June 30, 2007

"My Body Is a Cage, That Keeps Me From Dancing With The One I Love"/"I Hear Everybody That You Know Is More Relevant Than Everybody That I Know."

(Photo by Elizabeth Weinberg)

So the Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem have been confirmed to play a Red Rocks show seriously 2 days after the Monolith Music Fest. That is going to be one hell of an extended weekend. Do I even need to say I've all ready got tickets? Anyway, because of this incredible development, I will now host a live set by each of these groups.

The Arcade Fire have somehow become living legends. I don't know if it's because they rarely play shows (anymore), or that when they do play, it's in venues that hold about 30 people, or, simply, because their music is radically spectacular. My money's on the latter.

If you don't know about them yet, you've all ready missed out. Here's a refresher course for those of you not willing to accept that you've missed out. But now, onward and upward. Here is a fairly recent live set from our Neon Bible-toting boys and girls in black, white and red all over:

Band: The Arcade Fire
Date:2007-01-20
Venue: The St. Michael's Church (Secret Gig), Montreal, Canada

(btw, I'm using mediafire for the time being, so left click of the files, the d/l from that page :) )

Intro
Black Mirror
Keep the Car Running
No Cars Go (Neon Bible Version)
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
My Body is a Cage
Ocean of Noise
Rebellion
Banter
Intervention
(Anti-Christ Television Blues)
The Well and the Lighthouse
Haiti
Power Out


This live set is actually the first thing I ever heard by LCD Soundsystem, and was, thusly, rather disappointed with the group's studio recordings. There is so much energy and life in this recording that it feels as though LCD Soundsystem is playing at my house ... my house. This is what I consider the "best of" by LCD, even if it doesn't have their best studio stuff. Whatev, you get what I'm saying, enough jibber-jabber, on with the you know:



Band: LCD Soundsystem
Date: 2005-09-04
Venue: Electric Picnic, Stradbally, Co. Laois, Ireland

Beat Connection
On Repeat
Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
Tribulations
Movement
Losing My Edge
Yeah

June 28, 2007

"Let's Trade Skins, I'm Rippling In This Skin That I'm In"

That is a map that my buddy Tom Wallingford made of all the artists on anticon. records, just to clear up any confusion. I recommend clicking on the image to see it at it's full power (mostly because when scaled down, you can't see a damn thing). Anyway, that was related to the last blog, now, on to the new one:

Mmmm, that sad, soothing, gorgeous Great Lake Swimmers sound, I can hardly get enough.

I saw Great Lake Swimmers last week at the local pool (i.e. the Hi-Dive [which, is actually not a pool at all]), and I might just have to say that I had a damn good time. Opening for them was a dude named Jason, who, to my knowledge, has not released any form of his music, or really even named his project. This, however, doesn't mean he wasn't a splendid opener. His music reminded me of the saddest of sad Radiohead songs drawn out to the point of no return. This boy could wail from a soul more troubled than good ol' Thom. I wish I would have found out more about this guy, but, alas. No worries though, a talent like this is sure to surface again.

After Jason finished up (in place of Porlolo I might add [I was rather looking forward to seeing Porlolo again]), Horse Feathers formed on stage and proceeded to woo the audience. 3 members were they, and quite the power trio they were. Justin taking up the mic and his guitar, Peter his violin, banjo, mandolin, saw, and make-shift drum set, and Heather her cello and celeste. The general arrangements sounded like, well, just that (classical arrangements that is) (thanks mostly to the violin and the cello). Then the three hunkered down and got all sorts of folky on us, which was welcomed by the friendly crowd. Lots of spunk, energy, and fun ... Horse Feathers ... what more can I say?

The 4 memebers of Great Lake Swimmers gracefully scurried their way onto the stage, and into our hearts (man that was cheesy). Really I can't say much more about them than that, and, of course, what their music says about them. So, listen up:

Band: Great Lake Swimmers
Date: 2005-09-08
Venue: Schubas, Chicago, Illinois

Moving, Shaking

Merge, A Vessel, A Harbour
The Man With No Skin
Let's Trade Skins (my 2nd favorite)
I Will Never See The Sun
Various Stages
Moving Pictures Silent Films
Innocent When You Dream (Tow Waits Cover) (1st favorite)

June 26, 2007

"Without a Universal Law There Is No Gravity"


That video above was made by Ravi Zupa. The song was Rubber Traits by Why?.

