Jul/090
Nas and Damian Marley are Distant Relatives
And I hope y'all like jammin', too.
(No, they’re not actually related. At least, not that I know of.)
A while back, a story circulated through the blogosphere stating that rapper/songwriter/producer Nas and reggae singer Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley would be collaborating on an unnamed album. Barely any details have emerged about that project since then – until now.
Recently, the duo unveiled a collaborative Myspace page containing more information on the project, to be named Distant Relatives. As is to be expected, the project will combine hip-hop and reggae influences, and will indeed result in an album in addition to the duo’s ongoing tour. And the music possesses a deeper meaning as well: Nas and Damian intend for it to “celebrate the correlation and deep-rooted connection between [the two musical styles] and Africa.” To that end, they even intend to donate a portion of the proceeds to building a school in Africa.
Good music for a good cause: How often does all of that come together, eh? The album doesnt yet have a release date, but according to the Myspace page, it’ll be coming in a few weeks.
Jul/090
The Shlog is now The 412!
As I promised, the big change is here! The, err, questionable blog name that I inherited several months ago has now been changed to something much more palatable, and along with that comes a new layout and – in the future – new and exciting content and features.
So why “The 412,” exactly? Well, two reasons: First, “412″ happens to be the area code for our fair city of Pittsburgh. Second, it symbolizes my commitment to staying one step ahead of the “competition” in providing radical news and regular features here on the ShowClix blog. It’s not just the 411 on news in the music world: it’s much, much more.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks/months, folks, as things are starting to heat up…
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Jul/090
Video: Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is The Move”
I haven’t yet given a listen to the Dirty Projectors’ 2009 release, Bitte Orca, but if the rest of the album is as good as this track, I’ll definitely have to. The above video for “Stillness Is The Move” may be fairly standard in its approach, but it’s little touches like the makeup-free vocalist, spinning guitars, and, uh, a random llama that make it well worth watching.
Jul/090
Tour Highlights: Matt and Kim, Alice in Chains, more St. Vincent
Here’s what’s new for today:
* * * *
Alice in Chains (grunge) – The newly-reformed, Layne-less band announceda smattering of dates for September.
Barcelona (indie pop) – Added a bunch of new dates to the end of their touring schedule in July and August.
Fruit Bats (folk-rock) – Dropped an extensive list of dates through August and September.
Matt and Kim (dance-punk) – Added a bunch of new dates to the end of their early-autumn schedule, along with Amanda Blank.
Miike Snow (indie pop) – Announced a bunch of new dates for the States in September and October.
Nebula (stoner rock) – Dropped a huge swath of dates for August and early September.
Powerman 5000 (industrial metal) – Announced a broad swath of autumn dates across the United States.
Scene Aesthetic, The (indie pop) – Announced their touring plans for August with The Color Fred, centered around the East Coast.
St. Vincent (indie pop) – Announced a boat-load of dates for October, with Andrew Bird along for the ride as well.
* * * *
NEW PITTSBURGH CONCERTS
Scene Aesthetic, The (indie pop) -Saturday, August 23 @ Diesel Club Lounge w/The Color Fred
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Jul/091
My 10 favorite albums of the year (so far)
Can you believe that the year is already half over? It seems like just yesterday that we were huddled in our respective sweatshirts, turning up the heat to stay warm, and drooling over this year’s list of potentially awesome releases. While we haven’t even seen the bulk of those releases yet, we have received a load of juicy musical tidbits to sink our aural teeth into (or, uh, something like that) over the past six months.
Partly because of my job writing this blog, and partly because I love to expose myself to new music, I’ve heard a ton of albums so far this year. Most of them I don’t really care to hear again. Some of them catch my attention in such a way that I want to listen to them again. And a select few are so good that they stick to my playlist like old chewing gum to the bottom of a desk. The following ten albums fall squarely into the latter category. Don’t think of this as a “top ten” list – it’s merely my opinion as an experienced music fan – but instead ten recommendations that, in my view, you definitely shouldn’t miss.
Here they are, in alphabetical order:
Actor by St. Vincent – When a friend handed me a copy of this album, I expected to hate it. With a few exceptions (hello, Peter Bjorn & John’s Writer’s Block), I’m just not that big of an indie pop fan. Needless to say, it’s great to know that random albums can still completely defy one’s expectations. The band’s dense, ambient-heavy arrangements combined with Annie Clark’s confident, motherly voice put them on a plane above your average sparse, wispy-voiced indie pop group in my book. Skeptics should really take note in this case.
