"Love to make music to"

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

diamonds / fur coat / champagne

"Introducing" three great artists I've heard recently/been reacquainted with, united by their driving, tribal tonal progression, yet divided by their relative use of Vocoder etc.

Tame Impala

tame impala Pictures, Images and Photos

acid rock is reborn

Heard this last night on Triple JJJ when MGMT were being interviewed in the studio pending their show on Thursday. This band from Perth are touring with them in a support capacity around Australia, and provide a fuzzed-out acid rock sound which contrasts nicely with MGMT's muted synth squeals (no other phrase to describe the opening of that ode to overplay, Electric Feel). Check out their myspace at www.myspace.com/tameimpala, or if you're lucky enough to have got tickets to MGMT you'll see them tomorrow, while I watch Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, clinging to sophistication.

Suicide

mgmt Pictures, Images and Photos

i know, its a picture of MGMT, but its relevant. and have you ever tried typing in "suicide" in photobucket?

Another band introduced by MGMT on JJJ last night were Suicide, a very influential 70's synth-pop duo from New York. I followed up and got their first two albums, and this is definitely the pick of the bunch. After a few listens, it strangely feels like a bridge in evolution between Joy Division and New Order, a missing link which joins a gap otherwise sharply divided between Ian's melancholy lyrics and the crisp drum machine on Blue Monday.

Laurie Anderson

big science Pictures, Images and Photos

i have it on vinyl

Laurie Anderson's an experimental/minimalist artist who released her first album Big Science in 1982. Somehow the song below, O Superman, got to #2 in Britain. This was despite the fact that its over 8 minutes long, has a constant repeating "ha-ha-ha..." for its entirety, and lyrics which aren't exactly in keeping with the traditional British Top Of The Pops scene (Pseudo Echo covering Lipps Inc. springs to mind as an example).

I came across this on vinyl when going through my mum's collection the other night because I needed some good late-night Kes-editing music, but instead of working hard got really drawn in, especially when I flipped it over to the B-side and the former British #2 sprung up. Reminiscent of the theme from Little Miss Sunshine, How It Ends by DeVotchka, in one pretty obvious way.

Stranger still, Laurie is married to Lou Reed. Hey-now.

This will be my last post for a while, the real world is calling.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

some velvet morning when i'm straight / i'm gonna open up your gate


Bear with me, I'll start with Haze, before branching off into [is] and finishing way out of left-field with a blissful duet between Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood.


Haze



Haze (www.myspace.com/cupidswounded) are a band from Fitzroy High School who formed sometime during last year and have been rapidly rocking in the free world ever since then. While their early songs (two of which I'm hosting below) are pretty chilled out and quiet, lately at their gigs (the 2nd-last of which was the one at IDGAFF pictured above) they've been premiering much louder tracks with emphasis on the "dancier" side of the musical moon. Songs such as Hey Kids and Clearly are yet to be recorded but I'm assured they're forthcoming, and a recent introduction to one of Brunswick St's biggest promoters is sure to increase their gig-rate (like bit-rate, much cooler). I love the 2nd song, 2000 miles, by virtue of its glockenspiel alone.

[is]

Although they're now known as Tom Ugly, before their name change [is] had a fairly low-key underground rumble on the musical equivalent of the Richter Scale with Cult Romance. They won the Triple JJJ Unearthed High Schools competition with the song, which features an adroitly manipulated Moog synthesiser and some catchy, if meaningless lyrics ("paraphenalia failure / hands caught in the cookie jar / stranger / movie star"); still good form for a trio of Sydneysider high school students.

Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood

nancy sinatra & lee hazlewood - NANCY & LEE Pictures, Images and Photos

I've got a sneaking suspicion that this saga-song of drug addiction kicked off the whole "velvet" trend as far as band/songnames go, from the Velvet Underground to Bowie's Velvet Goldmine. A wonderfully contrasting duet, which I'd detail in more detail if I wasn't still recovering from the shock of discovering that Laurie Anderson is married to Lou Reed.

