Snow Days

I feel a bit guilty distracting myself from the research article that I should be writing, but the moment's just too perfect. The first snow of the year is one of my all-time favorite sights, so I'll suffice to say I'm pretty excited right now.

I just got ahold of Real Estate's first full-length release, and it's meandering soundscapes are, honestly, a great soundtrack to any whether - snow, sun, rain - I can see it all working. One of my favorite tracks from the album just happened to be the final cut on the album, "Snow Days" - I've been humming it for a few days now.

Okay, intermission over. Check out the song and watch the snow fall. I'll be busy looking up citations on schema theories.

Real Estate - Snow Days

Lindstrom - Little Drummer Boy

For me, Thanksgiving officially marks the beginning of the time that it is socially acceptable to listen to Christmas music. That gives a full month for you to get all of your holiday pep in, without giving someone like me the desire to land one square on your jaw. After that, it's icy-cold post-rock until March, when you're allowed to listen to music with words again. But I digress.

Lindstrom must have been able to read my mind, because on Friday he posted a teaser of his latest piece: a 5-minute edit of his 40 minute long rendition of "Little Drummer Boy." I had heard about this a few weeks ago and was quite intrigued. He's no stranger to marathon music: his last album, Where You Go I Go Too (Smalltown Supersound) was sixty minutes long and had three tracks. It was an absolutely fantastic blend of minimal techno, space disco, and all kinds of other pseudo-dance jbberjabber terms that make other people want to punch me in the face for using them (and rightfully so). In short: I was interested to see what he could do with the song.

I should have seen this coming. Lindstrom foregoes the nuance of his previous work and pounds a MIDI-esque marching snare into your skull, while the major-key melody we all know gets a cheesy church chior treatment. And that's about it. There's some other space-synthy noises going on, but they don't really do much to remedy the fact that he chose to use a synth handbell choir for the song's coda. Now that I think about it, I don't really know what I was expecting that made me so excited.

I'm still holding out, though, because Where You Go I Go Too was that good - and because his upcoming album with Christabelle, Real Life Is No Cool (which will come with the full-length take of "Little Drummer Boy" as bonus material) is looking pretty promising. Maybe the genius lies in the other 35 minutes. Or maybe I'll just have to acknowledge that everyone makes mistakes sometimes, and move on.

Check it out, if you're still interested:
Lindstrom - "Little Drummer Boy (Edit)"

Adam Arcuragi's "Death Gospel"

Philly-based singer-songwriter-poet-playwright Adam Arcuragi released his sophomore album, I Am Become Joy (High Two Records) in September, but you probably wouldn't know that by listening to it - his music is definitely aiming for something timeless (as he explains here). The songs focus on things that are part of our human experience: death, faith, community - things that you wouldn't exactly call a "flash in the pan."

While you're right when you think that this could quickly turn self-indulgent, Arcuragi has a knack for insight and narrative that invites the listener in, because after all, we're all in this together. The sense of community and celebration is heightened with choruses of friends, (Arcuragi spent his formative years in a Southern Protestant church chior), horn arrangements, and of course, Arcuragi's own full, joyous voice and hearty strumming. I Am Become Joy's lead single, "She Comes to Me," as well as their take of "Bottom of the River" on La Blogotheque's Take Away Show are prime examples of Arcuragi and his band of merrymakers hitting all the right buttons.

ADAM ARCURAGI - The bottom of the river
by lablogotheque

Adam Arcuragi - She Comes To Me

Also check out Adam Arcuragi on MySpace.

videooooooos

So instead of a post where I say a bunch of stupid things about some band, I'm just gonna post some music videos that I've come across recently that I really like.

To get us started, we've got a rather long one, it's Thin Lizzy playing "The Cowboy Song" directly into "The Boys are Back in Town" live in Sydney,Australia in 1978. The transition between songs is great in so many ways.


