Posted on 31 July 2009
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…
Posted on 31 July 2009
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.
Posted on 31 July 2009
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”…
Posted on 31 July 2009
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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…
