All posts by Kevin

general

Sunday Grab Bag: “God Bless Bloc Party” review

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View trailer here.
Find an independent retailer to purchase.

Before I write anything about this DVD, I should mention: I like Bloc Party. Silent Alarm was in the top 5 of my favorite albums list of 2005 (I’m sure they’re flattered) and their set at ACL was the first time I’d seen the band live, and I was mightily impressed.

That said, the release of God Bless Bloc Party made me question how vulnerable (gullible?) we are as fans. An LP is never enough. To sate our thirst for more (or is that the record label’s thirst?) we open our wallets for a remix album and DVDs, these stopgap measures to tide us over until a new album is released. (Full disclosure: I was sent a review copy at no cost to me; however, I would have purchased this DVD otherwise.)

God Bless Bloc Party is a two-part DVD: about an hourlong documentary (filmed around June 2005 shows at the El Rey in LA) and about 20 minutes of festival footage from Belfort, France. The live footage from France is fantastic. Multiple camera angles and polished production pretty much tip you off that this DVD was in the works when they filmed the show in July. Matt Tong’s amazing work on the drums is enough to hold my attention.

My beef comes with the so-called documentary portion of the disc. Ideally, a documentary (in its truest sense) has a story to tell, some compelling reason a camera is trained on a band or person. God Bless left me feeling pretty empty. Ask yourself (honestly): Is Bloc Party, one album into its career, a worthy subject for a documentary?

Maybe it’s unfair to compare, but the Wilco movie I Am Trying to Break Your Heart set a standard, in my mind, for music documentaries. This isn’t just a about a band, but there was a story to tell, about Wilco’s struggle within the industry.

God Bless is nothing of the like. This documentary is more or less backstage footage – look, drummer Matt Tong is making a backstage sandwich! – spliced around a live concert. Worse, the guys in Bloc Party look terribly uneasy and/or uninterested at times when the camera is rolling. Scenes of the guys being interviewed by journalists in green rooms and trailers are almost unbearable to watch. (To wit: when a journalist is stumbling, trying to ask singer Kele Okereke about sounding British when he sings; Okereke’s response: “Really? I sound British when I speak as well.” Gulp. Next question.)

Maybe the mistake is in the packaging. Why promote this as a documentary? Just call it what it is: Bloc Party, live in concert. Labeling this a “documentary” feels too self-important (as if titling it God Bless Bloc Party didn’t already), and there’s nothing I gleaned from God Bless that I couldn’t have learned in an in-depth magazine article.

I think the most enlightening words come early in the documentary, when Matt Tong is talking about being “on the other side” – as in, being in the band and not as a fan subjected to the constant blitz of consumerism: “Hopefully, people see beyond the hype, really, and appreciate us for what we are.”

Bloc Party | The Answer
(downloaded from Bloc Party Web site)

radio rips

The National on WOXY

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A request came last week to convert The National’s in-studio performance on WOXY into mp3s, and who am I to deny such a worthy suggestion? After all, I believe in a democracy. I also believe in The National, which happened to own the top slots in my favorite albums and songs lists of 2005.

The set contains four songs, including an outstanding and energetic rendition of Abel. Also, I’m curious as to anyone’s interpretation of the song Secret Meeting. (Get the lyrics here.) In two interviews I’ve heard, both interviewers talked about listening to that song quite a few times before it really hit them. I have an idea of what I think the song is about, but I’m wondering about anyone else’s translation of the lyrics. Fire away in the comments.

