After leaving Wednesday night's Jens Lekman show with a huge smile on my face, I left Thursday's Hold Steady/Art Brut party drenched in sweat and with shredded vocal chords. It's not every day that you get to see your favorite American band and your favorite British band sharing the stage, so it was a pretty special night. It was one of the shows where you leave the front of the stage bleeding, but it's from someone trying to hug you instead of moshing. The Hold Steady played a new song called "Stay Positive," which in addition to rocking super hard, really summarized the whole feel of the night.
Art Brut was accompanied by a Powerpoint projected behind them with all of the song titles and the occasional lyric thrown in for emphasis. Eddie Argos seems to have added some new stage moves since the band last came to Austin, but he still pulled out the classics like the microphone cord jump rope. Now with another album's worth of tasty meta-punk, Art Brut proved once again that there's no cooler band in the world. For all that's written about how talentless they are, Jasper Future and Ian Catskilkin are a mighty fine guitar duo. As I think he does at every show, Argos flung himself into the crowd during "Modern Art," but the cool thing about this time is that I was close enough for him to give me a big, nasty, sweaty hug. Highlights were "Emily Kane," which I think is one of the most genuine love songs written this decade, "Post-Soothing Out," and a "Good Weekend"/"Formed a Band" medley which closed out the set. For a second I was concerned that The Hold Steady wouldn't be able to match up to Art Brut's level of rocktitude, but then I remembered that they were the Hold Steady and I punched myself in the face.
The Hold Steady established that they were about to take us on a sleazy journey as soon as they walked onstage, each equipped with a different adult beverage, ranging from Tad Kubler's handle of Jim Beam to Franz Nikola's bottle of fine chardonnay to match his vest and infamous moustache. Craig Finn seemed a little bit more dancey than usual, which only added to the positive energy in the packed La Zona Rosa. The set leaned heavily on Boys and Girls in America, but they threw in old classics like "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" and "The Swish." Less dependent on schtick than Art Brut, The Hold Steady made it feel like we were all a bunch of friends drinking together, which essentially we were. There were about 4 new songs thrown into the mix which seemed to continue the band' s route towards classic rock. Craig Finn kept banter to a minimum which was kinda lame, but Galen Polivka picked up the slack by throwing dollar bills and cigarettes into the crowd. The encore was all Almost Killed Me material, closing as always with "Killer Parties," which is a song that I always forget how much I love.
Certainly ranks among the top shows since I've started going to UT. The next big one will be Dinosaur Jr., so there's a good chance that it'll be on par with this one. More importantly, though, LSU is number one again and Thanksgiving is on Thursday.
Turkey...stuffing...beer...tiiiiiight.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Sweden: No Longer Just a Subject of Jamie Lee Curtis's Mockery
I've been pretty busy the past couple of weeks so I haven't had time to post, but I've been inspired by the resurgence of the Swedish music scene. On Tuesday The Hives released a new record, and last night Jens Lekman played a show at the Parish in Austin, both of which left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside me tumbly.
The Hives have followed a very similar career path to that of The Strokes: Breakthrough album sells huge due to string of popular singles; everyone hates the second album but then realizes a few months later that it's actually better; release third album which isn't revelatory but explores new ideas and sticks enough to the old style to keep old fans happy. I thought that Tyrannosaurus Hives was criminally underrated when it came out a few years ago, and its lack of a popular single caused The Hives to slip into relative obscurity since.
However, their new record, The Black and White Album features a few songs that could put them back in the spotlight where they belong. B & W is by no means as good as T. Hives or as viscerally fast-paced as Veni Vidi Vicious, but the album finds the band trying out plenty of new things. Most notably, Howlin' Pelle Almqvist shows much more vocal range, much like Julian Casablancas did on the third Strokes record. "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.," produced by Pharell Williams, grooves like a Kraftwerk-Queen mashup with Howlin' Pelle busting out his best Les Savy Fav falsetto. You could even argue that he croons on "Won't Be Long," which is the album's strongest track and features a super-groovy synth lead.
