Graveyard Girl

At first glance, It doesn’t seem like there’s too many strong contenders for song of the year in 2008. There’s nothing that’s been blown up to “All My Friends” or “The Funeral” proportions, but there’s actually quite a few tracks that have snuck up on me recently that are making it high on my ongoing “best songs 08” list. The one that’s making the strongest case for SOTY right now is M83’s “Graveyard Girl”. Everything about this song just blows me away. I grew up loving 80’s new wave music and John Hughes films and M83 mixes both of those influences into a 5 minute epic about a goth girl who hangs out in the cemetery and dreams of marrying the jock.

From the “My Sharona” drum kick opening to the song, the lush, emotion-driven synths, and the breathy, vulnerable vocals, the song provides an overwhelming listening experience. Even the teenage-cliché poem that’s read in the middle of the song which should be cheesy and overdone is absolutely perfect. Oh, and that musical bridge with the airy sequenced keyboards and the childlike “yeah yeah yeah” background vocals is maybe my favorite piece of music this year. This is how nostalgia is suppose to sound. Download below and enjoy the very Hughes-esque music video that’s embedded as well.

MP3 M83 – Graveyard Girl

The Flaming Lips – Live @ Summer Camp

After dancing on stage for Girl Talk and meeting Wayne Coyne backstage, I was extremely pumped for Flaming Lips and positioned myself third row front and center for the most anticipated show of the festival, The Flaming Lips. Having seen tons of pictures of the Lips live show and being a rather huge fan, I was prepared to have my mind blown and the band succeeded in putting on one of the most crazy, visually spectacular, musically overwhelming performance I’ve ever seen. The band opened in the best way possible with Wayne Coyne surfing the crowd inside his giant space bubble hamster ball as the music for “Race for the Prize” began to play. Two huge cannons shot tons of confetti into the crowd and there was probably around three dozen large balloons floating around as well. Did I mention that there was a number of volunteer dancers on stage dressed up in Iron Man and Pink Ninja costumes?

The crowd was amazing for this show. Everyone was jumping around, dancing, singing, smiling, having the best time of their life, and the feeling was mirrored by Wayne on stage who called Summer Camp one of America’s best festivals and said this was most perfect place he could imagine for the band to play. After the visual feast of “Race For The Prize” the band shot into another fantastic opening track, this time “Fight Test” which featured Wayne heaving around a fog machine and shooting it at other band members.

The third song was perhaps the most shocking part of the fest as the band played a energetic version of Led Zeppelin’s “The Song Remains The Same” (my personal fave from Zep) and encouraged the crowd to strip all of their clothes off and dance around. By the end of the song, there were probably six fully naked crowd members (all ladies) on stage. What other band could get away with that

“Free Radicals” came next, a song which I’ve never been a huge fan of, but I couldn’t deny how fun it was to shout out “In fact, you’re, FANATICAL!”. The real sing-a-long prowess of the band was explored during a poignant acoustic version of “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots” which was more similar to the “live on bbc” version than the actual recording (which was perfectly fine with me). We all joined in on the song in typical campfire fashion. It was a beautiful thing to witness.

The rest of the night continued in the “greatest hits” fashion for the band with favorites like “She Don’t Use Jelly” (which was awesome) “The W.A.N.D.”, and “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” (including a bit-too-extended intro) all being played. All the while the band continued to pump confetti into the crowd and display incredible visuals through the spherical video screen. The encore was “Do You Realize” which made for a completely transcendent and beautiful moment. After experiencing the live extravaganza that is the Flaming Lips, now I completely understand why they are known as one of the best live bands in the world. Let me just say that I won’t be forgetting this show anytime soon.

MP3 Race For The Prize
MP3 Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Live On BBC)

There’s a lot more awesome pictures where these ones came from. Click here to check them all out.

Girl Talk – Live @ Summer Camp

Summer Camp seems like a really weird festival for Girl Talk to be playing (the hippie to hipster ratio is about 100 to 1 here), but Gregg Gillis completely worked the crowd, putting on the most memorable show I’ve seen from him yet (and I’ve seen a few). This was the first Girl Talk show where I got to dance on stage, which is a totally awesome experience. Gregg debuted a bunch of new stuff this show that was completely incredible, while playing some classics like “Hold Up”, “Bounce That” and “Smash Your Head”.

