Quickie

So I've been hella busy with finals and all that, but I some how managed to get in some quality music time. Finals = more procrastination, that being said this post is just going to be a quick blurb with some cool beats I found. I also saw Bon Iver live two nights ago and damn it was one of the best shows I have ever been to, but there will be a whole post devoted to those guys later. 

Hot Chip + Peter Gabriel + Vampire Weekend = songs about cape cod with crazy noises.

So everyone who listens to Vampire Weekend songs always hears the line "blah blah blah...Peter Gabriel too". Well, apparently Peter Gabriel was listening and so he got together with some friends (Hot Chip) and did a cover of Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. It's full of crazy and mystical  sounds with a nice chill Hot Chip feel to it. My respects to Peter Gabriel.  Anyway listen and tell me what you think. To give credit to those I found it from: Abeano

Hot Chip & Peter Gabriel - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

Moving on...I'm a huge fan of Minimalism. It's cool. Lykke Li's latest release taps into that minimalist energy with her seductive voice. I feel her voice goes perfectly with the Kings Of Leon feel. The song also has tambourine. 

Kings of Leon - Knocked Up (Lykke Li vs. Rodeo Remix)

Here's a video of Lykke Li with Bon Iver backing her on "Dance Dance Dance". Easily one of the coolest things I've seen in years. Minimalism at its finest.

For more sweet video's Pitchfork has list of top music videos from this year. Check em out. 

Well give you one last track or so rap super group CRS (Child Rebel Soldiers) came out with a newish track or something like that. The group consists of Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and Pharrell. Apparently they are working on a full album now with Radiohead beatmaker Joshua Ramos, or at least wikipedia says they are. Anyway here's a N.E.R.D. song they are featured on that's pretty heavy. And just because I don't want to get back to work I'll put the only CRS track that I have on too. Enjoy.

CRS - Us Placers

N.E.R.D. Feat. CRS & Pusha T - Everyone Nose

Eat Your Own Spaceship...

So as we are closing in upon the holiday known as Christmas, there is one artistic endeavor that I would like to recognize, and that is the Flaming Lips's newly released movie Christmas on Mars.



Now this isn't exactly your classic holiday movie, but hopefully it can be the Rocky Horror of Christmas movies, or at least some kind of cult classic, because even though I ended up watching a screening of it at 2 am in the morning (2nd world premiere!?), I enjoyed it immensely. Oh yeah, and the movie is LOUD. I can only wish you had speakers 10 feet tall so that you could experience some of the body shaking noises that this movie produced at the screenings. And be ready for anything (Vagina-headed spacemen!). Regardless, this movie worth the wait (7 years in the making).

Even though the Flaming Lips have wrapped up their summer tour, they are signed up to be a Curators on one day of ATP NY 2009. Exciting. So check them out and buy the DVD!

More cool websites to check out

So with my daytrotter post a ways back, I felt the need to share a few other music websites I've been keeping tabs on. Don't worry, this post isn't going to be about pitchfork or hypemachine, though those can be worth checking every so often.

Seeqpod is a music streaming website with that searches every little crevice of the web to find eactly what you want. Seriously, I have found everything from motown to indie to post romantic classical music. If its on the web, chances are you can find it on seeqpod. They also have a crisp, smooth layout that allows you to simply drag the songs you want into your playlist. It's sites like this that give you hope that at least some people understand the internet and are moving forward. The only downfall is that it doesn't allow you to download the music from the site, but then the RIAA would probably slap a lawsuit on that in an instant. For what it does, seeqpod doesn't leave you wishing for more. It's good, use it.