All three of the first tracks are potential blockbuster singles, with "You Got it All...Wrong" providing the catchiest chorus of the three. Everybody always calls The Hives "dumb rock," which it most certainly is, but their lyrics -- still hilariously credited to the mysterious Randy Fitzimmons -- are often just as clever as Joey Ramone or Jonathan Richman, which is especially impressive considering that English is their second language. The best example of this is the "school-stinks" closing anthem, "Fall is Just Something That Grownups Invented," which has the same tongue-in-cheek quality as "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" or "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out."
The album is not without its flaws, though. Sometimes the band's newfound experimentation gets the best of them, as on the too-kitschy instrumental, "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors" which tries to emulate the horror-movie dramatics of the excellent "Diabolic Scheme" off of T. Hives, but just comes off bland. Also, "Puppet of a String" tries a slow vaudeville piano effect while Howlin' Pelle ambles through the lyrics, marking the first time in the man's career that he could be accused of being lazy. Overall though, the album is fun as always and a great way to spend a half-hour. 7/10
Now, on to Jens Lekman
I've been gushing about Jens Lekman since he came out with his stunning Night Falls Over Kortedala a couple months back, so I was pretty ecstatic to find out that he was coming to Austin and playing at The Parish, arguably the best venue in town. Even though I ended up going to the concert alone, drinking the amount that I would have spent on a date, I walked away feeling happier than I ever have following a concert. I saw him at the bar during the opening act and said to him, "Hey Jens, you got a good one for us tonight?" He crawled into his shell and meekly replied, "I sure hope so" and then crept backstage to regather himself.
Shy as he was beforehand, he was an impeccable showman. Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, he provided all of the necessary beats and background vocals with a loop pedal. After about the third song, he requested that the house lights be turned on in order to "take a look at all you charming people," only to become more nervous when he saw how many people were there. Among the best songs was Kortedala standout "A Postcard to Nina," which he annotated with the full story of playing boyfriend in front of a lesbian friend's father. Also fantastic were "A Pocketful of Money" from When I Said I Wanted to be Your Dog, which ended in a haunting a capella audience singalong and a charming cover of Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al." Also, one of the girls from Architecture in Helsinki, who were doing a set down the street at Emo's, came onstage to dance and do backing vocals on "The Opposite of Hallelujah." Normally I don't like to listen to band for at least an hour after seeing them live, but I was singing along to Jens on my bike the entire ride home.
Check back tomorrow when I will hopefully have an update on tonight's epic Art Brut/Hold Steady show. Top of the Pops!
The Hives have followed a very similar career path to that of The Strokes: Breakthrough album sells huge due to string of popular singles; everyone hates the second album but then realizes a few months later that it's actually better; release third album which isn't revelatory but explores new ideas and sticks enough to the old style to keep old fans happy. I thought that Tyrannosaurus Hives was criminally underrated when it came out a few years ago, and its lack of a popular single caused The Hives to slip into relative obscurity since.
However, their new record, The Black and White Album features a few songs that could put them back in the spotlight where they belong. B & W is by no means as good as T. Hives or as viscerally fast-paced as Veni Vidi Vicious, but the album finds the band trying out plenty of new things. Most notably, Howlin' Pelle Almqvist shows much more vocal range, much like Julian Casablancas did on the third Strokes record. "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.," produced by Pharell Williams, grooves like a Kraftwerk-Queen mashup with Howlin' Pelle busting out his best Les Savy Fav falsetto. You could even argue that he croons on "Won't Be Long," which is the album's strongest track and features a super-groovy synth lead.
All three of the first tracks are potential blockbuster singles, with "You Got it All...Wrong" providing the catchiest chorus of the three. Everybody always calls The Hives "dumb rock," which it most certainly is, but their lyrics -- still hilariously credited to the mysterious Randy Fitzimmons -- are often just as clever as Joey Ramone or Jonathan Richman, which is especially impressive considering that English is their second language. The best example of this is the "school-stinks" closing anthem, "Fall is Just Something That Grownups Invented," which has the same tongue-in-cheek quality as "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" or "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out."
