general

The Sun

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One of my favorite pastimes is reading liner notes. Before the advent of mp3 blogs, that was the best way (in my opinion) to discover new bands. I figure if a band whose CD I purchased is thanking This Other Band in the liner notes, This Other Band must be good.

So what’s my point? I was checking tour dates for the Shout Out Louds, who are coming to (gasp!) Tucson on Nov. 22 but not Phoenix. (Get yer tickets.) One of the opening bands is The Sun, so I thought I should check ’em out. With a little digging I found some info:

>>It’s a quintet from Columbus, Ohio.
>>Their debut release, Blame it on the Youth, is supposedly the world’s first DVD album: 14 songs with a video for every damn one of them.
>>You can put yourself in one of their videos for Romantic Death, an interactive experience if you upload a photo. Do it here.
>>They have a My Space page here.
>>You may or may not be able to download two unreleased albums by the band here.
>>You probably will like them.

The Sun | Do You Really Want Me
The Sun | The Song I Committed Suicide To

general

Dios (Malos)

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Apologies (and thanks) to Chris, who recently posted on these guys twice (!) and introduced me to Dios at the Austin City Limits festival. Since they’re playing Modified in Phoenix on Nov. 17, I thought I’d do my share to build the interest.

For what it’s worth, I haven’t stopped listening to their new self-titled album for about the past three days. The choruses have a sing-songy quality that absolutely get stuck in your head — you know, the type you’re humming in your head from the moment you wake up and you’re not really sure why. The album definitely has an addictive pull.

I also quite enjoy the writing, which is plaintive and direct.

Dios (Malos) | EPK
Dios (Malos) | I Want it All

Wrapping up some loose ends:>> I’ll be buying this today … after I file my TPS reports. Mmmmm, yeeeeeeeaaaah. Kill time at work and play “Ditch Lumbergh” here.
BONUS (kick your feet up and play loudly in your cubicle):
The Geto Boys | Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta


>> If you’re not watching Extras, you’re missing out. Ricky Gervais is a genius. Go get the Gervais and Stephen Merchant Show free, courtesy of UK’s XFM.

>> My fantasy league team in my pay-in league is going downhill fast. I lost Daunte Culpepper to injury and nearly Anquan Boldin. I’ve lost four in a row. And now I have David Carr or Kyle Orton to start at QB. Yikes. Good news is I’m holding second place down in the music bloggers league with a win over Ryan, who prematurely talked smacked earlier in the week. But he’s a Bears fan, so all is forgiven.

>>Cubs need to make serious moves this off-season. Like signing him. And trading him.

>> Jeff Tweedy is preparing to release a second album with his side project Loose Fur and wants to regroup with Golden Smog. Read it here. As if that whole Wilco thing doesn’t keep him busy enough.

    Uncategorized

    Ode to Chicago

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    So my wife and I are headed to Chicago on Thursday with the entire family to celebrate my dad’s 60th birthday. My brother and his wife ingeniously planned this suprise trip to my dad’s stomping grounds, planned a party and nobody in the extended family let the cat out of the bag. Beautiful.I’m pumped to see family I haven’t seen in awhile, a good friend from high school we’re staying with and to perhaps see Digable Planets on Friday at the Metro.

    Throughout the week, I’ll be giving my hometown (OK, so it was the ‘burbs … Palatine, y’all! Here’s the old house!) some props with Chicago-related tunes.

    In related Chicago news — and much to the dismay of Chris and his beloved Lions — the Bears are in first place. So what if they’re 4-3 and play in perhaps the weakest division this side of the Canadian Football League. It’s all about defense, baby. If the Ravens won the Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer as quarterback, surely Kyle Orton is sufficient.

    On that note …

    Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew | The Super Bowl Shuffle (vocal mix)
    Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew | The Super Bowl Shuffle (instrumental)

    Also …
    Sufjan Stevens | Chicago (on KCRW)

    hip-hop

    A Friday for The Pharcyde

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    I’ve been reminicising about The Pharcyde of late now that ex-member Fatlip is releasing his very long-awaited solo LP.

    I hate to sound bitter or resistant to change, but I haven’t been excited about The Pharcyde since the group dwindled to two members. And Fatlip’s disc doesn’t rank high on my to-buy list. I’m just not sure if I can take a whole album of Fatlip solo; kinda like when Phife did his own thing after A Tribe Called Quest broke up.

    Anyway, it got me digging into the vinyl stacks. So I pulled out some special B-side goodies for ya. (And the new XP-202 arrived in the mail Thursday, which should improve my vinyl conversions.)

    The Pharcyde | Passin’ Me By (Fly as Pie remix)
    The Pharcyde | Ya Mama (remix)
    The Pharcyde | Otha Fish (L.A. Jay Remix )

    hip-hop, samples

    Samples: Organized Konfusion/Charles Mingus

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    My last post on sample usage seemed to create some buzz, and my web stats tell me that people were searching for the original track used in Kanye’s Gold Digger. Today’s before and after sample usage comes courtesy of Organized Konfusion’s massively underrated album, Stress: The Extinction Agenda.

    The title track Stress takes a fairly high-pitched horn loop from Charles Mingus’ Mingus Fingus No. 2. The loop is the centerpiece of the chorus: “Crush, kill, destroy stress.” Man, this album HAS to be one of the best of the ’90s. If you slept, you need to rewind and pick this up.

    My knowledge of Mingus, a bassist, is limited, although I own two CDs, including Mingus Ah Um, which is name-dropped in the Digable Planets song Pacifics: “Checkin’ out some Fromme, some Sartre, Camus/ Mingus’ Ah Um / damn Roach can drum.” Read up on Mingus here.


