Tumblr
All the rumors are true.
I’ve been cheating on WP with Tumblr
taste the fresh goods:
http://iratherwalk.tumblr.com
Latest Entries
Sick-good low-fi mmm mmm yeahs
Recently? Dangerously obsessed with:
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W A S H E D O U T
http://www.myspace.com/thebabeinthewoods
Did you hear about the dude who went on a ballin’ vaca and then used Washed Out’s track “Feel It All Around” as the soundtrack to showcase the instant nostalgia he created with his superb video skills? Well Washed Out were big fans and made it their official video for the track. Nice.
FEEL IT ALL AROUND from Northern Lights on Vimeo.
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T A N L I N E S
http://www.myspace.com/tanlinestheband
Jesse & Eric.. they’re who-what-now? Oh, just touring with Julian Fucking Casablancas? No biggie. Man, these guys have been taking GIANT STEPS into famedom. With such good reason. Fuck the snow and get a taste of the tropical with their vid for Bejan. Makes me want to sweat a ‘lil.
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j j
http://stereogum.com/archives/new_jj__pure_shores_the_truth_108271.html
jj is a beautiful mystery. Head over to Stereogum for the latest released tracks on their upcoming album on Secretly Canadian. Their last album “jj n° 2″ scored a 8.6 on Pitchfork – if you care about that sort of thing (!!!!) Soothing and nerve-racking all at once. Take a deep breath and peep their vid:
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T E E N G I R L F A N T A S Y
http://www.myspace.com/teengirlfantasy
just can’t stop listening to them. can’t do it. never want to. electronic-me-crazy. so simple, so true: Teengirl Fantasy is doing everything I could ever want from an electronic band right now. They’re mind readers of the booty-shaking remix-loving vintage-mixedtape-making scene. And, get this, they have an ANGELFIRE page — honestly, best website ever: http://teengirlfantasy.angelfire.com/
Portofino ~ Teengirl Fantasy ~ blackmoth.org from Teengirl Fantasy on Vimeo.
^^ These four are soooo good it’s gross. Promise. ^^
X-MASterface FREE DOWNLOAD
From Masterface’s 2009 release, Freedom Tower, the track “X-MASterface” is my holiday gift to you.
Sleigh bells and synthesizers. Take my word for it that this WILL BE your jam while sitting in your parents basement after they’ve gone to sleep, smoking pot with your friends from highschool, drinking dad’s scotch and mellowing out to this soothing shiny dark-dub holiday clusterfuck of good cheer.
For a limited time, download the track for free HERE: http://bit.ly/8TBR60
Freedom Tower is also probably the hippest gift you can give your old friends who dare to think they’re more indie than you are. Buy it on iTunes, my little santa’s helpers.
Seeya in the New Year.
Fan Death, you creeps!
Ummm the new Fan Death video for Cannibal is downright creeeeeeepy, yo!!! (and how I love them for it)
Fat old dude obsesses over grainy images of Fan Death (while skinny old dude locked in basement obsesses over pickles) leers, measures things, takes color samples, dances, and engages in other general sketchiness.
Does that sound like something you want to see?
You know it does….
Love the directing on this video actually, and the concept is engaging. The song is eerie and pretty catchy, but didn’t grab me as much as the song for their last video…
Here’s their previous music video for their song “Reunited”, which is really elaborate and probably deserves it’s own post. :/ This song is *really* great, and there’s lot of celeb look-alikes, and amazing styling and dancing and fairy-tale…. creepiness.
But check out Fan Death if you haven’t already. They’re very cute. Very fun. Electro-poppy even.
Keep it weird!
Color me hip.
Crayola just released another awesome TV ad featuring great music by a hip indie artist. I’ve linked all the TV commercials below. And voila! this post is no longer just a post, but also a Christmas list. 
/// MICACHU AND THE SHAPES ///
Micachu And The Shapes is the latest edition to Crayola’s colorful repertoire. And, damn, is she interesting. I didn’t know that much about little miss Micachu, but I learned from her Wiki page that she plays homemade instruments, was commissioned to write an orchestral piece for the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and sometimes plays a vacuum. That’s $$$!