The album is not without its flaws, though. Sometimes the band's newfound experimentation gets the best of them, as on the too-kitschy instrumental, "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors" which tries to emulate the horror-movie dramatics of the excellent "Diabolic Scheme" off of T. Hives, but just comes off bland. Also, "Puppet of a String" tries a slow vaudeville piano effect while Howlin' Pelle ambles through the lyrics, marking the first time in the man's career that he could be accused of being lazy. Overall though, the album is fun as always and a great way to spend a half-hour. 7/10
Now, on to Jens Lekman
I've been gushing about Jens Lekman since he came out with his stunning Night Falls Over Kortedala a couple months back, so I was pretty ecstatic to find out that he was coming to Austin and playing at The Parish, arguably the best venue in town. Even though I ended up going to the concert alone, drinking the amount that I would have spent on a date, I walked away feeling happier than I ever have following a concert. I saw him at the bar during the opening act and said to him, "Hey Jens, you got a good one for us tonight?" He crawled into his shell and meekly replied, "I sure hope so" and then crept backstage to regather himself.
Shy as he was beforehand, he was an impeccable showman. Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, he provided all of the necessary beats and background vocals with a loop pedal. After about the third song, he requested that the house lights be turned on in order to "take a look at all you charming people," only to become more nervous when he saw how many people were there. Among the best songs was Kortedala standout "A Postcard to Nina," which he annotated with the full story of playing boyfriend in front of a lesbian friend's father. Also fantastic were "A Pocketful of Money" from When I Said I Wanted to be Your Dog, which ended in a haunting a capella audience singalong and a charming cover of Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al." Also, one of the girls from Architecture in Helsinki, who were doing a set down the street at Emo's, came onstage to dance and do backing vocals on "The Opposite of Hallelujah." Normally I don't like to listen to band for at least an hour after seeing them live, but I was singing along to Jens on my bike the entire ride home.
Check back tomorrow when I will hopefully have an update on tonight's epic Art Brut/Hold Steady show. Top of the Pops!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Fun Fun Fun Fest Recap
So this weekend was Fun Fun Fun Fest, the newer, smaller, more indie-focused music festival in Austin. It's a very different environment than that of ACL for a number of reasons. First of all, the November weather is much more conducive to a day in the park than the September hear. Also, FFFFest brilliantly got rid of the hour-long wait between acts at most festivals by splitting each stage so that one band could set up while the other band played, making it a maximum of ten minutes between shows. Most importantly, however, FFFFest is far stinkier than ACL. As I touched on earlier, FFFFest is only indie bands, metal bands and DJs, who all have incredibly stinky fans. The entire place reeked of vintage elitism. Regardless, it was a fun time...
Day 1
I started my day at Okkervil River, who most recent album has been in constant rotation on my iPod. Singer Will Sheff, clad in a nice three-piece suit, occasionally let his emotions get the best of him, with his voice occasionally cracking and quavering due to his on-stage freakouts. Regardless, standouts such as "For Real" and "Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe" sounded great as the band had a much meatier sound than they have on their records.
Immediately after Okkervil on the same stage was Of Montreal, who are always impossibly fun live. They didn't play anything older than Satanic Panic in the Attic, but their mostly-drum machine based set certainly had the crowd in a frenzy. I didn't take any pictures, but the costumes were obviously over the top and hilarious. With about fifteen minutes left in their
set, the lights went out and Kevin Barnes thought that he was being kicked off the stage so he threw a fit and ended early. However, they sorted everything out and came back out for a "totally unironic" cover of "Purple Rain. I never thought I'd say this about anyone, but Barnes might just be a bit too effeminate to carry The Purple One's classic.
The New Pornographers followed, with a set leaning heavily on their recent Challengers disc. Fortunately, all three core members are on this tour, with Carl Newman and Neko Case singing the whole time and Dan Bejar occasionally putting down his beer and coming onstage to sing. As much as I love their records, the New Pornographers really aren't a terribly exciting live band. Perhaps it was because I just noticed that Carl Newman has a lisp or maybe it was that they focused on material which was a bit boring, but nobody other than Bejar seemed to have any kind of stage presence. In spite of that, "Mass Romantic", "Jackie Dressed in Cobras" and "Myriad Harbour" were all beautiful and fun to see live.