Addicted to Distraction by Black Landlord – I’ve never had so much fun with a hip-hop album as I’ve had listening to this album. Black Landlord combine the lightheartedness of old-school hip-hop with a groovetastic live band that draws its influences from The Funk Bros., James Brown, and others in the late-’60s/early-’70s soul/funk scene. The result is a fresh, energetic blend of old and older that somehow feels new in and of itself, as though someone should have invented this sort of thing much, much sooner.
Blackout Vol. 2 by Method Man & Redman – Maybe it’s just nostalgia, but this collection of party-like-it’s-1999 stoner-hip-hop pushes all of my buttons in all of the right ways. Meth & Red may have slowed down a bit with old age, but the way that they play off of each-other – the former being technically sound and inventive with his rhymes, and the latter the silly comic relief – hasn’t diminished in the slightest. Even today, there’s very few hip-hop acts putting out music this good, let alone on a major label. Any child of the ’90s needs to give this one a spin.
Brain Cycles by Radio Moscow – Who would have thought that two white dudes from Iowa would produce the best psychedelic blues-rock record of the new millennium? Brain Cycles is packed to the brim with juicy, Hendrix-style electric guitar riffs backed by vocalist Parker Griggs’ powerful vocals in a musical concoction that recalls a louder, more rebellious time in rock and roll history. Who needs all of that touchy-feely indie rock when you’ve got truly rockin’ bands like Radio Moscow putting out albums like this? Not me.
Dark Night of the Soul by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse – Albums steeped in this much hype and mystery – especially when they’re collaboration albums with a slew of special guests – usually end up disappointing. So how did the Mouse and the Horse get it right? Guest spots from rock luminaries like Iggy Pop and Frank Black, delightfully dark ambient-rock songwriting that plays to those guests’ individual strengths, and David friggin’ Lynch. Due to legal troubles, the album may never see a proper release, but you can still stream the entire thing on NPR.
Eating Us by Black Moth Super Rainbow – Imagine feeding T-Pain a few hits of acid and then recruiting The Flaming Lips to back him up in the studio. That song playing in your head right now? It’s probably something like what Eating Us sounds like. With their latest release, Tobacco & company have distilled their sound down to its basic component parts and reassembled them without the harsh synths and distortion on their previous albums. The result is both profoundly trippy and immediately accessible for new fans of the band.
Insurgentes by Steven Wilson – In his first album to have been released under his own name, the Porcupine Tree and Blackfield frontman once again eschewed such old-timey concepts as “genres” and “conventions.” The songs contained within Insurgentes freely shift form between prog-rock, drone, ambient, alternative, and more – often within the same song. Despite its slow pace, Wilson has crafted an extremely dense piece that more than holds up when compared to the rest of his stellar discography.
Merriweather Post Pavillion by Animal Collective – I’m typically skeptical of any hyped album that filters down through the Pitchfork-hipster echo chamber, but this one delivers on all fronts. Lush melodies, pounding beats, and layered “clean” vocals passed through superb wall-of-sound production propelled this one to “instant classic” status in my book – a place that the band’s previous, less accessible material never quite reached. If you haven’t yet given MPP a listen for whatever reason, you’re missing out, big-time.
Summer of Hate by Crocodiles – Upon its release, the debut album from this San Diego duo was lauded by some for its raw, edgy shoegazey rock and trashed by some for beingutterly derivitive of that genre. To the people in the second category, I say: What’s wrong with being derivitive? There’s only a few bands out there today who carry on this sort of sound (and of those, the only other one I can immediately name is Vivian Girls), and Summer of Hate pulls it off at least as well as The Mary Chain. Don’t be put off by the negative hype: There’s an excellent album to be found here.
The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists – Here’s another band that I really haven’t been a fan of until this year. With this album, frontman and creative head Colin Meloy turned a fairly inoffensive baroque-folk band into something more, combining the best aspects of folk and prog-rock with dashes of heavy metal and showtunes for good measure. The result is the best concept album of the year, and one of the best that I’ve heard this decade.
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Jul/090
I’m now on Twitter!
As I promised yesterday, big changes are on the way for the house blog here at ShowClix. As a part of that, I’ll now be officially expanding out into Twitter! You can now follow my (significantly shorter) ramblings at http://www.twitter.com/ShowClixBlog.
The Twitter page will basically be a companion piece to this blog: in addition to tweeting brief summaries of new blog posts, I’ll also be posting stories that I can’t squeeze into the blog for some reason. Most of the time they’ll be music or entertainment news-related, but occasionally you’ll also find random stuff that just catches my attention for some reason or another.
Again, you can follow my Twitter page here. Cheers, all!