The National, WOXY.com Lounge Acts, 9/22/05:

1. Secret Meeting
2. 90-Mile Water Wall
3. Looking for Astronauts
4. Abel

Also …

  • I’ll likely offer up my two cents on the Bloc Party DVD, God Bless Bloc Party, for the Sunday Grab Bag. In the meantime, you might wanna hit the group’s Web site for some pretty excellent mp3s.
  • You need some more style in your life. You do. So hit my friend/co-worker Carrie’s blog, Spinning Wheels, through The Arizona Republic’s online arm.
  • The awesome Brooklyn Vegan has been kind enough to link to this site in the past couple of days, so I just want to return the favor, though my traffic is probably just a drop in the bucket by comparison.
  • Special thanks to Dodge (he knows why) for being like a big blog brother to me. He’s got two contests you can enter.
  • I Guess I’m Floating is a new addition to the blog roll and for good reason. Those guys are killin’ it over there! You’d do yourself a favor and jump on their 100th post extravaganza.
  • With the NFL season dead to me (thank you, Bears) I look forward to baseball: less than a month to pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training. The Cactus League has its own Web site now.
hip-hop

Fatlip “The Loneliest Punk”

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Funny story: So I’m digging through my random odds and ends in my music collection when I stumble across a Delicious Vinyl sampler from 1998. The disc has tracks by Born Jamericans, The Whoridas, The Flys, etc.

There’s nine tracks in all, and there’s supposed to be a 10th. Except the 10th track says “Fat Lip … is currently on a walkabout and could not be reached for comment at this time! Check for the Fat Lip album Revenge of the Nerd in summer ’98.”

Well, by now you probably know we finally got that Fatlip album … seven years later. The Loneliest Punk (NOT Revenge of the Nerd) was released this past November. As a big Pharcyde fan I was a bit wary about solo Fatlip (kinda like solo Phife Dawg), although it couldn’t be worse than the Pharcyde being reduced to two members.

Anyway, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by what I’ve heard, especially Writer’s Block, a bit of a self-deprecating jam in which Fatlip raps about the long-awaited album:

“One out of every two people that see me in industry /
Ask me about my CD /
What style will I create /
And what’s the delay on the release date?”

Fatlip | Writer’s Block

BONUS (from Delicious Vinyl ’98 sampler):
Pharcyde/Sublime | Summertime in the LBC (remix)

arizona

New (near-final) sourceVictoria songs

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Because I have deep connections (OK, bloodlines … whatever) I’ve got my paws on four new sourceVictoria tracks. For a little history, backtrack here.

Anyway, these songs are near-final tracks, being mixed and produced by fellow Arizona son Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World. I’ve devoured these songs, and it’s become abundantly clear that my brother hoarded all the talent genes in this family. I’m only a little jealous … and very much in awe.

I was already impressed with their work on the EP, but the new material represents a major leap forward. The End is Just the End is, no doubt, my favorite sourceVictoria track now and (in my little opinion) their best. The sound is big, and the drums come in flourishing waves that lure you in. Though I must admit: I’ve yet to attempt to dissect my brother’s writing, for I’m fearful/curious if I’ve somehow inspired a scribbling session on a notepad somewhere. (I know, don’t flatter yourself.)

sourceVictoria | Burn the Pianos
sourceVictoria | Heartless Boy
sourceVictoria | The End is Just the End
sourceVictoria | The Fast Escape

general, radio rips

Tom Vek on KCRW / new Built to Spill track

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I gotta admit, it’s really tough being this far behind the indie-rock curve. I mean, I just picked up Tom Vek’s We Have Sound at eMusic last week. Last week! No, really. It’s just painful how unhip I can be.

Add that to the fact that I also just bought The Hold Steady’s Separation Sunday, and I think I need to create a Best of 2006 That I Missed in 2005 Because I’m Just Not That Cool list.

That doesn’t change the fact that We Have Sound is a precise, swift kick in the butt that my music collection needed. I mean, how often is the bass guitar the star?

So, here’s Vek’s KCRW performance from (ahem) September, in conjunction with CMJ. (Beware: MP3s are a measley 48kbps … you can blame KCRW for that.)

