The Kiln

Hip Hop Kemp 2008 (Line-Up)

2008-07-01T14:41:00.002-04:00

The Roots, Atmosphere + Brother Ali, Pharoahe Monch, Army of the Pharaohs, Turntable Live Jazz (DJ Rafik, DJ Adlib, Ben*, Frank Nitty, Guilty Simpson & Illa Jay), U.N.I.T.Y. B-GIRL STAGE (Bahamadia, Roxanne Shante, Apani B, Eternia, Stacy Epps, Invincible, Mauikai, La Mala...), Kenny Muhammad The Human Orchestra, eMC, Kano, Kool Savas, MR. Lif & Akrobatik, Zion I, Looptroop Rockers, Pete Philly & Perquisite, Nato, Snowgoons Soundsystem feat. Sicknature, Stig of the Dump, Leroy, Wax Taylor, O.S.T.R., TPWC, 2cztery7 + Flexxip & Emil Blef, Olli Banjo, Huss & Hodn, Kontrafakt, Navigators...

August 22, 23 & 24
Festivalpark Hradec Králové
Czech Republic

website

Coldplay / Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends [2008]

2008-06-24T14:20:00.004-04:00

Coldplay
Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends
Parlophone, Capitol
June 12, 2008

Coldplay are one of the most popular pop-rock bands nowadays. After three albums of emotive songs, Chris Martin and his troupe have played everywhere. Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends has been partly recorded in Barcelona, even though the influence of this city (musically-wise) on the album is based on Latin percussions and a few other tiny details. It looks like they were trying to do some experimentation this time, abandoning their classic pop formula of making hits. I think it’s been a bad move. When Coldplay try to experiment they end up sounding boring. Those mainstream pop singles were far better than this new thing, even if all the hipsters will say they appreciate this change in their career. Being alternative is not good for itself, the main point here is being good and this record is one of the dullest I have heard in the last months. - Grey

Highlights / Violet Hill (video)

Primavera Sound 2008, day 3

2008-06-20T05:57:00.006-04:00

Times New Viking
I remember we didn’t review their last album because we didn’t know how to analyze it properly. I wasn’t very excited about it either but I heard they have a great show so I decided to give them a chance. No regrets. They were astonishing, even if they had those technical problems with the guitar that slowed down the concert a little bit.

Port O’Brien
Not bad, not bad. It wasn’t a really exciting concert (especially if you were coming from Times New Viking) but it was decent enough. They played their sentimental songs well and the last one was just an anthem.

Silver Jews
David Berman and his troupe finally came to Barcelona. His last album (which is going to be review by The Kiln in a few days) still retains part of the original flavor from albums like American Water. The concert was good. They played old and new stuff and the only thing I didn’t like was Berman’s attitude in some occasions. He’s always going from one side of the stage to the other and singing while doing other things like looking for the t-shirts he’s going to give to his fans. I think he should act more like a real front man.

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
I saw the first half an hour of this concert and it was pretty good. Some people said the sound was awful near the stage but I saw it from 20-30 meters away and it was good. Lightspeed Champion was in the crowd wearing one of those crazy hats like we were in Siberia Sound Festival.

Rufus Wainwright
I really like some of his songs but this guy is such a pain! Is it really necessary to introduce every single song with some talking and to tell me how gay you are and how proud you are of it? I saw the first 20 minutes and the last three songs and that was enough.

Menomena
I saw them in the meantime between the first part of Rufus’ concert and the end of it. I was lucky because I could hear to all their main hits. They are really energetic on the stage. I expected it to be quieter but I had a lot of fun anyway.

Clipse
“I’m at your door, your eyes are like ‘why are you here?’". The sound was awful again but it didn’t matter. I was so excited about it that I couldn’t stop shaking my arms up and down and singing along all the songs. Hip hop is still alive thanks to people like Clipse. No doubt.

Les Savy Fav
One of the best concerts of the festival. Their music is like a kick in the ass and all the Tim Harrington’s stripping show is hilarious. Les Savy Fav is one of those bands you enjoy not only because of the music they make but also because their attitude. There’s nothing else I can say except that I touched Tim’s sweated back.

Animal Collective
Not as danceable as I expected but still pretty enjoyable. They are so creative that they can make almost any kind of show because it is going to be good anyway. I don’t know what the people think about it but this kind of music is much better live than at home. - Grey

Tilly And The Wall / O [2008]

2008-06-18T22:54:00.004-04:00

Tilly And The Wall
O
Team Love
June 17, 2008

I love both records Tilly And The Wall have made so far - Wild Like Children with its 60’s melodies produced by Conor Oberst and sophomore record Bottoms of Barrels with its youthful pop songs and Mexican mariachi twee-ness. O, produced by Mike Mogis (of Bright Eyes), is just as uplifting. The fact that Tilly And The Wall are signed to Oberst’s independent record label Team Love makes O an album you have to hear if you’re into anything that’s come out of Saddle Creek records or the Omaha music scene. I love when you can hear a band’s progression through their albums, so was totally happy to hear a whole bunch of new sounds with the new album on top of the usual (and amazing) acoustic guitar, trademark tap dancing, and youthful, shouty and exuberant vocals that caught the attention of their fans in the first place. This time the record comes with an added punk spirit (well I say ‘boo hoo’/and I say ‘fuck you!’), more handclaps, foot stomps, and a whole bunch of youthful rebellion. Their lyrics have also taken on a punkier theme – maybe they've been listening to some old punk records from the 70’s, ‘cause they seem a little more loud and confident. At one time Tilly And The Wall would have been happy just shouting over an old microphone and acoustic guitar while stomping around, but now they’ve added some confrontational lyrics, even louder foot stomps and harder guitar sounds that make for an amazing third album that I’m sure won’t disappoint the other fans out there. - TotalTrash

Highlights / Pot Kettle Black

New Video: Mates of State

2008-06-18T10:22:00.005-04:00

"My Only Offer" is their second video from their new album Re-Arrange us

Wolf Parade / At Mount Zoomer [2008]

2008-06-16T08:24:00.005-04:00

Wolf Parade
At Mount Zoomer
Sup Pop
June 17, 2008

This is a good example of a good alternative indie rock album, with great sounding guitar and some good hooks. Recorded in a church in Montreal owned by the Arcade Fire, it’s pretty impossible for Wolf Parade to make their sophomore album anything below interesting at least, and they’ve totally succeeded, creating some great textures and Arcade Fire-esque melodies on the piano and vocals. It's a nice sounding record – something I predicted, seeing as the band are on Sub Pop, who always seem to give us some interesting music – ($) and the fact that Wolf Parade have taken a while to make something new and cool really shows through. Key tracks like "Bang Your Drum" and "Soldier’s Grin" have great melody and rhythm, and are seriously nice to listen to with the window open, the sun coming in, making plans for summer and looking at old Polaroids. - TotalTrash

Highlights / Soldier's Grin

Moscow Olympics / Cut The World [2008]

2008-06-16T08:08:00.003-04:00

Moscow Olympics
Cut The World
Lavender
June 11, 2008

It seemed almost impossible to find something else to play on the stereo as you drove along the shore in the Philippines watching the ocean about to swallow and put you through eternity. Perfect synchronization between every rhythmic cell in your body, your car and the music would make for a perfect resonance that was sure to put the world on hold, the shore always closer and the road expanding ahead of you, true to your mind. Twee pop sounds, extra reverberation, unintelligible lyrics and the right amount of strawberry ice cream, your road trip was more than perfect, no need to think of her on the way back. Finally, as the snapshots of those gray buildings from 1980's Moscow projected themselves between the windshield and your tired mind, you decided to cut the world, let go of the rest of your ideology, follow the ocean sign and plunge into the sea. - postbop

Highlights / Cut The World

Sigur Rós / Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust [2008]

2008-06-12T14:21:00.004-04:00

Sigur Rós
Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Beggars XL Recordings
June 8, 2008 (Free Album Stream)

Be careful; everything you do to stand out from the rest, to individuate yourself and construct your own sound, will be the key to your further dematerialization. Keep the outside, common business world outside and artfully craft an interior universe; everything you choose will be included, from gigantic tubas to violin sections riding the straight beat of a drumset placed in the middle of nowhere, reverberations coloring the sky with a thousand hues. It is the most important task of your life, and you sure will live up to it, but you will slowly notice that as you build your wasteland houses, unchanging skies of hope, eternal landscapes of pure sound that moves the world as if it were ripples on water, you will be also building your own prison. The real, vital task, is to keep that universe in expansion. The more you keep outside, the less you have to live with on the inside, and no matter how much you can get in there, it's no match for eternity; no matter how broad your land may be, it will always be too small, it will sometimes begin to loop on itself until you are kicked out. Building an identity is nothing more than building the cage in which you will be slowly left alone, your memories sticking to you like an old man's tics. You may choose, as some elder men do, to have nothing of your own, but you will be stranded alone in the desert. And it's not just about running naked through the trees because once again, every word you utter is your final battle against identity. - postbop

Highlights / Gobbledigook

Primavera Sound 2008, Day 2

2008-06-12T06:12:00.007-04:00

Holly Golightly
They couldn’t do any sound check before the concert due to technical problems, so everything was kind of improvised. The show was nothing special but I really like three or four of the songs they played and they are the funniest guys ever. I still think that was an outdoor show. They are not quiet enough to play in an auditorium.

Russian Red
I saw the last three songs and it was pretty disappointing, not because of her, but because of CD Drome stage's awful sound. She needs an intimate place and that noisy stage was not the right place (the auditorium would have been great in her case).

MV & EE with The Golden Road
I didn’t expect anything from this band because last time they came to Barcelona everybody said the show was pretty boring. I grabbed a beer and had a sit. The view from the stands was amazing. You could see the sea and boats coming and going. The show was not bad either; enjoyable electric hippie rock and roll, good as an afternoon concert at a festival.

The Felice Brothers
I was looking forward to seeing these guys live! I love Bob Dylan and The Band and I really got into their albums. Unfortunately, they appeared to play on the CD Drome stage too. The sound was annoying but they were playing so energetically, almost nobody cared. They are one of those bands worth seeing live, far better than any recorded stuff. I put my whiskey into my whiskey…

The Sonics
I’m so glad to have had the chance to see The Sonics live! Some people were saying the show was not as rough as they used to be but… what did you expect? They are almost 70. I couldn’t stop dancing from the first song to the end. These guys are just amazing.

Why?
This was probably the concert that suffered the least from bad sound on the CD Drome stage. Why? The music is kind of distorted and I didn’t mind a bit more of it. I don’t remember much, but I enjoyed it.

Cat Power
Disappointing. After twenty minutes we went to the stands and rolled up a blunt. It was not a very bad concert, but it seems she’s losing that great voice she used to have. Every song sounded the same and she sang way too many covers from her last album. All the original flavor of her old songs from You Are Free or Moon Pix was gone.

The Go! Team
Better than expected. Their album is not that bad, but I have never really paid any attention to this band. Their shows are a different story. That mix between indie rock, hip hop and electronic sounds really works and it’s a good band for dancing. The singer is so energetic.

El Guincho
I guess a lot of tourists were looking forward to this since El Guincho got a lot of hype on the Internet and played a few gigs in the States. It was not bad, but far from the great show he delivered a few months ago at the Apolo. The bass was too loud and you couldn’t hear all those tropical sounds his music is made of.

Holy Fuck
Holy surprise! Perfect ending for a music festival. Tough but danceable electronic music for indie kids. I can’t tell you much more about this but I can say I spent all my last energy dancing like I was out of my mind.
- Grey

NaS Is Coming!

2008-06-10T18:14:00.002-04:00

New album coming soon...

