A Couple Show Reviews

The NME tour is exactly what you'd expect from a British magazine titled New Music Express. Two of the better new British acts sharing the top billing, and opened by the logical choice of a San Diego band. White Lies and Friends Fires are two of the more buzzed about bands from across the pond right now, but they are about as opposite as two bands following the same career arc can be. White Lies are following the Editors/Interpol mold that takes a lot of influence from Joy Division, where regardless of what the lyrics seem to imply, even regardless of the tempo and beat of the music, it has a gloomy feel to it. White Lies make it a little easier, because a majority of their songs are about death and gloom, with their biggest hit so far being a song called "Death." The debut album "To Lose My Life" is very polished and I was surprised how polished and clean sounding their live show was as well. I have heard very few voices sound as much like the record as it does live as the White Lies lead singer, and I think their show benefits from that. It will be interesting to see if they continue to go the way of Editors or if they try and move in the direction of Muse. I could see them going either way after this album. They also don't seem to like people embedding their videos, so go search em out yourselves.

Friendly Fires, on the other hand, are pure chaos on stage. Their sound is a lot like a disco infused Bloc Party, and their live show reminds me of what Ghostland Observatory would be with a full band, energy wise. It may have been because the show started late, but White Lies easily drew more people, while Friendly Fires had the crowds complete attention. Another bonus is they played "Jump In The Pool" as the second song, which in my opinion was one of the best songs put out last year, and while the album is strong all the way through, I saw what I wanted early and everything else was like playing with house money.


The Sebastien Grainger show at the newly renovated Crocodile Cafe could also be classified as a success for everyone involved. The opener New Villager is getting a lot of buzz, and will probably be liked by anyone who runs in the circles that have heard of New Villager. The best way I could think of describing them while watching them (they have like 2 or 4 songs recorded, so I prep I could not) is if Prince became a terminator and fronted OMD. There was some dance, glam, new wave, and a little robotic sound...but it worked pretty well.
Sebastien Grainger gets bonus points for being the first to get a BCBC hat trick: A record review, a placement in my year end list, and now a live review. It also cements my status of having no impact whatsoever, because this was a pretty lightly attended show. Grainger and his band killed it, adding some really impressive solos and jams to most songs, but still making them sound like the record. Plus the Croc is back, and while its unrecognizable to the history soaked venue of the same name and location, the sound is better, the capacity nearly doubled, and it had (and I guess now, will continue to) outlive a majority of the bands that people associated it with. Let the new era begin.

Restaurant Albums

This is not about music that is nice for restaurants, because I really don't believe in listening to music while eating. At least music with vocals. A lot of it has to do with the one rule that really held strong at my home while growing up,which was "no singing at the table," but also for the logical reason that if no one wants to see you talk and eat, in all likelyhood they don't want to see you sing and eat either. What I'm instead talking about is the album that makes you want to check out other work by the artist. Say you find an amazing dish at some restaurant. Odds are, you'll want to go back there and with this new found faith test out another item. If you're the type that finds something good and then will be happy ordering that exact same thing everytime...you have no guts and the logic of this will be lost on you and you can quit reading right now. It's pretty simple to be classified as a restaurant album in my book. It can't be the first album the artist/group has done, but it has to be the first I've heard, and it has to be interesting enough for me to want to check out their other stuff.

The newest El Ten Eleven is the newest one for me. They're a two piece instrumental rock group that can sound like a collaboration between Justice and Ratatat. It's not the longest release, eight songs and about 35 minutes, but it was enough to make me check out their other stuff, which is just as enjoyable. Plus they have song titles like "I Like Van Halen Because My Sister Says They're Cool."

I Like Van Halen Because My Sister Says They Are Cool - El Ten Eleven

Some other stuff to check out now...

07.Jungle Drum - Emiliana Torrini

Emiliana Torrini's newest album is a cool mix of Larkin Grimm, Goldfrapp and Nancy Sinatra, to me at least. Plus "Jungle Drum" is just a really catchy song.
The new Dan Deacon album Bromst is about as awesome as the music nerds that it would be. He still has a lot of the chipmunk sounding vocals, but the sound is bigger, more realized and I think more creative than 2007's Spiderman of the Rings. This is also where I bring up the fact that I could have met this dude and introduced his set at Bumbershoot if I had the right badge on...but noooooooo. Still good stuff though. The last minute of "Paddling Ghost" is bananas.

