Wow, so behind the ball on this one, but they are too good not to mention. Their self-titled album is really and eclectic gem...damn shame they couldnt follow it up with anything else.
"aaannndddd you look like David Bowie"
All i can think of is that cartoon with the talking toaster and fellow appliances...
New Deerhunter EP, Rainwater Cassette Exchange, that musically runs in the same vein as Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. by laying fuzzy guitar over truly beautiul harmonies. In some ways these guys, and their outlandish frontman, epitomize the spirit of alternative music- the flirting on the edge of maddness (or at least seeming to), the brash expirimentation, and just being plain weird sometimes. Some favorites...
Love all the lyrics to this song. "We walked into the sun/ We walked, we cannot run/ because walking's half the fun/ we walked into the sun". And it really sounds like they do at the end...
Frantic lyrics shouted over funerial keyboard tones paired with jarbles of messy, yet spot on synth tones to make a tortured but beautiful mess (listen in "Officer of Hearts" or begining of "Radio Kalininbrad"). Speed up the beat and turn the "frantic" to "on the edge of madness" and you've got an Handsome furs anthem. Perhaps all this energy bursts forth from Boeckner's inability to truly go nutty with Wolf Parade? Or mabye his wife and partner on the drum machine is the culprit...And then they can take a 90 degree turn and sound like a post-post-millenium Cure (All We Want, Baby, Is Everything), go figure- great stuff though, might as well let them explain it themselves...
"The juxtaposition of cold, metronomic, electronic beats, courtesy of Alexei Perry, with the jagged, dissonant and frail, broken or breaking, guitars of Dan Boeckner portray what it is to be a human being at the bottom of the 21st century. It underlines the confusion you feel as your best friends are conveyed to you via a series of ones and zeros passing through lines and cables and microwaves; the same confusion felt witnessing the pure, wholesome thrill of a band of musicians pouring their hearts out on stage, through someone’s cell phone as pixelated streaming video; the profound and bitter frustration of your long-distance relationship with the world up against a burning, alcohol-soaked sunrise as you admit some things you never thought you would; your constant feelings of inadequacy intertwined with the omnipotence modern technology grants us all. You are there, yet somehow you never are. As we all are and are not. You are left with a rhythmic and empowering programmed beat interrupted by the warm, reverberating fuzz tone of vibrating strings on wood hit hard enough to shatter skyscrapers. Over it all a perfectly imperfect voice roars images of landscapes, maps of forgotten continents ripe with history, and you are left feeling as human and alive and wide-eyed as you should be every single morning..." (http://www.myspace.com/handsomefurs)
From the past blogotheque...
A favorite from their past album; wait for the break, its fantastic, let it wash over you
Basically all the review of this album praise Mascis for returning the band to it's "old school" late 80's sound. This point completely ignores the fundamental growth and change and maturing process the band has gone through since then. Yes, Farm (and "Beyond")brings back the snarled hooks and Mascis muffled, but oh so powerful "na na na naaaas", but on both these albums its most important to note the overall tone is not of angst, but of understanding (of the past and whats to come) and a feeling of finality. It's like everything has come together for the band, and you can really feel it in the music; its uplifting, it really is. The lyrics may not convey this, in fact almost all of Mascis' lyrics convey downright questioning desperation, but its the feeling that's being blasted from his wandering riffs that does the true talking. Here are some choice tracks from Farm and Beyond .
And some tracks from Beyond (with the album cover because I love it so much)
And personal favorite- the break in the middle is amazing, exactly the feeling I was talking about above
Empire of the Sun's "Walking on a Dream" with some Three Six Mafia (love the Clarence Carter reference)...some more infectious junk to fill the airwaves with...obnoxious Justice sample not needed, but otherwise great
In light of their triumphant return to NYC tomorrow after a successful tour, I have to put up "daylight". This song has been infectious enough to jump from a commercial into the mainstream party scene this summer. The duo combines spastic synth pop beats with Matt's piano and what they do lack in depth and melody (which is much improved upon from their first album) they make up with enthusiasm tenfold- their live shows are apparently well deserving of the hype. Here's the video for daylight, the trendy, but timeless(literally)commercial that started it all, as well as two other cool tracks.
Ok, time for a throwback into the mainstream. This 1993 acoustic performance of "cherub rock" is honestly a gem. I have always been more drawn to the Pumpkins more subdued (though no less passionate) side, so naturally, an acoustic version of cherub rock is truly a fusion of the best of these two faces of their music- harnessing the raw, layered, electric passion (which is sometimes overwhelming for me) and condensing it into an acoustic set. You can really see the intricacies of Corgan's guitar work too. And I'll throw in "1979" too because the video is so good.
Sometimes the most unworthy bands display a flash of brilliance in a song that expands their listening base exponentially. That being said (and possibly a gross overstatement for this band), "Tonite" is the one track in Spiderbait's entire catalog of music ever worth listening to. I think the fact that their one billboard success, a remake of "black betty", was used in countless shitty sitcom promos is a testament to the regrettable and forgettable quality of the rock produced. But I don't do this to trash on music, so I will say "tonite" would fit in beautifully as as an expression of any young persons inner angst(so cliche, i know).