Jun/090
Belated Monday Album Roundup: You know I’m not dead
Sorry for the lack fo updates as of late! No, I haven’t disappeared off the face of the Earth – I’ve just spent the last week taking on a major non-blogging-related project here at ShowClix. Rest assured, however, that this humble weblog will be better than ever from here on out: There’s a big change coming that will rival the new homepage redesign in sheer awesomeness. And in the meantime, the regular features (including the daily Tour Highlights) will return in full force tomorrow. And heck, who knows: I might even be able to actually finish these Album Roundups on Monday from now on!
But anyway, to the point: Every Monday (and sometimes Tuesday) I meticulously scour the week’s new releases to bring you the best of what’s coming. There’s a whole lot of nothing this week, but you might find a few interesting releases. Here’s what’s on tap for this week:
* * * *
FEATURED ALBUMS – The weekly cream of the crop.
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It’s sad that nobody makes music like Moby does anymore. After finding unprecedented success with 1999’s Play and spawning a host of short-lived imitators, the talented DJ and songwriter slowly faded from the public eye. Nowadays, despite the fact that he’s all but faded into obscurity, Moby is still holing himself up in his bedroom studio and cranking out some lovely ambient and chillout music every few years. Wait for Me may actually be his best album since that breakout 1999 megahit, reaching levels of textured sonic bliss paralleled in the contemporary scene by only a few other artists (Ulrich Schnauss and M83’s Anthony Gonzales come to mind.) So what else can I say? Throw on some headphones, fire up NPR’s free stream, and prepare to be taken on a journey.
Sleep (not to be confused with the stoner metal band of the same name) is an extremely talented emcee hailing from Portland, Oregon who takes a decidedly retro approach to the hip-hop genre. Now, I’ve long been a fan of hip-hop that eschews the standard synths and electronic sampling for something different, but it seems almost cliche to try the old-school turntablism thing nowadays. The difference – as you may have guessed by now – is that Sleep is a damn talented guy, able to rap with the best of them at twice the speed. Plus, his use of interesting, complex rhymes reminiscent of the lyrical wizardry of guys like Slug and Vinnie Paz serves as icing on the proverbial cake. Add in some jazzy samples and a heaping helping of turntablism, and you’ve got an album that feels dated, yet somehow fresh at the same time. Fans of old-school hip-hop should look no further for their fix.
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MORE FEATURED ALBUMS – Something about the previews for these albums struck me in a good way.
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Blaq Poet – Blaqprint (hip-hop)
Domu – One-Offs, Remixes, and B-Sides (chillout/nu-jazz)
Lillian Axe – Sad Day on Planet Earth (hard rock)
Tash – Control Freak (hip-hop) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]
* * * *
THE REST
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Ace Hood – Ruthless (hip-hop)
Helm, Levon – Electric Dirt (folk-rock) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]
Judamang – From State Ta State (hip-hop)
Karan, Mark - Walk Through the Fire (rock)
Knuckles – The Hood Kingpin (hip-hop)
Kurious – II (hip-hop)
Meese – Broadcast (power pop) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]
Mr. Del – Thrilla (hip-hop)
My Heart to Joy – Seasons in Verse (punk)
Sick Jacken – Stray Bullets (hip-hop)
Thomas, Rob – Cradlesong (singer-songwriter) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]
Wilco – Wilco (The Album) (indie folk)
Jun/091
Late Monday Album Roundup: Polyphonic Love Boogie on Mars
Every Monday (and sometimes Tuesday) I meticulously scour the week’s new releases to bring you the best of what’s coming. Here’s what’s on tap for this week:
* * * *
FEATURED ALBUMS – The weekly cream of the crop.
* * * *
Sometimes, just when you think that a genre might be getting a bit too formulaic, some project comes along and reinvigorates it all with a new and intriguing sound. Big Apple-based producer FaltyDL probably won’t cause such a revolution, but his unique blend of IDM, acid jazz, and breakbeat is more than cool enough to earn his debut LP a place on my CD shelf. Each song is like a grab-bag of everything that I love about downtempo electronica: Boards of Canada-style glitches and scratchy keyboards freely intermingle with jazzy keyboards, groovy lounge beats, intelligently sampled vocals, and lush ambiance in a combo that’s as well-suited to the dance floor as it is to a relaxing bout of headphone listening. Versatile, chill, and danceable – what more could you want?
