general, video

Tuesday: The Whigs+What Made Milwaukee Famous

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It seems like it’s been awhile since we’ve been to a show, so that will make Tuesday night’s outing at Modified, featuring the Whigs, What Made Milwaukee Famous and the Dead Trees, all the more fun.

I’ve been hopped up on the Whigs’ Mission Control (available at eMusic) the past couple days to get ready. (Though, this is my favorite album named Mission Control.)

The Arizona Republic talked to Whigs drummer Julian Dorio.

Given Modified’s modest size, I have a good feeling about the Whigs blowing the place apart. Note to self: Bring earplugs.

The Whigs perform Right Hand on My Heart on Letterman:

EDIT: Check out some live video at Breakfast on Tour of the tour stop in Houston. Um, yeah, Right Hand on My Heart pretty much rules.

general

Elbow: Live on KEXP (5/5/08)

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Unfortunately, we didn’t drive out to Los Angeles for Elbow’s show on Friday night at the Avalon. But I’ve decided, unilaterally – all on my own, without help from the blogs or Pitchfork – that the band’s new record, The Seldom Seen Kid, is my favorite of 2008 so far. There’s so much to it, but the songwriting is never so confounding that you can’t understand what Guy Garvey is singing about or at least relate to it in some way, especially on a track like One Day Like This.

It’s just a shame the band didn’t perform The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver on this session on KEXP. (Subscribe to KEXP’s Live Performances Podcast.) You should seek that song out if you haven’t heard it yet.

However, we learn between songs in this session that Garvey (aside from being hungover … how does he still sing like this??) has been doing some writing/collaborating with Massive Attack for their new record. Also, Garvey has a radio show on the BBC called Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour. (For his last show, he played No One’s Gonna Love You, my favorite song off Band of Horses’ Cease to Begin.)

And check out Garvey’s tour blog for Blender. Apparently, he is the king of all media.

general

Incoming: My Morning Jacket, Sept. 23

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Marquee Theatre in Tempe has a couple busy days lined up in September. Not only is it hosting Vampire Weekend on Sept. 24, now comes word of a My Morning Jacket show on Sept. 23.

The show is being billed as “An Evening with My Morning Jacket,” which would seem to hint that there is no opening act. The Luckyman Concerts site says “an evening with no support.” But the Stateside Presents site says there is a “special guest.” Stay tuned.

Regardless, tickets for the all-ages show ($29) go on sale May 17.

The band is due to release Evil Urges on June 10. In related news, eMusic now has the entire MMJ catalog, including 2005’s Z.

hip-hop, remix

Kidz in the Hall: Drivin Down the Block (El-P remix)

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For years now, indie/underground rap fans – and rappers themselves – wouldn’t be caught dead listening to mainstream rap because all they rap about is “guns, cars and bitches.” That was a clear line in the sand. Uh-uh. No way my favorite artist does that. Well, what happens when the indie/underground rappers start rapping about, well, guns, cars and bitches?

Kidz in the Hall, who are playing some dates with El-P and Dizzee Rascal and later hitting the Paid Dues Festival and Rock the Bells tour, have unleashed what should be this year’s summer jam: Drivin Down the Block. I’ll give you one guess what it’s about. And here’s the thing: I love it.

Drivin Down the Block is the new Kick, Push, and Lupe is just skitching on its bumper.

But here’s the question: What makes it OK now to dig a track that celebrates aimless cruising – “got my seat on recline, turn up the Alpine” – when the same track by a mainstream artist would be shunned by the cool kids (no pun intended)? I don’t really have an answer. It’s just a curious phenomenon.

Hey, any track that cites The Low End Theory is A-OK by me: “Drivin’ down the block/ my ‘Low End Theory’ tape in / playing number 6 / ‘Show Business’ is my shit.”

Check the orginal and the remix by El-P, who, in his production and new verses, again shows his uncanny ability to be a funcrusher plus.

  • Kidz in the Hall | Drivin Down the Block
  • Kidz in the Hall | Drivin Down the Block (El-P remix)

And don’t forget the video:

hip-hop

New Busdriver: Ellen Disingenuous

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Good lord. If I could actually process what Busdriver says in his rapid-fire delivery, I might have a better idea of what this new single, Ellen Disingenuous, is about (via Urb Magazine blog; thanks to Chris for pointing it out.).

I actually considered running it through audio software and slowing the tempo to try to write down the lyrics. When I listen to Busdriver I wonder how one discovers he or she has this talent – the ability to not only rap at warp speed but to make sense and make a point at the same time.

We can at least take our time to absorb that awesome cover art.

  • Busdriver | Ellen Disingenuous
general

Spoon: I Turn My Camera On (first version)

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As promised, Spoon continues to offer a bonus download per month – last month was a Cherry Bomb demo – at its Web site.

This month it’s the “first version” – also known as a demo – of I Turn My Camera On. I actually have this on a B-side of the 7-inch single (as you can tell from photo). I’d already done my due diligence and ripped it from the vinyl, but this version offers a little less snap, crackle and pop.

I even scanned the 7-inch cover for you completists out there. Grab the jpeg right here.

  • Spoon | I Turn My Camera On (first version)
general, video

Incoming: Vampire Weekend, Sept. 24

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If anything can illustrate Vampire Weekend’s ascent it’s the fact that the New York quartet is playing Tempe’s cavernous Marquee Theatre on Sept. 24, just more than a year after appearing at cozy Modified as an unsigned band.

Tickets ($19) go on sale Saturday. No opening act has been announced yet. Check Stateside Presents for more information.

Just a few weeks ago, I was marveling at Vampire Weekend’s ubiquity at our local shopping mall, where we heard a VW song in no less than three different stores. I don’t mean that as a backlash-fueled knock at all. I say good for them. Haters be damned.

Vampire Weekend’s video for A-Punk:

hip-hop

The Roots: 75 Bars (live) + Muxtape

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If you haven’t visited the Roots’ page over at Okayplayer.com, you’re missing some great content. I spent a good hour or so reading, listening, watching all it has to offer, including a bonus song from the international release of Rising Down.

I just got my hands on Rising Down the other day, and so far, it’s everything I’ve come to expect from the Roots – passionate and intense with something to say. I can’t think of a band – hip-hop or otherwise – that is as prolific without losing its edge as the Roots.

To celebrate, I’ve created a Roots-themed Muxtape. I’ve included a favorite song from each of their nine albums, including the 1999 live album The Roots Come Alive.

Remember: The Roots and Erykah Badu visit Mesa Amphitheatre on June 14.

Here’s an AOL sessions performance of the new track 75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction), found at Okayplayer.com.

  • The Roots | 75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction) (AOL sessions)