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Next is another really long video, but I really suggest at least watching the first song. It's Part One of concert that Neil Young did for BBC in 1971, you can watch the rest of it on YouTube as well. He starts it off with "Out on The Weekend", WOO.


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Next onto some newer things, here is a video of NJ's own Real Estate who's debut, self-titled, full-length is out next Tuesday, November 17th on Woodsist. This video was shot by Chocolate Bobka in the middle of the summer at an outdoor show and the sun is setting as the band plays. So it's pretty much the opposite of the weather these days. Anyway, they play a reverb-drenched version "Green River" right into "Suburban Beverage" (yea it's another long one).

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This isn't really that new either but I still think it's worth a look. It's a beautiful fan video that I came across the other day for Deerhunter's "White Ink" from their album, Cryptograms. The song is just a mellow ambient drone but the visual is really captivating.

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I'm gonna change gears a little bit, here's blues musician Furry Lewis performing "When I Lay My Burden Down" in a very singular style. Via Naturalismo.


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Finally, we have Santo & Johnny performing their 1959 hit and one of my favorite songs "Sleep Walk". It's great to be able to see the steel guitar playing.

Too Bad It's November.

One thing that I find confusing is how the music that is declared the soundtrack to a season (most recent example that comes to mind: glo-fi/shitgaze/whatever this past summer) gets released at the right time to listen to it. Sure, it makes sense to the listener - it's summer and I'm listening to music that sounds like summer. The thing is that that music was written who knows how long ago in who knows what season. My point here is that there has been a salvo of new songs just released now - right in time for Thanksgiving - that would seem perfect for a summer dance party. In a way, maybe that makes more sense. You don't care about this, you just want the music. And I will provide!

First up: Air France's new remix of Saint Etienne's "Spring." This song is available as a bonus track on the reissue of Saint Etienne's 1991 album Foxbase Alpha. It's pure Balearic goodness and if you've read this blog before, you know that's all I need to give a track a thubs up. Check it:


Next: The first single from Lindstrøm's new project, a collaborative album with the singer Christabelle. The album will be out January 19 on Smalltown Supersound. It will be called Real Life is No Cool and that is awesome. The song, "Baby I Can't Stop" is sure to bring out the diva in you, either in album form (which reminds me of MJ's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Titular coincidence? Discuss.) or in the form of the Aeroplane Remix (pitch bent synths never fail). Both are available over at Lindstrøm's MySpace.


Finally: "Love Cry," the first single from Four Tet's forthcoming album, There Is Love In You (January 26 on Domino). Four Tet has been a truly awesome laptop-wielding experimental producer of the past decade, and it doesn't look like he's stopping anytime soon. Perhaps one of his most accessible, four-on-the floor type songs, "Love Cry" is undeniably catchy and undeniably groovy, but (thankfully) undeniably Four Tet. Again, check it out at his Myspace.

In conclusion: invite me to the beach-themed party you will inevitably have this month.

DEATH

In 1974, Detroit based proto-punk band Death began recording an album for Columbia Records. When Columbia insisted that Death change their name, the band refused and the album that they had recorded was never released. Prior to this past February, only 500 copies of Death's only self-released 45 were in existence. However Drag City unearthed the recordings originally intended for release on Columbia Records. The songs strongly echo their influences: the Stooges and MC5 in particular. But these recordings still sound remarkably fresh and Death was certainly ahead of their time, sounding at times like a slightly heavier Thin Lizzy and at other times predicting the blistering pace of punk rock. "Keep On Knocking" would not sound too out of place on classic rock radio. It has taken 35 years for the world to finally take notice of Death but the band has even begun to tour in support of their record.

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xx

The XX are a cool new band out of London that have really been grabbing my attention lately. These youngsters have definitely internalized the lessons of pop R'n'B from the past two decades, but also things much more atmospheric and cerebral. This makes for a listening experience that's equal parts sexy and spooky, which is weird at first. Then it's really, really cool.

