only new songs for the first half of the show, as if he had some point to prove. I’m sure there was some deep, artistic interpretation to what he was doing, but it didn’t seem like the best way to ingratiate himself to the crowd.

Musically, One Plus One Is One threw me a bit as well. It felt – and still does – dense and overdone. The song Year of the Rat is a great example. I love what that song should be; instead, there’s timpani drums, a disrupting ride cymbal and a chorus sung by children. His arrangements seem headed toward exaggerated levels that wash out his more introspective sincerity, which is what drew me to him in the first place. Though, he’s always been prone to unironic (cheesy?) grandioseness: “The keys to your heart open the door to the world” (opening line on the title track to Have You Fed the Fish?). Yipes. Yet, I still get chills listening to You Were Right, which lays on the cheese factor pretty heavy.

So I’m curious just enough to see what he has in store on Born in the UK, a pretty obvious play off Born in the USA. An homage to his home country, the title track, a straightforward rocker, references Sid Vicious, John Lennon and the Union Jack among others.

Video: Born in the UK
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I’m trying to secure an mp3 from the new album. Until then:
mp3: The Shining (The Avalanches Good Word for the Weekend Remix)

hip-hop

Cadence Weapon: “Breaking Kayfabe”

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This post is long overdue on what’s quickly becoming one of my favorite albums – hip-hop or otherwise – of the year.

And, apparently, I’m not alone in my feelings for Cadence Weapon’s Breaking Kayfabe, which is a nominee for the Polaris Prize, given to the Canadian Album of the Year without regard to genre. For perspective, other 2006 nominees: Broken Social Scene, the Deadly Snakes, Final Fantasy, Sarah Harmer, K’Naan, Malajube, Metric, the New Pornographers and Wolf Parade. (Our pal Frank at Chromewaves is among the more than 100 jurors to decide the winner.)

You could see the nomination as a way to justify checking the album out; I prefer to view it as a validation – a well-deserved nod to a record layered in complex beats and Cadence Weapon’s wicked flow. (The Edmonton son, born Rollie Pemberton, also writes a blog: Razorblade Runner.)

There’s really nothing orthodox about Breaking Kayfabe. Beats are tweaked and distorted until they sound seedy and industrial under an organized mess of keyboard blips and bleeps. So far as I can tell – I bought it digitally so I lack liner notes – the album also is devoid of guest emcees and the obligatory filler that drags down most hip-hop records.

The lead track, Oliver Square (which I picked for Chris to play on his Sirius show two weeks ago), sets up the rest of the album: diced-up electronic beats while Cadence Weapon takes us on a stroll through Edmonton. He even talks about bustin’ you up with a Stella bottle in what might be the first hip-hop name-check of Stella Artois. Stella is the new 40 oz.

What’s most impressive with each successive listen is the imaginative production. Sample-based production has encouraged a generation of dependent tendencies among beat-makers. Breaking Kayfabe deconstructs the norm, breaking down standard practices into liberal-leaning and slightly warped keyboard ingenuity.

Cadence Weapon | Sharks
Cadence Weapon | Black Hand

More mp3s at Cadence Weapon’s site.
Pick up Breaking Kayfabe at eMusic.

hip-hop

Unreleased Brother Ali: “Original King”

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Rhymesayers Entertainment, the hip-hop label run by Slug of Atmosphere, is all over the place this year. Releases by Psalm One (The Death of Frequent Flyer) and Soul Position (Things Go Better With RJ and Al) rank right up there with any hip-hop albums of the year, and now Brother Ali is off to tour with none other than Rakim in September. Talk about being in the presence of greatness … although, Brother Ali joins the tour mid-month, too late for me to check him out for the Sept. 5 show in Tempe.

Anyway, perhaps as a little celebratory gesture, Rhymesayers is offering up an unrelased Brother Ali track, Original King, in which he lets off an angry flow over a funk-heavy bassline.

Brother Ali | Original King

Been awhile since we’ve perused the blogs here … there’s good stuff out there. Here we go:

  • Brian, he of Bows + Arrows fame, is making us all look silly with his latest post on the Mountain Goats. Seriously, this post is pretty much everything I love about his blog: lots of feeling and great writing. Like there’s a real, live person there behind it.
  • The Anchor Center is getting lots of love and with good reason. Dude is analyzing mp3s via video. I … I … I’m speechless. He’s making this whole “writing” shtick seem ancient.
  • He’s back – tmwsiy* moved from Boston to San Fran and I thought we lost him forever. But he’s returned.
Looks like there’s been a change to the local concert calendar. The Jose Gonzalez date has been moved from Oct. 4 to Oct. 3 and venue has changed from Rhythm Room to the Clubhouse. Not sure what prompted the switch, but thanks to Ann for the heads up.

general, vinyl

New Earlimart: “Answers and Questions”

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This should be all over the Web in a matter of minutes. Typically, I try to avoid the herd mentality on mass e-mails disguised as personal letters (“Hey … you! I have a song for … you!” Recently, I’ve gotten e-mails addressed to someone named Michael; it’s that extra, personal touch that really counts.). In this case, I like Earlimart, so just call me a lemming.

