- Doug Stephen in FOR FUCK SAKE EVERYONE KNOCK IT OFF WITH THE GOD DAMNED ACCORDIONS JESUS CHRIST Woah, okay Vice Magazine.
- Doug Stephen in Vampire Weekend - S/T I’ve never listened to a solo Paul Simon record, or to Graceland, so I don’t know about that. But the songs I’ve heard by Vampire Weekend...
- bjyhore in New Single: Patrick Wolf’s “Accident and Emergency” She had actually been robbed of it cant be cruel. Mistress. I could do. jennifer lopez porn Three.
Entropy sucks. Like many epically mind-blowing acts before them (Dylan, Radiohead, Twisted Sister), Jim James and the boys know that it’s all about the progress. Each album - handcrafted, dipped in southern ether and marked with an MMJ decal - has been an evolution…dare I submit a revolution(!) in musical stylings and fidelities and insanely awesome levels of reverb. Obviously, I wouldn’t have begun this hastily written album-retrospective if that weren’t also the case on the June-to-be-released Evil Urges. But the magic in this case doesn’t necessarily lie in the new and varied sounds (of which there are many) - it’s in the method they’re presented.
I’ve already heard a lot of grumbling and griping about this record and I need to make clear that I’m not out to change any minds. People may not like the new (read: scary and uncomfortable) sounds they hear, but I hope they see the beauty in its layout and execution. I mean for fuck’s sake people, the first track is called “Evil Urges,” the last track is “Good Intentions”, and right smack-dab in the middle is a song so suspiciously titled…wait for it…”Two Halves.” If that doesn’t immediately give you some semblance of an idea as to what these guys have planned for you, then just stick with the older albums and live on - blissfully ignorant. The two parts have vastly different themes – one half for those ready for progress, one for those who want some classic MMJ and an entire album for anyone ready to try both.
The “Evil Urges” half of Evil Urges is the part I’ve seen taking the biggest beating at the hands of the interwebs crowd. The overall sound here, if there even is such a thing, is undoubtedly a departure from past MMJ records. The opening track is a piano-filled groove with James stretching his falsetto damn near its limits. It reminds me a bit of Phish, but I say to anyone who finds that as stomach-churning as I did: If I can get over it, you can too. “Highly Suspicious” is the track getting the most attention. Most comparisons I’ve seen have been to Prince, but it always makes me think Zappa. The first half of the album is undoubtedly a bit weird all the way through. “Thank You Too” is some strange, obsessive love-fest and “Sec Walkin’” sounds like easy country circa 1980, but with highlights like “Touch Me… Pt. 1” and “I’m Amazed” I find it entirely enjoyable.
By the time I end up hitting the “Good Intentions” half of the album, I’ll admit that I’m ready for some classic MMJ guitar and drums-driven rock. The highlights here are thick: Librarian is a Golden-ishly intimate acoustic track with James’ classic croon finally up-front and center, “Remnants” is the hard charging rock song, a la “One Big Holiday”, and “Smokin’ From Shootin’” is an awesome slow-builder. Start to finish, the “Good Intentions” half of the album doesn’t have a weak moment on it.
When you add this ridiculously good, amazing accessible second half with the strange, quirky and dare-I-say experimental first half, you’ve got a pretty epic album on your hands. For those wary of the new album, prepare yourselves. Word on the street is that Jim James has picked up beatboxing. Entropy be damned.
Label: ATO
Release date: June 10, 2008
Yesterday I was reading the Chicago Trib, minding my own business, when what should I happen upon? That’s right…an article (tangentally) about the SSC. Goddamn, we rock!