I recently ran into a guy (Ravi Zupa) who was wearing an anticon. shirt, so I told him it was awesome, because, well, it was. He went on to inform me that he makes music videos for them (or, at least, has made at least 6 videos for a few of the artists signed to anticon.) [check his other stuff out either at his website, or on his (presumably) youtube account. it's well worth it]. This comes at a pretty pertinent time for me, as I've recently been getting really into the anticon. artists again.

The anticon. artists are, really, just one big orgy of musicians who constantly collaborate. My theory is that they simply like to title things, so they create as many side projects as possible so they can. I don't even want to attempt to help people understand the web they've woven. Check out the Wiki for that. For some awesome music by a few of my favorite anticon. artists:

cLOUDEAD - Dead Dogs Two (W/ Josiah)
Why? - Crushed Bones
Sage Francis - Clickety Clack
13 & God - Soft Atlas
Odd Nosdam - 11th Ave. Freakout Pt 2
Themselves - Terror Fabulous
Subtle - The Mercury Craze
Sole - year of the $exxx $ymbol
Deep Puddle Dynamics - June 26th, 1998
Passage - Creature in the Classroom
Jel - WMD
alias - Life of a Soldja (featuring Duck)
Pedestrian - Arrest the President
Dosh - Everybody Cheer Up Song
Buck 65 - Sore (Vocal Remix)
Atmosphere - Give Me

JUICE, Doseone, and Eminem rap battle (Turn the Volume down around 1:17 and turn it back up around 1:22 ... trust me):

June 19, 2007

Exclusive Interview: 'We Need Girlfriends' Creators

Quite possibly the best thing to happen to the internet, RagTag Films, has offered your humble blogger an interview (via internet [because they live in NY, and I in CO]) regarding the best damn TV show not on TV, We Need Girlfriends (see the bottom of this blog for videos) We Need Girlfriends follows three best friends, fresh from college, entering into a whole new learning environment: dating in the city, after college, in the YouTube/Myspace era. Sound familiar? It ought to. It's pretty much the most relevant comedy today. They're 8 episodes in, with a few holiday specials, and going strong. I had a few concerns and questions, so I figured I'd just ask :). These guys were super awesome to offer the interview in the first place, and they got back to me really quick, so, without further ado, here it is:

LUKE HUNTER: Steven, Brian, and Angel, how are you prepared to respond to the possible drop in viewers after an excessive period of seeing the characters go through multiple attempts at courting and dating which ends in failure? It's just my assumption that this is where the show is going, but I may be entirely wrong. If that isn't the plan, are you clever folks willing to divulge any information on the fates of the poor boys? Will they ever find "the one?" :)

STEVEN TSAPELAS: Geez, do you know something we don't? I'm honestly not anticipating a drop in viewers. And actually with each subsequent episode, the hits on our website get larger and larger, so I hope that trend continues. I think the audience genuinely likes the characters and that they are willing to stick with them through their trials and tribulations because A) they're funny guys and B) we're rooting for them. Through the course of the series, there will be ups and downs, the characters will fail and occasionally succeed. However, they can't have too much success because then the show wouldn't be "We Need Girlfriends" it would be "We Have Girlfriends," and where's the fun in that?

BRIAN AMYOT: I agree with Steven, I don’t anticipate a drop in viewers for very similar reasons. I think people have become invested in these characters and they want to watch them, whether they succeed or fail, or both. I also find much of the failure very funny, and I hope the audience does. I tune into “The Office” every week knowing that Michael Scott will do something stupid, I’m not expecting him to get any smarter. Also, I think people will enjoy the way the series progresses, we have a lot more in store for these characters and its going to be exciting to see where life leads them.

ANGEL ACEVEDO: I agree with Brian who agrees with Steven. Obviously the show is about guys looking for new girlfriends, that's the drive of the show, that's their goal. And if they reach their goal there wouldn't be a show. So we have to cleverly write stories that see the characters closely reaching their goal of finding new girlfriends. But to keep the excitement and fun of the show, we can't make it too easy for them. It would be like if in LOST they got off the island the first season.