I am all about the finding new material from my favorite artists. With the all the changes and craziness in the music industry now, artists need get working and continually give us the listeners something new. Sites like daytrotter work just in that way. Give you sweetly unique works for art from your favorite artists. The internet allows you to broadcast anything to your listeners, even say an intimate solo performance in the back of a cab. The Black Cab Sessions is exactly that. Taking artists from all sorts of genres, they get into the back of a cab and video them doing what they do best. Lucky cab drivers. But sites like these are going pushing the music industry in a positive direction. I've only checked out a few so far but the Bon Iver segment was stunning. They have performances from Death Cab For Cutie, Fleet Foxes, and The Kooks just to name a few obvious favorites. Check it out and show some support. We ultimately choose what fails and succeeds in the music business. Enjoy.

Black Cab Sessions:

Fleet Foxes

Bon Iver

Death Cab for Cutie

The Kooks

Bands with exclamation points are cool...

I now return to the band I was going to highlight in my last post before I found the gem that is daytrotter. I strongly recommend keeping an eye on that site, they are doing some really cool shit that you don't see everyday.

Moving on, Cardiff, Wales band Los Campesinos! (yes they have an explanation point after their name) came out with their second release this year entitled We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed and I have to say I'm a fan. Earlier this year the band their debue album Hold On Now, Youngster which I can't say I was the biggest fan of, but it's worth a listen. The cool thing about these seven kids is that they are riding the turmoil of the music industry with innovation. Releasing two albums in the same year, while touring, is quite a feat. The band members also changed all their last names to Campesinos!. Thats just awesome.

We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed is, to quote pitchfork, full of "self-loathing, anti-romantic" sentiments, with welsh accents.  Watching your ex-girlfriend who your still in love with, making out with some attractive lad while your favorite bands most popular song plays in the background...things like that. Its a nice change from all the lovey sweet happy endings we are used too. Especially when things just aren't going your way and you want to hear someone preach about it. Kinda like emo except not as suck. Musically the band has rough catchy pop textures which they fill with energy. They also have string players which is probably why I love them so much. Strings + european accents = sales. While the CD has no real single, another bold move by the band, the title track is one of the easiest one to get into. The song begins with a simple pentatonic synth line (told you those things are everywhere) that leads into a lush guitar/string texture. Its simple lines like these that pop up all over the album moving you through the phases of each song in between each lyrical verse. The lo-fi-esc quality gives the song, and the album in general, a raw feel which compliments the cynically fueled lyrics. Give them a couple listens through and see what you think. 

I've been trying to do some html work on the blog, if you noticed the read more button below the last post that did absolutley nothing, you're computer is fine, it really doesn't do anything. It took me a few hours of painful frustration to get that button to appear. Hopefully over the next week I can get some more cosmetic changes to the blog, but don't hold your breath. Html is a bitch.

Heres three tracks from We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, in the order they appear on the album, minus a short instrumental track. The song You! Me! Dancing! from their last album is also worth a listen. I just don't have it. Enjoy.

Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

Los Campesinos! - You'll Need Those Fingers For Crossing

Los Campesinos! - It's Never That Easy Though, Is It? (Song For The Other Kurt)

 

It's been awhile...

Sorry for the long break in posting! Thanksgiving break was busy with friends and cooking and such. School has also been winding down so I've been trying to knock out final projects. But now back to the music. Generally with the blog I have been focusing on music I like and what I hear in them. So I was going to sit and write and blog post in Los Campesinos!, but this morning I found a website that I felt you all should be aware of. Daytrotter.com is a web dedicated to good music. But the guys there took it a step further. In attempts to break away from the standard music blog pack, daytrotter.com actually brings in indie artist to get new recordings from them. Take Of Montreal for example. Daytrotter brought Kevin Barnes, the man behind Of Montreal, and had him record some acoustic tracks from hit off of Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer? and from other previous albums. It's the coolest idea I've found in a long time. Check out the site people. I'll throw some of my favorite tracks down below, but if you want to see the full list of artists they have brought in, head on over to their website. Artists to check out on their site: Of Montreal, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Andrew Bird, Frightened Rabbits, Rouge Wave, Spoon, and Vampire Weekend just to name a few. I'll try to bang out another post in the next couple of days. Good luck on finals all!