The XX's biggest achievement is their use of negative space - the starkness of the black and white art should clue you in on that. The first part of "Basic Space," a standout from the record, relies on nothing more than a clicking drumbeat and barely-sung vocals. When the chorus hits - adding little more than a snare and a few keyboard notes - you'd think someone just let Timbaland in the door.

This kind of tension and release is the dominant theme of the record, from the minimal addition and subtraction of the instruments to the shared male/female vocal dutites - a male and a female who definitely have something to say to each other.

The XX's new (and debut) record, xx, is availalbe now on Young Turks.

The XX - Basic Space
The XX - Shelter

gurls gurls gurls

So yeah, they've been the recipients of ample blog hype for over a year at this point, but I just wanted to remind everyone that Girls' Album is out now. There are a number of highlights (the slow burning "Headache" and "Hellhole Ratrace" with it's noisy coda spring to mind) but I would like to specifically recommend the new single "Lust For Life." Lyrically, it's a depressing song that has a fairly optimistic sentiment embedded within it. Musically, it's all sunny harmonies and propulsive percussion from these San Franciscan Girls.

Girls - MYSPACE
Purchase HERE

affizione

Hello world, my name is Ryan and from now on Mike and I will both posting on the UD Review Music Blog. This is a good thing, it means more updates, more music, and more content. But let's get right to the reason for my post tonight.

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This fascinating find comes straight from one of my favorite blogs: the time machine-like airform archives. I came across this when it was posted over the summer, but something about the concept has kept it in the back of my mind ever since. The Luray Caverns are located just outside the town of Luray, VA and the cave is covered in stalagmites and stalactites. However some of the stalactites in this cave were converted into the Great Stalacpipe Organ, a playable organ where the stalctites function as the pipes of the organ, way back in 1956. For more information on how it works check out the original post.


Many field recordings have been done over the years, however airform archives has found one especially captivating. The 7" vinyl recording that you can hear over there is practically alive; you can hear the pops and crackles of the old 45 very clearly. This is not high fidelity listening. However, if you sift through the static a little bit, the sounds of the organ are immense because the cavern amplifies all of the music. You'll be able to recognize some of the tunes; "My Country, Tis Of Thee", and a personal childhood favorite "Beautiful Dreamer" amongst others. The end result is a nostalgia-inducing, utterly calming experience and one well worth at least a brief listen. It is not often that you come across something so timeless, especially considering the high pace of music consumption that is propagated by blogging. It is additionally astonishing to consider the design of this instrument which is a piece of artwork itself. A sublime pairing of mother nature and human ingenuity.

On a non-music related note, I highly recommend perusing through the rest of the airform archives blog. It is filled with beautiful art, poems, collages, pictures, architecture, design, literature and music that have been largely forgotten by time. The grand collection of art and other oddities really is quite like a time machine and it's extremely easy to get lost for an evening in the archives.

"Surf Solar" Video

Came across this sweet video for Fuck Buttons' new single "Surf Solar" today. It's from their forthcoming album Tarot Sport, due out Oct. 12 on ATP. The video has a lot of sweet moving shapes and colors, which slowly layer on top of each other, until you realize that you went from looking at footage of water to the worst nightmare of Las Vegas you could ever have. The music pretty much follows suit, beginning with something that sounds like a vacuum cleaner, and ending with something that sounds like a bass drum and a hundred vacuum cleaners. Right on.



Now listening to: Ratatat - S/T (2004)

Califone - "All My Friends are Funeral Singers"

Blogging about Califone seems to be a bit contradictory. Their aesthetic - one rooted in subtlety, pensiveness, and all things sepia tone - is pretty much at odds with the here-today-gone-tomorrow world of internet hype. I'm not really anticipating any tweets like"ZOMG the new Califone is SOOOO good!!" Especially when Major Lazer is probably doing something that involves more neon colors than you've ever seen before.

