Month: April 2007

Jeremy Warmsley

Jeremy Warmsley is an incredibly talented artist from the UK who’s been on my radar for quite some time now after he released the song “Dirty Blue Jeans” this December. The song immediately caught my attention with the swelling violin and bouncy flutes matched with the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah-like vocals (not nearly as annoying though). Like CYHSY, the Talking Heads influence is definitely strong but Jeremy Warmsley is inherently a folk artist. If you strip away all the instrumentation and chaos, then you’re left with a melody that’s easy to grasp on to.

Just recently I got ahold of some more Jeremy Warmsley material and it definitely lived up to the promise of “Dirty Blue Jeans”. “I Promise” is more of an indie pop song, and with a focus on multi-layered vocals with some ukelele and sparse piano in between. The electronic-inspired drum beats though is what makes it one of the the most unique and finest examples of indie pop I’ve heard this year.

MP3 Dirty Blue Jeans
MP3 I Promise

Also, here’s a live video of Jeremy performing Dirty Blue Jeans in his kitchen on a ukelele. Sweet!

Who's worse? Hoobastank vs. Maroon 5

A couple of nights ago me and some friends invented a game where we take two terrible bands and debate which one is worse. They have to be about equal in their horrific nature for their to be any real discussion though, and they should be close to the same genre (John Cougar Mellencamp vs. Lou Bega isn’t going to happen). I decided to move the discussion to an open forum (use the comments) and allow the public to make a collective decision. We may go crazy and have a tournament of losers after a while, who knows.

Anyhow, on to the first match-up: We have Hoobastank, who’s song “The Reason” is unthinkably horrible having possibly worst lyrics of any pop song ever, and a chorus that made me want to give up on music. We also have Maroon 5 who released single after single of wussy pop/rock and with “She Will Be Loved” made us think we’d never want to listen to the sound of a human voice again. But, I’ve been told that Hoobastank’s earlier work wasn’t nearly as awful and Maroon 5’s new stuff might be showing some promise (haven’t heard so can’t weigh in).

So who’s worse? (be prepared to back up your claim) I’ll let you know my opinion soon enough.

MP3 Hoobastank – The Reason
MP3 Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved (Acoustic)

Andrew Bird – Live @ Canopy Club

Last week brought one of my favorite artists and certainly favorite live performers to Central Illinois. But whereas last year when he played the Canopy Club, there was a modest crowd of 50 or so, this time hundreds of youthful fans showed up crowding the venue to it’s brim. I was unsure about Cortney Tidwell as an opener, especially after the two slow acoustic pieces she started off with, but by the time her set was over (and she was joined by a full band), she had grown on me. Dosh did his mad scientist/drummer thing for a few minutes before Andrew Bird walked in with a stuffed monkey and at least four layers of clothing on. After giving us his updated rendition of “I” (Imotosis), came one of the biggest surprises of the night. He actually played Dr. Stringz! And what’s more is that a good amount of the crowd recognized it. Then he told a hilarious story that I won’t try to replicate about how he got the stuffed monkey with some interesting accessories from a fan in Canada.

The main part of the set saw Bird playing all of the songs on the new album except the two instrumentals. He emphasized the rocking part of his music, “Heretics”, “Dark Matter”, and the highly extended “Plasticities” were especially stunning live. Another highlight was “Scythian Empires” which had a slightly different intro, featuring some of the fanciest violin picking I had seen from Bird. One thing that was missing were the old favorites like “Fake Palindromes”, “Why” and “Nervous Tic Motion” which was surprising since “Skin, Is My” got the biggest crowd reaction. I was indifferent though, since I had already seen those songs live, and I was absolutely overjoyed when he decided to close the night with my favorite of his songs, “Tables and Chairs”. Overall, Andrew Bird was as humorous, lively, and upbeat as I had ever seen him. He reinforced my belief that he’s one of the best artists making music today and I’m sure he also made plenty of new fans.

MP3 Heretics

View all my photos from the show.

Eux Autres

Portland Oregon’s Eux Autres are just what I need to briefly get my mind of the three final projects I have due tomorrow.  They’re a bouncy bro-sis duo that makes pop music that sounds old-fashioned yet still quirky enough to still fit nicely in my collection.  You can’t argue how delightful those handclaps are and the girl-guy trade-off vocals.  “Other Girls” is a pretty obvious favorite, it’s incredibly simple yet impossibly catchy.  “The Sundance Kid” grabs you with a surf-inspired bass riff and has a fantastic chorus with Nicholas taking the lead vocals and Heather contributing some well placed “ye-ahs.”

