Feel the awesome!
April 14, 2008
An April mixtape for you! Link
Archive for the ‘music’ Category
The club is open
April 7, 2008
If you’ve been hanging around here long enough, the news that I love Guided By Voices will not knock you off your chair with surprise. They tickle my undercarriage like nobody’s business. (I put ‘Game of Pricks’ at the end of ‘The Dinner Party’ simply to get one of their songs onto mainstream telly) Now disbanded, there’s still no other group that fills me with such missionary zeal–they continue to do for me what the Pixies did before them, and Talking Heads did before that. Lead singer Robert Pollard’s output is staggering (he has written 1000+ songs) and Jesus, can he write a tune. Because his influences are not the standard ones, you hear melodies and structures in his records that you’ll hear nowhere else. Even when he’s bad, he’s good. And when he’s good, he’s amazing.
With that in mind, I’ve banged together a little GBV/Pollard primer, so you can dip your toe in before you become a lunatic, nerdy fan, as you undoubtedly will (be careful).
I should say that these choices are by no means constitute a ‘definitive’ list–I’ve chosen them because they’re all earworms, but it would be the easiest thing in the world to knock up another comp of identical quality. If you are interested in exploring further, start by picking up any of the following albums: Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Propeller, Under the Bushes, Under the Stars or Mag Earwhig.
(Thanks to Rich for letting me do this!)
Overhead conversation between Korean singer and her agent
April 2, 2008“Ah, look, you’re going to have to fire the drummer.”
“What? Why? He’s great.”
“He’s a fine drummer, don’t get me wrong. “
“Then, what’s the problem?”
“Well, the songs are kind of sad, and you’re very dignified and compelling when you sing them, but sometimes the drummer, he…well, some of his actions…he can be just the tiniest bit distracting. There are certain things he does and they sort of…draw the eye. Haven’t you ever thought that?”
“Well, I never turn around so…”
“I think if you turned around, you’d be shocked.”
“Really?”
“Frankly, yes. Well, all right, I have this video of that TV spot you did last week…let’s have a look, and you can tell me if there’s any time when you feel he sort of…commands your attention.”
“I’ll keep my eyes peeled!”
(again, via Neatorama)
A mixtape for you!
March 28, 2008
(I don’t know what the legal position is on posting this up–I hope most of the bands involved would see it as the act of a fan, and not someone trying to destroy their sales. Needless to say, if you like any of the bands here, please show them some love.)
Field Music are catchy as all hell
March 24, 2008
Who was it who told me about Field Music? Whoever it was, thank you.
MGMT- ‘Time To Pretend’
March 8, 2008
I’ve been loving this song for a while now, but this video has turned MGMT into my new favourite band. As Spinal Tap said, there’s a thin line between clever and stupid, and this video hoovers that line right up. It’s so daringly, hilariously pretentious that it just leaps out of our world and immediately enters them into the orbiting hall of lunatic rock fame. Think Bowie walking along the beach dressed as a Pierrot clown (My Dad, from the armchair: “Oh, for God’s sake”), or even The Jacksons as space giants, and you get the idea. Link to MGMT video
(I love the sentiments in the song too, a hilariously fatalistic approach to what they see as their inevitable success combined with a lament for the end of childhood that is hugely moving: I’ll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms/I’ll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world/I’ll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home/Yeah, I’ll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.)
The drums. The drums. The drums. The drums.
March 7, 2008
Great DJ is the new single by The Ting Tings. Annoyingly, they’ve disabled embedding (WHY, IDIOT, MORON RECORD COMPANY? IT’S FREE ADVERTISING! NO WONDER YOU’RE ALL FINISHED!) Go on, put some earphones on and clickthelink! It’s forking corking!
Someone! Hand me a guitar! NOW!
February 8, 2008This is pretty amazing. You know the way Guitar Hero teaches you how to play a plastic guitar with coloured buttons, and if you pulled the plug out all you’d hear would be clicky clickclick click clickyclickclickclick and really, that’s the end of your musical career right there? Well Guitar Rising teaches you how to TOTALLY PLAY THE GUITAR! Holy shit, man! Do you know what that means? It means that if I start now, I might be able to form a completely bitchin’ band by the time I’m fifty!
Here’s how I see my career going.
Age………Progress
40………. Basic scales, or whatever they’re called.
41………. Most early Clash songs.
42………. Stairway to Heaven except for fiddly bit.
43………. Stairway to Heaven with fiddly bit.
44………. OK Computer except for fiddly bit.
45………. OK Computer
46………. Start writing my own songs. Already, there’s something really interesting there.
47………..Recruit other members. (Incl. girl on bass).
48………..Fire first drummer.
49………..Give away all my music for free.
50………..Declare bankruptcy.
51………..Attempt to get ‘It Crowd, The Musical’ off the ground. Beg Neil Hannon to do the songs.
Tiggleburkzzbogzzzzspurblepank!
February 2, 2008
This would appear to be the new Hot Chip album in its entirety. It appears to rule.