Company’s Pitchfork Festival Sponsorship Kicks-Off Program in Chicago;
Touts 20-year History of Supporting Artists & Pleasing Fans
CHICAGO, July 12, 2007 — In what promises to be a unique experience for music fans and independent bands around Chicago, The Goose Island Beer Company and the company’s 312 Urban Wheat Ale today announced ‘312unes’, a music development project that seeks some of music’s most engaging up and coming stars. 312 Urban Wheat Ale will collaborate with independent music website Superstarcastic.com and 6 independent bands for a number of musical “experiences” in the Chicagoland area over the next several months in the spirit of creating an “unfiltered” music experience for fans.The program builds on the almost 2 decades-long history The Goose Island Beer Company has had in identifying local talent and bringing it to beer drinking, music loving fans in Chicago. Goose Island will offer, for the first time, a series of events and concerts that will feature such things as live discussions and performances intended to give fans a deeper and “unfiltered” understanding of the artist’s work.
“Through the ‘312unes’ Music Development Project, Goose Island will continue to champion local independent music and the artists who make it such a vital part of our consumers’ lives,” said Greg Hall, Goose Island’s Chief Beer Officer. “And no beer brand is more suited for this mission than 312. The work that goes into making music of this caliber is a craft. Just like a musician takes several rounds for each song to become great, the attention is the same as Goose Island’s care to create the most exciting and unfiltered beer experience a drinker can have. We salute the passion and care that each of these musicians put into creating their work.”
Events will include private intimate performances at legendary indie music venues around the city interspersed with conversations and stories behind the creation and production of each artist’s music. Each show will be moderated by Joie Mikitson, 312unes’ “Music Czar”, a music reviewer and producer active in the Chicago music scene who owns the online music ‘zine Superstarcastic.com.
“Goose Island has spent almost 20 years building amazing bands like Sonic Youth and Bob Mould and supporting the Chicago music scene with festivals such as Goose Fest, The Last Taste of Summer, Taste of Chicago, and The Pitchfork Music Festival. Goose is the only Brewery that gets it and I’m excited to be collaborating with these guys,” said Mikitson.
About The Goose Island Beer Company:
As The City of Chicago’s only brewer, The Goose Island Beer Company has built a broad portfolio of award-winning beers that currently lead the U.S. craft beer segment in growth. Founded in 1988, Goose Island is a family-owned brewery committed to creating innovative, high-quality craft beers that both cater to and challenge the evolving tastes of its growing market. While all Goose Island beers are bottled and brewed in Chicago, more than half of the company’s sales come from outside Illinois. Goose Island beers are currently available in 15 states and the United Kingdom. The company bottles 15 different craft beers at present, eight of which are available year-round. As of 2006, Goose Island beers have earned 39 national and international awards. In addition to the company’s Fulton Street brewery, the Goose Island family includes two Chicago brewpubs – one in Lincoln Park and another in Wrigleyville. These brewpubs serve all of Goose Island’s bottled craft beers in addition to specialty “pub beers” brewed on premise.Web site: http://www.gooseisland.com/ http://www.312unes.com/
http://www.superstarcastic.com/
A real-time, stream-of-consciousness review of a ridiculous space pop show accomplished with the magic that is text messaging:
Oh No! Oh My!’s lead singer is wearing an Outback Steakhouse hat - I bet he loves the bloomin’ onion. 2 of their last 3 songs are “Walk in the Park” and “I Have No Sister.” The hipsters feign interest, light their cigarettes and look tough.
Oh No! Oh My! were good enough and all, but I guess it’s time for them to piss off - the hipsters have spoken and tonight this is the house Mew built. I don’t know much about this band but Joie talks them up and she’s the awesomest girl I know.
Yeah, I’m impressed already. Lead singer’s voice seems to have no limits. He sings much better than I can hear. “Zookeeper’s Boy” is really incredible - it’s amazing how much harder they rock in the live show than on their recordings. The live show is somehow more ethereal and atmospheric than the album too…I feel like it’s almost always the opposite.
Video visuals include a cat with fiddle, moths, human-faced bugs, etc…very effective. The girl in front of me just leaned over and whispered ‘i love you’ to what looks to be her bf. He kind of looks like Tom Chaplin, so what’s not to love. They will proceed to make out during most of the show. Love bites.
Oh and some girl just passed the fuck out. I’d give her about a 60% chance of surviving. Wait, this is the Double Door…make it 25%.