/// THE UNICORNS ///
Before Micachu, we found The Unicorns lend their tune “I Was Born A Unicorn” (one of my personal favs) to Crayola’s super trippy Color Explosion 3-D. Stoner-doodlers everywhere rejoice.
/// DAN DEACON ///
In November 2008, Dan Deacon made Crayola’s spot for The Glow Station the first commercial he ever licensed his music to. To quote the Stereogum article:
“This was the first time Dan’s ever licensed his music to “a large company,” in fact, and he told his MySpace friends why he thought this was a course change he could believe in:
this is the first time i’ve let a large company license one of my songs. i’ve been asked by several others before but this is the first time its been for something that promotes a company that creates a product that encourages people (children) to make art and to use their minds to create. maybe i’m being naive but i used their crayons.”
/// ANIMAL COLLECTIVE ///
Animal Collective’s song “Sweet Road” was the trailblazer of Crayola’s hip music for the children campaign. Really, how sweet is this ad? Kids are adorable. And now, thanks to Crayola, cooler than most of us.
/// CRAYOLA INSPIRES ///
Here’s the classic Sesame Street “How Crayons Are Made”. Which, of course, features a dope soundtrack and some really amazing 80’s glasses frames.
Designer Alicia Reina’s Crayola Fixation dress:
^^^^^ I want this dress. No, scratch that…. Crayola raised me to be better, brighter and more creative than that. I want all the crayon’s required to make it, and I’ll do it myself.
How Weird Al gave me the gift of music.
“I love all of you hurt by the cold. So hard and lonely too. When you don’t know yourself.”
- Red Hot Chili Peppers “My Friends”
Damn. What a song.
You know when I heard those lyrics for the first time? You’re all going to hate me. But the truth is that I was introduced to this song, and so many good bands though Weird Al’s “Alternative Polka”.
It was 1996.
Weird Al’s album “Bad Hair Day” somehow made it into my hands. I knew every word.
I was in 6th grade, born and raised in the US Virgin Islands, where everything was reggae, soka, dance-hall, and club mixes. Indie / alt / grunge / even classics like The Beatles (who I didn’t listen to until college) just weren’t the norm.
Don’t get me wrong, I had Hanson and Spicegirls and Oasis and Seal and the Empire Records Soundtrack. I had Casey Kasem.
But I just wasn’t in a place where music was ever a focus.
I didn’t understand music… where it came from, who was making it, and why. Everything sounded the same. Songs were songs without ties or stories. The only stories I connected them to were my own. Music might as well have been made my computers, created mathematically to inspire emotions.
I always loved lyrics though, loved poetry, interesting word plays, assonance, consonance, rhythm. The idea that anyone ever listened to music that didn’t have lyrics was completely beyond my understanding. But, as silly as it sounds, I really believe that “Alternative Polka” helped me redefine that feeling.
I learned one little section all of these songs from Weird Al (what a fucking list):
“Loser” by Beck,
“Sex Type Thing” by Stone Temple Pilots,
“All I Want To Do” by Sheryl Crow,
“Closer” by Nine Inch Nails,
“Bang And Blame” by REM,
“You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morisette,
“Bullet With Butterfly Wings” by Smashing Pumpkins,
“My Friends” by Red Hot Chili Peppers,
“I’ll Stick Around” by Foo Fighters,
“Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden,
“Basket Case” by Green Day
And then when I knew all the words to the parody, I went out and bought every single one of those albums.
…And I fell in love with music!
After hearing “My Friends” sung as a nasally polka, imagine my delight at hearing the real thing.
I was finally able to feel comfortable in my knowledge that THIS song is different than THAT song, for so many reasons.
But mainly at that time, because they’re not all just polka!!
They had styles and intricacies. The word “genre” began to mean something to me.
The idea that bands had histories, inspirations, influences.
I was suddenly the proud owner of OPINIONS about music. Something I never thought I would have.
I still struggle with my musical identity all the time, but without that kick in the ass at age 11, I don’t think I would be able to hold my own in this industry… not to mention in my neighborhood.
So here’s my thanks to Werid Al.
Thanks for helping me find music in my own awkward, embarrassing way.