Of Montreal - Eagle-Shaped Mirror

Andrew Bird - Fiery Blast

Bon Iver - Creature Feat

Vampire Weekend - M 79

New computer calls for a new post.

I just got a new computer. It's awesome, but no one really wants to hear about it. So instead, let's focus on Diplo, who is pretty awesome. Well, at least I think he is. I mean, he put on a DJ set for 7 people. To do that without even flinching is pretty awesome in my opinion. Here is one fun highlight of the short set:



Philly was his last stop (and his hometown) in his Pizza Party tour (aka the Mad Decent tour). Quite the strange mix, but you should check it out at his myspace. If you forgot, he's the one who dated and worked with M.I.A., just to reiterate how cool he is. Here's something from his latest release with Santogold, Top Ranking:

Santogold - I'm A Lady (Diplo ft. Amanda Blank)

Seattle is the coolest place in the world because....

of the guys pictured above. Well they aren't the only reason, but they're a pretty damn good one. Fleet Foxes have an amazing unique sound that I find hard to place in a specific genre. I've heard them describe themselves as baroque pop vocal harmonies, but in reality its just damn good music. What's even cooler is that they can do it live. Not everyone can take four piece harmonies, add a shit load of reverb and still sound anything like music without the aid of music editing software/other technologies. Go see them if you get the chance. Its breathtaking.

They feature a heavy use of pentatonics, which is the Asian sounding scale that you get if you play a piano using only black keys. For all of you who don't know what I'm talking about, check the end of the track "He Doesn't Know Why", there is a short piano melody played at the very end of the track after the singing. That's what pentatonics sound like. Remember it because its been thrown in a lot of indie music like MGMT just to name one. Penatonics in my opinion give the music a very "natural" sound which is another way I would describe the Fleet Foxes vibe. Very in tune with nature and harmony.  Anyway I'll put a couple of tracks off the CD as well as a track I found off of Hype that's not on their CD so all of you who already know and love Fleet Foxes will have something new to immerse yourselves in. The Album cover is quite sweet as you can see. 

Oh and a friend of mine just showed me this live feed...they kinda look like foxes so its relates...For all of those days when your sad and have run out of Barack Obama videos to watch to cheer yourselves up. Am I the only one who feels happy when I hear him talk? It's sooooo coool. 

Oh and on another note, I am trying a new file hosting site so you can listen to the music before you download to see if you like it. Let me know if it works and what you think. I'm still trying to figure out how to host the files directly on the website with a player, but I'm still pretty sure I would have to pay for that. Enjoy.

Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why

Fleet Foxes - Tiger Mountain Peasant Song

Fleet Foxes - Isles

Now that the elections over...

Man what a night. I don't know about where you are all from but Boston was excited last night. People took the streets once Obama had been declared winner. It reminded me of the Red Sox riot last year except there was a reason for it. But looking past Obama, this was still a huge election. Proposition 8 in California passed, banning gay marriage there. The same ban passed in Florida and Arkansas as well. Colorado shut down a proposition to define human life at the moment of fertilization. Washington passed a bill to allow assisted suicide. And my personal favorite, Massachusetts decriminalized marijuana. Heavy. These are hard issues that are finally getting some decisions made on them. Its nice to see these issues get pushed into the faces of voters. Democracy at work. Though some issues obviously did not go so well, I think just getting the issues out to the public forces people to make decisions on them and will lead to change (for the better hopefully).  Anyway, enough with the politics...onto the music. 

