Ghosts of old loves are blowing in the pines

Posted on by
2


Alexisonfire is all growed up. Unfortunately, I forgot to add their older albums in my iTunes rebuild, so I can’t prove it to you. But they released their fourth full-length album, Old Crows/Young Cardinals, just a couple of weeks ago and in it I can hear mature sounds ranging from hardcore punk to newcore screamo.

I even hear a bit of Tiger Army in there somewhere. That’s a compliment. While these boys did hit the scene kicking ass and taking names, they’ve only gotten stronger in the 8 years since the band formed. And it seems that rather than being influenced and inspired by bands they’ve toured with, it seems that they’ve taken something else from all the touring they’ve done.

In an interview with CHARTattack: “I think the big thing influencing myself and Dallas when we were getting off the road was having played a lot and done some touring with some bands that we didn’t like,” says guitarist/vocalist MacNeil. “We knew what we didn’t want and what we wanted to distance ourselves from, and that became equally important as what we were trying to get to.”

Apparently this continues even as they attack every date on Warped this summer. On their own tour blog, they say:

I’d say the most surprising thing about this tour is the amount of bands that are faking it. Straight up lip-syncing nonsense!
To begin with Millionaires don’t sing at all, and the one dude from brokeNCYDE is up there just pretending. I digress………..

Track 2, “Young Cardinals”, is the song I would say shows just how serious they are, and it’s one of the strongest on the album in my opinion. In fact, it blows me the fuck away.

[Download Alexisonfire – Young Cardinals]

The boys do have some good words for other acts on Warped Tour. The Gallows, a band on new dad Brett Gurewitz’s Epitaph label, reportedly “play harder than everybody everyday”. Rapper POS carries himself “like he is fronting for a punk band.” Of course they’re going to have kind words for Antiflag, since they’ve toured the world with them and even sing on their record. Last but not least they cite hometown boy Shad because, well, you’ve got to back up your brothers. So check out these four and maybe watch for us to talk more about them in an upcoming podcast. You are subscribed to the podcast aren’t you?

One more song for your listening pleasure. I like “No Rest” as well. I think it showcases their expertise on their tools and equipment. The lyrics aren’t terribly inspired, and you know what a lyric snob I am… But the execution of this track is impeccable so I am letting it slide.

[Download Alexisonfire – No Rest]

Check out Warped Tour this summer if you can. The day-long festival has barely gotten started, so you have no excuse not to find a show near you (if you’re anywhere in the contiguous yoo-nited states that is – or in Quebec tomorrow). And get in on one of these massive circle pits that Alexisonfire inspires.



More indie stuff

Posted on by
Reply


I just wanted to post another quick one, as I’m having a busy day dealing with lots of drama. So much fun, that drama!

The band Deerhunter just released a new EP, entitled Rainwater Cassette Exchange. The song posted today is a pure piece of pop glory, while still maintaining an edginess to it that means they can keep that one thing many bands love – cred. So here’s “Disappearing Ink”. And with that, time to go disappear back into the void of BS and drama. Till next week.

[Download Deerhunter – Disappearing Ink]

As usual, go buy this stuff. Or else a puppy dies. True story.

I feel swell

Posted on by
Reply
Photo Credit: Razziphoto

Photo Credit: Razziphoto

I have picked up a lot of new music in the last few weeks. So much in fact that it has literally frozen me up and I couldn’t decide what to write about today.

One album does stand out. The self titled album by the band The Airborne Toxic Event, or T.A.T.E for short.

If it’s true that a picture is worth a 1000 words, then the picture above taken at one of their live shows will help me to keep this post short and sweet.

They get compared to everyone from Modest Mouse and The Arcade Fire to the Clash and U2, The Airborne Toxic Event’s debut album was one of the most anticipated releases of 2008.

This Los Angles band was named one of the top three L.A. bands to watch in 2008.

Previous bands to receive this distinction include Cold War Kids and Silversun Pickups.

It’s 2009 and I will be listening to this album on the regular. I think after listening to Innocence that you might do the right thing and purchase this album too.