    I think one of the best things about the ’90s era of hip-hop was the sampling of jazz greats. I religiously read liner notes, and it always piqued my curiosity to see who some of my favorite artists were sampling. It inspired me to dig into the music that was inspiring them.

    Organized Konfusion | Stress
    Charles Mingus | Mingus Fingus No. 2

    general, radio rips

    Nada Surf on KCRW, Pt. II

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    Here are the rest of the tracks from Nada Surf’s performance Monday on Morning Becomes Eclectic. If you missed Part I, scroll down. Or go here.

    While I’m at it, I’ll say that The Weight is a Gift is nudging its way into my top 5 for the year. I dig Matthew Caws’ songwriting and the relative simplicity of the music. Good, clean pop/rock.

    Nada Surf | Your Legs Grow (on KCRW)
    Nada Surf | Blonde on Blonde (on KCRW)
    Nada Surf | Inside of Love (on KCRW)

    Meanwhile, I read this story at ESPN.com about Paul Wall’s hometown Houston allegiance. I’m not a big Paul Wall fan, but he remixed They Don’t Know to give some props to his Astros, who can use all the mojo they can get right now. Thought it was pretty cool. He name-drops every player and coach: “Whatchoo know about Jason Lane?” Um, actually, nothing. Who’s Jason Lane?Via The Fader magazine.

    Paul Wall | They Don’t Know (remix)

    general, radio rips

    Nada Surf on KCRW

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    Nada Surf made its KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic debut Monday morning. I was looking forward to this set, especially because the band skipped Arizona on its current tour. I’ll forgive them this one time.

    Anyway, they played eight songs, pretty much equally split between The Weight is a Gift and Let Go (and, surprisingly, they did NOT play the single Do It Again). They did play Stalemate from High/Low, which I won’t include because Nic Harcourt starts talking over it near the end in a frantic attempt to wrap up the show.

    I didn’t think the interview was very probing, although the band did touch on the whole aspect of being judged based on the song Popular.

    In a cheap attempt to lure return visitors, I’m splitting the seven tracks into two posts. Enjoy.

    Nada Surf | Blizzard of ’77 (on KCRW)
    Nada Surf | What is Your Secret (on KCRW)
    Nada Surf | Always Love (on KCRW)
    Nada Surf | Hi-Speed Soul (on KCRW)

    arizona

    Sean Szafran

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    It’s about time I propped up another Phoenix artist, and he’s a great one at that (come on, did you expect anything less?).

    Sean Szafran is a longtime — not to mention versatile — player in the Valley’s music scene. His 10-track long player, Stumblefoot of the Century, is Szafran’s debut as a solo act, with the emphasis on solo. He tracked every sound and every instrument you hear throughout the CD.

    The results are excellent, specifically the sturdy and rhythmic piano bars (see also, Crimson Hair, Hazel Eyes). Bright melodies are underpinned by lyrics of love and longing. Heartache always feels so much better when it’s enveloped by inspired instrumentation.

    Visit Sean at his Web site or at on his My Space page. Buy Stumblefoot here.

    Sean Szafran | Jennifer
    Sean Szafran | Crimson Hair, Hazel Eyes
    Sean Szafran | I Wonder Why

    general

    capitalSTEPS

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    It’s rare you’ll find me listening to/posting about electronic music. Typically, it just ain’t my thing. That is, unless a Nintendo GameBoy is being used to create the sounds. Which brings me to Seattle’s capitalSTEPS (born Matthew Kenall).

    In a stroke of MacGyver-like wit, Kenall composes, manipulates and squeezes sounds out of a GameBoy and Nanoloop, a sound editor for GameBoy. Kenall calls it “gritty, 8-bit techno.” I love it because it appeals immediately to my jones for video games and rhythmic drum beats. And it’s just unique, a totally refreshing change of pace.

    Matthew was cool enough to hook us up with two mp3s he didn’t post on his MySpace page, where you can stream four more tracks. While there, you can also purchase his July release, Stacy, a 10-track LP for only $10. Dig it.

    capitalSTEPS | Evelyn’s Ride
    capitalSTEPS | Stinky

    general

    The Jade Shader

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    Hailing from Encintas, Calif., the Jade Shader brings together parts of popular San Diego bands, Boilermaker, No Knife and Tanner.
    Chris Prescott (of No Knife) and Terrin Durfey (Boilermaker) got together in 2003 while on hiatus from their respective bands. That was the genesis of what would be become a seven-song EP released this month: Curse of the Tuatara (out now on Seattle’s Sonic Boom Recordings).

    There are traces of the members’ roots in previous bands. But — and I can only compare to my fondness of No Knife — the Jade Shader has a more open-ended feel to it: great tempo shifts, stops and starts and layered guitars. “Dissonant while tuneful,” is how the band’s bio puts it.

    Visit the Jade Shader My Space page here to stream two songs. Buy Curse of the Tuatara here for $8 (that’s only 800 pennies, people).

    The Jade Shader | Eraser

    By the way, thank you to all who took part in the sound test for me. You all were correct: The No. 1 tracks were recorded using the M-Audio device. In other words, Griffin’s iMic is shoddy at best, although I see now it has been updated.Whatever, I did some more digging and bought this precious piece of machinery from XPSound through Blaze Audio. RIAA-calibrated preamp? USB? With Bias SoundSoap software? Sold. I’m eagerly awaiting shipment, and I’m predicting much better sound quality on the vinyl-to-digital conversions.