After this I went to the hip-hop stage to see Girl Talk which was the disappointment of the festival. I'd been pretty into Night Ripper for a few months, so I was pretty pumped to go to a big dance party and watch Greg Gillis spin. He certainly had a lot of energy, as he invited everyone onstage to dance around to his set. The problem was that A) I had a bunch of stinky indie kids touching me from all over the place and B) the set was pretty terrible. While Girl Talk's albums are fluid and focused on recognizable parts of popular songs, the live set was pretty meandering and annoying. Disappointed, I made my way to Explosions in the Sky, who were pretty incredible. All of the songs they played were intertwined, and they alternated between beautiful energy lows to bone-crunching highs. Their songs moved so fluidly that they would start shredding and pounding on the drums and you wouldn't even notice until your ears started to hurt.
Day 2:
The Day 2 lineup was not quite as rich, but the two bands that I wanted to see were both very intriguing. The first was Ted Leo and his Pharmacists, who I had seen the year before at ACL. Ted Leo is one of my very favorite musicians working today, because he delivers on absolutely every level. He's a guitar hero, and excellent lyricist, and most importantly he's a showman. The energy level onstage was amazing, with everyone from Leo to his Will Oldham-looking drummer seemed hellbent on making everyone in the audience certain that they were at a punk rock show. There were notable omissions from the setlist such as "The High Party" and "La Costa Brava", but "Biomusicology" was a nice surprise, as was their super-fun cover of Daft Punk's "One More Time".
The last band I saw at the festival was Battles, who were far and away the most bizarre show of the weekend. The instrumental math rock group with the super groovability was very technically proficient, with two members playing piano with one hand and guitar with the other. All four members played at incredible speed and showed a great knack for combining sounds in
interesting ways, but it was apparent that these people were not normal people. It seemed like they were trying to do "rock moves", but it all ended up looking like a bunch of muscle spasms. It was a bit disconcerting how much they relied on pedals and computers, making it hard to tell when they were actually playing and when they were playing a loop or a recording, but they were nonetheless very impressive with their mastery of their instruments.
So that was Fun Fun Fun Fest in a nutshell. Cat Power is playing as I'm writing this, but I skipped her to come home and watch Curb Your Enthusiasm. I figure if I missed the LSU, Texas, and Colts games this weekend, I at least owed myself some Larry David.
Day 1
I started my day at Okkervil River, who most recent album has been in constant rotation on my iPod. Singer Will Sheff, clad in a nice three-piece suit, occasionally let his emotions get the best of him, with his voice occasionally cracking and quavering due to his on-stage freakouts. Regardless, standouts such as "For Real" and "Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe" sounded great as the band had a much meatier sound than they have on their records.
Immediately after Okkervil on the same stage was Of Montreal, who are always impossibly fun live. They didn't play anything older than Satanic Panic in the Attic, but their mostly-drum machine based set certainly had the crowd in a frenzy. I didn't take any pictures, but the costumes were obviously over the top and hilarious. With about fifteen minutes left in their
set, the lights went out and Kevin Barnes thought that he was being kicked off the stage so he threw a fit and ended early. However, they sorted everything out and came back out for a "totally unironic" cover of "Purple Rain. I never thought I'd say this about anyone, but Barnes might just be a bit too effeminate to carry The Purple One's classic.
The New Pornographers followed, with a set leaning heavily on their recent Challengers disc. Fortunately, all three core members are on this tour, with Carl Newman and Neko Case singing the whole time and Dan Bejar occasionally putting down his beer and coming onstage to sing. As much as I love their records, the New Pornographers really aren't a terribly exciting live band. Perhaps it was because I just noticed that Carl Newman has a lisp or maybe it was that they focused on material which was a bit boring, but nobody other than Bejar seemed to have any kind of stage presence. In spite of that, "Mass Romantic", "Jackie Dressed in Cobras" and "Myriad Harbour" were all beautiful and fun to see live.
After this I went to the hip-hop stage to see Girl Talk which was the disappointment of the festival. I'd been pretty into Night Ripper for a few months, so I was pretty pumped to go to a big dance party and watch Greg Gillis spin. He certainly had a lot of energy, as he invited everyone onstage to dance around to his set. The problem was that A) I had a bunch of stinky indie kids touching me from all over the place and B) the set was pretty terrible. While Girl Talk's albums are fluid and focused on recognizable parts of popular songs, the live set was pretty meandering and annoying. Disappointed, I made my way to Explosions in the Sky, who were pretty incredible. All of the songs they played were intertwined, and they alternated between beautiful energy lows to bone-crunching highs. Their songs moved so fluidly that they would start shredding and pounding on the drums and you wouldn't even notice until your ears started to hurt.
