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The Arctic Monkeys grew their hair and enlisted the ear (and heavier bass lines and guitar squeals) of Josh Homme for their third album Humbug. In interviews, they’ve mentioned the influence of Black Sabbath on the collection and said they listened to Hendrix and Cream while they recorded it. The brooding, sexy, minor-key “My Propeller” offered a darker, more mature sound and first single “Crying Lightning” teased with sludgy psychedelia. Those are also literally the first two tracks out of the collection’s ten, so the big question is whether or not the Monkeys maintain that incense-burning/black-arts digging vibe all the way through.
Continue reading Premature Evaluation: Arctic Monkeys - Humbug…
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Last fall Diesel celebrated its 30th birthday in Brooklyn with a concert by N.E.R.D., Franz Ferdinand, T.I., and a very pregnant M.I.A. So expectations for last night’s Diesel:U:Music event and its promise of very special guests were high (like planes) (sorry). Jay-Z would probably show up and spit with the Roots? He is in town! Hipsters adore him! But Jay-Z did not show up. Even though everyone was chanting his name all night! Scheduled co-headliner Drake did not show up either. He is nursing a torn ACL. Solange too was a no-show. She had better things to do I guess. But there were plenty of other performers: the Roots, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Heartsrevolution, The Noisettes, Passion Pit, Lykke Li, Theophilus London (with The Very Best’s Esau Mwamwaya), Cobra Starship, Clipse, and … Kanye West. This was not the rapper-turned-furniture blogger’s first surprise cameo at a denim party this year. Should’ve guessed. Santiago Felipe braved the long line and wayward sweaty beards at Webster Hall to bring you these photos.You’ll also find video of Pusha, Malice, and Gayfish on “Kinda Like a Big Deal” after the jump.
Continue reading Diesel:U:Music Feat. Clipse, Kanye, Lykke Li, Roots, Passion Pit @ Webster Hall, NYC 7/30/09…
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The Gossip’s “Heavy Cross” video came complete with sparkly outfits and shadowy modern dancers. This time the outfits are more shiny than sparkly and the folks dancing are wearing roller skates on their feet and balloons on their heads. As the song’s title suggests, it’s also a bit of a love story. Watch Beth deflate the unfaithful at MySpace.
Music For Men is out via Columbia/Sony.
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Au’s current official lineup remains Luke Wyland and Dana Valatka, but each excursion sounds like the work of much larger cast. See, for instance, “Ida Walked Away,” an escalating bit of falsetto-fronted art-pop from the Portland band’s forthcoming Versions EP. When I was talking about Au’s post-Verbs Christmas song, I mentioned that when they don’t sound like Animal Collective they can also approximate a snow or sleet storm (”one that’s all angles and the light refracted off a crystal”). You get that shimmer here, too, as well as an up-swinging tone that might make you think at least momentarily about “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (or some other large hairy mammals).
Continue reading New Au - “Ida Walked Away”…
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The crossover drone duo are known for time spent in galleries and their eclectic collaborations (from Tony Conrad to Attila Csihar to Dennis Cooper to Julian Cope and back), so it’s not surprising to hear Flight Of The Behemoth’s “O)))BOW1″ soundtracking a particularly arty commercial for Norway’s (of course) Anti-Sweden brand jeans. The accompanying imagery’s by Southern California artist Justin Bartlett. You’ll also find Bartlett’s “occult-inspired illustrations” (or did they mean “kvlt-inspired”?) in the first-edition line of the pants. For those of us who wear one pair of jeans until they die, the idea of “first-edition” clothing is totally foreign, but this is still more interesting than your average Levis advertisement.
Continue reading Sunn O))) Soundtrack Grimmest Jeans Commercial Ever…
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This weekend, Swedish pop juggernaut Peter Bjorn & John come to our fair city for a pair of shows opening for Depeche Mode. Their electro-angled Living Thing was a left turn from the irresistible whistles that brought so many to the fold, but we’ve made no secret of digging the savvy pop smarts and ever sticky melodies of this latest incarnation. SO. Since the guys are gonna be in our hood, we thought we’d be good hosts and help them entertain fans at an off-the-radar, late night show a few hours after they rock MSG on Monday. (That’s what good hosts do?) Save the date.
We’re not telling where it’s gonna be just yet, but we can tell you you’ll make some memories. If you wanna come, you’ll have to stay tuned to both the @Stereogum and @PeterBjornJohn Twitters on Monday. We’re gonna tweet with the guys and reveal it all.
[Photo by Johan Bergmark]
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NAME: Tegan & Sara
PROGRESS REPORT: Listening to mixes for their sixth studio album, Sainthood, out October 27. Recorded at Sound City in Van Nuys, CA, and Two Sticks Audio in Seattle, WA.
Tegan & Sara’s 2007 record The Con grew on me, especially when live, acoustic performances from the sisters started appearing on YouTube. Something about the roughness of live sound also added a little grit to their vocals. So it was great to find out that for their followup record Sainthood, the Quin sisters, along with longtime producer Chris Walla, recorded with just five musicians and few overdubs. Sara says that the songs turned out different that she expected. Instead of tracks more intimate, they sounded bigger and more forceful. “I’m feeling like, for the first time, that this is a band record. This really sounds like a band went into a room and played music.” The changes played on some of her neuroses: Death Cab For Cutie drummer Jason McGerr had plenty of time to freak her out with his intense drum faces, (”He stares at you so seriously”), and handing the mixes off to Dave Sardy to work the songs alone messed with their perfectionist tendencies. “Tegan and I are such control freaks, so it’s such a challenge for me to just be listening to everything from my house. We really have maybe an hour to listen to things and pick on details that are sticking out and then sign off on it. It’s terrifying, but it’s a really good exercise. I’m sure my therapist would be really impressed.”
Continue reading Progress Report: Tegan & Sara…
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Seemingly pissed that the “overpriveliged bratty” Gossip Girl “bitch” has a Love-y look and plays in a band, Courtney spewed nonsensical and typographically challenged invective @taylorxmomsen, a Twitter handle that doesn’t exist. At least she picked on a 16 year old in a manner befitting a 16 year old.
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Already hitting a boat, the clubs, and most recently, Jimmy Fallon, the Cambridge, Mass synth-poppers performed stripped-down takes on Manners and Chunk Of Change tracks at Transmissions. Because there can never been too many versions of “Sleepyhead.” Download at MySpace.
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Last night was the first show that Phish has played at Red Rocks in 13 years, and the band opened the show right with “Divided Sky” before launching into a set of loose and well-played tunes from their repertoire. Here’s the setlist:
Set One: The Divided Sky, Ocelot, The Wedge, Poor Heart, The Moma […]
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