Monday, December 1, 2008

battling against the bitch / for the ultimate kitsch / of a crucifix clock

vampire weekend Pictures, Images and Photos
vampire weekend trying to outdo kevin barnes yet again
Before I head off down Brunswick St to trawl op-shops for a very "spucific" article of clothing, here's a few songs which match my current mood of finished-exams-but-technically-still-at-school-until-thursday-at-twelve-oh-five, namely a Foals tracks which tends to fly under the radar, a new one from Vampire Weekend, and a slice of Hot Chip frontman Alexis Taylor's stripped back solo album.
Don't worry, there's still the obligatory 1;1 ratio of songs to pretty pictures, (C) every pretentious mp3 blog in the multiverse
Foals
foals Pictures, Images and Photos
because I couldn't find that staged picture of them posing with balloons
I hadn't listened to Foals for aeons ever since downloading their album Antidotes way back when, but recently when reminded by George (http://www.oligarchicalmachinations.blogspot.com/) of their goodness I went in search of their more obscure songs on hypemachine (http://www.hypem.com/, a great site for finding music that even some torrents don't have, most serious DJ's go there to find things like Soulwax edits of Walter Murphy's Fifth of Beethoven, to take a purely hypothetical example). The result from a multifarious bunch ranging from Daytrotter live sessions to Fucked Up! covers, the pick of which was definitely Brazil Is Here.
I'm not sure why Foals aren't more popular down under; like MGMT they were on Skins (they even performed live in one episode, similar to the way in which 2-tone ska bands like Madness would play Our House In The Middle Of The Street during Young Ones episodes) yet they have none of the uber-sickening popularity now enjoyed by the "Management" over here.

Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend Pictures, Images and Photos
they used this picture for the poster for their melbourne gig at the prince this year, how exciting
They're currently working on their "sophomore" album and trying to move away from their "college inspirations", and this is the result, a sneak peek that is pretty decent, obviously covering Radiohead has done wonders.

Alexis Taylor
hot chip Pictures, Images and Photos
he's the one on the right, looking like one of the accordion-listening villains from the movie diva (see the erich satie song a few posts below)
If you like Hot Chip, you'll probably like this, as the singer Taylor has an extremely distinctive voice. In his solo album Rubbed Out he's stripped back most of the synthesizers that proliferate Hot Chip's albums to shift focus.
PS: As a Hamlet-like aside, I'll be featuring some songs by my friend's band Haze next post, check them out at www.myspace.com/cupidswounded before they get famous, as well as a teenage band called [is] who won the Triple JJJ high schools competition with a great song called Cult Romance.
PPS: Photos of 70's music stars such as Grace Slick (my favourite female singer by far) and Frank Zappa...with their parents: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/look/look-70s-rock-musicians-and-their-parents-homes-070419

Sunday, November 23, 2008

house society / got to get into the glitterati

First, two tracks united by their common interest in conformity...

1. a. Punks Jump Up
Kitsune maison 6 Pictures, Images and Photos
Its almost as if Kitsune Maison wanted their compilation albums to spell out conformity with big overt people-letters.
I first heard this song while listening to Triple JJJ while jogging (vertically, not horizontally) in Metung, a small town on the Gippsland Lakes whose main attraction is its long lakeside boardwalk. Anyhow, just in case the taste of conformity doesn't overpower thee at a first listen, check out the film clip for this on youtube, and remember, "We're all individuals!"

1. b. Radiohead

hail to the thief Pictures, Images and Photos
From the album Hail to the Thief
This album was recently slagged off in uncertain terms by a Year 9 in the school "Newspaper" ("All the news that fits we print"), in a FITFUL attempt to mock Thom Yorke on the basis that his voice is too whiney. Well don't bother left-clicking this little blue link below and selecting "Download with BitComet" if thats the extent of your Radiohead appreciation; a fantastic band whose masterful song Talk Show Host is the perfect theme to Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet. But that's another song, this is Sit Down, Stand Up (Snakes and Ladders)

Secondly, two tracks straight out of post-punk heaven...

