Beard 'druff

Don't Get Used To It

2010-04-27T16:55:00.002-04:00

Feature Presentation: J Dilla

2010-02-26T19:04:00.001-05:00

Really great mini-doc from Stussy, in 3 parts:

Stussy - J Dilla Documentary Prt3 (of 3) from Stussy on Vimeo.

YoYoYoYoYoYo + Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

2010-02-25T11:31:00.008-05:00

Sorry for being a bit m.i.a. as of late -- ish gets crazy. Let me make it up to you:

A new song:

"No Fucking Around" -- Rafter -- Animal Feelings (2010)

A synesthetic alliteration monday from Au:

A nice live video of that new White Hinterland joint, "Icarus":

Note the candle.

And backlog of columns:

"Help Wanted for GU's Music Scene" (A diagnosis of the real problem)

"Let's talk about sex...and music" (Valentine's Day edition)

"DJing is a game of fundamentals" (An extended metaphor comparing DJing to little league coaching)

"Yule Tide FM" (Why Christmas music on the radio isn't such a bad thing)

Don't say I never wrote posted anything for ya.

Ooh, How Exciting!: Future Islands

2010-02-19T11:10:00.005-05:00

There's no stopping Baltimore bands these days. RIYL: New Order, OMD, Gary Numan, David Bowie growls.

Future Islands - Walking Through That Door - In The Evening Air (2010)

Future Islands - Long Flight - In The Evening Air (2010)

Future Islands - Vireo's Eye - In The Evening Air (2010)

Beard 'druff the radio show

2010-02-16T16:59:00.002-05:00

Another show tonight starting at 8 EST

Special guest is Matt Strom

Listen at www.georgetownradio.com

That's Concerting: Jamie Lidell

2010-02-08T21:17:00.004-05:00

I'd been trying to track this down for awhile -- it was filmed for the Nigel Godrich series "From the Basement." When I saw Lidell do this song live, the crowd applauded mid-song simply because he had constructed it so well...it's not quite as effective here, but you can get the gist of how cool his act really is.

Frrriday: Charlotte Gainsbourg

2010-02-05T16:56:00.004-05:00

Charlotte Gainsbourg - "Trick Pony" - IRM (2010)

Grrr, basically.

Beard 'druff the radio show

2010-02-02T16:03:00.000-05:00

Starts tonight @ 8-10 on georgetownradio.com

Tune in to hear music the first hour and talk/music the second half.

Tonight's guest: Margot Reynolds

Album Review: Spoon - Transference

2010-01-26T15:12:00.006-05:00

Seven LPs deep and one thing is abundantly clear: Spoon has the paradoxical gift of consistent inconsistency, a sense of “progression” without dilution. Transference has the all the trimmings of a Spoon record — the quiet seductiveness of Girls Can Tell (“Before Destruction”), the quirky pop experimentation of Kill the Moonlight (“Is Love Forever?”), the purist, less-is-more songwriting of Gimme Fiction (“Mystery Zone”) — but it still has a soul it can call its own.

If there’s one thing Britt Daniel seems bent on accomplishing with this latest batch of tunes, it’s distancing himself from the Sixties-glazed nostalgia of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, the group’s 2007 pop opus. Can a song like “Trouble Comes Running” make it onto the radio like “The Underdog” did? Probably not — the first 13 seconds sound like they were lifted directly from a demo rather than meticulously mixed by Berry Gordy Jr. The same goes for “Before Destruction,” when Daniel’s vocals first emerge.

Transference even seems to indulge its own rough-around-the-edges aesthetic: “Mystery Zone” cuts out unexpectedly, as do the reverberant vocals on “Is Love Forever?” These are the sort of amateurish moments that peppered A Series of Sneaks, but 12 years down the road, when “sloppy” doesn’t seem like the sort of sound Spoon should be bringing to the table. But it’s the looser qualities that give the brilliant bits that much more weight — like when the guitars cut back through “Mystery Zone,” or “I Saw the Light” transfigures into something completely different.

Comfort in imperfection — it looks dangerous on paper, but it seems to hold Transference together just fine. Call it maturity, existentialism, or blissful sabotage — it’s what allows Daniel to sing “Are you quite certain of love?” while dancing around the room.

Glorified Karaoke: The Hot Rats

2010-01-25T14:39:00.005-05:00

The Hot Rats - "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)" - Turn Ons (2010)

Easily the most accomplished/engaging "cover" on a debut full of them.

Ooh, How Exciting!: Jay Electronica

2010-01-24T00:17:00.003-05:00

I'm all for a return to more minimalist rap ("no drums, no hook"), and though most of Electronica's music is not as immediate as this (as of yet anyway--"Exhibit C" is fantastic, but sounds like it belongs on The Blueprint 3), "The Pledge (Eternal Sunshine)" is a great listen. This over Drake forever.

Discoveries Worth Sharing: $1.5 Million

2010-01-21T17:42:00.002-05:00

Amazing.

New Panda Bear

2010-01-21T00:17:00.005-05:00

From a recent bootleg...

Untitled 4 (Surfer's Hymn)

Untitled 10

Tickling the Ivories, or the Holidays are over

2010-01-18T20:11:00.005-05:00

Alright, I'm back.

Click.

Just in case you missed this.

Ooh, How Exciting!: Nighty Night

2009-12-27T01:21:00.005-05:00

Nighty Night -- "Abraham" -- Belle (2009)

MySpace

Download

Let's Take a Poll: Beyonce v. Justin

2009-12-21T13:24:00.011-05:00

In all honesty, not enough people read this blog to host a meaningful poll, but I'd love to receive some thoughts from everyone on this one.

As per a debate I engaged in a few weeks ago, I'm wondering who everyone thinks is the most successful American pop idol of the decade. To simplify the matter, I've narrowed it down to the two candidates I think merit the title: Beyonce Knowles and Justin Timberlake.

Here's a few matters to consider before you vote:

Point:
Beyonce's artistic history is perhaps less embarrassing than Justin's -- The Destiny's Child years are full of hit songs that feel antiquated, but not shamefully so.

Counterpoint:
Justin managed to reinvent and distance himself from trickier roots. What other idol can you name took part in the the boy band movement and lived to tell the tale?

Point:
Beyonce sold more records than Justin in the '00s -- Dangerously In Love alone has sold 11 million while FutureSex/LoveSounds sold 9 million (which doesn't even take into account B'Day and I Am...Sasha Fierce).