Frightened Rabbits are a Scottish folk/indie band that's been taking up a lot of my listening time. The four piece crafts pop songs without defaulting to the pop formula we are usually left with. Scott Hutchinson's vocals highlight one of my favorite aspects of Scottish music. His slight accent with its imperfections and cracks creates a wailing that hits you deep. He's also not afraid of a minimalist background. From the opening of Modern Leper (Get it below), a simple guitar pattern with a heavy beat gets you moving to the beat. Slowly the vocals come in followed by sparse drums accenting the guitar pattern. They manage to take such a light sound and keep the groove while at the same time building intensity. That's good music people (In my opinion, but what does that really count for). When you can get people rocking and grooving to a simply texture like that you've got something. The song is topped off with folksy guitar licks here and there and huge climaxes that will make you want to jump and dance. The rest of the album is just as solid without much repetition. Plus the album has a cool cover. Let me know what you think.

Frightened Rabbits - Modern Leper

Frightened Rabbits - Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms

Mashups + Remixes = Dancing

Hey Yall, been a bit but I figured I would put something up before the Halloween weekend to get everyone pumped to dress up in ridiculous costumes. Lately I've come across a ton of dancy stuff that I thought would be perfect for additions to any dance party mix. Then I noticed that a few of the artists I had chosen had some other cool remixes/new material so I thought I might as well put those up also.  I don't have the time to really write about each song, but if you like what you hear on any of the remixes go the artists website/myspace and check them out. For those of you who don't spend the majority for their time on the internet looking up new music, these remixes are done by people who might be considered the best in the remix world by some. Diplo, The Teenagers, and Estaw are each dancy in their own unique way. Check em. 

Reckoner - Diplo Remix

Lupe Fiasco - Kick Push (Estaw Remix)

Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (The Teenagers Remix)

With the rise of Girl Talk I feel like I've seen more and more mashups popping up. The cool thing about mashups is that it can take what would normally be a piece of trash, (Kanye's newish single "Love Lockdown") and mash it together with something briliiant (Radiohead's Reckoner) and come out with a decent sounding track. I threw another Kanye mashup below to because I know how much everyone loves The Knife. 

Reckoner Lockdown (DJ Earworm Remix)

Kanye West vs. The Knife - Get Em High (A-Trak Remix)

And if that wasn't enough, The Teenagers remix above reminded me that Vampire Weekend released a new track called Ottoman. If you were at Capitol Hill Block Part in Seattle this year you know what I'm talking about. They played a slightly different version of the song with a different name if I remember correctly, but still the new track is solid. That's all for me. Happy Halloween Yall.

Vampire Weekend - Ottoman

Concert Review! Ra Ra Riot!

Boston has been good to me this year. Last year, I was slightly disappointed with many of the bands that came through.  Last weekend at the Middle East I was able to see Ra Ra Riot which was one of the most energetic concerts I've ever been too.  It was quite Epic. I have never seen someone rock out so hard with a cello in my life. Go see them if you get the chance.  

First the two opening bands, the Morning Benders and Walter Meego. 

If you picture Vampire Weekend with an asian lead singer and another asian bass player who doesn't dress up to the oxford prep level as much as the other band members, you have the Morning Benders. They choose keys instead of strings which adds a poppier sound but not in a bad way. The vocals also come off as folksy sometimes but again with a poppin groove. These guys are definitely worth a listen. Not to mention they are from Cali which is cool in itself. I'm usually disappointed by openers but these guys definitely held their own.

Walter Meego played second but honestly didn't really catch my attention. They did an electro 80's-ish rock thingy where the three band members switched between instruments and mixing boards with electronic things. They were definitely dancier than Morning Benders and Ra Ra Riot but the sound was too loud and I really couldn't make out much of nuances of their songs. It was just some pounding beat. Now that I'm listening to a track of their myspace it sounds waaaay better. Sadly that happens often with incompetent sound crews and bands that just don't know better. I also couldn't get a good picture of them so you can just look at them on myspace. 

Finally Ra Ra Riot. If you take anything from this post, go see Ra Ra Riot. They put on a amazing live show. The whole band keeps energy up like its no ones business. With a band like this the balance of sound is the key to the show. The strings can't get drowned out by the drums. The vocals need to be heard. Needless to say this was no problem for the New York rockers. Check the pics. Chicks rocking out with string instruments = sexy.  Though the pictures are kinda on the blurry side (the show was that good) you can still see the sexiness. I already gave you a taste of their music so I'll throw a remix they did of a Tokyo Police Club song. And I think I have a live track of theirs somewhere on my computer. 