Out of the new stuff, Jay-Z’s “Roc Boys”, Blur’s “Crazy Beat”, M.I.A.’s “Boyz”, Dexy’s Midnight Runners “Come On Eileen” all killed and live staples “Whoomp There It Is”, “Since U Been Gone”, “Jessie’s Girl”, and “Faithfully” were out in full force. By the end of the set, Girl Talk had a sizable crowd and everyone was waving their hands in the air like they just didn’t care. Wayne Coyne even came out during part of the set to dance (and was nice enough to let me take a picture with him). Gregg ended with an enthused performance of Nirvana’s “Scentless Apprentice” that included jumping into the crowd and doing handstands on the front barrier. I was unsure how Girl Talk would come off at this fest, but he murdered Summer Camp and made a ton of new converts along the way.

MP3 Bounce That
MP3 Hold Up

Avett Brothers – Live @ Summer Camp

I haven’t listened to much Avett Brothers before this performance although I’ve heard raves from quite a few people. I really enjoyed what I heard from them.  The melodies and harmonies were sweet and simple and the instrumentation was very impressive.  The band seemed to be best when singing stripped down acoustic ballads like “Die Die Die” and “Swept Away”.

A number of the songs featured an upright basisst and cello player, while one of the Avett Brothers would shift over to the drums occasionally.  Overall it was a dynamic and fun show, and if I had the chance to see them again in a more intimate setting, I would definitely take it.

MP3 Die Die Die
MP3 Will You Return?

Dark Meat – Live @ Summer Camp

I’ve seen some pretty ridiculous live shows, but Dark Meat‘s performance at Summer Camp might just take the cake. The band was placed on the “camping stage” named so because it was in the middle of a big campgrounds with tents surrounding them at every corner, a stage that could comfortably hold 4-5 people plus instruments. Somehow they managed to get all 18 of their band members on stage (including 2 violinists, 4 horn players, 5 percussionist, 4 guitarists, 2 singers, and a piccoloist). They even brought along Of Montreal / solo artist The Late B.P. Helium to fill in with some of his mad guitar skills (by the way, I talked to B.P. afterwards and he said that the new Of Montreal album would be out in the first week of October and would be “extremely schitzofrentic”).

The show itself was definitely exciting with band members frequently jumping out of the tent and interacting with the crowd (one of the percussionists even brought out a leaf blower filled with confetti at one point). The noise was a bit jumbled which you would expect with that many instruments playing, but really it was all about the crazy energy that the band brought. The best song was the defiant sing-a-long “Well F*** you then” full of horns blasting and punk rock swagger. The end of the set turned into a huge jam fest with the band all picking up random instruments and playing them and the lead singer making dirt angels in the mud. It was a very memorable performance to say the least.

MP3 Dark Meat – Well F*** You Then
MP3 Dark Meat – Freedom Ritual

Click here to see the rest of my pictures from Dark Meat’s set.

Hidden Tracks (that shouldn't stay hidden) Mix

Like most things to do with pop music, the hidden track can be traced to The Beatles. Many consider the 23 second ditty, “Her Majesty” at the end of Abbey Road to be the first hidden track, and since then they’ve been used by many artists usually as a surprise for listeners who stick around after the last track has finished. Most of the times hidden tracks on albums are kept hidden for a reason, throwaway or joke tracks and the occasional remix. But on the rare occasion the hidden tracks are actually as good or better than anything else on the album. Here’s six of the best hidden tracks for your downloading pleasure.

 MP3 Wilco – Candy Floss (from Summerteeth)

There was two hidden tracks on Summerteeth, one of them being an alternate version of “A Shot In The Arm” and one being this winner. Easily one of the greatest and catchiest on an album that’s full of great, catchy songs.

 MP3 Jarvis Cocker – Running the World (from Jarvis)

This was actually the first track that was leaked onto the internet from Jarvis Cocker’s solo album. An anthemic song that doesn’t pull any punches (especially when it comes to a certain “c” word).

MP3 Eels – Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues (Daiseys of the Galaxy)

This is another unusual hidden track as it was actually prominently used in the film Road Trip and became perhaps the best known song from the album. For good reason too, it’s a wonderfully breezy summer tune featuring one of the bands most memorable choruses.

MP3 Beck – Diamond Bullocks (from Mutations)

This spacey, Beatles-esque track is the perfect mixture of Beck’s experimental tendencies and his knack for melody. One of the best pieces of music the man has done in my opinion. The tempo changes in this song are sick.

MP3 The Clash – Train In Vain (from London Calling)

This is the obvious one, and it actually was only a hidden track because the album was printed before the song was added to the track listing. Since then it became a hit single and one of The Clash’s most well-known songs. There’s a good chance you’ve either given or received a mix tape/CD with this song on it.

MP3 Cloud Cult – Bobby’s Spacesuit (from Advice from the Happy Hippo)

A gorgeous acoustic ballad found at the end of what Cloud Cult’s wonderful 2005 album. Features one of my lyrics from the band “turn my stupid question marks into simple candy canes”.

Video: Death Cab for Cutie playing "No Sunlight" in a Cab

I’m actually coming around to Narrow Stairs recently. It’s better than Plans, it might overtake Something About Airplanes also (but I doubt it). No way it’s touching Photo/Facts/Trans. Either way, the band recently did a Black Cab session where they played album highlight and probably second single “No Sunlight”. The acoustic version seen in the video above is lovely (download the MP3 here), and the album version actually reminds me a bit of “The Angels Share” by Ted Leo.

MP3 Death Cab for Cutie – No Sunlight

So, what are your thoughts on Narrow Stairs? Is it a return to greatness for a band or the nail in the proverbial coffin?

Music Fest Watch: Pygmalion, Summer Camp, Lolla, P4k

The Illinois music festival scene just keeps getting better. You got the big Chicago fests, Lollapalooza and Pitchfork Fest who are both at the top of their games this year but some of the smaller fests like Summer Camp and Pygmalion are stepping as well in ’08. I expect to be hitting up all these fests (except P4k because of a prior engagement) this year starting next week with the once just a hippie fest, now indie rock friendly Summer Camp.

I always thought it was cool that there was a well-known music festival located about 10 minutes from my house, but the Summer Camp line-up (which always consisted of moe, umphreys, keller williams and other similarly jammy bands) never really suited my fancy. This year that all has changed as they’ve added a second main stage to the fest and filled it with some amazing artists like The Flaming Lips (seen in above pic), The New Pornographers, Girl Talk, The Roots, and George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic. There’s also some really cool smaller/local bands on the line-up like Headlights, Dark Meat, and Elsinore. Even Pitchfork gave the fest it’s seal of approval. So to sum up things: I’m totally going to this festival which takes place next weekend in good ol’ Chillicothe.

MP3 The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
MP3 The New Pornographers – Bleeding Heart Show

I’ve been going to and enjoying Pygmalion Music Festival for three years now and it continues to impress me on getting great bands. Last year the fest snagged Okkervil River, Andrew Bird, Yeasayer, and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (among many others) and they’ve also had Of Montreal, Elf Power, Man Man, Danielson, Mates of State, Saturday Looks Good To Me and Murder By Death play the fest. From the early outlook of 2008 though, this is going to be the best year ever. In The Aeroplane Over UC (an awesome new Champaign/Urbana music scene blog), has the scoop on the current line-up which includes Yo La Tengo, Shearwater, Black Mountain, Dan Deacon, The Cotton Jones Basket Ride, High Places, Headlights, and Pattern is Movement. Holy crap, this is going to be good. And there’s still tons of artists two be announced. Count me as excited.

MP3 Yo La Tengo – Sugarcube
MP3 Shearwater – Leviathan Bound
MP3 Dan Deacon – The Crystal Cat

I won’t be going to Pitchfork Festival this year, but the line-up looks awesome (seriously, The Hold Steady, Animal Collective, Ghostface/Raekwon, Les Savy Fav, Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, Dodos). Word on the street is Three Day Passes are sold out, so you probably want to scramble to get those two-day passes.

MP3 The Hold Steady – Stuck Between Stations
MP3 Vampire Weekend – M79

I’ve always had to skip Lollapalooza for one reason or another, but this year I have no excuses. Radiohead is playing (as well as about hundred other bands I want to see) and I already have a ticket. The line-up has been well publicized (take a look here) but there’s also been a couple recent additions like Iron & Wine and Devotchka to get excited about. Also, if you’re interested the Lollapalooza message boards has a listing of which bands are playing on which day. Check that out here.

MP3 Radiohead – Bodysnatchers
MP3 Iron & Wine – Boy With A Coin

What festivals are you guys hitting up this year? Illinois or otherwise…

LOST Recap / Ladytron

I haven’t talked about LOST in a few weeks, but don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the show.  The last few episodes have been incredible and I’m absolutely ecstatic to see the finalé in two weeks, because it seems that everything from this season has been leading up to this one two-hour episode.  I’ve made a list of things that will/should happen in the finale.

1. Show how the Oceanic Six got together and made it off the island. Right now the Six are spread out over everywhere.  Hurley is with Locke.  Jack is with Frank/Sawyer on the helicopter.  Kate/Sayiid are with The Others.  Sun/Aaron are on the freighter.  I don’t know how they’re going to pull this off.

2. Show what’s up with Claire / have her get on a helicopter with Aaron. I believe that somehow we will see Claire and Aaron getting on a helicopter.  Way back in the Season 3 episode “Greatest Hits”, Desmond said that they would if Charlie pushed the button.  How are they going to do this with Aaron far away and Claire in the cabin.  Don’t know but I would feel pretty jipped if it never happened.  Thoughts on this?

3. Michael has to do something to save the island/sacrifice himself. So far Michael hasn’t served much point on this season.  He’s around for a reason and it seems pretty obvious that he’s going to do something huge and self-sacrificial to save the Losties.  What is it though?

4. Show who’s in the coffin. The writers have said multiple times that the finale would finally show who died that make Jack say “We have to go baaaaack!”.  I honestly have no idea who it could be.

5. Answer what happens to all the non-O6 people on the island? We know they don’t all die (except it looks like Jin is a goner).  Also, What is Ben’s plan?  Will Locke move the island?  What’s with Keamy and all the C4?  What will happen to the Freighter Four?  How will Desmond play into all this?

So basically a lot of stuff rests on this finalé.  “I want some frickin’ answers” as Hurley once said.  Talking about Hurley, he has two personal butlers at his home (who used to work at Bennigans), named Mr. Tron and Lady Tron.  He even called out for “Lady Tron” in last night’s episode during his island-themed surprise birthday.  Coincidentally, I received a new album from Ladytron in the mail this week (and was already planning on writing about them before I noticed the connection).

The album from the UK electronica maestros is called Velocifero (which means “bringer of speed”) and it’s full of lush, dark, and irresistable electro-disco-pop. I love how the density of the beats, synths, fuzzy guitar match with the spacey, ethereal vocals from the two female lead singers.   The music feels like a heavier version of The Cure’s Disintegration at times which makes me very happy.

My favorite song on the album is “I’m Not Scared” a song that charges forward full force with dark, mysterious synths and drums that sound straight out of a New Order track. The ladies’ vocals are the highlight from sly pronunciation on phrases like “the generosity of strangers” to the high-pitched accents during the fantastic chorus of the song.  The first single from the album, entitled “Ghosts” is another huge standout. The song is set to a marching beat and swirling synths, and the vocals (especially during the very catchy chorus) are completely otherworldy.  If you’re an electronica fan at all I urge you to give this one a try, as it’s a very enjoyable and satisfying listen.

MP3 I’m Not Scared
MP3 Ghosts

Preorder Velocifero

Orouni

I’ve always liked the sound of French Pop, but I actually don’t have much music from the genre other than Phoenix and a couple songs from Wes Anderson movies.  I’m glad to add Orouni to the list, as he makes wonderfully lighthearted folk music.  On the email I received, Orouni self-described himself quite humorously by saying “Try and imagine if the Shins were babies”, which I don’t quite understand (although it does give some interesting imagery).  I’m more apt to say that you’ll like the band if you’re a fan of lo-fi twee bands such as (early) Belle & Sebastian, Page France, Bishop Allen, or Okay.  

My favorite song I’ve heard from Orouni is called “A Greased & Golden Palm”.  It starts off simple enough with some light organ, acoustic guitar and the artist’s heavy French accent, but the song picks up during the bouncy, jubilant chorus which features a lovely girl/guy harmony.   “Panic at the Beehive” is a similarly sunny song showcasing Orouni’s ear for catchy pop melodies and the quaint, yet very pretty instrumentation of bells, glockenspiel, and quickly strummed acoustic guitar. Have a listen, I think you’ll enjoy it.

MP3 A Greased & Golden Palm
MP3 Panic at the Beehive 

Orouni’s Myspace
Grab another at Said The Gramaphone