Day 2:
The Day 2 lineup was not quite as rich, but the two bands that I wanted to see were both very intriguing. The first was Ted Leo and his Pharmacists, who I had seen the year before at ACL. Ted Leo is one of my very favorite musicians working today, because he delivers on absolutely every level. He's a guitar hero, and excellent lyricist, and most importantly he's a showman. The energy level onstage was amazing, with everyone from Leo to his Will Oldham-looking drummer seemed hellbent on making everyone in the audience certain that they were at a punk rock show. There were notable omissions from the setlist such as "The High Party" and "La Costa Brava", but "Biomusicology" was a nice surprise, as was their super-fun cover of Daft Punk's "One More Time".
The last band I saw at the festival was Battles, who were far and away the most bizarre show of the weekend. The instrumental math rock group with the super groovability was very technically proficient, with two members playing piano with one hand and guitar with the other. All four members played at incredible speed and showed a great knack for combining sounds in
interesting ways, but it was apparent that these people were not normal people. It seemed like they were trying to do "rock moves", but it all ended up looking like a bunch of muscle spasms. It was a bit disconcerting how much they relied on pedals and computers, making it hard to tell when they were actually playing and when they were playing a loop or a recording, but they were nonetheless very impressive with their mastery of their instruments.
So that was Fun Fun Fun Fest in a nutshell. Cat Power is playing as I'm writing this, but I skipped her to come home and watch Curb Your Enthusiasm. I figure if I missed the LSU, Texas, and Colts games this weekend, I at least owed myself some Larry David.
Friday, November 2, 2007
It's 4:40 and Kevin Durant is Still My Personal Savior
You may be aware of the fact that there is a rookie basketball player in the NBA named Kevin Durant and that last year in college he wore a beautiful burnt orange jersey on the court. Well, two games in and KD looks even better than I thought he would. 18 points in the first game followed by a brilliant 27-point performance against the Suns last night. Granted, he was a less-than-great 7-23 shooting in the first game, but the important part is that he was able to get off 23 shots. Turns out that it doesn't matter if he can bench press no more than 185; if you're lankier than Tayshaun Prince and Stretch Armstrong's lovechild, then you can shoot the ball over anybody.
You can tell a superstar on a team by the aura that surrounds him when he plays. Just like when you watch LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, you can't help but fix your eyes on number 35. While it's upsetting that we don't get to watch KD play in the same league as Gred Oden this year, it puts the microscope that much tighter on Durant. He could handle the spotlight in high school and college, but it will be interesting to see how he handles it on the world's biggest stage. I honestly don't think it'll affect him, because I'm not sure that he's aware that he even has fans -- or sometimes, teammates. He's simply a basketball savant, like Boobie Miles before his tragic injury. I'm just super excited to watch this former 'Horn blow up so I don't feel so bad that I missed VY in college by one year. Just imagine if Vince had stuck around for one year -- Heisman trophy winner and unanimous POY award winner at the same school...alas.
Speaking of alas, I'm at a crossroads this weekend about how I will entertain myself. On one end, Fun Fun Fun Fest is this Saturday and Sunday, so I'll get to see Ted Leo, New Pornographers, Girl Talk, Battles, Explosions in the Sky, Zykos, and MC Chris. On the other hand, there are three of the most highly anticipated football games of the year this weekend in ASU-Oregon, LSU-Alabama, and The Sporting Event Which Will Alter History and Change/End Lives. Fact is, I already bought a ticket, so I'm going to the festival, but it's not something I'm necessarily proud of. I'd pay a good deal of money to see some Manning Face on Nick Saban this weekend.
Have a good weekend, knuckleheads. Goodnight Canada.
