so you've heard of yeasayer, yeah? no? maybe? well, either way the band is set to release a new lp in the beginning of 2010. february 10th if you want to be exact, and if you do, then you're most likely already awaiting the release of yeasayer's new lp, odd blood (if you haven't already heard it, rumor has it that it's been leaked.)either way, yeasayer has a pretty new video out for their from their single for that album - "ambling alp". so check out the video, song, album, and band, depending on what you haven't checked already. or re-check all of the above if said checking has already been checked.
i don't if everyone got the memo, but it's definitely winter. it's fucking cold! i was walking down the street to my favorite bagel shop (kettleman's, check it out if you're in PDX) and i had this interesting sensation in my hands that i'm sure we're all familiar with - when you're hands are so cold, they feel like they're burning. i've always thought this was odd, and i started thinking about it as another spectrum, something i'm fond of as you may have noticed. in the sense that, if you go far enough one way, you can somehow end up back on the other side.
this idea reoccured in my head as i later sat in kettleman's, eating my bagel, reading the music section of the portland mercury. i started to relate this concept to music. there's an interesting niche that exists in music, where many bands that are coming out with "fresh" sounds are really beginning to sound like they could've come out 30, 40, 50 years ago. which is i suppose is nothing new exactly, as bands will always have influences, but in this day and age of digital-this and electro-that, there's a lot of room for the old to become to new again. one of my favorite examples of this is edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros. to see what i mean, hit the jump.
we'll start with the old - i was recently checking out millionyoung's myspace. you may remember that name from my post about this guy few weeks ago here. regardless, mike diaz is his name, and he's got a new official EP coming out january 19th. featuring a new favorite, "cynthia". the EP is called be so true. if the two tracks out so far on his myspace are any indicator of the rest of the release, then be on the lookout for this just after the new year.
cynthia -
and now for the new - if you liked millionyoung, then i bet you'll really dig the group, the radio dept. . these guys hail from of sweden and are producing some really wonderful stuff, like many of their nordic peers. drawing on what seems to be a heavy new wave, 80's inspired influences, these guys manage to create a fluid blend of electronics and real instruments. melodic keyboards and guitars soften the smokey, distorted vocals and create something both fluid and danceable. formed in 2002, these guys definitely know what they're doing. i was turned onto them by cam from spesus christ who i've also talked about on this site before, so they must be good. it looks like they toured china this summer, which is pretty cool, but let's hope they make it over to the states sometime soon.
check out this awesome music video. not sure if it's completely stop-motion, it would be truly incredible if it is. stop-motion seems to be a recurring style on this site. that being said, i'm extremely impressed by this video and the music pretty fun too. slick bass groove from fujiya & miyagi.
well it's been awhile since i've posted anything new. ran into thanksgiving, a birthday and what feels like a busy last couple weeks, but i really couldn't tell you what that was filled with. anyways, as such i guess i'll get back in the swing of things with three, that's right 3, bands that i've come to like quite a bit lately, and wuddyaknow, they tie in together quite nicely. not so much musically, at all really, but i like diversity; the american public schools raised me that way. and on the days i actually showed up for class they also taught me some nifty math skills which i will now utilize. the three bands are as follows: horse feathers, dinosaur bones, dinosaur feathers. a+b=c, but a≠b≠c. see what i did there? i thought you might like that. although, that really wasn't mathematical in anyway... shit. i'm sorry mrs. heffernan. :( anyways check 'em out after the jump.
tired of miley cyrus? me too. admittedly, "party in the usa" is pretty damn catchy, so this mashup of miley and biggie gets all the catchy without as much kitschy, and combines for something pretty fun. have a listen.
pretty straight forward. so straight from the horses mouth aka their myspace:
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE TO RELEASE NEW EP
FALL BE KIND IN STORES DECEMBER 15, 2009
Animal Collective are set to release a new five track studio EP on November 23rd 2009 (digitally) and 15th December (physically).
Recorded by Ben Allen at Sweet Tea in Oxford, MS in February 2008 and at Mission Sound in Brooklyn, NY August 2009, Fall Be Kind includes recent live favorites Graze and What Would I Want? Sky (featuring the first ever licensed Grateful Dead sample). Fall be Kind will be available worldwide on CD, 12” vinyl and via digital download.
Track Listing
1 - Graze
2 - What Would I Want? Sky
3 - Bleed
4 - On a Highway
5 - I Think I Can
pretty cool stuff. the grateful dead sample bit is pretty interesting. this release will certainly be a great capper to what has been a phenomenal year for the band. also if you haven't heard, the guys have released a live rendition of "bleed" called "bleeding" that can be heard as a b-side on their brothersport 10-inch single. that's available now over at domino records website, who is also producing fall be kind. you can listen to "bleeding" online over at hypemachine.
*update* rumor has it that the fall be kind has been leaked on to the interwebz. ohnoes!!! just fyi...
Ready for some visually eye-popping, mind-bending art? In my daily browsing of the interwebz today, I came across the second video I've seen in recent weeks by a new favorite artist of mine - blu. Blending graffiti, stop motion, ambiguous concept based art and a loose musical backing, this guy really does it for me in a lot of ways. Maybe he'll do it for you too. Lord knows there's a lot of doing to be done.
