Ah, the things you find on youtube

So, one of the best parts of Wes Anderson movies is his soundtracks. Now I unfortunately haven't seen The Darjeeling Limited yet, which will be released via DVD on February 26. Nicely enough though, he did release a nice little short starring Natalie Portman and Jason Schwartzman for free on iTunes called "Hotel Chevalier". There was one song which played throughout the short. Now I've had it for months and was cleaning out my iPod when I caught the short again and forgot how great and enjoyable the song was that was playing in the background. Anyways, it's called "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" by Peter Sarstedt and it was released in 1969 and it's fantastic.

Burial - "Untrue"

So I've been scouring around the internet the past few days and looking at other's top albums lists and most them include a lot of the same stuff. There was the worthy stuff (Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Band Of Horses, Iron & Wine, Of Montreal), there was the overrated (Kanye West, Amy Winehouse, LCD Soundsystem) and the underrated (The National, Bloc Party, Eluvium, The Besnard Lakes, Okkervil River). Aside from this there was also the stuff I missed completely. One of those artists was "Untrue" by Burial. It's actually the best reviewed album of the year on megacritic. I'll admit that I have a guilty pleasure electronic music. I love Daft Punk, Boards Of Canada, and Junior Boys. I'm not overly knowledged in the genre so I've missed a lot. Lucky for me, Burial is available for download on emusic. I must say this is a pleasant surprise. Obviously, this is an album you'll either love or hate. It's very much an album meant to be experienced either in you're vehicle or in headphones. Also, it is slightly creepy. It's not as alien as say something by Sigur Ros or as beautiful but it's definitely more of a soundtrack to some weird story going on you're head. This music requires imagination and an open mind. My friends at work won't get it and most people will complain if I play it aloud and personally I like it that way. "Untrue" is an album impossible to describe song by song, it's very fluid throughout and it supported by lo-fi beats and tribal sounding vocals which take a few listens to absorb and really enjoy. It has the nice crackle of a vinyl playing with I appreciate and it has some very ethereal noises that you here when people are in dark alleys in movies. So if you're ready for something a little different and what to imagine you're music in you're head then I recommend giving "Untrue" a try.

Ripped to Shreds at New York Magazine

There's an interesting article in New York Magazine about the effects of illegally downloading music. But, unlike most articles, this one focuses on the fact that every day people are the ones who get in the most trouble for swapping illegal files, but the reason that those files get out in the first place is because someone in the industry itself is leaking it. Its something that has been obvious for a long time, but never has been much of a topic.

It also goes into detail about albums that leak early cause more damage to the label and the artists themselves. It mentions Wincing The Night Away and Weekend In The City, which I am guilty of downloading early, BUT i purchased Wincing on vinyl and Weekend on CD...TWICE.

Read it for yourself.

Happy New Year!

Drink too much and enjoy the overhyped commerce. I don't know what you did but I watched The Bucket List and then turned on NBC just in time to watch Ryan Seacrest and one million idiots, it was a good time. I'm sure my daughter will wake up way too early tomorrow and I'll drink way too much coffee. Oh yeah, Captain Morgan goes well with Dr. Pepper too.

M. Night makes an R-rated film...

On friday, June 13, 2008, 20th Century Fox will release The Happening. For those of you that were disappointed by The Village and Lady In The Water, I think you should change you're expectations. I believe that M. Night's forte is character development. I find myself very emotionally attached to the characters in his films and felt that Lady In The Water did a fantastic job with that. Anyways, The Happening will be M. Night's first R-rated film and stars Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and John Leguizamo. It supposedly focuses on the struggles of one family amidst a natural disaster.

What I Missed in '06

So Cheesy yet so good

So I'm watching Three Men And A Little Lady when this song comes on. I scoured the web looking for this song. If only popular music sounded like this. How could you not like this song? Seriously... (I do admit, music videos have come a long way)

Always Free at Daytrotter

Last week I noticed that the Daytrotter Sessions Volume 2 was a Top 10 download on eMusic. The main reason for that being that the album was a free download. Seeing that reminded me that there is much more to be downloaded for FREE from Daytrotter, so I headed over to their site and had a field day.

I surfed through 767 songs and downloaded everything I could from my favorite artists, and artists I have been curious about. At least 4 mp3s from each band, all Daytrotter Acoustic sessions. I downloaded 141 songs total...for FREE!

Here is a list of the bands I downloaded...