[Download The Airborne Toxic Event – Innocence]

And forget happiness, I’m fine
I’ll forget everything in time
I swear I didn’t know,
You know me, how I can’t let go
And we’re not guts, we’re just hacks
All that life amongst the cracks
The scars, the siege that breaks
The ugliest scene, the worst mistakes
And everywhere I see her face
Such a beautiful child, such an awful waste
And there’s no innocence like hers
Just emptiness and nerves

Electroclash revisited

Posted on by
1


So this post features a couple of tracks that I used to play years back when DJing. It depended on my mood, really, as I liked to bounce around between genres.

The first cut is by the pretty much unknown group Adult. I actually saw these guys live before they really became “in” with the whole electro crowd. Not bad, if I remember right. This song got them quite a bit of play, and resulted in a good Carl Craig remix of this track. I’ll even post that remix, also, as a little gift. So here’s Adult.’s “Hand To Phone”.

[Download Adult. – Hand To Phone]

[Download Adult. – Hand To Phone (Carl Craig Remix)]

Next up is more Felix Da Housecat. This time under his guise of Aphrohead. This song was an absolute bitch to get my hands on, but I’m glad I did. The Clashbackk label produced a lot of unbelievable stuff, and this one is no different. Here’s “Blindmanwilly”, a track that revolves around none other than a harmonica loop, which is pretty fitting if you think about it. One of Felix’s lesser known tracks, but probably one of his best, in my opinion.

[Download Aphrohead – Blindmanwilly]

And yes. Go buy stuff. It makes me smile. As does shiny things.

Every shadow filled up with doubt…

Posted on by
Reply

From a WIKI article:

Following the creation of synthetic blood, vampires have progressed from legendary monsters to fellow citizens overnight. Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is a telepath and waitress at Merlotte’s in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps, owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell), a shapeshifter—though this secret is kept hidden. One night, Sookie meets Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a handsome 173-year-old vampire who has returned to Bon Temps following the death of his last remaining relative. As she cannot hear his thoughts, she finds it easy to be in his company and over the first season, the two become romantically involved.

I was given the first season of True Blood to check out, and I watched the entire season, 12 episodes, in a 24 hour period. I am not really into this new adoration America has of all things Vampire, but this show had enough shock, humor, sex, addiction, mystery to keep me changing DVD discs… one after another.

It always comes back to music though, and the music picked for this show was top notch. In fact, when I watched the opening credits, I knew they had the fish hook deep in my cheek.

[Download Jace Everett – Bad Things]

The music is from Jace Everett, a country singer from Indiana. When I heard that song along with the images of the deep south sprinkled with liberal amounts of sex, violence, and religion that make up the opening credits of the show, I pressed pause and ran to the laptop to look up the info on that song! I also found out that the company that put together that intro is called Digital Kitchen. “The whore in the house of prayer” is the theme Digital Kitchen chose to explore in the opening title sequence, highlighting redemption and forgiveness.

The show used some great music throughout the show, especially artists from Louisiana. Some of the artists featured include The Flying Burrito Brothers, Little Big Town, and Cobra Verde. They compiled some of the best tracks on the soundtrack for Season One, I suggest picking it up.

HBO used some interesting techniques to market the show, including some very clever viral marketing.


Even Top Chef Tom Colicchio has vampire friends.

Pirate StereoWhile doing some research for this post, I came across a kick ass remix of Bad Things by DJ duo Pirate Stereo. Pirate Stereo is made up of two Bostonian’s, Isaac Safdeye and Eyal Agai. They have some of their work up on MySpace. Please go check them out and tell them Mookie from inALLcaps sent you.

[Download Jace Everett – Bad Things (Pirate Stereo Remix)]

I don’t have HBO at the moment, but in the meantime I can still watch Season Two which came out a few weeks ago. You just have to know where to look. I’ll still be buying the Season Two DVD when it comes out, because if the second season DVD is anything like the first, the extras will likely make it worth it!

Stuck in the middle, and the pain is thunder

Posted on by
1

I wasn’t shocked by the news because to be quite honest, he was already dead to me. I didn’t feel like I needed anything else from Michael Jackson. I didn’t think the world needed anything else from him. Hadn’t he given enough?