Califone's latest, "Funeral Singers," from the forthcoming All My Friends Are Funeral Singers (Due Oct. 6 on Dead Oceans) is a perfect testament to their aesthetic, relying on little more than an acoustic guitar (that sounds like it may or may not have rust on the strings - sweet!) and singer Tim Rutili's gravel voice. Thanks to said gravel, the lyrics are a bit difficult to decipher, but if the mood of the band is any indicator, things are looking pretty melancholy today. In the best way possible. Given the release date and what I'm hearing in this song, it looks like I'm going to be enjoying many cool nights this fall with a cup of cider and All My Friends Are Funeral Singers. And the next fall and the next.

Califone - Funeral Singers

Now listening to: Q and Not U - No Kill No Beep Beep (2000)

HEALTH - Get Color

L.A.'s favorite noise-punk spaz rockers (sorry No Age) are back! Not that they ever went away - HEALTH's self-titled debut dropped in 2007 to rave reviews, with plenty of Liars and Boredoms references to boot. 2008 brought the HEALTH/DISCO remix album that melted slabs of HEALTH's caustic riffs with slinky disco beats - it really shouldn't have worked, but for some reason did.

What's better is that they've taken the lessons of DISCO to heart (at least a little bit) on their latest record, Get Color. Lead single "Die Slow" is about as close to pop as these guys will get, with disco hi-hats underpinning alternating bursts of synth squall that function as a hook, and an icy guitar that kicks in for the "chorus." Generally, Get Color works much better as a whole album than HEALTH, giving up the thirty to sixty second grindcore bursts that popped up on their debut. Tracks like "Death+" take their time building intricate loops of sound, while others like "In Heat" bring back the breakneck speeds of their debut. The coda of "We Are Water" and the ensuing drum-less (what?) chillout of "In Violet" give the end of the album the feeling of rolling slowly back to the loading platform after just being whipped around for 20 minutes on the world's nosiest rollercoaster.

It's great to see a promising debut bloom into a more fully-realized sophomore effort. HEALTH's play music like they're going to burn out any minute from now, but it looks like they just might be able to keep up this pace for a while.

HEALTH - Die Slow
HEALTH - We Are Water

Now listening to: Jose Gonzales - In Our Nature (2007)

Big Moon.

I'm a big fan of full moons. Tonight is a particularly good one. I don't know if this is true, but I heard somewhere that the moon is brighter in September. Either way, I think it's a nice thought.

Tonight's large, glowing slice of cheese in the sky got me thinking about a great song from a great album. "Big Moon" is a song on Arthur Russell's Love is Overtaking Me (2008), a collection of folk/country/rock songs he recorded between 1973 and 1990 that were never previously released.

If you're unfamiliar with Mr. Russell, I'd highly recommend poking around this site a bit.

Sadly, the internet gods weren't in the mood to give me a stream of "Big Moon," so you'll have to settle for another knockout song from the record, "I Couldn't Say it to Your Face." Life is hard, right?

Arthur Russell - I Couldn't Say it to Your Face

Now listening to: Mogwai - My Father, My King (2001)

"House of Flying Daggers" Music Video

Yep, my Wu obsession is still going strong. Here's the newly released music video for Raekwon's "House of Flying Daggers" that I posted about last week. It turns each of the artists who are on the song into kung-fu masters of different styles. Awesome.

Oh, but be careful if you're turned off by gratuitous violence.

Was my love of music doomed from the very moment of its inception? I think so.

Here's another TMT feature article that does a great job of discussing music from a really unique vantage point. This one aims to understand our "compulsion to hear again." That is, "Why are we compelled to hear the same song a hundred times when there is so much music unheard?" The author decides that if we hear a song that we like, we are compelled to listen to it again, in the hope that we will like it equally (repeat our experiece) the second time. But the catch is that the second time will never be as good "because of the idealizing work of memory" and the inability of reality to live up to our idealized memories. Sound familiar, college students? It's all based off some theories by a philosopher named Kierkegaard.