Although my mom will probably always hate you because she listened to hours and hours of middle schoolers screaming “I wanna fuck you like an animal” along to polka music out of the back of a mini-van, she may forgive you if she knew the amount of solace I have found in the music that you gave me the courage to care about.
So, on that sappy cheese ball of a note, lets hear some polka:
Wow. That really is terrible though, huh? Hahaha.
Lana, Lizzy, who cares?
I’ve been saving this post for a Monday morning…. because what’s better than a pretty lady singing sweet songs to start out your hazy November week?
Allow me to introduce you to Lana Del Rey.
This Lana is doing more than her fair share to give all us Lana’s a really good name.
I just discovered her from The Deli Magazine’s CMJ show reviews, and she’s described on the site as performing “drifting, hazy ballads sketched by husky vocals and framed with immaculate, minimalist arrangements.”
In my research, I am sad to learn that she actually goes by Lizzy Grant, and she’s not a true Lana. Not that I can blame her for trying to fake it.
Here’s her video for her song “Gramma”, which I love because it’s a sexy mash-up of scenes from my favorite Disney movie, Sleeping Beauty. She’s got a ton of videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/UhaulJoe
Here’s some gratuitous pics. You can find a ton more on her myspace here: Lizzy Grant myspace.
Happy Monday, y’all.
Masterface – Freedom Tower
MASTERFACE has done it — debut EP “Freedom Tower” is a big fat soaring dark trance dub masterpiece.
The freshly mastered album is streaming on their myspace, where they’ve had tantalizingly minimal and beautiful placeholder tracks for over a year. Nails were chewed low, breath was held. And Masterface – Brooklyn based duo Cedar Apffel and Rory O’Connor – pieced together their album like mad scientists.
Freedom Tower is the only album I have ever heard that flows seamlessly from the opening tracks’ earwig lyrics, to industrial trance, reggae breakdowns, and deep, dark, back-of-your-skull ambiance. Oh, and ends with sleigh bells (the perfect holiday gift?!)
I think my absolute favorite part of this Masterface creation is that you really have to open up and hear them out. Be ready to be cradled in one style, and then dropped and enveloped again in a whole new set of arms… or tentacles.
MASTERFACE – FREEDOM TOWER
track listancientface
excuse me girl
my yum yums
the magick dragging
piano condensate
a perfect shining golden diamond (in the center of my heart)
10ticles
xmasterface
check this shit!
they have a damn myspace
and a freakin’ facebook
Best of CMJ: Monogold
The first time I listened to Monogold’s new EP “We Animals”, I was instantly hooked. I told everyone. I emailed all my friends. I took initiative. You know why? Because I rarely love music enough to do that, and when it’s really great, I want everyone to know.
These guys are the absolute real deal. Three native New Yorkers, they’ve been in musical-genius hub Williamsburg, Brooklyn for years, laying low, listening, and perfecting their sound. They know the ropes. Hell, they helped tie the ropes.
Monogold played a CMJ show at Spike Hill this weekend. Place was PACKED. People were freaking.the.fuck.out. It was amazing. Hipsters dancing?? In Williamsburg? Not staring sullenly at the stage, as if bored or comatose??! Yes, it’s true!
For their 3rd live show ever, you would never have expected the easy-going yet professional stage presence, the engaging styles of each musician, their ability to make each song organic and fun, but also clean and well preformed. And you wouldn’t have expected that there was even an answer to the question “how the hell is a three piece going to be able to play this live?” The anwser is: like pros. I would not hesitate to throw these three up on a stage in front of a thousand people.
Monogold played the hits from “We Animals”, as well as new songs that had the whole sweaty, screaming crowd jumping up and down. Congas, chants, guitar solos, ripping baselines, whispers turned screams, and all smiles — yes! yes! yes!
I’m going to make a very strong suggestion here: attend Monogold’s album release show for “We Animals” next month.
It’s gonna be such a fucking party :: Friday, Nov. 13th at Public Assembly in Williamsburg.
I will be there. We’ll dance all night.
MONOGOLD online:
Listen & read all their other amazing blog reviews on Monogold’s myspace
Be a fan on facebook
Follow them on twitter
Buy “We Animals” (2009)