You can tell a superstar on a team by the aura that surrounds him when he plays. Just like when you watch LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, you can't help but fix your eyes on number 35. While it's upsetting that we don't get to watch KD play in the same league as Gred Oden this year, it puts the microscope that much tighter on Durant. He could handle the spotlight in high school and college, but it will be interesting to see how he handles it on the world's biggest stage. I honestly don't think it'll affect him, because I'm not sure that he's aware that he even has fans -- or sometimes, teammates. He's simply a basketball savant, like Boobie Miles before his tragic injury. I'm just super excited to watch this former 'Horn blow up so I don't feel so bad that I missed VY in college by one year. Just imagine if Vince had stuck around for one year -- Heisman trophy winner and unanimous POY award winner at the same school...alas.
Speaking of alas, I'm at a crossroads this weekend about how I will entertain myself. On one end, Fun Fun Fun Fest is this Saturday and Sunday, so I'll get to see Ted Leo, New Pornographers, Girl Talk, Battles, Explosions in the Sky, Zykos, and MC Chris. On the other hand, there are three of the most highly anticipated football games of the year this weekend in ASU-Oregon, LSU-Alabama, and The Sporting Event Which Will Alter History and Change/End Lives. Fact is, I already bought a ticket, so I'm going to the festival, but it's not something I'm necessarily proud of. I'd pay a good deal of money to see some Manning Face on Nick Saban this weekend.
Have a good weekend, knuckleheads. Goodnight Canada.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thoughts on Saturday
After BC got my hopes up before crushing me in the last two minutes, the weekend would only get more frustrating. The Texas Longhorns have to be the single most infuriating team in the country. This was true two years ago, but this year they're pissing off their own fans. For all the talent and support that this program has, they continually disappoint and underachieve. Now, reading the previous sentences, you would think that the Horns had lost yesterday; after the game I had to be reminded that we had won. Aside from the Baylor game, the fourth quarter of the TCU game, and the OU game minus the fumble, comfortable moments during football games have come few and far between. Here are reasons:
Boston leads 1-0 in the fifth. Looks like I'll have a clean face tomorrow.
- The Longhorns have become the "cool team". While it's nice to see people from coast to coast in beautiful burnt orange, it seems to have a negative effect on the players. The level of cockiness on this team is ridiculous, with the players prancing around like they're the 90's U. It's this attitude of invincibility that led to all those pre-season arrests.
- We're massively overrated, every year. Pre-season rankings have a lingering stench on all college football seasons, and all they seem to do is cause disappointment. It's pretty obvious now that we never had any business being ranked in the top ten at any point. We have top ten talent, but we are by no means a top ten team.
- Greg Davis eats puppies
- For real.
- We don't have any kind of power back. Charles can't run tackle to tackle, yet we keep trying to jam his skinny ass through there. All he needs to do is watch footage of how well that dancing in the backfield stuff has worked for Reggie Bush so far in the NFL. However, it should be noted that Charles' game on Sunday was an absolute classic. About midway through the fourth quarter, I turned to my friend at the game and said, "Wow, I bet Charles ends up with over 150 yards." Well, he ended up with 290 and I'm an idiot.
Boston leads 1-0 in the fifth. Looks like I'll have a clean face tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Wednesday Shuffle Shakedown
If you live in Austin and get The Onion print edition every week or if you keep up with the publication regularly, then you're likely familiar with the A.V. Club's "Random Rules" feature. If not, it consists of a celebrity putting his or her iPod on shuffle and justifying or explaining the first few songs that come up. No skipping is allowed, period. Because this is a slow week in music and because I will likely never be asked by the A.V. Club to do this, I'm going to take on this challenge personally, and I'm going to try to do this every Wednesday. First five songs, here we go.
1. Ghostface Killah featuring Raekwon - "R.A.G.U."
This is one of the more laid back tracks off of last year's EXCELLENT FishScale LP. I think I've come to the realization that Ghostface is one of maybe five rappers that I legitimately enjoy. I know it's the cool thing now to pretend that you're as into rap and electronic music as you're into old-fashioned rock and roll, but I find that someone as emotional and varied as Ghost comes along very rarely in hip hop.
2. Destroyer - "From Oakland to Warsaw"
From Your Blues, this song features chimes and lush string arrangements, making it huge and gaudy even by Dan Bejar's standards. Even though I do love it when he gets big and Bowie, I think that I prefer Bejar in more stripped-down settings, like most of Streethawk: A Desire. In songs like "From Oakland to Warsaw," the arrangements can get in the way of Bejar's uniquely emotive voice. After seeing Sunset Rubdown, I would absolutely love to see how Spencer Krug and Dan Bejar would sound together onstage in there side project Swan Lake.