Leave comments and let me know what you think of the musak people. I'm seriously just guessing whats good. Let me know what you like. It helps.

The Morning Benders - Waiting For The War

The Morning Benders - I Was Wrong

Walter Meego - Forever

Walter Meego - Girls

Tokyo Police Club - Juno (Ra Ra Riot/Andrew Maury Remix)

Ra Ra Riot - Oh La (Live)

Laziness is the leading cause of short posts...

Hey there, this is Steven and I'm finally posting on the blog.  I'm lazy, (and have two midterms this week) so this post will be short.  Though previously mentioned, I unfortunately will not be posting about Jamie Lidell or his fabulous (Yes, fabulous) opener, Janelle Monae this time.  Instead, I will just be posting a video you have to see, brought to us by Justice:

Sexy, eh? I thought as much. If it retains even shred of the intensity and rockdom that it possesses in this trailer, then we should all be pissing our pants in anticipation. I know I am. Look out for it on December 24th.  There is also a live CD that accompanies it. If it follows the steps of Daft Punk's Alive 2007, then expect another awesome dance album to grace your collection and frankly, everyone elses'.  Another win for drunk dance parties!

Blood On Our Hands (Justice Remix)

Just for kicks, linked is one of the Justice's earliest remixes, one of Death From Above's Blood On Our Hands.  Compared to their latest Planisphère release, a lot has changed.  Expect exciting things.

Long weekend usually = sick

and not in the normal legit way. Thanks to all the free time given to me by Columbus day, I managed to push my body too far and thus ended up sick. But that's what college life does to us all I supposed. My friend Steven, who supposedly writes for this blog, (he should have something up this week unless he's really lazy) traveled all the way up to Boston for a weekend of festivities. Jamie Lidell also happened to be in Boston the same weekend, but hopefully Steven will tell you all about that....

Originally I was going to write a feature about a hipster band, but I caught myself before posting thankfully. I shall attempt to keep myself from falling for their trendy hipness. Though I still hold that any band that can make date rape sound sexy and hip has some skills in my opinion. (For most of you who have a life and don't know what I'm talking about I'll post the song below.) 

Instead one of my favorite bands of the last couple of months. The Islands as everyone knows recently came out with a new album which kicks ass. If you haven't gotten a chance to listen to Arm's Way in its entirety I would strongly recommend putting whatever you are doing down and take a listen. In fact you should probably do that regardless of whether you have heard the album or not. Ready go. 

More recently however, Islands lead man Nick Thorburn and Jim Guthrie (former Islands member) put their heads together and out came Human Highway. The album is called Moody Motorcycle and features pop songs with light guitar and minimalist percussion. I've always love Nick Thorburns harmonies and vocals and you should too. Check it out. 

Human Highway - The Sound

Human Highway - My Beach

Islands - Creeper

And of as promised. A hipster song about date rape:

The Teenagers - French Kiss

Just to spread the news...

Ok so actually I'm just procrastinating my homework...but hey its better than some of the other things I could be doing. Anyway lets get right down to the point. 

Radiohead is the shit. We all know that. They shocked everyone with the pay what you want scheme with In Rainbows and pretty much have been trying out new ways to revolutionize music ever since. Now Radiohead and friends (The Verve, Klaxons, The Cribs, Iron Maiden, etc.) have decided how they would like to change the music industry. With all the new digital sales and such, old copyright and licensing laws obsolete. You all remember the writers strike awhile back that delayed all of our favorite TV series. Essentially this is an attempt by artists to tackle the same laws but from the music side of media. The group calls themselves the Featured Artists Coalition. (Or FAC)

This is an exerpt from their site outlining some main issues they are focusing on:

"The new organisation will campaign for specific changes to the laws governing the music industry and how business is conducted, so that:

•	artists always retain ultimate ownership of their music
•	all agreements between artists and others are conducted in a fair and transparent manner
•	rights’ holders have a duty of care to the originator of those rights, and must always explain how any agreement may affect how their work is exploited"

Essentially this is just their way of saying "fuck you" to the majors for exploiting the shit out of artists. Pretty cool in my book. This could have huge implications in other digital media forms but really I have no idea whats going to happen so I'm not going to bullshit you. Just keep watching and see what happens. 