Counterpoint:
Justin's "FutureSex/LoveShow" is the 18th highest grossing tour of all time. The gross was $130,374,996 (adjusted for inflation), and chances are that Justin saw far more of that money than Beyonce saw for her record sales.

Point:
Between Destiny's Child and her solo career, Beyonce spent 52 weeks at number one of the Billboard Hot 100. That's a full year out of the 2000s spent at #1.

Counterpoint:
Justin was more ubiquitous from a cultural standpoint. Not only was he a part of "Nipplegate" and "Dick in a Box," but he seemed to receive almost no negative press for either. He also won an Emmy, which is a step above a Grammy.

Counter-counterpoint:
Beyonce created the "Single Ladies" video, which inadvertently led to one of the most memorable moments of the decade.

Point:
Beyonce was in Goldmember.

Counterpoint:
Justin was in The Love Guru.

If you have any other pertinent arguments, please feel free to voice them in the comments section. Otherwise:

Alliteration Thursday: MothFight

2009-12-17T13:26:00.004-05:00

MothFight - Long Way From Home from James Ravelle on Vimeo.

Why not?

2009-12-16T01:15:00.002-05:00

Alliteration Monday: LL Cool J

2009-12-14T01:55:00.002-05:00

Just how I remember it.

Discoveries Worth Sharing: Sting Like a Beatle

2009-12-11T23:56:00.002-05:00

Frrriday/Beat.Connection: Tonstartssbandht

2009-12-11T12:03:00.004-05:00

It's pronounced "Ton-starts-bandit."

Tonstartssbandht -- Black Country -- Tonstartssbandht (2009)

Sound familiar for some reason? Try this:

And the original:

Favorites Songs of the '00s: #4 & #5

2009-12-09T13:00:00.005-05:00

What would we do without Dan Bejar? Well for starters, all of The New Pornographers' albums would lack a much needed ounce of quirk. Admittedly, the songs I've singled out here--"Testament to Youth in Verse" and "Execution Day"--made zero sense to me in 10th grade, even souring the listening experience a bit, but I now think of them as indispensable.

The New Pornographers -- "Testament to Youth in Verse" -- Electric Version (2003)

The appeal of "Testament to Youth in Verse" is clear enough: the final two minutes are a charming dose of intricately-stacked, slightly syncopated harmonies. It's probably the coolest anthem this side of "Sing Me Spanish Techno," but with more replay value.

The New Pornographers -- "Execution Day" -- Mass Romantic (2000)

"Execution Day," for it's own part, is a weird new-wave/post-punk/power pop hybrid that kills by way of contrast. Once again, it's the second half that really brings this one home, and it wouldn't be as effective if the outburst was telegraphed in any way. Belt this one out and I swear it will brighten your day.

(To see the previous "favorite song" entry, click here.)

Ooh How Exciting!: Field Music

2009-12-08T19:02:00.003-05:00

For whatever reason, much of the first half of the upcoming Field Music double-album, Field Music, sounds like Spoon. That's not the case with this one though:

Field Music -- Let's Write A Book -- Field Music (2010)

Alliteration Monday: Joy Orbison

2009-12-07T20:18:00.001-05:00

Beard 'druff's Top 10 Unheralded Songs of 2009

2009-12-06T23:57:00.029-05:00

I'll get to a top ten albums segment later this month, but for now I'm going to present a different list: 10 songs that didn't receive much attention this year that I happen to love.

Basically, that rules out shoo-ins like "Two Weeks" and "Stillness Is The Move," but doesn't exclude cuts from great albums (see #2). So without further ado...

10.

Peter Bjorn & John -- "Just the Past" -- Living Thing

From a review I wrote for The Voice earlier this year:

"The paintings around me/ they don’t understand me/ I’m a bit too early/ I’m seen as development,” Peter Morén sings on “Blue-Period Picasso,” as if to justify the growing pains that plague Living Thing. The problem with Peter Bjorn & John’s fifth album is not that it’s “too early,” though, but that it’s still overshadowed by Writer’s Block, the Swedish indie-poppers’ highly lauded, ironically-titled third album. Whereas “Young Folks” will probably be the only song Kanye and the general consciousness will ever associate to their name, Peter Bjorn & John could be doing worse. Much, much worse.

"Just the Past" is the one song that justifies the argument in my mind: it's the languid, ascending melody in the pre-chorus and the metallic, Kraftwerk-y percussion that really bring it to life. I want to groove with the gallop but I am too lazy to get out of the hammock.

9.

The Veils -- "The Letter" -- Sun Gangs

I'm aware that you'll probably get to the end of this one and go "huh?". I caught it live in New York, couldn't get the chorus out of my head, and then unfortunately found the recording to be a bit of a let down. Still, Finn Andrew's urgency is more than evident here; this is the sort of intense (but not overwrought), emotive music I'm happy to endorse. When the Veils come back to America, mark your calendar.

8.

The Juan Maclean -- "Happy House" -- The Future Will Come

2009 doesn't strike me as a particularly great year for dancing (though it did give us "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell"), with the notable exception of this Juan Maclean episode. Granted, it's the kind of slow-building hip-churner we've come to expect from most homegrown DFA bands, but that's no reason to discredit the execution: the delicious diva-disco piano riff, the punchy bassline, and the phrase "Launch Me Into Space" all make this one worth the requisite exercise. Or, as a girl I don't know put it at a party I DJ'd recently: "WHAT IS THE NAME OF THIS SONG??!!!!"

(R.I.P. Jerry Fuchs)

7.

City Center -- "Bleed Blood" -- City Center

City Center started as a side project for Fred Thomas (Lovesick, Flashpapr, Saturday Looks Good for Me) and has evolved into a collaboration between him and Ryan Howard. One of the features of the outfit is a pretty prolific blog with demos, mixtapes, photos, and more -- a facet of performance that easily connects City Center's aesthetic with Bradford Cox and Atlas Sound (Fred has basically admitted as much), though we can always throw in the arbitrary Animal Collective/Panda Bear reference. "Bleed Blood" is the most well-developed track on the group's debut, with the consistently coherent and engaging sample choices, and an interesting arc to boot. Welcome to the next 10 years of music.

6.

Sufjan Stevens -- "Movement III: Linear Tableau With Intersecting Surprise" -- The BQE

Oh, Sufjan -- you're so existential. I know this project supposedly spurred the artistic crisis you currently find yourself in, but is this really an impasse worth obsessing over? Should the habits of the general public redefine the artist's approach to a medium and the very form itself? Plenty of people make "albums" that aren't diced into 3-5 minute nuggets, so what are you complaining about? I like this suite, don't get me wrong, especially this third movement (whose brilliance gets smothered by the stupid fourth movement), but I don't think it's existential-crisis-worthy. It's just great music, same as it ever was, same as it will be. So let's celebrate instead!

