- Wade - STILL in SonicBids & CMJ 2007: Anatomy of a Scam? …Meh. I LOVE this…..as a past user (used by) Sonicpigs, I got really disgusted that I was allowing myself to fall into the...
- tape in New Single: Patrick Wolf’s “Accident and Emergency” anna nicole smith sex tape
- Borch in Noah and the Whale - Peaceful, The World Lays me Down I forgot about the syrup! Rice cakes then… nothing blander than rice cakes, unless, of course, they’re topped w/ meat.
perhaps because of the international attention given to their brilliant 2006 record and the glass-handed kites (superstarcastic review of it here), danish quartet mew has re-released their 2003 album frengers. previously available in the usa only as an import, frengers is a powerful slab of rock’n'roll and is more single-friendly than last year’s conceptual offering.
mew’s sound on frengers is, as always, hard to define (alterna-psych-prog-rock-pop?) but the soaring vocal choruses, guitar riffs, rippling bass and pumped-up percussion combine to create a dazzling sonic atmosphere evocative of northern wastelands. singer jonas bjerre has one of those voices that will either annoy the crap out of you or will give you the good kind of chicken skin. it’s high and sharp and sometimes he reaches notes that men shouldn’t be able to reach without being kicked you-know-where. it contrasts oddly with the immense orchestra-rock sound and fiery instrumentation but the resulting effect has a weird energy that works.
the song structures on frengers (a compound of “friends” and “strangers”) are strange, multi-textured and anything but predictable, odd aural experiments that manage to remain lush and melodic. the sound kinda reminds me of early mercury rev and frankly renders it nearly impossible to remain sedately seated when such moving things are happening in your ears.
Frengers opens with the shimmering riffs and kinetic basslines of “Am I Wry? No,” a hard-edged song faintly reminiscent of my bloody valentine, only with choirlike vocals and frantic, choppy drumming. mew’s promotional representatives were kind enough to provide us with a copy of this song so you could hear it for yourselves before rushing out to get your paws on this reissue. please download and enjoy.
Hey, remember superstarcastic’s friend lexxcoop, the french rapper and master of western swing? Well, he’s still making music and hip-hopping it up on the other side of the ocean and is also our 5 question interview for the day. Check out his stuff at his myspace so you can feel all international and cosmopolitan and shit. Also, kindly remember that English is not Lexxcoop’s native language and get all grammar-snobby about this interview - I kept it exactly as he said it because it’s awesome…I even think I am starting to adore him a little.
1. when historians listen to your most recent CD 1000 years from now, what will they say?
This urbanosapiens tried to make digital music, I can’t understand their dialect!!!
2. if you could play a show with any band/musician living or dead, who would you pick and why?
I would “pick” big punisher and kool g rap because i felt first how they sounded before to understand the lyrics,I was amazed of the technic level of the rhyme!! and make a final combo w andre 3000″ old school style” and jimi hendrix because i always loved people who did their own stuff without gibin’ a f*ck of what ppl think ( It s not a comparaison, just a wish to be on stage with that 2 guys).
3. what is the strangest band-related dream you have had?
I dreamt once of being on stage and wanting to jump in the crowd and everybody pulls away, so my face on the ground ah ah
4. what do your fans look like?
Very eclectic but generally no family and few under 18. From pure hip hop heads to people who don’t necessarly listen rap but more electronic things, and also random people who could like or not our music when we perform in festivals.
5. what bullshit do you run into at most every show that makes you think “man, this bullshit again?”
When we don’t come with our engineer and even if you tell him to turn your mic up won’ t do sh*t. Or if you open a band , state that ur general master was wayy down compared to the main band , They’re afraid or whut ?? Bring your own engineer lol
bonus question: why won’t you forget to tip your bartender?
Because that way he wouldn’t forget sure to always have “double” jacks (if it’s a typcal expression i may not understood )
i can remember a time around the turn of the millennium when i was obsessed with scottish bands. snow patrol, belle & sebastian, mogwai, trashcan sinatras, arab strap, the reindeer section… anything that came out of glasgow seemed to hit me just the right way. i was convinced they were putting something in the water there, something heartbreaking and delicious whose effects included rampant self-deprecation and the use of strings in one’s rock group.
the way musical talent breeds in geographic petri dishes is not unique to the glaswegian twee-pop/sad-core of recent times, of course. look at seattle with grunge, omaha with the emo saddle-creek thing, chapel hill, denton in north texas, the madchester scene in the late 80’s, etc. i have always wanted to write something about how different cities in different time periods seemed to have a kind of effervescent, group-madness effect when it came to music, some spore in the air that settled in the brains of local musicians and fed off a scene to create certain genres specific to time and place.Â
this is not that article. this is, however, a warning to inform you that the bands coming out of australia are blowing my mind in that same way and thus you are going to be hearing a lot about them in the year to come.Â
(before you jump all over me, let me assure you that i realize that australia is both a continent and a country, but not a city, so it may be a slightly different thing. however, it is far enough away from me that i feel no guilt in lumping bands from sydney in with bands from melbourne. i hope they won’t hold it against me and you shouldn’t either.)
