A friend sent me a link for the video of the Cool Kids’Black Mags video, and now I’m hooked.
Signed to A-Trak (shameless link) and Catchdubs’ Fool’s Gold label, the Chicago duo waxes nostalgic about their “Dyno with the black mags.”
Obviously, this recalls Lupe Fiasco’s ode to skateboards, Kick Push. We hear so much about people who can’t stand those gosh-darn rappers bragging about cars and rims and whatnot. And here we have guys talkin’ sweet on skateboards and bicycles. Where’s the love??
For the record, I used to rock a Schwinn Predator … and, yeah, I put them pegs on, so what?
The fine folks at Brassland, home to So Much Silence favorite Baby Dayliner and former home of the National, have offered me (to share with you) the new Doveman video for Castles, from his forthcoming album With My Left Hand I Raise the Dead.
Startling in its minimalist approach – black and white, slightly grainy, single-camera view – this video works as an ideal visual complement to the hushed vocals of Doveman (aka Thomas Bartlett). If Doveman’s voice doesn’t elicit some sort of inner emotional response, then the video’s surreal slo-mo pacing should.
With My Left Hand already is available on eMusic; it will be on record shops Oct. 9 and on iTunes later in the month.
Really diggin’ the shaved stripes in Kanye’s hair in this one. Please tell me pegged jeans are coming back in style, too.
I dig this track, a feel-good party jam. But I’m not really sure how I feel about T-Pain. Didn’t Roger Troutman do all that with the effects-drenched voice trick?
A lot has been said about Band of Horses licensing a song for Wal-Mart, an issue I’m still not totally for or against. It’s complex to say the least: Wal-Mart is evil, but indie bands need to make money, too.
I’m not here to rap about it too much or take a stand one way or the other. But I was surprised to see a pretty excellent lineup – if not the epitome of “blog buzz” – for an Oct. 20 show at this new mega-mall, Tempe Marketplace, opening later this month (OMG, they’re putting an H&M there!). The Southern Comfort (“SoCo” to me and you) Music Experience: Cold War Kids, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Girl Talk, Sick Puppies and Architecture in Helsinki.
Even better: It’s free. That can only mean one thing: Southern Comfort must be kicking in a shit-ton of cash (and booze) for the bands. I guess we should be up in arms about this? Does it even matter? Wilco licensed songs for VW then felt the need to defend the decision to do so.
My thoughts are a bit half-baked at the moment, but the whole holier-than-thou attitude toward this type of thing irritates me. I suppose 10 years ago I would have cried sell out, too. But now that I own a house, have bills, car payments, etc. … I can better understand the decision.
So, seriously, SoCo, if you’re reading … I’ll totally rename this blog – SoCo Much Silence? – for the right price. In the meantime, I’ll be at the show, drinking SoCo, of course.
What the hell … Cold War Kids video for Hang Me Up to Dry:
I’m not really sure why, but I thought about Cut Chemist on the way home from work on Wednesday. I think my eye caught his name on my iPod, so I figured I’d give his MySpace a check to see what’s new because it’s been more than a year since he released his great solo debut The Audience’s Listening.
Though he didn’t have anything new to offer, Cut did have a downloadable track – Mean Gene, a B-side from the What’s the Altitude single.
How does this work with Edan? Does he tell every producer/DJ to just make the illest, dirtiest beat ever and he’ll throw a few raps down? Whenever I listen to Edan – especially on Beauty & the Beat (get it at eMusic) – I feel like I’m listening to him through some janky AM-only radio. Really, it’s kind of endearing. If lo-fi hip-hop needs a posterboy, Edan is the easy choice.
And, oh, Cut Chemist pretty much rips it here, too. But you already knew that.
Cut Chemist feat. Edan | Mean Gene
What the hell … here’s the video for What’s the Altitude (feat. Hymnal).
Wow. Pigeon John rolled through for a Dinner With the Band session, and nobody can say he doesn’t get his hands dirty. Mmmmm. Meat. Vegetarians, look away.
Here’s PJ performing Money Back Guarantee from … And the Summertime Pool Party. Reminder: Pigeon John is playing the Blunt Club at Hollywood Alley in Mesa on Sept. 13.
Thanks to Mike, who made me aware of the new video for Travis’ My Eyes, off The Boy With No Name.
Honestly, this song – about the birth of singer Fran Healy’s son – goes against my hating tendencies of all things potentially touching and/or cheesy. Yet, I absolutely can’t get enough of it. In fact, I was just listening to the album yesterday on my way home from work. Pretty sure I was singing in the car. Yeeeah, now that’s cheesy.
In the video, Travis opts for more of a comedy than a drama (what’s with that ‘stache Healy is sporting?). Ahhh, deflecting emotion with humor … my kind of guys. And I don’t even wanna try to start interpreting the metaphor of them going down a water slide.
Kanye West has posted an alternate version of the video for Can’t Tell Me Nothing.
For reasons I can’t explain, Will Oldham and Zach Galifianakis are in it. According to a Billboard story I read on the wires, it was filmed at Galifianakis’ North Carolina farm.
From same story:
“He saw me do stand up a few weeks ago here in Los Angeles, and we chatted after the show,” Galifianakis recently told Impose Magazine.
I … I … I don’t even know what to say. Plastic Little cracks me up and proves that some of the best hip-hop is the stuff we don’t take so damn seriously.