5.

The Big Pink -- "Too Young To Love" -- A Brief History of Love

The Big Pink get my official vote for "most slept on pop act of '09." A Brief History of Love is chock-full of big hooks and bravado, and my guess is that they'll be ready for the festival circuit by the time their second album comes around (third at worst). In reality, "Too Young To Love" is more effective in the context of the album, but that's the case for most of its songs. If you don't like it now, sleep on it and try again--it took me a few listens to realize how great its simplicity really is.

4.

Paul Westerberg -- "Gimmie Little Joy" -- PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys

Call me a blaspheme: beyond "Unsatisfied" and "I Will Dare," Paul Westerberg's music has never moved me much until PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys found its way into my rotation. This song alone (which features one of the catchiest chorus melodies I've heard all year) makes me want to revisit the entire Replacements discography and check out Westerberg's other solo output. It's really just the way he says "Easy"--you can't teach charm like that.

3.

Smith Westerns -- "Tonight" -- Smith Westerns

This song lives and dies by the guitar hook, which is definitely part of the appeal. Like "Dreams" and "Be My Girl," "Tonight" is spazzy summer camp bliss, like the bonfire in that one Girls song or Real Estate's "Atlantic City Expressway." To the band's credit, it just wouldn't be as fun without the teenage swag: you can feel the smiles on their faces each and every time they obliterate that downbeat ("Uh!").

2.

Animal Collective -- "Also Frightened" -- Merriweather Post Pavilion

Okay, so maybe this doesn't belong here, but then again, it totally belongs here. So much emphasis has been placed on "My Girls" that this gem (my personal favorite on the album) has been completely undercut. Perhaps more so than any other piece on Merriweather, "Also Frightened" really transports you to a different space: "Venture my way into the dark/Where we can sweat/One takes one by the hand." (And though I haven't read any thing to confirm this) It seems like another song about parenting for Noah, as addressed to his wife: "Are you also frightened?" In many ways, it's a more affecting question/sentiment than getting "adobe slats for [your] girls" or "strap[ping] a stroller to [your] back."

1.

Animal Hospital -- "And Ever..." -- Memory

Hands down my favorite piece of the year, without question. It's a sprawling, intricate, transcendent, and generally epic chunk of post-rock that melts my mind each and every time. The ripply snare drum fill; the droney wraiths; the barbed guitar treble; "Today, Tomorrow, and Forever": it all amalgamates into a reach-for-the-fences surge of energy that somehow, inexplicably, channels the spirit of its ambitions into something in-fucking-effable.

That's Concerting: NMH

2009-12-05T03:03:00.001-05:00

Current News Items: Susan Who?

2009-12-02T14:04:00.004-05:00

"Big News" from Rolling Stone about Susan Boyle's debut:

The Big News: In a week that featured new releases by Rihanna, Adam Lambert, Lady Gaga and Shakira, it was a 48-year-old British woman [emphasis mine] plucked out of absolute obscurity a year ago who topped the Billboard Top 200 on its most competitive week of the year. Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream far exceeded any expectations in the U.S., selling 701,000 to give The Britain’s Got Talent runner-up the best-selling debut week of 2009, and the best-selling week for a debut album by a female artist in the history of the Nielsen Soundscan era. Boyle beat out Eminem’s Relapse, which sold 608,000 copies in its opening week back in May, to become the year’s biggest seller.

So this woman sold more records than Eminem:

Discoveries Worth Sharing: Justice!

2009-12-02T12:51:00.006-05:00

What a beautiful graph.

(Click to Zoom)

Tell me more.

Current News Items

2009-12-02T10:51:00.004-05:00

When Tha Carter III was released in June of 2008, Lil Wayne had one child, Reginae, which he had when he was 15.

As of November 30, 2009, he now has three sons, all from different mothers:

Dwane III (Oct 22, 2008)
Lennox Samuel Ari (Sept 9, 2009)
Neal (Nov 30, 2009)

That means he had two pregnant women to answer to during 2009.

I'm not here to judge. I'm just intrigued. And vaguely impressed.

(Also, watch The Carter).

Gottem!

2009-12-02T10:08:00.004-05:00

Good one from The Onion.

Discoveries Worth Sharing: Noah Lennox Blows Out Birthday Candles

2009-12-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

Alliteration Monday: Duck Sauce

2009-11-30T18:26:00.004-05:00

Current News Items

2009-11-25T11:13:00.002-05:00

I'm glad that Adam Lambert did something interesting on TV for once.

The Carter

2009-11-24T12:45:00.004-05:00

If you have an hour and change to spare, this is definitely worth your time.

(Ignore the pop-up/second window when you push play -- just click the play button again when it's green).

Alliteration Monday: Sleeping States

2009-11-23T01:53:00.001-05:00

Another one of my favorites -- the concept and execution are impeccable.

Frrriday: Memoryhouse

2009-11-20T02:23:00.013-05:00

Lots of houses on this blog, apparently.

Here's a duo (Denise and Evan) from Ontario. In their words, "e.p. coming in December 2009. debut 10 song l.p. is being recorded, and will be available in early 2010."

Memoryhouse -- To the Lighthouse -- Years EP (2009)

They also link to a site called WE ARE BANDITS on their MySpace, which is where the polaroid comes from. It also has this great video posted on it by someone named Evan Abeele, who I presume is the very same from the band.

It features footage from Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon" and a Stan Brakhage film where he paints directly on the celluloid.

Ooh, how exciting! (feat. Beach House)

2009-11-18T14:30:00.007-05:00

A gorggggeous cut from the best Beach House album to date.

Beach House -- Silver Soul -- Teen Dream (2010)

Chiddy Bang

2009-11-16T13:51:00.005-05:00

Boys from Philly that have a new album floating around the Interweb called "The Swelly Express."

All Things Go

Dream Chasin'

The Opposite of Adults (KIDS)

Download the whole thing here and/or stream more here.

Discoveries Worth Sharing: 2 Many YouTubes

2009-11-16T12:44:00.007-05:00

DJing your impromptu get-togethers just got THAT much easier.

Alliteration Monday: Themselves

2009-11-16T12:12:00.001-05:00

Doseone is a joy.

Frrriday: Little Girls

2009-11-13T11:11:00.003-05:00

Little Girls -- Imaginary Friends -- Concepts (2009)

Slipstream: Toro y Moi

2009-11-11T17:57:00.003-05:00

Blessa b/w 109 - Toro Y Moi

If you must choose, listen to "109."

