Pitchfork Fest – Day 1 – The Pictures

I’m separating my Pitchfork Fest recaps into three parts – Pictures/Review/Video. Click the links below to see the rest of the images from each respective artist with nifty slideshow effects, courtesy of Pictures For Kids Who Can’t Read Good. Tomorrow I’ll give my thoughts on all the bands and the next day I’ll be sharing some really cool video clips from some of the artists.

Click for more Man Man pictures

Click for more Band of Horses pictures

Click for more Destroyer pictures

Click for more Mountain Goats pictures

Click for more Art Brut pictures

Click for more Ted Leo pictures

Click for more Spank Rock pictures

Click for more Futureheads pictures

Click for more Walkmen pictures

Disclaimer: There’s a time/date stamp on some of these pictures. I didn’t realize it was on.

There's no place like Chicago on a hot, summer weekend…

…At least when you throw something as awesome as Pitchfork Fest in there as well. That’s where I’ll be today and tomorrow. I’ll be taking loads of pics with this camera. I’ll also be meeting about every other music blogger in the world which I’m looking forward. The acts I’m anticipating the most (currently) are Mountain Goats, Danielson, Spoon, Yo La Tengo, and Ted Leo.

If John Darnielle pulls out this tune I think I might just die. It would be ultra-appropriate though.

MP3 Cubs In Five

If I can connect to the internet there, I’ll update you tomorrow morning, but I’m not making any promises. There’s a really good article about the Pitchfork Fest in the Sun-Times (via LHB).

Classic Albums #6 – Psychocandy

The Jesus and Mary Chain’s 1985 album is deserving of “classic status” primarily for creating the genre of noise pop and heavily influencing shoegazing. It’s mixture of Velvet Underground-ish feedback and distortion (except added much heavier) with simple pop melodies and harmonies was a breakthrough. Distortion and feedback was a trademark of punk and alternative and had really never been done in a pop context before Psychocandy. The layered guitars and “wall of sound” of Jesus and Mary Chain was a huge influence of shoegazing which is a genre that My Bloody Valentine pioneered in the late 80’s.

The song you probably know from Psychocandy is “Just Like Honey” and similarly this is the only song I knew off the album until I got it in the mail this week (it’s being reissued). The song, of course, was used very memorably at the last scene of Lost in Translation. Some other highlights of the album are the single “You Trip Me Up”, “Never Understand” which sounds like a Beach Boys song with someone destroying a guitar in the background, and “My Little Underground” which is sonically the best on the album.

MP3 Just Like Honey
MP3 My Little Underground

Buy the recently reissued album at Rhino Records (it comes with a DVD of three songs from the album).

Classic Albums #1 – Pet Sounds
Classic Albums #2 – Hunky Dory
Classic Albums #3 – Who’s Next
Classic Albums #4 – Bookends
Classic Albums #5 – Disintegration

Modern Love and other Assorted Bowie Covers

While I was browsing the Loose Records website today I noticed that there was a studio version of Last Town Chorus’ cover of David Bowie’s classic tune, “Modern Love”. I remember hearing the live version last year and being mezmerized by it. “Modern Love” is one of my favorite Bowie songs and dance songs in general. It’s also a hilarious song to sing two-part harmonies on.

The cover is turned into a mournful and yearning downer of a song, but it’s very well done and the band rips through a feedback heavy guitar solo in the middle of the song. The studio version cleans up the track a bit and puts a slightly better ending on it, but i still prefer the rawness of the live version (if I had to choose). Here’s both for comparison (plus the original).

MP3 Last Town Chorus – Modern Love (live)
MP3 Last Town Chorus – Modern Love (studio)
MP3 David Bowie – Modern Love

Here’s a few more of my favorite Bowie covers for your enjoyment! BTW, This will be my last post in Australia so I’m on blogger vacation till I get back to the US. Then it’s off to pitchfork I go with an overfull of concert reviews and pictures to be expected.

MP3 Seu Jorge – Ziggy Stardust
MP3 Arcade Fire – Five Years (live)
MP3 The Futureheads – Let’s Dance
MP3 Belle & Sebastian – Space Oddity (live)

Inara George – All Rise

“Everybody wants to be a genius” sings Inara George over crunching guitars. For Inara though, musical ingenuity is genetic, being the daughter of guitar legend Lowell George of The Factory, Mothers of Invention, and Little Feat. It also doesn’t hurt to be buddy-buddy with Jackson Browne (he wrote a song for her in 1980 called “Of Missing Persons” and guests on her track, “A Day”).