Aloha, Andrew Bird, AuRevior Simone, Broken West, Cold War Kids, David Bazan, Deerhunter, Dr. Dog, Elvis Perkins, French Kicks, Get Him Eat Him, Grizzly Bear, Honorary Title, Limbeck, Mates of State, Menomena, My Brightest Diamond, Of Montreal, Okkervil River, Owen, Page France, The Rentals, Robbers On High Street, Sea Wolf, Shearwater, Spinto Band, Sunset Rubdown, The Elected, The National, The Ponys, The Slip, Tilly & The Wall, Vampire Weekend, Voxtrot, William Elliott Whitmore, Yeasayer

Yes, all of this and more can be your for FREE. So do your ears a favor and head over to Daytrotter.

Because I Hate You, Tony Romo

I hope the Cowboys make it to the big game and are smacked around by the Patriots. And I don't even like the Patriots. Then I hope the demon seed of Jessica Simpson rises from the ashes of Tony Romo and lives a life of suffering.

Happy Thursday!

Merry Christmas!!!

Non-Music Post

So Jack Nicholson played The Joker and is fantastic at everything but Mr. Brokeback himself, Heath Ledger, is The Joker. I cannot wait to see this. Batman Begins is my favorite comic book movie to this point.

When hence you are surfing the interweb, spend some time over at the website for Arcade Fire (not The Arcade Fire). It's quite splendid.

http://www.arcadefire.com/flash.html

Menomena - Rotten Hell

I realize it's not Tuesday, but really, who cares?

This is the video for the song Rotten Hell, a solid stand-out from this years wonderful album Friend And Foe by Menomena.

Enjoy.

Top Albums of 2007

The National on Brothers & Sisters

As men we are often subject to watching television shows that well....we really would rather not watch.

I found myself in that situation tonight, as I often do on Sunday nights (and 6 other nights a week), watching Brothers & Sisters on ABC. Now, I'm a realistic person. I understand that different shows attempt to go for different audiences. This show has done a wonderful job reeling in the audience of the women kind. Its a prime time soap opera. Every scene pushes the drama to a full climax. In one family someone is going to war, someone is on drugs, someone is cheating on their spouse, someone is gay, someone is running for President, someone is a long lost sister, a father is dead, and someone is Sally Field, just trying to keep the whole thing glued together. Good luck Sally.

Well, as I was sipping my beer and playing with my cell phone, keeping the program fully tuned out, I sadly noticed the song "Start A War" by The National, begin to play in the background of a scene in the show. Gay guy #1 was sad that gay guy #2 wasnt over gay guy #3 and so gay guy number #2 said he was almost ready to be one with gay guy #1 but then gay guy #1 turned the tables and walked out on gay guy #2 because they cant be together as long as he still pines for gay guy #3.

For some reason somebody at ABC thought "Start A War" was the perfect song for these fabulous fellas to share their feelings to. The song carried over into the next scene in which some girl confessed to some other girl that she told on her for cheating. The song probably carried into the next scene in which terrorists took the entire family hostage...but I wouldnt know. I left the room to come and report this news to the world.

I have no problem with The National being on the show, nor do I care what scenes it was in. The majority of the audience watching probably didnt notice or care about what song was playing in the background. They were too busy putting the pieces of drama together. Trying to add it up and make something meaningful of it all.

I do find it amusing however that The National have taken prime time television by storm. First NBC's "Chuck" and now this. Whats next for these guys? I know, Deal Or No Deal.

The one good highlight of Brothers & Sisters tonight was the spectacluar Chevy Chase. His cameo ended tonight, but he ruined the wedding by smoking pot and getting detained by secret service.

Oh, and he dumped Sally Field!!! Bueno!!

Next week she will start putting back the pieces to the family Post-Chevy. Maybe Menomena will provide the soundtrack.

Final Fantasy // First Unitarian Church // 11.09.07

I mentioned in a recent post that Final Fantasy was warming up in the basement of the First Unitarian Church, and that it delayed the set of Jonah Matranga. So here's more about that.

I was aware going into the Jonah Matranga show that Final Fantasy would be playing at the church at almost exactly the same time as Jonah. As I sat and waited for Jonah's show to start, he told the audience that he was going to get a late start because Final Fantasy was doing their soundcheck just underneath our feet. Being a fan, I obviously had to go investigate.

As I walked towards the steps of the basement I could clearly make out the song "The Arctic Circle" the first track from the 2006 album He Poos Clouds. My walk turned into a sprint. I got down to the empty basement just in time to watch Owen play through the song. The lights were up and the only other people in the basement were the sound techs and a roadie or two. I knew that Jonah wasnt going to start his show until Owen was done, so I just decided to park it and watch.