Slipstream: Best Coast

2009-11-10T01:56:00.008-05:00

When I'm With You - Best Coast

(Good for one listen)

Alliteration Monday: Feisty Lashes/Double-Feature

2009-11-09T16:59:00.007-05:00

Both of these made the top ten of that Pitchfork list.

I just like that they both involve one continuous take (fabrications aside) and whole crews that pop outta nowhere. Also, Leslie Feist and Natasha Khan look like they could be cousins.

Frrriday: The Moi Non Plus

2009-11-06T10:20:00.003-05:00

The Moi Non Plus -- Jil Sander Makes Your Eyes Black -- The Moi Non Plus (2009)

Oh, that reminds me (pt. 2)

2009-11-05T18:23:00.003-05:00

My latest columns for the Georgetown Voice:

"A Gleeful Future" (The commercial implications of the popular TV show)

"One More Time for the Encore" (The absurdity of the last 10 minutes of rock shows)

"Jock Jams 2009" (Bruce Channel? Really?)

Ooh, how exciting! (feat. Bear in Heaven)

2009-11-04T10:32:00.002-05:00

Bear in Heaven -- Beast in Peace -- Beast Rest Forth Mouth (2009)

WTF: Band Hero?

2009-11-03T20:20:00.002-05:00

I think we need to reevaluate some of our definitions here...

Alliteration Monday: Smog

2009-11-02T00:48:00.002-05:00

Wanna Be, Gotta Be

2009-10-30T00:12:00.004-04:00

Just finished this recording with my good friend Matt -- it's a cover of "Wanna Be Starting Something," and it was recorded in a staircase.

Cheers, Mike.

Ooh, how exciting! (feat. Surfer Blood)

2009-10-28T13:44:00.003-04:00

Surfer Blood -- Take It Easy -- Astro Coast (2009)

Thanks to Steven Reilly for the jump on this one.

WTF: Renegade Edition

2009-10-28T11:24:00.006-04:00

Anyone else find it ironic that the "Renegade Edition" of DJ Hero features two rappers?

"Looks dope."

Other absurdities:

Nothing like playing guitar with my fav DJ.

WTF: "Victim Impact Statements"

2009-10-26T14:41:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I'm close to a year late on discussing this one, but this story from WNYC is amazing:

This week, the Supreme Court declined to review a case about whether it was legal to play Enya under a video montage of a murder victim’s life. Such "victim impact statements" serve as testimony submitted during the sentencing phase of a criminal trial. Public defender Evan Young discusses what she says is the regrettable art of swaying a jury.

The best part comes from 3:55 when they discuss the judges of the California Supreme Court as music critics (or "psycho-neurologists").

I won't give away the best part, but involves the phrase "soft, not stirring."

Discoveries Worth Sharing: Young Doseone

2009-10-26T13:34:00.006-04:00

The one in the vampire costume is Adam Drucker.

Doseone -- Low Heaven -- Soft Skulls (2007)

Doseone -- Ghost Personal -- Soft Skulls (2007)

(via eMusic)

Discoveries Worth Sharing: You Can Sing Any Jazz Song...

2009-10-26T11:03:00.005-04:00

There's a really enjoyable discussion over at NPR's Jazz Blog, A Blog Supreme, between Patrick Jarenwattananon and Anya Grundmann (a.k.a. "Boss Lady") that was posted Friday. Patrick and Anya collaborate on a regular feature called "Listening, Party for Two," wherein the former will pick out a "great jazz song" for the latter and the two will discuss it over the Internet. This latest post features an amazing live performance of Ella Fitzgerald in West Berlin, which features about 5+ minutes of straight scatting.

The vocal virtuosity is impressive in and of itself, but then you learn that it's chock full of song interpolation too:

[Patrick]: Surely, you heard "Poinciana" (start of the scat solo), or "Stormy Weather," or "Rhapsody In Blue," or "I Want To Be Happy," or "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" (her first hit in the '30s), or the interpolation of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" as "Sweat Gets In Your Eyes" at the end ...

Boss Lady: Looks like I'd better listen again. Because I was focused on Ella's voice and her pyrotechnics, but all of those references flew by unnoticed. Sigh.

[Patrick]: ...or Ferde Grofe's "On The Trail," or the Ethel Waters number "Tropical Heat Wave," or "El Manicero," or even a Charlie Parker tune called ["Ornithology"] which was based on the chord changes to this song.

I definitely sat through about 3/4 of the song and had no idea. To hear the song and read the full post, click here.

And in other news, Ella Fitzgerald and Jimmy Fallon have something in common:

(Err, I also owned one of those Stretch Armstrong dolls. Whoa. This post is spiraling out of control.)

Alliteration Monday: Dead Man's Bones

2009-10-26T00:36:00.001-04:00

Ooh, how exciting! (The Funk Brothers)

2009-10-25T14:51:00.006-04:00

Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch (Instrumental) -- Earl Van Dyke & The Soul Brothers

Forget the hook for a just minute and listen to how amazing this song really is.

Frrriday: Tera Melos

2009-10-23T09:12:00.004-04:00

Tera Melos - Tame - Idioms Vol 1 - 2009

Shazam, We Genie

2009-10-21T18:07:00.010-04:00

Attention nerds: Slate just published a pretty great feature about how the popular Shazam application works on Monday.

Just to give you a taste:

Shazam creates a spectrogram for each song in its database—a graph that plots three dimensions of music: frequency vs. amplitude vs. time. The algorithm then picks out just those points that represent the peaks of the graph—notes that contain 'higher energy content' than all the other notes around it...In practice, this seems to work out to about three data points per second per song.

Ahem, speaking of 'high energy content'...

Ooh, how exciting! (feat. Phaseone)

2009-10-19T15:57:00.004-04:00

Animal Collective -- Daily Routine (Phaseone Remix) -- White Collar Crime (2009)

One of the better remixes of a Merriweather track in existence.

Alliteration Monday: Pete Nice & Daddy Rich

2009-10-19T12:44:00.001-04:00

Fat boys just want to J-A-M.

Alliteration Monday: Red Red Meat

2009-10-12T17:56:00.002-04:00

James Murphy was there.

Obits: John Rivas (1956-2009)

2009-10-05T09:57:00.002-04:00

"It was all a dream
I used to read Word Up Magazine
Salt-N-Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine
Hangin' pictures on my wall
Every Saturday, Rap Attack, Mr. Magic, Marley Marl."