3. Decemberists - "16 Military Wives"
Yeah, the one with the video that rips off Rushmore. This song is actually one of my least favorite off of Picaresque, but that by no means makes it a weak song. However, I prefer my Decemberists songs to focus on sea wenches and barrow boys, not heavy-handed political themes. When they played this at ACL this year, Colin Meloy had the audience chanting along with the "la-di-da" part, which was obviously fun. However, he then had everyone chanting along with something to the effect of "the Bush administration is killing American kids," which was not catchy at all. It was almost as awkward as when Common had everyone in the mostly white audience raise their fists Black Panther-style. It seems like in today's musical/political climate, it's impossible to like a band without agreeing with them politically, which can be frustrating; after all, most musicians are d-bags anyways. Regardless, a very catchy tune.
4. King Elementary - "Rebecca"
Awwwwww...
To those poor souls unfamiliar with the Jackson, Mississippi music scene, these guys were the best thing since sliced bread. In one of my classes I'm writing a paper on W.C. Don's, the dive bar where most concerts in Jackson went down, so I've been listening to these guys a lot lately as well as other Jackson mainstays like Champagne Heights and Living Better Electrically. I remember when these guys did an impromptu performance of this song at a house party, and people were going so apeshit that the house literally shook. It was Rock City.
5. The Good Life - "Under A Honeymoom"
This is Tim Kasher from Cursive's acoustic project, which is kinda like Bright Eyes but with a far less warbly and annoying voice. I've only listened to this album a few times before, but I bought it after being briefly obsessed with The Ugly Organ, which remains the only Cursive album I own. This song ends with a beautiful coda of organs and glockenspiel, making it much more epic than most of the rest of the album. I'd recommend this album -- Album of the Year -- to someone looking for a less grizzly M. Ward or a more assertive (smog).
The 6th song was "Explode" by The Cardigans. Damn the fates.
Now, I think that that was fun, and I open the message boards up to anyone who wants to shuffle it up and tell everyone what their first song is. Funniest answer wins. Nothing. Also, boards are available for costume suggestions, as I am still without.
Speaking of Halloween, AMC is doing Monsterfest every night up to the 31st, so last night I stayed up until 2 watching Hellraiser. I think that between that and Nightmare on Elm Street you have two examples of potentially great movies completely marred by obsolete special effects. Clive Barker and Wes Craven owe it to all of us to go George Lucas on those movies so that we can send the Cenobites back to hell with some dignity.
Jocksville:
Benji
1. Ghostface Killah featuring Raekwon - "R.A.G.U."
This is one of the more laid back tracks off of last year's EXCELLENT FishScale LP. I think I've come to the realization that Ghostface is one of maybe five rappers that I legitimately enjoy. I know it's the cool thing now to pretend that you're as into rap and electronic music as you're into old-fashioned rock and roll, but I find that someone as emotional and varied as Ghost comes along very rarely in hip hop.
2. Destroyer - "From Oakland to Warsaw"
From Your Blues, this song features chimes and lush string arrangements, making it huge and gaudy even by Dan Bejar's standards. Even though I do love it when he gets big and Bowie, I think that I prefer Bejar in more stripped-down settings, like most of Streethawk: A Desire. In songs like "From Oakland to Warsaw," the arrangements can get in the way of Bejar's uniquely emotive voice. After seeing Sunset Rubdown, I would absolutely love to see how Spencer Krug and Dan Bejar would sound together onstage in there side project Swan Lake.
3. Decemberists - "16 Military Wives"
Yeah, the one with the video that rips off Rushmore. This song is actually one of my least favorite off of Picaresque, but that by no means makes it a weak song. However, I prefer my Decemberists songs to focus on sea wenches and barrow boys, not heavy-handed political themes. When they played this at ACL this year, Colin Meloy had the audience chanting along with the "la-di-da" part, which was obviously fun. However, he then had everyone chanting along with something to the effect of "the Bush administration is killing American kids," which was not catchy at all. It was almost as awkward as when Common had everyone in the mostly white audience raise their fists Black Panther-style. It seems like in today's musical/political climate, it's impossible to like a band without agreeing with them politically, which can be frustrating; after all, most musicians are d-bags anyways. Regardless, a very catchy tune.