augie march is of course one of these bands - their album moo you bloody choir had a criminally under-rated reception in the usa, if you ask me. all 3 of their albums are odd and fascinating and sonically layered, with just enough influence by the old greats and just enough innovation by some really good young musicians. that glen richards is one hell of a songwriter, not to mention i want to melt down his voice and eat it on my pancakes.
youth group is another aussie band worth listening to. they have a really good new album called casino twilight dogs that i think is going to be released in the usa sometime in 2007. i was fully prepared to dislike them when they came out with that cover of alphaville’s “forever young” that was played on the oc or one of those shows, mostly because i heart me some alphaville and there was nothing wrong with the original. it’s always weird when a band gets a lot of attention for a cover, but when i heard the new album, i had to rethink my smallmindedness…it’s some pretty damn good melodic pop.
and don’t forget melbourne’s the cat empire, which scott reviewed for superstarcastic not long ago. this band’s sound defies description, jumping from latin to rock to hip-hop to jazz fusion and beyond…and not in an annoying way either. they’re about to start their first american tour at the end of this month and it will be worth catching. i’ll put up the tour dates in a later post and you will have no excuse not to go.
there are a plethora more bands from down under that are rocking my proverbial socks lately, but i’ll limit my longwindedness and only mention one more - red riders, covered quite nicely on the excellent mp3 blog obscure sound. listen to the samples and tell me if the sound isn’t reminiscent of joy division in the best way possible. Â
and there you have it…i am not quite as obsessed as i was with the scottish music scene but i am working on it fast. vive la australia, no?
If you and I are similar beasts then you love both heavy metal and classical cello, and so I bring you their elopement. Apocalyptica, a Nordic band comprised originally of 4 cellists (now 3 cellists and a percussionist) met at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and got their start playing covers of Pantera, old Metallica, Sepultura, and Faith No More. They have since branched out into writing original scores and collaborating with various singers and instrumentalists.
Check out these video links and browse the host archives 
for more if so inclined. If the headbanger on a cello thing isn’t doing it for you (personally I think it’s hot) close your eyes and give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed.
Inquisition Symphony - Live Sepultura cover
Somewhere around nothing - Live original score
The Unforgiven - Metallica by 4 cellos
The band:
Eicca Toppinen (cello)
Perttu Kivilaakso (cello)
Paavo Lötjönen (cello)
Mikko Sirén (drums)
Fin.
Marco Bailey, Belgium’s No.1 musical export, is constantly either touring the world’s clubs and festivals or at work in the studio - he doesn’t take his job lightly. He invests all he has, 100%, to make sure he can give the best possible performance to his audience. He is a self-made man on a mission to entertain people who love electronic music. It comes through, too, in his style of seamless mixing of the most gorgeous and heavy-hitting tracks, winning over dance floors around the globe. Check out his myspace to get an idea of his sound.
In 2000, he joined forces with Cristian Varela to form Pornographic Recordings, a respected outlet for musicians as diverse as Tim Baker, Oxia, and fellow Belgian friends, Tom Hades and Redhead. Now in 2006, as well as continuing to put out killer tracks on his own MB Elektronics label, Marco’s latest single on the Intec imprint, will be out in the coming months. This will be followed by mixing the 3rd installation in the ‘Intecnique’ compilation series on the same label, which will be released in early 2007, plus a UK and European tour to support. The magic that inspired Carl Cox to sign Marco will be showcased in tour dates at the end of this month across America. Expect nothing short of a wicked night out thick with hardcore fans of both electronic music masters, and a red-hot night of tunes for Marco Bailey first-time listeners.
10/19 - Seattle, WA @ Last Supper Club
10/21 - New York, NY @ LOVE
10/25 - Las Vegas, NV @ Tabu*
10/26 - Orange County, CA @ Tentation Ultra Lounge*
10/27 - San Diego, CA @ Obec*
10/28 - Los Angeles, CA @ Avalon*
so remember sam’s awesome article on the top ten worst myspace genre combinations? well, it turns out that we owe #10, french rapper lexxcoop, $20 dollars, as he commented to tell us he is indeed well aware of what western swing is.Â
if you’ll notice, however, he has now changed his genre on his myspace page to rap/progressive. see, superstarcastic is making a difference in the world.
PS. If you’re into french rap, his music’s not bad either. check it out.