Her debut album, “All Rise” is being re-released today on Loose Records and it combines aspects of folk, country, and pop into eleven warm and thoughtful tracks. I caught her on tour opening for Nada Surf and Rogue Wave and her personality is as appealing as her songs. Make sure to check out these songs and follow the links below to purchase the album.

MP3 Genius
MP3 A Day
MP3 Fools Work

Inara’s Website
Buy “All Rise”

Kite Flying Society

Kite Flying Society is probably the best band name out there right now. The only other one that would come close would be a band named Ping Island Lightning Strike Rescue Op, and I’ve called that one. Rushmore Beekeepers has already been taken – Here’s their myspace page. The music isn’t that bad but the vocals are nearly unbearable. Here’s an example (MP3 here to stay).

But back to Kite Flying Society, I’ve been enjoying their music for quite some time. “6000 Shipwrecks” and “If I Could Spit” are two of the best songs in the Indie Pop genre that have come out this year and there’s many more gems to be had on the CD. Kite Flying Society has created some diehard fans in YANP, ECEU, and C&T but surprisingly they haven’t yet caught on full scale on the internet (which might change July 28, when their debut drops). By the way, when you’re listening to the song “If I Could Split”, do it with headphones on – you’ll see why when the song hits :35. Pure Bliss.

MP3 Kite Flying Society – If I Could Split
MP3 Kite Flying Society – 6000 Shipwrecks

Myspace
Preorder the album

Sorry this post is all over the place, my mind is a bit scattered at the moment. I’ve also just noticed I haven’t featured much new music on here in a while so that’s about to change. I guess I should start looking through my emails. Also I want to direct to this awesome Feist cover of “Nothin’ In The World Can Stop Me Worryin’ Bout That Girl” (in keeping with the semi-Wes Anderson theme of this post) at Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands.

Quote of the Day: “Microsoft leaves no doubt what their products are. If they made toilet paper it would be called Butt Wiper.” From this article which encourages a switch to Firefox. I wholeheartedly second this endorsement. So does he.

Africa Trip Recap Time

Hey everybody. I had a wonderful time in Africa, in case you were wondering. It looks like you weren’t too bad off without me though (Thanks Liz, Connor, Derek). I have to catch up on a week and a half’s worth of music that I’ve missed, but while I do that take a look at some of these pictures I snapped. There’s 14 pictures with a fitting MP3 and short description accompanying each one. If you ever were thinking about visiting Africa hopefully these pictures will help make up your mind. Here’s some Toto to start off the mix.

MP3 Toto – Africa

Since the pictures are quite large you’ll have to click here if you want to see them all (and the songs to go with them).

This picture is from the Rift Valley, which was used by The Lion King creators as the inspiration for the Pridelands. Needless to say I was singing this song in my head as we drove by.
MP3 Circle of Life

This kid was bringing me a stool in case I wanted to sit. The hospitality there is tremendous even though they have little. You can also see a fire made with corn husks.

MP3 The New Pornographers – Streets of Fire

I saw this man on a lazy mondy afternoon. Riding slow, taking it easy.
MP3 Foghat – Slow Ride

Here’s me spreading some Sufjan love to children of Africa.
MP3 The Predatory Wasps of the Palisades Is Out To Get Us!

The Naroibi Marketplace. Very fun, If you come prepared to bargain.
MP3 The Clash – Lost In The Supermarket

I taught the men here how to play two-on-two and Knockout. It was like that movie “White Men Can’t Jump”, except as you see I dissprove that notion.
MP3 Kenny Loggins – Playin’ With The Boys

“I want to feel, sunlight on my face / See that dust cloud disappear without a trace… ”
“I’ll show you a place, high on a desert plane / Where the streets have no name”
MP3 U2 – Where The Streets Have No Name

These were some workers we saw on the road. They asked me to take their pictures and I obligued. That’s me in the white t-shirt.
MP3 The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night

Safari Picture – ZebrasMP3 Thunderbirds Are Now! – Better Safe Than Safari

Safari Picture – Monkeys
MP3 The Monkees – (Theme from) The Monkees

The Buffalo is one of the Big Five Animals in Africa as well as the Lion, Leopard, Rhino, and Elephant. It’s considered the most dangerous of them all.
MP3 Bob Marley – Buffalo Soldier

The hippos were lazy and didn’t seem to have a care in the world. I’m told they can be pretty vicious when protecting their young though.
MP3 Hakuna Matata

The World Famous Carnivore restaurant. On the roast – pork, beef, chicken, camel, crocodile, ostrich, and more…
MP3 Belle & Sebastian – Meat & Potatoes

The slums of Nairobi. “Dignity passes by”
MP3 U2 – Crumbs From Your Table (Live)

