Get Down! To Brass Tacks

July 21, 2006 Kevin Leave a comment

OK, I’ve been really neglectful of local music of late. And I’d like to rectify that with a post here on Phoenix’s Get Down! To Brass Tacks (not to be confused with Gorilla vs. Bear-approved Tacks, the Boy Disaster).

Brass Tacks (for short) is a two-piece outfit: Aarik Miller (ex-Curse of the Carousel Pony) and Josh Gooday (ex-Machines Replacing Teens). The guys are about to head out on a little swing of the West Coast in support of a self-titled EP, kicking off with a show tonight at the Derby in Tempe.

I had heard of the band but never sat down to listen to its stuff until recently. And it’s really … compelling and agitating and busy and compelling (did I say that already?). I have a feeling Brass Tacks will fall into the you love them or hate them pitfall. The vocals are either really distracting or really endearing; I’m going for the latter. But then, I like Isaac Brock and Alec Ounsworth, and Miller follows in the same unnerving and wobbly vocal pattern.

For what it’s worth, the guys say their music sounds like “an egyptian woman trying to sing rock n’ roll.” Ha! They’re joking … right?

You can download three tracks a the group’s MySpace. Here’s one of them I especially like.

~~Get Down! To Brass Tacks | Lost in Syndication~~

Love it or hate it? Leave a comment!

radio rips

The Cloud Room on the Current (3/26/06)

July 20, 2006 Kevin 1 Comment

Saturday night is all sorts of busy in the Phoenix area. For starters, you got the Cloud Room opening for Muse at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. Over in Tempe at Marquee Theatre, Rob Dickinson (formerly of Catherine Wheel) is opening for the Church.

(Chromewaves has more on Rob Dickinson today, including this link to Rehearsals.com for an interview and a couple of live songs on video.)

But in an unbelievable alignment of the planets and stars, I got a Saturday night off and sourceVictoria happens to be playing. So Annie and I are headed to the Last Exit in Tempe for that.

After that, we’re headed to the Rogue Bar in Scottsdale for a guest DJ set by the Cloud Room at the ultra-hip club night Shake!, where the kids with the sweetest, most indie bangs come out to dance.

In honor, here’s a little radio rip of the Cloud Room from Minnesota Public Radio’s the Current back in March.

The Cloud Room, live on the Current, 3/26/06:

1. We Sleep in the Ocean
2. Eleanor (unreleased)
3. Hey Now Now

remix, vinyl

The Comeback: Big Slippa Mix by Ratatat

July 19, 2006 Kevin 2 Comments

Ratatat is all the rage of late. Don’t believe me? Click. Click. Click. Click. So who am I not to ride the gravy train?

As soon as I saw all the posts, I went right for my vinyl collection, in which I have a 12″ of the Shout Out Louds’ fantastic The Comeback, (thanks to one very cool blogger). It includes the Big Slippa Mix by (who else?) Ratatat and Tommy Sunshine’s Radio Edit.

The Ratatat mix segues from stuttering guitar lines in the verse to stretched-out organ lines for the chorus. A really great transition, tense to loose. Tommy Sunshine’s Radio Edit mix is a little more clubby â€“ push those BPMs and dance!

Now that I’m perusing Shout Out Louds’ Web site, looks like the Combines EP, which includes the Ratatat mix, is available in the UK and the iTunes music store here. More remixes (including one from Architecture in Helsinki) and a new track, I Meant to Call. You can stream ’em at the band’s Web site here. (Anyone in the UK wanna hook a Yankee up with the physical copy of the EP???)

Shout Out Louds | The Comeback (Big Slippa Mix by Ratatat)
Shout Out Louds | The Comeback (Tommy Sunshine’s Radio Edit)

hip-hop

Nuntype: Instrumentals (free download)

July 19, 2006 Kevin 1 Comment

So, I wasn’t sure what I was going to post about, and then I got a gift from above in my inbox … remixers, begin to salivate: Rumble Pack Records is offering a free download of instrumentals from the Nuntype record by Philadelphia producer SupremeEx and Tajai (of Souls of Mischief/Hieroglyphics fame).

Repeat: free. That’s before Rumble Pack makes it available on iTunes. The zip download features all the instrumentals, plus a few extended (original) versions that were trimmed for the vocal album and an unreleased track that was cut from the final record.

Nuntype is on a futuristic, sci-fi tip, replete with artwork that complements the lyrics and beats.

Download: Nuntype instrumentals (51.1 MB, zip file)
Download: Nuntype instrumentals album art

Nuntype | Formless

radio rips

Mr. Lif on KEXP (7/16/06)

July 18, 2006 Kevin 2 Comments

There never will be another Chuck D. But this year has brought us some of the best work by two emcees who are the torchbearers of Public Enemy’s anti-establishment rhetoric: Boots Riley of the Coup and Mr. Lif.

