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15 Apr 2010 20:31

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Music: Scott Stapp of Creed relegated to singing about baseball

  • We’re pretty sure when he was singing the lyrics to “With Arms Wide Open,” this is exactly what he was thinking about when he said something about his life changing. We’re not sure what we love more about this – the clumsy baseball references, the fact that he sings about them the same way he does about Jesus, or the fact that this song probably paid his rent this month. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2010 20:43

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Music: Metacritic: MGMT currently embodies the sophomore slump

  • Let’s face it, MGMT is feeling the heat. An indie band that got really popular on its first album thanks to some memorable hit singles, they now have to follow that album up. And as our One-Word Album Review noted, their latest is not exactly getting consensus critical love. How does “Congratuations” as a sophomore slump compare to other buzz bands? Well, according to Metacritic, you can either be Caribou (have a second album way better than the first), The Arctic Monkeys (stay exactly the same), The Strokes (dip noticeably in quality) or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (completely crap out on album two). MGMT is closer to The Strokes than Clap Your Hands Say Yeah right now, but it’s still not flattering. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

10 Apr 2010 17:17

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Music: Saturday Mixtape: Why isn’t Sharon Jones famous yet, anyway?

  • 1. Harlem’s modus operandi is the same kind of garage rock we’ve been hearing for the last 40 years, but you have to admit that it’s so catchy that you may not care about that. We certainly don’t. We’re gonna throw this song into our Nuggets box set.
  • 2. Speaking of retro revivals, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are in the market for a mainstream breakthrough already. After Jones showed up with Michael Buble on “SNL” back in January, it’s clear that her band’s pitch-perfect ’60s soul-pop could succeed well beyond the old-school funk collectors that made up her early audience.
  • 3. Back around ’79 or ’80, before R.E.M. became massive stars, Peter Buck was big into fellow Athens, Ga. band The Method Actors, who he says he saw play 100 times in their short history. The post-punk band, which never got famous but were lynchpins for their scene, just had much of their nervy material re-released on compilation “This is Still it.” We can understand why Buck saw them so much.
  • 4. A couple of years ago, High Places sounded nothing like this. There was no undercurrent of darkness in their sound. In fact, one could claim it had almost a twee sensibility. But not here. “On Giving Up” instead relies heavily on dark tones and somber lyrics to propel itself. We’ll let you decide if the change was a good one.
  • 5. Laura Marling is more talented than we are already, and she’s only 20. We want to know why the world thinks that’s fair. “Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)” feels delicate, like she’s in the same room as you trying to cheer you up. It worked for us.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Apr 2010 17:46

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Music: Lil’ Wayne from jail: Thanks, fans, for sticking behind me

Lil’ Wayne has been getting letters while in jail, and he has an official blog to respond to his fans so he doesn’t go crazy and can avoid getting shivved. Weezy thanks you. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Apr 2010 16:11

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Tech: Need proof the iPad is going to be an amazing device? See this

  • This is a drum machine emulator. As many budding musicians will tell you, learning recording techniques on a PC isn’t exactly much fun due to the learning curve involved. You can already see how much less of one a device like the iPad creates. Korg’s iElectribe app suggests just how much possibility is out there. Hopefully, Apple fixes their App Store situation to encourage creativity like this. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Apr 2010 12:41

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Music: Dark Side of the NES: Is 8-bit Pink Floyd clever or annoying?

  • Pink Floyd, as you might know, prefers that people listen to their albums in full form, but they never said anything about re-imagined versions of the tunes from “Dark Side of the Moon” thrown together in Famitracker. Above is “Money,” which has a very whiny vocal part. What do you guys think? There’s a whole album available to download. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Apr 2010 00:59

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Music: One-word album reviews: Erykah Badu isn’t naked in this post

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

29 Mar 2010 22:30

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Music: Cool bands like The Knife, brought to you by socialism

  • From the outside, there seem to be some people in America afraid of the state. But we’re not. Because Norway is divided: There’s the state, and there’s private ownership of stuff. I think there’s a perfect mix. It’s not communism, but it’s not the U.S. We’re somewhere in between.
  • Smalltown Supersound label runner Joakim Haugland • Regarding his native country, Norway’s, generous financial setup for the arts. In the U.S., rock bands don’t even get health insurance unless they pay for it themselves, while Scandinavian countries (along with Canada and the U.K.) can give their artists money to tour. Some fairly popular indie acts, including Sweden’s The Knife, Norway’s Annie and Canada’s Wolf Parade , have been able to record and tour thanks to the extra help. In the U.S., it’s a different story. Punk rocker Ted Leo nearly had to give up full-time music-making after a loved one got sick. Which is really depressing, especially considering he’s fairly famous. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

28 Mar 2010 22:48

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Music: Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” easily replaced by Korean girl on iPhones

  • She shows you how she does it, then she does it. And then you watch it and it makes you feel inferior. Don’t you feel inferior? We know we do.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2010 19:11

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Music: Saturday Mixtape: We’re suckers for a hazy, summery vibe

  • Summer can’t come soon enough for indie rockers, it seems, because the sound du jour at the moment is a hazy brand of indie rock, much less abrasive than 2008’s noisy lo-fi model (we’re looking at you, No Age and Wavves). Guitars, synths, doesn’t matter: The vibe is key here. And it started with some guy named Ariel Pink.

  • 1. The sad, whining tone of the guitar intro on The Morning Benders’ “Excuses” gives way to a fairly clean sound, but it’s one clearly informed by the calming fuzz of a warm summer day. The Beach Boys wrote the outline, but not the plot, here.
  • 2. They like Neon Indian, they really like him. Last year, the Nintendo-baked project actually drew a degree of success that put it in the forefront of the “chillwave” movement. It’s a lot more accessible than some of the other stuff here. In a good way.
  • 3. A buddy of Animal Collective, Ariel Pink never got the critical praise of his mentors, until it became clear that indie’s path was colliding into his often-bizarre, noise-worn sounds. This song, one of the hundreds he’s recorded over the years, had a proper release way back in 2004, yet it fits in perfectly here. Hm. With the extra attention (he recently signed to big indie 4AD), expect him to have a solid 2010.
  • 4. Bradford Cox, too, has been around a while between Deerhunter and Atlas Sound, but his last Atlas Sound album “Logos,” has a definite worn-out-summer vibe that fits perfectly here. It’s one not reflected in any of his previous albums, but seems to nail the moment perfectly. When we hear “My Halo,” want to laze out. Seriously.
  • 5. Somewhere, below the layers of noise covering up Best Coast’s “Sun Was High (So Was I),” is a killer hook in a killer female vocal. Like the best hooks, it cuts through, saying “listen to me again.” And usually, we’re forced to comply.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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