“Little boys can sleep a little safer” jokes aside, the man was most recently just trying to do his best with what faculties he had to create his own beauty and his own normal. Can you imagine trying to grow up Michael Jackson, with all that talent, all that warmth and love inside, and being subjected to the abuse and neglect that he was, and being carried on the shoulders of an entire poor as dirt family to bring them to greatness?

When “Thriller” was released in late 1982, the music industry, the music video industry, the music merchandising industry, and the music producing industry was absolutely turned upside down.

My next-door neighbor hung the poster of MJ and Brooke Shields, and the girls on the street would sing to the poster and get so angry at Brooke! We loved him and we wanted to be his PYT.

Pretty young things, repeat after me: say na na na

[Download Michael Jackson – PYT]


Paul McCartney sharing vocals on The Girl is Mine. Eddie Van Halen providing guitar for Beat It. Few icons throughout history have united parents and children in their love and admiration for their work. Young and old and people from all races and tastes just loved Michael Jackson. Neighbors gathered to watch the video premieres and the hourly replays. The man changed music and “Thriller” is the highest-selling album of. All. Time.

He wanted more. He wanted to continue to change music, to allow his art to evolve. He wanted to keep dancing. He wanted us to keep dancing. He accepted every challenge and challenged us all to do the same.

There are those who say that you were either a Prince fan or a Michael Jackson fan, but if you remember with a clear head you will realize that with “Thriller”, the King of Pop absolutely paved the way for Prince and for ALL Black artists to follow. There is just no question. So perhaps as 1986 rolled around and you were all about Prince, you may have moved on. But Michael Jackson was startin’ somethin’.

[Download Michael Jackson – Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (2008 remix)]

And he was a tortured soul.

So I can’t cry for the loss. I believe his suffering is over and I say Go in Peace. We’ll keep dancing.

Dragonslayer impressions

Posted on by
Reply


So the latest release by indie-rock darlings Sunset Rubdown is now out officially. I’ve had a chance to kick back and listen for almost two weeks, and figured I would give everyone my thoughts on this latest effort by Spencer Krug and crew.

First off, it’s only eight tracks. Which has me scratching my head, to start. It also is quite the far cry from what they did with their last album, Random Spirit Lover. That release was easily their strongest to date, Dragonslayer included. While this latest album features some high-quality tracks, such as Idiot Heart and Nightingale/December Song, it seems to leave me feeling as though I am just missing the full potential. This could be a consequence of the structure of their last album, which worked as a continuous piece that told a story throughout. The album’s strongest point may be in the way it finishes. The epic “Dragon’s Lair” is a robust and lengthy – at over 10 minutes – track. A very pleasing way to end this album.

As usual, the lyrics are deep and thus makes this album an album you must sit down and listen to. Unfortunately, most music buyers aren’t this type, and will continually buy vapid releases by the likes of Lady GaGa, et al. Overall, if you are a fan of Spencer Krug’s work in general? You will most likely like this. If you are not familiar with his work? I would strongly suggest listening to Wolf Parade’s Apologies To The Queen Mary first, and then delving into the Sunset Rubdown releases. To help familiarize readers, I have left one track from this release here, as well as one from their album Shut Up I Am Dreaming. I’d give this a solid 8 out of 10. The pros of this album far outweigh the few cons, and it adds to the growing list of solid and great works by this excellent band.

[Download Sunset Rubdown – Idiot Heart]

[Download Sunset Rubdown – Stadiums and Shrines II]

And I’m tired. So no smartass remarks today. I go sleepy now. YAY SLEEPY! Buy this!

Will Not Lose. Ever.

Posted on by
2

As many of you know, I’ve been preparing to release an exciting mixtape this summer called Southerngold. Basically, me mixing my favorite Southern rap vocals over remixed samples of my favorite Santigold influenced samples and tracks.

However, as I am about to release my mix on the internet tonight… literally, I am sitting at my desk in Brooklyn uploading the mix to YouSendIt.com, I get a cease and desist from lawyers at Santigold’s label, Downtown Records.

