Tonight, the uninhibitedly charged, free-jazz inspired duo Thollem and Chase will be performing at Hallwalls as part of their spring tour through the East Coast. Most of us know Brian Chase as the drummer for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, however, outside of the trio, he's recognized as an active veteran within Brooklyn's improvisational experimental scene. He will be joined by pianist Thollem Mcdonus, whose long term musical career has seen to dozens of collaborations and more than 30 self-released albums. Both musicians/composers have idiosyncratically straddled between the worlds of punk and free-jazz having come from classically trained backgrounds, the resulting collaboration has been described as an amalgamation of "blues, punk rock, honky tonk, and folk with abstract maximalism and raw technical integrity." (New Atlantis). They begin at 8:00PM, we'll catch you there.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a band that has been getting loads of attention this summer as their presence has been felt on the festival circuit. Their last album, Mosquito,was not a favorite to many music critics, but in my opinion, they are more defined by their live performances than by their studio catalog anyways; however Mosquito was kinda meh. It certainly didn't make the "buffaBLOG Best of 2013 So Far" list.
Well some of the songs on there are good, and here's a small collection of remixes of songs from that album since it's release back in April.
Overjoy is newly formed LA production duo of DJs, and this song is a summation of all the parties you went to this summer. It adds a great beat and the vibey bassline is warming to the pith!
This remix is a dream scape version of the song "These Paths," with a little bit of a chill Bossa Nova feel.
"Sacrilige," one of Mosquito's few hits, is redone here by Tommie Sunshine and Live City. It is an Electro-House banger that's prefect for ramping up the Droogs for a bit of the old ultra-violence!
A more down tempo version of "Sacrilige," this remix brings out a chill witchy vibe that eerily resembles the original, best for listening to at sunrise.
Why do we color our hair? Why do we pluck our eyebrows, wear
makeup, whiten our teeth, use deodorant, shave, get tattoos, look in the
mirror? Why do we subscribe to religion, eat sensibly, cast away pests from our
homes, smile when we’re weary. Why do we try to understand the music we’re
listening to? Why do we analyze our relationships, rip apart the fabric of our
families, or kill innocent people? Why do we leave our houses, worry about our
parents, wash our food, play the guitar, beg for forgiveness. Why
do we prance around in despair, oppressed, and say, “your sun is our sun.”
When we’re drained by life, when we don’t have clean water
or rain, how do we manage to make art? When we’ve been sucked dry by mosquitoes,
and our thoughts are filled with images of blood and death, dangerous sex, and appalling poverty, how can we taste the sweetness of our
science? How can we delight in the breath of a joke?
I think many of us have asked ourselves questions from a similar kaleidoscope, varying in artistry and in light of misadventure. One of the reasons I
love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is that they like to break down the intellectual romp
inherent in privilege, and just get down and dirty. It’s personal music, and each album they make—including Mosquito—is different in the way people can grow to be over the course of
their lives. Which is not very much. The organic progression the Yeah Yeah
Yeahs’ music has taken aligns with the simple, profound discoveries we make
every day, or every couple of years, when something really happens to us. When
a spark flies from our ears and we look at life sideways and say, you fucking
trickster, I didn’t know it worked that way. I didn’t know, “If it’s all in my
head there’s nothing to fear.” I didn’t know I could be kinder. I thought I was
standing still.
Fat bass-y beats lead Karen O's spectacular voice into the lyric, “With every
breath I breathe, I’m making history,” in “Wedding Song.” The slappy sound of
the drums feels like gently smacking your chest as you stand, gazing concertedly,
in front of live band that’s making the world a better place; or at least, art for the
sake of art. In the case of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Mosquito, it’s music that beautifully narrates a commitment to a
shared reality, in which life is sad and painful sometimes, but very often full
of love and thrills.
“Mosquito” has a progressive rock electric
guitar-and-drums-in-unison sound that makes your blood pump; “Subway” is a quiet
tribute to the preciousness of not-yet-knowing; “Under the Earth” and “Always” sound like opening up a musical box, or placing a dead bird in a shoe box; and
“Despair,” the highlight of the album—and the one most reminiscent of previous
Yeah Yeah Yeahs music (this is, shockingly, their fourth studio album)—is so
full of bath-time rhetoric and shaky window-light, you want to cry. It’s the joy that
closes its lips around a tragedy. Grade: B+
April always represents a coming-out party of sorts for the independent music industry. The winter months are being phased out, and as the days get longer and warmer, the need for new and invigorating music only grows stronger. With the renewal of Spring comes its accompanying melodies to motivate and captivate us, to get us out of the house and out into the parks and onto the patios, to inspire us, so that we too can get the creative juices flowing and start anew. It's a beautiful thing, folks. This month, even before reckoning with the extensive catalog of stellar Record Store Day releases (April 20!), it's a pretty overwhelming list. After finding about 30 candidates that qualified for the top ten most anticipated April releases, it was difficult to deny mentioning some of these albums that are also worth your time, so I've set aside a few honorable mentions before getting into the main inventory. Hold on to your hats.