The article is really well-written, name-checks Lightning Bolt, and has a really sweet picture at the top (which I stole for this post). All pluses in my book. Check it out.

Link: A Eulogy for Transcendental Music Experience: An Article After Kierkegaard’s Repetition

Now listening to: Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)

Raekwon the Chef - "House of Flying Daggers"

Recently I've found myself revisiting the Wu-Tang Clan's back catalog and wishing I owned some kung-fu movies. I think it's all because of this song. "House of Flying Daggers" is the latest track that's available from Raekwon the Chef's long-rumoured Only Built for Cuban Linx II, which will finally be released (cross your fingers!) on September 8. In the years since the entire Clan dropped Enter the Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers) (1993), their output both as a group and as individuals has been pretty scattershot. We're all in luck, though, because this track comes through with all of the things that make a solid Wu song: a sound clip from an old kung-fu movie at the beginning, a beat that reminds you of an army of skeletons running drills, a slew of hungry verses from other Clan members (Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, and Method Man), and a sound clip from an old kung-fu movie at the end. I don't know what a Cuban Link is, but I don't care - I just want to listen to this song again.

Raekwon the Chef - "House of Flying Daggers"

Now listening to: Cave - Psychic Psummer (2009)

Dodos - Time to Die and "Fables"

Sorry - I've been doing a lot of things this summer, but posting here hasn't really been one of them. There's been a ton of sweet stuff that's come out in the past few weeks, so I'm going to do my best to catch up on all of that. Hopefully I can keep up with catching up.



I know the term "freak folk" is overused, but I think if there were an appropriate time to use it, it would be when talking about The Dodos. These San Fransisco weirdos play acoustic guitars and drums with a big emphasis on rhythm - probably because their guitar player studied West African Ewe drumming and their drummer proper used to be in a prog-metal band. Their second album, Visiter (2008) was one of my favorites of last year. And now, little over a year later, they're back with Time to Die. The band has made the entire thing available for stream here and is definitely worth a listen.

"Fables,"the first official single from the record actually tones down the weird a bit, but boosts the melody and overall catchiness, finding itself somewhere in the realm of The Shins. I dare you not to sing along with the chorus the second time it comes around. Another plus - the album cover looks like terazzo, and I love that stuff.

The Dodos - "Fables"

Now listening to: Cass McCombs - Catacombs (2009)

Andrew W.K. Is Awesome.

So the internet has been blowing up with hilarious Andrew W.K. videos recently, and who am I to stop it? The man is always having a good time. He loves to party, headbang, wear white all the time, play classical piano, and even though he got is break being a musician, he goes on "tour" as a motivational speaker.

So, first up, we have Andrew W.K. on a late night comedy-disguised-as-news show (as opposed to news-disguised-as-comedy a la Stewart or Colbert) that's on super early in the AM on Fox news:

(Thanks to George.)

Next is Andrew W.K. on a local Fox channel as guest weatherman.

(Thanks to Adam and videogum.)

Third, we have Andrew W.K.'s performance at Gathering of the Juggalos '08.

(Thanks to Matt.)

And finally, Andrew W.K. has a new show that just premiered on Cartoon Network. It involves kids, explosives, and Andrew W.K. Here's the trailer for that:


Look awesome? Thought so.

Okay, I'm done. Sorry this post didn't have much to do with music. My excuse? Andrew W.K. is awesome.

Now listening to: Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness (2005)

If Feedback’s Nonlinear, It Can’t Be Straight

Here's an interesting article I just found on Tiny Mix Tapes. It's titled "If Feedback's Nonlinear, It Can't Be Straight: Noise Music as Queer Expression," which is an awesomely witty title if I've ever heard one. The basic argument it makes is that both traditional concepts of tonality and traditional concepts of sexuality are arbitrary, meaning that we have similar misconceptions about noise music and homosexuality. Since they can relate to something that is seen as being outside the social norms, it follows that the noise genre attracts more homosexuals per capita then traditional music genres. It's definitely an interesting theory, and a good way to link two things that we as young, socially-conscious music lovers can relate to, in a way that I surely never could have.

