July 3, 2008
It's been some time since we learned Modern Guilt, Beck Hansen's eighth album, would be some sort of psych rock minimalist '60s trip with Danger Mouse. Since then, we've gotten a look at the old-school jazz/Blue Note-style cover art and a listen to the smeary, phased, chill-out Caribou-on-Brian Wilson sounds of "Chemtrails" along with both the more upbeat "Gamma Ray" (note the Lilys/Deerhunter/etc.-style background vocal echo behind the thwapping groove) and the spaced-out hazy folk of Chan Marshall-guesting "Orphans." There's even a Modern Guilt-teasing trailer. That said, listening to all 10 tracks in a sitting fleshes out Beck and DM's aesthetic, allowing you to spot echoes and overlaps.
Continue reading Premature Evaluation: Beck - Modern Guilt...
Posted at 2:33 PM by stereogum in
Tags: Beck | Danger Mouse
latest by yep
From ashes beneath a workout bench, dreams of loss, "you leave me out on the steps you dress me up like a boy," and Celine references (Journey To The End Of The Night), Xiu Xiu have never shied from darkness, fragile thoughts, or gender issues in a scene where it takes little more than a fever for someone to verbally abuse you with "faggot" as their ammunition. In the self-directed video for Women As Lovers track "Master of the Bump (Kurt Stumbaugh, I Can Feel the Soil Falling Over My Head)," we see two guys ready to meet up in the park after some sort of Internet relationship. That's when things enter Dennis Cooper territory.
Continue reading New Xiu Xiu Video - "Master of the Bump (Kurt Stumbaugh, I Can Feel the Soil Falling Over My Head)"...
Posted at 1:07 PM by brandon in
Tags: Xiu Xiu
latest by d33r
As we pass saturation point for press coverage of Montreal, Portland, Brooklyn and et cetera, it seems Lawrence, Kansas is poised for its coming turn in the music media trend piece carousel. At least from what we're hearing; this marks two straight BTWs from the burgeoning midwestern artistic oasis. We gave the treatment to Rooftop Vigilantes after they hit our inbox with some music, and that inspired another email, this time from one Jordan Geiger, offering a MySpace-linked primer to more of the city's rising talent. But it was Jordan's own project, Hospital Ships, that struck deepest. Jordan comes packing a sturdy CV -- singing and songwriting in Minus Story, playing trumpet and keyboard for Shearwater -- and the Hospital Ships material shows it.
Continue reading Band To Watch: Hospital Ships...
Posted at 1:01 PM by stereogum in ,
Tags: Hospital Ships | Minus Story | Shearwater
latest by Nick
Mogwai, those veteran Glaswegian purveyors of loud/soft/loud/soft instrumentals, are back with their sixth studio album The Hawk Is Howling, the follow-up to 2006's Mr. Beast. I've only been listening to the record for 24 hours, but track five, the 7-minute "The Sun Smells Too Loud," is without a doubt Hawk's catchy, shimmery, slightly nostalgic pop piece. Really, the majority of the 10 tracks have a downcast, melancholic, or at least darker bent, which makes it a curious first taste. (By the way, best song titles go to chilly opener "I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead" and moody, cinematic soft-to-loud scorcher "I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School.")
Continue reading New Mogwai - "The Sun Smells Too Loud"...
Posted at 11:09 AM by brandon in
Tags: Mogwai
latest by daver
After seeing Lil Wayne's Tron-ed out performance on FN'MTV, we picked up on two more things about Weezy: he embraces the dramatic power of ending a performance by locking himself in his tour bus, and does not believe in rapping while not-walking. For the "A Milli" clip he flips it by starting off stepping out of his tour bus, but the rest is full of loco and motion, Mr. Carter showing it's hard work just preparing to be so awesome: by the time he gets to the set of the video (at the end of the video, when else), we see his entourage includes a girl to do his dreads, a guy to guard his porta-potty, and most imperatively a girl to spray cologne on his lil wayne.
Continue reading New Lil Wayne Video - "A Milli"...
Posted at 10:52 AM by amrit in
Tags: Lil Wayne
latest by John Claude
Last night Rob and Mary played a free outdoor show at the Stuyvesant Town Oval in Manhattan. I couldn't make it, but our woman on the street told us there were about 400 people who did, 100 of which were focusing intently at the stage, the rest babies and moms and such enjoying the day and the music. We also didn't make it to the Upset The Rhythm Festival in London at the end of last month, but we did happen upon video footage that finds High Places playing brand new, previously unheard material. Newer than "Vision's The First..." even. In fact, after the first track, Mary mentions it's the first time they ever played one particular piece live. We're guessing it's material from the forthcoming Thrill Jockey record.
Continue reading High Places Perform New Songs In London...
Posted at 9:50 AM by brandon in ,
Tags: High Places
Hey Dude, Give Back Ian Curtis's Gravestone • British authorities are calling it an "unusual theft," which we'll go ahead and agree with: the Joy Divison front man's memorial stone, inscribed with "Love Will Tear Us Apart," has been torn apart from his grave and stolen from a Cheshire cemetery. Lame. Details at BBC.
Posted at 9:29 AM
Tags: Joy Division
latest by Liam
July 2, 2008
Not generally. Generally they just shape our lives by being arty and so great to listen to while wearing our tight jeans and other stereotypical things of that nature. I mean very specifically, there are some Canadian indie rockers who are literally dispensing life advice by taking over Amy Sedaris's "Sedaratives" column in the music issue of The Believer. These include Sara Quin, A.C. Newman, and Owen Pallett. Again they're taking over a space that belongs to Amy Sedaris, so think less "The Ethicist" and more "The Unethicist," and then check Owen's response to the Q "Are babies worth the hassle of pregnancy?" submitted by Unwilling Mother:
Continue reading Canadian Indie Rockers Tell You How To Live Your Life...
Posted at 6:37 PM by amrit
Tags: Carl Newman | Final Fantasy | Sara Quin | Tegan And Sara
latest by annie onymous