Alliteration Monday: Washed Out

2009-10-05T00:28:00.001-04:00

Just in case you don't follow Pitchfork news closely enough.

Discoveries Worth Sharing: Flash Mobs Love to Dance

2009-09-29T18:37:00.013-04:00

I'd come across a few of these as of late, and figured I'd post them in one neat collection.

Definitely lives up to the definition of a "flash mob" in ways the subsequent clips do not.

Nothing like actual pregnant women and pretend pregnant women coming together to pretend to breakdance and actually breakdance (respectively).

The Black Eyed Peas helped plan this one which sort of detracts from the fun...until you realize Oprah wasn't in on it. Oprah doesn't upstage the entire mob, but she gets close.

Sort of stupid given that it's such a blatant ad. Nevertheless, the fact that randos join in by the end is pretty charming.

European train stations love this shit. The cascade of children is a nice touch.

Instantly creepy. I've never seen so many men reach for a camera in my life.

This is more like a flash support group.

Okay, I'm bored.

Alliteration Monday: Ha! Ha ha!

2009-09-28T10:43:00.003-04:00

Definitely just a hodgepodge of Pizza Hut and Taco Bell commercials pieced together with other YouTube videos -- and it's perfect.

Oh, that reminds me

2009-09-25T17:53:00.004-04:00

I've been writing a column for the Georgetown Voice this semester.

While I've opted not to post the full pieces here (so as to not muddle the tone of two v. different mediums), I felt it was worth linking to them. Enjoy, and beware of shoddy formatting:

"Gold Sounds" (Pavement reunion)

"A Ticket to Ride" (A defense of Beatles: Rock Band)

"The Golden Age" (Music consumption at its finest)

Alliteration Monday: St. Vincent

2009-09-21T20:21:00.000-04:00

Guest Spot: Who does it better?

2009-09-17T09:04:00.005-04:00

Enticed by a well-worded Gchat status yesterday, I decided to invite Jen Okwudili to write an op-ed for the blog. Enjoy:

Many in the mainstream media have begun to frantically string together the events of last week—namely, Rep. Joe Wilson's freakout during the Joint Session of Congress and Kanye West's own freakout (number 1000...) during Sunday's MTV VMA awards. Do these events, in their fantastically unbridled rejection of class, decorum, and civility, actually mark the end of civilization as some are speculating? Has our society come so far that we have begun to devolve, slowly morphing into mindless trashy apes unable to publicly hold our own (oft unbalanced) emotions in check? Or is there some other more clear and pleasant answer at hand?

Ladies and Gentlemen, that answer is simple: Hip-Hop does it better. The widely acknowledged musical underdog (what?—Ed.), credit is rarely given where credit is due regarding this genre (okay, fair – Ed.). Putting aside all un-winnable arguments concerning Who Did It First, Hip-Hop can easily walk away with the Who Did It Best award nine times out of ten. RUN-DMC's "Walk This Way," wearing Tommy Hilfiger attire with a straight face, and producing energy drinks are a few minor examples, but last week's contest to publicly 'act the fool' was won, hands down, (for better or worse) by Hip-Hop's Kanye West.

Looking at the facts: Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), did interrupt a Joint Session of Congress, which was watched at least in part by millions of Americans (let's hope). After having called President Barack Obama, leader of the free world, a "liar!" (sort of—Ed.), he even managed to survive the death-glare of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). In the following days he was nationally labeled as an idiot, forced to apologize, and censored by the House of Representatives with a "resolution of disapproval." Pretty bad.

However, Hip-Hop artist Kanye West still managed to do it better. Biding his time a full 3 days, his appearance at the VMAs could not have been more perfectly executed. Unlike Wilson, West managed to even storm the stage in question, taking the spotlight and the mic as well. After flailing about making his (valid?) point, West left in his wake not the leader of the free world, but rather a teenage/blond/doe-eyed/southern country starlet with no Nancy "the hawk" Pelosi to protect her. West had done real damage. His aftermath? Not only immediate boos from the audience for the rest of the night and instant Internet hate tirades, but perhaps the most biting punishment of them all: in a fitting full circle to the dueling stories, being called "a jackass" by President Obama himself.

Hip-Hop did it better. Now let's celebrate with a re-mix.

Alliteration Monday: Black Both Buper Bainbow

2009-09-14T00:23:00.001-04:00

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion...

Alliteration Monday: Yo La Tengo

2009-09-07T19:14:00.000-04:00

Still hilarious.

What Does The Future of "Audio-Visual Mash-ups" Look Like?

2009-09-01T19:41:00.023-04:00

If you happen to frequent this blog, you may have noticed that I've developed a fondness for London A/V geeks Eclectic Method, a.k.a. Jonny Wilson, Ian Edgar, and Geoff Gamlen. The trio first formed in 2002, re-splicing the videos for U2's "Mysterious Ways" and the Beastie Boy's "Intergalactic" together as an experiment, and have since released close to 50 official videos (though I'm sure that figure doesn't account for other unofficial offerings). They were recently featured in Wired magazine (where I first picked up on them) and their resumé includes events as diverse as Sundance and a forthcoming Twestival gig in NYC.

So what do they do exactly?

According to their website: "The trio’s audio-visual mash-ups feature television, film, music and video game footage sliced and diced into blistering, post-modern dance floor events. It’s a cyclone of music and images mashed together in a world where Kill Bill fight scenes and Dave Chappelle’s Rick James rants are ingeniously cut and looped over bootleg samples, DVD scratches and pumped-up dance anthems."

To get a better idea of what that means, let's take a peek at a clip from their 2005 mixtape "We Are Not VJs":

The "mash-up" component of Eclectic Method's aesthetic should be pretty evident from the sample above: "audio" and "visual" samples interpenetrating simultaneously to form their own, new entity -- or so it would seem. As much as I'm entertained and delighted by Eclectic Method's work, part of me feels like it's not quite as "post-modern" and/or groundbreaking as it's cracked up to be (and if you can stomach a long-winded digression, feel free to read on).

"Mash-up" may be be a modern term, but the concept of combining multiple sources to form a new composition is not new. American composer Charles Ives should very well be credited as the first proper "mash-up" artist given his manipulation of well-known hymns, parlor songs, and other traditional music into his work--and he died in 1954. In this part of "Piano Sonata No. 2", for example, you can hear him quoting Beethoven at 1:17.

