All posts by Kevin

general

“The robots eat me song”

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This post is dedicated to my awesome 2-year-old niece Quinn, who astounded me on Christmas with her indie prowess.

My wife and I bought Quinn an iZ toy for Christmas. iZ is a robot that plays music with rhythms and beats that you can change by turning his ears and pressing various buttons. Plus, you can hook an iPod up to iZ then add sound effects to the song selection; sometimes iZ talks, too. Pretty neat. Anyway, we hook the iPod up and play Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, an apropos song for a robot toy, I’d say. To my astonishment, Quinn starts singing along with Wayne Coyne; she calls it the “robots eat me song.” She even gave a little “hey, hey!” right after the line, “she’s a black belt in karate.”

We promptly decided that iZ would be renamed to Yoshimi. So here’s a live version of Yoshimi from the Future Soundtrack for America compilation.

The Flaming Lips | Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (live on BBC)

general

Battle: Player-hatin’ the Strokes?

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Did everyone have a good Christmas? (Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish readers; I’m half-Jewish, for those who didn’t know.) Anyway, my wife got me one of these. Sweet! We are an iPod-friendly home.
On with the music … Admittedly, I know nothing about Battle. In fact, I’m not even sure how I came across this band from London. But, I did take notice of their tentative title to their album due for release in 2006: Our First Impressions of Earth Were Before Yours. So, maybe I’m a dummy, but this seems like a direct knock at the Strokes’ album First Impressions of Earth. Even Battle’s Web site says: “… Then it’s all about finishing our record (provisionally titled ‘Our First Impressions Of Earth Were Before Yours’ – pending lawsuits).”

Anyone know anything about this? Nevertheless, here’s a single Battle made available for download on its site.

Battle | Wicked Owl

hip-hop, remix, vinyl

Flashback Friday: The Nonce

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It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a flashback, and this one is special. The Nonce was probably one of the most criminally overlooked hip-hop acts of the ’90s. For proof, check out All Music’s two-sentence bio on the LA-based duo that also lists the genre as rock.

Plus, there’s a scarcity of information about The Nonce on the net. The Broke BBoys had a nice post about ’em in January, including the hazy details of member Yusef Afloat’s death in May 2000.

The Nonce opened for the Roots in Phoenix in 1995.
I ate up everything The Nonce put out; sadly their only full-length was World Ultimate, on Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label. Comparisons to A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets aren’t entirely off, but not totally accurate either. I think The Nonce’s style was a little more streetwise, evidenced in the single Mix Tapes, about sellin’ mixes on the street corner. That song has one of the deepest, dopest basslines … and that chorus: “I used to sell mix tapes, but now I’m an emcee / I got the rhymes and beats / I used to rock them tapes.”

Found this promo single in Tucson; trust me, I’m not an “A-list DJ.”
The Nonce | Mix Tapes
The Nonce | Bus Stops
The Nonce | Mix Tapes (1926 Sunday Night Remix)
(From Mix Tapes The Remixes blue vinyl 12″)
The Nonce | Turnin’ It Out

radio rips

Shout Out Louds on The Current

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By popular demand (OK, like, seven of you, but I was moved by commenter Lori’s request in verse!), here are the three tracks the Shout Out Louds performed on Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current in June.

These versions are pretty much stripped down, acoustic beauty. The version of Shut Your Eyes they said was the “November recording,” so a bit different from the album version, which is uptempo and energetic.

Also of note, the band said The Comeback was the first song they wrote, which makes it all the more impressive.

Shout Out Louds, in-studio on The Current, June 3, 2005:

1. Shut Your Eyes (November recording)
2. Please, Please, Please
3. The Comeback
Question: Anybody have these earphones? I’ve been looking at them for months and I can’t decide if it’s worth the scratch. Those in-ear phones never seem to fit me right, but I hear good things about those suckers.

Roll call:

general

Shout Out Louds B-sides

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Had I spent more time with the Shout Out Louds’ Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, I’m almost positive it would have vied for a spot in my favorite albums list.

Howl Howl really feels bipolar: at times desperate and longing, other times joyful and confident. The Comeback … oh, what a song. (Oh, crap! I forgot that on my favorite songs list. Damn!) Lead singer Adam (apparently, he has no last name, like one of those Brazilian soccer players) sings with a strained inflection and with this confused-in-love passion that’s earnest and not at all forced.