S: In the way of spoilers, I will say this: In Episode 9, someone will finally have sex. I'm not saying who.

LH: Steven, as the writer, I'm curious about how much of this show is based on real-life events and people. How much of this show comes from personal experience, and how much is pure fiction?

S: The three characters are based on us and our personality traits. Some of the the things they do are from our lives. For instance, we spend a lot of time on MySpace, we play psych out rules during game night, and we've been using the term "squirrel" and "scamming on squirrel" for years. Obviously, things are mashed together and dramatized, but I think the real core of the show is things we find funny about each other. The point is to make each other laugh while being honest about ourselves and our lives.

LH: Brian and Angel, what equipment and programs you guys use to shoot and edit? Who mixes the music, and, for that matter, who is in charge of tracking down the tunes you guys use?

B: We shoot on MiniDV on the Panasonic DVX100A. We edit on a PC using Avid Xpress Pro. I typically have edited the sound/music for every episode, I do the mix on Avid. All three of us have tracked down the music. MySpace has been instrumental (no pun intended) in finding music. We posted a bulletin on MySpace as well as other sites for people to submit music. We received many submissions, and as the show got viewed more, more people submitted because they want their music featured. It has been beneficial for both sides because we get great music in our show, and the musicians get more exposure. Steve, Angel, and I will sort through our submissions and search for new artists to find what will work best for the show.

LH: Steven, Brian, and Angel, I'm sure that what everyone really, truly wants to know ... is whose team are you on?

S: Team Ragtag!

B: TEAM WNG!

A: Team Rod!

Thanks guy, you rock :).

Episode 9 is out on July 1st. Personally, I couldn't be more excited. If you're interested in watching this show, head on over to their website, their myspace, or their YouTube account. To save a little time, here are trailers for the first and second half of their ... "season" I suppose:

Trailer for Episodes 2-6:


Trailer for Episodes 7-10:

June 15, 2007

Monolith Sampler 1











Monolith Music Fest. will eat you:

(this is broken up so I can fit the labels for all the bands. Make sure to check out part 6 for mp3's not included in the Whole Dang Thing)

The Whole Dang Thing, .rar'd up nice and easy for you.

If that's too big for your computer to do in one go, here is the EXACT SAME THING, just split into 3 parts:

The Whole Dang Thing Part 1
The Whole Dang Thing Part 2
The Whole Dang Thing Part 3

If you'd like to pick and choose, here ya go:

Day 1
Cake - Shadow Stabbing
The Decemberists - Think About Me (Fleetwood Mac Cover)
Kings of Leon - Molly's Chambers
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Heavy Metal
Ghostland Observatory - Silver City
Editors - Lights
Juliette & The Licks - You're Speaking My Language
Flosstradamus - Yea Yeah (Flosstradamus Remix of a Matt & Kim song)
Kid Sister - Pro Nails (feat. Kanye West) (thanks to Cause=Time for this one)
Das EFX - Kaught In Da Ak (Dj-Premier-Remix)
Vienna Teng - Cannonball (Damien Rice Cover)

Monolith Sampler 2

The Broken West (Check out their Daytrotter Set)
Everything Absent or Distorted (A Love Story) - Closer Thank You Think Pt. 1
Ra Ra Riot - Each Year
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band - Plainfield Blues
Mason Proper - 100 Years
Born in the Flood - Low Flying Clouds
De Novo Dahl - Jeffrey
Cat-a-tac - Devil
Mobius Band - Philadelphia

Monolith Sampler 3

AutoVaughn - One More Time
Angie Stevens - First Love
On a Sun - You Did the Same
A Verse Unsung (myspizzle)
(Previously known as Bluebook) Bela Karoli - Invertebrate

Day 2
The Flaming Lips - Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen Cover)
Spoon - The Ghost of You Lingers
Turbonegro - If You See Kaye (tell Her I L-O-V-E Her)
Art Brut (see My Old Blog on them)
Brian Jonestown Massacre - The Way It Was
Cloud Cult - Your 8th Birthday
Matt & Kim - No More Long Years