FYI there are a number of references to lyrics about homosexuality, sadomasochism and other kinds of "deviant" sex. You've been warned. Skip reading the article if those are things that make you uncomfortable.

Now listening to: Dodos - Time to Die (2009)

jj?

So, you're all already aware that I'm a big Air France fan. When their No Way Down EP dropped last summer, their shimmering, Baleric-tinged songs were billed as the humid summertime answer to their Sincerely Yours labelmates, The Tough Alliance.

And this summer, here comes jj, whose new EP, jj n° 2, is billed as the humid summertime answer to their Sincerely Yours labelmates, Air France. Hm. I didn't know Air France became an electroclash act in the past year. In my humble opinion, The Tough Alliance is already pretty clearly dance-lite, and being two generations lite-er than that is going to have you walking a pretty fine line.

All this is to say: I really want to like jj, if only because of their association to Air France and Sincerely Yours. But I don't know if my stomach is tough enough to handle something that sounds this much like Enya. Other things that I'm torn about regarding this record include the lead single "Ecstacy" that samples Lil Wayne's "Lollipop," and that cover art up there (cool concept, but anything with a pot leaf on it loses major cred points, cause that's lame). I'll keep you updated and let you know if this is a turning point in my life, in which Sleepy Hollow becomes my favorite radio program.

Decide for yourself:
jj - Ecstacy
jj - From Africa to Málaga

Now listening to: jj - jj n° 2 (2009)

The Spot 06/28/09

For those of you who come to UD from out of state, you might be a bit skeptical of the music scene in the lil state of Delaware. It must come to you as a relief, then, when I say that Delaware ain't doing too bad. The hot spot right now is quite literally called The Spot, located on Market Street in Wilmington. It's a non-profit joint that also doubles as an art gallery, hangout and practice space for some bands, and even a bicycle repair/education co-op. The icing on the cake is that since it's not for profit, all of the shows at The Spot are free to enter - though donations are encouraged to keep the place running and help out touring bands. I went up there on Sunday to see a show that was definitely worth the trip up I-95.

The first band that I saw was One Short Fall from New Jersey. I don't know much about pop-punk, but I do know that they played fast, loud, and did a Rancid cover that everyone seemed to love. And their bass player was awesome.

Next was Caves, Caverns from Richmond, VA. They played some seriously avant stuff that I was a big fan of. Awesome things they did included: running a tape Walkman through effects pedals, playing a theremin, and using something that looked like a hubcap as part of their drum kit. However, one problem with experimental soundscapes like theirs is that they frequently run the risk of becoming too jammy. While Caves, Caverns didn't ever overstay their welcome, I think adding a little structure to things would be very becoming for them. Check them out if you like music that probably has sounds only dogs can hear.


Third was Newark's own Holy Dirt. I had heard about them a number of times before, but never had a chance to see them. I was fully expecting them to be loud, but I wasn't actually prepared for how LOUD they were. For only having two members (guitars and drums), H0ly Dirt sure knows how to make the dirtiest racket around. Highly recommended for people (like me) like Big Muff pedals, riffs, hitting drums really hard, and more riffs.


The last band to play was another act from Newark called Big Girl. Despite being another guitar/drums duo, they were about as far away from Holy Dirt as you could get without unplugging your guitar. Where Holy Dirt made simple motifs powerful with volume and repetition, Big Girl turned the volume down and let the chops speak for themselves. The fantastic guitar work was made even better by some fantastic loop pedal work, which always wins brownie points in my book. One thing: they don't have a singer, and I know that turns some people off. I'd encourage a listen, though, because my money says they'll hold your attention despite the lack of a pretty frontman (no offense to the two handsome gentlemen, er, big girls).