If we were to focus on direct sampling, however, (and ignore the fact that most hip-hop songs are technically "mash-ups" of sorts) then the first authentic example of a mash-up probably belongs to Double Dee and Steinski. Their legendary "Lesson 1 -- The Payoff Mix"--which has been championed by the likes of Robert Christgau (his excellent essay about the collage can be viewed here), DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, and more--culls its material from an unprecedented set of sources (The Supremes, Herbie Hancock, Humphrey Bogart, et al), and its striking originality netted its creators top honors in the remix contest they crafted it for in 1983.

For your convenience:

Beyond that, Paul's Boutique and De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising have come to represent the pinnacle of unregulated sampling before the costs of clearing them became astronomical (both albums were released in 1989). Imagine the sense of collage that holds "The Payoff Mix" together, extend it across an entire album, and you get the gist.

My point here? That the practice of remixing songs together was pretty well entrenched before Girl Talk, The Hood Internet, and/or the Super Mash Bros. entered the picture, much less Eclectic Method.

But what about the video component of their work?

What strikes me most about their "mixes" is a reliance on audio to maintain a sense of coherence. When sampling snippets of recordings, for instance, a DJ will smudge melodies, rhythms, and even timbres together in ways that remain consonant. In theory, the same should be applicable to video, except instead of melodies or rhythms the artist should be blurring movement, color, and other themes together, so as to draw out the visual similarities between different sources.

Eclectic Method doesn't do that at all. Rather, they layer different visual clips on top of each other (or in boxes, etc.) in such a way that reveals the source of audio, but does not otherwise fuse the video together. The result--a product in which video is an auxiliary to audio--seems more of a way to "come clean" or otherwise draw attention to source material without actually creating something new visually.

I'm not aware of any sort of film movement that pulled this idea off successfully, but the types of videos Eclectic Method end up presenting have, in my mind, been done before.

2001's "Frontier Psychiatrist" from The Avalanches only album Since I Left You:

Clearly, the Eclectic Method videos are connected by individual themes (a Tarantino mixtape, a John Hughes mixtape, and so on), but the visuals only seem to do what they do in the clip above--draw attention to the samples themselves. To be fair, some videos meld images together abstractly (I've got their Temptations mix in mind here), but I find that they achieve a limited level of success.

So how could it be better?

Take a look at this video that draws similarities between Disney cartoons:

As far as "visual mash-ups" goes, this video relies on comparable movements of characters to make its point, i.e. it takes its cues from the images rather than the audio, giving it a very strong sense of visual coherence even if you mute the sound.

Additionally, this new video from Teenage Fantasy offers an interesting example:

Here the audio and video have very distinct connections (it's almost impressionistic in its execution), yet by mid-song the video component stands alone completely, offering fresh, stark eye-candy (sort of like another favorite of mine, "Begone Dull Care").

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure the sort of homologous mixture that's possible with audio is even translatable to video, but I do think Eclectic Method could be offering more holistic compositions--mixes that draw attention to visual continuities rather than aural ones.

All of that said (whew), their videos sure are fun to watch.

But will they lead us into the future of "Audio-Visual Mash-ups"? I'm doubtful.

Alliteration Monday: The Beastie Boys

2009-08-31T22:09:00.001-04:00

Discoveries Worth Sharing: Is this real life?

2009-08-27T14:48:00.001-04:00

Another sweet offering from Eclectic Method.

Discoveries Worth Sharing: You Don't Know

2009-08-27T08:26:00.002-04:00

As a coda to yesterday's post, one of Greenwich's own recordings:

"You Don't Know" -- Ellie Greenwich -- 1965

Obits: Ellie Greenwhich (1940-2009)

2009-08-26T17:00:00.005-04:00

Another Brill Building great departs from us today. Some of her amazing credits:

And my favorite "splatter platter" ever:

Beat.Connection: Alright alright alright

2009-08-24T20:45:00.006-04:00

"So Fresh, So Clean" -- Outkast -- 2000

"Before the Night is Over" -- Joe Simon -- 1977

This doesn't really qualify as a sample so much as a clever adaptation, which might explain why Joe Simon doesn't have songwriting credits on the Outkast hit (via allmusic, if it can be trusted). Also, it's cool how the pizzicatos make the original sound so classy, especially given the hook of the modern interpretation ("so fresh and so clean, clean").

Alliteration Monday: Kool Chip & Chuck Chillout

2009-08-24T20:10:00.003-04:00

Starts goofy, gets uncomfortable, winds up somewhere in between.

Alliteration Monday: Girls

2009-08-19T00:55:00.000-04:00

Wednesday is the new Monday.

Favorite Songs of the '00s, #3: "You, Yes You," Beauty Pill

2009-08-16T16:00:00.004-04:00

Allow me to preface this post with a clarification: “You, Yes You” was released in 2003, not 2009. In other words, before the “text-message-heard-‘round-the-world” shock of the summer came into our respective inboxes, this song still had a wry lick of humor to it rather than coincidental sincerity. Certainly, the loss of Michael Jackson has more substantive disappointments attached to it than something as trivial as a line in a song, but I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a bit saddened the edge is now potentially lost.

In reality, “Michael Jackson” was pretty much the most overplayed punch line in the book before he died. Yet, the status quo dictates that any dig at a man whom everyone acknowledges was both strange and misunderstood is no longer acceptable. Untimely tragedy, for better or worse, can do that whenever adulated art and/or celebrity enter the equation.

And maybe it’s neither Chad Clark’s (who wrote it) nor my place to judge when Jackson’s youthful spirit truly “died,” but I think we can still be forthcoming about the quirks of the star’s adult life: It may be unacceptable to stomp upon Michael Jackson’s grave, but I’d like to believe we can still dance on it a bit.

To that end, and as any luck would have it, the sentiment should still be intact. And that’s really what this one has going for it—pure charm. I’ll vouch for the warped strings at the end, and Clark’s distinctive coo, but if you aren’t smiling at some point during the song then this post has pretty much been in vain.

(To see the previous "favorite song" entry, click here.)

Earplugs (or 5 reasons why you should go see): Bat for Lashes

2009-08-16T12:34:00.018-04:00

1) Maybe it's just the 9:30 Club's soundsystem, but Bat for Lashes' New Age-conquers-the-dance-floor stylings sound nothing short of epic live: Towering helpings of fuzz-free bass beats lend the sort of power to their set that justifies a giant mural of a howling wolf as a stage backdrop (sort of like this) and other interspersed kitsch.

2) Natashan Khan (the only full-time member of Bat for Lashes) has an outstanding voice: Imagine Björk's set of pipes, but with an understanding that "less can be more" and you have the gist. Rarely have I heard an artist end a song with a wail as potent as Khan's, and yet she grins so unassumingly after doing so...