The Futureheads / This Is Not The World [2008]

2008-06-10T11:16:00.004-04:00

The Futureheads
This Is Not The World
Megaforce
June 3, 2008

When I was 14 years old, I totally loved this band. Their songs "Hounds of Love" and "Decent Days and Nights" were constantly playing on my stereo – but over time, things change, and since it’s been over two years since I’ve listened to their music, I wasn’t expecting to exactly fall in love with their new record. "The Beginning of the Twist" isn’t bad; I mean, I’ve heard worse, but it’s really not amazing... in fact, it’s almost boring, kind of danceable though, if you like that sorta thing. "Radio Heart" is a little better, though under-stimulating; however, it is one of the standout tracks on the record, with "Everything’s Changing Today". "Walking Backwards" isn’t too bad, along with "Think Tonight," "Sleet," "Work is Never Done" and "Broke Up the Time". But for some reason all the other tracks seem to blend together and sound the same, which is not what a music lover wants to hear, trust me. If you’re a fan of The Futureheads, however, you’ll probably like the album a whole lot. They still sound the same, so no fans will be alienated – but if you’re a newcomer to this band maybe that’s a reason why you shouldn’t buy this album. - TotalTrash

Highlights / The Beginning of the Twist

My Morning Jacket / Evil Urges [2008]

2008-06-09T14:46:00.001-04:00

My Morning Jacket
Evil Urges
ATO
June 10, 2008

"Honey it‘s rotten and they got us so scared/Thinking there’s some evil waiting under vain." That's the first line Kentucky rockers My Morning Jacket decided to put on their new album. After three years and a big change after Z, an album filled with synthesizers and those weird dub moods, Evil Urges is a breath of fresh air. Although I'm pretty sure longtime MMJ fans won't be happy with it, there's nothing to afraid of, you can't totally hate this album; you have to recognize that the band has done an incredible job reinventing themselves, stepping away from the folkish sound on It Still Moves and their characteristic reverb effect, being used indiscriminately nowadays by a large amount of new bands. Different is the key word; if you want proof, just listen to "Highly Suspicious" and see how hard these guys wanted to do something else (if the song isn't enough, look at the album cover). - Khyne

Highlights / Evil Urges

Bonnie "Prince" Billy / Lie Down In The Light [2008]

2008-06-09T13:34:00.002-04:00

Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Lie Down In The Light
Drag City
May 20, 2008

Warm autumn sunshine shining on your lover's cheek as you "Lie Down In The Light". This is most definitely an autumn record; lay on a blanket as you watch the coulours of ambers, yellows, and different shades of brown of the rustling oak leaves that are yet to fall from the trees, then further up to the wispy clouds floating by in the chilly breeze... Then sing! Sing along to brilliant pieces of magic. Louder and then even louder as if nothing else and nobody else other than yourselves, beautiful surroundings and music exits! Have moments of pure magic and stories of nostalgia that will transport you to another time and place, even if just for a moment, but you'll go there. This record will take you there, you'll be dissolved and then absorbed there to that unexplainable place that only a beautiful country record can create. You'll feel as if you'll never need to return to reality. But only stay. Stay and sing. - Morning Lemon

Highlights / You Remind Me of Something (The Glory Goes)

The Delta Fiasco live @ FGAA (Bogotá) [05.6.2008]

2008-06-06T18:02:00.011-04:00

While everybody else is enjoying their summer festivals, thousands of bands together in parks full people, you can always expect to spend a sunny day in Bogotá and find yourself jumping and dancing to an amazing band by night. Because summer also happens here, even if it's just for three days in a row. Walk the streets of the old city and plan ahead. You'll have some free time on your hands and some profound considering to do; eat a cheap slice of pizza and read a book, it's a long way from here to total disintegration. Even if you're always trying to escape cinematographic interpretations of your life, some things do feel like endings and you have to act properly, hold your head high, shove your hands in your pocket, the night is not that cold. The Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño, working as an art gallery, restaurant, museum and now rock venue is there, around that corner.

The Delta Fiasco played a show like you'd never expect. Sitting on a dark theatre–not the old kind of stripped-down theatre-turned-disco bar now in fashion in Bogotá, but a real, working one–you feel like back in the old days, waiting for the police to come in and take out the sexual offenders on stage. Full venue for the Nite n' Rock concert series organized by the District office, the organizer said it was one of these things you'd never expect to happen. Yet we had a full, Liverpool straight ahead Y2K rock trio to shake the night and make it feel like a thousand nights had ended. Blasting sound, you were already determined to give up your hearing abilities just to enjoy the night as it should be. They would go back and forth between simple sequenced beats on a Macbook onstage, hard driving guitar sound walls and analog synthesizer explorations, along powered melodies on voice, making you remember Interpol and VHS or Beta at times.

After a long, synth-powered intro to "Uh Oh Oh" [think of Ladytron], it was not long before the full venue was on their feet, dancing and jumping along, the room filled with machine-made smoke and your usual colored moving lights almost turning the theatre into a full concert house. As always, you were almost expecting that moment in which the music would make you forget about the rest of your life and experience the instant bliss of jumping in time with a drum kick, watching the world stand still on a beat. Unfortunately the show was not too long; they played about 5 or 6 songs and an encore which they announced they had not played for a long time. Then, walk the streets back, watch the harsh city go by the bus window. End the night and your life [or at least that kind of movie-like narration you've made for yourself] with a few beers, the One Hit Wonders and a bar. Summer is here to stay. - postbop

Photos by: Vitti

New Ted Leo/RX Song

2008-06-04T12:33:00.007-04:00

On last night's episode of The Best Show, Ted Leo and host Tom Scharpling took lyric suggestions from listeners and in under two hours, wrote a song out of them! "The World is in The Turlet" can be streamed here.
Or click here to listen to the entire show and their songwriting process.

Believe The Hype: SoKo

2008-06-04T07:00:00.004-04:00

I'll Kill Her

My Wet Dreams (Live)

Don't you already love this French girl? She says in her myspace she hasn't released any record yet but she's working on it. Thanks to Šarlote for recommending me this promising new talent. - Grey

Primavera Sound 2008, day 1

2008-06-03T14:43:00.026-04:00

This festival is the best thing that happened to me this year so far. I had a lot of fun there and, even though I’d like to write some detailed chronicle, I think I’m not able to do so; too much to remember, too much beer, even too much Jägermeister. That being said, I’ll just make a brief comment about every band I saw there.

MGMT
It was one of the first concerts taking place the first day of the festival, so we couldn’t expect the same from them than from bands playing around midnight. It was not dark yet and I guess their music is much more enjoyable by nighttime. Anyway, it was a pretty good concert. I enjoyed some of their best songs like “Time To Pretend” or “Kids” and right now I consider it a decent warm-up for what was to come. Oh, and a little kid came to the stage to dance with the members of the band!

Edan and guest Dagha
Oh, man. This guy is a showman. Edan and his fellow delivered a 45-minute show plenty of energy and good vibrations. They do connect on the stage and when Edan starts rapping and djing at the same time it’s just amazing! I was curious about how hip-hop artists would be received in this ‘indie rock festival’ and I’m very pleased the crowd was enjoying it as much as I was. One of the most original and unique hip-hop shows right now.

Public Enemy
“Do-don’t-don’t believe the hype!” Amazing. Public Enemy are just legends. I had a lot of fun rapping along all their songs but there were also some complains. Bomb Squad played a 20-minute show before them and, after that, PE had no time to finish It Takes A Nation..., a record they were supposed to play entirely. They tried to make it up with two other classics such as “Fight The Power”. When it comes to me, I don’t really regret anything. A dream come true.

Portishead
In my opinion, this was the best concert ever; the perfect show, the perfect sound, the perfect everything… They played more old songs than new ones and it was completely awesome. I just couldn’t believe Chuck D came to the stage to rap along “Machine Gun”. There’s nothing else I can say. It was better than sex and anything in this world.

De La Soul
By that time my recently met new English friends and I were pretty tired, so we went for some beers and enjoyed this show from the stands. Anyway, it seemed a great concert and people had fun. They played both new and old stuff, wisely connecting the different songs which turned out in a consistent show. De La Soul are just professionals and there’s no way their concerts could suck.

Vampire Weekend
The concert we all were waiting for. The sound was not perfect but… who cares? We all had listened to their debut album a thousand times, we all knew their lyrics. They just had to play a decent show and they did. “Walcott, don’t you know that it’s insane?” Oh my God.

After Vampire Weekend we were supposed to see Midnight Juggernauts but some of us started a discussion about politics while drinking the last beer and finally ended up dancing with the records Graham (a local dj) was spinning. I still can’t believe it. What a night! - Grey

+ Professional pics here

New Video: The Brunettes

2008-06-03T13:27:00.002-04:00

"Small Town Crew" from 2007's Structure and Cosmetics

Book: Christine Falls [2006]

2008-05-31T15:40:00.002-04:00

Christine Falls
by Benjamin Black

When the Booker-Prize-winning, seriously literary Irish writer John Banville came out with this mystery novel in 2006, under a new pen name—and declared it would be the first in a series, no less—critics seemed to appreciate the idea and rewarded Banville/Black with praise for writing a kind of literary-mystery hybrid. In the end, the book succeeds as neither. While it contains many well-written scenes, and is certainly oozing with 1950’s atmosphere, it’s all in the service of a slow-moving and unrewarding plot. One chief problem is that the protagonist, a Dublin pathologist named Quirke, is an obstinately unpleasant character to play the lead in a mystery series: a bloated, chain-smoking alcoholic sloth who has nothing serious or interesting to say about any of the events that take place. (For some reason, and absurdly, Banville has nearly every female character in the novel fall for him, more than one directly into bed for drearily described bouts of sex.) Secondly, the plotting can be mind-numbingly slow. Quirke is consistently told to lay off his investigation into the death of the title character, if he knows what’s good for him, even though it’s not clear exactly what he’s doing or asking that would ever bring him any closer to discovering anyone’s secrets before drinking himself into forgetfulness. When the action comes—and there’s action, in the form of murder, rape, and multiple levels of revealed identities—it’s all presented in the same beautiful but turgid prose. And if you haven’t figured out the central mystery and motives, as well as the main culprit, well before the end of the book, perhaps it’s because the characters have put you to sleep. - Gilligan

My Brightest Diamond live @ La [2] (Barcelona) [5.27.2008]

2008-05-30T19:15:00.006-04:00

Primavera Sound is here! Yesterday we enjoyed the first warm-up concert before the very festival starts this Thursday. My Brightest Diamond played an excellent gig for a small crowd of 200 people (approximately). But before them, we could listen to two other bands. The first one was a cover band called Abrevadero (local band from Barcelona). They cover some well-known artists (Tom Waits, Cat Power and even Vampire Weekend) in a country-folk way. They have banjos, harmonicas and some other weird instruments to transform all those songs to their style. Although they made some mistakes while playing their songs, the show was quite fun. You know, listening to “Oxford Comma” or “We Are Your Friends” like they were country or folk songs makes you smile.

DM Stith is a friend of My Brightest Diamond who, like Shara Worden pointed out, has been helping them in their records (adding some extra vocals, etc.). Shara also said it was his first concert (didn’t she?) and maybe because of that, it wasn’t very exciting. Most of the songs were boring. There are a lot of singer-songwriters nowadays and they have to make very original music if they want to catch our attention because most of them sound just the same. Anyway, I’m not saying it was so pathetic, but it was pretty dull.