Monolith Sampler 4

Au Revoir Simone - Sad Song
Bob Log III - Boob Scotch
William Elliot Whitmore (Check out his Daytrotter Set)
Rocky Votolato - Work Hard (weird mislabeling thing with this file. It's definitely called Work Hard)
Earl Greyhound - S.O.S.
Yacht - The Denver Nuggest
Hot IQs - Nightstand
Lords of the Underground - Clinic (Lord Jazz: The Connection Remix)
Otis Gibbs - Small Town Saturday Night
Forget Cassettes - Patience, Beth (Reprise)

Monolith Sampler 5

Cameron McGill - What the Hell (I Love This Girl Danielle)
Laylights - Sparrow
The Thieves (mysparizzilytizzily)
Machine Gun Blues - I Wanna Be Sexy
The Swayback - All Bad News
Minus Story - Stitch Me Up
Gregory Alan Isakov - February
Nina Storey - Over Now
Stranger Lazy - Is It Paul Walter?

Again, here's The Whole Dang Thing, .rar'd up nice and easy for you.

Monolith Sampler 6

It's come to my attention that there have been some new additions and subtractions from this list. I'll have updates with new mp3's and links when I find out there have been changes. As far as subtractions, I'm not certain on any of them yet, but here are some new additions to the line up:

(note: none of these mp3's are in the .rar'd collection posted above)

White Rabbits - The Plot
Little Ones (daytrotizlle set)
The Dears - Ballad of Human Kindness
3oh!3 (myspace)
Ian Ball of Gomez (Gomez - Notice)
Via Audio (mysprocket)
Tim Barry of Avail (Avail - Subdued and Arrested)
Nathan & Stephen (virb site)

June 12, 2007

"I Like Giants, Especially Girl Giants/I Am Just a Huge Manatee"



That's a fan-made music video set to the music of The Moldy Peaches. Much like the lyrics of the Moldy Peaches, Kimya Dawson's solo material is often laden with surprising vocabulary, which is a fancy way of saying "I wouldn't expect, from the sound of her music, that she would say the word 'fuck.'"

Kimya got her start in the music biz, to my knowledge, by performing with her male counter part Adam Green (the musician, not the panda bear) in their justforfun band The Moldy Peaches, which, despite contemporary music critics, was a great band. They make me smile and dance. Here they are making you smile and dance:

The Moldy Peaches - Nothing Came Out (the music to the music video above)
The Moldy Peaches - NYC's Like a Graveyard (their rock n' roll song)
The Moldy Peaches - Who's Got the Crack? (funniest song in a long time. For some reason I can just picture a "Scooby-Doo" style "gang" of kids sitting around in a hollowed out shell of an apartment building sitting in a circle, looking cute, and singing this song)

Sometime shortly after the release of the Moldy Peaches LP and a whole heck of a lot of touring, Kimya and Adam both decided to do their own solo stuff. Then, shortly after she started her solo stuff, she got pregnant. But, like the trooper she is, she still performed, making her performances even more adorable and heart warming.

Band: Kimya Dawson
Date: 2006-07-11
Venue: The Paradox Theatre, Seattle, WA

Intro
Trump Style
Banter
I Like Giants
Smoothie Song
Banter
Underground
The Beer
Banter
[new song]
Outro

That last one was kinda short, so here's another one. A Pre-Pregnancy Live Set:
Band: Kimya Dawson
Date: 2005-05-19
Venue: The Bike Barn (not this Bike Barn, but one in MA I think. Though I don't really know)

Intro
My Mom
Singing Machine
Sheer Wonder Baby (Herman Düne Cover)
The Beer
Reminders of Then (The Moldy Peaches Cover)
Being Cool
Lullaby for the Taken (The Lady Took the Baby)
On the Road Again
My Bike
White Houses (Vanessa Carlton Cover)
Fire
Underground
Moving On
I Like Giants
Will You Be Me
Loose Lips

P.S.: Expect a HUGE post on the Monolith Music Festival

June 11, 2007

"The Metalocalypse Has Begun"

This is the LAST AND FINAL installment of the my Metalocalypse series, which is going to have all of the Metalocalypse series from where I left off until the end, because I'm sick of doing it ... :) the New Season starts September 17, 2007, season 1 is released October 2, 2007, and DETHALBUM will be released Sept. 25, 2007 :)