Dare I say on Superstarcastic that I like Coldplay at times? You just can’t be this ‘atmospheric’ without garnering some unwanted (?) comparisons to them. (Whew, Sam agrees with me.)
Jonas Bjerre looks like a muppet or or a character from Dark Crystal and is maybe even channeling a little Sanjaya, except for the complete doucheyness and awful voice (I’ve never watched American Idol so that’s just a guess). The lead guitarist has a porn star mustache that may or may not have begun falling off during one solo. For the rest of the show I will mentally refer to him as ‘Buck Naked.’ And the bassist loves to make hand motions to the music…he must be of Italian blood.
Mew is what the Secret Machines should be.
Buck Naked leads off the final cut, which builds and builds until they’re rocking the place so hard my adam’s apple shakes loose and I’m forced to swallow it.
THE END
In the nation’s 33rd largest city (the ‘kirk, or Albuquerque to you techie-types), the band Beirut has quickly become the 1st largest musical draw. What’s hard to believe is that their tour rider lists brands like Ocean Spray, Capri Sun and Sunny D (not that purple stuff) instead of Amstel, Coors and Blatz. You see, Mr. Zach Condon, the prodigy, wunderkind and frontman for Beirut is a mere 20 years old. I’m not sure if that makes the depth and spectral beauty of their debut album, The Gulag Orkestar, and follow-up EP, Lon Gisland, more suprising or more expected, but it sure doesn’t make me feel any better about my lowly place in the world. ANYWAYS, I strongly urge you all to check out both records. Even better, check his answers to our 5 obsessive curiosities:
1. when historians listen to your most recent CD 1000 years from now, what will they say?
I don’t know what historians think…are’t they the wrong type of folks to be making musical judgements?Not much they could learn from it… “apparently the people of 2006 had a strange fascination with any other era than their own….”
2. if you could play a show with any band/musician living or dead, who would you pick and why?
I would just go to a jaques brel concert…not necessarily play with him…just watch and learn…the man was a genius, I can’t explain much more than that…he’s everything I wish I was on stage…
3. what is the strangest band-related dream you have had?
a few insane nightmares of being on stage, in complete darkness, with a cardboard box as a mic stand for my ukulele, and a couple people milling about the empty, gigantic venue ( in one version of the dream I’m playing to an empty mccarren pool in brooklyn), as a loud rock band plays obnoxiously next door….complete failures…I tend to take those pretty heavy…
4. what do your fans look like?
a slightly bobbing, black mass…silhoutted from the bright stage lights… or myspace photos….
5. what bullshit do you run into at most every show that makes you think “man, this bullshit again?”
strict underage drinking laws… I’ve been thrown (forcibly) out of clubs that I played on tour (Seattle) because the bouncers thought that was the best way to deal with the underage headliner of the night. I’ve never been treated more like a juvenile delinquent before in my entire life. I was left outside in the alleyway until showtime, and thrown out immediately afterwards… I hope I don’t have to go to seattle again anytime soon. And I embarrased myself pretty badly with my own temper when I finally got on stage that night…but I get that in alot of places in america. Its such a relief to play outside of the country sometimes (no offense to my home country’s audiences, I promise).
bonus question: why won’t you forget to tip your bartender?
You always tip in brooklyn…getting to know bartenders in brooklyn is a good thing. They always know whats going on.
When I was a sophomore in high school, a Swedish foreign exchange student moved to town and immediately joined my class. This girl arrived completely unexpectedly, caught a few peoples’ attention and was generally very affable, but nobody knew exactly what to expect from her – I mean c’mon…she was foreign. Well, the Shins are exactly like that Swedish girl.
When the Shins broke onto the scene with Oh, Inverted World, they caught a few of the more observant peoples’ attention, just like my foreign exchange student. They were well-liked by pretty much anyone who did happen to hear them, but nobody knew just what they were up to…a decent start for a little-known band.