Finally, My Brightest Diamond started their show a few minutes before eleven o’clock. They were great from the beginning to the end. Shara has such an incredible voice. I know mentioning Billie Holliday would be a sacrilege here, but she just reminded me of her sometimes. That powerful voice was accompanied by two good musicians, a drummer and a bassist. They brought us where they wanted to in every single track. Sometimes it was a delicate song, sometimes a wild flow of electric guitars but the transitions between these different moments was always terrific. It is hard to make a consistent show when you set a different mood in every song you play, but no doubt they made it. Primavera Sound couldn’t start better! - Grey

Book: What Is The What [2006]

2008-05-30T19:09:00.003-04:00

What Is The What
by Uzodinma Iweala

Sometimes, good fiction, like a good Hollywood film, can do more than a thousand textbooks to drive home and personalize an issue in the headlines. In recent times, “African” movies like Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond have popularized the general—genocide, the diamond trade, child soldiers—by dramatizing the particular—a brave man’s attempt to reunite with his family, say. In the same spirit, some recent novels have tried to engage a wider readership in issues affecting the African continent. Although the great novel of Darfur has yet to be written, in the meantime there is Dave Eggers’s What Is The What, a novelization, based on interviews and told in the first person, of the life of Sudanese refugee Valentino Achak Deng. The problems and politics of the Sudan are sketched slowly into the life of the book, until the accumulation of detail over its nearly 500 pages has you invested not only in the fate of its main character, but in the current state of affairs for his countrymen in Sudan, as well. You find yourself leaping to find the websites listed at the back of the book to find a way to explore—and if possible, to help ease—the suffering of those you’ve just finished reading about. The book is heartbreaking, uplifting, and ready-made for, well, a Hollywood feature. - Gilligan

The Wedding Present / El Rey [2008]

2008-05-30T19:08:00.000-04:00

The Wedding Present
Rey

Manifesto
May 20, 2008

I've been listening to David Gedge's music since he began with Cinerama. I was a little boy trying to be different from the rest of my classmates. That kind of music offered me new paths to cross; it gave me a new vision of what indie music should be. In TWP's new release, their eighth studio album, that's so well done; they play with rhythms as if they were made of clay. The lyrics always keep the indie pop style that defines bands like Luna or The Delgados, but this music is louder. Songs like “Palisades” and “The Trouble With Men” are highly distortioned and heavy, but the balance persists. Other songs, like “Model, Actress, Whatever...” and “Swingers” bring calm to the album. You’ll enjoy it from beginning to end. - Hi6uera

Highlights / Wolves

Al Green / Lay It Down [2008]

2008-05-30T19:06:00.005-04:00

Al Green
Lay It Down
Blue Note Records
May 27, 2008

Al Green is such a legend of modern music. I couldn't believe ¿uestlove from The Roots was producing his new album. It sounds like a great combination and the result is not bad. I guess nobody should expect him to make classics like he did back in the 60s and 70s and this album is certainly nothing spectacular. On the other hand, he will always be a gentleman. He will never lose his touch. Al Green is soul in capital letters. The production work done by The Roots' drummer is pretty good; a bunch of classic soul rhythms that work perfectly with Al Green's classic style. Although most of the tracks are just average songs (here average is not a pejorative word, because we are talking about classic stuff), a few of them are almost mind-blowing. The collaborations with Anthony Hamilton on "You've Got The Love I Need" and "Lay It Down" are brilliant. "Just For Me" is a wonderful love song, accompanied with a terrific blues guitar. "You've Got The Love I Need, Baby"… You already know what it is… - Grey

Highlights / The Making of Lay It Down

New Video: MGMT

2008-05-30T12:21:00.004-04:00

New video for "Electric Feel" from their debut album Oracular Spectacular. The old interactive video can still be downloaded here.

Islands / Arm's Way [2008]

2008-05-29T01:10:00.005-04:00

Islands

Arm's Way

Anti
May 20, 2008

The album’s glittering opening track "The Arm", introduces the band as quirky and clever, much like their Canadian musical friends Arcade Fire, with its strange and intriguing lyrics -"That’s why the arm came for you"- and intricate string arrangements. "Pieces of You", the next track on the album, combines a super cute/fun beat with again, pretty weird lyrics. The string arrangements stand out in particular – this sounds like a band who know what they’re doing, pretty much. There is a mix of interesting song titles and melodies on this album – particularly with the track "J’aime Vous Voir Quitter", a catchy and cute song with a seriously cool Mexican vibe towards the end of the track... And I mean, I’ve always been a fan of French song titles. The guitar hooks are catchy and pretty nice, and the overall layering of sounds makes for an intriguing listen. If you like intricate layering and quirky-ness, go listen. - TotalTrash

Highlights / The Arm

Book: American Gods [2001]

2008-05-27T21:47:00.001-04:00

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Generally, I’m no fan of fantasy genre novels. And certainly, you’d have to pay me great sums to suffer through even a single one of their bastard cousins, those religious-themed “adventures” by the likes of Tim LaHaye. So how come I loved this book, which mixes the supernatural, the mystical, and more gods than you’d find carved on a collection of Babylonian tablets? In fashioning his traditional quest tale—the main character, Shadow, is drawn unwillingly into a battle of deities for the soul of a continent—Gaiman not only keeps a straight face, he builds a story that is thoroughly grounded in reality while still insisting that the conflict is of epic dimensions. He gives the gods equal weight to his human characters, fits them comfortably together against a landscape of small towns, highways, and tourist traps, and expects you’ll follow him as far as the premise allows. The result is something like a cross between J.R.R. Tolkien and Hunter S. Thompson, with incidents and characters coming one after another, sometimes in ways that border on the hallucinatory, but never losing their essential grounding in reality, until you find yourself at the climax rooting for the heroes and cursing the villains and taking it all seriously. It’s an impressive accomplishment, and one of the first American popular classics of the new century. - Gilligan

Believe The Hype: Bumblebeez

2008-05-24T09:32:00.010-04:00

Yesterday I accidentally saw these guys live. I enjoyed it quite a lot. They mix electronic music with hip-hop but look like a band of teenage indierockers. Well, I heard some rock samples and they actually sing sometimes. The beats are all made with electronic gadgets (copy-paste thing) but they have a drummer too. Some of their videos are really nice. They are from Australia and they are currently touring all around Europe. Check their myspace for tour dates. - Grey

Myspace

Website

Dr. Love

Black Dirt

Tom Waits European Tour Dates

2008-05-23T13:51:00.005-04:00

The master has announced a few dates for Europe. He's going to play in theatres and auditoriums, which means you'll have to pay around 100€.

July 12 Donosti (Kursaal)
July 14 Barcelona (Auditori del Fòrum)
July 15 Barcelona (Auditori del Fòrum)
July 17 Milano (Teatro Degli Arcimboldi)
July 18 Milano (Teatro Degli Arcimboldi)
July 19 Milano (Teatro Degli Arcimboldi)
July 21 Praha (KCP)
July 22 Praha (KCP)
July 24 Paris (Grand Rex)
July 25 Paris (Grand Rex)
July 27 Edinburgh (Playhouse)
July 28 Edinburgh (Playhouse)
July 30 Dublin (The Ratcellar, Phoenix Park)
July 31 Dublin (The Ratcellar, Phoenix Park)
August 1 Dublin (The Ratcellar, Phoenix Park)

+ for further information & American dates click here.

Mates Of State / Re-Arrange Us [2008]

2008-05-22T18:06:00.005-04:00

Mates Of State

Re-Arrange Us

Barsuk
May 20, 2008

If I say "Soundtrack" does that make any sense? Let me elaborate... You know that feeling you get when you've just watched a great cinematic adventure and in the final scene a life changing event has taken place and everything is well with every single main character involved in the story line? People mingle, colours are bright, there's a slight breeze, you are running down a road in the middle of a spring shower, a memorable look of affection between a lover lost and then found. Whatever it might be, there are thousands of those scenarios and I could babble on... And there! There it is! THAT FEELING...? What is it? Who knows? Is there a word that could describe it? Elation, hope maybe... I don't quite know what it is, but that's what I mean when I say Soundtrack. Point I'm trying to make (if there is one) is: Everyone loves that feeling. "Re-Arrange Us" is an album filled with songs that you would expect to hear at the end of a great film, or an award winning TV series, but in that "great feeling" kinda way - Morning Lemon

Highlights / My Only Offer

The Submarines / Honeysuckle Weeks [2008]

2008-05-22T17:51:00.005-04:00

The Submarines

Honeysuckle Weeks

Nettwerk Records
May 13, 2008

Swimming pools, Honeysuckle Weeks, fresh evenings spent with you, good ideas shared, maybe even a few bad ones, lalala's (on pitch or not), tender sparks, forgetting sorrows, starring at starry skies, exchanging experiences. All shared as the sun comes up and as the sun goes down. Some of these feelings, lyrics & song, some of these not. But you are sure to fulfill at least one of these on a listen to this record. Even if all you can get are catchy, pretty melodies that might be enough, it's more than that, great vocal balance, an interesting sound and super fantastic lyrics. "Never mind what logic says, logic's a guy who needs to empty his pockets"- Morning Lemon

Highlights / Xavia

Arborea / Arborea [2008]

2008-05-21T21:54:00.005-04:00

Arborea

Fire Museum
April 28, 2008

Soundless stories on a drop of sap. Number one: Forewarned, your life consists in being constantly drawn by some kind of pen you cannot fathom. You may sing a little. Number two: You will fall down every day; it is your vital movement. Backward movement, backward sounds. Number three: You can sing again, like a red bird, yet you are still a single drop of sap. Life shines back there. The way it goes away and comes back every day, forever printing the shadows of the leaves over your smooth, flawless skin, reminds you of nothing. Life is still a mystery for you. Number three and a half: The words are there, yet you won't understand what they mean, it's just sounds. Number four: What does it mean to be drawn? You'd have to listen, these slow guitar and ukulele slide lines, building spaces inside spaces, colors without a shape, sparse drums played over the beat of the world, your roots spreading away like the words of the poet. Number five: Rise like a swan, in the midst of sampled violin lines and into backward guitars, no percussion yet. [Follow me where the north wind goes to the end of Black Mountain Road.] It's all over now, you are a good person, it's just not the right time for you, just listen to the music and forget about the world. - postbop

Highlights / Black Mountain Road

Kidz In The Hall / The In Crowd [2008]

2008-05-21T18:39:00.007-04:00

Kidz In The Hall
The In Crowd
Duck Down Music
May 13, 2008

Kidz in the Hall are the next best hip-hop group. OK, they are certainly not new at all because they released their debut album a couple of years ago but it is because of The In Crowd that everybody will talk about them in the following months (and given the state of hip-hop, it will easily be in any respectable best of 2008 list). How has their music improved? Keeping the good things alive and including some new elements to definitely record a very good album. It’s easy to see some influences from other groups like that bass line on “Black Out” that inevitably reminds me of Eric B. & Rakim or that distortion on “drivin’ down the block like what else should a brother do” which sounds like it's borrowed straight from Cool Kids' style. There’s a vocal collaboration on almost every single track and guess what, they all contribute something valuable. They all sound perfectly adapted to the music concept. Finally, the message contained in their lyrics is consistent. They can be a couple of weird rappers delighting the hipster audience in songs like “Drivin’ Down The Block,” but they can also be the don’t-play-with-me type of niggas when necessary. “Fuck the next top model / I’m the next top rapper / If niggas want problems / We can probably make it happen,” they let you know. - Grey

Highlights / Drivin' Down The Block (video)

New Beck Song

2008-05-20T15:58:00.005-04:00

"Chemtrails" is the first single off of Beck's new album (tentatively titled Modern Guilt). In a recent Rolling Stone article, he said the album would have a "late 60's psychedelic vibe". The album was produced by Danger Mouse and there's a rumor going on that it will be released sometime next month.