I just got into Lif’s newest LP, Mo’ Mega (on Definitive Jux), on which he takes on the FCC, Bush and even McDonald’s (The Fries). During the KEXP interview, Lif said he wrote For You to the children he’s “not sure if I’ll ever have” â€“ a statement (upsetting as it is) about his disgust with the government.

As for the production, well, Mo’ Mega has El-P’s fingerprints all over it: gritty beats that complement Lif’s serious yet steady flow.

You can buy Mr. Lif’s albums at The Pharmacy, Definitive Jux’s digital download store. Also, Lif is on tour with Cage. We’re gonna be checkin’ that out at the Pitchfork Festival in a little more than a week.

Lastly, kudos to KEXP (check out the blog here) for bringing in the underground hip-hop and exposing it to a wider audience.

Mr. Lif, live on KEXP, 7/16/06:

1. Brothaz
2. The Fries
3. For You

general

Sunset Rubdown EP on eMusic

July 17, 2006 Kevin 5 Comments

eMusic continues to give us reasons for its greatness: a five-song, eMusic-only EP from Sunset Rubdown (aka Spencer Krug from Wolf Parade).

I’m downloading it now as I continue to (slowly) warm up to Sunset Rubdown. (Obligatory pitch: Get it with a trial of 25 free downloads. That’s the EP, plus 20 more songs, jack. And you keep ’em all. And then you’ll end up subscribing like I did â€“ $9.99 for 40 downloads a month.)

arizona, hip-hop, movies, remix

Z-Trip: theme from movie “Infamy”

July 16, 2006 Kevin 1 Comment

So, DJ Z-Trip, a favorite in these parts, has got a pretty massive update on his recent doings at his (newly redesigned) Web site. For starters, he’s parted ways with Hollywood Records, which put out his major label debut Shifting Gears (cop it here). But Z says he’s meeting with other labels who have expressed interest. Stay tuned …

In the meantime, Z-Trip is staying busy with his usual assortment of remixes and collaborations. One of his more intriguing projects that I was totally unware he was involved with is a remix of scored music for the 2005 film Infamy, a documentary that follows seven people immersed in the graffiti subculture. It’s directed by Doug Pray, who is responsible for the excellent DJ documentary Scratch, in which Z-Trip is featured prominently.

As part of the tweaking at his Web site, Z-Trip will be making music and videos available for download. His remix of the Infamy movie theme is the first. Grab it!

DJ Z-Trip | Infamy theme remix (mp3 in a zip file)

video

Silversun Pickups’ “Well Thought Out Twinkles” video

July 14, 2006 Kevin 4 Comments

Here’s the video for the first single from the forthcoming Silversun Pickups LP Carnavas (due out July 25 on Dangerbird Records). Directed by Philip Andelman, the video isn’t an over-the-top production, but it more grabs attention with a striking use of color (or lack thereof). It’s shot in this somewhat blurred black and white until about midway when the instruments and players are infused with random bright colors. The final minute or so gets all flashy and dizzy, matching pace with the song’s excited finish.

Meanwhile, check out Silversun’s newly redesigned Web site.

(Thanks to Ben, who helped a brother out with some coding on the video embedding. Also, visit Ben to view the video for Gnarls Barkley’s Smiley Faces.)

UPDATE: The embedded video was making for slow page loads. But, you can check out the video here.

general, remix

July 14, 2006 Royce 2 Comments

File this one under â€˜new to me.’

SÃ©bastien Tellier is a French soloist who has opened for Air, the Magic Numbers, Moby and RoyksÃ¶pp. His album Politics, dropped way back in 2004, but sometimes (most of the time) Iâ€™m a little behind the curve.

Tellier makes colorful popish songs with layers of solid arrangement. He puts together an engaging sound and runs the gamut of instrument selection including the sci-fi Theremin.

see Blue time-

Between marveling at Scarlett Johanssonâ€™s overall fineness or trying to figure out how Sophia Coppala can be so darned cool, you may have missed this atmospheric diddy from Lost in Translation.

He also plies the remix trade. He gives Phoenix a touch with this one. Iâ€™ve heard the kids are gaga about this rock music band.

general

New Golden Smog: “5-22-02”

July 14, 2006 Kevin 2 Comments

Eight years after their last release, Golden Smog is coming back on Tuesday with Another Fine Day. The band is a side gig made up of members from the Jayhawks (Gary Louris, Marc Perlman), Run Westy Run (Kraig Johnson), Soul Asylum (Dan Murphy) and Wilco (Jeff Tweedy). Anything loosely affiliated to the Jayhawks or Wilco always will grab my attention.

I own Golden Smog’s 1995 release Down by the Old Mainstream, a loose, sometimes-twangy gem of an album. Judging by 5-22-02, which has lots of fun guitar work and some incidental horns, the guys are keeping true to the laid-back spirit of the project.

Golden Smog | 5-22-02