)It's Saturday morning and I'm awake really early goofing around and making a new mix compilation CD for my car. I've decided to put on "Rock and Roll Girl" and since I haven't written a cover lover article in a while, I thought this is perfect.
I came across this song via The Muffs, a fuzzy pop-punk band from the early 90s from Southern California. Although they have stated in interviews that they have not broken up, it's hard to ignore that they've been pretty much inactive since 2004.
Their singer, Kim Shattuck, has a snarly, but unique, voice, and I think she's really into obscure garage bands, as seen on their album Hamburger... However, I think the song that they're probably best known for is "Kids in America", a Kim Wilde cover (oh don't worry, we're going to have a "Kids in America" cover lover post eventually).
Trying to figure out some of the covers on Hamburger, I found The Beat, a band that debut with The Beat in 1979. The band was lead by Paul Collins, and eventually people started referring The Beat to Paul Collins' Beat - and it would make searching a lot easier, I suppose.
I actually don't have any other music from The Beat, other than this song for comparison, but they seem to be rock and rolly, probably based out of Los Angeles, as heard on their song "I wish there was an easier way, to meet all the girls in LA".
Between the two version, I would love to nod to The Muffs, just because it feels a little more updated and a little more punky. Plus, there's something sinister when you hear Shattuck sings "I wanna be with the rock n roll girl".
Both songs are now on my mix CD.
The first thing Philadelphia's Javelina wants you to know is that their name is pronounced as if it were a Spanish word. Like “Ha-ve-lee-na.” In fact, it's printed right on the front spine of their debut CD for Translation Loss Records. A javelina is like a sort of wild pig (technically a peccary). This is actually a completely useless fact, but I found it while Googling the band to find out more information on them, and thought you'd like to know. It's also a rather appropriate name for a band that sounds like these guys.
The album is sludge metal, inspired by bands like Down, Motorhead, Eyehategod, and Crowbar. The band features ex-members of Lickgoldensky, Smut, and Otophobia. This is a very straightforward metal disc. This album is heavy in more of a literal sense, in that it sounds like a band made up of a bunch of large, angry dudes. The vocals basically sound like a dude who's about to smash your face in with nothing but his fist. The album typically sticks to more straightforward rhythms with more emphasis a thick, sludgy tone than on displaying the players' chops (which are definitely there).
The musicianship is competent. There's quite a bit of punk influence here (particularly on tracks like “Asbestos”), and even a little bit of modern “post-metal,” for lack of a less annoying term (like the sort of stuff Robotic Empire has been putting out a lot of, lately) on “Architect,” which is probably the best track on the album, but I'd say it'll appeal more to metalheads than anyone else. If you like bands with Phil Anselmo in them (e.g. Pantera, Down, Superjoint Ritual), then these guys might be right up your alley.
These guys are currently on tour, so if you like what you hear, go check 'em out! Their debut album is out now on Translation Loss records. More info: Official MySpace page
May 17 2008 8:00P The Drunken Unicorn w/ Withered Atlanta, Georgia
May 18 2008 8:00P Hell w/ Tooth, Horsefang Chapel Hill, North Carolina
May 19 2008 8:00P NARA Sushi w/ Tooth, Lord By Fire Richmond, Virginia
Jul 11 2008 8:00P Talking Head w/ Sourvein Baltimore, Maryland
Jul 12 2008 8:00P Manhattan Room w/ Sourvein Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 13 2008 8:00P The Knitting Factory w/ Sourvein New York, New York
-Soup
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05/17/08 Melos Pestoia
Discography
05/18/08 Traffic Roma 05/20/08 Casa de Cultura San Sebastian 05/22/08 BeCool Barcelona 05/23/08 La Marquise Lyon 05/25/08 Cactus Brugge 05/26/08 Mains d’Ouevres Paris 05/27/08 Le Grand Wazoo Amiens 05/28/08 Treibhaus Lucern 05/29/08 Elfer Frankfurt 05/30/08 d:qliq Luxembourg 05/31/08 Gleis 22 Munster 06/01/08 Steinbruch Duisburg
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Taking their name from Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa is a band with members from New York, Chicago, Boston, DC, and Richmond. Their latest album is called Rest and it was released last Tuesday, May 13th. This album was composed primarily through e-mail, because of the various band member's living location!