Chemtrails

Joan Of Arc / Boo! Human [2008]

2008-05-19T19:20:00.004-04:00

Joan Of Arc
Boo! Human
Polyvinyl
May 20, 2008

What would happen if this was the last day of your life? You'd probably stop breathing for a moment just to realize that the crappy Bulgarian movie you saw last night will be the last crappy Bulgarian movie you'll ever see, that those Tom Clancy books your uncle gave you on your birthday won't be read, that you won't listen to your mom yelling at you again for not calling her on Christmas because you won't have another Christmas. Now you can start asking questions: "Who decided this?" "Was this all?" "Why today?" But there's no one to answer those questions and you knew it, you knew this day would come and you still didn't call your mom that Christmas. But don't worry, eventually you'll admit your fate, you'll see all your mistakes and what you've learnt from them, you'll notice all the time you've lost and then you'll start listening to this album while you pretend you don't care about anything else. - Khyne

Highlights / A Tell-Tale Penis

Matmos / Supreme Balloon [2008]

2008-05-18T23:28:00.004-04:00

Matmos
Supreme Balloon
Matador Records
May 6, 2008

Like every band deserving respect, Matmos knew how to put out an amazing album by leaving behind for a while the materials that, traditionally, constructed their music. Disregarding this time the sound of cow uteruses, amplified semen or liposuction surgeries, just to name a few!, they’ve managed to alter for a while the concrete approach to electronics (and all of its conceptual and textural implications) in favor of an amazing voyage into the synthesis and the very creation of sound: You’ll hear a colorful, weird ballet of keyboards and synthesizers from every relevant era without the aid of microphones or sounds from daily life. Now that they have used and abused from every form of acoustic event produced by the world outside them with the capacity of exciting their imaginations, it is logical that their sonorous explorations would eventually lead them in another direction: What about a complete “artificial”-sounding album? What about creating the noises, notes and sounds of the music out of nowhere? Well, it turned into another great release, another seductive stop in their never-ending journey of music and weirdness. - Mono

Highlights / Rainbow Flag

The Kiln Muxtape - April

2008-05-18T23:11:00.003-04:00

Try to hold still, try to remember every shape, one step at a time. Things had different names back then, their colors changing as you grew up, fragmentation of every dimension; yet nothing was left behind. Your window will be the same every day, just try not to melt down, just try to keep track of every molecule you let go.

The Kiln Muxtape will be posted monthly featuring tracks selected by our contributors.

Book: Warlock [1958]

2008-05-17T23:16:00.004-04:00

Warlock

by Oakley Hall

Last week saw the passing of a true Western writer, Oakley Hall. He was a Western writer in the widest sense, a resident and lover of California, who used the genre’s ideas of violence and conquest and discovery to create his fiction. He wrote in different styles and genres, including a nice series of historical detective stories featuring the real-life satirist Ambrose Bierce as their hero. However, his reputation as a serious novelist of Western fiction rests mainly on this ambitious novel, which re-tells a true story already told so many times it has taken on the status of myth: The shootout at the OK Corral. In this fictionalized version, Tombstone, Arizona becomes a town called Warlock, and all roads lead to the climax at the Acme Corral. Along the way, the old Western set pieces are all on display: the principled conscience of a strong sheriff versus the corrupt lawlessness of a band of outlaws; the love of a fiery woman; scenes that reveal strength and cowardice in unlikely places. The whole is weaker than the sum of its parts; the book drags more than a little in spots. But the basic idea—how quickly a society’s civilized veneer can be torn due to the darkness, or weakness, of human nature—had a special relevance in the McCarthy era that has not faded at all over the years. - Gilligan

Santogold / Santogold [2008]

2008-05-15T12:05:00.005-04:00

Santogold
Santogold
Downtown Records, Atlantic Records
April 29, 2008 (US) /May 12 , 2008 (UK)

M.I.A.’s best friend has finally released her debut album. I don’t know how artists feel about getting a lot of hype after dropping just a couple of songs. There must be some real pressure there and our dear hipsters can’t always be right about new talents. Santogold mixes a lot of styles, from electronic music (Diplo style) to indie rock and R&B. You already know how dangerous that can be, but she manages to create an appetizing product. That’s not the problem. Her main problem is that, even though she has recorded a bunch of really nice tracks like “L.E.S. Artistes” or “You’ll Find A Way,” some other songs are just dull; repetitive electronic beats and not-so-original lyrics sung with vague energy. It's obvious she’s capable of recording good music but she’ll need another chance to convince me 100%. - Grey

Highlights / L.E.S. Artistes (video)

Death Cab For Cutie / Narrow Stairs [2008]

2008-05-14T19:28:00.006-04:00

Death Cab For Cutie

Narrow Stairs

Atlantic Records
May 13, 2008

[It’s like a book elegantly bound but / in a language you cannot read] Which doesn’t mean you cannot grasp it, shapes and colors being the same as the ones that make yourself. Follow the lines, remember the old roads, feels like you’ve been there before; listen, you are now riding the big wave, feeling the world inside you, everything in its right place, everything makes sense. You can see how every word in the book opens itself, lines and shapes coming out, mixing themselves with the music [You’ve gotta spend time, love / you’ve gotta spend some time with me], it is not just sounds anymore, it is life. Try to understand how everything is related to everything else, how it all comes together, crossing paths, creating places, places that will make you what you are. [Oh my talking bird / though you know so few words] And you will find the mystery of it lies just in the fact that your life is constantly being made by these shapes and lines, thus making you one with the music, one with the world. [We’re not the same dear...the ice was getting thinner under me and you...] What you need, in the end, is music like this to teach you, and someone to sing (think) along with you. - postbop

Highlights / I Will Possess Your Heart

Phoebe Killdeer and the Short Straws / Weather's Coming [2008]

2008-05-14T19:08:00.006-04:00

Phoebe Killdeer and the Short Straws
Weather's Coming
Songs I Wish I Had Written
April 1, 2008

You've been watching that same spot on the ceiling for the last two days; it's not that you cannot do, but you just don't need, anything else. Music like this, filled with images and references coming all at you, makes every spot hold the world upon itself; multiplicity of worlds inside of each sound. Now watch that water drop go down, making its path on the glass, feel its doubts and glories; consider all the ways it may go through, all the forces it holds upon itself, the way the world shines on its back, it's your life as a water drop. Then you may wish to become a turtle, or a mouse somewhere, you may even be "Jack". It is all possible when you have so many different sounds inside your head at the same time. Yet not everything is as sunny as the world outside: most images reflected on that spot will be blurry, dirty, like some old road flick played in an empty theater, your only friend outside fighting on the phone. [Never tell a lie / baby never tell a lie / It'll get you all tangled / and you won't even know why]. They're the kind of images you would like to have in your bedroom wall, thousands of movies playing together at the same time, some Tom Waits music in the background, everything tastes like rockabilly whiskey. It's just like getting film grain on music, or vinyl scratch all over your skin. [Let me find out what you hide / way down there deep inside / won't you take me for a while / why won't you let me know you]. - postbop

Highlights / Jack

Gentle Touch / In Memory of Savannah [2008]

2008-05-14T07:57:00.005-04:00

Gentle Touch
In Memory of Savannah
Songs I Wish I Had Written
April 8, 2008

OK so I've lost track of how many times I've listened to this album in the last 20 hours. I'm totally going to give away my age in this review... But I'm willing to sacrifice the mystery of my being to the world for this masterpiece! I've been having a brain spaz as to what to possibly write about this album and nothing other than "Fucking Incredible" seems to come to mind. Think this: Neon Signs, Converse Chucks, Wayfarers, Big Bad Ass Hair, Synths, and a "Gentle Touch"... What do you have? Yes you guessed it, an 80's revolution! C'mon all you 80's loving freaks. I know you're out there, now go listen! You won't be disappointed, I promise. And if you are, let me know and I''ll hang up my love of neon dancing shoes & Ray-Bans forever. - Morning Lemon

Highlights / Once You Used To

New Video: Tokyo Police Club

2008-05-13T09:20:00.003-04:00

"In a Cave" from their debut LP Elephant Shell out on Saddle Creek

The Wave Pictures / Instant Coffee Baby [2008]

2008-05-12T11:20:00.004-04:00

The Wave Pictures
Instant Coffee Baby
Moshi Moshi
May 5, 2008

I don’t know if NME has reported about The Wave Pictures but they deserve some attention, more than many English bands. Would the word sincere fit here? I mean, of course their lyrics are honest and sincere but I don’t think bands like The Kooks are faking anything. The difference is that The Wave Pictures manage to create some touching tales by singing simple but original verses. Because they're not complex, they are quite simple, but still not repetitive or unoriginal. Singing sincere lyrics only using words like "love" or "baby" is far from being imaginative or innovative. Even if the song still sounds like somebody expressing sincere feelings, it’s not the same. The Wave Pictures sail in a sea of vague ideas and confusing feelings. The music is great in almost every track and some chords really help to reinforce what the lyrics want to express. - Grey

Highlights / January And December (live video via La Blogotheque)

The Plastic Constellations / We Appreciate You [2008]

2008-05-11T22:00:00.010-04:00

The Plastic Constellations

We Appreciate You

Frenchkiss Records
April 15, 2008

I find it extremely difficult to define the genre of TPC. For me, it’s a mix of punk and indie rock accompanied by some wind instruments; full of energy, noisy, distortioned, and unique. This CD is like an unexpected truth: I find it hard to swallow, but I like it. Damn, I really like it, but I foresee this band will be soon be forgotten in the depths of my computer... The clap-clap effect of the first song, “So Many Friends,” didn’t sound bad; in fact, I like it. (But I’m still asking myself, Is this effect an ephimeral fashion? I hope bands soon forget this horrible sound!) I spent a nice day listening to TPC; hope you enjoy it. - Hi6uera

Highlights / Stay That Way

Rock The Bells 2008

2008-05-10T05:49:00.005-04:00

Myspace

New PAS/CAL Album

2008-05-09T10:46:00.012-04:00

After releasing 3 EPs since 2002, Michigan's PAS/CAL is finally releasing their first full length album entitled I Was Raised on Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Laura. (Out on July 22 on Le Grande Magistery) It is available for pre-order through Darla Records.

Tracklisting:
1. The Truth Behind All The Vogues She Sold
2. You Were Too Old For Me
3. We Made Our Way, We Amtrakked
4. Summer Is Almost Here
5. Glorious Ballad Of The Ignored
6. O Honey, We're Ridiculous
7. Dearest Bernard Levine
8. Little Red Radio
9. Cherry Needs A Name
10. Cherry Tree
11. O My Cherry
12. Citizen's Army Uniform

You Were Too Old For Me

Book: The Reluctant Fundamentalist [2007]

2008-05-08T22:55:00.005-04:00

The Reluctant Fundamentalist
by Mohsin Hamid

This novel falls with a thump into the category called “post-September-11th” books, and it is not subtle in what it tries to do. There is cleverness and skill in the form, an extended first-person monologue delivered by a Pakistani man, Changez, who has come across an American in Lahore and seems desperate to tell his story to the stranger, over one long evening: Changez came to the U.S. as a modest but ambitious teenager to attend Princeton University, and proceeded to live a kind of immigrant dream. He graduates at the top of his class and is hired by an exclusive, high-paying financial evaluation firm, which prizes his ability to “focus on the fundamentals.” His gradual disillusionment with that job is just one small theme referenced by the title of the book; his growing disillusionment with the United States itself gives the words “reluctant fundamentalist” a teasing edge that adds to the tension in the second half of the novel. Did refined, Americanized Changez, who can't quite say why he found himself smiling at the television image of the World Trade Center towers tumbling down, eventually become some kind of Islamic fundamentalist in Pakistan? A terrorist?

