Meet the new Minutemen! With not a song over 2:24, the Death Set’s Worldwide is an amalgamation of lo-fi electronica and old school punk rock a la Minutemen and their cited influences: Black Flag, the Buzzcocks, and Minor Threat. I’m not so sure I heard the Buzzcocks so much as I heard the Go! Team’s “Thunder, Lightning, Strike” (without the horns) - a DIY sound, an overdriven Casio with frenetic guitars backing up sideline cheerleaders of the 21st century. An apt reference is our local team, No Age who have combined punk and surf with new aesthetics. Other notable tunes on Worldwide are: “Intermission”, “Around the World”, and the transcendent “Impossible”.
The Death Set have achieved considerable renown in Baltimore for their live sets (check out the pics on their website) but they are depriving LA of their presence on this tour at least - dammit if they aren’t teaming up Brazilian power group Bonde do Role who are only making it out as far as Arizona. In the meantime, this is a fun record to enjoy until they do make it to LA hopefully in the second half of this year.
40 years after the Summer of Love (and 30 years after the Summer of Hate), MGMT is celebrating the grand re-opening of the third eye of the world with Oracular Spectacular, the duo’s much-anticipated first full-length album, an enigmatic and prophetic collection of hallucinatory sounds and hook-riddled pop tones for the new millennium.
Stephin Merritt has quite openly admitted that his newest offering is an homage to the Jesus and Mary Chain, and indeed this does sound a hell of a lot like Psychocandy. The strings and pianos are still there, but buried under a bed of reverb-drenched distortion and shrieking feedback.
Considering how unique and iconic an album Psychocandy was, borrowing so heavily from it could have ended up going very badly. But somehow it works quite well with his songwriting. While the Jesus and Mary Chain might have been limited by their musical ability and knowledge, Merritt and company understand the pop principles they’re working with.Taken from: nowtoronto.com
Web: houseoftomorrow.com
It makes sense that a protégé of Girl Talk’s Greg Gillis would specialize in pop appropriation and cross-pollination, two things Joe “White” Williams brings in spades to Smoke. But Williams’ debut induces tender gasps and organic contractions in its meticulously tweaked songcraft: “New Violence” sounds like Sparks with Euro-pop training wheels, but the thudding bass and shrill synths have a will and pulse of their own. There are traces of Tiga’s electro-slanted élan—minus most of the dance-floor pandering—to Williams’ “Going Down,” but its lush glitches, glutinous low-end, and space-plus-samples collage aesthetic owe more to Brian Eno’s tenure with Talking Heads. Gillis’ influence rears highest in a dull version of the Strangeloves-by-way-of-Bow Wow Wow classic “I Want Candy” and the throwaway “Fleetwood Crack”—but the lopsided laptop funk of “Smoke” is nothing short of nauseously gorgeous. The world probably doesn’t need a new Beck, but Smoke proves there’s one floating around, just in case.
Parisian duo Thomas Bangalter & Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo aka Daft Punk quickly rose to acclaim by adapting a love for first-wave acid house and techno to their younger roots in pop, indie rock, and hip-hop. Formed in 1993 the duo released their debut single ‘Alive’ on celebrated techno label Soma which was instantly hailed by the dance music press as the work of a new breed of house innovators, the single was followed by ‘Da Funk’ the bands first true hit, they were quickly signed to Virgin Records and in 1997 the ground breaking ‘Homework’ album was released.
Albums: Discovery, Human After All, Musique and Alive have since followed to huge critical and commercial success all containing their unique dancefloor-oriented blend of house, funk, electro, and techno, with sprinklings of hip-hop-styled breakbeats and excessive, crowd-firing samples.
What their legions of fans and dance music lovers may be not aware of is their love of a good sample, some of which have been rounded up on this crucial collection - original tracks that form the basis of their most known hits including ‘Da Funk’ , ‘Around The World’ and ‘Harder Better Stronger Faster’ and may more…
Ten years on since the release of ‘Homework’ the band continue to win new fans and remain in the spotlight, playing at every major festival and embarking on a world tour and releasing their debut film ‘Electroma’
We all know that ‘Acceptable In The 80s’ is among the Top Ten best things to happen this year and now here is the full Calvin Harris long player. Living up to the debut single was always going to be hard work but Harris makes a bloody good go of it: follow-up ‘The Girls’ sounds like a tune you’ve been dancing to for the past six years, as well as sounding like it’ll be on the radio every few minutes for the next six months. Even better is ‘Merry Making At My Place’, which is like ‘Rudebox’ but with a proper bassline and a point. Other moments of goodness include the title track and ‘Vegas’, although the 80s-aping latter does veer dangerously close to self plagiarism with a bassline almost identical to ‘Acceptable In The 80s’. At times Harris seems a little unsure of who or what he wants to be - ‘Neon Rocks’ sounds like something Gwen Stefani might Hoover up for one of her big important albums, the title track wouldn’t sound out of place on a Daft Punk album and ‘In The Industry’ wobbles dangerously near to The World Of Indie. But if everything sounded the same we’d be listening to a Snow Patrol record and we’re not. This is Calvin Harris, and bloody good his album is too.