The band hasn’t been doing much except touring recently but according to their myspace they should have a split EP and album out this year, which should bring them back into the indie pop spotlight.  Check out these songs, you’ll be happy you have them in your life.

MP3 Other Girls
MP3 The Sundance Kid 

Myspace

Arizona – Live @ Club Eupohora

I’ve been feeling very swamped with school, work, watching Lost/The Office/Human Giant, and this blog lately (finals are coming up y’know) so I was more than happy when Ben, a student from NYU, offered to hook me up with photos, show reviews and hopefully more. He has fantastic music taste and takes some crazy awesome pictures, so I’m sure you’ll agree that his posts are going to be a great addition to the site. I’m not sure how regularly Ben will throw in his input at this point, but hopefully we’ll see a lot more of him. Here’s his review of a recent Arizona show in Brooklyn along with some photos that he took. You may remember that I fell in deep affection with Arizona in the summer of last year and even included “Some Kind of Chill” ( MP3) as one of my top ten favorite songs of 2006.

Ben: Performing for the last time before heading on a 30-day, 25-show tour covering most of the USA, New York City-based rock band Arizona played amongst friends, family, fans and cacti—yes, there were some inflatable paraphernalia around the stage at Brooklyn’s Club Europa, an obvious but playful homage to the band’s name. The 25-show tour included a stop in Austin, Texas for the 2007 SXSW festival, a clear sign that this band is on the up-and-up.

Opening with the eclectic “Te Amo Tanto”, the first track on their album, Welcome Back Dear Children, Arizona continued to weave and wind through other album tracks, as well as unreleased originals, covers, and even the first song they wrote as a band. The venue was not very big, large enough for a crowd of around 200 (a quota that Arizona easily met). There was an overwhelming sense of anticipation in the crowd, not necessarily for the next song to begin, but just for the band in general. The audience could sense this band was going places, and from what I saw, and what the photos look like, the band is enjoying their climb up the hill to recognition. “We are shedding the final stages of being a band in its infancy” writes lead vocalist, Ben Wigler. And with accolades stacking up (such as being on the cover of this month’s Deli Magazine) Arizona is growing up very quickly.

In terms of 2007 and beyond, look for their new EP titled “Fameseeker and the Mono”, which is being self-released in the near future while the band is in talks with various labels and production companies. This summer, they will be writing and recording their next full-length record and hope to release it by January 2008. Also watch out for music videos for tracks from both their former and new albums. “We are most excited to get some time locked away in the coming months to really work on our chops and reinvent our live show” writes lead Ben Wigler. From what it looks like, Arizona will emerge a band ready to take on the indie scene, blow-up cacti and all.

MP3 Thimble (New song, courtesy of igif)

-Ben Norman
http://www.benjaminnorman.com
bdn210@nyu.edu

New and extremely awesome Eagle*Seagull tracks!

Eagle*Seagull released a fantastic yet under-appreciated self-titled album in 2005 and although I didn’t think it was really possibly, they’ve actually gotten better since then.  The new tracks (which You Ain’t No Picasso graciously shared a couple days ago) are moving even more strongly in the direction of Wolf Parade, but a more immediate string-laden version of the band.

If all the songs on the new album are as strong as “The Boy With A Serpent Heart” and “I Don’t Know If People Have Hated Me, But I Have Hated People”, then there’s no reason why Eagle*Seagull couldn’t have the same kind of DIY-success as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah did a couple years ago.  In particular, “…I Have Hated People”  has one of the most spectucular and intense instrumental bridges I’ve heard in a long time with pounding piano, a killer guitar riff, topped off with an extraordinary strings attack.  I’m sooo excited for their new album.

MP3 The Boy With A Serpent In His Heart
MP3 I Don’t Know If People Have Hated Me, But I Have Hated People

Go here for a couple more
Eagle*Seagull’s myspace

Pela / Blog Fresh Radio

From the land where The National and The Walkmen run wild, comes a band that takes from many of modern influences and adds it own dynamic spin on things. Pela is a brooklyn band I’ve had in the back of my head for a while,and this week I finally gave their new album, Anytown Graffiti, a full listen and I’m really liking what I hear.

Pela does take a lot from it’s New York-based contemporaries, especially with the jangly densely-layered guitar and smoky vocals, but melodically they definitely have something big to offer as each of their songs are extremely catchy. Probably why many bloggers that hear of them describe themselves as “instant fans”. One of my favorites from Anytown Graffiti is “Tenement Teeth”. The song hits the ground running with a great riff which leads into a chorus of “It’s only love” that wouldn’t be to much of a stretch to see coming out of Bono’s mouth. Billy McCarthy also shows his vocal prowess on the post-punk anthem “Waiting on the Stairs” which explodes halfway into the song with some furious guitar work and energetic drumming.