1. If You Want
2. A Little Word in Your Ear
3. C-C (You Set the Fire in Me)
4. If I Had Changed My Mind
5. Nothing But Green Lights
6. I Ain’t Saying My Goodbyes

Also …

In news that I’ve eagerly anticipated, Built to Spill’s new album, You In Reverse, is due out in April. (Billboard story.) That’s five long years since Ancient Melodies of the Future, which Doug Martsch tells Billboard he wasn’t satisfied with.

I was totally bummed by their mediocre performance at ACL, but this new track gives me hope. Although I’m not much into Martsch’s penchant for jamming (Goin’ Against is nine minutes), I can overlook that in the tradeoff for something new (finally).

(The mp3 is a rip from the stream at Built to Spill’s MySpace page.)

Built to Spill | Goin’ Against Your Mind

hip-hop

Aceyalone: “Heaven” (new track)

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We’re hittin’ you off with a second track from Magnificent City, the forthcoming Aceyalone long-player that is produced/overseen by the esteemed RJD2. (Miss the first track, Fire? Just click.)

Where Fire is a bouncing, good-time jam, Heaven takes a U-turn in both production and lyrical content. The considerable contrast in sonic moods between the two songs shows RJD2’s versatility. Heaven is wrapped in an electic guitar loop that might call to mind Rick Rubin’s salad days (circa LL Cool J’s Radio or Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill.) but with a darker vibe. And that bassline will sneak up on you during the verses.

Lyrically, Acey seems to be contemplating the afterlife, carrying on a conversation with the devil, which leads to the chorus:

“Heaven aint’ got no stairs /
Heaven ain’t got no ghetto /
Heaven ain’t got nothin’ to do with you /
cause you a devil.”

It feels like an atypical Aceyalone track – and took me some time to warm up to – yet that seems kinda the point by working with RJD2.

Aceyalone | Heaven

In case you missed it …
Aceyalone | Fire

Uncategorized

Sunday Grab Bag

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Remix Week has come to an end, but there’s plenty to get to this week. (As a reminder, I’ll be knocking out the remix links by about midnight tonight.)

I have a feeling I could be going heavy on the hip-hop this week. I picked up Blueprint’s 1988 (on Rhymesayers Entertainment) last week, and I love it. I also have another new Aceyalone track.

First, a few loose ends for this Sunday:

A reader, Ryan, sent me an mp3 of a mashup that his DJ friend put together of two songs he considered to be the best and worst of 2005: Neighborhood 3 My Humps (mp3). (Even though I think it’s widely accepted that the Arcade Fire’s Funeral came out in 2004, this still was pretty damn funny.) Thanks, Ryan.

There seems to be a load of concerts that I wanna hit in the AZ in the coming months:

Looks like lots of coolness going on in Tucson, which brings me to an email I got from The Golden Boots, a “crumbly western and alt-alt country” band outta the Old Pueblo. Check out their MySpace for some tunes. They’re playing in Phoenix at the Trunk Space on Jan. 23 and I wanna do a more thorough post in the coming days.

hip-hop, remix

Remix Week: A Tribe Called Quest

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(Note: All links to mp3s from Remix Week will expire by midnight Sunday.)

I said on the first post of Remix Week that there are few remixes that I like better than its original. Well, here’s one of the few exceptions: A Tribe Called Quest’s Scenario remix. The remix isn’t necessarily better. After all, few songs are better than Scenario. But the remix is pretty much a wholly different song, but with the same cast: Tribe and Leaders of the New School (oh, how I miss the young Busta Rhymes).

And if you ask me, the Scenario remix offers one of Phife’s best verses, including this gem:

“So roll out the red carpet ’cause I’m gettin’ this / Vanilla Ice platinum? That shit’s ridiculous.”

And …

“Let it be known, I’m not the one to step to / You’re better off calling D-Nice to your rescue.”

The Oh My God remix is one of my favorites. And check that I Left My Wallet in El Segundo Vampire Mix, which was remixed by Norman Cook (better known to you and I as Fatboy Slim).