Let me start this paragraph off by saying that I don’t care much for The Mars Volta’s back catalogue. My reaction to the band’s older material has always been some variation of, “hey, these guys are really talented, but if they were more restrained in their songwriting, they could make a truly great record.” Well, I’ve got news for every one of you out there who had the same reaction: Octahedron is a great record. Basically, the songs actually sound like, err, songs instead of an extended jam session or ten minutes of noodling masquerading as a proper album track. As a result, the album sounds less like a bunch of ’70s-era prog musicians aimlessly freaking out and more like a contemporary prog-rock band: in the process of listening to the now-defunct free preview, I caught moments that made me think of Spock’s Beard, Porcupine Tree, and even “neo-prog” like Arena or IQ. And I mean that in the best way possible. Basically, Octahedron is by far TMV’s best album to date, and you need to give it a listen even if (like me) you’re not a fan.
Serengeti & Polyphonic – Terradactyl
As a luminary of the avant-hip-hop Anticon. label, emcee Serengeti approaches the hip-hop genre with a decidedly odd outlook. In fact, it’s difficult to categorize some of his work as “hip-hop” at all; a lot of it could just as easily be dubbed, “post-rock with spoken-word vocals.” Terradactyl sees Serengeti teaming up with DJ Polyphonic for a twisted sequel to 2007’s Don’t Give Up, featuring the former’s intriguing wordplay and the latter’s intelligent use of beats and samples. The end product is one that won’t be for everyone, but fans of hip-hop and post-rock should find something to love here – and fans of both should have it find a permanent place on their CD shelf.
Talibam! – Boogie in the Breeze Blocks
Talibam! are a freaky duo from Brooklyn, featuring one guy on synths, another on drums, and a whole bunch of guest musicians with jazzy backgrounds. Though the duo have been around for a while, this release marks their first major one – or, at least, the first that people outside of the New York area might actually buy. And it should be a worthy purchase indeed. Talibam!’s music can easily be described as some strange hybrid of stoner rock (think Electric Wizard) and free jazz with a bit of post-punk thrown in to keep things interesting, but there’s so many elements present here that I can’t even begin to parse the sparse samples on the band’s website. This is extremely dense stuff, and I can only imagine that it reveals more upon repeated listens. Don’t let this one pass you by.
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MORE FEATURED ALBUMS – Something about the previews for these albums struck me in a good way.
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Astra – The Weirding (prog-rock)
Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue (IDM/ambient)
Birds of Avalon – Uncanny Valley (psych-rock)
Brian Olive – Brian Olive (indie rock)
Chase Long Beach – Gravity Is What You Make It (ska)
Cheese, Richard – Viva la Vodka (comedy swing/lounge)
Dead Prez & DJ Green Lantern – Pulse of the People (hip-hop) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm (alt-rock)
Envy/Jesu – Envy/Jesu [Split LP] (drone/stoner)
Firebird – Grand Union (blues-rock)
Formula Project, The – Evolve (hip-hop/industrial)
Jets Overhead – No Nations (psychedelic/post-rock)
Kindred Spirits – Commencement (nu-jazz/lounge)
Parasites – Solitary (pop-punk)
Scarred, The – Half Mast (punk)
Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship (post-rock) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]
U-God – Dopium (hip-hop)
VNV Nation – Of Faith, Power, and Glory (futurepop)
Yawning Sons – Ceremony to the Sunset (ambient rock)
Yppah – They Know What Ghost Know (experimental rock)
* * * *
THE REST
* * * *
Acid Mothers Temple – Dark Side of the Black Moon: What Planet Are We On? (experimental/psychedelic)
Adam & His Nuclear Rockets – Little Piece of Souvenir (rockabilly)
Albertans, The – Legends of Sam Marco (indie pop)
Alexisonfire – Old Crows/Young Cardinals (post-hardcore)
Amazing Baby – Rewild (post-rock) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]
Bats, The – The Guilty Office (indie rock)
B.G. & DJ Hectic – Chopper City Radio Street Approved 1.5 (hip hop)
Brannan, Jay – In Living Cover (singer-songwriter)
Brosseau, Tom – Posthumous Success (singer-songwriter)
Butane – Endless Forms (electronica)
C-Thug – I Am Arizona (hip-hop)
Carson, Kendel – Alright Dynamite (folk)
Catani, Patrick – Lemniscate (experimental electronica)
Chali 2na – Fish Outta Water (hip-hop)
Cliks, The – Dirty King (alt-rock)
Courtin, Christina – Christina Courtin (indie folk)
Dear Hunter, The – Act III: Life and Death (prog-rock)
Deer Tick – Born on Flag Day (indie rock)
Dirt Crew – Blow (house)
Donny Hue and the Colors – A Letter to New Virginia (alt-folk)
Dream Theater – Black Clouds and Silver Linings (prog-metal)
Eryn Non Dae – Hydra Lernaia (doom/sludge metal)