That rather sudden transition—the September attacks come at the midpoint of the book—from a man in love with both New York and a troubled, wealthy young American woman he has met, to the cynical ranter he reveals himself to be as the book progresses, is unnaturally sudden. And Hamid seems to feel that the criticisms Changez lodges against the United States are more shocking than they are. (Who hasn’t wanted to see American ambition knocked down a few satisfying pegs?) A larger failure in Hamid’s argument is that, despite the title, there is almost no mention of religion, which is truly at the center of most of the debates and events Changez seems so breezily judgmental about. That said, the book doesn’t fail to stir the issues in the reader’s mind, and more to the point, the ending of this short, swift novel is sound and satisfying. - Gilligan

This is Ivy League's New Single

2008-05-08T14:03:00.005-04:00

This is Ivy League is the project of Alex Suarez and Ryland Blackinton (both members of Cobra Starship). Their self-titled debut came out this past month on twentyseven records and I have been listening to it non-stop; I highly recommend it, it is a great record. They have chosen "The Richest Kids In Town" as their new single. If you're a fan of Kings of Convenience and Belle & Sebastian, you should check them out. -Tinasucks

Richest Kids in Town
Crown of Love (Arcade Fire Cover)

9th Wonder & Buckshot / The Formula [2008]

2008-05-08T13:33:00.006-04:00

9th Wonder & Buckshot
The Formula
Duck Down Records
April 29, 2008

I didn’t know what to expect with this album. The first collabo between 9th Wonder and Buckshot was pretty enjoyable, but I had the impression 9th Wonder was sounding kind of redundant lately. After breaking up with Little Brother and a not-so-relevant solo album, there was some uncertainty about how his style would eventually evolve. I’m glad that after listening to The Formula I can see a chance for 9th Wonder to reinvent himself. Beats are definitely not mind-blowing but there’s something in some of them that makes me think he will be successful in redefining his style. Buckshot has done his job well too. He’s one of these mc’s you could call “the voice of experience”; solid style, good rhymes, honest attitude and consistent flow. All of you waiting for some entertaining rap to listen to should get a copy of this album. - Grey

Highlights / Hold It Down feat. Talib Kweli (video)

Cat Power live @ ECCI Theater (Bogotá) [07.5.2008]

2008-05-08T10:36:00.009-04:00

You get there already expecting every second of the whole night, yet any new light manages to make you shudder a little bit more. Everything is set so you can lose all reference to the outside world, find that exact instant when you know your past is all gone. Look ahead, you will never get tired of that moment, waiting for the musicians to come out, every possibility laid out in front of you. A not- so-big venue, few lights, good attendance–enough to make you feel there's a chance in the city for more shows like this; enough to make you wish it was always like that. What's important, and you'd learn that at the end, is not losing your past for good but becoming one with it, thus leaving yourself open for the world.

Remember that article in the New Yorker about her, just six months ago. You wondered if you'd ever have an experience like that, see her playing live, get a glimpse of her thoughts, taste her fear on stage; felt like another world altogether. Yet, obviously, anything you'd expect would never be close to the real thing; you were even almost able to guess what the first song of the show would be: "New York, New York," from Jukebox, was played third, "Don't Explain" being the first one and setting an extraordinary, unexpected blues drive to the rest of the show. This is where your past and your present clash, making you feel at once far away but warm, totally in the right place. It's the lines, I tell you. "Woman Left Lonely" would be second and somewhere the Bob Dylan cover which she proudly announced. Everything going louder than the records, the Dirty Delta Blues rocking your heart out on every beat, you could anticipate and feel every note they played.

Then, as expected, you were just there, gazing at her, how she moved without any visible connection to the music, every single note preceded and followed by thousands of cut-up dance movements, hundreds of gestures coming through her face with every beat; yet you knew every movement she made was already inside of you, coming out at the same time, making you disappear in the air. The perfect moment, maybe after the short, sonorous explorations interlude played by the bass and the piano, when you were sure you were just born there, no past hanging on to you, no judgments ever made. If there was any past left then you'd understand the song she sang in Spanish, no need to crawl for the lyrics at the end. Along came "The Greatest" and "Lived in Bars," some old songs to make sure you don't just turn to ashes right there. Finally, she goes away throwing flowers, the same way she came in, as if to make that time-breaking night turn over and repeat itself forever holding you inside of that memory-free loop; extra blues drive included. - postbop

Beulah's Miles Kurosky Shares New Solo Song

2008-05-07T12:58:00.003-04:00

Beulah frontman Miles Kurosky has posted a new song from his upcoming solo album on his myspace. This is the first stuff we've heard from Kurosky since Beulah's breakup in 2003.

Stream "An Apple for an Apple"

New Video: Russian Red - They Don't Believe

2008-05-07T09:34:00.002-04:00

This is awesome. I love her.

Martha Wainwright / I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too [2008]

2008-05-07T00:55:00.009-04:00

Martha Wainwright
I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too
Zoe Records
May 10, 2008

Fine, I won’t talk about your brother anymore. I know it was hard growing up like that, running every day to catch a school bus that was always already gone, with him on it. It’s like looking outside your window, watching the clouds, those nice ever-changing shapes, only to realize the last pancake is gone. You would play “See Emily Play” so many times that it would lose its shape; you never learned to sing it well, it was always too fast and too happy, miss the whole point of it. You would pretend, like every girl your age, and your husband was a successful businessman, with two kids and dogs on the lawn. It is now a little too late for you, stuck in that 90’s adult contemporary mellow pop. What is left of all of that, imaginary friends and all, is some not-so-funny dark humor, the kind of humor you hate your aunts for, always bitching about being single and blaming it all on high insurance rates and a broken home. - postbop

Highlights / See Emily Play

Book: Cat's Cradle [1963]

2008-05-06T23:52:00.004-04:00

Cat's Cradle
by Kurt Vonnegut

Go ahead and argue about your favorite novel by the late, great Kurt Vonnegut. (I vote for Breakfast of Champions.) But surely one that’s relevant once again is this funny and fatalistic mix of science and theology gone mad. Oh, and it’s also about dictatorships. And Hiroshima, the Nobel Prize, Hoosiers, calypso, Bokonism, love, draft-dodging, art, life, death, nature, humanity, philanthropists and military men, presidents, midgets, bicycle factories, ice-nine, and the end of the world. - Gilligan

Dandy Warhols' New Album Tracklisting Revealed

2008-05-06T11:36:00.003-04:00

The band has released the tracklisting for their upcoming album Earth to the Dandy Warhols

The World The People Together (Come On)
Mission Control
Welcome To The Third World
Wasp In the Lotus
And Then I Dreamt Of Yes
Talk Radio
Love Song (Featuring Mike Campbell of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers)
Now You Love Me
Mis Amigos
The Legend Of The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers AKA The Ballad Of Sheriff Shorty
Beast Of All Saints
Valerie Yum
Musee D'Nougat

The band has offered a song as a free download.

The World The People Together (Come On)

New Videos: Norwegian Hip Hop

2008-05-06T10:32:00.004-04:00

Freakshow - I'm Not You

The Afeeliated - My Man

There's life after Tommy Tee. You just should check out these underground hip hip videos.

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan / Sunday At Devil Dirt [2008]

2008-05-05T18:17:00.007-04:00

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
Sunday At Devil Dirt
V2 Records
May 5, 2008

You wake up in the middle of the night just to ask yourself the same thing over and over again: "Why?" Every second and every moment, every word and every smile, you remember them all with an almost eidetic memory. Silence surrounds you, darkness is all over you, your lips are dry and your hands are shaky, you start whispering, Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan start singing. "Oh, why don't we learn from mistakes/We stumble along with so many more to make". You still won't do it, you know you can learn from mistakes, you know you can forget, you just don't want to. "We were so lonely at times/Fading away/Sitting side by side". Particles of the future, reminiscences from the past. Then you close your eyes and wonder, "How am I supposed to sleep tonight?" - Khyne

Highlights / The Raven

Dosh / Wolves And Wishes [2008]

2008-05-05T08:05:00.004-04:00

Dosh
Wolves And Wishes
anticon.
May 5, 2008

Ok so I am clearly not familiar enough with Dosh to comment objectively on this album. It's obvious that the dude is not scared of experimentation and using completely different styles and sounds in one album. Which is great (if you're into that kind of thing) and exactly what you would find in Wolves & Wishes. For me, I felt a little unattached to the record and sadly the pretty clingy clanky sounds of chimes, rhythmic beats, melodic piano (in parts) and great strings unfortunately were not enough for me this time. (Wow! When I write that I feel like I should have loved this record!) Kind of eerie in parts and almost 8-bit sounds in other ones... weird. The guy is talented, no doubt. I kind of felt like it was a bit of a contradiction, just like this review.- Morning Lemon

Highlights / Wolves

Portishead / Third [2008]

2008-05-05T04:19:00.007-04:00

Portishead
Third
Island
April 28, 2008

I was quite surprised when I heard Portishead was going to play some gigs this year. What’s more, they were going to release a new album (after 11 years!). Third could have been a mediocre comeback from a band that used to be great in the 90's but didn’t know which way to choose after a decade. Surprisingly, their first album in this new century is far from disappointing. They sound tougher now. Songs like “Machine Gun” are full of aggressive samples, but the musical concept is just the same, and Beth Gibbons still has an amazing voice. Maybe aggressive is not the appropriate word here. Third is quite warlike, with those horns in tracks like “Threads” (or sounds from helicopters in "Plastic") and heavy drums. Lyrics are still emotionally impacting sometimes. “Cause I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you / And I don’t know what I’ll do without you,” Gibbons sings. I wish all comebacks were like this album. - Grey

Highlights / Machine Gun (video)

The Indelicates / American Demo [2008]

2008-05-04T23:44:00.002-04:00

The Indelicates
American Demo
Weekender Records
April 14, 2008

Wow, does this album have some of the most peculiar lyrics I've ever heard in my life! Actually... Very honest yet mildly disturbing is what I should say! I was immediately transported to driving through the middle of nowhere with my best friend Jo singing along to "Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock 'n Roll" & "We Hate The Kids" and bopping along to the rest of the melodic tracks. This album is definitely rock and roll with a "Sweet Edge". Julia's passionate vocal is not my favorite female vocal (spectacular nonetheless... who cares what I think?) but this said, she definitely grew on me by the time I listened to the little "Secret Track". My favorite part of the album was probably the beautiful balance of Simon's awesome & alluring vocals. - Morning Lemon

Highlights / We Hate The Kids

The Pinker Tones / Wild Animals [2008]

2008-05-04T19:08:00.006-04:00

The Pinker Tones
Wild Animals
Pinkerland Records
April 26, 2008

I can’t find the true identity of this music. I know it's dance, I know it's about parting, I've heard BECK (yes, Beck Hansen) loves them, and I’m pretty sure they can make a decent bash wherever they are and keep the people jumping for a couple of hours. But those things didn’t seem enough this time… I just that can’t see what this music's signature is, what makes the songs, the manipulation of the beats or the arrangements something worthy of listening to in contexts other than the disco. It is not that sexy, not that pop, not that multi-styled (despite the Brazilian flavored rhythms) and I’m not really sure of what makes it special. I really think it should be Pinker, sexier, hotter, darker… way more explicit, like the best kiss you ever gave or a good slap in the face. Sadly, this was not the best party for me. (OK, I really like "The Whistling Song,", but that’s it.) - Mono

Highlights / The Whistling Song

El Perro Del Mar / From The Valley To The Stars [2008]

2008-05-03T19:35:00.004-04:00

El Perro Del Mar
From The Valley To The Stars
Control Group
April 22, 2008

Some sounds–and you will slowly learn to follow them–will make you forget about yourself. And it is not that easy, as every piece making that complex structure that is yourself will be removed and replaced by something else. Layers of sensation, carefully placed one on top of the other, will make room for a whole new construction which may or may not bear any resemblance to whatever was there before. Your memories will not be gone, as memories are not what makes you what you are; you can hold to them as long as you want to, yet you will abandon most of your usual reference points for other situations (which is not necessarily better). You will unsuccessfully try to describe these sounds as ethereal, cloudy, pink or whatever; do not despair, let it speak for itself, listen to the world inside yourself. This is just wondering what it means when you become many while still being one, what is the way not to be yourself, to become a dog. - postbop

Highlights / How Did We Forget

Madonna / Hard Candy [2008]

2008-05-03T19:20:00.004-04:00

Madonna

Hard Candy
WEA
April 29, 2008

I know I may be a little biased, being a huge fan, but seriously, wow. The beats and melodies are amazing, and even kind of beautiful (on "Heartbeat" and "Miles Away" in particular) and she really sounds as if she is not only having fun with the new album, but serious about giving us something great to listen to. With a strong hip-hop/dance feel, the songs are powerful and seductive. With lyrics like "sticky and sweet...my sugar is raw" and "I got candy galore’ on "Candy Shop," she kind of shows her fun, young side, even though she’s just turned 50, and songs like "Heartbeat" and "Miles Away" are just awesome, and have an emotional side to them, too. With their electric synths and pulsing bass rhythms it’s impossible to ignore at least, even if the idea of listening to a Madonna album isn’t that appealing for most of you out there. Personally, the reason why I love Madonna so much is I’ve always thought of her as having these sort of... alternative sensibilities, and a punk spirit. She’s always misperceived as arrogant when really she’s kind of shy (although you wouldn’t know it), and I find that interesting in a way. From her 80’s electro-dance pop to her sexually charged Erotica album, to now, she’s always been different and was always honest in her highlighting of a specific genre of music on her albums--n never exploring a genre just for the cash-ins, but for the fact that she loved the particular style of music she was creating. - TotalTrash