In other Radiohead news...The Reckoner remix project is up and running. Just like with the song Nude, Radiohead put all of the pieces to the song Reckoner on the Internet for you to buy and play with. The remixes are then submitted to the site and voted on by us. Check the website for the top remixes. I would really recommend the remix by A Deadly Syndrome. I can't find the mp3 to put up here but its awesome. 

Radiohead - Reckoner

Radiohead - Reckoner (Diplo Remix) 

And just because its awesome and bashes on hipsters.

Radiohead - Nude (Hipster Runoff Remix) - From the Nude remix project by Radiohead

The Diplo remix isn't really my thing, though it does sample Beirut (Nantes) which is pretty sweet. Anyway, this break from homework took a lot longer than I thought. Go vote on reckoner remixes!

Oh! On one last quick side note - Tokyo Police Club will be on Desperate House Wives tonight and tomorrow night performing and acting. I don't watch the show but I love these guys. Apparently they get with a character or something? I don't really know. Someone watch it and tell me.

Hey all. I wrote another post! Aren't you all so proud? I also asked my friend Steven to write articles for the blog, so as long as he can get he lazy as motivated you might get content at least once a week. Yay for music blogs. 

I found something online that sparked my interest. Ever since Greg Gillis threw Notorious B.I.G. over Elton John on Night Ripper, I’ve become partial to Biggie. Naturally, when I hear of another mash-up project featuring Big Poppa with none other than THE Frank Sinatra, my interest is peaked to say the least.  

Mixed by DJ Cappel and Smitty, Blue Eyes Meets Bed-Stuy brings the two New York Kings together for a damn good show about doing drugs and overall debauchery. I’ll throw two tracks down below. Check google for the rest of the mixtape or be a good person and buy the album.  

Notorious B.I.G. & Frank Sinatra - Nasty Boy

Notorious B.I.G. & Frank Sinatra - Juicy

Well I'm out to cram for exams now. Hopefully this will keep you satisfied until Steven or I get enough motivation to write another post. Oh and also, if you have an requests such as music types or ideas for the blog, write me a comment or send me and email and I'll put something up. That is all.

Hello!!!!

Well, I finally got around to creating a music blog after being harrassed by my friends. I still really don't have a clear idea of what my posts are going to consist of but I figure I will just start with what music I find to be taking up a decent chunk of my listening time.

My name is Jake for all of you who don't know me. I am currently attending school in Boston, Ma at Northeastern University studying Music Industry. (whatever that means.) While not at school I kick it in Seattle, the best place in the world. 

Anyway on to the music!

For the past week or two, New York (go figure) indie band Ra Ra Riot has been taken up the majority of my listening time.  I'm a whore for almost anything indie with strings. (Final Fantasy, Beirut, etc.) I don't know if I have come across such a perfect combination of indie rock with strings. The tension and beauty brought by the cello and vionlin is wonderful and gets me every time. Plus, the two string players are damn sexy. Ra Ra Riot just came out with their debut album - The Rhumb Line off of Barsuk Records. (Yay Seattle!) Heres a few tracks to catch your ear.

Ra Ra Riot - Can You Tell

Ra Ra Riot - Dying Is Fine

Let me know what you all think (if anyone read this/listens to it)

Oh and for all of you Boston folks, they are playing a show at the Middle East on October 18th. I'll be there and so should you.