Jordan, Steve, and Chad offered up an acoustic take on some oldies from their treasure chest of a back catalog at a session with Alter The Press. "Sonny" has always been one of the more poignant pop-punk songs in my personal memory and "Something I Call Personally" translates surprisingly well when stripped down. I still remember endlessly spinning Sticks and Stones in 8th grade and, though there was a time I considered it poppy trash, I've come to realize how much substance there is on it. I guess that's how good music works. Kudos guys.
Cudderisback, again. This time he's going in over LCD Soundsystem's "Dance Yrself Clean" with fellow Cleveland brethren Chip The Ripper, calling out all those motormouths. One of the track's highlights is how it bookends Christian Bale's famous Terminator freak out with Murphy bashfully confessing "Talking like a jerk/except you're an actual jerk/and living proof". Straight genius, don't know how he comes up with this stuff. Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager is slated to drop sometime this summer...ya'll ready?
Good Old War's newest self-titled record is now up for stream on their MySpace. Have given it a once over, and while it's still solid compared to the majority of trash in the pop airwaves, it's hard to measure up to Only Way To Be Alone (although it'll be hard for anything to top that one in my mind). More thoughts coming soon, but head over there to check it out. Good Old War drops June 1st.
Take Hot Hot Heat's trademark dance-rock sound, add some huge fuzzed out guitar strumming and tempo changes that stop-and-go more than rush hour traffic and you got their newest cut "Goddess of the Prairie". Head over to Spin.com for a listen and an MP3. Future Breeds is out June 8th.
We've been on Dallas for a long time round here, but nice to see him getting a formal introduction to the US of A via Carson Daly. The opening interview really cuts to the core of how humble and genuine of an artist Dallas is...as far as the performance goes, doesn't fall short of any expectation you would have for him. Absolutely kills it. This man's a true musical gem so anyone asking "Dallas who?" right now, repent for your aural sins and go get at Bring Me Your Love ASAP.
Looks who's back...Presumably the first single off Good Ass Job has Yeezy going in on power-trippin over a marching beat propelled by hand claps, chanting, and what sounds like a sample of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man". Although this is the first release from Kanye since 808s & Heartbreak, he's still got plenty of dark in his words. When Dwele (his counterpart on "Flashing Lights") sings "Jumping out the window/letting it all go" all Ye' can say about it is "Yeah this would be a beautiful death". Hard shit. Welcome back, Mr. West!
I've been over the Twilight phenomenon since, well, day one (I leave my vampire needs to True Blood). Still, whoever is in charge of putting their soundtrack together has got a killer pair of ears. I'd say Vampire Weekend's name alone qualifies them for an appearance, as they deliver a rolling, bell-tinged ode to the undead for the series' third installment, Twilight: Eclipse. You can tell the band is trying to sound as far from sunny as possible, not to much avail. The soundtrack, dropping June 10th, also features the likes of Muse, Cee-Lo Green, and The Black Keys. That something you might be interested in?
When Nathan Williams isn't breaking down on stage or getting in nasty bar fights with other indie acts, he makes some awesome beach-ready tunes. Here's two re-worked tracks off his upcoming record King of the Beach, which Spin already tapped as one of the 25 most important releases of this summer. Nothing against the low-fi movement, but glad to hear that Nathan has opted to make things clearer without abandoning the je ne se qua (maybe "loud") aspect of his jams. Grab both these and look for King of the Beach on August 3rd.
"There was a conscious effort going into this that I didn’t want to make the same record again. I already made the same record twice, with the same fucking cover art … It wasn’t overbearing, but I didn’t want to recreate something I’d done. I wanted to make something bigger, something stronger…"
Here's another new segment I'm gonna try to work in here more often. Back when, I used to try and get some words out on some not-so-recent songs or records that still deserve your attention. More recently there's been so much good music coming out (thank god...) that I've strayed away from that. But I'm bringing back those blurbs in a new segment I like to call "Throwback". Let's get to it...
