I should probably do more drugs. This video for WATERS’ “For the One” would then make total sense. Maybe.
Either way, it’s a trip. I think every Arizonan who hangs a dreamcatcher from their rearview mirror could learn a lesson here.
Out In the Light, the new album from ex-Port O’Brien frontman Van Pierszalowski’s new project, came out today.
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Few voices are as moving and beautiful to me as Mimi Parker’s. So, naturally, I’m a sucker for any Low song that showcases her front and center.
On this new video for Especially Me, off the great new album C’Mon, Parker takes a dizzying ride on the New York City subway, her voice floating perfectly above the fray.
The band will be touring the West Coast in September but unfortunately skipping Arizona on this pass.
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When I grow up, I wanna be just like Aloe Blacc. Seriously, I’m pretty sure there’s not a cooler cat in music right now. The guy can sing, dance and dress – pretty much the opposite of me.
Not to mention, he writes ridiculously uplifting tunes. Go ahead and try to be in a bad mood after watching this new video for the song Green Lights, which comes off his excellent 2010 sophomore album Good Things.
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I’m not really sure what the Portal video-game series is about – when does the new Madden come out anyway? – but a new song by the National, Exile Vilify, was included on the Portal 2 soundtrack earlier this year.
A couple months ago, Valve Software and the band launched a video contest, and, as reported at Pitchfork, there is a winner, whittled down from 320 entries. Director C.F. Meister created a somber visual that follows around a really sad sock puppet. I’ve seen some sad socks in my day – many of which reside in my top drawer – but this one takes the cake.
You can watch that video above and watch the runner-up – or what the folks at Portal 2 are calling 1.00000000001th Place – below:
Rise up, Detroit. Mayer Hawthorne calls Los Angeles home now, but the soul revivalist hasn’t entirely left behind his Michigan roots.
On this new track, “A Long Time” – with its hilarious video borrowing scenes from an ’80s Detroit public-access dance show – Hawthorne offers words of encouragement for his former hometown, a city particularly stung by the economic collapse. With equal parts patience and pride, Hawthorne stands by his fellow Detroiters, using the stories of Henry Ford and Berry Gordy as sources of motivation: “We’ll return it to its former glory, but it just takes so long.”
Speaking of former glory, this video is really something else. I wanted to take a screenshot, but I really couldn’t decide what to pick. You’ve got the blue turtleneck guy (0:33 mark), the kinda creepy couple (1:22), the lady with the triple watch belt/cummerbund thingy (1:49), Frankenstein sweater dude (2:42) … really, the list goes on. It’s worth watching multiple times.
The song is the first preview of Hawthorne’s new album, How Do You Do (Universal), a release date for which I have not seen. Meanwhile, Hawthorne and his band, The County, will open for Chromeo on Oct. 18 at Marquee Theatre in Tempe.
I can’t wait to see Michael Rapaport’s documentary on A Tribe Called Quest – and I’m hearing its Phoenix arrival is coming soon – but until then I am warmed by the clips coming out of the 2011 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival, for which Q-Tip served as the headliner.
Here we have Kanye West assisting on “Award Tour,” and, well, is there really anything else to say about that? I have so many B-sides and remixes and other Tribe odds and ends in my collection that I might just have to devote a week or two to them on this blog. Maybe once the documentary lands in Phoenix, I’ll do just that.
Tucson emcee/tattoo artist Isaiah Toothtaker, who earlier this year released his full-length Illuminati Thug Mafia, is already unleashing new treats.
On Monday, Toothtaker dropped a free single called Muerte Folks, a haunting two-verse tale on the topic of suicide.
Production was handled by Depakote, a newcomer to the Machina Muerte crew who reinterprets Heartbeats by the Knife without losing any of its chilling edge. (Anyone know where the opening lines come from … sounds like a movie perhaps?)
A video for Muerte Folks, created by Marco Oliva and Thomas Haskins at Hobo Stew, was also released:
If I was the sort of person who made half-year best of lists, you’d probably find the Antlers’ Burst Apart on there, so it’s probably fair to assume it will wind up on the year-end tally (assuming, you know, I actually make one, unlike in 2010). And this probably proves that I should listen to more Talk Talk, as my brother has urged all these years.
As I’ve familiarized myself with the music, I’ve only just now started trying to tackle the lyrics. They are, to say the least, crushing. Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out stood out because a friend had mentioned experiencing this in recurring dreams, which apparently means you’re worried about appearance. Whatever the interpretation, I’m not sure singer Peter Silberman really requires the metaphorical mysteries here. He’s fairly blunt about the wreckage of post-breakup sex:
“One dumb night I’ll make a point to take an old verboten route,
And one dumb night I’ll take you out, to the bar we’ve both blacked out.
One dumb night two bad decisions don’t divide to cancel out.”
Check the video and draw your own interpretations of the song.
Open Mike Eagle’s new album, Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes, came out two weeks ago, an LP that falls in the must-hear – and must-have – category (I want that album cover in vinyl size – or larger).
The album’s first track, The Processional, gives the uninitiated a pretty good idea of what Mike Eagle is about, from an even-keeled flow to his pop-culture references (shout out to ’97 Weezer in the opening line) to a sung hook so catchy it should make hip-hop fans out of people who claim to not like hip-hop. OME’s singing of a Busta Rhymes verse from the 1996 track Abandon Ship is alone worth the cost of admission here.
Watch the Los Angeles-based MC perform the track for Knocksteady below and remember he’ll return to the Valley on July 2 – about five months after our show – for a gig at Chaser’s in Scottsdale.
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If you’ve listened to England, a slow-burning favorite from last year’s High Violet, and thought, “What this song really needs is some furious acoustic strumming that will really make the panties drop,” well, then, you’re in luck.
Mumford & Sons – whose foot-stomping folk has won over the record-buying public, specifically females (I saw first-hand at the Railroad Revival Tour and was inspired to cash in on some merch) – tackled this cover of the National track for VH1’s Unplugged (which airs next week), though they admit they’re not sure what to make of it:
Says the vested Marcus Mumford, the group’s singer and unlikely heartthrob: “Still trying to figure out whether or not it’s offensive towards English people, but yeah, we’re making it non-offensive.”
I love England, as I’ve expressed a couple times before, so I’m wary of anyone attempting to cover it. But I will say this: For better or worse, Mumford & Sons certainly stay true to their style with this version. The tempo is kicked up a tick and you can feel halfway through that the strum-gasm isn’t too far behind.
At the very least, the National – and a tremendous song – will benefit from the exposure.
(Via Each Note Secure, via Stereogum.)