3) Surprising instrumentation like autoharp, harmonium, and a harpsichord really fill out the sound, bringing nuance to the aforementioned brawn of the low-end. It's one thing to incorporate such eclecticism into your album, but to carry a harpsichord around with you on an international tour warrants admiration.

4) Touring members Charlotte Hatherly and Sarah Jones know how to carry a tune. The middle section of "Siren Song" (featured below) kills live. Absolutely slays. No joke.

5) Khan typically writes pretty compact songs. While such thriftiness can occasionally leave a longing for "more" by the end of a piece, it's always refreshing to encounter an artist that has a realistic grasp of an audience's attention span.

Samples:
"Glass" -- Two Suns (2009)

"Siren Song" -- Two Suns (2009)

Remaining U.S. Tour Dates:
17th August 2009 - The Loft @ Center Stage, Atlanta
19th August 2009 - The Parish, Austin
20th August 2009 - The Loft, Dallas
22nd August 2009 - Bluebird Theatre, Denver
26th August 2009 - Neumo's, Seattle
27th August 2009 - Wonder Ballroom, Portland
29th August 2009 - Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco
31st August 2009 - The Music Box Theatre @ Fonda, LA

Alliteration Monday: The Juan Maclean

2009-08-10T23:15:00.004-04:00

One of the better songs about the final frontier.

Happy Birthday

2009-08-06T22:04:00.001-04:00

Worth Watching.

Album Review: Circulatory System - Signal Morning

2009-07-30T09:56:00.006-04:00

In terms of rock ‘n roll time, an eight-year break is an eternity. Unless a band spends eight years recording a masterpiece or otherwise nursing a killer reunion tour, chances are the rest of the music world has moved on by the time it resurfaces. Then again, Circulatory System (and most Elephant Six constituents in general) seems to operate outside of the traditional rock ‘n roll time continuum anyhow.

Formed by Will Cullen Hart in 2000 (after his other main project, Olivia Tremor Control decided to take a breather), Circulatory System stands as another loose conglomeration of Elephant Six buds. In 2001, the group released it’s eponymous debut—a colossal helping of psychedelic guitars, smart orchestration, and loads ‘o quirk—along with a “remix” of that album in the same year, but has maintained radio silence ever since. So why has Hart waited until 2009 to post a follow-up? Well, the singer attributes the interruption to multiple sclerosis, a condition he was diagnosed with a few years back. The event purportedly delayed the construction of Signal Morning, but also stirred the Olivia Tremor Control camp to start playing together again (!). Hart seems to have strayed away from the project naturally as well, letting other interests fill the void in the interim.

Given that lengthy gap, and in the interest of evaluating Signal Morning fairly, a lot of potential avenues of analysis are somewhat skewed. For starters, Circulatory System isn’t trying to make a career out of this music—it sounds more like friends coming together to capture energy on tape to share it with like-minded friends and fans alike. With intentions like that, who cares if this record doesn’t “measure up” in any traditional sense? Hart also admits that the chronology of songwriting varies heavily, with some of the initial demos dating as far back as 1993. So to compare Hart’s ideas circa 2001 to their 2009 iteration is somewhat baseless.

Keeping those qualifications in mind, let’s get down to it: At their core, Circulatory System and Signal Morning overlap heavily in terms of aesthetics (*see previous note about songwriting chronology). Hart’s distinctive voice is as alluring as ever, the album embraces lo-fi elements without glorifying them, and there’s a healthy mix of melodicism, abstraction, and hypnogogic reverie. There’s more straight-up noise on Signal Morning [“This Morning (We Remembered Everything)”; “The Pelican Trust”], along with a decidedly more somber tone, but it’s just as charmingly piecemeal as its predecessor. Opener “Woodpecker Greeting Worker Ant” and mid-disc jam “The Spinning Continuous” especially channel the sort of boundless vigor that typifies so many great Elephant Six recordings.

If the circumstances were a bit different though, it would be easier to say that Signal Morning is too unfocused, and somewhat lacking in new ideas from Hart. But the eight-year gap privileges the artist in ways it wouldn’t for others: It’s definitely long enough to justify a similar-sounding record (hey, it’s “new”), especially when the quality of that material is already of a high caliber. And as far as veteran Elephant Six material goes, maybe we should just be glad this exists before taking any cheap shots at it.

MySpace

Alliteration Monday: Best Coast

2009-07-27T23:13:00.003-04:00

Bummer.

Jams of '09: Vivre Sans Temps Mort

2009-07-19T22:28:00.014-04:00

The merits "Vivre Sans Temps Mort" are actually pretty well-reflected in the music video: There's a progression through a three (arguably four) episodes that all tie together nicely, yet remain discrete enough to justify distinction: boy buys model car; boy builds model car; model car reappears in milieu of destruction and chaos (and by the apparent volition of its creator, no less). I'm particularly keen on the middle section of the song (2:00-4:02), which somehow transforms a series of one-note jabs into the catchiest idea this side of early Q and Not U. Between the amble of the contemplative introduction and the swift, exciting conclusion, the middle passage brings a palpable sense of tension to a song that's already about everyone's favorite subject ("Spent my whole life just thinking about dying," in case you didn't catch it before).

And here comes the overblown image/music/lyric connection: like the largely stylized ending of the video (a car crash that has been, oooh, constructed), the music can only ever be a lurid, unreal representation of that terminal anticipation. We can watch the boy buy the kit and use the kit, but it's still just a model. In essence: we don't see an actual car crash because that's not what the song is about--it's about the imagination.

If there's any validity to that point though, credit goes to director Cat Solen, not necessarily Double Dagger. Killer song though, right?

Discoveries Worth Sharing: Behind On My Memes Edition

2009-07-15T17:40:00.001-04:00

Next time you see this video, it'll be on television.

Beat.Connection: Sugah Hill?!!

2009-07-13T22:29:00.003-04:00

I scored I wonderful copy of the Grandmaster Flash cut here today -- $5 on Avenue of the Americas.

Apparently Liquid Liquid played a show at Santos Party House last year that I never heard about--hopefully not their last. I'd love to see these fellas play, maybe even moreso than Melle Mel...