Owen played a number of songs, none all the way through, but he did play them exactly how he would play them live, with all the instruments and the looping. It was really neat to watch him tinker with his equipment to get the sound he wanted. Its a side of most musicians that you dont typically get to see and most people dont realize exists before every show. And a guy like Owen Pallett doesnt just plug in and hope for the best. He obviously cared about providing a perfect sound.

After standing there for about 20 minutes some way too indie kid came up to me and told me I had to wait outside. I was ready to go back upstairs anyway but I still wonder what he would have done if I had said "no, I'm ok".

Final Fantasy has a new album coming out in 2008 called Heartland, the follow-up to 2006's He Poos Clouds. Until then his contributions are all over two stunners this year Neon Bible by Arcade Fire and The Flying Club Cup by Beirut on which you can here his string and vocal contributions.

PASTE Your Own Price

For the past few weeks Paste Magazine has been running an In Rainbows type of promotion to subscribe to their magazine. I've always been a fan of Paste, but at $6 a pop, i usually don't buy it. However it's a quality printed magazine, with relevant info and each issue comes with a CD sampler, which is always a great way to hear a new band.

So got to PASTE and name your own price for a 1 year subscription. I paid a whopping $2 for mine, which is $81 less dollars I paid for In Rainbows.

Jonah Matranga // First Unitarian Church // 11.09.07

Last week I was fortunate enough to see Jonah Matranga play an intimate show at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia. Only 50 tickets were made available for the concert and it was held upstairs in the chapel of the church. Jonah is such a laid back guy. He was just walking around before the show, talking to fans, selling his own merch and just enjoying himself. He had only one guitar, and didnt play on a stage. The entire thing was set up on the floor in the back of the chapel, and the audience was to sit on the floor just in front of him, though my old self was lucky enough to snag a chair.

He got off to a late start because Final Fantasy was doing soundcheck downstairs in the basement, which I will discuss later. Jonah sang into 2 microphones, but never really sang into them at all. He stood at least 3 feet away from them the entire show, and sang sometimes as far as 15 feet way from them. He played for 2 hours, and ran through almost everything on his new album "And", and played tunes from his EP's, OneLineDrawing, New End Original and Far, but he never touched Gratitude. All of the songs sounded great live. Since "And" is still pretty new, its his material I'm least familiar with, but after the show I determined that I need to spend a lot more time with it.

One of the most impressive parts of the show was when Jonah walked away from his microphones and sang loudly straight up into the chapel ceiling. It created a haunting echo, and everyone in the crowd was blown away. He did something in his performance that I had never seen anyone do, but I think was really smart. He had his iPod hooked up to the soundboard, on which he had recorded the instrumental parts to some of his songs. He only used this effect a few times, but it added a full band sound to which Jonah was able to rock out a bit and sing and play along to.

Jonah even provided some comic relief with a few covers. He sang Irreplaceable by Beyonce, which he said was a song that he genuinly thought was a good song and that he had grown to like it because of his daughter listening to it all the time in the car. He also played the into to Don't Stop Believin' by Journey because he said that the chord progression sounded exactly like one of his songs.



All in all the show was amazing. Jonah did a lot of speaking out against the music industry. He seems to be worn out by it all. He stressed many times that so many things that major labels do for artist, artists are able to do by themselves. He even stressed that the best way to communicate with him is through his personal website and not through MySpace. The reason for that being that MySpace is controlled by much higher powers, and can be changed at anytime. Unlike communication through his website, which is obvioulsy controlled by him. I have to personally say that I agreed with him on every point he made. He is a true supporter of music as art, not a business. He even stated that he was going to continue to play music as long as it keeps making him feel good, and that events like the intimate show that night really kept him believing.

Anyway please check out Jonah Matranga. Support the man and buy his record. And the next time you read an article about how radiohead was the first band to allow fans to name their own price for a record...know this...for years Jonah has been selling his abums and his merchandise on a slide scale "pay what you can" at his shows and online. It just goes to show how important music is to him.

Why?

Why are so many bands releasing b-sides albums after only having released one or two albums? Why release a b-sides album at all? Why not do what bands like Radiohead and Bloc Party do and release multiple singles or e.p.'s with b-sides? It's something that can satisfy you're appetite for stuff by the band. When a band releases a b-sides album, you take it as an album most of the time and it's really disappointing cause the songs are all from different recording sessions and there is no cohesion.