Highlights / 4 Minutes

Panic! At The Disco / Pretty. Odd. [2008]

2008-05-03T19:07:00.007-04:00

Panic! At The Disco

Pretty. Odd.
Fueled By Ramen
March 25, 2008

This seriously surprised me. Given the fact that I was definitely not a fan of Panic! at the Disco around the time of their first album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (and even going as far to say that I hated them), I wasn’t expecting to even want to listen to the album until a friend persuaded me to. I was totally surprised to find out that I actually love this album. It’s so different from their first, which I found way too poppy (in a BAD way) and leaning towards the "emo" side of things, whereas Pretty. Odd. is a progression towards a better, more mature sound that is less about being so camp and pseudo-creepy emo rock and more about great songs that have more of a 70’s feel (although they’re still pretty camp, but this time it's kind of cool). Panic... have embraced a more folky sound, as well as a more of the psychedelic, with hints of old time Victoriana and pop. "Nine in the Afternoon" is a cute, happy song that is unashamedly poppy, (which I like) with a nice horn section and a great powerful chorus (probably my favourite from the album), and "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)" is another great song with another great chorus and use of strings, with a vintage 70’s sound. Obviously the first album's scars will still stick around, but I think with time people will see them in a more respectable light, think of them a little more highly, and actually give this record a listen without judging it first. - TotalTrash

Highlights / Nine In The Afternoon

Book: Don’t Point That Thing at Me [1972]

2008-05-03T18:48:00.002-04:00

Don’t Point That Thing at Me
by Kyril Bonfiglioli

Looking for a swift, light mystery novel featuring an alcohol-soaked, insufferably snobbish English art dealer? I didn’t think so. But pick up this recently reissued, overlooked classic featuring Charlie Mortdecai, and then thank me profusely. The mystery through which Charlie stumbles—involving art and international spies and jumps from England to the US and back—is merely an excuse to enjoy Charlie the character, a kind of love child of Bertie Wooster and Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski. He somehow manages to get the girls and win the fights, all the while maintaining an impeccably unruffled tone and coming off as innocent of anything other than a desire to find his next glass of Scotch. Almost incidentally, the book takes a bitter turn near the end, and a nearly perfect ending it is, too. So perfect it just about makes you sorry—but not quite—that there are actually three Mortdecai novels, leaving you two more to enjoy later. - Gilligan

Asthmatic Kitty Signs 7 New Artists

2008-05-03T10:21:00.003-04:00

Asthmatic Kitty Records have just announced the addition of 7 new artists to their Roster. They have released a free sampler album showcasing the works in progress of these new artists.

Download the Sampler here
Or Stream the Muxtape here

The Roots / Rising Down [2008]

2008-05-01T13:15:00.011-04:00

The Roots
Rising Down
Def Jam
April 29, 2008

The Roots used to be a band you would identify with people like Erykah Badu or Jurassic 5. That definitely changed with Game Theory, and it seems this new sound is the way they want The Roots to be in this new era. They are not the same band who recorded “You Got Me” anymore. They are tough; dark synths in almost every track accompanied by crazy drum patterns and crude lyrics. Black Thought spits reality rhymes with no sweeteners. In this album, there are lots of collaborations on the mic but The Roots lose no trace of their original sound, their concept. When a rap album is full of collaborations it usually ends up becoming an empty concept containing a bit of everything and nothing consistent at all. This is not the case. The Roots have succeeded in reinventing themselves every time it was necessary, delivering something new and interesting in every single album. I would only mention them and Gang Starr when it comes to rap artists who have been constantly updating their sound and giving a breath of fresh air to the scene, album after album for longer than, let’s say, 10 or 15 years. - Grey

Highlights / Get Busy (video)

2008 Virgin Mobile Festival Line-up

2008-05-01T10:19:00.003-04:00

Tickets for this two-day festival start at $175 for the full two days (August 9 & 10) at Pimilco Race Course in Baltimore, MD.

www.virginmobilefestival.com

Algernon Cadwallader / Some Kind Of Cadwallader [2008]

2008-04-30T23:49:00.006-04:00

Algernon Cadwallader

Some Kind Of Cadwallader
Be Happy!
April 25, 2008

"Hell yeah! Tim Kinsella is back! (...) Oh wait, this isn't Kinsella? Are you sure? (...) Damn I could swear that... Oh, hah I see now, you're just playing with me (...) But, I mean... Are you sure?" ... And that was my first chat with the guy that showed me this album. With Algernon Cadwallader’s (aalgerr wtf?) debut album, those emo(tional) sounds of the early 90's that you hate (to love) are back, and this time they are using an even stranger band name. "Same shit, different ass," are you saying? Well, no (maybe), but don't get me wrong, these guys are definitely worth the listen, at least to remember those old days when everything was different and new (yeah, right) and before I keep using more parentheses, I just want to send a message to all those future American Footballs and Cap'n Jazzes out there that are going to try using the same formula: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." - Khyne

Highlights / Serial Killer Status

Tokyo Police Club / Elephant Shell [2008]

2008-04-30T22:30:00.003-04:00

Tokyo Police Club
Elephant Shell
Saddle Creek
April 22, 2008

I can't deal with the "clap clap" effect and this CD is full of it, but Dave Monks' vocals are a positive factor. I can't find anything particular or magical in this release; I've listened to it like five times, and trust me, that's enough Elephant Shell for me. These days I just need to find the perfect tunes that can turn down my anger and anxiety, and this CD didn't do the job. Yes, maybe the problem is inside me. It's a boring Monday morning; you wake up searching for something fresh in the refrigerator, but the only thing you find is a half-full glass of lemonade. You pick it up, walk to the balcony, look at the sky, and think: "Dammit! It's gonna rain, it's time to hurry up..." At that moment this LP starts to sound like a soundtrack of your unhappy Monday, but at least it's not impossible to say you can enjoy it. - Hi6uera

Highlights / In A Cave

New Video: Tapes 'N Tapes

2008-04-30T12:37:00.005-04:00

"Hang Them All" from their album Walk it Off

Book: The Perks Of Being A Wallflower [1999]

2008-04-29T23:21:00.005-04:00

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky

This is a book about high school, and friendship, and books, and mixed tapes, and parties, and love and sex. It’s disguised as a young adult novel, but Charlie, who narrates the book as a series of letters which put the reader in the role of confidant (“Dear Friend,” begins each chapter), stands firmly in the tradition of Holden Caulfield, still raging against the phonies, as Chbosky makes explicit in more than one of the many literary/musical/cultural references strewn around the book. The novel rests entirely on the narrative voice of Charlie—awkward, shy, open, way emotional, opinionated (whether you nod in agreement or clench your teeth in frustration at his musical taste will say a lot about your relationship to this book), funny, warm, confused, and unexpectedly moving. The target of prurient book banners and the focus of obsessive cult fans, Wallflower, like Catcher in the Rye, will be exactly the right novel at exactly the right moment for many teenagers, and more than a few adults. - Gilligan

Russian Red live @ La Sala Castelló (Barcelona) [4.25.2008]

2008-04-29T12:33:00.014-04:00

First of all, I have to say my bathroom is bigger than that venue. I had never been there before so I didn’t know how it was. The sound wasn’t bad at all but there was some noisy air conditioner which wouldn’t have been a problem if it was a punk concert. It was not a punk band, it was Russian Red. Therefore, the atmosphere she tried to create was (once again) not 100% alright, even though it was much better than her show at Primavera Sound last year.

She was accompanied by a guy playing keyboards and a xylophone and another one playing an electric guitar (she played an acoustic guitar herself). Not bad, not bad. There were some instants where the three musicians combined so harmonically and, despite some amateurism, the whole concert was very consistent. By amateurism I mean some mistakes while playing the instruments or some lack of connection between them. Anyway, these signs of amateurism weren’t very significant and they added some beauty to the show instead of devaluing it. She played songs from her album, some new songs (I remember she said they played one for first time) and also covered “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. For her cover of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” she was accompanied by the projection of a video about Peter Pan and a theme park (ok, it was more profound than that, but I don’t feel like getting into detail). The girl who recorded it made a brief appearance explaining the relation between her, the video and Russian Red.

She was spectacular, dressed in a bright yellow dress and singing with that angelical voice. The best thing about her is the way she sings. She really looks like she's feeling it, feeling every word she’s saying. Her music sounds melancholic but there’s always some place for hope and happiness too. I must be influenced by her looks but the first word I’d come up with if you said Russian Red would be delicate. She looks delicate. Her music sounds delicate. You better go see her in some little venue rather than in a big festival if you have the chance, because this music needs some intimate place to be enjoyed. - Grey

New Video: Portishead "Machine Gun" [2008]

2008-04-28T23:55:00.006-04:00

No one can tell what the next cyberpunk nightmare will be like. You can’t predict any of the forces that will break the next hole in your mind-wall, that outside shell that keeps bad trips away; you can’t expect what you don’t know. Pixelation, though lately becoming fashionable and even lovable, may render your heart to pieces if you don’t take care, if you keep waiting for the next beat (bit) to come up before you wake up. Night is not a good companion for lonely cybernauts who, living in that static, blueish black-and-white quality video world, feed on new music and post-beat literature; yet, if you keep coming back to the same places, if you remember what made you what you are now, it is possible that you'll find something that, even tearing apart half of your OS, might give you some hope and perspective, maybe show you a sunny spot for you to drink your coffee in the morning.- postbop

Book: House Of Leaves [2000]

2008-04-28T06:33:00.010-04:00

House of Leaves
by Mark Z. Danielewski

To properly represent this massive, odd, aggravating, stunning riddle of a book, it would be necessary to print the words sideways, upside down, inside out, piled on top of each other, in margins, footnoted, illustrated, colliding, sometimes to add layers of meaning, sometimes merely to confuse, almost always to intriguing effect. Instead, first of all, it can be said there are two main plots that interweave here: Will Navidson and his partner Karen Green explore their new house, which turns out to contain an anomaly of space, which leads to more explorations, deeper and deeper into a mysterious and chilling blackness; Johnny Truant comments on the manuscript we are reading, which we are led to believe was left behind by a man named Zampanò, and Johnny’s footnotes and comments intrude further and further into the tale—sometimes taking over many pages—with a chemical-fueled tale of their own. But the main figure in the book remains Danielewski himself, simultaneously sending up critical theories, trying out some outrageous idea every few pages, driving the typesetter crazy with new ways to present the text on the page, and yes, sometimes merely showing off, but ultimately writing a novel that is haunting in a very real, traditional way, a novel about guilt and fear, about knowing and not knowing, and the obsessions that can result when the two collide. - Gilligan

Gregor Samsa / Rest [2008]

2008-04-28T06:25:00.004-04:00

Gregor Samsa

Rest
The Kora Records
April 24, 2008

While swimming through this music, you will find, for sure, some beautiful symphonic orchestrations, a lot of nostalgic guitars and many distant noises made by thousands of soft keyboards and dreamy voices whispering oceanic lullabies in your ears (because, without any advice, by the end of the first song you will be at the bottom of the sea). All of the sudden you will find yourself in the middle of a silent journey through the deepest currents of the Atlantic, where purple tides and hidden life forms will shape dreams of sound and colors wherever you go. You’ll ask yourself for the nature of this music. What is it made of? Why is it this silent, this quiet, this dreamy? You may have no answer, but you will know for sure that your mind was, all along, filled with unpredictable streams of sound and subtle music. And then you’ll realize, in awe, that it just takes a post-rock album to show you the liquid side of your memories. You better swim, then. - Mono

Highlights / The Adolescent

New Video: O.C. & A.G. - 2 For The Money

2008-04-27T13:42:00.004-04:00

New single from the upcoming album Together Brothers

Looptroop Rockers / Good Things [2008]

2008-04-27T12:26:00.006-04:00

Looptroop Rockers
Good Things
DVSG
April 23, 2008

I’ve always thought Sweden would be the perfect country if it weren't that cold. They are just a few people but they have a really interesting music scene concerning lots of different music styles and they are like Mecca for any social democrat like me. Promoe has been always around, always releasing good albums and recording nice music. Now he’s back with his band, Looptroop Rockers, for another album. The album starts pretty good with three songs reflecting Looptroop’s classic style: rhymes over fresh hip hop beats with some Jamaican influence (always in a precise measure) that go from reflections about life and social consciousness to friends and family. However, not every single song is as consistent as “The Building,” and there are some which I’m sure were recorded with an intention to innovate but actually sound awful (like “Al Mazika”). At least you should check “The Building” video recorded in the streets of Stockholm. Get a copy of the album here. - Grey

Highlights / The Building (video) - The Building (live video in the streets of Stockholm)

Pitchfork Music Festival 2008 (Full Line-Up)

2008-04-26T09:56:00.004-04:00

Friday, July 18:
Pitchfork Music Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties present "Don't Look Back"

Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
* Sebadoh performing Bubble and Scrape *
Mission of Burma performing Vs.