Junior year, my little foreign exchange girl was rolling along - ‘in the groove’ you might say. She was accepted as just another girl, far from a social pariah, but hardly the prom queen. Nobody really thought bad of her and the most positive thing you ever heard anyone say was, “She’s definitely got something about her.†That was until she went to prom with the jackass captain of the football team. All I’ll say about that night is that my little Swedish girl went into the date innocent and came out a steaming heap of damaged goods.
The Shins popped out Chutes Too Narrow and everyone felt great. The band had followed-up on a solid first album with more of the same. People liked that. They had hardly “hit it bigâ€, but they had their fair share of devoted fans. That is until jackass Zach Braff came along with his wannabe indie flick and ruined it all. All I’ll say about Garden State is that the Shins went into the film a viable under-the-radar band and came out a commercially raped pile of “Hey, you mean the guys from Garden State?†Damn Zach Braff, damn anyone who doesn’t damn Zach Braff, and damn anyone who doesn’t stay up all night damning Zach Braff.
Senior year rolled around and you would think my sweet little damaged Swedish girl would have shrunk into the bowels of high school society. Or maybe even packed up her bags and sailed back to BF, Sweden. Hell no. Girl had gumption. Girl had grit. Girl came back full-blown hottie. A nice big “up yours†to the entire football team.
Enter the Shins’ third album, Wincing the Night Away (dropping january 23, 2007). I consider this to be the full-blown Swedish hottie of Shins albums. I’ve already had people liken songs on this album to both seeing a long-lost friend and falling in love. Funny, because when I talked to Jimmy Mercer he told me the album was all about running over squirrels in his 1988 Mercury Tracer and playing Parcheesi with illegitimate Estonian children. I kid, i kid.
The albums kicks-off with “Sleeping Lessons,” a dreamily bouncing, turned straight-ahead rocking song that’s one of the few in the world that makes me actually want to watch the ridiculous visualizations of Windows Media Player. This makes way for “Australia,” which ironically sounds like it opens with some sort of German jibber-jabber, but is actually just those wacky Shins being zany. I’m still going to pretend it’s Germans mumbling – those damn krauts never enunciate. ANYWAYS, the song’s quite the playful little tune, but that betrays the lyrics calling out an unrequited something or other: “You’d be damned to be one of us, girl/Faced with a dodo’s conundrum/Ah, I felt like I could just fly/But nothing’ll happen every time I try.” Well put, James.
The middle portion of Wincing the Night Away is undeniably solid and up to and beyond your usual Shins sounds, which definitely says something. Whereas the Shins’ first two albums had a slightly cold feel, this album warms up to you like a toilet seat that was in use mere moments before you graced it with your own best side. This is no clearer to me than on the closing track, “A Comet Appears,” a slowed-down acoustic gem. It’s classic Shins in the best kind of way. Again, the lyrics betray that warmth, but who the hell wants to hear people sing about gumdrop dreams anyways.
And there it is, the best album in an already solid Shins discography – the full blown hottie. People tried to stunt their growth; tried to stop their upward climb; tried to pull them down into the infinite abyss, but the Shins were having none of it. Up yours, Zach Braff.
Peter Bjorn And John are the shit. I’m not even kidding. They’re who your geeky little cousin would be listening to if he wasn’t too busy armpit farting and building replicas of the Taj Mahal out of Jenga blocks. PB&J’s new album, oh-so ironically titled Writer’s Block, is what everyone should be listening to - I’m 100% convinced of this. Give it a shot and tell me it’s not one of the best releases of 2k6. If you don’t think so, well then at least you’ve still got Tupac’s 17th posthumous record to look forward to.
The Swedish trio’s methods are far from run-of-the-mill. Never before have I heard this much whistling on a record not named Kidz Bop. Crazy, bad-ass whistling. And some of you may know, as a two-time “Happy Whistler’s Week” attendee, I enjoy a good wharble more than tapioca pudding or scratch-n-sniff stickers. The first single off Writer’s Block, “Young Folks”, is apparently blowing up dance floors all across Europe and it’s easy to hear why with the catchiest little whistle I’ve ever heard since the movie “Iron Will”. Read more »