4. King Elementary - "Rebecca"
Awwwwww...
To those poor souls unfamiliar with the Jackson, Mississippi music scene, these guys were the best thing since sliced bread. In one of my classes I'm writing a paper on W.C. Don's, the dive bar where most concerts in Jackson went down, so I've been listening to these guys a lot lately as well as other Jackson mainstays like Champagne Heights and Living Better Electrically. I remember when these guys did an impromptu performance of this song at a house party, and people were going so apeshit that the house literally shook. It was Rock City.
5. The Good Life - "Under A Honeymoom"
This is Tim Kasher from Cursive's acoustic project, which is kinda like Bright Eyes but with a far less warbly and annoying voice. I've only listened to this album a few times before, but I bought it after being briefly obsessed with The Ugly Organ, which remains the only Cursive album I own. This song ends with a beautiful coda of organs and glockenspiel, making it much more epic than most of the rest of the album. I'd recommend this album -- Album of the Year -- to someone looking for a less grizzly M. Ward or a more assertive (smog).
The 6th song was "Explode" by The Cardigans. Damn the fates.
Now, I think that that was fun, and I open the message boards up to anyone who wants to shuffle it up and tell everyone what their first song is. Funniest answer wins. Nothing. Also, boards are available for costume suggestions, as I am still without.
Speaking of Halloween, AMC is doing Monsterfest every night up to the 31st, so last night I stayed up until 2 watching Hellraiser. I think that between that and Nightmare on Elm Street you have two examples of potentially great movies completely marred by obsolete special effects. Clive Barker and Wes Craven owe it to all of us to go George Lucas on those movies so that we can send the Cenobites back to hell with some dignity.
Jocksville:
- Game 1: Red Sox 5-Rockies 2. The only things in this world that might be hotter than the Rockies right now are San Diego and Josh Beckett. Too soon?
- Kevin Durant has sprained his ankle. Al Horford: consider yourself Ringo because you're next.
- NFL Draft will be quicker next year. Fine by me as long as we got the extra time to laugh at Brady Quinn last year.
- Tony La Russa returns to St. Louis, thus crushing my hopes of the world's first manager trade with the Yankees.
Benji
Monday, October 22, 2007
Monday Night Failure
So, I had planned to do a Simmons (Gershon?)-style running diary of tonight's Monday Night Football game. It's not that I have a vested interest in the Colts or the Jaguars; it's that Monday Night Football is as hyperbolically self-indulgent as Real Time with Bill Maher, and I felt that it needed to be knocked down a few pegs by the B-man (myself, to the uninitiated). However, right after I wrote out a (hilarious) comment on the motley crew of has-beens that ESPN assembled to join Hank Williams Jr. for the theme song (Brian Setzer AND Richie Sambora??? OMGZ!), my computer decided that it would be turning off abruptly, denying you the general public of my delectable commentary. However, I have a few notes regarding tonight's game.
Take it sleazy,
Benji
PS: Andrew Bird will be on Conan tonight. Czech it out.
PPS: I was wrong about Dice-K. Get over it.
- For the first time ever, you can say this: "You know, I think that the only reason that Tom Brady puts up gaudier numbers than Payton Manning is that he's got a stronger batch of receivers."
- I improved to 7-0 in my fantasy league tonight, as Dallas Clark failed to catch 4 touchdowns.
- As much as I love him, Tony Kornheiser still feels uncomfortable in the booth. Granted, it could be a little emasculating to know that there's someone in the booth named Jaws and it isn't you, but man up, Tony.
- With Marvin Harrison banged up, it is henceforth Kimpossible for Reggie Wayne to retain his title as the "Silent Assassin"
- If the Rockies don't win the World Series, then I will continue to grow out my beard until November 4th, when either the Pats or the Colts will pick up their first loss. Worlds will collide.
Take it sleazy,
Benji
PS: Andrew Bird will be on Conan tonight. Czech it out.
PPS: I was wrong about Dice-K. Get over it.
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