Ever wondered what the Midnight Marauders album cover might look like in Lego form? I thought so. (Via URB via Format Mag.)
Sundays with A Tribe Called Quest: Vol. 18
All posts by Kevin
Birdmonster: I Might Have Guessed (Mean Version)
I’ve had my hands on this alternate version of I Might Have Guessed for a little while now – hey, these are the perks of treating Birdmonster to classy, 24-hour Mexican food after shows – but now that RCRD LBL has unleashed it, I suppose it’s OK to post.
In its original incarnation, I Might Have Guessed closes out From the Mountain to the Sea in acoustic bliss, a bit of a mandolin-laced cool-down period.
On the “Mean Version,” Birdmonster plugs in, adds drums and shows some teeth. It seems like a simple yet rarely executed concept: amplifying an acoustic song. Turning a ballad into a beast. The guys keep the mandolin here, but the driving drums ramp up the tempo and muscle. But just so we’re clear, nobody would ever accuse those Birdmonster boys of being mean.
Related:
I Used to Love H.E.R.: Justin Tenuto (Birdmonster)
Birdmonster video: The Iditarod
Also, Birdmonster recently released a video for Born to Be Your Man:
Favorite song(s) of 2008
I didn’t want to let myself pick two songs for favorite song of the year. Frankly, it’s a cop-out. Ties are for the weak, like in soccer. Nobody loses! Everybody wins! Lame.
But then I was thinking about these two tracks, the two children I was forced to choose between: One Day Like This by Elbow and Keep Yourself Warm by Frightened Rabbit. Love is the common thread here – its beautiful beginnings (Elbow) and sometimes bitterly destructive end (Frightened Rabbit). If two songs ever matched those polar-opposite emotions, it’s this pair.
Much as I wanted to write off One Day Like This as over-the-top fluff, it became increasingly difficult not to succumb to singer Guy Garvey’s almost-confused admissions to love (“What made me behave that way? / Using words I never say”) and the song’s instrumental swells (aided immensely by a string section). I’ve been told (maybe as a joke?) that I have a heart made of stone, so to hear a writer/singer I admire drop his guard like this certainly offers me a lesson in how to be vulnerable – or at least to show me that there’s a sunny side to all that sad-bastard music I listen to. Call it corny if you must, but One Day Like This works only because it does go over the top, similar to U2’s Beautiful Day; a half-assed effort wouldn’t have cut it.
So if One Day Like This is the first kiss, the butterflies in the stomach, then Keep Yourself Warm is the devastating breakup and the avalanche of emotions that comes with it. It’s hard to put in words any more clearly than singer Scott Hutchison does what a gut punch this song is (though I enjoyed my friend Casey’s description of it as a “withering assault on an ex”). I’d challenge anyone to find a more powerful and forthright line than this: “It takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm.” (Perfect for sing-alongs!)
I’m not sure why some people think this song is about casual sex and/or one-night stands. It seems obvious to me that Hutchison is tormented here, but the song also serves as his cathartic release, as he mocks his ex in a fit of fury: “Can you see in the dark? / Can you see the look on your face? / The flashing white light’s been turned off / You don’t know know who’s in your bed.”
Ain’t love grand?
I also really liked these songs:
The Baseball Project, Past Time (mp3)
Birdmonster, Born to Be Your Man (mp3)
The Black Angels, Science Killer
Bon Iver, Skinny Love (mp3)
Born Ruffians, Badonkadonkey
The Broken West, Perfect Games
Cadence Weapon, Real Estate and Getting Dumb
Calexico, Writer’s Minor Holiday
Damien Jurado, Dimes and Trials
Death Cab for Cutie, Cath
Destroyer, Blue Flower/Blue Flame (mp3)
The Dodos, Fools and Jodi
Elbow, The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
Fleet Foxes, Drops in the River, Mykonos and White Winter Hymnal
Frightened Rabbit, Good Arms vs. Bad Arms
The Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead
Her Space Holiday, The Truth Hurts So This Should Be Painless and No More Good Ideas
The Hold Steady, Slapped Actress and Yeah Sapphire
Kidz in the Hall, Drivin’ Down the Block
The Kills, U.R.A. Fever
The Knux, Cappuccino
Magnetic Morning, Spring Unseen
Menahan Street Band, Make the Road By Walking (mp3)
Miniature Tigers, Dino Damage and Tell it to the Volcano
Murs, Can It Be
My Morning Jacket, I’m Amazed
Nada Surf, See These Bones (mp3) and The Fox
Plants and Animals, Bye Bye Bye (mp3)
Q-Tip, Move/Renaissance Rap
Radar Bros., Pomona
The Rosebuds, Bow to the Middle
School of Language, Rockist Part 1 (and Parts 2, 3 and 4, for that matter)
Silver State, Faith You Changed Your Name (video)
Vampire Weekend, The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance
The Walkmen, In the New Year
The Whigs, Right Hand on My Heart
Wolf Parade, The Grey Estates
Related:
Favorite song of 2007
Favorite song of 2006
Favorite songs of 2005
Murs on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic
In support of his 2008 album Murs for President, the man himself dropped by KCRW for a set on Morning Becomes Eclectic.