Paddling Ghost - Dan Deacon

Scientists Predict The Future Will Be Far More Futuristic Than We Thought

If you liked Donnie Darko, and you haven't watched Southland Tales, you may want to. It's written and directed by Richard Kelly (who did both for DD) and is the same confusing/entertaining mess. Anyway, that's what the subject quote is taken from. Plus it's one of the first two quotes I think about regarding the future, and the other is Yogi Berra's "The future just aint what it used to be," and that's the antithesis of what I'm going for here. Instead of recapping everything that has come out recently, I'm going to look into the future for a bit. It sounds good.
Everything leaks now. Some artists handle it better than others, some enjoy it, whatever, it happens to everything now. I was talking to a member of a band with an EP coming out in April and he was wondering if it had leaked already, because it was something he worried about. It's a problem that won't stop, if you ask me. I work at a radio station...sometimes, and as long as records are sent to stations and to webzines/blogs for review or promotion, someone will find a way to get it online. So here's some upcoming releases to watch out for, pickup, or just agree with me on because you've heard it too.

Röyksopp - Junior - This Norwegian duo have a great combination of synthpop and slightly down tempo beats with a pretty good collection of Nordic women doing guest vocals. Lykke Li, Robyn, Karin Anderrson (of The Knife and Fever Ray) and Bel Canto's Anneli Drecker all fit seemlessly into the beats and music. If you're a fan of the knife, but want something a little lighter, this is the way to go. Or if you want a record with a song that uses the kids joke "6 is afraid of 7, because 7 8 9." I do.


Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! - I really like this album. Probably more so than either of the first two. I think it will go both ways with fans though. There is more synths than the previous releases, and Guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Nick Zinner takes more of a back seat to Karen O than in either Show Your Bones or Fever To Tell, which I think will turn some people off. Either way, the opening two tracks, Zero and Heads Will Roll, are two of the strongest for the band yet.

The Decemberists - Hazards Of Love - There are two things Colin Meloy and The Decemberists do extremely well: take forgotten old stories and make them into fluid albums, and make those albums full of great melodies. They've already been compared to 70s bands like Yes and Jethro Tull because of their prog/art rock, highly literate sound, but this time they break out with more muscular sounds. There's still a healthy dose of meandering indie folk, familiar to fans of the band, and that sounds great as well, but when they unleash the guitars and the attitude, like in The Rake's Song...its terrific, if you don't mind songs about a guy who wants to kill his kids. Probably my favorite song right now (so I clearly don't mind), and Hazards Of Love has at least a share of my best album title of the first quarter of '09. Good Stuff.

The Rakes Song - The Decemberists


Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest - Easily the most talked about leak going right now. My 1/15 post actually predicted what is happening right now. People heard the leak and are now locked in a 9 month debate over which album is better, this or the Animal Collective release. I need some sort of recognition for that, so I'll give it to myself. Way to go. People seem to really enjoy this release. They also really loved Yellow House, their previous effort. I'm on the fence. I absolutely love the song The Knife from YH, but that's about it. I liked my first listen to Veckatimest, but nothing stuck out. Not a bad listen at all, and I need to hang with it a while longer probably, but it didn't knock my socks off like the inevitable buzz that's about to happen. My best comparision is slightly long and confusing, but oh well. If Animal Collective play a version of folk, its where they're in a shed with one window to a wide open field, so they see the wide open field but play a busy version of it, because they're trapped in a shed. Maybe one with weapons and knives like the barn in the end of Twister. Grizzly Bear play like they're in a large glass shed, so they get a larger feeling of being in a field, but they're still pint up. I also equate folk music to needing large grassy fields for motivation...I have no idea if artists get motivated by that, but can you picture Fleet Foxes better in a studio or a field? Exactly.

Metric - Fantasies - The fourth album from this Canadian group is pretty strong. The strength seems to be in the simplicity, just straight forward indie rock that is filled with melodies and is instantly catchy.