Saturday, July 19:

Animal Collective
Jarvis Cocker
* The Hold Steady *
!!!
Vampire Weekend
Dizzee Rascal
Fleet Foxes
* Caribou *
Jay Reatard
* Titus Andronicus *
No Age
Atlas Sound
Extra Golden
* Elf Power *
The Ruby Suns
* Icy Demons *
A Hawk and a Hacksaw
Occidental Brothers Dance Band International
* Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar *

Sunday, July 20:

Spoon
Dinosaur Jr.
Spiritualized
M. Ward
Ghostface and Raekwon
Les Savy Fav
The Apples in Stereo
Boris
Dirty Projectors
* Times New Viking *
Cut Copy
* Bon Iver *
The Dodos
King Khan & His Shrines
El Guincho
Fuck Buttons
* HEALTH *
* High Places *
* Mahjongg *

+ more info here

Kanser / Future Retro Legacy [2008]

2008-04-24T12:09:00.006-04:00

Kanser

Future Retro Legacy
Interlock Records
April 5, 2008

Underground hip hop is dead. That golden era which started (let’s say) with Mos Def and Talib Kweli rescuing hip-hop after the deaths of Biggie and Pac when Jedi Mind Tricks and Jurassic 5 were still cool and Non Phixion were taking over the underground scene is no longer a reality. In the last three or four years we have only seen mediocre albums being published and it has been really hard to find dope underground material (the best albums from last years have been mainstream releases). However, there must be some exceptions to confirm the rule and Kanser may be one. These unknown guys from Minnesota have recorded a quite decent album. In fact, this is their 7th album (or that’s what they say in their myspace) but I had never heard about them before. The beats from the first songs are really cool (there are some awesome guitar samples) and the message contained in their lyrics is nothing new but still pushes you to some basic reflections like, for example, the sense of showing off instead of focusing on music. If you were waiting for some enjoyable underground shit, you should give them a chance. - Grey

Highlights / Coming Out Again (The Sunshine Song)

Said The Shark / Silly Killings [2008]

2008-04-23T23:48:00.004-04:00

Said The Shark

Silly Killings
Iwave Records
April 17, 2008

You don't have to wake up at 3 a.m to understand what it feels like for some people to live in spaces of time with no age. You may be sitting at your desk, looking through a new window to the world, trying to make a new one in your head as well, and have flashbacks of 70's New York, your girlfriend handing you a dose before you enter a Velvet Underground concert at the Factory. It's the right time to be driving, late at night, heading north, singing your heart out to music you don't know. Nothing will happen between you and the world, no one will ever know your secrets; you are, as you read yesterday somewhere, glad nobody can know what you think. In the end, it's OK to be sitting in some dark corner, coffee mug in hand, taking care of your cuts with iodine–remember not to fight before dinner with your parents–singing some child-like songs to yourself, feeling like a paper girl; nothing else you can do. But maybe you do have to go through all of this to understand the way music makes itself one with you when stripped down to its bare functions, relating each of its loosely pulsed beats which make no time at all with each of your last heartbeats as you wander away in post-psychedelic non-dreams. Just remember to turn off the lights when you leave the room. [they say you are/a lost cause] - postbop

Highlights / True Love

New Video: Mates of State

2008-04-23T13:04:00.003-04:00

"Get Better" from the upcoming album Re-Arrange Us, out May 20th on Barsuk.

Prodigy - H.N.I.C. Pt. 2 [2008]

2008-04-21T16:21:00.009-04:00

Prodigy
H.N.I.C. Pt. 2
G-Unit Records
April 22, 2008

Sometimes things are not like you expected. When Prodigy released “The Life,” I was really excited about his new album (plus last year's album was dope too). It seemed Prodigy was still focused on the mic and Alchemist had found a new sound for him which could be as fantastic as The Return Of The Mac’s beats. You actually get quite satisfied when you listen to the first track, “Real Power Is People”. That’s a wonderfully calculated intro for “The Life”. The album sounds solid till the fourth or fifth track. Then, some boring beats and rhymes make an appearance and by the end of it monotony is the tendency from track to track. The other vocal collaborations don’t help much, though. It’s a pity because it could have been great if Alchemist had just used the instrumental concept of “The Life” for some other songs (or perhaps there are too many beats from Sid Roams) and Prodigy had managed to write just a few more solid verses. - Grey

Highlights / The Life (video)

Nada Surf & Superdrag live @ Terminal 5 (NYC) [4.11.2008]

2008-04-21T11:02:00.012-04:00

I’ll start by saying that $22 was a bargain to see both Nada Surf and Superdrag co-headlining. They played at Terminal 5 in NYC, a huge venue with two separate balcony levels. We got there not too long after the doors opened and were able to get a really good spot on the main floor. Superdrag started the show; they played a great set with songs mostly from Regretfully Yours and Head Trip In Every Key. They also played a couple of new tracks and a song from John Davis’ new solo album. Their new stuff was alright, I wasn’t really too impressed. I was just glad they played “Do the Vampire.” They closed the set with “Destination Ursa Major” before exiting the stage, and by this time, the venue was packed. Nada Surf took the stage and introduced one of the dudes from Calexico who is playing keyboard and horns during their tour. They opened with “Hi-Speed Soul” which was followed by “Happy Kid." Most of their set consisted of songs from Let Go..

..Some memorable moments include Matthew Caws wearing a fox hat while playing “The Fox”, Ira Elliot using drumsticks with glowing tips during “Fruit Flies”, “Stalemate/Love Will Tear Us Apart”, and Matthew making us sing and dance to “Inside of Love.” Something that surprised most of us was when halfway through their set Matthew says: “Contrary to popular belief, we still enjoy playing this song,” and they begin to play “Popular.” (They have mentioned in interviews that they don’t like playing that song.) It was great and the crowd was clearly excited. They closed the show with “Blankest Year” (with horns added by the Calexico dude). Overall, a really fun show. I had a great time. Nada Surf will keep touring throughout the summer so definitely go see them play if you can. -Tinasucks

Blankest Year:

Popular:

Nada Surf's setlist:
Hi-Speed Soul
Happy Kid
Whose Authority
What is Your Secret?
Weightless
Killian’s Red
I Like What You Say
Inside of Love
Fruit Flies
80 Windows
Popular
Stalemate
Paper Boats
Ice on the Wing
The Fox
Do it Again
Beautiful Beat
See These Bones
Blizzard of '77
Blonde on Blonde
Always Love
Blankest Year

Russian Red / I Love Your Glasses [2008]

2008-04-21T09:58:00.008-04:00

Russian Red
I Love Your Glasses
Eureka Records
April 1, 2008

One year ago, when I saw her live for first time, I couldn’t appreciate her music. She was playing at Primavera Sound on a tiny stage and the intimate atmosphere she tried to create was destroyed by some loud music coming from another stage. I remember I liked her and that a guy told me “This girl is gonna do something big,” but I didn’t really care about her till she came up with this album. Russian Red is going to be the next Spanish artist to achieve notorious international indie success. She sings delicate songs in English with a tone that reminds me of Cat Power, Hanne Hukkelberg and even Feist with some Joanna Newsom influences. Let’s face it: being a beautiful, delicate and profound pop/rock/folk singer is a good way to catch everybody’s attention right now. What’s more, she’s been lucky to form such a lovely band to accompany her voice and guitar. Russian Red will be a name you’ll probably hear about over and over again this year. Check European tour dates in her myspace. - Grey

Highlights / They Don't Believe

Be Your Own Pet live @ Pop Bar, Razzmatazz (Barcelona) [4.18.2008]

2008-04-21T07:23:00.005-04:00

I couldn’t believe those guys scheduled a Be Your Own Pet gig in such a tiny room. Razzmatazz is a local club with five different rooms, two of them quite big and three little ones. I thought they were famous enough over here to play in big venues but I guess they thought not many people would attend because of Black Lips concert at the Apolo and a popular university party taking place the same night. Anyway, they were not wrong at all because the place was not packed.

The Tennessee foursome gave us what we expected, what we wanted. They were loud from the beginning to the end and, even though Jemina Pearl’s lyrics were not always clearly understandable, the show was great. You know, who cares about a little bit of distortion and shitty sound when all you want to do is jump and shout? The band was so receptive to the crowd’s demands, maybe too much. There were a bunch of skinheads who started being funny and ended up being terribly annoying. After the first song, Jemina said they were so glad to play their first gig in Spain or something like that. After that, the skinheads told her “Barcelona is not Spain,” and she was like “Oh ok, we are Americans. We don’t know about such things. Barcelona is not Spain!” It would have been funny if it had just finished there but those guys were insisting so much I think Jemina got pissed off. On the other hand, the bassist Nathan Vasquez, who is such a cool guy (not only because of his hairstyle), was the only one who actually seemed to have fun with the awkward skinheads..

In spite of some technical problems and those rude guys, I think everybody there had fun. They are really young but just by controlling a few simple tricks they manage to deliver a consistent show. If you imagined they would be madly energetic on the stage after listening to their albums, you were right. And no, I was not drunk this time. - Grey

More pics here.