If you haven’t heard, Jason Bentley has taken over for Nic Harcourt on the show, and I gotta say, I found this interview to be really refreshing and not the humdrum “who are your influences?” and “how did you meet?” line of questioning. And would Murs ever be on this show if Bentley weren’t the host? Something to think about.
ALSO: I recently realized that Murs didn’t include Dreadlocks, a track that was met with tepid response, on his new album.
Related:
Murs: Can it Be (video)
Living Legends: She Wants Me (video)
New Murs and 9th Wonder: Sweet Lord
Jurassic 5: Ducky Boy (video)
On the heels of Jurassic 5’s deluxe reissue of the group’s debut EP (a very worthwhile purchase, by the way) comes the official video for Ducky Boy, one of the 15 tracks on the second disc of unreleased material.
I guess it was easier to just animate a video than actually get the group back together. (Directed by Decon’s Yoram Benz.)
The Long Winters: Live at the Showbox DVD/MP3s
Barsuk Records announced Monday that it will be distributing the concert film, The Long Winters: Live at the Showbox by Dorsia Films. If this is meant to whet the appetite for a new Long Winters album — it’s been two-plus years since the great Putting the Days to Bed, one of my favorites of 2006, was released — then consider me intrigued.
The film documents the band’s final show of a months-long tour in 2007, a year after I saw the band in September 2006 (that seems like a really long time ago).
You can preview a 10-minute trailer at Dorsia Films, which is also working on a documentary about the Long Winters called Through With Love.
And Barsuk has made available three audio downloads from the 19-song marathon set.
- The Long Winters | Scared Straight (Live at the Showbox)
- The Long Winters | Clouds (Live at the Showbox)
- The Long Winters | Cinammon (Live at the Showbox)
Or download all three in a handy zip file.
Incoming: Bloc Party and the Soft Pack, Dec. 14
It seems so strange to say it, but I’m really on the fence about going to see Bloc Party on Sunday at Marquee Theatre. (Buy tickets.)
If you picture a line chart, you’d see my interest rapidly declining in correlation with each release. I realize it’s only three albums, but my initial reaction upon hearing Intimacy only proved to justify why I procrastinated listening to the album in the first place – my predicted disappointment came true. I know it’s a snobby and elitist thing to say that, dude, the new record totally isn’t as great as the first one. But, seriously, dude, the new record totally isn’t as great as the first one. Not by a long shot. I’m so disheartened by this move to a more electro-heavy sound; Matt Tong’s ridiculous drum skills seem wasted. And, really, how predictable (and weary) is it to include remixes by CSS and XXXChange?
About the only thing keeping me slightly intrigued is the chance to see the Soft Pack (formerly the Muslims) in the opening slot, a band we missed on the first day of the San Diego Street Scene.
Catch the video for the Muslims’ the Soft Pack’s Extinction below:
Sundays with A Tribe Called Quest: Vol. 17
One of the great tracks on Q-Tip’s The Renaissance isn’t really even its own track at all. It probably would be called a hidden track, if such a thing is possible in the middle of an album.
Renaissance Rap is hitched to the back end of Move, a two-part suite of sorts. I swore my iTunes tags were screwed up or something when I heard it the first time. Move comes to a sudden end at about 2:49, leading into a scratch break that introduces Renaissance Rap, on which Q-Tip steamrolls through his verses, reminding everyone who’s in the house: “It’s the midnight marauder on the scene / geographically earthed in a place called Queens.”
Check the Bourne-esque video, directed by the ubiquitous Rik Cordero.
Little Joy, Martini Ranch, 12/4/08
I assume that waking up with a medley of about four different Little Joy songs mashed together in my head, seamlessly melding from one chorus to another, means I’ve started to become a fan.
I hadn’t been totally sold on the band’s self-titled debut, but the live show helped uncover some of the charm I think I was missing in the album.
Advertised as a trio, Little Joy suddenly was five – and sometimes six or seven – strong with Todd Dahlhoff of the Dead Trees standing in on bass. Add that to Rodrigo Amarante’s slightly raspy voice, and there was a little more heft and texture to the sound. By the time the show was ending, both opening bands – the Dead Trees and Red Cortez – were on stage to lend their help for a feel-good sing-along to Brand New Start, its head-over-heels chorus – “There ain’t no lover like the one I got” – a perfect closer for a night of uplifting vibes.
Tonight: Little Joy at Martini Ranch
It takes a hell of a lot to convince me to venture into swanky Scottsdale for a night out. So I guess it says something about Little Joy that I’ll be heading to Martini Ranch tonight.
Though I’m not as totally convinced of Little Joy’s greatness as some, I did get a brief but glowing recap from Heather about the band’s show in Denver. Coincidentally, Martini Ranch (a venue that rarely hosts shows of bands I like) is the same spot where I saw Fab Moretti’s Strokes bandmate Albert Hammond Jr. about a year or so ago.
Anyway, tickets are $10 at the door. I’m told Little Joy goes on at 9 p.m. The Dead Trees and Red Cortez open.
Test out Little Joy’s self-titled debut, a breezy, laid-back affair, for yourself.
Here’s a video for Next Time Around: