cant - rises silent

cant is chris taylor, who occasionally plays bass with a band called grizzly bear.

his new album, dreams come true, just came out. it's a erratic electronic ride. the song 'rises silent' is a favorite moment off it for me. it begins sounding like working for a nuclear free city or a mix of autechre with hushed vocals from my bloody valentine. jumpy percussion pads the smooth bass sliding until semi-pantomiming piano plucks minor bass chords while shards of synthesizers scatter.

peter, bjorn and john - 'tomorrow has to wait'

again, thanks to guru nick for the recommendation. peter, bjorn and john are a power trio from sweden, who you've undoubtedly heard from before even if their name brings back childhood memories of a certain savior of a sandwich. their song 'young folks' was scattered across the internets, television and even videogames. i would whistle the theme and you would recognize it immediately. anyway, they have released a slew of albums in the millennium and their most recent one titled gimme some is gold. the first 6 tracks or will have you bobbing your head and even humming leads akin to 'young folks'. i'm picking to highlight a track which drove me on most of my trip through vietnam/thailand called 'tomorrow has to wait'.

the lead track begins on a droning guitar note and a high falsetto as the grinding bass grittily chugs along. 'i don't think you're sorry for what you did' peter blankly spits out. i can imagine a stadium of fists pumping along with the bass drum as it slams into your skull. the droning verse gives way as heavily distorted guitars swarm enmasse ,(ala nick zinner style). peter/tyler durden declares, 'if you control yourself and give up before you break, well, it's too late'. accusingly caustic of procrastination, this song swept me and i recommend you let it do the same for you.

other lives - 'for 12'

other lives is a band from oklahoma. their self titled debut reminded me of a bluegrassy south, with big melancholic strings and was produced by joey waronker.

their upcoming album is entitled tamer animals. although they never sounded like an unbridled beast to me, they seem to have woven their music tighter. 'for 12' is a great step for them, enveloped the reverb, melting plinking upright pianos, a galloping rhythm, wyatt earp leads and haunting cello sounds. i enjoy that i didn't have an easy time guessing the direction of the chord progression and melodies. it even has a break that made me think of the good, the bad and the ugly. even though it doesn't truly have a climax, it's a great playlist starter on a cloudy day.

coachella!

well, it's my dad's birthday today, so first of all: happy birthday to my dear father, who i love to death! even your quirks, mannerisms and dad-sayings! love you, dad!

secondly, it is the eve of a grand journey, 3 seattleites are partaking in to a mystic music festival hidden in the mountains and taking place on polo grounds. i've always dreamed about going to coachella, but it never fell into place until this year. as the gray hairs are pushing forward, i'm wondering how much longer i can stand being cramped into sweaty festival scenes and in light of the effortless planning, (thanks to my californian friends) it made sense.

combining forces will be my little brother, who professes his more worldly perspective and experienced soul remains trapped within his youthful stature, and the venerable sizzler, who apparently believes since we survived austin city limits together that coachella will be a cakewalk, (i've also put him through vigorous tests in withstanding my own quirks). the californians jackie and liz will be alongside for moral support and genuine deep laughter that only comes at the verge of wetting oneself. we will all be camping in the same 10X30 space with jackie's lovable scion for the festivities. this will definitely put a stress test on myself, as i've never been to sasquatch or any festival where you don't actually leave the festival but for catnaps stolen in tents.

this all remains a bit daunting to me, but i am a lifetime subscriber to the theory that life is about the journey and i can't wait to imbibe this fantastic weekend of music, camping, sun and general revelry.

so far here are my notes (tentatively):
*friday*
chemical bros
robyn
crystal castles
black keys
interpol?
lauryn hill or (yacht and the pains of being pure at heart)
morning benders
titus andronicus
moving units

*sat*
daedelus
arcade fire?
paul van dyk
swell season
mumford and sons
elbow
bss or new pornographers
???
gogol or tallest man or foals
thao

*sun*
kanye
strokes or chromeo or phantogram
national or trentemoller
death from above
css
?
menomena
____________________________
godspeed.

digitalism - 'blitz'

digitalism was lauded after their 2007 album, idealism and has announced they have a new package coming out called i love you dude (they are german, so please forgive punctuation).

they have a single off the new one called 'blitz' and i'm sharing the video with you. no quirky lyrics run through this song and it's more of a dark grinder itself.

after a beaten up introduction akin to a chewed up and spit out chariots of fire synthesizer, digitalism locks the bass and the bass drum and the beast of the song stirs: this beast being an infectious, repetitive dance track with glitchy percussion. then there is a brief dreamy build with a synth lead and the song promptly picks back up. 'blitz' has a dark edge built into it's poppy architecture and around 2:38 it gives way for just a moment and fades into a daft'y exit very similar to the entrance.

radiohead - 'lotus flower'

sorry to have been away for so long.

in case you didn't know, we are shortly embracing a new lp or whatever a newspaper album will be for radiohead's new album the king of limbs.

as mounting radiohead hype goes, a cryptic japanese message appeared stating 18:59 in a japanese square. at that moment, it seems the new music video for 'lotus flower' became available on youtube.

about the song, i've heard the live version by atoms for peace (thom's band) and loved the performances. the radiohead version is very jazzy and layered, very reminiscent of trip hop and sneaker pimps. driven by a big synth bass booming and thom's placating wails. the video is quite possibly a homage to thom's crazy dancing; note there is a choreographer. think thom = tom waits = charlie chaplin.

just listen. and believe. shortly we will have a new radiohead record!

arcade fire - 'ready to start'

much. anticipated. would be how i would describe the new arcade fire album the suburbs.

as some tracks have leaked, i decided to write up the track 'ready to start'.

first of all, this album sheds some of the dark, apocalyptic vibe of neon bible, but by no means does this mean the edginess has disappeared. what i've heard reverts to the old school dancy, toe-tapping funeral days. 'ready to start' is an excellent example of this, from the looped dissident notes to the droning drop 'd'ed bass/guitar lines struck intermittently by win's dreamy/exhausted delivery. i've noticed on some of the songs off suburbs, you can hear beach boys type surf rock sounds, which partially manifests itself on this track through chiming synth lines atop the mix. (i really enjoy the emperor's new clothes references.) as the song rambles and builds, churning into a techno synth line towards very similar build to the famous 3/4 to 4/4 'crown of love' transition, although it flips back into the gouging bass/guitar drone line.

very. excited.

wolf parade - 'ghost pressure'

delay delay delay. no apologies, life doesn't stop and makes no apologies for it's crash course speed.

this is a new one from wolf parade being streamed over at pitchfork. it blends boeckner's hoarse groans with wobbly synths and gritty guitars. i do adore the space invader keys; i know you hear it too.

the beatles - 'no reply'

sorry for the lack of posts recently.

i'm reading here, there and everywhere and the book is absolutely engrossing from a more technical point of view. it still has a great deal of information about how the beatles crafted their signature sounds and a snippet of their songwriting process, but from an engineering standpoint, it's absolutely spellbinding.

here is one song which gives me chills, (it hasn't been talked about in the book, not yet). the big open chords during the chorus give me goosebumps.

it's amazing that the beatles still have such relevance and power... although i doubt they will ever lose it, no matter what year it may be.

grandaddy - 'the crystal lake'

so this is an oldie/yet goodie.

grandaddy is out of california and ever since i first heard the sophtware slump, i was intrigued at the complexity despite the simplicity. as gritty as the song remains, there is something liquid, flowing and crystal clear in the arpeggiated synth. in 'the crystal lake,' jason lytle's placating pleas saunter casually, yet authentic and his truckerhat adorning disposition shines through.

check out the sophtware slump if you have a chance.

phantogram - 'when i'm small'

jay tossed this link my way yesterday:

phantogram is a duo out of seratoga springs, who specialize in "street beat, psych pop" although their sound would closer to portishead with hip-hop beat stylings and the occasional clunking/chiming of guitars. eyelid movies is the title of their record released this year, and it is truly an eclectic mix, with guy/girl vocals, big beats, and neatly wrapped synths. 'when i'm small' is a 2 toned track, with a clunky james bond/surf guitar lead, a big cyclical beat and plunking casio keys overlayed by sarah barthel's coos. yet another score from barsuk... a damn good label.

download the track here:

white hinterland - 'icarus'

first of all: this day is for my friend ian, who passed away. you were far too optimistic and kind to live such a short life. i hope you rest in peace, my friend.

in the midst of all the chaos and misery surrounding my day today, my dear friend jackie passed this track on to me and it helped me cope. white hinterland is casey dienel's shoegaze project based in portland, or. on 'icarus' she draws feist-esque falsettos over a new wavy synth bassline. adding vocal harmonies and guitar noodles, the song progresses with a simple rimshot and kick driving; churning at a slow and steady rate, flickering and dancing akin to shadows from a dying fire on my living room wall. with all it's comfort and swelling tones, it has managed to soothe me on a day where every strand was falling apart and fraying.

i wish i could have shared this with you, ian. rip

miike snow - 'cult logic'

first of all- thanks to my musical guru nick, who always helps me find bands or uncover great bands which i have passed over...

so. like so many i wrote off this band. i listened to 'animal' and thought to myself, "that's catchy, but what the hell is with the intentional double 'i's?" 'animal' is only a brief glance into the depth and multifaceted sound of miike snow, which isn't one but three dudes from sweden who just happen to produce a lot of electronic music. even for some big names, which i will let you find out on your own accord in hopes to avoid prejudice.

'cult logic' is a ping pong electro song, bouncing around only to submit for grinding choruses and breaks. andrew wyatt's falsetto dances over the electric pond of melody below. wyatt sings in a bee gee key, flouishing with 'ooh's'; matching the razor sharp beats with smooth syllables and coos. 'cult logic' caters occasionally to swaying trance sounds, bending in velocity and resolution and briefly skipping down a couple of flights on the scale.

'but at least there's something beating inside my chest'

take it easy my brother

in the spirit of brasil.
i will be gone for 10 days of awesomeness.

prepare for great stories!

yeasayer - 'ambling alp'

'ambling alp' is the first single from yeasayer's second album odd blood, which is just coming out feb. 9th. i'm completely aware that this track has received more than a little buzz on the interwebs, but my goal is to share gems to the potentially unaware.

the single is crafted with the psychedelic synth lead which quickly bends into the background of the track. a globbing bassline spills over the track with almost with serendipitous nature, bumping and grinding in similar fashion to some drunk's hips on a dancefloor. the true grit of the song is driven by the prevailing vocal line, uttered with wavering emotive tones. the song builds into an odd brass break, then dies down like a campfire to playfully climb back up; touching down aptly with the little psycho-synth lead to stick a gymnast's landing.

following is the psychotropic video, which yields no less than mirror-masked men on horseback, and mulheres menos roupa. don't worry herm, you don't directly work for the gov anymore.

pawel's version of 'videotape'

so, i've been pretty busy recently and haven't been updating my blog.
in an attempt to jump-start things, i'm posting this link to pawel's reworking of radiohead's 'videotape'. it resembles a live version from their 2006 tours and has been kicking around for a bit of time. pawel is a bit of a legend in the radiohead fanatic base, he mostly draws from radiohead's back catalog of songs never completed, sketching and channeling radiohead to record all the instruments but the vocals and sometimes guitars. i hope 2010 is treating everyone well! and i will be more diligent about my posts.

six drummers

this blew my mind

death from above 1979 - 'blood on our hands'

boombastically, death from above 1979 contends to be one of the heaviest bands i've heard in my life. this is huge considering the fact that death from above 1979 was a two piece band.

'blood on our hands' is a dirty jagged example of the grit and depth of the band. it's as though a landslide has been triggered itself by a bass pickslide. sebastien grainger wastes no time flaunting brooding vocal melodies, instead he begins the song with a scream: "i'm leaving!". could it be mindless machismo, indifference, defiance or all three, there is a resolute stance behind his howls. jesse keeler's distorted bass bounces around throwing elbows in a vain attempt to dominate the song. instead it punctuates grainger's vocals and bleets spurring urgency the brutal drums. momentarily a soft synth interjects to oil the bass' tattered syllables, but is promptly pinned to the ground and pummeled as the song climaxes and breaks. from the truly fantastic album, you're a woman, i'm a machine.

spooky

from eric's halloween party.
beware of columbian coffee bean farmers, nutcrackers and ketchup.
apparently they get agitated when cornered.

digitalism - 'pogo'

yes. it has been a while since i've posted. i'm beginning to realize i can't wait for my life to slow down to write, so i'm going to take more initiative from now on.

this song is a little older, as most are from overseas. digitalism is from the great deutchland. i was at eric's halloween party and the moment the song started, i knew i was smitten.

'pogo' begins with a glitchy synth torn between notes by the furious paces of relentless high hats. the bass synthesizer bounces around similar to the device which the song was aptly named. these eventually give way to the chorus, blending mostly synthetic buzzing with a guitar backbone. the quirky lyrics, spliced between "wha-oh!" come out like brad pitt mimicking an italian accent in inglorious basterds, syllables stretched and chewed over. many elements pull references to the 80's electronic / glammish movements. this song promises no great dark twists or lyrical wit; rather it promises a great time dancing on the lights in the city and a fantastic soundtrack as you are racing away from the police car with it's colors flashing. i really enjoy the way the song flows with this "game" called audiosurf.