The Presets / Apocalypso [2008]

2008-04-20T23:49:00.004-04:00

The Presets

Apocalypso
Modular
April 12, 2008

I’m watching a line of marching robots. Their steps form a pattern on the ground, a perfect square drawn by their giant metal boots. The regularity of the walk gives shape, also, to a persistent beat, a fixed rhythmical structure embellished by the synthesizers that begin to sound whenever these funky man-machines move their arms. As the movements grow more and more complex, the music they make does too. Slowly, a perfectly crafted mechanical party music appears in front of my eyes. The robots, without abandoning their march, begin chanting rocking lyrics and, around them, a whole crowd dances, in awe. “I’m here with all of my people/Locked up with all of my people / So let me hear you scream if you’re with me," sings one of the robots. Everybody around me yells at the top of their lungs. I feel the bass pumping in my loins and close my eyes. I would, indeed, give anything to slowly merge my body with their hypnotic march, their square-shaped mechanical ritual. - Mono

Highlights / My People

Balance Problems / Morning Sun [2008]

2008-04-20T23:03:00.006-04:00

Balance Problems

Morning Sun
Self-Released
April 8, 2008

Balance Problems isn't a band I’ve heard before, but I have to say Morning Sun is a pretty nice album. Songs like "Presidents Day" and "Blankets in the Grass" are sweet and sunny sounding, and definitely remind me of the album's pretty title. I really liked the use of banjo, and acoustic guitar, too – I thought it created a feeling of warmth that gave the album a little added depth that it probably needed. Although I thought the album was really sweet and pretty in places, I’m not entirely sure I’d go out and buy it. It’s not really what I like lyrically (I’m not really a sucker for constant songs about how they feel about some girl), or in terms of vocal style (WAY too breathy) or sound (a little bit bland in places), but it's worth listening to at least – and I think the album deserves some credit. Overall, this album is pretty nice, and standout tracks like "Blankets in the Grass" are worth hearing. Don’t expect a masterpiece, I guess, but do expect some well-crafted, well-thought-out songs and arrangements that will at least remind you of summer or your friends. - TotalTrash

Highlights / Myspace

The Drift / Memory Drawings [2008]

2008-04-20T22:42:00.006-04:00

The Drift
Memory Drawings
Temporary Residence
April 8, 2008

The muted trumpet improvising over the solid post-rock landscapes made me think of a long orange brush over a blue, uniform canvas. Or maybe, a straight line left by a wandering aeroplane in the sky. It made me think of blurred memories, visions of forests and abandoned cities, the rage of a rock and roll night and the smoke of a cigarette under the dimmed lights of a jazz club. It made me think of possibilities, of paths leading to new places, of unexpected combinations that suddenly give birth to music you never imagined and nevertheless needed more than anything. (Gigantic spaces, a deep, black night.) Boy, I love the sound of that trumpet moving over the dreamy chords of the guitar. I really do. - Mono

Highlights / If Wishes Were Like Horses

Shotta / Sangre [2008]

2008-04-19T12:55:00.012-04:00

Shotta
Sangre
Boa Records

April 2, 2008

When Big Hozone produces almost every single beat of an album the mc is not the point. OK, that was an exaggeration and by that I didn’t mean Shotta is not a good mc, but still… Hozone is one of the best European hip-hop producers. No doubt. Shotta made his first step in the business when he was still a teenager (he was 17, I think) with his brother Tote King (one of the biggest Spanish rappers). That album, titled Tu Madre Es Una Foca (Your Mother is a Seal), was also produced by Big Hozone and has become a Spanish rap classic. Nevertheless, his solo debut album was rather crappy. Now he’s back to prove to us he can manage to make a decent album. We knew he had skills, but he needed a balance between his teenage rudeness and a solid message. There’s even some social consciousness here. Who could imagine Shotta would talk about global warming, poverty, etc? In my opinion, even if this album is nothing spectacular, at least he has achieved that goal. Now he’s in the right position to build a successful career. - Grey

Highlights / 4 songs included in Sangre available on his myspace

New Video: Lykke Li - I'm Good, I'm Gone

2008-04-17T15:22:00.007-04:00

Remember I posted about her some weeks ago? This video is just wonderful, but that live version was awesome too. - Grey

Wye Oak / If Children [2008]

2008-04-16T19:06:00.006-04:00

Wye Oak

If Children
Merge
April 8, 2008

Maybe it will rain tomorrow. Maybe next week you will find the love of your life. Maybe your boss hates you. Maybe your wallet isn't completely lost yet. Maybe all Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner want is to be happy. Maybe If Children is just another album filled with beautiful guitars, striking lyrics and colorful melodies. Maybe I'm not smart enough to write a better review. Maybe being named for the largest white oak tree in the United States isn't just for marketing purposes. Maybe, just maybe, everything will shine once again.- Khyne

Highlights / Warning

MSTRKRFT + Shitdisco live @ Lido (Berlin) [4.10.2008]

2008-04-16T09:26:00.023-04:00

That night, it was fucking freezing in the streets of Berlin. They opened the doors at 10.00 PM but we waited outside for almost an hour. A mass of modern and young Berliners invaded Schlesische Straβe. They were drinking beer while waiting to get into the Lido and nobody could tell us if we really had to wait having bought the tickets the day before.

When we finally got in, the place looked far more decent than we expected. It had two rooms, the stage room and another one with sofas, tables and chairs. There was a really nice atmosphere and the place was quite packed even though it was Thursday. We had some beers (2.50 or 3€, quite cheap) and played foosball with local people. We are not such a good players but Berliners are even worse.

Shitdisco started playing around midnight and they connected with the crowd from the very first song. I don’t really remember the set list, but when I think about that concert I can only remember I was drinking beer and dancing along every song. The combination of indie rock and electronic music was quite satisfactory for partying. At the end of their concert, the drummer threw the drumsticks to the crowd. One of them hit my friend’s head, then mine, and I finally grabbed it from the floor. So if you saw a stupid drunk guy wearing black glasses with a wannabe afro hairstyle playing with a drumstick and an empty bottle all night long, that was certainly me.

MSTRKRFT played after Shitdisco. Some people left the Lido or went to the other room (the ‘authentic’ rockers). The ones who like electronic shit stayed there and enjoyed a good show. Some of them even got onto the stage and started dancing there. I must admit by that time I was even drunker so my memories are not so clear. Who knows… maybe they actually sucked. But I don’t think so. Some of my friends were not so wasted and they enjoyed it too.

We stayed there till 04.00 AM, smoking, drinking, playing foosball and dancing with Punks Jump Up. I really had fun. I don’t know, Berlin’s nightlife seems much more attractive to me than Barcelona’s. I gotta go back there sooner or later. - Grey

Caprice / Kywitt! Kywitt! [2008]

2008-04-13T23:57:00.003-04:00

Caprice
Kywitt! Kywitt!
Prikosnovenie
April 8, 2001

The problem is you never learned how to whistle. From that point on, saying Fae Fae Fae Fae, wouldn’t solve your life anymore, but it definitely would have you dancing like a pixie for a while. What happened then was obvious, you didn’t know who John Dowland was, you read a little too much Tolkien, spent last summer in the forest and ate a muscoria or two... Renaissance madrigals [we’ve all heard of Amarillis, obviously!], Cybertrolls from WoW and faerie tags on Flickr made up some strange parallel universe between you and your laptop; now, divide that space in two, then again in two and in two again, until it fits between your nail and your finger, maybe in that little space you can find an elf to sing along with you. You just have to want to believe (sic) in that world you made up (kind of like Plato). Or just forget about it, take a harp and become Johanna Newsom: she knows she doesn’t believe it. Fact is, you won’t surprise anybody by speaking Laoris in the real world, you will be just a cute little geek. So don’t ask why nobody asks you out anymore. (Yes Khyne, I’m talking about you). - postbop

Highlights / Adew, Sweet Amarillis

Films: Death At A Funeral

2008-04-13T23:54:00.008-04:00

Directed by Frank Oz

Starring: Ewen Bremmer, Peter Dinklagez, Kris Marshall, Alan Tudyk, Rupert Graves.

I must say, I haven’t laughed this hard at a movie theatre in a VERY long time. The British comedy “Death at a Funeral” (2007), directed by Frank Oz, is a sublime demonstration of dark humor, well-used classic comedy resources, and a golden script. As for photography and art direction, not much is needed; almost every scene is in the same location, a house in the British countryside, during the day. The story revolves around the funeral of a regular man with a very dark secret, and a mysterious character [who happens to be a little person] is there to blackmail the family, threatening to show some compromising pictures to the “present audience” if they don’t come through with his demands. Of course the mentioned crowd is filled with the most amusing characters, including a lawyer who took acid thinking it was valium, the disturbed widow who’s also a full-time mother-in-law to the desperate wife of one of the blackmailed sons, Daniel, who’s trapped in all the madness while trying to cope with his father’s death, the fact that he has to pay for the funeral, and live up to his famous-writer brother’s reputation. Trust me, you’ll laugh from the opening scene until the final cut. A crown jewel, without a doubt! - Federicca

Trailer

Dancing Mice / Eroded [2008]

2008-04-13T21:10:00.007-04:00

Dancing Mice

Eroded
Squeak
April 7, 2008

The first thing that actually caught my attention from this album is the fact that a song is called "Tamagotchi Girl" (I love it! Why didn’t I think of that name first?). That being said, I think that this album is a statement of pure artistic freedom: a 21st-century version of the DIY (do it yourself) attitude of early punk. You’ll hear a nice mixture of synth-pop sounds and songs depicted in a somehow anarchist, anti-virtuosic fashion where endless, out-of-tune melodies meet broken chords and rhythms. You’ll hear a collection of heterogeneous styles (from new-wave to dub-like beats) giving birth to a music that sounds abnormal, somehow out of place, somehow clumsy in a refreshing way. And then you’ll think, once more, that it's not a matter of skills or expertise, but a matter of the way you deliver your own original version of what rock and roll should be by doing everything the way you want to. You don’t have to be a maestro: just plug your guitar, turn on the mic and play. That’s all it is. - Mono

Highlights / Wounded Woman

Sun Kil Moon / April [2008]

2008-04-13T20:31:00.004-04:00

Sun Kil Moon

April
Caldo Verde
April 1, 2008

Once again this man achieves his goal: to compose songs filled with loneliness and melancholic feelings that will make you suffer a heartache. Sun Kil Moon’s third album still has that warm vibe we are used to and for people that have been listening to Kozelek’s music since he began with the Red House Painters this won't be a disappointing release. I don’t know exactly where his magic resides; maybe in the way he tunes his guitar or in his soft and particular voice or perhaps in the slowest and repetitive melodies that make you fall into a deep and sweet sleep. In this world -where everything has to be light, fast and simple – it’s difficult to listen an eight minute song just because "we don’t have the time”; we just love those mainstream friendly artists with music easy to digest, but Kozelek breaks all those rules and always finds a way to express his memories and feelings with a perfect cross between beautiful poetic lyrics and a slowcore guitar style. Even though I prefer his old work with the Red House Painters, this CD will make you smile. - Hi6uera

Highlights / Lucky Man

Glowworm / The Coachlight Woods [2008]

2008-04-13T20:23:00.004-04:00

Glowworm
The Coachlight Woods
Self-Released
March 4, 2008

I just lay on my bed, played this record, and tried hard to silence my thoughts and just listen. The music made it easier. I heard no voices, I heard no words, and the emotional depth of what I was listening to felt like an invitation to search deep inside myself and watch the inner geographies and places, those that you rarely see in their entire length unless you manage to surround yourself with the right sounds. Rainy days appeared in front of my eyes. Unknown paths too, leading to the distant places I’ll walk in the future. And the music kept on traveling, in slow motion, showing me some landscapes of immense beauty and color. I step out of the bed, the cello and the drums still sounding in my head, and the rain falling peacefully though the windows. Today was the perfect post-rock day, and this album made it possible. - Mono

Highlights / Into The Woods

Falko Brocksieper / Heavy Day [2008]

2008-04-11T18:58:00.005-04:00

Falko Brocksieper

Heavy Day
Sub Static
April 11, 2008

And then you find yourself watching the sunrise from the windows of the club, listening to this simple, minimal music sending sonic waves through the dance floor. There are colors hidden in the beats, there are hypnotic, never-ending repetitions and the morning rays find you dancing, alone, while the darkness slowly fades away. You can't help but move your head to the delayed keyboards, the powerful basses and the subtle details (processed voices, feedbacks, thin pads), crafted for you to feel the ambience of the Berlin nights, no matter where you are. The sounds keep on going and these techno landscapes, filled with hedonistic pleasures and otherworldly sensations keep coming in your ears. The sun is going its way up in the sky, but Who says the party is over? -Dancing, that’s a great thing to do. - Mono

Highlights / Emotional Support

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / Real Emotional Trash [2008]

2008-04-10T16:06:00.008-04:00

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks

Real Emotional Trash
Matador
March 4, 2008

I'll say it, I was skeptical OK! But I can admit to my errors in judgement! With a 1970's amped electric guitar sound and echoes of Black Sabbath and The Doors creeping in, this album is not for easy listening. But is indeed for listening! So what I mean is don't put in on and take a serene bath, instead put it on and swig on some jack! It's a long album with lengthy jam sessions, some might say self-indulgent jam sessions, but why not be self-indulgent when you are a talented musical genius? Definitely worth a listen even if you don't like an older sound or extended jamming; this might just change your mind. - Morning Lemon

Highlights / Baltimore