Mordland


FatKlok


Skwisklok


Murdering Outside the Box


Go Forth and Die


Bluesklok


Religionklok


Dethkids


Dethclown Part 1

Dethclown Part 2


Girlfriendklok Part 1

Girlfriendklok Part 2


Dethstars Part 1

Dethstars Part 2


The Metalocalypse Has Begun Part 1

The Metalocalypse Has Begun Part 2

June 6, 2007

"Drove To Chicago"

"If I just stand here, and act like nothings going on ... then I can't possibly get in trouble for this..."
(pic by Jonpaul Douglass)(stupid quote by me)

You might ask yourself, "another Jonpaul Douglass photo? How peculiar..." Well I'm putting another one up because in the last blog I made reference to the fact that that Douglass picture reminded me of country livin', which reminded me of two artists, one being Jandek, and the other I left in the air. Well now's the time to reveal the other person: why it's Sufjan Stevens!

I didn't really fall in love with Sufjan until I heard this live set (that I'll be providing at the bottom). I felt like he was, at best, all right. Then I heard how much soul he puts into his songs (song which I'd actually yet to hear truthfully) and I was hooked. I searched short and soft to find what CD the songs he performed were on, discovered it was Illinoise, then promptly scooped it up, and fell in love with that as well. I listened to it over and over again, as I'm sure many other people did.

So, anyway, here it is, Love It:

Band: Sufjan Stevens
Date: 2005-07-23
Venue: the Triple Door, Seattle, WA

Casimir Pulaski Day
Chicago
Jacksonville
John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
Prairie Fire That Wanders About
The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!
The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders - Part I

"It's Called a Ga-Girdle-Atar. I Could Make You One..."

1: new White Stripes has kinda leaked. it's mostly a collection of radio rips. may current fav:

The White Stripes - Rag & Bone (radio rip)

2: the next installment of the my Metalocalypse series.

Snakes 'n' Barrels

June 1, 2007

"I Painted My Teeth!"

(pic by Jonpaul Douglass)

This picture makes me think of country livin', which puts me in mind of two people (at the moment that is [and no, there's really no rhyme or reason to my thinking {as usual}]), the first being Jandek (the second will be in a blog in the near future).

Jandek, despite popular belief (ha, "popular." anyway...), is not a real person. There is a lot of mystery around the Jandek project, and a lot of it can be cleared up by simply going to the "About Jandek" section on his notorious fan site (ha, "notorious." I say these things as though 1 in 100 people have heard of Jandek). The basics one needs to know is that Jandek has recorded 1 or more albums every year since 1978, rarely missing a year, and didn't many any public appearances as Jandek (the performer) until 2004, and has since played about 20 shows, all of which sold out, despite many concerns that it could, each time, be a con (I am referring to Jandek as though he were a real person because it's just easier that way).

What does this Jandek sound like? Glad I asked. Here are a few of my favorite cuts (I put a bunch because there are like a billion Jandek songs):

Jandek - Painted My Teeth (possibly the funniest song known to man)
Jandek - Quinn Boys II (the second funniest)
Jandek - European Jewel (Velvet Underground cover) [Edit (2008/20/08): I didn't do my research on this one, and I falsely labeled this as a Velvet Underground Cover, which is how I got the file (just goes to show you you shouldn't trust everything you download). Thanks Anonymous for pointing that out]
Jandek - Gretchen
Jandek - Point Judith
Jandek - The First End
Jandek - Babe, I Love You
Jandek - Cellar
Jandek - First You Think Your Fortune's Lovely
Jandek - Janitor's Dead
Jandek - In A Hush
Jandek - Moving Slow
Jandek - Nancy Sings
Jandek - The Real You
Jandek - Pending Doom
Jandek - They Told Me I Was A Fool
Jandek - House of the Rising Sun (b/c everyone has to cover it as some point[if this even counts as a cover, that is])

I really don't think I'm a true Jandek enthusiast because, out of all seriousness, I think his stuff is so bad it's hilarious, and that's how it hooks me. I usually end up listening to Painted My Teeth 10 times before I can stop.