Ive heard a lot from the Iron & Wine naysayers as of late. Sure, I was among those thinking they hit their stride in the mid to late '00s, that is, until I saw Sam Beam and his ten-piece ensemble perform at Town Ballroom back in the spring of 2011 in support of their excellent fourth studio record Kiss Each Other Clean. The album went largely understated, even as Beam expanded his instrumental output, taking stylistic risks, but meeting every expectation I had, and then some. Concerning the new album, Beam says that he’s gotten rid of some of the “anxious tension” in his songwriting and that the new record “felt like a reward to myself after the way I went about making the last few.” The first cut from the record “Lovers’ Revolution” certainly sounds like nothing we’ve heard from the songwriter before, as it relies heavily on a broader range of jazz-tinged instruments. This is something that could really come to life in a live setting. Listen to the track below.
9. Young Galaxy - Ultramarine
Synths are getting old...again. We've heard our fair share of mediocre synth-pop bands in the past five years or so, and the last thing we need is another drop in the bucket, right? And yet, somehow Canadian synth-rockers Young Galaxy have their own unique stylings to add to the pool. Their third single off the forthcomingUltramarine record, "New Sumer," offers withering synth textures, and while it employs a pretty simple melody, there is a certain directness that becomes widely appealing about the song; it's truly a summer anthem that grows catchier and warmer with each new listen. Check out "New Summer" below and look for Ultramarine to hit stores on April 23.
8. IO Echo - Ministry of Love
Coming off a robust string of shows at SXSW, and after having released their self-titled debut EP last year, LA shoegazers IO Echo will release their debut LP Ministry of Love today via IAMSOUND. If you stream the record over at the Pitchfork Advance platform, you’ll notice the album has a lot of weight to it with lead singer Ioanna Gika dishing out some powerful vocals over feathery synth and percussion splashes. Listen to "When The Lilies Die" below.
7. Rilo Kiley - rkives
The video for Rilo Kiley's latest track "Let Me Back In" off their new compilation of rarities rkives, is a special ode to LA. The video is soaked in nostalgia and strikingly pleasant, featuring old road footage from past shows. No, this isn't technically new material, but for those die-hard Rilo Kiley fans out there this is the first unheard music from the band in six years, and that's something to be excited about, especially when the first cut off the record sounds like it does. rkives is out today. Watch the video for "Let Me Back In" below.
6. Merchandise - Totale Nite LP
Tampa DIY indie-rockers Merchandise have slowly been boiling out of obscurity since they formed in 2008, and recently just broke ground with their well-received LP Children of Desirereleased by the modest Katorga Works label back in July. Announcing their forthcoming album Totale Night (out April 8) earlier this year, the group dropped a pretty excellent single with “Anxiety’s Door,” a upbeat post-punk anthem. Listen to the track below.
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito
When I first saw the album artwork for Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ new album Mosquito, it was a classic case of judging a book by its cover. Holy shit is that artwork bad. I ignorantly decided for an instant that Yeah Yeah Yeahs were no more, until I heard the wonderful first track off the record “Sacrilege.” Karen O’s vocals are soulful and build with an unfurling choir of singers and as she repeats the title over and over. As the track bustled in its sonic irony, I forgot all about how terrible the artwork is. The album comes out April 16. As for me, I’ll be picking up the record via iTunes, ‘cause there’s no way I’ll be able to physically take that record off my shelf and expose it to my delicate pupils. Listen to "Sacrilege" below.
4. The Flaming Lips - The Terror
I had the opportunity to see The Flaming Lips a few weeks ago play a packed show at SXSW, but I have to admit, it was not at all the amazing performance that I was expecting. When frontman Wayne Coyne first came out on stage decked-out in a strange outfit that featured tubes of light and a baby doll strapped to his chest, I was pretty stoked, until he mentioned to the thousand’s attending the show at Austin’s Auditorium Shores that he would be playing all new songs from the forthcoming record The Terror. I don’t know what it is about shows where a band plays only material nobody has heard yet, but they tend to be pretty underwhelming in my experience, especially when they’re of the experimental, hard-to-translate-live, brand of music that The Flaming Lips have been going for lately. While the show wasn’t exactly stellar, it was mostly interesting for its weirdness, and for the fact that it seems that Coyne’s songwriting is only getting trippier, which is good, right? The Terror is out on April 16 in the US via Warner Bros. Records.