Alliteration Monday: Mika Miko

2009-07-13T22:24:00.000-04:00

Alliteration Monday: Major Lazer

2009-07-06T19:02:00.001-04:00

Favorite Songs of the '00s, #2: "Bolan Muppets," Glissandro 70

2009-07-05T14:11:00.005-04:00

By the look of it, Glissandro 70 is one of those projects that seems more of a one-off than anything else, despite a fair amount of evidence to support the contrary. The facts: the Canadian duo of Craig Dunsmuir and Sandro Perri released a lovely eponymous debut in 2006, played about 11 shows in Toronto (six in 2008), and have remained pretty much dormant thereafter. They're still on a label, and Sandro Perri has a questionably active blog, but no one seems in any rush to make a go at the crown.

The song featured here--Bolan Muppets--is one of five strong tracks on Glissandro 70 (there's only five on the LP, mind you), and though I feel it stands alone, it probably works best in context of the other pieces (oh well). Like the rest of the debut, the song is as heavily indebted to minimalism as it is to post-rock; it just sort of floats from A to B without any larger structural repetitions, making the most of fewer ideas. I've worn the song out to the point where the late bassline (3:12) doesn't hit the spot as well as it did in '06, but I wish you luck with it.

What I like best about the piece, and why it's included here, is it's music that requires a process. Perhaps I lend too much credit to methodical overlays than I should, but there is a supremely satisfying feeling when instruments 1 through 7 suddenly interlock unexpectedly, and then melt away into something entirely different. It's the same principle that guides most great DFA cuts, though obviously operating under its own set of intentions. The whole "music as process" bit is also particularly difficult to do right, so pay mind where mind is due.

(To see the previous "favorite song" entry, click here.)

Beat.Connection: Enough Already

2009-06-29T11:20:00.011-04:00

I'm aware everyone's sick of this coverage, but I chanced upon this fun connection listening to the entirety of Thriller for the first time the other day. The hook of "It Ain't Hard to Tell" demonstrates a great use of an otherwise forgettable piece of a song (3:29), along with "Human Nature['s]" more prevalent synth melody. Check out this excellent map of other Michael Jackson samples below, if you dare:

Alliteration Monday: The Soft Pack

2009-06-29T11:14:00.001-04:00

Deceptively boring.

That's Concerting: The Roots

2009-06-25T17:00:00.001-04:00

New tune from one of the best live bands of the decade.

Album Review: Wilco - Wilco (the album)

2009-06-25T09:53:00.007-04:00

“This is a man with arms open wide/a sonic shoulder for you to cry,” Jeff Tweedy sings on “Wilco (the song),” the lead-off track from the alt-rocker’s seventh proper LP. In what proves to be one hell of a bait-and-switch, Tweedy insists that despite the “knife in your back” or the “rough road” you may travel down, “Wilco will love you, baby.” Taken at face value, the lyric is a sweet (if blatantly easier-said-than-done) sentiment, and the sort of line that begs to be parroted back in concert. So what’s the catch? Well, let’s just say Tweedy and Co. spend the next 40 minutes prompting you to cry on that shoulder of theirs…though only if you’re paying close enough attention.

For Wilco stalwarts, the irony shouldn’t be much of a surprise—Tweedy has long established himself as one of the premiere bittersweet songsmiths of the aughties. What’s particularly striking about Wilco (the album), rather, is how straightforward it feels. It’s Tweedy’s most musically tame effort since Being There (and yes, that includes Sky Blue Sky), despite being as emotionally pluming as some of the best cuts off of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born. And I’m no sentimentalist—I swoon over the experimentalism of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as much the next nerd, but I’m not keen on holding the band hostage to itself. So let me be clear: Wilco (the album) isn’t a weak album because it’s straightforward—it’s weak because the music often fails to do Tweedy’s words/ideas justice.

“I’ll Fight” and “Country Disappeared,” for example, have some of album’s most striking lyrics, yet remain typified by generic, fill-in-the-blanks arrangements. In “Country Disappeared,” Tweedy criticizes the media’s exploitation of tragedies and subsequent enablement of mass rubbernecking (“So every evening we can watch from above/crushed cities like a bug”), yet it’s perhaps the easiest song to sit through mindlessly. “I’ll Fight,” similarly, points to the unacknowledged martyrdom of those willing to die for this country (in so many words), but chugs along lazily, easily forgotten amidst the flow of the album. I’m not arguing these songs should emulate “At Least That’s What You Said” (which features a raucous guitar representation of one of Tweedy’s storied panic attacks), but why sleep on such pointed material?

“Sonny Feeling,” for instance, demonstrates that Wilco can write a memorable, striking composition that’s still completely backwards (the “sunny feeling” of the song is “taken away” amidst one of the album’s catchiest choruses). The words of “One Wing” and “Bull Black Nova,” in turn, fit like slippers to the shape of their songs, the former with an impeccable chorus melody and the latter with some Noirish, stacco rhythms that intertwine in hocket beautifully.
Essentially, given the quality of Tweedy’s lyrics, some of the musical stoicism comes across as bit of a cop out. And, yes, such a critique is unfair because it’s mostly the listener’s job to pay attention, but most folks simply don’t read lyric-sheets anymore (guilty). Is it then valid to reprove a songwriter for writing a too-subtle-for-its-own-good batch of songs? Maybe.

“If the whole world’s singing your songs…just remember what was yours is everyone’s from now on,” Tweedy sang on 2007’s Sky Blue Sky. In other words, when “You and I” (the cutesy Tweedy/Feist collaboration that’s featured on Wilco) comes on Starbucks rotation for the sixth time next month, you really have no right to tell the customer humming behind you that maybe it’s not the happiest of love songs. Or, to put the matter in the loftiest of terms, the same principle allows “With or Without You” by U2 to be played at weddings and “YMCA” to be blasted in sports arenas. Sure, it’s amusing (and in the case of “YMCA,” refreshingly so), but what good does the ignorance do?

Alliteration Monday: White Denim

2009-06-22T20:37:00.002-04:00

Sort of reminds me of "The Knife" video in a lot of ways, but with a decidedly better ending. Enjoy, and brace yourself for the inevitable Fits blowup.

Discoveries Worth Sharing: "You make it up as you go along..."

2009-06-22T20:02:00.004-04:00

More clips like this at the NPR Jazz Blog.

Discoveries Worth Sharing: Eclectic Method

2009-06-20T17:23:00.002-04:00

Alliteration Monday: Crystal Stilts

2009-06-15T23:57:00.002-04:00

At the buzzer...

That's Concerting: Nina Simone & Jonathan Richman

2009-06-15T00:29:00.008-04:00

Lengthy Double Feature:

I never would have imagined that Nina Simone and Jonathan Richman had anything in common, but there you have it.

Also, Conan O'Brien is officially the dark horse.