I’m not selling this, I’m not making a dime. I’m encouraging everyone to BUY Santigold’s album and I’m helping to expand her fan base to new markets. In addition, none of these songs are as they would appear on her actual album. EVERYTHING is remixed and redone so there is no competition with her actual in-stores album… It’s ironic that Downtown Records biggest group was signed due to a project with similar ambitions, Gnarls Barkley’s Danger Mouse with The Grey Album.

–Terry Urban

I love mixtapes. They tend to be fun and interesting, and are crowd pleasers if you throw one on at a house party or on a road trip. There is a creativity in this idea of creating a mixtape that is usually rendered illegal and never a viable product to the paying masses.

I am not just talking about the compilation of love songs you recorded to tape for your girlfriend, although, this is also illegal if you try to sell that compilation.

A “Mixtape” is usually an album mainly made up of Remixes that are mainly made by DJs, and are released to promote the DJ, and all the other artists that are featured on the Mixtape. These mixtapes normally use music sampled from other artists’ songs, which are not normally cleared for use, but are overlooked by most music authorities, including those who’s music is sampled.


Rarely found on tape anymore, most mixtapes come packaged up in a .rar or .zip file.

The first mixtape where I ever heard of this stifling attempt by a label was The Grey Album. The Grey Album was DJ Dangermouse’s attempt to create a mixtape compilation between the lyrics from Jay-Z’s Black Album and the Beatles’ White Album. The label who lost their shit was EMI, who owns the rights to the Beatles music. Inadvertently, EMI shined such a bright light on this mixtape that it endsed up becoming an internet phenom.

Back when this was all going down with The Grey Album, the RIAA was taking college students, kids (some as young as 12), and the parents of file sharing children to court. I was generally digusted with how the label approached people sharing music, and when I heard about Dangermouse and his mix tape, I took it upon myself to share The Grey Album with all my friends. I even made CD liners and CD labels, using my own money to make the mixtape I was going to give away look good.

That was my personal FUCK YOU to the record label.

Earlier this month, Terry Urban, the man we quoted at the beginning of this post, was preparing to unleash his latest mixtape Southerngold which basically takes Santigold’s debut album and mashes it up with some popular rappers from the Dirty South. Santigold’s record label, Downtown Records, issues a cease and desist order and officially shut the project down.

Music Bitch reported that “Santigold herself declared that she supported the mixtape culture and she would like it to be released.”

While sitting down to a delicious lunch of Jack in the Box with TLO I ask her what she thinks about this mixtape drama going on. She asks the perfect question: Who is Santigold’s label? I have no clue, so I google it up. Oh shit. She’s on Downtown. Downtown is the label that picked up Gnarls Barkely, which is the brainchild of Dangermouse. See how we came full fucking circle?

Then TLO continues to drop knowledge. As I begin to rant about how fucking hypocritical Downtown is, she explains the simple truth. Downtown knows all about hype and mixtapes. They are shining the spotlight on purpose. They know the end result is more sales for Santigold.

Tricky bastards, yet, at least it’s a record label that gets it. Right?

Download Southerngold
Tracklist
1. M.I.A. Artistes (Ft. Pitbull & Ying Yang Twins)
2. You’ll Find A Way Player (Ft. Andre 3000 & Bun B)
3. Still Tippin’ It (Ft. Slim Thug & Mike Jones)
4. Can’t Say It (Ft. T-Pain)
5. Creating Kryptonite (Ft. Purple Ribbon All-Stars)
6. Fire Superman (Ft. Lil’ Wayne) [Prod. By Mike Cash]
7. Hustlin’ With The Lights Out (Ft. Rick Ross)
8. Shawty Is Starstuck (Ft. The Dream)
9. Unfreakable Girl (Ft. Gucci Mane)
10. Nann Lady (Ft. Trick Daddy & Trina) [Prod. By JKhan]
11. Anne’s Plan (Ft. Chip Tha Ripper) [Prod. By Mike Cash]
12. You’ll Go Crazy (Ft. Young Jeezy) [Prod. By Mike Cash]

I will share TLO’s favorite track off the mixtape:

[Download Rick Ross- Hustlin’ (Santogold vs. Rick Ross)]

Also, there are some great mixtapes out there. Another one I like is another Terry Urban effort of mixing up Coldplay and Jay-Z called Viva La Hova.