Dear fierceness –can you come out to play? Goth-punk goddess Siouxsie Sioux hasn’t sounded this tough since the Banshees fell apart more than a decade ago. She recently split with husband and musical partner Budgie, who drummed for the Banshees and joined her in the globe-trotting adventures of the Creatures; it’s the goth equivalent of a royal divorce. But with all her cities in dust, Siouxsie concentrates all her eccentric music powers on her first solo album ever, one where you don’t have to keep telling yourself “but it’s Siouxsie” to pay attention. Great hooks like “Loveless” and “About to Happen” twist the tricks she’s re-learned from young disciples such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars and Arcade Fire. She busts out her Frau Blucher voice for crypt-cabaret ballads like “Sea of Tranquility”and “Heaven and Alchemy,” switching into latex-dominatrix mode for the brassy ersatz Bond theme “Here Comes That Day.” After thirty years in the game, Siouxsie still can’t be stopped.
Dear DFA, why wasn’t there a label like you around in 1990 when me and my friends had about 15 pretentious and arty bands exactly like prinzhorn dance school? If anything, I love this prinzhorn dance school album because it perfectly preserves the memories of skinny black-clad, cheap red wine swilling art scoundrels the world over. Minimalist and repetitive, most of the tunes are just bass and drums, or bass and guitar, with shouty verses of two or so stanzas, perfect if you are drunk, or on meth or both.
The album is stunningly simple and uncomplicated - my 3 year old gets it and I can’t argue with that. Now we both stomp around and shout out the songs together while his sohpisticated and disapproving 5 year old sister watches until, she too is forced to join in.
The Black Lips fifth album, and first studio album for VICE, is titled Good Bad, Not Evil. The title Good Bad, Not Evil is inspired by the Shangri-Las song “Walk Right Up To Him (Give Him A Great Big Kiss). The album was produced by the band in their hometown of Atlanta at The Living Room studios aided by the band’s friend Ed Rawls, a bartender at the nearby Drunken Unicorn bar, just around the corner from where fellow Atlantans Outkast work.
The Black Lips formed when as teenager after school friends Cole Alexander (guitar / vocals) and Jared Swilley (bass / vocals) signed up their friends Joe Bradley (drums / vocals) and Ben Eberbaugh (guitar). After swiftly becoming one of the Atlanta underground’s most talked about bands, and along the way being banned from numerous venues for their wild live shows, the group released albums and seven inches on different underground garage labels like Bomp and In The Red. Tragically, Eberbaugh was killed in a freak traffic accident but the band carried on with New Orleans-born Ian St Pe. These events would go on to influence the song “How Do You Tell A Child That Someone Had Died”, a stand out track on Good Bad, Not Evil. The album ranges from dirty psychedelic blues songs about Holy World War 3 “Veni Vidi Vicci” outright pop hits like “Katrina” (written the night the band found out that the Hurricane of the same names had devastated New Orleans) and Bad Kids (based around certain band members’ experiences with juvenile detention centres). There’s also the bruised, tender album closer “Transcendental Light”, a song written by Ian about discovering his mother’s body. Cole Alexander told us: “On this album we were really inspired by ourselves, especially our first two albums. They really changed the way the whole game was played. I think our work really transcends all genres and continues to influences us all on a daily basis” For us, the album’s a fresh, exciting take on the wildest records of bands like 1960s Peruvian punk bands like Los Saicos, the Stones, 13th Floor Elevators and the raw pop exuberance of Cavern-era Beatles. It’s probably the most out-there, funnest album you’re going to hear all year.
Returning for the first time since it was initially staged in 2004, JOE’S PUB IN THE PARK captures the quality and range of performances that have made Joe’s Pub, now in its ninth year of providing music at its downtown home, one of the most acclaimed and popular clubs in New York City. Pub in the Park brings that talent and diversity into The Public Theater’s most visible and accessible venue, the annual home of Shakespeare in the Park. Drawing from a pool of the literally thousands of artists that have performed at Joe’s Pub, the event’s programming combines musicians from varying genres and backgrounds together onto multiple full-length artist bills designed to bring disparate audiences together.