Finally, just a heads up on a band I've been digging lately that doesn't have anything out yet to my knowledge. Their called Wild Yaks and they are on their way to the top of the "multiple people chanting/singing" game.

What You Heard...It's What's You Hearin

I'm quickly realizing that not only do I know more DMX lyrics than I thought, they can come in handy every once in a while, if edited. It also looks like I lied at the end of the last post, because we're almost through the midget month and I didn't recap January. So here's whats been good up to now, and a couple weeks into the future, because ambition isn't against the law.

Animal Collective, Fever Ray, Handsome Furs, Matt & Kim - Look down a few posts...or look at any music website to find out about AC. Also, I'd like to say I told you so about their Sasquatch appearance. I told you so.

The new Say Hi album is another great one in his underrated discography. Perfect bedroom electronic pop.

Gui Boratto's a Brazilian musician who has just put out an incredibly melodic minamilistic techno album that is perfect background music. Not busy enough to distract, but there's enough there to make you realize it.

William Elliott Whitmore's put out my favorite blues/rootsy album so far. Not too far behind is The Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach's solo debut.

P.O.S. has brought another solid hip-hop record infused with some punk rock mentality and beats.

The new Youth Group album, released last year in their home of Australia, is coming to America (today!...only for Neil Diamond) in April I believe. With the internet being what it is, I really don't understand waiting a year to release it in another country. It's still what you'd expect from them, a mix of Doves/Elbowish Britpop and Death Cab melancholy.

The Franz's have both put out albums worth checking out as well. Franz Ferdinand expand on their dance pop with good results. Franz Nicolay, multi-instrumentalist for The Hold Steady, also put out a record that is a fun listen. If Tom Morello's The Nightwatchman sounds like a man who only listened to Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen sing Rage Against The Machine covers, Nicolay sounds like a man who listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen singing covers of The Replacements, with a little Devotchka in there as well.

N.A.S.A....not the space program, but just as impressive, while spending less money

N.A.S.A. (stands for North America/South America) is the collaboration of two artists, DJ Zegon and Squeek E. Clean, and includes an even bigger list of who's who than the benefit compilations I talked about below. When I first saw who was on each track, before looking up any info on the project of listening to it, I thought it had to be a Girl Talk type experiment, using artists previously released work. I was wrong, which makes this even more impressive. While the artists seem extremely varied (I'll get to that and who in a minute), it is all tied together by the two DJ's great beats behind the artists, notably their affinity for a Brazilian funk sound. Right off the bat, you have David Byrne (who seems to be everywhere at the moment) with Chali 2na (Jurassic 5, Ozamatli), Gift of Gab (Blackalicious) and DJ Z-Trip. Then the next track combines even more Byrne, with Chuck D, Seu Jorge, Ras Congo and Z-Trip. The project doesn't really slow down the whole way. Tom Waits barks along to a rapping Kool Keith. M.I.A. handles a chorus while Spank Rock handles the raps above the guitar work of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's Nick Zinner, while fellow YYY member Karen O sings along with the late ODB on another. Then, Swede Lykke Li joins forces with Santogold and Kanye West for one of the catchier cuts on the album. After all the great guest spots, the two DJ's (who either are great at blackmailing, or are the nicest people on Earth, or they're just really talented... its gotta be one of the three to get this guest list) remind everyone that it's their project by putting one of the catchiest beats on the final track "N.A.S.A. Anthem," which doesn't include any guest. If that's not enough to get you interested, some of the collaborations I didn't mention include RZA, Ghostface, John Frusciante, George Clinton, Del The Funkee Homosapien, The Cool Kids, KRS-One and a boat load of others. So check this out. It will be in stores 2.17. Sometime before February gets halfway through, I'll post the January recap...so get excited.