In short, The Spot is hot, and is definitely worth a visit if you're into new and interesting bands from around the area. I'd recommend the show on July 24, but that's only because my band is playing.

Now listening to: David Bowie - Young Americans (1975)

Japandroids, Air France, (more) Modest Mouse.

If you're like me, the list of "Stuff I Like" includes loud music, beer, and girls. From the sounds of it, then, Japandroids are a lot like me. Their album Post-Nothing came out earlier this year and is 45 minutes of pure sweaty-basement-show-in-the-middle-of-summer energy. In the most awesome way possible, the record sounds like it was recorded in a tin can and the vocals were quite literally phoned-in. Nearly every track is a highlight, which means when they did a session at KEXP studios earlier this week, they played some of the highlights from the album. One complaint, though: KEXP's fancy slick studio removes most of the dirt from their sound, making them sound a little bit bored. Singer Brian King even sounds like he's trying to, um, actually sing, as opposed to the madman's howl he managed to nail on the record. Check out the video below, and then check out the link to your new summer anthem "Young Hearts Spark Fire."



Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire


Speaking of music for summer, Air France has a new easy-breezy tune on their MySpace (follow the link) called "GBG Belong to Us," whatever that means. Regardless, this one is perfect for sipping iced tea in your back yard with some burgers on the grill. Their No Way Down EP (2008) was the soundtrack to my past summer, and is definitely worth checking out.


And last but not nearly least, I've got an update on the Modest Mouse 7" that I mentioned previously. The b-side to "Autumn Beds" is out, and it's everything that I had hoped for. "Whale Song" supposedly has been a live staple for awhile, and it's drawn out (read: awesome) instrumental passages are definitely indicative of that. There's lots of squealing electric guitars, rock-steady bass, and a pretty impressive vocal showing by Mr. Isaac Brock. Just when I thought that they might not "got it" anymore, it has been made quite clear to me that they still "got it".

Modest Mouse - Whale Song

Now listening to: New Order - Low-Life (1985)

Music Thing Blog.

I know this isn't really something contemporary, but I think it's worth mentioning anyway. The Music Thing blog is a really great blog about all kinds of weird stuff that musicians do. It focuses mostly on synths and electronics (it takes a certain level of nerddom to get through all that stuff) but there are a lot of really good gems to be found there, too.

Here's a few to start:
Yes, that dude is totally drumming on cheese
25 ways to kill a piano.
Guitar made of cocaine.
25 great music-making tips from musicians.

Sadly, Music Thing is no longer being updated, but it's got about two years of posts on there, which is enough to keep me busy when I'm trying to ignore doing something else.

Now listening to: The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile (1967)

New Modest Mouse Single - "Autumn Beds"

You might know Modest Mouse from the two years of your life where you obsessively tracked down each and every one of their releases (me) or from hearing "Float On" the radio a bunch in the summer of 2004 (most reasonable people). Either way, you might be interested to hear that they've got a new single out called "Autumn Beds." This limited-edition 7" will be released this Saturday, and there will only be 4,000 of them.

"Autumn Beds" doesn't really sound like like the stuff that made people like me die-hard fans (check out The Lonesome, Crowded West (1996) for that), or even the stuff that put them on Top 40 radio. It's a pretty subdued number, considering the seven-member band they are now. Mostly relying on guitar, banjo, and a repeated mantra about "sleeping in our autumn beds" (always waxing philisophical about death, aren't you, Isaac?), the song is nice enough, and ends before wearing out it's welcome.

Sounds good for now, but hopefully they get some teeth back for their next full-length.

Link: Modest Mouse - Autumn Beds

Now listening to: New Order - Brotherhood (1986)

Sunset Rubdown @ The Black Cat 6/14/09

Conicidentally, I went to see Sunset Rubdown last night at the Black Cat in Washington, DC, just as I'm starting this blog. I guess it's only seems fitting that my first entry with content is about one of my favorite artists. Sunset Rubdown is the brainchild of Spencer Krug, also of Wolf Parade, and, to a lesser extent, Swan Lake. Spencer's been one of my favorites since Wolf Parade dropped Apologies to the Queen Mary back in 2005.