Highlights include: Beirut / Balkan Beat Box / NY Gypsy All Stars
September 26th 2007 7:00PM
Indie pop and global sounds collide with a bang! Don’t miss the fireworks as underground sensations Beirut, raucous multidisciplinary party band Balkan Beat Box and the world-class instrumentalists of the NY Gypsy All-Stars storm Central Park, presented in association with the NY Gypsy Festival.
20th Century Boy: Marc Bolan and T.Rex 30th Anniversary Celebration / David Driver Sings The Scott Walker Songbook / Justin Bond is Close to You: The Songs of the Carpenters
Saturday, September 29th 2007 7:00PM
An evening of tribute to three great musicians as David Driver performs the work of Scott Walker, Tony nominated performer Justin Bond recreates The Carpenters’ Close to You album and an all-star collective commemorates the memory of T. Rex leader Marc Bolan.
England’s Go! Team play a fast and furious mix of 60s girl groups, 70s car chase TV themes, 80s lady MCs, and 90s guitar squalor. Their 2005 debut, Thunder, Lightning, Strike was critically lauded for its cheerleader anthems, syrupy string samples, and mad-as-a-hatter horn arrangements. This release bombs melodies into the stone age with its needle-in-the-red anti-production approach. It lurches from bubblegum pop to white noise in a heartbeat. Contributors include Chuck D, the original Double Dutch Divas, Rapper’s Delight Club, Marina from Bonde Do Role, Solex, and Washington, DC’s Frederick Douglas All Star Cheer Team.
Architecture in Helsinki make boisterous, Technicolor-toned indie pop, and they do it with a verve that is alternately thrilling and exhausting to listen to. This quality seemed to be the main focus of all the hyperbolic praise prompted by the band’s 2005 release, In Case We Die, and rightfully so. It’s hard to deny the infectious charm of “Neverevereverdid” or the sugar rush of “Frenchy, I’m Faking,” but once you get past the candy-coated shell, Architecture in Helsinki don’t provide a lot to chew on. Much of this can be attributed to the band’s self-consciously awful lyrics, which range from 10-year-old-doing-a-Madlib juvenile to stream-of-consciousness bizarre. On Places Like This, however, songwriter/vocalist Cameron Bird and company seem to acknowledge their lyrical deficiencies by taking them to the logical extreme of self-parody, while keeping all their kitchen-sink instrumental layers intact. They know it’s silly, but they don’t give a shit, and neither should you.
That’s not to say that some curiously dark edges don’t exist on Places, as when Bird bittersweetly sings about “Leaping off the edge of this world” on album opener “Red Turned White.” But from there, things get loopy. “Heart It Races” is a dreamy love song with ethereal steel drums, and it’s followed by the prototypical Architecture in Helsinki party-jam “Hold Music,” complete with left-field tempo shifts, bells, and whistles. That song, along with “Like It Or Not,” provides a great example of the band’s refreshing self-awareness, replacing attempts at sing-along choruses with shout-along, onomatopoeic revelry. But if you’re still waffling about joining in on the monkeyshines, “Debbie” will settle you on one side of the love-it-or-hate-it line in the sand. The track steps along as a cheeky bit of disco-funk until a gloriously pretentious and out-of-place horn solo climaxes with Bird bleating in falsetto. You might cringe, you might smile, but you won’t not react. Just know that Architecture in Helsinki have enough energy to continue cranking out these adrenaline and saccharine cocktails until you do.
Don’t look at pictures of The New Pornographers. If you do, you’ll think, “These guys look more likely to teach me about sedimentary limestone than write good songs.” But it would be your loss not to listen to them, as their fourth album is a staggering masterclass in indie-pop songwriting that will make your brain melt and send firecrackers around your heart. Like Arcade Fire, The Shins and The Decemberists, they’re a band that American rock blogs go loopy for, and not without reason. From the Raspberries-esque power-pop of ‘All The Old Showstoppers’ to acoustic gems like ‘Adventures In Solitude’, these are tunes Brian Wilson would have cleared room on ‘Pet Sounds’ for, each boasting spellbinding melodies and a harmonic complexity to die for. Did you really just read “a harmonic complexity to die for” in NME? Well, we did warn you they’d melt your brain.
