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26 Jan 2010 10:18

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Music: Wu-Tang + The Beatles = Surprisingly palatable, awesome

  • Five years after “The Grey Album” put Danger Mouse on the map, a gimmick like The Beatles mashed with the Wu-Tang Clan should seem old hat, but somehow it doesn’t. “Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers” benefits from a clever mix and a great title. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jan 2010 23:57

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Music: Saturday Mixtape: Are the sad-sap Eels not made for these times?

  • 1. Most bands who aren’t Spoon would take a mainstream-rock-touching victory lap like 2007’s “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” and push even further towards success. But Spoon is Spoon, and Spoon makes songs like “The Mystery Zone” (and albums like the freaking awesome “Transference“) which are challenging (and avoid verse/chorus/verse boredom) but by no means inaccessible. And that’s why Spoon rules.
  • 2. Pitchfork hated the latest Eels album, and we think we know why. The level of directness Mark Oliver Everett touches upon in the songs on “End Times,” especially “In My Younger Days,” is super-high. It ditches the wry humor and straight up goes for the sad sap music. And at 46, the dude’s quickly looking like an elder statesman of the sad sap set. Throughout the late ’90s, music this direct dominated indie rock (see Elliott Smith, Sparklehorse, and well, Eels). And nowadays, it feels out of place. In our opinion, though, that’s why we like it. Even if Pitchfork hates it.
  • 3. Speaking of sad sap music, alt-country guy Ryan Bingham is gunning for Ryan Adams’ mantle and might just win it, thanks to “Crazy Heart.” Bingham – who’s halfway between Adams and Bruce Springsteen – wrote the movie’s theme song, “The Weary Kind,” which is destined to get nominated for an Oscar thanks to the longstanding buzz the movie has.
  • 4. With a frenetic attack reminiscent of Dan Deacon (with way more guitars thrown in for good measure), Fang Island’s “Daisy” is the kind of everywhere-at-once tune we can get behind on its good looks alone. It makes us look forward to their full album, out next month.
  • 5. Are The Avett Brothers as powerful when it’s just Avett Brother? Seth Avett released a handful of albums as Timothy Seth Avett As Darling back in the day, and the band’s old label, Ramseur, re-released them late last year. “Some Bad Dream” shows where The Avett Brothers were headed even if it wasn’t all the way there.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jan 2010 23:27

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Music: “Purple and Gold”: Prince fails at writing a proper team spirit song

  • The Purple One may be one of the least likely judges of what makes a good team spirit song, but Prince does know something about the color purple. The real problem with this song is that it sounds like it’s designed to be sung at church, not at a Minnesota Vikings game. Somehow, this is even stranger than the name change was back in the day. This song could seriously be the billy goat for the entire state of Minnesota. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jan 2010 22:24

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Music: Gorillaz’ new single, “Stylo,” gets away with awesome again (!!)

  • cool The new Gorillaz single, “Stylo,” has one of the deepest, bassiest beats you’ll hear this side of a Justice song. If the music video doesn’t feature Don Johnson in shades, we’ll be greatly disappointed.
  • crazy The song features Bobby Womack – a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and legendary soul singer – using his booming vocals to break through everything. It’s an awesome left turn for a band built on them. source
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19 Jan 2010 22:37

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Music: One-word album reviews: The new Spoon album frickin’ rules

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19 Jan 2010 11:03

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Music: Canadian folk music icon Kate McGarrigle dies of cancer at 63

McGarrigle, a noted folksinger in her own right, was the mother of Martha and Rufus Wainwright (shown right) and was married to Loudon Wainwright III. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2010 12:40

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Music: ShortFormBlog Saturday Mixtape: Remembering Jay Reatard

  • Jay Reatard was a musical genius of brevity. His great gift was an uncanny ability to write a pop song tighter, more stylistically diverse and with with more hooks than anyone else. Which is why his death earlier this week came as a total shock. His best days weren’t behind him. He was just getting started. So with that said, here are five songs from his fruitful recent period which nail down why he’s essential.

  • 1. “My Shadow” was something of a calling card to the rest of the world about what his hometown of Memphis already knew from his many early bands – Reatard’s ability to reimagine punk as fun, poppy, and dark was unparalleled.
  • 2. “All Over Again” was one of Reatard’s best singles, and he recorded a lot of them. In fact, he released TWO singles compilations in 2008, and both of them were stylistically different enough to warrant purchase of both. Despite its two-minute length, the song doesn’t feel anything remotely close to short. It’s loaded with ideas.
  • 3. In Jay Reatard’s heaven, “Haunting You” should be playing on repeat. It’s quite literally his modus operandi, and it feels like, considering the circumstances of this week, that it was written ahead of time, to his many fans – past, present and future.
  • 4. What Reatard did better than most was the driving chorus, insistent and forceful. “Always Wanting More,” was a great example of what he does best. In a live setting, he played his short songs as quickly as he could, often not stopping for stage banter and plowing through songs as if he was a Ramone.
  • 5. Perhaps the most interesting part of Reatard’s most recent release, “Watch Me Fall” (what an ominous album title), was an evolution of his sound. He started adding elements from 1980s Kiwi-rock on the album, and largely drove the songs with acoustic guitars rather than thrashing electric sound of most of his earlier material. Single “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” (also ominous) showed a sound that was getting more diverse without losing its best elements. What a terrible, awful loss of someone so amazing.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

14 Jan 2010 09:23

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Culture, Music: Teddy Pendergrass dies: ’70s R&B icon dead at 59

  • That night I saw the coming of a superstar. When Teddy walked out on the stage, he didn’t even open his mouth and the place went crazy with screaming females. He was just so dynamic and when he started singing, he just blew them away.
  • Producer Leon Huff • Recalling the first stage performance of Teddy Pendergrass, a huge pop star in the ’70s. Beyond his hits – including solo hits “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” “Close the Door,” “Turn off the Lights” and “Love TKO,” along with “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” and “I Miss You” as lead singer of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – he was known for having an unfortunate car crash in 1982 which left him paralyzed. Despite this, he continued his music career until 2007. He was one of the greats. Losing him at the same time as Jay Reatard is really sad. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jan 2010 17:01

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Music: RIP Jay Reatard. You were one of the good ones. Peace man.

Dear Gods of indie rock, why did you have to take Jay Reatard? That guy had more good songs than most of those other punk guys have come up with combined. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2010 22:55

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Music: One-word album reviews: No Vampire Weekend sophomore slump

Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
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