Sunset Rubdown started out as a solo bedroom recording project for Krug, and has steadily grown with each release into the living, breathing (more like fire-breathing), five-person band of gypsies that it is now. They're on tour promoting they're awesomely titled new album, Dragonslayer, which finds the band making a concerted effort to be a real rocking and rolling band, instead of the hyper-literate weirdos they were before. Turns out they're just really loud hyper-literate weirdos now, and that's absolutely fine by me.

They've added a fifth member who provides an extra backbone on bass and percussion. Combined with Krug playing more electric guitar than ever (he playes keyboards exclusively in Wolf Parade, and I'd only ever seen him play acoustic guitar before last night), the latest record is probably the closest to Wolf Parade they've come yet. But if you're worried that they might be trying to make a run for the big time, fear not, the album comes fully equiped with song titles "Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!" that will keep them plenty far from playlists with Lady Gaga on them.

Oh, right, the show.

Elfin Saddle and The Witchies opened. Elfin Saddle was pretty cool avant stuff, with two songwriters (one singing in Japanese) and an entire pawn shop full of instruments, including accordian, recorder, upright bass, and plain ol' guitar. I was less than impressed by The Witchies. Their off-kilter drums and spacey synth and organ sounds didn't quite mesh with the full-throttle guitar playing of the singer.

Sunset Rubdown, of course, did not disappoint. After opening with a tension-building take on "The Empty Threats of Little Lord" from their first full-length, Shut Up I Am Dreaming (2006), they proceeded to blow the roof off the place with two Dragonslayer cuts, "Idiot Heart" and "Black Swan." The set included five songs from the new album, a few from the previous two albums, and true to Krug's insanely prolific nature, a song that's newer than the album that hasn't even come out yet (Dragonslayer is officially out 6/23 on Jagjaguar Records). The encore pulled exclusively from Shut Up, a nice reward for those of us who are long-time fans (Long-time? Really? That record came out three years ago.)

Okay, breathe, Mike, you're done now.

If there's a band or record or song you think I should check out, or if you want to tell me to cut it with the fanboy crap, or if you'd just like to drop a line, all correspondence can be sent to udreviewmusic@gmail.com.

Links:
Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart (from Dragonslayer)
Sunset Rubdown - Winged/Wicked Things (from Random Spirit Lover)

Now listening to: Sam Cooke - Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964

A new career in a new town.

Okay, not really.

Hi, my name is Mike Nigro and The Review has been kind enough to let me be their music blogger for the '09-'10 school year. And/or had an unfortunate lack of oversight.

You might ask what my qualifications for such a position are. Well, I'm not a journalist, I've never blogged before, and I probably use parentheses too much. However, I have hosted a music show on the University's radio station, 91.FM WVUD (shameless!), for three years and counting, I spent a year as the station's Music Director, I follow a number of music news, review, and blog sites, and I keep tabs on local music here in Newark. I'm also in a band, Atlas (myspace.com/atlasde) (shameless!).

In short, I'm a big music fan, and being the late adopter of technology that I am, I thought I'd take an opportunity to try this blogging thing out. I don't claim to be any sort of fount of ultimate knowledge about musical trivialities, (that's what allmusic is for) but I'll do my best to keep coverage interesting, timely, and well-rounded.

Topics will probably be more geared towards contemporary independent rock, but I've also got a penchant for some electronica and experimental music, as well as the classics , and I'll do my best to incorporate other generes for variety.

Thanks for reading and the layout will probably start looking a lot better once I figure out how to use these newfangeld things called "blogs."

Now Listening to: Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

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This is The Review's music blog. Check back soon for more posts.