Rock Star Journalist

For those whose only exposure to Irish music comes in the form of the Pogues, Stiff Little Fingers, or the Cranberries, there’s a wide-open field of music to choose from. Finders Keepers has compiled “rare, unheralded and unreleased music that emerged in Ireland following the first wave of punk and new wave bands.” The collection is Strange Passion, and is due out on CD, LP, and download on July 17 via Finders Keepers imprint Cache Cache.

If the rest of the comp is even 10% as good as the sample track they’ve put out there — Major Thinkers’ “Avenue B” — this is going to be a fantastic selection of music. I’ve not had a song so entrance me since hearing Chrome’s “Electric Chair” for the first time several years ago. There’s just something about sinuous nature of the guitar work and the way it wraps itself around the pleasure center of your brain.

read more »

Producer / DJ extraordinaire Diplo released his book, 128 Beats Per Minute: Diplo’s Visual Guide to Music, Culture, and Everything in Between a couple weeks back, but because it’s not news unless there’s something shiny to go with it, they didn’t really publicize it. There’s now a bright and shiny trailer for it, viewable above. Read the press release below.
read more »

Digital Leather – “Sorcerer”
(Goner Records)

The likelihood of a band mixing Devo and Joy Division seemed completely unlikely to me until I was introduced to Digital Leather. Then, upon hearing some of their earlier singles, I was completely sold on the concept. “She Had A Cameltoe” was really something of a throwback sort of single that had about ten people calling up the radio station when I played it one night. Everyone had to know what the hell I was playing.

Sorcerer is an album that showcases the two sides to Digital Leather – the first six tracks are one man and a synthesizer in an apartment somewhere in Arizona, and have more in common with that first song I heard. The last six were recorded live at Goner’s annual Gonerfest shindig last year, and are crazy nutso stuff. The slower stuff tends to be a bit better, whereas the faster tunes fall somewhere between Ministry and Atari Teenage Riot. It’s fun, but repeated listens tend to enforce the idea that this stuff isn’t exactly the revolution that Goner would have you believe it is. It’s spazzy and fun, but it’s been done.

from Sorcerer
“You Will Fall”
“Simulator“

These are in no particular order, as was my list of albums. These are just the songs which I heard over and over again this year as I cued up various playlists and such. No matter how many times I heard any of these tracks, I never got tired of them. They all have some little hook, lyric, or little intangible thing that lifts them up above the others.

Panda Bear: “Comfy in Nautica”
Sleepy, pretty… if Pet Sounds had sounded more like this, I might’ve actually liked it.
the Ergs!: “2nd Foundation”
The best pop-punk song I’ve heard in ages. If the treble hadn’t been so high on Clorox Girls’ “Flowers of Evil,” it would’ve one. For once, fidelity wins.
Fucked Up: “Year of the Pig”
The best 18 minute punk song since NOFX’s “The Decline.” Like that track, it manages to jump from genre to genre effortlessly and amazingly.
Los Campesinos!: “The International Tweexcore Underground”
They say they never cared about Henry Rollins or Calvin Johnston, but you know they’re just being cheeky. The video made this even more amazing.
Feist: “1 2 3 4” / “My Moon My Man”
I couldn’t choose. They’re both beautiful in their own way – one upbeat, the other dark and moody. You can dance your ass off to both of ‘em, tho’.
Of Montreal: “She’s A Rejecter”
The whole album is darker than their last, but this is short, to the point, and simple.
Justice: “D.A.N.C.E.”
Fuck it – they made me like “dance” music. Jerks.
Okkervil River: “Plus Ones”
This is to song as High Fidelity is to movies for music geeks. It’s a fucking love letter.
Battles: “Atlas”
Robots have arrived to make rock heavier and groovier than anything ever before attempted. I, for one, welcome our new robotic musical overlords.
M.I.A.: “Paper Planes”
Clash sample? Check. Shotgun blast? Check. Cool and clever as all hell? Check!
Grizzly Bear: “He Hit Me”
Let’s take a girl group song that’s already somewhat creepy and make it even more dark and evil, and yet pretty.

I already made a fakey list for CMJ alluding to what got the most airplay over at KJHK, but these are the ten records I enjoyed most this year. They are not the records that I think rise above everything in terms of creativity or anything – they are simply the records that I listened to lots and lots. Stereogum has a a list of many more blogs more reputable than this one and their picks.

They are in no particular order.

the Ergs! – Upstairs/Downstairs
If there were ever an album to take pop punk and make it punk again, it’d have to be on Dirtnap. Insanely short, amazingly catchy songs that breeze by so fast, you have to listen to the album twice. Then it ends with nearly twenty minutes of feedback. It’s fucking brilliant in its simplicity.
“2nd Foundation“

Heavy Trash – Going Way Out With Heavy Trash
Matt from Azure Ray and Jon Spencer of JSBX get together and do to rockabilly what Spencer did to the blues – they fuck it up and make it fun and new, rather than a museum piece. Everyone liked this album, and that’s the way it should be. It is by no means deep or world-shattering, but it’s a damn fine record to drink beer and start fights to.

Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
“She’s a Rejecter” is just one of the many many amazing songs that made me want to shake my ass this year. After several months off from listening to it, now I actually like it better than The Sunlandic Twins, which I’d never thought possible.
“Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse“

Okkervil River – The Stage Names
I’ve already stated my love for “Plus Ones.” The rest of the album doesn’t live up to the brilliance of that track, but it does live up to the promise made with Black Sheep Boy.
“Our Life Is Not a Movie Or Maybe“

Panda Bear – Person Pitch
The first time I listened to it, I wasn’t sure if I was going to love it or yank it out of the cd player and throw it across the room. Despite my absolute anti-Pet Sounds stance, I’ve grown to love this album as if it were one of my own children. “Comfy In Nautica” makes me smile every time I hear it.

Dethklok – Dethalbum
Fake band. Real metal.

Clorox Girls – J’aime Les Filles
“Flowers of Evil” was a download about three months before the album came out. Waiting to see if the full album was as good as that download was the worst three months ever, made even more painful by the band playing a half-hour in-store before the release. It’s mod pop at its best. The band has its punky roots in full effect, but has listened to a lot of French pop to make me giddy and retarded every time it goes on the stereo.
“Flowers of Evil“

the Fratellis – Costello Music
Despite hearing “Flathead” during every commercial break for nearly a month straight, I still loved this album. Ska / pop / punk / skiffle / whatever happiness. If there were ever a band that could get me to dance, the Fratellis are it. Here’s to one of the few things the British music press has ever gotten right.

Justice – Cross
I hate hate hate dance music… or, at least, I did. Something about the crop of music to come out this year has given me a second look at music to which one shakes their booty. This was one of the albums to do so. There are points where it totally gets dark and evil, like “Stress,” but “D.A.N.C.E.” is such a boogie down, feel good song that i can’t help but get it on – much to the shagrin of my co-workers.
“D.A.N.C.E.“

Daft Punk – “Alive 2007”
(Virgin Records)

You’d think a live album from an electronic duo would be fairly pointless. Really, it’s two guys with a bank of computers. Then again, you’ve got this document, which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Daft Punk’s live set is nonpareil with anything in music today. This is, essentially, seventy four minutes of non-stop dance megamix action. There are a few set breaks, but the way the tracks are organized on disc is pretty indicative of how the songs flow from one to another. From the build-up on the opening “Robot Rock” that will blow your goddamn mind, to the back-to-back “Around the World” / “Harder Better Faster Stronger” is the “jam” on the album, this disc does not fucking stop.

Hearing the audience in the background only adds to the whole experience. Take enough in the way of drugs (or chug yourself a bottle of cough syrup), and you’d probably be able to reproduce the light show without too much trouble, as well. The bass on Alive 2007 is chest-thumpingly solid, like you were standing in front of the act’s enormous speaker stacks, but the highs and mid-range tones come through clear as a bell, too. It sounds like it was recorded in-studio, but with the energy and audience reaction, this could only be live.

In essence? AMAZINGNESS THAT WILL BLOW OUT YOUR MIND PARTS.

LCD Soundsystem – “Daft Punk Is Playing At my House” (Soulwax Shibuya Mix)

New York’s Definitive Jux label and Juggaknot’s DJ Boo are nixing the trick and delivering just the treat this Halloween. Boo compiled a spooked-out party-rockin’ mix of the labels’ recent underground hits from EL-P, Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic and more.

Tracklist:
Aesop Rock, ‘Citronella’
El-P, ‘Smithereens’
Rob Sonic, ‘Rock The Convoy’
Junk Science,’Do It Easy’
Hangar 18, ‘West Wing’
Rob Sonic, ‘Dead As Disco’
Junk Science, ‘Hey!’
Hangar 18, ‘Bakin’ Soda’
Junk Science, ‘Jerry McGuire’
Hangar 18, ‘Thing Big’
Rob Sonic, ‘Fat Man & Little Boy’
El-P, ‘Flyentology’
Aesop Rock, ‘None Shall Pass’

DJ Boo – “Definitive Jux Halloween Mixtape“

DJ Boo served up the Halloween mix for a great party. Now all you need to do is serve up the fun. Everybody needs Halloween costumes if you are going to a Halloween party. Check out the incredible variety of men’s costumes that you can choose from online. Yeah, and since a party full of guys is only half the fun, help all your female friends find great women’s costumes that are either totally sexy or totally scary or a little mix of both.

Play! Symphony does Mario
the Minibosses do Mario 2

Special awesome bonus Super Mario Bros. level wherein you beat it by doing nothing. Yeah, this has been linked a million times, but I never get tired of watching it.