2. a. Gang of Four


gang of four Pictures, Images and Photos

Yeah that's right, my music's SO alternative that photobucket doesn't even have properly sized jpg. files of the album covers, or in the case of The Dance, an album cover at all

A great song (redundant description, I'm not going to be wasting my time forcing something like ABC's Murderer of Love on you) from one of my favourite bands. Appearing on what's been described as "the best debut British album of all time" - Entertainment - Damaged Goods is typical of a band which defined the post-punk genre in the wake of Ian Curtis' death (although Postcard Records' Orange Juice - whose lead singer Edwyn Collins had a breakout 90's solo hit with Never Met A Girl Like You Before - tried to fill the Curtis-void with slightly happier tunes).

"Heated couplings in the sun / or is that untrue?"

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2. b. The Dance

kerouac Pictures, Images and Photos

I've had to settle for a completely unrelated picture of Kerouac, deal with it.

Found this on Myspace somewhere; everyone I've played it to has uniformly hated it...



Finally, two much more laidback songs...

3.a. Neil Young


neil young Pictures, Images and Photos

I just swallowed my second harmonica, he mumbled.

Out on the Weekend is definitely not one of the more well-known tracks off the album Harvest, but its one of my favourites. It was good to hear it crackling away last night when I pulled out an old vinyl copy; maybe it just sounded good in comparison with Old Man because the latter's been played so many times that the grooves are all worn out, who knows...

Going to see him and Hot Chip (other bands will be there too, they're the only ones that matter to me) on the 26th of January at the Big Day Out, can't wait.

3.b. Gabor Szabo


Gabor-Szabo Pictures, Images and Photos

Looking like Zappa with no hair, Gabor's working at Dixons with Iggy Pop

First saw this over at http://www.artdecade.blogspot.com/, one of the best music blogs on the web (not just because it borrows from a David Bowie track for its title). If you're familiar with the film Spartacus this song, the most romantic I know, will already be familiar to you, but if not then use it to charm the jazz-guitar-with-strings-pants off some Eastern European (to test their nationality, first ask them to pronounce "Szabo").


Thursday, October 23, 2008

look out / im just too fake / for the world



professor murder Pictures, Images and Photos

Professor Murder

Dance-punk is a pretty hectic genre. Its the only genre that will tell you when your sister gets home, because you can hear your Death From Above 1979 being switched off downstairs. While DFA 1979 are the undisputed kings of this collective, Professor Murder take it to another level, and not just by using cowbells.


(As an aside I found this using last.fm's recommended radio, which I recommend)


A complete change of pace...

Diva


Adam Ant Pictures, Images and Photos

...from New York dance-punk to classical, namely Vladimir Cosma's take on Erich Satie in the 1981 "film du look" French cult classic "Diva".




The Passions

soulja Pictures, Images and Photos
This one hit wonder from The Passions is a rare example of the genre defined as "dream-pop", and thus is the perfect accompaniment to having mild concussion, like me at the moment.


Friday, October 17, 2008

its ok i've overstood / this is a wordy rappinghood


Adam and the Ants

The story of Adam and the Ants is a moral story of redemption; when you are hospitalized after attempting suicide, change your boring name, you son of a half-Gypsy father and former-cleaner-for-Paul-McCartney mother. Changing it to Adam Ant will of course, result in a string of successful international hits, even in sunburnt Australia, and your eventual status as MTV's "Sexiest Man Alive".


Continuing on this purely hypothetical theme, you might found your band after going to see one of Eric's other favourite bands, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and one day produce a song at odds with your usual output of what Eric's mum terms "boring drum sections", a song with horns, and a funky journalistic theme around the middle.




Adam Ant Pictures, Images and Photos

"On St Crispin's day!"


Moving on...


I found this slice of 80's heaven on a torrented "Rare 80's" compilation. The best way to describe it is Men At Work having the bastard (and presumably gay) lovechild of the Pet Shop Boys, in song form.




"Rhythm Method" - get it?