And the band is from Sweden; aren’t all of the latest and greatest from Sweden? Well, I recently picked up the Very Loud EP, which contains two songs that weren’t released on Howl Howl. If anyone asks (hint, hint) I may be inclined to rip and provide the band’s mini-performance on The Current.

Shout Out Louds | But Then Again No
Shout Out Louds | Wish I Was Dead, Pt. 2
Shout Out Louds | The Comeback

general

How the hell did I miss this show?

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I must be slipping because this show got past me Monday night:


Funny thing is, Rhythm Room is a well-established joint for blues acts, but they must be expanding their horizons to let in Blowfly, the Original Dirty Rapper. It’s the alter ego of Clarence Reid (check out All Music’s bio here), a successful songwriter/producer in the 70s.

Of course, I had to listen to his music. And it’s, well, hokey … and funky. You can’t possibly resist a song called Booty Bus.

You can pick up his library, including the latest, Fahrenheit 69, at eMusic.

Blowfly | Blowfly for President
Blowfly | Booty Bus
(Might wanna keep the volume down if you’re at work.)

hip-hop, remix

Aceyalone: new track

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It seemed to be almost a unanimous verdict around the blogosphere that 2005 was a down year for hip-hop, with the exception of a few standouts: Blackalicious The Craft; Atmosphere You Can’t Imagine …; Danger Doom; Cyne Evolution Fight (which I’ve only heard is great).Ah, but 2006 is poised to start off strong. Aceyalone’s Magnificent City – produced entirely by none other than RJD2 – is supposed to drop Feb. 7. I’m anticipating beautiful work between these two. These supergroup emcee/producer tag teams seem to be all the rage (see also, Danger Doom).

I already dig the first Acey track getting around, Fire, which has a decidedly soulful, 70s-style backdrop.

Aceyalone | Fire

BONUS BEATS
Aceyalone | Headaches and Woes (remix)
(b-side from 1995’s Mic Check 12″ single)

live recording

Rogue Wave live in Phoenix, Part I

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Thursday night’s Rogue Wave show at Modified was everything I expected and then some. Before I get to that, I gotta say what a great time I had. For starters, I met a reader (what’s up, Ben!) and Rogue Wave’s tour manager, Jamie, couldn’t have been nicer, giving me full permission to tape the show. Also thanks to Richard at Greenhouse Productions, who helped a taping newbie out with a few tips (and some tape) for my minidisc.

As for Rogue Wave, I’m telling you, people, this band is destined for big things. Their chemistry is undeniable, and it’s obvious how much they enjoy playing. There’s hardly a hint of pretension Rogue Wave and the music is almost better live than on CD, and there’s not many bands you can say that about.

Also, Zach’s voice carries very well and the sound is incredibly polished. OK, I’m done with the superlatives. But now I can’t wait to see them open for Nada Surf on Feb. 20 in Tempe.

On to the music. I was going to upload this as one large file, but I split it, thinking smaller files were a lot more manageable; I preserved any meaningful banter between band/audience.

(For the record: Recorded on a Sony MZ-10 minidisc using Sony ECM-DS70P microphone. I imported with Sony’s wav importer software for Mac and converted to mp3 using LAME.)

Part II coming at some point later today.

Rogue Wave, live at Modified, Phoenix, Dec. 15, 2005:

1. Bird on a Wire
2. Every Moment
3. Sewn Up
4. Falcon Settles Me
5. Are You on My Side
6. Publish My Love
7. Catform

radio rips

Rogue Wave on WOXY

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Whoa. Sorry for the delay today. Somebody was sleeping off a little Christmas party hangover (read: me).

So, Rogue Wave is tonight in Phoenix. And I’m pumped. I’m also going to attempt to record it with my recently purchased minidisc player/recorder. Please pass along any tips for a successful recording.

Here’s Rogue Wave’s in-studio performance from WOXY, which includes two tracks from the 10:1 EP. (Crush the Camera is highly recommended and Catform is great, too.)

Rogue Wave in-studio on WOXY:

1. Bird on a Wire
2. Crush the Camera
3. Wait for It
4. Catform
5. 10:1