Category Archives: Spoon

You’re a Heartless Bastard

Posted on by
3

As an aside, I’m writing this all while listening to a ton of old house and electronica. The antithesis to what I’ll be posting, today. In fact, since I can’t find a good audio program on the cheap to rip all my old vinyl, I’ve resorted to digging around youtube to find some of it. What am I listening to right now?

That seriously could be the best choon Armand did on the remix tip. No joke. That’s just some filthy disco goodness. Nice use of low and hi-pass filters to tease everything in, too. I used to kill this track when I dj’ed. Ah, memories.

Anyways, let’s get back to what the hell I meant to write about. And before you little hipster snobs start giving me shit, yes, I am just hearing about the band I’m posting today. No, you don’t have cred. Stop it. Speaking of hipsters, that reminds me of quite possibly my favorite joke. Ever. I mean, ever. Because it’s fucking funny. I love swearing to accentuate things. In my mind, it makes me seem chic without trying. Or just an ass. Take your pick. Anyways:

How many hipsters does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

insert dramatic pause here

It’s a really obscure number. You’ve probably never heard of it.

Yes, I think I’ve made a few people angry, but also a few people have smirked. Hopefully, a few also snorted milk through their nose. If so, send pics. But, uh, yeah. I keep getting off track. The band in question today is Heartless Bastards. I mean, I heard this song “The Mountain” on Saturday while driving into work, and my mind was just blown. It’s epic. Seriously. Epic. Say that word along with me, now – epic. Italics are cool, huh?

So I guess the former producer of Spoon, Mike McCarthy, produced this latest album, entitled The Mountain. So far? I like what I hear. And today I bring you a couple nuggets of goodness. Seriously. You guys read through a pointless diatribe (I hope) just to get to this point. Oh, and here’s also something else I’ve been listening to. Because holy shit is the video just disturbingly funny. I mean, almost to the point where it’s hypnotic. Not Hpnotiq. That’s cognac for sissies. This, however, isn’t for sissies. And I mean that for both the video and the Heartless Bastards tracks I’m posting.

Yeah. Now music. The stuff you’re here for.


Download Heartless Bastards – The Mountain


Download Heartless Bastards – Out To Sea

Buy shit. Now. Please?

Damaged Spoons

Posted on by
Reply


Today has been a strange one. After waking up to a fever, I fell back asleep and had just ridiculous dreams. I couldn’t tell you exactly what they were about, but we all have the ones that make us feel uneasy for the day when you have them. So it’s almost fitting that I chose the songs and/or artists I chose today for the post. Thom Yorke – for almost obvious reasons – and Spoon‘s song “Nobody Gets Me”.

Well, Thom Yorke, for anyone that has been under a rock for the last 15 years, is Radiohead’s frontman. He’s a strangely unwilling iconic figure in music. He does what he likes, and that attitude helps create very refreshing sounds in a world of banal egomania in music. Mashups? Very rarely work. Remixes? A good percentage of them are crap. Original work? Always is.

So Yorke released the album The Eraser to some pretty big fanfare. It honestly probably helped create the mood of Radiohead‘s In Rainbows, also, as at points you can see how Yorke evolved from his solo project and its effect on the band. Simply take the electronic mood and replace with instruments. It was one that left Radiohead fans wondering what exactly was going on with Yorke, but there is an excellent interview with NPR’s Terry Gross on Fresh Air if you folks feel like taking a listen. Well, he has a new song out, and as much as I hate to say this, it is one featured on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack. I feel very dirty even saying that. This song, however, is rather brilliant. And the next song, by Spoon, could be just as much about Thom Yorke as it makes me feel about myself at times. This is “Hearing Damage” by Yorke. Enjoy!

Download Thom Yorke – Hearing Damage

Next is a track by Spoon that sort of jumped out at me. Partially because of the song title – “Nobody Gets Me But You” – but also because it made me initially think of Moodymann‘s “U Can Dance If U Want 2”, but only because that track heavily sampled Prince‘s “All The Critics Love U In New York”. Well, this Spoon track seems to sample one of the drum loops from this same Prince track, and we’ll have you guys decide. I’ve also asked a DJ friend of mine that happens to be a massive Prince nut about this one, too. I have yet to hear back from him, but he might be in agreement with me on this one. It doesn’t take away from how good this track is, however, so kick back and enjoy.

Download Spoon – Nobody Gets Me But You

And go buy some shit. Stop being selfish!

fantabulous

Posted on by
3


Howie Weinberg is a fantabulous motherfucker. That’s what Dimebag Darrell of Pantera told me. Well not me directly…

But more about Howie in a few…

I was getting an early listen to the new album Transference, set to be released January 19, 2010 by Austin, Texas band Spoon. I was really feeling the album and decided to do a little research and see what I could come up with for a post. You see, I just didn’t know much about Spoon, and wanted to familiarize myself with them if I was going to write a post about them for you.

I was surprised with all the things I learned. For example how the band is loved for it’s music as well as its perseverence in the face of major label abandonment.

In 1996 the band released it’s first full length release Telephono. It was loved by fans and critics alike. Then these Indie heavyweights get courted by the label Elektra Records.

By 1998, Spoon’s Elektra debut is brought out into the world to hear. A Series of Sneaks was also well received by fans and critics, and was considered a big creative leap for the band. Sadly, this album did not sell fast enough for Elektra, and the band was dropped from the label. Four months after the album release date.

Fascinating information right? Yup. But I want to tell you about Howie Weinberg.

But discovering that the band was using Mr. Weinberg to master the album, I thought that was something special.

Mastering always used to sound like a cakewalk of a position. You just make it sound better and coherent. How hard could that be? It’s hard. I got into some mastering work before, and it’s painstaking work. Also coupled with the pressure that you are the last person to lay hands on the music, a lot of blame can get dropped on your head.

Howie Weinberg is the best in the buisness. I think you can tell on Transference how well that album moves from track to track and how great each indivudual track sounds. With a resume that looks like a selection of all my favorite albums and artists (Nevermind, The Mars Volta, Public Enemy, Muse, Modest Mouse, 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of…, Licensed To Ill) it’s probably not a bad guess that the bands and albums he works on will come out platinum on the other side.

Just like Transference will. At least I think it will. If you do your part…

EDITOR’S NOTE: All right…The Web Sheriff and the bands label have asked us to take this one down. You can stream the whole album here. It really is a good album. Go pick it up. -mookie