Pitchfork reviewed this track, the A-side of a 7″ for Suicide Squeeze (order it here). Answers and Questions follows the dreamy pop the band put forth on 2004’s Treble and Tremble. It’s a soothing track that builds up until the bottom falls out at about the 3:26 mark with a sudden, startling pause that gives way to the peaceful (or eerie?) sounds of birds chirping.

The song will be included on the group’s forthcoming LP.

Earlimart | Answers and Questions

remix

“Long Distance Call” (25 Hours A Day Mix)

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It’s funny the places you can find music. Like, say, at Buffalo Exchange, a used clothing store for elitists and hipsters. No, seriously. I’m not bitter. I mean, I brought in about 15 shirts and they took one. It’s really fun – and humiliating! – standing there as they count the reasons they can’t buy your clothes (Old Navy?!? Gasp!). If I needed any proof of where I stand on the hipness scale, those 10 demeaning minutes said it all.

Well, they did take some of my wife’s clothes, and as we were collecting our cash ($24 … oooh, enough for two more Old Navy shirts), there were some freebie CDs from Phoenix, everyone’s favorite French band. It’s one of those CDs you get for free when you buy the full-length. In any case, the disc has two remixes of the irresistible Long Distance Call, one of which – Sebastien Tellier Mix – my man Royce already posted on about a month ago.

The other remix, 25 Hours A Day Mix, is an up-tempo reworking of the original by a fellow Frenchman who goes by the moniker 25 Hours A Day. Long Distance Call might very well be the year’s catchiest tune. Not saying it’s the best, but the one that Most Likely Will Be Stuck In Your Head For Days.

On a related note, Phoenix is coming to, uh, Phoenix (OK, Scottsdale) on Sept. 18 to Martini Ranch.

Phoenix | Long Distance Call (25 Hours A Day Mix)

Video: Long Distance Call
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hip-hop

Mike Relm

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In what surely must be some sort of cruel joke, Oct. 4 brings to Arizona three shows all worth seeing, all at different venues: Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Marquee Theatre in Tempe; Jose Gonzalez at Rhythm Room in Phoenix; and Del the Funky Homosapien at the Clubhouse in Tempe. What city am I living in?? This never happens. (For what it’s worth, I’m leaning toward Jose Gonzalez at this point.)

Anyway, part of the support bill for Del on this tour run is Mike Relm, a DJ based out of the Bay Area. It’s been a busy year for Relm, who tackled the 20-minute Octagynaemix as a lead-up to the release of the Return of Dr. Octagon. He also went out on tour as the DJ for Peeping Tom, the latest side project of Mike Patton. Pretty nice company there.

Relm blends and mixes in the style of DJ Z-Trip – updating ’80s rock and pop with modern, danceable beats. Some may use the M-word … you know, mash-up. Ack.

Pretty sure I’ll be missing a seriously entertaining DJ set, although it is captured on a live DVD, Suit Yourself, an 88-minute video of Relm’s tour with Gift of Gab. Or check out the CD Radio Fryer.

Mike Relm | Radio Fryer preview mix
Mike Relm | Octagynaemix

hip-hop, i used to love h.e.r.

I Used to Love H.E.R.: G. Love

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The first installment of I Used to Love H.E.R., a series in which artists/bloggers/writers discuss their most essential hip-hop albums (read the introduction), is from G. Love, who was kind enough to chat with me on the phone from Atlantic City last week before a show. G. Love’s bluesy-rap style owes a lot to the narrative roots of hip-hop. His new album, Lemonade, is available on Brushfire Records.

mp3: G. Love feat. Blackalicious | Banger

Eric B. and Rakim
Paid in Full (4th & Broadway, 1987)
Produced by Eric B. and Rakim
(Note: Rereleased in 1998 on Island on two-CD “Platinum Edition,” featuring original remastered recording and disc of remixes. Buy it here.)

“It was a pretty popular record. … I was into hip-hop when I was kid. It’s one of the records you gotta get.

“When I discovered my style, when I was a street musician, I started rapping the lyrics to Paid in Full over this blues riff. That kinda led me to develop writing rhymes. … I was playing this song Days Like This … I finished playing it and I was jamming and feeling good and started rapping the lyrics to it. It was like an epiphany.

“That’s definitely one of the hip-hop records on everybody’s list. That’s been a record that, you know, that made Rakim. … There’s arguments about who are the best emcees. Rakim and KRS-One are like the best emcees of all time. That record was the first hit. …

“On Paid in Full (the song), it’s not even the chorus, it’s like one rhyme. An introduction, a rhyme that tells the whole story and then it goes out.

“Those records (of late ’80s/early ’90s) kind of influenced a whole generation of people. It was a definitive time … There’s the big debate now about commercial hip-hop or underground hip-hop. The underground just bitches about commercial hip-hop, and commercial talks about getting paid and fucking chicks.

“Back then, it was more about storytelling, I think. That’s what made it so important to me. Everybody was rappin’ and telling stories. Whether it was Fresh Prince or L.L. … Being a songwriter is what it’s all about. It can be funny shit or scary shit. Songwriting is all about telling stories.”

Eric B. and Rakim | Paid in Full

Next installment: Joel Hatstat of Athens, Georgia’s Cinemechanica.