The band is headed by frontsman, Champ Bennett, but you can tell this isn't a dictatorship, but a collaboration, with each band members adding in their own color to the music. Sometime these addition seems to make their songs unconventionally long. Take, for instance, their most accessible song "Jeroen Van Aken" is over eight minutes long - definitely not radio material.
What makes "Jeroen Van Aken" good is you get to hear the melodic vocals between Champ Bennett and Nikki King and the chorus seems to be "it seems the devil's got a grip on me" while the music build in the background. But instead of ending at the four minute mark, the song continues on with a great bass line played by (and I'm guessing because there are several bassists listed in the liner notes) Billy Bennett.
The other songs that I was drawn to all features sweet lush vocals, including "Pseudonyms", which has some nice pianos and some haunting noises that sounds like a musical saw. Be sure to check out "Abutting, Dismantling", another whispery vocal song - with some great rhythmic percussions.
I am unfamiliar with their earlier works, but judging from Rest, I would recommend Gregor Samsa to any fans of slowcore bands like Minnesota's own Low.
Rest is out now, can be purchased directly from their record label, Kora Records. There is a limited edition of this record for only $7 more (with less than 200 left) that I suggest you get instead of the standard version. I've taken a look at the pictures of the limited version and I'm very tempted to place an order very soon. They are also on tour to support the new record.
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Jason Yudoff just released his second studio album, Tragic Hero last Tuesday, May 13th. Apparently this album's been hitting the music industry rounds for a while now, because, despite just officially released to the general public, it's already been nominated in the 2008 Grammy Ballot in four categories: "Best New Artist", "Album of the Year", "Record of the Year" (for the song "Personal Addict") and "Producer of the Year" (Ron Thaler).
Since the song "Personal Addict" is nominated for "Record of the Year", I thought it that would best represent him: a little funk and jam. Even his funky voice on this song sounds a little like Jamiroquai, doesn't it?
I also really liked the frantic piano-driven song, "Locked in a Box", which really shows off Yudoff's piano-playing skill.
There's also a studio version of "Too Late Janie", which originally appeared on his live album, LIVE at The Cutting Room, which sounds a little more controlled. It even sounds better in the studio, but I did missed the improvised piano in the middle of the live version.
Tragic Hero is out now, you can find his music on amazon and itunes as well as cd baby. He's playing one show in New York at the Make Music at the Waterside Plaza on June 21st.
Links:
jasonyudoff.com
myspace.com/jasonyudoffandthenewhotness
- 07:40 Food, time to carb up #
- 12:06 Listening to Jamie Lidell - Little Bit of Feel Good www.jamielidell.com/ #
- 12:34 13 videos of Mozart's Requiem in D minor KV 626. From a 1999 concert at the Cathedral in Salzburg tinyurl.com/5nqn5m #
- 13:00 Watching: Ron Burgundy Interviews Tom Brokaw!! A FunnyOrDie.com Exclusive! www.funnyordie.com/videos/660cb47b01 #
- 13:42 Listening to: Nine Inch Nails - Discipline theslip.nin.com/ #
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Hello,
A while back I was investigating Secondlife for what it had on offer in the way of music. Crap was what I found with very little success in the way of live performances. Everytime I attended an arranged performance it was always dogged with technical problems and never a good musical experience.
After attending a couple of lame concerts and witnessing bedroom songwriting at it's worst I gave up for a while.
Now I've come accross Chouchou. This is pretty much exactly what I was hoping to come accross in the SL community. An act which exists only within SL and the entire product, promo etc exists only in this user generated world. Take a look at one of their videos, 'shot' in secondlife (wonder what camera they used? :-)
I find some of the piano work on there a bit reminscent of Stan Tracey's Under Milk Wood in it's very minimalist yet quite progressive nature. Generally a quite emmersive sound, epic in scale but not overpowering with the various layers of reverbarating piano and processed digital hisses. (What?!?!?! I'll settle down in a min, bear with me)
I guess rather than seeing this as involving records/albums/units/whatever you want to call them, I think Chouchou's approach is more focused on how people consume and interact with their music. For me I find their videos and music all part and parcel of the same thing, like an AV art installation. I will get back onto the whole SL thing just to get a look at what they are doing on line.