Do Some Good, Hear Some Good

There's a 2-disc/3LP/Digital Download compilation coming out Febuary 17th called Dark Was The Night. Its benefitting the Red Hot Organization, a charity that raises funds for HIV and AIDS awareness. There is a catch though, you have to wade through 31 quality tracks by some of the biggest names in indie rock. That's rough, doing good and getting great music out of it. The compilation was produced by the Dessner brothers, Bryce and Aaron, of the band The National and includes some covers and artist collaborations. Feist works with Ben Gibbard on a track and helps Grizzly Bear on another, while The Dirty Projectors combine with David Byrne on a song as well. The songs by Spoon, Arcade Fire, David Sitek of TV on the Radio, and The New Pornographers were highlights for me, but there's so much different stuff on this, odds are you'll enjoy it. If you don't, take solace in the fact that you helped out a good cause anyway. Speaking of good causes and good music, KEXP is taking donations for their fifth compilation of exclusive live performances (you then get the comp before the lowly public can). While the proceeds go to keep the station alive and well, I always hold out hope that in some way it might influence corporate radio to try something better. So if you've got money to burn...give some to me first, then help out these two organizations and get some good music in return.
UPDATE: A third karma enhancing album is on its way as well. This one benefitting Warchild, and titled Heroes. It comes out 2/16 and spans 16 tracks. The cool thing about this is its a covers album, but the artists being covered chose who did the track. Beck did Dylan, Bowie chose TV on the Radio for the title cut, Lily Allen is doing The Clash's "Straight To Hell," (better known right now as the sample for M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes") among others. The one I'm most looking forward to is Hot Chip's take on Joy Division's "Transmission," considering the sound of those two bands can be completely opposite.

We want some mo, we want some mo

Just a follow up on the Animal Collective full on love assualt of 2009. Merriweather Post Pavillion has garnered a 91 on metacritic.com. If you don't check that site out for music and movies, you should. It puts every review on the same scale and makes it easy to check out what everyone thinks of specific titles. Anyway, the two most common top albums from last year, TV on the Radio (everyone copied me, I swear) and Seattle's own Fleet Foxes both had like 88 or 89. So based on positive reviews, it should only get beat by a foreign release and some slighty obscure electronic album if I know metacritic like I think I do. Also, they put on a sick live show and are about to hit the road, but if you're a Seattlite like myself you have to hope for Sasquatch! to see them. Or to travel roughly the same distance north or south to Portland or Vancouver. They have a five day gap between those dates, and if I'm correct in placing Memorial Day weekend right in that gap, I predict Animal Collective at Sasquatch. You heard it here first. Another prediction? Radiohead won't be there.

So another couple of releases came out recently that are pretty fantastic, so here's a heads up. Matt & Kim dropped their second album Grand and are going to be in Seattle on the 29th of January. They bring the catchy danceable guy girl duo pop music about as well as anyone out there right now. A lot of people are saying its a more mature release, but I'm not so sure I like that. Maybe the lyrics are little more grown up, but to me that implies an immature debut. It wasn't, it was just happy and youthful. Grand is as well, but it also is a fuller and more realized set of songs. Listen to a song like "Yeah Yeah" from the self titled debut and then the final song on Grand, "Daylight Outro," and you know its the same band, just more ambitious.

A second album to check out is The BPA's "I think We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat." BPA is Brighton Port Authority. Brighton Port Authority is Norman Cook and friends. Norman Cook is also Fatboy Slim. Instead of using a lot of samples, Cook this time uses guest vocals, done well by plenty of recognizable names like David Byrne, Jamie T, Iggy Pop and plenty more. The thing I like about Cook and his 1990s to now contemporary Moby is that their albums usually sound like soundtracks because of their diversity. There's usually really good production and music, but you don't get tired of the vocals because its someone different almost all the time. That's the case with this BPA album. A lot of catchy songs done in various styles.

Speaking of Cook and Moby, I think at some point someone has to have the discussion of who gets the title of Best Sample Based Mainstream Musician From 1995 To Now. These guys both just kept bringing the hits using various old blues, gospel, R&B and rock vocals and new beats behind them. They each hit their peaks (so far) in the late 90s and now continue to put together decent or good music. Actually, instead of finding out who gets the title, I think they should just put out a record together. Cook's best work is fit for a party, while Moby's best stuff is more of the hangover/recovery of the day after the party. Plus that way they could combine their vinyl crate digging efforts, and in today's world my friends, its all about sharing.