Forever Like Red

“In the end it’s me left here to breakdown…”
Forever Like Red

Taylor is Dubai right now, so I figured he’d be down with me making one more post.
This band is one of my absolute favorites – and I’m more than happy to let you in on them before they take over the world… (starting with the UK). Though the guys currently reside in Los Angeles, they have since been signed over in the UK and plan on relocating for a bit to finish off a couple of more tracks and do some touring. It’s a bummer you didn’t catch onto them before they head off – you’re missing out on a great thing. I’m hoping the recording will be released here in the US soon after, because it’s an absolutely phenomenal disc. I’ve got a few tracks from the band to feature, as well as a couple of demo versions Cameron (frontman) used to give away for free on his website.

Forever Like Red – Breakdown
Forever Like Red – Both Eyes Closed
Cameron Meshell – Forever Like Red
Cameron Meshell – I Want To Know

more info…
Myspace

I’m sure this will be my last post, so visit me over at CPMU!

Derek from Good Weather For Airstrikes

PREFACE: Hello, all. I’m Derek from Good Weather For Airstrikes, and I’m the asshole that was supposed to post yesterday, but Lizzy couldn’t get a hold of me, most likely because I was probably gallavanting around engaging in some form of douchebaggery or another, as I’m wont to do. That aside, below is a feature on my favorite new electronica act, French dancefloor kings Justice.

For those of you who’ve been crying yourselves to sleep ever since Daft Punk released Human After All, their incredibly lackluster follow-up to 2002’s incredibly flawless Discovery, it looks like there may be hope for you yet. Human After All was a crushing dissappointment to those who had fallen in love with Discovery, and while for fans of the French dancetronica kings it may have seemed like there was nothing left to live for, Justice are here to save the day. Incidentally, Justice, which is comprised of Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge, is an electronic duo also hailing from France, and to get an idea of what they sound like, try to imagine what Daft Punk might sound like if you drenched their jams in a thick layer of grime and sweat and sex. The perfect example of this sound and the group’s best work to date isn’t an original production but is actually the duo’s incredible remix of S! imian’s “Never Be Alone”, which despite the fact that it’s been floating around European clubs for nearly three years now, has just been re-titled “We Are Your Friends” and released as a single (credited to Justice vs. Simian) on Virgin subsidary Ten Records. However, that’s not to say that the duo’s original productions are anything short of awesome, either. Justice’s debut release, the Waters of Nazareth EP, dropped last year in France and the UK, but has since seen a re-release with bonus remixes (including one by the lately-untouchable Erol Alkan) and the EP finally saw a domestic release last month on VICE Records. The title track is, as expected, the hottest jam on the album, and while I’m at a loss for words as to how to describe it as anything other than sheer, unadultered hotness, it’s one of the year’s better dance tracks and should definitely please anyone whose been waiting for the next Daft Punk ever since Human After All came out and shat all over fans’ hopes for the band.

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The duo have also been in high demand as remixers, and have remixed tracks for Death From Above 1979, N.E.R.D., Franz Ferdinand, and even Britney, nearly all of which maintain the the high standard set by Justice’s other work, and you can get a taste of this below with the duo’s excellent remixes of DFA1979’s “Blood On Our Hands” and Franz Ferdinand’s “The Fallen”.

MP3s:

“Waters of Nazareth” – Justice ((highly recommended))

“We Are Your Friends” – Justice vs Simian ((highly highly recommended))

“Blood On Our Hands” (Justice Remix) – Death From Above 1979

“The Fallen” (Ruined by Justice Remix) – Franz Ferdinand

The Working Title

“He knows they will never know the loss of time and control.”
The Working Title

Hey – this is Lizzy again from Come Pick Me Up. Someone else was supposed to be guest posting, but I can’t seen to get ahold of him. So, I figured 3 days without a post had been too long, and that I could throw a quick something up.In honor of their first major label record, about-face, which will be released tomorrow, I’ve decided to bring to Charleston’s the Working Title. They’re a really great, young, talented group of guys. I’ve seen them progress over the last 2 or 3 years, and the stuff that they’ve come up with for this album is absolutely wonderful.

The Working Title – Weigh Me Down
The Working Title – The Crash

*This post was mirrored from over at my site. However, I’ve got a contest I’m running in which you can win the band’s new disc and a t-shirt. We’ll pick 2 winners. I’ll be real with you, we usually only get about 20 entrants – your chances are looking great. Also, I was able to sit down and interview the band before one of their shows and snap some live pictures, so head over and check that out if you’re so inclined.*

more info…
Official Site
Myspace