Minibosses – “Super Mario Bros. 2“

Klaxons – “Myths of the Near Future”
(Polydor Records)
Well, goddamn… these little British bands keep makin’ you want to dance, don’t they? It seems that Klaxons have delved even deeper into the realm of booty-shaking music than Arctic Monkeys, or even the Fratellis. Granted, whereas the other two groups seem content to put a little groove in their basslines, Klaxons seem to have gone full-tilt into rave country. You feel as if you might want to break out a pacifier and glowstick, then throw on pants fifty times too big for you. You might find Myths of the Near Future a trifle shallow, but by the time the sirens kick in mid-way through “Atlantis to Interzone,” you’re too busy dancing to really care.
Download “Atlantis to Interzone” (demo) Courtesy Klaxons Music Fansite

Chasing Victory – “Fiends”
(Mono Vs. Stereo)
Christian hardcore act Chasing Victory is this close to being cool. They have the eerie, serial-killer looking dude on the cover of Fiends, and the whole album looks like it was put together by whomever does art direction for Poison the Well. The riffs on “Chemicals (King of the Carp)” fucking rip. The only thing is that the band just comes off as trying too hard. I know that calling a band out over something like this is pretty lame, and pretty much denotes a lack of effort on my part, but Fiends looks so much the part of the emocore / screamo compact disc that it verges on parody. The band could be really good, but I’d be much more likely to notice if I wasn’t snickering at the song titles with their subtitles. The vocals are also really weak. With the exception of “Chemicals,” I never even noticed this cd was playing.

Up the Empire – “Light Rides the Super Major”
(The Cougar Label)
Y’know… Up the Empire reminds me of a whole lot of bands, but none so much that I can specifically bring any of them to mind right now. They’re that band that reminds you of all sorts of stuff that you like, but not so much that they’re ripping anyone off. Light Rides the Super Major is super-poppy keyboard-powered indie rock with a light dance influence. Sure, that sounds kind of bland, but the fact that you can’t point out any specific riff, bassline, or drum fill as coming from any specific artist pretty much speaks well of the band’s originality. It’s super happy fun music that will make summer drives to the beach, pool, bbq, cookout, kegger, or what-have-you that much more happy and fun.

C.W. Stoneking – “King Hokum”
(Voodoo Rhythm)
Kitchen sink blues – as in “everything else but.” R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders would be a good touchstone for anyone trying to figure out whence comes C.W. Stoneking. It’s sort of a ragtime meets blues meets hillbilly boogie record, and the pedigree is incredibly bizarre – born in America, raised in Australian outback, and playing blues. It’s a distinctly unique album that sounds like it was recorded 70 or 80 years ago, and only recently unearthed from a trunk in someone’s attic. Should he ever wander over Stateside, one could see him sitting down alongside the White Ghost Shivers and everyone getting along famously.
Download “Bad Luck Everywhere You Go“

Dntel – “Dumb Luck”
(Sub Pop)
Three years since the Postal Service made Jimmy Tamborello some serious cash, and six years since the last Dntel album raised some heads, we’re back with bloops and blips and various pretty sounds. The guest vocals are pretty cool, I suppose – Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley and Conor Oberst guest on a track each, and the album is pretty cohesive, despite a different singer on each track. It’s just that I could stand to see the whole Dntel thing expanded somewhat. The guy’s been making the same album for the past six or seven years, and while it’s a good one each time, Tamborello could stand to get outside his comfort zone every now and then.
Download “Dumb Luck“

Ah, mash-ups. Remember when they were all the rage? Like… Jesus, it was two years ago. Huh – seemed like it’d been longer than that. Anyhow, in our fast-paced, cybertronic, electronic, go-go-go world, things that were cool just the other day are soon left in the ashes of history.

Or something like that. I just got out of my American Lit class, and I’m feeling all sorts of verbose, thanks to the whole poetry section we’re doing at the moment. Damn you, T.S. Eliot!

The point I’m trying to make here is that sometimes the music that gets discarded ought to get a closer look, or at least get looked at again. The Kleptones are a wonderful case in point. Not content with releasing single-track mash-ups, knocking together some Christina Aguilera with whatever hip-hop artist sounds funniest. No, sir.

The Kleptones put out two concept albums built around themes (the Flaming Lips‘ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots or Queen‘s A Night At the Opera as backing tracks), one radio broadcast mixing Detroit sounds and moving to Jamaican tunes, and recently put out a double-disc concept album that goes through 24 hours of a man’s life. It will blow your fucking mind.

Despite the fun that comes from trying to figure out what samples you just heard (feel free to use the Kleptones Wiki for that), the albums are remarkable examples of what can be done with some serious creativity. Sure, it’s using nothing but what other artists have created, but it’s certainly far more interesting than hearing “Fight Test” again.

Every Kleptones album available in a variety of download options right here.

Even without some music lessons many people can learn to play with online resources.