Be sure to take a look at their blog and have a listen to their stuff. Possibly lacking a place in today's commercial music market but definitely good to listen to at the right moment. I'll be sticking some of this on my MP3 for those quiet moments when I need some musical mescaline.
 Hellapop Festival (May 24th) ♥ Bands: The Definite Articles, Teamawesome!, iji, Tinkture, Hey Three Eyes, The Creepy Crawlies, James Rabbit, Charlie Don’t Surf!, The Paper Orchestra, The Panduhs, Old Hack, Tippy the Vegan, Music from Anteria |
Okay, so I've never been an avid calendar user (too much work!), but lately I've been organizing myself with W♥M Calendar so I know which concert dates to attend and what CDs are being release when. Since I also use Outlook for calendaring, Google does offer Calendar Sync which seamlessly sync both outlook and W♥M calendar (so I can manage offline or online).
I believe the calendar is shared among all the weheartmusic.com users by default (but you can set it to private or "friends only"), so, anyroad, I know someone will be attending Hellapop Festival (May 24). This looks really fun, and I would be there too if I lived in California.
I thought I'd mention two bands doing this festival that I thought looked interesting.
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Tinkture looks like a group of very young ladies, into DIY punk, possibly Riot. I thought "Pyrotechnics" is a very fast and feels very garagey. The vocals has a southern sound to it too. I generally like these DIY punk, as you've probably figured from my various punk articles.
I couldn't help but think of Supergrass's "Alright" when I heard "Farther Away" by Shadow Puppet Theatre. These guys looks very hip and are snappy dressers on top of that. Plus, they seem like they would hang out at all night cafes. They are from Modesto, and consists of singer/guitarist, Adam Bishop, and upright bassist, Jessica Jones.
These are only two of the many, many bands that's attending the Hellapop Festival, so be sure to check them out. That Team Awesome sounds pretty fun, as well as Charlie Don't Surf (which may have stolen their title from Apocalypse Now, but they seem too young to actually have seen that movie - so I vote for Veronica Mars).
Links: myspace.com/popsongromance
www.tinkture.com
myspace.com/shadowpuppettheatre
- 08:11 Checking out Hahlo.com twitter iPhone web app #
- 08:47 Watching: Hulu - 9 Chefs Compete: Hell's Kitchen tinyurl.com/6gxhcl #
- 09:05 Looking at the dates for The Hush Sound's new tour www.thehushsound.com/tour/ #
- 10:09 The DXL version of Ninch Inch Nails: Ghosts I-IV has arrived and now it's covered with my drool... sooooo b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l #
- 10:35 @pvponline Sounds like you need to take a flight and get LOST... on an island. #
- 12:23 Game designer David Jaffe calls Speed Racer - "XANADU meets THE DUKES OF HAZZARD", yes he loves it tinyurl.com/6nux85 #
- 12:39 Listening to: Calogero - Face À la Mer (featuring Passi) tinyurl.com/5nhwj8 #
- 13:28 Listening to French rocker Mademoiselle K.'s album Ça Me Vexe www.myspace.com/01mademoisellek #
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Since joining Sellaband, she's been gaining "believers" (657 to be exact) and has raised enough money to record a full-length. Today marks the release of her debut album, It Might Like You, and is also Sellaband's first release by a Polish artist. As a promotion for the past month, she's been posting short teasers on Youtube that are quite... umm... uhh... well... just watch them. There are two versions of the album; the regular edition
There will be a listening session for the album on Sellaband starting at 8pm EST for Believers and 9pm EST for the rest of the world.
| Links: Official Webite | Album Website | Sellaband | MySpace | Youtube |
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