When SoCal emo act My American Heart recorded their 2005 debut album The Meaning In The Make Up, they sounded like another bunch of sad, whiny kids bringing their sorrows to the young, blossoming "scene". As the emo-craze surprisingly caught on with mainstream listeners, My American Heart got left behind, even though their second record (and consequently, final one) Hiding Inside The Horrible boasted some seriously solid tunes.
Look no further than the title-track. They kick it off with dance-floor ready drums and warp-speed riffs that work into a churning wave of rhythm, before thundering into an incredibly heavy and tight chorus. Vocalist Jesse Barrera either got some lessons or took a heavy dose of Sudafed, 'cuz his nasally vocals sound strong and confident, reminiscent of a younger Nic Newsham (of Gatsby's American Dream fame). I'll admit there's nothing earth-shattering about MAH, but when Barrera sings "Don't you get it/I made an attempt/to piece it all together", you can take comfort in knowing that you're listening to a band who wouldn't settle until they pushed their own personal envelope.
Now this is how every live video should look like. Steel Train perform a new cut off their upcoming self-titled record with some top-notch cinematography. As far as the song goes, these guys are really stepping it up. Between the amount of sing-a-longs this and "Turnpike Ghost" yield, Steel Train (June 29th) is shaping up nicely.
Best news I've heard in awhile. Blu and Exile have teamed up on a new song, packing as much soulful goodness into a track as humanly possible. I do miss Mr. Barnes rhymes, but his bashful vocals and E's classical piano lines more than make up for it. Below the Heavens is a personal favorite, so anytime these two link up, it's two thumbs up from this guy. Get at it A-S-A-P.
Another great video off Contra, although for my money, it'll be impossible to top "Giving Up The Gun" both in the video and musical department. The boys gear up in Napoleonic outfits and indulge in the finest food, wine, and girls the Golden State has to offer. Summer is here erybody.
Third time's the charm...sorta. Got another track off Thank Me Later, this one featuring the only woman who would get Michael Scott to blaze on the hook. She's immensely talented and delivers a strong chorus and Drake continues to be solid on every verse, but this one isn't clicking with me yet. I don't know whether if the slower instrumentals are blending together or what, but wasn't jumping on board with this like I did for "Unforgettable" and "Find Your Love". Thank Me Later drops June 15th, although if you've been sticking with me, you should have about half the album in your iTunes library already. Don't say I never did anything for you...
L.A's most galactic producer Flying Lotus throws in some more elements to the cosmic drama he built up on his most recent record Cosmogramma by giving his loyal minions a previously unreleased video for a previously unreleased track via his Twitter. They say the pyramids weren't built in a day, but with all that heave(n), he makes it look like a quick process.
Always been a huge fan of Bill Simmons, even though he gives the term "over-writing" a whole new meaning. In tackling Mikhail Prokhorov, the New Jersey (soon to be Brooklyn) Nets new intriguing and mysterious Russian billionaire owner, he's spot on. I won't spoil too much, but some of the goods include The Sports Guy referring to Prokhorov as Mutant Russian Mark Cuban (MRMC), an outline of the Net's three stage plan to go from bottom-feeder to dynasty, and a professional produced video of the 6'8" Russian doing flips and spins on his jet ski that was paid for out of his own pocket. If that's not enough to get you over there, I don't know what it is.
The Black Keys already backed up "Tighten Up" with Frank the Funkasaurus and a vicious playground throwdown. Now they give it the late night treatment on Letterman, opting for slick suits and some even slicker whistling. Brothers is out now, my thoughts coming soon.
Jack and Evan of Steel Train stopped by Relix's HQ to give their new single an acoustic makeover. Despite Jack's voice cracks bringing back all the fun memories of puberty, all-in-all it's a solid performance. Never completely clicked with the band, but I've loved this song since they unveiled back in February...got a great 50s rock feel. Steel Train drops June 29th..when did self-titled album get hot again?
The guys in Good Old War set up a video camera in some random basement and worked out a solid hour of footage for their adoring fans. Haven't had a chance to check out the set in it's entirety, but kicking it off with a energetic version of "Tell Me" (a personal favorite) and a video of the band recording their upcoming self-titled jaunt got my hangover-plagued morning off to a good start. Good Old War is out June 1st...gonna go give it a listen now. Be jealous.