MP3 Tenement Teeth
MP3 Waiting on the Stairs

***

In keeping with the New York City theme, there’s a new internet radio station based out of NYC that interviews their favorite music bloggers and play what tracks they select. It’s called Blog Fresh Radio and I was extremely honored to be featured on the third and fourth episode plugging two of my recent favorite artists, Patrick Wolf and Headlights. I feel like a huge dork when I listen to my voice, but Alex was really easy to talk to and it ended up turning out pretty cool.

Listen to the April 2nd episode (my part starts around 1:30)
Listen to the April 9th episode (my part starts around 11:00)

Smother + Evil = Hurt

Sometimes a song comes along that’s so freakin’ good that nothing else really matters about the band, everytime you think of them you’re automatically linked to that one song. Think “Young Folks”, “Hey Now Now”, “Oh Mandy” or even “Crazy”. I think Danish band The Kissaway Trail have a chance of reaching indie greatness (and beyond?) with “Smother + Evil = Hurt”. Like the aforementioned songs it jumps at you and is immediately recognizable, but the ante is sufficiently upped with this powerful number.

The opening swell of violins, synths, and bells sets an absolutely stunning pace for the song and the first verse makes good on that opening promise. Søren’s B. Corneliussen’s recognizably Scandanavian vocals tell us “We put our favorite tracks on repeat” while guitars chime in the background. Then that majestic orchestral crescendo comes in again as the track phrase is repeated. The next verse adds a violin to the mix and builds the energy till the next choral climax. The ending is what takes the song to a different level though, the whole band joins in the vocals and the guitars flood you with sound and the drums pound out a marching beat. Freakin’ mind-blowing stuff? Definitely. The best 3:24 you could spend with your stereo today? Most likely. Forgive my best song ever hyperbole, but this just might be the best song ever.

MP3 The Kissaway Trail – Smother + Evil = Hurt (<–Download immediately)

Knowing full well that it'd be nearly impossible to give you another song of that level from the band, here's the only other song I have from The Kissaway Trail. It's called "Eloquence and Elixir" and while it meanders a bit in the verses it has a fantastic chorus. I'm greatly anticipating their debut album which should be out on Bella Union sometime soon.

MP3 The Kissaway Trail – Eloquence and Elixir

Watch the Smother + Evil = Hurt Music Video
Myspace
Label Page

Welcome to you're "DOOM" or Meet Frisky Dingo

It’s no secret that I watch a ton of television, whether it be Arrested Development, The Office, Lost, Veronica Mars, or Salute Your Shorts, but I think the hardest I’ve laughed has been at watching Adult Swim’s semi-new cartoon, Frisky Dingo. It’s probably the best plotted and thought-out show since Arrested Development was cancelled, with storylines and jokes that arc the entire season and hilarious callbacks in the later episodes. At its base the show has a fairly common superhero-type plot, with a civilized, aristocratic villain (Killface) who wants to destroy the earth and a superhero/billionaire (Awesome X) who’s avenging his murdered parents, but it also takes place in a world where heroes and villains have to deal with marketing and bureaucracy. Trust me though it’s funnier than it sounds, for example:

Early in the season, Killface is forced to use postcards to market his plan but the prints go out with a few grammatical errors, which makes Killface furious with his PR team: “Why does it say ‘Welcome to you are Doom’?. What does that even mean? And why, for God’s sake, is “Doom’ in quotes? Is the wink implied?”

Although Frisky Dingo could really run off its one-liners it’s the characters that drive the show. The first few episodes introduces the characters, puts them in a completely ridiculous situation (can you say “super intelligent, radioactive waste-covered ants”?) and then let’s them run wild for the rest of the season as the plot line gets more and more complicated (hilarity ensues). Adult Swim is reshowing the first season currently but I suggest you go buy the season at iTunes (or watch it all somewhere else…). The rewatch value of this show is ridiculously high, I’ve viewed some of the episode 4 or 5 times and am still catching jokes. Here’s a preview scene from the first episode…

Since this is a music blog, I’ve compiled some of the songs from the show (for those that are already fans) as well as a track from Lisa Lisa and the Motherbleepin’ Cult Jam (as referenced by the X-ticals in this scene).

MP3 Taqu’il – All That Jizz
MP3 Frisky Dingo Theme
MP3 Team Jaguar Mix
MP3 “Cat Party” Ringtone
MP3 Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam – Can You Feel The Beat

If you’ve seen the show, write you’re favorite line in the comments! Boosh!