Like what you see? Be sure to have a look at blu's website, which is a piece of art in itself. There you can find all kinds of crazy stuff besides just his videos. Go go go!
stunning. trippy as hell, but god damnit what a beautiful music video. the song, "ready, able" by grizzly bear is one of my favorites too. you just can't lose. check it out.
jesus not cutting it for you anymore? tired of waking up early for church? don't worry i've got you covered. there's a new savior in town and it comes in the form of spesus christ. cameron spies (speez) graduated from lincoln high school here in portland. so he is no stranger to these parts, but recently moved back to the motherland aka portland after a stint down in the bay area. there he and two friends began crafting the melancholic, downtempo, trip hop beats that i've come to love profusely from these guys. spesus christ puts out a sound that reminds me of animal collective (and/or panda bear), why? and the notwist, which is interesting because none of those bands are exactly downtempo or trip hop, but i think you'll see what i mean. perhaps they will flesh out their sound more when they release their first full length effort.
until that time, cam just sent me their brand new self-titled 3 track ep and it's absolutely wonderful. versions of two of the tracks have been online for awhile, "truce" and "here it is". the ep features remastered editions of those and a third song, "airport gate". utilizing a polished electronic ability, the band puts out a finished product that is emotionally raw. light and dark, hard and soft. at only three tracks, i desperately want more from these guys. please spesus save me!
here's a pretty cool video, my roommate david showed me sometime back. it's been a favorite web video of mine since then. you've always gotta have a few premium go-to's in this day and age when the occasional web video showoff goes down amongst friends. "oh yeah! well have you seen this?! this video tops numa numa, rickrolling, what what in the butt, chocolate rain, charlie the unicorn AND keyboard cat!" well, this is really nothing like any of those, but all kinds of awesome none the less. wrap your head and your eyes around this one:
florida natives, the young men of surfer blood are making internet waves lately. i first heard of these guys a few weeks ago from my friend john and i've been jamming out ever since. equal parts weezer and more upbeat shins, this band takes all that and turns it up a notch, for something that is entirely pop/pop/pop. at times even reminding me of the smiths, for their ability to write songs with sweeping choruses, capitalizing on a sound that is both crisp and full due to their heavy use of reverb. this quality coupled with compelling percussion creates an anthemic hit in "swim (to reach the end)" that has been generating a lot of buzz up and down the shorelines. that song is coming off the bands first full length effort astro coast. another favorite track of mine, a more mellow endeavor, is the second track below, "harmonix". the album is set to drop january 19th of next year. pre-order their album now over at insound. can't wait that long? check their tours dates over on the myspace. expect to see these guys at a few summer festivals and assuredly SXSW at the very least. portland locals, like myself, can catch the band november 30th at holocene with japandroids. really diggin those guys too. should be a great show to work off the turkey weight.
despite my best attempts at humor, i'm sure i fall somewhere short of short. so, to deal with an utter lack of side-splitting and belly-aching around this place, i've instituted what perhaps might become a regular feature - bring in the clowns. without further ado, here is an old favorite - baby cakes:
this has gotta be one of the cooler music video's i've seen a long time. we have band's song "you came out" is a great track too. lightweight, catchy and most certainly danceable. the melody's pace is frantic, but the beat keeps your feet bouncing in time. reminiscent of "le disko" from shiny toy guns, you might call "you came out" it's more eccentric cousin. the video is made up of 4,816 still images and it is nothing short of weird and beautiful. yes please!
to understand a little better what it took to make this video, check out the band's flickr page. there you can see all 4,816 high-res images used to make this stop motion masterpiece.
i just stumbled across this lovely number from cleveland, OH band - cloud nothings. with only one picture, hardly any info, and only one upcoming show, these guys are something of a mystery it seems. all mystery aside though, their track "hey cool kid" has got to be in my top 5 catchiest songs of this year. with a hook like a heroin addiction, this lo-fi pop gem is ultra scratchy and will leave you feeling like you just left a party in andy warhol's loft. i'm really curious to see what comes of this interesting little mystery.
whatever happened to _______? a question, these days often times answered by trustworthy dr. drew. it is also a fairly common question in the music world. from one hit wonders to freak balloon accidents to the limelight in your eye (it stings, okay?) - some bands just... burn out, while others fade away. these bands manage to keep their act together, but just seem to end up losing the public's attention. that's where the casino circuit comes in i guess. boyzIImen anyone? (maybe that will be the next edition?) well their fellow 90's icons, the offspring, have certainly done some kind of fading in recent years too. when was the last time you thought about them? or heard one of their songs? i'm not sure what it was that made the offspring first pop into my head last night.... maybe because i'm a pretty fly for a white guy? ...no. so maybe i was reminiscing fondly about the first, and only, time i saw them, at tony hawk's boom boom huckjam in 7th grade. i feel like that's a line that will definitely date me when i'm older. if it doesn't already.... anyways, with my curiosity piqued, and a fresh google page ready, i began to discover what really happened to those loveable punksters. keep reading to find out!
most of the blogs i tend to look at are music related. probably because music is what i involve myself with most. i'm always looking for new tunes to groove to. sing to. fall asleep to. laugh to. ride to. party to. [verb] to. you get it! so with that being said - here are a few tracks (moreover bands) i'm really diggin' lately. keep reading to find out!
hello and welcome to yet another random blog. oh noesss, another random blog?! well too bad! never got on this bandwagon before, but seeing as i've taken a recent liking to many other blogs around the interwebs, i thought i'd try my hand at it. i've been meaning to do some more writing and journalistic endeavors. so maybe this will be the ticket. check out my profile if you're really that interested.
well now that that's that, you may be asking: what's this? i'm not sure what the entirety of my intentions are with this baby, but i figure that's the fun part. primarily: things to do, music to listen to, stuff to look at, text to read and more. oh boy! anyways, let's get started. yay!!!
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