3. James Blake - Overgrown
James Blake captivated us back in 2011 with his excellent debut self-titled LP, and with his forthcoming record Overgrown set for release on April 9, it’s hard to know what to expect for the UK musician. And while 2011’s Enough Thunder EP provided some highlights with a collaborative track with Bon Iver entitled “Fall Creek Boys” and a truly gorgeous cover of Joni Mitchell’s perennial “A Case of You”, other tracks proved to be more unimpressive with a closer focus on a more downtempo, minimalist approach. However, Blake’s latest single, the soulful “Retrograde”, shines brightly though the clouds, and provides enough hope that his sophomore full-length will be worth our while. Watch the video for "Retrograde" below.
2. The Knife - Shaking the Habitual
Point-blank, The Knife is making some of the most interesting and evocative music of the year so far. With choice cuts "A Tooth For An Eye" and "Full of Fire" breaking some serious ground with their lyrical and textural variations, there's no telling how awesome The Knife's forthcoming album Shaking The Habitual will be in full. Wait, yes there is, because you can stream the album right now over at Pitchfork Advance and decide for yourself. What are you waiting for? Go have a listen! And watch the video for "A Tooth For An Eye" below.
1. Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze
Time and time again Kurt Vile has shown off his damned good songwriting abilities, and judging by the sound of the lead title track off his forthcoming record Wakin on a Pretty Daze, it looks like we have another record by the Philly folk-rocker to run out and buy. As always, Vile’s gentle sough moves effortlessly among floaty, blissed-out guitar licks, and while his approach hasn’t changed much, there’s a fullness to this track in particular that seems to liberate all the potential energy that Vile has been accumulating over his past several releases. If you’re still unsure how you feel about the first cut, get a first listen of the record via NPR, who is streaming the record in-full on their website right now. Listen to "Walkin on a Pretty Day" below and watch a short mini-documentary on the making of the album artwork for the LP.
This week is partially me accounting for the fact that I missed last week (sorry). I wanted to make sure I had that Phoenix song in there because it is an excellent return for a band that has not recorded anything in a few years. This week also sees a rather big return with a new single from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who have been absent for a few years. The other tracks fill out my usual wheel houses and are further evidence that my taste is deeply prejudiced to certain genres. For that, I half-heatedly apologize. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Sacrilege:" The Yeah Yeah Yeahs returned this week with a song that channels The Rolling Stones at their most baroque (see: "Gimme Shelter). Produced in part by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, "Sacrilege" continually ratchets up the intensity until Karen O is singing/screaming over a gospel choir.Who doesn't love the sudden interjection of a gospel choir? Hopefully, this album's music more than makes up for its horrible cover art.
Phoenix - "Entertainment:" I know I am a week late with this
but I didn't do a column last week and had the write up for this ready anyway.
So, yea...The largest complaint one could lob against the first single
off of Phoenix's upcoming album is that it sounds exactly like Phoenix.
"Entertainment" capitalizes on the French group's ability to work within
the soaring and anthemic while mixing in somewhat despondent lyrics. A
recent article in New Yorker revealed that the group recorded this and the rest of the new album on the console used to record Michael Jackson's Thriller.
Yellowbirds - "Young Men of Promise:" Each week, there should be a point in this column where it becomes obvious where my musical preferences lie, and that I have a knack for ferreting out a wide range of indie pop from the week's releases. This week it is the new single from Yellowbirds. "Young Men of Promise" is a simple and bouncy psych-pop trackto remind you of sunnier days while we continue to endure this lousy Smarch weather. Small Black - "Free at Dawn:" Off of their upcoming album, set to be released later this year, "Free at Dawn" opens with a slowly building synth, with vocals joining in and the beat hitting after a minute and a half. From there the song coasts along, ending in a gentle crescendo. Saturday Looks Good to Me - "Invisible Friend:" I am really curious about how it takes certain tracks weeks and months to be billed as "new." "Invisible Friend" has apparently been out for 3 months but no one seemed to notice it until this week. Regardless, this new single is an uptempo and catchy song anchored by sugary female vocals and jangly guitars.
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