Here is one track off that mixtape:

[Download Jay-Z – Know My Place (HOVA vs. Coldplay)]

Support Terry, Jay-Z, Santigold, Granrls Barkley, Dangermouse, Downtown, Coldplay by spending your money on their shows, albums, and merch.

To be lost that their loss is no disaster

Posted on by
Reply

Sampling. Stealing. Borrowing.

Or an attention-deficit tribute to everything your life has ever
seen, experienced, appreciated, and created.

Which is about how I feel right now, so I am glad I chose Crocodiles for today’s post. Picture the teen-angst rock-out library scene in The Breakfast Club. Being a kid of the 80’s, there are times when this is all I can see in my head. Punch yourself in the face, hurdle over some library shelves, and scream until the glass cracks. Rock out alone. Rock out with your friends. Straddle something and thrash your head. Drop to the floor in convulsions.

Allow all the pictures, scenes from your life, to flip past you in a jumbled and frenetic form.

Settle down for a moment of introspection, and then do it all over again.

And that’s how this album, “Summer of Hate”, plays out to me. It was released in April of this year. Check out one of the more manic tracks, Refuse Angels.

[Download Crocodiles – Refuse Angels]

You’ve got to find this album. I Wanna Kill is worth the price of the whole thing, yet I’m not going to share it here, and is one of the greatest tributes to pop-genre sampling that I’ve heard in awhile. Go buy it.
And then go see them live. A lot of these shows are with an interesting electronica band called Holy Fuck.

Meanwhile, I’m going to get back to my brooding and random study of American poetry.

Jun 10 Dallas, Texas
Jun 11 Austin, Texas
Jun 12 Houston, Texas
Jun 13 Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jun 14 Birmingham, Alabama
Jun 15 Atlanta, Georgia
Jun 18 Brooklyn, New York
Jun 20 New York, New York
Jun 23 Cleveland, Ohio
Jun 26 Denver, Colorado
Jun 27 Phoenix, Arizona
July 5 Los Angeles, California
Jul 11 Amsterdam
Jul 12 London
Jul 14 Nurnburg
Jul 15 Berlin
Jul 21 Ravenna
Jul 22 Milan
Jul 30 Dublin
Aug 1 Cardiff
Aug 4 London
Aug 22 Seattle
Aug 29 San Diego, California

Magic through Macy and Modjo

Posted on by
Reply


That’s a stupid title. I know. Whatever. The tracks, however, aren’t stupid. They’re both record rips from my own collection, which I think a lot of people reading this regularly are starting to get used to. Hey, I have a lot of good shit on wax. What can I say?

Anyhow, after the Modjo postings a few weeks back, I tried in vain to see if anyone else had already posted the Harry “Choo Choo” Romero dub of their cut “Lady”. Nope! So here is the “Titanium Dub” by Romero. A bit too long, as he probably could’ve cut at least a minute off the total length, but a good DJ will know how to use this extra time well.

[Download Modjo – Lady (Harry “Choo Choo” Romero’s Titanium Dub)]

Next is a track I hadn’t listened to in years, in all honesty. Macy Gray’s “Sexual Revolution” got the remix treatment by the boys at Subliminal, and this is really the only worthwhile mix – save for the acapella – on the 12″. Dark, dirty, and just the right length. One of the more underrated and impressive cuts by Subliminal, in my opinion. Definitely take a listen to this one! So fucking beautiful….so fucking beautiful!

[Download Macy Gray – Sexual Revolution (Nunez, Morillo, and Who Da Funk’s Super Dub)]

Next week, by the way, sees the release of the new Sunset Rubdown album. I picked up a copy at their show here in the Boston area last week, and they didn’t fail to impress yet again. The album has a couple key cuts on it I do love, and next week to coincide with the release, I’ll put up a review of the album. So stay tuned!

As usual, open your pockets. Help these guys out! Buy this stuff!