Monday, October 13, 2008

i've been waiting for tomorrow / all of my life

Ratatat Pictures, Images and Photos


RATATAT are an instrumental (i.e. lacking in the vocals department) Brooklyn band who are rather keen on what Mike Oldfield (of Tubular Bells fame) would term "two slightly distorted electric guitars", and whose catchy Wildcat has been lurking around the borders of my musical consciousness for the last few years. Luckily for me, however, they released their monstrously awesome new album LP3 this year, which has garnered them a lot of Eric Gardiner airtime. The first song below is from the album Classics, while Mirando (which YACHT did a rather good "my older brother has a gun" remix of) is from LP3.


ratatat Pictures, Images and Photos
The liveliest shoegazing I've seen in a good while



THE THE


The The are an amazing band from the U of K, and if they sound familiar its probably because you listen to too much Smiths, as former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr made the jump to The The and had a great influence from the whole "what they sound like" perspective. This Is The Day, from their debut album Soul Mining, is one of my favourite songs not just because of Matt Johnson is unafraid to wield an accordion, but because its a profound breath of optimistic air in a genre otherwise dominated by nihilistic closet heterosexuals, often wearing capes (namely, Morrisey).
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Saturday, October 11, 2008

put your hands / in a parting wave

Boz Scaggs Pictures, Images and Photos
Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees

As a child of the mp3 revolution, its pretty unnatural for me to trip the vinyl fantastic (even less to pull out a tape, the most-maligned of all formats, suited only to family car trips in off-chocolate coloured 1993 Peugeots). Even so, this is one piece of shiny blackness that deserves to be played in its entirety, with the pauses, as Boz Scaggs intended.

Silk Degrees is instantly identifiable as late 70's, thanks to the lack of Eurythmics-esque percussion and the lilting disco flute, and although nearly all tracks are seamless examples of relaxed disco-funk (with the exception of the singlular release Lido Shuffle, which ventures down a long and winding road fraught with "missed boats, tombstone bars and jukejoint cars" into the land of rock and roll), Lowdown sets itself apart as the album's standout.


triffids Pictures, Images and Photos

no, not that kind of triffid!

"Please don't drag me back to Rosevel/underneath your creaking bed

No air, no hatches under there/no pleasantries hatched overhead"

A fantastic song, one among many from Australian band The Triffids, featuring the late David McComb's fantastic lyrics alongside his trademark ascending/descending melodies.

CRAVATS Pictures, Images and Photos

a completely unrelated and altogether irrelevant post-punk group from the 1980's, the Cravats

Friday, October 10, 2008

the problem / of leisure / what to do / for pleasure?

This blog aims to promote both music and happiness, two tower-of-powering giants of the human condition, whose unity only results in more symbiotic power for each and for mankind, and whose separation can result in the most terrible of fates, standing on a garden in Manchester with your friends, looking glum...


joy division Pictures, Images and Photos


"Did I listen to music because I was depressed, or was I depressed because I listened to music?" - High Fidelity


Either way,to get the ivory ball rolling, check out the song below from what Wiki terms "an American pop-rock band", Harper's Bizarre. The band name is a rather tricky example of wordplay, parodying the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar, and in so doing setting up an ironclad standard in band nomenclature which continues to this very day (the Pogues being the greatest example...ha-ha)


The song Witchi Tai To deviates from this band's normal style ("Broadway-Baroque"), taking inspiration from Red Indian healing chants to create something truly relaxing and invigorating, without being pretentiously psychedelic. This means you won't find Timothy Leary muttering "You get elves, everybody does!" in the background. Modern listeners could even draw parallels with Youth Group's Forever Young, as a point of musical reference, a port of call in a storm of aural insecurity, but to do so is to do injustice to a song that doesn't need faux-retro footage of long-haired louts skateboarding to stand up on its own. Its not exactly a foot-stomping, barn-storming, shotgun-barrel-chested bitch of a compound adjective, as far as music goes, but it will keep your inner foot well and truly tapping.




Next post is looking like a bit of 70's souped-up synth magic from Fabio Frizzi, or Sailor's Jacaranda, or Leaf House, or a YACHT remix of RATATAT etc...


high fidelity Pictures, Images and Photos
High Fidelity
(he's ordering his records by the date of their acquisition, in case you're wondering)