A Tribe Called Quest | Scenario (Remix)
A Tribe Called Quest | Oh My God (Remix)
A Tribe Called Quest | I Left My Wallet in El Segundo (Vampire Mix)

BONUS:
A Tribe Called Quest | Oh My God (Know Naim remix)
(I still have no clue who Know Naim is, but they kill it on this mix, especially the lines: “I cramp your fuckin’ style like you ate before you swum” and “They got my back like a Jansport.”)

Also …

Had some cool instant messaging with Garrison over at Indie Interviews on Thursday. Check out his new Insider Program that gives you, the fan, a chance to ask questions of your favorite artists.

remix

Remix Week: In praise of Josh Homme

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OK. I’m just gonna lay it on the line here: I may have a man-crush on Josh Homme. This will come as a disappointment to my cohort Royce, who recently (and to my disbelief) called Queens of the Stone Age “overrated.” So I socked him. And that was that.

Homme is the architect/singer of Queens, drummer (an average one) for Eagles of Death Metal and an all-around rock star. When I saw Queens in concert last year, I was bowled over. Having been to so many indie shows, where the singers are in a sort of emotional, affected haze, I forgot what a true rock show felt like. There is no namby-pamby, heart-on-the-sleeve, woe-is-I sap. Trust me, I like all that. But Queens? I mean, if I was gonna be in a rock band (hey, I played drums in middle school) … that’s the way to do it. Just rock. What more can you say? As a wise man once said (OK, it was Paul Rodgers and Bad Company), “It’s all part of my rock and roll fantasy.”

It seems Homme is now taking to remix production. And here’s a couple.

U.N.K.L.E. | Eye for an Eye Backwards (Joshua Homme and Alain Johannes remix)
Death from Above 1979 | Black History Month (Josh Homme remix)

BONUS:
Queens of the Stone Age | No One Knows (U.N.K.L.E. remix)

Also …

  • Here’s that trailer for the Bloc Party DVD that’s due out Jan. 17. You can buy it at an indie retailer near you.
  • For anyone in Arizona, Rob Dickinson, former lead singer of The Catherine Wheel, is playing Anderson’s in Scottsdale on Jan. 26 for only 5 freaking dollars. Solo, acoustic, so I hear.
  • I’m worried my Sun Devils will not win a single Pac-10 basketball game this season. The safe guess is that spells the end of Rob Evans’ tenure at ASU.
  • Four days until Panthers at Bears …
remix, vinyl

Remix Week: Soul Coughing, circa 1994

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Today’s remix selection comes from a choice 12″ promo single I’ve been holding onto for years, just for a special moment like this.

If you’ve listened to any of Mike Doughty’s solo material (buy Haughty Melodic here), it’s pretty apparent he took off in another direction from his Soul Coughing days. And that’s fine, and it probably was a necessary departure for his creative health.

Still, Soul Coughing was it in the ’90s: progressive instrumentally, and scatterbrained but somehow thought-provoking lyrically. Doughty’s role of misunderstood genius played brilliantly off the band’s synth-driven, orchestrated cacophony (did I just use the word “cacophony”?).

Anyway, these remixes of Sugar Free Jazz (original on Ruby Vroom) only expand on the experimental musical leanings of a great (if not overlooked) band of the ’90s.



Soul Coughing | Sugar Free Jazz (Sugar Cane Jungle Mix)*
Soul Coughing | Sugar Free Jazz (Cane Field Mix)**

* – Remixed by Mad Professor and Dougie Digital.
** – Remixed by Mad Professor.

Elsewhere …On Jan. 17, Bloc Party is releasing a DVD, God Bless Bloc Party, which contains a one-hour documentary filmed around the group’s second U.S. tour and live
performance footage from their June 2005 shows at the El Ray Theater
in Los Angeles and July 2005 at a festival in Belfort, France.

Check Vice Records for the latest news. A link for the trailer wasn’t working; hopefully this will be corrected shortly. You might check out Vice’s blog for a Two More Years remix by MSTRKRFT.