Fast Life Youngstaz – Jamboree (hip-hop)
Foreign Born – Person to Person (indie rock)
Friese-Greene, Tim – 10 Sketches for Piano Trio (synthpop)
Future of the Left – Travels With Myself and Another (hardcore/alt-rock)
God Help the Girl – God Help the Girl (indie pop)
Hermit Thrushes – Slight Fountain (indie folk)
Hood, Patterson – Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs) (indie rock)
Into It Over It – 52 Weeks (indie-folk/emo)
Johns, Michael – Hold Back My Heart (singer-songwriter) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]
Kings of Belgium – Unchained Melodies (instrumental prog-rock)
Kitty in a Casket – Horror Express (horror-punk)
Koons, Greg, and the Misbegotten – Welcome to the Nowhere Motel (indie rock)
Lemonheads, The – Varshons (alt-rock)
Lord Cut-Glass – Lord Cut-Glass (indie rock) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]
Luke Top – Friends (indie rock)
Manatees – Icarus, The Sunclimber (drone metal)
Merzbow – 13 Japanese Birds, Vol. 6 (experimental noise)
Minitel Rose – The French Machine (new wave/pop)
Mobile – Tales from the City (alt-rock)
Moore, David – My Lover, My Stranger (rock)
Mount Eerie – Dawn (acoustic/experimental)
Muggs Presents Soul Assassins – Intermission (hip-hop)
Native Window – Native Window (rock)
Northpole, Willy – Tha Connect (hip-hop)
Ohbijou – Beacons (indie pop)
Pachino Dino – Hustlin’ and Head Bussin’ (gangasta rap)
Phenomenal Handclap Band, The – The Phenomenal Handclap Band (nu-disco)
Playaz Circle – Flight 360: The Takeoff (hip-hop)
Push-Pull – Between Noise and the Indians (garage rock)
Qrella, Masha – Speak Low: Loewe and Weill in Exile (indie pop)
Royal City – Royal City (indie-folk)
Spektor, Regina – Far (singer-songwriter)
Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer (indie pop) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]
Twista & Paul Wall – Vol. 6: Southern Lean (hip-hop)
Van Wey, Brock – White Clouds Drift On and On (ambient)
Woggles, The – Tempo Tantrum (post-punk)
Yorn, Pete – Back and Fourth (indie folk) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]
Young Jeezy – I Am Trap (hip-hop)
Z-Ro – The Rain (hip-hop)
Jun/090
Air ready new album; will invade your dreams
French downtempo duo Air have put out a lot of really interesting music in the past decade-plus, ranging from ambient recordings to glossy trip-hop to an eerie film soundtrack. While they’ve never been my favorite downtempo project (that honor still goes to Thievery Corporation), the sheer diversity present in their back-catalogue always leaves me eagerly awaiting their next album. Thankfully, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel never leave us waiting for too long.
Earlier today, Air announced that their eighth proper album, to be titled Love 2, will release October 6 via electronica label Astralwerks. There’s no word yet as to what it might sound like, but we do know that the boys will be handling vocals themselves, and that this will be their first full-length recording at their newfound Atlas Studio in Paris. Here’s hoping that they do things a little more trip-hoppy this time, since there’s precious few groups out there willing to tap into that sound these days.
In the meantime, if you’re interested, you can check out the track listing over at Stereogum.
Jun/090
Free Album Thursday: Sage Francis, Moby, The Mars Volta and more!
Very seldom do so many free album streams/downloads get dropped into my inbox, but today I’ve got a bunch of ‘em to prep you for the weekend. Most are previews of albums that are set to drop at retail in the next few weeks, but one is something that you can’t find anywhere else!
Sage Francis – Sick of Wasting. The avant-hip-hop emcee and all-around brainiac offers his latest mixtape for download free of charge. Sage is one of the coolest innovators in the underground scene, so even if you’re only a casual hip-hop fan, this one is worth a listen.
Moby – Wait For Me. Though his glory days have long passed, electronica DJ Moby is still going at it – this time in his bedroom studio with a bunch of guest stars from the local New York music scene. The resulting album won’t hit stores for another week and a half, but you can preview it right now thanks to NPR.
The Mars Volta – Octahedron. Cedric and Omar’s latest effort is surprisingly listenable, thanks to the two white-boy-fro’d men’s reigning in of their prog-noodling tendencies. Check it out on their Myspace.
Regina Spektor – Far. Spector’s long-awaited fifth album is set to release next Tuesday, but you lucky chaps can stream the entire thing on her Myspace several days in advance. Folksy stuff isn’t really my thing, but I have to admit that this girl has some wonderful pipes.
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm. The influential alt-rockers return with their ninth studio album, and it’ll rock your friggin’ socks off. It’ll hit stores next week, but this Myspace stream might serve to tide you over until then.